Please Pass the Nyquil

I sure hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was, well, interesting. Reilly and Connor woke up that morning with slight fevers and runny noses. After spending a good chunk of time cooking that day, both refused to eat. I suspect that both of their throats hurt since the sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce were the only foods poked at. Saturday everything got even better when Marc and I woke up sick. So between illnesses, cheap modem problems and general holiday activities, I'm behind. Yeah, what else is new. So when I wasn't cuddling with the boys, I managed to finish up a few things. Yarn: Handspun from Good Vibrations (Crown Mountain Farms) Pattern: Plain Vanilla Socks on 72 stitches Yarn: Elann Peruvian Highland (dark green) and Wolle Rodel Merino (blue) Pattern: very loosely based off of The Handy Book of Patterns Well, since I can't really think straight I'll cut this post short. I should be back later this week with another pair of socks.

I'm Procrastinating

Lots to share today. I really should be baking for tomorrow. First up, all the loot I came home from the Post Office with. Well, most of it. There's a few books but since they're Xmas presents I can't look at them yet. As mentioned in my last post, I'd been waiting on some new needles. No, nothing broke. I'm very picky about which needles I use when knitting cables. I like them nice and pointy for cabling without a cable needle. Arwen has the arm and the front pieces worked all at the same time, so a long needle is required. Nothing in the collection was working out right. Time for new needles, right? One would have sufficed. After four years of kniting, I have finally decided to embrace my knitting style in that my purls are larger than my knits. That means two different sizes. I started Arwen with two circulars but it started to drive me nuts with the loose ends hanging and getting caught. Thus, the salvation to my crisis: Yup, I went ahead and did what everyone else already has. I haven't played with them yet, but I'm impressed with them so far. Now, I can get back to Arwen! I also went ahead and bought the color cards from Zipperstop. Can, I just say "wow"? Oh, yeah, baby. WOW! Look at all those colors! And there's three more sheets not shown. Maybe now I can get off my butt and order an appropriate zipper for Mariah. Okay, enough of my spending habits. I finished up half of the roving from Crown Mountains Farms. The first measurement of yardage gave me over 600 yards for 4 ounces. My heart sank since I had wanted it to be for socks, not lace. I shrugged it off and threw it in the sink, hung it up to dry and went to bed. The next morning I could see that the yarn had fluffed up considerably and the skein didn't seem quite as long as before. A quick down and dirty recalculation gave me about 500 yards. Whew. I blame alot of the shrinkage on the fact that I tend to wrap my yarn around the niddy noddy very tightly. So tightly that I almost couldn't get it off the dang thing this time. Lesson learned. Eagerly I casted on and this is my progress of this morning. These are going to be the replacement pair for the ill fated Latvian Lace. Nothing fancy to detract from the pretty colors of the yarn. Plus, they'll get done much faster. One last picture of Connor on his birthday. I spent all of Monday afternoon icing that cake. Every year I wonder why I do these kinds of cakes. Then when their faces light up, I remember why. Hey, mom! This is what four years of schooling comes in handy for.

Things Were Going So Well...

... and then, snap. (look at the yarn end) The first time it happened, I wasn't sure what happened. I had left the sock on the bookshelf and when I came back the yarn was broken. Naturally I blamed a child. The second time, it ever so slightly got snagged on the edge of a throw pillow. There's no way I can give these away now! The thought of them wearing through quite quickly scares me. So, back to the drawing board. I've entertained the thought of giving this person a different gift, but it ruins my grand idea. I wanted to package these up with some sock yarn, needles and a pattern for a fellow knitter who hasn't attempted socks yet. So, I'll spend some time this weekend thinking about my options. Here's my progress on Arwen. I'm ready to cast on for the sleeves, but have to wait for my needles. Hopefully they'll be at the mailroom tomorrow. Fingers are crossed so that I can get back to knitting. Well, with one more day left of the Fall Cleanup, I think that my prediction was correct. I have spent the past three days cleaning and have yet to see anyone in the entire building help. I've called in quits and figure if someone from the Housing Office wants to complain about the stuff not done, too bad. Heck, my downstairs neighbor hasn't even bothered to walk the bag of garbage sitting in front of their door for a week now outside. Eew! I'm going to relax the rest of today and sift through the sock yarns to see what inspires me. Marc wishes everyone a wonderful weekend!

While I Have Time

I'd hoped to have more to show this morning, but alas things happen. Sure, I could have waited until later in the week but I've got a very busy week ahead. Make that the next two weeks. This week is the Fall Community Cleanup here on post. It's a chance to make all the buildings and the grounds look nice and clean, just in time for the snow. Knowing full well that the other families in my stairwell will not be participating there's alot for me to do. I mean, why should it be an different than any other day. Basically, I can't stand my neighbors. Dirty and lazy. Long story and I really don't feel like getting my blood pressure up, so I'll stop now. Next week Connor turns two and then there's Thanksgiving. It's weird, I can't believe he's going to be two, yet I can't believe he's only going to be two. Well, onto the fiber. The second Latvian Lace sock is almost to the heel. Two more repeats, gusset time warp and then it's onto the home stretch. This is what I'd really wanted to have almost finished. I got distracted by something new. Sure, it doesn't look like much, but it's an almost half finished back to Arwen. I'm using Salishan, a cotton/wool yarn I picked up from KnitPicks. It was really cheap and couldn't resist. For some reason I've been craving a rusty red/copper/orangey sweater for a few months. It's typically not a color I would pick to wear, but it's always good to shake things up. The color's a bit more muted in real life, but I had to use the flash. Winter is here in Germany and we won't have true to life colors until April. I'll sign off for now and be back when I have something interesting to show ya'll. Have a great week!

Hourglass Pullover

This is what I've been working on so secretively. Pattern: Hourglass Pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts Yarn: Knitpicks Main Line in Dusty Lavender When I had said I was itching to cast on for a sweater I meant it. At first I thought I'd just swatch. Well, the swatch led to starting the body. I then figured that I'd get bored once I got to the sleeves. That didn't happen either. Before I knew it (ten days later) I had a finished sweater! Wow, it's amazing how quickly things get done when you stick to it and only work on one thing. I had picked this yarn up in the summer when they had discounted it to 1.97 a ball. In fact I have more in their blue. The yarn itself is nice and soft but it is pilling a little already. For the price I got it for, I don't mind so much. After hearing about many knitters running short on yarn, I knew I had to do some yarn conserving. According to the yardage I had, I would be cutting it pretty close. First I opted to not do a hemmed edge and replaced it with seed stitch. Then I shortened the body and the sleeves a bit. I'm short so this was sensible since the sweater will probably lengthen with wear. The modifications made weren't necessary in the long run, since I have three balls left. But it fits perfect. Yay!!! Instead of doing a traditional bind-off, I opted to do a grafted one. I'm never happy with how the usual looks with ribbing and seed stitch. I think it looks nice, even if it doesn't match the cast on. For those who want to see how it fits, here ya go. Please excuse the lack of makeup and messy hair. I have to seize quiet moments to take pictures when I can. Next up, another sweater and maybe a finished pair of socks. Stay tuned!

Can't Talk...

... I'm busy knitting!

Superheros

Superman, Batman and Pumpkin Boy hope that y'all had an awesome Halloween!