Babette

Babette is all finished- well almost. I finished the last few rounds a few days ago and weaved in all the loose ends. I tossed it in the washer and dryer (Knitpicks Swish superwash) knowing the yarn would soften up, the stitches would bloom and my blanket would be nice and snuggly.

Then I noticed holes

everywhere.

My poor blanket looks like it has been loved on quite a bit- the washer and dryer loved it long time. I am just glad that it is not a gift, I fear this one won't hold up too long. I will make all the necessary repairs, then this will have a permanent home on my side of the couch. It is the perfect lap blanket (29" X 37").

I really see myself crocheting another one of these. Next time I will probably crochet all the squares at once then do all the seaming. I noticed differences in my gauge in some of the sections, and the seaming does not match because I used a different method in the later rounds. I enjoyed this muchly, and am glad to be able to cross it off my list.

As a reward for finishing Babette, I started swatching for Lemonade v.2. I am using Sublime Cotton Soya and I am in love! This yarn begs to be knit into baby sweaters- it is buttery soft, knits up beautifully, and is machine washable. Stay tuned!

Even though my Mom does not read my blog (If you do, and I don't know, you better come clean woman!) I want to wish her a very happy birthday today! She and I are so alike in so many ways and I could not imagine my life without her in it. I love you, Mom! Thank you for always being there for me, never judging me, giving me great advice and loving me the most!

Home again...

Our trip to the beach was as wonderful as always. Although it was close to 70 degrees each day we were there, it was also very windy. The kiddos played in the waves and the sand, but not as long as they would like, although quite long enough for me.

This weekend I learned the importance of packing a back up project. I originally planned to take my Baudelaire's to keep me occupied- after all, I felt I could be monogamous for a weekend at least. At the last minute I threw the striped cardi in my bag just in case the sock managed to piss me off with its dark yarn, little needles and fiddly lace pattern. When I took out the sock in the car, I realized I had left the fourth needle at home! So, needless to say, I got quite a bit of knitting accomplished on the cardi, but sadly nothing on the sock.

Speaking of knitting accomplishments, well, I have none. What I do have is many projects on the needles, designs in my head that need to be on paper, and a queue that gets longer each month. I really need to get a few things finished.

• Babette needs a few more rounds of edging and it will be finished.


• Secret of the Stole ii KAL was finished long ago, sadly, I lost steam around the seventh clue and my stole has sat neglected since then. I am kinda putting off winding the second skein (840yds!) of laceweight yarn to finish the second half of the shawl. I am also afraid that the colors may be slightly different since it is kettle dyed.


• Feather and Fan Shawl blanket is in time out until I can find another pair of size 6 circular needles to transfer the some of the stitches. The rounds are getting so long (550 sts per round) and I am not even close to being finished, plus, I was almost out of yarn. The three skeins from the frogged Rusted Root did not get me as far as I had originally hoped. The good news is that I found a person on Ravelry that happened to have 3 more skeins of the yarn I am using, and she sent them to me! Thank you Jenn!


• Baudelaire and the Jitterbug cardi have barely been on the needles a week, so I am not feeling the need to finish them quite yet.


• *cough* fish blanket *cough* may never get finished


• My so called kitchen rug just may get frogged

Since Magknits is no more, I am also toying with the idea of reworking my pattern that was published there. This time I am going to use a yarn that is not discontinued, rewrite the pattern to include long and three quarter length sleeves as well as rework the directions so there are fewer pieces to knit and less seaming.

so much to do, so little time...

Just a few things to share...

I was hooked on crochet (bad pun) for a few weeks. During that time I came across this square and thought it would make a very pretty throw. The only problem is that I would have to figure out how many yards of yarn I would need for a blanket. I figured I would just crochet a gauge square to figure how many squares I would need to make a blanket and how much yarn I would need. I am going to unravel this square and measure the yarn to figure the yardage. It is supposed to be a 12" square, but mine is only 11". I was able to crank this one out in a day, so a blanket should only take about 4 months to complete...

I totally blame the following socks on V. Check out all the pretty yarn and socks on her April 5 post and you will totally understand...but you will probably be powerless to resist the urge to cast on socks.

We are headed to the beach this weekend to spend time with the inlaws which means I need something to knit while the kiddos frolic in the ocean waves. I cast on for Baudelaire with the intention that it could be my beach knitting project as long as I could knit past the toe before arriving at the beach. After three days I have already turned the heel! Woo! I am planning to knit these as knee socks, so I have quite a bit left, but they are really coming off the needles quickly. I guess that is what knitting lace shawls all winter does for a gal- makes her appreciate how quick a 66 stitch row goes!

I have no one to blame for this except myself. I have recently dicovered a wonderful little yarn enabling store. The last time I was in this store I admired some beautiful yarn hanging on the wall. After I got home I could not quit thinking about the intense colors. So, of course, I had to go back and bring some 4 skeins of it home with me (colors: elephant's daydream, jay). I am planning a raglan, three quarter sleeve, striped cardi. That may not look like much for 2 days worth of knitting, but at 7 stitches and 9 rows per inch on size 3 needles, it is a lot of knitting. So far I am really loving the stripes, we will see if they are still cute after I stretch those stripes across my mama bulge.

Speaking of mama pudge, last week The Gaming One and I decided to start Weight Watchers together. I followed exactly as outlined. Gave up alcohol. Went to bed at midnight instead of 2 or 3. Got up by 9 instead of sleeping until 11 or noon. I exercised. I am feeling better and sleeping better, too!

All that and I managed to gain 1.2 pounds.

I guess two out of three ain't so bad...

Now I'm off to pack, hope y'all have a great weekend!

Six word memoir

Kristin at Knitting Kninja tagged me for the six word memoir. I thought this would be more difficult than it was.

my six word memoir: Absolved the past to attain jubilation.

There are many situations in my past that could cast a dark shadow on my life and happiness today. I refuse to allow the past dictate the person I am today. The past is just that: the past. We cannot relive it and we cannot change it. However, we can move on, let it go and continue to live life to the fullest. That is just what I intend to do! Lily of the valley is a symbol of the return of happiness.

This NPR story inspired the meme, and here are the guidelines:

Write your own six word memoir.
Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
Tag five more blogs with links.

tagging:
Andrea
Dawn
Vicki
Lara
Urbanknitrix

Chanson en Crochet

Chanson in Crochet is finished. Crochet is so fast! This only took two days and I could have had it finished in one if I did not have to make a trip for more yarn. I can't say it is my favorite thing I have ever made, but it is cute and it keeps the chill off my shoulders. I really think this yarn was a poor choice, as the marled color of the yarn hides a bit of the detail, but I still will wear it. I think an organic cotton would be a lovely choice.


I also happened to have the perfect bone button in my stash to hold it closed. I just love this little button and have been waiting for the perfect project for it.

Happy April Fool's Day!

First off, Thanks for all the happy 200th post wishes, y'all make it all worth it!

I hope you get through the day prank free! My kiddos surprised me by putting a frog in my sugar dish-the one I use to sweeten my coffee. These children have known me all their lives and know I am not a morning person, yet choose to mess with me before I have had one sip of coffee. Although the frog was but a toy, I was still none too thrilled. It was one of those toy bath frogs with the hole in the bottom so you can squirt water out of it. Which also means the entire inside stays wet and breeds lord only knows what kind of nasty bacteria. And it was sitting in my sugar dish leaking it's bacteria filled moistness all over my sugar. And it was first thing in the morning. And I have been suffering from insomnia yet again, so I was extra bitchy bright-eyed and bushy tailed this morning. After seeing how pissed excited I was to have been pranked first thing, The Girl Wonder reassured me they washed it before putting it there. I can't say that it made me feel much better... stupid "holiday"...

After my last post, Babette and I were monogamous for over an entire week! I managed to crochet the sixth section, seam them, and weave in most of the ends. It was then that I realized that I was fucking sick of weaving in ends and meticulously matching stitches to seam this bitch, and that it would only get worse as the sections got larger. I made the executive decision that I would just use the rest of the yarn to make the border. I had also used up a few of the colors and was having to substitute one color for another and wanted to avoid too much of one color in one section. As much as I loved seeing Babette grow, adding the border took it to an entire new level. IMHO, the border just makes this blanket. I still have a few balls of yarn to complete the border and I will be finished. It is just the right size to throw over my lap. I had to give it a rest because all the crochet was beginning to send shooting pains in my wrist and forearm.

***

Ever learn something through your knitting all by yourself that makes you feel like a genius? I did last week thanks to the humble garterlac dishcloth. I taught myself, with no internet intervention, no pretty diagram in a book, no instruction what-so-ever how to knit backwards! I just felt so smart! I was happily bragging to The Gaming One, "I just learned to knit backwards! I am so smart!" His smart ass reply, "I thought you figured that one out a long time ago" as he makes a gesture much like frogging with wild abandon while laughing and poking fun, "look at me I can knit backwards! I am so smart." I think I may have told him to "kiss my ass" at that point.

Now I want to knit Lady Eleanor.

This is the Ballband washcloth I mentioned in my last post. So.damn.addictive.
I also made the Knitted Lacy Round Cloth. I need 4 more washcloths to finish the "one for each day of the week" set I am making my sister for her birthday. Any suggestions?
I don't really know how to explain it, but last weekend I had the overwhelming desire to try to crochet something other than a square. After a quick Ravelry search I found the Chanson in Crochet. I am using the Cascade Ecological Wool left over from the too small twinkletoes. For some reason I was thinking that these skeins were almost 600yds, however, I was mistaken and the are just under 500yds, so of course I am 7 rows from the end and I ran out of fucking yarn. Just perfect. Now I am reduced to begging everyone on Ravelry that has leftovers in their stash to please send it to me so I don't have to buy another skein for $16, just for a few measly rows. This seriously needs blocking, but I really think it is cute so far. Not too bad for one day of crocheting. I like it in wool, but I think it would be super cute in cotton.

The pattern is very easy to follow, even for a beginner (this is my first non-square crochet project) but for the love a sweet baby jesus make sure you download the errata from Interweave because 12 of the 27 rows contain mistakes. Again, thanks to Ravelry, I was prepared.
My baby Girl turns 12 in two short days, boy how the time flies (and makes me feel old).