My Weekend

Baseball started, Daylight Savings ended (I think... or did it start?), the temperature hit 90 degrees, and I am lagging with a mysterious on again, off again illness plaguing me with a slight fever and fatigue. Let's just say that I'm not at my best. We could actually even say I'm a wee bit irritable... or even cranky.

And I'm guessing that some people may still be talking about the crazed woman in the Ella shawl who yelled at the coach who was screaming at her son at a certain baseball game. I'm guessing they don't see many shawl clad women taking on first base coaches, but I could be wrong. In my defense, I would like to add that sitting behind a gal on the heavy side who was wearing tight jeans and a black thong didn't do much for my mood. Maybe it's just me but I really don't want to know what kind or color underwear anyone else is wearing. At any rate, I am ashamed... I have only lost my cool at sporting events a couple of times and while I'd like to say this is because I am a very gentle, level-headed woman, it is mainly because of my husband's rules (which not only forbid me from yelling at coaches, refs, umpires, etc., but from communicating with them in general).

As you can see I've been knitting a bit of this and that as my attention span allows. Now that I've loosened up my tension, Peek-A-Boo is gliding along with much more ease. Aside from the fact that cotton does not want to cable and the Svale splits quite a bit, the fabric it's creating is really lovely.

Also pictured is a sock I've been working on with my Koigu from a free Diamond Lace pattern I found and the very beginning of the "No Sweat Socks" from No sheep for You with K1C2 Wick. As I said, short attention span.

ETA: Yes! This is Kaity's sock yarn! Isn't it great! It feels as good as it looks too. (Check out her dpn holders too. I just got one and I love it... very high quality for a great price.)

It's Nice to Finally Finish Something...

maybe someday soon I will. But at least I do have some actual knitting content to share.

My day started with another trip to Urgent Care to get an x-ray on my 4 yo's swollen foot which he injured playing at his friend's house yesterday while big brother was getting a cast. Fortunately it turned out to be only a sprain and he left with his wee foot swaddled up in an ace bandage. This was followed by a rush to a dental appt. for another brother and then Park Day at the local park of allergy doom. In knitting terms... I am now officially 1/3 of the way done with Clementine.

When I finally sat down in my allergy induced fog after getting home from the park and delivering 2 boys to the baseball fields, I had the urge to dip into my basket o'plenty and start something new. So Peek-A-Boo from Inspired Cable Knits has begun.

So now that it's started, let's talk about knitting a fairly detailed cable pattern that repeats 7 times across the sweater with firmly knit cotton yarn that's prone to splitting. Or let's not. I finally loosened up my grip quite a bit and things started going much better. I was afraid this would affect my gauge (which, quite honestly, I was going to resolve by simply going down a needle size right where I was 'cause I figured it's the lower back of a sweater anyway and my perfectionism is as worn out as I am). But oddly enough my gauge is still okay... maybe it wasn't okay to begin with... even though I swatched. I really don't know anymore. Gauge remains an elusive mystery to me most of the time so I guess I'll just be grateful and move on.

With Peek-A-Boo going, I was anxious to cast on for a new sock pattern I found today with my Koigu... but then UPS came (yes, he comes very late... often in a regular car... we must be on his way home) and brought these books. Algebra vs. Koigu. This was a tough one... I'm not going to tell you what I chose at the risk of revealing the depth of my inner nerdiness.

BTW - I will direct you to the too-cute the sock pattern... but not before I cast on first. ;)

I Almost Forgot...

I already am knitting a shawl... the IK Clementine Shawlette! Maybe I'll be ready for Mexico after all.

I was even able to complete a couple of inches today while we sat around different doctor offices waiting for this...

The recent birthday boy broke his thumb at baseball practice last night. This means he doesn't get to play in his big year-end basketball tournament in 2 weeks. We are all sad. :(

Then I noticed this... a mistake. The horrible little perfectionist demon within me is trying to taunt me with these mistaken stitches... but I'm holding strong... I. will. not. frog. (But I will always, always know they are there.)



I'll also have you know that in a burst of blind determination, I even printed out the Passport forms this morning! Yep, a partial shawl and passport forms... I'm gettin' things rolling now!

Mexico

I'm supposed to go there... soon. (It might be helpful to know that I do not travel well. At all.) I've known about the trip for some time but the people who love me and are taking me have recently felt it necessary to awaken me from my blissful state of Denial with mention of passports.

Passports... I know we need them. I've known all along we would need them. I also remember making it very clear to my loving DH & mom that if they were going to drag, er I mean take me on this trip, they would need to handle all of the details. All of them. Because I would be in Denial until the actual week of the trip at which time I would snap to life in a major swirl of panic and packing.

Well, this weekend, they said it... Passports. Both of them, at different times, looked at me and said it.

Taking a deep breath (lots of them actually) I began to look into it and quickly found that we are now in the need-to-get-it-expedited time frame which is going to require even more effort. Are they really waiting for me to do this? Don't they know better? Do they know that I've barely slept since I typed "passport" into my search engine Sunday night? (Well, I guess, now they probably do.)

So as I lay awake churning with anxiety, desperately seeking for a way to deal with all this... some way back to Denial... (did I mention I don't travel well)... it occurs to me...

I need to knit vacation wear for Mexico! A cute strappy tank... that's what I need! The kind I'll never wear! I was even about to order yarn this morning when I chose to make a quick escape to the LYS where Wendy was good enough to offer some words of wisdom on the particular tank I was considering and saggy you-knows. This was before she proceeded into a series of tales of her unfortunate adventures in Mexico... which, while not encouraging, did make me laugh. A lot. (She really is great... and yes I feel very lucky to get to hear her great tales across the LYS table.)

Besides, I realize, what I really need is a shrug. No, wait... a shawl! Yes, one to keep the evening chill off. One that will fly off my needles in the next few weeks. (Doesn't this gal look happy in Mexico... in her shawl? See?)

And really, who has time to deal with passports when their busy with vacation knitting?

Where's the Knitting?

This is after all supposed to be primarily a knitting blog (although my ability to stick to any one topic and any particular time is quite beyond my control).

Well, I've been busy. Busy, busy, busy! Flair is creeping closer and closer to completion (tomorrow I'll begin a local button search) and Clementine is, well, lonely. And just look at what I have waiting for me to dive into!

Isn't it just beautiful. The red in the middle is one hank of Knit Picks Gloss that I ordered because I still haven't gotten Knitty's Thermal out of my mind. I figure a few rounds on size 3 needles will be sure to convince me one way or another. And btw, the little pink striped bag in the upper left hand corner is from Kaity's Shop. It is a very well-made lined drawstring bag... and is currently home to my Clementine Shawlette.

I don't have much (okay, any) knitting to show you... but I can share another book "review" with you. How about a glimpse at Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits?

I was hesitant to order this at all because, as the title clearly indicates, it is a selection of "fitted" knits. While I love the way so many of you look in fitted knits, I'm a much better candidate for slightly-loose knits that won't cling to my apparently very proud 5 baby belly. However, curiosity got the best of me and I succumbed. (yeah - big surprise there)

I'll be honest... at first glance, it seemed to be mainly a collection of creative variations of Stephanie's very popular sweaters like Forecast and Simple Knitted Bodice.

But when I pulled it out again later with a little more time, I found quite a variety of other lovely designs that I hadn't caught before. She offers tips on modifying knits to fit just right and most of the designs feature very affordable yarns such as Cascade cottons and wools. Sadly, as I had suspected, most of the designs are too "fitted" for me (not for my taste... just for my figure)...

However, there are a few I'd definitely love to knit with a couple of fitting mods ...

And, I think she's pulled off one of the classiest knitted dresses I've seen...

I would so make this if I had a cute little figure... plus if I had more (okay, any) time, patience, and determination.

All in all, it's a keeper and I think any fan of Stephanie's work will love this book.

A Little Impulsivity

As predicted, here is my impulsive and unnecessary yarn purchase from yesterday...

Not too bad, eh? I got the Cathay to swatch for a shawl, specifically Tuscany from No Sheep For You and I think it would work. It's soft with a nice drape but I do want another color... olive I think. The Micro Bamboo was just because it was new... and in the middle of the table... and soft... and cheap... and totally unnecessary.

When I was cleaning out my stash, I came across a dozen balls of GGH Samoa that I had purchased from Supercrafty at one point.

Anyway, I thought I'd give it a go for IK's Cable Down Raglan which I've been drooling over for a while now. It's very much like Karabella Aurora 8 in gauge and weight except that it's a nice, squishy cotton blend which might make the sweater more weather appropriate... plus it was in my s-t-a-s-h!! I did a gauge swatch to check for gauge and popping cables and I think it will work. (As you can see, I clearly have moderate patience at best for knitting up swatches)

Next thing I knew, the Micro Bamboo above swatched nicely for a sweater I've been planning to knit. But then after the praises for Dale of Norway's Svale (the yarn the pattern calls for) over at Knit & Tonic, I figured I should grab a ball of Svale for swatching to see what I might be missing which led to impulsive and (arguably) unnecessary purchase #2...

Yeah, I know, It's more than I need for a swatch... But, after feeling it knit up in the store I was sold... or, I guess, it was sold. It's intended for "Peek-a-Boo" from Inspired Cable Knits.

The K1C2 Wick is for a sock pattern from No Sheep For You. (Come on, it was in my favorite blues and greens. How could I resist?)

Disclaimer: All statements on this blog are representative of intentions only and in no way represent a commitment of follow-through. In case of failure to produce, blogger requests that you recognize her cyber embarrassment as sufficient consequence and resist all urges to ridicule her in future comments.

Just So You Know...

Oxy Maximum (the acne medicine) is a bleach.

Exhibit A:
The other night, right before I went to bed, I tossed my freshly laundered Debbie Bliss Diagonal Front Jacket in the dryer for a couple of minutes before I laid it out to dry. Jump ahead 24 hours... I notice last night as I'm straightening it out because it had been slightly shifted/dumped from it's resting place by some boy creature, that there were several... this is hard for me... but there were several bleached out spots on my sweater.

The sweater that I knit out of 1600 yards of DK weight 100% cotton... the sweater that almost did me in... the sweater that was the world's most painful, boring knit imaginable, but, in the end, worth every minute of it. (The sweater, I might also add, that will apparently be dry sometime next week.)

How was this possible? It was washed gently in cold water with like colors and everything else is fine.

Exhibit B:
The washcloth I used last night right before I went to bed has bizarrely been extensively bleached out in places while I slept.

What?? Being a sharp cookie, I realize immediately that something is up. But, what could these two things have in common? OXY!

Exhibit C:
I grab the bottle and with some squinting and arm exercises I am able to make out under "Warnings" in itty-bitty writing clearly intended for healthy teenage eyes (and, yes, I am relieved to have 2 teenagers in the house upon which to blame the presence of Oxy in my house at all), "This product may bleach hair or dyed fabrics." (Geesh - as if the POUSs* weren't bad enough.)

So now you know. And I will lurk forward in my day which will most definitely include a visit to Starbucks and, quite possibly, an impulsive and unnecessary yarn purchase.

*Pimple of Unusual Size