Slightly Obsessed

The Coldest Day in 32 years

2009-01-16T20:37:00.004-05:00

And this is how Miss A dresses. If you can't tell, she's wearing a bikini. She's had a bathing suit on for the past three days. :) She'll be three next week.

It was around -14 this morning. Brrr. The car wouldn't start and I missed my chiro. appt (CTS is horrible so this is another knit free post) but Chris was able to get it started later and we took Miss A to her first skating lesson. JCC has been skating/playing hockey for a few years now but this Sunday is his first time playing in front of an audience and he is so excited!

Morning hair

JCC on the computer

HCC close-up. He's still a sweetie but is getting huge! He's about out of 9 mos. clothes already (he'll be 5mos next week.)

Back by Popular Demand

2008-11-06T13:34:00.004-05:00

:) Well, not really but I do have some photos! I don't think I can string together the words to express all of the busyness that's been going on. We've had chickepox (all three munchkins), potty training (Miss A), homeschooling (officially), and our small business is doing well. There have been wee bits of knitting but I haven't managed to take any photos.

Cute baby smile! Boy, this guy is a sweetie.

Miss A as a caterpillar. We also had to buy a fairy costume to stand in as a butterfly one as my mother kept asking her if she was going to turn into a butterfly. Thanks Mom! :)

However she didn't wear either for our actual Halloween outing.

But JCC was a knight!

We created an alter for Day of the Dead, complete with sugared skulls.

I could totally get into these -- next year I'm doing one all by myself (in Miss A speak.)

Cute pic from the park.

And that's it for another couple of months. . .

New Munchkin!

2008-08-26T14:16:00.003-04:00

Wee Boy was born at home on Wednesday, August 20th at 7:03am after 3.5 hours of labor. He looks a lot like JCC but with slightly wider spaced eyes.

Being weighed -- 7lbs, 14oz

6 days later

Blessingway Pics and One Monkey

2008-08-13T09:12:00.003-04:00

I can see why people love to make Monkeys! These are super quick to knit and a lot of fun. I thought these were oh so pretty until I asked Chris his opinion and I could tell by the look on his face that he thought they were pretty much the ugliest socks ever. Oh well, not everyone can appreciate very loud striped lace socks. The mate to this one is on hold as I'm working on a vest for the Little Man as my Olympics project.

These three pics are from a Mother's Blessing that my friends threw for me on Saturday. It was lovely and I came out feeling very loved and strong. (I only had to wear the wreath for the pic.)

As I'm sure you can guess, no babe yet. Due date is tomorrow. I'm ready!

New Camera!

2008-08-04T10:10:00.005-04:00

My parents gave me some money as a birthday present and I bought myself a lovely new camera. I love it! I was expecting just a little point and shoot for the price, but it also has great SLR settings and video capabilities that I wasn't expecting and it's very easy to navigate the menus. I had been using the first digital camera we bought before the Little Man's birth and it is too large to just carry around in my bag and so I just wasn't getting as many photos as I would like. So to make up for lost time. . .

Dress-up Time

Very Pregnant Mama and Little Girl

Curly Locks

More Dress-up

In knitting land, I had picked up the new Cat Bordhi book and during our Baltimore vacation I made the two little sampler socks that will be for the wee babe. Definitely a fun book and hopefully the little one will get to use them.

Little Sky Socks

Little Coriolis Socks

The June Sock Club offering from Little Turtle Knits. This stuff is exquisite! It actually seems way too nice for socks. Theresa always has great stuff but I think she may have the best sock club around -- each offering includes yarn, a new pattern and something additional. This time it was handmade note cards. If I didn't have a ton of sock yarn from last year's Scout's Swag I'd sign up for a monthly order.

My best belly shot

Goggles!

This summer has been the summer of swimming (the city pool is only a mile away so even my very pregnant self could manage to get us there 4 days a week) and the Little Man has made amazing progress. He went from refusing to get his ears wet to being able to swim! Yesterday he spent close to three hours swimming away at his cousins. He does somersaults under the water, opens his eyes, etc. It's been very cool to watch his progress. His other new interest is playing Chess. Chris and I are both very much amateurs and he's going to surpass us quickly if we don't learn some new moves. I have the chess book by my desk and intend to learn some more today.

We have one more week until the babe's estimated arrival (Little Girl was 9 days late so I won't be holding my breath) and we're ready! All the supplies are assembled (another homebirth), the cloth diapers are washed, and the wee clothes folded.

More Socks!

2008-06-23T08:16:00.006-04:00

Exciting, eh? This pair is for me. Very comfy and a better fit than the last (sorry Mom! Hopefully yours fit you well.)

And here's a pair for Miss A. This pic was taken when one was smaller than the other but it's since been frogged and re-done to make an identical pair. She loves them. The yarn is the Felici from KnitPicks and while it's super soft I don't think they'll be long lasting. Still, very pretty and I'll be making myself a pair.

I've also made 4 dischcloths for gifts to the Little Man's Waldorf teachers and others. If there's anyone you can feel not guilty about giving a homemade gift its someone in Waldorf (at least that's how I'm convincing myself that I'm not just being cheap.)

I'm very very tired at this point in the pregnancy (6 weeks to go) so we haven't even being doing our normal running around like crazy. Instead we've been going to the pool in the AM for Little Man's swimming lessons (For a kid who had a lot of sensory issues he's doing great. I didn't expect for him to go under and he did it the second session.) And then visiting lots of storytimes at the local libraries and when I have a bunch of energy, hitting up park days with other young homeschoolers. When I'm not napping in the afternoon we've been doing some more formal lesson-y stuff loosely following the classical model outlined in A Well Trained Mind.

I also have a very part, part-time job doing the administrative part of Chris's web hosting business at http://www.dashCommerce.com. It only takes around 5 hours a week and gives me something to do besides mind small people.

On Wednesday the munchkins and I head to Baltimore for our annual summer visit. We are looking forward to it!

Toe-Up Love

2008-05-26T08:55:00.003-04:00

I've never really understood the online knitters' fascination with socks. I've made a few pairs and all of them required me ripping back substantially. However as I do have a few skeins of sock yarn and I needed a Mama's Day present for my Mama, I tried again this time using a toe-up technique. I love it! Minus ripping back the Turkish cast-on a ton of times, the knitting itself was painless. And I love the short-row heel as I also am not a fan of picking up stitches. Since this pair only took one skein I'm now half-way through a pair for myself and I've switched to the much easier Magic Cast-on so no ripping at all.

In baby news, we now only have 11 weeks to go! While I am a little worried about Miss A's transition into a Big Sisterhood, otherwise I am rather unworried about the whole thing. My belly is huge and I feel I can't get much bigger (oh but wait!) even though I know there's still a lot of growing to go. I am in full-on nesting mode and have cleaned out all of the closets and made up a list of all of the things that need fixed around the house. Chris was groaning as I mentioned maybe we could spend his day off today painting things. :)

It is Done!

2008-04-19T20:20:00.004-04:00

Woohoo -- my clapotis is finally finished! It was really only 3 months of work but after a very long hiatus for my aching arm back in the summer/fall. One thing I should have thought of is that if you're knitting in pain you will be knitting much tighter than usual. Unfortunately I didn't notice this until the end, but a little light blocking makes it unnoticeable.

I ended up with only about 4 yards or so left over. I had ripped back the decreases one time already, so this was cutting it awfully close but I do love the end result. It's about 14 inches wide by 65 inches long. I've mostly worn it as a scarf but I have a concert to attend on Wednesday (Feist) and I think I'm going to try wearing it more as a stole over a plain black top. All other project details are here.

This is the Honeycomb Hat from Clara Parkes's The Knitter's Book of Yarn. The yarn is a bulky wool I bought back at the '06 MD Sheep & Wool festival. The colors are my favorite and while I didn't enjoy knitting with it (hard on the hands) I like the finished product. I ended up using the reverse of the honeycomb pattern as I like the painterly effect with the hand-dyed yarn.

I'm slowly, slowly working my way through my festival acquisitions of 2006. Both of the above projects are from yarn bought that spring/summer as well as the mitten/scarf set I made last month. I'm thinking I may crank out a vest for the little boy out of some wool/mohair I also bought that spring. I am trying really hard not to order any linen to make the Aleita Shell as I won't be able to wear it for quite sometime. My belly is getting quite huge.

Small people with their spring haircuts!

Robin Hood

2008-03-26T16:39:00.004-04:00

Ravely links:
Mittens
and
Scarf

Dude, knitting with worsted weight yarn is so much more rewarding right now. I whipped up a scarf and mitten combo for a trade with a fellow homeschooler mama for a Robin Hood Costume. As the Little Man and I do not do well with candy, there is no standard Easter basket. Instead the Eoaster Bunny arranges a treasure hunt of sorts for the children. This year Miss A got a tea set, Little Man the costume and they both got modeling beeswax to share. Candy would be ever so much cheaper and easier. Oh well.

She did a great job on the costume! The hat is adorable and has a bright red feather on the side.

Chris's parents bought the children some new clothes (the kids picked them all out) and the Little Man has been walking around as a cross between his Pepaw (my father) and a member of the Young Republicans ever since.

Easy Peasy Projects

2008-02-17T13:51:00.004-05:00

In lieu of working on my Clapotis (really should have doubled up the fingering weight yarn) I've been having fun making little things out of my handspun. I joined the Spunky Eclectic's Fiber Club last summer and it's a treat to get a little bag (4oz) of fiber at the end of every month. One of the fun things about the club is that the colors are not ones I'd normally choose but I do like finding uses for them. Every once and a while there's a luxury fiber that comes in smaller amounts and this fall it was a tencel merino blend named Aspen that was just gorgeous. Knowing that 2oz of an aran weight wouldn't make much, I settled on using the Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf stitch pattern for a simple headband.

Next I made the Corrugate Hat from Teva Durham's Loop-d-loop book. I love Teva's patterns even if bulky knits are not the most flattering to a top-heavy figure. I was hoping to make a hat for me but couldn't locate the second ball of yarn that I spun up from the July offering of the above fiber club, so instead it became a hat for the Little Lady. She looks quite cute in it and was in need of a hat that covered her ears. Of course I located the second ball of yarn a bit ago while I was cleaning off my desk.

The Little Man has been begging to knit for years now but just doesn't quite have the fine motor skills quite yet but finally we found some good directions for finger knitting and he had a great time creating this scarf for his dinosaur.

Last week we attended a birthday party where there was face painting. Here's JCC as a lion.

2008-01-25T14:57:00.000-05:00

JCC's mittens from here

Trogdor the Burninator! from IK Holiday 07 a present for JCC

Above are some of the fun things I've cranked out over the last month. All in all I don't find pregnancy to be a terribly productive period of life. It reminds me of being 16 (and I hated being a teenager) -- I'm moody, introspective and all I want to do is sleep. About the only thing I find entertaining is a good book and I've been cranking through those this month.

With that in mind, I've really been enjoying a new website. Goodreads is a site where you can track what you're reading as well as see what other people are recommending. The hits for me this month have been Anne Lamott's "Blue Shoe" and Carson McCullers's "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter". I'm waiting on some interlibrary loans to come through so I think next up is "Catch 22" or "The Kite Runner".

Other than some work on my Clapotis I haven't done much handwork. I really really need to make the little girl (who is now 2!) a baby book before the next one arrives but I find spreading all of the stuff out to messy for me to handle right now. I also have many months of Spunky Eclectic fiber club to spin but seem to lack the motivation in the evening to do so. I'm almost at the end of the first trimester so hopefully some energy will return soon.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-06T20:43:00.000-05:00

I hope all of you are having a happy new year. 2007 went by in a flash and 2008 looks to do the same as we are expecting another munchkin in mid to late August! We'll be planning another homebirth and just continuing along with our homeschooling journey until then. I was looking forward to starting a bit more formal program in the fall (ok really I'm just itching to get a math curriculum as I think we'll have a lot of fun with it) but now that may get postponed until we all settle in to the new munchkin. While initially a bit put off by the idea, the Little Man is now excited to have another brother or sister. Carrying on the tradition of giving the gestating name (Miss A was Baby Cashew) he has decided on Baby Butter Crunch for this one. :)

Thanks to the lack of CTS I've been much more productive lately. I finally finished up the Drop Stitch Cardigan that I knitted in 2006. For almost all of 2007 it sat around without a collar and a wonky zipper (even though I installed both multiple times.) Finally I gave up on both and made a tie closure and crocheted around the neckline to finish it off. I've worn it multiple times since finishing it and I love it!

I also finally made a hat to match a cape I picked up while pregnant with Miss A. I've had the yarn for a while but was set on crocheting a pattern that is way beyond my skill set. Deciding I didn't care that much I made the Urchin pattern from Knitty and I am quite content with the results, though I don't look nearly as cute in it as Miss A.

Lastly here's a cute pick of the Little Man in his Joseph Coat. He wears it frequently even if the zipper is starting to loosen and look ridiculous.

For my current knitting I've started Miss Marigold though by the time I finish it I won't be able to fit into it. I've also been cranking out on my Clapotis. It's perfect for football playoffs knitting! Next I need to make the boy some mittens to match his hat and then I'll start on Petal.

Inspired by a brand new notebook gifted by PCR last Christmas, in 2007 I started a book of all the things I wanted to knit, read, do over the year. One of the best habits I formed was keeping a list of all the books I read. Highlights include a variety of cooking inspired books, all the Ruth Reichl ones; Bonnie Wolf's "Talking with My Mouth Full"; and "Julie & Julia" by Julie Powell; as well as Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love"; "Fun House" by Alison Bechdel; "Survival of the Sickest" by Sharon Moalem; "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini; "Bankok Haunts" by John Burdett; and lastly "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. Forgive me for not linking. I'd love it if anyone has some of their favorites to recommend.

Finally. . .A Sweater

2007-12-03T07:43:00.000-05:00

Details:
A Simple Knitted Bodice by Stefanie Japel
Started in March, finished in November
Size 3 & 5 KnitPicks Options Needles
Tess's Designer Yarns Silk/Merino (awesome!)

I'm pretty happy with this -- I really would love it if the neckline was narrower which it would have been if I had been able to do it as written. Instead I did one purl ridge and then bound off. The sleeves are also not as belled as written and also only have one purl ridge. Why? Only about 5 yds of yarn leftover!

As for that oh so much smaller Jaywalker, it has been frogged. Apparently now that I'm knitting again I'm knitting at a much more normal gauge. Which is kinda nice, I guess, but really throws off existing projects. Thank goodness I didn't screw up the above sweater.

Goofy Children Pics

Wearing his Joseph Coat!

In small children news, Miss A is talking up a storm and Mr J is in the middle of one of his watershed times (he never learns just one thing at a time) and is learning to read, tell time and do some math. Lot's fun!

Woo Hoo! A Handspun Hat

2007-11-15T17:28:00.000-05:00

I finally ripped back and added some rows to Mr. J's hat -- I love it! The pattern is the Earwarmer Hat from LTK. I am very happy with how my spinning is progressing. It's taken long enough!

And now the sock. . . notice the size difference. Any suggestions? I am loathe to rip out a finished sock.

The Candy Fairy Visits

2007-11-02T15:30:00.000-04:00

In our house the Candy Fairy visits Halloween night and removes all candy and leaves a present for each child. This year they each got a cape plus one wee one for a dolly. A local homeschooling mama made them and while they weren't cheap I am happy to support her and not have to worry about the conditions in which they were made or when they're going to fall apart.

My own bit of happiness -- Hanna Andersson Mary-Janes

There has been a bit of knitting. I'm working on a hat for Little Man out of some of my handspun. I finished the hat but it is a little too small (Is there anyone who can just knit a project without having to rip back? I am envious!) However this is my first project with my handspun that looks good! I'm so happy. And then today I did some spinning and was able to get a nice lace weight that I could ply. Little Man also spun his first lumpy bumpy skein. Sniff sniff. Hopefully the first of many. Pics of the hat coming soon.

Update with Cute Pics

2007-10-17T14:45:00.000-04:00

Still here. Still not knitting. Actually that was true until the other night when I couldn't stand watching another game without something on the needles. For fear of being cursed if I worked on my Jaywalkers (sox you know) I started this cute little baby hat for a friend's three week old daughter. I think this is my 5th or so baby hat out of the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. My gosh is that nice yarn. The pattern is a cute little cable that's not so easy to see in this pic.

Halloween is sure to be cute this year!

Finished Jaywalker. The mate due sometime next year, sigh.

And in exciting news, I'm going back to work. Well, not really, but sorta. I'll be working a few hours a week for Chris over here DashCommerce. I'll mainly be on the forums and working support. There has been talk of database work but I'm not sure if that's just a carrot to get me over to the dark side. :)

Another Great Mail Day

2007-09-04T13:59:00.000-04:00

Here in the land of no knitting and very little emailing (hurts to do either -- chiro appt scheduled for Friday) today (as well as Saturday) was a great mail today. I have won two blog contests of late, one from the lovely Tamara and one from the lovely Diane. Due to a twist of fate involving irregular mail carriers and taking a trip across the Atlantic they both arrived today. What loveliness! Thank you both!

Diane sent a large skein of fingering weight silk in an amethyst and sage colorway along with a sample of brightly dyed synthetic fiber. The fiber feels awesome and I love the colors. As for the silk, the new Magknits came out today and maybe Blossom would be a good use for this?

Tamara sent 2 braids of fiber. The burgundy one is superwash and the magenta one is merino. Both are nice and squishy. I'm sure I'll try and spin up some sock yarn with the superwash. I'll have to ponder what to do with the magenta.

On Saturday I received my 3rd installment of Scout's Swag. This time it was dyed by Yarn Nerd. Not my favorite colorway (Chuck T's) but the GoKnit pouch made it all better. I've been coveting one of these for a while. I think it should make knitting while trailing children much easier.

Little Boy turned 5 on Sunday. The party on Saturday was quite fun. On Sunday we continued the celebration by going out to a coffee shop (his request) and opening gifts. It is amazingly hard to find toys NOT made in China. I was even at our local toy store that tries to stock the not so commercial toys. He did well anyway and we've been enjoying the new playthings.

Hopefully some knitting FOs to show next post!

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome be Dammned

2007-08-29T11:58:00.000-04:00

I'm knitting. And it hurts. My arm aches and aches. Which really sucks as I have a whole lot of work to do. I've taken to wearing a splint while online and knitting and hopefully this will provide some relief. I had taken a summer break hoping the pain would go away with some rest but it's back in full force.

I'm halfway done one sleeve on the SKB.

I'm progressing down my Jaywalker again -- this is going to be a 3-balls of yarn pair of socks. Luckily the LYS had another ball and in the same dyelot too. I swear these are the slowest going socks ever. I knit and I knit and I always have two more inches until I can start the toe decreases. If I were not so in love with the colors and striping I would rip out and start something else.

Next I've started a pair of sidewinders. I've only knit the first part and it is remarkably unremarkable. These will be fun just to see how the sock takes shape.

This morning I cast on for another dishcloth. One can never have enough of these. Knitting on size 6 needles feels like quite a treat after the 0s and 1s for the socks. Even the SKB is on a 4.

Lastly I'm going to cast on a pair of longies out of the Mystic Creations yarn from a few years ago. A friend has asked me to be at her birth (a homebirth) and as they're a cloth diapering family I'm thinking these will be a nice addition to the babe's winter wardrobe.

Little Man is turning 5 this week and on Saturday we're having our last party of the season. They don't really stress me out too much anymore but it will be nice to have it out of the way. Next week begins our Waldorf class (We need more kids! If you're in the area and know of anyone interested please let me know) and I'm hoping to get the Enki curriculum in the next few months with any birthday money I can scrape together.

Cleveland is a great town for local eating this summer. Between our CSA share, the City Fresh share and the farmer's market we've had pretty much all local produce this season. As I mainly cook vegan we're doing pretty good on keeping our food money close to home. I'm not sure how the fall/winter scene is going to look as I haven't canned (next year!) but hopefully Whole Foods won't consume too much of our food budget. Tonight I'm going to try this tomato sauce recipe in hopes of making a ton next week and freezing it for winter.

Unfortunately the running has not been so great. With the mugginess of August I decided it would be best to run in the morning before the kids awake. Unfortunately almost every time I wake so does wee girl. Here's hoping the coolness of fall will let me run in the evening. Now I have to go knit. . .

July??

2007-07-29T21:58:00.000-04:00

I can't believe July is over -- I'm not sure I've even knit more than a row or two. No spinning at all. Instead we visited my family in Baltimore, I exercised a ton and read quite a few books. I'm organizing a Waldorf class to meet one day a week in the fall if you know of anyone that's interested.

Now that Ohio's farms are finally churning out the food we've been spending our weekends eating our way through the local veggies. On Saturdays the kids and I hit our local farmer's market for produce, on Sunday we get our CSA pick-up and the rest of the week I cook it all up. I'm looking to add in one other CSA in the hopes that I can stop the need to visit Whole Foods mid way through the week. While we've been doing many of these things for years, my passion to use the food well has been spurned on by reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I think it presents farming in a pretty idealistic manner, however it was still enjoyable and thought provoking. Last week's lesson -- okra does not work well roasted. Bleh! Tough as leather.

Unfortunately, my own garden has not done well. I think I got everything in too late and then our local groundhog ate many things. Now I'm just waiting for my tomatoes to ripen.

The daylillies are almost over but here are three pretty ones:

Now the missing pics from last post:

Spunky Club Handspun

Cherry Tree Hill Sock Yarn from Melissa

Cascade Sierra bought from a yarn store gift cert. from my brother! Destined to be a Tomato.

On Sunday we did haircuts! This is his Robby (my brother) in training cut.

Muffin batter bowl licking!

Mail Call!

2007-06-29T14:26:00.000-04:00

On Monday I received my June Spunky Club shipment and it is wonderful! She has such great colors. This one is called Tulip (and indeed resembles its namesake) but also works as good firefighter colors. I spun up more than half of it last night and I think it will be the yarn for Little Man's winter mittens. One random discovery I figured out while putting away my wheel is that I can spin my much desired thin yarn if I'm standing up. I do have a single treadle so this is possible but not really a comfortable option for long-term -- any suggestions? I'm thinking it's the room to pull out a longer draw that is letting met get down to the thinner gauge.

SCOUTs SWAG SPOILER AHEAD

Today's mail brought the June Scout's Swag shipment. A beautiful teal blue almost solid BFL and a cabled Cookie sock pattern. I'm sure it will be December before I have the two of them done but they will be stunning. I'm still intending on making a pair of Monkey socks out of the April selection. My camera battery is DOA so here's someone else's pic and here's a closeup of the pattern.

In WIP news, I should be casting off the body of the SKB today. I checked and I have two more skeins of yarn (one hidden benefit of losing weight is using less yarn) so I'm going to do the long sleeve version. Which means this will be done sometime this fall, knowing me. Clapotis is coming along as well. I just started the straight section after doing a few extra repeats of the increases.

Tuesday was my 30th birthday and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Sergio's Sarava. We had the full works (drink, apps, soup, entree, dessert and wine) and it was a wonderful birthday present. Wee children were with our new babysitter and it felt like old times. Yesterday we had wonderful weather for a birthday party and it was a great time as well. A friend gave me some scrumptious Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in electrified sherbet colors that will be the most awesome Melinda socks of all time. She also included some beautiful blue stitch markers which are my first non-utilitarian markers. I will enjoy them Melissa, thank you!

Now I am off to pack, tomorrow we leave for a week in Baltimore.

JCC's Self Portrait and a Tended Yard

2007-06-22T20:34:00.000-04:00

No knitting updates (it continues on much the same) but we did get our brush pile ground up this week and I am thrilled with the results. JCC had to take some pics after I did mine and his are priceless.

These are the after photos -- just imagine piles of brush throughout the ravine and you'll appreciate my joy at their absence.

The epitome of a 4.5 year old boy.

Knitting on the SNB (and it's huge size 5 needles) has wounded me -- I have a hole in my finger. Ouch. So instead of knitting I am spending my evening uploading pics of my stash. Fun fun.

In a Knitting Mood

2007-06-19T14:04:00.000-04:00

Finally the urge to knit has struck again and I am busy cranking out the stitches. I picked the Simple Knitted Bodice back up and have just finished the lace band. Working the lace on size 3 needles with a worsted weight yarn leaves my wrist sore but the result is lovely.

Next for easy knitting in the company of others I've started another Clapotis. This time in a sport weight silk/merino named Tokyo by Interlacements on size 4 needles. Both of these projects were ones I decided on last summer and bought the yarn for at Stitches Midwest. I figure I can't responsibly visit another fiber festival until I've caught up with those purchases so I'm hoping to get these finished up over the next month.

Finished Just in Time

2007-06-11T21:27:00.000-04:00

Just in time for Father's Day, 4 months late for his birthday. (Those are socks hanging there in case you can't tell.)

And here are JCC and I ~~in the jungle~~ posing by the ferns. I'm laughing as he's trying to get me to sniff the ferns (I have him trained to sniff flowers for photos). Yeah, I know he's cuter.

Lastly I have a drop stitch scarf out of my Forecast handspun. I was running late to my SnB and needed something requiring little thought to work on. This seemed to fit the bill. I can't wait for my next Spunky Club fiber to arrive. It's fun seeing what great colors she creates.

Spinning Away

2007-06-05T06:39:00.000-04:00

Spinning has been an interesting pursuit for me because even though I don't do it very often my improvements seem exponential from time to time. Maybe it's because I've been doing some reading and thinking about it in the off time, but the results are getting closer and closer to what I want.

The first thing I spun up was the February installment of the Spunky Club, a merino named Forecast. I tried a technique from The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook (awesome awesome book) and divided my roving by color and spun one bobbin mostly blue and the other mostly brown. I then plied them together. Or at least that's what I intended on doing. The actual result is so loosely plied it's humorous. But that's ok as the spinning itself was pretty good. It's spun enough that it didn't come apart when I was taking it off of the bobbin and yet isn't kinky.

Next I spun up another thing of roving from HPY. This time without nearly the amount of cursing as the last time. I tried a different technique and spun from the fold and found that this made it much much easier to deal with the slippery merino. I was trying different draws on this one and it's not as consistent as I would like, but overall it's strong and beautiful.

On Saturday instead of hanging with my usual knit cronies I visited The Cast on Cafe in Willoughby, OH with a mama friend. What a great shop! Despite my resolve to not buy yarn (ha) I bought some beautiful cotton crepe for some sort of tank. Usually at yarn shops I am amazed at the yarns but sad at the prices but she had some wonderful stuff for decent prices and I will definitely be going back.

I'm currently debating whether to knit Sizzle or a basic tank from the store's pattern. I got gauge and cast on for Sizzle but somehow my gauge in seed stitch is way off from my stockinette. I have frogged and am going to try again with a smaller needle and hope for the best.

Garden Mosaic

2007-05-29T21:17:00.001-04:00

Garden Mosaic

The end of May is a great time for a Cleveland garden -- lots in bloom and the deer have plenty of other things to munch.

That Whole 7 Random Things Thing

2007-05-26T21:29:00.000-04:00

Both PCR and Laura tagged me for this . . . I'm not tagging anyone as I think it has to have gotten to everyone by now. :)

1. Both of my children were born on the rug in our bedroom. I will now keep that rug forever.

2. I never willingly touched a worm until the Little Man made me do so. I didn't want to spread one of my irrational issues to my child so I held it all the while inwardly chanting "Eweweweweweweewe."

3. I could eat Thai food everyday and not tire of it. Luckily this area of Cleveland is blessed with many a good restaurant and I've become reasonably proficient at various curries.

4. If you saw my wardrobe you would think it belonged to two people. Half is your basic khaki, navy, black, work acceptable clothing and the other half (mainly pj's, socks, and exercise gear) is shocking pink and orange.

5. I will be 30 years old one month from today!

6. I never had any interest in gardening growing up even though both of my parents do plenty of it (dad has veggies, mom flowers) as they never wore gloves and I dislike touching dirt. When we moved here I bought some gloves and found a new love.

7. Every few years I have a word that I dislike -- first it was "genre", then "utilize" and most recently "meme". :)

FO: Sew U Skirt

2007-05-20T21:36:00.000-04:00

Look at that -- I finished something! Chris has been going to sleep at the same time as the munchkins (he started his own business and is getting up really early as to have more time to work) and to try and to entertain myself in the evenings I finally made the skirt from Sew U. I wussed out on the zipper and darts and subbed elastic instead. This was very, very easy to make. My only real issue was due to my poor cutting skills. I think I may buy a rotary cutter, mat and straight edge to eliminate that problem. I do like the book but would note that you have to be pretty slim to make the patterns -- the above is the largest size skirt and I am way out of range of the shirt pattern.

Many thanks to Kate, Nancy and Stacey for posting their projects, sharing encouragement and advice, and just in general being sew inspiring (groan). I just love bloggers!

Making Up for Lost Time (pic intensive)

2007-05-16T19:35:00.000-04:00

Apparently 4.5 years is the age of a rechargeable battery -- in the last few months we've had to replace both the video camera battery and now the digital camera. So, here are a few posts worth of pics.

Chris kindly made me these raised beds for some veggies! They are all planted in the square-foot gardening method and we now have lots of seedlings popping through. I'll go more in depth later.

Close-up of Nasturium growing in above bed.

We put down 15 yards of mulch two weeks ago. It makes everything really stand out.

The new hammock was my Mother's Day gift along with a latte and iTunes card!

The pansies are trying to rally after they were deer lunch.

The tree peony was stunning this year.

This is the tree peony I bought at last year's super end of season sale. Just one beautiful bloom this year.

Bleeding hearts are always pretty.

My mother brought me up the stunning hosta. I Love it!

A kind neighbor let us dig up a bunch of ostrich ferns last year but we thought they had died. Turns out that the first year you move ferns they put all of their energy into their roots.

And finally some knitting! I lucked out a few months ago and got a spot in the Scout's Swag Sign-up. Here is the beautiful yarn (named Lavender Mint) posing with the bluebells. Anyone have any ideas for a non-boring sock pattern that won't take forever? I love the Jaywalkers but it is not a speedy sock for me (have to look at it.) The next pic is one of the finished socks for my father. They were intended for his birthday but as that was in February, I'm now aiming for Father's Day. It's mate is half-way done.

It was close to 90 yesterday and we scoured the local stores for a rigid kiddy pool (the inflatable ones don't last long with outdoor kitties) wee girl enjoyed scooping water onto the plants.

Spring!

2007-04-20T21:58:00.000-04:00

The Easter Bunny brought sunglasses instead of candy.

Ketchup love.

Goof ball.

I've been stuck in the doldrums of an extended winter and am only starting to feel like the end is in site. Over the last month we've had the stomach flu, Little Girl has had 3 of 4 molars come through, we've had head colds, Little Boy's allergies have been in full swing thanks to the one day of spring many weeks ago and my brief bit of respite has been a new running program. Going outside I see where my tulips should be, and where all of the flowering tree blooms have gone. Ug. Luckily we've had two days of sunshine and hopefully things we'll be looking good in the garden.

I'm only getting a wee bit of knitting done in the evenings -- there has been no progress on the Jaywalkers, the dad sock is down to the heel flap and the SKB is down to where you put the sleeves on holders.

Things We've Been Doing

2007-03-27T15:14:00.000-04:00

It's officially spring here in Cleveland -- the daffodils are blooming, the trees are budding and the deer are eating my spring bulbs. Luckily they only ate about half but it's still quite depressing looking around and seeing all of the munched plants. Daffodils have been spared but the crocuses, tulips and glory of the snow are all a dismal site.

Things the munchkins and I have been doing: visiting the zoo, science center, and children's museum with our homeschool friends, playing hockey, running, gardening, hiking, baking, and more. Please not what we have not been doing: knitting, crocheting, or spinning. I get a few rows done everyday when they're in the bath but otherwise it's just not happening.

ACC in a box

Goofy boy

Hellebores

Hellebores

This will be a SKB

Jaywalkers

New Hat

2007-03-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

Alright, so it's a new month and I'm still not getting much more done. Rangling children sure does take a lot of time. Between running them around to popcorn factory tours, visiting friends, and the normal household duties I'm not getting a ton of fiber love. I did knit up a ribbed hat out of my homespun merino -- it is oh so soft. I do wish it were a few rows longer so I may crochet a border out of some purple merino left over from Little Girl's coat.

Yesterday a few of us from the Eastside SnB members saw the Monet exhibit at the CMA. It was wonderful! While in college (3rd time or maybe 4th. . .) I was there at least once a week but since having JCC I've only been once! It was nice to revel in the silence and enjoy the color. To continue the color fest, afterwards we hit the local yarn shop. I managed to escape with only the following:

For Dad

2007-02-24T21:52:00.000-05:00

Post haircut

Now with bangs!

I'm working on a Harry Potter scarf for Chris right now, I'm almost finished. I have a few gifts to knit and a bunch of new fiber to spin. Still doing well on our vegan eating plan. Still blah about February. I'll be a better blogger next month. . .

The Crafting Blahs

2007-02-13T21:09:00.000-05:00

The finished skein from last week's post

The doldrums of February combined with a very active January find me with NOTHING on the needles or wheel. I cast on a balaclava for Chris but ripped it as I was foolishly attempting to knit from memory and was doing k2p2 instead of k2p3 even though I had a ton of stitches. You'd think I would have been proactive enough to consult the pattern after an inch or so of thinking "Gee, that looks awfully big." But no I waited until I had 3 inches completed.

Instead I've been reading and sleeping. :) I do much of my crafting in the evenings after both children are asleep but now that I've given up caffeine I find myself going to bed an hour or so earlier. I guess it's good to be getting the rest my body needs but my brain is craving a bit more.

Reading wise I've devoured a bunch of cooking books -- Eat to Live by Joel Furhman, Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl. All three are good reads. I read the first two during the same week which made for an interesting juxtaposition as they are at the opposite ends of the eating spectrum. The former proposing a vegan, nutrient dense, low-fat diet and the other cooking offal in butter and cream. We're trying out the program outlined in Eat to Live and are doing pretty well -- we may be exhibiting a green tinge from all of the salad we are eating but otherwise feel satiated and healthy.

I do expect happy crafting days ahead of me as I have a large KnitPicks order coming my way with yarn for Chris's striped scarf, a surprise hat and a ton of dye for my Tunis roving. I also was lucky enough to have some spinning questions answered by a lovely and talented spinner. I can't wait to read the next post about drafting. I have more HPY fiber on the way as well as some other yummy stuff to spin and will test out her suggestions.

Thanks to the blizzard outside tomorrow will be our third day in a row home. Normally we are home on Tuesdays but get out and be merry the others. Today was surprisingly pleasant and hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same.

Lastly, I have to mention that my vacuum died the other week and I replaced it with the Roomba (for those that wanted a report, this is a Remanufactured Roomba Discovery) that my heart has been coveting. I LOVE it. It freaking rocks. I was doubtful that it would stand up to the fur but it does a great job even if I do have to empty it after every use. Now my only problem is figuring out how to keep Little Girl from turning it on every ten minutes. Hopefully the novelty will wear off soon.

Vivid Violet

2007-02-04T14:25:00.000-05:00

roving with bits of lemon yellow throughout. Isn't it pretty? And oh so soft. Spinning is really an amazing thing -- time seems to evaporate when I'm doing it. I don't know if it's just because I'm learning and spend so much time thinking about what I'm doing or if it's just a magical craft in general. I've managed to solve my overtwist problem but now feel like I'm spending more time predrafting the roving than actually spinning. If you have advice please comment.

Pile o' baby hats awaiting to be delivered. (Babies have already arrived.)

Book Reviews

2007-02-01T21:14:00.000-05:00

Remember way back when when I said I was going to sew? I bought very pretty fabric, prepped the fabric, cut out some patterns and then put it all away. I seem to have the best intentions to sew but then get stymied by some detail or another. However I really want to sew so I'm trying to find some good basic books sort of in the Stitch 'n Bitch vein.

While Amazon surfing I stumbled on Amy Butler's In Stitches and as I LOVE her patterns and fabric (to look at of course, haven't actually MADE any of them) I thought this would be a good book for me as it's supposedly a beginner book. Ha. The projects at first glance do look simple but when you actually look at the details they are much more complex than my new sewer self can hope to figure out. Luckily I found another that is much more suited to my needs: Sew U: The Built by Wendy Guide to Making Your Own Wardrobe This book rocks! It's for the absolute beginner and walks you through all the basic sewing stuff plus pattern modification. Three patterns are included with many details on all of the variations you can do with those three.

While reading through the how-to part of Sew U I figured out my sewing issue -- it's the fiddly nature of pinning and cutting out patterns. I get really annoyed when they slip or don't end up just right. (I don't want to discuss the zipper and drop-stitch cardigan for this very reason. Or rather the 4 failed attempts at proper zipper installation.) Wendy suggests using weights and a rotary cutter instead of pins/scissors. Hallelujah! I had a similar issue with gardening -- I grew up amongst gardeners but was never interested until I tried it while wearing gloves. That was the whole problem -- I hate the feel of dirt. Sew. . . here's hoping this is the launch of a new hobby. (Because I don't have enough of them as it is.)

One Wizard Scarf Complete

2007-01-31T19:58:00.000-05:00

Nice and big. Chris loves it. I will be making another here shortly. His love is not for the HP tie-in but for the double layer, super long warmth so he has picked two blues instead of any of the HP school colors. I found downloadable ebooks from my library while knitting this and it has resulted in a dedicated knitter. Well, that and the fact that I was a monogamous knitter for once. Makes me wonder how fast I could do a sweater if I tried. This was about 700 yards including fringe. I swear my hair is not that *big*.

Here are the wee children painting.

And now I'm off to soak in the tub and peruse my new books: The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. I'm a tired girl tonight.

And the Hogwarts Scarf Begins

2007-01-23T14:38:00.000-05:00

You can't get better timing than that. I finished my socks last night (after posting I immediately snagged one of them on a slightly raised nail and had to do repair work) and now the yarn for the Hogwarts scarf is here. However this scarf is not for me nor is it a gift -- a homeschooling mama is paying me to knit it!

How cool is that -- someone is paying me to knit. Rock on. It really doesn't get any better than that in my little world. Chris couldn't quite understand my excitement about this but when you haven't earned any income in almost 3 years any little bit is cause for a celebration. Anyway, do those colors look Gryffindor to you? The yarn is posing in the snow to get the best representation of the color. I'm not sure about the gold.

Boring Socks are Done and Little Girl is One!

2007-01-22T20:55:00.000-05:00

From this. . .

to this. . .

And one goofy brother. . .

What a quick year that was! Not much knitting, but a wee girl is a good reason for that. She's really started communicating in the past week or two -- some signs (eat, more and book) and new words (bath and ball). She's had that moving thing down pat for a while but added climbing onto the couch and going backwards down the stairs to her repertoire.

For the knitting update -- the boring socks are finished. The yarn is some cheapo Knitpicks stuff that I don't really like (they feel rough and the yarn split a lot) and I even took off a recommended inch in length but they still feel too big. Apparently I like my shoes big. I buy size 9 shoes but when I put that in the sock wizard pattern generator it comes out with socks much too big for my feet. Anyway, these were fun to make and I have more sock yarn on the way for birthday gifts.

And lastly, I found a boo boo in the SnB Kitchner instructions. They have the four main steps but leave out those two preliminary steps (yarn into front stitch as if to purl, yarn into back stitch as if to knit) to get you ready to Kitchner. Laura, I wonder if this is why you are an unhappy kitchner-er?

Happy Knitting Anniversary

2007-01-16T23:26:00.000-05:00

I've been knitting two years as of this past weekend. Sniff sniff. Who knew something so simple would be the key to happiness? Not me. I really wish I would have found it sooner. Maybe I would have been able to graduate from college without the extended stay, not wished away JCC's first year or had to count traffic cones as a way to entertain myself on my family's many driving trips. It really has been that much of a panacea for my restless brain.

I know all of you who read this from the strange little world of knit bloggers understand this, but if you're coming here from the homeschool or gardening path I encourage you to try it. All of our crazy great-grandmothers (playing with fiber has skipped two generations in my family) were on to something.

Knitting for Joe

2007-01-14T22:28:00.000-05:00

Joe is my father in law and the only person (not including JCC) who has requested a knitted object. Bless him. Ask and you shall receive. . .

a balaclava. :)

From the Winter 06/07 Knit.1. Made from just over one skein of black Cascade 220. Took one day to knit. Not bad considering it's been lurking in my brain as something to do for over a year. Hopefully it will keep him warm.

To take care of another Thing to Knit, I made another Umbilical Cord Hat (SnB) out of 100purewool for my cousin's two month old son. Both packages are addressed and ready to mail. I'm feeling quite productive.

On Cooking

2007-01-11T14:12:00.000-05:00

After 4 years of allergies my son is eating like a normal person and it is wonderful. Well, we're still on Feingold so not quite normal, but normal enough to celebrate. All of the possibilities leave me wanting to start cooking again. I cook dinner almost every night but it is not something I really enjoy. Like housework it is just something I do as my job.

However now that I can use butter, cheese and flour again I feel like maybe scrumptous food should appear on our plates. Lasagna sounds wonderful (though we haven't tried tomatoes lately) as does spinach salad with bacon and eggs. Tonight we're having Portugese Canja (chicken soup with rice and lemon) with garlic bread. Yum yum yum.

Part of my desire to cook comes from reading a fun new book: Talking with My Mouth Full: Crab Cakes, Bundt Cakes and Other Kitchen Stories by Bonny Wolf. An enjoyable read with a ton of recipes (I'm thinking I should buy the book as I have so many pages dogeared.) The Irish Soda Bread is kick ass and takes 5 minutes to mix up and 45 minutes to bake.

Now that I've finished that I'm going to start another cooking book -- Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. Maybe I'll be trying French cuisine next.

The knitting has been unremarkable. More felted mocs, more baby hats, blah blah blah. Another friend is due with a baby soon and I still have two babies already in the world who need hats.

My first FO of 2007

2007-01-05T14:06:00.000-05:00

Irish Hiking Scarf made with 3 skeins of KnitPicks Swish Superwash in the Fired Brick colorway. Despite having almost the amout of yards called for this is a bit too short (it is longer than it looks in the pic as it's wrapped around his neck twice) -- 53 inches after blocking. I'm not in love with the yarn even though it held up well in the wash. It's probably great for kid items but it just felt too plastic-y for my knitting enjoyment. I also didn't realize that *everyone* was making this pattern for the Red Scarf Project. Oh well.

Not too much else going on in the knitting department. I did receive some great gifts from my SnB pals (or knitting friends as JCC calls them) and spent my time filling a new notebook with a list of all my knitting books and what patterns I want to make from them. For actual knitting I've been cranking out felted moc slippers.

Otherwise we've just been living our normal life of playdates, parks and chores. I feel very busy with our rather relaxed life and can't imagine what it would be like to have a job outside the home or school with which to contend. We are very blessed to be able to enjoy the non-hurried life.

HPY -- yum!

2006-12-30T11:56:00.000-05:00

Doesn't it look yummy? I don't think I have enough to make a vest but I think I'll make a clapotis out of it to wear with my cape.

And the pretty roving. Unfortunately I think it's *too* nice for my spinning skills as it is a PITA to join and getting the intial bit going took a good twenty curse words. I'm halfway through the ball and am just hoping it doesn't all come apart when I take it from the bobbin to the niddy.

The red scarf is done. I just washed it (in the machine as it's superwash and I figure this is how its designated college student will treat it) and am hoping that I can get a few more inches out of it via blocking. 3 skeins only got me 44 inches which is a bit too short in my opinion.

Next up in the knitting front are *more* felted mocs and then some baby items. I had to put the HPY away so I wouldn't accidentaly cast on in a moment of weakness.

Obligatory cute kid pic.

What Happens in Baltimore, Stays in Baltimore

2006-12-27T10:47:00.000-05:00

Well, knitting presents anyway. We were in MD for 12 days enjoying the normal holiday festivities. One of my lovely aunts bought the following for a $1 at an estate sale.

Yep, a handmade wheel and an unpictured spindle for one dollar! I made her a pair of felted slippers for a thank you but didn't manage to get pic. I did get a pic of another multidirectional scarf I made for a friend out of my last bit of blue/green/gray 100purewool. However the wheel has to stay in Bmore until my parents venture north in the spring. I had two children, a large suitcase, a large duffel and two carry on bags to drag through the airport yesterday and a wheel just wasn't in the cards.

Wee baby sweater, awaiting a baby to be born tomorrow! I am now DONE with this colorway -- one sweater for me, one baby sweater and a scarf is overkill.

Detail of the Irish Hiking Scarf I'm making for the red scarf project. It is turning out lovely but it does get a bit tedious.

While I was gone my HPY order arrived -- a much speedier turnaround than last time. The roving is BEAUTIFUL but my attempt at brown/blue yarn is just not what I wanted. Too much brown. Pics coming soon!

Handspun

2006-12-08T19:56:00.000-05:00

I started spinning last summer but got put off after I read an advanced spinning book that said the way I was taught was the wrong way to learn. Even though I had been quite happy with my spinning up until that point. This ended my spinning career until I picked up Shannon Okey's Spin to Knit and read about the same technique I had been taught. So I figured I might as well spin up all of the yummy fibers I bought at Stitches last summer. To make it a little easier on myself I bought another bobbin, the lazy kate rack missing from my wheel, a new brake strap (mine dry rotted) and a beautiful niddy noddy from Hello Yarn (who has some seriously rockin customer service -- same day shipping). I then spun up my purple and black bump from Grafton Fiber and knitted up Panta.

The batt was heaven to spin and I was happy to find that it was not horribly overspun as I was afraid. It is quite the thick and thin but worked up fine for the headband. Small children and I have been outside quite a bit in the snow and this is a nice replacement for my fleece earwarmer. The whole experience was so pleasant I'm going to spin up my black alpaca and then knit something for the little boy with it and the rest of the purple/back yarn from above.

He's been asking "When will it snow again since April?" He's a happy boy!

Little elf

Ta Da!

2006-12-02T18:25:00.000-05:00

Hallelujah! They're done (but not photographed)

2006-12-01T20:44:00.000-05:00

I've finished my two sweaters! The drop stitch cardigan turned out lovely (thanks to 100purewool) but I am determined to know how the hell a v-neck cardigan is supposed to have a collar. I looked through some books and can't find any pics of one and the pic in the magazine is a great example of Maggie Righetti's theory of knitting magazine subterfuge -- why oh why, is there not a front view of the sweater? Because the collar is ugly, that's why.

Anyway, the Lace Leaf pullover turned out well too. I thought I had really screwed up in using handspun (Malabrigo) to kitchner a sweater together right smack in the middle of my torso, but it blocked out great. This one took me 4 months to finish, but if I was a monogamous knitter it would have only been a couple of weeks -- it's a really easy and fun knit minus the honking needles that wore a hole in my finger. I'm one of those pusher people and that bulky wool and size 13 needles just don't work well for me.

Last night I cast on the MDS in another skein of 100purewool and I'm in heaven. It's such an easy, fun, thoughtless knit that looks so wonderful. This one is for Chris. Here it is posing by my favorite lamp.

In spinning news, I am awaiting an order from Hello Yarn -- a beautiful niddy noddy, two bobbins, a brake band and the missing lazy kate for my wheel. And then I joined another HPY co-op, still trying to get that elusive blue/brown merino I crave. I ordered some roving with it as well. Maybe that is what I'll spin up for my handspun secret pal.

And here are some garden pics, some beautiful late fall color and texture along with hunter kitty extraordinaire, Sophie.

This is Euphorbia dulcis 'Chameleon'. I love the range of colors -- right now the leaves range from dusty purple to tangerine orange. It seeds like crazy but it's hard to resent such a beautiful volunteer.

Swing Thing & Joseph Coat

2006-11-19T19:53:00.000-05:00

Two finished objects to show! I also sewed the zipper in my Drop-Stitch Cardigan (after ripping out the collar) but it is uneven and I want to get a better zipper for it.

Pattern: Swing Thing from MagKnits by Theresa Belville
Yarn: Interlacements Worsted II Merino Wool. I LOVE this yarn. So nice and sproingy -- it would be good for something with cables.
Needles: Denise size 7 & 8 (sleeves)
Changes: I couldn't get the stinking super cute knot buttons to work for me so I subbed some boring buttons I had lying around.

Front View with goofy face

Back View

Pattern: Joseph from Knitty by Kerrie Rycroft
Yarn: Colinette Point 5 in the Tuscan colorway, donated by Nona
Needles: Denise size 13
Changes: I knit the smallest size because of my gauge issues

Just a cute pic!

Happy Anniversary!

2006-11-12T21:58:00.000-05:00

Today we've been married for 7 years, together for 10.5 years. Amazing! We celebrated today with a pizza from Deweys after spending yesterday bumming around sans children. We spent our time drinking coffee, eating Italian food, looking at books and buying electronic equipment. This was commonplace pre-children behavior which we spent a considerable amount of time indulging in in our two-income, no kids world. Now it's a treat.

We bought an ipod holder/FM transmitter thingee for our car but it doesn't seem to be working. Chris is going to give it another try and then if it doesn't work I'm going to exchange it for a simpler creation and two iTunes card. I've decided that an iTunes card, an hour in peace to browse for music, a latte and a piece of chocolate cake is the perfect Melinda gift!! I did stumble upon a Roomba yesterday and I'm in love. (Chris says he's read hacks for them -- what the hell can you hack a vacuum to do???) I am asking for a vacuum for the holidays -- what a strange world I inhabit. I am lusting over this thing.

Before JCC I couldn't care less how our house looked but now that my world revolves around it I spend a considerable amount of time thinking I should vacuum. 3 times a week just doesn't cut it when you have one of these:

Please notice the tufts of fur hanging off of him. We think he is part German Shepherd part Chow Chow. The glory of this is that it means he both sheds constantly like a Shepherd and blows his coat twice a year like a Chow. Nice. And lately he's had a bad case of the itchies and the vet diagnosed him with allergies. So now we have to treat our dog for allergies in addition to the other family members.

And yes this is another post with no knitting content -- bwah ha ha. In fact I am procrastinating knitting by writing this. ;)

I'm Still Here

2006-11-10T20:35:00.000-05:00

Just not in a blogging mood recently. Not in a photographing mood either -- both Halloween and ACC's first steps passed by without me taking any photos. I did take a couple today as the weather was wonderful and I finished JCC's Joseph Coat out of the Colinette Point 5 I received from Nona. I tried to get a pic of just JCC but he wouldn't stop jumping enough to get a good one.

I am in project finishing mode as my SnB is having a FO party Saturday a week. We will have yummy Thai and show off all of our projects. I will have JCC's coat, ACC's coat, my two sweaters and a pile of slippers. Not bad for a season of work. I'm trying very hard not to cast on anything else in the mean time.

Baby Girl is a walking fool. She also learned to scream. We are not so excited about the latter.

Carol Mackie is Mine!

2006-10-22T22:23:00.000-04:00

At 8:45 Saturday morning instead of yarn crawling with the rest of my SnB the wee children and I hit the close-out sale at a local nursery. All perennials were $5 and under. And we're talking good stuff -- not just joe smoe hosta and his friends. At one point after scoring another Tree Peony I found some daphnes languishing in a corner and announced their location out loud as I only wanted one. Another ~~freak~~ woman asked what variety and I said "One Carol Mackie, one blah blah blah, but I want the Carol Mackie." She exclaimed "Carol Mackie!" and started walking quickly towards them. I actually ran a few feet to snatch it up exclaiming "The Carol Mackie is Mine." The competition is fierce amongst (cheap) plant snobs.

For my efforts I was rewarded with the following:

3 Brunnera -- 2 Hadpsen Cream, 1 Looking Glass

2 Tiarella -- 1 Mint Chocolate, 1 Candy Striper

2 Pulmonaria -- 1 Cotton Cool, 1 Raspberry Splash

1 Magnolia -- Sweet Bay

1 Tree Peony -- Hanakisoi

1 Daphne -- Carol Mackie

1 Heleborus -- Sunshine

1 Foxglove -- Apricot

1 Sambucus -- Black Lace

1 Hisbiscus -- Galaxy

1 Campanula -- this is what it looks like, not sure of actual species

1 Balloon Flower -- Fuji Blue

1 Fern -- Rambler

All that for $76! That's super cheap. I realize they look awful in the pic but they'll be beautiful in the spring. I actually squee'd when I saw the Tree Peony for $5. Only one thing of buyers remorse -- the sambucus. I love it but I didn't realize it needed full sun and I don't have any room for it. I put it in semi-shade and hope it will do ok.

We came home, I strapped the poor babe to my back and we planted all of them. My assistants:

Please note the cute new crocheted bonnet.

I have finished his Joseph coat but I still need to sew in a zipper.

The Changing of the Guard

2006-10-12T10:48:00.000-04:00

Heat's on, flannel sheets in place of percale and it's time to retire the sandles. Luckily I got these cool Think clogs for half price at the Birkenstock store. When the snow comes I'll break out the Timberland boots! (Yes, this is my joy with cool weather -- changing shoes. It's a dull life.)

Not too much fall color here, but the Burning Bush is starting to turn and the mum is beautiful.

We arrived in Cleveland Wednesday morning after a very nice Baltimore trip. JCC had a great time gardening with his Mommom and fishing with Pepaw. Little girl took her first steps, cut two more teeth, and became a stair climbing pro. I am currently shopping for baby gates for the bottom of the stairs. Little man never left my side so falling wasn't an issue with him.

I did do some knitting down there -- a Joseph coat for JCC. However I want the purl side to show so I didn't mattress stitch it but instead seamed it with crochet. No problem until I remembered that the downside to crochet is the lack of stretch. This is a problem around the armholes. While ripping it apart I unforunately ripped part of one of the front halves and now need to reknit. I've been told that one of our wonderful SnB attendees is a seaming pro and hopefully she'll have some good ideas for a nice non-wonky stretchy seam for reverse stockinette. (Google is letting me down, if you know any good references let me know.)

Knitting Porn

2006-10-01T22:32:00.000-04:00

I'm addicted. I pore over my wrinkled copy of the latest Knit Picks catalogue with every bath and thumb the latest Interweave (either Knits or Crochet) until there are small tears in the pages. We won't even mention my blog reading. If I spent nearly the amount of time crafting as I do reading and dreaming I would make a ton more progress on my things-to-knit list. That said I just finished drooling over the Sapphire Stars Skirt in IC. It's even in cheap yarn (a rarity) but I just don't think I have much stamina lately. Maybe I just need to get over this pesky cold.

Which leads me to the axiom that friends shouldn't let friends knit sick. I currently feel that I'm on a sisyphisian odyssey with my drop-stitch cardigan. Actually I would have been fine if I was just knitting but I decided to work on the finishing bits of my sweater while battling a cold over the last week. 4 tries later at the collar and I freaking hate it. For my applied i-cord up the cardigan center I picked up stitches twice for one side and then managed to apply i-cord to the seam side of the other front. Grr. I did do a lovely job seaming the sides (that's when I figured out I hate the collar) but after pinning the sleeves in place I feel they're too long for my real life world of child rangling. So now it's sitting in time out on my desk.

I'm also trying to figure out what to pack for Baltimore. I always have at least two projects going -- something easy for car knitting or knitting in the presence of children and something for when the children go to sleep. None of my current projects are calling my name -- maybe it's time to get started on this years round of felted slippers (Chris and I wore ours out and there are a few family members who have requested them. People requesting knitted gifts -- bless them!)

Check Out This Blog

2006-09-27T16:51:00.000-04:00

http://tedblog.typepad.com/tedblog/#

Chris sent me this and I am loving listening to all of these authors I have intent to read. So far I have listened to Dan Gilbert and Barry Schwartz.

In Feingold news, there is a reason raspberries are on the list. Thus going rasberry picking with your sensitive 4 year old is NOT a good idea. :(

Thanks SP 8!

2006-09-22T08:55:00.000-04:00

I received my last secret pal package yesterday from Sara. Thanks Sara! I received some cotton yarn for whatever, some Reynolds Lopi, some note cards, candy!, a ruler and bubbles for JCC. Bubbles are already gone.

I have a friend who does tie-dye and sells at the local Farmers Market. These are my latest purchase. I just love them! Chris still shakes his head at his tie-dye children. He's in denial!

This was a fun secret pal summer. I'm going to skip SP9 but I do think I'm going to do the Spin to Knit SP.

Deer Gone Wild

2006-09-19T20:49:00.000-04:00

Actually, the opposite -- Deer Gone Suburban. For some reason I thought deer lived out yonder away from the masses. Instead they like to trounce through the ravine that is our backyard. That would be fine if they would be contented with all of the lovely munchies in there but instead they chose to dine on the hostas and hydrangeas that occupy my back bed.

Close-up of what were lovely hostas and oakleaf hydrangeas

Close-up of lace-leaf maple in front island bed

We had a lovely Eastside SnB on Saturday. I finished the body of the lace leaf pullover. Now I need to graft it and make sleeves. Not much fiber stuff going on, I've been converted to an exercise freak and now a tiddlyWiki tweaker freak. Thanks Chris!

OH! Forgot to mention that the Ugly Bugs from last post have been identified by my Aunt as Milkweed Bugs. Who knew a plant would have its own bug?

Today we met up with a group of homeschoolers at the Lake Co. Farmpark. Tomorrow we're going raspberry picking -- the little farmer should be content. And two Tuesdays from now we are off to Baltimore! Yay!

Ugly Bugs

2006-09-14T23:54:00.000-04:00

Ug. All over this one milkweed pod. None of the others. Anyone know what they are? I checked out a couple of beetle sites but didn't see any like this.

Fall is my favorite time to buy plants -- they're all on sale and you don't have to worry about the stressors of watering/heat as much. Here are some of my new babies from Heights Garden Center.

Anemone

JCC in his normal down in the dirt position by my new smokebush, russian sage and asters.

JCC by the new red-twig dogwood.

Part of my side shade bed. I ripped out a big grass that wasn't getting enough sun and was all floppy and moved some plants out of my path. Didn't even know I had a path until I was looking down from the upstairs window and observed that I had planted something right in the middle of where I usually cut through to the main side bed.

We had JCC's party. It did rain but only 2/3 of the expected people showed. This was fine with me as I didn't have to hide in the basement. I still have beer leftover. Just a few left at this point.

I've been stuck in a funk for a couple weeks now -- hopefully ending soon. I'll have more fiber related pics then.

Things I've been Meaning to Mention

2006-08-31T20:21:00.000-04:00

We have another thing that pees (kefir.) I have a bunch of pics of the whole process but I can't seem to locate them thanks to Picasa. Your loss. Kefir is so exciting.

I am the crafty alter-ego of my can't-sit-still outdoorsman/pilot/gardener/wood worker father. I was diagnosed with ADD when I first dropped out of college. Maybe we're just busy people? Why does it have to be a disorder to not be able to sit still and focus on someone regurgitating a book?

The food we (collective we) eat is really messed up. (I'm reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.) I would like to go veg again but I'm too lazy with all of our other food issues. I think I'm just going to try and buy grass-fed beef to start.

We are starting the Feingold Program soon. All of us. I think I need it too. I ate my beloved Junior Mints yesterday and wanted to bite JCC. The only evil (Feingold evil) ingredient is vanillin. Nasty stuff. And I wonder why my 33 lb child has trouble processing these chemicals when my much larger body can't.

I love Nona Knits. She does techy stuff, such as which decrease is more pleasing to the eye, as well as just lovely knitting and an interesting style of writing. Recently she posted about clearing out her stash and I was able to get the Colinette. Pretty funny in that I'm stalking some on ebay in a different colorway.

I got my fleece. The box was ready to explode it was so full. In fact, it was torn along one side. Grrr. 3.5 lbs of the original 4.5 -- probably not a bad return considering I didn't go through it before sending it off. I won't be using the same processor again. Nothing spins me up like not getting my phone calls returned and I will hopefully find someone more responsible closer. Let me know if you know of anyone in the Midwest or even Northeast. I now have so much fleece I don't know what to do. I'm getting good enough at it that I don't just want to toss it. Hopefully it will felt well and I can make a bunch of holiday gifts out of it.

I made my mother a little wrap out of the Brooks Farm yarn for her birthday. It was supposed to be the Sweet Pea shawl from the SnB Crochet book but I only had half of the required yarn so it's just a little wrap. It was fun to make. If I had learned to crochet first I never would have proceeded to knitting.

53 people are supposed to be coming to our party on Saturday. If it rains I will be hiding in the basement with the kitties. Tomorrow we are hitting Trader Joe's for the beer and crab soup ingredients. If it rains, the beer will be in the basement. :)

My apologies for the lack of cohesion -- wee girl is teething, little boy can't sleep well due to hayfever which all means I am not sleeping. I told JCC that if they didn't sleep well tonight there would be a mama mutiny tomorrow.

A Week in Photos

2006-08-22T15:45:00.000-04:00

We've been busy busy (do I say this every post?) Lots of crafting, gardening and running around enjoying the perfect summer weather. We had friends over for dinner last Friday and JCC took some photos:

I've been doing lots o'crafts -- plied my spun brown roving, cut out my apron pieces, finished knitting on the Drop-Stitch Cardigan, knit the bottom half of the Lace Leaf Pullover, swatched for both Sizzle (yarn is too fine) and the Glampyre V-Neck. I'm getting ready to do a crochet wrap out of some of the Chicago yarn and I got 2 big bags of roving to spin as well as a wonderful Jacob fleece.

I called about my fleece (it's been 2 months) and the guy swears it will be here by Friday.

Yesterday we weeded the garden.

Last week we did one of those 30 day cooking things. That was exhausting.

Today we went to the Natural History Museum and played in mud:

Tomorrow over some friends' new house for a garden appraisal. Then we have a pig roast on Saturday, JCC's birthday party the following Saturday (if you live in NE Ohio and want to come let me know) and then off to Toledo the following weekend. Geesh. I need a nap just thinking about it.

Chicago

2006-08-13T14:49:00.000-04:00

was not a lot of fun. :( My poor sweet boy is plagued with allergies and the on-the-road eating (McDonalds) combined with hotel eating threw his poor body into all kinds of itchies and its accompanying poor behavior. We left before we got to do any of the fun stuff we had planned (millennium Park and the Shedd Aquarium.) We did go to the knitting convention though!

I was looking to buy lots of fiber (my fleece is still not here!) but didn't find much to fit the bill. I did get a few ounces of black alpaca (natural), a sampler of different luxury fibers (baby alpaca, merino, baby camel), and some purple merino.

Next up I bought some stuff from Interlacements. The first is a purpley worsted destined for one of the wee children.

Next is 600 yds of violet worsted destined for a coat for wee girl.

A scarf (another Clapotis??) out of this silk/merino.

This silver blob is gorgeous silk/merino from Tess's Yarns destined for a sweater for me.

This light blue baby alpaca/pima is for a tank for me.

And lastly is more silk/merino in a sherbet-ish colorway. Unfortunately, I don't like the color as much in real light as I did in the convention center. Why, oh why, are knitting shops/venues filled with awful light? Bleh. However, I do just love the Brooks Farm yarns so I'm happy to have purchased something from them. Mom, do you like it? It seems more like your colors.

And some pics of my new haircut (even shorter!) and small children.

Still Life with Oil

2006-08-07T17:52:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of my One Skein SP. Thank you Melissa! We will definitely use them. Could you post your blog? Melissa from Oklahoma just isn't getting me anywhere via Google. :) Melissa also included some OK postcards and memorabilia of the world's largest McDonalds. How bizarre. This summer of SPs has an OK theme -- my own One Skein SP is in Tulsa too. A strange coincidence.

Next up are the fabrics from which I intend to make my skirts. Still intending on doing that. . .

We'll be in Chicago this weekend! I'll come back with lots of lovely yarn pics. :)

Gold Finches & Honey Bees

2006-08-05T09:38:00.000-04:00

Ever since reading Hanna's post about the dearth of honey bees in our area I've been on a search to find some. Finally, I found them or rather they found the Crape Myrtle.

It is much more difficult to photograph a honey bee than you would imagined. This is partially due to the close-up combined with an older digital camera, but magnified by the fact that those little buggers move. They are nothing at all like the passive bumble bees that fall asleep as they gather nectar on the Rhodie and Sedum.

Next up are two Golden Finches that have taken to balancing on my Verbena. This is the first year I've seen them in my garden.

And lastly, the backyard in morning light. Unfortunately I can't seem to find children's furniture in a not-so-obvious color. The garden tours will have to wait until after the children are done with Little Tikes.

Good Reads

2006-08-01T21:39:00.000-04:00

As part of my efforts to lose the baby weight (as well as the begin-desk-job-weight, and the going-off-anti-depressant-weight) I have been exercising pretty regularly. I aim for 1000 minutes a month and have been averaging around 1100+ minutes a month. The best part is that I've found time to read! I aim for 15 minutes every morning and evening and it's easy as pie (he he) to get it done.

For whatever reason I've mostly been reading non-fiction. So far I've tackled:

Dale Carnegie's Lifetime Plan for Success A good classic read on what motivates people.

Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World's Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers and Cookoff: Recipe Fever in America both by Amy Sutherland. Once I let go of trying to keep everyone straight I really enjoyed both of these.

Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish by Tom Shachtman is a little dry at times but is a very interesting look at adolescence in America.

The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton. Your basic investment guide wrapped up in bad prose. Blah. Skip it.

I have some fiction waiting for me at the library. I'll report on those soon.

Garden Pics

2006-08-01T08:18:00.000-04:00

View from across the street

Joe Pye Weed

Island Bed

To the right of house

My super cool new garden structure thing my Dad made for my birthday gift.

My mother has gone back to Baltimore (and plus 100 degree heat) but not before she got the garden weeded. :) Thanks Mom!

Wee girl update: in a little over a week she has started sitting up on her own, got her first tooth and yesterday started crawling. She obviously missed my memo that stated crawling was at 8 months, not 6. :)

And lastly, what happens if your Dad is a goof:

Buzz Cut

2006-07-25T21:05:00.000-04:00

Done by Dada over the weekend. I'm still in shock. He looks a lot older (and a lot more like Chris)!

Still has those eyes though.

Taken by a girlfriend at the Botanical Gardens today. They have an awesome children's garden and JCC and his friend had a great time splashing in the fountains and digging in the sand. Notice the green boots on the ground. Mommom bought these and they are a hit! He wears them everywhere. Today we went out and he had on his matching frog gloves and a red fleece shirt. (It was 85 degrees.) He got a lot of smiles.

No fiber related pics (too boring) but I have been doing lots of fiber work. I have been spinning every night and am getting pretty decent at it. I spun up some dark brown wool roving I bought at FiberFest and after I set the twist I think I'm going to knit up a hat to match my cape. I've also been working on my sweater and the ever present washcloth. I received a call today that my Tunis is finished being cleaned. I should have all 4 lbs of it next week. :)

I should have garden pics soon -- my very lovely mother has weeded almost the whole thing (I did one wee bit while the baby girl was asleep the other day.) It looks a lot more presentable. Tomorrow we are going to move around some plants I want to relocate and start sewing on some skirts. A few years ago after I lost my baby weight from JCC I hit a clearance sale at Ann Taylor Loft and bought a few a-line skirts in very graphic prints. Now that I can wear them again I would love to have more but don't have the time or extra cash to shop. Enter my mama and Joann's. :) We bought some fabric and a pattern. It is all washed and pressed. Hopefully I'll have pics soon.

SP Questions

2006-07-22T10:08:00.000-04:00

1. What is your favorite season of the year and why?
Spring is my favorite as I get to work in my garden and get outside again without freezing.

2. Summer is hot. What do you knit in the summer?
Sweaters for winter! I also have an ongoing dishrag for car knitting as well as various smaller one skein type of projects.

3. If money was no object.....what would you buy at the LYS?
New needles! I have a lace project I want to tackle and my Denise set just isn't cutting it. I would also buy a bunch of different roving to practice spinning.

4. What are some activities that have become family traditions for your family?
We go to the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings, and have brunch Sunday mornings at a local veggie restaurant.

5. What is the weather right now?
Warm and rainy. I think the clouds are going to clear and we'll be able to pull weeds.

:)

A Crafty Day

2006-07-17T20:29:00.000-04:00

It was blazing hot here (ok, 91 is not blazing but playing outside with a child who finds 25 F to be the perfect temp is not fun when it's over 85) so we drove to the library (we usually walk/ride bikes -- see above) and then JCC watched videos and played with blocks. I did the following while wee girl napped.

My $2 market bag in pictures:

Thursday -- visit friend who's street is having garage sale day. Buy J. Crew Men's sweater for $2.

Felt sweater.

Chop into bits.

Spend naptime fussing with sewing machine. Assemble bag.

It is horribly wonky and poorly sewn, but as it's my first sewing project on my own I'm pleased. I'm hoping it will stay together well enough to serve as a bag for the grocery store. I only have 3 canvas bags and that's not enough for a week's worth of groceries and I'm tired of tending to plastic bags that need to be carted back to the store to be recycled.

As I love kids in tie-dye and really enjoyed making JCC's shirts last year, I started pondering a co-op purchase of dyes and chemicals and then having a big crafty party to group tie-dye. I even got the email composed and all of my mama friends in the to field before I decided that this was way more work than I wanted and that it would probably be cheaper to just buy a tie-dye from a lovely lady at the Farmer's Market.

Chris calls this "Yarn Cheese":

It took me three attempts to get a square about the right size. It's from scrap yarn from my lovely sweater. Still a sleeve to go on that.

Lastly, I received a wonderful package from my SP 8. It included the aloo yarn to make the bath puffy and mit from One Skein (I really wanted to make this the first time I saw the book so this is very cool! Now I need to learn Tunisian Crochet.), a very cute book for JCC (not in pic as he made off with it), orange citrus tea candles, a cute notepad and some sleepytime bath supplies and a beautiful card. It made my day! Thank you very much. :)

Off to take a bath.

Pics

2006-07-11T20:17:00.000-04:00

It's been a rough day after a busy week, but I wanted to get some photos up. First some of my garden and then a bunch that Little Man took today. They are really funny -- life from an almost 4 year old's perspective. There are pics of my backside cooking (not included), Dada exercising, Bob the Builder on TV, Thor, and a ton of Wee Girl. In fact, there is a full analysis of Wee Girl going from sitting on the floor laughing to face down on the floor to me picking her up to her sitting happy again. He is too funny.

On the knitting front I CO for my Morehouse shawl but it's just not working with my Denise needles -- I'm going to have to get some metal ones. I have finished the first sleeve on my sweater. Just another sleeve and then the finishing. That means at least 2 months at my sweater pace.

We are also now going to Chicago next month! I love Chicago. :) We're going to go for the Stitches convention. I'm not going to take any classes as Wee Girl does not take a bottle and it's stressful for everyone when I'm gone and she's hungry and tired. Maybe I'll go to Baltimore in November for the East Coast version and take classes then.

Driveway Bed

Daylilly Close-up 1

Daylilly Close-up 2

Kousa

Psuedo-Japanese Bed

Back bed -- dogwood was Chris's father's day gift

Thor

Fridge Art

Happy Girl 1

Happy Girl 2

The Artist

Thank You One Skein SP!

2006-07-05T07:13:00.000-04:00

On Monday I received a package from my One Skein SP -- it was two balls of Sugar 'n Cream in a blue ombre colorway, 2 books of knit & crochet kitchen patterns, more magnets(!!), and a lovely note. Thank you! I have already started on another washcloth.

We have had a super busy week. Today will be recovery day after spending yesterday playing at the beach, kite flying, fireworks watching and unintended inebriation. :) It was a good day. I've been knitting on the washcloths as we drove around town and crocheting the one skein scarf from SnB Crochet. Fun. I'm making it out of the blue cascade that my ON SP gave me last month. I love the color!

Ornery boy.

His artwork.

One of his photographs.

Thank You SP 8!

2006-06-28T19:48:00.000-04:00

My lovely SP from SP8 sent me this super cool crochet hook holder. I love love love the fabric. I already have it hooked up with my tools (heh heh) and it rocks. No more pulling out half a skein of yarn as I grab a hook from my bag. Both of my SPs rock, I hope I'm pulling my weight with my own two recipients.

It was a very trying day today with JCC. He was just plain ornery. Below is a pic of him finger painting before he decided it was fun to clap his hands together after dipping his hands in paint. I have white walls. :( I think I'm going to need to make finger painting an outside activity.

I received an email today from a friend from my freshman year at college. It contained a link to her blog and her roommate's, both of whom were very good friends of mine at the time. She is now working on a masters in social work and the other is living on a farm in New Zealand. Neither has children.

Reading their blogs has me contemplating my own doings. It's rather bizarre as I don't think anyone from highschool or college would have expected me to end up the SAHM. I don't regret my decision to have children younger than most professional women do, but it does set me apart a bit from my peers. The majority of women I associate with are quite a bit older and wiser. I'm pretty sure I'll never go back to writing code, and homeschooling will take up much of my time in the future but I'm not sure what the future beyond children will hold for me. I have herbalist desires but that requires quite a bit of study -- it is definitely a far off aspiration.

We are having another storm. A rather strange one in that I can see some blue sky as it thunders and lightnings. I am holding off on taking pics of the garden as everything is about to burst into bloom. Hopefully I'll have some good shots next week.

New Haircut

2006-06-27T22:10:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what I think. I like it in the mirror but it still looks a bit soccer-mom-ish. Maybe I just have that kinda look. However I don't like the way it looks in the pic below. It's a good enough photo (minus the lamp sprouting from my shoulders) just not what I see when I see myself. Maybe it's a weird angle or something as usually I'm happy with the way I photograph. Ug. Chris is not yet fond of the new cut. JCC likes the colors but doesn't think it's short enough -- he told me he'd cut it for me. :)

29!

2006-06-27T10:37:00.000-04:00

I am officially 29. I was thinking about it yesterday and on a purely theoretical level I felt it should bother me as it seems like 29 is an awfully adult age, but after thinking about my life I realized I'm pretty much an adult. I still have a totally sophomoric sense of humor (and husband) but otherwise I'm pretty responsible. So after I figured that out I was over any remorse at getting older.

Over the weekend we had a lovely combo birthday/beginning of summer party and then on Sunday JCC and I did some garden work and then had Thai for dinner. We are blessed in this part of Cleveland with a bunch of yummy Thai restaurants and a new one had opened in Coventry but alas it did not live up to the glory that is Mekong River. (Still good, just not spectacular.) Yesterday Chris got me a latte, some cupcakes and an iTunes card to celebrate my official birthday. (I got the spinning wheel last weekend.) I had a blast downloading songs and I do think an iTunes card is an almost perfect present -- there's nothing to dust, nothing to clean and you get to have fun listening to different music as you decide what to purchase. And on top of all that my lovely brother and sister-in-law sent me these:

They are stunning in person.

Today we had our ugly tree removed and it provided great entertainment for the family:

And some goofy pics:

Wee girl learned how to sit up last week and found her voice. Unfortunately she likes to exercise her new skills at 4am, but at least it's only for a few minutes.

I'm getting my hair highlighted/cut later today -- I'm thinking I'm going short. I'll post pics tomorrow.

Thank You One Skein SP!

2006-06-21T14:23:00.000-04:00

I got an awesome package from my One Skein SP yesterday -- a beautiful blue skein of Cascade 220, an Oklahoma postcard, point protectors that look like socks and two homemade bottlecap magnets that actually hold up stuff! (We have lots of magnets but they rarely are strong enough to hold up JCC's artwork. These do!) And it was all wrapped up with bright shiny paper. Lovely -- thank you! The blue is wonderful too, I'll have to post a pic of our bedroom as it's that shade.

What's next is for Shannon. This is roving. It is the cleaned wool off of a sheep fleece. The darker pieces are from Alpaca. Spinning is the process of taking pieces of this (drafting) and making yarn.

This is wee girl in mid-roll as taken by JCC. He loves to take pictures but usually they are close-ups of everyday objects. They're pretty funny.

Lastly, this is JCC in my helmet and apron. After I took this picture he asked to see it and then commented that he looked pretty. :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

2006-06-20T09:07:00.000-04:00

My birthday's not until next Monday, but here is my early present:

And a close-up:

Obviously, beginning spinning was a hit. It's a Louet S15 that the instructor was selling off for $75. It's been in a middle school classroom so it could definitely use a new finish, but otherwise works fine. Especially considering a new one is 5x that price.

My first skein:

Ugly, isn't it? This is the stuff I'm working on now, I'm trying to keep myself to 15 minutes/day while the munchkins rest or otherwise I'd do it all the time.

I have the wheel going in the right direction and am getting better at drafting thinner fiber but I'm still putting way too much twist on it. I'll have 5 minutes of not wonky yarn and then it all goes to hell and I don't know what I'm doing different. But, as I have a fleece (Tunis) coming I'm sure I'll be better after spinning 4 lbs of roving. :0

Still here, still knitting washcloths

2006-06-15T22:07:00.000-04:00

What can I say -- they're fast, fun, and usable. I sent the last one I made off to my secret pal so now I'm doing another for us. But I haven't been knitting too much -- we've been doing lots of playdates now that the weather is nice. This area of Cleveland has a ton of great playground and parks and we're trying to visit them all.

I've also been spending more time exercising -- I'm trying to hit 1000 minutes for the month. That's not a lot but I like a goal and making/filling in spreadsheets so this works for me. Who knew that Excel and an ipod would get me liking to exercise.

I'm eagerly anticipating my spinning class on Sunday! I can't wait. :)

Pictures!

2006-06-12T21:26:00.000-04:00

We had a fun weekend -- Parade the Circle on Saturday and then lounging outside on Sunday. (Well, ACC and I lounged, Chris and JCC worked on a model airplane.) Some pics. . .

ACC lounging

JCC on his "motorcycle"

In the saucer

Continuing with my love of fast, usable projects is my first crochet project -- a potholder!

I love crochet!

The Mail Carrier Delivers

2006-06-07T13:26:00.000-04:00

2 packages awaited me after a trip to the library and lunch with Daddy at work. First up is my Secret Pal 8 gift. She kindly included a yarn decorated note, a large bag of M&Ms, 2 boxes of Junior Mints, a stitch holder, yarn thimble, needle connectors, a list of knitting tips from her LYS, pretty blue post-its and a super cute pot holder (for kitchen knitting 201; 101 is, of course, washcloths.) What's really cool about the double layer pot holder is that on the back in purls is the word "Home". :) Very sweet. I will take a picture of it next time. Thank you Secret Pal! (Off to stalk knit bloggers and figure out who is from Fitchburg MA.)

Next up we have my new blue cover for my ipod. I've been exercising a lot (well a lot for me -- meaning daily) and this comes with an armband so I don't have to fear it plunging to its death off of the elliptical machine.

More Washcloths

2006-06-06T21:31:00.000-04:00

but I won't bore you with more pics. This one is yellow/white and it is a small mitt (I just did a 3-needle bindoff at the top and then seemed the side) for JCC. The boy loves to clean. He happily did the dishes today using it. We made my most favorite muffins (banana chocolate chip) but I set the oven at 450 instead of 350. DAMN IT. Amazingly, this is the first burned thing I've had to show JCC. We were still able to eat some of them but they aren't nearly as tasty when they're charred.

I'm still plugging along on my sweater. I'm trying to get the other side done before I make another washcloth. :)

Small children and I have been very busy lately -- last week we hit the Natural History Museum, yesterday a cruise down the Cuyahoga and in between we've been to the farmer's market, had brunch at Tommy's, did some gardening, etc. We've also been doing a bit more cleaning than normal as our big mutt is blowing his coat. I'm vacuuming every other day or so but it looks like it's been weeks since it's been cleaned. I'm also finally washing the windows as our Black Locust (which I learned at the Natural History Museum is an invasive plant) is finally finished blooming and this marks the end of all of the major pollen dumping. I hate cleaning windows. I think it's the perfectionist in me and as I always find a streak somewhere on them -- it drives me nuts. But I'm doing a room a day and have 4/18 windows done. :)

Another Brick in the Wall or Still-life with Warshcloth

2006-06-01T14:10:00.000-04:00

These are too fun to knit! My existing rags (microfiber) are getting kinda dingy so I think I may make a ton of these. The brick colors were unintentional -- they were the ones on clearance at Joann's.

The garden looks great but it just rained and of course I didn't get a photo before hand. I have blooming my climbing rose, the peonies, rhodie (still), veronica, compact viburnum (which is decidedly not compact at 7 feet tall), exberry azalea, and all of the annuals. It's very colorful.

A Finished Object

2006-05-30T18:54:00.000-04:00

The Snake Scarf is done (at a little boy length so I have enough to maybe make him a matching hat or another scarf for someone else.)

My crochet swatch. The resulting fabric is so much stiffer than knitted fabric. I'm not sure what I'm going to tackle first. I really want to make the bathroom rug in One Skein. I did buy DMC floss and size 0 and 2 hooks to make the flowers on the front of Vogue Knitting's Knit Simple but that's just too small for a first project.

Happy Boy in the sun. We started off with the sprinkler but mud proved more fun.

Wee Girl enjoying the day with us.

And lastly I got Mason Dixon Knitting via the library. I LOVE this book. I am warshcloth knitting away. :)

Garden Pics and Lots of Parenthetical Comments

2006-05-26T20:09:00.000-04:00

These are some of the annuals (Shasta daisy, some other daisy JCC picked out and salvia -- man, do I love that orange/lilac color combination) amongst the monster rhododendron. There is some sort of disease (my gardening knowledgeable FIL says it's a fungus) getting rhodes and azaleas (and I've lost half of what I've planted to it, branch by branch) but these old guys seem immune. I bonsaied him a couple of years ago and he's bigger than ever.

This is the ugly half-dead Silver Maple on our tree-lawn (interestingly [at least to me] tree-lawn is an idiom only used in NE Ohio. There is a great Harvard study on colloquialisms. This is the best link I can find.) Anyway, in our wee city (the Cleveland metropolitan area is divided into many baby bureaucracies that suck the life out of you via heavy taxation) the forestry division is responsible for anything on your tree-lawn. After reading this I happily called up and scheduled Mr. Tree an appointment. They will be taking him down in the next couple of weeks. We are also ENTITLED (in caps just because I find it such an interesting thing in which to be entitled -- I guess this is those tax dollars at work) to a new tree if we so desire. I was thinking I wouldn't want any stinking tree they would have for free but a neighbor just told me that her neighbor got a Serviceberry.

Mom, please note how nice the formerly peach house in the background looks in its new sage colored paint.

Chris's lovely edging work on the back bed.

Irises!

A Busy but Uneventful Week

2006-05-25T08:58:00.000-04:00

JCC amazed me by not even mentioning Cyberchase this week. He's still watching a lot of videos -- both ones we own and ones from the library but all of the fussing about missing a show or when does Cyberchase come on is gone. Next week we will work on decreasing the video amount. I keep us all pretty busy with playdates and errands so I'm not sure how to fill the need of his to just sit and veg. He doesn't play well by himself at all. Maybe it's time to learn to read?

I bounce back and forth in my homeschooling idea, not doing it vs. not doing it, but in how much structure is ideal for my children and me. I don't know about wee girl, but JCC and I both seem to do best with a pretty well laid out plan. The Classical mode appeals to me greatly (e.g. St. John's aspirations) and I am really enjoying The Well Trained Mind copy I borrowed from the library. However I don't know if I'm ready to start playing school yet.

On the knitting front I am still plugging along on my sweater and JCC's snake scarf. I also got the Debbie Stoller Crochet book and I love the patterns! Now I need to save up my Joann coupons to get some crochet hooks.

Finally Some Pictures

2006-05-21T10:26:00.000-04:00

I disconnected our tv's rabbit ears yesterday -- this means that we can watch movies, but no broadcast television. So far things are not too bad but the fallout will come tomorrow when JCC figures out that this means no Cyberchase -- his favorite PBS show. I am bracing for the reaction.

Half of JCC's snake scarf. I just love Morehouse yarn!

Wee house and gardens.

Newly expanded bed along privet hedge.

Giant bleeding heart that is taking over my bed.

Still Raining. . .

2006-05-19T20:12:00.000-04:00

And still no pictures. During this lovely rain the following things have bloomed (and looked horrible): tree peony (looks like a green plant with pink tissue paper clumps stuck to it), new orange poppy (small smudge of orange tissue paper), pink azalea (still looks good!), and a variety of sodden irises. I am ready for some sun.

The UPS got a good scare this evening as he opened our back door to put in a package (One Skein) and got met with one big woofing dog. Of course this was as I was putting both babes too bed. Luckily they kept on sleeping. I like One Skein, of course I want to make the baby bolero and baby hat. The kids cardigan is cute too.

I'm starting Don Quixote tonight as part of my St. John's education in a box. (I applied, got in, but just couldn't afford it. They don't give ANY merit scolarships. Bastards.) This is just more procrastination. . .

We're Back!

2006-05-15T20:28:00.000-04:00

We drove back last Thursday. Man, did it suck. First there was a ton of traffic all the way from Bmore to past Hagerstown (it usually thins out around Frederick) and then the torrential rains started and then once I finally got through all of that the poor babe decided to be miserable. I ended up giving her a wee touch of Benadryl so we could make it home. It calmed her down within 5 minutes and I made it from then on without stopping. All together I think I stopped about 9 times. For comparison, when it was just JCC or just me, I would stop 1 time. I had thought about going down to NC to see my Grandma but I just don't think I can do another drive by myself until she's older. Bummer.

When I got home I found my garden had exploded. Little man and I planted the plants we bought at the PA nursery and from my mother on Saturday in between the rain storms. I bought 2 coral bells (one a gold, the other a very patterned maroon), 3 lavenders to replace ones that have died, cilantro, chamomile, basil, rosemary, another herb, 2 limelight Artemisias for my big pots, a red poppy (which I have horrible luck with, I don't know why I'm trying again), and a gaura (this is take two on this one too). All for under $30. From my mother I got a very early daylilly, some of a Heavy Metal grass, more blood grass, tarragon, geum, and turtle heads. I haven't had a chance to get any pictures rain free but I will definitely be taking some as soon as it stops. I have a bleeding heart (old fashioned) that's around 6 feet across. Everything looks enormous. It's wonderful, but the weeds are doing just as well.

Tonight I wound up the rest of the 100purewool for my sweater along with the silk and a skein of worsted merino I bought from Morehouse. I've been busy knitting on a snake scarf for JCC in a rusty variegated sport weight yarn. The Morehouse yarn is interesting -- it looks like a single ply with the fluffiness of the Merino. Wound it also looks bigger than it is, e.g. the 2-ply (sport) looks like a worsted until you knit with it and the 3-ply (worsted) looks like a bulky weight. Pics coming soon!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. I got a variety of gifts (new headphones, a pink/orange shirt & hoodie set and a potential ipod) but my favorite is a new pair of Birks! My old ones (two pairs -- purple suede and black leather, both Arizonas) need a complete overhaul. I've had them 15 and 13 years and I have worn them to pieces (literally). The new ones are with thinner straps and have a blue/green print to them. I didn't even know I wanted a new pair but I love them! The gifting was just a small part of a fun day. We went to lunch at Tommmy's (local veg restaurant), hit the Children's Museum and had coffee. Thanks Chris -- it was a pretty perfect day. :)

More Trip Pics

2006-05-11T11:08:00.000-04:00

ACC pushing up. I have JCC in the same pose at the same age. :)

JCC in his fishing hat.

My Dad made this cool copper garden structure, I'm petitioning for one for my birthday.

Munchkins and I at the Railroad Museum of PA. We also took a ride on a steam-engine powered train. Pretty sweet! My back is aching from all of the baby slinging -- I usually hold her in it for errands and a nap but down here it's been a festival, a train ride, and every nap. I think I'm going to need a visit to my chiro.

Still in Bmore

2006-05-10T10:13:00.000-04:00

We were supposed to come home this evening but have decided to stay another day. Little Man is currently outside planting flowers with Mommom and is planning on doing some fishing later. Wee Girl is crashed out. She learned how to roll-over this past weekend and is now doing it with skill. As is the usual for when I leave Baltimore, I am going to have to de-caffinate myself when I return. We basically drink coffee all morning and then have some water in the afternoon and then switch to Sangria in the evening. It's a good life. :)

This is a pic my aunt took when we visited her on Monday. Too cute. My aunt has requested pics of our house so I'll do a virtual tour when we get back home. Our house is the polar opposite of hers. My mother deems our style minimalistic and that would seem to be a good definition with an added emphasis on strong colors. I guess my aunt's is country antique. It's gorgeous -- she's the artsy type so everything looks put together -- but there's a lot of stuff and not a lot of bright colors. Think shades of old paper.

Above mentioned aunt has requested a pair of felted slippers so I will be putting them on the list (I need to make Chris and I new pairs too as we wore through ours -- I'm going to buy soles for the next ones.) While down here I cranked out a sun hat intened for ACC but it did not shrink as the pattern said it should (and of course I didn't actually knit a swatch and wash it) so JCC now has what he calls a fishing hat. I'll post pics if I find the card reader to get the pics off my mother's camera.

And here's a pic of the three of us:

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

2006-05-06T16:08:00.000-04:00

Man, was it packed. I read that it was busy, but I had no idea that it was this busy. My mother was in shock at the number of people that turned out to see a bunch of sheep and yarn. It was about 45 minutes from when we got off of I-70 until we were parked. It was quite a hike into the festival grounds and we were glad we hit the food stand when we did as we had a *short* 15 minute line. We were both glad that JCC chose to stay with his grandfather (boating, fishing and airplane visiting ensued) as it was packed and there wasn't much of interest to little ones beyond the livestock. Wee girl was in the sling (and was ogled) and we were fine going through the displays but you would not be able to get a stroller through there. It was truly packed. Luckily it was perfect weather -- 75 and sunny.

I did pretty ok shopping wise -- a skein of silk (200 yds), and another of merino (500 yds) at one place and then I hit the Morehouse Farm stall. I Love their style -- simple designs with beautiful soft yarn and I managed to escape the stall for just under $100. I got a signed copy of the book, a snake scarf kit for JCC, a shawl kit for me (in a colorway that will match my camel hair cape) and one skein of heavy worsted merino that I just loved. I saw tons more gorgeous stuff but I am happy with what I bought, especially considering my trunk full of yarn at home.

The rest of the Baltimore visit has been nice!

Secret Pal Answers

2006-05-04T22:11:00.000-04:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I love the merino from 100purewool (ebay seller.) I'm not a big fan of novelty yarns or acrylic in general.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I have a Denise set and then just some dpns that live in a side pocket in my knitting bag. Nothing special.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I've only been knitting about 1.5 years but am probably on the intermediate or above level. Just about every project I try and learn something new.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Nope.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

I am addicted to the orange creamsickle smell -- I've never found any bath products like that and the candle company stopped making it. :( But I like anything citrus-y.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

I have a huge sweet tooth. I love chocolate -- Junior Mints are the current fave.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I'm taking a spinning class this June so that's definitely on the horizon. I'm thinking of taking up crochet too. Other hobbies include photography and scrapbooking (but that's really just to document my children's lives). I am an avid gardener.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I have very varied music tastes -- from dancehall to blues to modern rock. I can play MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

I am currently in love with blue and brown together, as well as pink and orange. I love strong colors. Really, just no beige/taupe/mauve/peach.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I am married with two children, a 3.5 year old son and a 3 month old daughter. I have 4 obnoxious cats and 1 huge mutt of a dog.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

In Cleveland we are fond of our cold weather gear! Though I don't think I'm the poncho type. (But I do have a cape!)

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I really like knitting stuff for my kids -- I can try out new stuff and still have a quick sense of accomplishment. Mainly I knit stuff to wear.

13. What are you knitting right now?

I am making the Drop-Stitch Cardigan from the Fall 05 IK for me!

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Yes!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I prefer circular needles. I knit mainly with my Denise set -- I haven't explored much outside of that. I do know I don't like metal DPNs.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

I own both.

17. How did you learn to knit?

From the SnB book and online videos.

18. How old is your oldest UFO?

I don't have any. If I don't like it I frog it.

19. What is your favorite holiday?

Any of the summer ones -- 4th of July, or Labor Day. Really I just like having outdoor parties and they are a good excuse.

20. Is there anything that you collect?

Nothing besides yarn.

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I subscribe to IK. I am looking to get One Skein and Mason Dixon Knitting but I may order them soon. :) I love Lornas Laces but have never bought any.

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Oh, I'm always looking for something new. I think spinning is going to be my next technique.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I am not yet a sock knitter. Though I do have some yarn in my stash awaiting the day.

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

June 26th

Busy Busy Needles at Work

2006-04-29T10:31:00.000-04:00

(JCC has a book -- "Busy busy wheels at work, They do their job they never shirk." Who puts "shirk" in a kids' book?)

Anyway, I am moving quickly on the Drop Stitch Cardigan. I am up to the armhole shaping on the back and should be finished with the whole back by tonight. I'm hoping to have it complete by the time I get back from Baltimore. I really love this yarn (even though I know it's going to pill) and it's just so nice to knit with it.

I'm using two balls of yarn to prevent an obvious color change from ball to ball.

Sleeping Angel

And I'm Over My Slump

2006-04-25T15:15:00.000-04:00

The knitting is back in force. Last night I balled up some of the hand painted wool and today I cast on for the Drop Stitch Cardigan (scroll down). I also dug out some cotton to make a sun hat for wee girl and some other yarn to make a scarf for a friend. Lastly, after reading some technical articles (and others' progress) I think I may give the pinwheel blanket another try. Pics coming soon.

Spring Pics

2006-04-22T08:45:00.000-04:00

Magnolia

Pieris

New Tulip Bed

Island Bed

Baby Girl

Melancholy Sand Digging

Nothing interesting in the knitting department. We had a super busy week: bumper bowling (JCC had to use the 9lb ball because it was purple; he got a strike and then was disappointed because it meant he only got to roll once that turn), GLSC, picnicing at Squires Castle, attending the orchestra and lots of play outside.

They Are All Asleep . . .

2006-04-16T22:02:00.000-04:00

The children, the husband, the dog. The cats might be still skulking about but the house is quiet for once. I'd love to be reading or knitting something interesting but I have nothing but another boring baby sweater in garter stitch and some child rearing books to peruse. Blah.

Spring is in full force here and we've been outside a bunch. Little boy should have been a farmer as much as he loves to dig and pretend grow things. 3.5 is a nice age in that he'll actually listen when I say not to dig in my flower beds. (He has his own bed to dig in and a woodsy bed that's about 50' x 12' to dig in too.) Yesterday I did the last of the spring clean-up and then did some weeding today. I still want to move some ferns and hostas to new homes and then I need to re-edge the beds. I'm hoping to get some mulch down too, at least on the sunny beds, so the weeds don't take over.

In homeschooling land I sent out an email to a bunch of mamas seeing if anyone would be interested in little field trips every month if I organize them. Things like going to a riding stable, chocolate factory, art museum, etc. It feels weird to be taking an initiative to do this but I think both the little boy and I are happier when we're out and about at least a bit most days. Little girl is a such a sweet, happy girl that she doesn't care where we are. We are blessed to have such an easy baby to go with the not-so-easy child. I can't imagine what having two high needs children would be like.

In a couple of weeks the babes and I will be off to MD. Mostly to visit my family, but a little bit to see the MD Sheep and Wool Festival. I'm trying to figure out how much money I want to spend. I have a whole trunk full of yarn so it seems a bit weird to be stalking fiber. And then in June I'm going to take the Beginning Spinning class at the FiberFest and I know that that will lead to more things I just have to have so maybe I should save most of my spending money for there. Decisions decisions.

Such is Life as the Child of a Knitter

2006-04-06T15:23:00.000-04:00

My children will resent me for this one day. :)

I was going to give this to a friend whose baby is due any day, but as it's not very small and quite warm, I've decided to keep it for ACC. I'll make a wee sweater out of blue cotton-ease for little baby to be.

It's another beautiful day here. The crocuses are almost done and the daffodils are starting. It looks like the Magnolia will be opening soon. Little Boy is sick today. Nothing like projectile vomitting to start the morning! He is feeling better now after quite a bit of sleeping and some Junior Mints.

More Garden Pictures

2006-04-04T15:00:00.000-04:00

With sunshine and blue sky finally a reality, I am having a hard time knitting. Wee boy and I have been working a bit outside each day and I am loving seeing all of the spring color. I only have one bed left to clean off and then the spring clean-up is done!

I love JCC's fashion sense.

Are you supposed to cut the old foliage on Hellebores? Mine are beautiful but kinda ratty around the perimeter.

The first daffodil!

ACC in the sweater I made. (It fits well but the buttons are too small.)

Spring!

2006-03-29T13:56:00.000-05:00

And a wee bit of knitting:

Blue Yellow Merino = Project Damnation

2006-03-22T10:13:00.000-05:00

The blue/yellow Merino and I are just not getting along. First I made the Ribby Wrap Soaker and frogged it, next I started a simple hat for Chris and I am now going to frog it too. Blah. I really have no interest in starting anything warm and cozy as I don't want anyone to be able to wear them until next fall (this is pure dreaming as we will still have rogue snow in May). I'm thinking I'm just going to start cranking out soakers, sizing be damned, as they are quick and ACC will need them soon enough.

I was sick over the weekend and am now just plain grumpy. :(

Mud Season

2006-03-15T09:09:00.000-05:00

It's still relatively cold out. (It would feel balmy except for the 70 degree warm-up that threw off our internal what-is-warm gauge.) But that doesn't stop JCC from enjoying the mud.

Wee girl is still sick.

Not much else is going on. JCC actually did print-outs yesterday. He has been interested in letters/reading from going to the Starfall site and yesterday we decided to print some out and try writing them. He still has a bit to go on the fine motor skills to write so I don't think I'm going to suggest it again. I also need someone left handed to show him how to hold a pencil. I did my best to approximate how my father writes and it seemed to be ok, but I think he could use some hands-on attention from another lefty. The whole thing felt a bit schoolish in my book which was just plain weird. I'm much more at home with the mud jumping part of childhood. :) Well, just as long as he takes the boots off before coming inside.

Yesterday it was Spring

2006-03-14T09:03:00.000-05:00

And today it's back to winter. Normally I don't mind Cleveland winters as with all the snow they're usually quite pretty, however this year we have had little snow and it's just been gray and ugly. Bleh.

But yesterday it was 70 and sunny. JCC and I spent time outside in our short-sleeve shirts reveling in the blue sky. Even with a babe strapped to my chest I couldn't resist gardening and managed to clean off one wee bed back by the woods where I wouldn't have to pick up the leaves. Underneath the leaves some crocuses were starting to open so it was well worth it.

And now today . . .

Poor baby girl is quite sick (suspected RSV) and is sleeping even more than usual. It really sucks to see someone so young feel bad. :( Even with being sick she still smiles and tries to coo -- that bodes well for her temperament.

Knitting wise I'm making a boring hat for Chris. I had originally made a ribbed soaker (cloth diaper cover) but after having gauge issues and it turning out too small, I frogged it and noticed that the colors match Chris's winter coat very nicely. I had found a couple of cute patterns for hats, but they were dismissed as too childish. With that said, yesterday he asked if I could put a knot on top like on the kids' umbilical hats. :)

I'm not sure what to do about my gauge issues -- I knit really really loosely and can't seem to get my knitting to meet normal gauge ranges. Even going down to small needles (US 3) I'm getting 4 sts/in in worsted yarn. I guess the answer is that I'm going to have to start figuring out how many sts/in I want and then adapt the pattern.

My apologies for this rambley, tense challenged post. My mind is antsy this morning.

A New Sweater for JCC

2006-03-12T20:39:00.000-05:00

It's made out of WoolEase Chunky (which I detest -- it splits horribly) from a Knit It! pattern. I took my time with the sewing on this one (Stitch 'n Bitch by my side) and it's much improved. I still need to work on making the increases look good, but it's a hell of a lot better than Chris's Flame Sweater.

My attempt to catch one of those first smiles.