This is how we do it!

Anyone else get that cheesy bit'o early 90's music reference? I don't know why my mind goes places like that, but at least it is a fun place! Yup, Cheese Queen, that's me.

I won't even try to fully explain my way out of why it has been so long since I last updated. How about this, I will partially explain. Two children under three ... lots of cold, lots of snow ... trapped indoors for long periods of time ... lot's of going to big box stores to walk around and get some sort of exercise ... and finally, the creeping crud illnesses that WILL NOT STOP ... oh, and Little Boy is getting EIGHT TEETH all at once. Yes, all 4 eye teeth, and all 4 molars AT ONCE. 'Nuff said.

I have been productive, though. I got both baby sweaters done, and gifted. The first went to my friend's baby.

Baby Sweater by Jean Leinhauser
US 4 / 3.5 mm
Cotton Linen mix on a 5 lb cone

I love this pretty little sweater. It looks more complicated than it is (bonus!). I changed the pattern a little bit so I could knit it in the round (bonus! bonus!), which made the whole thing seamless (BONUS, CUBED!). I loathe sewing up seams. The only thing to sew on this was the picot edging around the neck and hem, and that was not too bad.

And now, for the BSJ...

Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann

US 7 / 4.5 mm
Plymouth Encore Colorspun DK

Isn't it amazing how 100 different people can read the same words, and 100 different interpretations can be derived from the same words? Everything (and especially written instructions) can be subject to interpretation. All I can say is that I had trouble processing the written instructions for this pattern. I ended up having to figure out a way to place, and maneuver stitch markers so that I could actually SEE what was happening with each row. The markers actually provided a way for me to count the stitches on my needles, as they are written in the pattern. This was not possible for me before I placed the markers.

If you are coming here from my Ravelry post, some of this will sound familiar. I love the finished product ... BUT ... I had a HELL of a time with this pattern in the beginning! I think I tore this out almost 4 times! Every single time, it all seemed to go to hell between rows 9 and 13. When I would go to count my stitches, I could not tell which were the worked SK2P stitches, and then I could not tell if I made a mistake (especially when adding those M1's nine times on row 11). Things started to get better when I found this post http://autumnblossomknits.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/baby-s... which lead me to BSJ notes written by Dawn Adcock http://www.3gcs.com/adcock/BSSNotes.pdf

what I ended up doing was this...

CO 160 and placed a marker between stitches (sts) number 34 and 35, 37 and 38, 86 and 87, 89 and 90. So, once you are casted on, you needle stitches look like:

Row 1: 34sts (marker) 3sts (marker) 86sts (marker) 3sts (marker) 34sts.
The three sts between the markers are not counted when working the 34, 86, 34 (left, center, and right sections) of the pattern.

So, getting down to business, say we are on line 3 ...

K33, pm, SK2P,pm, K84, pm, SK2P,pm, K33.

Once you are finished with row 3, and you are about to start row 4, remember that the SK2P reduces three stitches to one, and you will need three stitches to perform the SK2P on row 5.
Okay, so when you go to work row 4 (the even row side), knit until you reach one stitch before the marker (knit 32 stitches),

** place a new marker, k1, remove old marker, k1, remove old marker, k1, place new marker**.

There should now be 3 sts between the markers. Now continue knitting (knit 84 stitches) until you are one stitch before the next old marker, and go back up to **. When you finish the even row, and you look over what you just knitted, there will be a marker on either side of three stitches. These will be the stitches that you will be SK2Ping on the next row.

Now you will be able to keep track of the stitches on each side of the SK2P stitches, and you will be able to keep track of the number of middle stitches. Do this "marker thing" all the way to row 46, when the Dawn Adcock instructions tell you to place the markers in a different way because of the new increases.

I have probably confused so you so badly that you are running from you computer, yarn trailing behind you in a tangled mess. Sorry. I hope not. All I know is that I was getting really frustrated with this pattern, and I know that there were a few folks out there beating their heads against the wall with me. I am just trying to throw a "rescue ring" out there for any others who may be at their wits end.

Now, for the BSJ FO details. The contrasting edge on my BSJ was actually out of necessity as I ran out of yarn at ROW 110! Yes, four rows from the end! I thought I would DIE. Luckily I had some matching yarn laying around to finish up. I was shocked to find that I actually liked the way this jacket looks with the contrasting edge! I did an I-cord edging all the way around, including the neck. I then joined the sleeve tops with a three-needle bind off … both techniques I found on knitty.com. After I got it all done, I wished I could keep this for my little guy! Maybe when I finish some more projects, I will make him one for next year. The only thing I will change with the next one I make are the type of decrease stitches I will use - I am not a huge fan of the way the SK2P’s look (just my personal opinion).

I am reaching the end of my brain power for the night, and I can already hear my thought processes powering down. Next time, I might have finished Vogue Spring/Summer Short Sleeve Cardigan (#19) by Shiri Mor to share with you!

Until then, happy 'nittin.
Or unhappy, whichever you choose.

H - is for "huh?"

I scanned this out of one of Big Boy's favorite books.
It is for real, and was not doctored in any way.

You know, I can only imagine how hard it is to come up with new and different things for kid's books. I mean personally, I TOTALLY get tired of the tired
A is for apple
B is for ball
C is for Cat... So, I really like it when folks come up with neat new things. BUT, don't you think they could have come up with something better for this particular "H is for Hamster...."?

How about "The Hamster is furry" or "The Hamster drinks water" ?
I about peed myself laughing when I came to it.

Yes, there is knitting news, but I am waiting for better light for photos. Knitting intensive post to come.

Eeeeh...so so.

Okay, my first thought on the Revolution English Breakfast tea was "Do I need to leave the bag in longer?". Yeah, IMO, it is kind of weak. Personally I like my EBT to be fuller, thicker, and slightly sweet tasting. I ended up adding quite a bit of sugar to this Revolution EBT to give it taste. I think that I will be sticking to my Twinnings EBT until I find something better. Now, the one variation that might need to be tried is with milk. I don't usually add milk to my tea, so this might be something that would bring out other flavors of the Revolution EBT that would otherwise be missed by the "straight up" drinker. Nonetheless, the way I enjoy tea, did not bring out the positive quality of this tea. Therefore, my socks were not knocked off. Socks still on and thank goodness because it is WAY COLD outside.

Stash Peach - yum! I liked it quite a bit more than the Revolution Ginger Peach. The peach flavor is stronger (yet not unpleasantly strong), and the body of the black tea is fuller and more substantial than the Evolution Ginger Peach. Once again, I feel that the Evolution Tea was a bit weak in the taste department.

It is 2 degrees (F) outside, -11 with the wind chill. I feel as though I will be consuming a lot of tea this weekend. :)

In the moment.

Oh brrrrrr. It seems as though I am drinking so much tea lately. These cold, damp days really make me hanker a nice hot cuppa-T. Usually, I just reach for my old stand-by, Red Rose; but recently I decided to branch out a little bit and I purchased a few "new" teas.

Coconut Pouchong from Golden Moon Tea.

Ingredients: Grand Pouchong Tea Leaves, essence of coconut.

Vanilla Black Tea from Taylors of Harrogate
Ingredients: a blend of fine black tea with vanilla and sunflower petals.

Pear Honey from Golden Moon Tea (not pictured)

Revolution: variety tea sampler.
(Earl Grey Lavender, Tropical Green, Sweet Ginger Peach, White Pear, and English Breakfast)

The Coconut Pouchong is simply delightful! I never before have known of coconut in tea, and wow, here it is. You open the container, and the coconut essence is just heady! It is described as being "serene, and light ... with the coconut instilling a tropical sweetness in this exquisite bouquet..." 100% exact. The tea leaves are high quality, and brew up nicely. Actually, I accidentally over steeped (steeped the hell out of) some last night (bedtime bedlam began), and it was still really good by the time I got back to it (15 minutes or more). Now, this may have been due to the small, one cup quantity I was steeping; but, nonetheless, it was still TASTY, coconutty, and not bitter at all.

I must admit that I was quite apprehensive trying a Pouchong tea variety, because the name sounded way too similar to a Lapsoung (Lapsang) Souchong I once tried. Yeah, there is a reason I now call I now call Lapsoung Souchong, "Lhasa Apso tea". It tasted like a smoky, wet dog. I thought I was going to DIE. This is the very tea served in the waiting room of Hell, I am sure of it. Yet, I digress .... where was I?

The Vanilla Black Tea is quite tasty, but I have only made one cup of it, and I think I over-steeped it because IT:WAS:STRONG. Too strong. I don't think this was the tea's fault though. I was negligent. Despite my over doing it, this tea reminded me a lot of Chai, without all of the complexities. I will make this again and give a diatribe later.

The Pear Honey from Golden Moon Tea, I gave away to my Ravelry Tea Swap partner. She seemed to be quite pleased with it, so I am going to dash out tonight or tomorrow and score me some.

As for the Revolution teas; so far, I have only tried the Tropical Green Tea (dragonwell green tea, blended with pineapple flavor and citrus peel...) and the The Sweet Ginger Peach (a blend combining the taste of peaches, and ginger root with Ceylon and Assam Teas..). I was intrigued by this brand of teas because the name makes me think "hummm, they sound really responsible.." but when I opened the box I found the tea packaged in a little "plastic" mesh pyramid tea bag. We compost, and I compost all of my tea and used tea bags, so I was immediately taken back. Well I did some sleuthing and came up with this interesting description how their little mesh infuser bags are 100% biodegradable! Wow, nice!

The Tropical Green was fine, but not very rememberable. I attribute this to the fact that I was drinking it Christmas Eve, and I was a little stressed that night - read above post. The Sweet Ginger Peach was nice as well. Quite nice peach taste, without the harsh tannins and totally fake peach that some other peach flavored black teas have.

The only thing that kind of hacks me off is that the whole reason I bought this sampler box is because it was the ONLY ONE that had a sample of the White Pear Tea. Well, not MY box. Instead of the White Pear Tea, I ended up with two of the Tropical Greens. It is not like I don't like the Tropical Green, I just really wanted to get my taste buds wrapped around that Pear Tea! I guess one positive thing that comes out of this is that I am getting another chance to try the Tropical Green and come up with a better decision on it.

Earlier I spoke of Red Rose: Here is the newest addition to my Wade Figurine Frenzy.

I am still making my way through the Stash teas given to me by my tea swap partner. I will critique those later. I feel like moving on to other news right now.

FO! SOCKS! Although I am quite pleased with my PGR recipe for the invisible cast on toe. I am equally pleased with the "same as the toe, heel". What I am really irked about is the fact that it took me until the second sock to really get down grafting off at the top edge.

Egad! I should have practiced this technique before getting down to business on the real, actual sock. I was just so sure that I could just wing it and make it happen. Funny thing about grafting off ... once you start, there really is no turning back; at least not for me. The first sock (the unintentional guinea pig) is quite noticeably different than the second "got the hang of it by now" sock. I am not unhappy enough to tear it out though. Honestly, the beautiful yarn, and the glove-like fit, cancel out the top edges. The colors are so saturated that they are very hard to capture. I think that the above photo comes the closest to showing the actual colors.

The above photo was taken with a flash,
and does nothing for the colors.
Don't handmade socks look funny before they are blocked?

Now that my wonderfully warm Diakeito socks are done, I can start on my baby tasks. As of New Year's Eve, 4 babies have been born, and 6 more are on the way. All 6 are due between now and August. And how far along am I into my list of babies things to make?

The HUGE 5 pound spool of cotton/linen boucle
was an e-Bay purchase made about 5 years ago.
The seller actually sent this spool to me by accident (!)
and told me to keep it since it was his mistake.

That is it. That is all I have done. Good lord. At this rate I will never catch up. This little cutie will go to whomever is born first. Baby #1 is due the last week of January, baby #2 is due the first week of February. Baby #3 April, babies #4 and #5 (i think) June, baby #6 August. Baby #6 though, is not going to get a hand-knit. His family is going to get a homemade meal. He is baby #3, and although every baby is special and deserves something new, they have everything they need for a new baby ... what they are really going to need is ready-made food so that the new momma does not have to cook right away.

I have made this little sweater tons of times before, and I know I can turn one of these out in a day or two. I am going to try to make the matching booties as well, but we will see how much time I will get. Depending on my time, I might make these for the first two impending births, and for the next babies, a few of them might get the BSJ! I got my hands on a pattern when I went to Knitters Mercantile in November, and I have been chomping at the bit to start it. I am a little apprehensive at the learning curve, so I would rather tackle it when I am not feeling pressured. I think that between the February baby, and the April baby, I can get one or two done.

Oh, and last but not least ... everybody, meet Rufus.
He has to have been the BEST Christmas present EVA!
He's a PURSE!
How cool is that?

New Year, new post.

The New Year brought along with it, new illnesses. Yup, both boys caught the creeping crud. How they got it I will never know. Up until a few minutes ago, my laundry room still had the faint odor of baby vomit, so I had to drop everything and get the mounds of "illness laundry" pushing through. Thank goodness the boys are asleep, for now I will have a little bit of time to try to figure out what to post. I hate to say it, but I am starting to feel a little ill ... but I am going to try to "mom my way through it" and perhaps the germs will just give up and go try to find a foot hold elsewhere?

I have not been completely idle since my last post. After much agitation, and studying PGR's Simple Socks, and Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks , I embarked on my own toe-up pattern. What would make me take on such a daunting task, you ask?

My precioussssssssssss...

I had only two, 109 yd balls, so I wanted to use every.single.inch of this gorgeous stuff. This is why I opted for the toe-up variety of sock. I am creeping up on the half way mark for sock #2. This yarn? Diakeito MSE Diamusee. It is Simply Delicious. I cannot get enough of watching those colors change! It is so soft, and squishy, and the thing that keeps surprising me is how clean it is! I knit with Noro a LOT, and I am so used to having to stop and remove debris - not with this, baby! I also love how the color bands are not predictable - so much for trying to make identical striped socks! Honestly though, the striping is "random" enough that the different-ness does not bother me one bit! I actually prefer it with this yarn.

OH! OH! And don't let me forget! I signed up for Ravelry's Cup o' Tea holiday Tea Swap! I have no photos of my Tea Swap Loot, simply because I immediately dove into the tea box, and I had to put away the beautiful yarn because Big C kept wanting to drive his Matchbox cars in it "Drive car in mommy yarn garage?" Yes, he kept forcing the car into the skein calling it a "yarn garage" -

My swap partner wrote me and said that there is more coming too! Can you believe it? What a sweetie! I almost had to do an installment mailing as well, as it was taking forever for me to find the goodies to send my partner, but, as luck would have it, I found everything the Friday before Christmas, and got it out the door by the 22nd. Now, this parcel was going international, over the holidays, so who knows WHEN it will get to it's destination! I just hope she likes it when it arrives!

The washer just stopped, I need to move the washed load on to the dryer and get the next (4) loads going so I can sit and rest for at least half an hour before Thing 1 and Thing 2 get up. :)

Oh Holy Night ...

I was just outside putting the last of the food (that will not fit in the refrigerator) into the car to keep it cold over night. Thank goodness we have a cold Christmas this year. Thank goodness for a lot of things, actually. It was so shockingly cold outside tonight. As I stood in the dark, it struck me how awesomely silent it was. It was so quiet that the inside of my ears felt heavy. As my warm breath rose up towards the sky, I lifted my gaze up to the amazingly bright, full moon, flanked closely by Mars -- Mars in Opposition the sun. Last night when we were driving home, the full moon rising looked like a giant cookie coming up over the horizon. NO kidding! Big C was so enamoured with it, and it's bright light, that he sang to the moon the whole way home.

We took a drive tonight, to go around "lights lookin'". The boys LOVED it. Big C just gasped, and sat wide eyed in his seat. Little M seemed uninterested until i removed his hood which was shielding his eyes. He gazed out the window and his eyes went large. He looked at me for reassurance for this beauty that he was seeing, and when I said "look honey, look at the pretty lights" he squealed and laughed with such pure joy that it brought tears to my eyes. His reaction was SO pure, SO beautiful; such astounding expressiveness for a baby of only 9 months.

Everyone is in bed now, the toys are all arranged with care. I got my mom to go to bed and to stop tidying up the room and folding bags, and moving furniture, and wrapping gifts in the living room RIGHT OUTSIDE OF THE BOYS ROOM, and banging around and making SO.MUCH.F'ing.NOISE.

I am not a super duper religious person, but the feeling I had tonight was unearthly.Godly if you will.
Peace, Love, Harmony be with you all on this most beautiful of nights.

Something to show for it....

I'd like to say that all of the days that we were trapped inside resulted in my finishing a bunch of knitterly projects ... but not so. I am not saying that I didn't do anything, but a knittin' machine, I was not. I DO have at least ONE FO to show for all of the "snow days" though. The Noro striped scarf is done! I loved this project! Something so simple yielding something so beautiful and seemingly complex. AND USEFUL! How can you beat that?

2 balls #249 (main background color)
1 ball #246
1 ball #245
knitted on 7s
Just a few ounces left over.

It has been really hard to get started on my new projects due to the holiday rush going on around here. Because of the oh so beautiful weather we have had the past few weekends (ice storms every weekend) and then a snow storm last weekend we have not been able to get our Christmas tree. We finally got one last weekend, and I just now, as in within the past hour, got it decorated. Tomorrow, the rest of the house. It is the littlest boy's first Christmas, so I want to have everything all pretty for him. As I was getting all of the decorations out tonight I discovered (GASP) we don't have a stocking to hang for him! I KNOW that he is too young to care, but still! I wish I were able to whip one up real quick, but it just ain't gonna happen. All i can wish is that when my mom comes and sees that baby boy has no stocking, maybe she will spoil him with one (wink wink). On top of all of the Christmas Chaos, the One And Only Wonder Boy is sending us a shipment of fresh King Crab from none other, Unalaska, Alaska. He was there doing his USCG stuff. Well, it was supposed to arrive today BUT I think Young Nasty Man intercepted our crab. It is safe to say that I am crabby, because I had no crab for dinner. Here I was thinking that I was getting out of making dinner because "we had crab coming!". How wrong I was! I was so sad. We ended up getting carry out because I refused to cook anything other than crab tonight:(. All I know is that I better see my box-o-crab waltzin' up the driveway tomorrow morning, or else I am going to go on strike, and my family will not get a hot cooked meal till the crab arrives. I don't think i have ever typed "crab" so many times in one place before.

I might not have received my crab, but I did get this! My Noro sock yarn!
I cannot wait to sink my fingers into these! Oh do I have plans! The Noro striped scarf has really got me thinking about a challenge. More on this later once I have wrapped my brain around what I actually want to do.

Despite all of the hectic-ness, I love this time of year. Something about the magic of the lights, and the calming of the snow, makes everything so shockingly beautiful. Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good night.

OMG!

This is HUGE news to me. Okay. Take.a.breath. Here.it.comes...

Just in time for the holidays, the sweet folks at WEBS bring us Noro SOCK YARN!

holy crap Batman!

AS IF I need another reason to buy more sock yarn! I just needed some folks to go down on the ship with me.

Hell Hath reached 0 deg C -- NEWS FLASH!

As of 1600 yesterday, I finished my MS3! I am done with her, and she, me. Sadly, right now, she looks like a limp, pink, bead-studded blob. But as soon as I get my blocking wires, I will get 'er all stretched out the way she is supposed to be! I dragged that poor stole all the way home over the Thanksgiving holiday so I could work on it ... yeah, right, like that was going to happen. But still, my heart was in the right place.


Instead of working on my stole, I dragged my mom to The Knitters Mercantile. OH.MY.GOD. It was everything that I imagined, and MORE. I knew that they were the ones behind the Knitters Connection 2007 that was held in Columbus last June, so I had the feeling that they were no slacker store -- but wow, I was just awed. The nicest lady came up to ask if I needed help with anything, and I honestly told her that when I found my words again, I am sure I would have some questions for her. I was speechless. Now, this could be due to the fact that here, in Flatlandia, my main LYS does not have that warm and fuzzy feeling. And the selection, well it is just too hard to find anything. KM actually had Tilli Thomas hanging out that you could touch, and cuddle. I had never seen this yarn in real life. It's like looking at the Koala bear through the glass, compared to actually holding the bear in your arms.

yes. I bought yarn. A good haul too, if you ask me. It is all for the projects to come for the rest of this winter. For now though, to celebrate my project monogamy, I am going to reward myself with a beautiful, mind freeing project; Brooklyntweed's Noro Striped Scarf. I procured some Noro Silk Garden from Little Knits sale a few weeks ago, and I think that the color combination will be fab.


Oops! Oh craptastic ... I forgot to re-orient that photo. Considering how long it took to upload, I guess that is just the way it is going to stay.

2 balls #249 (main background color)
1 ball #246
1 ball #245

I hope that everyone had a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday; I am still coasting from the calories I consumed that night. Now that I am freed from the weight of lace (arrrr arrrr lace weight) I hope to be posting a LOT more often.

Bee and Flower say "Happy Halloween!"

Bee really enjoyed Halloween this year. As for Flower, well apparently, he was just humoring us, and came along for the ride. Clay has always been a "just go with it" child, but for some reason, he had an ATTACK when it came to putting on his bee outfit. He has had so few screaming fits, and I was really caught off guard by his reaction. I had NO idea what to do. As he stood there screaming, and I stood there staring at him, the whole scene started to strike me as hilariously funny. It took all of my power not to laugh at him while he was freaking out because the more the little bee flailed and ran in sobbing circles, the more the little bee antennae on the hood of the costume would violently bobble around; he honestly looked like a fat little crazed bee ... I had tears in my eyes from holding back the laughter. I finally convinced him that we were just "putting on his Bee coat because it is cold outside", and bang, that was it, he stopped in his tracks and was ready to go. That simple explanation made everything okay. Go figure.

It started to get dark while we were out trick-or-treating, and at one point he froze in his tracks looking at the sky. He had such awe in his voice when he looked at me and said "LOOK AT THE STARS! Mamma, Morgie, and Clay out at NIGHT! IN the DARK! Out in the DARK with STARS!!!!". It made my heart leap and melt. He has never been outside walking around at night. He has always seen stars through windows. This simple thing that we adults take for granted is all still so NEW to him. It was like he was completely blown away that something so spectacular and wonderful could happen to HIM. Forget the free candy, forget the bee coat! He was seeing the stars OUTSIDE in the DARK! The way he excitedly gripped my hand as we crunched through leaves as the wagon clattered along behind us was just purely exhilarating. This is the feeling that makes parenthood so rewarding. THIS is what it is all about.

I have been trying to get outside everyday because it will not be too much longer that our days will turn too cold and rainy to enjoy.
It has been clear and cold. In the early frosty morning air, you can feel winter starting to rise. We have been trying to get outside as much as we can. I have been slow to post because I have been kind of lost in the depths of my mind. It is fall, and when the air starts to cool, and the dampness of the night rains stay in the air through the cool mornings, I can smell the change in the air. I so love fall. The impossible colors of the morning and evening sky, the impossible colors of the trees. When these things start happening, and I am trying to take it all in at once, my mind goes internal, and i start thinking, and mulling. I get quiet, my mind grows calm, and rambling. Like a quiet little brook. Taking it's time to gurgle, and mingle amongst the rocks, moss, and leaves -- slowly slipping on, like it is taking it's good old sweet old time tasting every square inch of it's stream bed.
I don't know what brings this state of mind on. It borders primal instinct. The orange-ing of the pumpkins, and the reddening of the final tomatoes are just precursors to the change that is coming. Those warm, sunny afternoons when everything is warm to the touch, and yet the air is cool. It is like everything is nestling down, and getting ready for the long, cold sleep ahead. The trees had not yet started to turn, but they were *just* on the edge. It is like the trees were holding their breath untill the cold nip came ... then the sudden cold will made them sharply inhale, allowing the sap to start running back down into their roots. So fast, the suffocating leaves wonder what happened...leaving behind a palette that is simply breathtaking.


As I am still sluggish with the knitting news, I have been knitting, just not saying much about it. I will make up for this eventually, though. I have decided that this "intensive" post of fall photos will have to do. I say intensive just because there are a lot of photos, not because they are large files or anything. Until we get something faster than dial-up, I really have to scale down the size of my pics.

Happy Halloween (part 1)

We are completely intrigued with a little gift G'ma & G'pa brought us...
It's a plug in, table top spooky house. It has a little witch on a broom that zooms around and around on the top. Clay says "look, it's mommy witch on Honda broom...". Yes, i had a little bit to do with the "Honda" part, but i think the rest is totally his.

And now for some truly spooky knitting news! I am now on the "Wing" part of my MS3. Yeah, I know ... finally. I really like the way it is looking, so let's keep our fingers crossed that I get this thing done sometime before Christmas. As I am still holding on to my "one project at a time" mindset (I know, why do I torture myself so?), I have been allowing myself to plan the next project i will dive into. I am thinking of embarking on some of Chuck's cabled Socks in the Kauni EV colorway and/or the Leavened Ragland in the Fall 2007 IK. I kind of slid off the proverbial "wagon" last week and accidentally enhanced my stash with some Noro Silk Garden last week (it was on SALE at Little Knits!), and some scrumptious sock yarn. The sock yarn I picked up on Etsy at Fearless Fibers. She has some beautiful stuff!

A moment of silence while we ogle together, please?

Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino
4 oz. / 550 yds.
Marrakesh colorway (left)
Inner Sanctum colorway (right)
(The picture was taken on the one spot of grass I did not kill this summer with the baby pool.)

Ah yes, and both so full of that beautiful squish-bounce feeling. Because of my little indulgences, I will not be purchasing the lovely Fiesta Kokopelli that the Leavened Ragland sweater is shown in - BUT, I will be giving it a go with some stashed Rowan Polar, that I think will have a similar gauge. I won't be sure though until I actually get my hands into the Polar and give it a good swatching.

I feel a small rant coming on...

You know, I have always liked Halloween. Bats, cats, smiling toothy pumpkins - it is all just so much fun! Halloween used to be so simple. A few maimed construction paper cut outs in the window, and a costume consisting of a black ski mask, black leotard with tights and wings made out of garbage bags were all you needed to do it up right. (Halloween also used to mean that it was cold outside, and trick-or-treating was done in the dark, yet, I digress). Recently though, I have been annoyed with the whole over-the-top holiday explosion. It now seems that Halloween has become yet another easy vehicle for stores to enable a frenzy of excessive, seamless, October through December buying, decorating, and waste. It 's like folks suddenly think that the more theme decorations you can cram outside (and inside) for each.and.every.holiday, the MORE you are into the holidays than EVERYONE else. I drive down the street and I am bombarded with yard atrocities that scream "Look at us! LOOK AT US! We have a yard so full of pumpkins and non-hardy mums that we look like we are running a U-Pick it farm! And our concrete geese are dressed in coordinating festive fall wool sweaters! Do we know how to do FALL right, or WHAT?"

M.I.A.

I have been missing in action lately. My mind has been a lot of ethereal places, just not here. Honestly, it has been hard for me to decide what to write about. I will come up with a topic, wait till the kiddies are in bed, and then the 20 tons of bricks fall into my lap. There I sit there, vegetable-like, on the sofa, staring at yet another episode of Law and Order. I don't even LIKE Law and Order. But there I sit, glazed over - much like the doughnut picture in My Profiles.

I have been quite apprehensive about talking about my knitting, because I just don't know what to say. I have a severe case of knitters block. I feel completely seized up. I try to lunge into a new project, but there is a tangle of UFO's, yarn wants, yarn needs, and knitterly daydreams that hold me back. At the moment, I am just a stagnant, tangled thoughts mess. Just how many entries can I put "STILL doing MS3"? I am on row (gulp) 251. Good GOD. At this rate I will never finish. I love the pattern, I love the yarn, I love how the project is turning out -
I just HATE how little time I seem to have for it at the end of the day. I have been trying hard to keep my "one project at a time" rule going - especially while MS3 is on the needles. But it has been so hard for me! Now that fall is here, the nights are cool and the trees are changing - I have this deep urge to start working on warm, colorful, autumnal things.

I want to pick up some serious stranding, and do me up socks like Mel's, Chuck's Cabled Socks (GORGEOUS!)
I am so totally obsessed with wanting to make these socks. I have the pattern, I am about to purchase the yarn - so what am I waiting for? Well, I also want to make this, and this, and about three things from this. See what I mean? I just don't know where to start. I have all of these ideas, and I am bursting at the seams wanting to start them all, but they are all backed up in the bottleneck created by my beautiful Swan Lake Stole (MS3). I hate to say it, but this whole thing is kind of like being constipated. I want, I need, I HAVE to get it done ... but nothing is happening. I feel so guilty comparing this beautiful lace project to constipation. There has to be someone out there who knows what I am going through with this.

All of this on top of trying to plan knitted baby gifts for the NINE people that are due between October and April. NINE! Nine babies in seven months! That number might go up to eleven any day now (no, not me) but two of my friends. So far, I have finished one baby jacket for the baby due in 2 weeks. I will be photographing it on my youngest little guy later today, and i hope to be posting pictures of it here, and on Ravelry in the next few days.

Gasp. The doorbell ringeth - 'tis the postman!
Does he come bearing gifts of yarn,
knitting books,
non-buggy bread?
Let's go see,
shall we?

Day After Day...

I was driving out to a play group the other morning
and I suddenly could not remember where I was supposed to be going.
This brain fart is brought to you by ... The Violent Femmes.
I think that I am going to blame this particular seize-up on the fact that I was singing along with
The Violent Femmes "Day After Day"...
I was having one of those being-in-college flashbacks
to how every Friday night, our first year, we would have an upperclassmen go buy us beer,
(OR the Sun Country or California Coolers in Peach or mixed berry)
and listen to our V. Femmes tape.
By the time the tape got to the song "Day After Day" we were WELL on our way to getting soused ...
Don't worry, be happy...
And then, we all would go out and party at Delt.

Later on in our second and third year we would have an upperclassmen go buy us beer.
We'd break out the "Grease" tape only after we had finished the beers
and were starting in on the vodka lemon shots ...
Hey SBGH's, these are for you--
"DO me Baby" - BilBivDevoe and "I wanna sex U up" - COlor Me Badd
THEN we all would go out and party at Delt.

Our forth, and last year, we were older, and so much more sophisticated.
We could buy our own booze.
We changed up the routine a bit by filling up our "Use, reuse, recycle" cups with a few shots of Vodka and took them down to the cafeteria with us.
Then we would fill the cups with orange juice at the juice machine.
We'd merrily eat dinner, drink screwdrivers, and then go back to the room to play Roxanne, Red Light ...
Roooooxanne, you don't have to wear that dress tonight!
THEN we would break out the grease tape and drink Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill.
THEN we all would go out and party at Delt, and maaaaybe SAE.
"It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!"

Only later in my Graduate Career did we discover Boone's Farm Sangria --
we kept a bottle of it "at the ready" in our freezer for special occasions like
"Hey, I passed my dissertation proposal! " or
"Hey, I got my NSF funding for the summer field season!" and the best one
"Hey! I got the Fulbright Scholarship!
waaahooo, let's break out the BOONE'S!
Only the best.

yeah - so that is where my mind was when I suddenly "woke up" on a freeway in central Flatlandia, in a mini van, with two wonderful, chattering, squeaking babies ... and a bag full of a half knitted MS3 stole.

Funny how priorities, and definitions of fun, change.

Change
is
GOOD.

We are back up and running, for now.

Just so you know I have not been ignoring you.
I have been trying to wade through, and catchup up with hundreds of e-mails sent to me over the past month+ that we had no computer, and no washing machine. August was a bad month for anything electronic in our home.
Yup, we blew yet another motherboard. Long story short, the computer people fixed it for free yet again
(we were one week out of motherboard #2's warranty expiration) but they refused to fix he problem that was CAUSING the mother f'ing boards to blow (!?!?!?). We got the craputer back, and took it to our own place here in town to get the power supply fixed. Now it is fixed, and now I am trying to catch up with the world.... oh, and the diagnoses with the washing machine? The fixit man said (and I quote) "ain't ever seen THAT happen before...".

Amidst those problems I had and unfortunate encounter of a food borne kind ... because I live in Flatlandia, the grocery store here in town that is NOT a Wal-Mart, decides that it is going to start ridding itself of diverse grocery products, and opting for the "highest payer for shelf space" products. This means that variety is now being replaced by products all from the same manufacturer/s. Where am I going with this? Well, let me tell you. A year ago they got rid of my favorite bread of all time Natural Ovens Bakery cinnamon raisin bread ... so we opted for the next best thing, "not-a-lot-of-crap-in-it" Roman Meal. I will be damned if now, the Roman Meal has disappeared from the shelves, and in it's shelf space was this new bread -- a new bread called "soft 'n' smooth". A bread with the name of a toilet paper should have tipped me off... it should have been a warning. ANYWAY, got said bread home, got half way through the loaf, and lo' and behold, this is what I found in my "soft 'n' smooth" the other morning...


niiiiiice, huh?

I think that this slice had more than only 2g of fiber, eh? OMG! Like, what the hell? You can see wings, and I swear that is the big old head....(shivers going up my spine).
Holy crap! I was this close [] to eating that! I was sticking this slice into the toaster and just happened to catch a glance of something funny on the bottom of the slice ... I called the Bread Company, and we are now sitting on a fist full of "get it for free" coupons.

And now a cute kid picture.

We are experiencing technical difficulties....

And if I say to you tomorrow ...

It has been a while now since I have written anything, but I have good reason I swear. This is the view from my rock. This is where I was hiding ...


Unfortunately, we had to come home a week early so that I can fly to California to be with my beloved family. They/we lost our brother way too soon. Oddly enough, this photo was taken hours before I learned of his passing. I had been sitting there since daybreak, watching the colors of the world change around me. My babies and husband were all snugly sleeping in the cabin, and the water stood vibrant, and still; everything, so deeply tranquil. Not even a breeze. The world seemed to be holding it's breath. Distant loon calls faintly echoed across the tree tops. A kingfisher suddenly came out of no-where and started diving and flying all around my tranquil spot; as if to say "hey lady, I can't wait all day, I got work to do here". I sat and watched him, thinking about how this bird and all of his ancestors have flown this lake for who knows how long. Although our lives are so short, the effects we leave upon this world (and other people) are everlasting.

Ernie, we all will miss you so much.

MS3

Yey! I finally got my yarn last Friday, just in time for the 4th clue to be released! We were in the midst of planning the birthday extravaganza, so I was not even able to properly feel on my yarn until Sunday night. Wow. It was SO worth the wait! I was a little upset that it too so long to get here (almost 2 weeks to the day), but I think the lady deserves a little slack, because hey, laceweight wool was in such high demand due to the MS3! I cannot believe that I made was able to sign up for the MS3 before the cutoff date! I am always the last to know things, and how I was lucky enough to get in on this one I will never know. I am loving the pattern! Lovely Melanie at Pink Lemon Twist is the leader and creator of the whole MS3 phenomenon. It is so beyond me how anyone designs beautiful lace things like this! It 's like, trying to understand how astronomers figure out the logistics of landing a rover on a distant planet (that's like, basically predicting the future, right?). Well, to me, it seems that designing lace is kind of the same thing.

I took a picture of my progress so far (I am still on Clue #1), see Slow Bee Badge to the right. Kind of sad that the photo does not do it justice (you can't even really see the beads on it!), but I really dont feel like looking for a good place to take the picture. I am pressed for time already, as it is. I HATE frogging, so because of this, I am SUPER cautious. As you can see, I have stitch markers, and life lines out the wazoo!

Zephyr wool/silk in Cassia, on size 4 (3.5mm) Takumis

The is the first knit-a-long I have participated in, but I am really hoping that Melanie will have a MS4 for next year (hint hint, Melanie)!

Our birthday celebration went really well this weekend! We had a bit of fun with it this year and kept Clay's gifts a total secret. Once he went to bed, we set everything up outside. So, Clay went to bed with the backyard looking like this ....

and woke up to this ....

He was simply ecstatic!

I also tried my hand at making him a cake this year.

He LOVED the cake. Well, let me clarify that ... he loved the TOYS on top of the cake. This is the second year in a row that Clay was not interested in the birthday cake! Last year he sat and stared at it like it was going to rear up and bite him. This year he stared at it like it was some gooey lump getting in the way of him playing with his trucks. Oh well, considering that the cake was not all that tasty, he really did not miss much ;) Let's just say that the decorations rocked...the cake did not.

Where's my two dollars?

Okay, I think the mailman is starting to think that I am stalking him. I am starting to feel like that paperboy in that classic 80's flick "Better Off Dead" .... "Where's my two dollaaaaaars? I want my two dollars!". Where's my yaaaaarn? I know that ALL of the yarn stores have been SWAMPED with orders for laceweight yarn ever since the MS3 KAL started, and I am trying to be patient and understanding. BUT I WANT MY YARN! It's going on 2 weeks since I placed the order.

I got the beads, I got the size 12 (!) crochet hook, and I have all of the charts taped together, marked out and ready to go. I am so ready to start this thing! Personally, I think they should call the crochet hook size a -12, because depending on who sized it, a "regular" size 12 hook is enormous. The hook needed for the MS3 (my -12) is a 1.00 mm hook. The other, more "common" 12 is almost a size L or M which is almost a cm in size.
Needless to say, I was really confused when the directions said to apply the beads to the laceweight yarn using a size 12 crochet hook. I was starting to wonder if the "beads" were supposed to be soda can ring pulls.

Must.not.obsess.over.yarn.
Must.distract.self.

Okay, how about this for distraction?
The Heathen Housewife has a contest going on this week! Let's go check it out!

At some point I am going to have to start photographing my FO's, UFO's and stash. That is going to be quite the undertaking, so I am just going to have to start slow, and post photos of the MS3 as I creep through it . I have not quite decided what this site is going to be about yet, but I suppose that will all come in time.

Well, I am off to go figure out what kind of birthday cake to make for the weekend. I cannot believe that my little boy is already going to be two years old! Perhaps the way I will privately celebrate his birthday for myself is by finally making some time to post his birth story on my Doula's web site. I almost cried at his first birthday because I was remembering how beautiful he was when he was born, and how beautiful that day was for me. I honestly believe that the birthday celebration is not only for the person born on that day, but it is also a small celebration for the mother that brought him/her into the world.

No Bitchin' Camaro for you ...

I went to a particular web site this morning and signed my older son up in a Little Toy Car "VIP Club" that will hopefully keep him current with all of the popular, cool, and "hip" toy cars. 'Cuz we all know how important this is when you are a little boy and have a younger brother to impress.

You know which brand of toy cars I am talking about. Yeah, the ones we ALL played with. ANYHOOOO, I hesitated doing this because once these places get your information, you are through. Thing is, this little boy loves cars, so hey, why not let him have a little fun. Well, I figure now that they have my address I will probably start getting a TON of spam and toy junk mail -- but I know that if a piece of mail comes here with a picture of a car on it, well, my son will be ecstatic. So I sign up for this "service" and then find that this e-mail has been sent to me...

Thank you for applying to become a member of the "Little Toy Car" VIP Club. We are excited that you are a fan of "Little Toy Cars" and want to be part of this special group. We will let you know within one week whether or not you qualify. Thank you!

Whether or not I QUALIFY?
QUALIFY?
QUALIFY, MY ASS.

Man, I qualify so hard that they oughta just send us five free cars. Two for each of the boys, and one for me.
I'd like the Bitchin' Camaro, please.


I have TWO BOYS. What more do you need to meet up to their stringent Toy Car Club Membership standards? Thank goodness I did not tell them of my past history of accidentally letting the vacuum pressure in the SEM fall, so that for 12 hours we had to wait for it to stabilize again. (PHEW!) ... had they found THAT out, I am sure we would have been totally screwed! I had no idea that my past indiscretions could possibly affect my son's chance of being a part of the Little Toy Car VIP Club. Crap.