Knit-along Little Doggie!!

home early!!

The last few days I've finished my work early and gotten to leave work early.  So I'm home getting ready to take Dante to get his costume, and to get one for myself too.  I don't think I'll be wearing that one out in public but I think I'm gonna get the racy one that I've always wanted and have been too self conscious to wear out of the house.  A girl's gotta live every now and then.  Then it's off to find the pumpkin and back home to hang out with the boys while Aaron goes over to help his mom with her father's apartment.   I'll hopefully be getting his grandfather's car on Wednesday so that I can sell his one for a few hundred and not have to worry about it anymore. 
Halloween's going to be a busy day for us.  First I have to go to the registry with my MIL to handle the car.  Then I have to meet with Dante's teacher to just get on the same page...it's always a smoother year when I show my face and they see the 6 foot tall black woman standing in front of them.  They tend to treat both he and I with a good deal more respect.  Then later it's off to the first of 2 Halloween parties, this one for the little kids, and then after that it's time for me to take Dante out.  Wait... I just realized that I bought candy to hand out but no one will be home this year to do that!  Aaron'll be in class so I'll be out with the kids.  After that, we'll take the kids to my MIL's house and go to a Halloween party for us grown ups.  It's my first ever!
Well, gotta go.  I'm off to watch Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island with my boys and knit the Icarus shawl for a friend's wedding.

Baby Bolero

I just finished the baby bolero and I have to say that I both love and loath Debbie Bliss patterns.  They are beautiful, and clever.  They knit up to simple and practical garments and the yarns are sumptuous. 
On the other side of the coin, they are often written too simply, as if we should just "get it".  Maybe I'm an idiot but I've made two sweaters now for two different babies and both of the patterns had areas where I could have used better, more detailed instructions and more detailed photos to guide me.  This one was very tough.  The body of the sweater was simple, but the garter stitch border seemed unnecessarily complicated.  In the end, after some really careful seaming (thanks to my trusty Vogue Knitting book), some tightening of loose stitches later, and a good steam blocking, it turned out wonderfully.  It only took me 4 years of knitting to realize that the finishing is just about more important than the actual knitting itself.  After my Scarlet cardigan, I learned that even the most beautiful hand knit can end up looking like crap if you don't take care when seaming.
I can't wait until I give it to the Mom-to-be tomorrow.  My co-worker Jenny is expecting a little girl in January and I wanted to make her a little something, but I couldn't figure out what to make.  It wasn't until I found myself swamped with work last week that I decided what I was going to make for her baby.  Jenny came into work early every day for that week and make calls for me to help me get caught up, and I wouldn't have been able to do it without her help.  And it was that reasoning that kept me plugging away at that garter stitch border when the going got tough.  I hope she loves it.

Mrs. Bunny

Let me introduce, Mrs. Bunny!  She knit up really quick, and it was a ton of fun.  The construction is different that anything I've done before.  The body is knit in one piece, legs and all, and there's only one seam.  Same with the head.  The arms are knit separately and attached to the body.  The dress is really cute, but I didn't care for all the little ends I ended up with to weave in at the end.  This was supposed to be for a co-worker's bun-in-the-oven, but Alex just adored her so I caved and gave it to him.
In the photo with her is a boat that Daddy make in 8th grade wood shop.  Alex was playing with it while we were over at Nana's yesterday helping her straighten up a little bit.  We brought it home.  He loves it!  I couldn't help think about how sweet it is that something simple that my husband made in school as a child could bring so much joy to his child.  And I've gained a new respect for simple toys for children.  They don't need toys with all the bells and whistles all the time.  So I think that this year, Alex will be getting hand knit toys from Momma.
And for my Momma, the answer to the animal crackers...#5 is a Goat, and #6 is a Lion.  Now you can sleep at night! (lol)

My good deed for the day

I went down to my LYS today to pick up a little yarn for a few baby projects that I planned on, and found myself face to face with a new employee (Wendy).  I didn't know at first that she was new, but after a few minutes of browsing, a woman came in saying that she was "going to learn how to knit" and needed "size 7 needles and yarn" for what turned out to be a scarf project.  Wendy seemed a little out of her element and when the woman said that she was making a scarf, they started to look at yarn choices and it all seemed to be going alright until the woman asked about price.  That's where it took a wrong turn down "don't knit with that lane".  I piped up and told the customer that the Lambs Pride she had her eye on wasn't the best think to knit something that was meant to be next to the skin out of.  That's when Wendy confessed that today was her first day, and that she didn't even knit!  The poor woman!  The owner is within days of having her baby and just needed a body in the shop.  So I took the woman over to the yarns that were soft, had decent yardage and were well prices.  Then I told her that I had used Mountain Colors for my scarf and that it was 100% wool, and very soft.  I brought her over to that cubby and she picked out 2 skeins of a blue colorway and then went back over to the Berroco for the yarn that her son was going to use for the class.  Then when the Clover straight needles rang up at 15.00 a pair, they asked me if that was a normal price for needles.  I told them, "for the Addi Turbo's yes...for Clovers no.  They're usually between 5-7 dollars.  She found a different pair and rang them up, and they priced at 7.95.  I was glad to be of service for a beginner and a new employee. 
Then I purchased Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmerino 2 book and 3 skeins of Baby Cashmerino yarn to make the bolero on the cover for a co-worker's baby and the bunny.  Then from the left overs of the bunny and his bear sweater, I'm going to knit Alex the stripped hat from the same book.  I've been fighting with my knitting this last few days trying to knit him a hat for this coming Winter since I've cut his hair and he'll need the warmth.  Last year I couldn't get a hat on his head, or get him to leave it there so I didn't bother with them.  So when I got back to my car, I started thinking about the cost of what I'd just bought, and about how it seemed a little low, and as far as I knew Kim wasn't having a sale.  I looked at the receipt and noticed that I wasn't charged for the 2 balls of pink cashmerino.  I had to go back into the shop and have Wendy ring me out.  I felt bad because I knew that she would feel bad, but I like Kim and I don't want her to go out of business for giving away free Debbie Bliss.  Plus, it's totally against my religion, and I just taught a class about this not that many weeks back so I figured that I'd better haul it back in there and pay for them.  I don't want someone's baby wearing an ill-gotten bolero!

the disaster that goes by the name of Alexander

Here lie the remains of my needle jar.  The monster more commonly known as Alexander finally killed it, and in an act of homicidal rage, it spread the innards of the dying jar all over as a warning for all other knitterly items that dare flaunt their shinny, pointy-ness in the face of danger!

what am i? 3

This is today's selection.  I had a tough time with these two, especially number 6. 
Mom got 3 and 4 correct!   Good for you.  I come from good stock.
Did anyone notice the jungle print on the paper towel in the background?  Everyone at work thought that I posed the cookies on a knitted background.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they thought I would do something like that, but no...it's just a paper towel.
Keep the guesses coming!

what am i? 2

So in answer to yesterday's question...they were the rhino and hippo, in that order.  Only a few of the people I work with actually got them.  So here's today's line up.  Should be much easier that yesterday.  (and please read the comments from yesterday's post.  Hilarious!!)

what am i?

So the new fun project at work for this week is the "what am I?" game.  We sat around at lunch wondering what the heck these animals were, and I can tell you that we were mostly wrong!  I went online (but you can't or you'll be cheating!) to see if it would tell me what each one was, and after I looked at them with the labels, it was much easier to see.  These two were among the hardest to guess. 
So the team will get an email, complete with pictures photo-shopped by my hubby and they'll have to guess what the animals are.  The one who gets the most right will win....something?  I'm not too clear on the details just yet but I'll figure it out.
I finished the blanket for my friend from church today, and started the matching hat.  I'll post the details after I finish it and give it to her, as she may read this page and I don't want to ruin the surprise.  It's smaller than the one's I've made in the past but that's fine for a baby to drag around without stepping or tripping over it.  Alex is using the "spare" right now so that we can wash the other, and I find that it works out better because he can cuddle with it still, and walk around without dragging it all over the ground.  And if anyone wants to see how Alex is looking right now...

what the heck was i thinking!

I don't know what came over me today, but I decided that Alex needed a hair cut and I'd just buzz him.  It was supposed to be  about an inch long with little close cropped curls, but the guard was shorter than I thought it was and it cut him really short.  It's not bad, but he really didn't sit as still as I'd like and I couldn't get the back of his neck or around his ears as well as I'd like.  I know that it will grow in pretty quick, and I can get around his ears and the back of his head tomorrow but I was just envisioning it a little longer.  I'm not sure why I decided to cut his hair today, or why no one tried to stop me, but it'll be fine.  He looks very much like his brother did at about 3.  This is gonna take some adjustment.