Thursday, January 25, 2007

Okay, so maybe I AM that kind of knitter

I gave the Cascade another chance to do something pretty. I'm froggin' and turning my lovely idea of the cabled increase raglan into Mesilla by Glampyre. Well, sorta. I totally do not like the embroidery, but I love the neck shaping. I've always wanted to try a picot edge too, so not only am I happily starting over with the yarn, I'm learning something new in the process. Stefanie Japel is the queen of the top-down sweater in my opinion, and I love pretty much everything she designs. I'm feverishly looking forward to her book coming out in March.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Destined for frogness

Grr Grr Triple Grr! Finally tried on the cutesy little raglan I've been feverishly working on, and it's ginormous. I'm talking, falling off the shoulder, cables buried in my armpit kind of ginormous. I think I grossly overcompensated the stitches needed for the neck. Every sweater I've made seems to be a tad tight in the neck, so I added more stitches to the CO. Bad idea. There are knitters out there that don't mind ripping and starting over. I'm not one of those knitters. Into the drawer it goes, only to be picked up when I don't curse profusely at the sight of it. I had such high hopes for this baby. High hopes. Oh well. I'll just start something else. Eventually I will use that yummy Cascade on something else. When I recover from my grief.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

How can I see the road if I'm looking at the signs

More progress on the cably inc raglan. I'll come up with a cooler name later. I'm still pondering what to do with the bottom. I don't want to rib it, cuz that's been done to death. I'm thinking some kind of lace panelling so it won't curl, but nothing too open b/c I actually want to wear this thing this winter.


In other news, the hubby is in Austin this week, so I'm single-parenting again. Usually I enjoy this quite a bit, b/c the kiddo is an angel when Dad's away. However, we have been experiencing some rebellion to the idea of potty training. This has turned my sweet little boy into a poop-throwing chimp. The joys of motherhood.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

I get a little warm in my heart when I think of winter

I just realied that the titles of my posts probably make absolutely no sense to anyone who lives outside of my brain. Most of them are song lyrics; the others are inside jokes or pop culture references between me and my sister.
this particular one is from Tori Amos' "Winter."

Winter. The ever elusive somewhat ethereal abstract season that those of us from Texas believe only exists in some sort of parallel universe. Children spend Christmases playing outside in tshirts just hoping that one year they will see snow. To me, snow is the most beautiful of the universe's wonders. The winter I lived in Wisconsin was magical. I lived at the end of a long country rode with canopies of trees overhead. The ice on the branches looked like diamonds, and I could hardly catch my breath as I drove beneath them. Growing up in a part of TX that just turns brown and dead in the winter will make a person appreciate something that to most people is simply a pain in the ass.

My son will never have to wish for a winter wonderland.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

And if you complain once more, you'll meet an army of me

Shock upon shock! I'm working on 3 projects at once. I know, I know. I said I was going to stick to one at a time, but the truth is that I just can't get excited about something that isn't a sweater. Just can't. I started socks for Perrin, and I just don't want to do the 2nd. I started on some kitchen chair covers with the bulky yarn from that big-ass sweater that turned out to be somewhere around a mamillion pounds of yarn, but I don't really want to do 4 of them. So, I'm just gonna work on this here raglan for meself. I'm spicin' it up though, see. Instead of just regular ole' M1 increases for the sleeves, I'm doing a little lace-cable combo. Here's a blurry pic.




And if you'll notice folks, it ain't green or purple. Yes, that's right. It's a lovely shade of gray in Cascade 220. I will be doing the neck, sleeve, and bottom ribbin in a teal heather.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Only time will tell if wishing wells will bring us anything

I just wanted to buy some knitty stuff, so I finally bought the Knitpicks Options set. Verdict - they rock muchly! I never used the Denise's so I don't know how they compare, but I love nickel-plated needles and they're all pointy and sweet, so I love them.
I also really wanted this tote from Natalie Dee. She has this awesome site with totally hilarious and often insane daily cartoons. And she knits. So I have a crushlet on her of course. Here's the bag.


And here is finished Wavy from some chick at Knitty.com. I'll look it up later. Still plaguey, remember? I have an excuse to be lazy. I'm not showing my face because I look dreadful, and no one needs to see that.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Make your time

Well, we're all plaguing it up again here in the house of crazy. I am to that point of being sick and tired where I will just suddenly burst into tears upon looking at the mess in the kitchen that is piling up b/c not one person in this house has enough energy to clean up after themselves. I am VERY OCD, and anyone who knows me well will vouch for this, so it's killing me that for 3 days, 3 people have been wallowing in their own germy ickiness with no one to come and rescue us. This is the hard part about being a gazillion miles away from friends and family. There's no one to call up and beg to bring you some soup or something. John is slowly pulling himself out of muck so he was able to go wrangle me up some pills. Must keep reminding myself that "this too shall pass." Thanks Mom.

On the goodness front, it looks like we may actually be able to buy a house at the end of our lease. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of throwing away more money by renting. We'd very likely not be buying here in Downers Grove, since you either have to be excessively rich or be living in your parents house to afford to live here. I'm excited about once again being able to live in a home that suits our personality...or at least one that we can paint outrageous shades of green. :)

In knitting, I'm almost finished with Wavey from Knitty. I used Caron Simply Soft in this shiny navy blue which I love. I haven't been working on it much b/c Jen and Brian were here and now I've got the plague. Yes, I'm melodramatic.
Once I am healed of this sickness, I will post some more pics of the Lestico visitation and possibly have my first scarf completed.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

She stole my heart and my cat

Here is the future GQ model, Brian, posing splendifurously in his DNA sweater. He hearted this sweater, and it looks awesome on him.


Here are a couple of posed shots of Sienna. My sis instructed me to "imagine you were swimming with seahorses" as heard in Napoleon Dynamite. Geekiness abounds.
Oh, and a closeup.



And last, but certainly not least in the gloriousness of my life, John made me a swift for Christmas. He worked so hard to make this as perfect as he could. Isn't it adorable? He's the bee's knees, I tell ya.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

I was saying Boo-urns

My sis and her fiance flew in from Austin on Wed, and we've been having the time of our lives. It's as if I haven't seem them in years instead of just 5 months. We took them to all of the usual Chicago hot spots yesterday, and the weather couldn't have been more cooperative. Sure, it was chilly, but from what I hear, a January where you can walk around downtown Chicago in less than 7 layers of clothing is a rare blessing. They are now in Madison visiting Brian's sis, but they will be back on Tues for 3 more days of family togetherness. Here are some wonderful highlights of part one of the visit.




That stunning cashmere cardigan you are feasting your eyes upon is the completed Sienna Cardigan from Interweave Knits. More on that later.