I'm going to knock 'em off.

Socks, that is.

Yes, tonight, I learn to sock.

We'll see if my patience holds out. Sure, I have no problem with intarsia. Yes, I like fair isle. But socks? Here's hoping.

Second verse, same as the first

The second side of That Damn Felted Bag is complete. Actually, it's the third side. Had to frog one back to a painful point and decided it was easier to frog the whole thing than figure out where I was in the trellis pattern.

The 19 needles are killing my wrists. I'm going to be very happy when the roses and leaves are complete. I think I'll like the bag (and, if not, it'll make a fabulous gifty for someone), but I think I prefer pulling things out of my head for felted bags rather than knitting from such an exact pattern.

In other news, tomorrow I begin the journey of learning to sock!!! Frighteningly, I already have yarn for five pairs of socks.

Yarn lust: Rowan Denim. Must. Have. More. Almost finished with Bean's jumper (there are two pics on that site - front and back - it's the little girl with the stuffed puppy on her head) and now I want this!

A big pile o' yarn

Before


After

Nothing I could do about the off-center arms except frog the blasted thing. Felted bag, anyone?

I have very little novelty yarn in the stash. I took two balls that were previously assigned to become a fairly boring scarf, made a few purchases, and this emerged:


Very pink and very green. Somewhere in my knitting funk, I've been seduced by the glittery dark side. HELP! (I'm a bit tired of sweaters. I've knit a sweater a month for the last six months in addition to a bunch of other stuff and I've entered a phase of felted bags and fuzzy oddities. I have plenty of yarn for sweaters stashed away for when I emerge from my funk.)

WWBBD?*

My daughter has been sleeping through the night for 10 days**! Yes, you remember right, she's going to be three soon. She's never been a sleeper. Nap, no nap, activity, food; nothing made a difference. About two weeks ago, she started making another one of those big developmental leaps. She also gave up her nap completely. And now, she's sleeping.

I'm not. Yet. I still wake up a couple of times a night. But it's getting easier and easier for me to get back to sleep. I'm more well-rested than I've been in a good 3 1/2 years. It's kind of freaking me out.

*What Would Brian Boitano Do?

*OK, she's woken up one night out of the ten, but she had a case of gas so bad I would not have been suprised if flames had shot out of her butt along with a satellite dish.

Afghans Ahoy

First of all:
I have a huge urge to see this knitted up in red with the dingle balls in green.

What happened to the five skeins of Colinette Point 5 that I bought on sale?


Afghan: Colinette Point 5 in Toscana, something fuzzy, and Rowan Big Wool It measures approximately 50 inches by 40 inches.


Closeup

This is the final time I am knitting this yarn. In the last month, I have knit two ponchos and a shawl out of this yarn before coming to my senses and realizing that it wanted to be a small afghan/lap blanket. I still need to put a crab stitch edge on it (HUGE thanks to my Secret Pal for pointing me to a website with details) and some big old tassels on the corners.

Flower Basket Bag

I started the Nicky Epstein Flower Basket bag from the new VK. The trellis pattern, while interesting, is a pain in the wrist on 19s. I'm knitting the bag in the same colors but out of Peruvian Highland Wool, doubled. I'm not much of a green person and there is an awful lot of that olive. I think I'll like it better felted. I have a feeling I'll be knitting a second one with roses in pink and red, green leaves (natch), and a black and gold trellis. But next time I'm going to just lay out the trellis on top and knot it. Same effect but much less work.


Peruvian Highland Wool for VK Flower Basket Bag


One side of the bag


Also, I keep meaning to post a picture of the nice present Chrissie sent me!



Roak from Chrissie! Patons Chacha and a pattern booklet

Seating for 300

Nothing like being in charge of seating for a charity ball. I have to seat 300 people and make them all happy. I have three meetings this week on seating arrangements! Everyone wants their hand in the pickle jar. Fine with me, more shares for the blame if someone is unhappy ;>

This is shaping up to be a doozy of a week!

In knitting news, I have complete the pocket, bottom, and handles as well as one side of the VK Flower Basket Bag. I've also finished the knitting portion of the Colinette afghan thingy. Hopefully, the sun will cooperate and I can get some decent pictures up later today!

Knitting goals for this week. 1.) Undo the wonky arm seam on Cate and redo it. My LYS has some variegated ribbon that should make a really nice tie. Then she'll be Sensible Cate (with a ballet-style tie on one side) rather than Big Fat Unwieldy Tie Over My Stomach Cate. Once again, never trust a picture. 2.) Cast on for the second Silk Garden scarf. And, 3.) Cast on for side two of the Rowan denim jumper.

The other goal is to resist casting on for the other side of the flower basket until next week. Man but that sucker is going to be HUGE! I am already planning a second, much smaller version in brighter colors.

Too much about me

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high-end and/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? Baby, I am a yarn snob. Really, I have tried. And failed. I tossed Hallowig because the Red Heart gave me the heebie jeebies. I tried Wool-Ease but it kept squeaking.

2. Do you spin? Crochet? No and no. I'm actually a bit interested in spinning but I think the fibers would mess with my allergies.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) Mohair, angora, smoke, cats, cats, cats (I can tell if you have a cat within five minutes of entering your home ;>), and I'm not much on strong perfumes.

4. How long have you been knitting? Twelve years off and on.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) Citrus. Candles are great, but I have sensitive skin so I'm sort of picky about bath products. (Yes, I'm a pain in the butt.)

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? And a salty tooth! Chocolate is a weakness but I also like trying wierd things from other countries or other areas of the US. (Pocky!)

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? My hobbies are knitting and tormenting my child ;>

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I'm open to anything except Enya/KennyG/Bolton/Celine type music. And country music that's not in the Johnny Cash drinkin' and killin' vein. I grew up on 70s classic rock and then went punk. My music tastes are eclectic to say the least.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Red, pink, and I love chartreuse green.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Husband, daughter who will be three soon, 4 year old medium black dog. True story about the dog. She's a pretty dog and someone once insisted that she had to be a full breed something. I told the woman that Molly is a Madagascar Tick Hound. Very rare. (Molly is mostly Border Collie with Lab and godknowswhatelse thrown in. And she was found as a pup with her littermates in a junkyard. So she's an honest junkyard dog.)

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know) There's that one with Alan Rickman. Uh, I mean, well, nothing...

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? I love handpainted yarns like Mountain Colors and Cherry Tree Hill, as well as anything Rowan. I think bamboo and soy silk are also cool.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Mohair, angora, 100% acrylic (unless it's something that's one element of a scarf - like Ironstone Yarns Pizazz),, anything scratchy. I'm not a huge Noro fan. I tried but it's *hot*.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? It varies from day to day. I keep a variety of projects going, so that I always have something to fit my mood. I try to keep a mix of simple and complex.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Sweaters. The other current mania is felted bags.

17. What are you knitting right now? A pinafore for my daughter in Rowan denim, a secret present for Hubster in Araucania Nature Wool, a scarf out of Noro Silk Garden (not for me), a baby blanket, and the Nicky Epstein purse in the new VK. And I'm seaming a sweater in Colinette Giotto.

18. What do you think about ponchos? I look better in things with a defined waist.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Circs.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Clover bamboo circs for almost everything. Or Addi turbos.

21. Are you a sock knitter? Just learning!

22. How did you learn to knit? I took a class at a now defunct store.

23. How old is your oldest UFO? 10 years. It's an intarsia coat sweater with 11 color changes.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? Powerpuff Girls Buttercup. I used to have a flippy bob and the resemblence was startling.

25. What is your favorite holiday? Any day I get to sleep late is a holiday!

26. Is there anything that you collect? Looking around, I'd say laundry and bills... (I'm not much of a collector. )

3 going on 13

I go in to wake up the Bean and pull the covers from over her head (she is so like her father) and she glares up at me and hisses, "Leave. Me. ALONE." And yanks the covers out of my hand and pulls them over her head again.

Once again, I laughed in front of her. Really, I try. I'm sure it's crushing for her ego and will leave lasting scars like when I was 13 and my mother refused to by me Candies because they were "hooker shoes"*. I just can't help it. She's too funny. The upside is that she frequently tells me that I'm funny. So at least it's an even trade with the ego crushing.

*Sarcasm alert. I received a lovely anonymous email from someone telling me I was a horrible parent. To which I reply, "Bless your heart, you must need a humor transplant."