Ooo Baby Knits

The Clothing Conundrum

I’ve lost 20 pounds. No, no, before you start patting me on the back and passing the plate of Splenda cookies, it really took almost no effort on my part. One year, three surgeries, and 3 months of meds that made me nauseous. No problem. I do need to lose 20 more according to the good doc. Now, this is a problem. I had brownies, mixed nuts, peppermint candy, and sugar-free Tang for breakfast.

But here’s the real real problem. I need new clothes. Now most normal women would simply say, “Yee ha!” pull out the plastic and hit the mall. (All right, maybe not the yee ha part, but you know what I mean.) But I know how to knit and sew. I go to the mall and think, Ack! I could sew this $220 jacket for 30 bucks, and this sweater- with the money I’ll save making the jacket, I could almost afford to knit one myself with that Kougi yarn I’ve wanted to try. But who has time to make everything? I also think, if I buy this, how many other people are going to have one exactly like it? But I did break down at Belk’s charity event sale yesterday while shopping with my daughter and bought three tops. (There was a great local gospel bank playing, so shopping was actually almost enjoyable.) I’m not label conscious- my jeans are Rider’s from Wal-Mart because they’re cheap, they last, and they fit me well. In fact I’m pretty anti-label. I don’t like my labels showing- I refuse to pay to be a walking advertisement. Therefore I did not buy the Tommy H top I really liked otherwise.

To make an oh-too-long already story even longer, the point I’m trying to get to here, is I came home and decided I needed to make myself something relatively quick to satisfy my wardrobe update needs. So at 10:00 last night, when DD#2 finally left for her sleep-over and I was alone with the snoring dog, I pulled out my Boogie pattern and, after much digging, some Lion Brand Jiffy, put A.I. in the video player, and began- I didn’t even swatch:

Now for some silly reason, I imagined myself knitting furiously through 2 movies, and having a lovely fall vest by today’s end to wear this week. I fell asleep halfway through Dragon Heart, and today I’m realistically thinking it may just take another day or two. I also need to finish sewing a skirt for DD#2 and bake a banana cake- with splenda. Or I could just sit here looking out the window.

Happy Halloween!

Got Boboli?

I often have trouble coming up with a title, but today you can take your pick:
1) Oops, I Did It Again
2) Ratsa-Fratsa
3) Close, but No Cigar
4) Woe Is Me
5) One Sandwich Short of a Picnic, One Skein Short of a Sweater

I so wanted to be finished with this nasty yarn. Remember those nylon, fire-retardant, flannel nightgowns we wore as little girls? The ones that stuck to your dry skin and snagged on your rough feet when you curled up inside them at night? Okay, maybe it was just me, but as soft and squishy as GGN Boboli is, that’s what it does. No, I have not put my feet on it, but I can’t keep enough lotion on my hands to keep the dratted yarn from snagging.

Alas and alack, I have only to knit the front and neck bands, graft the pits, and sew the sleeve seams, and I’m all out of yarn. Imagine that. Me, running out of yarn before I finish a project. I got this dirt cheep from Knit Picks, and I know I’ll have to pay as much for one lousy skein as I did for the rest of the sweater, but finish I will.

In happier knitting news, I knit a couple of sweaters for Warm Hearts, Warm Babies that I’ll send out this week:

And I’ve had a blast dyeing more yarn. The hanks on the back of the sofa are really more muted in color. This yarn was given to me for charity knitting, so hats and vests for A4A it will be. The orange, blue, and green are Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool. I dyed the skeins whole, so the middles aren’t as dark, but the ends are. Hence the variegated look. Oh, fun, fun, fun.

This is the beginnings of the Haiku sweater for a little 2-year old girl on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation we have just begun to sponsor. The yarn is of unknown Ebay origin leftover from my poncho. The white was wool; the blue was apparently not so it stayed blue. I love the way it came out, and it’s so incredibly soft. I wish I knew whom I bought it from so I could get some more. If you are interested in sponsorship, see the Friends of Pine Ridge website. I am so excited about doing this! I love having a little girl to knit and sew for.

Home Sweet Home

But New York was incredible! Good fun, good food, good yarn, good doctor visit- all I could ask for. Our one day in the city, we really stood out as tourists. We were the ones NOT wearing black. Saw lots of ponchos- one pink, one dark green, the rest black- and lots of pointy toed spiked heels. Ouch. I’ll stick with ponchos. The temperature was in the mid 60’s; very pleasant I thought, but lots of folks had on ski jackets, wool coats, scarves, the works. Made me wonder what they do when it actually gets cold.

The one thing Drew and I both wanted to do was go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Now, I’ve been to museums- we even have one here in little Danville- but this is a museum. When I walked into the gallery and saw Monet's Water Lilies hanging on the wall right there in front of me, I was awed. I teared up and couldn’t speak. It’s one thing to look at reproductions in books and on posters, but when you have the real thing right in front of you, and can see every detail, every brush stroke, it is beyond awesome. You can imagine the artist standing at his easel, brush in hand. It comes alive.

We also walked through Central Park, fed the ducks, and shared a pretzel while sitting on a bench and watching two adorable little girls dance to the accordion player. Then we walked all the way down 5th Avenue to Penn Station, just people watching. My feet still hurt!

My car knitting project was a poncho for my sister. Yarn: Bernat Softee Chunky, Needles: #10 ½, Pattern: here. Only real change I made was to begin with 80 stitches. It’s finished except for the edging. She wants to come see it and decide if she wants fringe like the pattern, or another edging. Another project for the WIP list- for now.

I also finished a baby hat riding the train.

Of course, I went to a real yarn shop- The Open Door to Stitchery in Middle Neck, conveniently located around the corner from our hotel. When I walked in, I just stood there a minute looking around. One of the very nice ladies who work there asked if she could help me. I said, “No thank you, I just need to squeeze some yarn.” She said, “I understand.” So I squeezed my way down one wall and up the other, and after an hour decided on these lovelies:

There is enough of the blues and greens chenille for a sweater. The hank of pinks was a must have because it matched the sweater I was wearing. I love, love, love Filatura Di Crosa patterns. The dps were very expensive, but beautiful and so nice to work with. And none of it counts as breaking diet because I consider it all a present from my dear hubby who shopped next door for gifts for our daughters and then just hung out while I finished.

I get to check a couple more things off the WIP list. The blue set goes to UVA medical Center, and the other to Olivia’s Angels.

Weird dream: I was knitting around a waffle, poking holes in the dents and pulling the yarn through. What could this mean?

Happy Anniversary to me! Okay, to us. I'll include Drew. We've been married 20 years today. The fun part of our NY trip was our anniversary present to each other, but he sent me flowers and is taking me to a new restaurant tonight. Bon niut!

Don’t Leave Home Without It

Never, never, never go anywhere without your knitting. Do not ever buy small purses that won’t hold a small skein of yarn and dps. Three times last week- count ‘um, three!- I found myself sitting and waiting with no knitting to be had. How could this be you ask? Because I had to go to a tea party, dag nab it, and my orange purse didn’t match my tea party outfit. I’m not much of a tea partier (although I do like tea, which I discovered is not served at tea parties), but it was a mother/daughter thing for DD#2 who is joining a high school sorority. I’m not a sorority person, either. (I made excessive verbal disparagements about them in high school, so was never asked. I sincerely apologize to every sorority member in the world, but don’t get me started.) But this is Alli’s thing, so I’ve decided to try and support her. Anyway, I took my little tea party purse that matches my little tea party shoes thinking I wouldn’t have time to knit anyway. But what do they do? They go outside to take pictures. I balance as well as an egg on end and can’t stand for very long at a time, so I stayed inside WITH NO KNITTING! I could have kicked myself, but again my balance is very bad, so instead I ate the bowl of peanut M&Ms. Yes, the whole bowl.

That’s one. #2 was the Wal-Mart incident described below which I handled very well by buying needles and yarn.

#3 happened Thursday when I still hadn’t changed purses and decided to run an errand before I picked up the girls from school. Who knew I’d be first in line at UPS? I should have known they’d be late getting to the car.

I promise to never, never let this happen again. I went home and started knitting a new purse right away. I kinda used the Sophie pattern, but not really.

It’s not orange so in my opinion will go with everything. And it’s a good thing. I have another tea party to go to. DD#1 who has now dyed her hair blue black, listens to heavy metal, refuses to wear name brands, and enjoys doing things just to shock people, joined another sorority.

This was my first Kureyon project, and I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. I bought the yarn for my secret pal, but decided to keep it because it’s a lot darker than I thought it would be. (Is that wrong?) My hands itched the whole time I was using it, and it’s so soft after felting- too soft I think for a purse. I do love all the color variations in a single skein, and soft is good for sweater knitting.

In Non-Knitting News: I would just like to go on record as saying that just because I occasionally start kitchen fires does not make me a bad cook.

Now I must go check the knitting in my purse to be sure I have enough for the hour I’m about to wait at church while my DDs are in choir, then I get to hear them sing in the evening service.