Grrr

Blogger won't let me load images. But here are things I would have shown you pictures of if I could:

- This weekend I worked on another cute baby thing.
- I got new yarn and fiber
- Aaron is working on putting in a new front walkway. It's cool

And one thing that I won't take a picture of (cause it's gross):

My toe feels better!!!

The parade of cute continues....

I sat down and finished the little lace cardigan last night:



This sweater has been on my list of 'must knits' for a while. I had bought the yarn to make it in red for my niece, but she got to big too fast. I'm glad I finally got to make it!

Details:
Pattern: Patons baby (500978FF) Cardigan Options
Yarn: Zarina by Filatura di Crosa, color 1472 (light blue)
Needles: size 1 and 3 addis
Comments: Like liked the pattern - but didn't LOVE it. I think the sleeves look a little funky - but will anyone notice that on a cute little baby? I think not. It still needs buttons, but I'm stashing it away for now. I'll let the buttons find me - I have time.

Now, go back up to that picture. Look through the table, and at the bandaged toe. As you all know, I'm doing the Breast Cancer 3 Day walk next week. NEXT WEEK, PEOPLE. I went for walks on Saturday and Sunday of last week... and I noticed my toe hurt a little, and was red. But I didn't think anything of it - trust me I've seen worse in the past few months. Tuesday morning I wake up, and it's all infected and nasty at the corner of the toenail. I went to Urgent Care - and the lady there was was all freaked out about it, saying if it didn't look better in a day to come back in for IV antibiotics. And she also gave me a surgical referral.

So - after the normal drama of having to actually get an appointment FAST... I went in this morning to get it all fixed up. The redness is a little better after a few days on the drugs - but no way I could walk 60 miles with it the way it is. Anyway - when I went this morning, the doc said that it was a quick fix, but it would redefine my idea of pain. I was like 'how bad could it be'?

Yeah, that bad. The needle for the novocaine went right in the infected area, and I was like. Wow that hurts!..... but then, when the pain got even worse - I yelled 'FUCK!'. The doc just laughed (in an understanding way), and then dug out the offending piece of toenail in another few seconds and I was done. Right as rain.

And as we walked out, everyone in the waiting room was staring at me.

Great way to start the weekend, huh?

I should submit these....

to Cute Overload. I mean, really. Teddy Bear booties? Can you stand the little teddy bears ears? I think not.



I started these on Friday, needing a little break from the Bartlett roll neck sweater - like I mentioned before, that yarn is a bit rough. Anyhoo - I turned to 50 Baby Booties to Knit - and found that I had marked the page for the Animal Booties. I had bought the yarn previously to knit these for a friend.. but never got around to it. Now is as good a time as any! I used size 1 needles - and these booties seem HUGE after making those baby socks - but are right on track for a 6 - 9 month size.

Aaron and my FIL were totally giving these the thumbs down while I was making them - saying that stuff like 'the poor kid - he is going to be so embarrassed when he looks at pictures of him wearing teddy bear booties' blah blah blah. (Like it how we haven't even conceived yet, and Aaron is already calling it a he?). Needless to say BOTH guys backed down once I showed them the finished cuteness.

Sweet little things

Well, here is the progress on the Lace Baby sweater so far:

I'm having the same issue as the Harlot had about lace sweaters - I'm actually knitting the 'his' version... because we all know I'm knitting for an unnamed future baby, and everything needs to be gender neutral. I feel like this sweater can definitely be worn by a girl... but a boy? Maybe if I put big truck buttons on it or something. Anyway - it's cute and I love it.

And, look at the fun surprise I got it in the mail from Rox!

Such a fun little package! I stayed home from work yesterday - I've had a headache since MONDAY - and this surprise was waiting for me when I went to check the mail. Thank Rox - for brightening my day, when you are having such a tough time (she lost her much loved cat Sable recently - go over and give her a virtual hug).

Perfect After work day

I think I've mentioned before, but I work in IT for a very large company. A project that I am working went 'live' this weekend.... and let's just say it was UGLY. Fortunately, everything is back to normal today (only because they pulled half of the code out)- but yesterday kind of sucked.

The good news is that I had a perfect summer 'after work' day. First, I got on my motorcycle, and drove home. Just that one thing can put me in a better mood - but from there it just got better. I called up Amanda, and she came over for dinner (grilled salmon, grilled summer squash, rice). We then changed into our bathing suits and headed over the White's Pond with the dogs for a little dip. Abby already loves swimming - but Henry hasn't figured it out.... this time - we got him to swim! He was so cute! Little panicked, but cute. On the way home, we hit Erikson's for ice cream (black cherry chip fro yo for me). To round out a perfect evening, Amanda stayed over a little longer, and we knit a bit while matching the Bulletproof Monk on TV.

Contented Sigh.

Tomorrow, I'll show pictures of the very cute baby sweater I'm working on - I have the body done - just the arms (and finishing) to go.

Wet Felting

In August, I will be going to Nantucket to teach a wet felting class for kids - making felted balls. My MIL works for the 1800 house, and asked if I would like to teach a few classes this summer. I said sure - and told her I could do a socknitting class for adults, and then a Felted Ball class for kids. Only thing is - I didn't really know how to teach the felted ball class! But I have a friend who does - Elsie up in NH.

This weekend I drove up to see her and learn about the felted ball making process. It really isn't hard at all... just take some wool and soap and hot water, and roll it in your hands. Look at the fun things we made:



I was sitting there, having fun making little beads and balls and stuff - and actually asked Elsie if this was something that kids would want to do for 3 hours... until I looked at my watch - we had been working on this for 2 hours! I didn't realize how fast the time flew. After we were done with making the little balls, the two of us decided that we should figure out how to make a felted pin cushion. After many failed attempts, we gave up and just made one big felted ball and cut it in half - looks to me like a felted geode.... too cool.

Of course, I couldn't make a trip to visit a fiber friend without going to their LYS. The store happened to have the pattern for the adult version of the black baby sweater I made... and we all know how much I wanted to make one of those for myself. And then I found in the corner the stash of Bartlett yarn - and found this beautiful color - Mountain Blue - which is being discontinued. Of course I had to buy it. And start the sweater that night:

I'm almost to the point where you put the sleeves on holders and finish up the body. I'm loving the color of this yarn - blue with a little bit of charcoal spun in. But it is very 'rustic' yarn - rough on the hands. The good news is that the adult sized version is just as much fun to knit as the baby one.

My library (and additions to it!)

First, I want to thank everyone for their kind words about my struggle with fertility. I'm confidant that I am now getting everything under control, and I'm positive I will be pregnant 'someday'. I, of course, hope it happens soon, but for now - will be happy making a ridiculously large knitted wardrobe for the little bean.

Onto the real topic of the post! As you all know, I've been knitting for a long while. And that is pretty obvious when looking at 2 things, my stash and my knitting library! Here is a picture of the bookshelf that I have devoted to knitting books only:

Looking at this picture, you can see first the arrangement I have for my ball winder and swift, (and that this room is also in need of serious wallpaper removal), also the little Terra Cotta soldier I picked up on my last trip to China. I still think that it is funny that I replaced his bow and arrow with a circular needle (tee hee). Anyway - I would guess that I have over 80 knitting books here - and not all are pictured, because they are strewn throughout the house.

Imagine my surprise when I got my Tribe gift in the mail - a knitting book I don't own! Here it is, sitting on my bookshelf:

Thank you Rachel! The only other Elizabeth Zimmerman book I have is Knitting Around, so I can't tell you how happy I was to get a copy of her Knitting Workshop. I'm so excited to try a bunch of the things in here - especially the Baby Surprise jacket - I love the one Stripy made (scroll down to May 11th)!

Now, when I look at all these books, I feel a need to tell you my favorites. I love having all the back issues to IK - I find myself paging through those when wanting to start a new project. I also like the SnB books when wanting to make something fun and funky! But, I refer VERY often to the different sock books I have - especially Socks, Socks, Socks, and Knitting on the Road. For lace - a Gathering of Lace is just a wonderful visual... and then, Knitting in the Old Way helps me a lot when I get a little crazy and want to design my own sweaters.

But this huge supply of books certainly doesn't mean I don't want more! I'm really coveting Inspired Cables Knits, and the Happy Hooker.... but can't justify the purchase just yet!

New Stash!

So, as I reported before, Sooz, Amanda and I all took a road trip to Webs last Monday. For those that don't know (and if you are a knitter, how can you not? Seriously!?) Webs is a HUGE warehouse of yarn - with an awesome discount policy. Spend $60, get 20% off. Spend over $120, get 25% off! And - this place is only 1.5 hours away. The money I save in yarn is totally worth the time and gas spent getting there.

Here is a summary (the other balls of the same type aren't in the picture - but you get the idea) of my haul:

Now, I haven't wanted to talk about this on the blog, because it's a little hard for me to talk about - but Aaron and I have been trying to get pregnant for over 15 months. No luck yet, and we've started getting some medical 'help'. In all this time, I've desperately wanted to start making baby stuff, you know, to get ahead... but thought that I would be 'jinxing' myself. After my last trip to the doctor - I realized that knitting baby stuff would maybe help me calm down, and focus on good baby thoughts, instead of always wondering if this was FINALLY the month we got pregnant. So - I decided to dedicate this Webs trip to stocking up on machine washable, unisex baby yarn.

All of this yarn already has a purpose - ready for the list?

Zarina (light blue top left): Feather and Fan cardigan from Patons Baby 500978 (I love this pattern so much - I actually brought it for my baby before we had even gotten married). I've already started this!

Debbie Bliss: Miss Dashwood from Knitty (Ok, ok, not all gender neutral - but a girl can hope, right)

Primo (purple top right): Trellis also Knitty

Red Encore: The roll neck sweater

Colorado Yarns: Chaos

Regia: Devan (which I've made before)

Angora: Super cute baby booties from Last Minute Knitted gifts

And, in my stash, I already have the supplies for a blue version of the baby sweater I made my work friend, and the somewhat blog famous Ladybug sweater.

If you'll notice, this is all either stuff that I have made before or have been watching others make around blogland. So, be expecting a bunch of baby stuff showing up on the blog - and please don't ask if it's because I'm pregnant. I know it'll happen someday, but for now, I will comfort myself with knitting for my future baby. And I promise to tell you all when I do finally get pregnant!

Back to work : (

They say that all good things must come to an end.... and so too must my vacation. Sigh. I did do a bunch of fun things:

1. Did some sewing
2. Went for 2 back to back long walks (18 miles and 15 miles) and survived!
3. Went swimming in the ocean
4. Played with my 2 1/2 year old niece and 9 week old nephew
5. Let my hair down and had WAY to much to drink
6. Bought yarn
7. And of course, knitting!

I don't have pictures of the first 6, but I of course have pictures of the knitting. First - I finished the baby sweater for Aaron and my new nephew:



Unfortunately, you can't see the super cute buttons I found - little fishbowls with a goldfish in them! So sweet! This is Trellis from Knitty - and I'd make it again - although I don't know what the hell my problem was with knitting it. I made 4 huge mistakes while making the right front that forced me the rip out to the armhole shaping (including, at one point, forgetting the armhole shaping). And then, when I was sewing it together, attached the wrist of the sleeve to the shoulder of the sweater! Augh.

And in other baby knitting news.... I was in my yarn room fondling some of my Webs purchases (to be shown another day), and I noticed all of my leftover sock yarn. So I took out my 50 Baby Booties to knit book, and experimented with how much yarn to takes to make a little baby sock.



Not that much yarn at all! And I even tried these on our little 9 week old nephew, and they fit! I'm definitely making more of these to stockpile for little baby shower presents.

Ok - gotta go to work. At least it is a nice day and I can take my motorcycle.

Hot Dogs for the 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!



IF you can't tell from the picture - it's hot here! But Henry and Abby HAD to show off the fun 4th of July scarves that Mackenzie (with a lot of help from her human, Jade, I'd venture to guess) sent them. And Jade, you are right - they are more comfortable than the 'normal' ones. Abby seems to not mind at all!

Have a happy and safe 4 of July everyone!

Let's just say...

Hypothetically, of course, that while I was away in Chicago, both dogs got sick. Aaron was up all night with them, and by morning, he thought they were feeling better. But no. When our dog walker arrived at lunch time, the kitchen was covered in (for lack of a less disgusting word) dog 'mess' (use your imagination). So, she very kindly cleaned that all up.

Then left to walk her other dogs. She thought she should stop by and check on them one more time, and she let them out the door while she checked the house. In the three minutes that she left them alone - they ran through the electric fence - and were gone. She spent an HOUR looking for them, when finally someone called my phone (which is on their tags, thank god) saying that she had found them.

Um, did I mention that this day was also my dog walkers birthday?!

Do you think this little bag is a good enough thank you (along with a little extra $$$ in her pocket)

Well? It's cute, right? I'm on a sewing kick right now.... it's just too muggy to knit.

Little bitty

At work, I have 2 people that I would actually call a 'friend'. And one of them is expecting (well, his wife is) a baby in October. So, of course I needed to make them something!



Both Brad and his wife's mother knit, so thought I would whip up a cute little flannel baby blanket instead! I love how cute it is. I may go a little crazy and (machine) quilt it myself. We'll just have to see.... I do have a few months until it needs to be done!