Just Sit Back & Knit

Don't Call it a Comeback

I love L.L. Cool J.  I can't help it, I really can't.

So, I'm back, again.  I have tried posting a few times lately, but get so upset with my computer and slow uploads of pictures, I have walked away cussing each time.

I have decided to keep it short and sweet, and make a commitment:  to post at least once a week, even if it's too short. 

Barb, I love your meme (which I plan to steal) and your randoms thoughts, which I paln to copy!!!

I do have injuries that prevent or at least really slow down my knitting!!!
******WARNING******** the following picture is graphic and gross:

   
these injuries are well on the way to healing.  I was walking down the drive-way just over a week ago holding Fletch (We were going down to "see what the worker guys did to our street") when I slipped and fell forward taking all the weight and momentum on my left (thank-you, thank-you, thank-you) hand.  It was nasty and hurt worse than childbirth (I kid you not).  Fletch started crying right away, but once he saw my hand and my face he stopped.  He was so sweet and helpfull.  I stayed on my back on the driveway for at least five minutes.  Then slowly made my way up the stairs, across the porch and inside to my living room floor, taking breaks to muffle shouts and wimpers.  Fletch got the phone for me and I called my sister who left work to clean my hand, pick out the pebbles and bandage me up.  The whole time I was unbelievably whimpy.  I'm not sure how she put up with it.  She did though, patiently and sweetly - that's what sisters do.

I'm back to knitting now, still just a bit slowed down. 
Fletch is asleep, Jim is out. 
Tonight it's just me, the t.v., my knitting and Turkey day leftovers. 
I was so excited, then I did this:

burned my yarn-tension fingers while heating up my dinner!!!!!!
This may be the night I look into continental knitting.

random thoughts and pictures:
Thanks to my MIL for being here this weekend.  Having her around to knit with inspired me to get back to work on Fletcher's airplane sweater, and past my problem of getting my in-the-round sleeves joined and not looking TOO sloppy for words:
  I still don't love this sweater, but, I still want to finish it.  I want to get my first sweater behind me and I do love the airplane and FLY above it.

Kathy gave me some beautiful yarn and a pattern from her stash.  I will start it soon - a new SKP!  I will make it for myself!  This is really very exciting because I never want to spend my yarn money on things for me, I always want to get things to make for others first, thank-you Kathy.

Just before I burned my fingers I finished a scarf for
my little (who is taller than me by lots) brother Matt. 
 
This scarf was modeled  after a scarf my Stepmom, MaryLee, bought from a friend. 
Matt picked the colors and I got to work.  Again I wasn't crazy about it as I was
working on it - I'm not real fond of the super bulky yarn. 
Once I started sewing on the pockets I fell in love. 
I think it will look awsome on Matt and hope he likes it as much as I do.
I'll post a picture of him wearing it soon.

I just have to mention how disapointed  I was in the movie The Davinci Code.
I loved the book and hated the movie. 

I think Fletcher is an amazing person.  He makes me laugh all the time with his quirky humor.
During conversations - i love conversations with my three-almost-four-year-old-  I am ofter struck dumb by the complexity of his thinking process. 
I'm not trying to say I think he extra-ordinary in comparrison to other children.  I mean he is extra-ordinary to me, but I just think children are amazing and he constantly reinforces that knowledge. 
It's truly exciting. 

And so, here are a few recent pictures of him:
These are from our two most recent outings
with our home-schooling group.

building a shelter:

trying out the shelter:

face-painting with rocks (this is from the week after halloween, he
was a SCARY GREEN VAMPIRE BAT and wears the costume at
least once a week):

inside a replica of an early native-american dwelling:

I think I am done for tonight.  I am excited I took the time to contribute, and want to say thanks to you Barb for starting this blog and inspiring me each time I read your entries.

One last image:

This is what is left of our Thanksgiving pies and goodies I must, and will throw out first thing tommorow morning in order to stop eating them!!!  I made the pumkin pies from scratch this year, it's the second time I've done it.  There were very good, and I must say I make a mean crust.  However, when I bit into my dad's apple pie, I realized I've still got alot to learn about crust-making.  Nothing beats my dad's pies.

Good Morning...

It's Saturday morning at about nine o'clock. I've been up for about a half and hour; Jason is still sleeping. I slept funny and my right arm is a little numb which makes sock-knitting difficult. Remember my "Unfinished Business" list of my last post? Yes, well. It hasn't changed a whole lot except that I only have ends left to weave in to complete the HEAVY project and the sock I was going to hide from myself has grown. Just a few more inches and I'll be short-rowing the heel.

And for some more unfinished business...I'm finally posting the pictures from our trip to Ragged Point

Ragged Point:

Me on the balcony:

Elephant Seals:

And because I'm sad I missed "Flash Your Stash Day" on April 1st, here is a partial flash from a few weeks ago when I decided (once again) to organize...

Here's what needed to be organized:

And here it is at the beginning of my attempt at organization:

I forgot to take pictures later (how exciting those would have been, right?) but reading Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's books has put the fear of moths into me so I put all of my wool in ziplock bags.

And Ted, in his knitted bracelet:

And finally, Nala, because the poor cat is always left out:

What day is it?

Poor Fletcher! I hope he is feeling much better today (maybe the band-aid trick worked?)
I feel completely off-kilter this week, probably due to the Monday holiday. My brain knows it's Thursday but my body feels weighted down and stuck in Wednesday, which is weird because I like Thursdays way more than Wednesdays! The good news is that FrankenHand looks a little less menacing these days. Jason took my stitches out for me on Tuesday night. Just as he was about to start I said, "Get your digital camera so I can blog about this." Yes, I'm a crazy blogger-knitter with a FrankenHand to boot.
So, here you go:

And more good news, despite the fact that my physical body is a day behind, I've managed to finish and even take pictures of a few projects.
The giant slippers, flaws and all, are currently air drying. Here are some before felting pictures:

and post felting:


The green washcloth I started for Christi is done, as are the booties I wanted to make her. Pictured here are the washcloth and two of the THREE booties I made (yeah, don't ask):


And I just can't resist saying that I think those are the cutest baby booties I've ever seen (even if they are clearly purple and not a rose/mauve color like I previously reported). Nala seems to like them too:

I Heart Terrence Dashon Howard

Have you guys seen Hustle & Flow? Jason & I just watched it and I really, really want Terrence Howard to win the Oscar. Isn't he handsome?

I completely understand the "knitting agony"! Even though I'm not making stuff to sell and even though when I'm doing something else I want to just sit back & knit I sometimes sit down with my knitting and think, "Oh, I have to work on this?!?" It's been like that a little with Jason's slippers, especially because I keep messing up! I've already posted about my Funky Lumpy Toe problem, and fortunately, I didn't repeat that mistake on the second slipper. I did, however, manage to get lost at some point between the middle of the slipper and the cuff and had to fudge a few rows to get back on track. But Jason says he doesn't care as long as they fit and are warm. So, I'll just keep my fingers crossed and watch closely as I felt them to make sure they don't become Ted-sized slippers.

I've done a little more work on my secret knitting project and here's another hint--I have seven balls of Noro Silk Garden for this baby. I've used two already and just started on the third. Hmmm...Lots of yarn...

On a completely unrelated topic, it's freaking cold outside! 56 degrees according to the sign in front of Hallmark. When it first started getting so warm a few weeks ago, I was complaining about it, but now I'm used to it! I was feeling spring if you know what I mean.

Okay, that's all for now. FrankenHand hopes you all had a good Valentines Day!

I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again, You're Never Gonna Keep Me Down

Don't blame me, I didn't start the song-lyrics-as-post-title trend. I'm knitting again! Really. FrankenHand's ten stitches be damned! I just couldn't sit around all weekend without touching yarn. So I started out winding the Cascade 220 I bought for Jason's slippers into balls. I hate winding yarn balls but a little birdie we shall call FletchersMama told me that Knitting Help has a video(scroll down near the bottom of the page) on how to wind a center pull ball. So I had to try it. I wound three balls (pictured below) and they work great. They're even easier to wind that regular balls, in my opinion. Less strenuous, if ball winding can be considered strenuous. And they work for double strand patterns, pulling from the outside and the inside at the same time. And, they're cute. They kind of look like a boob (nipple and all) before you start using them.
So, my first knitting task upon my return was finishing my poncho. If you remember, I had to finish the garter stitch collar and sew up the left side seam. I am actually getting better with this seaming stuff. Oh, don't get me wrong--they're still noticeably bumpy, but a definite improvement for me. Plus I'm using these cool Clover Jumbo Tapestry Needles I picked up at Beverly's:


The bent, blunt tip works really well. So, I finished the poncho and had Jason take this picture (check out Ted, what a cutie):


But, as I mentioned in a previous post, this poncho was COVERED with junk--dog hair, cat hair, little feathers, pill-balls from other yarn, some of my own hair knitted right in. So I used a masking tape roller thingy and tried to get as much of the crap off as possible before tossing it in the washing machine on the "Handwash-Extra Slow" cycle. When I pulled it out I noticed a few things:

1 - washing made the acrylic yarn shinier and less soft than it was while I was working with it.
2 - I had dropped a stitch in the front of the collar without noticing it:


I left it spread out on the table overnight to dry and tackled the problem this morning. Having no idea what one is supposed to do in such a situation (and a perusal of the knitting books I had on hand didn't help) I used a crochet hook to pick the stitch up just as I would if I hadn't already bound off. When I got the hole filled in, I pulled the remaining stitch to the underside of the collar, and using FrankenHand as inspiration, literally stitched (with needle and thread) the extra stitch to the underside of the fabric. It worked, but we'll see how it holds up:


As the poncho was still a little damp, and the yarn can be dried, I tumble dried it on low for about ten minutes. To make an already long, boring story longer, I then discovered another dropped stitch, this time in the garter stitch hem. I fixed it as before and wha-la! I've got a poncho:


(trust me, this picture is A LOT better with my head cut off!)

What you can't see in the picture is the fact that the poncho is too big and the collar doesn't lay flat. Also, when the seams are falling down my shoulders (as they're supposed to) their bumpy nature is prominently displayed for the world to see. And the fabric has that kind of fuzzy, worn look that probably comes from being in the dryer. Jason said his mother would love it, we should send it to her for Valentine's Day. I told him that if he really wanted to give her a poncho I would make her one. Then he admitted that no, he just doesn't want me to have this one. Thanks! It's warm though, I'm wearing it now (have to get some use out of the damn thing, since I've been working on it (off and on) since SEPTEMBER!) (Gosh, using all those parentheses really made me feel better!).

Anyway, last night after Fuzzy Poncho was set out to dry, I started work on Jason's Fiber Trends Slipper Clogs. I had read the pattern through prior to starting and was thoroughly confused. But, never one to let a little confusion get in the way of yarn between my fingers, I jumped right in. And everything I read about this pattern on the internet has, so far, turned out to be true. They really are easy and quick. Check it out, even with FrankenHand making me go slowly, and having to rip back a few rows a few times because I wasn't paying attention, I got this far on one clog during on Law & Order SVU episode and the Bad News Bears movie.




Yes, that is Jason's foot, and yes that is one HUGE slipper, but never fear! Felting is near! (Uh-oh, I'm rhyming, I should have stopped while I was ahead. (Wait, was I ever ahead?))

But, sorry folks, I'm not done! Yesterday Jason bought me an copy of the latest O magazine and inspiration struck, yet again. Every issue has



So here is the B List version of the O List:
Fuzz Buster: Looks like a must have for the felter!

(Piripicchio $36.00)

And, I just love these. They look like Fiestaware to me (but they aren't):


Finally, I've had this and it is good. They sell it at World Market:

Yippee!

We're all here!  I'm so glad, it was getting a little lonely!  Sara, I love JSB'n and Jesse...ellipses....  And I agree, the right punctuation can definately make it feel like conversation.  I usually shy away from parentheses (because only Stephen King (in my opinion) excels at using them (and if you're not Stephen King (which I definately am not)why bother) in normal writing (essays, fiction), but here I love them (see? are you all admiring my great use of parentheses?)

No knitting is getting done here, of course. But guess what? Last night Jason said (and not for the first time (whoofty! look at me go with those parentheses!)) he wants me to teach him how to knit! Won't be for awhile though, of course, because of FrankenHand:


FrankenHand is doing well, according to my mom. Here she is putting FrankenHand to bed (look at the speed and skill!):


(Note to self: stop with the bad cellphone pictures and even worse captions!)

Sorry, I'm Doing the Bad Picture Thing Again

It took me fifteen minutes to wind this little, loose yarn ball:

I'm A Big Baby & More Bad Cellphone Pictures

My hand hurts. My arm above it hurts too because of the tetanus (that is one ugly word!) shot I had to get because of the mean and evil glass that attacked the poor index finger of my dominant hand. So, I took sick time from work and came home.

Now I'm at home watching Judging Amy (hey, it's not my fault it's on the Law & Order Rerun channel at noon everyday!) and taking more bad pictures with my cellphone. Pictures of all the knitting I can't work on right now.

Poncho--almost finished! Just three more inches of collar to knit & one side to seam up! Poor poncho, it's feeling neglected...

Warning! Secret Knitting Project Spoiler! Can you identify it?

Stash (mine, not my husbands)

from top center & clockwise around:
A bunch of Cascade 220 for Fiber Trends Felt Clogs
Noro Kureyon #164 & partial hat to be frogged
Noro Silk Garden #228 left over from making the Stitch 'N Bitch Chinese Charm Bag for my sister-in-law
Mess of frogged Noro Silk Garden #203 from first attempt at making Chinese Charm Bag
A bunch of Araucania Nature Wool Chunky left over from various projects
GGH Aspen in teal & hat to be frogged
Noro Aurora #5 that was so strange and pretty I just had to buy it.
And in the middle are two balls of Rio De Plata handpainted wool that cost me so much that nothing seems good enough to make out of it.

And finally, Ted, on his brand new, king-sized dog bed:

I CAN'T KNIT!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I physically can't knit. Doing dishes can be dangerous! You might be innocently washing a glass only to have said glass crumble in your hand. And I mean in(to) your hand and require something like ten stitches! So be careful and don't say you weren't warned!

Please excuse the picture quality but we still don't have the camera-computer cord and I have finally found a use for my cellphone's camera.

My poor hand, all bandaged up:

you can't see them, but they're there:

really bad close-up:

even Ted feels sorry for me:

As a result of this injury I have discovered that I am REALLY right-handed. Not the least bit ambidextrous. And you know that whole opposable thumb thing everyone makes such a big deal about? You NEED an index finger capable of opposing that thumb!