Umiko

Surfing the internet really paid off for me this week! I've had my Swagbucks account for about a year and have been trading in my points for Amazon gift cards. I've been saving them for a rainy day... said rainy day was last week. If you don't know about Swagbucks - click the link and sign up, it's free and it's effortless money!

Today I got these sweet books in the mail-

The Knitgrrl Guide To Professional Knitwear Design (How To Keep Your Knits About You) by Shannon Okey from Knitgrrl.com and Knitgrrlstudio.com.

I bought this as a shelf book. And when I say shelf book, what I really mean is a reference book for later. I don't feel like I'm ready to start designing patterns, but the interest is there. I'm having too much fun just knitting for myself right now. I like to know the ins and outs of things before I start, so reading up on the WWWWW & H of designing knitted garments/items is a good place for me to gain some perspective of the bigger picture.

While doing a few loads of laundry this afternoon I made it to almost the end of the third chapter. Shannon covers a lot more than I was expecting in just the first few chapters! The first chapter is about professionalism, which in any line of business, is a must. The second chapter covers social media, a very important part of business in this day and age. The third chapter was interesting because Shannon touches on where a knitter can profit from her expertise outside of just knitting and designing by offering professional services related to knitting. It makes me wonder why more math whiz knitters haven't become technical editors themselves!

So that's how far I've made it so far. The writing is clear and concise; there's also a healthy dose of Shannon's own wit and humor, too. I can't wait to read through this book, but it may take longer because we'll be embarking on moving into our house this weekend and running head-first into a dozen DIY home improvement projects. I was thinking though... paint samples - they would make great guides for yarn colors!

Here's the second book I have been lusting after for awhile. It's been on my wishlist for at least 6 months for sure! My family and I were so busy today, I didn't even get a chance to crack it open, but plan on skimming through before I go to bed. I'm positive it will make for some colorful and lacy dreams!

I also want to get my hands on the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume One: Knit & Purl: The Ultimate Stitch Dictionary from the Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine (Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Series), The Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Two: Cables: The Ultimate Stitch Dictionary from the Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine (Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Series), and maybe some day I'd be interested in picking up a copy of The Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Three: Color Knitting: The Ultimate Stitch Dictionary from the Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine (Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Series).

If you own any of the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary books I'd love to know what you think - or if there are even better ones that you prefer.

When I get the time and have our internet hooked up at the house, I'll be writing more about knitting books that I love or wasted money on.

Also, a note to anyone who may be cooped up in a hotel for two months waiting to move into a house: save your gift cards for online shopping! Stagger your orders by about a week or two so you always have something to look forward to in the mail. I'm so thankful that we have a local friend who has allowed us to have mail delivered to them!

Have a great weekend!

I can hardly believe it - we are in single digit days until we move into our new-to-us home. Friday, the 29th, is our contract closing date. This is the point in blogging when I have to restrain all the nasty things I have to say about the sellers, because I may very well go off the deep end and honestly, it's just not nice. Why do I want to rip them to shreds with words? Well... we got our hopes up that we wouldn't have to live in our hotel for the full 50 days (that's almost two months, people! UGH!). Then, two weeks ago our realtor let us down as easily as she could after confirming that the sellers are "overwhelmed" and that we shouldn't plan on having our household goods delivered until the 29th or after.

I'm so glad that we spent half a day shopping the Easter sales for flooring, otherwise the news today would have been even more frustrating. The good news is that my husband actually approved of the deep purple carpet I was not-so-secretly lusting after for the bedroom. That, and we found extremely discounted carpet for the living room and saved 75% on the laminate flooring. Although we spent at least $60 on gas money shopping around over the last two weeks, we estimated that we saved roughly $1,500 on flooring. Totally worth it! I am so excited that I am going to have a real dirty-work art space downstairs for clay working and tattooing.

Ah yes, and the bad news is that the help we were hoping to have won't be there. My father-in-law was supposed to fly in this weekend to help us rip up flooring and install the new, but we were very sad to hear that he went in for surgery early this morning to have his gall bladder removed. Apparently he was experiencing some horrific abdominal pain last night before checking himself into the ER. Thank God it wasn't something more serious and that they were able to operate quickly to remove the stone-filled gal bladder and stop the infection that was settling into his liver. My husband has a few friends who may have been able to help, but the outlook on that happening is looking pretty bad right now.

I've been steadily knitting. I finished an interesting little tshirt from the current Interweave Knits magazine, I'm 80% done with the modified Coachella tank top and plugging away at a few rounds here and there on a hat. I can't believe how much I have knitted in the last two months. I think I'm making up for all the time I spent in Michigan not knitting.

The older that Lucas gets, the less that he's interested in me playing with him. So... I knit and talk to him while he plays by himself and we talk about what he's doing. His vocabulary skills improve every day and most days it seems like he is just overflowing with the desire to communicate every interesting detail of his life. Nowadays I have very little guessing to do when it comes to his needs and wants, he is capable of communicating so much to me. I am so taken aback by how quickly he learns, most of the time all I can do is smile like only a proud mother can and relish every moment of his personal journey and discovery of the world. His joy is my joy, his hurt is my hurt, his accomplishment is my pride... Being a mother is (for me) so spectacular and fun that I will never find the words to describe it properly.

One of these days I'll have my laptop hooked up to the internet again and I'll finally be able to start posting most photos of my knitting and progress on the house. I have the feeling that this year is going to be very full and very fulfilling.

Yes, I have house fever. I can't wait to move in to our new house. We've been driving by every few days just to remind ourselves that we will not, in fact, be trapped in our hotel room forever. There is a light at the end of the tunnel... and at the end of next month, but hopefully sooner. I think we're at max 37 days and counting down.

This year has brought a lot to look forward to - a new state, new friends, a new home, new yarn shops to visit and for me personally, dozens of DIY projects to really pour some personality into our new home. I'm already planning on covering my dining room wall with a collection of unique and artsy clocks. I have had a weird tick for clocks since a middle school art class introduced me to Salvador Dali. I figure since the Noro Kureyon table cloth I am knitting will be all kinds of bright and cheerful, I might as well extend that to my wall. I have a few clocks picked out that I love on Etsy and many more that I have favorited as inspiration to make my own clocks. I'm hoping that I'll be able to find and redo some clocks from local thrift stores.

I spoke to our realtor today and happily found out that the sellers will be leaving some furniture behind after I dropped a hint that we would be interested in anything they didn't feel like taking and the king size waterbed in the fourth bedroom. So..yay! That means that I will hopefully have plenty of furniture to paint and fix up.

I don't have a plan for my knitting room yet. It would be awesome if the existing couch in there would stay, but I'm not getting my hopes up yet. I can't decide if I want to paint it purple like I did in my apartment in Germany or leave it a purist white. I'm very picky about wall colors. I can't stand any degree of yellow or orange on walls. Not a fan of pastels in general, really. I think I can get away with a deeper hue because the room is in the corner of the house and has two windows with lots of light.

The kitchen is kind of a stale mate for me right now. The backsplash is old-lady-esque, although not completely shudder-worthy. I am thrilled that the cabinets are in beautiful shape, well-made and completely white. I am very tired of wooden cabinets in the kitchen. I'm considering either standard grass green tiles or some shade of green glass tiles. I've contemplated pulling design inspiration from the appliances - vintage, because that is more definately what the appliances are indeed. Not vintage ugly, just really vintage.

The only thing that has been putting a damper on our relocation was the news that my husband will more than likely be getting deployed this year, either this summer or in the fall. As if that weren't bad enough, now I don't have a "safe" time to book my flight to Germany to visit my Dad. July or August is probably my best bet. I was hoping to fly a little closer to the off season - namely, in September, but that looks like a bad time now. I know we'll work something out and if the worst comes to worse, then I will simply have my in-laws either come to me to watch my son or bring him to them. Regardless of what happens this year, I will keep my promise to my Dad to visit him. By the time I see him, it will have been nearly three years, the longest I have ever gone without seeing my Dad. I miss him like crazy and I'm excited to see how his life has changed, too - he remarried and moved to another city shortly after we left the country.

The only yarny update I have for today is that I am steadily plugging away at the tablecloth and nearly finished with the baby blanket. Earlier this week I picked up the beads and ribbon I needed to start a light sweater. My knitting fever has calmed a bit now that my husband was surprised with a four-day weekend and I'm not left alone all day with our toddler. I've decided to wait on a Knit Picks order and instead use my Paypal money on Etsy purchases. This weekend we're going to be scoping out some furniture stores nearby and price out livingroom chairs. We decided that our bulky reclining couches will work better in the family room downstairs than in the formal livingroom.

Here's hoping that the hail falling outside doesn't get any bigger...! Kansas weather is an odd ball at best. 80 degrees one day and freezing the next.

I am absolutely distraught over the fact that nearly my entire stash of yarn is sitting in storage, waiting to find a new home in our new home. Distraught. Freaking out. Pheaning. Head hitting table. 40 more days to go until we move in? FML.

Yesterday we bought a second vehicle to enable my son and me to get around while my husband is at work and we're cooped up in our studio apartment hotel. Knitting has definitely played a prominent role in maintaining my sanity.... but... then the new Interweave Knits came out and all hell broke loose. That, and now that the weather is showing signs of letting up on winter and letting spring come in, I need to cast on four new projects. Right now. This instant. And I don't have the yarn for three of them. I've been making good progress on my soon-to-be-born nephew's baby blanket and a colorful Noro tablecloth for our house, but without something selfish on the needles I'm feeling a little empty. I am dead set on finishing the first two projects before I start another, but my determination is waning.

The other day we were shopping for some new kid's movies at Walmart and we passed a package of drumsticks. I thought they were knitting needles. My husband told me I am obsessed with knitting. We'll have been married 4 years at the end of this month and he's just now getting that? Is that how slow men really work?!

Yes, I am knitting fever's bitch right now. I am having a very difficult time deciding whether to spend some of the Christmas money my father sent us on interesting home items from Etsy next month or buying yarn NOW and having it sent to a friend's house. I know we're going to need some things to make our new house a home, but my hands are itching to stroke and knot some new string. Namely, string that will turn into two new tshirts and a short-sleeved open cardigan for myself.

I'm going to sleep on it and make a decision when am I thinking more clearly in the morning. The only thing that held me back from ordering a few thousand yards of yarn today was the fact that Knit Picks didn't have the colors I was looking for until the end of next month. I think it's a sign.

Evidence:
Above: Knitted squares, joined with crochet. Finished in 2008, finally got a decent photo. I love this blanket, it's very warm. Materials: Lion Brand Homespun and Gedifra Fashion Trend Astrakan.




Above: WIP Willie Warmer. Materials: TLC Cotton Plus




Above: Razor Cami. Materials: Araucania Ranco Solid




Above: Freehand Stash Bag (crocheted) Materials: Patons Classic Wool and leftovers of Plymouth Boku




Above: Square for Planet Blanket project (crochet). Materials: Red Heart cotton




Above: Noro Spiral Beret. Materials: Noro Silk Garden Chunky.




Above: Best Friend Cowl. Materials: Noro Bonbori and 5 assorted buttons.




Above: Bokulicious Mitered Square Knitting Tote. Materials: Plymouth Boku

Everything except the first picture of my blanket are things that I've completed recently or am in the process of completing. You can see the details and original pattern sources (when available) on my Ravelry Projects Page.

Things are going great and also blah. Lucas is eating again! That's the great news. I don't dare weigh him, in case that puts a damper on his re-newfound curiosity and interest in food that I'm so excited about. I've been slamming out one project after another, which is good.

What's not so hot is that my husband is going away for awhile. He'll be spending about three and a half months out of state from now until the end of January. I'm trying to be strong and not get too depressed, but I hate to be alone and I'm going to miss him. The timing couldn't be worse - the holidays, the winter blues... the "who's going to take out the trash?" issues... Just blah. So, I knit so I don't go nuts. At least it's constructive, from my existent stash and it's not ruining my health. :) Half full, right?

Yarn: Noro Bonbori

I don't know why it's so hard to find my camera charger and take photos of some of the things I've been working on and my recently acquired stash! I guess it's just not at the forefront of my thoughts.

A few weeks ago I completed the 20 mitered squares to make my felted Boku bag. I bobby pinned all the squares together while having the ladies at knitting group help me arrange the squares in an appealing way. Many of the different colorways had similar colors, more specifically a lot of greens and pinks. It's lovely so far and I can't wait to get it sewn together, but I'm not in the mood to sew all those squares together right now. It seems like a daunting project.

So, instead of finishing and felting the bag I finished up my yarn cake holder for Kristy in her wedding colors. Of course I forgot to get a photo, as I am prone to do with most knitted gifts. Last night I also finished my Best Friend Cowl in Noro Bonbori. I was up late with my husband as he was trying to get in the night shift routine, so while he revisited Barn Yard on the Wii (and tuned me out with his ipod) I spent an exorbitant amount of time picking out the right size, color and shape of buttons for the cowl. I sewed each button on with a similar color of embroidery floss or yarn. I love how it turned out and now I can't wait for fall and winter to hit.

It's times like that when I'm glad I have a well-rounded crafting stash. Speaking of stash, however, I realized recently that I need to start collecting all my missing needle sizes. All too often I have had the yarn and ambition to start a new project only to realize that I'm missing the appropriate needles. And of course, when that happens it's like midnight and I can't exactly wake up Lucas and drag him with me to Walmart or something. Their selection of needles sucks anyways, but that's besides the point!

I casted on for and got half way through with a black Willie Warmer knitted with TLC Cotton Plus. You can find the pattern on Ravelry if you're really curious. I really don't want to knit it, because as much as my husband amuses me by saying he will wear it, I don't believe him. It's just like the hat I made him. "I don't know where it's at," or "It's too warm." Needless to say, he's not on my knitting list anymore. But, he was adamant about the warmer. It's an amusing knit and I love the feel of the yarn so far (I'm kind of a sucker for cotton anything), and luckily it's a very quick project because I know it will not see much use and it's cutting into my more important knitting time.

I promise sometime soon I will bomb the blog with photos. Until then, hopefully you're not too bored reading!

I finished this awhile ago and just now got the chance to have my husband snap a few photos in natural light!

Knitted in Araucania Ranco Multi. It's a modified version of this. That's all I have to post about it right, we have a lot to do today so I have to jet! :)

I haven't figured out a suitable name for this finished object, or if it even needs one...

I knitted this up from my own pattern. After I figured out my measurements, my gauge and the stretchiness of the knitted fabric the pattern went fairly quickly. I did end up re-doing several parts more than once to get it just right. Noro Taiyo knits up really fast and I love the colorways.

Even though all the seams are seamed and the ends woven in, there are still a few minor things I'll change the next time that I knit this. But then again, I'm never 100% satisfied with anything I make - knitted, crafted, cooked or otherwise.

All in all, I love this shirt. I'm going to wear it frequently. I worked on it off and on for about a month, first knitting it into the Tank Girl pattern from Knitty (twice, both times too big) and then deciding to forgo any kind of written pattern and to wing it. I'm better at winging something than tweaking it. Luckily, I documented everything I did, so I hope to have a pattern written up soon. Kristy already has a healthy amount of Taiyo in her stash and volunteered to give the pattern a test run.

In this pattern I incorporated stockinette stitch, ribbing, garter stitch, picking up stitches, mattress stitch seams, three-needle binding off, bust and waist shaping and a bust panel to literally pull everything together and add modesty and interest to the front of what is just a really basic tank top. Wow, I hope I don't speak in run-on sentences like that!

Some things I loved about working with the Taiyo - its softness first and foremost. It's composed of 40% cotton, 30% silk, 15% nylon and 15% wool. It's nice and springy. It knits up quickly because it's aran weight - though, for me it feels like a light bulky weight. I read through the comments about this yarn on Ravelry and heard a lot of people complaining (mostly from old batches) about the yarn pulling apart and breaking. I didn't have a single break. Even knitting very tight kfb increases and some vigorous seam tugging, the yarn stayed strong.

I would have liked working with the yarn more if it wasn't so full of plant matter and thorns. I know that Noro is infamous for this and it's to be expected, I just felt like this yarn had really quite a lot. Even while wearing it I was still picking out pieces of neon green twigs that I'd missed. Another thing that Noro is infamous for - knots. I had two in three balls. Not bad, but still...

Last Wednesday I made a trip out to Coordinated Colors in Yorktown to pick up a few more skeins of Plymouth Boku for a future mitered square felted knitting bag that I've been dreaming about. The colors are ohhh so pretty and cost a fraction of what it would cost to knit it up in Noro. Now that my camera battery is charged (finally!!!) I may have to post some more yarn p*rn pictures! :D While there, I oohed and ahhed over the new goodies and kits that Sherri brought back from the TNNA show.

I offered to do some sample knitting for her and took home a ribbon/metalic-ish handbag kit from Muench Yarns. The pattern was obviously translated from (I'm assuming) Spanish, since that's where the yarn was made. When I first cast on for it, I cast on using US 9 needles as the pattern stated, but then reading through again, it said 9 mm needles... so... yeah. Rip and redo! I've since finished knitting the bag and after calling Sherri to tell her it's done, we agreed that she would do the interfacing and lining because my sewing skills are way less than stellar. I'm taking the bag in with me tomorrow for the Thursday sit 'n stitch. I'll make sure to get a photo of the bag while there's some sunlight tomorrow.

As I was leaving the shop last week I unlocked the Suburban, put my purse and yarn lovlies on the passenger seat, double locked it so I could remote start it to get the AC running and I closed the door. Before the door even slammed closed it registered that my keys were on the seat and the car was still locked. Numerous profanities started flying through my thoughts, but I didn't panic. My name's not on our AAA card, so Sherri called out a locksmith. Half an hour later and much fumbling on the locksmith's part, I was back in the car and headed home. It could have been so much worse - Lucas could have been in the car. With the remote start the engine cuts off after 10 minutes. I would have broken the window to get him out. It's upseting to even think about it. I haven't locked my keys in the car in over ten years and the last time I had mom's husband #3 to fiddle my lock open with a wire hanger. Anyways, I didn't make it to knitting last week because by the time I was home it was the little one's dinner time and I was so over the outside heat.

This Wednesday ended much nicer than the last, thankfully. While Lucas was napping and I was putting the last finishing touches on my makeup, Kristy called and invited me over for dinner. In my rush to get out of the house I packed my knitting projects in a Target bag. Haha.... kinda ghetto! While we were enjoying a lovely squash spaghetti and salad meal, Kristy whipped this out of her bag:

A Namaste bag from the TNNA show, packed with little yarn samples! Yummy! Isn't the bag gorgeous? I heart Kristy!

Right after dinner I took a peak at her stash and proceeded to tell my husband, loudly, that he should see hers if he thinks my stash is bad. What is it with husbands and stash-hate? It's so unfair. Me loves the yarn, he should, too!

Knitting group tonight was fun as usual, though I got nothing done but an inch or two on my Dad's wedding blanket. It's in its preemie stage and I hate it already. I've had a really difficult time finding an affordable acrylic yarn in dark reds/burgundy. It has to be very washable because I've been told by a little birdie that she's a laundry fanatic and it has to be affordable because it's 7x7 foot and crocheted. Crocheting uses way more yarn than knitting. So, I hate the yarn, I hate the fact that it's so big and I'm starting to really dislike crochet for certain things. I need to find a solution for the blanket issue, because with as little time as I have for fiber crafts, I need to enjoy what I'm doing in order to do it at all! So... if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be much obliged.

Everything, when it comes to yarn.

I remember the first time that my friend Kristy and I made a day trip to Knitting Sisters in Williamsburg. We embarked on the 40 minute journey to arrive at a lovely brick shopping village with a wine and cheese shop down the block from the yarn store. It had a boutique-like set up with a lot of open space and hanging hand-painted fibers. It felt easier to browse, unlike some yarn stores that have easily twice the inventory and half the breathing space.

Previous to that visit, I didn't have much experience with anything but the big-box stores that sell yarn. While living in Germany I would pick up random balls of acrylic at a big department store and now and then I would fondle the expensive, non-acrylic balls of Lana Grossa and colorful wools at a specialty shop.

From what I remember there were three local yarn shops in Heidelberg/Mannheim that I visited - one on the Hauptstrasse (Main Street) in Heidelberg had mainly sock yarns in all fibers. The large one around the corner from the tattoo studio I was apprenticing at in Mannheim had a large selection of yarns, many of which were luxury novelty yarns. Unfortunately, back then I didn't have a very discerning eye for buying yarns that related to projects I might actually knit. I still have assorted balls of pricey and soft furs in fushia, gold, green and probably a few others, too. The last LYS, my favorite, was located on the other side of the Neckar River in Heidelberg, across from a park square and surrounded by boutique shops and cafes. The whole shop was no bigger than my living room, but that woman carried some of the prettiest yarns and the widest selection of worsted weight wools that were stocked all the way up to the ceiling. She was also the only LYS owner that smiled at me and didn't treat me like a thieving guest.

The only other yarn store that I visited in Germany was in Worpswede, an artist village in the northern part of the country, close to where I was born. That store remains the one with the most hanging knit garments I've ever seen in one place. It was also the first time I had come face-to-face with my coveted fondness for Noro. I'd read about Noro, seen people on Ravelry and Craftster post projects with Noro, but I'd never seen it. It was love at first sight. Then I looked at the price tag. I just about had a cow when I read 22 Euros. 22 Euros at the time was about the equivalent to 35 dollars for a single ball of regular Kureyon. Ouch.

Fast forward to Virginia, our present home. Soon after moving here I researched the local yarn shops and visited Coordinated Colors in Yorktown with my husband and the baby belly. For the first time I really started looking at more than the colors and price tags. Silk, cashmere, hand-dyed bundles of yarn... it was all rather new to me. I was still scared of the prices, too. It's difficult to go from $5 balls of yarn at craft stores to $25 hanks of luxury yarn. CC is a large store with a ton of yarn and for me, it was easily overwhelming because my husband wasn't too thrilled that I wanted to spend an hour touching, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over string.

So what was the point of rambling on about all this? Love. For yarn. Although I think acrylics most definitely have their place in fiber arts, I really discovered a love for yarns with natural fibers and yarns that feel good and last. Kristy made jokes that I was going to turn into a yarn snob.. I may very well be on the way to being converted. I no longer consider paying $20 for a hank of yarn outrageous, in fact, I think it's funny that I reason with myself that "it could be more expensive."

I've taken on a different view of my knitting and the tools that I work with. Now that I am making more than slippers and scarves, I care about durability and overall quality. Like anyone interested in specialty hobbies, I love the exclusive and the foreign, the hand-wrought and twisted. I know how much time it takes to make yarn and knit a garment, it's well worth every second. I want my knit items to last for awhile and I don't want them to collapse into a pill-covered pile of string a year down the road. I'm becoming increasingly interested in trying out new fibers and picking up hand-painted/dyed hanks instead of factory dye jobs. Yarn, for me, is constantly interesting and there's always something new.

Literally, I suppose.

I've been doing plenty of cooking, baking, mothering and cleaning up. And I feel like I haven't accomplished anything. Maintaining some semblance of household cleanliness while picking up after 4 males is a challenge. The fact that two of said males are canine is a moot point, of course.

The other night I stayed up furiously crocheting a scarf that a friend of mine requested for Christmas. She was fully aware that it would be a late Christmas present and I thought it might be hoo of me to get it in her hands before February rolls around... It's about seven and a half feet long, at least two feet longer than I'd planned on it becoming. As usual, I didn't use a pattern and though normally self-rolling fabric is somewhat of an annoyance, I like it in this case. Thought it's loosely crocheted, I think the sheer weight of the garment makes it curl in a bit.

I crocheted 13 individual circles and then worked on some "invented" method of joining them together while forming the monstrosity into something that looked like a rectangle. Mission (kind of) accomplished. It wraps around my neck three times and it looks lovely. The colors of quite lively and it makes me long for a neutral (read:black) coat to dress up with colorful knits. For the life of me I can't remember what yarn the circles are made of.. some wool/acrylic blend and I put it all together with some LB Homespun in my stash. My silent New Year's Resolution to stash bust before buying anymore yarn is off to a running start.

Last night I finished The Doctor's Wife after several late night nursing sessions. I find it impossible to put down a book when I only have 10 or so pages left. Part of the tiredness that haunted my day today was due to the fact that this rule applies even if it is almost four in the morning and I am exhausted through and through.

I spent an hour at Knitting Sisters in Williamsburg with a friend and her mother stroking piles and baskets of lovely yarn. There's nothing quite like a room bursting with color, texture and the dreamy state of potential. K was in the throws of finding the perfect yarn to construct a cabled jacket she's fallen in love with and I fell into a soft-as-a-cloud chair to plug away at a few more short rows on my MIL's Christmas scarf. I had the luxury of undisturbed knitting for a few minutes because I pinpointed a ball of beautiful glue/green/purple mom-friendly washable acrylic-wool yarn for a friend's requested project within 30 seconds of walking in the shop. It was hiding in the back room, waiting to be stocked. It didn't stand a chance. K's mom was getting her baby fix with my son while I lapsed into a calm knitting session.

The year is close to ending and I'm already mentally formulating the knitting attack for 2010. I'd like to start knitting items for charity, have all my Christmas gifts done by Thanksgiving and still manage to find some needle time for some selfish knitting. Okay, not some time for selfish knitting, a lot. On the charity front I'd like to make chemo hats for those struggling with cancer or knit warm items for needy children. I figure if I make one a month, I'll spend about a week on that. I could spend another week working on gift knitting and then relish two whole weeks working on things for myself.

Why two weeks? Because I want big things. I don't fancy wearing hats often because I have long hair and I either have hat head or end up with a frizzy hair do. Gloves? Can't drive with them and too easily lost. Scarves? Have plenty of those already. Socks? Still not ready to dive back into that. That leaves me with tops and bottoms, more of less. I really want to start using up our old and ragged clothes to make crocheted floor rugs for the bathroom and kitchen. Tshirt rugs are incredible soft underfoot, not to mention absorbent and easy to care for on day-to-day basis. I have a pile of red tshirts from my husband washed and ready to be butchered.

I have a mental list of projects I want to make - the majority of which consist of sweaters/cardigans. There's a retro blazer and a cami-shorts set I'd like to knit out of some knitting magazines that have been collecting dust. I promised my father and his new wife a queen-sized afghan for their bedroom. I'd really like to make more hand-knit items for my son. Potholders. Felted boots. Tablecloth. Washcloths and matching towels. I won't touch on the subject of never having enough time to complete that list.

Speaking of time, it's 11 p.m. and I should get back to knitting!

Well, after much contemplation I've decided to knit up my SIL's Christmas scarf from a lace pattern I found in my Fitted Knits book. I'm using two strands of the lace weight cashmere. It's easier than my original plan. I tried out the lace pattern the ladies at the LYS gave me when I bought the yarn, but it would have taken too long on the recommended needle size and it looked crappy on bigger needles.

I've done 4 or 5 pattern repeats and it's going pretty fast, so I'm certain I'll have it done in time for the holidays. I spaced out a couple of times while knitting and made several ridiculous "I'm concentrating" faces while figuring out where I messed up. Luckily, I caught the extra stitch soon enough that I only had to tink back 10 stitches. Here's a progress shot from the front.


In other news... I finally wove in the ends and felted another bowl that I've had done since September. Here it is drying.


While the little one was napping I whipped up a little sample of duplicate-stitching on a swatch of cream wool to see how the color would felt and to measure the shrinkage. After stretching the swatch lost about half an inch each way.


I was happily surprised to see that the light color did felt quite nicely because...

I've got plans for tomorrow...

I feel like all I've done the last week is feed and tend to Lucas. He's going through a growth spurt and eating/fussing more than usual. The only upside to that is that he's going to bed between 7 and 8 p.m. Can't complain about that! I recently had a check-up for him and he weighed in at fourteen and half pounds and he's 24.5 inches long! My little boy is growing... it's hard to believe he'll be four months old on Friday. Before we know it he'll be on his feet and causing a ruckus around here.

You know what else has been growing? A few things. First: my Emerald Cardi is coming along nicely. I've been trying to knit at every opportune moment - there have been a few more of those moments since Lucas's bedtime has been earlier.




Second, my stash! After my husband went to work the 2 p.m. - 10 p.m. shift I wasn't looking forward to chilling at home with my fussy son, so I called my best knitting friend and luckily she was as excited about shopping for yarn as I was - probably even more so after I fed her delicious chocolate my Dad sent me from Germany! 30 minutes later we were in Williamsburg, a historical town I have yet to visit before today.

After I fondled the entire shop's collection of yarn like a newly wed on her honeymoon, Lucas "helped" me pick out a couple of beauties while sporting the first sweater I made for him while I was pregnant. I've coveted those gorgeous and pricey skeins of Noro for quite some time and today I said yes. Not only that, but I used my sister-in-law's Christmas present as an excuse to buy a decadent hank of cashmere. The ladies at Knitting Sisters in Williamsburg were nice enough to wind my cashmere into a ball for me, too. Talk about great service! I don't mind winding my bulky yarn into thumb balls, but the thin cashmere would have been a trying experience. Pictures!




A little fuzzy, but it's the best I can do after dark.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the Noro... I bought it under the pretext that I would make it into a hat for myself, but I think Noro doesn't need a reason. That's the ill yarn-hoarder in me speaking...

I forgot to mention that last night at knitting Bev graciously showed me how to wind a thumb ball after three of us tag teamed my tangled hank of wool. A ball winder is on my Christmas list though... and I might have to add a swift as well. Here's a progress shot of the Emerald Cardigan after a little more knitting today. I'm substituting KFBs for the YOs on the raglan increases, I don't like the holes on the original pattern.


It was a full day. I woke up early at 8 (yes, that's early for me) and threw on some ultra casual jeans, sneakers and a hoody. I even sported a ponytail. I almost never leave the house that casual unless I'm going for a walk or something. I was simply too tired to care. My friend Kristy was a godsend and let me drop off the little one while I dropped off the dogs at the groomer for an anti-flea bath and a haircut. I picked up breakfast on the way back to her house and I did a little knitting while we talked.

The dogs were squeaky clean and ready to be picked up at 12:30. After I checked and rechecked to make sure they were both flea-free, I made up for some of the petting they haven't been getting recently. Casper was so happy to be back in my good graces that he cozied up in my lap for the ride home and fell asleep belly-up in the crook of my arm. If I hadn't been using my right arm to steer I would have snapped a photo. My husband and I agreed we like him a lot better when he isn't a huge, stupid ball of fur.


Seriously. Look at that cuteness. Who can resist that? And, now that he's shaved down enough to catch a chill outside I have all the more reason to finally dress him in the sweaters I made him last year. The black turtleneck is very loose without his extra coat and it's a little worn out, but it still serves its purpose.

The book study went well. I love having a group of like-minded women with which I can discuss marriage in all its complexities. We'll be carpooling to Virginia Beach on Saturday to attend a private session about learning to hear God's voice among all the other voices circulating in our busy heads. I'm really looking forward to it. Honestly, I haven't thought about, nor have I had the privacy/time to really sit quietly and converse with The Man Upstairs. Life has become faster paced since we left Germany. I've also been a little disconnected and less motivated in all things spiritual since we left our church in Germany and the one we were attending here closed due to various factors. There are plenty of churches... but how does one choose from the dozens available?

My husband's work schedule has temporarily changed and he's at home around 5-ish in the evening. It's great to have more face time with him than usual. My days without him tend to be long, drawn-out and often lonely.

My goals for tomorrow include actually cooking a meal, knitting, housework and pumping enough breast-milk to get Lucas by on Saturday when I'm gone.

I caught a ride with a friend and her husband to knitting group tonight. She coerced me out of the house with this mini cupcake with delectable chocolate frosting. Thank goodness I don't believe in dieting!

It was fun wearing my sweater out for the first time. It's so comfy it almost made me forget about my headache. I woke up with my head feeling like it was crushed under a whale, it got a little better with a hot shower and then my husband decided to scare the bejesus out of me right after I got out of the shower... so it came back. Must be the weather. Thunder is crashing outside as I type and the lightening is beautiful.

Now that I've finally finished knitting up the tedious boucle sweater I swatched for and cast on for my Emerald Cardigan. Hopefully this will take me less time than the last. I bought Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel about a year and half ago while we were stationed in Germany. I'm not sure if there are too many other patterns in the book that I'm interested in knitting, but that may change if I can find some yarn that speaks my language.


I plan on making some adjustments to the pattern - I'm going to give it more length so it's not in any way cropped, knit full-length sleeves and may leave out some of the texture. I hope that the neck doesn't turn out too wide and semi-boat-neck-like. If it does I might have to add a collar of some kind.

Didn't I just post about selfish knitting? Yeah... I still have a list of Christmas gifts I should be knitting instead of another sweater for myself. Christmas is just around the corner in terms of knitting... I might have to come up with some other crafty ideas for gifts that don't include yarn.

The title is German, it means red-eggplant, which is exactly how the colors look in real life. Tonight after my son went to bed and my husband was zoning out in front of the tube I finished my sweater, wove in the ends and fixed my messed up waist shaping. I am soooo happy with the end result because it didn't result in disaster, it fits me and I love it! Unfortunately it's after midnight and I'm the only one awake so I used the self-timer on the camera. I started the sweater in August, so it took me about three months to finish. I'll get some better action shots when there's sunlight and another pair of hands.

I started knitting size L to accommodate my bust and decreased after the armpits - at least that's what I should have done. In reality I decreased too quickly at the waist and just sewed it/took it in after it was complete. I added a cowl neck because I hate boat neck tops, they don't do anything for my scoliosis-induced crooked shoulders and in the size L the boat neck was more like an off-the-shoulder top on me. There were other alterations to the pattern, but nothing dramatic worth mentioning.

I'm so happy this is finally done! Now I need to gauge swatch for my next sweater. Knitting group is tomorrow and I'm thinking about either starting the new sweater or starting on long-overdue Christmas presents... At heart I am a very selfish knitter.

Meh. The days are growing shorter and the sky is relentlessly full of dreariness. Wind and rain. I have yet to find the perfect climate in all my travels. It's either too hot, too cold, too humid, too windy, too snowy, too something. It's maddening. As much as I would like to be the outdoorsy-type, the weather holds me back in one way or another. I want to live somewhere that maintains a delightful room temperature feel, where the skies are always blue and smiling and there is never any snow. Alas, nature mocks my desires. For now, I'll just stay inside, thanks.

So about that sweater I'm knitting. It is 14 rounds to being finished. You know how much I knitted this last week? 6 rounds. That's it. And it's terribly pathetic. After I put my son to sleep I spend time with my husband, catch up on housework or watch a good show... but my knitting sits scrunched up in a basket unconvincingly beckoning to me. I've been knitting the same part of the sleeve for two weeks now and have made an inch of progress at the most. It makes me sad, but then I remember that I'm not knitting because I'm taking care of my home, my family and spending time with the people that supersede my crafty endeavors. Plus, I might just be a tad apprehensive to cast off because then I'd have to actually begin my next project(s) and maybe I'm not ready yet. Maybe I'm just now coming to terms with the fact that I can no longer knit 8 hours a day when I feel like it. Sometimes, I can't even squeeze in 14 rounds a week. I'm a mom to an infant. That's the reality.

Lately I've replaced my late-night knitting time with a book before bed. I forgot the feeling of simple pleasure that I find in reading. I've been up to my elbows in The Prince of Tides for the last week, turning page after page of family drama and clashing cultures. I can relate to much of what is written, though not to the word, my history is formed out of many events - as in the book, some of which are heart-crushingly painful to remember. The only downfalls of my reading this past week have been firstly staying up too late reading and paying for it in the morning and the absolute ridiculous wordiness of the novel at times. I consider myself well read to a degree. Granted, I haven't read all the classics, but in my 25 years I have put back a decent amount of books and millions of written words. There are words in this book that make me go cross-eyed with confusion. Were I more ambitious as I was back in school, I might actually write down and dictionary reference the words I'm unfamiliar with, but I'm really not feeling up to it because I just want to enjoy the story.

Not a whole lot going on around here these days - at least nothing interesting enough to write about really. I don't say that in a bad way, either, I'm perfectly content. My days have been filled with laughter, love and too many cookies. My son continues to fascinate me with every little new thing he does. Maybe enraptured is the better word in this case... It's hard not to fall in love with toothless smiles and pudgy fingers.

So my friend Kristy has been knitting up these gorgeous socks recently and I think I'm getting the itch. I temporarily swore off socks for awhile because I was sick of toothpick-thin needles and socks that never found mates. It's not that I wasn't willing to knit up the mates, it's just that I lost my notes on one sock and broke up with the other sock's former future owner. I tried finding that huge monstrosity today and came up empty-handed. I think I dumped it along with any memories attached.

I've never crocheted a sock before and I'm thinking I'd like to give it a try. I still have a couple balls of sock-appropriate yarn lounging around somewhere but I'd like to do a heavier wool sock to start. Last night I strapped in my son and headed to the craft store for some retail therapy before my husband got home from work. I had some coupons I was itching to use so I picked up a few balls of cream wool that I want to dye. I figure I can kill two birds with one stone- crochet socks and dye yarn for the first time.

In other knitting news, I am mere inches away from finishing my first sweater. To say I am excited is an understatement. Of course it's kind of odd that as soon as my sweater is going to be finished the weather gets warmer again. I was kind of hoping to wear it soon, but I've patiently (cough) been knitting it for about two months, so I guess I can wait a little longer to wear it.

I kind of like the idea of these pedicure socks.