I found the basement floor and the vacuum at the same time.  The result?  A Block(ing) Party!

Here's the Beginner's Triangle Shawl from A Gathering of Lace, knit with Primero from Brooks Farm Fiber:

And a close-up of the stitch pattern:

The color is actually a little more blue-violet, but still fairly red-violet.  It got a little blotchy right in the center (the shawl was knit from side to side, so the center is what will hang down the middle of my back) -- can you see in that top photo how the colors separated for a couple of inches? 

I used my blocking wires and pinned it as evenly as I could to the carpet, after giving it a Eucalan bath.

Not the most beautiful thing ever, but it's soft and mohairy and will be a good, warm, basic shawl.  And, it's purple!  Can't go wrong with purple.

Sister Number Two asked me to knit this shawl for her a number of years ago.  She reads my blog from time to time, but maybe she'll still be surprised when this arrives on her doorstep:

It's the Maidenhair Shawl from Aran Knitting by Alice Starmore, knit with Jamieson's Soft Shetland in a pale, misty, blue-gray.

Here's a close-up of all the texture:

I just laid the damp shawl flat, which was all it needed.  It's a gorgeous piece of fabric.  Would I make it again?  Yeah, but not anytime soon.  That's a LOT of knitting.  There is a cardigan version . . . there's a thought.

I'll get some action shots of the shawls when I can, so you can get a better idea of their size.

I finished the Intarsia part of the "full-figure Santa" stocking, and have started on the "Santa in the chimney" one: 

This one needs some alterations, because the chart is significantly smaller than the others I've knit for this same customer.  I added a little stuff at the top (to match last year's stockings), more red to each side, and will add a couple more rows of bricks to the chimney.

**********

HEAR YE!  HEAR YE!

Have you heard the news?  Kristi is having triplets -- all boys -- and they're going to be cold, Cold, COLD when they arrive.  The weather here in Michigan is why people migrate to Florida during the winter months (we call them "snowbirds").  Those babies will need to be covered in handknits!

ANYWAY, there's a virtual baby shower going on!  Have you got some yarn?  Have you got some needles?  Know how to knit?  Of course you do!  Then get on over to Red Dog Triplets, aka the Dutchicans, and join the fun.  There'll be prizes!  And refreshments!  Okay, you'll have to provide the refreshments yourselves, but there will definitely be prizes.  Silly party games optional.

I couldn't wait -- I've already been knitting for the triplets.  See?  (Are we allowed to show our gifts in advance?  I couldn't wait any longer!)

A dozen Mason-Dixon Burp Cloths, ready to be drenched in spit-up and drool and mashed peas!  Yes, there are a dozen.  Yes, there are three of each color.  No, Kristi isn't going to dress her boys alike (yes, I knew that, but no, I can't follow directions).  Yes, these were quick and easy to knit!

I'm new to Blogger (this here handknitter blog is homegrown), but I'll try to figure out how to get this photo over to the baby blog soon.

What are YOU going to knit for Kristi's boys?

Sarah

Friday, September 22, 2006

I just found angora in my eyebrows.

I found it in my tea this morning, and it's been all over my clothes, up my nose and in my lungs for a couple of days (the perils of having to breathe through your mouth due to a stuffed up nose).

But look!

Santa's almost done!

And I've starting writing some patterns (sorry -- were you sitting down?), with no help from Mica, who has been camping out on my samples:

It's easier to tote her around since she moved into my knitting bag.

I decided to give some thought to the Mystery Blanket this morning (while trying to blow the angora out of my nose), and came to the conclusion that I'd done a not-good-enough job of weaving the tails in at the centers of the little green squares.  I'm sure now that they hadn't been secured well enough, and that they worked themselves out in the washing machine.

Regardless, I've moved on.

I spent a few hours cutting these:

And then spent a few hours putting together these:

And then I bought a whole bunch of this:

And pretty soon we'll have some blankets for a shivering baby and his big brother.

I hope to sleep in a reclining position tonight, as opposed to propped up with bunches of pillows, which is how I've spent the last few nights.  Did I mention that my nose has been stuffed up?  Last night was better, breathing-wise, except for the part where I woke up at 2:30 in the morning, lying on my stomach in a pool of snot.  That wasn't particularly elegant.

Sarah

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Well, we can officially call the Mystery Blanket "finished".

And I do mean FINISHED. 

I put the completely perfect blanket knit from 100% washable wool into the washing machine, and it came out looking like this (except it was in a big wad wrapped with a strand of green yarn):

The garbage truck took it away this morning.  It's a perfect ending for the pitiful thing, really.  Also a perfect example of how my mental state has been lately -- get the loose ends under control, everything appears fine for a moment or two, and then it completely falls apart.  Rinse and repeat.

So now I'm on to the Christmas stockings:

And a tiny lacy girly dress (complete with shadow of cat's head, and a skein of Koigu for scale), knit with Elsebeth Lavold's Hempathy yarn (wonderful drape!) from a soon-to-be-released design by Beth Walker-O'Brien:

And the Landscape Shawl (from Fiber Trends) knit with Twilley's Denim Freedom from Herrschners, which will fade to a medium blue jean blue when washed.  Apparently their customer service never got my e-mail (what is WRONG with my e-mail system?), so I just have the eight balls of yarn I originally ordered, in the color I originally ordered.  Cross your indigo-dyed fingers that it's enough! 

Look who I got to snuggle with yesterday:

It's Mesha, my mother-in-law's new poodle puppy (does that make her my puppy-in-law?), who is the exact color of a Hershey's chocolate bar.  Yummy!

Sarah

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Why doesn't anyone correct me when I get the date wrong?  I had "Sunday, September 4, 2006" on the last entry until just a minute ago.  If today's the 5th, then wasn't Sunday the 3rd?  Isn't anyone paying attention?  Aren't I proofreading my own work?  Did I actually post on Monday?

I have pictures for you today!  Of knitting!  And pets!  And children!  Hooray!!!

But first, a request.  There's a particular blog that I am unable to access from either the family desktop computer or my laptop.  If someone out there is savvy enough to know how to figure it out, would you please e-mail me the IP address for Cara's blog (http://www.januaryone.com)?  Husband Number One thinks that might help him figure out what the problem is.  We're stumped.  Thank you!  My e-mail address is over there on the left somewhere.

And now, photos:

This first one cracks me up. 

Why?

Not because these socks have a twinge of pink to them (I'm not usually a pink kind of gal), and not because they're kind of lacy (instead of my usual, um, not lacy), and not because they're ankle socks (instead of my usual 7 inches above the heel height), and not because I was bent over almost upside down to take the picture (and almost completely breathless -- I'm SO out of shape). 

WHY does it crack me up? 

Because Jen wrote a blog entry last night about figuring out how to work the exact same border that I had already put at the top of THESE socks, because it's my favorite sock top ever:  a stockinette border with a turning row of eyelets followed by more stockinette stitch, with the final, live stitches grafted to the inside of the sock.  These photos were already in my camera when I read her post, and I couldn't stop laughing.  Weird coincidence, eh?  No wonder we hit it off in our class at Stitches!  You can see the same sock top on the Bearfoot Socks I knit in 2004 and 2005.

The stitch pattern is taken from the Purl Ridge Socks from Socks, Socks, Socks, but worked from the toe up.  The yarn is Cushy ColorSport from LynnH.  Cushy!  Colorful!

I wound a ball of yarn so big my thumb went numb (I haven't used my swift and ball winder in years) and cast on for a simple garter stitch scarf.  Ribbing didn't show up, and I'm afraid this cotton chenille is going to worm, which I'll call a "design feature" if I have to, so we're using garter stitch and calling it good. 

The fabric is soft and drape-y, which you can't tell from this photo because I hadn't actually done any knitting yet -- I had to wait until the feeling came back to my thumb.

The yarn is hand dyed Cottonwood II from Neota Yarns in Estes Park, Colorado.  At least, I think that's the right information.  I've already misplaced the label, so I'm relying on my incredibly faulty memory.  Regardless, it was a thoughtful gift from Sister Number One.  In the hank, the yarn appeared very gold.  While winding it last night, I noticed a lot of blue.  This morning, the purple took over. 

I also finished the back to a lacy pink dress (tiny toddler sized), but forgot to photograph it.  I owe you one.

AND I wound another huge ball of yarn -- 1400 yards of Interlacements Rick Rack, for my Which Way Do We Go Shawl.  Except there was a knot in the yarn, so I ended up with two huge balls (shut up!).

Here's Keiko trying to annoy Mica so she'll leave the sunny spot . . .

. . . which she did.

And finally:

One small step for Son Number Two, one giant leap for Mom!

(oh, and for those of you keeping track . . . happy estrogen pills are back on the schedule.  Yippee!)

Sarah

Sunday, September 3, 2006

Husband Number One and I take the Labor Day weekend seriously.  Well, I take the Labor Day weekend seriously, anyway.  This year I told my husband that if he and the boys would clean out the garage, I would clear the dining room table of all the paperwork that belonged to me (note the disclaimer, since as much as a quarter of the paperwork on the dining room table does NOT belong to me, and I am currently on strike against cleaning up any messes that I myself did not make).  Only my cleaning people know how much paperwork that really is, since they're the only humans on this earth who have ever seen all of it at the same time (outside of the residents of this house, that is).  Most of it is usually hidden under furniture or behind closed doors when anyone else is in the house.

Anyway.  We have one day to go, at the end of which the Somethingth Annual Fantasy Football Draft Party will be held around the aforementioned dining room table.

The garage is spotless. 

The dining room table is slightly more than a quarter full of papers. 

I have dealt with a huge shopping bag full of postcards and a huge shopping bag full of greeting cards from the last I-don't-know-how-many-years of our lives, all of which are now filed neatly in four individualized boxes which I will send off with people as (or if) they move out of my house, to do with as they please.  I have dealt with my children's school papers from the past year, with the added benefit of moving the laundry baskets that hold these and all of their previous files of school papers off of the floor of the basement (my ultimate goal is to allow the basement to flood with a foot of water before anything of value is harmed).  I have double-sided-taped all of the recipes that previously resided sloppily and unlooked-at in file folders onto card stock and into color coded notebooks labeled "MEAT" (beef, pork, chicken, seafood -- red), "SWEETS" (cakes, pies, cookies, snacks -- pink), "LIQUIDS" (beverages, soups, stews, dips, sauces -- light blue), "STARCH" (pasta, potatoes, rice -- black), "OTHER" (appetizers, mexican, pizza, eggs, breakfast -- dark blue), and I don't know what to call the last one -- I'm tentatively calling it "THINGS THAT GROW OUT OF THE GROUND"(fruit, veggies, beans, salads -- green), but I'd like to get that down to one word -- any suggestions?

I have yet to deal with a pile of foreign money that the kids need to sort amongst themselves, two file folders currently labeled "INGREDIENTS" (spices, etc.) and "TECHNIQUES" (how to sharpen knives, etc.) that will go into another notebook near the recipes, a bunch of magazine articles dealing with life skills such as how and when to tip, how much water to drink, gift ideas, etc., and piles of letters and cards from me that my mom saved since forever but returned to me within the past year.  And her knitting bag, which I still can't bring myself to sort through yet (she's alive!  I shouldn't have this yet!), and some samples from my dad's career as a geologist (he's alive!  I shouldn't have these yet!).  And the quarter of the table that's not my mess.  Which, as I said before, is not my problem.

If I run out of time before the draft party, I'll hide everything in the bedroom.  With the laundry basket full of every photo taken or sent to us within the last eighteen years, which will be absolutely the LAST pile I sort through.

I still have piles in the basement, but I've figured out how to handle some of them, finally.  My extensive stamp collection (oh, the HOURS and HOURS spent on that in my childhood) will be culled and framed between glass panes at various spots throughout the house.  Our various rock collections will be showcased on our fireplace mantel in low-lying glass display boxes, if I can find any more than the two I already have (anyone have any ideas for sources?).

No photos for you today, but I do have some links.  I've met a bunch of people this summer, and have added a bunch of new blogs to my "Knitting bloggers I've met" list over there in the right-hand sidebar.  Please check them out!  I hope I haven't missed anyone -- please don't hesitate to speak up if I've missed you.  Some names are old, some are new.  Some are bloggers, some have websites.

Eunice has started coming to our Tuesday night knit-ins.

Kim from The Yarn Garden (one of my teaching locations) has started a blog. 

I met Susie, Kathy, Laura, Laurie, Sharon and Lynne at ThreadBear this summer.

I met Trish, Kelli and Stephanie (obviously) at The Yarn Harlot's tour stop in Ann Arbor.

I saw Beth, Deb, Terri, Linda, Janine and Nilda at Knitting Camp.

I met Gwen, Beth, Kristi, Jen, Rebecca, Franklin and Chris (who I already knew but I can't leave her out!) at Stitches Midwest.

Phew!  Is that everybody?  Please add your name if I've neglected you!

Oh -- and I spent quite a few hours tonight getting caught up on my e-mail.  I think I've answered everyone, but I've been having a lot of trouble with the reliability of my e-mail program.  PLEASE don't hesitate to shoot me another e-mail if you haven't seen an answer from me, and I'll re-send my answer.  I've given up on answering past blog comments, but I appreciate all of the new voices I've heard from, and I'll try to do better at acknowledging them in the future.  Please don't stop commenting!!

Egad -- it's quarter after one already!  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Sarah

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