Thanks

Thank you to everyone for all of the well-wishes and congratulations. Little Audrey turns one week tomorrow. I feel everything has been a blur so far but certain moments stand out in my mind and luckily they're all good ones. The Man described this last week as a tidal wave while I think it's more like a passing storm. I'm taking one day at a time and doing my best and I know she's already changing and growing and I should enjoy as much as I can in my sleep-deprived state. It reminds me of the times I would stay up way way late to go to a show and then stop and eat somewhere on the way back home. Super tired and oddly elated by the ringing in my ears and food just tasted so so so good. Yeah, like that, but way better.

She's Here!

We've been home for a couple of very overwhelming days but we're all happy and very very tired. I went into the hospital on Monday the 22nd for a routine check-up and they asked me to stay. Three (very snowy, icy, and cold) days later Audrey Isabel arrived at 3:12 pm on Christmas Eve. She weighs 8lbs 12oz, is 21 inches long, and had steely gray eyes which have since turned blue. She also has quite a bit of dark hair. She's a lovely little thing and I couldn't be happier.

Still Here

My family is here. The snow is here. The baby is not here. What is up with that?

Mittens!

I busted out yet another pair of mittens over the weekend. I cast on Thursday and finished them up last night. The pattern is NHM #16 from Selbuvotter in leftover Spindrift from my other mittens and an incredibly BRIGHT shade of green in Palette. The pattern calls for sport weight yarn for an adult small and I used fingering so they're more like a child's large. I really like the colors together, they remind me of 80's Vans checkerboard slip-ons. Rock.

Antsy

Still here, still pregnant. A little bit cranky and knitting like crazy.

Finishing Frenzy

Today is my due date. I'm ready to go however the baby is not cooperating and nothing much is happening except a little dropping so I can actually breathe now. It makes sleeping much easier.

To keep my mind off of what isn't going on I've been finishing things like a fiend. My socks are to the left. They're the Little Child's Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks which I ran out of yarn while knitting the second toe. The sock to the left is the one with the different color toe - I like that my camera funks up the color so you can't really tell. :) They're fairly tall socks and I think that's why I ran out of yarn. If I removed the stockinette below the ribbing or just did a couple of rows everything would be dandy. I do like the 'flat toe' on these socks though - they fit my tootsies well.


I cast on the Geordie Stripe Yoke Jacket with leftover yarn from a couple of different projects. I think it turned out fairly well and I had almost enough o-wool to knit the whole hat but ran out right at the crown. I finished it up in the gray. I just have to block it and sew some buttons on. I am officially out of Cranberry O-wool. Yay. The patterns are from Natural Knits for Babies & Moms and this one is going to charity.

Finally, I picked up some fabric last Friday and sewed it up on Saturday as a cover for our nursery chair. It took a couple of hours and was pretty easy to do without a pattern. The top is all the same fabric and I used some lightweight natural denim for the back of the seat since it'll get a lot of wear. My in-laws got this for us from Ikea - it's the poang chair. I was weary about getting a rocker or a glider since they're perfect for crushing little fingers and kitty tales alike. This one has a nice bouncy motion and is super comfortable. We'll see what else I can bust out before the baby makes her arrival, I hope it's soon.

Aaargh!!

I thought I would finish a pair of socks tonight for blocking tomorrow and show & tell on Monday night knitting. I thought wrong. Everything is fine and dandy through sock one and now that I'm to the toe of sock two I'm out of yarn. Completely out. There's enough of the skein to weave in an end once I figure out what I'm going to do and luckily the toe is all that is left and won't show if I wear certain types of shoes. What is my plan of attack? I'm not ripping anything back and knitting both toes in a different color. I don't have anything in my stash that matches. So...I'm heading to the shop tomorrow to see if anything comes close in twist and color and if that fails I'll order another skein from Blue Moon and hope that the lot is close enough. I'm not heartbroken, just slightly annoyed by the inability to finish the project that is sooo close to being done. That's what I get for being a project knitter. Blar.

We just installed the carseat in the backseat of our car. This, along with the 11 days left until my due date, are making me realize that this is really happening. I mean, REALLY happening. Hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving and is sufficiently overloaded with leftovers to get out of cooking for a while. We're still working on ours.

Mittens!

I finished another pair of mittens last week. They're Bird in Hand by Kate Gilbert. This is an unblocked picture since I missed my sunny-day time frame yesterday which helps my camera capture the real color. These were fun to knit, the gauge was not (worsted weight yarn on size 1 1/2 needles) and they're nice and thick. I've heard that sizing has been an issue for some people but mine fit nicely although I had some issues getting the floats loose enough on the thumb. The yarn combo is Malabrigo worsted in Azul Profundo and Lanaloft Worsted in white. Good match, they're both singles.

I'm feeling a tad under the weather today since I finally went and got my flu shot yesterday. It's not something I normally do but apparently girls who get knocked up have to do some things they don't want to do. The baby is due soon. Really frickin' soon. I'm in the viable baby stage which means that her lungs are developed and she could arrive with no problems right the hell now. The due date is 2 weeks from tomorrow and I'm hoping for some good nights sleep and a swift recovery from whatever happens. My doc told me I've been 'really mellow' about the whole thing. I told him it's a little late to change my mind, why worrry?

Episode 12

It's up for your listening pleasure.

Mmmmmalabrigo

I ran by the yarn shop yesterday to pick up another skein of Malabrigo worsted to finish my mittens and left with this pretty trio of the new Malabrigo Sock. Left to right - Persia, Abril, Tiziano Red. It feels good and is a pretty good price, comparable to Dream in Color smooshy with about the same yardage. They want to be something right now but I've got plans so they're going in the stash chest right now. Yes everyone, Malabrigo sock does exist and it is beauteous.

You're awesome! No! You're awesome!

Dear knitting peeps,
You're awesome! Thanks so much for the lovely surprise on Thursday night. Yes, I was a bit put off by the sudden arrival of so many of my knitting compadres. But not angry (as was suggested by some) and happy that you thought enough of me and my bump to knit such a great gift! She'll love the blanket once she's at a rolling and crawling stage and in the mean time it's draped over the edge of the crib awaiting her arrival. For those of you not 'in the loop' my friends knit up a beautiful baby blanket out of Blue Sky Alpaca organic dyed cotton in yummy colors and then whisked me away for a scrumptious dinner at Oliver's Twist in Seattle. Thanks especially to Amanda who organized and seamed the whole thing. You all really are awesome!

Sticking Together

You know you're sticking together when after 5 years of living together, 2 years of marriage, and a baby on the way you're significant other finally decides it's time to combine your separate record collections.

Pure Imagination

I was just sitting down to a late breakfast when I heard the faint strains of accordion - or was it a concertina? Mind you, this was not something I heard every day even though the Man sometimes sequestered himself in the spare room to work out an accordion part for his band. Where was it coming from? I peered through all the curtains as the sound got louder. There it was - a young looking guy in fisherman's hat, hoodie, and too big pants topped off by a huge backpack was strolling up my street playing one of those little kid accordions. You know, the shiny red plastic rectangular ones? I giggled to myself and watched him wander further up the street. The tune put me in mind of the one at the end of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory which has now firmly planted itself in my head. I love living in Seattle.

Hooray!

I'm so glad Obama is going to be president. I feel much more optimistic about the next four years and now everyone who bought a t-shirt can get their full dollars and cents out of it.


And totally unrelated but completely awesome - Jessica sent this to me. Yes. Ken as David Bowie found here. I foresee a whole series of these. A Ziggy Stardust Ken would be AWESOME.

Fulfillment!

First off, these really aren't the crazy purplish color in the picture. More of a hot pink/coral kind of color. My camera just freaked when presented with this specific shade of pink. This is the first mitten of my Selbuvotter craze. I love it. I want to knit more of them. Good thing I've got lots of stash to knit from in this particular yarn. I'll be swimming in mittens by this time next year. The second one is going pretty quickly (the first took three days) and I can envision a finished pair by the end of this week unless the election results drive me into bed to cry myself to sleep. I highly recommend the book - Selbuvotter by Terri Shea. Directions are straight forward and full of charts and patterns don't have funky names just things like Annemor #13 (which these are). There are also a lot of glove patterns but I'm not so happy about knitting separate fingers - I'd like to morph the ones in the book into mittens somehow. I love it.

Bush Vs. Zombies

Appropriate given the closeness of Halloween and Election day, yes?

Busy Bee

Last weekend went by like a whirlwind. I had family in town for my baby shower, new parenting class Saturday morning, baby shower (so much fun!) and the send-off for the folks heading back to California. Everyone was so happy and incredibly generous at our shower - I think the baby is set for the first year as far as wardrobe goes. So I took a few days to recover from the constant running around, especially since I get tired so easily these days. I've been knitting like a fiend and hopefully will have some finished stuff up soon. After my small bout of startitis I'm ready to focus on actually finishing the projects. I've got four things going right now which is really strange for me since I'm a mostly monogamous knitter. We're in the final countdown for baby (about 7 weeks to go) which makes me excited and nervous and just a wee bit scared s#*@less.

Oh, and I've been catching our kitty sleeping in the moses basket for the baby which is currently residing inside the crib. How does she get in there? No clue. I'm waiting for a daylight occurrence to snap a pic.

Dear Blog,

This morning, if you can call it that, I woke up at 4am from dreaming of Selbuvotter. My hands were ready at their knitting stations. This is going a little too far. Yes, I did spend yesterday at the shop reading through my Selbuvotter book and perusing the patterns and I did pick up a couple skeins of Jamieson for my background color. The baby was kicking like crazy (apparently also in love with the idea of knitting mittens right now) so I got up and made some tea. I knit a couple of inches of boring lace stole and about and hour or so later finally passed out on the sofa. Come 630 the Man woke me up to get back in bed and now, here I am freshly awake from dreaming about...yes...mittens. Maybe this is some strange Campbellian way my life is speaking to me - instead of a hero starting his journey I'm in need of starting a new project. Mittens. I thought starting a colorwork project (a stocking for the baby) would quash this urge to start something new but apparently it must be mittens. MUST. BE. MITTENS. Therefore, blog, I am digging through my stash this morning for the yarn I had in mind and casting on. Dreaming fulfilled. The hero's quest complete, er, just about. Can I please get a full night of rest now?

Episode 10

It's up.

Hobbies around the World

I'm always interested to see how other people spend their free time. Apparently choreographed dance is a big part of leisure culture. Notice the lady in the background (knitting!). Thanks Rebecca!

Mitten-minded

I don't know if the weather taking a freakish turn towards freezing has anything to do with it but I'm having a sudden urge to knit some mittens. After looking through Ravelry patterns I'm thinking that I need the Selbuvotter book to guide me through some awesome traditional color knitting. I also don't know why mittens are calling my name - is it all the sock yarn in my stash calling to me for fulfillment? Maybe. I could very well knit socks, and I have pulled out my hibernating pair of socks from my cedar chest, but the mittens must have their way. We'll see if this sudden infatuation with hand covering continues into tomorrow- I may have to make a quick run to the shop for some inspiration. Does this happen to you?

Birthday Recap

Friday was my birthday and we spent the whole day tromping around downtown Seattle and eating. Breakfast at Mae's was good as usual and I had my favorite vegetarian biscuits and gravy. After heading downtown we decided to catch a movie and on the way I stopped to check out H&M which just opened in Seattle. We trotted up to the theater to see Religulous which I found interesting/horrifying/funny to watch. Plus it had a great soundtrack. Food again! Of course after about 4 hours I was starving so we went over to Serious Pie which was seriously good. Chanterelle pizza with truffled cheese? Hell, yes! And I had the most mouth-watering, jaw-droppingly good dessert I've had in a long time. Cannoli with pumpkin mascarpone, candied pepitas and squash, and yummy saucy stuff. I'm still dreaming about it and wishing for a bowl of the mascarpone with cannoli chips to eat myself sick. Yum. A few hours spent at Uwajimaya and Kinokuniya poking at strange foods and deciding amongst knitting books and we were off to eat dinner. (Seriously, we ate every 4 hours or so). Bamboo Garden is my favorite cheap vegetarian/chinese restaurant. We stuffed ourselves and walked over to Seattle Center to watch Night of the Living Dead performed by Seattle Children's Theatre. It was so incredibly funny and campy and a tad bit scary that as we were leaving I said that I could watch it again. Maybe I will. Highly recommended even if you're not into the horror genre. (There is a suggested age of 13+ for this - I think it depends on the kid.) Finally at home again I picked up my knitting and soaked my feet in some peppermint foot bath.

The little hat above is a free pattern on ravelry whose name eludes me. I knit it up while watching a movie at home this week. It's Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran on size 8 needles and I had about 16g left over from the skein.

Flying through the FOs

I've been pretty lackadaisical about posting lately but I HAVE been knitting like crazy. I finished my first pair of felted clogs for my FIL for Christmas and I have to say they're pretty rad. It's always exciting to see something huge and floppy come out structured and three-dimensional. They are "neat" as the Man says. I also completed the Backyard leaves scarf from Scarf Style but have yet to block it. I'm also working on the Weekender Lace Wrap as one of my final Christmas knits, I have one more queued and then I'm done! Time is flying by and October is especially busy for us - it's hard to believe that in just a couple of months our little sea monkey will be making her debut. I'm already thinking about Halloween costumes to sew up for her and I'm thinking that next year she may be a flying monkey a la the Wizard of Oz. Hee. Isn't one of the upsides of being a parent to humiliate your child when they're incredibly small? Oh, and did I mention how much I loooove Fall weather - how crisp and cool and sunny it can be all at the same time? My energy is on an upswing and all I want to do is eat pumpkin flavored food and drinks and watch the leaves turn.

Zombies in Plain English

Just trying to help.

Back to the Grind

Vacation was lovely. The weather was lovely about 90% of our trip and we had a great time and ate lots of good food. No yarn store visits to speak of (sorry!) since I didn't know exactly where we were going are how long we would be gone. We did a lot of laying around and playing in the water. My ideal. And apparently all of the people in these coastal towns live off of ice cream, saltwater taffy, and candy. I swear, every other shop had barrels of candy and was chock full of kids. My idea of a candy store was the Tillamook Cheese Factory where we ate our way through some delicious free cheese (fresh cheese curds anyone?) and indulged in a scoop of ice cream. Delish. Everything is back to normal this week and Fall is definitely here. I've been knitting like crazy and getting ready for some family visits, the baby, and cooler weather. There's nothing like a pile of sweater in your lap to say Fall. It makes my knitterly heart sigh with happiness.

Kapow! There's no such thing!

Conversation in bed with the hubby this morning:

Him: There's no such thing as Grunge.
Me: Yes, there is. What do you call that whole type of music that happened in the 90's that everyone else calls Grunge? Do you just refuse to believe it exists?
Him: It's just rock. People weren't playing rock for a long time so when someone played it again everybody said "Wow, that's new!" and started buying it again and called it Grunge.
Me: In any case it's a sub-genre.
Him: Hmmph.
Me: So what do you do when somebody refers to music as Grunge when they're talking with you? Do you punch them in the face and tell them there is no such thing?
Him: No.
Me: Well, I think you should cause it would be funny.
Him: Laughs hysterically and breaks into song.

Je vais a la plage...

Early Sunday we're heading out for a week of doing nothing much on the Oregon Coast. Tonight and tomorrow are set aside for laundry, cleaning up so we don't come back to a dirty house, packing, and digging out camping equipment from the black hole we call a garage. Bad news for podcast listeners since we're not recording until my return but good news for me since we're celebrating our two year anniversary. Doing nothing, absolutely nothing. Fab.

Doing, Doing, Doing

I've been doing a bit of sewing lately and finished these two baby smocks up at Jessica's last weekend. It's from a Simplicity reprint of a 1950's (#3508) pattern - that means minimal finishing and lots of double-fold bias tape. Wonderful! They're super easy patterns to follow and the armholes and necklines are large enough that she'll probably be able to wear them as tops once they're too short for smock-dresses. All I've got left are matching diaper covers. Cute!



Here's a closeup of the fabric - apples & monkeys! I love both of these and am contemplating picking up more in different colors.

I've also been working on the Man's Christmas sweater and finished up the back last night and cast on for one of the fronts. It's great mindless tv knitting.

Episode Eight

It is up. I think we're a little ranty on this one, but hilarity just happens sometimes.

Free time?

Yet another FO that has been languishing - Montego Bay in HandMaiden SeaSilk. Gorgeous stuff and lots of mindless knitting for your buck. This is another Christmas knit that is currently being perfumed with cedar and lavender in my cedar chest. Yum. I'm pretty much done with the designed-by-me baby sweater and just have to pick out the buttons, sew down the steeks, and block. If you've never used the Elizabeth Zimmerman Percentage System (EPS) you should really give it a try on something small like a baby sweater. I felt like I had no frickin' clue what I was doing at first but I just followed the instructions and voila! Kind of like when you turn the first heel on your first sock. Magic.

Class is over and I rocked and rolled it with a fantastic grade and some praise from the instructor. Yay. So now I have this free time and baby preparations, more work at home, and knitting are filling it up quite well. Not having homework is a lovely thing.

Blar

Last day of class. I'm tuckered out. Teaching knitting is fun! Stir-fry is delicious. Talking about food before I eat lunch makes me even more hungry. Sneezing makes the baby kick. My feet are now their normal size. I like how everything smells like wet dirt after the rain. My cat sleeps with her nose against the arm of the sofa. Thinking about sleep makes me sleepy. Talking about David Bowie makes me happy. I'm off to bed.

Tiiime is on my mind...

Episode 7 should be up soon, I'm getting ready to hand it off to Jessica for upload. Tomorrow is the last day of class and I've got about a paper and a half to revise for my final portfolio. I'm sleepy from the running around last weekend (good to have you Nickie!) and all I want to do is pop in a movie and do some knitting. Too bad, so sad. Theoretically (ha) I would have actually finished revising the first paper so I could work on the second one today. Yeah, theoretically. It's not so bad though, I have about 3/4 of a page to add to the first one and about a page+ for the second one. Knitting should pick up next week when I have more time and these balls of yarn will be transformed into fingerless gloves. I do have to say that if you're hankering for some delish breakfast snackles you should head to Cafe Flora for scrumptious beignets served with blueberries (that's seasonal so it may change) and vanilla custardy stuff. Mmmmmmmmm.

Charleston Style

Interestingly enough I came across this while doing research for a presentation. Fantastic dance moves!

Try A Little Tenderness Live- Otis Redding

My favorite ever ever ever Otis Redding song. Good listening for a Saturday afternoon.

All Over the Place

Class is half-way over. I've been awake since 730 and already sorted laundry, read ahead in the next novel, typed up part of my assignment for Monday, and had a teeny breakfast (vanilla soymilk and dried apricots). There's a reason behind the early rising - my best gal is coming into town next Thursday and I'm trying to get ahead/catch up with all of the stuff I've been lackadaisical about. There is list-making involved and scheduled knitting time. I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing and my ability to get it all done.

First on the list are my gorgeous Endpaper Mitts (pictured). I love how the pattern is coming out, plus this is stashbusting from another Christmas gifty. The purpley-magenta is Koigu KPPPM in one of the new colors we have at the shop and the blue is leftover Smooshy in Deep Seaflower. I'm about 95% done with these with less than an inch of pattern and the ribbing left. Whoot.

I just noticed from linking the mitts that I should have done the magenta as the "light" color and the blue as the background. Oops & too frickin' bad.

The Twilight Zone of Expectant Parenthood

I'm pooped. We spent all of yesterday looking - looking at new furniture for the shift that's going on furniture-wise as nursery preparation, looking for hours and hours at baby stuff at Babies "R" Us. It was incredibly Twilight Zone-ish. It was the first time I was in a store just for expectant parents/parents/friends of babies, the Man and I felt like interlopers. Maybe it was the fact that we were laughing at all of the ridiculous trappings of parenthood; microwave bottle sterilizers, Big Brother-esque baby monitoring devices, and strollers that look like urban tanks for midgets. We talked and argued and laughed and made decisions and I derided the whole "land of pink" that seems to be the baby girl's lot these days. It was a relief to sit down and scarf a grilled cheese with tomato and a vanilla black cherry malt. Delish. I'm feeling more prepared as to what our life is going to be like materially but I'm sure it's nothing compared to the reality. Phew.

Some News

Episode 6 is up at the website and should be up in iTunes soon-ish.

I had an ultrasound on Tuesday and it's a girl!! We're very excited and now I can get knitting on all of those sweet girly baby patterns. Hurrah!

Oh, and issue 1 of the Twist Collective is up and totally AWESOME. Great stuff!

Almost there...

Knitting for that holiday at the end of the year is almost complete. I'm busting through the small stuff like a fiend and have only to re-knit one dead-to-me WIP (which I'm pretty happy to do) and the Man's sweater. He actually liked the one I picked out and he just has to show up at my LYS to pick out the color. Yay. I finished my first felted project last week. It's the Strawberry Clutch by Kate Gilbert from an old KnitScene. Knit it up on size 13 needles with the yarn doubled and it's a speedy fun knit. I duplicate stitched the "seeds" on afterward which was the most time-sucking part of the whole thing. I think it would be great for learning intarsia. Oh, and the recipient is my eldest niece who apparently loves all things girly.
As sporadic as my posting has been lately it will be getting even more so (at least for the next month) since I started a class at UW which meets four days a week at the uber-early hour of 830. It's nice to participate in something besides earning my keep and I'm really enjoying the subject matter - British lit. from 18th century to present. However, the class is 4 weeks long and we cover 4 novels so there is a lot of pressure to be on task and show up every day. 3 classes down, 14 to go.

King County Fair

There were incredibly large pigs.
Super cute black sheep.
Angora goats (pretty).
And somewhere in King County, lots of naked sheep.

This weekend we drove down to Enumclaw for the King County Fair. It's much more low-key and relaxing than the huuuge Puyallup fair we went to last year. It's comprised of lots of 4-H and FFA livestock and pets as well as some nice ladies who tried to school me on spinning and knitting. :) When I started spouting the lingo they seemed a little confused - evidently I don't actually look like a knitter.

Episode Five

Episode 5 of the podcast should be up and running and show up in iTunes soon. It accidentally got named episode 4 but it really truly is 5. Really.

Forbes Forest

I think I finished this last week. It's Forbes Forest from Scarf Style and I knit it up in Knitpicks Merino Style. The color is Moss. This is yet another Christmas knit that's going in the 'done' pile. It will make it's way to Kansas some time in December along with some knit toys and things for that branch of the family. My list of things to knit before THAT holiday comes along is getting shorter and the items are much smaller and less tedious (but more fiddly) than the scarves and scarves I've been doing. Add to that the use of new-to-me yarns (Smooshy & Sea Silk) and I'm a happy girl.

Seattle has finally decided to participate in this thing called Summer that I've been hearing so much about. I bought sandals. I eat popsicles and watermelon and drink lemonade. I sometimes wake to birds singing. It's rather nice and I hope it stays this way for at least a little while. A couple more months would be lovely. On the other hand, our black cat is constantly shedding and it's all I can do to keep from taking the vacuum attachment to her dandery hide to keep fur off... everything.

Rainbow Goodness

This has been finished for a few weeks, the weather has been lovely so I've been trying to spend as much time as possible outside. The purchase of a backyard umbrella and a table to read at under the shade has proved to me that summer really does happen in Seattle, if belatedly. It's two skeins of Noro Sock yarn in one of the soon-to-be defunct colorways. S185, mebbe? Its the Woodland Shawl from Thrifty Knitter's website. I followed the the directions but instead of knitting one short piece I knit two pieces and grafted them together for a nice lengthy scarf. It is true that Noro is a bit rough when working with it but I threw it in the wash with some Eucalan (that's a wool wash) and it softened up considerably. I've been knitting a lot now that my first trimester is over and I actually have energy. Christmas knitting is in full swing as my due date is now December 10 and I have a feeling that there won't be much time for knitting right around Christmas. Just a guess. So hopefully more posting and more pictures and more...stuff will be happening around here and I'll actually share it.

Episode Three

She is up at www.doubleknit.net and will be up in iTunes soon. Hooray.

Apparently my rant against what people are now calling 'Juneuary' in Seattle helped out a bit. We've had spectacular weather the past couple of days (the freckling on my arms says so) with clouds passing through today. The Man and I headed out on a mission to buy a shade umbrella for the back yard and were so completely successful that we found the umbrella, the stand, and a little metal table perfect for two. I ate lunch outside yesterday with my nose buried in a book and my feet buried in the grass. Delightful.

Arrested Development Chicken Dance

A Sudden Realization

I'm having a baby in December. That's only six months away. Christmas is in December. Christmas + baby = no knitting. I must revive my gift-along skills so I can be ready to send things out in time (or the Man can send them out). This may seem rather manic to some, but I'm an organizer and I like things planned out, including my knitting. Right now I've got my mom's Christmas gift on the needles and something possibly slated for another family member depending on how it turns out and how soft it gets. My Ravelry queue is organized so that gift projects are first in line but it seems that there are quite a few to go even though I've been planning since the beginning of the year. Crazy, I know. Please tell me I'm not the only one to be thinking so far ahead and that everything, in fact, will get done in time. Blah!!

I want a June...

I want a June that feels like summer and I want it now. It's gray and drippy today versus the gray and pouring rain of yesterday. It just isn't right, not for me. I'm pretty sure my first couple of summers in Seattle were gorgeous and appropriately summer-like in length and weather. I told the Man that we need to move south. Mmmm...heat. The appropriate weather for the appropriate season from now on, thanks.
I finished this baby sweater a week or two ago and it's my first foray into preparing for the baby. Nothing else has been accomplished in that vein but at least it'll look cute. It's the JoJo Crew Sweater from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms in Cashsoft DK. I believe the colors are Glacier Blue and Cream and those are vintage glass buttons with little red dots at the shoulder. Too cute. I realized while knitting it that I had never done stripes before and that babies are really fricking small. Who knew?

Clapotis II

This is Clap #2 and the first one I've knit for myself. The colors are washed out in the photo but in reality it's much darker - more blackish bluish than lavender-gray. The yarn is BMFA Luscious Silk in the Thraven colorway from the Raven series. I knit it with a little less than two balls and made it slightly narrower and much longer. It's my new favorite thing I've made for myself.

The new podcast is up here and it should be up on iTunes soon. Sorry it took so long, circumstances arose between the two of us and things have been hectic. Enjoy.

Out and About

I've been running around doing fun things the last couple of days. Yesterday was spent at Folklife Festival where I ate my way through almost every kind of African food...and then some. It was fairly hot (probably very hot for most Seattleites) and there were a lot of bad clothing choices made by people apparently suffering from heat stroke. Yikes, can I just say that short shorts and ugg boots have never and will never look good together? And it's probably a bad thing when your top is almost covering said short shorts. Food was great, music was great, and despite the slathering of spf 45 I managed to freckle a bit more and get some pink in my cheeks.
Today was spent with some fellow knitters on a ferry ride over to Bainbridge Island where I ate a most delish lunch (salmon burger and strawberry lemonade) and did a bit of shopping. I picked up some super cute buttons for impending baby projects and a couple of yards of seriously cute cotton fabric for a summer skirt (elastic waistbands will be my friend this summer). Bolstered by an afternoon snack of blackberry ice cream we headed back toward the ferry terminal and I'm now feeling the urge to nap after all of the good food and exercise. Lovely, lovely days in Seattle.

Hideous Monkey

I finished these up about a month ago and am not exactly pleased with the finished pair. Maybe it's the color combination, which I was so in love with in the skein but now feel a bit shruggy about. In any case it was my first pair knit two at a time on one long circular and my first pair of Monkey socks.

Specs: BMFA mediumweight STR in Rocky Horror. Knit on a 40 inch #2 circular.

Out of the Abyss

Sorry about the blog-silence lately - all I have to say is that the universe has been up to some major fiddling with my life. I left my less-than-fulfilling job a while ago and got hired at my LYS (which I love) and recently started training for a temp/part-time position which required me to be at an actual office (until today); hence the quiet over the last two weeks. I also recently found out that the Man and I are going to have a little addition to the family running around sometime in December. After a couple of weeks of two jobs, doctor appointments, and the requisite morning sickness and perpetual tiredness I just wasn't up to much of anything. So there you go, some real excuses for my lazy-bones blogging. I do have knitting to share and am hoping to snap some pictures if the camera agrees not to run out of batteries.

P.S. I'm not planning on detailing the progress of my pregnancy on my blog. I'm a woman with boundaries well in place and too much information is just that - too much information. However, I can't promise a complete lack of baby content because there may be some knitting going on for the little one.

New Venture

I thought I posted a while ago about a new project I was working on/about to work on. Jessica and I recorded our first podcast and it's finally up here. I think the idea is to record every other week and see how it goes.

No Covety Goodness

I'm off to work this morning. While I was drying my hair I found my first silver one. I mean silver. I can only hope that they'll all grow in one dense streak so I'll have an awesome Heff thing going down one side. Whee.

Hareton Socks

I finished these socks up last Friday after I decided I was done looking at the color. In real life it's a very dark teal and knitting them up on size 0 needles was not fun. They're for the Man's birthday on May 6 and it's the first pair I've knitted up for him. I reinforced the toe and heel so they've got a nice mottled teal and black thing going on. Hareton Socks are free if you go here. I've moved on to my first pair of Monkey socks and trying my hand at knitting both at once on one long circular needle. I also tried out the no-knot cast on method (no slip knot needed) which Jessica was so kind to show to me last week. Lovely.

Music Monday

This is an album for when I'm feeling nostalgic. The Make-Up or Make-Up is a group from the mid-nineties that dissolved in early 2000. They're heavy on bass and drums and this album is a compilation of singles and b-sides from other releases. I suppose they're indie since all four of their albums are released on independent labels but they've got a great gospel/garage/soul feeling that takes me back to a late early adulthood of first tattoos, day trips to San Francisco, late nights, my first solo trip cross-country, and all sorts of liberating trouble. Frontman Svenonius preached against capitalist culture and the vacuous nature of pop music. He's since moved on to play with Ted Leo & the Pharmacists under the name David Canty. It's an interesting album and some of the songs are hit or miss but for the most part wonderfully subversively dancey and catchy.

Welcome to Spring?

It's raining/hailing right now. What the hell? I'm hoping for some executive decision-making on mother nature's part at the moment. Sunny would be nice. Sprinkles would be fine. But this? This needs to stop.

Music Monday

The Man and I got free passes to see the Devil and Daniel Johnston. Hooked. The film is...awesome and lovely and funny and amazing and if you haven't seen it you should do so tout suite. His albums are now being released and are similarly wonderful and much easier to find than the original mail order cassettes. Even if you aren't a music buff or know who Daniel Johnston is the movie is truly great.

First Day

I had my first day at my new job yesterday. My tootsies are sore! Love your LYS? Try memorizing all the dk weight yarn! Worsted? Aran? Lots of stuff to remember but so fun and so much more fulfilling than the last job. Hopefully I can remember it all between now and the next work day. EEE!

Covet! Wednesday

Blue Moon Fiber Arts has some gorgeous new colorways since they've redone their site. I'm a big fan of Typhoon Tina but Purple Rain and Rolling Stone are right up there in covetousness. Is that because of the name or the colorway? I'd say both, I'm still waiting on a Bowie-inspired colorway to rock my socks.

Music Monday

Here's one for the audiophiles. Mission of Burma just re-released three volumes of double lp goodness of their groundbreaking music circa 1981 - 1983 (the year of their break up). Each one comes with a full color booklet and a dvd of a live performance. I couldn't be more excited - this is a band that spurred me on to become the music nerd I am today. Without them I wouldn't have been interested in the underground sound of the late 70's and early 80's. It's high quality stuff and a piece of history to boot. That's when I reached for my revolver is a piece of lyrical and musical genius. Love.

Whoohoo!!!

Covet! Wednesday

I've been pretty out of it the last few days. It's my last week of work and I've been training my replacement and dealing with broken hardware and broken software and it's basically been a circus all around. So I missed music Monday again...sorry. I'm still working on the next few installments and trying to puzzle out what albums should go in what order. I've had a bit of time to surf around and found this gorgeous wrap which I am now salivating over and wondering if I could actually afford it and trying to justify the cost (which isn't bad) by thinking about the hours and hours of knitting time it would take to finish. It comes in two colors - Moroccan Days which is a warm mustardy yellow and Arabian Nights which is a pretty dusky purple. The Woolen Rabbit has gorgeous sock yarns and lace yarns as well as project kits and I love their colorways which are slightly reminiscent of Tactile Fiber Arts naturally dyed stuff. Have a looksy and start daydreaming too.

One down, one to go

One more week to go until I'm freeeeee. I've got an exciting new project coming up with one of my fellow knitters and I can't wait to get started. In Ravelry news, have you used the experimental pattern search? My new favorite tool and I'm just trying to spread the word because I don't want this one to go away! You can limit by yardage, yarn weight, type of project. It's amazing and kind of rolls all of the search parameters into one easy to use tool. Change one thing and up comes a new list of projects! Try it!

Covet! Wednesday

Covet Wednesday really will be full of things I want from here on out. But just this last once I splurged on this yarn. Sundara's special run of Tulip from her Flowers from My Mother's Garden in her 100% silk laceweight. If you're gonna go out do so with a bang. This will make a beautiful shawl or stole at some point. I received another skein of her silk for the Seasons yarn club and love to look at it and love on it and can't wait to see this one in person. It's not in my usual color range but I've been feeling a bit more adventurous lately. Do you think that has to do with the fact I'm leaving my job soon? I think it does. I've already scored a part-time position at my LYS that will just cover half of the rent and am looking around for something else part time that won't interfere with the possibility of more hours there while fluffing up the income a bit. I keep waffling between how great this is and how terrifying it is. Right now I'm leaning toward great. Good things come to those who are willing to take the leap.

Music Monday

While crafting at Jessica's place yesterday the subject of desert island albums came up. She said that for a long time her album was the White Album and it got me to thinking about what mine would be. It took about two seconds. David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is probably my most cherished album. It fits any mood, the lyrics are amazing and I think it's one of the most well-conceived concept albums ever. EVER. This was the first piece of vinyl I ever bought and it's got the original liner notes with lip licking pictures of a very young and sexy Bowie as well as the rest of the band. When I'm feeling ambivalent about my turntable I always reach for this and it gets my audiophile juices flowing again. Words can't express - just listen.

Good Things, Small Packages

garden #3
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

I met up with Jessica last night for dinner and a movie. Dinner was to die for. Ocho in Ballard has delicious small plates - fried artichoke hearts with aioli and beet vinaigrette, spicy garlic prawns, tortilla espanola, and basque tuna with bread salad. It was so good and if I could have kept eating without bursting I would have, plus they have a great sangria and the bartender has an arm for long pours. We headed down to the Majestic Bay to catch Miss Pettigrew which was charming and funny and had great great great costumes and sets. The only thing that hampered my movie-watching was the random woman wearing gallons of perfume which made my mouth taste like perfumey alcohol and my eyes itch. It was a wonderful way to celebrate my impending departure from my current job and fill up on tasty little bites. If only every Friday could be half so delicious.

The Happy Aftermath

After Wednesday's post about wanting a new job I made the momentous decision to put my notice in at the current place on Friday (today!) and to see what happens. It also serves to get my butt in gear and explore some different avenues open to me as far as what I want to do verses what I need to do. I've decided to focus my energy on my school work and getting my UW apps in and studying up and possibly even doing some writing to get back in the habit. Hopefully this Fall will see me attending evening classes somewhat full time at the U and also working at one or two part-time places with flexible schedules and good work environments. It's a difficult thing when you've worked at a job for 3+ years to get out of the comfort of being somewhere familiar with a steady income and suddenly have no set plans for more income (scary) but also freeing and exciting with endless possibilities. What are your dream jobs? What gets you happy and committed to a work place? How do you find a good balance between paying the bills and being fulfilled in your everyday work? I know it will work itself out eventually, but for the here and now I woke up happy this morning.

Covet! Wednesday

Continuing in yesterday's tired and stabby mood (nothing is working correctly, not even a little bit) - I want a new job. I'm working towards freeing myself but it takes time and I'm really trying to ask myself what I actually want (or need) in my life as far as income and work enjoyment and environment goes. I think this is the first time in a long time I've been present in the idea that what I'm deciding affects everything that comes after and just because I've been doing similar work for a long time doesn't mean I have to continue in the same vein. Lots of advice has been coming in from all directions and the consensus is that I need to do something else - what is that something? How is it going to improve my well-being? The way I live? How I feel on a day-to-day basis? My knitting is definitely improving with all of this pondering and hopefully inspiring my thinking as well.

Dog Tired Tuesday

Toward the locks
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

I'm super tired today and I can't figure out why, I didn't even do anything out of the ordinary for St. Patty's day - just my usual knitting group night. I even went to bed at a reasonable hour which has been unusual since the Man has been on tour. Everything is rather blah and to add to my annoyance at being so tired everyone at work has decided to wear some horrible perfume or body spray or bathe in disinfectant or something. I'm cranky and feeling 'stabby' and want to take a nap....or knit.

Erin Go Bragh!

The Man is on tour with his Irish/folk/punk band - Meisce - for St. Patty's Day and is playing the Great American Music Hall in SF tonight. I will not be braving the streets and bars of Seattle tonight, instead I'll be meeting up with my knitting group and taking it easy and trying very hard to avoid the drunken public. As I got ready this morning I put on my Pogues record and celebrated my Irishness in a completely sober way. I picked up this record on my sojourn to Ireland a few years ago and while it's not in constant rotation (the Man is not a fan!) it is my favorite Pogues album. The guys are young and energetic, the song progression is lively and varied and the album itself is a pretty dark red. It also doesn't include my two least favorite Pogues songs - Fiesta & Fairytale in New York. Each time I listen I'm transported back to Dublin and the best two week vacation I've ever had. Real Guiness, incredibly delicious vegetarian food, cider and train rides, over-friendly strapping young Irishmen, being the tallest girl in the room always, and the real deal in Irish music. Erin go bragh!

Sleepy & Mischievous

Sleepy Snake & Mischievous Mouse pattern from Mochimochiland knit up in some random knitpicks merino for my nephew for Christmas. Perfect for a toddler, so much stuff is going to end up inside that snake besides the mouse.

Knitty

The Spring issue of Knitty is up. Yay!

Covet! Wednesday

Annnnd I'm back. This whole time change, which I was totally unaware of by the by, as well as being on vacation last week totally screwed with my routines and sleep patterns and apparently my blogging as well. I mentioned the damage done to my wallet in Spokane and this is one of the culprits. Lovely lovely Louet Riverstone in Eggplant (yes Jessica, eggplant- matchy matchy eh?)which is a light worsted weight and of which I bought a whole sweater's worth. In my own strange mania regarding yarn buying I usually have a project in mind when I splurge on sweater yarn. This didn't happen this time around so I'm up for suggestions on what to knit with the stuff. I have about 1300 yards total so if you're on Ravelry why don't you do some browsing for me? I'd like to knit something in my queue if possible but wouldn't mind something brand spanking new - I'm a nerd for cables and interesting details but kind of simple clean lines. I suppose that's called 'classic' in the fashion world. So head on over to Ravelry and browse my queue, my user name is ErinB, and message me suggestions or search the web and comment here with what you've found. Thanks for the help!

Music Monday?

Cute!
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

Nope, not this week. I did do quite a bit of music/yarn shopping while the fam was in town but I want to take my own pics for posting. We had loads of fun while they were up - eating cupcakes, watching Arrested Development together, and walking Seattle. There was also the added benefit of being off work for five days which makes me wonder why I'm not rich and living the good life, I think I'm made for it. They left on Friday afternoon to make the 15 hour drive back home and I promptly got ill and locked myself in the house for the ensuing weekend. Lots of knitting time and movie watching and sleeping and I'm cured and loathing the return to work. Basically back to normal. Regular blog features will return soon I'm just readjusting to the time change and my usual routine. Blech.

Road Trip!

My mom and sis got to experience every type of weather in their first 48 hours in the Pacific Northwest/Eastern Washington. Sunny here, sunny on the way over, windy across the flatlands, snowing as we interred Grandma's ashes, icy on the way back, snow over the pass, buckets of rain around North Bend and drizzly and gray and cold last night. The trip went very well and us three girls had a great time gabbing in the car and catching up and laughing ourselves silly. We capped off the trip with some yummy Indian food and I ate myself into a food coma. Spokane was...interesting. It's rather sprawling and has really beautiful old buildings as well as some super 70's retro-tastic architecture that my mom remembered from her high school days. We hit up Paradise Fibers which did a bit of damage to the pocketbook yet made me happy and satisfied. I picked up some stuff that I hadn't seen at my favorite LYS and fondled pretty much everything else. Oodles of roving and spinning wheels and yarn, yarn, yarn. I also got most of a sock done in the car and knit until I couldn't see a darn thing which made me wish my project was plain stockinette, alas it was not. We're off today for who knows what - see some sights, maybe take in a cupcake or two. Yum.

Happy Days are Here Again

Ask and I'll deliver. Well, no one actually asked but I do deliver. My most recent FO - Saartje's Booties for a co-worker's brand spankin' new baby girl. I cast on for these last night while watching the first half of Solaris and finished them up this morning while watching The Black Rose. They're knit in Koigu KPPPM leftover from my endpaper mitts and done two at a time on one long circular. Babies have ridiculously small feet and these are so adorable and easy to knit, they look like candy to me. Hopefully the new mom will love them too. I've got a few more projects in line to share but these take the cake for now.

Even better (!) than finishing up a super-fast and satisfying project is the fact that I'm on vacation for this next week. Think...a whole dang week without work. My mom and sis are, as I'm typing, heading up from Northern California to pick me up on our way to Eastern Washington to inter Grandma's ashes. Not so much a downer as one might think since I'll be able to be there to say good-bye and spend some time with close family. I'm excited to show mom around my city and can only hope for some of the sun we've been getting in the past couple weeks. Oh, and I've already scoped out a couple of LYS to hit while over the mountains. I'm looking forward to car knitting and being a passenger for once. Ahhh...good times, knitting, family vacation, and most likely delicious food.

Covet! Wednesday

Sundara Yarn
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

I usually scour etsy and ravelry and various other websites for beautiful yarns and knitting tools but I've been in a bit of an organizational/cleaning/throw-everything-out kind of funk so time at home has been spent emptying drawers and closets and dressers instead of cruising on the computer. However I did receive my Seasons yarn club shipment on Friday from Sundara and it's rather mouth-wateringly gorgeous. It's 400 yards of fingering weight silky merino that's dying to be made up into a lacy little scarf. At first I thought socks but I've got a certain project in mind that will show off the color and feel uber-luxurious against a certain someone's neck.

I've noticed that while I've been finishing projects I haven't really been posting pics so that'll hopefully be remedied in the next couple of weeks. Motivation for picture taking is lacking when it's cold outside and all I want to do when I get home is to slip into comfy clothes and get toasty.

Music Monday

Morrissey has been a part of my life even when I didn't know it. I thought my first exposure was a mixed tape (yes, cassette tape) that Nickie made for me and that subsequent replays and replays and replays stretched out and distorted. I was wrong. The 80's movies that my teenage babysitter, Brenda, brought over and let me stay up late to watch were filled with instrumental Smiths songs. Ferris Bueller's Day Off when the crew is in the museum, Ducky pondering his unrequited love for Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink. There's just something about teenage angst and Morrissey that go hand in hand and Louder than Bombs is the best (in my opinion) vehicle for expressing that angst. A good friend gifted me with his double vinyl album that had made it through the 80's, desert heat, and a house fire not to mention my constant replay of favorites. There is such a broad array of subject matter, of music and vocal stylings that one can't help but to find something appealing and that expresses exactly a mood or fleeting feeling. Louder than Bombs is my holy grail of MOZ.

By the way, if you're on Ravelry there's a Morrissey Lover's Group. Join.

Covet! Wednesday

I'm in major love for all things aubergine/plum colored these days. Curiously enough I have nothing in my wardrobe to reflect this so I've been daydreaming about a little cardigan or pullover in this gorgeous stuff from Blue Sky Alpacas. Its a 50/50 silk/alpaca blend and I loooove it. The only thing holding me back is that it's fingering weight (ouch!) which is a bit well, tedious for a whole sweater and the price tag is about 10$ for 146 yds. Not too bad for the luxury of the blend but I'd need about 14 skeins for the project I have in mind. Maybe it'll be my one purchase from the tax return we'll be getting but I know I want to just bury myself in a pile of it and take a nap. Yum.

Music Monday

Almost forgot about music Monday, it being a holiday and all. The Black Angels album Passover is one I've had in the vinyl library for quite a while but it's not in constant rotation on the turntable. However I recently pulled it back out and had a listen - post-work funk and a tad anti-establishment feeling I felt right at home with it's droning, psychedelic sound. There's a blatant sexually intoned in the throbbing drums and hypnotic sounds. I never quite understood what people meant when they described a band as having a psychedelic sound, just that there were probably a lot of drugs involved in the album's conception. But I get it now, listening to the Black Angels I feel a tightening in my lower gut, an animalistic urge to take the system down from within, to start a fight, to close my eyes and roll with the drone. Fluid and intense the songs seem to melt any resistance away and leave one feeling curiously full yet hungering for more. Not for the faint of musical heart.