3 months today

This isn't a baby blog I swear. This is a post about a hat and a blanket, both knitted.

The burprag makes an appearance

I just wanted to show Jen's handywork in action (on Christmas Day no less!). It gets a lot of use. In fact, it kinda feels wrong to let her spit up so much on it.




Also, the outfit she is wearing was mine when I was a baby. My sisters and I all had matching pj's that Christmas.

Reunited and it feels so good

Thank you Abby for allowing me back in.

So here's my news: I was pretty sure I had overheard it when I was in there and a recent check of their website confirms it. Debbie Bliss is coming to the LYS (LYS is Internet jargon for local yarn shop. I assumed you knew this but then got paranoid that you didn't. You might have thought that LYS was some freak cult I had joined out here. Like the Living Yellow Society in which people ate bananas for breakfast, macaroni and cheese for lunch, and corn chowder for dinner followed by that famous pot-luck dish of vanilla pudding and wafers for dessert. But don't worry, yellow has always washed out my complexion.)

So, I was saying. Debbie Bliss. Here. But when I read the details it wasn't quite as exciting. First of all it costs $40 to hear her speak. Second of all, the topic is how she designs her garments. Ho-hum. I mean it sounds exciting, but not THAT exciting. So I'm not sure if I'll go or not. I am wondering if I could just spontaneously show up to do shopping when she is there. And just get a peak...I want to know if she has a denim jacket with sparkles that says "Debbie Bliss" on the back.

In other news, I did get some knitting done. I made my mom an ipod cover. I forgot to take pictures but I did it with a tweedy Rowan yarn and it turned out better than the one I made for myself because I remembered to decrease when I started the flap.

I also made more of these, which you may remember from last year. The girls at church had an ornament exchange. I was a little nervous about giving something homemade; everyone else gave store bought ones. But they seemed to be a hit. The party was fun. They read the lyrics to Silent Night and every time they said the word "silent" you passed to the left and every time they said "night" you passed to the right. This was fun and a little dangerous for people holding hot chocolate in one hand and a newborn in the other.


The other thing I finished was the hat to match Ellery's blanket. It was a Christmas gift. (It seemed kind of odd to do gifts for her, seeing as how she would be completely unaware of it, but then totally wrong not to get her anything. So Caleb and I picked out a few things for her together and then each got her things the opposite spouse didn't know about. The hat was one of those.) I don't have a pic yet but I think she will wear it for her 3 month pics next week.

Somebody call Guinness...

I mean that's got to be a record. Resolution on Saturday...casting on Wednesday. But Santa I can explain...
The resolution really needed a clause that stated it could be violated in case of cute little three year old cousins having a birthday party. I mean look at that face! And those weren't even presents for her!! No resolution can deny knitted goodness for such a kid. So another Russell the Sheep started Wed. for Macy and it's almost done. We're off home for the birthday party tomorrow and one for Grandma Sunday!! So thank you all for your well wishes (even though I know that you know that I know that we all KNEW I really couldn't do such a resolution!!)

Mittens go for a drive and socks work out

I was a little bored in Ohio. Enjoy.
Also, this post was supposed to be a lot more complex but Blogger won't let me upload all the pics I want. :-(

I made Angela a pair of mohair/wool mittens by holding some wonderfully red mohair with some black sock yarn. The finished product is delightfully stretchy and (hopefully) warm (hasn't been cold enough to really test them). The mittens wanted to drive the VW, who was I to object? Luckily I had my camera on hand.


Mom got a pair of socks made from a wool/nylon blend. I think I bought the yarn at Sheep and Wool last year. Mom also got a new exercise bike thingy and the socks really wanted to try it out (they were kind of big and can stand to lose some weight). Look at them go... The socks also used the treadmill and the eliptical, but those pics are unavailable, thanks to Blogger.


Oh, the mittens also learned to play the guitar, that pic is unavailable (it didn't turn out very well anyway) as well.

New Year's Resolutions or...

Pie crust promises? Only time will tell.

As I take stock of this past year (and yes I do think about more than just the knitting of the past year but that's a different story), I am forced to face the fact that I am an unfaithful knitter but more importantly, an unhappy unfaithful knitter:-( I can't seem to stop jumping into new projects when I'm not done with others and when I know this will drive me crazy. Having lots of loose ends (ha! punny) in any part of my life tend to get me nervous.

So why don't I stop doing it...So ok, resolution one: no more than two or three projects started at a time. I like that because I do think it's fun to be able to switch between a few projects, have one that can travel easily, one for the couch, etc. but not overwhelming or embarrassing like the number of projects on needles at the moment. Last year I finished 31 projects, including everthing from lace curtains to dish rags to stuffed sheep and dogs. However, the dregs of the year add up to SEVEN! AHA and they're all driving me crazy. To some this may seem paltry. I know the Harlot does this much in a week for Christmas. I actually was surprised it wasn't more but for me, it's too much! So perhaps chronicling the sad state of affairs will help me keep not only resolution one but resolution two (here's the biggy): I won't start any new projects until all seven of these are done!! Whew! I said it.

Ladies, I present to you the first seven knitting projects of 2007!
From smallest to biggest/most complete:
Mosaic socks made with yarn all the way from Zimbabwe where yarn enough for two pairs of socks costs $140,000.00 (yes that's the right number of zeros:-(

NOT PICTURED: insert picture of the second Pheonix sock. It'll look just like the one you've already seen providing I can remember what I did! It's not even on the needles yet but since one sock is completed I feel like this is a started project.

The Morehouse Merino scarf which I loved at the time I started in May and which I slowly hate more and more as each unending row crawls by.


Don't even know quite what this is. guessin' sweater.


The beginnings of the red/orange handspun. GOT to get this done soon because Carolyn surprised me with beautiful hand made glass earrings for Christmas to match the sweater just because she'd seen on the blog that I was making it! Isn't that the most thoughtful thing. (Hi Carolyn!)


Remember this? MDSW in'05? maybe? started this past summer and it always gets pushed aside


Worst of all cause it's been on the needles so long (but closest to done). Started this back in the spring. Geeze. Sleeves are all it needs but I have a sinking feeling that I'm running out of yarn and I used a discontinued Debbie Bliss. It will be so sad when the first project of 2007 can't be finished for lack of yarn.


Not so bad I guess, even the projects that have lingered for months. Actually, one of the things I like about knitting and spinning is that it takes time. In a world of instant everything, projects that actually take time are grounding. I've often thought about ages past where time was marked by seasons as the smallest unit, not seconds. Part of me longs for that and knitting speaks to that part. I have to plan now for things I might want to wear next fall and that large scale is connecting and comforting.

Knitting stock taken, resolutions drawn, and now...the spinning...

sheep for Christmas

It sings or rather bah's "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" too! Can't get better than that. (Sorry the picture's blurry-it's the only one I have)
But it wasnt' just me. When Max unwrapped his present he also found a sheep! He loved his just as much as I loved mine. Of course I didn't immediately chew the nose off of my sheep but everyone expresses love in their own way.



I love this last one because you can see he is playing so hard his ears are flying! He even still has ribbon wrapped around his leg!

I did get other fibery related Christmas gifts: a Barbara Walker treasury I didn't have from Mom/Dad, some knitpicks yarn from sis-in-law Carolyn, a ball winder from Mark's brother, and several nice things from Mark's mom and dad like a blocking board, new needles, and a magnetic board to hold patterns. I'd take a picture of the haul but honestly we're still unpacking (do not shame me, I am embarrassed enough already!)

the year in scarves

My family draws names for Christmas and I got my mom. For weeks everytime she walked past me she'd pretend to cough "scarves" at me! So I decided to make her a scarf for every season, knitting it in that season. Here she is opening them - you can see she is putting them all on as she goes!


This was the winter scarf. It's a mobius made from kid mohair. Red is her favorite color.

The spring scarf was inspired by redbud trees against the kelly green newly leaved trees on the mountains between here and home. I even stopped and bought the yarn in Cumberland which is roughly half way there. It's rayon. Nice drape!

I was determined to buy the summer scarf materials at MDSW because that is the start of summer to me and I succeeded in finding a pretty little silk boucle yarn in late summer colors. Mom's really not a pastel kind of gal. I almost missed knitting it in summer though and didn't finish it 'til Labor Day, the end of summer to me!

I tought she'd like the first three scarves but they were all lacy and a bit foofoo so the fall scarf had to be straight forward, chunky, warm, and in neutral colors.

Then I discovered from Dad that he was getting her a new camel colored long coat for Christmas and I thought she really needed a soft little alpaca blue scarf to match her beautiful blue eyes. The "Christmas season" scarf. I can pretend there are five seasons if I want to!! I finished this one the day before Christmas and worked on it while moving my brother from Texas!

The project was really fun because it lasted all year and all the scarves have fun memories attached. She seemed to like all of them! So there are five projects completed last year that I couldn't show because Mom sometimes looks here!

The camera's debut!

So we finally entered the digital age with a digital camera. Merry Christmas to us! Merry Christmas to us!

Thus, this post contains pictures with actual details! Imagine that!

Remember these?!



"Up from the ashes, up from the ashes, grow the roses of success!" (50 balls of left-over yarn from various projects to anyone who can name the children's musical that's from...come on Brandy, you got to start knowin' this stuff)

I give you the Pheonix sock


love it! made up the pattern with some help from a Nancy Bush pattern.

requisite gratuitous close-up just because I can


so two for the price of one really...the post shows both the crappy old sock project compared to the new good sock AND the crappy old camera picture with the new good camera which will hopefully actually get better! Those pictures are just with the thing straight out of the box just point and shoot. Imagine after I actually read the directions!!

The blanket's debut

Typing one-handed here girls...

Here is a photo of the blanket's first day out. I haven't used it a lot because it doesn't go with all the pink outfits she has.

It's not a great pic of the blanket because apparently the real subject is the baby.