Happiness is finding a pencil

The blue car in white snow.

I love watching a well played sporting event. A proper sporting event, no matter what sport, has a fluidity and a grace, a finesse to it that can be just as satisfying to watch as a play or ballet, especially when the sport involves little people. Basketball season has officially begun and Little Clover had his first game this Sunday. Despite the loss, his team played quite well. They have one play, but at least they have a play. The play consists of the point guard dribbling across the line, passing the ball to Little Clover, who then passes the ball to a teammate who then passes it to another taller teammate who shoots. The team executed the play with brilliance about three times, then they became little kids and ran all over the court. It was quite cute, especially when they decided they needed to talk to Mom and Dad and would run over to the stands, sometimes while there was still action on the court. Little Clover was the lead scorer of the game, bringin in 7 of the teams 11 points. He was quite proud.

As were Italian and I. Honestly, I can't think of many things more wonderful than watching kids play sports. There is a remarkable excitement at each success and an astounding lack of concern over "failures." Little Clover's team didn't care about the loss. They were excited to play adn were thrilled with their shoots and their steals. They grin with happiness after every shot and stare at the stands looking for approval and a thumbs up from their parents. It's nice to know that my opinion matters to him and it's amazing to see his face beam. Maybe I only love it because Little Clover does. Who knows. His happiness makes me smile.

The blue bath

The blue kettle

In keeping with Project Spectrum, above is a short photo montage of blue (with a little bit of white thrown in for fun). I found out about Project Spectrum late last year, but enjoyed seeing the colors in the blogs I visited. This year, being a part of Project Spectrum has made me more aware of certain colors around me. When I see the sky, it's no longer an expanse of wide sea, now, it's a photo op! Blueberries look edible and photo perfect. I even ventured out of my normal color range and bought (before Lent) an exotic fibre in grey for spinning. More on that later.

Better than Yoga

Have you ever had one of those days? You know, the kind with really high highs and really low lows? I had one of those highs today. I had a day where I felt great about my job. People gave me compliments about my work and told me I was doing a fantastic job. Then, just a few hours later, other people told me that I am doing a horrible job. Normal, I don't really care. Work was just a silly way to earn money to feed my family. It wasn't important. This job, though, matters to me. I like this job, and I like this company. I suddenly found myself attached and caring about the quality of my performance, and the fact that someone was providing unconstrustive criticism was aggrevating. The snippy me came out. I reined her in and only a small snide comment came out in the meeting.

I left work frustrated and angry and wanting to be even snippier. Italian, listened as I vented, handed me my knitting bag, and said, "Have fun at knitting." (There was this sound of a door shutting as he said this.) I did.

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but it's worth saying again. I have one of the best knitting groups around. With the booming internet, I have the luxury of having knitting friends all over the world. They are always there when I need them. Whether at noon when I need a little pick me up or at 11:00 pm when I finally have a minute to myself, they are there. My local knitting group is there, too, just on a more normal basis. I arrived at knitting and was immediately greeted with warm hellos and a hug. We talked about kids and jobs and patterns and yarns. We laughed as we reviewed patterns and talked about religous traditions and community activity. We complimented each others works, past, present, and future, and we spoke in the knitters' codes of DPNs, worsted, sports, and 4s. I left relaxed and connected and rejuvenated. I'm very lucky to have such a group. Thanks, y'all.

The beginnings of a Picovoli by Grumperina

The Shampoo One

One of the Clovers' St. Valentine's Day tradition is to celebrate the day as a family. Italian and I celebrate the romantic part on our own, usually on the weekend, but on the actual day, we celebrate our family. This does involve chocolate truffles for me and candy for Little Clover. This year, Italian and Little Clover presented me with chocolates from a local candy maker (we try to support local first, then organic). The flavors they picked were Irish Cream (because I'm Irish), cappucino (because I love coffee), coconut (because that's my favorite), and champagne (because it would be fun). Italian easily pointed out the Irish Cream, the cappucino, and the coconut. The champagne one was a little bit harder. Italian explained how every truffle flavor is decorated differently, so the champagne one should be the one that doesn't look like the other. Little Clover looked at the truffles, pointed at one, and said, "I think the shampoo one is this one."

Italian and I smiled and agreed. I wonder how it will taste.

And Now for Something Completely Different
What says "I love you" better than spam?

Alot of Spam! Oh, wait. That's not it. How about:

Italian and I spent this past Valentin's weekend at the theatre watching a lovely showing of Spamalot, watery tart and all. It was spectacular! As a former theatre junky and performer, I loved the acting, the blocking, the dancing, the technicality, and the singing. As a Python fan, I loved the crude humor. All in all, I left the show with an aching side and wanting a catapult and cow. Neither Italian nor I could figure out how they accomplished the Black Knight scene. If you watch it, try not to be distracted by the monk. Go see the show if it stops in a theatre near you.

Happy Mardi Gras

I finished these just in time for Mardi Gras!

Pattern: Widdershins (plain sock, toe-up with heel flap)
Yarn: Socks That Rock in Nodding Violet.

I love these socks. Even though they are just a plain stockinette sock, the stitches are beautiful. The yarn has a depth to it and the stitches are slightly textured. The colors are deep and dimensional as well. Plus, they are in a fantastic greens and purples, perfect for Mardi Gras. My timing couldn't have been better.

Quite a few milestones and holidays are passing me by this year. So far, I've missed my blogiversary, the Chinese New Year, and I forgot about Mardi Gras! I've only just realized it in time for...Lent. Yay. (Injecting a very, very deep sigh). For Lent, I give up spending money on things that I do not need. By only buying necessary items, I adjust my reality and focus it once again on what is a need and what is a want. This helps me keep my perspective and be grateful for what I do have. Of course, this moratorium on extraneous purchases includes yarn.

I do have an exception this year. The year for a special wedding gift has not arrive at my LYS yet. Since I placed the order for it a few weeks ago, I will not feel bad paying for it during Lent. What will be a problem is leaving the store without anything else. Fortunately, I realized today, the day before Lent, wonderful Mardi Gras, that I have one last day to shop and a computer to help me buy yarn! All is good.

A love story

When I began knitting again, about two years ago, I did not expect to fall in love with yarn. Instead, I expected to dabble a little here and there. I knitted a dreadfully curly stockinette scarf and an acrylic purse, sans straps, that is still in pieces in the playroom somewhere. I liked it, but I wasn't in love yet. Then, I went to my first yarn store. All the yarn was arranged in colors and fibers all over the walls. I became excited, but overwhelmed. I quickly bought the Brown Sheep recommended in the pattern for the scarf. I didn't look at the gauge or the yardage in the pattern which called for two colors of yarn, one skein each. Fearing I might run out, I bought two skeins of each. Naturally, I have a ton of Brown Sheep yarn in two shades of green left over.

I began simply with my knitting, following a pattern almost exactly as it is written. I played around a bit with the yarns specified in the pattern, and often ended up with an item that resembled the piece in the picture, but didn't quite seem to fit right. Then I discovered gauge and my knitting got better. My yarn substitutions were more thought out, and I began to fall in love. Something happened when I knitted. I relaxed. I could sit in one spot for hours and not feel guilty. I became a little more patient, and I could feel tension leaving my shoulders. I turned my mind off and knitted and knitted and knitted. I loved following a pattern and had absolutely no desire to write my own pattern. I couldn't understand why someone would want to think about her knitting that much.

Then I found socks. I tackled socks because they scared me, they were risky. They require tiny needles. They require proper gauge. They required that I think while I knitted. I didn't want to be scared of knitting anything, so I tried it, and I fell further in love. They were portable. They were quick. They were useful! They didn't fit. I had to tweak the pattern and I found a pattern that required personalization. I found I liked the idea of making the socks just for me. Then the whole heel thing was intriguing and I wanted to know the whys and hows of it. That lead me down the path of making up a leaf pattern for a hat because I didn't want to hunt for one, and then, the next thing I know... Wham! I'm tackling a sweater without a pattern, just with some measurements. With the time and thought and consciousness required to knit blind, it was evident I was definitely in love.

All this time, everytime I said, "Oh, I can't ever see myself doing/making/trying [insert some knitting related feat]!" Italian has just nodded and smiled, knowing I would try it and accomplish it. Needless to say, I had fallen in love with him long ago, and that was one of the many reasons why. I've fallen madly in love. I have the yarn, and Italian has the sweater (and socks), to prove it.

 

Please excuse the very dorky look on my face. I have no idea what I was doing, but evidently, it was something dorky.

I remember Alaska

With every stitch of this scarf, I remembered Alaska. Finally, after keeping the yarn safe in my stash for several months, I gently took it from its nice warm home and began to knit it into the scarf it was meant to be. The yarn is one of the best breeds of yarn. It is souvenier yarn. It traveled in a suitcase all the way from Alaska to my little stash, where I would go and visit it every now and then. I would visit the yarn when I began to long for the cool wet air of Alaska and it would make me smile.



The yarn though wasn't very happy in my stash. I think it was crowded there. It would nag at me and tell me that it really, really would like to come out and get some air. I finally listened and it rewarded me with this, a soft, warm, airy lace scarf in a blue that, with every stitch, reminds me of Alaska.


This is all that is left of the yarn. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. This is half of all that is left of the yarn. I couldn't find the other piece of string.

Screwed

I've recently finished two audiobooks, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, in which a youn governess encounters odd going-ons in an English mansion, and A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, in which a young man finds himself screwed.

Both books deal with the supernatural world, but both books are worlds apart from each other. The Turn of the Screw holds true to it's Victorian period. The dark undertone of the book hints at scandals that are too horrific to mention. James does a very good job of scaring you while he's tearing down the setting around the governess. The interesting thing about The Turn of the Screw is the dual way the book can be interpretted. A reader can read the book completely believing the governess and what she is experiencing, or one can read it under the assumption that the governess is losing her mind. Either way, the book has its suspenseful moments. As with a lot of classical books, it can drag in bits due to Victorian era languages and style, but overall, the story draws you in and the book goes by quickly. Plus, the ending is worth the read.

The second book, A Dirty Job, was an absolute riot and one that I will listen to (or read) again. I loved it enough that I immediately went out and bought his latest, You Suck. The book is about a very ordinary man, Charlie Asher, who finds out one day that he has a special job in life and that is to be a sort of a helper to Death. The book follows Charlie as he adjusts to his new job. I laughed out loud in several places and Moore is a fantastic storyteller. He fills the book with wonderful characters and you find yourself becoming attached to almost everyone. The situations are highly amusing and oddly familiar. He also weaves his characters together from one book to another, which makes it more fun to read. A very big warning though, his book is very, very vulgar at times. If you are sensitive to certain language and situations, then this book is not for you. If you don't mind, then read it. You'll have a good laugh.

Anniversaries

Wow, and thank you to everyone who donated! Thank you very much for helping out a fantastic organization. I will be sending out more formal Thank Yous to everyone who donated. Thank you, again.

The trip to Minneapolis was an eye opener. I experienced winter like never before, and it was cold. At one point, we drove over the Mississippi River and it was a solid sheet of ice, covered with snow. The landscape was white as the snow made the most delicious sound as you walked on it. It crunched beneath your feet and clings to your hat as you stand outside to take pictures of it, as proof that snow does exist and will last longer than a few hours. While I was outside taking pictures of this beautiful white stuff, I had a couple of people tell that this was not even a lot of snow. Boy, they should come down South for the winter, I thought.

I was fortunate enough to have Anniversary Sweater Part II with me to keep me nice and toasty under my coat. It was finished in a flurry the Saturday before the Super Bowl. I seamed my Saturday morning away and began the blocking by the afternoon. By the time I packed, it was dry and ready.


Anniversary Sweater Part II
Pattern: My own design
Gauge: 19 stitches over 4 inches (pre-blocking)
Needles: US size 9 Denise interchangeable set
Yarn: Cashmere Breeze by Tahki Stacy
Duration: Off and on since November 9, 2006

The yarn is a very lush, soft cashmere that halos just a tad when washed. The sweater expanded just a touch after blocking, but it was hardly noticeable. The sweater was a luxury to knit and is a luxury to wear. It is soft against your skin and is like wearing a warm hug. It is an amazing reminder of our anniversary and I'm very fortunate to have a guy who gives me gifts of yarn.

The pattern has a simple braided bottom and cuff. The body is stockinette with slight shaping. For the collar, I knitted a few rows of garter stitch so the focus would remain on the braided ribbing at the bottom.


As for anniversaries, I completely missed my Blogiversary! Life was busy and the event just past me by. The last year in the blogiverse has been grand! I've met some wonderful people and found new blogs and have an outlet for writing. I hope to continue blogging for a while and if anyone has suggestions on topics, please let me know.

Now, to look forward! I'm geared up for Project Spectrum 2.0! February and March are devoted to blue, white, and grey. I've pulled out an old UFO:

the blue quiviut yarn from Alaska,

and a new project:

a Green Gables in it's raw form.

My needles are jumping to get started.

Did you say -20?

I just got back from Minnesota a few hours ago and I have new posting fodder. I'm tired though, so I'll share a couple of very quick things.

First:
Snow!

This is a lot of snow to a Southerner. To those in Minnesota, this was nothing.

Secondly, it was -20 F, yes -20 F in Minnesota when we left the dear South for the long trip up north. Fortunately, it had warmed up to around -10 F by the time we landed. This was still a shock to someone (me) who was leaving behind temperatures of 41 F (notice no little negative sign in front of that number).

Finally, I'll have a new FO to post and the results of the prize drawing.

Talk to you guys soon!

Prizes

For Eye Candy Friday, here is a little bit of proof that winter has arrived:

Our annual snow finally came last night while we were sleeping. To the merriment of my northern coworkers, the schools were closed due to the two inches of snow. For Southerners, 2 inches of snow is quite a lot.

I went hunting for prizes for the Hometeam Huddle Habitat for Humanity fundraising drive. It's not too late to click on the button on sidebar and make a donation. I'll be drawing from all the donors on Monday. Without further ado, the prizes:


Tahki Stacy Merino Yarn, Baby.


Trekking XXL Sock yarn

A copy of Sensational Knitted Socks

For those of you who are non-knitters, there will be a yummy Gift Certificate headed your way.

Thank you for your support in helping out a worthy cause.

Good Night Moon

Bedtime, with a little person, is one of my favorite times of the day. That is time when Little Clover and I have our best talks. It is our time to connect and it is the time of day when we have each other's full attention. Our conversations can be very trivial, but sometimes, they can revolve around some serious topics. The other night, we had one of our soul searching conversations. We talked about bugs.

It began with Little Clover and I discussing the state of the housekeeping and how he decided that the next night, we would clean the house. I had no idea that he was this involved in the state of the kitchen floors. He told me that he and Italian would take care of his bathroom counter where his microscope was cirrently residing. Evidently, he thought that the dead spider he and Italian had been examining was too much for me to bear. I told him I didn't mind dead spiders, it was the live ones that bothered me. Then he asked me what my favorite bugs were. We talked for 15 minutes on which bugs we liked and which ones we didn't and I really began to hope that when he is sixteen and going through his teenage stuff, he will still talk to me at bedtime about whatever is on his mind.

I mentioned that I liked butterflies and moths. Then he looked at me with a very serious expression. He said, "You only like moths when they are outside. Inside, they might eat your yarn."

I smiled.

I have actually been getting quite a bit of knitting and spinning done. I'm headed out of town to Minneapolis for work and I am pushing myself to finish Anniversary Sweater Part II before I leave. This will be my first time to be someplace cold during the winter since the age of 5. I'm concerned I may have become too Southernized (if that is possible). I think there is even this white stuff called snow on the ground up there.

Tonight, I will go out, hunting for the perfect thank you gifts for the Hometeam Huddle fundraising drive for Habitat. Be on the watch for pictures tomorrow!

Colts vs. Bears

You're Invited!

To the Habitat for Humanity Hometown Huddle!

For football fans and friends/relatives/spouse of football fans, a very important day is quickly approaching. Sunday, February 4 will be a day of merrymaking and celebrating. It is Super Bowl Sunday! Habitat for Humanity is asking community members to take donations during the half-time production for the Super Bowl. While you watch Prince, you can also help a family in need build their own castle. Since we are not hosting a Super Bowl party, but we still want to help out, I've decided to host a virtual Hometown Huddle here on my blog and you are invited!

To participate, please click on the donation button in the sidebar and leave whatever amount is comfortable for you. Your donation will go towards my local chapter of Habitat for Humanity to help them provide families with a home. I've built one Habitat house in my community and the experience was amazing. The house was for a family of three, a mom and her two kids. I will cover as much of the PayPal fees as I can so that all of your money goes to Habitat. Of course, my goal is to have a ton of donations, so much that I won't be able to cover all of the PayPal fees. My goal is to raise $3,000 for Habitat. To entice you, there will be yarn! I'm on the prowl for some yarn to send out to random lucky donors.

Habitat provides families with a decent home, which is hard to find for more and more people. For more information on their mission and activities, please visit their website. If you help provide funding, then consider donating some of your time and help build a house in your community.

PayPal applies a fee of up to 3% and $0.30 to every transaction.

Entrelac Socks

When I first saw the entrelac socks on Eunny's blog, I knew I they looked fun and challenging. They would definitely be on my needles sometime in the future. The more I looked at them, the less I wanted to wait, so I went in search of pattern. I found one on the Townsend Socks Yahoo! group, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. Like most knitters, I saw the pattern and immediately began thinking of ways to change it. Below is the pattern I ended up creating.

Size: Women's small-medium (I wear a size US 7.5 shoe. The circumference of my foot at the ball is 8.5 inches. My foot length is 9 inches)

Gauge: 8 stitches per inch

Materials: Trekking XXL 104, 5 bamboo DPNs in US size 1 (2.25mm)
Note on Trekking:
Some Trekking yarns will make a beautiful entrelac pattern without any planning or forethought. You can just pick out the yarn and start knitting. To do this, make sure you use a colorway with very long color blocks. Other Trekking yarns with shorter color repeats will create stripped entrelac squares. The other option is to use two solid colors of sock yarn and alternate.

Worked toe-up with a short row toe and a short row heel. I use Wendy's pattern as a reference.

Begin by casting on 32 stitches using a provisional cast-on.
Knit across cast-on stitches. Purl back across.

Begin short row toe:
Row 1: Knit to last stitch, wrap last stitch with yarn in front as if to purl, slip last stitch from left needle to right. Turn work, slip first stitch (the one you just wrapped and slipped) onto right needle.
Row 2: Purl to last stitch, wrap last stitch with yarn in front as if to knit, slip last stitch from left needle to right. Turn work, slip first stitch (the one you just wrapped and slipped) onto right needle. You now have one wrapped stitch on each end of the needle.
Row 3: Knit to stitch before the wrapped stitch (second to last stitch), wrap stitch with yarn in front as if to purl, slip wrapped stitch from left needle to right. Turn work, slip stitch (the one you just wrapped and slipped) onto right needle.
Row 4: Purl to stitch before the wrapped stitch (second to last stitch), wrap stitch with yarn in front as if to knit, slip wrapped stitch from left needle to right. Turn work, slip stitch (the one you just wrapped and slipped) onto right needle. You now have two wrapped stitches on each end.

Continue repeating rows 3 and 4 until you have wrapped 8 stitches on each side and have 16 unwrapped stitches in the middle. Now you will begin picking up the wrapped stitches, beginning with a knit row.

Picking up wrapped stitches and make a toe box:
Row 1: Knit across 16 center stitches to the first wrapped stitch. Pick up the wrap, knit the stitch, pass wrap over knitted stitch. Move yarn to front as if to purl. Slip next stitch, turn, slip stitch back to right hand needle, purl to first wrapped stitch.
Row 2: Pick up the wrap, purl the stitch, pass wrap over knitted stitch. Move yarn to front as if to knit. Slip next stitch, turn, slip stitch back to right hand needle, knit to wrapped stitch.
Continue repeating rows 1 and 2 until all wrapped stitches have been worked. You know have a toe box and have just finished a purl row.

Knit 16 stitches onto your needle, pick up a new needle and knit the next 16 stitches onto the new needle.

Unzip the provisional cast on and place these stitches onto two needles, distributed evenly. You may need to pick up one stitch. Knit across these 32 stitches. You now have a total of 64 stitches on your needle.
Knit one row even.

Next row, decrease 22 stitches as follows: k2tog twice. (k1, k2tog) repeat 20 times. [42 stitches on needles]
Knit one row even.

Entrelac Base Triangles:
Each base triangle is worked across a total of 6 base stitches. After each row, turn the work.
Row 1: (RS) K2, turn
Row 2: (WS) Slip 1 stitch purlwise, purl 1, turn
Row 3: (RS) K3, turn
Row 4: (WS) Slip 1 stitch purlwise, purl 2, turn
Row 5: (RS) K4, turn
Row 6: (WS) Slip 1 stitch purlwise, purl 3, turn
Row 7: (RS) K5, turn
Row 8: (WS) Slip 1 stitch purlwise, purl 4, turn
Row 9: (RS) K6
Repeat these 9 rows across the remaining stitches. You will end up with 7 triangles. Distribute triangles across 4 needles. Needles 1 and 2 will be the instep stitches. Each will have 2 triangles. Needles 3 and 4 will be the heel stitches. Needle 3 will have one triangle and needle 4 will have 2 triangles.

Entrelac Squares Set 1
With wrong side facing, pick up 5 stitches along the side of the first triangle, starting at the tip and working down to the base. Purl 1 stitch from the adjacent triangle. Turn. This section may seem very awkward, but it will work out.
Row 1: Knit 6, turn.
Row 2: Purl 5, p2tog, turn.
Continue repeating two rows until all 6 stitches adjacent triangle have been purled. Pick up 5 stitches down the side of the triangle. and repeat Entrelac Square Set 1 until all triangles have been consumed and you have 7 squares.

Entrelac Squares Set 2
With right side facing, pick up 6 stitches along side of entrelac square. Knit one stitch from lefthand needle. Pass the 6th picked up stitch over the just knit stitch. Turn.
Row 1: Purl 6, turn
Row 2: K5, slip 1 stitch from lefthand needle to right, psso. Turn.
Continue repeating two rows until all stitches from left hand square have been consumed.
Continue alternating each set of squares until the sock length is approximately two incehs shorter than your foot length, end by completing Set 2.

Heel
Purl back across 6 stitches.
Pick up 5 stitches purlwise, purl 1 stitch from left needle.

End Triangle:
Row 1: Slip 1 stitch knitwise, k1
Row 2: Slip 1 stitch purlwise, p2
Row 3: Slip 1 stitch knitwise, k3
Row 4: Slip 1 stitch purlwise, p4
Row 5: Slip 1 stitch knitwise, k5
Row 6: Slip 1 stitch purlwise, p6
Row 7: Slip 1 stitch knitwise, k6, k2 tog
Row 8: Slip 1 stitch purlwise, p6, slip 1, p2tog, psso
Repeat across needles 3 and 4. You will have 6 square stitches and 24 end triangle stitches. Put all 30 stitches and on one needle. You will also now have 2 squares on needle 1 and 1 square on needle 2. Now you will begin the short row heel by repeating the process for a short row toe.

After making a short row heel, pick up 5 stitches purlwise down side of adjacent square.
Work Entrelac Squares Set 1 across the three squares on needles 1 and 2. Contine and consume the first 6 stitches off the needle containing the heel stitches. If there is a gap before the 6 stitches, pick up 2 stitches and k2tog them together on row 2 of entrelac square.

Now you are at the heel stitches.

Base triangles:
Row 1: P2tog, p2tog
Row 2: Slip 1 knitwise, k1
Row 3: P3
Row 4: Slip 1 knitwise, k2
Row 5: P4
Row 6: Slip 1 knitwise, k3
Row 7: P5
Row 8: Slip 1 knitwise, k4
Row 9: P6
Repeat base triangles three times.

You have now knit all the heel stitches. Rearrange needles if you need to.
Continue in entrelac until leg is the desired length. Knit a set of end triangles all the way around the leg [56 stitches].
Knit 1 round, increasing 8 stitches evenly.
K2, p2 rib for 1-2 inches. Bind off loosely.

Yay, Yarn!

First and foremost.

Happy belated birthday to Grand Ma Clover! She is an independent woman who speaks her mind with grace. She has been an example of a strong lady and I am very happy to call her my grandmother. Happy birthday, Grandma. May you have many, many happy years before you.

Secondly, yay! I have yarn!

This is my very own handspun that I made with my new spinning wheel. I love the colors. The only thing I would do differently is I would have made it a three ply instead of a two ply yarn. I still need to work on my consistency, but overall, I'm pretty proud of it. To give you and idea of the size of the yarn, I added a US dime for scale.

On a final note, I have had some request for the entrelac sock pattern. I used a pattern as a reference and did some major tweaking. Unfortunately, I didn't write it down, but, I will write out the pattern and work on it this weekend. With some luck, I'll have a pattern to post next week. Please check back soon. I'll let you guys know when the pattern is up. Thank you for your compliments and your interest. They have been much appreciated.

Hey, what's that thing?

Italian recently changed jobs and had to turn in his old company car, leaving us down to one vehicle. Since we both work on opposite sides of the city and our city has no viable mass transit, we decided to look at Hondas this weekend since we have had an incredible experience with our six year old Honda Civic.

We researched online, then found a manual at the Dealership. We hoped in and checked out the interior and found it was well designed and thought out. The car had tons of storage areas, including one compartment hidden in the dashboard by the driver's side and one above the rearview mirror. We drove the car around the parking lot (I was a bit nervous driving a car I don't own on my city's streets).

After driving the car, we hopped back into the Civic we've been driving for six years, and began our discussion on our dislikes (there was only one) and our likes (there were several). I mentioned how I liked all the storage, especially that little compartment thingy by the steering wheel. As I said this, I reached down to the part on the dash of the Civic where the compartment was on the car we test drove, and...

Lo and behold! I had one, too! Italian just stared at me, and then he laughed! At least I still add joy and mirth to his life.

Italian gave me his first FO of the year. He made it out of walnut with some figured walnut as an accent on the front. The clock is battery operated and the face and hands are brass. He used the same walnut stock as the jewelry box he gave me one year, making the clock even more special.

I've begun working on knitting FOs 2 and 3 as well. Both of the items on my needles are socks. One will be a pair for Xavier Guy in Trekking.

I've gone down a needle size to a US size 0, simply because I wanted to try out my KnitPicks DPNs. The needles are heavier than the bamboos and I was surprised that the difference was noticeable. The points on these needles though are fantastically sharp. They are by far my sharpest DPNs and much, much sharper than Addi Turbos. I also like how the yarn is knitting up on a lower size. I'm getting a gauge of 10 stitches per inch on size 0.

The second sock is my first experience with Socks that Rock, and any praise that you may have heard is true. The yarn is the softest sock yarn I've ever touched. The yarn is sproingy and squishy and yummy. The colors are beautiful and the pooling for the colorway is lovely. The colors fade and then intensify instead of pooling in blues, greens, and violets. I'm trying the Widdershins pattern for the first time.

Now, even though I am very impressed with Socks that Rock, I'm not joining the sock club, so someone on the waiting list will become very happy. The reasons I'm not joining the sock club have to do with the patterns and the colors. I have enough sock patterns to keep me busy for a long time. Plus, I prefer to knit patterned socks with solid yarn and to keep patterns simple if I'm knitting with varigated yarn. That's just my personal preference. I'll definitely order more STR in the future. One more warning, if you plan on knitting with STR, use any KnitPicks sock yarn you may have. I have some KnitPicks sock yarn left in my stash and it just doesn't make me as happy as it did before I met all the other sock yarns in my life.

The first of many

(Well, what I hope is the first of many.)

(drumroll)

I'd like to introduce the first Finished Object of 2007!

Elly Cardigan

Tah dah! As never seen before, the Elly Cardigan from Rowan Classic Baby Book Four! This amazingly beautiful cardigan is knit in luscious Rowan Cashsoft DK in Lavender. This lovely baby sweater is designed to fit a newborn. It's lovingly handknit raglan sleeves gently sweep up the shoulders, allowing plenty of space for all the activities a newborn could dream of! (Ooooh! Aaaaaah!) A stunning crocheted border edges the cardigan, adding to the elegance!

Hey, who gave the infomercial copywriter my password??? Get out! Go get your own blog.

Sorry about that. That pesky copywriter has been lurking around Clover Field for a while, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Have I mentioned how much I love my LYS? Last knit, while finishing up the Elly Cardy, I looked at the pattern and began hunting for a size E crochet hook. I had a C, an H, two Fs, a J, a K, a mucho long afghan hook, but no E. It was 8:45 at night. It paniced and called the Shop. The Spin Meister was there and confirmed that she had a hook. I spend to the shop and was thankful that it was knit-in night and the store would definitely be open late.

Not only did she have a size E hook, but she had a wooden Bryson hook made from palm wood. This hook is beautiful in it's simplicity. It feels extremely perfect in the hand and it works wonderfully. I've tried the Brittany hooks in the past since I prefer wood to metal or plastic, but I've had a problem with the hook dropping the stitch halfway through. I didn't have any problems with the Bryson at all. If you need a hook and like wood, then definitely go for the Bryson.

As for the cardy, it is super easy to knit! It's all stockinette. The raglan shaping is very easy and due to the small size, you can complete this project with just a few hours. One thing I found interesting about the project was the author's choice of decreases. For the right leaning decreases, the pattern says to use a K2tog. Pretty standard. For the left slanting decrease, the pattern says to use a K2tbl, which according to EZ is not the reverse of a K2tog. I did notice that the K2tbl makes a much more pronounced pattern. I actually like the way it looks. It puffs out the stitches a bit more. I just need to find out how I can puff out the stitches on the right.

Did I say no resolutions???

I may have lied about resolutions. Well, lying sounds a bit harsh. I may have forgotten a resolution. Because I have a ton of free time between working full-time, being a mom, being a wife, being a homeowner, and being a knitter, I really should fill up that free time with relearning Korean. Let's face it, the fact that I cannot speak my first language is rather sad. I owe it to my mom to learn Korean.

Last night, I took a first step. Every night, Little Clover likes me to tuck him in. As part of that routine, we lay down for just a minute while I tell him how much I love him and how awesome he is. Then, he will ask me to sit in the rocking chair by his bed until he falls asleep. I usually take this time to listen to an audiobook or podcast while I knit. Last night, I read my copy of Teach Yourself Korean and listened to the native speaker as I read along. It's not much time, but it's ten to fifteen minutes more than before.

I must say, finding any decent materials for learning Korean has been very, very frustrating. The type font for the Teach Yourself books is rather poor. Their romanisation of the characters is also rough at best and their English word examples of vowel sounds is way off. The words they picked to represent vowel sounds are words that are pronounced differently across US regions. The authors could have picked more region nuetral words (picking the word "father" instead of "bat" to as an example of an "ah" sound).

I've also go the Berlitz set of tapes and books. The Berlitz format may work well for languages with letter based alphabets, but for Korean, which has a character based alphabet, wowzers! My head nearly popped and I sent the first 5 years of my life looking at words formed by characters. If anyone out there has any advice or suggestions, please send them my way. I've got my eye on the Rosetta Stone language course and I think if I'm still working through my Korean Lessons by my mom's birthday in March, I may get it.

All is not lost on the knitting front. I am still knitting. I just have to find some new time throughout the day. I've managed to finish the back, two cardigan fronts, and a sleeve for a baby sweater. I've casted on for the second sleeve now and with any luck, I can finish it tonight since the mommy of the baby will be induced tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

If you give a mouse a new t.v...

I don't really have any resolutions. My life is pretty darn good and there isn't much I'd like to change. I'm rather fortunate and lucky that way. Instead, I have a ton of goals. Resolutions and goals are very similar in meaning, but the connontations are different to me. A resolution seems to imply a drastic measure to alter one's life permanently, while a goal is a concrete thing to achieve. For 2007, my goal is to revamp the house.

Well, it won't be a complete revamping. We won't do any major renovations or anything too drastic. Instead, I'm hoping to get a lot of little and medium sized things done. This all started with a new t.v.

The t.v. we had was a wedding gift and we have been married for a while now. It still worked fine once you got past the 30 seconds of the shrill tone emitting from the t.v. every time you turned it on. The tone started as just a little beep and has been growing in duration. We just figured this was the t.v.'s way of welcoming us back.

We had been waiting for just the right time for a new television, and let's just say, this was the right time. Of course, the new t.v. doesn't fit in the entertaiment cabinent. Italian will have to build a new stand for the t.v. The old one will move to the spare room, which now needs to be put into a usable state as a guest room/play room. That means that Italian will also have to build some sort of media storage, the closet needs to be organized and cleaned out and logically, the office will have to be organized as well. The office needs bookshelves to hold the overflow from the spare room, so Italian can just build those while he builds all the other stuff. If we are going to re-do the spare room, we might as well organize the office closet and make better use of that space. Since we are going to do all this work, we should just go ahead and paint the rest of the rooms in the house. We can't just paint in the bathroom though. The ceiling in one needs to have the texture removed and I might as well do that while I paint. Plus, the other bathroom has wallpaper and while I've got the light fixtures down to take off the wallpaper and paint, I might as well replace the fixtures. Oh, and while Italian is in the garage building all the other stuff. I asked him to build me a sideboard for the reading/dining room.

I feel like I'm stuck in one of Laura Numeroff's books. At least there's no more high pitch shriek, and Scooby Doo never looked better.

The Final FO (and Happy New Year!)

I was hoping to post two FOs before New Year, instead, I only have one. I finished these on Thursday, but am just now getting around to posting them. They are the completed entrelac pair in Trekking. The pair took me over a month to complete, but the actual knitting of each sock takes only a couple of hours. They are fast to knock out once you get the hang of the entrelac pattern. The best thing about entrelac is that it grows really, really fast. Of course, there are a few things I would change. The next pair will only have entrelac on the instep of the sock and not the foot. I'll keep the entrelac all the way around on the leg part. Also, I think I may try an afterthought heel. Next time, I'll write out the pattern, too. The only tricky part was turning the heel and picking up the entrelac again.

Happy New Year! May 2006 be filled with happy memories and 2007 hold amazing possibilities!

Christmas Story

Me: I want an official Schacht Spindle Co. Spinning wheel with double treadle, a lazy kate, and a scotch tension. (Giving my biggest grin possible)

Santa: You'll prick your finger. Ho. Ho. Ho.

This year, I asked my family for gift certificates to my favorite LYS so I could buy a spinning wheel. I wasn't sure if it would happen, and I was beginning to feel a little sad. I knew I would still have a fantastic Christmas, wheel or no wheel, but I couldn't help sympathizing more and more with Ralphie from A Christmas Story. His sad, glum, face kept popping in my head and I told Italian that I knew how Ralphie felt. Italian just patted me and said "I know, sweetie," all the while knowing I would have a complete Ralphie experience (minus the pink bunny suit).

On Christmas morning, Italian handed me a gift. I unwrapped it and found a Schacht box. I began to get a bit confused and thought maybe it was a drop spindle to tie me over. I opened the box and it was filled with spindles and a lazy kate. I looked at Italian and he told me the rest was at his parents. Then, I cried. (For those who know me, this isn't a big shocker).


Italian went through quite a lot to ensure the wheel would be a surprise. He had purchased it a week before Christmas, when he was pretty sure I would not be going back to the yarn store until after Christmas. Imagine his shock when I announced on December 23 that I was running a few errands and would stop by the Shop. He said he would stay home and get a couple of things done around the house and take care of Little Clover. I drove off. Italian then turned to Little Clover and exclaimed, "Quick! We have to go!" He got the wheel from the attic, called the shop and asked if he would drop the wheel off for a few hours because I was coming over. The owner agreed and the plan was put in motion. Of course, I did my part and glanced longingly at the wheel while I was in the store. I even asked the Spin Meister and shop owner extraodinaire if she rents out the Schachts, since I didn't think I would be able to buy it after Christmas. She smiled and told me that yes, she does rent them out. We chatted a bit more, I paid for my yarn and left. As soon as I walked out, she was on the phone with Italian telling him the plan worked and it was safe to pick up the wheel. You can be sure, this shop will always be my favorite, and that this Christmas was better than I could have hoped.

Now, for some Christmas food!

Suzie's Spicy Sausage Balls
Once upon a time, there were a group of friends who were in their final years of college. They were homesick during the holiday season and decided to have their own holiday dinner. Three friends excitedly volunteered to make old family recipes for dishes that graced their family tables and would hopefully make the dinner more special. So, Foxy called her mom for the family pumpkin pie recipe. Aaron called his dad for the family cranberry sauce recipe. Suzie called her grandmother for the family sausage ball recipe. Each of these three brought their dishes to the dinner and each was very, very, mad at their families. What they had thought were special secret recipes were really recipes from the packages of the ingredients.

I was aggravated enough that I decided to make my own sausage ball recipe, and they've been a hit every year.

1 package (roll) of Sage Sausage
1 10 oz. package of Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 cups of Bisquick
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
Chipotle Chile powder (optional)
Tabasco Sauce (optional)

Shred cheddar cheese. Place shredded cheese, sausage, Bisquick, and minced garlic in a bowl. Sprinkle with chipotle chile powder. Dash Tabasco all over the top of the mixture. Mix all the ingredients together. I mix by hand and stop when my hands are clean. Roll into balls. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Balls should be brown all the way through.