Saturday, December 31, 2011

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Can we postpone Christmas?

Christmas is approaching like a freight train. Loud. Fast. And unstoppable.

I am so not ready.

The children are getting several homemade gifts this year. One of which is unbelievably awesome. So unbelievably awesome we will never again have a gift this awesome to give. The Greatest is in charge of that project, but I've got an important role too. I'd say it is a 95/15 split for the workload. One project is because I want to be a Weasley (that's all me). The last of which is because I am full of self-loathing and have decided as punishment for being me and not a Weasley I must give up sleep and work on this project every spare moment the children are in school or sleeping from now until Christmas (this project is also all me).

And the Children wonder why I'm so stressed and yelling all the time.

'Tis the Season.

In other fun news we've had fantastic weather. Cloudy. Gloomy. Brooding.

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And there's been rain! I adored it.

Until last night, when the dogs realized they are distant cousins of the Wicked Witch of the West and as such they must not allow water to come into direct contact with their fur. As a result of this revelation the old dog went outside and peed on the covered patio a foot from the grass rather than pee in the rain. Small dog peed on my family room rug. And boy dog peed on our Christmas Tree.

Awesome.

I'm starting to re-evaluate my life and pondering why we have so many dogs.

In unrelated news here's today's sweater.

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(blurry, off-center, dirty bathroom mirror photos. I need more sleep)

Pattern: Sabine (rav link)

Yarn: Sock That Rock, Light weight, 2 skeins

Needles: Size 8 Addi Turbos

Modifications: I made quite a few. I cast on for one size, but ended up doing increases on the yoke until the stitch count was equal to a much larger size. I knit the sleeves next instead of the body, and I might have added some length to the sleeves (I don't remember, and my rav notes say "I might have, but I don't remember"). I never worked the decreases for the front of the body. I just kept increasing. First every other row, then every three rows, then every four rows, then every five rows, then I ran out of yarn.

Review: I knit this ages and ages ago. Probably sometime last year. I've never actually worn it until today. I don't love this sweater as much as I want to love this sweater. It has fantastic detail. There is waist shaping. I love the eyelet row on the back...

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And sleeves...

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Although I'm not sure why I keep knitting sweaters with fantastic back detail. My back looks like this.

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No one ever sees them.

But back to the knitting. The bind-off technique is a revelation.

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So pretty.

I love the yarn, and the way the colors remind me of a painting by Monet. I should love this sweater. The individual elements are full of win. But when you put it all together, it just doesn't do it for me. It has a similar shape to the Whisper Cardigan, which I liked so much I've knit two. I almost wonder if I shouldn't have just knit a third Whisper. The drape on this isn't as nice. And I wonder if it just isn't a tad too short. I used every inch of yarn I had, so if it is too short that is because of yarn supply, not a deficiency in the design.

It is wearable. And I got a compliment on it today from another knitter (although I haven't ruled out the possibility that she was just being nice). So I guess I'll keep it for now, but I can not promise that I won't frog it at some future date and make it into something new.

Monday, December 05, 2011

I'm Cold

So we survived Thanksgiving. We had turkey, and stuffing, and mashed potatoes, and real cranberry sauce. And we had desserts.

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So many desserts. I failed to get a picture of our perfect turkey, but by golly I got the desserts. There are only six of us in the house. We ate pie for breakfast for a week (and sometimes for lunch too).

Then I got sick. Really sick (which I am positive had nothing to do with my all dessert diet). The kind where you lie around and pray for death sick.

Forget running around town looking cute in my hand knit sweaters. I wore the same pair of pajama pants and grey t-shirt for a week straight. I think they might need to be burned now.

But I am feeling better. While I was lying in bed pretending I was dead I think winter officially descended on the desert. It started with rain, which made everything cold. And then it just stayed cold, it never warmed back up. It was 65 degrees today and I was freezing. Yes, point, laugh, mock me. I deserve it. My blood is ridiculously thin now. But when you're sweating in the 80 degree heat and I'm still wearing a sweater, well, we'll see who's laughing then.

I found myself wearing another of my new favorite sweaters today. (Is there a limit to how many favorites of something a person can have? I hope really really hope not, cause I'm working on 15 different favorite sweaters). As luck would have it The Greatest was home with me, so I handed him my camera and asked him to take a picture of my sweater for me.

I got this.

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Awesome. I should have stuck with the self timer.

I did manage to get three more out of him.

Front.

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Back.

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And a requested close up of the cable (whose color in no way resembles the color in real life).

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He takes a very utilitarian approach to picture taking. Get in, get out, get done.

I had to take my own picture of my cute shoes (which is so much harder than it sounds.)

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He shops with the same mantra. Get in, get out, get done. And if I want to look at shoes I can do it on my own time.

I don't like shopping with him.

But I digress.

Back to the sweater.

Pattern: Contented Cardi (rav link)

Yarn: Cascade 220, in some number that means Granny Smith Apple Green, 5 skeins (I got this on clearance. Why would they put such pretty Granny Smith Apple Green on clearance? Their loss = my gain!)

Needles: Size 7 Addi Turbos

Modifications: None that I remember, and I've got none in my Rav notes. So we're good. Must have followed the pattern as written. Must have been a really well-written pattern. Honestly can't remember now. I just remember it being a joy to knit from start to finish. Even with the miles and miles and miles of St stitch.

Review: I loves this sweater. The Cascade 220 seemed a bit thick for this pattern at first, but I got gauge, and in the end I'm happy with the way the front drapes. So happy faces all around. It is comfy and warm and everything I need in a throw-over-everything sweater.

In unrelated news, guess what Bird wants for Christmas.


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Friday, November 18, 2011

Twi-Hard?

I'm not a twi-hard. Really I'm not. So what if I've seen all four movies. So what if two of those movies were at midnight premieres. I swear I'm not a twi-hard. It isn't like I have a life size cut out of Edward Cullen in my bedroom. Or famed pictures of Jasper on my piano. OK, I do have these socks. But I swear those were a learning experience. I got to do an after thought heel, which I had never done before (and still haven't done successfully), and I got to practice duplicate knitting. I swear, those socks were all about the technique! You believe me right?

I'm not a twi-hard. I do not think these books are literary masterpieces that will stand through the ages. I do not think the movies are instant classics that every person should see at least once in their life time. I love them for the cheesy fluffy mindless things they are. Mmmmmmm, cheesy, fluffy, mindless, sounds a little bit like cheetos. Mmmmmmmm, cheetos...

But despite not being a twi-hard, I could not resist making a vampire bite necklace for the fourth movie.

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See how cute, even if it is slightly blurry. You get the gist right? My friend and I made them while we watched The Walking Dead. (Is there something inherently wrong in making vampire necklaces while watching zombies? Cause it felt a little blasphemous, but I couldn't tell whom we were sinning against, the vampires? or the zombies?)

Now my friend made her really blinged out. She used clear shiny beads for her necklace instead of chain, and it looks fantastic. I'm a little jealous of her necklace to be quite honest. I would show you a picture if I had one, but alas, I do not. You will just have to take my word for it, her necklace turned out fantastic and completely covetous.

And in addition to wearing my vampire bites to the new movie, I also wore... A HAND KNIT SWEATER!

Because people expect nothing less from me.

I took a picture with the self-timer.

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Yup, not good.

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So much bad in the picture. The light, my peeling nails, the double chin that I do not have in real life, the fact that the sweater is hidden by the new WIP. My self-timer skills need more work.

So I turned to the bathroom mirror and discovered...

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Someone had made the mirror really dirty between yesterday and today. I'm gonna blame Bird, if I had to guess.

So I cleaned the mirror and discovered...

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My black sweater has a lot of lint/dalmatian hair on it.

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And black is really hard to photograph. (Side note: I look very angry in this picture. I swear I wasn't angry. I must just have an angry face.)

Here's the rundown for those who want do know.

Pattern: Emelie

Yarn: KnitPicks Essential Solid, in Black, 5 skeins

Needles: Size 2, random straights I had around the house. They nearly killed me. And Size 3 Addi Turbos. I loves my Addis.

Modifications: None that I remember.

Review: I cast on for this sweater the day it came out. I could not figure out why my lace did not look like the lace in the pattern pictures. I kept wondering what was wrong with me. I check the pattern, and double checked it, and wondered what was wrong with my pattern reading skills. Of course once I was all done with the lace section they released pattern errata. The lace was written wrong in the pattern, so my lace looked wrong. But I likes it anyways.

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Have I mentioned how hard black is to photograph? Cause it is really hard to photograph.

I loves this sweater. Just a simple black cardigan to throw over anything and everything. I love the deep ribbing on the back. And the ribbing on the sleeves. Simple details that make this piece a classic. This sweater is good stuff. Only I was still cold during the movie. Must remember to bring a shawl next time!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

CUTE!

The weather has finally turned. I've finally gotten to turn the a/c off. It was beautiful throw the windows open and let the air in weather. For about a week. And then it turned to cold sweater weather. I would be sad I didn't get to enjoy the throw the windows open and let the air in weather longer, but did you hear me? IT IS SWEATER WEATHER! And guess who just happens to have a stack of really really cute sweaters in her closet?

So I've been running around town in cute sweaters, with cute shirts underneath them, with my cute wedge shoes that I bought on clearance. Did I mention how cute I've been looking lately? I'm really making an effort to get dressed every day. Except that one day last week when my neighbor dropped by unexpectedly and I was wearing my robe at 10 am and eating peanut butter on celery sticks. That wasn't awkward at all. So except for that one time, and that other time I can think of off the top of my head, I've been really cute. And I've gots no proof. I had the BEST hair day yesterday. And no proof. I need to hire a live in photographer to capture my cute moments.

But I did read an article from Pinterest about how Moms need to be in the pictures more often, and how to get out from behind the camera. She recommends utilizing the self timer on the camera. So today while I was making lunch (with decidedly less cute hair than yesterday) I decided to play with the timer.

I got some pictures like this.

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Not quite right. But I did manage to get a cute one of Sweet Pea and I.

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As interesting as pictures of me making lunch with my favorite little helper are my main goal was to capture the sweater for my blog. So I tried this.

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Which of course, was not what I was going for. Not.At.All. I tried some more and got a few like these.

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And then I gave up and went back to the bathroom mirror.

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(See my big frizzy ponytail. I'm so sad I didn't think of this yesterday when I had good hair. You are just going to have to take my word for it, it was fantastic hair. The kind that only happens once, maybe twice, a year. Such is life.)

Ordinarily I couldn't include this next picture (I look so bad, I really am unexpectedly vain), but how cute is Sweet Pea's face?!!!!!

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I couldn't not share that one.

So the deets on the sweater for those who care.

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Pattern: Miette

Needles: Don't remember but the pattern calls for a 7, and an 8, so I probably used those sizes in my Addi Turbos

Yarn: Cascade 220 in some number that means baby pink, 3 skeins

Modifications: None that I remember.

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Review: I started this sweater on Jan 4th, and finished it Jan 7th. (I only know that because of notes on Ravelry). Then I let the sweater lie around for nine months before I blocked it and added buttons. I fully expected this to be a disaster of epic proportions. It is pink. I couldn't imagine what I was going to wear a pink sweater with. And it is a cropped sweater. I've had four children. My stomach looks like it has had four children. I should not be wearing cropped sweaters.

But for some reason this sweater totally works. I adore it. It looks so cute with my summer tanks. And it is super cute over my summer dresses. I'm all about the cute today. Time to break out the thesaurus and expand my vocabulary.

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The pattern itself is so well written, and full of great detail like the twisted rib, and bust shaping. And did you notice how seamlessly the lace design wraps around the corners?!!! Genius! I'm looking forward to more from this designer in the future.

And you can look forward to more pictures like this

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Because I've got a self-timer. And I'm not afraid to use.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Grandparents Rejoice!

Green thing took three days to dry. But it is now neatly folded and I've got something new blocking:

Blockety block blocking



And something new soaking:

Soakety Soak Soaking



Just no pretty photographs of pretty Finished Objects to show off.

Such is life.

I do have some pretty photographs of my favorite models to share. I figured if I didn't include the children soon the Grandparents might rise up in rebellion. And everyone knows the key to a happy life is pleasing one's parents. So here ya go!

My kids are cute



So darn cute



Soakety Soak Soaking



How can you stand all the cuteness



The cuteness is ridiculous



So much cuteness



Cuteness



More cuteness



Even more cuteness




too much cuteness




Even their feet are cute



It just isn't right

Saturday, October 08, 2011

Public Service Announcement

When you decorate like this.

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You can not be constantly surprised by this.

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Stop being startled when the kids leave fake bugs on the floor. Your heart can't take the constant adrenaline rush.

Just something to keep in mind.

p.s. Pinterest

Friday, October 07, 2011

Moving Right Along

Everything is going according to plan.

I've got a pretty FO to add to my pile of pretty FOs.

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I've got the next thing laid out to dry.

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And I've got a new knit soaking in the blocking bowl.

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(note= none of the pictures feature color resembling real life. I really should learn to work my camera)

I am well on my way to BLOCKING ALL THE THINGS.

Which of course means that something soon will go horribly wrong. Because nothing ever goes according to plan.

And I also think I've found a flaw in the plan. Once all my Pristinely Unblocked things become blocked they get added to the pile of things that need photographed. And of course photographs are stalled in the wait for a good hair day. Sometimes I think I'd settle for a clean hair day. But hair issues aside, moving them from one pile to the other is not enough. I must find a way to show off the finished knits. Prepare yourself for lots of bathroom mirror shots. Or maybe I can read my camera manual and see if it has a self-timer. I would probably know that if I knew how to work my camera. But I don't. And in order to read the manual I would have to find my camera manual. Which, sadly, I know the exact-ish location of. It is in my junk drawer. And the idea of sifting through all the stuff that ends up in my junk drawer makes me want to take a nap. If the mere thought makes me feel fatigue can you imagine how exhausting the actual process would be?

But I digress.

I'm talking about showing off Finished Objects to you. And today I just happen to have a finished crafty type project to show. Just not a knitted one. *shock* *gasp* *head tilt* *I didn't know there were any other kinds*

It seems to be my mission to mention Pinterest in every single blog post I write, so here is my Pinterest plug for today.

When I saw these I knew they had to be mine! So a trip to the dollar store and two minutes with my E6000 glue and there they were in my family room.

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Don't you just love them? I'll admit it. I feel very clever for making them, even though it was not my original idea and no actual talent was required to glob some glue on the bottom of a vase. I added a third vase and opted not to put it on a candlestick for visual interest. I adore them. I'm thinking of filling it with pepermints for Christmas, or maybe holiday colored m&ms. So many possibilities. And I made it for less than $10. Can't beat that!