Huh?

It's time again for Random Randomness, brought to you by the letter F. First up in our Random Randomness today--music! Yup, I've recently discovered two new tunes that just thrill the socks off me. Heh. Anyway, y'all have no doubt heard of these artists already, as I am almost always hopelessly behind the times, but whatever. The first new amusement is a really interesting fella called Matisyahu, a Hasidic Jew who does reggae. Seriously. It's actually really darn good, too, even though I'm not exactly a huge reggae fan. The Jamaican accent is a little questionable--sometimes it sounds like maybe he spent too much time on his Grandma's farm in Minnesota as a kid--eh? Yah. The music is incredibly well done, though, and the lyrics (at least what I can process of them...the brain doesn't work as fast as it used to) are really interesting & well written. Honestly, King Without A Crown is the only tune I've actually heard yet, but between that one & the reviews, I think I need to own this disc. I'm telling you, this kid is good.

The other awesome new music in my little world is KT Tunstall, a chick from Edinburgh who has only fairly recently come to light here in the states. At least to my limited knowledge, anyway. Her single Black Horse And A Cherry Tree is really bluesy & strong, and makes me crank up the radio in the car & sing really loudly. Actually, I'm even more thrilled about this disc since my beloved husband surprised me with it the other day. Score some major brownie points for the sweetie there. There's really only a couple songs on the disc that aren't just awesome, and dang, but I was needing some good strong female vocals lately! So yay on that one.

Next on this edition of RR, your latest installment of the ABCalong...

F is for Finished!! (Finally!)

My Very First Sock(s) is finally finished! They are knit in KnitPicks Parade, which is apparently on its way out the proverbial door, so if you wants some, best gets some now. I used an evil Lion Brand top down pattern, and it'll be the LAST time I use that one. I did, however, get some fabulous help from Entrelac and Socks 101, without which I very well may have gone completely insane. No, the stripes aren't lined up properly, but it's my first pair, so I'm not that concerned yet. They're close enough to make me happy, and I like that folks refer to this kind of pair as "fraternal". Heh.

Now that the socks are finally off the size 3 dpns, I'm free to cast on my second fingerless mitt in the round, except I've already got the first fingerless mitt on size 3 straights, and I don't like working from both ends of a ball. Sigh. I really hope that this won't give me Second Mitt Syndrome.

Finally on the RR show, my most recent stash acquisition...lace! I've been wanting to try my hand at knitted lace for a while now, so I snagged the Elizabeth I pattern from KnitPicks (which then mysteriously disappeared off the site shortly thereafter), and a few skeins of laceweight as well. From top to bottom, they are Gossamer in Leprechaun, Shadow in Sunset, Alpaca Cloud in Moss, and Shimmer in Morning Mist. The Shimmer especially feels incredible...suuuuper soft & silky. I love the Alpaca Cloud as well, though I've heard that some folks have frustrations with it due to how thin it is. I have no idea which one I'll start first, or when, but I'm excited anyway.

I'm still working on the aforementioned fingerless mitts, obviously, and also the Bigass Giant Chunky Sweater. The Bigass Giant Chunky Sweater is amazing...very soft, very warm, and very huge. I'm using Burly Spun, and a pattern that I picked up from a lys (but can't remember the name of). It comes in these huge fluffy hanks, and winding it into a ball was tricky, to say the least. The ball was simply too big for my standard ball winder, and I had to move the little metal doodad around just to be able to finish winding it up. That first pic is seriously the post-winding yarnycake, and that's even after I'd already knitted the collar section. The cat isn't far away, the yarnycake is actually sitting right on top of her, and she's no kitten. I mean, geez...it even makes my hands look small! It's not as pink as it looks, though, it's really a gorgeous rust color, and I'm really excited about it. Except that it will almost certainly be done just in time for me to turn on the air conditioner.

Playing catch-up, always

So, here we are again, behind on the ABCalong doodad. You can't see me rolling my eyes, but trust me, they're a-rollin. Am I the only one who has crazy fantasies about being ahead of everything for a change? Anyway, without further griping and/or whining, here it is...

E is for Educational Excess

So I went to a two day homeschool conference last weekend, a veritable bonanza of educational information. By the end of the second day, my brain had melted & leaked out my ear. There was just SO MUCH INFORMATION. Quite overwhelming, let me tell you. These photos are only a small fraction of the material I wound up taking home, and they don't include the books & things I bought, either (did you know there's an Elementary Algebra for seven year olds? Me neither, but The Boy is starting on it next week). Don't worry, I'm not overloading my kid by any stretch. He's extremely eager, and loves to "do school", especially math. As for me, I wasn't so hot in math, and I really don't look forward to higher studies in that field. As a result, I'm really hoping that I won't wind up moving too far away from my parents, so that I can lean on my dad to help when the time comes (he's a professional geek, and knows way more than I about such things).

Being the good little knittergeek I am, I of course brought my sock to the conference to work on in between seminars. The organizers wisely had a "knitting room" set aside during the lunch periods, so I spent a good portion of time in there, talking with other parents & slowly working on my stripey little sockie. It really was a nice bit of downtime in the middle of a really intellectual day, and I got to hear about some new (to me, anyway) yarn stores in the burbs. One woman sat down next to me, squealed over my sock, and pulled up her pant leg to show that she was, in fact, wearing the exact same sock that I was making. How cool is that?! She turned out to be an incredibly interesting person, too, so that's a bonus as well.

The sock in question is made from KnitPicks' Parade sock yarn, in the Blues colorway. I'm using a Lion Brand pattern, but I won't link to it, because it's irritating & wrong in places & I wouldn't recommend it, and besides, it makes me snarky, so there. There are a million other good sock patterns available out there anyway, if you're looking for one. Anyhow, I'm about 75% done with both socks. Yep, both socks--I'm not a stupid girl, generally speaking, and after getting halfway through the ribbing on the first cuff, I decided to pop for an extra set of size 3 dpns, because if I don't work both socks at the same time, I'll *never* get to the second one. I'd have a drawer full of dozens of single socks, and a raging case of Second Sock Syndrome. I just finished the gussett decreases on the second one last night, and am working through the endless stockinette of the arch of the foot now. I hope to get to the toe shaping by tonight on at least one of them--partly because I'm really looking forward to finishing my Very First Sock and wearing the darn thing, and partly because I really want my dpns so that I can start the fingerless mitts. Yeah, I know they're supposed to be worked on straights, but seaming sucks, so I'm gonna do 'em in the round. I hope, anyway. I've got a skein of KP Redwood & a skein of KP Fly Fishing for them, so I can have two different pairs of mitts. Have I mentioned lately how much I love KnitPicks?

It's been a while, eh?

Good heavens, where to begin? It's been nearly a week since I've been here, and plenty has happened. Most notably, my eldest son turned 7 on Friday. Not to sound like a pathetic, slobbering wreck of a mother, but omg, my baby is SEVEN!!! I look at the pictures of him from even just a couple years ago, and he has changed so much. All the baby fat is gone from his face & hands, and he's very tall & slender now (VERY tall...his head comes up to the middle of my chest). I'd post pictures, because I am intensely proud of my boy, and he's incredibly cute with his little turned up nose & huge dark eyes & freckles over his cheeks, but I'm just not comfortable with my kids on the internet like that. Y'all will just have to believe me...my boys are cuties. Heh. It's become a tradition every year to take the boys into the city to a museum for his birthday, and this year we went to the Museum of Science & Industry. It was the first time there for the kids, and the first time for dh since he was a kid himself, and we had a blast. All three of them (the two boys & dh, who is really just an overgrown kid himself) went nuts over the giant model train setup. As for me, I just wanted to stuff the 1936 Cadillac under my coat & sneak out the back door. It was a convertible, and one of only six left in the world. It was really weird to see how long it was, and how far the front wheels are from the back, but it was gorgeous just the same.

After we finished at the museum, we went to the Lego store downtown, and Loopy Yarns (where the boys all sat in the car & waited for me. Go figure.). The yarn store, to be honest, wasn't that exciting. Granted, I'm fairly spoiled by my local yarn store and the semi-local Wool & Co., but still... They had some nice yarns, like Lorna's Laces, and a cashmere sock yarn that really wanted to go home with me (but for $43 a skein, it stayed right where it was), but it was largely novelty yarns, and I'm just not a big fan. Meh. Still, it was fun to poke around.

Speaking of yarn shops, I managed a GREAT score at another semi-local yarn store that sadly went out of business this week. Their entire shop went for 40% off the day I was there, and I snagged a huge load of Cascade 220 for about $4.35 a skein. I also got enough Plymouth Encore for two more boy sweaters, a couple balls of Cascade Fixation, and about four balls of Wendy/Peter Pan for an undisclosed item in the future. On top of that, I picked up several new circular needles (and OH, how I wish I'd had my list of what I needed with me!! I would have gotten several more, if I'd only known which ones to get), a gorgeous Brittany crochet hook, and three new knitting books. One is a knitting journal by Melanie Falick that I've been coveting for ages--it's got a handy little chart to list all your needles, so you won't have to miss out on deals when you're in yarn stores with sales anymore. The others are Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush, and Knit Christmas Stockings, by I don't know who offhand (it's shaped like a stocking, if that helps any). I was SO THRILLED with my haul! The only downside is the financial nausea afterwards. I mean, honestly, when am I ever going to see gorgeous Cascade 220 for four bucks a skein?! But on the other hand, we really have very little money to spare right now, and I feel like a heel for spending it all on me. While I was out that day, I also stopped at The Fold, a really cool little yarn shop in Marengo. Well, actually, it's just outside of Marengo, on a little bitty farm in the hills. It's got a really sweet, homey feel to it (it helps that it's actually in the lady's house), and it's just fabulous!!! I mean, hot damn! There is SO MUCH in this little shop...I really wish that I'd had more time to browse. She's got TONS of spinning supplies--beautiful spinning wheels & drop spindles, huge bags of roving stacked to the ceiling, and yarn out the wazoo. I don't spin yet, so I don't know much about it, but oooooh, those bags of beautifully colored roving...*drooool*. They were soooo soft, I just wanted to crawl inside them and take a nap. There were sooo many different yarns, too...lots of really high quality fibers, incredible colors, some I didn't recognize but wanted anyway. I only bought one skein there, though--a skein of Socks That Rock in Sapphire, and a pair of short size 2 dpns. Socks That Rock is so beautifully colored! I was actually pretty glad that she was short on stock that day, because I could really get addicted to the jewel-like colorways. They aren't cheap, though I hear that you get what you pay for with this yarn, so we'll see how it knits up. Oh, and the big bonus with this yarn? It's superwash merino. Mmmmm... Toni Neill, the owner, was incredibly nice and friendly, as was her enormous German Sheperd, Eric. Eric was just the biggest sweetheart, all friendly tail wagging & soft brown eyes. I've got a major weakness for GSDs, so that helps too, but he really is a cool dog. And honestly, I just adore small shops with pets in them. I've always thought a bookstore with resident cats is about the most inviting thing ever, so a yarn shop with a dog is pretty darn cool too. And, amazingly, I didn't see ANY dog hair on any of the merchandise, not that it would bother me anyway. My cat sheds on it as soon as I get it home, so it really makes no difference to me, but it was pretty darn impressive.

D is for DONE!!

And now we get to the yarn photo section of the day, folks: I've finished two major (for me, anyways) projects this week! Yay! First up is the Ben & Jerry's Cozy for my mom. I found this pattern in Knit Wit, by Amy Singer. It's made with Cascade Fixation, which is 98.3% cotton and 1.7% elastic. The elastic makes it really weird to work with...I hear it's great for socks, and I suppose it would be, but it turned out just slightly loose on my B&J carton. I'm looking forward to making one for me next, now that I know more about how Fixation behaves, and how to work with it to make it do what you want. At any rate, it's pretty cute, in a stupid sort of way. Blogger's being snotty about posting pictures right now, though, so I'll have to come back in a bit to try again.

Second finished object is that weird felted purse for my mom (notice a trend here yet?). Now, I've never made a purse before, and this was based on a pattern but then largely altered, so keep that in mind. The strap is super wide, but that's what she asked for. I even put a pocket in the inside, which was REALLY tricky to sew. Um, I'm not a very good seamstress, either... But anyway, it's done, and I'm hoping she'll like it.

I'm really glad to be done with these two. Next up is my very first sock! I cast on last night, and I've got about an inch of the cuff ribbing done so far. Yay!

My apologies for the boring, unimaginative nature of today's D. It's just a brainless kind of day here today...snowing & cold & sorta grey. Bleh.

OH, and I nearly forgot to add--yay Olympics! Yay Team Dekalb! Yay goofy gold medal! Heehee...

It's a crutch

Because I can't think of anything brilliant and cool for the letter D, I give you a meme instead. (Actually, you'll get D eventually, but in the meantime...) So there.

4 jobs you've had in your life
1. EMT
2. waitress
3. CNA-nursing home & home health care
4. Owner/operator/only damn employee of a small (REALLY small) soapmaking business

4 movies you could watch over & over
1. Indiana Jones trilogy
2. Chicago
3. Road to Perdition
4. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

4 places you have lived
1. Bloomington, IN
2. Peru, IL
3. a tiny faux apartment in someone's garage
4. in my own little head

4 tv shows you love to watch
1. Mystery Science Theater 3000
2. Oz
3. Coupling
4. Scrubs

4 places you have been on vacation
1. Washington Island, WI
2. Disney World, FL
3. Nashville, IN
4. Four Corners region

4 websites you visit daily
1. TONS of knitting blogs
2. Non-knitting friends blogs
3. weather.com
4. my local library's website--I've almost always got some book or another coming in

4 of your favorite foods
1. steak (filet mignon, medium rare, and if it's from Wildfire in Chicago, so much the better)
2. fried chicken & biscuits
3. really good sweet corn, with butter & a teeny bit of salt
4. fine chocolate (damn straight it's a food)

4 places you would rather be right now
1. Disney World!!
2. in a huge, well-stocked yarn store, with a $1000 gift certificate
3. right here, holding the $200 million winning lottery ticket (heh)
4. in a little house in the corn that belongs to ME

Alright, I'm tired & useless today, so if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged.

Actual interesting knitting content will return tomorrow, I promise.

I did it!!!

I finally finished the Olympic scarf!! Yeah! I was seriously doubting that I would for a while there. At this point, I think I've decided not to block it for now. Maybe I'll change my mind later, but for right now, I rather like the close, snuggly look. It actually is the same scarf in the pictures...I have no idea why it shows up purple on my table. If you look closely at the dapper fella in the fedora over my right shoulder, you'll see that he is an actual, honest-to-God Guy Noir bobblehead. Seriously. My parents gave him to my husband for Christmas a few years ago. I have a weird family. And yes, I desperately need some sun. Flash doesn't help, either.

At any rate, I'm really pleased to have finally finished this thing. Now I can devote my knitting time to finishing the felted bag for my mom (still have to finish knitting the endless strap, and then felt the thing & sew it together), and also start my latest project, the Ben & Jerry's pint cozy in Cascade Fixation. I'd originally planned to make this just for myself, but then my mom got wind of the idea and warmed up to it quickly (after first laughing at me for making such a goofy item). Now I get to make two. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. The husband so generously even cleaned out a pint for me to block it on. Isn't he so sweet & selfless?

In other happy yarny news, I finally got the yarn swift in from JoAnns the other day. Perfect timing, too, since I can now start all sorts of new projects that need to be wound into gorgeous little yarny cakes. I also received the 1942 knitting book, which is all kinds of cool in that not only is it in surprisingly good condition, but it's also pretty darn well-written, and looks like it will really be a useful resource, in addition to the coolness factor. Yay! And, as if that weren't cool enough, the Knit Picks order finally came in!!! It's largely Wool of the Andes, and a large portion of that belongs to dh's huge boring cabled sweater (in black & dark grey, natch), but still! There's several skeins of really cool sock yarn, and a handy pile of dpns to add to the fun. Yay! Of course, looking at the photo now, everything looks really dark...it's not ALL dark yarn, it's just a crappy picture. Sorry, y'all. I can't wait to get my paws into all of it, though, and start five million projects. Never enough time, I tell ya...

C is for Chicken Car and Cat-in-the-Box

Now here's a vehicle you won't see cruising with the low-riders. The Chicken Car was featured in a bizarre documentary I watched this morning called The Natural History of the Chicken. You gotta wonder how that's street legal. And yes, I photographed my tv on pause.

Cat-in-the-Box is a favorite game of Crazy Kitty's, and while it does make for great entertainment, it also makes packing anything really difficult. Note the yarn in the background. Ain't life grand?

A is for Argh! There's only 7 days left!

Well, not really... Actually, I was feeling pretty down about the whole Olympic project for a while there. I seriously underestimated the time required for this project (at least for me, given all my other responsibilities). I also underestimated the time it would take me to get used to the pattern, and the whole cable thing. Lucky for me, it finally clicked the other day, and yesterday was spent doing not much more than knitting on the scarf. I'm now officially past the halfway point (yeah!!), and I have lofty goals of actually finishing early (though by "early", I mean maybe an hour before the deadline or so). The latest progress is shown in my letter A photo, which is also conveniently my "yay Kerrie" photo.

A is for Adorable/Awesome/Accessories/Ack, How Did She Not Go Blind Making These?

They're definitely cooler in person, since my little camera kinda sucks at taking super-closeup detailed shots, but you get the idea. They're absolutely tiny, and incredibly detailed. The orange one even has slightly sparkly stripes, which I love. Kerrie, who really really ought to get a blog, made these for me just recently, and I am SO pleased!! It's almost disappointing that I don't actually need stitch markers for this particular project.

And, as long as we're at it and trying to catch up...

B is for Ball Winder on Big Blue Blankie

I just got this awesome ball winder off Ebay the other day, and I am loving it! It's ridiculous how fun this thing is. I also managed to snag a swift for $29.99 from Joann.com (thanks to a kind soul who shared her 50% coupon code), though it hasn't arrived yet. I've been asked to bring it to the next SnB, and everyone else will bring their unwound hanks. We'll have a ball winding party, and it will be weird, but more fun than one would expect from a little tube o' plastic.

Big Blue Blankie is actually the first FO ever for me, though it was crocheted and not knit. I learned to crochet several years before I picked up knitting, and the first thing I wanted to make was an afghan for my exceptionally tall husband, who never could manage to find an afghan long enough to keep his feet covered when he pulled it up to his chin. I'm not exactly one to mince around when starting something new, and it was an awful lot of fun, so I figured I'd just make the world's biggest, most obnoxiously sized afghan. Well, at the time, I didn't realize the size was obnoxious, but whatever. It's about 7 1/2 feet long (!!), which is great for dh, but pretty durn awkward for me, given than I'm all of 5'3". It was made out of no dye lot Caron Wintuk acrylic, back before I learned of actual yarn stores and only shopped at JoAnns & Walmart. No dye lot my arse! They were all the exact same color name & number, and there's still weird shade variants throughout the blanket (though not in a pretty, variegated way...more like a jarring, wtf kind of way).

Basically, this is not an attractive blanket in any sense. And of course, because it's the one thing I've made that I'm the least proud of, dh has fallen hopelessly in love with it. He insists on throwing it across the bed for extra warmth every night, even though I've asked repeatedly if I could just make another one that is sized to fit our bed (not to mention actually matches the decor). He's quite attached, and while that is really sweet and sort of flattering, the fact remains, it's not a pretty blanket! It's heavy, too, and pulls the rest of the blankets off the bed if too much hangs over the edges.

At any rate, the guy is fond of it, so I suppose I must deal. I *am* going to make a nice one, though, one of these days. An actual bedspread maybe, in soft yarn that matches the colors of the room, sized perfectly to fit our queen-sized bed. Well, maybe after I finish the five hundred or so other projects that are in line ahead of it...

Happy Day-After-Valentine's Day

Well, I'm overdue for an Olympic update. The Irish Hiking Scarf was decidedly slow to start...I've never done cables before, and I'm not used to working with such small needles either, so it took quite a while to get any level of speed or rhythm going. I even made an unpleasant mistake towards the beginning, but didn't notice it (or didn't care) until later, so there it will stay. I am SO not ripping this puppy back! I've also not had a huge amount of time to work on it, so I'm feeling rather uncertain as to whether it will actually be finished on time. It is darn pretty, though, and I'm pleased with what I have thus far. Besides, it's nice practice for the big huge enormous cabled guy sweater I'll be making for dh soon, so that's a bonus.

Speaking of dh, he's scored some brownie points lately. Y'all know how hard this whole sick family thing has been on me, right? I've gotten virtually nothing done around the house, since all I had time for was caring for the children & knitting a stitch or two here & there. When I came home from the yarn shop on Friday, I found a wonderfully clean kitchen, with all the previously filthy dishes drying in the rack, looking all kinds of sparkly & shiny clean. It was WONDERFUL. It darn near made me teary, it was that much of a relief. Then, after agreeing that we weren't going to do anything for each other for Valentine's Day (no money, which kinda sucks), he came home with a sheepish, I've-done-a-stupid-thing grin on his face, and said he wasn't sure if I was gonna kill him or kiss him. It seems he had a fit of guilt about the holiday, and stopped at a fairly high-end chocolaterie down the road from his lesson studio, and spent WAY TOO MUCH on really exquisite truffles for me. Really good chocolate, but omg, it was WAY too much money! If I'd spent that much money on chocolate, he would have laughed at me for a week. (He knows how desperate my chocolate habit can get...) Still, as much as the price tag made me choke, I am really touched by his thoughtfulness. He was especially proud to have picked out some cinnamon-espresso truffles, and some particularly awesome maple ones, because he knows I love those flavors. He's awfully cute when he gets so proud of himself.

The kids, fortunately, are feeling much better now. I'm actually sleeping at night again, and I'm hoping that we're done being sick for the whole winter now. Of course, I never got sick at all, just really tired...I've got this bullet proof immune system, and no matter how ill everyone around me is, I never get anything. I think maybe it's just a mom thing, that my immune system knows that I simply don't have time for it. Anyway, I'm really glad that the kids are back to semi-normal again.

The rest of this week will hopefully be spent working on my Olympic scarf, since I'm feeling terribly far behind right now, and catching up on household chores. I also get to spend my time looking out for my new best friend, the mailman. I've got all kinds of kickass knitty things coming this week--I won a knitting book on Ebay that was published in 1942 (SO cool!). I also won a brand new ball winder (woohoo!! I'm so excited! I'm such a geek!) that should arrive this week as well. On top of that, my dear friend Kerrie has created the COOLEST little stitch markers EVER, and will be sending those along shortly too. I can't wait to see them! She's sent pictures, and they are incredible...the detail is just amazing. I'll post pics as soon as I can...they're just so cute! And, the big honking group order from KnitPicks should be coming sooner or later too. I'm hoping sooner rather than later, because I'm an impatient cow, but last I checked, it was still being processed. In the meantime, I'll wait patiently, knitting away in my little corner, and watching old Bugs Bunny cartoons with the boys. Yeah, this will be a good week.

Citius, Alitius, Fortius, Knittius

It is Day One of the Knitting Olympics, and hopes are high! I'm having the breakfast of champions, of course--an incredibly sugary, colors-not-found-in-nature kind of cereal--and lest you think I'm stealing it from my children, let me assure you, I wouldn't feed this shit to my kids in a million years. I don't do coffee anymore, though, so a little sugarbuzz in the morning is nice once in a while. I'm certainly not going to get a caffeine jolt ever again. But I digress...

Today at two o'clock, knitters around the world (or at least in their respective time zones) will cast on their own individual olympic challenge projects. How cool is that? Team Dekalb will be meeting at our lys to cast on together, because honestly, knitting is more fun with rowdy, yarn-habit-enabling company. I'm really looking forward to it, because not only do I get to knit with some really cool people, but I get to leave my home for a while. Allow me to sound like a really terrible mother for a moment...my children are both so sick, and it breaks my heart to see them feel so awful. Not only does it break my heart, but omg, it wears me down! Keep in mind, my babies both slept through the night by about 6 weeks old, so I've been somewhat spoiled thus far...lately, though, there has been NO restful sleep for me, and virtually none for my poor children, either. My youngest has a cough that would make a sea lion proud, and my oldest has an ear infection that made him literally yell out loud from the pain (fortunately, we're pumping him full of amoxicillin now, so at least his ear feels better). The little guy is the worst, though. That cough is CONSTANT, and it goes through the night, which makes him cry from frustration (and presumably pain in his throat by now). I do my best to comfort him at night, and generally feel helpless, because nothing I've tried has really helped it quiet down. During the day, it's aggravating as heck to try to watch a movie or have a conversation, because the poor little guy is barking so constantly that you can't hear what's going on very well. He feels awful, and that kills me, and as much as I want to make him all better, I also really just want to run away to someplace nice & quiet & warm. I feel so terrible for getting annoyed at the constant coughing, and I NEVER let it show to them. It's just so never-ending! He's been coughing for a week, and so has his brother, and his father was coughing for a week before that, so it's been at least 15 days or so of solid, non-stop coughing. Even at night. If anybody has any brilliant ideas about how to bring my poor little family some relief, I'd LOVE to hear them!! If the little guy is still hacking come Monday, I'm hauling him in to test for whooping cough. I hear it's going around the school system in a nearby town, so you never know...

But anyway, enough whining. Back to the yarn! I've got this gorgeous deep red alpaca & silk yarn for my Olympic scarf that needs to be wound into a ball before cast on today. I'm also planning a huge KnitPicks order, which should pretty much cover me for projects till 2008. Which is fabulous.

It's Random Thoughts Monday!

I am seriously way too tired & out of it to string my thoughts together in any sort of logical manner, so you just get random thoughts today. Yay!

1. This weird little critter is a word cloud, which comes courtesy of JenLa (and also Kathy). Basically, it's a program that scans your blog for the words used most often. I'm curious what their standards are though...I mean, "doo"? Where the heck did I ever say "doo"??

2. A large part of the reason for the tired & out-of-it-ness is that my entire family decided to be sick this weekend. Dh had a raging fever last week, but after a few days it degenerated into a nasty sinus-y cold, so no big deal. He's much better now, though he still has the shniffles. Unfortunately, he also shared it with his sons (thankyouveryfreakingmuch), and they are both *still* running unpleasant fevers, after several days of high temps. I'm getting very little sleep and worrying too much, so this is plenty old now. My poor little babies are sick to death of it too, and getting more impatient with the whole thing every day (not that I blame 'em). They even declared that they're completely sick & tired of television! I gotta admit, I'm kind of secretly pleased about that one. They haven't watched too much, really, it's mostly that they haven't had the energy to do anything else, and tv gets old fairly quickly, especially when you don't actually have cable, and have to stick with videos & dvds to watch. Anyway, they're going to the doctor today, and hopefully no one will barf in the car on the way there. I sure hope the doc can do something for them...they've been feverish way too long!

3. My much-loved local yarn store absolutely rocks. Not only did they have an awesome sale this weekend, at which I spent way too much money (but considerably less than I would have without the sale!), but they recently ordered a bunch of Malabrigo Merino, all because Kathy & I asked for it! Well, it wasn't quite that simple, we really had to throw a sales pitch, and then a Malabrigo rep came out to talk to them too, but still...ask and ye shall receive!! I'm really excited...I don't know when the first shipment will come in, but who cares? It's coming! This is easily my favorite yarn, it's incredibly soft and comes in a huge range of stunning colors. Yay!!

4. I'm nearly done with my mom's purse/bag thing. Only a few rows left, and then I'll make the strap, and then felt it. It's easier than I thought it would be, and I'm really hoping she likes it (and orders more!). Once the bag is done, I think I'll move on to an actual, honest-to-God sweater. Yowza. I bought a huge pile of super-thick Brown Sheep Burly yarn, in Prairie Fire, for it...the pattern is really cute, though I can't find it online to show y'all, and it's going to be a super-warm, chunky sweater for me. I have NO idea how long it'll take me, though, especially considering the Olympics start soon. Speaking of the Olympics, I picked up the yarn for my scarf, and it's gonna be preeetty! It's an alpaca/silk blend, which just makes me feel all kinds of la-de-dah, and is a really pretty shade of cranberry. I can't wait to get started on it. Several of us are getting together on Friday for a group Olympic cast-on, which sounds goofy but promises to be fun. I tell ya, I don't know what I'd do without other yarn geeks around! I feel really blessed to have this circle of friends about me, and it really just makes the whole knitting experience that much better, when I can share it with someone who understands & actually cares. Not that my sweetie husband doesn't care, he really does, but it's not the same. Anna, Kathy, Sandiwhomustgetablogofherown, you guys rock.

5. Barfing, fevers, and lack of sleep suck. Just in case I hadn't mentioned that yet.

6. Also at the sale this weekend, I snagged a skein of the most incredible Manos ever...I think it's called Woodland, or something goofy like that. Trust me, it's even more gorgeous in person. I'll have to try to post the picture later; my computer's being cranky right now. Argh. Yay, now it works! Isn't that just stunning? I'd been admiring it for a while, and the other enablers people at the yarn store kept saying how that color would so work for me & all that. I blame them entirely. The photo doesn't do it justice, though...it's got these gorgeous shades of olive in there, and it just about glows. Le sigh. :)

Knitter for hire

Is that not just the coolest idea ever? I mean really... I'm clearly a process knitter, not a product knitter, so it really doesn't bother me at all to give my creations away. (Except for my Very First Hat...I'm still kind of sad about that. Only because it was my very first, though.) My awesome mom has recently discovered the joys of felted knitting, and has requested a purse/handbag/thing in a coffee-colored wool, felted. Get this, though--she's actually paying for the yarn & needles. Is that not awesome?! She's also made noise about bags in other colors, and possibly hats, and I've got a felted vest pattern I'd like to show her...I mean really, she could keep me in free knitting for months! I'm so excited! This will also keep the husband happy, too, as I know he starts to get a little nervous when I go to the yarn store three times in one week. We are trying to save for a house, and the stash can sometimes make that pretty difficult.

Anyway, the bag itself is of very simple construction, as I am still pretty new to this, but I hope to practice on my mom's stuff enough that someday I'll be able to make this bag for my husband. Mom's all excited because she gets relatively inexpensive bags customized to her specifications. I'm just happy that I get to knit good wool, and not pay for it. Poverty's a real bitch sometimes.

Of course, all this free knitting still won't keep the Stash Gods completely happy. They've instructed me to take advantage of a big sale at The Yarn Exchange this Saturday, and geez, who am I to argue with the gods? I'll be picking up some super bulky yarn to make a sweater for myself (really, for ME! What a novel idea!), and some alpaca (maybe alpaca silk blend?) for an Irish Hiking Scarf. Twist my arm.

And that's another thing...after much hemming & hawing, the final selection for the Olympics project is officially the aforementioned Irish Hiking Scarf, of knitalong fame. It's all cable-y & cool, and while it is a scarf, the cables are completely new to me, thus creating the challenge required. The nice thing, too, is that once I get the whole cable thing down, I'll be that much more ready to attempt a sweater for my gorgeous Irish husband, who would look awesome in cables. Even if they must be black & grey cables. Men & their crappy color aversions suck.

Life Is Good

Well, I've had a productive weekend! On Friday, I felted the kitty pi, and blocked it on my husband's djembe from the Ivory Coast. Of course, I wrapped the djembe in plastic & a towel first, so it was completely protected, but it turned out to be the perfect size. It dried remarkably quickly (I suppose that's saying something about how bloody dry the air in my apartment is), and Crazy Kitty loved it immediately. I'm really pleased with the Kitty Pi, though it is a bit of a deep-dish. Maybe I should get a second kitty to help fill it up...

Friday afternoon, I got to hang out at our local yarn shop with a great group of knit geeks & yarn addicts. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and the light filtering through the windows onto the yarn was just beautiful. While I was there, I managed to cast on, knit, and actually complete my second knitted project! I made a super-teeny hat out of Katia Nordic, in black, on circs & dpns. Everyone at the shop SWORE that it'd stretch & be just fine, but omg, it's way too teeny for any of the large-headed types in my family. I'm holding it on my fist in this photo...that's how little it is. The brim rolled up a bit more, so it looks more normal, and less conehead-like now. It sure would look cute on a baby, though. The husband doesn't understand the logic behind having another baby to fill up a little bitty hat, so it will be shipped off to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where there are already babies premade & ready for little hats. Convenient, no?

In other awesome news, I'll be making a family jaunt to the yarn store tomorrow (yay!). Dh has an unusually good sense of color & style, and I'd like his opinion on some different yarns before I make any more new-project plans. Also, they're having a great sale soon, so one must be prepared, of course. My six year old son is very excited about the yarn store, because he REALLY wants me to make a hat for him, after viewing the teeny baby hat. The eldest wants a blue one, the youngest has requested a purple one...except the purple hat over a navy & yellow coat might look a bit odd, so we'll see if we can't steer the little booger towards some more agreeable colors. I gotta tell ya, it is SO COOL that my sons are excited about spending time in a yarn store! I imagine the four year old's patience will wear thin rather quickly, but hey, it's the thought that counts. Even cooler than all that, though, is this...my six year old son asked me to teach him how to crochet & knit. How awesome is that?! I told him we'd start with crochet (easier for a little guy to pick up, I think), and he already has plans for some little pink scarves for his stuffed animals. I can hardly wait! He's soooo excited about it, too...he's been talking about it ever since he woke up this morning.

My kids are awesome.

Yay! Finis!

Finally!!! The Kitty Pi is complete! Well, not completely complete, as it still needs to be felted & blocked, but I'm done knitting on it. I'm really quite pleased. Even Crazy Kitty approves.

Keep in mind, this is pre-felting, so it's really floppy (like the cat) & really huge. I'm quite pleased with the overall results, though, and I'm even more pleased that I managed to do it properly. Here's hoping I don't kill it in the wash.

The big question now is what to make next? The ribbed scarf must wait till the Olympics start, which is still a couple weeks away, and lord knows we can't just sit around projectless until then. So many options...the super-bright socks, the malabrigo hat, the baby grande alpaca anything...what to do? I'd like to pick a pattern yet this morning, too, because I'm meeting with a gaggle of other addicts this afternoon for a little stitch & bitch time at the local yarn store. The idea of going to a stitch & bitch at a yarn store with no project in hands is just scary...if I don't have something else to focus on, I'll wind up spending our rent money on yarn for God only knows what super-ambitious project I'd find there. No, we must go prepared, lest our husbands decide that we can't be trusted in yarn stores unsupervised anymore.

In addition to the stitch & bitch this afternoon, I also have a big honkin' load of laundry to do (as well as the kitty pi!), groceries to get, and dishes to do. Not to mention figure out something for dinner for my family. Busy day ahead...suppose I should get started (though I'd much rather just knit!).

Edited for clarity

Okay, in the interest of clarity & honesty, I must amend my entry into the Olympics. Originally, I'd signed up to make a ribbed scarf, which was to be my First Project Ever, but unfortunately, my impatient nature just couldn't wait till February to start knitting (as evidenced by the kitty pi). My entry will still be the ribbed scarf, and I'm obviously waiting on that one till the Olympics start, but sheesh...you can't dangle all this interesting knitting information in front of me and not expect me to make something with it!

Speaking of the kitty pi, it's coming along quite nicely. It's still on the circs, so it looks more like a large, deflated mushroom cap than any sort of a comfy bed, but I'm hopefull. I've got about 15 more rows to complete before bindoff, and I hope to felt it on Friday (I hate having to wait till I can afford to run the washing machine! Laundromats suck.). The intended contents of the kitty pi is doing her best to assist, and by assist I mean park her furry bum right smack in the middle of everything as often as possible.

The addiction groweth

I'm nearing completion of the Kitty Pi. Knitting, once I got the hang of it, has become remarkably rewarding to do. In fact, I even picked up some loud & obnoxious self-striping sock yarn in Krazy Stripes, and some new dpns, so that I can try my hand at socks sometime soon. Yowza.

Meanwhile, I'm really excited about teaching myself all the ins & outs of knitting, like increasing & circular knitting & splicing two skeins of wool together (which is SO cool!). Progress was hampered somewhat by the Migraine from Hell on Sunday night (that lasted through most all of Monday, too), but I'm still very pleased with the whole thing.

For Jamie, you know I love ya

My dear friend Jamie has admitted to Yarn Envy, that longing of the uninitiated to become one of the few, the proud, the yarngeeks...yes, folks, she wants to take up knitting!!! Yay, Jamie!! She's asked for book recommendations for the brand-spankin-newbie, so if anyone out there has any suggestions, please feel free to post a comment. In the meantime, Jamie, I don't have any personal experience with the Knitting/Crocheting for Dummies book, so I can't really say on that one. However, I can highly recommend Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting, as well as Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet (and also her Encyclopedia of Needlework, should you ever choose to go that route too). I also like the cheesily titled I Can't Believe I'm Crocheting (also a knitting version) books from Walmart. They're really slim, and only have a couple projects, but the instructions are clear, concise, and the crochet one is all I used to learn, so many moons ago. Another great knit resource, imo, is Mother of Purl, by Edith Eig. She seems really into name-dropping, which can be annoying, and I'm not entirely fond of the patterns, but the instructions are fabulous, and she's very detail-oriented (like as in how to get as professional a finish on your sweaters as possible...very handy!). That was the book that made English knitting click into place for me recently. Y'know, while you're at it, you should check your local yellow pages, or google for local yarn stores in your area. I've not known a yarn store yet that didn't offer lessons, some for very cheap, and there's always somebody really knowledgeable around to help you through any rough patches you may have. Oh, and check your local library, too...that's a GREAT way to try a new book before paying for it, and libraries often have classes in such things too (ours has knitting & crochet classes for less than five dollars, which is a steal).

Now, on to your tools...Walmart carries a decent selection of needles (for knitting) and hooks (for crochet). Pretty much everything at Wally World is either aluminum or plastic...personally, I prefer the aluminum, but that's just me. Once you get into it, you'll find that there are bamboo, birch, rosewood, basically all manner of gorgeous tools out there, but for just starting out, the walmart cheepies are perfectly suitable. Hooks are dirt cheap at walmart, too, so that's a bonus. Choosing the right yarn for a beginner is fairly important, since aggravating yarns can discourage a newbie pretty quickly. For right now, stay away from the neat homespun yarns (it actually says homespun on the label, so you'll know which ones I mean), and also avoid the fur types. You want a nice worsted weight wool or acrylic, which you can find in millions of colors at either Walmart, JoAnns, or Michaels for a very reasonable price. Personally, I started out on Caron Wintuk yarn, but it's entirely up to you. I'd avoid the walmart brand Mainstays, though, as it has a nasty tendency to come untwisted, and occasionally break. Not fun. Anyway, pick whatever color thrills you, though it doesn't have to match anything, since you're just going to practice for a little while anyway. On the paper wrap, called the ball band, there should be a series of symbols telling you what size needles & what size hook are appropriate for that particular yarn. Most worsted weight yarns are likely to call for G or H hook, and 10 1/2 needles. (Hooks have letters to designate size, needles have numbers.) Pick up a hook or some needles, depending on which you want to learn, and you're off!

Oh, and one more thing I'd like to stress...see if you can't set aside a small corner of your house that's just for you. You KNOW how tiny my apartment is, but my beloved created a warm, snuggly, inviting corner for me in the bedroom, and suddenly needlework is just SO much more enjoyable now! There's a comfy chair, a good lamp, a side table for patterns & books & tools, a little shelf to hold my drink, and all my books are near me...it's just wonderful! I can even watch tv while I knit. It's turned knitting into a sort of escape for me, a comfy little sanctuary where I can create, and when I'm done, leave the knitting out & waiting for me to return (rather than put it away so people might actually sit on my couch, like I used to do). Of course, that's a good thing to have whether you knit or crochet or not. Even just a little reading corner is so very valuable, in my opinion.

Okay, I think I've babbled enough for one post...I hope this has helped get you going a bit, Jamie! If you ever have any questions or anything, please feel free to email, too. Good luck to ya!

Because, really, I simply don't have enough to do

I must be completely out of my mind. I have at least half a dozen UFOs*, another half dozen WIPs, and a list of things I want to make a mile long (no kidding!). I'm also in the Knitting Olympics, which means I'll be starting yet another project as soon as the Olympics start (though honestly, I have no idea when that is...sometime in early February, maybe?). And, of course, we'll not even mention all the millions of non-needlework things I have to do...housework &cooking & childrearing & all that rot. Regardless, against my better judgement, I started yet ANOTHER project last night--the Kitty Pi. Not only does this look like something that Crazy Kitty would just love, but it's a great opportunity for me to work on several aspects of knitting that I thus far have no experience with. Also, if I foob it up too much, it won't matter...the cat can smash herself into most anything, regardless of size or fit. I'm using Lamb's Pride bulky weight wool in Chocolate Souffle, a lovely deep shade of brown. I'm a sucker for fat needles & fast knits, so I'm using size 13 dpns*, and lemme tell ya, they're weird to get used to! I think I've about gotten the dpn thing down, but I've never increased or decreased before, so this oughta be interesting. I'll post pics when I'm done, assuming I finish this thing anytime soon.

Oh, cool side note...the Kitty Pi needs to be blocked on something round, and of the correct size. One lady had posted a picture of her kitty pi blocking on an upside down garbage can, and that's just brilliant, but I don't have any nice clean garbage cans like that. It suddenly struck me last night...dh's drums are the PERFECT size & shape! I'll have to wrap them well with plastic & a towel to keep them from getting wet, but how cool is that? I've got tons of sizes to choose from, and they're fairly portable (thus keeping them out of the main route of traffic through the house). I'm really looking forward to trying my hand at felting, too. Yay!




*UFO=UnFinishedObject, the bane of my existence. WIP=Work In Progress, or that which I am actively working on, in various stages of completedness. Yes, that is a word. So says I. Dpn=double pointed needles, used for working small rounds, like socks or hats or dopey kitty beds.

Let the geeks begin

Okay, so I am quite possibly the LEAST athletic person I know, but this is an event I can handle! I've officially joined the Knitting Olympics, thanks to the evil lures of the Yarn Harlot. Basically, it's a personal challenge type thing, where everybody picks a project that would be reasonably attainable, but still a challenge, to complete during the Winter Olympics. That gives us sixteen days to fully created any knitted object, which for many folks, is no big deal, but frankly, I've not actually completed ANY project EVER, so it's a heckuva thing to me. The project I have chosen is the ribbed scarf that I *tried* to make for my mom for Christmas. It's been fully frogged, and is now sitting in a peaceful green ball in my knitting basket. You aren't allowed to cast on until the games officially start, though, so in the meantime, I'm practicing my knit & purl stitches on the pink rectangle of doom. Remember, I'm a brand spanking new knitter, so no laughing!
I started working the knit stitch from the bottom, and you can see where I switched to purl...for some reason, I have a hard time keeping my tension accurate in the purl stitch. Anyway, after arguing with purl for a few inches, I switched to stockinette, which is very satisfying, in a dopey sort of way. ("Look honey, it's like a real sweater!")
Closeup of the loose, floppy purl, and the pretty little knit V's hiding in the shadows. Someday I'll get the whole lighting thing right. Anyway, that's my little pink rectangle of doom training/practice. I'll be working on it some more this evening, as we've got quite the snarly-looking cold/snow front coming through, and honestly, what better way to spend wintery days than knitting?

Bosnian crochet fun

I have no clue who the heck named this Bosnian crochet, or if it even has anything to do with Bosnia at all, but whatever. This is a trivet/potholder that I've been working on for my mom for too freaking long a few months. It's made out of cream colored worsted weight cotton, which is awesomely offered by the ounce here. I used a size F hook, in case anyone cares. It's worked so that it will be like a square pocket, and when I've finished, I'll turn it inside out & stitch the opening closed, which will make the pretty stripey pattern be on the outside, and also make it a double thickness of cotton so Ma doesn't burn up her countertops with hot cast iron pots. This is a picture of the outside (well, it's the outside right now...it'll be the inside when I get it finished.

Here's a pic of what is now the inside, and will someday be the outside...

Note the pretty stripey/slanty pattern. It really will be neat when it's finished, it's just a pain in the butt to get there. It's UFO #364, I think.

Oh, and for the record, I don't really have fat hands. It's just a crappy angle from the camera. Really.

Oh, crap

I've always been fairly particular about language in front of my children. Apparently, however, I've missed a phrase or two...

My sweet, innocent four year old is playing a game, and was apparently losing. Usually, he says "rats" or "oh, man!". After recent repeated viewings of Harry Potter, however, that has clearly changed. What did my darling little baby-faced boy say just now?

"Bloody hell!"

"Meme" is a bizarre word

But anyway... I've been tagged by Kathy with a meme, which is completely new to me. Apparently, they're weird little listy things that go around the net from blog to blog, kind of like a cold, but with no vaccinations. Frankly, I love 'em. But y'all already knew I've got a dork streak a mile wide, so no surprises there.

Seven things to do before I die...
1. Visit Ireland & England
2. Take the weasels & the hubby to Disneyworld
3. Get a dog
4. Knit a sweater that actually fits well
5. Take the hubby to Arizona
6. Own a little house in the country
7. Learn to bake bread compentently

Seven things I can't do...
1. Swim (no, really!)
2. Go braless
3. Play the drums
4. Speak Aramaic
5. Reach the wine glasses in the cupboard without standing on a stool
6. Wear a bikini in public
7. Stand up to pedal on a bike

Seven things that attract me to...
1. ...my sweetie...his wonderful, if seriously warped, sense of humor
2. ...books...the ability to go anywhere in the world, or even farther, without spending a bloody fortune
3. ...my crazy kitty...her infinite patience with my children, and the amazing calming effect she has on me when she purrs
4. ...knitting & crocheting...the idea of creating something with my own two hands that will last, and keep my loved ones warm
5. ...the country...the solitude, and the smell of fresh, green corn in the fields can't be beat
6. ...my peanut butter fudge...omg, it's bloody addictive! Killer easy to make doesn't hurt, either
7. ...my adorable little boys...their wide-eyed innocence & trust. They are so completely guileless, and it's incredibly refreshing in an often cynical & jaded world.

Seven things I say most often...
1. Oy vey.
2. No, we do not have any pizza!
3. Poopie!
4. I love you, my sweetie (um, to my sweetie, obviously, about a million times a day).
5. Freaking cat!
6. You have to have at least two bites of everything on your plate...
7. I love you, my guys (to my cutie boys, who started the wierd "my guys" thing years ago. It's really adorable.)

Seven books I love...
1. Mental Floss Presents: Condensed Knowledge
2. Mental Floss Presents: Forbidden Knowledge
3. Mary Thomas' Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches
4. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
5. More of a series than a single book, but the Diane Mott Davidson books
6. Again, more of an author in general than any one single book--Ann Rule books
7. The Fannie Farmer Baking Book

Seven movies I watch(ed) again & again...
1. Road To Perdition
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Indiana Jones Trilogy
4. Chicago
5. Ghostbusters
6. The Green Mile
7. Muppets Christmas Carol

Memes are more fun than they ought to be. I hereby tag Brandie and Shanelle. So there.