Knits in Public

Episode 13: Not too Unlucky (but a bit Bizarre)

2012-01-24T15:59:00.001-08:00

What I'm Wearing:
My wedding wrap! It's very simple lace, yarn over, knit two together all the way across with 2 stitch garter edge on each side. Very similar to the Turkish Stitch. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria.

Necklace by Timeless Trinkets.

WIPs

Valentines Day Socks Basic Sock by Ann Budd in Knitterly Things Vesper Sock in colorway Strange Little Mama.

Henry's Black and Red scarf knit in the round, making it up as I go. Knit in Jojoland Tonic.

Basic Vest by Ann Budd in Green Mountain Spinnery Cotton Comfort.

Stash:
Folktale Fibers handspun

Spinning
Indigo dyed Coopworth on my Bosworth spindle.

Babble:
A few new podcasts (find a great list of current audio and video podcasts and stay in the loop on what's new by following the Knitting Podcast blog):

3 Stitches with Michelle, Kathryn and Lindsay
Knit Me Happy with Rachel
Moonie Knits with Maya
Wexford Knits with Rebecca

Episode 12: Ouch!

2012-01-17T19:48:00.001-08:00

What I'm Wearing:

Hunter's Safety Stole by Courtney Kelley in Black Bunny Fibers Handpainted Merino Laceweight.

WIPs

Valentines Day Socks Basic Sock by Ann Budd in Knitterly Things Vesper Sock in colorway Strange Little Mama.

Henry's Black and Red scarf knit in the round, making it up as I go. Knit in Jojoland Tonic.

Basic Vest by Ann Budd in Green Mountain Spinnery Cotton Comfort.

Stash:

KnitPicks Felici in Rainbow, Chroma Worsted in Lollipop and Swish Worsted in a gray, green and blue.

Book Review:

The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd

Babble:

Love the Sassafras Creations recycled knitting needle jewelry.

Laura DERN's (not Linney as I said originally. Thanks, Lisa, for setting me straight in the comments!) stunning green dress.

Episode 11: Socks! (And a Scarf)

2012-01-11T09:55:00.000-08:00

What I'm Wearing:
Bigfoot Shawl by Alison Jeppson Hyde from Wrapped in Comfort: Knitted Lace Shawls. Yarn is JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool.

FOs:
Grandma's favorite dishcloth in mystery cotton

WIPs:
Valentines Day Socks Basic Sock by Ann Budd in Knitterly Things Vesper Sock in colorway Strange Little Mama.

Angee by Cookie A. in Sock Innovations.
Yarn is Green Mountain Spinnery Sock Art-Forest

Basic (Rainbow) Socks by Ann Budd Steam Valley Fiber Hand Dyed Sock Yarn in Rainbow

Henry's Black and Red scarf knit in the round, making it up as I go. Knit in Jojoland Tonic.

WIPs on hiatus for now
Basic Socks by Ann Budd in Tess Designer Yarns Super Sock and Baby

Spinning:
The Dying Arts Duos in Goblin Seas.
Next on the wheel: one of two Loop bullseye bumps.

Babble
Girl Gone Loopy Etsy shop

Two podcasts that I love:
CraftStash
Knitting Blooms

Health:
Wii Zumba is tons of fun!
Greek yogurt as dip. Yum!
Flaxseeds--info about health benefits.

Episode 10: 2011 Recap and 2012 Goals

2012-01-04T13:14:00.001-08:00

What I'm Wearing:
Thetis
Yarn is Valley Yarns Colrain

FOs:
Henry's 1by1 rib scarf

More Garter Dishcloth with Pointy Corners by Marlene Wood
Yarn--Knitpicks Dishie

WIPs:
Basic Socks by Ann Budd in Tess Designer Yarns Super Sock and Baby

Valentines Day Socks Basic Sock by Ann Budd in Knitterly Things Vesper Sock in colorway Strange Little Mama.

Angee by Cookie A. in Sock Innovations.
Yarn is Green Mountain Spinnery Sock Art-Forest

eLoomanator's Diagonal Knit Dishcloth in mystery cotton

New Stash!
Steam Valley Fiber Hand Dyed Sock Yarn in Rainbow

Madelinetosh Pashmina in Cedar

Classic Elite Yarns Chesapeake

Adiafil Knitcol

Jojoland Tonic in red and black

Spinning
I plyed 4oz of The Dyeing Arts in Goblin Seas

Babble

2011 in Review: I knit 42 projects!
2012 Goals:
Dishcloth a month
Start a gift every month (but don't have to finish one a month)
Knit a sweater for me
Knit long fingerless gloves
Knit felted slippers
spin 4 oz a month
And, of course, stick to my yarn fast.

New stitch markers from BeaGin Design on Etsy

Episode 9: Just Episode 9

2011-12-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

What I'm Wearing
Horizontal Ribbed Cowl
Yarn is SMC Select Tweed Deluxe

Finished Objects
The aforementioned cowl and

Henry's log cabin blanket!
Yarn--Sirdar Escape
Needles--Size US 10/6 mm

WIPs
1x1 ribbed scarf for Henry

Babble
I got an amazing swap pattern from Naomi in the Mommy Needs Yarn holiday swap

I have two knitpicks gift certs to acquire new yarn. Yay!

Episode 8: A Little Manic

2011-12-14T15:40:00.001-08:00

What I'm Wearing

Starving Artist by Laura Linneman
Yarn--Berroco Vintage Chunky
Needles--US 10.5/6.5 mm

FOs
Pillow Napkins. No pattern to link to. Just make a pillow but don't stuff it. After you turn right side out, top stitch around entire piece to close up the opening.

Grab bag

Candy Cane Socks
Basic socks from Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn--Holiday Yarns in Candy Cane
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

WIPs
Just Henry's log cabin blanket
Yarn--Sirdar Escape
Needles--Size US 10/6 mm

Stash
Unisono by Zitron

Babble
Quick podcast because I worked late and don't have a lot of works in progress. Hope to cast on more soon!

Contest winner!

Episode 7: Dreaming of Yarn

2011-12-07T17:07:00.000-08:00

Contest!
Leave a comment on the Knits in Public Ravelry group by midnight on Dec. 10 for a chance to win Wishes and Stiches by Rachael Herron.

What I'm Wearing
My first project! A stockinette scarf in unknown silky wool. Maybe Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool?

FOs
Starving Artist by Laura Linneman
Yarn--Berroco Vintage Chunky
Needles--US 10.5/6.5 mm

Dishcloth set for sister-in-law
Garter Dishcloth with Pointy Corners by Marlene Wood
Yarn--Knitpicks Dishie and Bernat Cotton
size US 5/3.75 mm

WIPs
Log Cabin Blanket pattern from my head
Yarn--Sirdar Escape
Needles--Size US 10/6 mm

Candy Cane Socks
Basic socks from Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn--Holiday Yarns in Candy Cane
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

Stash
SMC Select Tweed Deluxe
Will probably make something like this Horizontal Ribbed Cowl.

Episode 6: Holiday Progress

2011-11-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

FOs:

Henry’s Christmas Socks
Basic socks from Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn--leftovers
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

Geoff's Christmas Socks
Basic socks from Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn--Tess' Super Socks & Baby
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

One Row Handspun Scarf by Stephanie Pearl McPhee
Yarn--leftovers from my Kenobi Jacket: Adrienne Vittadini Trina
Size US 8/5 mm

Lined Beanie by Heather Kinne
Knit Picks Swish Worsted
Size US 3/3.25 mm

To be frogged--It's just too itchy:
Mistake Rib Scarf by Stephen Jones
Yarn--100% Alpaca sort weight from Big Willows Alpaca Ranch in Mesick, Mich.
Needles--Size US 6/4 mm

WIPs
Log Cabin Blanket
Yarn--Sirdar Escape
Needles--Size US 10/6 mm

Dishcloth set for sister-in-law
Garter Dishcloth with Pointy Corners by Marlene Wood
Yarn--Knitpicks Dishie and Bernat Cotton
size US 5/3.75 mm

Candy Cane Socks
Basic socks from Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn--Holiday Yarns in Candy Cane
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

Stash:
Valley Yarns Semi-Solid Hand Dyed Sock Yarn dyed by the Kangaroo Dyer in Malea (green) and Tidepool (blue). Beautiful!

Contest:
Leave a comment on the Ravelry group for a chance to win my water damaged, but still readable, copy of Wishes and Stitches by Rachael Herron.

Podcasts I like:
Mommy Needs Yarn

Stitch It

Episode 5: Using Scraps!

2011-11-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

Show Notes:

What I'm wearing:

Morning Glory Wrap by Anne Hanson
Yarn is Briar Rose Fibers Wistful, 2 skeins

FOs:
Turtle by Lisa Earle
Yarn--KnitPicks CotLin in Linen.
Needles--size US 3/3.25 mm

Mittens for H
Basic Mittens from Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn is leftovers from my stole: Briar Rose Fibers Wistful
Needles--size US 4/3.5 mm

WIPs:
Lined Beanie by Heather Kinne
Knit Picks Swish Worsted
Size US 3/3.25 mm

Didn't Touch:
Mistake Rib Scarf by Stephen Jones
Yarn--100% Alpaca sort weight from Big Willows Alpaca Ranch in Mesick, Mich.
Needles--Size US 6/4 mm

Log Cabin Blanket
Yarn--Sirdar Escape
Needles--Size US 10/6 mm

Candy Cane Socks
Basic socks from Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn--Holiday Yarns in Candy Cane
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

Henry’s Christmas Socks
Basic socks fromAnn Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn--leftovers
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

Spinning:
Indigo dyed coopworth fiber on my Bosworth spindle

Stash:
Neighborhood Fibers Co.
Capital Luxury Worsted in colorway Rock Creek

Listen to DC Unraveled audio podcast to learn more about the park that inspires this colorway.

Babble:
Thank you to Nicole and Dawn of the Wolfe Farms podcast for mentioning me!

New podcasts I am enjoying:
Stockinette Zombie—with Amy and Megan in Minnesota.

Watcha Swatchin—with Emily in D.C., ohfancypants on Ravelry and Plurk.

The Charming Lochie Podcast with Kelly in Scotland.

Episode 4: I made it to a month!

2011-11-09T18:55:00.000-08:00

Show Notes:

What I'm wearing:

Shetland Triangle Lace Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark
Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Silk
656.2 yards/600.0 meters in stash
size 6 US/4.0 mm

Turtle by Lisa Earle
Yarn--KnitPicks CotLin in Linen.
Needles--size US 3/3.25 mm

Mistake Rib Scarf by Stephen Jones
Yarn--100% Alpaca sort weight from Big Willows Alpaca Ranch in Mesick, Mich.
Needles--Size US 6/4 mm

Log Cabin Blanket
Yarn--Sirdar Escape
Needles--Size US 10/6 mm

Candy Cane Socks
Basic socks fromAnn Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn--Holiday Yarns in Candy Cane
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

Lined Beanie by Heather Kinne
Knit Picks Swish Worsted
Size US 3/3.25 mm

Henry’s Christmas Socks
Basic socks fromAnn Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn--leftovers
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

Spinning:
The Dying Arts

Goblin Seas Duo

Babble

Knitting Podcast blog list is a really helpful resource for finding new podcasts, video or audio. Check it out.

Two Chicago yarn stores:
Knit1--dog friendly store. Malabrigo, Noro, Kauni
Small but inviting shop
Mom bought Mendocino by Crystal Palace. Pretty rainbow colorway in long strips, a la Noro but in merino so it was very soft.

Knitters Niche – a little messy; I got a sad vibe from the place. Dream in Color, Lornas Laces, lots of knitted items for sale, lace shawls and scarves.
I bought Knitscene Winter 2011. I normally love Knitscene but was a little underwhelmed with this issue.

Episode 3: Feeling Dorky and Lots of Goof Ups

2011-11-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

Show Notes

Finished Objects:

Kenobi Jacket by Norah Gaughan
Knitscene Spring 2007
Yarn--Adrienne Vittadini Trina
Needles--Size US 9/5.5 mm and US 7/4.5 mm

Mirian Cowl by Jane Richmond
Yarn--Mirasol Ushya
Needles--Size US 15 (10 mm)

Cauchy Socks by Cookie A. from Sock Innovations
Yarn--Dragonfly Fibers Djinni in Robin's Egg.
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

WIPs:

Turtle by Lisa Earle
Yarn--KnitPicks CotLin in Linen.
Needles--size US 3/3.25 mm

Mistake Rib Scarf by Stephen Jones
Yarn--100% Alpaca sort weight from Big Willows Alpaca Ranch in Mesick, Mich.
Needles--Size US 6/4 mm

Log Cabin Blanket
Yarn--Sirdar Escape
Needles--Size US 10/6 mm

Candy Cane Socks
Basic socks fromAnn Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn--Holiday Yarns in Candy Cane
Needles--Size US 1/2.25 mm

Stash:

Crown Mountain Farms Cormo in Annunaki on Tiamat

Babble
Turns out I blogged about dorks three times at the beginning of my blog career. My post about why I love dorks, post about famous cute dorks and my post about my self-declared "Love a Dork Day."

Lisa Shroyer's blog post about using yarn before it is discontinued.

Episode 2

2011-10-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Show Notes:

Finished object!
Halloween socks: Out of Step Dyeworks in Everyday is Halloween.
Pattern is from Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.

WIPs:
Cauchy socks by Cookie A.
Yarn is Dragonfly Fibers Djinni in Robin's Egg.

Turtle by Lisa Earle
Yarn is KnitPicks CotLin in Linen.

New stash:
Green Mountain Green by Green Mountain Spinnery from my trip to Vermont, which was my last yarn buying expedition until Oct. 2012

Sirdar Escape acquired through a trade.

New! Videocast!

2011-10-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, if there is an "everyone" left reading this blog. I haven't blogged since Jan. 2010 but now I'm starting a videocast? Am I crazy? Maybe. But I'm embarking on a year of not buying yarn and I figured this videocast would help keep me honest. It's my first attempt, so there's lots of room for improvement! But here's the first episode and I hope it's not too dorky.

Show notes:

Halloween socks: Out of Step Dyeworks in Everyday is Halloween.
Pattern is from Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.

Cauchy socks by Cookie A.
Yarn is Dragonfly Fibers Djinni in Robin's Egg.

Toddler hat pattern from Ann Budd's book and yarn is Araucania Limari.

New stash:
Road to China Light in Sapphire from Webs.

Green Mountain Spinnery Sock Art Forest in colorway Sumac. And Cotton Comfort in Navy.

Hard cider from Brattleboro, Vt., farmers market is Whetstone Ciderworks. If you like hard cider and live near there, you should get some.

I have a problem

2010-01-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

So while reading novels I find myself itching for the characters to pick up some knitting during scenes where they are waiting for something.

In Good Night, Mr. Holmes (a book about the Sherlock Holmes character Irene Adler and her sidekick: a conservative, proper minister's daughter. Sort of the Dr. Watson to Irene's Holmes), there were several scenes in the women's apartments and I was practically screaming for them to pick up some knitting. (Fun book, by the way!)

And in the more contemporary Me and Mr. Darcy, about a 20-something New York girl who goes on a Jane Austen bus tour of England, I was so jumpy at the thought of all that travel time (the long flight and then the bus tour!) without knitting. (Book was just meh.)

See? I have a problem. It's getting out of control. Maybe I need to stick to knitting fiction.

Henry's Hat

2009-11-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

The weather is starting to get cold here in Baltimore so I whipped up a new hat for Henry. And he actually consented to wear it in the car to daycare one day last week.

It is the Basic Hat Pattern from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Bud.

I used about 1/2 a skein of Farmhouse Yarns Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene. I love this yarn! I still have about 3 skeins of it left, in blue, green and toffee. I might make myself a hat next.

Actually it was less than 1/2 a skein. I made some icord ties that expand into a small triangle to fasten on to the hat. I'm thinking he won't always be so happy to wear the hat and the ties will help it stay on during the really cold weather. But I'll fasten those later if I need to.

A very quick and rewarding project.

Grab bags!

2009-10-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

I have gone crazy over this easy bag pattern. It's a great fabric stash buster. I think it's the perfect size for a sock in progress or another small project. Plus, it could double as a little evening bag. The pattern calls for batting, which would make a stiffer, heavier bag. But I prefer my project bags to be as smooshy as possible so I can stuff them into a bigger bag.

I sent the purple one to my secret pal. I gave the turqoise one to the owner of my LYS, which is sadly closing.

The black one is mine. And I'll be making many more of these!

Secret Pal Final Package

2009-10-03T08:01:00.001-07:00

I got my last Secret Pal 14 package this week and Wow! it was a good one! My spoiler was Cassandra.

I got:

Two skeins of her hand dyed yarn in blues. Love them! You can see her items for sale on ebay.

A pretty red project bag that will be perfect for socks.

Some treats to eat and some treats for the bath. I love grapefruit and bergamot scented bath products and she got me two soaps and some bath salts. I am already using, and loving, one of the soaps.

Thank you so much, Cassandra! You really spoiled me.

How many handknits can you wear at a U2 concert?

2009-09-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

Answer: at least 4!

G and went to the U2 concert in Foxboro, Mass., last Sunday, Sept. 20. We drove up to Connecticut for the weekend. Spent some time with his family and some time with my brother, SIL, niece and nephew. My MIL babysat Sunday night and G, my BIL and his fiance went to the show.

We arrived early to tailgate with sandwiches, grapes, chips and wine. We played some bean-bag toss. We even popped into a bar that had a U2 cover band called 2U playing. They were really good! Not as good as the real thing, of course.

It was a perfect night, crisp and cool but not cold. The band rocked.

I wore:

A hat I made in the car ride up.
My pink stole.
My Dashing mitts.
My purple socks.

Fun times! Our next concert will be indoors, so no handknits. We're seeing KISS in DC in a couple of weeks. G is a huge fan. I am ... not. But I think the show will be fun all the same. He scored tickets in the second row right in front of Gene Simmons. We are going to take the day off and take Henry to DC. Hopefully it will be nice and we can go to the zoo. Then G's aunt will babysit while we go to dinner and the concert. I think it will be a fun day.

Organizing

2009-09-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

I couldn't stand it anymore. So last night, after work while H napped, I attacked my knitting and craft area and organized it!

I gathered up all my knitting magazines from around the house and put them in magazine holders. I couldn't find two. Hope they turn up soon. I was thinking of finally starting the Spring 2007 Knitscene cover sweater, Kenobi Jacket by Norah Gaughan. Oh well, it will turn up eventually.

I organized my yarn. I now have enough sock yarn for it to get its own container. I have three large plastic tubs, plus the two big, heavy plastic bags that my Boppys came in (while I was nursing, I found it essential to have two: one for upstairs and one for downstairs). The bags are perfect for holding yarn! So my sock yarn is one and the other holds odd balls and partial skeins. I have one tub for shawls and scarves, one for sweaters and one for more sweaters and roving. Yes, I own some roving even though I don't spin. Some of it is from a needle felting kit I bought but there are two new braids that I had to buy because I love the colors. I just needed them for inspiration!

I also have one small, heavy plastic bag that a pregnancy stomach wedge pillow came in that I used for my cotton and baby yarn.

I also organized, in file folders, my loose patterns and the patterns that I've printed from the Internet.

The final piece of the organization was putting projects in project bags.

With a 14-month old, a full-time job, a house to clean, dinners to cook, a yard to cultivate, plus a moderate amount of personal and business travel, I find it essential to have a variety of projects in different stages that I can grab and go for different purposes, whether it's knit night or the dentist or a long phone meeting or a trip. I need plenty of plain projects that I can knit without consulting a pattern. I want some more complicated ones for when I have an hour or two to sit. When I have just two or three projects going, somehow I always end up at complicated spot in each of them at the same time. Maybe it's just turning the heel, but I can't do that while on a phone meeting because I can't count and give my full attention to the meeting. Starting something new always takes more time and concentration than working on something in progress, too. So, while my ideal number of WIPs is 3-4, I find it's better to start a few more than that all at once when I have a big block of time so I can grab and go later.

This whole organization project helped me find the perfect sock yarn in my stash to make socks for my grandpa. And I dug out the purple malabrigo that I bought a couple of years ago to make a shawl for my grandma.

I pulled out some sweater yarn to start two new projects and found an old garter stitch baby blanket I started before my nephews (now almost three) were born. It's pink and I figured that with two babies on the way one of them was bound to be a girl, right? Wrong! I do have a new niece now, so I'm thinking of making it a small doey. (A "doey" is what my family calls those small blankets that others refer to as "loveys.")

But right now I am going to go start a basic hat. I need a good stockinette in the round project for my weekend trip. We are driving to Connecticut tomorrow and going to see U2 in the Boston area on Sunday night!

Mini Break!

2009-09-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

We are headed to South Carolina, near Charleston, for a long weekend. It's been a long week. Henry got his first ear infection and was home from daycare for a few days. I'm on deadline at work and could not take real PTO. I took PTO but I still had to work in order to meet the deadlines. Plus, I was trying to work ahead so I could be off while on vacation. So I was trying to get as much work done as possible during naptime and after dinner. Needless to say, I am worn out!

Still have a ton of work to finish up before we can leave today. And I keep thinking of things to add to the already-packed car!

I am hoping to find a yarn shop in Charleston. I already have one idea, thanks to Doris of the Baltimore Knitting Meetup group (that is no longer on meetup, just Ravelry now) and I want to try the Chocolate Coca-Cola cake she told me about!

I've got two socks in progress packed. Maybe I'll get some pictures of them on the beach or by the pool. We'll see. Vacation with a baby doesn't leave much time for knitting.

Baby Knits

2009-08-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

I've got a baby (though he is starting to turn into a toddler) but I don't do a ton of baby knitting.

True, I've made him a few items: a blanket, two hats, and two sweaters. I've also got a vest in the works and want to make him a new hat for this winter.

But, I don't knit for other babies. I could knit for my nieces and nephews, but so far have only made one hat for one niece. Maybe it is because my family is so large and I fear that if I knit for one, then I'll have to knit for everyone at every occasion and then I would be constantly knitting for my family and never for me! I do knit for others. But I do so in a very limited way. I don't try to knit something for every family member for every Christmas and birthday. With five brothers, three sisters-in-law, five nieces/nephews, two grandparents and dozens of cousins, aunts and uncles, I couldn't do it. I'd have to open a small knitting business to cover them all. And that is just MY family. G's family adds a few more people to the mix.

But I do choose a few people to knit for each year. Last year, I made cowls for my sisters-in-law.

I also made scarves for G's dad and step-mom and a shawl for his mother.

And I made a hat for my youngest brother when he requested "a super cool hand knit hat" to wear at college. How could I say no to that?! (No picture, I'm afraid. I was so excited to finish it and send it to him that I forgot. And good luck getting a college boy to send you a picture of him modeling a hat (I did ask).

This year, I making a scarf for G's aunt who lives in DC and has been so generous with her time in the past year. She has cooked for us and babysat on several occasions.

I do like knitting for others. And I do like knitting for babies. Baby stuff is so tiny and dear and it goes quick! I think that if I had more knitting time, I would always have a baby item on the go for some future relative. But I really enjoy knitting most of all for me. And I don't feel bad about that. Well, I do sometimes feel bad about it: I would love to knit for everyone. If I had more knitting time, I would. But my way works for me. When I feel really compelled to knit for someone, then I do. Sometimes, I'll see a yarn and think that it belongs to so and so. Sometimes I just think so and so is so lovely, I'd like to make her something lovely. Last year, I fell in love with Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene and had to buy several skeins of it. I justified the cost by making it into cowls for my SILs.

That said, my favorite baby items to knit are hats. They are so quick and so cute on the little ones. I don't have a favorite hat pattern, but I did just make this one in a toddler/kid size by casting on 80 stitches instead of 100. I think I'll make another one. It's easy and the ribbing makes it easy to fit lots of different heads. It looks soooo cute on H even though it is not intended for him.

(Also, you can see his favorite toy, the monkey. He grabs that monkey, puts its arms over his head and walks or crawls all over the place with Monkey hanging on. Fun!)

Storms and a Shawl

2009-08-22T07:44:00.001-07:00

We've had some big storms here last week. On Friday, I took myself out to lunch and made it home just in time before the downpour started. I even had time to snap this photos on my phone.

Looking West from my house:

Looking East from my house:

I was glad to be inside my house when the rain started, all nice and cosy. I even got a bit cold and had to put on my pink lace shawl. I don't think I put up a picture about this yet. I finished it in the spring. It is the Hunter's Safety Stole. I purchased the yarn (Black Bunny Fibers) and pattern at Stitches East 2006.

This photo shows how long it is, along with how messy my hair (G thought it looked tossled and sexy. Seeing it in this photo, it just looks a mess) and couch are. But I had to include it because I love that H is imitating me in the lower left corner with his arms stretched out. "Mama, I love you so much!"

Great, easy pattern. Beautiful yarn. Lovely stole that will be a great layering piece this winter. I can use it as a scarf and unfold it when I need a bit more on my shoulders.

Good Mail Day

2009-08-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

The past week has been a big rough around here. Nothing huge, just exhausting. Last Thursday G came home from work with a fever and the aches. He promptly took himself to the doctor Friday morning because someone in his office had the swine flu.

But he tested negative (thank goodness) and was diagnosed with "just a virus." That virus turned out to be particularly nasty. He was so sore that he could barely walk and couldn't lift things. So that meant I was on H duty full time over the weekend. And on grocery duty and cooking duty. To make it worse, H was getting some molars and wasn't especially happy himself.

So by Monday, I was pretty tired and starting to get sick myself. But when the mail arrived with the Knitpicks catalog and a package from my Secret Pal, I was very excited! Two knitting things in one day!

Here's a photo.

I love everything. I needed new face clothes. And these are just perfect for me! I adore the pink.

The blue yarn is from her hand dye business. It's merino and I just love the color.

I'm not sure yet what I am going to do with the teal cotton yarn, but I am thinking it could make a cute dress for my new niece!

Plus it all arrived smelling so nice from the sachet.

Thanks, Pal! I really love it all!

Rhinebeck, maybe?

2009-08-17T05:54:00.000-07:00

I am excited. Last week I was checking out the NY Sheep and Wool Festival Web site and saw all the cool kid activities. I showed G and we talked about possibly going this year. G went to school at Vassar in Poughkeepsie and he loves the area.

We're not going to decide until closer to the date, which I realize might make it impossible to go b/c the hotel rooms in the area could be sold out by then. But I am still excited. Even if we don't go this year, I think we'll go some year, which is very exciting!

I was very envious while reading all the reports from Sock Summit. I am craving a knitting event!

From Boston to St John (USVI!) Morning Glory Wrap

2009-08-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

Behold, my From Boston to St. John (USVI!) Morning Glory Wrap.

I cast on July 6, 2008. The day before I went in to labor with H. I hoped that if I started a new project, my baby would be born a few days early. And it worked!

This is worked in two halves and grafted in the center. During my maternity leave, I knit the first half. Then I picked up the second half during the spring of 2009. I finished the knitting a few days after my son’s first birthday!

The pattern is fun. And pretty. But the stitch pattern is worked on both sides. There is no purl back "break" row. Instead, you've got things like purl three together through the back loops. AND and a section where you end in mid repeat. But the first few times you do those rows, you aren't sure where you end. I mean, the pattern doesn't specify what stitches to end on. So if one messed up a row or two before, it wouldn't be apparent right away that one had the wrong number of stitches. And tinking (and swearing) would occur.

I did a lot of tinking and ripping, especially while I worked on this late at night as a new mom. Probably not the best pattern to try when your brain is fried from lack of sleep, but I needed something to challenge me at the same time. I needed to proove to myself that I could still knit with a baby.

It went smoother once H was a month or two old and napped alone more and and played on his activity mat, batting at the toys. There were mornings when I was able to knit for an hour or so. It was such a sweet time. We were on the back porch, with lovely breezes coming in and nothing more pressing to do than nurse him and then knit while I watched him play or sleep. I'll always remember those lovely, free months when I wear this shawl.

As I said, I finished the first half on my maternity leave and then put it down when I went back to work. At that time, I switched to more basic knitting that I could pick up and work on without a lot of thought not knowing if I would have 10 minutes or two hours of free time.

But I picked it up again this past spring when I had longer blocks of time again. H didn't need to nurse every two hours anymore. He took longer daytime naps. A few times G took him to the grocery store and let me have an hour or so alone at home. I think I even brought it to knit night once, but it's not great social knitting.

A note about the shawl's name. It is officially the Morning Glory Wrap by Anne Hanson.

But I started calling it the From Boston to St. John (USVI) Morning Glory Wrap after a song on the "baby soothe" playlist on my podcast. Before H was born, G spent a lot of time making playlists for various situations. The baby soothe one has 100 or so songs and we put it on in the evenings while we all hung out in our bedroom. I listened to it many times while nursing H and one song stuck out to me. Boston and St. John's by Great Big Sea is a such a lovely, soft song. But one lyric in particular always confused me.

"There isn't that much ocean between Boston and St. John's."

Huh? I thought. There's the entire Atlantic coast and then the Caribbean between Boston and St John, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. That seemed like a lot of ocean to me. So one night I mentioned this to G and he said, "um, it's the one in Canada?" Of course, the St. John in New Brunswick!

So back to the shawl. It is done in two colors of Briar Rose Fibers Wistful (gorgeous alpaca, merino and silk yarn) that I bought at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival in Sept. 2007. I bought both the yarn and pattern after I saw a sample in the Briar Rose booth. But they didn't have two skeins of the yarn in the same colorways (well, no they did, but in a mauve/magenta color that I wasn't me). So I picked out two skeins in blues, greens with a bit of tan. Only one was more navy and other more turqoise. The owner suggested I use one for the netting border and the other for the main pattern. So this is what I did. And while I worked on the shawl in the evenings in my room and listened to this song and thought of the colors of the ocean near Boston and near St. John, USVI, and thought the colors in this shawl captured those two waters nicely. And thus the name came into being (along with this long story).

I love this shawl! It is probably the most complicated thing that I've knit so far. And I love the memories that are knit up into it. I can't wait to wear it this fall when the temperature cools. In the meantime, I still have to block it!

New Socks

2009-07-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

I finished a pair of vanilla socks. The yarn is Kona superwash sock dyed by blogger KnitPastis. She had a blog contest a few years ago and I won! I long ago used up all the other goodies she sent. I actually started a pair of Child's First Socks with this yarn back in 2007. But I very soon after got pregnant and stopped knitting because it made me nauseous. Fast forward to 2009. These days I need lots of plain projects with easy knitting that I can pick up on the go and don't need to waste precious knitting time figuring out where I left off. So the plain socks are my project these days. Well, that is when I only have a few minutes here and there to knit. When I know that I have an hour or more, I'll pick up a more complicated project like the Morning Glory Wrap (which will get its own post later).

I love this yarn! KnitPastis did a beautiful job dyeing it. The base is luscious. So happy to have another pair of hand-knit socks to wear this fall!

Secret Pal Goodies

2009-07-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last week, I got my first package from my Secret Pal. Yeah for yarn goodies!

There were two skeins of Knit Picks Gloss, which is 70% merino and 30% silk. And it feels so lovely and soft. I love the chocolate brown color, too.

Speaking of chocolate, there was also a candy bar that I am savoring. I had a few bites this weekend and a few more right now!

Also, to go with the socks, a pretty pattern called Country Girl Socks.

Finally, a cute keychain with crocheted sweater rounded out the package.

Thank you, Pal!

I have my first box ready to go out to my pal today. I guess I should take pictures of that, too.

Random Things

2009-07-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

For those of you on Facebook, you may recall that the 25 random things note was going around a few months ago. I need to post more to my blog--and I have things to photograph!--but haven't gotten to them yet. I think I'll have time this weekend though.

Anyway, I did this random things list several months ago on Facebook, and just realized, duh!, I could share here too. I wrote this in February, so I've add parentheses in a few spots to bring it up to date.

Here's a bunch of random things, some about me, some not.

1. I went to Catholic school from grade 1-3 and 5-8. For some reason grade 4 was public and it was in a building right next to the Catholic school. We all went over to the Catholic school once a week (Dyersville friends: is that right? More often?) for religion class.

2. This was in Dyersville, Iowa, home to the movie Field of Dreams. It was filmed after my family had moved away.

3. I don’t like the expressions “babywearing” or “wear your baby.” But I do love the concept. I carried H around in a sling, moby wrap and imitation baby bjorn thing a lot when he was smaller (and weighed less!). He loved it. But talking about wearing a baby just … creeps me out.

4. I like pickles a lot. G doesn’t.

5. I used to eat sand when I was a baby. On our recent trip [in Jan. not really so recent anymore] H ate sand. I think it’s genetic.

6. I’ve taken lots of dance classes as an adult, including ballroom, ballet, flamenco and belly.

7. I don’t use the terminal comma in lists.

8. Speaking of grammar, I hate how the overuse of “myself” has become so common in the last five years or so. As in, “Gary invited Jane and myself to the party.” It should be “Jane and me.” You wouldn’t say “Gary invited myself to the party,” right?

9. I wear my hair in pigtails a lot.

10. Somehow the hospital where I gave birth had my age wrong. Some paperwork said I was 31, when I was actually 32. But I was so out of it that I thought maybe they’re right and I’m wrong! After all, they probably plugged my birth date into some software program that spit out my age. How could it be wrong? I had to do the math to double check. I was bummed to discover that, yes, I was actually 32 [now 33].

11. I don’t know what I want for my birthday yet. That’s OK though cause it’s not til the end of May. [I figured it out eventually. I asked for, and got, a craft area set up in the basement. Now I have my sewing machine set up, a table for cutting fabric, all my yarn and fabric neatly (well...) stored. It was the best gift!]

12. There is a mattress in my office.

13. There’s also a pot of calla lilies (G’s V-day gift to me) and a baby activity center that a bunch of my coworkers pitched in to buy. H loves it! (Thanks, guys!) [The calla lilies are no longer in my office--but they did last from Valentine's Day until May! The activity center is in the basement now too as H long outgrew it.]

14. I once hiked to the top of a mountain that Cezanne painted.

15. I am tired of winter fruit. I want nectarines, cherries, berries and watermelon. [I am thoroughly enjoying my summer fruits! And I never tire of them.]

16. I am terrible about remembering people’s birthdays.

17. In the latest episode of Top Chef, Fabio wore a pink pashmina scarf. I thought that was cool. [this one is outdated too. This was during the last season of Top Chef. Am really enjoying Top Chef Masters right now.]

18. I don’t think that G would wear a pink, pashmina scarf. But he does wear the blue, merino/cashmere/alpaca blend scarf that I made for him.

19. I would like to be a judge at a pie-making contest.

20. We call H “burrito” a lot. It’s not because he tastes like a burrito (although he did sort of LOOK like a burrito when we used to swaddle him). And it’s not just because he’s great and burritos are great. It’s because we call him Henrito and that sorta rhymes with burrito. So we just started calling him Henrito Burrito and then just Burrito.

21. G really likes to watch funny cat videos. Thus, when we first started dating we watched a lot of America’s Funniest Videos. A friend couldn’t believe that: I don’t think she would have dated a guy who watched AFV. But I say: You can’t go wrong with funny cat videos.

22. I love G’s laugh. Sometimes, I’ll be feeding H upstairs in our bedroom and hear G laughing downstairs in the office (he’s probably watching funny cat videos online). Just hearing him makes me laugh out loud, too, and I tell H he’s got a funny father.

23. I like it that G sometimes calls me by family nickname of Resa.

24. I wore flip flops (granted, they were elegant flip flops) at my wedding and my brothers set up a game of beer pong. The party was in my parents’ backyard. I thought it was beautiful: June in Wisconsin, tons of flowers, white tents, fairy lights, candles, good music, simple but good food. Five cakes (we got five small ones with different flavors instead of one big, fancy wedding cake). I’m not a beer pong player, but I think it’s cool that the guys played.

25. I have 88 unheard podcasts on my itunes. Most of them are knitting podcasts. [oddly enough, this one is still accurate!]

26. Every week, G reads the Savage Love column to me.

27. I call blankets, especially the extra cozy ones like my mom’s quilts, doeys. (sounds like doe eese). It’s a word I made up when I was a kid.

28. I watched Man on Wire last night. It was good. [well, I watched Man on Wire several months ago now. But I still think it was good.]

29. In the town of Westford, Wis., a goat broke into a home and ate a cake. http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/438982

30. This list is too long. But I’m not cutting anything out.

Happy Birthday, Burrito!

2009-07-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my little burrito's first birthday.

We celebrated with G's family on Friday. I made an apple cake with maple frosting. It was so good. I will definitely be baking it again. And I will be doing more baking from scratch in the future.

As you can see he really enjoyed the cake!

Other things he likes: dogs, melon, climbing up the stairs, balls, crawling away from me while he laughs, trashing my office and smiling at his mama and dada.

And here he is in a year of knits.

In his Yoda costume for Halloween:

And more recently "petting" Yoda:

In his winter hat:

In the Duffle Coat Sweater. Picture was taken in December.

No recent pictures of him in knitting. But I leave you with this adorable one. Ah! My baby.

Secret Pal 14 Questions

2009-07-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely not like? I like soft yarns. I love wools and alpaca, the softer the better. Some yarns I love include: Dream in Color, Malabrigo, Blue Sky Alpacas. I like to try different yarns and dyers. I am not anti acrylic: I'll use it for baby items. But it doesn't get me very excited! I don't like scratchy wools for garments, but think they are great for felting.
What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have a couple of fabric needle holders. And the binder that came with my knitpicks options.
How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I've been knitting for about 6 years, I think. My mom taught me to knit in my 20s. I can't remember what year exactly. I'm an intermediate knitter, I'd say.
Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? no
What’s your favorite scent? I love grapefruit and bergamot.
Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Yes! I don't think there is a candy I don't like. I love chocolate. I love fruity candy. I love licorice-y candy. Yum, candy.
What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I sew. For mother's day and my birthday, my husband created a craft corner for me in the basement. Now I have a spot to sew again and I've been making small project bags. I don't spin. But ... there is this braid of roving at my LYS that I loving. So I am wondering how long I will resist. I don't really have time for spinning right now b/c I have a one-year-old. Some day I want to spin, but when he's older. At least that's what I tell myself. :)
What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like folk, some rock and pop, oldies, opera, salsa, and some hip hop. Some of my favorite groups right now: HEM, Josh Ritter, Damien Rice, Kathleen Edwards, U2, Shakira. I can play MP3s.
What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand? I love blue, green, pink, red, brown ... I don't love (or even like) fushia.
What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? It's me, my husband and our baby boy (he's actually turning 1 this week! How did that happen so fast?) right now. No pets.
Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes to all.
What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I always a sock or two going. With the kid, I need an easy to pick up and put down project. A plain sock is perfect. But I also love to knit lace so I usually will have something more complicated to work on when I am alone, which doesn't happen a lot lately.
What are you knitting right now? I have two socks in progress. A plain stockinette one and Outside In from the latest Knitty. I am also working on the Morning Glory Wrap by Anne Hanson. I've been working on that for exactly a year. I started in last year on the Sunday of 4th of July weekend while I waited to go into labor. I hoped that if I started a complicated shawl a few days before my due date, I would go into labor a few days early and I did! I have just a few rows left!
Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Love to!
Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I prefer circulars. I love my Knitpicks Options. Haven't tried the Harmonys yet. Bamboo makes my hands hurt. But wood doesn't for some reason. I have a few pairs of Lantern Moon wood circulars and one set of DPNs that I love.
Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes, both.
How old is your oldest UFO? Hmmm, not too old really. But I am probably forgetting something. I do have a baby blanket from a few years that I never finished. But if I don't intend to finish it does it count? Probably, yes. OK, so about 3 years old. The next oldest is just a few months old. It's a vest I am knitting for baby H. It's almost done but he won't need it until Fall, so I stopped, just temporarily of course!
What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe? I love Thanksgiving because my whole family gets together then. We celebrate Christmas in the winter.
Is there anything that you collect? Just yarn and fabric. Well, I guess I also collect funky (ie big, bold or unusual) necklaces.
Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I have a lot of knitting books. Many that I have never even used. Three that I don't have but need for my queu are: More Big Girl Knits, Knit 2 Together and Simple Style. I'd also like to own the Harmony Guide:Knit and Purl. And I'd like to try the Knit Picks Harmony wood needles, especially the DPNs. I subscribe to Interweave Knits.
Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn? I'd like to learn to knit socks toe up. But I love my DPNs.
Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yes, I love to knit socks. My feet are 10.5 inches long. 8.5 inches around at the foot. And 10.5 inches around at the ankle.
When is your birthday? May 28.
Are you on Ravelry? If so, what’s your ID? I am knitsinpublic.

Something to show!

2009-06-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

So I downloaded a new iphone app that lets me upload photos I take on my phone to flickr. And now I have something to show! (I wish there was a Blogger app that would let me take photos and upload them via the phone directly to Blogger. But hey, at least I'll finally get some photos on to Flickr now. For some reason taking the pics with my camera, downloading them to the computer, uploading them to flickr and then pasting into Blogger is a huge pain. Too many steps. I need fewer steps.)

So anyway, here's a pair of super plain basic socks I made. The yarn is Storm Moon Knits Twilight Sock in Purple Rain. Love this yarn! Love the colors and the stripes and the yarn base. I knit on US size 2, unusual for me who can easily knit socks on size 0s (not that I knit them easily on size 0s, bu that I knit loose and size 0s are usually my best bet). So size 2s were awesome!

Bought the yarn at Spinster Yarns & Fibers in Baltimore, Maryland. She had some Storm Moon Knits left the last time I was there, but maybe only in worsted weight. The dyer is no longer dying so this is hard to come by yarn.

And here is a progress shot of my Morning Glory Wrap by Anne Hanson. I started this the day before I went into labor last July. I was hoping that starting a new shawl would inspire the baby to be born that day. I wasn't far off! This is knit in two halves and then grafted in the center. This is the second half. Almost done! I knit the first half during my maternity leave while baby H napped and played on his activity nap. I had to put it aside for several months b/c I didn't have the energy or awaked-ness for the pattern. It's not really hard. But you do have to pay attention on both sides. And there are some nasty purl three togethers through the back loop. Ugh.

So there has been much tinking and ripping, but since I decided to only knit on it when I had time alone, it's gone much better.

Eh, cell phone pictures are kind of crap aren't they? Still better than no photos.

Secret Pal 14

2009-06-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

I signed up for my first Secret Pal swap. Now I need to start blogging again! I've been wanting to do a swap for a while and decided to take the plunge.

Anyone else in?

I've been knitting a lot. But it's somehow too much to get pictures taken, off the camera, uploaded to Flickr and then posted here.

Since Jan., I've completed a hat, some socks and a shawl.

On the needles: a shawl I started the day before I went into labor last July. It's knit in two halves and then grafted at the center. I knit the first half while on maternity leave and picked up the second half this spring. Almost done, but I might run out of yarn.

Just started the Outside In pattern from the summer Knitty. I am using Lime and Violet Intentions yarn in "balance." So soft, so pretty.

I've got a vest for H in the works, but not do motivated to finish b/c he won't wear it until Fall. And I've got some basic socks in the works too.

It's all very pretty! I hope to get some pics soon. I've actually been posting pics to Facebook more than here b/c it's super easy to take a pic with my iPhone and upload to Facebook (granted the photos aren't the best quality, but it's better than nothing). If you want to connect with me a Facebook, add me as a friend! If you're not sure how to find me, search Theresa + Baltimore and I'll pop up. I don't want to list my last name on this blog.

Quickie

2009-02-25T09:47:00.000-08:00

I've been busy. Neglecting the blog. Am spending all my time on Facebook, Ravelry,
Twitter, and Plurk (tawitham for those two if you want to chat there. though on Twitter I pretty much just lurk b/c I am following and followed by some work people and I don't want to piss off knitters with work stuff and work people with knitting stuff. Should probably do a separate account.).

Here's some stuff I knit last fall.

Whoops. I actually knit that hat last spring/summer before Henry was born. But here he is finally modeling it. Now it's almost too small. It's Reversible hat by Debbie Bliss in the book

Essential Baby. The yarn is two skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed Cotton. I have some leftovers of both colors, enough to make some stripey baby/kid socks someday. Yarn purchased at Spinster Yarns & Fibers in Baltimore, Maryland.

This is a simple cowl I made in November. I knit three other cowls for Christmas gifts. Pics taken, but not loaded onto Flickr yet. Wish I could zap them directly from camera to Flickr, but my tiny camera does not have such awesome capabilities. This is a very basic cowl modeled after

knit COWL by Sophia Sallas-Brookwel, which is a free Ravelry download. I fell in love with this yarn-- Farmhouse Yarns Lumpy Bumpy Yarn-- at Spinsters and several skeins came home with me (and were eventually knit up into Christmas cowls). I have more. Might make some mittens with the leftovers. I love, love, love this yarn.

Finally, my Roza's Socks by Grumperina in the Spring 07 IK. Yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in Chinatown Apple purchased at Lovelyarns in Baltimore. Great yarn, great pattern. Love!

Shetland Triangle

2008-11-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

I wanted to get a photo of me wearing this before I blogged about it. But it's been done since August and that hasn't happened yet. I've worn it. But never remember to get out the camera.

I finished this Shetland Triangle (pattern in Wrap Style) July 5, just before Henry was born. I blocked it in August with my new Knit Picks lace blockers (awesome!). I love this shawl. It is so pretty. The yarn is Handmaiden Sea Silk, one jumbo skein that Larissa bought for my b-day in 2007. Normally the skeins are about 400 meters (437 yards) but mine was 600 meters (about 650 yards). There was some mixup somewhere and Handmaiden ended up with bigger skeins for a limited time. Lucky for me b/c this allowed me to do 13 repeats of the pattern to make it a nice sized shawl.

This was meant to be a nursing shawl. But the first time Henry spit up, I realized that sea silk plus baby is a bad idea.

Baby Yoda

2008-11-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this before Halloween ... but Henry got sick and we were traveling to Wisconsin for a wedding.

So this is late.

I saw the patterns for a baby Yoda hat and sweater on Ravelry last spring and had to knit it for Henry's first Halloween. It was a surprise for G who loves Star Wars. He's not quite so dorky that he dresses up in costume to attend the movie premiers (nothing wrong with that. But have you seen the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog bit where he goes to a Star Wars premier? Funny, funny stuff). But he's is dorky enough that on our first date, which was six months before the final Star Wars movie came out, he spent a good amount of time outline his predictions for the movie.

So where was I? Saw the patterns, went to Cloverhill in June (last yarn store visit before H was born) and picked up some Plymouth Galway for the hat and Mission Falls superwash wool for the sweater. I knit them in Aug. and Sept. during my break.

This one we call "Yoda Strong With Force."

Here's "Yoda Smiling."

And finally, "Yoda, Adorable"

As you can see the hat is floppy. And it felted both a bit too big (around) and too small (too short). I didn't soak the ears in a glue/water mixture that the pattern suggests to stiffen them. No time. But I probably would next time.

The sweater is great. I didn't get to the icord ties. Probably won't since he'll outgrow this in about two minutes. But it's been serving as a nice fall jacket/sweater for him.

I did other knitting and blocking on my leave! I'll show that ... sometime.

He's Here!

2008-07-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

Henry Michael was born July 8 at 9:59 p.m. He weighed 7 pounds 10.5 ounces and was (and is still) 21.5 inches long.

My water broke Monday night at 11 p.m. But I wasn't having contractions. We called the doctor who said to take our time coming in, so we ordered pizza (carbs! yeah!), packed up all the last minute items and took a nap.

Still no contractions when we got to the hospital at 5 a.m. The midwife and residents immediately mentioned starting me on pitocin to get things going. But I really wanted to go naturally, so I asked to be allowed to walk for a bit first. My awesome doctor said that was fine.

Our doula Dawn arrived and we walked the hall for about two hours. Still no effective contractions and my doctor said it was time to start the pitocin. So my hope of going all natural died then. But, I did want to get things going. I was afraid that if we waited too much longer, I'd end up with a c-section.

The thing with pitocin is you have to be hooked up the fetal monitor at all times. So, I couldn't use the bathtub or shower to relieve contractions, which are also supposed to be more intense on pitocin. I can't compare to non-pitocin contractions, but I'll just say that they were strong enough! And I didn't end up feeling the really big ones. In the beginning, I was able to get off the bed and use a birth ball and rocking chair. The chair was great. I was totally in the zone for a while. Until Henry started going in and out on the monitor. Then they wanted to have me stay on the bed to be in the best position for the monitor. This was late afternoon, I think.

The bed was a bad place for me to labor. The contractions were so much more intense there than on the chair. I just couldn't do it. This sweet young doctor, maybe another resident?, with the best curly hair stopped in and asked how my epidural was. I told her her I didn't have one but asked if I wanted one, would I have to wait long? She looked at me and said I could have it whenever and that I shouldn't feel like a failure or less of a woman for needing it. I wish I could remember her name ... I think it was Dr. Silversteen ... I want to write her a thank you. That little pep talk really helped. I told G that I couldn't do it and he was so supportive, telling me that whatever I needed was fine. And my doula also told me I was making the right decision since my labor was lasting so long.

I knew I made the right decision as soon as the drugs hit me! I zoned out for the rest of the evening. So when the nurses started setting up the room w/ the baby table and the tools, I thought they are being overly optimistic. But the amazing night nurse Rachelle came in a little after 9 and told me I was ready, I didn't believe her. My doctor didn't believe her either, but she examined me and pronounced that I was indeed ready. From there everything went so fast. They got me in position. G and Dawn grabbed my legs and they told me to push. Luckily I didn't have a problem pushing (sometimes the epidural can make it difficult). The baby didn't mind waiting around all day, but in the end he practically flew out! Only about 20 minutes of pushing.

Sigh. And then he was there on my chest and I just kept saying "baby, baby, baby" and kissing him.

It was a good day.

Other things I want to remember about that day: Much earlier G heard the cries of a baby being born and got all choked up. After his car accident six years ago, he didn't think he'd have a normal life and there he was sitting in the hospital waiting for his son to be born. Whenever I think about him saying that and how happy he was looking down at our child, I just bawl.

Ok, that's a start. I'll probably keep thinking of things to add, but I wanted to get this written down before it becomes too fuzzy in my mind.

Now, I've got to get back to that adorable baby, who's been rocking with his dad for the past hour.

Wrapping Up

2008-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have been busy, busy at work, trying to get everything in order before I go on maternity leave. And I've been busy at home getting everything set up. The room is done. The house is reasonably clean. We prepared four casseroles on Sunday night! This morning I woke up early feeling the urge to fold all the laundry and clean up the kitchen, so I did that and still had time to knit before starting to work.

And this week, I've felt the urge to get my knits in order too.

But before I go into that, I need to give a big THANK YOU to dear Sarah for this adorable baby quilt. I saw it on her blog a while back and was so surprised when it ended up on my door! Thank you, Sarah. Everyone who has seen it loves it and thinks baby H will be so cozy under the soft fabrics.

His room is ready. G put together a ton of furniture! We have a rocking chair due today so he'll have one more project this weekend. We made up lists and went shopping and now have all the little baby essentials (I hope! If not drugstore.com is our friend).

I've started packing my bag for the hospital. I've got the essentials like clothes, and also a few extras: Hostess fruit pies for post delivery (I have gestational diabetes so sugary snacks are out for the time being. But post delivery I think I'll be allowed!); some magazines, an iPod full or good songs, some podcasts, maybe an audio book or two; essential oils for calming; and yarn! I decided to pack a ball of fluffy pink eyelash yarn that I got at a stash a year or two ago. It's been destined for my four-year-old niece. She will love it. And it will be a super easy thing to knit--if I feel inclined to knit that is.

I also have a bunch of pictures from my honeymoon and my garden to use as my focal points when the contractions get really bad. When I first read about using focal points during labor, I immediately thought about the incredible blue water at Cape Cod and the gorgeous gardens we saw there. Plus when I was going through all the pictures, I came across one of the blue malabrigo I bought on my honeymoon. I had to have it b/c the blue was the same color as the water. So that picture is coming along too. We'll see if it helps!

Oh and the WIP organization (I need to have this written down so that I can reference in a few months when I look at my projects and go "huh?" where was I at again?):

One pair of DK weight socks: almost to heel of second one.

One pair of Roza's Socks: Almost ready to start heel on first sock. But first I need to go back and remove extra yarn over on last needle. Then I need to do the heel based on my 72 stitches, not the 60 stitches in the pattern.

One Shetland Lace Shawl: almost finished 12 repeat of body (that's more than the 8 called for in the pattern). I may have enough yarn to do one more repeat before the edge. We'll see. (I frogged this last Thursday and started knitting it again on Friday. I needed a bit of time to accept my mistake and let it go. Now it's flying again and I have almost forgotten that it's the second attempt.)

One baby duffel coat: finished knitting. Just need to seem up.

That's it! Oh, well and a few projects that need blocking (and thanks to you two dears who offered to help with my Hemlock Ring blocking issues!)

So, I am feeling pretty ready. I would like to finish the lace shawl if I can. I've been knitting that and the DK basic sock currently. I did take a break to whip up a garterlac dishcloth!

But I alternate between the shawl and the sock. The sock is my doctor appointment project and I also work on it a bit every day while I sit on my birth ball. I can't knit the lace on the ball. But I have been doing about one chart repeat a night, so there is a good chance that I'll get it done. Especially with a long weekend ahead.

I am ready. Though one more three-day weekend just me and G with no chores, no furniture to put together, just three days to relax and be together as we get ready for the next stage of our lives would be wonderful. So listen here, little H, Sunday night works for me. What about you?

Oh, and here's a few pics from my garden. It hasn't been my top priority, but G has been taking care of everything!

Setbacks

2008-06-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

In the past week, I've had a couple of knitting setbacks. Well, the first isn't a setback so much as a delay. A long delay.

I tried to block my Hemlock Ring blanket. I soaked it in the machine. Then I took it upstairs to pin out on my blocking surface: a spare queen-sized mattress on the floor in what will become the baby's room.

First problem: I ran out of needles about halfway through. Bigger problem: I ran out of stamina for bending over on the floor about halfway through. The belly is just too big for me to be kneeling or bending for that long. So I here's a photo of the blocked side. I think I'll have to re-block this after the baby is born ... if I can find time. Another idea: someone on Ravelry blocked her Hemlock Ring by having it steamed at the dry cleaner. That sounds tempting, but also a little scary.

What is the best way to block a circle? I started in the middle and worked by way around and out. But that was so fiddly that I then started at the edges and worked my way around. I don't think that would have worked all that great either though if I had actually gone all the way around. Oh well. This thing probably won't be properly blocked until the fall I guess.

Second and sadder setback: I was happily working along on my Shetland Triangle shawl. I was being super careful. I had a lifeline. I counted the stitches in every even row to make sure I hadn't missed a yarn over or something in the previous pattern row. I had memorized the pattern repeat. I had just finished the fifth chart repeat when I just glanced again at the chart. And somehow saw for the first time that it isn't supposed to be knit in garter stitch. There's a two-stitch garter border but that's why it's a border b/c there rest is stockinette. I don't how I missed this. It seems so obvious, but I was just so happily knitting along and paying attention to the yarn overs and increases and decreases that I really didn't look at the regular stitches.

I am so bummed. I still haven't ripped it out. I've been knitting on the Duffel Coat baby sweater while I stew about this obvious and stupid mistake. Err. It was going pretty fast so I know I can start over. But I hate all that wasted knitting time. I really wanted to have this done before the baby's born. And I should still be able to do it with five weeks to go. But still, errr.

Not Shopping

2008-05-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

So today is my birthday. And instead of buying myself a present, I've decided that my special b-day treat will be to go down to my yarn stash and pick out something new to cast on.

I mean, I want to buy myself a present. The new knitpicks catalog came today and I am in love with the lace samplers on the back cover. I want the sunset one to do a gradient shawl! But, I am inspired by Laurie Perry's (aka Crazy Aunt Purl) recent posts about consumerism and not buying unnecessary stuff. I don't think I can be as extreme as she is going to be. We do after all need to buy stuff for the baby. He doesn't need a lot, but he does need some frivolous items, like toys. But b/c we have to buy stuff for him, they'll be less for other random spending. Like yarn.

Besides, I have been very good this year about not buying impulse yarn and I'd like to keep that up! (you have no idea how hard it was to resist the Webs sale. So glad it's over!) Yes, I did just buy a bunch of baby yarn. But that was to make specific items and I have already cast on and/or finished two of them. And I bought a skein of Cascade Eco Plus. But again, that was to make the Hemlock Ring blanket, which is done (though still not blocked).

I think that is all the yarn I have bought in 2008, maybe even since Stitches East last Oct. (My memory of Nov-Jan. is a bit fuzzy though. It seems like all I did was sit on the couch and try not to puke. I wasn't knitting then, so I can't imagine that I bought yarn ....)

Anyway, the point is, I have not purchased impulse yarn for a long time. And the knitpicks lace sampler would definitely be impulse yarn. It would arrive, I would pet it, but then it would go straight into a plastic storage bin and stay there until who knows when. I have lots of pretty lace in my bins. I can go take a dive and pick something yummy out to cast on tonight! Or maybe I want to start a sweater? I haven't officially joined any "knit from your stash" alongs or anything, but this year, I have been really trying to look at what I have, what I want to make and see how the two can intersect.

More on not spending: I am trying to convince myself that I can last with just one pair of maternity shorts that I found on clearance at Target for $4.24. I also have two maternity skirts and two pairs of gauchos/capri yoga pants. That is five summer bottoms. And do I need maternity tank tops? I have managed to get by w/o a lot of maternity clothes b/c I work at home and just wore my sweats up until now. Those sweats are starting to get a) too hot and b) too small. Plus there is this long dress at Target that looks so lovely and cool. There is just something nice about putting on a long dress in the summer. Hmmmm.

Oh god, I just remembered that I need to buy a breast pump. Since H will have to go to day care full time (sad), I'll need to get an expensive electronic one. Maybe no Target dress.

So today is my birthday and I don't need to buy myself a present. I got a lovely necklace from my in-laws. And some cute cards. And I know my husband is giving me two watches (but I haven't seen them yet!). My boss gave me a gift card to a local garden store (she searched on line for something local to me and discovered a great shop called Poor Boys.) I already spent the gift card, but I think I'm going back this weekend to get a hydrangea. I know! More spending! But the front of our house needs some curb appeal and I know I can't do it all at once, but one hydrangea and some mulch will go a long way and next year we can add something else.

Ok, so no yarn presents, but maybe some maternity shorts, a dress and a hydrangea. And! I get to go play in my stash and pick out a new project. I am off to do that now before G comes home to cook me his delicious cilantro laced burgers on the grill.

Start of a Layette

2008-05-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a gorgeous weekend here in Baltimore and I got lots done! But was still able to relax and feel like I was having a mini vacation, or staycation since we stayed home.

We worked in the garden. I love working in the garden, but sometimes I get so impatient and want to do everything RIGHT NOW! But a garden evolves over years ... especially this year as my belly gets in the way a bit. But even though I want to tackle the hill in the front yard and so something cool like a rock garden or wildflowers, or a rock garden AND wildflowers, I just have to be patient and know that we'll get to it, eventually.

What I did do was plant flowers, and one small cherry tomato plant, in pots. And weeded. Just doing that already makes the yard look so much prettier.

G's been busy too. He put together a changing table, dresser and crib. And he's been painting banisters and painting some super secret project that I am not supposed to know about, but I know involves making a frame for one or our posters.

Plus we managed to chill on our porch each night and had a fire in our fire pit last night.

And I've been knitting. I've got the start of a layette going.

Here's a blanket I made a while back. The yellow is by Lucci. It's an eyelash yarn, but the fibers aren't as long as something like fun fur. It's more matted. And it is the softest yarn ever. I bought this three years ago at the Yarn Garden in Annapolis. Before I was even engaged. Long before baby H was even an idea. I touched the yarn and had to have it.

The blue is Berroco Plush Colors, another sort of matted nylon yarn. It isn't as plush as the Lucci, but I didn't have enough of that for a big blanket. So I thought I'd do stripes. I bought this about two years ago at Woolstock in Glydon. By that time I was engaged. So baby H was maybe a distant idea, but I think I just wanted to have enough yarn to make a baby blanket at some point for some baby. Not necessarily my own.

It's knit on the diagonal in garter stitch. Super easy. I weaved all the ends in at one of the Baltimore Knitting Meetup's Tue. night knits a few weeks ago.

The second item is a hat that I just love.

It's the reversible hat from Essential Baby by Debbie Bliss.

The yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed Cotton that I bought at Spinster Yarns & Fibers Shop. (Aside: love this shop! It opened a few months ago in Baltimore and is very close to my house. It's my most local LYS. I can't wait to go again.)

So the yarn was totally a different gauge from the Debbie Bliss yarn the pattern calls for. I adjusted the numbers to make it about the right size for a 6-9 month baby. We'll see. Hopefully it will fit him sometime in the winter b/c it is a warm hat. Even with the cotton, it's thick b/c it's basically two hats. The pattern was a bit lame as it had you knitting the hats flat, sewing them up then sewing together. So I knit the first hat flat. But then I picked up stitches for the second, inner, hat and knit it it in the round. Much happier with that. I just love the colors!

And third, is a WIP shot of the sweater I started for H. It's just a sleeve so far.

It's the Duffle Coat from Essential Baby. The yarn is Berroco Comfort DK that I bought at Lovelyarns in Hampden. (One Saturday in April, I went on a mini yarn crawl to find baby yarns. I hit up Lovelyarns and then Spinsters Yarns.)

The Comfort is a very nice acrylic. Very soft. And machine wash and dry. Very important! I like it. Not sure if I could knit an adult sweater with it though. It is still a bit "squeaky." We'll see how I feel when I finish this sweater.

And lest you think I've only been knitting baby stuff, here's the Hemlock Ring Blanket that I knit (but haven't blocked).

I started this on April 12 and cast off on May 16. But I have not yet blocked it. Maybe this week or next weekend. The wool is Cascade Eco Plus (which is the Ecological wool that's been dyed). I had about a skein left over from a sweater so I used it to start the afghan and bought one more skein from Webs. Fun pattern! I really enjoyed this. Up until I cast off and it took two or three nights just to do the cast off row. I am eager to see it blocked out. I am not sure what I am going to do with this project. While I really enjoy working w/ the Eco wool, I think it will be too scratchy for me to snuggle under. Plus, we have so many lap blankets here (my mom quilts) that we don't need another one. So I might give it away maybe for Christmas. Maybe for a friend's wedding in the fall.

I think this is the first time that I just wanted to knit the item for the fun of knitting it, not for the finished object. It was on in my queue for awhile, but when I saw that the Columbia Sip-n-Knit (a meetup.com group) was doing a knit-a-long, I decided to join in. (I can't sing the praises of this group enough! Denise, the organizer of the KAL, had bound copies of the pattern, plus charts and info from the Webs "Ready Set Knit" podcast knit-along. And she gave each of us a set of stitch markers and a lifelong kit, with needle and cotton thread. Wow! Plus the group is made up of lots of lovely knitters! Since I live a 40-minute to an hour drive from Columbia, I don't attend the Wed. night meetups very often. But I've been following along online and on Ravelry.)

So now I am down to just one project (well ... I do have two pairs of socks ... but does that count?). Once I get a bit farther into the sweater I want to start a shawl for myself. I am thinking a nursing shawl for the summer in this Sea Silk would be perfect.

But what pattern? Maybe the Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark from Wrap Style? Someone on Ravelry knit it with just one skein of Sea Silk. Something rectangular might be good too. I'll have to explore some more. But if anyone has ideas, please share!

Article: Sheep Shearers

2008-04-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

The New York Times has an interesting article about sheep shearing in its online edition today. I'm not sure how long the articles are available for free before entering the NY Times archives, so check it out soon!

I did a fair amount of knitting on a new lace wrap this week, but I think I am going to frog it and start a different pattern instead. I'm not sure if I like the pattern I am currently using. So it's sitting on my couch while I try to decide. I hate ripping. But I don't want to continue working on this if I am only going to decide to rip later. So instead I'll let it sit while I contemplate.

I had a lot of knitting time this week cause G was in the hospital for three nights! He had throat surgery to remove his tonsils plus a bunch of other tissue and the uvlea (which is a word I can hardly say, much less spell ... that thing that hangs down in the back of your mouth) last week and starting bleeding early Sunday morning so we headed to the ER. I thought they'd fix him up and end him home, but they admitted him instead for three nights. I was so glad to get him home on Wed. I suppose it was good that the doctors were being cautious in keeping him there, but at the same time the hospital, so dry and hot and uncomfortable, is not a good place to recover. And he couldn't eat anything for a couple of days so he came home all week and tired. But he's so much better today. He's able to speak w/o as much pain (a female coworker told him that having her tonsils out was about as painful as childbirth ... I know he was in a lot of pain for several days. I am not trying to belittle that ... but I think my chatty husband's inability to speak for a few days was also difficult for him to swallow, pardon the awful pun.)

Today we are going to chill at home and play games and just relax. We both need a nice, calm day.

I think I will rip that shawl.

Thank Goodness for 6 p.m. Sunshine!

2008-03-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

When I stopped working at 6:00 tonight, I realized the sun was shining and I could finally take photos of some knitting.

I have two FOs to show you.

First is my brand new house shawl. It's just a basic triangle shawl, knit in Noro Blossom, which was my first ever Noro purchase, at Stitches East 06 in Baltimore. I liked the yarn in the skein better than knit up. The color repeats were a bit short for a striped triangle shawl. But when I look at this picture, I think the stripes look OK afterall. Funny how I notice it in the photo more than in person. Must be because I am too busy wearing it! I started the shawl in August I think. I was getting ready for Stitches 07 and I wanted to use up most of the yarn I bought the year before. I had three options: the Noro, some laceweight or sock yarn. I decided that the Noro shawl would knit up the fastest and be the cosiest for the winter. And it did knit up fast. I probably would have finished in Sept. if I had just gotten off my ass right away and ordered longer cables for my Knit Picks Options. Halfway through the shawl, I decided it would be easier if I had a longer cable. And it was! But I didn't actually ORDER the cable until Dec., when I wasn't knitting.

But, when I started feeling like knitting again last month, I picked this up and it practically finished itself. True, it's been warming up here, but it is still chilly in the mornings and evening and this is great to throw over my shoulders when I feel the chill. (It is especially good at keeping my boobs warm, important now b/c they still hurt like hell if I get too cold! Thanks pregnancy.)

The second FO is this scarf for my father-in-law in Brooks Farm Riata, purchased at Stitches East 07. It was meant to be a Christmas present and it only had about 30 rows to go but I really couldn't touch it after mid Nov. So, now I've got a Christmas present all ready for next year! Jealous?

Oh, you see some ends that need weaving do you? Yeah, yeah, I haven't woven in the ends of either project yet. Or blocked for that matter. I don't think I'll block the shawl. Doesn't seem to need it. I'll probably lightly block the scarf to straighten out the edges. And yes, I will weave in those ends. I'm just waiting until I have one more project done and then I'll weave. It will be like an ends-weaving-in party. You want to come, I can tell.

This last item is an almost FO. Or the FO that just keeps going. It's the Easy Flame Lace Scarf by Wendy Bernard of Knit N Tonic. The yarn is Malabrigo lace weight. (my favorite new yarn!) This was also meant to be a Christmas present, for my step-mother-in-law. See, they were going to get his and hers scarves! I started this in Aug. or Sept. and was making great progress. Oh well. I can either save it for next Christmas, or give it to her in April for her birthday. But is April too springy for a scarf?

See this tiny ball of yarn? That's all that's left. I just have to knit til the end of this and I'll be done! But it is the never-ending ball.

Thanks to all the nice comments on my last post about being pregnant! I'm doing really good. He's moving around a lot, which is fun and sometimes distracting (like at 4 a.m.). As soon as I finish the red scarf, I am going to start something baby!

Resurfacing

2008-02-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

So I just reread my last post, from before Thanksgiving! and remembered how tired I was when I wrote that.

All I could think about was all that upcoming travel and I was so tired and just thinking about it made me even more tired.

Basically, all I wanted to do for the past three months was sit on the couch and stare at the wall, or watch TV. But just staring at the wall was fine.

Ok, this sounds terrible. But it's really good! I am pregnant! About 19 works along! The first three months sucked. Sucked big time. I come from a long line of women who get really bad morning (noon and night) sickness. I remember my mom staying in bed for the first three months when she was pregnant with my youngest brother. And an aunt had to be on an IV during her first few months b/c she could not keep anything down. Her family moved in with my grandparents while she was so sick. She remembers them creeping in to check on her to make sure she was still alive.

So, I have bad morning sickness genes! But it wasn't nearly as bad as either of those examples. I know it could have been worse. Yes, I did puke, but not every single day. But I felt nauseated most of the time and wanted very little to do with food of any kind.

But beyond the puking and not wanting to eat, I was just amazed at the fatigue. A doctor friend of mine said early pregnancy is equivalent to climbing a mountain as far as the stress on the body. Yikes!

I couldn't knit. I couldn't read much. Seriously, on my long ass flight to Hawaii in Dec. I didn't read much or knit a thing. I couldn't keep up with Ravelry. I did read some blogs but I rarely commented. All my typing energy had to be saved for work, or something. :) I could barely hold a conversation.

But finally, I feel like I am resurfacing. I am starting to feel good again and like I can participate in my life again. I haven't puked for about a week and half (woo hoo!) and don't feel sick unless I haven't slept well.

Today was great! We found out it's a boy! A little boy. Now I can start knitting something for him. I tell you, I wouldn't have had anything to post on this blog anyway b/c I couldn't knit. The movement made me sick. From mid. November until Jan., I think I knit a total of 10 rows. I had several projects in the works back then (including a few Christmas gifts that will be almost ready for next year now!) and I recently picked up a few again.

I've had the itch to do knit for the baby, but was waiting until I found out the sex. I need ideas! I have some good blanket yarn I bought years ago just because it was sooo soft. But it's really fluffy, so better for a floor blanket vs. a bundling blanket. My SIL gave me a Debbie Bliss baby book for Christmas and it has some cute patterns. Oh, and I think the Knit Two Together book had a really cute baseball inspired hoody. And the baby will need a cute hat. Part of me wants to cast aside all my WIPs and just do baby stuff, but the other, organized part of me wants to finish all those WIPs first and then do baby stuff. I'll probably do something in the middle.

So that's my big news! I promise I'll have knitting content here soon. Probably not any finished objects for a while though.

Blog Hiatus

2007-11-16T08:36:00.001-08:00

I meant to post several times in October. I could have showed my Stitches East haul. And written about the socks I worked during Socktoberfest. I wanted to blog about the fun, unofficial "Chicks with Sticks" hockey outing w/ L and E. (I had so much fun with those girls! And! Security almost didn't let our knitting in to the Verizon Center in D.C.!!!!)

But I did none of those things. And now, it's almost Thanksgiving and I am entering travel season. Next week, I'll be in Wisconsin visiting the family. Then, a week after that I head to Hawaii for work (it really is for work). Then it's up to Connecticut for Christmas w/ G's family. Then maybe back to Wisconsin in mid Jan. for a work thing. Then back to Hawaii for work again. (I know! Who goes to Hawaii twice in two months for work? I love Hawaii, but I am not really looking forward to the second trip. It's a long haul to get there from the East Coast. On the first trip, I'll have company, which will be great. On the second trip, it'll just be me. Who whines about going to Hawaii for work? I am not whining too much, but it really is work when I am there and I know I'll be tired while there and then tired for a few days after I get back and be swamped w/ my regular work ... I'll want a vacation by the time Feb. rolls around.)

So ... my point, I think I'm going on a blog hiatus until Feb. I may post here and there, but it won't be my top priority.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

More Knitting on TV

2007-10-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

I saw knitting on two shows this week. First, a female character on Carpoolers or Carpooling? was knitting.

And a character on South Park was knitting! I can't remember if it was the most recent episode or an older one. And I can't remember which character it was. I am guessing it was Mrs. Scotch, Butters's mother. She seems to me the most likely candidate. ETA: It was NOT Mrs. Scotch, but an old lady on the bus w/ Cartman during last week's episode. (Thanks to the girls on Ravelry's South Park a Teers group for reminding me!)

That's all!

Knitting Saves the Day

2007-10-12T07:43:00.001-07:00

I watched the last 15 minutes of the new ABC show Pushing Daisies last Wed. It was kind of cute. But what really caught me was that a male character, a detective, who doesn't enjoy knitting in public, says the voice over, but who always carries needles lest he encounter a dropped stitch (or something along those lines), pulled out a pair of long metal needles to poke through the body bags that he and two others were tied up and stuck in and about to die in a crash test car.

So the knitting dude saved them all!

I don't know too much else about the show, though it did seem cute. I'll try to catch a whole episode next time.

My Wedding Quilt

2007-10-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

This is the quilt my mother made for G and me for our wedding. I adore it. (This is not turning into a quilt blog, I just happen to have a few quilt-related posts lately.)

My wedding was last summer, but the wedding quilts are usually about a year late. I didn't mind! It was something to look forward to! I requested the beige and white color theme and I am so blown away by how beautiful it came out! It is pretty and girly enough for me w/o being too pink for G! It looks so lovely in our sunny, white bedroom. And it will look so pretty under other quilts. I want to have a bunch of "accent" quilts to change it up throughout the year. For example, in December, I could drape over it the Christmas quilt that mom made for my wedding shower. Also, I am working on a pink and green quilt that will be pretty over it in the spring. And if I someday make something with oranges for fall, it will look nice too.

Here's a close up of the center log-cabin motif:

I absolutely love it!

Some UnSock WIPs

2007-10-04T16:36:00.001-07:00

This scarf has been taking up a lot of my knitting time.

It is the Easy Flame Lace scarf by Wendy at Knit and Tonic.

Close up:

The yarn is Malabrigo. I am using my Knitpick Options size 4.

The pattern is easy and so lovely. It's good TV knitting, but not so good for group knitting (which for me, requires a virtually think-free pattern!). It's to be a Christmas gift for my step mother-in-law. I hope she likes it. I can't imagine she won't, but, in truth, I don't know my father-in-law and step-mother-in-law very well. (I've only met them twice: once when all three sets of parents gathered in Baltimore to meet each other before our wedding and then AT our wedding. But the little time I did spend with them was really great. G is much closer to his mom and step-dad, so we spend Christmas there, and Thanksgiving is for my family. Having all the parents in three not neighboring--to us or each other--states means we can't do a Christmas Eve one place and Christmas day at the other. Hopefully we can make a trip to his dad's next spring. In the meantime, this scarf is my way of saying: I think you are neat!)

I'm also working on an easy triangle shawl with some Noro Blossom, purchased at Stitches East 2006.

I was guilted into starting it before Stitches East 2007. I love the bright, friendly colors. And it will be nice and warm to wrap up in during the winter. This is my big project but I really want to start a sweater. Since it is stalled (I really should order a longer cable from KP), I might just have to start a sweater ...

Socktoooooberfest!

2007-10-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

The other night, I was gathering my sock yarn (if I saw it all together, I could decide what socks to work on this month ... or that was my theory anyway). It was bedtime and I was waiting for the bathroom, so why not be productive, right? Since I was in the other bedroom, G asked "what are you doing?" When I said that "Socktoberfest starts tomorrow and I needed to get organized," he broke out into a long song-like "Socktoooooooooberfest." It had me in giggles.

Well, the organizing and photographing of my sock yarn did NOT help me decide what to do, yet.

Here they are:

Part of me thinks I should start socks with the Trekking XXL (top row, pink and green) b/c that was my first sock yarn purchase EVER, in April 2006. But I am really drawn to the atumnal orange Dream in Color (top row, left) that is my most RECENT sock yarn purchase. But I bought the blue and Tess Designer Yarn (bottom row, in a ball) at Stitches East last year and Stitches East this year is just a week away, so wouldn't it be good to use that up?

But since I am working on a lace project, I also like the idea of using the Lorna's Laces worsted (white, gray and tan, second from right) b/c it would be fast socks and a nice break from the teeny yarn. Plus, there's a pretty pattern for cabled socks in One Skein that uses LL worsted.

I do have a couple of pairs of socks on the needles. These DK-weight socks (Colinette Cadenza) are my plane project. These basic ribbed socks on wooden needles have been my travel project for the past couple of months. They are stalled now b/c I don't have any trips until Thanksgiving. I could just finish these up and have a Christmas gift ready (or keep them myself).

And I love the yarn I won from Knitpastis. I started a Roza's sock (from Summer Interweave Knits), but haven't gotten past the top rib yet. I need to use smaller needles or it will be too big. And I am no longer certain I want to do this pattern. I love, love, love, this yarn! I really want to find the perfect pattern.

I need help.

(I think I found some help on the Socktoberfest Flickr group, in this discussion. Some great ideas for patterns that work nicely with variegated yarns.)

But still how to decide what yarn???

Hurry! Last Day of Project Spectrum

2007-09-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ever since Aug. 1, I planned to put up a post about the last triad of Project Spectrum ... here I am late as usual.

My participation in PS this summer did lag. I was busy with the new house and had some deadline knitting. I did finish these Monkey socks in Aug.

And I was inspired to shop for PS colors!

Here is some orange Dream in Color sock yarn:

And some purple Malabrigo lace:

And here's an actual purple craft that I made, but it was about four or five Septembers ago:

This was my second quilt and the first that didn't use matchy-matchy fabrics. My mom let me raid her fabric closet and helped me decide what size to cut the strips. I love this quilt! It's a large lap size, big enough to cover me and my legs, even my feet! (I hate it when lap blankets are too short to go all the way around the feet: dude, that's where I get cold!) The colors still thrill me. I am not really a purple person, but every so many years I just crave it. Purple doesn't really flatter me so I rarely wear it. Maybe that's why I was so drawn to it with this quilt. I didn't have enough purple in my life? That must explain the purple malabrigo, above. I am quite certain it will not look good on me, but I had to have that color instead of the blue or green that is pretty on me.

The quilt is a basic strip quilt construction. I remember carefully planning out which strips would go where. I bought the light and dark purple batiks from a wonderful quilt shop in the Milwaukee area.

For the actual quilting, I tried freehand on my mom's machine for the first time and I totally sucked big time. There are lots of very sharp turns instead of the lovely loops, but I got better as I went along.

I have not quilted or sewn anything for a long time, but this is inspiring me to get out my machine, a Bernina! I got it a very basic model (it doesn't do all the fancy embroidery) for Christmas in 2004. It's a wonderful machine and it deserves to be used. L and I started Yellow Brick Road quilts in 2005 but didn't get past the cutting out stage. We need to set a date to work on them!

I Still Knit

2007-09-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

I just don't blog ... as often as I'd like. First the pictures:

Finished Monkeys:

Yarn: C*eye*ber Fiber purchased at Stitches East 06.
I started these socks in May! The first sock took me about two months. The second, about a week. In my defense, betweent the time I started and finished that first sock, I also bought a house, painted, removed carpet and wallpaper from and refinished wood floors from said house, packed, moved and then unpacked. Also, I got distracted by trying to finish this in time for my mom's b-day in July.

I didn't finish for the b-day deadline, and then almost finished for the Aug. vacation deadline. I had about 20 border stitches left, but I didn't have a way to block on vacation. So I got it done for the Sept. trip.
The pattern is the Half Pi Shawl from Rosie Knits. I did a few extra yarn over rows, made it a bit longer and added the border, which is from a different shawl altogether. The border is from a pattern in the book Knitter's Stash. The yarn is unknown from A Good Yarn in Fell's Point.

Mom loved it and is planning to bring to Hawaii in Dec. when she accompanies me on a work trip.

Also, in August, I whipped up this shawl for my mother-in-law.

She gave me the yarn for Christmas last year. So the shawl will be her Christmas gift this year. The yarn was a bunch of different kinds of yarn all tied together. She really liked the yarn, so I think she'll like the shawl. It was actually a really fun knit. I liked seeing what yarn would come next. I actually brought this to stitch n bitch with Heather and Sarah who gave me the great idea to add beads to the ends so it will look intentional that they are not woven in. I wasn't sure what to do about them. First of all, the yarn was all attached with knots and it is so open that weaving wouldn't work. And I just didn't want to weave in that many ends! But I knew if I didn't find a way to artfully deal with them, my MIL would wear the shawl and some snarky knitter would comment about the ends (snarky knitters, no, never!). I was actually a bit aprehensive about bringing the shawl to the snitch n bitch b/c horror! novelty yarn! But I wanted advice so I said, screw it. And they were nice! Didn't sneer at all! :)

Would I make this shawl again? Maybe. If someone else wanted one as a gift, I might do it. It was a nice break after socks and last. Such a FAST knit. And one Christmas gift done! That is the best part.

I had grand plans of blogging from last week's work trip, but I couldn't bear to turn on the computer in the evenings in my hotel room.

Instead, I did a bit of shopping. Got some of the new Lane Bryant jeans. I like! I think I am red. Or yellow, whatever the middle color is. The new sizing is super lameo. Like by calling them 1-7 or whater, we're going to forget that we're really a 14 or above? Eh... they make my ass look great and that is all I really care about. Plus they are long. Almost too long.

I had dinner with my dear friend V, her husband and baby girl. V lived across the hall from me in my dorm freshman year. Her daughter is so cute! She didn't want to eat much while I was there, except for the donut holes that were dessert. At one point she had one in each hand. V told her to put one back, so she bit one and put that one back! What a smartie! :)

And I went to Lakeside Fibers, which is a wonderful yarn store in Madison, Wis. First, it is huge: there are three big rooms full of yarn. Second, it has almost every major yarn and tons of selection in the different fibers. You know how some LYS have just one kind of cotton in the summer? Lakeside has several, plus bamboo and of course wool.

Third, it has the great cafe overlooking Lake Menona. I had my dinner there Wed. night and then knit for an hour or so. There was a class going on at the same time and I think a stitch n bitch too. I really should go every time I am in town. I only bought one small skein of Manos cotton stria in brown. I already had 8 skeins. Lakeside had just one and I thought I should get it to give me a bit more yardage.

I restrained myself because, well, I realy don't need to buy yarn. And b/c Friday started the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival. And Friday after work, I had to drive from Madison to Milwaukee, conveniently going right by the fairgrounds where the festival was. I did make a short detour. It is not nearly as big as MDS&W but the sellers were all new to me. I was good in that I only bought from one booth, Michigan- (I think) based Briar Rose... but it was a fairly big purchase. The yarn in the Totally Autumn pattern from the new Knitty is Briar Rose. They had beautiful colorways and lots of different weights and fibers. I got some alpaca, merino, silk that is heaven! The owner I also ordered some Grandma's Blessing (superwash sportweight merino). They didn't have enough of the color that I wanted, so the owner had me pick my favorite skein and is going to dye up more of it for me! How cool is that. I was really impressed by the yarn, the owners, the samples, the booth, everything.

There was another Michigan shop that had some very tempting alpaca wool blends but not enough in the color that I wanted and.

So that was a big yarny detour!

The rest of the trip was fun too: I attended a wedding on Sat. for one of high school/college friends. We were roommates senior year in a bat-invested third floor flat. Our other roommate, and one of my best friends, A came down from Minneapolis w/ her husband too. I had so much fun seeing them. The wedding was lovely and really simple. It was at a park. One of our HS/college friends got ordained online to marry them! She was great. The bride's mother is an interior designer so the park building was really lovely inside. They made dozens of paper cranes to hang from the ceiling, had paper latterns strung. The bride's father made small bud vases for the tables, which were also the party favors! It was really, really lovely.

And Sat. was also my baby brother's 18th birthday. He was at an all-day volleyball tournament, so we celebrated with brunch at home Sunday morning.

I can't believe I squeezed all that in to a Tue-Sun. trip!

A Perfect Break

2007-08-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

My vacation to Elk Rapids, Mich., is several weeks over but I couldn't dig up the enthusiasm to blog about it. It was a wonderful break, almost perfect. If G had come too it would have been perfect. But he has only 3 days of vacation left for the year, where I have something like 3 weeks left. I've been at my company 8 years compared to his not quite 2. But next year he'll get 3 weeks so we'll be a bit more even.
But I wasn't alone ... I was with my extended family.

Anyway ... the area in Michigan where I was (the northern part of southern Mich.)
is so beautiful. Elk Rapids is on Grand Traverse Bay, which is a huge bay off of Lake Michigan.

The weather was perfect. It was exactly the weather I imagine when I think about vacation: sunny, mid-80s with a breeze. Sigh. We stayed in glorious (and huge) old
Victorian with a wrap-around porch where I knitted every day. I am kicking myself now that I didn't take any pictures of it!

We spent our days at the beach, lounging on the porch and golfing for some
(not me!). Every evening, different people were in charge of making
dinner for the 18-20 people in attendance. We had couscous, grilled
fish, an Indian dish, spaghetti, my amazing chicken with my brother's
amazing creamed corn (fresh from the cob of course), great salads,
roadside shack pies and local cherries (oh my god so good!).

One day some of us drove to the Sleeping Bear Dunes on Lake Michigan. Since
we've vacationed in the area for about 20 years, we have a secret spot
that involves a long walk down the beach but you're rewarded by a
mostly private stretch of sand.

That was the only time I really look any pictures. Well, I took tons of my nephews and niece too but I won't post those here.

The top left photo was taken from the car while we drove over the Mackinac
Bridge that connects Michigan to the UP. That black bar is part of the
bridge. In the photo below that you can see the different blues in the
water. My brothers spent much the day talking about and attempting to
swim out to the edge of what the called the abyss. Dorks.

I love this beach. It really is one of my most favorite spots.

I did a ton of knitting on vacation. The day we went to the dunes, I made this Dashing mitt:

I also finally finished my first Monkey sock. But then I couldn't bring myself to cast on for the second while on vacation. I don't know why. I love the sock. I love the pattern. I guess I just wanted to do something else and since it was vacation, I did whatever I wanted.

And there was even a tiny yarn and quilt store in town. It didn't have a good selection at all, but I did find some sugar n cream cotton to make dishclothes. I promptly knit up two as a thank you to my parents for a lovely vacation.

And I finished my mom's shawl, but not in time to give it to her. I didn't have a good spot for blocking it so I brought it back home with me and it is now blocked and ready to give when I am home again in Sept.

Beating the Blahs

2007-08-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

Coming home from a vacation means there's a lot of catching up to do. Catching up on work, e-mail, laundry, grocery shopping, blog reading, blog posting. I've been back a week and a half and I am all caught up except for blog posting. I've just felt so blah about posting. But there's tons of posts I could do: I planned a great vaca recap, but it's getting a bit late. I did lots of knitting while gone and have some stuff to show, but I only just took pictures today and don't feel like uploading them. Double blah.

But today in the mail arrived something that beat my blogging blahs. I won the "how much hair did I cut off" contest at KnitPastis. I guessed 7 inches, which was correct, but so did a bunch of other people, so she drew names. And I won!!!

Close up of the gorgeous yarn:

Look at this amazing sock yarn. I REALLY want to cast on a new project with it RIGHT NOW! But I should start my second Monkey first .... I, ahem, bought some new sock yarn on Sunday and told myself I couldn't start it until I at least started the Monkey. So the same should go for this new yarn too, right? But it's a prize yarn, handyed by KnitPastis herself. I feel like it should have different rules. Plus it would be rude of me to not immediatly cast on, or so I tell myself as an excuse.

The prize package also included this Burts Bees grapefruit shampoo that I love. Grapefruit is my bath product/perfume favorite scent. And there was a bag full of goodies to treat my feet and some candy. I feel so spoiled.

And let me tell you how organized KnitPastis is. She emailed me that I won on Monday night and that I should send her my info by Tue. morning b/c she was going out of town. But I didn't see it until mid Tue. morning. So I sent my address and told her I looked forward to getting the package when she got back. But she got my email on her phone while doing errands and had the box, tape and marker ready to go. Amazing. Check out her cute new do.

Thanks, KnitPastis! I love everything.

Mother Bear Project

2007-08-22T17:15:00.001-07:00

I stopped in Lovelyarns on Sunday to check their malabrigo supply (didn't have what I was looking for, but a few skeins of amazingly soft lace weigh may have come with me), and learned about this wonderful organization called the Mother Bear Project.

According to the site:

The Mother Bear Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children, primarily those affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of hand-knit and crocheted bears.

Lovelyarns is selling the pattern and collecting bears. Here's more. They had some adorable bears in the store and I was just so taken by them. I knew I had to make one, or 10. I've thought of doing a charity knit but nothing really grabbed me until I saw the bears. While some might say there are more practical things to knit for these children who have almost nothing, every child needs a toy. Having a beloved toy should be a basic part of any childhood. So I am going to make bears.

Stitch Diva Sale

2007-08-01T17:05:00.001-07:00

Saw this on Stephanie's blog: There's a sale at Stitch Diva. All
patterns are 25% off and 75% percent of proceeds go to help two
knitters in need. But the sale ends at 11:59 tonight!

I've had a few of the Stitch Diva patterns on my someday list for awhile, so I decided today was the day to purchase.

Save a few bucks and help some knitters! Perfect.

Flowers and Yarn

2007-08-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Having fun w/ a flickr toy. Here are some recent pix of flowers from my garden and yarn from my stash (to upload into Ravelry. Yeah! Got my invite in June, am still organizing my stash to upload. I am tawitham there.)

I finally made a photo mosaic. So pretty. And some are Project Spectrum worthy, no?

I am thinking of packing the brown Manos cotton stria (second row, middle column) to start a little summer something on my vacation next week. I leave Friday night for two weekends and five weekdays full of swimming, reading, shopping (already scoped out the yarn stores) and of course, knitting, in Elk Rapids, Michigan w/ my family.

How many projects to pack? I'll probably bring more than I need just to have some variety.

Be back in mid-August!

Project Spectrum Update

2007-07-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

June and July were really busy with my move, so crafting was neglected. Thus, I did not create anything in red, black or metallics.

But, I did come across this pillow that I made a few years ago and it fits perfectly! So, I have something to show, even if it is an old project.

I was reallly into sewing before I dove into knitting. It started in 2002 when I made my first real quilt, and then really picked up in 2003 after I broke up with a boyfriend. Though I have sewed off and on since I was a kid. My mom is Quilter. I capitalize it for emphasis. She made her first quilt in 1976, the year I was born. I still have it, though it's in pieces. It was the bicentennial and there was a revival of traditional crafts, including quilting.

The sound of her Bernina zooming along was almost constant during my childhood. She's made hundreds of quilts, for every family member at least once (and not just me or my brothers, but my aunts, uncles, 50-some cousins), for friends and relatives of friends, plus charity raffles. She even made a quilt for a coworker of mine whose house burned down. She had a cupboard full of baby quilts ready before any of us were even married!

It was only a matter of time until I got the sewing bug too.

When it did, my aunt gave me her old Singer and I went to work making her a pillow. I figured since she gave me the machine, then the first item sewed on it should be a thank you for her.

I decided on red to match her family room. And Mom let me "shop" in her fabric closet. I pulled out tons of red and black fabrics, and decided to sew strips. So, I cut and sewed the strips into a larger fabric. Then decided to cut that piece into four triangles, which I sewed together to make a square, which became the pillows face. I wish I had a photo, but this was years ago when I didn't have a digital camera and I didn't photograph my projects.

Well, I had so much red and black strips that I made two more pillows. One I gave to a friend and I kept the one, above.

Mom's Shawl

2007-07-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

This has been claiming most of my knitting time. I am on a deadline!

It's a super simple knit. But w/ more than 500 stitches per row, I takes me 45 minutes to knit one.

At the Columbia Knitting Meet-up last Wed. night, I did two rows and I was there from 7:00 until after 9:00! (By the way, this group, through meetup.com, is really fun! I've wanted to check it out for many months, and finally did last week. I know there are a lot of knitting groups in Columbia (at least three!), but if you are looking to knit on Wed. night, check them out. They meet at Borders. They are a very friendly and fun group of women. I will be back ... though not every week because Columbia is a bit far.)

G and I have been watching the Sopranos, courtesy of Blockbuster Total Access. I'd never seen an episode until a few weeks ago. Never. I thought it would be too violent for me, but so far it hasn't been to bad. I am really enjoying it. But it's a bit frustrating to watch an entire episode and only knit one freaking row!

Still, the shawl is growing:

I leave for vacation with my family on Friday and need to have it blocked and ready to give!

A Better Monkey

2007-07-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

I am slugging along on a new Monkey sock. I actually started this back in May, right after I posted about my first Monkey attempt. I am using C*eye*ber Fiber in the Riverbed colorway, purchased at the Cloverhill booth at Stitches East 2006. I couldn't be more pleased with how the yarn and pattern are working together.

I originally picked the Monkey pattern by Cookie A. to be my first
non-ribbed sock because I was looking for a pattern that worked well
with a variegated sock yarn. It seems that many of the intricate sock
patterns look best in a solid yarn. So, in my Web searching, I stumbled
across the Monkey and right in the pattern intro, Cookie says she
designed to flatter a hand-dyed variegated Canadian yarn. Perfect, I
thought! And in the C*eye*ber Fiber, I found the perfect match.

I didn't like the pooling on the Tess yarn in the Monkey. I do love the
Tess yarn though, both the color and the way it feels. It is a joy to
hold and work with. I definitely want more sometime soon. I know I'll
find a better pattern for the Tess yarn.

But the Monkey pattern is so much fun and I wanted it to be the star. I could
have continued w/ the Tess version, but I knit slow, especially socks. Yes, I could have just started a new pair and left the old pair hanging, an abandoned work in progress. I haven't thoroughly thought through myWIP philosophy, but I tend to have fewer projects going, two or three, in various stages of completion and difficulty. I don't like having something sit, neglected, for many months at a time. It's like need to file (hello house paperwork, I'm looking at you) or organizing the linen closet
(which I NEED to do since we unpacked after the move. I just sort of threw everything in and the unorganized state of it drives me crazy just thinking about it!).

I will ignore the filing and the organizing until I just can't anymore. But I never really forget about it. It silently nags at me. But I don't expect to enjoy these tasks when I do them, though I do get joy out of completing them. But knitting is different. I do get joy from it and I don't want it to nag me. Because then it feels like chore.

So, even though I didn't completely frog my first Monkey, I am not planning to go back to it. I left it in tact, though off the needles, because, hey, unraveling cuts
into my precious knitting time!

So, while I started this in May, I am only just a few pattern repeats into the foot. It's been a bit neglected as I race to finish the Half Pi Shawl for my mother. In a
week I am off to Wisconsin and Michigan for a family vacation and I'll give it to her then. I'm almost there. The Monkey will surely beaccompanying me and will gets lots of attention while I sit on the Lake Michigan banks.

Where I've Been

2007-07-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

June was very busy. I did some knitting, but mostly I was working on changing this:

to this:

And this:

to this:

We removed wallpaper, painted, removed carpet and refreshed the wood floors.

We bought some nice curtains at Ikea and this weekend I'll work on hemming them.

Next post will have knitting content, promise!

Birthday Meme

2007-06-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Pheelya tagged me for a birthay meme (you've got to check out her blog; she is a riot! A good one ha ha!). Since I haven't blogged for almost a month, this is the perfect way to ease back in.

Here are the rules: You go to wikipedia and type in your birthday (only the month and day). Then you write down 3 events, 2 births, 1 holiday, and then you tag 5 friends.

Events:
585 BC - A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.

1892 - In San Francisco, California, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.

1961 - Peter Benenson's article "The Forgotten Prisoners" is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.

Births:
1779 - Thomas Moore, Irish poet (d. 1852)

1944 - Gladys Knight, American singer

Holiday:
Republic Day in Azerbaijan and Armenia (both 1918)

So there you have it: the cool things that happened on May 28.

Monkey Socks or Not?

2007-06-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I started a pair of Monkey socks and I love this pattern! But I do not like how my yarn (Tess) is behaving with it. It has this weird spiral effect going on.

See no yellow on the other side:

So I am trying to decide if I should rip it and save this yarn for a baby
sweater someday. I could start the Monkey sock with different yarn. I
know this is what I should do, but I HATE ripping! But when I tried it
on today and looked down at my foot, all I could see was the stupid
yellow. I didn't see the cool stitch pattern at all.

It is a fun pattern. I want to do it. I know I need to rip, but I'll probably leave it for a few days while I mourn it.

Errrrrr....

Mojito Magic

2007-06-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

Pheelya is having a contest to celebrate her birthday. Go tell her what your favorite drink is.

Mine is, hands down, the mojito. I first had one in Puerto Rico during a work trip in 2002 and it was love at first sip.

Now, I get excited when I see it on a drink menu. Even if it's not on the menu, I'll sometimes ask for one knowing the bartender or waiter will probably tell me they don't have the requisite fresh mint. But, they are starting to show up at chain restuarants. I've had one at Red Robin and Don Pablo's recently. Both were just so so. They didn't grind the mint into the drink. That is key.

Because, it's the mint that makes the mojito so delicious. I'm told a taco place in Hamden has the best mojitos in Baltimore. I really need to check that out.

Anyone know of other area spots to get a great mojito?

If you are ever in Madison, Wis., on a Sunday night, head over to the Cardinal bar to hear the best Latin jazz in town (surprisingly, Madison has a fair amount of Latin jazz) in a free show and to have a seriosly good mojito.

Where are my Manners?

2007-06-04T15:35:00.001-07:00

Thank you for all your kind wishes on my birthday and house! Despite my soreness and exhaustion (see below), I am really very excited. I already love sitting in the sunporch, especially yesterday in the rain, and know I'll be spending many knitting hours there. I hope to have invite local knitters over after we're settled, and maybe after the weather has cooled (which, I know, won't be until October) so we can use that wonderful sunporcch.

Sore to my Core

2007-06-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

Evil, thy name is wallpaper.

G and spent the entire weekend at the house, painting and remvoing wall paper. Well, we didn't sleep there, but we didn't really sleep much at all. We worked until midnight on Friday, 1 a.m. on Saturday and called it quits last night at 10. I am exhausted. And sore. And have a ton of work for my actual job to do. And I just want to nap. And knit! But I don't know that I'll be able to for several days. You see, I am sore everywhere, but mostly in my right hand and wrist. I probably shouldn't be typing.

But that is what happens when you grip a paintbrush for two days straight and scrap off wallpaper. I am just so grateful that the previous owner only had the wallpaper on two walls.

But, we longer have pink walls! I love the paint we picked and can't wait to see the rooms after next weekend when we paint the trim. (I guess it never stops. Earlier today someone asked how it feels to be a homeowner. I responded, "sore.")

But (that's three paragraphs started with "but" in a row; I'd use another transition, but I am too tired and sore), I've been knitting vicariously through all of you other knit bloggers.

A Very Good Birthday Plus A House!

2007-06-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Monday was my 31st birthday and it was lovely and low-key.

My brother, sister-in-law, niece M (3) and nephew A (6 months) came to stay with us in our two bedroom apartment that is currently filled with boxes. It was cozy (which, incidentally, is M's favorite word. Everything is "cozy" from her "cozy towel" to dry her hands in the bathroom to the "cozy sofa" to the the "cozy bear." Adorable.)

It was such fun having them and we did so much! We went to the pool at my apartment, to the Baltimore zoo, to see our new house (oh, make that our "cozy house). I played restaurant with M several times. G even got into the game one night to play the chef at a "Japanese restaurant." He really outdid himself when he brought us a "birthday cake" (aka a piece of bread with the candles from my cake stuck in it. Suzanne said that would now have to be repeated at home.) M loved it.

G and Suzanne made me a delicious chocolate and peanut butter cake. Two pieces left for tonight yeah!

I had some lovely gifts. Of course, my gifts from G was some of the yarn I bought at MD Sheep and Wool. Plus we went shopping and got these cool chairs from Pier One for our new sunporch.

And I got this lovely bag from my mom.

Joe and Suzanne gave me a beautiful purple necklace. How gorgeous!

And L outdid herself with this wonderful book

and this amazing yarn! That's Seasilk in Rose Garden. How lucky am I?

But the best birthday present is our new house, on which we closed last night! This picture is from a few weeks ago, when the azaleas were in bloom:

And the backyard w/ dogwoods! It is so beautifully landscapped. I am so excited that I don't have to start from scratch. Plus it has so many of my favorite flowers: roses, daffodils, irises, lillies-of-the-valley and many more. It reminds me of my mother's yard, which I've always found lovely.

We bought the house from the original owners who lived there for 50 years. It is in beautiful condition, though we will be taking out the pink carpet and painting over the pink walls. It's a good house. It seems happy. And we saw it completely by accident.

We were going to look at a house on the same street, but at the bottom of the hill. Well, our realtors turned on the street, saw the Century 21 sign and stopped. We were at the door before they realized it wasn't the right address! But they had the code to get in so we decided to look at it, why not? Even w/ the pink carpet and walls, we could see that it was a lovely house. I remember standing in the backyard, looking around thinking "this feels like home." Only it wasn't so much those words as a feeling of being home. Hard to explain. It's a soul house (you know, like a soul mate).

Anyway, we saw a lot of other houses (including a beautiful one in a rat-infested neighborhood--thank goodness G likes to strike up converstation with the neighbors!) and did lots of homework. So we didn't pick solely on emotion. But we love the house and are so glad that we got it. As the previous owner said last night after we told her the story, "It was more than just luck" that we found it.

So here we are: the happy owners.

Wonky Tea Cozy

2007-05-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

I finished this tea cozy awhile ago, but never blogged about it. I used a knitty pattern, but didn't follow the directions exactly. I used a different yarn, Noro Kureyon, and once I started the decreases at the top, I did them more frequently than called for. In other words, I did fewer plain rows between decreases, because I was running out of yarn. Also, I didn't do the embroidery.

It didn't felt very well. This is after four or five washings. I first tried to wash it in zippered pillow case, but it wasn't felting at all, so I put it in a lingerie bag and that worked better. I washed it with old towels and used baking soda. I didn't take it out during the spin cycle, but it hardly matters b/c it didn't felt completely.

I've read that Kureyon doesn't felt very well, but I think others say it does. So who knows. Maybe I didn't knit loose enough. In any case, I probably won't be using Kureyon for another felting project.

But, even though it looks funny, it does fit over a regular sized teapot and keep the tea warm. And the colors are pretty! It does, however, need a shave.

So it works. I just probably won't be displaying it in a place of honor.

Other crafts

2007-05-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

I worked on my quilt a bit this week. What quilt? you say. Yeah, that's how I feel about it too.

It was two years when my mom came to visit and, along with L, we went to a great fabric store in Annapolis and both L and I bought fabric to start a Yellow Brick Road quilt. We cut out strips and then we stopped. Fast forward to yesterday, and I needed to pack up my machine for our move. Well, I decided I couldn't pack it w/o using it a bit first. So I dusted if off (literally, I hadn't used it since last summer) and started to sew some of my strips together and did quite a bit of them.

I love the fabrics I have: all pinks and greens. I can't wait to work on it some more, but it will have to wait until after the move. I am hoping to set up a nice spot for it in the new house.

It'll be my sixth quilt, I think. Well, my first quilt doesn't really count because it was just two different fabrics. Plus I lost it. During one of my 10 or so moves in my 20s, it disappeared. I suspect an ex-boyfriend. So, my second quilt is a lovely strip quilt, mainly in purples. Mom let me "shop" in her stash so I only had to buy a border and back fabric. I love this quilt. It's a large lapquilt. I have also made one of those flannel lapquilts where the seams are on the outside, so the fray. It has a name ... but I forget. Sadly, these are both packed up, so I'll show pictures next month. And I've made two baby quilts, really cute! But I didn't take pictures.

And here is a bag my mom made for my birthday. I love it!

And here's some pictures of really old and beautfil bonsai trees from the National Arboretum. The green one has been "in training" (that is the term they used for the trees) since 1625.

8 Weird Things and 2 Socks

2007-05-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

I finished G's socks, finally. He likes them very much and plans to wear them to our house closing next week. What a sweet dork. So the yarn is Ocean Mist from C*EYE*BER Fiber. But G has big, long feet (lucky me) and I ran out of yarn. Thankfully, I also bought a skein of the Riverbed colorway last fall at the Cloverhill booth at Stitches East. I could have made them shorter, but there was no way I was going to unravel these just so the toes would match. I like non-matching toes anyway. Of course, if I had done them toe-up I could have avoided this problem. But I like doing socks top down on DPNs. I'm not saying I'll never do the circular method in the future, but I like my DPNs for now.

What matters is he loves them, I like them and I am finished with them! I started the first sock in early Jan. Um, yeah, socks take me a long time. I did finish the first sock by Feb 13, but got stalled out on the second one. It's the darn cuff in k2p2 that kills me. I find the socks speed by once I finish the heel.

Also, every time I knitted these in public, I got tons of compliments. Erin makes pretty yarn. I think the colors look like islands in the ocean. I didn't use a fancy pattern, just a k2p2 cuff, basic heel flap and toe and knit the rest.

Now, the eight weird or random things. Heather tagged me for my very first meme. Also pheelya tagged me for the seven random things, list. This list covers both. Here goes:

1. I don't like to walk over sidewalk grates (like over a subway or sewer). I am afraid they'll break as I walk on them.

2. I used to eat sand when I was a baby, by the handful. My mother tried to make me stop, but I gave up.

3. I love the sloth bear baby at the National Zoo.

4. My k2togethers are nice and neat, but my ssk stitches look like crap.

5. I like to dip my french fries in ice cream. I like to eat pickles with cookies. Basically, I like to balance salty with sweet.

6. I decided to move to Baltimore after I had my tarot cards read at the Renaissance Faire. A bit of background: I had lived in my previous city for 10 years and I was ready for a change but I didn't know what to do. I spent Labor Day weekend here visiting my friend L and had a fabulous time. So it wasn't like I had a reading and the woman said "you have to move to Baltimore" and I did. It was more that the experience helped me realize how stuck I was and that I didn't have to be. I was keeping myself stuck, but why? Other than my job, I had nothing keeping me in that town. So I got home and within two days decided I was going to move just b/c I had so much fun here, it was something new and I was excited. I even got to keep my job and start telecommuting.

7. I still get dressed up like a wench and go to the Renaissance Faire every year. That is where G proposed. But we didn't have a Faire-themed wedding or anything. I am a big dork, but I draw the line.

8. The last song at my wedding was "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix A Lot. That wasn't the intended last song, but we had the reception in my parents' backyard and had to finish up the music at 10:00 p.m. G did all the music on iTunes and printed out a list of the songs so people would know what was coming up. My younger cousins, especially, loved this. But he overestimated the number of songs by an entire CD! So, when 10 o'clock rolled around, and we only had time for one more song, he asked me what I wanted. I looked at the list and said "Baby Go Back." Was there really any other choice? The best part was seeing my super religious uncle dancing to it. I assume he wasn't listening to the lyrics very closely.

Fingerless Garter Mitts

2007-05-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a finished object to show off: the Fingerless Garter Mitts from One Skein. I used one skein of Koigu purchased online from Got Yarn. (I needed to buy a skein of something else and the shop had a minimum purhase. I knew I had a pattern for one skein of koigu.) I got some beads at Michaels. It was my first beading project.

Started: May 6
Finished: May 14
Yarn: Koigu
Pattern: Fingerless Garter Mitts from One Skein

It was a very easy knit, just garter stitch and then some seams to sew, which I am not very happy with. Sewing horizontal seams in garter is not very smooth.

Also, I am not sure how much I like the color. I love pink. I love purple. But together, they might be a bit too little girly.

The beading was fun. I want to do another beading project in the future. And they are cute. I will wear them, but probably not as often as my Fetchings.

Close up of the beads:

I also started a shawl for my mother. It is the Half Pi Shawl from Rosie Knits that I got at Stitches East last November.

I bought this yarn (some random hand dyed merino) from A Good Yarn in Fell's Point almost two years ago. It was going to be a Christmas present, twice. But now it will be for her birthday in July. I can't work on it this weekend though, because my parents are coming to visit! Yeah, so excited. G and I are planning various things to do. We're going down to D.C. on Saturday for a bit. My dad hasn't been to D.C. since he attended an anti-war rally in the 60s. We're going to a restaurant that has singing waiters. They sing showtunes, standars and opera. He loves opera.

We're also going to take them by the new house to at least see the garden. We close two weeks from tomorrow! I don't want to jinx anything, so I'll post a photo of the house after we have the keys. But until then, here is a little peak:

I just want to knit!

2007-05-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

Maybe with some of these new purchases?

On Saturday at Maryland Sheep and Wool, I found myself sticking to a three-color palette of reds, greens and browns. I didn't buy any blues, which is what I normally gravitate towards.

During the first hour, I didn't think I would buy anything. It was my first time at MD S&W and I was very overwhelmed by the crowds, by the many, many booths. L and I sort of wandered aimlessly. We didn't know where to start.

We started the day out very nicely with breakfast when we met the Columbia knit night girls at Coleen's (and we got to see her beautiful Arwen). What a treat! It kept me sustained most of the day. I did stop long enough to eat a single bbq sandwich, but that's all.

Here's the booth selling Socks That Rock. Or rather, this is the line of people trying to get in to the booth selling STR. Can you see how I could be a little freaked out?

L and I made it inside the booth after lunch, where there was still some STR left (see the mostly bare walls behind the lovely, blogless, L?).

She bought some of the famed yarn, but I got this Gypsy Girl stuff instead:

The best part of the outing was getting to meet other knitters. At the blogger meetup, I met Mel, who was wearing a gorgeous sweater, Susan, Stephanie (love her blog name!), Mary (in the pretty, red tank/vest) and Gryphon (whose skirt in the summer Interweave Knits I love!).

Mary (left)) and Mel (right) trade info:

Stephanie (right) and Gryphon (left)

And of course, here are the requisite animal pics:

And, finally, a good husband award goes to John, Jody's husband, who stood in line for an hour(!) to get t-shirts for Jody and about 10 of her friends, including me. Aren't they cute?

Gifts for Moi

2007-05-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

Look what my brother brought me back from his travels in Tibet? Yak yarn! For some reason, I thought yak yarn would be very scratchy, but this is so very soft. And such pretty colors.

Close up shots:

So cool! I am thinking of making a stripey, lacey shawl. No idea about the pattern yet though.

And, I am extremely late in properly thanking bySarah for these lovely stitch markers (there is a fourth hiding somewhere around here). I heart them. If you want some, check out this store.

And an almost finished project: a not-yet-felted tea cozy made from Noro Kureyon.

With the white stripe at the top, followed by the darker green in the tip, it kind of looks like a boob. But felting will probably allow me to make the tip less nipple-shaped. And if not, a boob-shaped cozy is fine for my tea. Kind of appropriate, really.

I am going to MD Sheep and Wool on Saturday! I am tres excited. It's my first time. Last year I was out of town and the year before, I actually tried to go to a yarn shop but it was closed for sheep and wool and I had no idea such an event even existed! But I am ready and have a plan (well, sort of. Ok, no, not at all. I wrote down the yarn I need for a bunch of patterns that I want to make, but I feel like I'll be so overwhelmed that I'll just wonder aimlessly.) But still, super excited. And, since it's my birthday at the end of May, I suggested to G that he NOT go to all the trouble of buying me a birthday present and that I'll just spend a little extra at sheep and wool. Normally, he likes to be very secretive and romantic and think up a very special gift (like a vintage copy of Anne of Green Gables, my favorite childhood book). And it's so sweet. But I am ok w/ not having a big surprise this year if I get to buy more yarn! :)

Where to Start?

2007-04-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been more than a month since my last post. I had a
big post all planned for April 1 because I actually finished three
projects that day. Three projects that by coincidence fit the
yellow/green/pink Project Spectrum theme.

But April was insane. So much happened in just a few short weeks.

First, let me show you my finished objects.

Here is my first sweater for me:
title="Photo Sharing">width="375" height="500" alt="IMG_1274" />

I say ugg.
But I am happy with how some things came out. First of all, I thought I
did a good job on the short rows, figuring out where to put them and
then actually doing them. But I should have also done some waist
shaping. I opted just for the short rows b/c I thought the waist would
be snug already. But it could have come in a bit. Also, I thought I
would like the longer, tunic length, but I decided a shorter,
hip-length sweater would be more flattering on me. And the neckline is
a bit funky. You can't see it in this picture b/c my hair is blocking
it (and sorry about the crappy photo, but I wasn't feeling too inspired
to take a better one). There are these tab-like things on the neck that
are hitting too high. They should be at about the collar bone, but on
me they are at the very base of the neck. Good thing my hair covers
them.

The yarn is Cascade Eco. I love the color! I had a TON left over. I bought three (giant) skeins, each about 480 yards. I think I have one whole skein left.

I
did OK with the seaming, though I did get a bit lazy and I probably
could have been more meticulous. It looks fine, but it probably could
look better.

This is my first sweater ever:
title="Photo Sharing">width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_1372" />

I knit it last July, seamed it in Feb. and added the ribbon on April 1. It is knit in gross Redheart
that I got at a swap and I used because I just wanted to "practice" a
sweater. Of course, the problem with that is then I didn't want to give
it to either of my baby nephews and now it just sits on my couch.
Still, it is cute! Baby things almost always are, even if they are made
out of bad yarn. It is too small for the nephews now, so I may give it
to the church's giving tree next Christmas.

And here's something pink:

title="Photo Sharing">width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_1374" />

These
socks were for L's birthday at the beginning of the month and were done
in time, but I finally just gave them to her yesterday. She seemed to
like them. :)

They are knit in Colinette Cadenza, about three skeins.

Other news:
I
visited Wisconsin and got to see my nephew Owen again and got to meet
my nephew Alex for the first time. They are both about 6 months now. I
am in love. Alex's family is coming for a visit in May and I can't wait
to see him again (and my little niece too). Anybody have cool,
kid-friendly activities in the Baltimore area? Maybe a cool park?

Owen has ears like Dumbo and he sits and holds his feet with his hands, looking very monkeyish as he does it. And his hair is what I call a baby hawk; it comes to this adorable spike at his forehead.

Alex
is 10 days younger than Owen and he is a bit smaller. He has the most
enchanting smile, laughs a lot and he liked to sleep on me. Oh. Oh.

We
are buying a house! And it's yellow! Seriously, I did not TRY to buy a
PS approved house, it just happened. We close at the end of May and I
can't wait. I'll have a picture of it after it's all final. Now we are
in the process of picking paint colors (cause the pink LR and DR walls
have got to go).

Mini Break!

2007-03-26T16:03:00.000-07:00

To (badly) quote Bridget Jones: "A mini break isn't just shagging, it means true love" (or something like that, I am too lazy to break out the DVD). Two years ago, G and I went on our first mini break to Williamsburg, Va. He has a lifelong friend who lives there and we visited. It was our first overnight excursion and the first time I met two of his best friends.

Fast forward to this past weekend and we were back. His same friend hosted a gathering of the whole crew: five guys who've been friends since middle school plus five wives. Those with kids shuffled them off to grandparents for the weekend. It was a great time. First of all, Williamsburg is really pretty this time of year; flowers were in bloom and the weather was gorgeous. We stayed at this lovely inn right next to the historical section. Our room had the best canopy bed. I now heart canopy beds.

Highlights of the trip include a poker game that I did not win, sadly. I made some bad betting decisions. Oh well, the losers got to console themselves with cheese cake and a fire pit out back. And it cooled off at night enough for me to break out Fetching!

And we will not soon forget the Presidential Museum of Heads. Ok, I can't remember the museum's actual name, but it was basically giant cement heads of all the presidents, right up to the current one. It was on odd and surreal place. But what cool Project Spectrum pictures! These pictures do not represent any political bias. I basically just took pictures of the heads I thought looked coolest.

I brought along a sock to knit, but honestly didn't get more than a few rows knit on the drive down Friday before it got dark. Yesterday during the drive home, I spent most of the time reading to G from the Idiot's Guide to Buying and Selling a Home. We are at that stage! We have an appointment next weekend to look at homes with our agent. We've been talking, talking, talking about doing this and suddenly, bam, we're taking action. And now of course I am really excited and impatient to get in a house!

We're looking in Baltimore County mostly, especially the two P-villes: Parkville and Pikesville. G lived on the city side of Parkville and really liked it and we currently live very close to Pikesville and also like it. Of course we need to do tons of research about other towns and neighborhoods. Where do people like to live? We're looking pretty modest: a three bedroom home with 1.5 baths (or more!) in a place where there are lots of people with young children (we're not there yet, but are headed that way, I suppose), maybe a park within walking distance? Ideally we'd like an actual house, but we might change our minds and look at rowhomes too. There certainly are a lot of cute ones in our area.

I've started to get hooked on the various HGTV home buying shows, which leads to jealousy: a cute five-bedroom house with inground pool in Mobile, Ala., for $264K?!!!

Since the market has cooled down a little bit, I know we can take our time (our lease is up in July), but I also know that I am going to see something that I love and want it RIGHT NOW!

Good thing I have a respectable stash; I think my yarn budget will soon be smaller.

And speaking of stash: it was recently enhanced at swap hosted by the lovely Kirby of Yarn Coffee. The swap was on March 10, but I've been pretty busy with work and never got around to photographing my haul. It was a really good swap!

I came away with some sock yarn. And some Knitpicks. Some Lambs Pride. And some mohair. And a cool needle case!

Oh, you thought you saw some Noro, did you? No, that wasn't from the swap. See, I had to stop by the LYS on my home to buy needles for Fetching and this found its way to me. I am planning a felted tea cozy. I just love this Noro colorway.

Not bad at all! Plus it was a fun afternoon. Kirby served us yummy wine and cheese. And she has this really cute apartment that got me wanting to actually hang my pictures and tidy up.

New Love and Podcasts

2007-03-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

I have a confession: I am kind of glad for the nasty weather we are getting here in Maryland today. It's been sleeting almost all day (and now, I think I see snow). True, I don't have to go anywhere or drive anywhere. I am all cozy in my office with a cup of tea and my new love. My Fetching mitts!

I know I am late to the Fetching party. But I jumped all over this pattern last summer when it showed up on Knitty. I just had all these other projects in line to do first. Then a few weeks ago I finally bought yarn for Fetching. And last Sunday I finished knitting and starting blocking my Rachel sweater. And I wanted a QUICK project. Something I could wear on my upcoming trip to Wisconsin. So I cast on. And finished the first mitt Monday night. Then cast on for the second on Tuesday and finished it Thursday. I didn't knit at all on Wednesday. So basically it was two evenings of knitting per mitt for me. And I am NOT a fast knitter. But oh! the gratification! Oh the love!

But you see it was 80something degrees here on Wednesday. I thought I'd finish the mitts and pack them away until next Nov. But then, a last blast of winter hit (and hopefully it'll be a short blast, I am not crazy enough to want this to last! Though it would be nice to wear that sweater just once ...).

Anyway, the astute will note that I am not, in fact, in Wisconsin. My work trip was canceled because the meeting I was to attend was postponed. There have been some insane shake ups at work this week that I will not talk about here. (I don't like to talk about work on this blog because you never know who's reading.) So I worked feverishly all weekend to finish my sweater to bring to WI and then the trip was cancled. Just as well, I would have stayed up really late seaming Tue. night. Sadly I had planned to get together with L (who conviently is in WI now) for yarn store crawls and salsa dancing. Oh well. We'll have to get together when she's back in MD.

Today is the perfect day for listening to knitting podcasts, something I've wanted to do for awhile. And I can't figure out why I haven't until now! True, I don't have an ipod, but I use itunes all the time. I had a lot of busy work to do today, perfect for listening to podcasts. So I've been sitting with my peppermint tea and my Fetchings and listening. I really enjoyed SticksandString by a man in Australia. What other podcasts should I be listening to?

Here's the details on my Fethcings:
Started 3/11
Finished 3/15

Yarn: 2 balls of Debbie Bliss aplaca silk (this is NOT the yarn the pattern calls for but called for a similar gauage. Note on this yarn: the alpaca results in a "fuzzy" finished mitt, not the most suitable for the cables. And it does split a bit. But it is very soft yarn and feels very nice and on my hands.)

Needles: size 4 DPNs. The yarn calls for a 7/8 but this pattern is worked at a tighter gauge. And since I knit loose, I used an even smaller needle than the 6 the pattern recommends.

Modifications: I added one cable repeat to the cuff. And I made the thumb longer. I have a fair amount of yarn left over so I could have made them longer still. But I think this length is good. They are truly hand warmers, not arm warmers.

I am now planning to make Dashing, because I think my Fetchings need a beau.

2007-03-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Jody for this amusing diversion! You google your name + is and get all sorts of fun things. I added my editorial comments after each one.

Theresa is all over Regina and Saskatoon promoting Something Is Expected! (I love saying "Saskatoon!")

Theresa is now on MySpace.

Theresa is a childhood friend of Ryan Atwood, and the two have engaged in an "off and on" relationship, which came to a halt upon Ryan's departure. (Don't tell my husband)

Theresa is home to Widmer Cheese, which is one of the few places that makes brick cheese using real bricks. (Well ... I do like cheese.)

Theresa is a coach and flexibility expert in the field of competitive athletics (not so much)

Theresa is Deceiving Jared is Down Right Disgusting. (wow, that's harsh.)

Theresa is trying to reassure Whitney that Chad really does love her. (Sounds like I live in a soup opera.)

Theresa is now back working in office administration, but is looking around for a job as a network administrator. (ha ha ha!)

Theresa is originally from Southern California and started her TV news career. (I was actually born in Northern California, Sebastopol.)

Theresa is also involved with Swirling Records' CDs, Soap Sessions. (oddly enough, I felt really dirty during this project.)

Theresa is clearly not practiced at dating, works hard, has some brittle edges (again, way harsh!)

Theresa is the most sought-after baby-sitter and dog-walker in all of East. (I am very proud.)

Theresa is often too tired to cook dinner. (Thankfully, I have a nice husband who sometimes cooks too).

Theresa is sarcastic. (guilty)

Theresa is now working on a Comparative Genomics module. (huh?)

Theresa is also a featured artist with the Grammy Award winning Paul Winter. (That was fun, but dddly enough, I am more proud to be the most sought after baby-sitter and dog-walker in all of the East.)

Theresa is probably the most poignant voice in American. (that's American, not English!)

Theresa is dedicated to the cultivation of Comfort. (For sure! Long live sweatpants!)

Theresa is "unusually" pretty. (Why thank you!)

Theresa is an ethnohistorian, with a Ph. D. in Anthropology from Rutgers University. (again, huh?)

Theresa is the best character on Passions. (that explains the soap opera vibe earlier.)

Theresa is very obviously not someone who follows the crowd. She spent time in France touring wineries and talking to many people. (Yes, I really have done this. I was in France, I toured a winery or two and I did talk to many, many people.)

Interweave Knits Redesign

2007-03-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

I subscribed to IK in Jan., just a little giftee for myself. I started stalking my mailbox at the end of Feb. after I saw reports on line that people had received it and that it had been *gasp* redesigned! OK, that gasp was sarcastic. I work at a magazine that has seen three redesigns in seven years and I don't think we ever heard a peep from our readers. I think we received a few "like the new look" emails, but that was it. (Of course our readers are sooo totally different, it's not really a fair comparison), Still, I was really surprised to read the very, shall we say, passionate, things about the new look at IK. Some hadn't even seen the new look and, yet, were up in arms.

I think it is a really good redesign. It still looks like itself, just better, which is what a mag redesign is all about. You don't want to look so radically different that people don't recognize you.

I know many have emailed and called IK to voice their displeasure, so I decided to write that I liked the new look, for the most part. This is what I sent:

"I know there's been a lot of talk on the Web about your redesign. I figured you probably haven't received as many "pro" comments so here is one (with just a
tiny bit of constructive feedback tossed in!).

I really love the three column treatment for pattern type. This is SO much easier to read than two columns.

And I like that the patterns are all grouped together. It makes finding them later very easy. And they look very nice. I am sure publication design-wise, it is hard to make a pattern layout look "pretty" but you did! Plus, I noticed that the patterns "jump" less, which is a huge plus!

I do miss the full page photo for each project. And I miss the old models. They were all so beautiful and at the same time they seemed so friendly. Some of the new
models are a little blah (but not the cover girl, she's gorgeous!), but perhaps that's better for a knitting magazine. They don't compete with the patterns.

While I like the patterns all together in the second half (or really, third) of the magazine for second, third, and even fourth readings of the issue, it makes the first read less enjoyable. One of the things I dislike about many craft magazines is that halfway through it, you've seen everything (except for perhaps the last page, "last look" article). With the old Interweave Knits, I got to savor every page as I read
it the first time. So, I wonder if there is a way to sprinkle a bit more "new" content throughout the issue instead of front loading it? (Maybe just a little bit
more info about the designers or a slightly longer pattern intro? Perhaps a quote from the designer about the design's inspiration?)

I am still a very happy reader.

Thanks!

Theresa XXX

p.s. Beautiful staff projects in the Spring 2007 issue!"

And I couldn't talk about IK without congratulating Eunny on her new job! I am really looking forward to the Winter 2007 issue.

My knitting news: There is seaming in my future. Maybe I'll have a picture of a sweater on here soon!

Many Updates

2007-03-03T09:19:00.000-08:00

I don't know what happened, but somehow it's been a couple of weeks since I updated the blog (not counting my rant earlier this week).

First, I need to thank Jody for helping me figure out new Blogger. I finally have oneof those cool Flickr things in my sidebar. Of course, now I need actually add more pictures to my Flickr account ...

During the past couple of weeks, I have "written" at least three posts in my head, but never got them down on paper, er keyboard.

I meant to write about the fun time I had in Feb. hanging out
with
these
amazing
knitters
for yummy food and yarn shopping...

This blue/green Debbie Bliss alpaca silk is my loot from that day. I am going to make Fetching.

Then, I was going to tell you about the great time I had with G at a Nils Lofgren show at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Va. It was a great acoustic show. I even knitted for a bit before the show and just the tiniest, tiniest amount during the show. :) At the Birchmere, it's general admission where you sit at tables. So everybody gets there early to get in and get the best seat. Like two and half hours before
the show even starts. So, even after dinner, I had a lot of knitting time.

I was probably going to blog about the snow, but now the weather is beautiful and springlike. We actually have our backdoor open. Has spring officially sprung in Maryland, or can we expect one more cold spell?

I am almost, almost done with my wool sweater. I fear I may have missed my chance to wear it this season. Unless, unless I can finish it this week and wear it in Wisconsin, where I am sure it will be cold enough.

I am heading back to the main office again in mid March. And the cool thing is L will be there too visiting her family. We have already made plans to visit at least one of the cool yarn shops in Madison.

I will actually be in Wisconsin over a weekend but my parents are going to be in Connecticut visiting my brother there. So I'll have a weekend to visit other friends, or go down to Chicago and see my brother and his tiny baby. Well, the word is
that O is not so tiny anymore. He takes after my brother who was a very chubby baby. Oapparently gets really grumpy when he is hungry. Funny, Matt does too, still.

It would be very cool to spend the weekend in Chicago. Matt and company live downtown, right across from Navy Pier. It's a fun spot.

And, as you see, I've been taking lots of blue pictures.

Why?

2007-03-01T20:10:00.000-08:00

Why do the fashion police LOVE Nicole Kidman so much? She could wear poop and they would rave about her brave fashion choices. I should disclose that I have never liked anything that she wore to the Oscars. It's all blah, blah and blah. But this week, she was praised for wearing something that Charlize Theron was raked over the coals for wearing in the past. And during this week's Oscar Fashion Police on E!, those cats said that Kate Winslet shouldn't have worn such a pale green dress, because she is so pale herself. Hello?!!! Nicole Kidman is so pale she is practically translucent! And yet she usually wears the palest, most blah mother-of-the-groom colors like lavendar (when she isn't wearing a wedding dress like she did at last year's Oscars). Hey, at least this year, she wore a vibrant color. But I DID NOT like that noose thing around her neck. At least they acknowledge their bias. The Fashion Police (Debbie and the two Js) did not like Kirsten Dunst's Chanel dress (gag) but said that they would have loved it on Nicole Kidman. What??? I don't know why this bothers me. But it does.

Why does it seem like I didn't make any progess on my husband's 2 by 2 ribbed sock cuff during the four hours (plus a couple hours of red carpet coverage) during Sunday night's Oscar broadcast?

Why won't new Blogger let me post a picture to my sidebar with a link embedded?

Why can't I figure out how to customize my freaking sidebar in new Blogger?

OK, I do know why the Nicole Kidman stuff bugs me. The fashion police like her b/c when she wears a dress, they can just look at the dress without any woman getting in the way. She is a hanger (and I don't just mean b/c she is so very thin; she doesn't seem to have much of a personality; there's no spark there). They can get all geeky about the couture dress. But a dress should never wear a woman. It should never be the main event. I confess, I love to watch all the red carpet shows. I flipped between E! and the Rivers on TV Guide Channel just so I could see all the clothes. But I like dresses that make the most of the beautiful women wearing them. Take Salma Hayek. Nobody is ever going to miss her for the dress. Yeah, she's got amazing curves that couldn't be hid if they wanted to be. But she has so much personality; she is so vibrant. You're going to notice her and then notice her dress. The way it should be. I fear it is the opposite with poor Nicole. Honestly, I saw a red dress walking down the carpet and then realized it was on Nicole Kidman.

Project Spectrum Update

2007-02-13T12:12:00.000-08:00

I finished the first sock for G! And it happens to be blue, so I am half done with a PS project. I must say, I am not rushing out to start the next sock. This one took me about a month. Blah. But it's pretty, isn't it? G loves it.

I also finished the back of my green sweater. I saved the front for last. Yes, I have been avoiding the short rows. It is not the how to that worries me, but the placement and how many to do. What if I end up with cups coming out the side of the sweater or at the top of my books, or just under them (which would give me sort of a four boob effect, wouldn't that be attractive?)? When I took the short row class at Stitches East, I think the teacher said that you just need to do a couple of rows of short rows. But I am "luckier" than the average girl in that area so I kinda doubt a couple will be enough for me.

So, I have two things I should be working on. But of course instead I want to start a hat, wrist warmers, something lacy and a tea cozy (I really do. I drink tea every day and I want it cozier!).

Ah, nice lazy day. I have the day off. But not because it is snowing with freezing rain forecast for the evening commute. Considering I telecommute, that would be pretty funny. No, I get a comp day for the weekend work I did in Aruba. Sweet! I didn't even sleep in. Ten years ago (probably even two years ago), I would have slept til 11:00 then watched E! for hours. But now I don't want to miss any of my precious day off! Of course, when I say I didn't sleep in, I should disclose that I normally wake up at 9:00 because I work in the next room on CENTRAL time. Thirty minutes is plenty of time to get up, wash my face, make my tea and yogurt and be in my desk at 8:30 in Wisconsin. Tee hee hee. I love it.

Oh, and I updated my blog template. I was tired of the green. I had started calling it "eek green" cause it was so bright and clashed with so many colors. I played around with new Blogger today and I like some of the new features.

Socks on the Beach

2007-02-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

I knit socks on the beach in Aruba last week. I mostly worked on G's sock made from C*EYE*BER Fiber handdyed yarn in "Ocean mist" that I bought from the Cloverhill booth at Stitches East. Matches the background nicely, doesn't it?

I also worked on this sock in a DK weight on size 3s. Cause, I love G, but his feet are BIG (well, to be fair they're not that much bigger than mine) and it took me a month to finish one sock. I am loving the sock on size 3s. It's like "speed socks."

Aruba was lovely. The water was amazingly turquoise and warm. The sand was soft. We got sit under these beach huts called "palapas." We got to see beautiful sunsets and had some amazing dinners. In fact, the main restaurant at our hotel (Raddison) was recently named the "best restaurant in the Caribean." But G and found that it wasn't even the best restaurant in Aruba! It was a very good restaurant, but we had much better service and much, much better food at three other places. We ate lots of good fish, some fried yuca and plantains (I could have had a whole meal of these! Wish I knew someplace in Baltimore to get them) and some yummy island drinks. But I only had one mojito (my favorite drink); somehow our hotel was out of mint that week.

We didn't really explore the island. Since I was working every morning and early afternoon until Thursday, I just wanted to relax on the beach after work. We did explore the area restaurants though, which made me happy. When I travel alone I don't always have the energy to venture far from the hotel and consequently end up eating in the same boring hotel restaurants or room service. I like when G can come along on work trips. He plans out our meals.

Oh and he got us a couples massage. It was wonderful, well mostly. It was the kind of massage where they do the quick, pounding with their hands on your legs and arms for part of the massage. And I have a bruise on my leg! And I had to pee for the last 30 mintutes (including the stomach massage part!) so I had to concentrate on holding it and not enjoying the last bit of the massage. But afterwards, I did feel so relaxed and loose. G loved his too.

The other big thing about Aruba was the iguanas and lizards. G was obssessed with them. They were everywhere (G even saw some swimming in the pool on our first day!). He had fun tracking them with the camera and he got some good shots.

They got a little too close for (my) comfort during lunch. I seriously thought this guy was going to jump on our table.

The first night there were two cats begging at dinner (the hotel adopts any feral cats that adopt it and has them fixed and feeds them, but like any cat anywhere they were trying to scam more food) and later in the week we dined with iguanas.

The other wild life that G was obssessed with were the comerants. He tried to photograph them just as they dove into the water.

(I must say we have good wild life sighting luck on beach trips: we saw tons of dolphins in Delaware, whales in Maui, seals in Cape Cod and now iguanas!)

I have lots more photos, but for now, I'll leave you with a shot I call "Water, ahh..."

Uniquely Me

2007-02-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
7
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

My first name is common enough:
There are 406,457 people in the U.S. with the first name Theresa.
Statistically the 137th most popular first name.
More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Theresa are female.

But my last name is rare:
There are 5,009 people in the U.S. with my last name
Statistically the 6,885th most popular last name. (tied with 52 other last names)

But if I go by my maiden name, then I am not so unique; there are 73 of us. That's cause there are 53,994 people with that last name in the U.S.

But then I checked my friend L's name and it said there were 0 people in the U.S. with that name. In fact, my OTHER friend L doesn't exist either, according the site. So, it seems howmanyofme.com is not very accurate. Either that or it can't process Russian names.

A Tangled Skein Now Open!

2007-02-08T15:04:00.000-08:00

The Hyattsville store, A Tangled Skein opened in late Jan., I am told (thanks annonymous commenter!). The Web site is up too.

Now, G and I just need to find time for a trip to Franklin's. This weekend he will be busy writing a paper. And Sunday night we are headed to D.C. for a show (I can't remember the name of the singer right now, Alexis something or other) with his aunt. Of course, Hyattsville is on the way to D.C. ... We might need to take a break and have some beer and yarn. :)

A write up of my trip to Aruba is coming soon.

Packed and Ready to Go

2007-01-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm not technically all packed, but I am getting there. Tomorrow G and I are off to Aruba. Believe it or not, it's a work trip for me. Every year my company hosts a conference someplace tropical. So I will have to work, but I'll have some free time too. G has already made dinner reservations a few nights and he is going to use his birthday money to get us a couple's massage at the hotel's spa. We're going to have it on Thursday after my work responsibilities end. What a treat!

How many knitting projects do I need? I was thinking of just bringing two socks but leaving my sweater. The sweater would take up more room and it might be too hot to work. On the other hand, the five hour flight would give me plenty of time to work on it.

Last night I also stocked up on magazines for the trip. It's time to catch up on fashion mag reading.

I can't wait to be kniting on the beach!

Then when I return, I'll be cheering for the Bears in the Super Bowl! Go Chicago! Last night my mom asked me if I remembered where we were the last time the Bears were in the Super Bowl. Somehow I remembered that we were at a pig farm in Iowa. We lived in Dyersville, Iowa when I was a kid and some of my dad's patients had a pig farm and had us over for the game. Somehow that stuck in my memory. I guess it WAS the only time I watched the super bowl on a pig farm.

"See" ya in a week!

Project Spectrum and 2007 Knitting Goals

2007-01-24T07:53:00.000-08:00

I joined Project Spectrum this year. I think I have enough yarn and fabric to participate.

In Feb/March for blue, white and grey: maybe a gray or two blue hats (perfect way to use up the baby blue yarn I got). Or starting a blue sweater, or a blue tank top. I could also do something with the cream (which is after all almost white) alpaca that I have. Could start my Tess socks in the blue, purple, green color. And if I don't finish, they would transition me into April/May.

April/May (green, yellow, pink): work on a lace shawl for my mother with yarn that has pink and green and maybe yellow in it. Also could start a pink lace shawl for me. Plus finish up those Tess socks.

June/July (red, black, metallics): start a red vest for my father for Christmas or his birthday. Also use my goldish mohair for leg or arm warmers (I think there is an armwarmer pattern in One Skein that would be perfect). Also could make a red hat and red fingerless gloves.

August/September (brown, orange, purple). I have some brown Manos cotton. But I might want to use it before Aug. Well, of course, I'll want to make a little summer sweater with it before Aug., but it is likely that I won't get to it, especially if I really do even a few of the above projects.

Oh, but the perfect Project Spectrum project will be this entrelac tote bag with colors from almost every section that I want to start soon.

When I look at the list of projects that I want to complete in 2007, I think I have them mostly covered in the above list. And, I'll be working on gifts that I wanted to do for last Christmas (ok to be honest the Christmas BEFORE last). If I finish, I may give them away before next Christmas. I just want to actually finish a couple of gift knits this year.

While I am on my 2007 knitting goals, I also want to learn to do two socks at a time, do toe up socks, do a cable project, use some of my stash (but not knit ONLY from stash), attend Maryland Sheep and Wool (sadly I've been out of town for the past two years. But so far, the calendar is clear that weekend), and attend more knit meetups and knit nights. I really enjoy the camaraderie of knitters. I may need to work smarter on those days. But I know I can do it, I just need to do it more often.

So that is it: a nice solid list of projects and goals, ambitious w/o being impractical.

Catching Up

2007-01-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

So, it's been awhile since I really posted anything. I was mostly just lazy. Well ... I was traveling at the beginning of January. And I was sick with a nasty cold for about two weeks. But mostly I just didn't want to upload pictures. I don't know this is such a pain. It really doesn't take too long but I always put it off. I thought of doing it every day for the past few weeks, but I always decided to knit instead.

The good news is I have two projects to show!

But first my Christmas haul. I know it is a little after the fact, but Christmas was good to me, knitting-wise.

My mother-in-law did good. I got a beautiful wood swift from a Washington-based company called Dragonfly Turnings and With Wood, Naturally and a ball winder. Yeah! I spent a couple of days after Christmas winding up a lot of my stash.

She also got me some luscious yarn: three skeins of alpaca from Connecticut-based Twin Gate Farm in a color-way called "Crap Apple." Yum. And she got me three balls of baby blue yarn to make something for my nephews and another ball of different kinds of yarn wound together to make a open garter-stitch shawl. I may work on this and then give it to her for Christmas next year.

From my parents, I got three knitting books (OK, I picked them out so it wasn't really a surprise, but I was excited to finally get them).

And from my brother I got a gift certificate for Knitpicks. And I haven't redeemed it yet! I am waiting til I feel the urge to buy yarn. I guess that is pretty much all the time, but sometimes the urge is very strong and that is what I am waiting for.

So that is it: all in all a pretty good haul.

So since Christmas I have been working on the "Rachel" tunic sweater from Hot Knits (which has some cute patterns, but also a lot of stuff most definitely not hot. Maybe the "hot" in the title refers to how wearing the sweaters will make you feel, cause a lot of them are big, bulky things). I am done with the sleeves and almost done with the back. I using Cascade Eco. So far pretty easy, but as you can see I saved the front for last. I figured that by the time I get to that part I'll have done the math to figure out where to put the short rows. And now that the temps have dropped in Maryland maybe I'll actually finish it and be able to wear it. (We had snow over the weekend, just a dusting but it was pretty. Also a little odd since earlier last week G and I had our windows open all night it was so warm).

And a sock for G with hand dyed yarn.

I had two great knitting group outings this week. On Saturday, the Baltimore Knitting Meetup met at Teavolve in Fells Point. Teavolve was fun and I talked to some very cool knitters. I really like that group because I always meet new people.

And last night I hauled myself out of work a tiny bit early to go to the Columbia knitting group, which is always fun and sometimes wild.

So people are excited about A Tangled Skein. If I hear anything about when it is opening, I'll post about it.

New Yarn Shop in Hyattsville

2007-01-19T07:26:00.000-08:00

Last month, G, L and I went to dinner at Franklin's in Hyattsville. And G noticed a sign in the building across the street that said ... coming soon A Tangled Skein (or Web?) ... yarn shop!

While, Hyattsville is not next door. And there are at least six other yarn shops closer to me, this new one will be especially nice. You see Franklin's is one of G's very favorite places on Earth. It is a micro brewery and pub (with really good food). When he was in grad school, G lived a five-minute walk away and credits about 10 of his current pounds to Franklin's beer. It is actually a cute place: It's very bright, has nice tall ceilings so the smoke isn't too heavy. And it is has a cute "general store" that sells old fashioned candy, cute little toys, more beer and random stuff. It is at the intersection of Gallatin and Route 1. And now, across the street, it appears there will be a yarn store. I always like going to Franklin's anyway, but once that shop opens, I think I may be suggesting we spend the afternoon in Hyattsville: lunch at Franklin's, a bit of shopping while G sits in the bar (I'll drive of course), maybe a movie at the Greenbelt theater that shows "art" films. Good times. I wish I knew when it was opening. I couldn't find anything about it on google.

p.s. I am knitting, will post about that, and the cool knitting stuff I got for Christmas--I've just been too lazy to upload photos--later today or this weekend.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-22T14:49:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow G and I are off to Connecticut to spend Christmas with his family. I must admit, I am having a hard time this year not going home. I love Christmas with my family. It's very cozy. We're a big family: eight not counting the spouses and kids. But that big circle of people creates this wonderful, cozy, intimate space. And I miss it. I miss the whole season: baking with my mom (my favorites are the gingerbread cookies with just a touch of frosting), shopping with my dad for my mom's presents (an annual tradition that we didn't do this year for the first time in a decade); going to church on Christmas Eve; listening to Christmas songs (mom starts them early); watching White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life. After church and a yummy dinner on Christmas Eve, my brothers and I would help my mom put out the gifts. With six kids, that took some doing. There were PILES and piles of presents. I have no idea where she hid them all. Getting up early on Christmas morning and opening our stockings (all handmade, see mine and Geoff's).
The stockings are my favorite part. Dad makes tea and hot chocolate (I like mine with cinnamon and chili pepper!). Then we opened presents until noon. When I was very little we all just opened our gifts at once. But then we decided it would be more fun to take turns. But with eight, that took forever. Then we went to all opening one present at once, showing, and then moving on to the next.

A typical December evening at my parents': my dad is playing Christmas songs on his keyboard in the living room. My mom or brothers are cooking dinner, another brother is reading in the living room by the tree. Maybe the youngest is watching a South Park Christmas specials. It's idylic without being cheesy. Everybody is happy to be together. Doesn't mean there isn't any arguing or fighting, but no one doesn't want to be there. No one is affecting that "holidays suck," "families are all dysfunctional" 'tude.

But we grew up. My married brothers started going to their wives' homes for Christmas. We all live too far apart to do Christmas Eve w/ one side and Christmas day with the other. So now it is my turn to go to the in-laws and I am not happy. I have been kinda pouting. I don't like that I won't be spending Christmas with MY family for the foresable future (you see, Thanksgiving is our big day and I never want to miss that either, so doing an every-other-year thing is not an option. Unless we could do Thanksgiving AND Christmas at my family one year and then just Christmas at G's the next. But that probably won't fly. :)

But then I remember that this is my first Christmas with my NEW family, my husband. And we can create our own traditions (borrowing heavily on mine, of course. We'll see if any of his make the cut. By the way, I am not really this shrewy in person. His family is lovely and I'm sure I'll have a lovely time.). For example, I am going to continue the stocking tradition. My mom made G a beautiful stocking this year and gave me mine to bring home, plus gave us a bag of goodies for them. I managed to stuff both stockings by closing my eyes so I wouldn't see what was going in mine. I am going to bring them along to CT, and G and I will open those in the morning before we go downstairs, just the two of us. And for the past two years we copied my family's tradition of decorating the tree on a Friday night with a fun dinner. Another cool new tradition: last weekend we had a fabulous holiday feast with a turkey and this amazing stuffing, cranberry sauce and a yummy pumpkin cake. (We were trying out our new covered roasting pan, a wedding gift.) We decided to cook this meal every year in mid December.

So, I do look forward to our new traditions, but it is lonely thinking about not being with my family.

Ok, on to knits. I finished G's scarf. Even blocked it. Here it is ready to be wrapped up.

And I finished the first sleeve for my sweater. I started with the sleeve, so I still have a ways to go, but this yarn knits up fast. It is Cascade Eco, 100 percent wool. I like it. Hope it doesn't itch too much.

And here's a spot of cheer. I opened my door to find a box of the best chocolates in the world from a work associate. Yeah! As you can see I've already dug in.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mid Week Update

2006-12-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

I have three projects on needles. One is a Christmas gift for G. It is almost done and I can probably show it here, but just in case.

Also, I tracked down a very special gift for him today. He'll be so surprised! I can't wait to pick it up and see his face when he opens it.

I am also working on a hat w/ some stash yarn. It seems to be going OK. But it is really hard on my wrists. I think it is the combination of really rough yarn and wooden double pointeds. It is a fight to get the stitches off the needles sometimes, even though I am using bigger needles than the yarn calls for.

The third project is a sweater. In truth I started this sweater a couple of months ago but wasn't getting gauge. Well, I was getting gauge, but didn't like the gauge. I am just going for it now, who cares. It's my first sweater.

Saw the winter Knitty is up. I really like the red and pink hat on the "cover." But colorwork is very down on my list of things to learn so I'll probably never make it.

I am taking Friday off this week. I get to take a "comp" day to make up for the two weekend days I worked in Arizona. Yeah. I plan to do some shopping and then actually mail gifts on time.

And then on Sat., G and I are going to see Damien Rice in D.C. I am very excited about this show. I got the tickets the day they went on sale and apparently they sold out very quickly. I think we are going to do dinner in D.C. before. I need to check into restaurants. The show is at the Lincoln Theatre (normally, theaters in the U.S. that spell it theatre annoy me, but this one looks so pretty on the inside that I'll let it pass) on U Street, near the Ethiopian place we went last time. So we might eat there again. But I would kind of like to try something new too.

Sad news: my coworker B (who works in the Wis. headquarters) is moving to Seattle. He and his partner had been contemplating it for awhile, but decided to make the move after Wisconsin voted for a marriage amendment in Nov. This saddens me. He is a great coworker and will be missed. And I am sad that my former home state passed that amendment. I always brag about how great Wis. is (it's got a amazing library system; you don't have to pay $1 per reserve like you do in Baltimore County!) and now I feel like I can't brag as much.

And my college roommate, who currently lives in Alexandria, is moving back to Madison. This is less sad, because I'll get to see her on my fourish trips back to Madison each year. We'll probably end up seeing each other as often as we do now. But I am still sad cause we always talked about doing things in the city that we didn't get to do yet. Last winter we met on a Sunday at the National Gallery of Art and had a blast and talked about doing more museum days. And I really wanted to spend a day in Alexandria with her on a nice spring Saturday. It's great news for her and husband. He got a wonderful new job. They'll be so close to her parents and be able to buy a whole house for LESS than the teeny little apartment they live in now.

So, it's been an emotional week. It was really bad the other day when I got teary while watching a CVS commercial. Dude, the pharmacist went to some guy's home after work to cut his pills cause he wasn't able to. How could I NOT get teary?

hee hee hee. Now it just makes me laugh at how sappy I am.

Back from Arizona

2006-12-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

I was so happy to arrive home late on Wednesday night. Phoenix was beautiful, but I didn't get to go outside during daylight until Tuesday afternoon; I arrived there on Saturday night.

I was exhausted and very dry! I couldn't moisturize enough. There is the tiniest possibility that G could someday be transferred to Phoenix. I don't think I would like it much. It is just too dry!

But the mountains were beautiful. This is the amazing view from my room. And it was warm enough to sit by the pool on Tue. afternoon, which was lovely.

My room was nice. All the staff got upgraded to suites. Check out my bedroom. And my sitting room. :) Seemed like a waste to have all the space just for me.

I had a yummy sushi dinner with my coworkers one night. We went way off property so we could relax and not worry about attendees lingering around.

I did a lot of knitting on the plane there and back. Almost done with G's Christmas gift. I'll be able to finish it up when he works late this week.

I started a hat over the weekend to have something to knit while he read Catcher in the Rye to me. It is one of his favorite books; he used to teach it as a high school teacher. He's got a voice for radio (reminds me of Garrison Keillor) and reads very well. It was a lovely way to spend a Friday evening.

The Road to Tibet

2006-12-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

My brother and his girlfriend are doing well in Tibet. Here are some pictures they sent of their students, a gathering of monks and somewhere on the road from China to Tibet.

They've both been sick a lot but seem to be on the mend. Good.

He said he recently used a washboard to wash his clothing for the first time in his life and got some blisters. Hmmmm... they've been on the road for more than a month. Did he really have that many pairs of clean underwear? Ewwwww.... Seems that his girlfriend (our sister-in-law's youngest sister) has been more diligent about clean clothes and has the blisters to show.

So far this is my favorite story. In his last e-mail, he wrote: "I’ve never seen such competition for selling yogurt, until now. In 'Yak Square' (that’s the real name of it) these old ladies, looking half asleep, set up their bowls full of yogurt and wait for an interested customer to come by. Then all of a sudden they spring to life and bombard you, shoving their bowls of yogurt at you, all shouting and probably saying something like 'This yogurt is made from the finest yak's milk.' Our friend Loyo, who helps us get our groceries does the negotiating and we just stand back and enjoy the scene."

I miss him but love getting the emails and finally seeing photos. It is amazing what they are seeing.

A Gift for Me!

2006-12-09T08:07:00.000-08:00

Look what my (blogless now, but hopefully not for long) friend L made for me! It is the Wandering Aran Fields capelet from Wrap Style.

Isn't it beautiful?

It was perfect for my trip to Arizona. I often get cold on the plane or extremely hot. So I wanted something to wrap around my shoulders that wouldn't be too bulky and that I could easily take off and put in my purse.

Check out the beautiful cable work:

I love the color; I love the yarn. It is from knitpicks, one of the alpaca blends. It is wonderfully soft.

And it isn't the first knitted gift from her. She made me this scarf from Scarf Style for my birthday before last.

L was my roommate when I moved out to Baltimore. We made a good team: she took out the garbage, I made dinner (OK, not every night). We would sit and knit in the evenings while she told me funny and sometimes horrible stories from the vet clinic where she works. We watched Love Actually and Pride and Prejudice (the long, BBC version) like once a month. I miss our girly nights. We still have them, but now they are planned in advance. I miss the possibility that every night would turn into a girl knit night. (Don't misunderstand, I love my husband and being married to him; I wouldn't trade him for more girl nights, ever. But it is possible to love what you have and miss what you had. I am sure anybody who is a parent gets that!)

L is also incredibly generous: witness the incredibly beautiful hand knitted gifts above, but also, as one of the personal attendants at my wedding (I didn't have bridesmaids), she took tons of pictures at my reception with her digital camera. She doesn't think twice about staying overnight to take care of a sick friend, sick friend's child and dog. And if one of her friends needs a place to crash, she'll open her home to them and their pets. She has taught me a lot about being a good friend.

Thank you, L! I love you dear. Sorry if I made you blush. :) Can't wait for shopping tomorrow!!

My Brilliant Husband

2006-12-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

My talented and handsome husband won second place in the Baltimore City Paper fiction contest! Don't mind my bragging. I am just so happy for and proud of him.

Read the story here.

Thanksgiving Recap

2006-12-01T07:38:00.000-08:00

First, a finished object!! My socks are done. I love them.

Lately I feel like I've been running from trip to trip, hurrying to get my laundry done and squeeze out a blog post before I leave. I am only just back to normal after my Thanksgiving trek home. Laundry is drying on the folding rack and it had better dry fast because tomorrow I am off to Phoenix for a work trip. I've had a reprieve from work travel for a few months, but now it picks up again. I do enjoy most of the travel, but this Dec. trip I take every year is rough: when I return home, Dec. whizzes by and I am always a step behind, getting my tiny Christmas tree up and shopping and don't even think of baking.

But, I will have lots of time to knit on the ONE small present I am knitting this year that I can't work on at home.

I knit a lot last week on the drive to and from Wisconsin. Thanksgiving was wonderful. In my family, it is not just a day. It's an four-day event. On Wed. my mom bakes the first turkey (she needs two huge birds to feed 40some people). G and I made the cranberry sauce. Ok, I just stirred it once; it was his project. Wed. night is the first family dinner with my grandparents and brothers and sometimes an aunt's family who came in early.

Then on Thursday, the crowds trickle in. Or usually come all at once and you kiss like 20 people in five minutes. My mom's four sisters and two of her cousins and all their families come for the weekend. Another turkey is cooking, plus potatoes and stuffing and gravy and all the other stuff. Everyone pays $6 for eight changes on the football pool grid (I didn't win any cash this year; in fact I haven't won since college, when the $8 was a HUGE windfall!).

I got to hold nephew number one. He was tiny and adorable and slept a lot, except for each time I held him when he was fussy. But we discovered that G has "the bounce" that puts babies to sleep. Good to know.

Baby O and grandpa taking a nap:

My brother came w/ my niece M. My sister-in-law and the other baby boy stayed home to rest w/ her mom. Little M is not yet three and is already a world traveler. She's been to Canada, of course (seeing as she is half Quebecoise), Japan, France, England, I'm not sure where else ... So, she does fine on the plane. And it was her first trip with just Papa. I don't think she even noticed that her maman was not there. After all, she had an entourage of my younger girl cousins for the next three days. At almost all times there was a group of five girls surrounding her. She loved it!

So, Thursday is spent eating (mostly), napping, watching football, catching up with relatives, playing games and more eating.

A few of my younger cousins knit. In fact they are the ones who started the knitting craze in my family. One summer vacation two middle-schoolers taught all the women how to knit. Here's two working on scarves:

Then on Friday, we have leftovers for lunch and then about 34 of us (we lose a few to basketball tournaments, naps, work) trek to the a movie. This year it was Happy Feet. We arrive at least an hour early to get in line. And when they open the doors, we are that annoying family running to save three rows of seats. Happy Feet was cute; G could not stop laughing at it. He hasn't seen a children's movie since, probably, he was a kid. "It's about a penguin who tap dances to get more fish!" he kept repeating.

Friday night dinner is always chili and another soup. In the past I've made tortilla soup, but this year it was my uncle's hamburger soup. My aunt J makes the chili and homemade butter (she does this with her kindergarten class; I don't know how, but it is tasty!).

After dinner some of us played a very fun game called Mafia. One person narrates the game and designates a few people to be mafia and the rest townspeople (with a doctor, cop and vigilante for good measure). The mafia know who each other are, but everybody else just knows what they are. Then you have town meetings where you try to decide how is bad and then vote to execute one person. This could be a mafia or a townsperson. You don't really know. Then everyone goes to sleep and the mafia wake up to kill a townsperson. And it goes on until there are just a few people alive and the winners are the group that dominates: if there are more mafia alive; they win, etc. Google it for more info. It is fun and a good game to play with adults and kids. And good for new people to get to know the family. It was G's second Thanksgiving with us, and he did really good w/ the adults, but the little girls were all one to him until playing Mafia. Now he can see them as individuals, instead of M's entourage.

Saturday is usually shopping for the women and sports-watching for the guys, but G and I left on Sat. since we had to drive home. We packed up our car w/ tons of wedding gifts and were able to bring everything home except a mixer. Don't have counter space for it anyway.

I did a lot of knitting and (finally!) finished those socks! I like them and I liked doing socks, but I think I am going to take a break from them for a bit to work on bigger projects.

Stitches Classes

2006-11-20T16:51:00.000-08:00

This is long overdue. I took two classes at Stitches East. The first was an intro to entrelac by Margaret Fisher. It was great! She was a very good instrutor. See my little swatch.

I am really excited about entrelac. When I've looked at instructions in books, I couldn't picture how it worked. I am the kind of learner who needs to see things AND read instructions to really get it. I love finding web tutorials with pictures and--even better-video. So this entrelac class was perfect for me. Margarat talked us through the process. She gave us great handouts with diagrams and she walked around the room at each step to see how we were doing and if we had questions.

Lately, I've seen Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style everywhere and I just love it. But I think my first entrelac project will be this bag.

I saw it in the marketplace at Stitches but didn't want to buy a kit. When I went back to ask about the pattern, they were sold out. Of course, I couldn't remember whose pattern it was. I thought it was a Noni, cause all the cool felted bags are Noni, right? When I didn't see it on the Noni site, I emailed Nora. She was so sweet and emailed me back right away that she didn't have an entralac bag pattern. I was wowed by her service.

So, I sent an email to KnitU and someone on it remembered the bag AND that it was a Plymouth kit. So, I found the pattern on kpixie and now I just need to pick out yarn. I will probably use knitpicks Wool of the Andes. I think I'll try to do similar colors for my first bag. But I think this also would be very cute in shades of one one color, like blues or greens, as long as the shades are different enough to show the triangles after felting. I've never felted before. I just think it will be so cute. And since I travel a lot, it will be a great travel tote. It will probably be a few months until I get to this project though cause I have a few other in the queu ahead of it.

My other class was about short rows and covered three different types: yarn over, wrap and turn and Japanese. The instructor was Maureen Mason-Jamieson; she was also great. The class was bit more frustrating. It was later in thd day; I was tired. Plus, I didn't have the right supplies: I only had one kind of yarn and I messed up a few times so got really behind. But Maureen was wonderful and again, she demonstrated each technique in small groups. And she also gave us good, detailed instructions (if you follow them word for word, something I wasn't doing at first). So I saw how everything was done in class then I took out the instructions and redid everything at home. In this picture, the three rows on the left were shorts done on the KNIT side and the three rows on the right were short rows done on the PURL side.

As you can see in the top portion, I need some work doing the wrap and turn and Japanese methods on the PURL side.

And I got these cute shawl sticks at Stitches. I actually got three, but lost one right away. I am bummed about that: it was a more neutral creme shade that would have gone with everything. The green one will be a stocking stuffer for my mom.

Tomorrow G and I are off to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see my family! We are driving, so I'll have A LOT of car knitting time. I will finish that damn sock and start a sweater! And maybe I'll bring the scarf I am making for G, but not sure if I'll actually have any time to work on it when he isn't around. I'm off to Phoenix in Dec. for work, so I'll have plenty of time to finish it then.

When I am back, I WILL have photos of me wearing a PAIR of socks. Really.

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!

Two Nephews!

2006-11-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

I have two new nephews! Owen was born on Nov. 3 and Alex was born Nov. 13. I was thinking they would both be girls; it is so exciting to have nephews!

Since I don't live near either of them, I can't bring food to stock their freezer. But when my niece was born, almost three years ago, I sent my brother and his wife some stuffed chicken from Omaha steaks. And during the past yeaar, my coworker and I sent meals from Home Bistro to sick coworkers.

Anybody have any experience with any other ready-to-go-meals?

I will get to see Owen next week in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving! I can't wait.

Seriously, it is the best being an aunt, now times three!

Fun With Quizzes

2006-11-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

I didn't feel like actually writing a post today so I am having fun with quizzes. I've seen this first one everywhere. I AM from Wisconsin. I know how to say fog. But I don't pronounce "bag" like "beg." I draw the line. Oh, and FYI for the quiz writer, people in Wisconsin say "soda" at least in the Madison and Milwaukee areas. I learned that one the hard way when I moved to Milwaukee from Iowa and asked for a pop: My classmates laughed at me.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Well it is cold ...

You are exactly 32% naked!

You're dressed a little conservatively. It wouldn't kill you to loosen up a little. take off that tie, let your hair down. See what happens.

Are You Naked???
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

And good thing I aced this one.

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

I took the 80s band one too, but I was some band I had never heard of ... hmmm ... what does that say about me? :)

Well, that was a good 45 minutes wasted. 45 minutes I could have been knitting ...

Stitches Shopping

2006-11-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

My first Stitches was an experience. It was my first knitting-related large-scale event and I really liked it, for the most part.

The coolest part was seeing all the knitters in, what my friend L termed, their yarn bling. I saw several clapotis, some of the capelets from Shawl Style, lots of lace, some amazing sweaters, hats, scarves and mits. I wanted to ask every person about their creation, but I didn't. If I had, I wouldn't have had time to shop!

And shop I did on Saturday and, briefly, on Sunday.

Sat. afternoon, I met L for shopping. I did pretty good. I made a list of things I was looking for, which helped me focus. I was really overwhelmed at first. It was crowded and I was sort of wandering aimlessly. As the afternoon progressed, the crowd thinned. After reading the reports of Maryland Sheep and Wool, I had imagined mad rushes for the bins and yarn being fought over. But it was very civil. My main issue was getting blocked in some of the booths.

All my loot in a tote.

So, first on my list was to get yarn for manly socks for G. I couldn't decide between two skeins of Mama E's hand dyed stuff, so I got them both. G picked the blue one for his socks.

I found three cool patterns in Rosie' Yarn Cellar's booth and got this pink laceweight merino. It is called "bubblegum." I love it. It's for lace wrap for me. Probably.

Then, I had to have this Noro Blossom from the Woolstock sale bin. It is my first Noro. I normally find the Noro yarn to be too scratchy. The colors are amazing, but I like soft yarn. But this Blossom is a blend of wool, mohair, silk and nylon and and it is soft. I am picturing a shawl. Do I make anything other than shawls? I feel like I can't get enough. :)

And I got this free ball during my class coffee break.

So, Saturday was great. I talked to some lovely women, bought some great stuff and had fun shopping w/ L. I bought more, but don't have time to upload now. Plus I took two classes. I'll talk about those and post about the rest of my purchases next week after we get back from a short trip to Connecticut.

Looks like I need to ask for a yarn swift and ball winder for Christmas ...

I Don't Hate Lionbrand

2006-11-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

It's not my FAVORITE yarn, but I don't hate the stuff. I have a container full of it. Just wanted to clarify on my last post. In fact, I meant to add this to my last post but I forgot and was busy all weekend w/ Stitches and suddenly I have comments and I was afraid I didn't do a full disclosure. So here it is:

Like Yarn Coffee states, I think it has its purpose. I used it to make this shawl, which later on its own accord decided it wanted to be a bellydance hip scarf. An important trait of any bellydance hip scarf is that it be washable, cause, um, I sweat. This is done in Lionbrand microspun, which is very soft and comes in a variety of vibrant colors.

I think the color spectrum of Lionbrand is one of its best traits. In many of its yarns, you have a choice between several different shades of one color. Instead of being stuck with one green, you can choose from several different greens. This was one reason I was surprised by the dullness of the new hand dyed stuff. But, I have to say, every time I see the brown cashmere in the picture below, I like it.

I'll probably use my Lionbrand stash to make baby items, cause they also need to be easy to wash. But if money were no object, I would use Blue Sky Cotton for all baby items.

I've seen some really nice projects with Lionbrand stuff. Elinor is making the coolest blanket out of the chenille. Lolly is working on lovely kneesocks in Wool Ease. Ragan makes cool socks!

Now, if I could never use Lionbrand again, I wouldn't be too sad. But I can't guarantee that I'll never buy it again, just not too soon. I need to use up what I have and I did buy a *few* things at Stitches (which I'll talk about soon).

Lionbrand Goes Upscale?

2006-11-03T10:20:00.000-08:00

Check out Lionbrand's recent newsletter. They are selling a new line of handpainted luxury yarn: 100 percent cashmere, mohair and silk, etc. And they have the luxury prices of $40 and $20 to match. I know those prices aren't unusual for handpainted yarn, especially in all-natural fibers. Heck, the cashmere price might even be "cheap" for cashmere (which is about 100 yards of worsted weight for $40). I don't price 100 percent cashmere often. I know I've seen it for much more than $40 a skein. But they are much higher than the typical Lionbrand yarns.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of selection in the colors. And they aren't wowing me. They just seem dull. Normally when I see handpainted yarn, I think "wow, that is amazingly beautiful." Of course, it could be my screen. But most of the colors are earthy and dark. They don't have to be neon, but, on my screen at least, they look dull.

I think it is an interesting development for Lionbrand. I wonder if this new "Masterpiece Collection" will be sold at Michael's? I doubt it. Doesn't fit the Michael's customer. And it doesn't seem to fit the Lionbrand target market. I guess they are trying to expand their market. But, it seems that the people who don't like Lionbrand, REALLY don't like it. So why would they spend $20 on a yarn they can't touch (assuming it will only be available online) from a company they don't like? And the people who really LIKE Lionbrand are attracted to the easy, washable, cheap acrylic stuff.

Interesting ...