...Knitting Up A Storm

Modular Striped Vest:: finished

2012-01-30T14:17:00.002-05:00

It's been a very long week. Very long. Did I mention how it's been a long week? *Eugh* One of our worst nightmares was realized. Monday, Jacob got the stomach flu. Tuesday, he started getting better and then I, my husband and my other son Sam got the stomach flu. A very bad case. If you don't have kids, or if you've never had the "privilege" of having a gut-wrenching ailment while your child(ren) are sick-oh how completely helpless you feel- what an experience! There's nothing like not being able to get out of bed without blacking out while your child is that sick. We were VERY fortunate to live closely to our parents and to have them risk their own health to take care of the young'ins. I don't know how we could have taken care of them.

But, anyways. Here we are in the present. The boys are pretty much back to normal one week later, and I have finished the Vest.

Weaving in ends...quel nightmare. Wasn't looking forward to doing it. Eventually, I lost count while sewing.

Pattern: Striped Modular Vest by Andra Knight-Bowman
Yarn: 4 skeins of Yarn treehouse "Daisy," in bulky and 1/3 skein of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride (heavily) worsted yarn in black.
Needles: US9 straights
Project started: December 28th(?) 2011
Project finished: January 29th, 2012
Modifications: arrangement of squares to form an "X," Crochet edging & for sewing, no collar, bottom edge with seed-stitch.

Above, the back.

The front.

The vest is a little large. I might even felt it a touch to get it to the size needed. We'll see.

Take the squares challenge... I dare you.

2012-01-19T22:26:00.009-05:00

Hey everyone.
I'm finally done with the eight squares for the Modular Vest. All I have left is the bottom edge where I'm supposed to garter for a few inches, and then of course piecing them all together. It took a while to figure out which configuration I was happiest with, and I thought of a neat little challenge for you. Can you guess which positions I chose? I'll start you off with half of the answers, so take your best guess. It'll be cool too see if someone can guess correctly. I apologize now for the color variances. The sun kept changing the lighting.

The squares will be turned so that all of the cast on edge (the edge with the most stitches) touch eachother.

So...if you'd like to play the "squares challenge," here's four answers to start you off:
A= 3
B=?
C=?
D=2
E=5
F=?
G=?
H=7

1 ,8, 5 & 3 are the smaller and upper squares:

2, 7, 4, & 6 are the bigger and lower squares

Is your head hurting? I know mine is.

OK, a little more help., I guess.

Project Complete: Ribbed Baby Jacket #2

2012-01-13T22:14:00.004-05:00

I guess I made an unofficial New Year's resolution to post more, which means that my little short time to myself after the boys go down is starting to be spent more on knitting, and not just being slumped half-dead on the couch after a long day of taking care of the boys & the constant cleaning. Even after a year or so of motherhood, I'm still not used to the never-ending mess. They literally undo the tidying at the same rate, and I feel like I can't quite keep up with the 'Jones.' Gone are the days when I did one or two loads of laundry a week.

You're looking at the second baby jacket...and now the boys can each wear one! The real jacket is a lot browner than in the photo I took during the morning light. They will have to grow into it a bit, which means success! I'm one step ahead of them...

Project: Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in a tweedy brown; 2.5 skeins
Needles: US7
Project started: October 12, 2011
Project completed: January 11th, 2012

I think that this version is fairly better. I changed the pattern from the first jacket to have ribbing continuously on the bottom. The button's loops are more snug, which helps. The color is better, and tweed is always handsome as a sweater.

What's next? I'm slowly working on the modular vest. It's almost 3/4 done. I'm tying to get shake off the "startitis itch" to make the boys a colorful rug...and socks...

Roundabout Shawlette Complete!

2012-01-09T17:14:00.004-05:00

The shawlette is blocked, folded, tagged with care instructions and shipped off to its recipient! Yay!

Pattern: KUAS' "Roundabout Shawlette"
Needles: US7 circulars
Yarn: MacKintosh Chubby Sock Yarn in "Minotaur" and KUAS fingering weight yarn in "Morning Roast"
Started: November 8th, 2011
Finished: January 8th, 2012

I think it turned out well. The roundabout circles are a little more distinguishable now, post-block.

Plus, it kind of looks cute as a curtain.

This one was plastic-wrapped in photoshop. Looks wicked weird, but cool.

Cutout version, good for showing off the ruffled lace edging.

Roundabout Shawlette: blocking

2012-01-07T22:11:00.003-05:00

A little peak at what's on the brink of completion...

Edging: done.
Soaking: done.
Blocking: commenced.

Morning Roast & Knitivity

2012-01-05T09:10:00.005-05:00

While the babes were sleeping, I got the chance to dye up a colorway to match the "Roundabout" shawlette that I'm knitting because I ran out of yarn like yards before the end of the pattern. This will enable me to do the edging that I looked forward to doing. The colorway is brown with redish tones. It reminds me of coffee (a mother of twins with caffeine always on her mind). I think it matches pretty well. The base is merino and alpaca, and I'll most likely have to double it up because it's fingering weight versus the sport weight of the shawl. ~~A little beading is in its future,~~ with simple single crochet & lace edging.

My mother tagged along to the mall the other day because the boys were trying out their free Gymboree class (it would have cost $110 for that one 45 minute class for both boys to attend!!). It was a lot of stimulation that the boys are not used to...all go-go-go-go with the teacher, and the boys were a little freaked out, so I decided to start out with "open gym" passes, because quite honestly, it would almost be the same thing since it's not one-on-one.

Anywho...we went to Barnes & Nobles afterwards and found this cute book that my mom forced me to buy. She even mentioned that she (the person who WILL NOT knit because she doesn't have the "patience") wouldn't mind helping me knit up the "knitivity" scene. Ha ha. I didn't take her claim for face-value because I knew when it comes down to it, I'll be the one who will end up knitting the whole thing, but I had to admit that it was a good idea as a Christian & knitter to make one for myself (or for others). Did I mention that it was practically 60 percent off? I love to do my shopping for next year's Christmas a day or two after Christmas because they still have the good items leftover and because things that add up in the long run (like 5 dollar wrapping paper!) are dirt cheap this time of year...and why not stock up before you put the decorations away?

The book includes a crib and also the background scene to the set.

I think it's a really neat concept because it encourages you to knit different versions, like pregnant Mary and sitting Mary and standing Mary to suit your needs. This Nativity scene would really be great for the whole Advent season. Why shouldn't you have pregnant Mary out right before the "big night?" Or Mary riding a camel next to Joseph? I think that would impress a few people. Stash-buster? I think so!

...Not to mention, they make really great gifts next year!

Modular Striped Vest: back complete

2012-01-03T16:52:00.002-05:00

A good start to the new year. The Modular Striped Vest is well underway. The backside is completed, which leaves me a little exhausted to knit up the exact same (monotonous) 4 squares again...but half done with the vest, nonetheless.

I'm still tinkering around with the layout with the squares. I might switch the upper left and right squares. This is exactly why I refused to pick up stitches and follow the pattern of the decrease lines both going "/" on the left side and "\" on the right side. It looks better as an "X." I plan on crocheting the squares together instead of sewing it...and don't forget my I-cord edging idea. Also, no collar and no buttonhole. I plan on doing the button like Jake's "Ribbed Baby Jacket."

I might put this baby on hold so I can dye up the brown colorway that I need for the edging of the "Roundabout Shawlette" that I haven't quite finished completely. The hubby got me a yarn swift that hooks onto the edge of the table for Christmas (I had a solid wood tabletop version that is adjustable through pegs) so maybe it will be easier swifting.

I hope you all enjoyed your New Years. We are back on track for exercising. . .you know how that goes. I fully intend to slim down this year, so people can stop asking me whether or not my "not-fully-bounced-back-yet-from-twin-baby-fat-and-c-section pouch" body is expecting! Just a few people, and mostly middle-age men or older. Boy were they embarrassed. Especially the one helping me buy the stinking elliptical. Duh.

Holiday Greetings

2011-12-29T12:28:00.004-05:00

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas (and of course any other holiday you might celebrate instead) and wish you a happy New Year! It's been go-go-go around here, so I'm sorry about not posting this like I promised after the last post. My camera was loaned out and I couldn't snap anything until I got back from my cousin's wedding in Seattle. But, anyways, here are the pictures as promised...holiday rings! I was basically fiddling around Dec 5th with the leftover yarn from my Merry Xmas Wreath.

this first one is my favorite, and reminds me of the Winter Season in general.

This one is called "Christmas Wreath."

"Happy New Years Eve" ring.

Here's a pic of my current project, a Striped Modular Vest that is mitered. I plan on tweaking the pattern so that the stripes form more of a "X." Also, an I-cord edging seems necessary, so I plan on adding that to it. (I'm thinking about deleting the collar too.) Since I wouldn't ever wear a turtle neck shirt, I'll wear a boat neck, or similar with it.

My boy's first professional photoshoot. Aren't they cute? They are growing up soo fast!

Enjoy the rest of your holidays! Relax a bit if you can.

Merry Knitmas Wreath

2011-12-10T23:11:00.003-05:00

Back in business with my laptop that my hubby took with him on his first official work trip. Here's what came off the needles several days ago, along with another holiday items that will be posted in the next day or so:

I dub thee the "Merry Knitmas Wreath." It hangs proudly on my door, despite the fact that I haven't put on the LED lights to go along with it. It's really a simple wreath, meant mostly to display the glitter ball cheer.

The pattern is easier than pie, it's a quickie project, and the covers fits like a glove on the styrofoam balls. My mom's a funny lady. While I was knitting these puppies up (she comes over throughout the weekdays to help out with the twins), she was like..."hey, why didn't you just roll them up into a ball and call it a day?" LOL. "Because, dearest mother,...that wouldn't be knitting, would it?"

Pattern: "Merry Knitmas Wreath" (KUAS original)
Needles: US8 needles
Yarn: Martha Stewart's glitter eyelash yarn in green, silver and red
Other materials: Styrofoam balls, package of 6; Wreath: in white; white/silver battery-operated lights (LED preferred because it lasts longer)

Stay tuned for more holiday knits. In the meantime, make yourself a hot cocoa and knit by the fire (or TV) and take a load off. Or, if you're like me, treat yourself to a holiday flavored coffee if you need the caffeine buzz. It's the holiday season, it's easy to forget to take a moment to chill. Chill, ha ha. It's getting COLD out!

"I feel like I'm taking CRAZY pills"

2011-11-09T19:52:00.006-05:00

October has been a crazy, crazy month. What with the baby colds (while I and everyone else was sick in my family--nothing quite like taking care of twin babies while you're feeling miserable and don't have help), the birthday planning & cleaning, and another round of colds AGAIN right in time for their birthday! (By the way, Jake has a cold, again, right now). Sam was worse than usual for the wake-ups, but for Jake I started seeing every hour like it was going in fashion. *SIGH* Even now, young Jacob has learned how to throw temper-tantrums and while sick, I'm wondering why I'm not already clinically insane and bald.

Here's my most recent cast-on, the "Roundabout Shawlette" that I'm designing for a family friend who has been really thoughtful & generous to our family even though she's out in California. She, by the way has three sets of twins and a singleton...and I wonder, did she have a whole stockpile of tranquilizers or sedatives? I really don't know how she did it!

I’m pretty peeved at the ugliness of the roundabout circles. Maybe it’s just the pre-block blues, but I know that it will have to be blocked to heck to have the integrity it deserves. In retrospect, I should have chosen a semisolid…but you know how certain colorways whisper seductive lies to you while you're passing by. “You. Yeah, you....Come to me. Knit me up. Sure, I’ll look good knit up in lace even as a variegated colorway…don't you trust me??” I’m wondering if the lace would look better as a worsted though…probably. Oh well. Next time, something thicker, one color and silkier (and maybe beading).

You guys haven't seen this either, yet. It's the second of the Baby Ribbed Jackets. It's in tweed and I'm SLOWLY but surely getting to the end. I only have a couple of ribbing rows left to the collar and then sewing and ribbing on the bottom. Close, yet so far... I'm really dragging my heels on this one since I have Second-Sweater-Syndrome.

Here's pictures of the boys' actual birthday. The party was the day after and I still haven't taken the picture off yet.

YEAH---I do realize AFTER THE FACT that maybe sprinkles was NOT a good idea, as well as chocolate. They were lucky enough that I still had a few braincells left to remember to buy a cake after all the sickness going around.

Sam, interested.

Jake, not interested.

Sam, playing around.

Jake, stuffed up and miserable.
"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...cry if I want to...cry if I want to...you would cry to if it happened to you!!!"

By the way, the boys are walking already... Sam randomly walks around the house more (looking like a drunken sailor though...lol.)

Candy Corn Djevellues

2011-10-17T08:37:00.004-05:00

Now that the weather is starting to get chillier, I decided that I was going to turn the cute Norwegian knitting pattern "Djevellue" into something a whole lot sweeter to keep my little ones warm: Candy corns.

Funny, really, because the first Candy Corn Djevellue was knit in a size Adult as a test of how big the worsted weight will be as written. Exactly a largish adult size. From that point on, I roughly knew how many stitches to take away to form the 6-9 month version. Talk about deja-vu for knitting. Can you tell that I'm trying to plow through the "Warm Knits" for the wee-ones? It's like nesting, but knit-style.

On top is Jakie sporting the hat.

Sammie too.

Pattern: heavily modified version of "Djevellue", aka "sweet baby cap."
Needles: size US7
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in yellow, orange and white
Mod's: adult, 9 garter rows, the striping and yarn weight; infant, CO79sts instead, 8 garter rows, striping and bulkier yarn weight.
Started /finished: October 8th-9th 2011 (adult) and October 9th- 11th 2011 (baby)

Ribbed Baby Jacket

2011-10-10T10:59:00.003-05:00

I finished this little Ribbed Baby Jacket up several days ago, but was struggling to find the camera cord to upload the photos! Of course, the junk drawer is a treasure trove. I would take a photo with the boys in the jacket, but it's a wee too big still and they will have to model it in the Wintertime when it fits better.

I was pretty pleased with the results. It's cute and simple. However, it took longer than expected, and seemed to gobble up the yarn!

I chose a size that would be large on them so that it will fit the boys all winter long. Maybe into Spring. Who knows.

Pattern: Debbie Bliss' Ribbed Baby Jacket
Size: 6-9 month, although it will be more like size 1 yr for my preemie boys.
Needles: Size US7 circulars
Yarn: 2 skeins of Vanna' Choice in Pea Green
Mods: 10 rows of 2x2 ribbing on the bottom, buttons, arm shaping (I didn't do the three sets of 8sts BO's. I did 1 set of BO8 and then 4 sets of BO6 for a smoother transition in the shaping)
Started: October 5th, 2011
Finished: October 7th, 2011

Some other little things

2011-10-03T20:19:00.002-05:00

Remember the Baby Bears caps that I made last year? Well, it's been chilly enough for the babes to strut around proudly while rooting for their favorite team. I'm taking about The Chicago Bears, of course. ;)

I love the cap because it covers their ears completely and we can go for stroller rides without too much worry about earaches. (Just noticing the picture now, Sam did rearrange the position of the hat...it really does cover the ear.) However, the babes finally have their first cold, and boy has it been an experience taking care of two sick babies while feeling lousy from the same darn cold. Ick.

Jake wasn't as much of a model, but he does make one cute sleepy baby.

Then we have the quickie beanies.

Jake standing still long enough for my camera to focus on him. 10 takes later.

Sam showing off the garter stitch and experimenting on how much it can withstand baby stretching.

Here's the "Monster Knee-Saver" that I knit them months ago, but haven't posted about it. I had a feeling it wouldn't stay in one place while crawling...but it looks cute to just wear it for fun around people.

Enjoy Fall. I just love watching the tree in front of our house sprinkle leaves every couple of seconds. Couldn't this season last a little longer than what it usually does?

Here's a funny picture from Halloween '08. Today is our 2 year wedding anniversary. Although I wasn't a corpse bride, I was enjoying my amazing reception right about now.

I love you Joe. To many more amazing years to come.

I'm off to start binding off a baby sweater.

BSJ 4

2011-09-24T20:29:00.005-05:00

Another hibernating project down. Not long ago, there was a pile of 30 unfinished projects. Then I finished the Aestlight shawl, then the Morning glory shawl, and now the BSJ 4...I should be down to about 27 projects left to finish? *Chills*

My little Jakie is the model for the day (even though it will probably be Sam who will wear it since he is a little smaller). Such a cutie. He's sporting his 2 bottom teeth now for his photos.

This thing has almost been hibernating for 1 year. I started this October 21st 2010 (1 week before the boys were born. Prematurely.)

This BSJ is different from the last because it only has 2 yarns that are striping, but because the yarn's colorway does striping of its own, it does the work for me. The last one was a tangly mess while working with it.

I crocheted around the collar and to bind the sleeves together. I purposefully crocheted so that the wrong side faced the audience because it looked different. Fluffier. It meshed well with the garter stitch more in this particular project.

Project: EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket
Needles: size US6 circulars
Yarn: Paton's Kroy socks, 1 skein each of "Clay" and "Cadet" colorways
Project Started: Oct. 24th, 2010
Projected Finished: Sept. 24th, 2011

Here's a good picture of the yarn I worked with. I did about 4 rows per color.

Stunning cute results, in my book.

Jake's favorite "no-no" toy. When he is free to "roam about the cabin" (or house), he always crawls across the the living room, into the front entrance and into my music den to get at the guitar. He loves using his pointer finger to push buttons or strum in this case. It's really a good picture of this little boy who will probably end up being a guitarist, and not a pianist like mommy. Funny, he never goes for the piano pedals on the floor or anything else in that room but the guitar. And boy does he crawl like no tomorrow when you are chasing after him when he's heading that way. lol. I'm thinking about buying him a kiddy guitar for his 1st birthday. Can you believe it, the boys will be turning 1 in about a month?

I'm just gonna leave you guys with this last pic. What a close call, wouldn't you say? Let's not cut it soo close next time...

Summer of lace

2011-09-15T19:47:00.008-05:00

It really has been a summer filled with lacy projects. Boy do I have a surprise for you since I kept this project hush-hushed, unintentionally. After I finished the Aestlight shawl, I felt inclined to pluck another shawl out of hibernation to click away at. It took all my moments of freetime during nights or their naptime when chores were mostly done-which isn't a whole lot of time-but here be the "Morning Glory" shawl. Fitting, huh, with all of this Fall weather? Boy am I ready for some cool weather (and apple cider, and nutty carmel apples, and hot pumpkin lattes, and.....eek, it never ends).

The thing about this shawl is that I had an idea about what lace would look good next to the stripes (that would also be a no-brainer, cause goodness knows we like those types of lace), but the rest sort of morphed into this sun-ray like shawl that I adore. I was mostly freestyle-ling it. I started mentally taking notes of what I was doing, pattern-wise, but it wasn't too long after that I just decided that this shawl will just be mine and "screw" the pattern. It really is much more enjoyable when you aren't worrying about getting the correct pattern down or thinking you missed jotting down an important step somewhere in the middle of the pattern.

The shawl is knit from Alpaca "FrogTree" yarn from a little knitting shop in Prairie Crossing that sadly went under I think maybe a year ago. I bought a lot of orange and several other colors thinking I would do some cool braided scarf with multiple colorings, but I vetoed the idea not long after and it has been sitting snuggly with my other stash in a bookshelf. Luckily, I almost horded the color because I really went through a lot of skeins for this size of a shawl. I think I was on my 4th ball by the end.

Remember how I mentioned that I picked a simple lace along the striping edge? Well, I really think that it helps the overall impression to being a stereotypical ray pouring from the sun. The edging on the shawl was another easy-schmeasy pattern. Really. It was almost as easy as garter stitch itself for the effect it gives. It has the same starting instructions, but because a certain yarnover, you are knitting just one more stitch after each increase row. It took nearly one minute to etch into my brain and I didn't even need the chart after that. Love it. Plus, I think I would use this edging pattern for my "Ripples" Reading Afghan as soon as that beast is done. Will we live to see that day?

PATTERN: Morning Glory Shawl by KUAS
(won't be available though)
NEEDLES: set of US5 circulars
YARN: FrogTree yarn, sportweight alpaca, in orange and yellow
Started: Oct 28th, 2009 (and put away soon after several inches)
Finished: September 14th, 2011

If you look closely, the point of the "star" on the bottom of the shawl is cabled and has a little bit of beading. It's really hard to see in the photos, but it's there. I did a little bit of crochet around the edge of the point. In retrospect, I would have done a line of eyelet holes in increasing sizes on the point of the shawl, instead of just 1 hole. Oh well. I enlisted my husband to help me block the shawl. We went through quite a lot of pins. In case you were wondering, he was happy to help, but he was happy to hurry the process up so we could get back to our HBO show.

My son Sam

My son Jake, the little "chief."

Jake blocking the shawl.

Messy style.

Hope you like it.

Look familiar?

2011-09-05T19:38:00.003-05:00

This is one of the oldie-moldy ones from the college days, but I was asked permission a bit ago from the editor of allfreeknitting.com if she could post patterns, like this one onto the site. Of course I said yes, so here's at least one of them. If you happen to spot anymore KUAS patterns on there, let me know. :) Neat!

Click HERE to see the pattern on their site.

Bridal Handkerchief

2011-08-31T14:23:00.014-05:00

So I got this idea in my head-you know how that goes-that I could "whip up" a bridal hankie for a friend of mine who is to wed this Saturday as part of her wedding gift to her. I mean, how hard and time consuming could a lacy border be around a small cloth? Well, with a deadline of one week I knew I was cutting it close, but a small project like that should reap instant gratification, shouldn't it?

Oh, ho ho-how wrong I could be. Apparently, the main part of the whole operation, the women's handkerchief cloth is a rare breed. I searched many stores like Kohls (first time-consumption). Then I went to JoAnn Fabric's and Michaels (second time-consumption) in search of some semblance of a hankie (Michaels only has white bandannas, which I started to use until I did my practice hankie). Then I finally bit the bullet and went back to JoAnn's to find thin cotton cloth that is soo thin, you can see your hand through it. If I was gonna do this the hard way, I wanted it done right. Then, the next biggest time-consumer was finding a way to punch holes into the fabric like the old lace book with a hankie I got inspired from in the first place. No one, not even the stores could figure out how to get those holes in the fabric to crochet an edging into. And the darn book mentioned that you could buy hankie fabric at stores. Lies. After spending much time and asking around, my second visit to JoAnn's proved fruitful from an employee's suggestion to buy lace and sew it on...which I didn't want to do, since it would discard the whole reason to make the heirloom-type of hankie in the first place. HOWEVER, when she mentioned it, it brought up the idea of a thin helper-lace to sew on, which was just the ticket!

It was all downhill after that. I did some practice rounds on scrap hankies to practice the embroidery of her initials and embellishments around the edging. That was...fun..., not. I must have done dozens of letters, using a pen to mark the direction I started. The key is: if you wanted the letter to face you from the corner, you have to turn that corner to the left before sewing. Seems counter-intuitive, in my opinion. For some reason, when you try to embroider a letter, it doesn't face the direction that you sew and the size of the letter seems to be up for grabs to when you haven't mastered it. Thus being said, after I spent all the time on the "final hankie" (hankie two, might I add), I watched in horror as the "E" was higher than her other two initials I did. After hours of non-existent freetime...I was just gonna live with that imperfection. After sewing the hem with a lovely design from the machine, I sewed on the tinsie eyelet lace as my helper holes to knit the lace edging on, and off it went. I really love the silver beading on it as well. It really adds a nice fancy touch.

I hope my friend loves the hankie. It has that antique feel to it. Even if she doesn't use it to shed "tears of joy," she has a really beautiful hankie for her wedding day and memory box. I wrapped it up in silver tissue paper and tied together with a green ribbon containing a "congrats and care instruction" tag.

My friend Kristi is getting married in a year in a half, so hopefully next time I'll have plenty of time to "whip it up" and master the art of embroidery placement.

In retrospect, it would have been nice to have one for my own wedding almost two Octobers ago. Wow....two years.
All the best to you, Miss Elizabeth. Soon to be Mrs. Elizabeth.

Hello, Michigan!

2011-08-16T06:16:00.009-05:00

Hey gang. I'm at Joe's annual week-long family reunion that's up in Stevensville, Michigan. We have our own cabin (albeit far away from the rest of the fam's cabin) that is like a townhouse in the way that ours is connected to his parents/grandparents cabin, but instead of being normal-shaped...it's in the shape of a triangle. lol. The roof almost reaches the ground.

Anyways, I've been knitting away at the shawl while I and other family members watch the "I can pull myself into a stand and get into LOTS of trouble" babies. I plan on taking actual photos of these experiences when I remember to put the darn camera in the diaper bag. We are walking distance to the beach. We walked to the beach the other day and Lake Michigan looked so massive and beautiful, although quite windy, that I almost got lost staring out to 'sea'. Lake Michigan is soo expansive that it really looks like an ocean.

Question thrown out to the great cosmos: why is it that when you finally pack only 1 skein of yarn for a project instead of lots of it (being realistic)...you DO get to knit a lot and might not have enough with you on your trip to finish the project when you would have??? I guess it's a good problem if you got a lot done.

Oh, and I spent all my free-time last night while the babies were in bed figuring out the edging to the shawl...and I think I have the charted pattern now. Pfeuf! It takes a lot of stress off my back while knitting this.

Amore Shawl update

2011-08-11T20:46:00.007-05:00

Just reporting in on the Amore Shawl that I brought out of hibernation this month.

I've been clicking away row by row as I get a spare second. And I mean "second." I am about 2/3 done with the main panel, and I'm hoping to complete the body of the shawl this week (assuming that I can get some family "babysitters" during our annual reunion coming up this week). I still have to design the lacey edging, but I'm trying not to rush the idea...and to just visualize what would compliment lacey hearts as I come to the homestretch.

This bad boy needs to soak more desperately than the last shawl to really pull the heart back into shape in the places where the yarn ziggies (yup, made-up word. Meaning: where the yarn pulls funkily out of shape almost zig-zag like).

If your an longtime reader of this blog, you are probably noticing that I've used this lacey pattern before for my wedding shrug from '09. I was on some bobble kick. I have a sock pattern too that has a lacey heart and bobbles, called "candied love" socks. What can I say, I liked the texture of them, and since I hibernated the WIP, I have to continue what I started. Besides, this shawl has sentimental value, which I'll go more into length in the final post of the shawl. But for more, here's some more juicy red fruit for your eyes:

Toys, toys, toys

2011-08-06T11:39:00.003-05:00

It's been another crazy week in the Mal' household. Can you believe that after the onset of another storm...we lost power yet again?!? We were 1 of 9 in our area to loose power (thanks to our neighbors across the street). We didn't have power for almost 2 days...which is better than the 5 days last time, but honestly we are sick of the whole thing.

Anywho, here are some of the toys as promised. I still haven't knit up the texture ball I had envisioned, but here's what the boys have already. These two blocks are crocheted. I was planning on doing a couple of knit ones too. I used 100% cotton that I had in my stash. They are soft and squishy, which is refreshing after seeing how much these two tikes constantly hurt themselves from falling on their plastic toys.

Here's some cute knit bunnies. The yarn in chenille. I hope in the future that they can make best buds with them at nap time. They haven't found a "lovey" except for their pacifiers so far.

The boys really have taken off, physically, in July. They started crawling one week and not 4 or 5 days after their first real crawl they learned how to pull themselves into a stand,...and boy are they getting into trouble now!

I forget whether or not I mentioned in the last post about the other shawl I dragged out of hibernation, but I'm working on my red heart shawl again (although the last several days without power has been a setback) and hope to finish it this month. More details and pictures on that in the coming post. Ta-ta for now. We are off to Mariano's grocery store right now...it's like a 5 star grocery store on Saturday. They even have a pianist playing jazz music by the checkout. :) That's how I like to shop!

Aestlight Shawl

2011-07-21T18:36:00.007-05:00

It is finally finished! My two circular needles can breathe a heavy sigh of relief to be off the needles *finally* after nearly two full years of hibernation! I checked out my Ravelry page to only find in disbelief how long ago its been since I have casted on for this project. About one month before I got married, September '09.

Above, pre-block. The lace really, really needed the blocking to open up the bird's eye lace, as well as the eyelets were I picked up stitches. I used my little packet of Eucalan wool wash in grapefruit to give it a much needed soak. Makes me sad to use it up because I only have a few that I bought when I was still in college in a small yarnshop in Iowa. I've been reminiscing about the college days and how I wish I were back for a month or two.

The shawl being pinned. The soaking and blocking was done right before bedtime. (The only time to get stuff done.) I even convinced my husband to help me pin the edging because a blurry, tired eye is not the best eye for opening up and straightening out lace!

It's a beautiful shawl. I've been saving my "Anne" Schaefer Yarn for quite some time now for a worthy project, and I'm quite pleased with the results! I bought it at what used to be a yarnshop in Lake Forest, IL. It was relatively close to me, but it eventually went out of business...just like the yarnshop that was under 10 minutes away from me in Prairie Crossings. Sad.

I really was soo close to finishing the shawl way back before hibernation, but for some reason, I didn't have the heart to reach the end. I could place bets on the reason being a bad case of "startitis." I have three shawls that were on the needles at around the same time. Two are still in the closet.

I plan on wearing this shawl to a wedding shower and reception on Saturday that I have to "double dip" on. I was going to wear it with my Vera Wang dress that I USED to fit in, pre-pregnancy...but I found out in horror that it doesn't fit right around my ribcage anymore post-twins. *sob*. I had to buy another dress, a black one that is cute and has jewels on the straps and under the keyhole on the chest.

Victoria, ever the model.

PROJECT: Aestlight Shawl by Gudrun Johnston
YARN: "Anne" Schaefer Yarn, 1 skein of colorway 906
NEEDLES: US 7
PROJECT STARTED: September 7th, 2009
PROJECT FINISHED: July 20th, 2011

Feels really good to finish something of this size. The last BO stitch almost called for celebration because it took so many nights to finish the stinkin edging because I had to stop every two rows or so! Now on to finishing up the knitted toys and maybe keep tinkering away at the afghan? I know I've said this before, but I feel good. I feel almost back. almost.

Powerless

2011-07-17T15:39:00.005-05:00

It started off as a weird day. The babies and I went for a short walk at 6:3AM because it had already been getting hot and plain old muggy. Not long after, I noticed that it started to get pretty dark out. That's when I noticed that the wind was picking up. And when I mean picking up, I mean 80 miles per hour. Within minutes, our backyard seemed to be hurricane-blown, the trees bending over, broken off branches and leaves blown everywhere. Garbage cans toppled over into the streets. We had to vacate the family room because it was in the line of 3 story tree fire. What did I save? Well, babies of course (saved first, for those who might ask). But after that...things we couldn't live without in the Mal house. Tv? No. (Can't live without it, but when you compare it to the things I DID save you'll see why.) Cameras or purses? No. Einstein jumper, activity chair, baby gym and basket of toys? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. What else? Laptop? No. The WIP Rippled Afghan that took dozens and dozens of hours and thousands of stitches? Heck YES. Boy do you see my priorities, huh?!? Besides the knitting, our life seems to be a "Ground Hogs Day" worth of bouncing the kids from activity jumper to swing to toys and the like every 15 minutes. They have a lot of toys and activities, but man do these boys get bored fast. Almost as quickly as Sam is going from non-mobile to rolling, crawling, help-standing to even trying to walk despite his near 9 month old body (adjusted, 7.5 mos).

We got lucky. Real lucky. While our neighbors got hit hard in the roof or had their mature trees split to the point of no return, ours held out and we only had to worry about raking up up loose branches and a yard full of leaves (didn't realize it's Fall already). Oh, and that tinsy tiny problem of NO POWER.

Not just one day, or two days or three days or four days...but FIVE full days of Amishhood.In the Summer heat. With two babies. and NO GENERATOR. The first day was miserable. We lost power by 9am. Even with the windows down and the blinds shut, it got pretty humid and gross. The second day was a little better. By the third day, it really cooled off...which we were soo thankful for. We ended up loosing nearly everything in our fridge and freezer. For the few things that were salvageable, we kept a cooler going.
Our routine of washing out the bottles and making 16 bottles for the next day turned into washing and making a couple on-the-fly.

It's kind of funny because it seemed like the "Survivor" show the way some people reacted to the power outage. No TV? OMG. Let's go out and buy a generator! My tv usually is always running in the background during the day. The silence was a little strange, sadly enough. However, it was nice to be released from the bondage a little bit. And not being able to run fans without the air was also greatly missed, but we some how survived. We usually use them as white noise for the boys as much as we use it to break up the stuffiness.

Anyways, to make this long story short, we finally got our power back late Friday, being in the last 200 houses to receive power in my hometown (large population). Probably didn't help that a truck picking up one of the trees on the side of the road knocked down a light pole holding electrical wires while I was going to a morning stroller ride.

We are glad to have power- light, electricity, air conditioning, etc. We love it all, even more so now.

Photos really doesn't show the entirety of the situation. Every house had a huge pile of tree limbs and branches for the trucks to take. I had more photos, but my other camera's USB cord is MIA, so these will have to do. I'm guessing our neighborhood was on the news since it got hit one of the hardest because of all of the mature trees that have become very brittle from drought-like weather these past few years.

I have some knitted toys to share with you all later on, and the shawl is waiting to be soaked and blocked. Interesting things to come this week. Visit back soon.

Pretty little things

2011-07-10T09:47:00.004-05:00

Well, I am half was through the edging, which means that this shawl is on it's way to F.O-itude. The shawl really has forest green tones to it, but you know how lighting works. It'll look like a much different shawl after it's been blocked and shot at again during the next photo shoot. And boy does this shawl need to be blocked. I worked the larger size, yet it looks much smaller than the pattern's example. My sockyarn must have been much thinner. The edging looks like ca-ca right now, so I'm looking forward to blocking the socks off this shawl. tee hee.

Here's a cute pic of the boys around the fourth of July. They are sitting in their little Bumbo chairs in the baby pool. I have to say that they do love their water dosage. Splish-splashing is in their blood.

And I'll leave you off with some beautiful photos of my blossoming flowers in my garden. The last owner really picked out some great perennials. When I went to Walmart yesterday to get some fertilizer, I noticed that they had these lillies for 50 percent off, so I bought myself the pink and the red version to but in my backyard (these are in front of my house).

Not sure what these purple flowers are called, but they are pretty. They sure like to fan out though. The ones below look like sweet-peas...but not sure of the names Either. Any gardeners reading?

Forest Necklace

2011-07-02T14:26:00.008-05:00

Dear Blog,
Here's another necklace, dubbed the "forest necklace" due to it's colors. Instead of using crocheter's yarn, the necklace is crocheted using gold wire. I watched a tutorial online from a website called "Auntie's Beads" and whipped myself up something similar.

Do you remember Victoria? She decided to model off another KUAS project even though she has a lack of a neck.

The only problem with crocheting these puppies up, besides putting a bigger dent in the wallet is that my little boys find them WAY too appealing and I can't really wear them! When they see them around my neck as I hold them, their eyes light up and their little pudgy fingers reach out and tug on them first thing. Oh well. I still will continue to craft away at these necklaces because I have more ideas storming around in my head. I even want to venture out to real beading without the hook.

But, dear blog, alas...I have not completely forsaken the needles. Do you remember my Rippled Reading Afghan? I have dragged it out from the dark depths of my closet and have continued to knit those long, long rounds. (It probably takes more than 10 minutes each round now.) The colorway is so vibrant, so beautiful, I can't help to do a round here or there. Since that picture it has grown maybe 6 or more inches. I am on my last skein, so I had to order up some more skeins or the afghan will be much too small for my liking.

I have also dragged out my "Aestlight Shawl" that I started over a year ago. I don't recall posting about it. Could be wrong. I dragged it out of hibernation as well, surprised to find it just about done. Story of my life, right? I got really scared when I couldn't find the pattern that I checked off where I left off. The middle of lace is not the time to guess. I think there's only a few more rounds of lace left besides the edging. More on that later.

The boys turned 8 months several days ago. They are eating solids, trying to scoot/crawl (Sam actually crawls backwards because he still hasn't figured out forwards) and are very vocal, arrr---baaaa---maaa and blows razz's. Can't believe they will be 1 years old in under 4 months!

Gotta run. Have a great Fourth of July to those in America! I'm thinking about knitting up the boys diaper soakers in the striped Red-White-Blue cotton colorway. If you're bored, this pattern was Fourth of July festive from '09: Let Freedom Ring.

-Yours truly.

Aztec Gold Necklace

2011-06-15T07:51:00.003-05:00

I've been fiddeling around with jewelry making, but in a purely "needle" sense. I have these crochet jewelry ideas buzzing around my head and I've finally put it into motion yesterday. "Aztec Gold" is the preliminary version of other chained necklaces and versions.

I love how comfortable it feels. My skin is very sensitive to metals and it's refreshing to have something that doesn't scratch or irritate. (Plus it's nice to say "I made this" when people shell out compliments.)

This version is basically a very long loop that is circled around the neck three times for a layered look. My next version will be a large loop like this but the "jewels" will be different. My third one will be much different. I'll test out a new method for layering.

Not the most exciting hairday (always a "mommy" hairday) and the lighting pales the golds in the necklace, but here's an example of what it would look like with a complimentary tank.

It's fun and easy. The hardest part of the whole thing is stringing the beads on in the correct order and trying to get the yarn's layers from splitting; especially the tinsel. Tune back in for more jewelry. Necklace two is on the hook already.

...to brighten your day pt. 3

2011-06-01T06:44:00.000-05:00

...to brighten your day pt. 2

2011-06-01T06:42:00.000-05:00

...to brighten your day.

2011-06-01T06:38:00.002-05:00

Still alive

2011-04-21T15:47:00.010-05:00

Hey guys. Just popping in to say that I'm still alive. I've finished my first crocheted project, A basic hat, and was fudging around/working up fingerless mitts to match but I've been pretty busy with baby stuff to get too comitted. I'd like to post them together as completed but who knows when I'll finish them...I'm kind of bored with the mitts anyways. I'm considering frogging.

The mitts have the same backstitch single crochet border with single crochet along the main body with another bsc stitch along the way. I'll do the bsc on the top of the mitts too if I work on it more.

The hat/mitts are crocheted with two different colorway strands in fingering weight. The border is crocheted with the purple yarn as well as a lavender Malibrigo yarn in laceweight. It's more or less a stashbusting project for Spring.

My sanity has been on the fritz as much as my knitting. I've been experimenting with crocheting because there is that cute mini "Button Loafer" pattern I want to whip up for the boys. How cute is that pattern? I might be out of my zone though...since I'm a self-taught crocheter. Well, I'm a self-taught knitter too...but knitting patterns seem easier to read, somehow. Maybe that's why-as well as the reasoning that crocheting uses up more yarn- us knitters call the crocheting art the "Dark Arts" or the "Dark Side"...lol. Kidding.

The boys will be 6 months by the end of this month...I can't believe it!
Here's a video of Sam to brighten your day:

P.s- thank you for all of the sweet comments about the Kimono Jacket and the boys! :)

who's got the time?

2011-03-04T21:59:00.002-05:00

It's been a while. The boys are now 4 months old, and showing signs of teething already! They are quite fussy (all day long), so who's got time to knit?

Little Sammie in his Kimono Jacket, like his brother from the last post.

Sorry to bore. Maybe one day I will have time to knit again.

Little knits

2011-01-19T18:10:00.003-05:00

Hey all,
I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays and New Year. Just reporting in. Here's some pics of our little boys in the knits I made before they were born.

Jake in the Kimono Jacket that I thought would only fit Sam. We would have had a onesie that matched the jacket, but I'm not redressing this kid after giving two baths. lol. Anyways, who would want to take off a Cubs onesie anyways?

I waited much too long to put the babies in the Baby Cocoon...and now it's a bit short. However, it seemed fitting to have this little "worm" on his wiggle worm mat.

My dad's side lives in Seattle and so us being in the Chicagoland...it was a big deal last Sunday when the Seahawks played the Bears...and of course the strongest prevails, right? Eh, maybe it also helped that the babies brought them good luck. Now we'll need it for the Packers game.

Can you believe that the boys will already be turning 3 months?

Happy Holidays

2010-12-18T20:11:00.002-05:00

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and joyful New Year!

Love,

Me, Sam and Jake

My boys will finally be reunited today

2010-12-08T14:26:00.002-05:00

Just popping in real quick to give you all an update. I'm leaving soon to finally pick up Jake from the hospital! Sam has been home for two weeks now, which is why all has been quiet on the homefront. Jake has had little "episodes" with his o2 saturation, which is why his discharge has been delayed for two weeks. Every time he was about to be discharged, he had a little spell. Now, after being spell-free for 5 days (again!), we have an apnea monitor for him just in case. Sam, on the other hand hasn't given me much rest, even though it was like having a singleton home for the first two weeks. He, like his brother (but having it much worse) has GERD (acid reflux), and has been spitting up a lot in the two weeks...and would only sleep for about 30-45 minutes and then until his next feeding would wake up every 5 minutes grunting in pain...or grunting just to grunt. Sometimes it is hard to calm him, as he will turn red and squirm because the acid is coming back up through his throat, mouth and sometimes nose. I have had a couple of scares where the milk in his nose solidified and he couldn't breath and I had to suction him. That only made me check on him with every grunt at night afterwards. They are both on medicine now, and Sam had to have his meds reevaluated yesterday because it didn't seem to work. Today, he hasn't spit up anything measurable today and might be less irritable, but lets see. Luckily, Jake is a easy burper and sleeper.
Sam is 4Ibs 13oz and Jake is 6Ibs 5oz. Jake is growing so much that I'm starting to get one preemie looking baby, and one chubby newborn looking baby. lol.
Wish me luck and better sleep (somehow) and for the babies to mature inside. That's what I want for my birthday in a few days...and for Christmas!

Here's some older, but cute pics of the babies:

(above: he outgrew this outfit already)

Bathtime!

My Babes are 2 weeks old and die-hard Hawkeye Fans already

2010-11-12T10:52:00.006-05:00

One of the nurses took two pictures of them the other night, and so we scanned these adorable photos in. My husband jokes that Jake is giving his little brother the "death grip" which shows the nature of them in the womb (their size, mainly).

Look! No oxygen anymore!!! Jake was 4 pounds, 6 ounces yesterday...and so his last mission besides maintaining his own oxygen is bottle-feeding better. He and his brother got spoiled with their nose-tube feedings.

Sam is 3 pounds 5 ounces. He does not like his vitals being checked...he grunts and grunts and turns really red. However, I did get to see his beautiful dark blue eyes once he was really "disturbed." He remained awake for the rest of the visit then.

Preemie Ribbed Cap (Free KUAS Pattern)

2010-11-05T20:55:00.009-05:00

Now the babies are showing some Hawkeye spirit! I just couldn't stand looking at their heads swimming in all of the newborn hats, so I decided to make a preemie hat with some pep. I purposefully made a ribbed hat to mold of the babies' heads and grow with them. Hope you enjoy the pattern...it's a quick and gratifying knit for all of the preemies you come across in your life.

This type of ribbed or striped hat is nothing original...but here's a pattern just for the tiny-weensy size.

Preemie Ribbed Cap:
Yarn: lightly worsted weight or DK yarn (a yarn that recommends size US7 needles)in two colors. Less than 70yds per color.
Needles: Size US7 straights or Dpns
Gauge: approx. 5 stitches=1'' (lightly stretched); 6 rows= 3/4'' (18 rows=2.5'')
Measurements: unstretched= 3.5'' wide; stretched= approx 5.5'' wide; 4.25'' tall

DIRECTIONS:
Co 51sts with size US7 needles.
NOTES: Add 3 or 6 extra sts if the baby's head is larger than most preemies, or if the baby is just about newborn size. Also, I chose the MC and CC because we're Hawkeye fans, but use your own colors to suite your needs.

The Main Body:
1. Using the Main Color (MC) black, knit 6 rows in 2x1 ribbing (*k2,k1* on the right side and *k1, p2* on the wrong side if you're just using two needles).
2. Switch to the contrasting color (CC) gold without cutting the MC and knit 6 rows in 2x1 ribbing.
3. Switch to MC and knit 6 rows in 2x1 ribbing.
4. Switch to CC and knit 6 rows in 2x1 ribbing.

Decreasing for the crown:
5. Cut the CC, leaving a few inch tail, switch to MC and knit 2 rows in 2x1 ribbing.
6. *K2tog, p1* across.
7. *K1, p1* across.
8. K2tog across.
9. Purl across.
10. Cut the MC, leaving a long tail of several inches. Pull the darning needle through all of the stitches left on the needles and secure with a knot.
(11.)Sew the hat together if you used the two needle method.
12. Weave in all threads.

Feel free to add a pom-pom in the two colors for some extra pizazz.

My babies are turning 1 week old!

2010-11-03T21:26:00.007-05:00

Just a picture update of the little tikes in intensive care:

1 day old:

Jake off the CPAP mask temporarily until he later needed to be back on it. Mommy got to peek at what he looked like for a couple of hours.

Notice the size of the pacifier and the size of the baby?

Two days old:

Jake on the CPAP mask to help him breath. Daddy's company actually produced it!

Mr. Cool Dude in the isolet getting his UV treatment for jaundice.

Three days old: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Look, I've got my arms spread just like Mr. Bat and Skeleton!

My heart ached every time I saw him...

Four days old:

Jake finally feeding from the bottle. I think they started him off on 1tsp. He started to stop breathing with more than that since he's not coordinated yet for feeding and breathing.

Jake, looking like his daddy. He was too tired to fully open his eyes.

Look, little booties on my hands! I bet the nurses finally got sick of me pulling off those wires...

5 days old:

Jake in good spirits now he has no mask and also now 1 less wire running into his bellybutton. He's also sporting his booty on his hands.

Sam, the little squirmy stinker.

6 days old:

Jake is eating 12ml of milk now. His brother is drinking 7ml, but actually is 3 grams heavier than his birth weight now! What did Jake do today? His first poop! The nurse just commented on how they have been waiting for him to do that, and on his next change...what did they get? A big messy surprise! And he didn't even fuss when she changed him, the little angel.

Daddy spending time with the babes.

Sam, the Hawkeye fan.

Sam got his catheter removed from his bellybutton and put into his arm for sterile purposes. They say I should be able to hold him tomorrow!!! I can't wait!!!!

Now announcing....

2010-10-29T22:30:00.005-05:00

Both born 10/28 at 8:35am, little Samuel (2Ibs 13oz) and Jacob (4Ibs 1 oz)!!!

Here's the short story, since I'm still in the hospital recovering from my C-section and I'm pretty pooped:

Tuesday, a week and a half ago, my obgyn found out that I was 2cm dilated and was worried about preterm labor, of course. She set me up to have another NST and doctor check-up 2 days later (Thursday) where I was still the same but the NST showed signs of contractions every 8 minutes. At that point, I was admitted into the Labor Center to stop the contractions, and I spent the day getting shots and steroids to help the boy's lungs to develop faster just in case I was to deliver anyways. I was sent home that night instead of spending the 24 hours and was scheduled for a Monday checkup and NST, which was fine. However, they also scheduled me for another Level II ultrasound because the Tuesday ultrasound showed a weight discordance between the boys of a pound. (Really, this IS the SHORT story.) At the level II, the doctors found that Sam was 2 pounds and 11 oz and Jake was 3 pounds 15 oz and that Sam's placenta was starting to actually revert in blood-supplying performance. The doctor says that because be didn't gain really anything all week and the Doppler showed a weaker supply than his brother...it was possible that keeping him in there longer just more maturation could actually cause more problems and possibly death if long enough. He recommended a C-section THAT NIGHT or the next day or so.
Still in shock, we waited for my regular obgyn to give me a call and give her opinion, which was the same. Freaking out, that evening we got our affairs in order and Thursday 10/28, I was C-sectioned at 8am. (Scariest event of my life, and if you guys want that story and what it's like, maybe I'll tell the tale later.)

The boys are doing well. Baby Sam, even though a pound smaller, is breathing well and is in an incubator, while his brother Jake was on a breathing machine and has done a lot better to the point where he is aided with oxygen with just one of those breathing tubes instead of a mask. They both now have wires hooked up all over them and one running through their mouth, but they both seem to be doing better and better with each visit and not only little sam sucks on his pacifier...we found out last hour that Jake can do the same, if motivated. We left them both happily sucking on their purple hospital pacies. (Little sam will actually hold the pacifier with his little hand too.)

As for me, the "day after" isn't fun at all. The morphine that lasts for 24hours really shows how important the medicine was...and the nurses kept telling me to stay on top of the pain because it's hard to control it once you get beyond 3 or 4 out of 10. Well, I was doing fine until the afternoon today where I really started feeling the incision, as well as backpain. I've been popping pills like a madwomen to get it controlled again and I'm looking forward to finally getting past the little "pain hump" of a couple of days (or so they say). I will be released Sunday, and have not held my babies yet...do not know when they will come home (Sam might come home sooner than his brother if he keeps it up, as well as his weight). I ache that my babies will stay in the hospital for maybe a couple of weeks or longer.........(their due date was 12/11/10)

I still can't believe I'm a mommy and I still look at their itty bitty, fragile bodies in amazement and awe.

Baby pride & Fall 2010

2010-10-13T13:47:00.002-05:00

Well, I know I said in the last post that I wouldn't blog about the hat until the second one is done, but I guess I lied and you're going to see it since I'm about 3 inches away from being done with the second. I'll post again about the two hats, and little matching mittens in the next post. But anyways, here is the first baby Bears earflap cap for Jake/Sam. I have no idea what month this cap corresponds to, but it might be 0-6 or just 3-6 depending on the size of their heads. The cap is pretty stretchy though.

I was looking through Ravelry to find inspiration on Bears hats, and didn't find any...so I had to go google some images on how to better place the colors. It seemed that orange looked good at the base, and then to stripe the white and blue and of course finish off with blue. I added the pom-pom and braided cord for more visual interest, and the hat would not be complete without that blue crochet edging. I'm sure the hat will look better on a human than a lumpy monkey's head, but we'll have to wait for some more pics after they are born.

I hope you like photos, because this post is jam-packed with them because we are very much ripe into Fall and it just seems fitting to place them all in this post.

Here is the finished babies' room. There is nothing left to do but hang up two animal wall peices. Even their sheets and onesies are washed with baby detergent. We were very fortunate to have the grandparents purchase the major furniture for the little babes. The bedding is from their "great grandpa" and the mobiles are from others at my baby shower on Sunday.

Almost every person at my two showers (work & family) gave the babies clothing. I have almost two of everything because when you hear twins people people think more "identical" then "fraternal"...so I was really grateful to come across the gifts with similar, but different looking pjs or onesies. I have them organized from newborn to 24 months, and although it looks like they possibly can't go through all of their clothing from the look of their closet, I heard a rumor that babies go through clothing like water throughout the day. And don't worry...we also received lots and lots of diapers. My mom organized a "raffle" for diapers, telling all of the guests that for every 10 diapers they bring to the shower they get their name in the bowl for a prize. We ended up getting dozens of boxes that for twins should last, oh, a few months! Usually you don't think of diapers as an exciting gift at a shower for singletons, but for us...every time we opened up a box, a little more weight fell off my shoulders.

Here is our house in the fall. It looked so pretty when the leaves fell fresh from the tree last week. The colors aren't so vibrant now that they have dried up, so I'm glad we got some shots while they were so orange and yellow.

A shot of the neighborhood too.

Baby Gift

2010-10-06T14:55:00.005-05:00

Hey guys,
Now that we are slowly unpacking and uncovering more things, I finally came across the baby gift I received right before I moved that my blogfriend Bobbi graciously knit up for my little boys.

What a sweetie! Thanks again Bobbi...you're awesome!

As for my own knits, I've got a baby "Bears Fan" earflap hat on the needles right now and it's 50% done. You'll get to see the picture when both are done. No posting until the fat lady sings...otherwise, it will be like second sock syndrome, but for hats.

The little babes are now about 3 pounds each and are moving around in me like little aliens. You can really see and feel the little limbs popping out of the tummy, and they are particularily fond of my bellybutton, which feels very strange.

FO: Little Ribbed Baby Jacket

2010-10-01T09:25:00.003-05:00

Well, the little ribbed jacket is finished. Like always, I was waiting on having to buy matching buttons. I have a little box filled with buttons of all sorts, but I always somehow manage to make projects that don't exactly match them.

I think the boys will look dashing in this. I used one of their PJ's as a template for size. This model will fit 0-3 months.

The collar turned out OK, but I'm not too thrilled with it. I think it will look better if the top-most button weren't buttoned.

If you notice, the sleeves rib pattern has been changed up from the body of the sweater for some visual appeal. I didn't want the whole sweater to simply just have predictable ridges.

I love the look of seed-stitch, but by this point...it's driving me batty having to go back and forth like that (for some reason it creates tension instead of relaxing me) and the next sweater will have garter stitch as a border, and I'm contemplating making a different sweater altogether for the second boy. (They are going to share these sweaters. I'm not making one specifically for one kid.) I'm thinking something more under the lines of the triangle pattern that I used for "Joe's Office Socks."

Pattern: "Little Ribbed Baby Jacket" by KUAS
Yarn: 1.3 skeins of Plymouth Yarn Galway Highland Heather in teal. Worsted weight wool.
Needles: size US9
Construction: mostly sideways
Start and completed: September 27th-29th, 2010
Made for: Jake & Sam (my expected baby boys)

Getting a good dose of Fall? I've been making pumpkin pie, I went apple picking a couple of weeks ago with my mom and grandpa, picked out pumpkins for the front of our house, I've been making apple cider and have sugar cookie dough ready to be rolled out and cut into little leaf and acorn shapes. Leaves are falling all over our yard, it's colder....I'm in heaven. Mother Nature, can you please let this last all October long??

Little Ribbed Baby Jacket

2010-09-27T14:19:00.002-05:00

Well, we are officially moved into our new home (although there are plenty of boxes to unpack still)! We have painted the baby's room light yellow, and the office a light steel blue, and are feeling more and more comfortable in this new environment. It is a really strange feeling living for the first week in the buyer's home...but I think it's starting to go away as the days go on.

Above is a photo of a new baby jacket project that I started. I'm dubbing it the "Little Ribbed Baby Jacket." It's a sideways construction, which makes it more interesting to the eyes and easier on the hands as it requires less sewing in the end. I'm using some of the babies' clothing to judge how much and far to knit for size 0-3 mos since I'm doing free-style as usual.

Since our house isn't completely unpacked, I'll give you a preview of the only finished room in the house, the kitchen:

I'm in love with it, and the large island inspires me to cook & bake. I've already been adding little "Fall touches" around to make it cozier and christened the oven with a pumpkin pie!

Fuzzy Wuzzy Cap

2010-09-09T14:52:00.002-05:00

Holy smokes, I'm back again? (hee hee hee.)
Just popping in to show you the little fuzzy wuzzy caps I made my little babies. Yesterday in the ultrasound, I found out that the two little buggers must be conspiring deep in the womb. They used to be both in the head-down position, ready for take-off in several weeks...but when we looked at the ultrasound, they are now both breached and the two of them were forehead to forehead and looking like they were talking or communicating with eachother. They must have heard the TLC baby shows I've been watching recently and learned how long it takes to get down that shoot. At least they are both buds, though. They are starting to do the whole alien thing while moving and kicking, where you see my belly rise and fall with their large movements.

The green in the caps are really nicer looking in real life. They look a little split-pea soupish in these photos. The nice thing about them is that they are very soft and match the baby cocoon I showed you all in the last post.

They are knit up on a 5.5'' diameter loom. They were a cinch to make and gave me some more instant gratification. Maybe I should have all of my knitting stuff taking up my family room in the new house, since when it's in the way and in plain view it gives me motivation to knit up these new projects...

Fuzzy Baby Cocoon

2010-09-07T17:20:00.003-05:00

Well, ladies and gents, we've got a FO! I forced myself to not only cast on...but knit and knit until the darn thing was finished. If you've been with me for a while, you probably know that I am notorious for hibernating WIPs.

Pattern: Fuzzy Baby Cocoon by KUAS
Needles: size 13, 11 & 10.5 straights
Yarn: Yarn Bee's Cameo (bulky)
Started & finished: 9/7/10
For: my little babies.

I'll have to make one more just like this so I have matching ones for Jake and Sam. While packing, I have found that I have been hoarding yarn like no other, and I realized that I have "grinch-like" yarn that can be used for another type of cocoon for taking photos, and of course a spare bit for grinchy booties.

Can't wait to take new pictures with live babies all snuggly in them...

Quick hello.

2010-08-31T16:12:00.007-05:00

Still alive. It's been blazing hot in our top-floor apartment, so not much in the ways of knitting...but I do plan on showing you the booties and matching hats once the hats are completed. I've also been packing because our closing date is in the middle of September. Other than that, reading some mystery cozies on the couch, craving to make some fluffy cupcakes and apple turnovers, and watching way too much Foodnetwork besides working my two jobs. I'm really, really wanting the weather to finally cool off, and everything Fall is swimming in my head.

25.5 weeks, probably 11-12 weeks to go for twin births. What I do know is that two babies are heavy, and they both like to head-butt me since they both head-down and it feels weird!

Update: I have forgotten to show you this ridiculous photo of a fleece baby carrier, found on uniquedaily.com. It is, what I can only imagine, a fusion of a kangaroo pouch and what seems to be an alien emerging from her stomach. Creepy.

If this doesn't make you laugh or smile, I don't know what will...

Bet that kid's face is cold still.

Tote.

2010-08-11T15:23:00.006-05:00

Well, it's official...we bought a house! After much heartache and hassle, and 3 house offers later, we got the original house we wanted. I've been in over 50 houses, and have spent endless hours on the Internet looking at who-knows-how-many-more house listings. I just got back from the house inspection, and could not have been more pleased with the results. Overall, there are only several very minor little tweaks needing to be made (like putting a 50 cent cap on something electrical), which really reassures us, since it's a renovated older home. I've had a very long and stressful week that seemed to just be getting worse and worse...and I went into the inspection thinking it would be my luck to have something major needing to be fixed, but I was happily wrong, and realized that they put more work into the home than I even knew of (like even all new windows within the last few years). I'm happy that this house journey is almost over, and our planned move-in day is in the middle of September.

You're looking at a new KUAS design that I just couldn't help myself to. It's going to be a felted diaper bag/tote (I'm thinking about naming it "a Knitter's Diaper Tote"). It's a beast of a bag right now, and I'm hoping to get it down 1/3 or maybe 1/4 of its size once it's done felting. I plan on making storage pockets for the bottles and 1 for diaper wipes that will go inside the tote, and the outside should resemble my Vera Bradley purse, where the handles start at the base of the purse and there is a single pocket between the front handle. The handles will be brown and also felted. The top of the tote will snap shut on the sides and there will be a single pink wooden button in the middle that will button shut with a flap.

Speaking of "toting," the babies are 22 weeks & 4 days along. I haven't had as many backaches in the night like I did a week or two ago, which makes me happy. They are now at the point where they are kicking harder and since they are riding low, it feels like hiccups or are jumping in the area above my pelvic bone. Still can't tell between some of the kick/hiccup/or maybe braxton hicks sensation they warn you about. "Lefty" baby still seems like he's really the only kicker, as "Righty" hardly ever kicks on his side, unless they are positioned differently now that they have less room. In a week they will be about a pound each; it's sad thinking that they have a week or so left before they won't have enough room to do somersaults. It's cool, though, putting your hand on your belly and feeling movement once in a while. It will be really weird when the movement is more pronounced.

Baby Kimono Jacket

2010-07-30T10:22:00.003-05:00

Hey Gang, here is the other baby jacket that I finished this last week:

Pattern: Harvey Kimono Jacket
Needles: size 5 and 6US
Yarn: 2 skeins of dark green "di.Ve Zenith" yarn
Mod's: seed stitch instead of garter stitch
For: my twin munchins

The jacket is cute, but since I ran out of the dark green yarn, I was forced to use another shade of green, which inevitably shows the seed stitch on the edging more messily than the invisible same color edging. Oh well. :)

If you're just coming in this week, check out the BSJ 3 from the last post for more baby knits.

BSJ 3

2010-07-25T20:05:00.005-05:00

Welcome to my remodeled blog. I finally got the motivation to "repaint" because I have a bunch of knits to show off since my last appearance on this blog. Joe and I are currently house-bidding at the moment, which is taking up all of my free time (and boy does it resemble a bad ping-pong match), but I have two baby jackets to show you, as well as some other cutsie knits that I'll show off one by one in the posts this week. Yeah, I know...a heart attack for the FO part, and a double hospital visit for the multiple posts in the same week part. I've got two little munchkins to knit for; plan on seeing me more regularly.

Pattern: EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket
Needles: size 7US
Yarn: FrogTree yarn in brown, orange, gray and teal. 1 skein each.

Quite surprisingly, I've had many tribulations with this knit. Who would have thought, since I've made it two times before this. I first had trouble getting my hands on the pattern. I finally found a blog friend who graciously offered to show me the information that I was missing. However, I also used the note-sheet that I found a long time ago online for this pattern (that is mathematically erroneous in some spots), and I couldn't remember which parts I changed. So, I had the easy part done: just knitting the increase rows. By row 50, I realized the truth in the saying "assuming makes an ass out of 'u' and me." Dorkus here forgot that very early on, you must increase after the cuff area, or by row 50, you'll come to realize the stitch count is WAY off. Now, I did end up painfullyfrogging all the work way back to, what, like row 10 to fix it...thus having to redo all of the alternate color striping that I did. After working a couple of days on it at the family reunion, it felt like a huge set-back.

Now, fast forward to way later in the game. I had to cut the yarn due to the bind-offs for the collar, and when I reattached them and started knitting I must have started knitting from the wrong side...because several rows later...the colorway was not quite right.
Now ok, I have been working on and off, knitting during family games, during boring nothingness hours, and at late hours...so I wasn't quite knitting clear-minded, but frogging it twice seemed annoying, especially when most of your time knitting it was spent on untwisting four skeins of yarn every other row.

Colorway fixed. Fast forward to the end of the game. The brown running out. That's basically when the project hibernated for two weeks because I was bummed that I didn't have enough some how.

Fast forward to two days ago. Did I remember to mark down which row I left off with two weeks ago? No, that would have been such a easy ending to what seemed like a hard knit. I thought for a second that I was going to have to frog back to a landmark, but luckily...by that point my brain clicked on and I found out where I was.

Do a slow fast forward to today, since I had to go out to JoAnn's Fabric because that's the only place where I can find buttons. Out of all the buttons I have in my craft box, orange did not make an appearance in the quantity of 5. Bummer.

But this happy little bugger is finished. I'm quite happy that we finally made it to the end, this little jacket and I. It seems like a sophisticated number of one of my boys.

The next BSJ I plan on doing consists of the idiot's guide-pattern that I wrote out on the laptop that goes in full length of directions of every row, no cheats or shortcuts...and the yarn will consists of two variated and complimenting yarns. No muss, no fuss next time.

Stay tuned this week for a baby kimono jacket.

Hello, from Michigan

2010-06-23T22:28:00.007-05:00

Thunderstorms, down-pours, and electrical outages, OH MY! Well, you wouldn't know about it looking at the pictures, but our 2 hour trip turned into a 4ish hour one and our family reunion got jump-started by having no power for the first couple of days. It wouldn't have been so bad if the family size was smaller, and we didn't have to buy so much food all the time and store it into a fridge that didn't have power, and also if the whole town wasn't under either for a few days. We had to travel far to buy food, and lucky for us, the stove ran on gas.

However, it has been fun having "me time"...reading, knitting, walking along Lake Michigan and such. I can get used to this whole no work thing real fast.

The sign above is a little snipit of what we saw on the beach: do not enter signs. It was really hilarious. You get to the beach, and you have like 100 feet of actual beach front where you can do as you please and to your left and right are all of these "keep off" signs. We did learn that you were allowed to walk along the beach, as long as you keep the rule "wet sand=green, dry sand=red."

We had several cabins to hold our generously-sized family. Joe and I practically had a cabin to our selves (it was a one-room one, but had a kitchen and bathroom with a washer and dryer in it). The scenery and decor was amazing, and the whole theme was "Elephant Walk" after the movie and book. Elephants littered the premises.

Here is a preview of the BSJ 3, for baby boy, if there is such a gender residing inside of me. Here's the thing, I first had trouble getting my hands on the pattern, but when I did, I happily knit and followed the predictable decreases until halfway through the pattern when I noticed that the back had more stitches than it should have (like in the double digits). I thought to myself, that can't be right...I did all of the decreases in all of the right spots and timings...until I looked through the pattern one more time in the beginning and noticed that on row 11 or so I was supposed to increase the sleeve stitches, thus adding many more decrease rows. The piece was not salvageable, and I had to frog the whole darn thing after two days of knitting it with color-switching and love. That really set me back, but I restarted it the next day and I am currently (and very tiredly so) am approaching the home-stretch. The sweater is cute, and I am loving the color scheme and natural alpaca quality to the yarn.

I used my Frog Tree yarn in sport that I had from the LYS that recently went under. It looks like I put a lot of work into color-switching...and I did, but not with lots of strands on the edging. Every row twists the 4 yarns together, and unwinding the tangles takes up a good percentage of the knitting process. However, it's worth it. The little tyke, or tomboy, will look cute in it.

I think I'm starting to feel the babies kick some. I put my hand on the spots, though, and the kicking stops. Meanies. 29th is the next ultra sound...will they let me find out what they are?

Family Reunion

2010-06-17T16:22:00.002-05:00

Hey guys. Just giving you a tiny update before I leave for a week-long reunion with Joe's family in Michigan. I've finally got my hands on the EZ BSJ pattern that I was so desperate for (and I thanked the person repeatedly, what a goddess of the knitting fortunes), because I casted on for it before I found that the pattern was MIA. And the only library book in our county is checked out. And our local bookstores don't have it in stock. The Kimono jacket is about done. I have stopped short of one sleeve to do the next because I am still very worried about how much yarn is left. I hate fretting about that kind of stuff. I'll meet you back with some picture of my well-needed vacation and hopefully two finished (boy) sweaters! Babies seem to be doing fine, and boy am I getting bigger....
The next ultra sound is on the 29th, and maybe I'll find out the sexes? 16.5 weeks by then! I'm still waiting for my first undeniable kick!

Baby Kimono

2010-06-11T14:59:00.003-05:00

I have searched high and low for that darn BSJ pattern to no avail. I have made two of them, and somehow the pattern managed to slip away from my hands. I really was hoping to start the jacket so I could bring it to my week-long reunion coming up next week. Now I just have to pray that the patron who currently is checking out The Opinionated Knitter book returns it early. Not likely though, since it's due back on the 22nd.

In the meantime, I have started the Harvey Kimono Jacket to calm my freaking nerves. I'm really nervous about how much yarn I have for this project. I'm using an Italian yarn that I purchased my last year of college, and I can't remember the name of the brand unless I search my blog because I removed both of the labels. I only have two 100 or 150yd skeins, and the pattern almost calls for 300yds. I'm hoping the designer over-shot the yardage requirement. I am making the smallest size.

I casted-on yesterday and finished the back, now I'm working on the left flap before I have to teach today. Meanwhile, I started dinner; I made a Caesar noodle salad, and chicken breasts spiced with Cajun and lime seasonings is currently marinating until I get back home later on in the evening to grill on those handy grill pans. (The other night I made a really scrumptious pork roast with potatoes and carrots that simmered in the crockpot for 6 hours. I even made a pumpkin pie that day, since it felt like Fall again.) I'm hoping the chicken turns out as successful. It seemed like a yummy idea.

The start of something new

2010-06-06T20:17:00.002-05:00

Well, I am now offially in my second trimester! My bump is getting larger, and yet I still feel the need for small, manageable projects. I pulled this "Sweet as Candy" Cardi out of the hibernation bin and knitted away at it. Well, ok, it served as two purposes...because I needed my size 7 circ's too.

But, I feel great having finished another project after a long lull of startitis. I am craving to knit another baby cardi in sportweight yarn with lots of wonderful bright colors. I think I have been watching way too much Ravelry projects done with those wonderful assortments of colors as shawls and cardi's.

Really, this entire cardi was improv, and I don't mean in the general sort of way that I normally knit and design. This is a no-real-vision type of improv. It was started 2 or 3 years ago in just a top-down raglan fashion when I had that sort of kick, and was hibernating ever since until a few days ago when I just decided that instead of a boring 1x1 edging, I'll try some simple frilly-frill garter lacing. Heck, it's meant for a girl (if I have at least one), and you can get away with that sort of thing when they're babies.

I think it's cute, overall. I just have to knit away at a boy version now. No frills. I'm thinking maybe another BSJ.

By the way, I'm tres excited about this year's Midwest Fiber Fair. Anyone planning on attending that? I used to think that the other ones were close to me (30-45 mins), but now!...it's 12 minutes away, and would have been 5 minutes if they hadn't relocated Lake County Fairgrounds this year. I'm super-duper excited to buy some bright shades, maybe some STR for some more baby things.

I've been tending to my balcony garden, and am waiting with much anticipation for my tomatoes to pop up. Ever since my Snowpeas and radishes came up, I splurged some more for my garden (which I only have a few types of plants to show you, since these photos are a couple weeks old).

The first to really be fruitful is of course my snowpea plant. I have yet to see the string beans pop up, but it's still the beginning of June.

My lovely radish plant that overgrew, and didn't come with the instructions that once it flowers, the radishes diminish to support it. Yowzers. I decided to dig them up and make Radish Leaf Potato Soup. It was interesting, and wholesome. I'm not sure how much vitamins are retained after cooking it, but as a raw product, radishes are one of the most vitamin-rich plants. So I've read.

My cherry/beef tomato plant that looks totally different now. It's flowering everywhere, and I watch every day for some tomatoes to form.

If anyone's interested, my plant inventory now seems to be: snowpea, string bean, cherry, beef and roma tomatoes, green onion, radishes, jalepeno, rasberry, green pepper, cilantro, basil and a couple flowering plants.

Lastly, Joe and I spent last Saturday at Kalahari, as a last-minute attempt to have a vacation before we don't have a life anymore. We do have a week-long reunion that's coming up in the middle of June, but this was just about us. I couldn't do much (really, just the lazy river, eatting, getting a little sun and drinking virgin drinks), but it was nice to say we tried to have a little vacation in the Dells.

Babies!

2010-05-25T12:11:00.002-05:00

Here's some ultrasound pics!
The first one is of the 7.5 week shot, when I first found out about the twins...

The next set is 11.5 weeks, and after all of the shock!
I love this one, especially when it's flipped. You can make out the nose and eyes better, and the feet looks like it had been moving around while the photo was taken.
I believe this bottom one is a bird's eye view (of both):They were both moving around...bobbing their heads and kind of squirming as they will. It was very strange and wonderful to witness.

Let me know.

2010-05-21T15:48:00.002-05:00

Just stopping by. Don't have pictures yet, but I did visit a local knitting shop that was going out of business and put a little dent in the pocket for the two rugrats in my belly. I started a blanket with yarn that I purchased a while back, but decided against thin yarn (I have two of these things to knit up), and frogged it. I'm now knitting with a half wool/acrylic blend that is almost like unspun bulky wool. I plan on knitting a good chunk of it at the week-long reunion coming up.

Anywho, I just wanted some thoughts from you mothers who have delivered multiples. I used to be hard-core on the C-section notion (about 80% of expectant mothers now have them if they have multiples) because I watched/heard stories about how mothers went through hours and hours of labor just to only have to do the c-section anyways. One example was two of the heads was at the exit or another was one was in the correct position, but the other turned the opposite way. I just don't really know yet what the true risks are for a C-section, which is something I plan on asking my doctor at my Tuesday visit for a second ultrasound. I was working the other day when I asked a lady who had twins if she delivered naturally, and she said "yes," and without any problems. However, this was her second pregnancy...they supposedly get easier by the pregnancy.
Let me know if you know someone or you yourself have gone through a multiple delivery.

Double, double, toil and trouble

2010-04-29T10:33:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone. Sorry for the lengthy absence. I've been meaning to post earlier on with some big news, but I couldn't until now because I didn't let my work on the big secret until yesterday.

Well, what is it? I'm pregnant..........with TWINS!!

The due date is 12/11/10 (a day before my birthday, but twins never come on time!). So, it looks like I have my hands completely full for say, maybe the next 21 years! I always knew that there was a possibility of twins for me (my maternal grandmother was a twin), but I didn't expect them on the first go. I went to my first ultrasound meeting on Tuesday, and we were focusing on one "sac" and the lady started to look around and saw the second and told us that there were two heart beats! They will be fraternal twins, because they are unmistakeably separated, both camping out in their own cozy tents and their own supplies. It looks like Christmas will be different this year! and Twins!

These booties are just the building blocks to other greater booties. (lol.) I see myself knitting moccasins, fluffy socks, ballet slippers (if a girl(s)), and even elf or Santa slippers for Christmas.

I have SOO much knitting to do...and I want to know the genders now!!! Whaaa!

I left off with Winter, and will pick up with Spring. Are you all stopping to smell the gorgeous tree-flowers?!? I want it to last extra long this year, but I don't have magical powers. I'm trying to take the time this year to really enjoy them, because they seem to only last a week or less.

Here's a picture from our first 2010 BBQ that we had with some friends. I think when we get our next place, we'll have to upgrade, but right now this little Webber is taking care of business. And yes, boys do love grillin'. (They just don't like cleaning up the mess.)

Leftovers, anyone?

2010-03-23T11:52:00.011-05:00

Well, I hope you like leftovers, because I need to post about these now or forever hold my peace. Spring is here, and it's "out with the old and in with the new" from now. Lately, I was working on writing up the "Punk Rock Tunic" pattern, while knitting my second one, but I'm planning on frogging it and testing out a different way to go about the way I textured the raglan. I want to make this simple pattern even more simple while having it look the same as the original. I need to buy different needles now, so it'll have to wait until I have them in my hands. I was also debating about using another type of yarn as well, so I'll have to scour the store for a bulky yarn of the same thickness. But anyways, here are some things that have been going on:

These two snowy photos are leftovers from the last snowstorm (hopefully the last) of this Winter season. I love ice and snow shots; they seem so beautiful and artistic.

The onion. Oh how it grows! Joe and I had this onion that sprouted leaves randomly, and we thought it was cool...so we let it grow a little more. Then, when it just got too funny because it really took off growing, we thought it was too amazing to cut for cooking because it looked like a real plant, and I didn't have the heart to ruin it. Then the leaves got really twisty and spirally because the leaves had nowhere to go.

I keep telling the other onions, why can't you be more like your cousin?? I guess I "had it coming" when the other onions instead made me cry.

I was inspired by those "kneadless" books to make bread. Since it's the whole Easter season, I decided to make Challah bread (it is Jewish, but one religion came from another and it seemed fitting). I thought the recipe called for a lot of dough, but I had no clue of the magnitude of this recipe. In retrospect, I would have frozen half of the dough before baking...

In the bowl, it spins all innocent, so small...until bing-bada-boom...it takes up the entire oven! It was so heavy that I almost dropped the pan while taking it out. Everyone who looked at it shook their head and said "that's a lot of bread." (They might have glanced at it again and repeated themselves too.) I ended up freezing some of it because I didn't want it to go bad, and we later sliced it up and made French Toast out of it. It was yummy though. I might make it again soon. In a smaller batch.

Spinning!

I spun some more of this pink fiber-goodness from one of the Stitches Midwest, I believe. It's going to be a singles type of yarn. It's heathered-style because there were lighter pink strands mixed in while spinning, and I think it looks really nice. This yarn let me practice not drafting all of the fiber in bulk, like I did when I first started spinning. This one, I was drafting as I spun. It's a little tricky, and I need a lot of practice before I can call myself a proficient spinner, but it's a good start for now. The yarn is (relatively) the same thickness throughout. Score!

I might spin a little more with the spare pink fiber, but it won't be significantly larger on the bobbin. I'm still thinking of what I would like to make out of it. I don't know how many yards I have yet, but when I do, maybe you guys can pop ideas into my head.

I've been busy, busy, busy working two positions at the library while also teaching 15 students piano. I'm liking my new position working as a "Circ Clerk" (checking materials out, being the "operator," checking things in, etc.), and I haven't had too many bad experiences. I have noticed that although the weekends are very busy, people seem to be angrier and less able to be satisfied on a Saturday compared to Sunday. Maybe it's the whole "I just went to church, I'll be less of an......today." Besides overdue fees, the number one reason patrons yet really angry at a Circ Clerk is because if they are not in the computer, they are required to show 2 proofs of current address, not 1...on their license. Really, people get very, very angry! When they do find the second, they start telling you that they can also bring in 5 more the next time they are in because "you don't believe their word" that they live where their license says. Or, some toss their proofs your way when they do find it. It's very frustrating because although I'd love to take their word, I have to abide by the library's policies. I do want to keep my job. Shocking, I know.

Anyways, at least at the library I work in, we do everything we can to please the patrons, and shelvers really do ruin their limbs shelving if they've worked there a long time. If you want to do something really amazing, thank or compliment a librarian the next time you're in...it'll make their week. No joke.

Let's go ahead and end on a happier note though (lol). Since it's already springtime, I've decided to plan a small veggie garden for my balcony. I'm using that Jiffy Greenhouse Starter kit, and the radishes and tomatoes have already sprouted! I'm planting two types of tomatoes, two types of greenbeans, green onions and radishes for now. I'll give you a picture update a few days on their status. Meanwhile, I just finished the book "The Forgotten Garden" and I'm trying to finish up Charlaine Harris' "Dead to the World." Goodness, that girl needs to get with Sam. He's such a great guy and he's barely in the books anymore!

KUAS designs update

2010-02-21T11:45:00.002-05:00

I have been working on Ravelry, updating the pattern galleries so that they have photos from other Ravelers. You'll see how everyone has their own take on the designs, which is a pretty neat thing to notice, as a designer's point of view.

I have been getting an alarming amount of requests for the "Punk Rock Tunic" which I have been procrastinating writing up. However, I finally did get the zing to work on it, and realized, to my demise, that the pattern is lost. I'm not sure what I wrote the pattern down on-sticky notes or the computer-but it is a goner. However, never fear! I remember how I did the pattern (it's really simple, actually) and I will reknit the tunic hopefully this week. I'll keep you posted on that in the future.

However, in the meantime...I will need a few seasoned "test knitters" for this pattern. I'll need to find some for the sizes "small," "medium" and "large." You'll need yarn that's similar to one one I used, if not the same kind (see the "Punk Rock Tunic" project page on ravelry or let me know if you need the info). I'm also looking for "seasoned" knitters because I want to get this pattern done in the near future, and I'll need people who can knit this up within 2 weeks once the pattern is sent, and also send me feedback about the pattern. I'm going to limit myself to only a few people for each size. Email me (knittingupastormATgmailDOTcom) if you're serious about being a test-knitter. First come, first serve. You get the test-pattern and finalized pattern free (however, I don't have money to pay you), plus the credit on my blog when I post about the finished pattern .

Just a few notes

2010-02-12T12:53:00.002-05:00

Sorry, gang for my little leave of absence lately. I have been particularly busy the last couple of weeks because I have been putting in extra hours at the library ever since I got promoted to the "Circ Clerk" job. I am still shelving a little AV there, but I have been training the last 2 weeks with my supervisor, sometimes working two shifts, while also taking on my 12 students throughout the week as well. It's been a stressful time, and I have been getting home late, eating late and doing little but watching tv because my brain is fried, overly tired, giving my headaches, or all the above.

I do have lots of things to share with you all though, regrettably not too much in the knitting department. I have been working the past month in a half on various hibernated projects, but I have also casted on for something wintery because I just couldn't take it any longer. I'll talk about it more later on in the post.

I have a new toy! I bought this Wurlitzer piano off of a lady in my hometown, and I'm thrilled to have my very own piano. I have been falling out of practice ever since college, and I am practicing with a vigor that I haven't seen in ages. Granted, I do have to play as quiet as possible, since the piano carries in the apartment and I am trying to avoid a "noise complaint." I haven't gotten one yet, and I want to keep it that way. It is very difficult to play quietly every time I practice, but I tell myself that it is only temporary until our lease is up. Joe and I plan on searching for a reasonably-priced townhouse or a stand-alone when our lease is up.

I've been playing around with photoshop for these pics, because my apartment isn't really photogenic. I really like the edited pics.

I've been cooking too. I've made a cheesy hash brown casserole, experimented with a mango turkey meatloaf, a red cabbage & green apple side dish, scalloped potatoes, a "spaghetti squash" dinner with my specialty garlic bread, etc. The gizmo that you see in the picture was one of my wedding shower gifts from Avon that is really fun. It cuts your veggies into those slices when you push the lid down on it. They cut the potatoes into really nice sized chunks for scalloped potatoes or for cutting carrots.

Has it been snowing a lot by you too? I've been having a hard time just getting out of my parking spot! My balcony is definitely feeling the weight of the snowstorms.

I've been working on EZ's "Mitered Mitts" in the Frog Tree yarn that I bought a while back (the same yarn as used in my Striped Shawl). I'm digging the mitts so far, and I have been knitting them during my work breaks. My Striped Shawl is coming along too. I don't have a recent picture though to share with you all.

I have one more interesting (and a horror)story:
A couple of weeks ago, Joe and I invited some friends over for a "game night" with appetizer foods and some fun board games like "Dirty Minds" and "Cranium." After leaving-this is a Sunday evening mind you, and they were only over like 2ish hours-my friend calls me on the phone and says her car is gone. Now, we ran out of visitor passes, and the apt. office is closed on the weekend, so were were on good faith (naive) that a towing company wouldn't be around on a wintery Sunday evening. She first thought that someone might have stolen her car, but we found out that she actually did get towed! OK, so we called them up, they towed her car just TWENTY MINUTES before my friends left, on one of those random "patrols" they they must do to earn another buck. We ended up having to drive to a town 30 minutes away(!) and have to bail the car out for nearly 200 dollars, meanwhile having to drive to a shady shack in the middle of nowhere with a dark lot and a little house with no heat and carpet ripped out in nearly half the house. The money and drive wasn't the worst part, mind you. While we were paying, one man was taking care of the "business" transaction (only hard cash allowed) while the other man was in the darkest part of the shack, with a hooded sweater on, and hands in is pocket while he stared at us girls (Joe was along, though, it was the three of us). While we finished, we three collectively felt that this short mysterious man that was either DRUNK, or on DRUGS or both... was going to knife us as we walked out (he was standing by the doorway the whole time). Hey, that's three purses/wallets and no money trail since it's cash. This guy gave all us the serious creeps...and he really looked like a serial killer...and I'm not just saying that because of the hood and dark room. Bad vibes were flaring off of him, and we all felt the same way. We almost bolted out of that place, locking our car doors as we got in. We all wonder what would have happened if we didn't give them the money and tried to get out of paying. That place still gives me the goosebumps. We complained to our apt. manager, and he said he got a complaint about the creeps before.
That's my scary story for a while, hopefully. We all keep thinking of it as our "near-death" experience. I was very, very angry about the predicament, but I'm glad that we were all safe. Never, ever go alone to those places if you don't have at least a guy. It was us two girls and a guy, and we still all felt in danger. I can't imagine two girls going alone.

I'm going to leave you on a better note now and end with a trivia question: a thousand points if you can name this chord! :)

Winter Shawl

2010-01-17T18:10:00.002-05:00

Meet Victoria.

Victoria has spiritedly joined the KUAS team by displaying FO's. And as a self-model and self-photographer a good portion of the time, it's a good deal. Ain't she purty? I got her at one of my favorite stores; one that has items always on discount and is unpredictable and sells unique things. She was a winner. And boy did I feel weird walking out of the mall with her. ha ha.

Hey, hey hey...I finished a project yesterday. It wasn't on the progress list, so you didn't see that coming. Bada-bing-bada boom! I blocked it on one of my Christmas presents from the hubby, blocking boards. It did need to be blocked, but I have to admit that after knitting the edging and looking at the edging post-blocked...I kind of liked how it looked pre-blocked. It almost looks like I just did garter stitch and stretched it out to have waves, but I did indeed to the work of increases and decreases. Oh well. Experience.

The first finished project that Victoria is displaying is from one of my hibernating projects, my Winter Princess Shawl. Because the body is made out of mohair, it's very warm and perfect as a shawl-scarf for the winter time.

This is a good stashbusting project. I used one skein of KidMo yarn, and did the rest of the border in Malabrigo Lace yarn, in a colorway that is just gorgeous. I just love that lavender, it's soo soothing.

Project: Winter Princess Shawl (KUAS orignial)
Yarn: 1 skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts' KidMo & 1/5 skein of Malabrigo Lace
Needles: size US9 circs
Project started: May 18th 2009 Project Finished: January 16th, 2010

Getting on track

2010-01-12T18:39:00.005-05:00

Well folks, I'm happy to say that I'm still on track with my "get 'er finished" frame of mind. I have around 28 projects on my poor needles, and I am picking through a few of them (my "Frozen River" hat, my "Rippled Reading Afghan," a striped shawl and a mohair shawl-still nameless, to say). Despite the enormity of the afghan project, I do have fond memories of knitting almost all of it while getting hooked on the show Lost (while it was STILL good), and I'm in love with the rippling texture and changing colorway. The yarn used isn't anything too special, it's really just 100% wool, but it reminds me of handspun yarn, and the colorway will give a great effect with no effort on my part just by knitting it up in different stitch amount intervals.

I also plan on doing more stashbusting in the near future. My spare room is much too crowded with yarn (not all woolies, don't feel like you need to drool). I should get props this week for not buying any more yarn. My husband bought me a giftcard to a knitting shop, and I not only resisted the urge to go off and spend it guiltlessly...but to throw fuel into the fire, he offered this last weekend to go with me. And boys and girls, I said no. N-O. I've told myself that I need to eat up my stash a bit, and by golly that's what I am doing.

Remember this post? Yeah, it was from the beginning of '08. I've now made it my goal to get this baby done as soon as I can. I've been knitting at least 4 rounds a day. Sometimes 5-6 rounds if I'm watching something good (like Tin Man). Doesn't sound like a lot though, right? Actually, it takes a while for me to knit each round because this bad-boy grew to nearly 600 stitches. That's like doing 10 sock rounds to 1 afghan round, and let's face it, the needle isn't getting any lighter or able to hold any more increases.

Anywho, I've done another revamp of my blog's template; I hope you all enjoy it. I like the simplicity of it. On the left is from my beautiful spinning wheel, and the lavender object is a LT sweater that isn't too far in the "game." I've also included in my sidebar some "progress bars" to show you what I'm working on, and how far along they are even inbetween blog postings.

I've been experimenting with Matzo Balls for some time now. For some reason, I really enjoy the taste and texture of them and I have been working on improving the simple recipe because the texture/density of the balls will vary depending on how you prepare it and how it is cooked. I think I have finally gotten the recipe down, although it might look a little "rustic." I care less about the appearance and care more about how dense the middle is. This particular batch was very light in the middle, and almost tasted buttery.

I put a little blurb on the top of my blog already announcing this, but I want to congratulate Rebecca on winning the New Years contest. A big thanks goes out to all who participated. Check in with me soon for some more posts about old projects that are getting some more attention. Check out that blog KAL I started on dehibranating projects and the growing Ravelry group that goes with it.

Uncovering some dirty secrets

2010-01-01T13:06:00.006-05:00

2010 is all about changes. It's the birth of another year, and I, like many are trying to set a new pace for my own good. This is going to be somewhat of an embarrassing post, but it's for the good of all knit-kind, and for the good of my own sanity. This post is about "dehibernating" those many, many projects. In the process, I got rid of the hold, oo-ed and ahh-ed at the forgotten, and reminisced at the old days (college).

Ok, I'm going to tell you my dirty little secret. After frogging TEN projects, I still have ~~TWENTY-FIVE~~ TWENTY-EIGHT projects in the works!! Please excuse the boring background.

Projects, with the year it was started:

1. a Bears pillow ('09--this was supposed to be for my grandfather while he was stuck in the hospital)
2. a market bag ('09)
3. a pair of ribbed socks ('09)
4. a single Hawkeye ribbed socks ('09)
5. a "Carnival" sock ('09)
6. my long forgotten "Rippled Reading Afghan" ('o7!)
7. another "Rippled Reading Afghan" with only 2 colors ('07)
8. a raglan (my "Lana Lang" raglan that I though about soph. year of college) ('08)
9. a baby cardi ("Sweet as Candy") ('07!)
10. a baby cardi ('09)
11. a purled tunic ('8)
12. a lavender LT sweater ('08)
13. a cropped sweater ('09)
14. my "Kahlan" raglan tee ('07!)
15. a hat for Joe ('08)
16. a hat for me ('09)
17. my "Frozen River" hat ('09--but currently being worked on)
18. another "Unique Basketweave" Washcloth ('09)
19. a multi-colored scarf ('07)
20. a ribbed scarf with circle-icord edging ('05!!!?)
21. a shawl ('09--most recently started shawl)
22. a shawl ('08--yarn from Stitches Midwest)
23. a "cabin Shawl" ('06 or '07 maybe--my first shawl)
24. a lacy heart shawl ('08--this makes me really sad now, because of my grandfather who passed away...I started this in the hospital waiting room when his troubles first started. I also knit some of this when Joe and I went to the Dells)
25. the "Aestlight Shawl" ('09--memories of my honeymoon)

Not shown:
26. Mohair shawl
27. Joe's Cubs blanket
28. Pink LT rib socks

Obviously, you see my dilemma. Startitis has bitten me over the years, and it's no wonder why there aren't more projects posted when I was indeed putting hours into these dozens of projects.

So, in hopes to continue working on these projects, I have started a KAL for everyone wanting to dig our projects out of our closets, baskets, beds, couches, or wherever they are stashed and forgotten about...to get them finished up!

This KAL isn't just for knitters, so tell your knitter, crocheter, sewer, or any crafter friend who has neglected their projects just like me!! Spred the word and use this KAL button for your blog (can be found on my sidebar) to link yourself to the KAL. HINT: on blogger, go to "customize," then click on "add a gadget," click on "picture," save and upload the button from my sidebar and add ( http://www.missiondehibernation2010.blogspot.com/) to the "link" box, and push "Save."

Write your email address in the comment box below to join, or email me at knittingupastormATgmailDOTcom so I can add you as one of the publishers on the KAL blog.

I hope you had a fun and safe New Years Eve & day. Mine was definitely loud and eventful.

New Years Contest

2009-12-29T15:37:00.011-05:00

I want to wish everyone another great New Year. 2009 has been a significant year for me, I got married, my hubby graduated with a Biomedical Engineering degree (which means that we aren't separated through states anymore, like we were for a year), he found himself a great job with even more potential, we are living happily in my first apartment, we celebrated our first Christmas, I'm applying at my job to try to move upward...but It did have its downs: my grandfather's illness and eventual death, Joe's two grandfathers getting cancer (one terminal), my aunt's constant illnesses, etc.

I've always known how sad my newly windowed grandmother is lately (my grandfather died the week before my wedding), but after spending Christmas Eve with her and my family, I've been more motivated to set important resolutions for 2010:

1. To pick up my grandma once a week to go grocery shopping (she doesn't drive! And now she's all alone!...and she has to order her food) so that she feels loved and can also get out of the house. This also takes care of the fact that I've been really bad about not visiting...

2. To spend more time on charity work (no matter how small it seems).

3. To get back in shape (My muscles are not liking how out of shape I am)

4. To try to move up in the library-world, or if I can't, to spend more time educating myself on various subjects because my brain feels like a blob not doing anything stimulating (besides knitting).

5. To continue to work on a good marriage, to not let anything change our relationship during the first year of our marriage (even though it's still a struggle to work out that whole "toilet seat" thing. ha ha.).

6. To work on my hibernating projects. I have some good projects that have been treated unjustly. You can't even imagine how many are in that pile...

NEW YEARS CONTEST:

What to win: a knitter's goodie bag (including a skein of KUAS yarn and a pattern)!

How to play: Tell me your most important resolution, and why it will effect your life in a good way. You must supply me with an email address (you can send me it via email if you don't want it seen: knittingupastormATgmailDOTcom). After the contest closes, I will randomly pick a name out of the hat.

How to bump up your odds: tell your friends about this contest, or write about this contest on your blog (give me the link) and have them refer you (your name must be stated). Feel free to copy & paste the rules. For every reference and/or posting to your blog, you get another name in the hat.

CONTEST CLOSES 1/2/10 at MIDNIGHT!!! Check out my blog soon after to see the winner announced! See ya'll next year! In the meantime, check out my last post...I'm kind of stepping on it right now.

Christmas '09 knits

2009-12-27T13:29:00.009-05:00

Hey gang. Now that the whathaveyou's have died down, I'm back in blogland to post a couple of pics of what I knit for a couple of people for Christmas. I still have Joe's birthday hat to knit up (that's about a week or so away). I choose to not make it for Christmas because I might try to do something fancier than just plain 'ol ribbing. Obviously, I plan WAY in advance for people's presents. Golly...maybe that should be a resolution.

The first scarf is for a volunteer who comes in on Wednesdays at the library to help me out with "feature films" (dvds). She is a very nice lady who is quite knowledgeable with nutrition; she teaches me little tid-bits on those days about vitamins and such, and how "knowledge is power." I've gotten talks about how I should use probiotics more, get more vitamin C (washing my hands every 30 mins isn't enough), the power of tumeric, etc. So, I knit her up something for all of her hard work and for being such a nice person to me all the time.

I came across this "braided scarf" idea while shelving (my mind needs something stimulating to cut the boringness of alphabetizing all of the time). It's not really that original, but I thought that stashbusting with boucle yarn would not only be a better way to show off the braids because it hides the (blah) garter stitch, but it's also really warm and fuzzy. The scarf has a button on it, but I had to snap these pictures really fast before work because they were literally "fresh off the press."

Project: "the Braided Scarf" (KUAS original)
Yarn: stashbusting boucle yarn (I lost the brand labels long ago), 2 skeins in different colors
Needles: size US15 staights
CO: 12/20/09 FO: 12/23/09
Skill Level: easy-schmeasy, only garter stitch.

My brother has been asking me for a "red & black" scarf for several years. I finally decided to oblige (bulky yarn in mind, of course) the day before Christmas Eve. LOL.

It's a woven stitch pattern, to make the two contrasting colors pop. The back is actually cool because it makes the scarf reversible with a weird almost-woven type of garter stitch look.

The most ironic thing was that when my brother opened it up, he wrapped it around him and said "it needs to be longer" and "I'd rather the next one be simpler. Just a solid black and then red stripe."
Blast that boy. He's going to turn my head to mush faster than Hulu.

Project: "Woven Scarf" (KUAS original)
Yarn: 2 skeins of bulky yarn (Lion Brand's "Hometown USA")
Needles: size US17 circular needles
CO: 12/23/09 FO: 12/23/09
Skill Level: easy

Joe and I had fun celebrating our first Christmas together. Wonders beyond wonders...before we opened our presents Christmas morning, I was going to light a candle on our kitchen table in the dinning room, and I felt a cold drip of water on my back. I looked up and saw that the beam on the ceiling was leaking! We had several leaks going that morning. Poor maintenance guy, he had to come and scrape our roof to put a stop to the leak. Of all days! I gave him some baked cookies for his trouble. Other than that, we split the day hitting two of our family's houses.

The Holiday knits poll is closed, and here are the results:

It seemed that knitting hats was the winner, followed closely by scarves and then mittens. That doesn't seem too odd, although I might have believed that scarves would be the winner. I wonder what types of toys were being knit up. Who voted for that? Let me know what you guys knit up. :)

My husband modeling the scarf before I never get to see it again. He's got my heart.

Stay tuned for a "2010 Resolutions contest," to kick off the new year with some fun! Start thinking of some resolutions...

Quick Holiday Knit (free pattern!)

2009-12-22T20:42:00.005-05:00

Well, I planned on posting two patterns, but I hope this is sufficient for those of you who still need a 1-2 day knit for a last-minute chic gift. Have a very Merry Christmas and holidays, everyone! Enjoy this super-duper easy and fast pattern! I'm off to brew some hot cocoa and do the annual snowy drive-around in the neighborhood to look at the Christmas lights with my hubby!

"Double Looped Scarf" PDF

Skill: EASY
TYPES: Seed Stitch & Garter Scarves

MATERIALS:
Needles: 1 skein (240yds) bulky yarn in Main Color. 10-20 yds in contrast color for the border.
Needles: size US15 circular needle (29'') & darning needle.
Hook: size K or N

GUAGE: approx. 5 sts=2''

MEASUREMENTS: 47'' circumference

ABBREVIATIONS:
K=knit P=purl ST(S)=stitch(es) RD=round

leftovers never looked so gourmet...

2009-12-20T20:34:00.002-05:00

Just checking in. I just got back from work from the library (yup, on a Sunday), and I was planning on making this gourmet leftover dinner ever since I made the grilled steak and chicken dinner last night.

Above is a soup-salad-sandwich combo that's mostly Asian inspired. Because the steak and chicken was grilled with a sesame, ginger and garlic marinade, I used the sauce again for the salad that has sesame seeds, almonds and carrots and the leftover medium-well cooked steak. I also used the marinaded chicken to make an Asian chicken salad sandwich on a fresh croissant. The soup is cheesy cauliflower soup that is semi-homemade and topped with crustini bread that is seasoned with oil, salt and garlic and is crusty enough to taste like flat croutons. Goodness gratious... it was Delish!

Check in with me in a day or so. I plan on uploading a couple of free scarf patterns (the double-looped scarf & also a new unique scarf one) in the next post so you have another fast and east knit pattern that you can knit up really quickly for the holidays. Off to watch more Meerkat Manor (so cute and addicting!!)

Winter waltzes

2009-12-15T15:44:00.005-05:00

Sorry, gang, for being rather quiet and boring the past couple of weeks. I've been as busy as one of Santa's elves with a lot of the holiday bustling. I've been taking photos along the way, but they just haven't made it into the computer until just now.

Above is a photo of one of the many batches of gingerbread men I've been making. They are scrumptious! I plan on hanging with a friend or two tonight to make gingerbread houses!

I'll just jump into the knitting right away, since these are just WIPs, and not really worth the suspense. These two knits are both KUAS originals that I've started and worked on here and there. The purple knit is a baby cardi that is a little similar to EZ's "February Lady," but has a different, and more wavy lace pattern. The blue heathered project (not really visible in the photo) is a hat pattern that has a different construction than the hat patterns that I'm ~~sick of~~ used to. I knit the cabled band first, and then picked up the stitches around the rim before continuing with another cable pattern.

A little ironic: once I did all the cable work, and picked up stitches (twice, since I ripped it out the first time to do things differently), I realized that the cable pattern could probably have been done vertically, and still look the same. To stop laughing myself silly, I told myself that I wouldn't have known how many stitches to cast-on to fit my head perfectly (who's swatches really work out in the end?), and this way was better because I'll just end up doing another cable pattern that can't be done vertically for some other hat...and this is my guinea pig project. Fair enough.

On another note, I was excited when the first snowfall happened. There is something magical about that first fall...an electric spark of awe and hope for that white Christmas that you remembered as a kid. Or it might just be me...one who is a little into the sensory around this time of year. Cold crunchy snow. A warm fireplace cracking and popping. Aromatic pine needles burning. Cookies of all sorts baking. The soft yet brilliant glow of the lights on the Christmas tree. Holiday-inspired coffees of peppermint, eggnog and gingerbread...

Speaking of winterly things. Joe and I rode the train to Chicago and enjoyed a Saturday in the city, shopping and eating at a pub. We enjoyed all of the lights littering the city trees, and checked out Macy's displays. Let me tell you, that store is a little intimidating, what with its 8 or 9 floors...

Macy's had a magnificent Christmas display. I can't even imagine how much it cost, but things where hanging every which way from the ceiling.

And the most current news: I celebrated my 24th birthday on the 12th. We had a great time going to see the Nutcracker and eating out at Jimmy's Charhouse and drinking up at Chilies. I'm enjoying my birthday gift, the new Wii Mario game (awesome!! I love mario, and I'm stoked that they remade the game while trying to keep the wonderful elements of the first couple of marios). Last night, I cooked a yummy dinner, a Shepherd's Pie that I tried to replicated from the pub in Chicago (Elephant & Castle...or was is Castle & Elephant? I forgot).

Let me leave you with a wonderful photo from one of the winterly Sunsets from a week ago:

Giving Thanks

2009-11-29T21:28:00.002-05:00

For about a year and a half, I have been dreaming about me and Joe hosting our first Thanksgiving together as a married couple. Of course, in these dreams, our living quarters were a tinsy-bit larger in the ways of the "dining room," but, nonetheless, the dream lives on no matter where you do end up (and I do love my first apartment). And should I mention...boy, the mind is a powerful thing when it comes to over-estimating accommodation space for 10 people. But you know what, cozy as it was, we all had a great time together...and the food couldn't have turned out better!

I was most thankful that day (when it comes to the food part) that I prepped the night before-chopping and putting it into little Ziploc baggies, making the jello, the homemade pumpkin pie, etc. I was in la-la-land that night, thinking that with all the hours of prep-work, I could just sit on the couch and read inbetween bastings on Thanksgiving day. HA HA HA. Yeah, right. So naive, I know. I don't know how I would have survived if I didn't do all of that work. I also baked homemade sugar cookies in the shape of fall leaves and acorns and cleaned the apartment from top to bottom the day before Thanksgiving, and I am soo glad I decided to get everything done then.

The turkey was pretty juicy. I brined the turkey with a bunch of spices before heading to bed, and that 17 pound bird ended up soaking for 14 hours in the fridge in the biggest stock-pot my parents own. Jee, it is most convenient living a block and a half away from them when I don't have, oh, a stock-pot, some pumpkin spices, twine, a roasting pan, and all sorts of things I either didn't want to buy or forgot until last second. I used Martha Stewart's recipe for the gravy (made with a bunch of root veggies), and used her cheesecloth and butter/white wine basting idea for the turkey. I stuffed that bad boy with as much stuffing as possible, and smothered it with a bunch of butter inside and out.

And yes, even after taking out all of the turkey neck and God-knows-what innards while keeping everyone's horror stories of "leaving the giblets inside the turkey while baking" in mind,...after we carved the rest of the turkey, "oopsie dasie!"...there was a special surprise at the back door! Hello turkey company people, put a warning on the turkey label for people who honestly don't know what giblets look like, that things are not just in the inside of the main turkey cavity...it's also stuffed in the butt! I just think that they should keep everything together, instead of playing hide-and-seek.

Any who, I am most proud of my lovely set-up that made its way to the tables the night before (another time-saver!). I used so many wedding gifts, it was unreal.

We had turkey, spiral ham, mashies with garlic and cream, greenbean casserole, corn, stuffing with saged sausage, butternut squash with butter and brown sugar, cranberries, rolls, homemade pumpkin pie and pumkin cheesecake, sugar cookies, homemade berry pie, and much liquor, of course!

An another note, I've been playing around with my new photoshop program that I bought a little while ago, and have been teaching myself new things along the way (I still need that photoshop book...you know, the one they didn't put in the box!). Along with learning how to cut out something from a photo and plop it onto another one, here are some other examples:

Leaving color in select regions:

And no, I wasn't beaten in this photo. I was very, very accident-prone as a child, and this example was me leaning on a screen door that wasn't closed all the way and falling down the stairs. Thank God that this was before the whole hard-core child service thing, because the hospital was starting to know me on a first-name basis. I have to laugh at this photo because my hair kind of resembles Einstein's...

"Cloning" a color, and adding it where it might have been (the pizza sauce on the face):

My brother and I making pizza. Probably the last time we happily cooperated together. Ha ha ha.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Joe and I are thankful for so many things this year...

No biggie.

2009-11-11T16:09:00.002-05:00

Just checking in. Nothing really too interesting to talk about except that the second "Double-looped" scarf has been completed. It's knit the same way as the first. The third may look a little different, I think, because I can only knit so many of the same style without getting antsy. Speaking of antsy, my hands have been itching to make a nice cabled hat and gloves...

Kate Jacobs

2009-11-08T16:51:00.005-05:00

Kate Jacobs came to my library Saturday, and I was thrilled to have her do a reading from her newest release, Knit the Season which is her third installement in the Friday Night Knitting Club series, and it is devoted to the winter holidays. She talked about how she didn't even realize that she skipped winter in the first two novels, and she really wanted to show knitting and holiday spirit in this newest novel.

I was impressed with how down-to-earth Kate Jacobs was; she was honest, funny and never snoody. She made sure she had ample time for questions, because she related to us how when she was 23, and working as a journalist, she had all sorts of questions for authors...yet it was hard to get the chance to ask them. She always wanted to write books since the 8th grade, yet was pushed into the Redbook magazine business because of her mom's "you're gonna starve if you write books" comments as an 8th grader with a writer's ambition.

The audience also learned that she grew up in a small town, approx. 5,000 persons, and was a big reader who could easily have read the entire library's collection as a kid. She didn't win writing contests, but she kept writing until she made her way in the literary world. Now she has at least 4 books out, the 5th being a stand-alone book...and Hollywood is planning on making her first novel, The Friday Night Knitting Club in to a movie! With Julia Roberts starring as Georgia Walker! Neat!

The basis of the Knitting Club books is about flawed friends who find their way in the Big City by this club that meets on Fridays in Georgia Walker's knitting shop. They bring their mistakes to the table, yet find solace in eachother and learn to make amends with their mistakes, and to move-on from inevitable things that you can't change. Unlikely friendships form in the process, and long-term relationships mend or break. The book is charming, although not fast-paced, and should make you want to join a knitting club if you haven't already.

Kate Jacobs also talked about a "Warming families" hat-drive that she is part of with Land's End, with a goal to have around 25,000 beanies knit for the homeless. But like she said, she can't knit it all up...and she needs our help! You can visit her website for more information on Vickie Howell's free beanie pattern that you can use to knit up the hats. If you're interested in the 2x2 ribbed hat pattern, you can find others knitting it on Ravelry. You can even send in a scarf if you're still a beginner knitter. If you can a spare skein of yarn and a spare day or so, please help her out. It's for a really good cause. :)

"Friday Night Knitting Club"

2009-11-06T23:31:00.003-05:00

Just wondering if anyone else was going to Kate Jacob's reading at my library tomorrow, the 7th. If you are, you know where it is...and just holla, cause I'll be there. I'm excited!
Sorry, I'm off to try to read more of the book, since I stopped a while ago....eek!!!

Double-looped Scarf

2009-11-03T18:16:00.003-05:00

I've been knitting a little bit on some thank you gifts for some people who really were too gracious in giving us wedding gifts the past couple of months. We appreciate their thoughtfulness, so I'd like to give them something warm and hand-knit. I'm knitting each of the three ladies my "double-looped scarf" that really is a fast and easy knit. I'll upload the pattern to it in the near future. It's a great pattern for holiday knits in a pinch!

Seriously, you could knit this bad boy up in a day or two, tops.

This pattern is versatile. You not only can loop in around to make a scarf, but you can wear it down with a peacoat and still look great. If you made it wider, you would even wear it on your head to cover your ears on a real frosty day. I'm a Chicagoan, so that's definitely an option!

It was really important to me that the project was soft, chunky, and a quick-knit, and seemed to be something off of a runway, since a large looped scarf is "in." Apparently. I'm just glad that all sorts of knits are still really in, quite frankly.

It's great even without a coat.

I love the texture to it. Seed Stitch is such a wonderful pattern. You can make so many great things using it.

Something else is brewing, but...guys and gals, I'm off to Olive Garden for Joe and my 1st month anniversary as a married couple! Can you believe that it's been a whole month?

Hallow-rific 09

2009-11-01T22:03:00.003-05:00

I hope you all had a great Halloween! I know I did! I threw a Halloween party that night!

I went as a "flapper" this year, not another corpse bride.

My pal Britney Spears also appeared at my party! Fabulous. We partied out on the terrace for a while. You might recognize her from my bridal party.

Dudes, my apartment was so decked out! I had cobwebs, lit jack-o-lanterns, posters with creepy pictures (large windows with owls or bats breaking through, dungeons, bookcases [which I covered the bathroom door with-it's a secret door!]. I even put glowsticks under the fireplace, dungeon door and under the ghost's eyes and hung fake tealights in place of my owl's eyes...it was hilarious! It was so neat with the lights off. I even had a small graveyard and lots of cool lights for ambience. There was plenty of booze in my punch couldron and junkfood to eat (with worms and gummy eyeballs in it!). Don't forget the halloween music too. You guys need to hang with me next time. We knittas have the best parties!

My hubby, "Dr. Stange Love." I begged him to be my "gansta," but he refused. Zut Alors.

Wedding Pictures Pt.1

2009-10-31T12:01:00.002-05:00

Ok guys, I just got ahold of one source of my wedding photos:
http://www.joelalonzophotography.com/ >>password: joe and anna

P.S- If I look really chubby, I am, but I swear that the camera added 15 more pounds! (Stand up straighter, girl!) *sigh*

Waikiki Beach

2009-10-28T20:54:00.003-05:00

Ok gang. Here is part 2 of our Honeymoon photo-capades. Waikiki Beach, which our hotel was located on:

Diamond Head. What we see from our room.

A dinner tour boat that stops in front of the sunset everyday.

The other side of the island, opposite to Diamond Head.

"Just married."

Airplane, Airport & Hotel

2009-10-27T07:57:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the wait. I've been spending all my free time cooking, cleaning (yeah, I KNOW!), and trying to update my address and last name to gazillions of companies! Ah!

Anyways, here's the plane ride to Hawaii, the Honolulu Airport, and also the hotel that we stayed in, the Marriott Resort Hotel on Waikiki Beach. We were both sick the entire time, and also from some of the meat (won't eat meat in a tropical place again where they have to import), but we made the most of our honeymoon in the daytime.

He's reading Dan Brown's newest release, "the Lost Symbol."

And surprise! I was knitting on the plane! I just didn't get anything else done when I got sick the whole week...

Walking to the baggage claim.

Wouldn't O'hare Airport be so much nicer if it had palm trees?

The view of Marriott's balconies.

Part one of our bedroom view: Diamond Head (which we climbed, more pics to come)

Part two of our view: the city and ocean.

Joe chillaxin in the beginning.

Our Seattle's Best breakfast nearly every day!! Splurge!

One of the many luscious flora in the hotel.

And more.

Upcoming: Honolulu Zoo, Waikiki Beach, more flora, Diamond Head, farmers market, etc!!!

Parade of photos coming...

2009-10-19T14:04:00.004-05:00

Hey Gang. Due to the fact that I have 900 pictures just on the honeymoon alone, I've decided to break of the next posts with a bunch of pictures from various topics of the wedding and honeymoon so I don't overwhelm you with just one post with a gazillion of photos. I'm also in the process of creating a photo-movie, and I'll upload it to youtube when I'm finished so my family and friends can view it as well. Please be patient with me, as there is a lot of editing to do, but my goal is to post each day with something new from our wedding/honeymoon. I'll probably have to start with the honeymoon first, as I still don't have the files to the photos yet. Whaa! (I do have a good portion of the hard copies that I've been showing everyone at work,...and they are fabulous!!)

I've been knitting a little bit to, believe it or not (I bearly believe it), and casted on for my Halloween Stockings that I plan on using as part of a costume, so a post on our Fall/Halloween festivities will appear in the shuffle of posts. Something (or "things") might be felted too...

p.s- the flower above is one of the many, many tropical flora I took pictures of during the honeymoon in Hawaii.

Back!

2009-10-11T21:04:00.003-05:00

I'm Mrs. Anna Maliszewski now! We had such an amazing wedding...omg...and the reception was nothing less than superb. I've had nothing but "this was the most beautiful wedding ever" comments since the wedding. I'm soo glad everything turned out as dreamed. We are back from beautiful Oahu, and I have soo many stories (funny, cool, and of course the bad ones) and pictures to share with you all. But until then, I'm still trying to open up the rest of the gifts that's been waiting for us...
(Thanks for the wedding wishes. *kisses*)

I'm getting married!!!!!

2009-10-02T22:17:00.002-05:00

Just got back from the rehersal dinner...it was amazing (the priest made us say our entire vows...umm, we might be married already!)...and I just popped in to say that we get married tomorrow!!! Whoot Whoot!!!
Check back with you knitta-s when I get back from Hawaii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

BSJ & Wedding Shower, the sequels

2009-09-10T15:21:00.005-05:00

It's been wedding central around here, so I'd like to start this post off with some knitting action. I hope you don't mind. ;)

Project: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman, the genius
Start: July 12, 2009 Finished: September 7, 2009 (worked real diligently, didn't I?)
Yarn: Bernat Baby Jacquards in "I'm a Big Boy"
Needles: Size US 7 circulars
Recipient: a co-worker's grandson

This BSJ is made for a co-worker's grandson that was born at the end of July. I figured that by the time the little tike needed to wear it, he would fit perfectly into it. The grandma, who is still in her youthful 40's may I add, was thrilled with it and mentioned how "fancy" the stripes looked. (score one for EZ AND the yarn's striping colorway that takes all the work out for me!)

The baby bootie above is a mock-up of a pattern design that I was fiddling around with. The yarn is much to thick, of course, but the colors matched. I would use sport-weight yarn, and I still have to work out the kinks...but it is the start of a baby mochasin pattern.

I have also casted on for Gudrun Johnston's beautiful "Aestlight Shawl." I'm using my fabulous Schaefer yarn in "Anne" that has been saved up for a worthy project for a few years. I casted-on during Labor day and knit during the few spare seconds I had while watching some TV series (Bones & Charmed, mostly). I can't wait to get back some real spare time, after all of the craziness has died down. I was just thinking about my "glory" knitting days, back in college, when school was my only work...and mucha knitting actually got done. *SIGH* Real world. Real pain.

Drum-roll please.....

Wedding Shower, part II. (I'm really getting spoiled, and I'll be rotten after my MIL's "card shower" that she and Joe's Aunt are throwing me this Saturday.) This shower was held by the amazing library staff that I work with! They pitched in for food & oodles of presents! Boy-O-Boy my kitchen is stocked! We are truly blessed that we have such amazing people that have been soo generous to us while we are starting our lives out from scratch.

I was thinking there would mostly be cards and a few gifts, but I was SHOCKED by the magnitude of showering of gifts by my workplace! Holy Chileetos. I got soo many kitchen supplies (mostly baking) now between the two showers, and I can't wait to use them all, because I love to cook. Joe and I really look forward to cooking & hosting parties for the future holidays coming up! Apple & pumpkin pies, pot roast, succulent turkey, casseroles, ah!

This photo above only shows a 1/3 of the peeps who actually attended. Someone had to tend to the patrons!! lol. "Hey guys, the party's here!"

On another note, I've been as busy as a squirrel collecting for the winter. I've chosen my cake options, I've officially got everything important into place, bought my wedding party their gifts, gone to my final dress fitting, worked on RSVP responses, etc, while the guest favors and wedding program is still getting worked on this week. Crazy stuff. This is also happening while Joe and I work on packing up our things because we move out in a week! I'll be moving in on the week that I pull double-shifts at work, while still teaching 14 students. That should be fun, shan't it? By the end of this, I might have more fiber to spin because my hair will be falling out in clumps. At least it will be eco-friendly.(Too far? Yeah, probably.)

22 days.

34 days.

2009-08-29T10:55:00.003-05:00

Our napkins have arrived. I think our guests will get a kick out of them, don't you think?

Also, we have sent out 110 invitations, 240 guests. Now if making those invitations wasn't pain-staking, I don't know what is. The ones sent out actually had a heart-stamped seal, unlike the picture above. I've gotten great reviews of the invite, so I'm glad it all was appreciated. So far, we've gotten 99% yeses.We also just visited our catering company's tasting. Let me tell you...the food was excellent! Scrumptious! I brought my friend Jenna, Joe and my mom along, and everyone was surprised on how great the food looked and tasted. My guests' tummies will love cocktail-hour and dinner on our wedding day. (And of course the sweet table, after we decide what we want on it!)

As for other wedding plans accomplished, we finalized our florist, got most of our wedding paperwork sent it, got our wedding marriage license bought(!), got half of our wedding party's presents bought, got the tux place and pieces figured out, got our readers picked, got our music planned, got our hotel and flight confirmed for Hawaii(!), and got our apartment booked!!

Yay! We move in Sept. 17th! (The funniest part is that it's a block and a half away from my parents! Ha!) I'm already decorating in my head. Paint. Couches. Knitted placemats.

I made an Italian Stuffed Pepper dinner some nights ago. It was a big hit. I used Orzo, instead of rice, parmesan cheese, and added Italian spices, including my oregano plant that is still kicking 'n breathin. Mmmmmm.....

And finally, for today's show, I've finally found out what I would like to use my Schaeffer yarn for! I bought the perfect pattern for it, which I'll reveal in the next post! Stay tuned!

The Shower

2009-08-23T21:40:00.002-05:00

Hey gang. Here is the promised update about my wedding shower from the beginning of August. We had an amazing time, and we can't wait to use all of our households gifts...especially because we love to cook!

An unbelievable showering of gifts.

Our cake.
The "men's club."

Ah, the "meat mallet." We have arrived at my favorite photo of the day (besides the group pic) that captures the very essence of my culinary enthusiasm. Now if you look at Joe closely, you may just see the fear of God in him...

Watch out, this chick is fully loaded.

Playing Catch-up

2009-08-15T12:50:00.003-05:00

Hey Knitters.
Don't worry, I have not forgotten about you, despite my lack of postage this month.

I have had the most wonderful vacation the last week of July, filled with all sorts of "Wisconsin Dells" stuff. We went to "Noah's Ark," rode on the "Ducks," went to "Ripley's Believe-it-or-Not," shopped downtown, ate. Ate some more. Then ate after eating more. We also did fire-pits every night (braved the mosquitoes and ticks), read & swam at the local pool, and even had a couple of "Buff-a-ganzas" (awesome, I know, all you Buffy fans!) I even had a mojito while reading the end of "Girl with a Pearl Earring." I did get to do most of my new pair of socks' legs, as well as work on the baby jacket, but there was soo much to do, I couldn't focus on it. Also, there wasn't much room to sit and knit in a group of 23. If you like to read, chow down on Hostess products, eat other such junkfood, favor white castles and shoot rubberbands, you'll get along great in Joe's family.

As for other such things taking up my time: working extra hours, apartment searching & of course wedding stuff. About 1 1/2 months left! Yowzers! I just did my gown fitting, and the wedding invites go out Monday!

I've got the terrible 'bout of the allergies (chest congestion, weakness & dry-mouth), so I'm pretty much bed-ridden on my weekend off, so I'll post some progress pictures later on my knits, as well as my new chic haircut. It's got soo many layers that she took off probably more than half my hair body, and now my curly hair works great with it! Oh, I also have my first wedding shower pics to show ya!! You've gotta see the pic of me opening up "the meat mallet." Ha! Watch out, Joe!

P.s- I bought a value-pack on "Charms" season 1&2. I'm really getting into it! It's more of a slow pull-you-in than Buffy has for the first season, but I'm really getting hooked.
Plus, Harry Potter 6 was awesome! As well as "Julie & Julia!" Funny!

Razzle Dazzle

2009-07-19T23:08:00.003-05:00

Notice anything new? *Squee!* I got my wedding band this week! My engagement ring is white gold, so I searched high and low (ok, well maybe just several stores) for the most complimentary ring. I'm a pretty plain person, so I wasn't all for the "just diamond" band look, as most wedding bands are nowadays, yet I didn't want a solid band...so I finally found a compromise ring between the two, and I couldn't really be happier. I might switch out the band of the engagement ring one day to lay flatter, but right now...I just wish I could "test-drive" it longer without getting teased by the FH.

Here's a snippet of my second BSJ for a coworker's grandson-to-be. I'm planning on working on it in the car while travelling to our vacation destination this coming weekend (yeah, I'm not really wanting to bring baby-knits to my FH's week-long family reunion. Non-knitters sometimes don't get the whole knitting for OTHER people's babies. I'm not wanting their confusion.) Speaking of which, my brain is actually kind of fuzzy on where I put the dang thing. Hopefully I didn't loose it. Stress is frying my brain, I guess.

I also started my so-called "Durable Market Bag" knit with cotton. I'm still on the base of the bag, but I plan on doing lace as the main body, complete with durable straps.

My maternal grandfather was admitted into the ER this weekend, so when I visited him today, I casted on for my mint "2x2 ribbed socks" on size 1's that I plan on knitting during the family reunion (non-knitters are more accepting about sockware rather than babyware, so I've heard). I'll cast on for the second sock soon, because I'd like to nip the whole SSS* in the butt.

*Second Sock Syndrome: a silent, but deadly disease caused after knitting the first sock of the pair. Symptoms: fatigue, groaning, laziness, the throwing of dpns and the extreme dislike of the idea of having to knit up the whole thing again. Other side effects are reaching for other yarns, possibly fondling them while wishing or day-dreaming of the next pair. This disease is treatable by knitting the pair at the same time. Effects are slow, but highly curable.

Let Freedom Ring!

2009-06-29T12:44:00.017-05:00

Pattern by: Anna Peck

Need a quick project that not only can be used in colorways that match your kitchen year-round...but can be substituted in colorway to suit any holiday? Maybe this hanging towel pattern is just your project! It's easy, it's festive, and can be done within a weekend.

Materials:
YARN:
The Border: aprox. 25 yds of a worsted weight cotton yarn in a solid color that compliments your main body yarn (seein in "Lily's Sugar 'n Cream Cotton Solid "Red, White & Blue" for the 4th of July).
Main body Color: 1 skein (95 yds) of a worsted weight cotton yarn that's striped, varigated or "painted." (pattern seen in Lily Sugar'n Cream Stripes colorway "Red, White & Blue")
NEEDLES: US7 circular or straight needles & 1 darning needle
1 Large button

Pattern abbreviations:
k=knit p=purl CO=cast on BO=bind off Sts=stithes Kf&b=knit into the front and back of a stitch

Note on Colorways: Yarns like Lily's Sugar 'n Cream yarns have stripping colorways that are great for the holidays. I used "Red, White & Blue" for the 4th of July, and I believe you can find a stripping Christmas colorway as the season approaches. If not, get two different colors and do your own stripping to fit your own needs. You can do thin stripes, thick stripes...or even skip stipes by finding a yarn that has a "hand-painted" colorway that has an overall blended look. The main thing is to find a solid colorway for the Seed Stitch top and bottom of the towel to compliment your yarn color choices.

"KUAS' Quickie Hanging Towel"

DIRECTIONS:
CO 11sts onto US 7 needles using a solid color.

1. Work 1'' in Seed St. (*k1, p1*)
2. Work 4sts in Seed St., BO 3sts, work last 4sts in Seed St.
3. Work 4 sts in Seed St., CO 3sts onto your right needle, work last 4sts in Seed St.
4. Seed st. until your piece measures a total of 6.5.''
5. Kf&B, *p1, k1,* across until last 2 sts; p1, kf&b.
6. *p1, k1* until last st; p1.
7. Kf&b, *k1,p1* until last 2 sts; k1, Kf&b.
8. *k1, p1* across.
Repeat instructions #5-#8 until you have 27sts total on your needles.
9. Work in Seed St. for 4 more rows.
10. Join the new colorway (that's striped or varigated), and cut the solid yarn, leaving a long tail.
11. Kf&B into all the stitches. (54sts)
12. Work in stockinette stitch until a length your desire, while always working a 4-5stitch "Garter St. border" on the edges of the work.
13. Join the solid colorway and cut the varigated one, leaving a long tail.
14. Kf&b, and then work in Seed St. for 1.5-2 inches. (55sts)
15. Weave in all dangling threads into the wrong side of the hanging towel.
16. On the top of the towel, you will need to sew a large button onto the bottom edge of the Seed St. The CO edge of your work folds over around your oven's handle and then gets buttoned.

FO: BSJ 1

2009-06-28T14:58:00.002-05:00

Well, the BSJ finally has buttons sewn onto it (about darn time, I know), and I'm more than happy to say that this was a successful baby knit. Here's the first post of this project.

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Baby Surprise Jacket"
Yarn: 1 skein Bernat's Baby Jacquards in "Berries & Cream"
Gauge: 6sts=1''
Needles: Size 7, with Knitpicks' interchangeable needles
Project: June 9-14, 2009

I finished the sewing by doing a 3-needle bind off, which turned out really nice & sharp! It's a good substitution for an i-cord edge look, and really makes the top pop, if you will. (The best photo to see this is the first one.)

I wanted to show you a little snippet on how geometrical this jacket's stripes can be while folded. I really like the photo above, how it forms boxes. The photo below is more diagonal.

The back, in case you were interested. It's good to get a feel on how the stripes pan out, because if you want to make another jacket with real stripping, you need to see how the actual knitting plays with it, first. I just love how the Bernat Baby Jacquards gave me beautiful & lazy-arse knitting effects without even trying a single bit.

A volunteer worker at my library has 12 weeks left to her pregnancy, and she is expecting a boy. I also have a co-worker who's daughter is pregnant with a boy as well. It looks like it was perfect timing that I worked out this pattern...because now I have to knit up two more, but in blue! (Plus baby booties, don't you think?) Yay! This project was really fun.

Sorry about the lack of posting. You would think that a post with the darn buttons sewn on would have been posted about a day after the first post of the BSJ, but I've barely even had a moment to think these past couple of weeks. I've not only been working some on the wedding plans, but I've been taking on 3 different jobs, squeezing in as much part-time job "moola" as I can. Every bit helps, but I've been working every single day straight for like 3 weeks, with two jobs (or more) a day. Friday was my only day off...and believe me, it was glorious, sleeping in and doing as I please. Ahhh. But now I'm back to the hum-drum work life, and have been working Sundays even, starting at 6AM! eek.

Here's what's been getting done lately with the wedding plans:
-Reception hall details (linens, food, etc)
-Music Songs selecting (as a musician...it's gotta be impressive, you know?)
-Flower-thinking (florist still to be decided...I have a horror story about the first one I went to)
-DJ found
-BM dresses almost all ordered (those girls better get a move on, don't you think? *pulls hair out*)
-Bridal jewelry (earrings & necklace)
-Veil (found)
-Band-searching
-Gift Registry (Target & Bed Bath & Beyond)
-Our wedding webpage for our guests

It's going to get even crazier, the wedding being almost 3 months away. I still have some major things to plan and get done. Getting a place to live, as well as maybe booking a honeymoon might be nice too...

A HUGE thanks to all my wonderful commenters for their lovely compliments! You not only give me "warm fuzzies"...but you are the ones that give me the drive to always keep writing.

Upcoming: a patriotic knit. Pattern included. Stay tuned!

Journal: Baby Surprise Jacket 1

2009-06-14T21:12:00.005-05:00

Have I ever mentioned how incredible Elizabeth Zimmerman was, and still is to this day? She's not only famous for her pithy patterns, but for her pure genious designing, creating on whim 3D knits that baffles 21st century knitters to this day. And she didn't even have the internet. Or an abundance of knitting guides, knitting patterns and the like, as us lucky knitters do. Sure, there are loads of fabulous designers out there. But take a look at one of EZ's most popular and creative designs: The Baby Surprise Jacket.

Sure, It looks all innocent here, like I knit the back, knit the front sideways, and then knit the sleeves. Like I'm now at the end of the sweater, picking up stitches and knitting the button holes.

Look again, my friends. You're in for a "surprise."

If you haven't grazed upon this pattern already, this sweater is knit as one peice. That means that there is decreasing for half of the jacket's body, which in turn is used for the sleeves that is folded a particular way ("miraculously" is probably a better word-choice). Then, the rest of the body is knit increasingly, while a portion thereafter is knit straight...then picking up several stitches is in order, as well as adding some button holes, and presto-chango! You have a jacket!

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Baby Surprise Jacket"
Yarn: Bernat's Baby Jacquards in "Berries & Cream"
Gauge: 6sts=1''
Needles: Size 7, with Knitpicks' interchangeable needles
Project: June 9-14, 2009

I worked on a good chunk of this baby jacket while in a long car ride to a goodbye party for a college friend while listening to the audiobook Garlic and Sapphires, by Ruth Reichl. It was pretty good, although on the way back, after plenty of green apple vodka drinks, it put me to sleep, and I had to listen to a good bit of the second disc again. Today, I finished reading the book and knitting this baby jacket, and I'm off to watch another "The Next Food Network Star" episode TiVo. Stay posted for the completed BSJ. All I have to do is sew up the arms and find 5 cute buttons worthy of this project.

The A-Z Authors project

2009-06-04T14:49:00.010-05:00

I've said it a dozens times, and I'll say it again. I'm crazy. I get little ideas in my head, and sometimes it's impossible to let them go. I've got the insane notion that it would be amazing to read not just 26 books within a year or two, but 26 different authors...starting with different letters...while still hitting various sub-genres of fiction & nonfiction, like: mystery, sci-fi, romance, comic/anime, biography/autobiography, how-to's, crafts and even western (eek!). The idea is the branch-out a little bit. Explore possibilities. I just finished the book "Julie & Julia," so I guess this is a little like Julie Powell's project. But not.

Readings started March '09:
A: ARMSTRONG: Bitten ("Fiction"//romance, fantasy//vampires, werewolves; Read March '09?)
B: BRETTON: Casting Spells ("Fiction"//craft-fiction// knitting, vampires & magic; Read April '09)
C: COYLE: Through the Grinder and Latte Trouble ("Fiction"//cozy mystery//coffeehouse; Read May '09)
D: DUBLANCA: Waiter Rant ("Nonfiction"//food//waiter, restraunt, comedy; read June '09)
E
F:
G:
H:
I:
J:
K:
L:
M: MYRON: Dewey the Library Cat ("Nonfiction"//animals//cat; Read April '09) MEYER: Breaking Dawn and New Moon and Eclipse ("Fiction"//romance//vampires, werewolves; Read January-March '09)
N:
O: O'BRIEN: Wesley the Owl ("Nonfiction"//animals//barn-owl; Read April '09?)
P: PEPPERBERG: Alex & Me ("Nonfiction"//animals//parrot & scientist; Read May '09) POWELL: Julie & Julia ("Nonfiction"//cooking// Read in May'09) PEARL-MCPHEE: Things I learned from Knitting & Yarn Harlot Casts-off ("Fiction"//craft-fiction//knitting; Read May '09)
Q:
R: REICHL: Garlic and Sapphires ("Nonfiction"//cooking//restuarant food-critique; Read June '09)
S: SEFTON: Drop Dead Stitch ("Fiction"//knitting mystery; Read July '09)
T:
U:
V:
W:
X:
Y:
Z:

This will become the main archive for this project, so bare with the "bareness" for the time being. Please feel free to suggest great authors with not-so-common last names, like X,Y,Z, and the like that are "must-reads." Also, if you would like to join this "A-Z Authors Project," definitely holler below and feel free to link your blog's A-Z authors project post(s).

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

2009-06-01T18:05:00.003-05:00

I'm either the biggest nerd ever, or just truly bored while shelving-I'm guessing it's all the above. This morning, I was just doing my thing, shelving AV materials at our library, and I stumbled across a real "that will get me thinking all day long unless I know the true answer" kind of thing. I hate that. "Volcano" DVDs (551.21) were ordered one decimal number less than "Earthquakes" (551.22). Ok, well, ordering movies and books through the Dewey Decimal System is not my thing, but I did spend a heck of a lot of money on useless courses I took, like Earth Systems, and Geology, all that never served me until now... as I wonder why the heck "Volcanoes" were ordered before "Earthquakes." In my puny understanding of plate tectonics and seismic activity, it was my understanding that most volcanoes are direct consequences of the activity from earthquakes. In the briefest of brief paragraphing, an earthquake happens, the plates shift, an opening allows magma to come upward through the earth from pressure, thus becoming a volcano of some sort. Which, my point being, begs the question: which came first, the volcano or the earthquake ("Earthquake, earthquake!"). So, why is it that the national organization system for classifying these "events" call that "Volcanoes" come first? See my problem?

I do realize that after reading this, you are thinking that "yes, Anna, you are a big nerd (and probably loosing it a bit)," but I do get bored while shelving, and the matter just bugged me. So, what did I do? I did what any pained-brain person would do at the library: ask the reference desk. Did she have the answer? No. Did the person she called through catalogue know? No. Did the Book of Dewey Decimal System-ing have the answer? No. Basically, we were all stumped. It sure did make us chortle at the fact that the ordering wasn't logical, and the fact that we were just thinking about the whole thing like it mattered at all whether or not we actually found out the answer, before we got back to our hum-drum day. I told them, if they ever did decide to change it, by mere chance, I would go down in history as that "weird knitting gal who was such a big, big nerd."

And how do you know that you are working WAY TOO MUCH in the library shelving? You'll know when you look at the clock by chance at 7:46 and think of knitting...while at the same time wondering why the heck knitting popped into your head in the first place, until it dawns on you that the 746's are knitting books section...and once again, you are such a nerd.

"Mystery Knit" clue #2

2009-05-27T22:51:00.002-05:00

Garter. Also, notice the right side of the work, full of "lovely" threads for me to sew in later on. That will be fun. Anyways, you know what that means: more than one color. See last post for the first clue.

A walk down garter lane

2009-05-22T22:05:00.003-05:00

...plus "mystery knit" clue #1 in the bottom of post.

Every knitting designer, like writers, eventually faces the dreaded "mental block"-or for us knitters, the "knit-block." For those of you lucky enough to evade such a matter, or still have yet to experience it...it stings deep and cuts hard. The plaguing idea that filled every nook and cranny of my mind dissipated with every second of trying to draw out the design, and the once-obvious mental-picture of a cropped cardi around the cute dress hanging on the door started to mutate into an assortment of shapes, sizes, colors and constructions....
And don't even get me started on what type and quantity of buttons there were...

So, when desperate times call for desperate measures...do as I do, and pull out the "big guns." Ok, well, maybe the "big needles." Stick to the gartered pattern with nothing more complicated than eyelet-increases on the edges. It numbs the brain, while also keeping in tact the last shred of sanity you still possess.

What a breather.

MYSTERY KNIT, CLUE #1

A little background: Joe is receiving a "surprise" graduation gift after he completes his 3 week course that finishes around June 6th. I probably won't be done in 2 weeks. (Really, replace "probably" with "won't," because it's more like the truth and I'm just trying to be optimistic.) He will, though, get a few clues to try to figure out what the heck I'm knitting that will knock his socks off...and you guys can join along, trying to figure out what it is.

HOWEVER, please message-me your actual ideas/theories via Ravelry or email...as I really don't want you smarties ruining the surprise if you figure it out before he does. Keep in mind, he's a "nuggle" (non-knitting folk). And he will get to read these posts, and I'm sure he'll check the comment page just to cheat. You can use the comment page below to gloat about knowing what it is, or suggest ridiculous theories like me knitting him a rocket-ship, or something to that effect.

Ok, so here is clue #1: I started with 1 single stitch. I am up to 10,657 stitches, and 40% of the entire body of the object is done. Several inches ago, I complete 7,441 stitches...and using that information...when it is up to 80% completed, I will NOT have completed 21,314 stitches, but far, far greater.

This first clue is a little mathematical, and the next clue should be a B&W teaser of the object.

The wedding shrug, v.1

2009-05-17T17:45:00.007-05:00

Spring is finally here. The breezes are warmer, the flowers are out...and we are all feeling like it's darn tootin time. Everything is soo photogenic, and I couldn't resist taking a bunch of photos to share with you all.

Refreshing my memory of the "correct technique" for picking up stitches along the edges of the stockinette.

Trillions of hours later: picking up the 230 stitches to garter around the shrug.

The side of the shrug.

The back of the shrug, and why I am going to make version 2. The pattern and picot edging will stay, but it will be smaller lengthwise and widthwise and the garter boarder will be knit simultaneously with the lace. The yarn in the current shrug is great (I would use it again for the Abriana cardi), but who can resist a cashmere blend?

Mother's Day & other such goodness

2009-05-17T17:25:00.005-05:00

Mother's Day was quiet, yet relaxing. I finished the wedding shrug (to be posted about after this), and quickly added a little (yet very fast) embellishments to my mom's bag. I got her a mother's day necklace that had writing inscribed all over it.

I was stoked that I actually found a LYS. My very own, not 20 minutes away, nor 45...but 8 minutes away. Can you hear the choir now?
Above is some Inca Alpaca yarn that I bought 30% off when the whole "Rummage Sales" thing was going on in the suburban community the shop is located in. I plan to make gloriously soft intarsia mittens out of these. The yarn shop is darling, it's a mixture of arty stuff & a yarn shop, and it had much more than I imagined when I first learned about it on the web. This was from my second visit, when Joe and I went there.

These two skeins of Classic Yarns cashmere blends are from my first visit, with my mom. She was thoughtful enough to treat me to lunch & purchased these two skeins & "It Itches" book! I am planning on knitting up my wedding shrug again, this time a little modified to be smaller, and to have the garter edging knit up while I'm doing the lace. More on those changes later.

My wild flowers are sprouting up! Go miracle grow! That's a few day's worth of germinating.

...and finally, drum-roll please....more BARE YARN!!! Let the dyeing extravaganza begin! I'll have soo many wonderful colorways available in my shop in the near future!

"Bobble Emergency" Tutorial: how to pull a Houdini

2009-05-10T21:00:00.006-05:00

I've been working my arse of today finishing up my "Tie-the-Knot" wedding shrug. I have finally completed it, but I would first like to share my little "adventure" or should I say harsh "realization" after I casted off the last picot: 2 bobbles. MIA. For all to see. Freakin monkies...

I should have seen it coming. I mean, I practically did the whole thing perfectly, only frogging a few stitches when I goofed up a bit while paying attention to cooking, or the radio. I had it coming, right? The very last bobbles of the pattern somehow got overlooked, I should say. I blame "FO-itis" enthusiasm. It had to be that. Anyways, the fact of the matter was that I couldn't-and cannot-leave two open spaces where the bobbles should have been. Every ounce of my near-perfectionist attitude screamed for me to fix it. (But of course not frogging it back to the problem area, no, that would be the "right thing" to do.) I'm much too lazy for that. I "Fudged it," I like to call it. And those faux-bobbles look damn near-perfect. Almost identical to the real ones. What a relief.

So here's my "unconventional" MIA bobble technique. Its for knitted bobbles, so you'll have to reverse the "knit" or "purl" instructions if you want yours just gartered (to just purling both sides). You can also change the size of the bobble by knitting/purling less or more. If you want yours bigger, just make more stitches by KF&B into the stitches you pick up. If you want it smaller, don't "M1.

"Okay-dokie. So here is the culprit:

Stare and glare at it. Then make your peace and move on.

Step 1: insert the tip of your needle into the "V" of the stockinette, where the beginning of your bobble needs to be (the smallest point of the bobble). Use the same size needle as your work.

Step 2: attach the yarn, knit into the first stitch, M1 (pick up 1 stitch inbetween the two stitches), knit that stitch and also the last stitch on the needle. You'll have 3 stitches now on that needle.

Step 3: turn your work. Purl the 3 stitches. (knit and purl another row if you'd like yours a lot bigger)

Step 4: turn your work. Knit those 3 stitches together.

Step 5: with your remaining stitch, cut your yarn and secure with a knot.

Step 6: use a darning needle to thread the yarn connected to the last stitch and push it through the middle of a stitch (behind the bobble) on the right side of the work and into the back side of the work. Do this in a spot where you want the top of your bobble to fall flat against. It will keep the bobble nice and secure...and not flapping around. Thread any remaining threads into the back side of the work as well.

Step 7: Secure on the wrong side a knot and weave the remaining strands into the wrong side of the work.

Step 8: breath out & relax. The nightmare is over. You can now go back and enjoy your work. You are the boss of those bobbles...and not the other way around.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I'll post about the actual wedding shawl soon! Stay posted! :)

Progress

2009-05-08T13:00:00.005-05:00

I'm back at home, and was pleasantly greeted by blooming flowers and fragrant smells. It's really great sitting outside with a warm breeze blowing on you while you knit. Ahhh.

I've gotten several inches done since Iowa City. The shrug was only half this size, or less. I think it's really coming along, and I'm still trudging through.

Here's a close-up of the shrug. It's about 14'' long right now from the edge of the sleeve. I'll need to knit the main body for 22'' or so. That means I'm around half way done.

I went to two LYS in Iowa while I was visiting Joe this week. At Crazy Girl Yarns, I bought a "just in" 9'' circular needles in size 2 and two sample wool-washes. I'll either love or hate those needles, which I intend to use on knitting socks on-the-go. Right now I'm iffy.

I also bought two beautiful skeins of Miski baby llama yarn in a natural color, brown. They will one day be made into a silky scarf. It's very soft, and doesn't scratch my sensitive neck in the least bit.

Alright kids, back to work. Get those needles clicking...

Startitis

2009-05-04T13:58:00.003-05:00

I've been in Iowa City for the past few days, visiting with the beau and making sure everything is on track. I'll be leaving Wednesday morning-ish, so I can get back to all of those piano lessons that I have to teach & make up that are inbetween them. Yicks. In the meantime, I've been knitting a little, and reading a couple of books to keep me busy (like the Yarn Harlots' "Things I learned from Knitting Whether I Wanted to or Not"). My wedding clock says it's one day under 5 months-a really frightening thought, as I have too much left to plan-so I better get cracking on my "Tie-the-knot" shrug I'm designing.

However, Startitis is kicking in, darn it, and is making my hands itch. I've been scouring through Ravelry patterns, and was blown away by a few patterns that I must knit ASAP:

Berroco's "Abrianna," a very nice cardigan with a simple, yet highly textured pattern. It calls for about 7 skeins, or 450 grams of yarn, so I might substitute the recommended yarn for Micro Spun. It seems to have the same silkiness & thickness as the pattern's yarn, albeit the nice colorway. I'm thinking that a layered necklace like in the photo is a MUST. A skirt would be nice too, as well as a cute bag, but i think this cardi would look great with dark denim jeans too.

I'm absolutely in love with Alice Bell's "Bottom's Up" pattern as well. It would work great in the Spring and Summer months, and would look extra spicy with a belt & skirt. I'll need to find some sport weight for this.

Let's see, the other "main" patterns that I hope to cast-on for in the near, near future:
-EZ's Mittered Mits. With Noro yarn.
-Meghan Munro's Replica of the Secret Garden Tam. Red, like in the movie.
-Berroco's Dizzy hat.
-Berroco's Cisco with my own handspun yarn.
-Berroco's Juliana wrap.
-Ysolda's Cloud Bolero, but longer and with buttons.
-Jana Trent's Eloomanator Diagonal Dishcloth. In a darker yellow, like the pattern.
-Vaunda Rae Giberson's Wheatfield Dishcloth.

Yeah, I think you see my problem.

Well, back to some knitting. I'd like to visit the LYS today, inbetween Joe's studying. I'd also like to walk around the mall too, but I'm still on the boot, and it's hard to walk normal (Surprising, I know). I'm officially supposed to start walking without crutches today (although I've been doing that for a while, don't tell the doc), but I don't know if I should push it. It's hard to tell if it's almost healed. It's a pain test, but I'm still unsure whether or not the pain is from unused muscles, inflamed tendons surrounding the fracture, or the fracture itself. Maybe it's all of the above. Who knows. It wouldn't surprise me, having all sorts of health inflictions dumped on me all at once lately...

Star-edged Socks

2009-04-27T15:38:00.009-05:00

UPDATE! The complete tutorial of the Afterthought Heel, at your service!

I'm really not feeling well, I actually spent this morning in the ER because I woke up at 6:30AM choking on nothing, and wheezing like an asthma attack...while not being able to breath much. After running all sorts of tests, everything posed negative, so the doctor assumed that I now have Acute Bronchitis, and that sleeping flat now will make me cough/choke like that because of my congestion. I came home around lunch, and took a nap (two pillows isn't enough I guess), and had another one of those attacks again. I'm really tired, and I'm a little nervous about napping again...so I'm gonna do a little posting and watching TV for a while. I'm beginning to feel knee-deep in illnesses & important things that turn my world upside down, all at once. I hope to reach the shore soon...and actually walking on two functional feet! Or I'll loose my head!

I decided to go the non-traditional route when it came to afterthought heels. I wanted my heel to look just like my toes. You know, to give it a subtle, "huh" effect. It looks like the toes should feel weird, because a star-toe decrease does look a little awkward...but it's not. It feels just like any other sock. Also, I knit these two-at-a-time, because of my serious case of Second Sock Syndrome!

64sts socks are usually a little large on me, so I decided drop it down to 60. I haven't done such a thing on size 2's, so I guess i shouldn't be that surprised that the stitches had to stretch a little bit in some areas. It's a catch-22. You lose, and you lose. Next time, I'll start off with 60sts, increase to 64sts around the heel, and when that is all said and done, drop it back down to 60sts. What can I say. My foot's weird. Needy, I guess.

Pattern: Star-edged Socks, by KUAS (yours, truly)

Yarn: approx 385 yds of KUAS' fingering weight yarn in the colorway "Butterfly"

Needles: size 2US dpns, set of 4.

Method: Top-down

Special features: Afterthought heel & Star-Toe decrease on the toes and heel.

Project: April 2oth-26th, mainly (I started 3.5'' of the leg months ago)

I like them. They feel very springish. You'll notice one curvy decrease on the heel in the photo below, but if you turn the foot, you'll notice that they are actually decreasing at 4 points. It's kind of tripy with variegated yarn.

I hope you like these socks!