I was reading The Knitist's blog just a short time ago. She has declared her intention to enter the Knitting Olympics, hosted by none other than the Harlot herself, that mad, wonderful creature. I, of course, not being the type to resist a challenge, have been thinking about it for the past twenty minutes. Can I do it? What would be my challenge? Then I thought of it -- socks. My first pair of socks.
I own plenty of sock yarn but have resisted the temptation thus far. I like big, impressive projects, I guess, not things that get hidden inside of shoes. However, this may be destiny calling my name. Surely I can complete socks in 16 days, even if I'll probably be working on my Stitches homework simultaneously. Surely.
To make it harder, maybe I should do knee socks? I am a pretty fast knitter these days. I am tearing through my 2006 projects. I have completed four so far (the sexy Kaalund scarf is off the needles, love it love it love it), thanks to watching the complete first season of Veronica Mars, and I'm a good 5 inches into the Hourglass sweater from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts (in blessedly sensuous Noro Cash Iroho, how decadent). And knee socks would be less hidden by shoes, especially if worn with gauchos or a short skirt.
Hmmmm...
In other knitting news: CNITU2 wore his Cashmerino onesie out on the town Saturday night -- it finally got cold enough in SoCal. Wouldn't you know it, he picked that night to projectile poop with such force that his diaper leaked all over his pale blue loveliness! Sis has washed the thing twice and it's still stained. I am less upset about this than you might think -- after all, it's meant to be worn, and babies poop and spit up and pee all over things, that's just what they do. I do hope she can get it out well enough for him to wear it again. At least I got photos...
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Year in Review (and look! actual photos!)
It was great to see Spinnity, Jo, and Lori at Meet-up last night. Spinnity brought in a "conundrum" for our review -- a turquoise FunFur shrug, knitted by a friend, that (despite gauge swatch) was many sizes too large and also included some dropped stitches, thanks to the tricky yarn and a slightly complicated pattern. Solutions ranged from tearing the whole thing out to clever use of steeks. The project can't simply be abandoned, because the yarn was a gift from the knitter's adoring husband. The fact that the dear man went to a yarn store and voluntarily purchased this yarn for his wife while she was sick in bed means that she *must* complete it. And wear it, so it has to fit.
Being in a knitting frame of mind, I came home and posted photos! I calculated that I completed 25 knitted and/or crocheted FOs last year. Here they are, with their recipients, and eventually I'll link to photos of all of them (the numbers are all different than my first list, because I forgot a couple of things):
1. Shawlapalooza (Sis)
2. Yellow crocheted dishcloth (in our kitchen)
3. Red crocheted coaster (DH)
4. Princess M purse (PM)
5. Koigu Bias Betty scarf (Mom)
6. Pillow sachet (Mom Wiz)
7. Red fingerless gloves (Me)
8. CNITU's fish backpack (CNITU)
9. Blue Cardy (CNITU/CNITU2)
10. Squiggle Choo-choo scarf (Sis)
11. White Lies Nicole camisole and panty (Me)
12. Vintage camisole (Me)
13. Green fingerless gloves (Ragnar)
14. Basket stitch scarf (Andrea)
15. Basket stitch hat (Luke)
16. Mini-longshoreman stockinette stripe hat (Ethan)
17. Bear costume (CNITU)
18. Ugly yellow hat (hiding in the stash somewhere)
19. Zofia purse (sold)
20. LuLu purse
21. Lucas backpack
22. Kylie purse
Here are those last three for sale at Wizard of Yarns!
23. Green bolero (Sis)
24. Rowan flower pin (BF)
25. Rowan flower pin (Mom)
Here's my best friend modeling her flower pin before Christmas! Isn't she pretty?
So that's my year! A heck of a lot more FOs than last year. Plus, I've got three FOs since January 1st. Here's CNITU2 modeling his gorgeous Debbie Bliss Cashmerino onesie:
His big brother thinks it's pretty cool, too! (Notice his lack of clothing -- it was actually about 85 degrees in Laguna, and a cashmerino onesie was hardly necessary.)
And here's my neighbor Heidi modeling one of the fingerless gloves I made her for Christmas (I was her neighborhood Secret Santa. I actually gave her a ball of yarn and promised I would turn it into gloves by the new year.)
The third FO has yet to be photographed -- it's a little blue hat with the letter "L" on the front, knit during the drive back from Laguna for CNITU2.
Yesterday at meet-up I started a gorgeous burgundy, purple, and green wool scarf made from yarn I bought at Wizard of Yarns -- an Australian brand called, I think, Klaalund. It's amazingly lovely and soft. I got some other interesting goodies there, but some of it's meant for knitter gifts so I won't share just yet.
Being in a knitting frame of mind, I came home and posted photos! I calculated that I completed 25 knitted and/or crocheted FOs last year. Here they are, with their recipients, and eventually I'll link to photos of all of them (the numbers are all different than my first list, because I forgot a couple of things):
1. Shawlapalooza (Sis)
2. Yellow crocheted dishcloth (in our kitchen)
3. Red crocheted coaster (DH)
4. Princess M purse (PM)
5. Koigu Bias Betty scarf (Mom)
6. Pillow sachet (Mom Wiz)
7. Red fingerless gloves (Me)
8. CNITU's fish backpack (CNITU)
9. Blue Cardy (CNITU/CNITU2)
10. Squiggle Choo-choo scarf (Sis)
11. White Lies Nicole camisole and panty (Me)
12. Vintage camisole (Me)
13. Green fingerless gloves (Ragnar)
14. Basket stitch scarf (Andrea)
15. Basket stitch hat (Luke)
16. Mini-longshoreman stockinette stripe hat (Ethan)
17. Bear costume (CNITU)
18. Ugly yellow hat (hiding in the stash somewhere)
19. Zofia purse (sold)
20. LuLu purse
21. Lucas backpack
22. Kylie purse
Here are those last three for sale at Wizard of Yarns!
23. Green bolero (Sis)
24. Rowan flower pin (BF)
25. Rowan flower pin (Mom)
Here's my best friend modeling her flower pin before Christmas! Isn't she pretty?
So that's my year! A heck of a lot more FOs than last year. Plus, I've got three FOs since January 1st. Here's CNITU2 modeling his gorgeous Debbie Bliss Cashmerino onesie:
His big brother thinks it's pretty cool, too! (Notice his lack of clothing -- it was actually about 85 degrees in Laguna, and a cashmerino onesie was hardly necessary.)
And here's my neighbor Heidi modeling one of the fingerless gloves I made her for Christmas (I was her neighborhood Secret Santa. I actually gave her a ball of yarn and promised I would turn it into gloves by the new year.)
The third FO has yet to be photographed -- it's a little blue hat with the letter "L" on the front, knit during the drive back from Laguna for CNITU2.
Yesterday at meet-up I started a gorgeous burgundy, purple, and green wool scarf made from yarn I bought at Wizard of Yarns -- an Australian brand called, I think, Klaalund. It's amazingly lovely and soft. I got some other interesting goodies there, but some of it's meant for knitter gifts so I won't share just yet.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Happy New Baby!
I just returned from two weeks of heavy holiday-ing, playing with my 2-year-old nephew, and moving furniture and appliances around Sis' still-being-remodeled house. But the best news is wee CNITU2, born 12/30/05 (two days after my birthday, oh well), a special gift for us all. (And a big one -- little chunky is 9 lbs of adorable chubbiness.) He looks really cute in his onesie, too!
CNITU did pretty well when Mommy was in the hospital, and he really loves his baby brother. There were, however, a couple of major tantrums involving the correct way to prepare a muffin. I include them here just in case you know a 2-year-old and need to make them a muffin.
1. Put whole muffin in microwave WITH PAPER STILL ON IT.
2. Microwave so that it goes "beep-beep" - very important to have the beep-beep.
3. Bring muffin to table, remove paper, in that order.
4. Do NOT under any circumstances remove any part of the muffin until instructed. Even when instructed to "make baby pieces," double-check before actually doing so. The two-year-old may still be contemplating the serene beauty of the COMPLETE UNTOUCHED muffin, and if you dare to defile it, woe betide you.
5. If you have double- and triple-checked that it's okay to tear off a piece, remove one small piece from the muffin for your young master to savor. Terrible things might still happen. Your best plan is to convince the young gourmand that things will be much better for everyone if he just makes his own baby pieces and allows you to retreat strategically to the other side of the table.
My sister, brother-in-law, and I broke some combination of these rules not once, not twice, but three times IN ONE DAY, causing serious screaming and crying and near bodily harm (to us, not to him). After which, we hid the muffins in the fridge. Imagine our trepidation when he opened the fridge the next day and asked for a muffin. Sis very carefully talked through each rule in order, checking with the sage at every step. He happily tore off his own pieces and ate all the pretty outside parts of the muffin, which is all you can expect a two-year-old to eat anyway.
Let us all pray that CNITU2 will be the sort of relaxed kid who will, when he turns two, bring his mother tea and fresh fruit in bed, before whipping up muffins from scratch and serving them on a tray garnished with hibiscus blooms.
Ha.
CNITU did pretty well when Mommy was in the hospital, and he really loves his baby brother. There were, however, a couple of major tantrums involving the correct way to prepare a muffin. I include them here just in case you know a 2-year-old and need to make them a muffin.
1. Put whole muffin in microwave WITH PAPER STILL ON IT.
2. Microwave so that it goes "beep-beep" - very important to have the beep-beep.
3. Bring muffin to table, remove paper, in that order.
4. Do NOT under any circumstances remove any part of the muffin until instructed. Even when instructed to "make baby pieces," double-check before actually doing so. The two-year-old may still be contemplating the serene beauty of the COMPLETE UNTOUCHED muffin, and if you dare to defile it, woe betide you.
5. If you have double- and triple-checked that it's okay to tear off a piece, remove one small piece from the muffin for your young master to savor. Terrible things might still happen. Your best plan is to convince the young gourmand that things will be much better for everyone if he just makes his own baby pieces and allows you to retreat strategically to the other side of the table.
My sister, brother-in-law, and I broke some combination of these rules not once, not twice, but three times IN ONE DAY, causing serious screaming and crying and near bodily harm (to us, not to him). After which, we hid the muffins in the fridge. Imagine our trepidation when he opened the fridge the next day and asked for a muffin. Sis very carefully talked through each rule in order, checking with the sage at every step. He happily tore off his own pieces and ate all the pretty outside parts of the muffin, which is all you can expect a two-year-old to eat anyway.
Let us all pray that CNITU2 will be the sort of relaxed kid who will, when he turns two, bring his mother tea and fresh fruit in bed, before whipping up muffins from scratch and serving them on a tray garnished with hibiscus blooms.
Ha.
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