Friday, March 31, 2006

Trash TV

I've been doing a lot of late night knitting again. The baby has been quite cranky during the day and today is even running a fever. I know he is teething. Drs will tell you that a baby will not run a fever while teething. Know what? It's a LIE. All my kids had runny noses and fevers whenever a new little chopper was about to make it's appearance. He's sleeping right now, so I have a minute.

Ok, so as soon as I hit the period at the end of that sentence he popped up and it was on the rest of the night! The boys even stayed up late so I wound up with NO time to finish my post. We now join our blog post already in progress...

There was no school yesterday and since it was gorgeous outside I hardly saw the boys all day. When the baby *finally* decided to take a nap I flipped on the TV. Talk shows. I tell ya...how many men can you sleep with in, say, a two week span that you have no idea who the father of your baby is? Any why do they all say they are 'one hundred and ten percent' sure that the poor goober they dragged on the show is the daddy when they know they slept with his uncle, cousin and brother too? Trash TV is good for something though. I got some knitting done! Ok, so neither of the projects I've been working on are anything I've showed you before. That's because I'm cheating on my WIPS. I'm so bad.

Can you guess what this is?

Yup! It's a Somewhat Cowl. First I layed my other projects down just to fondle the yarn. Then I said 'just a swatch...a little swatch'. In a moment of weakness I caston and that's when it turned into a full~blown affair! I've got 4 inches to go until the ribbing and I can't.stop.knitting. I'm adding some waist shaping and hope to be done by at least Wednesday.

The other project I cast on for when I know I had no business is Poppy from Debbie Bliss' Cotton Angora book. I'm using some Wool in the Woods that I got last year at MDS&W. After it sat in my stash for a while I realized the color wouldn't suit my baby so I decided to gift it to a friend's daughter. One more sleeve to go and I get to sew it together and pick up the billion stitches for the ribbing. I didn't take a pic because honestly it's just a pile of little pieces of rolled up fabric. Trust me, you'd much rather see it when it's finished.

Progress on my SockapalOOOza sock?

I know, you're thinking 'that's funny, it looks just like it did in the last picture she posted!' That's because it IS the last picture I posted. I've only managed another repeat on the first sock. This past week has been really bad for concentration. Not to mention the baby's odd attachment to Louet sock yarn makes it hard to knit while he'son the prowl.

Today is Flash Your Stash day. I didn't sign up, but I thought about flashing anyway. I took one look at mystash and realized there was no way I was going to get it into any kind of photographic order before we go to see Curious George at 2.30pm. I was going to do it when we get back but DH is having a small Final Four get together. I don't need his friends thinking I'm some kind of crazy knitter~lady who not only hoards yarn but poses and takes pictures of it. Not cool. Oh well. Maybe I'll flash it when I'm organizing for the move and planning what project will actually be coming with me :o)

Next time I'll let you guys in on when I plan to work on for Project Spectrum, and what else I plan to work on because I can't wait!

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Things I can do today...

1. Go to the grocery store.
Hmm...in the time it took me to write that I decided it would be a bad idea. Much better to wait until this evening so I can leave the boys with DH.

2. Start purging for the move.
Ha! As if...

3. Go the anniversary sale at one of the not~quite~so~LYSs.
4. Dump out all the stash I already have and devise a spreadsheet for organization.
5. Knit.

Ok, out of the last three knitting is a given. Even if I only do a row a day (at midnight) I MUST so that really doesn't count. Dumping out the stash really isn't practical with a yarn eating baby about. You see where this is going right?

I have no choice but to check out the sale. It's my 5 year olds favorite store because they have a bucket full of toys and the baby is just happy people watching in the sling. Have I convinced you? If not I've convinced me and that's what's important. I'll see you all when I get back!

Monday, March 20, 2006

Short on time

So short actually that I should be taking a shower, doing dishes, or putting dinner in the crockpot while the baby naps. But I tell you...he wears me out! Sometimes when I get him down I just have to sit and collect my thoughts. You would think that a mom of three boys would have it down by the time the last little guy shows up, right? Well I don't know if I forgot because his brothers were 4 and 6 when he was born but he runs.me.ragged. He's into everything. Days are a whirlwind of cheerios, CD cases (that he flings everywhere while his toys remain untouched), and hiding of the remote/phone/knitting so they don't get slobbered on. He'll yell and stomp if one of the boys has something and won't hand it over fast enough, food included, and at 8months is already standing for a few seconds at a time unassisted.

This is going to be the one folks, the one that does me in!

But I'm lovin' it

I decided on my SockapalOOOza socks and even started them!

They're the Child's First Sock form Knitting Vintage Socks. Don't laugh at all my post~its. The pattern is pretty easy and straight foward, it's just that I usually knit for 5 minutes at a time during the day and this ensures I don't lose my place. Post~its, row counters, stitch markers...these are all a busy mom's friend. Oh and coffee, don't forget the coffee! Here's a close~up of the pattern...

I must admit that I'm not really loving this yarn. It's not spun tightly enough for me and the little fuzzy spots are irking me. There was a knot too! But those are just Kim issues because the finished product is looking very nice.

I started on the Priaire Blanket using *gasp* Red Heart Soft in a cream color. This is a VERY enjoyable knit, from the yarn to the relaxing stitch pattern. I worked on it for most of the weekend. I should be able to finish by my mid~April deadline, just in time to do about 2 more. Good thing I like the pattern!

Ok, I've already gone on too long! I must go and tackle my 'chores' so that maybe I'll have time to knit this afternoon. Once again thank you all for your comments!

Thursday, March 09, 2006

I'm late as usual

But here are my socks



Sorry they're not the best pics, but my photographer was having issues. After 3 pics of the ground and one of my knee I took matters into my own hands. Taking pictures of your own feet while balancing a squirmy baby is not as easy as you'd think. Speaking of babies...

Now I know that I (like most knitters) have described yarn as 'yummy' and I'm not embarrassed to say I sniff it and rub it on my cheek. But I've never actually tasted it!

He cried when I wrestled it away.

As you all know, the nacho yarn is Artyarns Ultramerino 6. I used a US 3 needle and a basic 2x2 rib. These were my first heel flap socks, I've only ever used a short~row. Same for the toe. This one is a pointed (I think) toe from Knitting Vintage Socks. I wore them all day yesterday and they were very comfy and squishy, like a twenty~something~dollar pair of socks should be.

Project Spectrum is here!! I love color. I don't get to see a whole lot of pink around here unless it's something specifically for me, like my big 'ol knitting bag

it started out as my work bag, then it was my travel bag. Now I throw my knitting and my Borders mug (which is also pink) in there. I love that it's plastic and it wipes clean. Funny thing is, this bag seems to get the most usage in the winter. I like to think of it as my 'little bit of Spring' when it's all gloomy.

As for red/pink projects I have all kinds of ideas swirling around in my head. My friend is having a baby (boy #4) and I'm making her a BBBB in red Cotton Ease. She's due the end of April so this isn't something I can set aside :o) I've also got some ruby Alpaca and Silk to make The Somewhat Cowl ans I want to make Jaywalkers with my flickering flame Brooklyn Handspun.

I've got one more project in the queue that falls under this months Project Spectrum idea. I finally got SockapalOOOza yarn! Louet Gems Pearl in Burgundy...so pretty! At first I wanted to make the lacy socks out of the new IK, but I fear they may be too short for my pal's tastes. There are a couple of great lacy patterns in Sensational Knitted Socks. The fancy silk socks (orsomethinglikethat) from Knitting Vintage Socks is in the running as well. I think I'll show a couple to DH, see what he thinks, and cast on tonight. As for getting to knit the IK socks? All is not lost. I picked up some Baby Ull in green to make myself a pair in May!

Since you all are dying to know the fate of the gunmetal gray Big Bad Baby Blanket in the King Tut cotton I won't keep you in suspense. I'm ripping it. It was too loose or something, I don't know but I wasn't loving it. I got to poking around online and found the Prairie Blanket. So I poked around a little more to find somewhere that wasn't going to charge me $4 to ship one pattern. I found Carodan Farm in VA who had very reasonable shipping. That alone made me happy but I was thriiled when my pattern came today with a little note that said they didn't charge any shipping as a little thank you to us for serving the country! How's that for thoughtful?

Thanks to Nik for the lightbulb tip and thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave a comment. I do enough talking to myself around here, it's nice to know at least *someone* is listening!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Nachos anyone?

I finished my nacho socks. Which, by the way, must have REALLY looked like nacho cheese because the little guy kept sneaking into my knitting bag to taste the yarn.

You guys will have to take my word for it until tomorrow morning though because it's dark and a photo shoot right now would be a waste of time. I'll have more updates tomorrow as well...my ideas for Project Spectrum, the fate of the Big Bad Baby Blanket, and what I've decided on for my SockapalOOOza pal.

Tonight I'll leave you with this. Do you think it really works? If so how cool would that be? Do you know how much knitting I could get done while that thing cleans my floors??