Gosh, it seems like a long time since I did one of these. And since it has caught my eye on several other blogs I figure I would play along too.

1. What’s your staple meal (ie. what meal do you cook most often when you can’t be bothered to be adventurous)? I think that would have to be spaghetti and meatballs. It’s done quickly, satisfies, and is relatively hard to screw up.

2. What do you want to be when you grow up? My dad has been asking me what my career plan is since I was 6 years old. Frequently. Lucky for me, he supported me in pretty much whatever answer I gave. I wanted to be a photographer for Life magazine and National Geographic. I’ve loved science for a very long time (I’ve got a chemistry background and am trying to return to those roots). I thought about being a teacher (and I did that). I wanted to be a mom (doing that now). I love that I’m building my knitting resume even though it’s not a viable full-time gig, yet. I want to do something challenging and interesting.

3. What book are you reading at the moment (if any) I’ve just started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on the kindle. It’s slow going, only because I tend to knit during times I would be reading.

4. How do you relax? I love to sit on the beach and feel the breeze and hear the waves. That doesn’t happen too often, so I knit (duh), and I play with the Lorax at her kiddie pool or push her on the swingset.

5. What color are the interior walls of your home? Depends on the room – white, mauve-ish, pale pink, light apple green, tiffany blue, smoky purple, dapple grey and a stripe of dark apple green are found on the walls.

6. What is your guiltiest pleasure? High fructose corn syrup in candy – jelly beans, mike & ikes, gummy worms… As much as I try to resist the genentically modified food and over developed chickens and un-fair trade coffees and HFCS, I cannot resist a handful of wonka candy. That and the train wreck reality tv shows – Real Housewives, Wife Swap, Toddlers / Tiaras, Little Miss Perfect.

7. What time is bedtime and getting up time? I usually get up and go to bed around hubby’s bedtime / wake up since he’s the one to go out into the work world. That works out to be about 6:30am to get up and 10-ish p.m for bed. The Lorax is usually up by 6:45 or earlier, but is content to read in her room – she’s up and out by 7. It’s an early day, but I can no longer really sleep in like I did back in college. Now, sleeping in means waking up without an alarm clock – so, 7:15 – 7:30.

8. How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)? At least 1 hour a day I think… maybe more since I can get them on my iphone… There are so many interesting things to read! I can’t get enough!

Flower Girl

You know what’s fun? Knitting for the wee ones. What’s more fun? Seeing the knit item on the wee one.

Several friends of ours have had babies this year. This is one of the newest ones, E – she was born in early May and yesterday we all got together to just hang out. Times have changed since college, but it is really nice that we are all still friends and look forward to getting together. I knit up a little headband for E from knitwity.blogspot.com and did follow the directions as noted on the Ravelry page (Flower is done following the Pacifier Clip from Susan B. Anderson’s Itty Bitty Nursery and an EZ “cast-on cast-off”). Quick, cute, and big impact. And, the mom told me today when I asked if I could use her photo on my blog / Rav “She usually doesn’t like them but has had it on all day without any protests!” – Win!

This Moment.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

– Amanda Blake Soule, Soulemama.com

Shawl Done!

Not this one. I finally added the little loop, soaked and blocked a shawl I shared earlier. A sample shawl for Schaefer Yarn.

Anne Shoulder Scarf (Ravelry link) in Schaefer Yarn Anne in the Irene Sendler colorway. Who was Irene Sendler? A memorable woman, that’s for sure!

I am quite pleased with the end result – it was a quick knit, and Anne blocks beautifully. I would consider making this again, it shows off the variegated yarn nicely.

I had a treat arrive in the mail yesterday – a thank you for test knitting the Emma socks

LausengHaus Superwash Wool / Nylon Sock yarn (I adore this shade of blue-purple!) and stitchmarkers!

Wasn’t that sweet? You can get your own at jlyarnworks.etsy.com.

Wordless Wednesday

Nicknames

When do kids get into “naming” things? The Lorax has a stuffed dalmation that she carries with her just about everywhere – his name is Puppy. She recently has rediscovered a Cabbage Patch Doll that is interactive. She keeps referring to the doll as “Girl” – we were trying to offer her suggestions and while she says “No” to each one, it’s looking like “Patella” might stick.

This morning I was talking with hubs about doll names and I brought up the Ramona books – she had a doll named Chevrolet. I read all of those books many times over and still thinking about Ramona and Beezus gives me a chuckle. Did you know there is a movie coming out this year? I read in the paper that the director brought her 4th grade book report of “Beezus & Ramona” to the meeting with Beverly Cleary to show how much of a fan she is and will remain true to the books. Awesome.

And then, while checking blogs just now I see a post from flintknits.com – you know, the gal behind February Lady Sweater, Willie and the Wurstwarmer – she’s got a new pattern, named in honor of another one of Ramona’s pals, Ella Funt!!! So so cute!
(and I love when the universe shakes things together like that!!)

All Wound Up.

I think that’s what I’m going to call my Swirl Shawl. The other night I was working on it and we had a heated, one-sided discussion. There was some cursing. Stitches were twisted and the yarn ball was had to be birthed out the center of the dpns. Let’s just say it was enough muttering for my husband to look up from the book / iphone game and ask what was going on over there on the other couch.

I am making progress – I’m taking my time, but each swirl isn’t that bad. The first swirl is made with a knit-on cast on and I ended up with a rather loose swirl. Each subsequent swirl requires casting on new stitches and picking up stitches from the previous swirl. This is giving me a bit of trouble – I can’t quite see how to do the knit-on cast-on and pick up the stitches in a way that keeps it right side up. So I decided that I would do a long tail cast on, knit/pick up stitches and just go from there. That helped with my speed a bit, but then I took a look at the line of swirls.

The first two (knit-on cast-on) are much looser than the long-tail ones. I think I like the tighter spirals. I think. And maybe it doesn’t matter, because it is only the first row of spirals and there will be some blocking in the end. But then I also wonder if I am going to have enough yarn, given that the long-tail cast on leaves you with a long tail… I think between that and the heat it just got to me last night.

For times like that when I need a break, I have the Ladybug Jacket and that is going quite well.

Thirty-one is done! with a Blanket!

I had a birthday over the weekend – hello thirty-two! It was a good day, low-key in the morning and busy in the afternoon visiting with family on both sides (since it also was Father’s Day). I have some new toys, new treats and new clothes… and most importantly I have my health, my family and my friends.

I am very excited to also have a rather large project finished. When my brother and sister-in-law told us they were engaged I knew right away I wanted to make them a blanket. I asked for their color preferences but didn’t offer any pattern choices. I had hoped I would have it finished in time for their wedding, or Christmas 2009, or when they moved into their new house, or their house warming party… yeah, that didn’t happen. But, one week before their first anniversary, it’s done!!

It’s the “Moderne Log Cabin” pattern from the first Mason-Dixon Knitting book. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash. I really did enjoy the pattern – it was not difficult, but it does take its toll on you – that’s an awful lot of garter stitch – an as blankets grow, they get heavy, so I couldn’t take it out to SnB. The end result is wonderful squishy goodness. And they both were quite pleased –

It fits! 🙂 They are too cute. Much love and happiness for them for all the future years of their marriage!

Good Mail – part 2

It has been a long time since I’ve done a partner swap, but I decided to play along with the Chittery-Chattery-Swappery-Swappers group on Ravelry in the Scavenger Hunt partner swap. Isn’t that a mouthful? 🙂

The guidelines: This will be a one-on-one partner swap (you’ll know who your partner is and be able to communicate with them about likes and dislikes), with each person creating a box of goodies for their partner. In addition…there will be a list of items to try and include in your box. For every item from the scavenger hunt list that you include, you’ll earn one point (items count only once). A single item may count for more than one item on the list. If the list includes “something soft, something your favorite color and something made locally” I could include locally dyed yarn that is purple.

I was partnered with Raveler Kataish (who is beyond cool and you should go check out her etsy shop and FYI, I’ve participated in her non-club before and it’s worth it!).

My package came with directions on how to open it – so I did as instructed!

My own knit dachshund! (something with a tail, something that makes you feel young, fav animal, something she made, something homemade) A lovely skein of Oddish Creations Painted Toes in “Tree Fuzz” (LOVE that color) and Oxford Book Shop bag (reuseable bag from local store)

Mini Umbrella picks (something campy, something to be used at a summer party), Eco Friendly pencils (something up-cycled, something earthy, something green), Mug Sleeve (something good for the earth, something w/ rainbow colors), A Little Bit of Happy Mix CD (something musical), Magic Wipes (Something from dollar store, something faerie like, something used in home), Apple Crumble Kuchen (recipe, something that contains first initial), Selfportraits, Heart (something bumpy, something red), Nutrigrain bar (something made locally)

Stitchmarkers (something from a kid), feather (something from her yard, something that reminds of childhood home), Sheep bead (something smaller than a quarter, something made in the USA – by k2p2socks), Seashell (represents family, something to collect on vacation), Buttons (3 buttons), Mini Sticky notes (something yellow, something helpful), Maple candy (something sweet, something sticky, local candy), Lychee & Plum candy (something tasty, something citrusy)

Hand carved stamps! A dachshund (so cute!!) and the caffeine molecule!!!

There is also a zombie card (to help survive a zombie apocalypse) that arrived the other day and I forgot to put it with this pile of goodies!

Kata was a great partner – and she scored all 48 points! I think she enjoyed the package I sent her as well (I scored 44 points!).

Good times, good mail – it’s been a while since such spoiling.

Good Mail – part 1

I was very excited to see the mailman stop the truck at my mailbox this week and put two packages inside!

The first package contained yarn! On Twitter, I think, is where I first found rAchel (ontheround) – she’s got a young one at home and is a spinner and knitter. Then I checked out her etsy shop – sooooo pretty! I had noticed a while back that she had a “Lorax” colorway – of course, that jumped out to me and I got in contact with her. And voila! It’s here!!

400 yards of sock yarn… I can’t wait to knit this up. Monkeys? I could use a new pair, since my original ones died in January. Socks in Little Bee Pattern, Honeybee Socks, or Herringbone Rib are also under consideration.

I really want something seuss-y, or truffula tree-ish… I may have to go do research with some pattern books first…