Boo!!

Happy Halloween from T&J and our scary little monsters....

Practise Proper Pumpkin Care

Pumpkins like milk

and crackers

and smoochies.

Happy Halloween!

What do you do when....

- your "friend" is holding yarn hostage so you agree to go to SnB tonight. Yarn to knit this (little green clutch) and possibly this (see one recently completed by J.).

- your almost 4- year old wants to invite everyone in his class to his birthday party, and you barely know all the kids (let alone their parents) names?

- you have a knitting project stalled and you can't decide to finish, or to frog (currently leaning towards ribbit-ribbit)?

- this is your option for dress clothes for your 3-year old. Check out the description - nice polyester, elasticized waist pants. Lovely. The options for boys are limited to: cotton khaki pants and ugly poly pants. That's it. Nothing in between. Nothing cute or a little bit trendy. Nothing.

- you have the urge to drum and knit at the same time (I don't, but some people might). Well, you do what this guy does.

- you are almost out of yarn for this (yarn which you bought over a year ago so you know you're never going to find the same dye lot)

and you are completely out of yarn for this (for the second time...). You'd think as a pharmacist my math skills would be somewhat exceptional. I think this proves they are barely passable.

What do you do?

Time Off For Good Behavior.

I've been away and there is yarn to prove it. I skipped down Wednesday night after the piglet went to bed and headed off to Vancouver for the third time (!) this year. I attended a national conference that focused around diabetes and I learned a lot. I also managed to acquire some yarn.

Some Butterfly Cotton intended for the Dragon Skin Wrap from Interweave Holiday Gifts.

Fleece Artist Somoko Sock yarn (Merino/Kid/Nylon/Silk) in Hercules.

I got a kit to make a felted bracelet which may be for me or may end up in the Christmas gift pile.

Yang by SWTC. It's Wool, Silk and Bamboo. (Bad pic. Sorry.) I'm hoping I have enough to make this little clutch also from the Interweave Holiday Gifts. (Excellent issue, by the way. I'm loving Eunny.)

I did do a little knitting as well. I finished the Swallowtail. I'm just waiting for some blocking pins to arrive in the mail so that I can block it. (I love that part!)

I started a Tangled Yoke Cardi for my Mom for Christmas.

I also did a little mystery knitting. If you're on Ravelry, you can have a peak at my projects. I'm certain the intended recipient has not been Ravelled.

It was so great to get away for a few days. I am a Mom and most days that is my primary function. I change, feed, entertain, soothe, protect. All of these activities can take a lot out of a gal and so I really enjoyed being able to sleep in a little, linger over a latte, shop with some good friends (Hey, Lauren and Carol!) and visit family (Doris, have you finished the port yet?) and not be distracted by a kid. I am happy to be home again and I missed my family but I don't feel guilty. I had a life in the olden days and it's nice to have time to remember that I am more than a Mother. I am a wife, a friend, a co-worker, a knitter. Sometimes I forget to foster these other parts of myself when I am immersed in the Backyardigans. This weekend, I remembered.

Everyone did just fine without me. Here they are watching Sunday Football. They tell me they missed me but I have my doubts.

My Purl Stitch

Yesterday we took a look at my lovely knit stitch. Today we will closer examine the purl.


Very normal. Nothing weird looking about this fabric.

So, why is that? If I pulling on my right needle on the knit side, I should be doing the same action on the purl side and you should be able to notice it right?

Or, am I just thinking about this too much? (probably - but remember it keeps me entertained through miles of stocking stitch...)

I pulled out some other pieces with stocking stitch and it appears that sometimes I have a very even, parallel looking stitch.



These socks look fine:

This sweater looks fine:

Both of the above are knit it fibers with less give (socks in a soy blend, sweater in mercenized cotton) and I wonder if that's part of it.

I suppose the outcome is the most important thing - a beautifully handknit object. Crazy knit stitches or otherwise.

(J. is going on a Yarn Crawl today.....wish her luck)