Friday, July 30, 2010

Prepping for Fall

To do:

  1. Wash and re-block all scarves and shawls.
  2. Actually block that silly Sizzler scarf that I redyed last year because the original colorway was so freaking hideous.
  3. Start gauging how I feel about knitting Christmas gifts. I don't deal well with knitting on deadline. Feh. And last year was... a failure. I think knitting for Christmas last year is what made me veer towards almost 100% selfish knitting this year. The feeling still hasn't faded.
  4. Get off my butt and start actually writing the design for Bruce's steampunk superhero sweater. (nice alliteration, eh?) I've been designing in my head long enough.
  5. Knit faster.
  6. Drastically increase ambient levels of awesome in my general vicinity.

Random shot of the kiddo grooving out in Union Square:


And random thought/gripe for the day:

Why aren't there more great knitting patterns for men and kids? I understand that people don't want to spend a lot of time knitting complicated sweaters for kids because they grow so darned fast, but so many of the kids patterns out there are just so deadly DULL. (yes, yes, I know there are some cute patterns (tiny tea leaves) out there. But seriously. Go do a pattern search for a kid's sweater for 4-6 years of age. It's a great cure for insomnia)

Ooh yay. ANOTHER stockinette/garter stitch cardigan. Woo.

The patterns out there for men's sweaters really aren't that much better. They're either supercomplicated cabled patterns which take approximately 10 years to complete, or incredibly dull stockinette/ribbed/garter stitch patterns that are remarkably straightforward (not in a good way) and don't have any interesting details or shaping. I see so many cool sweaters for men in stores, and yet quite a few (maybe even most?) of the handknit designs for men are boring.

Maybe this should be item number one on my designing agenda. Patterns that don't suck for men and kids. See? I even have my collection's title.

6 comments:

  1. I need to steal from your list. I've got two shawls I have finished but haven't blocked yet.

    I'm working on the holiday knits. Like you, I do not do well with knitting deadlines. I just knit too slow!

    And that picture. So cute!

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  2. I would definitley second the idea of designing better patterns for men! I had plans on making a cardigan/sweater for my husband a while ago, but I just couldn't find anything that would suit him. So if you come up with something nice, I will be first in line for buying!

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  3. TOTALLY AGREE about the mens' and kids' patterns. Have you seen "Starsky Jr," though? I am going to make one for my daughter for the fall. So cute! It's the only one I remotely thought would be interesting to knit, though.

    And I did lots of knitting for the past two Christmases, and let's just say my "knit-worthy people" list is getting smaller and smaller.

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  4. I love the title "Patterns for Men and Kids that Don't Suck". It's perfect! Please write it! I tried to find sweaters to knit for my 10 and 8 year old nieces. It was really hard to find much of anything. I ended up doing Feb Lady Sweaters sized way down. Loved them, but there should be more patterns around specifically written for little girls. Really I had the same problem finding a pattern for my 2 year old. If there were as much variety as there are sock patterns, we would be in hog heaven!
    Gosh I ramble.

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  5. I'd buy that book!
    On the subject of Christmas knitting...don't force it. It'll suck all the fun right out of one of the best holidays of the year and we can't have that now can we?

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  6. I like the sound of Steampunk Superhero. And, while I understand the irritation of knitting for others, I hope I'm still on your list!

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