Quick

I've been plugging away at Pink, as evidenced by my (slow but steady) progress:

See?  It's growing.  Slowly but surely, about the speed of a turtle - at least we're faster than a snail - I'm progressing.  In the center, you see Skein #2, and the raspberry color comes through better in this picture than the last one.  Even though it's working for me, I couldn't help it.

I went out to my craft space last night (more on that to come later) and look what I found.  She cried, pitifully, at me, to wind her up.  She had been sitting so patiently, waiting so quietly, and her cry was a soft one, so I couldn't help it.  I wound her up.  Don't get me wrong - I love the blue sweater, and Pink is lovely, but when this Rasta (color of Porrinho) started to cry, I just had to give in.  She's been sitting for a couple of months maybe, and soon after she was wound, she became this:

After only an hour of knitting, I'm about halfway done.  I found the pattern on Ravelry, by Kelly Hechinger who designed it.  The requirements were easy when I searched for a pattern: it had to be out of one skein of super bulky, it had to be a cowl, and it had to have no seams.  The rest is icing on the cake.  It's so simple, so easy, and yet just interesting enough to keep you entertained.  It's an incredibly simple pattern.  The yarn, Rasta, is simply heaven to work with.  Now, I love the blue sweater.  It's great, and Ella Rae Classic is a good solid wool.  But it does have a tendency to be a little rough.  It's a terrific workhorse yarn, which is what it needs to be for that sweater, as I plan on Little Man and Princess wearing it for several years.  Pink is also terrific - Spud and Chloe yarns are fabulous and smooshy in their own right, but a wool and cotton blend isn't always easy on the hands either.  Malabrigo, in all their ingeniousness, created Rasta as a 100% Merino wool super bulky weight to counter these types of yarns.  It's super big, to make a project knit up fast, and super soft, to help ease the drying hands of knitters.  This particular one is destined to be all wrapped up and put under the tree for my mother-in-law.  There's another one waiting in the wings for my mother, but I think that one calls for a different pattern.  I probably would have finished it last night, except before I could wind yarn, I puttered around a bit here:

Oh, it doesn't look like much now, but this is my craft area that has been recently established.  This is far from all of my craft stuff; most of it is scattered throughout the house.  It now has a home, a place to reside, and slowly but surely, like a sweater, it will blossom.  I added the wire shelves last night, and separated my craft stuff into kids' crafts, beading, sewing, knitting and crocheting.  The shelves will house books and patterns, and I have some more shelves that will be moved in here for the yarn storage.  I'd personally rather have a complete room to myself, but for now, I'm willing to share my space.  The rest of the room is a play space for the kiddos, and we've recently rearranged it so there's a nice little seating area in front of the fireplace, which will be my father-in-law's delight.

Trouble

I keep running into to trouble with the Crossover Lace, so I think I need to give it some time and space.  Really - it's not you, it's me.  We just need a little break.  So, this one goes to the WIP/frog pond for a while, to see if we're really meant to be.

The lace pattern is nice, but it's definitely hard to see, and the instructions aren't very helpful when decreasing.  Here's a close-up of the unblocked lace.

But, never fear - for my hands are still busy, and I am making great strides with other projects.  Take a look at this one:

 This one is for Little Man, and all I have left are the sleeves and neck.  I'm not quite sure what to do with that bottom turning up, but I guess after a good blocking, it will lie flat(ter).  To up the coolness factor of this one (since blue is no longer his favorite color, he keeps telling me), this crafty momma is planning on getting some white felt, cutting out stars, getting some glow-in-the-dark fabric paint, painting said stars, and then sewing them on to look more like this:

Because every 5 year old needs a glow in the dark sweater.  Don't you agree?  This was the first sweater he liked on Ravelry (a nipperknits pattern), so I started modeling this one after that.  It really wasn't that hard.  He had already decided a plain blue sweater with a V-neck was what the blue yarn wanted to be, so I'm just going to add the stars that glow.  Unfortunately, I don't think I can find any glow-in-the-dark fabric, so I'm going to improvise.  It will also allow me to turn this plain blue sweater with stars back into a plain blue sweater if asked (because no one is THAT consistent to always want to wear glow-in-the-dark stars).

Don't cry over a frogged sweater though.  Look what I started to replace the Crossover Lace Sweater:

It's actually a sweater for me (shock and surprise!).  The picture doesn't capture the yummy raspberry color of this yarn.  It's Spud and Chloe sweater, and I think the shade is Popsicle.  I bought it a while back, and just never got around to knitting it.  I did have more done, but I found a place where I forgot to increase, and although I tried to save it, it was no use.  So, I had to start all over again, but this time I think it's even better - more even stitches, all the increases worked in the right places, and smaller stitch markers.

Today is going to be an odd day for me: I have some sort of sinus thing that won't go away.  Everyone else's has vanished, but mine.  Mine's hanging out, making friends, unpacking its luggage and putting it away, and that's just not cool.  Fortunately, I have a doctor's appointment this morning, and maybe they can figure out why my head is a troublemaker.  We'll see what the doctor prescribes, but I'm thinking an afternoon nap and some serious knitting time could make me feel a LOT better.  What do you think?

I still got it...

At least in the kitchen.  Check out what I did yesterday morning:

Those are yummy blueberry scones, with blueberries from our front yard.  Yep - homegrown yumminess.

Apparently, the time I spent at Starbucks wasn't wasted - I made a terrific latte for myself as well.  Some things come back to you like riding a bicycle.  Which reminds me, I'd love to have a girly bicycle - one with a basket and no gears...but I digress.

Knitting has not been quite so lucky for me.  I went to seam up the sleeves on the Playful Stripes cardigan, and found issues.  Like a dropped stitch.  Here I am, thinking all I need to do is just seam it up, and instead, I find severe problems.  It also wouldn't seam properly, so I think I need to take out the yoke, re-knit the sleeves, and then try again.

Fortunately, Big Blue is working up nicely, and I don't think I'll run out of yarn (one of the big fears).  I have about another inch on the body before the ribbing, and then I can hit the sleeves.

The Crossover Lace Sweater isn't going so well for me either.  I'm thinking of putting it on the back burner and starting back with Pink.  I've also been thinking about starting a Yoked Cardigan or two.  I have adorable buttons, and it would be SO easy to use them on one of those cute sweaters.  I have some others waiting in the wings as well, like the Elemental Pullover and another one that hasn't yet decided what it wants to be.  And then there's the Owls sweater I'd love to start, even though I know I don't have enough yarn (yet - it's on order).  So many sweaters, so little time.

Slow Progress, like a Turtle

I have picked up my Crossover Lace Sweater, but only one day this week.  There is a rhythm to the decreasing lace pattern, and other than messing up the last row, it went fairly easily.  I think I overloaded my brain with patterns.  It happens.  Sometimes you need some "mindless" knitting, and I left that out for a while.  It's about balance.

Here's Little Man modeling the Big Blue Sweater.  It's probably about a size 7 or 8, and he's not quite a 6, so he'll have a couple of years to grow into it.

I'm not sure if he REALLY likes it, as his favorite color is red at the moment.  But I know he likes having his picture taken, so we're good for him modeling it.

I've made very slow progress, just a few rows, but it's progress, nonetheless.  Here's a close-up:

It's something that takes a good bit of concentration, and that's in short supply.  Of course, it's getting better, since I have some "mindless" knitting (Big Blue) to do while I watch TV or go to Knit Night.

In some other news, the Atlanta Area Shop Hop is coming - September 29th to October 7th.  Several stores in the Atlanta area (9-10) are participating, and you purchase a passport for $1.  You make a $10 purchase at any of the stores, and you get a stamp.  Once you turn in your passport, you get put into a drawing for all sorts of prizes!  It's a lot of fun, you find new shops or rediscover old ones, pick up some new stash, and get a chance to win more stash!  The prizes are always really good too.  I've seen them, although never won.  Maybe this year, though!

Insomnia

For some time now, maybe about a year and a half, I've been having issues with insomnia.  It is occasionally, and sometimes predictable.  More and more often, it's becoming less predictable, and less controllable.  Last night was one of those nights.  Fortunately, I try to keep a good book handy, and this one is the one gracing my bedside table currently:

It's a continuation of "Friday Night Knitting Club" which a wonderful friend from my last job gave to me.  I read it and really enjoyed the story.  I know these books are old, but they are still well written.  I also recently read this one:

Some women are romance novel junkies - I'm a murder mystery junkie.  I find for summer reading, a light-hearted mystery works best for me.  I truly don't care for all the gratuitous sex in romance novels as a general rule - if it doesn't help the plot, I'm not interested.  But give me a good murder mystery, and I'll finish it up in a weekend easy peasy.

It appears we're all coming down with some sort of summertime cold; everyone is stuffy, coughing, sneezing, and the like.  Mine and hubby's throat hurts, so we probably have it the worst.  We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

Stuck

I'm still stuck at the same place for my sweater for the KAL, but I've been distracted.  It's an old one, but:

It's the Owls sweater by Kate Davies.  It's lovely as is, but a wonderful lady named Maritza at my LYS had knit one up, raved about the ease and speed, and now I want to cast on too.  I think I may have enough yarn left over from this to do it:

That is my lovely, wonderful sister-in-law in her Ice Skating Cape I made her for Christmas last year. It was in Cascade Eco Wool, and it called for 2-3 skeins, and I just got into the second skein, so I might have enough left (I have to weight it and do some math, which apparently is not my strong point, but I'm working on it).

I also saw this:

It's the Owl Coffee Cup Cozy, and I think I have just the right yarn for this - leftover Fresco in that lovely grey shade.  I did a summer shawl KAL with it, and still have a good bit left.  I'm thinking it might be a fun bonus gift for some people for Christmas.  I am almost done with the neckline for the blue sweater for Little Man, and then I can knit like the wind!  LOL!  A plain stockinette stitch sweater may be boring to some, but it's great TV knitting, or knit night knitting!  And it goes quickly.  That means - easy finish.  Hopefully.  If my math is right.

Peace, Be Still

I've been having the trouble the past couple of days of not being able to shut down my brain.  Sometimes it just keeps running and running - flitting from one thing to the next.  I hardly have time to land on one thing, before I have to jump to something else.  Meditation is something that I haven't really tried in a traditional sense, but even in Christianity, God tells us to "be still" and to "meditate on [His] Word."  With children, that's hard to do.  There's always something - cleaning, cooking, playing, learning, laundry...something vying for my attention 24/7.  So, I try to get up a few minutes early and have some quiet time.  Saturday mornings are especially good for this, since I don't have to get anywhere by a specific time.  The kiddos also usually sleep in a bit, allowing me an extra hour or so before anyone else is awake.  The constant pulling on my brain also makes me very deficit in my attention to my knitting and other crafts.  Here's just a small sample of my WIP stack:

This is my Cloudy Day Hat.  Well, it would be if I ever finished it.  I'm just a little over half-way done with it.  I hope to finish it for the fall.

Here is Princess' Playful Stripes.  I still have to sew up the sleeve seams and weave in ends and put on buttons.  This is one I also hope to finish by the fall.

Here is my sweater for the Summer Sweater Knit-a-long with Luvinthemommyhood.  It has grown since the last time you've seen it, but it's slow progress.  That lace pattern with the side decreases is really kicking my tush.

Here's the progress so far on Little Man's blue sweater.  It's based off of the Incredible Custom-Fit Raglan sweater; I just plugged in the numbers and cast on.  Of course, that makes it sound like I had a really easy time with it, and I probably would have, if I had read the directions VERY CAREFULLY.  Which I didn't.  Because when you have knitting ADD, that's the way you roll. :)

This is another sweater for me; it's Pink, from Custom Knits.  Or at least, it will be once I actually work on it.  It's stalled out (like so many other things) and taken a back seat.  This is a SMALL sampling of my UFO pile.  I'm trying to make my way through it so I'll have some room.  I'm going to attempt to relocate all of my crafting things to the playroom, even without air, in hopes that some other things can be shifted and rearranged, making the house more user-friendly.  Sometimes you just have to rearrange what you have because your needs change.

So, what's in your UFO basket?  Anything good?  Anything you care to share?

Adventures in Motherhood

This past week has been a lot of fun.  We took a week of vacation, visiting the grandparents for a few days and then Hubby and I went off on our own seeking adventure.  Well, not really.  We did go to the alpaca farm (Adonai's Alpacas, and I really can't say enough wonderful things about them) and we rented a cabin for a few days to spend some quality time together.  And yet, in all this, life was calm and quiet.  Until we headed home.

We were driving back yesterday afternoon, and suddenly Princess, who is hardly ever really sick (fever, throwing up, crying inconsolably) just threw up.  Out of nowhere.  She wasn't running a fever, she hadn't been refusing food, no sign of illness anywhere.  I'll spare you any pictures of this, as first, I didn't take any, and second, let's face it: that's just gross.  I had just been saying recently that I hardly ever remember her throwing up at all.  Like maybe twice in her almost 2 years.  Then yesterday, that bit me in the butt.  Not only did she do it, but it was of course, in the car on the way back home.  So, we had to hurriedly pull over into a KFC parking lot, get out, try to get as much cleaned up as possible, and then get back on the road.  After this fun adventure of having hubby take her to the bathroom and change her clothes, while I tried to clean and air out the car while Little Man sat in his seat trying not to think about the smell and stay cool in the 91+ degree heat, you'd think we'd get back on the road with no trouble.  Au contraire,  mon frere.

Once we got back on the road, the car suddenly decided it just didn't want to go anymore.  Nothing major, but it was just a definitive "no way Jose" (funny because we were in Gainesville, GA).  So once again, we had to pull over into a random parking lot (this time in the shade) and sit and wait.  We made a couple of frantic calls (one to Hubby's parents, one to mine) and decided the best thing to do would be to wait a minute, try to crank it again, and see what happened.  Fortunately, it cranked.  And then, it decided to go.  We made it home then with no incident, unpacked the car, cleaned everything we could on the car seat (thank goodness all of the pads are removable and washable) and I even got a can of compressed air to blow out the crevices of the car seat so it won't smell anymore.

With that, I'll leave you with these pictures of them: happy, healthy, and clean:

Lazy

I spent most of today in bed.  I'm not sick; I'm just relaxing.  Hubby and I have been spending some quality time together, and we've just been hanging out.  I finished sewing the bottom on the Playful Stripes, and am working on the button bands.  I finished one, and am working on the other.  Sorry I haven't taken pictures, but I've been lazy.  I thought I'd give you a few more pictures though from the alpaca farm, because, let's face it, those animals are just so darned cute.  I promise to take some pictures tomorrow, and maybe I'll get something accomplished on the Crossover Lace Sweater math as well.  Here are a couple of more pictures of the girls:

This one is a male; his name is Celebrate (I could be wrong - there were so many, it's hard to remember all their names).  He was in a pen by himself, because he was old enough to try to assert dominance over the others males (read: start a fight to be the alpha male).

Here's a couple more shots of some of the males.  This one had just gotten angry and was spitting at another male.  Although they do spit, it's usually at each other and someone human gets caught in the crossfire.  Moral of the story: if there are males fighting, don't get close unless you want to get hit with alpaca spit (kinda gross).

I can't remember if this one was Emmanuel, or Chavez.  It's one of the two.  He was sweet though.  Most of the males weren't as friendly as the females, but they were very placid and docile.  They just didn't walk up to you and sniff you.

They may look like they're brown, but most of them are actually an off-white/natural color.  They have lovely Georgia red clay on them, from where they've been rolling around in the dirt.

The farm was very lovely, and surprising clean.  Adonai's Alpaca Farm makes sure the fields are kept cleaned (they remove manure twice a day) and the alpacas are fed and watered frequently.  They have fans that run in the shelters for the heat, and they even hose them down on their legs and bellies during the summer.  If you hose the alpacas off on top, it just creates steam and makes them hotter.  These are such wonderful creatures and I look forward to seeing some yarn and fleece!

Discoveries

I haven't given up completely on the Crossover Lace Sweater, but almost.  I have to figure out how to deal with decreases in a lace pattern.  There has to be some way to get it together.  For now it's stuck here:

I managed to gently take out the first repeat of the lace pattern with the decreases - I wasn't really happy with them anyway.  I have some math to do and will come back to it.  Instead, I picked this little number back up and started on it:

It's the Playful Stripes Cardigan from Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting.  It's a sweet little cardigan for Princess, and I've been working on it since September of last year.  It got put down for Christmas knitting, then school stuff, then other deadlines, and now I've picked it back up again and I'm almost through with it.  I did have to rework the yoke (what you see here is after I ripped back to the first decrease I had made, to move it up, since I hadn't really reached the 2.5 inches the pattern called for).  It really helps to read directions some days.

Today, I had an adventure.  My wonderful hubby took me to an alpaca farm.  It's called Adonai's Alpacas, and it's local here in Georgia.  Here is one of the first sights to greet you at the farm.

It was really humid, and the camera fogged up, but that little guy is Job.   He's a cria, just about 6-8 months old.  He was extremely friendly, but he didn't care for you to touch him.  Here are a few others:

This one is Beauty.   I'm pretty sure she would have come home with me, except we couldn't fit her in the trunk.  She came right up to me, let me pet her, and then she gave me what I assume was the equivalent of a hug (she rested her head on my chest).  She was obviously sweet and very friendly as well.

The females were more genial than the males, but they were still sweet nonetheless.  Unfortunately, the lady who runs the farm (Nicole) was on vacation, and so we didn't get a chance to check out the fleeces and yarns.  Her husband (Hartwell) was wonderful enough to give us an early morning tour (around 8 a.m.).  It was a lovely farm, and expect to hear more about them.

Slow growth

Well, this is like growing up when you're little; you know you're making progress, but it's just not as fast as you want.  We all want to grow 5 inches in overnight, and that's just not going to happen so we can ride the Batman roller coaster at Six Flags.  But I have made (slight) progress:

I finished one pattern repeat after the first decrease, so I only have 4 rows left until the second decrease.  It's not a huge change, but every row helps.

I tried to work on it last night, I really did!  But, and I should know better, a lace pattern and Knit Night just don't mix!  It is better to take a knitting/crochet project that doesn't need much supervision when you're sitting with a bunch of other knitters.  Talking seems to prevail concentration, and you hardly get anything done, unless it's something like stockinette.

I can't remember if I told you what I was using for this sweater.  So, here it goes, just in case I forgot (I'm prone to do that occasionally):  the pattern is the Crossover Lace Sweater from Juniper Moon Farms, and I'm using Findley in black.  The yarn is lovely.  I believe it's a 2-ply lace weight yarn, and it hardly ever splits - as a matter of fact, I don't think it has ever split on me.  I'm usually a little rough on yarns.  There's generally some pulling and tugging and tinking and even frogging that happens when I start a pattern.  Findley seems to hold up to my abuse pretty well.  It feels lovely too.  It's soft and silky, which is probably because it's silk and merino.  I could easily see this knit or crocheted up into lots of lovely things: baby items, sweaters, blankets, hats, gloves, you name it!  It is a wonderful yarn to work with, so if you're looking for a lovely lace weight, check out Findley.  They have beautiful colors, and I'm sure for fall they'll have gorgeous colorways.  I just checked out their website, and they have Findley Dappled: same great yarn, in some gorgeous colorways!  Please go check them out (no, I'm not paid for the ad, but they are a Made in the USA product, and we should support our neighbors).

In being slightly discouraged on the progress above, I have toyed with the idea of not finishing this sweater first before casting on.  I've been of two minds: should I finish the one half of the Koguchi shawl that just has the crocheted bind-off?  Or should I cast on for another sweater that would go faster?  Here's a picture of the shawl:

All I have to do is the crocheted bind-off, which you wouldn't think is that big of deal for me, right?  I mean, I'm fairly comfortable with crochet.  It shouldn't be a big deal, but it is to me.  I haven't done crochet from knitting straight like that (there is no bind off before jumping in to the crochet).  Am I just getting too scared of new things?  I mean, it IS just knitting and crochet, and if it doesn't come out right, I can always rip back and start again.  I think though, what scares me the most about it, is that it's on LACE.  I mean beautiful LACE.  If I screw it up, then the whole panel could go *poof* in an instant.  I think I'll insert a lifeline first.  Maybe that will calm my fears.  Oh, that would be a great new sign: Keep Calm and Insert a Lifeline.  LOL!  This is the other sweater I've been wanting to cast on:

Yep, it's Little Man's sweater.  I did the math yesterday, and I think I have it so it won't be gigantic on him for 3 years. :)  If it is, no worries: we'll roll up the sleeves and he can grow into it.  Fortunately, in being a lovely shade of blue, and a size 6 (hopefully, if my math is right), his baby sister can wear it when she's his age too.  Of course at the rate Princess is growing, she might wear it sooner!  What have you cast on recently?  Anything new?  Or are you just working on your current WIPs?

Math

Math seems to be a dirty word sometimes.  Math is not bad.  Math helps in everyday life.  Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are necessary.  I'm not talking about derivatives, calculus or geometry.  I happen to like geometry, but could do without the rest.  And just in case you're wondering, no, being good at geometry does NOT mean you are good at pool.  I'm terrible at pool, but wonderful at geometry.  I think physics would have helped me more at pool than geometry.  In any case, math can definitely be your friend when knitting.  For example, gauge is all about math.

Gauge is what makes sure a sweater fits.  It's what makes sure all your clothes fit, to be honest.  It's a good thing we have math, and gauge, otherwise we'd never make anything to fit ourselves and have to give everything away to someone with 10 foot arms and a 20 inch chest.

I am about to endeavor the math for Little Man's sweater.  I have my gauge swatch, and a "fill-in-the-blanks" pattern for a top down raglan in multiple sizes.  It even comes with a chart for sizes, including his.  So, despite the fact that I'm still participating in this:

I feel the need to feel like I'm getting something done.  I have the distinct feeling I chose the wrong sweater to start.  I feel horribly behind, and now I'm at a slight hurdle, because I have to decrease on the sides for some waist shaping, while keeping the lace pattern going.  Part of me says "go grab some other yarn and cast on for a top down simple raglan so you can see some really fast progress."  Another part of me says "hang in there, you're already at the decreases, and you've worked out which rows they're on; just a little more and you'll whiz through the rest."  It does actually help that I'm getting up early to work on it.  I get up, eat breakfast and work on the knitting.  It's a nice quiet time of the day.  It guarantees that I make a little progress.  It gives me some peace to start my day.  It's like a meditation, just without the words repeating over and over in my head.  Instead, my hands repeat a rhythm.  There's an interesting connection - music and knitting.  Another interesting connection is knitting and religion, but that's for a whole different post.  So, how do you fit in your knitting every day?  Do you make an appointment with yourself, or do you just steal moments here and there?