Pop Goes the Weasel

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - Steven Wright It's no secret that I love animals. It's also no secret that my husband does not. This may have been a problem in our relationship except that I am also allergic to nearly all animals. My asthma is generally not an issue, but put me around a cat and my system goes haywire. My inability to have a real pet has led me to fall in love with those that I can knit and don't have dander. My favorite patterns for animals are from Susan B. Anderson, whose patterns for knitted stuffed animals are so cute you can't resist them, or at least I can't. When I signed up for a stuffed animal swap I knew I had to do one of her patterns. I chose the cute Little Owls from Knit Simple Holiday 2010. I bought this magazine specifically for the animal patterns and I love the owl best. I am so happy with how it turned it out! The pattern was really easy to follow, and I definitely plan to make more of these for the girls! Next up, the Red Fox. I even have the yarn!

Catching Up

I am currently all about catching up. Mostly on sleep, since the rumors about newborns and waking up at all hours are completely true. Little Iva actually sleeps quite a lot during the day, but from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am not so much. We've finally gotten her to go down a bit earlier, say midnight, but it's been rather exhausting, especially after spending the day chasing after an active two-year-old. Thankfully, Iva has just started to sleep for longer stretches. Last night she slept 5 whole hours in row!

I also need to catch up on blogging, obviously. It's been so long I hardly know where to start. Perhaps with the swap I participated in? Just before Christmas I posted my Inca Hat, which was the main item in the swap gift I sent off. I also made this fleece blanket to go with the hat, and included a few more goodies.

The swap gift I received was phenomenal! It included an adorable sweater, some washcloths, a puzzle, books, and crayons for big sis, and lots of yummy goodies. This was so much fun I am hoping to do another swap (once I catch up on things, of course).

Going for the Gold!

Thanks for all the mohair input. Once I finish another project or two I'll go ahead and start it.

Sorry for taking so long to update on my Ravelympics results. Look over there in the sidebar. Do you see them? Yep, those are my medals. It took awhile to get around to posting since my team started celebrating after the medals ceremony (Team Motherhood Later on Ravelry). We must have gotten a little carried away, and some of us may have, ahem, passed out behind stadium. Anyway, now that I've recuperated from the celebration I can finally post about my two projects. The project that took up most of the 17 days was my Linh's Ivy scarf. It turned out great and I got a gold in the Scarf Super G! Here I am modeling the day after I finished. Yes, I am aware that there is palm tree behind. Trust me, it was chilly don't let the palm tree fool you.

I was also able to quickly finish another Ballband dishcloth for holiday gifts for RJ's daycare providers. Four down and two to go! I finished just in time and got another gold in Holiday Jump-Start Skiing.

Woohoo for double medaling! Most importantly I feel like I can actually finish a bigger knitting project (well, bigger than a dishcloth) in less than six months. I am feeling inspired to keep giving myself Ravelympics-like goals. For my next project I plan to finish RJ's new Anouk in time for Easter. The Anouk was my fallen project for the Ravelympics, and I've now fixed it and caught up to where I was before. I only have about 3 weeks, but I think I can do it!

Daydreaming

When I was a kid, probably around 9 or 10 years old, I would go through the Spiegel Catalog page by page, deciding which items I would buy if I were rich. We were what you might describe as "dirt poor" while I was growing up, so this was quite a feat of daydreaming even with Spiegel. You're probably asking yourself, "why Spiegel?" which isn't really known for being a luxury catalog. Living in a rural area before there was the internet (for the youngins out there, yes such a time did exist), Spiegel was the most posh catalog I had access to. It was so much more tony than Sears or JCPenney's. I had not even heard of Saks, Niemans, or Nordstroms, and Macy's was something related to the Thanksgiving Day parade, not a place to shop. Anyway, it turns out that if I had lots of money I would pretty much buy everything in the catalog. Afterall, you just never know when you'll need a juicer or aerobic shoes. Once I eventually did start to earn a bit more money, I did not buy out the Spiegel catalog. Honestly, I'm fairly certain I've never ordered a thing from them. I still do daydream about what I would buy if I were rich, though. I can tell you that my craft closet would have to get a lot bigger to accommodate all the silk, cashmere, and merino wool.

Back in the real world, I am making dishcloths for RJ's teachers. I want to give them each a cloth for Christmas, along with some nice soap. Because she is in the infant/toddler room, she has about 8-9 teachers, so I need to get moving on these. Here is the first one I started, which is now nearly finished. Frustratingly, I ran out of both the red and the ecru yarn. I was able to find more red, but I still need to hunt down some more (Ravelry, here I come!).

Getting A Jump on the Holidays

I recently told my husband that he is lucky to be with me during these harsh economic times. I come from many, many generations of poor folk, so if there's one thing I know how to do it's live on the cheap. For example, you can eat for a week on a carton of milk, a bag of potatoes, a dozen eggs, and some veggies from the garden and it costs around $10. With our current single-income household situation, I am thinking that homemade gifts are going to be the way to go this year for Christmas. Since I love crafting, making complex plans, and hunting down the materials for projects, this is one area that doesn't seem so much like a sacrifice as a strategy-shift. However, with my fall class load I need to get a lot of gifts done this summer. I've been active lately on Ravelry trying to get some bargains on yarn for gift projects and I've posted some things to destash to generate some extra revenue to buy all the supplies I need (if you're interested, take a look here; anything in my stash is fair game not just those things in the trade section, so just send me a message on Ravelry with an offer if something looks good; I am also open to trades).

I am happy to report that I have my first gift done for holiday season 2009! This is for my brother, who lives in frigid Wisconsin and loves the flexibility of a gaiter. It can be worn as a neckwarmer or a hat, depending on what you need at the moment. This used up a fair amount of yarn that I frogged from the World's Ugliest Scarf (if you're thinking the scarf didn't look that bad, I assure you that in real life it was way too wide and the colors looked odd together). The gaiter is quite warm and soft and looks pretty nice on as well.






Yarn: Lion Wool-Ease Chunky in the color Willow

Pattern: Modified version of Four-In-One Gaiter from One Skein Wonders

Changes: I used chunky yarn instead of worsted weight. I tried to use worsted weight, but it seemed like it would be way too tight and I thought the chunky would be better for the bitter Wisconsin winter. I also made the pattern longer so it would cover more of his head as a hat and would fold over as a gaiter. I bound off on a really large needle (US 15) so that it would flare out a bit at the bottom.

Yardage: about 3/4 of a skein (114 yards)

Needle: US 10

Time: Started November 2008 and finished June 2009

The Cold, Such As It Is

Obviously I'm not following the NaBloPoMo creed to the letter, as I have been unable to post every single day. However, I have been posting more often, so I'd argue that I am following in the spirit of NaBloPoMo. Anyway, I will recap my very busy weekend tomorrow for you. It was a doozy, with nearby fires and a huge party inspired by Harry Potter.

Lately, we've finally been getting some "cold" weather here is SoCal. Maybe not so much this past weekend, but the week or two before. It's been just chilly enough in the mornings that I've finally been able to let RJ wear a bunch of her cute handknit hats. This is one of the cutest, made by Zona of Twirl Girl Fibers (ravelry link). I'm not certain, but I would guess that the yarn was spun and died by Zona as well.



Isn't that adorable? She usually doesn't pull it off, which must mean that it is pretty comfy too. At daycare they wait each day to see which hat she is wearing, since she has so many cute ones. Sadly, the weather is warm again, so no more hats for now. What we really need is some good rain, to put out all these fires!

Gifts in the Making

My knitting has really taken a backseat since RJ was born, but now that she is a bit older I'm hoping to get back into it. Before she was born I actually had planned out several Christmas gifts to make and even completed a couple. I made a hat for my youngest brother and a scarf for a friend in England. I have decided to allow myself to be off the hook for all but one more holiday gift. I want to make the four-in-one gaiter (Ravelry link) from One Skein Wonders for my middle brother. It wouldn't be fair to make something for one brother and not the other and this project should be fast and easy, since it's just a ribbed tube. I am using some easy wash Wool-Ease Worsted in a heathered forest green. Here it is so far:


I may make a couple more simple things, but probably I will just work on things for next year. What I really need to do before Christmas is make RJ a stocking for our fireplace. I may actually make use of my sewing machine for that.

Very Expensive Lingerie

As I walked into the living room the other day I got this information from my husband:

"Did you know that there is a $30 million diamond bikini?"

Here it is. Be sure that no young children or bosses are present. For that much money you'd think it would cover more than just the necessities, but maybe that's just me. What prompted him to even look for such a thing? I am guessing that he caught part of one of those list shows on cable. You know, like the "25 Sexiest Couples," or "50 Most Embarrassing TV Moments." Perhaps this one was "20 Most Revealing and Expensive Swimsuits" or some such thing. Maybe Ravelry should use this as a model and start a "20 hottest knitting patterns" list?

The winter holidays are still several months away, but, prompted by the Loose Knit Group on Ravelry, I'm trying to plan out my gift-giving in advance. My hope is that making many of our gifts will mean they will be more appreciated by the recipient, save money, and use up some of the stash, all positive things.

For my youngest brother I plan to make fingerless gloves to go with his hat. Below is my gauge swatch. I just got the right size dpns and am ready to start.
For my sister-in-law I want to make a cool crocheted handbag, like the fat-bottom bag or granny's no square from The Happy Hooker.

For the middle brother I plan to make a gaiter (basically a tube that can be worn as a neckwarmer or a hat; pattern can be found in "One Skein Wonders"). I have some forest green wool-ease that should fit the bill:


You may recognize the gray and green yarn. They are emerging from the frog pond after a time as the collegiate scarf. It was too wide, the colors not so great together, the pattern was hard to follow, and I didn't really have anyone in mind for it, so I finally ripped it. The light green is a chunky yarn that I think will be reincarnated as a beret. Anyone else starting to think of holiday gifts yet?

A Knitwear Model Is Born

We had a wonderful Mother's Day here at chez JayJay, and then things got really busy. The academic year has ended and graduation was last weekend. Since I'm on leave I didn't have to attend graduatio, and excuse anyone with half a brain would have used fully. However, one of my graduate students was graduating, so I wanted to be there to hood her. Actually, she was my first student, so I felt like it was a special event for both of us. However, my department had apparently drawn the short straw and our graduation ceremony was outdoors, in 90+ degree heat. In my long, heavy graduation robes I felt like a corndog in one of those warming display units: hot with a heavy coating and not particularly fresh. I also found out very suddenly that I had another work-related deadline at the end of this week (after I begged for an extension), so I've been working every spare moment. I really love my job, but there are days when I wish I were independently wealthly (ah, the yarn I would buy, just think of it!).

Since I haven't been knitting much lately I thought I'd share some photos I've been taking of RJ modeling of her handknits. This adorable pink sweater was a gift from Theresa of Knitting Underway. It' the one-piece baby kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting. In this photo it's still a little big, but very cute. She's grown a bit, so I will have to try it on her again soon. You can see that it must be cozy, since she fell asleep while wearing it.



This is a hat that I knit way back during the early months of my pregnancy. I may have even started it before I was pregnant. It is the umbilical cord hat from Stitch 'N Bitch.



Finally, these are a pair of handknit socks made by Gwlana. She's worn these a lot actually, and often gets compliments.


I think Rio has a real future as a knitwear model. ;)

A Group Effort

As I mentioned in my last post, there was one more gift that I received for RJ from my knitting group. This gift was spectacular enough that I thought it should get its own post. Several members knit squares for a blanket, and it turned out simply gorgeous! The blanket project was designed, organized, and put together by Anne of Crafty Diversions. She is now selling the pattern here, for those who are interested. The blanket is not "babyish" at all, which means that RJ can enjoy this blanket for years to come. You can see it below in our living room, modeled with RJ's teddy bear on a leather chair. Doesn't it look great!





I also tried to get RJ to model some of the other knits I received. Evidently, she was not in the right mood for this photo shoot. ;) Even when she's cranky, she still looks cute in knitwear!

And the Gifts Keep Coming

Surprisingly, RJ continues to get new handknits. My wonderful knitting group, All Things String, just threw a shower for little RJ and the lovely gifts were overwhelming. First, there were a couple wonderful books, one for RJ and another for us to learn to sign so that we can teach her. That way, RJ can communicate with us before she even learns to speak.


Next, CraftyCanadian and her husband got us a beautiful set that included a hooded towel, washcloths, and a matching outfit (onesie, socks, & hat). I have no photos because we already washed it so we could use the towel and washcloths for bathtime. Obviously it was a useful gift.

Zona of Twirlgirl Fibers made RJ her first beret. Yet another lovely hat to add to her awesome collection.


Gwen made RJ two absolutely beautiful sweaters, and one even has a matching hat.



Three other knitters made some cute accessories: fringed booties, a fun, colorful bib, and a fun stuffed starfish (it's so soft!).



Later in the week I will post about the group gift that was truly spectacular.

Knitted Gifts for Baby

Our baby shower was just a couple weeks ago, and now that my due date is fast approaching the gifts are starting to arrive from all over. I am always impressed with the generosity of friends and family, and would like to thank everyone for all the wonderful presents for our baby. In particular, she has a lot of beautiful clothing. My poor husband was shocked and dismayed to learn that our unborn baby already has a shoe wardrobe. Such is the joy of having a girl. :)

Since this is a knitting/crafting blog, I will post a few of the fantastic knits/handmade items that we received at the shower and recently. First, I received a wonderful surprise from Jennifer of Handmade by Jennifer. I had greatly admired the Hickory Dickory Dot sweater, which she was lucky enough to test knit. Can you believe it, she actually sent it to me! The sweater itself is incredibly cute, but when you add the adorable stuffed mouse for the pocket, well who could possibly resist?


My shower was not only planned by several knitters, but also featured lots of people knitting and lots of knitted gifts. Add to that wonderful friends and fantastic food (Anne of Crafty Diversions is a fantastic cook, in case you didn't know), and you have the makings of an awesome party.

First, I received not one but two February sweaters! How lucky is that? (and appropriate, since the shower was in February.) The smaller, multicolor sweater was knit by CraftyCarolyn and the larger lavender sweater by Theresa of Knitting Underway. They are different sizes, which means that our baby will stay stylish as she grows.



I also received three adorable hats. Two of them included shades of purple, one of my favorite colors. The striped one was knit by Theresa of Knitting Underway. The stripes and braided trim are wonderful and I like that it could be for a boy or a girl, just in case this baby has a brother someday. The second hat was knit by my good friend Jenn, and is a version of the Flore Petal Hat. Isn't it just the cutest?



Gwlana from my knitting group made us a hat with matching baby socks. The hearts and colors are just fantastic!



Finally, we also got two gorgeous knitted afghans. The one on the left is from Marie from my knitting group and is made of the softest cotton I've ever felt. The colors are just beautiful! The one on the right was knit by wonderful aunt and Godmother, Jackie, who sent a huge package of gifts for the baby. The yellow is so cheerful and shows of the pattern nicely.


Our baby will never be without a handknit item, which is as it should be.

Dressing Better

"I'm not a beautiful woman. I'm nothing to look at, so the only thing I can do is dress better than anyone else." - Wallis "Wally" Simpson

Dressing well is so easy when you have someone else's lovely knitwear. A very long time ago Theresa of Knitting Underway had some lovely knit items to purge from her closet. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of a sleeveless cable sweater.

I swear, I've already worn it several times and each time I was bombarded with complements. Just goes to show what an expert can really do with a bit of yarn and a couple sticks. It is knit in a lovely color of Lionbrand Homespun, with a large cable in the front. It almost looks like it was made for me, even with the expanding belly! Thanks Theresa, for being so generous with your knits.
I also have a progress shot of the ribbed hat I've been working on. The pattern is from One-Skein Wonders and is very easy. I am trying to use up this gray yarn, which I already used as part of a vest and a scarf. This yarn is about 12 years old and is a slightly itchy wool/acrylic blend. I think a little wool wash will probably soften it up. The color is nice and it knits up fast. The dark gray is wool-ease worsted.
I also have three FOs to post about, but I have to finish weaving in ends and remember to ask my husband to take some action shots for me. Classes start next week (eek!), so I'd better get moving on finishing up some of these projects!

Tis the Season

First, I want to mention that I got a lot of wonderful gifts from friends and family this year (including darling little New Zealand sheepskin slippers for the baby). This generosity is particularly amazing since moving meant that I did a pretty crappy job getting gifts for other people. I will just mention a few of the knitting-related gifts specifically on the blog. First my wonderful husband bought me Nicky Epstein's Knitting Beyond the Edge. It has all kinds of wonderful ideas for closures, collars, and necklines and I foresee this being an extremely useful reference book.

Also, my wonderful and crafty friend Kim brought me back some beautiful yarn from New Zealand, complete with a pattern and buttons for a lacy baby garment (left in photo). We were so happy that she was able to visit us briefly as she returned from an around-the-world trip (yes, I have extremely well-traveled friends; it helps me live and exciting life vicariously). My lovely and also crafty friend Jenn got me this fantastic soap in a knitted sock (right in photo). The sock actually felts to fit as you use the soap! Clever, huh? I really wish clothes would work the same away, only that they would expand to fit as you gain weight.

Theresa of Knitting Underway, also drove up from San Diego to visit and see our new abode just before Christmas, and if that weren't enough she brought some handknitted gifts! This little pink kimono sweater will be so cute when she needs to "dress up" for an occasion. It's made from machine-washable cotton, so no need to worry if she spits up. Theresa also gave us these adorable felted balls. I'm sure the baby will love gumming and rolling these!

Finally, she made a cute pair of miniature mittens to be used as a Christmas ornament. Here is an action shot of the mittens on our tree:

Oh, and you have probably guessed by the color of the kimono and the use of pronouns, we are having a GIRL! I foresee lots of fun knitting in my future.

Party Like It's 1979

My wonderful knitting group, All Things String, had it's annual holiday party this past Saturday. Last year we had fondue and it was such fun that we did it this year too. The fondue party of the 70's is definitely back in full force! If you dip vegetables in cheese and fruit in chocolate it seems like overall the meal must be healthy. At least that's my theory (please don't correct me). We ate, knit, did a white elephant gift exchange, and ate some more. It was a fun time!

The gifts were all really nice, no true white elephants in the bunch. At first, people were playing nicely and there was very little stealing. We had a second round, just to make sure that this niceness didn't last. I was extremely happy with the gift I initially chose (some beautiful stitch markers and a bracelet counter brought by Crafty Carolyn). The fun of stealing was much too tempting however, and I am also very happy with my final gift, which included a Starbucks gift card (the knitting group meets at Starbucks), the newest issue of Stringing, and a beautiful skein of yarn handspun by Zona of Twirl Girl Fibers. It is spun from wool roving and Sari silk. Cool huh? I haven't decided what this yarn should be yet, but it sure is lovely to look at isn't it?



Knitting and crocheting are actually getting done these days, so I'll soon have some more completed projects to post about. Also, I want to give my husband a big congrats. He became a US citizen yesterday!!

Goodies from the North

So, awhile back Jennifer from Handmade by Jennifer said that during a birthday book buying spree she had somehow ended up with two of the same book, and she was looking to trade. A book called "Easy Baby Knits" seemed right up my alley, so I searched my stash for something worthy to offer. Turns out that I have much less to offer than I realized (how embarrassing), so instead of yarn I offered chocolate. I was hoping she would agree since it was not just any chocolate, but the world-famous See's Chocolates. So, I bought a nice-sized box of chocolates, grabbed a couple of skeins of hand-dyed Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted and sent them off to Canada.

Meanwhile, Jennifer had generously decided that she would add some Montreal goodies in when she sent the book. She asked for my preferences to which I replied "I have a preference for dark chocolate, and I don't care for white chocolate. As for scents I like, I prefer food or natural scents like pine and citrus." As you can see below, she somehow managed to come up with something to fit every single thing I mentioned. There are three chocolate bars, one dark, one regular, and one that is orange and chocolate (yum!), a tin of lovely citrus candies, a pine-scented car freshener, a book of word searches (just for fun), and a lovely card. I definitely got the better end of this deal!



Oh, and let's not forget the book, which is full of adorable baby/toddler patterns. There is a cute jumper and hat set that I absolutely must make!



Thanks Jennifer, what a wonderful treat!

When Crafting Wasn't Cool

As I've mentioned previous posts, I am addicted to crafting. To say I was a crafter before crafting was cool, would be pretty accurate. Not that I'm trying to brag about my "street cred" as a crafter or anything, I just think this gives you an idea of the magnitude of the problem. As a college freshman, other girls went to the clubs a few nights a week. I completed a needlepoint of a Native American riding a horse in the desert (I picked it up partially finished at Good Will). I even did a term paper on quilting as a social event in the American west. How nerdy is that?

I organized my crafting supplies at the end of last week and realized that once again I needed to purchase more containers to hold it all. I have now hit the limit on what our apartment will credibly hold, without getting rid of some other items, such as clothes and food. Thus, I must craft from the stash or be consumed by the yarn, fabric, paints, embroidery floss, aida cloth, beads, rubber stamps, card stock, etc. (not altogether a terrible way to go though, right?). I could get rid of some of my less-used supplies (really, when was the last time I needed aida cloth?), but I just can't seem to part with them. Ever since I gave away the giant wooden bow, I've been haunted by the idea that I will create the perfect project, or at least it would have been perfect if only I had a wooden bow. I just don't feel I should take any more foolish chances with my craft supplies.

Even with this knowledge, a couple days ago I went to Michael's and bought more yarn to crochet two more baby blankets. A sign of a real addiction? Perhaps, but nevertheless this seemed like a necessary exception. I just found out another friend of mine is having twins! (Perhaps being my friend is akin to some sort of extreme fertility charm? Be warned!). I am using up some yarn I already have, but needed coordinating yarn to have enough and to make the afghans more interesting. It is the age old problem: Using yarn requires buying more yarn. Here is the yarn for blanket 1 (both the dark blue colors are new):


And here is what I got for blanket 2 (the cream and red are new):

Being Bored

"I'm afraid of nothing except being bored." - Greta Garbo

Do you remember when during summer break as a child you would get tired of the same old games, books, television shows, and begin to whine "I'm bored" until your parents would take you to the lake or out for ice cream? Often I envy those lazy summer days, especially when I've just had a crazy week with way too much to do like this one. For at least a week, I've been looking longingly at my knitting, knowing I had no time to work on it. Hopefully, things will get a little easier as the semester winds down.

For the most part, I find that these days even if I have free time I am never bored, and I generally like it that way. The way I figure it, those dozens of projects I've got going on all at once are keeping my mind sharp! (Maybe, you never know right?) Speaking of not getting bored, my birthday yielded a wealth of new knitting books.



There are so many new projects I want to start! I included the Johnny Cash CD in the photo because it will provide a musical accompaniment to my knitting. Come to think of it, Johnny Cash reminds me of my childhood too. Now all I need is a rainbow poncho, some bell bottoms, and I'm set to go!

Thanks for all your wonderful input on the baby items! I have decided that you are all correct and the mint green/blue combo blanket is perfectly fine for a boy. Here is a photo of the finished blanket, with the satin blanket edging and the patches embroidered on:



It feels so soft and cuddly!