Baby Me – Blogstalking 7

This is me when I was a year old! 🙂

A day in my life…Blogstalking 6

I’m so far behind with this because I couldn’t think of a way to make my day exciting.  I still haven’t. 

How do you make a day at home look exciting?  Well, brace yourself, because here it is!

First thing in the morning, there must be  , I live on this stuff!  I usually start off here….  doing all the fabulous stuff, like dishes and breakfast with the kids and end up here…. to drink the  while I read my ….  and .  Then the FUN begins…always lots of THIS STUFF to do… and .  Of course, by this time I need  again!

Exciting huh?!

Usually in the afternoons, I settle down and  until the kids get home and then I’m back in the  to make dinner, help with homework, do my mommy thing 🙂

Ok, by now we all know what took me so long to post this!  It’s a typical housework mommy day interspersed with self fulfilment in the form of knitting!

Making A List…

Checking it twice…

You know how it goes! 🙂

 I think it’s about time I thought about what I want to make for Christmas this year…seriously, not that ‘oh this might be nice’ way but with lists and everything.

Luckily the kids mostly prefer the quicker things…hats, mittens, gloves, scarves.  My middle daughter wants some legwarmers.  LOL, I think it’s so funny they are in style.  I wore them as a teenager too 🙂

I’m wondering if they wouldn’t be fabulous in entralac?  I want to try that anyways…one way to make the knitting more interesting is to try new things in the ‘must do’ group.  Like the scarf I’ve just started for my little nephew…it is the ‘my so called scarf’ pattern.  What an interesting and yet so simple pattern.  I love the herringbone effect of it! 

I’m using James Brett ‘marble’ that was left over from the river forest gansey I knitted not too long ago.  LOL…that sweater is now almost too small for said nephew.  That’s the thing about knitting for kids!

So…working on that list and (since the kids are blog-allergic) I shall post it soon so I have something to check myself against!

Have a great day 🙂

Oh, AND — if any of the links/pictures aren’t working, could you let me know…I was an idiot and deleted some flickr stuff not realizing it would delete here too.  I’ve spent a couple hours trying to repair the links and reload the photos!

Autumn Rose is Finished!

Pattern:  Autumn Rose Pullover by Eunny Jang

Simply Shetland 4

Smallest size using 14 balls of Shetland Spindrift as called for in the pattern

Modifications:  I added a complete pattern repeat into the waist section

A Knit Free Day

Good morning 🙂

 I didn’t knit a stitch yesterday.  Not one.  That’s a rare day around here!  The party went awesomely (if that is a word) and the kids all had a great time I think 🙂

 I had to do something, lol, so I ordered some wool I’ve been loving from afar…

 It is beautiful.  Malabrigo worsted in the colour Amoroso .  I’m planning to use it to make the Hedgerow Coat from the IK Fall 2007.  That meant I had to order ten skeins, BUT that meant that I recieved a good discount!   I’ve ordered from fabulous yarn before so I had a discount code as well as the set 20% discount they offer on orders over $100.  With the Canadian dollar so high and the discounts…a fantastic deal 🙂

 This will be my first time using (touching, seeing in person) malabrigo and I’m excited.  I’ve read so many many good things about it that I cannot wait! 

 Have an excellent day!

It’s Going To Be A BUSY Day :)

Good morning, Happy Friday 🙂

 

I’m so Happy!!  I have completed the scary cutting of the steeks on the Autumn Rose and it went beautifully 🙂  Look how pretty.  These are my first steeks!  I used the instructions given in Eunny’s crocheted steeks tutorial and they are awesome 🙂

The Wool Gods do love me as it turns out….I had just enough of the yarn to finish the sweater even with the modifications I made.  I have yet to complete the neckband and I have a plan for that (as I’m running quite low on ‘sunrise’)…I’m going to run bands of colour…two in peat, two in sunrise, two in madder, two in sunrise, two in peat, using the background ‘old gold’ and ‘bracken’ for the purls.  I highly doubt anyone who hasn’t knit it or read the pattern will ever see that there even is a modification! 

I am enjoying this coffee…and I better…as soon as I am done, I have to start preparing for the kids’ halloween party this afternoon.  I’m making a spider cake with green guts…awesome stuff for the 9 and 10 year old set!  I have to get jelling my jello though and baking or we’re in trouble!  I couldn’t see making a cake and filling it with jello and then storing it over night even….I pictured bad things happening so I’m making it fresh today.  I did buy the canned frosting (cheating yes) so that step will be so quick. 

Another thing on my list….filling and hanging the pinata…(oh yeah, and adding legs and eyes to him so he looks spider-ish.  The pinata has worked out well so far and I just hope he can take more than one whack!  LOL  I think the first kid to try is going to break that open!

For ME…I’d really be happy if I can finish Autumn Rose and wear it but I have a feeling time will be short today even though it is only ten rows to finished.  Oh, and the lovely end weaving…I was doing it periodically as I went but haven’t caught up in a while, lol.

Have a fantastic day! 🙂

Halloween!

So, this week we are getting ready for my son’s halloween party.  The one I’m letting him have that I never let any of the others have (as they have helpfully pointed out to me).  I know that pretty soon the kids will be past even asking me for a party…so I said YES 🙂

We are making a pinata out of paper mache and here it is so far…..

I’ve never done this before so we’re winging it but I think it is pretty simple…we are going to cut a ‘door’ on the next (3rd) layer and continue to thicken this baby up at least a couple layers on top of that.   The pinata will be a spider 🙂  We used one of those punching balloons and I hope to keep the elastic attached at the top…it will be an excellent way to hang it for the smashing :)My little ones are set with their costumes…

   

They are so excited 🙂

An Interesting Statue

So, week five’s topic is ‘an interesting statue’ and I have one even! 🙂

My husband gave me this statue many years ago, when the older two girls were very small and I was absorbed with babies 🙂  I love it and it brings back such a warm and fuzzy feeling… I don’t know how interesting this is but it’s a very special thing to me so I thought I would share it 🙂

Have a great day 🙂

Happy Friday! :)

I love Fridays.  Even though I am a stay at home mom, I feel like all the pressure is off come Friday.  Makes no sense, but that’s how I feel 🙂  Me and the kids do the ‘yay friday’ cheer together…lol.

On this Friday, I have to clean my house.  Somehow autumn rose isn’t helping lately, lol.  I’ve been so knitting obsessed with it that I’ve been slacking a little, I admit.  My youngest daughter did a wonderful job yesterday on the upstairs…the least I can do is the downstairs!

Autumn Rose is coming along nicely…all ready to add the sleeves and begin the yoke…I’ve just started the first sleeve and I’m praying to the wool gods that I have enough to finish it without buying more.  I’m thinking about faking it if possible…there is no rule that says the colours MUST be where they are on the chart if I run short in the neckline for instance.  We’ll see.  Stay with me wool gods.

 

I was browsing this morning for information on knitting socks on two circulars and I found this tutorial.  Awesome and easy from the looks of it.  Check it out if you have any interest in learning this (if you are one of the few like me who haven’t yet!)…it is very clear and easy to follow 🙂

The Harmony Needles Are Here :)

So, yesterday I received my package from Knitpicks and of course I was so excited to see the new harmony needles! 

I bought the fixed circulars in sizes 2mm, 2.5mm and 3 mm (in the 16″ length) as called for in the pattern for the Autumn Rose Pullover.  Now I’m looking at them thinking they are tiny!!  I should have bought the next longer size (24″?).  Now I’m thinking I need more of these and I need to learn to do socks on two circulars.  That seems a useful long term purpose for them.  Something to research.

I also received the Gloss I ordered 🙂 One skein each in cocoa and pumpkin, two in serengeti.  I was browsing last night for pattern ideas (my hands seized up from too much working on the autumn rose) and I think I want to make entrelac socks.  Of course, I’ve never done entrelac but I think I can figure it out after seeing this very good tutorial on it!

I think these colours could work very nicely….

Have a wonderful day!! 🙂

Getting There :)

I’m happy and stressed out over this sweater! 

I added the extra repeat in the waist section and started my increases a few rows earlier to ‘re place’ the waist a little lower than it is on the original chart (pattern wise).

I’m running low-ish on some of the yarn colours already and now I’m fretting about the neckline. 

Knitting wise, the pattern is beautiful and the fair isle is coming out excellently if I do say so myself.  I’m really happy I’m making it and I’m going to focus on that…the positive!

Teach Me How To Knit!

A couple of days ago, my son asked me to teach him how to knit.  I couldn’t help but share this picture 🙂 

I used the same method I used with the girls when they asked…

I use this rhyme;

In through the front door, run around the back, pop through the window and off jumps jack.

It works great with kids, they can remember the rhyme easily and each step is easy to see this way…

He’s knitting a doggie scarf for the little dogs he says 🙂  I can’t wait to see it!

3 Things I love, 3 Things I Hate

Hi…yeah, I’m behind 🙂 

Ok, three things I hate…(we’ll get the negative out of the way first!)

Bills…guess we all hate these!          

Smoking…and I smoke  

and Fun Fur yarn…I’m going to have to knit myself a cat one of these days!

Three things I love…This shawl (which isn’t finished yet) from A Gathering Of Lace….

This guy…. (and the kids though I haven’t posted them, lol)

 And these exhausted dogs (as you can see we work them too hard)….

A Few Days…

Yes, I’ve been away from this computer for a few days.  I got my Autumn Rose pattern book and the yarn…so I’ve been knitting!!  I’m so happy with it so far 🙂  The yarn (shetland spindrift) seems very scratchy at first, but it works up beautifully in the fair isle.  Holds the stitches sort of like velcro.  Very hard to ‘un knit’ though!!  LOL.  Found that out the hard way after making a 2oo+ stitch mistake!

 

Here’s the thing though, I don’t know for sure what to do regarding length!  The pattern says it is 22 1/4 inches in length.  I have to make the small size to fit me ‘around’ and yet I’m 5 foot 7 so I usually add length to sweaters.  The length, as is, will be short-ish compared to what I normally like.  So the decision has to be made soon.  I figure to add in the extra pattern repeat in the waist (most narrow) area. (because of the yoke patterning, I need to add in a full repeat in order to keep the pattern constant — or I considered making the coloured bands between the medalions wider through the waist area…that could work too)  Then there is the wool thing.  I’ve already spent an arm and a leg on this sweater…adding the extra rep could add another 20 dollars or so.  I won’t know until I get near the end though so I need to knit fast or my dye lot may not be waiting when I realize what I need!

Then there is the option of leaving the pattern as is.   I may just do that, but my fear is not loving the finished length after going to the work of knitting this.  It isn’t like a usual sweater where I’m ok with the idea of frogging and re-knitting! 

I’m way, way behind on the blogstalking posts…four and five I believe I need to post yet.  And my ravelry invite came!!!  That will take some time to set up…now I can see what everyone was saying when they said to be prepared. 

My ravelry name is knitsnthings.

Off to knit….have a great day! 🙂

The First Fitted Glove Is Finished!

Have a look 🙂

From Here To There…

I’m so not having my best day (week)…but then neither are these shoes!

I tried to think up some kind of fabulous idea for this post…but didn’t.  Sorry!  Basically I walk, take the bus or wait for my husband to be home to get from ‘here to there’.

It’s been raining like crazy here this weekend and I’m sick AND it was Thanksgiving for us here yesterday.  I’m patting myself on the back for just getting the dinner made and served without coughing to death.   It’s the same virus that sent our daughter to the hospital last weekend, but I’m certain they won’t help me….except to helpfully inform me it is a virus, of course!  I did borrow one of the ventalin puffers this morning…helps a lot.

On the good news front, I heard from my lady at the store where I’m planning to buy my Simply Shetland 4 book and the yarn!  She has her stock in now and hopefully I shall make it there next week.  Wednesday is the goal.  Should work beautifully, I ordered the necessary needles from knitpicks and they were shipped on Thursday.  If I get over this cold in the meantime….hmmm….I think I’m really looking forward to Wednesday/Thursday!  I love starting a new project, especially something I’ve been looking forward to 🙂

Meantime, I’ve been working on a pair of gloves? (they may still morph into mittens)  I’m using the left over Ultra Alpaca from the sweater I just finished.  Size 3.25 mm needles.  I found a pattern I really liked for a ‘leaf lace’ type panel and then discovered it was too wide to look right.   I designed my own…it’s fun but challenging to design cables and lace on the graph paper.  Tricky because the count varies row to row sometimes.  Glove number one is almost done to the fingers…

And the back/underside…

So, what do you think?

And then there were two….

I’ve finished the mirasol socks I started 🙂   Another addition to the Christmas pile!

Now I’m going to try a pair of gloves…not sure if they will be fingerless or not.  I’m using a nice cable/lace pattern I found on the internet (love that, don’t you?).  It is really nice though I’m not certain how it will work out in the gloves.  We’ll soon see 🙂

So proud of my daughter!!  Her graduation was yesterday… 🙂

Mirasol Gloves…All Done!

Something for the Christmas pile 🙂  My middle daughter has already loved these enough that they will be hers this year….

First mirasol sock is finished!

I’m really happy with it too 🙂

      

These will be going in the ‘for Christmas presents’ pile 🙂  Of course that means, to be fair, that I’m going to have to make three more pairs of socks…one for each of the kids.

The Mirasol Socks

Good morning 🙂

So, I’ve jumped on the bandwagon….I’ve ordered three of the new harmony wood circulars from knitpicks.  They look so nice, I’ve heard excellent reviews so far AND they are considerably cheaper than the same size needles from anywhere else I’ve looked.  I needed three…2mm, 2.5mm and 3 mm as well as a set of 3mm dpns (got the plated ones though) for my upcoming planned project…the Autumn Rose Pullover from Simply Shetland Four.  I mentioned a while back that I had ordered the book from a local supplier.  It has ended up backordered but whenever it comes in I am planning to go and get it and the wool for it…hopefully next week! 

I started the second mirasol glove…I’m at the point where I’ve taken the thumb stitches aside so it’s almost done…THEN I couldn’t help myself and started a Mirasol sock.  I’m making up my own pattern for this…you may use it if you like 🙂   Mirasol Sock Pattern

I’m using a lacy pattern on the instep, ribbing on the sole (for better fit) and a twisted rib.  I really like how they look so far!  I ended up needing another skein of this yarn (started off with one, needed two) so I visited my lys yesterday to get another.  It was awesome!  I wore my new sweater and my lady at the lys was so impressed!  She says I do excellent work…made me feel like a million 🙂  Ooooh, and she said I should work there…which is a scary proposition (imagine the stash then!).  Actually, I would probably love working there…so I left that open and told her my kids are growing and I may want to soon:)  She’s asked me to bring in some of my gloves and other work next time for her to see.  So that’s one part of yesterday which was awesome, imo.

I ended up buying some more of the Hacho in purples…..