Finished Blushing Violets!

These are GORGEOUS! Yummy! Super Yummy! The legs just flew on the 12" circulars. Definatly faster than ML'ing. I worked my own pattern again. It turned out beautiful. I'm still a touch undecided on which short row arrangement is better, but either way, I'm liking the results. I love these... they are packaged up and soon to be on their way to the recipient! One of Amy's lucky little girls gets to wear them. Amy makes fabulous diapers by the way. I can't wait to see what I get in trade! I love trades! So fun!

Blushing Violet Longies. Blue Faced Leister hand dyed by Brad at Wooly Wonders. Knit on Knit Picks Options #7's. Addi Turbo #8's for the legs. Same gauge throughout.


My sock class started yesterday. So far the only challenge has been to my eyesight. Fingering weight... ay yi yi. But I've only done the cuff. Simple knitting in the round there.

Ok, not feeling too chatty but had to share these yummy things. I can't wait to start E's pair!

Knitting ADD

I think I have knitting ADD. Pretty sure. Yep, got it. Let's see... six projects on the needles and a class starting on Saturday for a seventh. Yep, ADD. Defiantly.

The most miraculous thing is... they are all on different sized needles. No sharing issues!

Well, the latest two projects picked up were Miss N's fault. You see. I had planned on knitting Miss E a blanket. Well, try that on a 3YO Miss N and you have a touch of sibling rivalry. She was more excited than I when the postal lady knocked on our door... and there was YARN in the box. Much more excited than I. But was completely baffled as to why there was not yarn for HER in there.

SO... Here is the start of Miss E's Big Bad Baby Blanket. It's Swish Superwash Merino. I'm closing in on the end of the blanket edge. I wanted to get started so I could see if it was going to look the way I thought. It does. BUT... I don't think I ordered enough yarn to make it 6 "squares" instead of just 4. A little brain fart there. I'm going to knit to the end of these two balls and see where I'm at. Then hope and pray I get the same dyelot. A girl can hope right? It's happened before.


Then... I had ordered a ball of Shine Worsted to play with. Just to see if I liked it. Well... here it is... recognize that?

Yes, I'm afraid it's the start of "Miss N's blankie of many colors". I will be emailing you T for help. I'm having trouble counting bumps. I'm a dope. But, since I only ordered ONE ball. I'm stuck for a while. lol!

And just so you don't think I'm completely nuts... here are the blushing violet longies which I charged away on over the weekend. This is my first time with the 12" circ's. They're a bit interesting to get used to, but went MUCH faster than ML'ing. In fact I'd meant to do a 1-1/2 inch cuff, but I got carried away and knit too far with the body and didn't feel like ripping back. I may though. Not sure yet. I LOVE that there is only a touch of pooling right at the gusset stitches. I'd prefer none at all, but that tiny bit I can live with.



Illness has crept into my home again. Hub is downstairs in the basement bedroom quarantined. E has been crabby all week and I'm feeling a touch achy today myself. Ugh. I'm pumping in the vit C & Zinc lozenges and praying it'll all go away soon!

Hub Wants a Hat

Since our tempetures have been hovering between -10 and 10 degress F, hub said he needed a wool hat. I said, but you have a million hats. He said, yes, but none are wool. (Gasp! I can't believe that!) Hub has a hat fetish. Probably due to the shaved head. Hub is very particular about his hats. There is never a perfect hat. They all have issues. So, as much as I'd love to knit hub a hat... I fear rejection. However, since he requested it, I'll do it. In fact, I giddily ran to the stash and pulled out this yarn which I had boughten to make hub a hat. (I ignored Hub's snickers as I was gleefully pulling out the yarn.) Hub wanted to model his yarn and get a pic on the blog.

SO... I pulled out a couple patterns I'd seen and set aside thinking of good old Hub. He decided he wanted a Swell hat. Well that's swell you might say... but look at the needle size and the gauge?! What the... who knits THAT loose. Crazy. So anyway... doing some work on it. I might have it double stranded on 8's. Sheesh! Good thing hub wants a warm hat. Hub's yarn is 100 purewool merino. I can't remember the colorway right now. Maybe Glamour?

Oh, I started the first stripe on the FM bag. Thank goodness. I needed excitement. My needles are still missing for the BV Longies. I'm giving up and swatching tonight. I'll just ML them and wait until the needles arrive to enjoy the non-looping on another pair.

Ok, now that Hub has seen himself he's claiming that he didn't say to put him on the blog. Hub doesn't have a good memory. Don't believe him. He said it.

Happy Anniversary Hub!

My very thoughtful Hub came home with this gift for me today. It's our 5 year anniversary. The vase in the center is 5 tulips (my favorite flower) for 5 years, from him. The 3 is from our 3YO and 1 from our near 9MO old. Awww... oh, and yes, the vases are new. Very pretty. Very sweet. I'm a terrible wife... I've not gotten him a thing. The old chart says it's a "wood" gift anniversary. Hmm... What do you get a man for an anniversary anyways?! Besides... it's too cold to leave the house. Evidance of this...


ICE on the inside of the bedroom window. Yes, INSIDE. It's cold enough out there to freeze condensation on the inside of the window. When I showed Hub we quickly figured out that that was why there was an "extra" storm window in the basement. This one wasn't on. Should be warmer in the bedroom tonight... good thing too... -7 expected as the low. It went lower than expected last night so it may not stop there. I do need to venture out tomorrow. We need groceries. No more excuses about not taking the baby out in the cold... Hub's home tomorrow. I shall bundle up in all my newly knit outerwear and brave the cold temp's. Maybe I'll bring home a piece of wood for Hub.

Bags, Bags, Bags...

The problem with more than one knitting project is that it requires more than one knitting bag. That's why I better just crank out this French Market Bag. Then I have a second project bag. While working on it today I had a brilliant idea that a MDK Buttonhole Bag would be fantastic for holding sock knitting... So another project has hit the list. It's a long list. Longer than what I have posted really. What I've posted I mostly already have yarn for. Eee Gads!

Today I ordered yarn for Miss E's Big Bad Baby Blanket that is going GIRLY (pink and yellow) and BIG, as in 6 "squares" instead of the 4 in the pattern. I'm excited for something simple and rhythmic. Poor Miss E. Miss N being the first child and grandchild got many a handmade quilt. She's toasty warm in her bed. Miss E is now upright, so I can't use the sleepsac. SO... I went looking for warm blankies. Poor girl. Nary a handmade in sight. She's sleeping under plain old fleece blankets. Cute, but (gasp) unnatural. So I better use my skills to make her a warm cozy heirloom right? I'm making it bigger so it'll fit better as a toddler blanket. I ordered some Swish Superwash Wool from KnitPicks. That stuff is SO stinking soft! I can't wait to get started.

You're just trying to be like those people online

That is what my husband said last night when he saw a knitting project on each arm of the couch.

The bulky pinwheel is well underway now. Here are pictures of my progress yesterday. It moves really fast. Well, at least he beginning does. I'm using Licorice yarn from Joanns. (oh, its on sale again... not quite as good a deal... the blue would be gorgeous...) I thought it would be fun with this pattern. I got it when they had the introductory price... 50% off. Who could resist?! It's a "mystery wool" as the label only says it's 100% wool. But it's reasonably soft. Not quite merino soft, but really soft.

Here's the right side...


And the wrong side... now... ah...


Last night before I headed to bed I was thinking this would be neat wrong side out. I like how you can really see the slubs in the yarn. I should decide before the arms, but I'm thinking it wouldn't be hard to change plans at this point. It would require purling the sleeves... which is a bit of a bummer. But might be worth it. Any thoughts oh knitters of the internet?

My stitch markers wouldn't fit on the fat needles so I made some new ones. Cute eh?


Ok, off to feed the kids. Do they ever do anything besides sleep and eat?!

I've got the fever...

MDK fever that is. My book arrived today. Oh my... I got it for log cabin really. I've seen pictures of log cabins, dishrags, and even felted baskets. But why oh why did no one tell me about the RUGS?!

I am off to find double worsted P&C ASAP for some bath mats! I LOVE the Circle of Fun rug, but can't afford it's yarn. Ideas for substitutions? I NEED it by my bedside...

Oh... the rug possibilties! Our house has hardwoods everywhere and these rugs would all be so perfect! I love the rag rugs too, but not sure if I'm patient enough to make my own rag balls first. We'll see...

My head is swimming in MDK ideas this afternoon!

Artist Trading Cards

Switching hats now we turn to painting. I finished up 4 ATC's this weekend too. My parents wrestled with Miss N while Miss E took a snooze and I quickly finished these up.

They were fun. But sooo tiny. Especially Vase. It was really tiny. Fun fun! Let's Trade!

Sleeping with Wool

What to do when dh goes out of town overnight? Sleep with your wool! My dh usually goes to bed early and I sit up knitting and winding down from a crazy day. But he was out of town so I got the pleasure of taking my knitting to bed with me for a night. It was divine. However, cozy beds win out over "just one more row..." more easily when you are in them.

Windy City is now done! It was a super fast and easy knit. I finihsed it this weekend while spending hours sitting on the couch talking with my parents who were visiting. A perfect no brainer for socializing.


Such a cute set don't you think? Yum!

I also swatched for the Bulky Pinwheel. Of course I can't get the right gauge, but I think I'm close enough. I'm going with the smaller needle... I think once it's on it will stretch out a bit. Hoping that theory works for me... First sweater is about to be cast on! Yippeee!

Pretty Mitts and a stray Painting

Well, another day, too much coffee on an empty stomach and I go picture crazy again!

And... I finished my version of the "Mohair Mittens". Mine are Merino. This yarn made me want to pull my hair out. It was single ply and kept splitting... like CRAZY. I did my best and obviously did a better job on the second than the first. They look fine when on though. And unless you're inspecting them, you probably can't tell any difference. I also made the mitt part longer than she calls for. I wanted to be able to hold onto the steering wheel but not touch it with skin before it warms up. lol! It's heavy worsted and was knit on US2's and 3's. Double points no less. After Bubby and these, I think I've mastered the use of DPN's. Bring on the socks!

They look pretty wierd laying flat, but are super cute on.


And for the second ball... A version of the SnB Windy City Scarf. The pattern is single rib, but I'm doing it double to coordinate with the mitts. I started a cowl, but it was too stiff with this yarn. So this morning (my kids slept in!) I came up with this.


I was browsing blogs a few days ago and Joyce is hosting an Artist Trading Card swap. I've been so stuck in "Mommy World" for the past few years that I hadn't even heard of these before! But I think it's a great idea and so fun. So last night I went out to the "studio" and dug up some supplies. After doing that I decided that temporarily I'm going to set up downstairs in the ugly room. The garage studio will be very awesome some day, but right now it's unheated, unfinished and FREEZING for 9 months of the year. SO... I think until we get it really set up I'll set up in the ugly room where no one else wants to go anyway. That way I can avoid the mishap of this morning when Miss N came running out and started messing with what I'd started last night. Ack! Quickly recovered and moved work to my bed until naptime when I can go back out and dig around until I find my glue. I cut teeny tiny pieces and forgot the glue. And a 3YO went running for it... yeah, scary moments!

Anyhow, while out there digging around I found this piece. For some reason it's never seen the light of day. So I framed it up and took a pic. I really do like it. It was done about 6 years ago - I know this because it has my maiden name on it. Anyway, just wanted to share it. It's now sitting on the mantle with all the other artwork yet to be hung in the new house. I just can't seem to get anything on the walls.


Well, I need to get going... scarf to knit... ATC's to finish and of course, dishes to do and children to care for.