Mommy and Me: A Story in Sweaters

You might remember, I finished JJ's Coolbreeze Cardigan back in December, and then my sweater had to undergo surgery before I could wear it.

And then, for whatever reason, I procrastinated about putting the buttons on.

Well, first I couldn't find the buttons. But then once I found them, I still took my good old time putting them on the sweater.

I don't know.  I guess I wasn't in a rush given that, after all the work to make the coordinating sweaters, I knew mine wouldn't fit. Because: pregnancy.

Interesting thing about subsequent pregnancies--the body remembers. It's like, "Oh, hey, I just did this. May as well get on with the task of expanding to epic proportions immediately."

But I did finally decide to just sew the buttons on and finish the project once and for all.

 

And, of course, it doesn't exactly fit.  But it looks kind of ok as an open front cardigan for the time being. I think I can keep using it until Spring arrives--if it ever does (I'm looking at you, snow forecast for Tuesday!).

So of course, buttons accomplished, I needed to FINALLY get the mommy/baby matchy match sweater photos I wanted.

  

JJ was less than amused, probably because his sweater barely fits him anymore.  Also, you'd think the photographer (AKA: CP) might mention that my hand is blocking most of JJ's sweater. But no.

 There's a smile. And now his sweater can be washed and put back in the closet for baby #2.

Shortly after taking these photos, I drove myself out to the Homespun Yarn Party, but that was a complete bust. After driving around for 15 minutes looking for parking until I found someone leaving to stalk (and I don't mean to get a parking space close to the entrance--I mean to get any parking space at all), I made my way inside to find an ENORMOUS line. I estimated at least a 45 minute wait to get in--and that was just to enter the room, not to buy any actual yarn. I stuck around for a few minutes to see how fast it was moving--and it wasn't. So that was it for me--I drove the 40 minutes back home, completely wasting most of my Sunday afternoon. Boo.

Photo Friday: The Week in Pictures

(Well, ok . . . maybe a few weeks.)


Socks on the needles. Chrysanthemum frutescens in Miss Babs.


Yummy new yarn from Tanis Fiber Arts.


Finally finished a sweater design sample and mailed it off.


It snowed. Freaking AGAIN.


Worsted weight shawl coming along.



Someone is messy and needs a haircut.

Flashback Friday: CCFA Fundraiser

Yes, it was the 80s. Why do you ask?

Long-time readers of this blog may remember that 2 years ago, I sponsored a fundraiser for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America here on Learner's Per-knit.

Well, get ready, because I'm doing it again!

My sister and I participate in the Baltimore Take Steps, Be Heard walk in honor of my mom, who has long battled Crohn's disease. This year, I'm hoping to raise $750--and that's where you guys come in.

I'm currently working to put together a collection of awesome fiber arts-related prizes for donors. Our fundraiser will officially kick off on April 1, and run through June 1. Every $5 donated will earn you one entry (so $10 = 2 entries, $25 = 5 entries, etc.).

You'll also be able to earn additional entries by tweeting, Facebooking and doing various other social media-related activities. We want to get the word out, and get as many knitters, crocheters, spinners and fiber artists participating in this drive as possible!

So, get ready! Save up your pennies. Organize your stash to make room for more yarn. Finish those WIPs so you're ready to cast on new projects. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, like MediaPeruana Designs on Facebook--you'll have all your bases covered. 

And if you're a designer, indie dyer, or owner of too many knitting books to count that you need to clear out, I hope you'll consider donating a prize! If interested, please send me an email.

Happy weekend!

Pullover #1: Sprig

I've decided to stick with my original decision to make 2014 the Year of the Pullover. Even if they never fit me (and let's hope that's not true), they'll fit my sister, my mom, or someone.

First up, Alana Dakos' Sprig:

Photos courtesy of Alana Dakos

In this fresh green color it looks quite springy, but I'm planning an early fall sweater, and picked up some Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Isadora, a muted dusty rose:

 

I've got deadline knitting to do, but I still think I'll swatch for this tonight--it's been ages since I've actually finished a big non-design project, I'm hoping this will jump start the sweater knitting mojo. Especially since, despite me declaring it to be Spring, we're facing 8+" of snow on Monday. Ugh.

Anyone else Pullover-ing for 2014? What's on your list?

Snow Day Sweater Maintenance

 

Guest room bed / blocking station

Last Wednesday night about 1.5 feet of snow fell on us, our biggest snowfall since 2010. That meant SNOW DAY! Snow days were a lot more exciting when I wasn't home every single day, but still. Since CP was home with us, I decided to use the day for a little sweater maintenance, and washed a bunch of well-loved knits.

This was a little tricky, since our washing machine doesn't allow you to just fill and drain it--my go-to method for soaking sweaters before we moved here. It does have a cycle called something like "extra gentle hand wash," but I just don't trust it.

So I set the machine for the gentlest cycle, but watched it like a hawk, stopping it before agitation started, and then switching to "drain and spin."

This seemed to work well enough, and now all my sweaters are freshened up to wear for the rest of the winter, or for storage.

This is one of the first sweaters I knit, Eunny Jang's Tangled Yoke cardigan. I'd love to do this over someday, with all of the yarn and knitting knowledge I've acquired since. There's nothing really wrong with it, but I think it could be better.

This is another oldie but goodie, one of the few summery knit tops I own, my Lotus Blossom Tank. The yarn, some kind of bamboo blend I don't remember, is holding up fairly well, but it's a rather weighty piece, and stretches out after wearing, so it's not in heavy rotation--too much of a pain to wash it after every use.

Here's the infamous Puff-Sleeved Feminine Cardigan that was nearly a disaster after I ran out of yarn. This one is starting to show some signs of wear, and needs to be de-pilled. This is not a good maternity cardigan, though, so it's going to be put away until the fall.

Another non-maternity sweater that's going to be shelved until next season, my Backward Cable Pullover still looks fresh, despite a little pilling under the arms. This yarn is a silk blend, so it's not too heavy, and I'm looking forward to (hopefully) fitting back into this one.

The last 2 sweaters are pieces from Alana Dakos that I've blogged about relatively recently, both holding up quite well. Twigs and Willows is in heavy use because it's SO warm. Wildflower is more of a spring sweater, and will be a great maternity cardi with the open front.

How are all your winter knits holding up? Any maintenance tips to share?

Throwback Thursday: This is a True Story

Well, kind of. It's the type of true story where the basic facts are true, but some of the details have probably been altered a smidge over the years.

But embellishments aside, this is the (mostly) true story of my last name.

 That's me! A long time ago!

(Why am I telling you this? Well, as I publish more designs, people sometimes like to talk about them. And sometimes even on podcasts! But then they get to the part where they have to say my name, and I feel bad for them, because through no fault of their own, they're going to mispronounce it. )

Once upon a time in the early 20th C, my great-grandparents emigrated to the United States from Poland and settled in the Baltimore area. Their last name was Janczuk. It was pronounced "YAN-sook" or something close to that (my Polish is limited to about 5 words, and most of them I don't pronounce correctly).

At some point, it occurred to some member of this family that opening a bar would be a great way to make a living. 

During Prohibition.

This was clearly not the greatest idea ever voiced by a member of my family, but there you have it.

Needless to say, they were caught, and the bar shut down.

Once Prohibition was over, they thought it would be a great idea to try opening a legal drinking establishment. Unfortunately, the powers that be weren't in the habit of issuing liquor licenses to individuals caught shilling booze when it was illegal. 

Funny, that.

So, another brilliant idea occurred to someone or other--we'll just change the spelling of our name!

Unfortunately, whoever had this brilliant idea didn't have a great grasp on American English. Because said person decided that removing the "z," spelling our name "Jancuk" and pronouncing it "JAN-uck" made perfect sense.

So there you have it--the story of my nonsensical name.  Now you know how to pronounce it, and also a little about my crazy family.

Happy Throwback Thursday! Na zdrowie!

Happy Birthday, JJ!

My sweet little peanut turned 1 on Sunday!

I can't really wrap my brain around it--an entire year has gone by, and he's becoming a real little person. He's not talking yet, but he understands a lot. If you ask him for a kiss, he'll give you one (well, ok, he'll kinda gum the side of your face--close enough). When his annoying toy Scout says "I love you," he gives him a kiss too. He spends most of the day bringing me books to read to him. When I sing the Winnie the Pooh song, he'll crawl over to his giant Pooh bear and bop him on the head. He's walking more and more, feeding himself, jabbering nonsense all day long.

We celebrated on his birthday with a big party, lots of family and friends. Despite the fact that I nearly forgot to give out the favor bags I put together, and did forget to set up the "Pin the Nose on the Lion" game I bought for the kids, I remembered this important Polish 1st birthday tradition:

You present baby with a shot glass, a rosary, and a coin, and see which one he picks. He made a grab for the rosary, but changed his mind at the last second and went for the money.

Apparently the shot glass was his second choice, he seemed more interested in that than the cake.

(For the record, my parents cannot remember which my sister and I picked.)

He was really unsure about cake. I made him his own smash cake, but very little smashing happened.

Though he did briefly consider this option.

And he got more toys than any baby needs. We actually put a few away--with a birthday right after Christmas, it's a toy deluge, and then a toy drought for the rest of the year, so we plan to spread them out a bit. At least until he's old enough to catch on.

JJ wanted to share the fun, so he advised me to put the Javi sweater pattern on sale in honor of his birthday.

So until February15, you can pick it up for just $2.99. No coupon code needed, the discount will be added automatically after you put it in your cart. Enjoy!