Feral Knitting

I had a Martha moment yesterday. I was despairing over half finished projects and balls of yarn that mock me from my stash, when I noticed my failed Revontuli shawl I started last winter. I was trying to use up my Kauni. Don’t get me wrong, I like  Kauni, but I bought it at a fiber fest years ago and it was, for some reason, the colour that came home with me (I think I had the choice between that and the rainbow colour.  I don’t mind rainbow yarn, but there is something sacrilegious about such a rustic yarn being so incredibly loud. One or the other… not both!) and this colour was just not working for me. It looked like the scratchy pillows on  basement couches in the eighties. You know, when you were a kid visiting a friend and the parents sent you down to play in the basement and there’d be a forgotten shuffle board and a pop fridge and a chest freezer and naked armless dolls with  hacked up hairdos… somewhere in that tableau is a threadbare couch with pillows this exact same colour (and, oddly enough, the same smell!).  Oh! let’s not forget the vans! I came from the Land of the Large Family, in which every family had a van. This was pre minivan days, when vans were often windowless and vaguely terrifying.  Except, of course, for the vans with the table and bench set up and a ladder on the outside, making it easy and fun to climb to the top of the van and sit on the roof. No, we didn’t have a van, but I’ve spent a lot of my childhood in other people’s vans. Um, where was a I going with this? Oh, yes, for some reason the colour of the Kauni also reminded me of Other People’s Creepy Vans.

Anyway, I found the shawl back and made a bit of a face, wondering if I should frog it and try yet another project with the Kauni, when I realized that hey, that’s just about the size of my sofa table! I cast off, Soaked and blocked, and wouldn’t you know, it fit perfectly. I already have a table runner that I wove last year on my matching dining table. Matchy matchy and home made! How Martha of me. Pictures:

Honestly, there’s always a bit of relief when I finish up yarn that’s been in the stash for a long time.  I’m making a valiant effort to minimize the stash before we move.

Hmm… what else? Oh yes. Today I managed to get my act together and finally find some buttons for the Silver Cardigan. I knew this would be difficult, as the colour is quite busy and bright. My go to buttons are usually wooden, but the wood was lost against the bright oranges and yellows. I think the ones I found work very nicely. Here she is all finished and blocked and modeled by my always accommodating model.  Note the hammer in his hand, which is there to remind me that yes, he may be wearing  a girls sweater, but he has maintained his ability to make loud banging noises on any available surface.

I also made a pair of fingerless mitts with some Handmaiden cashmere seconds which had also been mocking me in my stash for a very long time. I made them for a family member who has some circulation issues, and who also adores (or, pretends agressively to adore, thus thoroughly tricking me and making me happy to knit for her) everything I make for her. I intended to buy her a few nice, girly things for her birthday, but that side of the family is notoriously allergic, and I really could see myself getting her something nice smelling and then watching her sneeze all over it, or have to double bag it before throwing it out. Why am I saying this? My best friend and I exchange girly treats for birthdays and Christmas these days… nice smelling soaps or bath things, and I was given some lovely soap for my birthday, which sent my husband into paroxysms of sneezing. Oh, and I had given her something similar a month earlier, and my husband double Ziplock bagged it, because as it sat in our living room a few days before I gave it to my friend, the fragrence again sent him sneezing. So, long story short, I ended up with about half a day to either buy her something and risk the sneeze, or come up with something lovely and quick. And I did just that! Cafe Au Lait mittens, (free pattern on Rav) and I finished them in about six hours. Six hours of panicked madness, mind you, but six hours nonetheless. She was thrilled! (or, at least faked it well enough for me to continue to happily continue to knit for her. We knitters are sensitive, aren’t we?)

Anyway. Here they are.

Have I mentioned how much I love cashmere? Lightweight, super warm, and soft soft soft. What a treat!

Yep. It’s hot out. Hotty hot mc Hotterson. And I’m not a fan of heat. Especially humid heat. Ick ick ick.

Okay, enough. I won’t complain, as it will just make me feel even warmer. I find that if I move slowly at everything I do, I feel just a touch less icky. I plod up and down the stairs, I carefully and deliberately put dishes away, I slowly fold the laundry and put it away (I know, captivating life, eh?) If I do anything at my normal pace, the Damp returns, and I feel like a human corn dog, overheated and surrounded by a thick atmosphere of nasty. Oh, and my hair. My husband always claims that having long hair is soooo wonderful, because it keeps you warm. I invited him to put his fingers in my hair the other day, and he agreed that yes, my head has it’s own atmosphere. Ewww!

Okay, I said I wouldn’t complain.

Garden: beans are growing fervently, cukes coming in with a vengeance. Strawberries! We’ve had two major crops so far, and bits and pieces in between (tonight we’re having cake and strawberries for dessert. Yum! I made the cake today, and though the texture was terribly off, the flavour is still there, so everyone is game to eat it.)

Speaking of baking, I’m not much of a baker but have been stepping up my game lately. I figured it was something little Mr. would get a kick out of. And does he ever! Just today, when my back was turned, he took a big spoonful of flour and baking powder, put it in his mouth, and as I turned around, gave me the biggest, goofiest grin. I told him to wait, that it really didn’t taste like much yet. What he really wants to be doing is this:

Yum! I think that was bread dough, so I’m not sure how delicious it was, but he was really, really into it.

What else? Ah, knitting, of course. I finished this for a new little one in the extended family. I used Melissa’s Cashmerino Sock  and the pattern is Autumn Leaves, from What to Knit When You are Expecting. Here’s a close up of the yoke:

I finished this one this afternoon. It still needs to block properly, and I need buttons and to do a bit more finishing. Oh, and I lacked a proper little girl model, so I used what I had available. (mwuh hahaha!) The yarn is Fleece Artist Trail Socks in Fire Opal. I don’t know what drew me to that colour, but it sure did call my name. I’m very happy with this little sweater, the colour, and ha! the funny picture of my little model. I’ll post to Rav later when it looks a little more presentable.

What else? I’m working on a larger quilt. I finished piecing it on the weekend, and now need to do the less interesting bits to get it done. I also found some killer fabric for another quilt for the little Mr. It’s brown, teal and orange and covered in cars and trains and planes. Have I mentioned that he’s obsessed with cars? In his world, all birds say “caw!” but cars, oh! cars have a multi versed language of thier own. Brrrrrummsss and brrooooms gears changing… we did not teach him this!

Anyway. Not much else to report. Nothing worth repeating, anyway. Off to go find some more baby things to knit. Oh, wait. Here’s one last picture. No, I’m not completely obsessed with my kid. Honest. He’s just really photogenic! How could I not share?

So today we spent some time in the forgotten places of our home doing a bit of clean up. We have a small shed in our carport which I suspect was used as a dog run at some point. It has a largish open hole on one side, near the door, and a big window… a few shelves built up on the sides and is about two meters away from where the side door to the house used to be.

Let me tell you about our house. We bought it four years ago, after searching desperately (because of horrible shared-wall experiences. Don’t get me started. Seriously.)  for a decent house in a decent neighborhood. I did homework… a lot of homework. I constantly checked MLS, I checked neighbourhoods, we looked at property taxes and neighbourhood values…  and we had ruled out this area.

This was sad for me. I grew up across the highway from here (in an equally nice neighbourhood, but not as rural) and had friends who lived here. I walked the roads, played the playgrounds, went to the fairs, had deep long talks about life, found tiny whiskey bottles under shrubs in the park, (empty, of course) made clay bowls out of mud and hid them under shrubs to dry, attended one of the few high school parties our class had (we were mostly girls, and really not all that controversial).  I rode the school  bus through here every day from when I was six until I was sixteen. Ultimately it had trees and horses and gardens sometimes unkempt, which I love(d) . But apparently we couldn’t afford it.

But then, one day, while I was tutoring a dear student of mine, Husband found a house we could afford in that area. It was smaller than we wanted, needed some work, but the property! Gorgeous! Trees, gardens, flowers, and the house was red! My favourite colour. Framed in black (my second favourite.) We called up the realator and hesitantly got a walkthrough

No, I’m not nutsy. That’s what has been happening around here lately. I have passed through this neighbourhood every day since I was six, and after that more as I had friends here. And I love it. I love the big properties and the not-so-big houses. I love the sweet peas growing in the ditches, I love the horses in the yards leaning over the fences when they see anyone who might give them a bite of ‘other side of the fence’ grass.  I love the shade and the weathered cedar. I really don’t have the words (in this forum, I suppose) to express how much this place means to me. I love this neighbourhood so much more than the one I grew up in. And I really did a lot of fun/cool stuff there. It was just that this neighbourhood had a connection with me.

We got the house.

aaaaahhh!

Then,I suppose , the you-know-what hit the you-know-what. Lots of nasty stuff happened that first year that I’d rather not discuss (at least, not now.)

We had this house completely gutted. Nosy neighbors showed up to find out what these crazy new people were doing. Our contractor had no sense of budget and charged us 80 percent more than initially quoted. We both learned many lessons.

Anyway. Next year, early, this darling house is going up for sale. I love, love love love this house, but with small child(ren) and an apparently professional business being operated… yeah, no, 1500 square feet, terribly divided, is not going to cut it.

anyway. More later. I do have pictures and knitting updates, but sadly not many blocks of spare time. Carry on.!

I keep feeling like I get nothing done, but this really isn’t true. I get things done, just not anything I can concentrate for more than a few minutes on. It only feels like I have no time… I have time,  just tiny bits of it scattered throughout the day. And of course, there are the evenings, but motivation is pretty low at the end of the day.

And who keeps me the most busy? Here’s what he’s been up to.

Visiting Grandma…

running the Starship Enterprise….

stepping on my knitting projects…

and eating…. a lot of eating…

He’s talking too, in his own way most of the time, and is very curious.  He loves cars. Our favourite activity is to walk to the top of the street and point at all the passing cars, while waving and whispering “Cah!” (he whispers this, not me. ) He also likes to inspect other people’s cars, and has indicated on more than one occasion that he’d rather not sit in his carseat, but would prefer to sit in the front with mom. He also has a thing for lawnmowers and hammers. This is not very handy right now, as he tends to hammer on things that really shouldn’t be hammered, and uses things that really aren’t hammers, but I hope that in time, he will be a good little yard slave I mean,  a help around the house.  Now I need to have a daughter so she can do the dishes… no, I mean, to um, help me out from time to time.  I just wish his curiosity didn’t nearly get him hurt as many times as it nearly has. My sewing machine is particularly alluring to him. (As I write this, he has opened the closet, removed the sewing machine cover, and is attempting to offer it to the cat. She is not impressed.) He loooooves to poke at the needle, which is now constantly in the down position.

Ah, sewing, you ask? Yes, I’ve been sewing. Last year my mother in law got me a book on sewing skirts and I have been sewing them ever since. My favourite is the first one I made. It has a wonky hem, but if I lean a certain way nobody can notice. And it’s not like a I leave the house that often. I decided to try my hand at quilting. I bought two charm packs and a few other bits and pieces, and went on my way.

Here’ s my first quilt:

I really should have used a different setting on my camera, as I really don’t live in a home infused with a golden glow. This is a simple tie quilt, inspired by the tie quilt my husband’s grandmother made for him many, many years ago. This was taken before it was washed, of course, so now the ties have been trimmed and felted. Its home is on C’s bed. I’m going to make one for our bed soon, but expect it will take a long time as I have to cut everything myself, and I really don’t trust my own accuracy.

Now how about a craft I’m actually somewhat decent at?

I bought Evelyn Clark’s book on triangle shawls and started playing with it. I had some Sybil moments, mind you, as apparently I have the patience of  a flea, but have had some success. I mostly bought the book as I see  it’s value, I know I have the interest, and I trust that at some time in my life, I will be able to count several times to seven without loosing track and freaking out.

Here’s an itty bitty I made out of Rowan Felted Tweed. I love the Felted Tweed for lace, by the way. It’s rustic and warm and adds a certain masculinity and practicality to an otherwise very feminine and usually soft art.

I also managed to finally complete a Baby Surprise jacket. I know that I had the skills, it was just an issue of impatience. I had a skein of Tough Love sock from Sweet Georgia that I picked up at Fibers West in a beautiful tone on tone orange. I knew it wasn’t going on my feet, and I considered making a shawl, but I couldn’t decide on a pattern, and so decided to try the jacket. It’s not for anyone in particular, but babies to keep appearing, so I trust I will have a recipient in time. And I figure the orange was multi-gendered, so all I need to do is select appropriate buttons when I know who it’s for.

Hmmm… what else? Well, I’ve frogged about twenty projects, but let’s not discuss those. I just finished a pair of socks in Silky Wool. I am wearing them now and they are ridiculously warm. I don’t really intend to wear them out of the house but mmmm… they are so perfect for cold days. I also made a shawl out of some Peter Rabbit I have had in my stash for a while. I considered making a regular scarf, but then considered the west coast winters of constant wet, and how horrid it would be to have droplets of water (or just flat our rain!) on my soft, soft bunny yarn, so decided to make a shallow, long triangle-ish shawl that I can wrap around my neck to cut out the cold wind. Let’s just hope there’s some cold wind next winter so I can properly enjoy it. I also made a Multnomah from some Malabrigo sock. Nice pattern, quick and easy. I’ll probably make another with my Malabrigo sock stash… mmm….. malabrigo sock….

Anyway. Tired and cranky and unwilling to fix my formatting mistakes, after Mr. Baby shut my computer down three times during this and this post nearly sent me to the asylum. He’s sleeping now, and I’m going to go enjoy the few minutes of non chaos I get….

I’m not sure how it got to be February already. Oh, wait, yes, I do know. We spent most of last month battling an epic cold. Oh, and then there was the tailbone incident, which apparently wasn’t even funny to watch. Seven weeks later and it still hurts at a certain angle. Yikes. I do wish that I could have watched it, though. I think I would have had a good laugh at my own expense.

We spent some time on the Island over Christmas. This was a bit challenging with non walking child and a very eager and nervous dog, but it was nice to get a change of scenery. But wow, traveling with a baby is ridiculous. The car was stuffed, just stuffed, and I think one bag of it was not his. Strollers, high chair, food, diapers… oh, and of course, something to amuse him with when he invariably becomes restless in his car seat. Over all, though, everything went quite smoothly. And the weather was lovely; I think it was eight degrees on Christmas day, and brilliantly sunny.

Anyway, I actually have finished some knitting.

Exhibit a: Mud Season, modified with a longer sleeve. Easy pattern, kind of what I’ve made before, but relatively quick and easy. The yarn is Scotian Silk, and it has been languishing in my stash for over a year. I had some other Scotian Silk in an unfortunate colour, and told myself I needed to knit that up before rewarding myself with the nicer one. I think I ended up frogging about four projects with that awful colour, and finally ended up crocheting a lap blanket (no, I won’t show you. It’s ugly.) and thus could finally work with the nicer colour. It is lovely yarn, but has pilled quite a bit upon first wearing. This might level out, though. And is it ever warm! Anyway, I am just glad to finally get a garment done. It feels like forever since I have successfully knit a garment. I used some of the leftovers for a pair of Fetchings for Melissa, but neglected to photograph those. No matter, everyone has seen about a billion Fetchings, and it was probably time I knit up a pair. (btw, wasn’t keen on the peasant thumb, but that’s a whole other discussion that nobody is probably interested in.)

Moving on. Exhibit b:

This is a fairly large blanket crocheted out of Cascade Ecological Wool. It’s not blocked or washed, and won’t be until the weather gets nicer, as I have no appropriate space to dry it. I have turned to crochet lately as it is easy to put down, and can’t be catastrophically destroyed as easily as knitting. Because yes, I have a little monster in my life who literally creates chaos where ever he goes.  Lovely child, but very busy. Anyway, it’s big and warm and I like the colours, even though I ran out of some of the brown, which is painfully obvious on the last row.

Exhibit c:

I’m taking a bit of a risk here, as it is Judy’s birthday very soon and I haven’t given this to her, but I am going to suspect that she isn’t waiting with bated breath for me to update my blog, and might not notice this until after her birthday. If you don’t, Surprise! You’ll see it for real very soon.  I didn’t add the more detailed photo, but it’s a scarf, crocheted (yep, quick, keepin’ it real) with two colours of Malabrigo Silky Merino and one of Manos Silk Blend. I hope she likes it. My favourite part is the fringe, with is long and colour blocked the same way. I’m a bit worried about the colour. For some reason I was compelled to knit in purple. I don’t know why, and I really hope that she finds it agreeable.

Alright, one more. This one I’m on a strict timeline for, as my opportunity to deliver this comes on Sunday. Which reminds me, I need to do a lot of knitting tonight. Hopefully I can stay awake.

Exhibit d:

The pattern is on Ravelry, it’s called the Garter Yoke Baby Cardi (not Cardigan, type that in and you get some other ickier sweater) and it’s so cute! The baby is a girl, so I went whole hog on the red and pink. I have some adorable bunny buttons to finish it off. I really need to finish it, though.

I am also working on a Damson using some Malabrigo sock I bought a few weeks ago. I was quite certain I already had some Malabrigo sock, and overturned the stash looking for it, then spent a lot of time standing on chairs and peeking into top shelves and crawling around on the floor looking under beds and large chairs, searching through purses and checking pockets, but the Malabrigo Sock in Tiziano red was nowhere to be seen. So I got a skein in a colour called Rayon Vert. I don’t know what that means. In my head I have translated it to green raisin, but I’m probably way off. On the skein it’s not too impressive, kind of dark purplish… but knit up… Glee! So gorgeous! Little peeks of green and a delicate wash of purple… I am completely enamoured. And then, when won over, I found the prodigal skein! It was hiding under the couch with an embarassing amount of dog fur and a noisy toy that somehow got “lost” there. I did many happy dances. Now I can make two Damsons! But of course, finish the baby sweater, and Sue’s present first. Priorities!

Here’s one more shot from our trip.

Happy knitting, everyone!

Yes, I’m well aware that I have been horribly negligent. But ha, I don’t really care. I have a million excuses and all of them are valid. Most of them have to do with a small human being who completely and utterly dominates my life. The other has to do with technology, and that’s a whole other complicated story. But never mind that.

What have we been up to?

Knitting, yeah, not so much. I have realized that the only thing I can knit and hope to get finished is socks. This coming from someone who didn’t have the patience to finish socks, and really never quite got the use of making them. But now I have realized that socks are the only thing I can knit that doesn’t require a pattern (because Somebody has the tendency of ripping paper into small pieces, and messing with computer screens, thus making it impossible for me to use a pattern). They are practical, quick and fast. Wait, quick and fast are the same thing, aren’t they? Yep, brain is full of holes. Blame a year of minimal sleep. Anyway, yes, I have completed about three pair, and have about seven ready to go. Yay! Sometimes it’s just about the finishing. Actually completing something from start to finish is a rare luxury.

Oh, here’s a sock. As proof:

Cascade Heritage Paints. Nice yarn (not really my type, but I really did enjoy it) in a very satisfying red. My prototype pattern free sock is a Provisional-Cast-On-Short-Row-Toe-Short-Row-Heel in plain ol’ Stockinette. I am making one now with an eyelet rib thing going on, but am already thinking that it is far to fancy pants for where I am in my life right now.   And, notice, btw, that there are two socks in that picture. No more Second Sock Syndrome for me! (it has been replaced with Desperate to Get Anything Anything Done Syndrome). I am being a bit dramatic, I guess.

Anyway. What else? Christmas is fast approaching. I have done no shopping so far. Apparently I am going to get it all done on Monday. Ha! I shall spend some time getting my apologies in order. Let’s just face it, my lack of organization, coupled with lack of proper sleep, has melded into the perfect storm, Christmas-style. I’ll figure it out. I always do.

So sometime two weeks ago we decided to do some more cleaning. We’d offered our wood to a number of people who were in turn eager, and yet non-committal about it. So instead, we had lit a bonfire that lasted about two weeks. There were days when we both smelled pretty rank, I’ll admit, while keeping that fire up. I did enjoy working on a sock on weekend morning in a lawn chair by the fire, toasty and warm, while snow fell down around me. Here’ s the little Mr. enjoying the fire with his dad:

See, told you, big fires.

Hmm… what else. Well, normal fall stuff. Leaves, rain, cold, more rain. The bird feeders have been a big success. We have a constant stream of customers feeding right by our windows, much to everyone’s delight. Baby points and whispers “brrrds… brrds…” , and Daisy and Pol put their continuous inter species battle on hold to bond over Pet TV. If there is one thing they can agree on it is that birdwatching is good fun.

What else? Well, of course Little Mr. had his first birthday. I won’t get smushy and poetic and gushy. Let’s just say that he finally started sleeping for 12 hours straight this week and it has done wonders for our overall sanity. A few days of sleeping until 7 is all I really wanted for Christmas.

He’s hilarious, and curious and makes a lot of trouble. He climbs where he should be climbing, puts his hands in places they shouldn’t go (can anyone say electrical baseboard heater? or toilet? or anywhere near the dog?)  and still laughs like a maniacal goat. I was sure to dress him in his bear suit for his birthday and took many pictures of him during a typical everyday day of causing trouble and making a mess.

Here he is, halfway up the stairs in ten seconds flat. Who says you need mom to spot you?

And here he is on his new toy. He took to it very well, and was instantly pushing himself up and down the hall and back again. Soon enough, of course, he got smart and decided that he should be standing in it, instead of pushing it. Maybe he figured that if he stood in it he would get pushed? Who’s to say, I mean, I did give him rides up and down the back yard in the wheelbarrow that morning:

You can see that he got a bit confused once inside, wondering exactly how he’d get out. Of course mom is always close by for such emergencies.

And, of course, here he is in all his glory. See what I mean by trouble? Look at that face!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!  I am so, so glad this first year is done!

Okay, so I’ve been negligent. I have a good reason, though. It is small, but is amazing mobile and tends to get into everything and cause a lot of trouble, thus giving me very little time for myself. (It also has some severe sleep issues, which result in much misery all around…!) Anyway, enough on that. Photo time!

Here’s the tomato haul. Not bad, seeing as we didn’t use the shelter this time. We lost a few to blight, but for the most part, as you can see, we had quite the harvest. We have eaten most of the ripened ones, so the rest will have to ripen like they did last year– in the dark. Not a big deal, as it just means we get to enjoy our tomatoes well into the fall, and maybe even the winter.  Last year none of ours ripened, so I’m glad we learned that trick. Home grown tomatoes are delicious! Meaty and not so full of seeds.  Yum!

Our acorn squash continues to grow. We planted it from a seed I found inside an acorn squash I bought to feed the baby, and we planted them kind of on a whim. They have completely taken over the garden, which doesn’t bother me as I’d rather have a possibly non productive squash plant growing there than stupid clover. Clover! gah! the bane of my existence.  I found a few more strawberries ripening just yesterday, but it looks like they’re done for the season. From our four little strawberry plants we had a continual harvest, and they too took over a large part of the garden. Hey, again, if you aren’t clover, you’re welcome in my garden.

Hmmm… what else? Oh yes, it is officially the end of the Curse of the Second Sock! I am very happy to report that I have not only one, but two socks to show off. That’s right, BOTH socks! What changed? Well, it’s simple. Toe up socks with a short row heel pretty much require no pattern. No pattern means no little body clambering over and no little hands to inspect, and then eat, what I am looking at. Also, socks are small– I can knit in the car (ha, when I actually leave the house, like that happens any more), while little mr. is standing up against the baby gate howling with glee over his accomplishment (you’d be surprised how happy he is to just stand there, triumphant) and in the evenings when I allegedly get a bit of time for myself (yes, I do spend most of that time cooking and cleaning…). Anyway, as long as I don’t commit to making knee highs, which are my favourite kind of sock, so it’s a bit of a compromise) I can get both socks done in less than a week. Ah! what glorious feeling, that sense of accomplishment. I revel in it.

But wait, people, it doesn’t stop there. Check out what I made for said Ankle Biter:

It’s the Carlos sweater! I made the Carlos sock as a sample last year some time, and cursed the intarsia the entire time. And here I am, making it again. But never mind, shouldn’t every little boy have a growling dog sweater? It says Grrrr underneath, (well, with my mad skillz it says yrrrrr, but I figure with an eyepatch we can just pretend he’s a pirate, should it come to that) and there are definitely some issues with it. For example, when I had not yet done the final sleeve, I had sewed half of the sweater up and had tried to put it on him (yes, I was impatient) and discovered that I couldn’t get it over his head! so I had to modify the shoulder, which is why it looks wonky. Also, I ran out of blue, as I used Cashmerino instead of Comfort, so the neck band is brown instead of blue, and one of the arms has a touch more brown on it than it should. I figure that he’ll never walk around with both of his arms extended (unless he somehow turns into a zombie, but I hope that doesn’t happen, not at least until he’s five or six) nobody will be the wiser. Of course, me reporting this really not helping the cause.

But wait, there’s more! With my sock success I wanted to make a pair for a birthday gift, only the needles I used happen to hold a shawl that I was attempting to get done for my mother’s birthday. This of course didn’t happen, and the shawl languished on a desktop while I gave myself permission to “get some space from it” which just means “cast on more enjoyable projects”.  So I had to finish the shawl. The problem with shawls it that they tend to get wider and wider, and with each row the shine is further off the project and the rows just seem longer and longer and longer, only you don’t want to stop as you’ve come so far and what are you going to do, honestly, with a triangle that is 25 inches long? Nothing! So keep going!  I find them knitterly torment. Anyway, I forced myself to finish it up to free up the needles for the socks. So, without further ado:

Yes, it’s a Lavalette. Just like everyone else I know is making. Yep, more fad knitting. Well, I had good reason to pick it. It seemed like the kind of pattern that looked good without my having to print up a pattern and deal with Mr. Paper Ripper and Eater. The result of which is that it doesn’t quite look like it’s supposed to. But no matter, it’s done. And  it will be delivered for Christmas, so that’s something off that list.

And of course, how could I not show off my new camera? I got a new toy and I’m loving it very much.  Here are a few pictures I took this week:

My flowers (a whole other story. Who knew flowers from seed would grow over six feet tall!)

Daisy, who loves to be photographed…

Mr. Pattern Eater himself….

and kitty herself. I like the new camera!

Yep, summer is in full swing. I remember desperately waiting for the sun to come back, and it did, with a vengeance. I had a feeling it would be long, dry summer, and that it has indeed been. It’s been great for my garden. My tomatoes have already started turning red, which is amazing, as none of them changed last summer and we had to coax them to edibility by covering them and putting them in a cupboard for weeks and weeks. They were good, mind you, but it’s even nicer to be able to enjoy them right now. My strawberries spread from four little plants to a two meter wide swath of garden, my basil is always ready for eating. I planted squash late on a whim… we’ll see yet how that turns out. Oh, by the way, roasted acorn squash seeds are incredibly delicious!

But, then again, the heat isn’t all good. Two weeks ago we both came down with a nasty, nasty flu that lasted a full week.  This was the same week of record breaking temperatures… having a flu in 40 degree weather is no fun! I remember looking at the gauge in the bedroom at 11 pm… it was 32 degrees in our bedroom. It was horrible! Baby mostly had a cold, but he still needs looking after, and looking after a dribbly child when you yourself can’t sleep at night because of the heat and because of the flu… ick. I hope we never have to go through that again. Daisy managed to get sick two nights that week as well, so I spent a few hours in the middle of the night outside with her while she… well, I’m sure you all know what she was doing. Ugh. Yuck. I’m very, very glad that week is over.

I’ve done a bit of stash busting. A pair of warmies that I started last November and never finished (yep, second sock syndrome crossing the boundaries into the realm of leg warmers for babies) have finally been completed.  I’m also working on a shawl using the loverly Zauberball that Melissa let me buy (she was holding the colour for herself, no, she’s not the evil yarn purchase dictator), and I’m using some Fleece Artist that Sue found for me to reverse engineer an Anthropologie shrug/vest thing.

Of course, I started this post nearly a month ago. Time is not on my side these days. Managing to co-ordinate computer time with camera time (the camera battery being notoriously short lived, a new camera is in short order) is just not happening. Gah! Frustration. I have a feeling like my life is sitting in little unfinished piles all around me. Chaos.  Oh, and let’s throw in a little uncertainty and anxiety to boot.

Whine whine whine. I’ll stop now.

Well, it seems that I am completing a few more projects, but I still feel quite like I’m not. I think I need to relax and enjoy each project for what it is, instead of trying to hurry through so I can move on to the next thing. There’s just so much I want to knit! And so much to learn.

I feel a bit sheepish about this first project. It’s Kate Gagnon’s Silk Kerchief.  It’s written for Noro Silk Garden sock, but I had two colours of regular Silk Garden in my stash and so used that instead.  I love it! I love it so, so much. Simple, easy, and yet looks sophisticated and makes every outfit look a little special. Now that’s good knitting. Why do I feel sheepish?  Well, um… I have a feeling that I just contributed to a bit of…. um… fad knitting.

It’s not that I’m against popular knitting, it’s just that I’m never doing what others are doing. People in the shop are often going on about this pattern or that, and for  me most of this  doesn’t even register. If something catches my eye, I might knit it, but for me, that could something I found revisiting a three year old VK  or a mash up from my Barbara Walkers… I’m just not really paying attention to what’s new and catchy.  I feel weird knitting something that everyone has knit. Like I have broken a personal rule. Hmmm… crazy. Anyway, who cares? I’ll keep knitting what I want, even if it’s insanely popular. Here she is:

I really, really like it. Did I mention is that? Of course, I can’t wear it too often, as Grabby McGrabbersonn is constantly trying to shove it in his mouth. See the necklace I’m wearing in that picture? My favourite necklace, bought for me by husband on our big road trip to San Francisco when we were sprightly and young? Yep, I’m not wearing it any more. I have no desire to be choked to death by grabby little baby hands. Man, does that kid have amazing hand eye co-ordination. He’ll need it, when he grows up to be the President of the World. (He’s going to rename Australia after me. It will then be known as Crystralia.)

Moving on.

Oooooh, fun project! I’m about 80% done my first giant sock. Yes, I know my completion rate on socks is pretty bad, but I feel good about this pair. It’s toe up, pattern taken from Barbara Walker, short row heel, using Magic Loop. This is my first time for Magic Loop, and my first successful (as in, not mind numbingly confusing) toe up and short row heel. Yay me!  Yarn is Crystal Palace Mini Mochi, much villified and defended on Ravelry.  Bah, people and all their opinions!

The plan for these babies is to be at least up to the knee, and I’m past mid-calf now. Fun! Mindless too, as I didn’t carry the lace all the way up the leg. I needed a half an hour uninterrupted for each repeat, and at that rate, I knew I wouldn’t get them done, so I continued up in stockinette, figuring nobody would see anyway. Ha! sneaky.

This final picture is for Sue. Hey look…. it’s

GARTER FACE!

He fell asleep face first on the blanket Sue knit for him. You can actually see how he crumpled it against him by the different directions the imprint is travelling in. Silly baby!

My garden suffered a terrible blow when the exterminators came (long, disgusting story). Our war with the slugs in the lettuce is over before it could become very heated. Sad, sad times. Here’s the lettuce patch in its prime:

I was given scant seconds to harvest it, and of course couldn’t eat it all in time. What a waste. Gah!

However, the strawberries survived! And because of the ridiculously warm spring we are having, they are thriving. Mmmm… tiny, tasty strawberries. I like to eat them very fresh, still warm from the sun (or, warm from their lifeblood, mwhuh huh ha!)

Yummy! I also had a picture of my dog attempting to catch bumblebees off the lupine (always good for entertainment when you don’t have cable) but the formatting was maddening, so perhaps some other time. Trust me, it’s funny. Of course, it will quickly become unfunny when she gets stung and turns out she takes after the other side of the family and has an allergic reaction. But until then, ha! silly dog.

Remember the yarn Melissa gave me to knit up? She suggested I make some mittens, so I obliged:

EXTREME CLOSEUP!

Now, I did get some good feedback on this mitten, but it just wasn’t right. Specifically, this is a very sturdy yarn, and the mitten felt more like an oven mitt than a go-to delight in horrid weather. So I frogged, pulled out the good old Barbara Walker, and whipped up a little bit of beret. The yarn is lovely, Melissa. A serious yarn, with a bit of a furrowed brow, but with wonderful stitch definition and a nice, solid feeling to it. It feels like cotton, which is odd for such a rustic wool. Anyway, here’s the beret: Hey, look, there’s part  of my head! and the ceiling in my house. Anyway, I’m quite happy with it. Keeps the melon very warm as well. Speaking of Melissa, she was featured in Knitty this issue. Here stitch markers (yes, those self same ones you saw in my last post) were discovered by Amy and she decided to feature them in the mag under the cool things category. See, I tell you, that girl has the Midas Touch. She’s pretty amazing.

Hmmm… my eyebrows look kind of bad. Ah well. Who has time to groom when you get interrupted every three minutes. By who, you ask? Don’t mind if I do. He’s going through a “I find my toes tasty” phase. Not so good on the socks, and I’m telling you, it is very difficult to find socks that fit. Between the chewing and the constant kicking, those socks are not going to last.

I can’t believe I made that.

Okay, one more I have to show you. There is a sign on my parent’s street that cracks me up. I made sure to take my camera last time to get a photo. Seriously, this is the best sign ever. I love how universally understandable it is. Okay, you can’t really see it, but the guy who has fallen actually is screaming “aaaaah!”, he has blood gushing out of his head, and his eyes are  to x’s. Ha! love it. Okay, enough silliness. My squire howls for his dinner…