Just Sit Back & Knit

A Happy Halloween and A Finished Object on a Tired Dog

I know you've all missed pictures of Ted-the-wonder-dog, so, here he is, in all of his Halloween glory!

Doggie Dinosaur: pattern from Paton's Another Dog's Life greatly modified to suit my purposes (a dog larger than the pattern's XL size) and time constraints and interest in knitting spikes. Once I finished the sweater portion my husband and I both agreed that something was lacking, so I made the single-horn headband to complete the outfit. And I must say, knitting headbands for dogs is the way to go. If, that is, you are into putting headbands on your dog, as I obviously am (although only on special occasions). Ted has always done whatever he could to get things off of his head (his festive reindeer antlers at Christmas time, say). But this year, a content dog. Even slept with the headband on.

Yes, the sad truth is, I do dress my dog up for Halloween. Last year he was Minnie Mouse. In a costume I made from a white Fruit-of-the-Loom t-shirt and some red & white polka dot material. Good thing I'm having a baby...looks like I need one. Then I can make costumes for actual children. Like these costumes:

Olivia the Witch, costume made by her mom (my sister) Jesse:

and Fletcher the Green Bat, costume made by his mom (my cousin) Sara (aka Fletchersmama):

Halloween was a good night (after a rocky start due to the fact that I have strange eating habits and couldn't eat my dinner). My husband and I like to stay home and hand out candy--Ted comes to the door with us each time and the kids get a kick out of him being all dressed up. And he's the sweetest dog so he lets them pet him (while trying to stick his nose in their candy bags) and he wags his tale and follows them to the gate. Often times parents are waiting at the end of the driveway, and Jason and I get to hear things like, "Did you see their dog? He was dressed up like a dinosaur! It was sooooo cute!" We get such a kick out of it.

Jesse, Olivia, Sara, Fletcher, Seth (Sara's brother) and his wife, Amber, and their three kids, Luke, Bailey and Bella, all went trick-o-treating together and made our house the final stop. They straggled in in small, frozen groups so Jason and I got to visit with everyone for awhile. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, partly because I thought the lighting was too bad for them to turn out. I had the kids check their bags for candy corn, but, once again, no one hands out candy corn anymore! I love that stuff. Yeah, it's got a slightly waxy after-taste, but man, that's what makes it so good! Where is the candy corn? I miss the candy corn!

Let's Try This Again

Okay, this time I have a better excuse for my long absence. Just a day after my last post I got a new job that keeps me away from home in front of a different computer for forty hours a week. On top of that, we are down to one computer with an internet connection here at home and I let my husband play online poker to his heart's content while I knit rather than post.

So, seeing as today was a holiday for me but not my husband, and I had all day to do what ever I wanted, I promised Fletchersmama I would post. And here it is, time to make dinner, and I am just starting. So this might be quick and have a lot more photos than text...

First of all, I hate my face in pictures, especially when I smile, because it looks so round and my skin is such a yucky color. But, since I have this wonderful little one inside me I thought I would start with my five month picture...

Let me just say that I took these pictures quickly and they are no works of art!

Baby Blankets

Moving right along (and keeping those of you who want to see only pictures of handknits in suspense), I made a flannel receiving blanket. It was very easy--I used the green color for the back and the purple for the front and added the green stripes on the front for fun.

The knitted baby blanket I began back in June has only grown a couple of inches and waits patiently in the bottom of my knitting basket for attention. I've been working on so many other projects, and it is still warm here, that I'm going to let it go until the winter comes and I can snuggle under the growning blanket as I work on it.

Finally, we have the best baby blanket ever. When I was a year old my grandma made me a blanket and matching pillow that I have always called my "Blue Blankie" and "Blue Pillow." After nearly thirty years, and lots of love, the blankie and pillow were hurting. So far I have fixed the blanket. I took it completely apart and backed each piece with an off-white flannel sheet. I added two layers of new cotton batting and made a binding out of the flannel. There were several holes in the blanket and rather than try to hide them, I cut them into shapes and folded the edges under so the flannel was exposed and zigzag stitched around the opening. I turned the biggest hole into a heart and embroidered "Blue Blankie Grandma Evelyn - 1977 Mom - 2006" inside of it.

Knits

I made a hat out of Noro Iroha to match the Child's Placket Necked Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts I knit when I first found out I was pregnant. Here are a few of the knitted objects I've completed during the summer...
I don't know that the hat and sweater will fit the same
child at the same time...but oh well. The ear flaps and ties are knit in seed stitch to match the edging on the sweater. I then did the fancy spiral decrease thing but added a purl just before each decrease to highlight the pattern. I think it goes well with the seed stitch, too. And thanks to Nala, our kitty, who helped me by modeling the hat for the picture...but then he didn't want to let it go!

I also made another sweater, this one a slightly modified version of the the same pattern I used before. The new sweater is made from Noro Silk Garden and has nearly matching arms (I knit three arms and used the best two), snaps instead of buttons and a ribbed edge instead of the seed stitch edge. This pattern is so quick and easy!

And since it is now several hours after dinner and these pictures take so long to load, I am going to leave you with this final picture. It goes with the baby & Noro theme I've got going here, and I'll save the rest of my knitting for another post. Oh, and another matching set that I'm not sure will fit the same child at the same time....Noro Kureyon for those of you who want to know...

I Survived the Yarn Store

So I made it in and out of the yarn store the other day with less than was on my list! I'm so proud of myself because after spending a ridiculous amount of money on a new nightstand last weekend and paying an Emergency Physicians Bill (remember my original injury that resulted in the inability to knit? Well did you know that when you go to the ER with what is considered pretty good health care they take $468 dollars from you (because "That's all we're allowed to charge you here, but it'll be more.") Then they send you another bill that you pay and a month later you get another bill that says "THIS IS NOT PART OF YOUR HOSPITAL BILL. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PAY THIS BILL." at the top and you see that it's from The ER Physicians League (or somesuch name) and they also get to charge you a huge amount of money and you feel like you bled not just the sweet red life supporting stuff but also the sour green necessity of life stuff too. And you think it is no [email protected]#$ wonder that nearly half of all bankruptcies in this country are the result of "illness or medical bills." Hmm, makes you think. Canada, anyone?)

So anyway, I managed to touch and gaze longingly at many items in that yarn store but left with only the following items: one magnetic snap (original reason for the yarn store trip), US #3 32" Addi Turbos, and one skein of the wonderful, soft, beautiful Noro Cash Iroha #8.

And apparently Nala only pretends to not like getting his picture taken (either that or he thinks yarn needs protection--from me!). Whatever the reason, here he is. So pretty.

Do you all sniff yarn? I do. I'm not a compulsive yarn sniffer--I don't do it in the store before I buy it or anything. I don't even sniff all of the yarn I buy. But some yarn is worth sniffing--Noro Cash Iroha for instance. This is good smelling yarn. Try it. Take a whiff of Noro next time you have the chance. Nice, huh?

And, oh boy, the new Addi Turbos are sure speeding up the sock knitting progress. I've barely had any time to work on them since buying the Addis but look, progress! And notice, huge foot!

New Projects

I'm still working on the socks I gave Jason for his birthday...but, as I have other family birthdays to worry about (one today & one tomorrow) I've moved on temporarily to some new projects (I love new projects--so full of hope and promise! And then, well, and then they become real. And you get messy joins.)

WATER! Bottle cover:
My father-in-law/boss doesn't drink nearly as much water as he should and, seeing as it is his birthday tomorrow, I got him a water bottle and knitted a cover for it. I used the Knitting In Binary article at Red Shirt Knitting to design it. I swatched first and for fun my swatch says LOVE in binary. The bottle cover says "WATER!" in binary. I wanted to use "DRINK WATER!" but that would have been too long. Since he has been walking to work sometimes I added a handy belt loop. I may add some elastic inside the top because it is a little loose up there. Also, I didn't do so good with carrying the unused color up the inside as you can see from the messy joins at the beginning/end of each round. Also, it may not actually say "WATER!" I might have messed up a little. But I can still believe...

Cable Purse:
The other new project is a purse of my own design -- with cables! I made my dad a golf club cover with a cable on it about seven years ago -- my only cable project to date -- and you know? it's just as I remembered it -- a lot easier than it looks (at least with the simple patterns I've worked).
I have three balls of Knit Picks Main Line in Cocoa (and several partial balls in various other colors) left over from another project and so I swatched with my least favorite of the colors -- a kind of rosey pink color. I made myself a cute little chart to work from but even so I kind of messed up a little bit at the beginning of the cable braid. That's okay though, since I decided not to use it after all. I'm just using the simple cable pattern (on the leftin the photo) alternated with two repeats of a knit three, purl 2 rib. The purse should end up nine inches wide and ten inches tall.

I want to line it with a teal satiny material (left over from another purse). I hope to include a zipper pocket on the inside and have a snap closure on the purse itself. I'm not sure yet about the handle. I'm thinking of knitting a single two to three inch wide tube just long enough so it can be slipped over the shoulder. However, I think I'll need to stick something inside it (a strip of leather maybe?) to give it shape (flat and wide) and substance.

As you can see from the picture (or maybe you can't see from the picture so I'll tell you) I'm about half-way done with knitting the body of this purse. It scrunches up horizontally on the needles so it looks a lot narrower than it will be later. My hope is that once it is finished the teal lining will show through just a little bit between the stitches. I think that will be pretty--and even if the lining doesn't show through I think it will be a nice contrast to have dark brown purse with a teal lining. Kind of like a little surprise inside, right? Maybe. Maybe the yarn has just gone to my brain (again). I'm also trying to think of some added embellishment for the outside of the purse so it isn't just brown. I think I'll have to wait until I see the whole thing put together before I can decide.

***

And just in case you all think Ted does nothing but sleep all day...proof that he can move around! Jason & I took him to the beach last weekend. It was a lot of fun and I found two whole sand dollars! What a day.

How Many Stitches in A Sock?

Sara's comment on my Nail Biter post reminded me that I forgot to ever finish this post (started days ago)...

First off, let me just update and say I received a sample assignment from the guy at the publishing company. Once I complete it we fill out some paperwork and I can say that I'm a freelance writer (if I do well I assume...so a little more nail biting is in order). Don't worry, I won't quit my day job just yet, though.

In knitting news...
There isn't much.

I gave Jason his partial sock on his birthday:

He seemed more excited about his hand-held vacuum though:

Desperate to start the next sock I moved the live stitches of the first one to a piece of yarn and had Jason try it on. He says he wants it three inches longer!

So I started the other sock and have completed about half of the foot. I don't know if it's the Cascade Fixation on wooden needles or what, but these suckers are taking a long time. A lot of sitches go into a sock. I'm so ready to be done with them so I can move onto other projects.

So that's my post...I'm wasting a perfectly good sock knitting Friday night...

I'll leave you with this...Ted and Nala sharing Ted's breakfast:

So little to do, so much time... Reverse That!

I have been waiting for the right time to sit down and contribute to our blog.  There is no right time!  Every time I sit down, my little monkey boy starts climbing all over me and the chair!!!!!!  Now I have so much to talk about I will have to break it up to get it all said.

We've have a busy few weeks.  Easter was lots of fun up in Bellingham, Washington.  We had a great visit with Grandpa Bob, Grandma Melinda, Aunt Katie, Uncle Josh and Janie, we missed Uncle Bobby who is in Europe and on Easter went to the Vatican to see the Pope!:

Grandp, Fletch, Grandma and Janie

Big brother and Little Sister
              Jim and Katie

Josh and Janie

All the kids (big and little)
     playing at the park
Fletch, Janie, Josh and Jim

Grandma Melinda took Fletch and I on a shopping spree, which included the local yarn store and toy store!  She and Katie are both starting to knit and though they claim to be begginers, they move alot faster than I did at the begginning! 

The bunny slippers were a hit with all, and I really enjoyed making them.  The pattern was easy and quick, a favorite type for me:
   
I need to add some suede to Fletcher's, Grandma was talking
about doing the same for Janie's after Fletch went sliding
onto his butt on the hardwood floor!
   

Also:

No, it's not more knitted monsters!
It's Lamb Sheep's Pride Burly, in two of the very brightest colors Fletch could find on our little shopping spree with Grandma Melinda.  Thank-you Fletch.  I never ever thought I would knit anything in these colors!  Let alone a sweater for my dear one!  He choose them, and so they are to be:
 
My very first work on a sweater and with fair ilse too!
It's very exciting and much more fun than I expected.  The
pattern called for three colors, but I decided to alter it for just
two, I could not imagine what other color Fletch might have
thrown into the mix!   Thank-you Fletch, really,  for pushing
me to try something new!

         My super model! 
Wearing a drop-stitch scarf I
   completed the other day.

And Easter morning:

Today I am greatful for the never
ending patience my chocolate
loving Easter bunny-boy  showed
me while I knitted (guilt free since I
cleaned my house top to bottom
yesterday) almost two feet of a
new scarf to sell!!

 

Absolutely Nothing to do with Yarn

I saw this MEME on another blog and decided to do it myself...

Wikipedia Birthday MEME

Go to Wikipedia. In the Search box, type your birth month and day (but not year). List three events that happened on your birthday. List two important birthdays and one interesting death. Post this in your journal.

July 11:
Events:
1804 - Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr kills Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
1859 - A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is published. (neato, especially considering the title of my last post...)
1960 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published.

Births:
1274 - Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland (d. 1329) (Remember "Braveheart" ?)
1899 - E. B. White, American writer (d. 1985) (Ahh, Charlotte's Web! Stuart Little! The Elements of Style!)

Death:
1989 - Sir Laurence Olivier, English actor (b. 1907)

I'll add another category, just for fun

Holidays and observances:
United Nations - World Population Day
United States: Free Slurpee at 7-Eleven

And because it was yesterday, Jason's birthday

April 20:
Events:
1653 - Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament. (I've always loved that term "Rump Parliament")
1902 - Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride.
1972 - Apollo 16 lands on the Moon.
and I have to add one more because it sounds so strange...
1979 - President Jimmy Carter is attacked by a Swamp Rabbit while on vacation in Plains, Georgia.

Births:
570 - Muhammad, Founder of Islam (d. 632)
1923 - Mother Angelica (born Rita Antoinette Rizzo), American nun and broadcaster
and one more since it is also the same year as Jason:
1976 - Joey Lawrence, American actor ("Whoa!")

Death:
1912 - Bram Stoker, Irish author (b. 1847)

Holidays and observances:
National High Five Day

****

I've also decided to join Project Spectrum so I'll be posting pictures featuring different colors each month... April is yellow and orange...and to get started I took a picture of what is on the passenger seat of my car...

And, finally, cats.

Nala, our cat:

And Scrub, Nala's feral friend who hangs around hoping for food:

A Tale of One Sock

Today is Jason's birthday, and tonight I will wrap and present him with a single mostly-finished sock. Despite my best efforts I have been unable to finish at least one whole sock in order to wow him with all of its amazing glory (A sock! I knit a sock! For you! I can care for your feet all day long now! Approximately 13,000 stitches per foot! Dedication! Love!)

Here is Sock a little over a week ago, at the beginning of its life:

And here is Sock today, as Jason will unwrap it:

And Ted, because who can do without Ted?

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:

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words...Or So They Say

Matilda's Nicholas Bear
First of all, Matilda's bear has been felted! He still needs a face and clothes but I think he's so cute! (I say "he" because he's the same color as Ted & I have therefore dubbed him "Nicholas" after my dad's Nick-Name (ha-ha) for Ted.)

Here's Nicholas pre-felting (Snoopy too, for scale):

And post-felting:

And because I think he is just so very, very cute:

You may have noticed that Nick has strange shoulders. This is due to my creative attempt to do fancy knitting. It was totally unnecessary, time consuming and, obviously, not very effective. I am in the process of knitting another bear (or maybe a bunny! it's all about the ears after all) so I can re-write the pattern without the crazy shoulder shaping.

Ill-Fated Hat of My Own Design & Better Pictures of the "My Computer Sucks But At Least I Can Knit Scarf"

Here's the hat I designed for myself. I've lost it (or Jason's been putting things away again!) but when I locate it I am tossing it in my stash to be frogged. This is the same yarn as Jess used for her purse but I don't like it as a hat because the hat isn't big enough for the hat to repeat.

Self-portraits can be difficult to take (and I have LOTS of eyebrows!):

Better:

With THE scarf & Denise Needles:

And Artistic-Shot of Scarf in Tree:

The Coolest Thing Ever
I stole this idea from Streets & YOs (the blog of a knitter who could make us all green with envy!) after reading the May 5, 2005 post:

I'm almost done!

But...My Husband's So Cool & I'm Kinda Dorky

And, finally, because a photo-filled post just wouldn't be complete without Ted & Special Guest Star: Nala!