...and a partridge in a pear tree

So I don't just keep unfinished knitting projects around for far too long -



I also keep things like this festive brown fire hazard turned nesting bird habitat on my door.

It's nice when the week's science lesson just comes to you without any pesky lesson planning...

I Went Out By Myself

And met THE HARLOT!
You know how this whole knitting subculture has its own celebrities and I felt like such a lame-o fangirl - I have never been like this about anything before knitting - the yarn has completely entangled me and I was giddy like a 12 year old girl meeting... wow, I was going to insert the name of some teeny bopper rockstar then realized that I am so out of it that I don't know any of them - in any case, you get the idea.
She was great. Her talk was a mixture of her signature dry humor and enlightenment about the knitting culture. She was personable even after her week of sock camp and the prospect of having to talk to this whole line of knitting whack-o's bowing down before her.
And she was tolerant even of this one

who showed her the sock on the Addi Turbos where one of the needles was bent at a 90 degree angle and asked if she prayed over needles and made them well ( what a nut job).
Mainly it was fun to just get out by myself. And from the utter exhilaration I felt afterwards, I obviously need to get out more often.

Cute Thing 1

I'm plugging along on mom's linen sweater - i'm definitely not a fast large project finisher - I know a plain stockinette short sleeve tee doesn't seem that large of a project, but I am one very easily distracted person. Especially when I see teeny tiny cute things like this Baby Moc-A-Soc pattern. I just could not stop myself from immediately clicking the order button to get my download RIGHT AWAY. Though I am fairly impulsive, I have shown great restraint when it comes to all the immediate download patterns that are at my fingertips every time I get on the computer, but there was no way to resist this one.
I cast on with some Knitpicks Risata sock yarn even though the only colors I had made a kind of funky combo - and here is #1.


It was quick and #2 is on the needles - these are the cutest things ever.

A Thousand Words

You're Worth It Mom

I swatched.

Maybe if the knitting police saw this they would haul me in for trying to pass off this puny little swatch impersonator as the real thing, but this totally counts as swatching for me.
I was told swatching and washing were absolutely essential in order to believe that the linen would really soften into something wonderful and drapey - and I really needed a reason to believe after giving up on some hemp yarn which I hadn't swatched and felt in its after softening treatment. And the LYS lady (and yarn reviews) were so right - I just love how this Euroflax Linen looks and feels - I kept waving it around at my husband and saying "see how it shines - and feel this - now feel it in the hank - see how it changes? - and look how it just drapes so gracefully". So much love for my little 3 x 1 1/2" swatch.
I've once again determined to make a top for my mom - her birthday was...um...yesterday.

But I'm halfway done and its just plain stockinette and I'm going to do a couple of inches of some sort of lace at the bottom. And I really want to see a whole garment in this yarn after its been bathed and softened up. I'm sure it will then be a very difficult parting, but I've already kept one sweater intended for mom(size issues and I liked that yarn too) so this time, as difficult as it may be to part with it, I will actually give it to her. And I'll have my little swatch as a consolation prize.

Closet Knitting

Despite the cold and snow, it is really spring here which prompted me to do a little spring pre-cleaning. Which basically means no actual cleaning content, just looking around thinking about what I should clean or organize and then getting distracted with something else.
So in my closet I looked inside the plastic overflow tub of yarn(yarn that does not fit in the yarn display cabinet or the baskets on the yarn tower - need to take pictures of those sometime)just to remind myself of what I have in there.

Some nice yarns waiting for me to remember what projects I intended for them and some not so nice stuff that ends up in the tub so I can just pretend it doesn't exist anymore and not count it as stash.
Also in my closet is a stack of knit items that take me down my personal knitting memory lane.


That red thing under the rolled up scarf is my first sweater - Tempting - from a long ago Knitty.
And a plastic bag of baby hats that were supposed to be donated somewhere at Christmastime. (Aha - my size 5 16" circular - that's where you've been all this time!)

And, oh yes, there are my bamboo size 8 needles! On the very beginnings of a Montego Bay scarf that's been under a towel since,uh, maybe August?

The Sea Silk is so lovely but I think I just got tired of so many K2togs and put it aside.

Anyway, upon finding the Sea Silk scarf I just sat down there in the closet and knit on it for a little while and decided that I should just do 3 pattern repeats on it every day and it might get done sometime. And 20 minutes a day alone in the closet sounds highly appealing to me and if I turn on the bathroom fan (the closet is in the bathroom) and close the doors to the closet, bathroom, and my bedroom, I may be able to tune out the various thumps and shouts coming from other parts of the house.
So that's all. Looking forward to the daily closet retreats. Life is so exciting.

Spring???

Quite strange for Seattle in late March.

This and That

I promised my daughter that Pinwheel would be ready to wear by Easter Sunday and here she is ready for church Sunday morning.

it was fun putting the colors together and I just love how simple shapes can turn into garments. However, because of my laziness about adding some stitches and rows to this thing, the sweater is too small for my daughter -

I knit according to the pattern that said it would fit up to a 4 year old - my daughter is almost 6 - a very small 6 but nevertheless, she was not so comfortable in this -


I'm still happy with it though, because of the playing with color and shapes and all the other stuff that a process knitter enjoys even when the end product is not exactly perfect and is now sitting in a crumpled heap on the back seat of the car.


Also, we had a wonderful and colorful Easter -





And our celebration ended with the losing of a front tooth by the oldest boy -
And though it was gray and rained until late afternoon, it was a thoroughly peaceful, pleasant, colorful, satisfying day of celebrating with family and friends the coming of Spring and new life.

Pinwheel

See how much she loves it?

Public Display of Affection

I went up to a perfect stranger who was knitting in Tully's yesterday and asked to feel her yarn - this is a first - it didn't seem odd to me at all, but I think my sister's wanted to just crawl into their nonfat vanilla latte cups. Eh, what do they know?

Feeling the Love

Ahhh - Valentine's Day!
The day when you wake up to the 9 year old crying,"Why didn't you wake me up to say happy valentine's day to dad before he left!" and the 3 year old yelling from his bed, "I"M WET!!". Then at breakfast the 5 year old spills her milk all over the table and floor...and of course I dealt with all of these incidents with the utmost love and patience and gentleness...ahem...yeah...anyway-

In any case, good reminders to me of what love is - taking care of another's needs before my own and even when I don't want to - Love is hard stuff.
But I am so glad God has given me these little ones to push me and challenge me to learn real love because left to myself - well, let's just say self-absorption is not hard stuff for me.

And to round out this Valentine's post, here's something bright red that was a fun quick knit - Foliage hat in Lamb's Pride Bulky - just a little bit of love for me.

In Which I Jump on Another Bandwagon

I'm not quite sure what I started out looking for on Ravelry but I somehow ended up drooling over the Hemlock Ring Blanket - so many people have made or are making it that I figured it was safe to give it a try even though it looks rather intimidating - and its no wonder its so popular - very straightforward knitting and the end product is absolutely gorgeous. Now mine isn't absolutely gorgeous yet - just a puckery flower at the moment, but I am really enjoying it.



I happened to have 2 hanks of the Cascade Eco Wool hanging around - my husband's aunt gave it to me a few years back - so this was another reason I was so excited to start this project.

Also, I saw this at the LYS and had to buy some after touching it - maybe a small scarf or something.



Still working on Juliet and Tree Jacket but they're both at the tedious point where you have to keep doing long rows of the same thing over and over hence the new yarn and new project - gotta keep things fresh!

Peer Pressure

I started this sock many moons ago.



I mean look at it- don't you just want to eat it?
Anyway, I just went to a local knitting group thing and a couple of the ladies were knitting socks and I just thought oh look how fun with all the cool colors and they were talking about how quick they are - and it made me kind of have an itch to finish this (and its mate - maybe).

And also I bought some jeans which has absolutely nothing to do with this sock but was also a result of peer pressure. Two girlfriends and I went jeans shopping last weekend and tried on 70 gazillion pairs of oh so expensive but they'll absolutely perk up your rear and make you look 7 feet tall jeans. But they didn't really work. (NO Really?) I still looked 5'2" and I think the having 3 kids thing has taken away any possibility of perkiness. So we thanked the kind saleslady after our 2 hour dressing room fashion parade and left with just the nice cups of water with lemon that she had brought us.
But today, I visited one of the friends from the jeans outing and she had picked up 5 pairs of jeans at a not so fancy store and had gotten the 5 pairs for what one would have cost at the other store and I suddenly felt the need to resume the quest for a cute, butt perking pair for myself. And so I feel like I am maybe in 9th grade and I just want to do and wear what everyone else is and then I was thinking that I kind of knit like that. Is that Okay - that we all knit the same thing? Is that part of the appeal? Belonging to something?

Peasant

My husband insists this is the goofiest looking hat he's ever seen.
I like it. So I'm going to wear it - I'm all about the goof.


Just Like A Peasant Cap

Call 911

So I was in the shower and all of a sudden I hear blood-curdling screaming coming from outside the door - I jump out of the shower and grab a towel thinking that someone has cut off a finger or started a small fire - I tear open the door and stand dripping wet to find my younger two screaming with tears streaming down their faces - "WHAT HAPPENED?" I yell -

"We accidentally pressed rewind and we can't get the movie to play the right way again!" wails my 5 year old.

Huh?


Here are two works in progress - both Zephyrstyle patterns.
Juliet
I'm using some Red Heart Soft Yarn - It was super super cheap some time and I picked it up. Sorry for the gross mirror.


Tree Jacket
The yarn is KnitPicks Andean Silk that used to be Ariann - she'd been sitting atop my yarn tower since October of 2006 and I thought it was time to finish her or just put her out of her dusty misery - so she's coming back as tree jacket - this is going much more quickly.

Birthday

My oldest son is turning 9 on Monday - I know it doesn't sound like a big number, but it's half way to 18 - how did that happen? Another 9 and he can fly off in any direction he pleases - wasn't he just in sweet little sweaters like this?

I better teach him how to fly right.

10:30am and it's quiet in my house?

This is how we've spent the last few days -


This is day two of laying around for 5 year old and 8 year old who are recovering from some sort of stomach bug.
Everyone is fairly quiet and there's not the constant motion and antagonizing - of course I am sad for them that they're sick, but it's kind of a nice break for me from the noise and making sure I'm on top of all the schoolwork stuff.
My 3 year old is the only one doing his normal thing -


It has actually been fun being able to give him a little more attention - reading and doing puzzles and enjoying his 3 year old cuteness.
And I can blog during the day without feeling guilty that I'm not teaching my children. So here are some pictures I just snapped of a couple small finished and in progress projects.

My So Called Scarf
Yarn:Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Stonechat
Needles: Knitpicks Options size 11


I love the colors. (of the scarf and out my window)- And of course the yarn is soooooo delicious to wear around my neck.

Basketweave Baby Blanket
Yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky - Teal
Needles: Knitpicks Options size 10




And here's the back of a Trellis baby cardigan - I'm using Pakucho organic cotton.
I'm enjoying the cabling (w/out a cable needle-yay!) and also enjoying the fact that I have a recipient in mind for this baby item now that my sister is pregnant.

I bought the Pakucho on Elann - and I just couldn't decide which color as they are all so appealing in there subdued earthiness - so of course I bought some in every color.




5 year old is awake now - break's over.