Warning - Don't seam while riding in a car

I finished the water bottle holder:



Doesn't look too bad, does it? Of course I elaborately staged the photo (I don't have a yard, being an apartment dweller, so I sat it on the window sill with the plants to have that Yarn Harlot look) to hide the fact that the strap is a moebius strip! Damned if I know how I did it. I was working on it in the car on the way to the wedding that I went to yesterday, which was beautiful by the way. It wasn't at night, I had plenty of sunlight. Yet I twisted the strap when I seamed it. Then I attached it to the tube without ever noticing the twist. I got home around midnight last night, went to bed, got up at 6 this morning to finish it. Once I finished, I held it up to admire my work...and there was that twist. I gotta tell ya at this point I really didn't care. He's a good guy, he knows I can knit well, maybe he'll think it's design feature? Anyway I stopped by the school and left it in his mailbox with a note.

Heady with the freedom of a completed project I signed up for this:



This brings me up to 7 knit alongs (6 if you don't count Anouk which is finished). I have the yarn for the rug and it was always on my list of summer projects so I figured why not. It doesn't start until July 15 so that's plenty of time.

I was loving this test that I found at Ann's site:





Can't say I was surprised, heck I think I'm less evil than I thought!

Of course in the interest of improving myself I went on to do this quiz, that the lovely Ann also shared:


20 Questions to being a Better Person

"Your score as a human being is 77.5.

Middle of the road, eh? Does that mean you're yellow? Yellow as a salamander frying on blacktop? Yellow as a urinal cake? Yellow as a delicious marshmallow Peep? Mmmm. Peep. Sometimes I think if it weren't for Just Born candy, I would just expel my life force and expire. Hot Tamales. Mike and Ikes.

But I digress.

Nicely done. You are robustly average, and I approve of it. "


Funny how they're so close isn't it...

Why is it that if I have a deadline, I absolutely won't get a project done in time? I am sure my regular readers know that I didn't finish the teacher's present in time for today, the last day. The good news is that the teachers will still be in on Monday, so I will stop by in the morning and drop it off to him. I really get hung up on these long pieces. It's only 15 stitches in K1, P1 rib, but it has to be 58" and that ribbing slows me down. I did finish the tube that the bottle goes into and it's actually sitting on my kitchen table with a large bottle of Dasani in it. It fits very well.

No work being done on anything else obviously. I am going to start Devan this weekend but it's rather a busy time. We have a cousin's tap show to go to tomorrow. Sunday we visit my mother in the morning, and we have a wedding to attend in the late afternoon, evening. And oh yes it's my birthday. I am planning on celebrating next weekend since we had so many things to do this weekend but my best friend is going to come over before I leave for the wedding so there will be something of a celebratory nature going on.

Have a great weekend everyone...

I have not been exactly productive of late. I did not finish the tie (surprise!) for my husband for Father's Day. Thankfully being a well trained husband of a knitter he was able to show enthusiasm and appreciation for the half-finished product. It is made with Magic Stripes from Lion Brand and is a pattern from their website. It's actually coming out quite nicely but it's over 50" long on size 5s in sock yarn. That means progress is slow.

He gave me permission to put it aside to work on the water bottle bag for Avery's teacher. That is going quickly since it is bulky. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the smaller size needles with me today, so although I finished the body of it, I can't begin the strap until I get home. I did seam it up however so my time was not completely wasted.

I tried to buy the beautiful Memphis colorway from (Threadbear) Rob's blog, but alas I was too late. My Charlotte will come, I am sure, it was just not meant to be...yet.

I have cast aside all other projects for a mystery father's day project (my husband reads my blog occasionally hence the mystery). I am concerned about being done in time. Ray is away until tomorrow afternoon on a business trip, and I want to be finished by then as it certainly would lose it's mystery if he saw me working on it. I am hoping with a late night tonight I can just about finish it. I rented Honey to watch tonight, so it should be perfect for mindless knitting.

Avery was a runner up in a contest sponsored by the New York Post and the City of New York called Little Apple Heroes. He wrote an essay on how he would spend a day, with a group of volunteers cleaning up our neighborhood park and making it a "relaxation spot". I am very proud! Thanks to this we won 4 tickets to a special screening of the first Spider Man movie tomorrow, as well as a party before the movie.

I also have to start the water bottle bag for Avery's teacher. I am rapidly running out of time, but it should go quickly enough. The pattern I found used 2 strands of worsted, although it's on a lower gauge needle than you would normally use. I assume it's to make a good strong, dense fabric.

So what's missing? Devan! I do plan on casting on this weekend as planned. I just don't think I'll get much done until the end of the week.

Where is everybody else the Devan along?

Stephanie completed a front panel but is having some concerns about her color matching. I personally like the bright lime.

Chris is working on the back piece. The other pieces look great!

The rest of us have yet to begin. I'm sure we'll catch up soon enough...

I finished the clogs. I like the way they look although I am toying with shrinking them a little more. Of course I made them a little big because Ian is growing so fast.

Here is the before:


and after:



I have puffy fabric paint to put on the bottoms for treads so in the morning I'll decide if they should go through one more cycle. If not then I'll do the bottoms.

I also swatched for Devan:



I cast on for the Mya swatch, but this morning I realized that school ends next week so that means I am way behind on the year end teacher gift. Avery's teacher likes to go hiking so I thought I would make him a water bottle holder. The only pattern I could find was in Hollywood Knits. So now I have to figure out a good yarn substitute, prefarably from my stash, and make it masculine. I think my work is cut out for me.

I didn't post much last week so I missed the opportunity to comment on the outpouring of grief over Reagan's death. Frankly I sure wasn't feeling it, but since it's a new week I won't get into now, except to share my favorite comic strip, Boondocks with you. Check out Monday's strip

Monday Morning Finishing

I got up at six this morning to finish up the Fiber Trends Children's Felted Clogs. I am going to throw them into the washer when I get home tonight. I had a number of problems with this pattern. Initially I found it odd that there seem to be so many mistakes in the number of stitches you're working with, since the pattern is so popular, but then I realized that it is the adult version that is the really popular one. I suspect the designer quickly sized it down for a kid version, but most people just do it themselves with the adult pattern.

It's a great design otherwise. I am a little concerned about it being a bit lopsided but felting hides a multitude of sins, so I think they'll be fine. Besides he's 2 so he's not very concerned with appearance! I think I will spring for the adult pattern and just work with that in the future. Wish I'd done it that way from the giddy-up.

I finished weaving in the ends on the booties on the train this morning. When I was working on the clogs I noticed the booties sitting abandoned in the tray on the end table. I realized that I had never done the finishing on them. So I grabbed them this morning on my way out the door. I only had sewing on the clog left to do on the train so I knew I had extra time. I did it all in the trip to work. Glad I brought a book for the ride home.

Tonight I am going to do some swatches. I am going to swatch for Devan and Mya. Mya is a crossover sweater in Rowan Junior, that I've been wanting to make for another co-worker who just had a baby (they're just popping out all over). And of course the felting.

The Devan Along is growing a bit, since their is no real time frame feel free to sign up even if you're not sure when you'll start. I still haven't made any real progress on my shapely tank and that knit along started in April. This is a very low pressure blog...

I am not sure what is up with my progress bars, so until I solve the mystery of the missing color I have listed the percentages on the sides. Hopefully I'll figure out what's wrong very soon...

So the Devan Along is on. See it even has a button:



It's only 3 of us so far, but I hope more people will join up as we go along. The rules? Really none. If you're knitting Devan or plan on knitting it by then end of the year join up! Chris has already started, I hope to start next weekend. I think Stephanie wanted to start by the end of the month. It's all good. Just have fun. I will post periodic updates on everyone's progress. I will also try to get a gallery together of the finished ones as we go.

I have actually cast aside all my projects temporarily, because I had ordered the Fiber Trends Children's Felted Clog pattern. Ian needs slippers, what can I say. They seem to be going quickly after a few issues in the beginning (much frogging going on until the end of the first 5 rows). I think they're going to be adorable on him.

The shapely got frogged so I'm back at the short rows section. I couldn't quite figure out where I had left off, but I also seem to have screwed up the decreases somehow. So I ripped it out and started again. I think that was best especially since I did one side of short rows better than the other, now I can make them both look good...

I have finished a sock:



It came out very well, and it fit my son perfectly. Of course I did check before I started the toe:



It was very easy. I did frog that one time when I was turning the heel, but otherwise it went very smoothly. I did have some problems with the toe. I was working on it in the car and somehow I dropped my last stitches. Then I had to pick them up and of course I had lost a few decreases. I thought I had caught them all, but after carefully following the directions I had for grafting the toe, I looked at it and I had loose stitches trying to run down the sides underneath the grafted stitches. Thankfully I was able to pick them up before any damage was done. I will be sure not to attempt to finish on the road again.

Look what came in the mail for me:



From the lovely guys at Threadbear. There service really is wonderful. As soon as I catch the right colorway for me I will be ordering my yarn for Charlotte. What is this Kureyon for you may ask? A Christmas present! Yes, I am keeping to a new year's resolution (from the year before last) and beginning my presents early. This year it will the theme will be bags. This yarn is destined to be a Booga Bag for a very dear friend who always admires mine. I am scoping out patterns and hope to have a list together in the next few weeks of all the different bags I will be making. My goal is to have a bag as one of my ongoing 3 project at all times so I will be done in time for holiday gift giving with a lower stress level than usual.

Aren't you all impressed?

I haven't heard any interest in a Devan along. Stephanie is interested but I haven't seem to gather anybody else. Still I will be forging ahead. I am going to attempt to make a button for it. Check back Wednesday to see how I did.

I turned the heel on my first sock! It went pretty well. I frogged once because the pattern was a bit off, but it was fine after that. I picked up the stitches on the sides of the heel flap this morning on the train. Which prompted my beloved to ask, "you could have done that in the car!?!". No, I always knew it would have to come upstairs for this part, but I am hoping to finish it tonight.

I ended up working on it by default. I finished Anouk, which was a big hit with my friend Kelly (her daughter is absolutely beautiful by the way, anouk will suit her well). She thanked me yesterday and called me today to thank me again. Yesterday on my way in I grabbed my shapely tank. When I was in the car on the way to visiting my mother I realized I hadn't grabbed another ball of yarn and the one I was finishing was just about done. So Ray suggested I grab the sock and so I did. He's pretty sharp that one.


You may notice in my list of projects that the lap blanket has become the Candy Wrapper Lap Blanket. This is because I have joined the:



Thanks to Mindy for the tip. I'll do anything for free candy and there is a candy exchange involved in this knit along. The pattern for the blanket has a change in yarn (and gauge) every few inches to give it a gathered effect. The pattern has it repeated throughout the blanket but I have always planned to only do it twice on each end, making it vaguely reminiscent of a Tootsie Roll Wrapper. The lengths some people will go for the sweet stuff...

Ladies and gentlemen may I present Anouk:




I'm very happy with the end result. I am really hoping my friend comes to visit the job tomorrow so I can give it to her. I found the cutest buttons for it too:



Oddly enough the shoulder button ended up reversed. The button hole is on the back strap instead of the front, but it works just fine. I'd love to know exactly how I managed it though. You'll also notice that I only have one pocket. My husband was the first one to say one was enough. He felt that two was "too busy". I thought about it while I was finishing up and asked my best friend Maribel's opinion and she agreed. So I went with one pocket and I really like it that way. Next time I make it (and I will as soon as I find another girl baby to make it for) I may do it with 2 pockets, hell I might even get the button hole on the right strap, but I really love it just the way it is..

Anouk is very close to completion. I have to finish the back. Then I will put the straps together and do the collar. I can't deny I am a bit worried about the collar since my last attempt at picking up stitches and creating a collar did not work out the way I expected (that would be my son's hooded sweater, the collar was more of a cowl but he loves it that way so it all worked out). I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I am toying with hosting my first Knit Along for Devan. Any takers out there? I am not sure I have enough of an audience to do it. I know Stephanie from And She Knits Too! is planning on making it but I haven't seen any blogs mentioning it.

I am also really, really tempted to make Charlotte's Web. Am I insane? I've been looking for my first foray into lace and some of the versions of this shawl that I have seen around the blogs have been absolutely stunning. I also just found myself with a $50 amex gift check from a friend which would just about cover the yarn and pattern from Threadbear. Dare I dive in? Or am I just getting a little too cocky because so many lovely people have complimented my Anouk. I'm so confused...

In the meantime here's a quiz! Can't deny I was a little surprised at the outcome on this one, but when I thought about there is truth to it. Thanks to Amy for the link:


Take the quiz: "Which American City Are You?"

Seattle
Your dark exterior masks a caffeine driven activism. You'll take up a cause and you'll get ugly to advance it.

Anouk is chugging along nicely. I seem to have done ok adjusting the pattern for the Microspun. It actually seems a bit big, I'm doing th sixth month size, but when it comes to babies that's what you want. I finished the first side and 1 pocket, I couldn't wait to try the duplicate stitch.

It's looking pretty good:



I finally got the hang of the duplicate stitch by the leaves (of course) it is easier than intarsia, particularly for a small thing like this.

I have mixed feelings about the way the pattern is written. Following it everything is coming out beautifully, but there have been times when I was really unclear as to where I was going. I think it just requires an intuitiveness that I am not used to. That being said I love the design and the ease with which it is working up. I also have to say it attracts a lot of attention when I am KIPing. People love the colors and the look of it. I can't wait to finish. The intended recipient, our former trade book manager, is coming to visit next week with her beautiful new daughter. I'm thrilled that I can give it to her in person.

On Saturday a few bloggers decided to meet up and enjoy each other's company. Who came? Well it was Sharon of Knitknacks, Ann of Purling Swine and Mindy of Gidget Casts On. We also shared the day with Sharon's friend Kathy, a novice knitter, and Linda the creator and former owner of Patternworks (which was the first yarn catalog I ever saw!).

We went to KnitNY a combination yarn store/coffee house:



And here are the ladies (you will have to go to their pages to find pictures of me), from left to right, Mindy, Sharon, Kathy, Linda and Ann:



I had a wonderful afternoon. I arrived a little later than I intended but what a fun time. I am not typically this comfortable in a group of "strangers" but I guess that's the point, thanks to blogging we weren't complete strangers. It does seem to make the world a smaller and warmer place to live in.

The group continued it's day with a visit to Downtown Yarns. I unfortunately had to leave because I wanted to catch my best friend Maribel when she got out of work. I haven't seen her since I got back from the Bahamas, since she went to Puerto Rico soon after and we had some catching up to do. I had been hoping she could join our get together but the timing wasn't right. I have also been to Downtown Yarns before and it leaves me feeling like most Manhattan yarn stores, except for Seaport. The selections are beautiful, but the prices make you fell more guilty than you should and therefore remove a great deal of the enjoyment from the purchase.

I had a great afternoon and I'm so glad Sharon got us all together. We should do it more often...

I finally finished the second bootie on Friday as planned. So I was able to cast on for Anouk Saturday morning. Just in time for my get together at KnitNY that afternoon.

Here is where I was by about 10 last night (right after Alias, how are we supposed to wait until January to find out what's in that file!):



The colors are gorgeous together. The picture really doesn't do them justice. It is knitting up beautifully. I really love the look of the Microspun. I am actually well into the bodice now and about an inch away from the neck shaping. I have to tell you I am enjoying this one so much that I don't even want to do any work today, I just want to site at my desk and knit...

How was my get together on Saturday? I had a blast! I'll tell you all about tomorrow, with some pictures...

Of Booties and Hubris

I said that the first bootie took all week. I started the second one Sunday night. I was really happy at how well it was going. I didn't need to refer to pattern, I had it memorized. It was knitting up much faster than before, I suppose because of my familiarity. I decided I was hasty in saying this couldn't be my favorite bootie pattern. If I could finish it in a day or two with no sewing, there was a lot to be said for that.

I was ready to move to the instep by Tuesday morning. That's the homestretch. I was feeling quite proud of myself. Pride goeth before the fall. I pulled out the pattern to confirm my next step and there it was, P 4 rounds K 4 rounds. I had been repeating for 3 rounds. I was very,very disappointed. I came up with a few plans to avoid frogging, but it wasn't worth it. I frogged back down to the first 3 rounds and fixed everything. It's a personal thing now between me and the bootie. I have to make sure it's perfect.

I hearby vow to always, always double check my pattern before working on a second bootie!

This came in the mail yesterday from Handknitting.com to cheer me up:



My yarn for Devan. I am very excited. I am going to finish the bootie of the damned tonight, so I can finally start Anouk. I want to bring that to my get together at Knit NY tomorrow with Sharon. Then after Anouk, I will go to work on Devan. Of course I need to get back to work on my Shapely Tank, but once I've actually started Anouk I will feel better about switching between. One for subway knitting and the other for evening TV knitting.

And finally we haven't had a quiz in quite awhile and I loved this one:


You're chocolate. You're the old soul type, people
feel that they have known you their entire
life. Many often open up to you for they view
you as thoughtful and trustworthy. Although
people trust you, you have a hard time trusting
them. You prefer to keep your feelings bottled
up inside, or display them very quietly. It is
alright to open up every once in a while.


Which kind of candy are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks to Steph for the link.

And by the way Bron had to move, Blogger wasn't being very neighborly, so here is her new home Bron's Blog II. Pay her a visit and bring food...

Check out this article about Knit NY:

A ball of yarn, two needles and a latte

I guess I am just not a small gauge kinda gal. The bootie took me all week. Most booties take me a day each at most. I finished the first one in the car on Sunday (more on where I was going in a minute).

Here is bootie number 1:



I like it, it's cute, but it is not in the running to be my favorite bootie pattern. Once I finish it I will try one of the ones recommended to me by Chari or Natalie, since I still have one more set to make.

I finished my first Critter Knitter blanket late last night. I may drop it off at the Knit Out at Central Park on Sunday. I'm just not sure I'll make it since that is the day we take the kids to visit my mother. It depends on how early we get to the hospital. If I don't get there I will hold on to the blanket awhile longer since I hope to make 2 more. This way I can send them all together.

Where was I going on Sunday? To buy this:



My digital camera wasn't able to charge anymore so I needed a new one. It's a breeze to hook up to the computer and upload the pictures from. I took the bootie picture with it late last night, it's a bit dark but pretty good. I have to play with it more to see what it can do.

My husband thought the urgency was quite funny, since he knew the only reason I was in such a rush to get a new one was because of the blog. What can I say...I couldn't blog without pictures now could I?

The new bootie pattern is going much better. I am using this pattern. I do find the dpns rather cumbersome on such a small item, but they are coming out very nicely. Hopefully I can get my digital camera working again this weekend and I can put up pictures. The picture of the mutant bootie is actually from my scanner. It came out pretty well though.

I am also more than halfway done on my Critter Knitter blanket. I haven't been working on it in the evenings as much as I would like (the booties have been for the subway). I think it will be done tonight. If I do finish, then I will work on the second bootie this weekend, since I hope to finish the first on the train home. Then and only then will I cast on for Anouk. I am hoping that all my math is solid. The yarn cries every time I pick up something else. I really have to dive in on this one. I am toying with making it a size bigger than I planned since that may help if I have figured too small. One of the great things about babies (of which there are many great things) is that they keep growing!

I also did some yarn shopping this morning. Handknitting.Com was having a sale on sock yarn. So I bought some of this in dark grey (#1029) and some of this in the Royal and Gray Denim (#9099). So when it arrives I can make this:



I think this is the cutest sweater and Ian will look so adorable in it! There is absolutely no mother bias in that statement at all, it's just a simple fact ;)

Oh well I have to get back to the Danish Wedding webcast. I love a prince who finds his princess in a bar! Definitely my kind of people....

Bets in Chicago posted this morning on the Knitlist that she had created a page with all the knitalong buttons she could find. Check it out it's pretty cool...

2004 Knitalongs

What the heck is that?



It's supposed to be a bootie. I can't quite figure in what universe though because obviously they have different laws of physics. It is from this pattern. Now obviously I have been undergoing a great deal of stress. These were in fact cast off when I was in the emergency room with my mother last night but I gotta tell ya, I don't get it. The pattern says to sew up the front and back of the bootie but I don't see where a foot would fit in it!

I have started a new bootie from a different pattern on dpns hopefully that will go better. I may make a second one of this pattern so maybe I can discover what went so horribly wrong. I have made a few booties before so I can't see that I screwed up that much. As far as I can tell I followed the pattern line by line exactly.

We'll see.

I want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts. My mother is currently in Calvary Hospital. They run a wonderful Hospice Program and everything is as good as it can be at the moment.

Not About Knitting!

It was an interesting Mother's Day. My mother, who was still working at the end of April, could no longer get out of bed as of yesterday. I gave her morphine and percocet (at separate times) and there was still too much pain. I of course had planned a small party (very informal due to her health). Her sister was coming, my cousin, two of her best friends and my family as well. So I bathed her, dressed her, changed the bed with her still in it and told her screw it we would have the party in her room. I set up chairs and everyone had a great time.

Today I needed to arrange for her to go into the hospital for hospice care. I know she isn't really ready emotionally or mentally but it's not safe for her at home. She lives alone. I am at least a half hour away. I can only come by twice a day. We have no other family and the home hospice care is only 4 hours a day. Enter the HMOs. I spoke to the nurse in charge of the hospice and she said she would try to get her approved. I then received a call from the nurse assigned to the case. She was calling me concerned (thinking I had not been there all weekend) because of her condition. When I explained what I had been doing she said that the head nurse had not been able to get through to the HMO and that her suggestion was to call 911 have them come take her and put her in the hospital. At that point it would force the issue because they aren't allowed to send her home to an unsafe environment. The hospice is right across the street from the hospital and she would be moved there.

So I agreed and then had to explain this to my mother. I think that was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but it is the best thing I am sure. So I am going to leave work soon, pick up some things at her house and meet her at the hospital.

Oh yeah I have my knitting!