Operating Manuals

Guess what fits again!!!



Do you see the zipper on these babies?!?! Have any idea how long its been since I have had to operate one of these? Someone get me a manual, I've completely forgotten how to operate this kind of machinery.

Knitting Daily

Have y'all been reading Knitting Daily? Why not? Honestly I'm really enjoying it. Currently they are doing a series on how to properly measure yourself. What an eye opener this has been. It explains where to place the tape measure and why you are measuring that body part and what all the fuss is about in the first place. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person on the planet that has been doing it wrong all these years.

Come to think of it, why would I know how to properly take a measurement. I've certainly not had any formal training on this topic of conversation. Its not like anyone said "Yo genius, measure your chest size without any clothes on" Or "idiot, when they say chest size, they are referring to the fullest part of your chest, not your bra size." I can easily see where the confusion comes from. And to be completely honest with you, I'm actually scared to take the tape measure around the fullest part of my ass. I mean, what if it doesn't fit all the way around? Then I have to admit to things that I'm really not quite ready to admit to just yet. Things like "I really should have not had that candy bar even though my sanity required it" or "Belly? what belly? that isn't mentioned in polite conversation" (I keep forgetting that we don't have polite conversation in my house)

I guess that all of these measurements are very important when trying to get a great fitting garment. Especially when that great fitting garment is custom knitted just for me. Now I just have to get the courage to start taking measurements. Its like stepping on the scale, I need to ease myself into it. Luckily I know some of these figures already, so the shock will not be so great!

Small Miracles

My Dearest Sydney,

Time sure does fly when you are having fun! An entire month of fun is what I'm refering to. Specifically, changing diapers, midnight around the clock feedings, burping...you get the picture. To remedy the situation, I am introducing you to some baby cereal. You seem to like it as you managed to sleep for an entire 6 hours straight last night! (Thank you God for small miracles)

Your lovely sister has taken to the phrase "Sydney go away" when you get too much of mommy's attention....I wouldn't worry too much about her just yet, you have the cute baby thing going for you. That and the dog seems to like you at the moment. Just don't touch her princess butterfly wings or the princess necklace and all will be well.

I love you baby,
Love,

Mommy

"Oh Bother"

Its raining,
Its pouring,
The old man is snoring,



He bumped his head,
And he went to bed,
And he didn't get up 'til the mornin'.

Rockin' Girls Club

I've been nominated!!! Twice actually. Thanks Marie and Bets! You girls rock, but you already know that.

Now for the people that I get to nominate.... ***drum roll please****

Jenny: Jenny is a full time mommy and knitter extraordinaire who is currently living in Germany. She is also an avid supporter of our troops and still finds time to teach others how to knit! You rock Jenny!

Grace: Grace gets my nomination for overcoming TONS of obstacles being tossed every which way at her this year. I'm glad that you are staying afloat! You rock Gracie!!!

SK: Shui Kuen Kozinski, fondly known as "SK", at the Elann.com chat site is the designer of some fabulous shawls and stoles. From what I understand, she has quite a following (Grace is starting a Ravelry group for her! How exciting is that!!!). Seriously people, the lady can knit circles around the competition!!! Now we just need to convince her to get a blog....You rock SK!!!

The Lily Pad

It had occurred to me today that for a knitting blog there sure hasn't been much knitting going on. Well I decided to let you all in on what I have been working on. The Lily Pad.

The Lily Pad, as I have now named it, started life as a gift from the Duck Whisperer. It sat marinating in the stash for me to think of something special, really special, for it to become. Well I came up with a little idea. The idea grew. I bought more yarn to fulfill the idea. And now I'm not so sure.

Have you ever done that? Second guessed yourself? I don't do it often but when I do, Lord have mercy. The idea is a simple one. A top down raglan done in the flickering flames lace pattern. I decided to keep the edging simple with a folded over border. I'm picturing it worn over a white spaghetti strap tank top with a pair of jeans. Even I can't screw this up right? UUUUMMMMMM... don't hold your breath.

I sketched and swatched (please notice K's input, I'm gonna make a knitter out of her yet!) and washed and blocked the swatch. Did you read that? I BLOCKED THE SWATCH! I have never blocked the swatch before. Come to think of it, that may be one of my problems but lets not go there. Of course I only blocked the swatch because its a lace pattern and we all know that lace is much different than plain knitting.

OK you all don't need to point out that this really isn't the Flickering Flames pattern found in Barbara's First Treasury, but it sure is close. Instead of having 2 paired decreases, we have 1 double decrease. And instead of 10 rows, we have 8. OK I made a mistake. Again, we aren't going to mention it.

Then I measured the swatch. I even got out the calipers! I really really wanted this to be good. After all this is a great yarn from a great knitter and wonderful friend. I compensated for the screw up in the swatch pattern and came up with a number. I applied that number to the dimensions that I wanted and started knitting. Well now I have this.
And I'm starting to second guess myself. Is it going to be too big? Is it going to be too small? Are the sleeves going to fit? Did I give enough room for the length of the underarm? Is the front going to look OK with the V-neck? Am I going to have enough yarn? Do I need to make the sleeves short because I'm cutting it close on the yarn? Is it going to be too big? I swear I measured it twice and casted on once, then counted and re-counted the stitches. Please tell me I'm not the only knitter that does this.

Last night at "Knit Night" Toni assured me that it looks like it is going to turn out just fine. I'm gonna trust her instinct and keep on knitting!

The Baby Sitter

Eunny's Issue

I got my IWK issue this week. You all know the one. Eunny's highly anticipated issue. Of course I immediately started flipping through the pages looking at the pretty pictures and all of the adverts. Slowly taking in which articles I might want to read and seeing if the knitting industry will give us any hints as to which direction they are taking us in the way of the new release yarns.

As a whole I'm not a big fan of the patterns in the magazines. Sure there is usually one or two items that I would consider knitting up and then actual wear. Because lets face it folks some of the things in these magazines (not just IK but knitting magazines as a whole) fall under the category of "just because you can knit does not mean that this was ever meant to be created let alone worn."

I enjoy the magazines for the articles and the tutorials. I always manage to learn something. A new way to cast on, how to fix mistakes without frogging the last 5 rows, understanding lace, cabling, the importance of swatching. Its limitless really, the amount of knowledge of in the tiny article.

When I got to flipping through Eunny's magazine again, I started to pay closer attention to the patterns. I found several I would consider knitting and Eunny's cardi? Well I just about cast that on the second I saw it. Then I started to read the construction of these garments and be still my beating heart. STEEKS!!!!! Can you even stand it? A magazine has a pattern that incorporates steeks!! I can hardly contain myself so I read on. I found patterns that also included knitting 'round and 'round in circles so there are no seams! There are also flat knitting garments for those not interested in steeks and seamless knitting.

I found the issue to be challenging and it got my creative juices flowing. Furthermore it got me to think about a better way to construct a wearable garment. I'm so glad that there is a magazine out there that is being written for a knitter that is a little bit more advanced and not afraid to publish seamless knitting patterns!

Bravo Eunny for a fantastic magazine!

Stupefy!

Everyone is forever talking about the importance of breastfeeding. The media, doctors, nurses, family members. Everyone has their own "way" on how to do it and what is the "correct" way. Even people that don't have kids have been telling me how to do it! Regardless it was something that I really wanted to pursue for Sydney. (I was unable to nurse Karolyn because my milk never really came in.) To put it mildly, my milk supply is in.

Now that Sydney and I are comfortable with each other and have figured out how this is all supposed to work, I'm discovering that there are downsides to breastfeeding. Things go on that people forget to mention. Things like ... well we really don't need to get into the specific details of the operation but its not pretty. One thing that I can mention is that this process is incredibly boring.


Things to occupy my time:

1) Finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.
I really enjoyed this book!

2) Read to Karolyn.

3) Play Sudoku.

4) Play Mah Jong.

5) Knit!
You should have known that I would figure this out eventually!