Happy Birthday to me

I had a pretty great birthday. My Jenny had a cake for me - chocolate with a ball of icing yarn on top. It's so cute! And tasty, I must say. And she got me a book called Natural Dyeing. It's about dyeing yarn using plants and roots and such - very cool. I have some ideas brewing, that's for sure.
My Eric got me speakers for my ipod. Yay! Now I can listen to podcasts and music in the kitchen and not worry about dropping it in the food or dishwater. (yes, I have a dishwasher, but I kind of enjoy washing by hand. It's somehow relaxing.)
I watched Order of the Phoenix again and noticed that the house sweaters are black. (I'm slow sometimes) I think it's Cho who wears a black house cardi. I'm aching to make one - black, cardi, Ravenclaw - it's so me! I need to find a pattern and get to work.
I did get some blue and grey yarn, too. I have enough for two sweaters. One is blue with a grey stripe in Red Heart, and the other will be the opposite, grey with a blue stripe, in Simply Soft. So, yes, I'll be having another WIP.
Mom ordered me some yarn as a gift. It's the Patternworks house brand with alpaca. It's not in yet, though. She ordered me a bag of purple - it was on sale really cheap. I'll have a bunch of purple sweaters.
Craftster has been kind of same-old lately, but I was looking at the crochet section and found a great cowl-neck sweater. The poster got the pattern from Lion Brand's website. I printed it out because it's really cute and I love the ribbed look. I'm going to have a huge sweater wardrobe soon. I think it's so cool that we knitters and crocheters can conceivably make everything we wear. If I was a better sewer I'd never have to buy anything but raw materials. Wouldn't that be great?

Knit-tastic Christmas!

I have to share all of the goodies I got this year. First, my mom gave me a ball winder. As Kerry shows, I had alot of fun making yarn cakes. That's just two evenings. I have much more yarn to cake up, but I'm afraid Eric might get annoyed if he sees how much yarn there really is.

Speaking of Eric, he got me the gorgeous and coveted Knit Picks Harmony dpn set. They are so smooth and light - I was knitting like a whirling dervish with them. I love them so much. He asked me if they're what are used to make socks. I said yes, and he wants some socks. Yay! My honey wants something made by me. I thought this day would never come.

This luscious merino yummyness is what my bestest friend Jenny gave me. It looks good enough to eat, and it's so soft and snuggly. There's 440 yards here - alot of yarn for one skein. I'm not looking for a project for it (one will come) and I'm not going to cake it. I can't cuddle with it if I cake it. It's made by Heavenly Hands Yarn Company. I'll be checking them out.

I finished one of the You Snag glovettes. It's a funny story. I had it finished and screwed it up, so I started it again. When I unwrapped my new dpn's I quickly went to switch them with the ones I was using. The pattern calls for a size 2 and the needles I was using said 2. Well, it turns out they are 2 mm! No wonder it was taking so long. I'll have to finish this pair on the small needles and make the next pair on the right size. I will be making another pair - they're very cool. I will also be making some Bellatrix Mitts, a pattern based on the Bellatrix socks that are so awesome (I'll be making them, too!). Actually, the to-do list just keeps growing every time I set my eyes on Ravelry.

I decided not to make military dishcloths for my friend at work. Why? Well, I hate to sound superstitious, but it just feels like I shouldn't, like if I do something will happen. The middle east is a scary place right now. I'll find something else for her.

I've been spending alot of time on etsy lately. Talk about great stuff. I've found all kinds of goodies. I try to tell people about it but they apparently don't hear me. Fine. I'll keep the finds to myself. I like to support my community anyway, and it's a great site for that.

My birthday is in two days! Maybe I'll get more knitting goodies!

General Ramblings and Harry Potter

Eric bought me the latest Harry Potter movie as an early Christmas present on Saturday. I've watched it three times so far. I love so much about the world of HP. Right now I'm absolutely loving Molly. She's so wonderful. She leads her family so well. Yes, the twins are, um, something else, but they're good boys (and the actors are so good looking, aren't they?). I think that when you walk into her presence you would feel like you're home, whether at the Burrow or Order HQ. I adore the simple, family-oriented Christmas that the Weasleys have. Food, handmade gifts, family everywhere, what else is there, really? I would be so thrilled to get a gift from Molly's hands.
When I was at the Deathly Hallows book release I bought Charmed Knits on a whim. I'm so glad that I did. I'll be making one of the fab Weasley sweaters soon. I have some Fisherman's Wool that is the right gauge, I think. I love the house sweaters and the quiddich sweater, too. I'm a Ravenclaw, so I checked out Luna's house sweater closely to see how the stripes look. Now to find the right yarn. I'd so love a quiddich sweater but all the ribbing might make me crazy. (No comments! I know I'm already there!) If I find some good yarn for one I'll make it a long-term kinda project - not something I'll finish in the next month. I'm planning on making an Invisibility shawl, too. The yarn I have is purple, so I'd be quite visible in it unless I splurge on some pretty alpaca/silk from WEBS. Maybe black or dark gray would be nice - oohhh...the luscious Raven yarns! Perfect!
I messed up my dpn project. The bind-off went bad - too tight. I'll use a lifeline this time so I can undo it if necessary. Yes, I started all over. I'm still working on how to unknit. Besides, I could always use more practice.
It's one week until Christmas. I've done no shopping. I didn't get all of the dishcloths done. I don't even have any ideas. Oh, well. Eric and I will hit some stores this weekend and see what we can do. Better luck next year.
My sweater is going pretty good so far. I thought it was a hoodie, because the picture is rather unclear. Thank goodness it's not. I have alot of hair, and a hood underneath it would make me look like a hunchback. After working with so much cotton the wool feels funny. It looks good, though. It's an increase that I've never used before, so I get to learn a new trick. There's some nice cotton blend in my stash for the $5 in Paris sweater. I'll work on that while I make the Weasley sweater and start on one of the lace patterns accumulating on the couch. There's just not enough time to do everything! I need more hands or a housekeeper or something.
Are there any patterns besides dishcloths that incorporate the Sirius Black tattoo design? Does anyone know?
Well, it's late and these kids need to get to bed. Talk to you soon, all!

I did it

I've cast on a sweater. I'm so nervous - don't ask why, though. I've crocheted several sweaters without stress, and if I mess it up I can frog it. It's just time, though. My pattern collection is getting pretty big. I need to get busy using up my stash, too. I'm making the cover sweater of the new Creative Knitting, the Knit it Down sweater. I'm making it in some purple peruvian wool from elann. I think the yarn-pattern combo will look nice together. Heck, it's just yarn, it's not brain surgery. I was listening to knitherapy's podcast and she mentioned enjoying knitting. I need to remember that I love to knit. I can do it. Yeah.
I joined a dishcloth knitalong club yesterday. After spending many (too many) hours browsing the dishcloths on ravelry I noticed that the yahoo club has great patterns. So I joined. I've been pondering whether I should join the Punk Rock Knitters for almost two weeks, but there wasn't any thought about this. Maybe my subconscious knows that the practical, dishcloth me is much more dominant than the punky, rebellious me. Time sure flies. I guess it's time to get pierced again.
There's no school again today. We were supposed to get a big ice storm, but it's just rain. The roads are bad, though, so school cancelled. Kerry was already up when I found out, but Khloe slept until nine. Of course, she won't want to go to sleep tonite. I need to set up her mp3 player so she can listen to music in bed. If she cleans her room, she could find all of her cd's to put on it.
I've really gotten interested in living more naturally lately. Both of the kids have mild allergies and I'd like to help control it if possible. I also want to better by the earth, which led me to the whole world of dishcloths and reusable swiffer covers. ( I need to make more of those.) I would love to make my own beauty products. That would just be cool. I tend to get obsessed with things, so I need to take it easy and just do a few things at a time, like make up some floor cleaner from http://www.care2.com. It's a neat, informative site. Check it out.
Anna's contest this week is hard for me. What's my favorite Christmas memory? My strongest memory is my baby boy in the hospital getting help for his breathing. Not happy.Not festive. It was scary and nerve-wracking. I'm not going to enter this week. I'm sure she'll understand.
Well, back to my sweater.

Christmas tree!!

I finally got the tree done. The kids didn't want to help this year. I love the big whiteness of it. The lights glow through the branches and reflect off the wall. It's very nice. The picture's a little blurry, but it's hard to get a good view of it. One of these years it will be done up all in purple. That's gonna be great.

I've been busy making dishcloths lately to give as gifts. The big white one is an Army eagle. I'm going to give it to my grandma. She'll like it. There's an apple that's going to Grandma Melaney along with a plain red and a plain white that's still in progress. A couple are for my mom, but I haven't decided which yet. Yes, that leaves some extra, but that's okay - I can always use some!

Still working on the You Snag glovettes. Since they're top down, I need to decide how far up my arm they should go. Roght now they're to my wrist. Maybe a couple more inches would be good. I'm getting alot better with the DPN's, though. I'll be using that skill alot.

We're home today - ice. School's closed because of ice. We're supposed to get more today, too. I'm glad I stocked up on food. All I've done is eat and knit.



I'm so loving etsy lately. I bought some wonderful dragon'sblood soap that's too pretty to use. I've bought some more soaps from her for gifts to go along with the dishcloths.



Yesterday I went over to Jenny's house, and she was magic-looping. It's very intriguing. She said it's faster than two socks on two circs. I think I need some long circulars now so she can teach me. That skill will come in handy, too.



As for Dad, he's doing great. The surgery was fast and he's recovering well. I'd like to find a knitted kidney pattern as a joke. I think he'd enjoy it. Khloe spent the night with them last Saturday and helped Mom make candies. But guess what - none of the candies were sent home with her. I had to call and complain, of course. Apparently they "forgot". Likely story.

She said I was Prolific!

Last week I was listening to http://ilikeyarnpodcast.blogspot.com/, and Mrs.H said all kinds of nice things about me and my blog! Whee! I've been smiling about it ever since. Of course, she's one of my bestest friends, so that makes it even better. Prolific! Me!

I've been a little upset with myself since last night. See, my friend Anna from Knitting up a Storm had a contest. She asked what we would do with $200 knitting money. I screamed yarn. I should have said books. I ache for the Barbara G Walker treasuries. I would also get a couple of EZ's books and the Harmony guides. See, Anna has a pattern called $5 in Paris, a top-down sweater that I'm going to be starting soon. I would love to have the skills to add some personal details like lace panels, cables, or an all-over stitch pattern. Lesson for me: yarn = wrong answer, knowledge = right answer.

Like many ravelry members, I have been photographing my stash. There's alot of yarn in my room. I have so much sock yarn, too, and I don't even know how to make socks! Mrs. H said she'd show me, though, and I have a book of crochet sock patterns, so maybe that part of my stash will be used. Some of it is still unknown, like the purple and gold metallic laceweight. I don't wear gold. Maybe something for one of my girls. Maybe it should be moved to the downstairs stash. Yes, I have two stashes! Okay, three - there's a section in the closet, too. Don't worry, I am on medication! Most of my yarn is wonderful. Some of it is from the early days when I didn't know what to look for or how much to get.

Seriously, I'm hiding my truest emotion right now: stress. Dad's surgery is on Monday. I'm so worried that I can't see straight. The logical part of my mind (the really small part) tells me that everything will be fine, don't worry, let God take care of everything. The big part of my brain, the really wacked-out part, is screaming in disarray. I have two more days of this.

The teacher presents are done. Yay! Dad's blanket is done - one of the kids will be modeling it soon.

The above yarn is a bit of prOn for y'all. Isn't it gorgeous? I got it on ebay. It's hand-dyed bucle, cotton or rayon(can't remember), called "vineyard". It's so soft and luscious. What will I do with it? Don't know. Something will come along. See, that's why I need knowledge.