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.

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).

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.

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.

I've grown weary

Ah, such is life. I've grown bored of this whole knitting blog. Truly, there's no real relevant information being put on this blog that can't either be ruminated over at my myspace page or displayed on my flickr page. I simply don't have the time or energy to keep up with this anymore. If you have been a reader of my little corner of the universe, I thank you. This year has been quite an adventure in knitting and in life.
My son was recently diagnosed with sensory processing disorder, and we have started occupational therapy to help him rearrange his neurons or some such craziness. This has become quite all-consuming in itself, and I need to devote more of my energy into helping him cope with this.
I will still lurk on the blogs that I adore and covet your talents and wares. Much love and luck to all. I will be deleting this blog in the next week.

I turned 30 today

What did you do?

I thank you for thangs

Camera is still broken, so no pics. I've finished the cardi, the trinity hat, and I am almost finished with bubble pullover. I wish I could post these things, but oh well.

Yesterday we spent Thanksgiving with very good friends and their gigantor family. It was wonderful and made me miss my own family so much. I introduced them to the joy of butt rolls, and we circled the table and announced what we were thankful for that year.
My top 3 were good friends, a happy family, and not being in TX anymore. But it's so much more than that. It's walking into Helen's house and knowing that no matter how difficult Perrin is or how stressed I am, it all melts away in the presence of a great friend who has not only been in my shoes but who makes me feel like a great mom even when I'm feeling like a beast. It's knowing that everyone in my family is happy and healthy and with the person they are meant to be with. It's waking up every morning, looking out my window and sighing b/c I always love what I see. It's feeling, for the first time in my life, that I am truly home. It's realizing how extraordinary this simple life has become for me. It's sitting by the fire, knitting a sweater next to my husband and feeling content.

Victory is an elusive whore

Lovely cabled cardi thingy is finito, but unfortunately my camera doesn't seem to be wanting to work these days, so no pics yet. Please stop the crying. It's unseemly.
It turned out pretty well, even though I may have fudged up some numbers on the decreases around the elbows, so it may be a tad tightish there. All in all, I dig it. I put a trillion buttons on it b/c I know with the harsh Chicago winds, I'm gonna want that thing snug as a bug. Speaking of which, it is starting to get ultramegamulti cold up in here, like it's nearing winter. Time for hat knitting to cover up my now over exposed ears. This is the one I'm working on currently. It can be found at http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=204368.0

The girl who designed this is darling, with this gorgeous dragonfly tattoo on her chest. I seriously am aching for a new tattoo, but that is neither here nor there at the moment. I'm just rambling now.

OH HEY THERE!!!

Not dead in a fiery car crash. Not wandering in the desert after a psychopath put a car on top of me b/c Grissom loves me. Just lazy and busy. What a bizarre combination. Too busy to think straight. Too lazy to care much. What we do have, dear people, is an almost FO. Yeah, just almost. If I had a little bit more moments of sanity, it'd be an FO, but for now, it's just almost.

We covered the doing stuff, on to the knitting

Finally, a cured child and time to knit. All things are looking up. We're in talks with a Montessori school for Perrin. They are a lot more flexible and nurturing for the unique child. I'm optimistic that we'll find someone who has the patience and compassion to teach Perrin and not treat him like an out-of-control brat.
Yes, yes, knitting.
Here's a little progress report on my cardigan.
Brown Sheep cotton fleece
Size 7 needles
It's a standard top down, raglan style cardigan in stockinette, with the celtic cable from "Girl from Auntie" on reverse stockinette sleeves. The rest of the cardi will be simple and plain, but with gorgeous buttons. I'm going for the classy style that I believe I might finally be able to pull off. Less skulls and junior department print tees for this grown-ass woman. I'm knocking on 30; time to put away the kid's stuff. I'm actually wearing skirts and dresses these days. Once I no longer look like Susan Powter, I might actually resemble something of a girly girl, which is what I really am on the inside. I've been watching too much Tim Gunn, babes.

Yeah, I know I take shitty pictures. I'm definitely not a photographer. Oh, and I'm fickle and switched my blog title back to its original name. Like you care.

Ima crawl in a hole and cry a little

Preschool didn't work out well at all. Teacher turned out to be a bit of a rigid bitch who would rather churn out little mindless robots than spend a half a second actually teaching children who may need a little extra attention with the huge adjustment that is school. So, after a total of 3 hours, she decided that my son was not right for her program or that her program was not right for my son or what the fuck ever. We withdrew him from the program. Thankfully he doesn't have a clue that his awesome individuality scared the shit out of this idiotic woman, and we can try again later in the year with a more flexible program.
So, now he has an ear infection, and is in total misery. Ever hear a 3 year old whimper with pain? It's the worst sound on the planet.
It's been a hideously awful week. There's been little knitting, little anything other than being pissed or sick or tired. That is all.

Too cool for school

Today was the niblet's first day of preschool. My little baby is all growns up. Or getting there. He was thrilled to bits to get to wear his new backpack; not so thrilled to have to cut the cord and go in by himself. To say he's a mama's boy would be putting a little too lightly; he's more like insanely in love with me. It was hard for me too, but it gave me a much needed hour and a half of knitting time, which I will now get 3 days a week. Hurray for preschool!!

In knitting news, I'm almost finished with the cabled cardi I'm working on for my etsy shop. I want to make extra money for next year's girl trip, but I have so much on my plate right now, that it's taken a back seat. Oh well, there's time. If I don't make a cent, I have peeps who will wear the stuff.
So here's that.

The wheel weaves as the wheel wills

Today, we lost a great mind, a great artist, and an even greater storyteller. Robert Jordan, author of "The Wheel of Time" series, passed away. It is with such terrible sadness that I type this, as he created this perfect world full of magic and wonder; a rich tapestry of characters and love. For those that don't know just how geeky I am, I actually named my son after my favorite character. These stories teleported me out of this dreary ordinary world into a world where everything is possible, where small town dreamers can become heroes. There will be a giant void in this world without him and his characters that he breathed such life into.
May the light be with you, Dragon.

Keeping it unreal

This is my dream hair. This is the fantasy. The long, luscious red hair that I could spend hours brushing and twirling through my fingers. The hair that makes men turn their heads as I walk into the room. A wig is fun as hell to wear. It's soft and shiny, and nowhere near what my hair is capable of being on its own. John says it's incredibly weird, but that he'll get used to it. I'll probably only wear this when I'm in the mood for some pretending. Today, I'm the Little Mermaid.



Even Le Slouche looks better with the long hair.