My true love in life...

is not knitting......but........





Sorry for the blurriness. She thinks camera=move. :)

Unhappy with my layout

I hate my Blogger layout. I want something pretty and customized but I don't know how to do it!!! Does anyone want to do it for me? :) Seriously..............




Onto knitting news.......I get to buy yarn this Friday!!!!!! I am debating about buying it online or going into Eugene and buy some at a delightful little shop there. I need to check some places and do a poll and find out what to get. I am finally breaking away from the nasty acrylic!!!! If I could buy enough to replace it all (hehehehehehe) I would be more than happy to chuck it or donate it. Mmmmmm.....GOOD yarn! I have $100 and I think I am going to go into Eugene. I'd rather ge tthe most for my money and not blow it all on shipping. So now what do I get?? I am thinking some cotton and wool. Anything I'm missing fiber wise? I don't really like novelty yarns so that's not going to be an option for me. They just don't grab my attention. Mmmmmm maybe some Sari silk....hmmmmm I can't wait! Maybe I can go in a couple days early and scout it all out. hehehe

Oh and to answer you Amey :) it's not my Boye set I'm using. The smallest on those is a 20". This set is silver needles with a clear cable. It's the pair my sister gave me. I know they are 16". I have measured more than once. DH has seen me do it and can confirm the length. Why do they not work!!??? ARG!

Addi Turbos

Every thing knitting related that I have ever come across talks of Addi Turbo needles. I have purposfully NOT googled them or paid attention. I seem to have this thing in my brain that despises by default anything popular. Don't ask why. I have not seen movies for years after they came out because they were so big in the box office. Same with most anything. I think it has to do with the fact that I was not the kind of popular I wanted to be in school. Who knows. Either way it has been irritating to everyone including me.

My last post I mentioned some heavenly needles. They were smooth, the cable was fantastic, and they just flow so well with my hands and my knitting. As I checked on my blog today I noticed I had a comment. I clicked and read it. The knitting mama mentioned they might be......yes.....Addi Turbos. She included an eBay link which I of course went to. And sure enough I have myself a pair of Addi Turbos. I can see why people would sell their soul to the Devil for these things. As I saw them and read the description on the auction I quickly plugged in what was on my needles. A little purse for my neice. Knit flat. Yup. I am knitting on my circs a purse done flat because they have been so delicious in my hands. I think I may need to find some more. My needle selection is getting to be obscene.

I'm not sure how I feel about my Boye set. Being able to compare them to the Addis and the pair my sister gave me has not helped. Each set (out of the three) has it's pros and cons but I'm having a hard time with them regardless. I think my big problem is connecting. I'm guessing on how to do it since I haven't seen anything explaining how. And I think my gauge is off. IU know it can change when you go between straights and circs but it can't be that big a difference. For instance I can cast on 80 on my 16 inch circs for a soaker. There is no way though that even with spacing my stitches out I can connect them. For a soaker that asks for 80 I cast on closer to 100. What am I doing wrong!? I know I measured the needles right and I don't have an insanely tight cast on by any means but good grief!!! I just want to be able to do a soaker that will fit and without tweaking the pattern to compensate for the 20 extra stitches I seem to need.

My check list

Just need to do a quick list where S can't grab a hold of it and eat it. She sure likes paper......mmmm...roughage! :)

* wool bath mat
* purse for C
* soaker tester for S by and MDCer
* afghan/blanket/throw
* branching out for MIL

That's just the knititng related stuff. I am branching out into other areas of craftiness I think. I can sew but just don't do it and I want to. lol So I think I am going to try sewing something more often.

I am so so tempted to yank my throw off the needles and put them on some bigger ones but I have got such a good start going that I am afraid too! I'm using some lovely boucle (sp?) I got a while back. It's tricky tricky stuff. The coloring is perfect though so that's why I insist.

I have had some awesome Freecycle scores lately. I got the rest of my needles and some yarn! Most of it was acrylic and surprisingly there was some really cute stuff amongst it. The purse for Miss C is out of a ball of fancy fur I got. I would never have bought this stuff since it doesn't appeal to me in the elast bit. But it was in the bag with everything else and it's not like I could sort through it and say yes or no to certain things. :) S had emptied out the bag, stashed the needles, and handed me every skein of yarn. When she got to that it dawned on me to make C something. C is my three year old neice and she LOVES pretty things like that. Hopefully her taste in pretty grows with her. lol

Not sure I am liking my interchangables. The cables are stiff. If I could find a softer, more flexible one I would love these needles but right now....well....I wouldn't be hurt if I packed them away for the time being. The other night I was looking up info on Magic Loop and saw a picture of a circ that looked perfect. It had a gold cable on it that reeked of flexiblity. I only noticed it cause the cable was gold. The next day the Freecycler drops off my goodies and sure enough! The one circ in the bag was that needle. I need to find out what brand it is. It's a dream to use. It just flows with the work. That's what I want with my Boye set. I guess I could google it.

Oh....oh.....oh.....having a heartattack

Praise be to the higher powers!
I offer myself to as a sacrifice to the almighty beings!!
Worship, worship, worship!!



Ok. I posted on my Freecycle group for some knitting needles. I have an addiction to them. The more the better. I have posted before but never got any replies so I was so not expecting anything. I checked my email early this morning and saw I had two replies. The first one had a set of circulars for me and she was going to go through her stash and find some more. Plus she might have some yarn for me. Cool. I was excited. I got another lady later today who said she has a ton of used needles and if I can let her know sizes she'll grab some for me. But that is not the cause of worship/praise/sacrifice and shuddering. Oh no. Far from it. The part that gets me so excited I am on the verge of passing out due to lack of oxygen in my brain is the second response.

The lady has just had brain surgery and can no longer knit. She only has gripping ability on one side of her body (I learned that as I was picking them up). In her email she said she had some circs and a set of 26 (so I figured out 13 pairs). Did I want them? Of course I did! Turns out she lived very close so I jetted over there to pick up my goodies.

There is nothing in the world that could have prepared me for what I was about to get.

I expected some used circs without their case. The 26 I figured were various straight she had acquired throughout the years...you know, like your grandma's cup of needles. Again. I was wrong.

I now have in my possession:
10.5 aluminum straights
THREE (yes 3 as in the number after 2 and before 4) sets of new and in the package Susan Bates Silvalume circulars (7,8, and 10)
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A complete-never opened-or-used-in-the-leather-casing Boye Needlemaster interchangeable circular needle set. It has everything in it! She has never used this!!! She didn't even realize what they were!! She only knew they were knitting needles!! I googled it all. The Boye set alone is about 100 bucks. The Susan Bates plus that and I have over 100 dollars worth of new needles for FREE!!!

Ok...I'm having brain seizures now.

Knitting...it's a tough sport

Last Friday I was working on the evil WHW wrap and talking to a friend on IM. I was typing one handed on the short sentences but would occasionally need both hands. On one such occassion I put the 14 inch aluminum needle in my mouth. Sharp end first. I typed out what I needed and hit enter. As I moved my knee readjust myself it hit the end of my needle and jammed the other end into the roof of my mouth!!! OMG! You want pain stick a metal needle in the roof of your mouth. Luckily it didn't break skin or anything. Just left a bumb at the spot of impact.

So the WHW wrap....you must be asking why it's evil. Well it WAS finished last night. I reread the directions to make sure I was done and to the bind off and saw it called for a stretchy one. I knwe I had seen that requirement somewhere else and I remember it was on the Tiny Birds soaker I did so I headed over there and checked out the one they used. It seemed off to me though. I knew I hadn't used that one when I did the soaker and it felt wrong. I did it anyways.


IT DIDN'T WORK!!!!!!!! It was not stretchy and it was freaking ugly! I ended up having to frog ten stupid rows and starting over on that section. Had that not happened there would have been some sewing done this morning and a picture gracing this entry. But instead I am left grumbling about it with a tainted memory of a rather decent diaper cover. Oh well. I'll finish off the rows after the munchkin hits the hay and then there will be a picture.

Baby knitting

Ahhh! Finally! I can do some teeny tiny knitting. :) A friend over on Mothering just found out she's pregnant!!!! They are going to try cloth this time around so I am going to be making her a felted wetbag, some covers, and something else I think. I am thinking of nursing pads but I'm not sure. :) I'm so excited for her and I get to make something small. :)

I am currently doing the free wrap pattern from Warm Heart Woolies. It's going pretty quick. I'm almost done and it's looking good. It's quick. It's simple. And it's free. Sounds good to me! It's tkaing me long erhtan I would like as DD has been a bit needy lately. She's picking up on something and I'm not sure what so it's slowed down my knitting quite a bit. She's going to bed so much alter lately that I only get about ten minutes of knitting in before I'm tired and head to bed myself. I'm just using acrylic again. I can't wait to get rid of all this stuff!

I'm also making my sister in law a basket of stuff for her wedding gift. I got her open house invite in the mail the other day and the sister in law who made them put to keep in mind, they'll be more broke than ever and to help them stock on the basics. I'm glad I had decided to change what I was giving her. It was going to be a blanket. I changed to something else though when it had been a couple days and no reply to, "How big is your bed?". lol Instead I'm going to do a basket with some knitted washrags and some natural cleaning stuff. I just need to get a couple E.O.'s and it'll be set to go!

So that changes my list to:
Finish purple wrap for DD
start wetbag
start newborn/small wraps
nursing pads
washrags

I am so looking forward to summer knitting. I am super excited to knit washrags for some reason. I love the heaviness of cotton washrags for some reason. Not sure why. :) I am still looking for a shorties pattern though.

Knitter's block

No, not as in blocking a knitted object.

I want to knit something but once I get my desire up for something it dissapears quick as can be. POOF! There are a few shirts I want to make for me but I don't have the right size needles so that put a damper on my knitting mood. I did find something (Iris from Knitty) but for some reason or other ended up not doing it. I have needles. I have yarn. I have no motivation. :(

That said, I am looking forward to getting some cotton yarn. I need to find it of course but I can't wait. I am making my SIL some washrags to be included in a basket for her wedding gift. I know I could have used things like that when we got married. Instead we have a candy dish and a serving spoon/fork set.

I haven't done anything else for S. I started a pair of shorties and was using the Tiny Birds longies pattern but it's going sooo ssssssllllllllooooowwwww. I am not liking this pattern at all. I wish I could find a pattern for size medium shorties on size 6 straights knit flat and in one piece. I've posted on Mothering to see if anyone knows of one but so far it's looking grim. The weather is perfect here and I would love to get S some shorts made up so she has something to wear now that it's warm. I have one pair I got from someone else but want more. Plus it'd be a good way to get rid of some of my acrylic. I would love to use it up and since it seems to work for soakers why not put it to good use?!

Blah. Anyone know of a pattern?

A knitty sort of day

Mmmm man! I got some good stuff today! At least I think so. :)

The hubby and I walked down to St. Vincent's this afternoon. I was hoping to snag some of the last sweaters they had to recycle. The day was gorgeous and as fragrant as could be! It was great! The walk was tiresome but it was nice to get out and breath some fresh air and spend some time together.

St. Vinney's recently redid their store though and things were gone. Including sweaters (and books! ). They had none left in the entire store. I was pretty dissapointed. I did manage to find their file cabinet of crafting notions though. I got a pair of size 1 needles. They don't match though which kind of sucks. One is a straight and one is a DPN and they are of a weird plastic type material. They bend kind of funbky but I got them so I could make the mother in law something that screams dainty and fragile. :) I also got 5 balls of 3 cord crochet yarn. It's a bit thin for knitting but that was the appeal. I'm sure I could use it for practice on something that would ask for lace. Who knows? Maybe it won't work. I can always free cycle it. One ball is a bit thicker though. I think it was meant for knitting. I was so excited to use this stuff too. It feels like cotton and was a not so bad color. It looks like someone snipped it though. I could have gotten 2-3 average sized washrags out of it and due to the places it was snipped I can now get maybe one smaller one. :( Oh well. It cost me next to nothing and S sure liked playing with it.

Sooo after we got back from there I headed over to Freddies and checked out their yarn and needles. I have that place memorized but it's nice to go look you know? :) I got two more pairs of needles! I got some size 10 aluminum straights after reading about washrags on Mothering. I cast on for a washrag and felt guilty for the soaker I am plodding through. So I headed back over and got some size 6 aluminum straights. The husband thinks I am loopy for going to Freddies so much. I think I was there three or four times today. :) I bought the 6's though for soakers. I know most patterns call for 5's but I knit tight so I'm hoping these will be ok. Plus they didn't have any 5's. They are long though which makes them kind of butt heavy. They're 14 inches which I didn't notice till I got home and had cast on for another soaker (that will likely sit and gather dust). It was too late to take them back and see if they had shorter too. Oh well. It'll be nice when I get to doing longies. The shorties I am working on are from the Tiny Birds longies pattern and they are currently on my circulars BECAUSE of the amount of increases. My short DPN's couldn't handle that many stitches on them.

I feel like I am cheating on my other needles. :) I lvoe my wooden noes. They are easy to make, custom made each and every time, are warm on the hands, and are from natural materials. But they are heavy. I never notice til I get a pair of metal ones in my hands. I'm already addicted to the ones I bought today because of how light they are. Plus they have a little more slip to them. I've noticed more and more lately that I have to fight with the grip my wooden ones provide. While it was great when I was first learning it's a bit annoying now. I'm thinking my needle stash may become obscene. :) I think I will have to get a complete set of straights in aluminums and then a set of DPN's in wood. There are just so many qualities to both that I can't pick and choose. My heart goes to wood most of the time but that slipperyness is so appealing. :)

As I said, I'm working on some shorties for S. They are taking forever. I'm just not thrilled with the pattern .The soaker was so quick and easy and knit in one piece. These are not so quick (though stil leasy) and I'm going to have to do two pieces. I just don't find that idea a lovely one. I would love to find a pattern that knit them flat and in one piece. I have a pair here that are like that. I bought them from an (ex)friend when she bought some diapers and turned around to sell them (she did it in such poor taste :( ). They have a darker orange waist and leg cuffs with an orange body and red drawstring. If I could find the mama who made these and get her pattern I would be eternally grateful. They fit perfectly! I'm just notpattern oriented enough to sit down and figure it out just by looking at them. Plus I'm still learning how to count stitches and rows after they've been knit. I have yet to find a way that works for me.

Acrylic yarn, surprisingly enough, gets soft after washing. At least the brands I do did. After I had finsihed the soaker I was pretty disappointed that it was so stiff but after one wash and dry it's super soft and more "cloth" like. I love it. Too bad it got washed with diapers and attached itself often to the velcroe. :S I need a sweater shaver now.

Leg ties and new needles

DD has worn her lovely new soaker a handful of times and I have found the spot where size 8 needles does make a difference. The legs. Those bad beasts are huge! I only notice when shes laying in my lap or something like that where I can see the gap. When she's sitting down her fat little thighs fill out quite nicely. :)

So instead of doing leg ruffles (when I went back to read the pattern on how to do it she warns that it can make the leg openings bigger which I DON'T want) I threaded some yarn through them and have made leg ties. Like cinches. It adds a little shape to the hole (makes it more round and leg like) and adds a bit of cuteness by allowing for the hang off of the tie. I am very pleased with it. AND because I made them a bit big through the legs as she grows I can just cinch/uncinch when need be.

I went and bought a dowel tonight in the right size though and made myself some size 5's. We'll see how much of a difference it really is when I can compare the two side by side. I'm all out of steam though and have no desire to start on another one. :) Although I did email Jenny from Tiny Birds and asked if I am allowed to sell them on eBay or something and she said yes. Glad I asked! Maybe that will be my motivation to get some more made up. It'd be nice to have some extra cash here and there.

When I heard about doing soakers in acrylic everyone said you would need to wash them more. I didn't understand why until tonight. The soaker is still a little damp from the last change but it already has a faint urine smell. Maybe once I wash it and the yarn has a chance to be broken in (I was so excited I didn't bother to wash it after I finished. I just put it on the girl!) it won't be as bad. I don't mind though. It lasts about two days (assuming it stays this way) and I do diaper laundry about every two days. So it all works out. :)

*Cue drum roll and trumpter blasts*

Apparently all I needed to get my ass in gear wass to view some of these fabulous blogs in the blogring. After looking at (more than once) a bunny on one I had to make the same thing. So without a pattern I decided to wing it and make my own. I had the right idea but oh lordy! lordy! did it not turn out the same. :) I was able to finish it up within a few hours. I used some yarn that I think is homespun or that icky baby crap everyone makes. Either way it was perfect. It is so freaking hideous my 11 month old has hidden it a few times already. Needless to say there won't be a picture gracing this blog of that sad little bunny. I have the pattern now and plan on making it the right way.

But that is not the cause of celebration in this post. Oh no. The celebration is for something far better and more glorious.






I mad emy first soaker! I used the Tiny Birds free soaker pattern and I am glad I finally bit the bullet on it. It was freaking easy and fast. My slowness was able to finish it in about a day and a half. I started it in the evening two days ago and finished it this evening. So that techinically puts it at two days but considering my daughter knew I wanted to knit and therefore demanded my undivided attention I need to factor that in. Take her out and I think it was about a day to a day and a half. I am so pleased with it. I knit super tight though and had to undo my cast off and redo it. So I ended up learning how to do a stretchy cast off. I think I'm in love with it now. :) I still need to add the leg cuffs although I am almost tempted to not do them. It is so cute without them (when it's on). When the munchkin is in bed and the soaker is off I shall take a picture of it. Due to some security issues I have had I cannot post pictures of her in it. If you would like to see it on just ask and I can shoot you the link for it (the picture has not been taken yet since there are no ruffles on it. Give me a few hours....or even tomorrow to get it done and then ask :) ).

I am so proud of myself. I can't wait to make more. So the details about it:
I used size 8 dpn's. I use dpn's for everything so that has no bearing on anything. hehehe. The pattern called for size 5's but I don't have any and I knit tight. I measured my final product and it's the same size that she list at the end of the pattern. Yes, I knit TIGHT.
I used some acrylic yarn. I wanted to try it out with something not so spendy as wool. It's holding up great on absorbancy.
I knit it in two days.
I did it in two colors: a dark brick red for the ribbing/waist and a multicolored for the body. The ruffles will also be the red.

So all in all I learned how to do ruffles, stretchy cast off, color change, and I used a pattern. I am so unbelievably proud of myself right now. :):):) I called my sister to brag and have already pulled out my next color combo. Pics to come!

The wheels are churning

I posted last night and got offline with every intention of working on the hat. I didn't. Instead I attempted to read a piece on vaccines and SIDS. I didn't even do that very well. So I headed to bed where my mind went crazy. So I got up, went through my sewing patterns, did some research on LASIK, and thought about our upcoming move. I was wired. During the sorting of patterns I think I came up with what I am doing for my mother in law. She is the sweetest person in the world so her gift is always first on my mind. I just want something spectacular. I have a pattern for some quilt squares, some of which are Amish based. I love Amish quilts. If I could afford it I would so buy a genuine one. As it stands I am poor so I shall resort to attempting to make one. One of the patterns is for a water lily square. I think I am going to make her a quilt. Seeing as her and my father in law have seperate bedrooms I can go all out on the feminine-ness of this without worrying. I also have some very thin lightweight grey wool. I have been dreaming of making it into some simple yet sophisitcated scarf. So I now officially have one person done away with!

Christmas
B- scarf of grey wool and quilt

Have I mentioned I am crazy? Why do I say that? If I were to do individual gifts as opposed to family (which I may have to do on some of these) I would have to complete (in 8 months that is) 43 gifts. That's both of our families and that's ONLY the people I can think of right now without listing anyone down on paper to make sure I am not forgetting anyone. I am thinking of doing something in bulk based off gender. I know, horrible but 43 people, I've got to do something! Maybe all the cooks will get aprons, all the kids will get hats, and everyone else will get something according to what I can group them in. Ugh.

List time!

I just went through and caught up on all the blogs. And I must say...I suck. :)

After reading through and seeing various pictures of glorius projects I found myself feeling envious and depressed. I have completed squat. I have so many OTN type projects and yet I finish nothing. For instance I was working on a dress my DD's birthday next month. I was going good and was doing a texture I had never tried before (little butterflies). I was even getting gutsy and was winging it on pattern. You know what happened last night when I messed up? I frogged it. Gee, who'da thunk it? I am getting freaking irritated with my desire to start and my desire to frog.

So I put DH's hat back on the circs and have been plugging along. I need a list or a series of lists. This will be the first. If I knew how to do html I would plug it into the side bar and make it look all cool like some of you others. Since I don't though I'll just type it out.

DH things
Hat- currently OTN and about 2 inches. I need 7.5
Socks

DD things
Birthday dress
Birthday soaker
extra soakers/longies
hat
socks

ME things
Socks
hat from the new Knitty
blanket from cool funky yarn

So tehre you have it. The first of my lists. I plan on sitting down tomorrow afternoon when the munchkin naps and writing out what I plan on doing for Christmas. I am a slow knitter so if I am doing anything like that I need to get my ass in gear. I am so tired of not completing things. I want to be productive and efficient.

I feel like I am on the verge of something. I am dis-satisfied with my current status quo and need to change it. That includes getting up and moving. I need to get back on track with simple things like cooking and cleaning and making everything else run that needs to be ran. Once those are in order I seem more capable of doing my other stuff...like knitting. Ugh. I need to go to bed. Instead I shall attempt a few rounds of DH's hat.

Big head schmig schmead

Lesson learned: When knitting something such as a hat that you do not measure the recipient for be forewarned. Attempting to fit it over a big head when still on the needles will not always be a good idea.

I pulled the hat off my needles and was about to frog it when I decided to try it on my daughter and then on me. Surprisingly it fit us both...and on her it had ample room. I took it downstairs and slipped it over my husbands large noggin and you knonw what? It fits.

Yes the hat I groaned about fits his head and it fits perfectly! Good thing I didn't frog it. Now I just have to get it back on the needles.

BUT! I'm glad I took it off. I have cast on for my DD's birthday outfit. I am just going to wing it and make a dress as it comes to me. No patterns here! I am trying to decide how to do the top. What I was wanting to do was basically a tube with something up top like ribbing and then the bottom would be plain. The top is a light blue and then the bottom and straps are going to be a light pink. However, I don't want to do the math to figure out any decorative stitching. My basketweave that I considered is in multiples of ten (that's how it's written down). I don't want to figure it out if I cast on something that won't work with that. I don't want to figure out ribbing. Yeah I'm lazzy like that but it's mainly cause I suck at math and DH laughs when I ask something that seems ridiculously hard for me. :)

I have fiddled with this once before but got discouraged pretty quickly. I wonder if I randomly throw in a purl stitch if when the segment is done it looks like polka dots (so to speak). I know when I do a row of purl after and before some rows of knit that it creates a kind of dip within the project. So....I have every reason to believe that by doing a random purl I shall get a random "dip" in my segment. I'm not sure though. I don't want to try it out on this project and then find out it doesn't work. But I also don't want to start a swatch just to test my theory only to find out it may or may not work. I could be using that time doing productive knitting. Anyone know?

Stupid big fat head!!

The hat I am making for DH was going to be a surprise. I tell him often I am going to make him something and then fail to do so. For example he has a pair of jeans he has wanted to me to patch so he can wear them again. I love these jeans on him. They have not been patched. I have been telling him I will get to them for about 6 months now. Yes, I know. I'm a slacker.

So when I started this hat I was excited. I had cast on and gotten a few rounds done. I was haulin' ass and it was looking good. I even managed to figure out adding a new color! Because of my excitement I couldn't contain myself and told him what I was making. He was excited.

Last night as he was closing everything down for the night I wandered upstairs to do a round or two. When he joined me I rearranged everything to have him "try it on".

My cast on's are super stretchy! I am unable to get them to the tightness that I prefer. Probably a good thing I suppose. My knitting however is super tight. Tighter than I would refer sometimes. So as I knit my cast on becomes the tightness that I prefer. My knit is pretty consistent although at times it does get tighter in spots. Nothing major...something to work on though. However, it is a problem with this hat!

The hat does not fit my husband. It does not evenn hint at fitting his huge head. I curse his genetics and told him he has a stupid fat head. I was so excited!! This is not a matter of simply being tight in the rim and adding an increase or two to the body. Oh no. This thing will NOT fit him in any sense of the word. It would have when it was only a cast on though. Wanna know who it will fit?

My 11 month old daughter.

No title today

I figured I should update. :)

I have OTN today a hat for DH. He's not really deserving of a hat right now but I started it on a day that he was so I figure I should finish it. It's just an acrylic one but he picked out this yarn back in December and asked me then to make him a hat. It's now April and time I get to making one. :) It has a dark blue rim on it and the body is out of a mutlicolored yarn. Pretty manly looking if I do say so myself. I'm doing it on the circulars my sister gave me. They happen to be of a size that fits my husband's gigantic head. This is my first hat and my first circular project.I'm not too far into it but am already thinking about how I decrease further up near the top. I do decrease right? I'm not using a pattern so it's a bit confusing right now. I'm pretty sure the patterns I've read call for a decrease (which I can do) but I have a hard time thinking that anything less stitch wise on these needles will be too hard to keep going. Hmmm...I think I need to look up some patterns. But I'm not sure that will even work. The few I can think of right off the bat usually have two sets in different sizes. I only have this one set. Hmmmm.

I am also working on a rug/seat cover. I made myself some gargantuan needles the other night and set to workto see if they would work with my recycled wool. They work wonderfully!!! The yarn was meant for big needles. I say rug/seat cover cause I am just not sure. I love the color combo I am using (the multi and the red I dyed) and would love to make a rug for our kitchen or bathroom since they are essentially our "colors". However, DH received a chair from a friend that has a blanket covering the seat. I hate the blanket, I hate the woman who made the blanket, and DH says it smells like our friend's ass. See my dillemma? I can make something pretty for our house or I can get rid of the offensive blanket and rid my husband's chair of ass. :)

Other than that I have no knitting news. I am thinking of making DD a dress for her birthday next month but I have no idea what to make!!! If you have a free pattern for something cute, easy, and fitting of a one year old girl tell me!!!!!!!!

It's happening!!

In 45 minutes it becomes Monday in the month of March. You know what that means?












IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday dearsophisticatedwonderfullytalentedknitterrrrrr! Happy birthday to me!

:)

Oh the funk!

I am in a knitting funk. Just a knitting one. Not a creative or artistic funk but a knitting one. How do I know it's only knitting related? Last night I made a skirt, sewed two slings, and started patching my husband's pants. I was on fire!!! I picked up my knitting and did a couple rows but nothing worth mentioning. You know what I did?



Yeah. I frogged it. I was almost 50 rows into the bottom section of my purse and I frogged it. It just wasn't working for me. It's the multi-colored ball of yarn that I hand-dyed myself and while I love the coloring and the basketweave I was doing (well kind of....it was more like two rows of knit and two rows of purl so it actually looked like a field with irrigation canals...I wasn't wanting to do a true basketweave) but you know what? It reminded me of Navajo patterns. While I like the concept they do not work for me. I do not like them and they make me cringe. They also make me think of my mother and her third husband. Not good.

So I just restarted it. I found a bag I liked and set off to do it. It's been frogged. This yarn needs to become something glorious as it is a glorious color scheme (at least I think so). See my plan was to make the body out of the multi-colored ball and to do the sides and strap out of the red I also dyed. When I started on the second version I was going to do it the same way but 1.) the pattern I found required less knitting/sewing than my original and 2.) I was going to add a flap to the body in the red. That sounds devine! It just ain't working.

I have also not touched the longies/shorties since casting on. Not true. I have about three rows done. Nothing more. Why is my knitting not speaking to me! I finally have a chance to do something for me (remember I was knitting for diapers) and I have no desire to actually do anything.

I suppose I could start on Christmas stuff but I don't really have anything set in stone for any body and all I have is acrylic and in ugly colors and now I am whining. How'd you like that? I am now whining. Ugh, I say, ugh!

Oh and you know what? K is a peeker/cheater!!! She finally caved, which I knew she would. Gotta give credit where credit is due. It took her longer to look than I thought! She finally came here and scrolled through and read about her project and saw the only picture I have of it so far. She called to confess. When I answered the phone she started with, "Hey there. I have to confess something. I had to do it! I looked at your blog." No beating around the bush there! I knew what it meant. I shrieked, "No you didn't! K you little cheater....so do you like it?" She does! She can't wait to get it. She still doesn't know what it is though. Maybe I should save it til December and call it Christmas to her.

An almost completly non-related to knitting post

Non-related portion: Yesterday was hard on my body. Not as in, "Oh the day was tough" but as in, "Ouch! That freaking hurt!"

Our buddy, T, wanted us to go to lunch and run an errand with him in an attempt to keep us from moving. We ran the errand first. He needed to return something to Best Buy so off we went. I sat in the back seat with S and when we got there, pulled her out of her car seat, got out of the car, and got her in the sling. Here comes the ouch part. I somehow managed to shut my thigh in the car door as I slammed it shut. Yeah. "Hello. My name is C and at 20 years old I don't know how to shut a car door." "Hello C!!!" I think it is already starting to bruise. The spot hurts pretty bad. I just don't know how I managed to shut that portion of my leg in a door!

Part 2 of the ouch. We went and saw a movie last night with T and his two stepsons. Because we had S with us (obviously) there wasn't enough room in the car for three adults, two teenagers, and a baby in a carseat. DH drove me home first then ran back and got the guys. Once tehy got back DH went over to T's to do some design work with him. I finished up what I was doing here and headed over to T's house. S was still asleep in the sling so I was going a werid kind of slow so as not to wake her up. I locked the door and headed on my way. I fell. I fell off the curb and as I fell backwards I tripped ove rthe curb AGAIN. I twisted my ankle and I think I hit S's head. I can't be sure though. It all happened so fast. I think my arm was under her enough and high enough up that she managed to not get hurt but she was upset. She had a weird night in regards to sleeping. That's what makes me think I hit her head or maybe jerked it and gave her whiplash or something. She'd wake up every now and then and scream out and cry like she was in pain. :( I am getting afraid to use my sling. This is the second time I have fallen. Granted neither time was S hurt but it's scary. Onthe flip side though had she not been in the sling when I fell last night she would have fallen and smacked her head and body onto the concrete. Thank god that didn't happen! My ankle is now the size of a golf ball and hurts like you would not believe! I woke up in pain last night just from rolling over. I know I should stay off it and elevate it but come on! Is that really feasible? I think not!

Knitting related part: I have figured out what I will be knitting for charity. I will do some burial buntings/gowns for the hospital (especially preemie sized ones), scarves and hats for the homeless, and something for the abused kids home in the state we are moving to. So that's all my knitting news for now. Off to feed the munchkin!

Charity Knitting

OMG! Why did I not think about this before?!

I just read a thread on Mothering for charity knitting. So I clicked a link, clicked another link and read some things for my state. Why am I not using the entire tupperware box full of acrylic yarn for things like scarves??!! I currently have one thing OTN and I'm being slow on that so it's not like I am swamped down with personal items! I think I need to get my but in gear and write up a list and find some things to knit and do it. What a great way to get practice, try out new techiniques, and most importantly help someone. Ever see Pay It Forward?

I'm thinking I really should do something like this. I recently just posted on Mothering about the crappy quality of items donated to food box places. We had to go yesterday and it was bad. Food is out of date (food that is iffy a.k.a. dairy and meats) and just icky. We made something yesterday that had bugs big enough to see without lifting the pot off the stove. :( Needless to say I was feeling icky for being poor. :) I posted a slight vent about it and forgot about it.

This morning I open up my homepage (which is set to Mothering) and I see I have a PM. I open it up and it's vauge and odd sounding. The person wants to know if I have paypal cause they got a big tip today. My first thought? Porn spam. I write back anyways cause I am curious. The lady wrote me back and apologized and clarified. She had seen my whine/rant and had wanted to send me some paypal. She had received a big tip at work today and since they don't need it (her words!) she wanted to pass it and some good karma onto me and my family. I was shocked and so overwhelmed with this strangers generousity. I let her know my paypal and went about doing some stuff. I went and checked and you know what she sends me? 55 dollars!!!!!!!! Yes, folks, a complete stranger sent me $55 because she didn't need the money herself. It's people like her that really make the world go 'round. :) (If you are reading this THANK YOU yet again!!!)

Pay It Forward is definitely a concept we do in my household and I think Charity Knitting is something that needs to be done in this instance.