Somebuddy stop me!

So, I've been down in the dumps about my Cozy. Here I am knitting a wool wrap while the sun shines and the snow melts. It doesn't seem right. And after T.'s post the other day about spring knitting, I found myself looking for something myself.

After much (ok, some) deliberation, I came up with the Minimalist Cardigan. It's cute and I could knit it in something light and summery.

The problem is the light and summery yarn of choice seems to be Double Sea Silk. All the gorgeousness of sea silk in a DK weight. Sigh. The sweater should cost about the same amount as my left kidney. (That's the good one.) Someone please talk me out of it. Or come up with a way of hiding this from my husband. Either way, really....

Spring Fev-ah

I feel it. It's close.

Even though I look out the window and see the vast white of my backyard, I also see the patches of grass peaking out. It gives me hope that it isn't too far away. It's been cold. It's been snowy. It's been hard to get outside and entertain two monkeys. But the little bits of grass peaking out, the melting head of our snowman and the longer days are giving me, dare I say, hope.

With these thoughts of Spring being around the corner, it makes me want to knit something for spring. Something that isn't made of wool. Something made of a lightweight fabric (cotton, bamboo, linen....). Something that won't itch.

So, what are my possibilities?? I've been cruising the land of Ravelry and can't decide.

What about the new Aleita Shell from the Spring Interweave?

What about Eileen from No Sheep for You?

What's that? Is that my Cozy screaming at my? Or is it my newly cast-on Sunrise Circle Jacket?
Or these socks that I need to finish by next week?


What are they saying? I'm a two-timing ho??? Come on, that just isn't nice.

And quiet down already - I'm busy thinking....

(oh, I've figured out who it is...it's just J. saying that my old habits are hard to break.)

Bribe

def: anything given or serving to persuade or induce

One more pair of socks done. These are a variation of Vog On in Indigo Moon sport weight. I wore them last night. They are indeed lovely.

And now for the bribe. As you know, I have been having a hard time finding my motivation to knit the Cozy. It might be the sticky yarn, it might be that spring seems to be trying to make a move on winter. Either way, I need help. So I'm going to bribe myself. (Yes, I can be bought. And it doesn't take much, either.)

Here's the deal. I will knit 5 pattern repeats on my Cozy and then I will let myself knit a piece of the tea set. (By the way, T., I think I'm going to take you up on your offer of orange yarn. I think it will add a little somethin' somethin' and I'm not sure I'll have enough yarn. I digress.) That piece might be a saucer, a teacup, a creamer, something I'm just itching to try. Hopefully this will do the trick.

Cool-ness

J. and I were just recently discussing the pitfalls of the "Cool Crowd" and it inspired me to think of all the reasons why I'm not cool (and ok with it).

So, in no particular order, reasons why T. is uncool:

1. I knit. That is inherently uncool. I know you'll all leave a comment (all 4 of you) saying "No way, knitting is cool and so are you". No, it's not cool. Not in cool circles with cool people.

2. I blog. Again, not a cool endeavour. It's much cooler to have 324 friends on Facebook than to have 324 people leave comments on your blog.

3. I had kids for the sake of having kids - not for having the right accessory. We all know people who had children because it was the fashion must have of the new millenium. Not me. I had them (we had them...) to actually try and learn a few things about this world. To try and teach ourselves about selflessness and humility (it's working by the way). This is uncool. The cool parents have children so they can show off their fancy SUV at the school pick up zone. Cool parents had children so they could dress them in Burberry and get a Bugaboo. Mine are dressed in the finest from Old Navy (or Old Lady as Punky calls it) and Joe Fresh and get pulled around in a wagon. Not cool.

4. I'd rather spend time with my husband than anyone else. In. The. World. Not cool. It's much more 'in' to have activities planned for every night of the week with various people who are unrelated to you. Not cool to want to stay home on the couch and put your toes under your honey's butt to help keep them warm. Cool to go out for breakfast every Saturday morning after your run with your peeps (sans kids and husband of course - that would cramp your style). Oh, I got me some peeps (yo! J.) but we've got similar feelings on this subject.

5. I don't like constantly reliving the past. I don't like to start all stories with "back in high school" or "remember in university when...". Don't get me wrong - I had some good times (well, at least in University I did), and have some memorable stories. But, I don't necessarily want to relive them all. I want to live in the here and now. Today. Enjoy what I have now, and not what I had. That's cool with me.

And you, any things that make you entirely uncool??? Pull up a chair and air out your un-cool laundry.

Audience Participation

Quick peak at a sock...

...and now on to the business at hand. The princess has a birthday coming up.



Ok. It's in two months, but I like to be prepared. I have been inspired to knit her a tea set. (Thank you, Annie Modesitt, for proving that you really can knit anything.) I circled the wagons, by which I mean I asked T. to pass along all her unused Butterfly cotton and like a good friend, she did.


Here are all my options.



Dizzying, isn't it? Let's narrow things down.


Girly Pink?




Spring Tea?






Wedgewood?




Now is your chance to influence my knitting! Leave me a comment and let me know which colors you like. Feel free to come up with your own colors combinations. The votes will be tallied and I may or may not take them into account when I cast on.



I'm off to put the kettle on..

Inquiring minds want to know....

....what is next on my "to knit list"???

I have yarn (it's #4010).

I have a pattern.

And I'm so excited (and I just can't hide it. I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I want to -- Who doesn't love them some good Pointer Sisters?)

OK, back to reality, where I'm living in the year 2007, not 1982.

I'm more excited about this project than I've been for any project for a while now. I hope it lives up to my expectations. I've toyed with the idea of this project for a while now (J. says it's been years...) and once I put Cdnknitchick's on at SnB last week, I knew it was the next thing I needed to knit.

And since I just finished these....

...and these.....

I think a new undertaking is just what I need.

Ambivalence

I haven't been knitting my Cozy.

It's not difficult. The yarn is fine if somewhat sticky. The end result will be a delight to wrap around my shoulders. I will toss it jauntily and be the envy of the scarf wearing public.

If only I could get myself to work on it.

I whipped up some socks. I wound skeins into balls. I have thumbed through pattern books and lurked on websites. I just haven't knit my Cozy.

Too bad I'm not the kind of person who can put something down and forget about it. (LCBrown wouldn't let me forget, but that's another issue.) I can't just rip it out, either, since I think that I'll enjoy it once it's done.

It's just the doing of it that's the problem.

Bad Habits

This week is really kicking me in the ass. I'm not taking it so well. I've had many moments of near collapse, and moments of tears and meltdowns. It's been nothing terrible. It's only felt unmanageable at times. I'm glad that it's all over as of today. Well mostly all over (I still have to collate marks on 131 final exams....). But the worst of it is behind me.

This stress has brought out some of my bad habits. My quick temper has been festering all week. My incessant need for chocolate followed by chips has not been held in check. I also take everything out on my love (I know I'm not the only better half who does this right???). And with my knitting, any guesses??

I've been REALLY good lately. Really. Since the New Year and my knitting resolutions were made, I've been excellent. I have not been recklessly casting on new projects. This is a big step for me.

But with the stress of work and life in general, today I just needed to have something mindless. Some project that I didn't have to follow a pattern or even a open a book. So I caved - I cast on some socks. Some mindless, little effort required socks.


Notice exactly how lazy I am - so lazy I didn't want to get off the couch to get the real camera. I just played with the crop features so you can't tell (1) I'm in my pjs, and (2) how extraordinarily horrible (no - really - it's true) I look after this week of h-e-double hockey stick.

These socks feel relaxing and not stressful in anyway. My STR January socks need to get slightly ripped back and my Cozy requires me to look at a pattern. These socks require nothing other than throwing that yarn and pulling that loop. It's exactly what I need right now.

In Other News...

I know that today is Valentine's Day and we should all be doing expensive and unreasonable things to prove to our spouses/significant other/acquiantance out undying love and/or respect. If you're looking for pink hearts and smooches, you're going to have to look somewhere else.

Today is my Sister in Law's birthday. As far as In-Laws goes, she's a peach. I met her just before I moved away to university which, as you can imagine, was a very formative time. She took me under her wing, showed me around campus, shopped with me, took my side against my brother, her boyfriend. Eventually my brother got his ducks in a row and married this great girl. She's like an older sister to me.

And get this.....She taught me how to knit! One year for Christmas, I received a ball of crafter's cotton, some 6mm aluminum needles and instructions. It took me all afternoon to figure out how to pull that little loop of yarn on the right needle through the one on the left. Magic! And so for all the things Tanya and I have done together and been through, I'll always be grateful for that one winter afternoon when I made the ugliest dishcloth ever. A knitter was born that day.

I'd like to dedicate today's post to our knitting mentors, those people who take the time to show us how knitting is the hardest simple thing you'll ever become obsessed with.

(She got the Queen of Cups socks. She's worth it.)

Hockey Mom

I am trying to accept this as my lot in life. I am a hockey mom.

As such, I am required to know how every piece of equipment goes on. I need to know how to tie up Punky's skates really tight so that his ankles don't buckle. I need to be ok with the stinky nature of hockey dressing rooms (I have a weak stomach prone to nausea, triggered by rank smells, especially in the morning.....kind of like morning sickness without the pregnancy...yes, I'm weird). My boy is only 4, so this is going to be a long endeavour. And that's ok. We made this decision to register him in hockey and we'll see it through. Smelly rooms or otherwise.

There are some benefits.

Absolute cutest thing ever (at least to me). And a cute hockey dad too...

And the other up-side of hockey practice is knitting time. There's not much I can do while in the stands at practice, except watch Punky's amazing abilities (please note the scarcasm) and knit. The only problem is I didn't realize how freakin cold the stands would be (you'd think they would have had heaters). And I didn't make great needle choice (non-metal needles only while at the rink). So the cozy didn't progress too far.

But these little guys are coming along nicely...


.....hopefully they'll be done by next hockey practice so my tender tootsies stay warmer.

And Stinky, he's not yet old enough to join us at hockey practice. He's usually getting his beauty sleep then. As you can tell by this picture, that's definitely important to him.

Coping

As I'm sure you've heard from other Northern Knitters, we're having a bit of a cold snap. When I say cold snap, I mean that any exposed skin could freeze in minutes. I also mean that the cold is so fierce that it drops the temperature by 8-10' C (we refer to this as wind chill. Chill is an optimistic term.)

I haven't felt warm in days. I've spent much of my time curled up in a blanket knitting or watching movies. (Slowest. Movie. Ever.) I have managed to finish up the Socks that Rock January kit....

...and some birthday socks for my sister. They're done in STR Fooforaw. The pattern is Reverse Psockology. It was a quick knit but interesting because you basically knit the socks inside out.

I have a question for you sock knitters out there. What do you do with the part balls you have leftover from a pair of socks? It's rarely enough to make another pair, although sometimes I can squeeze out a pair of kid's socks. I must have a dozen very small balls of fingering weight but it seems a shame to get rid of them. Any suggestions?

Sigh. I feel like a hermit. I'm looking forward to Spring so we can get outside and stretch our wings. Only a few more weeks.....

农历新年

Happy Chinese New Year everyone. It is the Year of the Rat. Rat is associated with aggression, wealth, charm, and order, yet also associated with death, war, the occult, pestilence, and atrocities (seriously....that doesn't sound that good).

Well, on that note, I present to you my (not-yet completed) Chinese New year socks, in Dragon Dance from Sock Club.

After my initial frustrations with them, they are turning out quite nice. The short row heel is a huge improvement over my first short-row heel experience. I have no gaping holes and the wraps look, well, nice and neat. I am managing the knitting socks on 2 circs. The jury is still out as to how well I like it compared to my preferred method of DPNs, but I'm expanding my horizons.

I also got some good knitting-related birthday loot.

My husband has finally figured out this knitting thing isn't a passing fancy - check out the books.


I have been flipping through them a lot and deciding what I'll try and design first - socks or a sweater or a wrap.....so many possibilities.

And of course I can count on J. for some knitting goodness. She showered me with yarn and new socks (yeah!). I am very spoiled (but I think I deserve it).

Wishing you all the best this Chinese New Year brings....well at least heavy on the wealth and charm, and light on the pestilence.

Ode to T.

Who could forget T.'s birthday tribute to me? It was truly.....interesting.

In a vain attempt to reciprocate, I give you the following....

Ode To T. - A Knitting Haiku in 5 Parts

I taught T. to knit
A few years ago and now
It's her obsession.

She knits in her home
And at work. She would gladly
Knit for a living.

T. likes to make green
Anything, and orange things, too.
See Ravelry queue.

T. is one of my
Best friends. I'm glad to have her
To knit and dye with.

And surprisingly,
Knitting isn't all we discuss.
Happy Birthday, T.

Progression.

Today is called - Super Tuesday. Of course it's Super Tuesday - It's my birthday!!

I am 34 today. I'm older, I'm wiser and I'm better than I was a year ago. Why you may ask? Well, I can't give away all my secrets but I have broadened my knitting horizons and I have taken my first knitting class. I have now been married for 10 years and I'm no longer the mother of any babies. Things are progressing, and it's all good.

In celebration of this event, I knit myself some birthday socks - I am quite happy with them and their simple design.


I particularly like my heel.



My STR socks are also progressing...they're a little more rocking than they were on the weekend.

So things are progressing on all fronts. And I'm enjoying the ride.

This Week in Knitting...

I've been really smitten with socks lately. That's all I to want to knit.

I started my Cozy wrap but haven't gotten very far.

I would just rather be knitting on some new and interesting sock pattern.

Like this stuff that I hand dyed myself! Tuesday night, T. and my SIL came over for a dye fest. T. kinda knew what she was doing. We experimented with food dyes and some acid dyes. Let me just say it's not nearly as easy as I had hoped. None the less, I present to you my first skein of hand dyed yarn.

I believe "interesting" is the word you're looking for. At first, I thought I would overdye the whole thing but now I want to knit it up and see how it looks. There is only one first so you might as well enjoy it. I think it's fair to say that we'll be trying this again.

Here's one I finished this week. It's knit inside out so that the right side of the sock is in reverse stocking stitch. The pattern is called Reverse Psockology and I think it's great for variegated yarns or ones that might pool.

I had finished one sock from this pair when my Socks that Rock showed up. I'm sure you've heard that this is the best sock club ever so I won't bother saying it. Let me just say that it was a toss up for me on Thursday night. I had to decide between Lost and reading all about my new sock yarn.

I finished one of these socks today. Would you like to see it? I'm not sure how people feel about this whole sock club thing. I know that I didn't want to see the yarn before I got it, but I imagine that most members have at least received their yarn, even if they haven't started knitting yet. Let me know in the comments if you'd like more gratuitous sock pictures.

This week looks promising. I have two pairs of socks to finish.

I'm not rocking it.

I'm currently questioning my abilities as a knitter.

Got my first Rockin Sock Club shipment - it's fabulous. Fabulous.

But it's not going so well otherwise. I cast them on last night. The pattern calls for 2.25mm needles, which I don't have, so I thought I'd try my 2.5mms. No go. Too much pooling. The pictures show the yarn giving this lovely stripey effect. Not so much.

So went to the yarn store and picked up some 2.25mms. Heck, I thought, why not try 2.25mm circulars instead of DPNs. That should be good. Try a new technique, expand my knitting horizons.

I've been at this for an hour and a half. I have sore fingers, frogged yarn and a bad attitude. And I still got f^%#*ing pooled yarn. I'm a good knitter. This shouldn't happen to me.

My socks aren't rocking, not even a little bit.