quickie drive by

Lots going on, no time to document.

Hoping to catch a break on the weekend so I can update with all of the pictures and projects I've managed to snatch a little knitting time for.

Today, my office is 80 degrees F and I *had* planned on knitting on the wool blanket while on concalls.....


One of those things is just not so compatible.

today can suck a lemon

Somehow today ended up a lot like this book.

Wait, let me start over.  My youngest son just bought himself (with his saved up coins from doing chores no less) his first he chose it, he paid for it hardcover book ever.  It's "Bad Kitty vs Uncle Murray:  The Uproar at the Front Door" by Nick Bruel.  It's the third in the non-ABC book series, and it kind of boils down to an innocent who is kind if slightly clueless who is harangued by an over sensitive, unpleasant, and downright neurotic cat.  Whose reaction to poor Uncle Murray is to SCREEEEECH at the top of her lungs whenever he gets close (even if he can't see her).

I feel for Uncle Murray.  On so, so many levels.

Today, I was forcibly reminded of the bad old days when my littlest was a newborn.  A colicky, teething, angry newborn who needed constant walking back and forth to get close to being calm.  Today, shorty met everything (and I do mean everything) with howls of angst and disappointment.  Anger, disapproval, and a general joy of hearing his own screams.

I didn't murder him once, even though knitting let me down forcibly today.  Although, to be honest, I likely let knitting down far worse... after all, I am supposed to be able to count to 6.  Knitting is supposed to be nice and pretty and doesn't count on its own.  So in all fairness, it might be more accurate to say that everything I touched today turned to SCREEEEECH.

Tomorrow has to look up, or I'm trading it all in for a passel of guinea pigs and a cold drink.

When time files...

Sheesh, I got snowed under again!

This is the knitting that's been going on in the meantime:

A hoodie, size 6 needs blocking and buttons sewn on

Pieces of Gudrid, actual color is scarlet.  I'd ask why I can't capture reds... but I think I should just accept it.

Let's get a closer look at that:

detail of unblocked cable, photo still 100% color inaccurate

And then there's this:

spring shawl version in pale green cashmere

 A little of this:

light fortifications:  1 oz peach schnapps, 6 oz gingerale, frozen blueberries

 So I wouldn't be afraid to do this:

Actually, not too bad a representation of the color.

This will be a sweater for meeeeee.  It was a ton of fun, and I have more dye-days planned.  Speaking of dyers check out Tanis!  She's having a giveaway, and the prize is pretty awesome.  Even if you don't see yourself wearing a Wispy cardigan in silk, I'm sure you  know someone who would and would love it.  Just sharing the love!

Next week should be more calm.  At least, that's what I keep telling myself....

when it goes awry

So, this weekend I made the kind of cabling mistake made better than famous by a Vogue Knitting magazine in the past.  Personally, I treasure that VK.  It lets us know that everyone makes mistakes.  Even the most awesome of designers, and most awesome of knitters can make random cable mix-ups.

I didn't have the heart to photograph the mistake.  It  might not have been that obvious to the person I was making the item for... but it would have been obvious to me and I love them too much to give them something I would cringe to see them wear.

So, instead I started this little project:

Yes.  6 inches of thick cable painstakingly ripped back to the error.

There are lots of blog posts out there on how to fix this kind of error.  Eloquent ones, with awesome shots (that aren't using Quince & CO's peacoat color to illustrate) so I didn't spend the time to record the process.

But here is how the fix ended up:

Very lightened, obviously.

You can see the little tension differences, but those will block out when it gets it's wet-blocking.

I understand that some of my favorite bloggers are also having difficult times.  In their honor, I am sharing my favorite cookie recipe.

Grammie Rowe's Refrigerator Cookies
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt

-----------
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (or butter)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

Sift first 5 dry ingredients together.  In separate bowl, cream shortening and sugars until fluffy.  To the sugar/shortening mix, add eggs and vanilla.  Beat well.  When well mixed, add dry ingredients and mix.

This makes a stiff dough.  In a length of waxed paper, make a low and long "loaf" of the dough (roughly 1/2-3/4 inch deep by 2 inches wide by cookie sheet long).  Refrigerate the dough a minimum of 2 hours. 

Slice dough and bake on cookie sheet at 350 degrees for ~ 8 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Plans for the dyepot

Guess what I'm doing on Sunday?

Words fail to capture.... thank you!

Today, the mailman assaulted my front porch (a first, since the majority of this winter there have been 3 feet of snow blocking access).  It was completely unexpected, and I figured it was computer parts or something similar for the spousal unit.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a big box:

And it was addressed to me! 

I was caught totally flat footed, but decided to open it and see what was within.

On top was a back issue of Vogue Knitting that I didn't have yet.  And under that.... well take a look!

And the box seemed like Fibber McGee's closet of Mayhem... only pretty and yarn-like!  The more things that came out of the box, the more I found in it.  I suspect some kind of Non-Euclidean Geometry went into packing this box because it contained so much pure awesome it should have taken 2 boxes!

So, first let me show you how the yarn-y (and related) goodness ended up tumbling out:

I did take a shot of each yarn individually, but loved the composite shot best.

Ok, from the back to the front, left to right:
Vogue Knitting Winter 2004/2005, VK Spring/Summer 2006, and VK Fall 2004.
Blue Heron Yarns Rayon/Metallic (500 yds) in Sunrise, Jasmine 100% Silk (!!) color 7025, 8 oz of gorgeous Cream cotton/rayon from Robin and Russ Handweavers, a beautiful blue/purple wool/acrylic/polyamide by Niagara, a pretty spring pastel by Crystal Palace Yarns (Musique, acrylic/wool/cotton), and a fun beachy-Summery ball of Poppy by Tahki Yarns. 
In the very front is a flat of Vanilla block pillar candles (one of which I have lit as I type).

I am filled with awe, gratitude and glee.  This is like getting a box of pure fun, and I'm just fondling these and day-dreaming.  But I have to admit, you haven't seen everything yet.  I haven't shown you what was hiding in the pink paper under the card.

GASP!

This picture isn't as clear as I would wish, the hat has a really sweetly purl'd heart shape.  They are gorgeous and I actually cried happy tears when I opened the package. <3

I love them.

As a matter of fact, I love them so much, the first thing I did was... well, this:

yep, I still photograph badly ;-)

And then my husband caught me chortling around the house and captured this:

He actually caught me running around the downstairs and booty-dancing about in them.

I might be typing this out while ninja-ing.  The scarf/cowl is a long loop with no detectable seaming.  It's awesome as a long loopy cowl, and it loops perfectly 2 times around my neck.  Suddenly, I'm really stoked that we're getting freezing rain!

The person who sent this to me is just amazing.  They have a special eye for the world around them, and use their knitting powers for good on a regular basis.  I am very grateful to the Internet for introducing us, and am honored to have such a 'knit buddy.'  I don't know if they wish to be identified, but if they don't mind I will update with a more direct thank you to this post.

And, really?  Thank you.  So very, very much.

This made my month!

What do you do when today feels like this:

he has a head, it's just hiding in the beast's room somewhere waiting to be attached

Personally, I like to do a little bit of this:

rough sizing a hacked together pattern on my dressform

Then I spend some time admiring this:

oooo, such a pretty color

And then, do a little of this:

soon, my pretty.... soon.

Ah well, who knows what yarn-ish-ness tomorrow may bring?