Five

I have survived the past five days since Royd went back to work. Granted, the kids may be in their jammies a few extra hours a day, the laundry is way behind and I really need to do the bills... But, we're getting things done. I was surprised that I get more done with him being gone. Okay! Maybe this shouldn't considering that he thinks he's allergic to housework. ;) Since I've got five minutes to spare, I thought I'd share a few things. Pattern: My usual Yarn: Gedifra Happy Cotton, color 2027 I love these socks! I have a bunch of Regia and I've never finished a pair since the yarn was so stiff to knit with. This yarn is so soft and flexible, that I may rethink cotton yarn. The next picture shows the colors off better. I also started Ribby and another pair of socks (go figure!). In case anyone is wondering Mariah hasn't disappeared from the knitting basket. I just need to order the zipper and then I can stress about that. Last but not least, I have finished the Sockpaloooza socks, but forgot to take a picture before dunking them in the wash so I'll have some next week. Have a great weekend!

Hello World

No, I didn't disappear off the face of the Earth, I gave birth to this little guy. Meet Marc Andrew who was born on April 5th. Long story short, I went to an appointment that morning and wasn't allowed to leave. This turned out to be a good thing since after the doctor broke my water, he was delivered an hour and a half later. No autobahn births here! "Having my hands full" is the understatement of the year. This little guy certainly keeps me busy with hourly feedings and crying like I've never experienced before. But each day gets a little easier and he now has discovered that he can have his eyes open without screaming about it. Reilly and Connor are thankfully in love with him. Connor is all about giving him kisses and "helping" whenever he can. Heck, I can't even get kisses! Of course with all this time nursing, there's been alot of time to sneak in some sock knitting. Three pairs almost done. There's been a little bit of spinning too, but not much. This is some BFL I dyed before Marc was born with Koolaid. I think I used Cherry, Lemonade and Orange. I plan on Navajo plying it and making some socks with it. I also dyed the following for some more socks: These are my latest fiber purchases. Two bags of merino, two bags of corriedale and one of a silk hankie. Please remind me that I have more than enough fiber to spin for a long time! Well, children are calling me. I'll keep you updated when I can find downtime. I leave you with one more picture of Marc, taken just a few days ago.

Still Here

... and no baby, yet. Apparently someone is not in a rush to make his debut. Just as well, I'm not ready for those sleepless nights. I took last week off from blogging. I admit I was kinda in a state of depression because of the baby. Which is unlike me at all; a bad mood usually disappears within hours. I had been sent home from the doctors expecting to go at any time and as the days passed without anything happening, I couldn't quite shake the fog that was surrounding me. Thankfully this past weekend it seemed to lift and I'm pretty much myself again. A big help was my ever supportive husband and Kathleen's phone calls to distract me. So, once again I'm way behind in emails and making the rounds in blogland. If you haven't or don't hear from me, don't take it personally, I'll do what I can to catch up. And thanks for everyone's kind words of support, ya'll rock! Yarn: Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch, color 707 Pattern: my standard top down on 64 stitches This is pretty much the only knitting I got done last week. I needed something mindless and soothing to keep my hands busy. A plain sock is always great therapy for me. You may have noticed that many of my latest socks are plain. I have found that these are the socks I reach for first and only wear my lacy or highly textured ones when they're all dirty. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned patterned socks completely, I'll just be choosing those less. Uh, yeah, another pair has already been started.

Bad Knitting

This week's knitting progress has been pretty much fruitless. Problems keep popping up and I'm unhappy about it. When I had measured Mariah's hood earlier this week, apparently I can't. After a whole day of chugging away on it, I only managed to get about 6 inches done with about 4 to go. For some reason I'm having a hard time picking it up now. The Gentleman's Fancy Sock is being fussy. Or perhaps it's my foot. Once I got past the gussets I tried it on and it's really tight. Granted my feet are a bit swollen right now and perhaps I should just put them down for a few weeks. Once the baby's born and the swelling goes down I can get a better sense of whether I have to rip or not. I really hope not. Reilly's been bugging me about a blue hat for months now. I picked up the yarn on Sunday and casted on last night. I swatched, honest! It lied. He tried it on this morning and although it "fits", there's no room to grow. Since he'll only get maybe one or two wears this season, it really needs wiggle room. Rrrrriiiiiipp... The yarn for my sock pal just shipped yesterday (ordered two weeks ago) so I'm starting to feel the crunch. Yikes! I did receive the Highland Wool from Elann. Both colors were alittle bit off, despite me having a color card but I still like them. I'm dying to start either Ribby or the Manly Sweater but can't bring myself to start another sweater before Mariah is closer to being finished. Honestly, I don't think that the knitting is all that bad, I'm just in a bit of a slump personally. The baby is due in less than two weeks. I want it out now. It's gotten to that stage where every little movement hurts and it's just a PITA to do anything. I don't care that we don't have a name picked out yet or that the baby's room is still covered with boxes of yarn. Or that everyday he stays inside means a relatively full nights sleep for me. Maybe I just need a nap. Or a latte with a big bar of chocolate. Yum.

A Few Blue Socks

Thank you everyone for your nice comments on the Opal socks and all the well wishes for a wonderful weekend! I meant to respond, but then, I'm so far behind I just figured I'd start over. Our weekend ended up being very nice, if not expensive. Friday and Saturday was spent at both the local PX and the big one in Wurzburg getting things he needed/wanted. Me? A candle. On Sunday Kathleen drove over and we headed downtown to the Fishmarkt. It's essentially where different vendors sell a predetermined amount of goods in a basket for a set price. What's in the mix is what you get. Last year we had a great time, but this year it coincided with a Sunday store opening* and it was mobbed. We grabbed some food from some vendors and wandered away from the mayhem towards the other shops. Yes, I mean the wool shops.... I was good and ended up with only four balls of sock yarn. Yarn: Wolle Rodel Sport and Strumpfwolle Pattern: My standard top down on 48 stitches I whipped these up this weekend for Reilly. I really like this sock yarn It's slightly thicker with a suggested gauge of 7 stitches per inch and works up very cushy. I had bought the yarn with the intention of making a pair for myself, but the ball band suggests two balls for an adult foot. I only used half of it (50 gms left) so I could have made them for me. He really likes them, so I guess that's all that matters. I'm rather enjoying the socks again and had to start this beauty. It's the Gentleman's Fancy Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. When I first got this book, this was the only pattern that I knew I HAD to knit. I'd kinda forgotten about them in my manic sweater phase. But Kathleen started a pair and showed them to me and the interest was rekindled. I'm using the Trekking she brought last weekend and I'm really liking how it's coming out. Mariah? Halfway done with the hood and then the blocking shall commence... *Stores in Germany are not open, requiring a special permit to do so. Twice a year they're allowed to open for business and it gets quite busy.

UFO #2 and a FO

Yarn: Opal Rainforest, Flamingo Pattern: My standard top down on 64 stitches The strawberry cheesecake icecream socks are done and now I'm seriously craving some icy cold treats. This was my first time working with Opal and I can't say that I'll become a die hard fan. I found that the yarn had no sproing whatsoever and this led to extreme laddering. Granted I always get some, but it's really bad! I haven't worn them yet, so after that and a good washing, I'll decide for sure what I think. The Koolaid dyeing I did last week turned out to be a disaster. I forgot the vinegar and almost all of the color ran out. I know that some people say that you don't need vinegar, but I have never had bleeding this bad. I finally gave in and ordered some Bearfoot in the same colors I had been trying to get. Since my order hasn't even shipped yet, I started on another pair of socks. This time I'm making a pair for Reilly and he picked out the colors: purples, blues and greens. (He also reminded me that he needs a new hat.) I found the best solution for my second UFO for the Lent along. After a year and a half it was time to deal with this unfinished Clapotis: I turned it into this: Perhaps this is cheating? Well, I never liked the dimensions of it; I made it way too skinny. And then the yarn was all wrong, the stitches too loose and the twisted ones looked very wonky. So it's been reabsorbed by the stash until I find another project that will work out better. I'm happy with the decision and if it weren't for the Lent Along, it probably would have sat there for another year and a half. Royd got home last night! He arrived in town late yesterday morning and we fully expected him to be released mid-afternoon. At almost five o'clock he called to say that he had just found out that he couldn't come home until everyone in the battallion was back. They were still waiting for an entire company that wasn't expected for a few more hours. So much for dinner! At nine I heard the tanks rolling down the street and knew it would be quite some time until he got home. Finally, at one am he walked through the door. This morning both the boys were delighted to see him before he had to go back to work. Thankfully we have a three day this weekend to play catch up before his schedule gets crazy again.

UFO #1

Pattern: Mittens from Knitters Handy Book of Patterns Yarn: Woolease Here is my first finished UFO for Kimberly's Lent Along. I started these as a present two Christmas' ago. All that needed to be done were the thumbs. Seriously, how hard is that? It only took me 15 minutes, including weaving in the ends! I've put them into the Charity Pile to be sent off later this month. Now I'm not sure what I'll tackle next. I do believe that my interest in socks has been rekindled. Working on the ill-fated Koigu socks last week left me wanting more. I was craving rounds and rounds of knit stitches. That lead to these: The color is the Flamingo colorway, but for some reason they remind me more of Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream. I'd blame it on cravings, but there hasn't been any lately. I started the second last night in hopes of defeating SSS, but I'm seeing that that might be a problem. That's because these little beauties showed up in the hands of Kathleen last night. Yum, I love me some Trekking! It was kinda funny because I had been telling her how much I had paid for some from the States. Ordinarily I wouldn't have done it, but I was already buying and just really wanted some more. Well, she was at the yarn store that carries it and got it for me. Anyway, it's about half the price that I paid! Thanks babe, can't wait for our next yarn crawl! In all honesty, I don't see much progress on Mariah happening until next week. Royd gets home in two days and I've got a million things to do until then. Good thing that socks are the perfect project to work on in between things!

Random Friday

Yesterday was a yucky day all around and although I had meant to post, I just couldn't. Between the nasty weather and the kids driving me bonkers, I was in the foulest of moods. Thankfully today the sun is shining, the snow is melted and at least Connor is in a better mood. Notice I only said Connor. Reilly is driving me insane!!!!!!! Five days left until Royd gets home and let me tell ya, I. Can. Not. Wait! I'll be packing them both up in the car and sending them away for a little daddy time while I take a long soak in lots of bubbles. Aaahhhhh... As far as Mariah goes, I've got about 20 rows left before I start the hood. The yoke is taking short of forever and I had to put it away last night for fear of boredom. I started a pair of socks for my sock pal in Koigu, but I'm going to run out. So, today I pulled out some Knitpicks Dye Your Own and some Koolaid. I hope the colors look as nice knitted up as they do in the skein. Tuesday we had a snow storm and I was quite mad about it. While perusing Elann, I saw that they put up some more colorsof their Highland Wool. Ones I've been wanting and there's been a GC burning a hole in my account, so I had to partake. Nothing like a little yarn therapy. The Oregano will be for a Ribbi and I think the Dark Indigo Blue will be something for Royd. I think he'll like the color and if not, I'll use it for the boys. Blue will not get wasted in this house! Have a great weekend! I hope that I have something to show you next week.

Banish Your UFOs!

There's a new button up in the side bar. Okay, I'm not Catholic but Royd is "technically". But I do have a few UFOs that need to get out of the pile. I haven't decided which will get done since I really only have three more weeks to work on them. I had thought about ripping an ill-fitting sweater and redoing, but I'd rather concentrate on something else. Perhaps I'll tackle some baby blankets for charity so that I can finally mail them out. This weekend didn't produce as much as I'd had hoped, but I'm overall happy with my progress. I just started on the yoke of Mariah, but am struggling with the final cable repeat. I had shortened the sleeves and now am having problems working out how to do the cable. I'm either going to have to eliminate it or make it shorter. I'm leaning towards making it shorter. I did get all of the Plums and Berries spun and plied. Here's one skein and the colors are pretty accurate. The other skein is still dripping wet. I just had to share the following picture. In the past week Connor has become strangely obsessed with his blanket. He carries it around everywhere and snuggles up with it on the couch. It's too cute! Reilly has a teddy bear he has to sleep with, but it doesn't compare to this. Also, he has learned to blow kisses. Adorable! Please excuse the dirty face and shirt. One year olds don't seem to stay clean for long...

Where's Spring?

I find the scene outside my window completely depressing.

Color Therapy

Thank you for all your kind comments regarding my last post. I'm okay and will be during the deployment. It's just the kind of news you can never prepare yourself for, regardless that you knew it was coming. Anyhoo, I'm choosing not to dwell on it right now and focus on other things. Like wool!!! Three pieces down, two to go. So far I've gotten the back, one sleeve and the left front done. I opted to not go in the order in which the pattern called for to break it up. Since the sleeves take about three days and the other pieces only a day, it's all about perceived progress. Hopefully by next week I'll have all completed and can start the yoke. As much as I love how this yarn (Patons Classic Merino) knits up and the color I chose, I'm craving color. Any color. If you hadn't noticed, I'm kinda in a sweater mode right now and haven't touched a sock since my New England disaster. Rooting through the sock stash, nothing quite inspired me (though I am eyeing some online for my sock pal!). Well, sitting next to that bin are the rovings I just ordered. Since I haven't started spinning the next batch of Maple Sugar, the bobbins are free. Yes, they call out to me to fill them! Before you know it, eight ounces of Cotswold are being pulled out and prepared for their destiny. Meet Plums and Berries from the friendly folks at Nistock Farms. What a completely different experiences this is than all my prior ones. The wool is course and prepped into fat fluffy roving. The singles are quite hairy, yet so shiny. I'm excited to see how they ply up. Well, looks like I have an exciting weekend planned. Hope yours is just as wooly!

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...