Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Blerg!*

SO MUCH SNOW!!! It has been snowing nonstop all damn day, and I'm starting to feel like one of the Little House on the Prairie girls all cooped up in my house with a 4 yr old who desperately needs a lot of physical activity. So we've been wrestling and running circles around the house all day. Here's a shot of our patio table; it's hard to tell b/c I took it 10 minutes ago in the dark, but there's almost a foot of snow on that thing.

In other winter related wonder, we finally bought a Christmas tree. We do enjoy the comforts of a good old-fashioned secular Christmas, complete with pine tree goodness and presents aplenty :) Perrin was delighted to be the one to put the star on top.

In knitting related awesomeness, I whipped up this little camera case for our new camera. It's a purple Nikon Coolpix, and it's so darling and fits right in my pocket. Who couldn't love that?

The future of my needles? I've got 2 sweaters waiting on yarn. First is the garter yoke pullover from Knit.1 magazine created by one of my favorite bloggers, Knitting School Dropout. I'm just anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in a gorgeous deep green for this one.

And I'm super stoked to get started on Coraline from the darling Ysolda. I've admired her patterns for years (and crushing on her cuteness a little) but this is the first one I've purchased.


I'm a little uncertain what yarn I wanna use for this. I have some Knitpicks Shine Sport in a light blue, but I'm meh about it for this sweater. I was thinking of using some light grey Cascade 220 that I have laying around, but I don't know if I have enough. We'll see.

Next post will be all about my new obsession with shoes.

*In reference to my favorite catchphrase of Tina Fey's in 30 Rock. I discovered this fabulousness last week and have since watched all 3 seasons whilst knitting some armwarmers for John's aunt and eating homemade chocolate biscotti from mine. It's been a rather slow week.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Grace Lace Beret

Slouchy berets are quickly becoming a staple in my wardrobe due mostly to super windy Chicago winters and hair that isn't quite long enough to put back out of my face. I wear my green Le Slouche pretty much daily to take Perrin to school and for those days when I don't feel like dealing with hair at all. So I was pleased as punch (I love that phrase even though I don't understand it) to find this adorable lace beret pattern at http://www.loopknits.com/2008/10/13/grace-lace-beret-class/. The pattern was easy to follow, quick, and too cute for words.
I used Caron Simply Soft b/c I'm on a sort of sabbatical from wool right now. Yeah, it's super warm but every brand seems to be itching me like madness, so there may be a return of my wool allergy from childhood. It blows muchly, but I'm finding a lot of acrylics and cottons that I like just as much and are cheaper anyway.
So here it is in all its unblocked glory. Eventually I'll figure out how to easily block a beret since pinning it out on my head would be rather unwise.



Next up, possibly legwarmers to wear over my jeans and boots for sledding since snowsuits are outrageously expensive.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Odds and Ends

I've been a bit of a knitting fool lately. John's company is having a holiday party next weekend, and I bought this adorable little black dress. However, I have tons of tats, and it might be a little chilly, I designed this adorable shrug with a lacy cuff. I used some cheapo Red Heart soft, which I've used before and dig. This will not only keep me toasty, but it'll also cover up a couple of tattoos should there be some stuffies there. Normally, I'd just say "fuck 'em" and show them off, but this is a new job for John, and I can spend one evening not stickin' it to the man :)

Next up, we've got some mittens I knitted up in 2 days out of some hand dyed wool I bought over the interwebz over a year ago. It's a little itchy, but it's so gorgeous I can endure. I used a pattern from kpixie, which is very well written and easy.

And the last little bit are gloves I'm knitting for my best friend to give her boyfriend for Christmas. They're kinda big, so I'm going to rip back the pinky and thumb, as per the recommendations from my hubby hand model. I'm using the leftover RH from the shrug, and they're super soft. It's my first time knitting gloves, so the fingers are a little tricky, but I'm enjoying it. I think I'll make some for JOhn for Christmas if he's a very good boy.

So that's all for now. Up next, a hat for my best friend's brother and the beginning of a little cardigan I'm designing pretty much as I go.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

February Lady Sweater and John's scarf




Everybody's made one, so I jumped off the lemming cliff and made one too. It looks pretty much fabulous on every single person who's knit one, so you kinda can't go wrong with the standard top-down raglan babydoll cardigan. I normally don't dig garter stitch much, but on this sweater, it's perfection. So here's the specs
Pattern: February Lady Sweater by Flint Knits.
Yarn: About 4 1/2 skeins of Lion Brand Woolease. Cuz I'm broke, and really if you wash it in wool wash and dry it in the dryer, it's soft as any really fab wool you can buy for more. And who hates saving money? Not this kid.
Mods: Just shortened the sleeves and went down a needle size to make them a little more fitted. Other than that, followed the pattern.
Verdict: Love to the power of 10!

Here's a little scarf I whipped up for John so he can protect that pretty face while walking from Union Station to his office in Chicago.

It's some cheap, but soft acrylic yarn I bought for another project and the stitch is a checkerboard pattern. He likes it.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Yes we did!!!



For the first time in my adult life, I voted for the guy that won. In both 2000 and 2004, I automatically voted for the Democrat, b/c, well, I don't think it's a secret that I'm a bleeding heart. And while I agreed with many of Al Gore and John Kerry's policies, they just didn't get that heart of mine bleeding nearly as much as Barack Obama. Not only does he stand for everything in which I believe, he's just the coolest cat I've seen in a long time. In the debates with McCain, he was calm and collected and stated facts, while McCain got flustered and rolled his eyes, and made incredibly idiotic comments, such as "That one."
My voice has finally been heard, and it feels damn good!
John and I watched with a collective sigh of relief as Obama's name was shown on our TV screen as the next president. And I don't mind admitting I got a little weepy. Yeah, I could go on and on about the importance of electing an African American as president, and it IS important and historical and warm fuzzy making. But what is important to me, and I hope to everyone, is that this is a turning point. Do I think he's going to have time or power to undo all the damage that Bush caused? Absolutely not. But a dent will be made, and dents are a damn good start. I've never been more proud to be an American.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Something Kinda Heathered Blue


This is the project I've been working on for the last 3 weeks. I'm amazed I got it done this quickly, since life crap has just exploded in my face. I was determined to get it finished b/c it was made for a friend, and I like to get things done in a timely manner for peeps I dig. For myself, I linger on a project for a lot longer than necessary b/c I let that life crap hover over me.
Anyway, here are the deets.
Pattern - Something Red by Wendy Bernat. Excellent pattern. I love her stuff so much, and I will definitely make one of theses babies for myself when I lose the 15 lbs I gained over the summer. More life crap.
Yarn - Knitpicks Swish Superwash in Delft. Lovely yarn, knits up like a dream. You can't really tell from my craptacular photography, but it has little slivers of purple throughout, and it is stunning. The yarn is super duper soft too, and a little tumble in the dryer after a wooly soakage made is even more soft. I will def use this more for myself. Very reasonably priced too.
Size and mods - 45" bust. The only mods I made were to Emily's measurements that she gave me. She wanted the sleeves 3/4 length, so I extended them to 14." She also wanted the sweater to hit at her hips, so the ribbing is a bit shorter than some of the others I've seen. Hope she likes it. I blocked the hell out of it in hopes of getting just the ribbing to look a little longer without going over the length she gave me. She can tweak it a bit more at home if she likes. The beauty of wool
I got a cute little button with a celtic looking knot on the front, and voila! I am so nervous that she won't like it, or that it won't fit. She lives in TX, so I wasn't able to do the cool "try it on as you go" thing, but she was so easy to work with and gave me all the measurements along the way that I needed.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Back from the dead

Never finished the 2nd sock. Sort of stopped knitting altogether since the last post, which was an eternity ago. I like to keep really active in the summer, which means I don't sit around and knit as much. I've had so much stuff going on since I last posted. One of my sisters graduated from pharmacy school.The other one got her own place and is all growns up. I lost a friend, gained a friend. I've been to TX and South Beach. Here's a little South Beachiness for you.

Yup. That's gator in the face.
Other life stuff. Perrin spent the summer in an awesome extended summer school program and is now back in his last year of preschool. He's doing really well. He's also in a small gymnastics class for kids with special needs. He's all over the place there, but he loves it.
Anyway, now that fall is upon us, it's time to return to knitting, and thus, this little knitting blog.
I tried to knit Rosalind from A Mingled Yarn. I had all the pieces and it was a gorgeous sky blue Knitpicks Shine Sport, but when I tried numerous times to get the pieces seamed up, I was always off. I tried 4 times, and by that last time, I said "fuck it" and put it away. It's in the frog pile, b/c I'm now disgusted with it and my shitty sewing.
I'm back as knitter for hire. I'm working on a sweater for a girl who dated my hubby in college a million years ago. I also just finished a Snickers costume for my best friend Kelly.

It's super Becky Homecky, but she seems to think it's cute, so it works. I sewed 2 rectangles together and used some talented fusable tape to put on the logo, which I cut out of felt. It was a lot of fun, especially while watching season 3 of Buffy.
Next up, the fabulous February Lady Sweater, which may or may not be knitted with some frogged Mesilla Cascade 220.

Monday, April 28, 2008

A sock and stuff

So I've ventured into the exciting world of sock knitting. I used to find it ridiculous and boring to knit a damn sock, but I actually will admit to digging it now. I just sort of grew weary of spending a month knitting a sweater that I feel totally meh about once it's done, so I needed something else for a change. Plus, I got oodles of sock yarn for trade on knitty, so I didn't spend a fortune. Here's the first sock of the Rib and Cable Socks from IK sometime or other. Adore it at your own risk; its awesome may burn your retinas.

In other news, I'm going to Miami for Labor Day. My bestest girlfriend since 7th grade will be turning 30 on Aug 29, and for her bday, she's flying me down for 3 days of fun and sun and probably booze. And since this is Kelly we're talking about, I'll probably come back with a new tat, a sunburn, and have married a college freshmen from Oklahoma.
So, to save up for this vacation, I have put up my adorably and made for me hoodie for sale on my etsy shop. If it sells, I'll be sad to see it go, but I can always make another one, and it's spring, so the number of folks out there looking for a nice warm, wool cardigan may be slim pickins. I gotta try though, cuz I'm broke as a joke (as my ex Army buddy used to say).

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Rusted Root Part Deux

Rusted Root was my first real sweater that I made about 2 years ago. It was fun to make, gorgeous color yarn, and I felt super proud when it was finished. However, I followed the pattern to the letter and ended up with the waist shaping too low for my body, and the armpit too long, so it was not a great fit. Plus, the wool content in the yarn was a bit itchy and way too warm for spring. So....here is my 2nd and final attempt at RR. I love this one. I now know more about my body shape (super high waisted and not much difference between bust, waist, and hip width), so I think it's a much better fit. I made this with Cotton Fleece in emperor's robe, which is quite possibly the most beautiful blue yarn I've ever seen. I love this, my hubby loves this, and I've already worn it twice.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

As close as I'll get to being a green beret

If you knew how very far away I was to actually being anywhere near a decent enough soldier to be a green beret, you'd laugh your ass off. In the 365 days I was in the Army, not once did I salute an officer, rarely did I show up for formation, even more rarely did I wear my uniform or treat my superior officers with anything but typical teenaged disdain. How I made it that far without brutal punishment is beyond me. I think they realized early on I was a lost cause and just sort of ignored me like one might a defiant toddler.
Oh, yes, the knitted object. This is a modifification of le slouche. I have a freakishly small head (I can wear my 4 yr old's hats), so I used size 5 needles instead of 8. Plus, the Cascade 220 that I used seemed a bit thinner than the average 220. I love this color, and now that I have hair, it's not quite as itchy.

Plus, a little future hat lust. Here in Chicagovilleland, winter is still very much upon us, as we got 6 in of snow just last night. Hats and mittens have become my newfound love affair. The chick in this band, has such a cutesie pie hat that I simply must yoink one for myself. Their music is actually pretty adorable too, but the hat is the most important thing to notice.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Make it work, people!

I have what some might consider an unhealthy love of Tim Gunn. I want to steal him, chain him up in my closet, and make him tell me what to wear everyday. I do have a great fashion sense b/c of him; I just lack the funds and energy to go out and buy the right clothes and such. So I wear a lot of tshirts. Here's one I just made with a homemade stencil of my personal god, Mr. Gunn.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Never felt more special in all my lives

I finally got my ravelry invite! I swear I couldn't be more excited if I had just won a Grammy. My username is Tucker104, and today I will be feverishly playing with my shiny new toy.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Girl crush

http://www.theblackapple.typepad.com/

Have you seen this cutie pie's blog? She wears these adorable vintage dresses, has awesome rosebud red lips, and sells the most amazing prints on etsy. Go check out her blog. It's just loaded with cuteness to the power of 10. Go! Now!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Done, Done, and Done

First up is my own design, although when I finished I realized it looks a lot like Arwen from IK, and that if I had followed that pattern, it might've been a helluva lot easier.


I used Knitpicks Merino Style in Maple Leaf. I love this yarn; it was so fabulous to knit with and really makes the cabling pop.

Next is a highly modified version of the placed cable aran from IK Fall 07. I worked it in the round from the bottom up, then worked the front and back cabling. I skipped the cowl type collar altogether, and instead of knitting flat and sewing the sleeves on, I just picked up stitches evenly around the sleeve openings and knit straight down with no decreases for a flare. I used Red Heart Soft Yarn, and this yarn is so surprisingly soft after you wash the sweater that I'll definitely use it again.

And the last is my first pair of mittens. I used the pattern for the litte flip top mittens in SNB Nation, but I realized that it's so freakin' cold out there, I'm not ever going to flip them open, so I just closed it off. I used some Lamb's Pride bulky; it's a wool/mohair blend, which I love. It's soft and fuzzy, and the colors are yummy. They only took me 2 days, which I love even more after working on mostly intricate sweaters that each took about a month to finish.

Next up, a couple of hats for the wee ones of my friends and possibly a hat or two. We shall see.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Happy birthday to my favorite son

Nice thing about having only one child is that you never have to lie about who's your favorite. Today is my kiddo's 4th birthday. Amazing and insane. We had a little party with his best friend whose mom happens to be my best friend. We gorged on the delicious Rosatti's pizza and cupcakes that I baked with my own two little hands. And Perrin didn't really bother to use his hands....or utensils to do his gorging.


He got his first big boy bike, and although it is freeze your nose hairs cold outside, he insisted on trying it out.

It was a great day. I have a wonderful, sweet, funny, and crazy child who I adore more and more with each passing day.
Ne

Friday, February 08, 2008

Unweary now

So, things are looking up. And I've missed blogging and having a place where I can ramble on and on about my latest knitting project. I have had a few things in the works in the last several weeks, and they will be unveiled shortly.
I will post later about Perrin's preschool evaluation to determine what modifications his disability may require for him to function "normally" at school. Our IEP meeting is on Valentine's Day, so we will get a better sense then of what help our school district can offer him. Blah, blah, blah. There I go again. Ah how I've missed this.