Friday, March 06, 2009

FTW!

After my last post of a steaming pile of failed knitting projects, it was time for a little self-reflection. I had never had so many repeated failures and frustrations, and so few satisfactory finished objects. Knitting less meant knitting worse. It meant finishing nothing. And for a product knitter like me, knitting and producing nothing was worse than not knitting at all.

It was time for a new paradigm of knitting for me. Knitting less isn't just forgoing a morning knitting session to hit the gym for me. I've had to release some of the mental energy that I was giving to knitting to give it to other areas of my life. I just don't think about it as much, and my failed projects were indications of lack of thought. I don't have the time or the inclination to think through design challenges. I don't have the energy to frog and re-knit the same project until I get it right again and again. I need the simple, the rewarding. Not instant gratification, necessarily, but the old, reliable standards of knitting.

Thus, I turned to EZ, the quintessential source of all that is classic, reliable, pleasureable knitting. Two of my dearest cousins are both expecting their first babies, and since both have wonderfully unique aesthetics, I was able to perfectly match those classic EZ baby sweaters for each of them.

First up was for Ellie's baby. She's expecting her first girl any minute now. Ellie has a very feminine but quirky, vintage-y, arty personal style, so the February Baby Sweater was the perfect choice.

A two skeins (and a little bit of the third) of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in a yummy, grape-y purple, some beautiful silver rose buttons, and a little label embroidered with the initial E, which she, her soon-to-be-born daughter, and I all share. It's yummily soft and absolutely feminine without being overly twee. Classic.


Teri's baby is due in about a month. She and her husband have chosen not to find out the gender of their precious firstborn. In these cases, I usually knit something in a deep red color, since I think all babies look beautiful in red, and am not a fan of the insipid yellow, light green, and white sweaters these "surprise" babies get. However, Teri has a good chance of having a red-haired baby, since her husband and many of his family are vibrant redheads. Thus, their baby is receiving a Baby Surprise Jacket in an amazing green from Dream in Color (Happy Forest). This was my first time using this yarn, and it will not be my last. It was wonderful to work with, and the colors are vibrant and bright.
Teri and I happen to share the same last initial, so this sweater gets a "K." I am sort of obsessed by these cute little tags, so I'll take any excuse to sew and photograph them. I know nothing about embroidery, but these look better than I would ever expect.

You can check the details on my Ravelry page if you want to know more. But in the meantime, expect to see more old reliables, the trieds-and-trues from me in this space for the next little while. I'll be spreading my wings in other spaces in my life right now.

9 comments:

Sarah said...

Both sweaters turned out just beautifully, and those labels are such a sweet touch! I hope you won't mind if I start doing something similar. (I just finished a Feb. Sweater but am waiting for the baby to be born before I give it to the parents, so that should give me time to do a quick label, no?)

Kim said...

I love the labels! The embroidery looks really good - quirky, planned yet unplanned.

Ann said...

I LOVE these!! Isn't EZ the best ever? I love the BSJ but could become addicted to the FS -- it's just so beautiful and really fun to knit. I'm so impressed with the labels. Can I do this too, you think?

Anonymous said...

I love both your FO's! I have been having parallel knitting mishaps and it is incredibly frustrating. I even botched EZ's Ganomy hat just a few days ago and had to rip the entire thing. So yesterday I started and almost finished a doll quilt. The success helped me get my making-mojo back.

I've never made a BSJ. I probably should for Spidey #3 on the way, eh? Your's is inspirational :)

Anonymous said...

very nice, liz! good to see you last evening!

Ashley said...

*Crosses BSJ off list of possible sweaters for Baby Kessler* :)

Mo said...

Oh my gosh, the colors are great and the tag ... perfect.

Bridget said...

Absolutely perfect. Both of them.

And the labels are amazing.

Anonymous said...

These are so cute! You've inspired me to finally cast on for a Feb Baby Sweater for my next door neighbor's baby. :)