goodkarmago

Twirly Skirt

2009-08-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

The preschool peanut has been looking forward to wearing this skirt ever since I showed her the pattern and then let her help me pick out the colors. It's such a simple design, definitely easy for a beginner knitter to follow. As soon as she put it on today, she started shimmying and twirling like crazy. Turned a very grumpy day into a happy and sweet one.

Barefoot Knits Twirly Skirt
Cotton Fleece: Cottonball, Pink-A-Boo, Begonia Passion, and Perry's Primrose
Size 4 with size 6 length for room to grow
Raveled here

Lisa's Triumph

2009-08-04T18:11:00.000-07:00

Shedir by Jenna Wilson, Knitty.com
Rowan Calmer in #475 Tinkerbell, one ball
US3 needle
Raveled here

So an old friend of mine dropped a bomb on us all when she told us that she has breast cancer. This is a friend that I've known for years; she's the big sis of a friend I made in junior high school. This is a friend that would do anything for you and for whom we are all doing anything we can.

When she asked me to accompany her on a wig fitting appointment, I was beyond honored that she would consider me for that important task! We had fun, trying out wigs of impossible colors and shapes (on purpose, of course) until we found the one! The color is just right and if you didn't know her, you'd think she had a really cute haircut.

She tried on a few hats and scarves, too, but since she hadn't yet started chemo, she had a full head of hair and was having a hard time imagining what it will all look like when it's gone.

But I knew I had to make something for her. You do what you know, and I know how to knit. This hat has eleventy billion cable crosses but with each row I checked off I envisioned taking steps toward her health and the end of her treatment.

I gave my friend her hat last night when she invited me to another appointment she had. Lots of laughs together, lots of love, and lots of strength within our network of friends and family. She started chemo about a week ago and has the most amazing outlook, savoring each day as a gift. I hope this hat will be like a hug on chilly days and give her strength to kick cancer's butt!

Onion Dill Bread

2009-07-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

Recent tweets about bread machine baking reminded me of the one I have buried deep, deep in the pantry. An old boyfriend gave it to me about a century ago. I loved the smell of the fresh bread baking and I don't remember why I let it sit so long... possibly because it only makes little one pound cubes of bread that are gone before you can even bake another one? I pulled it out last night, along with my copy of The Bread Machine Baker by Elizabeth Harbison (great book for me because all of these recipes yield 1 lb.), and threw together some Onion Dill Bread. Mmmm. mmmm. m. My girl loves helping in the kitchen and liked seeing the machine do all the stirring for us.

Onion Dill Bread
"This is a delicious "eat it hot out of the bread machine" bread. It doesn't even need butter. I have had success substituting yogurt for the sour cream for a lower-calorie treat."

2 t or 1/2 package of yeast
2 c bread flour
1/4 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 egg
1/4 c water
1/2 c cottage cheese
1/2 c sour cream
2 T sugar
2 T minced dried onion
1 T + 1 t dried dill seed (I suspect this is a typo for dill weed)
1 T butter

In a warm saucepan, combine water, cottage cheese, sour cream, sugar, onion, dill and butter, until melted.

Add all the ingredients to the machine in the order listed. Choose either regular or light crust (depending on your preference) and push "Start."

Make these. Tonight. Very little cooking involved, yummy, perfect for summer.

2009-07-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I didn't take pictures. I've made the salad a few times before and it never fails to please. The tacos are new and tasty. I doubled both recipes to bring food to our friends who just had a baby... and the leftovers are awesome the next day.

Easy Pork Tacos
America's Test Kitchen, 30 Minute Suppers
Serves 4

1 1/2 C chopped mango (about 2)
1 small red onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons juice from 1 lime
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas

1. Combine mango, half of onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add remaining onion, chipotle chiles, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in pork and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in remaining cilantro, remaining lime juice, and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Stack tortillas on plate, wrap with plastic, and microwave until pliable, about 1 minute. Serve with pork filling and mango salsa.

Southwestern Black Bean, Corn, and Tomato Salad
Real Food Magazine
Serves 4
2 C fresh sweet corn kernels (from 2 medium ears) or thawed frozen corn
1/2 tsp salt, preferably kosher or other coarse salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 avocado, cubed
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Bring 1 inch of water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add corn and simmer until just tender, about 2 minutes; drain and let cool. If using frozen corn, prepare according to package directions.

Sprinkle salt over minced garlic on a cutting board and mash with the flat side of a large knife to make a paste.

Combine corn, garlic paste, beans, tomatoes, avocado, jalapeno, lime juice, and cilantro in a 5-cup non-reactive serving bowl; toss lightly. Let stand at least 10 minutes before serving to blend flavors.

Tap tap tap... this thing still on?

2009-07-17T12:33:00.001-07:00

I was lucky to meet the beautiful, talented, and funny Superstarra Christie last week when she visited Seattle and that reminded me that I have a blog! Oh yeah! That's how Christie and I started corresponding, lo these many years ago. I think I'll just look back in my projects and blog those things I've finished, in order to catch up a bit.

If you're still reading, thank you! It seems that Ravelry, Facebook, Twitter, and life all take time away from blogging and reading blogs. But someone reminded me that I was on that fateful list (Whatever Happened to the Knit Blog Class of 2005?) and here I am!

Last year I made three Dolores Park Cowls for my dear friends. This pattern is genius in its simplicity and that is why a gazillion people have made them... I renamed the cowls for parks in my friends' neighborhoods...

Clockwise from left, Malabrigo Chunky:
- Pagoda, became The Friendly Park Cowl
- Saphire Green, became The Highland Park Cowl
- Velvet Grapes, still sitting in my stash, waiting to become my cowl!
- Tortuga, became The Steilacoom Park Cowl

Here is Kristina modeling her own cowl in Saphire Green:

Peanut's Cardigan is This Close To Finished, But Here's a Distraction...

2009-01-10T17:10:00.000-08:00

Since I haven't blogged much (and so haven't done a meme in a long while), and because it's a new year when we look back and forward at once, this list caught my attention. Once in a while, when I'm feeling a little stuck in my working mama modes, it's good to remind myself of the other interesting things I've done.

Now I'm inspired to dig out photos of some of these things for proof!

The things I have done are in black.

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (indoor)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T16:43:00.000-08:00

Highlights of 2008:

The Peanut turned two in June, and is now "two and a half old". She visited Santa Claus this year and it was one of the most precious moments of her little life so far. She is such a joy! ... and feisty... :)

The day after her birthday party, I completed my first (half) marathon, The Seafair Marathon. Here I am coming across the finish line with my dear friend Tina. Never thought I'd do that...

I was featured on Seattle's Child magazine, worked toward and achieved (shut up!) National Board Certification. Never thought I'd do that, either. :)

Visited NYC in November with the Mr. It had been a long time. Got to visit with my dear friend Debbie; she was one of my travel friends when I was in India. Went to a show at the Village Vanguard. Ate the most incredible pastrami at Katz's.

And who will ever forget where they were on Election Night 08? What a year, what a year!

I'm incredibly grateful for my friends and family, my home, my work... I wish you all a happy and healthy new year!

State of the Karma Nation Address

2008-07-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

My fellow knittarians.

I have been a full-on blogging slacker. I have been spending way too much time on Ravelry (darn them and their Friends Activity page! and their kazillion interesting forums!) and reading all of your blogs instead of writing posts to my own.

Let's just get up-to-date, shall we?

Blue Sky Alpaca Scoop Neck Vest

This would be, for anyone else, a very quick and dirty project. I had to, of course, reknit the scoop neckline several times (wrong numbers, wrong numbers, doubt about the neckline itself, etc. etc.) until I finally just decided to knit the dang thing. I'm using Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton in Pickle (snatched up at the Hilltop fire sale a few months ago), which is a beautiful yarn, but I think I would pair this pattern with a wool if/when I were to do it all over again. I've been doubting this pairing all along and I think that's psychically slowing me down. All I have to do is decide how long to knit the dang straps -- I've already seamed up the sides for goodness sake! (note: why didn't I just knit it in the round?) -- and finish off the edges.

Tangled Yoke Cardi

After having knit the body *almost* to the armholes, I set this thing aside for MONTHS. I mean, I started it in October! haha. So a couple of weeks ago I picked it up again and almost slapped myself on the forehead for it all. Each sleeve has taken me only about a week of knitting in the round. I am modifying the cuff so it won't be as floppy on me. But then... I stop myself and ask if this will fit me in the bust. I try it on and it's snug. I think about adding a little more length anyway, and while I'm at it I might as well add some short rows for more bust room. Whenever I start questioning things and having to think it all through, there is really only one thing to do: start another project! Isn't that what we all do?? /chirping

Mirabella Cardigan

This is from Interweave Knits Spring 2008. I love the tailored silhouette. I brought the Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Hand Dye to knit night with me Tuesday and started the knitted hem. This is my first knitted hem and it is so lovely and finished looking! It's wonderful to work with a larger needle for a bit. I'm getting perfect row and stitch gauge on a US9. The waist ribbing is cleverly done on a smaller needle (I'm using a US7) to bring in the waist a bit more. The yarn is delicious... bought at that same Hilltop Yarn fire sale, in 2-3 various dyelots, but I'm alternating them as I go and they're just melting together gorgeously.

Not sure if you can see from this photo, but the darts (left side) where I'm K2TOG are lining up perfectly; the darts with SSK (right) are zigzaggy. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Row 1 has the decrease and Row 3 has a slipped stitch. Anyway, I'm planning to knit the back in a medium and the front in a large and see what that looks like... may also add short rows... we'll see. By that point I'm sure I'll be starting something else! ha!

Churchmouse Excursion

I went to Churchmouse Yarn and Tea on Bainbridge Island last week for the first time. What a lovely shop with friendly employees. I bought Norah Gaughan's Volume 3. On my way out, the DHL man was bringing in eleven cases of yarn. The ladies realized it was a Malabrigo shipment and suggested we come back after lunch to see what was inside! The ladies opened up the boxes and brought out bagful after bagful of the chunky that I was looking for... we were like a bunch of kids on Christmas morning! I came home with these pretties:

Clockwise, slightly washed out photos: Pagoda, Saphire Green, Velvet Grapes, Tortuga

Child's Placket Neck Pulli

2008-07-13T16:13:00.000-07:00

Child's Placket Neck Pullover
Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Cotton Ease, Lake (1+ skeins) and Almond (a smidge)
US8 Needles

One of my dear girlfriends is expecting her second baby next month and we all joined for a shower this weekend. It was the best kind of shower, really a non-shower, since there were tons of people outside, lots of kids, lots of water to splash around in, and great food and company.

I started off with the smallest size, but since my gauge was much larger than the pattern called for, I followed the body and sleeve lengths for the middle (1-2 year old) size. That's a good size, anyway, since the baby will be able to wear it longer than an infant size. The fabric is very drapey and soft, which is lovely, but it made for a very floppy neckband, so I decided it looked better folded down polo style. Sweet.

Fwinkle, Fwinkle

2008-06-23T21:45:00.001-07:00

Re-entry

2008-06-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

Peanut had her first swimming lessons today. Fun! We just joined a new gym and I took a water aerobics class for the first time, which was also fun.

We played with Play-Doh later and she asked me to make "breakfast." So we made a plate, toast, grapes, a cup of milk, a cup of apple juice... it got dicey when she told me she wanted a spoon (not too hard) and a fork (er...). Good times.

I'm knitting, especially close to finishing a Scoop Neck Vest, the Tangled Yoke Cardi is sitting very patiently while I work on other things. Lots of ideas, no time or inclination to actualize said ideas, though.

Summer rocks. Picked up new Salman Rushdie novel a couple of weeks ago. Plan to read more this summer!

Here's that cool flickr game all the cool kids are playing:

1. bubble karma, 2. ripe, 3. Seattle Space Needle "mini", 4. Mosaic in Turquoise and Rust, 5. clive owen, 6. 2006 21 June DILO Diet Cherry Coke, 7. Aurulent Adria, 8. Very Berry, 9. The Medicine Buddha Lapis Light, 10. family day out, 11. Calm Sunset [HDR], 12. Good Karma

the concept:
a. type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. using only the first page, pick an image.
c. copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Ooh, La La!

2008-04-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

La Parisenne Beret
Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Winter Sky, .4 skein
US3 needles

I suddenly wanted a beret last week, and it's a good thing, too: we've been getting snow in Seattle in April! Wha...? This beret is meant to be knit with two contrasting colors to really show off the chevron stitch pattern, but I was looking for something unsocklike to do with my sock yarn, and decided to go for it with the one colorway. I think it turned out beautifully. The handpainted colors still "move well" (says Jenna) within the stitch pattern without being garish at all. When I finished knitting, it fit my head, but I wasn't sure it qualified as a beret. Wet blocking with a dinner plate inside remedied that right away; the resulting fabric is soft and drapey and the shape is definitely all beret. Bonus: it's not so tight on my head that I get hat hair after wearing it! Woot! For such a lightweight hat, it's a lovely warm layer for this insane weather we're having.

And the 'Nut likes it, too!

Raveled here.

Spring, Schming.

2008-04-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

No wonder we're a bunch of depressed freaks in this town... From today's weather forecast for the Seattle area:

Since Nov. 1, we've had (count 'em) only 10 days considered mostly sunny. (And four of them were in January where the average temperature of the day was 33 degrees or below.)

I really like the idea of hats but don't wear them very often. This week, I had the sudden urge to knit a beret out of a hank of Mountain Colors Bearfoot that's been languishing in the closet for a while. I have knit myself a few pairs of socks but don't really wear them very often (heresy!), so maybe hats are the way to go?

Any suggestions for cute sock-weight hat/beret patterns? I was thinking of something simple like Grumperina's Periwinkle Beret, maybe, and that's about as far as that thought went.

Also, my friend gave me a lovely ball of Be Sweet African Bead Ball yarn for a belated birthday gift. It's absolutely precious, handmade by women in South Africa; mine's the dark plum purple with multicolor beads shown at the link. I wonder how to use this special yarn to best effect... a loosely knit scarf, maybe? Which stitch patterns use the least amount of yarn? Ball band info = 50g ball is 65 yards. 3 stitches / inch on US 11 needles.

I'm still slogging along on Tangled Yoke cardi. It's good TV knitting!

Come on spring!!!

How I'm Spending My Spring Break

2008-04-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

Reading: Click, by Nick Hornsby. I'm pretty sure it was Moni who recommended this Young Adult book on her blog. It's written by ten fantastic authors (including Roddy Doyle, Eoin Colfer, Ruth Ozeki, Gregory Maguire, Nick Hornsby), each taking on a different chapter in the book, all connected and concerning some aspect of a photographer's life. Really well done; I'm captivated by the book but also impressed with the project itself. I think that Hornsby was the editor? Finally, all the proceeds for the book go to Amnesty International. What's not to love?

Reading: Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery, by Rose Carrarini. This recommendation must've come from Rangiswan. What a lovely book! It's a glimpse into the life, philosophy, but mostly the recipes, from a French bakery/cafe. They are very intentional about preparing simple, delicious food from local and organic sources. My friend is leaving for Paris in a week and I hope she'll go there, just so I can live vicariously.

Watching: Into the Wild on DVD. I didn't read Krakauer's book; it just seemed so Bestseller List, which has often been a big turn-off for me. Now I wish I had... the movie is haunting me a couple of days after watching.

Avoiding: Report cards. Bah. They go home on Monday, and I've got a good chunk of them finished, but I'm feeling a sort of emotional stall-out after the stress of finishing my portfolio. Spending loads of time with the Peanut; today we tried Play-Doh for the first time! She kept wanting to taste it, and Wikipedia tells that the exact recipe is a secret, but the ingredients list sounds pretty safe, sooooo.... I'm trying to teach her not to eat things that are not food, but also trying to have fun. The eternal struggle! hahaha.

She's Alive.... ALIVE!

2008-03-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

I mailed my portfolio for National Boards on Friday!!! I have rejoined society!!! It does feel strange to, you know, relax on a weekend. But I think I could get used to this. It was surreal, surrendering a year's worth of work to a USPS employee for $9, but I quickly remedied that odd feeling with a giant mai tai at the West 5. Ahhh. Now I just have to take the exam in late May, and then wait for my scores to arrive around Thanksgiving time. La la la...

I have much to report, three finished projects to share, a long queue of dreamy projects to begin (or continue!). But let me just ease back into this blogging thing with the help of the Peanut:

Toddler Explains the Economic Stimulus Plan:

Like Buttah

2008-02-22T16:15:00.000-08:00

Handmaiden Swiss Mountain Silk
Cashmere and Silk
Topaz colorway
Excellent work avoidance mechanism.

Nose to the Grindstone

2008-02-19T09:56:00.001-08:00

I find myself mentally blogging as I go throughout my day, updating my own synapses on my progress on various projects. Surprising, then, to see that it has been a month since my last post. In that time, both Tiennie and Katherine have told me that I "make their day"! Aw, thanks, pals! You know they both do the same for me.

I still haven't blogged my finished Excellent Jacket or Tilted Duster, but have worn them both a couple of times. There doesn't seem to be time -- or daylight! -- to take pictures this winter. I'm off work this week, though, furiously pecking away at the keyboard in an effort to complete my NB portfolio, to be postmarked by the end of March. Perhaps I'll find a little pocket of sunshine in which to photograph myself in my new jackets?

I went to Madrona Fiber Festival this weekend with Jenna and Melissa. It was my first fiber festival and I was really excited to go; I'm glad that it was much smaller than I imagined it would be. I was afraid that I'd be too overwhelmed to buy anything at all, but I did manage to buy a couple of things... a lovely hank of turquoisey Handmaiden Swiss Mountain Cashmere and Silk... I actually talked to The Handmaiden herself about the little skein of heaven, ooh la la! I also bought a couple of skeins of Shibui sock with plans of making my first pair of colorwork mitts... Endpaper Mitts, perhaps? We had lunch at the obligatory Mexican restaurant nearby and then explored the Tacoma Art Museum, luckily on the last day of a local quilting exhibit.

Naturally much of my energy is focused on my dear Peanut, who is beginning to incorporate sentences between all the gobbledygook... "I want some" is a favorite, lately followed by "Where did my clothes go?" I kid you not. This girl is destined to be a shoe 'ho. At my school's Lunar New Year celebration, she tried to engage an older girl in a barter, Peanut's wilting carnation bud for a pair of fabulous silver glittery shoes. No luck, but it was fun to watch!

She'd better get a hands-free set for her cell phone, soon, though! She's gonna get a ticket!

No Way! Me, Too!

2008-01-21T09:39:00.001-08:00

Foliage v 2.0

2008-01-20T17:09:00.000-08:00

Foliage, Knitty Fall 2007
Malabrigo worsted, Saphire Green #4, 2/3 of a skein
For Claire, Xmas 2007

This was the first Foliage that I knit and it seemed to turn out a bit loose without blocking, so I knit the next two on the same size needle but with a tighter gauge. In the picture, though, my dear sis has it pulled back off her forehead... or has a bigger head than I do... heh heh. I do love this shade of green.

Foliage

2008-01-16T18:51:00.001-08:00

In spite of my long absence from the blog, I have actually been knitting quite a lot. I finished the Excellent Jacket (it just needs a closure of some kind), knit three Foliage hats for Christmas gifts, three pairs of mittens for Christmas gifts, and am halfway done with my Tilted Duster. I will be posting more pictures and information about all of those projects soon, before I forget all about them, but baby steps, baby steps...

Foliage, Knitty Fall 2007
Malabrigo Worsted, color Vermillion #24, about 2/3 of a skein

We had a white Christmas Day in Seattle! This Foliage is knit for A, my brother's girlfriend. She is a gem. I am so happy for my brother for meeting someone who seems to have it pretty much all together. Here she is posing with her cutie daughter, J, and with the Peanut, who looks less thrilled than she truly was. This was a quick pattern to follow so I made one for each of my two sisters as well, all in different shades of the buttery, delicious Malabrigo. You know I love to try new techniques with each project I make, and this time it was the Magic Loop. I've become quite enamored of the two circular method, and tried Magic Loop out of laziness and curiousity. It worked out quite well!

I am still working feverishly on my National Board Certification portfolio, teaching full time, and -- best of all -- mommying the best girl in the world. I've also somehow found time to restart the Couch to 5K running program (thanks to Rachael's linkage to the Couch to 5K podcast, lifesaver, I'm tellinya). And I'm meeting up with some really sweet friends pretty regularly, thanks to Project Runway!

I'll post again when I have time. Must go get my socks and shoes on soon... I'm starting week two of the running program tonight.

Hello!

2007-11-22T13:11:00.000-08:00

November is always a busy bee time for me. But inbetween the parent conferences and holiday prep I have found little bits of time to knit.

I went to Portland with my girlfriends and had so much fun. It was my first time away from the peanut and the timing was perfect. I went to Close Knit and bought the Peruvia for my Tilted Duster. Sally, the owner of the shop, is wonderful. I had such a good experience there. Another woman who worked there offered to wind up my yarn for me, without my asking. I told her one skein would be plenty for me to start swatching with but she insisted on winding at least two. I've never experienced that at a yarn shop before.

I finally got to meet Blue Garter Sarah that same day. Sarah is just as intelligent, graceful, witty, and fun as you think she is. She has such an interesting story to tell and I loved having some time to chat together at dinner.

My Peruvia swatch is lovely. I'm trying out the recommended size US10 needles and they feel like big Lincoln Logs in my hands compared to the very reasonably sized US4s I'm using for the Tangled Yoke. But the camera has a really hard time capturing the nuances of this color: Aquamarina 7143. It's a rich, deep teal color which, at first glance appears to be solid, yet a good bit of sunlight reveals the subtle blues and greens. In this photo, the color appears much brighter than it should, but you can see those color variations better.

I'm coming along with my Tangled Yoke Cardi, as well. The yarn is Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in Graphite, reclaimed from the Not So Shrunken Cardi that never was. This yarn is lovely to knit with. I made The World's Biggest Swatch because I wanted to try it out on four different needle sizes and I enjoyed each of the different fabrics that resulted. At first, the garter rib was a pain because all the action happens on the wrong side where you can't see if you're lining up your knits and purls properly. But it didn't take long to fall into the rhythm of the pattern and start to admire the way the waist decreases disappeared into the faux side seam. I'm just now finishing up the ribbing at the hem and beginning the miles and miles of stockinette stitch for the body. Should be just the thing to knit during the new episodes of Project Runway!

Also, I've finished the Excellent Jacket but need to block it and figure out how to close it. Hopefully I'll be sharing that soon, too!

Here's a bit of a puzzle for you... you know my issues/lack of confidence with choosing the right size pattern for myself... my brother gave me this cute cardi for my birthday, which measures 36" at the bust. It's a great fit, there's no button band gaping. Most of my sweaters and cardis have negative ease. I am a 34 F, so I have a smallish torso in relation to my cup size, and a 39-40" bust measurement. Help! I'm waffling about the Tilted Duster. Since it's a bulkier yarn and an outer layer garment, I'm leaning toward the 40.5" size. Plus, the versions I've seen around Ravelry where the front points don't match up well or the size seems too small are very off-putting to me. However, I don't want to swim in the thing! Norah Gaughan recommended a little ease, maybe an inch or so, so again, the 40.5 seems right. Any advice?

Oh yes, I did mention my birthday. It was on 11/14... and I got myself the best birthday present of all: meet my lovely little MacBook! So helpful for working on National Board Certification wherever I happen to be. Nice to have my online and electronic knitting patterns, etc., right at my fingertips when I'm lounging in the living room. And thank you to the people in my neighborhood who, even though I do pay for DSL, have an unlocked wireless network that helps me zip about the 'nets as fast as you please. (Is that wrong?)

My MacBook is accessorized by the cuff of a mitten. Holiday pressies that I will reveal later.

Happy Thanksgiving! May you be surrounded by loved ones and blessings all weekend. I'm bringing the scrumptious Sweet Potato and Sausage Gratin with Thyme to my mom's house today. So yummy. Here's a snap before it's plopped in the oven.

Boo!

2007-10-30T22:34:00.000-07:00

It's been busy 'round these parts lately, but we've managed to go to several Halloween parties, a pumpkin farm, etc., and cast on a Tangled Yoke Cardi, woot!

Friday morning I leave for my annual girlie trip to Portland, OR for a much needed break from the world. Send lemon drop money.

xoxo
K

Free Burma!

2007-10-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

Square Root

2007-09-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

Rusted Root by Zephyr Style,
modified size medium, which gave negative ease at the bust
Cotton Fleece, Caribbean Sea, 3 skeins
US4, US5, US6 needles

I'm calling mine a Square Root because of the modifications I made to the neckline.

I knew that the neckline, as written, would be unflattering to me because it came up so high on the chest. So I decided that the easiest way to modify the silhouette, without messing with the lace inset, would be to simply drop the neckline. I cast on for the back, sleeves, and one stitch each for the left and right fronts, and knit back and forth until the neckline seemed to be at a depth that would work. For me, that was about 4". Then I cast on the front stitches, joined and knit on in the round as written. I'm very pleased with the result and feel that I could have gone down even further now that the ribbing is added on.

Many people have had problems with their sleeves being too tight or not puffy enough. I worried that I might, too, but I knit the sleeves as written, including going down from US6 to a US4 needle for the ribbing, and ended up with perfectly puffy sleeves that weren't too tight at all at the cuff.

Another modification I made was to add lots of shaping. This top looks pretty funny laid out flat... very hourglass shaped! Right under the bust, I placed steep mirrored decreases here at the side and also in two places at the back where a woman's shirt would have darts. After knitting straight for a bit, a added increases at these two places again for hip shaping.

Another view of the resulting fitted silhouette. I knit the hemline ribbing with a size US5 needle because I didn't want the ribbing to pull in toooo much at the hip.

I'm so pleased with how my Square Root turned out. If I had to do it all over again, I would have made the back darts longer and more gradual and kept the side darts the same. Then I would have added just a bit more increasing at the hip. From the back, you can see that the upper back is a bit looser than the lower back, but I'm still quite happy with the overall effect. So happy, in fact, that I'm having a bit of trouble choosing my next big project! I want another winner...

All of the modifications I made were possible because I had Barbara Walker's Knitting From the Top beside me. I also referred to Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits. This was my first top down design and I'm eager for more. It was really motivating, as I was knitting, to know that there would be so little finishing after I cast off.

One last view of that neckline. How do you like my new glasses?

MIA

2007-09-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a month since I posted! Whoops.

My Rusted Root is all done now, blocked and dry and everything, just in time for the weather to abruptly turn chilly this week. No kidding. Suddenly, Mother Nature turned down the thermostat. I think there will be an opportunity to wear it later this week, though, and maybe get some kiddos at school to do a photoshoot since 7 and 8 year olds have done a better job than my own dear hubbo lately! I love Rusted Root, and will share all the details of my modifications with you soon. Let's just say it's very hourglass shaped.

I was fortunate enough to meet Melissa and Jenna a couple of weeks ago; they're two of the nicest gals you'll ever have a chance to meet. They came over to knit and we watched Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. They assured me that Wren looks quite dandy and that I should give it a chance. They brought cake. I think I'm going to keep them. :)

And look at what was in my mailbox recently: A picture of Baby Julia modeling her February Baby Sweater! I think the sleeves ended up a bit short, but her mama actually liked the length; Julia is beginning to eat solid (messy) foods.

I'm finishing up the Baby A Cardi and Hat from Yarnplay. The Kraemer Tatamy Tweed is just right for this project and will look great on the little boy it's for. I'm feeling a little uncertain about what to start next. I have lots of ideas and projects on my Ravelry queue, but none of them are jumping out at me right now. I think it might have to do with the fact that I loved knitting Rusted Root so much -- the top-downness of it! the fit and color! -- that I want to pick something else that's going to be a sure winner. So I've spent a lot of time cruising Ravelry and my Bloglines hoping for some inspiration to hit. I have a feeling it's going to be the Tangled Yoke Cardi in Silky Wool.

Meanwhile, I'm keeping busy with my daughter's social calendar (chuckle), work, and National Boards. We went to the local Kids Day at the Firehouse, look how cute my little firefighter is!

I'm definitely getting psyched up for the annual girly road trip to Portland; it's coming up in about a month. I've never spent the night away from the peanut and I'm ready for it. Let me tell you, I adore this girl! But I'm also ready to get away and have a cocktail or five. I'm also planning on buying a new MacBook (tax-free! woot!) while I'm down there. But mostly, it's a tradition that I cherish, spending a whole weekend with my buddies. Can't wait!

Wren

2007-08-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

Berroco Wren
Berroco Zodiac, colorway Luna
Size Medium, approximately 10 skeins
Addi Turbos size US8 and US6
squinty eyed, overexposed photo courtesy of overcast Seattle summer day

I knit this cardi as written except for the collar. Instead of knitting it separately and then seaming it on, I picked up (fewer stitches than called for) and knit, decreasing one stitch at the beginning and end of every row.

I chose to knit the medium (size 40) for my 38/39 self to allow for enough overlap of the fronts. I should have knit the size small (36); the pattern allows for more than enough overlap and the finished product is quite large. The fabric is very drapey and stretchy, and, in spite of waist shaping, the finished garment has a boxy fit on me. And yet, the sleeves are fitted just right, hmmm...

I can wear Wren open or closed in a variety of ways. I'm wearing it in this picture with one of the sides kind of doubled over under the other and held closed with an African porcupine quill I bought at Seattle Yarn Gallery. I'll need to play around with it to get a fit that's snug enough yet not bulky looking.

Sometimes The Pattern is Written That Way For A Reason

2007-08-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

The ridiculousness that is my unfinished Wren, oh my. I thought Lolly had such a good idea when she picked up and knit her collar instead of knitting it separately and seaming it on later. I've reknit this collar a good three times now, trying to replicate the shaping of the original... Long story short, I'm still not really sure that I love it. I'm not so sure I love Wren at all. Anyway, I'm going to finish the collar tonight and weave in those ends and get 'er done. Hilarious how much time and energy has been spent on one of the simplest designs I've ever seen.

On a happier note, the peanut and I went to Eugene, Oregon to visit my dear friend Andria and her little girls. The girls have been featured here before, when I knit Anya's Snuggly Lace Hat and Julia's February Baby Sweater, and a couple of other times when they were just plain cute. Anywho, my girl and I had a lot of fun!

Watching the big girl catch bubbles,

Showing the baby girl how to catch bubbles,

Cracking oneself up by sitting on a trampoline for the first time and falling backwards. Over and over again.

I was hoping to do some yarn shopping while in Oregon, tax-free retail, you know, but No One I contacted in Portland or Eugene or even one or two inbetween carried the Berroco Peruvia I'm looking for to make a Tilted Duster. Dangit. I'll get it from WEBS when I'm ready; I just wanted to see it up close and personal and get it tax-free. I did stop over at Knit/Purl on the way home for a good old stretch of the legs. Although the shop is lovely and the folks there are fabulous, I was too busy Peanut wrangling to stop and smell the alpaca much. I'll be happy to go back there again someday. They were wonderful about directing me to the Three Lions Bakery for lunch; delicious huge sandwich and fruit cup too big for the Peanut and I to eat together in one sitting. I'll be going back there again, too.

What I'm Thinking About

2007-07-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

- Just got a copy of Knitting Nature from the library and am enjoying this book so much. Even the designs that I wouldn't knit for myself are interesting. I love Norah Gaughan's expositions for each project. Thinking about modifying the Turbulance U-Neck to be more fitted, maybe less wide-necked. And re-fitting the Ogee Tunic, too. (Where can I get that necklace?) I love the details on both pieces; the shapes are wrong for me. Remembering that Yai-Ann has already knit several pieces from this book, and they happen to be amazing.

- Getting close to a finished Wren. The whole cardi is seamed up, just about halfway done with the collar (I picked up and knit, like Lolly, rather than knit the collar separately). Wondering how I'm going to secure the ends of this thing. I've never used such a slippery yarn before. I'm usually a big fan of the spit splice with the wooly fibers, but this yarn does NOT fit in that category. Hm. Thinking about getting some sewing thread and stitching the ends down, or ????

- Really wanting to go back to my Rusted Root, especially after seeing Tiennie's (you know this fits her perfectly) and Parikha's (Oh my. Parikha should be a model, no?). Wren is borrowing my US6 needle at the moment, so as soon as I finish that collar, it's back to the RR.

- Needing to finish childproofing the house. Peanut is definitely mobile now and is very curious. Becoming strong willed. Wonder where she gets that?

- Wondering how to end the nursing for good. We're down to twice a day; morning and night. Only now, she thinks it's absolutely hilarious to *pinch* me and laugh. Ouch. Not fun anymore. Any tips from the mamas out there?

Wanna Know Where My Stitches At?

2007-07-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Who needs their Ravelry project page when they can have their end of the couch? Yes, my end of the couch is next to the wall where I keep allll the ongoing projects. Even though I check in to Ravelry quite regularly, I still have my own "system". I'm laughing. Click for notes:

Remember that plan I had to finish an old, languishing project after each new project I finished? Yeah. That wouldn't be true to my creative process, or something. As soon as I get to the finishing part of a project, I lose interest. Which is really surprising since I grew up sewing, so it's not like I'm uncomfortable with seaming or anything. So I cast on a couple of new projects since my last post about knitting.

Baby A Cardi from Yarnplay is being knit up with Kraemer Tatamy Tweed, a yarn that has been recommended a couple of times by Diana. It's a machine washable cotton/acrylic blend that feels lovely, soft and drapey on the needles, and comes in cheap 100g skeins. The construction is similar to other projects in Yarnplay; the bottom band is knit horizontally, stitches are picked up on the "side" and then the top is knit vertically. It's a gift for a coworker whose little boy is due later this month.

One of my girlfriends needed to borrow the needle I was using for the baby set, oh darn, I got to cast on Rusted Root in the meantime! I decided to drop the front neckline by about 4" and knit the size medium. I'm planning lots of other mods, so I figure I can try 'er on as I go. This is actually my first top down project and I'm really enjoying it. I keep thinking about the "no finishing" aspect and I'm psyched. (I did actually start a Not So Shrunken Cardi a couple of years ago but had a rough start with the size -- way too big -- and never did pick it back up again.)

Also? Guess who turned one a couple of weeks ago?

I Like To Watch Listen, Part 3

2007-07-02T21:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all of your comments about podcasts. Here are a few more notes and reviews for those who are interested...

Knitcast

I'm quite sure the first podcast I ever listened to was Knitcast with Marie Irshad. I loved her accent, her obvious confidence with a microphone (she has radio journalism experience galore), and the interesting guests she brought to the show. Since it was my first podcast, I didn't fret much over sound quality issues, etc., and just enjoyed the free entertainment. I listened to every one of her podcasts -- she began in February 2005; I must've found her not long after that -- and was loathe to delete them from my iTunes. Marie hasn't published a new podcast for some time, now, but about a month ago she posted a brief blurb promising to come back soon.

Cast On

At some point I found Cast On with Brenda Dayne. I was in love. The tone of her voice, the content, and the technical quality of her podcast, made this the show for me. I have listened to all 50 broadcasts... looks like there is a 51st now. Episode 50, Scouting for Grownups, is the beginning of a new series and made me laugh out loud as I was power-walking through my neighborhood, alone. (Look, mom, that crazy lady is walking by our house again. Why is she laughing and crying?) The story called Lanyard just touched every sort of nerve/emotion I have about being a daughter and being a mother. I loved the part about how making a simple, crappy lanyard at summer camp could possibly be enough of a gift for the woman who gave birth to you, fed you, took care of you when you were sick... and how I can't wait to get simple, crappy lanyards from my own little girl someday. Anyway, once in a while Brenda's metapodcasting gets a little moldy for me, but I keep listening because I adore the Today's Sweater segment, the contributers' stories, the humor that's fun but not over the top, and all the other little features. It's usually right around an hour long, just right for an evening walk around my neighborhood.

It's a Purl, Man

I did download an episode of It's a Purl, Man (my brain always reads: Itzhak Perlman) a while back and kind of forgot to listen to it. So thanks for reminding me! I listened to the State of the Knit Blog episode, which featured Subway Knitter Colleen. Guido has a lovely, calm voice and seems like he would be the nicest, easiest to talk to person. I love that he's a man who knits and blogs and podcasts. Having Colleen there was a bonus for me; I've been a Subway Knitter reader for ages. In this episode they mention some of their must-read blogs as well as have a conversation about the blogger persona vs. the real person, and how we maintain a certain degree of privacy in our lives as bloggers. I will be listening to more episodes of this podcast!

So, for the record, my current podcast subscriptions are:
Stash and Burn
Cast On
Knitcast (if/when a new episode emerges!)
It's a Purl, Man

You've mentioned some others that I might try this summer, such as Sticks & String, Pointy Sticks, Pixie Purls, and Knitpicks Reading Room.

Happy Father's Day

2007-06-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Daddy,

Happy Father's Day! You are so funny. I like the way you make me laugh and help me walk all over the house. Any day now I will be able to do it all by myself. But I will still want to hold hands and play with you!

Love,
Peanut

P.S. I hope you like the present I got you...

The White Stripes
Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
Wed, Sep 26, 2007 08:00 PM

I Like To Watch Listen, Part 2

2007-06-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Are you a regular Lime and Violet listener? I've heard about them many times but just last week went to download an episode. I listened to Episode 36: Bellybutton Funk-O-Rama.

Was this a normal podcast for them? I mean, is it representative of their usual style, or were they being especially wacky that week? Just askin'. Parts of it were pretty funny, but I kind of felt like the new girl at summer camp, where everyone else already knew each other and they had a million hilarious, weird inside jokes that went right over my head. And I'm a wacky gal.

So tell me if you're a Lime and Violet regular, and if I should give them another try.

I Like To Watch Listen

2007-06-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

Have you been listening to Stash and Burn? I love it. I don't have a huge stash by any means, and I think it's a little kooky to have a regularly recurring podcast that's all about how you have way too much yarn but you keep getting more. (hee hee, I mean, if we would ALL stop fiddling around on the internets and reorganizing our stashes, etc., think of all the knitting we would get done! sigh...) But I love listening to Nicole and Jenny talk about their yarns, patterns, projects, techniques, etc. And the last couple of podcasts have them going on assignment to various yarn stores and events. Mostly, I like their style; I feel like I'm listening to a couple of my best buds. Plus, they both say, "yaaaaayyyyy!" a lot. :)

The last podcast, Episode 17: Sticks Are For Kids, though, I felt was written just for me. Here are a couple of reasons why:

Teaching the Youngsters
They chat about Jenny's experience teaching some schoolkids how to knit... I have considered this many times (I teach elementary school) but haven't figured out how it would make sense with my whole class. This spring I did a little weaving activity with cheap-o tangly acrylic yarn and drinking straws, which was interesting and difficult (yarn) at the same time. But now I have some new ideas... perhaps next year I'll try to teach finger knitting first. The kids are always interested in knitting when they either see me doing it or see me wearing something I've knit.

Our First Knitting Books
I, too, found the Stich N Bitch books invaluable when I was first learning to knit. The illustrations and language made every step so easy to follow. I used the first SNB book as my go-to reference for quite a while until I found Nancie Wiseman. Now she is my Constant Companion. Some day, I want to get a copy of Montse Stanley's book, too.

Jenny and Nicole wonder about Vogue Knitting patterns and how they keep hearing about terrible errata in each pattern. I did knit my absolute favorite (so far!) sweater, Shawl Collared Pullover, from a VK magazine. That pattern was really very well written and didn't have any errors that I could see.

So, if you haven't tried Stash and Burn, give it a listen. It's usually only about half an hour long and well edited, so easy on the ears.

Sweet plans

2007-06-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

I got my WEBS sale order! I got my WEBS sale order! Woot!

At the last moment, I decided to order 12 balls of Queensland Collection Uruguay DK (70% merino, 20% alpaca, 10% silk, 100% soft and yummy). Here's what the color looks like on the WEBS site:

Here's my stab at the color (must. take. photoshop lessons.):

In real life it's a bit inbetween... very pretty and plummy. I'm going to use it to make Sweetheart from Domiknitrix. Love that shape, fit, neckline. The bow? Not so much. Mine will be a solid Sweetheart.

My little button approves, no matter what color it is!

Welcome June!

2007-06-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

Goodkarma family is happy to get out and enjoy the good weather!

I'm coming around the bend on two projects, and you know what that means... time to start something new before I actually (ever? haha) finish them! I've got my copy of Rusted Root here, and I've got my lovely blue Cotton Fleece. I'm looking forward to starting this top soon but want to think it through before diving in.

1. Which size to knit? Size M is 36-39 and size L is 40-43. Too much variance in the sizes to make me feel comfortable. I usually choose a 39 or 40, so you can see my dilemma. If you've knit RR, especially in Cotton Fleece, can you tell me the actual finished bust measurement of your sweater and which size you knit?

2. I think the neckline is a bit too high for me, so I want to modify it a bit. At the same time, I don't want to fiddle too much with the overall design. I'm spending some time with Barbara Walker as I think this through a little.

3. Must. add. waist shaping. For shizzle. At least that will be the easiest part of it all!

Tag! I'm it!

2007-05-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

This week, I was tagged by Carry, Amanda, and Erin.

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Here are my facts:

1. The year I lived completely alone for the first time in my life was really very happy. I am a person who treasures solitude. Too bad I won't have any for at least another 18 years. ha!

2. I am healthier now as an omnivore than I ever was as a (fish eating) vegetarian. I didn't do the veg thing very well... you can eat a lot of cheesy pizza and fish and chips if you don't watch out! Now I do eat meat now and then but I've never been a big fan of the stuff.

3. I started Kindergarten when I was four. One day my mom heard me reading her Avon catalog and realized that I wasn't just mimicking the stories I'd memorized. I've been a bookworm ever since.

4. I used to hate hate hate being hot. Traveling in India cured me of that. It also cured me of being squeamish when using questionable public bathrooms.

5. I can't fall asleep if my feet are cold.

6. I hate eggs. Can't stand 'em. I think it's the texture, 'cause I'm not much of a mushroom fan, either. Anything that's kind of slimy is icky in my book. I also don't like to drink milk. I do love sushi and most sashimi... except eel. Weird, huh? Other than that, I love most foods and cuisines.

7. I'm very picky about my laundry and how it's done. I worry that my husband will shrink things in the dryer. I like to fold laundry and stack it neatly. But then, after it's stacked, I'm really bad at putting it away. I have little stacks of clean clothes on my dresser and on the floor in front of the dresser. So I'm being more intentional about putting the Peanut's clothes away and keeping her room tidy... I want to help her learn to be tidier and more organized than I am.

So many people have posted this meme this week! I don't know who to tag. If you have read this far and would like to play along, you're it! Let me know if you post this meme so I can read yours, too.

Woah, I'm a Mom!

2007-05-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

For the first time, I didn't plan Mother's Day for everyone else. And by that, I mean for my husband and my brother. They're the kind of guys who mean well but wait until the last possible moment to even think about cards or gifts or plans.

This year I just sat back and let them figure it all out.

After my brother (I almost typed "bother", how 2nd grade) treated mom, Peanut and I to a lovely brunch, I took the little one to one of my favorite yarn shops for their Mother's Day sale. I treated myself to four skeins of Cotton Fleece in Caribbean Sea, as I've been considering a Rusted Root for myself, with a few tweaks now that I've done my homework and re-read my Barbara Walker (Knitting From The Top).

I don't know from Caribbean Sea, but I do know my Adriatic Sea...

...photo of Croatian Isle of Vis, Village Komiža, on a trip with my mom... we went together to find our roots a few years ago. Talk about coming full circle on Mother's Day!

Think I'm In Love But It Makes Me Kinda Nervous To Say So*

2007-05-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

Excellent Jacket is finishing up slowly but surely...

I think I'm really going to like this jacket in spite of its bulk. It's nicely fitted without being too snug, bulky without being too chubbo. At least, that's my impression so far...

The I-cord cast-on I decided on turned out a little wonky. See the first set of knit stitches above the I-cord? (They're actually part of the cast on.) They're much taller than normal knit stitches. At first I thought I could live with it or that it kind of worked as a design feature, but as the jacket is coming together it definitely looks wack. So I'm slooooowly picking it out, what a pain. It's taking about ten times longer to pick out than it did to create in the first place. I'll go back and try an I-cord bind-off instead. This way, I can try it on and make sure I'm in love with the length before I bind-off. Yay!

I did it. I signed up for a Flickr account. Just for my Ravelry notebook. Hopefully the transition from photobucket will be an easy one!

*Isn't Beck the coolest cat?

Ravelry

2007-05-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

Christie invited me to join Ravelry a few weeks ago. I went and signed up right away, and then got super busy. Last night I got a chance to spend more time on my Ravelry page and I think I'm in love. Frecklegirl and her beau set up the coolest thing that you never knew you needed! I mean, really. You can keep track of, for example:

:the projects you've finished,
:the projects you're working on or dreaming about,
:all of your needles and
:all of your books and magazines,
:your stash,
:other folks and their projects, and
:a forum for discussion.

It's all right there in one place and it flows together very nicely.

Here's the main page.

I hear that there is a huge list now of folks who want to sign up. It's a small venture by people who are doing it all for fun, so be patient if you have signed up but haven't heard anything yet.

~~I have two invitations at the moment, and will gladly send them to any of you... let me know in comments or email!~~ I've given out my invitations for now, but Frecklegirl says that current members will periodically get more invitations, so let me know if you'd like one and I'll invite you when I get more! :)

Calendar, Anyone?

2007-04-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

Amelie's ear infection didn't clear up all the way, so we just finished Round Two (ding! ding!) of antiobiotics. She's also teething again. Equals not much sleep for mama. On top of that, I'm applying for a scholarship for National Board Certification. Yes, I like being on the brink of insanity, what about it? In knitterly news, I am almost done with the back piece of Wren, and just need to pick up a skein of cheapo wool to seam up Excellent. The bulky yarn it's knit with would make very chubby seams.

Someone donated a bunch of brand new 2007 calendars to our staff and there were a couple of page-a-day knitting calendars left over. Leave a comment if you would like either of these... photos hotlinked to amazon for info/reviews...

Finally, maybe it's the sick baby, but I've been feeling quite domestic lately. I've been baking, cooking more, spring cleaning, etc. when I've had a moment or two. Tonight's dinner included this lovely, simple (thanks to my buddy Cuisinart) Leek and Potato Galette that I've spotted floating around blogland recently. Yum.

Pink Eyes and a Pink Dress

2007-04-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

Well. I fell off the blog planet for a couple of weeks after finishing the February Baby Sweater. It's been a busy time, though...

Baby A had her first Easter egg hunt. The other children were running around, loading up their baskets with piles of eggs and we were very excited with the three that we found. The eggs made a noise when we shook them! Yay! So much fun. This egg hunt was on a farm way out in the country and Peanut got to meet her first horse that day, too. Seeing things for the first time all over again is such a gift.

The following week, she had pink eye and an ear infection. So. Miserable. I don't have pictures to show you and you wouldn't want to see them, anyway.

Then came the real Easter day. Church service with grandma and grandpa and a pretty pretty dress. She was feeling much better by then. After Easter, I had spring break. With spring break and a few "sick days" off with the Peanut, I haven't been at work for almost two weeks! Lots of time to knit, right? ... kind of ... I really wanted to knit Wren during spring break but what I have done is come *this* close to finishing the Excellent Jacket.

The sleeves were done first. Since it's such a chunky garment, I decided to knit the body all in one piece to avoid the bulk of side seams. Now I just have to pray that it fits the way I hope it will!

Next up, Wren. Also? I've decided that I have too many stalled projects and I'm going to finish one old project for every new one. So I might actually have something else to show you before Wren gets too far off the starting block.

February Baby Sweater

2007-03-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

February Baby Sweater
from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash, color #829, one ball plus a smidge of another, approximately 300 yards or fewer altogether.
Needles: Addi Turbo US7/4.5mm
New technique: The Russian Join!

I really wanted to knit one of these for my own little peanut, but as she's quickly growing out of the little sizes and into bigger and bigger ones, and since Elizabeth Zimmerman doesn't include schematics with her pithy instructions, I decided to knit one for a tiny baby first. I think this one knit up at about a size 6 months. Now I know approximately how to size the sweater up if I were to knit it at this gauge again.

One modification I might like to try is a stockinette stitch, raglan increase yoke, a la Linda. Garter stitch has never been my thing, aesthetically, and I really like the cleaner look of the stockinette stitch yoke she made.

I really wasn't so sure that the Cascade 220 Superwash was the right yarn for the project. It didn't feel very soft and I didn't want to gift something that felt acrylic-y. So when the knitting was all done, I tossed this little lacy number into the washing machine with a load of towels. If the color bled, I'd rather it happened on my navy blue towels than on a load of Julia's pretty baby girl things. In the end, the sweater came out very, very soft and has a slight halo. I've completely changed my attitude toward 220 Superwash. I want to use it again, soon. As for colorfastness, there was one light blue towel in the load and it didn't seem to change color at all.

I also want to say mille grazie to Kristen and Amanda for answering questions about adding the underarm stitches.

For Baby Julia, born February 2007

Cross posted to the Zimmermaniacs.

edited to add:

Here is a picture of Miss Julia at about seven months in her FBS. Notice that I would have made the sleeves a bit longer if I had to do it all again; as EZ says, babies come in all sizes!

iHop

2007-03-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

...onto the Wren bandwagon, that is...

My WEBS package arrived today. Yippee! This will be my spring break project. I ordered extra yarn, just in case, and want to knit up Wren soon so that a) I will actually be able to enjoy the sweater during the right part of the year and b) if there is any extra yarn, I can send it back.

Wild Bear in Captivity

2007-03-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

This one's for Meredith... she sent this sweet hat to Baby A long ago and I wanted to let her see how stinking cute it is on our scary little bear.

Roar!

Tink, Tink, Wash, Spin

2007-03-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Friday:

You know at the very moment you think these thoughts: "Ooooh I love this lace stitch, it's so easy to follow without even looking at the directions anymore!" that you'll look proudly at your work and realize your stitch count went off on a lunch break a row or two back?

Tink, tink.

Enjoying EZ's February Baby Sweater, thankyouverymuch! It should be finished this weekend. Did I just jinx myself again?

Saturday:

FBS knitting is done (need buttons) and currently taking a bath with a load of towels. It's knit with Cascade 220 Superwash and I want to test the superwashyness of it before gifting it to my friend.

PS I heart Ladytron.

Koigu Love

2007-03-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

Perfect example of me being stubborn and insisting on figuring it out all on my own when there are a kazillion sock patterns out there in the world. This simple pair of socks should have taken a couple of weeks to knit but NO, I had to do it my way, and use up literally every inch of my two skeins of Koigu while I was at it, and I'm actually quite proud of myself. They're perfect. The leg is just the right length. I don't understand why I kept reading that two skeins wouldn't be enough. That's a MYTH! Trust me, I don't have tiny feet. I wear size 40/9.5US.

Karma's Toe-Up Ribbed Socks:

The Cast On: 28 stitch Magic Cast On For Toe-Up Socks. This is a truly magical, and yet easy and logical, way to start a sock. I'm in love.

The Stitch Pattern: 2x2 Rib with a stockinette sole. Normally, that much ribbing would make me die of boredom. Thank goodness for Koigu's short bursts of color changes.

The Heel: Wendy's Short Row Heel (.pdf). This is the excruciatingly detailed version of her Generic Toe Up Sock pattern. Because the short rows are double wrapped, there are no holes!

The Bind-Off: EZ's Sewn Bind Off. The first time I heard about this bind off method, it sounded complicated, but really, it's simple, easy to do, stretchy and perfect. Of course it is, it's EZ's.

The Yarn: two skeins of purple Koigu goodness, P426

The Needles: two Addi Turbos, Size US1/2.5mm

I-Cord Cast On?

2007-02-25T12:49:00.000-08:00

The Koigu socks march on and I hope to have a finished pair and a full report for you very soon, including info about how I made my short row heel without holes.

The socks were purely diversionary, though. I was moving right along on my Excellent Jacket when I had an aha moment that I needed to think about. This chunky jacket is purely stockinette stitch. The hems don't have any other design features that would prevent rolling. The sleeves were already done (I did eliminate the cuff, though) and the back was almost to the armholes. I decided I could live with a roll on the sleeve but not on the hem of the body. So I started thinking about how to modify the design to remedy this problem. Most patterns that utilize a garter or seed stitch edge seem to call for four rows of said stitch pattern. That seems like a lot with this chunky gauge, texturally and visually.

What about i-cord? I could use Annie Modesitt's i-cord edging for the front edges of the jacket. I could also use a matching i-cord cast-on for the hem of the jacket.

Would an i-cord cast-on solve the rolling problem and be stretchy enough for the bottom of a jacket? Any ideas?

What a heel!

2007-02-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

I've been off work this week (can I get an amen) and keeping myself busy with all those things we do (eye exam, teeth cleaning, organizing baby's boatload of stuff, house cleaning, et cetera). But I've also been very occupied with reinventing the wheel.

Sneak peek at sock numero uno of the pair...
Koigu madness

We were supposed to have a yucky, rainy week here but it has turned out to be quite mild and, dare I say, sunny. Yesterday, Peanut and I walked for three hours in the neighborhood with various friends. Like a relay race. Started out with one mama and baby, ended with another. Didn't mean to be out that long but it was beautiful out! We had fun! Now, off to the aquarium, perhaps?

Happy Valentine's Day From Seattle

2007-02-13T22:43:00.000-08:00

Photo by Kelly Johnston

IK Spring 2007

2007-02-08T20:14:00.000-08:00

Everyone and their brother has posted a link to the IK spring preview, but when the magazine hit my mailbox this afternoon, I was so excited to get it. I *love* the new layout and look. It's very clean and easy to look at.

I've been checking out knitting books from the library lately and want to post some reviews over the next several days, if only to remind myself which features and designs impressed me most.

Finally, thank you for your comments on family and tradition. I can't believe I didn't write a word about reading together. It must simply be an unspoken truth for me; I grew up loving books and started reading at age four. My brother and I spent many afternoons with our mom at the neighborhood library. Many of you also mentioned family dinnertime together. This is already a goodkarmafamily institution. Peanut sits at her high chair when we eat our dinner and she eats then, too. Every night. It's a fun way for the three of us to share bits and pieces of our days with each other.

Traditions

2007-02-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

First of all, thank you to all of you who keep saying that the peanut looks just like me. It makes me giddy to hear you say that. Not because I'm a narcissist, but because of this:

Now. Do you still think she looks just like me?

Anywho, I've got this crazy, mixed up extended family that I felt really close with when I was growing up. They were far from perfect and quite disfunctional, but they were mine. But now that I'm a grown up they're all having grudges and arguments and he-said she-said and not speaking to one another. So peanut hasn't even met, for example, my mom's sister who was my super favorite aunt when I was a girl.

This all makes me v. sad, but it's part of this crazy world in which we live. So I've been giving a lot of thought lately to the kind of childhood I want to help peanut have, and to very intentionally creating new traditions in our own little family.

Some of my warmest memories are sewing, crafting, cooking with my mom. Also, we would make a gigantic bowl of popcorn, snuggle under a big blanket, and watch a Bette Davis movie on AMC together. The best. As for traditions, when I was little, we would make Christmas decorations together. One year it was salt-dough, one year it was felt ornaments, etc. I remember, too, picking buckets of blackberries so my mom could make blackberry jam. My mouth is watering.

What are some of your family's favorite traditions? What are some of your favorite memories from childhood, especially with your parents? If you have children of your own, what are some new traditions you're creating?

Color Theories

2007-02-01T11:28:00.000-08:00

For years, red was my signature color. I always gravitated toward it when shopping for clothes and felt great when I wore it.

A couple of years ago I realized I was getting compliments when I wore cooler colors, too. I borrowed that classically tacky 1980s book about finding "your colors" from the library and decided that I should start steering toward aquas, blues, purples, etc. Bluer toned colors. I get compliments when I wear purples. I do look good in aqua, too especially in the summertime when I have a tan!

This week, though, I pulled a red turtleneck out of the closet and wore it with my red wool peacoat. My current favorite lipstick (MAC: Fastplay) is a chameleon; on this particular day it also looked red. I got so many compliments! I noticed, too, that the red I was wearing was a bluer red (as opposed to an orange red), so it fit in with the "cool" palette after all.

So here I am with a bunch of different blue yarns, some purples and aquas, and realizing that I'm coming close to committing the sin that I read about in Big Girl Knits this week: getting stuck in a color rut. I need to keep my mind more open when I'm looking at yarn choices instead of immediately grabbing the one color that stands out for me, whether that be red or aqua.

I'm craving a raspberry sweater. Or orchid. Some of those greens are looking pretty good, too...

Energized

2007-01-28T12:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Lolly for the idea... I helped 85 kids make huge 3-D snowflakes this month and they're hanging from the light fixtures all over the second grade area. We have been getting tons of compliments on these pretty snowflakes!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your positive comments about Mutant Jemima. I told many of you that I almost didn't post those pictures at all because I still feel "lumpy" (and you were right, this is more about my self-image right now than about the sweater), but I'm glad I did. See, finishing a sweater for myself inspired me to knit more more more (stop the clock, please!!), and seeing the pictures of myself inspired me to start thinking about exercise again. I got lots of exercise when Peanut was 0-3 months old. It was summertime and I live in a pleasantly hilly and pedestrian-friendly area; we hit the sidewalks often with our stroller. And then I started back to work. [crickets chirping] And then winter set in. [double crickets chirping]

Today is a chilly day but the sun is out, so when little Miss wakes up from her nap I think we'll bundle up and go out for a walk. I see that Big Girl Knits is on reserve for me at the library so we might walk up there and get it. I skimmed the section on adding short rows last weekend when I visited Hilltop Yarn and I really want to try this technique out next. Yay for the public library!

On the same day, I went to Weaving Works and bought a couple of skeins of purply Koigu. Many sock patterns call for three skeins of Koigu, so I'm thinking a toe-up sock is best. I've been playing around with the Knitty magic cast-on for toe-up socks technique (genius! you must try this out) but don't know how many stitches I should cast-on to begin with. Any tips? I have never knit toe-up socks before... Also, I'm thinking of using the toe-up Jaywalker pattern since I still haven't made a pair of Jaywalkers, but would love to hear any of your other suggestions for toe-up patterns that would showcase Koigu well.

Peanut says, "Have a great week, everyone! Eat your sweet potatoes, they're good for you!"

Mutant Jemima

2007-01-18T20:14:00.000-08:00

Jemima, My Fashionable Life
RYC CashSoft DK, Ballad Blue and Lime
Addi Turbos, US6 and US8
Photos and art direction by various second grade students

It all started with the yarn. I bought the CashSoft on eBay with an entirely different project in mind, but later decided it wasn't for me after all. Soon after, I saw Jemima, a cozy, whimsical top that called for the exact same yarn. Bingo.

Except that I wanted it to be more fitted, longer and have waist shaping. So I used the pattern for my VK Shawl Collar Pullover for the length and shaping of the lower half of the sweater.

Then I decided that I would never find buttons that I liked or that matched the yarn well. Mom was a seamstress when I was young and I learned that buttons can make or break a garment. I talked to her about it and decided that it would be best to ixnay the button placket altogether.

So, you see, this really isn't a Jemima anymore.

This was my first time with the tubular cast-on and I loved it. I learned how to do a tubular bind off from Jody; her tutorial is fantastic.

As soon as I put it on, I loved the feel of the fabric; this yarn at this gauge produces a lovely drapey fabric. So warm and soft! Right now it feels very comfortable, like a luxurious sweatshirt for a cool, casual day. The arm hole fits me really well. I think that's what I'm trying to say... whenever I buy ready-to-wear anything (tops, bathing suits, wedding dress), I have to shorten the straps; they're always too long on me. I ended up with a short armhole for my short torso, yay!

In the end, it's not my favorite sweater, but they can't all be favorites. I think I'll like it even more next fall when I'm done nursing and am all the way back in shape.

Wiki Tiki Tavi

2007-01-16T23:06:00.000-08:00

Did you know that there's a knit wiki? I had no idea until I noticed a couple of referring links from this page. I'm being quoted about Artfibers Kyoto, the yarn I made my fabulous corkscrew scarf with. I still get tons of google hits because of that scarf.

The word wiki still seems so silly to me. Did you know that it originates from wiki-wiki, or "quick-quick" in Hawaiian?

I'm tired of winter already. We just had another snow day today... at least tomorrow we go back to school, two hours late. Only 63 days 'til spring.

Snow Day!

2007-01-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

Another snowy day in Seattle. I don't remember having this many "snow days" off from school when I was a kid growing up in Seattle... this is our third of the year. It really couldn't have come at a better time, though. I really needed the rest. I got to sleep in just a little today and I'm still in my pajamas. Feeling much, much better.

Discovered a few weeks ago, thanks to Almost Felted Lauren, I believe, that Knitty Gritty is now being re-run on HGTV. I don't have DIY so I'm enjoying these episodes. It's fun to see familiar bloggers and designers, like Marnie, Jenna, Kristi, Shannon, and Candi. I haven't seen very many projects on the show that I must knit. Hello, fun fur steering wheel cover and matching dice? However, I'm a mostly self-taught knitter -- a friend helped me with casting on and the knit stitch a few years ago and I hit the ground running with my Stitch 'N Bitch in hand -- so watching these shows is fun. In many of the episodes I see how someone does a technique quite fluidly (like picking up and knitting stitches, something that for a long time I did really awkwardly), or shows a different cast-on than I'm used to using. So it's a fun, quicko, 22 minute thing to unwind with after work while I cuddle with the peanut and the Mr. gets dinner started.

Speaking of picking up stitches, I'm seaming up Jemima today and looking forward to wearing this pulli in the wintry weather.

Did you see Sarah's finished Lucky cardi? It looks so cute on her. I didn't finish mine. I started it without really thinking about how the dimensions would work for me... and put it down about halfway through when I realized that I should have made it longer and done a few other minor adjustments. So it's nice to see one that's Mission Accomplished in the true sense of the word, not in the GWBush sense. heh.

Just watched An Inconvenient Truth last night. Holy shizzle. I knew things were getting serious but the film was quite eye opening. Please see it soon if you haven't already. Melissa at Neoknits has been talking about global warming lately and SuperGirl's Blog featured links from Slate last month about steps we can all take to help out our poor planet.

Must get back to seaming, adios!

Resolutions

2007-01-04T19:44:00.000-08:00

In the year 2007 I resolve to:
Start a cult.

Get your resolution here.

But seriously, one of my resolutions is to blog more often than I have been and another is to get my knitting mojo back in gear. Become a little more efficient around the house (if that's even possible these days) so I can click and clack a little bit more.

Our second graders were writing NY resolutions this week. One boy said that he would like to "wipe his mouth every day." That would make sense if it were written by the boy who *always* spits when he talks and has to be reminded to swallow every now and then, but it wasn't. Random? Nah, just an 8 year old boy.

Various and Sundry

2006-12-31T21:42:00.000-08:00

I've been helping a friend with her new knitting skills this year and she gave me these for Christmas... black for me, white for Peanut.

Cool, eh?

I'm playing around with MacGourmet, a new (to me) program that organizes your recipes like iTunes does your music and iPhoto does your pictures. This is good and bad; I am trying to organize my home and my life, step by step, and it's helping, yet I could spent hours importing and playing around with this new toy! I've decided to start small and just import the recipes I have in my Epicurious recipe box and then slowly add things as time goes on. You can try it out before you buy it, goody goody.

Speaking of recipes, I just tried out this Tomato and Sausage Risotto (from Martha Stewart via Ring Around the Rosies) for dinner tonight. (Picture from Martha's site.) Mama mia! I love one-skillet meals that are healthy, delish, and pretty all at once. Ding! Ding!

Dumb knitting question of the day:

Does a yarn have approximately the same gauge if it is knit in st st as it would if it were knit in a Fair Isle pattern? I guess that depends on how tightly or loosely one knits Fair Isle, is that correct? I have yet to try colorwork with knitting, but I've fallen in love with the shape of a Fair Isle sweater pattern and want to knit it in a solid color. I have a feeling that my question is a little too lame to even ask. Just remember that I'm running on about 2/3 brainpower... the other 1/3 was lost when I got pregnant. D'oh.

An End and a Beginning

2006-12-31T20:57:00.000-08:00

As 2006 comes to an end, I have a half full/half empty perspective on the year. I mean, how can you possibly feel grumpy about not getting to your knitting (and home organization goals, etc.) when you have this little face to look at each and every day?

Peanut turned six months old on Christmas Day. She started rolling over about two weeks ago, from her back to her tummy. Today she rolled back all by herself! Yay! She's now eating fruits and veg, too! Peas, pears, sweet potatoes, carrots, yeah baby. And she's clapping her hands! Oh, and she giggles -- no, truly cracks up -- when she sees and tries to interact with our Lennon kitty cat. So if I think of this year in relation to her life, it has been amazingly productive. A year ago, you could barely tell I was pregnant, and now we have this brand new human being with a sparkling personality and a killer smile. What more could you ask for?

I have to remind myself of that once in a while when I feel a bit overwhelmed with it all. And when the new knitting magazines come to my mailbox. And when I see all the beautiful things you all are knitting! :)

Jemima is sitting here, ready to be blocked. I did knit the two sleeves for my Excellent jacket during my two weeks off. That's something to be excited about. So 2007 will feature at least those two finished projects! Yay!

Happy New Year, everyone. Try to remind yourselves, once in a while, of what makes your glasses "half full".

Merry Merry!

2006-12-23T18:29:00.001-08:00

Testing

2006-12-18T20:35:00.000-08:00

Am tinkering with the new beta.blogger and giving the ole place a facelift. Am having trouble getting Haloscan commenting/trackback re-installed. In the meantime, comments will be turned off... hope to be done soon, and have knitting and sweet baby photos to share!

Edited to add... Thanks to this guy, my comments problems are solved. If you're running the new beta.blogger (aka beta.blocker to some who are having many problems...), go see his post for help.

Yadda Yadda Yadda

2006-12-03T10:42:00.000-08:00

This was taken a few weeks ago. hee hee.

I cast off Jemima last night and hope to get her washed and blocked today. Peanut has a fever this weekend, so we're spending a lot of time cuddled up together relaxing. Poor little butterbean.

Oh! I've seen several inspiring Central Park Hoodies on the internets lately. My most local yarn shop doesn't carry Knitscene. So. Lame. Anybody want to sell their copy to me so I can make one, too?

The Perfect Pairing

2006-11-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

Superstarra Christie is making a knock-off of this sweet Banana Republic hat; Nik made up a pattern for it and calls it Republic. The original is made with a chunky cashmere; Nik used Plymouth Encore Chunky, which I have never used.

I thought it would make a sweet gift for a couple of the ladies in my life, paired with Kate Gilbert's Gifted mittens. She makes these with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky.

What a perfect pair, no? I had dreams about this last night, people. I think I'm going through knitting withdrawal.

So I'm wondering if Knitpicks Sierra, Panache, or Decadence would work well for a cap and mittens? I think I'm the last person on earth to use KP yarns. Are any of these yarns soft enough yet sturdy enough for the job?

Blue Ribbon

2006-11-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving dinner was everything you'd hope for, cooked by my mom and my aunt, who always do fabulous things in the kitchen. I contributed something new: sweet potato and sausage gratin with thyme, which my husband said was the best dish of the night. So. Good. This recipe is definitely a keeper; I'm already planning to make it for Christmas dinner at the in-laws'. I also brought the cranberry sauce that I love to make... such a simple recipe but the twist makes it extra good and it always gets raves.

Here we are the next day (Thanksgiving Stuff-A-Thon, 2.0) at my BIL's place... guess who had her first bite of real food (mashed potatoes!)?

We're snowed in. Second day. Yesterday was spent doing a little knitting but mostly listening to my dear daughter experiment with her vocal chords... her new trick is squealing/shrieking/screaming at the top of her lungs at a very high pitch. Yay!

Today: more knitting. Progress photos soon?

Comfort

2006-11-13T17:30:00.000-08:00

The comfort of family... I almost forgot to share Peanut's Halloween picture with y'all.

What's Up, Pussycat?

The comfort of food... I made the best homemade macaroni and cheese last week, recipe from The New York Times via Smitten Kitchen via Supergirl. Truly comfort food during the extra stormy weather we've been having here in Seattle.

The comfort of warmth... This weekend is my annual girly roadtrip to Portland and I'll be driving. Hopefully, the girly that's riding with me will split the driving time so we will both get to knit in the car! I'm so close to finishing the knitting for Jemima and really want to be able to wear it soon. My classroom is so cold this year. The burner is on the fritz in my section of the building and it takes forever for a work order to be filled when there is ONE electrician working on the heating units in the entire school district. This might be a cold winter, my friends.

More Milestones

2006-10-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

Real quick:

1. Today is Peanut's four month birthday. Celebrated with a trip to the doc - she's growing right on track - and vaccinations for the both of us. Woohoo!

2. Am wearing skinny jeans from pre-preg days today. Yay!

3. Anyone know of a good yarn shop in Portland, Oregon? Am planning my annual trip with the girlfriends to PDX in a couple of weeks; generally this weekend consists of a stay at Kennedy School, massages, cocktails, shopping, etc. Might be nice to cruise a yarn shop or two while I'm there, celebrating tax-free shopping.

Everyone Else Is Doing It

2006-10-18T19:23:00.001-07:00

I had a dentist appointment on Monday, so I decided to take the day off, take the babe to daycare, and treat myself to my First Ever Day Off Without The Baby. Without Being At Work. It felt so decadent! I adore my little Peanut but it was really good for me to take a breather. I actually did some knitting, yay! I finished reknitting the second sleeve cap for Jemima and started the tubular cast-on ribbing for the front. That's the last piece I have to knit.

Today I broke out my Shawl Collar Pullover and wore it for the first time. My new classroom is C to the HILLY and I'm kicking myself for not having finished more handknit sweaters before becoming a mom. Anyway, I love the way this sweater fits, which is a huge relief because I finished it when I was pregnant and wasn't sure if I'd ever get my bod back to close to its original state. I wore my Rib and Cable socks today, too! I did "show and tell" with my students and told them about my knitting hobby. They were quite impressed (come on, they're eight years old) and thought it was hilarious that I could knit while I read, watch TV, or walk. :) All I know is that I'm quite cozy today and I'm even more excited about someday finishing Jemima, since I'm actually using the shaping from the Shawl Collar Pullover pattern and I just know it's going to fit fabulously.

Oh, and my daughter found her feet last weekend. :) It's the little things that excite me now.

48 things you could care less about...

1. first name? Karma

2. were you named after anyone? No. My parents really were hippies.

3. when did you last cry? Oh, it happens about once a week these days. Being a new mom is truly roller coasterish.

4. do you like your handwriting? Yes, I'm a primary school teacher, so I have pretty neat printing and script.

5. what is your favorite lunchmeat? I've never been much of a meat person but I do love deli sandwiches. Usually go for ham or turkey but I like 'em all.

6. if you were another person would you be friends with you? I believe I would.

7. do you have a journal? Very sporadically.

8. do you still have your tonsils? Yes.

9. would you bungee jump? No.

10. what is your favorite cereal? Any of the Kashis.

11. do you untie your shoes when you take them off? I usually wear clogs, so no.

12. do you think you are strong? I was about to say that I'm emotionally strong but physically weak, until I read Heidi's answer to this question in which she declared that she gave birth without medication this year... YES I am strong!

13. what is your favorite ice cream flavor? That's like asking a mother which is her favorite child. Lately it's Reese's (chocolate ice cream with Reese's chunks) from the local Husky Deli, but I love 'em all.

14. shoe size? 40 or 9.5US

5. red or pink? purple

16. what is the least favorite thing about yourself? Insecurities about my body. It's all mental.

17. who do you miss the most? My kitty, Julian, who died in June.

18. do you want everyone to send this back to you? I think everyone else has already done this one.

19. what color pants, shirt and shoes are you wearing? blue plaid pajama bottoms and blue pj top, no shoes.

20. last thing you ate? Red dragon roll and chicken donburi.

21. what are you listening to right now? Calm Baby CD playing very quietly in Peanut's bedroom as she slumbers.

22. if you were a crayon, what color would you be? I always liked Red Violet.

23. favorite smell? bread baking, my mom's house.

24. who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My brother. I told him we were invited to a cider pressing party today and he said, "So basically you're going to an apple squeezing party." Yeah.

25. the first thing you notice about people you are attracted to? The teeth (worked for a dentist for 9 years before becoming a teacher), the eyes.

26. do you like the person you stole this from? I love you all!

27. favorite drink? Fresh squeezed lemon drop, up, in a martini glass.

28. favorite sport? I like watching basketball.

29. eye color? brown/green

30. hat size? I love the idea of hats but I almost never wear them, so I don't know.

31. do you wear contacts? yes.

32. favorite food? Oh I love food so much... Indian is a big favorite (Saag Paneer, Tikka Masala, etc.) and I could eat good sushi pretty regularly.

33. scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings

35. summer or winter? I love the cheery blue skies of summer but not the heat, I love the coziness of winter but dread the grey Seattle sky for months on end.

36. hugs or kisses? hugs.

37. favorite dessert? warm berry pie or crisp or cobbler with vanilla ice cream

40. what books are you reading? I recently started The Golden Compass; I'm reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle to my class; I read Pajama Time! to my baby last night. Notice the absence of adult materials here...

41. what's on your mouse pad? the earth

42. what did you watch last night on tv? Project Runway (WTF?)

43. favorite sounds? baby babbles

44. the rolling stones or beatles? Beatles

45. the furthest you've been from home? India

46. what's your special talent? People are always telling me how patient I am. That and I can make milk.

47. where were you born? Seattle, Washington, USA

48. who sent this to you? everyone on my Blogroll!

Knitty Trellis Sighting

2006-10-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Remember when I finished this cardi before Peanut was born? I finally captured a picture of the sweater in its natural habitat. hee hee.

Click here for project notes.

The End of the Fourth Trimester

2006-10-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

My little lovey is three months old now. Mommyhood is amazingly life changing... all those cliches you hear about how your life will change and how wonderful it all is? They're so true. And the first few months can be tough but now she's all smiles and play and babbles and coos... so much love.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to go back to work suddenly, and my happy little stay at home with the baby world came to an end. An abrupt end! Fortunately, the stars are all aligned and it's working well. The only thing is that my life is literally all about pumping, cleaning bottles, doing laundry, getting to bed early and getting up early so I can get the baby to daycare and make it to work on time. Hugs and kisses all afternoon and evening. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Before I went back to work, Peanut started some routines, including a midday nap that afforded me some knitting time. I finished Jemima's front (yay!) and decided to reknit the caps of the two finished sleeves. So when I finish those, all I'll have left is the back to knit. Maybe I'll be able to share it with you before winter 2007? hee hee.

Cathi just posted that Cotton Ease is making a comeback. That ought to make some people very happy.

Bonne Marie's new pattern really catches my eye... knowing her and the way that she writes patterns, this one will be a hit for new and experienced knitters alike. I'm already eyeballing my stash, though heaven knows I have too many projects in the queue as it is.

I'm full-on addicted to Project Runway... am Netflixing the last few episodes of Season 2 while watching the last few episodes of Season 3. Good times. I adore Michael Knight (isn't that Knight Rider's name? Kit?) and hope that he goes the distance in this race.

Have a fabulous week ahead! I'm off on a stroller walk in the fall sunshine with the girl.

Slow Motion Knitting

2006-09-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

I finished another Daisy, a cardi for Peanut's buddy, Jack. A very simple baby cardi that would normally have taken me a week or so to knit, depending on how busy I was, took a couple of months to make. Oy! That's life with a baby for you. I finished it just in the nick of time for our baby shower (Jack's mom and I work together and our coworkers threw a party for us this past week). And I forgot to take a picture before I gifted it. D'oh. Anyway, it looks just like my baby's Daisy, but it's a pretty jade shade of Cotton Fleece, with cute white star buttons.

Am I the last person in the world to figure out that Project Runway is really fun? This is the first season I've watched and I like it so much that I went back and Netflixed the first season. Don't tell me how it ends!

Dr. Girlfriend posted a knitting backwards tutorial recently; I've always wanted to try it out because I purl slower than I knit and I think it would be really handy to know how to knit all rows when you're not knitting in the round.

Big Sister just posted her list of unfinished projects. She has 21. I was really proud of her for listing all of them because I also have many WIPs in my knitting basket(s), but don't have the guts to make the list. I think I already have enough self-inflicted guilt! Some days I wish I could go back to pre-mommy time and just have a day to knit and catch up with my projects (plus all the ones I have in my head that I'd like to make), but then I look at my sweet baby girl and no sweater in the world is equal to the time I'm having in my life right now.

AWOL

2006-08-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

Hello. Remember me?

Baby A and I have kept ourselves very busy and I'm actually getting a few rows of knitting in here and there. I've been (mostly) keeping up on reading all of your blogs, but somehow posting to my own blog hasn't happened. A and I are starting to get into some routines, though, so maybe it will be easier now.

Baby stuff:

She's seven weeks old and smiles and coos like crazy. She's sleeping through the night! Eight hours straight last night! She has these amazing big blue eyes; when we stare at each other (and I'm singing goofy made up songs and such), I can see her soaking up every little thing in her world. Anyway, we absolutely adore her and once in a while we look at each other and say, "Woah. We made her!" It's a trip and a half.

Knitting stuff:

Here I am, knitting with baby in my lap. It's almost the only time I can knit unless she's napping. It's easier with the napping, lemme tellya. I'm still lumbering along on Duke. Duke is the name I gave to this little green baby sweater, which is truly Daisy from Knitty, just like the red one I made for A, but it's for her little buddy Jack, so I thought I'd give it a dude name. A's Daisy whipped up so quickly... this one is taking weeks because it's hard to find time to knit. But I'm almost done! I'm on the second sleeve!

Since I have so much time to knit and so few projects to work on (snort), I finally ordered the Schoeller Stahl Merino Stretch to make this cabled cardi. Every time Elann posts more of this yarn, it catches my eye and I wish for it, but then I look over at my stash and my long list of projects and step away from the computer. This time I decided that since it *still* catches my eye after all this time, it must be for me.

The new IK is yucky. I'm super disappointed. I haven't seen much chitchat about it in blogs, either. The new VK is better... at least, there are a few things I could imagine knitting and wearing. The Gray's Anatomy section is lovely. I'm also lusting for design #3, the violety/maroony deep v-neck pullover with lace details. It reminds me of one of the newer Glampyre designs. I think that, at least with the VK sweater, I would need to make the v-neck less deep to go with my bod. As it is, I can imagine my impressive breasts popping right out of the front of the neckline. So modifying that has been running through my brain. Because I have so much knitting time. (snort)

Okay, just one more sweet baby picture to say goodbye. In this one, A is showing that she truly is her daddy's little girl: she has the same crooked smile.

My Little Buttercup Has the Sweetest Smile

2006-07-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

Not that you'd ever know it; her smiles are so random that we can't capture one with the camera yet!

But she does love taking a nice warm bath!

I can't believe she'll be three weeks old this weekend! Mr. Goodkarma and I are very much in love with our little girl and couldn't be happier to have her in our family.

I promised to show off Daisy. This cardi was meant to be part of a 4th of July ensemble. See, we have friends who have a houseboat on Lake Union where the big big fireworks display is every year in Seattle, and of course the 4th of July is their favorite holiday of the year. I bought Peanut a little American flag onesie and some blue pants and thought a red cardi would be the perfect topper. Well, we didn't end up going to the party (she was only a week old!), and the clothes were too big for her, but she's growing.

Daisy, Knitty.com
Designed by Stephanie Pearl McPhee
Cotton Fleece in Barn Red, 1 (and a tiny bit of a second) skein

This is a really, really, easy peasy cardi to knit. I knit most of it in one day in the car, and the trip was probably two hours roundtrip. Highly recommended pattern, easy to follow, simple for the babies, and Stephanie's directions are hilarious. I mean, she tells you to stop for chocolate for goodness sake! It's so easy, I started a green one for A's little buddy, Jack. I've knit about one row since Peanut was born...

Just today we got a surprise package from our friend Parikha. This I was not expecting at all. I opened the box and saw this sweet little handmade bag...

and inside were these sweet little booties! Ack! Tooooo cute. And Parikha, thank you for putting a little dab of pink on them but not going totally Pink Crazy. They're perfect!

Peaceful, Easy Feelin'

2006-06-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

Our dear, sweet A is already five days old. Or should I say, only five days old?! The first couple of nights home were rough; she thought it would be a great idea to have lively chats and cries from 1:30am to 5:30am each night! Yeah! But I have to say that the last 24 hours have been the most joyful and amazing hours I could ask for. She's a champion nurser and must have a little clock in her tummy; she wakes up every two hours for a change and to eat, then drops off to slumberland or plays "Let's Stare Lovingly Into One Another's Eyes."

Daddy and I are enjoying every moment and are so in love with our little peanut. He's already looking at sweet girly things to give to his little baby and I can't stop kissing those big cheeks! I took this photo of her sleeping in her crib tonight. Although she came in at a healthy weight and has big cheeks, she still is such a little one with cute skinny arms and legs and absolutely edible feet.

Let the adventure begin...

PS Thank you so much to everyone who left such loving comments. Mwah!

PPS I did finish up a Daisy cardi for A and will post it soon... too cute!

Introducing: The Peanut!

2006-06-28T00:46:00.000-07:00

At long last, the moment I've been waiting for! It's a girl!

Peanut Baby "A"
Born June 25, 2006 at 6:05pm
8 pounds, 9 ounces
19.5 inches

Baby's First Mama-Made Sweater

2006-06-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

Knitty's Trellis
Size 6 months
Lion Brand Cotton Ease, Vanilla: about 1.5 skeins
Cast on: Mother's Day
Cast off: Father's Day
Finished up: Due Day
Isn't that a coinkidink?

What a fun pattern. The stitch pattern kept my interest and, after a bit, I was able to memorize the twists and turns of it all. If you're interested in making this for a little friend, it's highly recommended!

ETA:

Peanut wearing her Trellis at age 3 months! :)

Yes, today is my due date and no, I haven't had my baby yet. Wanna see what I look like?

You're perfectly allowed to say things like, "Holy cow!" and, "Wow, your belly is huge!" I'm measuring right on track in spite of the tent-like effect that my shirt is making. My body is definitely making early labor noises and I don't expect that I'll go toooo much longer like this. Wishful thinking? Maybe!

Here's a picture of my dad, me, and my brother... they came over just to make fun of little ole me.

Next up: a baby and a Daisy cardigan that's *this* close to being finished!

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

2006-06-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hello, my name is Karma and I am the luckiest girl in blogland! I'm sitting here waiting for peanut to be born, knitting, house cleaning, relaxing... the most exciting thing is when the mail carrier comes. Usually the best part of the mail being delivered is that a new DVD comes from Netflix, but that's not a surprise because I picked out what's coming.

Last week, the same day I had to say goodbye to my Julian kitty boy, I got a little package from Superstarra Christie. Isn't this the cutest thing? Not only is the monkey probably a spitting image of the alien that is growing inside me, but the color combo is so NOW. So brownand (hi Cathi!). I will have the best dressed baby on the block, lemme tellya! It couldn't have come on a better day. I was so emotional about my kitty and there was this sweetness in my mailbox.

Today, when I'm truly on maternity leave and getting used to my days being pretty uneventful, a package came from Meredith at Mer Knits!. She made an extra cute Winnie the Pooh hat for the peanut, but says it can be any bear, or even a dog, or her husband says it can even be a camel! What a joker. Guys really know just what to say, don't they? Heh.

She also included a little sweetness for Lennon. Notice how excited he is to have a new mouse to play with! He literally just killed his last (store-bought) mouse this week. So Mer's new mouse couldn't have come at a better time.

Finally, thanks to everyone who left such kind comments to my post last week about Julian. It was really hard to say goodbye to him... his health deteriorated pretty rapidly so it was a little shocking for me. As much as I miss him, I feel better about my decision to let him go since he was feeling so badly. At the very end they diagnosed him with a brain tumor, possibly cancerous. Poor little boy.

Who's the Best Boy?

2006-06-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

Julian 1996-2006

In loving memory of the prettiest, most graceful, softest, velvetiest eared, smartest, lovingest cat there ever was.

T Minus 16 Days And Counting...

2006-06-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

Lennon says, "Mom, it's so nice to erm, ugh, cuddle with you, even though your lap disappeared..."

"...what's in this bubble, anyway?"

Notice the knitting by my feet? Yes, I've been knitting away on Trellis while also trying to prepare myself, my home, my workplace, etc., as much as possible for the baby that's due in 16 days. SIXTEEN DAYS. Sorry, didn't mean to yell, but woah. I've been doing pretty well up until the last couple of days when it's become pretty uncomfortable to sleep and I can't seem to get caught up on rest. So I'll be working a few days this week and then I'm done. I hope this baby will let me rest a few days before it decides to make its grand entrance. My mom and sisters are predicting June 14-15ish, and I could live with that.

Here's my progress on Trellis... I like how the white cables look like cake frosting. I just have the two little sleeves to knit and then the finishing. I thought it would be a pretty easy pattern, and really, it is, but since I'm tired a lot of the time, and you really have to pay attention row by row, I've had to do some ripping and reknitting. If I weren't tired, it would be so easy; the stitch pattern and cables are pretty intuitive.

Time to knit a bit more while my eyes are still open... I hope to have a finished cardi to share very soon!

Time, Goes By So Slowly, and Time Can Do So Much

2006-05-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

Are those the right lyrics? Well, they're a lie. I should have written, "Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives," because my goodness it's already late May and

the baby progress bar just moved to 90%.

Holy cow. I have four weeks to go. That is, if this wiggly little person can stay put that long. Whew.

I'm knitting Trellis for the same wiggly little person and am nearly done with the back. That "left twist" thing threw me for a loop! But after restarting the piece at least 4 times, I've got it down now and barely have to look at the chart. It's a fun pattern, keeps my interest, which is good because I seem to be bored with plain stockinette right now.

Also, did you watch 24? Oh. My. God. Can you believe we have to wait until JANUARY to find out what happens next? The pain! The torture! Oh Jack, can you hold on that long? The sad thing is that he's been a super action hero for the past "24 hours" (riiight... and yet I suspend disbelief more than willingly every single week) and now he's going to go without sleep for another 24 hours, undoubtedly while he's fighting terrorism. (Shut up, Karma, don't ruin it for yourself by thinking about it too much...)

On Ribs, A Robot, and a Really Big Belly

2006-05-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

The Ribs

I finished the second Rib and Cable Sock pretty quickly, I must say! They've been sitting here patiently, waiting for me to share. Just in time; the weather is forecast to be in the high 70s all week.

Rib and Cable Socks by Nancy Bush
Interweave Knits, Fall 2005
Mountain Colors Bearfoot: Wildflowers
Addi Turbos US1

I really liked this pattern a lot. It's only the second pair of socks I've knit for myself and they're a super fit. Either I'm getting used to placket and flap heels, or this one was just very well written and relatively easy to do. The toe is the 5 point toe from Knitting Vintage Socks and is just lovely.

The Robot

On to the robot. (backstory) I'm trying not to say, "I told you so," at all to Mr. Goodkarma, but he is returning the robot. The robot was pretty expensive, even though he bought a refurbished model, and I thought it was a ridiculous expense for such a basic function in life. However, since he was really, really excited about a litter box that would keep itself clean while I'm not allowed to clean it, I left it up to him.

- The entrance to the robot is smaller and narrower than the entrance to our normal litter box with lid.
- I think the inside is also smaller; it's just the globe part of the top that your cat goes into.
- I saw Lennon use it several times and he's the bigger cat! He's very easy going as long as there's a steady food supply.
- Julian only used it once or twice. He really avoided the robot.
- The noises and motions were weird... Lennon got used to them but Julian never trusted the thing. He's more skittish.
- Finally, sometimes when Lennon used the box, the way he positioned his body was... well, as if there were no litter box at all. He pointed his tail out the door and sprayed! Ack! Fortunately, in the place where the litter box is we currently have old carpet that's going to be replaced, but it's still disconcerting (not to mention smelly) to see a spray of cat piss coming out of the entrance of the litter robot onto the carpet.

Enough of that. Bye bye, Darth Vader Robot!

The Really Big Belly

And now what you've all been asking for.... a belly picture. First off, let me say how fortunate I feel to be pregnant and how much I am looking forward to knowing this little peanut that's growing inside me. However, and I know I've mentioned this before, but the whole pregnancy/weight gain/body morph thing has been really, really psychologically bizarre for me. Some women say that their pregnancy was the best time of their life, they loved it, bladdyblahblah. My pregnancy has been relatively easy and I'm feeling pretty good physically, but I guess I'm so used to working hard to lose weight when I was heavier and working hard to become more fit, that this is not the golden goddess time of my life.

Click here to read my Invasion of the Body Snatchers post, including a before picture and a 24 week picture. And now I present a 34 week picture taken a week ago at a baby shower:

So the countdown is progressing... about five weeks until Baby Karma makes an appearance! My midwife today told me it could really be any time, but she hopes I'll stay pregnant for at least two more weeks. Wish me luck!

Jenny I Got Your Number

2006-05-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

Just a few tidbits and I promise soon I will be back to being a knitblogger.

1. If your name is Jenny Z and you're from Cali, will you please send me an email? I got your sweeeeet package today and I want to thank you for it. But I don't know who you are! This is the ultimate mystery.

2. Many of you asked how the Litter Robot is working. I haven't replied to you because we're still letting the boys get used to it and transition from their old litter box. Today it looks like there's some action in the Mr. Roboto, so hopefully I'll have a full review for you soon.

3. Has anyone knit with Schoeller Stahl Micro Cable? (Googling didn't help much, sadly.) Or has anyone seen/touched it? Is it going to be nasty acrylic-ly yarn or is it really, as elann describes, going to be a "Satiny smooth, airy light microfibre!"??

4. Have you seen these ads? Super cute.

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!

2006-04-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

When you're pregnant, you're not supposed to change the cat litter box. Mr. Goodkarma wasn't very happy about that. He made the loudest, most dramatic protests every time he had to do this chore that I've been doing for the last ten years and insisted that it was time to get an automatic litter box. The kind that basically cleans itself. Right. Away. This is what he came up with. Naturally, he chose black.

It's enormous and robotic and the first time Julian and Lennon saw it do its thing (the globe part mechanically rotates more than 360 degrees and then back again to clean itself, each time a cat leaves a deposit), they must have thought Darth Vader just invaded their home. BIG eyes. Very curious and a little scared. But now, a day or two later, they seem to think it's just another part of the house.

In more interesting news, I met Sundara and her friend V again last night, and their friends S and D were there, too. This time, we actually knit! Yay! These are four really great gals and I'm glad to have met them. Plus, V taught us all about hush puppies. She thought we were all so cute for not knowing what they are. I've had them a couple of times but most of the others hadn't. Next time, though, I want her to explain the mystery of grits.

I finished the first Rib and Cable Sock over the weekend and it fits perfectly! Yay! Nancy Bush is really smart and I should just follow her directions. (Unlike with the Conwys when I assumed that my feet were bigger/wider than they truly are and ended up with sloppy socks.) I like the toe shaping; I believe it's the same as the Star of Three Points toe in her Knitting Vintage Socks book. Here's the first one:

And so of course I cast on for sock #2 right away. For me, in my limited sock experience anyway, sock #2 always goes so much faster. I take my time with sock #1, sometimes putting it down for days/weeks, because I worry that it won't fit or that my heel will suck or that I'll run out of yarn or some other ridiculous thing. I think now I'm going to attack socks much more confidently (as long as I have a pattern that I know is well written) and not worry about that stuff. I have yarn for a couple more pairs of socks (thinking of those Retro Rib Socks by Evelyn Clark in IK for one pair) and then I've got to try out Sundara's sock yarn. So. Pretty. She tells us about the yarn that she chooses (only the best, none of this cheap stuff for her), and tells us what she does or doesn't like about other sock yarns out there, which is really good information for me since I'm still experimenting so much with different yarns/fibers/brands/etc. I am super tempted to buy her yarn already, but I'm trying to be reasonable and not have tooooo much "overstock" in my house at once.

At my first meeting with Sundara, I had Jemima with me and she said I was "brave" for knitting sweaters while I'm so preggo. That made me stop and think. Am I being brave, am I determined to get my figure back as much as reasonable, or am I in denial? Something to think about while I redirect my attention to socks! haha

And speaking of babies, I have received the sweetest gifties in the mail recently! The first one came from Mitten's mama, Heidi. She's makes baby bibs and changing pads out of cool vintage fabrics and sells them at her shop. I was surprised and happy to receive this cool one! I love the red print and it's reversible with an olive green back. Tres chic! My little peanut is going to be so stylin'. Heidi also sent a couple of great articles; what a good pal.

I was really surprised to get a package today from New Zealand. Kim (aka Kozmic at Knitty) knit this sweet baby sweater for the little peanut! I love the colors. The yarn is a machine washable wool blend with primary colored flecks, from New Zealand, naturally! Can't wait to see this on the little one, maybe with the red Robeez monkey slippers my mom gave me. How lucky am I?

Finally, I got the new KnitPicks catalog this week and decided to skim through it this morning. I found two projects that look strangely familiar....

Tidbits

2006-04-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

I brought the Shawl Collar Pullover to my mom's house for a visit a few days ago. Guess who it fit perfectly? Grr. Jealous? Me? Hmph. She said she wants "hers" to have longer sleeves, though. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Guess who I'm planning to meet tomorrow for the first time? I'll give you a hint. You might know her by her purly whites. And she dyes really beautiful yarn! We've been chatting for ages about meeting up sometime to knit and we finally made plans for tomorrow, after my yoga class. Can't wait!

I'm still in love with Jemima + Rowan Cashsoft DK + Addi Turbos. I finally found a good solution for Jemima, too. I've been mentally tinkering with how to add length and waist shaping, possibly keeping the lovely tubular cast-on and subsequent ribbing, without having the puckering at the hip problem. Wanna know what I'm doing? I'm using the directions for Shawl Collar Pullover for the bottom half of Jemima! I'm also thinking of ixnaying the placket and buttons. I don't think I'll ever find buttons that will match my colors, and I hate that poorly matched buttons might make the whole sweater look cheesy. So now, is this still Jemima? Maybe her name will change to Jemi-not. Or something equally dorky. 'Cause that's how I roll. har har.

I had to buy a new bra today. In a new (read: bigger) size. And dangit, the lovely associate at Nordstrom wasn't convinced that I'm done growing in bra sizes. She thinks I should come back again a couple of weeks before my due date and get fitted AGAIN. Like expensive supportive bras for girls like me grow on trees. Aiya. Whatareyagonnado.

Have you heard of mail2web.com? Maybe I'm the last girl on earth to find out about it. I thought I'd never be able to access my home email on the web (what a pain when you're traveling, out and about, at work expecting an important message to come to your home email addy, etc.) and the Mr. just found out about this one. Cool.

Adrienne Vittadini Shawl Collar Pullover

2006-04-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

We haven't had many shiny happy days in Seattle lately, so I forgot all about photographing this finished sweater. In fact, since it doesn't fit me right now, I put it in my knitting basket and forgot all about it!

Adrienne Vittadini Shawl Collar Pullover
Vogue Knitting Winter 2004/05
Cascade Lana d'Oro, Heathered Purple, just over 10 skeins

I love the shape of this top. The pattern is exceptionally well written with clear instructions on which increases and decreases to use when. Gentle waist shaping means it's going to fit me well this fall. It's really a simple design, and the collar is all the detail it needs. I didn't have to make any alterations to the pattern to make it fit (my normal body) just right, except for adding some length to the sleeves. I tried it on today, just for kicks, and I can tell that later I'm going to love wearing this sweater!

Now I just have to translate this fit to Jemima and I'll be flying high!

Cascade Lana d'Oro was discontinued a year or two ago, so I'm lucky to have bought a couple of bags of it when I did. This purple bag has been sitting around waiting for just the right project. It's a great yarn to knit with and I can't wait to wear it. Lovely soft heathery goodness, great stitch definition with the ribbing.

I'm on spring break this week, which means getting lots of things done around the house, but it also means a little much needed R&R time. It was spring break two years ago when I bought my first needles and Lamb's Pride Bulky to make my first scarf. Two years already! Wow, this hobby has really taken hold.

P.S. Just have to share this sweetness sent to me by dear Karen. A Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran baby hat, so sweet, and a great book of fairy tales, poetry, etc. that will, I know, be a bedtime staple in Casa de Karma. I'm such a lucky gal! I can't wait to show a modeled shot of the little hat. Thanks again, Karen!!! Mwah!

Grumpy McGrumpybutt

2006-04-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

Spring break starts in about 7 hours. I'm not counting or anything. I've been a big grumpy sourpuss this week from lack of sleep and readiness for a break, so I want to thank my Mister for putting up with me. xoxo

I was tagged by Big Sister Nicole today. This meme spoke to me for some reason... It's a short little meme that I think had to do with yesterday being the 5th of the month, so I will progress it to 6 for the 6th:

Six minutes to yourself: how would you spend them, ideally? Relaxing in a comfy chair with my eyes closed. See, I told you I'm tired.

Six bucks to spend right now: how would you spend it? I would buy a big pack of Diet Cherry Coke. I'm out. I've been out for a couple of days. Maybe that's why I'm tired?

Six items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn't thought of already? We're in the middle of Goodkarma Clean Sweep at my house. I can see about 60 items I could part with! Possibly not working paper shredder, possibly not working inkjet printer, a box of styrofoam peanuts, a bamboo window shade that was never installed and never will be, a vinyl window shade left behind by the previous owners of the house, and a few bags of magazines that multiplied overnight.

Six items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house? My husband, my iPod, my Mac, my digital camera, my knitting stuff, my photos.

Six words you love? "Come here and snuggle with me."

Your turn Moni, Parikha and Angela.

Jemima was here

2006-04-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on Jemima. At least, that's what I tell her as she sits patiently in a big zip-lock freezer bag for the past few weeks or so. The two sleeves are done. I've been working out how to add both length and waist shaping to the bodice. I started out with a tubular cast on (love it) and kind of winged it but now I think I have too steep a slope from hip to waist and I don't want any bulging going on at the hips. So that's why she's sitting in a zip-lock still.

I was thinking about whether or not I really want that ribbing at my hip. And then it hit me this morning on my way to work: why not build an Hourglass Jemima? I can use the bottom half of Hourglass to construct a knitted hem (including a couple of rows of contrast color at the very bottom, just like Jemima has?) and waist shaping, but keep everything else true to the original Jemima pattern. Hmm. Still considering this. I think it's a good idea.

Now I must ~~get my fix~~ watch 24.

F is for feet

2006-04-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

Where have I been? The past two weeks have been unbelievably frantic.

*Car repair estimates: check.

*Kitty cat feeling better: check.

*Attend Sen. Barack Obama rally for Sen. Maria Cantwell: check.

*Baby's first goth show: check. (Sisters of Mercy came to town... sadly, their show was very poorly engineered so they sounded awful and the smoke machine was working so well that you could only see the performers' sunglasses... but on a brighter note, Rob Dickinson, lead singer of The Catherine Wheel, opened with a solo set and was brilliant.)

*Prenatal yoga classes: check.

*Childbirth classes: check.

*Pass the gestational diabetes screening: check.

*Belly finally grown bigger than bust: check. check.

*Home office deconstructed to make room for nursery: check. I've been relegated to a corner in the ~~dungeon~~ basement rec room, which is working out pretty well. Lennon (in the picture to the right) welcomes me to his lair. His favorite spot is on top of the hot water heater.

*Bureaucratic meetings, workshops and conferences: check.

*Report cards: almost done.

*Knitting: check.

Ruffle Rib Socks
Interweave Knits, Summer 2005
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Georgetown colorway, leftover from my own Conwys.
Addi Turbos size 0 (2mm)

These were fun to knit. At another time in my life, they would have taken so little time, but they were the perfect project to bring along to a meeting or to knit along with the little bit of TV I've had time for these days. A row here, a heel there, and they're finally done!

I've been wanting to try short row heels and this pattern felt like a sampler: short row toes and short row heels, plus a decorative zig-zag bind off that I hadn't tried before. I'm really happy with the results; I hope the future wearer of them feels the same way.

My Conwys (color is more true on the first two pictures than here) were knitted on Addi Turbos size 1 and I really, really like the denser fabric of these socks done on size 0. Lesson learned: check!

Murphy, Lay Off!

2006-03-16T07:23:00.000-08:00

Remember when I said I was going to have knitting content soon? Yeah. I'm having one of those Murphy's Law kind of weeks. My car was hit on Tuesday (I wasn't in it)(the guy left a note, thank goodness), so that's one more thing to deal with. Sweet kitty baby Julian is not well. He had bloodwork done on the same day my car was hit (luckily the car is drivable!) and I'm hoping that he will improve. I went to yoga last night and got so relaxed I could have fallen asleep three times! :) But my evenings have been spent with a sad, clingy furball in my lap, so not a whole lot of knitting done.

Notice that Jemima is making steady progress? The sleeves are done. Yay! I cast on the front (tubular, my new best friend) yesterday during a painful budget meeting at work (money + public schools = pain and anguish) and then realized that I forgot something... the sweater as designed is a bit shorter than I wanted and has no waist shaping... it just increases up from the hem to the bustline. I need more of an hourglass shape so I need to figure in some waist decreases from the hip, and then increase to the bust.

So I'll redo that tubular cast-on when I have that all figured out. Should be simple to reconfigure, as long as Murphy's Law doesn't send raining frogs or some other catastrophe to add to this lovely week. :)

One more thing:
Addi Turbos + Rowan Cashsoft = Heaven.

E is for Earth

2006-03-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

My students, along with another class, planted 600 plants, shrubs, and trees on our campus last week. They've been learning about water conservation, native vs. invasive plants, drought resistance, etc. They had a blast planning the gardens, preparing the soil, and finally planting. I can't wait until spring is truly here so they can see some of the plants come out of dormancy.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

2006-03-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

Remember this girl?

Well, she looks like this now:

My only conclusion is that my home has been attacked by Pod People, and I'm carrying some alien life form under my skin. I feel lots of kicks and wiggles, especially after eating and at bedtime. Yesterday while I was teaching, I think the baby was doing downward dog, pointing its little butt toward my belly button. Good times. We're at the point now (25-26 weeks) where I'm just starting to feel uncomfortable if I eat too much lunch at once, and where I'm feeling the smallest kicks in the ribs. Oh, and I'm starting to waddle. I can only imagine how much more beautiful it's all going to be over the next three months.

It's funny how I look differently depending on what I'm wearing each day. This past week, several people have approached me and told me that I'm going to have a boy because I'm carrying the little sprout high and my belly is pointy. Also, some people are really irritated with me for not finding out the baby's gender. I gotta have a few good surprises in my life, you know?

Meanwhile, my cat, Lennon, is also behaving strangely; do the Pod People have Pod Cats?

You know how fraidy cats are about vacuum cleaners; both Julian and Lennon run full throttle to the furthest corner of the house whenever they see the vacuum come out of the closet. But now Lennon is showing a preference for the blow dryer. He likes to sit on the toilet and watch me dry my hair. Sometimes I'll aim the hot air toward him and he goes crazy for it! I could make some really tasteless joke about preferring blowing over sucking, but that would probably cross the line.

Finally, do you ever remember feeling so much joy over such a little thing like walking? This is my wee friend Anya, having the time of her life. I have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the smallest things.

Knitting content to come... tomorrow?

Slow But Steady Wins the Race

2006-03-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

Shawl Collar Pullover, such an easy, basic pattern, no? Maybe I'm becoming a perfectionist in my old age, but it's taking forever to put together.

Shoulders seamed and shawl collar installed while watching Cinderella Man a few nights ago. That took a few tries. The ribbed collar/stockinette front/row/stitch count made it all quite an adventure. And the spot where the ends cross over one another was a little tricksy.

Sleeve caps installed last night during the Oscars. I DVR'd the show, so we watched it later on in the evening and fast forwarded through all the commercials, took a break to make dinner, etc., but there is no way it should have taken that long just to attach the sleeves caps to the arm openings. I think I did one side over FIVE times. Clearly I knit either the front or the back an eensy bit longer than the other. That's okay, it finally worked out.

Sleeve and side seams should go together well (fingers crossed) tonight during the TWO HOUR special episode of 24. Can't wait!

Cotton Fleece's Big Sister?

2006-03-04T10:33:00.000-08:00

Is there a yarn out there that is comparable to Cotton Fleece but is slightly bulkier? Like 15-16 stitches to 4"?

D is for Designs That Inspire

2006-03-02T22:24:00.000-08:00

I can't knit fast enough (or is it that I just don't have enough time in my day?) to keep up with all the inspiration.

This is really gorgeous. Mer was the one to introduce the pattern on her blog a couple of days ago; I haven't been able to stop thinking about it ever since. I keep reading the Drops pattern (free!) and after reading through the English translation several times I understand the construction and instructions well enough to want to do it. Someday. Here's my question... take a look at the diagram first:

If you knit something like this, which has one main piece that's a circle knit in the round from the inside out, how would you splice/attach each new ball of yarn if you're using a yarn that isn't feltable? See, I'm in love with spit-splicing whenever possible, but if I use a blend of fibers that doesn't include wool or other animal fibers, what's the best bet? There aren't side seams to hide ends into.

I saw this Drops design a while back, too, and thought it was lovely. The shaping is right up my alley. I have a bag of purple Misti Alpaca Sport that I was going to use for a Union Square Market Pullover, but this would be a much more flattering line on me. It's still a possibility. Someday.

And finally, I'm in love with Starsky. I can't help it. It's a great look! I don't have anything like it. I'm curious, though, about the designer's suggestion that it be knit with 8" of ease based on the bust measurement. If you're a medium sized gal with a large bustline, do you still want that much ease? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

Come On, Drink the Kool Aid

2006-02-26T00:11:00.000-08:00

I've got two friends who are, separately, getting excited about knitting.

One is the mommy of the twins I made the raglan baby sweaters for recently. She started knitting while on bedrest and wanted to learn more. I went over this weekend and showed her a few things, namely Addi Turbos and knitting socks on two circs. She's hooked! Yay! She called tonight to let me know that she's in love with the Turbos and can't wait to get more pairs/sizes.

The other is a friend who has never knit before. The pal who taught me how to knit a couple of years ago taught her just this week. She called me last night, saying, "Help! I have a knitting question!!" Yay! She's learning the basics and sounds really interested.

I say to them, "Welcome to my obsession. Let me know how I can help you feed the monster." heh.

As for me....

1. Shawl Collar Pullover pieces are finally dry. We'll see how soon I can get 'er seamed up.

2. Jemima is knitting up rather quickly thanks to the LOVELY Cashsoft and the way that it literally flies on Addi Turbos. I think I have a crush on this combination. I'm almost to the raglan shaping of sleeve #1.

3. Excellent yarn arrived today. Love living so close to Elann. Must remember to exercise restraint, though, else I order something new every stinking week. Must order an Addi Turbo US15/10mm. Holy cow. Haven't used such big needles since I was a beginner who knit too tightly and needed fat needles so my first scarf wouldn't be stiff as a board.

Knitting Ups and Downs

2006-02-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

Shawl Collared Pullover is happily blocking away with its own little ray of sunshine (they're hard to come by over here) and yes, it's true that wet alpaca really does smell like wet dog. Mmmm. Yummy. I hope it dries soon; I keep laughing when I think of what this sweater's going to look like on my daily-increasing belly. Fortunately, people have good imaginations and will probably be able to imagine what it will look like on me next fall, right? :)

Our trip to Vancouver was lovely and quite uneventful. Perfect. We stayed right downtown and walked all over the place. Ate good food. Saw two good movies (Firewall was intensely suspenseful; Syriana was complex, political, and kept us talking and thinking well after we left the theater). Touched no yarn. I didn't even knit in the car on the way up or down. It seemed important to be more present, enjoying the scenery and conversation with Mr. Goodkarma. It was a good time!

But you know how I am; as soon as Shawl Collar was off the needles and in the bath I was itching to cast on something new. For a minute I considered going to one of my stalled projects but no, I had to start something new. That's a lesson for me; do NOT leave a project unfinished or it may never ever ever see the light of day again.

Elann had this Schoeller Stahl Excellent yarn for a few days. I kept looking at the sample pattern and thinking about how cute it would have looked on me about 5 months ago when I still had a waist. The available colors were selling out quickly; the one I was eyeballing was a darker combination of blues, but I was only able to pick up this lighter combination instead.

While I wait for my Excellent yarn (can't say it without thinking of Bill and Ted), I dove into my Rowan Cashsoft DK for Jemima. This pattern utilizes a tubular cast-on, and this is the first time I've ever used one. I wish I had tried it before! So clever and neat. Totally tubular. (Valley Girl.) I knit the cuff and an inch or two of sleeve before bedtime and then was suddenly struck with a wave of incompetence. Would it look ridiculous on me? Would the color combo look homemade? Wouldn't this absolutely luscious yarn look better in something more pretty and less everyday? Naturally I stayed up way too late searching for ideas for what other knitbloggers had done with Cashsoft. I don't have a lot of it (7 balls of Ballad Blue, 1 ball of Lime). Of course I saw many, many posts about Grumperina's Odessa, but I really want to wear this yarn on my body, not my head! I hit the pillow feeling defeated. Why do I always have to find a solution immediately anyway? Grrr.

I woke up this morning with an image of a sweet, finished Jemima. My imaginary version is a little more fitted than the original oversized one. Mari made a super cute one herself. I think I'll stick with the plan. If you haven't worked with Cashsoft yet, you're in for a treat!

And in the Husbands Are Funny Department: I got a great deal on last year's model of an expensive stroller. When it arrived the other day, I started taking it out of the box. Now, my husband is great, but he hasn't been super excited about anything baby related yet. As soon as parts started coming out of the box, though, he jumped up off the couch and started assembling the thing before I even had a chance to open the directions. I started reading instructions aloud but I might as well have been on another planet; he was so involved in snapping pieces together that he didn't even hear me. "Oooh, it even has shocks." "Nice wheels!" I'll be checking it out soon to make sure all the pieces were used, etc...

I heart DVR + Knitting

2006-02-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

Last night: I'm reknitting the sleeve caps for the shawl collar pullover (adding 2" of length to the sleeves; who was I kidding?)while catching up on a bunch of shows on DVR (best invention EVER). On the edge of my seat with Grey's Anatomy (I thought they were home free with the bomb! Wasn't it sweet when George climbed up and helped Bailey through the delivery of her baby?), laughing hysterically at SNL (was that the funniest opening monologue in a while? The cashew trick? Ew. Holiday candles at Target...)

While knitting, I started thinking more about what project to bring on my little upcoming roadtrip with the hubby. We're going up to Vancouver, BC for a few days. I decided I'll bring Jemima. I bought 7 balls of Rowan (RY) Cashsoft DK in Ballad Blue several months ago with Hopeful in mind, but these days I think Jemima is a bit more for me. So I need one more ball of Cashsoft in a contrasting color. Tonight after work I dropped by Hilltop with no idea which color I would want and Lime popped right out at me. I think we have a winner!

Guess what else I spied with my little eye at Hilltop? The new Debbie Stoller book was delivered today! I'm not a crocheter, or I would have bought it on the spot. But I think I'll end up buying it anyway to have a good crochet reference book around. I flipped through it very very quickly and saw a couple of cute cardis and jackets (a la White Lies); I might be inspired to try crochet after all. We'll see. It's not like I don't have 6 billion unfinished projects and another 6 billion projects awaiting.

So anyway, speaking of Vancouver, does anyone have any recommendations, yarny or otherwise? I should be asking Felicia* this question and I don't know if she has ever read my blog. It's been a few years since my mister and I went up to Vancouver and I'm open to any food/shopping/walking/YARN suggestions any of you might have.

*In Felicia's 2/16 post, she wrote about a yarn crawl to Seattle. One of the restaurants she visited, Nana's Noodle Shop, was the place where Mr. Goodkarma proposed to me in 1999. Poor guy, he had a big plan for us to have a romantic dinner at the fancy Italian place down the block, and when we arrived we found out that it was closed for renovations. I didn't understand why he was so put out by that and I suggested we walk a few doors down to Nana's for dinner. Little did I know that there was an engagement ring in his pocket. He even got down on his knee when he proposed... it was very sweet and wonderful. It was the first proposal ever at Nana's. :)

C is For Conundrum

2006-02-12T14:07:00.000-08:00

The Adrienne Vittadini shawl collar pullover (AVSCP) is coming along very well. I'm about halfway done with the back, too, and all the while I'm wondering if I'm going to be running out of (the original bag of) yarn. I bought two extra skeins a while back, just in case I would need them, but they're from a different dye lot and I was hoping to not use them at all, except maybe for seaming. So I knit the sleeves to spec, but I'm skeptical that their 17.5" length will be long enough. I think I'll unknit the sleeve caps, knit the sleeve a little longer, and probably dip into skein #11 as I finish the back shoulder shaping. Hooray for longish hair, right?

The conundrum continues. A couple of days ago I decided to cast on for another, smallish project while I considered what would be best for AVSCP. I pulled out my new skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Wildflowers and got started on Nancy Bush's Rib and Cable Socks from Interweave Knits Fall 2005. Not far into knitting the cuff and I noticed that Julian, my sweet angelbaby cat who rarely does anything naughty, was chewing on something. He had a mouthful of my yarn and was chowing down! Ack! That turkey. I don't know what possessed him; he never ever eats yarn normally. Does Mountain Colors use seafood flavored dye? Weird. Of course, I had to cut out the soggy bit that he chewed and splice the ends together, no biggie (and not much yarn was lost) but kind of irritating! And ew, cat spit!

(Isn't the Mountain Colors pretty? The violets and reds and fushias blend together more subtly in real life, kind of like in this picture where you can see the beginning of the cables. I'm in love with this yarn!)

Otherwise, all is well in the good karma house. I've been working far too many hours (extra parent conferences here, evening meetings there, special events in the evening, etc.) doing the fringe stuff and just barely having enough energy to do what I'm really there for, which is TEACH! Ah, well.

I've been doing tons of research and window shopping for stuff for the baby, too. Mom, grandma and I went looking at cribs and gear yesterday. It was good to make some sound decisions and feel like I've actually done a few things to get my nest ready. Now if only my husband would stop ringing the doorbell or calling to me every 30-60 minutes, I might actually get something done around the house! Good grief. I feel like running away! :)

Word Cloud

2006-01-30T19:25:00.000-08:00

Go get your own.
Via Strange Little Mama.

B is for Baby

2006-01-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, I'll reach the 20 week mark, the halfway-there point. Amazing how quickly this pregnancy is progressing. Amazing.

I had the ultrasound a week or so ago and watched my baby roll and wiggle for a good 45 minutes while the technician tried his darnedest to measure all the important parts. This photo print seems a bit grainier than the actual monitor that we were watching, but we could definitely see that Little One is thumb sucking already and waving arms and legs around like nobody's business. And no, we will not find out the gender before Little One's birthday.

For the past 4 weeks I've been feeling movement and that has gradually changed from a strange fishlike fluttering feeling to definite kicks and taps. (Too bad it's still a show for one; no one else can feel these kicks on the outside yet.) And my belly really did pop out earlier this week. Now it's truly obvious, to everyone else, that I'm pregnant and not just overeating. I've noticed that when people say hello to me, they don't look at me anymore, they look at my belly. :)

B is also for (another Amazon) Box of Mystery:

A week or two ago I got an Amazon Box of Mystery, and last night I was tricked again. When I got home and saw this box on my doorsteop, I immediately wondered what the heck my husband ordered this time. I guess I'm not a very quick learner, 'cause it was a box from Terby! She sent some great exercise videos. I'm glad because I've been checking out some from the library, but you always have to send those back after a little while. People are so very generous! She also included an interesting book titled What's Going on in There? : How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life, which totally piques this elementary school teacher's interest. Thank you, Terby! Yay! I'm off to check out Kathy Smith...

J'adore le pourpre

2006-01-24T22:40:00.000-08:00

Busy busy. That's me. I'm halfway done with a project I haven't even blogged about. I'm making the Adrienne Vittadini Shawl Collar Pullover from Vogue Knits Winter 04/05 (here are a couple of finished ones in blogland: Lesley's, Atouria's, and Diana's) with some lovely purple heathered Cascade Lana d'Oro.
I bought a bag of it from WEBS when it was discontinued about a year and a half ago, with a different project in mind. I was a pretty new knitter and realized later that the project I was planning wasn't really meant for me. I've wanted to make this for a year and suddenly got the urge to start a week or so ago. Quick knit... I'm almost halfway done already.

Here's the front; just after I'd divided for the low placket opening:

It feels like this sweater is just eating up the yarn, but it might simply be that it's one of the quickest sweaters I've ever knit. I wonder if it will be done in time for me to wear it while I'm still pregnant? Probably not. Even though other people say I'm not even showing (I am SO!), all of my old tops are too snug and too short to accommodate my changing figure. We'll see. Mostly I'm excited about having new stuff to wear next fall.

The title to this post is I love purple because the lovely Jade sent this pair of handmade earrings with purple crystals to me. She knew I like blue (I'm a little stuck in the cool side of the color wheel lately if you haven't noticed), and wasn't sure if I like purple. Do I like purple?! Oh boy. Yes, my new sweater is purple. But get this: my husband's truck is purple. My house is purple. Both are dark eggplant purple. What else... I have more purple yarn around here, too. So yes, Jade, I do like purple, and the earrings are so pretty!! (Especially with the bonus alpaca fiber in the picture. Ever notice that alpaca fibers and cat hairs look pretty similar?) I wore them to work today and love them. You're so kind. Thank you. :)

Tonight I went to the gym (for the first time in ages) and I listened to Cast On podcast #1 as I stationary bicycled. I downloaded several of these a while back and kind of forgot about them. This podcast was interesting (especially for the gym... I usually listen to something more upbeat like Outkast's Stankonia or Black Eyed Peas' Elephunk), and very soothing. I could imagine listening to Brenda Dayne's voice on a lazy Sunday afternoon while I knit on the couch in a quiet and peaceful house. Wow, what a fantasy life, eh? So for those of you who listen to Cast On and Knitcast, do you save each podcast or delete them as you listen to them?