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Yum! Looks a lot like watermelon, doesn't it? I like this picture, it shows off the lace pretty well. The seeds are great, too. After putting them in randomly, I remembered that real watermelon is more orderly. Ooops. I'm not doing this over. Skacel merino lace is nearly thread, and I'd forgotten how careful I have to be with it. The yarn I'm using is color 100, dyed red, then undyed, then green. This is my own design, so I have no idea how large the end product will be. Fry has already claimed it


Here is what I've been working on besides newspapers and cleaning up after the cat. The watermelon, of course, then dye experiments, and finally, googly eyes. The yarn has been set aside for the ties, smiles, and teeth for the socks. Now, I just need to sit and do.


Hmm. Well, I WAS going to post something cool, like a quiz or some other nonsense. I couldn't get past the fact that most of the quizzes on Quizzilla were horribly spelled and punctuated. Bleh.

But, I did find something else, much more gramatically correct...

Advanced

You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 73% Expert!

You have an extremely good understanding of beginner, intermediate, and advanced level commonly confused English words, getting at least 75% of each of these three levels' questions correct. This is an exceptional score. Remember, these are commonly confused English words, which means most people don't use them properly. You got an extremely respectable score.

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!
For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 54% on Beginner
You scored higher than 33% on Intermediate
You scored higher than 61% on Advanced
You scored higher than 19% on Expert

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Ewe know I'm a sheep, right?

See? I could have been a doctor. You shoulda seen the first one. Yes, this IS a do-over. What does it say about me? Self-critical, not paranoid, rarely lies, more often the challenged than the challenger. I'm also emotional, more so than logical, am not good with the details, and am always doing something.

Like, eating lunch, blogging, and watching the news, while trying to decide, Watermelon shawl or Diamond fantasy shawl. Snowball, So much yarn so little time, and January One are inspiring me big time. What to do, what to do....?

What about Spongebob? I'm so almost to the toe. Teaching a class last night cut into my tv+knit time, which is just fine. We all had a blast, and there were tons of overachievers in there. We even got to do a bit of color changing, pretty good for a beginner's class. That's it for me until August, and I have to admit, I'm rather glad. I don't know how teachers do it full time. It's public speaking all day every day. Plus, the adults WANT to be there. I don't care how much teachers are paid, it's never going to be enough. ;)

Alive, but very blog lazy.

consistent
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin consistent-, consistens, present participle of consistere
1 archaic : possessing firmness or coherence
2 a : marked by harmony, regularity, or steady continuity : free from variation or contradiction

predictable
• adjective 1 able to be predicted. 2 derogatory always behaving or occurring in the way expected.

Nope. I'm neither. Which is nice on the predictable side, I'm always fresh and zany. On the other hand, it would be nice if I were reliable and consistant. Ah well. This is a pursuit, after all.


First up is Friday's Review. I know. On Tuesday. I've been busy playing, ok? Ahem. Main Line is nice, part wool, part cotton. Feels like cotton and the other cotton blends from Knit Picks, Shine, Shine worsted. I'm not sure why there's wool in there, seems to defeat the purpose of either pure cotton or pure wool. Hmmm. Notice how the purl rows in the swatch seem unequal to the the knitted. Why? Because I was practicing my backwards knitting. I can backward knit, now! Very handy for entrelac, which is why I bought "Socks, Socks, Socks" at the Yarn Barn on Saturday. There's a pair of socks made with this technique I'm dying to make, along with three other patterns, at least.

I'd say more about Main Line, but really, it's indistinguishable from the other pure cotton blends from Knit Picks. Unless there's a specific reason for the wool in the cotton or the cotton in the wool, I'd say go with the pure blends for washing ease.


I was supremely stupid and didn't get in on the Dye-o-Rama along. Especially since I have some decently dyed stuff here. The purple, again, is Fry's work, the others are mine. Notice the lovely little yarn cakes??? Yep! I way overdid my budget and bought a wooden swift small, unfinished and a ballwinder. From the Yarn Barn, again, since I was over there anyway. The $70 freaked me out, especially since I thought I was getting the $45 one, but considering how much I've used it already, it's fine. Bonus, Fry LOVES to use it, thus ensuring slave labor for any ballwinding I want to have done.

The cake to the far lower left is yarn I'd dyed long ago for the Rosy Fingers of Dawn shawl. The two hanks are what I've done very lately. In fact, the fuzzy stuff dyed with those two is still drying. Still. Bleh. In both, the purple-y and fuscia is Wilton's Burgandy. Same dyelot, same cooking pot. Go figure.

The yellowish in the middle cake on the right is slated for the Diamond Fantasy shawl. After seeing Snowball's and So Much Yarn, So Little Time's progress on theirs, I'm panting to start my own already. Whenever I do start, it won't be soon enough.



Will the yellow ever end?! I think so, just in time for May 1st and the month of green. There's 17 rows and a toe to do. After that, I'm icording a nose, and picking up a few stitches for ties on both. I thought about a collar, pants, shoes, but even though they'll be put up on display, I'm wanting these to be wearable. Just in case. ;)

Oh man! Saturday's excursion was so fun! We shopped at the Yarn Barn for ages, then wandered down for lunch, then went back through Yarn Barn. The other gals went to a wonderful shoestore, but I'd been hassled with a bit of a migraine all day (Relpax is a miracle drug, honestly), PLUS, I had that wonderful new toy to set up and play with. I wound a couple of skeins once home, but had to nap with some Excedrin in my system. The nap was enough to keep me up and lively during my chat with Chelle Saturday evening. We had to discuss the field trip of course, since she worked that day, instead. Wonderful conversation. :)

Sunday I wound like a fiend, about 30 skeins of Rowan Summer Tweed and a couple of lace yarns, see above. (I am a pushover for Summer Tweed on clearance) What would have taken me two hours on the lace zipped by in 10 minutes on the swift. I love my swift, no matter what the price. It's totally worth it and also almost my birthday. I had to have it.

Then, Monday. Arg. Once Fry saw that Hubs called in sick, she suddenly had a horrible almost throwing up stomach ache. It miraculously disappeared once the school bus pulled away. Came back after I suggested I could drive her to school since she was feeling so much better. So, on my catch up on cleaning Monday, I had two of them underfoot, strewing empty soda cans and dirty socks all over the house. Plus, if it weren't one, it was the other hogging the computer. I have a routine, you know. Coffee and email once Fry is out (Hubs leaves just before I have to wake up), read blogs, update my own, dishes and laundry, nap because I've stayed up far too late the night before, news and soaps while knitting and rechecking email, clean or do errands, Fry is home and I start supper. Then, it's dinner, goof off (TV, computer, knit, pick up after everyone) and bed. There's a shower and change of clothes in there, of course, depending on the hot water supply after Hub's shower, dishes, and washing towels.

I know! Endlessly fascinating, huh?

Fryday again!

I love Fridays. It used to mean a break from the hell that is work. I loved my work as a computer programmer much like I love being stuck on ice or in the mud with someone who told you so and is still telling me so. Just as wonderfully productive.

I had a horrible dream this morning. Fry and I were living with Mom and Dad (not the horrible part). Hadn't heard from the Hubs, didn't know if he'd found someone new, and my father was wondering why their bills were spiking so high. But in a nice way. He was also wondering when I'd get a job. Not in a mean way, just in an 'are you ever getting over this' way. It was my first and second marriages fused with a little bit of the SAHM (stay at home mom) not bringing in the bucks feeling of mooching-ness lurking in my subconscious.

Do I have a good excuse for the Socks o' Dad's not being done yet? Of course I do! Shyah! The red circle highlights my excuse. A teeny burn from the iron while making Fry's dress last last week. That's right where my 'yarn trench' is for knitting. It's healed by now, so I'm blaming spring. It's so beautiful outside, now there's peach AND white tulips blooming in the front yard. The columbines are just now opening, the azaleas are almost out, and there's a chorus of bluish purple irises in the back with a lone yellow in the group. I still have trees to plant, and they're in various pots around in the back yard, to see if I like them there.

Back to the picture. See how discolored my hands are? I've been dying again. There was some mohair, silk, and fluffy cotton stuff yarns, undyed and ready for experimentation. Not only that, but the SS&K group is going on a trek to the Yarn Barn. Yuuuuuum. We're leaving from our respective jump off points at 9:00am. Due to toll roads, we'll get there at the same time. There'll be stash pictures tomorrow, plus, I'm hoping the stuff I dyed up today will be dry. I know, wishful thinking. :D
I'd probably check out "Yarns to Dye For" from the library if I weren't holding a couple of Barbara Walker books as hostage. My goal is to return them on the 25th when I go to teach there. :D
The house is a wreck, still. I clean just enough to keep things decent. Doesn't look like an episode of Cops here, yet. A little bit of vacumming, dish-doing, and it'll look like I've cleaned all day. ;)

Replies to you beloved commenters:
Maenwyn, you should dye. You have an amazing eye for color already. Consider yourself very encouraged.

Chelle, buh wa ha ha ha haaaaa! Tomorrow, we'll have to pick up some undyed. I can't wait! I love the Yarn Barn. Sigh.

Laura, thank you! Considering your own work, I'm very flattered! I agree, and think only Wendy could knit fast enough. You MUST post pics of your children's efforts! I had to warn Fry of creating grey-brown with the yarns like she sometimes does with the eggs. Yech. I agree, though, stuff I thought was awful dries or knits up pretty good.

Dying to Swatch

Hello! In this picture, we have the cuff and a few rows beyond of a Spongebob Sock. Then, a red ball of laceweight with the beads to make a watermelon shawl for Fry. Unseen, in the middle of the ball is the white, then green, rind part. I can't wait to start it! Finally is some Rowan Summer Tweed, already pulled out from swatching for a new sweater.





I'm proud of the purple to the right, it's what Fry did with her leftover red and blue Easter egg dye. She's so cool! Much better than the stuff I did on the left. Oh yeah I'm biased. The swatch in the upper portion is the PMS colorway. I'd intended for it to be the colors of wine, chocolate, and Zoloft. Ahem. Well, it looks more like chocolate covered cherries (still good) and pound cake. Which is ok, too. I like the specks of brown, rather like chocolate chips in the fabric. Yum. The laceweight below has more blues and purples on the other side, and I'm wanting to make a flower type shawl out of it. It's really bold in the colors, too. Finally is a subtle blend of reds and yellows into an orangy mish mash. Laura at Sugar Bunny Boulevard and Dave in his Cabin Cove does wonders with their dyes. Before all this I thought, "Oh that looks FUN!" After, it was, "Jeeze, what happened to my yarn?!" and "Maybe I need to LEARN how to do this."

The best thing is, Fry actually wants to dye more. This from the "Oh no! Not another YARN store!" kid.

Bad news: The Wrap It Up class for tomorrow is cancelled due to no one signing up.
Good news: The Beginner's Knitting class for next week is full. I was going to do the whole hide under the bed and eat worms thing, since no one loves me. Then, I thought of the projects I could wrap up in the two hours tomorrow and realized, I have none, too. The full class also saved the lives of several earthworms and kept the fire department from having to pry me out yet again.

(kidding, although I can see it happening)


Abrupt change of subject:
Here's a scientific fact I learned after going to Kmart's 50% Easter candy sale. It takes me 3 Snickers eggs, 5 Cadbury Carmel eggs, 4 Cadbury creme eggs (large) and 6 Cadbury creme eggs (mini) before I get sick of sweets. Next up is the birthday cakes, since you know I'll have to have a German Chocolate for Dad's birthday, then cheesecake for mine and Toppa's birthdays, and maybe whatever sounds good after that for my brother-in-law's birthday. Just in time for swimsuit season!

Chirping Birds

Ahhhh. Peace and quiet. Truly, the only sounds are the cat eating and birds chirping. A hank of yarn, lace weight, is simmering on the stove, soaking up Easter egg dye. All of us were pooped out yesterday, due to the constant Mass-ing, dress-making, and cleaning for in-laws during the prior week.

It's funny. When my parents come over, I'm not as anal retentive because they KNOW me, know I'm a slob from way back. I'm not using toothbrushes and Q-tips to clean like I do when my in-laws come over. But then, my parents, Hubby goes wild, cleaning like a fiend, much like I do for his parents.

I've also learned that my job around here is a windshield wiper. Fry leaves candy wrappers, diet Pepsi cans, and an empty watermelon container on the kitchen island, and without a though, I sweep by and trash it all. I give it as much thought as your average windshield wiper does to the rain. Yesterday, I had to MAKE myself stop to get HER to throw all the stuff away. Not easy, because I could have done it all in about 10 seconds.

Today is my sainted mother's birthday! Yay! She's what I want to be when I grow up. Sweet, kind, a person who is honest and true, thoughtful, patient, and yet tough as nails. Because she's also modest, she won't agree with any of the above adjectives. It doesn't matter what she thinks, it's all true, she's the best mom a girl could have. She's wearing her birthday socks today, too!

Speaking of birthday socks... Next on the list is Dad's birthday! This time of the year (April-May) is my family's Christmas. Our parents, me, Toppa, and Goopa's husband all have birthdays in this timeframe, as does a cousin, grandfather, and uncle. Also, it's my parents' and in-law's wedding anniversaries.

All this to say, I'm not feeling the love for Dad's Spongebob sock. I should have made it spongier, plus, I don't know what is up with Lion Brand's yarns. With Knit Picks', all my stitches are even and lovely. Not so with Lion Brand.


<










See? With the Spongebob socks, I hate them. They're not 'just right' and I look like a beginner knitter. Ug. Meanwhile, the Knit Picks yarn looks lovely and evenly spaced. If I had time, I'd order up some 'U Dye It' from KP and do the yellow thing for new improved Spongebob socks. Dad's birthday is on the 9th, so I've got a deadline, when postal time is included.

I did have sockweight KP yarn, free to dye, but alas, have already dyed it to a PMS colorway. What do you get when combining wine, chocolate, and Zoloft? Ta da! I'm dying (ha ha) to swatch this, but with cleaning the house, showering, then teaching a class at 1:00pm, it'll have to wait until this evening after supper. Plus, I need to hang out the yarn cooking on the stove.

Arrrrgggggg

My pirate name is:

Black Mary Bonney

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Green Grass, around my window...

young trees, that the wind blows. Yes, it's spring time, golden sunshine...
Green Grass by Gary Lewis and the Playboys. I love that song, perfect for today. It's pretty windy for here, but it's so pretty, who cares? The ponds' pump is running, the crabapple tree is heavy with blooms, the alyssums are covered in white flowers, two peach tulips and two yellow with red stripes tulips are open. One really cool pointy petaled tulip is bloomed, and there's quite a few more budding yet. PLUS, a couple of my purplish-bluish irises have buds! Every tree is either blooming or budding, even the stick with roots Fry brought home from school. There's it (I have no idea what kind of tree it is), a sweet gum, and three pines for me to plant. There's rocks lining the east side of the ponds' flower bed, and the back yard's trashy look is getting cleaned up a little every day. Out on the back deck, the chive is alive! I'd put a spice flower pot outside during the winter and the stuff has sprung back to life. Not only that, but I'd obviously planted a honey locust tree seed, because IT'S sprouting as well! The hydrangeas, roses, columbines are all back, leafing up. In the house, my four leaf clovers and african violets are blooming, too.

The dress? I need to remeasure Fry for the top, just to be sure the darts are accurate. Hubs and Fry are totally impressed with the skirt, but... It could be better. I dunno, I see things I messed up on a bit. Bleh. Oh well, it's wearable, you'd need to really look for mistakes, and it's certainly durable. I sewed it twice on each seam and then duct taped it.






Just kidding on the duct tape. Had to say that to make my Mom laugh.

Not much progress on the Spongebob sock, but my deadline for it is way past the dress's. After Easter, that bad boy is done. Fry's home, I've stalled enough on laundry and sewing. ;) There's at least 20 pairs of white socks to match up, giving me a good reason to churn out a ton of socks just for the ease of matching them.

Never a seamstress a knitter should be.

I am alive, just busy sewing a confirmation dress for Fry's event this Sunday. I did the skirt first, to warm me up, and will do the shirt starting tomorrow.

"What's that?" I hear my Mom ask. "You're done with the skirt already?" Thanks to the power of Vivarin disolved in Red Bull energy drink...

Not really! I'm done with the skirt, yes, but it only took me four hours. I'd never done a zipper before. You can tell I'm a novice, but there were no huge gapes. The shirt will be tons more challenging. I think I can get it done by Sunday. Fingers crossed and knock on wood.

Saturday was a blast, Sunday was busy cutting fabric, and today was sew-sew. Ha ha!

I know, lame.

I had to trek across the frozen tundra to get supplies. People around here resorted to eating sugar cubes and stale cereal dry, just to make it through the day. Peanut butter, cheese slices, green olives, all gone. I found evidence of the natives eating shredded cheese straight from the bag. There's shame in admitting this, but I even ate old sugarfree popcicles, freezer burned. No lo-cal lo-sugar yogurt, no ice cream, not even milk to make Jello pudding. Thus, the popcicle debaucle.

Back to the first. Not only did I whine to Mom that maybe the dress would be too hard and that I was an eeeediot for even thinking I could sew, I also complained about the lack of tulips or daffodils around here. This, despite me planting a lot of bulbs. After the squirrel's gut drug the ground so much he couldn't eat more, I'd planted more, of course. Anyway, about that complaint. Never mind. I have some gorgeous peach tulips about to bloom and the lovely yellow and red striped ones are decorating the east side of the house. Yay!

Fabulous Friday

and I wake up with a migraine. Ug. Two Relpax and two Excedrin Migraines later and I'm pain-free. Silly as all get out but, pain free.

The church had a fish fry tonight, so of course we're all stuffed. Totally NOT South Beach with breaded fish, biscuits, and potatoes, but good anyway. Besides, weight is way up due to massive amounts of soy sauce last night. I fixed Chinese and that's always good for at least five pounds of water. The clothes fit the same, the scale turns into a liar, though.

Right now, I'm doing a swatch of plain Shine. It's lovely to work up, and is much the same as Shine Worsted. Only smaller in diameter, of course. Also, the worsted has fewer colors, 16 to Shine Sport's 22. Knitter's Review also has a wonderful review of Shine as well, with a lot more fiber detail.

Specific is goooood!

(originally written 3/23/06)

Cami of Perfect Blue Buildings tagged me! Kickin' huh? A specific tag, way cool.

I know, I know. Very Navin R. Johnson of me, it's true.

Current favorite songs. A person could look them up on their own, since we just got done delivering papers and I'm pooped. I'm starting Grumperina's Odessa while playing the Sims 2 and eating dinner. Fry is up late, so if it's a Monty Pythons that's near PG (unlike last night's South Park!! Yikes!!) we'll laugh until midnight.

In the meantime, back to the Meme.

1. Congratulations by Sylvia Nott (It's Icelandic and on Eurovision, so of course we Americans can't be bothered to know about this.)
2. Policy of Truth by Depeshe Mode (sp??)
3. Best I Ever Had by Gary Allan
4. Blame It On The Rain by Milli Vanilli (I know. Long ago, I learned to embrace my inner dweeb.)
5. Whip In My Valase by Adam and the Ants
6. GaGa by Melanie C
7. Pump It by Black Eyed Peas
(How many, again??)
8. Honey To The B, by Billie Piper

Busy doing something pretty close to nothing, but different from the day before.

Wow. That sums it up entirely.

Should I go ahead and blog anyway? Sure! There's pictures to post, after all.

Dad's socks so far. I'd wanted to add in the spongy holes, but then thought of the confirmation dress I need to make. While most people, including me, could get a pair of socks done in a month, I don't want to be up late, feverishly knitting on a deadline. Up late knitting anyway is ok. ;) These are fun and very yellow! Spongebob would be proud. I can't wait to attach the googly eyes, and what am I going to do about the smile??? There's a huge stash of embroidery thread just waiting to be used...









Then, there was some stash enhancement. A new store opened up 10 miles away, with more Rowan and Cascade 200 in one place than I've ever seen in my life. Wow! There's been some rumblings of me teaching there, but I'll believe it when I see it. She said she'd call but she won't, then I'll get all insecure about my abilities as a teacher and want to hide under the bed. Which, I can't fit under, for which I blame Cadbury eggs. Those and whole wheat saltine crackers. I've not posted weight for a while because it's up, around 162-164. I've not been working out other than the paper route and house cleaning.

I may suck eggs as a teacher, but I'll always be good at going off on a tangent. I don't think I'm a bad teacher or anything, I'm always second-guessing myself. My thinking "Are you as good as you could be?" all the time is par for the course. The answer is always 'no' because who could answer 'yes'?

Yeesh. Now that I've talked myself into a glum mood... Time to straighten up the house, put away laundry, and sort some yarn. Sounds odd, I know, but once the place is cleaned up, I get in a better mood.

Monday already? Gah.

I've been trying all day to shake this 'boneless chicken' mood of mine. All the blogs are read, dishes are soaking, the Bissel carpet cleaner is close by, ready to clean suspicious spots on the carpet. I have a Beginner Knitting class to teach tonight, always a busy thing to do. The last two classes were a sit and chat with intesive help. Not so the beginners.

Saturday's Pythonathon was great. There were some repeats, so during those I did laundry and pond work. Bleh. I need to restart the pump today, so the sediment can get a little less black. The pump itself is really loud, so I don't know what the deal is with it. I'd rather hear the rapids than the chugging of the motor. There's only one bulb from last year flowering. They all flowered last year, so I'm thinking it was the long dry spell before now. I planted a Double Delight rosebush where the Rio Samba died last year, but didn't get the bulbs planted. Yeesh. I'm soaking them, to see if they're viable, and try to get them in the ground this week. Fry and I played catch football, the girl is pretty good! She puts a good spin on it.



Yesterday, more laundry, then sorting papers, and finishing the Odessa hat. Lovely, hmmm? Some of the yarnovers are a bit large. Really odd since they weren't at the junction of two needles as expected, and they're larger than others in the same round on the same needle. Go figure.






I DID do the Crayon swatch, sort of. A small one, both on plastic (not good) and metal (very good). I love this yarn, it feels good against the skin. Boucle' is a change, certainly, from the smooth yarns I've been working lately. Still, it's lovely and feels good. Yes, I'm repeating myself, but true is true. There's 14 colors availible, 128 yards per $1.99US skein.
One of the recommended patterns for this yarn is a lace edged tee, and I say, ok! Really pretty and that red would look good on me. ;)




For Project Spectrum's April activities, the drumroll, please. Spongebob Socks! I'm swatching today, thinking of a spotty type rib for the cuff, then maybe the heel being his hiney? I'll have to sketch it out. This'll be fun. :)

Next up on the review: Knit Pick's Shine, a lovely little sportweight. Twenty two colors, 110 yards, $2.49US.

I'm such the fool.

Norma of Norma Knits (link should be to the left), got me bad. I'm shamed, but at least am not the only one.

Then speaking of other bloggers, in the Flash Your Stash type of MEME, January One has a stash comparable to mine. After this, I'll list the projects languishing in the living room, but for now...

We're enjoying a Monty Pythonathon. Fry made marvvy whole wheat pancakes. Not too fattening. Alas, the Pythonathon is from 10:00am to 10:00pm and the weather outside is fantastic. Maybe during the not so favorite episodes, I can run around outside and catch up on some yard work. Or, just sit and knit. Ha! Commercial breaks are great, the dishes get done (no, I didn't get any housework done yesterday, totally goofed off.), the laundry washed, and the cat squished.

Did I swatch KP's Crayon? Nope. Will I today? Yep, and I'll blog about it between now and Monday. In the meantime, here's what's keeping my living room a wreck:

Do-overs and Fixes:

Grey Yoke sweater
Orange sweater for Fry (done a few years ago)
Irish Sweater (bought in Britain, washed in America, before I knew how well wool felts)
Fall Sweater (the striped thing needing a do over on the collar)
Snowflake sweater (originally for Fry, needs sleeves and a do over on the collar)
Edge baby blanket with simple lace
Fix felted Noro bag (so it won't do that bendy thing in the middle when held by the handle)
Lion Hat, tighten up to fits real person, not basketball.

Start from Scratch:

3 Quick knit sweaters (turtleneck, double stranded worsted weight, like Mom's)
1 Lion Brand Jiffy sweater
3 Peruvian Wool sweaters
1 Seafoam ballet sweater
1 sportweight dark red sweater
1 entrelac sweater
1 bright primary colors sweater
1 Paton's Grace cremecicle sweater
1 Lion Brand sweater kit
1 Prism's Wild Stuff sweater
2 Rowan Summer Tweed sweaters
2 cat afghans (but not for cats)
1 wave afghan (like the Moms' only browns and tans)
1 baby sweater
1 Noro cardigan/sweater (I've not decided)
1 blue/purple afghan
1 Bird's eye Shawl
1 bright green mittens pair
1 bright yellow mittens pair (thanks to Maenwyn for the yarn!!)
1 eyelash scarf in purple
1 grape leaf scarf
1 seafoam scarf
several soap sachets in Peaches and Cream cotton
3 scarves
2 Odessa hats, beads already strung
1 pair cheap mittens from a kit
1 woven shawl from the loom (which is down in the basement because it's somewhat large)
2 Cascade Fixation pairs of socks
4 pairs Moda Dea socks
1 pair Katia socks
3 Regia, 1 Fortissima, and 1 mixed pairs of socks
My father's birthday present, a pair of Spongebob Socks, complete with googly eyes.

Shamefully, there's more, much more, in the basement. Baby sister Goopa gets all the seafoam items, at least 4 of the sweaters are for Hubs, and three are for Fry. There are 3 for me, and the others are up for grabs.

I should spellcheck and link, but honestly, I'd rather finish up the white Odessa hat on my needles. There's a little basket next to the scanner with the hat and a few skeins of sock yarn allocated for kid's socks or waiting for their mates in the mail. Plus, is the Crayon waiting to be reviewed. The cat likes to try and dig out a skein to use as a pillow, when there's no paper or plastic to lay on. I've got a small stack of knitting bags, drug up from the basement and sorted, that Claude is laying on, asleep. I don't have the heart to rouse him to put the bags back. When his spot of sun is in the right place and he goes there to sleep, I'll put them up then. :)

A shout out to all my peeps!

Yo, Peeps! What be up with you bad self, uh?

There are some things a middle aged white woman should never say. The above is a good example.

So, do you think beloved Hubby will get odd looks if I march him into the Yarn Barn to ask for Berocco Plush in Banana? Especially if he's wearing his BDUs(aka, Army camouflage)? The women would be thrilled to see a guy buying yarn. Number one, he's really cute (yes, I'm biased) and he's butch. Yes, he has a great decorating sense, uses 'window treatments' correctly in sentences, and has a copy of the Sound of Music. If there are gay guys for whom the above does NOT apply, stands to reason there are straights for whom it does, right?

Husband will torture me if I don't caveat this with a disclaimer: He has never broken the cellophane on the Sound of Music VHS. The movie was bought not because of the Julie Andrews affection but because Hubs has skied in the mountains featured in the film.

Yesterday was exhausting. I delivered the papers due to Fry and Father having a dinner at the Knights of Columbus. All the people made over our beautiful daughter and she even wore a hint of eyeshadow. She wore her little black dress and insisted she wear my Seascapes shawl. Sigh. I don't like her doing so, not because she'll ruin it but because of the mistakes. She loves it, though.

I had to hurry on the papers because I got to teach an Intermediate class last night. The library was close to home, so that was nice. I don't mind the driving time, but with the tight deadline, I didn't have the hour to get there to spare. Carissa, a student that was at a couple of other classes I taught was there and brought things to show off. She's a sweetheart and I'm hoping she'll come to the Sip, Sit and Knit, because I think she'll fit in fine. Plus, she lives down in that area of town. There was also another repeat from the prior class I taught in the library and she's a sweetheart, too. She's good and asked a ton of questions. The final two students were extreme overachievers. They knew how to knit and purl, but just barely, so in this class they should have been over their heads and frustrated. Nope! The ladies did wonderfully. We did yo, m1, and kfb (knit in front and back) increases. Then did the ssk and k2tog just to see the slants of the decreases. THEN, we mixed it up doing yo's and ssk's together in the same row, so they'll see how easy lace can be. One of the girls asked about psso (pass slipped stitch over) and k,p,k in one stitch. They're all eager for the fall and the advanced class. It'll be fun.

Plans for today? Getting the house cleaned up for tomorrow. There's a Monty Pythonathon on BBC America and I'm using it as an excuse to be a knitting sofa spud. I know I'll regret giving the SS&K group a miss, but...that's two hours knitting time I'm losing out, plus the spike in gas money would buy me a cute skein. Like, the Plush for the Peeps, maybe? ;) In Banana because I'm classic Peep kind of girl.

WIP Note: The Odessa hat is a do-over due to gauge. I kept thinking "Surely it's not supposed to be this small," and no, it's not. Look at the last picture of it I scanned and imagine bigger. Size 5 needles instead of 3s. Duh.

Coming up: Knit Picks Crayon review and finally, my answering MEME for Camie. It's only been in my draft section for days now. :P

It's not me, it's you. All you and all your fault.

I've made several of my triangle shawls on size 15US needles. In several different type of yarns. But this, this is bad. I hate this shawl. It's stretchy to a point where the upper points stretch beyond all reason. It's pretty, though, and Hubby says I look cute when I wear it like a babushka. My cousin will love it, even though I don't.




Ever have project anxiety? It hit me this morning as I looked at all my fabric. I was searching for a dress pattern for Fry's Confirmation. Must be white, must not be too foo foo. She's already not happy at having to wear a tiara/veil thing. I have to be careful in my glee. There's nothing worse than a girl in a sweet fairy princess dress wearing a murderous scowl on her face. There may be some sewing going on around here, first the dress and then me quilting all the pieced tops I've got laying about.

Didn't know I quilted, huh? I quilt in the very loose sense of the word. My edges don't line up like I think they should, but I've got good eye for color going for me. The scraps of fabric inspire me, so once the sewing machine is oiled, the dress made, I'll finish some quilt UFOs.


Oh but the knitting projects. With the shawl done, I'm wanting to finish up the Odessa hat. Then, for April's Project Spectrum, some Spongebob Socks for my father and his birthday. In May, I have some various yarns in seafoam green already allocated to my baby sister. For my just younger than me sister, Toppa, I'm going to have to make something blue to show of her gorgeous blue eyes.

It is soooo nice outside, I can't sit and type any more!

Happy Monday! Shine Worsted Review

How's THAT for an oxymoron? Cool, huh!

I have pictures and that Friday yarn review that I was too lazy to post on the actual day.

Voila'.

This is Knitpick's Shine Worsted. It's prettier in person and like butter to knit. Smooth, shiny, but not slippery, even on the metal needles seen here. Ribbing goes easy, as does purling. I've been doing a lot of circular knitting, so the purl is out of practice. There's been no splitting during the knit, and at $2.50 a ball, it's affordable. This, while cotton, would be better worn than used as a dishcloth. There's no scrubbiness to it and it feels good against the skin.




The only pattern featured on the site for this yarn is a shrug in Terracotta on size 15s. My friend Maenwyn is interested in the pattern. The yarn is lovely and easy enough, plus soft and smooth, that I'd rather use a pattern with more solid fabric. The yarn is that sweet against the skin.

Next Friday, which is really this Friday, I'm reviewing KP's Crayon. This is a buttery little cotton featured in an email I'd received from Knitpicks. The skein already feels like a stuffed animal, and I'm eager to knit this one up.



I'm a pushover for a Grumperina pattern, yes. But this is so lovely! Small, though, and yup, I did check gauge. :DThis is a great yarn, soft and again, sweet. Don't get it wet. Seriously. The stuff smells awful, like the cat peed on it or something. Blame it on the sheep. I'm not fond of how wet sheep or dogs smell. Ick. Still, it dried to a non-smell.


In honor of Project Spectrum March's Pink/Red theme, behold, the bikini! Or not. Really, it's the beginning of a shawl for my cousin. She covets one I made for my mother, and the mix of colors will look beautiful on her. This cousin is so pretty, everything looks good on her, though. :)




We had fun this weekend. Did pretty much nothing. Hubs and I had a date night for a couple of hours. Ate at an Indian place, then hung out at Barnes and Noble. Saturday was the knitting group, great as always. Sunday, grocery shopping while hungry. Bad,yes, but the cubords were bare, sort of. That's code for "We only had real food, no quick dinners or snacks."

Cameras are good, m'kayyy.

I love South Park's Mr. Mackey. Too funny!

I also adore Chelle! See what she sent me? Mom's Jaywalkers in progress. Sometime, I'm going to HAVE to join the 21st century and get a working digital camera. Ah well.

Do Over!

Darn uht! I had this whole post done, complete with next project news, the unravelling of the grey sweater, and then MSN dumped me out. Below is what Blogger could recover. Ah well, I needed to get off the computer and get going anyway. Crumbs.

What a wonderful time! Fry and I went on an epic road trip where we were spoiled rotten before coming back home. Mom and Dad fixed us fantastic meals, we slept in, and were their little babies. Once home, Hubs had cleaned up the kitchen, which was very nice. He missed us but drowned himself in geneaology. He goes on these ancestor jags where everyone who ever fought in a war must be registered. He's already a Son of the American Revolution several times over, but has to have every single guy in the rolls. I told him that it was silly, how many guys does he have to be decended from, but then, my own yarn addiction sprung to mind. Case closed. :D

Speaking of which! Mom was very sweet and patient while looking at my Knit Picks stash, and then the Socks that Rock skeins. Dad loved the STRs, too. I had in mind the Red Rock Canyon colorway in mind for him, once I could bear to take off the cute little labels. I suppose I'm going to have to order a whole bunch more colors, just to knit the ones I do have. ::insert innocent look here:: In the meantime, I'm doing a swatch of the Knit Picks Shine worsted for Maenwyn in our knitting group. I'll probably do that as a review tomorrow for the blog, plus bring Ms. M a little ball of the stuff to play with. Like Elann.com sends out in their samples newsletter. I might need to sign up with that again. There's nothing better than getting surprise yarn in the mail, even if it's in bits.

Mom has the picture of a family of Jaywalkers! Hers are done. The knitting group saw them, but I didn't even scan them in. Der! She loves them, and they're sturdy so she can wear them all the time. Plus, I have an entire skein left over, so if one should get snagged on a heater vent, they're easily replaced or repaired. Here's where I found this particular yarn. It's very inexpensive, yet has wool in it. I want do make socks from this in every color, but since I'm doing that with Moda Dea already... I might wait on that. ;)

Chelle, you're so sweet to worry! We got to Oklahoma just fine, and in time for the next day's tornadoes. They were a county away at the closest. Then, we left early enough yesterday to avoid the snow.

Road Trip!!

Tomorrow, Fry and I will undergo an epic journey. A saga of grand proportions. Armed with only a new Nintendo DS and an MP3 player, we will drive across the frozen tundra to the ever popular Gran and Pop's.

Gran, unlike us over here in the 18th century, has a digital camera. Fry and I are packing our Jaywalkers so that we can have her take our group foot photo. Once back home, I'll post it here and send it for Grumperina's gallery. I can't wait!

The Sit Sip and Knit group are a bunch of sweethearts. We had a lot of fun and everyone is so talented. I always get yarn envy when I go, the projects in progress are so cool.

I need to post pictures of the stash enhancement from Friday's oil change (our mechanic is a block away from a yarn store and a wonderful bead store). But, Law & Order: SVU is on and Mom's birthday present is in my lap, distracting me. There's also a huge stack of paperwork on the kitchen island begging my attention, never mind the packing I need to do before 10:30am tomorrow. Wonder if I can swing by Knit Wit tomorrow on our way out of town without Fry getting grumpy at Mom hanging out at a yarn store? ;)