Has it really been this long?

Good grief! Give me a day off and I'll take a month! I really do love blogging - I just have to get into the habit again of doing it regularly.

So what's been going on? Well, we're patiently waiting for consistent spring-like weather. It was 39 degrees here a couple days ago. Right now we're sitting at a rainy 52. Not too bad - at least there's no snow!

We did, however, have some severe storms last Sunday. Here's what the north side of our house looked like after the baseball-size hail:



Here's one of the hail stones. This photo was taken 30 minutes after the hail stopped and it had probably been on the ground for 45:



Here's what happened to my poor mom's car. She was visiting so her car was outside:



We are going to need a new roof, siding, 1 window, an exterior light, and gutters. Our truck took a beating as well. Both my mom's car and our truck will likely be totalled. Eek. Hopefully this storm was not a sign of things to come this summer. I'm going to stock up on batteries just in case.

Ok, on to the knitting. I've been heavily into the 2008 Fluffy Lap Blanket Bonanza. If you're on Ravelry, you can find the details here. One more to go and then I'll pound out a few more Mason-Dixon Washcloths. Those two patterns are my favorite teacher gifts. Fast, easy, impressive looking, and always appreciated. What could be better?

I bought my first skein of Malabrigo Chunky yesterday at Silver Creek Cabin. The color is Stonechat.



I was forced to buy this after seeing Parikha Mehta's Dolores Park Cowl. I simply had no choice. Plus I needed some yarn therapy after signing up for a stupid safe driving course to keep a ticket off my record. I bought it, wound it, and promptly knit it up. Like it? I adore it!



I definitely can wait for winter weather, but believe me when I say I'll be looking for any opportunity throughout the rest of spring and summer to wear this. I think this could be a new fave for gift giving as well. At $11 a skein, it's pretty darn economical too.

I suppose that's about it for now. I'll be casting on Blanket #5 today - Oh, and I got the call from JoAnn that my Denimstyle in Khaki has arrived! Yay! I'll get it tomorrow and I hope I will finish that sweater (from my last post) over the weekend. It's all good!

Have a great Thursday!

Yarn Eradication is a Goooooooood Thing!

Evil grins abound today as I make stash yarn disappear! It's great! The best part? I finally get to use the Sam-eaten skein of my beloved hand dye!

This was the stuff I dyed with Wilton Icing Colors. Loved it! Then one day Sam got bored inside his crate and picked through the bars until he caught hold of one of the skeins. By the time I found it, it had been slightly peed on and chewed into itty bitty bits. I couldn't bear to throw it away so I washed it, untangled it, wound it back up, and wondered what the heck I could ever do with it.

Turns out Baby's Got a Brand New Big Bag is the perfect pattern! My hand dye looks great paired with leftover purple and brown and a felted bag is ideal for using up little yard-or-so-long bits of yarn without worrying about hiding ends. It's moving along super fast - I just started it last night - and I'm so excited about having a new bag. The bag has only a slit-type handle at the top so I might add a purchased shoulder strap when all is said and done. We'll see.

Wanna see the Fun in the Sun Hat?

I used two almost-complete skeins of TLC Cotton Plus (love that stuff!) that I had leftover from the crocheted bunnies. Yeah, I could have used the skeins to make 3 more washcloths EACH, but I was in a crochet mood and I'd just found a couple back issues of Interweave Crochet - Spring and Fall 2007 to be exact. Whee! Love them! I fell in love with the hat and had to give it a try. It is a little small for me but I'm sure I could will it into size if I wore it enough. Perhaps A. would wear it? One never can tell.

Burp cloths are moving along swimmingly. Here's the 4 I've finished so far.

The green one on top is my favorite. Each one is better than the last and I just love making these. The 5th one is even better than any of these, but I'll wait to post a photo until it's done. My friend's due date is T-minus 19 days so I'm gonna keep plugging away on these.

Next, the Mason-Dixon Washcloth frenzy. One ball of red TLC Cotton Plus made 3 washcloths and they're just so soft and nice! I had just enough yellow left over from the hat to make another. I also have enough Cotton Ease for at least one more. I have a lot of Peaches/Sugar n' Creme, but I'm hesitant to use it for these cloths because I don't want them to shrink and get goofy looking - at least not right away. These are going to be for teachers who don't get the blankets. Don't make me think of the blankets yet!

Lastly, Annette Petavy's Pillow from CrochetMe. I'm using worsted weight acrylic from the stash and an I hook, but following the pattern exactly. I stopped after 15 strips for the one on the right and still have a few more strips to go on the left one. I'll crochet backs, stuff, and toss on our sofa. My family room is looking dark and bland lately and I'm hoping these will help to brighten things up a bit.

This is a lot of stuff. What's gotten into me, you ask? I'm doing my usual thing of "I have something I have to do but I really don't want to do it so instead I'm going to enter a stage of profound yarn catharsis and produce so much that I delude myself into thinking I'm actually using my time productively."

The thing I have to do is make my niece's 1st Communion dress. I'm ready to start and I know I can do it, but it's a big and quite important project so I'm waiting for the planets to align just right before I start and that is NOT this week. It's spring break, A. has been at WI Dells with the neighbors so it's just the boys and I. Now really people, can you see the logic in laying out mounds of white (WHITE) satin, lining, tulle, and organza with two boys running rampant and just waiting for the opportunity to strike? Me neither. I'll start after they go back to school next week.

So in the meantime, I'm trying to make yarn go away. There's nothing more satisfying than throwing away bits of yarn too small to make anything with and watching the pile lessen. Plus, when I'm all done, I can buy new yarn guilt-free!

Is it spring yet?

This is what I did on Thursday and Friday. You like? I've had the yarn for several months now but finally got off my arse and made A. her Fiber Trends felted clogs. They are GIGANTIC! I have unshakable faith in Bev Galeskas's instructions however and I'm certain they will felt down perfectly.

I'd forgotten just how quickly these slippers come together. I knitted them both on Thursday and felted them this morning. I haven't been able to get her to stop sliding across the wood floors long enough to take a photo, but I'll get one some day. She's been invited to the Wisconsin Dells with our neighbors for spring break and really wanted to take these with so I tried drying them in my dryer, on the rack, on extra low heat. Worked like a charm. She spent some time trimming off all the fuzzies and they are perfect. Finally, a "knitted thing" she actually likes!

Ok, now into the meat of the post - I'm staring out my window, this lovely March 21 - first day of spring, I might add - and looking at a beautiful winter wonderland.

Except is MARCH 21, THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!! Haven't we had enough yet?

I know there's a lot of people out there who think that Minnesota is cold year round, but that's just not true. We get brutal cold winters, but our springs and summers are lovely and warm. This has been the longest winter we've had in a really long time and it's starting to wear on all of us.

Our first snow was sometime back in late October and it never left us. We've had lots of snow and more than our fair share of insane cold. The house has been shut up tight for nearly 6 months. We were just starting to see grass again and now bam, we're hit with more snow. It can't last long, right?

This weather has to be the major contributing factor to the rampant influenza B scare that's running through our town. It actually killed a little 5 year old girl who's preschool classroom is right across the hallway from B's class. L. had it first. 103 fever, couldn't go to his 1st grade concert, puking, you name it. He got better after only 2.5 days though. Mr. T. got it next. I've never seen him that sick and I've known him now for 15 years.

I took care of him and came down with it next. I was sitting in the elementary school listening to the kindergarten registration program when the throat tickle and cough started. By that night, I was down for the count as well. Fever, chills, worst aches of my life, cough, and limp lungs that can't seem to get quite enough air. I *think* I'm starting to rejoin the living again after over a week.

As far as the rest of my yarn world, I've begun to feel the pressure of a friend's baby's impending arrival and the looming of the last day of school - hence, teacher gifts. I tied up some loose ends with some of my other projects (Kanga Sweatshirt and Climbing Cables) by crocheting until I ran out of yarn and those are set aside for now. I'd like to get back on the Oblique horse and get that one done. I went like gangbusters on that for so long and then just stopped. I bought the perfect buttons; now I just need to finish it.

I'm cruising along on the Baby Genius Burp Cloths. I've finished 3 and would like to just keep going and see how many I can do. My friend's baby is due April 15, and then I have 2 cousins who are also expecting in June! Never hurts to have things like those burp cloths on hand for gifts and I have quite enough cotton to last me a while. I have a baby blanket in a box somewhere that only needs a few more inches as well as several baby quilts that only need minimal finishing. I should be good.

The big box of Fluffy Lap Blanket yarn is calling my name too. I plan to shovel those out with wreckless abandon. I won't need as many last year because L. has some of the same teachers as last year - thank goodness! I'm making more Mason-Dixon Washcloths for them. Those are so quick and cute and take so little yarn. I have 4 stashed waiting for blocking and I'll add to that in the days to come, I'm sure.

Oh! AND I've committed to sewing my niece's 1st Communion dress. Yikes! The big day is May 4. I have plenty of time, but I must budget my time accordingly and concentrate. I'll keep you posted!

I must be going through blog-withdrawal or something - better stop for now, but hopefully since I'm starting to feel better, I'll get back into the swing of posting daily. I like that.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend, everybody

Work and knitting

Yesterday's post was actually posted this morning, so I thought I'd clarify a few things. Sunday was when the ripping happened and I finished the back this morning - not yesterday morning. I made sure to only knit yesterday when I felt perfectly alert and at the height of my TheraFlu relief; all was well. Does it all really matter? Heck no! It's only knitting!

Today I'm still feeling sub-par, but my body doesn't ache quite so much and the mercury has risen to a whopping 12 F ABOVE ZERO! It's unbelievable! I've been half expecting to see my neighbor run around in a halter top and shorts. We be hardy folk here in Minnesota!

Alas, with health comes getting back to work - home and otherwise. Laundry is in motion, dishes are done, and I'm back at my piano room desk doing my real job. We had a staff meeting today - translate: set cell phone to speaker AND mute and commence knitting on the Baby Genius Burp Cloth from Mason Dixon Knitting.




My friend, Kathy (the one in light blue from the picture in the previous post), is having a baby boy in April so yay! - I get to knit for someone other than myself! I have great hopes of completing several of these burp cloths and bibs to give to little Will. Perhaps even a Moderne Baby Blanket, if I have the guts for that much garter stitch.




If you're familiar with this pattern - and have really good eyes - you'll notice right away that I started the stripes on the wrong row. I'm not interested in re-casting on cotton yarn so it's gonna stay exactly the way it is. Plus, the so-called "wrong" side is very neat and tidy stripes so the burp cloth will look good no matter which side the spit up lands. What more could a mom want?


Don't get me wrong - I'm done having kids and want another baby like I want a home invasion. However I really love knitting baby things and it makes me nostagic for the time when I was pregnant, especially the first time. I'd been crocheting doilies and other such crap for many years already but I started making more productive use of my time by crocheting little blankets. My mom let me loose on her Hefty Tall Kitchen Garbage Bag stash of Jamie Baby and I made blankets, sweaters, a cardigan/pants set, a bunting, and a whole bunch of booties. I used a bunch of vintage patterns and a couple new ones.


It was so much fun to drag it all along with me to work each day and crochet before work and at my lunch hour. There I was, 22 years old, crocheting around all ages and types of sophisticated business people. I don't think anyone ever said a word to me about what I was working on...oh wait, there was one woman who commented on a blanket I was making, but nobody else. I think people either didn't know what I was doing, or they thought it a major faux pas to actually call attention to it. I think times have changed a little! For one, I don't think I'd be the only one I ever saw making something during her lunch hour and two, I'm sure I'd be chatting away with someone within 5 minutes. It's nice that this whole yarn crafting gig has gained more popularity. I'll have to drag all those old blankies out and photograph them sometime.


Anyway, only a few minutes separate me from relative peace to the chaos that is children coming home from school, so I'd best be away!

Summer Knitting in January

As I sat and knit on the Lutea Lace-Shoulder Shell this morning before everyone woke up, I wondered what I was thinking knitting something for summer in January? I just finished the Hourglass Sweater (it's blocking as I type) and I still have sweater quantities of wool waiting to be knit into things that I want equally as much as the summer stuff. Even still, the answer wasn't hard to find.

First, if I knit summer garments now, I'm more likely to have them finished by the time it's actually warm enough to wear them. It's hard to believe it will happen when I look out at the crystal blue sky and see that it's -6 F, but warm weather will come.

The second reason is that very soon, I need to start my Fluffy Lap Blanket Frenzy. Last fall, Smiley's had Red Heart Symphony for $1.00 a ball. I went nuts and bought the entire $40 minimum of several colors, plus some Red Heart Tweed as the contrast band color. I think I have enough yarn for 10 blankets total in 4 or 5 different colors. I'm giving out blankets and Mason-Dixon Washcloths with soap as end of the year teacher gifts but I haven't yet decided who gets what. I figure I'd better just get knitting and decide later. Remember the blankets and washcloths? Here they are. I think they are the best idea for teacher gifts ever!

The blankets in the photo were gifted to L.'s teachers last year, but the two washcloths are part of the gift stash for this year. All they need is blocking, but I'll wait until I have a few more. I found some forgotten TLC Cotton Plus in my cotton box and I think I'll try a few washcloths out of that. I really like that stuff - very pretty and easy to work with.

I must crack down on work today, but I'm hoping to get enough knitting time during my breaks to reach the 13.5" stopping point for the Lutea Lace Shell. Then I get to do the short rows and get ready for the lace.

Oh yeah, reason #3 for doing summer knitting in January...it's super duper fast! Who couldn't use some instant gratification right about now?

Thanksgiving...and a fit of consience.

Hey, how was your Thanksgiving? Once I got done with work-work, then house-work, and got down to the business of cooking-work, I had a great time. My mom came over and that was it. The turkey was perfect (thank you, Alton Brown!) and everything else was exceptionally good. See?



In a post-meal, Arbor Mist/Shiraz haze, I announced that I would not knit on anything else until I finished my brother's Ombre Acrylic Blanket from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I was really good and I'm soooooo close! However....

Progress has definitely quickened since I began using my KnitPicks needles and the 47" cable. I'm about 3" into the final band of color. I'm ridiculously close to finishing, yet yesterday afternoon, my wrists got sore.

So following the Vikings heroic victory over the Giants (Skol Vikings!), I scrapped my vow, looked to the right and saw Drops 79-24...the front is done, but the back was calling my name.

That's ok, I justified. It's such a fast moving knit, I said to myself "I'll just knit the back until this ball of yarn is done." True to my word, I stopped on the back when I finished the ball.

Then I looked to my left. There lay Drops 103-1, with just a teensy weensy bit of its ball of yarn left. Well, that would not do, so I had to knit until that ball of yarn was done. All right, maybe I did just a little bit more. Isn't the brown tweed purdy!

Now I'm at a crossroads, but I think the final decision is clear. I absolutely have got to get this monkey....er....blanket off my back. Just think of what a relief it would be to get this thing done with and shipped off to NY? This blanket is like knitting shackles right now. I must free myself from its grasp. Wanna see my dilemma?

Now, if I were truly conscientious, I might remove the tempting projects entirely. What you can't see in the shot is that a little below the frame is also a pile of books and magazines including both One Skein Wonder books, the last two IKs, Creative Knitting, and Knit n Style. As a side note, those last two magazines are ones I usually cringe at but to my surprise, Creative Knitting has several attractive projects and Knit n Style had ok projects and decent articles. I mostly bought them because I felt I deserved something for working 40 hours in 3.5 days.

So tonight I'm faced with the problem of deciding to which project I'll devote my time. Hmmmm. It's gonna be tough.

A moment to breathe...

What day is it today? Oh yeah, Thursday. They all run together lately. For some strange reason, I thought that school starting would bring a sort of respite to my world, that I'd be able to fall back into a nice easy schedule and things would be all wine and roses.

HAH!!!!

Last night, fueled by a PMS storm of emotion and a post-flu lethargy guilt trip, I got angry about the state of my side of the Little Mountain. My daily life has been a frenzied mess of running kids here and there, running the dog out and in, running to and from cabinets trying to satiate my son, The Bottomless Pit, and all the while bobbing along in a sea of laundry and blowing aside the dust bunnies. It really is everywhere.

On top of all that, I actually have a job. I'm an administrative assistant in the electric industry. I've done this work for many years now and I've been lucky enough to work from home since my middle son was diagnosed with autism. It's a blessing to be working from home since it means I can contribute something to the household while still being able to take him to the therapies he needs. It's also a curse.

When I worked full time, we got up very early and the kids went to daycare and I went to work. I came home and had lots of housework, but comparatively less than now because when you work outside the home, typically nobody is left at home to make a mess! Now that I work from home, there's always some other living thing here with me doing something to add to the sum total of my work. Then there's the annoying fact that my husband and I discussed and actually agreed that since I'm home and he works, I'd be responsible for all housework. Could I really be THAT stupid?

So as I sat knitting this morning at 5:11 a.m., I decided I needed a schedule. Here's what it looks like:

• 4:40-6:30 a.m. - Walk on treadmill, knit/read/listen to podcasts or audiobook
• 6:30-7:00 a.m. - Shower/dress
• 7:00-8:20 a.m. - Get kids all ready, clean up kitchen/pick up house/run laundry
• 8:20-9:15 a.m. - Get kids off to school (which means put Luke on his bus to the school across town, get Alicia off to her bus or drive Alicia to school when she's on crossing guard duty, take Ben to preschool when he has it)
• 9:15-11:15 a.m. - Work (or volunteer at schools when I'm scheduled)
• 11:15-11:45 a.m. - Pick Ben up from preschool/blog/clean up/laundry
• 11:45-1:30 p.m. - Lunch/laundry/clean up/knit/watch Knitty Gritty
• 1:30-3:30 p.m. - Work
• 3:30-4:00 p.m. - Clean up/await the arrival of Luke and Alicia
• 4:00 p.m. - Pick Alicia up at school when she's on crossing guard duty/leave for Buffalo (on Thursdays when Luke has occupational and speech therapy)
• 4:00-5:45 p.m. - On Thursdays, sit in the van and knit or read while Luke is at therapy (otherwise known as trying very hard to resist the temptation to fondle yarn at Silver Creek Cabin); on every other day, figure out what to feed the herd/clean up/laundry
• 5:45-7:00 p.m. - Clean up after dinner/dishes/homework/pick up/laundry
• 7:00-bedtime - Sit like a lump in my spot on the sectional (the chaise part!) with a pillow behind my back and knitting on my lap.

I'm really going to try to stick to this. The one thing I know is that I need my little bit of alone time each morning and my time in the evening to stay intact. I have to knit. It's like breathing and it keeps me somewhat sane, although that isn't likely to happen until I get a handle on the disarray of my home.

Anyway, knitting-wise, I realized yesterday that I was one month away from the second deadline I've given myself for completing the Ombre Alpaca (Acrylic) Blanket. November 10 is my brother's birthday and I am gunning for having it in his condo in the Bronx by that date. I'm 3" from joining sleeves and body to begin the yoke of the Cable Yoke Pullover. It is going to take an extraordinary amount of restraint on my part to set the pullover aside and finish the blanket. It would take next to no time to finish that sleeve and get going on the yoke, but I know that if I did that now, I would never be able to put it down until it was finished. I need something subliminal, chanting the words "Blanket first, the Pullover will wait". Here's where I am now:

I have two colors of yarn left and I cannot miss my second deadline for this blanket! Ahhhhhh, help me!

It's summer?

The craziness that is summer has now descended upon our house! It's nuts! We have community ed activities, sports, summer school, occupational therapy, speech therapy - and I get to try to work from home through it all. Riiight!

School got out later than usual on June 7 so it seems impossible that it can actually be July if the kids haven't even been out of school a month. The teacher blankies were finished in record time, distributed on time, and loved by all. It really makes me feel good to be able to make something special for those who work so hard to enrich the lives of special little kids like my boy.

Here's the stack! After the first one, the green one, I remembered that the last time I made these, I'd actually increased the width a little. So the green one was made exactly per the instructions for the lap blanket version in Weekend Knitting, and given to the teeny tiny speech therapist. The red one is the largest - I cast on 132 stitches for that blanket and it was given to the 6 foot tall kindergarten teacher. I cast on 120 stitches for the other two and they were given to the two remaining - and average height - teachers; the para and special education teacher.

I absolutely love these blankets and I'm getting ready to place an order for more yarn. At the end of the summer I will need to say goodbye to the Boy's occupational therapist of 4.5 years and she deserves perhaps the afghan size of this blanket. I think Symphony is discontinued, but luckily Smiley's is selling it for $1.50 a ball. Whee!

Oh yeah, the teacher blankies!

Almost forgot...it's off to the races with the 2nd Annual Great Afghan Marathon! A huge box came from Smiley's loaded with 16 balls of Red Heart Symphony (4 each of 4 colors), 1 skein of Red Heart Tweed, and something like 30 balls of Cervinia Sorrento (6 each of 5 colors). All for $64 (including shipping!)! Here's the first of the four Fluffy Lap Blankets:

I like it! And it's a very fast knit. I know it looks small-ish, but it is a lap blanket. It's perfect size for throwing over your knees, or as one of Luke's teachers last year told me, she throws it around her shoulders each morning when she has her coffee. The gathers in the stockinette sections help to expand the fabric while the garter stitch contrast bands keep everything in place. It's a nice blankie!

Here's the start of the blanket that will be my brother's housewarming gift:

Yeah, it's hard to tell what it will be like (that's Sam's tail on the left), but it is the ombre blanket from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I miscalculated slightly on the yarn so the transitioning stripes are going to be narrower than the solid stripes. Oh well. The color progression is black-charcoal-brown-light brown-gray heather-light taupe. Not quite a true ombre, but close enough. It's also a fast knit. Let's hope it's fast enough!

Back to the knitting...

Afghans and Autism

The yarn has been ordered and the 2nd Annual Great Afghan Marathon is about to commence! The afghans are going to be teacher gifts at the end of the school year. Before you all (as though I had readers...snort!) think "isn't a blanket a little ambitious for a teacher gift?", let me explain.

I have 3 great kids: the Girl is 10, the Boy is now 7, and the Little Guy is 4. Boy was diagnosed with autism at age 2 and had the same teacher from age 2.5 through last summer at age 6. Along with the teacher was her assistant, the speech clinician, and the occupational therapist. As Boy got ready to move on to kindergarten, I felt they all deserved extra special gifts because of all their hard work (which BTW paid off in leaps and bounds), something much more than anything you could buy in a store. But what?

As I read through Weekend Knitting, I thought "could Nicky Epstein's Fluffy Lap Blanket BE any more perfect?" I didn't think so. I imagined each woman after a trying day with special needs kids going home and snuggling up with a book or perhaps some knitting of her own.

So 4 lap blankets were made last spring for 4 special women who dedicate their lives to helping kiddos with autism. Not willing to be outdone, Girl demanded that a blanket be made for her teacher as well. All were extremely well received, so I'm going to do it again.

This year, 4 lap blankets will again be made for 4 special women who have once again enriched the life of my Boy. Girl has a male teacher so I'm counting on her not wanting to give him a blanket. Cross your fingers!

Stay tuned for more details about the blankets, the yarn, and the cause!