Better than George Costanza

You know that Seinfeld episode where George is bragging to Elaine about what a good parallel parker he is and as he is yammering on the guy that called Jerry a phony tries to snag the spot by pulling into it? Then they sit there both half in the spot, blocking traffic and miss the big fight they were going to watch at Jerry's.

Well, last night we went downtown to meet up with some friends and I was lucky enough to find a spot less than a block away from the bar we were headed to. There was 2 people standing in the spot as I approached and I wasn't sure if they were crossing the street, trying to get to the car parked in front of the spot or what. So I pulled up and past the spot to do a parallel park job and the pedestrians ended up crossing the street behind me. So after they crossed, I looked back preparing (but not bragging like George) to pull into the spot and what do I see? Someone with their signal on trying to pull in nose first! So I says to myself, oh no they don't and I whipped into that spot, quick as lightning, one fell swoop, no need to adjust forward or backward, put her in park, shut off the car, and off we went to enjoy our evening. Apparently I'm quite good at parking under pressure and unlike George, I only brag about it after the fact!

(I couldn't find a pic of the parking space episode so I went with this gem! )

Moss stitch neck warmer

This pattern is great for a quick last minute knitted gift. After making the feminine promenade neck warmer, I decided I wanted to make a more masculine version and thought this brown handspun would look nice knit up in moss stitch.

Materials

Yarn: I used a worsted to aran weight handspun, about 50g

Alternative yarns: I think this would look nice in a noro yarn, but kuyeron or silk garden would be closest in weight to what I used . However, any yarn you fancy would work, just use appropriate needles to match the gauge.

Needles: US 9 (5.5 mm)

Gauge: 4 stitches/inch

Size: one size fits most

Pattern

CO 98 stitches
Knit in moss stitch (k,p to the end on both odd and even rows) for 28 rows.
On row 7 and 21 make an appropriate sized buttonhole 3 stitches from the end.

I used this buttonhole tutorial and castoff 3 stitches to match the button size I used.

Bind off loosely, sew on buttons (using the pic above as a guide), and you're done!
If you have any problems or questions with this pattern please let me know so that I can fix it!

*this pattern has now been added as a free pdf download on ravelry

I was busy last weekend

This weekend... not so much. But last weekend, last weekend I realized that I needed to get all family xmas shopping/knitting done and in the mail in order for them to receive it (hopefully on time). And with the exception of one failed hat (which I may or may not cover later) I think everything was a success and I'm glad to have all the shopping over at such an early date!

Item number 1: the haruha scarf finally finished and blocked.

I'm pleased with the turnout and hope the recipient enjoys it.

Item number 2: the promenade neckwarmer knit out merino/possum wool that is o soo snugly. I hope I have enough left over to make myself one!

This item's finishing touches were the buttons that I received in a swap from Lyn in the UK. They went beautifully with this neckwarmer!

Item number 3: my improvised masculine neckwarmer. This was knit in moss stitch out of hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn. It was also finished off with buttons from Lyn!

And item number 4: Tudora, an elizabethan collared neckwarmer. This one is also knit out of hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn. The yarn is a purposefully spun thick and thin and I really liked how it turned out and it knit up all texturey and nice.

You may have noticed the neckwarmer theme! It was nice to find some patterns that had at least a little intricacy and were small enough that I could finish 3 of them and most of an ill-fated hat in 2 days. In addition to the knitting in those 2 days we also did all the shopping for the non-knitted gifts and watched the national cycling criterium here in Christchurch. I never thought I would enjoy watching a cycling race, but it was really neat to see some nzed Olympians. I was cheering for Hayden Roulston who got 4th.

With christmas knitting quickly behind me I've started a top for myself and knitting some stripey socks for a friend. One more week of work and then 2 weeks of vacation! I can't wait! We are headed to the north island for a tiki tour. So far we have done no planning for it... might need to get on that pretty soon.

Some sweaters

Here are some sweaters I have made (in the last few months anyway):

This is my first adult sweater! Sure it's lacy, on kinda big needles, and only has 3/4 sleeves, but a sweater's a sweater. The pattern is named February Lady Sweater, it's an adult version of an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern (February Baby Sweater - I'm thinkin' I'll be making one of these someday). I am pleased with how this cardi turned out and happy with my springy colour choice. Truth be told I totally made it to match the skirt in the picture and don't they look sweet together?

Next up is a teeny tiny little fly away cardigan that I started knitting for my boss' baby. Then he had a boy... So now it sits awaiting a baby girl to be gifted to. I used a pattern out of a cleckheaton pampletty booklet thingy. The patterns in it are cute, but soooo many small pieces. The small part is redeeming enough for me to knit them. But sewing that lacy edging on after sewing all the pieces together was a bit much.

This last one is another Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern. It is called the baby surprise jacket because it is knit flat and then you fold it up (very origami like) and sew two little seams. It's hard to know exactly where this knit is going until you are almost finished with it. This is my first handspun project. I used the roving I spun up from maude & me. She's got a gorgeous green and pink one up right now! Yum! For a picture of the whole sweater click here.

I would just like to say that E Zed sure was a smart and innovative knitting lady. She's got some amazing/simple/beautiful patterns. They seem to be timeless as well. Funnily she only lived a few miles outside of 'craps' (where I went to high school) and had a knitting show on PBS which if I think really really hard about I might be able to vaguely remember.