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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.