I finished the mittens, see:



One knit along down numerous others to go. I used Gifted from Kate Gilbert. I'm not crazy about them. The second one is certainly better but I double stranded Cashmerino Chunky, instead of using Super Chunky. I think it made the finishing on it sloppy. Certainly my crochet skills didn't help at all. In order to do the thumb you actually crochet the side seam in the middle of making the mitten, so it is already finished when you get back to the hand. Crocheting with double stranded yarn is difficult when you suck at crochet so my seam ended up very lumpy. Overall they're pretty cute though so I think the flaws will be overlooked (and yes one is slightly bigger than the other, nobody's hands match exactly either, so there!).

Speaking of big, here's my completed Ugg Bootie:



Now if only I knew a baby with small tree trunks for legs, then I'd be in business. I'm going to rip out the second one since I haven't done any finishing on it and re-knit it on smaller needles. For now I'm keeping this one, damned if I know what I'm going to do with it maybe just keep it as a charm against hubris.

Just so you know I am still somewhat capable of knitting correctly, here's the cuff on my Jaywalkers:



I think the monkey approves...

Giving Thanks

I had kind of a weird Thanksgiving but a good one. I spent most of the day at home with Rinaldo and the boys just hanging out. I did make stuffing which I was going to take to Maribel's mom's house later that day but otherwise I just sat around watching the parade and lazing about in general. The plan was to go to Maribel's mom's, Rinaldo would drop me off and then he would take the boys to his grandmother's for awhile and they would all come back to hang out with me. The boys ended up having such a good time with their cousins that they didn't leave there until late and neither one really felt like coming upstairs to Bel's once they got back. So I went downstairs got in the car and we all went home. The point of the story is that I had Thanksgiving dinner without my husband or kids. Am I evil because I had a great time anyway?

The holidays are iffy for me since my mother died in October of last year. I am not the most social of people in the best of times so when I'm feeling low I am downright anti-social. Although Rinaldo has a very nice family who I am very fond of only a few of them really feel like family to me therefore I feel I have to "keep up appearances" if you know what I mean. I am not really fond of feeling that way.

Now I have know Bel for (ssh don't tell) 25 years. Frightening but true. There was a time where I was more comfortable in her house than my own. This means that her family knows me and I know them, in good and bad and no appearances need be kept when I hang out with them. At this point aside from my cousin and aunt in Iceland they are the only family I've got outside of the husband and kids. So hanging in the kitchen all evening with Bel, her nephew Danny, cousin Fran and myriad brothers, aunts, cousins and of course Mom, is as happy and safe as I ever feel anywhere outside of my own home.

Of course we all know the effect I've had on Bel. She is an accomplished knitter in her own right in spite of the horrible lessons I started her with, but on Thanksgiving she started working on the next generation:



This is Danny's gorgeous 2 1/2 year old daughter Nyrie (yes, Daddy is just as good looking ladies) checking out her Titi's yarn and needles (we will not discuss the tangled mess they became later) look at intensity of her look, she likes yarn and sharp pointy sticks. We'll have her making socks by the time she gets to kindergarten.

What would a day off from work and responsibility be without knitting, so I did. As I sat in the kitchen I worked away on the farrow rib scarf that I was making for a business associate and check it out I finished it:


(not sure why there appears to be a stain on the upper left hand side but trust me there ain't one, blame the fact that I took the picture at 6 this morning)

Damn I'm good...

Finally because she's such a bad influence I have joined Cara's knit along:



I, of course am using Socks that Rock...Cara would expect nothing less from me...

I read this article the other day. I like Rosario Dawson, I think it's great that she has such a cool boyfriend. Someone who appreciates her crafty side so much that he wants to share the joy with her. I've never seen Sex and the City so I wanted to know who this enlightened being was. I decided to google him.

Oh my...

He can join my knitting circle anytime...

Pictures, I Have Pictures

I seem to have appeased the Knitting Goddess and she is once again smiling down at me, well at least she's not ticked off anymore. Here's the Suede bias scarf:



Easy doesn't really begin to cover this one, although any type of chenille is a challenge all it's own since it's a taker not a giver. I'm constantly afraid of pulling too hard and breaking the yarn since that's what I always do to chenille, but Suede is a tough customer and she's doing just fine. Weaving in the ends will not be fun however (I've hidden most of them to protect the innocent).

Here's some finished shots I've owed you. Rinaldo's Socks that Rock, look it's a pair:



The Booga Bag after felting:


I already gave it to my friend Leslie and she loved it. Her birthday is this month and I never remember the date so as soon as I finished it I gave it to her. Saves me the trouble of apologizing for missing the day.

I recently washed and blocked a sweater that had been waiting (and waiting and waiting) to be gifted. We sent it out and it was much loved and appreciated. Check out the hottie who is now wearing it:




That is Ty who is the son of a good friend of the husband's. You may recall the Log Cabin Blanket which was made for him. Isn't he the cutest. The sweater is Mya (scroll down a bit for the picture from the book) for those of you keeping track. I refuse to discuss (with anyone, ever) how long it's been sitting in the basket.

Since we're showing off adorable babies, here's the lovely Asthildur Emma once again modeling that circular blanket made for her:



Like I need an excuse to show her off...

and because I too have an adorable baby (and yes he is my baby and will be even when he's 40), here's Ian wearing a hat I made for Rinaldo 3 years ago:



He stole it from his dad this morning and it looks like it was made for him (yes it fit Rinaldo just fine).

I think I will make him mittens to match...

People don't forget to put your pin on my map. I am far too excited by it, it's a little scary...

Have a great weekend everyone!

I never used to follow the crowd but since becoming a blogger I sure seem to do it a lot. First of all I've joined yet another Knit Along:



This is one of the times when I was already making mittens for someone so why not join a knit along for it.

This is the cool thing :



I love checking out the maps on everyone's blog to find out where their readers are, so here's mine. Go put yourself on it...

The scarf is going along fine at the moment. I'm not going to jinx it however so I'll save any progress pictures for tomorrow.

Veronica Mars is Smarter Than Me*

Actually at the moment everybody is smarter than me. I did the finishing this weekend on one Ugg baby bootie but it seems quite large. Not the foot portion but the opening for the leg (it was not assisted by Ian who insisted it was his shoe and tried to put it on while laughing hysterically). So I put that aside while I pondered fix-it plans.

I mostly rested my hand this weekend which seems to have worked. By Sunday I had no more pain, although it is always stiff when I wake up in the morning which makes me wonder if I'm holding it in an odd position when I sleep. I decided to start on the hat again. I had ripped it out because the bind off was really not working. I gathered my yarn and needles and took it with me to Lion King, which Avery and I went to see on Sunday. On the train I pull out the needles and the yarn, but what's this, no pattern. Now it is a fairly simple pattern, I just couldn't remember how many to start off with. I tried a couple of times and couldn't get it right so there's one afternoon shot.

That night I started it again with pattern in hand and for the life of me, this hat that practically knitted itself last week was simply not coming together. Screw it, I decided to try the beret from Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns instead. I took that with me on Monday. By yesterday evening I had pulled it out 3 times because I seem to have forgotten how to do a 2x2 rib. Ok, this is what happens when you are in the middle of a highly prolific and successful run and you take a break because of a little discomfort. Damn I should have worked through it.

Last night I decided I needed to forget the hat for a bit and do something disgustingly simple like a scarf. So I grabbed the 3 skeins of Suede, balled them up, packed them in my knitting bag and made sure to put the pattern in as well. I grabbed the bag on my way out this morning and sat down happily with my IPOD on the subway this morning. I pull out the pattern to see what color to start with and realized...

I forgot to bring the needles...


*for an explanation of this particular title scroll down to the last bit of dialogue on this page and by the way why are you still not watching Veronica Mars!

Playing Hurt at the CECCC

I am paying the price for productivity. My index finger is swollen and it hurts to move it. Interestingly it doesn't actually hurt to knit but my finger seems to want to stay in that position even when I'm not knitting. I suppose that's a bad thing but as we're approaching the holidays I'm wondering if I should view it as a blessing in disguise. Just think of it:

me: honey you know I can't do the dishes, my finger hurts too much
the husband: but you're knitting
me: yes, because it's the only thing that doesn't hurt

I'm exaggerating the pain a bit, ok a lot, it's really just a bit sore but it is definitely swollen. I'm taking ibuprofen and it's helping. I realize I really need to take a break from knitting but damn I'm on such a roll. Rinaldo's been away at a conference in Reno for most of the week so I've had tons of time to myself. I've nearly finished the booties, I am just finishing up the trim and then I will sew them up. I realize I promised pictures but with the husband away, exhaustion sets in quickly once the children are bedded down, so no dice, sorry.

I did manage to get one picture uploaded last night:



What the hell is that you ask? That was a meeting of the CECCC (Chuck E Cheese Cabling Club) last night. Of course it was the first and probably last meeting. Avery's school had it's annual Chuck E Cheese fundraiser last night and Maribel being the fool I mean friend that she is volunteered to keep me company since I was spouseless. Now in my case being spouseless means that I have to take the bus since I can't drive. She was really doing me a favor. She told me that she had bought some Lion Brand Suede and she wanted to make a scarf but she couldn't find the right pattern for it. I told her, "what about a cabled scarf?". She implied I was insane. I told her socks are way more complex than cables (and we all know that socks aren't all that complex either when you get right down to it). I mean really, I hate charts so I don't do many cabled projects but when it's written out all it really involves is moving stitches and knitting them. It's one of the really cool knitting techniques that is pretty simple but makes a project look really complicated.

So right there in Chuck E Cheese (actually on the bus if we're being honest) I taught her to cable. Now she's off and running. She found this pattern and called me this morning to tell me that it's coming along beautifully.

She's a freakin' cable queen...

Have a great weekend everyone...

It was a fairly productive weekend, but I didn't take pictures yet so you'll have to take my word for it. I finished Rinaldo's sock with yarn to spare. I did do a shorter than usual cuff in anticipation of a yarn shortage and that seems to have been the right decision. He loves them and is in fact wearing them today.

I made a beret from a pattern that I stole from a book of Maribel's. It came out well but the cast off is too tight. Bel had the same problem, in fact her's was too tight all around and she's been ripping back and tweaking the last few rows the entire weekend, in between rounds on a pair of socks. I think I am going to pull out the cast off row (which I did do loosely by the way) and go up a few needles sizes for the bind off. We'll see how that works.

I've joined the Irish Scarf Along. I've been wanting to make one and I finally found a good recipient. It will go to Avery's teacher. He was Avery's teacher last year as well and it a really good guy. He's helped Avery a great deal so I'd like to give him something special. I'm using Paton's Classic and Avery wants it in burgundy which I happen to have in stash. I'll be casting on for that this weekend hopefully.

The project I'm working on right now is the Ugg Baby Booties. I'm using the Lion Brand Suede rather than Berroco mostly 'cause I'm cheap. It is really a great yarn though. It was on sale when I picked up the balls for the booties (hmm how many bizarre hits am I going to get off that phrase alone) so I grabbed three extra for a scarf. I'm hoping to have enough yarn to do the hat also but I'm not stressing about it. I've been wanting to make these for quite awhile now but the right baby hadn't come along. Now there is one but I won't say which since all the new moms I know read the blog. They'll just have to wait until the holidays.

Speaking of babies. It's official I am going to visit my cousin Ingileif in the Spring. Nothing like a gorgeous new baby to get me over my fear of traveling. Maribel and Avery are going with me but we decided to spare Ian the 6 hour flight. He'll stay home with Dad, and wait for the next trip. Of course my cousin knows me far too well. She sent me many different websites so I can decide what I'd like to see but the first link she sent me was for the place she lives:

http://www.alafoss.is/

jealous much?

Not much progress to report. I finished the ribbing on Rinaldo's sock but I haven't really picked it up much. On Tuesday I started a Spenser novel and when I do that I'm shot for the next 24 hours (ok more like 12-15 hours). Spenser novels are like bags of potato chips for me.

I had to go for a sonogram on Wednesday morning. A few months ago I went for a mammogram, I'm a bit young for it but since both my parents died of cancer I'm kind of paranoid about it. I had to repeat it because it wasn't clear on the sides. The repeat one was more focused on those areas. The results came back and while there is nothing suspicious they are a bit dense on the sides so for a full analysis they need to do a sonogram. This of course involved a ton of waiting time. That should work out to tons of productive knitting time but instead I spent it with my favorite detective.

I did felt the bag last night. It came out great. It's currently blocking. I'll spare you pictures of that and instead will share when it's completely done. My friend's birthday is in a few weeks so for once I am finished early. I am itching to get started on holiday presents. I have a ton of scarves to do for teachers and bus drivers but I'm aiming for small quick projects this year this way I have a shot of getting most of them done.

Tomorrow I am meeting up with Maribel and a co-worker of hers to visit Seaport Yarn. They now has an online store so you non-NYC people can share the love.

I was on vacation last week but I didn't really intend it to extend to my blog. It's weird, time has been getting away from me a lot lately. My stepmother is here in NY, getting her new dog Nike,
and somehow I have yet to call her and her graduation is this weekend. How the hell did that happen?

I have however been knitting like a fiend. Check this out:



I made this last weekend. While that is in no way amazing for many knitters, that is damn fast for my lazy ass. It is still waiting for felting but I take a lot of credit nonetheless.

I decided to wind a ball of the now famous, or is that infamous Socks that Rock. I did the Tiger's Eye colorway and the minute my husband saw it he said, "forget the grey I want that for my socks". Since I aim to please (some days) I made this:



Gorgeous isn't it. Here is where the problem is, you may have seem Cara's close call. Luckily she has chick feet, which is to say they are dainty and on the smaller side (compared to male feet at the very least). My husband while not having gargantuan feet as some have been accused of having, certainly has manly feet. I am very worried about running out of yarn. I am nearly done with the ribbing on the second sock. I will keep you apprised.

I am in Middle School hell for Avery. We have tours, tours and more tours to go on over the next 3 months. I feel like I'm choosing a freakin' college here...and to add insult to injury I have to do this all again in 3 years for High School!?! I am not pleased.

On the good side, Ian had his fourth birthday last week and we threw him a small bash at school. I will not go into how excited all of us summer babies (Rinaldo, myself and Avery) were at being able to finally have a school party. It was really kind of pathetic but we had a blast, oh I mean Ian and the kids had a blast, well whatever. Ian's teacher decided to save me a parent teacher conference and told me he is doing well and talking all the time now. He has even started using full sentences in school (he's been doing that a home for a bit). Her recommendation for him will be general ed Kindergarten with support (speech in his case) whoo hoo! That means he can go to Avery's current school next September. Which is what I really wanted.

And finally since we all need to feel like we are worth something, here you go:

My blog is worth $17,500.74.
How much is your blog worth?

Cara, man, I think you need to try again yours can't be right...

Happy belated Halloween y'all...