Nutmeg Knitter

Yarn Along - Jan 25

2012-01-25T14:44:00.002-05:00

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us!

The key things I have to show for the week are progress on the monster (he's got eyes!), and Nate's Baby Rock'n'Roll Neck sweater is just about done. I have ends to weave in and I have an idea in my head that I want this sweater to have a robot on it, down at the bottom stripes. Maybe felted? Maybe crocheted? I'm not sure, so I might wait on it for now. It deserves a post of its own and will have one in the next few days.

I picked up The Knitter's Life List from the library today. It is interesting to thumb through and would make a great book for a new knitter I think, but at this stage in my knitting game, it is not one I want permanently on my bookshelves. I also have been reading The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of The Little House on the Prairie. I really enjoyed the first 20% of this book. It was funny, light-hearted, made me giggle as I recognized myself in the writing about the fondness for the "Little House" series. The little nuggets of information about what was probably real or probably fiction has been really interesting as well. Then the book takes a turn to making the comparison of "Girlhood / being a girl is just like being out on the wild prairie and the days of the pioneers". Ummm. Ok. I am not so thrilled on that part, and to me most of it seems like a stretch, but whatever. Then there was a section about the legal "stuff" of the day involving settlers and the Native American Lands. It just feels like this is filler and I do suppose there is a place for it. But eh. It is a light read and I'll be done with it soon. Good thing, as it is a library loan to my kindle so I only have it for a short time. I am very pleased that I finally figured out how to borrow the library books on my kindle, but there was a bit of drama and confusion there that was totally unnecessary.

Yarn Along - Jan 18

2012-01-18T14:04:00.002-05:00

Will Work for Yarn

2012-01-17T15:36:00.004-05:00

I have another knitting job to add to my resume - blocker. A fellow knitter put out a call looking for someone who loves blocking. She finished Rock Island and did not have the space to block it. I replied to her that I didn't mind it and I had received a set of blocking wires for Christmas that I was itching to try out. We worked out a deal and she sent along the shawl and payment. Here it is blocking with the wires:

I have to say that I don't think I really saved any time using the blocking wires as compared to using a bunch of pins but it did make getting a straight line at the top and down the center spine a lot easier! I do like how I could easily adjust the spacing to ensure each section was a uniform width.

What does one earn for blocking a shawl? I jumped when the offer was made - Wollmeise! A skein of 100% Superwash in 'Tambopata' - there's that teal-ish green again with black. And then I won another skein of Wollmeise on a Ravelry giveaway! Also 100% Superwash in 'Feldmauschen' that is sort of brownish-greyish-plum? Tricky to photograph, but oh so pretty.

My precious....

Found it on Pinterest!

2012-01-17T15:13:00.004-05:00

I am a big fan of Pinterest and the feeling of 'pseudo-organization' it brings me. I have the usual boards on there and a few that I created. I have started a new board that I am calling "I Tried It!" where I can pin things that I have actually done having found them on pinterest. Several weeks back I found this pin sharing the brilliant idea from GoodenessGracious.com to use an apple slicer to chop up potatoes for french fries! I did it! It works! I did have to go back and cut a few wedges that were thicker than I liked, but look - photo proof!

And this recipe for the "Oven Baked Parmesan Seasoned Fries" are what I made. Yummy!

Today is such a blah day. The Lorax is just about over her cold, the baby is in the middle of it and I can feel it coming on. I am happy for the opportunity to knit with bright green yarn from Knit Picks; it will be in tomorrow's "Yarn Along" post. We woke up to a slushy inch or so of snow and to work out some of my daughter's energy, I did take her outside while the baby was napping.

Probably a bit overdressed for slush that was melting, but she was kept warm and dry, so my job was done. She's throwing a snowball at me in this photo.

Yarn Along - Jan 11

2012-01-11T13:25:00.002-05:00

From small things:
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

I finished up book #2 of The Hunger Games, "Catching Fire", which I really enjoyed. Then I was stuck. I borrowed the book from amazon on my kindle (yay!), but their fine print only allows you to borrow one book each month (boo!). Jokingly I complained to my husband and on facebook. I suppose I could have gone to the library and actually gotten the book, but I was lazy. Lucky for me a friend on facebook had the book on her kindle and was able to loan book #3, "MockingJay", to me. As expected, even early on I am hooked and very curious to see how this series plays out.

I have been working on several items that at this point in time I can't share with you. That's one of the downsides of being a sample knitter or test knitter, the designs are under wraps for a while. The sweater I was working on for Lorna's Laces is finished, blocked and currently en route to Chicago. I believe it will be on display at TNNA. I also took on a quick little knit sweater for an upcoming book.

The yarn shown in the picture above is also for sample and test knitting. The red is for a hat and the bottom cake is for a pair of socks. Yay for knitting work, but I am certainly going to try and squeeze in some of my personal projects again so I have something to show on the blog. Otherwise, you'll just get baby / kid pictures. Like this one:

Oh My, Wollmeise!

2012-01-06T14:48:00.002-05:00

Last week I participated in a fast action swap online. Person A put up something, Person B says "Mine" and then Person B puts up something new. I had fast fingers and claimed a skein of the ever elusive, Wollmeise! A whole skein! I have a few minis for the Beekeeper Quilt, and that's great and all, but this. This. Is. Yarn. (said in the voice of the Dad from "A Christmas Story" - This. Is. A. Lamp.)

This color is "Sabrina" - a green-ish teal that is a real bugger to photograph. It is actually pretty close in color to my phone case, which is the teal one. I have spent the last few moments wandering around the house, hoping the camera battery lasts to get an accurate picture.

That's kindof it.

Also kindof.
Anyway, it's lovely. I would love to start on it right away, but I've been hired to knit on other things right now.

New Year, New Foods

2012-01-03T10:44:00.004-05:00

2011 - the objects

2011-12-31T15:37:00.002-05:00

This year feels like I didn't create all that much, but I think I still did pretty well. My total for 2011 that I knit/crocheted or finished includes: 2 pair of mittens, 3 cowls, 14 people hats, 2 hats for Jackson, 30 hexipuffs, 2 stroller blankets, 1 pair of tinkerbell shoes, 1 turtle, 1 pair of booties, 4 shawls, 2 spoon coasters, 2 sweaters, 1 headband, 1 scarf, 2 pairs of socks, 1 vest, 1 grass, 2 crochet monster-things, 1 doll, 1 pair of flittens. And I had a baby, so that threw my momentum off for a bit. I have been stash diving and looking ahead to what the next bunch of projects will be - can't wait to share them!

for 2012

2011-12-29T09:57:00.004-05:00

It's resolution time. I love the idea of resolutions, I really do. My follow through on any resolutions I have made for myself has gotten better the less stringent they are. Looking back at last year, here are some things that May, or May Not, Happen in 2012:
*I will keep working on the Beekeeper's Quilt
*I will keep working on the Neon Nightmare
*Knit Dan a new pair of socks. Did I tell you he wore out the Manhattan socks I made? Each sock has a large hole where the heel should be. And, he still wears them! According to him, his toes are still warm. As a knitter, I'm honored... as his wife, I'm horrified! Don't wear holey-heeled socks! This might have to take a top priority spot!
*Baby knits - I've got a list of 5 babies I want to knit for, all before July. I have patterns and yarns picked out, so I am in good shape to start that. This doesn't included any knitting for my own baby.
*A sweater for me!
*Read my knitting books - so many times I just go straight to the pattern sections but someone took the time to write these books I should honor that and actually read them!
*I really want to try steeking and some colorwork this year.

Photo Proof

2011-12-27T19:59:00.003-05:00

My dad likes to take pictures. A. Lot. Of. Pictures. Granted, he is really good at it - he has a nice camera and with the grandkids he does get lots of practice. Looking at his photos from Christmas I noticed we have a lot of similar shots - photos of the kids, a picture of my brother and his girlfriend on the computer via gchat while we all gather around, etc. Having another photographer comes in handy for a different perspective and proof of some events.

We have had Christmas Crackers at the Christmas table for the last several years, I believe since my brother returned from his study abroad program in college. And his wife has always had them at her Christmas. Anyway, Christmas crackers come with a toy, a joke and a paper crown inside. Everyone wears the crown at dinner. This year, I ripped mine when trying to get it on my head.

I remember us all laughing about it, and here is the proof. I ripped my crown putting it on my head.

And here is my lovely family. Laughing at me in the "Oh yes, you DO have a big head that ripped your crown!" My sister-in-law was kind enough to try and blame it on my hair and clips. We all can see what's happening here. Thanks, Dad!
I especially love my brother's expression of horror!

I have decided to embrace it though - I took a photo from my Dad that had my uncle (who also claims to have a large head of hair) and I with a new crown, and I am using it as profile pic just about everywhere.

Yarn Along - December 28

2011-12-27T15:56:00.004-05:00

from small things
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

I truly believe there is not much better than a big stack of books! I am a very lucky gal and this pile was given to me for Christmas. Make the Bread, Buy the Butter is fantastic so far - this book has made me chuckle several times. I love the "tell-it-like-it-is" - I have a cookbook that my mom and grandmother also have - when I got my copy I had to borrow mom's to copy all her notes (Gooey, Not worth the trouble, Looks awful tastes delish!etc). The Knitter's Book of Socks has been on my wishlist for a while. It is a readable book, a reference book, an inspiring knitting book. Good stuff. Dan's next pair of socks are coming from that book I believe. The Big Book of Knitted Monsters has some fun toy patterns that has me eyeballing my stash leftovers. And another knitting book - Baby Beanies. My kid's heads are only getting bigger and there is a new crop of babies due next year! At the bottom of the pile is a book my Dad made, "The Year Lorelai Met Nathaniel" - he puts together a photo book each year of some of his best shots. I do a similar project for the grandparents, but it is really nice to get one as well with different shots!

There is one lonely little hexi-flat. I am re-thinking the "Beekeeper Quilt" project. I am still planning to do it, over a long period of time, but now I think I do not want to stuff and puff these little pieces. This little hexi is 100% cashmere (LOVELY!) and the mini was sent to me through a "Secret Santa" swap on Ravelry. I knit it up on Christmas Eve while traveling and would keep stopping the knitting to fondle the fabric.

I love giving books at Christmas as well, and the Lorax received a new one that we have already read many times - Christmas in the Big Woods. Nate also received some new board books - Eric Carle and Dinosaurs, already big hits!

Christmas Knits

2011-12-27T08:30:00.002-05:00

I have to say, I am quite pleased with myself and the gifts I knit for Christmas. There was no frantic weaving in of ends, and for the most part everything work as I intended it to. I found these great handmade gift labels to attach to each gift and include some care instructions on the backside. Each was received in the proper way, so I know I made good choices in knitting for the right people!

I made my first pair of thrummed mittens for my cousin. I found a kit at Rhinebeck this year that came with the yarn and fiber all together - I even went back to the Good Karma Farm booth to purchase a second kit and I do plan on making myself something thrummed because whoo-boy, they are warm and cozy!

I had to wing it a bit on the size, as my cousin told me she had small hands - but upon receipt she said they fit and really liked them, so that's a win!

I am so proud of crocheting my first wearable, the Cardiff Cowl, in Malabrigo Silky for my Godmother.

This was lovely right off the hook, and after a quick blocking it opened up even more. Win!

I also knit a cowl, Ptarmigan, a BrooklynTweed-Jared Flood design, for my sister-in-law.

The yarn is Delly's Delight - "Oh So Soft" 100% alpaca - that we actually both bought our first time at Rhinebeck together back in 2009. I have plenty left over and am seriously considering making this again, for myself. I really enjoyed knitting this and it was hard to wrap it up and give it away.

Keeping with my own tradition, I knit another Koolhaas this season. This one is for my Dad.

I obviously had some trouble getting a good picture of this one - the yarn is Cascade 220 superwash in a really nice chocolate brown.

I was going to make a Koolhaas for my brother as well, but after talking with his wife she told me he would be happier with a plain plain plain hat. After some back and forth for ideas she suggested the Regular Guy Beanie

I chose a slightly nicer yarn, Mountain Mohair from Green Mountain Spinnery, and enjoy the boringness of this hat pattern. My brother really liked it, so that's all that matters. Especially if it means he will wear it.

Now I am feeling the itch to cast on *ALL THE THINGS*! I do have a sample knit that I am working on and is my current #1 priority, but I've got a mental list going - earflap hat for me, earflap hat for Lorelai, new socks for Dan, next hat for Nate, hexipuffs (which I'm thinking I may switch gears and go hexi-flat and not stuff them). I was generously gifted several knitting books and a set of blocking wires so that only fuels the fire to knit more and knit faster!

Babies in boxes

2011-12-15T13:04:00.003-05:00

Forget Stuffonmycat.com - I will take "Babies in Boxes & Bags".

Where else would you put a baby down while at the grocery store?

Do you have a feeling of deja vu? Because I certainly do.

(Lorelai, April 2008)

Who ordered a dose of cute?

Professional Test Knitter

2011-12-07T15:02:00.002-05:00

I am way behind on blog reading, thanks to a certain little nutmeg who seems to be sleeping through the night (*knock on wood that I didn't just jinx myself!!*). I do make sure to read blogs of my Ravelry friends and fellow knitters. Did you catch the YarnHarlot's post about professional test knitting?

I test knit. I sample knit. I have done this for friends, for designers and for yarn companies. I have been compensated in some way or paid for my work, fairly, and the resulting work is quite good, if I do say so myself. For me, there are many positives to this sort of work - I get to work with yarns I might not usually choose, on patterns that I probably wouldn't pick - it is good to expand my experiences. Each project also usually brings me a chance to learn or improve on a new skill. Even the most enjoyable jobs have the occasional downside and test / sample knitting certainly can have those moments, but it doesn't keep me from doing it.

Here's some of the work I have done: My Samples and Tests

I have put "Sample / Test Knitter" on my resume. I have worked with several well known names in the business. This sort of work requires me to work independently, sometimes with little direction, on a deadline and requires efficient communication. I would love to be "certified" as a test / sample knitter. I wonder if going through that "Master Knitter" program would be the closest thing? In the meantime, I will keep on knitting for my companies, I will keep on making friends with designers, and I will keep my eye on Ravelry and Twitter for test and sample knitting opportunities. Anyone hiring? I'm available!

Christmas Tree

2011-12-05T19:45:00.003-05:00

I am making good progress on some items to go under the tree for others so I thought I would share our tree this year. I was playing around with my camera settings according to several tutorials I found on pinterest.

This shot looked better on the camera screen. Oh well. It does accurately show our lights. We have had big bulbs of color, all white, and this year we have green. It is different and is growing on me quite a bit.

One of the newest ornaments for the tree.

Our tree is "topped" with a crystal star that we received as a wedding gift.

I like this photo, but the quality of it could be better. Just a branch or two down from the star are these two angels. The angel on the left is a souvenir from our trip to Ireland and the angel on the right was a gift many years ago. I am not sure if it was from my parents (I think it was) or my grandparents.

One of the oldest ornaments on the tree, Woodstock, was a gift to me when I was a year old or so from one of my aunts. I really need to sort through my ornament box or get a better storage system going so it doesn't have any more chips!

Snoopy is there too!

And then this is a familiar ornament on my couch. The Lorax loves playing on the ipad, lucky kid. She's quite good at "Fruit Ninja" and "Snoopy's Street Fair".

We haven't yet gotten a family photo in front of the tree, I need to take out the tripod. At least I am in a picture with the kids, as usually I am the one to take all the photos!

4!

2011-12-01T08:01:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, the Lorax turned 4! I knew it was coming, and yet I am still surprised that it happened. Time has gone by so fast. I think that 4 is probably the best birthday yet - she was excited that it was her birthday, had fun telling people that she is 4 and that they should say "Happy Birthday" to her, and yet there wasn't any whining for presents but each item she opened was met with "OOOOH! I always wanted this!"

For the record, my girl, at age 4, loves Tinkerbell & her fairy friends, loves princesses and all things girly. She can draw, she loves books, she loves the Snoopy movies and Charlie Brown Christmas. She tends to start her day with a glass of orange juice and a cut up apple, she tries to be a big help in the kitchen and is a fantastic big sister. And we are starting to get into the joke telling phase (Knock Knock. Who's there? Little Miss Smartypants. Little Miss Smartypants who? I don't know.)

She says she is going to have 100 birthdays. I hope she is right.

Yarn Along - Nov 30

2011-11-30T13:32:00.002-05:00

Wednesdays are for Yarn Along!
"~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.~"

I finished "The Help" (really enjoyed it!) and have started "The Hunger Games" (I'm hooked!), but right now my kindle is upstairs. I've got one more part of the vest for Nate to finish and I am a thumb away from having a finished pair of thrummed mitts!

I've also been working on a knitting job for Lorna's Laces with Kristi Porter, so that has been fun. It is a project somewhat under wraps for now, so this is the best I can show.

Yarn and garment in progress.

As I was coming in to take pictures and blog this scene awaited me. So appropriate for Yarn Along, right?

She is reading a Disney Fairies book to her dolls. The last few times we were at the library she has been adamant about getting "books without pictures"! We read a chapter book (one of the Rainbow Fairies series) last week at bedtime, a chapter each night, and she seemed to like that. Would you believe this girl is 4 today!! That deserves a post of its own (hopefully with photos I do not capture on the sly!).

Age old question

2011-11-25T11:31:00.003-05:00

If a knitter knits some item, and leaves it lying around, will it get worn and used?
Yes.

Well, I'll be. I knit up this Moochie hat for the Lorax back when it seemed like winter was arriving early. She picked the pattern and the yarn, and when it was finished she wouldn't let me see how it fit. So I left it at our front hall near the coats and shoes. She went for a hike in the woods with her dad today and decided that she needed to wear her hat. This is a quick iphone photo from their hike, maybe I will be able to get a better shot later. I will take any photo I can get - and there are no tears! How far we have come! Yay!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T12:17:00.002-05:00

My favorite time / week / day of the year. I know what to get everyone, I know what to make, I do not have to worry about any returns. Four years ago I knit this hat while waiting for the Lorax to arrive. It is a perfect fit for my new little butterball.

May your turkey be delicious and bonus points if it is cute!

Yarn Along - Nov 16

2011-11-16T15:23:00.003-05:00

From small things - ~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.

As evidenced by the photo, there is a lot going on. I finally started The Help and I have been completely sucked in. Between reading this and watching Mad Men I am trying to wrap my head around what life must have been like for the older generations of women in my family who had to deal with those gender and racial issues. We have had a run off colds here too, so while I crave the chance to sit and knit, when that chance comes I do not have too much brain power for it. I have the body done on Nate's sweater, one thrummed mitten done, several more stripes on the Neon Nightmare and a pilgrim hat for Jackson.

Yes. A pilgrim hat for the dog, because I am ridiculous. And I need a silly break from the noise, the sick, the general picking-everything-up-multiple-times-a-day, and getting ready to host a houseful of people for Nate's Baptism this weekend and Thanksgiving next week. And I am wondering if I can possibly knit white leg warmers for the baby by saturday? And a shrug for me or a shawl? And why did I pick colors for previously knit shawls that do not match anything I might possibly wear this weekend?

Good effort buddy, trying to look dignified.

Transition

2011-11-07T10:39:00.002-05:00

The inbetween time of Halloween and Thanksgiving. Ignore the fact that Christmas stuff and music is in the stores and that "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (original cartoon version) was on tv over the weekend. Also ignore the awful "Autumn Nor'easter" that left me with the sudden onset of the feeling that winter is coming (or winter never really left) I realized that my kids need new hats. Lorelai has gotten two years of wear out of the puple tot-topper that I made, but it is time for something new. She picked out a pattern (Moochi from the Bambeanies book) and found some purple yarn in the stash. I finished it on Thursday. Will she try it on? Long time readers of this blog can probably guess that she declined. I'll try to call on the back up model, Jackson, for a photo shoot later.

In the meantime while browsing the rest of the Bambeanies I decided to make Nate a new hat. The candy corn hat was cute and I am not going to make him wear the turkey hat for the next three weeks. Maybe just the week of Thanksgiving - he tried it on over the weekend and my word, you have never seen a cuter turkey. From a swap on Ravelry I claimed my favorite yarn, Malabrigo, in "Citrus" colorway. Yellows and oranges are not my thing, but there is no denying the sunshiney-fun of this yarn. And with the leaves changing and daylight savings in effect (or over?) a little regular cheer is good.

The pattern is Polpo - a very quick knit and the little twisty bits are the top are cleverly constructed. I love that the pooling is almost stripey. I think I may use the rest of this yarn to make a Monsters. Or maybe a vest for Nate?

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T13:24:00.002-04:00

Hard to believe that I can look outside my window and see foliage on the trees and snow on the ground! On Friday we went to a local orchard's pumpkin patch for a Halloween parade:

My little witch.

Prize-winning "cow" (he's really a horse, the outfit has a mane) - he won for best animal costume!

And then on Saturday we had to switch to a costume of a different sort:

Crazy. I'm in the middle of making the Lorax a new winter hat. She did well with the mittens, but this year she's big into picking up the snow, so I need to find some better "play in the snow" mitts.

Today we will be rocking the costumes to the grandparents and that is about it. Given the fickle nature of a pre-schooler, I did not bother to make any costumes this year, except for Jackson. He doesn't complain or change his mind and is properly motivated by cheese. Inspired by this, "My Pimp Paw is Strong, I made Jackson a new hat and chains. It was meant to be - I found exactly one feather when I went looking in the craft supplies!

May you have more treats than tricks!!

Yarn Along - Oct 26

2011-10-26T14:47:00.002-04:00

From small things

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

It's been an exciting week around this blog. The Yarn Harlot, after meeting TheatreKnitter, gave a shout out / linked to my blog for the PatPat's Hats project! Oh my. My little blog got 3,000 views over 4 days!! Crazy in the best possible way and I am so happy to help PatPat's Hats. The response has been very positive - there is a facebook page and a Ravelry group. While the initial donation is going to be made in January, this is anticipated to be an annual event.

On to the Yarn Along - I finished "Tattoos on the Heart" - I really enjoyed reading about Homeboy-industries. I keep thinking of the Anne Frank quote too, about how despite all that happens, deep down you have to believe that people are good at heart. I've been considering Christmas knitting and have cast on a few projects, shown here, neither of which though are Christmas gifts. The purple thing I hope to show off soon as it was an impulse project. The red and brown striped item is going to be a sweater for Nate. I love the fall chill in the air, that also seems to be in my house - I don't love that as it is not good for being energy efficient, but I love the feeling of wanting a cup of tea throughout the day and snuggling under a blanket at night. I have also been able to work on a few rows of the neon nightmare without breaking out in a sweat.

I feel like I am starting to find a few more moments during the day for some knitting, thank goodness!! The evenings are more of a challenge, but I will take what I can get!

PatPats Hats

2011-10-18T21:50:00.003-04:00

Just putting this out there again - I've gotten some lovely hats and seen several in progress! Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, fibers and time!!

Fellow Knitters, I'm putting out the knit-signal...

(credit for the logo goes to TheBookishGirl way back when!)

My good friend Betsy, aka Theatreknitter, and her family have had some major stresses to deal with. On Aug. 31st her nephew, Patrick, was brought into Yale New Haven Children's Hospital ER. On that day they found 3 brain tumors that were quickly removed . While he is meeting milestones and doing pretty well recovering from his surgery, there is still a long way to go. She would like to thank the nurses, doctors, and community of Yale Children's by donating "Pat Pat's hats" (PatPat is what Patrick calls himself) so that children undergoing treatment can get a warm hat while receiving treatments. We're looking for hats for preemies to teenagers, and everything in between. Can you make a hat or two (or more? Or maybe you would like to help in some other way?)? I am helping out as I can as a point person for collecting the hats. The hats will be donated after the new year.

You can message me on Ravelry (I'm nutmegknitter) or shoot me an email: nutmegknitter AT gmail DOT com
We have also set up a Facebook page and event as well - if you would like to "attend". I think it is set as a "public" event, but if you have trouble message me and we can figure it out!

Rhinebeck Rejuvenates

2011-10-17T11:07:00.003-04:00

This weekend went by way too fast and it was a complete success! I loved being away for a bit with the girls on Friday and getting to see family on Saturday. Rhinebeck is such a fun time - inspiration abounds just seeing all of wonderful handknits and lovely yarns, and people! I was a terrible "bingo" player - my Ravelry username button was left in the trunk of my car! - and I was so distracted by all the other things to look at that my bingo card stayed in my bag! The hats were a huge hit - to the non-knitters (like, my husband) who question my taste level while I was knitting or showed the finished project to them, they just don't understand how well it worked at the festival. It was fun to be a part of the group with the sparkle hats too and even more fun to be walking about and hear, "Ooh, love the hats! Ooh, the baby has one! Oooh, so Mom, Baby & Aunt!"

My "loose list" strategy worked really well I think. I ended up with two thrummed mitten kits from Good Karma Farm - one is intended for a Christmas gift and the other is for me.

There were a lot of other lovely things that caught my eye, but I resisted - I have a lot more ideas going forward for sure!

Nate gave his aunt and uncle a real sample of what babies are like - he fussed quite a bit after dinner on Saturday, but they were really good sports about it - they stepped up and gave it a shot to walk with him / snuggle him / get him to calm down. Even the cats didn't mind too much, but I think they liked sharing Nate's play mat. Doesn't Arthur look happy?

And now, it's back to the grind leaving the wool fumes behind. Till next year Rhinebeck!

Two Months!

2011-10-16T16:10:00.002-04:00

Babies change so fast - today is Nate's 2 month birthday and he is so different already. He's doing great at picking his head up, loves sleeping on his tummy, can usually find his thumb if he's on his stomach, and just yesterday started "talking" with a lot of cooing / oohing / aahing. He did great at his first fiber festival (more on that later). He is rather fussy in the car, but I think most of that can be chalked up to gas - he's a gassy baby. If you are patient and talk to him and make a variety of silly faces, you get some pretty great faces back:

Rhinebeck or Bust!

2011-10-12T13:42:00.004-04:00

I am beyond excited that Rhinebeck is this coming weekend! I will be attending with the little Nutmeg, so it is not a complete vacation, but still, to be surrounded friends and family and knitters and fiber and yarns and have it all be NORMAL will be wonderful. Last year I made the effort to say Hello to people when I recognized them. This year I've signed up for Rhinebeck Bingo

Want a tip on how to find me? Well, like last year, all the members of SnB in attendance at Rhinebeck made the same hat. This year we are doing it again, only bigger / bolder and full of bling... well, some sparkle anyway.

I've made 3 of these hats - one for me, one for my SIL and one for Nate. Can't you just tell how much he loves it?! The pattern is Flirtatious by Cathy Carron - gosh I hope she's at Rhinebeck to see us!

Seriously. Didn't the Lorax tell him this is just the beginning of the knitting nonsense I will try to put on him?

Hope you say Hi! Even if I'm not on your bingo card!

Yarn Along - Oct 12

2011-10-12T13:20:00.002-04:00

From small things:
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? ~

I gave up on "I Think I Love You". It is an infrequent occurrence that I do not finish a book (I know I didn't make it through "Profiles in Courage" or "The Killer Angels"). As it was an e-book "borrowed" from the library, I had a time limit on the books availability and I just din't finish in time. I could "take out" the book again, but I was not that invested in it. I started a new book, Tattoos on the Heart - it is an easy read, mostly anecdotes and that makes it easy to pick up and put down. I do not want to put it down though as the stories are engaging and there is plenty of food for thought.

I am working on knitting a Wishy Washy Fishy Tawashi for my "downstream" swap pal. I was happy to see this in my pal's queue, as I have also had it queued for a while. And that's been it, along with the hexipuffs. My knitting seems to have slowed down a bit, though with the influx of minis for the hexipuffs that helps me to drool over new yarns. And Rhinebeck is this weekend, so I am setting a very loose shopping list for myself. I always find when I actually have a list I never find what I am looking for. Last year I went in without a list but good knowledge of my stash and still didn't find anything I adored. This year, with my loose list, I am hoping to find a few new to me items and maybe splurge on a treat for me.

One of those days

2011-10-11T09:53:00.003-04:00

Yesterday seemed like it had such promise to be a good day. Nate slept well through the night - we only had to get up once at 2am. Then he slept until 5:30am - not too bad in my book... until at 5:45am I was covered in spit-up. Covered and drenched. Hm. That was followed by another loss of power, a missed school day for the Lorax, a broken garage door and a bunch of truly minor annoyances that seemed all the greater because they were all happening on the same day.

I was able to get a few stitches done, thank goodness for the hexipuffs:

Though I am craving a larger project. I am currently entertaining ideas for Christmas gifts and selfish projects for me.

And I think we're ready to laugh at whatever Tuesday brings:

That time of year

2011-10-07T15:08:00.003-04:00

I love that New England is finally feeling like fall - the nights are cool, people are generally cheery and not bitter about the weather yet, and working with wool is nice again! I finished a test knit of a cowl that I look forward to wearing. We will ignore the portion of the weather forecast that says this weekend it will be in the 70s / 80s.

The "Tartan" cowl by Caryl Pierre is soon to be released. I used O-Wool Classic in blue and O-Wool Balance in grey. I love how this cowl is shaped - it will sit nicely on your neck under a jacket collar to keep you warm, no gaps! It is large enough to pull up to your nose, or fold over and set in place with a shawl pin (gotta get me one of those, maybe at Rhinebeck!).

Jackson was less than impressed, but the colors look nice on him.

The Funky Chicken is Nate's chair buddy - I think this photo is one of the best ones we have of him - his eyes are open, he's not crying, and there is the hint of a smile.

Most of the other photos he looks like this:

At least Lorelai seems a bit more game to take photos again.

Yarn Along - Sept 28

2011-09-28T10:26:00.004-04:00

From small things:

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.

It feels so good to start a new book. I did buy The Help to read on the kindle, but was sidetracked by the news that library patrons could get e-books on their kindles! In playing around with it, I ended up getting an e-book on my phone - haven't quite figured out the kindle side of it yet. Anyway, I heard an NPR interview with this author a while back and thought I Think I Love You would be a fun read. As a young girl, my celebrity obsession ran the lines of Corey Haim (not New Kids on the Block as most of the other girls my age were obsessed with) - however, the story still rings true.

I've got a few WIPs this week: hexipuffs are still buzzing along, a semi-secret project, and a test knit of Tartan. Caryl's version uses Madelinetosh Vintage, which must be stunning! I went stash diving and decided to work with O-Wool Classic and Balance. I worked up this swatch to be sure I liked the color combo, so far so good!

We had a few really good nights of sleep, with me getting up only once, but last night I think I was up a lot more. So it goes I guess. If only Nate knew how cute he was when he sleeps.

Yesterday there was some excitement around town. A movie crew and all that is involved with that came to a local spot for filming! We checked it out:

We didn't have any star sightings, but I saw other people post online that they did see Meryl Streep - she's filming movie with Steve Carell and Tommy Lee Jones. Nifty.

Yarn Along - Sept 21

2011-09-20T14:42:00.003-04:00

Mini Maniac

2011-09-20T14:34:00.002-04:00

Look what landed in my mailbox on Saturday!

Fingering weight minis! I played along in a swap on Ravelry - everyone sent in a skein (or two) that was already broken down into the minis and in return you an equal amount of minis. These are for my Beekeeper's Quilt project. What a great way to try out new yarns - I am looking forward to working with the Mini Mochi, Trekking, Yarn Chef, and colourphobia minis. There are also several that I already know and love - Lorna's Laces, Malabrigo Sock, Schaefer - even a Wollmeise!

This is such a great pick-up-put-down project. I am up to 27 done - it feels like there should be more, and I know there is a long way to go still.

Each little hexipuff is quite satisfying to complete. I am still saving the leftovers from each mini skein, as I am unsure if I want to make half-hexis from them or stripe them with other leftovers. That is a decision for another day.

One Month

2011-09-16T14:59:00.002-04:00

With disbelief I write this post - the lil'nutmeg is already one month old today! We are starting to all get used to each other I think. The Lorax still calls you "our baby from the hospital" and apparently that stuck with her - she drew this picture this week of me, still pregnant.

But on to the "birthday" boy - since you've been born there has been an earthquake, a hurricane / tropical storm, a week without power, and many moments where Dan and I just look at each other and ask "Did Lorelai do this? Was Lorelai like that?" So much of these early days are blur - I try so hard not to compare you to your sister!
A lot of the time you enjoy being like this:

On your belly, trying to suck your thumb (left hand! are you going to be a lefty like mom?)

A lot of the time you also do this:

So serious. And we're seriously in love.

This Moment - Family

2011-09-16T10:09:00.002-04:00

Inspired by soulemama.com
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

I have to add words to this. This week marks a major upheaval for my family - my baby brother is headed off on an adventure to Chile. He and his girlfriend (the cute kids in the lower right of the photo) are expected to be there for 2 years. I may not see or talk with my brother daily or weekly, but I am used to the idea that I could get into New York City to see him or pick up the phone and call, and I could count on seeing him at major holidays and other family gatherings throughout the year. But to not see him for two years?! He was "home" visiting family this week - I have seen my brother more in the last month and it has been really great. I will miss them terribly (and wish they would be around so my kids can see them!), but I am trying to look on the bright side of things and be thankful for that we can set up Skype at the holidays and keep track of their adventure on the blog.

What do you knit for people in Chile?

Yarn Along - Sept 14

2011-09-14T13:40:00.002-04:00

From small things -
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.

Another week has gone by! I've been really enjoying The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - it's the right mix of Women's Health History, science history, racial discussion and personal story. Last night, when the house was settled down for the night and the baby was fed, I chose to read more of the book instead of picking up the knitting. Now that's saying something!

Not that there has been a lack of knitting either! I've been still working on hexipuffs and a special sparkly project (one of 3 if all goes well). I think I will sit on this for a while longer before revealing it.

Cooler temperatures are supposed to arrive at the end of this week and I can't wait. Bring on fall, I say. Today is sunny (lovely) but warm and humid (ick) and all I can think about is fall weather and getting back to knitting bigger projects with wool - hopefully picking up a few sample and test knits again as well!

When In Doubt, Knit a Hat

2011-09-07T14:46:00.005-04:00

Fellow Knitters, I'm putting out the knit-signal...

(credit for the logo goes to TheBookishGirl way back when!)

My good friend Betsy, aka Theatreknitter, and her family have had some major stresses to deal with. On Aug. 31st her nephew, Patrick, was brought into Yale New Haven Children's Hospital ER. On that day they found 3 brain tumors that were quickly removed . While he is meeting milestones and doing pretty well recovering from his surgery, there is still a long way to go. She would like to thank the nurses, doctors, and community of Yale Children's by donating "Pat Pat's hats" (PatPat is what Patrick calls himself) so that children undergoing treatment can get a warm hat while receiving treatments. We're looking for hats for preemies to teenagers, and everything in between. Can you make a hat or two (or more? Or maybe you would like to help in some other way?)? I am helping out as I can as a point person for collecting the hats. The hats will be donated on December 18th, Patrick's 3rd birthday.

You can message me on Ravelry (I'm nutmegknitter) or shoot me an email: nutmegknitter AT gmail DOT com
We have also set up a Facebook event as well - if you would like to "attend". I think it is set as a "public" event, but if you have trouble message me and we can figure it out!

Yarn Along - Sept 7

2011-09-07T14:15:00.003-04:00

From small things ~
Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.

I have finally finished Moby Duck. Sigh. I think I wanted more from this book, but it is hard to say exactly what. My educational background is in the environmental sciences and I like oceanography, but the material presented here was a bit dense and not always well explained. I felt it was overly wordy and frequently wished I was reading this on my kindle so that I could look up the definitions of the SAT-style words sprinkled through-out. The book could have benefited from illustrations or photographs. Sleep deprivation may also be a factor here but I really did not understand the need for a literary analysis of "Moby Dick" & fatherhood that was presented at the end.

I am very excited to be able to move on to some new reading material on the kindle. I have started The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - I'm 8% in (Dear Kindle, I really wish you would tell me the page number!) and it is very engaging already - I hope this continues through the book!

I have one plus just about one more hexipuff done, and the first Fuzzy Stripe flitten is ready to move the thumb stitches aside, so that's just about 50% done. I've also been able to get a few rows going on the "Rhinebeck2011" hat that my SnB is doing - it's fabulous!!

I am the sort of person who does well with structure and routine. I am very good at following the rules, until I get comfortable enough to bend them a bit (rarely do I actually break them - I am a goodie two shoes thru and thru). This week the Lorax starts her "school" so that forces a routine on our week and I am happy for it. Today was the first day and when I returned home I still had to mind the lil'nutmeg and Jackson, but I was able to get a few rows of knitting in, YAY! We're getting there!
Here's the Lorax on her first day of school:

I totally lied to her and told her I wasn't taking her picture to get this shot. You wouldn't know it from her expression, but she was excited to go and I think she had a good time, though she doesn't have too much to say about it.

The rest look like some blurry version of this:

Nate was ready though maybe a bit bored!

Priorities & Perspective

2011-09-04T14:25:00.003-04:00

It has been the longest week of my life I think, but I am trying to keep perspective. Thanks to "Irene" we lost power 4am on Sunday, August 28. Power was finally restored on Friday evening, September 2. 6 days without power, without running water, with a very active 3.5yr old and a 2 week old. We were just getting a feel for the new normal, and then everything changed again. Another week has gone by and things are going to change again - the Lorax starts school this week (a multi-day / mornings only program for 4year olds) and Dan returns to work full time.

We made out pretty well all things considered. One tree went down in our yard but there really was no damage to our property or our neighbors. The Lorax showed Dan how to chop the tree and requested he make her a stump to sit on (no luck with that when you have an uprooted tree)

We have heard from friends who have to deal with flooding damage and the child of another friend is facing serious medical issues. Sigh. I would love to be knitting but haven't figured out how to balance that in just yet - it's coming, I know. Maybe this week... like everyone else we had to ditch just about all the food in our fridge / freezer - going to the grocery store today to restock and meal plan makes me feel like we have some sense of "normal" back, a little grip of control over the day, even though it is still variable.

In the meantime, I am enjoying looking at these cute little faces:

Tinkerbell Slippers

2011-08-27T17:36:00.003-04:00

The Lorax is into the Disney Princesses big time, but a few weeks back we found a Tinkerbell movie at the library, and now we are experiencing a little bit of a fairy phase. We have indulged in the other Tinkerbell movies as well - they are cute stories (though full of plot holes), I like that the fairies actually *do* something practical / useful, and they are not overly saccharine or obnoxious. I think part of me also has a fondness for the fairies - I like the stories about them being trouble makers (remember in Labyrinth when the fairy bites Sarah?!). And in theatre / drama club in high school we always made sure to have a little fairy dust in our shoe before a show. Anyway, Lorelai spotted a pair of tinkerbell slippers at some big box store - lucky for us she's pretty good about just looking, and then "putting it on her wishlist" for her birthday or settling to tell Daddy or Grandma that she would like to have them.

Dan was making a trip to the big box store and we had talked about buying her those slippers as a special treat, but as luck would have it they were sold out. I do not know why it didn't dawn on me earlier, but shoot - I could just knit them! How hard could that be? Not very - a quick search on ravelry led me to the Little Stay On Slippers perfectly sized already for wee feet. I dove into the stash for some lime green cotton yarn, some white yarn and the pom pom maker - and voila!

They went on her feet as soon as they were finished :) Success!

Coronation

2011-08-25T11:35:00.002-04:00

Before I had kids (!! kids, I have kids!) I used to think that 3 or 4 was a nice number of kids to have - in my family I am the oldest of 3, my dad is the oldest of 4 and my mom is the oldest of 7. Now? I'm good with two and I have no idea how my mom, my Gram or my Nana made it work. Obviously they did and it was all well and good, but it's mind boggling to me now, especially as we try to figure out this new normal with the Lorax. Maybe it's the little moments like this that get you over the humps...

~~Our~~ My sleep schedule is still pretty messed up, so when there is down time I am trying to lay low. My fingers are getting itchy to make things again - and it feels like I am constantly in motion - rocking, swaying, walking - when I sit still I still feel like I'm moving. Generally I am not a fidgety person. Even now as I write this my knee is swaying back and forth. I do think this is in part to my lack of knitting. Usually my hands are busy! I am really glad that I have been practicing crochet because that is easy enough for me to pick up / put down and then I have the satisfaction of having made something.

I made this little crown - using a random ball from the stash, in the P-newborn size it works up quickly and just fits.

The Lorax was very interested in it as well - and has requested a Tinkerbell Crown (Nevermind that Tink does not wear a crown. She has been pretending to put on / take off a "Morning Crown" and a "Sleeping Crown" whatever those are) Lucky for me, the pattern does go up to a size that should work for her. This was great practice.

I have started a quicky project for the Lorax that I hope to share in the next day or so - it feels so good to get those stitches in each day!

Arr!

2011-08-24T14:46:00.002-04:00

Hurricane Season is upon us - apparently, we might even feel some of Hurricane Irene this weekend! One of the last things I did before having a baby last week (it was already last week! time seems to have stopped and yet sped up simultaneously.) was send off a knit gift. My uncle, of the knit kidney, left New England last year for the warmer shores of the Caribbean and opened up St.Johnimals, a pet outfitter. He is missed terribly and I wanted to knit him something else, but really, a) How do you follow up on a kidney? and b) What do you knit for someone who now lives the island life?

A Pirate Turtle - for a safe Hurricane Season and to keep the pirates at bay!

Sheldon needed a swig before his trip. My "Pyrate Speak" mug came from my trip to Virgin Gorda (which is a British Virgin Island, St. John is an American Virgin Island).

To quote one of my favorite lines from "Pirates of the Caribbean" - "Why is the rum gone?"

Yarn Along - August 17

2011-08-19T16:52:00.002-04:00

The "Better Late than Never!" Edition - of course I had to do this when I realized it was Wednesday, but couldn't blog it until now.

~From small things
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.

So, on Tuesday (you know, While I Waited) I had an appointment to check amniotic fluid levels - turned out that the tech could only find one pocket of fluid to check, and that level was low enough to send me over to the hospital that afternoon. In a manner that was strikingly similar to the situation with Lorelai, they broke my water around 8, and by 10-ish things were really progressing enough that there was no time for the epidural I wanted, and Ta-DAH! 10:36pm, the lil'nutmeg Nathaniel Thomas was here! . It is still so very surreal - I can't believe I have had another baby. I can't believe we're already back home. I can't believe how similar this one is to Lorelai - he's slightly smaller than she was (7.9lbs, 19.6 inches), but the head full of hair really seals the deal I think.

It seems a bit crazier to be home this time around - Jackson is constantly on guard / edge, and Lorelai is still full of endless energy. She's getting to indulge in extra tv time this week that's for sure. But all is well so far - we could all use more sleep, but we're healthy and happy, so we just take one thing at a time.

Back to the yarn along-ing. I did bring hexipuffs to my ultrasound appointment, but I didn't work on them because I thought for sure I would drop the little balls of yarn and they would roll away. Instead I worked on a sock, but that wasn't the greatest idea either - I realized that I would have to try on the sock at some point to know where to decrease for the toe and I couldn't exactly reach my toes then. Oh well, live and learn.

While I wait

2011-08-16T08:50:00.003-04:00

Trying to keep myself occupied and distracted (without being too grumpy or antsy) this week as I continue to play the waiting game with the lil'nutmeg and the hospital. Thank goodness for knitting! I'm still working away on the hexipuffs:

And have also sent off a bunch of mini-skeins for a swap - I am really looking forward to getting the chance to try out some new yarns this way!

Over the weekend I finished the last of my WIPs! Well, the active more short-term ones - if you look at my Ravelry project page there are several WIPs, but most now are in hibernation. I am choosing to ignore the "Neon Nightmare" and the "Beekeeper's Quilt" as those are truly long term projects, though they are active. This most recent WIP is a gift and has been shipped off to the recipient. Once I know it has been received then I'll be able to blog about it.

This is a very strange feeling to have my needles "empty" for the most part - no deadline knitting (hoping to pick up testing / sample knitting again in September), a closet full of yarn, a ravelry queue that is ~30 pages (?!) - one could get lost in options and my decision making lately has already mostly fallen into the general "Meh, whatever" category. I did decide to go with another project that has been on my mind lately - Andrea's Mitts. These slightly cooler days must have me thinking for fall, so I pulled out some Rhinebeck yarn ( silver Delly's Delights Farm O-So-Soft) and a purple yarn which sadly lost it's tag (I think I got it in a swap, can't find it in the blog, phooey). These might end up a Christmas gift, or I might keep them, right now I'm 50/50.

I started yesterday and am increasing the thumb gusset now. I am surprised as how quick these are working up. So far so good I am enjoying them and I know I have plenty of yarn to make another pair after this if I am so inclined (grey + pink, maybe reversing the purple + grey combo too).

Pondering

2011-08-12T14:48:00.002-04:00

Amy, of thingswemake, posted some really interesting points to ponder last week. I found that I kept thinking about them, so I sent her a rambling email with my point of view on things. Her post on Thursday quoted me! :) I wanted to share the blog-love and suggest it if you need something to ponder or are looking for inspiration (she does a fantastic job finding indie / handmade art, sharing recipes, and her wedding photos are adorable!)

This moment. Squee!

2011-08-12T08:09:00.002-04:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Bit by bit

2011-08-10T11:55:00.004-04:00

So it is Wednesday, a day for Yarn Along, and pretty much all I am reading this past week is Lorelai's books and the blogs. My attention span is quite possibly the lowest it has ever been - actually what I have been "reading" the most is to keep my computer next to me while I knit and I can keep an eye on the Ravelry Radar. I started a new project as well - a very long-term project, without any sort of goal at this point in time, and no specific deadline - this is a selfish project for me, The Beekeeper's Quilt. When I first saw it on Ravelry I thought it was cute and clever - especially because it uses sock yarn leftovers! I have a basket full of sock leftovers and sock minis that have made their way into my stash either through trades or swaps or whatever.

I decided to ignore the fact that I am already working on a blanket (the Neon Nightmare) for me and just recognize that I could not stop thinking about this project. I have a lot of sock scraps, I am expecting a new baby any day now and between that and my 3.5 yr old daughter I think I need to have a more portable project for snuggling / waiting in the car / etc, just to keep the knitting going. I've been at it for about a week, and my word, these are addictive little buggers to work up. I can't quite tell if it the addictiveness is due to being able to make a hexipuff in ~45minutes (more or less depending on the amount of distractions going on), the thrill of getting to see the different color changes in the sock yarns work up, or the ease of having such a portable project.

I think I have about 11 done in the last week. For now I'm just keeping them in a clear glass vase on the mantle. I have also been going back through the sock scraps and pulling out some for my own use, some for trade / swap. It is a lot of fun to work with some familiar yarns again, and I look forward to swaps and trades to get exposure to new-to-me-yarns as well.

I am going for a very scrappy look, though I can see how easy it would be to get ultra obsessed and create a picture / pattern with these. The estimates for size run from ~1000 hexipuffs for a bed-size blanket to several hundred for a lapghan / baby size. Right now I'm not sure where I will end up. For now this is a great project and I'm loving it!

Made for Baby

2011-08-08T16:25:00.002-04:00

Last week at SnB, my fellow knitters provided a little celebration for LittleNutmeg! I was so surprised and am so flattered by their kindness and generosity! Wife,"Mom",Knitter took photos - if you click on through you'll see that I am making the same face in pretty much each one :) My little one is quite lucky to have "Knitting Aunts" that all wish him or her well! I mean absolutely NO disrespect to anyone else's knitting, and I do hope that the gals are not offended by my photos of their items with Jackson - but it is what I tend to do around here, and since there isn't any other appropriate sized little one around, he gets to model!

Wife,"Mom",Knitter blogged about the Funky Chicken she made - I've decided in it's Muppet-ness, this chicken is to be called "Camilla" (that was the name of the chicken who was Gonzo's main squeeze).

Denise has ensured the baby's coolness with a pair of Baby Converse!

Costumechick worked up a stunning bamboo lace shawl / blanket that I look forward to snuggling under when it cools down a bit (and as we continue to crank the AC) in one of my favorite shade of teal blue.

Lisa crocheted an "Under the Sea" blanket - I just love the colors in this and the detail - the turtle shell swirl, the octopus tentacles!

Archiknist knit a pair of baby legwarmers (these were on my to-do list, now I don't have to!) and matching hat!

I think Jackson approves - everything is snuggly!

FakeKnitter made a delicious cake that was such a sweet treat that night and for breakfast! Lorelai loved the frosting especially!

I am so honored to call these ladies my friends!

Yarn Along - Aug 3 Stripes!

2011-08-03T09:00:00.003-04:00

from small things

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.

I've been mostly trying to stay on top of the blog reading this past week, so that's my google reader page on the ipad. I am dreaming about starting new projects, but I am actually only working on two things. My Neon Nightmare, a massive granny stripe blanket - it is starting to get heavier and take up more space as I work on it. So far, I've got 28 rows done, about 11 inches, and I am planning to work this up to use up ALL the yarn that I have for each color. I do believe that when the cooler days and nights come this way (and they are coming!) I will look forward to working on this. This project is boosting my crochet confidence as well, so I am quite pleased. The red & white stripey thing is part of a surprise gift that I do not want to talk too much about - the recipient has swung by my blog once in a while.

I have another striped object to share - I finished the Rainbow Marley last week at SnB. I made myself finish the twirly bits on the top, and thanks to Costumechick for her input on the twirly bits - she suggested putting them together tassle-like (versus pinwheel style) and that seemed to work out just right.

Jackson, back at work.

Will you go away if I don't look at you?

Seriously kid, we're the original siblings - help me out and take this off my head.

Little things

2011-07-30T12:29:00.003-04:00

Officially now I am playing the waiting game. It is a game I have played before, I am usually a good sport about it (even though I hate to wait!), so I am trying to focus on little things in the here and now. There have been some fun things of which to make note.

Lorelai has started really writing her name - this came about all on her terms - she's been able to write an "L" for a while now, and she can identify all the right letters, but this week (maybe thanks to camp?) she's been putting her name on things!

She's also been asking for some yarn and knitting needles. Maybe I should make her her own little yarn stash.

I am slowly but surely improving on my crochet - I made this little pair of booties yesterday. One day - including distractions! I'm floored that it worked!! I would make these again, they are quite cute.

Of course I wanted a certain family member to model them.

And I was able to snap this photo before pushing him to far (apparently modeling booties is where Jackson draws the line) - I started to see a snarl develop...

The mail brought me a fun package today as well - yarn I earned for sample knitting -

Lorna's Laces "Solemate" in the Grand Island Ink and Shadow colorways. This is earmarked for a Woodsmoke Scarf for me, but I can't decide if I want the body to be solid colored and the lace to be variegated or vice versa (opinions welcomed!).

Yarn Along - July 27

2011-07-27T19:30:00.004-04:00

From Small Things

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.

Most of the States were under that "Heat Dome" since last week. The heat seemed to be mentioned in most of the knitting blogs I read. I am no exception - my knitting mojo is seriously slowing down. I've been looking at patterns and yarn wistfully with big ideas of working on something, but right now I just feel so "meh". Even my reading has suffered. I'm still reading "Moby Duck" but with words like obfuscatorily sprinkled in there, it is slow going as I refresh my memory on SAT words that were covered in high school english class. I think I'm on page 135 out of 348 - and I have been at this book since what, late June? For me that is ridiculously slow. Eh. So, here's my in-progress items for this week.

These were passed on to me from my folks - they get random magazines because the companies think my folks are a doctor's office (Dad is a Dr., but non-practicing). Yeah, so I have been scanning / reading the gossip magazines - these two issues are awful, so many of the same photos even! I am embarrassed, but owning it - that's all my brain can handle.

I did finish up the basic foundation of the Rainbow Marley and it's cute. Now, it's on to the topper thingies. Oy, I'm not loving them. I really feel like they should be going quicker than they are - it's taking me around 45 minutes to make each of those yip-yip-alien-looking things and apparently I also can't count to 18. Fiddly little details. I have two more to complete, then figure out how to put them together / on to the hat. Meh.

The other topic I keep reading about is "Sock Summit" - those who are going, those who aren't, and the Couldn't Foot It self-challenge. In a moment of heat induced insanity, I did consider doing this, but quickly came to my senses. By random chance (which means I found the pattern, found the needles and had a ball of yarn ready to go) I did start a sock - Tennarisukka

Is it possible to take a flattering photo of your feet with a sock in progress? At least I feel pretty good about my feet this week - I indulged in a pedicure while the Lorax was at her camp - the color is Pamplona Purple, I spotted it on Pinterest, found it at the salon, and the woman next to me liked it enough that she went with it as well. Back to the sock - anklets are really satisfying for sock knitting - 6 rows and the cuff was done, a few rows and then bam! start the heel! Gusset is done! Now I am on to the foot and will be there for a while.

I am planning to get out to SnB this week (YAY!!!) but I have no idea what I will work on. The sock? The rainbow twirly thingies? The Stand-Mixer-Cozy (which I thought I was all set on yarn, then I realized it is the wrong weight, so I need to find an alternative or swatch and do some math) - by the way, I spotted these mixers online and if I wasn't going to knit a cozy for mine, I would consider hand painting...

A more usual hat

2011-07-25T19:18:00.002-04:00

Last week's heat wave really had me a bit puzzled thinking about baby#2 - how to dress the little one? With the Lorax, who was born in November, I didn't really think twice about putting an extra layer / blanket / hat on her to keep her warm enough. This time around, I think I mostly plan on keeping the kid in a onesie for August. But, I still think hats are in order. I do have the the baby bucket hat ready but wanted something for maybe inside, just a little something. Babies need hats!

Anyway, I crocheted a Shell Stitch Beanie using yarn that was leftover from the Lorax's Big Bad Baby Blanket and the Baby Bucket Hat.

I stuck a little hair clip to the back of the flower, so it can be on the hat or not.

Allow Jackson to model.

It's quite cute, worked up really quickly even for a novice crocheter like myself. And, best mark of a good pattern? I would make this again. I think it would work year round in any number of yarns.

So cloche, so far

2011-07-24T17:19:00.002-04:00

Still here, still pregnant. I did go off to Rhode Island for the night with the Lorax and my mom - it was really nice to get to hang out near the beach and even go out to dinner and show with a few of my aunts. One of my cousins babysat the Lorax while we were out and I am so pleased that went off without a hitch, given that only grandparents have watched her when we have gone out! Makes me feel a bit better about dropping her off for "camp" next week :)

I finished up the cloche last night... I don't think I'm going to bother with the ribbon inside the bottom band or bother to look for a big old button either.

meh. I think I may try tossing it in the wash and then lining it so it can be a bowl instead.

I tried it on Jackson as well, but he really was in no mood for a photo shoot. Most of my photos look like this:

Lorelai is actually a pretty good assistant - she sat next to Jackson and held the hat on his head.

And I think she may be a budding photographer as well - after we took pictures of Jackson she wanted to take pictures of Dan wearing the hat. Luckily, he is a better sport than Jackson:

Oh well. It's done and I can move on to other projects.

Yarn Along - July 20

2011-07-20T19:36:00.003-04:00

From Small Things -

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

"Moby Duck" has been put aside while I brush up on (My) "Pregnancy Week-by-week" - sure, it may be a little late in the game, but whatever. I read this book faithfully when I was pregnant with the Lorax and enjoyed it, as much as one could - several other popular pregnancy books only made me worry needlessly. I am trying to brush up about labor and delivery, and figure out what to put in my hospital bag. I've made good progress on the cloche though it has lost some steam - I am at the decrease section and need to pay attention a bit more carefully. I have also reached the decrease section for the Rainbow Marley baby hat.

Like most of the states, it is plenty hot here. And humid. Today the Lorax and I did venture out to the beach - there was supposed to be an informal playgroup with other kids who will be in camp / "school" with her in the fall, but I am not sure if anyone else showed up. I didn't see anyone I recognized, nor did I spot anyone who looked like they were looking for others. Oh well, we had a good time. Like her mama, the Lorax loves the beach - I haven't been to the beach since 2001 or so when I brought my Japanese grad school roommate to see it. As a kid we spent days at the beach and it was a blast!

Seriously, she had a good time. This was a forced break to have some water and a snack! We were there in the morning, from 10:30 to just before noon, so I think our timing was good too. I would like to take her again - but it's likely not to happen until next summer.

I found a great recipe on Pinterest (if you haven't joined it yet, do it for the recipes and food stuff - I have yet to be let down by anything I have found there!) - Blueberry Pie Ice Cream - I made a batch with some local blueberries and my word, I could eat the whole thing myself. So yummy, and easy - if you have an ice cream maker and are in need of new inspiration, give that one a try!! Speaking of which, I think it's probably ice cream o'clock right about now!

Perhaps I jinxed myself

2011-07-19T08:47:00.003-04:00

Off and on, for a while now I have been working on a Baby-squared-for-my-baby-blanket. Last Saturday night, I cast off. Jokingly, I said to Dan, "Ok, the baby can come now - the blanket is done!" I wove in the ends last night and was tempted to leave one end unwoven just so it would not be completely finished... (I didn't finish Lorelai's blanket until after she arrived!)

I've even got a bucket hat done too. And then on Sunday we finished putting together the dresser / changing table. This week I have a long list of things to do to finish getting ready (laundry, cleaning, sorting, nesting type things, packing a hospital bag, picking up some diapers and wipes, etc). The car seats are in the cars, the crib is made, we're making good progress. Possibly too good. At my doctor's check up yesterday I found out (to my surprise and hers) that I have already begun to dilate at 36 weeks! And it is enough to cause my immediate family to start looking at me funny.

I feel fine, everything else is fine. Just this one number is interesting. I am supposed to take the Lorax with me to RI on Thursday to visit with my mom and grandmother and spend the night - so now I am waiting on the nurse to call me back to let me know if I can go or if I am better off to stay at home. I missed knitting last week due to a family birthday dinner, not sure what will happen this week. I am happy that this likely means that the baby won't be late like the Lorax was, but at the same time, stay in there and finish cooking baby!!

So, today I am trying to get as much crossed off the to-do list as I can. I did start another baby project, but as it is another hat it will be done quickly - a Rainbow Marley from the Itty Bitty Hats book.

I am very thankful for air conditioning in this heat - hope you are all staying cool and comfortable!

Yarn Along - July 13

2011-07-13T15:33:00.002-04:00

From small things

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.

A wildly colored photo this week. I'm still reading Moby Duck and still working on the baby squared blanket for baby#2. I am getting close - I've eyeballed off what I hope is enough yardage for the border and plan to knit until I get there. I am not sure why, but this version feels like it is turning out a lot longer than the last one I made. I am using the same yarn, Plymouth Encore Colorspun Worsted as before, so I think it is just a knitting illusion. No worries though, it is such a great pattern, and I really think that knitting a car-seat / stroller size is perfect. I am even thinking about working one up, slightly larger, for the Lorax - though, as she doesn't wear things I've knit, she also doesn't use the baby blanket I knit for her either. On top of Moby Duck is a new hat for me. I am working on a Sprial Tweed Cloche from Knitting 24/7 by Veronik Avery, one of my favorite designers. I do have it on dpns now, but have dug out the circular because I am finding I do not really like dpns for this many stitches at this weight. It is a good pick up and put down project.

If you are just popping by the blog for the "Yarn Along" - last week I was still working on my Juneblueberry Triangle - and as of Sunday it was all done, ends woven in and blocked! I posted about it here.

And just because this makes me giggle - the Lorax has been getting much better at her drawings - apparently she loves using all mediums which is fun - today I didn't even know she was working on this piece, a very identifiable ink drawing - a pregnant me!

Sure, I think I've gotten a little rounder in the face, I can't really see my feet too well, but I know they haven't swelled, and my hips have widened to make room for the baby. Not sure where my arms are - possibly crossed across me (and the boobs?). And yes, that's the face I make most days :)

JuneBlueBerry Triangle - finished!!

2011-07-11T14:26:00.003-04:00

I am so excited that I have finished this particular project - makes me wish it was colder so I could put it to use! Presenting, Juneberry Triangle by Jared Flood, knit in less than 3 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in the Periwinkle colorway.

I still hate bobbles, but I am glad I included a few of them. Certainly this would look nice with a little bit of sparkle / beads in place of the bobbles.

When I showed it to Dan, his first response was "That has a lot of holes. Is it really going to be warm?" I told him he'd be surprised - and will be jealous of me come winter!

Portrait

2011-07-08T08:18:00.001-04:00

photo.JPG, a photo by nutmegknitter on Flickr.

This week the Lorax has really taken to her crayons and paper - she has drawn a thunderstorm, flowers, garden and then today she gave me this picture of me. It's morning, so I am wearing my glasses. And those circles in the middle? The baby. Awww.

Yarn Along - July 6

2011-07-06T14:13:00.002-04:00

From small things:

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

I finished Unbroken (on July 4th, appropriately) - Holy cow, what a life, what a story. I admit that WWII / historical anything is not my genre of choice, but this book was incredible - it was riveting right from the beginning. All the events described somehow manage to continue to top each other. Put it on your "Must Read" list!!

I started Moby-duck The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools. It's interesting so far, but not as riveting as "Unbroken" - maybe because I find it to be much wordier. It is written by an English teacher, so part of me feels it is being wordy just for the sake of being wordy. I am halfway through the border on my "JuneBlueBerry" Triangle. I need to wind up another skein of Malabrigo. Now that I have gotten the hang of the border chart it is not too bad and it does move quickly, but I have to be able to pay some attention to what I am doing. It is not the best project to have out while you also have a very active 3.5 year old who is big into the "Look at me! No, you didn't look - turn your head, mommy, stop knitting!" sort of phase.

I had ordered a few other books and now that they are all here I am enjoying flipping through them and considering my next selfish knitting projects. These include: Brave New Knits - Foxgloves, Hydrangea Neckwarmer, Lenina, & Woodsmoke Scarf; Knitting 24-7 - just about everything in here I want to knit, but am thinking I'll try the Spiral Tweed Cloche first as I have the yarn called for in the pattern; New England Knits - gorgeous book, again, I want to knit just about everything, but Montague Bulky Lace Vest will probably be first.

I am still working on the baby-squared-for-my-baby blanket, and Sheldon's outfit has not been touched, and there is the acrylic Neon Nightmare. The blanket is actually not a bad one to work on in the backyard while the lorax plays about - acrylic yarn, no chart, crochet is super easy to pick up / put down as needed - so it's good to have as a (forever) on-going project. Even with all that I am getting the itch to start something new. And relatively quick to finish. And of course I can't decide what I want to work on and the weather is getting hot and humid - it hasn't been as bad as predicted or as it could be, it is more that I have trouble cooling down - it's hard to eat a snow cone and knit at the same time! I am pretty sure I will join WifeMomKnitter in making a Stand Mixer Outfit because why not? And I have dug two big skeins of acrylic in a cream / green from the stash that I think would work in my kitchen. My husband would love for the stand mixer to be anywhere else but the counter but it is actually holding the backsplash in place (the glue or whatever has come undone), so maybe a cover is the way to go.

On the house & In the Mail

2011-06-28T14:58:00.003-04:00

Today I spotted something special on the house when I was giving Jackson a bathroom break -

Up there, on the roof - a hawk!

We frequently see them flying around, this is the first one I've spotted on the roof!

After that surprise, there was a surprise in my mailbox as well.

A pattern booklet, Simplicity Volume 2 - Women's. I had almost forgotten about this job - I test / sample knit a sweater for it with Simplicity HiKoo yarn.

I knit the blue one in the middle. It was a fun knit and the end result was cute - I was able to fit the Medium size, and I knit the one with 3/4 sleeves (this was back in Novemeber, 2010)

I am glad I can finally share that project!

Shop Hop

2011-06-24T15:41:00.004-04:00

I have done informal yarn crawls and today I participated in my second "official" yarn crawl, the I-91 Shop Hop that covers 3 states! My in-laws were kind to take the Lorax for a bit, so I just popped around Connecticut - I went to a LYS, a nearby LYS, a new shop and a shop I haven't been to in years. On the whole I enjoyed it, and I do hope that it turns into an annual event, and that in future years some things are done differently.
A neat feature, when you bought your passport (a booklet that had info on each shop and directions) you also got a tote for your purchases! (Thanks to Jennsquared - I bought her passport since she couldn't go!)

Cute!
A group shot of my goodies:

My first stop was up to Village Wool which was a new find for me. A very sweet shop, nice selection. I was pleased to be able to indulge in some Madelinetosh Tosh Sock and Be Sweet "Bambino Taffy" and some silly knitting cards that I think I will frame.

The next stop was at a shop I haven't been in years. Unfortunately when I stepped in I remembered why - it is a very cluttered shop, and while I appreciate that there are labels of the yarn and prices - most things were shuffled around and not near their labels or were incorrectly priced! The owner also seemed tired and somewhat annoyed but at the same time, gossipy - I had noticed one beautiful scarf and was about to ask where the yarn was when she came over to me and mentioned that she didn't carry that yarn as it was $66. Ok fine. Then she continues, "But you get what you pay for" - well duh, that's part of why the yarn / object was so gorgeous. She had a lot of lower priced yarns (and inexpensive yarn on clearance), but I did notice a few skeins there priced for $80, so I really don't think that a $66 skein would have trouble there. Anyway, I do want to support my local shops, so I picked up some Kollage "Glisten" yarn in red, with some sparkle - I think that will become a Koolhaas hat for me. I was short on time so did not make a big deal, but when I was rang up the price was more than I calculated in my head - I think the price I read on the label was her cost not retail. Sigh. It's fine, but I know I will not be returning to that shop.

I haven't been to Knit New Haven since I took a class there last year, but I am glad I made a stop today - it's a very sweet shop - nicely organized, well lit, friendly staff. I had trouble focusing on a yarn, so I went with a new mug and some stitch markers. Those herdy mugs are so cute!

And last, I made it to my LYS, The Yarn Basket - again I had trouble deciding on a yarn, so I picked up Whimsical Little Knits 2 by Ysolda.

At each shop you could enter your name for a daily drawing; it would be nice to win something! In the future I would love to see the shops do sales to coincide with the yarn crawl - sure there were clearance items (my impression is that they were there before the crawl and would be there after), but a little extra incentive is always nice (and just buying yarn before it is taxed is not an incentive, in my opinion). Also, I get the idea behind the yarn hop where if you make it to all the participating stores you get entered in a drawing for a prize worth more than $1,000 - cool, but for people like me, I can't do that. Maybe I am being selfish with my entry in just the daily drawing... why not turn in my passport at my last stop and be entered for one more prize? Or an extra daily drawing entry?

This was a nice little treat on a Friday - probably the last of my yarn shopping until Rhinebeck. I am expecting some books to arrive next week or the week after as I did online shopping at Interweave's Hurt Book sale and the KnitPicks Summer Reading sale too!

Strawberry Season

2011-06-23T09:22:00.000-04:00

Finally. We went strawberry picking last week and I am hoping to go again. The Lorax and I picked four pounds last week, and I am already missing them.

Many many berries were eaten just as berries. I made a batch of Strawberry Vanilla Jam in those cute little jars - and used my hot water canner that I got at Christmas. I think I may have not let the "jam" get hot enough before canning, because it is very runny - not that it is any less delicious! I have mixed it in with yogurt and it was so wonderfully sweet and sticky! I think I need to get some vanilla yogurt to have it on as well. And maybe try adding it to a glass of milk. Or on top of a cup of shaved ice snow cone. And make a batch of pancakes or waffles. If I do that, then I also could use the Strawberry butter that I made - this is wonderful on bagels, english muffins, toast... I also eeked out a small batch of freezer jam. I really want to try the Strawberry Cake
The weather is looking iffy, so maybe instead we will just go to Bishop's and buy them.

Yarn Along

2011-06-22T08:06:00.002-04:00

Yarn Along: ~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.

It has turned into a good week for books! My birthday was on Monday (Hello 33! It was calm and peaceful and relatively quiet, which hopefully will set the tone for the next year.) and my brother-in-law & parents gifted me several books from my wishlist. And then I also borrowed books from fellow knitters. I am now reading 4 books and working on 4 projects. Having multiple projects going is nothing new, but generally speaking I tend to be a monogamous reader.

Here's what I am reading:

Cherries In Winter by Suzan Colon - lent to me by WifeMomKnitter. I am only a few pages in but already in love with this book due to this:

Why do we have all this stuff? The answer is simple: It's because I can't bear to part with anything that belonged to my family.

So true. On top of the book pile you can see a Sheldon - he is going to be a gift, so I do not want to say too much because the recipient has on occasion swung by the blog. His costume is in progress and I think it will be adorable!

Bossypants by Tina Fey - I had to start this one right away, I was so excited to get it as a gift! I keep hearing such great things about it. I am finding it hysterical - enough so that it makes me laugh out loud thus disturbing Dan (I mostly read at night before bed). His complaint is that no book can be that funny. He is also a reader but tends to stick with the likes of World War II and Chuck Palahniuk, so of course those are not laugh out loud. So, I started Unbroken (a WWII story) - what a life this guy had - very engaging.

My "JuneBlueBerry Triangle" is coming along nicely - I am on to Chart D. I had intended to leave out the bobbles when I started, but decided that they would add to the "berry"-ness, so I went with them... and, I hate bobbles. So I did 3 rows with bobbles, skipped next set of bobbles, and have decided to do the next set for a balanced look. I hate bobbles. This seals the deal. Seriously. No more bobbles, ever!

Our Best Bites cookbook, from the website of the same name, is making me drool! I have made several recipes from the website and they have all been fantastic! This tortellini bake was awesome and I will make this teriyaki sauce again soon! Right now my grocery list for the next week has a lot of ingredients to make several items from the book!

I am just about halfway through with a Babysquared blanket for baby #2. I'm using Encore Colorspun Worsted (same yarn as for my cousin's blanket) - it's a green mainly with bits of purple-yellow-light red-light blue with it.

I've also completed one section of all the colors in my "Neon Nightmare" crochet blanket:

I am in no rush whatsoever to finish that project, but I do like how I can be working on a blanket and can hold it so it is not all on my lap, as happens with larger knitting projects. Maybe that will change once it is bigger, but for now all is good.

Spoon-man

2011-06-17T13:44:00.003-04:00

I come from a long line of coffee drinkers and love the daily routine of having that first cup in the morning. I do like my coffee regular and being on the East Coast, that means cream & sugar. I have never been big on stirring my coffee, unless I'm out at a diner. Growing up I do not remember seeing either of my parents stir their coffee (or tea) after adding anything to it.

My husband is a different story - he wants to prevent any sort of sugar sludge, even though he doesn't put enough in to create the sugar sludge. Every morning, this is seen in my kitchen.

Frequently there is also a paper towel folded up underneath. I can appreciate the paper towel underneath to catch the one or two drops of coffee from the spoon, but really? It is wasteful. Without it though, that glass cutting board / work area catches the drips and it is a pain in the neck to clean. Seriously - I happened to notice it one day and tried to clean it and ended up breaking out the baking soda and elbow grease and was at it for 15 minutes! Ick. What is a knitter to do? Make a coaster.

Super quick and the pattern is one of many found here. I have started another one to have a back up, and I may do one more in a non-bumpy cotton yarn, just because I am sure I have scraps to use up.

Now the trick will be to remember to use it!

Yarn Along

2011-06-15T13:36:00.003-04:00

From Ginny (and long have I followed fellow bloggers doing it!) - ~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

I think I may have found my reading mojo again. Thanks to Wife,Mom,Knitter - she is the one who lent me The Murderer's Daughters. This book so far has been just right for a summer read. The story is narrated by each of the two sisters from the beginning when their father kills their mother, and continues over their experiences over the next 30 years. Very interesting; and the story really sticks with you. I am about 40 pages from the end and am quite curious as to how it will all be wrapped up.

I've been enjoying working on the Juneberry Triangle in Malabrigo (Periwinkle) - charts A through C moved along quite quickly. Now on Chart D, there are bobbles. I am not a fan of bobbles at all and thought about leaving them out of this pattern, but decided in the end they do contribute the "berry" aspect of the pattern. They are not too terrible to work, but they do slow me down. Also this chart requires a bit more attention - I haven't been able to find the rhythm of the pattern yet. One stitch at a time, one row at a time, it will get there.

Photo update - color!

2011-06-14T13:55:00.003-04:00

TNNA happened over the weekend, so I can go ahead and share color photos of one the projects I knit up for it. Over on the Lorna's Laces blog the posts have been discussing the colorway names - interesting stuff! I have never been to Chicago, except for an airport layover, but hope to someday! I am anxious to read about the colors I used in the Brick House shawl sample, "Grant Park" and "Watercolor" in the new "Solemate" yarn. According to the blog, "Solemate is a blend of 55% superwash merino, 15% nylon and 30% Outlast, a fiber that interacts with your body's microclimate to moderate temperature from being too hot or too cold." Nifty!

I need to practice taking photos of shawls, I am always stumped with styling - and I can't hand the camera over to the Lorax or Jackson either. I have played around with the self timer but maybe I should look into investing in a remote. I expect that I will get more practice soon - I have started my "Juneblueberry triangle" and have already finished 2 of the 5 charts. Gotta love a shawl knit in a worsted weight yarn!

Put on your "big girl" pants!

2011-06-09T07:40:00.006-04:00

I'm pleased to say (quietly for fear of jinxing things, though in my heart I am shouting from the rooftops) we have tackled the potty training issue! Something clicked last Friday and since then it has been all systems go at home and out of the home and one emergency pit stop. The plus side of this going into action this late in the game (so it seems) is that she really is ready - and ready for prizes and praise and special treats, including nail polish on her fingers and toes, gum, and a Tinkerbell dress.

Who is this kid?

I decided that if the Lorax could do something so huge, so could I, so I have recently started (or prepped for)two projects that I have been thinking about for a long time but was hesitant to start.

I like to work from my stash but I have this desire now to actually make a visible dent in stash box. I pulled out the yarn I had put away deep in winter for a "I'll make that someday" project - Granny Stripes from Attic24. I have wanted to make a new blanket for our bed and this seemed like a fun idea. I had a lot of Caron Simply Soft already in the stash and was able to swap for a few other colors through Ravelry. I must have been thinking about summer in the dead of winter. These colors are not my normal color palette,

After the yellow, I have a limey green to use. I can't stop calling this project my Neon "Nightmare". I think I love it. This is a perfect auto-pilot project, and for now, not too heavy to cart around, easy enough to pick up and put down. I hope I am not too ambitious here. I keep reminding myself that my first knit project was a blanket, so for a first "big" crochet project, I have already been-there-done-that. Even if it does not end up on the bed, it should be a great blanket to have around kiddos and a dog and the thrills and spills of everyday life around here.

My second project I am going to dive in on is Juneberry Triangle. I originally intended to work this up in a gorgeous fingering weight yarn I bought at the Knitters Review Retreat, but as I thought about it, I decided I would check the stash for something closer to what the pattern recommends. My next choice was to use a true-to-its-name alpaca (named "Oh so soft" by Delly's delight) that I bought at Rhinebeck. As I wound it into cakes, the fuzz factor got to me and made me think twice about using that one as well. Back to the stash. The pattern is also worked up in a large size with worsted weight - and I have enough Malabrigo!! Score.

I do have the St.Denis booklet, but decided to purchase the individual pattern as well. As a lefty my stitches go in the opposite direction, so I find it easiest to have any chart printed in a mirror image. I also go back and color code the stitches. Just need to wind up the yarn and I will be all set!

The air conditioning is already on today in anticipation of hazy, hot and humid weather, so these projects will work out just fine for now. I will be picking up the cotton yarns soon (one for a test knit) and returning to the socks!

This Moment. Rewarded.

2011-06-03T11:15:00.002-04:00

From SouleMama: {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Serendipity hat

2011-06-03T10:21:00.004-04:00

The weather is warming up and being just all kinds of gorgeous, which I can appreciate even as I suffer from seasonal allergies (for whatever reason, this time around my eyes are killing me! Itchy, watery, can't wear my contacts!). I was gifted the Serendipity pattern (by Brandy Fortune, of pixiepurls.com)recently and in less than a day I have a new finished object! No time like the present to get a jump on winter! Plus, it has been freezing at SnB, so working on wool while in air conditioning works just fine.

I used one ball of Rowan Country in a colorway that is described on yarndex as red-red-orange. I think it is a great multi-colored / gender-neutral colorway. I made the infant size, which is slightly larger than my iphone.

Jackson was less than thrilled to model it for me, as expected.

"help"

2011-06-02T13:40:00.002-04:00

It's not child labor, it's an age-appropriate-developmental-sorting-activity. And at the very least occupies her attention for 4 minutes.

I hope she's still happy to have this chore years from now. I have been emptying the dishwasher for as long as I can remember. Seriously. Here's proof, circa 1981 or so.

Certainly I was also in a "paparazzi avoidance" phase here, I am sure I was thrilled to help out at Nana's!

My Needles are Free!

2011-06-01T19:55:00.002-04:00

Two projects that have been are the needles are now on their way to their respective homes before going on to a display adventure at TNNA next week. Life happens and as it happened working on these projects overlapped, so they were completed and shipped out within days of each other. One item is still under wraps as it is in a new yarn and a new pattern from y2knit.net. The second item was for Lorna's Laces to showcase a new yarn and new colors, a shawl, Brick House by Laura Nelkin. Once I got going and established the pattern I really enjoyed the knitting. It is the type of project that requires you to notice the row you are on, but is good for semi-auto-pilot knitting. I do not want to ruin the fun of seeing these beauties in person at TNNA, so for now here is a black and white photo of the shawl:

I am looking forward to getting some baby projects knit, maybe a Christmas gift or two done, and some selfish projects at least started.

Almost exactly one year ago I was dealing with girly pink princess flip flops. Hello, full circle:

Those would be princess shoes. Snow White, red sparkle heels with a sparkly blue bow and a picture of Snow White on the bow.

Someone has gotten quite picky about the local paparazzi, so I have to be sly with my photo taking. The shoes were a reward for a successful potty moment. We will take anything we can get, so, no matter how small, we praised it to no end and gave her the prize. We are still quite far from being done of course, but it is getting ever-so-slightly better. Baby steps, little acorns = big oaks, etc, etc.

Over the weekend I made this Strawberry Yogurt Cake. If, like me, you have given in to the temptation of strawberries in the grocery store, give this recipe a go. The strawberries I bought recently were ok, but having come from California they just aren't the same as local ones. They look juicy and red, but once you cut into them the flesh is still white in the middle. The cake had strawberry flavor with just the right amount of sweetness. I can only imagine how good this would be with local berries. I also tried a Popsicle "recipe" along the lines of this but I was not entirely impressed. They are almost too sweet (which is really saying something if you know my sweet tooth!) and I think I should have let them set a bit before putting the sticks in because when I went to share I pulled the sticks right out, no pop! Oh well, the weather is just heating up - there is plenty of time to try something else.

The knitting is still hush hush.

2011-05-25T08:21:00.007-04:00

Instead I will share a few tales from my kitchen. My dad's birthday was yesterday and I invited my parents over for dinner. The birthday guy's request? Spaghetti & Meatballs, Chocolate Cream Pie - I swear, my dad is the easiest guy to please sometimes. I broke out my Bittman bible and made a batch of meatballs. I am not Italian, but I feel like a stereotypical Italian grandma when I make that recipe! Also in Bittman was a recipe for Cream Pie, variation Chocolate. Perfect. The recipe did involve separating several eggs, not my favorite kitchen task, but I remembered that I had a special gift. Have you ever seen a Boogerboy Boris? My uncle sent one back with my parents for the Lorax and me when they visited him a while back.

First thought? My goodness this is GROSS! (I've been allergy attacked this past week, thank you pollen!) Second thought? Holy chickens it actually works! I ended up with a dessert that looked like Chocolate Cream Pie, tasted like Chocolate Cream Pie, and my dad was happy, so, success! I also made a batch of peanut butter cup bars - fair warning, make these if you are having company over to help you eat them! I am sure to eat more than my fair share of these - they are excellent! Even Dan, who likes a peanut butter cup now and then but isn't wild about them like I am, commented on how good they are! And easy - a bit of stovetop work and then into the fridge! That's a lot of exclamation points. I mean each and every one.

The weather seems to have taken a turn for the better (thank goodness!) and I currently have Popsicles on the brain - there are so many cute molds! I had two sets of the basic shape, but one cracked, so I am looking into getting something new. Maybe ice cream cones or stars. The Lorax has found a love of popsicles as well, so I am hoping to have more success in making our own instead of buying them, especially now that we are on the cusp of fruit season here.

Back to the knitting, the deadline is near!!

I really wanted to blog

2011-05-19T09:20:00.003-04:00

Yet, there's not a whole lot I can say. I'm still working on two "hired knitting" jobs that I am expected to keep under wraps until June. I am enjoying both of them and each are at or just past the halfway point, so yay on that.

We've been working on using the potty with the Lorax. If you know this kid you know she is smart and on target for all developmental milestones and whatnot. She is a good kid. I love her dearly. I have done my reading, I have asked around, I have observed my kid - we are dealing with a power struggle / mental block or fear and just have to wait it out. Oy. If it weren't for this I would have nothing to complain about. And yet, here it is. I really don't want to go into too many details here on the blog as certainly I have embarrassed my kid enough (and will continue to do so, it's my blog) and I want to keep it classy-ish, and not turn it into a swear-laden-King's-Speech. Though once in a while that is probably good for the soul.

On to cheerier things - the blanket I knit for my cousin-to-be is in use! The baby was born on Sunday and today there was a cute photo of the wee one with the blanket!

Last night Dan surprised the Lorax and I with flowers - wasn't that sweet? It's been overcast and raining here all week - good weather to match our stinky moods!

Fun Mail and What Was She Thinking?

2011-05-11T08:23:00.004-04:00

Fun mail is fun! I received a swap package in the mail on Monday as part of a the "Chittery-Chattery-Swappity-Swappers: Partner Swap: Stuff that Envelope!". Each person was to stuff a 6x9 inch envelope for another person. Check out these great goodies I received from Happyteacher!

There's a great teal Erlenmeyer Flask dishcloth - I adore chemistry glassware! Dachshund goodies including a pin from DrellaJones, magnets from SillyDogMagnets.com (and they are wearing sweaters!), and a set of buttons. Candy, my weakness. Sharpie pens and post-it flag / highlighters. And the bird on the left? That opens up into a great reusable bag! Yay for happy swaps!

I am hoping to keep things low-key today - over the weekend, the Lorax was sick and goopy and now I am dealing with it. I am lucky in that the Lorax is able to entertain herself for a bit at times, but then I find things like this later on:

Not sure what she was thinking this was when she set it up in her room, those would be socks on individual tissues, bouncy balls on individual tissues and her new clock also on its own tissue. Funny thing about that clock - it can be set to light up green when it is ok to get up / come out of her room, as she has been coming in to our room at 5:30am, well, she was all excited to have a "Big Girl" thing in her room but she keeps putting it in the closet. Defeats the purpose in a way, but she has been staying in her room and when we go in to get her we all check the clock in the closet and find that it is green. So I guess it is working.

I can hear messes being made as I type this post (something was just dumped out all over the floor), here's hoping it is a quick clean up and we do more of this today instead!

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T13:18:00.002-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms - here and gone, moms to be, moms in waiting, moms of angels and moms of furbabies - I do wish you all a peaceful day! I have never been one to shy away from a challenge or something that is hard, and being a mom has certainly pushed me to limits I never thought possible. Certainly there are more in store as well.

Yesterday we attended a First Communion for a family friend and it was fun to get dressed up:

Today has been a rather low-key day, fine by me!

My plan is to continue on with being low key and getting some knitting done, no guilty feelings about it today either!

Squee! I got a package!

2011-04-28T14:54:00.004-04:00

I have been waiting on the mail delivery each day - I am expecting yarn for a sample knit and I am really looking forward to it. Frequently the mail truck can be heard idling at my mailbox and I assume that they must be getting out a package for me, even though most of the time it turns out that the mail-person is really just getting the street together. Anyway, each day this week there was something interesting in there, just not exactly what I was hoping for. On Monday it was potatoes, Tuesday it was a creatively packaged sample from vocalpoint, yesterday there were some catalogs and today the yarn for the sample knit (which I can't share just yet! New colorways!).

My mom brought me a package from my grandmother that was an unexpected surprise. My Gram's friend Ellie is a knitter, but is sorting out some of her things - she sent a bunch of pattern pamphlets to my gram and gram gave them to me because she doesn't knit anymore. There was a HUGE box of goodies - pattern pamphlets and books! Now I want to spend my afternoon on ravelry looking up these things!

I'm kind of intrigued by that Afghan Stitch book - tunisian stitch.

The Fleisher's Baby Book is from 1957!

See the shell sweater pattern in the upper left corner? That had a note attached to it - "Do not substitute any other yarn. I made 4 - sold one for $100 - they were absolutely beautiful." It's a 1986 pattern from Bernat - I think this is it on Ravelry! The yarn of course is discontinued. Sorry Ellie!

Love the hair do's. I am also now kicking myself for not picking up that bag of Blarney Spun Irish Yarn when I was in Ireland a few years ago - now I have a pattern book!!

Books, including an Alice Starmore one! Ooooh, challenge project!!!

And now that the new yarn is here I should get back to work on my other sample knit so I can get on to the winding and swatching for the next one!

And it is quiet again.

2011-04-25T11:38:00.002-04:00

We had family over yesterday to celebrate Easter - "a big party" according to Lorelai. All in all it went really well - there was a lot of really good food, good times with family, and Lorelai - well, she's just so excited about all of it. My brother and his girlfriend set up an egg hunt for her and she really enjoyed it - the weather turned out so nice - we were all able to get outside for a bit before it started to rain again. I managed to not take enough photos, but there are two I wanted to share - here's Lorelai in the midst of the egg hunt:

And here is me, 1981, same dress! Check out those chipmunk cheeks!

That green inflatable bunny was a favorite decoration - it was not a Sketchy Bunny. These days I tend to stick to peep bunnies :)

A few links to share that were used in some way for our Easter event.
The peep bunting I made was inspired by this tutorial from V and Co.
My brother and his girlfriend made these Cadbury "Deviled" Eggs - OMG, my new favorite way to eat a Cadbury egg (and I'm quite happy to have these leftovers!)
Lorelai has been interested in the worms in the garden lately, so I made a dirt cake - she didn't eat a bite of it, but I think she liked the way it looked. My husband had never had dirt cake, and I think he was pleasantly surprised at how good it is! Of course it's good - you can't go wrong with oreos, pudding, cream cheese, sugar and cool whip!
This honey-lime fruit salad was fantastic - so simple - I will be making this again and again (why didn't I think to use canned pineapple / mandarin oranges before?)
These lemon roasted potatoes were light and delicious - I would make them again for a family event (or even a weeknight dinner! Dan's not big into potatoes - me I love them baked, mashed, smashed, fried, whatever... but he's coming around on the roasted method - so easy to switch out seasoning!)
I tried this broccoli-bacon salad for something different - it was ok.

Today is a total down day. The house is still rather clean, the laundry is running. I'm indulging the lorax in some tv and I'm knitting. Nice and quiet.

A little of this and that

2011-04-20T19:40:00.003-04:00

It's been something like 2 weeks since I posted! What's been going on?
Well, the Lorax started driving...

Ok, not really.

I finished a sweater, for real - for me! Iced by Carol Feller (one of my favorite designers). I wanted something cozy that I could wear around the house - something that I could toss on and not worry about any manner of baby / kid / dog / my own klutzyness goop getting on it. Also, I wanted something that I could wear now with a growing belly as well as in the fall while nursing. I am quite pleased with the result and have gotten in a lot of wear already.

For now I am going without buttons because it just doesn't make sense. The yarn is an acrylic yarn that I really really like, "Jarbo Duo" - it's squishy and warm and light. Love the shades of blue that showed up in this. This is probably not the most flattering sweater I could have made for my body type, but I wasn't looking for that.

I have also been sewing! I could not resist the kitchy call of a Peeps Bunting -

What have you been up to?

Two done!

2011-04-06T08:56:00.003-04:00

Last week I professed my love of Malabrigo. The picture I had included:

grew up into this:

Pattern: Chandra by Caryl Pierre
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky, "Cloudy Sky" - 2.7 skeins used to make the Large size.
I LOVE this shawl! When the knitting was done I immediately wrapped myself up under it and was smitten. Lightweight and warm. Almost makes me glad that there is a chill in the spring air so that I have a reason to wear this.

I stumbled across this little sun hat pattern last week too. A little stash diving led me to some Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton (bought when I was pregnant with the Lorax, originally intended to become a hat for her). I really am pleased with the end result - it worked up quick, is really soft and should be quite cute for a summer baby of unknown gender. Picture a cute baby under the hat instead of an antsy dachshund only giving me blurry photos.

Maybe Jackson needs a refresher in how to be a hat model.

Mash Up

2011-03-29T20:08:00.002-04:00

My husband wants to go see "Sucker Punch", big surprise there. "It's about girl power" he says - I say, "Go ahead and see it without me". I love a night out and I do miss going to the movies, but it has to be worth it these days. I don't think that movie would be worth it. I spotted this online today, and this, this I *would* go see. A mash up of all the Disney princess movies (and I even spy Alice in there!) and Sucker Punch. Enjoy!

Your knitting and crochet time. 2KCBWDAY7

2011-03-26T15:13:00.005-04:00

Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

With the exception of when I am driving in the car, I think I am constantly crafting or thinking about crafting. Specifically knitting, but occasionally other projects get some brain time. I get quite antsy if I am without my knitting. For me, knitting calms me down, keeps me focused and keeps my attitude in check. I knit while watching the Ravelry radar and hubs plays video games. I knit while watching crap tv. I knit in the car when I'm not driving. I knit while Lorelai is playing, eating, reading.

I do like to have a snack nearby - usually it is candy. I can quickly grab it at the end of a row or repeat and the crumb / grease factor is low.

My notions bag is always nearby, along with my iphone, and pencil / paper. Depending on the project I might have a reference book nearby. Frequently you will find Jackson in my lap as well, though that may have to change as sitting on the couches is becoming less comfortable.

I do love the portability of knitting, and again depending on the project, the pick-it-up-put-it-down-as-needed actions - even if I can only knit a few rows or a few stitches before I have to put it down again, progress can be seen. Speaking of progress, after I post this I have to get back to the swatch in progress. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Something to aspire to. 2KBCWDAY6

2011-03-26T15:11:00.003-04:00

Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make bu can admire the result of those that have.

The first projects that come to mind are serious lace. Especially those by Jared Flood, aka Brooklyn Tweed. I have had my eye on Bridgewater for a while, and I fell in love with Juneberry as well. I bought yarn for that one back in November - a lighter weight version. Maybe now that I feel I have a better handle on charts I may give them a go. The As You Wish shawl is inspired by "The Princess Bride" - I think this is one of those labor of love shawls - I would have to hang this up somewhere in my house as art when it was finished!

I have found myself lately thinking more and more about trying to participate in / complete the Knitting Guild Association's Masters Program. This would be awesome to add to my knitting resume and fun to "prove" myself as a talented / serious knitter to my family. Note, I am not saying that my family doesn't take my knitting seriously at all - they recognize my work, are supportive and appreciative. It figures though that now that I am seriously considering it, my time is going to be crunched with the arrival of baby #2. Still thinking about it though, because why not?

I would really like to knit a skirt. I have spotted several that I love - Lanesplitter, Claudia Evilla, Karisma 115-42, or Chelsea. I hesitate because I worry about piling and getting the fit right.

And these are on top of all the other items I have queued and planned. And I think most would require purchasing new yarn (except for some of the lace) - I am trying to be good about that. So, these ideas will be tucked away, though I am sure one of them will work its way to the forefront and I will be obsessed with it!

And now for something completely different. 2KCBWDAY5

2011-03-26T15:09:00.002-04:00

This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.

When in doubt, hand over the knitting to the kid. I am very interested to see how she creates a paper bag for her next project....

Edited to add, since it came up in the comments - she's not actually knitting, though wouldn't that be cool? She has just watched me knit since she was born. She will frequently take her sunglasses in the car and use the ends (the parts that go over your ears) and "knit" in the car.

Where are they now? 2KCBWDAY4

2011-03-26T15:08:00.003-04:00

Whatever happened to your __________?

Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

There are a lot of different aspects to look at when looking back at a knitting project and it can make for interesting blogging, as much of the time we blog about items recently completed, new and freshly completed. It is not so often that we look back at what has happened to these items after they have been around for a while.

How has one of your past knits lived up to wear. Maybe an item has become lost. Maybe you spent weeks knitting your giant-footed dad a pair of socks in bright pink and green stripes which the then ‘lost’. If you have knit items to donate to a good cause, you could reflect on the was in which you hope that item is still doing good for it’s owner or the cause it was made to support.

I have knit many gifts and I have often thought about them - I hope they are doing well. I hope they are being used. I hope that the recipients like them. I have knit a few items for charity and while I will never know where in the world they end up, I certainly hope that they bring a little bit of comfort and sunshine with them.

We have been moving things around in our house in anticipation of setting up a baby room and getting the Lorax a true big kid bed. I uncovered a blanket that one of my great aunts made for me way way back - I am not sure if this was for when I was a baby or when I was a kid, but it has been around for as long as I can remember. It is acrylic and weighs a ton (heavy duty acrylic no doubt).

What strikes me about this blanket now is the tag.

(quick low-quality iphone photos, apologies)
To me this is like inscribing a book before you give it as a gift - I can never get rid of this blanket now (not that I would want to), but when I do get books from the library or the used book shop and I see an inscription "To Andy, Happy Birthday! Can't wait to read a story with you! Love, Aunt Mae" I feel for the book, as odd as that sounds.

Anyway, this makes me think I should try to "label" the larger knit gifts I work up - I just gave a baby blanket this past weekend - will my new cousin hold on to that blanket for a long time? Will her parents keep it for her until she has kids of her own? I have no idea.

For my own reference and ideas, I have been tucking these ideas away...
Label for a quilt, but I love that it is a bit more personalized that just "Original by Becca".
No-itch version, Fabric labels tutorial, Tips to DIY. Do you have labels for your handknits?

Tidy mind, tidy stitches. 2KCBWDAY3

2011-03-26T15:05:00.004-04:00

How do you keep your yarn wrangling organized? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organization exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organized at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organized, blog about an aspect of that organization process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organized stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

Organization is my ultimate WIP.

Circular needles are tricky for me. I like this round box to store them in better than any other holder I have seen or tried. The problem comes when you try to untangle the needle you want from the rest.

I am lucky to have a "yarn room" - it is a guest bedroom and I have taken over the closet / dresser / under the bed for the yarn, in a rather loose organization by yarn type.

Sock leftovers in the basket, some cotton in the small box. Yarns I'm thinking about trading and / or want to see frequently to try and figure out what to do with them.

The closet - bins of wool, superwash wool, an acrylic bin, fancier lace yarns and nicer blends. And a box of cotton. And a box of yarn that needs to be sorted.

Under the bed - solid sock yarns, nicer cottons.

Under the bed - variegated sock yarns.

Odd shot of the space between the couch and my computer desk where my knitting bags with assorted projects in process live - there is baby blanket, a turtle project (somewhat failed - won't be as originally intended, but rather reworked), a blanket for lorelai, my current contract knitting...

I would love to make a corkboard display of some of the fancy stitch markers I own instead of having them hang out in the bottom of my notions bag. And I saw a great idea on Ravelry - a knitter took a snippet of each of the yarn she used in a given year and popped it into a clear globe ornament (there are pictures on Rav here). So simple and yet so clever! I also love what Vivere Nel Colore shared here with the "Spring Board". I have a corkboard sitting in the basement - maybe it's time to bring it upstairs and put it to good use.

Skill + 1UP - 2KCBWDAY2

2011-03-26T14:50:00.006-04:00

Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

In the knitting hours since the end of March, 2010, my needles have been quite busy. I believe I have gotten more efficient in my knitting. I am much better at swatching - thanks in part to several knitting "jobs" (for yarn and for pay). I wish I could show the one I am working on now - it has to be the most intense swatch I have ever done, not for stitch pattern or anything like that, but because it involves each step of the final design construction. I am quite pleased with myself and how my knitting resume has grown in the last year - I knit for CookieA, Lorna's Laces, Schaefer Yarn Co, and Y2Knit, all with great feedback.

I feel a lot more confident when it comes to crochet - I feel I have the basics down there. I am still hoping to work up amigurumis in the future, but having a hook in hand is not as awkward as it once was.

I have come up with a system that really works for me when it comes to chartwork. I have mentioned before how I knit left-handed (my stitches start on the right needle and move to the left) - generally this makes no difference with most patterns, but when there are cables / charts / lace, it throws me for a loop. I do like to work with charts (I can "see" how it works now) - and I don't mind a few extra steps to modify them (printing them as a mirror image, color coding stitches and writing numbers on the chart all help me) to end up with an object that looks as intended, like "Centrino".

I have also figured out how to fix a mis-crossed cable on "Cloud Chaser" by unraveling the cable down to the mistake instead of ripping back rows and rows of knitting.

For the next year I hope to continue to set my standards high and push myself when needed. I am never done learning!

A Tale of Two Yarns - 2KCBWDAY1

2011-03-26T14:37:00.005-04:00

It's Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day One, 2011!

Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

There are so many yarns and just not enough time in which to even begin knitting them all. In the spirit of fairness, I have taken a good look over yarns I have used, lusted after, stashed and tossed, in order to answer today's prompt.

I would have to start any discussion of yarns I love with Malabrigo.

An early love affair, I have always been taken in by the softness and color options. When they expanded their yarn line to include sock weight and lace weight I was over the moon. Interestingly though I don't constantly knit with Malabrigo (wish I could!) I have not knit even a whole lot with Malabrigo - a cowl, a scarf, a girl's dress (test knit for the company!), longies, and a shawl... otherwise I have taken to collecting it here and there. Malabrigo was also the reason I met a whole bunch of knitters at Webs - we're all part of the "Malabrigo Junkies" group on Ravelry! Recently my malabrigo mojo was reignited when I test knit Anansi - since then I have also worked up a headband and over the weekend I have finished a shawl, Chandra (it needs a block, but the heart-ish picture is Chandra when I was beginning). Malabrigo has further expanded their yarn options - I am looking forward to trying them all!

A "go-to" yarn is for my second choice for a yarn I love. I really adore the Encore line from Plymouth, especially the Colorspun. It is a wool-acrylic blend with an impressive amount of color choices and really reasonably priced. Makes great washable baby / kid things that I have made for my own kids and as gifts. It is soft and not squeaky. I do have those projects up on Ravelry - check out Lorelai's Blanket (in progress), Babysquared blanket, Willie sweater, and Presto Change-o.

I have been fed up with plenty of yarns in certain projects (too splitty, to fuzzy). I have adored many yarns when they just clicked with the project into which they were being knit (Cascade 220, Cascade 220 Superwash, Tahki Cotton Classic come to mind right away). And then there are yarns I am so curious about - Wollemeise, Bugga, Shelter, Madelinetosh, Quince & Co.... And then there are yarns you loved when you bought them, but they have only sat in the stash since then and you still don't know what to do with them. I do know this though, life is too short to knit with yarn you don't like!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

2011-03-19T13:20:00.003-04:00

Tiny Talk Tuesday

While in the car on our way to pick up some take-out for dinner, we spotted a police car on the side of the road with lights flashing. Two cars were stopped in front of the cruiser.
Me: Look L, there's a police car!
L: Ooooh, somebody's in trouble!
Me: Maybe. Maybe not - maybe there was an accident and the policeman will help them out.
L: Yeah, maybe somebody peed on the road!

I totally bit my tongue to avoid saying that the next time she had an accident on the floor that maybe I should call the police.

Spring Fever

2011-03-19T13:12:00.003-04:00

I am still a knitter out of season, working with wool, working on blankets and sweaters for the fall, before it gets too hot. (I know that is still a long way off, but it is coming!) Friday brought a much needed dose / boost of warm weather. I had several windows open and just wanted to be outside. As. Fast. As. Possible.

For Japan with Love

2011-03-17T22:01:00.003-04:00

There are not enough words that could even begin to make a difference. Maybe a fw dollars could?

North Shore Yarn Crawl

2011-03-17T08:24:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, I took a break and scooted on up to Boston's North Shore to participate in a yarn crawl and hang out / catch up with old friends. I think there were 12 shops participating in the Yarn Crawl and we got to 5 of them. And each shop was so different from the others!

Our first stop was at Creative Yarns, in Beverly, which is brand-spanking new - like 2 days old kind new. You could tell this yarn has great potential - they had nice brands at a variety of price points. They also carry the Knitpicks Needles - I had heard about this ahead of time, but didn't think to check my needle stash before I left. I ended up with a set of Harmony dpns.

From there we traveled to Yarns in the Farms which is so whimsical. It's hard to describe really. I love that they had this sign outside:

I did have a list for the yarn crawl, it was a sort of "I'd like to try these yarns if I see them / I'd like yarn for these projects" type of list. At Yarns in the Farms I found one of those: Dream in Color Starry.

This colorway is "November Muse" - it's a really nice brown and the Lorax was born in November so it seemed perfect. No plans for what this yarn will end up as, yet...

Cranberry Fiber Arts was the next stop. The selection at this store was incredible - and so well organized. They also had a huge room with a large table that had such great natural light. I decided on a skein of Manos Silk Blend in a gorgeous jewel-toned magenta.

No project plans set for this yarn either.
As I was checking out, I won a prize, just because! Sweet! I won a kit to make a scarf -

The yarn is a dark-dusty-green and the button is really cute.

Coveted Yarn was a surprise - it looks like a beach shack from the outside, but inside it is spacious and COVERED in yarn. (Locals, think "Yarn Barn", but a bit more organized). I did find a few items on my list that I was hoping I would find, Malabrigo!
A skein of Worsted in Whales Road,

And a skein of Rios in Solis,

Plans for each of these are a bit fluid right now, but I do expect I will work them up sooner rather than later.

Our last stop was at Seed Stitch. This shop has some more of the higher end yarns, which I lusted over, but in the end decided to instead be a "grown up knitter" and actually get a bottle of Soak. I have liked using the sample packets I have picked up here and there, and it just makes sense to get a bottle. I was also excited to see a trunk show going on at Seed Stich - Baby Cocktails! The Cassis pattern is in my queue (to be made with my newly obtained Lorna's Laces yarn in the Kerfluffle color!) for a fall sweater / coat / post-baby & while wearing-the-baby item. I tried on the sweater and while I did like how it fit, I know I'm going to make mine one size up. All of her work was even more striking in person - she has a lot of great designs.

Phew. What a yarnie weekend. I think I'm still on fiber fumes. Because it doesn't end there either! Betsy gave me a new knitting bag:

AND, of course I knit whenever I had the chance. I whippped up a new headband - Blue Leaf Headband in some Malabrigo Chunky that I scored in the stash room at the Knitters Review Retreat. Color is "Whales Road" and the skein I had was less than full - I think it was 78 yards. I was able to make this one for me and a second smaller one - the smaller one needs seaming and then I will see if fits the Lorax.

Not a bad way to spend a weekend at all!

Thankful for Knitting

2011-03-09T14:42:00.002-05:00

It's bee a wild ride these last few weeks. A whirlwind of good and not so good and really really really frustrating. Through it all, there is knitting. Thank goodness. And while I consider myself to be a fairly equal opportunity knitter, I am even more thankful when I get to do some selfish knitting in one of my favorite yarns, Malabrigo. On one of the swap threads on Ravelry I spotted this gorgeous item by another knitter and playfully asked if she needed it test knit. She said yes so I jumped at the chance to work up Anansi by Caryl. I must itching for spring because her version in yellow Malabrigo made me powerless to look away. So sunny (and her photos are awesome!)! I dug into my stash and pulled out my skein + cake (this is important) of Malabrigo Worsted in the Marine colorway.

This was such a great knit - the rows, though ever increasing in stitch count, never dragged on and I was able to work on it at SnB and still participate in the conversations.

Malabrigo makes great pompoms! I used my largest pompom maker and these are just fabulous. I want to wear this all the time!

So, I said earlier that it was important that I had one skein plus one cake? Yeah, I have learned my lesson the hard way about using caked yarns from my stash. WEIGH THEM FIRST. I think I had used some of the yarn for a swatch or something and didn't keep it, because, I ran out of yarn! Ugh. Knitter's nightmare. I undid my gauge swatch, I spit spliced as many lengths as I could, and I only did 11 repeats. I ran out halfway through the bind off. This is totally my own fault for making an assumption, no fault of the pattern! I found some Berroco yarn that came close enough in color to use that to finish the bind off, and I'm living with it.

This project has rejuvenated my Malabrigo mojo - and what timing as it is Malabrigo March! I am planning on another project by Caryl - Chandra in Malabrigo Silky Merino, "Cloudy Sky" (and all 3 skeins are waiting to be cakes.)

Must Knit In Color - Complete!

2011-03-02T15:15:00.004-05:00

Binding off a project is quite satisfying. Especially for a project that requires not much else post-bind-off except for weaving in a few ends, maybe a bit of steam to block it flat. I finished my "Must.Knit.In.Color." scarf this week - after a rather frustrating day and then frustrating knitting session. Each row is quite long, and I could see the end of the yarn! I had just enough to do the bind off row and then decided to double check the pattern. Why then? I have no idea. I went a row to far, so if a fit of wanting it done right, I undid that extra row. For the record, undoing a 400+ stitch row of linen stitch takes a lot longer than knitting linen stitch. Anyway, it is done now and done correctly. It still could use a quick pass under an iron, but I may skip that part for now, because I am looking forward to wearing this scarf.

(Jackson can model for now. He owes me.)

As I have mentioned before linen stitch or woven stitch is great for these wild-colored yarns. Both sides look good, and as you knit the yarn up it is a mystery as to how the color will play with the color and stitches nearby. I had thought about alternating with some grey wool, just to make it bigger, but I am glad that I let this yarn do its own thing. If you need further inspiration check out the project gallery on Ravelry for the Scrappy Lengthwise Scarf - this is a great pattern for scraps too! I would love to work one in sock yarn leftovers, or even a Hope-and-Donald-2.0.

Follow Up

2011-03-01T11:39:00.003-05:00

I promise, I'll be getting back to the yarn and knitting in the next post - I've got some neat WIPs, new projects and a new FO! After yesterday's rant / vent / brain dump, I thought I should share this photo. Forgive the really poor quality - iphone + low light does not make for a good shot, but she ran away when I tried any other shots. While DH was making dinner, the lorax asked for help with blocks. Seriously, her idea - and then we used the lincoln logs to make a cabin for "Laura, Mary, Baby Carrie, Ma, Pa and their good 'ol bull-dachshund Jackson!"

Yes, that's the Cinderella outfit. Our log cabin turned out quite well!

Another Princess Post

2011-02-28T14:16:00.003-05:00

I am pretty certain that I have shared the link to a really good read - BeautySchooledProject.com. If you haven't been in a while I would suggest that you check it out today. Virginia has a new post up, The New Toddlers In Tiaras, featuring a very familiar toddler.

I am looking forward to reading Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein. As I have written about here and vented about at knitting, I'm in the midst of a "Princess phase" at my house. Everything is associated with a princess "Yellow, like Belle", "Blue, like Cinderella"... and I pull an eyeroll that I used to give my mom when she told me something I didn't like.

As far as this princess culture goes, I am conflicted. She is being creative and making the box of princess stuff into her own version of it. So what if she doesn't know anything really about the movies. If and when we do show them to her most likely those major things like awful gender stereotypes will go over her head. So because it bothers me a bit I should stop her from having a good time? Am I bothered more by the fact that that is the only option around? For the record I have no problems with princesses or fairies. It's specifically the disney ones that are everywhere you turn (for crying out loud, a certain yogurt company that I used to buy because it did not use HFCS has been repackaged to include the princesses). And should I want to purchase something princessy I do not have many options for non branded items. When I was around her age (through elementary / middle school) I adored Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite, Punky Brewster, and much to my parent's delight I am sure, Daisy Duke from Dukes of Hazzaard. My parents let me play each of those phases out and I became interested in something else - crafty projects, drawing, reading (Nancy Drew, Little House on the Prairie - each are probably helped balance out any harm inflicted on my by Daisy Duke), music, drama, etc. She's been into Elmo for 1.5 years and that seems to be on the outs. Princess stuff is in for her now...we're still in the early stages.

I was surprised, but a tiny piece of me was happy when she was given the box of dress up clothes. I had spotted that item in one of the store fliers and seriously considered getting it for her for Christmas. I knew she would love it. I read on a different parenting blog that their way around it was to have the princess stuff come from Santa - so the kid still got it and was happy, but it was not directly from mom / dad. I held off because I really don't want to buy her princess
stuff. When she's out with me I can pass off a lot of it with "We'll tell Grammie you like that". I was actually surprised that we didn't get more princess stuff for her birthday and Christmas - I take that to mean that I have made my stance fairly
clear to my family and friends and they understand and respect we don't want to be
overrun with princesses. If other family / friends choose to give her princessy items its fine - I'm not going to be an outright evil character and return gifts or not give them to her because they have princesses. We have seen our friends get overwhelmed with princess things for their daughter - for her last birthday they flat out said "Nothing with princesses" - I think we are on the right track to avoid
that.

Am I worried this princess stuff will impact her? No. I'm not worried that it is going to shape her personality - a lot of it still is over her head. She can't give me an answer when I ask her what princesses do. I have accepted that she is more girly-girl than I was and that's not a big deal. She likes the sparkly things, who
doesn't? She likes her pocketbooks and shoes and I could care less. She is who she is. I think (hope) that by offering her opportunities to do other things along with supporting what she is interested in. She was really loving dancing all over the house, so we enrolled her in ballet. She likes to run around - she'll probably be a soccer kid. She likes to draw and paint. Certainly she is spoiled and has a good life, but at the same time she is helpful and independent and can take direction and is friendly - I don't think that I have to worry about her ending up on an awful
reality show like "You're Cut Off" or "Bad Girls Club". She's a toddler in a tiara, but she is not treated like a pageant princess. We have set expectations for her - she can help clear the table / set the table / give jackson his food - those little jobs are part of shaping her personality too.

True I am lacking the automatic pink gene. Certainly there are people that are ready to frill / fluff / frou-frou out their little girls from birth. And I won't deny - little girls are incredibly cute and it is quite fun to dress them up. We are lucky to have family and friends that want to (and can) indulge the Lorax in things she is interested in and will at the same time respect the wishes of her parents.

If you've made it this far into this long winded post, I want to share a link for pretty good alternatives (from Peggy Orenstein's blog): resources. Good stuff there to keep checking on as Lorelai gets older. I picked up a "My first Little House" book at a book sale last fall and Laura Ingalls Wilder has been a big hit lately (yay!). At the grocery store when given the choice she chose Batman chewy fruit over the box with Rapunzel / Tinkerbell! Maybe I could work up a "Wonder Woman" cuffs and red cape and transition the princess box into a dress up box. We have read some princess books with more positive outlooks (Very Fairy Princess was a good one, in my opinion. Cinder Edna made me and DH giggle, but the main ideas go right over her head.)

Moderation is key. I was most surprised when Lorelai and I were at a store and we made a game out of spying the "princesses all over" - she asked to look at a Disney Princess toy of some sort - she took it, looked it over and put it back unasked! No asking if she could buy it. No whining that she wanted it. I think we are going to be ok.

Mittens

2011-02-18T08:26:00.002-05:00

I can't remember if I already shared this here or not (and obviously, I'm too lazy to go check). With all the snow we've had, the Lorax has gotten a lot of wear out of her purple mittens. I noticed that they were getting a little too small for her and mentioned that I would make her a new pair. Her response, "Princess Mittens?!" My response, "Um, does that mean pink?". I was quite excited to see the Heart Strings Mittens pattern was shared by Vivere Nel Colore (check out her blog - great designs and a little cutie too!). As soon as they were knit, they were snatched off the table, so I consider this a success.

The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Neon colorway, leftovers from a pair of socks. Bright pink, orange and yellow - acceptable princess colors I think.

This pattern is well written, quick to knit and there is the possibility for so much customization. My back up plan was to find a princess charm or iron-on-patch of some sort if the Lorax truly had her heart set on princess-mittens (whatever that means to her). Lucky for me, she was excited about these and though we did buy some pink glitter buttons, she chose the star buttons to go on them.

After our photo shoot she told me, "Now I need blue ones for Cinderella, and yellow ones for Belle, and purple for Rapunzel, and green for Tinkerbell..." Sure kid.

A rather blurry shot of the Lorax with her princess mittens and her princess valentine balloon bought by daddy.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T15:48:00.003-05:00

If you celebrate and even if you don't I hope today is a good day for you. The weather here is beautiful - after 6 weeks of cold and snow, a sunshiney day with temperatures in the 40s is such a treat!

Know what I love? That Lorax is going to be a big sister (And Jackson gets to be a big brother again)! Sometime this August! Stay tuned - you know that the baby knits and hats are coming again.

A Walk in the Woods

2011-02-13T12:31:00.003-05:00

Again, I start a blog post talking about the weather. What else do you do in winter? The weather still is not wonderful but it is totally acceptable for February. The Lorax and I bundled up on Friday afternoon and spent a good hour outside just tromping about in the snow that still surrounds our house. On Saturday, our whole little family did it again and ventured into the woods adjacent to our house. There were no complaints at all from the little one, so this morning we decided to go a step further and try out the local trails.

I love that the handknits are being used! Dan's got on a hat I made him (by request) when I was first getting into knitting. The Lorax is sporting mittens and a hat that have lasted for multiple winters. It is getting time for new versions of each - I am planning on casting on a pair of Heart Strings Mittens today for her (and I think we all could use a new hat. I want an earflap one.)

I think we probably hiked just under a mile and there were no tears, no moments of whining, and no problems. Good exercise tromping through the snow - we are all ready for a nap. You can see here I'm sporting my Rhinebeck Hat version 2010 - it's warm but my ears got a bit chilly. I've also got on my Rainbow Scarf (wow - made that in 2005!) and inside my new favorite boots are a new pair of handknit socks!

Plain vanilla style, Schaefer Yarn Nicole, in the Agatha Christie Colorway - quite lovely (and would be a great guy color as well).

Getting Excited.

2011-02-11T13:59:00.002-05:00

All week, I have been able to get out of the house - the weather has been cold but cooperative. I've still been working on things but when it comes to post them, I'm admittedly behind. I am okay with that, especially since now I can see my lawn!

It's not a spot we can get to (or would do much with if we could get there - Jackson would probably like to use that as a new bathroom break), but still - the lawn does exist! The hearts in the window were a fun little project to do - I let the Lorax ~~play with~~ practice using scissors while I cut the paper strips, then she helped to staple them together. Our inspiration (and instructions) came from here.

I'm pleased to share that I have finished the Babysquared Blanket from WifeMomKnitter

I used up exactly 2 skeins of Plymouth Encore Colorspun resulting in a roughly 19inch by 29inch blanket. I think it will be just right for the intended baby who is supposed to arrive in May - stroller, beach, lightweight lap blanket for sleeping on mom or dad as they watch the baseball games... I love how the colors worked up and I will make this pattern again. Encore is a great all-purpose yarn - I have an Encore afghan that washes beautifully. This blanket will be washed before I wrap it up for the baby gift - just wanted to get Jackson in the picture to give you a visual idea of size. I also love love love this colorway. A nice kid rainbow without being too pastel / baby.

I had made a sale of some stash yarn through Ravelry this week. While I was gathering up the skeins I came across a skein of yarn that was gifted to me a while back from my brother & sister-in-law - "Hudson Valley Fiber Farm Cormo Wool Worsted" in the "Firecracker" colorway.

I was immediately consumed by a "Must. Knit. This. Now." feeling. It is more of a raspberry-red-white-teal than straight red-white-blue, but it is fun. I've decided to start a selfish knitting project and work it up into a Scrappy Lengthwise Scarf.

Woven stitch really does wonders for the wildly colored yarns. The downside of this project though is that each row is 350+ stitches and you have to keep moving the yarn to slip stitches. It's not an immediate gratification project, but that is fine - it's a great project. And this is my first time to work with cormo wool - I like it!

In another fit of selfish-startitis-projects, I've also cast on for a pair of legwarmers. Some Cloudy Day is a free pattern and quite easy.

Mostly knit with an occasional row of lace. Also not a super quick knit, but satisfying. I have been thinking about making a pair of legwarmers for myself since last fall - even just to wear under my pj pants when I take Jackson out - I should be able to finish these and get a few wears in before spring truly arrives.

Jackson, dachshund.

2011-02-08T15:45:00.001-05:00

Jackson, dachshund.
Originally uploaded by nutmegknitter

There haven't been many pictures of the furbaby lately. To remedy that, here's a pretty good shot I got with the iphone - after our nap, Jackson's watching me eat an apple (I shared when I was done) - from this angle it looks like he is smiling! Good boy!