And So It Begins....

Update: So......I received the infamous book on Tuesday: baby knits for beginners by Debbie Bliss---only $3.15, used, from Amazon.com. Yesterday, I picked up the yarn: Alpaca ivory--only $2.99 on sale at Michael's!  It appears that my heavenly Father is blessing this journey of mine!

Yes, I believe He cares even about my little knitting escapades. In fact, I know He just plain cares for me. Period :) What a comfort....

I've read through the first two chapters: "knitting essentials" and "beginning to knit".  I have to say that I feel more prepared to deal with seaming again.  Debbie's drawing's and explanations seemed (no pun intended there!) clear to me.  We shall see....

In many ways, I feel the same as I did when preparing for Lily's arrival!  All those books on getting ready for baby, first days, etc....  As prepared as I felt, there's nothing like hands-on learning.  And with Lily, I couldn't just give up and throw her in a knitting bag!  I feel the same sentiments this time around with knitting.  Perhaps I will one day write a book entitled, "What to Expect When You're Knitting".  Best seller, right?

First project: Garter Stitch Scarf

Which leads me to the following question:

Are scarves a safety hazard for babies?  I can picture my little Lily grabbing both ends and pulling tightly.... Yikes! 

Nevertheless, I will knit!  I am excited....I am motivated....  My name is Lori Gonzalez, and I am a knitter!  Phew....there....I said it.  I feel so much lighter. 

I believe I can finish this project sometime next week!

Hope Emerges: Knitting Project #3

As Baby G's birth date drew closer, I persevered.  Not only physically and mentally as a pregnant woman, but also as a knitter.   I went to the library several times a week, perusing the needlework aisle.    Surely I could conquer this knitting thing and make something my baby could wear, or at the very least put her limbs into.   Then I stumbled upon a Vogue knitting book for beginners.  It was pocket size and guaranteed to be easy enough for the most novice of knitters: aka me.    I have to confess that it was not a first grab.  Vogue seems to be at the forefront of knitting patterns, and the name is appealing enough.  The magazine is certainly fashionable.... But each time I'd pick up a Vogue knitting book, I would giggle at the pages!  The models....those designs....that yarn----so eighties!!  Even the new editions had the look of a worst dressed page of it's own magazine.   But there was something about this particular edition that made me believe I could make something in it and make it cute.  I settled on the "Tiny Topper", or baby hat, as I liked to call it.  Hence the beginnings of knitting project #3.  

I also picked up a copy of knit aid, a pocket-size informational knitting guide: love it!  At Walmart, I picked up new swords; even more dangerous than the previous as I had graduated from plastic to aluminum---and from size 11 to size 4!   The design also called for a yarn needle---which was comical to me.   Of course, I went for inexpensive, and cheap (Walmart, duh!), but I had no idea that these things are plastic, ginormous versions of what I was used to "sewing" with.   I thought I had accidentally gone down the toy aisle.    

Anyhow, I began work on my "Tiny Topper" early in June of 2009.  Baby G, or Lily as we now refer to her, was born on June 22nd.  At the time of her birth, I had officially completed one centimeter of K2, P2 ribbing on what would become her very own Gap-like baby hat.  Let me just interject here, that I should have perhaps used a circular needle.   Casting on 96 stitches required needles that were extremely long---four feet it seemed!  I would have to knit in perfect posture and far from either end of the couch to avoid puncturing the poor sofa. 

Lily's arrival was long and arduous....32 hours of labor.   Yet with one miraculous push, she emerged: a bundle of goodness who had been knit together in my womb by the most skilled of all knitters.   Unlike my other knitting projects thus far; she was perfect.  And I was inspired.

After the first 3 months passed and the Fall season had arrived, I got the itch to stitch again ;)  This time I could tell when to knit and when to purl---though if you look closer at my "Tiny Topper" you will see it took several rows of accidental knits on purls, purls on knits before I picked it up.  No worries, I just turn that hat around and no one is the wiser!    And seaming remained an issue for me.  Once again I freehanded it....and simply hide it when Lily is wearing her Gap-like baby hat.   It looks like a bad scar on a fairly beautiful piece of handiwork.   However, I am pretty proud of my ability to embellish---for I also made a pom-pom and added it to the tip-top of the hat :) Please note that a pom-pom was not part of the pattern---pat, pat on my back!  I also learned a bit: I can now increase and decrease stitches! 

Three weeks after I completed knitting project #3, I made another one for my "Martha-Stewart-Friend" and her upcoming little one.  Toushay! (spelling?)  There were some improvements: for instance, the seam only looked like half of a scar!  And I am currently working on a third "Tiny  Topper" for another expecting mama.  LOOK AT ME!  Knitting & gifting.....wow.

And this leads me to where I am today: writing a blog that juxtaposes knitting and motherhood.  I received in the mail today my personal copy of "baby knits for beginners" by Debbie Bliss (no more library fees: yes!).  My journey starts Monday as I begin the first stitches of knitting project #4: a garter stitch scarf.  This will go perfectly with Lily's "Tiny Topper"!  I hope.... 

Poncho or pillowcase?

Several years ago, I got together with a few friends and learned to knit....sort of.   I didn't really retain the know-how and lacked the time/energy/motivation to pursue it further.  It didn't come naturally to me as it does to some, and I had other interests. The beginnings of a "scarf", the rope-like yarn, and the swords-for-needles sat in my "knitting bag" for about three years before I picked them all up again.  

*digression: I use "quotes" to emphasize the ridiculousness of everything connected to me as a knitter*

So about a year ago, there was another gathering.  I decided to give it another shot.  This time I had a bit more counsel and definitely some more motivation: I was pregnant.  {And my "Martha Stewart-friend" had already advanced from scarves to socks and mittens: I also had competition.}

I pictured my baby wearing cute baby knits like the ones you see in Baby Gap, and I wanted the satisfaction of knitting clothes for her myself.  I picked up those swords and finished that blanket, err....scarf.    It wasn't pretty, there were loads of mistakes, but I had finished it!!!  Knitting project # 1. I was so stinkin' proud of myself.    And I decided to look into this knitting thing a bit more....  I bought some smaller swords and actual yarn, figuring the rope-like stuff I'd used for the scarf would be too bulky for baby items.  Then I hopped onto knittinghelp.com.   AND THERE IT WAS:  a video showing how to make a poncho for a baby.   "I can do that!"  I thought {ahem...disillusioned}.  Knitting project #2: baby poncho. 

All it required was the knitting of two rectangles (boxy scarves, basically) and then sewing them together.  Easy enough.   My "Martha-Stewart-friend" taught me the stockinette stitch and I was on my way!   This was around December of 2008.   At the time, I was working as a resident director in a college dorm where knitting was neither a priority nor a release.  I'd pick up my needles to find I'd forgotten where I'd left off.  Which needle?  Purl or knit?  (I couldn't decipher between the two...)  It was a lot of thinking. Too much thinking...

Needless to say, I wasn't ready to seam the two pieces untill May of 2009.

At this point I was again proud of myself---like I was with the "scarf".  I had completed two rectangles, and they looked pretty good! Baby was on the way, and she was going to be super cute in her new poncho from mommy that looked like it was from the Gap.   I tried to figure out the proper way to knit seams and found it would not compute.  None of the pictures, drawings (please!), or videos looked clear to me.  I decided to just freehand it.   That worked alright because, as a novice, it all just looked like green, braided yarn to me.  I remember sitting on the couch beside my husband as I tied off and cut the yarn from the last seam.  Wa-la!  I picked up the "poncho" to reveal to him this wonder, and as I did, I realized that I had sewn the whole thing together....  The only gaping hole left in it was for the head.  Explain to me how a baby gets her head in the head-hole when she cannot get her body or her arms into the rest of it??!!!   What  I had in reality was a v-shaped pillowcase, free for the stuffing.  Easy fix, right?  Just pull out your seams.  Easier said than done.  Try removing a seam sewn randomly with the same yarn that the rest of the piece was knitted in.  It was a nightmare.  I ended up cutting through the seam edges with a scissors.  Now it looked like a rabid dog had gotten ahold of my baby's "poncho".  At this point, I was miraculously still hanging on.  I was not going to be defeated.  I was going to be able to show my "Martha-Stewart-friend" that I had made a poncho!  I bought pink ribbon and glue, deciding that I'd just frame the piece and hide the ripped seams.   Didn't work: you could see through the pink ribbon to the mossy green yarn.   And, the glue didn't hold. 

Defeated, I set the piece in my "knitting bag" and thought that maybe I'd try knitting again in the future.  Baby was coming (or Baby G as the college students referred to her), and I had to run to the Gap.