I suck!

Has it really been nearly two months? I'm really really bad at this blogging thing.

Life has been extraordinarily busy. In roughly chronological order: a cousin announced her second pregnancy when she and her half sister came to visit with a set of adorable and ohsoTINY twin girls and a very grown-up two year old, took a trip to Okeechobee to visit Grandparents, there was a wedding shower and subsequent cruise ship wedding for some friends (we did not get to go on the cruise but the ship was magnificent and the wedding was lovely . . . speedy but lovely), Mathboy's sister announced her first pregnancy(she's due around April 30th), Mathboy had his surgery and was in Tampa General Hospital for four days and then his dad stayed with us for five days to help care for him during the early stages of recovery (he's doing really well by the way. Three week check-up is on the 20th and we're confident that everything will be perfect), and we quietly celebrated our third anniversary on the seventh of October. Throughout all of the busy travelling around and visiting though, there has been knitting.

I finished the mimosa for my co-worker.

(Euroflax linen in Champagne with jet, amber, and coffee coloured silver lined glass beads)

Made a stocking hat for Miss Em from a pattern in Itty Bitty Hats. Note the matching pom pom . . . and yes, it will fit her little noggin . . . it's just crazy stretchy.

(Knit Picks Swish Bulky in Flamingo, Creme Brulee, Sea Foam, Lilac, and Honey Dew)

Started, and frogged, a pair of Six-Pack socks designed by Wendy Johnson and available here.

I think the yarn is lovely (Fibra Natura "Yummy" in some numbered and hard to remember colourway) but it completely and totally obscured Wendy's beautiful cables and eyelets.

Started and frogged ad nauseum before near completion (waiting for a report on gender before choosing between two different cuffs) a pair of baby Coriolis socks from New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

see how the one on the left looks all cute and neat and the one on the right kind of resembles a hot mess? That's what happens when you don't actually read the pattern for the opposite foot.

Top: "boy sock" with narrow applied i-cord cuff. Bottom: "girl sock" with flouncy applied i-cord cuff.

And last but not least I tackled a EZ's surprise jacket in the original baby size.

Jacket and socks are all made with Lion Brand Microspun in black and the the poorly named "Lilac".

Next up? Adult Coriolis socks in the yarn I used for the failed six-pack socks. There's also a stole that I want to make for myself but let's be honest here . . . we all know that I'm going to stumble across ninety-dozen projects that I just have to make for other people (like the four bsj's that I want to make for the twins, their older cousin and her little sibling). *sigh* I know that I am capable of astounding selfishness but you'd never guess it from my knitting.

I Gotcher Pictchers Right Here.

Alright, I owe you folks about ninety seven photos so let's get right to it.


Six Teeny Red Sweaters . . . and one "Big" one




Pinwheel Jacket for Miss Em.




















Paton's SWS and a Circ for my Secret Santa Victim














Innocent Kitty who just wanted a nap in a cozy place for cryin' out loud.














Tomorrow (or eventually anyways) Yarn Porn! Mimosas! (A whole 8 rows!)

Cat for Sale.

Really. He's adorable and all (if you can get past the "I'm so happy that I'm gonna drool on ya" thing) but I'm sooooo done with his habit of chewing wires. Some of the things he's noshed on include a telephone wire, the power cord for my laptop, and, most recently, the cable for the digital camera. I've got lots of pics to show and no way to show them.

So. Picture Behold Mathboy modelling my completed LionBrand MicroFiber Clapotis in "Lilac" (cornflower blue from the same people that call tangerine "Mango")
Picture Behold a very small LionBrand MicroFiber drop stitch cap in that same shade.


Picture the beginnings of (at long last) my Strikke-along project . . . Elann's Pinwheel Sweater in . . . guess what fibre and colour of said fibre? This has got to stop because if I keep showing up at knitting with that yarn I'm certain that Eileen's going to try to stage an intervention.

(ETA: Ummmm, so I'm a bad strikke-alonger/blogger. Didn't take any pictures of the early stages of the Pinwheel. Not going to take any current pictures right now either.)

The pinwheel is coming along nicely but somehow I lost the plot around . . . I dunno, maybe row 7 or 9 and at least one of the intervals between increases is too short. Or maybe the others are too long. *shrug* Maybe I'll frog it one more time on the weekend if I just can't stand it. Or not. Isn't knitting fun?!

Still Alive

(edited to try to repair the odd spacing and ask what bloggers problem is with spaces and pictures.)

Long overdue post with PICTURES!

Firstly . . . about two weeks ago, I met up with Alyson, Chris, Kelly, Phoebe, and Valerie (no that link's not a mistake, Valerie is one of the brains behind Yarn4Socks) at Knit'n'Knibble in Tampa. From there we went to dinner (well, Alyson, Kelly, Phoebe, Valerie and I) at Pane Rustica which was delicious, reasonably priced, and under lit. Our third, and final stop, was a nearby Barnes and Noble where we chased away an older woman (who was so deeply ensconced in her cozy chair that she'd actually brought a blanket from home) by being unruly and giggly. Well jeez. What else can you expect from a gaggle of knitters?

From left to right: Me, Valerie, Alyson, and Kelly.

Photo credit goes to Valerie's very patient husband Reuben.

The following Sunday was our usual knit-out at (lately) Jason's Deli where Sandy was kind enough to model her clap-in-progress. Incidentally, I'm working on one in the same colour (because I abandoned put the SWS one on hold). The yarn is Lionbrand Microspun in Lilac. Because of course periwinkle blue is the first colour I think of when I think of lilacs. *sigh* Anyways.

The monkeys were completed in plenty of time to be gifted to my mother in law this last Sunday but on Friday I decided to make something else to go with them.

Any guesses what?

Here's a hint (Mathboy made this part)

Oh! Saturday we picked up The Deathly Hallows and I read it on Monday. Like Kelly, I devoured it in about 5 hours. My problem now? Mathboy won't read it until he's finished the series he's reading right now . . . and he wants to read the first six in the Potter series before he reads book seven. *sigh* Keeping mum about it for goodness knows how long is liable to kill me.

Lastly, here's the evil large green bug who's been munching on my roses. Anyone know what it is?

I'm off now to consume large amounts of orange juice, ruby red grapefruit juice, and soup in an effort to combat whatever the heck it is that's been inflicting a fever and headache on me so that I feel somewhat human tomorrow (not feeling one's mortality on one's birthday is kind of a nice thing) and on our trip to Virginia Friday.

Graft and re-Graft

Ordinarily, I wouldn't feel the need to point out the silly things that I decorate my blog with but LOOK! It's a skinny cute little knitting me (with pointy ears! )! If you want your own cute little knitting you, head on over to www.meez.com and join. In the space where it asks who referred you, type cornssss (note the fourth s) and you'll get five free coinz to deck yourself out (can't get the knitting or the wedding ring without coinz). In the interest of full disclosure, I also get coinz for any references that join up . . . but they're of no use in the real world. Also, Kelly? They've got Hairspray outfits! I'm ashamed to admit that I could easily send hours in there messing around and playing dollies.

On to the knitting content. I finished monkey 1, did something that I was calling kitchenering, and decided that it looked absolutely horrible. There are no pictures because it was very very bad, however, I do have witnesses to the badness.

Last night found me on the couch, muttering and grumbling as I returned to this point:

Once I got back to the start, I ran the video found here, watched it maybe three or four times, gritted my teeth and settled in to graft my little heart out. In the end, I did this:

I could only be more pleased if it'd looked like this on the first try.

And so, I'm proud to present Monkey 1.

The cool sock blocker is a bent-out-of-shape coat hanger. I found the tutorial here thanks to this post of Kristy's.

Tonight you'll find me on the couch doing this:

and watching Mike Rowe play with reptiles on Dirty Jobs.

Incidentally, Monkey 2 came to the immigration offices with me yesterday and evidently the size 2 bamboos she's on were not deemed nearly as dangerous as the zeros that Boudica was on. No chin poking test this time (the last time I was at the immigration offices, the screener checked to see how dangerous my needles were by stabbing himself in the chin repeatedly with them.) and while I was able to while away my time without getting bored, all of the knitting I did got frogged thanks to a ginormous error made as soon as I got there. I got my new stamp and so I'm good to go for another year. Next year at this time, I'll be able to apply for my long term (ten year) green card. Woot!

The Elizabeth blanket came to work with me for its portrait session and I showed it to one of my colleagues who is a quilting and sewing type. As I put the blanket back in my bag, she asked if I sewed and when I said that I don't (very well anyways) she told me to pick up some fabric, measure the folded blanket, and draw her a picture of what I wanted in the way of a blanket storage bag! Well, I had no idea what I wanted but Bill and I picked up some cute fabric, a pair of honey bee shaped buttons, and I returned to Connie and said "can you do a flap?" And this is what she came up with:




It's got a nice little front pocket, the flap, beautiful emerald green lining, and a hidden strap. I love it to pieces. I could have done without PoohBear . . . simply because I think Elizabeth will outgrow it for ten years or so but since the nursery is done in Pooh, and since Elizabeth's daddy is Bill's oldest and closest friend, he got his way on the fabric choice.

My apologies for the blurriness of the photos. Evidently I've been having a series of bad picture days.

In other news, I've been working slowly on a pair of fingerless gloves for one of my bus kids. If he manages to avoid getting into trouble for the rest of the school year he'll get a pair of black gloves with deep red stars on the backs (his colour and design choice). These are the fingers :)

I've finished the baby blanket! It's all blocked and I'm just waiting on a friend who was kind enough to offer to sew a pillow/pouch for storage. The whole shebang should hit the mail by Wednesday at the latest and with a little luck and some cooperation from the USPS it should hit Richmond Saturday or Monday *grin*

Blocking:

Something tells me that I need a larger cat free surface for blocking.

Edited to add: I used four balls of Bernat Baby Coordinates (hooray for Michaels/Walmart yarn) in Lemon Custard and cast on 128 stitches with a set of Susan Bates 4.5 mm circs (which I will never ever use again! Ever!) After six rows in garter stitch, I started a feather and fan pattern with a six stitch garter stitch border. I then knitted in pattern until I decided it was long enough, did another six rows in garter, and bound off.

My Beloved, modeling the thrummed mittens (complete with idiot strings) scarf and hat all currently winging their way to Ontario. Everything is Plymouth Encore. Hat was knitted on US 8 circs and dpns, Scarf was knitted on 5.0 mm needles in a k1 p1 rib until I got sick of it, and the mittens . . . hmmm, I'll have to hunt that down for ya'll.
Mitten close up. I quite like them.
Kitty Pi knitted from the pattern in Wendy Johnson's book of Noro Kureyon and Cascade Heather held together . . . should have taken a picture of the outside and it's too late now as it too is en route up north.
The still unfinished baby blanket. Bernat Baby Coordinates in Lemon Custard. It's essentially a feather and fan lace with a six stitch/row garter border knit on US size seven needles (as an aside, I despise Susan Bates circular needles. They don't relax for anything.)
Skinned Muppet Flip flops. I'm sort of embarassed by them but look! Finished knitting!

Pictures!