I’m a member of an online forum that has a long and sordid history. We’ve been through several upheavals and a bit of drama, and moved homes a few times, but there are a few of us that have been virtually hanging out with each other for more than five years now. Every now and again, I get kind of amazed at the place. We have a bunch of people from all over the place who have managed to form this rag-tag community. And out of that rag-tag community, I’ve developed a few friendships. I am not a person who has a lot of friends, or someone who uses the term friend casually. When I make friends, they tend to be very deep, long-lasting, meaningful friendships. So the fact that I have made friends through this virtual world, whom I’ll likely never meet and whom I never would have known without the internet, occasionally takes me by surprise. It makes me feel very lucky that I live now, when the internet exists.

One of these friends is an absolute gem of a lady who will always in my mind be Lily, even though that’s not really her name. She lives in Canada and I’m quite certain I’d have never known her if it were not for this online forum. I’m also pretty certain that I’ll never meet her in person, and that makes me a little sad. She’s been a real friend to me, always there listening when I needed someone to listen, offering comfort and support. Apparently her grandmother was a knitter, and she has been a cheerleader for my knitting ever since I started sharing it.

So when I found out she was going to have a baby, I knew I needed to knit for that baby. And bringing this baby to the world safe and sound wasn’t an easy road for Lily, so I thought she needed some extra good energy and thoughts. So I made Trellis for her little boy babe. While I knit Trellis, I poured all my “prayers” for Lily and her family into the sweater. I feel like in a lot of ways it is the most meaningful thing I have ever created.

And then I packed it up and sent it off to Canada, and I was terrified that she would hate it. (I was also terrified that it was lost in the mail. Maybe a little overanxious about this.) Of course, that fear was unfounded. Lily is such a lovely person, that even if it had been the ugliest thing ever known to man she would have loved it because it was a handmade gift from a friend.

She humbled me. She told me that she shed tears when she pulled it out of the box. She told me that she could tell that it was made with love. She told me that he wears it every day. She told me that snuggling while he’s wearing it is the “best snuggle ever.” She even told me that she plans to keep it forever and hopes that one day her grandchildren will be able to wear it. (That made me break down and bawl.) And she told me I could post a picture of him wearing it.

Isn’t he the most darling little thing you’ve ever seen? Lily’s having a hard time getting pics of him while he’s awake, because he doesn’t like the flash, but that’s okay with me because I love sleepy baby photos. (Apparently, I was worried for nothing about the sweater fitting but not worried enough about the hat not fitting!) Sometimes I soooo wish that ours wasn’t a long distance friendship, because I would love, love, love to hold and snuggle that precious, darling little boy.

It’s something else to knit a gift for someone who really appreciates it. This little sweater turned out, for me, to be so much more than a little sweater. It’s just a little bit magic. Even if it’s not technically the best thing I’ve knit yet, it is by far the best knitting experience I’ve had yet.

So thanks, Lily. Thanks for being a friend, and thanks for allowing me to knit for your babe, and thanks for enriching my life by being part of it.

. . . Trellis!

Details!

• Pattern: Trellis, from Knitty.
• Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK, which I found a dream to work with. I bought three balls. I used a wee bit more than two. I used some of the leftovers to make a hat.
• Needles: US 5, Denises
• Notes:I made the smallest size, and I used a slightly smaller than called for gauge to make the sweater smaller. This meant a little fiddling with the math on the sleeves and the armholes — if I had knit to the directed dimensions, my armhole would have been too tall for the sleeve cap (I’m afraid those aren’t the right words, but I’m on a limited time budget right now and will have to come back and fix it later) and my sleeves would have been way too long for the sweater. I also did a three-needle bind-off for the shoulders, rather than grafting, because I felt it would be stronger and “crisper.” I cast on for this on January 12, and I finished the seaming on February 2. (I took a break in there for almost a week that I didn’t knit at all because of illness.) I’m sure it would have gone much quicker without a cable needle, but as I mentioned in my last entry I could not seem to make my brain engage well enough to cross correctly. (I will be revisiting that and making it work when I get back to working on Rogue.) I had a BLAST knitting this. I loved watching the texture take shape, it was sooo quick and easy, and the yarn was lovely. I will probably make this sweater again.

When I finished seaming the sweater, my first thought was “It’s too small; I made it too small.” My husband came home and assured me that I was just forgetting how little new babies are. The baby for whom this was made is a wee one, less than 7 pounds, so I’m really hoping hubby is right and that it fits. The sweater is on its way now (all the way to Canada — I’d never had to fill out a customs form before I shipped this!), and if Mama takes one and gives me permission, I’ll post a photo of him modeling it once it arrives.

Coming soon . . . my Rogue adventures.

but barely.

Actually, it’s better. I am on a medical leave of absence from my job, and that REALLY has helped. After four months in which I had five rounds of steroids, enough albuteral to power a small city from the shaking reaction that it gives me, enough antibiotics to kill every hapless bacteria between here and the Mississippi River, plus enough Vicodin that I could have made a small fortune on the resale if I didn’t actually NEED the damn stuff — I decided it was time to change something. So I took a 12-week leave of absence. The idea is that if I am not dealing with 130 different kids, all with different ailments that they drag to school with them (because I teach the accelerated kids who never stay home), then I will not catch their junk and therefore will get out of this never ending loop of illness leading to bronchitis and pneumonia — again and again and again. In addition, I will have much less stress (since my job was sending me home in tears from stress most days) which will help bolster my immune system, which will keep me in better health.

So far it seems to be working pretty well. And I may or may not go back after the 12 weeks is over; I am taking a very “wait and see” approach to see how my health is and whether I think it’s a good idea.

So, you’d think this would mean I have lots more time for knitting! Since my kiddo is staying home with me, not as much as I would have expected, but still — a lot more knitting time than I did have. Unfortunately, my camera died and is now back with Nikon getting surgery, so I don’t have evidence of all the knitting that I have been doing.

First, Kiri. I have finished 10 repeats of Kiri. This is the one place in this entry where not having a camera doesn’t bother me, because Kiri looks pretty much like she did in the last entry - a gray/silver blob. She’s been up on a shelf for quite some time, though, because I got the yarn in for my next project . . .

Rogue! I am sooo thrilled with this I can’t even begin to describe. This has been my dream for my first sweater for me since I started knitting. I find myself pinching and poking myself as I’m working on it. I am using Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran in Beach color, and I am looooooooooving it. I have finished the sleeves (I did them both at the same time, and did them first.) I am going to be doing the sweater as a cardigan, thanks to Claudia’s modifications. I am VERY EXCITED about this, and wish I had a camera so I could show you my sleeves, which are currently happily blocking.

I had read a lot of people talking about the “weird” increase used at the beginning of the cables in this sweater. I followed the directions I found exactly, and had no trouble with it — but for one thing. The directions said “pick up the strand lying between . . .” (can you tell I don’t remember exactly what they said?) but they never said that the strand would in fact be one of the legs of one of the stitches — so, since it was obviously the leg of a stitch, I kept feeling like I was doing something wrong. While reading savannahchik, I came across Jody’s excellent tutorial on this increase, and she confirmed for me that it was in fact a leg of one of the stitches. This made me happy for a very long time because it confirmed for me that I wasn’t, in fact, going out of my mind or doing something so wrong that it doesn’t bear thinking about.

I’m THRILLED with Rogue so far. Pattern is so well written and the yarn is a joy; I’m having a blast knitting it.

Alas, I had to pause in my Rogue knitting to do some deadline knitting — an online buddy is having a baby and I wanted to knit him a sweater. (The cool part is they live in Canada so the sweater might actually get some wear!) I picked Trellis and I’m doing it in Cashsoft Baby DK. LOVING this one, too. I’m getting such a kick out of seeing all those lovely cables appear in my hands. I was trying cabling without a cable needle (which I’ve successfully done before with no problems) but I kept getting the cables crossed wrong when I was doing it. I know HOW to cross them correctly without a a needle, but my brain just won’t stay engaged well enough for me to get it done properly, so I’ve gone back to relying on the cable needle for now (since this is on a deadline). It’s still moving along quite quickly, and I’m really enjoying the knit. Still and all, though, I’ll be happy when it’s done so I can get back to Rogue.

The final bit of “news” is that I got a new knitting bag for Christmas. It’s a namaste bag, and it’s red, and it’s gorgeous and it’s perfect and holds and organizes everything I want it to. And it’s so easy to get everything in and out of, and easy to carry, and makes me feel pretty when I carry it. What more could you ask for in a knitting bag?

I’m hoping for more regular updates — and a repaired camera for pictures — in the New Year. We’ll see.