BAD blogger!

ugh. i’ve been so busy living life, i haven’t taken time to journal it. let’s see.

my 4yo is getting ready for kindergarten screening. that means shots. she is well aware of this and is bravely facing it head-on. unfortunately, 6yo sis will also get a shot, and she is NOT aware of that fact. not sure how to handle that one yet.

i’ve been knitting away. i have two different hoodies started for the 4yo, just to try out the pattern. why 2 you ask? well, i started the first one in yarn already in my stash, only to find out i was one skein short. well, on the day i happened to be in the city with enough time to swing by and carefully pick up another skein with the right dye lot, i also happened to find my very first LOCAL YARN STORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i cannot possibly put in words how exciting this is. i’ve been ordering everything online or shopping at *gasp* wally world. *hides head in shame*

old mill stitchery is a wonder of beautiful needle crafts including cross stitch, needle punching, knitted items as well as felted bags to die for! and the yarn. don’t get me started. bin after bin of the gorgeous stuff. a veritable knitter’s paradise! sadly, they are small enough, they do not have a website.
i couldn’t leave the store empty-handed, so i picked up 4 skeins of cascade 220 in a cute purple, planning to make that color for 6yo dd. well, silly me should’ve picked up *5* skeins for 6yo dd. so i decided to knit it up for 4yo anyway. and come to find out, 6yo tells me she prefers BLUE. so i guess i’ll get some blue yarn up another time. maybe with a coupon or sale event, if i’m lucky enough to time it right. *crosses fingers, knees, toes and eyes*

so 4yo’s hoodie is knit from the waist up to the top of the pouch/pocket on the front, as well as one of the sleeves, which i started out in an attempt to get gauge. dare i say out loud that i got gauge on the first try? *blushes* now if only my darn purl rows were as even and matched my knitted rows. *grumbling, cursing, gnashing of teeth*

and as busy as i am, one might ask how i happened to have time during normal business hours to swing by the LYS during the week. well, i tweaked my back a bit at work and have been on light duty, running to and fro from doctor to PT, etc. unfortunately, light duty hours are only available m-f, 8-430. so i’ve been working 5 days a week instead of my usual 3. my gas bill is gonna KILL me!

i’m sorry i don’t have pics to post with this. i’m in a time crunch and just don’t have the time right now. i’ll get to it soon though.

TTFN, dkm

I’m still alive

but i haven’t been blogging much. work makes for long days, then on my days off, i try to catch up.

i have several projects OTN at the moment: 1. still have the straight needle case (felted) project about halfway done. 2. fingerless cabled mitts done in sock yarn. 3. a darling easter bunny. 4. there’s also a sock, but i already know it is too big, so it will likely get frogged and started again either on smaller needles, or with fewer stitches.

sorry i don’t have pics yet. i’ll catch up after tomorrow, most likely.

E-tail therapy

I’m single again. It came as quite a shock. So I sought out some e-tail therapy:

Family Circle Easy Toys (has a pattern for the cutest piggy)

yarn to make the pig

32″ circulars in sizes 0-3 so I can use the Magic Loop method

40″ cable for my KnitPicks options set, again, for Magic Loop

*sigh* can someone pass the chocolate?

how about some pics? here’s dd’s new build-a-bear, wearing the baby hoodie that used to be in pieces. remember i said it is bound for the toybox? it really is. the seams inside are too rough to put on a baby. i think next time i will try to pick up stitches and graft the seams. i ripped the button/buttonhole bands off as seen in the previous pic, b/c they were not well done. they are much more even now.

this is my progress on the needle case. pictured here, the case is about 1/2 way done, and i have one cable done as well. this will be felted, and the straight needles will rest in the holes formed by each cable. kinda cool, eh?

here’s the second baby sock finished. i set them next to my bluetooth and razr so you can see the scale a little better. they’re so teeny tiny! the flash apparently leached the color out.

and finally, this is my newest adventure in knitting…socks on 2 circulars. i got the book socks soar on 2 circular needles, and i love it! it’s fairly intuitive. again, the flash washed out the color. the yarn i’m using is 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, in a charcoal grey, grey-blue and white. you can see the true colors here.

had to add one more pic. i got up from my chair at the computer to tuck away my knitting b/c the cats like to nibble the yarn, and i’d freak right out if they nibbled my circular cables, too. so what do i find when i get back to my toasty warm chair?

spoiled rotten critters!

A wee little project……awwwwwwwww!!!!!!

This is shown beside a standard size lip balm tube. Fingering yarn on size 1 bamboo DPN’S.

And an earlier project, still not quite finished. A baby hoodie. Here you see it in pieces on the ironing board.

Somebody stop me!

I’ve just ordered several cool knitting things:

bamboo sock yarn

a magic loop book

sock software

sock yarn

circular stitch dictionary on cd

socks 2 x 2 download

sock yarn

knit picks classic circs in size 0, 1, 2, 3

socks soar on 2 circulars

more sock yarn

Somebody stop me! My wallet can’t handle this! Socks anyone?

Some soap porn for your viewing pleasure

my favorite soap ever! orange/patchouli/lavender eo blend

my second favorite. doublemint eo, french green clay, chocolate mint from my garden:

lovespell dupe, oval mold: 

a lame attempt at a swirl, clementine lavender:

a cool round soap. this log is 23″ tall! it’s a shaving soap, with kaolin clay, scented  kumquat

early attempt at a salt bar, scented kumquat, colored with aussie rose clay:

canataloupe batch, cut, in my baby tank

I’ve taken up knitting again.

After initially learning how to knit in Girl Scouts, mphphphmph years ago, I’ve picked up the needles again and haven’t looked back. No more boring scarves. No sir. I’ve graduated to conquering double pointed needles (dpn’s) as well as circulars.

I had initially tried Boye brand circulars and found them unbelievably awkward. At the recommendation of Twiggy, I purchased Knitpicks Options set. Oh my, I’m in love. They have lovely tips and a nice slick coating, as well as nice bendy cables that don’t kink.

So far, I have completed 4 sets of mittens: 2 pair from cheapie acrylic yarn for practice, and 2 felted pairs out of some lovely merino wool. I have also completed my first ever sock! I’ve made 2 lame attempts at baby socks, and one cute baby bootie.

First sock:

Toe graft:

Let’s see, what else? Oh yes, I’ve tackled cables, for the first time, just tonight. And I TOTALLY get it! I think my work with dpn’s helped that click. This is the project that did it for me…an adorable needles storage case for my straights.

I’m also attempting a baby hoodie for a friend who is having a long-awaited baby. That one is definitely bound for the toybox for babydoll dress-up. ugh.

As you can tell, I’m fairly ADD when it comes to my knitting projects. I’ll work on one for awhile, then hop over to another. OTN at the moment, is a really cool sock (out of some cool stretchy yarn that should be really neat when it’s done), the baby sweater, the cables for the inside of my needle case, as well as a hat project only existing in my head at the moment. (I want to try a mini cabled ribbing I recall coming across in my travels.)

iPod case for my niece:

seed stitch dish/washcloth in ecru cotton as well as two bars of my soap. rosemary mint, and a dove dupe:
crocheted square for a friendship afghan: