Mother's Day Bunnies and Baby Sweater

So, this is called a "haystache." 

It is a bunny nesting behavior, a way to collect hay to make a nest. Rosa thinks she's expecting (it is Mother's Day, after all). My other alert to the state of Rosa's hormones was that when I checked them this morning, there was a huge amount of matted fur in the corner of the cage (a big waste, to a spinner!)  

This all is the result of sister bunny (that would be Blanca, "the quiet one") mounting her unsuspecting sister, Rosa, two weeks ago. Blanca probably did this to establish her dominance. The mounting behavior then tricks the victimized Rosa into a series of hormonal events called "pseudopregnancy," ie ovulation. Too bad, as I would love at some point to have some kits! A few minutes after I got the haystache photo, Rosa dropped the hay and decided to eat it. A much better use!

On the knitting front, I completed a sweater for cousins who just had a baby girl. The pattern is "Helena" from Knitty. Done in some leftover Knitpicks Brava Worsted. I ran low on yarn and rather do the ties I did some button holes and added buttons.

Christmas making, 2015

Here are some photos of things I created for Christmas gifts in 2015, a bit late.

One of my favorite yarns to work with is Mountain Colors' River Twist.  I originally spotted it some years ago at Knit, a yarn store in Charleston SC that no longer exists. I realized this year that it is really beautiful paired with another color

I started knitting an afghan inspired by Kaffe Fassett's poppies pattern.  I ordered more then realized that this would be YET another afghan that doesn't get used much (I also contemplated wall hanging).  So, that was scrubbed. About the same time I realized that I still knew how to knit a kid's pullover without a pattern. So the yarn turned into sweaters for neice and nephew

And then, there was a pair of these...  my friend C had worn out the heels on these handknit socks which were done by another friend. I purchased some leather slipper sock bottoms and sewed them on, after repairing the holes. I used some of the original yarn plus a strand of kidsilk haze. The repair is a success according to C!

And finally, I made myself a gift. I love the Knit Father Christmas pattern available from Interweave, and have done this in the past. This year I knit a Green Father Christmas!

I needlefelted his face and added an armature from floral wire, as I was inspired to do at SAFF. I love Sarafina's needlefelting videos and used this one to do his head and face

 His hands need to be replaced with needle felt ones, and  there are directions here:

Not Quite a Baby Gift

So a few years ago (18 to be exact) I worked with a friend, we'll call her A.  She and I became pregnant at about the same time.

Several months into my pregnancy we moved away and I was busy being pregnant, starting a new job, etc etc.  

Now I usually knit baby gifts for friends but I was so busy that A's baby did not receive a hand knit.

Fast forward 19 years:  A somewhat newer friend, J,  (who also happens to be a knitter) is into Dr. Who.  In trolling about on knitty.com, I discovered Bigger On The Inside. No, this is not an unseemly name (and heaven knows what unseemly traffic I'll get just for typing those words) but more importantly:  it is a shawl/scarf and its name refers to Dr. Who's conveyance called "The Tardis" which was/is/will be ( think that might be some Dr. Who humor)  a blue English police box on the outside  but a larger space ship interior a la 1960 on the inside. 

(Here's the closest thing I could find during my trip to Wales...a telephone box).

So, I posted the knitty page on FB to show J.

Well, A. spied my post and immediately asked me to knit one for her daughter (who is a month younger than my son). Naturally, I obliged.  As it turns out, A's daughter is a lover of green, as am I. 

I used Knitpicks Stroll in the color Peapod.

My favorite Dr. Who is Tom Baker.  TARDIS, as it turn out, stands for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space".  

Hooded Gansey for my nephew

I am not a big fan of the traditional gansey sweater...too many purls, too many plain old knit stitches, just a bit boring.

I did however grow into deep like with this Debbie Bliss design, called "Hooded Guernsey," for a little boy.  The hood made it.  

 I searched out the source, and got a used copy from a seller at Amazon. 

 VERY ironically about 2 weeks later I saw copies for sale on the magazine stand at Publix...ahhh, the lengths they go to sell stuff that won't sell.  Is there a name for that?  "Downmarketing" or some such??

I suppose I could have found a traditional gansey sweater and added a hood but ya know, buying a new-to-me book is just too much fun...really...

Anyway, this is actually nephew D's Christmas gift, less than a month late (just)...yay!  The yarn is completely untraditional....Berocco Touche from stash. 

Here is a little gansey I made for son B when he was tiny, passed down to R and then to nephew D.  This is from a Dale Baby Collection, Nr. 60, knit from Dale Baby Ull.  Multiple rounds through washer and dryer...hope the Berocco stuff holds up this well.  This little gem is now in the well mothballed trunk of knitwear for prospective grandchildren or great nieces/nephews. 

A bit of Gansey history, courtesy of this nice link.  Ganseys, as we know, took their name from the island of Guernsey, one of the channel islands.  The traditional yarn used for ganseys was a high twist  5 ply, which was likely sourced in the neighboring island of Jersey, a center of worsted yarn spinning. Classic Elite used to produce or at least sell under their own name a 5 ply called "Guernsey." The sweaters were fisherman's sweaters, tightly knit, warm, waterproof, and knit with a straight neck so that they could be reversed.  

According to this fellow's very nice blog there are knit/purl pattern combinations typical of one's town or region up and down the coasts of the British Isles.  The isolated communities up and down the coastline were likely better connected by boat then by land, and the fisherman passed the useful knitwear style around (as has happened with countless other knitting traditions...I just love that...) .  Wikipedia also has a nice article as well.

There is so much history here and I have English roots;  I really should knit a real one. Perhaps when I retire...

If you want to look at lovely photos of the fishing villages and life in rural England in the late Victorian and early 20th century, check out the work of Francis Meadown Sutcliff, discovered during the research for today's post!

Dia de los Muertos...a bit late (and a holiday FO)

 The Day of the Dead (Dia de lost Muertos) was Nov 1st.  This is a day to honor one's deceased ancestors, which is a traditional holiday in Mexico and most Spanish speaking countries including Spain. The holiday is a synthesis of Catholic tradition and ancient Aztec tradition. 

Being not Spanish speaking, Mexican, or Catholic, of course I had to I light my Catrina candle (purchased on a trip to Mexico). My Catrina wears the traditional marigolds.

(Ironically, I had unwittingly purchased some autumn blooming French marigolds for the pots in the front of my house on the 1st!!).

Evidently the first Catrina was La Calavera Catrina (calavera meaning skull) done in an etching by Jose Guadalupe Posada.  This image has been incorporated into the Dia de los Muertos celebration in many ways.

And of course this image was used in Diego Rivera's famous Dreaming of a Sunday in Alameda Park, his huge mural in which he painted Catrina, himself, and of course wife Frida Rivera. Alameda was Mexico City's first park, built on a former Aztec ruin. I was lucky to see this mural during my trip, it is HUGE and located in its own building.

Here is a link to a detail from some nice photographer at flickr showing Diego's interpretation of himself, Friday, and Catrina 

I did finish something on or around November 1st...this cute little sweater for my niece, a holiday gift.

The pattern is Fabled Cardigan by Terri Kruse.