2 years!! what?

today marks a 2 year time lapse! of this blog! what? time really does fly! i can’t believe it is exactly 2 years since i last wrote in here! actually, yes i can! little boys are a lot of work! 🙂 but so worth it:) today while we were driving my little alien t-rex was looking out the window and he said, broken, referring to the trees. we had a pretty bad ice storm in December 2013, and a lot of the trees around here are split or “broken”:( so then i said to him, yes, the trees are broken from the ice storm. and he said, Hug. he wants to hug the trees. i think i’m doing ok at being a mommy:) OK, so…on to the knitting:) I have so much to talk about, but first things first! I went on a little knitting retreat!

it was the first time i was away from my little tree-hugger, and i missed him a ton, but i also had a great time!

Spruce Hollow Farms

i found the information for the retreat on ravelry, check out this link. however, if you are not a member of ravelry (and why aren’t you?) then here is the link to Judy’s website for Spruce Hollow Farms. navigating her website will give you more detailed information about accommodations, but here are some quick ones, there is wi-fi available (free), all meals are included for your retreat stay, and there are a few fireplaces throughout the home to enjoy, as well as a nice garden outside during warmer weather.

now, details. this was the perfect retreat for me at this time. it allowed me to “get away” without having to drive too far, or get on a plane, and i wasn’t gone for too long. i didn’t have to do any cleaning or cooking. i didn’t have to worry about anyone else, which, sounds selfish, but honestly, it was nice for a change:) and i’m sure i’m not the only one out there who daydreams of that occasionally! i was looking for a relaxing weekend where i could knit as much as i wanted, and that is what i got. mostly. i say mostly because i foolishly planned this during a final exam period. so i did spend some time away from the other retreat goers while i finished up a class. i learned a big lesson there. wait until the class is over so you can enjoy All The Knitting Time!

when i arrived late friday afternoon, there were already a few other people there, and we all sat in the kitchen drinking wine and eating appetizers. i hadn’t expected that and it was nice after driving for 3 hours. then Judy served dinner, which she cooked, and it was delicious! also, dinner was served in the dining room, which was set up really fancy:) i mean, we had individual bowls with salt and little spoons. silly that this is something that really caught my attention, but i thought it was so neat. and i couldn’t help but think of downton abbey:)

the entire weekend judy cooked all of our meals, and a few of us walked away with some new recipes, which is always nice. so again, no cooking or cleaning, just relaxing with knitting, which made for a great weekend! but to top if off, not only was the food delicious, the room accommodations were nice as well. i slept really well for the first time in months. the bed was comfortable and i woke up each day feeling refreshed!

i would highly recommend staying with Judy at her farm for a knitting retreat if you are anywhere near the area, or even if you aren’t and would like to get away!

i hope to start writing on at least a weekly basis, so stay tuned for some knitting!! if anyone is still reading:)

addi-turbo lace VS. hiya-hiya sharp needles

happy wednesday:) to check out what everyone else is working on today, head on over to tami’s amis and other creations for wip wednesday:)

this is just one of my wips. one i cast on late last night. i have a few in the works right now, but after reading this blog post, i got the idea to knit myself a shawl that i can use as a cover-up while breast feeding. i wanted something quick (anticipated arrival date of my little alien t-rex is next week!) but large enough to do the job. i took all day to make up my mind and i settled on this pattern, Catenacy by Kiersten Brandt. i wanted to use stash yarn since i want this right now, right now, so i’m using knitpicks shimmer hand dyed lace yarn held doubled, in the blue glass colorway. i bought this back in 2009, so i figured i might as well put it to use. however…i’m not thrilled with how the shawl is turning out, and i’m not thrilled with how the pattern is written. i’m using someone else’s mods on ravelry (noted on my project page here), but i’m thinking that this may not be dense enough to actually cover anything…but we shall see. i have a plan b, which i need to order yarn for, just in case this doesn’t work out. in the end, at least i’ll have something pretty to either keep or give away, regardless of whether it works for what i want right?

among my works-in-progress is a baby blanket (click here for pics and info) made out of wollmeise:) i’m very happy with how it is turning out and i’m on my 8th square out of 25, not bad since i started this at the beginning of the month! however, i was getting slightly irritated with my needle choice. clicking on the pictures below gives a better image, i apologize for not making the font bigger when i edited these pictures 😦

i’m using 2 circulars to knit each square and i started with 1 16″ addi-turbo lace interchangeable and 1 24″ addi-turbo lace fixed needle. i love the fixed needles, the interchangeable’s…not so much. the tips don’t seem to be very pointy (which is the point for lace needles right? excuse the pun). the fixed addi-turbo lace needles are slightly pointer though. however, i don’t own a whole bunch of those. and the set of addi-turbo lace interchangeable needles i purchased i got for a steal (about $100) so i feel that i shouldn’t complain too much. however…i wouldn’t recommend these. i would rather have spent that $100 on buying a slew of hiya-hiya sharp needles:)

i heard about these on the knitgirllls video-podcast a few episodes back. i have several hiya-hiya circular needles for sock knitting, so i thought, sure i’ll give these new hiya-hiya needles a try for the baby blanket. and i love them. i definitely compare them to being the same (if not better) than the addi-turbo lace fixed circular needles. for 1/2 the price! i paid $16 for my addi-turbo lace fixed needle shown in the pictures, and only $8.50 for the hiya-hiya sharp fixed circular needle.

besides the issue with the tips of the addi-lace interchangeable needles, there is the issue of the two joins. my yarn keeps getting caught on the cable join and sometimes on the needle tip join. not cool. i don’t have any issues with yarn catching on the fixed circular joins, which is to be expected, but added in with the needle tips of the hiya-hiya sharps being as good as, if not better, than the addi-turbo fixed lace needles, why spend $16 on one set when you can almost get 2 sets for that price?

my name is cujo, that be my name yo

another year has passed and cujo is now 2 years old!

he hasn’t gained much weight but he sure does have a lot of character. some of his interests are rap music, girls, playing both inside and outside, trying to eat pebbles (or anything else he can find outside), long walks, and long naps. a few of his accomplishments this year include:

*writing several songs

*running 4k’s without stopping

*winning all of the ladies (both young and old) affection in the entire neighborhood

*burping on a regular basis

*stealing the hearts of several friends of the family

*becoming my uncle’s favorite pet

and of course, providing constant love to his mommy and daddy:)

in june 2011, cujo underwent major doggie surgery for cryptorchidism. his recovery went well, but it took a little longer than originally expected. after a full day of immobility he finally came out of his funk when one of his lady doggie friends walked by. what a relief that was! we were starting to get worried but luckily, after that, all was back to normal within the week.

after cujo had his surgery, we weren’t sure if we were going to have to deal with any behavior changes/issues. but…as you can see from this video, nothing has really changed. he still loves his blanky a LOT. and he is still potty trained:) Happy 2nd Birthday Cujo!! 🙂

p.s cujo picked the song for the video. i guess since he is 2 he thinks he is mature enough to listen to this type of music. the song is considered explicit, here is your warning 🙂

please excuse my models

i’m really excited about these two finished items:) the only problem is that it is hard to show off how cute they are without the intended model being here yet! 🙂

these are two free patterns by comfort wool, are really quick to knit, and i think will be cute for pictures (and warmth). the patterns both call for malabrigo worsted, which i was tempted to use. then i decided that i wanted something machine washable, and was going to use some lion-brand wool ease that i seem to have a lot of (shocker). of course i was fairly new to knitting and didn’t realize what i was buying at the time, and in its defense, it does have its place! but…none of the colors i had were what i wanted to use. then i discovered/found malabrigo rios…a superwash version of their worsted.

finding a color i wanted that was in stock was the hardest part of these two projects. malabrigo must be doing really well. they have tons of colors available and everyone loves their yarn, but it seems as though getting them from my primary online sources (webs, jimmybeanswool, yarnmarket) is tough, as most suppliers are always out of stock in the majority of colors 😦 i know getting the yarn to the supplier in the first place is a bit of a time suck as well…anyway…

i used malabrigo rios for both my chocolate owl baby hat and chocolate owl baby cocoon, in the coco (624) colorway (click these links for my project details and helpful notes). i also don’t feel too bad about spending the money on this yarn because…i’m telling myself that once these items no longer fit my little alien t-rex, i will just rip them out and knit him a sweater:) unless of course i somehow grow attached to these items and want to keep them in a box to look at years from now…

owlie sleep sack model is a gallon size water jug, and he worked it baby:)

 

 

 

 

 

owlie hat model is my favorite yankee candle at the moment, pink sands, take a bow girl!

 

biggo yarn:)

i finished something! something that should (again) have only taken a few days…but i get bored so easily…this was a very simple, easy pattern (and it is free!) and the biggo yarn from knit picks is perfect for it! i used the duchess heather colorway, and the picture on knit picks is a very accurate depiction of the actual color. the yarn was incredibly soft to work with (50% superwash merino and 50% nylon). i used just under 3 skeins for this, but i think i could have gotten away with 2 and it would still have been fine. as it is, it is approximately 11 inches wide and 72 inches long, and extra warm if you wrap it a few times. you can wrap this up to 3 times if you like…

in the picture below it is wrapped twice around the hanger

this is a gift for a friend, and i really hope she enjoys it! 🙂

click here for my project details.

reality check, and a failure notice

the madness i wrote about before has changed. reality set in for me after completing approximately 6 hexagons. i wish it had set in sooner…maybe after i wrote about my brilliant plan…that would have saved me some time. anyhow, i know me, and i know that i hate seaming things together and i often put off the finishing details of projects if it involves seaming. in fact, i still have 12 baby blanket squares that need to be seamed together from a few years ago…the blanket was for my niece, who is now 2 ½ years old. and i started that blanket about 5 months before she was born. i don’t have a great track record as far as seaming goes. or finishing projects lately for that matter…

the new plan is to use 3 different beautiful wollmeise colors to make the barn raising quilt. i’m already on my 4^th square, and for the design i want, i need 25 squares. i’m sure this won’t be complete before my little alien t-rex arrives, but hopefully it will be done and put into use while he is still a baby:) AND i’m planning on using a 3-needle bind off to join all the squares, which i guess is still seaming, but it isn’t the kind that i seem to have so much trouble with. click here for more details if interested.

so…the whole seaming thing…yeah, i’m definitely not good at it. i figure i just need to practice, i mean, if i can make socks with an afterthought LEG…i should be able to sew some pieces of yarn together right? NOPE. i made the Petite Facile baby sweater a few weeks ago.

i fell in love with the pattern when i saw it in the Winter 2011 issue of Interweave Knits. i knew i had to make it. but i also knew that i wanted to be able to wash it in the washing machine, so i ordered some Knit Picks Shine Worsted in the marmalade color (this color has been discontinued) and eagerly cast on once the yarn arrived.

the construction is quite different, and going in, i knew i’d have to seam up the sides and under the arms, and the sleeves…but i figured (incorrectly) that it is a small project and the seaming wouldn’t be too difficult. i think for the average knitter that would be true. for me, not so much. i finished the actual knitting on this in about 3-4 days, and that was only working on it a few hours each day. it really is a quick knit, and it looks interesting as you knit it. i then put off seaming it for about 2 weeks, and i finally spent a few hours! (more than 3) seaming and re-seaming it together. i hate how it turned out, so i will be ripping it out and casting on for a different sweater, this time, one knit in one piece, from the top down. i tried to take pictures of my wonky under-arm section and side seams. my project details are here.

let the madness begin

i mentioned in the last post that i’m working on the spring shoots from alice yu’s socktopus book as part of a kal on ravelry. this sock is constructed in a different manner than i’m used to. i’ve done toe up and top down socks. these are done toe-up (using a turkish cast on, which i LOVE, and was new to me), and then you put in waste yarn to do an afterthought LEG. after that, you begin your heel decreases. oh, and to get the afterthought LEG in, you must Cut your Yarn. so here is a photo of my progress so far. and i have been at a standstill with this for at least 3 days. i’m just working up my courage to do some snipping! i’m not really scared, but…i’ve re-knit the majority of the foot a few times now because i was not measuring correctly. hopefully, i’ve figured out the right place to put in my leg, and hopefully the heel will fit me too:)

getting ready to add an afterthought leg!

you might also notice the bag…here is a closer look:

project bag from adorenum on etsy

and my favorite little detail, the dragonfly zipper pull:)

close up of zipper pull

this bag is from adorenum on etsy, and i actually met the very talented ewenique at knit nation this past summer, where she gave me one of her beautiful bags:) posted about here.

on to the madness part (yeah, it isn’t the cutting of the yarn!!). i started on these guys. they are 2.5 inches wide by 2 inches long. that’s gonna be a lot of hexagons!!

hexagons for baby blanket; wollmeise 100% merino superwash

my plan is to make a small baby blanket, and then, as time goes on, slowly add to it, and one day, maybe it will be a nice blanket for my little alien t-rex in his home. i just started last night, and i’m toying with the idea of doing the little hexagons a little differently, but will see how my imagination translates in the real world. but this pattern has taken over many knitters on ravelry, the beekeeper’s quilt. the pattern was a gift from a friend, and i love the idea, but i don’t think i’m going to be stuffing them…project page info is here.

Ohhh baby, baby, B-baby, baby

hi ya’ll! If ya’ll are still there…:) it has been quite a while since i’ve posted but i’m still around. i know i owe another post about knit nation 2011, but at this point it just seems…too late. but here goes anyway:) i had a blast, and one of the best things was charity bingo. it was really fun. the mc was hilarious, i believe he was the son (16 years old i think…) of a volunteer who was working the event. and the bingo was a little bit different than what i’ve played before. just in that the cards/books  were completely different. the 4th block down is my “winning block” hehe:) i was super surprised and really excited to win:)

bingo in the uk

i dragged my husband along for this event, and we each bought 3 books to play during the evening. some of the highlights were the hilarious people that were calling out bingo, only to find that they didn’t have bingo (this happened 3 times in a row, all from the same table), anne hanson, cookie a.,  and alice yu were there. i know there were more “knitting celebrities” however, i can’t remember all of them at this point.

the group of people we sat with were extremely nice, and funny as well. everyone was showing off their loot from the marketplace. almost at the very end of the evening, i won an awesome prize! an entry into this year’s socktopus sock club, hosted by alice yu. i’m very excited about this:)

since then, i’ve purchased alice yu’s socktopus book, and joined in on a kal for the entire book:) i completed one pair of socks already (kwalla project page) and gave them away as a gift. i’m working on the next pair, spring shoots. if you are interested in this knit-along, head over to ravelry, and join the socktopus kal group.

spring shoots by alice yu, wollmeise 80/20 in pitahaya colorway

on to what has been kind of keeping me busy…

yep, i’m having a kid. a boy to be exact. he was originally due at the end of march, but now it looks like he is due mid-march. i’m honestly not putting much stock in the due date, because i’m sure he will arrive when he feels like it:) just let me finish this last class, ok little alien t-rex ? 🙂

i wasn’t able to use the computer for more than 5-10 minutes during the first part of my pregnancy because it made me nauseous. i thought that was really weird. and inconvenient. i also was not able to knit for more than 20 minutes or so, for the same reason. Very inconvenient. However, I am now able to do both with no side effects, so yay! 🙂 and i’m thankful as well because i recently completed 2 more classes, in an effort to get as much done before this new life adventure completely begins:) let me tell you, cost accounting is…fun (what??) and was stressful to learn/comprehend in 8 weeks. business law is interesting. now i’m taking 1 more class, federal income tax I, and that has really been interesting so far! i feel like such a geek! but i’m not bored with it, and it is keeping my interest:) along with knitting, which i’ve been doing a lot of lately and the whole reason i even have this blog.

when i wasn’t really knitting, i didn’t feel like i had much to write about here, well…much that was pertinent to knitting and not really anything that anyone else hasn’t already written about (preggo issues, etc.) so really, i saved you all from being bored stiff:) ok, well…i will get more knitting pics posted soon, and re-evaluate for 2012 as far as knitting goals go.

oh yeah, i had some goals last year, 11 garments in 2011 if i recall (and i do…the guilt is…well, not there). i did complete 2 sweaters (1 for me, and 1 for a friend’s baby, not totally sure that one should count), and then 1 tank top for me, that might fit me now that i’m 7 1/2 months along with a baby…yeah, it was ginormous…and i still haven’t even taken a picture of it. i’m in denial. so 3 out of 11, and one of those is to be ripped…the other definitely doesn’t fit at the moment…this year, i’m going to be a bit more realistic…:) and of course, my goals are more along the lines of raising a healthy, happy child:) who will be covered in hand-knit items (i have a few already), and hopefully i’ll be able to resist knitting things that will embarrass the crap out of him:)

yarn along cinq!

i’m interrupting my promised “more on knit nation” to write a little bit about reading and knitting today.

reading and knitting:)

i started reading freedom a while ago, and i was really into it, but then it got a little boring for my taste, so it went into hibernation for a little bit. i really want to finish it though, so it is back in rotation (i have a few other books i’m reading at the moment as well). the reason i originally set this book aside is because walter, one of the characters, bores me to death. i like his viewpoint to an extent, but i also think he is a little nutso. he is super into pushing his idea of population control and that is kind of…strange in my opinion. i mean, i get what he is saying, but…he just seems to be a little extreme in his views.

speaking of extreme views…i checked out Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology, by Eric Brende. and…yeah, here is another guy with extreme views, in my opinion…obviously. i have gotten to page 14 in the book and i don’t think i’ll finish it. i even had to look up this book online to see if any of the reviews were in line with what i was getting from this book. this guy writes in a way that just…annoys me. every time i pick the book up (i’ve given it 3 shots) i put it down because it agitates me. his writing style is one of the main problems for me. but his ideas are also…a little too much. the idea of this book intrigued me. a guy and his family spend a year without using technology. cool. but his viewpoint on technology is that basically all technology is bad and it is ruining the human race. i disagree. i think there are definitely ways to balance out one’s life with technology and not rely on it to the point where you are no longer thinking for yourself. also, the way he describes his wife is like she is some fairy tale elf. it is odd. ok, end of rant.

besides reading freedom, i was also lucky enough to get a copy of ysolda teague’s newest book, little red in the city. this book is Awesome. there is  a ton of information in the first half. the idea of the book is to help you to customize your knits to fit your body, and ysolda goes into great (in plain english) detail about how to do this. there are also 7 patterns in the book, which is a great bonus, but i was really happy with all of the information provided as well. also, when you buy the book, you get an electronic version, AND each pattern is its own file, so if you scratch off the silver in the back of the book, and enter your code, you get 14 downloadable files. which is super cool. you can load just what you need, or print just what you need, and have the entire book as one file too. i thought this was pretty genius of her:)

i also read the help, by kathryn stockett about a week ago, and this book was really well written and interesting to read. this is another book that i heard about through reading some of the yarn along posts over the past few months, and it was so good, i couldn’t stop reading it.

last but not least, the knitting. of course i have a few wips at the moment, but i had to start this as soon as i got back from knit nation. it is so warm looking. peaks island hood, by ysolda teague. i’m knitting it in fyberspates scrumptious aran, which i picked up at the tall yarns ‘n tales booth at knit nation:) i’m a little further along than this picture, but i have a ton of seed stitch to go before i get to the hood part of this scarf:)

 small things hosts this every wednesday, and i really love participating. take a look at what everyone else is reading and knitting:)

knit nation!!! part 1

so the excitement i had for this event is still with me:) it was a Great day:) saturday morning i was so excited to get up and start the day. because we were staying in the dorms at imperial college, breakfast was included with our room. and breakfast just happened to be in the room Next to the Knit Tea Salon:) we headed to breakfast early and i’m really glad we did. it was very crowded between the “regular people” staying there, and all the knitters/crocheters who had gathered in the same location. and the breakfast really wasn’t that good. it kind of reminded me of the year i spend deployed in iraq…ick. or, the time i spent 6 1/2 weeks in basic training. basically, any time i had to eat in a military chow hall. i had sauteed mushrooms and hashbrowns for breakfast, but it was really cold, and therefore, not really good:( but i didn’t really care because i knew i was about to get some yarn shopping in:) and meet sophia:) and take a class with cookie a! and then later play bingo for charity! so, first things first, the marketplace!

while waiting for the marketplace to open, i sat in the knit tea salon, right next to ysolda teague’s area:) which was awesome:) not only did i go crazy and buy all 3 of her books (whimsical little knits, whimsical little knits 2, and little red in the city), but i also got to try on one of her designs and get a picture with her.

i was so excited i wasn't looking at the camera 😦

and she signed all 3 books. she was just as sweet as i imagined she would be. and i have already cast on for one of the projects in whimsical little knits 2, peaks island hood.

next, a walk around the marketplace. with 36 vendors/booths to check out, it was crowded:) there were so many beautiful yarns to see, and i tried my best to walk by all the booths before making a purchase, and i failed. it was overwhelming. i came away with approximately 36 skeins of yarn! plus some gifts:) it was really amazing.

sophia and i met up for a bit and wandered around the marketplace, and also sat in the knit tea salon for a few, but i didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with her as i would have liked. i had a class to be in at 2pm, so it was a little rushed:(

sohpia and i

she was sweet enough to make me! this gorgeous project bag:)

beautifully hand sewn bag by ewenique

and ever since, i have been moving whatever i’m currently working on into it, so i can tote it around with me. i told her she needs to open up an etsy shop:) her work is perfection. and i love not only the colors of the fabric, but also the print she chose:) i was lucky enough to visit paris a few years ago, and i absolutely loved it:) so this bag is absolutely my cup of tea:) thank you again sophia:)

cookie a and ME:) hehe

next, i had a class with cookie a, intuitive cable chart reading. she was really nice, and down to earth. she let me get a picture with her:) i was all nervous to ask her for one too!
and boy, this class was intense, kind of. i mean, you have to kind of commit the ideas/thoughts that cookie gives you to memory in order to get the full benefit, and for the chart reading to become intuitive. i actually hope to practice what i learned soon. she also taught us how to cable without a cable needle, and seriously, it is way easier than it sounds from reading the instructions.

stalagmite, by cookie a

i have been working on her stalagmite socks since may, and i keep having to put them down to rest my brain. after taking cookie’s class, i feel that i will be able to knock these out quicker than before, once i actually sit down and do some knitting on them:) i was also really excited to be learning from such an incredible designer as cookie:)

more on knit nation in the next post! stay tuned, it will be a good one:)

*please forgive the awkward formatting; i’m tired of fighting with wordpress. i may have to change things up a bit soon…maybe a new theme will help…