A good month for FOs

I've been waiting to blog until I finally had some photos to show. I'm very pleased with my January output -- my butt may permanently weld to the couch, and I have watched a LOT of Veronica Mars and Battlestar Galactica (not that there's anything wrong with that), but I have a bunch of FOs to show for it!

Here's the Kaalund Waterlilies scarf from a yummy Wizard of Yarns find:



I love this scarf; it matches with everything I own and it's nice and long. I cast on length-wise instead of width-wise, and did just a few very long rows of garter stitch, then added fringe -- very simple, and shows off the thick-and-thin yarn really well. I wear it about every other day; on the off days I'm wearing the Anny Blatt scarf that was my second project ever. Here's the Anny Blatt taking a trip to the Palace of Fine Arts:



That was a great day -- we took Princess M to the Exploratorium for the first time. I should also mention that it was my DH's first time at the Exploratorium. I'm not sure who was more excited.

Here's Ethan's car backpack, finally finished and ready to go to the little guy (one of CNITU's pals). It's in Karabella Aurora 8 and GGH Samoa. Please note the cute VW Bug button and racecar lining:





I knit this little hat on the way back from SoCal, for CNITU2. It's from Crystal Palace Kid Merino held together with Filatura di Crosa Millefili Fine, my own design:



Including the onesie and Heidi's gloves, that's five FOs in the month of January! If I can keep that up, it'll be a record year. I also started the Hourglass sweater from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, one of my favorite books. I've got the body and one of the sleeves done now, but here's what it looked like a couple of weeks ago:



It's in Noro Cash Iroha. This yarn is so amazing it should be illegal. Miles of stockinette stitch, but never boring because, oh my god, the yarn!

You might notice that the FOs have a deep, sexy Espresso wood background. This is my new Stinson coffee table from Pottery Barn (or, as Spinnity likes to call it, Poverty Barn.) I swear to you, we went to buy bedside tables, and this followed us home. It was on sale! I swear! It has five deep drawers that can be pulled out from either side. They were designed especially for yarn. At least, that's what I'm telling the DH. He asked politely if he might have just one of the five, but he has yet to come up with anything better suited to these drawers than yarn. Just look at this Patagonia, you can tell it feels right at home:



These random leftovers look quite cozy:



I don't think I've ever been quite so enamored of a piece of furniture. I may have to betray it soon, however, because we have purchased the matching 16-drawer CD Console. It's clearly named a "CD Console" for purposes of deluding non-knitting SOs into buying it. CDs can be stored on computers. But yarn... yarn can live in deep, dark, espresso-stained drawers. Yum.

Olympian effort

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...

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.

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.

Happy Holidays to all!

Just a quick post before I take off for Laguna Beach. There was a bit of a scare earlier this week that CNITU2 had too large a head and may have something wrong with his wee brain. However, Sis saw a specialist yesterday and it turns out that he's just large in general, so they don't want her to carry to term but will induce next week. Hopefully on my birthday!

We had some Xmas present opening already -- wonderful gifts from Spinnity and Bill include a gift certificate to Creative Hands in San Carlos as well as fun goodies from REI. Their birthday present to me was a beautiful pair of fingerless gloves, in brown and cream with lacy cuffs. So elegant! Susan and Princess M went all out with a brand new knitting bag for Christmas (it's Jordana Paige's messenger bag in brown) and a beautiful silver Tiffany necklace.

And at last, Adam got some of the photos out of the camera. Here's me finishing up (L to R) Kylie, Lucas, and LuLu bags for the sale.

Another long hiatus

After this one, it will be amazing if anyone's still reading this blog! My very good excuse is that I have been rehearsing and performing in "A Christmas Carol" up in Napa. I think it turned out rather well, so if you're interested visit our website for more information.

In a triumph of holiday knitting, I also finished four purses for the trunk show in Laguna Beach. I failed to finish the fifth. Turned out that the sale was badly attended, anyway, but I did sell one purse! Zofia, the sherbet-colored one with sparkly maribou trim. Wendy is keeping the other three in the shop for the time being. It was a fun experiment, but I have to admit that it got boring, knitting the same thing four times in a row. I couldn't wait to get back to Lucas' onesie.

I *did* take all kinds of photos, still in the camera, of course, but I promise, they're coming.

I have not been to a knitting meet-up in ages due to all this rehearsal stuff, but last Wednesday I did spend a delightful evening with M.O. at Julie's in Alameda, working on our Christmas knitting projects. We like Julie's; they are very knitter-friendly and have a crafting night every Friday. And very good teas, coffees, and cookies.

The rest of my modest Christmas knitting is a secret. I have not taken on any big ambitious projects this year, except for the onesie, and that's progressing well. Needed a break from deadlines. But for all of you who are counting the hours, keep the faith! You will make it!

Music plug

No, sorry, no photos yet. But I just wanted to mention the lovely night of music the DH and I experienced yesterday! Normally, I try to avoid plugging theatre too much on this blog - it's impossible to promote everyone's shows, and as a casting director I don't want to be perceived as slighting anyone. However, when it comes to music, I am purely a consumer with so little talent of my own that I can only sit in awe when I have an experience like last night's.

My former roommate Megan and her partner Sam are extremely talented musicians, and they played a great gig last night at the Bazaar Cafe in SF. This is one of my favorite music venues -- tiny, cozy, great food, nice folks, and of course, you can knit to your heart's content. If you're familiar with Beth Waters, Mokai, Vienna Teng, or Ira Marlowe -- they play there. It also happens to be half a block away from our old apartment. It was a birthday show for Megan, and the owners even had chocolate cake for everyone. When was the last time you went to a concert and got free cake?

Anyway, we bought the new Bazaar compilation CD, which M & S are *not* on. This morning, I went to the SF Hootenanny website where you can buy a compilation CD including two of their songs. The site also heaps praise on this terrific duo. If you can't get enough of Sam and Megan's acoustic brilliance, their CD is on CD Baby, too.

In other music news: Four tickets to KFOG's concert for kids (featuring Madeleine Peyroux, KT Tunstall, and Aqualung) up for grabs! After purchasing tickets to the concert and pre-show wine and food tasting, I found out I can't go due to my rehearsal schedule. The rest of the group decided not to go either. These are great seats, so if you're interested in buying them let me know!

Knitting news: Trunk show progress continues -- the knitting for LuLu is all done and I've started Kylie. Friday, I'm planning a big sewing day for all the linings, buttons, trim, etc.

Trunk Show preparation...

... is actually going pretty well. Credit goes to long hours spent in rehearsal. Knitting really is the perfect hobby for actors. You can simultaneously pay attention to what's going on, study your lines, and get projects done. No missed cues, which tends to happen when you immerse yourself in a book during rehearsal. And you never get mad at your director for keeping you there for 2 hours without ever getting to your scene. It's all good -- it's knitting time.

The adorable little girl playing Tiny Tim is also a knitter. Last week she saw me with my knitting and told me all about her projects. Yesterday she brought a little fuzzy scarf in to work on. At one point, leaping to her feet to make an entrance, she got tangled in her yarn and arrived on stage trailing pink and blue fluff. If I had done this, I would have looked stupid, but coming from Lucy it was just about the cutest thing that ever happened on a stage.

I finished lining Zofia and sent it off to Sis to show to Wendy at Wizard of Yarns. Stupid me, forgot to photograph it before I sent it. It's pink, orange, and green sorbet colors with a fluffy trim and a green floral-embroidered lining. The button is a little green butterfly.

I'm close to done with the Lucas backpack (named for CNITU2). This one is all Aurora 8 wool, smoky blue, persimmon, and Aurora Melange in fall colors. The lining has little trucks on it, and the button is a wooden teddy bear.

I started LuLu a couple of days ago (named for CNITU's best girlfriend). It's pale blue, yellow, and green, very preppy. I plan for it to have sparkly trim, a little blue button in the shape of a house, and a blue lining with girly sayings on it like "call me," "let's shop," and "girlfriends."

Ethan's backpack is already spoken for by its namesake (CNITU's other best friend), but I'll probably do it next. It's primary colors -- blue, red, and green, with racecars on the lining and a little green VW bug button.

Kylie is the last one I've designed -- it's spring green, pink, and lavender, probably a floral lining and a button in the shape of a little purse. It's named for my DH's co-worker's adorable daughter, who is amazingly cute and smart.

I'm debating whether to do a couple of holiday-specific ones, with sparkly blue and red yarn and a fluffy white trim. Maybe if I have time! Sis thinks they would sell well.

Check out the new look!

I kept the address, but changed the title. You like? I had to make sure first that other knitting "Wiz"es Spinnity and my MIL were not interested in using it.

I opted *not* to use "Auntie Becca Knits" as the title, although it is my brand (I have a brand! Hee hee!). I have been in touch with lovely Wendy from The Wizard of Yarns My purses and backpacks will hopefully be featured in a trunk show in Laguna Beach on Dec. 2-3. I say hopefully because I will actually have to work damn hard on making them before then. I had better finish Zofia's lining tonight, so I have one to send to Sis (my business manager) tomorrow!

New books, since I can't leave a knitting store empty-handed

At Wednesday's meet-up, I acquired two new books and a magazine. One was a carefully considered purchase, one was a whim, and one just jumped into my bag, helped there by my DH.

The first is the new issue of Rebecca Home. (I always like to pretend this magazine is named after me.) Some great Christmas ornament ideas (easy, fast gifts!), and a little bed jacket in GGH Amelie that I saw on-line and really like.

The second is last summer's Rowan. I like the pictures. I'll probably knit something from it eventually, but mostly it's for inspiration. It's all kind of girly and vintage and all that stuff I like.

Finally, I got a great book of patterns for kids called New Knits on the Block, by the host of Knitty Gritty. This is like Stitch 'n' Bitch for kids. My DH made me buy it for the miniature Viking costume, but I also like the mermaid, the chain mail, and the superhero cape. For an auntie who constantly finds herself knitting Halloween costumes, this is essential.

Speaking of which, CNITU was a major pill about wearing his Halloween costume this year. Sis managed to get a photo of him right before he took the hood off, which she says she'll email me shortly. Luckily there will be a new nephew next Halloween, who will have to be either a ghost or a bear.

Pick an M&M, anyone?

First of all, I wrote Draft One of this post on Monday. For some reason, no matter how many times the universe proves me wrong, I never think I have to save my posts before posting them. Especially if they are particularly long or particularly (I think) witty. I even go through a thought process wherein I say to myself, "Self, you should save this before you try to do some fancy photo thing and the whole post vanishes into the blogosphere." And Self always says back, "Ha! I am all-powerful Blogger Babe! Take that, Me!"

*sigh*

I haven't had the heart to re-create this post for the last several days, because, as Garrison Keillor knows, the Great American Novel was the one you left behind on the train 10 years ago.

So the post was all about this sale at Vanessa's. Vanessa's is fairly far down my list of favorite LYS's, somewhere around #7. However, when they send me a postcard advertising an October pick-your-discount sale, of course I have to go. This is because, as the yarn harlot has said many times in much cleverer ways than mine, buying yarn is not about needing yarn. It's about the fact that somewhere out there, there is yarn that needs you.

(There, I just saved. Ha, Universe. Ha, Self.)

The postcard said that depending on whether you picked an orange, purple, green, or black jellybean, you'd get a 20%, 25%, 40%, or %50 discount. Shopping AND gambling combined! So I had to go.

Vanessa's carries a lot of Trendsetter and Crystal Palace (unlike other yarn shops I could name), as well as a whole wall of Cascade 220 and lots of Berocco. They also have random yummy things like Great Adirondack and this:



This is called Patagonia, and I've been admiring it since I received a sample from Yarn of the Month a little while ago. The color seemed appropriate to the season.

Vanessa, being smart, doesn't actually let you pick the jellybean until you are checking out. And in the end, they weren't jellybeans, but M&Ms (preferable to the DH, who sanctioned the yarn purchase since he was getting free chocolate out of the deal.)

I have to give Vanessa props for letting me put back the first three green 20%-off M&Ms until I got a 25%-off purple M&M. I think she was feeling generous since I had promised not to buy Sally's latest book on Amazon but wait until she got it in the store. (By the way, Sally, what's up with the bad 80's look on the cover?)

I still wouldn't place Vanessa's super-high on my list, but 25% Patagonia is a good thing. The sale's on until the end of the month, and there's no limit to the number of times you can go. I think I'll have to take the MIL when she's in town this weekend.

Oh, and I'm trying to think of a new name for this blog. I ignored my bloggiversary altogether (since I didn't know there were such things until I read C's blog), but on Kathy's urging I will move on. Knuknitter no more! Anyone have any ideas?

Stitches is up!

How many blog posts have that entry today, I wonder? Anyway, I'm all registered -- two Sally, one Nancie (Wiseman), one Lily. My theme for the year is color -- intarsia, fair isle, and creativity. (Lily's class is on edgings, so I guess that kind of counts as long as they're colorful.) As soon as I find out if I got my first choices I'll post my full schedule.

Went to Meet-up in Santa Clara last night for the first time in a while. Went over to Knitting Arts, picked up a new Rowan book, Classic Woman. Nice vintage-look patterns, particularly fun flower pins that will make nice gifts. Knitting Arts is also discontinuing Crystal Palace and Trendsetter (are they high?), so I gathered a few random skeins for trims, etc. Nice and cheap.

Here's the promised photo of the bear costume:



Hopefully it will fit! That's 2005.18, for those who are counting. I think at last count I was around 200.14, the White Lies panty. I've now gone through 2005.15 (Vintage camisole), 2005.16 (Ugly yellow hat), and 2005. 17 (Green bolero).

Go sign up for Stitches now, y'all! See you there!

I'm baaaack!

I've also added word verification to block all those annoying blog spams. I actually got excited when I saw 6 comments on my last blog; alas, most from anonymous sploggers (blammers? blommers? splaggers?)

I'm finally back to the place where I can waste time blogging at work again -- after three weeks of rehearsal for The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Fortunately, my lack of blogging has not coincided with a lack of knitting. I finished the cute green bolero in time for Sis' birthday. Unfortunately, I neglected to take a photo before I mailed it, so I'll have to rely on her for that. It's apparently a bit small for her in her very pregnant state, but that will only last a few more months.

I also finished the bear costume for CNITU and mailed it out this morning. Photos to come! It's in an annoyingly fluffy cotton washcloth yarn from Ironstone yarns, with a baby alpaca and eyelash yarn trim.

Haven't done much more with the Gedifra tweed project, and the Zofia purse remains a UFO, waiting for a lining. Last night I made a swatch for a Debbie Bliss onesie in light blue cashmerino for the new baby. Size 3 needles -- wow. Teensy. But so soft and pretty. I'll just have to switch to a larger-needle project occasionally so I don't lose my eyesight.

The world's ugliest hat

The yellow kid's ski hat turned out to be the ugliest thing I've ever knit. I don't even want to give it to charity -- I can just picture some little Afghan child looking at it and going "ew."

Perhaps I will leave it lying around and the first person who says "nice hat" will own it.

Anyway, it's off my needles and out of my mind. I dithered around about what to do next (must finish CNITU's Halloween costume, but I'm way ahead of schedule), and cast on several different things at once.

1. New Auntie Becca signature purse, in melon, strawberry, and lime sorbet colors. This design will be called "Zofia" after one of CNITU's friends. Knitting is finished, just have to sew it together and add the lining. I also pulled yarn for two more designs, "Lulu" and "Ethan."

2. Did a little more with the Gedifra Golden Tweed. I think it's going to be a little purse for me for fall.

3. Finally figured out what to do with light green Rowan cotton rope -- a version of Debbie Bliss' Fiery Bolero from Interweave Knits summer edition. Did the math at meet-up on Wednesday, cast on afterwards, and I'm about a third of the way through already. I think it will be a present for someone...

I must put the Halloween costume back at the top of the queue shortly, but for now I am just having too much fun with the Bolero!

M has convinced me to go to Fengari tomorrow to sin. It wasn't very difficult to convince me. I have way too much yarn already from the earlier shopping spree, but I like helping other people fall from grace.

I am so behind!

My one consolation is that many of my various blogging friends seem to be behind as well. Must be some sort of end-of-summer thing.

I am behind primarily because I went on a glorious end-of-summer-camp vacation last week to Laguna Beach, my traditional September sojourn. There's nothing nicer than Laguna Beach post-tourist season -- it's still sunny, it's not crowded, you can get a table at Javier's, and Little Bohemian has a sale. This year was somewhat less glorious than last year because CNITU and family are doing a remodel. A massive, marvelous remodel that will be absolutely amazing when it's finished, but right now it means everything's covered in dust, they're living out of half the house, there's no real kitchen, and they have a two-year-old, difficult enough at the best of times.

Yes, CNITU has entered the terrible two's with a vengeance. He hurls violently back and forth between adorable sweetness and shrieking tantrums. His favorite words are "no" and "mine." He speaks a combination of English and a peculiar tongue known only to him, and when you can't translate fast enough, he gets annoyed.

He is always forgiven, however, because he adores his auntie. He always wants me to sit next to him in the back seat, and laughs at my stupid jokes and silly faces. He lets me play with his matchbox cars. He thinks my DH is as cool as I do. He asks me to make him turtles out of play-doh, and collects shells with me on the beach.

Highlights of the trip include a trip to San Juan Capistrano to have tea and watch the trains (CNITU's top ten: 1. Mommy 2. Daddy 3. Grandma 4. Auntie & Uncle 5. Trains 6. Fish 7. Turtles 8. Trucks 9. Cats 10. Dogs). We also had a great little shopping spree at Little Bohemian followed by lunch at Zinc. On Saturday we went on a hike in the canyons all the way to Dripping Cave, which was lots of fun.

The knitting highlight of the trip was a visit to a brand-new, teensy tiny knitting store called The Wizard of Yarns. The owner, Wendy, is an interior designer who has decided to use part of her office space to indulge her yarn hobby. She carries some Colinette and some really lovely local stuff that I haven't seen anywhere else. She also sells jewelry by some of her designer friends, and she may, soon, be the first retailer of Auntie Becca purses and purse kits.

You see, Sis has decided that I need to become a brand. Her friends have been asking about the Fish Backpack, and even requesting them for their own kids. I figured that I would just have to charge too much for the things for anyone to ever buy them, but Sis took me to a number of local high-end baby stores with $35 hand-knitted booties, $115 sweaters, etc. So there really are rich people in Orange County who will buy these things.

So I am trying to come up with a logo and a website. And make about ten purses by the end of November for a trunk show. I am also vowing not to let this little endeavor take over my life or make me stop enjoying my hobby.

There are so many FO's in my world, but as usual a lack of photos. Off the needles: White Lies panty, finally, and Vintage camisole, which is fabulous and divine and my new favorite thing. I have been goofing around with the Gedifra golden tweed, not sure what it's going to be. I have a crazy yellow kid's hat on the needles. And CNITU's teddy bear costume is coming right along, should be done in plenty of time for Halloween.

Sick girl and yarn shopping

I suppose it was inevitable that my all-powerful immune system would eventually succomb to all the kid germs I've been exposed to all summer. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and stuffed head.

CNITU may have been the culprit -- he and his family were visiting from Laguna this week, and he has a case of the sniffles. Didn't slow him down much -- we had some rousing games of Frisbee, trains, and Play-doh, and we went to the train museum on Thursday (he loves choo-choos).

We have all been trying to think of a name for CNITU2, the younger brother who will arrive in January. So far, my favorites are Oliver, Jeremy, and Miles.

Because a younger brother is imminent, I have been yarn shopping! Sis told me yellow was unacceptable, she's so tired of yellow from when CNITU was born (they didn't know the gender in advance.) So she wants CNITU2 to have an all-new, all-blue wardrobe. So I had a yarn crawl day last Saturday with M and Spinnity. Here's what we got at Creative Hands in San Carlos:



Debbie Bliss cashmerino in light blue for a onesie from Debbie's Baby Cashmerino book.



Crystal Palace Kid Merino (this comes in amazing colors!) with Filatura di Crosa Millefili Fine cotton to make baby hats/booties.

Creative Hands is a wonderful store -- lots of helpful staff and well-labeled containers with the cost and fiber content of everything. It is well-organized, everything is easy to find, and the prices are fairly competitive. Love it!

After Creative Hands we went to Fengari in Half Moon Bay. This place is the opposite in personality to CH, but just as good in its own way. If CH is a librarian, Fengari is a disorganized packrat. There are boxes and bags of yarn everywhere, spilling onto the floor and rolling down the aisles. It looks disastrous until you realize that the girl behind the counter knows where everything is! And they have things I've never seen anywhere else. Here's some Gedifra Serano I bought to trim the edges of the onesie:



I got some soft, fluffy GGH in a lovely aqua color -- maybe a scarf for me?



I couldn't resist this Peter Pan yarn. So soft, and they had a pullover made up in this color that was just adorable.



(Excuse the blurry photo!)

Just when I thought I was done, I noticed a shelf under the counter loaded with Mission Falls cotton! I have become an addict, and someone told me it was being discontinued, so I grabbed a ton in a bunch of different yummy sorbet-y colors.



Finally, to complete my yarn purchasing frenzy, I stopped by Vannessa's yesterday to but a gift for a friend, and they had some great stuff in the 50% off basket! I got her some nice Berocco Monet in lovely fall colors, and couldn't resist this Gedifra Golden Tweed. I'm already working on a seed stitch rib, it's a little too firm for a scarf but might be a purse? It's a really lovely, chunky, natural-looking yarn.



In other news, I gave Ethan his birthday hat. Here it is finished and on a bear.





It looks even cuter on Ethan. He looked like a miniature longshoreman. His mommy took some photos right away, and she promised to send them to me.

I also finished Luke's hat in time for his birthday next month. I really like how this one turned out. I made it to match Andrea's scarf, just cause I like the yarn combo.



So I have plenty of things to keep me occupied while I sip tea and sniffle.

Babies!

Just found out that my friend Eryka's baby Ethan turns one tomorrow -- ta-da! Stockinette stripe hat recipient.

I had lunch yesterday with another friend whose adorable son Luke turns one next month. I cast on another hat last night -- I think after the success of the Mission Falls scarf, I will design him a Mission Falls hat in basket stitch.

At the San Mateo meet-up last night, I finished up the major knitting on the Vintage camisole -- I just have to block it, seam it, and do the funky edging and straps. This part looks tricky, so the project has graduated from a carry-in-the-tote-bag-to-the-park project to a finishing project.

I had a weird yarn dream last night, perhaps caused by hunting through my stash for hat inspiration last night. I was in Mervyn's, why Mervyn's I don't know, but there I was. And Mervyn's had great yarn, major brands, for cheap! They had Noro, they had Berocco, they had some of the beautiful green alpaca M brought to Meet-up last night. I kept on picking up skeins, thinking, okay, this is here, I'll just look at what else they have and come back for it. Then I'd go down another aisle and around a corner and see more great yarn. But when I came back for that perfect yarn, I couldn't find it anymore, the bin had moved or the aisle had changed direction. If I was able to grab an interesting skein, I had no basket to put it in. I took it up to the counter and left it there, just hoping it would stay until I returned. And of course, it was gone, or it rolled off the counter and down an aisle and I couldn't catch it.

A fascinating, realistic dream, with amazing colors and textures, both thrilling and endlessly frustrating. I am sure it's deeply symbolic, but the symbolism hardly matters when the content itself is so interesting.

Knitting Adventuress!

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer.
You are through those knitting growing pains and
feeling more adventurous. You can follow a
standard pattern if it's not too complicated
and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've
started to experiment with different fibers and
you might be eyeing a book with a cool
technique you've never tried. Perhaps you
prefer to stick to other people's patterns but
you are trying to challenge yourself more.
Regardless of your preference, you are
continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as
well you should since your non-knitting friends
are probably dropping some serious hints, these
days.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

That's me, according to the quiz I found on The Knitist's blog. Fun quiz with very good questions, I had to think before answering them. But I think the final result is something most people would agree with.

I am nearly done with the baby hat I'm doing for Continental Knitting practice! It's turning out quite cute, but man, I am encountering some challenges. First of all, I kept doing my SSK's backwards in Continental. I think I've figured it out now. Secondly, my double-points are annoyingly long and awkward and I'm at the point where I very nearly stab myself in the eye every time I attempt a decrease. I guess I would rather buy yarn than needles, so I always think I can survive with the dp's I already have, but I've been using them a lot more lately with wrist warmers and hats.

The stockinette stripe pattern for this hat does make for good Continental practice, though, and I'm enjoying alternating between this project and the camisole I'm knitting English-style. I worry a little about the Rowan tweed being a little itchy for a bald baby head -- the design was actually for a cashmere-cotton blend, but I had the Rowan lying around and I love the color.

Next question -- who will be the recipient? The hat is sized for a one-year-old, and I know a few of those. The main criteria is that the parents must own a camera and be gushingly appreciative.

Today was not a good day

First of all, I spent way too much time dealing with parents of Shakespeare campers who didn't think their kids had big enough parts. Granted, there were only two such parents, but two stage mothers is two too many in one day. One parent proved eventually to be rational, the other cannot be reasoned with.

I have been doing this long enough not to let the turkeys bring me down, but lest I attempt to have a good day in other ways, I found out this afternoon that a dear friend's father has suddenly had a coronary and isn't expected to last the week. This friend lost her mother to cancer about five years ago, and she has barely recovered. She's completely devastated now. I called a number of mutual friends and we are going to attempt to do something for her once she returns from hospital, funeral, etc. in New York.

We DID see a great movie tonight which cheered me up -- March of the Penguins. I urge you to waddle as fast as possible to the nearest cineplex and see it! It is just amazing, and will make all your troubles go away for an hour and a half while you worry about the survival of baby penguins.

In knitting-related news, I finished the Mission Falls scarf for Andrea, which was just a week-long project and therefore quite satisfying. Here it is, a bit fuzzy:



I really like the way the nubby texture of this yarn looks in basket stitch, and I have to congratulate myself on a good design choice. The design also incorporates some of the nice fuzzy nubbles I got at the Stash Swap. Here's a detail:



I knit this scarf on #9 needles, a little bigger than recommended for the Mission Falls, but I like the airy-ness of the stitch this way -- looks more like a basket. The fall colors look so nice together. I used almost two whole skeins of Mission Falls Cotton, so the scarf is quite long and wraps nicely around the neck and falls to the waist on both sides. Andrea lives in Pennsylvania for most of the year, so I figure she needs scarves for more than just a fashion accessory. Here's my easy pattern:

Cast on 15 stitches on #9 needles, holding cotton and novelty yarn together. Garter stitch (knit every row) for eight rows, then drop novelty yarn. Continue in basket stitch:

Row one: K3, P3, K3, P3, K3
Row two: P3, K3, P3, K3, P3

Repeat rows one and two, then:

Row five: P3, K3, P3, K3, P3
Row six: K3, P3, K3, P3, K3

Repeat rows five and six*, start over at row one and repeat to *. Continue in this 8-row pattern until you've made the scarf as long as you want it to be, then pick up the novelty yarn again and do eight more rows of garter stitch. Bind off.

I have a little over a skein of the Mission Falls left over, so I might try for a pair of wrist warmers to match. Don't think I have enough for a hat.

I've also updated the links on the post below to include photos of wrist warmers and my Rowan baby hat.

FOs springing up all over

I was reading Spinnity's blog, and I like the way she numbers her FOs 2005.12, etc. This probably comes from her librarian training, but it's a good idea, certainly imparts a sense of accomplishment! I decided to make a list of all my FOs so far this year:

2005.1 Shawlapalooza for Sis (Love Prism shawl)
2005.2 Princess M Purse (Katja and Muench yarns)
2005.3 Crocheted dishcloth (never shown on this blog since it's embarassingly lopsided, but it was good practice.)
2005.4 Crocheted coaster (very small and easy but turned out well. I gave it to my DH, the only thing I've ever made for him!)
2005.5 Red wrist-warmers (from last-minute knitted gifts -- in Brown Sheep Prairie Silk
2005.6 CNITU's backpack (Muench and Karabella)
2005.7 Blue Cardy (Rowan 4-ply cotton)
2005.8 White Lies Nicole camisole
2005.9 Squiggle Choo-choo scarf (Crystal Palace)
2005.10 Green wrist-warmers (Karabella Aurora 8 in parsley, my new favorite green. A gift for my co-worker, photos coming soon)

Very, very close to FOs:
2005.11 Mission Falls basket stitch scarf for a friend's birthday
2005.12 White Lies Nicole panty

Next in line:
Dark pink Vintage Knits camisole in Rowan cotton glace
Ribbed baby hat in Rowan DK Tweed (Continental practice project)

If only I could photograph them as quickly as I knit them, I'd have a really interesting blog!