Precious and Few!

This is supposed to be a picture of the hat I just knit for my middle boy but as it turns out, I captured quite a bit more. Little guy is a whirlwind of trouble but still very much adored by all his big brothers.



Anyway, I really enjoyed knitting this beanie. It is a free Kpixie pattern called Leo the Lion made with Karabella Aurora 8 which is now officially my *favorite* yarn! I'm using it again to knit up a simple striped beanie in St. Louis Rams colors for my 12 yos. (The gals at Kpixie are great to work with and even helped me pick out the perfect team colors.)

Sugar Times Five

Well it's over! Halloween I mean... it's not my favorite of holidays. I used to love it as a kid. The chance to dress up, to be somebody else. Remember those costumes at the drugstore with the cheap face mask and plastic cape? I could be anybody... Wilma Flinstone to Spiderman with a simple mask and cape that cost about $3.95 and I would be thrilled. Now it seems so much more complicated. Then multiply that times 5...

ETA: Can't you just see my halloween enthusiasm coming through in their expressions?

5 costumes to choose, 5 overly excited boys to get ready, 5 bags of candy being constantly dragged through the house, 5 boys hyped up on sugar who constantly need to be reminded where they should properly dispose of their wrappers...

Anyway, aside from knitting, I'm not what you'd call a crafty mom - I do have my moments of cleverness but they are very infrequent and not to be relied on - so the whole costume thing just stresses me out. I am totally put to shame by other moms on Halloween. Check out Lynda's halloween goodies (I love the jello brain... well... my kids would love it!) And my dear friend Julie was busy finishing up some sewing for her daughter's costume while her kids finished carving their pumpkins when I stopped by yesterday. ***But whatever you do, don't ask her how she got the sewing machine working because it certainly wasn't the instructions from the user's manual that her daughter shared with her! It was merely coincidental that it began working after we finally coaxed her to give the bobbin cleaning instructions a shot. Truly it was. Julie is an amazingly gentle and even-tempered gal so it was a sheer delight for me to catch her in a state of mild halloween frenzy.

Oh well, like I said, it's over... (I mean aside from the sugar-filled week ahead of us). And I noticed that the Christmas goodies are already making their appearance in the stores so I feel like I have a good start since I just finished a 2nd hat for One at a Time Ministries. These are the only Christmas gifts I'm knitting so I'm glad to actually be getting something accomplished (my intentions are usually much better than my results).

As for now, I'm off to Narnia.

Knitting on the Mind

So, is it okay to knit in church if you're knitting a hat for a mission or ministry? Actually, I would like to knit in church regardless of what I'm knitting because it would really help me focus on the sermon more since I have a terrible wandering mind. As I sat there yesterday, I realized that the project in my purse (I always have a little project in my purse since I never know when I'm going to need it) was being knit in His service so working on it in church would make complete sense. DH even agreed. But I didn't... I never have...

I remember many years ago at another church, there was a very well respected lady who started doing needlework during the service each week. At first it was little projects but eventually she began bringing big framed pieces. Well, this was long before my knitting days began and I remember being so horrified by this behavior... I mean... how unholy could one woman be?! And what if all the women in the church were busy with yarn and needles during the service... wouldn't that be chaotic and, well, irreverent? So weekly I would sit there and stew at the audacity of this woman to bring such frivolity into church. (Yeah - I know... which one of us had the bigger problem?)

Which brings me to the present... Now I get it. But it's too late. I could never knit in church after the hateful thoughts I harbored so many years ago. I mean, talk about a hypocrite! And I certainly wouldn't want to distract some other poor soul with bitter thoughts during church. (And yeah... I also get it now that the problem was mine not hers.)

Oh well, I'm still not sure if it's appropriate or not... but I'm pretty sure that sitting there for an hour thinking, "I could be knitting," is not entirely righteous either. I'm so glad He accepts me as I am... and especially glad that He loves me too much to leave me this way!

BTW - No new pics... battery still dead. Apparently plugging a camera in for recharging is a much more demanding task than one would think.

I do have one here of DH in all his glory while caring for our plagued household last week. (This is a man who takes the stomach flu very seriously.) Unfortunately, Stepping Heavenward fell victim to my 4 year-old's, um, you know, so now I have to order another one to finish it. I guess I wasn't ready for the rest of it yet.

Losing Touch?

I worry sometimes that I may be - in some ways - losing touch a bit with reality... with what's truly important as opposed to what is - well, I suppose to some people - basically irrelevant. I usually try to avoid any type of self-reflection that might make me feel a little off center but some days I just can't help it.

It started this morning when I was getting dressed. I put on one of my standard Old Navy t- shirts and in an "Aha!" moment ran to my sock yarn drawer, grabbed a hank of yarn and thought this yarn would be perfect with this shirt! It was DK weight so I (very) briefly considered if socks could be knit in the 2 hours before I had to leave the house (of course not), so then considered just bringing it with me since it matched so well. Red Flag #1.

We then spent a great afternoon with (almost) all of our best friends at a Harvest Party. The kids were all in their costumes roller skating, playing games and gluing feathers on pumpkins (at least mine did). The moms all got to visit and snack. It was fun for all, but of course... I probably don't even need to say this... I forgot my camera. I'm used to this and it probably wouldn't make me feel so bad (read "out-of-touch") if I had also forgotten to take a picture of my finished sock and Fetching glove. Of course I didn't... those fine moments are safely stored on my camera. Red Flag #2.

I would show you these photos and share the joy of my richly colored STR sock and ponder the concerns of the curling Fetching but the battery on my camera just died because I never (ever) remember to recharge it. BTW - This is not a red flag... for me this is the most normal thing I did all day.

I think the grand Red Flag #3 just came when my 9 yos W (who is waiting for the computer so he can waste his time doing silly things like poking around the National Geographic website reading about animals all over the world and watching their live Africa webcam) saw that I was blogging and very matter of factly said, "What? Are you going to tell them you just broke your needle?"

His comment made my knitting and blogging seem, well, so silly... so trivial... Or does he see through it all and understand it a bit too well? Humph. At any rate, I guess when my 9 yo thinks I'm a bit out there, I may need to work a bit harder to appear normal for a while. Okay, I won't carry matching yarn with me anymore.



Anyway, on another, more worthy note... I got info on this Red Scarf Project today from Interweave Knits. It's a program to provide orphans who are heading off to college with scarves. They also offer a pattern idea. You can find out more at the link on my side bar.

Seven Down

Seven... that would be the number of people in my family. So when I say that my WHOLE family has the flu... that would mean SEVEN people have the flu... at the same time... under the same roof... in the same small living room... fighting over the same (big screen- fwiw) TV. Actually, to be precise, middle child W who brought the heinous bug into our home is about 24 hours ahead of the rest of us in recovery so poor child is the official ginger ale pourer. To put all this in perspective... I don't even feel like knitting! This picture represents the extent of 24 hours of knitting. I'm trying out one of the popular Knitty Fetching gloves as possible gifts.


Oh well, as you can see, I have another illness as well. This arrived in the mail yesterday. I love the colors... and I got it on sale. What can I say... somehow Astrid of Astrid's Dutch Obsessions (Obsessions - heh, does she have it nailed) got my e-mail addy and has proceeded to tempt me with incredible sale yarns.

Well since it's clear that I do much more sock yarn buying than sock knitting, I've decided to make it official and declare myself a Sock Yarn Collector.

Hmmm... maybe some year we'll move to Alaska and then there'll be a worldwide sock shortage... but I will be prepared! Yes! Then I alone will be able to knit socks for my whole family to get us through the great worldwide wool sock shortage crisis!

Ya never know... it could happen.

Simple Knitted Bodice

Presenting my very own SKB!

Simple Knitted Bodice
by Stephanie Japel
Cascade Pima Silk
(Just over 8 skeins)

Knit Pics Options - Size 7 & 4

I am so excited to finish this because I LOVE it!! I love the fit, the feel, the design... and it was fun to knit. Great pattern! While cotton is not my favorite to knit with, I do love the feel of the finished sweater. It's soft and a perfect weight for here. It was also a pretty quick knit. The body took me about a week and the sleeves and neck took about another 5 days.

And, one at a time... here's one for the Christmas ministry on the sidebar. I'm hoping to get a few more made over the next few weeks. This was a pretty quick knit... would've been even quicker if I'd had a few hours to sit down and knit it straight through (if I'm even capable of such attention). As it was, I had to grab a few rows here and there throughout the day while I cared for one child down with the flu and helped the others through their school work. But I still got most of it done in a day.

I don't have much hat knitting experience, so it was perfect timing to get this in the mail today.

It's not my favorite knitting mag as it's mostly full of novelty yarn and bulky knits but I loved this spread. It includes simple instructions for basic hats with a formula for worsted or bulky knit hats in all sizes.

Cotton Fatigue

Well, I finished my SKB! I am very pleased with it and knit furiously in hopes of being able to show it to you tonight but it was just too dark by the time I finished to get a decent shot. Tomorrow I'll share it and beam (because I LOVE it!) but tonight I can only complain.

My hands are used to lots of knitting, but those sleeves... knit in the round with a cotton yarn on size 7 bamboo dpns - plus purl ridges - have just about done me in. (I have a thing about purling... ribbing and purling backwards are fine, but actual purling... yuck!) But I didn't dare put it aside again! No with determined perseverance I pressed on.


Anyway, I just pulled out the Midnight Moonlight scarf I started the other day (I needed a small project to take along on a field trip. Shhh - yes I know I could've taken socks) in order to treat my hands to some soothing Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK but my hands hurt! Too. Much. To. Knit.

I guess I'll go to bed.