I have a dream.

So, I don't know if anyone realizes this but I'm actually filled with a lot of doubt and indecision.  I suppose it's not uncommon.

Where is today's post coming from?

I know that folks know why I originally started this blog.  I wanted to use the talent I have to make my in-laws lives better, while taking care of them.  (And let me assure you, I'm still not positive that talent is the right word here.)  We all know how that turned out, and this post isn't to dwell on it.

Unsurprisingly, the folks who visit here on a semi-regular basis (and really, I only post on a semi-regular basis, so I'm just thrilled that people enjoy my insanity enough to keep visiting) are knitters.  I know, shocking!  Knitters would rather make their own stuff than buy something someone else knit... after all, knitters are enterprising and intelligent people who can also do stuff with string.  *wink*  Again, shock and awe!

So, the original purpose of this is not being terribly well served.  And this is okay, I'm enjoying the ride and the excuse to knit my brains (what little still survive) out!

But, there are still things I'd like to do around the house to make it nicer.  Fencing the yard so shorty has a safe place to play would be a start.  We live on a numbered road that the great State of NH cares for, so we get a lot of faster-than-it-should-be traffic as you can well imagine.

Add to that, I want so very much to be in a position to give space to my folks when they're ready for it.  And overtime or chances for extra work at work are far and few between in my current position.  Not that I don't have to work overtime to get the job done, but it's not approved overtime... just what is necessary.  So, yeah.

This is completely inappropriate, but I keep flashing on the "I had a dream" section of Rose's Turn (done really well by this actor in Glee):

So, completely inappropriate given that I hate being in the lime-light and have horrible foot-in-mouth when in person.  (So bad, it should be illegal!)  In fact, those 2 things may be an effect + cause kind of thing.  And also completely inappropriate given that I am not attempting to shove my family into the lime-light either.  Also?  Not good to watch while working, because it always makes me cry.  Ah well.

But what all this rambling boils down to is, while I had my broken arm I spent a lot of time designing.  I even have a shawl design that I'm afraid to cast on for, although that's another post in the making (Orenburg meets Japanese Stitch-Dictionary... what was I thinking??).  I didn't just design lace.  I did a lot of lace thinking, but I also did some sweater thinking, some colorwork thinking, some small-but-useful-project thinking...  and I've been writing them up.

I have a small collection of the first year of 200 shawls.  I have a handful of discrete 'other' patterns that just kind of happen when you think about what to wear the shawl over.  Or what kinds of things would be fast and loved by recipients.

But is this something people would even be interested in?  I'm wordy.  Each of the patterns I've written has a techniques section, and a little bit about the how and why the idea came about.  They're not short, either.  Although I've come up with a 'clever idea' to get around that.

But am I being presumptuous?  I'm a kook who knits on her front porch in the middle of summer, and who wants everyone to love knitting as much as she does.  I'm not a great knitter.  I'm not a wise knitter.  I'm not a visionary, or a pioneer... I'm just me.  There are so many great designers, and great Knitters out there.  Is there room for a Just Me?

It's funny, but the ideas don't stop.  I was worried that I'd run out of ideas (although my problem seems to be that I need to knit them about 7 times apiece before I'm satisfied with them).  Instead I find that the more I come up with, the deeper the well goes.  Simple things, complex things, crazy things that make me faint-hearted to think about knitting.  Some days, I'm writing seeds of ideas down on napkins in the middle of writing emails just trying to keep ahead of them.

But (said to the tune of the video above) all this work, and would people like it?  All that time, and would people buy it?  Am I nuts, or should I go for it?

Blah blah blah...

So, if you've read this far through my fears and my indecision, I thank you.  I know today is a bit of a heavy post and I apologize.  I'm a weird mixture of excited and maudlin today.  But on the other hand, I do have some sneaky-peek shots to share.

That last one is for you texture lovers out there.  You know who you are ;)

I think I'm going to put up a poll.  Is anyone interested in the stuff I'm writing?  Would you buy it?  Am I smokin' crack?  Hahaha.  Anyway, if folks who visit would take the time to vote in the poll I'd be really grateful.

Happy knitting, and may you find your dreams.

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!!

Spring can't be that far off

So, this is not related to knitting.  But it is related to Spring, which I've been craving like it were made of chocolate.

Today, I ran into my first skunk of the season.  She tends to hibernate under our shed, and this morning she poked herself out and trotted off.  This is not a picture of our skunk, I'm not brave enough to try a flash camera @ skunk... but it shares her markings:

Plus, it has green in the background.... it's a win-win.

Today, we're currently experiencing a small snow.  Nothing big, nothing that will accumulate.  Basically tiny specks of ice... a little harder and more slippery than snow, but not enough to be called actual ice. 

Seeing the skunk on the move again, though, lets me know that spring is waking up.

About our skunk:  I don't discourage her from camping out on our property.  Skunks are decent neighbors as long as you're a decent neighbor to them.  Occasionally, she and I will share grapes at my front steps.  She protects my rabbits from predators when they're in their outdoor hutches and in return I provide her with little bits of fruit and occasional cat food.  She is an inquisitive and intelligent animal who is content to live and let live.  I kind of like having her around.  She's a reminder that good neighbors can come where you least look for them.  Plus tiny baby skunks?  SO cute it's hard to remember they'll be stanky later.

things that come or go in boxes

Last week, while life was blowing up completely, my husband brought me home a box that looks like this:

WOOHOO

Yep, I am a woman who is well loved.  Anyone who lives local enough to know these folks know that anything that comes in one of these boxes will be decadent, sweet, and tasty enough to make the things that make it decadent and sweet worth eating all at once.

This is what he got me:

pure love, in cheese and cake and sweet form

So pretty.  So yummy.  Even the little guy tried a little, which is something he wouldn't usually do.  Caramel cheesecake.  A little bit of love in food form, for sure.

Then, today, I got a brown paper box from Japan.  Inside it is something for the little man.  To wit, these:

totoros!!

These are from one of the greatest movies ever created for little kids.  My little dude loves this movie, and he sings along with the songs.  It's so cute that when I got a notification that Totoro figurines were for sale again, I couldn't resist them.  I considered the squishable, huggable, lovable ones that were stuffed-huggies.  They were 78 USD plus shipping.  I considered them very seriously, and then watched how the little dude plays with his things.  I got these instead.  They are fuzzy, and fit in the palm of an adult hand.  They are basically action figures, and I know he'll love them when he gets home.  Much more reasonably priced, and they'll fit into his play-style.  I am bouncing in glee waiting to see how he reacts.

In terms of things that are going in boxes, I just finished packing this:

guilt yarn, keeps leaping out at me

A wonderful and fantastic person is about to get a box o yarn.  You know who you are, and thank you so much for accepting charge of it.  I am hoping there will be glee when this gets there too.

Finally, on my parade of things to do, I have these to block.

to be blocked, and ends to be woven in

Yeah, one of those needs a final row knit on it, but it'll be joining the blocking party in another few hours.  Woohoo, block party at my house?

Anyway, that's where I'm at for the moment. 

still no pictures, is she broken?

As things go, life interfered with me being able to post after my initial stab in the dark.  I've got some interesting hours and some interesting client projects for the next few weeks.  They may make for foreshortened blogging.  I'll do my best to try to keep up though. 

I've sent the first pattern to be tech-read, and have 3 more waiting in the wings for my poor intrepid volunteer.  I'm feeling hopeful but really sore.  I'm not sure how long it's going to take to get my arm back to where it was, but one week apparently won't be quite enough.  I'm sore and bruised from using it.  Which is making me a whole lot of fun to be around.

I do have some pictures, and as soon as my camera battery finishes charging... no that's a lie, it takes hours and I hope to be in bed before it finishes.  But as soon as I'm not completely knackered and my camera is feeling sprightly too, I'll be sharing.  Hope you're keeping warm out there!

and so it goes

More snow here.  I'm hoping to get out of the house when it stops to take some pictures, as the pictures I took this morning are blurry and unidentifiable due to the speed of the falling snow.  It's gorgeous, and I wish I could sit in an insulated bubble and just listen to the wsh-whs-whs of the snow accumulating.

There are almost no cars on the road (for obvious reasons) and my yard is the kind of still quiet that can only happen in mid-winter when you live on a main street.  It's easy to forget this kind of quiet still exists when you're in the middle of so many people's commute every day.

On the needles now is a Shedir in silk.  I wish it wasn't, but am glad to be able to do something at all.

More this afternoon during lunch break, and pictures to come.

Wednesday morning drive-by

Monday, I got all of the prizes packed and labeled.  It took a lot longer than I thought it would, and I'm very grateful that the broken wrist wasn't something more serious or debilitating.  I am very grateful for the mobility I do still have.

Yesterday, as I loaded the bean's little red wagon to walk the packages to the post office (during my lunch break from work), my phone rang.  It was my largest client with a serious issue.  I did not make it to the post office, and it was an 11 hour work day with no breaks.  Given that this job allows me to work from home, I'll take the occasional tough days.  The 11-16 hour days only happen every few weeks.

Today, there is at least 8 inches of snow and falling.  I resume con-calls at noon, although today I should be able to sneak out for 1/2 hour and get the stuff mailed off.  If I take the all terrain red wagon (purchased to drag 2 year old through blueberry picking hills), and use a hand-warmer pack in my sling I should make it ok.  Just need to call the post office and make sure someone is there before I leave.

Here's hoping this blustery day brings you warm drinks and knitting joy!

Not so much knitting related, about trials and tribulations (real or imagined)

So, for those who are following along, broken wrist + zipper = unintentional hilarity trying to wear conventional pants..  Cast + shower = will freeze if you go outside before it dries.  Drying time = recommended 5 hour minimum. 

I will be able to take a shower sometime after jellybean goes to bed tonight;  as I'm the one who marches him to and from school on Fridays I must wait to shower until I know I won't end up accidentally giving myself frostbite by needing to go outside.

Today, I had the distinct ... experience ... of finding out that the cast will freeze and radiate cold even when not wet.  If it were possible to take it this early in the day, I'd be taking a ball-peen hammer to the Vicodin bottle right now (yep, can't get it open by myself).  Oh yeah, it's not possible to operate a zipper, so I was stuck wearing jammy pants to and from the walk to my son's school.  Plus, since that zipper thing goes on a lot of things, I got the joy of an unzipped coat too.  The frostbite possibility made me thrilled to be a knitter, so I could at least hide my unwashed hair in a pretty hat.

Ah humiliation and discomfort, without you how would I know when I have it good?

I share an office with my husband on the off days when he doesn't use his library as a mobile office.  He assured me yesterday that he would clean off the couch in the office for the bean to stay on and we'd work in the same room to lighten the load on watching the beast while I work.... yes ME, while on con-calls.  Not so much him.  No ability to multi-task.  Sometimes it gets real hairy, and with the single hand it's even uglier for me.

So, after cleaning off the couch one-handed (broken wrist, still there) by myself, and setting boy up with craft stuff and a book and a game (also by myself... also in the room..... yep, by myself) I may have lost it.  A little.

marking territory, or kicking sand?  my husband's space repurposed

That photo is of my husband's former space.  It has officially and crankily been annexed to my hoarde of yarn warriors.  Unfortunately, if he wants the space back I'll be stuck rearranging (one handed, by myself...) as he cannot be trusted to treat fiber with the love it needs.  But for now, it's behind me.  A bright and cheerfully colored tower of knitterly power.

For the record, I never did get any minions to type for me.  All of these slow, little entries are by me.  Not that my Mom wasn't willing, but she did things like dishes(!!!!) which I'm VERY grateful for.  Plus, she lives an hour away and is a teacher.  Woman works hard (grotesque hours, the good ones do), and although she's the reliable one I cannot and will not ask that of her.  So, knitterly powers activate!  Form of: one handed typing!

such a small thing

So, most folks know that I have been working on this:

pooooorch!

off and on with my Dad for the last 6 weeks.  Things got around weather, obligation, illness... y'know, life.  It was cold, hard, intense work.  My Dad and I spent the weeks off recovering from wind-burn. 

On the 24th, my Mom and Dad came over.  My Mom watched the bean so Dad and I could put up the skirt below the porch and close in the last 6 foot space that allowed air to freeze my pipes.  We worked steadily from 9AM until 1:45 AM.  We were at the very end of the project, getting ready to go inside for the lunch I'd prepared and baked that morning. 

The observant among us will have noticed something not quite right in the picture above.  I was on the ladder, when there suddenly was no support from the left.  I felt that I was going down, knew that it was going to be the last gasp of my knees if I landed on them, and managed to twist enough to land on my butt.  And part of my right shin...  oh, and I gently bumped my right funnybone.  Not even enough to make a bruise.

Looking around, I was relieved to see this:

ha!  metal fatigue in the support, not bad balance

I know relieved sounds strange, but the fault in the ladder couldn't be predicted, planned, or taken into account.  Plus, I am thrilled and grateful that I was the one on the ladder when it went.  15 minutes sooner, and it would have been my Dad hitting the ground.  I would have been sick over it, and have been cheering that my (now NOT frozen) pipes were not the cause of hurting my Daddy.

Anyway, quick trip to the emergency room shows that funny bone bumps?  Not so funny.

bone in wrist cracked by MY OWN TENDONS.  Heh.

Yep, I'm immobilized from above the elbow to just below the tips of my fingers.

On the other hand (as it were), there was this waiting for me. 

"Ma, I wanna cuddle!"

So, knitting is on pause for a little.  Not long, just a little.  In the meanwhile, I'm working on this:

1 started, 4 to go.....

Tomorrow, my Mom is taking me yarn storage shopping.... for my 3 season porch with no unwanted cyclones!!

Hehe, take that Winter!!

Conan, what is good in life?

Where to start.  Hmm, how about here?

Ah, sweet caffeine, with knitting beyond.  This is good in life.

Wait, let's get a closer look at this

Chocolate coffee???  This is GOOD in life.

What else is good in life?  I'm personally fond of quick projects in alpaca.  Something like this:

Knit by mom, worn and loved by boy.  This is good in life.

Shorty announced that this was the best small scarf ever because he doesn't trip on it.  That boy has a way with words.

Then there's lace projects in bulky red wool that photographs like crap even with a renewed flash.  (flash is another story, and I think I'll pretend it didn't happen so that I won't get a facial tic or toss it down the stairs shrieking "knitter smash!" in response)

Scarlet in real life, this is my bulky project.  It's also the only photo that shows the yarn color for the peacock medallion.

This was once enough yarn for a size 10 sweater.  It was my perfect 10 denial sweater, in that I'll never be a size 10 again.  Heck, I haven't been a size 10 since I was 17, so reality and I were clearly not on speaking terms when I bought it.  On the other hand, it's knitting into a niiiice stole... so I guess it wasn't a bad purchase after all.

Interestingly, the peacock is too dark to be seen, the red is closer to right, and the pattern shows some tentative plans.

Medallion stole thoughts are good in life.  I love things that keep my mind busy.

What else?  Oh yes Fleece Artist blues in a new shawl start are good too!

color is good on this one

Love Fleece Artist.  I might have mentioned it in the past, but it's still true.

This is also good in life, especially now that I'm not knitting on it any more.  This one needed a knitter intervention, and I lost a few days of knitting due to exhaustion in my arms from holding it up.  It's almost 3 lbs and all of that in the pearls.  The antique tinted beads in the main body were not that heavy....

teaser pic, this deserves its own post.  HEAVY

And that's sort of where I'm at.  I was thinking I'd take porch pictures but was disheartened by the snow.  Perhaps tomorrow, when I'm not working I'll grab a few for here.  Snow isn't much fun for building, but it does encourage knitting (and coffee!)

Speaking of which, time for more COFFEE!  MMMMMMM.

It is I, Captain Vegetable

Today's post is brought to you by the number 1, as in the number of flashes that are misbehaving, and the letter c, for cowls.  Since the flash is not behaving, and my photoshop skillz are nonexistant, I fear I will be providing no pictures in this post.  I took some, and they are pretty uniformly.... dark seems too light a word, black not descriptive enough of the various shades of not quite color.  I will be working on this.

This weekend was my once a month obligation, and this month it required use of a GPS to get where I was going.  I've decided to name my GPS Sadie, for I'm sure she is a sadist.  On one hand, she gleefully tells me to go on streets in Boston that likely shouldn't ever be tried by car.  On the other, I did get there and back again with most of my nerves intact.  Almost on time even.  Plus, she doesn't tend to sound worried (unlike one that I borrowed a couple of years ago) which is reassuring.

I was not able to work on the knitting for the family members, as I'm not quite smart enough to have memorized the Serious Scarf pattern, and people get really funny about it when you stare at a computer screen saying "uh-huh" and knitting feverishly.  Especially if you're supposed to be remembering things for them and storytelling.  So, that torch gets carried again today.

What I did accomplish was three cowls.  One for me, one for short-stuff, and one for the spousal unit.  Eldest Son already has his.  It was a nice reminder of how fast knitting *can* be.  Three items, knit with alpaca yarn on size 9 needles.  One day.  Viva la accomplishment.

I did finish the first of the stoles for my family, and I'm well into the second.  This weekend will see not much knitting as well, as it looks like my Dad may come over for the last assault on the porch of gusts and sighs.  (gusts of wind, and long sighs of despair... mine)  If it happens, great!  If not, I will certainly not complain.  I started the project late in the year due to earlier time and money constraints.  One way or another, getting as far as we have has been a fantastic and herculean task.  I'm just grateful to have had some expert guidance and help along the way.  Anyhoo, if I'm going to be back on task in the 10 day time frame I need to fix my @#$@ flash. 

Hope your knitting all feels like alpaca..... mmmm alpaca.

Monday Morning blues

So, we've had another death in the family.  I do have 2 full sized shawls that are blocking, and 2 shawlettes that I will be posting around the same time.  I'm aiming for Wednesday to have a full picture post up on those.  Actually, they'll each get their own but that's neither here nor there.

The next 10 days are going to be focused on making warm soft things for my family members directly affected by the latest death.  They don't need or want me to descend on them, they just need some time.  So I'm going to send them alpaca hugs.  It's all I can really do.

But this does mean that the next 10 days will not be much on knitting for the blog.  I will post the pictures of the hugs here, as most of my extended family doesn't read the blog and it is lace knitting even if it isn't for the project.

I hope you keep warm and well.

and so we knit

Tonight, I type this knowing that my youngest son went to sleep angry with me.  It's not a good feeling, and moreso because his anger is unjust.  He is angry that he missed the last 45 seconds of his episode of fruits basket.  This is because I was picking up and he decided to fight with me for the dvd player remote control, and in grabbing my hand, he managed to also smash the power button.  Rather than letting me turn it back on and finishing out the last 45 seconds of his show, he threw himself into bed and wept himself asleep.  Refusing all offers of comfort, explanation, or condolence. 

So, unsettled and unhappy, and aware that we'll likely go through something similar tomorrow while my husband is at man night, I knit.  It doesn't undo this miserable episode.  It doesn't fix anything, or make the 5 nights a week it's my job to put him to bed any less of a struggle.  But it does let me sleep without weeping in sadness and frustration myself.  So I knit.

Once again, life confounds

I'm sensing a trend where roughly every other post is a non-picture post.  I did take some pictures, and I've almost finished typing up my Quince & Co yarn review.  In the not as fortunate column, my husband has started classes on Tuesday nights, so I go direct from work to mama time. 

Ordinarily, that wouldn't bother me.  But I've discovered through recent experience that I mistype links or screw up sizing my pictures (meaning I am saavy enough to re-size them, but not saavy enough to keep from, say, saving them someplace I will never ever find again until I reformat.) if I have to put off posting until after shorty is asleep.

I've entered the 3/4ths done stage of the first Serious Scarf.  This is usually the point in knitting where I end up putting in my time and wondering why the end of the knitting never seems to get any closer.  I've knit up 6 skeins out of 8 and will wind the next two tomorrow morning.  Additionally, I need to find a spot in my house that is a good backdrop for finished object shots.  The perpetual rain we've been having is just not condusive.  I know re-blocking won't hurt the shawls but, really?  I don't think I desire needing to block them in the middle of taking pictures.

Tomorrow is going to stink.  My husband has an all day work class, and then he's off for Man Night (another rousing game of D&D).  So I'll be alone pretty early until really late.  I'm hoping to get the editing done and have a nice, shiny picture post for the morning.  Until then, I leave you with little man's artistic endeavors.

Mixed media by 4 year old

Not a bad use for a "battle-axe"/ propeller

Until then, ta muchly.

and on the seventh day, she (collapsed) rested

So, Saturday started with me running to the grocery store.  I was about to have a house full of men, who were there to perform deconstruction and then (hopefully) reconstruction.  Plus, they're my family... so making sure they are not run ragged was high on my list of considerations. 

We were scheduled to start at 9AM, and I hadn't gotten groceries Friday night because I was picking up oldest son.  It's a bit much to ask of the little guy to wait the entire drive there and back, plus getting groceries.  At 4, little guy just doesn't have it in him.  So, at 8AM, I gave up on flogging the smallest child into clothing and ran to the store on my own.  I got food for the week, and food for the push on the porch, and food for my husband's friends who visit on Saturday afternoons.

(Aside:  my husband works from home.  Sometimes, he can't interact with people, sometimes he can.  It depends on how busy the day is while he works.  It does mean that, although he was there, he would not be helping with the construction.)

I paid for the groceries and left.  As I was running out the door to my car, I called my husband and expressed that prying the oldest boy out of bed would be a large help.  Apparently, getting teenagers out of bed requires dynamite and an act of God on a good day.  I forget this fairly often, so I'm always a bit surprised to discover that the boy can go to bed before me and not get up until lunch-time. 

9:03, I arrive home.  Three minutes late, and fearing I'd be last.  No fears on that account!  9:15, everyone shows up and I shovel food into them.  9:45 and we leap onto the porch and prepare to do battle.

From there, it gets a little fuzzy.  I didn't manage to get pictures of the porch prior to the start of the deconstruction, and I only got a few pictures in the middle of all of this.  My porch, my labor;  I spent most of the day carrying, holding, and measuring with little time for anything else.

Anyway, this is the wall that gets frozen EVERY YEAR.

Ugly Bugger, isn't it?

The sad thing is, we've spent a ton of time and money on insulating this.  We used foam insulation in the wall after we knew that the pipes had all been replaced (in the most expensive and disruptive fashion, of course).

This is kind of what the deconstruction looked like:

Dad, my oldest, and my youngest.. deconstructing!

My brother, deconstructing!

The deconstruction.. what a show...

Unfortunately, by 1PM it was just me & Dad doing the work.  My brother had other commitments (and fair enough), and the youngest son was pestering my  husband while he was on concalls so we lost oldest son to watch him.  We'd only slapped in the very outside boxes in both openings, and none of the window had been roughed in.  It looked discouraging.

I'm not going to get into the details, but by the end of the day my Dad and I had gotten this finished:

Poor guy, doesn't he look tired?

This is now THE MOST STABLE part of my entire house.

We upgraded from 2x4 construction to 2x6, we framed in spots for the (air stopping) windows that would go in.  Some of the construction isn't visible from this spot, as we've put in more support up top as well.  The top beam is actually a 2x8, but we added even to that.  With two of us gripping the center beam of the window support, we cannot shake it.  Truly the most stable part of this house...

Sunday, my Dad was stacking a cord of wood with my Mom.  So, I took myself, shorty, and the oldest son and we went and helped out.  Mind you, little man decided to stay up until 10 PM the night before.  My husband's shift ends at 8PM, but he was visiting so I was the one putting short stuff to bed.  Again... and again....  It's amazing.  You can't get your teenager OUT of bed, and you can't get your pre-schooler IN bed. 

So, by the time all of that work was finished I just put my tail between my legs and drifted back home.  To do light chores.  But comparitively speaking, that's resting, right?

drive by post

Note to self.  When searching for newly balled yarn (set down to protect it while dealing with pre-schooler emergency) do not enter a room from fruitless search, and call in despair "where is my yarn???"

Husband-types will cackle, knowing that yarn is secreted around the house (but not caring you refer to specifc and necessary yarn... although ALL yarn may be considered necessary).

all together now

So, as mentioned yesterday, I did get some knitting done.  I'm going to post a bunch of pictures of progress, as well as what they're for. 

The first thing that made knitting difficult was this:

This is him making sure that his turkey dinner doesn't notice he's eating it.  I kid you not.

Cute, isn't he?  Pain in the royal rump, but cute.  Cute enough for me to knit this for him:

Yep, it is a bit big.

That little hat is not done, but he hasn't given it back for the inner liner to be added.  I sure would like to finish it... yep, I sure would.

So I finished the knitting on giant pink blob.  It hasn't been blocked yet, so it looks like this:

test knit of Joie pattern

This is me testing my Joie pattern in the largest size.  I intend to have 3 different sizes, and this is the large size.  My test knit for this one took 600 yards, and I think it's coming in at the size I estimated.  This will be blocked this week.  That yarn?  It's Fleece Artist 2/8 Blue Faced Leicester in petal.  Love!  It smells a bit closer to the sheep than some, but it's just so nice to work with.

Added to that, I worked on this big green blob:

doesn't look like much yet

This is a test knit of my vines and leaves pattern.  I have misplaced skein number 5 on this, so it will wait to be finished until I determine what safe place I tucked it into to protect it from Ninja Boy.

Here's a close up of how the yarn behaves:

Manos Del Uruguay silk blend

This is a 50-50 wool & silk single, DK weight.  It's very similar to one put out by Malabrigo, but I find a whole lot more vegetable matter twisted into the single itself.  So at the moment, it's nice to work with but given the choice between the two I'd chose Malabrigo as it's been more consistent for me.

I've also done this: 

blue leaf cashmere shawlette

It's a simple, small triangle in blue-ish leaf patterns.  Just knit for the joy of the yarn, to be honest.  Needs blocking, but it stretched out well with very little coaxing.

This is another thing I'm working on.  The color in this picture is off, it's a deep evergreen color in real life.

another test knit

This is a test-knit of the pattern for Autumn Glow.  I'm using a nice mink/cashmere yarn from Great Northern Yarns.  If you haven't checked them out, please do.  They are a sustainable mink-fur farm.  What this means, is they raise mink and shave them once a year.  They believe that happy minks make better fibre, and it shows in their product.  Their yarn has been consistent quality, and the mink/cashmere is not something you'll find anywhere else.

The final thing that has been keeping me from writing new patterns is this:

crappy shot

Yep, it's a shell/tank top.  It's my own mix o patterns, and I have a sweater I want to knit for it as well.  But I want to get this finished so I can wear it.  I know it's strange and selfish to want something to wear that I knit.  Don't hold it against me? 

drive by

The bookshelves finally showed up, so I have been helping my husband put them together.  Sadly, these bookshelves will be holding his books, rather than coopted for yarn.  Sometimes, the price of marital harmony is who gets the storage space.  After they're up and full, I'll be posting something yarn related here.  But I need to get books into them before I have to chase evil feral cat out of them so time is short.

Ta