One Year Later

It was one year and three days ago that Royd came home from Iraq. It's been a short but very happy year. Well, it was great while it lasted. I got official notification this morning of a stop loss/move that will go into effect mid-March. That's all we really know at this point. There isn't a date set for deployment yet, but it's coming up soon. Probably June or July. Admittedly I'm quite teary-eyed today. Although I knew a deployment was coming up, you're never really prepared for it. I guess we just kept hoping that it wouldn't happen before we moved again. Ugh. Well, I guess it's better than the limbo we've been in for the past few months. Now we know and can go forward from here. I know this post is missing explanations and coherent order, I'm just kinda not there yet. I just felt like I should document this day for myself. I'll be back later this week with brighter news!

RIP

Samus is no more. Sadly, she will not fit. For two days I have been in denial, but cannot hold out any longer. Yesterday I tried her on after multiple attempts to get the sleeves right and I knew it wasn't meant to be. Again today I tried her on hoping for a better fit (the entire i-cord edging now complete) and was sadly disappointed. The blasted thing fits over my huge belly with room to spare and the shoulder seams are about two inches farther down than they should be. Dang! Dang! Dang! And I can't rip it out and make the next smaller size. That one will never fit across my chest. Oh well, I'm sure I can find another pattern that will make me just as happy. To soothe my loss, I'll be concentrating on this little number: Yup, after several previous false starts, Mariah is on the needles and is working out splendidly. The finished size of this one is much closer to what will look good (and fit!) so it's full speed ahead!

It's a Grey Day Outside. And Inside Too.

I don't know who I'm kidding, I'll never block these: Pattern: Selbu from Folk Mittens Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, grey and Cloud They're not perfect, but since it was only my second attempt at stranded colorwork, I'm okay with them. I'm sure that with wear, they'll stretch into place. But wait! There's more! Pattern: Basketweave Pullover, Interweave Knits Fall '04 Yarn: LB Woolease, charcoal grey I started this last summer with the intention of having it finished in time for fall. Well, it's almost spring. In fact, I mentioned it to him and he had completely forgotten about it. I had alot of issues with this sweater. First, it took forever. Second, I kept messing up the seaming. Third, I couldn't find the right needle and it took me two months to go out and buy it. Fourth, when I finally had said needle, I didn't feel like doing it. Fifth, I had to reblock the dang thing two times. Just so ya'll know, if using acrylic in a highly textured pattern, don't expect it to block out. I had to steam it into submission. Now, it's behaving nicely and I just hope that he likes it afterall.

Hurt?

I grabbed these up at the Interweave Press' Hurt Book Sale. The bottom corner on both is "slightly" bended. I've gotten worse condition quality from Amazon, so I was pretty impressed. I had tried ordering Folk Knitting back in December, but was notified a few weeks after placing my order that they were out. Great customer service! So, when I saw it, I had to have it. Tons of inspiration in both books, but have put them away for future use... The weekend afforded me some time to finish spinning up a few bobbins and plyed them up. Between the two skeins I've got 8 ounces and 613 yards. Only 24 ounces to go! Below is a better shot of the colors. Not much else to talk about. I still haven't decided upon a pattern for my sock pal and have yet to start the baby blanket. There is a project on the needles, but I'm not sure how well it's working out yet. I've made alot of changes to the pattern and fear that blogging about it will doom it's fate. By the end of the week I'll know if it's a keeper or not. Knit on Olympians, I'm cheering for you!

Jake

Pattern: Jake from Rowan Junior Yarn: Cotton-Ease, Cherry Red-2 1/2 skeins I know I said that a certain other sweater would be done first, but I really got into this one and just wanted to finish it. With a model as cute as this, can you blame me? This was a nice easy knit and my first time working with Cotton-Ease. Now I understand why everyone was upset and went into hoarding mode when it was discontinued. It knits up lovely and is a great substitute for All Seasons Cotton. If you have the pattern book, you may notice that the sleeves are different. They're suppose to have a reverse stockinette block in the middle of them. I only didn't put them in because I kinda forgot and then decided they looked fine without. I made the 2-4 year size so that he can grow into it. Actually it fits quite well except for the sleeve length because he's so chunky! Here's two more pictures: All the roving I ordered a few weeks ago is here and I'm back into spinning mode. Needless to say, I think I've got plenty to keep me busy for awhile. Between both orders it came out to be 5 pounds. I ended up with Cotswald, a lamb and alpaca mix, Columbia, Shetland, merino and silk, and house wool mix. I can't wait to try out all of these fibers to see how they behave. But first I need to get some of the Maple Sugar out of the way.

Twist and Shout

Woo Hoo! Twist is done! Pattern: Twist Yarn: Peruvian Collection Highland Wool, Tuscan Green, 12 balls used Sorry about the crappy picture above, but it best represents the actual color. The following photo is much better at showing the details. I'm quite pleased with how this sweater turned out. I guess all those other sweaters that never got finished taught me some important lessons on what I need for my body frame. Granted, I'm not getting a really good look since it's being stretched over a very large belly, but it seems to fit in the important parts. The only thing is that I would have made the sleeves a full inch shorter instead of just a half. Also, I did not do the fringe on the collar. I'm just not a fringe kinda gal. Okay, now that this one's done, I can get onto those UFOs awaiting impatiently!

Cleaning Up and Cleaning Out

The following can only mean one thing: The blocking boards back in action!!! There's quite a bit waiting for it's turn. First, Twist, followed by the Basketweave Pullover, the Selbu Mittens, and then Samus. I had mentioned last post that I'd been busy. Well it started when I had been looking for a needle. This forced me to go through the UFO basket/pile. I had no idea that so much was lurking in there. I spent a few minutes reevaluating some of them and quickly went to work. So far I've ripped a sweater, a sock and wove in the ends to a potholder. The Easy Garter Stitch Scarf is no more-right into the garbage. It was done with scraps so no big loss. Still to be dealt with is a Clapotis that just needs a blocking and the Heart-Motif Sweater. Granted, the little girl will never fit into the sweater anymore, but surely someone will have one soon enough that I can gift it to. All this progress has left me to feel that something needed to be actually knitted on. The red is Jake from Rowan Junior in Cotton Ease. The two balls in the corner will become a blanket for the baby. Yes! I am actually starting something for him. In spinning news, I practiced at some more Navajo plying. I think I got it! The last batch came off perfectly balanced and evenly plied. Yay, this pleases me immensely! Oh, and if you're wondering, the New England socks did NOT fit. Well, they wouldn't go over my ankle. Darn it!

Productive Weekends Make Me Happy

Yarn: Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch, color 709 Pattern: My standard top-down I had to force myself to sit down and finish these. I'm not sure why. If you notice, they don't match. The color repeat shifted halfway through the first sock and I really didn't feel like pulling out a ton of yarn to find the same repeat. I just had to let it go, besides they look cool enough as it is. I also used 68 stitches instead of my usual 64. I find that when I knit with stretch yarns that my tension tends to be a bit tight. After wearing them around for a whole day I found that I didn't need to do this. At least I know for the next pair. The completion of those socks left my needles free for another pair to be started. I just don't think they're going to fit. Tomorrow I'm going to put the stitches onto some thread and see. Fingers crossed that I don't have to rip it all out! Of course there's been a whole lot spinning... Let me just say that this yarn does not want to be photographed. I took nearly 100 (yes, I'm serious) photos under every conceivable light condition and CAN NOT get an accurate one. Let's just say that it's freakin' gorgeous! I chose this particular shot because it shows the balance coming straight off of the wheel. Of course there are spots where the spinning or plying could have been better, but it's making me very happy. In the end 8 oz yielded me about 400 yards with most being about worsted weight. Here's the Maple Sugar in action. I'm liking it so much that I went ahead and ordered another pound of it. Since I can't guarantee the same dye lot, I'm waiting to ply it until the rest comes in. Oh, I may have ordered some other fibers to try out while I was forking out money. (And I may have not been satisfied with that and went to another store too. Full details to follow at a later date.) While I'm waiting, I pulled out the remaining 7 ounces of corriedale from when I first learned to use the drop spindle. I wanted to practice both thick singles and navajo plying again. This is what resulted. For an 1 1/4 oz I ended up with 24 yards and the best job I've done yet. I am determined to get this technique down. The idea of no leftover singles has gotten the best of me I'm afraid. There's much more to report, but haven't gotten to taking pictures yet. Besides it'll make a nice long post by itself. I'll just hint you with this: the Basketweave Pullover is involved!

Cuteness Overload

First, let me thank everyone for their suggestions regarding boys patterns. I went ahead and ordered two Debbie Bliss books and Rowan Junior. I may also have let a few other things slip into my shopping cart. Woops! Honestly there hasn't been all that much knitting going on. Twist's main pieces are finished and are awaiting blocking. That will probably happen this weekend once I can get the blocking board set up. The socks are coming. Slowly. I just haven't felt like working on them. Crazy, I know. Speaking of socks, I got my pal's info this morning and have been poking around her blog. I really don't have a clue which direction to go this time, but I've got time. Then, the next sock was announced for the KOTR kal. I was hoping that New England would win because I happen to have the perfect blue yarn already in the stash. Spinning has taken up much of my free time. The Mountain Sunset roving is all plied up and is busy drying out. I tried to take some good pictures of it prior to it's bath, but with the lack of sunlight the past few days, it was either coming out purple or grey. In the meantime, I'm busy with this. Maple Sugar roving which I also got from Copper Moose. For this I went back to spinning a fine single since I can make a much more consistent yarn this way. I have a whole pound so it's gonna take me awhile. I realized that I haven't shown a picture of Connor in quite some time. So, here he is playing around with Reilly and Royd. Can you believe how big he's gotten? What I can't believe is that in two short months he's going to be a big brother. You know, I never thought in a million years that I'd have three little boys, much less two of them being so close together. Well, as they say, "Life happens". Or something like that. I don't expect my posting to be quite as regular the next month or so. Royd has once again left for field training and won't be back for six more weeks. So far we're keeping busy and I haven't felt like running away. Yet. Ask me again in two weeks...