Tigger Tigger

Tigger Socks

Tigger is one of our two kitties. Hubby and I both agree that she is the sweetest and cutest cat in the world. From her silent meows to how she loves to curl up in a ball on your lap and lay her head every so carefully over your arm, there is no denying that she can make us melt instantly.

Last year I made one of the Noro Striping scarves and E really liked the colors. I had remarked that they reminded me of Tigger's colors. From the moment hubby realized that the yarn came in sock weight he decided that he needed Tigger socks. I attempted the double striping by using the same skein, but that attempt wasn't in the least bit attractive. Because of where I started I couldn't really see the stripes and it looked more like what I imagine a Tigger hair-ball to be (she has never had one). I also couldn't believe how scratchy this yarn was! What were people thinking by claiming they loved this stuff?

Fast forward to deciding these would be Christmas socks. And that I would make them with sole gussets. Hubby wears his other socks ALL the time so it was necessary to get him a second pair. Several false starts, half length rips later I finally had my first full sock. I believe I had actually knit enough stitches to make two full socks already. At least the 2nd one would fly off the needles. And it did!

Oh, and the scratchy-ness? I barely even noticed it this time around. Either my hands are slightly more calloused or I had been knitting with malabrigo just before the original attempt. I didn't find the texture to be a problem (besides the wavering sizes of the strand) and it softened quite a bit after being knit 6+ times.

Hubby loves them. And it would appear Tigger isn't too offended.
At least they're not real fur.

(at some point I started calling her Tigger Tigger. Not sure when that happened, but it has stuck. If I need her for something it's usually "Tigger Tigger Tigger," and she comes running. If she's in trouble it's simply "Tigger!")

Big Blue

Big Blue

Rav Link

Finally finished and photographed. Now it's sitting on top of my dresser awaiting a delicate sewn bag as Christmas wrapping. This is for hubby's mother. I grew up with the term "mother-in-law" having a very negative connotation, hence my saying "hubby's mother" quite often. She is one of the sweetest ladies on the planet.


Back in August I was knitting away on one of my Wandering the Moor shawls at a Speech Club party (She is a teacher, hubby and I both coach for a competitive club) and she sat watching me for a bit. Before too long she was asking me if I would make her a shawl for Christmas. How could I say no?

I love knitting for Christmas gifts. And when it comes to knitting for hubby's family I almost always enlist his opinion on color. He knows them much better than I, and this way he plays a part in the gift as well. For Mom he chose blue. We decided together on the light blue trim, though I have to admit he had to talk me into it a little bit.


Pattern -
The body of the shawl is based on the increases for my Wandering the Moor shawl.
The ruffle is from Mustaa villaa .
Size US 4 / 3.5 mm needles
Yarn: Davidson Domy Heather in Blue Mist (3/4 skein) and Midnight (1 2/3 skeins)

If I were to knit this again I would work the increases on the 2nd row of the colored border instead of the first. It made for a little bit of a wonky row instead of nice and straight. Also I blocked the shawl hard to get some lovely drape. The ruffle I left alone and let it do it's own thing. The only bad thing about this is that there is less of a ruffle than there should be. Oh well.

This ended up exactly the size I wanted.
Can't wait to gift it on Christmas Eve!

And my least favorite shot, but it shows you how large (and apparently sheer!) it really is.

Thanksgiving

I have so many things in my life to be thankful for. And while I could go on and on about all those things I'll show you a few various things I've been thankful for in the recent days.

Extended Family

Here are a bunch of my girls. The 6 of us in the center of the photo are from Seattle; two of whom still live in Seattle and were here for a short visit. The 4 ladies on the outside are from MN (one is married to one of the Seattle guys) or CO and all live here, as do the other 4 of us in the center. It's so amazing to have girls I grew up with so close to me when we're all creating homes away from our homes. I love that this pic is all blurry. It truly shows the chaos of something as simple as getting ready for a picture.

Apple Pie

The apple pie that I always bake now is a family recipe from my friend L. Her grandmother used to bake it, then (and still) her mother, and now her (and quite possibly her niece). I'm so thankful that she passed it along to me as well. I love this family and making this pie makes me feel even closer to them despite the distance (they are in Seattle too). In fact, L's parents came out here to our wedding. Proof that they are family. It was so very special!

Silly Little Things

I love to laugh. I read comics every morning at work. I'll choose to watch a comedy over a drama most any day. I honestly believe that laughter truly does make the best medicine.

Above you'll see a nut cracker that belongs to E's parents. It's a little sailor man and the bottom screws up into his mouth to crack a nut. I have no clue how old it is and I've never seen anything like him before. I think I would start eating nuts if he were mine. I'm so thankful for little things in life like this that make you smile, giggle, or laugh out loud for no reason other than they make you happy.

My Hubby

This is on the outside wall of a yarnshop we stopped by on a mini 'road trip' to a Chipotle for lunch. As we were getting in the car I looked up and saw this. We were parked right in front of it. Sort of like our own personal parking stall.

I really do have the sweetest hubby in the world. And he gets sweeter every day. I'm incredibly proud of him too. He is a writer and is currently upstairs (in my craft room!) in the 'multipurpose room' typing away on his last night of NaNoWriMO. What's more is that he is right on schedule for the entire month. Hopefully by early January he'll have a good rough draft of his book done. He's been editing and writing so much this month (at least 3 hours a day if not more) and he still finds time to help me keep the house clean.

I love you E!

Great weekend

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Ours started off with visiting E's parents on Friday for dinner. That was followed by an evening at Starbucks with me knitting away on the Big Blue (new name for the never ending blue shawl) and hubby writing alongside me at Starbucks. He'll be home now on Fridays, but is still rather persistent that I have my Friday nights at Starbucks. Such a sweetie.

Saturday I got a lot of sewing done. Several years ago E's mother requested fabric bags to replace our overflowing stockings at Christmas. I said I would make them, but when the time came I couldn't bear to not have stockings. Instead I knit some knowing they would stretch to hold what was inside. Now I don't care to knit another stocking, and they honestly didn't hold up as well as I thought they would. And they certainly didn't look pretty! So on Saturday I went to the friendly neighborhood Mill End Textiles and got a good grouping of fabric for bags. Being not the best sewer and the type of person to learn on my own (translate ~ the hard way) it took me some good time to get everything cut. Even then I only got 4 bags sewn before hubby came home and took over the office for writing (he's doing great with NaNoWriMO!). I'll take pics when I get the last 4 sewn.

After that I finished up the plush alphabet for my nephews. This afternoon I fray-checked all the edges. Hopefully that keeps them holding up well to little boy hands. I'm sure I lost quite a few brain cells during the process too - that stuff stinks!I can see a difference in my sewing now on curves. There were several letters I disposed of from the first round. Now there are two complete sets ready to be mailed off.

I also finished the Big Blue. Here she is in her partially blocked state. In an attempt to see if I had knit it long enough I blocked it only to realize I had at least 2 more inches of the dark blue to go before I could start on the light. Now I have only that two inch ridge and the light blue garter ruffle to block. Wait, how are you supposed to block a ruffle?

While binding off I was almost in shock. It feels like it's taken me forever to finish the thing. E says he's sure the recipient will love it. I have to finish the block before I'll admit my feelings.

This work week will be light. Only three days and then we're off for Thanksgiving and the day after as well. As per tradition we'll be helping E's parents set up their Christmas tree on Friday. Oh, and I'll have to remind E to bring a GI Joe. He hides one in the tree every year to annoy his sister. It's been a little tradition between the two of them for a decade or so. He used to play with them in the tree when he was little and would leave them there. She would find them and be frustrated since they obviously didn't belong there. Then years later he started sneaking them back in. We'll see if she find it this year...

I thought this was so cute I have to share it. Hubby was giving me a back rub this evening and said this:

"My wife is a sponge. I found her in the ocean.
Most men find mermaids. I found a sponge."

Then he gave me a kiss on the cheek, giggle.
And yes, I melt with head/back/arm rubs. They are such wonderful events.

Back to basics

For quite a few years in my late highschool and early college days I had a very basic colored wardrobe. I wore lots of blacks, grays, and whites. They were easy to pair together, and seemed to make my wardrobe go further.

Thanks to the influence from my friends I was able to break out of that mold and start wearing brighter colors here and there. It wasn't until I was out of college that I really started to wear brown tones. It's a wonderful basic color that so many things pair wonderfully with.

Then I started knitting. Suddenly a wide array of colors that I normally wouldn't think about purchasing in clothes started catching my eye. I was feeling bold enough to attempt projects in yarn. (ironic since this is often more expensive than the deals I find on clothes)

While I still purchase yarn and clothes in a variety of colors I find that I'm being drawn back to my love for gray and now brown tones. Above is a mosaic of my fiber, handspun, and stash in "natural" tones. I know all of these aren't natural colors, but they at least look like they could be. It's amazing how drawn I am to undyed fiber in stores and festivals. (part of this is because I don't like a lot of the colorways I've seen) I'd say 'like a moth to a flame' but I don't think I run the risk of being burnt with this stuff.

1 Million stitches

I did it! I have officially knit over 1 million stitches in 2009, and I'll keep counting until the end of the year. I have to admit I'm curious now.

And to celebrate I ordered myself a little treat...Habu.

Merino

Stainless steel & Wool (yes, the stainless steel is at the core)

I forsee ones of those beautiful scarves in my future. Now just to find the time to knit it!

If you'll excuse me, I'm off with hubby and my two lovely friends L & K to go celebrate.

Randomness

I always try to keep my small Fuji camera in my purse. But because it's always in my purse I tend to forget to upload pics on a consistent basis. So here are a few of my favorites from the last upload.

Hubby and I on the day before Halloween. No one at our office dressed up at all. I wore some dark eye makeup and my "Bite Me" t-shirt with big red lips and fangs.

This was my view from the side mirror of our car over lunch break. It looked so beautiful in person. the pic just didn't do it justice.

Both kitties love it when we do laundry because they know if they beg enough that we'll play with them. Here Tigger has taken over the tub of freshly folded socks. Usually you'll find them inside E's t-shirts attacking our hands and feet. Or they are commandeering our under-things and that often results in a tug-of-war match.

And some plants outside our office. The glow was so lovely and warm that I couldn't pass up a shot.

Overflowing

"It's 11/11... make a wish all day long. :)"

My hubby sent me that over Google messenger yesterday. At some point in college I learned that you were supposed to make a wish when you saw a clock read "11:11". I'm not sure why, but it's lent a magical feeling to an ordinary minute of the day.

Here were my wishes for that day:

1 - That I can finish my Christmas knitting quickly (I just inherited 4 new items to make).

2 - That I can still have a Calm leisurely December as I've sworn I would all year long. (hence my goal of getting Christmas knitting done by the end of this month, which just won't happen)


Oi - have I been busy! I have only 6,188 more stitches to knit to make my goal of 1,000,000 stitches in one year! Seems a little surreal that I have really knit that much.

My post count has been down of late for 3 reasons -

1 - I can't get images off of my Flickr account now. I used to post primarily in my down time at work, but I have a feeling that will go by the wayside now. (edit - I found a way around this. WooHoo! Flickr does have a 'post to blog' option, didn't work. Thankfully there was another way.)

2 - Winter sun. It's dark enough outside by 5pm for pictures to be no good at all. So now my picture taking needs to happen primarily on the weekends, assuming the light and clouds actually cooperate.

One of the neck warmers. This was attempt #3.

3 - I have knit and re-knit most everything I have been working on lately.
* My 3 neck warmers that I made and just shipped off to my mom - I had to rip two of those 2x + and knit them again.
* Hubby's socks, I have knit and ripped and knit enough that both socks should be done by now. Yep, just finished the first a couple of days ago.
* My TYC...(le sigh)...I was swimming in it when I tried it on! I'll have to rip back past the cabeling on the yoke and remove some rows between the underarm and the cabels. It's completely done, buttons and everything, all seamed, and unwearable. It's sitting on my dresser reminding me that sometimes you just can't help problems in knitting.

Hubby is currently working on NaNoWriMO (National Novel Writing Month). I opted to do my own version - KnitMyBrainsOut - where I would finish all my Christmas knitting, fix TYC, and finish my Henley. That has currently changed into finishing as much Christmas knitting as possible due to the inclusion of those additional Christmas gifts . The best part about those gifts is that they are going to people who I know will treasure my handknitting...and those are the gifts I just can't say "no" to!

Oh yeah, I do have a problem saying "no" to people. But this isn't one of those moments, honestly.

Cobblestone

Cobblestone

It's been a little chilly lately. In fact it was so chilly earlier this month that we actually got snow. I can't say that I have ever seen trees shed green leaves before. Thankfully Cobblestone is now done and ready and being enjoyed by hubby much more than I expected he ever would. I won't complain!

I did my test swatch flat and got a different gauge than the pattern calls for. Due to this I cast on the appropriate stitches for an XSmall (I did some math as the pattern doesn't give this size), and jumped right in. Of course I ended up getting the gauge that the pattern actually calls for. Go figure.


I ended up adding 3 extra inches onto the sleeves and two inches onto the body to get them where they needed to be for my 6'3" hubby. I've had to give him a stern talking to about pulling on his sleeves. He has a habit of doing this to his old sweaters that have shrunk. And of course this has now carried over into his new sweaters.

At first the sweater was rather snug, but now it's slowly growing into a comfortable size for him.

For the past few months hubby has been writing on my laptop up in the extra bedroom/craft room/writing space. Because of all the extra things in this room we'd rather the cats stay out unless we're there with them. Due to this the door is usually shut and it can get a little chilly in there. Most every time I've seen hubby in there since I gave him the sweater he's been wearing it and his wool socks. Brings a smile to my face every time.

Details:
Pattern - Cobblestone by Jared Flood
Yarn - Cascade Ecological Wool 2.1 skeins (8049 - Dark Ash)
Needles - US8 (5mm) Addi circular needle
Modifications - XSmall size, longer sleeves and cuffs

I really enjoyed knitting this sweater. Somewhat mindless, easy to understand, easy to alter. Looks nice and simple and he loves it.

Art Crawl

I'm a little late in posting this since it happened what, two weeks ago? Ack 3! Oops. The weather hasn't been cooperating with me for Finished Object shots. So this will keep the blog occupied in the mean time.

L and I went on an art crawl at the beginning of the month, so much fun. About 7 of the colleges around the Twin Cities opened up their art galleries and offered beverages as well as hors d'oeuvres. They even had busses traveling between for several hours. We didn't have the best luck with the busses, nor did we get to see many of the galleries. But that didn't keep us from having a great time.

One of the last places we stopped at had some of the oddest art and we couldn't help but giggling most of the time we were there. This was at Northwestern College just N of the Cities. The art gallery was Let's Paint TV by John Kilduff. And here are 3 of his pieces that we got the biggest kick out of.

Click on any image to see larger

Internet TV Collaboration - Dancing Pancakes & Bacon

Of course now I can't remember what all we said/found in this one. But I recall thinking those were shrimp in the center with a megaphone, and a burger next to them. And of course there is the Stay Puffed monster on the left. Those shrimp, er Bacon, were as large as our heads! Oh, and if you've seen Howl's Moving Castle...doesn't that flower thing in the upper right look like one of those shooting stars?

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

We looked at this one for a while trying to figure out what it was. All I could think of was that the city was being attacked by flying monsters and that they were setting everyone around them on fire. Wish I could remember what L thought about them.

Internet TV Collaboration - Self Portrait w/ Doogie Howser on a Unicorn

We hadn't looked at this piece long before we found the flier noting the names of the pieces. But I remember seeing the Hulk and the unicorn. And of course we burst out laughing when we realized the guy on the unicorn was supposed to be Doogie Howser.

And yes, those are actually the names of the paintings ... and they are for sale. Come on, you know you need some dancing bacon in your home. Just be happy I didn't take a photo of Mario, Popeye, Pirate Ship.

And just because I thought she was so cute, here's a pic of my chubby kitty

I'm off to:
Knit 4 more rounds on a cowl, bind off, block.
Finish in the ends to my TYC, block.
Sew 6 buttons on a cowl.
Knit 16 more rows on a cowl, bind off, block.
Sew 2 buttons on a cowl, problem solve the lack of another needed button.
Knit on socks for hubby... 5th times a charm right? I'm bound to get these right some day.
Chart a new shawl for hubby's mother for her Christmas present.
And there was one more thing...
...besides laundry I mean.
Toodles