It's Been A Long December....

I don't do New Year's Resolutions. I've never seen the point. Why bother making promises that no one expects you to keep? It feels like a lie. Even if the only person you're lying to is yourself. Declaring "Next year I'll drink more water" while deep down you know you'll stick with diet coke is a waste of breath. It's a small little lie, but it is far from harmless. It undermines your mental image of who you are, you become a person who tells little lies. It chisels away at your integrity. It's never a good idea to lie especially to yourself.

And I must confess I've never really seen the point of a big New Year's Celebration. It's an arbitrary date to start the new calender year. It doesn't coincide with the start of the school year, the fiscal year, the Chinese New Year. It's just a day, a day some men a million years ago decided would mark the start of a new year. It's just book keeping. So why throw a party to mark a book keeping event? If that were in fashion we would throw a parade each time I balanced my checkbook.

But I need a New Year this year. This year has been marked by several events that forever altered my existence and divide my life into before and after categories. Before my Mom died, and after my Mom died, before I moved and after I moved, before when I was happy and after...when I wasn't.

I need a New Year. I need a new line in the sand, a line in my life, a new before and after. I need to to circle a date and forever say this is where it all changed for us. I need a red marker on a calender, a line in the sand, a New Year.

I don't have resolutions but I have hopes.

I hope to jump on the trampoline with my children.

I hope to laugh again.

I hope to make new friends.

I hope to stop crying.

I hope I knit less (no really, I do, stop laughing, less knitting more living in 2007)

I hope things get better, and we can live the next year with love, laughter and happiness. I hope the same thing for all of you.

So I'm drawing a line in the sand. I'm demanding of the universe that it gets better from here.

Finished Objects of 2006

This is by no means an exhaustive list. It's just a list of the ones I blogged.

Twisty Curls Hat

Meaty's Blue Boy Hat

VK Cropped Lace Top

Bob's Socks

Socks of Doom IV

Bachelor Socks

Socks of Doom III

Sockapalooza

Sock of Doom II

Socks of Doom I

Matching Pink Tank Tops for the Girls

Swallowtail Shawl

Anastasia Socks

Eyelet Chemise

Spirit of the Southwest Shawl

My First Sweater Design

Mon Petit Chou

River Rapid Socks that weren't meant to be

Sockettes

Knee High Socks

Knitpicks Candle Flame Shawl

Samantha Sweater

Tater's Cotton Cardi

Leda's Dream

The Blue Blob Shawl

Corset for my Sister

Little Man-ly Socks

River Rapids Socks

Stripey Socks

Baby Eyelet Cardigan

Fun Flapper Hat

Chevron Socks for The Greatest

Manly Socks

Zig-Zag Hoodie

Mobius Scarf

2x2 Ribbed Scarf

Holiday Sweater

I must confess, its all a bit much right now.

So I am going to take a little break.




I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.

FESS UP!!!!!

The Greatest went to get the mail today. I was expecting some yarn in the mail, so I was unsurprised when I saw him return with a squishy looking envelope. Shunning what I knew was an envelope containing the cable bill, I eagerly grabbed it from him (don't judge me and my yarn greed) only to discover the envelope was a bit, well, flat. I remember thinking the yarn must be unballed to be this flat. But why would someone send me unballed yarn. What the heck was in it? I opened it to discover not yarn, but this



How cute is this? *squeal* I love it. But there was no information at all about it's origin. The return address was Dieselsweeties.com. I went to the website and discovered that the shirt is called "Yarn Core." This is what they say about it:

"What does it mean to be hardcore about something? We think it has nothing to do with fighting and everything to do with knitting your own socks."

Yes, I am Yarn Core.

The explanation of the shirt makes me love the shirt all the more.

So....does anyone care to tell me where this shirt came from?

Well, to whoever sent the shirt. Thank You! I absolutely adore it!

How could I have forgotten

the magical power of a fresh batch of homemade play dough?



This should buy me an hour of laying still with an ice pack. My flu has turned into a constant sinus headache. If I take any more medicine I'm going to get a migraine.

I love the holidays.

I am sick today

Oh so sick.

Please send reinforcements.

They will only play in the tub while I lie in bed for so long.




Might I suggest sending Mary Poppins, or Supernanny, or Dora to come watch them.

If they are unavailable some chocolate, yarn, or this book will do.

The plot thickens

I for one would like to know just what makes her so sure there wasn't a plot after all.


Mmmmwwwwwhhhhhhaaaaaa,

MMMMMMMMWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Behind the scenes at a photo shoot

Meaty wasn't too sure about having his picture taken in his new hat.



"Why does she always do this?"

When in doubt make a silly face.



"If I ruin the picture maybe she'll leave me alone."

Or two



"Sometimes the scrunched face works better."

Once he got started he couldn't stop laughing



"Alright this is kind of fun, but don't tell her that."

Then he lost interest



"Do I hear Elmo?"

And he wandered away.



"I don't know about you lady, but I'm out of here."

Pattern: No pattern, just your basic roll brim hat based on his head measurements.

Yarn: 1/2 skein Malabrigio

Needles: size 6 circulars, 16 inches, bamboo

Modifications: None since there wasn't a pattern.

Review: I'm in love with this hat. When I went stash diving the only blue boy yarn I found that wasn't already ear-marked for a sweater was the skein of Malabrigio. When I was first gifted with the Malabrigio I dreamed of a one skein wonder. But I never got around to buying the pattern. You know how that goes sometimes. I decided the yarn could be sacrificed for a warm hat for my son, besides I wanted a One Skein Wonder with longer sleeves, and for that you needed two skeins. So the yarn was destined to be a hat.

Where do I begin to speak of the yarn? This yarn is DREAMY. So soft, it flows through your fingers. Perfect stitch definition. Makes the most beautiful fabric. The more I knit the hat, the more I started to resent my son and his need for a boy hat, denying me my One Skein Wonder. Why couldn't he just wear a pink hat like everyone else. It was a plot I tell you. A plot to keep me from having a nice something from such yarn perfection. H must have hid all the other "Blue Boy Yarn", leaving me with only the Malabrigio for his hat. Such a devious deceitful little boy. Stealing my yarn. He was ruining my life I tell you. RUINING MY LIFE.

Then I got back in touch with reality.

The hat is a smidge too long, because I couldn't bear to stop knitting with this yarn. It was especially nice after the evil pink slubby acrylic. I vow to someday own enough Malabrigio to make a sweater for ME. It really is yarn perfection. In the meantime, he has a very nice, warm, blue boy hat.

Combining both worlds

Man, 22 comments on my brown sweater, but not a single one about my cute kids. I understand that this is a knitting blog, and when you come here you expect to see some fine-ass knitting. I do, I get that. I'm a fairly steady knitter, so I can churn out finished objects on a fairly regular basis. You come here to see sticks and string, not my toddlings. You want the money shots.

But you must understand, my gentle reader, that I have violently ripped my children from the loving bosom of their Grandparents, dragging said children across the country. If I don't offer up some token pictures to said Grandparents every once in a while, I fear my Christmas presents may be dismal and filled with coal instead of yarn, or this book (hint, hint).

But I love you all so much. I want everyone to be happy. Therefore I must find a way to incorporate my children into my knitting. A way that pleases everyone. I think having them serve as props to display the knitting might be one way to go. An example would be this picture.



The picture is really of the washcloth. But notice how nicely it sits on Meaty's head. I could artfully drape many of my knitted things on the children.

Or I could stick the children in the background of pictures, like set props.



See how the real focus of the picture is the brown sweater. But there Bird is in the corner, looking small, and cute, and slightly startled. That might be enough Bird to feed the Grandparent's need.

Or I could just knit for my kids, allowing both the knitted item, and the child in the knitted item to share center stage together.



Pattern: Twisty Curls Hat

Yarn: No name clearance acrylic from Wal-Mart

Needles: 16 inch Size 6 circular needles, and size 6 dpns

Modifications: This hat was entirely too small, so I had to cast on more stitches, and make it longer.

Review: I first saw this hat on Bunchkinknits, and my goodness, isn't her version cute? If I had been reading closely I would have seen that she too had sizing issues, but I was mesmerized by the cute daisy. I wanted an adorable pink hat for my daughter too.

When the cold front set in, it was the perfect excuse to stash dive and knit a pink hat. So into the stash I dove, and I came up with some sickeningly pink yarn, but Pork Chop loved it. I was going to make this hat for Bird, but Pork Chop insisted it was hers. I absolutely hated the yarn. It was novelty yarn, 100% acrylic. It was sticky and squeeky on the needles. It from very thick to very thin, then back to thick, making gauge impossible. I can't imagine what fit of insanity made my buy it. I've got five more skiens of it for goodness sake. I'm entirely too much of a perfectionist to enjoy the lumpy fabric it produced. But the hat does look cute on Bird. She likes it.



So it was all worth it.

Give me a minute

I'm still basking in the success of my sweater.



So I'm sure you will all forgive me if I take one more day to rest on my laurels and just admire my handiwork before I jump to new things.

I swear you people are like vultures, never happy with what you have. Always wanting something new. You keep me on my toes like that.

I have been taken to task by a certain Grandparent concerning the recent lack of children on my blog, so to appease the restless Grandpa here's a pictorial story from this weekend.

The Greatest's Brother was in town with his wife. So we took them hiking, one of our new favorite things to do.





Pork Chop climbed on a rock for a photo op. My pretty girl. She's getting so big, I can hardly bear it. I keep asking her not to grow, but you know how children are, they never listen. I now know why my own Mom always talked of tying bricks to our heads.

Now check out Bird in the corner of the picture. Always the me-too child, never one to miss out on something the older children were doing, Bird needed a photo on a rock as well.



Only this rock turned out to be too....honestly I don't know what was wrong with the rock, but she didn't like it. This one was more her style.



Then in a rare moment of solidarity, they all had their picture taken.



Since an even such as this only happens when the moon is in the house of mars, mercury is in retrograde, a goat has given birth to a kid with two heads, and a cat has walked in a circle backwards, I may have to frame this picture.

We hike to the dry waterfall bed. The little pool had evaporated to half it's size from last month, exposing rocks we used to climb to the upper levels of the falls. It was very cool and a good time was had by all.

All that hiking made for one tired Bird.



Oh how I love the baby sling!

REDEMPTION

BEHOLD THE POWER OF BLOCKING



I don't know why I always forget what a magical cure-all blocking can be. I needed one measly inch. Just one inch to make myself feel comfortable in the sweater. And I got it!

Won't I just look fabulous singing my Christmas duet?



Or merely lounging in the backyard?



Oh the places this sweater and I will go.

As soon as it's warm enough for a lace sweater.