In Focus (finally)

It was my birthday on Friday, Christian got me this gorgeous camera, which I will share with you by showing the amazing pictures that this camera takes. In a serendipitous occurrence, I received a shipment of Sundara yarn the same day, so without further ado, here are some lovely, lovely, lovely pictures....

These three skeins are Blue-Grey over Shell, destined to be some kind of shawl, when I get some more WIPs out of the way.

Next is Orchard Pear, which I think looks a lot like Mossy from the Autumn Season's Club. I don't mind in the least. I specifically chose the Blue-Grey over Shell, but I also asked Sundara to throw in a skein of her favorite color from this batch, and this is what she chose.

And finally, here is my last shipment from the Season's Club--this is probably my favorite color right now. I'd love to do a little scarf out of this one as well.

I can see many, many more pictures finally showing up in my Ravelry stash.

To Do/Have Done

To Do:

1. Finish Early Spring socks. I've nearly finished one, just need to fix the bind off (it's TOO big, if you can imagine that!). I have my doubts on how practical making socks out of a yarn made out of half silk, half merino is, but I just couldn't resist it when I had so much left over from my Stork's Nest Scarf. They will probably fuzz up after 5 minutes of wearing.

2. Finish Christian's socks (still!). I finished two pairs of socks while in Florida, but avoided these, probably because I'm nervous about finding my place in the pattern after so long.

3. In place of not working on Christian's socks, I started the Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty. I bought two skeins of Silken Straw from Yarns 2 Ewe several months ago, and this is just the project to use them. It's a quick knit and I hope to have it done by my Grandma's 90th birthday at the end of April.

4. Another thing that I need to have finished by then is this big orange mass. It's hard to tell, but this is the ubiquitous Print O' the Wave, almost finished except for of the knitted border. It's really less of a shawl and more of a small blanket now, which is fine for my grandma (it's destined to be her present). This has been 'Hibernating', to use Ravelry terminology, since February 2007.

(eek, I can't find it! Picture coming soon!)

5. Resist the urge cast on for the April Sockdown challenge on April 1. (yeah, right)

6. Figure out why my loaves of bread ended up looking like this. (hey, I'm a bread baker now!)

Have Done:

1. Dipped my toes in the Atlantic Ocean. I don't get to do this again until June.

2. Finished Marina Piccola. I'm not very happy with these, and am glad to finish them. I got so sick of knitted twisted stitches on size 0 needles. Plus, since I was actually purling on half of the second sock, and not at all correctly on the first, even though they are exactly the same, the gauge is off, and one if a half inch longer than the other. You can't possibly think that I would even consider reknitting one, just to make them match!

3. Finished Undulating Ribs. I love the yarn base, I love the pattern, and yes, I do love the fact that they are fraternal twins. They were promptly stolen by my sister. (I secretly love it when non-knitters covet my knitting)

4. Baked bread. I can actually cook with yeast, and things (mostly) turn out! I also made hot cross buns for Easter, but I don't have a picture.

5. Helped Charlie eat his Easter candy. Even though I made an effort to buy only a minimal amount of candy, we still ended up with way too much.

6. Attended the Houston Rodeo. Lesson from the rodeo: if something could have rhinestones and/or studs on it, it SHOULD have rhinestones and/or studs on it. A LOT of them. (it was totally awesome!)

Time to publish this and knit a few more rows before I was Mr. Ickle up from him nap. Cheers!

A Day in the Life of Charlie, Part III

We're heading out to pick up Christian from work, and on our way to the car have the following conversation:

Me: We parked our car downstairs to we need to use the........ (elevator)

Charlie: Elevator!

Me: Yep. We have to use the elevator to go down to the........ (car)

Charlie: Car!

Me: That's right! We're going to the car to pick up .......... (Daddy)

Charlie: DOUGHNUTS!!!

Mmmmm...........Do-Nuts.

So very very proud to be #2 at something.

Observe here.

Stork's Nest Lace

Knitting is usually a pretty easy hobby--physically. The Yarn Harlot (do I even need to link, honestly?) refers to knitting as a sport. I think that she refers to the competitive nature of the hobby, but really---what other wonderful, magical sport allows you to watch a movie, have a conversation, drink a beer, and allow a cat to sleep on your lap, all while participating? (10 points for those who found my obtuse reference to the Simpsons embedded in the last sentence)

There are, however, some times when the sport does get a little physical. Reflexes need to be lightening quick when trying to acquire your first choice when this yarn dyer updates her website. The same thing happens here and here. It's best to purchase often so as to keep your mouse-clicking abilities in shape.

Another opportunity for knitters to display their physical prowess is one that I participated in last weekend. I blocked lace.

Lace is one of my favorite things to knit, but really must be stretched and tugged and pinned into submission with a good blocking in order to for it to really look amazing.

After soaking my Stork's Nest Lace scarf I began to pin:

And pin:

And pin:

I'm an agressive blocker, to put it mildly.

Until I had used literally every pin in the house and tips of my fingers were so sore than I was using the edge of a book to push the pins into the blocking board. (note to self: buy thimble)

My lower back was sore afterwards from the repetitive motion. (note to self: stretch out beforehand next time)

I assumed that I could quickly pin this out during Charlie's nap. An hour and a half later, Charlie was getting up and I had just finished. (note to self: you're an idiot)

Was all of the blood, sweat, and (almost) tears worth it?

Can you see the mistake?

I wholeheartedly say--absolutely. Here are the specifics:

Pattern: Stork's Nest Scarf, from Piecework, Jan/Feb 2008

Yarn: Fingering Silky Merino from Sundara Yarn, in Robin's Nest (from the Seasons Yarn Club, Spring colorway)

Needles: size 6

Mods: none, knitted as written

Did I learn anything?: HELL YES! Apparently I didn't know how to purl before this. For the last 7 years I have inadvertently purled into the back loop (ptbl) instead of a regular purl. It doesn't show on socks but it looks wonky when knitting back and forth. I pulled out my trusty guide and made a conscious effort to purl the correct way this time.

I can't wait to wear this. AND, I've got about half a skein leftover:

Hopefully I can squeeze a pair of anklets out of the remainder.

I've also been flying through my second pair of Undulating Ribs:

love, love, LOVE the striping

It appears that socks practically knit themselves when they aren't made out of a million cables or lace. (of course, I've jinxed myself now)

Now I just need to figure out how many knitting projects I will need for a week in Florida. I've got one that I am know that I am taking, but how many backups do I need? 2 or 3? Or 4 or 5?

I suppose that we can just buy clothes when we get there if I use all of the suitcase space!

Liar Liar Link-o-rama

So now I have THREE unfinished socks on the needles, due to no fault of my own (hah!).

The first:

Father and Son socks, Interweave, Fall 2006

They are beautiful, easy and by my favorite sock designer of all time.
The yarn is perfect. They are also for my number one sock recipient, who is always very appreciative. Problem? My thoughts kept straying to this pair:

Sweetheart Socks, Interweave Knits, Holiday 2007


the back detail

After I received my January installment of the Seasons Club I knew that I had the perfect yarn. I promised myself that I would go right back to Christian's socks! That I would even work on them concurrently (another hah!).

I finished these, so let's move on.

Right back to the first socks, right? No way! While I was finishing the Sweetheart socks, I received another sock club shipment in the mail, full of awesomeness. The lure of Sockdown: Ravelry! was too much to ignore. I cast on, again telling myself that as soon as I was finished I would (again) go right back and finish up the first socks in a jiffy.

Marina Piccola, by Kate Gilbert

This pattern is beautiful, but tedious. My mind started to wander...

Can you guess what happened next?

I received another package of yarn in the mail, this time from Meg of Twisted Fiber Arts. Her work with self-striping yarn is truly amazing! Sockdown: Ravelry! rolled around again, and (again) I had the perfect pattern. The challenge this month is to knit a sock from designer Ann Budd.

I would just cast on.

No, I'll cast on and knit just the cuff.

The gauge isn't right, so I need to frog and knit on smaller needles--I should go past the cuff just to make sure that they'll fit.

Two and a half pattern repeats later:

Ann Budd rocks my world.

I am smitten once again.

I promise that I'll finish Christian's socks next! Maybe I'll even make a schedule--one repeat of one sock, one of another, and one of the last, until I'm done. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't work well with schedules. This plan has failure written all over it.

And I did just get another sock club installment in the mail....

sigh

It Grows

Observe:

much prettier in person

This also grows:

welcome to Mt. Laundry

Question: Which of these will grow, and which will shrink?

Answer:
Grow? The scarf.
Shrink? Neither.

A Day in the Life of Charlie, Part II

Five minutes after putting on his first pair of Big Boy Underwear, they are pooped in.

The View from Up Here

It is a grey and gloomy day here in Houston, but I still can't believe that this is February.

Siamese Catfood Breath, about to leap to his death

Can you believe that we have a palm tree growing in our courtyard? Things are blooming, and I have had some seasonal allergies, in February. I'm sure all this ranting about the weather is boring all of the southern folks to tears, but when you haven't lived anywhere but Michigan, it is impressive.

Our bedroom view is not so picturesque, however.

If I were as awesome as Jason Bourne, I could easily leap from my window to the neighbor's window.

Christian claims that he sees a hidden head spying on us from over there sometimes.

Progress on Marina Piccola continues, despite almost being frogged yesterday because I didn't like the way that the ssk's were turning out. I have since stepped away from the ledge, and am back not loving it, but being able to live with the results. I actually tried to knit the pattern as written instead of second-guessing the intent, and presto!--things started to work. Plus, I love the colors and pattern together.

As much as I try to be, I am not monogamous when it comes to knitting projects, and as soon as this came in the mail, the sock progress ground to a halt.

It smells as good as it looks.

This is Sundara's new fingering silky merino, and it looks like she has just 2 skeins left on her website.

Since yesterday, this has been wound, and is beginning to morph into this:

It's an easy pattern to memorize, and it has tripled in size, thanks to the Oscars. I'd like to have it done before it is too hot here to justify wearing.

Cheers!

What I learned from putting Transformers in my Netflix queue

Autobots like to give golden showers.



P.S. This movie was baaaaaddddd. (and not in an awesome way, either)

A New Life

Being a Stay-At-Home-Mom is different than I expected at times. I didn't think that the days would fly by, but they really do. We have a rhythm, and often I'm amazed at how quickly the evening comes.

Being a SAHM means that I can make homemade spaetzle in the middle of the week, if I want.

I was hoping for a better picture, but this was all that was left by the time I got around to taking a picture.

I am even more sock-obsessed than usual lately. I've made this pair....

Sweetheart Socks, from Interweave Knit's Holiday 2007
using Sundara Sock yarn in color Tickled Pink

And this pair....

Marina Piccola, in Black Bunny Fibers
Fancy New sock blockers courtesy of Leggy Creations

In between taking a certain someone to the potty 400 times a day.

A Day in the Life of Charlie, Part I

Hop on Pop, his favorite book, thrown into the bathtub.

AWOL

Yes, I have been gone forever. I'll be back soon. Now that I've written this, I promise a proper post tomorrow!

Temptation, thy name is Ben, and sometimes Jerry

You do not want to eat this.

I warned you!

The post in which I expect to become a rockstar and fail miserably

I had just finished telling the Very-Soon-to-be-Doctor Husband that I wanted my posts to evolve organically, but I knew that I had a good story. I didn't want to go to the grocery store yet again this week, and after all we really need to get rid of the food in our kitchen before Moving Day (now November 26!). I raided our pantry and freezer for long-ignored and maligned "food" that we didn't want to move. There was the single can of green enchilada sauce to a half-used bag of frozen mixed veggies from the dark recesses of our freezer. I pulled everything together with the expectation that I could pull off an amazing casserole and humbly tell an amusing story to the blog world.

This plan went horrifyingly wrong. Well, not completely, because Charlie loved it. He even asked for seconds! I'm not sure how sophisticated his palate can be, considering that he would eat cat food if we let him. This became the casserole that tasted like freezer burn, the casserole that was inedible, and the casserole that kept on giving in the worst way possible.

This, which I expected to be able to turn from water (or in this case, more like festering raw sewage) into wine...

A veritable menagerie of crap

Turned to this:

Warning: this doesn't taste nearly as delightful as it looks

Christian and I picked at it for awhile in the hopes that we would hit the good spot, and then eventually gave up and went to bed hungry.

On the knitting front....the Cable Rib socks are finished! Hopefully they fit the recipient.

I have a great gift for making socks look like they're different sizes in photos.

I really loved the Radiant Twist yarn. The colors are perfect and the yarn is the perfect mixture of tight spin coupled with the sproinginess that I adore. I assume that the base yarn is Louet but indie dyers are pretty tight-lipped about which yarns they use.

I have eagerly moved on to Mona's Mystery Socks. I love the yarn more every day:

I am totally smitten.

It's amazing how different the yarn looks at different times of the day:

An artsy shot with Grandma's cookie jar

The contrast between the yellows and pinks just isn't there at night. I find myself getting up in the morning and looking at the sock first thing to see what it really looks like in the sunlight.

Juliet continues to grow a few rows a day, but basically looks the same.

Tomorrow the family starts to pour in for Dissertation Day. I can't believe how quickly things are moving, after months that seemed to creep by. I have a feeling that we'll be throwing stuff into boxes at the last minute. This really isn't a change from how we usually operate.

Well, time to get a few precious rows in before bed. Cheers!

Counterproduction

It makes perfect sense that although I am dying to cast on a brand shiny new pair of socks, I neglect the existing WIPs entirely, and begin new, non-sock related ventures. Payback is a bitch, however, and I believe that my unfinished socks have conspired to jinx any new project that I attempt.

Exhibit A:

This Calorimetry is eating my head.

I look like a lobotomy patient. I assumed that I didn't need to knit a gauge swatch since I went down a needle size from the suggested pattern. It looked a little big while I was knitting it, but I assumed that since it was ribbed it would end up a little smaller. I'm contemplating trying to shrink it a little in the wash.

The socks that are out to get me:

Finished Undulating Ribs

Unfinished (but nearly finished!) Cable Rib Socks

And poor Juliet...

I keep thinking of this color as "Lion Brand Buddhist Mustard".

There appears to be nothing wrong with this (yet). Maybe the socks haven't noticed her.

Toys for evil parents

Actually, this isn't about toys that one gives to parents, it's about toys that are gifted to their children so as to slowly drive their parents criminally insane. Observe...

I don't know what this one is called, but if I had to guess, it's the
Brain Borer 2000: A Baby's Revenge

This toy is simple--it's got four turntables (but no microphone!), and when you push the button (actually, I'm sure that YOU would never push the button of doom, but your son surely will) the turntable rotates and a little song plays. Over. And over. And over. And over again. Until the batteries die and your child then begs you to change the batteries. This is no awarding-winning song either such as Funkytown or Sweet Child O' Mine. I don't know the name of the song (does pure evil truly have a name?) and I won't bore your brain with the tune here. There are gears/blocks that supposed to stack on this toy, but from a child's viewpoint they are completely optional. Anything can get thrown on this toy, and it takes amazingly huge batteries so it can handle the weight. Wooden blocks, cat toys, food, clothes, sippy cups and shoes have all ended up on this thing. Apparently it's tasty as well:

Undulating Ribs grows:

wine not included

And Black Bunny continues to beckon:

Look how pretty!

And I just downloaded Juliet, so I'm considering knitting along with NaKniSweMo. It's less than 50,000 stitches I'm sure so I might have to participate in spirit. I don't know how stringent the rules are.

Houston awaits!