5 things I have been up to lately

I can’t believe how little time I have had lately.  So, this will probably be a long post.  There is a lot going on in my life.

1. CB’s testing and such: We had CB’s EEG last week.  The neurologist was really surprised by the results. We suspected that CB was having absence seizures a couple times a week. It turns out that it is more like a couple times a day (and when he is tired or stressed, a couple times an hour).  He is now on meds. We have already noticed a difference after one week. He is more focused. He is also sleeping a lot more (and really well).  We have an MRI in December.  That will determine if there is any neurological cause for all his right side weakness. In the meantime, we will be starting physical therapy on Friday.  Everyone has expected me to be very upset about the results. So far, I just feel a real sense of peace.  CB is happy and healthy. He has absence epilepsy, but no delays as a result and it seems like the meds will work. He is growing and is cute as a bug. I couldn’t ask for a better kid. We are just trusting in God that this is all part of the plan.  On a very positive note, CB has started calling me “mama”!!  Until last week, he called me “this” if he was talking to me or “that” if he was talking about me.  He called his pacifier “mama”.  It was a little strange to hear him say, “Love you, This.”  Last week, he started calling me “moi moi” (think French pronunciation). Just last night, he finally converted that to “mama” (so now it is confusing…sometimes he wants me and sometimes he is asking for his paci).  It is so nice to hear, “Love you, mama” at night!

2. On the knitting front, I have been working like crazy on Christmas gifts (when I get a chance). I have done some more afghan squares (all are pictured in my projects on Ravelry).  I am currently waiting on the final Knitpicks order for the yarn. Once I get that, I should be able to blaze through the squares to get caught up (I hope)!

3. I got a great package from my pal in the Flat Rate Box Swap!  It had two skeins of Classic Lite Alpaca yarn, two skeins of Palette, a skein of Sockotta, and a skein of Baby Cashmerino.  She also included a pumpkin dishcloth (which CB loves, and keeps him from whining about having his face washed). I also received cocoa, two kinds of coffee, cinnamon bears, and Good n’ Plenty.  My pal, Shannon, included things for the kids too. There was some ribbon for their scrapbooks, a little book for CB, an activity book for LB, and stickers for their scrapbooks.  She also included honey from her local market (that is my littlest one’s hand reaching for the bear), soap from her local market, candles (that smell so good!), a circular needle perfect for two at a time socks, stitch markers (the kind I was going to buy myself, but could never justify it), stationary, and a calendar!  It was a very full box!!  Here is a link to a post about it with pictures.

4. I have also been very busy with church.  We are putting on a Kid’s ministry program the first Sunday of every month. I am the team leader for the greeters. I am also the contact person for the volunteers for our church (we are doing the ministry with three other churches).  That hasn’t been too bad.  I am also in charge of the planning for our annual Halloween carnival, Halloweenival (clever, huh).  It has been hectic planning, but it is all starting to come together.

5. Lately, I have really been focused on the homeless.  As some of you know, during law school, I worked in the Homeless Legal Rights Unit in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale legal aid.  Homelessness is a big issue for me (my pet issue if you will).  When I moved north and took this job, it kind of went on the back burner.  Lately, every conversation, every new person I meet, everything I do seems to put me into contact with the issue again.  Our community no longer has an emergency shelter.  Right now, I am working with some other members of the community to see what can be done about that.  In knitting related news, I decided to open a chapter of Warming Families here.  The North Florida Chapter is officially open and accepting donations! I am really excited to be doing this small thing to help the community!

Well, that is what I have been doing with my time!  I will try to be better at posting as things slow down (which I hope is really soon!)!!

 

Christmas Spirit

It is September. That can only mean one thing this year.  That’s right…all Christmas knitting all the time.  I am in the Christmas spirit. I have been working on Christmas dishcloths, Christmas tribbles, Christmas laundry soap, Christmas blankie squares, and a Christmas scarf!  I have gotten a couple more dishcloths done. I have also gotten a couple of tribbles done. These will go in baskets with some “kitchen” goodies (measuring cups, hotpads, etc).  I also found a great recipe for laundry soap, so I have been making batches of that to give away in pint jars!  My laundry soap is 1 Bar of Kirk’s Castille soap finely grated, 2 c. washing soda, 2 c. baking soda, 3 c. Borax, and a small amount of fragrance (about 30 drops).  It smells wonderful and cleans better than anything I have ever tried. It is also diaper safe (a big deal in our house).

In working on the Christmas blankie squares I have learned a new skill.  Cabling.  I haven’t just learned to cable, but I have discovered that I hate cable needles.  I learned to cable without a cable needle!  I feel so daring!  The May square was my first attempt at cabling. I decided that I was not brave enough to cable without a needle.  I fumbled with the needle for two really badly done repeats. I decided that there had to be a better way. I had only ever seen cabling without a needle where you drop the stitches you would normally put on the cable needle, knit the others, and then pick up the dropped stitches. I decided I just wasn’t that daring.  Then I saw some reference to doing it the way that is described in the Confessions of a Knitting Heretic.  Well, I just got the book. I looked up how she did it.  Taking the example of a 4 stitch cable, she takes the first two stitches and slips them to the right hand needle. Then she knits the next two stitches. Then she puts her needle into the two slipped stitches (into the front if the stitches were to be held in front or into the back if they were to be held in back). She then slips all four stitches off of the right needle.  The two slipped stitches are now on the left needle. The other stitches are “dropped”. You then pick them up on the right needle.  They don’t hang out there. They are only off of a needle for a few seconds. That didn’t seem so dangerous.  I tried it out, and discovered that I love to cable that way!  For some reason, it is much neater and easier for me.  Not to mention that I don’t risk losing the cable needle. I ripped the first cables I tried and started over. The square came out great.

I have now done three cabled squares without the cable needle. It is making me feel so clever and daring (and as you know, that always makes me love a technique…when it makes me feel smart)!!  I am so glad I waited to do the May and July squares until after I bought that book.  I am thinking of writing an ode to Annie Modesitt since she has so transformed my knitting (or maybe that would just be weird)!!

I also got a great present in the mail, which made me think it was Christmas for a day!  I got my package for the Reducio 7 swap.  Included were a lovely little Hufflepuff sock, a travelling bag (which is lined and has a little bumblebee sewn into the lining…my pal’s patronus to protect against lost items), a train whistle, and some candy. It also had the Ribbit pattern, yarn, and a tennis ball to make a cute little frog!!  She did such a fantastic job on the package!!

 

Monkey See

I have two FOs. The first is the scarf for my niece.  It is double stranded sock yarn knit on size 8s.  It was very easy and went very fast. I love this pattern!  I have started a second of the same pattern for my niece, Marcie.  I am nearly half way done with it even though I started less than a week ago.

I also finished the monkey for CB’s birthday!  It came out really, really cute.  He is so cuddly. I think that CB is going to love him.  I am going to do another for my nephew for Christmas.  They are easy. If I wasn’t working on other projects, I could have gotten it done very quickly.  Here is a side view that gives you a view of the tail:

I also received my Loopy Ewe Sock Club installment for September. Here is the yarn:

It is Wollmeise in Guide to the Galaxy. It is really pretty.  Of course, it came with a pattern and goodies too.  The goodies are sheep notecards, a clear case for supplies, and a pattern.

 

All Mixed Up!

Here is the rainbow I saw on the way to Knit Night Out.  On Tuesday night, my knitting group met at a local restaurant.  We meet on the first and third Sunday of the month.  There is an extra week between the third Sunday of August and the first Sunday of September than we would normally have between meetings. We decided to get together in between. It was a lot of fun.  How can anyone complain about knitting, adult conversation, and food!!  It is like heaven.   I really enjoyed myself.

Of course, it was raining that evening. The rainbow was a complete rainbow (I couldn’t get a picture of the whole thing).  It was really beautiful!  I knew that it was going to be a great night when I saw it!

While at Knit Night, I worked on my one row scarf.  I have about 14 inches done so far (much of that done at dinner).  It is moving so quickly! I am still loving the pattern. It is so simple. It is easy to travel with as well because it is easy to pick up anywhere in the row and know where you are.

The only thing I don’t like is that I am doing it on straights. It would be a bit more portable if I had put it on circulars because they fit in my bag a little better. I keep poking myself with the needles reaching into my bag.  I am going to have to get some new circs this weekend!  I am planning more of these scarves so I will make good use of the circs!

Lately, I have not been very happy with the way my stockinette stitch looks.  I haven’t done a lot with stockinette because I do a lot of knitting in the round and garter stitch. I have been noticing that my stockinette just didn’t look right.  You can see in the above picture that every other row is twisted.  I started to question whether or not I was doing the knit stitch right. I taught myself to do Continental knitting with drawings on a website.  I went onto KnittingHelp.com to watch a video to see how it is supposed to be done.   I have been doing it right. My next thought was that maybe I have been doing the purl stitch right. I also taught myself to purl using this video.  I checked the videos on KnittingHelp. I realized that the purl stitch in Continental knitting is not how the video shows. That being said, I love the way I purl.  I didn’t want to change. I decided to try to figure out what I needed to do to make that purl stitch work. I then realized that I was knitting Continental style, but purling in Combination knitting!  I found Annie Modesitt’s website. I changed the way I was doing the knit stitch (only when knitting in stockinette…in garter stitch or in the round I have to do the knit stitch the way that I was)!  Here is the result!

Look at how nice and neat and pretty that is!!  All better!  It looks like it is supposed to look.  I was so very thrilled!  Not only does the knitting itself look so nice and neat, but it made the edges of knitting look so much nicer.

This is the monkey head. The top area is the top of the head.  The bottom area is the snout (it is bent down).  Both are made using short rows.  The red arrow is pointing to the “seam” made on the knit rows before I made the change in my knit stitch.  The blue arrow is pointing to the same thing, but using my combination knitting.  You can see that it makes the “seam” look a lot neater. It also makes it symetrical (the same as the “seam” made on the purl row).  I also noticed that my tension is more even between knits and purls. I think doing the knit stitch is easier this way too. I was so excited, I almost ripped out the whole head to start over. I decided just to leave it and consider it a “design feature”!  I have ordered Annie Modesitt’s book because I still can’t visualize how to do an SSK (and a few other random things).  I also found that Grumperina has a really helpful combination knitting page. I haven’t gotten to explore it as much as I would like, but that will be for this weekend.

In doing the research on combination knitting really helped me to have a new understanding on how the stitches worked. I realized that all combination knitting really means is that you always knit/purl into the leg of the stitch that is closest to the needle tip (unless you want to twist a stitch on purpose).  It really helped me understand how some of the decreases and increases lean.  It all made sense!  It was a big “aha” moment!  I can’t believe that I have been twisting stitches for so long and not realizing it!  Now I know why things haven’t really looked exactly right!

After I realized that I was knitting in a very mixed up way, I started examining the scarf I was working on. I had been not very satisfied with how my knits looked in the scarf as well.  I put in a lifeline and then just changed to combination knitting. I was hoping it would look a bit neater without looking dramatically different.  It looked different enough that I ripped back to the lifeline.  I considered frogging the scarf and starting over (it is fun to knit). Instead, I decided to continue knitting in my “mixed” way and consider it a design feature again!  I will do it “right” on the next one.  14 inches of scarf is too much to rip!

 

Of scarves, monkeys, and kidlets

I finished my CNE scarf a few days ago. This is a scarf that will go to one of my nieces for Christmas.  It is made of the yarn I dyed using Easter egg dye left over from our eggs this year.  It is very bright.  I really like the pattern, but the project seemed to take forever. It was knit on size 3 needles with fingering weight yarn. I suppose that is why. If I were to knit it again, I think I would use larger needles.  The pattern was easy to memorize. I also have a fondness for seed stitch, and this scarf has a seed stitch border.  I don’t know why, but I love knitting seed stitch!

After I finished the scarf, I cast on a Monkey 2.0 for CB for his birthday. He turns two at the end of September.  We are trying to wean him from his paci, but I really feel like he needs a comfort/security item to replace it. He loathes blankets, so that is out.  I think he will love the monkey.  The pattern for this monkey is really clever. It eliminates a lot of the sewing by being knit in the round.  I really am enjoying knitting this. I also think this yarn is completely perfect for this project. This is the Kindred Spirits yarn I got in the first Flat Rate Box Swap.  It is supposed to be fair isle/stripey yarn. In the legs of the monkey, it has almost a “galaxy” effect (like the Regia Galaxy yarns).  Also, the legs and body all started in exactly the same point of the color repeat.  I could not have done this on purpose so perfectly if I had tried.  It is such a fun, happy accident.  This monkey is going to be very, very cute.  I also love that it is knitting up really, really fast.  I am thinking that I may do one for my nephew for Christmas since I hadn’t decided what to make him.  I may also do one for LB for his birthday (late December).

I have also started another new scarf (another Christmas present for another niece).  I decided to make it out of the Spritely Goods that I got in a trade some time ago. The colors just scream to be made into something for this particular niece.  I decided to knit the One Row Handspun Scarf by the Yarn Harlot.  I doubled the yarn and am knitting it on size 8 needles.  It is a huge relief after knitting the previous scarf. It is knitting up so fast!  Part of that is the completely addictive nature of the pattern.  A row doesn’t take long. I can’t seem to knit a single row. I keep saying, “Just one more…ok, just one more…maybe one more…”  I am enjoying this pattern (and how quickly it is knitting up) so much that I may do another for my last niece.  I just have to check the yardage on the yarn I have for her.

I am actually pretty surprised at how much knitting I have gotten done over the last week or so.  We have been dealing with a lot of kid stuff.  LB started pre-K this morning. We have been trying to prepare him for the last week or so for the change in routine. I am not sure why we worried so much. He is such an easygoing kid. He adapts to new situations with amazing ease.  I actually cried a little when I dropped him off. He started by telling me that I didn’t need to take him into the building. Thankfully, they require that parents sign their children in, so I had a really good excuse to go in with him.  He went in and started playing immediately.  I spoke to the teacher briefly, and then told LB I was leaving.  He said, “Bye, Mom” without even looking up from his toys. I said, “Can I maybe get a hug and kiss before I leave?”  He heaved a huge, long suffering sigh, and then gave me the fastest kiss and hug on record before returning to his toys. I got all teary eyed and looked at the teacher. She said, “He will be ok, mama.”  I said, “I know. I think that is why I am crying!”  I couldn’t believe how big and independent he seemed!

We have also been dealing with some health stuff with CB. While we were in Wyoming, my mom asked me, “So, how long has CB been walking like that?”  I had no idea what she was talking about. I turns out, he walks with his head tilted.  I never noticed.  She had to point it out and tell me it wasn’t normal.  Then, CB had one of his “spacing out” spells. Sometimes he just spaces out.  My mom noticed and tried to get his attention. She couldn’t.  She asked me how often he does that. I had no idea because we leave him alone when he spaces out. We have always just assumed that he was such an internal child that he just needed space sometimes. We thought he was just very good at tuning us out, so we don’t really try to get his attention when he does it.  My mom was very disturbed by it. She suspects that he is having absence seizures.  At first, she told me just to mention it at his next appointment at the end of September.  After thinking about it and considering that his head is abnormally large, my mom asked me to call the doctor immediately. The doctor diagnosed CB with mild torticollis (for the “tilt” when he walks). He is going to start physical therapy (again). She also expressed concern about the possibility of absence seizures combined with his head size. She decided to send him for an EEG and neurology appointment. I spent all week setting all the various appointments up (in between court, office appointments, jail visits, and all the other mom stuff I do).  All the appointments are spread out over the next month.   As I said, it amazes me that I got any knitting done at all!

 

Vacation and the aftermath

I just got back from a really wonderful vacation in Wyoming.  Every other year, my family has a family reunion in Wyoming.  The first week was spent at that reunion.  The second week was spent just hanging out with my parents, siblings, nieces, and nephew.  We had a great time.  This is a picture of my boys on our hike to Lake Sherd.

I wore my shawl a lot because the weather was cold.  I also got a lot of crafting done.  I got quite a bit done on my CNE (Christmas n Easter) Scarf for my niece.  I also made three bath puffs while there. I taught my mom how to make them (she taught me to crochet, but I had to teach her all the stitches as she had forgotten).  There are not pictures of the knitting or crochet because I was too busy to get out the camera.

When we got home, DH, both kids and I all had a cold that we got from my brother and his kids.  The kids have a very mild sore throat and cough (although Vicks on their feet one night seems to have gotten rid of their cough). DH and I have serious sore throats, runny noses, terrible coughs, chills, aches, ear aches, etc.  I also got pink eye. CB had it while we were in Wyoming. He got better immediately.  My eye doctor has warned me that I will likely be fighting it for at least a month.

As a result, my return home was not happy.  Fortunately, two things greeted me to make me feel better. First, MIL cleaned our whole house for our anniversary (we celebrated our 9th while in Wyoming…where we were married).  She didn’t just clean…she CLEANED (in all caps).  She washed my windows, washed and put away every stitch of clothing in the house, mopped all the floors, washed the bathrooms, cleaned out the fridge and freezer, took out all the trash, washed the baseboards, vacuumed all carpets, washed all throw rugs, etc.  She is really, really awesome. It was better than any gift she could have bought.

The second thing that greeted me and cheered me was my second Flat Rate Box Swap box.  My swap pal is really, really awesome.  The theme this time was a project for you. The idea was to get everything needed for a single project in your pal’s queue.  My pal chose the Chinook Shawl in mine. She got me the Riverstone colorway.  She also got size 8 harmony needle tips.  Also included was the Mason-Dixon Knitting Book (which I have been really, really wanting) and some Louet Euroflax so that I could make something from it.   There are also several mini-skeins for my sock blankie, a crocheted project bag, mini-highlighter, pencils, mini-post-its, a small pen, a mini clip-on calculator, a magnetic tape measure, a mini-digital camera, an album, a stress ball, Goon n Plenty, hand lotion, and a little sheep.  This is truely a remarkable swap package!!  I was so excited.  I love absolutely everything in it.

 

Shawl that Jazz!!

I finished my Shawl that Jazz just in time for my vacation (which starts Friday).  I had planned to take this on vacation instead of a jacket.  I finished it at knitting group on Sunday. I just had to bind off. When I got home, I did the bind off and blocked it.  Today, it was finally dry and I was able to get pictures.

The things I love about it: it was a great pattern. I would do this pattern again. The design is easy, but very clever. I also love the look of the shawl. It is pretty and feminine without being lace.  This is one of my favorite projects I have done.  I also love the yarn. It is soft and squishy. The colors are also perfect for me.  I am also glad that I did the ruffly ruffle.  I love how it looks. It is so warm and cozy!

Now the things I don’t love: next time I make this, I think that I will use a larger needle size (just one). The fabric ended up a little denser than I wanted, but I still love it.  I also will be a bit more careful when casting on. I cast on 10 stitches less than it called for. That made it 10 rows shorter than the original. I think I would have liked it just a bit longer in the back (although, it is a good length as it is).  I think a larger needle size will help with that too.  Next time, I will air the yarn out a bit before using it. There was a strong vinegar smell for quite a while.  It is still a bit vinegary even after blocking (I used Euchlan).

All that being said, I still love this shawl and can’t wait to wear it!

 

Treasures in the mail

Lately, the mail has been very kind to me!  A week or so ago, I got my Loopy Ewe package for July.  It had a pattern, a skein of Bugga sock yarn, a Namaste Buddy case, and a sheepy stitch marker. The yarn is red and burnt orange.  I don’t really wear those colors. I have decided that it should be a shawl. It is soooo soft.  I am going to make it into an Ulmas shawl. I just need to figure out what I want to combine with it. I am thinking of either a charcoal yarn or a camel color. I am leaning more towards charcoal since I wear a lot of black.

Yesterday, I received my package for the Reducio Swap (round 6).  It is wonderful.  I got a little Gryffindor sock, a tapemeasure that looks like a pocket watch, a tiny stitch marker, an owl button, two lion buttons, sock needle point protectors, some stickers, and some bookmarks.  It is such a wonderful package!  LB already has claimed a few of the stickers. He kept saying, “That bluebird sticker is so very beautiful.” I finally took the hint and let him have one of the sheets!

Today, I got my box from the Flat Rate Box Swap on Ravelry. The theme this time was “Local”.  My pal was from Kalamazoo, MI.  The box was packed full of goodies.  The card was a picture made by a local artist.  The card is also a magnet (already on my fridge).  There are matching Avani cards.  There were some preserves made in a nearby town, a candle that is inspired by a nearby community, cherry wafers to represent the cherries in the area, liquid handsoap that is locally made, goats milk soap that is locally made, a Michigan lighthouse pad and pen, a Michigan wooden ornament, a Petosky stone (the state stone), maple sugar candy (which we have already eaten…yummy), and postcards.  Also, there were two skeins of Kindred Spirits yarn (one worsted and one sock yarn). They are so beautiful! I am already thinking about what to make with them! 

 

Toeing the line

I finally got a picture of the toes of DH’s socks.  I am really enjoying doing two at a time. I keep thinking that I need to keep track of rows and such. Then I remember that I am already working on the second sock. It is very liberating!  I think that I am going to look for a more rounded toe for the future.  I think this toe is a bit pointy, but I am not starting over!  DH will be fine as his own toes are pointy.

I also have been doing more sewing. I have done a secret sewing project for a swap pal. I also made a blouse out of the sheet fabric.  I used McCall’s Easy Stitch n’ Save M5451. I used fold over elastic at the neck and arms.  I didn’t hem it, but used bias tape.  I think that the shirt would be too short otherwise.  It is a nice summery top.  I like this pattern, but wish it was a bit longer.  I will lenthen it next time.

 

Why I shouldn’t be allowed to play with scissors!

I have had a busy day today. I decided to go to the thrift store this morning to look for sheets. I saw a really cute skirt tutorial where the skirt is made from a sheet. The biggest bonus…no hemming!  I knew I had to make this skirt.  I managed to find two sheets. One is a blue floral. The other is a yellow and white check.  It already had a ruffle on it!  I knew it would make a really cute skirt.

When I got home, my 2-at-a-Time Socks book was in the mail.  I quickly read it. I then printed out the Judy’s Magic Cast on Tutorial.  I cast on immediately.  I had decided to take the Panopticon yarn from the failed Monkeymen and do a toe up 3×1 rib sock for DH.  Right now, I am about halfway done with the toe increases. This method is really clever. I also like that both socks will be done at the same time. I don’t mind the second sock when I am making socks for me, but a second sock for DH is too much!  I do think that I will still use DPNs in the future, but I also love this method.  I will post a picture later. I just couldn’t get a good one today!

After the boys went to bed, I got to work on my skirt.  I was just finishing the waist elastic, when I cut my finger. It is a pretty deep cut.  I was cutting through the elastic when the tips of my scissors caught my index finger on my left hand. I managed not to bleed on my project (only my white carpet suffered). After performing the necessary first aid, I finished the skirt.  It is so cute! I can’t wait to wear it (of course, I will need a white slip before I can, but that is a problem for another day).  After I cut my finger, DH took the scissors and told me that I couldn’t sew anymore tonight.  I picked up my knitting, but am finding that holding the yarn is a bit strange.  I may just read for a while.   I am still proud of how much I have managed to get done today.  I also think that I will be able to get a blouse out of the rest of the sheet (and probably some sleep shorts for the boys).

Besides all the crafty stuff, I have been learning my new phone too.  I got an HTC Touch Pro. I love it.  I can check my email, Twitter, keep track of all my contacts, keep track of my calendar, and play games (all from anywhere…even court).  There is a lot the phone can do that I haven’t figured out yet, but I am getting there!

One last thing, I realize that the last post seemed a bit scattered. I was going to go back and fix it, but decided against it.  LB had been having some health issues.  He had toxic synovitis (an inflamation in his hips following a viral infection). He has been in a lot of pain.  On Monday night (when I wrote the post), he was supposed to be sleeping. The pain was keeping him awake. He was crying every few minutes. It made it a bit hard to concentrate.  I ended up taking him to the doctor on Tuesday, where he had x-rays and blood work.   He is doing better now, although he still has times when he is pretty sore. They say that it will last for up to two weeks and will return anytime that he gets a viral infection in the future. It is pretty yucky stuff.