Other People's FOs

I made it to my old weekday morning knitting group on Thursday. In fact, we had a mini reunion, with me there, and an old member visiting from out of town (out of country even!). The kids were wonderful. The Boy is still talking about the great time he had playing with Cam's pirate ships! Anyway, someone finished this while we were there:



Yes, that's Catherine's foot wearing her first ever sock. I know, it looks really good doesn't it? I almost hate to break it to you, but that's acrylic self striping sock yarn!

And then there was this, the piece de resistance:



Okay, here's the story. This baby's mama really loves her. Not only did she knit her a beautiful hat out of lovely merino, but it's handspun. Yes, Mama spun the yarn for her baby's lovely hat herself. If that isn't love, I don't know what is! By the way, Mama R., the baby is a pretty darn cute FO as well! Welcome back, and we miss you when you're gone!

By the way Steph, the Thursday morning group is at Mrs. Yes's place. Rose and the baby were there--he's growing like a weed. They were wondering why Henry hasn't been round to visit recently?

Here's mine, just cause.



That's The Boy on the right, and The Cousin (on his Dad's side) on the left. I don't know what the hands are all about--I said "Say Cheese" and that's what they both did! Don't they look cute?

I was wrong...

I got two of my "Things I want for Christmas" from the last meme! Yes, I got one of these:



So far I've spent Boxing Day transferring all those CDs that I don't listen to anymore because Someone (and it's not The Boy, he'll listen to anything!) doesn't necessarily like my taste in music! I'm currently listening to Runrig, whom I haven't heard in ages!

And I even got some of the peace and goodwill I wanted as well! No new pots and pans, but at least someone else washed most of the ones we used yesterday. And only two fights to break up between small children. The Boy always tends to come of worse in these, he just doesn't have any killer instinct, and tries to talk his way out of things!

I also got some Cascade Fixation. The Boy chose it. It's pink. Any tips on exactly how to determine gauge with this stuff?

Happy Ho Ho!

Things I want for Christmas...

I think Steph gets the blame for tagging KOL with this one.

The Rules:The player of this game starts with "3 things he/ she would love to get for Christmas" and also has to list "3 things he/ she definitely does not want to get for Christmas". Then he/she tags 5 friends and list their names. The ones who get tagged need to write on their blogs about their Christmas wishes, as well as state this rule clearly, then tag 5 more victims. And the one who tags need to leave a comment that says "you've been Christmas tagged!" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

I'm not going to tag anyone, because anyone I would tag has already posted this! If you read this and you haven't done it, go ahead and consider yourself Christmas tagged.

Three things I want for Christmas

1) an iPod
2) new pots and pans (we've successfully burned each and every one of ours now, over the years)
3) peace, love, goodwill (please, Santa, please deliver this one!)

Three things I don't want for Christmas

1) Norovirus (probably too late, The Boy is currently sleeping this one off in front of the TV, poor little mite, he's all feverish but can't keep the Motrin down)
2) chickenpox (probably too late, The Boy was exposed 12 days ago, so we're just sitting here with crossed fingers--at least his Dad and I have already had it!)
3) candy, chocolate, food of any kind, except maybe an orange in my stocking

So that's it. Not too complicated, really. Except I'm probably going to get at least two but more likely all three of the things I don't want, and only probably one of the things I do want (probably the orange)!

Once more with feeling (and rule-following)

Year in Review the Alternate Version

Please note: I've just reread Moe's instructions. I didn't grab the first sentence, I summarized in as few words as possible. I'm going to post the alternate version below, done properly, and we'll see which one is most entertaining!

January 2006
It seems that blogging your knitting is now a cool thing to do.
(yes, I jump on the bandwagon...)

February 2006
I didn't blog, so this one doesn't change!

March 2006
Okay, acrylic has a bad rap sometimes.
(see, I'm raving about acrylic)

April 2006
I'm bamboo, what are you?
(that's not really the first line, I just had a cut and paste what sort of knitting needle are you thingy, so that's the subject heading that I gave it...)

May 2006
There's the ghetto Malabrigo sweater
(yes, that's the one that shrank!)

June 2006
Hooray! I got a 2 year subscription to Interweave Knits for my birthday!

July 2006
Yes, it's another UFO.
(that's from before the swearing, the race car, and the "restructuring")

August 2006
Okay, I have successfully recharged rechargeable batteries (wouldn't think it was that hard, would you?)
(see, the sympathy yarn was more important, but it came later...)

September 2006
Yes, North Carolina is gorgeous at this time of year.
(that's from before things got a little tense! Oh, and before I fell in love...with cashmere goats!)

October 2006
Actually, I'm quite torn up about missing Debbie Bliss.
(this is where I show cute pictures of The Boy on his first Halloween in a Debbie Bliss pattern teddy bear all in one outfit. Yes, he was so cute that Morgan's comment consisted of three words "I want babies". So I referred her to the July swearing entry!)

November 2006
Not bad...for someone who has only been Canadian since 1991!
(turns out I'm 99% Canuck)

December 2006
The perfect toy...Well, not really
(yup, decapitated horses!)

Well, if everyone else is doing it....

Thanks to Moe for this one!

Please note: I've just reread Moe's instructions. I didn't grab the first sentence, I summarized in as few words as possible. I'm going to post the alternate version ina new post, done properly, and we'll see which one is most entertaining!

Year in review:

January 2006
I jump on the bandwagon with my first blog post ever.

February 2006
I didn't blog. Not once.

March 2006
I rave about acrylic.

April 2006
It seems I am bamboo--warm, cozy, and thoughtful.

May 2006
I share my grief at a horrific felting accident.

June 2006
Socks.

July 2006
UFOs, socks, more UFOs, and the dangers of swearing in front of three year olds. Oh yeah, someone gets "restructured", there's a race car involved, and I post my first and only cat photo.

August 2006
I post some FOs, and the Ninja gives me sympathy yarn.

September 2006
Cashmere goats. I want them.

October 2006
I reminisce about when The Boy was tiny and cute. Yes, that's the same Boy swearing in July's posts.

November 2006
Someone finds a job, and I learn never to look gift yarn in the mouth.

December 2006
Decapitated horses.

Funny how things ended up back where they started. I jumped on the bandwagon in January by blogging, and then I jump on it again now with this "Year in Review"!

The perfect toy

Well, not really. My niece would like this for Christmas:

According to amazon.com it's Fur Real Friends Butterscotch Interactive Pony. For some reason amazon has a $699 US price tag on it, but you can get it at Toysrus.ca for $299 Canadian. But the best bits are in the "product features" listed on amazon. Get this:

"This amazing animatronic Pony moves head and ears, and blinks its eyes! This fantastic creature responds to touch and voice, 'eats' a carrot, and makes real pony sounds".

Sound great, right? Oh, not so fast. The "product features" go on to let you know that

"Adults take note: Pony comes unassembled in box with head detatched."

Okay, I can get past that. Thanks for the warning. However, just to make sure you get their point, the next "product feature" goes on to say

"You may wish to not open the box around your children if they may be frightened by a box with a decapitated horse inside."

Uh, yeah, thanks for that tip!

View the entire product listing here.

And if you decide to buy this for any kids you know, keep two things in mind:

1) Buy it at Toysrus and save more than $400 US (WTF?)

2) And please, please, for the love of all that is good and kind, don't open the box around the child! That whole decapitated horse thing can't be good for them!

Not bad...

...for someone who has only been Canadian since 1991!

You are 99% Canuck!

You rock, you are an almighty Canadian through and through. You have proven your worthiness and have won the elite prize of living in a country as awesome as Canada. Yes I know other countries think they are better, but we let them have that cuz we know better than they do, eh?

How Canadian Are You?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Stolen from Steph who stole it from someone else!

PS Steph, I got 100% on the grammar quiz too!

Ears!

For those who asked last night, here is the link to the felted yoda hat. Lynne, if you read this, you should also check out this pattern from the same blog. If Henry was just your rebound amigurumi (again, please tell me I spelled that right), this guy could be the real thing!

Holy pooling, Batman!

Remember this? Well, you won't believe what it looks like knitted up into a sock. It's wierdly insane, actually...












What I don't understand is why it changes? It changes twice. And I don't think it's my knitting, because that's got a short row heel worked using the other end of the ball of yarn. So the main yarn is always worked over the same 64 stitches with no interruption. Then it changes again halfway down the foot. Why? Nothing happened to the stitches, it wasn't even like I laid it down and came back later with different tension. I think it's the yarn. I think it's designed to make you go insane. There was some evil genius at work here. I can't wait to start the second sock and find out what it's going to look like. Ninja, did you know it would do something like this? It's wierd yet strangely compelling!

Gentlemen, start your engines....Again (or not...)

Good news in our house this week. Yes, The Boy now has two gainfully employed parents! His Dad will start working here as a manager on Monday. Now, if only the bus schedule out there was a little better. Sadly, I'm the one who can get to work with no transfers and door to door service.....oh well, more knitting time for me!

Okay, I spoke too soon. In fact, I think that my choice of words ("start your engines") might have cursed us. The alternator light came on while driving to work, and it's not cause the belt is loose, so that means we probably need a new alternator. I hate irony. "Start your engines" indeed.

Gentlemen, start your engines.....

Remember this guy?














Well, now he's got the right clothes for the job! The Boy was a race car driver for Halloween this year. Now, if you race him, when he wins he asks you for a trophy and champagne, and pretends to spray the champagne everywhere. Michael Schumacher, you retired just in time. This Boy wants your job!

No Bliss for me....

Actually, I'm quite torn up about missing Debbie Bliss. I just don't have $65, not with Christmas coming up, and us trying to do it on one salary. We're managing, but sadly there's no room for visiting knitwear designer wine and cheese events! Anyway, Debbie Bliss was the person who got me started knitting again. I hadn't knit since junior high/high school. My SIL had announced her 1st pregnancy (my nephew K, who is now 7 ). And I saw this at Chapters.











Well, I didn't see that. I saw the book with the pattern in. Anyway, I decided to knit this for my unborn nephew. Bear in mind (ha ha) I hadn't knit anything in probably ten years or so, and I'd never knit anything that complicated. Anyway, that outfit has now been worn by my nephew, my niece, and by The Boy (the photo is The Boy in 2003, wearing the outfit) on their first Halloweens. In fact, I think that we might have a new family tradition in the making here, thanks to Debbie Bliss.

Anyway, because he was so cute (he still is, and no, I'm not biased because I carried him in my womb for 10 months and then ended up having to have major abdominal surgery to get him out, and haven't slept for more than 5 hours straight in the three and a half years since), here are some more pics:

Happy Halloween!

Fours...

Okay, the Yarn Geek tagged KOL as a whole, so that includes me. Here we go, more useless information about me than you ever wanted to know...

Four jobs I’ve had:

* Muffin baker
* photocopier (well, they called it Student Assistant, and it was a federal summer job, but all I seemed to do was photocopy!)
* Scanning Electron Microscopist
* Librarian

Four movies I can watch over and over:

* Local Hero
* Star Wars (Episode 4, the real first episode, Luke and Leia and Han, not that new crap)
* The Sound of Music
* The Little Mermaid (yes, I know, it's part of the evil Disney empire!)

Four places I have lived:

* Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
* Petionville, Haiti
* Waverley, NS
* Halifax, NS

Four television shows I love to watch:

* Red Dwarf
* Little Bear (Hey, Little Bear is a great role model!)
* Corner Gas
* How not to decorate (or any other show with Colin and Justin)

Four places I have been on vacation:

* The Dominican Republic
* Lots of places in Scotland
* Alberta
* North Carolina

Four of my favorite dishes:

* Mac and cheese (homemade, not KD)
* Roast chicken with roast potatoes
* Butter chicken
* bread, bread, bread, any kind of bread

Four websites I visit daily:

* Bloglines
* Halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
* Mothering.com
* Amazon.ca


Four places I would rather be right now:

* The beach
* The Highlands and Islands of Scotland
* outside enjoying this glorious autumn day
* Believe it or not, that's all I can come up with!

Four bloggers I am tagging:

* Anyone who reads this
* Anyone who reads this
* Anyone who reads this
* Anyone who reads this (hopefully there are at least four bloggers who read this!)

Beach photos...

Just kidding! Turns out we didn't take a single beach picture! In fact, looking at what we took, I think that DH must have had the camera the whole time. We have 92 photos and only 13 of them have nothing to do with cars. And the photo of Don Cherry looks like this:



Yes, I'm ashamed to admit that I took this photo.









On the knitting front, I have now missed Mary Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Grey in the parade of beheaded amigurumi (tell me I spelled that right?) at KOL. I can only hope that they will reappear at some time in the future.

Sorry, can't hear you over the waves and the pelicans...

Yes, North Carolina is gorgeous at this time of year. Get this--average temperature is still in the high 70s, and the water is also somewhere in the 70s, warmer than I have ever felt it in Nova Scotia, but the season here is over? It ends at Labour Day. You can't buy a pair of sandals or a bathing suit anywhere! It's insane, they're so spoiled by the 80+ degree water and the 90+ degree air in July and August that they think it's cold right now! Wish I could show you photos, but we can't get the camera to talk to this computer. Anyway, just imagine this--we were using boogie boards to catch some waves, watching the fish jump out of the waves, the pelicans dive bomb the fish and the DOLPHINS were there too! I love this place, I may not come home!

Oh yeah, and at the airport in Halifax we saw Don Cherry. While The Boy was unimpressed, His Dad had his photo taken. That was when we were all still happy, before the missed connection in Dulles, the rerouting through Charlotte, the arrival in Raleigh after midnight, the car rental place closing at 11, and having to spend the night at the Holiday Inn before driving to Wilmington. Oh well, once we hit the beach, we forgot all that stressful stuff.

Tomorrow we pack up the race car and head to VIR where we will be staying at the Lodge. Anyway, I think it will be fun this time, I quite enjoy being considered part of the pit crew!

Oh, I do wish I had pictures of Wrightsville Beach to show you. Google it, please, it's gorgeous. They filmed Dawson's Creek here, and One Tree Hill. We may get to see a bit more of the state this time too, The Boy wants to go here, while His Dad wants to go here, both of which are quite close together, although about a six hour drive or so from here.

Sorry, no knitting content whatsoever!

Meet Fred...

Fred is a finger puppet from the IWK. I did not knit Fred, we picked him up on one of The Boy's trips to the hospital. Anyway, it seems that now that Fred has left the IWK, his puppet friends who didn't get to come home with us are lonely. Seems that a lot of their puppet friends have gone home with children and never come back. They're looking for kind and generous knitters to create more little finger puppets to donate to the hospital. Look at Fred's sad little face! How can you refuse to knit finger puppets to send to the children's hospital?

Ask me one day about The Boy's trip to emergency. This is the other puppet that resulted from The Boy's trip to emergency, which might give you an idea of why we were there!

Words of Wisdom

"If it has sprinkles on it, it's a cupcake".
-The Boy, September 10th, 2006

Pacafiesta!

I have two words to say about Pacafiesta:

Cashmere goats. I want them.

Wait, that's 5 words. I have 5 words to say about Pacafiesta.

Cashmere goats. I want them.





















PS sorry the photos are all blurry. Neither goats nor children like to stand still long enough for a flash to kick in!

This time with pictures

Okay, I have successfully recharged rechargeable batteries (wouldn't think it was that hard, would you?). Here are some pictures, to prove it!

This is my latest FO. This is a very simple lace, only two rows in the repeat, and it's called "Angel's Rest" from Fibre Trends. I continued two repeats down the top of the foot only, because I played with the original pattern and had an odd number or repeats, and couldn't figure out how to just do a partial repeat when it came time to divide for the heel stitches. That's Tangled Skeins merino.



And this is the lace scarf that was my last FO, months ago now, I think. See that tail hanging off the end? That was the end of the skein! It's old style Celestial Merino, which I think looks nicer than the new stuff.



The next two photos are my Knitpicks yarn. The blue is laceweight alpaca cloud in, I think, a colour called stream, while the lighter one is laceweight merino in a colour called oregon.





The merino colourway (ack!) is actually a lot more interesting than it looks in the photo. It's got lots of different, very subtle, colours in it. Anyway, together that's about 1600-1800 yards of yarn. For US $13, including shipping within the States (I shipped it to DH's SIL, and she brought it up for me). Shipping to Canada is either $6.99 for under $20 or $8.99 for over $20 (that's US dollars, of course!).

Last, but not least, the love of my life at a birthday party in Chester!



All these photos look better if you click on them to open them in a new window. Especially the one of The Boy!

I'm sorry...

I haven't blogged in ages. I'm sorry. You see, for the first time in my life (and that's longer than most of the KOL attendees have been alive), I've been affected by seasonal allergies. Honestly, I've NEVER had hayfever before, but this year it's been the bane of my existence. I never had much sympathy for allergy sufferers before (okay, your nose is running and you sneeze a lot, big deal, what's a little snot and the odd sneeze anyway?). Well, now I know. I suppose I deserve it for my formerly unsympathetic attitude. A constantly runny nose and endless sneezes really are unpleasant, and stressful, and make you feel very sorry for yourself. And I'm so darn tired cause it's hard to sleep when you're all stuffed up. Those of you out there with allergies, you now have my sympathy.

On the knitting front, no pictures. I took the camera batteries out to charge, left them charging all night, then realised they weren't rechargeables. Doesn't seem to have affected the charger, luckily, so I'm currently charging the real rechargeable batteries. I have finished a sock. My first FO since I can't remember when. Probably the lace scarf I knit with the celestial merino--when was that? At least 3 months ago. I have startitis and indecision and KADD (Knitting Attention Deficit Disorder). I really need to be infected with finishitis--anybody got that? Is it contagious? Anyway, if I could just bring myself to cast on the second sock, I might get somewhere--the first finished sock isn't really an FO, not by itself anyway, although I did hear a rumour that the Garter Stitch Goddess found evidence of another KOL member wearing her first sock around the house while still knitting the second sock, so maybe a single sock can be useful in it's own right? Maybe you have cold foot, not cold feet? I don't know--lack of sleep is making me babble.

I AM a mazda!

You're sporty, yet practical, and you have a style of your own. You like to have fun, and you like to bring friends along for the ride, but when it comes time for everyday chores, you're willing to do your part.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

I lied...

Yes, I did, I admit it. I lied about my stash. It doesn't suck. It has lots and lots of yarn, rubbermaid tubs full. Some that The Boy and His Dad don't even know about. Merino, silk, linen, alpaca, you name it, I have some. Chunky, worsted, sport, fingering, lace weight, there's some of each. I was just feeling sorry for myself. So, this is what my lying got me:



That's sock yarn folks. Gen-u-ine Italian sock yarn at that. Labelled in German (it's "waschmaschinenfest" and "garantiert filzfrei" people, really! Oh, and don't forget the "extra strapazierfahig". I always wanted strapazierfahig, and now I have extra!). Bought in Germany by the Ninja herself! Yes, that woman truly understands the value of yarn as comfort object. Ninja, you rock. Now that you know the truth about my stash, I am offering to return the sock yarn if you feel it was given under circumstances of false stash representation (stash misrepresentation?). But nothing can take away my knowledge that you cared enough to give yarn!

BTW, when I plug strapazierfahig into the translator I get "strain-able". Extra strainable yarn? Ninja, want to help me out here?

I found another one...

Yes, it's another UFO. I was actually looking for my 4.5 mm 16 inch addi circ, which I realised I hadn't seen in ages. Anyway, it was found in the sleeve of this UFO. It's Galway Highland Heather in colour 712, and it's a v neck sweater for The Boy with a cabled rib. I don't remember when I started this, but I think that I bought the yarn around Boxing Day at Tangled Skeins and started it right away. Which means it's at least 6 months since I last saw the 4.5 mm 16 inch circular. Hey, does anybody else do that--needle sizes are always metric for me, but lengths are always Imperial! Today has been pretty productive--The Boy went hiking with his grandparents and His Dad went to the race track (not to race--that's a luxury we can't afford now we only have one salary!). So I stayed home and cleaned all those places in your house that you want people to think you clean every week, but you really don't get around to them anywhere near that often. Oh, and I think I'm going to start working on this particular UFO for a while. I'm getting frustrated with the Little Arrowhead shawl, which is what the Tangled Skeins silk/linen was going to be (oh so briefly, and now twice ripped out).

You Are The Wheel of Fortune

You represent the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. You embrace change, the the ups and downs of life. Fate is something you accept, even when you could possibly change things. Big things tend to happen to you more than other people. Your fortune: Something huge is about to happen in your life, and you have little control over it. You must accept your destiny, but luckily it is good fortune that has come your way. Big things and big changes are about to come your way. And while things will be intense for a while, they will be followed by a period of rest.

What Tarot Card Are You?

WTF? Yes, it was something huge. No, it wasn't good fortune! And boy am I not embracing it! I'm looking forward to the period of rest though. Bring it on, please!

Life sucks

My DH got laid off yesterday. Well, I don't know if laid off is the right term, maybe dismissed or fired? He and a number of his coworkers were let go, no notice at all, nobody saw it coming, escorted from the building, pay in lieu of notice etc etc etc. Cause the company wasn't meeting its sales predictions. These are people who had been loyal to that place for 8 years, and what do they get? "Thanks a bunch suckers, you've got ten minutes to clear your personal belongings out of here, have a nice life". Life completely sucks, it's like we just can't get ahead. And just when things were starting to go well too, what with his student loan nearly paid off (we won't talk about my student loan though), his new hobby (the race car!), two jobs where we both worked the same hours and had weekends to spend together.

So I guess I'm knitting from the stash for a while.

Heck, my stash sucks too. Life sucks.

My newest socks

Thuja from Knitty. Well, sort of. Different yarn weight and needle size and number of stitches, but I did use the seed stitch rib, which I really like. The blur in the background is The Boy in Motion. Now that he's sleeping through the night every night, he's got a lot of extra energy, and is often a little blurry!

Never swear in front of a three year old!

So we're all out in the garage helping to unpack the race car. The Boy loves the race car, as you can see from this photo taken at the track:
















Anyway, he's pretending to drive, just like he is in the photo above. His Dad is at the back of the car examining his tyres--I guess it's time for new ones, but I don't want to talk about the cost of new racing tyres (they're street tyres, actually, but special street tyres just for racing. WTF???). Anyway, he's telling me something about them and the F word pops out. As in "Oh, that's another f***ing thing I noticed". Not loudly, not in temper, just conversationally. Well, NEVER swear in front of a three year old. No, never, not even in a whisper. The Boy heard it, yes he did. And calmly informed us that "That tyre is a f***ing ratbag Daddy. That's all f***ing stuff Daddy, f***ing ratbag stuff Daddy". He must have come up with fifteen variations on the words f***ing, ratbag and Daddy. Anyway, I know you're supposed to ignore kids when they swear, that's what the books all say, but it was so f***ing funny to hear this angelic child swearing, and he kept it up for so long with so much imagination, His Dad and I were nearly in tears trying not to laugh!

So, never swear in front of a three year old.

UFOs

I have uncounted numbers of these right now. I'm usually a one-on-the-needles-and-one-ready-to-go gal. Right now I have something like 5 or 6 on the needles, and another two or three ready to go. I seem to have lost all my direction and perseverance.

First we have these:















Socks for The Boy's Dad. Based on a pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush, they have a p1 k3 p1 k1 rib. Yes, they're boring grey, but The Boy's Dad really isn't much of a one for fancy or coloured socks. Grey he wanted, grey he gets! Sock 1 is a great fit, so he's waiting patiently for sock 2!

Then there's this:














That's the beginning of the Flower Basket shawl. That's lace weight linen from Louet. I like it, and I like the pattern, but it's not something I can knit when I have any distractions. And, to be honest, I'm not often without distractions, what with The Boy and His Dad and The Cats and the TV. And it's NOT knitting I can take to work either, because it's pretty distracting there too!

Then this:















That's a skein of silk and linen from Tangled Skeins, bought with my birthday gift certificate from my lovely sister(she's single, I don't know why, anybody know a single man who likes big dogs? She comes with a rather large akita/malamute cross called Mikey who can eat 2 lbs or raisins at one sitting--ask me, if you're interested, and I'll tell you how raisins come out after a trip through an akita/malamute digestive tract). I don't know what this yarn is going to be yet, but it's desperate to be something. So desperate I spent valuable sock knitting time turning it into a ball (I have a ball winder, but I prefer to wind by hand with the nostepinne, it's something very soothing, and I'm striving to wind the perfect centre pull ball without a ball winder).

Then this:















Oh my. I had some sort of idea that I could design my own Boy sized Aran. See my colour coded running markers? I still think I can design my own Boy sized Aran, but there's so much other knitting calling my name! What's happened to me? I used to start one project and then, get this, work on the same project until I was finished.

And this:














It's 100 % merino from Tangled Skeins that's going to be the Waving Lace socks from Interweave Knits, some 2004 issue, don't remember which. The book underneath it, if you can read upside down, is Startled by His Furry Shorts by Louise Rennison. Yes, for those of you who know Angus (of Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging Fame), Angus and Georgia are back and haven't changed one bit in book 7.

And these are just the ones I'm admitting to! The others are too embarassing to post pictures of (acrylic!).

Anyway, we spent all weekend moving furniture around and rearranging the house so that the computer is now on the main floor, and we have, get this, separate bedrooms for The Boy and His Parents! Yes, The Boy has packed his toddler bed and moved on to bigger and better rooms of his own. We rescued a room downstairs that was basically a pile of crap, ours and that left behind by the MIL, FIL, and BIL, when they all moved out before we moved in. My advice--if you move into a place that your in-laws have just vacated, make sure they take their junk with them as well as their good stuff, or you'll never be able to fit your own junk in cause you're starting off with a house full of their junk! And now that the computer is on the main floor, I might actually be a good little blogger and blog a little more often.

And now, because he's beautiful, here's The Boy!















Yes, he's learning to drive. That's his Auntie LaLa that he's trying to mow down. Don't worry, she got away. The jeep came from the side of the road on garbage day. We've painted it so that it's original owners won't recognize their trash being driven by my child.

And for obligatory cat content:















Yes, that's Angus, with stuff on him. Including The Boy, if you look closely. This might have been destined for Stuff on My Cat , but I think we can do better! Honestly, he's not normally that grumpy looking! See my to-be-read pile way in the background? That's why I like knitting that I can do while I read!

Happy Birthday to me!

Hooray! I got a 2 year subscription to Interweave Knits for my birthday! Haven't got my first issue yet, but I now have access to the subscriber-only stuff on their website. I'm lusting after things already. Like I really have that much time to knit!

Garter stitch heel and toe. I like the look and I LOVE how easy the heel was (and how quickly it knit up compared to a regular heel-with-flap). But I was off in my calculations somewhere, and these socks are too wide. I hate socks that don't stay up! If I was to do them again with the same yarn and needles, I'd cut my number of stitches by 8 or maybe even 12. At least. Socks really ought to stay up!

Shrinkage...

There's the ghetto Malabrigo sweater. See that second sweater underneath it? The ghetto sweater used to be that size--see how they line up at the neck? Mr. Washie strikes again.

Okay, I know I'm not a very good blogger...

I just noticed the last entry was dated April 1st. Not even May 1st, but April 1st. I blame the camera. I take lovely photos, but then never download them because the computer is in the basement (I'm doing this at work, very early in the morning. I really don't think I can start downloading photos from the camera at work though--they're going to wonder what I'm up to because nowhere does my job description involve digital photography!). Wait, no, I blame the computer for being in the basement. If it was upstairs in the living room, I might actually get around to transferring photos from the camera. Oh well.

I made the nice lady at my LYS cry yesterday. Made the other customer there laugh her head off. I told them the tragedy of the lightning bolt sweater. Yes, my first knitting tragedy. It got washed. The horror doesn't end there though. It then got put in the dryer. It's 100purewool from e-bay (ghetto malabrigo as the Ninja would say). Yes, it felted beautifully. But it won't fit a three year old anytime soon. Thanks to those ladies last night who informed my DH that the felting and shrinking of a hand knit sweater necessitates the conception of another child so that the sweater can have someone to fit! I think I already had him on side, but maybe the sweater arguement will really seal the deal!

Sorry, no photos of the tragedy. See my opening paragraph for my blame-shifting. However, I am over it. It's a new day, I'm wearing hand knit socks, and the yarn store has a sale on. Oh, and in case I forgot to mention it, the yarn store is a two minute walk from work! Yes, I can go every day at lunch time if I want to. For yarn therapy. Every library should have a yarn store so close.

I'm bamboo, what are you?

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are bamboo.Warm, cozy, and thoughtful, you take your time and enjoy how things feel, smell, and taste. You love the craft and beauty of traditional things, and you value the comfort and experience of knitting as much as the results. But while you are reveling in your warm cozies, don't get stuck. Warm is wonderful, but so is the whole wide world!
Take this quiz!


Quizilla

100% acrylic

Okay, acrylic has a bad rap sometimes. It's great for messy little people like this:



Honestly, if that had been some expensive fibre, I'd never have let him wear it! With acrylic, he wore it daily, and it got washed almost as often. Okay, it's a little fuzzy, but that'll happen to anything that gets washed with the evil velcro! That's an old picture, almost two years ago. They grow so fast. That sweater, BTW, still fits, in a pinch. Although squeezing his head through the neckhole is a bit of a struggle. I could have used superwash, I suppose, but I don't completely trust superwash, it can be slippery stuff! That pattern is The Sweater Pattern. We call it that because I was given it by my MIL. She used it to knit for The Boy's dad--I think he got his first sweater from that pattern when he was 8! So I am carrying on a family tradition!

Alison

PS Don't you just want to squeeze those little cheeks? I'd forgotten he was that little, because he looks and sounds so grown up now.

Top Ten Trivia Tips About Alison!

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Alison!

1. You share your birthday with Alison!
2. Medieval knights put the skin of Alison on their sword handles to improve the grip.
3. Snow White's coffin was made of Alison.
4. While performing her duties as queen, Cleopatra sometimes dressed up as Alison!
5. Alison is 984 feet tall!
6. In Chinese, the sound 'Alison' means 'bite the wax tadpole'!
7. Alison can't drink - she absorbs water from her surroundings by osmosis!
8. Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by Alison!
9. Alison can live for up to a week without a head!
10. Alison has three eyelids!

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

They think it's amazing...

Honestly, this little sweater has received more compliments than any of the other sweaters I've made for The Boy. This one is also from "Top Down For Toddlers", and took no more than a week (that's a week of knitting only in the evenings after The Boy is asleep but before I fall asleep myself, which, believe me, really isn't that much later than he goes to sleep!). Anyway, it was a simple knit, although the cable looks complex (it's not, it's really a pretty standard cable), but this is probably the sweater with the highest ratio of compliments to hours worked that I've ever made. The yarn was half price Rowan cashsoft (cashmere, merino, and microfibre) in oatmeal and feels very nice. Although I wouldn't have bought it full price ($12.95 for 50 g!), half price was acceptable. Even so, one skein (90 m) had three knotted ends in it! I'd have been mad if I'd paid full price for that.

Instant Sweater

Okay, this is the first top-down sweater I have done. I must say, I like top down--cast on, knit, cast off, instant sweater. No sewing, no seams. This is also my first e-bay wool, from 100purewool. Gorgeous, cloud soft, 100% merino from Uruguay. It's delicious. When I first opened the box, The Boy's reaction (after rubbing his face agains the skeins) was "Oh, it's so soft...". Look at the lightning bolts around the middle--you never know what you're going to get with hand dyed!

When did knitting become cool?

It seems that blogging your knitting is now a cool thing to do. Not sure when that happened (it certainly wasn't cool way back when I learned to knit!), but I'm going to give it a shot myself. I'll start with this photo, which is the picture we sent out in our Christmas cards this year. I knit this from a ewecanknit pattern (Here, or you can see some of her patterns here) with yarn I bought before The Boy was born. It's great, because the neckline is nice and loose to fit over his big head! The yarn is Pingoin, from my LYS.