Newton's knitting

overheard

2009-09-26T14:16:00.002-05:00

Reese and another kid at the playground were commiserating about siblings when I caught this lovely exchange:

Other Kid: "My sister is a . . . " Pause. "You swear, right?"
Reese: "Oh yeah, I swear all the time."
Other Kid: "My sister is a bitch."

writing assignment

2009-09-18T16:44:00.003-05:00

Reese had to write about a family member the other day, and he chose me:

"My Mom is a wonderful person. She is wonderful because she is a nerd. Mom listens to Radiolab and podcasts like that. She is a chemistry and physics teacher. I like nerds. That is why she is a nerd and I like her."

This is a compliment, right?

Leap

2009-09-11T16:25:00.002-05:00

A teacher read this essay today for the high school students, in remembrance of September 11. And though posting essays/poetry/etc. is not usually my "thing," I found it very moving. So I thought I'd share it.

The poem is by Brian Doyle, and I believe it first appeared in the American Scholar magazine. I found it through PBS.

Leap

A couple leaped from the south tower, hand in hand. They reached for each other and their hands met and they jumped.

Jennifer Brickhouse saw them falling, hand in hand.

Many people jumped. Perhaps hundreds. No one knows. They struck the pavement with such force that there was a pink mist in the air.

The mayor reported the mist.

A kindergarten boy who saw people falling in flames told his teacher that the birds were on fire. She ran with him on her shoulders out of the ashes.

Tiffany Keeling saw fireballs falling that she later realized were people. Jennifer Griffin saw people falling and wept as she told the story. Niko Winstral saw people free-falling backwards with their hands out, like they were parachuting. Joe Duncan on his roof on Duane Street looked up and saw people jumping. Henry Weintraub saw people "leaping as they flew out." John Carson saw six people fall, "falling over themselves, falling, they were somersaulting." Steve Miller saw people jumping from a thousand feet in the air. Kirk Kjeldsen saw people flailing on the way down, people lining up and jumping, "too many people falling." Jane Tedder saw people leaping and the sight haunts her at night. Steve Tamas counted fourteen people jumping and then he stopped counting. Stuart DeHann saw one woman's dress billowing as she fell, and he saw a shirtless man falling end over end, and he too saw the couple leaping hand in hand.

Several pedestrians were killed by people falling from the sky. A fireman was killed by a body falling from the sky.

But he reached for her hand and she reached for his hand and they leaped out the window holding hands.

I try to whisper prayers for the sudden dead and the harrowed families of the dead and the screaming souls of the murderers but I keep coming back to his hand and her hand nestled in each other with such extraordinary ordinary succinct ancient naked stunning perfect simple ferocious love.

Their hands reaching and joining are the most powerful prayer I can imagine, the most eloquent, the most graceful. It is everything that we are capable of against horror and loss and death. It is what makes me believe that we are not craven fools and charlatans to believe in God, to believe that human beings have greatness and holiness within them like seeds that open only under great fires, to believe that some unimaginable essence of who we are persists past the dissolution of what we were, to believe against such evil hourly evidence that love is why we are here.

No one knows who they were: husband and wife, lovers, dear friends, colleagues, strangers thrown together at the window there at the lip of hell. Maybe they didn't even reach for each other consciously, maybe it was instinctive, a reflex, as they both decided at the same time to take two running steps and jump out the shattered window, but they did reach for each other, and they held on tight, and leaped, and fell endlessly into the smoking canyon, at two hundred miles an hour, falling so far and so fast that they would have blacked out before they hit the pavement near Liberty Street so hard that there was a pink mist in the air.

Jennifer Brickhouse saw them holding hands, and Stuart DeHann saw them holding hands, and I hold onto that.

garden update

2009-08-30T18:56:00.009-05:00

I started off the summer posting about the garden we had finally gotten around to planting this year, and I'll end that way too. (School starts for me tomorrow, and for the boys the next day. You'd think I'd be finishing up all my getting-ready stuff instead of blogging about vegetables. I'm taking my mind off of the first day, calming myself, I think.)

You can click the link to see what the garden looked like in May; here's what it looks like now:

The results are a little mixed, as was to be expected, but I'm happy with it. J is too.

The sunflowers are my favorite. They're huge!

Really huge! (Three-year-old added for scale.)

The lettuce also got quite tall. Allegedly this is romaine. I am skeptical.

The squash was going gangbusters for a long time, but it's dying now. We did get to eat some of it, and it was great.

I hpoe this last one gets big enough to pick before the whole thing goes.

Our little pickling cucumbers were really productive.

Yum!

Last, and actually least, the tomatoes in the Topsy-Turvies. I am shocked, shocked that the Made-for-TV people let me down like this.

And I was so looking forward to lots of yummy tomatoes. Tomatoes in salads, tomato sandwiches, tomato sauce . . . I'm glad my neighbor's tomatoes did well.

So, lessons for next year:

Give the squash enough room.
Flowers? Screw the flowers - we need the room for the vegetables (see the first lesson). Except for sunflowers.
Herbs do very well. I didn't show you the oregano, but it got so big it looks like a shrub. And cilantro is a twofer - the seeds are coriander.
No more lettuce.
Definitely cucumbers and chili peppers. Both were low-maintenance and super productive.
The Topsy-Turvy sucks.

Mmm, I do love a good learning experience. Satisfying stuff.

new, again

2009-08-20T07:14:00.004-05:00

With any sort of luck, this will be my last post about starting a new job.

Wednesday was my first day - just new teacher training, really - at my new school, South Shore Charter Public School. SSCPS is a K-12 school, the first charter school in Mass, I'm told. It was founded with a focus on community service, multiple-intelligence learning, and the belief that school is not just preparatory, that kids need to know that what they are doing now has real value. There's a lot of parent and community involvement, small classes, student-led workshops, and a nice blend of informality and respect. I'm very very happy to be coming back to teaching in a place like this, rather than a more traditional high school. (I'm also happy to have passed the MTELs and gotten my Mass certification, so I can come back to teaching period!)

Of course, with any new job, there are plenty of sources for nervousness. I'll be teaching chemistry for the first time, and while I'm pretty confident with the material itself, running chem labs scares me a little. Also, I was originally going to be joining a science teacher who had been there a few years (Yes, the whole science department consists of two people!), but she has decided to move to be closer to her family. So it'll be me and one other brand-new girl, although we do have an excellent mentor who will be coming in once a week to help us out. An aside, though - how cool is it that the whole science department (including the teacher for the middle grades, too) is young(ish) and female?

It's funny, but the whole way I ended up with this job seems sort of . . . serendipitous (really looking for a less cheesy word here, but coming up blank). I have no recollection of applying for it, though I'm sure I did - I sent out a LOT of resumes. (My process was, essentially, to look for places in Mass that were hiring, check Google Maps to see how long it would take me to get there, and if it was an hour or less, apply.) I was sent an email on a Friday saying they would be interviewing for a week, to leave a message over the weekend, and they would call on the Monday to set up a time. Only, I didn't get the email until Monday. I almost just let it go, figuring it was too late, but I decided to call and managed to schedule an interview for the Tuesday. It was a group interview - a few teachers from the school, the 7-12 principal, a parent, and a student - which I was totally not expecting, and I left thinking I had blown it. Thankfully, I was wrong, and everything happened quickly after that. I had all my paperwork in front of me and had given my notice at Sylvan by the end of the week.

So, here I go again, into something new. I know it's going to be a big change for the whole family. We'll have the "typical" everybody-gets-home-around-five structure, which hasn't been the case for a long time. Jane, in particular, has never gone anywhere full-time like that, though she's quite comfortable at the daycare she's at now. The teachers there have known her for a couple of years now, and have known us since Reese was three, so I'm comfortable with that too. Reese is still at the elementary school, also with a teacher who knows us well (she's been telling him she couldn't wait until he got to fourth grade for a few years now!). What makes me the most nervous is Sam - I wish I could be around more for his first year in junior high. Not that we won't have any time to talk, and for me to stay on top of what's going on with him, but I know it's going to be a lot to keep up with. I suspect my knitting will suffer . . . not to mention blogging . . .

I'll keep you posted, though - if for no other reason than a need to vent!

camping 2009

2009-08-10T19:52:00.011-05:00

Camping is . . .

. . . s'mores and sparklers . . .

. . . new sights . . .

. . . and lots of laughing.

We had such a great time this year. The weather cooperated beautifully: sunny 70-80 degree days and crisp 40-50 degree nights. (I shall not speak of the weather we have come home to.)

We ended up spending more time than usual just hanging around the campground, though we did hit the county fair and Crown Point. We visited the latter place at just the right time - they stage a French and Indian War reenactment during the second weekend in August, which we did not know about, and we got there literally just as it was starting up. Kismet!

Our campsite this year was right on the lake, so the kids got to go swimming quite a bit. I spent a lot of time reading, drinking percolated coffee, and eating those s'mores almost every night.

In short, it was relaxing and a lovely break. I look forward to next year already.

the perils of facebook

2009-07-26T16:03:00.002-05:00

I suppose it is inevitable that when you start connecting with people that you haven't seen in a long time, something like this is going to happen.

Yeah. That's a picture of my sister and I, circa 1989, sent by a relative on facebook. I'm the one with the Shirley Temple perm. Good grief.

eye candy Friday: tiltshift is really fun

2009-07-24T10:29:00.006-05:00

Tiltshift is a technique you can apply to a photo that blurs parts of it and leaves other parts in focus. The result is a picture of an actual object that looks like it's really a miniature, which is why I've often read the line "It's all nicey nicey in Toytown" associated with these pictures.

You can learn more and see way better examples than my pictures at the Tiltshift group on flickr.

And you can try it here - it's fun and kind of addicting.

knitting!!

2009-07-23T13:11:00.008-05:00

Despite the evidence of the past few months, there is still knitting going on at my house. And it is not all cupcakes. Anymore.

I knit a LOT of cupcakes, and ipod cozies, and cowls leading up to the craft fair in June. And I like knitting like that - small, satisfying projects - but it got a bit wearing. And now that I've got a new job starting in August (Did I mention that I found one? I'll give details in another post.), I'm not going to knit like that again. I just won't have time. I have re-opened my etsy shop, but just for a little while, until what I have is gone.

Once I was able to knit for myself again, I ignored anything that had been on the needles previously and hit Ravelry HARD looking for interesting patterns. I decided I may want to try my hand at a lace shawl. No, I've never worn a shawl in my whole life, but I don't see what that's got to do with it. I really want to make Laminaria, with this lovely bit of stash. It's a little, well, intimidating, so I did a little bit of practice:

This is the Go Fly a Kite shawl, in miniature. I had a teeny skein of baby alpaca from a local alpaca farm, and I figured I would try a triangular shawl, stopping whenever I ran out of yarn. I didn't quite stop the pattern soon enough to do the whole border (which was going to be really pretty, I could just tell), but I like how it came out anyway.

It's not particularly practical. The best way I could figure to wear it was around my neck, which looks a little Wild West to me. But, again, that's completely beside the point of knitting lace. The vibe I get from lace knitting is: impractical, but fascinating and lovely bordering on magical.

Also, it is IMPOSSIBLE to stop taking pictures of a lace project.

I did pick up my long-neglected Bubble pullover once I had gotten the shiny-new-project thing out of my system. (What, did you think I was going to start the bigger lace shawl at that point? Entirely too consistent.) It's decidedly less interesting than lace. It is an unphotogenic blue blob, growing slowly, slowly.

Which explains why I couldn't stay completely faithful to it. I have good excuse, though: charity knitting. The Slater Mill Knitting Guild is making the Great American Afghan, with different members doing different squares. My square was called Play Yard:

Those BOBBLES, oh. my. god. But the rest of it was very fun to do. :)

Now I just need to figure out what to bring camping in a couple of weeks . . . sigh, I missed selfish knitting!

project spectrum - east

2009-07-21T15:52:00.004-05:00

The second theme in this year's Project Spectrum was east. East was associated with spring, and the color was yellow. Why am I using the past tense? Because we are well into the third theme, south (it started at the beginning of July). Nonetheless, I do have some pictures to show, and I figure better late than never (what an appropriate title for this blog that would be).

I did not knit anything yellow during the east theme, but I did make a point of photographing yellow when it crossed my path.

Okay, this last one wasn't during the east theme (it's sunny; that's a dead giveaway!), but it's really cute. And Jane's wearing a yellow shirt, so I'm counting it.

For south, the dominant color is red, the material is metal, and the element is fire. Again, I think I'll be contributing mainly photography, as I don't really knit much with red. I'm looking forward to campfire pictures next month!

terrible, horrible, etc., etc.

2009-07-01T09:27:00.002-05:00

Yesterday:

I burned my toast, spectacularly. So spectacularly that Sam went to camp and told his friends about the flaming toast, and J went to work and told his friends about the flaming toast, and everybody had a good laugh at my expense.

The toilet broke.

In the car on the way to work, I spilled coffee on my pants.

I had the life scared out of me at midnight by a ginormous moth in the bathroom, not once but twice. That sucker put up a fight, I tell you.

Jane wet the bed and ended up sleeping with J and me. For a very small person, she takes up a lot of space.

Today's got to be better, right?

how my garden grows

2009-06-30T22:01:00.005-05:00

the first tomatoes

squash blossoms*

daisies

*Question: I know you can eat these, but if I pick them, will I still get squash? I'm thinking probably not, but if you know better - let me know!

cupcake pattern

2009-06-27T14:56:00.004-05:00

These little guys are a lot of fun to make. They are pretty simple, but with a few knitterly details to eliminate seams and also make the knitter feel smart. And, they are just perfect for using up small amounts of yarn.

Yarn: Any worsted weight. So far I've used wool, superwash wool, a cotton/wool blend, and cotton. They all work well, though the cotton is a little tough on the hands with the tight gauge.

Needles: US size 3/ 3.25mm double-points or long circular for Magic Loop. You know which way I knit them. :)

Gauge: Will vary with the yarn. Any worsted weight will produce a tight enough gauge so that stuffing doesn't poke out. And they're cupcakes, so who cares if they're a little bigger or smaller?

Notions: Tapestry needle, stuffing, any embellishments you choose. I used felted beads for the cherries, but there's plenty you could do with these. Cupcake cookbooks are pretty trendy at the moment, and have lots of fun decorating ideas that beg for translation in yarn!

Using your color for the bottom of the cupcake, CO 32 stitches. Distribute evenly over double-points or circular needle, and join for working in the round. Be careful not to twist.

Work k2, p2 ribbing for 15 rounds.

Purl 1 round.

Knit 1 round.

k2, k2tog all the way around (24 st remaining).

Knit 1 round.

k1, k2tog all the way around (16 st remaining).

Knit 1 round.

k2tog all the way around (8 st remaining).

Break yarn. Thread through remaining 8 st and pull tight.

Using your color for the top of the cupcake, pick up and knit 32 st around the cast on edge. Distribute these stitches on your needles and join them for working in the round. Twisting them is pretty unlikely with the bottom of the cupcake hanging off them, but be careful anyway. :)

Knit 3 rounds.

yo, p2tog all the way around.

Knit 3 rounds.

On the next round, go back and pick up the original cast-on stitch (which will now be 7 rounds below the round you're working on) and put it on your needle. Knit it together with the first stitch. Repeat all the way around. (Here is a tutorial with some pictures of how this is done. There's a little bit of a difference; this person did the extra step of picking up a stitch in the cast-on edge, then putting it on the needle and knitting it together with the first stitch in the round. Feel free to email me with questions if you want!)

Knit 2 rounds.

k6, k2tog all the way around (28 st remaining).

Knit 1 round.

k5, k2tog all the way around (24 st remaining).

Knit 1 round.

k4, k2tog all the way around (20 st remaining).

k3, k2tog all the way around (16 st remaining).

k2, k2tog all the way around (12 st remaining).

k1, k2tog all the way around (8 st remaining).

Break yarn and thread through remaining 8 st, but don't pull tight yet. Stuff your cupcake through the little opening. Don't overstuff or the bottom won't be flat and the cupcake won't stand up. Once you're happy with it, pull the yarn tight and tuck in the ends.

Glue/sew a felted bead or ornament of your choice to the top. Or don't!

Enjoy - and I'd LOVE to see some pictures of finished cupcakes!

meme

2009-06-25T10:25:00.004-05:00

Alternate title: The Blog Posts I Mean to Write Will Take More Time than I Actually Have

That about sums it up, I think. There will be an arts festival recap, a cupcake pattern, and something about the RI Great Outdoors Pursuit soon. Well, eventually.

But in the meantime, I have to admit, I love getting tagged for memes. So here goes:

What Is Your Current Obsession?
Finding a job for next year! And knitting for myself, after months of craft-fair projects.

What Are You Wearing Today?
Well, I'm at work, and I have a job interview today (!), so I'm wearing Real Grownup Person Clothes. Khaki pants, a blue wrap sweater. I wish I could say a handknit one, but no.

What's for dinner?
I actually remembered to defrost some drumsticks this morning! My husband, with his fabulous cooking creativity, will figure out something to do with it. If it's sunny, that will probably involve charcoal.

What Would You Eat for Your Last Meal?
Indian food. Samosas, and that potato-and-spinach thing I don't know the name of.

What's the Last Thing You Bought?
Sunscreen. Because I am an optimist.

What Are You Listening To Right Now?
Absolutely nothing. It's very quiet here.

If you could go anywhere in the world in the next hour, where would you go?
Hmm. Well, at last night's knitting guild meeting, our speaker was a woman who works in textiles at Old Sturbridge Village. So now I kind of want to go back there.

Which language do you want to learn?
Arabic; some of the older members of my family still speak it. Also it looks beautiful when written.

What do you love most about where you currently live?
The history. Can you tell I've been visiting Slater Mill a lot lately?

What is your favourite colour?
Yellow, and orange.

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
Probably my jeans.

What were you doing ten years ago?
I had just finished my sophomore year of college. J had just graduated, and we were planning our wedding. Sam was a little over a year old. He may have been sleeping through the night by then, but probably not. We were living in a 3rd-floor apartment near my mom's house, and thank goodness it had air conditioning.

Describe your personal style.
Comfortable? Not as crazy as it used to be? (Jess, no comments from the peanut gallery.)

If you had $300 right now what would you spend it on?
Books for everybody. Games for this kids - they've become obsessed with cribbage and high-low jack recently.

What are you going to do after this?
Get back to work. :)

What inspires you?
Colors, textures. The speaker from last night's guild meeting! (I'll link to her website when I get home.)

What are your favourite films?
I am a big ~~nerd~~ fan of Lord of the Rings. I know there are others, but I just don't watch that many movies. Hmmm . . . we rented The Assassination of Jesse James recently and that was very good. Visually stunning, and with more of an emotional wallop than I expected.

Whose work/designs are you inspired by?
Oh, wow, I don't think I could narrow that down. Norah Gaughan's designs are consistently surprising, beautiful, and interesting. There are others, but I'm drawing a blank here.

Your favourite books?
I like the warmth and humor of James Herriot's books. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Of course, Lord of the Rings, and Tolkien's other books, too.

Do You Collect Anything?
Not really. I have a good bit of yarn and fiber, but those are raw materials more than they are a collection; I certainly don't plan to display them and keep them forever.

What makes you follow a blog?
Well, if it's written by someone I know. :) Also, good writing, humor, and feeling like I have seomthing in common with the writer. Beautiful, inspirational photos, especially in knitting blogs.

What was the most enjoyable thing you did today?
Hopefully I haven't done it yet. The good stuff usually comes later in the day, when everybody's home. But so far - drinking my coffee.

What's one thing you dream of doing?
Hitting the lottery and staying home with the kids. And some sheep.

the only constant is change

2009-06-06T10:35:00.003-05:00

I started blogging about the same time I started the process of going back to work after Jane was born. While this wasn't intentional, it probably wasn't quite a coincidence either. It's not an easy process - especially when you, frankly, don't want to do it - and the chronicling of it has been a help.

For those keeping track, I have had three different jobs in 2.5 years of blogging. I taught a couple of physics classes at Moses Brown (a fantastic place, btw, I'll totally send the kids there when I become independently wealthy), I taught some SAT prep classes for Kaplan, and I've worked here at Sylvan, first full-time, then dialing it back to part-time. And now, I'm looking again.

No, I haven't lost my job or anything, but it turns out that working part-time here just isn't enough. I could switch back to full-time, no problem, but that was the evening schedule that did not let me have enough time with the family - not an option.

I've been sort-of looking for a little while, at lab-based jobs or something like that, but I had been shying away from the idea of going back to the classroom full-time. For one thing, my RI certification has expired, and getting it back would require taking some courses, and I can't really do that right now. But also, the last year I taught high school was very hard. And I know, intellectually at least, that there were other things going on at that time that are resolved now, but that really does little to make the idea less scary. I started thinking about it, though, when J (casually - he's a wonderful husband; he doesn't push) showed me an ad for a local Catholic high school looking for a physics teacher.

And I applied. They turned me down because I am not affiliated with a church. As an aside - WTF?? Not to paint all religious school with a common brush or anything, but seriously? My lack of professional certification is a-okay, but my lack of religion - that's a dealbreaker. And they wonder why they are rapidly losing enrollment. All right, rant over.

That seemed to break the stalemate, if you will, and I started looking into it. I found that I can get certified in MA by passing the MTEL exams, since I had already held certification elsewhere. I signed up for those - I'll be taking them in July - and I started sending out resumes.

So far I've heard back from a couple of schools, and I had an interview last week. My timing, as it turns out, sucks. I started looking into this just in time to miss the April job fairs, and I won't get my MTEL results (and hopefully certification) until August. The interview on Friday went really well, and she said she'd like to hire me, but nothing can go forward until I have certification. She is looking to fill four science jobs, though (which is not easy - luckily for me), so she told me to let her know as soon as I get my results. Good news, I guess, but also an ominous harbinger of things to come. I expect a nervous summer capped by a busy August.

And in September, maybe a whole new adventure.

the garden!

2009-05-25T09:57:00.005-05:00

I'm so excited, because this is the year we finally planted a nice garden!

We've kicked around the idea of having a vegetable/herb garden for the nine years we've been living in this house, and we've tried it before in a half-hearted ways, but this year? This year we've done it right.

No thanks to me - my original plan was for the boys and I to dig up a patch of grass, add compost, and plant there.

J had other ideas, ideas that involved power tools. "You'll never be able to dig up a good-size patch by hand," he said. "This neighborhood has a lot of rabbits that will eat everything if we don't fence it," he said. "You don't have enough compost for that," he said.

So, a rented roto-tiller, some lumber, a couple of power saws, and lots of bags of soil and manure later, we have this:

When our neighbor saw it, she said, "Damn - when he builds a garden, he really builds a garden." I could not have said it any better.

We went with a combination of vegetables, herbs, and flowers, including squash, chili peppers, tomatoes (in the Topsy-Turvy!), basil, oregano, cilantro, parsley, daisies, and marigolds. And how much of that was from the seeds we planted? Not much. Most of the seeds came up, but a lot of things keeled over and died before we could get them in the ground. I think next year I'll actually do some sort of research before I get started and have some sort of greenhouse set up. The bell peppers were okay, though:

And I also planted some sunflower and carrot seeds, because I couldn't find those as plants and I wanted them. I'm pretty sure the sunflowers will be fine; less sure about the carrots.

Anyway, here's hoping for a busy and productive summer in the garden. And many, many kudos and thanks to my awesome husband!

finally

2009-04-30T21:55:00.002-05:00

I think I've got a banner I'm happy with. Why, oh why, did the other ones I made keep coming out so frickin' huge??

Anyway, it's over now. I can get rid of the folder of picture attempts I had named "battle of the banner." No, I'm not kidding.

I forgot to put Newton in it, though . . .

poem in your pocket day

2009-04-30T10:30:00.004-05:00

Today is the last day of National Poetry Month, and Poem in Your Pocket Day. It is a day to share poetry with others, maybe those who would not ordinarily read it, in a variety of ways - not just poems in one's pockets (though I find that concept thoroughly charming).

I have to confess - I fall into that category of people who would not ordinarily read poetry. I certainly have read poetry, and I recognize its value, but for the most part . . . it isn't what speaks to me.

So what does speak to me? Don't worry; I am not going to rhapsodize about a perfectly elegant geometric proof or a deviously, deceptively simple physics problem - though those things have their charms as well. I think I am just more attracted to the visual. Color speaks to me, and form speaks to me - it's a big part of why I love knitting so much. I could have stayed at the Peabody Essex Museum for weeks when J and I went last November. During the fall I am simply a hazard on the road: a brilliant yellow tree against an equally brilliant blue sky and I kind of forget where I am.

So, in order to share a poem today, I am posting some of my favorite song lyrics. I like song lyrics a lot - perhaps the poems themselves do not readily give up their rhythms to me, but if you show me those rhythms, I can get it. Even now, the words look a little flat on the page to me, if I'm being honest. But I will share them, and I hope the rhythms come through for you. This song is called "The Dumps," and it's by my current obsession, Elvis Perkins.

And yes, I realize sharing song lyrics would be so much more authentic if I passed them to you in a note in French class, but I'll work with what I've got. :)

The Dumps

The heavens are smiling upon us

The great, white, toothless grin of the newborn and the dying here among us

We are starting the living again

You have stopped your shivering

You won't go to the lake in the mirror again

The sea stops tonight and all her little children are hanging tight

As I have stopped my moon-walking, glad to say

It's oh so tired, and so am I, of stalking yesterday

The past will rust in peace

It's been one lousy couple of months, but now we are coming out of the dumps

And everything is calling our names, though the sunshine units are here to stay

Like Adam makes small talk with Eve on their six-month anniversary

They will go home in separate cars

Yes, they will sleep under separate stars

As the heavens are smiling upon us

The ghost white, shit-eating grin of the newborn and the dying here among us

We are starting the living again

insert spinning pun here

2009-04-28T20:45:00.002-05:00

I completely fail at being monogamous. In craft, I mean - sorry, no salacious confessions forthcoming here. I have been trying, really I have, to commit to Reese's sweater, but the endless stockinette just puts me to sleep. Literally, sometimes.

So I've cheated. I've played around with felt and embroidery, which has been a lot of fun. Some of the results of that are in the shop, and some of it ended up as gifts. I've especially liked cutting up cashmere sweaters and turning them into scarves:

I've also gotten back behind the wheel, so to speak. I started working on this merino top forever ago. The original plan was to spin half the singles on the wheel and the other half on a drop spindle, then ply them together, the intent being to keep from forgetting how to use the drop spindle, I suppose. What I did forget, apparently, is that drop spindling is a slow process. After over a year of spinning a little at a time on the spindle, with the pile of fiber not getting appreciably smaller (or so it seemed), I gave up. I am, perhaps, a slow learner. I finished it all on the wheel and oh boy is it pretty and squishtastic.

I'm debating putting it in the shop; I have no idea what I'd ever use it for. But I might have trouble giving it up.

Having launched a bit of a spinning kick, I've started this too:

That's a 50/50 soy wool blend that's also been marinating in the stash quite a while. I'm trying to end up with chunky singles, though I'm not great at that. I like this fiber a lot, though. It's very soft, and a little shiny. I can certainly see why the soy fiber is sometimes called "soysilk." Mmm.

Oh, and one last thing! I have somehow ended up with two copies of At Knit's End by the esteemed Yarn Harlot. If there is any knitter left who does not have a copy of this book (!), leave a comment and it could be yours!

proof that coordination (or lack thereof) is hereditary

2009-04-24T13:51:00.002-05:00

J, aged about 14, is riding his bike down the street. He sees a friend from school, waves, and . . . rides his bike into a parked car.

Sam, aged 11, is riding his bike down the street. He aims for the driveway, misses, and . . . rides his bike into the neighbor's hedge.

the scribbler

2009-04-19T21:05:00.004-05:00

I'm writing a real post, honest. It's taking me forever; lately I've had the attention span of a gnat.

But in the meantime, I found this, and it's neat, and I wanted to share.

I'll be back soon, honest.

good karma?

2009-03-29T10:29:00.011-05:00

I must have done something good. That's the only explanation, really, for the shower of good fortune that came my way this week.

On Thursday, I picked up the kids from school and came home to find a package. (Is there anything more exciting than an unexpected package?) Inside was a lovely belated birthday present from Amy. Look!

That's Paca Peds alpaca blend sock yarn, and a project bag she sewed herself. Squee, handmade gifts! It's gorgeous, right? Look at that color; I think it might be glowing. Seriously, look again.

I was so happy my children must have feared for my sanity. I kept saying, "People from the internet are so nice!" To which Sam dryly replied, "Well, Mom, not all of them."

And! Later that same day, J came home with another unexpected present - a Wii fit! It is seriously fun, even if it tells me my "Wii fit age" is 17 years older than my actual age, because my balance is so bad. I kick ass at the hula hoops, though.

And! The next day, J and I had planned a hooky day together. I arranged for Jane to go to her daycare an extra day, and J took the day off from work. It was so nice. We didn't plan anything big; there's not too much you can do when you've only got until early afternoon. We just stayed home and hung out. He also took me out for Indian food, which was especially nice, as he doesn't even really like Indian food.

And! Amy's gift was particularly fortuitous because I finished a pair of socks this week! Socks are my keep-in-my-purse knitting, so it takes me a while to finish a pair. I think these might be my new favorites.

They're quite simple, two-row striping socks. I had this Ty-Dy sock yarn with nice long color repeats, and I was inspired by that Noro scarf that's all over the place, so I just knit from both ends of the ball. I like that they are fraternal twins, and I don't even mind that spot where both ends were green for a long time. Bonus - there's easily enough left for another pair of socks.

And! Yesterday was freaking gorgeous outside! Okay, that probably has nothing to do with my karma, and actually I was at work most of the day, but spring is always good news.

And! Reese made me a fantastic picture.

With a note. :)

Q & A with the kids

2009-03-24T09:08:00.002-05:00

I’ve been meaning to post about Sam’s birthday party all week (and into this week, too, come to think of it.) Because important things like birthday parties require blog posts, right? Well, a week’s worth of stuff has gotten in the way, and though I’ve guiltily looked at this blog every day (I’ve got it as my homepage), I haven’t written anything. Let’s just say the party was a lot of fun. For Sam. For me, it was a lot of hey guys we need to stay over here in our yard put down that stick no that’s the neighbor’s yard watch out for the little ones holy crap they devoured the entire cake SERIOUSLY THAT IS NOT OUR YARD. But, you know, fun too.

Anyway, there’s nothing like a completely adorable post to make you want to blog again. I loved this interview Amy did with her boys, and I immediately got the kids together to see just what might come out of their mouths. Mostly I asked Sam and Reese, but Jane answered when she had something to say. For context: Jane is nearly three, Reese is eight, and Sam just turned eleven.

1. What does your mom always say to you?
S: Come and give me a kiss.
R: Put away your stuff.
J: I love you.

2. What makes mom happy?
S: Kissing her.
R: Kisses.
J: Thank you.

3. What makes mom sad?
S: Us fighting.
R: Dad cursing.

4. What does your mom do that makes you laugh?
S: A lot of things.
R: Acts like a weirdo.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
S: She watched movies with her friends and her sister.
R: She acted like a weirdo and did chores.

6. How old is your mom?
S: Are you 30 or 29?
R: 30.
J: 3.
(I think Sam was just trying to be nice.)

7. How tall is your mom?
S: I think you’re about 5ft 2in.
R: No, 5ft 4in.
J: Big.
(FYI - I'm 5'6". They were pretty close.)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
S: Tell us to go do chores. Or knit.
R: Blog.
J: Play with me.

9. What does your mom do when you’re not around?
S: Posts on twitter, works, and buys food.
R: Probably teaches kids.
J: Lost.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
S: Knitting.
R: Acting like a movie star.

11. What is your mom really good at?
S: Teaching or knitting.
R: Knitting! And being a weirdo. (Here he added, “I’m sorry, am I using weirdo too much?”)
J: Jane.

12. What is your mom NOT very good at?
S: Being cool. (Hey!)
R: Playing Wii baseball. (Okay, he's got me there.)

13. What does your mom do for her job?
S: Works at Sylvan. She’s almost the boss.
R: Teaches at Sylvan.

14. What is your mom’s favorite food?
S: Chocolate.
R: Anything that Dad cooks.
J: Dinner.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
S: That she’s my mom.
R: Because you act like a weirdo.
(Yes, Reese, you're using weirdo too much.)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
S: The girlfriend that people fight to marry.
R: Popeye.

17. What do you and your mom like to do together?
S: Play games and do crafts and science experiments.
R: Play games.
J: Fart.
(I think Jane was trying to make her brothers laugh here. It worked.)

18. How are you and your mom the same?
S: We both think the same thing a lot of the time.
R: We’re both weirdos.
(Sam's right on this one - we are very much on the same wavelength, he and I.)

19. How are you and your mom different?
S: I like rock and alternative music, and you like folk and podcasts.
R: I like Legos and you don’t.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
S: She always tells me to come here and give her a kiss.
R: She wants to kiss me all the time.

21. Where is your mom’s favorite place to go?
S: Anywhere as long as the kids are there.
R: Sylvan. No, home!

22. Where is your mom’s LEAST favorite place to go?
S: Dropping us off to school and then going to work.
R: The market.

This was a lot of fun to do, and I think the boys enjoyed it too. The main thing I learned? They are apparently hitting the age where kisses from your mom are Not Cool. Could ya tell?

Murphy's law

2009-03-14T21:38:00.001-05:00

If you are baking a cake at 10:00 the night before the birthday party, you will drop an eggshell in the running stand mixer and watch, horrified, as it is swept up into the batter.

At least I had enough eggs to start over. But let me tell you, I was really tempted to pretend I didn't see it.

stuff that's going on

2009-03-10T17:24:00.009-05:00

Hell of a title, eh?

Yesterday was Sam's 11th birthday - happy birthday a day late, kid! He's got a party planned for Sunday, so we didn't do too much yesterday. Just a cake. And at this year's party? No green slime.
We've started composting, again. Scratch that - I've started composting again, as J is vehemently opposed to the whole thing. I can't really blame him. Composting and I have had an on-again, off-again relationship, governed largely by my inability to bring the stuff outside regularly. I won't go into gory detail, but there have been flies involved. But this time will be different, honest. After all, we do have that garden to plant. Most of the seeds have started sprouting, and the kids are charmingly excited.
Jane is in full-on toddler independence mode. She needs to do everything herself. I know it's important and all, but it does nothing for my nerves, watching her butter her toast or put on her jacket or set the table so s l o w l y. I'm frazzled, but proud. And also a little sad - babies can't butter toast or put on jackets or set tables, you know?
I've been enjoying Project Spectrum so far. The color associated with the first theme, north, is green. I just happened to be working on something green, happily enough:

That's Reese's sweater, and it's very green! (Reese does not do subdued colors. Or subdued anything, come to think of it.) It's grown a bit since I took those, but it's just a lot of stockinette, so I haven't photographed it again. I have photographed some other things for the green theme, though, just playing around with the camera, really. If you haven't seen the flickr group for PS4, you should check it out. There are some gorgeous "green" photos there.

Cute kid picture, just for fun.

Oh, and have I mentioned how happy I am to have a President that understands the value of science?

project spectrum: north

2009-03-04T10:46:00.007-05:00

This year's Project Spectrum theme is Cardinal Directions. I've never done Project Spectrum before, but it seems like a terrific KAL. There's a lot of enthusiasm and participation, and the participants are all so talented, posting gorgeous photos of gorgeous projects. So it inspires me to "up my game," if you will. Also, it's flexible and open to interpretation, which makes it both fun and a good fit. So in I go.

The first theme is North. If I step outside my door and look north, this is what I see:

Looks pretty apropos of "north" right now. The frozen north. But that's not what north makes me think of.

When I think of north, I think of "up north." As in, camping. We rarely refer to the place where we go every year as New York, Schroon Lake, Pottersville, or Eagle Point. It's "up north."

We'll have to try this recipe up north this year.

I hope the weather up north isn't too rainy.

This tie-dyed shirt? Reese got it in one of the hippie shops up north. (There are a lot of those in Lake George.)

I was never a camper until I became part of J's family, but I've grown quite fond of up north. This time of year, I bet it's beautiful.

photo of upstate NY in winter courtesy of adirondack.com

do you think planting seeds can will spring to arrive?

2009-02-28T23:08:00.006-05:00

I'm hoping so.

The kids and I started a bunch of seeds yesterday, despite the forecast of snow tomorrow. We planted carrots, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, and oregano. (I must have been thinking of J's salsa.) Also some flowers - pink ones, at Jane's ~~demand~~ request. They really got into it.

So will they grow? I've got no idea. We've had limited success with tomatoes and peppers in years past, though we've never tried carrots or zucchini. Herbs usually turn out okay for us. Anyway, the results are almost beside the point. (Almost. I really like tomatoes.) I want the boys to have a long-term project over the summer, something that will require some attention and responsibility, like their schoolwork does during the year. Sure, they have regular chores, but they might actually enjoy a garden. And seeing the results, feeling that satisfaction of growing something tangible? You know what I'm talking about, knitters.

I wanted the little peat pots, but I couldn't find them. Not at the, um, one store I went to, anyway. So I bought paper cups. It felt sort of dirty, but I think I'll get over it. Can you recycle them after you've grown seedlings in them, do you think? Anyone?

Assuming they grow, the boys and I will clear a spot in the backyard and plant them come spring. Because it is coming. Really.

diving in . . .

2009-02-22T20:30:00.005-05:00

I've never been a jump-in-the-pool-all-at-once kind of person - I've got to do it gradually. It's not like I don't know how to swim; I like swimming. I just have to ease my way in slowly.

The internet community has been that way for me, too. I found blogs by a happy accident: browsing the website of one of those baby magazines you get a ton of when you're pregnant. I started knitting at about the same time, so it was natural enough to dip a toe into the water and start regularly reading a few favorite blogs. I never thought I'd have one myself, though.

And I didn't, not until about a year after I'd started reading them. I took that next step into the pool almost accidentally, too. I was at the library, looking at the "newly arrived" books shelf. (There's almost always something good there.) There was a "Blogger for Dummies"-type book and I grabbed it. I still thought I was just going to peruse it, but that didn't last long. That was when I started this blog.

I was happy enough to splash around ankle-deep, but, well, Ravelry came around. And you can't join Ravelry without joining flickr, of course. Groups on Ravelry were a new feature when I got my invite, and so I started joining and reading and posting in them, too.

After Ravelry came Etsy. I knew starting up a shop there, in anything approaching a serious way, would be a big commitment, a big step into the pool. And it is. There are quite literally thousands of sellers there, so it quickly became obvious that I needed to do something if I wanted anybody at all to see my shop. The collective wisdom of the Etsy forums (fora?), as well as the Etsy Ravelry group, told me that the way to go is to put myself out there on as many social networking-type sites as I can find. To which my first response was: HELLS NO. That' s way too much. But in the end, I got all the way in.

So here I am. I'm on Ravelry. I'm on flickr. I've got two shops, one on Etsy and one on the smaller 1000markets site. And now I'm on Twitter and Facebook, too. I know what a tweet, a photostream, and a phantom disagreer are. I have a blogiversary and I celebrated the last one by sending yarn to Texas. I use words like omg because, really, there is nothing else that better expresses the sentiment. (I have yet to use LOL or any of its variants, though, and I don't plan to.) I have most definitely dived all the way into the pool.

In fact, part of me wonders if I'm in over my head. That was first worry about the whole social networking thing - that I really wouldn't have the time. O Internets, how I underestimated you! Turns out SO MUCH of this stuff can be all linked up. Ravelry uses the photos from flickr. Everytime I post something on Twitter, it updates my Facebook status. I was even able to set it up so that if I post to the blog, a link shows up on Twitter (and therefore, on Facebook). (I could do that for the Etsy shop too, so that it shows up anytime I list something new or renew something. I'm trying to do that at least once a day, though, so it would get really spammy.)

And I really didn't anticipate how much fun it would be. I've been on Facebook all of three days and I've already found tons of people I haven't thought about in years. I'm far too shy to send a friend request to anybody I haven't at least talked to sort of recently, which I think is a whole new level of pathetic, but it's still super fun.

So - come find me! Anywhere and everywhere!

Done! Finally done!

2009-02-19T12:23:00.008-05:00

Of the three sweaters that were on my needles, this is the one that I started most recently. The knowledge of those older sweaters, however, shall not dampen my sense of triumph over finally finishing! Sam's! Cobblestone!

I love this sweater. More importantly, Sam loves this sweater. It's pilling a little already, from him wearing it. Can pilling make me happy? Yes it can.

The details:

pattern: Cobblestone by Jared Flood (aka brooklyn tweed)

yarn: Di.Ve Zenith, 7 skeins

needles: US size 7 Knitpicks

mods: Quite a few. I used my gauge, Sam's measurements, and my mad math skillz to size it for him. I also (obviously) made it a "zip-up," as he requested. I omitted the short-rows, because Sam is a stick person and I was running out of yarn. Actually, I did run out of yarn. That's why there's the gray striping in the shoulders. When it became obvious that I wasn't going to make it, I looked for more yarn, but it was a Webs closeout so no dice. I had some of the same yarn in a light chartreuse so I overdyed it with black and used that. It didn't come out black, but I did two-row stripes with the dyed yarn and the last skein of the black and it came out pretty cool. Gotta love knitting's potential for flexibility and ingenuity.

The zipper was not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.

I have issues with sewing in a straight line on the machine, so I decided to hand-sew the zipper in, using backstitch. I also decided to use embroidery floss, for extra strength and because, well, I have a lot of it. The black floss matched the sweater really well; on the front of the sweater, you can't see the stitches at all.

It was actually impossible to see the stitches even as I was sewing in the zipper, so they meander a little. Ah well.

The last details Sam wanted were these holes for his thumbs:

I don't know that I really see the appeal, but he's been known to, um, add these holes to his other shirts. And I didn't want to have to harm him in some fit of knitterly rage (kidding! Just kidding!).

I'm so happy with how this turned out. And I have cast on Reese's sweater already - a top-down raglan in the same yarn in green. It will also be really boring knitting (damn these kids and their plain-sweater tastes), but hopefully it won't take me five months like Sam's did. Yikes.

Oh, and there are more pictures on Ravelry!

weekend in photos

2009-02-10T18:23:00.005-05:00

J, grilling in the snow.

Jane, wearing my junior prom dress. She looks sort of wistful, no?

This looks like a bad idea.

Jess's Happy Girl. OMG so cute. And pudgy!

Sam and Jess' other daughter, in an intense game of checkers. Funny how the older kids can find some calm in the chaos. When they are not causing it.

photo meme

2009-02-05T15:34:00.003-05:00

Amy tagged me for this meme (just today! Marvel at my promptness!).

It's pretty simple: go to your sixth picture folder and find your sixth picture. Here's mine:

That's Sam, age six, decorating a surprise birthday cake for me. Reese would have been four, and presumably too destructive to be let near the cake. Come to think of it, he's still like that . . .

Anyway, this was back when I was teaching high school full-time, and Jess was the boys' babysitter. Isn't she thoughtful?

I'm also supposed to tag five people:

Have at it!

in case I forgot I lived in New England

2009-02-03T10:02:00.003-05:00

Sunday and yesterday it was warm. Warm enough for the boys to go ride their scooters, warm enough to go for a walk in just a sweater as opposed to a heavy coat, warm enough to make one think that spring might actually arrive one day, whatever Punxatawney Phil has to say about it.

And today? I'm looking out at the snow falling and wondering if I ought to leave work a bit early. I blame Phil. Stupid groundhog.

I won't complain too much, though, knowing that spring won't be particularly long and it will be followed by the dreaded heat and humidity. Plus things like hot coffee, soup (J made some awesome turkey soup last night), my bathrobe, a warm child in my lap, and something woolly in my hands all make me very very happy. I think I can handle six more weeks of that.

works in progress

2009-01-29T07:43:00.008-05:00

Reese got a magic kit for Christmas this year, and he's been doing a lot of practicing. He's got some good tricks, too - there's one he does with a pair of dice that's very cool. The part that's really a work in progress is his magician's patter. For example, he has this trick that consists of pulling a yellow rope out of an egg. Not much to it, so it's kind of all in the presentation. His first attempt was to hold up the egg, forcefully declare, "This has no openings in it!" then pull out the rope. Um.

We suggested he might add more drama by saying he has an ordinary egg, and oh my gosh! what's this? etc. etc. So he held up the egg and said, "I have an egg!" Then, pulling out the rope, "WITH A ROPE IN IT!"

Which is our new catchphrase. Even Jane can be heard walking around the house muttering "I have an egg with a rope in it!" to herself.

As for my own works in progress, I finished the February baby sweater:

So fun to knit. pattern: EZ's February baby sweater, from the Knitter's Almanac. yarn: Dream in Color Classy. needles: size 6 Addi Turbos. mods: None really. I screwed up on the first repeat of the lace pattern, and forgot to keep the border in garter stitch. Once I noticed, I was too chicken to drop the border stitches down because I had a buttonhole in there too, so I just kept making the same mistake. It's a design element now.

So now that that's done, I am officially Working On Sam's Cobblestone. But at this point, the rows are still really long, and I've got most of the sweater hanging off the needles as I work, and
I just can't do a lot of it without wanting to either fall asleep or bury the thing under the 5-foot snow pile in the front yard. So I've also . . . cast on a sock. Don't judge.

Besides all the knitting, another reason I've been sort of blog-absent is playing around with shop stuff. I've been spending some time (time when I should probably be sleeping, mostly) working on things like getting my pictures to look better, reading up on stuff in the Etsy forums, and, of course, making things. And I've got a little prototype to show you:

So what the hell is the picture on that? It's a ray diagram. I've been messing around with some embroidery, but I wanted to do something a little different, that would reflect a little more of me. I hit upon this idea of doing glasses cases with pictures on them of the ray diagrams that show how the lenses work. This one is a converging lens, used to correct farsightedness.

I've also done one with a diverging lens, for nearsightedness. What do you think - too geeky? I thought it would be fun to keep my glasses in a case that shows how the lenses work, but then I'm kind of a nerd.

Well. I don't even know anymore what the time stamp on this post will be, but it's actually about 12:30 on Friday night. I keep getting pulled away, pulled in every direction. Both Jane and Sam have had bouts of fever and barfing (that part was just Sam, thank goodness), I've had to pinch-hit and go into work two nights this week, and I have still not found out how to get the laundry to do itself. And life goes on . . .

and the winner is . . .

2009-01-21T16:06:00.003-05:00

Ashley!

Sending off an email to ask which yarn you'd like . . .

The gifts, they do not stop. Also, a salamander pattern, sort of.

2009-01-16T15:47:00.012-05:00

Remember the on-the-needles stuff I showed you?

Well, I haven't touched any of it, and not (entirely) because I am lazy. Following close on the heels of Christmas is more gift-giving, in the form of birthdays and new babies. Plus there was still some Christmas stuff I hadn't finished yet . . .

First, here's a salamander I made for Jess' Magic Boy.

You know how sometimes the Yarn Harlot talks about projects that make you feel clever? This was one of those projects. I started with a picture of a salamander that's found in this area,

then amused myself trying to figure out how to do each part - How do I get the shape of the head? How do I make a curvy body? How do I do the little legs and toes? I did absolutely no counting while I made this, but in lieu of a pattern I can give you the "pithy" directions:

Start at the head, with the Eastern cast-on (or Judy's Magic Cast-on from knitty). Increase like you would for a sock toe, 2 stitches at each side every other round, stopping when the head looks big enough. Knit a few rounds until the head looks long enough, then do some decreases for the neck and increases to widen it back up for the body. At this point, if you're knitting this via Magic Loop, move the stitches around so that instead of having the top of the salamander on one needle and the bottom on the other, you have each side of the salamander on a needle. That way, as you knit the body, you can do some short-rows on one side, then the other, to get the S-shaped curve. (I also was stuffing it a little at a time as I went, and it was starting to look rather obscene hanging off my needles. I ignored my husband's raised eyebrows and knit on.) Decrease a little at a time for the tail; the last inch or so is I-cord. For each arm, pick up 8 stitches (in two sets of four, across from each other) at appropriate spots and knit a little tube (I didn't bother to stuff these). For the hand, knit back-and-forth on just 4 of the stitches for a couple of rows, increasing to 6 stitches on the first row. Do a little picot hem-turning to make three little toes, then do a couple more rows. Decrease back to 4 stitches and graft these 4 to the other 4 arm-stitches. Embroider some spots and add little seed-bead eyes. Ta-da!

Another gift I made is a Thermis for my sister's birthday. I used this handspun (lots of stuff in that post; keep scrolling), and the only mods I made to the pattern were to use both fewer stitches and fewer repeats of the thermal pattern to accomodate the thicker yarn. It came out a nice size.

I don't want to give it away.

And last but not least, I'm making EZ's February baby sweater for my sister-in-law's baby shower next month. I was very happy to find out she's having a girl so I could do the lace! Not that another BSJ wouldn't have been fun, too . . .

That gorgeous yarn is Dream in Color Classy. It's superwash, and the color is just amazing.

I'm sorry to say J's birthday will be going un-knitted-for this year. But he's really not a knitwear guy, and anything he might wear I've already made for him. I'll replace stuff as it wears out, but for his birthday I'd rather get something he'll use. I guess that's just what happens when you pick your husband before you learn how to knit. :)

The baby sweater is the last immediate gift I'll have to knit for a while, unless there's something I'm forgetting. Knowing me, that is entirely possible, but with any luck I'll be polishing off that Cobblestone soon. Or maybe even spending some time with my poor neglected wheel. Imagine that!

funny kid stuff

2009-01-13T16:40:00.004-05:00

File under: Sam is just like me.
So Sam and I were hanging out, just chatting about his day (Did I mention the awesomeness of the new hours? I'm not sure when I'll get over it.). He can be a silly kid sometimes, and at one point he jumped on me. You know, like, expecting me to catch him. But he's ten now, and though he's small for his age, he's not that small, and . . . yeah. I dropped him on his ass. Looked like it hurt, too: he kind of curled up and rolled on his side. So I bent down to rub his back, apologizing profusely, but I could not help the fact that I was laughing, really hard. I know - bring on the Mother of the Year Award. So there I was, rubbing his back while trying to hide my face and stifle my giggles, when I heard him snort. He was laughing just as hard as I was, and trying just as hard to cover it up.

File under: Soul of a poet.
I found Reese sitting by himself the other day, just looking out the window. I asked him what he was doing, and in typical Master of the Obvious fashion, he said, "Looking out the window." So Iasked him what he was looking at, and he said, "Oh, just how pretty everything is. Like that pink light in the east." His quiet moments are few and far between, but they're pretty sweet.

File under: What the hell are they doing at that preschool??

It's cinnamon. In case you were wondering.

Oh - and don't forget about the contest!

blogiversary!

2009-01-08T12:26:00.010-05:00

My first post was two years ago today - wow. I've said it before, so pardon my repetition, but I've started and abandoned many a diary in my day. And though sometimes this blog sort of looks like I've abandoned it, I at least think about posting every day. That kind of boggles my mind, still.

At this point I'm going a break a policy? tradition? I've been using here on the blog, the kid pseudonyms. In two years I've never had so much a comment that was a little off, and honestly, what's the point of giving your kids one syllable, easy-to-type names if you're not going to use them? So without further ado, Big Brother's name is Sam, Little Brother's name is Reese, and Baby Sister's name is Jane. Hi kids!

One of my sad attempts at a Christmas card picture.

So, to celebrate my blogiversary, and because I've never done it before, I'm having a contest. I wish I could think of something creative, but no. Just leave a comment, anything at all, and I'll send somebody some yarny goodness:

Left to right: handspun, a little skein of uber-soft baby alpaca, Araucania Ranco sock yarn, and Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Just let me know which one you'd like. I won't be mad if it's not the handspun :)

If you're not into yarny goodness (weird), I'll figure out something else. I'll pick a winner next Monday. Contest! Fun!

I'll leave you with a picture J's dad found recently of our family when Sam was a baby. We look just ridiculously young, no? It cracks me up.

o christmas tree, part 2

2009-01-04T11:26:00.002-05:00

The denouement.

See ya 'round the campfire.

on the needles in 2009

2009-01-02T17:48:00.010-05:00

Hmm. Looks pretty similar to what was on the needles in 2008.

In Bag #1:

Big Brother's Cobblestone, which was supposed to be the first of three sweaters I would make the kids for Christmas. Whoops. It's nearly four inches into the yoke, practically done, for Pete's sake. As the holiday drew closer and I knew there was no way the kids' sweaters were getting done, I put it down in favor of the smaller projects I had to finish. This will be the first thing I pick back up.

In Bag #2:

The Bubble Pullover. I've got just one more pentagon to go, then the sleeves, collar, and the ribbed section at the bottom. Man, those pentagons were getting boring. I remember writing when I first started this sweater that it wouldn't ever get boring. I've been betrayed by the Bubble. Or my own attention span. Whatever.

In Bag #3:

Oh, man, the seamless hybrid. I cast this on in - wait, let me check - holy crap, last January! That's just sad. If I remember correctly, I'm somewhere on the second sleeve. So I need to finish that, join everything together, and hopefully remember what the hell I had planned for the yoke.

And speaking of my short attention span, I've got a couple of new projects going too. The first is, well, another cowl. They're like a disease, I swear.

Pretty, though, isn't it? It's Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande I got for Christmas (thanks, Nancy!). The pattern is this Spiral Cowl, with a couple of mods. Besides changing the gauge, I also substituted a regular hem for the picot hem, and kfb increases for the yarnovers. Both changes make it a little simpler and less lacy (though it is beautiful and not at all fussy as is), which I like better with the bulky yarn.

Lastly, I've also got a mystery project going:

I can't share this one just yet, but I'm putting it in for the sake of completing this ~~public shaming~~ project inventory.

And, well, I know I wasn't going to make any New Year's resolutions, but here goes: These will not still be on the needles in 2010!

catching up

2009-01-01T19:13:00.005-05:00

I was going to write a big long post about our Christmas, all the different festivities we enjoyed, a roundup of the last of the handmade gifts, and maybe a bit of loot-flashing. But here it is New Year's Day and perhaps the ship has sailed on that.

So I will simply say that Christmas was great. It's nice getting to visit with family we don't see often enough. And these past few years have been exciting, watching our families get bigger, what with babies and husbands and boyfriends.

The kids didn't get too spoiled, which is also nice. Although my mom did get the boys a Wii. Without asking permission. Not that that bothers me.
Video games have had a somewhat contentious history in our household (little boys tend to get obsessed with them), but I gotta admit the Wii is cool.

For Baby Sister, this was the year of Fancy Nancy. Before last week I had never heard of her, but now she's all over the house. For some reason, several people in our family saw these stories of the only fancy person in a house full of people who are more understated (that's a fancy word for plain), and thought of Baby Sister. Huh.

* She just came up behind me, and when she saw her picture, she said, "Ooh la la! That's me!" Yes, I think fancy is the right word.

And, oh yeah, somewhere in all the holiday craziness, not to mention the snowstorms, I turned thirty. Despite my children (and Jess) poking fun - Little Brother has been keeping count of how may days I have been an "old fart" - it doesn't feel like an especially big deal. It's hard to mourn the end of your wild, crazy twenties when you were neither wild nor crazy.

I wasn't too much of an old fart to make it 'til midnight last night, though. I haven't made any resolutions - I participated in the spirit of renewal by catching up with the laundry. Exciting! Actually, it kind of was exciting. So I guess that's Little Brother's point proved.

Well, Happy New Year, internet. Thanks for still coming around here in 2009.

breakfast cowl

2008-12-24T08:14:00.007-05:00

Because it looks like a waffle!

Although, I hope your waffles aren't this color . . . . unless they're chocolate. Mmmm.

This pattern is so ridiculously simple that even though I didn't manage to get to the computer and put up the pattern until Christmas Eve (!), you can probably still crank one out as a gift. You gotta love chunky yarn.

yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky
needles: US size 10.5 circulars/double points

Cast on 60 st. Join for working in the round, being careful not to twist.

k4, p2 for three rounds.

Knit for two rounds.

Repeat these five rounds six times, or until the cowl is as long as you want it.

Bind off loosely enough so that it'll fit over the head of your choosing. This isn't a loose, drapey cowl; it's a unisex, gaiter-type thing, so binding off too tightly could be an issue.

Enjoy!

o christmas tree

2008-12-16T18:20:00.004-05:00

I take a lot of crap from my family for preferring white lights to colored ones. But, dude.

I'm so right.

And here's my favorite ornament:

How does your tree look this year?

we're in holiday mode over here

2008-12-11T18:36:00.012-05:00

Full-on holiday mode. Decorations are up, gifts are being made/purchased (largely from Etsy - go handmade!), and my daily coffee is coming from a Christmas mug.

I made the mistake (except not really) of adding the Craft magazine blog to my Google Reader, which has resulted in tons of inspiring projects tempting me on a daily basis. I haven't gotten around to trying too many of them yet, but the boys and I did make this advent calendar:

Here are the instructions. It was a lot of fun, and I'm really happy with how it came out, but can you see the issue with it?

Think about it.

Yeah, those little pockets? You have to fill them. I did not want to fill the house with more plastic junk and my kids' heads with present-every-day expectations, so I've been putting in things like small candy canes and puzzles printed off the internet. Next year, though, I think I'll incorporate this advent calendar too. Each pocket will hold one of the little felt lights, and we'll put them on the string each day rather than taking them off. Fun!

Okay, I need to catch up with showing the knitting I have actually been doing, so bear with me. No pun intended:

That's the last Bubby, the one for Jess' baby. The yarn is actually recycled from a store-bought cotton sweater, but it really reminds me of Araucania Nature Cotton. It's very soft and sort of slubby. The gauge on this was a bit bigger than on the other Bubbies, so the bear is too.

I also knit a bag for my brother's guitar picks, at his request. I hope he doesn't mind that I had a little fun with it.

That's the only finished Christmas knit I have to show you - little non-holiday projects keep popping up. First, Baby Sister asked for a cowl (really, she did) after seeing me wearing mine all the time. How could I say no?

I love how happy it makes her. It's a really simple one; just stockinette with ribbing at the top and bottom and the embroidered hearts. The yarn is less than a skein of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino that's been hanging out in the stash since, well, the very earliest days of the stash. I was happy to let it see the light of day.

Second, Brand-new Niece turned one (!) this weekend, and I realized I hadn't knit anything to mark the occasion. Completely unacceptable! Enter the cupcake!

I made this up as I went along, and not to sound full of myself or anything, but I just about died of cuteness looking at it.

The other non-holiday knitting I've been doing has been related to the new etsy shop I've been playing around with. I didn't want to keep the old one going without Jess, and well, she's a little bit busy. New human being and all. So I started up a new one here. I've been working on it off and on, and trying to learn more about promoting it. I don't, however, plan on doing a lot of promotion here. It drives me a little bit crazy when a blog turns into a repeated sales pitch, so I'm not going to do that. The link over there in the sidebar still works, though. :)

And lest I forget, Big Brother's sweater is still moving along at its glacial pace.

Perhaps this goes without saying (it would certainly be less painful that way), but there's no way the kids will be getting Christmas sweaters. They will, as soon as my slow-knitting ass can possible make it, be getting Just-Because sweaters, but not Christmas sweaters. Raise your hand if you're surprised. Nobody? ETA: I just noticed the sweater looks like it's raising its hand in that picture. Ha! It has too much confidence in me.

AND I haven't forgotten that I've been off-handedly promising a couple of patterns and then not putting them up. They're coming - hopefully next week with the new schedule in place. All hail the new schedule!

Well, that's about it for this dispatch from within the holiday craziness. I'll surface again soon, I hope.

update

2008-12-02T13:29:00.002-05:00

I can't do a big post right now - I've been officially sucked into the holiday craft and decoration vortex - but I wanted to let you know how everything turned out.

I sucked it up and talked to my boss, and as predicted, he was totally nice about the whole thing. He said he understood about needing to be with my family more, he had no problem with me changing my schedule, and he was just sad because he'd be losing one of his best tutors. Take that, mean-boss stereotype!

So starting next week, I'll be leaving work in time to pick up the kids from school on Mondays and Wednesdays, with Tuesdays and Thursdays to be added ASAP, as soon as he can find a replacement.

The relief is completely awesome. And thanks so much to those who wrote lovely supporting comments - I just love the internet.

time to make some changes

2008-11-24T10:52:00.006-05:00

In which I ramble, stream-of-consciousness style. Sorry about that.

In the nearly two years since I've been writing this blog, I've had three different jobs. Four, maybe; I'm not sure if I've done any in-home tutoring in that time. I suspect I have. Regardless, that's a lot of instability. A lot of indecision, and thinking about what exactly do I want to be doing, anyway?? I know the answer to that question. I want to be home, with the kids. Keeping things in order, feeding the family healthfully, sneaking in some knitting when the boys are at school and Baby Sister's napping peacefully.

Because that's how it be.

Anyway, neither this fantasy stay-at-home situation nor the more realistic and chaotic version is possible. We're not going to be a one-income family anytime soon and I'm going to have to get over it. Do I sound bitter? Well. Yes.

I've mentioned I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. It's become clear that the job I'm in is not going to work out for too much longer, for a variety of reasons. The lack of benefits in this day and age is completely unrealistic. And more importantly, this family cannot deal with this schedule anymore. There are days when the only time I see the boys is during the hour or so that we're all getting ready in the morning. This is not nearly enough time, obviously. And that hour is not exactly quality time, as anybody who has hustled children through their breakfasts and out the door in the morning knows. Everything was kind of illuminated for me (if that's not too strong a phrase) last week, when I discovered that Big Brother is in danger of failing reading for the first trimester.

Everybody reading this who knows Big Brother just had to read that sentence twice. I know, people. This kid is an enthusiastic and adventurous reader. He started the Harry Potter books - read, I think the first three of them - the summer before second grade. And this was after he had already skipped a grade! He was freaking six! But this year, he's not keeping up with his work. He's a procrastinator, just like his mom, and he needs support. Not somebody to do his work for him, or nag him, but just some help staying on top of things. And while I love my husband dearly, he may not be the best person for this job. He is the most motivated and disciplined person I have ever met (sometimes I wonder how he lives with me), and he doesn't always understand that not everybody is like him. And I can't sit at work, helping other kids stay on top of their stuff, while my own child struggles at home, and not think, This is pretty fucked up.

So. The obvious solution would be go back to a regular teaching job. Full benefits, out of work by three or so, problem solved. Except at this point I'd have to go back and get some more college credits first, as my certification's expired. Also, I've done the classroom teaching thing, and I don't think it's right for me. At least, not right now. It frankly requires more energy than I am willing to put into anything other than my family at the moment. I look at some of the really good teachers I know, especially those with kids (like my sister-in-law - that motivation/discipline thing must run in the family), and I think they may actually be superhuman. It's just a theory I have.

Where was I? Right. Jobs. I did end up taking the GRE's. All the indecision and inaction was making me antsy, I think, and that was at least something I could do. Whether or not it was a useless exercise remains to be seen. I did pretty well, but I certainly don't have time to go to grad school anytime soon. When I was first feeling sort of panicky about the whole economic situation, a degree in a field such as engineering (which would reasonably fit in with the degree I already have) seemed like a pretty good idea. Now that I've got a whole new situation to feel panicky about, that idea is pretty well gone. No regrets though - I don't think I would have been happy doing it at all.

So the immediate plan is this: I'm going to talk to my boss (a very kind and understanding person, so WHY AM I SO TERRIFIED) about cutting back my hours so I can be there to pick up the boys from school. The downside is that it would make my job entirely administrative, no more teaching, and I'd miss the kids. But I miss my kids more. If that's not an option, I'll have to start looking again. Probably more in the science field and less in the education field, and definitely with hours that will fit my family. If I have to, I'll look for a part-time retail something or other. If those kinds of jobs are around right now.

So. Thanks for listening, and wish me luck.

eye candy friday: carpet

2008-11-21T16:28:00.001-05:00

taken on the Salem Common

the c-word

2008-11-18T19:07:00.012-05:00

No, not that c-word. My goodness.

I’m speaking, of course, of Christmas. And Christmas knitting, which has been underway for some time. I have enthusiastically taken the handmade pledge, and I think it’s going pretty well so far. I originally intended that all the handmade gifts would be handknitted gifts, but that’s not going to happen. Besides friends and family, there are people like the kids’ teachers, all six of them (hello - only three kids), and it’s just going to be too much. I’ll probably do some baking or making things like lip balms or bath balls. The handmade holidays group in Ravelry has tons of good suggestions. And then, not all the gifts can be handmade – though that’s all I’ll say about that here.

So what have I knit so far? Well, there’s the mittens.

The last couple of pairs have been stripey wool exercises in stashbusting. On the first pair, I made the stripes completely random, and then I put a bit more structure in the second pair. I’m also perfecting my jogless join, and using up as much as I can of those annoying little balls of leftovers. Do those drive you crazy, too? Or is it just me?

I’ve also been doing a bunch of stuffed animals, mostly using the Bubby pattern from knitty. I planned to do a cat (for the baby in the family that has cats), a dog (for the baby in the family that has dogs), a bear (the pattern ends there), and a salamander. Obviously I’m not going to do a Bubby salamander, but all the others will use that pattern. The cat and dog, actually, are already done.

They just need faces, but I’d like to get some embroidery floss for that. Also, I’m not sure I like the bow ties/neckties on either of them. I think I might get some ribbon for ties and be sure to stitch it down securely. Or maybe I’ll go all-out and knit them some little clothes. That might be fun.

The toughest Christmas knitting to get through is going to be the kids’ sweaters. I get the sinking feeling I’m going to do all the fun stuff - like, say, stuffed animals and mittens - first, and wind up spending the last couple of weeks before Christmas going crazy with the big projects. Because that is how I roll. At this point Big Brother’s sweater is knit up to the armpits, plus one sleeve and a little bit of a second sleeve. I started the second sleeve last Thursday, then spent the weekend (my prime knitting time) on other, smaller projects. Honestly, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m forcing myself to save Baby Sister’s sweater for last, because it will be by far the most entertaining.

And last but not least, I knit something up for my sister's boyfriend. Which, fellow Secret Santa participants, does not necessarily mean I drew his name! So there! Last year I made him fingerless gloves, so this year I was going to go for a hat. Unfortunately for me, it turned out Nancy had knit him two hats last year (one in black and one in brown, so being a guy, he'd never need another one). So a hat was out.

Hmm, what to knit, what to knit . . . a-ha, a COWL!

Love it when I get to knit a gift and indulge an obsession. I'm going to post the pattern for this (ridiculously simple as it is), but I'll make that a separate post.

So that's it for Christmas so far. I feel like I should put a countdown in the sidebar or something, but I'm not really that organized in my thinking this year. Gone are the color-coded Excel spreadsheets of years past, there's just not enough time. Sigh . . . I've been so busy and doing so much thinking and exploring - soon I'll sit down and share my thoughts. As soon as I can get them to stay in one place long enough.

this weekend !!

2008-11-13T12:57:00.008-05:00

Where to start?? This weekend was just so full of awesome it's hard to figure out what to write about first. You gotta love that kind of weekend.

There were two major things that brought the awesome. First, knitting weekend at the Slater Mill! I ~~gushed~~ talked about this before; this was the weekend where Norah Gaughan and Annie Modesitt were coming to teach some classes at the new Community Guild Studios in the mill. Second, J and I took a belated anniversary trip to lovely and historic Salem. This used to be an annual event, but it's hard to leave very small kids, so this was the first year we'd gotten away since Baby Sister came along. Cue the choir of heavenly angels!

So, the whole thing started with Friday night, the "wine and cheese reception" at Slater Mill. That title makes it sound so much more formal than it really was; it was just a gathering of knitters in the beautifully remodeled space on the second floor of the mill. There was wine, and cheese (the scoop on the Ravelry board is that the cheese ball was particularly good, but I'll have to take everyone's word for it), and a great Q&A session with Annie and Norah. Warren Wheelock, who runs Berroco yarns, was there, which made for some very funny show-and-tell knitting moments. Annie kept holding up things she had made and saying,"This would have been really nice in a Berroco yarn . . ." She was, actually, unexpectedly hilarious. Unexpected to me, I mean, because I wasn't really all that familiar with her work and her books. It was a really fun night, eating and knitting and chatting.

Saturday morning I went back to Slater Mill for the class on geometric knitting with Norah Gaughan. I had never taken a knitting class before, so starting out with an honest-to-goodness knitting rockstar was pretty sweet. She started by giving us a little history on how she started with the pentagons, hexagons, and other shapes she uses, and showing us some of the garments she's designed for her book and for Berroco. Dude, I got to touch some of the sweaters from Knitting Nature and it may have been the coolest thing ever. The technique itself was something I had already done, with the yet-to-be-finished Bubble Pullover, but it was so fun to play with it some more. Looky what I made!

An eye pillow? A bikini for Baby Sister? I don't know. Probably just a little piece of inspiration to hang on the bulletin board I keep meaning to make. I'll show it to people all the time, saying, "Norah Gaughan said this was pretty. Norah Gaughan. Come back - why are you backing away?"

Anyway. When I got home from the class I kissed the children and hustled them off to my sister-in-law, yelling, "See you later, suckers! I'm not done having fun yet!" Or maybe it didn't happen quite like that, but we did head off on our trip pretty quickly. It seems most of the historical-type attractions that we geeks like close fairly early, you see. It turned out that we needn't have worried. We went to the Salem Witch Museum first:

Oooh, Gothic and creepy looking. The museum was not quite what we expected, though it was a good time in a delightfully campy sort of way. You go in and you wait in the lobby area until the next showing of their presentation. When it's time, you are shown into a large darkened room with benches all around. There are these scenes all around the walls, essentially very large dioramas, and they are lit up one at a time to correspond with the soundtrack. Again, very campy, complete with the devil and his glowing red eyes, screaming girls, and Giles Corey's piteous groans as he is being pressed to death. After the presentation, the tour guide leads you to a room with an exhibit on how witches have been portrayed through history. At least, I think that's what it was about. Our tour guide went through his spiel so fast it was like being guided by the Micro Machines guy. As soon as that's over you're ushered into the gift shop and left to stand there, blinking and asking, "What just happened?" We mocked it thoroughly over the rest of the weekend. But it was fun, honest - tell your friends!

The town of Salem itself proved to be a great place for walking around. There's a little area, just a couple of streets, that are cut off to traffic, with shops and stuff - lots of costume shops, and yes, a yarn shop. There are lots of great restaurants, too.

We didn't eat at The Old Spot, although the sustenance and libations were quite tempting. I also stayed out of this bookstore in spite of temptation:

Stacked up to the windows! I may never have gotten out of there.

And lastly - holy crap this is a long post - on Sunday we visited the Peabody Essex museum. This was just what I expected it to be: full of beautiful and fascinating things. I didn't get all that many pictures; they didn't allow photography in any of their special exhibits. Which was too bad, because they were really wonderful. J especially liked Yin Yu Tang, which was an old house from a rural Chinese village that had been taken apart brick by brick, shipped here, and reassembled. Amazing. My favorites were the collection of paintings of Arctic landscapes, and the photographs of Maori moko tattooing.

And this. :)

Whew! Is it any wonder it took me until Thursday to write about it all?

November 4th, 2008

2008-11-04T14:09:00.005-05:00

Well, that felt good.

For a little context: I turned 18 the month after the 1996 election. (Did you do the math? Yes, 30 is rapidly approaching.) So the only elections I've been able to vote in were 2000 and 2004, in which I was, um, less than pleased with the results. And I'm not trying to be counting chickens before they're hatched or anything - either way this year turns out, I'm just glad I was able to cast a vote for a candidate I believed strongly in, not just one who was better than the other guy. (No offense, Al Gore. You should have done a better job showing us your values and your character during, you know, your campaign.)

I'm at work now; I'll be working for another hour and a half. By the time I'm leaving, many of the polls on the east coast will have closed. Results will have started to trickle in. I know I'll turn on the npr as soon as I hit the car, and will probably not turn it off until I know what happened. I can't go to sleep without knowing. Have you been on edge all day? I know I have. It feels like it is completely not hyperbole to say that tomorrow, everything could be different.

Oh, and if the straw polls in the local schools are any indication, it'll be a landslide for Obama.

I'll leave you with a poem today. I've never posted a poem on the blog before - I'm not really a big reader of poetry - but today seems like a good day for some beautiful words.

ELECTION DAY, NOVEMBER, 1884
Walt Whitman

If I should need to name, O Western World, your powerfulest scene and show,
'Twould not be you, Niagara - nor you, ye limitless prairies - nor your huge rifts of canyons, Colorado,
Nor you, Yosemite - nor Yellowstone, with all its spasmic geyserloops ascending to the skies, appearing and disappearing,
Nor Oregon's white cones - nor Huron's belt of mighty lakes - nor Mississippi's stream:
This seething hemisphere's humanity, as now, I'd name - the still small voice vibrating -America's choosing day,
(The heart of it not in the chosen - the act itself the main, the quadrennial choosing,)
The stretch of North and South arous'd - sea-board and inland - Texas to Maine - the Prairie States - Vermont, Virginia, California,
The final ballot-shower from East to West - the paradox and conflict,
The countless snow-flakes falling - (a swordless conflict,
Yet more than all Rome's wars of old, or modern Napoleon's): the peaceful choice of all,
Or good or ill humanity - welcoming the darker odds, the dross:
- Foams and ferments the wine? it serves to purify - while the heart pants, life glows:
These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships,
Swell'd Washington's, Jefferson's, Lincoln's sails.

on halloween night . . .

2008-11-01T09:27:00.010-05:00

. . . my children procured an obscene amount of candy! I mean, unbelievable. This was the first year they were deemed old enough to go out on their own (you should have seen them the past couple of weeks, drawing maps of the neighborhood and planning their route), and they came home with way more sugar than they would have while accompanied by an adult. I would not be surprised if there is still some hanging around to give out to next year's trick-or-treaters.

I'm sure the awesomeness of their costumes helped. As predicted, one of them did end up being a zombie - Little Brother - and J went all-out creating a "I've been in the ground for the past few years" look. Power tools were involved, people.

Big Brother was a rock star. Gene Simmons, to be precise. Here he is, totally owning the look:

And yes, they were a rock star and a zombie last year, too. But the other way around, so it's totally new and fresh, honest! At least that Benetar is getting a lot of use.

Baby Sister was a very cute pink puppy. She and I went trick-or-treating together, and she chatted and made puppy noises the whole time - except when she got to the actual houses of actual neighbors. Then her eyes got all big and her mouth got all tiny, though her reaching-for-candy skills remained intact. She also becomes quite dainty when the camera comes out:

Little ham.

Lastly, what would a post-Halloween post be without a jack-o-lantern shot? Ooh, scary!

eye candy Friday: more fall

2008-10-31T11:47:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween!

garter cowl

2008-10-26T13:38:00.003-05:00

Cowls! I'm a little obsessed with them right now. Inconvenient, with Christmas looming, but I think this one might have gotten it out of my system.

I bought this Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, in the Tuscany colorway, a month or two ago. I went to the yarn store looking for Dream in Color Classy because I wanted a skein of superwash
in a beautiful color to make a sweater for my impending niece/nephew. (Not that he/she is due until April, but you know how it is. The idea had taken up residence in my head, and that was that.) They didn't have any of the Classy, but the Lorna's Laces fit that particular bill as well, and the Tuscany was the most unisex colorway I could find. Then a week or so later, I happened to be back in the same store, and this time they did have the Classy. So I had this lovely skein of Lorna's Laces just for me. It started screaming "COWL!" at me and wouldn't let up, so I obliged.

I wanted something with buttons, that I could wear kind of loose and drapey, but not so drapey that it doesn't actually cover my neck very well. I poked around Ravelry a while, and found some nice cowl patterns for future reference, but not Exactly What I Was Looking For.

So in case you are looking for the same thing, here's the pattern for this one.

yarn: worsted/aran weight

needles: US size 9

notions: 3 1-inch buttons, tapestry needle

gauge: 17 st = 4 inches in garter stitch

Cast on 43 st. Knit, knit, knit until it is 16 inches long. To make the pretty selvedge edge in the above photo, slip the first stitch purlwise and purl the last stitch in every row.

At 16 inches, make the buttonholes: slip 1 purlwise, knit 4, bind off 3, knit 12, bind off 3, knit 12, bind off 3, knit 4, purl 1. On the next row, cast the stitches you bound off back on. (I know there's a jillion better ways to do buttonholes, so feel free to do them how you want to.)

Knit until your work is 17 inches long, and bind off loosely. Ta-da!

Halloween update

2008-10-22T14:38:00.001-05:00

So how’s your Halloween planning going? Have you been spending hours and hours lovingly going all Martha on your kids’ costumes? (Those of you who are busy procreating would obviously be exempt from this.)(Ew. That sounds gross. You know what I meant.) Have you given up and hit Target? Have you decided to pretend the holiday doesn’t even exist?

Or have your kids, like mine, infuriatingly refused to tell you what costumes they would like??

Right now only Baby Sister is set around here. She wants to be a puppy. Actually, she made it even easier by saying she wants to be a pink puppy. Pink clothes we got. Brown/black/gray not so much. So her costume is done.

The boys, however . . . well. Big Brother says he wants to be Pete Wentz. I say the neighbors are going to think he’s one of those punks who go around looking for candy without even dressing up. I mean, brushing some of his hair down over his face and wearing a hoodie? C’mon.

And Little Brother? He wants to be a penis. Yeah.

Ten bucks says they’ll both end up being last-minute zombies. The horror!

a mostly boring weekend

2008-10-21T12:00:00.002-05:00

Well, scratch that mostly.

The weather has gotten a lot cooler. We haven't turned on the heat yet, so the house is too. I've been getting a lot of use out of my cowls. Must make more!

Even my knitting was boring. I took hat requests from the boys on Friday (they were both very specific on color, stripe width and stripe placement) and cranked these out. Don't be impressed; I used size 11 needles and held the yarn (Lion Wool, if you were curious) double-stranded. I'd like to line them with fleece, as in this tutorial, but the boys are skeptical on that. Why? I have no idea.

Of course, this morning, Little Brother was mad at me (because I had requested that he turn his volume down, please - his only settings, I think, are "high" and "asleep") and he grabbed a cheesy storebought hat out of the bin to wear. "I'm not even going to wear what you knit for me!" he said. They really know how to get you where it hurts, don't they?*

Wow - reading over this post so far, I sound really cranky. I don't actually feel that way about a boring weekend; usually it's a nice thing to have. And sometimes they can be a chance to Get Stuff Done. I would say I more Got Stuff Started this weekend, beginning with helping Big brother to get organized. Hey, stop laughing - one does not have to be organized oneself to help others. I think. And anyway, I'm getting better; I'll show you in a second. But for Big Brother, the situation was getting out of hand. He was having trouble staying on top of his schoolwork and he was becoming frustrated. He'll be in junior high next year (OH MY GOD) so I really wanted to help him get squared away now. Since nothing says "fun weekend" like going through your planner with your mom, I took him out, just the two of us, to do it. We still need to do a bit more work, and I will certainly need to keep checking in, but he seems to know what to do and I feel better.

Now for my organization. It was the best kind: organizing craft supplies! I had all my knitting stuff in the bedroom, which was okay, but there were a couple of problems. One, my bedroom is tiny. Two, J goes to bed a lot earlier than I do, so if I had a sudden urge to start something new, I had to sneak in and quietly rifle through the stash to find what I wanted. That wasn't so bad, but what if I wanted to wind some yarn? Nonknitters such as my husband do not always understand the need to do that at, say, 11:30. Those poor unenlightened souls.

So anyway, I moved my whole crafting table into a corner of the living room. I like the new arrangment very much - everything is close at hand, right there to inspire me. I know you're a biased audience, but what do you think?

Peek under the table: hello stash!

The spinning fiber, the acid dyes, and the very small amount of fabric (mostly scraps from other things) are still in the bedroom. I hope to knit down the stash a bit and make it all fit under the table.

Hey! Didn't I tell you to stop laughing?

*ETA: I started this post yesterday. Today, he wore the knit hat and said it was cool. :)

eye candy Friday: you knew it was coming

2008-10-17T12:51:00.007-05:00

Signs of fall:

potato leek soup

bag of pumpkins

This is the monteagle bag from Mason-Dixon knitting. It took me three tries to knit the thing, and it is still absolutely riddled with mistakes (my mistakes, not the pattern's). It's some pretty crazy knitting, though, and I'll definitely be making more. Go figure.

Oh, yeah, and the leaves.

My camera simply refuses to do them justice. I guess you all will have to come to New England. Call me when you get here, will you? We'll go get some iced coffee and grinders.

finally finished!

2008-10-09T08:56:00.009-05:00

But first, I have to say I was really happy about some of the comments from the last post. For one thing, there were some people I had never heard from before - always super-exciting - but also there were a couple of people who said they liked my spinning and were looking forward to the point when their spinning looked like that. I don't mean to sound like I'm getting a swelled head or anything, but it was at this exact time last year that I was stalking spinning posts and leaving comments like that on several blogs. So it was kind of a thrill to see that - and my spinning is still not anywhere near some people's. Seriously, if you want to drool over some spinning, click those.

But anyway - the Yarn Harlot socks are finally finished! Yay!

I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of designating one project my "traveling project," the one that stays in my purse and only gets worked on away from home. It ends up leading to things like taking seven months to finish a pair of socks - short socks at that. Sheesh.

But oh, are they soft and pretty socks. Not pretty because I did anything special to them - just a very plain slip-stitch pattern - but the yarn. These are all about the yarn.

The yarn is Shibui sock superwash merino. It is just ridiculously soft. And the color is just so simple and pretty.

Some specifics: I called these the Yarn Harlot socks not because I used any pattern of hers, but because they were cast on during her talk at Webs in April. I did these two-at-a-time, toe-up, magic loop. I suppose they should also lead me to question the wisdom of casting on such a project in a darkened theater (do you see? How the toes are a little dog-eared?), but they don't. They remind me of a very fun day, and of the knitterly atmosphere and yarn fumes that must have led to the decision to cast them on. Oh, and I also tried out a garter-stitch heel on these too. Maybe it's a look that only a knitter could love, but I think it's cute. And not having to pick up the wraps on the short-rows was nice too.

One more thing to question: is it a good idea to take pictures of your socks in front of impressionable children? Baby Sister decided she needed a picture of her socks, too.

Note: In real life, my calf is not that big. Or, I hope not.

And while I'm posting about projects, here's something I finished not-too-long ago:

It appeared Baby Sister was the only person in the house without slippers that fit. As a knitter, I could not let that stand. I grabbed the leftovers from Amy's legwarmers and started some using the classic garter-stitch slipper pattern my mom taught me. I say taught me, because I don't have it written down anywhere, I just kind of eyeball the size as I go and use the appropriate amount of stitches and rows. Sometimes I'm a little off, which is why these came out so tall. But casting off the extra stitches after I got past the ankle part and adding the buttons fixed the problem nicely. I also put some caulk on the bottoms - these things are really slippery.

That's pretty much it for project-related news. I've got some new wool on the spinning wheel and a monteagle bag on the needles, but neither of them really look like much right now.

I'll leave you with this, from an ad in the NY Times magazine this weekend:

But what about yoga?

I still spin

2008-10-03T08:35:00.008-05:00

Man, I haven't posted about spinning in forever! Actually, there was a big stretch of the summer where I didn't spin at all, really. I certainly wasn't going to bring a spinning wheel camping (although I know some people do), and then I was trying to focus on my Ravelympics projects for a while too.

But this week is National Spinning and Weaving Week, and though that usually is expanded to include knitting, crochet, felting, etc., I definitely wanted to spend some time with my wheel. I'm going to the celebration this Sunday at Slater Mill and bringing the wheel with me - it should be a really good time. I hear we're going to spin up the giant roving that was dyed with Kool-aid last year. Big Brother helped to dye that, so I like the idea of helping to spin it.

But that's not all the spinning going on lately. I bought this superwash merino roving over the summer, kind of on a whim (isn't that always the way?):

Tuesday, it finally finished becoming this:

I think it's about a worsted weight, and as usual, I have no real plans for it. It'll just have to sit around being pretty. :)

Oh, and speaking of events at Slater Mill, the weekend of November 7-9 Norah Gaughan is coming!! Holy crap! Norah Gaughan! Annie Modesitt is coming too, also very cool, but OMG Norah Gaughan!!! I signed up about 5 seconds after I found out. I briefly entertained the idea but trying to finish the Bubble pullover by then, but then I remembered this little thing called Christmas. Maybe I'll just wear the little Target Wave mittens around my neck or something. Inexplicable knitter behavior, right?

a very brief political interlude during the vice-presidential debate

2008-10-02T20:58:00.001-05:00

Dear voters,

I cannot listen to "nucular" for four more years.

MAKE IT STOP.

Thanks,
me

family portrait

2008-09-29T11:00:00.004-05:00

I wanted to get a new picture of the kids for the sidebar of the blog. They keep doing that growing and changing thing, so it's outdated, plus Big Brother looks sort of evil in that picture. And, mostly, he's not.

So, last time we were at the park, I tried getting a shot of them all together.

Take one:

Take two:

Take three:

Ah, forget it.

hugs and kisses legwarmers

2008-09-24T07:14:00.006-05:00

As a knitter, when a friend or a relative is expecting, you knit something. It’s almost a reflex, I think. Baby = little knitted stuff. The pattern I’ve been following, now that I’m apparently at the age when 90% of my friends and relatives are expecting, is to knit something small as soon as I hear, then something bigger for the baby shower or just close to the arrival if there isn’t going to be a shower. It’s worked pretty well so far.

But what do you do when it’s a knitter’s baby? These wee little people only need so many sweaters and blankets, you know? All the obvious stuff is taken. So for Jess and Amy, both of whom are due soon, I came up with these little legwarmers. Pink for Amy, who’s having a little girl, and green for Jess, who’s having a little question mark. I don’t have any modeled pictures yet, as the buns are all still in the oven, so to speak. But I’ll add them as soon as I can.

Thanks for the photo, Amy!

I like the idea of legwarmers for babies. They are easier for diaper changes than pants, especially for these two cloth-diapering moms. Pants designed for regular diapers never fit over cloth ones, I can tell you. Baby Sister was wearing size 18-month pants when she was four months old. And legwarmers will fit for a long time – pulled up over the thighs when they are little, especially for crawling-padding, then more traditionally when they’re older. These looked like they would have fit Baby Sister (I didn’t try; I couldn’t be sure I’d get them back without some argument).

And yes, the name is quite cheesy, but the x’s and o’s pattern kind of demanded it. With babies, you just have to up the awww factor as much as possible, you know?

So, here’s the pattern. It’s very easy and very quick – I knit the second pair in two days, and I’m a slow knitter.

Yarn: any worsted weight. I used Knitpicks Bare Peruvian Wool, dyed with Koolaid for the pink ones and Jacquard dyes for the green ones.

Needles: US size 8 dpns or circulars

Notions: stitch marker, cable needle (although you can do it without!)

Cable round A: p4, work right-leaning cable, work left-leaning cable, p4, k to end.
Cable round B: p4, work left-leaning cable, work right-leaning cable, p4, k to end.
Right-leaning cable: slip 2 sts to cable needle and hang to back of work, k2, k2 from cable needle
Left-leaning cable: slip 2 sts to cable needle and hang to front of work, k2, k2 from cable needle

Cast on 40sts. Join for working in the round, being careful not to twist sts. Place marker for end of round if needed.
k2, p2 rib for 10 rounds.
Set-up: p4, k8, p4, k to end. (Those 8 stitches will be where the cable goes.)
Repeat this round once more.

Make an O:
Work Cable round A.
p4, k8, p4, k to end for three rounds.
Work Cable round B.
p4, k8, p4, k to end twice.

Make an X:
Work Cable round B.
p4, k8, p4, k to end for three rounds.
Work Cable round A.
p4, k8, p4, k to end twice.

Make another O.
Make another X.
Make another O.
k2, p2 rib for 10 rounds.
Bind off. I used this stretchy one I got from Knitting Daily: k2tog through the back loops, put the new stitch back on the left needle, and repeat all the way around.

The second legwarmer is just the same, except it goes X,O,X,O,X instead of O,X,O,X,O.

Enjoy! And feel free to comment or email me with questions if needed.

odds & ends

2008-09-23T12:34:00.003-05:00

Man, do I love the inventor of bullets. Well, not, you know, bang-bang bullets; I'm referring to the pseudo-organizational tool I employ way more than I ought to. And here I go again!

Fall has arrived! Hurrah! This just makes me so happy. The cooler weather is mostly here, and the leaves are starting to turn. It's lovely. Expect to see leaf pictures around here soon; I know I will not be able to help myself.
The cooler weather has brought with it the return of my morning walk with Baby Sister. We frequent the local bike path, which this year has been christened "Treewater." I was reluctant to use the word bike with Baby Sister, as her biking skills are not really ready for anyplace but the driveway, so I described it to her as, "you know, the place with the trees, and the water," as enticingly as I could. Hence Treewater. I like it, I think I should mention it to whomever runs the park. It's much more poetic and succint than the "Ten Mile River Greenway." Don't you agree?
Said morning walk has been touch and go. Baby Sister is not always enthusiastic about riding in her stroller. If she would prefer to walk, I'd be pretty much okay with that, but she'd prefer to push the stroller. Or climb and stand in the stroller. These things tend to slow us down, and for a couple of weeks the morning walks were routinely ending in tears. (Hers, I swear.) It's been better for the past few days, and I hope that continues. I'm becoming increasingly aware that this hour of relative quiet and physical activity is a big contributor to my sanity.
This is largely because work has been pretty crazy. See, my boss and his wife own five Sylvan centers, and the director of one of those centers is no longer working for them. Which means that two or three days a week, my boss is working at the other center and I'm all by myself here for about half the workday, until students start coming in. Most of the time there's some work to be done, but I've got a lot of downtime. It's also just weird to be completely alone for such big chunks of time. Now if I were at home and completely alone for a big chunk of time, I would love it, but it's just not the same here. I've done a lot of blog reading, not so much posting (except for, you know, now), and very very little knitting. I'm paranoid that somebody will walk in looking for help for their child and I'll be sitting there with my sock yarn. I'm thinking that would be somewhat unprofessional. At least the computer makes it look like I'm doing something work-related.
I've also been doing some online GRE prep, and I'm thinking I'm going to register to take the test soon. What I will do after that is less certain. I like my job a lot, but I don't see my kids nearly enough. Also there are no benefits whatsoever. I don't need healthcare, J's job is actually really good for that, but some sort of retirement something would probably be good. I know very very little about this kind of thing, but the news lately has just freaked me right out. It's very frustrating to regularly hear and read about this stuff that I understand just enough to get that it is Very Bad. Add the lack of any retirement benefits in my job and it gets all the more anxiety-producing.
I have to add, I hate the fact that I'm considering a career change for monetary reasons. Everybody knows you don't go into teaching for the money; it was never supposed to be about money. I love teaching. I especially love the way I teach now - all sorts of subjects to all sorts of kids, one-on-one where you make such a great connection. It's so gratifying to hear from kids and parents how much we've helped them, and in this job I hear it all the time. It's awesome, with the one exception of that gnawing ache of missing my family. This reality-rearing-its-ugly-head thing sucks.
And because all that would be a crappy way to end, I'll talk about knitting! I've cranked out a couple of small projects in the past two weeks, but I plan to post the pattern for those, so they'll have to wait. They're cute, though. :) I also cast on a bigger project, a cobblestone for Big Brother. I've got this crazy idea that I'd like all the kids to get sweaters for Christmas. You can look forward to the slow but steady unraveling of that idea (no pun intended) over the next few months; it should be fun. I sized the pattern down to fit his measurements, which wasn't too tough, and I've got just a little of it done at this point. He also requested a "zip-up," which is a little scary, but I've got quite a while before I have to face the zipper part. Amy has steered me toward a tutorial, so hopefully it will all be okay. The other thing that might make this sweater tough is the color - Big Brother picked out solid black. So far it hasn't been as difficult to see as I thought it would, and the yarn - di.Ve Zenith, which is a wonderfully squishy superwash merino - is nice to work with. A bit splitty, but I'm using some very pointy Knitpicks circulars so I haven't had much trouble.

Well, I think that's about it for now. I plan on posting that pattern later this week. No, really. See you then.

joy

2008-09-17T09:52:00.002-05:00

weekend's knits

2008-09-08T06:01:00.004-05:00

We had a relaxing, pretty low-key weekend around here, which was just what I needed, I think. Saturday I had to work, but even that was pretty low-key: not a lot of students on a Saturday in September. Just as well I got to spend some time in air-conditioning, though, as Rhode Island seemed to decide it was a tropical rainforest that day. Heat and humidity like you wouldn't believe. It was a menace to the glasses-wearing population, I tell you.

Sunday, however, was breezy and cool in the morning, though it warmed up as the day progressed. In September we have the Pawtucket Arts Festival going on all month, and among Sunday's events were a car show and a Heritage Festival at Slater Mill. These were within walking distance of each other, not to mention the local farmer's market, so we spent a little time at both. J even got to bring his Camaro to display at the car show. With J, his dad, an old friend of his we ran into, and even my own boys, there was much flying terminology and scary encyclopedic car knowledge going on. A testosterone-laden good time was had by all. And did I mention, J's going to another NASCAR race next weekend? I wonder if the man ought to pace himself; he's going to get hurt.

So amid all this not-too-much-going-on, I got a couple projects finished. First, I got a bit of money recently, and while I dutifully put most of it away, I did have one little splurge. Not on anything fiber related, surprisingly, but on an ipod touch. It's pretty awesome, but it has that big glass screen. It was just crying out for a cozy, so I obliged with some handspun.

The subtle mottled effect of the colors in handspun never fails to make me very, very happy.

And that baby hat for my new niece-or-nephew-to-be got finished, too. I'm really pleased with the way it came out. I might actually write up the pattern for this one. Assuming, of course, that I get time for that while I still remember what I did.

I hope your weekend was relaxing, too. :)

things the slip & slide taught me

2008-09-06T13:59:00.007-05:00

Having a hill in your backyard is awesome.

Two-year-olds may need a little time to adjust to the slip & slide.

Eight-year-olds and ten-year-olds, not so much.

There are only so many times you can watch your kids go down the slip & slide before you want to try it yourself.

Kids can go down it on their knees; adults cannot.

If you are over, say, 60lbs, that little inflatable pool at the bottom is so not enough to stop you. You will continue to barrel-roll down the hill, becoming covered with grass and dirt.

Your neighbors will find this amusing.

Consider this a public service announcement, from me to you.

yarny stuff

2008-09-05T15:06:00.009-05:00

Well, to the surprise of exactly no one, I did not make my Ravelympics goal. (And from what I've read around the blogs, I've got lots of company.) I had wanted to make two cowls and three pairs of mittens. I finished one cowl and almost a pair of mittens - not even close, really. I simply misjudged the time I'd have to do it while on vacation, and lord knows I don't get as much done at home. But the knits are nice . . .

This lovely is the crofter's cowl (Rav link). I discovered a couple of things while knitting it. One, I really like knitting with malabrigo (surprising, isn't it?). Two, grafting is much easier off the needles. See, this cowl was knit in two halves and grafted together around the middle. I started off poorly and ended up with the two halves not quite lining up. I can live with that.

My only mods were to add repeats, both a stitch repeat to each half when casting on, and a pattern repeat to each half. This was because I didn't have any suitable size 9 circulars and had to go down to 8's. In a cowl, I wasn't terribly worried about gauge.

The mittens, which are finished now, are evangelines (also Rav link). What a fun, pretty pattern! The cable was easy to memorize (especially once I charted it), and the mittens went very fast. I love the turquoise color and the semisolid, sort of tweedy effect of the overdying.

I changed the pattern to make them full mittens by doing seven repeats of the cable pattern and working the decreases into the eighth. I also did the thumbs by making essentially big buttonholes where I wanted them to be and picking up stitches around them later.

My only problem with these is that I didn't get gauge. (This became apparent after they were finished; I didn't actually bother to check gauge. For shame!) Look how skinny they are without a hand in them!

They look like maybe they're meant to warm, um, something else. A little ambitious in that area, to be sure, but still. Ahem.

Moving on. In other yarny news, my mom finally got the internet! (How much do I love this community where nobody is confused by me calling this "yarny news"?) As soon as I had her email address, I signed her up for the Ravelry waiting list. This, by the way, is now about three days, rather than the months I had to wait. She also picked up a digital camera and I had a great time going over there and showing her Ravelry, knitty, Knitting Daily, and a few favorite blogs. We also immediately set about taking stash pictures. And check this out:

My mom has a crazy organized stash. Christmas boxes! With the little ornament dividers! And each one is labeled with its contents. Dude. The only drawback to this system is it limits the ability to casually fondle one's yarn. And I am a big fan of the casual fondling. (My husband's eyes just bugged out of his head. Hi J!) Still, I am impressed with the structure and neatness.

As for current projects, I've picked up the bubble pullover (yes, another Rav link) again, as well as getting some work done on the Yarn Harlot socks. I had to take a break, though, for some baby knits! I'm going to be an aunt again, yay! This time it's J's other sister, and everybody is totally excited. I had to cast on a little baby hat, in a gender-neutral color, with some cute cables thrown in. With any luck it'll be done by the end of the weekend and I'll get some pictures of it.

See you then!

not still camping

2008-08-30T12:08:00.012-05:00

It's been nice these past few weeks when I've popped by the blog (does anybody else do that? Visit their own blog even when you don't have time to post and it's been too long to reasonably expect new comments? Just to, I don't know, make sure it's still there?). It's seemed like I've been on vacation the whole time, enjoying the scenery and the kids in New York and Vermont.

Sadly, though, I've been back for a few weeks. A busy few weeks! The kids went back to school, first of all, which required shopping and planning and a little bit of motivational speaking. At work, four of our seven teachers went on vacation in the same week (seriously, who told them they could do that?). Then there's the camp laundry to catch up with, which always takes about a week, as gross as that sounds. (And yes, it usually is as gross as it sounds.)

I like being back home, especially when I am taking a shower, but I've got to say, our trip was great this year. We made a point of doing things that we hadn't done before. We were more spontaneous. The first day, we got in the car and drove through Ticonderoga and into Vermont. We stopped at a little restaurant that turned out to be terrific and saw the placemats advertising the Addison County Fair that week, so we decided to do that too. Wherever we were, we grabbed brochures and perused them back at the campsite to make the next day's plans. The result was a little bit of time spent driving around lost but a lot of fun and new experiences.

The one place we did know we would go ahead of time was High Falls Gorge, near Lake Placid, NY. We wanted to go last year, but didn't get a chance, so it was first on the list. It was beautiful, and a little scary, seeing the Ausable River pounding over the rocks with such incredible force:

That video was taken from this terrifying little platform, which J and I visited in shifts because I was NOT taking Baby Sister down there:

We did take her on all the walkways, which was fine, of course. I am a big baby is all. And it was beautiful. Then there was the aforementioned county fair, which was just so much fun. We saw tons of animals, pig races, the rides at the midway, a bit of spinning, and an unbelievable amount of mud. (The mud made the scene in the parking lot almost as much fun as the fair itself!) I was surprised at how fearless the boys were when it came to the rides; they went on anything they were tall enough for. I couldn't help but thinking that just a couple years ago Little Brother had to stop and get off the extremely scary mini Ferris wheel at Storyland. Say it with me, they grow up so fast!

My favorite parts were the animals, and Baby Sister's reaction to them. She loved the bunnies and the ponies and the noise of the roosters. She wanted to touch anything she could. She was totally with me in wanting to buy an alpaca, but J shot us down. Spoilsport.

I think I could write about ten more posts about our trip, but that would probably get pretty boring. So I'll quickly mention other places we had a great time: the Wild Center, the beach at Scaroon Manor, and Lake George Village, of course, and then call it a day. On the off chance that any of you are planning trips to the area, these are spots to check out for sure.

As for camp knitting, I almost made a serious blunder in planning. I was completely convinced that the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics were the Saturday that we were leaving, and I planned, printed, and packed all my Ravelympics projects. At the last minute, I went online to the time zone checker to see when I was supposed to start - and found that the Opening Ceremonies were not until the following Friday. Oh crap! I honestly could not figure out what I wanted to cast on instead, so - thank goodness for Ravelry - I went to my queue and saw Katja. And sure, the pattern link works now, but the night before I left my computer refused to open any knitty patterns. At all. So I looked at other people's projects, packed a skein of Cotton Fleece and winged it.

I like the way it came out, and I'm glad I decided to eliminate the "cups". My only problems with it are a little sag in the back and my own ham-fisted attempt at applied I-cord. And the fact that Baby Sister refuses to wear it. Cries when I offer it to her, actually. Sigh.

Speaking of alpaca (I was, a couple of paragraphs ago, honest) and fiber arts, I did make one purchase on our trip. (I went to Webs on the way home, too, but that's not "on our trip", right?) A bit of raw alpaca fleece from a local farm, bought at the county fair. The only raw fleece I worked with before is wool, so I was really surprised at how clean this was. And soft! And a gorgeous color! I can't wait to get started.

I hope your end-of-summer is going well, too. Can't wait for fall!

photos from camp

2008-08-10T09:24:00.011-05:00

High Falls Gorge, Wilmington, NY

percolated coffee

Big Brother on the Sizzler at the Addison County Fair in New Haven, VT

campfire

rainbow near Tupper Lake, NY

my favorite quiet campsite activity

They never all hold still at the same time.

ravelympics

2008-07-30T15:26:00.009-05:00

In keeping with my reputation as a joiner, I've decided to do the Ravelympics - similar to but not to be confused with the Knitting Olympics. (The latter is an every-four-year (quadrennial?) event held during the Winter Olympics and organized by the Yarn Harlot, and the former is being run through Ravelry. As if you didn't already know that.) I've signed up for two events - how fun is it that they have events? - the Cowl Jump and the Mitten Medley. I'm very much looking forward to it.

Here's the thing though: I might be cheating. You're supposed to cast on during the Opening Ceremonies and knit the item(s) while watching the Games, finishing up at the Closing Ceremonies two weeks later. I, however, will be camping during that first week (yay!) and will miss both the Opening Ceremonies and all the events that week (boo - the Olympics are the only sports I like!). I plan to find out when the Opening Ceremonies are happening and cast on then, and work on the project that week. I will at least be wanting to watch the Olympics, and when I get back I will definitely be watching them. I hope that still counts - not that there are any Ravelympics Police or anything. What do you think?

Anyway - the projects. My goal is to knit two cowls and as many mittens as I can. Scratch that - a goal should be a number. Two cowls and three pairs of mittens. It might not be much for some people, but I think it's pretty ambitious for me and my f%$*ing schedule. Now, which cowls and mittens, you ask?

The mittens might just all be the same - evangelines, but adapted to make them full mittens. These are for gifts, and I think all the people I have in mind will like the pattern. They might even all be the same yarn, this Baruffa Maratona left over from Baby Sister's BSJ.

I overdyed it to a pretty teal color because I don't think most people like chartreuse the way I do. Go figure.

Speaking of which, the first cowl I plan to make is the Philly cowl, using some chartreuse yarn. I actually have chartreuse choices: either more of that Maratona that I didn't overdye, or some Inca Alpaca that's been marinating in the stash for a while.

The second cowl is the crofter's cowl, and I'm excited about it because I get to use that yummy malabrigo I picked up at Webs in April. Both the cowls are for me - did I mention that? I'm terribly evil for being so much more psyched about them than about the mittens, but there it is.

In the meantime, I've been working on stuff I've already got on the needles, or if I haven't felt like doing that, starting really small stuff I know I can finish in a night or two. As a result, I've got:

chevron socks. I really liked the Wool in the Woods yarn, but I'm not all that thrilled with the socks. I did a crappy job dividing up the yarn between the socks - had to do it twice - so they don't quite match and they have unnaturally long ribbing at the top. Not that I'm bothered enough to, you know, actually fix them. I'm not a big fan of ripping and reknitting and they're not for anybody but me.

I've also got more Christmas mittens, these made from some handspun. I love the color on these, and how the garter stitch looks.

Big Brother was enlisted as my hand model, but Baby Sister wanted a turn too. :)

Last but not least, I used up some leftovers to cushion my bff ipod and this year's cell phone. I don't usually have a cell phone, but I like to get a pay-as-you-go deal for our camping trip. Goodness knows how the pay phone at the campground will be, if it's even still there.

So who else is doing the Ravelympics?

to the ballgame

2008-07-29T07:05:00.010-05:00

*Disclaimer: This post is a bit out-of-date. We went to the ball game not this past weekend, but the weekend before. I considered not bothering, seeing as it had been a while, but frankly, I don’t get out that much.

You may have heard that David Ortiz was in the area recently. It even made the front page of the New York Times’ sports section!

The article was about how the presence of Big Papi made the people in my hometown a little bit crazy. The games for the weekend were standing room only when usually the stadium’s about half full, traffic was just nuts, and everywhere you looked you saw #34 tee shirts. By chance we had tickets to Sunday’s game, purchased a month ago as a Father’s Day present for my dad. So that morning we headed off to McCoy under the blazing sun.

We made sure to get there early, as we had general admission tickets and needed nine seats together. We managed to get them, but sadly, not in the shade. No matter – we were excited. My dad was easily the most excited; here he is racing Little Brother up the stairs to our seats:

We had some time to kill, but it was too hot to knit (I did have socks with me, though, and my sister was sorely disappointed they didn’t get confiscated. She said that would have been hilarious; I disagreed.) We just hung out, and after a while the players came out and started to stretch.
And sadly, Big Papi never did show up. Apparently he was healed, and headed home early. Jim Rice was there, though:

I don’t really know who is he is, but judging by the way people yelled, "Cooperstown!" when he went up to speak, I gather he is someone important. Even he complained about the heat.

Although we had a good time, and all the kids were relatively well-behaved, we ended up leaving after the 6th inning. The weather just got the best of us, especially Baby Sister. Next time: night game.

One last thing – I promised pictures of Little Brother’s tumbled rocks when they were done. Whaddya think?

We all agreed this one came out especially cool.

The plan is to get some more rocks on next week’s camping trip (!!!), order more of the polishing grit stuff, and start all over again when we get home. Hmmm – maybe it’s teaching him some patience. Imagine that!

morning glories

2008-07-26T18:26:00.003-05:00

in bloom

2008-07-19T16:20:00.003-05:00

We're not much for gardening around here, really. We have a few bushes in the front, some lilies and hibiscus here and there, and a row of morning glories J planted to climb the chain-link fence along the driveway. But some of what we do have is blooming right now, and it's pretty.

Sage - the sole survivor from The Year We Planted Herbs.

The rose bush started as a potted plant, given to me by my father-in-law when I was in the hospital after Baby Sister was born. It looked pretty sad when we put it in the ground, but it made it. I'm glad; it makes me think of that happy time whenever I see it.

As for those morning glories, they will be blooming soon, too. I'm looking forward to it.

fiber-y update

2008-07-17T17:10:00.001-05:00

I realize I never really put up a good picture of the skeins of contest yarn - an egregious oversight indeed! Just to remind you, this is 8oz (more or less) of shetland wool that Jess and I dyed with Koolaid and spun up for her contest benefitting the Relay for Life. I really enjoyed working with it; it had a great crimpy texture and it was very soft and sheepy-smelling. I ended up with two skeins, one of which made a lap at the Relay. They're a chunky weight, a little bit thick-and-thin, and still soft and sheepy.

The color is a little off in both pictures - the actual yarn is not so pink as the first one, and not so washed-out as the second one. You can picture it, right?

While I'm on the topic of handspun . . .

Here are those mitered mittens I've been working on. They took three tries to finally be something I was happy with. Well, mostly happy with, but I'll get there in a minute.

The first time I showed you these mittens was Take 1, the pair that were too tight. I went up a couple needle sizes (size 6 to size 8) and knit Take 2. This time, I was unhappy with the way the colors looked. This particular skein of handspun had been navajo-plied, to keep the colors together. The result was long repeats of color; the mitten had a purple cuff, a while hand, and a bit of yellow right at the fingertip. It looked like the Easter Bunny's version of candy corn, and who knows what the second mitten might have looked like. It's too bad - those long repeats would have been great in a Baby Surprise Jacket, but I didn't have enough yarn for that. Anyway, I solved the problem by winding the yarn into two balls and doing narrow stripes.

So what was I unhappy with? Well, I chose to do afterthought thumbs (which I liked a lot, being someone who chronically does not leave enough space between the thumb and the base of the fingers), but this is how much yarn I had left after both mittens:

Enough for two thumbs? I crossed my fingers and snipped.

And no. It was enough for about 1 1/3 thumbs. The second one was finished off with some undyed worsted weight. They look okay, but their gift potential has been seriously impaired. They certainly can't go to a nonknitter now.

The last project I want to show you is a quick baby hat I made with some of the yarn I've spun recently. I say baby hat, but it ended up as a doll hat. I am just continually afflicted with Yarn Shortage.

Ah well. The solution must be to spin more, right?

8 years old

2008-07-15T14:44:00.007-05:00

Well, the kids’ birthdays are finished for the year – thank goodness. I hope it doesn’t make me too evil to say that, but planning and hosting parties are really not my favorite thing to do. Not that I don’t like seeing family, and we always have a good time, but I’m, you know, tired. And apparently not organized enough to get these things ready in a timely manner; all three kids this year have had their parties the week after their actual birthdays.

Anyway, this time around was Little Brother, who turned 8 on the 3rd. The crappy thing about summer birthdays for kids is that it’s hard to get friends from school to come to a party. Little Brother hasn’t had much luck with it in years past, so this year he decided to just invite family. The good thing, however, about summer birthdays is cookouts. And ice-cream cake.

This one was made from ice-cream sandwiches layered with Cool Whip (thank you, Real Simple). And yes, I did leave his name off partly because it wouldn’t fit, but also so I could put a picture on the blog. More evil Mommy!

Little Brother warmed his mother’s geeky heart by asking for awesome gifts like an ant farm, a rock polisher, and Legos. FYI – polishing rocks is a process that takes weeks, which makes sense when you think about it but was a great big surprise when we first looked at the directions (“Check your rocks in – 14 days!! What??”). Luckily, Little Brother’s favorite thing is numbers, and figuring out the date we need to check on each step (oh yes – there are several steps) then keeping track of how many days are left is right up his alley. Actually, I think his very favorite gift was a pedometer from my sister-in-law. He had long admired her “step-counter,” and was very excited to have one of his own. Though he didn’t put it on until late afternoon, he immediately set about getting in his 10,000 steps for the day. By running around the house, with Big Brother close behind to provide, um, motivation. No, really, I mean around the house:

Speaking of my sister-in-law, she brought along Brand-new Niece. And here’s a gratuitous cute baby picture!

Oooh, those chubby legs! The birthday boy, on the other hand, refused to let me get a good picture.

Little punk. He did have a good time though; there were plenty of smiles when the camera wasn't pointed his way. Overall, I think everybody had a good time. And no more kid birthdays until March, hallelujah.

And I'll be sure to show you how the rocks turn out. :)

omg!

2008-07-12T11:21:00.003-05:00

Pretend for a minute that I am not a fairly boring mother of three and fiber addict. Pretend, if you will, that I am cool.

Imagine that this is one of those webpages that teenagers might have, where they get eleventy-million comments from the same group of friends, 90% of which are inside jokes, and they write things that would likely make their parents cringe.

Are you there? Are you channeling Myspace/Facebook/LiveJournal/What-have-you?

Okay.

Dude! Check out my rad new haircut!

I am making a weird face and I have no idea why.

That's what these whippersnappers are writing about, right?

Ah, forget it. Though I am still clinging to my 20's, I'm far more AARP than MTV.

Don't let the haircut fool you.

synopsis...

2008-07-11T12:05:00.012-05:00

...of what I've doing in the past month (!!) that I have been neglecting the blog.

Work work work work. Sadly, that nearly sums it up. The end of the school year/beginning of summer apparently comes in two waves: first the ohmygodI'mgoingtofailifIdon'tgetagoodgradeonmyexam!!! wave, largely high-schoolers. One day in the last week of school I did the same chemistry review sheet for four straight hours, with one kid after another. I thought my brain was going to leak out my ears. The second wave is the kids who want to catch up over the summer, or at least not forget everything they learned. Well, that's what their parents want, anyway. Not that they give us a hard time or anything, though - seriously, kids in a classroom and kids one-on-one are completely different creatures. It's amazing. Things seem to have settled a bit for now, though, thankfully.

We played in the sprinkler.

We had a summer storm.

We went camping!

We went up to New Hampshire and camped in the Bear Brook State Park for a long weekend, so J and the boys, plus J's sister and her husband, could go to the NASCAR race in Loudon. It was a good trip - a bit rainy at first, but nice anyway. We got to try out the new pop-up trailer we got in the spring after finally admitting we had outgrown the 29-year-old one we inherited from J's parents. It was a little sad to see it go, but the new(er) one is so much bigger - it was awesome. I'm looking forward to going again in a few weeks. Our camping trips are full of traditions, both universal and more unique to our family. There are, of course, campfires, s'mores, and just enjoying the outdoors (Burma Shave!). And there's also cribbage,

catching bugs,

and a day spent being all touristy. This time it was a trip to Weir's Beach, outside Laconia, where we took a train ride and dipped our toes in Lake Winnipesaukee.

What would a vacation be without a trip to a local yarn store? The day everybody was at the race Baby Sister and I, Google directions in hand, attempted to scope out a few places. Unfortunately, my Google directions mostly took me to yarn stores that did not actually exist, and the one I did find was closed (Sunday, duh). My last-minute crappy research performs fabulously again! But we did get some great pizza and a little one-on-one time, and when we headed out on Tuesday we stopped at the yarn store on the way out. It was the Elegant Ewe in Concord, and I wish I could have spent more time there. I didn't actually buy any yarn, but I did pick up some nice fiber: blue/brown/yellow/green merino pencil roving, which I had never tried before, and some nice gray alpaca from a local farm. Both of which have been spun up already:

Lately I've been gravitating more to the spinning wheel than the knitting needles. I also spun this, from some batts I purchased on etsy:

Plans for all this yarn? I don't have any yet, really. Probably mittens, except for the super-chunky yarn from the pencil roving. I think there's only enough of that for a baby hat or something. Good thing I know of some impending babies. :)

Well, I think that's about all I've got for now. I wish I hadn't been so busy, because I know there are things I meant to write and didn't, and certainly things I meant to comment on elsewhere. How do some people balance this family/work/hobbies thing so elegantly and efficiently? Mind-boggling, I tell you.

warm hands, warm heart

2008-06-07T17:54:00.006-05:00

Actually, warm everything right now. Is it fall yet?

Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that I am quite suggestible when it comes to podcasts. They've gotten me to sign up for Ravelry, buy books, even write poetry. Honestly, if a podcast told me to go jump off a bridge, I'd probably do it.

The most recent incident involves Kelly Petkun, of the Knitpicks podcast, a most devious repeat offender if ever there was one. A couple of shows ago, she was talking about mittens. She said they were great for stashbusting, as they don't use much yarn (which I already knew). She mentioned they are fun like socks but simpler and quicker than socks (which I also already knew). She suggested they make very good gifts (again, something I already knew). In short, she told me a whole bunch of things I knew already, and my reaction was OMG, everybody's getting mittens for Christmas this year!!!

I had a pair cast on within a half hour, and finished the next day.

Target Wave Mittens, from Knitting Nature. So cute! The yarn is miscellaneous stash that I had previously used to experiment with overdyeing. I meant for them to be for Baby Sister, but they practically fit me. No problem; they can go to Jess' daughter. It looked like I had enough left afterward for a second pair, so I went down a couple of needle sizes and tried again.

Ran out of the green. Damn near ran out of the pink too, but that's what stashbusting is about, right? Anyway, they fit Baby Sister nicely.

The pair I'm working on now are EZ's Mitered Mittens, from the Knitter's Almanac. I'm using some yarn I spun last fall. The yarn is a bit overplied and a little stiff, but it makes a good sturdy fabric for mittens.

The picture is of a first attempt that I frogged because they were just too tight. Still, I wanted to show you the lovely way the colors blend in the handspun. Mmmm.

I think this mittens-for-Christmas idea will prove to be a good one, however ridiculous the way I came to it is. I've got so many more options: Bird in Hand, thrummed mittens, Norwegian mittens, not to mention the interesting cables or stitch patterns I can put on the backs of a basic mitten pattern.

At least I won't get bored!

I had the weirdest dream the other night.

2008-06-05T18:57:00.004-05:00

So weird, that I'm blogging from work to tell you about it. Actually, I'm sitting around kind of bored because I have to wait for somebody to fill out some papers so we can close and I'm the only one here with a key. But still - the dream was weird. (Holy garbled sentence, Batman, I'm tired.)

Anyway, here goes:

I was hanging out with my aunt, my sister Nancy, and my mom. My aunt had found this amazing website where you could put in your high school and your year of graduation and see video footage of your class ceremonially entering the reception hall at your prom. Not that that actually happens at the prom.
First we watched my aunt's. It was pretty boring; we laughed at the terrible 80's fashions (my aunt graduated in 1970). There was also footage of everybody hanging out and chatting before they lined up to enter the hall - again, not too much to see.
Then we watched Nancy's. This was even more boring, as she graduated in 1998 so the fashions weren't quite so terrible.

Okay, then we watched my mom's. Class of 1964, so of course the boys and girls were separated before the prom. The girls were all hanging out talking, and they were unbelievably catty and Mean Girls. Not my mom; I hadn't seen her yet. Then all the girls lined up to walk in, and there she is - wearing jeans to the prom.
So the girls walk in and form a line to wait for the boys. The boys came in . . . on rollerskates. In sequined jackets. With all the arm-waving and background music that image conjures up.

All except my mom's date. He is, apparently, some sort of terrorist. He's wielding duct tape and threatening the girl standing next to my mom, while the sequined jackets swirl around him. And here's what is, for me, the weirdest part of the dream:

My mom says, simply, "Fuck."

relay '08

2008-06-04T09:02:00.011-05:00

Here's a (blurry) shot of tents and track with McCoy Stadium behind it.

I just wanted to share with you a few words and pictures of this year's relay. The event was all the things it was last year - fun, and meaningful, with a sense of camaraderie as well as the seriousness of what we've accomplished and what we've left to do.

The theme this year was the movies, and with Jess and her family's obsession with pirates (not to mention Johnny Depp), we obviously went with Pirates of the Caribbean. There was plenty of swashbuckling going on,

lots of pirates of various sizes,

Check out Big Brother's new glasses!

even appearances by Jack Sparrow and Captain ~~Pimp~~ Hook.

Hi Magic Baby!

I wish I had gotten a better picture of Jess' dad in that Captain ~~Pimp~~ Hook costume; it was hilarious.

Of course, the luminarias at night were beautiful. Maybe some year I'll be able to get a picture that does them justice.

This year I didn't get to stay overnight; I had to work the next morning. Still, I was glad to have been there, and so excited about the funds that were raised. I have to give kudos to Rock Fan, who raised the most and who was, again, out on the track showiong support all night, and of course to Jess, who put so much work all year long into getting us organized.

Oh! I almost forgot to show you: we had to do a skein lap. I brought it to the relay even though it was still damp, and being the geeks that we are, Jess and I excitedly brought it around the track and documented the event for all of you. :)

Memorial Day weekend, in pictures

2008-05-30T08:19:00.008-05:00

Now that it's practically next weekend, for Pete's sake.

Friday night we got to babysit Brand-new Niece. She is such a sweetheart.

The kids helped. I'm sure you realize anything vaguely person-shaped and lying on the floor must be covered by a blanket, warm weather or not.

Saturday we hung out in the backyard enjoying the gorgeous weather. The boys played bocce, which is apparently the big trend at their school right now. No, really. Big Brother even told me of a time at a friend's house when he played "extreme bocce." I'm still trying to picture that one.

And this picture, well, it's just cute.

Sunday we took the boys to a skate park. Baby Sister and J were perfectly coordinated.

The boys did more scootering than skating, but they had a good time.

I got on the skateboard just once. Nancy showed me how to align my feet over the wheels, where to put the foot that would be on the ground, and I pushed off. The skateboard took off, all right, but it did not so much take me with it. I landed flat on my back and promptly set a bad example for my kids by deciding not to go on the skateboard again. At least we all got a good laugh.

Today, this weekend, is the Relay for Life. The weather promises to be mostly good, and a ton of people are going to be there, walking and showing support for family and friends. I can't wait to be a part of it again. The contest yarn is spun, plied, and pretty, and I'll add some pictures of it to this post once it's washed. I can't wait to show you!

This is just to say

2008-05-22T07:52:00.002-05:00

I'm a big fan of podcasts. I like listening to them while I knit, while I go for a walk, sometimes while I fall asleep - you know, those nights when your brain won't shut off? Podcasts where it won't bother you if you don't hear the end are great for that.
The podcasts I listen to fall into two categories: knitting and npr. My current knitting favorites are Stash & Burn, Y Knit, and the Knitpicks podcast. For npr, I am a huge fan of Radiolab, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and This American Life. I have quite a few that I subscribe to, so (as with everything else, it seems) I fall behind and often listen to them a couple of weeks late.
Such was the case with the episode of This American Life entitled "Mistakes Were Made." This show has a theme each week, and this particular episode was about apologies that aren't really apologies, like the carefully worded ones made by politicians (hence the title).

I'm going somewhere with all this, really I am.

Okay, so much of this episode was devoted to a story about cryonics that was actually pretty creepy, but at the end they talked about this poem by William Carlos Williams, This is just to say. The poem, if you're not familiar with it, is a non-apology apology, and it is also a much-spoofed piece of poetry. The original and some really good spoofs are here. (You have to click a link for the original poem but the spoofs there are good ones - scroll down for some done by 6th graders.)
If you poke around the blogosphere it seems a lot of people were inspired by this episode of TAL. I'm a little late to this party (again, like everything else!), and it's not even National Poetry Month anymore, but it seems like fun. So here are some of my original versions:

This is just to say

I have washed
the wool sweater
that was in
the laundry basket

and which
you were probably
saving
to soak in
some Eucalan.

Forgive me
I tried to help
and now it is
so stiff
and so small.

To MadMad, this is just to say

I have hijacked
the post
that you wrote
this week

and which
you were probably
saving
for your readers
or the folks
over at humor-blogs.

Forgive me
it was a gem
so witty
and so true.

I even saw someone use this poem as a Mad Lib, though I can't seem to find it now.

So, care to make up your own? It's fun!

busy busy busy

2008-05-20T09:01:00.000-05:00

Like she said. Frickin' May.

wip lineup

2008-05-06T10:24:00.013-05:00

Home sick again today. Poor Baby Sister is boogery and warm and sleepy, and she's passed it on to me, too. I could not believe it at 10:00 this morning when she handed me a pile of blankets and said, "Baby Sister crib." I thought she'd just go in there and play around a little, but here it is 11:30 (ETA: 12:15!) and she's still out cold. It's heartbreaking. Quiet, but heartbreaking.

So I'll take the unexpected opportunity, not to nap off my own cold, but to show what I've been knitting and spinning. First, Juliet! Sort of!

pattern: Juliet by zephyr style. Sort of!

yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, just a tiny bit over two skeins

needles: size 8 Addis

mods: Yeah, pretty much the whole thing. I looked at the pattern, saw it called for chunky yarn and I think size 10 or so needles, and realized I'd have to change it a whole bunch to match my gauge. So I decided to figure it out from the pictures on Ravelry. It's a pretty simple top-down raglan in garter stitch at the top, then I chose the beech leaf lace pattern from a stitch dictionary for the bottom. I used EZ's percentage system to figure out how many stitches to cast on at the top, and from there it kind of figured itself out, if that makes sense. The only other thing I did was put in a few short rows in the back.

Dude, I finished this in two weeks. Two weeks, that's unbelievable for me. And when I wore it to see the Yarn Harlot, I got so many comments on it! That's never happened to me before, and it felt really great. Here I will resist the urge to insert something snarky about my burgeoning narcissism, because, dammit, getting compliments on your knitting should feel great. So there.

I immediately cast on another sweater, for myself. I thought about starting some for the kids, but you know, it's May. They won't wear them before the fall, by which time they probably won't fit. So I'll knit those starting in maybe July, and in the meantime I can be selfish selfish selfish. This will be the Bubble Pullover.

I really like knitting this sweater. It's reminding me of the Baby Surprise Jacket in that the construction is all origami crazy, and I have no idea how it will come together in the end; I just have to trust the pattern. Plus it won't ever get boring.

What was that you said? Something about a seamless hybrid? I'm sorry, I can't really hear you.

I've also got some socks on the needles, also all for me (goodness, maybe there really is some burgeoning narcissism going on. Yikes!). First I figured out what I wanted to do with that toe. I decided on a simple lacy chevron pattern - not too busy for the variegated yarn. I like it a lot.

I also cast on some new socks in the darkened auditorium while listening to the Yarn Harlot. Eastern cast-on, two-at-a-time, magic loop in the semi-dark; I don't know what I was thinking. The toes are a little on the sloppy side, but I'm over it. These have become my keep-in-my-purse knitting, so they're quite simple: mostly stockinette with a few columns of slipped stitches to break up the colors. I have to mention the yarn, though: it's Shibui sock. I didn't mean to buy this; I went to the yarn store for something else and felt guilty leaving empty-handed after getting great service. But holy crap - this is the softest sock yarn I've ever met! It's just lovely to work with and wearing them should be amazing.

Lastly, I've been doing some spinning after a little bit of a hiatus. I finally got to start the yarn for Jess' contest. It's 8 oz of shetland wool - soft and springy - and I think it will come out pretty nice. First we split it in half and dyed it with Kool-aid, half a semi-solid purple and half a purply-pink. The Relay for Life's color is a darker purple, but I think we've got the spirit of the thing. So far I've spun the first half, the more purple one:

and pre-drafted the second half.

I tried hard to get a picture of the pre-drafted fiber that shows it's crimpy, springy texture, and I think this one comes close.

The halves will be plied together to get what I think will be a chunky-weight yarn. I don't know yet whether it will be two skeins or one giant skein, but either way, it should be enough for a yummy scarf. Or maybe a baby blanket or sweater, if you don't mind hand-washing those sorts of things. What am I saying? You're knitters; of course you don't!

Anyway, if you have no idea what contest I'm talking about, go here. It's a great cause.

last Sunday

2008-05-05T11:37:00.012-05:00

Wow - I can't believe it's taken me a week to write about the fantastic experience that was seeing the Yarn Harlot, at Webs, surrounded by hundreds of knitters. There's a variety of reasons for this, and I'll get there, but first!

Man, it was so fun. Crazy, and more people than I would be comfortable with on a regular basis (you will never see me in Times Square on New Year's Eve), but really fun. I know there's no way I can write anything cohesive and linear about the day, even if I had gotten around to doing it right away. So - bullets it is!

Stephanie started her speech talking about knitter stereotypes. You know, all knitters are old or all knitters are female or all knitters have twenty cats. Obviously, not the case. But there was one stereotype she mentioned I haven't seen disproved yet: all knitters are nice. Seriously, I can't imagine a thousand of any other group of people in a relatively small space (Webs is big, but not a-thousand-people big) all being so nice to each other. Case in point: we got there early enough to have our books signed and go get lunch before the speech (an excellent decision, btw). We're standing in line and I take out my camera only to see that the little door is hanging open and there are no batteries and no memory card inside (so much for my preparation). The batteries turned out to be in my bag, and the memory card turned out to be . . . in my computer. At home, two hours away. I just had to download that picture of the lace and Camaro, didn't I?? Well, the lovely Noella (she's one of the first-sock people in that post) goes into her camera bag and just gives me a memory card. Just, "hi, I've just met you, here, take this piece of electronic equipment." The niceness of knitters is unbelievable! (PS - Noella (noallatin on Ravelry), it was so nice to meet you! I'm sorry we ended up getting separated after the talk - and thanks again!!) Honestly, I'm not as "out there" as some knitters (Kimberly comes to mind - she's everywhere!), but I think I've met a fair few of the knitting species, and I haven't encountered one that wasn't very very nice.

I'm a complete starstruck geek-type person. And I apparently listen to too many podcasts. I was all, "Ooh, Kathy and Steve!" (like I didn't expect them to be there) "Ooh, Guido!" "Ooh, a model from the catalogue!" I was mostly elbowing my mom to tell her these things, and she has no idea who these people are. Pathetic, I tell you.

Meeting other bloggers was fantastic. Jess, Amy, MadMad, Suburban Correspondent, the aforementioned Noella - you guys were so much fun! And sporting wonderful knitwear!

The Yarn Harlot herself, was, of course, hilarious. And so generous with her time. Jess, Amy, and I brought her a little gift bag of RI goodies and she took the time to open it and ooh and aah over all the stuff inside. Or puzzle over it, in the case of the coffee syrup. One thing totally worth oohing and aahing was the book Amy had made for her. It was this gorgeous glowing yellow color, bound with a dpn - fantastic. Take a look.

Here's another, gratuitous shot, with Stephanie, Kathy, and Steve all in the same picture. Ooh, geekiness!

I made a list this time, which was so helpful. I ended up buying just what I had intended to buy, sticking to the amount I had allotted, and avoiding brown yarn. Really, I had written NO BROWN YARN across the bottom of my list, just to keep me in line. It worked. I still spent more than I have ever spent on yarn at once in my whole life - and it did sort of take my breath away a little when Kathy told me my total - but I didn't spend more than I planned to spend. Want to check out the stash enhancement??

Some Valley Yarns Stockbridge, in denim blue, for the Bubble Pullover from Knitting Nature (which I also bought that day). I've cast it on already. This yarn is soft and squishy and the price was really great. Also, one of Baby Sister's favorite songs has line in it about the "Turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston" so it's sentimental too. Perfect.

Jo Sharp Silk Road tweed for Imogen. I really wanted to make this sweater in something tweedy, and I think this will be nice. It's awfully soft.

The classic Cascade 220 for a sweater for Baby Sister. I plan on designing this one myself, and maybe writing it up as I do so. I've got some ideas . . :) I deliberately did not get pink - she's got plenty of that as it is!

A skein of Malabrigo, bought simply because I've always wanted to try it. I love the color. I think it will be a neckwarmer, which, apparently, I've developed a little bit of a thing for.

A shawl pin for Juliet-esque, who will be getting her own post in the near future. It is modeled here by a swatch I found while engaged in the wonderful task of reorganizing the stash after a big purchase.

Maybe it's all the new yarn lying around, or being in the presence of so many knitters, but I've been really inspired lately! I just want to knit and spin all the time. I mean, more so than I already did. I will show all the stuff I've been working on, but I think there's only so much that can fit into one post, so not yet. This is one reason why it's taken me so long to post about last weekend.

Another reason is simple busy-ness. Work has been busy, I got behind on the laundry what with being away for one whole day (scary how fast that happens), and J has been out of commission this weekend. See, he had a vasectomy on Friday. I'm feeling surprisingly little angst about this, as it was a much-discussed and planned-out decision, even though - wow, it is really really final. I am, however, pretty much all done with hearing the phrase, "My balls hurt." Followed, inevitably, by, "Daddy's balls hurt." This is charming coming from a two-year-old girl, let me tell you. Not that I don't feel bad about him being in pain and all, but if he is looking for a lot of sympathy for the toll our reproductive decisions have taken on his body, he might want to look elsewhere, is all I am saying.

Today I am home with a sniffly little girl, taking the time to catch up on blogging, email, housework, and of course, knitting. I'm taking pictures and I'll post a bunch of stuff soon.

Happy Monday!

preparation

2008-04-26T18:39:00.005-05:00

Things to do to get ready to see the Yarn Harlot! at Webs! tomorrow!

Gas up the car.

Clean fossilized raisins and other unidentifiable detritus out of the car.

Go to the bank for some cash (lest I do something terrible with the debit card).

Wind sock yarn.

Mmm. Shibui.

Make sure camera has plenty of batteries. And a memory card.

Block sweater.

Ah, the classic combination of lace and Camaro.

Try not to annoy the family with how excited I am.

Think I forgot anything?

babies!

2008-04-22T08:17:00.010-05:00

So, those booties I mentioned in my last post? Actually, I made two pairs.

Congratulations Jess and Amy!

Seriously, is there anything better than knitters having babies? Cute, snuggly babies in cute, snuggly knitwear - yum! When I told (okay, squealed) the news to my husband he said, somewhat darkly, "Don't get any ideas." Don't worry, hon. No ideas here. I shall live vicariously through other people's babies (oh yeah, and my own kids too) and I shall cuddle them at, say, 2pm instead 2am, if you get my meaning.

Hey, speaking of cute babies . . .

It's Brand-new Niece! She's four months old, and dude - she is the fattest baby I have ever seen. So cute. She's also very sweet; she sings and coos all the time. And did you see her shirt? Remember that one? Squee!

That last picture was taken at a little party we had this weekend for Baby Sister's birthday. I'm glad I lacked the motivation to have the party closer to her actual birthday, because this way we got to have it outside. The weather cooperated beautifully, and everybody had a lovely time. baby Sister gave rides and got rides

and the boys learned a new skateboard trick from my sister Nancy's Boyfriend.

Boyfriend did some tricks too - and I think the kids consider him to be the Official Coolest Person Ever. Jess' daughter referred to him as "The Teenager" (he's not), which I think is a compliment coming from an 8-year-old.

It was a good day - and next Sunday promises to be just as good. The Yarn Harlot! At Webs! With real-live bloggers! I can't wait. :)

Is there a doctor in the house?

2008-04-13T11:17:00.007-05:00

Because I have a raging case of startitis!

The seamless hybrid is just so boring right now. I'm working on the second sleeve - these sleeves are endless - and it's been driving me so crazy I've actually not been knitting very much. Which is silly.

So when Amy made her big announcement, I was very happy for her, of course, but I was also thinking, "Yay! Booties!" I dug out some unisex dk weight yarn and amused myself with some Saartje's bootees. It was wonderful.

Apparently working on something other than the never-ending sweater was the crack in the dam. After the booties, I just didn't want to go back to the mindless stockinette. So I used the same yarn (Wool in the Woods Cherub, if you were curious) and made a toe.

I'm not sure what the future of the toe will be. I made up a pattern to fit on the stitches and started on the foot of the sock, but I think I went a little crazy - there's slipped stitches and ribs and a couple little cables and it's way too much. Maybe in a solid color, but with this yarn you wouldn't see any of it. I think it was just an overreaction to, again, the mindless stockinette and I'm definitely going to frog it back to the toe and have a little think on it. (Yes, btw, Little Brother's socks are still on the needles, but they're the knitting that travels around with me so they're in the car more often than not. I'm way too lazy to go outside when there's perfectly good yarn right in the room).

Lastly, this warmer weather we've been having has been another reason not to pick up the seamless hybrid. There's no way I'm going to get to wear it. But, dammit, I want a handknit sweater to wear, so . . . I cast on this.

Well, sort of. The yarn I wanted to use (Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece) is the wrong gauge, and the sweater's pretty simple, so I figured that if I'm going to have to do a bunch of tinkering I might as well just try to figure the thing out. I checked out all the pictures on Ravelry, swatched, and cast on with the help of EZ's percentage system. I haven't gotten too far yet, but so far, so good.

Plus the turquoise is such a nice springy color.

Well, it looks like I've got my hands full for now. I should get back to my knitting!

shirking my responsibilities

2008-04-11T07:50:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, the weather was lovely. Sunny, about 70 degrees - spring at last.

I had a pile of laundry in the basement, a kitchen and a bathroom that could use a cleaning, and about two hours before I had to leave for work. So I took Baby Sister to the park.

Here's the thing: spring in New England is fleeting. In the fall, you get as much as a month of mostly pleasant weather - not too hot, with all those beautiful leaves. But spring? You maybe get a week. Maybe. Usually it's 45 one day, 85 the next, and that's the end of it. Bring on the humidity. So I had to take advantage of yesterday's weather. Baby Sister approved.

We didn't do too much, just a bit of a walk around the pond at Slater Park. It's a pretty place.

The pond was lovely and sparkling and full of raucous geese. Plus this pair on a little island - they were very Trumpet of the Swans, I thought.

We had a great time. Totally worth neglecting the housework.

The warm weather made the kids at work a little silly, though. One little girl had us all laughing - I can't even remember what was so funny, but she has a very infectious laugh.

My boys have been silly, too. This morning they were playing one of those charming flinching-related boy-type games.

Little Brother held his thumb and forefinger very close together and asked, "Are you afraid of a monster this big?" Then he flicked his fingers at my face, of course I blinked, and he said, "Yeah, you are."

Of course, he tends to get a little carried away with things. It soon progressed from flicking his fingers to waving his hands and arms around wildly. When he said, "Are you afraid of a monster this big?" I said, "Yes, I am!" and squeezed my eyes shut.

Then he punched me in the stomach.

He didn't mean to; I was merely the victim of an errant windmilling arm. And he froze in horror when he saw me double over. Of course, that was just because I was laughing so hard.

It was definitely a good way to break the typical morning-rush tension and start the day off on a good note. Even if I had to get punched for it.

birthday girl!

2008-04-09T08:24:00.000-05:00

Baby Sister is 2 today!
I honestly can't understand how that could have happened, as pictures like this:

were taken, oh, about 5 minutes ago.

At least some things haven't changed:

Say it with me: Awwwwwwwwww.

She doesn't quite understand the birthday concept yet. A typical exchange from this morning:
"Happy Birthday, Baby Sister!"
"Happy Birthday, Mommy!"

Awwwwwwwwww again.

All right, I'll quit with the cuteness already, before somebody gets a cavity.

Happy Birthday, sweetheart!!

comfort food and comfort knitting

2008-04-08T07:48:00.007-05:00

When my mom first taught me to knit, she started with a little stitch sampler, and the obligatory garter-stitch scarf. But soon after she taught me to make The Slippers. The garter-stitch slippers, with ribbed toes, that filled (and still do fill) my childhood home. My mom churns these things out like you wouldn't believe - she has a little shelf under the table by her bed that had easily 10 pairs on it. These are just the current crop; there's more on deck plus more set aside to be gifts or in case anybody happens to need a pair of slippers while anywhere in her vicinity. When she showed me how to make them, she left me the pattern -written out on the spot, from memory. I honestly think for a few years there, before my sister and I took up knitting, they were all she made.

You know the ones I'm talking about, right? They are, frankly, neither attractive nor particularly foot-shaped. They're knit flat, all in garter stitch except for the toes and a line of stitches on either side of the foot that makes it fold into the slipper shape. In spite of their flaws, I confess that I love them. I am a sucker for nostalgia, it seems. So I recently made each of the boys a new pair (none for Baby Sister - they're not called "slippers" for nothing). When my mom makes them, she uses worsted weight yarn, held double, on size 6 needles. Yes, you read that right. She does this because she's a very loose knitter, slippers need a thick fabric, and also she is a crazy person. Doubled worsted weight on size 6? I think I'd prefer to keep the use of my hands. So I decided to get a thick fabric a different way: I knit them larger than I wanted, on size 11 needles, and felted them down to size. Bonus: no garter-stitch loops to get caught on any little rough spot on the floor and create a giant hole. Yay!

Little Brother got orange and red, and Big Brother got blue and red - all miscellaneous feltable stash leftovers:

Yeah, pretty they are not. But they're quite warm. And, as I mentioned, a connection to my knitting heritage. Or something like that.

As for the comfort food:

Samosas - mmmm. I found this recipe in a recent issue of Real Simple (my very favorite non-fiber-related magazine) and I've become a little obsessed with it. Every couple of weeks or so, I've made a batch and frozen them to bring to work for lunch.

It's pretty easy:

Cook one medium onion, chopped fine, in a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until it's soft and brown. Add salt, pepper, and 1 1/2 tsp of curry powder, and turn off the heat.
In a bowl, mix 2 cups of frozen peas with about three servings worth of mashed potatoes (leftovers, instant, made fresh, whatever). Add the onions and mix together.
Here's the best part: take refrigerated pie dough, unroll it, and cut into six wedges. Spoon a little bit of the filling into each wedge and seal it up.

The recipe in the magazine says it will make 12 samosas, but I usually get 15, or even 18 before I run out of filling (I don't really mind leftover pie dough, as I know I'm going to be making these again).

Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. They're good hot, cold, and with or without mango chutney. I shall be forever grateful to my cousin for introducing me to Indian food. Yum!

random bits

2008-03-31T08:04:00.007-05:00

It's been a heck of a week. Busy. Excuse me while I attempt to pull out any bloggable bits and then make fervent promises to post more often. And comment on other people's blogs more often, and reply to comments more often, and, well, you get the idea.

I went to the dentist this week. Twice. First for my regular cleaning, and second because of course they had to find something dreadful. Involving wisdom teeth - again. Back in July they only pulled out two of my wisdom teeth, partly because that's all I could afford, but also because one of the bottom ones has a scary root that is shaped like the letter U. The surgeon said he'd prefer to leave it where it is, and when I was there Monday, a hygienist literally looked at the x-ray and said, "Holy crap! Imagine pulling that out!" It's a caveman tooth, is what it is. And apparently if the bottom one is staying, they'd like to keep the top one too - don't ask me why. My top one had a ginormous cavity in it (wisdom teeth are nearly impossible to keep clean, I'm told; that's why they usually yank 'em), so they did a filling with some kind of medication in it. It tasted like cloves. As she was getting started, my dentist says, "Since it's kind of a big one, I'm going to drill it without using the cold water. You might smell something - don't worry about it." Well, smell something I did. Like she was burning toast in there. And she did not mention that I would see smoke rising from my mouth as she worked. Dude, smoke. Thankfully she's very good with the anesthetic and it didn't hurt at all.

It's starting to feel like it's thawing out around here. Thank goodness. I do like winter, and I'm not looking forward to the summer heat and humidity, but the arrival of spring is very welcome. Yesterday afternoon the kids and I even got to walk the bike path a bit. I missed the bike path! Soon enough the mornings will be warm enough to resume my morning walks with Baby Sister. Although if yesterday is any indication, they'll be a bit different. She rode for a bit, but mostly she wanted to walk herself, stopping every now and then for an impromptu round of "Ring Around the Rosy." There's also a tunnel on the path, running under some train tracks. The local junior high painted a mural in the tunnel, and Baby Sister did not want to leave it. Can't blame her - there's bright colors, and animals, and a cool echo. Eventually she tripped and scraped her hand, and in the ensuing holding and comforting I was able to take her out of the tunnel. I'm thinking there's probably a better way, though.

I've been knitting, too. I'm on the second sleeve of the sweater, and I'm starting to entertain the notion that it might be possible to finish it in time to see the Harlot on April 27th. Possible for me, I mean; I know it would be possible for most people. I've probably jinxed myself saying out loud, though. Or in print, whatever. I also started some socks for Little Brother, out of leftover Cascade 220. I put in a cable pattern so I wouldn't get too bored.

I like them. I let the boys go stash diving to pick out yarn for their socks, and I think this was a good choice - you can't go wrong with Cascade 220. Big Brother, on the other hand, picked out my leftover Lush (50% wool, 50% angora) in a light purply-blue color. Although I have no personal objection to purply angora socks for a ten-year-old boy, I can't help but think they'll be full of holes in about five minutes. We may have to have a yarn-choice discussion.

Hmmm . . . what else is going on? Well, we're doing this.

Not with any real result, but you gotta start somewhere.

Now for the fervent promises: I swear I will blog more than a single crappy post in a week! I will knit like a fiend and share my results! I will visit all the blogs I read, the ones that have posted such well-written, thoughtful posts, and I will leave equally thoughtful comments! I will reply to both emails and comments! And then hell will freeze over!

What time is it? Crap, I have to get ready for work.

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T11:20:00.006-05:00

I hope you all have a lovely day, whether or not it is a special day for you. May your eggs be colorful, your family be cheerful, and the Easter Bunny bring you lots of chocolate.

We just made it on the colorful eggs; we did them last night.

Our eggs were brown, so they're kind of sepia-toned. They're more, um, classy that way. Well, maybe not the ones the boys put into every color. As J put it, they certainly look like something that may have come out of the bottom of a chicken. Don't worry, my boys find that kind of thing hilarious. Maybe I can make them look pretty with some artsy-type shots . . .

Nah.

We'll be heading off to my mom's later today, for what will surely be the usual loud, fun family get-together. I predict some fairly competitive Uno, some green bean casserole, and a box of Girl Scout cookies for everybody. Mmmm, Girl Scout cookies.

Happy Easter, internets! Have a great day!

birthday party

2008-03-17T09:41:00.007-05:00

So, Birthday Party #2: The School-Friend Edition was this weekend. As I mentioned before, Big Brother wanted a science theme, complete with experiments (I swear, I didn't influence that decision). I planned some involving airflow, rotational inertia, friction - some of which we did perform and some we didn't - but the biggest hit?

The kids were very, um, enthusiastic with the slime. A bunch of ten-year-old boys, go figure.

It wasn't anything complicated, just cornstarch and water (which, if you've never mixed, you need to do so right now. No, really. You can read this later.). My original plan was to have each kid have his own cup to mix it in, then be able to take it out and play around. I provided food coloring too, which may have been a mistake.

The individual cup idea lasted about five minutes before one kid asked, "Hey Mrs. Big Brother's mom, can we have a big bowl to mix it all together?"

At least I was smart enough to have them take that outside. They really, really got into it.

I just tried not to think about, well . . .

All in all, the party was a success. Actually, I was told that it was "the best party ever" and it "creamed Monster Golf." High compliments indeed. Most of the kids went home with green hands (at least Monday was St. Patrick's Day - they were festive), but luckily I had written that it might get messy right on the invitation. I haven't gotten any calls from angry parents . . . not yet, anyway.

I do have to say, though, I'm glad Baby Sister wouldn't be interested in that sort of thing and that Little Brother's birthday's not until July.

I need some time to clean up my kitchen.

PS - totally unrelated - does anybody know how to get chocolate soymilk out of jeans?

eye candy Friday: cute baby edition

2008-03-14T11:20:00.003-05:00

Because I just can't help myself!

I think Big Brother should check his backpack for stowaways when he gets to school.

MOM GET OFF THE COMPUTER!!!

knitting update, with ridiculously lengthy discussion of shawl collars

2008-03-12T07:33:00.005-05:00

Knitting time is at a premium around here, between work and birthday parties, but I've gotten a bit done. First, Baby Sister's socks:

They're not really anything special - plain toe-up socks - but the model's pretty cute. :)

I've also got something actually happening with the seamless hybrid! And it's only been on the needles a couple of months! (I am pathetically slow, I know.) Here's what it looks like now:

Can you see where I started the second skein? How about now?

It's pretty obvious to me, but there's nothing I can do about it, because a)after scrutinizing the ball band, I can find no mention of a dye lot, b)I got the yarn at the Webs post-holiday sale wicked cheap, it's probably gone, and Northampton is two hours away, and c)I had knit about three inches before I noticed. So I'll have to just get over it.

Hey - speaking of Webs, I'm going to see the Yarn Harlot there in April!! It's going to be great; my mom and my sister want to go, plus Jess and Amy and MadMad and lots of other bloggers too. I'm so excited to actually meet all these people!!

Okay, sorry for the Webs-induced hysteria. Where was I? My sweater. Right - so I want a shawl collar on this thing. I had originally planned to do it the way I believe they're usually done: bind off a section of stitches where the bottom of the collar will be, then afterward pick up stitches around the neck and knit the collar, probably in ribbing, so that its stitches are at right angles to the sweater's stitches, in the front anyway. Like this, except, you know, not on a guy:

But a few weeks ago, I was in a parent conference, and - though of course I was paying attention, I swear - the mom had on this terrific sweater with a really interesting collar. It was shaped like a shawl collar, but it was in the same stitch pattern as the rest of the sweater (cables, incidentally) and the stitches were in the same direction as the rest of the sweater. It looked like you just cast on extra stitches at the bottom of the collar, then start knitting back and forth instead of in the round, shaping the V of the collar as you go. Then you overlap the collar and sew the little seam at the end. I wish I could find a picture of this. If I'm not making any sense, feel free to send me a big WTF in the comments. Here, let me try this:

Anyway, I decided I had to have this collar on my sweater. I was pretty darn excited about this collar, too, as only you knitters will understand. But I wanted to see if I could figure out a way to do it without the little seam at the end. I worried about lumpiness, and also I don't care for sewing.
So here's what I did. When I got to where I wanted the bottom of the collar to be, I put markers at either end of the center 19 stitches, and I cast on 19 more stitches, to get the overlap. But in what at the time I thought of as my extreme cleverness, I didn't cast them on all at once, I did knit 1, make 1 across the stitches between the markers. Then I put the new stitches on a stitch holder. I gave myself a little pat on the back, because there I had it: two sets of overlapping stitches on the front of my sweater, just waiting to be shaped into shawl-y loveliness. Then I turned and purled around the back of the sweater.

Do you see where this is going? When I got back to the collar section, I wanted to have the stitches from the holder be on one needle and the original 19 stitches on the other. You can't really do that without pulling the overlapped part really hard and generally making a mess. First I tried doing it as some sort of double-knitting thing. Yeah - I can hear you laughing. I can't believe I tried that either. I ended up just kind of using the stitch holder as a third needle and moving things around each time I got to that section, until the two pieces were long enough to go on the needles without pulling. Voila:

It would have been easier to just sew the fricking seam. I should learn to stop with the thinking already.