Happy Birthday to Me!

This morning is a beautiful crisp autumn day. It calls for hot cider and pumpkin bagels from Einstein's Bagels. Oh and it's my birthday! Yep, the big 36. What I call the dark side of my 30's. It will be interesting to see how this half of a decade goes.

As for the first half of my 30's, a lot happened from 2004-2008:

• I started training for triathlons and finished Ironman WI in 13 hours and 40 minutes.
• I temporarily trained in Hwa Rang Do and discovered a love of martial arts.
• I discovered my more creative side and learned to knit and sew.
• I got married on Leap Year, February 29, 2004.
• We bought a house! Yes, a huge two story house! We've been attempting to restore it.
• I started blogging about stuff instead of writing in journals.
  
• I learned how to garden and mow a lawn.
• My sweet cat died and we got a dog.
• I got a tattoo that I had been thinking about for years.
• I learned how to snowboard and love it despite spraining an ankle each year.
  
• I started playing tennis.
• I dyed my hair purple, then months later dyed it back to brown.
• I started wearing red toenail polish. Never woulda thunk it when I was younger.
• I've become closer and closer to my friends in Madison.
• Last night I made homemade spaghetti sauce for the first time!
  

My birthday wish is for anyone who reads my blog to come out of hiding and say hi! I'm always curious as to who reads my blog. I mean, is it only my family & immediate friends? Or are there people from all over?

And if you prefer to lurk, I promise you don't have to comment on my blog ever again! But just make this one wish come true with a little "hi" in my comments.

Many thanks everyone. Have a great day!

Boston Terror

First let me say just how much I love my Kaiser. I can't believe he's 8 months old now. I remember back when he was a baby and would be playful for 15 minutes, then sleep for over an hour (see left at 3 months old). I swear that he's the cutest Boston Terrier ever and I love that unlike most BTs he is chocolate brown rather than black. He makes me laugh every time he rolls on his back to avoid being picked up. It's hilarious that his favorite foods are plain yogurt on his doggie kibble, dried sweet potato strips to knaw on, and fresh banana chunks. I can never get mad at him for too long because of his big golden eyes... But man can this dog be a terror!

This weekend was the third, YES the THIRD, time he has gotten those yarn loving teeth into my Flair project. Which is sort of funny because Wendy (of Knit and Tonic and who designed the Flair pattern) was also blogging last week about one of her dogs getting into her yarn. Maybe it's in the genes?

Granted, the first time Kaiser chewed Flair, it led to frogging the whole damn thing. Plenty of tears of frustration for lost hours of work. The second time, with tons of patience and a headlamp, I was able to repair the damage to the jacket. This weekend he didn't get his teeth into the jacket, it was the ball of yarn attached to my project. Ugh. Doggy slobber on my yarn...

Yes, it would be obvious to many dog owners that I'm partially guilty for the yarn attacks. I should put up my project every time I want to set it aside. But holy cow man, I'm human. I forget. Unfortunately he doesn't. All it takes is turning my back for one distracted second and his yarn sensors go into full throttle and he's on the yarn like a fly on fresh shit.

I swear he almost got a scared straight overnight trip to the pound. Do they do those? Wouldn't it be awesome if they worked?

Brooch Madness

Hmmm?

What
came
in
the
mail
today?





I was so excited about getting this package from The Whimsy Trove that I couldn't wait to get home to photograph it before opening it. The plain brown paper wrapping and the felt tip pen writing gave no hint to the wonders inside.

Buried within some shredded paper was a couple of business cards, a sweet pack of Smarties (which I hadn't eaten since I was a kid at Halloween), and an Edward Gorey postcard explaining that my brooch isn't protected against the weather. I wonder if they always send an Edward Gorey card with their purchases? Or is it just special for me because my name on Etsy is Gashlycrumb, which is a cartoon series by Edward Gorey?

Inside the blue with black polka dotted pouch was this great handmade brooch that is just screaming to be worn with a cardigan. The back of the brooch paper says "Ode to Starbuck". Acrylic on wood. Wearable art pin by V.L Fuller. Arrogant Liberal Elitist Studios.

I adore cardigans. I wish I had more, so I guess that means I need to make some. But in the interest of wearing more cardigans in the future, I went a little crazy and bought some brooches on Etsy. And if you don't know about Etsy, you must live in a cave in India. I'm in love with this little brooch and plan to wear it to work as soon as possible. There's something so old fashioned about a brooch of a ship that just tickles my fancy...

p.s. the best thing about this package: everything was made from paper and could easily be recycled!

Bah Goes the Sheep

Earlier in September, despite my ban on additional yarn purchases, I yet again organized a yarn trip. Putting a ban on buying yarn is just like dieting. If I just think about dieting, all the bad foods start calling my name and I stuff myself with crap: donuts, soda, pizza... Anyway, this trip was to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in Jefferson, Wisconsin.

It was my first visit and I had a great time. Too bad it wasn't until the end of my visit that I remembered that I had my camera. Duh. I seriously think I'm getting Alzheimer's. I definitely would have taken more photos if I had remembered sooner. But Orata's Feather & Fan site has plenty of photos and she wrote up some great blog posts about her trip. It's worth a visit to her site if you want greater details about the festival.

As for me, the first place to visit upon arriving at the festival (umm, after the bathrooms) was the huge barns where people were selling tons of stuff. By stuff I mean yarn, roving, wheels, books, patterns, buttons, knitted objects, shawl pins, needles, kits... Like I said, LOTS OF STUFF! I was shocked by the number of booths and a bit overwhelmed. I also started to regret my two earlier WEBS purchases. So I tried to tell myself that I wouldn't purchase anything, but that failed. Surprise, surprise.

The purple/brown yarn (Araucania Aysen from Santiago, Chile) was consciously avoided until right before we left the festival. It was hiding in a basket on the floor of a booth. The colors were incredible and started stroking it lovingly. But I left it behind just in case something better was found in the other barn. And I did find something else, but decided to return and purchase one skein for some fingerless mitts. Hey, I just realized that the yarn looks like my hair color! Wow, how strange...

Upon entering the second barn I immediately found myself in Anne's Fiber Expressions (Montello, WI). Such softness and good prices! First I was tempted by her cheap yet abundant skeins of organic cotton. Then I went around the corner and found a Peruvian Tweed in superfine alpaca. So soft.... mmmm... visions of a plain shawl danced in my head. The dark brown with the blue leads me to believe it would make a beautiful Logan River Wrap (from Interweave Knits, Winter 2007) or possibly a smaller Asymmetry Shawl (from Wrap Style). Granted, I only have 600 yards, but that may be enough for one of those wraps. Unless someone else has a better idea?

I took two photos of all the animals. I wish I had more. The first photo (at the top of this post) and shows the most angelic sheep. This last one is the craziest devil sheep I've ever seen in my life. Agree? Totally crazy...

FYI: If the pattern links don't work, it's because you need to be a part of Ravelry to see them.

Hair. Why is it There?

On July 22, I was sick and tired of my same old blah hair. Long & Straight. The same light brown as it has ever been. Never bleached, never permanently colored. Basically virgin hair. For some reason I had always been proud to say that I had never messed with my hair. And when I start to feel proud, it's time to do something. Which back in 1999 meant shaving off all my hair, but I'm not about to do anything that drastic ever again!

As I contemplate the dark side of my 30's (specifically 36 years old in this coming October 2nd, my hair screamed for change. So the sweet Amelie side of me had to fight it out with my punky Avril side and Avril won. So at the end of July I got a long shag haircut with dark brown permanent coloring. Oh and purple, yes PURPLE streaks. The whole process took a few hours, leaving me starving and faint in the chair, but it was worth it. Ah...change. It's good for the soul. The shagginess still freaks me out since my hair history has been a long obsession with a smooth girl look. But I'm dealing.

The dark purple part is what I enjoyed the most originally. My hairdresser at Cha Cha had to bleach a strip of hair in a circle around my head, then paint on the color. Plus one streak in my bangs area. The color started as a dark purple and with time and hair washing, the color is fading to a crazy fuchsia. We didn't take a photo of my locks in the beginning, but here's one of me now. I'm still wondering why we don't photograph me more when I actually do something drastic to myself. We've only got like 2 photos from when I butched my hair back in 1998.

As my hair gets more and more pink, I have to make a choice: either add more purple or color the fuschia parts a dark brown. Since the purple washed out of my hair daily and wanted to stain sinks/showers/clothes, I've decided on a Walgreen's L'Oreal purchase to rediscover my dark locks. Now if my bangs would just grow out enough to be tucked behind the ears, I will be a satisfied woman! Change is good, but sometimes "same as it has ever been" is more comforting when you look in the mirror.

Chilblain's Nemesis

In the interest of trying to continue my stream of skirt wearing as we enter the fall, I decided to take a trip back into the 80's and knit myself some legwarmers.

Dancing Legwarmers
Source: And She Knits On
My Ravelry Project: Chilblain's Nemesis

Yarn: Dale of Norway/Dalegarn Sisik
Colors: Red Tweed #167
Materials: 30% wool, 30% mohair, 34% acrylic, 6% rayon
Skeins: 1.5
Needles: US 10, straight
Care: Hand wash, lay flat

Started: 2 September 2008
Finished: 10 September 2008

This project made me a bit grumpy.

Issue #1: I was supposed to knit it on DPNs, but the gaps between the needles were too obvious. So I ripped it out. Then I tried the Magic Loop technique, but since my circular needles didn't have a long enough cord, that also caused gap issues. So I ripped it again. Finally I decided to knit the freakin' things on straight needles and just seam it up the back. Unfortunately I still need practice to create invisible seams...

Issue #2: Part of the problem with the DPNs may also be the yarn. There really wasn't any give with this yarn. But the lack of give was different from the lack of give in cotton yarn. I'm not sure I can explain it. Plus it is a teensy weensy bit scratchy on my legs.

Issue #3: The biggest grumpy factor was the fact that I had to make three legwarmers. Um yeah, I know I only have two legs. Ha ha, very funny. Two things went wrong. First, when I cast off I totally forgot to cast off loosely. As a result one end of the warmer wouldn't go over my calf. Which would be ok and could be used as the ankle end if it weren't for the second problem. There are 4 rows in this pattern that lead to a twisted looking stitch. Two rows at each end of the warmer. I didn't realize what this should look like and screwed up the side that the twisted stitch should appear on. As a result, one end of the warmer looked totally wonky. I tried to rip it out, but it just wasn't happening. It refused to rip. Thus the creating of three, count 'em, three leg warmers in red tweed...

Issue #4: Slippage when walking. This is probably my fault. For some reason, I couldn't remember the pattern: Knit 2, Purl 1. Real hard eh? But I kept knitting 2, purling 2! So I gave up and left it as is. Then I decided that I wanted the cuffs to stand out so I did a stockinette stitch for the body. As a result I don't think these legwarmers are as tight as they would be if I had followed the pattern to a T. Granted a different yarn with more stretch may have also made a difference.

I still need to bike to work with my legwarmers and see if they will stay up for the ride, but I think they look ok for a first pair. And I love how striking red they are. They scream "look at me, look at me!!" as I ride by on my way to work...

FYI: Go here to find out what chilblains are.

Frustrated yet Replete with Yarn

It's taken me a while to post about this, but it's probably because I feel a bit guilty.

I must admit that I made a second WEBS purchase only one week after my first purchase. Yes, only one week later! I blame it all on my friend Lynn. When she saw my 1st Webs purchase, she too got sucked into their evil web. But the clincher is she then turned around and pointed out some hidden sales areas to me on WEBS. Who knew there was more than one place that they put up yarn sales?!?!? So I flew back online and purchased this gorgeous turquoise yarn to make myself Coraline. A cardigan pattern by Ysolda Teague.

Then I was drawn into another yarn sale at my local yarn shop, The Sow's Ear in Verona. This once I can only blame myself for. I even organized a group trip as an excuse to get to the sale. So a group of women from my weekly knitting group, the KnitWits, went to their Labor Day sale. I was a bit greedy and purchased yarn for three different projects.

The baby blue Rowan Pure Wool KD (on the far left) is slated for some long leggings for myself: Uyen by Berrocco. The Tahki Jeans (at center) has plans to become Pleat by Norah Gaughan. Um yeah, that one is for me too. But the last bits of yarn, cream and dark blue Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4-Ply yarn (far right) has plans to become a birthday gift. I can't say more about it since the recipient also sometimes reads this blog.

That same day, when I picked up my Knit Wits co-founder to go to the Labor Day sale, what did she have with her but a new Namaste knitting bag from a Webs sale! Why oh why do I get sucked in? I had no idea WEBS sold bags... See this is the way I shop: I don't surf for new things; I never completely examine a site or even a real live store; I just aim for what I'm looking for and I get out fast. Well, seeing her bag reminded me that I've wanted a big girl bag for winter so I went online and found one in my current favorite color: peacock blue. It's a bit trendy looking, but I love that it also fits my knitting (see my needles poking out?).

And since I was already buying a bag I figured I might was well purchase a couple Berroco pattern booklets: Ultra Alpaca & Ultra Alpaca Light (#279) and Norah Gaughan Collection Vol. 1 (#197). But honestly, no more knitting related purchases for a YEAR! Um, unless of course it's pattern related (books, mags, etc).

As for the frustrated part of this post, I have now finished Xmas Gift #2! Yippee!!! I worked on this gift for over two months and I can't post a thing about it because I know the recipient reads this blog. Argh. It's interesting how frustrated I feel being unable post about it. I think it's partly because it was a challenging knit (involved reading my first knitting chart) and I'm quite proud of it. Oh well, I'm gonna have to save that post for next year.

WEBS is Evil...

I was doing so well. I hadn't made a yarn purchase since May and then a few days ago I blew it. Totally blew it. See towering pile of evidence ...

There I was, innocently listening to my favorite knitting podcast (Stash & Burn) when I heard them mention some great deals at some yarn site called WEBS. So what do? I visited the site. AND GOT SUCKED RIGHT IN! Yarn sales are too dangerous. I thought by avoiding yarn shops I would be safe, but no. Yarn sites are just as devious.

Of course I try to make myself feel better with a few excuses:

#1. I still fit within my original four boxes that I stash my yarn. I've worked hard on some knitting projects and have made a nice chunk of space. Ummm, space that I've now refilled with 10 more balls of yarn...

#2. I got an amazing deal - under $40 for $99 worth of yarn! Now that's something to be proud of.

#3. I also stuck to my rule of only purchasing yarn with a project in mind. Or more like two projects in mind. I'm planning to make the Shalom Cardigan with the rust brown colored Elsebeth Lavold Chunky Al and the Nob Hill shrug with the multi-colored Rowan Chunky Print. That Rowan yarn is incredible - white, creamy yellow, rust. It's gonna be gorgeous.

And of course I'm ignoring the fact that I'm planning to go to the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival in Jefferson, WI in September which will probably mean more yarn will be purchased. And if I don't buy anything there I will definitely be scarfing up the Harlequin Dale of Norway orange tweed yarn (#6) that I've been drooling over at my LYS. Um, yeah, so I have to admit that even before my WEBS order I broke my rule of visiting a yarn shop because I had to buy a special circular needle to make that Umbilical Cord Hat. I had to! And unfortunately there is no way I can go into a yarn store without wandering around, stroking yarn, drooling, dreaming...

Poor Kaiser got stung by something the other weekend while I was gardening. Poor guy. Looks like he got in a fight. My neighbor had it right when she saw him and called him Bruiser. As for the first photo, I call that his Elvis lip. Makes me laugh every time I see his lip get stuck on his dry gums.

When it rains it pours babies...

I swear getting pregnant is contagious. Last November, my friend Carla had her first child, a boy named Max. This year another friend, Emily is due to have her 3rd child (a boy) the day after my birthday - October 3rd. Just this past Sunday I was finally able to give her the Saartje's Baby Booties and the Owl Hoodie at an impromptu baby shower. And now my other friend Mandy is ALSO due to have her second child (a boy too!) in December. Her shower is this coming Sunday. It certainly is showering baby boys lately. I'm glad I took up knitting or I would forever be mindlessly wandering the aisles of Babies R Us...


Elephant Pacifier Clip
Source: Itty Bitty Nursery
Yarn: KnitPicks Swish Worsted Yarn
Colors: Marine Heather & Squirrel Heather
Material: 100% Superwash Merino Wool
Skeins: .1 each
Needles: US 9, DPN and Crochet hook H
Care: Machine Washable

Started: 10 August 2008
Finished: 16 August 2008

This was a super easy project that was only delayed by two things. One, I had to remember how to crochet. Apparently it takes less that 3 months to pass for me to forget a skill if it isn't used monthly. I turned to this great site for up close videos on crocheting. The other delay was getting into a store for that black embroidery floss. Jason has the car for work, so I depend on him to stop and pick things up for me. The first day he forgot to stop at the shop and the second day he purchased every color other than the one I had specifically asked for! Funny boy.

I learned how to make an I-cord to create the trunk for this project. I was supposed to make an I-cord for the Saartje Booties, but didn't have the instructions in the car at the time of making the booties (so I winged it). But I-cords are super easy and not scary at all - see this site. The only awkward thing about this project is the small knitting on DPNs. I was just happy to not see that nasty laddering I've seen on another DPN project.

Embroidering the eyes and mouth was simply done even after stuffing the project. Stick the needle into the back of the head towards the front. Do your embroidering. When finished, stick the needle back through the head and out the back. Squeeze the head tightly then cut the thread coming out the back very close to the head. When you unsqueeze (is there a word for this?) the head, the thread is automatically retracted INTO the head. Thus no knot to hide!

I picked up the pacifier at Toy's R Us and a pacifier clip at Target. I had originally purchased a clip from TRU, but it was almost $5! For a junky piece of plastic! So when I found the $1 version at Target, we had a winner.But of course one little pacifier clip isn't a big enough baby shower gift, so I also made a hat.


Umbilical Cord Hat
Source: Stitch n' Bitch, The Knitter's Handbook
Yarn: KnitPicks Swish Worsted Yarn
Colors: Marine Heather & Squirrel Heather
Material: 100% Superwash Merino Wool
Skeins: .5 each
Needles: US 7, straight & DPN
Care: Machine Washable

Started: 14 August 2008
Finished: 18 August 2008

This is also an easy project, but I made a few modifications to make it a little "different." First I decided to use two colors (the same yarns used for the pacifier clip) instead of one color. Next I used a woven stitch pattern for 16 rows. I saw it used by Fromtheashes on Ravelry and fell in love with it. She was sweet enough to send me the woven stitch pattern. It is also explained on this site. To make the woven stitch pattern I had to add an extra cast on stitch (65 instead of 64) and I made this extra stitch disappear by knitting two stitches together once I finished the woven stitch area. My final modification was to leave off the umbilical cord at the top of the hat. It just seemed like too much was going on with the different colors and the woven section. But I'm not exactly happy with how the top of the hat looks...

My biggest accomplishment with this hat is the fact that I used a technique that results in no end weaving when adding another skein! And it doesn't even have to be a skein in the same color! I'm so in love with this technique - I found it at sock pron. The site has great pictures that show how to knit in ends so they disappear. Regular weaving in ends so they aren't visible can be difficult & tedious, yet this technique is simple and perfect. I will definitely use this on any other project that has a wrong side. Oh, that's it's only failure, you have to have a wrong side (the unseen side of a project). It won't work with projects like scarves. The photo to the right of this paragraph shows the wrong side (inside) of the hat.

What was most satisfying about these two projects is that I used up leftover yarn from my Windy City Scarf 2 project! I hadn't planned to use that yarn for baby shower gifts, but the colors worked perfect for an elephant.

I'm also almost finished with mystery Xmas gift #2, but I cannot possibly post about in on this blog. I know she reads this blog... It'll just have to wait until January to post. The spring Flair jacket has been on hold with all the baby shower and Xmas knitting, but I plan to pick it up again immediately. I want to make something for myself! Me me me me me me me me me me me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And as usual, Kaiser wanted in on the photo shoot too.

Windy City Scarf 2

I'm betting on the fact that my niece is too busy getting set up for her first year of college life to bother with reading my blog. If she has ever read it...

Windy City Scarf
Source: Stitch n' Bitch, The Knitter's Handbook
Yarn: KnitPicks Swish Worsted Yarn
Colors: Marine Heather & Squirrel Heather
Material: 100% Superwash Merino Wool
Skeins: 1.25 each
Needles: US 9, straight
Care: Machine Washable

Started: 9 June 2008
Finished: 17 July 2008

Nothing new was learned with this project unless you count my incredibly invisible weaving! I looked at tons of books for tips and couldn't find anything for a K1 P1 pattern. So I basically weaved under the V of the knit stitch down the length of the scarf in an S pattern. After 5 or 6 weaves I'd pass the needle over to the next line of knit stitches and move in the opposite direction. I was so happy with this discovery. The only modification to this pattern was to make the scarf longer per the recommendations of the gift recipient of my first Windy City Scarf.

Ellie is modeling the scarf until I get photos of the true recipient. Nobody better show her this blog entry before Xmas!

Right now I am in a rush to finish two baby shower items for my friend Mandy. I'm using leftovers from this scarf project to make an Elephant Pacifier Clip from Itty Bitty Nursery and a modified version of the Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch N' Bitch. So far the clip is turning out super cute!

As for Xmas Gift 2, that will hopefully be finished by the end of this month. I've been dragging out the process because I'm worried about the size, but I think it is time to let it go and pray it fits.

It's All About Moi

Ok, I've seen this at sixoneseven, then I saw that knitting by bicycle was doing it, so I'm gonna jump off the bridge and do it too!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Wow, that was August 1998. I think I was living in an apartment in small town Sparta, WI with Jason and our black&white cat. We were working as archaeologists at Fort McCoy. Talk about a freaky job digging holes with missiles shooting over our heads. And one time my supervisor almost got crushed by a tank. Which was quite funny because I couldn't stand that man. I swear he hated independent/intelligent women.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

1. Lunchtime knitting with coworkers - yippee!
2. Pick up the movie "May" for tomorrow night's Pop Off (a popcorn tasting)
3. Purchase oil for the Oil Cleansing Method
4. Take Kaiser for another walk
5. Eat sushi and watch The Dark Knight with my man and my girl

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Thai Lime & Chile Cashews
Fresh cherries
Mello Yello soda (so naughty)
Tangy Tomato Ranch chips by Flat Earth

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Me and my man would never work at a "job" for money again.
2. Make all the old house modifications I've been dreaming of on the my Litter Box House: redo kitchen/mudroom/1st & 2nd floor baths, rip off nasty asbestos siding, rip off crappy deck and build an L-shaped porch, rebuild garage to include a door and a 2nd floor room for guests/exercise), create a porous driveway and build property walls... the list goes on and on... need a billion dollars to do it all!
3. Travel around the world slowly - especially India, Thailand, Tibet and a ton of places with beach access!
4. Help my dad retire early.
5. Start a combined yarn (for me) & coffee (for Jason) shop.
6. Become a martial arts expert with all my spare time!

5) Places I have lived:

Ontario, CA (until I was 16 years old)
Minneapolis, MN (finishing high school)
Duluth, MN (for college)
Mankato, MN (for another college)
Custer, SD (in the Black Hills)
Chico, CA
Multiple places in Maine
Key West, FL (lived in a van)
Sparta, WI (4 years in a too small town)
Madison, WI (the last 6 years...)

Yep, I had the movin' bug. I still can't believe I've lived in Madison for over 6 years now!

6) Jobs I have had:

Babysitting
Drive thru and grill at McDonalds
Counter girl at a video store
Phone girl at Little Caesar's Pizza (one week)
Dishwasher at my dorm cafeteria
Night Stocker (not stalker, stocker - as in stocking shelves in the middle of the night at a grocery store)
Driving Instructor
Debt Collector
Waitress
Archaeologist
Historic Building Preservationist
Poverty Research Specialist

Wow, that's a long list of jobs. And why don't I have more in savings? ;)

And you all have to agree that I have the CUTEST DOG EVER!!!!! I am so in love with Kaiser. Even when he is bad. How do you get angry at such an adorable face? We are currently waiting to hear if he wins a photo contest at our local pet shop, Bad Dog Frida. He's competing to be the photo on their bag of cookies.

Pandora's Box Cozy

Holy cow. It seriously hasn't been a month since I last posted, right? Um, well... it isn't like I haven't been knitting like a demon this past month! I even took 5 days to hide away on a farm knitting my heart out. I just haven't had the opportunity to "finish" two of my projects within this month.

I've been getting addicted to PodCasts for the first time in my life and use my iPod (named Pandora's Box) more often than usual. Since the headphones kept getting tangled in my bag, I decided to make a cozy to hold the iPod and headphones.

The quickest project this month was this felted iPod Cozy. I knit the thing within 1.5 days while visiting my in-laws this month. It is so nice to hang out with family and knit. It satisfies my multitasking personality to knit while yammering away. You might recognize the yarn from the Petite Beat Hoodie and Booties that I made earlier this year. I still have a chunk of leftover yarn which makes me happy.

Pandora's Box Cozy
Source: Felted iPod Cozies on Blue Peninsula
Yarn: Tahki Donegal Tweed Homespun
Colors: Orange (893) and Teal (809)
Material: 100% Pure New Wool
Skeins: less than 1 each
Needles: Size 10 DPN
Size: Large

Started: 17 July 2008
Finished: 23 July 2008

I was originally worried that the fact that I knit tightly would come back to haunt me in a "too small" cozy, but there was no problem with that. What I was haunted by was the fact that I still have laddering between my DPN needles. Argh. I even tried moving over the stitches to hide it, but I can still see the evidence. EVEN AFTER FELTING!

The only modification to this pattern was to knit the flap shorter than recommended. I didn't want the orange flap to blend into the orange stripe. Oh and I used size 10 instead of size 10.5 DPNs because I didn't want to go out and buy another pair of freakin' needles.

As for felting, I did as recommended and placed it in a zippered pillow case. I couldn't believe that it took 3 sessions of hot water in my high efficiency washer! I wanted to do a 4th cycle, but felt too guilty about wasting hot water. Of course my friend Beanie told me (after the felting fiasco) that I should have throw it directly into the washer with a dark towel. That she had done a large purse this way and it felted in ONE cycle. I guess you live and learn.

I love the final project because it is a combination of two of my favorite colors and it is big enough for my 30 GB iPod plus headphones. Every time I pull it out I get a smile...then a frown when I see that damn laddering.

I also finished another Xmas project - a 2nd Windy City Scarf in blue and grey. I hope the recipient doesn't read this blog... Ah, she should be too busy to read my ramblings. I still need to weave in the ends, so this is just a teaser closeup photo showing the color combinations. Photos of the final project will be taken at Xmas time.


Finally, my beer cozy has two new friends. This cozy was made as a part of a group project that started months ago. My second knitting group meets every other Thursday at a bar in the neighborhood. For some reason (were we all drunk?) we got excited about knitting beer cozies because Stephanie's cozy was so hot. I was the first one to finish a cozy and I finally got two of them to bring in their cozies to the knittin' meetup for a photo shoot. I absolutely adore this photo because.. unbeknownst to me, I also captured the other two cozy knitters on the edge of the photo. The red one belongs to Rhonda (aka Drunk Girl) on the left and the multicolored striped one belongs to Stephanie (Shy Girl) on the right. The dark blurry cozy in the front belongs to me (Mean Girl).

Ellie's Closet Curtain

Ellie's bedroom closet isn't original to the house. It looks like it was built when the bathroom was remodeled. Apparently they had installed a folding door, but the door wasn't there when we moved in. Older shots of her bedroom can be found here.

We want to install a good wooden folding door, but we can't afford such a non-necessary item right now. We just got accessed over $300 for three sidewalk squares that the city installed last summer!

So my temporary solution was to sew Ellie a curtain for the closet. We went to Target and found a $5 shower curtain rod that was short enough for the width of her closet door. Then we got the fabric, thread and curtain weights from Joann's. The total for this project was only $15. We originally liked a different fabric, but at a cost of $40, we had to nix that option. I ironed the curtain twice, but clearly I need to starch it...ugh...



Today we drove to Spring Green for their annual Art Fair. It was a beautiful day. Cool and breezy. I took this shot on our drive home...

Retro Redux Shrug - Adult size

Can I be any more happy about this project? I love the design. It fits perfectly. The color is gorgeous - rust brown is one of my favorite colors. It covers my back and shoulder tattoos if necessary... Beautiful.

Granted, it is "slightly" itchy, but I don't know if that is because of the material or because it was VERY hot an humid when we did the photo shoot.

Retro Redux Shrug
Source: Lace Style by Interweave Knits
Size: M
Yarn: Nature Spun, Worsted by Brown Sheep
Color: Burnt Sienna
Material: 100% Wool
Skeins: 1.25

Started: 12 May 2008
Finished: 20 June 2008

This time around the project wasn't difficult. It was quite easy and all I needed was to make the time to finish it. I'm quite shocked at how perfectly this fits. I know I tried it on during the whole process, but I'm still amazed at the fact that there isn't any bunching or bulging.

I didn't completely follow the pattern. I made the sleeve cuffs shorter than recommended. I also made the expanse across the back to the exact width of my shoulders. I did use the recommended needles.

On Friday Jason determined that Kaiser was a very dirty dog and gave him a bath outside. The metal tub was originally purchased to hold ice and drinks when we have guests over, but it fit Kaiser perfectly. This was the first time Jason gave Kaiser a bath and I got a good laugh out of it. Normally, in the indoor bathtub, I don't fill it with water. It makes Kaiser too nervous. Thus I directly rub the shampoo on Kaiser's body. Jason put the shampoo in the tub, then added water, resulting in tons of suds. The second he put Kaiser in, Kaiser started chomping on the bubbles. Hilarious. I tried to get a photo of his bubble beard, but it mostly fell off by the time I found the camera.

In preparation for the bath, Jason removed Kaiser's collar so it wouldn't get wet. Which is normally what I do when we are inside, but he was outside. Starting to get the picture? Thus when Jason took him out of the tub and tried to hose him down, Kaiser shot off like a rocket. Running right for the nearby street that is all dirt because it's being repaired. Umm yeah. Second bath ensued and Jason wasn't so smiley that time. As for me, I was snickering in the background...

Simple Rope-Handled Bag #2

A couple of weeks ago, I finally finished my 2nd knitting project bag. The only reason for the long delay after cutting was because I had to get more rope for the handle. It's very similar to my first one in shape and fabric pattern. All I modified was the handles. Instead of using one long piece of rope, there are two separate ones. It's a bit nicer in that the bag seems more supported if I'm just carrying the project bag around on it's own. Sort of like a purse.

I plan to make a 3rd project bag, but it will be for bigger projects. I have a couple sweater projects in the horizon (Flair for me and Cobblestone for my man) and will need more space for these larger projects. I even chose a different fabric style - stripes instead of plaid. Wow, I'm really exploring (sarcastic tone). My new modification will be a small pocket on the inside to hold my katcha katcha counter for that project.

Last weekend we got our third CSA box. It was a big one and we discovered that in the future, we will need to bring two bags to carry it all. Since I was holding the leash, my man had to hold the 2nd bunch of pea shoots in his hand on our walk home. Kaiser was determined to steal them (he loves leafy greens). Boston mission unaccomplished...

This box contained: asparagus, garlic scapes, spinach, salad mix (even has flowers in it!), radishes, white turnips, pea shoots, rhubarb, bok choi, and strawberries. My fridge is full to bursting. Since we don't like rhubarb we dropped it in the exchange box for some one else's pea shoot reject. I chopped up the scapes, spinach, pea shoots, and basil, then stir fried them with a can of organic tomatoes to make a pasta primavera on Sunday night.

My stepdaughter has returned to the fold for the summer. That means a messy bedroom (with our blessing) and someone to join me on the couch while I knit (she LOVES our couch).

One evening this weekend we rode our bikes to the Memorial Union to get ice cream. Kaiser rode on the back of my bike. I love this bike seat. When I'm riding the bike (and not taking the photos) he likes to hang over the side with his head next to my butt to see where we are going. Makes everyone laugh when they see him.

At the Union, Jason tempted Kaiser to get close to the lake. The flooding has gotten so bad in the Midwest that it was overflowing the Union walkway. Kasier even braved the waves. As long as there is a treat involved, he's up for anything!

I've finished my very own Retro Redux Shrug. So exciting to finally finish something for myself. Other than the beer cozy, everything I've made has been gifted to someone else. This one is mine. MINE I say. HA ha HA Hah! Yeah, I'm just a bit crazy about it since the first one was too small for me. I'm over a half of the way done on another Xmas gift. This is a scarf just like the one I made for Jason last year. I love the color combinations, but can't say too much more about it. We'll just have to wait until December...