Fricknits

The Lame Game

**Comments now closed.  Stay tuned for the big reveal!**

No time to blog.  Well, no time to blog well.  But I did finish something, so I wanted to mark the occasion.  And then sweet Adam gave me permission to blog lamely.  So lame it is!  (Stay tuned for the "game" part- it comes at the end.)

This is Cari's Blank Canvas Child's Vest and mine is, well, blank.  In one of those "doh!" moments we knitters are prone to have, I volunteered to my dad that I'd knit matching vests for the Biscuit and my nephew Bodie, plus a hat for the Fricklet, for the family Christmas card photo to be taken at Thanksgiving.  Oh, and then I had a baby.  I think knitting while nursing may be partially to blame for my sore ta-ta's.  But at least I didn't try to gussy this up with any intarsia.  I do know my limits.  Sometimes.

Wait!  Wait!  Don't go!  I know you're tempted, what with the lameness.  But I do have that silver bullet of blogger's tricks to pull- a CONTEST  Yes!  Truth be told, I have F'ed another O in these past few weeks, but before I show it off, you have to guess what it is.  I'll give you one clue in the photo below- a critical ingredient in the finishing of this knit.  Guess the pattern correctly, I'll choose a winner randomly, and this post will not have been for naught.

The prize will be sock yarn, chosen with your color preferences in mind, from the stash.

Thank you for enduring me. 

Matchy-Matchy

Unless Juliet- that most serendipitously cute, well-named, and bulky-to-boot knit for which I'm currently swatching- takes the prize, I think this might just be my final "big" FO Before Fricklet.  (Baby socks don't count.)

As you all know, I'm a passionate devotee of the BSJ, but having made four, I may have suffered a bit of BSJ burnout.  Enter Tomten- specifically, that  purpley one on  page  47 of The Opinionated Knitter. Seriously, how much of a rockstar is that kid?  The long and tousled hair?  (I maintain it's a boy, but you know how I am about shaggy-haired guys.)  The purple?  The vampirish collar?  It's perfect!  It's Tomten!

Thanks to your advice, combined with the Biscuit's clear preference for the bluesy tones, I decided to save the browns for the Fricklet.  I knit along, randomly striping, and at some point decided I preferred the "wrong" side for the way the colors blended in lovely, gartery bumps and ridges as opposed to butting up neatly against each other, so wrong side became right and all was well with the world.  The yarns are Cascade 220 scraps and Classic Elite Skye Tweed leftovers from Mr. Frick's Cobblestone, of which I had plenty thanks to Nova.  I used 8's for everything except for the collar, for which I switched to 6's for stiffness.  I've decided that a zipper is the way to go on this one, and Beth has generously agreed to put one in for me.  Thanks, B!  I tried Margaux's trick with the lollipop as bribery for a modeled shot, though I had to offer two and got very mixed results, as you can tell by the fact that this is the best shot:

But at least it justifies the title of this post!  Then Mr. Frick obliged by going outside in the sweltering heat and clowning around in front of the window so that I could surreptitiously sneak this shot:

My little rockstar.

The Love Letter Sweater

The first time I met him, he set his hair on fire.  As time has passed, accounts differ as to how high the flames leapt, whether or not this was an intentional bid for my attention, and what-(ahem)-may or may not have been being lit.

He loves little walleyed Boston Terriers to distraction, and with sincere apologies to Bob the Ravelry dog, I do not.  (To explain: His beloved Nannie down in Georgia has owned several, named Miss Penelope, Miss Matilda, JEB Stuart, Yankee, and Maude.)  He promises that if I go first, he will fill the house with them and name them all Julie.

He pronounces everything I cook (when I cook, which is rare as he has taken charge of dinner so that I can sit and knit after the Biscuit goes to bed) "the best thing I've ever eaten."  Even if it's spaghetti with sawdust-in-a-tube cheese on it.  However, he did, as a single guy, used to eat baked beans from the can with some BBQ sauce thrown on top, so most anything's an improvement.

It is nearly impossible to get him to pose for photos, because he feels he needs to pantomime doing something for the camera.  Like carving a turkey.  Or being blown sideways by gale-force winds.  (Trust me: you don't want to see the outtakes.  Okay you do, but you don't get to.)

I love him, I do.  So even though my hospital bag's not packed, and the crib's still not assembled, and the Biscuit's baby book taunts me from the box on the dining room table, how could I not knit him this sweater?

(Cobblestone by Jared Flood from the latest Interweave, second size knit up in Classic Elite Skye Tweed in "Dungeon" with nary a modification.  More details can be found on Ravelry here or just ask!)