In With The New?

I'm on a sock kick. After finishing the Dalton socks, I started the Stormy socks for Shawn. Guess what? He wanted the same pattern for his socks like the ones I did for the Dalton socks. Guess what? I got the same gauge with the lightweight STR. Guess what? I am making the exact same socks for him, only a little bit longer for the foot. (I wear a 9 1/2 and he wears a 10 1/2.) So these are coming along quite quickly since I already know the pattern and have the notes for a size 9 1/2. The only thing I will have to change is a few more rows for length. Plus, he wants his to be regular socks. Not ankle socks. The only thing I'm not too sure of is the pooling and striping:

The yarn is doing this on it's own, which I wasn't anticipating. I think it looks sort of neat, but I would have preferred to have more variations like with the other socks. But as long as Shawn likes them, (which he does so far), that's all that really matters, right?

Yesterday, I bought these:

I am going to paint and decorate them this weekend and have Shawn drill holes in the back so I can hang them over the crib.

And this came in the mail yesterday too and I was quite delighted!

It's the Little Bunny Foo Foo and I am quite happy that the pink is subdued, because as you know colors vary from monitor to monitor and the STR website shows a much darker pink. I like it as it is.

Have a great Easter weekend for those of you who celebrate. We will be going on a trip to the LA Zoo tomorrow. Later I'll be hitting the yarn shop and Shawn is going to check out the R/C races. Don't know if I'll have an update this weekend, so just in case: HAPPY EASTER!

Didn't think I'd do it, did ya?

We had a really great weekend. A really great and ambitious weekend.

It all started with an idea. (Don't they always?) If you knew me in person, you'd know that I like color. White walls are too boring. And because I don't tend to hang a lot of pictures, our walls were really looking bare. So we went from this:

To this:

I wanted to paint the kids' room for a while, but didn't know what I wanted to do. A trip to Target on Friday gave me oodles of ideas, (for our room too). Shawn said that if I wanted to redecorate I could, as long as I was the one doing it. He will pay for it, he said. (I could go crazy, but I won't...yet.) So I had him take Scout's Pooh Bear baby blanket and have them do a color match for the paint. A spring green is what we got. Sunday morning at about 10 a.m. I started and we were done by 3 p.m. I will take the pats on the back, though, because I was the one who did mostly all of it. Shawn did the trim near the ceiling for me and worked on the wall with the window.

I still have things to do for the room though. I am going to buy some lined baskets for Scout's crib, (especially all of her handknits). And a wall hanging to measure how tall the kids are. And a new lamp, (I gave Jem my old one, but he lets it get so close to his plastic toys that they melt...fire hazard, anyone?). Plus, I am going to get some wood letters from Michael's in the kids names and paint them. The color theme is going to be the spring green, chocolate brown and sky blue. I'm excited. New projects always excite me. (And I suppose it makes me happy that I can do this for Scout because I couldn't do it for Jem when he was a baby.)

I also went and had a pedicure done and a set of pink/whites because I started biting my nails this past week again, (I've been experiencing a bit of anxiety). After that I went to the LYS for about an hour and had a chance to work on my Dalton socks and chit chat.

But it doesn't stop there. There is some sadness to this weekend though. Saturday I decided I would tackle the short row heel on the Dalton Socks. Afterall, I was at the ankle bone. Shawn and I rented The Illusionist, (which by the way, if you haven't seen it-you should). I started the short row heel. Then it came to the reverse short rows, (you know, the pick up the double wraps, blah, blah, blah). And I did it! But then I realized I didn't have 70 sts. I had 63! How in the hell did that happen?!?! So rip I go, and then...And then I realize on needle one, (the instep), I was on the PSSO row and that I really should have only 63 sts! I realized that once I did Row 2 in the pattern I would have 70 sts. *sigh*

Needless to say, I was angry, upset, pissed off, mad as hell, (you get the idea)...

So last night I say to myself, "Let's try this again". And since I knew what I was doing the second time, I actually understood it enough that I didn't have to keep looking back and the pattern and asking myself why I chose the Toe Up sock.

And with that, I got this:

Purty, ain't she? (And I don't mean the tattoo, LOL.) The sock fits perfectly and it's so comfortable I can't even believe it. The yarn is a dream. (I should say that this is the medium weight STR because Jillian had posted that she had some issues with the heavyweight STR, and anyone who hasn't tried this should start with the mediumweight or the lightweight.) I have decided I'm going to make ankle socks. And I have a feeling I will be wearing these on a daily basis.

Obligatory shot of the much feared short row heel:

I'm very proud of myself. I feel like I can do anything! Socks! They are amazing!

And so is Scout.

Yes, I'm partial. But I don't care. Scout is a beautiful, mellow, funny baby. She wakes up happy. She laughs all day long. She loves people. She makes life wonderful. She's been talking so much the past few days. And if you laugh, she laughs with you. As the song goes, "Scout is my sunshine, my only sunshine, she makes me happy when skies are grey..." (She loves when I sing that to her!)

My yarn buy for the month, (yes, I've decided to curb the spending since I already have enough sock yarn for at least 6 pairs, not to mention what I have for sweaters and all that):

It's Little Bunny Foo Foo from Socks That Rock. I love pink and brown together. Almost as much as I love brown and blue together! I'm thinking if they did a yellow and brown that would make my day!

Aside from that, life has calmed down a bit. I'm not constantly busy going back and forth to appointments, which is nice. I sent out my Sockret Pal package and my other swap package. So right now, I am in two swaps: Secret Pal 10 and the Knitterly Letter Swap hosted by Domestic Cat which is basically a pen pal swap where you actually write letters! I tell you, I miss writing letters. I miss receiving letters. Technology has gotten the better of us I believe.

This week: Jem has to have a tooth pulled today. *sigh* Later we are going to mall. I have some lotion and bubble bath to pick up from Bath and Body Works. He's on spring break, so we are going to try and go to the bowling alley. Saturday we are hitting the LA Zoo for their Easter festivities. Easter I will be making our traditional dinner and have an Egg Hunt here. And knitting. There shall be knitting this week!

I MUST be InSaNe

First and foremost, Happy Saint Patrick's Day! We didn't do much, but I did make cupcakes. I truly believe that any, and all, holidays should be celebrated with cupcakes. They are just too yummy! So I made four leaf clover cupcakes. Clever, aren't I?

We didn't do anything yesterday, aside from that. To tell the truth, I've had a rough spot for the past four days or so. I don't know why. Well, I think it has to do with the fact that I was trying to stop breastfeeding. Mentally I'd tried convincing myself that I was ready to stop. But in my heart, I'm not. Luckily my milk hadn't dried up and we are back to breastfeeding. I suppose I'll stop when I know I'm ready. But I'm pretty sure that the change in hormones caused a little emotional instability the past few days. And since I have not been on medications since last April, well yeah. (Though everyone says how great I'm doing, I have to say that they don't see how I am at home when I'm really a wreck! Yikes!)

Anyway, Shawn is also having troubles. As in he is diseased. He is ill. Damn him. (I really try so hard not to get sick I tell ya!) It turns out that a few coworkers came into work sick this week, which in turn means that Shawn brought back their germs! Ewww! He's hurting pretty bad though, poor guy. It's mainly his throat. Then this morning he turned the wrong way and now has a pinched nerve in his neck! (I did that about two or three weeks ago. Then he made fun of me, well just teasing, and not three days later he did the same thing to his back! I tell him all the time: KARMA KICKS ASS!) So he's trying to relax. (Trying is the operative word.)

In the midst of all of this relaxing, I decided to go through my stash. Not really to make myself feel utterly and totally horrible, (I can't help but to think that I might have an entires month rent sitting in these yarn tubs...tubs!). But I wanted to get my needles organized. I tend to just throw them back in the closet when I'm done using them and they are never to be seen again until I actually need to use them. And honestly, I'm sick of buying another set of size 9's, (even though I have 4 pairs of straight ones and 2 pairs of circulars and get this: I rarely need my size 9's).

So this is just part of the mess:

And here's another part of the mess:

And when it comes down to it, that's not even the entire mess. What makes the situation worse is that I decided, (lastnight), to see how many UFO's and WIP's I had. As of lastnight I had 13! As of today, the number increased, (couldn't have decreased somehow could it?), to 16! Sixteen projects on needles or in bags needing to be finished. Ay yi yi!

Which only makes me feel bad for having gotten this in the mail the other day:

It's Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK in Peacock. It's absolutely gorgeous and uber soft! This is the substitute yarn for the Norah Gaughan tank in the Interweave Knits Spring 2007 issue. Can't wait to start. AFTER I finish the other 16 projects I have going. (Yeah, right!)

I started the Matinee Coat for Scout, but also have been working on my Dalton socks. (Which, btw, thank you all for either your helpful tips, your links, or your support. I am hoping once I get to that point in the short row heels that the tips that Jillian sent to me will help. I'll let you know. All in all, I think that yarn over cable pattern is very pretty and the STR yarn is a wonder to work with. (So much so that I might have to order Little Bunny Foo Foo for another day!)

As for the Matinee Coat, well I don't think I need to explain do I?

The yarn is uber soft, (like the Cashmerino DK), and very easy to work with. The fact that a little less than three skeins will get me a beautifully knit sweater for Scout to wear in a few months just makes it all the more sweet. I decided to do the 12 month size to be safe. She's growing so rapidly and I don't want her to grow out of it too fast. (Friday's Dr. appointment: Scout weighs 13 lbs. 8 oz. and is 24 1/2 inches long. Her Dr. said that Scout's, "a perfect baby" and I totally agree!) Besides that, the yarn seems to be great for keeping someone warm, which she won't need until the Fall.

Yup. That's our weekend.

The Makings of Something Special

It took three tries with the short row heel. And I still don't get it. I do the beginning of the short rows fine. It's the reverse short row shaping which I don't get. (And apparently I need to "get it" because the heel of this pattern is a short row heel.) So, what is it that I don't get? I'm hoping someone, (anyone), can explain the whole picking up of the wraps. The pattern says that I should end up with 15 (unwrapped) sts after doing the short row shaping. (This I understand.) It's this that I don't:

Reverse Short Row Shaping:

Row 1 (RS): Knit to next wrapped st, (1 st before marker), knit this st together with wrap, remove marker, yf, slip next st, yb, sl wrapped stitch back to LH needle, turn. (This st now has 2 wraps.)

Row 2 (WS): Purl to next wrapped st, (1 st before marker), purl this st together with wrap, remove marker, yv, slip next st to RH needle, yf, returen st to LH needle, turn.

Row 3: Knit to next wrapped st, (1 st before marker), slip knit st to RH needle, PU wraps with LH needle and place on RH needle, sl all 3 sts back to LH needle, K3tog, remove marker, yf, slip next st, yb, slip st back to LH needle, turn.

Row 4: Purl to next wrapped st, (st before marker), slip purl st knitwise, PU 2 wraps from base of st and place on RH needle over first slipped st, slip them back one at a time purlwise to LH needle, P3tog in back of loop, remove marker, yb, slip next st purlwise, yf, slip st back to LH needle, turn.

Repeat Rows 3 and 4 until you have worked all double wrapped sts and removed all markers.

Confusing, eh? Anyway, if someone can clearly explain this whole picking up the wraps thingy to me, I'll have a little suprise sent to you via USPS. Seriously.

So, I gave up on the short row toe and tried the Easy Toe method and this is what came of it:

The Easy Toe method really is easy. (But behind the Easy Toe lurks the Short Row heel. *sigh*)

So I made a little headway yesterday, in between Scouts napping intervals, (which were few and far between during the morning/early afternoon).

Lastnight I had a chance to do a little knitting, (ummm, yeah, it was around 10 p.m.), and I was able to start the Yarn Over Cable pattern, which I like. I especially like not having to worry about actual cable needles and still having a pattern that looksl ike it took a lot of cable work. And the fact that the sock fits, well that just makes this an A+ project, (so far...ask me when I get to the heel).

I am loving the color changes in the yarn. Always something new. I do wish there was a little more blue, but I ♥ the dark brown and fawn. Just like Dalton.

And to make my day a little better, (yesterday was a bit stressful, lots of spitting up and fussiness, not to mention the oodles of cleaning and the fact that I stunk up the car because I left a package of chicken, that I bought the day before, in the trunk. Oooops!!!), I got my order from Jimmy Beans. I scored three skeins of RYC Cashsoft 4ply in Dive for a Matinee Coat pattern by Debbie Bliss from "Simply Baby".

And here's a better close up:

Three skeins yields almost 600 yards, which is great when it comes down to me only spending about $20 for some YUMMY yarn! I absolutely ♥ Rowan. Almost every yarn I've ever used by them has been 100% perfect! I can never say enough good things about their products. I'll cast on for the coat this weekend. I think.

Oh, btw. I did get the job. Last week I should have just said I was offered the job, but I had to take a blood test and have a criminal background check done. I passed! Next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are my orientation days. Which I get paid for. Nice. And I decided with the first week of my paycheck I am going to do a little yarn shopping for my Sockret Pal and pick up a the Namaste messenger bag that I want. (I had wanted one of the Lexi Barnes bags originally. But I realized three things: 1. The LB bags are made with weather resistant material. Fine and dandy, BUT I don't like the sheen of the fabric. (Besides, it doesn't rain much here in So Cal, so that's not something I need to worry about.) 2. The Namaste bag has more room. 3. The Namaste bag costs about 1/2 of the LB bag, (and right now, I don't need to spend $140 for a bag, when I can spend $69 and use the rest to buy yarn to put into the bag). Logical huh?

Jumping on the Bandwagon

I got a big surprise in the mail yesterday! (Totally unexpected too!) My pal, Ronnie, from the Favorite Color Swap sent me a wonderful package! There are 10 skeins of gorgeous yellow cotton and a skein of Rowan Magpie. There's enough cotton to make a tank top too! There was also a delish smelling bag of coffee, (which Shawn is ready to dive into), a bag of Werther's Originals, (all mine!), a bar of yummy chocolate, (which I had to swipe from Shawn when he was looking at it...I don't trust him), a pair of baby booties for Scout, a set of needles and a little Dennis the Menace grab bag for Jem, (that didn't get photographed because he immediately broke it open and was playing with the boomerang that was in it). I've been spoiled rotten! Thanks so much Ronnie!

I don't know about you, but here in Southern California we've had ridiculously warm weather. As in yesterday it was about 88 degrees here in Canyon Country. Like I said, ridiculous! So I took Jem to the pool, which was ridiculously cold. But he enjoyed splashing around for a half hour. And while there I worked on my Provisional Cast On technique for the Dalton socks.

It took a little practice, but I finally got it right. (Part of the reason it took a few tries was because I didn't have any smaller sized crochet hooks that matched with the size 2 needles I was using.) Anywhoo...I was doing great, until I started messing up on the reverse short row shaping. Those double wraps had me a bit confused. So I started over and this is where I am so far:

I only did the first short row shapings for the toe, I haven't gotten to the reverse shapings yet. (That will be later on tonight.)

I did a little drive by to JoAnn's to pick up some thread and buttons for Scout's Lacy Dress. I think I did good on the color match:

Saturday afternoon I picked up a copy of Jan Eaton's "200 Ripple Stitch Patterns: Exciting Patterns to Knit and Crochet for Afghans, Blankets and Throws". There are a number of patterns I would like to use from this book. But for now I'll only be doing one for the Ripple Along KAL. (I also got two smaller sized crochet hooks, just in case I need them for other projects.)

And this was the yarn I decided to go with:

It's Red Heart Soft Yarn. I had originally wanted to do the Ripple Blanket in browns and teals, but I could not, for the life of me, find the color combination I was looking for. And since, like other fiber addicts out there in the world, I was impatient to start N.O.W. Anyway, the red/black/white combination is very pretty and I have to say that this is the softest acrylic yarn I have ever felt. For $2.99 a skein (and over 200 yards a skein), I'd say it's a great deal.


Can you guess what this is?

It's Scout's new outfit I got at Target this morning. I had been looking for some shorts for her and these were just too cute. (Can you believe that this is a 12 month size though?) Two weeks ago, Shawn and I had been stocking up on onesies and jammies because she's getting too big for her 0-3 month clothes. Well, we got plenty of onesies but the jammies don't seem to be working for this hot weather. So I bought a couple pairs of shorts and a striped shirt to match both pairs.

Cute, huh?

She's contemplating.

And as always, there are more pictures here. (Including a picture of Scarlett giving Scout some loving!)