House of Puke

After the conference I got sick, then two days later Little Bug got sick, currently Mr. Gnome is sick. The Joy. With me all I could think was all the things I needed to do after being gone for four days. We still haven't found the television remote. The Little one being two and all didn't know when she was going to be sick everywhere so I did a lot of laundry and not much else. Knitting was dangerous. Intoxicating is silk, Don't puke on the silk! Today we had to do home buying stuff; I told Mr. Gnome not to puke on our agent. I am such and AP mom and wife!

Between Little Bug and Mr. Gnome being sick we went Blackberry picking at Eckerts.

We did bring some Blueberries home too. They were so good. Not at all bitter and very juicy. I made this:

Yes, that is a chocolate muffin with berry sauce. Oh so yummy!

On the knitting end, I finished the front of Intoxicating. Since the back is nothing like the front it is almost like I finished one project and am now onto something else. Except the part where the finished thing is useful in any way. I wasn't paying enough attention when picking out the yarn I thought the back was one color done in a variegated yarn. I was half right, sort of. I think the one in the book is variegated just not as much as mine but it also uses the main color (green in the picture, blue for mine). The variegated yarn I got is mostly blue with some yellow. So the only parts that pop are the yellow. You can only kind of see the pattern. I also can't seem to see the pattern. I need to have the book open whenever I'm working on it or I get lost. The front was easy; squares. The back is "Maze", I've never done well with mazes. Whenever there is a book open in the house the Little Bug is drawn to it and has to read it. I swear it's like a sixth sense, she can be in the other room and come running to look at the book. Which is great and all but kind of slows down the knitting when Mommy needs to look at her book.

Chicago, Yarn and Hats

It's been a while, we've been busy. This past weekend Little Bug and I were up in Chicago at the La Leche League International Conference. It was a ton of fun. All sorts of kids and parents and nursings and slings! All sorts of information on all sorts of stuff.

My mother came up to watch Little Bug while I went to the sessions. They went to the Children's Museum and the Aquarium. The conference had an awesome playroom for the kids and they spent a fair amount of time there. All and all they had a great time too. My mother lives a thousand miles away so it was so great for them to bond like that.

Two blocks from our hotel was Loopy Yarns. This was a cute shop with a nice variety of yarn. Not being a big yarn shop frequenter I can't say much more than that. OH and they were having a 70% off sale. Which should say plenty. My plan is to get sock yarn wherever I travel to. Then I can say this is the sock made from the yarn I bought in _____. The Blue is Nashua Handknits Sassafras in Denim. It's kind of a narrow tape-like yarn. I thought it was neat and the four skeins only cost $10.50! The purple is Lorna's Lace Shepherd Sock yarn in Purple Iris.

I also got LLLI conference stuff! This is the backpack that with the logo on front, two pockets for water bottles and a big front pocket. I used it the entire time at the conference. It was perfect for holding my note book and knitting sock. Also the badge holder that I think was quite nice and a glass with the logo etched onto the front. I also bought a t-shirt from the conference and my mother got me a necklace that has the image of the woman holding her baby. It was made from a woman in Israel which just makes it all the more cool.

I did get to work on the socks before each session though I haven't finished them. Before lunch one day I sat down in a corner and started knitting on a sock. A woman came over and sat down next to me and pulled out her knitting, then another woman came over with her knitting and we all started chatting. Nothing like yarn as an ice breaker. This same thing has happened to me while nursing in public. Ah there is power in numbers.

Before I left I finished two hats. The blue and green one I finished in an evening from Lion's Bran Homespun and a pattern in The Yarn Girl's Guide to Beyond the Basics. Modeled by Mr. Gnome since he just looks better in hats than I. The other hat I made up as I went along and is a surprise, shhhhh.

My mother also sent me yarn from Spain. She spent two weeks there doing an immersion course. It is all Katia cotton yarn in different weights.

Intoxicated is coming along nicely, though I'm afraid the blue ball might have gotten a bit intoxicated itself. It's all tangled and I'm spending a lot of quality knitting time untangling the &$%$# ball.

Intoxicated!

I think in the last post I called the sweater Intrigued, I was wrong it is Intoxicated. All the same I am addicted to the Intoxication!!!! I explained it to Mr Gnome:

Me: "It's like someone laced the crack that is knitting with heroine!! Or is it lacing heroine with crack?"

Mr. Gnome: "You do know how messed up that sounds?"

Well maybe I do. yet it is SO true. I was a little concerned about knitting this; two colors and all. I've had a bought of that in the shall I made. It didn't go too well, not horrible or disastrous just not well. Inexperience and all. But this, this is different, this is Mosaic knitting! You aren't trying to hold two colors at the same time. You just knit then purl the first color then knit with the next color and slip up the first color where you want it. Then just purl the ones you just knitted. Ok, it sounds a bit confusing when read I thought, "What?!" But then you begin and say, "OH!!", and then you can't stop. And I am so psyched about how the colors look together, go me!

Though this is not a knit for when the two year old is climbing all over you. Takes a bit of concentration. Or just paying attention, which for some of us is the same thing. Though she does tell me regularly that it is cool. What can I say the kid has great taste.

I also taught myself how to start a toe up sock today. I have quite a bit of sock yarn left from making some fingerless gloves last fall. I am hoping to make Little Bug some tube socks and I wanted to do it toe up since it's such an odd piece or yarn. She is excited and keeps wanting to try it on. I'm just going to do regular knit on this one. We are going to the La Leche League International conference in Chicago in a week. I think this will be an easy knit for while I wait for a class. Maybe during, depending on the notes I want to take. Very excited about the conference!!! Oh and Chicago Diner, and there is a yarn shop two blocks from the hotel. And my mom is coming and I don't get to see her much. So fun!

House, Home, Bathroom

We are house hunting. OH the fun, OH the excitement; OH the pain in my A...... Yesterday we left Little Bug with a friend so we could better put our attentions on the houses we were to see. We saw four. One was ok, the other was not going to work, the third I really liked, and the fourth Mr. Gnome liked. You see how that is not an agreement. Mr. Gnome would like the one I liked if it had two full bathrooms. Yes, Bathrooms are the deciding factor. And not just any real bathroom, a big one with a shower stall. The one he likes I think isn't in the best of shape. Ok it has a new roof but the foundations is cracked and leaning. I'll fix a roof, but foundation!! But it has two full baths!!!! The one I like needs a new roof, has three bedrooms and a den, exactly what we've been talking about. Well not the roof part but that is fixable. BUT it only has one and half baths. Now we have never had more than one bath. The half bath on this house is in the finished basement/den area. Mr. Gnome wants to add a shower with lots of space. I am not too keen on a humidity making shower in a basement. Somehow this means I don't wanting him to be comfortable. The bathroom just isn't that important to me. And do you really need two showers, they can't both be running at the same time, and then there is TWO showers for me to clean instead of one. Is a big bathroom a guy thing?
Also the one he likes is about 30grand More and in a worse neighborhood. Seems like an obvious decision to me. So the search continues. We are looking at another house today. This one has two bathrooms.
And since this is a knittingish blog, I finished the shopping bag #3. I ordered needles to make Intrigued from No Sheep For You. Which really should be called Obsessed because I haven't stopped thinking about it since I saw it. I am going to use blue and a maroonish/red for my colors. So excited!!! In the mean time whilst I await the needles I've actually been putting some time into my sock. Amazing how fast they come together when you actually knit on them! Shocking I know.

2+5=All done

I have finished the baby hats!!!! Yay!!!!! Info is the same as before. Though I don't think I mentioned before that I had changed the tassels. This cotton being what it is I knew that it would just unravel and make horrible tassels, and I just don't like tassel. Instead I made six tails by casting on however many stitches looked good then casting off then doing it again and keeping my gauge very uneven. This made them all crinkly and fun. I then knit them directly onto the hat. I'm hoping this will keep even the most determined little one from pulling the things off.

AND: The sweater for Mr. Gnome is finished. Just in time for July!..... Hey I got him to try it on and model the thing in this weather, though just inside he wasn't too keen on going outside in a wool sweater in 90 degree weather. Can't blame the boy really.

Creative Knits

Sept. 2007

Subtle Striped Pullover

I obviously did not use a striping yarn. Though it Really is Not this camo. looking in real life either. I used Araucania Nature Wool which has no real dye lots so you can kind of tell when I changed to a new ball. I know I know there are ways of getting around that but I'm lazy. It adds to it's character..... Or something..... This is the first adult size sweater I made. I made it in a size large but the length of a medium. It's a little more fitting than Mr. Gnome likes, he's self conscious of his belly. I haven't blocked it yet I'm going to see if that makes a difference. The all over pattern involves a lot of 1x1 ribbing stuff adding all sorts of stretchy fittedness that one doesn't usually see in a man's sweater. Or at least not a bear drinking man's sweater. But he likes it and says he'll wear it and that is all I can ask.

Happy Fourth o' July

Yesterday Little Bug and I went to Fair STL. We took a very crowded train in. A nice man let me have his seat; Chivalry is not dead! We walked around the park for the first half of the evening. Played Frisbee; Little Bug is not my child, she picked up the frisbee and new how to throw it and did quite a good job! I'm lucky if it goes in the general direction that I throw it! We said hi to the ducks. Visited Mr Gnome, who was working the entry gates. Then got a nice seat centered under The Arch to watch The Goo Goo Dolls followed by some fun fireworks!

This was our view of the Concert. Not bad for free if I do say so myself! Little Bug danced and rolled down the hill until it go too crowded. After the concert was the fireworks. Little Bug had never seen fireworks before, I haven't in three years, since Boston. At first she was intrigued; Eyes wide, mouth partially open, then a bunch went off at the same time and were very loud. Little Bug wanted hugs but didn't want to stop watching. After a while she was comfortable and wanted to sit next to me. She told me when they were blue, and green, and that they were cool. After, while 30,000 people made they're way out, we waited for Mr. Gnome to finish. Then we waited in a LONG line to get onto the Metro and road home. Little Bug fell asleep on the train. All and all we had a very good time.

Today we will just relax.

As far as the knitting is going, well it's going. I have one and a half more hats to do. I had really wanted to finish them by our friday playdate, but I don't know if that will happen. I want to finish these hats so I can finish sewing up Mr. Gnome's sweater! I want to know if I get to rejoice in my sweater making acomplishment and say good job me! Or if I have to cry in despair because it is a total disaster. It looks good so far but one really can't tell until the wearer tries it on.