MS3 Clue 3

Here is the MS3 all the way up to the end of Clue 3. According to the designer we are now 1/3 of the finished length.

Warning... Lots of stuff!

This month’s Project Spectrum colors are Red, Black and Metallic so it is only fitting that I use it to post a congrats to the San Antonio Spurs for their win last week, making them the 2007 NBA World Champions. Living in San Antonio you can’t help but get caught up in the Spurs fanfare. Watching the end of the game made me a little sad that we were not there to join our neighbor’s party!

So, knitting is making a slow but steady progress. I have many more inches to go on Crumpets. I keep going around and around and around and…

Monica is done! The final product is cute, again. As you will remember, this is the tank that had the color bleed problems. Before vacation I removed the ruffle and washed the blue body again, three times, with vinegar. It still had color coming out. Last week I washed it three more times with color still coming out. Last Thursday Christine (who is working on the never ending shrug) suggested I run it through the washing machine. Even though the instructions are for hand wash I figured I had nothing to lose. So, I popped it onto some dental floss and threw it into the washer on delicate with some Woolite and a color catcher. The color catcher came out very blue. So, I ran it through another rinse cycle with another color catcher and this time it came out exactly as it went in. When I hold up the body against the leftover yarn there is a definite difference in the color, which shows just how much color ran out of this yarn. I am contemplating contacting the Brown Sheep Company to complain! The details of this FO will be posted under the link for my 2007 finished projects.

I still have many more projects on the needles and I am starting to feel the pressure of finishing what I have started. Let’s see, the list includes:

Finish sock #2 in the Jitterbug
Finish the sleeves on Angelina (this has been waiting on a pair of Knit Picks Options needles. A group of us were going in together to save the shipping but KP has repeatedly delayed the CotLin’s arrival)
Lady Eleanor
Print ‘O The Wave shawl in Alpaca Cloud
Piglet’s Christmas stocking.

Did I mention that I had frogged the stocking? Well, I did. Now, I am recharting the entire pattern in hopes of correcting all the mistakes before they happen. I know, it would be easier to find a new pattern!

In other news, fellow SnB’er MaryAnne turned us on to Sarah’s Yarns last night. Sarah will send you a small sample of a yarn that is enough to make a swatch. The cost – the cost of shipping - $4.90 by Priority Mail. That’s it! Today I ordered a sample of her Bamboo to try out in hopes of using it for the Tubey Turtleneck in Fitted Knits. I am happy to spend $5 and get a sample to test rather than spend $50 and get yarn that won’t work for a project.

On a final note… Can you guess what this is? If you guessed Baxter, you would be correct. This is just five minutes of brushing tonight. This photo does not show the pile of Calvin. Calvin didn’t lose as much in the brushing because he has dropped most of it on my living room floor. Ugh! I hate coat-blowing season.

Oh Socky Socky Now - Project Spectrum Wednesday

I’ve been a little lax in the Project Spectrum department so here is a little colorful goodness for you. I hope the glare of the white leg doesn't blind y'all!

This is my sock. Just one. I don’t have second sock syndrome with this yarn, I just have no time syndrome. Seriously, I love this yarn. It is Jitterbug by Colinette. It is by far the best sock yarn ever. It is soft, stretchy, and does not split – ever. It has spoiled me for any other sock yarn. I tried on this sock and it fits like a glove – something that hardly ever happens with my handmade socks. Ever more, it didn’t lose its shape. When I took the sock off it sprung right back into shape. As soon as I finish the second sock I will post all of the gory details. I think the second sock will become my traveling partner when we drive to visit the in-laws and out-laws in a few weeks.

I love the Jitterbug so much I bought two more skeins at the LYS on Sunday. The color is Florentina.

And, here is the beginning of the new little Crumpets with beads. It is really cute! I really like this pattern and I REALLY like it with the beads.


I have a new link in the sidebar. All of my 2007 works of art are going to be added to a second blog as well. The blog will be dedicated to FO’s. It was getting to be too much of a pain to add each individual piece in blogger. Mac offers us limited blog capabilities for free so I decided to use it rather than sign up for another option like Flickr.

Cheep Cheep

We have babies! There are several little fuzzballs in the nest. I assume all five eggs hatched but it is really hard to tell since they are all piled on top of each other. When I peeked the other day there was just a little fuzz and a whole egg. I gave them a few days undisturbed and checked again today. After I took this first photo I did a little yard work and then came back to see if I could get a better look. Can you see it? A little, tiny, yellow beak! Honestly, I’m not one for birds – they can’t be potty trained (I have been used as a potty one too many times.) – but it is hard to resist that perfect little nest and those fuzzy little heads. I feel for the momma bird – feeding five noisy kids, bathing five noisy kids, and trying to give attention to five noisy kids. Can you tell it has been a rough day? The dogs have four legs that is twice as many as the child. That makes three dogs the equivalent of six children. Then there are the needs of the two-legged child. I’m exhausted!

To top off my day the knitting hasn’t been too pleasant. Mostly because I lack the ability to read directions (it is clear I am not cut out for home schooling). I had worked two and a half rounds of Crumpets when I realized that I screwed up the previous round. I tinked. Then as I was restarting round two I realized that I had also screwed up the previous round. I tinked. Two rounds. 186 stitches each. If I keep screwing up the little girl won’t get to wear this until NEXT summer.

Project Spectrum

I went out to water my fern the other day and this is what lay before my eyes. A little nest with five tiny eggs. I 'm not sure what type of bird the momma is because she flies off whenever I approach, but she is small and beige with a little bit of cream on the tips of her feathers. The eggs are a blue/green color. I hope they do not hatch while we are away this weekend because I really want to be around for the big event.

Today I am mailing off the hats and socks for the Afghans for Afghans program. They have extended their deadline so you still have time to get in some goodies and use up those half skeins languishing in your stash.

Project Spectrum

Here is one of my favorite yellows… Fizzy Lemonade. My San Antonio SnB meets at this fantastic, eclectic coffee shop/restaurant/bar/cake heaven. One of their specialties is the Fizzy Lemonade… a wonderfully refreshing drink on a hot summer Sunday afternoon. Ok, typing that made me think of a group of southern belles hanging on the front porch with their parasols and fans… “Why I do declare it is hotta than a crotch out he’ya on the porch and the only thang that will cool us is a tall glass of fizzy lemonade served by a tall, dark, handsome, nekked may’yan”. Crap, now I have that nekked man in my head and he goes by Derek Jeter. Ok, wait, where was I? Oh, right, Fizzy Lemonade. One day the bartender showed me how she made it and I have been making them at home ever since. Now that the warm weather has returned, I have stocked up on ingredients and now when Piglet takes his afternoon nap, I sit down with my Fizzy Lemonade and knit. Unfortunately, I do not have the yummy Candlelight Café cake or my knitting peeps.

I started on Icarus last week. Actually, I started twice. I have never knit with yarn this thin before so it is slow going. I also had some stitch marker issues. All of my small rubbers (stitch markers…get your minds out of the gutter!) were being used on another project and the large ones were way too big for the needles and yarn. I switched to my fancy set but the yarn slides through the rings too easily.

Last night I started a sock in the Jitterbug. I love this yarn. It isn’t really a self-striping but the colors blend nicely from one to another. The yarn is soft and bouncy. If you get a chance, give it a feel at your LYS.

Next week I will bring you a photo update of my never ending projects. Seriously, I think every project on the needles right now is going to take me a year to complete. Of course, I might get more accomplished if I didn’t have so many WIP’s!

Pretty in Pink...

What happens when you have this in your stash….. and you hate it?

Well, you pick up some Wilton’s at Michael's and get going. I used the Rose, Pink and Blue mixed with a little Pink. I started out dyeing just one skein to see what would happen and liked the results so much I did a second. I think I will do an Entralac scarf as a Christmas gift. Honestly, this is the first dyeing experiment that has pleased me. Usually the colors turn out nothing like the picture in my head (that happens to me a lot actually). I have two more skeins that may end up being mostly blue. I also have four skeins of black – any suggestions?

BTW, this wasn’t totally without speed bumps… I think I cut and spit spliced about four times!

I will never be as talented as Jayne though… go take a look!

Also, one of my favorite bloggers, Joan, just lost her dog, Rogan. If you get a chance, stop by and give her your condolences. If you love animals you know what she is going through. If you don't love animals, well, there is a special place in hell for you. Ok, I'm kidding, it isn't all that special :-) Don't leave me hate comments... I'll sic PETA on you!

Project Spectrum Wednesday

Angelina

Close up of the lace

This is Angelina. The top photo shows how she will look when she is seamed - kinda. The collar and sides will fold back. The arms will have about 9" of lace added on. I am just about done with the bottom lace. I worked the collar and bottom together for a while so that I could make sure the lace matched - one is worked on the right side of the lace, the other on the wrong. It is a little confusing! The photos do not really show how pretty the blue of the yarn is.

I finally broke down and ordered new needles. I love the Denise except when working with cotton or on the smaller sizes where the cable is the same diameter as the needle making it hard to move the stitches around. I have ordered some of the Knit Picks Options but I did not order the set. Instead, I picked the sizes I use the most and ordered those along with size 40 and 47 inch cables. Now that I have wandered into the world of Magic Loop I don't think I will use the smaller cables much. I also ordered sizes 1 and 2 of the permanent circulars. I am pretty excited about the new needles and hope I don't end up losing 400 stitches due to a bad join!

Joan asked if I was making Lady Eleanor starting on the long side. The answer is no. I had to turn the work so that the camera would not capture the giant pile of mail that Big Boy had been saving on the kitchen table. Plus, I haven't been able to work on it much and so right now it is more wide than long. In the end it will be 23" wide and 70" long. I have a way to go to get to the end!

Project Spectrum Wednesday

This is how I start my day… surrounded in a sea of white fluff. Annabelle sleeps in our room every night but doesn’t usually get on the bed until Charley gets up in the morning (that's her at the top of the bed). I think she knows her job is done for the night. Baxter and Calvin alternate sleeping in our room but every morning Baxter comes in and snuggles with mom. Don’t worry, Calvin gets to sleep up there on his nights. He also gets to go outside alone in the mornings and spend time with Big Boy – ALONE. This morning I woke up as the filling in a Pyr sandwich. Many mornings I have a tail in my face, paws in my back or no feeling in my legs from the giant head. But, I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

DISCLAIMER: Names and locations have been changed to protect my life.
This is the part where I will probably piss off a few people but, well, don’t really care. As a kid I was like every other girl and wanted to be friends with the popular people. As an adult I find that the last person I want to hang with is the popular one. Here’s the thing, if your group or friends are often called a “clique”, you probably are. Those who seem to deny it the most are those in the thick of it! This post has been a long time in the making as my irritation would ebb and tide. Several things have happened over the past week to make me put it all out there. The other night I was at a gathering and a woman I was talking to told me she was moving to the other side of the room because she wanted to be near her friend. After I finished vomiting I realized this was my opportunity to find someone less childish to talk to. I am on several lists and one in particular has a small group who alienate others. I don’t care if ya’ll are friends off list and email each other or get pedicures together or wax each other’s ass. The problem comes in when you have individual contact with each other but on a public list will post “Tammy, Donna and Harriet – look in your mailbox because I have sent you a present”. The other 300 readers do not need to know that you are sending presents to just your three friends. The only reason I can see for this is your insecurity and need for everyone to think you are so great. We don’t! At that moment, you tell the others that you only care about those few people. I would never walk into a department store, grab their intercom and announce that I am buying gifts for Tammy, Donna, and Harriet. That is essentially what happens here. But then again, I do things for my friends because I love them and not because I am trying to buy their love. At the same time, if you tell people you welcome their opinion and are open to discussing the situation, do not berate them when they give you their opinion. It is childish. If you don’t want opinions, then put up a disclaimer at the top of your site/list that says NO OPINIONS ALLOWED. Or better yet, just keep the conversation to the reason for the list, whether it is knitting, fire swallowing or the beheading of small mice (sorry, been singing a lot of Little Bunny Foo Foo).

So, on to good things…. Congratulations to Eunny Jang for her new position with Interweave Knits. I am so excited that someone young, talented and classy will be taking over. Now if Vogue would just get Wendy Bernard we would be all set in the knitting world.

Jayne has opened a new little store of hand dyed yarns. They are so pretty and cheerful. If you like something, buy it because it will be gone in a minute.

I did a little dyingdyeing last week but my colors were not as wonderful as Jayne’s. Of course, I only have four little pots and that Christmas Red is definitely Christmas Red. No matter how many times I rinsed the yarn, the red still comes off on my hands when I touch it. I think it makes me festive

Project Spectrum Wednesday

I’m a winner!

I won this beautiful yarn over at Loves to Bike and Knit. It is the Alpaca Cloud in Stream - the perfect name for the color BTW. It is the perfect color for Project Spectrum. It is so soft and pretty! It has asked to be several things, now I just have to pick one. Yesterday while Piglet was playing on his mat and talking to his toys I cruised through a few of my patterns. I am thinking about the Lilly of the Valley Shawl from the new Lace Style. But then again there is the Trellis Lace Scarf (by Margaret Stove in the Vogue Knitting Accessorize book), Icarus, Leaf and Acorn Scarf, and Trellis Scarf. So many choices!

This has been an “I don’t wanna week”. Laundry hasn’t been completed, groceries haven’t been purchased and the bed hasn’t been made because – I DON’T WANNA! Monday was a rough day but thankfully a little knitting at Stitch & Bitch made me feel better. I think it is, in part, due to the weather. Last week was sunny and nearly 60 all week. This week is back down to the 40’s (if we are lucky) and today holds the possibility of snow and rain. The changes are wreaking havoc with my body. Something has crawled into my throat and it sort of feels like swallowing glass shards. I don’t feel sick; I just don’t feel like being a housewife this week!

We started the Piglet on cereal this week. He is only three months but frankly, he never feels full. Since then he has been much more agreeable. He naps better than he has in weeks. Here’s the thing – the boy would eat eight ounces of formula if I gave it to him but then he would spit it all up. His eyes are bigger than his belly. I finally figured out that he needed something bulky to feel full. I equate it to eating an orange or a slice of bread – which one will make you feel full.

A little knitting has happened.

• I was able to rip out the picked up stitches on Angelina and started the lace collar. I put in a lifeline in case I started the lace on the wrong side due to the jacked up instructions. Yes, I said jacked up!

• Piglet’s sweater is completed but I haven’t clipped the ends yet. I will post an FO picture one of these days.

• Lady Eleanor is chugging along. I work on it when I have just a few minutes and can’t get into something that needs brain power. I absolutely love the Noro Lilly and will happily buy more if I can find it at the bargain price of $4 a skein!

• I was able to work on the stocking yesterday. It is coming along and I can finally see the cable patterns; they make sense now. I’m not crazy about the yarn though. It is Telemark from Knit Picks and it is kind of rough. However, it is for a Christmas Stocking so it doesn’t have to be soft – just durable, stretchy and cheap!

Project Spectrum Wednesday

Here is this week's tribute to the Blue, White and Gray of February & March.


This little gem is the baby hoodie for Piglet. The pattern is based on one from Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmerino book. Notice anything strange? Well, the sleeves are practically to the waist. If I have to lengthen the bottom I will just scream. Also, the hood is a little weird. I doubt he will ever wear the hood. Of course, I would have known all of this if the picture in the book had shown the baby standing up as well as the back!


And what is this mess you ask? Well, it is the Angelina. I have finished the body and am doing the lace trim.

This is the semi-provisional cast on being ripped out and the stitches picked up. It is taking forever! I started pulling it out on Monday night at SnB and then continued last night and I've only picked up about 1/4 of the stitches. I think I might have lost a stitch already. *Sigh*


I picked up some new yarn yesterday. It is Smooth DK by King Cole. It is 100% acrylic and so incredibly soft. I think it will become a vest for Piglet if I can find a pattern. I also snagged a copy of Sahara. Ewe Knit & Kits also had the yarn from Tilli Tomas - YUM! That is all I can possibly say to describe this yarn - just YUM!

Project Spectrum Wednesday

This is our sky yesterday. It was such a beautiful day. I opened all the windows and blew out the germs that were collecting in our own little CDC. The Piglet and I went outside to enjoy the fresh air and work on Angelina. He has never been outside except in his car seat and then he is usually asleep so this was sensory overload. His little head whipped back and forth checking out everything! Is he one cool dude or what?

I had a little education enhancement today. Since I bought books I like to refer to them as education and not stash. I purchased Fitted Knits by Stephanie Japel (Glampyre Knits) and the Spring Knit It. I don’t normally pick up this magazine but they had some cute stuff this time. I also considered Cables Untangled but since I am getting Lace Style tomorrow I thought I should pass for now. If you like doing cables – this is the book for you.

I finally did it. I broke down and bought “Curvy” jeans. I actually bought them about two weeks ago but just finally tried them on this morning. I’m curvy. It was time to admit it. I have hips. I am not built like a boy. I only wish more jean manufacturers would figure this out. When I hit puberty my hips developed. My Nana would call them “birthing hips” – something every 15-year-old girl wants to hear (this was the same women who wouldn’t discuss sex because if you talked about it kids would do it). Anyway, I digress. These jeans are great. They fit perfect in the places they are supposed to fit. They are low enough to be “hip” and “in” but not so low I have to hide behind the cart when getting those bottom shelf items at the grocery store. I currently own a pair that was purchased out of desperation when I managed to rip two pairs in one week. Well, they fit in the store but I didn’t take the “stretch” into consideration. Now 15 minutes into wearing I could give any plumber a run for his money!

Project Spectrum Wednesday

Blue is for the color of the ocean and my Big Boy's lips when he came out of the water. White is for the color of the caps on the ocean waves. Gray - well there was none this day. Big Boy and two friends participated in the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics this past Saturday. What started out as Big Boy's community service for his Officer of the Quarter resume turned into a full day of fun with friends. We had lunch with friends before heading to the beach. Then, after fighting the thousands who had turned out to plunge and cheer, we stood bundled, in the sand, watching normally sane people do the craziest thing - go into water that averages 40 degrees. This year the water was warmer than the temperature outside. Here is the best part - they went in twice. Our friend Matteo didn't get a picture the first time so they all went back in for the photographic proof that they actually did this. In case anyone needs more proof I can send over some smelly, wet, sandy shoes! The Piglet was the warmest of us all. He was snuggled in his car seat with his Bundle Me and handknit hat. He slept through lunch, the walk in the cold, the trudge down the beach, the plunge, the screaming, the trudge up the beach and the final walk to the car! He too needed proof that he was there.
And just in case you haven't had enough Piglet lately, here are his Valentine's Day photos.

Colors and Cats

This evening I decided to join Project Spectrum. The colors for February and March are Blue, White and Gray. These should be pretty easy colors to find in my daily life. I think the easiest thing would be for me to pick a day of the week as my Project Spectrum day and blog about it. I forget lots of stuff these days so if I pick a day I can put it in my PDA and get a reminder!

And for something kind of fun... What Famous Feline Are You?

Which famous feline are you?

You're Hobbes. First of all, the makers of this quiz would like to congratulate you. You have our seal of approval. You are kind, intelligent, loving, and good-humoredly practical. You're proud of who you are. At the same time, you're tolerant of those who lack your clearsightedness. You're always playful, but never annoying. For these traits, you are well-loved, and with good cause.
Take this quiz!

P.S. To show how much I really need reminders... I posted this without a title and then realized about five minutes later!