Tag Archives: Knitting

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Hats Are Done!

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harlot-hats.jpg

It’s sure hard to take a good picture when you’re holding a baby in one arm. Anyway the pattern is Yarn Harlot’s Unoriginal Hat  .  I worked it up on size 8 US dpn’s (had to go down a few needle sizes so they’d fit their little heads) and the yarn is Blue Moon Fibers’ Leticia in colorways Scottish Highlands (Neve, on left) and Downpour (Emily, on right).  I wish the colors had come out better here.  I’m going to have to start breakin’ out the photo lamps.  It’d also help to have 2 hands!

Anyway the hats fit them really well and are very warm.  While I was knitting them I was thinking how I’d like to knit up a cabled throw blanket out of it.  I still may – maybe just one or two squares at a time – in different colors, like a patchwork quilt.  That would be fun actually……………..now the gears are turning!

We got ice last night so schools are closed today.  It’s nice to have Emily around to help out with the baby a bit but she and Neve tend to fight a lot so…..it’s a trade- off.    Maddie will be over later to spend the night so I’ll have more help – the girls tend to behave better when she’s around (she might not believe that!) so it makes my life easier.  With Mads around I should be able to get some cleaning done as well, and maybe make a big batch of spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.  If only she never had to go to school………..

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All the Yarny Goodness

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I finally picked up the sweater I had cast on for Emily a few months ago. I only had about an inch done, but I’ve been working on it in the evenings so it’s starting to come along a bit. It’s rather boring right now since it’s just row after row of stockinette in chocolate brown. I’m working as fast as I can so I can get to the fun part – a mock fair isle band in pink and cream. But for now, mindless and boring. Plus I really don’t care for circular needles – I’d much rather use dpn’s. Next time I think I will. At least it’s working up rather fast. I’m a lot further along now than I was when I took this picture:

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I’m using Plymouth’s Galway wool and the pattern is the Drive-thru sweater from Wendy over at Knit & Tonic. I’ve got more to make one for Neve as well. The good news is that if I don’t finish in time for it to fit either of them, there’s still Oona. One always must be thinking of these things when embarking on a project!

Notice the ginormous Starbucks cup? It’s pretty much my constant companion these days. The good news is I have started Oona on rice cereal so I am hoping that will translate to longer periods of sleeping at night! This week has been pretty decent – she’s been falling asleep around 9 pm and sleeping until about 3 before wanting to nurse. So I’ve been using my evenings to knit (as much as I can while holding her) and catching up on some tv. I recorded about 8 hours worth of Dirty Jobs last week in case my satellite went out again (it didn’t….yay!) and I was also happy to see a new show on Discovery (I’m a Discovery junkie) called Some Assembly Required. One of the hosts is Lou Bloomfield, my old college physics professor. So I’ve been having fun watching him on tv, doing basically the same things he did in class. I’m also impatiently waiting for new Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers. These shows were the staples of my couch – bound pregnancy. I can’t help but think of Alaskan crab when I look at my newly finished socks (the first was was mostly worked on during a Deadliest Catch marathon, with my feet up and the sock propped on my huge uncomfortable belly).

But now those socks are done, evening tv is fun, and I have a pile of new projects to look forward to. See what came today?

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Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee………….

There’s Blue Moon Fiber Arts Leticia for hats, some Socks That Rock, a toddler sock kit from KnitWhit and some Rowan Big Wool Fusion for a Kitty Pi bed. It’s gonna be great.

Drools…………

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The Random Odds & Bits

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Well it’s a total understatement, but being a mom is hard work.  We are so underpaid.  I’ve been keeping lists for quite some time now, since my memory for things I need to accomplish tends to be rather inexact (or non – existent, depending on who you talk to).  I have lists to remind me what paintings I have planned, lists to remind me what projects were planned for which yarn, what meals I planned to make for the week….you get the idea.  So yesterday morning I made a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish for the day (dishes, vacuum, take down the xmas lights…..).

Reality hit about 6 pm yesterday when despite my best efforts (and no napping on my part) my accomplishments were roughly that half the dishwasher had been emptied and I’d wiped the dust off the tv screen.  So maybe my to – do list will be for the week.  Seriously.  I tried, I really did.  But I’ll tell you it’s hard to do anything when you’ve got a 5 month old who wants to eat every 2 hours and won’t nap if you’re not holding her, but is very cranky if she doesn’t  nap and is also not happy unless you’re interacting with her.  And then there’s the demanding 4 year old.  I swear she is this close to running around feral, wearing her pj’s all day and foraging for goldfish crackers.

On the plus side I have perfected the ability to wind a ball of yarn from a hank while holding a sleepy baby in my lap.  I’d like to call that quite an accomplishment!!!

Speaking of knitting, while waiting for my groceries (we buy our food online, then drive out to the store and they bring ’em out and load ’em in the car – great when it’s just you and a small army of little kids) there was a very elderly lady in the car next to us, with her little poodle sitting in between the front seats.  He was pretty cute, but what I noticed was she was knitting!  And while the rest of my family made baby talk about her cute pooch, I was sorely tempted to knock on her window and be like “So……whatcha workin’ on?”

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Car Parts at Midnight

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You know, I was kind of incredulous last night when, after driving all the way home from Charlotte and getting in around midnight that the first thing Paul wanted to do was open up the boxes of car parts that came in the mail while he was away this week.  I was even kind of annoyed.  But then I took a mental step back and though to myself, what if that were yarn?  Would I blame him at all?  No, no I would not.

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I was going to finish those socks, but……

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I was hoping I’d be done with my latest pair of socks so I could post pictures, but sadly I have not yet begun the toe on the 2nd sock. But I have a good excuse. And she is very cute.

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That’s Oona. She’s almost 5 months old. My other girls tend to be a handful as well, but the baby is the one that really cuts into my “free” time. But she’s too happy and snuggly for me to mind. Lately she’s been “making eyes” at me a lot, and I love it. I just wish I could get more “me” time in. Whenever she naps I try to sneak in a few rows of knitting – which let me tell you, isn’t so easy when you’ve got the baby asleep on your chest and you’re working with 5 tiny size 2 double pointed needles. On the rare occasion that I get to put her down while she naps (usually she wakes up) it seems that the universe decides it’s time to mess with me. The UPS guy comes and rings the doorbell. The dog goes apes**t and barks like mad at the burn pile from the new house project across the street (I don’t get it either). Telemarketers begin calling every few minutes. Neve screams from the bathroom that she peed herself, and then slams the door on her way out, stomping up the stairs to change. The cat jumps at the window, trying to get at the birds in the feeder outside and then gets stuck (it happens more than you’d think). Actually, now that I think about it, it’s mostly my animals that do the damage. The dog especially. She loves to shake and jingle the tags on her collar right next to the cradle. And she barks with special relish at the 8 billion deer that always seem to show up in my yard during the mid – day nap.

Today I avoided it by taking the little kids to the Children’s Museum. It was fun and crazy as always and I got home and cleaned up a bit and helped Emily do her “make it snow” rituals (running around in the grass wearing your pj’s inside out, putting spoons under our pillows) and then made spaghetti and meatballs (yes, from scratch. I’m clearly a glutton for punishment). Anyway it was a decent day so it’s not so bad that I haven’t worked on my socks at all. But I am very close. watercolor-socks.jpg

See? They’re the Jaywalkers pattern by Grumperina. I did them in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Watercolor. I can’t wait – they’re the first pair I’ve made for myself. I generally prefer to knit for my little ones and other people, and let’s face it, baby sized items are way more fun to knit than adult sized. In fact, when these are done I’ll be casting on for more baby socks, since Oona’ s outgrown the ones she has, and I should probably work on the sweaters I’ve got in progress for the other girls. You know, before it’s 90 degrees outside and they’ve outgrown them.