Thursday, February 21, 2008

One word. Phew.





Sittin' in the park waiting for you-hoo-hoo /Sitting here on the bench / with my back against the fence / wondering if I have any sense / Something tells me I'm a fool / to let you treat me so cruel / but nevertheless I say again / you gotta me waiting / Sittin in the park, waiting for hoooo-hoo-hoo-hoo / Why oh, why oh, why oh, why oh, why oh, why oh, why / Sitting in the Park, lyrics by Billy Stewart

My dad loves this song, I do too quietly and it seems appropo for my journey and twisted relationship with the Central Park Hoodie. I googled the lyrics to get them right, but it doesn't show the group I have in mind, I think it was the Intruders, but it's too late at night to call my parents to confirm.

"Sitting in the park," once upon a time, well over 16 months ago, I embarked upon the Central Park Hoodie. It could have been a lovely short stroll, but I stopped and smelled the roses, took a few naps and became a project squator. At the end of the journey, it was darn right painful. I couldn't get through it! More than once I screamed like Florida Evans "Damn, damn, damn!" I'm so through with this sweater that I didn't even bother to make button holes, it's just going to be my lil Spring jacket sans closure. Oh, the irony! But ah, she is lovely isn't she? I do love her and am frantic that this baby is done.

Here's the short version of the convoluted story...My mother was supposed to crochet me Leigh Radford's Blizzard shawl from Scarf Style. We bought 8 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca's cotton in the orchid colorway from Nina. We - she - got side tracked. Then a few months before delivering my wonderful son, I decided to use the stash to knit myself a little sweater that would be comfortable and nursing-friendly. This decision was encouraged by my bud/knit pupil Rochonda who was working on a baby dress from Debbie Bliss' Baby Knits for Beginners. The "simple" pretty little dress project is a whole 'nother story! Reflecting back, that whole knitting episode was curseed. OK, so back to knitting postnatal. Uh, yeah. No time for knitting, let alone a bath. I started strong though, got a lot of knitting done on the way to church or stealing in moments during nap time. Then the hoodie got put down, several times...to knit baby shower gifts, finish this, start that...take a shower, you know how it goes. Fast forward to December 2007 when I blocked it and ran to get help from Tricia on seaming the shoulders. Still we eeked along for two more months. The hood was wisdom tooth painful. I don't know why. Doesn't matter parce que c'est fini!

Random side notes on the yarn: I love Blue Sky Alpaca! I've knitted with their suri yarn and alpaca before. The cotton did not disappoint. The color is beautiful and this baby is mad warm, cuddly and soft. The Blue Sky Cotton would be perfect for a baby or child sweater. The only annoying thing is that it is pilling a little, but I think it will add to the sweater's charm as I romp around the city this spring, when the weather breaks. The other issue that I'm just beginning to understand the sagging nature of cotton (doesn't bounce back like wool), not very elastic. When I blocked the sweater, it stretched a lot in length. If I did the sweater again in this material, I would modify the length.

Misc: I started this sweater with the intention of wearing it post-baby and to accommodate my nursing "figures." Now he's weaned and I'm getting back lean. (hey a rhyme!) Consequently, my sweater fits a big in the shoulders and is a little boxy. But, it works out because it will be my grocery store, errands, run to Starbucks, lounge around the house, take my son to tennis, hang out in the park hoodie.

Lastly, I can't speak more highly of the Fall 2006 Knitscene. I have worked on three projects from it. My working copy is banged up something awful. I do have a brand spanking new copy of this sold out edition if anyone is interested...

5 comments:

Virtuous said...

My little baby bolero in 1 day compared to your wonderful CPH....blows it out! Haha! :oD

Love the pics you have of it! And despite the "growth" journey I am sure it was worth it!
Great write up!

Wonderful job Gurl!


~ Hey I don't have your e-mail addy, send me a quick note to: crimsondiva1999@yahoo.com (with KPurls in the subject field please Haha!)
Thx!

Kris said...

Oh how fabulous...great color and congrats on finishing it. I love my CPH too. I toss it on when ever I'm going anywhere! In fact I finished in the dead heat of summer and wore it anyway.

Unknown said...

oh my gosh. i love it. i'm even more tempted now to go buy the pattern. i want the actual magazine but i can't freakin' FIND IT anywhere!!!

anyway, congrats on a beautiful new sweater.

~mz

Anonymous said...

This sweater is just beautiful. I am so proud of you K. So very proud.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my gosh! That sweater is perfectly pink and pretty! It's just gorgeous!