birds

It's a typicall snowy day here. It seems to be doing a lot of snowing this year. But you know the birds have really come out in force to eat from the feeders.

Bender's Game

Bender’s Game….aka…hilarious version of Fellowship of the Rings crossed with Dungeon and Dragons.

While watching it I finished off square 47.


These are the squares from the last two weeks. I needed to be on 42 last Friday and 49 for this Friday. Right on. Wait the movie also includes Star Wars. Hilarious!!!

The Truth

Let’s be honest for a minute…knitting squares at Christmas time isn’t the most exciting thing to do. I know I know that’s not what you wanted to hear but it’s true.

Instead I worked on my mother’s secret present which I didn’t finish and socks. Imagine that, me knitting socks.

I can’t seem to stop and they’re so mindless and wonderful. And then you get to have heel fun and then they’re mindless again. I just love to knit my socks… and I’ve begun to consider the possibility of knitting socks for other people. I had thought socks were a $25 yarn plus 20 hours of knitting, @ $10 an hour which…that makes for a $225 gift and who knows if the receipt will like them or if they’ll fit or wear them or ruin them in the wash. So I had said no socks for anyone but me. Now I’m up to 12 pairs which really is enough for one person but I’m not about to stop sock knitting. I seem to have sock knitting perfected and can whip out a pair in less than a week if it’s a simple pattern like Monkeys. So perhaps I’ll knit the family and some close friends some socks. We’ll see.

What do you think about knitting socks for a sock knitter? Is that odd? I have a pair from my mother-in-law and I love them just as much as the others. Would another sock knitter feel the same or would they be like, “thanks a lot for giving me something I make myself”? I’m not sure.

But either way here are the socks I’m working on right now…Denna Socks. They are my own design and it took hours to come up with something that suited this two color yarn. I’m beginning to realize that I like either highly variegated multi colored sock yarns or simple tonal colors. Designs are easily lost in contrasting two color sock yarn.

I’m also working on some socks using the Knitpicks Bare yarn that I dyed last fall. I since learned that wool and silk will shrink in the washing machine. And then continue to shrink each time you wash them. My Perrin socks that I knit in October immediately after dying the yarn looked like this (on the left).

After 6 or 7 wearings they look like this (on the right). They’re about 2” shorter than they used to be, the lace on the cuff and picot edging has closed in. The foot itself barely fits me and they are nearly felted without any stitch definition. They are also dense and cushy. I just wish I had known this would happen and could’ve saved myself the time of intricate lace work.

So this second pair in the Knitpicks Bare will be for me since I’m sure to hand wash them. I’m also compensating by knitting them on larger needles and even looser than normal. Which is a funny concept since I’m the loosest knitter I know. I like to tell myself that just means I’m relaxed about it.

Yesterday Pamtastic stole me off to Webs. I threatened to only spend her money. It didn’t work, it never does when it comes to yarn. I was pretty good and mostly got sock yarn. Shopping with other people’s feet in mind is hard work.

I definitely had a color pallet in mind as I was shopping…yellow and black, but somehow the greens snuck in there as well.

Merry Christmas

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Everything we need!

“Boyfriend we need 7 wine bottles and 7 zip lock baggies” I yelled down from the laundry room mid-win-cozy-felting.

The Boyfriend in his typical mode of transportation, that of a five year old in stockings, came running and slid across the floor, appearing in the laundry room door way to proclaim…

“We have everything we need, except for…everything we need!”


After further discussion it was determined that we did in fact have everything we need he just needed to look a little harder.

Now its fudge making time which typically involves sampling and wrapping presents, so on a sugar high I felt the need to share with you all that…

“We have everything we need, except for…everything we need!”

Blogging From Bed

Here I am on day four of a wonderful cold. Last week my friend who was moving away came to knitting with a bit of a cold and being as she’s the only sick person I’ve been in contact with, it’s clearly all her fault!

As soon as I realized I was getting sick I took Cold-EEze to try and head it off. It didn’t work since I’ve been out of commission for the past two days. The Boyfriend is a trooper, sleeping on the couch and making sure I have the right kind of tissues, drinks, and food. Now if only the TV people would cooperate and show Law N’ Order nonstop I’d be all set. It’s been ages since I last watched TV without the DVR and yesterday in my cold medicine stupor I repeatedly tried to fast forward through the commercials.

As if the Ice Storm and a Cold weren’t enough, we’ve now had about 8” of snow dumped on our heads. It’s been beautiful to watch coming down and hopefully no one will have to travel in it. I was actually laying here last night, watching the giant snow flakes, envisioning the lovely knitting photos I could take in the morning with snow covered trees in contrast to my brightly colored knit socks. I think I’m going through knitting withdrawal.

In the Seven Squares a Week Challenge, I should be at 35 squares as of yesterday. I currently have 41, so I’m well ahead of the challenge. I did do a large square this week which takes four times as long as a regular square.

Power Shoe Cozies

We have power! I’m human again with my computer on my lap sitting warmly in my living room. K&K opened their home and their hearts to us. They treated us like family for three days. I feel like we can not thank them enough.

Many including my office, still do not have power. There’s been talk of a “black Christmas” as some towns need to have the entire power system rebuilt. Thankfully we do not live in one of those towns. Nearly all the Christmas shopping has been done, anything that could be purchased online was.

And President Bush got a shoe thrown at him. How funny is that? I was surprised by his reflexes and then wondered what took the Secret Service so long to get in front of him. January 20th can’t come fast enough. Although I do feel a little empathy for the man. How must it feel knowing so many of your own people are counting the days until you’re gone? I’m sure when he dreamt of being President when he grew up that didn’t include being the least popular president.

Cozy’s are 70% finished. I have 6 of the 7 knit and just need to felt them. (Secretly I love the color work one, in the upper left corner and may not want to give that one away so it might need to be 8 cozies) I hope The Boyfriend got all the wine already so I can block them on actual wine bottles.

And in blanket news: here are 6 of the large squares. I'm really enjoying work on them. But still unable to attach more than four squares together.

No Power

Day 3 without power. Hidding out with K&K. Hope you all have power and are warm!

What happens when you have four adults and a 2 year old trapped in a house all day?

Well first to get this scenario the power has to be out in the young couple’s condo. The young couple must spend 10 hours without heat or electricity at which point, the wife says, I can’t feel my fingers and the boys are cold. The young couple packs up themselves and their two cats and head over to their friend’s house where there is plenty of power but no internet. The friends have a very shy two year old daughter. The friends have already taken in another family with two small children that speak fluent Japanese. There are three children under five so the place is hopping until bedtime when the tears started falling. The young couple seek sanctuary in the basement with the cats.

The next morning the other guests leave but the young couple is still without power. So the four adults amuse themselves the best they can while the wait for the power to come back on. As the day wares on the little girl and the wife become “best friends”. They sing and play with flashlights. They watch Little House on the Prairie and play with yarn. They even eat ice cream together until at last it’s time for the little girl to brush her teeth and go to bed. Neither of which are things she’s interested in doing and instead she’s found an intense fascination with the Things Remembered Catalog.

Eventually the wife offers to brush her teeth with the little girl. Together they sit on the floor in the living room brushing and drooling as they “clean those dirty teeth”. It was an amusing sight for the other adults. I’m sure my dentist would be proud.

Knitting by Candle Light

This morning I snapped awake at 6am even though it’s my day off. With nothing better to do, I jumped up and got ready for the day. I headed downstairs and saw a sheet of ice had covered the world as we slept.

As I walked toward the kitchen the power went out and it was black. In New England the lazy winter sun doesn’t grace our sky’s until well after 7 and with the cloud cover it might as well have been midnight not 6:30am. I lit the gas stove for tea and found some candles. With my yarn and needles in hand I pulled up a chair by the back door listening to the rain fall and knitting by candle light

In other news…I’m pleased to announce that I have 31 squares for the sock blanket. 7 more for this week should been 28 so I’m doing well. I have only knit four squares together out of fear of commitment. I don’t want to attach them all because I’m not the best at envisioning the end results. With my luck I’d end up with clumps of contrasting colors in an unattractive fashion.

Also have two finished wine cozies. I’m working out the design and will offer it free in the near future.

I’m a schmuck!

I have a really good friend. She’s funny, and witty, and we have a great deal in common. She makes me smile, granted a lot of people make me smile but I enjoy her company.

A few months back her life was less than cheery. And being a schmuck I backed away because it wasn’t as much fun to spend time together. Now she’s re-organized her life and made the decision to move which lifted a great deal of stress and darkness from her life.

Tonight was the last time I’ll see my friend for a long time and it was just like the old times. We laughed and finished each others sentences. We shared inside jokes and knitting humor. The night flew by too fast. I even shoved her at one point and told her I was mad she’s leaving, because there was so much fun yet to be had. Tonight I had MY friend back. My friend who likes the same music, tv shows, movies, books, actors, and on and on until I begin to think we're two peas in a pod. I’m a schmuck for letting the hard work of friendship get between us.

While I wish her all the best and success in her future, I’m so sad to see my friend leave. I’ll have to settle on my Beelzebub and "No more rhymes now I mean it!" to make me smile and remind me of my friend.

Christmas Trees

This morning as Linus and I were sleeping in, The Boyfriend was getting ready for work. While we were innocently dozing, The Boyfriend entered the room and requested that I knit him SEVEN wine cozies for Christmas gifts. Seven! 7! Seven in less than 20 days. Felted wine cozies for coworkers and professors. I roused enough to say “Well good morning to you. And your crazy!” Of course I’m just like him since I’ve immediately started knitting them.

I finished the first one off with Mum & Memere, at coffee. We went to see the Festival of the Trees display. Such lovely themed trees but nothing I’d ever want as my main Christmas tree.

Did you know we have two trees this year? Yup, after Christmas last year I bought a narrow, prelate, 9 foot tall tree to replace our sad little 5 foot tall one. So this year The Boyfriend wasn’t ready to let go of the little one so he setup both. The big one in the entry way and the little one in the living room. I love the big one with it’s simple white lights. He loves the little colorful one. I have to be sure to light them both every night to keep us both happy.

There’s nothing like a new pair of socks

This morning I finished off the “My Friend’s” socks that I worked on during the debate in which McSame repeatedly addressed the audience as “My Friends”. They were part of the Socktobar sock frenzy. And now they are part of my finished sock collection.

This marks my tenth pair of socks. I like the shorter length cuff. It’s hard to see in the photos but the cables spiral away from each other. The pattern is from Favorite Socks, the Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks. I used Mind’s Eye yarn that is 70/30 Wool/Tensel blend. It feels like cotton to me. It has a slight sheen and very soft hand. Love Love Love Them!!

Here it is…Friday

And I’m very pleased to report that I have a grand total of 22 squares for the sock blanket. I needed 21 by the end of Friday. Placed edge to edge they take up about 12” x 12”. This is going to be a long project! Yesterday I learned that my partner in crime has fallen behind in her square count. Hopefully some public taunting will motivate her to catch up!
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Tonight we had another Seacoast Knitter depart. She’s be a Mid-West Knitter now. She’s holding up the blanket that was one of the super secret projects I’ve been working on. Everyone knit a square that expressed their feelings for her.

I knit the Knitters square and a second lace square. The lace is something I've always said I'd never do. SImilar to socks. And she pushed me to knit socks and you know I loved them. So I decided to knit lace for her incase I would love that as well. I didn't but at least I attempted it.

I hope the blanket keeps her lap warm for years to come and provides an instant hug from us all when she needs it.

Strudel!!!

Check out my snazzy new hat!!! “MeKint”, knit it for me for the Seacoast Knitters hat swap. I love how unique it is. It’s the Strudel
Hat by Woolly Wormhead. And it’s purple alpaca!!! Perfecto!
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Here we all our with our new hats. What a crazy group of ladies. I love them all so much!!

Wheel of Time

You Scored as The Brown Ajah You are best suited for the Brown Ajah. Dreamy eyes, and ink stained fingers are the mark of this Ajah. These Aes Sedai are the historians, librarians, scientists, and engineers of the White Tower. They are in charge of the Tower Libraries and as such are usually more negotiable than probably anyone else. These Aes Sedai are usually so caught up in their studies and research projects that they are oblivious to current events in the world. The Brown Ajah 90% The White Ajah 70% The Green Ajah 60% The Yellow Ajah 60% The Blue Ajah 50% The Gray Ajah 50% The Black Ajah 35% The Red Ajah 35%

Another year wiser?

Last night marked my 28th birthday. As you can see I’m another year older but just as silly as usual. The Boyfriend got me a zip and snap blanket. I feel like a penguin wearing it but man is it toasty.

Although I’m not a fan of birthday’s, at least not since I turned 25 and realized I’m not a kid. The Boyfriend was firm with me this year, “the day will come weather you want it to or not, so you might as well use the excuse to do something you want.”

It made sense so we did dinner with friends plus Mum. I had a very nice time.

Melody sent me a wonderful Birthday poem,
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Happy Birthday to you.

You are a Michaud.

You make pretty knits.

And to boot they all fits!

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Yesterday I finished felting the final project. Pencil grips for my aunt's students. 30 of them in a variety of colors and sizes. Which now leaves me with 10 hibernating projects. I know for the normal person that seems like a lot but for me, that’s amazing. Decagon Decision was a success!!

Onto the Seven Square Challenge. This will be a weekly challenge to complete seven sock blanket squares each week, one per day. I’ve already been working on the blanket for 17 days and currently have 15 squares. So I should have 21 squares by this Friday.

I can has sock

Yesterday was a nice day for a drive. The Boyfriend and I always love riding in the car together. It seems to be when we have our best conversations.

When we got home the boys were so happy to see us. After napping and unpacking, we four settled in for some TV and knitting (ok I’m the only one knitting and technically The Boyfriend had a computer and two cats on his lap/chest but we were all together on the couch).

So there I was knitting along and then sneak attack MacOban was under the table attaching my big toe in it’s hand knit sock. Rather than try and twist my foot away from him I opted to cut my loses and slip my foot out of the sock. Mac ran off with the sock to extract his vengeance. The poor sock! And yes that is my favorite pair of socks, the Bulldogust socks!

I finished the Native Vest I’ve been slogging through the finishing on. That just leaves 11 hibernating projects in the Decagon Decision Challenge. SO if I can finish off one more project today I’ll have achieved my goal of just 10 hibernating projects on the needles.

Happy Thanksgiving

Dinner’s been served and dishes have been washed.


The sounds of football on the TV and poker in the dinning room fill the house.


Grammy and Baby Kason are napping.


The family photo has been taken and the ladies have gone for a walk around the block.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Doing Better

Monday morning was just like any Monday –get up go to knitting class and then head to Mum and Dad’s. Things were not normal when I arrive to find my mother with her fully packed suitcase. My aunt was on the phone saying ‘come now’. Two weeks ago my uncle had a valve in his heart replaced with a titanium valve. It’s been a slow recovery which included a two day stint in the local hospital because of chest pain. Eventually they sent him by helicopter ambulance to a major cardio hospital. Things did not look good and my aunt and cousin needed us. Mum and I formed a convey and headed to the hospital 2 hours away.

The car ride was a roller coaster ride of emotion. Knowing that the worst was possible and hoping against all hopes that it wouldn't happen. My uncle’s blood pressure was so low that when he arrived they performed emergency surgery in the ER without anesthesia or pain medication. Everyone involved said “it was one for the record books”. My uncle’s first words to Mum and I was that it would’ve made a great episode of ER with blood flying everywhere.

On the second day we saw a change in him. And as the day wore on he was eating and joking. Tonight they moved him out of ICU and into his own room. We four girls were like a comedy routine, laughing and making him laugh. It was just such a relief to be with him after fearing the worst. He even sang the chipmunk Christmas song to us which was completely unexpected but thoroughly appreciated.

Tomorrow we head home, in the new target clothes I had to buy since I didn’t have time to pack before we left. I’ll have to do some quick laundry, baking and packing of knitting supplies before we head to Northampton, MA for Thanksgiving with The Boyfriend’s side of the family. Can you guess where I’m going on black Friday?

No More Cold Neck!!!

Check out my neckwarmer! It was in Holiday Gifts 08, and I’ve been drooling over it for the past month. I used The Fibre Company Khroma yarn. It’s a 50/50 Alpaca/Wool yarn. I love how soft it is and the pattern was great. I think I want to make a dozen more, at least one more for a certain grade school teacher who has duty in Northern Maine.

Frogging never Felt so good!!!

I’ve been busily working on the blanket of insanity with J. We’re going for a square a day. Did I mention it’s a blanket knit with leftover sock yarn on size 2 needles. For more details on the pattern check out the designers blog.

I’ve been a busy girl this week, running everywhere and doing everything it seems. Which is ok except that the monthly challenge I set for myself is falling way behind.

Monday I finished off the pink baby booties.

And Wednesday I finished the front of the native vest, which means I just need a collar, shoulder seams, tassels and viola…ready to wear.

Today I trashed the Spoiled girl slippers. See, I really did it. Here they are in the trash. They were beyond help and too sad to look at.

I also ripped out the Dexter sock, which wasn’t on the list of hibernating projects but realistically I wont make these socks. 8 hours for an inch. I may be crazy for making the blanket but I’m not crazy enough to put 100 hours into one pair of socks that I feel indifferent toward. I may try them again with DK weight yarn since they are part of the favorite sock book.

Next I frogged the Hardly Know Her Hat. It would’ve been cute but I had just completed the cast on edge and had 10” of colorwork to go. It’s nice to frog and reclaim needles.

I also frogged the blue baby blanket, I had done this a month or so back when I wanted the brown for a stranded sweater that never got beyond swatching.

SO visually here is where I stand on the challenge. Slashes are frogged or trashed. Hearts are finished. Half hearts are in progress again. 13 Hybernating projects, and just 9 days to get that down to 10. I’d give 50-50 odds on that happening.

Oh and December's Challenge is going to be to knit 7 squares a week for the blanket!

I'm Linus!

You're Linus!

You may lack some courage outside your comfort zone but with a little security you can accomplish anything. Your smart, intelligent, and care about your friends. Keep up your strong faith because its a part of you that is unique.

Funny, I thought the small yellow fuzzy thing with four legs was Linus.

Take the Quiz you're self.

LuLu

Yeah, it was a great trip and Miss Lulu is now safely in her new home.

Although she did tell us for the first 3 hours this morning how much she hated the moving car. Just when I was ready to kill her, MMH told me how great I was to tolerate it. (rye smile)

I think Lulu sensed my frustration because she soon fell asleep, alternating between MMH’s shoulder and mine. She looked incredibly cute sleeping but she did still express a few minor protests.

I am however, remarkably tired for someone who road in the car for two days...doing nothing but knitting...Good Trip!

Friday's activities

11:21am
I’m working on a super secret project. It’s a day off for me, but I was up at 6am charting out the pattern too excited not to cast on immediately. I’m about half done now and just took a break to make some white chili. My house smells amazing right now!

1:30pm
Decided to go to Pennsylvania to pick up Lulu. This will require some knitting/food/clothing preparation. Finished super secret project, at least part 1….mehahahaha

3:00pm
Cookies have been baked, washer is running and project is blocking. I absolutely had to do laundry today. I only had one clean pair of hand knit socks left and wearing the store bought kind is so tiresome. So the laundry room is an array of color as the different socks hang drying.

4:00pm darned some socks and loaded the I-pod with new music and audiobooks...sci-fi fantasy which is both of our favorites.

6:37pm finished packing the knitting projects and limited myself to just 5 projects for 36 hours. Hopefully that’ll be enough. One of those projects will be an insane sock yarn blanket that Julie hypnotized me into doing. She had to twist my arm really hard. You know me, sock project and my eyes glaze over and my fingers start moving. As I type this I'm cast on the first square. First off will be NYC & Kansas.

Mark your calendars

I just don’t feel like knitting tonight. This has happened one other time in the last 3 years that I can think of. I really need to update the Devon Rex website and can’t due to software issues which is totally stressing me out. I have swatches, and patterns, and gifts, and stuff for me that all needs to be done but right now I just want to read blogs. Crazy!

Frog Slumber Party

The last two nights, The Boyfriend and I have had a slumber party. We’re both a bit goofy and thought it would be fun to make up the air mattress in the living room and sleep down there for a night…and then another. We had originally meant to do this in October but time got away from us. We bought the condo 3 years ago this October and had slept on the air mattress on the floor in the living room for the first week until we actually moved in. The boys loved playing on it all day yesterday. While they did that I was busy working through some of those hibernating projects.
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First off I frogged My Jacobean Floral Felted Bag, so now what do I do with 10 skeins of chocolate brown knit picks wool of the Andes? Any suggestions?
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Brilliant Sachet Trio has been repurposed to be a patch on my new bag. It was a great free bag but advertising for the shoe store doesn’t appeal to me.
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Finally the Blue Boucle Booties were finished. Originally cast on in March 2007, the booties had been sitting without tops. So I made a little hat to go with them and finished them off. So cute!
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4th the Braided Scarf was frogged and trashed with a vengeance!!! And it felt damn good. Who picked out glitter and fun fur? Pink of all colors! 4 Stupid skinny scarves all braided together! Well they're gone now!
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Lastly the Twisty Turn shrug was frogged. A pair of mittens in malabrigo I made this summer look a million years old after wearing them five times. This shrug was knit as a 10 foot look scarf using malabrigo. I had a foot completed and fear of pilling overcame the desire to knit a 10 foot scarf. Really not hard since I hate scarves. So it’s been frogged.

That's 5 more off the total leaving 16 projects that are currently hibernating. Those remaining really need to be finished and not frogged. I don’t expect to have another productive day like today again. But I will definitely keep at it since it feels so good to clean them out. I might even make room for some more yarn in the yarn closet once all the bulky UFOs are gone. I Kid I Kid, I Joke With You!