Finally

For most of the fall/early winter I have been looking for the perfect pair of fingerless gloves. Something not to simple or too cabled and I think I found it. The Daisy Stitch Hand warmers from the Purl Bee. I don't know how difficult the pattern will be for me to work out, but I'm actually looking forward to knitting this up.
I haven't made up my mind on which yarn I'll use, but it won't be the recommended yarn. If I did these would cost me $50, even though I'll probably be able to make another pair out of the yarn, it's still way too expensive. I have some undyed handspun that I may dye into four different colors or I may just go looking in the stash to dig up some yarn.
Wish me luck. Cool looking hand warmers here I come.

Let it snow

So I'm still not in the Christmas spirit, but we've got snow. I love snow. Love it like I love books and yarn. See that's serious love.

Shockingly the kiddies had a snow day today. It barely snowed 6 inches on Saturday night/Sunday morning but the city couldn't clear the side streets in time for school on Monday. Now I find this very strange. I remember just a few years back when the city used to be much more efficient in snow removal and non-school closing. We would get 6 inches dumped after midnight on a school night and schools would still be opened---typically the only ones in the area. Don't mind me, I had two kids at home today. Sadly the teenager acted worse than the 3 year old (who is desperately missing his mommy--8 days down, 6 to go).

Not sure if I've already mentioned this, but mommy dearest is in Qatar visiting her sister and niece for 14 days. Since I'm home due to the complete lack of a payable job, I can easily fill in for preschool watching duty. It's fun, but stressful. Especially now that my other sister has gone to London for ~ 10 days.

You know that sounds a lot more glamorous than the mundane reality of my everyday existence. But isn't that always the case?

Snow

Its snowing! Finally, the first really good snow fall of the year. My baby brother is crazy excited at the chance of building a snowman. I'm excited because I just love snow. Who knows? This might be what finally gets me knitting again. Nothing like snow to tell you to knit warm, cuddly hats and gloves (I still don't feel like knitting miles of endless scarves).

On other news I did finally put together my spinning wheel. It was relatively straightforward except for one part. I'll look at the manual again and see if I can figure it out. Later.

Bah Hum Bug

I'm being a bit of a grouch. My knee is hurting, so I'm walking around with this apparently highly funny (at least according to my sisters) limp. I hate it when I get hurt and have no idea how it happened.
I'm not knitting anything right now. I have a half finished chevron scarf that is too itchy, I may add a backing to it when it's done, but I'm annoyed that it didn't turn out the way I wanted. This seems to be the theme of my knitting lately. I'm annoyed that things are not going smooth sailing with all of my projects that I'm not working on what I have or casting on something new.
And now my little brother wants the computer. See this is what I get for not taking him to his morning school in an attempt to avoid the stomach virus that is going around. Three kids went home yesterday and A. threw up yesterday, but was then fine. Later.

White Flag

It came very early for me this year. I am officially dropping out of the all handmade Christmas gifts race this year.

I had such grand plans: a pair of thigh high lace stockings for my older sister, a scarf for younger sister #1, a couple of cool looking scarves for the teen sister, a full mitten, hat, scarf set for my baby brother, cashmere leggings for my mom and a red knitted cap for my dad.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Funny, yeah really funny.

There are several things that I failed to take into account when making this list. Here are a few of the obvious ones:

1. I don't usually work lace or socks, so this means my sister's project would fall into the incredibly time consuming category, and not to mention the whole learning curve thing I would have to overcome in order to successfully complete both pairs.
2. Scarves are really, really, really long and therefore very, very, very time consuming.
3. My baby brother grabbed his winter hat and now refuses to wear it. I need to take a minute....instead, he chooses to wear his store bought fireman hat/scarf/glove combo. sob.
4. Cashmere is expensive. My mom is picky. This is destined for failure.
5. My dad doesn't actually wear hats. Or scarves. Or gloves.

I'm thinking I need to knit something for myself. And maybe my cousin's baby, he turns one on Dec. 15th (and doesn't have a say on his wardrobe). And some mittens for my baby brother because I'm a glutton for punishment.

My scarf

On a whim, I decided to treat myself to some lovely Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk yarn from my LYS. It's a lovely blue-green and very soft yarn that would be wonderful for a scarf.
With the weather turning very cold, I decided it was past time to cast on. So I started knitting, worked a few inches and then put my lovely, soft scarf-to-be on my neck. It felt funny...almost, well, itchy. But its a very soft alpaca/silk yarn...how can it be itchy? Maybe it's the stitch? So I switch over to stockinette, a nice flat stitch. Put it on my neck and...still itchy.
Maybe it is the yarn? Give it to a couple of family members with orders to put it on their necks. (It's a mark of how used to odd requests my family is that they didn't ask why?) They ooh-ed and ahh-ed over its softness and looked at me very strangely when I mentioned it's itchiness. They declared the yarn very soft and lovely and completely itch free.

So it's not the yarn...it's me. (insert a mental image of Lucy crying and you get a good idea of how I feel on the inside).

For me

So it's my birthday in December (12/12). My sisters have been nagging me (one sister nags the others and then they nag me) about a birthday gift. I kept debating the options and finally decided that the one thing I really wanted to learn this year was how to spin. In order to do that, I needed a spinning wheel. (no a drop spindle does not work for me, way too much coordination required). So yesterday I ordered a new Ashford Kiwi i.e.I can't wait for it to come in.

Next up: my knitting Christmas plans.

Another one finished

Now that I have some time to knit. A new project to occupy my time. A hat for my Baby Brother (fyi he's 3 going of 4): Dotty from Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson. I changed the yarn to Cascade 220 in superwash merino--a really great yarn fyi. The multi-colored dots were from various yarns that I had around.
Side one:

Side two:


I omitted the red border she has along the bottom of the hat. Mainly because I didn't have time to teach myself how to pick up and knit stitches before someone discovered the hat. He loves it when I knit stuff up for him. It's so nice to be appreciated.
It's my goal to make as many silly/kiddy/fun hats for him while he's still young enough to appreciate it and pull the look off.

The Failed Object

It comes to every knitter's life at some point. The Failed Object. The failed expectations. The disappointment. The secret yearning to squirrel away the Failure and deny any knowledge of its existence. The longing for a working fireplace in your home to .... well you get my drift.

It all started out so simply. A pretty pattern. A new baby to come. A desire to experiment. A lovely combination of blue and white aran weight yarn.

But then the doubts start to filter through the fumes---"You know that white yarn seems a little thicker than the blue yarn...But the labels both say they're aran weight even if they're not by the same manufacturer....I'm sure it'll sort itself out, its so soft and nice to knit with."

A little later you start noticing that you're identical squares are, well, not quite so identical. Is it the pattern? No, you adapted that pattern and have been very careful about following it. "I'm sure it's nothing," you state firmly to yourself (and the three other people in the room who look at you strangely...fyi talking to your yarn is considered strange behavior by some).

Then the day comes. You have finally finished all 20 supposedly 4x4 in. squares. Except the squares are more along the 5x4 in. range...no worry, that will be gone with the blocking. (No, this was not the time for me to start doing the math---5x4 squares cannot be turned into 4x4 squares through the judicious application of needles, water and stretching).

Okay, so its a slight miscalculation. It won't be a square blanket. A rectangle is a perfectly acceptable shape for a blanket. After all, the baby is due in a couple of days--this needs to be finished.

Then it begins...the weaving in of the ends. All 40 of them. The sheer torture of end weaving had me complaining, cramping and cussing. But no worries...its finished. Kinda. Oops forgot to knit the border (thank goodness because the shaping of the knit up squares took a turn towards ugly).

Okay. Four 4 in thick borders coming up. Oops this one is closer to 6 in. But it's okay--I have a plan. The thicker border will go on the bottom of the blanket...it'll provide visual weight for the blanket (if it works for framed images, it should work well to frame the blanket). I'll even thin out the top border for speediness sake seeing as I'm over a week overdue...luckily so is the baby.

Then it's time to sew up the seams. Ugh. More weaving in of ends. Oops, sewed that one on the wrong side. Procrastinate for another week trying to fix the mistake and finish up the borders. By this time the baby has been born. A lovely baby boy. But no receiving blanket. It's okay, this will be a crib/stroller blanket. It can still work.

Then comes the washing and blocking. Then the drying. You applaud yourself for a job well done. The blanket is finished. It's soft and lacy. A little too lacy---your fingers keep getting stuck in the holes. But, it's not my baby and therefore not my problem. Let the mom deal with this.

You feel proud. You finished the stupid, freaking blanket (you choose to ignore your aggressive tendencies and resentful feelings towards the blanket that has sucked hours of your life).

A couple of days pass. You cast on a new project. A cute hat with great yarn and potential. You don't notice the baby blanket hasn't been wrapped, you've made no attempts to gift it. You ignore this.

Then it comes: the day to gift the blanket. You look at it. You really look at it. You turn it over, notice some ends are starting to undo themselves. The shape is kinda odd. The joints are really bend-y. It's pilling (already!?).
You think...a gift card would go really well with that hat I made earlier.
You gift the hat and gift card.
You deny all knowledge of a baby blanket.

That? Oh that's just a blanket for Baby Brother to use when he's cold. It was a practice piece. Lesson learned.

FYI: I know it's not the worst project in the world. Heck my first scarf/blanket was a really, really big mess. I'm just pouting and denying any knowledge of the blanket.

My bad

Apparently the month of November is racing to a finish at about the same rate as October. Next week is Thanksgiving and the menu is just about finalized. This year we've decided to skip the tabbolih/fattoush and just have a couple of cooked veggies at a side. The tabbolih is just way too labor intensive and we always have too much fattoush left over. Aside from that we are going to fry our turkey again this year--I should say we're going to fry up our two turkeys this year.
On the yarn/knitting front I'm going to be dying some more of my nagini colorway--it is a really good combination of greens and it sold out of my etsy shop. I'm debating dying some more of the Fawkes colorway but I may do either a nice blue-snowflake blend for the winter instead.
I took my first spinning lesson the last week of October and needless to say, my talents are rather non-existent. I thought my years of wheel throwing experience would help, but not really. Changing the type of wheel I was using did help though--even though that first one was very pretty. And in case you wanted to see (although I should warn you, just skip over this if you have a weak stomach regarding good roving turned into bad yarn):

On Sunday, I drove up to Lansing for a class on yarn replacement taught by Amy R. Singer (from No Sheep for You and Knitty fame--in case you didn't know). It was a great class and frankly made me wonder who knits with hemp---although I may challenge myself to try it out later. My main reason for taking the class is rather simple. I never use the recommended yarn for projects and patterns that I knit. As far as I'm concerned the suggested pattern is a suggestion not strict guidelines--as if I would ever limit myself to what other people tell me I need to do.

It's over

I never thought a party could be this exhausting. There were 5 of us cooking/organizing/partying (not the fun kind) and all of us were seriously sore by the end of the event. There were lots of great costumes and lots of glitter, sugar, and fun had by all. A enjoyed himself thoroughly, although, he didn't appreciate the noise levels or the kids trying to play with his toys (what can I say he suffers from only child syndrome). In the end everyone had a good time, we didn't run out of food (HA--if you knew my mother you would appreciate the irony in that fear) and no major catastrophe (although attitude was had in the pre-party prep, but that always seems to happen).
I feel like I have my life finally back and I can't wait to do something for me.

Weekend Plans

I've been feeling like such a bad blogger lately. I guess I just need to get in the habit of typing a bit each day, even if it doesn't add up to a long post. I do have a good excuse though: I've been running around trying to get everything ready for my baby brother's Halloween party. The guest list has spiraled completely out of control. We're up to about 30 adults and 18 kids about 15 of them girls. Not to mention that the one boy A asked for to have at his party, can't make it because of soccer. He's sad, but I'm hoping he'll kind of forget about it when all the kids are there and playing.
As for the knitting, I haven't finished it because it still needs to get fixed. Now I have the deadline of Sunday to fix things up.
For right now I'm going to get ready for the fiber festival held in Ann Arbor this weekend, I'll disappear for the morning and help when I get back. Later.

In case you didn't know

Knitted sweater plus a straw bale equals one big itchy mess. Just so you know.

I got in

I got into Ravelry. I got into Ravelry. I really needed that cause I don't have enough things to do in my day.
10 days until our Halloween party. Now don't hate but you aren't as lucky as I to be surrounded by 10 3-5 year olds...while organizing the crafts...and keeping the chaos to a minimum...with music playing... oh man this is going to hurt.

Oh my

So I've been feeling pretty crappy for the past week and a half. Week 1 consisted of lots of nausea, dizziness and shivers. The rest of week has thus far consisted of a major headache. I figured it's the flu, but now I'm thinking I might be having a migraine. Not so much fun.

I have gotten so little knitting done its kinda scary...especially considering how behind I already am. The baby blanket is down to just one long and one short border to knit...and then the ends to weave. Why did no one warn me how absolutely maddening it is to weave in so many ends. A little bit of math for y'all: 5 x 4 blanket = 20 squares x 2 ends to weave on each = 40 plus all the ends of my sewing yarn plus borders ends = a very unhappy knitter. I'll give you a hint on whose next baby blanket will consist of a very long circular needle and one single large square/rectangle depending on patience and time restrictions.

For the rest of it, my plans for a simple 3 x 3 rib hat with acrylic yarn (its soft and practical for new moms) failed because I couldn't stand the squeaking sound of the yarn plus my plastic needles. See what happens when I try to be practical? Later.

Apparently it's been a while

I looked around today and realized two things:
1. It's Thursday. So that means tomorrow is Friday and then its the weekend. This realization is closely related to...
2. I still haven't finished the baby blanket. Luckily for me the baby is late (not so lucky for the pregnant friend but great for unfinished knitting).
I started sewing up the edges together of the different squares--changed my mind--and re-sewed some other blocks. On the bright side I can knit a mean mattress stitch. On the down side, mattress stitching doesn't really work for lace-y and hole-y blocks. I'll just have to work through this little block of mine.

FYI. Went to an Alpaca show last weekend. Pretty animals. All seemed very shy of me. I'll try not to take it personal.

One thought

The thought of the day--well the past week actually-- is "I hate baby blankets. I hate baby blankets." Now this thought could probably be expanded to blankets in general and projects that kinda drag. But since the project of my current frustrations is a baby blanket--"I have to knit how many stupid little squares? "--the " I hate baby blankets" thought remains. I might not dislike them so much if she wasn't due to have the baby "any day now" and I'm trying to finish as many of the squares as I can before then.
I had planned on making matching baby blankets for both this baby and his cousin (both sisters are expecting about a month apart), but I may just make the other baby the Dream in Colors Tulip sweater in a couple shades of blue. Plus a hat and booties--naturally.
I've been thinking a lot about charity knitting and perhaps trying to find a project I could work on for a while now. I was planning on the Red Scarf project but I have some personal deadlines that will keep me busy before the October 15th deadline. I may just move my focus to premmie knitting. I found Sarah's post on how much she loved the gift of handmade hats and clothing helped her and her family. It produced such a pleasant thought in the midst of difficult times that I may just set a couple of project goals for myself. Plus she's running a contest if anyone needs more motivation.
Now I must return to my squares (actually they're rectangles) for the baby blanket. I'll have pictures when I get a bit further along.

One down

Finished baby hat #1. This hat is the closest I've ever come to completing a pattern based on the designers recommendations. I'd like to say this came from careful planning and preparation, but that was not the case. Remember when I mentioned the mega-yarn sale that I drove an 1 and a half for? Well, while there I found some lovely Manos del Uruguay cotton stria (2 skeins in mist, 1 in white, and a skein in pink---the last in the store) and while browsing through my current obsession (Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson) I found her Cotton Stria Stripes pattern. Of course I deviated from the pattern by changing the color scheme and alternating the row widths for some visual interest and shortening the pear-top shape of the top of the hat and I came up with this:
and next to the original pattern:
I think I'll knit a pair of bootees to go with this and a baby blanket that I already bought the yarn for. I'm keeping the color palette the same for all the projects but I'll switch up the yarn. I read a review of Manos cotton stria and the reviewer commented on the obvious visibility of wear.
Her sister is also having a boy a month later and I think I'll knit up a complementary hat for her baby. Starting with white rather than blue I think. I figured the hats can be cousins, just like the babies.

FYI... Some of my yarn is on sale on my etsy site. I feel like celebrating my thesis approval.

Hmmm...

Is it wrong of me to want this knowing that I don't a) actually know how to sew, b) I don't have time to learn and c) I have three things on needles and two gifts that are still waiting to be knit?

So have you ever?

Ever feel guilty about buying yarn? Yesterday I completed my first ever sneak stash increase. I actually smuggled in some yarn that I needed for a new project in order to avoid unnecessary questions from family members already questioning my stash. Wait until they find out how much worse(according to them)/better(according to me) a stash can actually be.

As for personal stuff, it's the first week of school and baby A is starting his first week of preschool in the AM and three afternoons of PM preschool with, according to him, a really fun play area. My secret project is actually a hat for him, I'll post some pictures once I'm beyond two inches.

Yay

I just got word from my thesis committee that everyone is signing off on my MA thesis. Super yay! All I need to do is format the thesis for the school and fill out some paperwork and I should be all done. This is such a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and I feel that I can really move forward in my life.
Knitting news later.

The Boys of Summer

This is the summer for baby boys. Nearly every expectant cousin/friend/friend-of-a-friend is expecting a boy. Now there is nothing really wrong with boys--my baby brother continues to delight me over and over again---except for one thing: pink and frilly doesn't suit them. Now I'm all set for breaking gender stereotypes--I just try not to inflict my tastes on others.
In an effort to satisfy my need for "ooh, pretty!" I have started knitting stuff for the older kids in families expecting babies. Not just close relations either, I knit this frilly little hat from Itty-Bitty Hats for my brother's daycare teacher's 1 1/2 year old daughter:
and these two for the new baby (she's still not sure if the baby is a boy or a girl):
The baby bootees are from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and the hat is the bunny hat double knit in acrylic and mohair (same as the bootees) from Itty-Bitty. I love the way the bootees turned out--then again it is a great little pattern. I think there might be a typo in the directions for the cuff--one too many turns or something--I just keep going until it looks right. The ears for the bunny hat don't look very even, so I may need to be more careful counting the rows next time.
If anyone has any easy to knit sock patterns for young children, I'd love the link. My brother has been asking for me to knit him something, and I think socks might work, at least until hat/scarf/mitten weather kicks in.

Recently Completed

Thanks to my wonderful skills as a procrastinator, I finished a whole bunch of dyeing over the weekend. But as a procrastinator shouldn't I have trouble finishing things you ask? True. I finish what isn't as urgent. Let's look at my list of things to do:
1. Return portable DVD player--check.
2. Exchange my sister's ipod--check.
3. Dye some yarn for Etsy--check.
4. Find a new book to read--check.
5. Find a job that pays more than $8 an hour--uh...still working on it.
On the brights side I have managed to sell a couple of skeins--which is really cool. Here are some of the new colors.
Pumpkin Patch-when my sister saw this she yelled out the name from across the room--she was rather adamant that it had to be named pumpkin patch.
Sherbet--Lots of orange, pinks and purples
Blue Summer--I'm still not sure this name does the color justice, but nothing else seems to fit.
I think this is it for now. I'll try to post some of my finished knitting projects in the next couple of days. Plus I need to start knitting for all the new baby boys joining my extended family in the next couple of months.

My Introduction

I know the world probably does not need another blog about knitting. But as my family is starting to think I'm slightly insane--I've got to reach out.

Uh...hi.

I'm a yarn addict and I know I'm not alone.

Aside from that rather AA sounding introduction, I'm in my mid twenties, have been knitting for a few months and dyeing yarn for slightly less than that. I'm the only knitter in my family and am self taught thanks to some books and the ability to extrapolate.

While my family appreciates receiving handmade goods they seem to be confused by my "odd" (their words) behavior:
The horrors of my...knitting in public---gasp---or spending money on sock yarn---isn't it cheaper just to buy a pair?---or driving an hour and a half to a yarn store having a really, really good sale---how much money could you really save?---knitting and talking at the same time---how do I know you're listening?

Admittedly my life could be worse--I could be denied access to yarn and locked away. But come on, I don't make fun (much) of their habits---what's so hard to understand about mine?
Anyway this is my little intro and I hope you enjoy my continuing troubles through the world of a knitter trying to convert her family.