awww...

how sweet is our current snb moderator? she showed up last night because she knew i would be all by myself if she didn't. so nice. the time flew which attests to how pleasant it was despite the low attendance. as always, at least one of us learned something new. jodi suggested i close the hole in my aline bag handle with a stitch since it could be done invisibly as it is a perfect yo eyelet. thanks for the great advice goddess! why didn't i think of that?

some 'headway' was made on lil' devil. this is going to be a cute hat when it is done. i started on a circular but the cable had to be so short, the dpns were a much better way to go. i thought i lost a dpn while knitting outside, so this morning i went to scope out the area. no dpn, what i did find was a denise cable! i didn't even know that was missing! it's a good thing i was out there as my cables are not safe as it is; one of them has already succumbed to the rough knitting that was aline. at some tough and tight lace moment i snapped the connector at the join, oops. gotta be more careful. --the dpn was in my pocket.

did i mention desmond refused to wear his new sweater? we'll see if he warms up to it...

girl's day out

we had fun at webs. a blessing in disguise was that the check i depositted into my account had not yet cleared and so i was forced to restrain myself for lack of available funds. i purchased some very pretty debbie bliss merino wool in two colors, red and dark heather grey, for hats. some lovely blue lama wool for mitts. and, another random skein of something rag wool, of a natural neutral color that was a bargain, for i don't know what. the most fun was picking out chunky wool and fuzzy stuff, for slippers with trim at the cuff, for aidan.

no actually that wasn't the most fun. the most fun was all the raving the staff of the store did over beatrice when v put one of their display strawberry baby hats on her. she was the belle of the ball. they were calling each other over to see the little mascot /model decked out in the wares. her pretty white dress was even commented on. i was glad i dressed her as a girly girl as it was not wasted on these ladies; i enjoyed basking in the admiration very much. if she ends up a tomboy, at least i will have had these moments.

i still have to rework the handle for aline, block it and put it together. but... with all that new yarn hanging around i had to start the lil' devil hat, also for aidan. spoiled child. he flashes his beautiful dolphin smile in gratitude, it's so hard not to do for him. plus, whatever i make for him will eventually trickle down to the others as hand-me-downs.

lil' devil is giving me trouble. i have a baby pattern and an adult pattern. aidan is a toddler with a large noggin. the yarn i purchased is nothing like the guage called for. so, numerous starts and needle sizes later, after the third or fourth, i've actually lost count, frogging; i'm starting over on size 9s. i plan to make a couple more of these for cousins, so i hope i get this all worked out soon.

speaking of cousins. my brother's baby due in november is tentatively being called a girl. the sonogram technician is not 100 percent sure. i hope i'll be knitting for a girl. i'm going to hang back a little longer until we have some firmer specs. or, possibly start something in a natural color suitable for either lily or jackson. i prefer the name lily, but if you know my 'outdoors jock' brother, jackson will suit their family quite nicely as well.

uhg

i spent all of snb knitting the handle for aline which is blocking nicely. i was getting ready to block the handle in the pasta basket this morning and.... lo and behold.... a boo boo. i purled a stitch? or something.

uhg! rip it? my bind off was little tight. it would afford me the opportunity to fix that as well. i might be able to camouflage it pretty well with the blocking because of the chunky nature of the raffia. i'll go ahead and block and if it drives me crazy, i'll do it over. thanks for listening.

it happened to me

i've read people's entries about losing their entire post just before publishing... you guessed it, i've joined their ranks. following is a similar account to the one i lost.

i emailed annie modesit about blocking the a-line bag and she kindly responded that i should steam it. i used my stock pot with the pasta insert. now, when i got this pot set i thought to myself, a pasta insert? how necessary is that? in fact, when i used it just a couple of days ago i told myself not to use the insert again as i found myself washing two pots rather than just the one i was accustomed to. i further grumbled to myself over the fact that it would become just another superfluous piece of cooking equipment to clutter up my already crowded cupboards. but... was i glad to have the insert when it came time to block a-line? you bet i was! i filled the stock pot with water just shy of the bottom of the insert, positioned the bag into said insert and steamed it like a lobster baby! so cool. the bag is now stuffed with the socks that are too small for aidan yet too big for des.

in a couple of days, i hope to knit up the handle at s&b. then i'll block that in the same way, and hopefully assemble the whole thing in time for the weekend so i can show it off to my knitting friend on friday. we are going up to north hampton ma for a yarn trip to webs on saturday. i'm bringing along only the weest progeny, she only makes the cut because of the whole breast feeding thing. she'll be no trouble, she is easily the lowest maintenance child i have. just us girls; i can't wait!

odds and bits

my husband moved or removed the software i was using for posting pics and blogging without them seems too boring. but i have a lot of knitting news to share so here goes.

one of the boys' sweaters is finished! duo is completed and blocking as i blog. i can't wait to see it on desmond. it should just fit him, i hope he doesn't grow out of it before the cool enough weather comes for him to wear it in. now i just need to attack aidan's guernsey, i must say that i need a rest from finishing after duo. maybe next weekend.

i've also started the a-line bag. i am as far as shaping the bottom section of the lining. the circular needle is getting cumbersome now, and i'm trying to decide how to proceed. do i need to go out and buy some dpns? i'll try to avoid it if i can. it's a lovely bag in deep raspberry for the lining and a smoky blue raffia for the outside. the lace shows up more than i thought it would. it looks pretty neat. the only thing that really hasn't worked out for me is that the bag does not measure as high as the pattern states. i will most likely be giving this away as i have little use for a cute little bag such as this. everywhere i go, i am encumbered with the kids' paraphenalia. it will be a few years before i go back to traveling light. i have a very deserving recipient in mind. can't wait to see this all done!

oh yeah, i was blogging and the boys interrupted me. so, in the interim between my starting and coming back to finish this post, desmond has tried on the sweater and it looks awesome, a perfect fit. no room to grow, it will have a short but sweet season.

also, today our mac guru friend is dropping off my computer so i won't have to use hubby's anymore. i'll be able to have all the programs i want on it and not wonder where they've disappeared to when i no longer see them on the desktop. gold stars to hubby for sharing, he's been tolerant and patient with my use of his laptop these many weeks. what a good egg i married. what should i knit for him? he's too big for me to tackle a sweater... i must think on it.

hummingbird moth

not at all hobby related except that i observed this creature while knitting outside of mom's house. she has hummingbird feeders and flowers planted so that we can watch them from the family room and from the back porch. the hummingbirds are always fun to watch and listen to. their wings barely noticeable but for the loud thrumming noise coming from them.

there is a new kid on the block, hummingbird moths. these are the same size as a hummingbird, they drink from the same flowers, though they are never at the feeder. they are strange to see as you keep asking yourself at first, is it a bird or an insect? but birds don't have antennae, they don't have six legs and they don't have probosci. weird weird animal. it was the celebrity of the trip. my brother took many pics to capture the essence of this thing. the neighbor kept dropping by and finally asked us to call her when it reappeared as she also wanted photos. at first you might catch sight of one in the morning or evening, by the end of the trip, they were gathering four at a time. funky.

my mom's place is free of media. she gets one satellite television channel that is the french news channel. no computer, not even an answering machine. it's refreshing but i couldn't wait to research that bug. as soon as i got home dave had it up for me on the internet. cool. now i could rest and tell my mom that the thing is a white-lined sphinx moth.

splash down

splash down is how my dad refers to the time just after vacation when you have to get back in gear in a hurry. that's what i'm feeling. and it is why i have not blogged sooner after our trip. we of course had a wonderful time. the boys didn't need sweaters, so i'm allowing myself until september to finish them. by then, the boys may actually use a little light weight outerwear. the condition that i impose on myself is not to start any large projects, i.e. a sweater for myself, until those are completed. i am allowed to do small projects like hats and pieces of the tea set.

the tea set was my trip knitting. i finished the body of the pitcher and am working on the handle which i already frogged once because i thought it looked sloppy. i also wanted to set an example for my niece, that it is ok to frog as you will always get that knitting back, only better. we were supposed to tutor her in french. while she did get a lot of french ambiance and some immersion in language when my parents got together, she had no lessons from her french teacher for us to work on, so i showed her how to knit instead. and knit she did. my mom had some yarn from a friend to pass on so my niece commenced to knit herself a scarf in yellow acrylic. she knit a good 25 inches by the end of the trip. she is used to crochet and did not see it as the great progress that it was. i am proud of her. my plan is to show her something new each time we visit and get her really hooked. ...also i'll bring her my french grammar books.

looking forward to snb tonight, it's been a while.