Trying something new

So I was thinking that I miss blogging on a regular basis, but I also feel like I should only blog if I have something interesting to say. I don't know whether that's true or not today, but I'll give it a whirl.

One of our summer trips was to Wisconsin, where one of Matt's high school friends was getting married. This was a bit high school reunion-ish (in a good way) - we got to see friends we hadn't seen in ages, and their children. My friend/co-book-blogger Holly and I actually got to hang out in person for the first time in years. I notice that I avoid putting pictures of myself up here, so I'll suck it up and post this one:

Holly also happens to be an excellent photographer. She has a business, Lily Bella Photography. Since we haven't had Lilah's photos taken in a long time, and I have been in awe of Holly's pictures for quite some time now, we arranged for Holly to try to get some photos while our families met up at the zoo. Lilah was thoroughly uncooperative at first (she's shy for a bit around new people), but Holly managed to completely capture her personality.

Lilah twirls all the time. She often asks to wear a dress "so I can twirl!" I was tickled to have a great photo of her twirling.

And since I already put up one picture of myself, here is one Holly snapped of Lilah and me:


Knitting: I'm making slow progress on Hjalte. Very slow progress. I really like it, but yikes. As Buffy would say, it is a job of work. I enjoy cabling, though. It's really addictive. I'm really dying to start Twist and Shout. Incidentally, I am making it in a Forest Green Cascade 220. Any comment on that would be appreciated. I tend to make sweaters for myself that are disastrous. My Gathered Pullover is the most-worn sweater I've made for myself.

Reading: Yes, I'm still re-reading Harry Potter. I just can't help myself. My book club has had talk of a Harry Potter Addict Support Group offshoot, but I don't think any of us is that committed to kicking the habit...

Writing: Not much. I have childcare for Thursday, so I may try to make some headway on the murder mystery.

Cooking: Oh, I was assigned to appetizers for my book club camping trip, so I came up with polenta wedges with romesco sauce and hummus with fire-toasted pita. The romesco was really yummy, and I've had it leftover in pita with grilled zucchini...nice.

Will I blog tomorrow? Who knows. Lack of photography skill is part of my slow blogging since text-heavy posts are not usually that interesting. And I don't see that changing. Still, it's nice to not have to remember a month's worth of reading, writing, cooking, and knitting to cram in one post...

Just when you need it...

Yesterday was a tough day. Attempts at getting Lilah down for a nap were thwarted, so she was really cranky all afternoon. But, just when I needed it, two things brought me a smile!

Kate, of Knit the Knits gave me an award:


I was absolutely tickled. There are rules attached:
1. post this award on your blog;
2. add a link to the person who sent you the award;
3. nominate at least 4 other bloggers, and add their links as well; and
4. leave a comment at the new recipients' blogs, so they know they got an award.

If you haven't visited Knit the Knits, you ought to. Go for the gorgeous lace knitting, stay for the dry humor and abundant technical terms. I do! It's not easy to pick four recipients. I love all the blogs to which I link, so I'll give the award to those who have specifically made me smile recently.

KnitPastis (you'll see why in a minute): Gorgeous socks, inspiring posts.

StringBean of Crash Test Dummies: She does the projects I lack the ambition to attempt myself and cracks me up.

Stefaneener of Reading While Knitting": I want to be Stefaneener when I grow up. Go see her blog, and you will, too.

Amy of Sassy Does It: A kindred blog-spirit.

I took Lilah to the post office as a bedtime-stalling measure, and had a lovely package from KnitPastis, with many, many treats! I promptly moved my Placket Neck Pullover into this one:

Isn't that the cutest project bag? It's so soft, and a million times nicer to look at than the gallon-sized baggie I was using (I know, so tacky--it was left over from my travel knitting).

Thank you for your comments on my last post! It's been really funny to me, desperate people noticing things in my cart and asking how I cook them. But I love talking about cooking, so it's fun.

Knitting: Finished sleeve #1 on Placket Neck. The number of ends to weave in is HUGE. Even though I always tell myself I'll weave them in as I go along, I never do. It's going to take forever. But I like the striping, and I think it'll be cute. I'm still not sure I have enough white yarn, but I can order a ball if needed.

Reading: I have several reviews to get up on On My Bookshelf. I read a few kids' books, a really, really funny mystery (Brigadoom! by Susan Goodwill), and Staggerford by Jon Hassler. I'm still pondering the ending of Staggerford. I'm not sure it was fair. But it's a good sign that I'm still thinking about it. I'm now reading another of my Joan Hess mysteries.

Writing: 12,294 words! Not as much progress, as we had company. But Chapter 2 is done, and Chapter 3 is clicking along. I think my chapters are far too long, though I do have section breaks. Not that it's a big concern, just something that's occurring to me. I'm focused on the forward progress, just keeping notes on changes I'll want to go back and make. Nothing huge, though one subplot needs some tweaking, as I really mishandled it. I know how to fix it, at least.

Cooking: Have I made anything interesting? Oh, with the last cheap blueberries of the season, I made blueberry ginger jam that is really nice. I made my granola (recipe linked at left), but left out the coconut, added the zest of one orange, and used all cranberries, no raisins for a Cranberry Orange version. It was nice. I made some whole wheat scones to go with my jam.

Weight Watchers update: 6 pounds, 2 weeks...yay!

Vacation Post

I'm on vacation! Too busy at the beach to do a real post, so I was thrilled when I saw this quiz on Stefaneener's blog.



I don't actually think the description is very apt, though Mint Chocolate Chip is one of my favorites. Maybe my vacation mood is different from my normal personality and that affected my answers...

We have a winner!

After the first few comments from new people, I googled myself (heh heh) and found my little contest had been put up on a free yarn contest site. I'd had no idea one of those existed, but what a lot of great ideas I got out of it! I loved the idea of an etsy request (which I hadn't known about), I'm intrigued by the dyeing possibilities, and I really wish I could be less snobby about acrylic, I really do (interesting note about yarn snobbery: my grandmother crochets, and she's made us a couple of afghans, and a baby blanket for Lilah, and she uses acrylic, and I LOVE them. I wouldn't trade them for anything. But I get to knit so little these days, that I want it to be yarn I enjoy working with).

Anyway, the winner is...drum roll...Annie! I ordered Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Cherry Moon from Little Knits, which even had it on sale. I have to dig out the baby blanket pattern I printed out ages ago, because I actually don't remember what I was planning to do. I was convinced by Annie's experience machine washing (on delicate) items made of this yarn. I also don't see myself finding time to learn how to dye the yarn and then dye it, wind it into balls, AND knit it into a blanket for a baby who will literally be born ANY DAY NOW. I also like the idea of cotton knitting for a summer baby, while the wool will help with the problems typical of cotton (unforgiving, stretching out, heavy). Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions!

Edited to add: I know the draw of free yarn is strong, but I really appreciated all the feedback I received. I've e-mailed everyone who sent in suggestions where I could locate an e-mail address. So if I haven't e-mailed to thank you, THANK YOU!

Special Happy Fun Bonus Post

String Bean posted this fun little flickr game that caught my attention.



The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.
The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name

Head to Mosaic Maker to make your own!

Pithy Title Goes Here

I wanted to do a quick-ish post today, with actual knitting content below! I'll hit comments first. A note: new Blogger doesn't let me reply to comments through email the same way I used to be able to. I've never been an "email reply to every comment" person, due to time constraints, but there are times I'd like to hit "reply" and give a quick answer to a question or something. For now, I'll stick with answering comments in my next post until I get email addresses saved. Kate, "sproingy" is one of my very favorite technical terms! Without it, how could I describe how much I like Lorna's Laces? Stefaneener, I've always loved to read. In fact, I was the only kid I knew who would actually get grounded from reading. It was the only punishment that actually had any impact. My little brother wasn't as into reading, but my mom got him into books about sports, even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic books, and he is now a huge reader (in fact, his reading list is way more impressive than mine since he's really into history and military non-fiction, and to my knowledge never reads romance novels). My mom is now a principal, but she was an elementary teacher for years first, and she always got kids hooked on reading by finding something, anything that interested them. That's the beauty of the Harry Potter phenomenon: it's gotten millions of kids reading, and they love the Potter books so much they look for more like them and just keep going.

Thank you to everyone for the sock compliments! I'm very happy to have gotten them finished, and I like them a lot. I'll have to see if I can finish something, anything, for February as well, with the added goal of getting some writing done. I'd like to have a complete draft of my murder mystery by the end of the year. I have no idea how I will accomplish this, but I need to set some mini-goals. To finish this year is over a chapter a month, but I have several chapters in draft form, just needing some re-writing to incorporate my new ideas. So, for February, all I want is to re-write Chapter 1. It's a modest goal that I think I can achieve. I'll see how that goes, then re-evaluate and set goals for the rest of the year. My writing nook helps!

Knitting: Since I've nearly finished with ball #2 of Malabrigo (out of an expected maximum of 6 balls), I thought I'd post a progress photo of my Simple Knitted Bodice. I finally made it through the lace panel. I did a few repeats of the 4-row pattern, then measured: 2 1/2". That was great, since I was supposed to knit 3". I did another repeat, then measured again: 2 1/2". Huh. That was weird. Must have measured wrong before. Did another repeat, then measured: 2 1/2". Okay, now I was getting concerned. Would I ever finish the lace panel? Was I somehow making the lace panel go on and on because I didn't really want to do another set of purl ridges? But watching a repeat of Scrubs, I just knit and knit the lace, and at the end of the episode, I had 3". I guess I had to stop thinking I was almost done and just be in the knitting or something Zen like that. Anyway, I really wanted to have the purl ridges done before posting my photo, but I've got a busy couple of weeks going and wanted to get a photo up now in case I go a bit without posting. It's overcast today, which means the lighting in my house is horrid. I tried several spots and the kitchen counter ended up looking the best. Whatever.

I can't believe how far I've gotten. While I was working on the Waving Lace socks, I would sometimes do a row or two on the SKB if I happened to finish a section and not want to go on to the next quite yet. And suddenly, I was joining for working in the round. I like it quite a bit so far, but I doubt it'll be done in time for me to actually wear it, as it's warming up here already. I'm going to do a toe-up, short row toe and heel pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, and I think I've settled on a pair for Matt first, out of Opal's TIger colorway (also a Mission Possible goal!), since his birthday is coming up. My only concern is the possibility of running out of yarn with a single skein for a men's pair. Going toe-up will help, but I have to re-wind the skein into two equal balls to make sure. Ugh.

Reading: Nearly done with Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think you can tell from the title if you'd be automatically offended by it or not (Moore's "opening prayer" at the beginning starts something like this (can't be bothered to look up exact wording): "If you came here to laugh, may you find humor; if you came here to be offended, may your ire rise and your blood boil." I like Moore (though he can be a bit juvenile in his scatalogical and sexual humor), and this book is just fun. It focuses on Jesus's human life from childhood until the crucifixion, about which little is known. Moore clearly did quite a lot of historical and theological research, though he's careful to point out that this is FICTION, but the historical details give it authenticity. It's very, very funny, but the story is surprisingly engaging. I found myself getting caught up in the journeys of Biff and Jesus (called here by the Hebrew version of his name, Yeshua or Joshua, instead of the Greek Jesus). I'll post a full review when I'm done.

Writing: None, but see above for goals. Think writing-ish thoughts for me.

Cooking: Hmmm. Nothing interesting, really. I made chocolate chip cookies today, though. I don't want to brag, but I do make the best chocolate chip cookies. Sometime I'll post my recipe and tips for superior cookies, but not today.

Perfectionism Squared

I keep wanting to post about my Yarn Challenge, but I wanted to have swatch photos to show, and I wanted the lucky winner to have her yarn and other treats already. But at this point, I just have to announce the winner since Little Miss Lilah has not felt that I need to finish my swatching :)

The Winner Is...

String Bean for Tussie Mussie!

I was having trouble getting gauge with the 4Ply, which is a very skinny yarn (a technical term I learned from Knit the Knits (whom I hope will someday publish a glossary of technical knitting terms). On the recommended size 4, I was getting 26 stitches to 4 inches instead of 22. That's just as well, really, as I would have had to buy a couple more size 4 circs to do the sweater. So I'm trying size 5 needles, and my backup plan is to double the yarn and try size 5 or 6. I dimly recall some formula where if you double the yarn, you don't need double the yardage, just 1.3 or 1.4 or 1.7 of it? At 1.7, I would be really pushing the limits of the amount of 4Ply I have, but if it's less, I think I can do it. This yarn is always on eBay, anyway. I haven't decided about the nosegay pattern. I think it's cute, but my sanity may demand an unembellished sweater.

String Bean will receive some lovely yarn and something from my oven, hopefully by tomorrow, unless the Postal Service decides to lose it or something. I don't want to post exactly what, so it will be a surprise for her.

Thank you so much to everyone for your suggestions! And, thank you, Tim! Tim was the recipient of one of my Manly Hats (pattern at left) when he moved to the Arctic tundra. I mean, Canada.

Post #200! Fun Challenges! Exciting Prizes!

This is my 200th post, if Blogger's calculations are correct. Which...it's Blogger, after all, so who knows? And I am a desperate knitter in need of a project I actually have the time to do, and in possession of more yarn than I have time to knit with, and with no time to look for the perfect project. And I'm still on the ravelry wait list. That's where you come in! I am going to list some yarns in my stash, and if someone comes up with a project that tickles my fancy, that person will win a lovely prize from my stash! Am I keeping the prize secret to increase suspense, or because I have not had time to dig through the stash to decide what I want to send? Who knows? More than one project=more than one winner! There might even be baked goods in your prize package. Pass this on to anyone you know who could use a little yarn and has great ideas. The rules (which I'm making up as I go along):

The Great 200th Post Yarn Competition

1. It needs to be a more do-able project than my Irish Diamond Shawl, which should be just about any project out there.
2. No cables. I don't have time to learn them.
3. No cat sweaters. I don't have the body armor I'd need to put them on the cats.
4. Patterns from my books or patterns I list, free internet patterns, or low-cost downloadable internet patterns are okay. I can't have to buy a new book. Unless it's a REALLY good book I should have anyway. And probably the library has it. So, no restrictions there, I guess. What a waste of a rule! I won't bother listing my patterns and books, then.
5. No outside yarn, but combining yarns I already have is fair, and doubling is fine.
6. No limit on the number of entries!

General guidelines: I'd sort of like to make something for myself or Lilah. It can be a sweater, a felted bag, a pillow or blanket, a tea cozy, whatever. I'd like it to be a medium project (not something tiny like a washcloth). Or a bunch of small projects I can give away at Christmas. What I really would like to do is a sweater for me, but I can't see that I have a yarn that works with a pattern I know about. Maybe the 4-ply doubled? Obviously, anything goes here, just about.

Okay, here are the yarns:
1. Blue Skies Alpaca Silk (sport weight, 292 yards, color blush)
2. Cascade 220 (worsted, 880 yards, color blue-green)
3. Cascade 220 (worsted, 880 yards, color light grey)
4. Euroflax Linen (fingering, 270 yards, color light green)
5. Rowanspun 4-ply (fingering, 972 yards, color Turkish (purply-blue))
6. Rowanspun 4-ply (fingering, 1320 yards, color Siren (red))
7. Pakucho Organic Cotton (worsted, 400 yards, color Chocolate)
8. Knitpicks Shine (sport, 440 yards, color Sky)
9. Knitpicks Shine (sport, 160 yards, color Cream)
10. Rowanspun DK (DK, 876 yards, color Mist (mottled blue-grey))
11. Peruvian Collection Baby Silk (fingering, 700 yards, color lavender)
12. Peruvian Collection Baby Silk (fingering, 1800 yards, color purple)
13. Blackwater Abbey (worsted wool, 440 yards, color Haw (red))
14. Brooks Farm Four Play (worsted silk/wool, 540 yards, color Poppies (like neopolitan ice cream))
15. I have assorted scraps of feltable stuff in a bag under the bed.

Submit your entries before the deadline of "whenever I feel I have enough and decide to choose a project"! Good luck!

Edited to add: When you comment with an entry, mention your favorite kinds of yarn (color, weight, fiber content) just in case. Don't worry...I won't send anyone Fun Fur!

A Whole Year at the Whole Ball of Yarn(s)!

So, it's my blogiversary, I guess. I ought to have something clever reflecting back over the year, or at least a fun contest or something, but I don't. Sorry! I did look back at my very first post and noticed that I was reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which is still next to my bed with a bookmark in it, which I think is hilarious. A lot has changed in the year, though. A year ago, I was still upset over being laid off from a hideously awful job, and now I'm happily writing with a new baby. Things have definitely improved. What's more, I've actually kept a journal with some consistency, which I've never done before, and I've "met" lots of lovely people in the blogosphere. It's been a good year, even with the morning sickness.

Knitting: Still plugging along on the sock. I hope to finish it this weekend. First, I have to wind this really long skein of yarn. On the heel gusset, I sort of fudged the edges. I picked up an extra stitch, but instead of waiting till the next row to knit it together with the one next to it, I twisted the stitch and knit it together with the first held stitch. Does that make sense? It closed the gaps very nicely, I think.

Reading: I finished Murder on a Hot Tin Roof. I actually guessed the murderer and the motive! But the book was still enjoyable, since I wasn't positive until the end. This was a fun, quick diversion. I do recommend this series by Amanda Matesky if you enjoy cozy mysteries. I'm now reading Jane and the Genius of the Place, the fourth in that series, and, as expected, enjoying it quite a bit.

Writing: Still slowly revising. I got more sleep last night, though, which I'm hoping is a trend!

Cooking: Not much at all. I did a vegetable soup based on the blueprint in my recipe list to the left. I also soaked chickpeas to make hummus. Tim, I think you might have to go grocery shopping :) If you also have eggs and milk, I could possibly suggest a bread pudding with toasted cinnamon raisin bagel and applesauce. Don't you have any fruits or vegetables around? I do have to say--Ketchup chips??? Are you turning Canadian already?!

2007 Finished Knitting Projects

Novelties:

Sweaters:

Wraps, Shawls, and Scarves:
Branching Out
Ribbed Lace Bolero
Branching Out

Bags:

Baby Stuff:
Toddler Mittens
Earflap Hat

Socks and Hats:
Men's Fuzzy Feet
Fuzzy Feet
Gryffindor Socks