Hello Jackie

Superdorable!

2009-05-21T16:05:00.010-04:00

On Tuesday Ysolda Teague was at Yarn & Fiber signing her new pattern collection Whimsical Little Knits. The booklet is filled with super cute patterns including a few hats, a sweet little dolly, booties (grown up and bitty), a totally awesome blanket and the Ishbel shawlette.

The Girl and Nathan played with all the cute little stuffies that Ysolda brought, and of course Mousie was the Girl's first request for me to knit her. I grabbed some self striping yarn and whipped him up in a couple of days (I know, he's pink, but it's still him).

Details:
Yarn: Really don't know
Pattern: Mousie by Ysolda Teague
Started: May 19
Finished: May 20

I totally recommend knitting any of Ysolda's patterns, they are really well written and well thought out. I love when a pattern is perfect!

Some other pictures from the signing:

The stuffies in a row, Otto, Elijah, Sophie and Poppy

The Girl in Verity (love this hat)

Me and Ysolda (how cute is she?)

A Blog Post

2009-04-24T16:31:00.007-04:00

Wow, really? I guess it has been quite a while since I last posted. It's not like I haven't been knitting, because I definitely have. Since the last post, I've made three more afghan squares, two hats, two pair of felted clogs, two sweaters for The Girl, two baby hats, one baby sweater, one big girl sweater (mine) and two Easter baskets. The one project that's made me want to actually post is this one:

Look, it's a child-sized 103-1 Drops a-line jacket!. Oh this one is love city, baby. I was talking to Gina a couple of weeks ago on the phone and was asking her opinion as to weather I should try to make this in a child size by knitting at a smaller gauge. Not only did she tell me to go for it, she also gave me the yarn for my birthday to make it.

Details:
Pattern: Drops 103-1
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash, color 824
Start date: April 11
Finish date: April 23
Modifications: Knitted the XL size with size 7 needles on worsted weight yarn to make a size 4. Also knitted sides and back pieces together.

Bonus extra pictures, since I took 99.

And it only cost me one Littlest Pet Shop toy to get her to model!

FO Monday

2009-01-19T10:09:00.007-05:00

I'm so totally super excited for tomorrow. I was actually thinking of keeping the Boy home from school so he could watch the inauguration with me, but I figure they'll probably so something at school for it (I hope) and he's already listened to (part) of Dr. King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech with me today, I've bored the pants off of him already. Enough with the history mom, let me play the wii.

I have a couple of finished objects to show off, first up, Bella's Mittens:

These are so quick and warm and yummy. My only complaint is they're hard to get on and off (I need to take off my entire coat). I have started just putting them on after my coat and rolling them up. I used Misti Alpaca Chunky because I already had one skein of it, so I only needed to buy one more.

Second up, I've joined the Ravelry group A Year in A Blanket (Ravelry link) and I'm making my first afghan/throw. The idea is you knit a square a month for 12 months. I'm doing log cabin squares in Noro Kureyon. The first square went so fast and was really fun. I'm looking forward to February (although I may cheat and start my Feb. square early).

The last FO is one that I'm really happy with. I've been wanting to make this forever, and asked for the yarn for Christmas. This was the first thing I cast on for in '09.

(I love this picture - the Girl and Ben at story time)

Details
Pattern: Child's Cable Jumper by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, Color 205, 4.5 skeins
Size: 4 T
Mods: Started the largest size and quickly determined that it would be waaaaaay too big, ripped and cast on for the next smaller size, but used the length for the largest size. I have a tall, skinny girl.
Started: January 1
Finished: January 11

Happy Happy New Year!

2008 Knits

2009-01-12T08:58:00.014-05:00

Oh my goodness. I'm just now realizing that I knit way too much. It doesn't seem like all that much while I'm doing it, but when you stop and count..

Here's my tally for 2008:

13 Hats

(Harvard Square, Chain Chop Hat, Shark Hat, Noro Hat, Three Amandas, 1-up Mushroom Hat, Super Mario Hat, Beret, Fake-out Hat, Presto Chango Baby Hat, Skull Hat, Owl Hat)

Six Toys:

(Mr. Flurry, Super Mario, Super Mushroom, Sheldon, two Sphereys)

Five Adult Size Garments:

(Cobblestone, Drops Jacket, Lush and Lacy Cardi, Mr. Greenjeans, Tapestry Vest)

Four Child Size Garments:

(Retrofit, Child Size February Sweater, Summerlin Dress, V-Neck Pullover)

Four Socks/ Slippers:

(Two Felted Clogs, child socks, one mini sock)

Three Scarves/ Shawls:

(Cocoon Lace Scarf, Icarus, Swallowtail)

Three Baby Sweaters:

(Baby Yoda Sweater, Presto Chango Sweater, February Baby Sweater)

Two pair of Mittens:

(Noro Fingerless Mitts, Child Cabled Mittens)

Two Washcloths:

(Flower Washcloth)

For a grand total of 42 (hehe) 2008 FOs. What is wrong with me?

I have three FOs so far for 2009, pictures next post.

I'm waiting

2009-01-06T15:55:00.006-05:00

for the ice to start breaking tree limbs again. This time, I'm semi-prepared. At least I have a bunch of water and propane.

While I wait to lose power and water, I've been tagged by Caroline. What you have to do is, go to your 4th folder, go to the 4th picture in the folder, tell 4 things about that picture and tag 4 more people. Here goes;

This is a picture of The Boy almost exactly four years ago.
He is modeling a pair of alligator mittens and slippers.
They were a gift from his Papa, who thought they were dinosaurs.
Seeing this makes me cry for some reason.

Okay, I'm wiping my tears and tagging Ericka, Sonya, Heather, and Lisha.

FO - Malabrigo Hat

2008-12-08T11:53:00.004-05:00

The Boy is not fond of scratchy wool. Actually most wool to him feels scratchy, but I refuse to send him out in 10-degree weather wearing a cotton hat. So we compromised. I got some delish malabrigo worsted and let him choose between two colors - he chose Oceanos, smart kid that he is. I decided on the Harvard Square Hat pattern from the new IK and a couple days later, cute non-itchy hat.

Seriously, the temp this morning was ten degrees, so I layered him up, including the retrofit that I knit out of Cascade 220. He is now requesting an entire malabrigo sweater. There's just something that screams "kid of a knitter" about a 7-year old requested a malabrigo sweater, isn't there?

Death of a camera

2008-11-03T11:28:00.006-05:00

Oops, I did it again. I dropped my camera enough times to finally break it. It's only the second camera in three years, so I don't fell that badly about it, but it sucks that I broke two cameras by dropping them. Now have to resort to the screen captures from the digital camcorder for blogging and Ravelry. Here are some of the last pictures taken with the now belly-up camera:

Snow White (thanks again Gina for the material to make the cape)

Mario and Snow White pre-Trick-or-Treating:

Hope your Halloween was fun too!

Retrofits

2008-10-21T15:57:00.004-04:00

I've been loving Jesse Loesberg ever since Avast, but when I saw Retrofit in the new Knitty, I knew that I had to knit it, and knit it small. It was almost perfectly what I'd been thinking of making for The Boy; a cardigan instead of half-zip pullover, but hey, close enough. I asked him only what colors he wanted, and went shopping. After some math I cast on and pretty quickly finished the sweater. I ran right out and purchased a separating zipper (I learn from my friends' mistakes) and there it sat. I even wove in all the ends before attempting to sew in this zipper. I almost never weave in ends, but I was procrastinating. The zipper thing scared the holy crap out of me. I spent two hours on Saturday pinning, unpinning, basting, sewing, ripping out stitches and pinning again. I finally just went ahead and sewed half of it in, and left it in a pile. This afternoon I attempted it again, pinned the other half, basted, and sewed. This half took approximately 1/2 hour. It's done!! Yay! He can wear it now! It looks good!

Here, have some photos:

Details:
Pattern: Retrofit, Fall 2008 Knitty
Yarn: Cascade 220, less than two skeins each color
Started: Sept. 13, 2008
Finished: (Knitting) Sept. 30, 2008 (Sewing in zipper) Oct. 21, 2008
Mods: Cast on fewer stitches to fit 7 year-old

Going to Philly

2008-10-17T10:33:00.011-04:00

Well, actually New Jersey, but the only pictures I took are from the Philadelphia Zoo on Sunday.

What a wonderful zoo. The kids had a blast looking at all the animals and we had such nice weather. I think it's even nicer than the National Zoo in DC, but if you're in the area, the DC Zoo is really spectacular (and free). My favorite were the elephants. The one in front of us was getting a drink:

The kids posed in front of real ones:

(he's holding her head because she kept turning around to look)

and fake ones;

The Boy led the way around the park:

and The Girl had her face painted:

We had a nice time.

Yes, I finally have something to blog!

2008-09-01T10:28:00.010-04:00

It's a fo!

I started this jacket after a trip to Portsmouth with Gina and Julie a few weeks ago. We went to the Yarn Basket’s grand opening sale and they had all this beautiful Lopi on sale. It did not match either gauge the sweater was knit in, but I figured I could block the crap out of it. It turned out pretty good.

Details:
Pattern: Drops Jacket 103-1
Yarn: Reynolds Lopi, charcoal
Started: August 10
Finished: August 31
Mods: Used a weight between the two gauges, following the instructions for the bulky-weight version and blocked to holy hell. Picked up way more stitches for the collar.

My favorite element of this sweater is the collar. It’s just so different.

(that's my sassy look)

I finished sewing the sleeves on Sunday at Yarn and Fiber, and found these adorable skull buttons while there. So perfect for this sweater.

Yeah, it's a classic jacket, but the buttons make it kind of kick-ass.

Oh, and also while there, Jess, Casey and Bob from Ravelry (with couple of their friends) showed up and hung out for a while checking out the store. Yup. I kind of freaked over Bob, who is every bit as adorable as his picture. He deals well with celebrity; he even did a couple of tricks for our entertainment. I did not bring my camera, but I’m sure Gina, Lora, or Caroline will blog theirs. How cool is that?

I <3 Babies!

2008-07-07T10:14:00.005-04:00

I love knitting baby sweaters. This little number was started when The Husband told me a coworker was due with her first baby boy this month. I want to knit the Baby Surprise Jacket, but this one is just quicker. Three days for a sweater, a couple more hours for the matching hat. Talk about instant gratification.

Details:
Pattern: Presto Chango by Valerie Wallis
Yarn: Cotton-Ease Violet, less then two skeins, including the hat
Started: Sunday
Finished: Tuesday

For the hat, I cast on 72 stitches on 7s, knit 2x2 rib for 1" then started the lace panel pattern here. I knit the lace over 16 stitches and the other 56 stockinette. I did three repeats of the pattern then started decreases as follows:
Row 1: *K6, K2tog *repeat until end.
Row 2: *K5, K2tog *repeat until end.
Row 3: *K4, K2tog *repeat until end.
Row 4: *K3, K2tog *repeat until end.
Row 5: *K2, K2tog *repeat until end.
Row 6: *K1, K2tog *repeat until end.
Row 7: *K2tog *repeat until end.
Row 8: K1, K2tog, K1, K2tog, K1, K2tog
Cut yarn and pull through remaining 6 stitches, fasten off.

I still want/need to knit the BSJ, but I'm thinking something self-striping. I just about tore my hair out trying to stripe and follow a three-sentence pattern. I may need more hand holding than that.

In knitting for my own children news, I am just about finished knitting a Super Mario doll for The Boy. It looks like a pile of crap right now, so I'm not posting any progress shots. I am crossing my fingers that it turns out. If it does, I'll post my notes. If not, you'll never hear of it again.

The Girl on the other hand, is harder to please. The cotton ease I used for the baby sweater was originally going to be a Crumpets for her. When faced with that much stockinette however, I scrapped that plan in favor of this cardigan. Well, you would think that I was planning on knitting her a sweater made out of skinned kittens. She was horrified that I was knitting something for her *gasp* NOT PINK. Geez, I love pink and all, but I'm frankly getting a bit sick of the color. Okay, to appease her and give myself a little love, I'm knitting her a cardi with Malabrigo in the Cactus Flower (pink) colorway. I know, it's a thousand degrees out, but Autumn comes early 'round here. She'll be wearing it soon enough.

Stuff I've Finished (and stuff I've not)

2008-06-30T11:59:00.016-04:00

Okay, it's been about three weeks or so since I've blogged (no apologies, just sayin'), and I've finished a few items.

1. The Icarus Shawl:

After seeing Gina's beautiful white Icarus, I immediately bought the same yarn in a different color and cast on. I had the magazine already, but the shawl never jumped at me until I saw Gina's. I tried on hers and fell in love.

Pattern: Icarus, by Miriam Felton Interweave Summer 2006
Yarn: Alpaca with a twist, Fino, almost the whole skein
Started: April 2008
Finished: June 2008
Mods: I left out one repeat of the first chart so I would have enough yarn.

Full-on love all over that one.

2. A pair of socks for The Boy.

I'm planning on making a whole mess of socks this summer for him to wear to school next year. I only had three pair of hand knit socks for this past year, and the rotation was too heavy. He gets so happy when I throw a pair of hand knit socks in the pile of clothes to wear for the day (yes, I still pick out his clothes for him). How can you not knit up a whole mess of socks for a kid who'll really, really appreciate them?

Pattern: My standby Ann Budd pattern from The Handy Book of Patterns
Yarn: Regia Mini Ringel Color
Started: May 2008
Finished: June 2008

3. Teacher's Assistant's Gift washcloths

I love these washcloths. The yarn was a big 'ol pain in the butt until I got used to it and knit accordingly. Paired up with a pretty bar of soap it makes a nice last minute gift. (there was also a green one, but I can't find the picture. It's up on the Ravelry tho)

Pattern: Reverse-bloom Flower Washcloths
Yarn: Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille, yellow and green
Started: June 2008
Finished: June 2008

4. Super Mushroom

OMG I love this thing. I knit it for The Boy who is crazy about Super Mario Bros. (and Super Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario) I'm currently waiting for the yarn to make a knitted Mario. After that, maybe Luigi.

Pattern:
Super Mario Mushroom Knitted Toy by Emily B. Miller
Yarn: Various and odd
Started and finished: June 23rd.

I also started The Most Beautiful Scarf Ever.

This scarf was designed by Gina and named for the awesome Melissa (Lisha to her friends). The lace pattern is so pretty and looks hard, but it's not. It's perfect in solid yarn or variegated, and I love the cashmere. Can't wait to finish!

Pattern: Lisha Lace Scarf, by Gina House
(If you click, ignore the dorky model. I heard she works for yarn.)
Yarn: Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere

Oh, and I've also started two baby sweaters (Presto-Chango and Baby Surprise) and I'm trying a February Baby Sweater in a larger gauge for The Girl. The wips just keep piling up.

Cupcakes and memes

2008-06-06T10:41:00.003-04:00

Okay, first the cupcakes. Last week was The Boy's 7th birthday. I don't really know how he just keeps getting older when I stay the same exact age. I made cupcakes for the class, because I always wanted to be the kind of mom that makes cupcakes for the class. You know the type? Yup. I want to be Mrs. Brady. It's not going to happen, of course. I think the polyester pantsuit would be too much.

The cupcakes are a start, anyway.

I was tagged by Gina for a meme so here:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Nothing good. I was living by myself and going out partying (drinking and dancing) with my friends a lot. I thought it was pretty fun at the time. I was still a year away from meeting my hubbo.

2. What are 5 things on my TO-DO list for today?
Laundry, vacuum, make dinner, give the girl a bathie, pick up the boy from school, and go out to Friday Night Knitting Group <--yay! Oh, that's six. Well I still have to do them all.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
English muffin with cheese, cereal, nuts, fruit.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Hire a full-time cleaning person and buy a vacation home. Make that two cleaning people.

5. Places I have lived:
Revere, Everett, Brighton
NH

6. Jobs I have had:
Admin. Assistant, Documentation Analyst, Human Resources Associate

7. Bloggers I am tagging for this MEME:
Julie
Gigi

There is knitting, just nothing really photographable. I knit one sock for the boy. It's the first in a series I'm calling the Summer of Boy Socks. I'm going to see how many pairs I can knit him before school starts up again. That boys just loves a handknit sock. I'm also plugging away on my Icarus shawl. I love this thing, and can't wait to finish, but damn the rows are getting long. Hopefully this weekend.

Quick and Easy

2008-05-27T09:13:00.005-04:00

I love a fast FO.

I've had this cute dress on my pattern radar for a while, but recently going through my fabric stash I came across this beautiful fabric. I had just the perfect color of Cotton-Ease to match, so I decided to take a break from never-ending shawl knitting to whip out this bad boy.

It came out totally big for her (note to self: start swatching), but with the straps tied up in the back it was wearable. She loved it and only took it off at bath time. This is a girl who LOVES clothes and goes for at least one costume change a day.

I've already started another one in yellow to go with some really cute citrus-print seersucker I have in the stash. Maybe the apron-style top.

A Sweater Story

2008-05-19T09:38:00.004-04:00

I have nothing to show today. I'm still knitting the crap out of my Icarus shawl. The rows are getting l o n g e r. I just started chart no. 2. I should have this complete in a week or so (I'm hoping). The mermaid sweater is getting a row here and there. I have only just completed the first gusset. This might be the hardest pattern I've done to date. It occurred to me recently that my very first sweater, knit over two years ago, is still in use. The Christmas after I started knitting my mother-in-law gave me yarn, pattern, and needles for a sweater for The Girl. I laugh now remembering the story of how she went into the yarn store and requested materials for a cashmere sweater for a one-year-old. The salesperson talked her down from her cashmere fantasy and sold her some washable yarn and a pattern easy enough for a beginner.

It took me three months to knit that beginner sweater. I was knitting it when I first started going to my (awesome) knitting group. It was a little long for the girl then.

But it's just the perfect thing to wear on chilly spring mornings now.

(yes, I bribed her with yogurt to stand still for the photo)

Lush and Lacy

2008-05-09T09:00:00.008-04:00

Remember all that birthday stuff I mentioned in the last post? Well I neglected to mention that I also received a couple of patterns that were in my queue. One of which was a love-at-first-sight pattern for me, the Lush and Lacy cardigan. Once I had the pattern (thanks again guys) I started searching the Internets for the perfect yarn. Of course I saw the Lush that the pattern called for, but not at a price I liked. Subs were investigated, options were weighed. Then I realized that I live pretty close to the Classic Elite factory store, and lo and behold, they had a ton of Lush in this gorgeous color for $6.50 a skein. Yippee! A few short weeks later:

I love the lace and the peplum sleeves. I'm kind of a girly-girl sometimes.

Details:
Pattern: Lush and Lacy Cardigan, size 36-1/2" (1.5 inches negative ease)
Yarn: Classic Elite Lush, Grassland -- 6 skeins
Started: Wednesday, April 23
Finished: Wednesday, May 7 (okay, I finished the buttons on the 8th)
Mods: I did button tabs instead of a crochet loop to catch the button. I admit, not an original idea, but cute.

Princess Diana pose:

I really don't seem to know what to do with my hands.

Check out the button tabs:

I'm happy with this one.

Birthday Stuff

2008-04-22T15:57:00.013-04:00

Wow, I'm a seriously lazy blogger. My birthday was now three weeks ago and I'm just getting around to posting the details. First of all, the Husband totally came through with a fantastic gift (after I sent the link and color preference) of my Hanne Falkenberg Mermaid Jacket kit. I've been wanting this since forever and it's probably going to take me another forever to knit it. (It's hard!)

Also, my knitter friends gifted me with some wonderful birthday stuff. My knitter friends rock.

The photo essay:

First of all, Gina came by on my birthday to deliver these beautiful tulips (my favorite flower) and to give me this stunning cashmere.

Here are the gifts laid out:

See that Superior there? Yeah, that's going to be a sexy scarf soon. Also this:

A mini-dishcloth in a frame from Lora:

It says "Love to knit with my friends" She also knit me a coffee sleeve and gave me a gift card to Starbucks. That girl knows me!

Wait, there's more:

(click to make it big -- it gets all sparkly)

Handspun merino with angelina by the fabulous Gina. Read about the process here. I've received Gina's handspun yarn two birthdays in a row. Talk about getting spoiled. Knowing the time, effort and love that goes into a gift like this makes picking the project for it all the harder. Last year was very serendipitous in that I had a wedding to go to and a dress that matched the yarn beautifully.

I'm going to let the yarn tell me again what it wishes to be.

Swallowtail Shawl

2008-04-14T11:36:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago I decided to start a shawl as a end-of-year gift for The Boy's first grade teacher. I cast on for the Shetland Triangle with some beautiful red silky wool. After knitting for two weeks or so, I had to come to the conclusion that I didn't enjoy knitting it. I don't know if it was the pattern or what, but I was forcing myself to knit it. I couldn't have that much bad energy knit into a gift for my favorite teacher (so far), so I decided to frog and cast on a different shawl, in a different wool.

Ta-da!

This one only took seven days to knit, and was completely enjoyable from start to finish.

Details:

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl, Evelyn Clark Fall 2006 Interweave
Yarn: Kauni EQ
Start: Thursday, April 3
Finish: Thursday, April 10

Edited to add: Knitting Daily just re-published the Swallowtail Shawl in The Top 5: The Best of Interweave Knits Readers' Choice Awards until May 14th. Go and get it while it's there.

This will probably be my last FO post for a while, since I've recently cast on the Mermaid Jacket! I've been dying to get this for a while, and the husband got me the kit for my birthday. It'll take a while, but I'm really enjoying it so far. I'll post some progress pics once I get a bit more done.

Knitless Weekend

2008-03-31T11:57:00.007-04:00

Is there anything worse than an entire weekend with no knitting? Probably.

This weekend we went down to Boston for a birthday party and I didn't even bring my knitting for the car trip. The husband noticed and asked if I was getting the shakes yet. Hilarious. We stayed in a beautiful hotel overlooking the Charles River, and I almost didn't miss the yarn. Almost.

My last knitting was late Friday night into Saturday morning knitting an adorable little sock for my Wee Tiny Sock Swap partner.

Cute, no?

I used leftover Socks that Rock in the Sherbet colorway. My swap partner likes pink green and red, and this was the closest I could find.

Oh, and I was tagged by Gina for a random things meme. This was one of the harder ones to think about.

The RULES are:

Post the rules on your blog. Link to the person who tagged you. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

6 Random Things about me:

1. I cannot eat a sandwich if it has both cheese and mayo on it. I can eat either separately, both the combination grosses me out.

2. I call both of my kids "baby" as a nickname. The Boy asked a couple of years ago to stop calling him baby, so I just call him "B" now.

3. I'm a slob. I rarely pick up after myself, never make my bed and my craft room is very cluttered.

4. I despise celery. The smell of it is enough to make me vomit.

5. I love to cook and am always trying out a new recipe. I love to read foodie blogs.

6. I love black coffee and can drink it at any temperature. Even after it's been sitting around all morning.

Okay, I'm sure by now y'all have been tagged already, so if you're reading this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged.

Awwww!

2008-03-28T11:22:00.003-04:00

This little sweater is so sweet it's giving me cavities.

Details:
Pattern: Baby Sweater on Two Needles (February), Knitter's Almanac
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Twister, brights, about a half skein
Started: Saturday March 22
Finished: Friday, March 28

Friends of my husband are expecting a little girl any day now. I was glad for the opportunity to knit EZ's Baby Sweater on Two Needles. I've been dying to knit this for a few months now. I had the yarn in my stash forever. It's more of a light worsted than a DK, so I knit it with sixes and figured it'll fit her in a few months. Just in time for fall, baby.

Now to find adorable buttons....

Pink Turtle Photo Shoot

2008-03-21T11:12:00.006-04:00

Yes, I know, two finished objects in as many days? Weird. Taking a break from my shawl-in-progress (Shetland triangle) and sweater zygote (gathered pullover) to knit up this super cute Sheldon the turtle for the girl. I blame Ravelry. She often looks with me, and loves to look at the toys. She liked a pink Sheldon, and the next thing I was buying the yarn. This pattern is really well written and fun.

Pattern: Sheldon, Knitty Winter '06
Yarn: TLC Cotton Plus, pink and pinker
Started: Tuesday
Finished: Friday

I just need to re-stuff her neck so her head's not so floppy.

FO Report: Cocoon Lace Scarf

2008-03-17T09:26:00.008-04:00

Yipee! I finished in time to give this to Lisa for her birthday. I actually could have started today and still had time to finish by the 29th. This was a very enjoyable knit, and quick too.

Pattern: Fiber Trends Cocoon Lace Scarf
Yarn: Filatura Di Crosa Superior, off white 1 skein
Started: March 4
Finished: March 14
Finished Size: 10"x62"

Gratuitous photos:

Yes, I wove in the ends, just not before these photos.

The agony and the irony

2008-03-04T15:49:00.005-05:00

FO report: Mr. Greenjeans

I had such high hopes for this sweater. I loved everyone’s on Ravelry, everyone seemed so happy with theirs. I figured this sweater was a gimmie. Not mine. I love the yarn and the color, I picked the wrong size. I decided to ignore the measurements and knit the medium. I should have knit the small. There is too much positive ease and it needs to be frogged. I can’t bear to reknit this pattern, so I need to figure out what this yarn will be next.

I'm already over it, since I've cast on for the Gathered Pullover from the Winter '07 Interweave Knits. I picked up some Felted Tweed while on vacation last week, fully intending to knit the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, then I had an epiphany; I really don't like that style of close-fitting cardigan on myself. Instead I cruised Ravelry and found some really great versions of this sweater done with the felted tweed. I cast on the sleeve as my gauge swatch.

The color is called "rage". Isn't that just perfect?

Unfortunately I need to put this one down until I knit a birthday gift due at the end of the month. I hope to have better results with this sweater.

Oh, random blogthings personality recipe generator, you know me so well

2008-02-04T10:09:00.000-05:00

..but where's the vodka?

The Recipe For jackie

3 parts Charisma
2 parts Sexiness
1 part Imagination

Splash of Vigor

Serve over ice

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

A sweater for the Boy

2008-01-21T11:16:00.001-05:00

After taking three months to knit the Cobblestone Pullover, I wanted a smaller, quicker project. I decided to knit a pullover for the boy. This was a case where I decided on the yarn before the pattern and because of this, had a hard time finding the right pattern. Instead, I decided for the first time to wing it. I consulted him on style, and together we decided on a fitted v neck with raglan sleeves. He also wanted a flaming skull on the front, which may be added in duplicate stitch.

Dig those spider-man jammies!

Details:
Pattern: My own
Yarn: Moda Dea Bamboo Wool, Heather Grey - 4 skeins
Started: Friday, January 11
Finished: Sunday, January 20

Finally an FO Friday! (now with twice the FOs!)

2008-01-11T11:52:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm very very excited to announce that I have finished my first Man-Sized Sweater for my man. He really likes it. I'm so glad because if he didn't after all the boring garter and stockinette, I may have cried. We had to toss it in the dryer for a few minutes to shrink it down a bit, since I had a hard time blocking it to size. Please forgive the awful photo, I wanted a picture before he went to work, and it is such a gloomy, rainy day today.

Details:
Pattern: Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood, Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Yarn: Cascade 220, color 8012, almost 7 skeins
Started: November 24, 2007
Finished: January 9, 2008

All in all, I really like this sweater, and I'm glad I stuck with it. I didn't totally enjoy the knitting, but I'm glad I knitted it.

More photos:

Pre-blocking:

The second FO was much, much quicker. A new Pirate Hat for the boy (that matches his coat).

This came out a bit bigger than the last, but he LOVES it. Can't ya tell?

Details:
Pattern: Skull Hat, by Gina
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic, blue and orange
Started: January 6, 2008
Finished: January 10, 2008

Happy '08

2008-01-02T09:11:00.000-05:00

I had a really great Christmas break, and I hope all of you did too. I got some knitting done, but not as much as I thought I would, what with parties and family and friends to spend time with. I'm plugging away on the man sized sweater, and hope to finish it in this month. The man sized man looks at it over the weekend and says to me, "will that be ready next week?". Yeah, I wanted to choke the living shit out of him too.

What I did finish:

A Tychus hat for the boy.

He still prefers the pirate hat. I can't get him to wear anything else. I may need to knit another so I can wash it.

Another Amanda hat for myself. I can't help but knit this hat. It is so quick, cute and fun. Watch Gina's blog for an along.

I finished a pair of socks for the boy. I had knit the first way back in August. I had forgotten about this until recently, then banged out another to complete the set. I don't have a photo, but they look like socks.

Goodbye 2007!

Birthday, Christmas, Knitting

2007-12-14T10:36:00.000-05:00

Okay, I've been busy. The Girl turned three this week. THREE. How did that happen?

It only takes a moment to go from here:

To here:

I'm enjoying every second of it. Here she's posing with one of my favorite toys. Her new Fisher Price dollhouse. It comes with a mom and dad and two twin babies; a boy and a girl. She's named the babies Bluey and Pinky, the Mom's name is Sweetie and the Dad is Cheatie. I love playing with this so much, but I worry about that dad.

I've been trying to do a little Christmas shopping here and there, but it's so hard with the kids. I think next year I'll start a bit earlier and do all my shopping online. The next week and a half will be pretty busy with parties and shopping, and my Mom-in-law coming on Tuesday, so may not have the chance to blog again until after the holiday. Of course, I have no hand knit presents, which disappoints me, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I'll have Matt's sweater done after Christmas. I was hoping to finish it up before, but that is just not going to happen. I have two sweaters planned after his; a skull and crossbones pullover for The Boy and a hoodie or cardigan for myself.

My one and only FO to show:

Pattern: Danica Scarf, Winter '05 Knitty
Yarn: Patons Soy Wool Stripes, Natural Earth - 3 skeins
Started: August (I put it down for a while)
Finished: December 13, 07

I was planning on knitting this for a gift, but changed my mind. The last time I saw this person, she had a beautiful scarf that she made herself (sewn) and I figure it wouldn't be worn. I have a second person in mind, but I really don't know her too well, and the wool is a bit scratchy. I'd hate for her not to wear it for that reason. I think I'll keep it instead.

Hats On!

2007-12-04T10:33:00.000-05:00

The past two days I have been without internet connection and phone, due to a faulty router. The internet is back up (thank goodness), but we're waiting for them to send us a new router for the phone. Grrrrr. This is after two days of phone calls, one trip to the computer store for a new network card (not needed) and untold frustration. I'm just glad I have my internet back. I can do without the phone.

So, knitting. I finished a hat for The Boy to match his new orange and navy winter coat. He didn't like it. I like it. He doesn't think it's flamey enough. I don't even know what that means.

I also needed a new hat, so Friday night at The Yarn and Fiber I picked up some Dream in Color Classy for an Amanda Hat for myself. I started it Friday night and was finished Saturday afternoon. I could not stop knitting this hat. It was so much fun. I have enough yarn left over for another hat and maybe even a pair of fingerless mitts. I'm going to knit the mitts first and then weigh the leftover.

Here's the hat on (forgive the dorkiness, please).

Details:
The Amanda Hat, by the fabulous Gina of Sleepy Eyes Knitting
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy, Gothic Rose
Started: Friday, November 30
Finished: Saturday, December 1

And here's a closeup for color and pattern.

Isn't it beautiful? I wore this hat all day in the house on Saturday. It's so comfortable.

Also OTN, I started another Silk Garden scarf for myself, but haven't gotten very far. I've also started one teacher's gift, a Branching Out scarf in Silky Wool in the gorgeous red. I hope to finish it in time.

By the way, he still likes the skull hat best:

Even if it doesn't match.

Noro Striped Scarf, I love you.

2007-11-26T10:28:00.000-05:00

I finished the husband's scarf on Friday. I barely had any knitting time this week, what with all the company and cooking and cleaning. I did manage to eek out the last few rows on Friday night. I think I like it more than he does. It's okay, I'll wear it if he doesn't.

Click for big. You'll be glad you did.

Details:

Inspiration: Noro Striped Scarf, Brooklyn Tweed
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, 2 skeins color 211, 2 skeins some other color
Started: November 11
Finished: November 23

More photos? Okay!

I loved knitting this, I love looking at it, I'll love wearing it (when Matt forgets to take it, of course).

Also finished, the second pair of mittens for Gina's month of mittens contest. I don't have a photo, but the second one looks just like this one:

Pattern: Basic Mitten Pattern
Size: 2-4 year
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Chunky, pink
Started: November 19
Finished: November 23

I think I'll have time for one more pair before the end of the month.

Let it snow?

2007-11-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

I love the first snow of the season. It has been snowing for at least an hour now, and there's a about a half inch on the ground. I have no illusions of it sticking or staying until Thanksgiving, but it's pretty for now. I just hope it's still here when my mother in law comes later this afternoon.

The snowfall gave me a nice opportunity to finally capture the beauty that is my striped noro silk garden scarf. I'm about done, the husband needs about another six inches on it, and he'll be happy.

I'm actually very surprised that I'm still enjoying this knit. I thought that six feet of 1x1 rib was going to bore me to tears. Not the case. The silk garden is so beautiful and the color changes are so exciting. I may even knit another one.

I'm also working on a pair of mittens for the girl. Just your basic mitten in Araucania nature wool chunky. In pink, of course.

One down, one to go. Don't forget to check out Gina's blog for her month of mittens contest.

They might be mittens

2007-11-12T09:51:00.000-05:00

I finished my first pair of mittens for Gina's November Month of Mittens contest: Skull Mittens for the boy;

Doesn't he look happy?

The charts are modified from the We Call Them Pirates hat/mitten pattern, but worked for worsted weight like the Skull Hat by Gina pattern.

Here's a clearer picture:

Hey there

2007-11-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm back. I have some catching up to do, it's been a while.

First, I finished my very first triangular shawl:

This is the Forest Canopy Shawl by Susan Lawrence. Here's the Ravelry link. It's written as a small shoulder shawl using one skein of sock yarn, but I did mine with two skeins of Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool. It was a dream to work with and the color is so beautiful.

I also finished a bolero for The Girl. Halloween was kind of warm, so we didn't need coats. We did however need a little something to go over the spaghetti straps of the princess costume.

The pattern is Erika Knight's Fluffy Bolero from Simple Knits for Little Cherubs, although I did it in stash yarn (knitpicks merino style, in petal - two skeins) so it's not so fluffy. This pattern had a humongous error in that the first side has you knitting an arm with an 18-inch circumference for a 2-year-old. Luckily I found the corrections on another blog so I was able to do it correctly the first time around.

Currently on the needles are a sweater for The Husband, a hat for The Husband, and I'm about to start my first Month of Mittens mittens (see Gina's blog).

Thanks, Guys.

2007-10-29T13:08:00.000-04:00

First off, congratulations to my boys for winning the World Series AGAIN! Geez, twice in 90 years. A girl could get used to this. I had been knitting my Forest Canopy Shawl, but the last two days have been so nerve wracking I had to find something else to work on. I can't knit lace and watch championship baseball. Just don't have it in me. Instead I cast on for an adorable shrug for the girl to wear over her princess costume on Wednesday night. I was going to put a coat on her, but i think it's going to be warmish. She likes her "tintess sweater" so far. Plus, it's pink. I'll post a photo when it's done.

Here's the progress on the shawl so far:

And a lace detail:

I'm using Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool in a dark forest green color. It's gorgeous. I wanted to have it finished for this weekend's knitting retreat to Grandview, but I don't think it's going to happen. I'll have to put it on hold, since I plan to start Cobblestone on the trip. I'll see how much I can get done between now and then.

Oh, and another quick FO; the Republic Hat.

Pattern: The Republic Hat, by Nik's Knits
Yarn: Aussi Wool bulky weight, color, sensuous grey

I loved working with this yarn. It was so soft and sproingy - perfect for a hat. Unfortunately it grew like mad when wet, so it's waaaaay too big on me now. I'll try felting it, I guess.

Even the losers get lucky sometimes.

2007-10-18T09:59:00.000-04:00

Whew am I glad I tried to reblock the Juliet sweater.

So much happier now. It's still a little bit felted, but I like it.

They can't all be winners - two FOs

2007-10-15T14:21:00.000-04:00

First FO, Wallaby the Third. This adorable thing just flew off the needles. It's my third wallaby, the first hooded. The first two wallabys went to the boy. I had a ton of Knitpicks Swish in Ballerina, so I whipped this one out.

Details:
Pattern: The Wonderful Wallaby, Cottage Creations
Size: Willie Wallaby (4)
Yarn: Knitpicks Swish, ballerina, >5 balls
Mods: Used seed stitch border instead of garter, used smaller needles than the pattern calls for (us7)

I knit at a smaller gauge, but long, so it perfectly fits a long skinny 2 year old.

Here's a closeup of the seed stitch:

I'm slightly less than thrilled with my second FO. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the pattern, I just screwed up royally with gauge. Seriously, this is the most unflattering garment ever knitted.

Here's a picture looking all innocent:

Put in on me and I go all George Costanza.

And it got even bigger after blocking. To compensate I tried to felt it a little in the dryer, but it only shrunk lengthwise, not width wise. So I look even squatter when wearing it. Last resort, I'm trying to re block it so it's not so big around. I'm hoping if I pull it out longer, it won't be so wide. Wish me luck.

Oh, here are the details:

Pattern: Juliet, by Zephyr Style
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Highland Chunky, 7 balls
Started: Oct. 10
Finished: Oct. 14

At least it was quick.

It's over

2007-10-10T12:57:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I had the absolute pleasure to be the Matron of Honor at the wedding of one of my closest friends. She was a beautiful bride and so happy and glowing. It was just a spectacular day.

We had so much fun at the reception, here are a couple of dancing photos (please ignore the expression on my face -- it's my dancing face).

I think the best part of the evening was staying at the hotel with my husband. We have never been away together without the kids so this was a real treat.

Oh, and the shawl I knit for this wedding, the one that matched my dress perfectly? I never even put it on. My friend Cheryl wore it.

They might be pirates

2007-10-01T09:37:00.001-04:00

Last week I finished a very quick hat for the boy.

Specs:
Pattern: Skull Hat, by Knit Two Together
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino in Brown and Green
Needles: Size 7 addis
Started: September 26
Finished: September 28

This pattern is based on the We Call Them Pirates, which I've wanted to knit since forever. I love the worsted weight version. So. Much. Easier. I do want to knit another out of something less scritchy than the Patons, but first, I need to knit the Girl a sweater. The poor thing took a washcloth I knit, put it over her chest and said, "thank you for knitting me a sweater". Man talk about guilt. I knit the boy two sweaters in a row, it's her turn.

I cast on for another Wallaby in pink (Knitpicks Swish in Ballerina) stash yarn and it's going super quickly.

Yesterday we went apple picking, and the Boy wore his new wallaby:

I love fall.

The beauty of nature

2007-09-27T13:57:00.001-04:00

Took the Girl to the Butterfly Place yesterday, where we got to see moths; (this guy was gigantic!)

butterflies;

(actually I think this one may have been a moth too)

and flowers;

I was unable to take a good picture of my favorite butterfly, it was mostly black with bright pink on its wings. It was fast too.

Here is a blurry approximation;

In knitting news, the Boy's wallaby is finally done. I'm so glad. I was getting really tired of this heavy cotton yarn. I love how it looks on him.

Details:

Pattern: The Wonderful Wallaby by Cottage Creations
Yarn: Plymouth Yarns Fantasy Naturale in color 9939
Started: 8/10/07
Finished: 9/27/07
Mods: I used a heavier worsted for this and ended up knitting the smaller size (4) on size 7 needles, and it's sized for a 6-7 year old.

FO; Children of the Lir

2007-09-24T09:17:00.001-04:00

I finally finished the Children of the Lir stole, and I really love it.

I have to admit though, I'm not thrilled with the color. It's just not one I would have chosen, but it matches the dress I'll be wearing.

It also blocked out longer than I expected, but that's probably a good thing.

Wings of the Swan:

Specs:
Pattern: Children of the Lir Stole from Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls by Martha Waterman
Yarn: Indiecita Alpaca Sport
Needle size: 10
Started: July 2007
Finished: September 2007
Modifications: I didn't knit from the middle out, but end-to-end.

I'll post the action shots after the wedding.

Fait Accompli

2007-09-10T11:30:00.000-04:00

Just a real quick FO: This adorable beret for the girl:

Pattern: Child's Play Beret by Laura Brown
Size: Child
Yarn: Moda Dea Silk 'n Wool Blend
Started: September 7
Finished: September 8

If I had it all to do again, I'd probably make it a bit bigger. The 8s were still in the Wallaby so I had to use some size 7s. I blocked it, and it seemed to fit, but I think it's still a bit small (she's got a wicked big head). I'm going to try and block it out bigger.

Still on the needles, the aforementioned Wallaby for the boy. I've attached the arms, and I'm on the raglan decreases. I haven't been knitting this one much. *yawn*

Also OTN, the Children of the Lir Stole for the October wedding. I'm trying to give this one my complete attention since it's less than a month away at this point. I'm about halfway done. I'll start really working it now. Here's an updated picture (I really hated that dark photo):

This color is all wrong, it's much darker in person.

And lastly, surprisingly this is my "mindless" knitting project. I never thought I'd consider Entrelac mindless, but it kind of is, once you're on one section. You can zone out and do that one section till it's done and you don't need to look at the pattern.

I'm using the Danica pattern from the Winter '05 Knitty, only I'm not changing colors. I'll let the yarn do that, thank you very much.

Or should I say merci beaucoup?

Oui.

She did it!

2007-09-04T13:24:00.001-04:00

I rolled the dice and put the girl to bed last night for the first time without a pull-up on. She had been staying dry at night for a while, so I figured that it was time. This morning we ran errands for a couple of hours with no accidents. My girl is officially potty trained. I wish I could take some credit, but she did it all on her own. I guess girls really are easier.

I also gave her a haircut for the first time. Here she is rockin' the Shirley Temple look.

Knitting? Yeah, I still knit. I'm at the point in the Boy's wallaby where I wish someone would just come over and knit it for me. This is when the project gets super boring, but before the point where you know that you're almost finished and get a surge of knitting for the homestretch. I have a great idea for a new reality show; WIP Swap. You trade a boring ongoing project with another knitter, knit on their boring-ass project for a while, then you realize that the project you loved is the one that was right in front of you the whole time and you just took it for granted. No? Maybe Fox would air it. They put a whole lotta crap on television.

An FO, an update and some w(h)ine

2007-08-30T09:40:00.000-04:00

I whipped up a couple of bibs for my new baby cousin Jack:

Aren't they adorable? I haven't sewn the buttons on yet because I'm terribly lazy. I used the pattern from Mason-Dixon and the yarn is the new Sugar -n Cream stripes. I loved the striping on the blue one but the green? Not so much. The stripes were too muted. I mean, it's cute and all, but you can hardly tell it's striped.

No pictures, but an update on the cotton wallaby I'm knitting for the boy. I've finished one sleeve and am up to the cuff on the second. I don't think I'm going to add a hood to this one either. I'm really bored with it, and I'm just trying to get it done at this point.

Now, for my whine:

My baby started first grade today. This isn't kindergarten anymore. This is a full day of school. He looked so small getting on the bus with the 4th and 5th grade boys.

Is it three o'clock yet?

FO FO Friday

2007-08-24T13:03:00.000-04:00

What? TWO finished objects? Surely you jest.

Nope, I actually finished not one, but two knitted items. First up, the top down baby raglan sweater:

I'm very pleased with the finished product.

You want some specs? Okay.

Pattern: Top Down Baby Raglan
For: Baby J
Started: Sunday, Aug. 19
Finished: Wednesday, Aug. 23
Yarn: Spunky Eclectic Beefy Sock Handpainted in the color "Good Morning"
Size 5 needle
Modifications: Seed stitch instead of ribbing, i-cord ties instead of buttons

An even quicker FO:

Please forgive the terrible picture. Here's the back story; This coming Sunday I'm throwing a bridal shower. I found the dress to wear on Wednesday, but after trying it on realized that it was a bit immodest for Sunday brunch at the yacht club (I'm serious people). Anyway, I needed a little something to cover my shoulders and realized that I have this little sweater in my queue to knit. I cast on Thursday morning and finished Thursday night. I even cleaned, took care of kids, and fed my family in between. Go chunky yarn!

Specs:
Pattern: Anthropologie-inspired Capelet by Peony Knits
For: me
Started and Finished: Thursday, Aug. 23
Yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky in Black
Size 11 needles
Modifications: None.

Can't. Stop.

2007-08-20T12:15:00.000-04:00

For someone who has been somewhat a monogamous knitter, this is very unsettling. Not only have I not finished the six or so projects going on in the last post, I’ve started three more! Only one of them is actually justifiable, a baby sweater for my new little cousin born over the weekend. I was so sure he was going to be a girl, I only knit a girl sweater. I started a little boyish cardigan yesterday and have been faithfully working away on that. I hope to give it to my cousins this weekend.

Wanna see?

I'm using this pattern. It could not be simpler. I'm modifying it a bit by knitting the collar and button band in seed stitch, just because I find it adorable. Also, I'm not adding buttonholes. I'll add either ribbon or i-cord ties when it's done.

Oh, and the yarn is Spunky Eclectic's beefy sock in the colorway Good Morning.

Other new projects are:

Entrelac Scarf in Patons Soy Wool Stripes, color Natural Earth

Lora, why didn’t you warn me of the addiction that is Entrelac? Now I can see why it’s your ubiquitous project. Big fun.

Baby bibs in the new Lily striping cotton - one in green and one in blue.

Gina and I were discussing the wonder of the washcloth (or as The Girl calls it, warshcoif) and discovered the Lily striping cotton! Well, Gina being the intrepid explorer that she is, found some in AC Moore. Well, of course that prompted a trip for me. Not only did they have all new cottons in lovely shades, they also now have a shit-ton of new Patons yarn (among others). They now stock the SWS that I love and some new Moda Dea – the bamboo wool and a new silk and wool blend called, Silk ‘n Wool Blend (Genius!). I got one skein in a pretty shade called Sangria to swatch to see if it’s nice enough to knit The Girl a sweater in. I’ll report back later.

Oh wait, I did finish something. Two washcloths.

This one:

and this one:

The garterlac was my favorite and the one that prompted the girl to say "thank you for my warshcoif". Of course that's the one she wanted. It is pink. I'm going to start calling her Gina Jr.

I have also been working on the Wallaby for The Boy. I love how this yarn is pooling. I have the body done to the point where you join the sleeves, and one half of one sleeve done.

I managed to do one row of the Children of the Lir Stole. It was the purl row in case you were wondering. I think I need to be closer to the deadline in October to be motivated to move on this one.

Raging Startitis

2007-08-11T10:11:00.001-04:00

For the first time in my short knitting career, I have FIVE projects going at once. I would love to say it's because I'm a talented knitter with the awesome ability to multitask, but unfortunately it's because I can't concentrate on one thing long enough at the moment.

Among the new projects currently on the needles:

The Buttony Sweater.

I've loved this sweater for ages, bought the perfect yarn, cast on and started. A couple inches into the thing I'm looking at it, thinking, this doesn't look right. I only put three stitch markers indicating the raglan increases. Yup, I'm an idiot. Obviously I need something seriously mindless to work on right now. Actually, now that I am writing this down, I realize that Gina did almost the same thing at Grandview last year with Ian's sweater. I remember we all took turns ripping it out because she was almost about to separate the sleeves and couldn't bear to do it herself without crying. I love knitters.

Socks for the boy:

Okay, I did finish one pair in Knitpicks Felici. I loved working with this yarn. It is really so super soft. I did not love the pilling. Awful, yucky pilling. He wore them right off the needles, to bed that night, and with his sandals the entire following day (okay, we'll work on his fashion sense). They are truly soft comfy socks. I wouldn't use these to make a pair for myself, but for kids, the yarn is okay. Plus, it only took one ball to make a short legged pair for him, so, bonus.

I started a second pair in Regia. Much less soft, but really substantial sock yarn. He picked out his own color for this one. It's not what I would have picked, but nice.

A new wallaby, in cotton. More specifically, Fantasy Naturale in a grey, olive green and beige colorway.

I bought this yarn specifically to make a wallaby for him because I loved the color combo. I did not, however, pay attention to stitch gauge, and ended up casting on for the size 8, on size 8 needles. When I got six inches into the sweater where you start the pocket, I thought that I'd try it on him for size. Why don't I swatch? Not only was it waaaaaaaaay to big for him, it actually fit me! And I'm not the size of an eight-year-old. Rip out sweater, check. Cast on fewer stitches, check. On smaller needles, check. Did I swatch this time? Not really. Someday I'll learn.

In addition to the above, I cast on for a new felted bag to cater to my instant gratification needs, and a pair of baby booties. Neither is finished. I can't even finish a baby bootee. What the hell? I haven't touched the Children of the Lir stole either, but I'll get back to it soon.

King Lir

2007-08-01T10:36:00.000-04:00

Or should that be Queen Lir? Anyhoo, I finally found my camera so here's a lace update:

The Children of the Lir Stole is about a third of the way done. I love this project. It is maybe the best newbie lace stole/shawl knitting project ever! I'm modifying it to further idiot-proof by knitting end to end instead of from the middle out. I've never been good the at provisional cast on and didn't even want to bother. I love that there's no edging to knit on after you're done. It's so simple.

I forget where I read this, but probably the best lace tip I've received is to write down each line on a separate index card, and flip when you complete that row. I haven't messed up yet.

Lace off, lace on

2007-07-23T09:49:00.000-04:00

Montego Bay scarf, off.

Can I tell you how very much I love this scarf? I would have loved it if the yarn wasn't handspun by my very good friend Gina, but I love it so very much more because it is. The fiber itself is soft and pretty. I know the work that went into it's spinning and that adds so much to this scarf.

Details:
Montego Bay Scarf, Summer '07 Interweave Knits
Designed by Amy Singer
Yarn: The most beautiful handspun yarn I've ever seen, Endless Bliss by Sleepy Eyes in a Merino/Baby Alpaca blend with Angelina
Started: July 12
Finished: July 19
Fun, easy and fast.

Children of the Lir Stole, on.

This is not a difficult lace pattern, but I do need to pay very careful attention to what I'm doing. I've already made a few mistakes, but luckily the repeat is only 23 stitches long, and I can count. This is my first "big" lace project. Since it's done in sport weight yarn it's going sort of quickly. I need it finished for an October wedding, but I think I'm good on time. Speaking of wedding, here's the dress it's going with. I brought the fabric swatch to the TKGA show hoping to match it, and it does. Perfectly.

Thank you Mr. Miyagi.

The best of what's around

2007-07-16T08:18:00.000-04:00

Summer raspberries

On toast

My Montego Bay scarf back lit by the morning sun:

Some recent acquisitions from the TKGA Show on Saturday:

An unknit sweater of Jaeger Baby Merino DK:

Enough Alpaca for my wedding stole. I think I'm going to make the Arctic Diamonds Stole from Winter '06 Interweave Knits.

Some Silk Garden:

When you give a 2 year old a camera... and WIPs

2007-07-12T08:56:00.000-04:00

You get the most interesting photos. I'm not going to share the 20 photos of her feet, or the ceiling, or the back of her brother's head at a weird angle because they are all too out of focus. I will however share this, the last photo in the series. Obviously the last place she was playing with it because it's where I found it. God only knows how in this all this mess.

The kids' upstairs playroom. I used to pick up in here every day. Now I just close the door and hope for the best.

I've started two new projects and put aside the boy color tulip sweater. I saw my cousin over the weekend and I'm 90% sure she is having a girl baby. I will finish the boy sweater for another baby, but not this one.

The first new project is a striped cardigan for The Girl. It's based on The Basic Cardigan from Top Down for Toddlers with no collar, no eyelets, and worked at a bigger gauge. Other than that...

I'm using lion brand cotton ease for the first time. It's pretty damn awesome.

The second WIP is going to have to be done rather quickly. I'm working on the Montego Bay Scarf from Interweave Summer '07 to wear to a late summer wedding. I had an epiphany while considering the dress I'm going to wear, a sexy little number I've had in my closet for a while and never had the chance to wear. I recalled that the delicate blue floral silk overlay kind of matched the incredibly awesome handspun yarn that Gina gave me for my last birthday. I immediately ran upstairs, grabbed the dress, grabbed the yarn and viola! The perfect combination. This is a terrible photo, but gives the general idea:

I've finally captured the angelina sparkle in this photo. The yarn in person is so much prettier, but so freaking hard to photograph. (click to pic to see the sparkle)

Here it is all done up and lacy:

Tulips, revisited

2007-07-06T09:27:00.000-04:00

The first Tulips baby cardigan came out so beautifully, I decided to make a second with the leftover Knitpicks yarn. There really was plenty of it left over. It's going to be for the same baby, but I'll have to wait for the birth to decide to give the girlish one or the boyish one. Actually the new one would look equally cute on a girl. I just didn't want to give a baby boy a sweater with pink in it. Two shades of pink even. So, I picked out what I perceived to be the most boyish of the colors I had left, two blues a purple and a green, and set out to make this:

I've got half of one sleeve done. I just need to decide how I want the button band to look. I'm either going to do it with the darker blue, or if I don't have enough of that color, I'll do the light blue around the neckline, and do green on one side and purple on the other. That may look a little funny, but we'll see.

What I did on my summer vacation

2007-07-02T09:04:00.000-04:00

Finished a baby sweater:

Details:
Pattern: The Tulip Baby Cardigan, by Dream in Color
Yarn: KnitPicks Swish Superwash Merino in nine colors
Started: Wednesday, June 20
Finished: Wednesday, June 27
For: First Cousin, once removed due in August (if it's a girl)

I love this pattern and I'm really glad I subbed the yarn. The Swish is so soft and the colors are beautiful. I started another baby sweater for the baby if it's a boy, but I think I'll try this one again with more boyish colors.

Let's see, what else did we do this past week?

Went to the Baltimore Aquarium:

Went to the National Zoo in Washington, DC:

We also visited with friends and I got to go to a few yarn shops. I got enough yarn for a new wallaby for the boy, a cute brown sweater for the girl, a boy baby sweater for the new cousin (if it's a boy) and some souvenir yarn. I love shopping with purpose.

Summertime, summertime

2007-06-22T08:51:00.000-04:00

Happy first day of summer. Summer just so happens to be my second favorite season, spring being the first for the whole rebirth/ renewal thing. I love the heat, the sun, the kids being outside all the time.

We are leaving for our annual trip to the in-laws this week. My in-laws are amazing people. They're smart, funny and fun and they love my kids more than anything. My husband and I get a lot of alone time when we're at their house. "Hey, you guys should go see a movie/ go to a restaurant/ bowling/ and we'll watch the kids". Um, okay bye.

I also knit a lot there. I feel like I can actually sit and not feel guilty that I'm not playing with or paying attention to them (the kids) because the in-laws are monopolizing their time (so not complaining). Last year I knit the Angel Baby sweater in a couple of days because I had so much time. I knit the majority of it in the car on the way down (9 hours of knit time yay!) I was going to knit the Tulips Baby Cardigan on the way down there, but it's so fast I'm almost done. I just need to knit the sleeves and edging. This sweater is like a box of Cheeze-Its, I'm powerless to stop. My gauge is off since I'm subbing Knitpicks Swish, but I think it'll work better for a three-month old size (the pattern is 6-9 month). Here is the back:

So now I need to find something fast to knit in the car. I am planning a mini yarn crawl in the DC/MD/VA area, so I have something for the way back.

Socks are always good, right?

Monkeys and Ponies and Deer (oh my)

2007-06-17T19:55:00.000-04:00

I've finished a pair of monkey socks - yay! I started a pair in a different yarn last fall and for some reason never got more than a couple of pattern repeats into it. I think it was the yarn because this time around, they flew off the needles. I started these socks during the Worldwide Knit in Public outing a week ago Saturday, and finished them on the way to the zoo this past Saturday. I love this yarn. I made them with Sereknity Sock Options yarn in the color "Rock Lobster". The variegation of the yarn is stunning. The pattern itself is so addictive, I've started a second pair already for my mother-in-law.

The ponies and deer were at the zoo, along with many many other animals. The pony ride was the highlight of the day for a certain little girl.

The Boy enjoyed the deer park the best, with the tame little things coming right up to you to eat corn from your hand:

He named this one "Spotty"

I liked the deer too.

Taking stock

2007-06-15T10:21:00.000-04:00

I don’t have a lot of yarn. I know this is a subjective statement. My husband would probably disagree. There are people out there with rooms of yarn. I have two bins plus a largish basket full of it. I didn’t realize until Ravelry compelled me to photograph my yarn, how little I actually had. It’s okay. I have an order coming in from Knitpicks. I have a trip to visit family soon that will very likely include a field trip or two to local yarn stores. I will build my stash. I’ve only been collecting for a couple of years. There’s still time.

It does look cute all together though.

Check out my Ravelry stash page for deets.

What the heck am I doing?

2007-06-13T11:21:00.000-04:00

I mean, instead of blogging?

Knitting in the rain, with ManchVegans.

Making homemade Boston Baked Beans.

Knitting a Monkey.

Playing with an alien (thanks G for the picture).

...but mostly on the new swing set:

Just thought I'd check in.

Oh, Monica

2007-06-08T12:14:00.001-04:00

I finished the Monica tank for The Girl. Not entirely pleased with how this came out. It is cute as a bug, but the ruffle makes the top too heavy and pulls the neckline down too far. Also, she didn't really like it, which is surprising for a girl who loves anything frilly and pink. She kept it on only long enough for the photo shoot. Oh well, it only took a couple of days to knit, and it was super fun.

At least I have the pictures.

Details:
Pattern: Monica from the Spring 2007 Knitty
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece; Tea Rose - 1 skein, Blush - 1 skein
Started: Monday, June 4
Finished: Wednesday June 6
Modifications: Knit in the round instead of two flat pieces

I also forgot to post, last month Gina had a contest for anyone who knit her Radiance Lace Headband pattern and sent in a picture of the finished project. I knit my namesake "Jacqueline" and got this awesome swag:

Some Cervinia Calzetteria Sock yarn in beautiful blues and purple (trust me there is purple in there):

and this Debbie Bliss book that I've been meaning to get...

Thanks, Gina for writing a great pattern and for hosting this fun contest. I loved seeing the finished headbands in your gallery.

Don't forget, tomorrow, June 9 is World Wide Knit in Public Day. The ManchVegas Knitters will be representin' at Victory Park in Manchester from noon on. Check out the website for an event near you.

The red sweater of cables

2007-06-04T09:04:00.000-04:00

The child's cable sweater is finally finished. It didn't take all that long to finish, once I really knuckled down to work on it exclusively. That said, I really like the way it came out. It's a little bit big, which is great because the boy won't be able to wear it until the fall.

There was a scary moment when I first had him try it on and it wouldn't go over his head. I had to rip out the cast off and try a stretchier one. I ended up doing the purl two together, put the stitch back on the left needle and purl that one with the next stitch, etc. I don't know the name of it, but it makes a nice stretchy cast off edge.

He loved the sweater too. I don't know if it's because it was 50 degrees last night, but he asked to keep it on, then wanted to wear it to bed. Cute. I should have taken a photo of him wearing it, but I wanted to wait for it to be blocked.

Here it is unblocked:

Details:
Pattern: Kid's Cable,designed by Jo Crivellaro for Cabin Fever
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece - 4.5 skeins
Color: Barn Red
Started: March 24, 2007
Finished: June 3, 2007
Mods: Yes, I didn't like the look of the rolled neck edge so I just stopped after the ribbing. I was going to try some kind of steeked in half zipper, but I really don't want to chance it after all that work.

The picture is a little dark, it's wet and rainy today so I can't take any outside photos. Here is the picture of it from Friday, nice and bright and pretty:

The weather has been crappy all weekend. The only bright spot was this cool sunshower on Saturday. Right after dinner we had a downpour then the sun came out. Of course I had to take a picture:

I think I like this one project at a time thing. I've cast on for Monica from the Spring '07 Knitty. This one will be quick. Next I don't know if I want to do Rusted Root next or one of the baby sweaters....

Friday FO

2007-06-01T16:44:00.000-04:00

Not that it'll become a habit, but I've got another finished object for Friday.

No, not this one;

which is just about to the yoke and barring any unforseen events will be completed this weekend,

This small one.

Before:

And after:

I like them much better now that they're embroidered, but I need to put them away until the winter because they are HOT!

Long weekend: No knitting

2007-05-30T08:53:00.000-04:00

The boy's red cabled sweater is slowly progressing. I have but seven rows before I can join the sleeves to the body. The weather has been absolutely beautiful around here so of course we've been out every day. I haven't sat down except to eat since Friday.

Do your neighbors think you're weird? I bet mine do.

Yesterday was the Boy's 6th birthday and he wanted to go to an indoor amusement center. It was, um... amusing? At least the kids had fun. See?

Massive Time Suck

2007-05-25T09:32:00.000-04:00

but in a good way. Of course I'm talking about my newest obsession, Ravelry. if you haven't seen it yet, it's an online journal/ project and stash organizational tool/ bulletin board thingy. It's pretty awesome and I can't stay away.

Which is of course distracting my from my current knitting project, the Kid's Cable Sweater. I am currently doing the arms two at once on magic loop. I cannot for the life of me knit more than three rounds in a sitting. I didn't even knit it at all last Wednesday at knitting. I opted instead to knit the second slipper scuff out of the Lamb's Pride bulky. Man, I love Lamb's Pride. It's so soft and warm and I loved the feeling of the scuff pre-felting, but after, well lets just say these go into the loser pile. When I got the yarn at Sheep and Wool, there was only one skein of each color. I was going to do contrasting sole/ insteps before I realized that they're knit in one piece. So scratch that idea. Idea two was to knit each one a different color and do embroidery in the contrasting color. The problem is the two colors felted differently and one is a bit bigger than the other. I don't even want to bother at this point.

Back to the kid's sweater. I'm making this for the Boy knowing that he will not wear it until at least the fall. This is fine, I'm making it a bit bigger since I was hoping to get more than one season out of it. The issue is I know if I put it away until the fall it may not be picked up again. I have to plug away until it's done. No more side projects until this sweater is complete!

P.S., Socks Don't Count.

Randomonium*

2007-05-21T11:31:00.000-04:00

I've been tagged by Gina. Whee!

Here's the deal: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Here's my seven random facts:

1. I fell out of a third-story window when I was three. I got up and walked to the front of the house. I didn't have a scratch on me. It's my earliest memory.

2. I have an older brother and sister.

3. I've known my oldest friend since we were two. I still talk to her every week. My second oldest friend I've know since we were five. I'll be in her wedding this fall.

4. I've never quite grown up. I have the same sense of humor as my five year old. I love cartoons.

5. I'm deathly afraid of heights.

6. I used to smoke. A lot. I quit when I was pregnant with The Boy. I still think about smoking, but would never start again.

7. My met my husband when we moved into the same apartment building. He was my upstairs neighbor.

Okay, so I need to tag some peoples, um... I think the ManchVegans are all covered, so if want to play consider yourself tagged.

*Randomonium is the main ingredient for creating monsters in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. See number 4.

Happy FO Friday!

2007-05-18T08:59:00.000-04:00

I finished my Zoe bag!!

This is such a cute bag. It came out a bit bigger than I expected, but I didn't want to put her through a third cycle in the machine. I just love the finished product.

Details:
Pattern: Zoe, by Carolyn Mader (May 2007 Magknits)\
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted, 3 skeins main color, 1 skein contrast for ruffle. I used Red Hot Passion for the bag and Chocolate Souffle for the ruffle.
Started: May 7
Finished: May 15

The only change I made to the pattern was to knit the ruffle in the round instead of flat (I shudder at the idea of purling 280 stitches).

Some before pictures:

Peek-a-boo!

And in use:

Cute, no?

I got nothing

2007-05-15T11:33:00.000-04:00

Well, almost nothing at the NH Sheep and Wool this past Saturday. I went there with the idea that I wouldn't buy any yarn unless it had a purpose. I was looking specifically for some lace weight for the Myrtle Leaf shawl and some non-girly sock yarn for the husband. I did manage to find a skein of sock yarn that I liked in greens, yellow, and a salmon pink (not girly), but they had only one. I did find a matching skein of just greens and had the idea that I could do heels and toes in the semi-solid, but the husband vetoed that one like I suspected he would.

I also got a new felted slipper pattern and some yarn to make a pair. I love felting.

The rest of the day was spent fondling yarn, laughing with friends, looking at cute animals, and just enjoying a sunny Saturday outside.

On Sunday my wonderful children took me out to lunch and we bought a new swing set for the kids. We've been shopping for one for a while. I can't wait til it's delivered!

Zoe is done, she's going through the second cycle now. I'm crossing my fingers she doesn't over felt.

Socks!

2007-05-09T15:41:00.000-04:00

I finished on Sunday night, but I'm just getting around to posting this FO. I give you, Matt's socks. These are the biggest honkin socks I've knit so far, and they were the fastest*. It took me 12 days start to finish. Not bad.

*With the exception, of course, of the Socks of Doom which were knit on fives. I mean c'mon, fives? Those aren't socks, they're slippers.

Pattern: Basic Men's Sock Pattern
Yarn: Regia Crazy Color #112
Start: April 24
Finish: May 6

I've been trying to finish the sleeves for the Boy's cable sweater, but honestly, the weather here is in the 80s. Who's thinking sweater? Anyway, I'd rather spend some time with Zoe. She's fast. I can see me sporting this lovely bag this time next week.

Where I sit

2007-05-04T09:51:00.000-04:00

when I knit.

Thanks, Lora for the cute post idea (check out her knitting spots). Here are the places I most frequently knit:

The big comfy chair:

The dining room:

And my side of the bed:

These are the places at home I knit most often. I will spare you the photo of the toilet I sit upon while the children are bathing.

There's finally a new Magknits up. For some reason, there was no April issue. I suspect it's because the editor was a little busy having a brand new baby. The issue is okay, but what really caught my eye was Zoe. This bag is so adorable. I literally ran to Yarn and Fiber to pick up the yarn. I can't wait to knit this bag!

Have a great knitting weekend!

My first skirt!

2007-04-30T08:57:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited.

Pattern: New Look 6843 view A

I'm a little embarrassed to have had to use a pattern for this skirt. It was a very easy shape and took less than an hour to do (including cutting time). I still need to hem it, but I think it came out great. It's light and skimmy and perfect for a spring skirt. This pattern will be used a few times.

In knitting news, I've completely abandoned the kid's cable pullover to knit some socks for Matt. These are coming along quickly and I hope to have them done by Wednesday so I can finish the pullover, so I can start Rusted Root. Whee.

Pattern is here.
Yarn is Regia crazy color 112

I'm with the (head)band

2007-04-23T08:48:00.000-04:00

A little late for FO Friday, but I swear this headband was finished on Friday. I just didn't blog it.

The Jacqueline Headband:

Back lit shot a la Gigi

I love this headband and have already worn it several times this past weekend.

The girly liked it too, even though it made her look like she was from Estonia.

Next photo is from Gina's blog. Don't mind the psychotic look on my face, Gina took the picture in the middle of Barnes & Noble and I was trying to not look weird. Well played Jackie, well played.

Specifics:
Pattern: Radiance Lace Headband by Gina
Yarn: Sleepy Eyes Handpainted Merino/ Tencel in the colorway "Mermaid"
Started: April 12
Finished: April 20

Whatcha Knittn?

2007-04-17T11:27:00.000-04:00

Recently it dawned on me that I've not written any updates on my knitting since the completed Tote 'Em, which, by the way, I may end up keeping for myself. The birthday in question isn't until the end of next month, so we'll see. I currently have three projects going:

1. Cabin Fever Kid's Cable Pullover for the boy. I'm up to the underarms on this one. I had to run out this morning for a 40" size 6 addi so I could magic-loop the arms. I love this sweater but man, it is so boring. I'm working on this one pretty much exclusively just to be done with it. I think I'm past the major boring, the sleeves should only be minor boring, then I get to the fun stuff, yoke and steeks --yes, I'm going to steek it so I can make it a half-zip pullover. I was going to work the yoke back and forth, but I think if I steek it I can match the steek to the zipper and it'll fit better.

2. The Jacqueline Headband. I have still not finished knitting my namesake headband. I'm about halfway done with her. I need to have this as it is very much headband weather here this week. The yarn is so gorgeous, merino/ tencel that was dyed by the equally gorgeous Gina. Heather has the same yarn in different colorways here. That Blue Lagoon would make a gorgeous headband. Actually you could get two out of one skein, so one for you, one for a gift. The pattern is available for purchase on Gina's blog.

3. Last and least, a pair of socks for myself in Artyarns Supermerino. I thought that a worsted-weight pair of socks would be done in a day, two max. These have been sitting on my bedside table for three days. I love the colors and this yarn has been in my stash since last year's Sheep and Wool.

The pattern is Thuja from knitty, knit on smaller (size 5) needles for a woman's foot.

So, what're you working on?

lucky

2007-04-13T08:49:00.000-04:00

My birthday is this coming Monday, and I got to celebrate early on Wednesday with my ManchVegas peeps. Here's some awesome birthday booty;

First of all, I'd like to introduce you to Little Jackie. Here she is modeling her very own Wicked Sweater, knit by lovely blogless Amanda and denim capris, knit by hottie Heather. She also has a beautiful Berroco Boho skirt, knit by beautiful Gina. A very enviable wardrobe.

Here we are modeling our matching sweaters. The blotches are on the mirror, not the sweater (note to self, clean mirror).

Lora gave me a gift certificate to JoAnn Fabric so I can start on some spring skirts that I'm planning to sew. I'll hopefully be posting that progress soon.

She also made me this beautiful card. It's so perfect.

Heather gave me this awesome skein of her hand-dyed merino/tencel in the Martian colorway. She knew I was lusting after this one. Simply gorgeous.

The group gave me four months (FOUR MONTHS!!) of Spunky Eclectic's sock club! Talk about the gift that keeps on giving! I'm so excited to see the first package.

Gina's gift included these beautiful hand knit socks:

Pattern: Gina's own design
Yarn: Cascade Fixation color 9916

I haven't taken them off.

Also from Gina, the stunning stitch markers from Zephyr at the top. They have the cutest little drinks on them (Old Fashioned, Cosmopolitan, Martini, and Strawberry Margarita) and one that says Happy Birthday Jackie love, Gina. That one is gracing my current project.

The markers are sitting on what may be, my favorite skein of yarn ever. It's handspun (by Gina) fingering weight Baby Alpaca and Merino wool with angelina in it, which gives it the most beautiful sparkle. There is no describing the beauty of this one, nor could I get a picture that appropriately shows this baby off. Here's one that comes kind of close: (click for big)

I don't know what to make with it. There are 356 yards here. I was thinking either a lacy scarf, or maybe a wrap. Pattern suggestions are more than welcome. I need to use this and drape myself in it every day.

I love it so much I went and collaged it.

Thank you all, I'm a lucky girl to be part of such a fabulous group!

Food as craft

2007-04-09T09:43:00.000-04:00

I know this isn't a food blog, but I really do get the same enjoyment out of cooking that I do with any of my other crafty endeavors. And yes, I believe I finally perfected my spinach lasagna.

I actually made this twice this month, once when the husband was out for the evening, so he requested this little number again. Here is the recipe:

Turkey and Spinach Lasagna

for the sauce:
1 12 ounce package ground turkey
1 small yellow or white onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tbl olive oil
2 29-ounce cans tomato puree
1 tsp. salt
1 tbl. Italian seasoning

lasagna:
12 pieces no-boil lasagna
1 32-ounce container ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated romano cheese
1 9-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cups mozzarella cheese

To make the sauce:
In a large saucepan over med-high heat, brown the ground turkey, drain and set aside. In the same pan, add olive oil and minced onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook, stirring for a minute or two. Add the browned turkey, green pepper, both cans of puree, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Turn heat down to low and simmer for at least one hour, stirring every once in a while.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl blend together the ricotta, two eggs, romano cheese, spinach and pepper. Mix well, set aside.

Assembling the lasagna:
Spray a 9x12 baking dish with no-stick spray. Add a ladleful of sauce to the bottom of pan. Place four uncooked lasagna noodles, overlapping edges slightly. Add half of the ricotta mixture over noodles, add a cup of sauce over cheese. Repeat noodle/cheese/sauce layer one more time. Add the final four noodles, top with a layer of sauce and sprinkle mozzerella over the top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and cook additional ten minutes to melt cheese.

Serve with leftover sauce.

It's nice to have options

2007-04-06T08:48:00.000-04:00

The Tote 'Em bag was finished Wednesday night at knitting, with the exception of the 6 24" lengths of i-cord for the handles. I so did not want to knit the i-cord, so decided to go and buy some braided leather at Jo Ann Fabrics. I had no luck, but did stumble upon the Embellish Knit! cord maker. Now, the package specifically states that it is for lightweight yarns only, and you should not use worsted weight yarn. I tried it anyway, and it worked beautifully. 20 minutes of figuring how this thing worked, and I went to town.

I went with the tri-color look:

The pre-felted bag:

The post-felted, but still drying bag:

And the completed bag:

Specs:
Pattern: Tote 'Em from the Fall '06 Knitters Magazine
For: Aunt's birthday gift
Yarn: Patons Merino in New Denim, Worn Denim, and Chestnut Brown -- 2 skeins main color, 1 each of secondary colors
Started: March 11, 2007
Finished: April 5, 2007

The giant ballerina

2007-04-02T13:07:00.000-04:00

What the heck did I do wrong?

One of the patterns I've been dying to try is the Felted Ballerina Slipper from Fiber Trends. The pattern itself was fun, and I used some Cascade 220 from the stash so that was also enjoyable.

They looked kind of big before felting, but I honestly thought they'd be okay.

But, after going through two cycles I realized that I could not get them down to six inches.

They're 8. And they're huge. Oh well, she'll grow into them. Or I can give them to the boy. He loves red.

Better late than never

2007-03-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

Photos from Saturday's visit with Chicks with Sticks at the Yarn Sellar in York, Maine:

L to R seated; Laurin, Gigi, Ericka, Gina, Julie, Melissa, Amanda, Chris, Chris, Heather, Mary
Standing; Patti, Lisa, ME, Lora

Melissa taking a picture of the store (with Gigi doing the same in the background)

The store:

Everyone getting settled in before lunch:

Lora having a moment with George.

Chris with nephew's finished sweater:

Me trying on Gina's tragic/beautiful Spunky sweater.

My haul from the store:

Some DK Baby for a new cousin due in August, the Cotton Fleece for The Boy's cabled sweater, and a pattern I've been eyeing for a while, the Felted Ballerina Slippers by Fiber Trends.

Every Saturday should be so fun.

Happiknits is...

2007-03-23T07:02:00.000-04:00

Ah, the feeling of being done with 408 rows of garter stitch. (I previously referred to it as stockinette - I'm dumb like that) I've never been so happy to finish something in my life. I'm so glad that I did it before starting the second panel of the Tote 'Em bag. It's not hanging over my head.

I still have til the end of May to complete the bag so no rush. I have time to get The Boy a sweater done before summer. I've picked out both the pattern and the yarn.

Kid's Cable (#208) by Cabin Fever

I'll probably go with Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece in barn red. I'm happy.

Happy Spring?

2007-03-20T09:04:00.000-04:00

Just a couple of photos from my yard.

I think it's the last of the snow, and it'll probably be gone in a day or two. I'm actually enjoying it. The only downside is it can't use my grill. I can't even get out the side door right now.

Onto the knitting content. I haven't made any progress on the gusset from hell. I need to force myself to pick it up again. Perhaps at knitting group. The pleasant company will distract me from inane repetitive stitchery. I just need it done.

I have (just about) finished my one and only sport-weight argyle sock. I still need to weave in the trillion ends, but since I'll never wear it, what's the point?

I am definitely going to make a pair of argyles in a thinner weight. Just not right now. I have to finish Tote 'Em before I can think about any new projects. Speaking of new projects, somebody talk me out of knitting Rusted Root, because I can't stop thinking about it, and I promised the Boy a red sweater.

Along with the Tote 'Em bag, I'm also working on the We Call Them Pirates hat in red and cream for the boy. Instead of a provisional cast on and a knitted liner, I'm just going to line the whole thing in fleece once it's done. I'm thinking he'll wear this one next year anyway.

For anyone interested, the yarn is Tove.

And lastly, yesterday I took the girl for an actual haircut. It was getting really unruly. Her before:

Her after:

And, because I'm instituting an equal-time policy, one of the handsome Boy:

No haircut or anything. Just enjoying the New England Aquarium.

Hell is

2007-03-12T11:44:00.000-04:00

408 rows of stockinette.

Not even halfway there.

I'm currently knitting the gusset for the Tote 'Em bag from the Fall '06 issue of knitters. I've finished the first side, but after holding it up next to Gina's I think it's about a third too small. I hope it comes out okay since it's going to be a gift.

Here's the front panel.

This part was fun and I'm looking forward the the second side, if I ever finish the gusset.

Here's what it's supposed to look like after felting:

The pattern calls for i-cord handles, but after knitting all that stockinette for the gusset well, I'm rethinking my options.

Wicked done!

2007-03-05T12:34:00.000-05:00

Behold, the two-week sweater:

Closeup of neckline/sleeve:

Ubiquitous side view:

I've been wondering why people in this view often have their hand over their belly, it became apparent to me after trying to get this shot; there's nowhere to put your other hand. You can't just leave it at your side because that will obscure the sweater. I ended up sticking it in my back pocket, which made my belly kind of pooch out. Now I know.

Details:
Wicked Sweater, Zephrstyle.com
Size med, with 2" extra length
Started: February 17, 2007
Finished: March 3, 2007
Moda Dea Washable Wool color Raspberry - 4 skeins
US 7 32" knitpicks needles

I love this pattern, but there are a couple of things I'll do differently next time. First, I love the baby cable at the neck and arms, but the bottom is in seed stitch. The seed stitch was tedious. I'll do the bottom the same as the neck, and I think it'll lay better too. Seed stitch tends to be puffy. Puffy at the waistline is never a good thing. Also, I found the pocket to be too small to actually be useful. I'd make the pocket longer as well.

Last picture for Gina, who asked, "when you raise your arm, does the pit show?"

Nope.

I almost hope it never ends

2007-03-02T09:18:00.000-05:00

I'm finishing the body of my wicked sweater s l o w l y. I've got another inch or so then I'll start the pocket. I love when I have a knit that's just long enough to not be boring. This knit is perfect because there's shaping to break up the 11 or so inches of stockinette body, then you get to knit a nifty pocket, and the seaming of pocket to body is something different and interesting. Plus, it's top down, knit in the round. God, I love this sweater.

Today is the perfect day to stay in and knit. The snow has now changed over to freezing rain, and we're not going anywhere.

The kids are entertaining themselves, and my house is (relatively) clean*. I'm pouring myself another cup of coffee and knitting.

*Disclaimer: do not come over my house to verify this statement, my version of clean and yours may be completely different.

Wicked progress

2007-02-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

I made a bit of progress while watching the Oscars on Sunday night, I'm almost at the point of the hip increases.

I'm definitely making the short sleeved version, and was going to wear it layered with a long sleeve tee underneath. I'm reconsidering since I kind of like the way it looks alone.

I love this neckline!

Maybe I'll get it back

2007-02-21T10:25:00.000-05:00

but then again...

Gina brought me this beautiful Spunky Eclectic sock yarn as a souvenir from SPA. It is too gorgeous for words. As she was hugging on it, The Girl kept saying "I yuv narn". And I love two-year-olds' lisps.

gratuitous yarn shot

And.

I've finally cast on for Wicked. I love this pattern so far. I can't wait to see how this neckline looks on me. I feel a bit guilty for starting a new sweater for myself since I did tell The Man that I'd knit him a sweater next, but in my defense, he hates wool. Yes, you read that right, I married a man that hates to wear wool. Oh, it's fine for hats and such, but for a huge project like a sweater, he wants cotton. Hmmmph.

Again?

2007-02-16T10:28:00.000-05:00

Another Friday, another FO. It's just a small one this time, we are all still in recovery mode, but I did manage a lovely little hat for the girl. The yarn was gifted to me by dear sweet Gina, who also dropped by some yummy goodies and flowers and stuff for the kids. How lucky am I to have such a friend? Here is the yarn:

The yarn is Lanas Puras worsted weight merino in the Hibiscus colorway and it is so super soft.

And the hat modeled by his Poohness (you can just make out the tulips):

And modeled by The Girl:

I added a pom pom for oomph. It was my first time making one, and perhaps my last. I had no idea it took so long to wrap that yarn around those cardboard circles.

Haiku

2007-02-13T12:23:00.000-05:00

Sick baby, no sleep
I'd rather watch over her
And maybe to knit

Unfortunately, the rest of the family also got the stomach bug over the course of the weekend. The Boy is the last one still recuperating. Hopefully next weekend will be better.

Between being sick and taking care of sick people there wasn't a whole lot of interest in knitting. Unfortunate, since I really wanted to cast on for Wicked this weekend. Next weekend will be spent entertaining in-laws, bridesmaid dress shopping with my friend who's getting married in October, and argyle sock class. I be thinking of all you guys going to SPA.

TGI(fo)F

2007-02-09T10:59:00.000-05:00

Well look at that, I have a finished object for FO Friday. I finished the second Corazon mitten yesterday;

Corazon

Mi corazon es en fuego

2007-02-05T08:53:00.000-05:00

Corazon Mitten

You'll notice there's only one. I had a bit of trouble with the thumb and had to put it down for a while. I've only just cast on the second, and hope to have it done the next day or so. I really could have used them this morning, it was nine degrees.
(oh yeah, and duh, I forgot to switch to smaller needles for the top, whoops.)

Also on the needles is my first argyle sock, I've finished the leg.

I really don't see me wearing sport-weight argyles much. I think I'll just finish this one and frame it. The next pair will be fingering. I'll call this one my practice sock.

Argyles, Mittens, and Gina's Contest (oh my)

2007-01-31T13:00:00.000-05:00

Gina is having another contest; this one is all about UFOs. Gina is asking for,

“A list of all the UFOs that you hope to accomplish by the end of THIS YEAR.
(I'll be printing out my own on Friday...FO Friday, of course.)

-1 ticket to each person to write to me with his/her list

-2 additional tickets to you if put the list on your blog along with my FO Friday button with link to my blog...(send me the link as well in the email when you've blogged)

-3 additional tickets to you if you do something unique to your list.
Unique in any way. Good luck and....start typing!!!”

I’m not overly ambitious, knowing that there will be patterns that strike my fancy or perhaps someone will show up with a gorgeous knit that I WILL NEED TO MAKE THIS INSTANT.
Anyway, here’s my list:
1. Corazon mittens from Knitty - OTN *see below
2. %$^&* Argyle Socks - OTN *see below
3. Girly cabled hat in pink
4. Twinkle toes from knitty for the girl
5. The Ultimate Gift Sweater for Matt in some kind of cotton/ cotton blend.
6. Monkey Socks for MIL - OTN
7. My own pattern cabled and beaded socks - OTN
8. My own pattern super girly striped pullover – preschooler sized
9. Tote ‘em bag for 1. My mom in pinks and reds, 2., My aunt in blues and browns
10. Another sweater for moi (springish)
11. Socks and more socks for me!

So, what’s on your list?

My argyle sock class on Sunday was so much fun. I did end up frogging the sock I had started in class because it was too lightweight. I ended up buying some Helio and it's much better. It's my first colorwork project and I'm really enjoying it. Here is what I accomplished on Monday night during Studio 60:

It's not hard to do, just a bit fiddly to get going. Mine's not pretty; I really need to work on my gauge. Oh, and did you notice the lines on the left side? Yes, I did mess up and start the brown as the left-slanting stripe and the blue as the right-slanting. No, I was not about to frog four rows of argyle. I'll just duplicate stitch over them later. I'm lazy like that.

Speaking of frogging, I did frog three inches of my first corazon all the way down to the ribbing. I tried to make a gusset thumb instead of an afterthought thumb, without thinking about the yarn that would have to be carried across the thumb. It was too tight when I tried it on, so ribbit, ribbit. I think I'll still try the gusset, but while incorporating both colors instead of carrying. I'm still learning.

Tiny FOs

2007-01-29T09:24:00.000-05:00

I've put wavy down, maybe for good. Maybe I'll just take her out back and shoot her, put us both out of our misery. I really like the pattern, I love cascade. I despise the color I'm working with. It looked so pretty in the store, a delicate pink nestled in with the brighter, bolder hues. Sweet and girlish. Now after 221 yards of stitches, it looks too pale, anemic even. I hope to finish and dye it something else, maybe purple or red. In the meantime, get a good look, she might not be back for a while:

I had to put it down to knit The Girl a pair of mittens, since she absolutely refused to wear her store-bought pair, but loves to put on big brother's hand knit pair. The fact that it was 6 degrees out on Friday really motivated me to finish these:

Basic mitten pattern in Knitpicks Swish, color Ballerina (of course)

I decided that The Boy needs a new hat since his favorite hat doesn't cover his ears. The only hat that does cover his ears has a folded brim, and he has trouble adjusting it. I wanted a hat that would be just long enough to come past his ears. This is what I came up with:

Again, basic hat pattern with a cable and rib. Cascade 220 in red. I really like the red.

Knitting for kids is so satisfying.

Don't sweat the Hourglass

2007-01-22T10:52:00.000-05:00

I totally forgot to post pictures of my Hourglass sweater. It was such an easy knit, and I almost didn't finish it. I think if it weren't for my knitting group, this sweater would still be languishing my office/ sewing room/ yarn storage room. Please don't mind the awful photo, it was the best I could do this morning.

Oh, you want specifics? Okay.

Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson.
Size/ Yarn: I went with the second smallest (37") figuring that it would be form fitting. I made a good choice here, the fit is wonderful. I used 10 skeins of Knitpicks Andean Silk in Chocolate. This was one skein more than the pattern called for. I did not have enough yarn. I ended up knitting the inside hem of the neckline in a different yarn, but kind of like the way that turned out. I love the feel and sheen of the Andean Silk, but it's kind of pilly. I wouldn't recommend this yarn for a sweater you're going to wear a lot.

I started this sweater around the end of October and finsihed January 14th or 15th.

Neckline hem.

The Ice Storm

2007-01-19T09:41:00.000-05:00

I've always had a fascination with bunnies. It probably started as a little girl, when a rabbit was the only pet we didn't have. We had every animal under the sun. My family even had a pet squirrel, but that was before I was born when they lived in Texas. My in-laws have wild rabbits that live in their townhouse development, huge grey beasts that would give any dog a run for its money. When I’m visiting them in MD I like to stand on their deck and watch from a safe distance, but truth be told, those rabbits scare me a bit.

This morning, in the fresh snow, I discovered a set of rabbit prints in my driveway.

The boy and I were on our way across the street to catch the bus, so we only gave them a cursory glance. After he was off, I went back to investigate. They start on the bank of the little stream on the edge of my property, lope across the driveway and end in a small thicket of trees in front of my house. I wonder if there’s a rabbit warren under there.

So, remember on Monday I told you we were having an ice storm? Well Monday night the power went out right around 7 pm. The ice was causing power lines to go down all over the place. There were somewhere around 10,000 homes without power in my area. Monday night we toughed it out, and the power came back on around 10. It went back out sometime during the night and stayed out until, oh, around 9:30 on Wednesday night. We stayed at a local hotel on Tuesday and Wednesday night and the kids thought they were on vacation. Now we’re back home, safe and warm.

Icy tree

I didn’t manage much knitting, but I did start the Wavy scarf from Knitty. Blogless Amanda had knit one that looks so freaking amazing on her. After seeing it in person, I fell in love. She is currently knitting a second one, and Gina and I have both started our first.

She doesn’t look like much yet, but she’s growing.

The second along I’m going to be starting is Corazon, also from Knitty. I’m doing these with Lora, who’s probably already finished with her first mitten and halfway done with the second. The incredibly talented and beautiful Gina picked up some scrumptious RY Cashsoft baby DK for me when she and the gang went up to Webs this past weekend. Have I told you lately how much I love Gina? She’s awesome. Anyway, these colors are perfect and I can’t wait to cast on.

Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey* (socks)

2007-01-15T10:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, are you expecting pictures of a fully-completed Hourglass sweater? Sorry to disappoint, but it's currently drying on a towel in my bedroom, and I thought a modeled shot would make a bigger impact. Instead, I will share some photos of my in-progress Monkey Socks from the latest Knitty. I do love Cookie's patterns. The Hedera socks are probably my favorite socks to wear. I am going to be giving these socks to my awesome mother-in-law. Since she dresses a bit conservatively, I needed a solid color yarn. Gloss from Knitpicks really fits the bill here. The yarn is wonderful to work with, sumptuously soft and silky.

I can’t resist the urge to post a photo of my very first adult-sized sweater, so here’s a tease. Modeled shots plus all the details will be on the next post.

Oh, and here's a tip, don't try to blog during an ice storm. You'll end up retyping your post ten times. Guaranteed.

*song title from The Beatles (white album)

Hat trick!

2007-01-08T11:04:00.000-05:00

I finished a hat for the husband last night, so I thought I'd show off the last three for a hat trick:

1. Matt's Hat. He picked the color, I picked the yarn. After showing him some pics, he decided he liked this pattern. I did some surfing and found a free and non-Japanese version here.
I made it longer and with another cable to accommodate a large husband-sized head.

2. My version of Matt's hat. It was originally supposed to be for him, but came out too small. It's mine baby.

3. Last, another picture of my handspun by Gina cashmere hat:

Now I can't decide if I want to cast on a pair of socks for the Mother-in-law, or finish my Hourglass sweater...

A New Year, new socks and a new baby

2007-01-02T09:05:00.000-05:00

Happy new year to you all. The husband and I celebrated in our typical fashion, Chinese takeout and falling asleep at 12:01. We do love our traditions.

I finished the father-in-law socks:

Yarn is Austermann Step, knit in plain stockinette on 1s. How I love this yarn.

Now, my baby. She is just five months old, and the sweetest little kitty eva! Ericka and Chris brought her back from their weekend trip last night, and she is fitting in just fine. She is great with the kids and super-friendly. She doesn't have a name yet, but for now the Boy has named her Fluffy.

My Holiday in Pictures

2006-12-28T10:40:00.000-05:00

Christmas was wonderful, I'm glad it's done. Forgive the picture-intensive post, I'm working on 2.25 hours of sleep.

My tree on Christmas morning:

Notice there are no ornaments on the bottom third of the tree? Some people have cats, I have the Girl.

The Girl and my mom on Christmas Eve:

The Boy opening some new GBA games:

He's happy:

And, what he looked like the rest of the day:

The girl was pretty much overwhelmed:

But soon got into a party mood:

Knitting content next time, I promise.

Six weird things and an FO

2006-12-19T12:53:00.000-05:00

First of all, I've been tagged by Julie with an interesting and thought-provoking meme, list six weird things about yourself. I really didn't think I was that weird at all until I started to think of weird things, now I think I'm a total fruit-loop. Here goes:

1. I sing ALL THE TIME. At the store, to my kids, on the phone. Just all the time. And my voice is not all that great.
2. I talk to myself. Again, usually at the store, thinking out loud.
3. I pick up stuff with my feet. I'm actually pretty good at this.
4. I'm afraid of balloons. Not the mylar kind, the latex. Something about the feel of them, well they're just gross.
5. I dance around the kitchen when making dinner.
6. I can recite Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" verbatim. This was my favorite poem in junior high school. I still know it by heart.

Weird, huh? Okay, so part of this meme is you need to tag six others to do it, so Lora, Gigi, ErickaJo and three other people who want to, go ahead.

My finished object this week is this lovely Lady hat. Gina spun this gorgeous cashmere that I just had to have. Isn't she pretty? I wish you could feel it, it's so soft and beautiful. (BTW, it's adult sized, The Girl is just the model.)

Because everybody loves a scarf.

2006-12-13T11:47:00.000-05:00

Lolly is hosting an informal knitalong for anyone who purchases a Bejeweled scarf pattern. Buy before December 31 and Shobhana will donate a portion of the $2.25 purchase price to The Dulaan Project. I bought mine! Now to find the perfect yarn...

Speaking of scarves, I finally finished my "My So Called Scarf" in Patons Soy Wool Stripes, pinks colorway. I love this pattern, so easy to memorize, and it makes a nice thick scarf.

Yay, scarves!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

2006-12-11T08:37:00.000-05:00

My baby girl turns two today. I guess I can't call her "baby" anymore. Here she is two years ago:

And here she is yesterday modeling the finished Cozy Cardi:

Specifics:
Pattern: Cozy Cardi from After Dark, by Jil Eaton
Yarn used: Nashua Handknits Ivy, an alpaca and merino blend with a bit of sparkle. I only used two balls (137 yds each) for the smallest size. Super soft and perfect for any party girl.

Cheers!

Darn you Knitty. Darn you to heck.

2006-12-08T15:23:00.000-05:00

Due to a fallen tree, I was without power for a good part of the day. Also offline since, my computer also uses electricity. Funny that. Anyway, when I was finally able to check my email, I discovered that THE NEW KNITTY IS UP!!!!!

There are at least four projects that I must knit. First of all, these are the cutest fair isle mittens, and they look easy. Cookie has a new sock pattern, there is a pattern for the Sexiest. Sweater. Ever. Also, the Baby Girl really, really, really needs Twinkletoes to go with some of her new "tintess" outfits that the Mother-in-Law is sending.

Speaking of tintesses, I didn't finish the Cozi Cardi yet. I am so close. I just need to do two more inches of the collar. I just can't make myself pick it up right now. Must finish tonight.

Here's progress:

First snow

2006-12-04T08:46:00.000-05:00

Well, technically not the first for me, since we experienced some flurries driving up to Grandview in November, but as the Boy and I waited for the bus, we spotted a few flurries, which of course, we tried catching on our tongues. Too few actual flakes to catch, but it was still Big Fun to try. I love this time with him. The husband gone to work for the day, the baby girl still sleeping. We play chase in the driveway and "I Spy". It's just five minutes until the bus gets there, but it's our five minutes.

The little joker turned to me and said, "my hands are cold" (while wearing the mittens I knitted for him this weekend), I asked "really?" and he said, "no, just kidding, I love my mittens". Even at five he understands the value of something hand knitted especially for him. Warms my heart.

The Pardi Cardi in on the needles. No pictures yet, as it's just a big square, but it's coming. I didn't find a mohair that I liked so I ended up with Nashua Handknits "Ivy" which is an alpaca/ merino blend with little sparkly fibers in it. Perfect for the little party girl. Hopefully I'll finish by Sunday, which is my extended family's holiday party. Cross your fingers for me!

Never enough

2006-12-01T08:43:00.000-05:00

yarn, that is. Yup, finished a mitten with the leftover Mission Falls 1824 from the Boy's hat, went to start the second and there's no way I have enough of the main color to finish a pair. Oh well, a trip to the yarn store is in order.

I need some mohair to make this:

(Cozy Cardi from After Dark)
To go with Baby Girl's "tintess" dress. This child is the total opposite of what I was like as a child. I was the biggest tomboy you'd ever want to meet. Fought with the boys, scraped my knees, climbed trees, you name it. This child is a delicate sweet baby princess who freaks if her hands are the slightest bit dirty. We took this dress out of the closet to "try on" to make sure it fit for the Christmas pictures, party, whatever. Well that was on Monday. She wore that thing 'til bedtime, then first thing on Tuesday insisted on putting it on. Same thing Wednesday. Thursday morning we went to drop it off at the cleaners, since it had all manner of food on it, plus it was wet and gross. I handed it to the man at the counter and she lunged for it, getting into some weird tug-of-war with the guy, all the while screaming, "no, tintess dress on now!" This Is Not My Child. Seriously.

Post Holiday

2006-11-27T08:38:00.000-05:00

Whew, it was quite a week! Tuesday we packed up the kiddos and flew (yes, I actually got on an airplane with two small children) to my in-laws’ for Thanksgiving. I usually host the big meal here, but my mother-in-law recently had surgery and couldn’t fly, so up and away we went. Let me tell you, if you are planning on ever flying with children there are two things that you need; alcohol and small electronics. The alcohol was for me of course. The kids were perfectly happy with a portable DVD player and a gameboy (new gift from the grandparents). Thankfully it’s a quick flight and they were great both ways.

I knew I wouldn’t get much knitting in this week, but I do have progress on my cabled and beaded socks, a scarf and fulled slippers. The socks may be gifted, the scarf will most definitely be gifted, and the slippers are all mine.

Cabled and Beaded, first sock mostly done. I'll write up the pattern when I knit the mate.

Fuzzy Feet from knitty. I loved the way these looked on this blog, so I grabbed some SWS from Michaels. I loved the feel of the yarn and the colors were beautiful, so I ran out and grabbed some more for a scarf in the pinks colorway (which is only a little pink).

Pattern: My So Called Scarf
This will be going to the kindergarten teacher, but I may have to make a second for myself.

Before I go, I’d like to share the baby girl’s new cheese face (as in “say cheese”).

It’s great to be home.