Um. Ok.

Throws Like A Girl -- [noun]: A person with a taste for acorns 'How" will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Well. I have been watching Chicken Little WAY too much.

Helmet Liners for our troops

5 element knitter is running a contest/helmet liner drive for our currently deployed troops. Regardless of politics I feel that if we can do something to help our men and women who volunteer for our country, then we should. Anyway, the liners should be made of a soft, washable wool. Ruth has links on her site for patterns and more information on the contest. Check out her blog!

Been a little AWOL

I think I spent most of the past 7 days in the car driving back and forth from Parker. But can you blame me? Isn't she the sweetest? My new niece (whose blanket is still in the works. Maybe I'll get it done by her 1st birthday.) I had to laugh that it didn't even occur to L to ask to hold the baby. She's not exactly the most maternal kid. But then neither was I and now look at me. We used to tell this great story about L right before J was born when she was really into her baby dolls. She would lovingly wrap her baby in a blanket, give a sweet kiss, and then roll it down the stairs. Actually she was and is a very cute and helpful big sister. Except when J is in her stuff. I actually caught her TEACHING him how to make a mess the other day. J is actually quite neat for a toddler and likes to put things back and here she is showing him how to throw cereal in the air. The last picture is of some yellow roses I found while mowing the lawn today. We didn't plant any, but I did get some as a gift once and my brown thumb and I left it outside for dead a while back. Apparently the seeds moved on. Maybe they'll kill all the dandelions. We have raspberry bushes in the front yard that migrated in a similar fashion after we removed them from the backyard. I like to call our landscaping "Chaos Gardening".

Knitting Meme

I lifted this from Purple Princess Knits.

Mark with bold the things you have knit at least once, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest. It's kind of fun to see all the things I've done in a little over a year and also gave me some ideas of what to try next. :)

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on 2 circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

I haven't finished anything.

I'm plugging away at the log cabin and a pair of child size ankle socks, but they look pretty much like other pictures I've put up so instead I'm going to share L's artsy pictures. These were all taken with the Fisher Price camera.

Knitting with the girls

I took L over to Knit Knack yesterday to go knitting. She tried for about 5 minutes total, but had much more fun using the needles as pretend people.

I also finished the little baby socks. :)

Ack! I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by Marly!

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write on their blogs 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and need to read your blog.

Ok. 7 random facts.

1. The person who tagged me, Marly, and I have two weird coincidences in that our husbands are both named John and our youngest sons are both named Joe (sort of, Joe and Josiah).

2. Both of the kids are named to honor relatives, but their names also have literary ties to my and my husband's favorite books. Lizzie is from Pride and Predjudice while Joe's initals spell JEM from To Kill a Mockingbird.

3. I actually still have a friend that I've known since we were 4 years old and our mothers met while we were at dance class. We talk on almost a weekly basis.

4. My little sister's birthday is the day before mine so we actually celebrated our birthdays together as kids. I think my mom was nuts having these giant parties with two distinct age groups. Now I appreciate it though and we still sometimes have a party together.

5. Just about everybody we know has trouble remembering which birthday is which. Including our family. Since I'm older people tend to want to make my birthday first. Hee.

6. Before taking up knitting, I have never really had a hobby.

7. When I was in college, a couple friends and I competed in the Anderson Voice competition. What was odd about this is the competition was usually made up of performance majors and all of us were Music Education. We were out to disprove the old adage, "Those who cannot do, teach." So there.

So I guess that's 7. Now I'm tagging Cathy, Claudia, Leanne, Betsy, Suzeq22knits, Judy, and Allegra.

Baby Sock!

I finished the baby sock and am about halfway done on it's mate. I think I might actually make this one correctly. It seems that every time I do the short row heel I find a new thing I did wrong on the previous sock. Last night, DH told me he would wear knit socks! So of course I took that to mean I could buy more sock yarn. Hooray sock yarn! The Knit Picks I got with my order of cables so I can finish up the Log Cabin. Of course I just had to get the total high enough for free shipping! Heh. Anyway, the Trekking Natura I got at Posh today in a manly enough color for DH to wear. The bag I got at this little boutique I like to call Target (pronounced Tarjhay of course) in the dollar spot. I love the dollar spot. Is it sad that one of L's first words was Target?

Hee Hee Hee

It's hard to tell in the picture, but L is dead asleep. In that position. Legs crossed and everything. Heh.

Teensy!

J looked like this.

So I put him to bed. Is it bad that I'm hiding out in the backyard with my baby sock so I can't hear him over the traffic? For some reason, I thought making a baby sock would be easier than an adult sock. I realize now that it would be true if I'd picked a pattern that used larger needles. Heh. Oh well. It's all good practice.

Hooray Sock #2! and a Happy Mother's Day!

I finished the socks yesterday! I almost thought that I'd blown it too when I realized halfway through the kitchener stitch that I was doing it backwards. Luckily I was able to painstakingly lift the loops back on the needle and unthread the yarn. Bleah. All in all, I actually enjoy making socks, but man, if I can't even make it through stocking stitch ankle socks with a world of problems, what hope do I have for lace?!? Heh. Anyway, I'm using some of the leftover yarn to make baby socks for a friend of mine. Size 0 needles are TINY!

Anyway, hope everybody is having a nice Mother's Day! Here are a couple of pictures of my quirky nephew and jolly son that remind me why parenting is so much fun!

America's Top Toy Model

So we got a call last night for L to participate in a photo shoot today for a toy catalog. She did it last year (She's the Moses Basket Girl for the My Twinn Baby Doll.) How she got the job last year is sort of a funny story. My sister and her friends were all taking their kids and she really wanted me to come along, so I packed up the kids as is (crooked pony tails and all) to the casting call. So here was L in all her uncoiffed glory next to girls who had sequins and curling iron curls. And she got the call back. This year they just emailed us asking us to send a picture and of course L was sick for the first three months of the year so getting a good picture was sort of a trick. So anyway, we got the call and went in this morning where she spent 2 1/2 hours pretending to hand a play Happy Meal to a cute little boy through the drive thru window. She was a trooper because that's a long time to keep doing the same thing. Especially when you're 4. Here are some pictures of her getting ready and waiting in the wings.

Hooray Sock!

Yesterday I finished my sock! It's not perfect, but it's definitely wearable (unlike the gigantasock disaster of 2006). I think this particular yarn would do better on size 2's instead of 3's and that's why the yarn overs on the heel seem larger than I'd like them. Anyway, I'm excited to start sock #2.

Last night we celebrated Leanne's birthday over at Knit Knack and of course, I forgot to take a picture. I did take a couple of other ones though. :) Here's one of Karen working on her dishcloth. I was trying to get a picture of Leanne, the Sock Queen, showing Mary Kay a new technique, but my stellar photography skills failed me. Nachaele was taking pictures (hopefully better than mine) and Christie was working on a shawl that she purchased at the Creative Arts Festival.

Marly dropped by with her family, but I forgot to take a picture. Again. She and I met earlier today for a Mommy SnB at the Apex Center and she taught me how to single and double crochet. Woo! I'm such a yarn geek. Next thing you know I'll be learning macrame and everybody will be getting flower pot hangers for Christmas. Grins.

Knitting Loves Crochet

So in between the never ending garter stitch of the Log Cabin
and the never ending stocking stitch of my sock, I have gotten the urge to learn to crochet. I've always been curious about it and love the way it looks as border, but ever since Yarn Thing showed me how to single crochet the edging on the Hippie Soaker, I've been obsessed. (Yes this is where the obsessiveknit thing comes from.)

I even bought Interweave Crochet (most of the patterns are so over my head!). I have to learn!














I have to make this sweater!
(I also need to make this sweater!) I've been playing around with some old acrylic trying to figure it out, but I think I'm going to have to ask for some help.





So funny story. We went to church yesterday (Sunday #2!) and they were video taping the service. Well, J chimed right in with his new ability to screech at superhuman pitches (he discovered the church echoed last week) so DH took him into the glass walled baby room while L stayed with me in the service. We were sitting in the back for a sneaky escape should we need one, so when communion time came around we were the very last people to go up. I received the bread and L got her blessing, but when it came time for wine, the server turned around and started packing up. So L and I are alone up at a the altar as some giggles started in the congregation. I leaned forward slightly and quietly said, "Psst!" Well our poor deacon saw me and was mortified and nearly ran across the floor bringing me the bread, which I'd already had. I quietly shook my head as she then waved the wine guy over. So I got my communion and the church got their morning giggles. The funnier part is that my family has been responsible for many many many congregation giggles since we were children. My brother had a habit of falling asleep when he was acolyting, my sister almost set her hair on fire (darn those 80s bangs!) and I had a habit of ringing the bell a little too loudly almost causing the poor elderly people in the front row to fall out of the pew.





Today has been somewhat of an adventure as well. Last week, we forgot L's backpack for preschool and she'd had to use a plastic bag. This week, we made a point to make sure it was in the car. While I was strapping L in, I smelled something horrid but couldn't quite figure out where it was coming from. It had rained on our trash so I thought it was just the garbage smells drifting over. When we arrived a school, I remembered to check her backpack to make sure it was empty. It sure wasn't empty. My little nephew had been playing with it last week and apparently had left his sippy cup of chocolate milk in there. Which now had exploded sour milk all over the inside of her backpack. It was a lost cause. L had to use a plastic bag again and J and I made a trip over to Target to get her a new one. I felt I deserved a Starbucks even just to get the smell of sour milk out of my nose. We weren't in the store 10 minutes before I dropped my coffee all over the floor in the middle of the electronics section. The sales lady was very nice about it, but I felt very bad. Like they really needed to have to clean up somebody's mess in the middle of stocking the shelves. AND I lost my coffee. Sniff sniff. Hopefully the rest of the day perks up.

Mochimochiland

Ok. These have to be the funniest knitted toys I've seen in awhile.

Sleepy Snake and Mischievious Mouse

I'm seriously thinking of making the hippo.

Backwards Yarn Over, Schmackwards Yarn Over

I am not, by nature, a quitter. So last night during CSI until about the midnight showing of the classic Twilight Zones on Sci Fi, I worked and worked on my ankle sock. I switched yarns to some Trekking I picked up at Yarn Art down by my sister's house. I really like the colors as they're knitting up. Anyway, as I, once again, worked the yo short row heel, I had an epiphany. There is no such thing as a backwards yarn over. At all. There is a knit side yarn over, and a purl side yarn over. I think where I got confused is the designer calls purl side yarn overs backwards and inadvertently wrote "backwards" on the knit side. If I had looked at the pictures more closely and disregarded the backwards part, I would have been better off. I finally figured out that wrapping the yarn around backwards (or clockwise, which was how I interpreted it) on the purl side causes the stitch to be twisted. So the heel has a couple funky parts but not enough to frog. (I just couldn't rip it out again!) And now I'm pretty confident that I understand how to do it for the other sock. Hooray ankle sock!

Psychedelic Soaker and Riata

I tried and tried and tried to get a good picture of me wearing my new vest yesterday but I just couldn't get the lighting/angle to get a shot of what it really looks like. It's so weird how things can look so differently on film than they do in real life. (Or perhaps I'm deluding myself and that's what it really looks like but I prefer to believe the former.)



So anyhoo, here's Bob the Bear modeling the finished Psychedelic Soaker (sounds better than Hippie) and some lovely Brooks Farm Yarn that Knit-Eat-Sleep brought me. I think one of my favorite things about becoming a knitter is the wonderful people I have met in the last year. (Prepare for a little gushing.) Knitters truly are some of the most fun, generous and yet diverse people I've ever come across. (I hear there are even Republican knitters! Heh.)

It's so nice to have people who completely understand the quirky things that we knitters do.

Like knitting at stop lights. Trains. During lectures. During sport events. At the mall.

Almost being late for an appointment because you're in the middle a particularly difficult bind off.

Understanding that there is a definite relationship between coffee and yarn.

The sharing of new techniques (or old ones for us newbies).

Support for steek cutting!

And many more things I can't think of this morning. Not enough of the above mentioned coffee.

Uh oh. J is wandering around the house shouting "Baa! Baa!" I'd better go give Bob back. Ah. Much better.

Mommy SnB

I met Yarn Thing over at the Apex Center for a little knitting and kid playing. She's so fun, a great addition to our Arvada Knitters. Since I apparently think I'm the Bionic Woman, I walked there, pushing the kids in the double stroller. I shouldn't complain though because the walk really is beautiful and I really needed the exercise. It's funny how dandelions can be pretty when they're not on OUR lawn. I'm also glad I got out this morning because now the rain is a coming down. Time to get back to my Log Cabin, though I think I'll finish up a little soaker for my friend's new baby first. I had some leftover Paton's Merino, so I'm making her a hippie soaker.