Baby Sac

Originally uploaded by Phisch

Another one for Karen’s studio! I have such a good model. Jojo wouldn’t close her/his eyes, but did sit in it willingly for me.

This is knit in some Baby Bee eyelash yarn. My sister kept sending me yarn listings on Etsy with lots of color. During a trip to Hobby Lobby yesterday, I noticed a lot of their Yarn Bee stash was on a mega sale. It felt really soft and she wanted boy-ish colors so here we are!

Plum Spring Beret

Originally uploaded by Phisch

~ I have completed another hat and went on to another. I also finished the back of a sweater today and hope to cast on for the front right and left sides. Last time, I did them separately and I think I got two different gauges. Doing the sleeves at the same time did help, so I’m guessing it will help with the fronts, too.

~ I love being productive in this way. It’s so gratifying to have a finished product that you can hold. Digital stuff is fine and dandy, but I think my SIL is right, I tend to be more kinesthetic.

~ NM’s team won yesterday, 5 to 1! I was thinking at first that it helped that the wind was in their favor and maybe that worked for the first goal. But, really, the boys were in top form, working really hard at team play. They were rewarded with a great score and the first win of the season! So far: one lost, one won.

~ Our caterpillars are huge. I mean, huge in comparison to their original 1mm x 1 cm size. They’re now around 2.5mm x 3.5-4cm in size (just guesstimating…I’m not about to open up the container to look). It looks as if all five of the little guys made it and are growing faster than the proverbial weeds. Last Wednesday, it looked as if they trippled their size between when we checked them at breakfast then again at dinner time. J is wondering when the baby butterflies will grow up. The time when they sit in their pupae will get him really impatient!

~ Yes, my hubby made it home just fine on Friday night. On the trip to London when he had to sit in the worst seat—back row, between two other passengers, noisiest section—because he gave his up so a dad could sit with his son. This time, he got an entire row to himself so in spite of the -96F temps outside radiating cold inside, he slept with his three pillows and three blankets. He didn’t get to do much sightseeing though. He had planned for that on Sunday when he arrived but the hotel didn’t have him set up for early check in. By the time he made it to his room, he’d lost his steam. The rest of his days and nights were taken up by work and after-work functions. He did take the time for a few pictures, though. I’ll link to them when he lets me know what they are.

~ Due to jet lag, we missed out on the pot luck at church as well as the Zilker Kite Festival today. I did think that would be the case so I’m only somewhat disappointed. It is so bright and sunny but that’s deceiving…the wind is very chilly! These last few days have reminded me much more of SoCalif winter Santa Ana winds. Not fun!

~ After last Thursday’s knitting time when JC so generously pulled out her espresso maker and B so kindly made us all some cappuccinos, I got out our espresso maker and hubby made me some. Unfortunately, after at least seven years of being in storage, the gaskets in the machine have gotten bad and it leaks steam. I’m going to see if the cause is water deposits. I might run it with vinegar instead of water and see if that helps. What little we did get out of it tasted good, though.

~ I’ve been walking with a circular needle draped around my neck. It’s writing like this that’s really going to get this blog readership. Oh yeahhhh.

~ So, our pastor has been going through the book of Ephesians on Sunday mornings. I’ve been through that book a total of three times in different women’s groups (not counting the time I joined a women’s group nearing the end of the study or the “big church” study). I do love that book, it’s very RICH (get it? only if you’ve gone through it). However, I have never done an in-depth study of chapter five. Sad, isn’t it? That’s the “rubber meets the road” chapter for me since it deals heavily with both parenting and wife-ing. But for some reason I got sick or my kids did or something would prevent me from being at church for that one. This time, when we get closer, I’m going to make sure I’m prayed up.

~ NM gets to start a new math book soon! Wow. I think we’ll try drills for a bit for math facts first.

~ Sprocket is going on 9 months old! It shows. Since hubby has been gone, she’s mama’s girl and more importantly, she’s bonded with the boys. They have spent a couple of nights chasing each other back and forth (she’s eased up on how strongly she nips them). When I had the boys clean their rooms and shut their doors (keeps from distraction), she laid in front of their doors, patiently waiting for them to be done so they could play. Their play time does more to wear her—and the boys—out than a long walk!

You know, it’s really hard to photograph a hat you’re wearing. But somehow, I managed to do it even without the flash.

This is a hat I made from a pattern on Ravelry called Spring Beret. I had made two as gifts for the daughters of friends of ours. Unfortunately, my friend accidentally got one in the wash and it felted. So, here’s the replacement! I’m glad I got to make another one since I never did take photos of the first pair.

They knit up very quickly and would be a great way to start working with lace if you’re already comfortable knitting in the round.

I want to make myself one but I owe my SIL one first. Heh.

Last Friday, after realizing what the date was, I took the boys to the Wildflower Center. Each January, the Center offers free admission. Now granted, it’s winter so most of the trees are bare and there aren’t a whole lot of wildflowers actually in bloom. But that doesn’t stop the boys from enjoying hikes on the trails and watching for butterflies and pretending to be secret agents on a hunt for some imagined perpetrator.

Afterwards, we searched out one of two letterboxes in the area. That was a neat one! We do try to keep our stamp, book and list of Austin area letterboxes in the car at all times but we’ve not done anything with it since last August!

Saturday was fun for me. I got to go to a baby shower and I made the little one a red beanie (since it’s near Valentine’s Day). I was going to make booties, but I didn’t have enough yarn. So sad! I found a pattern for a really cute pair. I will probably still try to make it. I ended up getting onsies and red socks to match the hat instead.

Later that day, we decided to take Sprocket for a walk and a hunt for another letterbox. Sans camera this time, but that’s ok. We did see a woodpecker, pointed out to us by another family hiking near us. It looked a lot like this one here, though the site says it’s habitat is further east of us. We also found a deer leg—yuck, I know—with bits of sinew, fur and one “nail” left on a toe bone. No real “meat” left though Sprocket got really excited about it. We’ll be taking that to the nature center some time soon so the boys can trade it for something else (probably another bone).

Yesterday afternoon we had to go and do more hiking. What can I say? The weather has been gorgeous and it would have been a shame to waste it indoors. I wanted to go visit the Umlauf sculpture garden, but it turns out that was closed. We did find ourselves on the back side of Barton Springs Pool, however. We ended up on the side where the water lets out and people bring their dogs to swim. The kids asked—begged, pleaded—to wade in the water and hubby relented and said yes. NM was charged with bringing Sprocket into the water so she could get used to it (she’s still chicken around water). She only thrashed about for a little bit. She was happy because she got to meet a bunch of other dogs.

She’s so funny: she barks at people and other dogs because they won’t pay attention to her and goes into instant submissive mode if another dog capitulates and says hi. If a person says hi, she jumps all over them. Can you say extrovert?

Pics of happy boys and not-so-happy dog are here.

We would have stayed longer except that what hubby was worried about happened: J fell a couple of times on the slippery, mossy rocks and got his clothes soaking wet. Eventually, the cool breeze and waning sunlight got to him and we headed home to a yummy dinner of bagels, cream cheese and lox!

There are several patterns for knit helmet liners (balaklavas), neck gators (I guess it’s too froo-froo to call them cowls) and one for a scarf. They also have a pattern for a sewn or serged neck cooler.

I am making knitted gifts but I can’t post pictures until after Christmas. And I’m so silly excited that I got stuff done.

Now you can be crazy with me, waiting until the reveal. Bwahahahaha!

Karen’s Lace Ogee Skirt

Originally uploaded by Phisch

Finished!

Again the color is slightly off, this needs a tiny bit of magenta in it and it will look right.

I used under 2 skeins of Lion Brand Cotton-ease in color purple and size 11 needles (any smaller looked to tight).

This was blocked just by spraying it on both sides with water and stretching slightly to get the lace to open up. Then I pressed the back with a steam iron.

The pattern is great, it’s a fast knit and very fun to do! I hope you like it, Kay!

Progress of Karen’s Ogee Lace Skirt

Originally uploaded by Phisch

So far, so good? I know I said no lace so soon, but I want to get this done and I have the yarn for it, so there you go. This was supposed to be for her birthday, kinda, but Karen said she’d rather have a blanket but she never made up her mind about colors (hint, hint, hint!).

Knit in Lion Brand Cotton-ease in color purple (really more like a very blue violet). I’m down to the last set of repeats then will bind off the bottom (the yellow yarn is a temporary placeholder to keep it from unraveling) and then do the i-cord ties.

The pattern is much simpler than it looks which surprises me. It’s easy to tell what you’re supposed to be doing bases on the row just below so at times I don’t even have to look at the chart.

This knit happened so fast, I may make another one for someone else I know. Bonus: it takes under 2 skeins of the yarn I’m using and I have 5 total.

Amy Caterina's Knit Creatures

You know, that fuzzy yarn that most knitters have in their stash from their beginning knitting days? Most of the time it’s sent to the bottom of the stash once you realize you can’t really see your stitches to know they’re done correctly.

Artist Amy Caterina, current artist-in-residence at CalState Fullerton’s Grand Central Gallery in Santa Ana, CA has managed to use up quite a stash of fun fur. In her installation “This used to be real estate, now it’s only fields and trees.” she knit up several forest creatures—not tiny ones, either—placed in a faux environment of trees and sunny skies.

I guess there is something back in the OC that I have to miss! I’m trying to remember what David Byrne song this artwork reminds me of, but I can’t at the moment.

As seen at the Lion Brand Notebook.

I lurve this thing. Made from Habu Textiles yarn made of a silk and stainless steel combo. One of the more gorgeous things I’ve seen knit with this yarn. Love me, buy me some Habu Silk Stainless Steel.

Pattern: Knitty: Summer 2008