Knitting Into Oblivion

What to do?

2008-11-22T23:54:00.001-05:00

Well, it's been knitting failure all around. But Boy E has been using his winter hats (both store-bought and hand-knit) as "homes" for his toys. All three boys want me to make "homes" now. I better get creative!

Oh, and I'm destashing, too!

Knitting Failure

2008-11-17T16:43:00.005-05:00

Flashback: Thursday, November 12. I am happily knitting away on Petra (on US 10.5's) while the children are at school. Happily, I said. That is, until Mom, who is also knitting Petra, looks over and says, “Wow, your fabric is really dense.” I am off gauge by a stitch. I rip out the whole thing, eight inches worth--and let us not underestimate how long it takes me, the mother of three 4-year-olds and one 3-year-old to knit eight inches of anything, even in bulky! I start over on US 11's. Then, on Saturday, after knitting about 10 rows in Mom's company, I have a feeling--a feeling!--and ask Mom to measure. It's off again, about two inches too big. Now I'm pissed. I rip out again. I swatch on both US 10.5's and 11's. I can't get gauge on either. But would you believe it: some companies actually make US 10.75's. And I'm in luck, I can get 10.75 in Addi Lace needles, and Angelika got them to me in two days! On Monday! From Oregon! (And I didn't even pick expedited shipping!)

So after this problem, I had a bit of a finish-itis attack. I picked up Robot and started sewing. I just have to get my safety eyes (already on the way) and I can sew up the head, and then give it to Boy E who laid claim to it. After staking his claim, he helped Boy M leaf through Jess Hutchinson's book to find another toy for me to make for him.

In the meantime, on Saturday night, I came home to find my Lucky Lurker Club package waiting at the front door. I opened it, and it was beautiful yarn (as always)

with a pattern for a beret (note: the iPhone did not do a good job with the color). I've been wanting to knit a beret--I even ordered Grumperina's pattern and have it sitting in my to-do pile--but couldn't justify casting on one more project. So in light of the Petra failure, I swatched and cast on Saturday night. I'm having a good time with it, just have to get up my nerve to swatch again for Petra.

ETA 11/19: Swatched Petra on 10.75's on 11/19 and got gauge. Am working up the nerve to cast on.

Getting Back on Track

2008-11-11T20:59:00.010-05:00

Well, outside the blog, I'm pretty much on track. I guess that's how blogging fell by the wayside. Plus entire summer days spent outside with the kids. Plus tennis elbow (due to knitting, a concept that the doctor found hard to accept) kept the summer knitting to a minimum. And to try to catch up on four months' worth, it's just too much even for bullets. Kids are fine, I'm fine, knitting's good...and I'll just pick up here.

Stitches East

Always a good time, traveling with Mom and my sisters. Excellent shopping even though we missed some of our regulars: Blue Moon Fiber Arts, The Skein Attraction. We LOVE cocoknits--I'm working on Petra right now.

(This is the first 8 inches of Petra that I ripped out this afternoon because my gauge is off by one stitch).

We also had a great time with our new friends Wendy and Amy of Woolworks. I bought yarn for the most gorgeous scarf designed by Amy and I swear, I'll be lucky if I can make it--the laceweight mohair is killing me. That stuff is sooo slippery and if I try to take out any stitches or rip back, it knots up, and I keep having to break the yarn and start over. I will NOT be defeated, though I don't know that I'll have enough yarn left to knit the thing!

I invested in several pairs of the Signature Needles: 7" straights in US 6 and US 7, stiletto points, for knitting the lacy scarves I bought from Woolworks, and 6" sock needles in 2.25mm and 2.75 mm. They are beautiful (although maybe a little slippery for the mohair)! Cathy and the women there were just delightful, and we spent a lot of time with them (Thursday night, Friday morning, Saturday morning) figuring out our purchases and buying more.

It was totally cool meeting Miss Babs and Jennifer. I had promised to come by with my Waterfall socks from the Woolgirl sock club, but couldn't wear them because my Dansko clogs were too big plus the suede was running onto my socks and I didn't want to ruin handmade socks.

We also spent time with and bought a lot of yarn (all four of us!) from Katie and Sharon of Yarn Love and Three Irish Girls. Their colorways are too gorgeous! This is Fresh Celery in Yarn Love's worsted and roving (maybe Maiden?) for thrummed mittens:

My sister, embryo1 on ravelry, loved the Maiden colorway so much, she bought it in sock yarn one day and in worsted (for mittens) the next, and didn't realize it until she got back to the room and reviewed her purchases! We all had a good laugh over it, especially when my other sister, borntoknit on ravelry, nixed certain attempted purchases of mine because I always buy the same colors these days.

This year, my purchases were mainly sweaters, a big departure for me. I'm knitting Petra in a chocolate brown Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Super Chunky right now.

In the pipeline are Loppem in Berroco Palace; a Filati sweater; and Tang in Malabrigo (which reminds me, I need to order a sweater stone). I did buy a few more skeins of sock yarn. I also bought a tabletop swift (handmade by Knitting Notions (all my surfaces have beveled edges so the swifts and ballwinders pop off in the midst of winding and wreak havoc) and a new ball winder. We set it up in our room and loved it! New policy: we bring a swift and ball winder to Stitches.

Stitches East Accommodations

We stayed at the new Hilton and here's our report card:

Convenience: A (nothing like being connected to the convention center. We still have vivid memories of 2007's bitter wind as we struggled back to the hotel with all our bags).

Rooms: A (modern, clean)

Service: D (My sister and I had to tag team the front desk and work our way two managers up the chain to get the connecting rooms that we booked but were not booked properly nor confirmed properly by Hilton staff at central booking and the hotel, then had snarky comment from second manager. Not to mention the line of 20 people behind us shooting daggers with their eyes. Terrible breakfast Day 1; ok breakfast day 2. Room service couldn't get our dinner order right. Redeeming note: our new best friend, Assistant Director of Food & Beverage who came to our room after room service fiasco and listened to all our complaints, whether food-related or not, and took good care of us).

All in all, it was a delightful trip. Next knitting adventure: Yarnings on December 6 to meet Debbie Bliss!

FO report:

1. Valentine's socks from my Woolgirl sock kit from January. I ran out of yarn and when the 1/2 skein arrived, I threw it in my project bag and left it. But I've been motivated to finish things (!) and finished them up yesterday. The color is actually more vibrant than the picture indicates:

2. Clapotis. That thing has been on the needles for two years, only to be forgotten on the blocking board when we left for Stitches East. Here it is on the blocking board:

3. Muno. To replace Boy E's broken Muno. I finished this about 10:30 p.m. at night and woke him up to give it to him. He was hardly awake yet so delighted, it was charming!

4. Second Koigu Kersti garter stitch scarf:

UFO's:

1. Ombre scarf in Rowan Colourscape chunky:
This is totally mindless although I ended up a stitch off and ripped out until I realized that was stupid--it's a stockinette stitch scarf with an increase at the beginning of the row and a decrease at the end.

2. Blue Sky Alpacas Eyelet Cardigan. All I need to do is set in the sleeves. This is a picture of the seamed side:

After I cast on and knit a few inches, I found modifications on Ravelry and decided not to rip out, but I probably should have done it. The pattern does not match at the shoulder or side seams, but since people won't likely be looking down at my shoulders or under my arms, it won't be much of a problem. I know it and will just ignore it.

On a final, non-knitting note, thanks to Lici for tipping us off to this clock to keep the kids in bed (or at least their room) until a decent hour that falls anytime after 6:30 a.m. (yes, I've been up with them at 5 a.m.). It arrived today, and they are all fascinated--too bad I can't figure out to program it with three four-year-olds climbing all over me to play with it and one three-year-old pleading for one for her room. That's the next order of business.

Killing time

2008-07-19T19:42:00.002-05:00

Or blog space. I'm just too tired: it's hot, we had a great time at the pool and our barbecue and just got the kids to bed (at 8:30p). I've made no knitting progress, so here it goes:

Your Linguistic Profile:

40% Yankee

35% General American English

20% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

It makes sense, considering I'm from the Northeast and lived in the South for 7 years (college + law school). Good night!

p.s. The Dark Knight rocks!

The drive to finish

2008-07-14T19:11:00.002-05:00

I got the urge to cast on something new today. Why, I'm not sure. I have plenty of UFO's to finish. I was leaning toward the February Lady Sweater, probably because I have always wanted to make the baby sweater. Then Mom steered me toward Zephyrstyle's Juliet. While we were trying to determine if Mom's stash had enough of any bulky or worsted (to use doubled) yarn to make Juliet, I tried to download the pattern and had a problem with the website. I then flirted with the idea of making a run to a LYS, at which point, I got the bright idea to perhaps finish the Blue Sky Eyelet Cardigan before starting another adult sweater. The back was already finished, so I finished the right front after dinner and just cast on for the left front.
[picture to be added when blogger permits--if you're on ravelry, check here.
The cotton is a dream to work with, and the pattern is easily remembered, too. I forgot how much fun this was to knit!

And good news: I'm now downloading Juliet directly!

Here's the bittersweet news: I think the cardinal family has moved out.

The best of summer

2008-07-10T19:22:00.005-05:00

It's mid-July (almost) and summer is hitting its stride. I love dusk, when the fireflies come out. Usually, they make their appearance in early June, but this year, I didn't see them until the end of June and I had started to worry (you know, the bee collapse, frogs are disappearing). There's something magical about the flickering glow through the yard, amongst the bushes, up in the treeline. It's even more magical now that the boys are old enough to understand and appreciate how amazing it is. I've had them up late chasing fireflies twice: the first time was a Sunday evening after they came home from their first baseball game (minor league) with their father; the second time was a drizzly July 4th evening while their father and I were talking to the police and getting a report regarding the damage to his car (someone backed into his car, damaging the hood and grille).

We got a bit into the magic of fireworks, too: when we opened the door to the two police officers on July 4th, Boy E said, "Ooh, look at the fireworks!" One of the neighbors was setting off fireworks in his yard, which is illegal here. One of the police officers muttered, "I don't want to hear it." That's life in a small town! While the police officers were doing their best to ignore the fireworks and to avoid having to bust the neighbor, Boy E kept exclaiming each time one went up. Then the other police officer looked over and said, "Oh man, a roman candle!" Fortunately, we were able to "distract" them. But I have to laugh--they were trying their darndest to avoid having to go over and the neighbor, unknowingly, kept escalating the situation!

I also have a new treat this summer: I have been noticing a cardinal pair spending a lot of the time in the shrub (pretty much a tree) in front of my study window. My desk is under this window, so I spend a lot of time eyeing these birds. Yesterday, I realized there must be a nest, and was able to find it, shielded by a few leaves. Today, I watched as the fledglings shakily jumped to the edge of the nest and surveyed their surroundings. What a treat for me! I hope they stick around...maybe I should fill my birdfeeder.

On the knitting front, I once again cast on the Koigu Daydreams blanket (check out my previous troubles here. This round is on ravelry here. I've used ugrzanna's correction and knitabull's correction, and some math and rewriting of my own, and I think I'm getting somewhere. I'm about 10 rows in on the large center triangle and I finally have 4 points showing up--it should be a triangle when sewn...although that may be an ambitious prediction at 10 rows in.

I'm also working on my second Koigu Kersti garter stitch scarf. It's perfect mindless knitting, and great for working on when I'm waiting for the camp bus. I took pictures of the yarn yesterday with my iPhone, and I think I couldn't keep the iPhone steady enough, but it's a picture:

Oh, and I'm nowhere on Summer of Socks. So be it.

It's 9 a.m. and here's what I've accomplished

2008-07-08T08:02:00.005-05:00

1. disciplined biting son at 6:30 a.m. and dealt with resulting hysteria;

2. disciplined son (not biting son) for waking up baby sister;

3. informed baby sister she is not coming out of crib yet and to stop screaming;

4. read 1/2 of discipline book to figure out what I'm doing wrong and how to fix it;

5. got myself washed and dressed (at 7:20 a.m.);

6. got sons ready for camp (use bathroom, put on sneakers, put lunches and water shoes in backpack, spray sunscreen;

7. play games with children and wave at garbage truck until camp bus comes;

8. bring in our and neighbor's garbage cans;

9. speak with contractor about parents' roof leak and get referral for my slate roof repair;

10. eat breakfast;

11. consult with sister-in-law (early childhood development specialist) about discipline;

12. watch the cardinal parents feed their young in the nest in the tree outside my study window.

Gee. that doesn't seem like much...it seemed much busier when I was doing it!

Anyway, last night, I finished crocheting Muno (of Yo Gabba Gabba fame) from this pattern:

I just need to embroider Muno's eye, mouth and teeth.

Two months in bullets

2008-06-26T19:21:00.008-05:00

It's been a while since I posted anything of anything, so I think I'll just hit the highlights. Thanks to AmpuTeeHee for the idea!

Here it goes...ready?

* GI consults resulting in crash course in remedial toilet training for one boy with negligible success, leading to CHOP consult next week (hoping for the best and trying to avoid a breakdown (mine));

* a fabu 38th birthday celebration (mine) with great knitting swag and awesome party favors!;

* a disputed case of head lice based on purported evidence in one child 5 days before vacation resulting in all children being sent home from school and generalized but contained hysteria and chaos in the house, with the attendant shampooing of children, and washing and vacuuming of every toy and surface and bedding in the house. End result: no head lice in any child including the alleged patient by evening, and three boys with buzz cuts;

* a low blood sugar episode rolling into panic episode while traveling at highway speeds on the New Jersey Turnpike three days later. (Every time I get that damn anxiety under control it leaks out another way);

* a call from the police the day before vacation regarding what turned out to be a non-incident but raised anxiety levels of entire family;

* the discovery 22 hours before takeoff that previously packed suitcases are too heavy and damaged to take on trip resulting in crazed trip to purchase new luggage and repack same;

* a successful 10-day family vacation (husband around weekends only). Yes, I can wear high heels and take a fish off a hook. Three loads of laundry per day. Wake up 2-3 times per night for disoriented children/children who have fallen out of bed/children who are annoyed by the sibling who is sharing his/her room. Put in request for second vacation...alone;

* return from vacation one week before day camp begins and immediately call nursery school director to see if triplets can attend nursery school camp for one week (starting next day) until day camp starts;

* raging case of pinkeye (mine) following our association pool's season-opening pool party last Friday. Run halls of house screaming "Noooooooo!" and examining children's eyes (without touching them) to see who else is infected and would be unable to start camp;

* three head lice-free and pinkeye-free boys successfully start day camp on the bus;

* day 2 of camp = day 1 of toilet training for smart and completely uninterested two-year-old daughter;

* battle with insurance company and collection agency over unpaid bills medical bills from three years ago. Yes, I am the only one who has a clue about what's gone on for the past three years and the only party involved who is not in violation of the Fair Claims Processing Act (a specialty of mine prior to triplets) and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (as per husband) is me. Apparently, doctors do not know how to bill appropriately and insurance company does not know how to process claims properly and collection agency does not care. You will find my head exploded and my eyeballs stuck to the ceiling by tomorrow morning;

* repeat mantra of "take two steps away from your brother," "keep your hands to yourself," "we don't call names in this family" every five minutes until children are turned over to school/resort camp program/pre-school camp program/day camp bus counselors, and resume no later than five minutes after children are returned;

* Oh, some knitting and crochet:

The Topsy Turvy Doll (details can also be found here on Ravelry):

The picture of the purple dress shows the doll before I made the bonnet tie and hair--I'll post those when I can do another shoot.

I also finished the Loop garter stitch koigu scarf:

Who knew taking self photos in the bathroom mirror would be so hard? It doesn't help that I'm breaking out like a teenager for some unknown reason (what did I say about stress earlier?), so the position of the camera relative to my face is equal in importance to capturing the scarf.

In casting-on news, last month, Mom and I started our own Funky Monkey knitalong. In the race to the finish (because we're competitive in a non-competitive way), I made a crucial error:

Yes, in my race to get ahead of Mom while she was at work, I put the tail on the front of the body instead of the back. Apparently, my competitiveness overwhelmed my common sense, resulting in lost time ripping out. Here is the monkey now:

Now that I finished the Topsy Turvy Doll, I think this is the next on the list to finish. Oh, and I used the monkey as an excuse to learn Magic Loop (from the pamphlet, of course).

And, I joined Summer of Socks again. I received some great sock club yarns, just haven't been able to cast on yet (it takes more time than I thought to pack three camp bags and make three camp lunches every night). It's almost 9 p.m., so time to pack, then shower, then maybe wind yarn for first pair of SOS socks.

How to feel old, Part II

2008-05-20T19:22:00.003-05:00

So, I think I'm finally over the trauma of nearly passing out at the gym in March (or was it February?). No, I haven't back. But after catching sight of The Couch-to-5K Running Plan on someone's blog, I decided to get back on the horse. Not yet fully recovered from the humiliation of nearly passing out at the gym, I hit my mom's treadmill. Whereupon, for the first time ever in my not-as-short-as-it-used-to-be life, I felt my ass bounce violently, the vertical manifestation of the tricep wobble. How did that happen?!

2008-04-23T18:53:00.004-05:00

Has it been a whole month? I hardly remember the projects I mentioned in the last post. Well, I remember the amigurumi goldfish. I've now finished three of them, but can only show you the second one, knit in Lamb's Pride (I think), with sewn eyes because I couldn't find safety eyes:

Feeling slightly guilty, and much taken with the fun of crochet, I made a cupcake purse for Baby Girl from another Amy Gaines kit:

The only modification I made was to tie the drawstring ends together without the beads. Baby Girl is only 2-1/2 (although she thinks she's 4), and has a definite tendency to put things in her mouth. She's enjoyed the purse and has used it to carry her toy animal figures around (she likes them in pairs: "I need two for a family," she tells me). Boy M tried to poach it, so now Mom is knitting him a Buddy Bag.

The only downside to all this crochet: I've hurt my left shoulder. I think it's from having to manipulate the stuffed fish body while trying to crochet the last few rounds of decreases. But I'm done with fish for a while. I've actually cast on a new project, Blue Sky Alpacas' Eyelet Cardigan. I was on gauge right out of the box--shocker!--and made it too far into the pattern before I checked ravelry and found alltangledup's modifications which make a lot of sense. I'm just going with the pattern and trying not to think about it. I also can't make the sweater longer, since I raided Mom's stash for the yarn, and only have 4 skeins. I'm just hoping for the best!

I brought my unfinished Summer Solstice sock with me for the big friends' 40th birthday trip to Las Vegas. Tons o' fun, Vegas is! Good food, great company. A little Cirque du Soleil--Ka is amazing!--and my first try at gambling! I should just light the money on fire, though I was only $11 down. I didn't get to knit much, maybe a little on the return flight--my favorite airport experience was when the TSA guy, while contemplating whether I was going to be allowed to keep my metal KnitPicks dpns, asked me, "are you going to take them out during the flight?" To which I replied, "Well, yes, if I'm going to knit." He let me pass. I guess I didn't look that dangerous.

The boys' 4th birthday party was fabulous fun and went off without a hitch. Now we're on a school break, and we're trying to keep busy all day long. Fortunately, we have excellent, almost-summer weather, which keeps us outside all day long. The plus side is that the kids are totally knocked out at bedtime; the downside is that I'm also knocked out, which is not good for project progress. Did I mention that in the past two weeks, Baby Girl has come into her two-ness?

March Madness

2008-03-18T19:58:00.006-05:00

Ever since college, March Madness always hit hard. I went to Duke, and Duke won its first Men's Basketball National Championship my senior year. Need I say more?

Although I never imagined that my March Madness would turn into what it is today. The triplets turned 4 (!) last week, so we spent the week celebrating--loads of fun but exhausting! And the first official birthday party with friends is happening next week...I have to wrap up those last details.

Also, last March nearly killed me with everyone, not just the kids, but everyone, being so sick. We're holding our own on that front. In comparison to last March, the stomach virus was a blip on the radar. And for more excellent news, we were at the pulmonologist today, and he reported that the boys seem to be outgrowing their asthma. Hooray! Though I'm not sure how long it will take me to outgrow the fear and dread that strikes each time someone starts coughing.

My knitting has been...neglected? I'm not sure that's the right word. I've been describing my situation as "Knitting Malaise." I'm dissatisfied with pretty much everything I've got on the needles. That's no mean feat: I have 3-4 pairs of socks in progress; a knitted doll that I picked up at Stitches East intending to make it for Baby Girl for the holidays, and am shooting to finish it for her birthday at the end of the summer; a Clapotis; a Tulip baby sweater; the Blue Sky Alpaca Cropped Sweater that I frogged and need to re-swatch (not that gauge was the problem); the Decadent Fibers baby blanket that I bought at Stitches two years ago and had to basically re-write the pattern; and, I'm sure there are others that are just not coming to mind. I was doing well with the Rockin' Sock Club Serendipity sock, but I'm not sure if the sock is too tight, I'm turning the heel and have messed up the short row wraps a few times, plus I think something in the stitch pattern may have hurt my arm, or maybe that was just the chair I was sitting in. I find myself toting around 6 or 7 projects but not even working on them, instead, I'm reading knitting blogs and cruising Ravelry. Or I find myself at the end of the day being just too tired to do anything without totally messing up the project, such as wraps on a short row heel.

But on Sunday, when I found myself at my mom's for several hours without a project, I raided her stash for something to cast on--thereby breaking my unvoiced intention for the year to not cast on a new project until I finished something on the needles. Instead of palming some cashmere, or one-of-a-kind handpainted fabulousness from her mini-yarn store, oops, I mean stash, I went for...crochet. Amigurumi, to be exact. This Amy Gaines goldfish, but a kit.

The goldfish is, obviously, adorable. The kit is so cute--it comes in a Chinese food takeout carton with yarn, safety eyes, fiberfill, sewing needle and a crochet hook. The pattern is clearly written and gauge seems to be irrelevant--great for a "jump in blindly" project. It's load of fun, except for the incredible splittiness of the yarn, which means I crochet really slowly. But there's plenty of room for forgivable mistakes. Like not weaving in the yarn tail from the beginning ring of the body. And mildly understuffing the body. And putting the safety eyes in asymmetrically. And sewing the tail on horizontally instead of vertically (mental note: check placement of eyes before sewing tail to body in order to determine proper alignment). And the best part...Boy E keeps asking if he can have it, and the other boys want one too. I guess I'm not doing that badly.

So, because I need to look at the fish to crochet it, I decided to rustle up a project I could work on while watching Dancing With the Stars, the last element of my March Madness. It's my number one guilty pleasure! So while the children were watching the Curious George movie, I re-swatched and cast on the Decadent Fibers Creme Puff jacket--I purchased the pattern from the Decadents at Stitches this past year, and the yarn from Karida at Neighborhood Fiber Co. It's superbulky--2 sts/inch on US 17. Maybe I can finish it relatively quickly and still wear it before it's seriously warm out. But I found a typo in the gauge: it said 2 sts/inch, 9 sts/4 inches. I did the math based on the finished dimensions and found that it is definitely 2 sts/inch. The directions for the back are a little confusing so I'm kind of revising them and hoping for the best. I'm knitting in the waist shaping and am hoping it works out. If not, and I have to rip it out, at least I'll feel that I only spent a few days knitting it instead of months. Oh, and in finding the link, I'm noticing that the Decadent's yarn does not seem to be thick and thin like the yarn I'm using. But my sister the style maven and Karida both thought it would work, so we'll see. Otherwise, I'll have to do some sort of pullover, but I'm not there yet. And as an extra treat, I'm using the perfect tote that I received in a swap from KaKi.

Hopefully, I'll get the knitting back on track. If not, it may be time to finish a sock monkey blanket from the Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet that I made about two years ago. I just have to seam the squares, which is ridiculously easy and fast, and crochet a few sock monkey faces. Mom needs to help me with that part, though. I've also been thinking of getting Babette out of storage, which, now that I see it's from the Spring 2006 Interweave Crochet, means that it's been in progress since Spring 2006. Oh boy. Did I mention that I have a Mountain Colors sweater in progress upstairs in storage in the attic? And that I bought it at the first Stitches show I attended in, oh, 1996 or so? Let's not go there.

Vacation? Did anyone say vacation?

2008-03-02T17:44:00.004-05:00

Yeah, that was me. I got a stomach virus instead...for the whole family (except my husband--the one time working all the time actually works out). My parents won't even come over--and I agree with that. Yesterday, Mom was at Barnes & Noble and picked up some things for the kids and said she was going to drop them off at the front door. I asked, "What? Are you going to ring the bell and run?" And sure enough, the bell rings, my husband opens the door (I'm snoozing in bed) and I hear Mom shouting to him from the car in the road. We're set back at least 50 feet from the road! Seriously!

It started with Baby Girl in the middle of the night on Monday. The most plaintive and unusual cry of "Mommy" at 2:30 a.m., so perplexing to me that I went running in without my glasses. I can't see without my glasses. Pretty much blind. Really. So in my half-asleep and blind state, I made the mistake of reaching into the crib without looking. Enough said. Five minutes later, I had her in the bath. She was better by Tuesday night, and we were all in the clear until Thursday night, when I was felled by the bug. I spent the night on my cold, cold, tiled bathroom floor. I came to in the morning with blocks of ice for feet (mental note: when feet become ice, try sportweight instead of fingering weight hand-knit wool socks) and back and knee pain. I croaked to my husband, "You must stay home today." He took care of school drop-off and pick-up. Fortunately, I had an extra babysitter Friday afternoon, and my nanny was pre-scheduled to stay through Saturday morning because my husband had a meeting and I was supposed to make up my last sewing class. (Oh well, looks like I'm teaching myself how to sew a tote bag.) The bug hit Boy E at 4 a.m. on Saturday, Boy J at 9 a.m. on Saturday, and Boy M at 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. I am an expert at late-night bath. And the saddest part: Boy M had missed me so, he was happy to be sick and getting a bath alone with me at 10:30 at night. That is, he was happy until he got sick again. And again. And again.

The good news is everyone is on the mend and is bouncing back better than me. Unfortunately, I have to be off my GI meds until Friday, and I have to call my primary care doctor to see when to restart my antibiotics for the burgeoning sinus infection I was so proud about nipping in the bud last Monday.

Suffice it to say, I don't have any knitting content to report. I just have not been up to knitting, for obvious reasons. I did catch up on my blogging today, though, and just bought this awesome sock kit at Unwind thanks to Lime & Violet's Daily Chum:

“The Red Thread” refers to this Chinese proverb:

“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet,
regardless of time, place, or circumstance.
The thread may stretch or tangle,
but it will never break.”

Those simple lines have come to be the heartstone of many families adopting children from China.

The owners of Unwind apparently adopted their daughter from China, and 20% of the retail price will be donated to an organization that provides training for orphanage workers in China. How could I resist?

And for Lici: Yo Gabba Gabba is on Nick Jr. at 11:30 a.m. (I think) and this weekend was starting on Noggin (I didn't catch the time for obvious reasons). We TiVo it on Nick Jr., and my only issue is that the TiVo captures commercials, real commercials, which I don't like the kids to watch; there's no real commercials on Noggin (I don't count sponsorship messages or commercials for other Nick Jr./Noggin shows). Also, I may be taking liberties, but check my comments and email the Minister of Sparks and Lightning if you want to be on the blogger email list.

And for the rest of my day...

2008-02-21T22:42:00.003-05:00

So, by about 2:30 p.m. yesterday, I was mostly recovered from my gym experience--still freaked out by it, but pretty comfortable I wouldn't pass out on the three-minute trip to pick up the triplets at nursery school at 3 p.m. I left the house at 2:50 so I wouldn't be rushed and to account for high-school traffic (it's about halfway between my house and nursery school), and as I drive down my street, I'm muttering to myself about all those reckless high-schoolers speeding down our side street and swerving out of the middle of the road (again, feeling old, but this time, not in a bad way). As I'm sitting at the stop sign opposite the high school driveway, looking right and waiting to make my right turn, I hear the punch of a collision and look up to see a white car hurtling toward me. I was speaking to my mother on speakerphone and shouted, "There's an accident, I have to go" and braced myself for the collision with my car which, fortunately, did not happen. What did happen is that the teenager in the white car shot out across the main road and did not see oncoming traffic and was broadsided.

I called 911 and then debated whether to hop out of the car or try to get to nursery school on time. I checked on the teenager, she was crying, on the phone with her mother, and the driver in the car behind her was sitting with her. I told her I called the police already and head back to my car, only to see a very elderly lady, limping, get out of the other car. Fortunately, she wasn't injured (apparently the limping was unrelated to the accident), but she wanted to see the other driver--oh, and she said her heart was racing. Great. No way I could leave before the police arrived. I kept trying to get her to wait in the car but she insisted, and when I crossed the street with her, another driver almost hit us--I had to pull her jacket to get her out of the way. Are you kidding me?!

Anyway, everyone was fine. The police were there in about two minutes, and the officer let me go once I told him I had to pick up 3-year-olds. And of course, I was freaked out all over again. As was my mother, who thought I was in an accident, although I did call her once I got clear of the scene.

Fortunately, I had my knitting to rely on. I'm really enjoying my Woolgirl Valentine's sock kit. It's more White Oak tv yarn in sport weight--great colors and a fun pattern. But I've noticed that despite knitting the cuff shorter than called for in the pattern, I seem to be running out of yarn. Check this out (and please excuse the poorer-than-usual picture quality--I had to use my iPhone because my camera memory card is full).

Sock 1:

and Sock 2:

And not really related to the topic, but irresistable to include: the socks in my super-cool Piddly bag from Piddleloop:

Back to the socks. I clearly do not have enough yarn to knit the remaining 5-6" of the sock and have been lying to myself for days. I didn't want to contact Jen at Woolgirl because the same thing happened to me with the Halloween kit, except that time I used a pattern other than the one in the kit, and I finished the socks with about three yards left in the skein. But Jen is the coolest! She said that someone else had the same problem and she was having the dyer dye more yarn, but it would take a few weeks. Hooray! Now I'm freed up to start my Rockin' Sock Club socks (already swatched), unless I go for the Woolgirl Sock Club February sock--Zen Yarn Garden and a cabled heart pattern!

And then, tonight, I had my latest freaky experience. I ran out to Target after putting the kids to bed, anticipating that the predicted snow tomorrow will make getting out nearly impossible, and of course, our need for a new iron and ironing board is so desperate we cannot wait until the weather clears (that's what an afternoon playdate spent printing Yo Gabba Gabba iron-on transfers and trying to transfer them to t-shirts with a lukewarm iron while six Yo Gabba Gabba devotees aged three and under are waiting teaches you). I had additional items on my shopping list, so while cruising the toy aisle for birthday gifts, I reached for a toy and grazed my hand on the underside of the shelf above it, and felt something wet. I snatched back my hand and saw blood, and immediately started to freak yet again--now I had someone else's blood and blood-born illnesses seeping into the very dry skin on my hand. I went racing to the opposite site of Target looking for anti-bacterial hand wipes, trying not to bean anyone, especially myself, with the large ironing board in my cart. In no time at all, I was vigorously wiping my hand, trying to remove all traces of the contaminated blood, only to discover...it was my own blood. I can't even explain how relieved I was (except when I began to worry that there wasn't enough alcohol in the wipes to kill any germs because the cut, actually, a skin split, didn't sting when I wiped it). I then went across the street to Nordstrom's and bought Kiehl's hard-core moisturizing lotion...in the 8-oz jar.

I think I need a vacation.

How to feel old

2008-02-20T10:48:00.002-05:00

So, a group of my college friends are turning 40, and we are taking a celebratory trip in April...to Las Vegas (I'm slightly younger, but they thought I should be included anyway). For the past six months, I've been meaning to get myself to the gym on a regular basis, and thought, hey, we haven't seen each other in years (holiday cards don't count), why don't I get a jump start and work with a trainer. I've had to cancel twice (you know, kids), and today was my first day...and I almost passed out about 10 minutes in. I mean, for real pass out--sweating, slightly nauseous, laying down on a weight bench, drinking Vitamin (sugar) Water--and enough so that the trainer didn't charge me for the session. Crap.

Happy feet!

2008-01-28T19:42:00.000-05:00

Nothing like a new pair of socks to cheer you up after a colonoscopy!

I'm ok, but still kind of shot, so here are the details:

Yarn: Vesper Sock Yarn in Dragon's Blood
Needles: KP Harmony dpns in 2.75 mm
Pattern: Knitting Pure & Simple Beginner Mid-Weight Socks (7 sts/inch)

The yarn is a treat, so soft and cozy. LOVE the color! They are a little loose, so next time, I think I'll use a pattern for 8 sts/inch. The pattern is really easy, and I wanted a mindless stockinette so I could enjoy the color. I think I'm going to keep a stockinette self-striping sock in the works in my bag--perfect for the doctor's office, etc.

We're doing another family project for a friend's baby, a baby blanket. I think it's from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms, but I could be wrong. I was assigned the two stockinette squares; the consensus was that I would be most likely to mess up knit/purl patterns (I've been known to fall asleep knitting and to mess up stockinette when I'm too sleepy). I took advantage of my post-anesthesia state to start one of my baby blanket squares and will finish square one tonight.

I've started my Woolgirl Valentine's sock kit, and also want to dive into my new Socks That Rock kit, even though I have lots of projects still on the needles. I'm just not in the mood to pick up those projects. In fact, I spent some of yesterday culling my working project basket in my bedroom, and sent a lot of things to the attic. I'm actually thinking of destashing, but I've got to get to it. In the meantime, I'm not buying any yarn. My exception is Wollmeise, but I didn't make it through the Loopy Ewe update, so I broke down and ordered direct from Germany. I think I ordered sport weight, but I'm not sure. How bad could it be?

Where does the time go?

2008-01-05T10:18:00.001-05:00

It's been a month since I last posted? Well, let's see...

We thoroughly enjoyed our first family vacation. I brought along this project:

It's Vesper Sock Yarn in Dragon's Blood. I'm using Knitting Pure & Simple's Beginner's Mid-Weight Socks pattern, a basic stockinette pattern, so that I can enjoy the self-striping of the yarn. I'm knitting on Knit Picks Harmony dpns 2.75mm. I'm actually liking the wood needles and TSA didn't blink an eye. The yarn is wonderfully soft and I'm not bored (yet) by the stockinette. I think next time I use this yarn, I'll drop down a needle size for a slightly firmer fabric; it feels a little loose in the hands, but when I try it on, it just feels wonderful! I definitely need to drop down a needle size for the ribbing, though.

I stuffed it into this Piddleloop Piddly bag I was fortunate to score when the first Piddly bags were posted in November (I bought it using my iPhone, what a trial, the wifi connection kept dropping):

Now, don't be fooled by all this progress. I cast on right before the flight, and did not even finish the 10 rows of ribbing at the top until after we got back. Seriously, what could I expect, traveling with three three-year-olds and a two-year-old? Though they were just delightful on the flight down to Florida--they slept!

The other distractor was a garter stitch baby blanket that is another group project for a pregnant friend. My mom and sister Elizabeth roped me into knitting a strip of seven squares, but something happened when I did not do an official swatch. Rather, I cast on and started knitting, and Elizabeth checked the width, and it didn't match the other strips. So I dropped down a needle size. It still didn't match. So I dropped down two needle sizes--good to go! I then spent half the vacation knitting four of the seven squares in the strip (definitely beating Elizabeth in the race to the finish), only to find it was too narrow! It must have been sabotage! Suffice it to say, we ripped it out, the three of us took turns knitting my strip; I knit maybe 1.5 squares of it and mom and Elizabeth finished the rest because Elizabeth seamed it while she was in Florida. Maybe I'll be able to get a picture.

We all enjoyed our vacation so much, we're working on making plans to go back. The children loved the opportunity to play outside and at the beach, and everyone was happy and tired every night. I was able to put the boys in camp at the resort. Boy J missed two days of camp due to a fever, and then we had to pull him out because of some toilet-training regression--UGH! But the boys and Baby Girl all got quality individual time, too, with Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy and Mommy (me), and Titi (Aunt) Elizabeth. We had family dinners, even in a restaurant! We're getting somewhere, I think, on this going out business.

We would have never made it there and back without my parents and sister. They flew down with us, and then stayed on after we left for their vacation (yes, you need a vacation from the vacation with us), but came with us to the airport for the return flight and helped us to the gate. The flight home was good as well, except Baby Girl and Boy J can no longer sit together: the two of them poked at each other for nearly the entire flight (two hours!), and Baby Girl knows just how to get on J's nerves. But we lucked out--our flight arrived 35 minutes early! And on the return, I didn't have to install 4 car seats in a rental car!

So now that we're home, and my babysitters are on winter break, I can get some time to myself. I've made a lot of progress on the Dragon's Blood sock. I'm also thinking of not buying yarn for a while and winnowing down my stash. I'm sticking with the Woolgirl and STR sock clubs and didn't renew my others. I'm also thinking of destashing, but I haven't even put the children's summer clothes in storage yet, so I definitely don't have time go through the stash yet.

In the meantime, I do have unblogged knitting acquisitions. Here is the yarn I got for Hanukkah from my mom:

It's PennyRose Yarns in City Socks. It's nowhere near as dark as it looks in my picture; try looking here.

What else do I have going on in yarn? here's the latest installation from the Woolgirl Sock Club

and STR

Oh, and before I went on vacation, I picked up the Tulip cardigan again. I must have been really foggy to not be able to think through navigating the corner with the applied I-cord because it was easy and fun! I'm now working a sleeve:

Here's another Piddly bag that was a gift from Mom, stuffed with (I think) sKnitches Syncopation self-striping sock yarn in Wicked from my stash (I actually thought I might finish the Vesper socks and need to start another pair for the flight home).

And just arrived, fresh out of the shipping box, is yarn I purchased at Stitches from Karida of Neighborhood Fiber Co..

They are three of the biggest yarn cakes I have ever seen! The shipping weight was 5 lbs.! Of course, when I took out the pattern I bought the yarn for (a cardigan for me), the pattern is misprinted and is missing page 2 of 3, which page must consist of instructions for the right front. So, right now, other than the pattern info (yarn weight, gauge, etc.), my pattern instructions begin with: "LEFT FRONT: Work as for right front, reversing all shaping." Not particularly helpful. Fortunately, the other sister bought the same pattern, so I have a call into her.

Other updates:

1. The stolen earrings were returned, unannounced, by being deposited in a flower pot by my front door. Are you kidding me?! I'm just glad to get them back.

2. Boy J got a clean bill of health. No evidence of a hernia, but if he has one, it will show more as he grows because these things don't heal by themselves.

And remember those Woolgirl Halloween socks? Here they are!

Happy new year, everyone!

Forget NaBloPoMo

2007-11-17T22:15:00.000-05:00

(This post was actually published on December 4, 2004, but I don't know how to correct the date. Oh well!)

As if I were a candidate for NaBloPoMo. I posted once in November. A good portion of this post was saved as a draft on November 17th. And, I don't think my life is even that interesting. I spend half my day in the bathroom helping my (semi-? partly? mostly?) toilet-trained boys (they generally can get themselves in but need varying degrees of help wrapping up), or asking them who needs to go. Can you post from a bathroom? How about having at least one boy who needs to check out the bathroom at every place we visit? And, if we're not in the bathroom, I'm traveling to various doctors for various issues.

By the way, if you're looking for anything remotely related to knitting, skip the next 8 paragraphs, please.

So here's how my week of November 12 began. I was basking in the joy of my completed Halloween socks (don't even ask for pictures, not a chance). They turned out really well, if I do say so myself, thanks to Caroline Schurch and that little tidbit from Lucy Neatby about making the sock length approximately 1/2 inch less than the length of your foot. I'm thinking: boys will be in school from 9-3 on Monday, Baby Girl will be in school from 9-11:15. I can take a few photographs then, no problem.

And then Monday rolls around, Boy M's cough is really not better (he'd been to the pulmonologist twice already and had a course of steroids), so Monday morning, I drive him the the pulmonologist, who's about 30 minutes away. He doesn't like the way Boy M sounds, so he sends us for x-rays. I fight with the insurance company over referrals to the pulmologist and radiologist (don't even ask about my problem, I used to represent insurance companies who were sued by policy holders, and yet, this problem cannot get sorted out despite the involvement of various representatives from my husband's employer, both doctors and the employer's insurance broker), and I'm totally stressing about what's wrong with Boy M. Which turns out to be nothing more than some asthma (what a relief our radiologist is our friend).

Tuesday, I got to take everyone to the pediatrician because I HAVE HAD IT with all this sickness (Boy M wass just along for the ride because he'd already been seen and was on antibiotics). Four children under four years old at the pediatrician is not my favorite way to go. Boy E had a sinus infection. Boy J was holding is own and was able to avoid antibiotics. Baby Girl was being felled by allergies, not illness, so she got antihistamine. I created a major chart to track all medications.

Wednesday actually began as a quiet day, because I was able to drop the boys at school and actually go to my gastro appointment, which is the only appointment I ever refuse to cancel, especially because I have had several flare-ups with my GI issues in the past month. Of course, the antibiotics for my upper respiratory infection did me no favor except to nearly cure me of the upper respiratory thing and make me otherwise so sick that my GI miracle drug no longer works. I rationalize taking care of myself by reminding myself that if I'm sick, I can't take care of the children. After school, I take the boys to my so-generous parents. After a few hours of quiet play, Boy M complains of pain in his right arm when I incidentally touch it gently. There are no marks, no swelling, no memorable incidents, no crying, so we let it go. Until after bath, when Boy M gets hysterical when we put his pajama top on and take it off again to examine the arm (the thing is practically skin-tight due to fire-safety regulations for children's sleepwear). Again, no marks or swelling. I call my should-be-sainted parents, who have whatever upper respiratory thing we all have, to come over and check out the boy, and we make a joint decision to skip an all-nighter in the ER in favor of a trip to the pediatrician in the morning. Forget about any thought of the discovery that my babysitter, the daughter of one of my husband's clients, regularly visits my bedroom when I am not home and the dawning realization that she has stolen a number of items, the most significant being the earrings I inherited from my grandmother. But back to Boy M.

The next morning, in response to his pain on palpation of the arm, the doctor forestalls further examination in favor of an x-ray. Of course, our friend (and anyone else we know there) is away, so we don't get the results until we return to the pediatrician. He tells us it's broken. What??!! When I broke my leg at 14, the pain kept me up all night. The kid doesn't even cry unless you touch a certain spot. I'm killing myself with guilt. I shook that arm to get the pajama top off and the arm was BROKEN! At this point, after spending about six hours between doctors, we get an orthopedics appointment for the next morning and head off to the drug store for a sling that will fit a three-year-old.

Now, understand, I live in the small town I grew up in. I have been getting prescriptions at this pharmacy all my life. I'm in at least two times a week for the children. I know them and they know me. So we go, and everyone is so kind and helpful, but they have to bring in the sling from somewhere else. Boy M is fried, uncomfortable to a certain degree, and finally throws a full-out tantrum, on the floor, kicking, screaming. I'm shot myself, exhausted and nearly overcome by guilt because I don't even know what happened to him and his arm is broken. Then this woman standing there looks at me and says, condescendingly, "I think he's tired." I didn't even have it in me to say something, I just gave her this 'are you effing kidding me?!' look, and bless the pharmacists, they gave her a dirty look and say that he's had a hard day. Sometimes, people really surprise me. Like the woman who saw me out with two boys and asked me if they were twins. When I replied that they were triplets and one was home, she gave me a dirty look and stalked off. Did she think I was being smart with her? I mean, I didn't even tell her about Baby Girl!

But back to Boy M's arm. Of course, I'm so wound up, I don't sleep well. We go to the orthopedist first thing, and guess what? The arm is NOT broken. In fact, it's FINE. He's not even favoring it! What looked like a fracture on the x-ray was a combination of Boy M's anatomy and the angle of the x-ray. The conclusion is that Boy M's elbow popped out and at some point, popped back in (perhaps during the fateful tantrum). Go figure.

Since then, everyone's been ok, except for a minor adult medical scare that occasioned a morning in the ER, gave everyone terrible anxiety, but apparently has turned out to be nothing. The kids are working through colds, and our big cold snap has triggered Boy M's asthma cough again, but I'm on him like a hawk.

And knitting. I am finding my projects unsatisfying. As much as I love my Woolgirl sock club, which is the best yarn club I've been in, I'm struggling with the project. The pattern calls for gauge on 2.50 mm needles. Unfortunately I need 2.00 mm (US 0) to get gauge. Apparently, I'm knitting more tightly then usual (is it any wonder?). On top of that, I had defective US 0's (nicks in the finish) and had to wait for the replacement set to arrive. I've knit maybe 7 rows of k1 p1 rib using the new needles and already one is starting to warp. I don't mind small needles, but I think I'd rather not knit with US 0's. And I always find the ribbing at the beginning of a sock to take too long. I think I'm just impatient and want to jump into the pattern stitch. But I'm giving it a go, sort of.

My Blue Sky Alpaca sweater? Well, I screwed up the ribbing and since I hadn't knit more than six rows, I ripped it out. Except when I tried to slide the yarn off my needles--my brand new needles from Knit Picks Harmony Options set, received as a gift--the needle came out of the join. Not the join separating from the cable, but the wood coming out of the metal that gets screwed into the cable; I saw the glue and everything. I stuffed the needle back into the join and haven't touched it since. I haven't even gotten to call Knit Picks, because it was a Sunday when it happened, and I put it aside.

I did pick up the "Clap" and enjoy it when I get going, but my hands are so dry, they spontaneously crack and bleed, and then catch the yarn. I'm not in the mood to bleed all over yarn, especially a silk and wool blend.

I have apparently lost my Summer Solstice socks. Tell me how a whole project bag disappears. Just tell me. And it's my first and much-loved Piddleloop bag. I'm sure it's around somewhere. Maybe my ex-babysitter took it when she took the earrings I inherited from my grandmother. Again, that's another story for another time; suffice it to say this was all going down while we were dealing with Boy M's asthma and arm injury, and now I don't have a babysitter. But back to knitting.

I decided to swatch my Lanas Puras Melosa yarn for the "Cabo Hoodie Sweater which I bought, I think, last spring. First, I actually had trouble winding the yarn with my swift and winder because the yarn was, well, sticky. Then, I didn't have the right needles, as if that's possible. I've been knitting for twelve years. I have tons of needles. But it's a top-down sweater, and I need 16-inch circulars to knit the neck/collar and then you join and knit in the round, and I don't have the two or three sizes I possibly need to get gauge. I just haven't been able to sit down and figure out what I need to order or raid from my mother's needle cache. Ridiculous!

What else? I realized that my mother and I were both delinquent in knitting winter hats for the children. So about two weeks ago, she gave me one of Jacey's monster hat kits (they were custom-made for my mom), told me not to bother with gauge and use whatever size needle to knit whatever hat size she told me. Suffice it to say, I've ripped it out three times for being too big, and don't have the heart to swatch just yet, even though the yarn is fun and fast to knit, and the felted monsters (or pirate-ish faces in our case) are totally awesome! (Yes, I'm a child of the '80's, and I slip sometimes).

I haven't been in the mood to start up again with my Rosie's Popover Mitts. Baby Girl's doll languishes too. It's clearly not going to be a holiday gift--maybe I'll finish it for her birthday in August? I never even cast on for the projects I bought to knit for holiday gifts, and Hanukkah is upon us. That's kind of pathetic, since I planned some of the gifts almost a year ago, and had all I needed to make the gifts purchased by June. In fact, I should be clearing off my dining room table for tomorrow night's holiday dinner. Which takes place just after we get back from NYC for Boy J's surgical consult for the hernia we thought we saw six weeks ago and have never seen since. And even the Hanukkah gifts I ordered may not arrive before the end of Hanukkah. And I have to pack for our first family trip before my nanny takes her 2-1/2 week vacation. Ugh. I think I need to go upstairs, go through my stash and find something to wind and swatch. You think?

Just in time for the Fall chill...

2007-11-05T10:36:00.000-05:00

The Lobster Claws are done! Here are my usual bad photos:

Pattern: Mac & Me Lobster Claws
Yarn: Lobster Pot Cashmere in Salt Rose
Needles: 4.0 mm (short) and 4.25 mm (long) --you need two sets of needles (as the pattern is written) and that's how my US 6's converted
Buttons: Moving Mud

The mitts are fun to knit, although there were a zillion ends to weave in because you have to pick up stitches for each finger. The next time I make these, I would pick up two extra stitches at the base of each finger and then decrease on the next round in order to avoid holes that I stitched when weaving in ends.

Also, I spent a lot of time working and re-working the fingers. The pattern calls for the last three rows of each finger to be knit as follows: rnd 1: k1p1 to end; rnds 2 and 3: knit; rnd 4: bo.

Initially, I couldn't get the fingers to roll down to the k1p1 row like shown in the picture with the pattern, plus the k1p1 row made my knuckles look deformed. So, I knocked myself out with all sorts of variations which were not appealing, but the final judgment (thanks to the knitting committee) was to stick with the pattern and roll the ends down myself.

Oh, I also finished one Halloween sock and have cast on the second. (I know, Halloween's over, but I'll be ready for next year. And I have never made sock orphans, and am afraid to go down that path). I'll take bad pictures another time.

And here's the best news: I'm an aunt! My niece was born last night! Yay!

Fall...Waterfall....

2007-10-22T20:07:00.000-05:00

Yes! I've finished the Waterfall Socks! Here they are in as much of their glory as I could capture while watching three overtired 3-1/2-year-olds play trains/fight over trains on the back deck in the late afternoon of this beautiful, mid-70's-degree day:

I think I'm going to start my Halloween sock kit from Woolgirl (see it here). Fat chance I'll finish it before Halloween, though.

I've had a major breakthrough in my sock knitting this weekend. My primary trouble (other than the pattern glitches that pop up periodically, or that 'failure to read the pattern closely' problem) is I can never get the foot length right on the first, or second, or often the third try. So I spend a lot of time ripping out and re-knitting the toe until it works. This happens despite my frequent trying-on of the sock and my foot measurements taken a zillion times during the course of knitting each first sock (of course, it's figured out by the time I get to the second sock). I believe I have found a cure for this problem.

At Stitches East, I bought a Lucy Neatby sock-knitting DVD from Shelridge Farm. I'd been having trouble with a sock I was knitting from her Cool Socks Warm Feet book, so I bought the video. I watched it this past weekend with Mom, who's tackling baby socks, and was half-listening to Lucy Neatby talk about foot measurements when she said to make the sock about a 1/2 inch shorter than the length of the foot. What?! That's my problem? Never even occurred to me. If it's mentioned in her book, I missed it (again, that "not reading closely" problem). All the sock patterns I recall instruct the knitter to knit (generally) to 1-1/2 inches less than the desired length to start the toe. I didn't know the desired length was less than the length of my foot. Is that intuitive? Anyway, I know what to do for the next sock.

All in all, it's been a quiet day. The boys were in school from 9a-3p, the baby was in school from 9:15a-11:15a. I had a quick trip to the dentist, a 1/2-hour nap, took the baby to pick up the boys from school, played in the little playground and had a low key afternoon. Things picked up at bedtime. First, I got to call to Poison Control: while I was brushing Baby Girl's teeth, Boy J climbed on the toilet behind me, grabbed the (fluoride-free) toddler toothpaste, and began sucking on/licking the tube (which was nearly empty, but still). The stuff is safe to swallow, but I wanted to be sure. He's ok; Poison Control said it may make him nauseous (which is probably not a bad thing). And then, after I put them to bed and started cooking dinner, the boys all began screaming that I had to come up because their pajamas "came off." Came off? Like a Harry Potter spell: a swish and a flick and...no pj's? Well, after helping them put the pj's on and showing them the "baby" pajamas they'll wear the next time they strip (goodness knows if they'll fit--they're last year's one piece, zipper pj's that I used to put on backwards so they couldn't unzip them), they seemed suitably chastened and went right to sleep. Of course, that meant no dinner until 9p for me, so now I"m going to finish up, download a few podcasts, and go upstairs and knit. Maybe cast on something new? Oh, didn't I do that last week?

Stitches Photo Op

2007-10-20T18:40:00.000-05:00

Remember how I mentioned that if you saw four women dressed alike with the same bags, you saw us? Well, we were spotted by the women at Modern Yarn wearing their t-shirts (for the second year in a row, and we did not even discuss our outfits in advance), and they snapped a picture. If you're interested in checking out our family of knitters, click here and scroll down to the second photo. I'm on the left and Mom is second from right; the other two women are my sisters (Stephanie on the far right, and Elizabeth second from left between Mom and me). Do we look like we're having as good a time as we were?

Here's the tally

2007-10-18T19:02:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to post, but things got kind of crazy. The stats for the time period beginning Sunday, October 14, 12:30 p.m. to Tuesday, October 16, 12:30 a.m. (2.5 days) are as follows:

Number of spouses/parents (father) away on business: 1

Fevers (children): 3

Visits to pediatrician (in 24 hours): 3

Number of children who visited pediatrician (in 24 hours): 4

Number of children who made repeat visits to pediatrician in 24 hours: 1

Number of calls to on-call pediatrician (in 24 hours): 1

Infections/possible strep requiring antibiotics (children): 2

Child fingers shut in screen door requiring pediatrician visit: 1

Likely hernia (child): 1

Gas leak: 1

Number of children woken up at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday night and evacuated from house due to gas leak: 4

Number of children who thought waking up at 10:30 p.m. and sitting in car with Mom, Grandma & Grandpa for 45 minutes was a good adventure: 4

Number of children who did not want to go back into house and bed at 11:30 p.m.: 4

Number of children who wanted to go to Grandma's at 11:30 p.m.: 1

Number of children who wanted to go for a ride "somewhere" at 11:30 p.m.: 1

Number of children who needed entire pre-bed catalog of books re-read in exact order and then screamed for 20 minutes after being put to bed: 1

Number of children who were awake at midnight: 4

Number of parents (me) up past 1 a.m. sniffing for gas: 1

Number of finished objects: 2 (!)

Number of new projects cast on: 2

In fairness, the gas leak was late Tuesday evening (actually ongoing from the afternoon and we thought the faint odor was, as per repairman, due to his running of the gas during installation of a new part in the oven, and he said he checked for leaks and found none), and I finished the Morehouse Huckleberry Sweater and the SeeJayneKnitYarns Frankenstein Hat before then. Of course, no pictures yet: the sweater is waiting its turn on Mom's blocking board, and I have to weave in hat ends.

The Lobster Claws are still in progress. Something's funky with the length of the fingers, and I get frustrated and put it aside. I'd like to finish them in the next week.

About those projects cast on:

(1) a doll from Toys to Knit by Tracy Chapman. After I bought the book at Stitches, my mom said she had read reviews that warned of errors in the patterns in the book. The patterns don't even have a gauge (!) and give the amount of yarn needed in weight, but I don't really care: it's a doll, I can fudge it. So I'm knitting it in pretty pink Koigu and bought golden brown yarn for the hair. We'll see how it goes, I'm totally not concerned and it's mindless knitting. I've already knit the front and back of the head and am now knitting the legs.

(2) Blue Sky Alpacas' Cropped Cardigan, which I'm knitting in a gorgeous purple Misti Alpaca yarn which I bought at Stitches from Rosie's Yarn Cellar. (We LOVE Rosie's!) I had trouble getting gauge, but I think I just had to figure out how to work with the yarn. It's soooo soft!

Oh, and the kids...they're apparently feeling better: antibiotics kicking in, finger is fine, surgical consults scheduled, but no other complaints (from them). However, they're running me ragged: whoever coined "the terrible twos" clearly hadn't hit the threes yet. Oh my!

And my mother's trying to talk me into going to Rhinebeck. Ack!

Stitches East, Here We Come! And There We Go!

2007-10-14T12:39:00.001-05:00

I'm just back from a whirlwind trip to Baltimore for Stitches East. This year, the whole family (I mean the knitters, not the children) made it. If you were there on Friday and saw four women in knitting t-shirts and North Face fleece jackets carrying the same pocketbook, you saw us--Mom, my two sisters and me!

There was definitely good shopping--I'm too embarrassed to post pictures of all that I bought. Suffice it to say, we filled up the car (as usual) and had a great time. I bought yarn to make sweaters (!) for me. And sock yarn, of course. And sucked my two sisters into buying sock yarn and starting socks (that's you, E!) or a Chevron Scarf (I can't imagine SLM will go for socks, but she did ask about the Socks That Rock Club). I mean, who can resist Socks That Rock or Lisa Souza for that matter.

One of the neatest things was meeting people who I've read about, and/or lurked on their blogs/shops (Lisa Souza) and/or listened to their podcasts (Wendy). Everyone was so lovely. Lisa Souza was warm and gracious, and gave E good advice on where to start with socks (i.e., don't start with the patterned ones). I had a lot of laughs with Wendy (you stayed at the Norman Bates Hotel at Rhinebeck last year? We stayed at the Shining on our girls trip to France!) I found the Interlacements booth--I have been eyeing the sock yarn for the past year at various sites--and met Judy who dyes the yarn and who was just lovely and friendly. Of course, I bought gorgeous, vibrant yarns. (Maybe I'll have to post yarn bit by bit).

I have lots of good projects to start, but way too many on the needles, so I told myself I had to finish one before casting on something new. So today, I broke out the Morehouse Farm Huckleberry sweater which needs a second sleeve and I'll definitely finish it today.

I brought the Lobster Claws fingerless mitts with me to finish on the trip. After consulting with my knitting committee, I'm going to work the k1p1 row that makes me look like I have bulging knuckles and then roll down the bound-off edge and stitch it down so it looks rolled. I just got so fed up Thursday night doing different variations that I didn't have the patience to come back to it. Maybe tonight after finishing the Huckleberry sweater.

The only down part was that I had a flare-up of my GI issues on Saturday; hopefully, it's just a blip. And getting lost on the way out of Philadelphia and hitting more traffic on the way home, but that 's for another post. Oh, and at lunchtime today, two boys started running low-grade fevers. Well, if they're too ill to go out, that means more knitting time for me, right? (I am ever hopeful).

Taking the plunge

2007-10-04T19:18:00.000-05:00

I think I mentioned I signed up for the Fingerless Mitts for Fall knitalong. Of course, I hadn't picked up either pair of unfinished mitts from last year until last night. I had wanted to finish my Woolgirl Waterfall sock before taking on (or reviving) another project.

Well, last night, I "finished" my first Woolgirl Waterfall sock. By "finished" I mean finished the toe but for the grafting, tried it on, found it to be 2-4 rows too long, and promptly ripped out the toe. At that point, being after 10 p.m., I wasn't really in the mood for knitting, trying on and reknitting the toe the usual 3 or so times it takes me to get it right (despite having my foot measurements and measuring the sock for accuracy), so I decided to pick up the Mac & Me Lobster Claws fingerless gloves. In short, as I discussed here, I knit the left mitt wrong and have to rip it all out. I almost have the nerve to do it, now that I've started the right (as in "right hand" and "correct") mitt. It's a fast knit, so I'm not so nerved up about it. Here are some photos.

First, the left and wrong mitt (the pattern says to knit the first six rows and then join to knit in the round, while I knit it all in the round, which makes it difficult to knit the ruffle, which is also knit flat):

Next, the right and right mitt (notice the split at the base of the mitt, which is where the ruffle and button closure will be):

That's another one of my yummy project bags from Piddleloop.

Oh, and for added fun, the pattern calls for knitting the hand on US 4 (4.0 mm) long dpns and the fingers on the same size short dpns (while keeping the hand on the long dpns). It actually is fun except when one discovers at 11 p.m. that one's long dpns are US 4 (4.25 mm) and the short dpns are US 4 (4.0 mm), even though I apparently never noticed that when I knit the first mitt. And after swatching, I get gauge on the 4.25 mm and am a little short on the 4.0 mm. So I decided I'll just knit the fingers a little looser. But from now on, I'm definitely going by metric measurements for needles (I'm already sensitive to the issue with socks, so it's not a big deal).

By the way, the Lobster Pot cashmere is a dream to knit with!

And on a completely different topic, the boys have given up their nap, Boy M runs hot in temper, temperament and temperature (the boy was beet red and sweaty in our unseasonable heat, never mind the angry and demanding attitude), and all three are deciding to test their independence and explore oppositional behavior. You know, things like Boy M angrily shouting "Mom!" each time he wants my attention and stamping his foot to punctuate it; Boy E biting his brothers if he does not like what's going on; and Boy J crying when his brothers get disciplined for something like biting or kicking, or willful disobedience, and while doing so, trying to convince me that the egregious behavior did not occur (although when offered the option to stay home with Boy M who could not run an errand with us as the consequence of naughtiness, he quickly stopped crying and arguing--a lawyer in the making, that one, guess it's in the blood). I'm exhausted, but relieved I can escape into my knitting!

Club junkie

2007-10-01T19:42:00.000-05:00

I admit it: I have a problem. I love knitting. I love yarn. I love accessories, especially bags (just ask Jen over at Piddleloop). I looove sock clubs. I belong to several (I'm not up to admitting how many).

It began last fall shortly before Stitches East. I was coming off of a nearly three-year knitting hiatus (two pregnancies, 4 children--triplets and a singleton 17 months apart), and, among other health issues, I had a kitchen accident in early October and lost part of my left ring finger. I was traumatized, anxious, stressed out, and my mother took me on a yarn crawl to Montclair, NJ, where we visited Stix-n-Stitches and Modern Yarn. The point of the yarn crawl was to get me out of the house. But then Mom bought me a project--a felted tote--that was knit on big needles (US 11? 13?) which we both thought was manageable despite the finger issue. The point of the project being, of course, to distract me and help me relax. Of course, it did and it reminded me how much I missed knitting and how much I enjoyed it.

We decided to go to Stitches East basically at the last minute, maybe a day or two before it began. Not the easiest trick, considering I had to get child care coverage and all hotels were booked, except for one that was one block away (where we're staying this year, too). It was fabulous. I loved the market and marveled at the changes (I think our first Stitches East was 1996 or so). I bought that Rosie's Poptop Mittens, figuring I'd need them because my finger would be very sensitive to cold, which it still is. I also got a yen to knit socks, which I hadn't done in about 8 years. I thought: only one skein of yarn, lots of different things (cuff, heel, gusset, instep, toe) to switch it up and keep it interesting. I saw the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth (I knew nothing of the passion for Socks That Rock because I wasn't yet aware of the online knitting explosion and knit blogging). I wasn't concerned about small needles--I figured that by the time the yarn arrived in January/February, the finger would be well enough to manage smaller needles, or at least, I wouldn't be wearing a ridiculously large bandage, soaking it in diluted Betadine several times a day, visiting the plastic surgeon every week, etc. So I signed up. And got a gorgeous package every other month, and have yet to knit a sock. But I'm still hooked.

Fast forward to now. I'm a member of the Woolgirl Sock Club; I've posted about the Waterfall socks. In fact, it's the first sock club sock I've started. Here's my progress on the first sock:

(Goodness, those are pretty unappealing pictures, aren't they. I better get to taking pictures outside in natural light soon).

I think the ribbing on the cuff is too loose, and will probably knit the ribbing on smaller needles on the second sock. But that's totally not worth ripping out the sock.

But back to sock clubs. Jennifer at Woolgirl also offered a Halloween Sock Kit: yarn, pattern, sock project bag, goodies. It had "me" written all over it! Except I was too late to sign up. I accept my fate in these situations--I've spent the last year making up for three years of no stash enhancement--and assume it was not meant to be. But then I received an email: there were two more openings, I was at the top of the wait list, and was I still interested? Of course! And look what came today:

The kit is called "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." The yarn is White Oak Studio tv yarn, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." The sock bag has Lucy dressed as a witch. There is a teeny tiny adorable pumpkin stitch marker that's too small to be captured in any detail by my camera with my inadequate skills. The orange pumpkin bag is one of those goody bags we used to put together for trick-or-treaters when I was little and is filled with lots of good candy. The pattern is awesome, too--the orange contrast yarn is for the toe! And everything was beautifully wrapped in orange tissue and tied with purple ribbon. What a fabulous treat! Now I definitely have to finish the Waterfall socks so I can justify casting on these socks!

Project mojo update

2007-09-30T19:58:00.000-05:00

Well, I ran into a little trouble on the Waterfall socks, but nothing I would consider to be another full-out departure of the mojo. I had trouble figuring out the last two short rows turning the heel. So I emailed Jen at Woolgirl, and she was ever so helpful, as it took two emails to figure out the problem. Or mostly figure it out--I pretty much just fudged it. But after I turned the heel and knit half the gusset, I realized I knit the heel two rows less than the pattern called for, and I felt I needed those two rows. So I worked my way backwards, and along the way, dropped a yarn over somewhere in the instep and ended up having to rip back to the almost-beginning, specifically, the five rows of stockinette that precede the start of the pattern on the cuff. But I didn't feel that bad about it, I mean, it's sportweight, so it knits quickly, and the pattern isn't that hard, and I'm enjoying it. So now I'm working my way down the instep; I think I'm about halfway to the toe. And I'm LOVING the yarn! Unfortunately, I have no pictures. Today's excuse is that I have a new computer--I've gone iMac--and I have to figure out how to download pictures into iPhoto in a way that makes sense, as opposed to the way I did it the first time, which produced an album of 300 or so photos.

Next project: the Tulip Cardigan. I'm working the applied i-cord trim on the sweater. I'm just about to negotiate the turn from the left front to the bottom, and I need to be clear in the head because I think there's casting on and slipping stitches involved, which doesn't seem that complicated during the day, but this project has become a strictly after-11 p.m. project (the only time I have to give it undivided attention), and I'm definitely not clear in the head at that time. Fortunately, I haven't made too many mistakes so far, but most of them happen as I start to fall asleep over the needles. But I've got to get going: there's another baby due in November that I have to knit for. And we don't know what it is, so I'll likely have to knit two sweaters. I'm jonesing to cast on the Wee-one Welcome Set sweater--I have boy and girl colors in Cider Moon--but I have so much else on the needles, I don't feel like I can justify it.

The Popover Mitts and the Mac & Me Lobster Claws fingerless mitts are both on the to-do list; I even joined the Fingerless Mitts for Fall knitalong. But I can't bring myself to start them. I have to find my place on the Popover Mitts (and I had found some errors in the pattern last fall when I started them), although I'd like to have them done by Stitches East, since I bought them last year at Stitches East. And unfortunately, I have to rip out the finished (or nearly-finished) Lobster Claw because I knit it wrong from the beginning. If I recall correctly, the first 5 or so rows should be knit flat and then joined, and I started off working in the round, which I would ignore, except the ruffle is knit flat and closes with a button, and I think it would be hard to pick up the stitches for the ruffle if the mitt is joined in the round. I haven't had the heart to rip it out yet, but I'm getting ready, especially because I know it knits up really quickly. I just hate to totally frog something.

The Summer Solstice socks are languishing. The project bag just sits and looks at me every time I get into bed. I'll be back!

The Decadent Fibers baby blanket saw some knitting time last week, but it's back in the ongoing project basket. Baby sweaters move more quickly.

And I've just about committed to totally frogging my Scarlet Fleece sock. It's a big deal--I've never totally frogged a project. I find the idea scary--I'm assertively abandoning a project--and intimidating--it's been dormant on the needles since March or so, and the yarn will be all crimped. Will I have to wash it?

I'm also going to frog the Perchance to Knit Irises sock. I need to switch needles, I'm sure I'll have to re-swatch, and I'm just not in the mood. But I'll just cut off the inch or so of ribbing and throw it back in the back with the yarn, to be used if only I run low on yarn.

The Morehouse Farm sweater still needs its sleeve, and it's almost cool enough to knit. It will be a quick knit, too--I've just got to get to it.

So, I think I got most of what's on the needles. (No, I'm not counting the Mountain Colors Cardigan that I bought approximately 10 years ago that's sitting in the attic, or the Babette crochet blanket, also in the attic). Goodness, is that 9 projects?! I definitely have to finish a Waterfall sock so that I can justify casting on the Wee-one sweater! And I have to finish one set of fingerless mitts before Stitches East. Even though I want to cast on for fingerless mitts in Halloween colorways! I think I have a problem.

Baby Knitting--lots of FOs!

2007-09-28T06:42:00.000-05:00

Here's the moses basket we (really, Mom) put together for my sister-in-law, whose shower was last Sunday:

(yes, the first picture is blurry)

The edging and most of the contents were not knitted by me so I can't really lay claim to all those FOs.

Here's the story of the basket edging. My mom saw it in the Mason-Dixon Knitting book (she's hooked on their Log Cabin blanket) and wanted each of us (my mom, my two sisters and me) to knit a section (for this basket, there are 4 sections). I measured each section, and Mom and I cast on one evening in early summer. But I kept screwing up the pattern. And I wasn't big on the yarn (linen). And, most significantly, I was in the throes of finishing the Milestone Birthday Afghan (it was right before my mom was going away and I realized I had to block every afghan square in her basement while she was on vacation). So I dropped out, and my mom knit the whole thing, although she tried to lean on me to do a section, and I couldn't tell her why I was dodging it, so I looked like I was dodging it because of a little pattern problem (mine) and not loving the yarn, neither of which is an acceptable excuse for knitters like us, because there was nothing wrong with the pattern, and the yarn was only a little annoying and not truly offensive. If anyone's curious about the process of the edging, I'll have Mom guest blog about it (I'm sure she's fainting as she reads this).

Here's the guide to the contents (unfortunately, some of the knitted gifts are wrapped):

Starting at the left, the variegated purple hat and sweater are from the Knitting at Knoon's Wee-One Welcome Set, knit by me in Cider Moon Glacier in Titania. (By the way, I love this pattern and the yarn and will shortly be casting on again in Cider Moon Glacier for another baby). The hot pink hat with the tulle topping is from Itty Bitty Hats and was knit by my sister Stephanie. The chartreuse roll is a cashmere scarf with dyed beaver trim knitted by Mom for the mom-to-be from String. The moss-colored hat with the button is Larissa from Stitch Marker's Meathead hat. The folded knitting in pink to the left of the Meathead Hat is an Alchemy silk blanket knit by Mom. To the left of that blanket is a Lucky Wang baby kimono in a cherry blossom print (obviously not knit by me, lol). The black flower print roll behind that is a changing pad that I bought at Tippy Toes in Princeton, NJ. The vintage print package behind the Meathead Hat and silk blanket contains a blanket knitted by my sister Elizabeth that is fabulous in lavender--I can ask if she has a picture. Mom also knitted baby socks, and I'll ask her to fill me in the the rest of the wrapped contents--I remember an EZ baby surprise jacket in a deep red-pink, and a ballet pink garter baby kimono with a pretty ribbon tie.

I'll try to get links posted later on--the boys are no longer napping (ack! ack! ack!)--and my days are long and very full. There are two good things about no boy naps: (1) they fall asleep fairly quickly without shouting for me to attend to various and sundry needs designed to get me in their room and/or one or more boys out of bed for the first 1-2 hours of bedtime; and (2) quiet play in the house during their former nap time gives me some knitting time (but only for straightforward projects, but who's complaining).

And about that mojo: it's on the way back.

Who needs a new project?

2007-09-19T09:56:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure that I've mentioned it, but I also stitch (needlepoint). I started about 5 years ago, more or less. I made a significant investment in equipment and tools (frame stands, laying tools, etc.) and canvases and thread. I have a needlepoint stash, for sure. However, needlepoint is seriously time-consuming (a cabled afghan has nothing on a needlepoint canvas) and requires me, at least, to have a large block of time to sit and work. I'm determined to stitch tallis bags for all my boys by the time they have their Bar Mitzvahs, so I started one about a year and a half ago (I have all three canvases). I haven't made much progress, but I figure I can allot 4 years per bag. Then I'll have to turbo through Baby Girl's in a year, but they'll be in school full time by then, right?

So, anyway, about a year or so ago, I got a yen to learn to quilt. Of course, Mom (my partner in crime) was interested too. We'd talk about it periodically, usually while knitting or on the way to a yarn crawl. Then, a month or so ago, we were checking out the sewing classes at Purl Soho because also part of that 'learn to quilt' conversation was learning to sew backings on knitted blankets. I must say, we were put off by the hand cutting (my mother swears she can't do it) and hand sewing, but we thought we could be candidates for the basic sewing class so we could learn some things that would be useful in our knitting finishing. (I haven't used a machine since my 8th grade home ec class). But we thought about asking for a private class because, you know, our schedule is a little crazy, what with the 4 toddlers and all, and I'd need to make some hard-core set-in-stone child-care arrangements to attend a multiple-session class, plus traffic to NYC is unreliable--it could take 35 minutes (Saturday, early morning, summer), 45 minutes (Saturday, early morning, January-June, September, October), 2+ hours (any day, time, season). And we spent an afternoon researching sewing machines on the web (with my dad, as accustomed to our follies as he is, rolling his eyes).

Once we read about the hand-cutting and -sewing, we gave up the quilting idea (besides, do we need another stash?!), but still talk about sewing blanket backing (mostly my mom). But then, this morning, I was reading Knit and Tonic and a quilt hit me smack between the eyes.

Here's the email I sent to my mom:
------------------------
Check this out at knit and tonic: http://knitandtonic.typepad.com/knitandtonic/2007/09/ill-blame-it-on.html

and it only took her 4 hours! We could do 4 hours! Together, it would probably take two hours!

We need that sewing class and a machine, I think.

Let me know.

------------------------

I think I'm in trouble.

Mojo, is that you?

2007-09-18T19:15:00.000-05:00

I feel rotten. I'm running a fever somewhere between 100 and 100.7F. All the little hairs on my body hurt. I'm freezing (for now). I can't believe I have to use up the boys' last school day until next week by going to the doctor tomorrow.

On the knitting front, I'm just cooking along on the Woolgirl Sock Club sock. Here it is:

It's Miss Babs yarn in Waterfall, an exclusive club colorway; the pattern is also called Waterfall, and I believe it was written by Miss Babs, too. The yarn is 100% merino sportweight and is a dream to knit with!

I've made pretty fast progress: I got gauge right away on US 3 (3.25 mm) and just turned the heel. But I have to rip it out because my stitch count is off, I think. That's what I get for breaking my cardinal rule of heels: turn the heel in one sitting while doing nothing else (other than mindless tv in the background). I got cocky (perhaps deluded by fever) and turned the heel while booking flight reservations and car (huge SUV) rental for our first family vacation. I must have been distracted by things like the car rental agent telling me that the computer didn't allow her to enter more than three car seat rentals for the SUV (we, of course, need 4, for the 3 3-year-olds and our one 2-year-old), but she went to a supervisor and got it taken care of. But I have to call the actual rental location to confirm. Nice.

I used the occasion of this new project to break out a new project bag from Piddleloop. I'm a Piddleloop junkie and coveted this bag for a very long time. And then my mom bought it for me, and Jen stuffed it full of extra goodies and treats--way cool!

See the fish? They have names! Like Robert, Swimmy, Bjorn--who could resist! The inside is lined in an orange water droplet print. And my accessories pouch has the fish bagged, but still with names. And Jen threw in another bag with fabric that looks like rippling water, with stitch markers and other things. She totally gets me!

By the way, the stitch marker in use is also the zipper pull for the bag; the stitch marker is made by zer0 and was included in the bag by Jen. The club included a beautiful coordinating stitch marker made by Sereknity for the sock club, which I used until I started the lace pattern; when I knit in the round, I like to have a stitch marker that I can actually hook into the first stitch of the round.

I'm also super excited about this arrival:

It's Crown Mountain Farms Sock Hop yarn. Handspun. I read about this stuff on some blogs a few months ago and was really interested in trying it out. But I always missed the boat--that stuff goes in the blink of an eye! I finally made it last month, and it's here! I'm not touching it until the mojo is solidly back--no messing up the handspun! But it's amazing. The color, the plies, I just want to look at it.

I think that's the fever talking. I'm now hot hot hot (nothing like alternating chills and hot flashes) and am going to sign off and climb into bed with my Waterfall sock. I hope I didn't ramble too much or sound crazy!

Mojo, oh mojo, where can you be?

2007-09-16T07:48:00.000-05:00

I wrote this Sept. 16 and am not sure why it didn't post--I'm sure it's that mojo thing.

I've lost my knitting mojo. Sad but true. As of Wednesday night, every project on the needles had a problem, and I wasn't feeling like knitting/fixing any of them.

I'm still mulling over the issue with the Summer Solstice socks.

I picked up my Scarlet Fleece socks (remember them from the winter? Check here) to fix the garter stitch toe that was too wide. When I tried on the sock to determine how far to rip down, I realized the whole instep was too wide. Ugh, I don't have the heart to rip the sock yet.

I haven't gone back to the Decadent Fibers blanket yet, just not feeling it.

It's been too hot to do the second sleeve of the Morehouse roll-neck sweater, but today just might be the day to do it if I get to it--it's 52 degrees F this a.m.!

I fixed the problem in the Dream in Color Tulip Cardigan (knitting increase rows while falling asleep is a problem) but it's not flowing on the needles for me right now.

I signed up for the Fingerless Mitts For Fall Knitalong because I have two pair to finish from last year--a Mac & Me pattern in Lobster Pot Cashmere (but I have to rip out the one mitt I finished, I think), and Rosie's Yarns pop-top mittens in alpaca--but I'm not in the mood, and certainly not in the mood to rip out the Mac & Me mitt because it's almost done, even though it knits quickly.

I even thought I could get my mojo back with this cool Frankenstein hat from See Jayne Knit that arrived on Friday. You know, bulky-ish yarn, larger needles...but I couldn't get gauge! Of course, my sister reminded me that I shouldn't knit a gauge swatch in the middle of the night. Silly me--but it's the only time I have to knit!

But then...my Woolgirl sock kit came

Summer Solstice waning

2007-09-07T19:01:00.001-05:00

I've knit about 1/3 the length of the instep,

and I'm still worrying about this heel:

I think the heel is too narrow, but it's hard to tell--I can't figure out if the heel is too narrow while it's still on the needles, and I don't know that I want to put the stitches on waste yarn, or just rip it out and find another heel that will be more comfortable.

And on a marginally related note: that blob that ate my knitting corner in January is back! And I'm trying to get it out!

FO Pictures!

2007-09-06T12:55:00.000-05:00

Here's the milestone birthday afghan in as much of its glory as I am able to capture:

How I wish I could take better pictures! Maybe a photography class is in my future, say, when all four are in school full time. That would be 2011. I'm not wishing the kids' early years away, but goodness knows, I can't make that kind of commitment yet!

Back to the blanket. You may notice it does not have a border. I've run into border trouble as mentioned in my previous post. Of course, my mom understood and offered to help. Can you believe the woman told me today about a possible border other than the one I've knit? I think she meant Ann's garter stitch border, but my brain fogged as soon as she mentioned it. I mean, I only knit enough of the border to sew to one long side of the blanket and the first corner, but still--it's cabled and took a long time! And to switch to what, 18 rows of garter stitch on each side?! But I'm not complaining, really--she'll even help knit it (I think)!

That pink thing in the square in the lower right hand corner of the blanket: it's a felt heart embroidered by my sister with our initials (the three daughters) and, I think, the year. It's awesome--she did a great job! (Note to self as per sister: in future, be sure to embroider wording before sewing heart to blanket).

And a final note: you see how the blanket seems to grow wider as it gets closer to you? It's not an optical illusion--that's how we were able to finesse the different gauges of the different knitters, all of whom purportedly had the same gauge in their gauge swatches. Go figure! Ahh, that's the beauty of a handmade item, right?!

Secret Project Revealed!

2007-09-02T13:02:00.000-05:00

Bet you thought I'd have pictures! Soon, soon! But I'll tell you all about it: it's a sampler afghan made out of Hunt Valley Cashmere. Gorgeous! Just gorgeous! My two sisters and I knit it for my mother's milestone birthday. I can't believe it slipped under the radar!

My mother bought the yarn 4 or 5 years ago at Stitches East, and even knit 5 squares (it has 20 squares). When we hatched our plot to knit a blanket for my mother, and my youngest sister was caught looking in books for afghan patterns, my sister said she was knitting an afghan for herself, so my mom offered her the yarn and completed squares. I mean, who turns down a jump start on a project in cashmere. Not to mention I saw the completed blanket at Stitches East and it was to die for.

It is not a FO, but an almost FO. We don't have a border. I started the cable border from the Great American Aran Afghan pattern, and it is fabulous, but our dimensions don't fit the Aran Afghan dimensions due to variations among different knitters (shocker). I have to tinker with it, plus it knits more slowly than I expected. I need a knitting consult, and after youngest sister consulted with me, we both agreed we needed the expert: Mom. The problem with knitting a gift for your knitting consultant is that you can't consult/troubleshoot with the knitting consultant. So now that we gave her the afghan, Mom is going to help us with the border.

Other news:

1. Baby Girl is TWO! We had a fabulous birthday party (family only) and she loves her gifts...just about as much as her brothers love them! Fortunately, she now says "[My] turn!" You gotta assert yourself in my house!

2. Boy M had his first encounter with bees. He must be sweet like honey because four bees stung him. Not fun, but he is ok. I now carry Benadryl melt-aways in my purse and diaper bags (as per the pediatrician). Because I need more to carry with me.

3. We took the triplets to the shore (the beach for those of you not from NJ) for the day and we had the most glorious time on the beach and at the aquarium. They just loved it, and behaved beautifully and obeyed us (nothing is as terrifying as being outnumbered by children who are misbehaving near large bodies of water or swimming pools, and fortunately, they didn't).

3. I'm plugging away on the Summer Solstice socks and just finished the gusset on my first sock. When you see the afghan, you'll understand how it sucked up my summer (my sisters did 5-6 squares, I knit 4, but because one sister doesn't crochet, or seam crochet, I did most of her share of the crochet borders on the individual squares, redid the crochet on the squares knitted by my mom, half the seaming, sewed the halves together and wove in all those ends (roughly 2-2.5 hours worth) from all the seams.

4. Preschool starts on Tuesday! Yay!

Fresh on the needles!

2007-08-20T12:30:00.000-05:00

Because I didn't have enough WIPs on the needles, I cast on two more projects.

*WARNING*

It is a gray and rainy day, there is no good light anywhere, so these pictures are extraordinarily bad. I saw the online tutorial on building your own light box, but I'm not even deluding myself that I can get around to doing it before, say, the kids go to college.

*WARNING*

Summer Solstice socks in Yarn Pirate Rum Runner:

I've only done a few pattern repeats on the leg, but so far, it's a fun and easy pattern. It's also easy to remember, which helps when you're up all night in two ERs trying to get treatment for your sister who has a rapidly spreading infection (don't even ask, but she finally got treated, and after allergic reactions to at least two antibiotics, she is slowly getting better).

Clapotis in Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb in Iris Garden:

I'm having a good time with this, too, but it seems really wide, and I'm not a shawl kind of girl. I'm trying to thing of it as a really wide scarf. I'm almost done with Section Two, the increase rows; I think Section Three is where I get to drop stitches. Woo-hoo! (And yes, that is Doc Hudson, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, keeping the work from curling in the photo).

I have new stash, plus two great small project pouches from Piddleloop that were a gift from my mom. No way am I taking pictures today! But they are awesome!

And despite horrible craziness the past two weeks, we have a joyous occasion: Baby Girl is TWO on Wednesday!

Monkeys OFF my back!

2007-08-13T18:59:00.000-05:00

FO ALERT! I have finally finished the Monkey socks (actually, mini-Monkeys a la Cara at January One) in ShelbyB's Nymphadora Tonks colorway. I have pictures, but they're worse than usual. That's what happens when you can't take photos until 8 p.m. at which time the sun has basically set. Here they are anyway:

Of course, I finish my first pair of Summer of Socks socks when my group leader (who reports on everyone's progress) goes on vacation. Typical. Now off to block the socks (just because they're on blockers doesn't mean they've been blocked yet!) and swatch something else...maybe Yarn Pirate Rum Runner?

One down, one to go

2007-08-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

Check this out:

Could it be? It's a Nymphadora Tonks Monkey sock that fits my sister's foot. It FITS! (Ignore the ends to be woven in; I refuse to weave until I know it fits, plus I may have to redo the grafting).

But what could that be next to finished sock no. 1?

Yes! It's sock no. 2 in progress! I've finished the four pattern repeats I'm doing for the cuff and am about to start the heel flap. I like to do the heel in one sitting, so I may not get to it until nighttime. Oh, and that cool purple gadget is a dpn holder I got at Woolgirl and it's great!

And who could resist yarn from Woolgirl? Not me!

Tippy Toes from Whimzy Pimzy to make booties for my niece-to-be:

Union Center Knits in Kitty's Eyes:

(I'm thinking of getting coordinating skeins in Green or Not Pink for heels and toes).

The Painted Tiger self-patterning Stars & Stripes Forever yarn:

(I've been ogling this on etsy since early July).

And my recent purchases from The Loopy Ewe:

sKNITches Syncopation self-striping in Collegiate:

and Beardsley:

and Yarn Love Juliet (I've been dying to try this) in Shipwrecked:

Summer of One Sock -- The Endless Toe

2007-07-29T19:56:00.000-05:00

Ok, I've finished the Tonks Monkey Sock. Twice. And ripped it out. Twice. The toe was too long. Twice. And it's been four rows too long. Twice.
How does that happen? I swear, if it's too long this time, it's going into hibernation. The good news is that my sister won't be back until the weekend, and the toe is only 18 rows. But man, I am getting out of the mood. And silly me, I cast on the second sock before she tried the first sock on again. So, when the sock was too long, I had to take the second sock--all four rows of it--off the needles to finish the first sock. Poor planning. Especially since, now that I think about it, I could have just knit the second sock, finished it, then ripped out the toe of the first. Ack!

More Gnuman Gnome-y action

2007-07-25T22:13:00.000-05:00

I've posted several entries at the Knitting Gnome Swap blog about our mostly non-knitterly adventures with Gnuman. Feel free to jump on over, since I'm unlikely to post more here, unless I cut and paste from that blog, which is not particularly original, but still....hmmmmm.

In the meantime, check out Gnuman and the treats he brought with him!

Isn't Kelli the coolest!

And, Gnuman also had the good fortune to arrive on the same day as my Yarn Pirate Booty Club package! Look at him hold that yarn!

And here he is with an almost finished Nymphadora Tonks Monkey Sock:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows--NO SPOILERS

2007-07-22T12:59:00.000-05:00

I finished! It was immensely satisfying, and I'm going to re-read it, probably starting tonight, although I need to give Gnuman the Gnome his turn (to read about Gnuman's recent adventures with me, go here and here). But I'm not saying anything else, because I assiduously (and successfully) avoided any possible spoilers, and I wouldn't want to ruin it for anybody.

I also got out to the movies last night and saw Hairspray. It's infectious and impossible to resist the music! It's the first movie I've been to in many years where people clapped at the end. I'm a long-time devotee of the John Waters original, and did see Hairspray on Broadway with the original cast. I must say, though, that I did not like John Travolta's performance: the accent was annoying and distracting, his affect was cartoonish, but boy, he can still dance!

Between Harry Potter and Hairspray, there was no knitting yesterday. My sister did, however, try on the Tonks Monkey Sock, and it's too long, so I'll have to rip out the toe and the last round of pattern repeats and re-knit. It won't be too hard, though.

SOS - Summer of One Sock?

2007-07-21T14:12:00.001-05:00

I bet you thought SOS stood for Summer of Socks. For me, so far, it is Summer of One Sock. Here it is:

Well, I apparently didn't upload the picture to flickr, and I'm not at home, so you can't see it, but I finished the first Nymphadora Tonks Monkey sock, just two days before the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. My sister is coming out to visit this afternoon, so she'll try it on, and then I'll cast on for the second sock. I figure I can finish it before the end of the summer...hopefully.

I have several other projects on the needles. I'm two rows away from finishing the baby sweater from Knitting at Knoon's Wee-one's Welcome Set. I'll have to take a picture of that, too.

But now, it's time for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. That's the nice thing about living in a small town: when you pass your mailman who's been your mailman for 30+ years, he'll go back to the truck and give you the book.

Oh, and if anyone's looking for me on Ravelry, I'm Jennifersm3. Hope to see you there!

Harry Potter all around

2007-07-11T20:37:00.001-05:00

I'm making progress on the Tonks Monkey socks. I have about an inch or so to go before I decrease for the toe. I did have to spill to my sister that I was making them for her (I hadn't mentioned it because I think she is just about my only regular reader) because I was not able to finish even the first sock in time for today's opening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Which, in accordance with our tradition (going back to 2001), we saw today. But I was able to give her a set of Hogwarts House stitch markers, custom-made for us by Shelby to tide her over. And now that she knows, I can break out my own set!

Oh, and I finished Half-Blood Prince last week, so I'm all set for the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm very excited, especially because the movie Order of the Phoenix was just not that good. Of course we (my sister and me) liked it, and the sets and effects are excellent, but we didn't like the way they modified the story for the big screen. (Not to worry, no spoilers here). I mean, they hardly mention the Order of the Phoenix, and if you hadn't read the book, you wouldn't have a clue. And it's the title of the movie!

And back to knitting (because I'm all over the place these days), I finished the body on the Wee-one baby sweater. Now, I just have the sleeves to go, and fortunately, they can be knit in the round. It's been a lot of fun to make so far, it's just so small. I forget how small newborns can be. Ironic, because by triplets were 4-4.5 lbs. at birth, and man, they were really small. We have pictures of us holding Baby J, who dropped below 4 lbs. after birth, and he literally fit in the palms of our hands. By comparison, my daughter was 8 lbs. 5 oz.

And big news: I got into Ravelry! Hot damn! Off I go to enter something!

Knitting and Adventure

2007-06-24T19:28:00.000-05:00

So, Summer of Socks (aka "SOS") has begun, but I have not started my socks. I'd really like to finish the two pair I have on the needles (the Tonks Monkey socks and the Scarlet Fleece with the garter stitch toe problem), but the rules require that the socks can't be started before 5 a.m. EDT June 21, and obviously, I started these before then. But I have a bunch of other stuff on the needles (but no pictures due to a full memory card and my inability to buy a new one since CompactFlash has apparently been phased out) that makes me reluctant to cast on one more project:

1. Morehouse Farm Huckleberry sweater. I have one sleeve left to do, but it's starting to be too hot to knit it. I wanted it for our holiday photos (I was going to make one for each child) but it will be too hot to wear on the date of the photos. It's really cute, easy and fun--nothing like knitting in the round, a three-needle bind off for the shoulders, and picking up sleeves and knitting in the round. No seaming!

2. I've picked up the secret project and have made more progress--I'm more than halfway done!

3. I'm going to be an aunt! To a darling baby girl! So I cast on for a baby sweater--Knitting at Knoon's Wee-one Welcome Set--in Cider Moon Titania. It's great to work with and the pattern is so much fun, and well-written! The sweater is knit from the top down, and you can pick up and knit the sleeves on dpns. I'm not even done, and I'm definitely making this again. I'm up to knitting the garter trim on the body, and then will have to knit the sleeves and button bands.

4. I located my Perchance to Knit Irises socks that I need to rip down to the ribbing. I only knit about four rows of pattern, but I just hate the Pony dpns and I have to switch to my Knit Picks dpns. But again, these won't qualify for SOS.

5. That Decadent Fibers blanket I had trouble with at the beginning of the year. It would be a good gift for my niece.

That having been said, I am somewhat tempted to cast on another pair of socks. I just received my next installment from the Socks That Rock Sock Club. What hot colors! And I scored Duet Sock Yarn in Army Girl from The Yarn Grove (and Jane is just lovely to deal with). I bought two skeins in case I wanted to make another Wee-one sweater, but I'm actually thinking of treating myself to a pair of Army Girl socks. The pattern is interesting, too: toe up with an after-thought heel. Both techniques would be new to me.

And of course, I've been sidetracked. Boys are no longer napping. The days are really long, and they require a lot of activity. We have camp three mornings a week, and come July, 4 afternoons a week. We have triplet swim lessons two days a week. The pool opened, so we have some "swimming" (wading in the baby pool and scaring the daylights out of all of us in the pool with them). Baby Girl locked herself in the hall bathroom while I was in the shower, and my husband had to break the door down.

Oh, and on the Harry Potter front: no progress on the Tonks Monkey socks since the photos were posted, but I'm now 1/4 of the way through Order of the Phoenix. I just might be able to finish Half-Blood Prince by the time the last book is released.

Nymphadora Tonks Monkey Sock in progress

2007-06-14T12:11:00.001-05:00

It's a dark and gloomy day. It's cold and rainy, or almost rainy. Today was the fourth day in a row I've been to the doctor's office (yes, Baby Girl has caught the bug, too), though on the plus side, the boys had a good report from the pulmonologist. I've been up for two nights dosing sick kids, not having slept more than three hours straight. Yet, I am using up naptime to take poor quality pictures of my Nymphadora Tonks Monkey Sock in progress. Unfortunately, the colors aren't as vibrant as they are in person, due, most likely, to poor lighting and poor photography skills, not necessarily in that order. I'm sure I'll take pictures outside on a sunny day when they're done. Besides, I finished my May Socktopia socks in May, and still have to photograph those, too (and maybe take the toes out and make them longer, but that's for another post).

Without further ado, here are the pictures:

Off to a little knit, and hopefully, a big nap.

Photos!

2007-06-12T18:08:00.000-05:00

So, I promised photos, like I always do. Life gets in the way, like it always does. For example, yesterday, I spent 7 hours in the Pediatric ER at the regional children's hospital so Boy J could get an EKG and chest x-ray to figure out why he had tachycardia (rapid heart rate) and tachyapnea (rapid respiration) with no symptoms other than lethargy. Of course, we figured it out about halfway through when he spiked a fever (and threw up all over me while my husband chatted obliviously with the doctor, who was a long-ago ex-girlfriend of one of his college friends). He's much better today, although Boy E has caught the bug, too.

But...I had babysitting help today, and my regular sitter brought a friend with her who is going to do some babysitting for us, too, so I was able to knit a little, watch the end of The Holiday (cute, but come on, we know what a dog Jude Law really is), and take the some pictures in poor light in my bedroom.

Here is the Vesper sock yarn I was so lucky to score in AquaMelon

and Strange Little Mama

The colors are so vibrant, I can't wait to start my Jaywalkers!

Next is the order of Cider Moon Glacier that made me a Loopy Groupie. First is Pandora Rose:

This is Titania, which I intend to use to make a baby sweater set:

The yarn is just beautiful, and I can't wait to knit with it--only a few weeks to go before I can start my baby knitting.

I also took a picture of my Loopy Groupie swag, but I'm a little embarrassed to post it because my bed is in the background, and although it is neatly made, is does not show up neatly made in the photo. Maybe I'll do it anyway:

So much for embarrassment. Sheri sent a project bag containing my Cider Moon order (and a pattern I ordered), a bag of Loopy kisses (yay! chocolate!), and a skein of Online yarn which did not photograph well.

So, just when I'm about to photograph my Nymphadora Tonks Monkey Socks in progress to send to Shelby, my camera said I filled up my memory card. My 1 Mb memory card. Guess that's another project to tackle.

Knitter's Virtual Vacation Swap

2007-06-09T20:46:00.000-05:00

Here's the Knitter's Virtual Vacation Swap questionnaire:

1. If you could visit any state in the US, which would it be and why?

Arizona, because I want to go to the Grand Canyon.

2. If you could visit any country in the world, other than your own, which would it be and why?

UK. I've been to London, but would love to see the rest of England, plus Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Edited to add: Uh, UK is not a country unto itself, but that's my answer and I'm sticking to it!

3. Have you ever driven across several states/providence/countries?

Yes, I've actually driven the entire Eastern Seaboard (I live in NJ and have driven north to Maine, and south to Georgia and Florida) and have driven to Quebec.

4. Have you ever visited someplace you consider exotic? Where was it?

Well, I don't know that it's truly exotic, but I found Prague, Czech Republic to be exotic because it was the first non-Western European city/country I visited, and it had this whole Eastern Bloc, post-Soviet vibe going on. Also Quebec City, because it was so European so close to the U.S.

5. What was your favorite "travel" vacation? Why?

I have a few, actually. My post-law-school-graduation, week-long road trip with my mother from Georgia to New Jersey, with stops in Asheville, NC; Durham, NC; and Colonial Williamsburg, where we celebrated my birthday. The surprise weekend getaway to Gettysburg, PA that I planned and flawlessly executed (if I do say so myself) for my then-boyfriend (who is now my husband), the history buff. The first leg of our unofficial post-wedding honeymoon at the Lake Placid Lodge in Lake Placid, NY. Our official honeymoon six months later, which was two weeks in Prague, Vienna and Italy.

6. Have you ever played tourist in your own home city/state (if international, country)? Explain.

Not really. Anything truly touristy (going to the shore, museums, colonial villages, etc.) was already done through school activities.

7. Are you a museum visitor, beach comer or an amusement seeker?

Museum visitor, but I like walks on the beach, too. Any sort of risk-taking amusements are long behind me.

8. What's your favorite type of yarn?

Soft, soft wool (itchy stuff irritates my skin), indie hand-painted stuff.

9. What's your least favorite type of yarn?

Acrylic, novelty yarns.

10. What items do you like to knit/crochet?

Knit: socks, hats (baby/toddler/adult), mittens/gloves, baby blankets, baby/toddler sweaters.

Crochet: baby blankets (although I have the IC Babette Blanket in progress for almost a year now, if not longer).

11. What do you pack, knit/crochet wise when you go on vacation?

Too much! I have not traveled since I became pregnant with triplets nearly 4 years ago. But when I used to travel, I would bring 2-3 projects, depending what was in progress, how long I would be away and how large the project was. If I was traveling for work, I would bring one small project that I could work on in transit (this was pre-9/11).

12. What other crafts do you do/would like to do other than Knit/Crochet?

I needlepoint, but it's really time consuming and I don't have all that much free time.

13. Are you allergic to anything? (Yarn wise or treat wise)

Yarn-wise: Nothing that I can recall, but I work with natural yarns.

Treat-wise: nuts, melon (not that I expect anyone to send melon, lol, but extracts of allergens used in things like lotions can make trouble for me)

Also cats and dogs, and I'm sensitive to cigarette smoke.

14. What is your favorite color? Least Favorite?

Favorites: purples

Least favorite: Burnt orange, teal, muddy colors

I do sometimes foray into colorways that wouldn't otherwise appeal to me, particularly for socks, but this is pretty accurate. You can check my photos on my blog to see the sort of colors I've been working with (or links to yarn I've bought--sorry, I thought I posted more photos than I actually have).

15. Sweet or Savory (Treat not personality)? Sweet. Personality too. Mostly.

16. Anything else we are forgetting to ask that you think your partner desperately needs to know?

I'm just looking for a vicarious vacation, and can't wait to get local flavor from you!

Knitting and ripping and Harry Potter

2007-06-09T20:06:00.000-05:00

Ok, so the boys have mostly given up naptime. I'm exhausted. So exhausted that I screwed up my Monkey Socks in Shelby's Nymphadora Tonks colorway and had to take them down three rows at 11:30 at night. And I had picked Monkey Socks because I made them before, they look great, and they look more complicated than they are.

Yes, I'm knitting in anticipation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm also re-reading the books, and am up to Prisoner of Azkaban. Unfortunately, I'm reading at an uncharacteristically slow pace, because of the lack of time to read. I may yet get some knitting time back: the boys have napped for the past two days, but I didn't use the time for knitting. I napped yesterday, and saw Ocean's Thirteen today with my sister and her boyfriend). Working against the hope of some naptime knitting time is the fact that Boy M started running a fever today, which if history proves true, will spread to the others this week. I'm just hoping he'll just keep it to himself!

Today was really busy, too, with little time for knitting. We had our first family photos taken today by Julie Walton Shaver. It was fun but exhausting--the whole extended family was there, because, as my mom told me when I found out I was pregnant with triplets and totally freaked out, the triplets are a family project. Julie left a message that there are some really good photos, so now we can't wait to see them!

I also started working again on my secret project. I think I'll take progress photos and post them when the time is right. Of course, I've also screwed that up late at night and had to rip that back too, but what's to be expected when I'm up between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m., and prime knitting time begins about 10:30 p.m.!

And finally, I scored some Vesper sock yarn! I've been eyeing the stuff for months, but never was able to find any in stock. On Friday night, I hit jackpot: the site had been updated about 45 minutes earlier and almost all of the yarns were in stock. I bought two skeins and can't wait for them to arrive! I'll post pictures then--I know, that's what I always say, but hey, as of June 18, the boys will be in camp three days a week, 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. With all that time, I'm sure I can find some time to photograph stash during daylight hours! One skein is definitely destined for Jaywalkers. Like everything else, I'm behind in knitting and have never made Jaywalkers, or Clapotis, though in fairness to me, the patterns hit when I was first pregnant with the triplets (Clapotis) and when the triplets were about six months old (Jaywalkers).

Oh, I've joined another swap, too: Knitter's Virtual Vacation Swap. It's good for me because I love to travel and see new places, and will not be able to do so for another few years. I love to get a sense of another culture and another country--it's one of the reasons why I like foreign films: even if the movie stinks, I can still see another country and get a sense of how people live. Actually, now that I think about it, this vicarious travel thing kind of what the Knitting Gnome Swap is about, too. Guess I have to get my travel fix however I can!

Life interferes with knitting

2007-05-29T20:44:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been hard to fit the knitting in. For anyone who is interested in knitting and not potty training (and who could blame you!), scroll down to the pictures.

On Friday, I decided it was time for full-court press potty training of the triplets, who prior to that time were moderately consistent with their alternating use and disregard of the potty. And what a ride it has been! Suffice it to say that we spend pretty much all day in the yard, running in and out of the house to the bathroom. I tried putting the potties outside, but there were too many complaints x3:

"It's too hoooot!" (there was only partial shade in the yard where I put the potties, and at that time, was the only shade)

Boy: "What's that in the potty"
Me: "It's a leaf."
Boy: "I don't liiiike it!"
Me: "It's fine."
Boy: "Noooo it's nooot!"

Need I say more? Plus, they're starting to give up their naps. It's an explosive combination.

Friday, which was Day 1 of the full-court press, nearly gave me a breakdown. For real. It's not hyperbole. Boy E peed every 10 minutes. All the books say to take the child to the potty every 20 minutes. But not Boy E. By the time I got his brothers off the potty, he had already peed through his underwear and/or peed on the floor (he didn't go back outside because he was waiting for his M&M reward). Between his accidents and those of the other boys, we were out of underwear by noon, which meant that I had three boys running in the yard wearing only t-shirts. And I had to use my naptime knitting time for a Target run to buy more underwear. They're getting better, however, the volume of laundry is starting to approach the volume we had when the boys were in the throes of reflux.

Things were so bad that when my husband called to let me know he was stopping on the way to get home and did I need anything, I told him, no, come home. And when he got home, he told me to leave the house. What a gift! I went to my parents, sat in the silence (they were out, too), knit my Colinette Jitterbug socks and listened to Dharmafey's Socks In the City podcast.

Now to the knitting. This is my reward for surviving the first day of the full court press:

YESSSSSS! I scored one of Piddleloop's Collaboration Sock Kits, and it is gorgeous! I can't wait to start--it is my incentive for finishing my Colinette Jitterbug socks. I've turned the heel and am working the gussett of the second sock, so I'm on my way. Actually, here it is inside one of my other Piddleloop project bags, which I love like crazy and think is the best small project bag ever:

I don't always like to be matchy-matchy, so the project bag and notions bag coordinate. And I love 'em! There's a little inside pocket I slip my row counter into, plus loops to hold my sock needles. Now I don't have to stick the ones not being used into the ball of yarn. They're just so cool, and the perfect size for a sock project, or gloves, too.

Piddleloop is a team of two sisters, and I've had a great time emailing with Jen. I had a bunch of questions before I bought my first two project bags, and she was totally cool. Then I ended up emailing her about some needle wallets: the idea is to be able to carry several sizes of sock needles with you when you're starting a project, so you don't have to bring your whole dpn case. Perfect for me! (That's what the flat rectangular thing is in the picture of the contents of the Collaboration Kit). Jen included a few extras: adorable pins, which are also used inside the project bag, a Zer0 stitch marker. And then, I got extra extras:

and

Perfect timing! One, I love accessories, and have been looking at tissue holders on etsy. Two, I just lost my keys, really lost them (I've had my keyring for 20 years, since I was a freshman in college, so that tells you about how I never lose my keys, and consequently, you can infer how challenging things are here for me to have lost my keys in my house and not found them). Also, my sister tried on the headband and it was just adorable! It's been nothing but a pleasure dealing with Piddleloop/Jen, and their products are fantastic!

On a different note, peony season is finally here. I love peonies, particularly the fragrant old hybrids. Neither my mother nor I have the old hybrids in our garden, but hers are still beautiful:

Mine just opened so hopefully I'll get some pictures.

Button, button, where's my button?

2007-05-20T18:27:00.000-05:00

Duuude, I've got buttons! Check 'em out in the left-hand column!

So much for May Flowers

2007-05-19T14:47:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I think that Timberline sock is going on the back burner again. I just about finished the garter stitch wedge toe when I tried it on. (Yes, Ms. Lucy Neatby says to try it on often, but did I think the toe would be nearly finished after doing the three repeats of the decrease on the first row and garter on the other three?) Plus, the toe was just too wide! So now I'm going to take it back into the stockinette and start the toe earlier in the pattern so that the sock isn't too wide. But frankly, I'm not in the mood. I feel Perchance to Knit's Irises calling to me--I've been toting it around in my knitting bag (I have that big Namaste knitting messenger bag with the expandable zipper, perfect if you're like me and not sure which project you'll be in the mood to work on) along with Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks (sneaked out of Mom's library, not that she's ever knit socks) and More Sensational Knitted Socks. Maybe I'll give that a try. In fact, I think I'll go now! And...it can still be May Flowers! Irises are in bloom here.

Also, the Knitting Gnome Swap has begun! Gnorm and Gnuman the Gnomes have begun their travels, and it looks like they're having a great time! Check them out here. Now, if only I could save buttons to my blog. I've read a couple of tutorials, but for some reason, it still doesn't work. Can anyone help? Please?!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-05-12T16:25:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's my birthday. We kicked off with a massage last night, a gift from the kids--who made me earn every second of that peaceful, relaxing hour! Baby Girl's holding up her end by keeping the fever down (with help from our friend Children's Motrin). I got "happy birthday" from everyone, including Baby Girl (yay!) when I came downstairs this morning.

I pretty much have the day off--woohoo! I had breakfast with Mom and Dad, and spent the morning knitting and catching up on The Office and Dancing With the Stars. I've been working on the Timberline sock and have come to a realization: it's pretty boring knitting roughly 7.5-9 inches of stockinette instep. I definitely need to work patterns in my socks. I'm thinking second sock syndrome is going to hit me, because I think first sock sock syndrome is sneaking up on me (it's probably not really sneaking, considering I started the sock in March).

Oh, and now I'm a Loopy Groupie! I'll have to take photos and post.

Back to the birthday. I returned home for post-children's nap birthday snacktime celebration. I got a yummy Carvel ice cream cake with Thomas the Tank Engine on it. I think only 3 children (maybe 2) cried when everyone sang "Happy Birthday," but it works! Ice cream cake for snack was a big hit! Then, my parents took the children out. So now, it's off for a little bit of knitting before the horde returns for dinner!

Knitting Treats!

2007-05-11T20:44:00.000-05:00

After a whirlwind morning (music class + supermarket) with all four children, a truly historic triplet meltdown at lunchtime/naptime, capped by Baby Girl showing off a 102.9 fever at the very same time, I arrived home from my naptime pediatrician run with Baby Girl to find this waiting at the front door, protected from a sudden downpour that gave us 1.5 inches of rain in, oh, 40 minutes:

Aren't I the lucky one! I received two wonderful balls of Socka Color (close-up here: ) and sock-sized Chibis for seaming; an intriguing-looking copy of Simply Knitting from the UK, which includes a project bag (I love accessories!); Lavender Vanilla hand lotion (mmmmm!) and lip balm (I'm also a sucker for hand lotion and lip balm), and a spa candle. Here's the lip balm and lotion:

And isn't this cool: the lip balm and spa candle were locally made! A little taste of Wisconsin sent back East. And for the edibles: white peach tea and lemon creme cookies. How could cookies with that fabulous cockatiel (cockatoo?) on the box be anything but exotically delicious?! I'm definitely going to have me a good birthday/Mother's Day weekend! Thanks, Ann!

P.S. An excerpt from the back label of the hand lotion: "Keep this aromatherapeutic hand cream at your bedside to use whenever you want to feel deeply relaxed." I think I need to keep it in my pocket for continuous use throughout the day. Maybe a dab under the nose? During triplet meltdowns?

My treat is on its way!

2007-05-10T18:52:00.000-05:00

Yes, I just received an e-mail from "Knitting Irene," my Knitters Treat Exchange partner that my treat is coming! I'm so excited! I could sure use a treat--on Sunday, I was felled by a stomach virus, my first in 15 years! I couldn't even knit. I even had to ask my husband to stay home from work on Monday, and Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to help with the kids--boy, was I out of commission. And my parents were total troupers; thank goodness they were able to help out in the afternoons. (Oh, and adding to the fun: Boy J and I went to the allergist on Friday. I had a scratch test and surprised the doctor and myself with all my food allergies. So now I'm toting an epi pen and am worrying a little more about what I eat. On the plus side, I haven't really been able to eat since Sunday, though I'm getting really hungry at this point).

Prior to this, I had picked up some knitting. I went back to the Timberline sock (see March posts). The colorway should work for the Socktopia "May Flowers" theme. I had to completely rip out the heel: when I leave a project for six weeks or so, I tend to forget things like the fact I put it down because I needed to rip out the heel. Of course, I remembered after I did all the heel increases and got to the end and had the wrong number of stitches. The cool thing about the garter stitch heel in the pattern is that I don't have to pick up gusset stitches. It looks really cool, too.

I also started an under the radar project. We're doing family photos in October, and I had this idea that I would knit sweaters for all four children. I didn't post about it because I knew my family (my reading public, for the most part) would think I was insane. I did confide in my youngest sister when she came to visit a few weeks ago, and not only did she help me choose a sweater, she offered to pinch-knit if necessary. Is she totally cool, or what! And when I cast on the sweater, I revealed my intent to mom (hard to hide, since I was winding yarn at her house), and she thought it was cool, too--and told me it was good I picked a bulky yarn because I may need some pinch-knitting! Obviously, we all came out of the same gene pool.

And back to the Knitters Treat Exchange. How 'bout a shout out to Janice for nominating me as a best treater!

Finally, I'm getting ready for my gnome to arrive; did I mention the Knitting Gnome Swap? (I hope I don't repeat myself as often on the blog as I do in person--the memory suffers due to toddler overload and general fatigue) I'm going to have a talk with Crocus (he looks like Willard without the pipe) to be on his best behavior. In the meantime, I'm getting my package together.

How many of me?

2007-04-30T12:19:00.000-05:00

Isn't this cool?!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
2
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

FOs!

2007-04-28T17:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have Finished Objects! While Baby Girl's red vest is still on Mom's blocking board, I've got others to show.

Here's Baby Girl's Loop-d-Loop Ballet T-Shirt, knit in Farmhouse Yarns' I Am Allergic to Wool:

It should be just about warm enough for her to wear it, once her two-year molars come in. She's been working on them for about a month (what a trooper!) and is quite drooly, so I'd like to give the knits a break!

One of this month's Socktopia themes is "April Showers." Since I've been under the gun to finish baby gifts for a girlfriend who is due at the end of May (but is likely to deliver early), I decided to knit booties: fast, easy, and we could kind of make it a "shower" gift, even though it's baby no. 2 and there is no shower. Then, SheepsPyjamas beat me to it. Oh well--I'm still jumping on that bandwagon! I have two pairs of booties.

First, here are the fabulousyarn.com Artyarns Regal Silk baby booties in Dawn :

First, they're not really lopsided, I just didn't have enough time to fiddle with the tissue paper stuffing (with children leaning on the screen door calling, "Mommy! Mommy! What are you doing, Mommy?"). The fabulousyarn.com site shows the booties with a ribbon tie, but I skipped the eyelet row for the tie; I wasn't in the mood. The booties are pretty, but I don't really like the color. I love the sheen of the silk, but didn't like working with it. It doesn't have enough give; in fact, it doesn't have any give. I also made the booties out of Artyarns Supermerino in Sea Greens, with the eyelet row. I haven't made the I-cord ties because I tried to make the hat and ran out of yarn. I'll post a picture when they're done. The Supermerino was a lot of fun to work with, and the booties look great. The color is even better in person, too! I'm not under pressure to finish, though, because my girlfriend is having a girl, and Sea Greens is a boy color (not that I wouldn't put it on Baby Girl).

The other set of booties are the Lorna's Laces I-Cord Boogie booties, in Shepherd Sport Tickled Pink:

Again, lopsided due to tissue paper stuffing under pressure. These were a lot of fun to make, and I think I like this pattern better. Tickled Pink turned out to be a fabulous color, too! I didn't make the I-cord to keep the booties from getting lost--I just couldn't see taking the trouble to thread it through a baby's pants, have the baby lie on it, or even worse, have a diaper accident!

The final baby gift (so far, we'll see if I finish the One Skein baby bolero) is the Tilli Tomas Flurries baby hat:

It's really cute, although the decreases did not give me the number of post-decrease stitches called for in the pattern and I had to do some creative sewing to close the opening the size of a quarter at the top of the hat. Plus, I had to push all those beads to the front! But it's beautiful, and my friend is a practical person who would never buy anything like this for a baby (it's dry clean only!), and she deserves something like this. The silk booties are dry clean only, too, but the Lorna's Laces are superwash.

Ok, the One Skein Baby Bolero. I'm hitting a few snags. First, I may not have enough yarn to do the ribbed border. In order to conserve yarn, I'm unraveling my gauge swatch to use to seam the shoulders and sleeves. Instead of sewing the shoulders, I used the three-needle bind-off. Always looks good, and is always easy--thanks to my sister for the tip! My challenge is seaming--never a favorite job. Here, the bolero body is knit in one piece, and the sleeves are knit separately. Then you sew (or three-needle bind off) the shoulders. Then you sew in the sleeves. So I had to sew flat sleeves into a round opening. I used backstitch and that worked pretty well. I'm having trouble sewing the shoulders closed; not only is there a hole at the base of the sleeve, where the sleeve meets the body, that I have to creatively and invisibly close, my sleeve seaming is not pretty. Which is ok, because no one ever sees it, mostly, but I think it's ugly enough to not be right. So, I have to wait for Mom, seamer extraordinaire, to come back from vacation to help.

Oh, and last but not least, I shipped my Knitters Treat Exchange package to my treatee, who can be found at The adventures of SanFaerieAnne. It should be arriving any day now--hope she enjoys it! I certainly had a good time putting it together. So much so, I've joined the Knitting Gnome Swap. I know Norm (or any of his friends) will have a great week with us this summer!

Busy, busy, busy!

2007-04-11T17:52:00.000-05:00

Lots going on. I'm all over the place in knitting. And I got my Knitters Treat Exchange Pal: SanFaerieAnne. I'm working on her treat, but in the meantime, found this cool book thing on her blog. Here it goes:

In the list of books below, bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. +Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L. M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. *Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. +The Time Traveler’s Wife (Andrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
9. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On the Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. *The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum
96. The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Of course, being me, my formatting has gone wacky. Oh well. When I have more time (ha!), I'll break down the percentage that I've read. With an ear infection and possible strep throat, I'm not up to the challenge right now. But at least the kids are ok, so far! And the 3-4 inches water is mostly gone from the basement, or down to 1-2 inches in areas.

But I will get knitting photos up, I promise. I have the loop-d-loop ballet top, knitted in less bulky yarn and on smaller needles for Baby Girl (who has been cutting her two-year molars for over two weeks and is still working on them); baby booties in Artyarns Regal Silk (not so fun) and Artyarns Supermerino (fun!) in a kit from fabulousyarn.com; and Knitting Pure and Simple's vest (which is being blocked at my mother's house, so maybe no pictures yet). Oh, also Lorna's Laces I-Cord Boogie booties in Tickled Pink which are totally awesome! My friend's baby is due soon, and since I had blanket trouble, I'm working on small things, i.e. hats and booties. Which reminds me, I will post photos of the Tilli Tomas Flurries hat once I'm done seaming. Plus, the One Skein Baby Bolero is in progress.

My socks for Socktopia are still suffering (I'm not in the mood to pick up gusset stitches), so I am hoping my booties qualify.

Knitters Treat Exchange

2007-03-29T20:33:00.000-05:00

Because I don't get sidetracked enough. Because it sounds like fun. Because it's a one-time exchange, and that's a commitment I think I can make. Because the Enablers spell "favorite" the British way, with that slightly exotic "u". It's the Knitters Treat Exchange! Here I go!

Knitters Treat Exchange Questionnaire

1. What's your favourite type of yarn? Wool, the softer the better. I'm currently loving hand-painted/hand-dyed.

2. What's your least favourite type of yarn? Novelty yarn, synthetics.

3. What's the first thing you do when you visit a new yarn shop? I cruise the new yarn.

4. What other crafts do you do / would like to do? I needlepoint when I find the time (read: not much lately), and crochet on occasion.

5. What magazines do you currently subscribe to? National Geographic, US Weekly (guilty pleasure!), Everyday Food, Everyday with Rachel Ray, Cook's Country, Vogue Knitting.

6. Put this type of magazine in order of preference:
Knitting / Crochet / Other Craft / Food / Home / Fashion / Celebrity Gossip / Garden

Celebrity Gossip, Food/Knitting, Crochet, Fashion (just can't keep up), Home, Garden/Other Craft

7. What items do you like to knit / crochet? Lately, I'm into socks, but I've been simultaneously working on sweaters for my toddlers, hats (infant, toddler and adult), gloves (adult), mittens (toddler/adult), and baby blankets.

8. Are you allergic to anything? Well, since we're talking about treats outside of knitting treats, I'm allergic to nuts, melon (I don't expect anyone to send melons, but extracts of allergens used in things like lotions can make trouble for me)

9. What do you like to* smell of?
(*This is not a typo. The question is: What do you like to smell of) Lavender

10. What's your favourite way to relax? Go to a quiet place without children and knit and catch up on movies.

11. You're stood in front of a Victorian style sweetshop, an Italian cafe, an old fashioned bakery and a dainty tea room. Where do you go first? The old-fashioned bakery.

12. What do you come out with? Butter cookies and those spritz sandwich cookies with the rasperry jam filling and partial chocolate dip.

13. Where do you go next? Probably the tea room--going for tea in London was so delightful, I wouldn't mind recreating it.

14. Any other words of wisdom for your pal? Just looking forward to some fun and the excitement of receiving a mystery package!

March is a wash

2007-03-29T20:09:00.000-05:00

Ok, that's it. I am obviously not going to finish my March socks. I am just about to turn the heel on the first sock, and it's not going well. I've had to "un-knit" it twice; the pattern calls for a garter stitch heel with wraps (short rows), and I've miscounted several times. It's the Timberline sock from Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks Warm Feet. It looks like a short sock in the picture, with a garter stitch heel and toe that I thought would be fun and different, and a quick knit. I even blew off the tubular cast on and used the regular long tail cast on instead. I don't feel like ripping it out--the Scarlet Fleece is wonderful and so pretty, but I'm not making fast enough progress--obviously, since March ends Saturday and I'm not past the heel yet.

Honestly, I thought I'd get some knitting time yesterday evening (meaning before 10 p.m.) and I'd be fresh enough to not make the same mistakes on the heel wraps yet again. But as I was walking out the door at 6:20 p.m. last night, the babysitter said, "Do you smell something burning?" And I did. And it smelled electrical. I loaded the children into the minivan ("Who wants to have an adventure? Let's put on our shoes and watch a video in the car!"), put my nanny and babysitter in there with them. Then I called the police because I was too embarrassed to roust the volunteer fire department for something silly.

Long story short, I had the entire fire department (4 trucks) and 2 police officers at the house. It turned out to be related to my ceiling fan, and they told me it would have become a fire. Yikes! Nobody ever thinks they could have a fire in their home, certainly not me. One of the firefighters was someone I went to school with, too--that's what happens when you move back to the small town you grew up in. But here's the key point: the fire chief told me that the two mistakes people make with fires is (1) not calling the fire department because they're too embarrassed (yep, that's me), and (2) trying to fight the fire themselves (now that, I wouldn't do).

So an hour later, with the house cleared for occupancy by us, I got everyone back in, but only had time for a quick dinner with my folks before I met my girlfriend for ice cream, which was part of the original evening plan. I got home around 9:30, reviewed events with my husband (who was working at the time of the event), and got into bed around 10:30, and then, being exhausted yet all nerved up, proceeded to screw up that heel once again. So basically, for the past few nights, I spent the nighttime knitting time screwing up the heel, and nap time knitting time un-knitting it.

I think it's become a Sisyphean task, so I'm giving up the ghost: no March socks. Besides, the April Socktopia newsletter just came out. Here are the themes:

...Orange you glad I didn't say bananna?

Let's get Physical.

Bumblebees and Butterflys.

Sunshine on my shoulders.

April Showers

What am I going to do with these themes?! I don't even know where to start.

Where was I?

2007-03-27T19:21:00.000-05:00

Well, it's March 27. I've just started turning the heel of my first sock for March. By the way, it's not even the Stillwater sock; that's been abandoned. I'm making a more basic sock with the Scarlet Fleece, but my thinking is that I'm not going to finish them in March.

Here's the good news: the third round of antibiotics is finally working on the horrible sinus infection I've had for the last month. The headache and jaw-ache have finally abated. The kids are better so I can finally attend to myself (a little bit). Knock on wood, we're out of the woods.

We had fabulous weather, so I kept the kids outside after preschool. One would think they'd be exhausted, but today was "Give all our pacifiers to our friend's baby sister because we're not babies anymore" Day. Suffice it to say, the two boys who used pacis are not happy. Oh, they were at the time we bagged them up and gave them to the baby's mommy (who made a big deal about it, so fabulous!), but not at naptime when they were rooting around for them, and not at bedtime. They're still awake, but not complaining about the pacis--big shout out to Grandma who bought them these ages ago but never gave them to the boys. I broke them out at naptime and they've helped a lot.

So back to knitting. I've nearly finished the KPS Hooded Vest for Baby Girl; I just have to kitchener the hood, weave in ends, and buy and sew in the zipper(!), which I think I may have the tailor do. The last time I sewed anything (other than for some knitting finishing) was in 8th grade Home Ec. It's really cute, and Boy M actually keeps saying, "I want one" every time he sees me pull it out. I may actually get around to ordering the yarn.

I'm also making this adorable baby hat, the Tilli Tomas Flurries Baby Beanie. It's pretty mindless and fast--perfect for watching "Dancing With the Stars"--such a guilty pleasure! Fortunately, it's knitting up fast (a little slower than expected because of the beads, but nothing major). My girlfriend is due at the end of May, and I've made negative progress on my other knitted objects for her.

Again, no pictures, but can you blame me? I'm ever hopeful I'll get to it!

I thought I was stalled out before...

2007-03-14T19:47:00.000-05:00

I'm so tired I can hardly see. The kids have been so sick. Those of you who are interested in knitting, skip the next paragraph.

I've had at least one child at the doctor every day since Thursday (that was an all-clear ear check visit for Baby Girl, who had an ear infection two weeks ago, developed one over the weekend, and now has a double ear infection with a ruptured membrane), and spoke with doctors on Friday night and on Sunday when the office was closed. I've been giving four fever baths a day, on average, several with two children in the tub. Sometimes, they wake up from sleep and have to go straight from bed to the tub. And everyone cries in the tub. They've been spiking fevers between 104 and 105F and break through the Tylenol and/or Motrin. I've had two separate and isolated (thank goodness) incidents of vomiting. We've been up in the night dosing them with Motrin to keep the fevers down. Boy E's fever broke today and he's in fine; of course, that may have to do with the antibiotics he was put on yesterday when he was diagnosed with an ear infection. Boy J was still spiking a high fever this morning, and was up a lot in the night. At the doctor this morning, he was diagnosed with an ear infection. When I got home with Boy J, Baby Girl had yellow fluid coming out of her ear, so right back to the pediatrician we went for that double ear infection diagnosis. Then, this afternoon, Boy M went back to the doctor because of his high fever, but his ears are clear. And it goes without saying that we're nebulizing the boys three times daily. Poor boys: their third birthday was yesterday, and I think they enjoyed it as much as they could when their fevers were down, but it's not anything anyone would want for his or her birthday. And my husband and nanny both have bronchitis. My dad has something awful, and my mom is getting sick as well (although it didn't stop her from making dinner and dropping it off for me--she's the best). Our babysitter is also sick. But fortunately for us, one of our old babysitters is home on spring break, and she's helping out. I'm not sure if my sinus infection is returning, but I don't have time to find out.

Suffice it to say, my knitting has suffered. I've cast on the Scarlet Fleece to make the Wildhorse Farm Stillwater socks, but I've only knit 1.5 rows of ribbing. And I have to knit on US 1 to get gauge. I'm not optimistic about finishing, but I am starting to find my groove with the yarn.

I'm also progressing slowly on the KPS Bulky vest. It's stockinette with garter stitch over the first and last three stitches, but remarkably, I've been too tired to focus on that, too. Although when Boy M sees me pull it out, he tells me he wants one, so I guess I'd better get cracking!

I also got some good yarn, and some more coming, but I'll have to write about it later. Photos are a long shot.

Stalled out

2007-03-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

I'm stuck. It's March 10. I have yet to cast on a sock for this month's Socktopia. I haven't been feeling it with anything in my stash (most of which has been acquired in the past few months). I finally bought fabulous yarn hand-dyed yarn that I was feeling--I LOVED the colorway and I got gauge first time out for Jaywalkers--except the dye came off on my hands, so I have to send it back for fixative treatment. So now my default is the Regia Bamboo with a pattern from a book I bought in February (I don't remember the name and it's not in front of me now) or this really cool Scarlet Fleece yarn in a pink/green colorway--it's gorgeous, I got in in the last Loopy Ewe update, it's great to knit with--but I got a weird gauge and am going to re-swatch on different needles.

While I was struggling with the socks, I decided to make something for Baby Girl: Knitting Pure and Simple's Bulky Hooded Vest for Children. Totally cute, and I bought the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Bulky in Bright Red, and it's gorgeous! If it's fun and easy, I may make three more for the boys. And ordering from Angelika is always a treat--fast shipping, beautifully packaged, great brochures to leaf through! Of course, I ran into trouble swatching: the swatch got wider as I knit! I guess swatching at 11:30 p.m. when I can hardly keep my eyes open is not the best idea. When I knit during the children's naptime, I got a consistent gauge (yay!) but then discovered my KnitPicks Options cable was separating from the join. Ack! KnitPicks is sending a new one out, no problem. Oh, and when I was winding the yarn, my new ball winder, on its third use, fell apart. KnitPicks took care of that, no problem, as well. It's a delight to deal with vendors who make things easy for you.

One the plus side, I'm making progress on the secret project I mentioned earlier. And I organized my dpns in this really cool Offhand Designs clutch I bought at the beginning of the year, and organized my crochet hooks in a really cool hook roll from Po-Ka-Dot.comthat I received as a holiday gift.

And, in the middle of this, I've had a nasty sinus infection for about two weeks that is not cured, and I finish antibiotics tomorrow. Looks like I'm back at the doctor on Monday. I've been to the pediatrician three times this week: two boys are sick. They're spiking fevers around 104-105F. It's unpleasant for all. I'm giving lots of lukewarm baths, forcing fluids, and letting almost all rules go out the window (fortunately/unfortunately, they're still moderately interested in the potty, although Boy J uses it to get out of the bath he so desperately needs for his fever). Their normal selves mostly reappear when the fever goes down. Unfortunately, my husband is sick, so he's out of commission. And I have to wake boys in the night for Motrin; I was so tired last night, I was nauseous. And I had a wake-up call at 6 a.m. from Boy J and had to take him straight from bed into the bath. Thank goodness for ear thermometers! And we're waiting for the other two to get it. The doctor says this bug lasts for 5-7 days. We just finished Day 2 for Boy E, and Day 1 for Boy J. And their third birthdays are Tuesday--poor guys!

Done!

2007-02-28T13:18:00.000-05:00

I finished the socks! Last night, February 27. These pictures more accurately show the colorway and show the heart detail:

I'm not thrilled with the toe shaping, and on the sole, there's a distinctive line where I fixed the pattern; I'm hoping it will block out, but if not, who looks at the sole anyway? Aside from that, the socks are delicious! I just love, love, love the yarn and colorway (STR Bleeding Hearts). I love the pattern, too, which was well-written to boot (no pun intended). Although the pattern is not that visible because of the colorway, I know the hearts are there.

In the meantime, I'm still potty training and still careening toward a breakdown. I bought three more potties, so now we have two potties in the downstairs bathroom and two in the upstairs bathroom. Now the boys all want to go together, which is fine, because it gives everyone an incentive. On the other hand, I'm still having post-bedtime potty craziness, which makes me crazy. In the crib. Out of the crib. Screaming. Wanting the big potty. Wanting the little potty. Wanting the other little potty (note: all four potties are identical, which is pretty much the only way to operate at this point). Not wanting to wait one's turn. Having to wait one's turn. Not wanting one's turn to be over. Wanting a brother's turn. Wanting a brother to not have a turn. Believe, me, I want my turn to be over! I have imposed some rules and am having moderate success. However, by the time I'm finished with potty mania, I'm exhausted and have not been able to get much knitting done.

I know February is 2-3 days shorter than the other months, but it seems like I've lost a whole week. The boys turn three in two weeks (!), and I decided yesterday to make a family party this Saturday. So now I have to get party supplies and order a cake(s). I just can't imagine buying 3 regular-size cakes. I've got to figure something out.

I don't want to leave Baby Girl out of this post, because life is not all about the triplets. She's still so sweet, but her tantrums are out of this world, simply remarkable. She thinks it's her way or the highway! She's talking up a storm, and her vocabulary includes "Mallomar" and the WonderPets theme song (though her ABC's are coming along too). Fortunately for everyone, the weather has warmed up and melted enough snow so that we could knock ourselves out at the park--yay!

But back to knitting. I've been thinking about the Socktopia March themes, reviewing my stash and my sock patterns. Nothing is actively calling out to me like the February socks did. I've printed out the Socktopia newsletter with the March themes and walk around the house with it while I look at patterns online and in my books (is there such thing as a yarn geek?). I'm thinking of winding a few skeins and swatching, and then going from there. But I've got to get started--March is tomorrow!

Yet another race to the finish

2007-02-25T13:23:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know I finished the Heart socks last weekend, but I had that little problem of an extra 10-row repeat in there. So this morning, while camped out at Mom's, I ripped out to where I thought I should re-knit (about 20 rows down after the toe)) and...I didn't have the pattern! Ack! Looks like it will be Oscar knitting tonight. I forgot February is a short month. Yikes!

So instead of working on my knitting, I'm trolling knitting store websites and knitting blogs. In all fairness, I can't knit (yet) because I'm eating a sandwich for lunch. So look what I found at Holly Jo's blog, one more row (aside from some good-looking knits and cool pictures of Alaska): a visited states map! Here's mine:

create your own visited states map

Have fun!

Not so fast....

2007-02-23T20:10:00.000-05:00

So, you know that little blocking problem with the Heart socks I mentioned in my last post? I took a deep breath and tried them on. They're beautiful! Except one sock is way too long. Like one pattern repeat too long. How could that have happened to someone as compulsive as me?! I count rows. I use a row counter. I make copious notes. This does not happen to me. Ever. I don't twist stitches in joining in the round. Only once in 10 years did I knit a portion of my first row with the tail end from the long tail cast on. The circular knitting jog? I didn't know what that was until I read about it. Not to brag or anything, but these things don't happen to me. Until now.

So here's the plan. I rip out the extra repeat and re-knit the sock. It shouldn't take that long. I take pictures before I do it so I can post on Socktopia. In the meantime, here it is:

If the top sock looks like it's longer than the bottom sock, that's because it is. And I think it's impossible to capture the pattern with my camera. Oh well!

I note that the discovery (or rather, confirmation) of this problem occurred on the day I received the yarn from Loop for that troublesome Koigu blanket mentioned in the last post. Coincidence?

Maybe I should just pick up the Babette blanket and work through a little crochet.

Oh, and by the way, after spending the better part of the morning at the pediatrician, we confirm that Baby Girl has a penicillin allergy. And once again, I have spent 40 minutes doing potty time at 9 p.m. And I didn't get to knit yesterday, and hope I can get some time in tonight.

The descent slows (sort of)

2007-02-22T21:21:00.000-05:00

On the knitting front, I'm actually doing ok. I finally found a project, got gauge, cast on and am enjoying the yarn, though not loving my pattern so much. I can't discuss it more because I decided I'm knitting my gifts, and basically, as far as I know, my readers are my family (except for gray la gran--thanks!) and I don't want to spoil any surprises. If I get on the ball, I'll take pictures in progress and post them after gifting...as if anyone will even remember at the end of the year!

On the downside, I blocked my Heart socks. I learned that neither of my upstairs bathroom sinks will hold water and I need to have the plumber come. So I blocked them in the tub and used the rest of my sample size Flora Soak (love it!). And then, I put them on my blockers, which I love. And then a moment of moderate horror: the socks were too long for the blockers. Whaaaaaat?! One was only a little too long, no big deal, but the other must have had 1-2 inches flopping over the toe. Are you kidding me?! I tried them on while I knit them, and after they were finished. They fit properly. I knit both socks to the same specs (I count rows on sock no. 1 so I know what to do on sock no. 2, and still tried on sock no. 2 throughout). I think my Socktopia photos have to be taken with the socks on my feet so no one can notice (of course, I've just given myself away).

But back to the upside. I received three (!) knitting packages today. The first was the Knit Picks with the circular needles for the Koigu Daydreams Baby Blanket, which probably should have been named the Nightmare Baby Blanket. I know, it's going to be one of these things I'll kill myself for making, and then want to make it again because it's so beautiful. The extra skeins didn't come from Loop, so that's my excuse for not trying it again yet. Honestly, I don't think I've had a long enough rest from that torture!

Next, I received my package from The Loopy Ewe. Boy, I love to order from Sheri. It's only my second order, but Sheri is lovely--in my first package I received a yarn sample that fascinated me, so I called her for the color. So here's what came today: two skeins of Regia Bamboo in color 1062, several patterns, two yarn samples (gotta love it!), Sheri's homemade needle inventory (gotta love it!) and this cool little sock project book, Loopy's Knit Notes for Socks. This way, I can transfer all my little pattern notes that are currently stored in ziplocs with the leftover yarn to this little book and have the information appropriately organized. Yes, I am compulsive and love organization--Clean Sweep still gets me every time!

Finally, I received my Yarnahoy/Monsoon Winds yarn order. Goodness, the colors are gorgeous. I bought one skein of Berry Bang

and two skeins of Spring Pole.

I'm providing links to Yarnahoy's etsy shop for Berry Bang and Spring Pole because I think her pictures are better, and I'm showing off that I actually took pictures of the new yarn acquisitions today.

Pictures? Did you see pictures? Yes, I took pictures this evening! Why? Well, Baby Girl tipped her KinderZeat over (it's supposed to be non-tippable, but I guess they don't account for 18-month-olds who like to put their feet on the edge of the table and push back), and I mostly sort of caught her (I had to leap over a child gate, no less), but she did knock the back of her head. Frankly, I thought I was lucky I didn't dislocate her arm. She was ok, though I worried all afternoon, but the doctor told me to rouse her every 20 minutes for the first hour she was sleeping. So, I decided to take pictures during the intervals. She's fine, but goodness, the Sudafed and Benadryl (we think she's having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic for her ear infection) really knocked her out. Oh, and I had to spend the last 20 minutes running boys to the potty. Because the time they really want to go is at 9 p.m. They absolutely refuse to go while they're playing, but they think 9 p.m. is prime time potty time.

Well, back to knitting. Let's see what else I can post. Sophie's Toes yarn in Cupid:

and Passion.

A Swell Yarn's Duet socks:

and the Briar Rose hand-dyed I bought to make this hat and mitten set:

Oh, and let's not forget that Jitterbug:

I still have to figure this photo thing out, but you get the idea.

Well, I'm off to knit. And when I get too tired, I'm going to look through my new sock patterns/pattern books and work on my theme for March's Socktopia sock--yay!

Or "Knitting into Obliteration"...

2007-02-21T13:04:00.000-05:00

Oops, I am totally falling behind in posting. Computer trouble: no internet access/intermittent internet access, which culminated in three hours on the phone with the ISP and the computer manufacturer last night. I swear, I was going to kill myself (and it didn't help that I had to spend those three hours knitting and ripping out the finger parts in my fingerless gloves, but more on that later). End result is internet access with no firewall or virus protection--is that the best they can do?! Adding to the delay: moderately sick children (of course), and just everyday life getting in the way.

On the other hand, I finished my Socktopia Heart socks this past weekend. Yay! And they are faaaabulous! The color is phenomenal. They fit (I thought the instep might be too narrow)!! The pattern is somewhat hard to see, but I don't care 'cause I love 'em! I'm just going to block them, and then take my photographs and post them. Yeah, yeah, I've been promising to take photos of all the loot from the yarn crawls and of works in progress....

Speaking of yarn crawls, the afternoon before the King Tut exhibit, we hit Rosie's Yarn Cellar and Loop. At Rosie's, I picked up some sock yarn, Hand Jive Nature's Palette in Wheat (I thought it was time to test out a solid color so lace patterns could show up better (see Heart socks), and other sock yarn that has aloe or some moisturizer in it (I'll link to it when I find the name). Plus, I bought two sock books.

The next morning, before venturing home in the snow and ice, we hit Loop. What a beautiful store, with such beautiful yarns! I controlled myself and only bought the Wallaby Sweater pattern, because I've seen it for years, and everyone who makes it raves about it (which was confirmed by the woman who helped me). But I was tempted by the Alchemy patterns and the luscious yarns!

But back to knitting, or, as it is, knitting hell. So now, I have a whole two weeks before I have to knit another pair of Socktopia socks. Great! I can work on UFOs. I can even cast on a new project! And therein lies the trouble.

I picked up the Decadent Fibers baby blanket I bought at Stitches. I bought the peachy pink color, and it is lovely to work with. I gave up in December because the pattern is not clear. I tried it again. Several times. Still a problem. I have an email in to the Decadents, and they are ready to help me. So that's on the back burner.

There was another project, but I seem to have blocked it out. Or, it has been obliterated by the current problem with the mac & me Lobster Claws (Finger and Fingerless Gloves)a>. After the knitting troubles with the blankets, I decided to cast on the Lobster Claws in Lobster Pot cashmere in Salt Rose--gorgeous and delicious! I'm knitting on US 6's, and am making time, at least in comparison to knitting socks on US 2's. I decide to knit fingers (see earlier posts for reference to the cold sensitivity resulting from last fall's kitchen injury). I knit the pinky and ring fingers in no time, and you know what? The fingertips are unattractive. (There was a slight error in the pattern, too, but easy to figure out). I ripped and re-knit. Twice. Still unattractive. I decided to go the fingerless route.

I followed the directions exactly. For the pinky, I knit as directed: knit 3 rounds, knit round 4 k1p1, knit two more rounds, then bind off loosely. The k1p1 round makes my knuckle look bulky (I'll let you know later whether a third party would believe that to be true or it's a knitter's version of body dismorphia). The bind off does not roll back a la stockinette, even though that's how it looks in the picture. What the hell, I'm forging ahead. By the time I get to the middle finger, I get a hole when I pick up stitches. I think that happens when one knits gloves (this is my first foray except for the Rosie's Popover mittens, and I'm at the same point, knitting-wise, so I can't really say), but I'm sure I can find a way to circumvent the hole. Three hours and lots of computer and knitting anguish later, I have been unsuccessful. Well, that's what yarn tails are for, right? I'm thinking a trip to Angelfire Studios is in order to consult with Justine. Plus, I want to buy more Lobster Pot for a coordinating hat.

Oh, and I remember the project that I blocked out: the Koigu Daydreams blanket from Knits from a Painter's Palette by Maie Landra. The blanket is gorgeous. I was sucked in by my mother, who said we needed to knit it together, i.e., a family knit-a-long. She gave me the yarn which she bought at Loop and she pulled her yarn from her stash (apparently, my mother has recently become a Koigu yarn ho, because she is stocked!). I knit several rows of the practice square without any trouble, so I frogged it and just started the actual blanket. I cast on the 240 rotten stitches with my new technique, the knitted cast on. All knit stitches are knit through the back loop. It's so freaking tight! I don't have the right number of stitches, ever, except after casting on (though once I was short, even though I used markers every 20 stitches and counted obsessively). Three times, at least three times, I cast on, knit 1-3 rows and had to rip. I was beside myself. My mother said, "Honey, if it's not fun, don't do it. I thought you'd like it." I said, "Just you try it." Needless to say, she's run into trouble. So here's the plan: order additional yarn (ordered from Loop), knit on different needles (I though the points on my circular were not sharp enough for the yarn), and not through the back loop. I'm now waiting for my Knit Picks order for circulars for the both of us--I'm addicted to my Knit Picks double-pointeds and in the past hated metal double-pointeds--and my additional skeins to arrive from Loop. In the meantime, I'm actively not thinking about it, but I do not accept defeat.

And, despite my efforts, I have been unable to resist buying yarn. I bought two sets of A Swell Yarn's Duet Socks, and I am excited to try them out. Yarnahoy is suspending her shop for two months, so I bought some of the yarns I've been eyeing for weeks (a lot were gone by the time I got there). And I just know there's more coming.

I'm eyeing up Sheep Shop and Lanas Puras yarns at One Planet Yarn and Fiber. I want to make this Cabo Hoodie for the children. Cool, no? And there are some Sheep Shop sweaters I'm considering for myself, but that seems soooo ambitious. But isn't having a knitting life right now ambitious anyway?

Making time

2007-02-11T19:54:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy eight days since my last post. The boys are in bed, but I'm sitting here listening to "Eeeeeeeee!" "No Eeeeeeeee!" "Eeeeeeeee!" "No Eeeeeeeee!" What can I say. Fortunately, they're moving on to singing now.

I'm really making time on the Heart socks. I'm two or three rows away from starting the heel flap on sock no. 2. The colors are just gorgeous! I really have to work on my photography and get some pictures up. And I am just loving Socks That Rock! I have some good knitting time coming up. I'm going to Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon and will hopefully stay over, weather permitting. Tuesday evening is a college-sponsored alumni dinner and talk by an Egyptologist, followed by a private viewing of the King Tut exhibit. How cool is that?! I have been waiting for two years for the exhibit to come for Philadelphia, then my alma mater sponsors a special night!

Speaking of pictures to be taken, I've received wonderful, beautiful and soft sock yarn from Sophie's Toes that I must share. The colors are even better in person!

I also visited a new yarn store yesterday, Angelfire Studios . Justine is very cool. I bought Jitterbug, Colinette's new sock yarn (apparently, I can no longer resist sock yarn). I also bought two gorgeous skeins of Lobster Pot cashmere to make fingerless mitts. I'm clearly a yarn ho: I can't wear fingerless mitts this winter because my kitchen injury finger is sensitive to cold. Obviously, that's not holding me back. And the mitts will match a fabulous knitting gift I received (thanks, Mom!) that I can't discuss or post yet.

I'm also addicted to Etsy. I'm checking daily for new handpainted/hand-dyed sock yarns. I'm possessed!

Life is like a box of chocolates...

2007-02-03T21:16:00.000-05:00

Ok. I went home at naptime. Brought all my sock yarn and sock patterns back to my mother's house. Spent an hour or so trolling the web for patterns. Swatched different yarns for different patterns. Nothing called to me. I was not having a good time.

So I made a decision: I'm continuing the sock. You know, the HeartStrings Heart socks in Bleeding Hearts colorway. I thought it was a good fit for the Socktopia theme of "Forever in my heart." Except, as I said in my previous post, I think it's too hard to see the hearts. And I'm concerned the instep will be too narrow. But I'm having too good a time with it to rip it out. So now, it will be a sock in the theme of "Life is like a box of chocolates," as in "you never know what you're gonna get."

How's it going?

2007-02-03T11:04:00.000-05:00

I was so good. I had the yarn: Socks That Rock lightweight in colorway Bleeding Hearts (it's not on the website), already wound. I had the pattern: HeartStrings Heart socks. I swatched--right on gauge, first time out! I knit the two-inch p2k2 ribbed cuff. It was GORGEOUS! I knit the 10-round Ribbing to Cuff Transition. I knit 20 of the 30 Cuff rounds. Then...the big question...could you see the hearts?

Not really. The yarn color, though unbelievably gorgeous, is too dark. I tried on the sock, such as it is. Still can't see the hearts. It needs a lighter color, a more muted colorway. I have to rip it out. I can't believe it! I'll try to post a picture before I rip.

This is clearly not a good knitting day. The woefully neglected baby blanket I'm using to learn continental knitting: too wide. I'm going to drop a needle size, but I'm so not in the mood to cast on for it again.

The popover mittens that I've ripped down to the thumb gusset and re-knit? I'm still short stitches for the index finger. So I called Rosie's Yarn Cellar and will get a call tomorrow from either Lisa or Courtney for a consult.

So on top of this, my knitting time is slipping away. I'm camped out this morning at Mom's with an upper respiratory tract infection--prime knitting time--and she and I are still trying to recover from Baby Girl's fall down Mom's basement stairs yesterday. The good news is that Baby Girl is completely fine, I can't even find a bruise attributable to the fall down 12 steps (she did get checked out by the doctor, of course), but Mom and I are completely traumatized. The knitting is a good distraction, but now I have nothing to work on. And I'm not ready to go home and get more yarn.

Here's the plan: I'm home in about 45 minutes to dose two children, I'll pick up all my sock yarn and patterns and bring them back to Mom's to sort out. Hopefully I'll get something going.

Knitalong status--did I make it?

2007-01-31T09:16:00.000-05:00

So it's January 31. Did I make it? Did I finish my two knitalong projects?

Well, I finished the socks. Totally down to the wire. I posted the pictures last night. The pictures are here. (I took the photos and downloaded them at my mom's house, so I have no idea how to import them into the blog). I'm pretty happy with them. Next time I make this pattern, I'll do 4 pattern repeats for the cuff; I think I'd like them a little longer. I'm not loving how I seamed the toe, but it's more than good enough. Now I just have to block them. I know, they're shown on the blockers, but I did that for photo purposes. I definitely need to learn how to take better photos.

The Square-along square didn't make it. With all my sock setbacks and illnesses in the house, I just couldn't get to it. This is why I don't make many commitments.

In the meantime, I went back to a UFO, the Rosie Knits Popover Gloves & Hat in Alchemy Alpaca Pure, color Cherry Tart. It's probably 1-2 months since I've worked on them. I had worked the first mitten up to the index finger before I put it aside. Last night I picked it up and realized I was short several stitches and could not figure out where to find them. In my search for the lost stitches, I realized I did not like how I picked up the stitches at the base of the completed fingers. So now I'm ripping, hopefully to the thumb gusset, but worst case scenario, down to the cuff.

I've also brought down a baby blanket to work on. It's been sorely neglected and the baby is coming in May. The pattern is a 2-stitch rib, so it's the perfect opportunity to learn to knit continental. I just have to remember how to knit continental, or get the website from my mom.

Coming full circle, it is January 31, which means it's time to plan for February's socks. So I will pick yarn from the stash and a pattern, and will swatch either tonight or tomorrow. And February's a short month! Ack!

So close, and yet...so far

2007-01-28T14:46:00.000-05:00

I've finally finished sock no. 2. I knit 6 rows of stockinette before starting the toe. I even grafted the toe and...it's still too short! That's it!! I'm resting sock no. 2 and am ripping out the toe of sock no. 1 and will do another pattern repeat before decreasing for the toe. These are the socks that will never end...and the deadline is looming!

I don't know what happened!

2007-01-23T21:44:00.000-05:00

I'm making time on this second sock. I know February is bearing down on me, and February's themes are being posted in two days. I'm knitting whenever I can: in front of the computer, watching tv, watching children (when there's extra coverage tonight), on the telephone. Perhaps therein lies the problem.

So tonight, I'm catching up with my youngest sister, knitting away. I finish my heel flap. I actually turn my heel while talking to her (these days, counting and talking are a challenge). Being the sweet and good-natured soul she is, she waits while I count.

We get off the phone. I am picking up my 15 gusset stitches when...I have fifteen stitches on the needle and roughly 10 more gusset stitches to pick up. Whaat!! What did I do?! I don't make these kinds of mistakes! Well, I do now. I just ripped back I don't know how many rows and am going to turn the heel again. Wish me luck!

Monkey Sock is so aptly named

2007-01-21T21:06:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I'm almost done with sock no. 1. I know, that's where I was a few days ago. Since then, Boys E and M have developed pink-eye, or whatever it is Boy J has/had going on in the eyes. Try giving almost three-year-olds eye drops three times a day. I've broken one of my hard and fast rules: I bribe them with cookies because it's so bad (also Boy J, because his oral antibiotic tastes so bad), and even then, it's hard to get good cooperation.

On the sock front, I've ripped out the toe two or three times because it's too short. As it turns out, I needed another full repeat of the pattern, plus roughly 4-8 rows of stockinette before decreasing for the toe. I've had it with the ripping. The yarn and I need a rest. So, I've cast on the second sock and will make my adjustments there, and then will rip down the first sock one more time and knit to match. I did learn a new technique, though: how to weave the needles into the knitted fabric on the row I want to rip to, and then ripping. It's painstaking, but I couldn't take the "unknitting" for that many rows, and to just pull out the needles and rip is a disaster, because the stitches are so small and the yarn so fine that I get dropped stitches everywhere. Ugh.

All in all, I'm making progress on the second sock. I've finished the ribbing and have finished the first pattern repeat, or just about finished it. Battlestar Galactica is on tonight, so I should get some good knitting done, unless I get too engrossed in the show!

The Square-Along square is coming along nicely. It's a pretty simple pattern which will be a great way to use up leftover sock yarn.

Knitting right along into the next knitalong

2007-01-18T21:00:00.000-05:00

This is my post from 1/18; Blogger flipped out and apparently, it was not posted, so here it goes...

So after a night of getting up every few hours to check on Baby Girl, who decided to spike a fever of 104.5 at dinnertime, I decided to forego the diaper shopping I intended to do while the boys were in school this morning and took some time out to knit with my regular knitting companion, Mom. We reviewed my new double-pointed needles which just arrived from Knit Picks. Definitely an "A." I tried out the size 3s on Mom's Debbie Bliss toddler sock (her first foray into knitting socks) and she enjoyed them as well. And we had a first: I modified the pattern! Really, all I did was to tell her to slip the first stich on each row of her heel flap to make picking up the gusset easier, but it was a first! And I may even branch out from there on other patterns.

I also finally had the time (as ridiculous as this sounds) to examine the color card for Knit Picks' Telemark yarn, which I ordered because I'm intending to knit Pirate Mittens. I never thought I'd ever buy a color card, but these days, with my difficulties in getting to yarn stores and with my growing penchant for ordering yarn online, I've decided that I need color cards if I'm going to order online.

I also showed her the sock blockers I bought. Yes, I bit the bullet and ordered sock blockers from The Loopy Ewe. I added some sock patterns and was hardly able to resist the Sweet Georgia yarns. Can't wait for that package to come!

While relaxing and knitting my sock, I decided to go online and see what was new over at Testalong and found...a new Knitalong Testalong! And I was automatically in because I did the Socks 101 Knitalong! Of course, I talked Mom into signing up, and now, I just have to dig up some yarn.

After packing all this knitting excitement into one hour, I picked the boys up from school, whereupon Boy J obviously was developing a health problem--he was gooey! We spent lunchtime at the doctor's office, and he was so good natured, eating his grilled cheese and apple slices out of a plastic sandwich bag while we waited to be seen. And after giving him a wooden train to play with, he kept asking if I had one for Boy E and one for Boy M (which, of course, being the mother of triplets, I did). End result: sinus problem with eye involvement, requiring antibiotics and eye drops. Man, was he a trooper when I put the drops in; I'm not sure how good he'll be tomorrow. That's ok--I obviously need another challenge. Unfortunately, this trip consumed all of my naptime knitting time.

I posted a picture of my partially completed Monkey sock on the Socktopia flickr group and got such lovely comments--my first comments! It gives me some hope for this blog. Maybe, one day, I'll have blog readers other than my Mom and my sister. Though I don't expect anyone else to be particularly interested. But who knows!

Quick update

2007-01-17T13:33:00.000-05:00

I'm now halfway through the instep on the first sock. My knitting time is hampered because Baby Girl (aka Pumpkin) decided to bust out a 102F+ fever last night. She's sweet as pie, but I was dosing and talking to the pediatrician last night during prime knitting time.

I don't have another picture to post yet. I must admit, after taking pictures of my knitting, I realized I have not taken photos of the kidlings in a month. Bad Mommy!

Well, I'm off to knit: I have enough time to squeeze in knitting and a short nap before all hell breaks loose, i.e., the boys wake up.

This is the start of the breakdown

2007-01-15T19:49:00.000-05:00

The breakdown, however, has nothing to do with knitting. If you're only interested in knitting (and I don't blame you), skip to the next paragraph. Here's the problem: toilet training. I decided to train one boy at a time. The wrinkle is that all three boys want to toilet train and I can't say no to a boy who asks to use the potty. At 6:30 this morning, I started out in the bathroom. I emerged 40 minutes later. You get the picture. Add to that, the downstairs bathroom is probably 5' x 4', and I have a toilet, a sink, two potties, three boys and me in there all at the same time every 1-2 hours. Enough said. Exacerbating things is that although the sick boy is getting better, the other two are coming down with colds. And it's cold and rainy so we can't go out. And they're fighting. I've taken to throwing all participants in "time out" because I don't have it in me to play Solomon, and also my mom used to do it, and we turned out ok.

Fortunately for me, I had a mental health day yesterday. I had extra childcare help, so I was able to get on a treadmill (I have a workout about once every three months at my local gym, i.e., Mom's treadmill in her basement) and then we (Mom and I) went on a yarn crawl. First we hit Stix-n-Stitches, where I looked at lots of gorgeous yarn but exercised self-control and only bought Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns and Yankee Knitter's Classic Socks pattern for three yarn weights (also a few notions not worth mentioning). I'm definitely thinking of designing my own socks, but not yet. I need a lot of preparation and thinking. Then we hit Modern Yarn down the road. There, I was unable to resist fingerless gloves knit in di.ve Automno--only one skein per pair! I bought enough for two pair:

Along the way, Mom got sucked into buying sock yarn--she's got the itch since I've been talking up socks.

Speaking of socks, I'm moving right along with my sock. I've turned the heel, picked up the gusset, and am now working the instep. This pattern is a lot of fun! I'm a little concerned that the heel is too narrow, but I can't really tell until I finish the sock. If it is, I guess I'll knit the second sock, modify the heel (I can't wait to figure out how to do that!), then frog the first sock down to the heel (ack!). Hopefully, you'll see pictures below:

Here's the questionably narrow heel:

(obviously too difficult to see, but I know it's there).

And here's my favorite new knitting accessory/bag:

This is my GoKnit Pouch. It attaches onto a belt loop or a purse strap (though I thought I was the last person who would walk around knitting out of a yarn pouch attached to my belt loop until I did it yesterday) and has a loop inside to run the working yarn through. I am in love!

My next accessory to buy: sock blockers. I never thought I would need them, but apparently I do. It's also obvious from the way the Monkey sock looks on the needles vs. the photos accompanying the pattern. Besides, between Socktopia and Rockin' Sock Club, I'm obviously knitting a lot of socks this year.

Since I got the photo thing working again, here's a photo of the LL Lion & Lamb in Iris Garden that I bought for "the Clap":

Here's the LL sock yarn in Valentine:

This is the Esperanza scarf; you can probably see my color pooling issue even though it's not a good picture:

Unfortunately, my photo skills are not up to snuff, so you can't see how fabulous the colors really are on the sock yarn and the Esperanza, and the photo doesn't do justice to the Lion & Lamb either. So be it--I'll just do the best I can, which is my approach to most things these days.

Moving right along

2007-01-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

Today was a big day in knitting. I finished the cuff:

I dropped three repeats off the pattern because I like a shorter cuff. Since I've taken the photo, I've knit almost the entire heel flap. I did have a minor setback though: I lost a needle. As a result, I switched from knitting on four needles to knitting on three. Not a big deal, except the pattern is a 16 stitch repeat over 64 stitches, so it's easier to knit it on four needles. Fortunately, I was able to find stitch markers and maintain the pattern on three needles. The good news is that the lost needle turned up at my parents' house (I had brought the kids over to play and was able to squeeze in some knitting with all the adults around). The needle was recovered after I started the heel, so I won't need it again until I get to the gusset.

I also bit the bullet and ordered the KnitPicks dpns in sizes 0-3 so that I don't run into gauge trouble again. It's hard to get gauge when you don't have all the needle sizes you might need!

As you can see, I also learned how to post photos to the blog. Unfortunately, I need to learn how to take better photos. Here is the Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in Iris Garden that I bought for Clapotis:

I bet you thought there would be a picture here. So did I. Looks like that's a project for another time.

Moving right along, I finally found my Socktopia invite on flickr, so I got myself in the group. This novice blogger/novice knitalonger thing is slowing me down; I'm totally out of the loop on this web stuff. Guess I'll have to learn as I go.

Progress!

2007-01-12T22:19:00.000-05:00

Hooray! My sick boy has improved greatly, freeing me from worry and more doctor visits, and giving me time to do other things, like knit my first Monkey sock . I have only 3-4 more rows until I finish the ribbing and the real fun begins. The ribbing looks narrow on the needles, not unusual, but I know it stretches. I'm hoping the sock will fit me, otherwise, I'll gift them to someone with smaller calves (I haven't worked out how to figure that one out, maybe I need to wait until summer to scope out the legs of prospective giftees). I'm also thinking of taking out one of the lace repeats because the sock as pictured in the pattern seems like it may be a bit tall for me, but the beauty of socks is that you can try them on as you go. I'm getting very excited to start the lace part, but each time I start knitting, I keep thinking I have to order metal double-pointed needles because the birch ones I'm using are very flexible, and I'm afraid that I may snap one. In the meantime, I'll just knit gently.

I now have finished two projects this year. Woo-hoo! I think I have tied with the total number of projects I finished last year. The first finished project is the Socks 101 socks. Last week, I managed to figure out how to post them to Flickr, so you can see them here. Then last night, I bound off the Esperanza scarf and wove in the loose ends; fortunately, there were only four ends, because I could hardly keep my eyes open. It was only the will to finish that kept me going.

I haven't made it back to the attic to search for the Socks That Rock yarn I bought at Stitches and did not see on my previous trips to the attic in search of sock yarn. I also did not cull the stash yarn in my bedroom to return to the attic. I try to ignore that pile--or more accurately, the yarn blob that ate my knitting baskets and chair--each time I walk into the bedroom, and I am moderately successful. Moderately, because it gets on my nerves every time I look over to that area of the bedroom, but I haven't been driven to actually do something about it yet. Tackling the blob will be one of my weekend projects (I have many, but the most likely ones to be completed is a batch cooking session and the blob; anything else is a bonus). Here's to more progress!

I'm in!

2007-01-11T22:04:00.000-05:00

I just checked the members list on Socktopia and I'm in! What timing! After two days of examining sock patterns, I finally found a pattern that felt right for a skein of sock yarn in my stash. I've had balls and skeins of sock yarn spread out in my side of the bedroom, and was starting to think that they were starting to take over the room. Correction: I know that they were taking over the room. I've been swatching for days and had just reached the point where I thought I would never be able to get gauge when I did!

Here's the project: Monkey Socks from the Knitty Winter 2006 issue in Tess Yarns Super Socks and Baby on size 1 needles! The yarn is wonderful shades of blue and purple that remind me of water, so hopefully, that watery feel will come across; if not, I bet they'll still look pretty good. My GoKnit pouch just arrived yesterday from www.scoutsswag.com and my sock knitting is safely nestled within. I love knitting accessories!

So, although I have my project, finishing by the end of the month seems a bit ambitious right now. In the past two days, I've knit 1.5 rounds--not so much. At that rate, I'll finish the pair by December. My excuse is that one of the boys is sick and I've been up in the night checking breathing and giving breathing treatments (and watching an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine at 2 a.m. when the boy couldn't sleep), and spent this morning at the pediatrician and this afternoon at the pulmonologist.

Like most other knitters, I've got some other projects in the works as well. One is a wonderful scarf in Schaefer Esperanza, which my sister and knitting consultant, knittingembryologist, told me is long enough. So tonight, I will bind off, and then I will wash it (definitely not tonight) in one of the flavors of Soak I ordered and received with the GoKnit pouch to get rid of the slight odor of vinegar. Despite my acute sense of smell (when I was pregnant with the triplets, I couldn't even boil pasta because the smell bothered me), I would have never noticed it except for the fact that someone in some blog I read mentioned the smell of vinegar on hand-dyed yarns (is it used to fix the color?). So now I know and now I smell it, so washing is on the "To Do" list.

What else? A baby blanket that I'm using as an opportunity to learn to knit Continental. I like it, but it takes more work than I would expect because I'm using it as a learning project. The biggest challenge is maintaining my tension. I may have to bump it up on the priority list, though, because the baby is due in May.

The Babette Blanket, http://www.interweavecrochet.com/2006/materials.asp#babette, a fabulous crochet blanket started last year that has fallen by the wayside. I dabble in crochet for a change of pace, and this is an indulgent project just for me. Which makes it more tempting to do, except now I have to remember how to crochet.

The Sock Monkey blanket from the Happy Hooker, another foray into crochet. I just need to crochet the sock monkey faces, a job requiring a consult from my knitting and crochet teacher and companion, Mom. Then I have to sew them all together. I'm not that into finishing.

Oh, and an important project for me: pop top mittens from Rosie's Yarns. I've made it partway through the first mitten (2-3 fingers, I don't remember), but I need to pick it up because I could really use the mittens: I had a kitchen accident in October and injured a finger, and although it's pretty well healed, it's still sensitive to cold. Wearing mittens can be awkward when I'm out with the children and have to fasten carseats, so I may have to move this one up on the list, too.

The fish scarf from Tess Yarns, bought at Stitches. I bought enough yarn to make three scarves because I thought if would be fun to make them for the boys. Except after watching the boys play with the balloons they got at the shoe store yesterday, they probably shouldn't have anything they can wrap around their or other people's necks! Oh well, it can be a belt, too.

I see there's still a few minutes left in the day to get some knitting in, so off I go! I'm sure I'll have more UFOs to discover in the stash, as well as projects in progress.

Making the Leap

2007-01-08T20:37:00.000-05:00

Ok, I just sent an email to join Socktopia. I made a commitment to knit socks every month! I actually raided my stash and swatched a very vibrant skein of Schaefer Yarn Anne today during nap time; I'm not sure how it will fit into any of the month's themes, but what the heck! I'm sure I'll figure something out.

I also received my order from Angelika's Yarn Shop. Gorgeous Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb in Iris Garden for Clapotis, and Shepherd's Sport (I think) or whatever weight I need to learn how to knit socks on two circular needles as per Nenah Galati's DVD. I have so much to start, but then nothing will get finished, so I think the socks will take priority. Now, if I could just figure out what theme I can get my yarn and pattern (not yet chosen) to fall under.

So this is how it all begins...

2007-01-07T13:21:00.000-05:00

After months of following others' blogs, and developing an itch to join a knit-a-long, I am finally taking the plunge and starting this blog. I expect it will mostly capture my adventures in knitting, a respite from the wild ride of raising triplets and a singleton, all of whom at this time are under the age of three.

I am proud to say that I have completed my first knit-a-long project, Socks 101, www.knitalong.net/testalong (I see my "to do" list will including how to set up links). I'm going to check if I can post a picture since it was a test pattern intended for publication.

In the meantime, I have been eyeing Socktopia, www.socktopia.net. That means I have visited the site a zillion times. I'm the queen of lurking. I've read the the About/FAQ. At least three times. I've read the previous posts at least twice. It seems doable. It also seems like I can watch how people progress and sign up a little later. However, I think I need to have a blog to do it, ergo, here I am. Not only that, I have to make a commitment to the knitalong, after nearly three years of being unable to make commitments, or at least not any commitments that were not subject to the needs of a high risk pregnancy and multiple infants. And there are themes! Will my yarns/projects match any of the themes? Will I understand the themes? Will my Rockin' Sock Club (Socks That Rock) sock projects match the themes or will, horror of horrors, have to dig past brain fatigue and be creative? If so, maybe that's not so bad. At least it's not one of those knitalongs where you can get kicked out--that's too much commitment for me, considering my child-rearing obligations, and too much pressure. Could I really say, "Boys, I can't build a Thomas train track for you because I will get kicked out of the knitalong if I don't finish this project tonight?" On the other hand, would they even understand? It doesn't matter: a mother's guilt knows no bounds.

Well, here I go. There's still and hour of child nap time left, which means I have an hour of knitting to enjoy. And to mull over joining Socktopia.