We Love the Big Brown Truck

A large box arrived on the doorstep today - but no, its not what you're thinking (or my first choice of package on the doorstep contents) - nevertheless an exciting package, especially for the 3 small ones in the house. My parents recently visited China, and like the good, doting, gift-bearing grandparents that they are, they made sure to bring back a whole rickshaw-ful of goodies for the kids. Actually, they didn't do too badly this time - not too many little trinkety things that end up getting stuck in the vents or broken after 3 minutes of play - A few toys for the kids - like you can't find toys Made in China here - but anyway, they also sent these cute little outfits and to my great astonishment the kids actually wanted to try them on and then to my even greater wonder and joy they cooperated and posed for me to snap some photos - This does not happen here ever - our photos are either candid or if they are posed, someone is sticking out a tongue or hanging upside down or there's some serious nose picking in progress, and then there's me in various contortions trying to grab the one getting away - anyway they looked darling.

My parents remembered me too this time - look at this cute bag -


Perfect for a bit'o'yarn and needles and a pattern - I'll be knitting in Asian sophistication rather than having to dig my take-along projects out of my gooey, cheerio crumbed diaper backpack.

Not a lot of knitting today - started the first SKB sleeve - contemplating casting on for Ariann but also contemplating being a well-rested mom to give all involved a better chance for a happy Saturday.

That's Nice

I went to a Bible Study at our Church today and we were introducing ourselves in a small group and of course as part of my intro I have to mention my knitting obsession (or maybe its just a thinking about knitting obsession), but anyway, I felt kind of silly talking about it to people who don't knit - especially when I said I was knitting a sweater for myself and not warm little hats and blankets for the premature and drug filled babies at the Center down the hill - of course this guilt and feeling of awkwardness was self-induced, as all of the ladies had something or other that was a "hobby" or occupied much of their time/thoughts.
But I started thinking about why I spend so much time on this and is it OK that I spend so much time on this when it's purely for me - the act of knitting and the objects that I'm knitting(mostly). I think with 3 kids running around all day "undoing" things I just enjoy having something that I can do that stays done(well mostly or at least once I've frogged seventeen times and added this and that here and there and tied the little gaps closed and called it good) - but anyway, I suppose a Creative God in whose image I am would be OK with me wanting to express some of that creativity right? I think it's the all consuming quality it has for me that makes me feel like I've gone a little overboard sometimes. But I've always been a little unbalanced I guess.

Well, how about a little yarn to lighten up a self-absorbed, ponderous post.


Some Rowan Calmer I bought a few months back on Knit Happens - it was on sale for 7.95 a ball -regularly 11.95 or so - It's slated to become a log cabin blanket for my little girl, but we'll see what happens - anyway I was so excited - and actually I'm getting excited now just remembering how excited I was to find it. See? this is what happens - the colors, the soft squishiness, the thought of it becoming fabric through my hands - too much - or maybe just the right amount of something for me to balance all that goes out everyday to everyone else - I think I'm alright for now.

Relief?

I feel so light and free now that those two baby sweaters are on a UPS truck somewhere on their way down to California. I'm going to finish Simple Knitted Bodice and with the Andean silk that was intended for SKB I'm going to start Ariann - I just really like how the Chicknits patterns are so classic looking - I've bought two other patterns from Chicknits as well, Scoop du Jour and the Ribby Cardigan(which I think has attained star status in the knitting community). I haven't started knitting either of these, just felt like I really needed those patterns for sometime. Meanwhile, I still have the beginnings of Lanaknits "Lacy Little Top" in Allhemp 3 sitting atop my yarn tower - the tower that used to hold towels in the bathroom but now holds baskets of yarn due to my insatiable need to store yarn just in case you know - And the first 3 "logs" of a log cabin blanket for my son - and I need to start blankets for my other two kids as well(for Christmas) - and the Soleil sweater I promised my mother for her birthday that happened back in April - Whoa! I started out this post feeling all happy and relieved and now look - all this stuff I forgot I HAVE to do.
I'm going to bed - I'll try again tomorrow.

Finally

Look what I finally finished!


The little peach baby sweater - only a month after I vowed to have it done - my mother has been gracious even though the recipient has already arrived(early)- I'll mail it down to CA tomorrow and release all my guilt and stress over unfinshed projects - and then I'll start something else (before finishing 4 other things still on needles!) There's a cute new cardigan pattern at Chic Knits - Oh my wandering heart - But better to be adulterous in my knitting than in other areas right?

So small

Could a baby head really be this small?
They grow up so fast. I'd almost forgotten how
you can cup there little head in your palm when they're
just brand new. This is for the new baby of Sorry the Band's
drummer. The only one of three who did not have a kid until now.
This might be the end of my Computer Guy's rock star dreams.

Progress

I only have 3 more rows of edging at the bottom of my SKB and I'm done with the body!!
These pictures were taken a few inches before the point where I am now so just envision another 3 inches or so after this.


I tried to make the V neckline a little wider and deeper - the size small pattern as written yields a neckline that looks like the short sleeve version picture but I wanted the neckline to look more like the one on the long sleeve picture(which is actually a M size sweater on an XS model;I asked Stitch Diva studios about the discrepancy in the looks of the two modeled sweaters) - but anyway, I think I may have overdone it. But I guess it doesn't matter as long as I have something on underneath - Or maybe it does matter and people can just say "tsk tsk what a little hussy" -
Anyway I think I like it - I also did the lace a little lower and narrower than the pattern and exchanged seed stitch for the purl ridges. Final pictures with sleeves hopefully by the end of the week - but I'm not making any promises.

Nothing

I'm too tired to take any pictures right now.
Working on the increase rows before joining in the round on SKB - I'm liking the Shine - it does fuzz a little but the color is so lurvely -
and I still have to add sleeves to Mini SKB and the little peach baby sweater.
Here - i'll stick in a picture of "edible earth"- our science lesson from the other day - layers of the earth replicated with marachino cherry, marshmallow, rice crispy treat, with a layer of peanut butter and chocolate cookie crumbs spread over the whole thing. Great stuff.

Shoot- I don't have those saved on the computer yet and my mouth is hanging open and I'm about to fall off this chair. My bed is calling me.

My Heart Goes Pitter - Patter

Is it so weird that my heart does that when I see that plump and juicy looking bag sitting on my doorstep? After enjoying a wonderful and surprisingly peaceful day at the Fair with 3 small children, all the happy memories we've created vanish from my mind to be replaced by complete and utter yarn lust. And my hands are all fumbling with excitement as I try to get the bag open - is it just so pathetic that yarn excites me to this degree?
Anyway, I got my Knitpicks order - Andean Silk in Sangria, Shine Worsted in Sea Spray(or something aquatic like that), and a little taste of Gloss in Woodland Sage.

I think I'm going to end up using the Shine for my Simple Knitted Bodice - i'd planned to use the Andean Silk but I just so love the greyish silver color of the shine - and there are plenty of other projects I "have to knit" for which the Andean Silk will be just wonderful.

I need to stop rubbing the yarn on my face and start knitting now. good bye.

Mini Knitted Bodice

Here's another "little thing".
I modified the Stitch Diva/Glampyre Simple Knitted Bodice pattern to work for my 4 year old daughter - I had to bribe her with tic tacs to try it on - I started it as the XS size sweater using Dale of Norway Svale for which my gauge was about 6 stitches per inch on size 5 needles- I increased more frequently at the neckline so it wouldn't be so low - slipped the arm stitches off when they were appropriately sized for a little girl sized arms - joined and knit a few rows then decreased 13 or 14 stitches and did the lace panel without going to smaller needles - knit for longer after the lace - until I thought it looked right.
It's so much fun to knit these top down things.

Anyway, my Knitpicks order is not here yet - Andean silk in Sangria for the SKB and some Shine worsted for something else but I don't know what - hopefully I won't be too burned out after I finish the Mini Sleeves - I can't wait to start knitting my BIG Knitted Bodice.

AAARRRGGHHHH!!

Don't you hate it when after deliberating for weeks on which yarn to buy and waiting patiently for the month to turn so you can allow yourself without guilt to purchase yarn and then after you decide on which yarn to buy, you spend a few days agonizing over which color to choose and you finally place that order and heave a sigh of relief, when you then receive an e-mail 5 days later saying that that particular yarn is on sale at 20% off regular price??? DON'T YOU HATE THAT????!!!!!!!!!

I do.

I decided to buy the Andean Silk from Knitpicks for the SKB and while I was at it I ordered a bunch of Shine Worsted because I like it and I thought maybe it could work too and its so cheap. But now that same Shine is even cheaper and I was just a few days off and that sort of thing really drives me bonkers.
I guess I should take consolation in the fact that it was only $2.49 a ball to start with - but I can't - because I'm just like that.

It's Rough Out There

I was up late last night working on a (rough)Rough Draft of SKB - I started with some leftover Plymouth Encore acrylic/wool that I had around then ran out so I got some cheap Red Heart in a fairly close color and kept going - the Encore is OK but the Red heart, well I could hardly move it across the cable of my needles it was so sticky - anyway I persevered and this is what I have -
I'm not going to knit the whole thing in this yarn but I just had to see how the V neck would hang on me and see how the small would fit around my chest.


So as I was knitting late night on my SKB,I hear this little sqeaking sound - at first I thought it was my daughter waking up but then it kept happening and I realized it was outside - there is a designated "protected natural area" behind our backyard - it's one of the reasons we liked this house - it affords a little privacy and beauty in the midst of the Development - but anyway there was rustling in the "natural area" and then snarling and growling and that sad sad sqeak squawk sound of some small animal being eaten - I stood near the window just horrified - more rustling, growling, crunch (bone?) ughhh, rustling as something trotted off, then quiet - I just sat there and my heart was pounding and I felt sick. I guess it's always happening - animals eat animals - but I don't know that I'll be able to enjoy sitting out on the back deck at night anytime soon. I know it was a dog or coyote or something but I couldn't help thinking of Gollum. ARGHHH!! I need to get my hands on some nice quieting yarn to get my mind off of it so I can sleep tonight -and sorry I had to write it down - helps to get it out of my system.
I guess I'm not much of a nature girl.

Just Do It Already

My August 30th deadline has come and gone - see how I avoided posting yesterday?
I finished one of the baby sweaters but the other still awaits its top half -
oh well - you can't really be the loser if you're the only player right?
Anyway, I've been much too busy with really important matters like ruminating on my Something Sensibly Priced vs. Tilli Tomas decision - I've taken another step down that slippery slope - TT color cards are on their way to my house - I don't know how many times I've gone back and forth from this site to that looking at various yarns and coming back to TT - But I can't seem to take the plunge either way...
So I won't be starting the KAL that is beginning tomorrow - I'll be plugging along on teeny sleeves and upper body of little peach baby sweater - and knitting something is better than not knitting anything right? Or maybe I'm really just afraid to get in the game -

I'm the Sucker

I want that silk yarn - that oh so expensive 100% spun silk Tilli Tomas yarn - even though I know that Simple Knit Bodice is not going to fit like the one on the fair skinned, ever so slender, dark haired little pretty in the picture because she's wearing a too big sweater all pinned in the back to look drapey yet fitting - I still want that yarn - The Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton Silk would work just fine for so much less money but I can't stop looking at that sheeny, shiny, flowy yet substantial silk - its the dream - the dream of that perfectly drapey yet clingy in all the right places pixie princess on a hill sweater that doesn't exist for moms of three with perfectly drooping boobs and childbirth hips - and still I click on over to the Tilli Tomas and the perfectly fixed picture that cannot be(without modifications) A picture is worth a thousand words - and thousands of dollars in yarn sales.

Little Things

I finished the little blue baby sweater for my mom's co-worker - looks cute if you don't look to close. It still needs buttons.

And now 3 days to finish the litle girl one - but all I really want to do is work on mini Simple Knitted Bodice - I can't think right now with Snook the Sloth singing "the way of the bog" in my ear -
my brain feels like it's sitting in the middle of a bog these days - foggy, muddy,dark slimy and oh so slow - I think that's why I can't seem to finish adult size things - I was looking back through my finished knits and I only have two adult size sweaters finished - there are lots of hats,scarves,booties, a few baby sweaters - all teeny tiny things - its all my attention span can span - Little kids just suck it right out of you (literally, I just weaned my 2 year old) - but then I think gosh they're so cute and it goes by so fast and all that nostalgic bogging me down with teary eyes and sniffles stuff - and I need to be more present for them like right now when my little guy is yelling for me to open his dinosaur container and I'm here in my alternate knitting universe all annoyed and frustrated that I can't finish one post without being interrupted - what kind of mother am I?!!!
The kind that puts knit items on a stuffed monkey because there are no 3-6 month olds nearby at one in the morning -


A baby dress made from leftover Knitpicks Shine - I think its kind of cute- especially on Bobby Jack.

Low tech

I can't get the pictures to go where I want them - or the right words to go with the pictures - and how do people get all those fancy buttons and flashy gizmo click me things on the sidebar? But this is kind of fun for me anyway - is it all right to have a plain Jane blog? Or maybe I should just go dust off my diary from 5th grade with the little lock and key -
I'm seaming that little blue sweater - its a little wonky looking - not the seaming but the actual sweater - just do what the pattern says next time right?
I'm sure there are directions somewhere about how to get all those links and things going too - I really do know how to follow directions - my knitting and blogging just haven't found that out yet.

Needles(s) to say...

...I am not knitting at the moment(precisely because I SHOULD be) but I do have pictures of the two little sweaters I have vowed to finish by August 30th - I know you are all turning blue with the suspense and excitement.


...And here is the humble beginning of my mini Simple Knitted Bodice.



...And a picture to scare away anyone who may have somehow stumbled upon this.

Sweet dreams :)

Yearbook

Thought I would just stick a few more pictures of some things I've knit.

A little baby sweater - I just added some cables to the Daisy baby pattern from Knitty Summer '03
Soleil from Spring '05 Knitty - A little big on top but I've worn it a few times and no one has stared and pointed
Lace from Soleil - oooh, ahhh

In the round booties from Melanie Falick's "Knitting for Baby"

One of my first projects during my Fall '04 learning to knit Hat-o-rama. Awww, so cute

It's kind of like hauling out the HS yearbook and realizing you didn't look quite as great as you thought you did - I haven't taken pictures of my current Works (Not) In Progress - I'm wasting all my late night knitting time trying to figure this blog thing out.

I really do knit sometimes

Just my hands and some ugly yarn

Washcloths - two from Mason-Dixon Knitting and some of my own
Experimenting with variations on Log Cabin knitting - inspired by Woolly Thoughts

"Toosmalligina"

One panel of my "toosmalligina" ("finished" June 2006) - now 6 balls of nice pink Cotton Classic - my first complete frogging of an almost completed object - I had finished the back, front, joined and done the ribbing and tried it on excitedly to find that I had grossly miscalculated when trying to substitute a slightly thicker yarn for the one in the pattern - my sides were overflowing the lovely lace and no seam on earth would be able to reign them in - I then actually considered wearing it without seaming the sides - confirmation of the seriously delusional state at which I have arrived.

I have since bought some Jaeger Siena which I know should knit up in an appropriate fashion. (See version of "Orangina" knit in black Jaeger Siena atKnitandtonic) I will follow directions the first time. I will follow directions the first time. I will follow directions...

Distraction

Why do I look at those two tiny, easy little sweaters, one of which is so close to being finished - why do I look at those and pass them by and start yet another project? It seems anytime I have a knitting deadline of some sort(in this case the arrival of two babies coming to coworkers of my mom's) I go on a frantic search for something else to put on my needles. I've become enamored of the Simple Knitted Bodice pattern by Stefanie Japel - bought the pattern from Stitch Diva and have begun a small sample sweater- I had some dk weight cotton/viscose/silk and figured out if I knit the XS size with size 5 needles and this yarn the sweater would fit my little girl - At least I haven't bought new yarn for a me sized sweater.
And meanwhile the first 3 inches of the Lacy Little Top in Allhemp3 which has been languishing in its box for 2 months is suddenly beckoning.
But anyway all this to avoid what? Those two little baby sweaters are sweet and simple but alas, I HAVE to make them - that's what it is I think. When the knitting becomes HAVE to I shut down. But I won't let my mom down - I, who never commit to a deadline if I don't absolutely have to am setting one for myself - August 30th - they will be done - Maybe this imaginary accountability will spur me on and if it doesn't motivate me it really doesn't matter right? Because I could just lie all over this thing and no one would know or care - but knitters aren't ever liars of course - I'll figure out how to post pictures so you can know I'm on the knitting up and up.