1.31.2008

Still Jaywalking (but with a limp)




I am not literally limping. I feel like my progress has been really slow with this sock. I'm not even knitting anything else, but I am getting more ideas of what else to knit-like maybe some mitered mittens out this same trekking. I am in no way knocking the Jaywalkers pattern, oh no! I am loving this pattern as a first knit sock pattern. It is simple and easy and it works so well with my yarn. I am excited about the end result. I suppose I am just a slow knitter. I thought possibly by blogging about knitting I would crank out more projects, but that is not the case. I try to knit everyday, but I am teaching myself how to sew right now, and I am reading two really interesting books, one of which I have been reading for months now (see sidebar for book titles). Oh! and I started watching EZ's Knitting Workshop (scroll down) before I go to bed, which is really hard to stop watching. Completely fascinating and she is a hoot! Maybe I just need more hours in the day or I should try getting by on about 5 hours of sleep. We'll see, my goal is to get to the heel by Sunday evening.

1.30.2008

how to tell if you've had a good day




We've been getting a taste of spring these past few days. Chilly mornings and beautiful afternoons with a bit of wind. We are taking full advantage of it and playing outside as much as possible. Nothing beats dirty knees on a wee boy. You know he has had a good day when he is covered in dirt and gets to take a bath about 5 hours earlier than is normal. Definitely a double treat for him. I think the fresh air is causing some sort of growth spurt. So bittersweet. I am missing my little baby a little, but so eager to see this boy emerge. He is fiercely independent and knows what he wants (and is quite determined to see that he gets it). He sees no limitations and is pretty much fearless, which frightens me to no end, yet at the same time I do not want to hinder this trait at all.

I think Matt & I are sensing this passing of infancy into boyhood and are trying to capture time in our own ways. My way is by doing this-taking a crazy amount of photos and then blogging them here & on Henry's page (oh, & flickr). This I think is Matt's way:




I hope this trait/talent is hereditary. He truly is remarkable.



(edit: I know these feelings of missing my little baby are only going to get worse the more he grows) Oh, the pains of parenthood.

1.28.2008

This past week has been a bit hectic. Really just playing catch up on things I had been neglecting (mainly housekeeping, bills, laundry, personal hygiene, those kinds of things). Saturday evening was really relaxing and very enjoyable. Matt and I just sat around together having a few beers, listening to some great jazz on NPR. I worked on my Jaywalkers, Matt worked on some sculptures and we just talked. It was cozy. He is usually in the garage in the evenings if he is working on sculptures, so it was nice to sit and work on our things together. I hope we have more evenings like this, especially if NPR plays that great jazz every Saturday (it was the perfect soundtrack to my knitting).

Henry broke out in hives on Friday afternoon. Cause has not been determined. Freaked me out though ( I had never seen hives before). Gave him some Benadryl, which the doctor said may make H drowsy. Yeah, no such luck. The boy was loopy (in a fun, entertaining way) but then slept horribly that night. All symptoms are gone now though. Thank goodness.

1.24.2008

The felted skull tote is finished and now in the possession of it's intended owner, Mariann! It was very well received (which made me so, so happy)! I wish I had a better picture to share, but I don't. This was a really fun project. I had never felted before and I love the result. I will definitely felt more in the future. 



I also have to share another FO, that took me a while to photograph for some reason. I obviously have a great admiration for all things brooklyntweed and when I saw Jared's You're My Iro scarf I wanted to make one too. My original intention was to make one as a gift for a relative (no names because hopefully he will still receive one), but then Matt saw me looking at it online one day and said he wanted one. So he got one. It is beautiful and Noro is just amazing. I could have taken pictures of this scarf all day. I will share pictures of Matt wearing it when I get that photo taken. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed shooting them.






1.21.2008

nice surprises

We have been given some very nice, very unexpected surprises lately. Two, two! days of snow! The first was talked about here and the second day, while beautiful, did not culminate in a lot of play time. It was too wet out and not quite cold enough for the snow to stick. In advance though, we were generously given this awesome sled from one of Matt's work neighbors.


Unfortunately, there was not enough snow (but I did consider mud sledding, just to use the beautiful thing!). Really the best part of the day was watching the snow fall and observe all the birds playing in it, they really seemed to be frolicking-if birds do such things.




The other surprise was a gift in the mail from a favorite uncle (and aunt, as I am sure she was in on it too).


This was so much fun to open. Just the magnificent case elicited an adrenalized "oooooh!". It is a Bausch & Lomb 60mm zoom telescope (aka-The Discoverer). It belonged to my grampa, who gave it to my aunt Martha when she was taking some photography classes. My uncle sent me the most flattering email soon after Thanksgiving about some pictures I had taken & said he had something he wanted to send me. This was not what I expected. I knew it would something great & useful (I was thinking maybe a book). I cannot wait to use this! I need to get an adapter for it to work with my cameras, but after that it should work without a hitch. I am still doing a little research on this exact model. I feel very privileged to have received this thoughtful gift. Thank you so much, Tom & Martha. I look forward to sharing more pictures with you!


btw, the table the lens is on is a child's table, so the perspective may be a little wonky.

1.19.2008

are skulls still cool? and do i really care?

I promise I have been actively knitting. The Jaywalkers are going very slow, but I am almost finished with the gift (Felted Skull Tote) I am knitting for a friend. She is coming to dinner this week & I hope to have it done then. I still need to knit the i-cord handles and then felt. I have never felted before, so I really hope it goes well. My friends mom is a knitter & called said friend and told her that felting is the big thing right now where she lives in Missouri. She asked her to ask me if I have ever felted before. I think that's quite the coincidence that her mom asked her that & she should be receiving the first thing I felt in a few days! I love the colors in this bag. Green is both mine & friends favorite color. It is a beautiful bright green. I used Cascade 220 (7814 & 4002  colorways).



1.17.2008

I LOVE SNOW!!! (no, really, I do)

Last night was one the happiest, most exhilarating moments I have had in while. I was giddy, giggly and almost squealing (yes, like a little girl)! It also perplexed me as to why we still live in the south.









The only downside, besides it not snowing enough or lasting long (it was gone by this morning) was that my camera battery died while H & his cousin were really reveling in it. Snowball fights, snow tasting, sledding (makeshift, & luckily neither of them weigh much), and just sheer silliness (even Mason was gettin frisky) not captured by a camera. I was almost in a panic (no 35mm film in the house either). Then I couldn't find the charger. Oh No! It was found right before bedtime (which of course was about an hour late) so we did get to capture a few pics. This is the most snow I have seen in GA since I have lived here (1995). I truly hope this wasn't the last snow of the season. (by the way, most schools were closed this morning--it gives me such a laugh!)

1.15.2008

Jaywalking

The Jaywalker is coming along fine, I think. I'm not even past the ribbing part yet and it's hard to tell if I will like this pattern for the Trekking XXL I am using (see previous post). I did get to work on the sock for a good bit yesterday, not sure if it would add up to an hour though. For some reason, I forgot that I was trying to make a Felted Skull tote by Hello Yarn for a friend of mine that did us a HUGE favor and she is just generally an all around great person. So my night ended with a little Jaywalking, a bit of toting, some animal crackers and some whiskey (all while watching Prison Break, which I may be losing interest in, can't tell yet). Since today is Tuesday (Yay!) I get to enjoy Knit Night at TWNY (double Yay!).  

1.14.2008

Well, I did it. I cast on my first pair of socks! I think I may have said that before, but it was a lie (albeit unintentional). I think I have tried to cast on for Jaywalkers before but with too many distractions. I have not gotten very far, obviously, but I am determined to work on them for at least one hour a day. Fingers crossed. I am already thinking about my next project. Considering a sweater for Matt (the husband). I have just recently discovered, been introduced, exposed to, Elizabeth Zimmerman (EZ). Thank goodness I stumbled upon    b r o o k l y n t w e e d (for sooo many reasons which could actually constitute a whole other post). Thanks, Jared. Anyway, I would really like to attempt the seamless hybrid. It seems like it would be a perfect first sweater to make for my husband. I suppose while I am working through my first pair of socks I will mull this over a bit. By the way, Jaywalkers will be the first thing I have knit for myself in almost 4 years! 


             For Jaywalkers:




     Koigue love: maybe next pair

1.13.2008

I am having no luck knitting lately. boo hoo. I've been trying to knit Calorimetry, but cannot get this thing cast on. I have attempted about 5 times now. It is not necessarily the patterns fault. I originally cast on 120 stitches as the pattern says, but then decided against that seeing as how most people on Ravelry that have knit this cast on somewhere around 100. So, I frogged. Then I cast on 100 stitches. Then I messed up somewhere. Frogged again. And so it went. Ugh. On my last (failed) attempt, I cast on the 100 stitches and as I was finishing my first row I had either an extra stitch or had screwed up the rib pattern. I am putting this one aside for now. I think I will cast on some socks tonight. I have been wanting to knit socks for months now. I bought some awesome sock yarn back in October and still have not cast on. Also for Christmas, Matt gave me two skeins of gorgeous Koigu that I want to cast on. Decisions, decisions. I'll keep you posted (maybe even with some yarn photos). In the meantime, I have been wanting to share----


     This:






     Prompted this:

I really have a hard time just driving around here. It gives me a heavy heart. Who are these people that want to buy houses with no trees (or at least established ones or ones that don't reach above the first floor)? I have been actively working on Matt, trying to convince him it is time to move. We have our tiny plot of land (really it is tiny, but we like it), but when you turn from our street this is what we see. The area where we live was not this developed two years ago. Now every quarter to half mile or so looks just like those pictures. (okay, I may be exaggerating a little-but just a little).  What really saddens me about this is that I know this is happening all over the country. What the deuce, people? 

1.11.2008

I love this boy!




1.10.2008

Knitting lull

I figure since my original intentions were to blog about knitting and then some other things I should post about knitting
every so often. I do have a one year old so there is one excuse. I just have not been getting much knitting done since the
end of the year. I have been trying to cast on for the Calorimetry, but had trouble even finishing my gauge for it. Then I went back and read comments about the pattern on Ravelry & have decided to frog & cast on again using fewer stitches as most people have done. So since I don't have much to share as far as progress goes, I will share my yarn for that project.
Oh, and if you are a knitter & are not using Ravelry I highly recommend getting on the waiting list. It is worth the wait. Seriously.
No, I mean it. As I say to H., "Patience, young grasshopper, patience". Now go sign up :)

1.09.2008

Indoor camping

So, while we were in FL, the in-laws water pipes had busted & we were without water. For a week.

Fortunately, they have a pool so we took some chlorine baths. Their wonderful neighbor also let us run a hose from his house. We used it to boil water for dishes and baths for H. (see below). He loved it! We also brought in buckets of water from the pool to flush the toilets when they could no longer mellow, know what I mean? It really was not that bad. It really made me appreciate being able to take a shower.


Of course we also went to the beach. On Saturday, we went to Venice Beach to see the weekly  drum circle. Henry really enjoyed it this past summer, but was ambivalent about it this go round. The other day we went to the beach it was about 50 degrees & windy, so we did some shell collecting & general running around & some sand tasting. Great fun!

1.08.2008

Nature


More photos from the Florida trip. I find FL to look so foreign (to me) sometimes. The architecture, the plants, the parking lots (horrible!). The flora there is just so beautiful. 
Right before we left, while Matt was packing up the van, I walked around the neighborhood to get a few quick shots. I could have done it all day.