Ten things

Inspired by my friend Liz at XRK, I am going to write down ten things about the love of my life, Banana. I will also write ten things about the other love of my life, Wayne Terrance, without whom there would be no Banana.

1. Banana gives me good hugs and kisses.
2. She has the sweetest laugh in the whole world.
3. When I tell her that we are going somewhere, the first question she asks is, "Will there be kids there for me to play with?" She loves to make friends.
4. When my mom was sick and sad, Banana would sing songs to her to help her stop crying and cheer her up.
5. She is good at playing make-believe.
6. She is a good artist and can draw all of her letters. She can also spell her name and 'puppy' all by herself.
7. She wants to learn to knit and crochet when she is a smidge older.
8. She gives everyone hugs when she sees them.
9. She is a girly-girl, but she likes to play in dirt too.
10. She is my pride and joy.



1. WT is kind.
2. WT is patient, especially in this estrogen-ridden place we call home.
3. WT encourages my creativity, which is priceless.
4. WT is a musician and can write really good songs. He also can make up silly songs at any given time that are creative and hilarious.
5. WT is always trying to be a better man, even though he doesn't need to be, because he's already as good as they get.
6. He gives me great big hugs that make me feel small and dainty, which is a feeling that is hard to come by when you are 5'11".
7. He doesn't yell at me when I spend too much money on clothes and yarn, he just gently reminds me that paying the electric bill and water bill are important too.
8. He loves his little girl more than anything.
9. He has a great laugh.
10. He married me in spite of me.

I love these two. It's all too easy in today's world to forget your priorities in life and focus on things that, in the end, don't mean that much. Banana and Wayne Terrance help me keep my priorities in order, and help me be mindful of the things that are important in life. I could write a list about many more people, like my dad and my brother and my aunt and my friends. But that would take a while. I'll lay it on you in dribs and drabs.

It's good to be thankful.

Crocheted mitered square - my own pattern (sort of)

I've loved mitered squares since I saw my friend Aileen making a shawl out of them. But she is mainly a knitter, and I am really a crocheter, so I decided to search the Web to see if I could find a pattern for a crocheted mitered square. None met with my approval, but I got the gist of what one was supposed to do, so here is the result. It took about an hour, and surprisingly, no frogging was involved in the manufacture of this potholder.

So for you crocheters out there, here is how I did this:

Chain an even number of stitches, plus one at the end (for single crochet). I crocheted 40 + 1.
Single crochet in 2nd chain from hook, single crochet the first 18 stitches, single crochet together stitches 19 and 20, and also 21 and 22, then single crochet the rest of the row.
Continue to decrease the middle four stitches in each row.
I ended by doing a single crochet border (two times) around the outside - this seemed to help maintain more of a square shape.

Ta dah.

Handbag

Ta dah. Here is another finished object. Design: my own. Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n' Cream, less than 2 balls. Time to complete: 4 hours or so. Not bad, eh? If I make another one, it will probably have a skinnier handle. Otherwise, I'm fairly pleased with the outcome.

Now I need to make a sweater or something. I also still need to finish the poncho that will not end. Wish me luck.

Duh

Thanks for Liz for letting me know how to allow your kind comments to actually get read. Just when I think I'm growing technologically...

What to do?

Okay, so here is the poncho I'm working on for a co-worker. As you can see, she is using quality yarn. I am just having such a hard time getting into this project. I guess it's because this is not my taste, and not something I would ever choose to make. And I'm worried about her liking my modifications. She gave me carte blanche, but still... I hope it comes out okay. Lesson learned: no commissions of any sort for Sally.



In other project news, my knitted scarf is getting longer, and I am now at an impasse - do I make it longer, or stop now? Help me out here, people.

There is this chick on Flickr who goes by Cosymakes . She knits little scarflet/neckwarmers, then fastens them with pins or clip-on earrings. They are super cute, and if I do the same, I'll have enough yarn leftover to make another scarflet and matching fingerless gloves. Maybe even a hat. So what do you think? How should I proceed? Let me know.

It's a sign

After reading Liz's blog, I decided to go to Skippack on a whim to visit Yarnings. I have not voluntarily participated in the Summer of Stash, I just haven't bought as much yarn as I would have liked because we don't have much extra money. But there was a sale, for heaven's sake. How much could I possibly spend?

So I drove out to Skippack, parked the car, got Banana out of the car, walked up to the front door, and...

Yarnings is closed on Mondays.

It's a sign. I can't buy yarn now. I just have to make do with what I have. Sigh.

I love yarn.

Knit Progress

Happy Saturday! Today is good. The weather is stunningly, breathtakingly beautiful, I cleaned my house, I'm going out tonight to listen to my husband's band play, AND I got some knitting done. Take a look.

I've made good progress on the ribbed scarf, and the width is to my liking now. I just need to keep going. I've made two mistakes, but they are small and easy to hide in the ribs, so screw it, I'm leaving them in.

I bought a book with 16 patterns for dishcloths in it. The pink one above is one of the easier ones, just knitting and purling. There are some that involve slip stitches and yarn overs, and I think they'll be good pratice for larger projects. I know it's hard to see the pattern using variegated yarn, but all my Sugar 'n' Cream is variegated, so you're just going to have to deal with it.

I hope to finish these projects in the next week or two and start Banana's dress again. I also have to complete a poncho for a co-worker of mine. She knitted it, but she wants it longer, so I am crocheting some mesh around the edges. It looks pretty good, but the problem? It's made of novelty yarn (expensive novelty yarn, to be sure). I hate crocheting with novelty yarn. It's such a pain in the ass. Even using a ginormous hook, I have little idea what the hell I am doing. I hope she likes it. We're probably talking over $250 worth of yarn in this thing. I'm not even kidding. So we'll see what happens.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Finally...

No, I didn't actually complete something, but I did cast on the scarf again, and it seems to be going fairly well. Take a look.

Not bad, eh? Especially for someone who kind of sort of just began to knit. The hem is a little wonky, but that's what fringe is for. My next project is going to be that Fair Isle sweater you see on the most recent issue of IK.

bwahahahahahahaha

Actually, I'll probably knit up some fingerless gloves to match the scarf. I tried to explain the purpose of fingerless gloves to Wayne Terrance the other day, but he didn't get it.

WT: Fingerless gloves? Why? What's the purpose?

Me: To keep your hands warm while you're driving and stuff.

WT: Why don't you just make mittens or real gloves?

Me: Because I don't know how. Stop bothering me.

WT: Okay.

See, didn't I do a good job of convincing him? He's totally into it now. Right. I have to start Banana's dress again too. That should be fun. I do hope it gets finished before Christmas, especially considering it's a summer dress. Maybe I should make the next size up.

Stay tuned for more pictures of my first official knit WiP.

To the Frog Pond!

Today has not been a good day for Sally's yarn. I am attempting two projects: a 3x3 ribbed scarf (knitted) and a crocheted dress for Banana.

I have currently frogged the scarf three times. The first time, I made too many damn mistakes to correct. The yarn is lovely but very splitty. I discovered the key to my success in knitting - I need to pay careful attention. I have friends that can knit while cooking dinner and changing a diaper; I am not one of those people, especially with this yarn. I need to watch every damn stitch, which is what I did the second time around, and it was really looking good, but I soon discovered that knitted ribs really shrink up, so even though I wanted a skinny scarf, I didn't want a scarf that was about two inches wide. So a-frogging I went again. I tried to cast on and knit again, but that was at Stitch n Bitch tonight, which was far too distracting ('cause there's like food and people there), so many mistakes were creeping into the scarf. Frog 3.

I'm making a dress for Banana from a pattern that one can download for free from the NY Yarns website. It is darling. I was crocheting the bodice in the round per the directions, and somehow managed to lose about 4 stitches over 15 rows, so needless to say, it was looking like a dress to be worn by a 3 year old with a bosom. Thankfully, my Banana does not yet have bosoms. There was also a weird bump around the top, as if I had just randomly added about 8 stitches in one spot. Needless to say, this was also ripped out.

I give up for today. Tomorrow is another day. I will have plenty of time to try again as I wait for the plumber, take the cat to the vet, and wait for the trash removal man to show up and remove trash from my basement and garage. I love to purge. Maybe that's why I don't mind frogging until I get it right. Who knows.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post shortly. Maybe I'll bang out a couple of washcloths just for the heck of it. We'll see.

Nighty-night.

Another bag!!

Can you tell I'm addicted to Sugar 'n' Cream? I'm lovin' the stuff right now. It's nice and cool to work with, and there are so many projects you can make that are quick and easy but also useful. Like this bag. I like the colorway of the first one better, but this one is more even and less wonky looking. I kind of liked using a solid color for the mesh and a variegated for the bottom and handle. I have grand plans to make several little handbags and maybe even some tote bags with this stuff. And of course some dish cloths.

You may be thinking, does this chick have nothing better to do with her time than blog? Right now, pretty much. I have a job where I have summers off, which ROCKS. But alas, I'll be heading back to work on August 21st, and will begin taking classes shortly thereafter. I intend to keep on blogging (I know, I know, a heard a big sigh of relief from all 3 of you who read this regularly), but it probably won't be as often. But I'm going keep hookin' and knittin', and the fruits of my labor will appear in regular fashion on this here website. So keep checking back. Please.

Sip 'n' Knit

Hi everybody! Here are some pics from Wednesday's Sip 'n' Knit at Liz's house. Please enjoy!

From top to bottom, we have:

• Liz, our gracious hostess, and Maria, bearer of coveted gifts (namely, Sugar 'n' Cream, strawberry shortcake, and French Rabbit Chardonnay)
• Said chardonnay and children's literature - two great tastes that taste great together
• Sharon's amazingly lovely washcloths
• Aileen and Sharon, knitting their little hearts out
• Liz and me (no, of course we're not tipsy!)
• Last but most certainly not least, our founder and fearless leader, Anne Marie, knitter extraordinaire

What a productive day!

Ah yes, today my dear dad came over my house, and we tore up my grody-ass living room carpet. I'm so happy. It was wall-to-wall carpeting, a yucky rose color. It was probably pretty when it was first installed, but I think it was first installed approximately 25 years ago, so after many a baby vomit and cat hairball landing on it, it was not looking so pretty. So Dad and I TORE IT UP, and lo and behold, beneath the nastiness was lovely hardwood oak flooring in excellent condition. As if this was not enough to make my day, we got to go to IKEA and I bought a lovely area rug. Yay!! I love IKEA. Like a lot. And my living room is about as clean as it will ever be. Except for the slipcover. But that's another story.

Pictures from last night's Sip 'n' Knit at Liz's house will be posted tomorrow or Saturday. Thanks for tuning in.

Yet another F.O.

So here it is. The mesh tote bag. I am pleased with it. The pattern is one of the freebies from the Sugar 'n Cream website, of which I am quickly becoming a fan. Please excuse the poor picture quality. I began this on Saturday night, so it was a quick and easy project. I'm also very happy with the colorway, especially at the bottom of the bag. I intend to make another one, and they'll probably end up being gifts. I might keep this one, though. ;o)