Silk Corset top

My silk corset top is coming along nicely...especially since I have decided no baby born in August needs a knit blanket and have devoted all my knitting time to appease my own selfish desires.

I am loving this. It actually fits around me, but I was afraid of pulling the stitches off the needles. I will get a good picture when it is all finished...hopefully by Sunday so I can wear it to my sisters baby shower!

Hope y'all had a better Father's Day than I did. My Stepdad's older brother died over the weekend, and although it was expected, it is never easy to deal with. The wake was Sunday and the funeral was yesterday. It was all so sad. The man had 7 grown children, only one shed a tear during the two days. His widow didn't even cry. I know all people show emotion differently, but his kids acted as if it was a burden to have to take time out of their day for him. I cried for him, for the joyless life he led, for the pain and suffering he endured during his last months, but most of all I cried for him because it seemed as if no one cared and no one would miss him, except one of his daughters-my heart aches for her, I cannot even begin to imagine what she is feeling...it was, as my mom put it "the saddest funeral I have ever been to." It really put a damper on Father's Day, as I felt to celebrate was out of place and inappropriate during a time which we should be mourning the loss of a dear uncle. He was only 62. May he finally rest in peace.

Manly Knitting! and some rambling...

No it's not The Gaming One...He has decided he "probably does not have the patience to knit" although he does have the patience to play Call of Duty for hours on end...go figure.
Anyway, manly knitting My son saw it and said "Can they actually do that!? That must take a really big ball of yarn!"

I am also glad to report I found my knitting mojo! It returned after the first night of uninterrupted sleep I have had in months. The (almost 5yo) Boy Wonder actually slept through the night instead of waking during the wee hours to climb into my bed. Sometimes he sneaks in quietly-but only if I am snuggled up with The Gaming One and there is room, usually he crawls in and drapes his legs over mine. I tell ya there is nothing like trying to sleep while being the personal body pillow to a wiggling four year old. My kids have never been good sleepers. Both quit taking naps way too soon for this little mama (The Girl Wonder's gave up napping around her first birthday, and The Boy Wonder gave them up around 18 months). Ironically, they didn't sleep through the night when the napping ended. The Girl Wonder is a bit of an insomniac and it is not uncommon for her to be awake and reading in her room at 1 am (although her bedtime is 10:30) and she only started sleeping through the night when she was around 8-she is now 10. I hope The Boy Wonder reaches this milestone sooner, as 13 years of kids waking me up in the middle of the night is almost too much to handle...Before the children, I could sleep 12-15 hours without batting an eye, now I am lucky to to sleep three hours without interruption. At least I am lucky enough to be a stay at home mama and the kids are lucky enough to be homeschooled so the sleepless nights do not interfere with school. I know one day I will roll over in the morning and for just a second will yearn to have those sweet little warm bodies contently snoozing beside me. However, these days I am happy to roll over and realize they are still in their own beds!

On another note, I am so excited about the Secret Sistah Friend Exchange (link on sidebar)! I have been scouring the web for gift ideas for my secret sistah and while I have a few ideas, my pal seems to be one of those gals that have everything! I am not usually one of those people that "want" anything. It drives my family crazy. Last Christmas my Mom asked what I wanted and I told her I had all I needed that she should donate to a local charity instead of buying me something. This mentality sometimes makes it very difficult to choose presents for others, but I am working on it. So ladies, if you happened to be my Secret Sistah what might you like to get in the mail?

LOST:My knitting Mojo Reward offered!

Sometime between yesterday and today I lost my knitting mojo.
Exhibit A: I have forgotten how to count to six, and placed a buttonhole on the wrong row of the Silk corset top. This is usually not a problem, as I would just ladder down the stitches and pick them up with a crochet hook. However, today I had to unravel the edge and reknit the button band. It was a messy affair, and I had a bit of an out of body experience as I looked on with horror at the tangle of yarn realizing that I may very well have to not only frog eight entire rows, but then pick-up the 160some stitches and reknit all my progress. It looks ok now, but only ok. And I almost cried after I was finished.
Exhibit B: I posted earlier today about a cute little alpaca baby sock I knit for my preg sis. I was unhappy with the super-pointy toe so I thought I would frog just the toe and try another. Apparently my brain and my knitting mojo are buddies and decided to take a vacation together, because 1-the yarn is fuzzzzy alpaca 2-the needles are sz 1. My dear friends this 1+2=ERROR!ERROR!ERROR! um yeah...that baby sock was sailing across the living room faster than I could say "another vodka tonic, STAT!" I actually went to my room a shed a few frustrated tears about this one. Knitting for relaxation, my ass!
Exhibit C: The yankees baby blanket is a tangled mess. I have mentioned this blanket on more than one occasion to the expecting parents and they are both so excited to see the finished result. BIL even went to the trouble to find me a great NY logo to use for the charting. I think all my bragging is coming to bite me in the ass. What is up? I can knit a fucking sweater but cannot manage a square stockinette stitch baby blanket? My first attempt at intarsia over a year ago went off without a hitch, now it is killing me.
Do y'all realize that is every project that I have on my needles? They are all fucked and the cocktails are not helping.

I have not left the house so I have a strong suspicion my mojo and brain are vacationing beneath the sofa cushions. Maybe those rugrats of mine have taken off with it, however, kind souls, if you come across it please return it, as I really need it back. My sanity relies upon it. Reward: half a bottle of Stoli Vodka...(the other half is helping me cope with my loss)

Knitting in public & new love

So Saturday was Knitting in Public day, but apparently no one in the greater Charlotte area was aware of this as I saw ZERO other knitters all day...alas, none at the farmers market, either of the restaurants we went to, not even the ice cream shop...WTF is wrong with people in NC? Ah well...I have always liked to be unique! I vowed I would only work on the Yankees blanket for my sis and BIL, however it looks like this... You see all the balls of yarn down there? they are going to be the death of me I am sure...I need advice ladies. How in hell do I keep them from tangling and making me curse in front of the elderly and small children? That clip is my feable attempt and I tell ya, it ain't working... Anyway, I took my Silk Corset Top to knit in public, but when I got home and was coming in the house I had my arms full of purse, knitting, coffee cup tucked in crook of elbow...I bent down to pick something up and poured half of my coffee into my knitting bag! AHHHHH! yes I was pissed. At least I spilled the coffee when I was at home so I could wash it out quickly. Thankfully there is no coffee stain on my half finished favorite garment ever. I guess that was my sign to get back to the baby blanket... but I am really not enjoying knitting it...I don't know what it is about it, could it be all the tangled yarn, the worry that the NY in the center will end up puckered and gappy, all the stockinette stitch, the realization that it will never be finished by the baby shower or simply the fact that I am kinda selfish and just want to make something for myself? You choose.
Since I know I cannot finish it in time I decided to go another route...a cutsy pair of baby socks with an IOU a baby blanket note. The socks are slightly selfish, I must admit. I have a pair of sz. 1 dpn's that I have been really wanted to try out. I also have seven skeins of laceweight alpaca leftover from MIL's Clapotis that I thought just might make the most comfy (or most itchy) socks ever. So what better way to try out both than baby socks! (Sorry about the photo- I had just enough batteries left in my camera to take the two pics for today's post.)
say it with me: AWWWWWW! ain't they cute! I accidently unraveled a few rows of the toe transporting little sock to its photo op, which is ok cause the toes were pointier than any baby toes I have ever seen. I am going to try a few different options to see if I can round them off a bit more. Also, after the practice baby sock, I see a pair of alpaca socks in my future! MMMMM fuzzy alpaca. These tiny needles are my new love, I really thought I would be in ladder-between-the-dpn's-hell, but I have not had any problems. Gotta go fix that toe then on to the second sock.

Selfish Knitting

Two weeks after frogging my Silk Corset Top, here is my second attempt. I wanted to make one size larger than before, but somehow when I was casting on I casted on enough extra stitches to make it two sizes bigger... I did not notice this until I finished the top diamond section... To make up for this (since there was no way in hell I wanted to cast on all those stitches again) I decided to knit the ribbed portion on size 5 needles instead of size 6...So far, so good!I love this pattern, the yarn (Knit Picks Shine Worsted) everything about it! I cannot wait to have it finished. I am down to the mini cable portion (chart D). I must admit the twists gave me a bit of difficulty at first, but after printing a closeup of the twists to use as a reference it was smooth sailing! I tried it on after completing the bust decreases and asked The Gaming One what he thought....His response "I think you should stop knitting now! You look hot, baby!" Gotta love a man that appreciates knitting!
I cannot put this down, although I should be working on this...It is the Yankees baby blanket for my pregnant sister. Her baby shower is in two weeks, you would think I would be knitting this and only this, but I have not even charted the NY yet...I guess I will be wrapping this one still on the needles! Hey, the baby is not due until August, so I really do have a bit of time. Although I would like to have a bit more of it finished before her shower so I do not look like such a slack ass...after all, she has been pregnant for seven months now...sheesh

Prime knitting time...wasted

The Girl Wonder's Dad owns a cafe'. Today I worked for him and took my knitting along to work on in the car, however, in the rush to leave this afternoon I left the clipboard where I keep all the patterns I am currently working on. So tonight I am home. The house is clean. The children are with relatives. The Gaming One will not be home until 11. And all my knitting patterns are locked in a closed store.

Mop head no more!

Thanks to my Saving Grace! I wore it all day yesterday and will probably wear it all day.
Me:Does this look better?

The Gaming One: Oh, God yes! At least now you don't look like a gang member!

Pattern:Saving Grace

Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool-this is the never-ending skein. I feel the spinnin' elves are visiting me each time I use this yarn. I have used this one skein to knit half a felted bag, trim for the noro minisweater, now this and there is still yarn left over!

Needles: sz 8 bamboo dpn's (I like knitting narrow things on short dpn's)

It took more time for this to dry after blocking than it did to knit it! I will probably make many more of these! Thank you so much Dawn!

My Renaissance Man

The Gaming One said something last night that caught me completely off guard. As he was coming from the kitchen, Wild Turkey on the rocks in one hand a Don Diego cigar in the other, he looks at me, knitting on the couch, and says "Maybe I should learn to knit. After all, how else can I be a renaissance man?" I couldn't hide the sheepish grin that spread across my face. I suggested he start with a washcloth...I will alert the media when he actually picks up the needles.
Thanks to Franklin I have a new appreciation for knitters of the male persuasion. If you have never read his blog, please do yourself a favor and check him out. He is hilarious! All this talk of knittin' men has got me to wondering...how many of you ladies out there have inspired the menfolk in your lives to knit? I know Emms hubby has knit, I have seen the pictures! Is this common? Do any of y'all feel like your man is hoarding in on YOUR hobby? I think it would frustrate me to no end to teach my darlin' husband to knit only for him to end up a much better knitter than I am...I guess that is just the self-centered gal in me...I should be happy that he wants to pick up such a relaxing hobby. Hey, maybe he will even pick up a fiber fetish and then we can scope out the LYS together... Yeah, and hell will probably freeze over as well...

As for my own knitting, I have cast on for the NY Yankees blanket for my sister. I planned to knit a double sided blanket with the NY logo in the middle, but after about 25 rows I was not pleased with the way it was coming together, so I have decided to do a flat blanket. I will post a pic when I am a little further into it, since I only have knit 3 inches or so. I am hoping I can finish it without feeling like I am working in a sweatshop, furiously knitting as if my life depended on it. Her baby shower is the end of next month, so it should not be a problem. I casted on for Saving Grace, a headband pattern by Dawn (see her May 25th post) last night. I already have worked 10" of the pattern, so I should have it finished a little later today. When I saw the pattern I knew it was for me. I frequently have what I refer to as "mop head"...you know the condition that afflicts those of us that rarely go to the salon... See what I mean (lovely ain't it?)
This is the way I often combat "mop head" and for some reason my darling husband HATES this look. Whenever he comes home and I am fighting the "mop head" he asks "did your gang have a meeting today?" So, I am trying to find more girlie ways to combat "mop head" so we can all be happy...and I will no longer be accused of being a gang member. Saving Grace, I think, will be my saving grace!
My fingers are itching to cast on again for the Silk Corset Top that I started last weekend, only to realize that I was knitting the wrong size...Thankfully I made a mistake that required frogging the entire thing. I cast on for the wrong size partly because I just guessed what size I would be. I lost my measuring tape and could not find it anywhere... well, two days ago I found it, in The Boy Wonder's bag of army men. When I asked him what MY tape measure was doing in his bag (note: I suspected him all along and asked him quite a few times what he did with it) my sweet little 4 yo son looked up at me and said "I had to make sure the all the men were equally spaced." What do you say to a 4 yo that uses phrases like 'equally spaced'? I just shook my head, stifled a laugh and reminded him to ask before he takes things that belong to others. This kid really scares me. I think one day he and his sister are going to realize they are smarter than I am and plan an uprising...gotta love those precocious kids!

Thanks for the comments yesterday! you gals are great!

Blog beautification project

I feel a bit better about my blog baby...everything *seems* ok to me, but you never know how I'm gonna come across to all my bloggy friends, so if ya don't mind will ya leave me a little comment if anything looks wonky? you know like the sidebar moving all the way to the bottom of my post...or anything else! Much appreciation! Still on my agenda for the blog beautification project is turning this photo into my title...I have found some web refrences on how to do this, but am not quite sure how I am going to go about it, so any advice on that would be appreciated as well! Off to enjoy the beautiful day!

please excuse the mess...

I have decided after looking through my favorite blogs, that they all have something in common...a light background...and now I must have one too! So excuse the mess I have here, hopefully everything will be shiny and beautiful soon!

Anthropologie inspired-inspired capelet

So I was inspired by this, and made one back in February. I wear it almost weekly so I figured I needed another one. I had some beautiful Noro Kureyon color 115 patiently waiting to become something lovely. After seeing a capelet on craftster made with Noro I knew what my lovely Noro would become...

Since the Noro was lighter weight than the original pattern called for, smaller needles and a calculator were in order.

Pattern mods: With Sz. 8 circs and contrast color cast on 112 stitches. k1p1 rib for 2". Switch to main color

Row 1 (RS): k21,yo,pm,k1,yo,k7,yo,pm,k1,yo,k52,yo,pm,k1,yo,k7,yo,pm,k1,yo,k21

Row 2 and all WS rows: p across

I followed Julsey's pattern from there except my RS rows were the ones with the knit stitches facing. I continued the stockinette stitch for the body for 4" after I put the sleeve stitches on scrap yarn. Switch to contrast color and work k1p1 rib for 2". BO in rib. Here is when the knittin' laziness set in. I intended to knit 2" of k1p1 rib to finish the sleeves, but kept getting those nasty ladders where my dpn's met. Fed up with the dpn's I decided to simply crochet a little ruffle around each sleeve.

I carefully pulled out the scrap yarn and with a sz G crochet hook and contrast color, RS facing, starting in armpit and inserting hook knitwise in the live stitch I slipstitched around until all the live stitches were picked up. join. (disregard the armpit gap) through back loop only *DC 3 times in first stitch, skip a stitch, SC in next stitch, skip a stitch* repeat around. I then used some *ahem* creative stitching to close the armpit gap. I weaved in the loose ends, handwashed and blocked. I can't wait to wear it!

Imagine that!

I thought this was cool, since I love a nice dry vodka martini! I think a trip to the ABC store is in order! As I told my family this weekend, I am NOT a lush. I am, however, luscious!

You Are a Martini

There's no other way to say it: you're a total lush. You hold your liquor well, and you hold a lot of it!

What Mixed Drink Are You?

a frogging we will go...

So I tried to fix my mistake on the silk corset top and it looked horrible, so I took it off the needles fully intending to frog away my frustrations for having to start over on on this long coveted, beautiful top. I had a moment of clarity before starting though and had this conversation with myself...
.this looks like shit, you can totally notice where I fucked up the pattern
..well, maybe you can fix it with a crochet hook
.not such a bad idea
(ladders down the stitches and tries to pick them up)
.this looks even worse, I gotta start this over and it was so pretty.damn.
..before you pull out all the stitches maybe you shoud try it on...it does look a bit small
.ok.sure.whatever
sure as shit, after I tried it on I realized I was knitting the garment of my dreams. in the wrong size!
so once again my friends, bad things sometimes happen for a good reason, even if we do not realize it at the time! thank you fate!

A Myrtle Beach trip...

This time the kids and I went with my parents, sisters, brother, and spouses/children of all. 14 people sharing 3 rooms for three days...too much togetherness any way you look at it! We managed to have a great time regardless...lots of alcohol was consumed (the main advantage of having Catholic parents!) and a few of us were, um, shall we say shitfaced...I had enough friday night before dinner that I only had 2 drinks the rest of the weekend. I also think I got food poisoning from the seafood buffet ($68 for me and 2 kids- I felt violated after getting this check!) because I was VIOLENTLY ill friday night about 3am...My sisters joked it was all the alcohol, but without giving y'all tmi, I think it was a bit more than that...My oldest sister (who only drinks liquor about 2 times a year) was so drunk by the pool at 4pm my other sister and I had to go collect her before she embarrassed herself (*ahem* she was too drunk to be embarrassed by the time we collected her). We safely got her back to the room and fed and she was out cold by 5:30. The menfolk managed to hold their beers a bit better than the women folk... The kids had a great time by the pool and ocean (don't worry, there were sober adults watching the kids swim!) .
I was also able to give Mom her Somewhat Cowl, however the fates were against us (the Cowl was still damp on saturday and she did not want to stretch it out of shape) so I was unable to get a picture of her in it. She absolutely loved it though! My sisters even told me it looked like I bought it! My Mom had it spread out on a table in our hotel room all weekend (she said she just wanted to look at it because it was so pretty!) The stitches looked so much better after washing, and all my concerns drained away with the rinse water! Thanks again for all the comments!
During the trip, I finally casted on for the Silk Corset Top by Annie Modesitt. I have lusted after this top since I first saw it last September or October. I have to admit, I was intimidated at first. After all, it is so pretty and looks so complicated. I'm telling y'all now, there was nothing to be afraid of! Sure there are charts, but Annie also provided written instructions for all that are chart virgins, or just scared. It is knit in one piece (Yay for no seaming!) from the top down. From the looks of this I am about a quarter of the way through. I really wish I had a pair of size 6 circs...this back and forth action is getting heavy, and I really feel it in my wrists much more so than when I knit on circs.
However I noticed this flub. That column *should* have been purled... but I think I can fix it with a crochet hook, cause I really do not want to frog and reknit this...I am using Knit Picks Shine Worsted (60% cotton/40% modal) color bachelor button. Is it possible that I love this yarn more than Knit Picks Shine? I just might! It seems to have a bit more fluffiness than Shine does...almost as if the plys are twisted a bit tighter in Shine. But I have a feeling I will use these yarns again and again!

Did I mention I Love this

Sorry, I just can't get over myself...I really cannot believe I knit this!
Excuse my ghetto methods of drying my lovely knits...

Somewhat Finished!

The Somewhat Cowl is finally finished, and I could not be more pleased with it. I took it to Mom (half finished) on Mother's Day, beautifully wrapped, with pattern and needles included, and joked that for Mother's Day I was giving her the gift of learning to knit. Her response, "so for Mother's Day you want me to go completely crazy?! All this time I thought you loved me."

I convinced her I was just kidding, and she loved the sweater. I can't wait to get a picture of her in it. I love this so much I am sure I will make one for myself.

Yarn:Knit Picks Shine-color, orchid (60% cotton/40% modal) 9 skeins for sz 38 bust.

Things I learned: knitting small circumferences with two circs, as well as Magic Loop. I also learned that magic loop only works when your cord is very flexible. I learned I can successfully pick up stitches around a neckline as well! The following picture is the actual color. I am still baffled by photography... as you can see, I still need a bit of practice to ensure my knit rows and purl rows are the same.

Somewhat progress...

I have finally finished the body portion of the Somewhat Cowl. I absolutely love this so far, however I am again having fears that this will not fit Trucker Mamma, or that it will be more curve hugging than she would like. We shall see, I suppose. You cannot tell from the picture, but there is a noticeable difference in the back and forth section of the fabric versus the knit in the round section...my purl rows are taller (for lack of a better word) than my knit rows. Does this happen to everyone, or is my inexperience showing? I have never blocked cotton, so I am hoping it will smooth out a bit in the washing/blocking process. Maybe this is something only a fellow knitter would notice... I am using 2 circs to knit the sleeves instead of dpn's to avoid ladders...This is my first time doing this and while it was a bit fiddly at first (much like my first attempt at using dpn's) after a few rows it was smooth sailing! I love this method of knitting in the round. I am considering trying the Magic Loop method of knitting the rib portion, since I do like to learn something new with each project. I really got to get to knitting since Trucker Mamma is going to be home on Monday instead of Thursday like I originally thought... I have a feeling I underestimated how long it will take me to knit the cowl...6 inches of 2x2 rib over 200 stitches...yikes! I am gonna try my best to finish both sleeves by the time I go to bed tonight. That self-indulgent beach knitting is biting me in the ass about right now... y'all know what they say about hindsight *sigh*
Later Chicks!

Imagine that...something else in common with Emms... Cheer Bear was always my favorite!

See what Care Bear you are.

Back from Mini Vacation

Hi y'all, I spent the weekend at my inlaws beach house with the family and came back to all those nice comments on my last post. Thanks so much! I am so sorry to say I have no pictures of the Clapotis (I know, bad, bad, blogger) because I already gave it to my MIL. She is staying at the beach until the end of the month, and I knew this would be the only time I would see her. She loved it! She was also surprised that 1) I kept it a secret since I started it in March and 2)the fact that the Boy Wonder kept it a secret as well...Quite an feat for a 4 year old! I think she thanked and hugged me about 5 times...It is so satisfying to knit for fellow knitters! It looks like every other clapotis you have seen thus far...except the one I made was solid blue. But here are the specs for anyone interested...
Yarn: Peru4Less 100% Alpaca - I bought this yarn on ebay and it had no information as far as gauge or weight, however, I think it would be considered laceweight because it was really thin and it only took a little over 2 skeins to knit the entire Clap. Since I bid on 10 skeins I have quite a bit left so I see a blue clap in my future...I may even try to dye some of it and see what happens... anyone have any other suggestions for the 6.5 skeins of leftover yarn??
Needles: sz.8- I probably could have used smaller needles, but I really liked the openness (is that a word?) of the knit.
Mods: I followed the pattern except I purled the sts between the twisted sts to avoid using stitch markers.
My opinion: Like all of you that have knit this before me, I loved the pattern, I loved the result, and I will make another.

As I mentioned before, I spent the weekend at my Inlaws beach house... since the beach is 3 hours away I got in lots of knitting time. I was inspired by the Anthropologie inspired capelet found on Craftster to make one with the knotty Noro. However, I am using sz.8 needles and had to cast on quite a few more stitches. Here is my progress so far...

As with the other one I made, I am adding quite a bit to the bottom, so it is more of a mini sweater than a capelet with sleeves. In my opinion the colors look much better in real life than they do in the pic. After all the knitting bigamy I granted myself permission to cast on for this and just work on it over this beach weekend. So it will be on the back burner until I finish the Somewhat Cowl. I still have to knit the rib section at the bottom, both sleeves and the cowl, not to mention washing and blocking, so I must get back to it to ensure I will finish it in time to give it to Trucker Mamma.

I am feeling a bit brain-dead today and feel as if I am trying to type with someone else's hands thus, I have had to correct more typos than ever, so please excuse my lack of focus/poor writing...hopefully I will be back to normal soon...

Clapotis Finished!

Oh man, oh man, I want this now more than ever! The Clapotis is all finished and I love it sooo much! I am glad I have more of this yarn...Due to a new computer I have no idea how to post pictures (or how to get them off my camera) so pictures to follow as soon as I can get a lesson from the Gaming One! I have started another Anthropologie inspired capelet with some grey Paton's wool and the knotty Noro Kureyon. I love starting new projects... More to come when I am in more of a bloggy mood!