Joe Cool

This weekend, I did something extraordinarily grown up. I went to a rock concert. Okay, maybe the rock concert wasn't really "grown-up" but more of a "young adult" activity, still , it was supremely fun! A couple of our friends end up with extra tickets to the Foo Fighters concert and extended the invitation to us. We had a fabulous time. Only once did I think the music was too loud and wished for earplugs. Strangely, this thought raced through my head during the Rancid wannabe set (and I used to love Rancid at an oddly loud volume).

During the concert, I thought a few times about Little Clover and how much fun he would have had hearing the Foo Fighters and Jimmy Eat World live. He has recently discovered the joys of music beyond the pop on Radio Disney, and I'm quite impressed with what he likes. His musical journey is mimicking my musically journey. The first bands I discovered were my dad's bands. I listened to his LP Albums of the Beatles, then I found I like The Who, Rolling Stones, and CCR (I still dream of find a pair of blue and white bell bottoms like the drummer's when he was on the Ed Sullivan Show). My love for Simon and Garfunkel and Santana lead me to Paul Simon and ... Santana. Then, along came Guns 'n Roses, Rancid, Black Crows, to BNL (who my dad really likes). Now, I'm listening to Little Clover sing Rancid and Weezer and Guns 'n Roses and ... Santana, and I tell him, "Hey, I know that!" He looks at me with a little bit of shock, replying, "You do?" To which I say, "Yes, I do! Here, let me show you how cool I am!" I hunt for Guns 'n Roses in my iTunes library, only to remember that I never added them to my iTunes. I only had them on tape. So, I'm not really that cool after all.

Smackdown

I know better, I really do. I knew when I made the one little comment on New Year's Day about finishing Italian's Anniversary sweater by the end of the month that I was asking for the knitting fates to come down and laugh in my face. And they did.

What you see is a front and back of a sweater, a knitted collar, and one sleeve. What you don't see is the one ball of yarn I have left. Yep, just one measly little ball of yarn to knit a sleeve that required three balls of yarn. I asked Italian if he would like a vest instead of a sweater. He said no. I then asked if maybe he would like a one armed sweater. For some reason, he didn't bother to answer the question. I had a little feeling halfway through the first sleeve, when I was joining my second ball of yarn, I might not have enough yarn to finish the sweater. Then I began to wonder if I would have enough yarn to finish the sleeve. With some luck (which I am not counting on having), the three balls on order will be the same dye lot as the sweater. I am not optimistic enough to hold out hope. Maybe, I can convince Italian to stand with the odd dye lot arm extended out to the side whenever he wears the sweater.

Since I'm waiting for yarn to arrive, I've casted on for another project. I've decided to tackle my second goal for the Mission Possible 2008 Ravelry group I joined. The Vintage Velvet scarf from Scarf Style is in a purple shade of Touch Me Chenille. It will look lovely on a special someone.

The second of the Fancy Silk Sock is also keeping me company at work. During lunch, I take a little bit of time for the sock and a podcast or two.

Juxtaposition of opposites

Being a mother is a life of opposites. I want, need time to myself, but when I have it, I miss my men. I almost always have a shadow with me in the form of a little person, a grown person, or a four legged furry dog who thinks he is a person. I'm tough and can handle rejection or minor household repairs, but I'm also a softy who, from what I hear, gives really good hugs. I strive to give my family only healthy food to eat, but I find often do not have the time to cook, so I'm left heating prepackaged foods or ordering in. I keep myself available for my coworkers, my family, and my friends, but every now and then, I steal a little time for myself.

This week, has been a week of stealing time just for me. I started by prepping my guys for my absence. Monday consisted of a special home cooked meal, extra Mommy time for Little Clover, some play time with Spot, and wine and conversation with Italian. Then, I took Tuesday to go to the knitting guild with some coworkers. We even had dinner together before the guild meeting! This was my first guild meeting ever and the group of knitters where quite nice. I saw some familiar faces from other knitting events around time and I made some new friends. At guild, I learned a way to increase stitches at the end of a row of ribbing before beginning stockinette. (I'll post pictures of this technique later) I even finished fixing my entrelac socks from last year. They had been languishing in my stash because one of the cuffs was just too tight to slip over my heel. Now, they fit perfectly.

Now, tonight, I'm meeting up with a friend and taking a chocolate cooking class. I'll eat a healthy lunch to balance out the chocolate overload (as if there could be such a thing as too much chocolate).

Moo

or why I love cow (and could never be a vegan).

From the lack of blogging, you can probably guess this week has been busy. I had a bit of a fire at work and had to work late a few nights this week. Fortunately, I also kept myself busy during the week with some fun activities, but had very little time for knitting. This is where the cow comes in (because I can't live without farm animals of some kind).

We have been contemplating buying new sofas for a couple of years, waiting for just the right sofa to magically appear at Costco one day. They did. They appeared this past December and I have been keeping a tab on the number of sofas the store has in stock. When the number of sofas in stock reached a low point, I asked Italian if he was ready to purchase these lovely, sturdy, goose down, brown leather sofa and loveseat. He actually agreed and the stars fell into place and we purchased said sofas! Then, we had to figure out how to get them home. Getting them home (it took two trips to the store), and into the house (which involved moving the current sofas into the drive and unpackaging the new sofas while outside because the box wouldn't fit through the door) took us a couple of hours. At the end, we had a nice new lovely sofa, that we could not lie upon together, unlike our old sofa. At least they look great.

Saturday also include a lovely dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse to celebrate my brother-in-law's recent milestone birthday. Xavier Guy couldn't make the party, so we took his friend instead.

Mr. Coffee did a great job playing the part of Xavier Guy. He even let us call him by Xavier Guy's name all night. I believe this was a bit of a retort on Mr. Coffee's part because Xavier Guy's been spending quite a bit of time with Mr. Coffee's brother. That is a story for another day.

Because this is a knitting blog, I can't let a week go by without something knitting related. Therefore, I give a picture of why brothers should have their outfits approved before leaving the house together.

What is even funnier about the picture of the two guys wearing the same sweater is that I was present for the purchase of both sweaters and didn't say a word. I think it is a riot to see them dressed the same. It is probably funny to me because I am an only child and this phenomenon strikes me as sincerely funny. But the story gets better! Saturday, Italian's sisters arrived wearing the same sweater that they bought while on a trip together. They were together for a few minutes and didn't realize they were dressed alike until I asked if it was intentional. I guess it just runs in the family!

Time Management

After a full week back at work and school, I now remember why I don't cook. Between working long hours, being a mom, being a wife, and then taking care of the house, I don't have much free time. Lately, my day job has been consuming more of my time and I've found myself working a bit from home late at night, which shocks me. I never ever thought I would like a job enough to give up some of "my" time towards it, yet, I do. Of course, saying "yes" to something means saying "no" to something else and I have been sacrificing home cooked meals for more time to knit. I think it is a fair trade off. My family still gets relatively healthy meaals and a moderately less stressed mom.

I did also make time for a few other things this week. We've spent a few nights star gazing with the help of the Klutz Backyard Stars guide. Little Clover can now identify the Big Dipper, Orion, and the North Star. We also saw Mars, which is extremely orange in the sky. This star chart is the best beginner star chart I've ever seen. The folks at Klutz did a fantastic job and I think they are making a new budding astronomer.

Not only did I have a chance to stargaze, but I also met Kate Jacobs, the author of Friday Night Knitting Club. Kate was a pleasure. My local knitting group had the luxury of having lunch with her and we had a very nice time. Knitting is more of a backdrop in her book, which focuses more on character development. I look forward to seeing the moving when it comes out.


And to really round out my busy week, I finished a sock. The pattern is a Nancy Bush pattern with some modifications. Instead of casting on the called for number of stitches, I reduced the cast on to only 56 stitches. Then, I pretty much worked the pattern as written, with the modifications for the 8 fewer stitches in the heel. I could have made a narrower heel flap. I'll keep that in mind when I knit the next pattern from her book.

Normal Day

During a normal weekday, my time is filled with meetings, spreadsheets, more meetings, documentation, databases, and more meetings. The past week and a half, I took some time off and spent the day with Little Clover. My time was then filled with Legos, cooking, going to the Zoo and more Legos.

We built castles, and saw baby animal, including a baby flamingo.

The baby is the gray flamingo sitting on the ground. I was expecting a much smaller bird than the rather larger one we saw. It was still a cute little thing covered in downy feathers.

In the evenings, I still managed to sneak in a bit of knitting. In fact, I had enough knitting time to finish the front of Anniversary Sweater 2.0.

The sweater is much faster to knit the second time around. With luck and good knitting karma, I'll be able to present the sweater to Italian by the end of the month. Since I've said typed it outloud, I'll be expecting a knitastrophy any minute now.

Happy New Year!

Last night, Italian and I brought in the new year by cooking a wonderful meal and eating it at midnight. Our first meal of the year was a standing rib roast with a mushroom flan served over wilted spinach. We had a lovely wine with the dinner and a fantastic bottle of champagne. The meal ended with a made from scratch chocolate pudding and a toast for more to come in the new year. Italian and I had talked a bit about the previous year and we discussed some possible resolutions. I thought about my stash and the yarn and fibre in it. I also thought about how I'm not one who does well with deprivation. I don't believe in denying myself of things, but I do believe in moderation and delayed gratification. Without further ado, my resolutions for 2008!

Resolutions

1. I will knit from my stash and only buy yarn when it truly speaks to me and after I've given myself a day or two of contemplation.
   
2. I will be fiscally responsible and not shop for myself this year.
   
3. I will spend time decorating the house, including the gardens. (This is where the moderation comes in. I'm not going to spend money on clothes, instead, I'll spend money at Lowes).
   
4. I will organize the house.
   
5. I will cook more meals at home.
   
6. I will increase my spinning ability.
   
7. I will exercise a few times a week. Playing football/baseball/soccer/indoor hockey with Little Clover counts as exercise.

As of the end of the first day of 2008, I've cooked at home, I've cleaned out some old things from the house we no longer use, I haven't bought any yarn (or anything else), and I played a short game of indoor hockey. So far, I'm doing okay.

Plus, Italian's sweater is coming along swimmingly! I'm almost done with front. I'll show you a picture later this week. In the meantime, Happy New Year! May this year be filled with half the sorrow and twice to joy of the last.

Just from the stash

The lack of blogging is yet again due to my shockingly busy work life. I was called out to Minneapolis for a last minute three day working session the week before Christmas. Fortunately, Minneapolis was experiencing unseasonably warm weather and stayed in the high 20s (F). Considering I was leaving 50 degree weather, it was still cold. At least I got to see snow. Then once I got home, we began the mad rush which is also know as the Christmas season.

Italian and Little Clover baked the best sugar cookies ever.
The secret is to add a little bit of cinnamon to the batter. The cookies were for Santa and made with an extra dash of childhood belief to compliment the cinnamon.

While the boys were busy making cookies, I baked one of my prettiest apple pies. The pie even received compliments on its taste.

We then cooked a couple of other dishes for Christmas dinner, finished some Christmas shopping, and the wrapping of gifts. Yep, we still had to finish the Christmas shopping. At least the Christmas knitting was done in November.

While we were at the store buying last minute gifts and ingredients, I found an entertainment center at a very reasonable price. I introduced Italian to this lovely piece of furniture and we proceeded to have a "discussion." Italian, being a woodworker, has lovingly offered to build all the furniture we need. He has a slight aversion to actually spending the money to buy the wood. So, I offered (brace yourself) to only knit from my stash for a year, this is how badly I want an entertainment center. Italian turned me down. He knew something I didn't. He knew for Christmas, in addition to the sweater's worth of Noro I received from my parents, I would be getting two more sweaters worth of yarn, five skeins of sock yarn, a Sheep to Sock kit, and three pounds of fibre for spinning. I have added an extra bin to my stash pile.

He doesn't think knitting from my stash would be much of a sacrifice. I think he's right. Plus, he asked how my LYS owner would survive if I didn't shop for a year. I can't be responsible for causing other people stress. After seeing the new additions to the stash, Italian asked if I got too much yarn for Christmas. I assured him there is no such thing as too much yarn.

After Christmas, I did get some more spinning done, and I made a bit of progress on Italian's sweater.

We even got took a little trip to the zoo and saw a reindeer.

So far, the Christmas season has been filled with a little bit of rushing, a lot of fun, a dash of belief and magic, and wrapped up in rest. I'm looking forward to greeting the new year with a rejuvenated spirit (a lots of fun new yarn).

Merry Christmas!

Wool hats and 70F

While the temperature outside was climbing above 70F (21C), I was inside finishing a wool hat. Finishing the wool hat is a good thing though because it is suppose to be 35F (2C) tonight.

The hat is a pattern of my own. I casted on 96 stitches and did a knit 2, purl 2 rib for about an inch, then changed to a 6 stitch cable with two stitches of purl between each cable set. The yarn is really the focus of the hat for me. The yarn is a corridale wool I spun. It is the first thing I spun outside of my spinning lessons and I thought the end result was okay, but by no means great. Italian thought the hat was okay and gave it little notice until I casually mentioned I spun the yarn. Then, he became excited about it.

The hat definitely has a homey slubbiness to it which I think is common for most first time spinners. If you look closely, you can see where the yarn is overspun and underspun and too thin and too thick. It will still keep my head warm and I think I love the hat.

Speaking of hats, I had a moment of pride this week. While in St. Louis, I taught Teelee how to knit. I followed the guidelines of the Yarn Harlot who recommends starting off new knitters with a hat instead of a scarf. A hat will provide faster gratification than a scarf, and I agree this is a very good strategy for increasing our numbers. For teaching her how to knit, Teelee in return, sent me a picture of her first FO. I'm so proud!

Is this thing on

Nana Clover comment this weekend that she can tell when I have a busy week because I don't blog. As you may have noticed, I didn't blog last week. Instead, I tidied up the house, preparing it for the mess which is holiday decorating, we had an awesome dinner with a couple of friends, I shopped for presents, we attended a couple of Christmas parties, we saw the play "White Christmas," and we celebrated Christmas with Nana Clover, Papa Clover, and my nephew. Notice knitting was not included.

Yep, we celebrated Christmas. This meant that although Christmas is still 15 days away, my knitting deadline was this past Friday for at least one gift. I think Nana Clover was happy with this years gift of wool. I also have a sneaking suspicion from one of her comments that she did not heed the warnings on my blog to not scroll down and look at the knitting. I know for a fact that Mrs. Soprano didn't heed the warning either, but I think she'll still be a little bit surprised.

Having an early deadline also means I have an earlier reward. Yay! I've been eyeing a Noro sweater at my LYS and my parents gave me the yarn for my gift. I can't wait to cast it on, after I complete the Anniversary Sweater Part 2.

I know I said I didn't get to knit last week, but that isn't completely true. I did actually knit, but not enough to feel as if I knitted, and definitely not enough to satiate my need to knit. The Anniversary Sweater Part 2 is coming along and growing. I've finished the back and have begun knitting the front.

 

It is being knit in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino which is almost as soft as the Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk I used for the first Anniversary Sweater. The pattern is popping a lot more on this one. I picked a blue with a little bit more gray which makes the blue lighter. He does still have the first one and is more open to me frogging it when I pointed out the sweater has 10 inches of ease now (he lost a little weight) and is 5 inches shorter than it was when it was cast off. The Alpaca silk acts really weird when water hits it. I did promise him he would get another sweater from the alpaca yarn. Plus, I've hidden the sweater so he won't wear it out in public.

I've also cast on for a little winter hat. I'm hoping the temperature will dip below 75 degrees so I can actually wear it.

 

The yarn for the hat is just plain old corridale wool. It is the first yarn I spun outside of two spinning lessons. It should be a nice sturdy hat. I didn't set the yarn after I spun it, so I have no idea what is going to happen to the hat when I block it. Won't that be exciting?

With some luck, this week will give a little more time to blog and knit.

Why I love Donald Sobel

I discovered last week while traveling for Thanksgiving that I greatly underestimated the power of Encyclopedia Brown. We had a 3 hour drive ahead of us Wednesday evening, and being an experienced traveling mom, I grabbed the travel activity bag to ensure it was well stocked. In the bag, I keep some activity books, crayons, a pen, a pencil, a comic book, car appropriate games, a portable dvd player, a case of dvds, and snacks. Everything looked fine so I only added the Encyclopedia Brown Little Clover was currently reading. We hit the road Wednesday evening fueled with coffee and began our journey.

Once we hit the interstate, Little Clover turned on his light and asked if we would like to listen to him read. He then proceeded to read and finish the one book I packed that was intended to last the entire Thanksgiving holiday. So, what did we do? We pulled off the interstate for a detour and found a bookstore.


Once we refreshed his supply of books, we piled back into the car and continued on with the rest or our Thanksgiving tradition of food, bonfires, and paintball.

The food part with family is always a fun experience and this year was no exception. The food continues the day after with a bonfire in the woods of Tennessee, which is also when the paintballing begins. As odd as the whole thing sounds, we have a wonderful time. The teams are split between the older generation and the younger cousins. Before you feel sorry for the older group, I think you should know they include former and current military personnel. They can hold their own.


Before we headed back home, I got to see a memory be made. My dad and my son took out the canoe together and paddled across the lake. Little Clover was thrilled with being in a canoe and even more excited about paddling. I was thrilled with watching the two of them beaming with happiness.


As for the furnace saga, the furnace and I just could not come to terms. I wanted to keep the house, so the furnace left. We found a replacement and are enjoying the new relationship.

Apology

Dear Furnace,

Let me begin by expressing my deepest apologies for not giving you the attention you deserve. I am truly sorry for not spending more time with you before this weekend. When we left Wednesday without so much as a "See ya," you must have been crushed and I can understand how lonely you must have felt. I can also understand if you are jealous of the attention we have been giving the fireplace, but throwing a temper tantrum and refusing to work is no way to get my attention. Please believe me when I tell you that the fireplace is nothing more to me than a little flame. You are the one I really need each winter. I hope to have you back soon.

I miss you,
Irish Clover

Thank goodness for big men's sweaters to keep one's lap warm while the furnace misbehaves.

Reality Check

Cliches and phrases are a very common part of everyday speech, but not all cliches and phrases are equally relevant or true. I've heard one particular phrase quite a bit in the last few weeks and I would like to start a campaign to have this phrase banned, for good.

"Perception is reality."

I hate this sentence; I really, really do. I hate it with an amazing passion, and not because it is overused. I hate it because it is dismissive and defeatist and flat out wrong. I think knitters, more than anyone else, know just how inaccurate the statement is.

Think of all the knitters out there who have knit a gargantuan sock, one too large for Big Foot, who honestly perceived the sock as maybe big enough to fit their husbands' feet. They may have even been a bit concerned the sock would be too small. They happily knitted away as the sock grew to the size of Delaware and then casted off, only to be shocked when their dear hubbies slipped the sock over both feet... at the same time. These knitters believed the sock would fit. According to the statement above, their perception of the size of the sock should have been enough to make it a reality, but it didn't because the statement is wrong, people! Just because someone, or a group of someones, perceives something as true and real doesn't mean it is true or real.

Think back to the middle ages when all of Europe believed the world was flat. They looked around and said to each other, the world must be flat because it looks flat. Everyone then acted as if the world was flat because the flatness was part of his reality. People didn't wonder far from home or sail too far out into the ocean because they were worried they would fall off the earth. Then one voice stood up and looked around and decided he was going to question this "reality." He had daring to think beyond the small dismissive thinking of everyone else and to search for what was truly real.

Saying "Perception is reality" keeps people from pushing the envelope and making advances and finding new interest and finding the talents in others. Saying it is the same as throwing up one's hands and saying "Oh, well, that's what someone else thinks. It is right because he thinks it is right. I must now let it impact my reality, and there is nothing I can do to change."

Well, I'm not going to take that attitude. People may perceive me as the voice of doubt or a nonconformist, but really, I'm the voice that asks, "Are you sure you believe that? Why don't you look at that sock one more time. I know, how about trying it on as you knit! You may be surprised by what you find."

Almost done

Fall arrived this year. For most people, fall is a given. It happens every year at the same time. This is not so for us in the Delta. Some years, the leaves on the trees turn a muddy brown and drop like burnt pieces of paper. This year, though, we are experience the full technicolor joy of fall. Little Clover and I have been watching the leaves change during our drive to school each morning. The leaves are reaching their peak and are starting to strewn the ground in reds, yellows, and oranges. With some luck, the changing leaves will bring cooler weather. I'm ready for sweaters and hats and gloves. I'm also ready to finish my Christmas knitting.

Holiday knitting below
Pattern: Fetching
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft in dark blue, 2 balls
Changes: I made the cuff longer and the glove portion longer. I also added a seed stitch border at the top and bottom. The top border flares a bit, so I would recommend knitting it on one size smaller needles.
Notes: The Cashsoft is perfect for this pattern. The knit fabric is dense and warm.


My original goal was to finish the holiday knitting by the end of October. Then I realized I didn't need the additional stress in my life, so I'm finishing the Christmas knitting in the middle of November instead. I'm still ahead of the game and I can stress myself out with reknitting the River Forrest Gansey for Italian, by Christmas.

On another note entirely, Sunday was Veteran's Day in America. We didn't do a very good observing the day at Clover Field, so today, I would like to thank everyone in the Armed Services, especially those in mine and Italian's families. Thank you for your sacrifices. Thank you for safeguarding my freedoms. Thank you for doing a job that many of us are unwilling to do. Thank you. To those currently fighting overseas, I wish you safe journeys home.

One Week

What happens when you don't blog for a week? You finish a sweater:

Pattern: Sahara
Yarn: Tilli Thomas Pure and Simple and Disco Lights
Size: Medium
Notes: I hate the yarn. Really, I do. It is a beautiful yarn, but it pills while knitting and the Disco Lights skein had five knots. Yep, five annoying troublesome knots. There is no way I would buy Tilli Thomas again, and I can't recommend it. Other than the horrid yarn, I really like the sweater. It fits nicely and is very flattering. Italian loves it. It is not a difficult knit at all. The shaping is easy to do. The only modification I made was to shorten the length by 2 inches at the hem.

Happy Halloween!

I started thinking about my goal to finish all the Christmas presents and the Sahara by the end of October and realized my sanity is just way too important. Now, I'm striving to finish Sahara by the end of the month, and I might just make it not miss the deadline by too much. I would love to wear it to a party this weekend and with some luck, I might just have it blocked and ready. This means that Christmas knitting at home has ceased, but it is continuing in small little bits during my lunch break.

I've had a decent amount of knitting time at home in the evenings. We've gotten into the groove with school for Little Clover and soccer season is now over, giving us a little more time. Plus, he has a short week this week which translates into less stressful evenings for us. With this additional time, I've managed to knit the entire body and finish the shirttail hem with the main yarn.

I opted to use Japanese shortrows instead of the more traditional wrap and turn method. I like the slight slanting of the stitches, but I'm not completely sure I did it correctly.

On a practice swatch, the stitches are pretty much invisible. (If I had found the practice swatch, you would have seen the picture here. The practice swatch is wherever I put it when I cleaned up. I should do less of that.) One big difference on the practice swatch is that there are five stitches between each shortrow section because the slope is more gradual. With the shirttail, the shortrows do not have any stitches between each row, resulting in a much steeper slope. I'll see how the stitches end up when I finally blog the sweater.

I'm still not sure how much I like the Tilli Thomas, but the knitting of it has gotten better. Maybe I had a really bad skein.

So, how did I manage to have all this time to knit? Well, the guys kept themselves busy reading Encyclopedia Brown and then playing Detective as they tried to reenact the cases in the book. Here they are with their "Detective" coats, analyzing the "crime scene."






Then, the next night, they had a pumpkin carving party. Xavier Guy even came over to join in the fun.

Little Clover took full ownership of his pumpkin and pretty much carved it all by himself (with supervision).

I must say, I'm pretty impressed.


Happy Halloween

Happy Birthday

Today we celebrate Mrs. Soprano, and I'd like to send her a very happy birthday wish. She has been a wonderful mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother to our family. I hope she knows she is well loved, and may today be filled with many happy moments. Happy Birthday!

Knitting on the Christmas presents continue and I'm about halfway done. My goal is to finish the presents by the end of October (which is only a week away), so that I can enjoy November and December relatively holiday stress free. I finished another gift last night while we watched the Colts game (picture at the bottom).

Of course, I'm not content without stress, which is why I've decided to knit Little Clover's holiday sweater this year. I think this is borderline crazy, especially since I still haven't finished Sahara.

I am making progress though! The Tilli Tomas still disappoints me. I would not recommend purchasing this yarn. It may be soft and feel heavenly, but it looks dirty and is already starting to pill even though I'm only knitting it and haven't really put it to use yet. For the price of the silk, I think you could find better substitutes. The construction of the piece is very interesting. The sweater is knit flat for the V-neck section and then joined after the very low V is complete. I almost made a huge error in the pattern. The pattern tells you to knit flat until the piece reaches a certain measurement from a particular marker. I added this marker a couple of months ago when I started the sweater, so I was measuring from a different marker, placed much, much lower in the sweater. Fortunately, I caught my error before I had made a huge knitting blunder and am progressing merrily (despite the yarn) along.

I also want to finish this sweater before I start on Little Clover's holiday sweater, and since I can't seem to find a little boy pattern I like, I'm just going to make it up as I go. Yep, this is definitely crazy.

Warning! Christmas Knitting!

Pattern: Fetching
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Sport
Modifications: I made the overall gloves longer by adding an extra set of cables at the bottom and knitting more rib at the top before the seed stitch border I added. I also knitted more rows between the bottom of the cable cuff and the thumb. On my next pair, I think I may not knit those extra rows.

Are we having fun yet?

We have a great group of friends in our life. We have friends we see or talk to on a regular basis and we have friends we may not see for months. Fortunately, with the friends we don't see often, when we finally do get together, we seem to pick up right where we left off. This weekend, we had the chance to hang out with a family we haven't seen since January.

Our two boys have been buddies since they were infants. We all meet at daycare when our sons were in the same little daycare room. Since then, we've spent several birthdays and ballgames together with the occasional playdate thrown in here and there. Since the boys have been apart for several months, we worked out a time when our hectic schedules allowed us to get together.

We had a great time! Although we stayed clear of wearing lampshades, we did allow ourselves to get a little crazy.

The dad is a balloon artist, so he whipped up a couple of crazy hats for the grown-ups. We couldn't let the kids be the only ones having fun.

We also allowed ourselves to let loose a couple of weekends ago as well. We took a trip to Nashville to finally have a belated birthday celebration with my family. While there, we sneaked a peek at the Parthenon, and caught a Predators game. The game was fantastic! Nashville has the potential to become a true hockey town. The fans are very, very supportive of the team, evident by the number of jerseys and face paint we saw. We even got into the spirit with a little face paint ourselves.

Speaking of fun, I allowed myself to splurge a little and bought some fleece from the makers of Socks that Rock.
Yummy!! I can't wait to give it a go!

P.S. The balloon artist does do parties.

I really do knit

In case anyone is wondering, I really am knitting and I've got the FOs to prove it. Granted, these FOs are small, but the small things still count. The knitting is one of the few things keeping me calm and relatively stress free.

Warning!!!!
Fall is quickly approaching the southern United States and with the onset of Fall comes the onset of Holiday knitting. This Christmas is a knitting Christmas. If you feel you may be eligible to receive a knitted gift under the tree, then stop reading and do not scroll down. I repeat. Do not scroll down. This warning is in place until the holiday season has been lifted. For friends, the holiday season does not expire until gifts have been exchanged.

Mommy Russian, I mean it. Go. (PS, I do still love you).

I think everyone is gone. Let the pictures commence!

Two Christmases ago, I knitted scarves for the girls in my immediate family. This year, I'm knitting them somewhat matching fingerless mitts. Mommy Russian's mitts completely match her ribbed scarf.

I used the same Brown Sheep yarn to finish off her gloves. The pattern is from the front section of the Interweave Knits Fall 2005 issue. It's hard to believe this month marks my three year knitiversary. On one level, I feel that I have not accomplished a lot in three years. At the same time, I've done quite a bit in three years. I can now add "Spinning" to my list of fibre related hobbies.

For the Engineer, I tried by hand at Fetching.

Overall, I like the pattern, but I think it could be longer, both at the top and the bottom. I used GGH Sublime for the yarn and it is yummy! The picture shows off the cables well. I also added a seed stitch border to the bottom and top of the mitts to draw in the mitts. On the next pair, I'm going to try going down a needle size for the seed stitch at the tops of the mitt to make the fit a bit more snug.

I apologize for the rushed feel of the blog. I wanted to get this post out though so I can show that I really am still a knitter.