Memorial Day 2011

To those who have served, who are serving, and are training to serve in the our Armed Forces, thank you.

And thank you to the families who support their service persons.

FO #12 and FO #13 - baby items

The prego cousin is due in about two weeks, and her shower was yesterday, so I can show off the knitted items I made for her now. She's expecting a boy, and due to his Italian heritage, they have chosen Enzo for his name.

Baby Enzo's Sun hat:










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The down and dirty details:

Yarn(s): Kraemer Yarns Tatamy Tweed DK

Purchased: The Yarn Shoppe - Davenport, IA

Needles: size 5/size 6

Time: for me - 6 hours; for most knitters, 2-3 hours
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Enzo's Baby Carrier/Stroller Blanket - this is meant to be long enough and wide enough to cover the baby without overwhelming him. When my daughter was wee, I had way more blanket than baby. This measures approximately 28" wide and 36" long.




* * * *
The down and dirty details:

Yarn(s): Kraemer Yarns Tatamy Tweed DK

Purchased: The Yarn Shoppe - Davenport, IA

Needles: size 8

Time: for me - 10 hours; for most knitters, 4-5 hours
* * * *

Later this year, I'll be knitting him a seed stitch cardigan in blue stripes!

Wild Weather

Last night was a wild ride around here. Tank and I hung out in our bathroom while the tornado sirens blew three times in 25 minutes. Luckily, we only had some wind damage in our general area.




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In other news, a gorgeous book a friend gave me for my birthday!





















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Shopping news, my new SNA knitting needles arrived. LOVE. THEM.




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And here's Tank an hour ago, riding around while we did errands:

Monster Knitting Bash - The Book

That's right, the patterns I bought weren't enough monster for me and my plans. I bought the book, too!


[CLICK THE PHOTO FOR BOOK INFORMATION]


The ones that I found most charming, right of the bat...

Angus the Attic Monster




I'm going to see if a friend would be willing to sew up a wee kilt for the Angus. (If you could only see how I'm cracking myself up over here with that plan!)



Gabby the Garden Monster




And for a friend who's in need of some cheering after health issues have plagued her since last fall, Dot the Dress-up Box Monster




I like this book because of the directions. I want to have fun knitting it and don't want to be bothered with figuring out any minute details to change it a bit between monsters.

Once the baby carrier blanket is complete, I'm knitting a monster or two before more knitting of baby items! This also means another trip to Montana (aka Jo-Ann Fabrics) for supplies for the monsters.

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In other news, the QC SnB Heart Walk Team did it again! We raised almost $300 for the American Heart Association of the Quad Cities:



Unfortunately, two team members weren't able to join us that morning for various reasons. We missed you guys!

Freud vs Jung

Last night I dreamed of Solomon again.



I usually dream of him about once every few months. And usually it's a memory dream from the years that I had with him. Some happy, some sad.

Last night, he spoke to me in my dream. We were sitting on a couch type lounger on a rolling lawn that led to elaborate gardens. Everything was in full bloom, lush, greens and various colors of flowers.




I sighed as I looked out over the grounds and said: "I'm ready for this whole stupid load of crap to be over already."

Solomon, stretched out on the couch, just flipped his head around and said: "At least Tank isn't as high strung as I am. You'd *really* have problems then."

To which I replied without missing a beat: "No shit."

I did *not* wake up thinking, HOLY CRAP! The dog could talk! or OMG I'm now dreaming of talking animals! or even that my trolley was jumping its tracks.

No. What I thought when I first woke up was, "the boy is too fucking right, good thing Tank isn't as high strung as he was..."

Knitting Should Be Happy

Knitting usually does make me happy...when I'm not throwing the project across the room because I've fouled up the increases in the pattern for the 14th time, threatening to shred a book because the pattern is wrong and there is no errata or cursing certain designers' genitalia to spontaneously combust because they didn't bother to have a larger size test knitted.

To celebrate the happy in knitting, I bought the tote.

I now have the knitting notions organizer.






Magnetic closures:




Inside, it doesn't look like much:




Misleading - it holds quite a bit. Although I still have notions in three other bags of on-going projects...




Hmmm, no pocket is big enough for these items, maybe I can roll them up in it?




Nope, just the Knit Kit made it:




I'm still knitting happy, though...





And to celebrate Eurovision, here's some ABBA!




Tank is going to sit this one out...

New yarn, new needles...no new project yet.

So, I fell in love with the Origami Cardigan from Interweave Press. Go, look, I'll wait...

Of course, after doing a bit of research online (as I mentioned before) within Ravelry, I noticed I'd need more yarn than I bought previously.

It arrived from Jimmy Beans this week, and taking it out to the sunlight we had earlier this week, I couldn't tell a huge difference in the colorway. I think I'll use it for the main sweater hem, the berry in a basket pattern.

Also, my SNA needles arrived, the size 8 US circulars they recently released. Don't they look great with this yarn?




This photo's more true for the colorway and the color of the needles, too:




However, I'm still chugging along on the baby carrier blanket for the cousin, and then when that's complete, I'm going to knit me a monster.

After that? Well, I've a pair of fingerless mitts to knit for a friend in the UK, then a pair of gnome mittens to knit for a friend in Canada (because apparently I'm insane, and she's a very good friend).

Then it's a baby sweater for Enzo, and one for a friend's baby due in June.

There will also be a monster in between those projects, guarantee..

FO #11: Baby Hat - One of Two

I really loved working with this cotton/acrylic/nylon yarn - incredibly soft and a bit springy so there was some ease in manipulating the yarn.

I ended up making it in size 3 months to 6 months.

The recipient was just charmed by the hat, too. I'm glad I had it on the bear to show it off better. (Nothing more boring than a folded hat in a box if you don't knit or crochet.)


* * * *
The down and dirty details:

Yarn(s): Comfy Worsted

Purchased: Knit Picks

Needles: size 4/size 5

Time: for me - 10 hours; for most knitters, 4 hours
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Gorgeous Spring Weekend!

What an unusual weekend.

Since my birthday is in the spring, the weather is usually volatile and quickly changing...rarely do I get to enjoy a birthday without storms and/or cold temps. However, yesterday was sunshine and upper 70's all day and today is going to be a bit warmer and even more sunny!

To celebrate my bday, I did a bit of shopping when I went to visit Jill...I know you'll be stunned that it centered around knitting.

First item up, Bernat Jacquard yarns (which Amy had at SnB) that I ordered directly from Bernat when Joann Fabrics (aka Montana) and Evilmart didn't have the colors in stock that I wanted. The package arrived and was waiting for me on Friday.

In order: Lemon Pie, Macaroon, Strawberry Jam, Bluebell, Rosebud, Petunia, and Orange Blossom.




The florals:




The sweets:




Next up, I'm going to knit the Origami Cardi for myself and in an effort to get other colors into my knitting, the women at Ewe-Nique Yarns Etc. helped me pick out a gorgeous brown (colorway: 5179 = "Chocolate").








However, the shop only had 6 skeins. I was doing some research on Ravelry (what a time-saver this site is!) and found I was going to need at least 2 more skeins. So, better safe than sorry, as the Gran says...I bought 4 skeins from Jimmy Beans Wool.

Meanwhile, since I keep getting email updates from them, I also bought a pair of circular needles from Signature Needle Arts...the new size 8. I thought they'd look perfect when using them with the Berroco Vintage yarn in "chocolate" brown. (What? You *know* they will!)

Also, I was looking for another summer knitting bag to use when my canvas knitting bag is in the middle of another big project:






I couldn't resist the wee notions bag staring at me in the same display shelf (let's hear it for birthday money!):








Finally, I was just browsing while the enabler Jill checked out. I saw this, didn't feel overcome with desire to add it to my stash until I saw the label.




Yes, you know that this will be used for a project for a certain Child O'Mine:






I put it in natural light, hoping y'all could see the glinting silver bits in it:




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In other news, I finished another baby item - but won't be able to post it until after the upcoming shower.

I'm still cranking along on the baby carrier cover/blanket, too.

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I hope wherever you are today and in whatever manner you may be fulfilling the role as a mother (children, animals, family, friends, etc.) - that it's a lovely day for Mother's Day!