New Arrivals

The tightlywound household has been a tad bit chaotic lately, thanks to some new arrivals.

First of all, in mid-January -- TD and I "arrived" home. To a house. That we own. (Well, us and the bank.)

The move itself was less than spectacular, and we took every bit of the two weeks of "extra" time to get all of our crap out of the apartment, but we managed (without killing each other -- score 1 for our future). The house is in the same neighborhood where we were renting, and I couldn't be more pleased with the location. Both TD and I hate the 'burbs with a passion (largely because the idea of having to get into my car for EVERYTHING makes me want to weep), so I am glad that we were able to find something that we could afford in a prime in-city location.

We started settling in, and I started itching for another new arrival.

Less than a week of searching on petfinder.com, and we were approved to be the new forever home of this little golden retriever pup. We re-named him Ward (as in Hines). He is the cutest little guy in the world, particularly when he thinks he might get a treat.

I am a dog person, while TD is a cat person. Our plan had always been to get a puppy and a kitten relatively close in time so that they could grow up together. Well, when we went to pick Ward up from the shelter, there was a crate full of kittens in the entry. You can see where this is going, I'm sure.

We took home this little guy, too. His name is Woodley, and he is the sweetest, most people-friendly kitten I have ever seen.

As if that is not enough new arrivals -- our friends gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on Valentine's day.

I thought that this new addition needed some handknits to help welcome her into the world. (Also, isn't this a knitting blog?) Luckily, I had a plane ride to and from Panama, and plenty of sock yarn scraps. She's also getting the previously-made BSJ (that matches the booties on the right), which I am sewing buttons on today (pictures to come).

So Starts My Love Affair With Colorwork

Isn't she beautiful?

Pattern: Selbu Modern
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock, in colorway names that I have forgotten, purchased at Natural Stitches
Needles: US size 3

I should have gone up 1 or 2 more needle sizes because she's smaller than I would have liked. You can see that the colorwork is slightly distorted because it is stretched so much to block. I loved knitting it, though, and was actually impressed at how even my stitching is for a first-timer. The "guts" -- which I forgot to photograph -- actually look quite neat, too.

I love the kettle dyed Malabrigo for this project. The orange is nearly-solid, while the purple has a good deal of shade variation, which you can see in the "flash" photograph below.

She's pictured here during the blocking process (on a plate). It was so small that for a minute I thought it wasn't even going to stretch over the plate. Thankfully, with a lot of effort, I squeezed her on.

If I'm feeling brave later, I'll take some pictures of it on. I can't decide if it looks completely ridiculous or not. It's too short to cover my ears, though, so it definitely is not a below-freezing kind of hat.

This was my first time using Malabrigo sock, as well, at it lived up to all of my expectations. It really is as beautiful as the worsted weight Malabrigo. The twist is relatively tight and the yarn feels squishy. It is a pleasure to work with, and I see many projects in my future. Well done, Tobias!