Baby Mary Janes.




Could there be anything sweeter? I made these using a pattern from ShesCrafty using worsted weight yarn I had dyed. I didn't have the recommended fingering weight yarn in colors that I liked, so I felted them after knitting and love the way they turned out. The little iridescent glass buttons are perfect, I think. Baby Grace received her new Mary Janes today and appeared to like them very much.

Spring is busy around here. I spend hours every day out of doors pulling weeds and fussing over my plants. It's more fun than it sounds, really! Things are going pretty well in the gardening department except a wily mama bunny made a nest in the mulch that covers my garlic bed. I wondered how my lettuce and strawberries were getting eaten! I lost a whole tomato plant before the mystery was solved. The babies are gone now, so I hope they've moved onto greener pastures.
I've been doing some dyeing lately. Playing with colors, to see what I like. I have no names for these colorways yet, but what do you think?





Also, work has been ongoing for the art fair I mentioned previously. Entered for the jury's consideration:


Organic merino dyed gray with light lavender yarn violets.

Also, some scarves and a hat knit from beautiful hand-painted yarn.


My friend Morwenna at Mosaic Moon dyed these lovely colorways--"Malayan Orchid" and "Guinevere" on Targhee and Blue Faced Leicester.


It will be a month of nail-biting to hear if I've been accepted as a vendor. Then, if I am, only two months to prepare the merchandise! I've been doing some knitting as I wait in an effort to be optimistic.

A short rant




Seriously. What is up with the freaking stickers on fresh fruit? How much time is wasted placing these stickers ON the fruit and then trying to remove them from the fruit?
I remember when I was little and the checkers at the grocery store knew all of the produce codes by heart. When was it decided that the checkers couldn't memorize the codes any longer?

Baby Knitting


I'm always so impressed with those knitters who find out a friend is pregnant and know immediately what they want to make for the new baby. I seem to have a hard time deciding and wait until the last minute to start/finish items. My friend Marnierecently had a gorgeous baby and when I opened the most recent Vogue Knits magazine, I saw the perfect gift--the Baby Surplice sweater by Elizabeth Z.




It's a fun and baffling knit until you get to the very end, when a la Elizabeth Z, it all makes sense.




I decided to do anchored buttons so that Marnie may move the buttons easily for perfect adjustability.



The yarn is farm yarn from Theresa at LTK dyed in her "Guinness" colorway. The colors aren't totally boy/girl, which I love.

I saw my girlfriend Erica today, and she's going to give birth to her second child on Thursday. It's a girl, and for some reason, I cannot settle on a project for her. I need some imspiration and fast!

Spring is here!!!!

It's been a flurry of birthdays and spring fever over here. And knitting, yes, some knitting. This is going to be a big catch up post, so bear with me as I overwhelm you with photos.




First, it was Anthony's 7th birthday on Easter. He was gifted a new bike, one where he doesn't look like a circus clown while riding it because of knees up to his ears. He asked for dinner at Red Lobster and so it was--crab legs for the birthday boy!
He also had a violin recital at school. Here's my only, not so great, picture:




Next, it was Paige's 14th birthday. She asked for a local fast food joint for her birthday dinner, so we did that. Here she is blowing out her birthday candles with DOminic ready to help as needed:




Dominic has been spending all non-rainy days out of doors. I've been trying to teach him to use the pedal car, but he much prefers being pushed around in it over working to get it to move.





Me? I've been starting seeds:



Those are San Marzano sauce tomaotes and a new cherry variety called "TomatoBerry". Both seeds are from Johnny's Seedsmy very favorite seed source ever. They specialize in high quality seeds with a lot of organic varieties and a lot of variety in general! The germination rate is always very high and if you want to grow long Chinese beans, they have that. This year, we have the German Red Top garlic in our garden, coming up nicely. We plant it in the fall. I am also trying a new pole bean, to maximize garden space. Also new are 60 hills of potatoes (from Johnny's as well, but a lot of varieties sold out fast.). I'm hoping to avoid buying supermarket potatoes this year! And garlic! And tomatoes! And lettuce! And cucumbers for pickling and eating. And zucchini. Asparagus. Strawberries. I think that might be it this year.


OK, now the knitting. It's been hard to find adequate time lately. A few rain-showery days have allowed me to spend time indoors, dyeing yarn, playing with some stitch patterns, trying to decide what to work on next. I had a custom order for a customer, which was a cotton top and skirt. I dyed the yarns and knit the order up:



to
I've also been working on some special items for an art fair. I need to submit 4 photos of my work with the application because it's a juried fair. So, it's been dyeing, swatching, winding, knitting, embellishing central over here. It's a rainy day today, so I'll try for a few photos tomorrow. So far, I have a scarf and a tunic and beret almost done.

I'm a hooker now. Kinda. Sorta.



I decided I had to make more room in my stash for more stash and the bulk of the mess was a ton of tiny little odds and ends. And not all of them nicely coordinated so that I could use them to make a striped sweater. So, my goal is to make the world's ugliest afghan in a crochet ripple pattern so that I can use up these bits and add to the afghan whenever I feel like it.

It took me a while to get the hang of the pattern and it's a basic pattern, folks. I still don't think I have it 100% right but the beauty of it is that I don't care if it's perfect or not!! I love it! It's long enough to cover the length of the sofa, so hopefully one day, the whole fam can sit underneath it while we watch a movie together.

The sleeves are done:



That purple thing hanging down from the jacket is some grosgrain ribbon that I'm going to cover the seams with. The two purples are so pretty against each other. I also made some matching leg warmers and found another ball of this yarn under the sofa (what ? your yarn doesn't travel around your house?) and am toying with the idea of a bag.



It was my birthday this week and my husband's last week. We took a weekend trip to Chicago to celebrate. Our splurge was on one of the best meals I've ever eaten in my life at Le Lanwhich is a French-Vietnamese restaurant. It's not traditional but delicious and BEAUTIFUL food? Yes. Reservations are strongly recommended. So are the Stuffed Tiger Prawns. It was so warm that evening, we were able to walk back to our hotel. I love walking in Chicago at night.

Knitting wise, I've been wandering around without any serious projects on the needles. I'm finishing a sock from Regia yarn that I bought on sale (60% off!) at one of my LYS. I'm waiting for the muse to hit me over the head. I've had several ideas of ideas kind of float through, but nothing that I have.to.make.


For that reason, I've been searching for someone's design to be compelling enough so that I will want to make it for myself. Any suggestions?

Happy Birthday, dear Hubby!!

Today is blustery and snowy and icky. And it's a good thing, because Dominic and I will be staying in today and baking this the most delicious carrot cake recipe I've ever tried. You grind the carrots and then marinade them in brown sugar so they get all juicy and delicious. The cake is moist, and amazingly big.

My MIL outfoxed me yet again. I'm not sure how she does it, but she's damn good at it. I called her up and invited her and her husband to meet Hubby and I tonight for a drink to celebrate his birthday. She agreed and said NOTHING to me about dinner at her house on Sunday. When hubby called his sister to ask her to meet us tonight, he found out his mom had been planning a birthday dinner at her house on Sunday. Damn. There I go again, getting burned for being nice. To normal people, this wouldn't seem so big, but I don't like my in-laws and spending time with them twice in one weekend is too much.

Catherine has suggested 3/4 sleeves for the jacket. That's a good idea, Catherine. I'm going to try to screw up my courage today and finish some sleeves.

To sleeve or not to sleeve.

I can't decide. I keep picking this up, start some sleeves and then putting it back down.




I think I'll make some matching pants and see how I feel after that. This is some lovely vintage Shetland wool yarn I picked up at an estate sale. I am in love with the color--a heather pink/gray and wish I had much more of this yarn to play with.

The Valentine's sweater for Dh is done, but in a holding pattern until he decides if he likes the collar or not--now the stinker is leaning towards a V-neck. If he changes his mind and wants the V-Neck, I may need to pull out the scissors and so some cutting rather than ripping back.

I've been reading Elizabeth Zimmermann and she'll give me the courage if necessary.

The Valentine's Sweater


...Is not done. Chances are good I could complete it tonight. I chugged some coffee so I could stay awake tonight and have some "alone time". I need to decompress from a few very busy days. Plus, Anthony is off of school tomorrow, so I get to (hopefully!!) sleep in until 7:00 or 7:30. His class at school today performed a wonderful play and my little man had quite the role! His expression of emotion was pretty excellent for a six year old. I think he could be a Jim Carrey in the making.

Valentine's evening was pretty good. The hubby and I hit the mall for a bit and I found some bargains that made me happy! (New shoes, skirt and top!) I have decided I don't wear enough skirts. Then, we went to see Music and Lyrics

No, Dh didn't want to go, but he ended up enjoying himself and I loved it! Both Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore were great in this part satire/part romantic comedy.

I'm off to knit and snuggle under a down throw while watching a video.

The best part of coming home is knowing that your knitting is waiting for you. I've been working on a sweater for my husband---a Valentine's gift, you know. Of course, I waited until last Thursday to decide that I needed to make him said sweater. It's lovely Tahki Donegal Tweed yarn in the Oatmeal colorway. I like the little blue flecks that appear every once in a while.

The sweater itself is a basic raglan with some ribbing at the sides for a nice fit. He's approved the project and design so far and even likes the yarn, which is a minor miracle. So far, I have 1 sleeve and the body up to the armholes done. So, chances are good for an on-time gift!

Part of my Saturdays during the cold months are to curl up on the sofa when the youngest is napping and knit and watch the line-up of cooking shows on PBS. My Anthony was snuggled up with me this weekend watching and learning and insisted we try a chocolate chip meringue recipe immediately. It was very simple to make and the cookies were quite delicious!



Here's the recipe:

3 eggwhites, room temperature
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup of sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar and vanilla at high speed until soft peak stage. Then, gradually add the sugar while beating. Continue beating until the meringue is at the stiff peak stage. By hand, fold in the chocolate chips.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto the sheets. Bake at 250 for 1.5 hours until lightly golden brown and firm in the middle. Cool and store in airtight container.

Hearing about the class-action sexual discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart this morning gave me tingles. For ages, I'd been hearing about how unfairly Wal-Mart treats their female employees and finally, someone is trying to do something to hurt them where it really hurts--the pocketbook.

I've stopped shopping at Wal-Mart because of their business practices. Pure and simple. I know of many others who have done the same--I wonder how many more will decide to direct their dollars elsewhere now that this lawsuit will be in the news?

If you'd like to read about it, click here

Just a little more knitting content:

A cotton sunsuit I just finished with little fishy buttons to close. I love it!

Dear Bravo:

Please fix Top Designer right this instant. It made me feel really sad to watch it. It's that bad. Please go to Project Top Design and read their critiques carefully because they are DEAD ON with what is wrong with this show.

Thank you.

Where Have I Been?



Well, for a while there, it seemed like anytime I had the time or inclination to blog, Blogger was down. So then it started to feel like it was pre-destined for me not to blog.


Anyway, it's been kind of quiet here, except I just finished a large-ish custom order. I dyed the merino yarn for the twisty scarves and used Manos del Uruguay for the Long and Skinny scarf and the felted mitts:












I've also been working on some other knitting for the store:



Now, I'm trying to screw up the courage to go down into my COLD basement and rinse off the cotton yarn I dyed yesterday. Have I told you we have a high temperature of 3 degrees today? Why did I choose the coldest days of winter to dye cotton yarn? Alright, it was mostly a diversionary tactic, trying to avoid buying sock yarn.

In the midst of the knitting and dyeing, I was watching Top Chef season 2. What a mess that show is. Seriously, I hated every single contestant except Michael. The best part was the guest judges. Ted Allen was a hoot and Eric Ripert holds a special place in my heart. Top Chef producers--take note--your viewers want some quality next season!

Happy Holidays!! A few days late...


Our actual Christmas Day was great. Looooooong but great. Anthony has reached the full understanding of presents and Santa and all that jazz and was up at 5:30 on Christmas Day. I was still in bed and heard him go downstairs to check everything out and then upstairs to try to wake his brother up, downstairs again, upstairs again...it was kinda funny.

All the gifts were enjoyed and appreciated.

Paige opening her iPod with the help of Cosmo:



Anthony opening his one of many gifts:



Dominic playing with his new train table:



My dear, darling DH gave me a knitting journal and a gift certificate to the LYS. I went yesterday to peruse all of the beautiful yarns and came home with some of the new corn yarn "Amaizing" from SouthWest Trading Company. It's a really soft tube yarn. The color I bought is "Biscotti" and it kind of made me feel I was knitting with pantyhose. I have a dress design in mind and have been looking for the right yarn. This may be it, doubled up. Knitted single on 7's, it makes a pretty light-weight fabric.



I also came home with three skeins of Patagonia Nature Cotton in a pretty orange/yellow/pink colorway:



Knitting wise, the only Christmas knitting I managed was a Swell hatfor my grandfather.

and a set of felted coaster for my son's school secretary. I used up some of the jillions of Manos del Uruguay scraps for them so the edges weren't perfect but they still looked cute. (Sorry, I can't seem to find my picture right now.)

My kids are currently at Grandma and Grandpa's and I've been able to wrap up most of the work on the TOP SECRET PROJECT so that feels great! Plus, the hubby and I were able to do some shopping last night and had dinner out. What a treat! I slept in until 9 this morning and woke up only because I wanted to. I could get used to this....but I can't because the kids come home tomorrow. :)

It's just not fair to look this good after a newborn. I know I couldn't find my red lipstick for weeks after delivery my babies! But she is, after all, the queen of all things perfect and chic. What a cutie pie Finn is! Congrats Laura!

On the knitting front--sleeve #2 is on the needles--oh, about half done. I'm trying (not very hard, apparently, since I am wasting time blogging) to finish it today so that the sweater can be blocked before seaming. If I can seam tomorrow, it's a vague possibility the sweater will be finished by my Dec. 15th deadline--but it's not looking good folks. I'm developing aches in my arms and wrists because the sweater is very heavy on the needles. I also have a HOLE in my right index finger from using the ultra-pointy Knitpicks Options needles. I love these needles, but OW does it hurt when you accidentally stab into that hole with that point. I wear Bandaids on it to protect it, but I occasionally forget to put a new one on after letting the finger breathe.

Whoever said that knitting is not a contact sport is so very very very wrong.

Lazy Sunday

Last night, Paige had some friends over for a movie night. They watched "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". I worried considerably whether this would be glamorizing lying to your parents, stealing your dad's priceless vehicle, lying to school, faking a relative's death, driving into Chicago alone, and singing "Danke Schoen" on a float in a parade. My daughter assured me they were not taking notes or believing any of the stunts could be realistically pulled-off. Okey dokey. Just hoping parents don't call me.

I woke up out of a tentative sleep to see my 2 year old standing in the hall with his whole head and hands covered with blood. It was like seeing the scene from "Carrie" only a million times scarier because this was my kid and the source of the blood was unknown. After dashing into the bathroom and trying to keep calm while keeping him calm, I saw the blood was gushing from his nose and he had smeared it all around trying to get it off of his face. After cleaning him off and changing PJ's (both of us were by then covered in blood) I settled him into my bed so that I could finish cleaning up the bathroom and change his bedding. Then, I was overtaken by light-headedness accompanied by cold sweating and a churning stomach. I guess all of the adrenaline leaving my body took my steely reserve with it and I about passed out. I had to lie down next to my child and hold onto him for a while before attempting to stand up again.

So, today is going to be low-key. I'm ripping back a sleeve on my sweater because I realized that I measured incorrectly. Everyone is napping, so I'm going to put the "Gilmore Girls" in and sit back and knit.

Well, finally some knitting content!



I finished this monkey last night while waiting for my daughter to get out of dance class. He was not too difficult to make, the worst part was all of the seaming of the parts. I used some of the wool from my estate sale find

and dyed the light brown trim using coffee because I didn't have the right color dye to make that tan color. Initially, when I finished the monkey, I looked at him and thought he needed something extra. He looked a little naked to me. So I added the scarf. And why not a little hat, too? I can easily see myself knitting entire wardrobes for the monkey and can finally understand why the dolls and teddy bears with interchangeable outfits are interesting. However, for me, the fun is actually creating the outfits, not just putting them on. Anyway, I hope Anthony loves him and wants to play with this little guy all of the time.

The pattern for this little guy is in Knitted Toys by Fiona McTague. The book has a few other cute patterns (the bunnies and the angel doll), but other than those patterns, I probably wouldn't make anything else from it.

In other knitting news, I've been working on a man's sweater in Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride yarn. I've never used this yarn before and it's quite pleasing to knit with. I like how soft it is, even with the mohair. It's been very long and quite dull because I had to knit 16 inches of stockinette stitch with a circumference of 42". However, last night, I finally hit the armholes and hopefully things will pick up from here. I cannot show you a picture just yet, since it's a sample for a pattern that will be published. I sure hope all of this suspense is worth it! LOL

The deadline for the sample and first draft is Jan. 2nd. So, MY goal is to have it done by the 15th of Dec. I dunno--we'll see. The best laid plans...wish me luck. I will really need it--and coffee--and good movies to watch while knitting.

Amelia has just published her newest pattern design for sale, and I think I might need to spend my Christmas gift money on yarn to make this lovely coat. It's actually quite similar to something I had in mind to design, so now that she's done the hard work for me, I think I'll go ahead and make one of them!

OK, I'm off to knit some more wooly mohair. (It's kind of drying my hands out, this yarn is.) Have a great day!

It's a snow day today!!! Some huge amounts of snow dumped down and it's so quiet in the way things are with snow on the ground. You can't hear the slush being splattered by driving cars on the road yet.

The boys and I bundled up to enjoy the clean, white snowy fun. However, we encountered a few problems. The first--the snow came up the the baby's waist and he couldn't move. So, I started shoveling out paths for him to work through when I heard Anthony crying from behind the garage. He had attempted to climb the short hill there to sled down and got completely stuck in the deep snow there. When he stood up, his boot came off of his foot. Then, he lost the other boot while trying to make it to the house. By the time he made it inside, he was cold and crying. Not fun! Poor little guy. So we're waiting for DH to get home from work so he can start up the snow blower and make it easier for us to play.

On a brighter note! Welcome to the world little Trevor!! He is my new nephew and quite beautiful, with his little cleft chin and fuzzy head. My SIL is doing well after being induced for a pre-eclampsia scare. What a perfect Christmas gift! Here is the little man with Paige: