Saturday Sky - 30 December

Yet another lovely Saturday - this one in central Ohio.

I hope your transition into the new year finds you surrounded with family and friends. I've been visiting with family for much of December, and am a wee bit discombobulated. Yes, I finished the scarf. More on that when I find time. :)

Happy New Year, my friends.

I'm Quirky

Lynn has tagged me with the 'How Weird Are You?' meme. Thanks, dear, for coaxing me to display my weirdnessess for all to see.

It goes like this... “THE RULES:Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

As I have always walked a bit outside of the mainstream, I long ago decided that I'm quirky, not weird. YMMV.

1. I'd rather spend quality time with my computer than watch network TV.

2. Unless what's on is something Whedonesque.

3. I was quite shy as a child, to the point of physical pain when thrust into social situations like school. I was also surrounded by adults who seemed to think desensitizing me was the answer. Ah, well. At least I know not to do it to my son. Lingering remnants of this: I hate to talk on the phone, unless the person I'm talking to is chatty. I'm perfectly willing to hold up my end of the conversation if the other person will do most of the heavy lifting.

4. Since I was very young, I have a tendency to lose words while I'm talking. Not the same word each time, and in no discernable pattern. I'll be talking along, and a perfectly normal word (e.g. "road") will drop from my vocabulary. I can drive on it, point to it, look at it, but cannot find the stinkin' word for it. I've become adept at talking around it.

Me: "We need to cross the horizontal hard surface with cars on it. Hold my hand."
Child: "You mean the ROAD, Mom?"
Me: "Road! That's it! Yes, the road. Hold my hand."

My children are so proud when they fill in for Mommy. What's doubly frustrating is when they fill in the wrong word and I can't think of the right word to correct them. Heh.

5. I still want to be an artist when I grow up. Maybe someday I'll actually take a class.

6. I can't do anything and listen to complex music at the same time. I forget what I'm doing and sit, mesmerized, instead. Now, your everyday radio sort of music is all right... hum along and knit.

You know, I found it extremely difficult to think of stuff about myself. I kept wanting to tell you about my kids instead. Does that mean I don't want to share, or that I'm one of those moms? Hrmmmm.

At any rate, now you know. I'm sure I'll think of something amazing I could have told you instead, you know, right after I hit 'submit'. I'm not going to tag anyone, just as I don't send along email jokes. I enjoy reading them, but I don't want to bother anyone else with them. I'm quirky that way. So, if you'd like to play along, consider yourself tagged and let me know you did. I'd love to hear how quirky you are, too.

Saturday Sky - 16 December

Welcome to the south. 75 degrees and beautiful in northern Florida.

A Frog Says, "Rip-it!"

A Cautionary Tale for New Lace Knitters

This is what an incorrect sl2-k1-p2sso looks like.

This is what a correct sl2-k1-p2sso looks like, after you re-read the directions and discern your mistake. sl2 together. TOGETHER, folks.

This is how long you - okay, I - can knit, thinking “I hope that blocks out…” before re-reading the directions and actually seeing what they say.

This is what the scarf looks like now. Thirteen days. I can make it. Gotta go now.

Saturday Sky - 9 December

Blue as blue can be. It was actually crisp here today - the high was in the high 40's. The kids could have worn their hats, if only their heads were bigger. :)

I'm thinking sport weight yarn and some fair isle... AFTER the holidays, of course. Still knitting on pressies; can't start something new now!

I'd Burn it in Effigy...

...but it would smell too much.

While up in Ohio last month, I was hit with the urge to knit. Anything. NOW. So, when we went into a store for something else and Tweedledee fell in love with some yarn, I agreed to make him a hat.

So what if the yarn is little ugly. And fuzzy. And acrylic. I'm okay with that. I buy the yarn and new needles, and set to work. And lose stictches. It's impossible to tell a knit from a purl in this stuff, let alone find a dropped stitch. The dropped stich mocks me; I know it's there, but it hides. It gloms onto nearby stitches with its fuzzy little fingers, promising to run a bit later when I stop looking for it. Ah, but I KNOW it's there. I won't stop looking until I've frantically pushed and pulled on every part of the hat, trying to get it to run a bit so I can SEE it. Insidious little bugger won't move. Oh well; it's only been 5 inches. I'll fix that stitch. Cackling, I frog the entire thing and start again. Five inches and another lost stitch later, I do it again. And, yes, a third time, albeit without the cackling this time. It is not lost on me at this point that I could have made the hat twice over by now.

So, I proudly claim defeat and knit this instead:

It's too big for him, and it makes me cringe because the cast on is too tight. But, he loves it, and that is what counts.

Started:	21 November 2006
Finished:	2 December 2006
Pattern:	You must be joking.
Yarn:	Lion brand Lion Suede, Color #110 (Denim). Less than a skein.
Needles:	Clover 7" bamboo dpns, size US 8
Notes:	Decreased every row at top to see what a boxier hat top would be like. Don't do that again. Bamboo needles with suede yarn is grippy-yarn-overkill. Didn't need ends to keep stitches from slipping off the needle, but also had to fight with the yarn. Don't do that again, either.

Saturday Sky - 2 December

OK, so technically it's Sunday, but here's a photo I snapped from our car on Saturday afternoon. If you look in the middle of the photo, you'll see what I was trying to capture: a sundog. Here it is a little closer-up:



Hope you all had a lovely day.

Shhhh! He's twacking a meme!

OK, as doctoral theses go, this guy has a cool one - he has postulated the way a meme spreads on the 'net. He wishes all of us to participate by spreading this little nugget around the blogosphere in a way that he can track. I'm not one for pleading or cajoling, but do consider participating. I remember being a grad student, and the more data the better! Besides, he has a sense of humor:

"...a script I've written will track this meme (via Technorati) across the internet in 10 minute intervals. It will record the number of links to this post, register their authority and create a database the very size of which will cause my poor processor to fall tumbling, in flames, down a steep cliff. (So be it. We all must makes sacrifices in the name of science.)"

Heh. Go forth and help. His plea and instructions are here.

(For anyone who cares, I found this meme through Mamacate's blog.)

Saturday Sky a day early

A gorgeous day at Manatee Springs in Florida. 72 degrees in both the air and the water. We walked out along the boardwalk, and spied the manatees out where the spring flows into the Suwannee River. Lovely!

Saturday Sky - 11 November

We drove from Ohio back to North Carolina today. We saw a lot of this in the mountains. As we were coming through Virginia, the sun broke through and we were treated to sunbeams filtering down over the blue ridges. Sadly, the best views are from the tops of the ridges. For some reason, they don't make rest stops on the ridgetops. :)

Boy Meets Snake

Although his brother asked for a quick mouse, Tweedle-doh* opted for a snake knit from itty-bitty cotton yarn. He loved that I was making it, made all the appropriate noises when presented with said snake, and then promptly forgot it exists. I'm trying to decide whether the weeks of it being on the needles (and the accompanying excitement that Mommy was making something just for HIM) is enough to make me want to do it again with the Next Big Thing.

* Yes, my twins call themselves Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-doh (pronounced with a Homer Simpsonesque d'oh!) Don't ask. It's really rather endearing, in a twisted sort of way.

Started:	2006
Finished:	2 November 2006
Pattern:	None.
Yarn:	Ball band MIA. 100% cotton, one skein. Red pearl cotton for the tongue, crocheted.
Needles:	Old pink aluminums.
Notes:	The decreases twisted on his head; not quite sure how that happened. I'll need to test a bit if I ever do it again. 4mm amythest beads for the eyes. The body is stuffed with polyester fiberfill - stuffed as I knit; the only way to go with a snake!

Saturday Sky - 4 November

There was a gorgeous full moon out tonight. Sadly, those photos didn't turn out well. So, I bring you this bit of pink loveliness from the other side of the sky. Sometimes it pays to turn around.

Sock Wars Status

Happy Halloween!

Current sock wars status: 525 dead, 64 dying, 133 living, 40 AWOL, and 10 of unknown status.

It tickles me that there are at least 64 pairs of handknit socks being delivered around the world as I type this. Yes, I get entirely too much enjoyment out of this. What can I say? I'm easily amused.

Sock Wars - Round Two

Saturday: Finished socks. Weighed socks. Went on research binge to figure out how to send socks to Norway with reasonable efficiency and without breaking the bank.

I ended up using Global Priority Mail from the post office. Huge envelope, flat rate fee of $8.50, and no hassle. I probably could have mailed it for less by weight, but the free Tyvek envelope looked like it could really take a beating without tearing up. Let's hope!

Today: Mailed socks, went to wild Halloween party full of kids, followed by piano lessons for one of my guys. Need to make dinner.

Tonight: Imminent collapse.

Started:	19 October 2006
Finished:	28 October 2006
Pattern:	Yarn Monkey's International Sock of DOOM
Yarn:	Ball band MIA. 100% mercerized cotton, in a dark bluish green. One ball per sock, with a bit left over on each.
Needles:	Old pink aluminums, size US 5
Notes:	This stuff is like knitting with string - no sproing at all. I hope the ribbing is enough to keep everything conforming to my victim's feet. I received half of a sock from Julie in CA - she'd turned the heel - and finished the pair for MagFly in Norway.

Sunday Sky - 29 Oct

Sorry for missing Saturday with my sky. I hope today's sky makes up for it.

Why do you DO this?

My husband is a wonderful man. He's smart, funny, and terribly protective of me. He and I think on the same wavelength 99% of the time, which makes it odd when he just doesn't grok where I'm coming from. Take Sock Wars; the man thinks I'm a raving lunatic.

Now, granted. To the average person, a slightly stressed mom of two who is homeschooling, struggling to keep up with housework, and ready to start on this year's round of handmade holiday gifts and comfy flannel PJs really shouldn't be contemplating another project, especially one with a timeline.

But, come on. Really. A little project, with the thrill of assassination? Having your heart go pitter-patter every time the postman comes and you might find death in the mail? Death by handmade socks?! It's a no-brainer. Plus, there's the added bonus of an escape plan: if it gets to be too much, stop knitting and wait to be killed by warm, handknit goodness. I'm looking hard, but I can't find the downside.

So, as often happens when crafting comes into play, he looks at me as one might look at any crazy relative: with wary fondness. After all, you never know what we're going to do next. It's best to make no sudden movements - we are volatile, we protect our projects, and we are holding very pointy sticks.

---

Sock Wars

Google Spreadsheet - keep abreast of the war

Current status: 495 dead, 65 dying, 163 living, 36 AWOL, and 12 of unknown status.

Sock Wars - Round One

I nominate these socks for the Ugly Duckling category in Sock Wars. I'm allowed - I made them. Shhhh! Don't tell!

With luck, I was able to assassinate the lovely Julie, who loves across the country from me. She's been an amazing sport about these wacky socks, and says she'll wear them on 'Crazy Sock Day' at her school (she's a teacher.) How cool is that?

I just received my second round sock in the mail from Julie. I have no idea if I'll be able to finish them before I'm bumped from the war, but I've met my goal.

Started:	22 September 2006
Finished:	11 October 2006
Pattern:	Yarn Monkey's International Sock of DOOM
Yarn:	Cascade Fixation - 98.3% cotton, 1.7% elastic. Each ball is 50g / 186 yards stretched, 100 yards relaxed. Color 9966. One ball per sock, with a bit left over on each.
Needles:	Old pink aluminums, size US 5
Notes:	The fixation yarn took a bit of getting used to - it's very stretchy, which made figuring out my tension trickier than usual. I'd knit with it again, though, now that I have it down. The socks are nice and stretchy.

Saturday Sky - 21 October

Happy October - 63 degrees F and not a cloud in the sky. I included a bit of one of our oak trees for color. There's only so much endless blue you can take!

Saturday Sky - 14 October

Another one of those bluer than blue North Carolina days. My camera missed out on the fullest part of the day, but I snapped this one of a pine tree in our neighborhood. The sunset made some lovely yellows on the trunk. I'm still waiting for leaves to turn, here. One of these days.

Where Have I Been?

I'm an undercover agent for the Yarn Monkey. So deep undercover that I have no idea who should receive my International Socks of DOOM.

Still, fun. :)

Add in a birthday (mine. Yes, I'm old) and a lovely visit from family, and all is well in my world. I'll take pictures to show later this week. Or next week. Whenever something gets done, yeah?

Saturday Sky - 9 September

A trip to the zoo landed me several great sky photos. Here's a nice one. A beautiful, seasonably cool (83 deg F) day.

Did you know that there are seven different kinds of presser foot attachments for Viking sewing machines? Me either. And, contrary to my local sewing shop's assertion, a free motion quilting foot from a '1' machine does NOT fit a '2' machine. Just so's ya know. I'm starting to think that in the time it takes to track down the right foot and take the class, I could just hand quilt this thing. Well, okay, probably not.

The Nearest Book

A little late to the party, but here's a fun meme from Bugsy:

Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 123. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.

This is from my closest book:

"The Magna Charta would remain. It would always be there. It would stand through the ages. The people would remember it in times of persecution, and those who came after would turn to the charter saying, "These are our rights by the King's oath and seal."

This is what happens when your seven six year olds are studying the middle ages.

Updated to add: Yes, dear friends, I realize now that my children are six years old, not seven. Let's chalk it up to senility the new allergy meds and move on, m'kay?

I do still knit...

Contrary to what my blog looks like, I do still spend more time crafting than looking at the sky. Currently, however, everything is currently 'in progress', and I'm pretty sure y'all don't want to hear about how many more inches of this or how many more quilt squares of that I have done. So, lookee-see, aren't those beautiful clouds?

I just signed up for a free-motion quilting class next week. I'm excited, because I've tried this before at home with disasterous results. I can normally just sort of "do" anything, and free-motion quilting kicked. my. butt. After getting the supply list for the class, I think I realized my first mistake. Darning foot?! I own about 15 feet for my little Viking, but 'darning foot' isn't one of them. Happily, googling for a local supplier landed me at a site for a sewing shop I didn't know about across town. Adventure! :)

Saturday Sky - 2 September

The fringes of Ernesto rolled through yesterday with gray, leaden skies. We awoke this morning to this... you can find a cloud here and there, but you have to work for it.

All in all, a lovely day.

Garterlac

At last, I've garterlac-ed. It's not perfect, but I think it's pretty. It was quite a learning experience, as I've never done anything like entrelac knitting before.

Started:	17 Aug 2006
Finished:	29 Aug 2006
Pattern:	Dave's garterlac dishcloth
Yarn:	Sugar 'n Cream 100% cotton. The color is Midnight Magic
Needles:	Funky old yellow-green aluminums, size 7

I'm still feeling pretty punky; I'm on my way out of the intestinal sickness that is slowly rolling through everyone in the house. Surpisingly, I've been crafting more, not less. Go figure.

Saturday Sky - 26 August

Sunset in central Ohio. I am here with the kids. Frankly, I just want to go home and snuggle into my own bed and sleep.

No new and fabulous progress to report. Still here, still knitting.

Saturday Sky - 19 Aug

One thing I love about where I live is the plethora of lakes - they're everywhere. This one is about five minutes from my house; I couldn't resist driving out to see what the sky looked like over the water. Gorgeous, as always.

In crafting news: not much is going on. Small progress on the baby quilt, and small progress on other little things.

However, I know much more Spanish than I did last week. I can also tell you more than you want to know about rocks, minerals, and gems. I have mediated arguments about whether mice lived at the time of the dinosaurs, and the practicality of travelling back in time to end said argument once and for all. If this is what they argue about when they're six, I wonder what we'll be thinking about in five years. It boggles the mind.

Textured Slip Stitch Dishcloth

I saw a dishcloth like this over at Mason Dixon Knitting and was intrigued because I couldn't immediately see how it was constructed. So, I whipped one up - pretty! The dishcloth is an easy knit, but involved enough to be more interesting than my regular pattern. My next dishcloth adventure will be Dave's garterlac dishcloth. Someday.

Started:	7 Aug 2006
Finished:	12 Aug 2006
Pattern:	Textured Slip Stitch Dishcloth (http://www.jimsyldesign.com/~dishbout/kpatterns/texturedss.html)
Yarn:	Sugar 'n Cream 100% cotton, colors: summer splash and hot green.
Needles:	Funky old yellow-green aluminums, size 7

Saturday Sky - 12 Aug

79 degrees and beautiful outside. Happy Saturday!

Quilt for the Baby

Here's the first look at the new baby's new quilt. He's only a few weeks old, and already trekking across the country with the family on his first big vacation. I'm hoping to have this little quilt whipped out by the time they come home. Hope springs eternal.

I've joined the sew? I knit! blog for the inspiration and impetus to get it done!

One Skein of Cathay...

What would you do with one skein (100 meters, 50 grams) of soft, dark purple cathay? I bought two to make the chemo cap, but just barely made it by with one. Now, I have a single skein of luscious yarn, and NO CLUE what to do with it.

I live in North Carolina, so I really don't need a winter hat. We didn't even get an ice storm last year. So... what do you think? What would YOU do?

My dear husband suggested a willie warmer... but if I don't need a hat, he surely doesn't need that! :)

Absence of a Saturday Sky

I was unable to get a photo of the sky yesterday. So, imagine if you will a day full of rumbly thunder and summer storms. A gray haze broken only by sheets of rain. That's yesterday's sky. Today's sky is much prettier, but that would be cheating.

Quick Hat, Good Cause

A hat made for the daughter of an acquaintance of a friend... is that sufficiently vague? The lovely girl in question is in the midst of chemotherapy, and a little distressed over losing her hair. This cap was made with the softest yarn the boys and I could find, which turned out to be Debbie Bliss Cathay. One skein made this hat, wtih pretty much nothing left over.

Her head's not really that big... that's a junior sized soccer ball in the photo. ;)

Started:	Week of 17 July 2006
Finished:	24 July 2006
Pattern:	Lace-Edged Woman's Hat by Julie M. Hentz (http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/kpatt18.htm). Head Huggers has a lot of wonderful chemo cap patterns.
Yarn:	Debbie Bliss Cathay (50% cotton, 35% viscose microfibre, 15% silk.) One 100m / 50g skein. Color 12012, a deep purple.
Needles:	Old aluminum dpns, size 7

22 July Saturday Sky

The view from our driveway. The promised thunderstorm is currently wispy clouds. Where's our RAIN?!

First Harvest

If you're looking for crafting content, move along. Perhaps I should take up basketweaving so I can display my veggies as a craft. :)

This is the first harvest from our first little raised bed garden. Kentucky Wonder green beans - yum! This is the same vareity I grew last year in pots; they look much happier in a real garden.

Happy Saturday, everyone. Sky photos later, though they will likely be a uniform grey.

Do the Watermelon Crawl

This cheeky little hat is headed on its way to California, as soon as I can convince it to stop frolicking with the kitchenware. It is being donated to a breastfeeding awareness campaign, and will be given to a newborn from a low-income family. I hope it brings a smile to someone's face.

I had intended to make another hat, but the watermelon is tired of waiting for its sibling. The Li'l Green Apple hat is having a time of it, mainly because I'm teaching myself to knit continental-style. It seems like a reasonable way to knit for economy of movement. However, I am finding that overcoming over twenty years of muscle memory is... kinda time consuming. I'm getting there, though. I'm sure the apple will find another charity home evenutally.

For those of you who can whip out a hat as quick as a flash, the deadline for this particular campaign is the end of July. You can get the address to mail hats to on the Harlot's site (look in the July 14th entry.)

Started:	July 2006
Finished:	11 July 2006
Pattern:	From the Yarn Harlot's blog. Scroll down to the July 1 entry for instructions.
Yarn:	Sugar 'n Cream Cotton in Hot Pink, White, Hot Green, and Sage Green. Caron Cotton Tales in Black. It's a little rougher than I'd like for a baby item, but if experience with my dishcloths holds, it will acquire cushy softness with use.
Notes:	My first duplicate stitched item. I'm pretty sure the inside is a mess. I'm also pretty sure the baby won't care.
Needles:	I've forgotten already! I think they were Bates aluminum dpns, size 6.

15 July Saturday Sky

Today once again found me at the library, so I took more sky pictures. A storm was moving through, and the sky was different everywhere I looked. So, please indulge me in multiple sky pictures. I couldn't help myself!



Today was our first week back at home schooling, so I didn't get a lot of crafting done. However, I did manage to make this little guy for one of the boys. As you can probably see, she's a little the worse for wear already from a few days of kid love. The other kidlet has ordered a snake, and I am resisting the urge to make him just the right size to swallow the mouse.

Started:	Week of 10 July 2006
Finished:	Week of 10 July 2006
Pattern:	This little guy was made from another Kristie pattern.
Yarn:	Caron Simply Soft Acrylic in pink and white.
Notes:	4mm amythest beads for eyes; stuffed with polyester fiberfill. If I make the pattern again, I will alter the bit just before the tail, and also make the tail longer.
Hook:	Boye aluminum, size F

Saturday Sky

I dedicate this late afternoon Saturday Sky to my son's overdue book on Geckos. The view from the library parking lot was gorgeous.

Wanna Know a Secret Meme

I'm working on a project I can't share yet, so I'm going to join in Scout's Wanna Know a Secret Meme instead. The idea is to share a little secret that may make people lose respect for you. Here goes... *deep breath*

Dirtly little secret the first: I'm addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV series.) My hubby and I watched the whole seven seasons as quicky as possible, and then started over at season one. Now that we're back up to season six (in the space of a few months), we're slowing down to one a week to make it last. I adore the evolution of the characters, and admire their struggle against evil. I love that good versus evil isn't painted in black and white. And, as an added bonus, it's quippy. I loves me a quippy show.

Dirty little secret the second: My children know all the words to the musical episode, because it's what we play in the car as we're driving to and from our errands and homeschool activities. No, I do not let them watch the show. Heh.

Dirty little secret the last: When I'm dying for a Buffy fix, I read fanfic. Don't tell anyone.

Saturday Sky just as soon as I actually go anywhere... you've already seen the view from my backyard.

Hey, I DO own a Viking!

Guess what I found today? My sewing machine. I had a sneaking suspicion that I still owned one. Sure enough - after moving a computer keyboard and mouse, some tesselating clay tiles (ancient history project courtesy of the little ones), an old family reunion photo, and a lot of fabric scraps... voila! A Viking!

I also found an ironing board, some pins, and some unfinished curtains. To top it off, I sewed another piece on the curtains just to make it all feel worthwhile.

Sometimes, progress is progress even if it isn't worth taking a picture.

So, to amuse you all, I give you a picture of something else I found this week:

These little lovelies were hanging out in my needle box. I came across them while looking for a set of dpns for a hat. Alas, they were the wrong size. But, seeing them threw me back into my childhood. Before I could blink, I was immersed in a full sense memory of sitting on a red vinyl swivel stool at the lunch counter at Woolworth's with my mom, eating grilled cheese. The memory comes complete with chinging cash register and the sound of shoppers milling around the store, though it doesn't come with the smell of food. Funny.

No, I didn't buy these needles at Woolworth's; they were given to me by an older lady a few years ago since she had given up knitting. It must have been the photo on the front of the package that did it.

Itty Bitty Boy Toys

The boys talked me into crocheting these little guys over the weekend. They each picked out the yarn and colors for their own animal, and stuffed it with minimal help from me. The turtle and the snail are currently spending each night tucked in next to their own little boy.

Started:	1 July 2006
Finished:	2 July 2006
Pattern:	The Itty Bittys, a free pattern by Kristie. Here's the link to the Tiny Turtle pattern.
Yarn:	Sugar 'n Cream cotton. Snail: Hot Green (body) and Summer Splash (shell) Turtle: Sage Green (body) and Midnight Magic (shell).
Notes:	4mm wiggle eyes. Iridescent sequins and glass seed beads for shell. Stuffed with polyester fiberfill.
Hook:	Boye aluminim, size F

Two Generations of Knitters

This is the first time I've knitted the exact same pattern that my dear mother has knit, and had the results to compare side-by-side. Now that I see them, it makes me question... just how big a hole should a YO leave? My blankie has big, lacy holes between each 'v' of the ripple pattern. My mother's blankie, by contrast, has very tight 'v's with an almost imperceptible set of YO holes. These blankets were knit from the same brand and weight of yarn. Her blanket (the green) is a bit stretched from six years of my son's love.

I don't know if she really tightens her tension in the next row, or if I don't tighten enough. I already know that I knit much more loosely than the lady in question. My hands would cramp if I knit like she manages to do!

So, dear readers, how do your YOs go? Lacy, or not-so-much? Thanks for any advice.

The baby blankie is done.

Well, the blankie is done. I'm not sure about the baby... I haven't heard from the mommy in question for a few days. Eep!

I stopped a little short on this one, as it was quite wide. I felt that making it the length called for was going to be quite unwieldy in the long run. My decision had absolutlely nothing to do with the fact that the pattern was boring me senseless, and that I get to make a quilt for said baby once this blanket is done.

Blankie stats:

Started:	28 May 2006
Finished:	30 Jun 2006
Pattern:	Reversible Baby Blanket, from the Jan 1981 issue of Workbasket magazine.
Yarn:	Caron Simply Soft, 100% acrylic, color 9909 - soft blue. This yarn is very shiny, and hard to photograph true-to-color.
Needles:	Size 8 circular

Saturday Sky

Mid-morning sky, as seen from my backyard. I can confirm that the mosquitos are out at 10 in the morning. What's that all about?

Today's forcast: hot and sunny with beautiful wispy clouds. Come on over, and we'll have a barbeque!

Here, and then gone

Blogger is being finicky this week; if you're reading this, I managed to stay on long enough to post.

I proudly displayed my pointy sticks during lunch at Panera Bread on Worldwide Knit in Public day last Saturday. Not another knitter was in sight, and I registered at least one sidelong glance from folks at another table. Mission accomplished, though I didn't get much done between sitting, eating, and making sure my spawnlings didn't do anything they shouldn't. :D

The blankie is coming along. I don't know what possessed me to buy acrylic yarn for this thing. Well, okay, I *do* know what possessed me. I thought it would be lighter and airier than cotton, I can't knit with wool or animal fiber, and I wanted something that Mom can throw in the wash when unmentionable bodily fluids get all over it. That said, I'm now wishing I'd picked a nice, soft cotton. Live and learn. It's too late to go back now, so I'm pressing on. My boys still love the blankies Grandma made from this same yarn, so I figure the baby won't care. :)

I'm also hoping to get the little one set up with a travel quilt for days at the park. But, first blankie's first.

Status on curtains: stalled. Yarn dyeing: need to get the dye. All my other unfinished projects: currently forgotten.

Racing the Baby

Unlike the incomparable Yarn Harlot, I admit to racing my friends' unborn child. Yes, it probably is wrong. But, it's also the only way this baby blankie's getting done in time! Know thyself.

Started:	28 May
Pattern:	Reversible Baby Blanket, from the Jan 1981 issue of Workbasket magazine.
Yarn:	Caron Simply Soft, 100% acrylic, color 9909 - soft blue.
Needles:	Size 8 circular

About these needles... I bought Boye needles because they're the needles of my youth, and because I was amazed that they're still made it the good ol' U.S. of A. And, as it turns out, they're bloody awful. Given the same choice again, I'd try another brand. Maybe it's an aberration and the rest of their needles are great, but the needles I'm holding do NOT make for a smooth knit. However, when you're racing a baby, you use what you have on hand.