anniversary

booties

evening light

summer salad

monkeys

weekend breakfast

ramblings

i'm sucking large at this blogging thing lately. apologies dear readers (all three of you :).

there's been some knitting but not much. most nights i collapse on the couch too tired to do more than stare dumbly at the tv. i've been battling a cold for over a month and i realized that after three days of walking around saying, my face hurts, that perhaps this cold was bigger than i. indeed. i have a sinus infection. i'm now on some heavy duty antibiotics and after 4 days i feel marginally better but still stuffed up and my face still hurts.

we got a (real!) christmas tree on december 1. i got as far as putting on the lights and about 20 ornaments and that's about it. maybe today i'll finish it. it's hard to get anything accomplished when the wee one is awake and when he's sleeping i want to sleep too.

we had a quick and lovely visit with hk & ken last week. the coffee is amazing. the chocolate bark is almost gone (yum!). and monkey loves his little crayola critters, pushing them around the coffee table in their little car. thank you for the presents and your presence.

on the knitting front, i made my standard baby hat for my friend mari. i made it in orange because mari is a redhead i knew she wanted a red-headed baby. i had the same wish for my son and since we can't control these things, she got an orange hat instead. good thing too because miss ella's hair is decidedly not red. i've also started a cream coloured version for my workmate who had her son on friday.

back in november i started a scarf for the boy using a gray-black variegated alpaca. i didn't like the stitch with the yarn so ripped it out. i tried plain garter but didn't like that so i ripped it out. i tried a sideways scarf but meh so i ripped it out. i'm now on version 4 with a 4 by 2 rib that is ok but not great. i obviously don't like it because i've only got about 6 inches done. i'll probably rip it out. i hate knitting projects that don't wow me.

we took the wee monkey for a hair cut yesterday. he looks like such a big boy. definitely not a baby any more. he's pulling my toes. i need to go.

wrapped in plastic

the stars aligned recently and we are very happy. last january some family members gave us two $3o gift certificates for amazon.com. we pondered what we could buy with our mad money. it occurred to me that we should combine our cash to get something that we both want. something like twin peaks on dvd.

except that season 1 was no longer available on dvd. and there's the pesky problem of the pilot being sold separately and with a different ending that what originally aired on tv.

after watching blue velvet recently, i really really wanted to watch twin peaks again but really really did not want to rent it at $5.50 per DVD of 4 episodes. i'm not even sure that gen x has it on DVD; the first time i rented them it was all VHS. i looked around on line but balked at paying $80+ for used season 1 DVDs. We hoped that the studio would re-release a fancy schmancy box set for the 20th anniversary of the show.

i had shared my twin peaks love with a friend a work and two weeks ago she she my an OH MY GOD DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS? email with a link to lo! a fancy schmancy box set that includes the pilot, seasons 1 and 2 and bonus features all for $75.

thanks to our dollar kicking ass, two $30 gift certificates, for the low low price of $17.97 US (that's like $16.50 CN!), we've been watching an episode or two every night for the past week.

thanks, jube-jube. and happy birthday to us!

bicycle built for two

but clearly not three.

i had a dream recently where i was trying to ride a bicycle with two babies on my lap. and i couldn't do it.

gee, i wonder it means.

kid's stuff

but oh so fun.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Nas-B4ZG-28

i keep looking for her

we put Jazz down on october 25. it was time but we're still gutted about it. she was 14 which is beyond old for a dog and i knew she wouldn't make it through another winter...but still...i miss her.

feeling crafty

you know those snot-nosed kids you see wandering around? the ones with the perpetually runny nose? i have one of those kids. no matter how much i wipe, there is always more. i don't go anywhere without tissues; i'm always at the ready. i even bought a 10 pack of those purse-sized pacakges of tissues.

and so this afternoon i made a couple of these, just to class things up a bit. the green swirl fabric lines the pink one and some multi coloured stripes lines the green one. fun.

thankful

fabric stash enhancement and an update

i taught a friend to knit recently. she took to it immediately. her first project was a chunky scarf, her second: a clapotis. she doesn't do things by half and always does things well of course. i offered to take her to len's mill to see if we could find some reasonably priced yarn for a clapotis. she's not yet at the stage where she'll spend $60 on yarn for a scarf.

while i waited for her at len's mill, i discovered some dick and jane fabric. they had about 10 bolts of different dick and jane patterns, including illustrations from the books. when baby j was brand new, my mom bought him a dick and jane board book and i found another not long after; they are currently his favorites (though really, come and see sounds a wee bit like a bad porno: come sally, come. oh, dick! see sally and tim! go, sally go! see dick fall down, see jane fall down.)

anyway, i went back last night and picked up some of the more bold (and much less cutesy) prints. i also found a fun citrus green swirly print that i had to get. i'm not sure what i'm going to do with the fabric yet...i think a library bag seems appropriate for the dick and jane fabric.

in knitting news, i'm not really doing much. i knit another baby hat and started on some booties. nephew numero dos is officially late so i really should get cracking and finish the booties.

in life news, we're recovering around here from baby j having a really bad ear infection. we thought it was just teething pain but his fever wouldn't go away, no matter how much tylenol we gave him. it was awful, he'd look at us with eyes clouded in pain. he only wanted to be in my arms and could not find a comfortable position, writhing around and whimpering in pain. we watched the clock to see when we could safely give him another dose of tylenol.

of course this was all happening over the weekend. i took him to the doctor on monday and was told it was an ear infection. she prescribed antibiotics and sent us on our way in less than 4 minutes. nice. the next day his ear was sticking out from his head almost an inch and oozing stuff. poor kid. it took another 3 days for baby j to start feeling better.

this was his first real illness and as a parent it was awful to witness. it is terrible to see your kid in pain and not be able to offer anything other than comfort and tylenol every four hours. i found that my arms were quaking, not from holding him constantly, but from adrenalin pumping through my body as i made calls to ontario telehealth, the doctor's office, and picked up his prescription. and for some reason, the antibiotics were causing baby j to wake frequently in the night and then up for the day at 5-ish. we were totally wiped out.

work seems to be ridiculously busy right now. working half days last week to be home with baby j while he was sick, combined with an all day leads meeting, and an afternoon of team building has put me so far behind that i can't even stay on top of all the emails i get. i have a bad habit of opening email on my blackberry, starting to read it, deciding that it needs time and attention so i should read it when i get back to my desk but then never do. bad.

one of my writers quit so i've been ramping up on her projects, my senior writer has strep throat and has been off for a week (though i might as well get used to her not being around because she's off on maternity leave for a year in just over a month), my co-op is the biggest flake imaginable (seriously, she says and does some jaw-dropping stuff), and my other full time writer just went on vacation for a week. weee!

ravelry me this!

i got my ravelry invite yesterday! i'm so excited (or as bry would say, exshitted)!

i feel like a dog in a parking lot.

do i want to add my stash? or ooh! add my projects? or ooh! add stuff to my queue? or ooh! see what other people have done with certain projects or yarn? or ooh!...

i'm kinda doing a bit of all three. i'm dashing around digging up yarn labels and adding pictures to flickr (i created a new flickr account just for knit-related stuff: trixie_me_knits) while adding projects both active and in the queue.

this site is so freaking cool! and dangerous. and making me feel a teensy bit guilty for all of my stashed yarn. i'm reluctant to pull it all out and take pictures of it; i don't want the boy to realize the full extent of the goods. eep.

this is me: http://www.ravelry.com/people/TrixieMe

haul

yesterday was the KW knitter's guild annual knitter's fair. i went. i spent. it looks worse than it is, i think.

there's some amy buttler fat quarters.

there's lovely Rovings wool in "brick" that will make the most fantastic fall clapotis. for me. those are my colors.

there's alpaca and silk for a pair of mittens -- $19 for the kit, including a pattern.

there's some cloudy blue mohair that i bought from a friend who belongs to a spinning collective. $10 to support them seems worthwhile to me. 250 yards...guess i'm making a scarf.

and lastly there's silk for a scarf with mitred squares for my mom. also a kit, also a good price though the pattern seems a bit sketchy.

it could have been worse. much worse.

espress-o-no!

for some reason, the kid has taken to waking up at 5:30 am. what a god awful time. and over the weekend he figured out how to pull himself up to a standing position in his crib. but can't figure out how to sit back down. so squawking ensues. at 5:30 in the morning.

our morning double shot of espresso has never been more mandatory, our need for caffeine never so great.

sunday morning the boy was downstairs steaming the milk, grinding the beans, etc. the kid and i were playing with puzzles and dinosaurs awaiting our morning milky beverages when the boy walks into the room with his eyes almost falling out of his head.

"the machine is fried!" he cried out in anguish.

"what?"

"daa daa daaaaaaa bleag be ah da dada daaa" (that's baby j talking)

"the machine just died! i was steaming the milk! and the power kinda surged! and the display went wooom! and then i smelt something burning! so i unplugged the machine! and! the! machine! is! fried!" (which i know makes it look like he had just done 6 shots of espresso but those are exclamation marks of disbelief not hyperactivity, trust me.)

"what time does starbucks open?"

"not soon enough"

actually, we've been surviving with drip coffee. though the boy did admit he went to starbucks this morning -- and that the $4 bevy tasted like ass. them starbucks employees don't know how to make a drink if it doesn't have some kind of syrup in it and whipping cream on top. sheesh.

anyway, dead machine + 5:30 am wake ups = tired kitten.

in knitting news, i finished the green (plum) gable. wee! i need to wash and block it. and our tuesday night knit club is up and running again.

in book news, i'm re-reading the golden compass. my sister in law gave it to me in 1999 or 2000. i know i read it and the rest in the series but wow, i have no recollection of the story at all except for the daemons.

by the power of grayskull!

we rented "hot fuzz" this weekend. weeee! so fun! simon pegg's special brand of genius is to take on a genre and tweak it just so to reveal the absurdities but in a gentle and loving way. for "shaun of the dead" it was zombies, in "hot fuzz" he goes after big action and traditional buddy cop movies -- referencing "point break" and "bad boys II" more than once. it is the attention to detail that is absolutely brilliant. the movies are spot on. so funny.

and hey! knitting news: thanks to hot fuzz and a down with love viewing i managed to finish the body and cast off the green (plum) gable. next up, three rows of ribbing on the sleeves and casting them off. a quick wash and some blocking and i might actually get to wear this sweater a few times before the weather cools off. yippee! pictures soon!

she wore blue velvet

we watched blue velvet on saturday night. we had seen it before, years ago, but i had no recollection of the movie except for the ear and dennis hopper acting like a maniac. man, that's some f-ed up shit.

i think david's lynch's mind is very scary place to be.

it totally made me want to re-watch twin peaks. i actually want to buy twin peaks (new shoes!) but season 1 is no longer available. we're hoping for the 20th anniversary (20 years! christ!) they'll re-release it, now with more bonus features! but i don't think i can wait three years to watch it again. i think we're gonna have to rent it.

when bethy and i went to seattle in 2005, as we were driving away from sea-tac and making our way north east to issaquah, i looked out the windows at the dwindling light and thought, this reminds me of twin peaks. coincidentally, our coworkers suggested a drive out to snoqualmie and on the way we went through north bend, home of the twin peaks cherry pie. for reals.

entertain me

i'm looking for books to read.

i want to read:
a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini
on chesil beach by ian mcewan

what have you got for me?

yeah, baby!

Molly Chicken posted these links and I have to follow suit.

Please read the story.

and then watch the video.

can you say awwwww?

and from a language perspective, how can you not love british journalism?

"But Christian, more schooled in Sloane than feline etiquette, sashayed fearlessly towards Boy."

and completely unrelated, oh lemon meringue pie, why must you always taste like more?

felicitations abound

in no particular order:

congratulations to bridget and jean-paul on the safe and happy arrival of baby quinton, born august 3rd. from the pictures they sent he is pretty damn cute and i think red is his colour*.

congratulations to ms. hedda and mcpie for being uber sneaky and eloping. i'm so so happy for you.

and a very happy birthday to my bestest friend, zillah. wish i were there to toast you with a nice red.

* standard baby hat i make for all the wee ones, debbie bliss simple baby hat. this time knit with patons grace, double stranded. the color is called cardinal which is a pretty apt description; it is much less orange-y in person.

birthday bits

monkey cake: monkey sugar cookies:
big boy of one:
banana shirts for birthday boy and nephews:
my favorite, the banana toss:

and the felt bananas:

my new reality

is okay. yes, i'd rather not have to work (show me someone who would! "life of leisure? nah, that's not for me." ha!) but there's not much i can do about it. we've got bills to pay.

so life is okay. the first week back to work went okay. baby j is doing okay. i'm doing okay. work is okay. everything is okay. i'm even managing without my daily nap(s) thanks to two shots of espresso in my morning latte (no longer served in bed, natch.).

i am glad that we spent a week "practising" taking baby j to daycare. as shitty as i felt last week, it did make it easier to walk down that hall leaving my wailing child behind. so not easy but easier. the staff tells me every day gets better.

work is almost like i never left. except for the now being responsible for people thing. but really, we all listened to each other bitch before, now i just do it in an official capacity and can chalk it up as "employee support" as opposed to "time wasting" on my time sheet. excellent.

and yeah, becky, i don't wanna get dooced. especially since i know my boss reads this. hi beth!

the first week is over and i never have to do it again. instead, we're all about the first birthday party planning. baby j is one on tuesday, his party is on saturday. of course we are having a monkey themed party. i'll post more details probably next week. this week is planned down to the minute trying to get everything done in time. today's big task: tearing down the nasty shed in our backyard. thanks to jeff and his reciprocating saw!

(more) stash enhancement and the sucky side of parenthood

building up to my return to work on monday (eep), we've been doing some intensive day care training: every day this week for about 5 hours. and every day as soon as he realizes what is happening he starts bawling. it used to be after a minute in the infant room and now it happens in the hall. i'm sure today it will happen in the parking lot. his little face crumples, he turns red, his nose starts running, and oh the tears.


it is pretty much the worst feeling in the world.

yesterday they tried to distract him with a book as i made my escape. i looked back to see him pushing the book aside and reaching out for me, screaming.

i'm spending my last week of maternity leave feeling like complete and utter shit. nice.


after the book incident, i stopped in at the mall to pick up some lunch items and needed a moment to calm my nerves. i stopped in at the LYS and headed to the sale corner.


debbie bliss soho. it was 50% off. the blue is for a hat, a scarf, and mittens for baby j. the other two are just 'cause they are pretty and will make a nice scarf or wrist warmers or maybe something felted. i know i bought some of that soho for a scarf for my sister in law but i can't seem to find it to see if they are indeed the same colorway. i think it is time i sign up for ravelry.

beef with benji

i was watching a so you think you can dance season 2 rerun a few nights ago and i've got a beef with benji.

benji is an incredible performer but i don't think he should have won and i think america was duped. because when benji dances he performs for the person in the very last row with the crappy seat practically behind a pillar. he's so very "on" and giving his all that you, the audience, cannot forget for a moment that he is on and giving it his all. every single kick ball change is telegraphed and tap danced across your brain. bam. bam. bam. jazz hands!

maybe my years of ballet have spoiled me a bit. ballet is all about hard work looking absolutely effortless. there is nothing effortless about benji. travis, the runner up dude, moves with a grace and fluidity that is effortless. watching him, you are entranced by his body, swept away by his movements. what travis does is infinitely harder than benji because he is making it look easy. like, hey i can do that! nothing benji does looks easy. and granted it is not, there's no way i could move like he does. but every move of his performance reminds me of that fact. whereas travis, now travis can dance.

this concludes my beef.

nice

way back in may i borrowed the knit 2 together book from the guild library. a woman named sylvia was volunteering at the library desk and admitted she wanted that book herself. i knew i only wanted the tie pattern and offered to bring the book to her when i was done.

handily, sylvia owns knitwerks and has a stall at the farmer's market. this morning, the wee monkey and i headed off to the market to return the book. sylvia was thrilled with the book and happily gave me a tour of the booth. i snapped up some alpaca on sale for $6.95 a skein that will make a lovely and soft scarf for the boy.

next to the till, sylvia strategically placed some rubber stitch markers. i'm sure that they are plumbing supplies or something but she smartly recognized their usefulness and voila! stitch markers. i made a comment about them and she tossed them in with my purchase just because i brought the book for her. and! she also gave me two ecualan samples.

nice.

ups and downs

july 9 has been imprinted on my brain for over a year now. i can't escape july 9 and my return to work. as i get closer and closer to july 9 and panic starts to set in, the less i can forget about july 9. it is there looming while it quietly eats away at me and at the time i have left at home with baby j.

this morning i clued in that july 9 is two and half weeks away. where the hell did june go? i'm not ready to go back to work!

i've been taking the wee monkey in to his daycare for little visits. we're working up to leaving him there on his own. the visits are going well. baby j is socialable and adapatable. this bodes well for him and the transition.

this morning i dropped him off for about an hour and a half while i zipped off to the mall.

i picked up a few things and thought that trying on jeans would be an excellent distraction. how can i worry about my child when i'm cramming my thighs into a pair of jeans? i grabbed about 6 pairs of jeans of various styles, lengths, and sizes and headed to the dressing room. clinton and stacy have taught me that i want a generous boot cut or straight leg jean and i know from experience that a little stretch is fine but a lot of stretch is bad.

one pair was not bad but not great. the other pairs were too big (!), too short in the waist, too stretchy. as i was walking out of the change room, the sales person (a full grown woman, not a cranky teen) asked if i had found what i was looking for. i asked for straight leg sans stretch. she happily pulled some different styles for me (fyi, the gap doesn't sell straight leg without stretch. why?), and even said, these ones stretch out a lot so you'll probably want to go down to a size 8.

hold that thought for a moment. a size 8.

i know it is just a number. and i know that really if they stretch out that much that they are not really an 8 but still. but still!

i had to dash to get baby j so i didn't stay to try on the size 8s but i'll probably go back. (he did fine, btw. didn't even notice i was gone.)

also, i'd like to ask what is up with all of the tops in the stores looking like maternity wear? the only people who could wear that look and not look pregnant are girls with no boobs and no body fat. everyone else is gonna look bigger than they are. and i did the maternity wear thing last year, i don't need to do it again. i was hoping to get some tops that are not t shirts but if these ruffly, blousey tops are the alternative, i'll stick with Ts.

ps. no knitting. i didn't get the tie done for father's day. i wrapped it up on the needles and gifted it anyway.

what the? or, steaming piles of crap

this afternoon i took my poky puppy out for a pee. we made it to the corner where jazz dutifully sniffed the hydrant before i nudged her back towards our house. ten feet away from the corner she took a leak.

behind me, a car pulled up to the intersection and i hear "...after your dog!" it took a second to register but i eventually realized she was yelling at me to pick up after jazz. i turned to look and sure enough she was glaring at me with great ferocity before pulling away.

i dumbly stood on the sidewalk with a plastic bag in my left hand staring after her car and thought, what the ...?

i tried to reason it out in my head while vehemently wishing i had been close enough to the corner to school that woman on two things 1) the pee stance of female dogs and 2) manners. obviously she knows nothing about dogs, especially female ones; the curved back poop hunch is way different from the straight back pee stance. what part of her brain made her scream at me from her car window over something she knows nothing about? i had a bag in my hand. i was more than ready to pick up any solid waste material exiting from my dog's bottom. hell, i have even scraped not so solid waste from the grass. once, after an unexpected dog dump, i asked a stranger across the street if i could have a plastic bag rather than run home for one. i pick up my dog's poop!

maybe that's why this rankles so much. i do pick up! i am a picker upper of the poop!

and another thing, in this neighbourhood, people pick up after their pets. it is not like you see steaming piles of crap on every other lawn. i can't remember the last time i came across some poor, neglected turds. feh! stupid people suck!

(sorry for all the poop talk)

sunday night dinners

sorry about the unexpected blog break. i'm not sure what happened. i can tell you didn't happen: knitting. i think it is a seasonal thing; i obviously need some summer knits. the tie is going along at a nice clip. i should spend some time on it this week if i want to finish it in time for sunday. i really really want to get back to the green (plum) gable and have that finished by the time i head back into work.

anyway, the boy and i have a tradition of eating nice sunday night dinners. it is our way of winding down the weekend and gearing up for the week ahead. we usually start planning our sunday night dinners some time on saturday. we spend time gathering ingredients and choosing the right wine. it is nice.

since the wee one was born, we tend to eat later after he is down for the night (we feel very french doing so. zill would be so proud.). in the summers we used to eat up on our rooftop patio/helicopter landing pad. alas, the patio privacy screen i put up fell down repeatedly last year. i need a more permanent solution. so, our temporary solution is setting up our bistro table on our teeny back porch, pouring some wine, lighting some candles, and chowing down on some good grub.

stash enhancement

yesterday my mom and i trekked to new hamburg, a small town twenty minutes away, for the annual mennonite relief fund and quilt sale. mennonite quilts are not really my thing but my mom was in heaven (quilts were going for $1700!). we ate some apple fritters and gawked at quilts and then we headed uptown to shall we knit.

karen, the lovely lady from the LYS and fellow guild member, recently decided to strike out on her own and open her own yarn shop. in kind of a jump-first-and-ask-questions-later way, she and her husband purchased a gorgeous century home on the main drag in new hamburg, intending to have the yarn store on the main floor and live upstairs. their impulsive plan has hit more than a few snags and instead they have secured a storefront location further along the main drag.

they are still working on opening but in the meantime karen obtained permission to open from her home this past weekend. karen has always been so nice to me; i can't wait for her store to open and be a success. i love her philosophy behind a good yarn store and i look forward to her enabling my habit and my helping put food on her table.

with that in mind, i bought this:

i can't even being to describe the softness. it is called sublime and it really is. oh my, so lovely. the yarn is "cashmere merino silk aran" which makes me laugh since there is only 5% cashmere but it doesn't seem to be hurting the yarn in any way at all. i am in love.

stephanie has written here and there about the strong desire to roll around naked in yarn and i've always thought, hee hee funny but not likely. this yarn may change all that. i want this stuff next to my skin.

since i am heading back to the working world in july when the air conditioning is always jacked so high that my extremities literally thaw on my drive home, i thought i would knit this wee ball of happiness into a sort of neck cowl -- something to pull over my head and wrap my neck in warmth. i can't wait to cast on.

new project

for years and years, my husband has wanted a knit tie. since his first official father's day is coming up, i'm knitting him a tie.

specs

pattern: from knit 2 together (co authored by tracy ullman!)

yarn: black koigu

needles: itsy bitsy 2 US i think.

how long do you think i can knit it in front of him before he asks what it is or figures it out on his own?

bitten

my mom liked the bag but LOVED the michael buble cd. becky, i want to mock you but i wont since i know what else you listen too. plus i've got lots of formage in my cd collection too.

i don't know why i feel compelled to make stuff but i do. i surf crafty sites and get all excited. i want to make fun stuff too! i think i can blame my mom entirely since she was always taking tole painting courses or flower arranging classes or sewing god damn ruffles on my t shirts (from target! the adoration for all things tar-jay started at a very young age for me).

here's the thing, i've always been mildly interested in sewing but exposure to cool and exciting fabric is non-existent in this town. everything about this town is middle of the road. fantastic if you want middle of the road but i want something different. i could head to TO to find what i'm looking for but i don't know where to start. which is why the more interesting and imaginative people i'm finding on the net are inspiring me in leaps and bounds to create. i've been bitten hard.

anyway, i used a indigo gift certificate to buy a few things recently (some advice, if at all possible, avoid using a gift card to make online indigo purchases. in a word: painful!). the lily allen cd, the yarn harlot's latest book (von, you want knitting rock star, go visit the yarn harlot's site. that woman could incite riots if she so desired.), and lotta jansdotter's simple sewing.

i knew i wanted to use an amy butler fabric to make lotta's sun hat. i'm not down with buying fabric on line yet. i just made the leap to buying yarn on line; i'm working my way up to fabric. i did a little digging and found a little quilt place in guelph that carries amy butler fabric. i packed up the wee monkey and my mom and we headed to the pretty, pretty town of guelph. seriously, why is guelph so pretty and k-w so not? sure we have pockets of pretty but you have to know where they are. guelph is teeming with picturesque views and old stone houses.

this is what i brought home:
a wild print for the hat and monkeys for a monkey blanket!

p.s. no progress on the plum gable.

pressies!

oh what a life i lead, blogging on a saturday night! i just finished my mom's mother's day present so i am sharing. my mom has to carry around a cell phone for her job. when she is out and about she tosses it into a shallow plastic bag because she'd never get to it in time if she shoved in her purse. the plastic bag thing bugs me. so i made her a bag.

and look what is peeking out:

a michael buble cd. she asked for it. i was kinda mortified standing at hmv buying that cd. to temper the purchase, i picked back to black by amy winehouse. i've been meaning to pick up this cd for ages. a couple weeks ago i dithered between it and lily allen and lily won out. i've been listening to both a bit obsessively for days now. lily is fun with a capital F, absolutely perfect for summer, bopping around, and being silly. amy makes you want to break out the whiskey, light some candles, toss a scarf over the lamp, and fill an ashtray. the album is filled with demented do-wop songs about tragic love affairs. i totally get her drug/alcohol addictions. i'd have a smack problem too if i sung my guts out night after night like she does. go listen to her. i think she's only 24.

finally!

see? this is what comes from spending way too much time surfing the net. i saw this poster on someone else's blog and had to have it. coincidentally, michael's was having a 50% special off custom framing (yipee!). i picked it up on friday night and hung it in the front hall on saturday morning. it looks awesome! i am so glad we went with custom framing.

and since this is a knitting blog: i made the felted clutch from one skein. i started it friday night i think and finished it sunday morning. i was going to make a bowl to felt as well but figured if the clutch was gonna dry in time for the guild meeting on tuesday that i'd better get it into the washer asap (which explains why i forgot to take a before picture).

the bag ain't much to look at but i do plan to jazz it up a bit with buttons, as the pattern suggests. it is cute though. i can see myself maybe using it. don't know when because at the moment whenever i go out there's usually a water bottle, some cheerios, a package of mum mums, at least two baby toys, my blackberry, wallet, keys, lip balm, a hat, sometimes a sweater, a knitting project, etc. i think i should have made the felted tote instead of the clutch. ah well, if i ever go out sans monkey, i'll be sure to use the clutch.

wool: patons classic merino in gray, double stranded.

needles: big fat ones. denise size 8 mm.

notes: it felted exactly to size. i find the handle openings a titch too small. next time i'd cast off 14 or 15 stitches instead of 11 or 12 (whatever the pattern calls for). i'd also knit two extra rows before binding off; i find the handle themselves a titch narrow. i do wonder how well the handles will hold up after i load the clutch with my wallet (which is admittedly huge), blackberry, keys, and lip balm. maybe the point of a clutch is to carry only the essentials. but uh, those are my bare essentials. maybe i need a smaller wallet.

when i was almost finished knitting i remembered that i have some fingering weight blue wool that my mom rescued from a thift store. if i ever make this clutch again (which is likely, it'd make a nice gift), i'd triple strand -- two patons stands, one blue strand. i think it'd give the bag a bit of dimension and subtle shimmer. i'm actually pretty curious to see how it turns out.

also on the felting front, we bought a front load washer & dryer yesterday. on one hand i'm all thrilled with the thought of appliances that are not older than me (and hence way more efficient, faster, better for the environment, easier on our water bill, i could go on...). but part of me is all aghast that i wont be able to felt in the washing machine. two hours, a bucket, a potato masher, and blisters do not sound fun. i'll just have to convince my mom that a little dish soap is not going to hurt her washer...

WIP friday

here's where i am on the green (plum) gable; trucking along just fine. the rows are going faster and faster thanks to the decreases. it fits fine but i think i could've probably gone smaller. the sleeves will be less bat-like once i add the ribbing. they wont be tight but they also wont flare out so much which is a good thing.

i need to take a small break from the sweater. the guild issued a felting challenge for the next meeting and that's tuesday. eep. i think i'm going to make the clutch from one skein (i love this book) using some stash (!) patons classic merino. of course i do have some lovely lopi in the stash (!!) that would work just as well...

p.s. please ignore the slightly stunned look on my face. the wee one just had a traumatic launch into his nap. nothing serious but oh the tears.

p.p.s. ms. hedda, did you know crazy aunt purl has a book?

this

i am in love with this and this.

i am this close to ordering them.

herein lies the danger of spending my days surfing crafty sites on the internet. this could be my doom.

edited to add: ever step back and look at a word and wonder if it is correct. suddenly *this* looks like the weirdest word ever. this. thisthisthisthisthisthisthis. weird.

getting away

where does the time go? i'm here, i'm healthier, i don't have much to blog about.

plum gable: i'm into the decreases on the body. i think i'm on the 4th decrease. i'm happy the decreases are according to length not stitches because my row gauge is way off. i'll just decrease until it is long enough (11.5 inches, i think) and then see if i need to add in some of the hip increases. maybe a try on picture later this week.

painting: i've pretty much painted every single wall and ceiling in this house except for the basement stairs. last year some time i tore off the horrid wallpaper and then stopped because i was pregnant and didn't want to TSP the walls, inhaling fumes. anyway, i TSPed last night. i spackled. today i sanded and spackled a bit more. i even filled the quarter-sized holes from where i ripped out the banister (it is 2 steps to the landing. no banister required.). i plugged the holes with drywall and spackled it in. a hack if there ever was one.

anyway, i'm going to pain the ceiling and walls. i think i'll even paint the door to the garage. i've got leftovers from the kitchen so the project isn't costing anything. i bought a little recycling bin to hang on the wall to catch flyers and such. i'm kinda excited about having basement steps that are not so assy. it is the door i rush to close when people are over. wee!

baby stirs...

snotty snot snot

we're all sick. there's lots of snot. it aint pretty.

urgh

lookie what i got today.

i've been battling wrist pain for months now. carrying around a 21 lbs baby will do that to you. the pain is now radiating up my arm, across my shoulder, up my neck, and into my scalp. ouch.

this stupid thing is supposed to make everything better. i must say, it is easier to type than i thought it would be. but can i knit with it on? i haven't tried that or lifting or carrying the monkey yet.

urgh.

hmmm

here's the plum (green) gable on. i'm feeling hmmmm about it.

(it is hard to get a flattering picture of the chesticular region. i had to cropped the girls to keep them from dominating the picture and encourage you to instead look at the sweater.)

anyway, the sweater. the sleeves are a good length but roomier than i was hoping. i'm glad they are not tight sleeves but...i...hmm. they aren't bad-awful. i think they'll be ok. i think the sweater will be much improved when it is longer and covers the girls, helping tug the thing down and into place. and blocking the neckline will help with the curl.

so i maintain hmmm for now and will see what i think after a few more inches. i do like the top-down construction of the sweater. it's neat-o keen.

long distance s&b

for beckystar, pf&b:


insert your needle to purl:












wrap the yarn (i know, it is not the greatest picture. trust me, that yarn is wrapped.):












pull the right needle with the new purl stitch away as per usual BUT DON'T SLIP THE (old) PURL STITCH FROM THE LEFT NEEDLE:











instead, move the right needle to the back and pick up the back leg of the old purl stitch for a new purl stitch (click on the picture to be astounded and amazed).:










wrap your yarn:











pull the right needle with the latest and greatest purl stitch away:











slip the old purl stitch from the left needle:






et voila!

sass

a mite too soccer mom:
pony before:

pony after:
and pretty flowers for spring:

progress

the plumb (green) gable update as requested by ms. hedda. where are your pics, missy?

i am about 5 rows past the lace. wee! (apolpgies for the flash; it is a dismal day out there.)

oh dear

back in february, amy and i were pawing through baskets of yarn at the LYS during their sale. amy pounced on the new jo sharp yarn and picked up her latest book knit 1. i drooled over the cowl sweater and amy drooled over the cardigan. she bought the yarn for the cardigan but passed on the book, hoping the guild had it in the library.

at the next guild meeting amy bailed on me but i asked the library ladies to pick up the jo sharp book. they did and it was in at this month's meeting on tuesday night. i picked it up for amy and have barely put it down since. there are 5 (5!) sweaters and three pairs of socks in that book that i want to knit. one sweater is for the boy the rest are for me! me! me!


i think i need to buy the book. i think 5 patterns in one book justifies a purchase. i am afraid to go to the LYS and paw through the yarn. here's the specs:

ALPACA KID LUSTRE
30% Alpaca, 40% Kid Mohair & 30% Merino.
Tension: 22.5 sts & 30 rows measured over 10cm of Stocking stitch using4.00mm needles (USA 6) (UK 8).
Length: 111m (121yds), 50g ball (1 3/4 oz).

and

ALPACA SILK GEORGETTE
40% Alpaca, 40% Merino & 20% Silk.
Tension: 25 sts & 33 rows measured over 10cm of Stocking stitch using 3.25mm needles (USA 3) (UK 10).
Length: 130m (142yds), 50g ball (1 3/4 oz).

i told you i was fickle.