summer look #2 and an SRI

Summer outfit number 2:


1-2-3, 4-5-6, 7-8-9, 10-11-12 ladybugs came to the ladybug picnic!
They had 12 sacks so they ran sack races
And they fell on their backs and they fell on their faces
Ladybugs 12, at the ladybug picnic!

Ok, I'll stop.

This is, of course, the ubiquitous jumper.
Pattern: New Look Kids #6578, size 2 but adjusted to the size 4 length
Fabric: According to Daughter this is "Ladybugs, mommy!" from Joann Fabrics

I like this fabric but as with much of the stuff on the wall at Joann's it is flimsy and thin. I hope it holds up after being washed a bunch of times. When the fabric is only $3.99 per yard you know it's not going to be the best, but oh well. Also, I biffed when deciding how much to buy. Silly me, I forgot I'm not buying fabric for the wee tiny size anymore. I asked for 3/4 yard but it turns out that wasn't enough for facings as well. I found a yellow fat quarter in my stash that was starting to fade, so I put it to use as facing. I often use a contrasting fabric for the facings of these little dresses, but I prefer to do so with a solid fabric and a print facing. This was a solution born of desperation, but I think it's ok. Here's a closeup:


The facing is just a lighter yellow with white stars. I don't love it, but anything darker would have shown through this flimsy fabric. Oh well, it is what it is and I'm happy with the dress. Sheesh, I could make these in my sleep at this point. And there are 2 more cut out and ready to be stitched! Obviously I have a problem. I was thinking about why I'm so obsessed with making all these cute dresses for my child and it occurred to me that I'm bracing myself for her to turn out like me - after about the age of 4, getting a dress on my body was darn near impossible. In fact, in all my first communion photos I'm wearing a very pretty dress and a very un-pretty scowl. In almost no photos will you see me wearing the veil, oh heavens no. It was jeans and a ponytail or pigtails from just past toddlerhood until...well, until now, I guess. I'm still not a huge fan of dresses. So I guess I'm afraid the day will come when she'll refuse to wear little adorable girly things and I have to get while the gettin's good.

And I seriously hope she grows in the next 4 months because all this size 2 stuff is looking hy-ooge.

Oh - I know there are no buttons on the straps yet. I think this dress demands either biggish ladybug buttons, or if that's overkill perhaps large black plastic circles would be cute. Something a tad over-the-top to go with that outrageous yellow. I'll have to think on it.

While making the pants outfit on Wednesday, I gave myself a sewing related injury (SRI). My sewing machine has an AC motor and when you push the pedal it doesn't start as smoothly as the computerized electronic machines with DC motors. It kind of 'jerks' to life, but I'm used to it and it never bothers me. I was preparing to start sewing a seam and lining up my fabric with my foot resting on the pedal, and the silly thing is so sensitive that a tiny bit of pressure from my foot sent it into motion. The needle bar came slamming down on my left ring finger and took such a chunk out of the tip I couldn't even believe it. It wasn't the needle itself (though I have stitched right through my fingertip with an embroidery machine...I don't recommend it), it was the actual needle bar with the apparatus that holds the needle in place. Holy expletives, batman. It really hurt. And bled! Whoa. So let that be a lesson to you - keep your foot off the pedal till you're ready to sew. Accidents happen. Ouch.

Knitting News:

Firth's front has a friend:


I finished up the right front last night (you can see what blocking does for this pattern). Due to my SRI, Thursday was kind of a loss. We went to Grandma's house and hung out because I couldn't sew or knit much anyway. My finger felt better last night so I went to town on this piece of my new sweater. Hubs kept telling me it was time for bed, but I stayed up till midnight to finish. If I don't get to do any crafting during naptime, I feel all unsettled at night, so I stay up too late doing my thing. Dumb, because I'm super tired in the morning, but whatever, that's what coffee is for.

I hope to finish up the sleeves over the weekend, and the back early next week. Will this be ready to wear on March 1? I just know you're on the edge of your seat. Well, I'm hoping it will be done. Have a lovely weekend, all. I hope it's warming up wherever you are. We're finally making it back into the 30s and the chunks of ice are slowly melting from our gutters. Still 3 feet of snow in the front yard though. Bah!

the 2007 summer collection begins

Daughter's first summer look for 2007 is runway-ready.


Ok, not entirely. The shirt needs a button, but we'll get to that in a minute.

The pattern is McCall's Stitch 'n Save #M5371, made in size 2. (Please make a note of the pattern number if you want to make this outfit. People are always asking me for the patterns I use and I always tell that information when I show a finished piece of clothing.)

The shirt is view B, and the pants are sort-of view D. The pattern calls for view D to have a few rows of trim on the cuff area of the pant, but I didn't want that as this fabric seems to speak for itself. The fabrics are: solid cotton in "parchment" from Joann Fabrics (whatever was on sale over the weekend for $1.99), and Keepsake Calico called "apples and pears" (I think) from the calico wall at Joann's. It was a teeny splurge at $7.99/yard, but they were on sale for 30% off, so I went for it. I have to admit, I got this fabric because I saw it made into pants on Amanda's adorable baby girl and I HAD TO HAVE IT TOO.

I have several knee-jerk reactions I could share about this pattern, but I think I will wait to talk about it until I make another outfit. I have another one planned and ready to go, and now that I've been through the directions once I should be able to evaluate it more accurately. The first run-through of a pattern is always frought with difficulty for me because I tend to think I'm smarter than the pattern. I'm usually quite wrong about that. C'est la vie.

Anyway, the top is super easy but time consuming because it is a wrap top, self-faced (I think that is the correct term...?) and there's a lot of pinning involved.


The top buttons on the left, and snaps closed inside on the right. I think I bought some small clear plastic snaps last year. Do any of you know where I put them? Cause I sure don't, and now I can't even remember if I really bought them, or just held them in the store for a minute and then changed my mind.


The directions call for the front facing to be slip-stitched over the side seam allowance. Shyeah, right. I whipped out my edge-stitch foot and just zipped along the side from underarm to hem.

I will share one gripe about the pattern in relation to the shirt - nowhere does it tell you to trim the seams or clip the curves. Well, good luck getting anything wearable if you skip that step! Luckily I have enough experience to know I had to do that, but if a total beginner picked up this pattern they would be extremely frustrated trying to press out the armholes and neckline.


The pants. I love these pants. I want these pants for myself. Alas, I don't know if I could pull off the fruit look. If these look a little stumpy, that's because they're capri pants. But they could easily be made into full-length pants with the same pattern. There's a 2-inch hem allowance. Weird.

I know the fruits don't match up. I don't have the patience to line up my pattern pieces with individual motifs. These will be worn by a 2 year old. Who cares?

This was my first time making pants with a waistband. I always feared the waistband. Why? It is super easy! And it adds a really nice finished look.


The back of the pants are elasticized, for pull-on comfort. Also incredibly easy to do.


Now I just need to know which color button to put on the shirt. Please vote!

Knitting News

Aaaaaaaaaaaand,,,back to winter. I finished one front of Firth.


I really, really, really like knitting this pattern. It looks much more complicated than it really is, and that fairisle section is knit on size 9 needles, people. FAST. I changed my color selections after knitting and ripping and knitting and ripping and agonizing and knitting and ripping some more. My original color choices made the sweater look like it came from 1987 (too bright), so I switched them around until they made me happy.


I realize that hit of leaf green might not be everyone's cup of tea. But I adore that shade and cannot wear it, so I snuck it into this sweater for fun. As my Daughter would say, "I lllllllllllllove it!"

Weaving in all those ends is going to stinkety-stink, though.

love her madly

I love my kid so much. That may seem like such an obvious thing to say, but sometimes in the day-to-day struggle to keep everyone in the house clean, fed, and occupied the important feelings get squelched underneath frustration and exhaustion.

Until they come roaring back to the surface, that is. Yesterday was one of those days when everything Daughter did and said was adorable and surprising and sweet and hilarious. At her age (22 months) she is unpredictable, so I am always bracing myself for questionable behavior. Sometimes I am simply amazed by how wonderful she can be.

I took her to Joann Fabrics for the big Presidents' Day sale (isn't that what all good patriotic Americans do on federal holidays? Shop the sales?) and she wasn't too happy about it. As I was putting her in the car and driving away she kept whining, "hoooooooome," but man, we needed to get out of the house and stop watching videos. The outside temp got above freezing yesterday for the first time in weeks so darn it, we were heading out. And actually, I did have good reason to be going to Joann Fabrics in the first place - read Karen's post about an excellent charity sewing opportunity. I needed to get the skirt pattern for this project.

At the store I let Daughter walk partway through the parking lot, holding my hand. When I got her out of the car she stood next to me while I got out the diaper bag, and when I said, "don't touch the dirty car," she did not. She just pointed to the tires and said, "ABCs, Mommy!" Yes, yes, sweetheart, there are letters on the tires. You're right!

We got to the door and I said, "ok, how about you ride in this cart?" And she said, "cart? Ok Mommy!"

I let her carry my little swatches, which are from fabrics I bought last year. As the solids were on sale for $1.99 I was trying to match some for little coordinating tops/bottoms. I took them from her one at a time to hold them up against bolts, saying, "hmmmm, let's see. Does this one match? What do you think? Let's check this one..." And after a few minutes, she started doing the exact same thing. Holding the swatches against bolts on the wall, saying, "hmmmmm. Check this one!"

When I would pick out a bolt I liked, I would lay it across the bar of the cart so she could see it. I would say, "I like this one, what do you think?" And she would yell loud enough for the whole store to hear, "Oh, I LOVE it, Mommy! I LLLLLLLOVE it!"

As we walked down the wall of calicos she would holler out what she saw, both color and pattern.

"Ladybugs, Mommy!"

"PINK!"

"Oh, flowers!"

She is unbelievable. My kid. What did I do to deserve such a great kid?? I figured she surely deserved a treat for being so well behaved, so I asked her if she'd like to go look for some playdough before we went home.

"OH! Playdough! YES MOMMY YES!"

We got a 6-pack of playdough, oh yes we did. She talked about it all the way home. When we got home she refused her snack. It was playdough time. She asked me to cut out a "girl" and a "guy" (guy?), so I did it with my gingerbread cutters. When I rolled the dough with the rolling pin she said, "try? try!" so I gave her the pin and she tried, grunting and exclaiming the whole time because she couldn't push hard enough to flatten the dough. When I cut out the girl, she said, "try? try!" so I gave her the cutter and she pushed too.

She made the girl dance around, and when one of the arms came off she immediately stuck it on the girl's head, and told me it was a hat.

I cut out a "guy" and she started pulling bits of playdough off a hunk of a different color and pushing them into his body. I asked her what it was and she said, "jammies on!" People. She was putting playdough jammies on her playdough guy.

The child played with the playdough for AN HOUR. We haven't had that much fun in ages. I even had enough time to wash and dry all the new fabrics we got. She was so blissed out that when I said, "I'm going in the laundry room to switch the stuff to the dryer," she flipped her hand in my direction and said, "ok, bye."

I know, I know, this is cheese-o-rama. And believe me, sometimes Daughter can be a booger. Not too often, though. She's really a good kid. I just wanted to write this out to help me appreciate it. I love her madly and can't wait to see what adorable things she comes up with today.

Enjoy your Shrove Tuesday/Fat Tuesday/Pancake Day/Pazcki Day. Buffalo is still multi-ethnic enough that you can't walk 10 feet today without tripping over a pazcki or a fastnacht, so Daughter and I may just go out and find one of these tasty sweets.

Photos of our fabric adventures to come...

off the wagon...ish

Well friends, I fell off the wagon. But not too badly, I have to say. However, I am in danger of going back and doing more damage this weekend when Joann Fabrics has their President's Day sale, what with the whole 10% off your entire order business. What can I say? I love the Tutti-Frutti fabrics and would happily buy yards and yards of them for Daughter's summer wardrobe.

I went out with the sole purpose of getting some pattern-ease, so I could use the patterns I have but make bigger sizes. Those of you who sew - do you use this product? I started using it when I realized I could get a lot more use out of toddler patterns if I didn't hack them down to size 1, thus ruining sizes 2-4 forever. Now I can't imagine ever chopping up a tissue pattern again. It's so cheap - $1.99 per yard, 46" wide - and you just write on it with a sharpie or whatever. It's much firmer than tissue so the traced pattern will last and last, and once you're done with the pattern (ie: when your kid grows out of it) you can pass along or sell the original tissue pattern in un-cut, perfect condition. Try it, you'll like it!

So I tried to get some at W@lm@rt in the craft department, because I have been trying so hard to stay out of Joann Fabrics. The willpower, it dissolves in that place. But WM didn't have it. However, WM did have some excellent new toddler patterns for summer from my favorite company, McCall's easy stitch 'n save:


I don't know if these are actually new or not, but they are new to me. They are M5371, M5370, and M5351. The bottom one starts with size 3, so I guess we'll wait a year on that one. But maybe I can take it in a little and make it work this summer. My favorite is this one:


When I saw that little wrap top with the ric-rac on it, I freaked. LOVE!! As you know by now, I adore simple, simple, simple clothing for children that can be accented with trims and buttons. This pattern is perfect for that. Imagine the possibilities!! I adore view A with the coordinating pockets and trim. Can't wait to dive in and make this one.

Well, then I had to hit Joann's for the pattern-ease. I tried to just get it and leave, but you know how that place is. I managed to bypass the fabrics, but got hung up thinking about ric-rac and trims. After having a weird conversation with the lady at the cutting counter (Me: 5 yards of pattern-ease, please. Lady: so...you do a lot of pattern tracing? Me: yes. yes I do.) Daughter and I hit the trims. Lookee here:


These are some Tutti-Frutti fabrics and some cottons I got last summer on super-sale. There will be some sundresses, but also some shorts and/or tops, which will now have coordinating white pants or shorts or maybe a little jacket or whatever with perfectly coordinated ric-rac trim! The photo doesn't even do justice to the perfection of the matchiness. Yeah, watch out for some major ric-rac on this here blog...I have scads of it from my grandma's crafting stash and suddenly I'm liking it. Egads.

Moving on, luckily Joann's didn't have the yarn that I needed on sale, and I totally don't buy yarn at full price, like ever, because I think it is just silliness to do so. If you need it and can wait a week or two, inevitably one of the major stores will have a yarn sale. This week it was NOT Joann's so I got away clean yesterday. However, I am making myself a sweater and it needs a yoke, so I had to come up with some yarns.

I started Firth, from Rowan's A Season's Tale, a week ago today. I decided to buy the book sight unseen and knit the sweater based on Siri's gorgeous version, seen here. Luckily I had an Amazon gift certificate laying around and I was able to get the book used for a cheap-o price (it doesn't look remotely used, though, and has many, many awesome patterns, so it was totally worth buying). Thankfully Firth calls for worsted weight yarn, and I happened to have 5 skeins of Paton's Classic Merino, my go-to yarn for all worsted wool projects, in my stash. They are multiple dye lots of dark grey mix, but I had 2 the same for the sleeves and 2 the same for the fronts, and a solo skein for the back. I don't think there is much difference but since I didn't use multiple skeins for each piece, I can't see any problem. Here's the sweater and my chosen yarns:



Knit on US needles 7, 8, and 9, this sweater has been so fast to crank out. Here is where I am as of this post:


Two sleeves knit up to the colorwork portion, the back also knit up to the start of the colorwork, and the start of the left front.

I really like the original colors you see in the picture from the book, but a gal with my coloring cannot wear that pea green without looking corpse-like. Also, hello, this was supposed to be a stash-buster. Which it still sort of is, but I did go to Michael's today, where Paton's Classic Merino is currently $3.99 (you're welcome, broke knitters like me! Go stock up!) and I grabbed one skein each of new denim, leaf green, royal purple, and natural mix. The red skein may be crimson, I'm not sure. That's a partial skein from my stash and the label is long gone.

Now, normally my knitting mantra is "texture, not colorwork" but in this case I am making an exception out of sheer loooooooooove of the pattern. This is a sweater I will wear until it falls apart, I just know it. Simple styling, soft yarn, beautiful patterning. And did I mention FAST? It will slow way down now that I've hit the fairisle portion, but I still think I can knock this one out by the end of February (don't hold me to it, though).

Oh, and also? There are directions for a child size Firth. Daughter and I could be matchy-matchy! Ok, maybe that would be pushing it.

Have a great weekend, all! Stay warm!

my funny valentine

Do you have moments like I do when you wonder if your spouse knows anything about you? Moments when you think perhaps he has been asleep for a large portion of your marriage? Because how could he not know that you hate onions on your sub, don't like rose-scented things, dislike bubble baths, and no, this shirt is not new, you wore it on one of your first dates...

...but then your faith is restored when he shows up after work on Valentine's Day with something like this:


Coffee ice cream (which he hates so I never buy it), orange chocolate milanos for which I would sell my soul, Ghirardelli dark, dark chocolate with orange and hazelnut, and le petit ecolier cookies in dark and super dark chocolate. People, not only does he know me, he knows me well. And it is all for me, me, me. Well, ok, I will share. It would be kind of gross to eat all this myself. So who's coming over? I'll put the kettle on. Wear boots, it's really snowy out.

Sorry the blog has been wholly uninspiring lately. The truth is, between Daughter and I being sick and the general malaise of February, I haven't been too creative. Drunk on the excitement of finishing a sweater for myself, I started another and it's coming along. Photos when I get a bit further in the pattern. I have managed to get a couple sundresses cut out for Daughter:


I want to get more garments cut out before I set up the machines, but I've run out of pattern tracing material and need to hit Joann Fabrics for more. I haven't set foot in a craft/fabric/yarn store yet in 2007 and I hate to break the streak. Once I go in ugly things might happen and I've been so good using stash and saving money...but if I'm going to sew more summer clothes for Daughter I'll have to be strong and just shoot straight for the cutting counter. Wish me luck.

To answer April's question from the comments yesterday, ten years ago I was "studying abroad" in Australia, which is code for "going to the beach every day." Haha, just kidding Mom and Dad! I was studying hard! (Ok, not. But I made dean's list and that's good, right?)

hot kool-aid

Ten years ago on Valentine's Day I was floating on my back in the Indian Ocean, roasting in the unbelievably intense Australian sun, slathering on the sunblock, laying on the sand, scooting back into the tepid water when I couldn't take the heat any longer, and laughing at the folks back home who were shoveling snow.

If you've been following the national weather scene, you know, as I do, that there is such a thing as karma.

In honor of V-day, I am dyeing some yarn red on my stovetop. The kitchen is filled with the stank-nasty aroma of hot kool-aid. Mmmmmmmmm.

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours.

6 months

Today is the 12th, so it has been exactly 6 months since I said hello and goodbye to baby Elizabeth. Interestingly, it has also been almost exactly 1 year to the day since finding out I was pregnant with her.

I'm feeling pretty reflective about the whole thing today, trying to put words to my emotions. I've pretty much kept my grief and healing process off the blog, and that was a conscious decision. Rather than sitting here typing a bunch of angry or sad words, I've chosen to work through it myself. Yes, I know I am free to write and share and all that, but after the initial shock began to wear off, I chose to grieve quietly and personally. It has been working well, I think. I guess I just want to bring you in for a moment on this day, 6 months later, to let you all know that I am doing fine. 'Fine' is a relative term, of course, because I am still sad and sometimes angry and often hurting, but I can honestly say I don't feel straight-up awful anymore. And that is a sweet, sweet relief.

Last month, on the 12th, I was sitting with a friend and having lunch with our kids when she asked me how I was doing. She said, "you know, it really hasn't been that long." And that struck me, because truly, what is that long? What's a long time in this situation? 5 months certainly isn't long, but then again 5 years isn't that long either. When August 12, 2011 rolls around I will most likely be sitting against a headstone and weeping for my baby. And I know it will feel like it just happened. That's the nature of this whole thing. It never, ever goes away. It just becomes easier to work with the memories and get through my days. I think of my baby every single day. But I have come to a point where I can focus on her, on her tiny sweet face, on what it felt like to hold her in my arms, rather than on what I felt like. I can think of how beautiful she was, rather than thinking about the looks of pity and sadness on the faces of everyone around me. I can remember the things I said to her, rather than all the things that were said to me.

I think often about having another baby, as the idea of pregnancy slowly moves from 'terrifying' to 'exciting,' though I'm not there yet. And the thought will always scare me now, at least a little. We'll see what happens with that.

Hubs is good. He deals with it in his own way, though he doesn't like to talk about it. That's ok with me, as I know he is willing to discuss it if I need to. He just chooses not to bring it up.

And Daughter. Oh, Daughter. Love of my life, joy of my days, bringer of light and happiness in our home. I thank God she will not remember any of what went on. She drives us totally nuts in her almost-2-year-old way, but oh, how we adore her. I sit with her every morning at her request and we watch "It's a Big, Big World" and "Sesame Street" in our jammies under a blanket. I kiss her head and inhale her smell until she wiggles away. I treasure every kiss and hug she chooses to give. If nothing else, the experience of losing one child has made us a thousand times more grateful for the other.

So that is that. I just felt the need to say something and now I've done it and I feel better. Back to the regularly scheduled lightness and mild sarcasm in a day or two. Thanks for once again reading and understanding and supporting me.

WANT

This. Badly. Right now.

Oh man, and these too.

can't think. brain frozen.

Friends, you're going to love this. I wore the legwarmers today. For real. It was eleventy-billion degrees below zero and we had to go grocery shopping. I bundled my poor child up in her snow pants and boots and heavy coat; it only seemed right that I should be bundled as well. So I pulled on the legwarmers under my pants. They were rad! I was quite warm. To give you an idea of just how freezing it was today, I wore a hat. I never wear a hat - I am as vain as the next girl and I don't like the coiffure to be smushed. Not that I technically have a coiffure...but still. You know what I'm saying.

Luckily Hubs came through with the snowblower last night. His best friend helped us pick it up (with his truck) and they stood outside making the appropriate manly noises, blasting the snow. We have a tiny driveway and a front walk, and it still took them an hour and a half to clear it all. It's a good thing it works so well and Hubs likes using it, because now I'm not getting a new mattress and box spring for a long, long time. Darned homeownership. Costs too much.

I took advantage of the cold weather to put Daughter in her new sweater. When I originally knit it, I bound off the neck too tightly, which seems to be a trend around here. I don't know what my problem is...I have to remember to do a stretchy castoff from now on. I fixed it last night while the men did their thing outside, so she wore the sweater today.


Hallelujah, it fits!


Also of note: the sun is shining! It's not snowing!

That is all.

cabin fever

It's snowing again. Ummm, God? Are you listening? This is enough snow, ok? It's pretty and all, but we'd rather not break our backs digging out of it. So you can stop hurling it at us now. Deal?

Hubs is heading to Home Depot after work to check out a new, very large snowblower. Which is awesome, because I was just thinking about lighting $1000 on fire and now I don't have to.

There is little choice, however, as there is a solid 4' X 4' block of snow in the driveway behind his car (thanks plow), another solid block at the end of our front walk and surrounding the mailbox (thanks again, plow), and did I mention it's coming down like gangbusters again? We managed to get my car dug out yesterday (Jeep) so Hubs could go to work today, but that leaves me with no car. And even though it is 7 degrees F and snowing sideways, I still want my car because cabin fever? It is setting in. If Daughter and I don't get out of the house soon we will both go nuts. In the last 3 weeks I have been out 4 times. 4. FOUR TIMES. Target is going to go under if I don't start getting out again.

It is so bad that I am actually finishing projects I don't care about.


Wee minty green sweater. The pattern is from an old book (1940s) that once belonged to my great aunt. From what I have heard she was an amazing knitter who made full suits for herself and back then they did it with size 1 needles, peeps. None of this chunky and bulky weight business. And that is what you find in the baby pattern books from that time as well. I love and collect old pattern books, as I think it's worth it to make a dainty baby item from fingering weight yarn. It doesn't take that long and the result is so delicate and sweet.

This sweater is supposed to be a 1-year size. I don't know if it really is because my 1-year old will be a 2-year old in about two seconds, so I have no one to try it on. The yarn is some sort of cheesy fingering-weight acrylic, which I often use for baby items because hey, it's soft, and also machine wash-and-dryable.

Needles used: US sizes 1 and 3

It has no buttons yet, and it hasn't been washed. It came from the needles straight to you, internet. I'll wash it and slap on some buttons, and then pack it away for whenever.

And then there's a project that I do care about.


Behold! This is the mighty Kinsale, sweater of doom that has haunted me for years. I think the timeline goes like this:

Late winter 2004: Get Elsebeth Lavold silky wool for birthday gift, cast on for Kinsale
Spring and early summer 2004: Knit happily on Kinsale using (US) size 3 needles. Finish front and back. Begin sleeves.
August 2004: Get pregnant. Forget about Kinsale, won't be able to wear it anyway.
April 2005: Have baby. Ignore Kinsale. Summer is coming.
Fall 2005: Ignore Kinsale. Can't wear it while breastfeeding anyway. Besides, there are way too many cute kid sweaters to knit. Feel a bit guilty about Kinsale anyway because that yarn was pricey, yo.
Winter 2005: Make half-hearted effort to finish Kinsale. Complete sleeves.
Late winter 2006: Get pregnant. Forget Kinsale. Again.
Summer 2006: Well, you all know that story.
Fall/Winter 2006: Knit neckband but bind off too tightly so it won't go over head. Become disgusted. Throw it in a heap.
Winter 2007: Realize 3 years is quite a bit too long and finish the stupid sweater already. Undo the neck cast-off, redo it with a larger needle and a stretchy method. Sew up the sleeves and underarms over 2 nights of lousy TV. Sigh contentedly. Post to blog.

Pattern: Kinsale from Alice Starmore's Fishermen's Sweaters
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold silky wool. I don't know what the color is anymore - granite, maybe? In some light it is very gray, in other light it is greenish. I had either 8 or 10 balls and used almost every last yard.
Needles: US 1 and 3 circular
Mods: Mine is a tad shorter than specified in the pattern because I am short-waisted and didn't want it hugging my hips and bottom. It hits me around hip-level and I like it. Good thing I did this, too, because I would have run out of yarn otherwise.

Also, silky wool is technically a sport or dk weight yarn and size 6 needles are recommended. However, it knit up very nicely on smaller needles and is not stiff at all. In retrospect this was not the best yarn choice for the pattern. It's very slubby and nubby and does not show off the stitches very well. A disappointment, to be sure, but I didn't know enough at the time of purchase to disagree with the yarn shop owner who recommended it. That just goes to show you, ladies and germs...don't always assume your LYS is offering the most appropriate guidance. Take a more experienced knitter with you for help if you can. I wish I had. Oh well, I like the sweater and I will wear it. If nothing else I'm happy to remove this particular albatross from around my neck.

Only one more silly little languishing knitting project to finish up, and then I can make something all new! What to knit, what to knit.....well, heaven knows it will come from stash yarn because I can't get to the store, and also, all our money will be sunk into that new snowblower by the end of the day. Boo.

snowed in

Greetings from my snow igloo...er, I mean, my house. Which you can barely see because it is covered - covered - in snow.


This is the view from my family room window yesterday afternoon. That's a fence and 2 cars. Can you see them? Yeah, no kidding.


Here is Hubs making his way from the back door to the shed to get the snowblower out. That's the grill in the foreground. Turns out the snowblower was useless against this much snow anyway. We just spent the last 1.5 hours digging out one car. Just one. I am typing this with my arms pressed against my sides because if I lift them my muscles all scream at once. Ow.


Wind chills of -10 = too cold to play outside. So we brought the snow inside. This is Daughter's snowman. She plays happily in a tupperware container of snow until she suddenly declares it "too COLD, mommy!"

There's plenty of time to knit when you can't get out of the house. I have 2 finished sweaters (!!) to show, but I can't move enough to get off the couch and take pictures.

light reading for the weekend

I forgot to write about this last week, and since no one posts on the weekend - I mean you can practically hear yourself echo across the internet - I thought it might be a good time to share.

Daughter before:


Daughter after:


Yes, we cut off the baby mullet. I used to think it was cute, but it had gotten so long in back that she looked messy all the time. It is still extremely fine and flyaway, but we think it looks much nicer this way. And yes, we did it ourselves, which was a little risky but it worked out.

My little baby is growing up.

nothing to say

I got nothin' today. Still sick, but slowly getting better. No ear infection, hooray, but I had my ear 'flushed out' yesterday and can I just tell you how disgusting that was? Yeah. Eew.

If you are a brave soul and you think poo is funny, go read this. I will be back next week.

(Also, hi, I am not bright. I couldn't get my fonts to change on that last post because I was in Edit Html mode instead of Compose mode. Duuuuurrrrrrrrrrrr.....)

what's that? excuse me? pardon? what?

Ok. Can't hear with my left ear. Totally plugged. Back to the doctor tomorrow morning.

Also, Blogger is not showing me any font choices. Is it just me?

enough with the sickness already!

I really appreciate all the lovely birthday wishes. I would love to regale you with a tale of birthday fun and adventure, but unfortunately I've been so sick for so long that we had to skip it. Would you believe I've been fighting the same virus since last Sunday? It started in my throat, then crawled up into my sinuses, left into my ear, and down into my chest. As of today my ear still feels plugged, my sinuses are still a bit clogged, and I've got a really lovely deep chest cough. You know the kind...when you see someone out in public coughing like I am right now, you wonder how that person escaped the TB ward...yeah, it's lovely. Not that I've been out in public much. I've left the house exactly twice in the last 9 days, and Daughter has been cooped up for almost 2 weeks straight. When these germs are gone we're so outta here!

Not that there are many places to go, as it's been snowing for days. Between the snow piled on top and the snow mounded up from the plows, I can barely see my mailbox.

I guess it's just good old fashioned crafting weather.

I did not mention this sweater in my previous posts about finishing up my languishing projects. I wasn't sure how I felt about finishing it, because it was started last summer when I found out I was pregnant with another girl. Once I knew she would never wear the sweater, I couldn't bear to work on it anymore.


But I had a lot of the shell work done already, which was quite time-consuming and complicated, both sleeves were ready and waiting, and also I needed to free up the needle I'd been using in order to finish up yet another unfinished sweater. I pulled it back out last week and cranked away until it was done.


This will get a gentle wash and be stored in my cedar chest. Hopefully I will get to use it again, but if not, it will be saved for someone else.

Pattern: Leisure Arts "Special Baby Outfits" leaflet #2329
Yarn: Stylecraft WonderSoft Baby 4 ply
Needles: US sizes 2 and 3
Mods: None

This sweater is from the same booklet as the wee dress featured in this post from last fall. Oddly, it looks like I was sick then too.


Aren't these buttons just perfection? They're actually little pearls, and not silver balls as they appear here. I had to do some tricks with editing the photo and they ended up looking silvery. Anyway, these buttons were a gift from my superstar blog buddy Karen. She sent me a surprise package around Christmas with lots of old buttons and awesome vintage knitting pattern books.

Speaking of Karen, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the amazing birthday gift she sent:

I asked my family for clothing this year because my wardrobe is so pathetic, so I didn't expect to receive any "fun" gifts, if you know what I mean. But! My dear non-knitter friend from across the continent braved a yarn shop and came out with 3 skeins of Cascade Sierra in a beautiful brick-y deep red, as well as some gorgeous beaded stitch markers. I've been coveting beaded stitch markers for ages. I can't wait to get some more unfinished projects done so I can cast on with this beautiful yarn. It will become a sweater for Daughter. What excellent motivation! Also included in the package was another lovely vintage pattern book. Thanks again, Karen!

31

Happy Birthday, Wayne Gretzky!

Happy Birthday, Ellen DeGeneres!

Happy Birthday, Paul Newman!

Happy Birthday, Eddie Van Halen!

Oh...and happy birthday to me!

actual knitting content

People! I am so high on DayQuil! Aiyeeeeeeeee!

I have taken advantage of this state to finish something. Here is the cable pullover I've been working on for Daughter:



Pattern: Aran Family Child's Pullover from Knitting the New Classics
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino in denim, almost 3 complete skeins
Needles: US sizes 5 and 7
Started just after Thanksgiving 2006, finished 1/25/07

Modifications: The pattern calls for worsted-weight yarn and sizes 4 and 6 (US) needles. If I'd used those sizes this sweater could stand up by itself. Sizes 5 and 7 gave me a satisfactory fabric quite close to the stated gauge, though for an oversized style like this, I wasn't too concerned with being spot-on. Also, I blocked this out a bit bigger than the schematic called for, to open up the cables.



This was a pretty decent pattern - my only complaint is that the schematic for the child's version was incorrect. I couldn't find any errata information online, but it seems to me that when the directions tell you to knit a sleeve until it is 10" but the schematic indicates the finished length of the sleeve to be 6.75" there is a problem. Do any of you have this book in your library? Can you confirm this issue? Perhaps it was corrected in other printings, I don't know.

As for the book, all I can say is that one person's classics are another person's Bill Cosby 80s throwbacks. Most of the sweaters in this book are HUGE and many have that Cosby look we so loved...in 1987. If you are still fond of that style, well, grab a jello pudding pop and get knitting. Otherwise, I'd say check this one out from the library or borrow it from a friend for the 2 or 3 true classics within. Someone gifted my mom with a copy, and I'll be returning it to her now that I've made this sweater.

Argh, my cough is coming back. Time for another dose o' DayQuil.

Sorry for the glare in the photos. Hubs installed a new chandelier-like light fixture over the kitchen table yesterday and it shines with the light of a thousand suns. We'll be getting some lower-wattage bulbs very soon.

sickety-sick

I finally broke down and went to the doctor this morning. I had a terrible night of lame sleep, and when I woke up this morning I couldn't talk. Swallowing made me want to come right out of my skin. I peered at my throat with a flashlight and it was definitely red, and I thought I saw some whitish spots. So to the doctor I went. Hubs was kind enough to stay home with Daughter so I didn't have to drag her with me. Also, did I mention I couldn't talk? Like, at all? Hard to care for a toddler when you can't shout, "no! Stop jumping on that chair! Get down now! You're going to fall and crack your head open!"

Ok, so being sick makes me maybe a little cranky.

Anyway, I don't have strep throat. It's just a virus. About which my doctor was apologetic. He actually apologized that the test was negative and that I therefore wouldn't need any medication. Is that what the world has come to? People just going to the doctor and demanding antibiotics for any old thing? I hate the idea of taking antibiotics (the germs are becoming resistant, as I'm sure you all know, and the medicines don't work anymore in some cases...that is bad! bad! bad!). I was glad to hear all I needed was rest and fluids.

So because I feel crummy and lazy, I'm going to hit you with a meme. I'm tagging myself for 5 weird things.

1) I like to eat things in odd numbers. Like m&ms - I purposely take odd numbers, preferably in different colors, too. If I somehow get an even number, say 8, I will eat 5, then wait awhile and eat 3.

2) The bathtub is never clean enough. I scrub it to the point of practically scratching the finish, I bleach it, I scrub some more, and yet I never feel it's truly clean. I loathed having to move Daughter from the little baby tub to the big tub, and I still cringe every time I put her in.

3) Feet oog me right out. Can't stand feet. Eew.

4) I will not share bar soap or toothpaste. In fact, I won't even use bar soap unless I am truly desperate and there is no other option (like in a hotel). I try to bring my own shower gel/wash whenever I travel. And I have my own tube of toothpaste in the bathroom - once Hubs uses it, it's his. I open a new one.

5) I would rather go on an educational vacation than a "fun" vacation. It's not that I don't like the beach, it's just that I prefer museums and stuff. I'm kind of nerdy like that.

That's all I've got. Off to the couch to watch some Balamory with Daughter.

random

First things first: washing that vaporizer stuff out of hair is practically impossible. It's oil-based. Baby shampoos are gentle. So unless I want to break out the Lava soap, it will just take repeat washings to get it all.

Daughter is feeling much better. Her sinuses are still congested, which I can hear in her little voice, but her eye is clearing up nicely. We have to put drops in 3X each day, 2 per eye (both eyes are treated even though only one was goopy). She's pretty good about it, and we've turned it into a counting game: 1-2-3-4. I put one in and say, "there's one, what comes after one?" And she says in a sad little voice, "twoooooooo." So we do drop number two and I cheer and praise her, then we go on to what comes after two, etc. Usually she throws in "all done? all done?" before we're finished, but we get all the drops in eventually.

After scrubbing pink liquid antibiotic out of the light beige carpet twice, we finally learned that we have to physically push Daughter's mouth shut after we shove the medicine in so she will swallow it. Otherwise she holds it in her mouth, then lets it all dribble out. Sweet. (Edited to add: we have tried all the tricks...in the cheek, etc. No dice.)

Hey, we are new to this parenting-a-sick-kid gig.

And now, for more fun and excitement, I am sick as well. It figures. My throat is raw, my neck is sore, it hurts to move my eyeballs...here's hoping it's just a cold and not strep. Of course, if it is strep I can get a medication. But I don't like to take antibiotics, so I guess I'm hoping for a regular cold after all.

I did do some knitting before I started feeling funky over the weekend. I'll post some photos tomorrow if I can lift my head. For now, it's back to the couch. After I put in yet another Sesame video (thank you, Childrens Television Workshop, for making so many Sesame videos).

a little dab'll do ya

People, I ask you, what is the scariest sound the parent of a toddler can hear? Is it the sickening thunk of your child hitting the ground after a fall? Is it the horrific crack of a bone breaking? No, it is not*. The scariest sound the parent of a toddler can hear is...

silence.

Tonight I was trying to prepare dinner while also emptying the dishwasher and folding laundry (while my husband sat on his butt on the sofa, but that's a whole 'nother post right there, I'll tell you what). Daughter was in her bedroom looking at books, or so I thought. Suddenly I noticed how quiet it was in there, so I called her name. No response.

I dashed in to find her sitting calmly on the floor, dipping her fingers in the little cup of her Vicks Vaporizer and spreading Kaz inhalant through her hair. Her head was a greasy, mentholated mess, as were her hands. This was largely my fault, because I was being an idiot once again and I left the stupid vaporizer in there on the floor. Also she has been "helping" to wash her own hair in the tub lately, so I'm sure that was the inspiration for this little act. Lovely.

So add to the list of dinner, dishwasher, and laundry the task of hauling a menthol-coated toddler to the bathtub without getting any of the inhalant stuff in anyone's eyes or all over the furniture or anywhere else...

Oh and also? She figured out how to take down the baby gates today.

I'm pretty much screwed.

Hope you're all having a great weekend too!

*tongue in cheek, people. tongue in cheek.

mmmmm...crusty

Dudes. I am so tired. I think that when your kid is sick, it is actually harder on you, the parent, than it is on the child. Why? Because the parent gets to do the worrying.

We went to the doctor, and I'm glad we did because when Daughter woke up from her nap her right eye was completely swollen shut and crusted over with green goop. I don't even know what's up with this germ - 24 hours ago she was fine. The nurse practitioner who saw us said that in 16 years she has never seen a 21 month old child who has never been sick enough to require antibiotics. So I think we'll be getting a trophy, maybe, or possibly they will hang up our picture and a plaque in the office. Our streak is broken, though - Daughter was prescribed not one, but TWO medications to combat the sinus infection and the eye infection (an oral antibiotic, plus eye drops). They treat eye infections like this very aggressively, the NP said, because the eye is so close to the brain. Hey, what mother doesn't want to hear that? Super awesome.

Also, really, is there anything more fun than prying open a toddler's infected eye and squirting in some cold drops?

Poor baby. Poor mommy. Long day. I'm going to go collapse now.

more...coffee...now...

The kid is sick...runny nose, congestion, cough, eye goop...up half the night with the crying and the sniffling and the coughing and the misery...

So why is she flitting around playing while I am flat on my face trying to slurp coffee through a straw?

Tata. Off to the doctor's office.

finishing frenzy

I am still working madly toward my goal of finishing up all the languishing projects around here. After finishing that ugly quilt, I put away the sewing machine for a bit (also my in-laws came for dinner over the weekend and we needed the dining room table). I haven't felt the sewing jones in a few days, so I'm concentrating on the knits.

Yesterday I wove (weaved? wove?) in the ends on these sexy little numbers:

Oh yes, those are legwarmers, baby. I knit them two years ago while pregnant with Daughter. I decided I had to have them because I worked in a little shop and whenever anyone opened the door my legs would freeze. I finished the knitting but by then had outgrown all my skirts, so they went into the craft cabinet and I wore the 4 pairs of maternity pants I had that fit me for the rest of my pregnancy. I guess I will keep them, though I don't know if they'll ever see actual use.

Yarn: Wool-Ease in gray and cranberry
Needles: possibly US sizes 8 and 6 but after this long, who knows?
Pattern: good question. I know I got a pattern from the internet, but again, it's been so long I can't remember where it came from.

Moving on:

This is the last knitted item I worked on while pregnant with Daughter. On April 18, 2005 I woke up at about 8 a.m. having contractions. Little did I know I was in labor and Daughter would be born almost exactly 24 hours later (she was not due until May 2). All that day I did laundry and knit the entire sleeve of this little sweater to keep busy and keep my mind off the pain, oh heavens the pain. It finally got so bad that I couldn't even finish the cuff and cast off, so that's where I left it.

I've taken it out of the bag and looked at it a number of times since then. I could finish it, but now it will be far too small for Daughter to ever wear. If I do finish it, it will either end up in the cedar chest o' knits, or I will donate it to charity. Part of me wants to just rip it and donate the yarn (it's just craft-store acrylic), but I hesitate because of this:

Can you see that cable detail on the raglan shaping? It was hard to get a photo of this minty green yarn and show that detail in the light available today. Anyway, that shaping took me forever to get right, because it's a pattern from the 1940s, and those patterns were apparently written for persons much smarter than myself. The directions are printed in tiny font, in long narrow columns, with maximum abbreviations, and nowhere near the actual picture of the garment.

Also, this was being knit using US size 1 and 2 needles, and that's a lot of work. Hmmmmm. To finish or not to finish...

In other news:

GASP! It's...crochet!

Yes, I do that as well. Actually, I went through a long period of becoming proficient with a crochet hook before picking up the knitting needles again in my mid-twenties. These squares come from a Leisure Arts leaflet - you're supposed to make all the squares and then make an afghan out of them (this is only a small selection...the booklet had something like 100 block patterns). As I have a serious case of crafting ADD, the idea of this sampler-style blanket appealed to me. In March 2001 I flew to Europe alone for a week-long stay. I wanted to take along something to do that wasn't bulky, so I stashed a crochet hook and some (craft store acrylic) baby sport yarn in my carry-on. Mmmmmmm...lovely, lovely acrylic. Hey, I was young and naive...what did I know of good yarns? Not much.

So these got crocheted over the ocean and in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Then I came home and stuffed them in a bag. Are we sensing a theme here?

I just need to sew these puppies together and edge the whole thing. The blocks are approximately 6 inches square, so it will be a small blanket. I suppose I will give it to Daughter for her dolls/stuffed animals.

And finally, the knitted item I am saddest about:

Oh, Kinsale. I am so sorry for leaving you to languish.

I even blogged about this sweater over a year ago, and STILL have not managed to finish it. This one was started sometime after my birthday in 200........3? I don't even know if that's right. I know my mom gave me the yarn as a (very generous) birthday gift. It's Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool. Gaw-geous.

I did finish up all the pieces last fall sometime. And I knit the neckband...no small feat considering it's about 120 stitches on US size 1 needles. Yeah, think about that. It makes my hands cramp just remembering it. I was so proud to finish it - I ran into the bathroom to try it on in front of the mirror...and I couldn't get it over my head.

&$#^*@)#*&!!!!!!

I should have cast off with a MUCH larger needle for elasticity. But rather than un-casting-off the stitches and re-casting off with a humongous needle, I got mad and stuffed it in a bag. It's back out, though. I'm going to take out those stinking stitches and re-cast it off if it kills me. Then I'm going to sew in the sleeves, sew up the sides, wash and block it, and WEAR the damn thing. Enough said.

So that's it. Other than the 2 sweaters I've been working on for Daughter and the pair of socks I always have in progress for waiting rooms, visiting with parents/friends, reading blogs, etc., I've really whittled down the wips.

The knitting wips, that is. Let's not talk about sewing, embroidery, and cross-stitch.

Woops, my stomach just made a noise that sounded like Chewbacca. Guess I should grab some lunch while Daughter naps. Stay warm, everyone!

birthday wishes

Psst! Go on over and wish Karen at The Big Trade-Off a Happy Birthday today! I'm not sayin' how old she is, but it rhymes with, ummmmm..."flirty fun."

wishing i could bottle the cuteness and keep it forever

How my daughter sings the sesame street theme song (imagine adorable toddler voice):

SUN-ny day...

Clow away... (sweepin' the clouds away)

A-E-Seet! (On my way to where the air is sweet)

Tell me get... (can you tell me how to get)

Seseet! (how to get to Sesame Street)

The adorableness! It kills me every time.

We are also treated to this one daily:

LALA! LALA!
Elmo wode...
LALA! LALA!
Elmo wode...
Elmo go shish
Caaaaaan too...

(And that's it. She skips the last line every time.)

Oh, how I love this child. There are just no words to describe it.

There will be sewing and knitting to show soon, I promise!

boy, it takes a long time to bury a body when the ground is frozen

Excerpt from an actual dinnertime conversation last week:

Me: Wow, I can't believe my birthday is coming up so soon.

Hub: Yeah, you're getting pretty old.

Me: What are you talking about? I'm going to be...25.

Hub: Honey, if that's the line you're going with, you'd better invest in some Miss Clairol.

stick a fork in it

Ok, peeps! I'm really doing it. I'm finishing stuff. Ok, so far I've only finished one thing, but still...


Scary Bunny Quilt
Approximately 52"X42"
Started Summer 2003, Finished January 2007 (sad)

I call this the Scary Bunny Quilt because those faceless bunnies freak me out. This is a classic example, to me, of a cute pattern and pretty fabrics that just should NOT be put together. The original pattern picture (no, I don't recall where the pattern came from) featured this quilt made up in sweet vintage fabrics, with a very country look. But we had just received these fabrics in the shop where I was working, and I had the genius idea to make this bunny quilt with them. I kind of hated it as soon as I got the bunnies ironed down (they are fused with Heat 'N Bond lite, then appliqued around the edges). I suppose that's why this has been shoved in a bin for almost 4 years.

I did manage to get it sandwiched with batting and backing, and I basted it together way back in '03. This week, I finally quilted and bound the dumb thing. And the quilting is HIDEOUS. I really did a crappy job, but I DON'T CARE! It is finished! Now it gets thrown in the washer and dryer (LOOK AWAY QUILTING PURISTS - yes, I machine wash and dry my quilts with regular old detergent) and it will be the back-of-the-car emergency blanket/beach throw.

Still lots of projects (sewing, knitting, and oh my goodness I forgot about cross-stitch and embroidery) but every one I finish is a step towards doing something new and exciting.

eye candy

Still quilting away...

If you like reproduction vintage-y country stuff, check out Tender Heart Treasures.

I am hoping to get this for my birthday. And if I get all my projects done, I might just order this for my kitchen!

there's a point in here somewhere

Ah, I appreciate the commiseration re: stinking it up in the parenting arena. I realize we all fail spectacularly once in awhile with the mommy-ing, but it is nice to hear it anyway. We are fine now, despite a few weekend references to the 'bo-ken' book. On Saturday, Daughter gave me one of those wicked headbutts to the bridge of the nose (you know the ones, where you're sure your nose is broken and it hurts all the way to the back of your head) so I figure we're even. Oh, also, she dropped a glass tumbler of water (which, hello, I was stupid enough to leave on my nightstand), so I spent some quality time cleaning up water and glass shards. Yes, yes, Mother of the Year, indeed.

Today did not start out too grandly either. We had a friend over last night who overstayed, so I got to bed really late, and then I woke up at 5:30 am for no reason. I was too hot and couldn't get back to sleep. What? I'm a champion of sleep! And besides, 4 hours is not enough for this mama. I managed to fall back to sleep, finally, and then you know how it goes. I totally couldn't drag myself out of bed when the alarm went off. And Hubby didn't help - he must have muttered "a few more minutes" and slapped his snooze button at least 5 times. Oy.

So I was really, really crabby when I got up. It took several cups of caffeine to get me out of my funk, but I finally sort of got it together. And I got to thinkin'...

I've been playing with the idea of setting up a little online shop to sell a few of my homemade things. My husband is fully supportive of the idea and has volunteered to help me (because he's the computer whiz). It would be partly to make a little bit of grocery money, but moreover to give me something to work toward each day. Right now I live a life of tasks, as do many stay-at-home moms, I'm sure. And that's fine, it really is. I'm so glad I'm here to do the things Daughter needs me to do. But I'm also looking to have a goal. Something personal, just for me.

The problem is, in order to figure out what I can make, I have to go through my bins of fabric stash and find appropriate fabrics, trims, etc. And that's what's been stopping me, because if I do that, I have to face all the unfinished projects that have piled up over the years.

When I first got married, I worked in a sewing machine dealership/quilt shop. I stayed there for almost 2 years (until Daughter was born). That was awesome and inspiring, but it led to a lot of unneccesary fabric purchases. I say again, A LOT OF FABRIC PURCHASES. Back then I had time, that precious commodity that is so sorely lacking now (oh, and money). So if I saw a project that looked like fun, I started it. Whee! But I have the attention span of a gnat - you'll notice you don't see any adult sweaters being knit around here, only wee child sweaters, and that's the reason - so I would quickly become bored and stuff the project du jour into a bin and forget about it.

Fast-forward to right now, and I've just really become disgusted with myself for my lack of follow-through. I have a fabric stash that I'm actually ashamed of...I will never, ever use some of this stuff. When I was working in the shop, a young woman would occasionally drop off her grandmother, who was a recent immigrant from some Eastern European country (I want to say Germany but I'm not sure), and somehow I always ended up talking to her. It was a challenge, because her accent was extremely thick, but we managed to communicate. Anyway, I can recall the first time she came in and she was just in awe of the bolts and bolts of beautiful fabrics. Where she comes from, she said, people don't buy big pieces of fabric just to cut them up into little pieces and sew them back together. Where she comes from, you sew together pieces of old clothing and scraps to make something that will keep you warm.

I digress, but the point is the excess. I just can't bear it, and I want to simplify. I need to simplify. I'm so fortunate to have what I have. Now I have to use it. I think I've been really good about fabric purchases in the past year or so. I've really only bought fabrics to make clothes for Daughter, and when I bring home new stuff, I make her a garment right away. As for quilting, I've stopped buying. I'm finally facing up to my bad habit of buying fabric and yarn to make myself feel good (I know some of you out there do the same thing), and now I'm going to finish stuff.

So I lied about making resolutions. My resolution is to finish up all these dang projects that are hanging over my head. I've gathered all the unfinished knitting into one pile and listed the projects and what needs to be done; I've also gathered the sewing projects into a sort-of pile but many are unwieldy and they're all at different stages. Sadly, several just need to be quilted...uuuuugh. But I'm doin' it. I started today.


Project #1: bunny quilt (started summer 2003)

yet another reason why I'll never be mother of the year

Really quick, I just want to point out that I wasn't trying to make a thing out of size with that last rather cheeky post. It was just my observation about a particular store and their sizes. Personally? I think Old Navy is involved in some sort of conspiracy to get us women to buy more clothing. I have many sizes in my closet, and I have many body issues just like all women do. But only at Old Navy do I take home something as small as a 6...and I swear, it makes me want to go back and buy more pairs of pants, just because! So kudos, Old Navy marketers. Mark the pants a smaller size than they actually are, and I will keep coming back. Also, keep selling them for $15. Huzzah!

And...today I ironed a pair of pants that's labeled size 10, and I can barely zip them shut. So, eh, whatever.

Onward...

All of you with children are going to roll your eyes and laugh at me when you read this one.

Today I snapped and yelled at Daughter. When we lost Beth I was hypersensitive to people hollering at their kids and I swore I wouldn't ever yell that way, because I had a whole new appreciation for my amazing child. That's not to say I don't discipline her, because we do believe in that, but today, whoops, I lost it. And it was my fault (you'll see why in a minute) and I feel terrible now.

I did many, many chores today, which tired me out, and I did not give Daughter the attention I normally do. She watched a lot of Sesame videos. By dinnertime, when I went into the kitchen to peel a couple of potatoes, she apparently needed my attention and figured out a way to get it...by destroying a book. She tore up my copy of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat beyond repair. I was peeling right into the garbage can and she came toddling up with a crunched up paper in her fist. She said, "garbage!" And I said, "hey, what is that?" And she opened her little hand and said, "BOOK!"

And I yelled. I yelled that now Mommy was very sad because the book was broken and we couldn't read it anymore. I took away her bunny and her Beaker doll and told her she could have them back when she said, "I'm sorry, Mommy." I figured she would just mumble, "ah-soy-mommy" and we'd be done. But you know what she did? She planted her feet, looked me right in the face, and bellowed, "NO!"

So I put her in the playpen with no toys and she screamed and howled and begged me for bunny and Beaker (you know, the dude from the Muppet Show). And I kind of just stood there watching her and pondering my predicament. Because I sort of backed myself into a really stupid corner. The kid is only 20 months old, so I realize she doesn't know the concept of an apology. But she is bright, and she understands things like saying please and thank you, so I thought she could maybe pick up the idea of saying "I'm sorry" when she does something naughty. I did not tell her she was bad, because I don't like that. She did a naughty thing, but I don't want to ever tell her that she is bad, if that makes sense. But here's the rub - I'm the idiot who left the book where she could reach it. I am the idiot.

Anyway, she wasn't going to say "sorry" for love or money, so I let her calm down in the playpen and then took her out to talk about it. I said, "please don't ever rip mommy's books again, ok?" And she said, "Ok!"

And then she hugged me and laid a big smacking kiss on my cheek.

I'm going to go poke myself with sharp sticks now, because that would feel better than my guilt.

I love old navy because...

...at old navy I am a size 6. It's like being in another dimension. I love you, old navy.

That is all.

knitting in the new year

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Our tree came down a couple hours ago (boy, is Daughter going to be disappointed when she gets up from her nap), and the house is back to normal. Well, normal being the messy, cluttered, disorganized space it usually is, just sans large fake evergreen.

I rang in the new year with Dick Clark and a sock.

Does that sear your retinas or what? It's Knitpicks yarn, and the color is Zinnia, I think, but I don't have the label nearby. I'll give you the details when I finish the other sock.

Also knitted during the holidays:

The front of Daughter's new sweater. The back was finished up a few weeks ago, so I'm almost there. Time to get going on a sleeve!

And speaking of sleeves:

I could get going on a blue sleeve, but what fun is that when I could start something new? Actually, I like to have different gauge options to choose from when I knit, so this is a new sweater in a sport weight yarn for Daughter (the blue one is worsted weight). I know, my goodness, she might freeze to death unless I keep knitting more sweaters! It's a sickness, people. I admit it. At least I am getting into larger sizes so they will hopefully fit her for more than 5 minutes.

Anyway, it's a Debbie Bliss design, I'm pretty sure, and this is a sleeve. The cuff is extra long because it's meant to be turned back.

But it's not all knitting all the time...we do all kinds of stitching here in the Buff:

This is a quilt that's been haunting me for 2 1/2 years. I pieced it in the summer of 2004, but then got pregnant and proceeded to barf for months and months...not really conducive to quilting, you know? Last year I got all ambitious and machine quilted the major intersections, so it is at least being held together by actual thread (the pins are sandwiching smaller sections so they don't shift). However, I HATE machine quilting with all my heart and soul. Wrestling this sucker through my machine bed is the WORST. One of my dreams is to be able to afford to have all my quilts professionally quilted some day.

So I am hand quilting this thing.

Go ahead and look up "insanity" in your dictionary. Yep, that's my picture you see.

I stink at hand quilting, but the only way to get better is to do it, right? So that's what I'm doing, and I hope to have it done by summer...ish. Or thereabouts. Or something. It's roughly a bit smaller than twin-size. Crikey. Wish me luck.