February is the new January

I really hate it when they do that. "Brown is the new black". No it's not. It's brown. And yes, brown has become more of a wardrobe staple than it was in the past. But go try telling all the goth kids to start wearing brown. Maybe a nice tweedy chocolate? Yeah, right.

Speaking of chocolate, my dieting resolutions have already sputtered out. Well, not so much sputtered. More like I did a spectacular cliff dive into a lake of chocolate ala Willy Wonka.

And I was thinking about knitting vs. dieting. How they are similiar. The effort to result ratio that is. Losing a bunch of weight is like knitting a cabled sweater, or a beautiful lace shawl. Lots of hardwork, but the end result is so very much worth it. And you can strut around with pride in your new shawl (or your new butt) and just bask in the compliments.

And then there's quick and dirty dieting. A couple of days of frenzied effort to drop a few pounds of water weight. So you can wear your rings again and your face won't look quite so puffy in your new work ID card. Kind of like fuzzy feet. Or a washcloth. A short spurt of crazy knitting yields you something little and cute.


Of course maybe it's like one of those crazy big knit ponchos. Yarn the width of a garden hose, size 75 needles. And you're all proud of yourself until you wear it out. And realize that you look like a schmuck. Just like the water weight comes screaming back as soon as you eat a single lay's potato chip. And who can eat just one?

There are differences though. Dieting is about deprivation. Knitting is about burying yourself in piles of gorgeous yarn. And then there's the whole UFO issue.

UFO. UnFinished Object. Knitters are famous for their UFO's. Like my Rogue. I pick it up, I put it down. I've been working on it off and on since August. But everytime I pick it up, it is just where I left it. No stitches have unravelled. Just as much progress as I expected. No backsliding. It's a beautiful thing.

You can't leave dieting in UFO status though. You can't *stop* dieting and then pick up back where you left off. Nope. If you stop and ignore it for awhile your butt will get bigger. And don't even try on those rings. Who are you kidding?

Happy New Year folks. Come February 1st I'll be toasting you with rice cakes and um, rice cakes. At least I can still gorge myself on yarn.

Welcome to the block party!

"Of doom" is such a useful phrase. The jaywalkers of doom. The sleeves of doom. The dirty toilet of doom.

Maybe you're not familiar with the dirty toilet of doom. Here's how you learn firsthand. Have two boys 13 months apart. Then when they are potty-trained they will start creating the toilet of doom. No matter whatcha do, perfect aim will never be achieved. Cheerio targets? Nope. Candy incentives? Nope. The aim will always be bad.

And then you, the mom, will have to don your lady playtex yellow gloves and clean up all the misses. Do you ever wonder why playtex makes yellow gloves and feminine hygiene products? I mean honestly, how are the two connected?

And just fyi, my 37 year old husband recreates the toilet of doom in our bathroom. So you don't have to pop out the kids. Just move in with a man.

Pardon the wide angle picture... But I had to show proof that there were two of them!



I need to do some smoothing and pinning while they are still wet. Yes, I realize it's very late at night. But I have Carolan's and no-bake cookies and diet pepsi. So hang around for awhile, won't ya?

I am very, very excited that I finally finished the sleeves of doom. Next comes the zipper of doom. Do you hear the ominous background music? Well if you do, you've had more Carolan's than I have.

I'll be blaming the boy scouts.

For the record, I don't belive in karma. I believe in God. But it does seem to me that life has a way of giving you ups and downs.

Up the first. My husband's ex-wife called tonight. She and her father will be in town in a week or so and want to meet me and the boys. Um, ok. Not exactly an up. The up is that my husband still has a financial obligation to her, and she's wiping it clean. So yay and woohoo!

Up the second. I think I'm finally in the clear jaywalker wise. I've turned the heel and I'm in decrease junction. I've cropped the below picture to spare you the sight of my pedicure. Usually my toys are pretty darn well pretty. It is Florida, and flip flops (or toe shoes as my mama calls them) are de rigeur. But it's actually been chilly here. (Please let's ignore the fact that I still haven't finished my Rogue).


So where's the downside? Well there's some serious job turmoil for the man, and since he's the only breadwinner my nerves are all just shot to hell. And then there's this...


They're cute aren't they? I know. My boys are cutie patooties. (If you are a Nascar fan, please stop reading now. I'm sorry.)

Do you notice the background? That's at Daytona USA. I spent last Saturday with cars, and more cars, and a lot of people who made me kind of nervous. People who only wore clothing with big numbers emblazoned on them. And then there was the movie. Imax technology is wonderful. And loud. And Nascar on Imax. Really fricking loud. I'm just not a Nascar fan. Although I'm sort of scared that the boys might become fans. It was a boy scouts outing. So when my children are wearing scary jackets, t-shirts, hats, sunglasses, underwear, and tattoos sporting the number of their favorite racer, I'll be blaming the boy scouts.

Return of the Jaywalker!

Sounds kind of ominous, doesn't it?



Please ignore the misshappen rewound skein of sock garden. That's the best I could do until my beloved buys me a ballwinder. But I think they are actually working.

Things I'm doing differently... Since it was clear that the 76 stitch version would not fit over my heel on size 1 addis, I had a choice. Go up in needle size or go up in stitch count. I decided to do the 84 stitch version. But I hated the way the ribbing flared everytime I did them. So I did the ribbing on size 0 addis. I think I will also use the size 0 addis to tighten up the sole area.

Interesting note. Instead of pooling, the 84 stitch version in hydrangea is striping now. Looks pretty though.

Frickin' frackin'....

Insert your own pseudo expletives as desired. Why?

A rogue sleeve (for my size) is 118 rows. At least. Once I get past the increases I might have to add a few rows for my gorilla arms.

I'm knitting both sleeves at once. I have 45 rows to go. It takes me 5-6 minutes to work a row.

Do the math.

It's gonna take me another four-five hours just to knit the sleeves. Let alone the blocking and the seaming. I just don't see that happening today. At all.

Bummer.

Feeling Roguish...

The body is blocking. Supposedly blocking A. takes forever, and B. will help with the sleeve seaming. So....


I'm not sure what to do with the hood. Most pics I've seen of other Rogues blocking show it kind of spread out. I'm gonna fuss with it in a minute.

The sleeves are about 60% done. I'm hoping to finish them tonight or early tomorrow and attach them sometime on Friday. See? I picked a project to finish. It's supposed to be in the 50's on Saturday (chilly!) and we're going down to Daytona for a "go-see-it". We'll be outside a good deal of the time at the track and won't I look stylish?

Methinks...

Actually I probably *shouldn't* think. But that's a whole 'nother blog.

I would really like to be a finisher. As opposed to a person who starts 75 projects but never finishes anything. This is giving me gas today. Today I had a whole lot of knitting time available to me. But instead of knitting I played on the computer, printed out new patterns to try, and even cast on for something else. Something is definitely wrong with me.

So I'm gonna be a finisher. Stay tuned for what I'm gonna finish. I haven't decided yet.

Made in the shade?

Ok. I am seriously confused. The best pics I can get of my knitting and/or yarn are in the shade?



MaryElla from Knitty, in Knitpicks Shadow laceweight, color Oregon Coast. The heathered effect has some nice purples and greens in it. The beads are from Art on Park, a local gallery. They have a subtle variation - purple to periwinkle to blue to green. It's extremely slow knitting on the 0000 needles aka the pokey needles of death. (Just ask my poor thigh about that...)



And this is some antique rose colored cotton along with black for my Via Diagonale. It's thicker than the recommended yarn, so I'm gonna have to do some gauge swatches and some math on that bugger. But it should be pretty.

And eventually I will get this picture crap down.

A (wo)man with a plan.

Today, I have a plan. Would you like to see?

1. Shower - This will include the after tasks of applying makeup and blowing my hair out.

2. Sorting laundry - Gonna take it slow and just get done whatever today.

3. Knit - I can't decide if it will be my leaf lace shawl or my rogue. One or the other.

4. Library - I still have not been to the new library downtown. So today we go.

5. Carolans - The cheaper version of Bailey's. But just as tasty in my oh so humble opinion. Tonight there will be Carolans, and watching TV, and knitting, and general relaxation.

I did make it over to the sit and knit at the last minute last night (boy scouts was cancelled) but I didn't make any progress on my shawl. But it was fun nonetheless.

Leafy and lacy....

Yesterday the man's Christmas presents finally arrived. After quite a run around, I'll tell you. But one of his presents was a video game. So of course he was lost to me last night. So I settled in with my zephyr and some BBC America. And I swatched with the zephyr on different needles and with one and two strands until I found the fabric I wanted.



Double stranded zephry jaegerspun on size 7 crystal palace bamboo circulars. Quite perfect and quite easy to knit. I'm on my 2nd repeat of the ten rows, and I'm looking at doing 10-12 repeats. It's coming together so pretty. I think I might have this baby knit up in no time. Finally, something rewarding.

Lettuce take stalk...

Celery stalk that is. I'm telling you right now, the dieting is getting to me folks. No chocolate makes for a grumpy rincaro.

But seriously, let us take stock. What I'm knitting, what I wanna knit, what I'm not knitting that I should be knitting...

1. Things currently feeling the love...

Rogue - I'm putting in some time most days on the sleeves. Course it's so danged hot here...

Um, that's it. Nothing else is feeling the love.

2. Things that should be feeling the love...

Red boy socks - the poor guy. He hasn't even noticed that mommy hasn't touched his socks in a week or two. I really need to churn those out.

3. Things I wanna show the love to...

Something lacy. I guess that something will have to be the leaf lace shawl. I have the yarn, I have the needles. I just need to decide if I wanna do it single strand on smaller needles or double strand on bigger needles. Cause single strand on size 5's is not making me a happy camper. I ordered lace yarn from knitpicks for the flower basket shawl, print of the wave shawl, and ene's scarf, but they screwed up my order and I have to redo it. And now I won't get $30 free shipping, I'll have to settle for $40 free shipping. Not a huge deal, but now I'm refusing to reorder on principle.

Socks. I am not lucky in socks. I cast on the other day for pomatomus in knitpicks dancing (jig - greens, yellows, and blues) but it wasn't quite right. The needles may have been too big. I have size 0 addis on the way. Those might make it better. I also want to make jaywalkers so badly, but I'm afraid to cast on after all of my false starts. I know that 76 stitches on size 1 addis with the sock garden is too small. Except for when it's too big. But 84 on size 1's always turns out too big. I think. Would 76 work on size 2's? Or would that be too loosey goosey. It's giving me gas. Gas I tell you. I'm tempted to pick up one of the self-striping yarns in my stash and just give the bird to jaywalkers. But it's such a nice pattern. *sigh*

Via Diagonale. I ordered some black & rose cotton for this. I've coveted this bag for awhile and I think pink & black will be a good everyday combination. Or at least less frightening than my favorite color combo - pink & orange! The yarn I ordered is thicker than the rec'd yarn, but I'll figure that out later.

I have yarn for so many projects it's frightening. What is it in me that just wants more?

Malaise

Did I spell that right? Who knows. All I know is that my house is a post-Christmas disaster, even though everything is put up. But yesterday, in the mail, I got this:



And I want to make the butterfly (there on the cover) so very badly. But fat girls do not look good in gauzy lacy things that you wear over tank tops. So.... I guess I will print out lots of pictures of the too skinny model and put them on fridge? I don't know.

I'm done with the charts on the rogue sleeves. Now comes the mind-numbing stockinette and shaping. I need to pick up a zipper this weekend. Of course yesterday I was wearing shorts. But presumably it will get chilly again. I hope.

A tale of two sleeves

I was gonna call this double the p-l-e-a-s-u-r-e but I don't want any more stranger dangers showing up round these parts.



Two lovely Rogue sleeves. They seem a bit wonky at the bottom, but I am assuming that's what blocking is for. I'm working them two at a time to avoid that other form of SSS - second sleeve syndrome. I'm itching something terrible to cast on for something else. Something lacy. Something that's a shawl. But I'm trying to resist the temptation and be diligent about working on this here "winter coat". It'd be a heckuva lot easier if the weather would cooperate. These balmy temperatures make me want to work on tank tops. And it's gonna be in the 70's here all weekend. Geez Louise.

To answer Mamma - the cascade 220 is a dream. So soft and nummy. And I've heard it gets softer even when you wash it.

In other news, I quite honestly won't be knitting any more tank tops. Or sweaters, or garments that fit my body. I've decided that until I lose this weight I'm gonna concentrate on accessories, and lace, and socks, and oh did I mention lace? Is this not gorgeous?

Because he's cuter than me.

He kind of looks like a druid or something. A toothless druid that is. Were druids toothless? That boy will take any opportunity to show off his latest tooth loss. (The top one if you were wondering).

I finally finished the Rogue hood. Just two sleeves and a zipper and we'll be good to go. I made one mistake on the decreases, but I decided I did not care. Most of the time the hood will be down anyway. This was very good for helping me to better understand cables. I'm wondering though, should I block the body before or after I attach the sleeves. Guess I better read the instructions.

In other news, Beauty Shop with Queen Latifah is cute and amusing and quite good knitting fare.

Not the year of the jaywalker...

I ripped it out. Again. I still don't understand this. Sometimes the 76 stitch version in sock garden on size 1 addi turbos is too big. This time the same version was too tight. Plus the ribbing was ruffly from the pulling in effect of the pattern. I give up on sock garden. I think I am moving on to pomatomus in this yarn. I think it will go nicely. I just can't stand the jaywalkers anymore. I don't understand how it works for everyone but me.

In other bad news, my making waves socks look like shit. They are crazy fuzzy. To the point that the texture is obscured. I guess the lesson from that is that superwash is a lie. A mad lie. At least in the case of these socks.

Deranged

So... I've been happily tooling along on my most recent Jaywalker attempt. 76 stitches, size 1 addis, stargazer lily sock garden. The leg is tight over the heel, but I can work it. And it's not a sock fit for King Kong.


So I should be happy right? Wrong.

This is what I'm thinking. Wouldn't the stargazer lily look just absolutely gorgeous as a flower basket shawl?

I never said I was normal.

Proof!

First off, Merry Christmas. We did the crazy present thing. I only got one knitting present - the 2006 pattern-a-day calendar. Lots of other neat stuff though.

Proof that my husband does NOT love me.


That would be the first nearly finished glove of a pair from Knitty's cigar pattern. Which he specifically requested. So I make him try them on, just to be sure. And he looks up at me with pleading eyes... "Can't you make a skull design on them?" *sigh*

Proof that my yeast is viable.


Even though my bread is not risen enough and my loaf is misshapen, my yeast is good. I tested it. See, it rose to the top of the cup. It's good.

Proof that my husband actually does love me.


A beautiful turquoise and silver beaded cross (one of a pair) that he got for my cross collection.

So many bad ideas.

You know what's worse than too much risotto? Too much risotto followed 5 hours later by too many oatmeal scotchies. Oatmeal cookies with butterscotch chips. Quite delicious. But oy, my stomach is killing me.

I am not making any progress on boy socks number two. I'm just out of oomph. And the man comes home early tonight. Or I should say today - he'll be leaving the office at 2pm, which means less knitting time for me.

So I will go take a shower, hope my bellyache subsides, and try to straighten up before he gets here.

But I leave you with this cuteness.



Who says acrylic yarn doesn't have it's uses? Yep, big brother is teaching lil brother (the dark haired baby) how to knit.

Too. Much. Risotto.

Last night for dinner we had crispy ranch tofu, yellow risotto, and corn. It was the totally yellow dinner. It was the boys' idea, don't ask. Just now I decided I needed breakfast. Lemme just tell you folks. Leftover risotto is just way too danged heavy for breakfast. Next time I'm making waffles.

Next we present still life with bicycle and mini-tramp...



No not a short hooker, a mini-trampoline. *sigh* Lil dude's socks are done except for weaving in ends. I fixed the too short toe and the ribbing. So they are all nice and done. Big dude's socks are slow going. I picked a broken rib pattern. I figured I couldn't do solid straight stockinette socks, now could I? I have 5.5 inches on the first footie. I need at least 6.5 before I do the short row heel. I need to get my booty OFF the computer, do a smidge of housecleaning and then settle back in for some serious knitting.

In other news, it looks like my husband's Christmas prezzies might be lost in delivery land. Not good, not good at all. I have about zero dollars to replace them. I'm contemplating a nervous breakdown. I'll get back to you later on that.

Slow and slower...

Very slow progress on the boy socks. I haven't even started Big J's. Here you see Little J's....



They look nearly done, don't they? But looks, my friends, can be decieving. I screwed up the ribbing on the socks. One is k2,p2, and one is k1,p1. The k1,p1 stays up better. The one with the finished toe is too short. So there will be ripping and reknitting of those areas. *sigh* I have quite a bit of laundry to do today, so I guess I will launder and knit. And launder and knit.

Here's the super strange part. I bought the knitpicks parade and totally missed the part where it was only 137 yards per ball. But both of these socks are from the first ball. I started using this yarn for boy socks because I thought I would run it. I think I might be able to get two pairs of boy socks out of this yarn. Strange, no?

Not much knitting going on...

But I really need to finish up the boy socks. The boys are fulling expecting hand-knit socks under the tree. I have one of Justin's done. Jeremy's will be solid red and I'm trying to find a good pattern/texture for his. Thank God for little feet.

I've decided that 2006 is the year I will get skinny. And my motivation will be to knit things like this... Fat people just can't wear stuff like that. And I want to knit myself cute LITTLE stuff.

I had leftover birthday cake for breakfast. It's a good thing that it's still 2005.

Huh?

Pray for me sisters (and brothers) in knitting. Today the man has a day off. And a list. Can you hear the whip cracking? He's in the shower. It will begin soon. I only pray that he will let me have some Starbucks before he starts the day. It won't be good.

And in other news. Since when does Harry Potter sport a mullet?

In lieu of...

Instead of handknitted gifts, the teachers are getting very nice ornaments from pier one. I had great plans to crank out scarves yesterday, but life had other plans. Which included cutting out 40 kindergarten size handprints, making a chinese dinner that made everyone sick and gassy, and the mama (that would be me) throwing a tantrum and showing her ass in the span of oh let's say 15 minutes.

So.... this is what they get!




They are pretty, they are handpainted, and they come in lovely gift/storage boxes. Can you tell I'm extra super tired?

The center one with the sleigh actually comes in a red box. Now I have to pack up 3000 pounds of Christmas party supplies and write out cards for said teachers and fix my hair and makeup and get my ass in gear.

Yes, I am a tired mama. And tomorrow the man has a day off. That never bodes well for me.

Master Procrastinator

I am the queen of procrastination. Bow down before me.



What you see there is half of an Airy Scarf. With beads! Actually I used smaller needles, so it's really only a third of an Airy Scarf. It knits up very quickly. It's quite lovely. It's for my sons' teachers. And it needs to be finished soon. I could have finished it last night, but instead I went to bed. And this morning I've wasted two hours on the computer - most of which I spent planning out my 2006 budget. Yes 2006 is just around the corner, but these presents need to be finished yesterday.

There is definitely something wrong with me.

Unbelievable.

The first unbelievable thing. I had to turn on the heat. It's actually only 46 outside. It will probably heat up to the mid 60's today. But that's danged cold for here. The crazy people will be breaking out the parkas. Last year I only turned on the heat maybe 5 times. We live in a third floor apartment and heat rises, you know?

The second unbelievable thing. I went into school this morning to deliver 27 pounds of Holiday party supplies for my 1st grader. Then I checked in at my kindergartner's class. What does she need help with for the party.... You won't believe this. The party is Thursday. She's gonna write a few phone numbers in my son's planner so I can make calls and figure out the party. She's done nothing! The other teachers have been planning their party since 1972. This totally peeves me off. But if I blow it off, my son's class gets no party. You know?

I did some quick net research and found some good party ideas. But it just jacks up my week. There's no way I will finish a shawl for the holiday shindig at this rate.

The third unbelievable thing. If you lose thirty pounds, last year's party dress will be too big. Ok, maybe that's not unbelievable. But it is annoying. Especially when you have neither the time nor the money to buy a new party dress. Watch this space for my amazing duct tape seamstress skills. Just kidding. Well sort of....

Well crap a duck.

I was at the craft store today and I totally spaced picking up ribbon or buttons for my Sweet Mary Jane.

A week from today is my husband's fancy ass holiday shindig. And I have made absolutely no progress on #19. I'm half wondering whether or not I should cast on for the leaf lace shawl and see how fast that goes. Cause I know #19 is gonna take me for frigging ever. *sigh*

Oh my. Plus all three boys, two little guys and the big one, really would like hand knit socks for Christmas. I guess I better go measure some feet.

All Hail Queen Mary Jane!

I needed knitted happiness. So I did something quick and dirty. For the Sweet Mary Jane cardigan, your gauge swatch is a little sachet. How cute is that. So that is Celeste's Sachet blocking. I'll post a finished pic of her today.

I do see a problem though. The sachet is 54 stitches knitted on size 6 dpns. Despite being really careful, I got some pretty serious ladders that didn't seem to wash out. The sleeve is about the same number of stitches worked on the dpns. I don't want ladders in my sleeves. Course I'm only really seeing the ladders in the stockinette. It might not affect the lace pattern. I'll have to wait for it to dry.

The majority of this knitting was accomplished while waiting for the dentist yesterday afternoon. I just finished it up this morning. Talk about quick and dirty! This would make cute little Christmas ornaments. Done in a hollyberry red with some cinnamon potpourri stuffed inside.... Hmmmm.....

And then there were four...

Well, my sock was giving me gas, and I didn't have the heart to re-cast-on, so I made three more stitch markers.



Thanks again turtlegirl for the photo lesson! I'm off to the dentist here in a bit.

Scorecard: Jaywalker 75, Me -10

The jaywalker kicked my ass again last night. I finally had turned the heel and was getting ready to knit up the reverse heel flap. So I tried it on again. (I've done this about 75 times during the process). This was the moment when it went from "kinda loose" to "too damned big". I should have known better than to use the stargazer lily. It's sock garden you know. Of the curs-ed sock garden variety you might say.

I now have a very misshapen re-wound skein of stargazer lily. Bummer. I might have to abandon this pattern. I don't know.

Smarter than me.

Turtlegirl76 is way smarter than me. She wisely suggested I take a step back, and not hold the camera right on top of the stitch marker (in my non photo genius mind i thought i needed to get closer) and voila!



The top bead is sort of a flat gunmetal-ly purple, the middle bead is amethyst, and the bottom is kind of amber purple. Isn't she pretty? And my first try even.

Poor Unphotogenic Stitch Marker

She's much lovelier in person. I swear. We tried so hard today to get her good side. Poor girl. We can't even show the outdoor shots. Natural sunlight is so unforgiving.

First off, if you'd like to read my palm...


Thinking maybe she has bo...


Yellow is not her color...


Is this an ox?


Maybe a lovely sock will help...


Or some snuggly kool-aid yarn...


Snuggling with Santa...


Trying to get that star treatment...


And finally, resorting to posing with pez. Cause everybody love pez. Right? Right?


I hate my freaking camera.

Like I need another obsession.

Ah Tuesdays. Drop the boys off at school. And then me and lil dude are off to run errands. He's so good. All he wants is a hot wheel if he's good at the store and all is right with the world. So we go to the evil Wally World. Trash bags, candles, carpet cleaner, etc. And then he's so good that we head over to BAM. Cause at BAM they have a Thomas set. And I can peruse all the knitting mags and books and PJ can play. He loves it. Plus I don't end up buying knitting mags that I really don't want. I found two books I really want though. Geez. Handknit Holidays and Alterknits. Add that to the Sensational Knitted Socks book that I'm drooling over and well...

But I didn't buy any of the books today. I resisted. But then on the way out I saw some sort of beginnner's beading kit. Which included enough beads and notions to make ten different projects with step by step instructions. I was so very tempted. But then I opened it up (just to look inside, I didn't damage the packaging) and the colors of the beads were just bleah. So again I resisted.

But then I headed to Michael's and picked up a beading tool kit, a bunch of head pins, and a packet of variegated amethyst colored beads. For what? For hand-made stitch markers of course. My very first one is so cute. So cute. But I can't get a good picture of it to save my life.

I do have some nice pics of my kool-aid experiment. Here it is all wet and squishy.


And here it is "Sherbet" all balled up. It's very soft. And will make a nice pair of tutti-frutti socks.


And finally, I leave you with this. The man and I were gonna buy a TV for Christmas. Maybe a nice 27 incher. We even considered HDTV. But instead we got this. For free. Used but very, very nice. For free. It's good to have a sister who works for the cable company who has customers with more money than they need.

Pooling defined...

I've seen many knitters - especially sock knitters, who complain and bemoan all the pooling they see. Well honey, you ain't seen nothing yet. This is pooling!



I'm working on the gusset increases and they still feel a smidge loose. But the 76 stitch version was too tight. So there you go. I could have tried for size 0 addis, but I don't have any of those yet.

Also for your viewing pleasure the half hooded rogue...



Yep, that's all I got done in my marathon knitting session. But Beth sweetly offered me her "Pokey Purler" button for my sidebar. And yes, I put that baby right on my server. Cause Pokey is me. And isn't the turtle cute?

Well my sidebar is updated, and my house is a wreck per usual. So I need to shower, feed the boys (doot doot is home sick again) and then clean like a maniac so I can justify my knitting time.

Veddy interesting...

I think I now know why I don't finish anything. Not only do I flit from thing to thing but I am the slowest knitter in the history of the world. Seriously.

Last night I knit from 6pm to 4am with only short breaks for munchies and bathroom. And a half hour for the Starbucks run from hell. But other than that - what is that? about 8-9 hours of knitting?

You wanna know what I finished? Nothing. Nothing. I worked about 25 rows on my rogue hood. I still have I think 30 to go. No sleeves. Just neverending hood.

And I cast on for jaywalker socks in the stargazer lily. Only got the better part of a figure eight toe on that one.

Why am I so freaking slow?

In other news, the knit-in was great! An amazing variety of ages and experience levels of knitters. And everyone was so nice and fun. And we laughed. And just had a really, really, good time.

Since then I have had two hours of sleep. I'd love to take a picture of my pathetic rogue hood progress for you, but I really must sleep. Now.

Anticipation is making me wait...

Tonight I get to go to a knit-in. Actually I don't know what she's calling it exactly. All I know is I pay $10, get pizza, and then get to sit around all night knitting with all kinds of other knitting chickies and supposedly work on my holiday projects. Um, yeah.

I'm not really knitting much for Christmas per se. The boys' teachers may or may not get airy scarves. Actually they probably will. Tied in a pretty bow on a basket of homemade goodies. Shoot, I might as well say buckeyes, cause that is what they are getting. Everybody loves buckeyes.

I'm cleaning today and trying to convince myself not to knit, since I get to knit all night. But it's hard. I have laundry going now and the boy who is home with me has been fed. (The other boys are at the base on a boy scout go see it.)

I'm so very tempted to cast on for my jaywalker socks. So very, very. But they've been not so nice to me so far. Of course I did have some wierd sizing issues with tivoli many moons ago. And that is a great little sweater. So it will probably be worth it.

But what should I take with me to knit? I really should work on #19 if I expect to wear it to the man's big holiday shindig. It would be perfect for something "semi-formal". But it's been chilly here too. And rogue needs some serious attention. I'd love to bring my stargazer yarn and try the jaywalkers, but I kind of feel like I should bring projects with yarn from her store. Not that she would probably mind, but still. Can I just bring a large suitcase of projects?

In other news, Doot Doot really needs a haircut.

The view from here...

This is what I see everyday as I sit in purgatory the car line at school. I am not at the front of the line. To be at the front of the line you have to arrive approximately one hour before school lets out. I like my car line knitting time, but not that much!


Next we see Rogue. In all her half-hooded glory. I did a whole ws row on her, before I realized I had no cable needle. And the no-needle cable is not on my list of mad skillz.


Fortunately I am a knitter with forethought. Witness the back-up project. Toe-up sock it to me springtime socks on two circs...


Finally we see a beautiful sight. An artfully arranged sock yarn basket with four new colors/styles of sock yarn added from Knitpicks.


The hydrangea (blue/pink/purple) you see there is the cursed sock yarn. All the other knitpicks sock yarn is new. Including the two mammoth hanks of dye your own. There is kool-aid in my future. Lots of kool-aid. I'm thinking a pink lemonade theme - pale pink, yellow, maybe a bit of muted orange... Not sure about the other hank yet.

Corn-fusion reigns....

I did the 76 stitch version of jaywalker last night for a good long while. It got me nowheres. Nowheres. The resulting tube was huge. And I have big feet. I'm 5'10". I wear a size 10 shoe. If I didn't, I would fall over. You need a size 10 platform to keep from falling over when you're as tall as I am. But this sock-ling was sized for Shaq. So....

I cast-on again. Toe-up, thinking I could figure this mother out. My gauge changed. What was 7 spi, was suddenly 8 spi. So then I thought surely I should be able to do the 76 stitch version from this cast-on. But no.... These were fit for only Andre the Giant (may he R.I.P.)

What am I doing wrong? I don't freaking know. I am beginning to believe that the hydrangea yarn is cursed. Hexed, vexed, evil, possessed, something. I have used this yarn to cast on at least 20 times for different socks. And after a few inches, it usually becomes apparent that they won't work. Of course sometimes I finish most of a freaking sock before I realize the problems. Is this just the pe (perfectionist eye) rearing it's ugly head? Maybe. But a sock that doesn't fit... Well it just doesn't fit.

Trust the pattern, believe in the pattern....

I want to make jaywalker socks. Really. I have the lovely hydrangea yarn all ready to go. I've cast on 76 stitches with my size one addis. Let's review the math:

Jaywalker Gauge = 7.75 spi
My Gauge = 7 spi

The size large (which I would need) has you cast on 84 stitches. My gauge ratio is right about 90%. So I should cast on 75.6 stitches to get a large sock with my gauge. I understand the math.

I've never made a sock and cast on so many freaking stitches. Now, I understand that the pattern is snug/pulls in, etc. But in my head this would make the ribbing incredibly huge. Of course the making waves socks did the same pull in thing. And the ribbing was fine. I cast on 64 stitches in sport weight on addi twos (3mm) and they fit just fine. So this should work.

I guess I have to just suck it up, trust the pattern, and get some of the actual leg portion done to see what will really happen. I've just wasted a lot of time futzing with these socks already. Grrrr....

Not a finisher.

I have only finished 16 projects this year. In October I finished nothing. I read all these blogs, and they are cranking out the FO's. What is wrong with me? I'm a sahm, I have plenty of time to knit. Geez-o-petes.

Black Friday?

Did I miss something? When did they start calling it "Black Friday"? This is the first year that I've ever heard that term. Granted, usually I hide somewhere on that day, and don't dare go near any big box store, but still....

On Friday, I actually did leave the house. I had sicks mens and I needed medicine. So I went to CVS. And then I trucked on over to Tuesday Morning to pick up some stuff for the boy scout holiday hoopla. Did the check for yarn, but no dice. Just a crapload of orange cotton-ease. And oh yeah, nobody likes the orange. Then I went to the other LYS. The one where they don't seem to like me very much. But I was in need of a sock yarn fix, and they have a much larger selection. And wonder, of all wonders, one of the ladies was super nice to me that day. But none of their sock yarn was screaming my name. So what did I buy?


The zephyr is so gorgeous. And it was only $11 a ball. I was quite rudely told on the lacelist that I overpaid, but I don't care. For 50% tussah silk, I honestly expected to pay more. And it just glows. So very pretty.

I finished my making waves socks on Saturday night. And I love them!!! I wore them yesterday with my earth shoe clogs. They were very warm, but didn't give me sweaty tootsies. I hope they wear well. They are unblocked of course in this pic, and they need to be thrown in the wash. But I couldn't wait to wear them!



I've cast on for toe-up socks with my sock it to me springtime yarn. I've got the first figure 8 toe done and I'm getting ready to cast on for the second. I'm gonna try two socks on two circs for this one. I think my knitpicks sock garden hydrangea (the yarn that is cursed... lol) might be turning into jaywalker socks. I really like that pattern. I've become a sock junkie. Oh my.

Holy Hashbrowns!

That's my 6 year old son's favorite exclamation. Would that I should remember this cuteness when he's 6'2" and giving me sass.

In anticipation of new yarn coming, and to get a handle on my WIP's, I reorganized my knitting nook. Which is really just a shelf full of yarn, needles and projects.


On the very top, barely visible, are a bunch of pictures of my boys as babies. Cause you can never have too many boy pics. Especially when your boys are as all out freaking adorable as mine.

Next we have some wips/stash. The walnut cascade 220 all nicely balled up to finish my rogue, four balls of romance knitpicks shine twist, six balls of bubblegum cotton-ease that begs to be a sitcom chic and then wips in bags. Hopeful in sugarplum cotton-ease, sweet mary jane swatch in knitpicks shadow oregon coast, and my starter stockinette socks in cascade 220. I think the starter stockinette will be frogged to make fuzzy feet. I won't wear thick wool socks, but I will have occasional use for slippers around here.

The next shelf is just pretty in the silver baskets. A bunch of balls of knitpicks palette for socks, that gorgeous cascade bollicine baby night, and my vogue #19 lace shawl. I found a perfect earflap hat pattern in Last Minute Knitted Gifts for the bollicine. Just need to measure the little dude's head.

The next shelf has my kitt trinket bag, 3 huge balls of strawberry twist sportweight wool-ease, my sister's online scarf, and my striped peace fleece booga which holds all my circs and my dpns.

The bottom has my first basket with all sock yarn, all the time. I had to clean that up to make room for the sock yarn that is coming. Then we have the lovely lantern moon basket. The top has pretty yarns, and the bottom is where I hide my small stash of red heart from my beginning days.

The boys are in bed. And the man is still sick, so he's in bed as well. And yes, this is what I've done with my time this evening. Shaddup.

I'm thinking about Christmas presents. Yes, I know it's a little late. But there are only a very few people I want to knit for. I might whip up some airy scarves for the boys' teachers. Those are only supposed to take four hours each. And I'm a sahm, so I have 12 hours to spare. And then I'd really like to make socks for the man. And maybe the cigar gloves. Although both might be too ambitious.

I need to think of something to make for the boys. Something fun and easy. I was thinking maybe some sort of stuffed animal. A special lovie from Mommy. Cause they are still my babies you know. Speaking of which, even though they are fast asleep, they need another kiss goodnight.

Not so lucky...

I picked up a skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky yesterday from the LYS. She had whipped up one of those cute cableknit clutches and I thought I might do the same. And then I had the bright idea to include the Luckenbooth medallion from the girlfromauntie site.


This is my swatch. I made a mistake in one of the increases, but I really don't love the way it looks. Maybe it's the bulky yarn, or maybe it's the reverse stockinette, but I just don't think it will work for a little bag.

Plus my Scottish husband is driving me absolutely bonkers. And at first I thought using a Scottish medallion might be pleasing to him, but then I figured I really don't give a flying fig what pleases him. I've been sick now for nearly two weeks. I get no sympathy and no real help from him. He's sick now for two days and wants the world to revolve around him. Men are such babies sometimes.

But I digress. This is supposed to be about knitting. Not about my cranky husband. My making waves socks are coming along nicely. I might even finish them up tomorrow. More on that later. If you're in the US, Happy Thanksgiving!

Diseased

Diseased I am. I wonder if this will be like my CE affliction. Maybe you don't remember it. I picked up a couple of balls of cotton-ease and fell in love. But alas, it was discontinued. So then I began to stockpile the crap. CEHD - Cotton-Ease Hoarding Disease is what they call it. What happened to my CE stash you might ask? Well... I knit a chickami out of some white. And I'm 75% done with a hopeful in sugarplum. And I have six pristine balls of bubblegum set aside for sitcom chic. But the rest of it? Ah yes. The rest of it has been sold, traded, or destroyed.

I do have a complete sock now. Actually I have two. But the other one doesn't count. I have my beautiful making waves sock. It's so soft, and so lovely. And I plan to cast on for it's mate tonight while watching Gilmore Girls & Supernatural.

But today I got a bug up my butt and decided I needed to sample some more of the Knitpicks sock yarns. (Actually I blame the folks on Knitter's Review for this...) So I got some dancing in Jig, some simple stripes in Vineyard, some parade in Forest, some more sock garden in Star Gazer Lily, and just for good measure, two hanks of color your own. Cause I really want to try dyeing. Maybe some yummy kool-aid flavors?

So... once I get all of this yarn in house, plus the swap yarn I arranged for off of the knittyboard, I will have enough yarn to make at least 17 pairs of socks. Not including the pretty mystery sock yarn which I have upwards of 800 yards of. *sigh*