My friend is a busy bee...

The other day, I had the most fun helping a friend of mine teach a spinning class to a whole whack of third graders. I love this age. They were so excited to learn about sheep and fiber, and how to make their own yarn. They kept asking, "When I'm done, can I knit with it?" Sure, says I, it's your yarn! It was a neat thing to watch, though we were really hopping around from one spindle to another, helping with overspinning/underspinning/dropped spindles. Arleta, another mom and I were showing technique, then the teacher dived right in with helping them draft, which was very sporting of him, as I don't think he had any idea what to do when he started. He's also very much a "sports" man, so I was doubly impressed that he got into the drop spindle. Here's some pics:


The lovely Arleta


A classful of potential spinners


Did I mention there were two classes of third graders?


Kudos to Arleta for volunteering to show this technique. It was pretty nerve-wracking for her, it being her first time and all. I have a feeling, though, with my kid going into third grade next year, she'll be asked to teach for the class again =)

Magician's Trick

Yesterday I took a class at our LYS. It was on double-knitting, and I just have to say, I love taking classes. I've been knitting since I was, oh, about 13 (though, since I'm only 20, that's just 7 years - heh heh). I've knit a lot of stuff. I've done fair isle and intarsia, set-in seams and raglan, button bands and rolled hems. In fact, I've knit about everything but a car cozy. Oh, and a double-knit headband. I missed that one, too. I love classes, with other knitters that have been doing neat things I've never seen. Firstly, I learned how to do a provisional cast-on. I've read about them, understood them, even tried them once or twice. But I really learned how to do them yesterday, and even though my hand was bent funny afterwards, and I might have had to tug at some split yarn a couple of times, I learned it. Never again do I have to think my way around that part of a pattern.

The double knitting, however, that was the trick. You do two separate skeins of yarn, two separate needles, after the provisional cast-on. Then you knit one stitch from one needle with one color, then purl one stitch from the next needle with the other color, then back and forth until all of your stitches are on one needle, but you have twice as many as usual. Then you continue back and forth, knitting and purling, from one skein to another every other stitch, around and around. It takes forever. If you're brave and not ascared of tinking, you can throw a pattern in there. See?


When you're done with the whole kit and caboodle, you separate them back onto two needles, and kitchener them closed. I'm not ascared of the kitchener, either, but that's going to be a lot of weaving. Still, you end up with a twice-as-thick knitted garment, and it's really neat. I know it has an element of magic, because I keep stopping and feeling it, seeing that the two sides are separate, even though they look like they should be intermingled. Very cool. And even though it will take forever, I want to make my daughter a hat like this. All last winter, she wore two hats, one on top of the other, so we're either to the felted garment point, or double-knits for her chilly little head. The temperature is down to single digits right now, completely different from two weeks ago and the springlike rain, and it's bitterly cold outside. This is the ideal knitting inspiration.

I spent all week putting off projects, waiting for the yarn to arrive for the husband's sweater. Then, at the last minute, I caved. I cast on for felted mittens, inspired by the Noro pair I made for my friend, RikiTiki. I want warm hands, too! Then I started the double-knitted headband, and of course, that's the day the yarn arrives. The manly blue color is inappropriately named Sapphire Heather. I have to say "inappropriately," because my husband says he can't tell all the boys the name. It's just "dark blue." Still, it's calling to me, and I have to finish at least the headband first. I don't mind having lots of projects on the needles, but it's hard to complain about the mess laying around the house when so much of it is mine.

So while I keep on with my inner magician, here's a picture of the "dark blue" yarn, waiting to be made into this. Happy knitting your own selves, and for goodness' sake, put on a hat before you step outside. Brr!

A Fuzzy Winner

Thanks, everyone, for your New Year's Resolutions on the blog. I left my camera outside for the night, so it was cold and frosty when my husband brought it in. We didn't realize that it's like you're wearing glasses, and come inside. They fog right up. So the pictures are foggy, but this is my niece, who spent the night, drawing the name from the many commenters.


Lovely, sleepy looking fuzzy picture. You can still tell I'm not wearing makeup, dangit. Niece looks good, though. And here she's drawn the name!


What? You can't read it? Heehee. Sorry about that. The name is CarrieK, from My Middle Name is Patience. Her resolution was to get a start on Christmas, starting now. Well, this will help! Two skeins of Christmas-y, self-striping cotton yarn. When you knit it up, it looks like this:


Ah, a clear picture =) Congrats, CarrieK, and thanks for being such a good reader and commenter. We get commenting threads going back and forth and have a whole conversation. I love it. All of the other resolutions are quite enjoyable to read, also, if you have a moment.

Now, for a funny knitting picture. I'm felting a pair of mittens for my friend and commenter, RikiTiki. When I get done, she's going to cut my hair, which it badly needs. This was knit from Noro Kureyon, color 102 Y. Look how big it is! I've got to get my mom to felt them down to the appropriate size, but with the necessary felting, these should be really warm. Your hands actually sweat in these felted mittens. The pattern is from this book, and it's easy and fun. These mittens spring from the needles with hardly any effort at all, which is fun.

Mission Possible 2008

Ooo, a knitalong! I do love a good knitalong. I can really get behind this one, too. You knit from your stash, one project a month, for the year. I can do that. Heyyyy, I've already done that! Do my daughter's hat and mittens count as one project or two? Probably one, unless I get desperate at the end. So, one down! My stash isn't huge, believe it or not. Something about a one-income house, five people.... it kinda makes me control myself, or they'd wonder why we were eating so much pasta while Mom's knitting away. =)

Actually, I think I've dodged the Kauni cardigan for now. My husband agreed that this was a beautiful sweater, from Knitting Daily. I just don't feel up to stranded knitting right now, but there's a lot going on with this solid color sweater. I'm ordering a deep blue yarn that may or may not remind him of the sea, but he likes anything he can relate to the earth, colorwise. Browns, tans, creams, greens - and he decided, since I wanted to knit a blue sweater, he could include the blue of water. So yay for knitting a new project! I'll still be knitting and spinning while I'm waiting for the yarn to arrive, but it will just be for-the-duration knitting, until my winter project arrives. I'm very much anticipating this one.

Oh, and two more days to leave your post for the Resolutions contest. Any old resolution will do, and I'll have whatever kid is sweetest to me that day draw a name from a hat and send the recipient some yarn! WooHoo!

First FO of 2008!

My daughters had a sleepover over the Christmas holidays, just to break up the - well, the boredom, at the end there. I think it's because the first part of break is filled with visiting and wrapping, then opening and eating and playing... then the next week, after New Year's, there's so little to do. Mom wants to rest, but the kids are circling like vultures, looking for something to pick over. So we had a sleepover, lots of girls - seven, including mine. That's only four girls invited over, but all in all, it felt like a lot of girls. I told them with seven girls in one place, we ought to be able to change the world. All we needed was a lever... Anyhoo, my husband and I thought we'd back carefully out of the room when they started watching movies (Aquamarine was one, and that is the most preteen, hair-flipping movie I have ever had the pleasure...). After all, kids at slumber parties should get a little space to play truth or dare and giggle over cute boys, agonize over Hannah Montana or Miley, et cetera.

I should be honest here. We had a child monitor placed in the hallway. Shhhh.

But I was very pleased and surprised when they asked me to come down and watch Indian in the Cupboard with them. I mean, I guess nine years old is a pretty good age, when it's still cool to have your mom in the room. But since the holidays were over, I was without knitting, so I grabbed a random ball of wool and made some mittens. The ball of wool I grabbed happened to be orange, but it was just an extra pair of mittens, possibly to be given to the school. If they were warm, the odd color didn't matter, really. (Can you tell I'm not into orange so much?) But when I got them done the next day, my youngest loved them. "They don't have bumps inside," says she. The decreases in mittens drive her crazy - because, you know, I needed another obsessive personality in the house. Don't you hate it when you rub off on your kids?

So I couldn't just let orange mittens happen. They have to have a hat. (Oh, OCD, you are a friend of mine) So the next night, I cast on for an earflap hat from this book, wool stripes this time, to cuten things up. "Cuten" may not be a word. And the next morning - voila! All patterns should go so quickly. It might have been the stripes, but I finished it fast, stuck it on her little head, and let her pose. Sorry about the not so perfect picture, but posing meant laying on the bed, pretending to be asleep. My kids seem to love this pose more than any other.


See?


How cute is that kid and her bunny??? And here's a pic of what he's given us, which I now have no idea what to do with.


Neat, ay? Other than thrummed mittens, though, which are great, I'm not sure what else to do with the wool. I don't have any carders to mix it in with another wool, so I'm just saving it, until I learn more. I'm sure I'll be glad that I did. It is really the softest stuff. However, as soon as Dot (the bunny) saw the wool, he started crawling all over it. I don't know exactly what he was thinking, but it may have been amorousness. (I'm really making up the words today!) See all the hands holding him back? So we scooped him up quick and put the wool away. Funny how picture ideas don't always go the way you think, isn't it?

Final pictures, and I'll let you go! I'm spinning up some sock yarn, and had to show the progress. I think this is just so pretty. The wool is from Copperpot Woolies", 70% merino, 30% viscose, 4 ounzes, colorway 46. I've been wanting to make sock yarn for awhile, and I can't wait to see how much I end up with. By the by, the artwork for the backgrounds of these photos was done by my bunny-hugging middle child. Jackson Pollack, watch out!




A quick aside - Don't forget to leave your New Year's Resolution in the comments of this entry. I'll do a drawing this Sunday and send the winner some Christmas colored dishcloth yarn, to get an early jump on next year's holidays!

As I stumble to the blog...

New Year's kicked my keister, folks! Too much partying, WAY too much. Speaking of too much, I'm realizing I'm overextended over here. With the New Year, I'm realizing all of the things that I juggle. I have Sunday School to teach (that's fun), and a home business (needs me more), teaching drama to our elementary school (way fun), being a mom (wheee!) and -- well, gosh, now that I look at it, that's not that bad. Surely I'm forgetting something, because I seem to be busy all the time, but scattered, scattered. So my New Year's Resolution is to take up Yoga, and I'm surely not the only one. When I was buying supplies at Borders (where so many good things come from), the salesman said, "What's up with the yoga sales today? Everyone is buying it." So there. Everyone is doing it, and I am, too. Do you know how rarely I'm doing what everyone else is doing??? Yes, mom, if everyone was jumping off a cliff, I'd be standing in line.... heh heh.

No, really, I'm excited about the yoga. I'm looking forward to getting more organized (heehee), since I really want to be that person that has got it all together. It's funny, though. The first afternoon the kids and I did yoga, we fell asleep on the floor. All of us. After the meditation, which I may not have been doing right, since I fell asleep. I find this all kinds of funny.

So someone else is probably doing this - I haven't been able to read any blogs since I've spent days sick from alcohol poisoning. But leave your New Year's resolutions in the comments, just for fun, ay? Don't type anything too embarrassing, because I'm going to do a random drawing in a week and give away some Christmas-y self-striping dishcloth yarn, in the hopes that someone else will get a jump on the holidays next year! And I'll post the winning comment/resolution up on the blog on the 13th. Happy New Year's!

Happy Moments

I have a moment to share again - I was at a party over the holidays, and wearing a white sweater, dressy pants - just the right look for a casual party, you know? And I'm chatting away with a woman, and go to refill my glass of wine. The wine comes in a box, which I don't mind, and I'm not too proud to type that I drink boxed wine if that's what's tapped. I am, however, too stupid to figure out how to work one of these things. I twisted the tap part a bit, but that didn't work. Then I pressed on this little button on it, and red wine shot out of the spout, straight up into the sleeve of my sweater. My first thought - check to see if it got on the white carpeting. No? Excellent. Next check - did the lady I was talking to notice? No. How could she? It was only a glob of red wine up my white sweater, which I had to swab with a napkin up my sleeve. Very weird. She didn't say a thing, and in fact, we kept talking about our educational system here in Michigan. When I was young and figuring the world out, this was one of those things I decided showed a lot of class. If no one drew attention to the fact that I just dropped a crab claw, shot a cherry tomato off my plate while trying to cut it (to look classy, you know), or sprayed wine up my sleeve, those people are pretty cool. I am always glad to find myself at that kind of party.

Here's my second happy moment - I took that sweater out of the washer this morning, days after the event, and the wine came out! Huzzah! I have no idea why that even happened, but it made me smile.

Since the big holiday, and the pressure of the holiday knitting, is past, I've been spinning. I took a couple of ounces of Corriedale wool with sparkle, from Black Cat Handspun, to the in-laws and spun on the spindle. They love to watch this, and never fail to tell me how clever I am. That came out to 46 yards of two-ply, heavy worsted weight. I also washed up the Llama Llama Duck 4 oz. batt from Black Cat, as well. Remember how stressed I was, and I kept smelling this wool, trying to get relaxed with sheep smell? Well, I wanted it in a scarf, so I could bury my face in it in future stressful moments. I've washed the yarn, of course, but I now have the memory of it making me feel better, so it's special. It came out to 144 yards of thick and thin single-ply. Chunks of locks are in the yarn, and I love that. I washed both skeins in the tub, then snapped them sharply to get the extra water out, and laid them flat. I didn't weight them to dry this time, so I'm curious as to the difference that will make when I knit them. I'm trying to think of how I'll wash my handknits, and if the yarn that is weighted to dry will draw up when it is washed. I'll let you know.





For Christmas, I gave my mom a pair of thrummed mittens, which I somehow can't find the picture of. But it was a close thing that she even got them, because I loved these. I'll definitely be making myself a pair, but my daughters are claiming their pairs first. Never an end to the knitting list! In return, she gave me a lovely pair of handknit socks. Ah, gifts amongst knitters. It's a wonderful thing.



She also knit my daughters, nieces and nephew all sweaters. November and December had her very, very busy! I wish I had pictures of those, but I don't. I'll try to get them. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

A Soon-to-be Merry Christmas to you!

It's 10:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and this is where I am at on my daughter's socks:



Am I stressed? No, and that's for several reasons. The first is that, when you live in a state of high stress, eventually its effect wears off. My body no longer wants to be stressed, so I seem to have become immune. Yay! I am also not stressed because the daughter that is to receive these socks loves handmade things in the disproportionate way that we wish every recipient loved our stuff. I will tell her that I was unable to finish the socks because I have to measure to her foot, and all will be good. I'm also going to knit a bit more, but not much.

Otherwise, the stockings are hung by the quilt rack with care, and I'll be heading to bed soon so I don't hold St. Nick up. From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

If you're a country bumpkin, sorry.

Yay, we're getting close to deadline! I've got some great pics of the Xmas presents, but of course it's all stealth knitting, as I'm sure many people's are. We'll all be posting a lot after the 25th, won't we? But I'm doing well, only one gift to finish, and if I put a movie in tonight, it will all be good, babee. I'll be sure to get it done.

I have to share this story. I was at a Christmas party, sitting across from a very nice gentleman and his wife. We were discussing where they were from, making nice chitchat. And I said, "Oh, I believe there was a sheep and fiber festival this summer in your town. I missed it, though, and I was really sad." The wife sat up straight and said, "Oh, no, we didn't. There are way too many rich people from that area. There is no way there was a sheep and fiber festival." Heavy pause. I was trying to think of some way to nicely contradict her, in that there certainly was a festival, and people with lots of money were helpful at these things. That's when she waived her hand in front of her face and said, "If you're a country bumpkin, sorry."

Ahem.

Well, while I may indeed be a country bumpkin, I have in the past been a court reporter, legal assistant, manager at a document and film storage facility, et cetera, et cetera. I am now a country mother of three, grooving on getting back to nature and being kind to the planet. Every one of these things are important in their way, but I believe I am doing my most important work so far right now. And she waved me away. Well, what would you have done? I admit, my first instinct was to straighten her out. (At least her husband looked embarrassed, having cottoned on to the fact that I wouldn't have brought up a sheep and fiber festival if it wasn't something that interested me.) My second instinct, close behind the first, was to just freeze her out, making pointed conversation with everyone around her, as I'm not naturally a confrontational person. But really, it was the office Christmas party, so I smiled and asked about her children. Now, I'm not one to point out when karma owes me one, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to win on a lottery ticket or something for looking the other way on that one. Plus also, she hasn't felt my thrummed mittens. I should carry a set to pull out and show people who think knitting is for rubes. I am completely hooked on making these, and every single person who has tried one on sighs. Oh, yeah. They are so soft and squishy, they should have the power to enlighten the high-minded but socially challenged.

A picture for the knitting minded: I knit garland a few years ago from silver eyelash yarn, while watching The Wizard of Oz. Well, it took more than a couple of nights, but that's what I remember most, knitting cording while watching Dorothy. Pretty, no?

One more holiday event, down.

It is an unfortunate truth that events that take weeks and months to prepare for can be over in a couple of hours. It happens to parties, birthing babies and, sadly, drama club productions. We had our Christmas program yesterday, and the kids got to perform three times, which was a happy thing. At least it wasn't just once, with all that preparation! The last few weeks before a performance, things aren't very joyful at drama club. I mean, we try to make it fun, but we really have to crack down on kids learning their lines. And it always happens that they do learn their lines in time, and it all works out great. And they are so excited and pleased to have been on stage, and performing with the lights and attention on them, and they are excited to do the next production. I swear, the week before, they would pass by me with nary a glance, they're so disgruntled with the hard work or the guilt, but after a production, I get the hugs! =) Very fun stuff. But it is over, and after Christmas break, we need to think about a spring production. But first a pizza party, and a chance to pat each other on the back. Whew! It's over.

I am WAY behind on my knitting. I've slashed my list of projects, so that many people are getting jam baskets or coffee baskets, instead, and I still have a scarf to finish, a pair of mittens and a pair of socks. However, here are a couple of dishcloths that I've knitted for my gram, who wants to gift them to her friend back home. It was such a compliment that she asked me to knit them, that I had to do it, even if it means giving a gift on the needles in two weeks. But I can finish, right? Sure, sure. I can still do it.

Ode to the Webkinz

o, little Webkinz,
so sweet and squeezably soft,
When I found you in a Unicorn,
I didn't hold you aloft,
but tucked you surreptitiously
between my coat and purse,
Happily, gratifyingly
grateful I found you first.

Because I just passed by a lady,
walking really fast,
Hoping to find a Uni,
with a GPS and a map.

I won't tell anyone
about the score that I just found.
Someone might grab you from me
and trample me to the ground.

So I'll pay and take you home with me,
my sweet little pink amore,
I'll say I got you on the Internet,
not the last one in the store.

Busy, busy!

It has been a very, very frustrating couple of weeks. I feel like I've done nothing to refresh my soul, and it's all work, work, work around here. I try to remind myself of all the times I'm very happy, and that all things pass. There are happy times, there are frustrating times. But I don't think any of us refresh our souls like we ought to, or our parents wish we would. Don't you think that's true? I hope my children grow up, do their jobs, then come home and paint, or laugh at sitcoms, or go out and dance until they're sweaty. There should be some roundness with our days. Instead, when my 3-year-old wakes me up at 4:00 a.m., all I think is, "Oh, good. There's an extra hour and a half that I can get things done this morning." Bah, humbug. lol - I think that just put me in a better mood. hehe. I'm not really a "Bah, humbug" kind of girl, and now I'm smiling that I even typed it.

I've been working on a scarf with yarn my daughter picked out at our LYS. The last three days, all I'm thinking is, "Man, this is NOT pretty. I don't like this weird beige they threw in here." So I pulled it out to show at my knitting group this morning, and in the bright sun of the room, looking at it with my friends, I realize it's doing this:


Do you see? Yes, it's blurry, but see the argyle effect going on? What a happy discovery! It's criss-crossing with the beige and the blue and all. I like it! I can't even tell you what the name of this yarn is, since I didn't bother to keep the ball band. And I think I must be feeling especially curmudgeonish to knit for three days and not step back and look at what I'm knitting. However, I shall be going back and getting another skein for a scarf for myself. (This one's a gift) Isn't it neat how this argyle pattern works without my knowing anything about it, doing anything special, casting on anyone's suggested amount of stitches? I think that's pretty cool. And my, that beige shows up nicely.

Sock Reality

I suppose it had to happen. It's happened to knitters all the world over. They've even talked about it, in front of me, but I've managed to block the reality of what they were saying. Until Wednesday, when I was sitting with my family, watching The Sopranos. (The kids were in bed, of course) I looked down, and - wah! A sock had actually gotten worn through! I'm so sad. And yet, it speaks a lot to the way blogland has changed me that I grabbed my camera and took a picture.



I've been knitting and wearing my own socks for a bit of time now, certainly over a year since I started seriously wearing only handknitted socks, and this is the first pair I've worn through. When I went to get dressed this morning, I looked at my socks very carefully, trying to decide which pair I could next spare to lose. Rats. Well, at least I have a reason to cast on again! Haha on me, when I wrote that I had enough socks.

And I've also decided that I don't like being caught up on my Bloglines. Now I'm reading your blogrolls, finding new bloggers through your comments. But that's okay, because I'm sitting at the computer knitting, anyway, and it IS fun to check out new blogs. I'm working on the felted mittens next, and hopefully buying more yarn later today. I love Christmas knitting, where I don't have to feel guilty about buying yarn! WoooT!

And because sometimes you're just too tired to take your coat off...

Stress Management

When I retire, my day will go thusly: Get up at 9:00 a.m., make coffee. Mill around and listen to coffee perk, grab a cup and sit down to read email. First, delete all spam, then read six relevant emails I've received since yesterday. Laugh at jokes, move on to Bloglines, laugh some more, commiserate a little, and think how I should be knitting more. Then get up and make brunch, think about shopping or calling a friend, then sit and read for a bit. Mmmmm. By evening, be ready for witty conversation and a glass of wine, and some knitting. On Saturdays, I'll go for a walk in the morning, just as a nod at healthy living. Until then, I have to keep plugging along at my life, which is pretty much exactly opposite from my retirement scenario. I did, however, get some knitting done last night.

And here I will say that everyone has their own method for dealing with stress. I bet, if I sat and thought about how I dealt with the prospect of running out of yarn mid-project, I'd get a pretty good insight into my own stress management. I'm not doing that, though. I might not like it. But with the boot socks for the father-in-law, I had to worry about running out of the cream color, and when I was last at the yarn store, there was only one skein left. I ordered blue yarn there weeks ago, and it's still not in, so I didn't want to have to wait for more yarn. This, by the way, is Lamb's Pride wool, superwash, one grey and one cream. So about a third of the way through the second sock, I couldn't take it anymore, and I put the cream skein in a bag. Then I knitted and knitted and didn't let myself look into the bag to see what I had left. This way, if I ran out, at least I didn't have to experience the stress of watching myself run out. It could be a surprise, and whoops! I'm out. Rats. But no advance stress, see?

But actually, instead of killing stress, I was just living with the hum of nervousness that I'm going to run out, so I knit faster and faster. I didn't put that sock down until - voila! A second sock! And a bit of yarn to spare, thanks very much to the knitting gods. I believe I may even get a small hat out of the leftovers, if I combine the two. Huzzah!


I've also finished a bit of stealth knitting, which took all morning, but - nyah nyah - I'm caught up on my blog reading! Again Huzzah! I know it won't last, but I'm dancing in the kitchen. I finished reading my bloglines list! Yes!

It's all about the simple

I dislike a lot of things, more as I get older. I am more tolerant of people and mistakes. That's not what I'm talking about. One of the things I really hate is the cost of cloth napkins. And if you know anything about me, you should know that I like things simpler. I like things old fashioned. Before I bought a shower curtain or a pillow case, I'd think whether or not I could make one first. And darn it, for six bucks I can make a dozen cloth napkins, which is sometimes less than you will pay for one napkin in the store. Homespun, my friends, is the answer. It's a woven cotton cloth, which you can find at JoAnn's, usually at a reasonable price. Two yards later, and I'm cutting squares, then pulling out the outer threads. It just doesn't get any easier, and the napkins look really good when you're done. I think they'd make swell gifts, with a jar of jam or something, and who doesn't like cloth napkins? They're kinder to the environment, and I think they look better on the table, whether it's your dining room or a picnic. There. That's my quick-gift-tip for the day. (It originally came from my mom, from whom many good things come...)



I love this time of year... Even though yesterday I didn't sit down except when I was in the car, I am still managing to keep up with the blog reading. It's a great thing to do, since I can knit while pages are loading. I can read what you all are doing, and be encouraged to raise the bar in my own work. Go, crafters! I've been inspired by embroidery, sewing, quilting, and knitting. The more I learn, the more I want to make gifts for everybody. So far, there isn't anyone I love that isn't getting something handmade this year. Cool, ay?

The Biggest Loser show had a factoid that most people gain seven pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since I've gained five of those pounds already, I thought maybe a short diet might be in order. Here's how it's gone so far today... half a creme-filled Long John for breakfast, three cups of black coffee. Note: Not a whole Long John, and I'm burning calories as I sit here vibrating from caffeine. Then later I took the kids to the dentist, and we hit Taco Bell on the way home. I don't really think the Supreme Burrito should have been part of the diet, but it did have lettuce...

So perhaps I'll do better tomorrow =)

What's on the needles?

Here's a pic of the little brown socks I'm working on for my husband. I used the Yarn Harlot's most recent posted pattern, which fits exactly with what I wanted for a sock pattern. It's easy to remember, with a little visual interest that looks fancy. You just use a k2 p2 rib, then after six rows of that, jog over one stitch and do it for another six rows. I like how it looks.


I'm working on this sock because I left the boot sock at church yesterday, which was really too bad. I was on the toe and looking forward to starting the second one. At a rate of three days per pair (size 4 needles and worsted weight yarn helps) lots of people might get boot socks for the holidays =)


I Googled felted mittens for a friend of mine, which will be made with this Noro Kureyon yarn. These aren't a Christmas gift, as she bought the yarn and asked me to knit them, but I'm hoping to get a free haircut out of it =) If you have a friend who's a good hairdresser, make them mittens. That kind of karma can never go wrong.

Trials and Tribulations

Okay, so far, just trials. Here's a picture of some Christmas knitting, waiting to be transformed into the tribulations part!


Pretty, ay? Boot socks, mittens, perhaps a scarf – my list is overconfident, so I'm trying to knit fast. See that beautiful Noro? Mittens, mittens. Mmmmm. But first, the boot socks. I'm afraid that I don't have enough yarn, and it's pretty pricey, so I don't want to buy more. So my plan is to knit as quickly as possible so I'll know if I need to buy that last skein of cream, before someone else does. Because I didn't want to waste time, I was a good girl, and made a gauge! I even washed it! I've only done this once before, but now that I know a bit more about knitting, it seems like a really good idea. My gauge swatch shrunk just a wee bit (half a stitch per inch and half a row per inch), but I made my sock with this shrinkage in mind. I'm racing along in my knitting, and about 11:30 at night, my husband looked over and said, “That looks a bit big.”

Yeah, it did. Having someone else say it really pointed it out. So I frogged it, quickly, while he watched and said, “Is that really necessary?” Well, it was only a couple of hours of knitting. Best to do it quickly. I went down a few stitches and began again. Then, after I finished the ribbing, the wee bit of alcohol had worn off enough for me to remember the stitch shrinkage. Dangit. It might have turned out okay when I washed it. But I kept knitting, because it really had looked big, and wool stretches after you wear it for awhile, I think.

I knitted like crazy yesterday, trying to get a sock done in a day, but I didn't get to the toe until this morning. I think when you're knitting like that, trying to get a whole lot done, you don't maybe try things on along the way, like you normally would. But I tried it on this morning to see if I should decrease for the toe, and the sock is really loose along my foot. REALLY loose. So loose that I'm thinking I might have fat calves, since it's fitting along my leg. I've never heard of anyone having to decrease for their foot, after the ribbing, so I stop and look at it, really hard. Yup, pretty loose along the foot. It might shrink in the wash, though, like the swatch. Then my subconscious stepped up and whispered I might want to count the stitches. So I did, and I found that after the heel gusset, I had decreased only to my original number of stitches, which was too loose, remember? I should have decreased more to get my second time around number of cast-on stitches. Grr. I quickly frogged again, then thought, “Oh, rats, I should have taken a picture.” Sorry, but you can imagine.

So I'm reknitting again today, and telling myself I am now a process knitter, since I enjoy knitting so dang much. But really, coming up on December, I turn into a product knitter, and I need stuff done. I need mittens done, and socks, and maybe a scarf. Yikes!

And by the way, it's really no good being a good girl and knitting your swatch, washing your swatch, measuring your swatch, if you are going to thereafter ignore your swatch.

Got socks?

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I was actually not feeling well, so I sat in front of the computer and read blogs. It was nice to give myself permission to do that, even if it did take a headache and a bit of nausea to make it happen. (Plus, it was a fun party) So I'm feeling pretty caught up on the blogs, and just for fun (??) I counted how many sites on my blog roll I would need to read to be completely caught up - 51!!!!! Yikes! Time to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I love me a sense of completion.

Speaking of a sense of completion, I really have to share this photo. It's from at least a month ago, and I should have posted it before now, but here 'tis. I walked into my mom's house, and apparently it was sock washing day. She washes her socks when she's worn every single handknit pair but one, and so has to wash for more. Look at all these socks!!!! And that's not even all of them. We had to take three pictures to capture all of the socks hung around her house. Too cool.


They look even better when they're strung all over her balcony drying in the air, like a more recent incident, but the batteries were dead in the camera, darn it. But how cool is this? I have six pair of handknit socks, and really felt my feet were well covered. Knitting isn't a competition, but I do feel free now to knit extra socks and just enjoy having them. It would definitely make for less sock washing days, too. Go, Mom!

And a bunny update: Mr. Testosterone came out for a bit yesterday morning. I gave him toys to play with, and brushed him verrrry little.


He liked the toys, but got pissed off when I brushed him. *sigh* Like I needed another kid...

Tuesdays are for Drama

As in, I can't find anything, because I've been cleaning my house so people can come over. Why doesn't it look like other people's pretty houses yet?

Oh, and some drama because one of my bunnies thinks he's tougher than me.... right now he's right. Poor little furry thing gets right under my guard, and you can't force him to submit to the brush, cuz that would be wrong, wrong, wrong. But it's all very frustrating. I do believe he's grown up and gotten his own personality, darn it.

And what in the world do you feed the kids when you don't want to fill the fridge up with leftovers before Thanksgiving???

And why can't I have the yarn I ordered from the store?!? I refuse to cast anything on, because I know I'm about to dive into a big project, so I just keep walking around working on the husband's socks. He'll be happy soon, though, cuz with nothing else on the needles, these babies should fly. The yarn I ordered is for a sweater for my second child, and she wants to design it. Now that I think of it, second grade was when my first daughter wanted to design her own sweater. Perhaps I should be discussing this with their teacher....

Oh, and of course Tuesday is for drama club, where 21 kids and *ahem* me, try to sort out what we're doing in two weeks for the Christmas program. Actually, my husband is there, too, but I'm meaner and yellier - is that a word? - so I feel like it's me and 21 kids debating for who gets to talk. He stays out of the way and calmly watches until I turn on him like a cat and hiss, "Do something!" Then he calmly gets their attention. *sigh* I had to have missed a class on communication somewhere along the way.

No knitting to show but a sad little brown sock... and this blue hat, which is too big. But I have accepted the challenge, thrown down the gauntlet, become a more determined individual. I will make this hat submit, since it isn't little and furry and doesn't have feelings. I will win. (It fits me great, but it's not meant for me, is it?)



That's enough drama for now =)

My new yarn security system

Last minute, my daughters had a friend over today. They had some kind of fun, acting like I always did with my friends when I was little. It was fun just watching them sing and dance to our High School Musical cd, which is THE thing for preteens right now. Then they decided to install "lasers" all around the living room, to trip people up. I had to get out to take the girl home, and I can testify that it was no easy feat. Cool. Another use for yarn.




The birthday party was swell the other day. Here's the youngest, who gets more joy out of a birthday party than I've ever seen anyone get. Just standing next to the cake sends her into throes of euphoria. See how she smiles, and one eye shuts tighter than the other? All of my kids' eyes do that. I think it must be a sign of genius. Makes for interesting school pictures, though...



And here's a picture of the birthday lady, 84 and in better shape than I am, I suspect. She can pop up off the floor from doing puzzles with a grandkid, and I'd be heaving up onto one leg, trying to get good leverage. *sigh* But Happy Birthday to her, and I'm really happy, because she likes handmade things just as much as I do =)


And yes, I have been knittin'! I think I figured out the hat pattern, and so have been forging on. Let's hope when I get done it isn't a smidge too tight or vastly too big. If it's too big, I can fix it with elastic. If it's too small, it's back to frogville. And here's a pic of a pair of mittens I spit out this weekend, watching silly sitcom t.v., because I just couldn't stomach the Bionic Woman. I've never seen straight lines delivered so poorly. Couldn't watch it. I tried, though, so I can honestly say that I can't overcome the memory of Lindsay Wagner, and the way the bionic woman used to be....