Anyone Else But You

I thought I'd share the song that runs through my mind on a continuous loop these days, the song from the movie Juno that everyone knows, here sung by the movie's stars, Ellen Page and Michael Cera.




Come to think of it, I've also overheard my youngest son humming this song through the house some days, so this is not just happening in my brain. I think it's gradually taking over the minds of the whole family. I got it as a late birthday gift and it seems it never stops playing in the car when the kids are there. Humming son actually said, "Mama, this sounds like kids' music." And it does. Most of the songs have this deceptively simple, innocent sing-songy quality while they speak to much heavier issues. I love this CD! Can you tell??




Check this out at 3:59 (or see the whole thing if you are an Ellen Page fan). Besides being rude, Barbara doesn't know what she's talking about. She "didn't get it"? I'm much older than that generation of singer/songwriters myself, and the message came through clear as a bell for me. I've been forced to watch more of The View than any human being should be allowed, due to my partner's affection for it, and I've realized through this little exercise in torture that Barbara can be quite judgmental at times and just plain not nice.








Anyhow, I love the song and the soundtrack (and don't even get me started on the movie!), and I'd highly recommend it. So would my kids. Just, if you are around them, don't utter the words "Tire Swing" or the two year old will start screaming until you find a way to play it for her. And you will, believe me, you will. Her screams are brutal.

Released

There. I have been released from the daily torture that is my Moderne Log Cabin Blanket. Well, at least temporarily. A bit melodramatic, perhaps?? Listen, I love this pattern. The yarn is pleasant to work with...I might even venture to say fun. I know it's going to be a beautiful blanket. But frankly, the blanket-I-never-stopped-talking-about so long ago has become the blanket-it-seems-I-will-never-finish-knitting, and I've been feeling pretty trapped by it, more exactly, trapped *in* it (it's gigantic!), over recent weeks. I am on skein 17 of about 22 skeins that will go into this blanket, and I am ready to scream. I just can't feel how close I am to the end...I can only feel how many hundreds of rows I have still to go!

So, instead of stepping over the edge I've been teetering on into insanity, I have decided to step back from this project for a bit and move forward with another, one for Schaefer Yarns. I am knitting the Heather Zig Zag socks by Rebecca Hatcher, from whom I borrowed needles for the project...this has to guarantee some karmic goodness for this project, don't you think? And I am almost 100% completely and totally sure that these socks will not misbehave the way that blanket has with its allure of silky warmth which you will never fully know because you will never finish it.

Anyway, here was the blanket at last glance:

and thus far, with a 12-inch ruler added for scale:

Yes, it looks like I've made good progress, but that's just the blanket's evil magic working on you to trick you into wanting to make it. Actually, it's about a foot wider and two feet longer than it was in my last post but reality has nothing to do with this. Anyway, before I move on, I have to buy an extra skein of Silky Wool in red because the amount I bought according to the pattern ended up not being enough. Fair warning.

Yes, I really do love it, despite all the grumbling you hear. It's gonna be a great blanket.

On to the (relatively) instant gratification of socks! Yay for instant gratification!

I'll get back to the blanket, and soon. I am determined to actually use this summer blanket this summer. Though it really is warm enough for fall...

Another meme

And it sounds like fun! And I have made great progress on my Moderne Log Cabin, but frankly, it's so gigantic to me at this point (the largest things I've ever made before have been sweaters) that I'm dreading spreading it all out for a pic. But I will try, and soon.

I've been tagged by Nutmeg Knitter for this meme, so here goes...


1) What was I doing ten years ago?

Ten years ago I was in a muddle of diapers, baby food and other unmentionables with nearly one year old twins. I was exhausted. And the happiest I'd ever been in my life.


2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

- Order new glasses for the now nearly eleven year old twins, whose eyes seem to be changing faster than we can make eye appointments for them.
- Go to library to return books and entertain children who have been home from school since Thursday (!). Yes, I'm still exhausted.
- Return emails to folks who haven't heard from me since Thursday because of #2.
- Make muffins for the kids to take for snack tomorrow. Yes, it's because I'm *just* that kind of mom (can you hear the angels singing?) But it's also because tomorrow is shopping day and there is next to nothing in the house for school snacks. This way I get brownie points *and* I can sleep a little later tomorrow because no one will be harrassing me for snack ideas. I'm so smart :).
- Knit knit knit on the Log Cabin during every crack and crevice of time I can find around the above. This deceptively sweet little project has taken over my life like none other.


3) Snacks I enjoy:

What don't I enjoy? I like the salty, the sweet, candy, fresh fruit, the stuff that's horrible for you and the stuff that's great for you. You will understand why I have to watch my snacking habits.


4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

- Set up great big college funds for the kids
- Buy a big house on the water (and vacation at Nutmeg Knitter's RI beach house! I love RI beaches!).
- Take all the kids to Italy like I had hoped to do when the twins were 10. My grand plan was to rent a villa for a month. These days, with jobs and other responsibilities, this feels like mostly a pipe dream. But I do hope to accomplish at least a part of this goal one day. I would love to show off Italy to my kids. They may just have to be a bit older. I must admit to a little trepidation at taking the younger kids overseas, and just the responsibility of managing the safety of four kids in Europe seems overwhelming to me now. So I guess it's not just a financial issue.
- Buy my mother whatever she wants.


5) Places I have lived:

RI, where I learned to love the RI beaches...CT for college....Urbino, Italy for a semester in college...MA for a couple of summers during grad school.


6) Jobs I have had:

Waitress (loved it!), more waitressing, anything-you-can-think-of in the library (for the most part, loved this too...in recent years I've unearthed a secret desire to be a librarian!), also almost anything-you-can-think-of in the mental health field. Stay at home mom. Big job. I'm exhausted. Did I say that already? I can't remember. I'm exhausted.

7) Peeps I want to know more about:

Wife, Mom, Knitter
Yankee Lagniappe
Costume Chick
Passimenterie
Anphoe

My apologies if these are double tags for any of you! I am also way behind on my blog reading. Exhausted, did I tell you?

A little bit, and a little late

Yes, yes, I know that my knit blogging has been woefully neglected in recent weeks. Okay months. Unfortunately, what I have to show now is not all that I had intended to show....




Question: What do you do when you realize that half the knitting pics you tried to download to your blog file never made it, just vanished into the ether? Scream? With my daughter cornering the market on that extracurricular activity, it wouldn't even be noticed. Cry? I'm tempted, merely from losing documentation of one project in particular that I'd worked *so* hard on. But, you know, my brother just got his car stolen, with his *laptop* inside. I think I'd feel a bit frivolous crying, comparing mine to *that* loss (he's doing fine, BTW).

So, I guess I'll tell you about the things I can't show you, and I'll show you the rest. I'll get over it :).

First up, the item whose lost pic nearly brought me to tears: the Wrap Around Cardigan for my gig wtih Schaefer Yarns. I don't really like wrap-arounds, but this ended up being really cute (you'll have to trust me on this, because I can't even find a pic on their site). It's made with Schaefer's Judith yarn, which is 100% alpaca, in the colorway Rosa Parks. The yarn was easy to work with, but the construction took a bit of time, as it includes a front band that is worked separately and sewn in, then has four i-cords that attach to the fronts and sides for fastening. You know, for the wrapping part. I gotta say, I was very proud of that sweater :).



Next, the London Beanie for a friend, with no pic of my own to show :(. It was my first adult-sized hat and came out really nicely. I was told that it fit, too, which is a bonus :). Made with one skein of Cotton Ease in the Violet colorway (not my pic, either),




but I eliminated the stripey parts of the pattern. She really liked it :).

Now, my daughter's socks that I thought I'd never finish. If you remember, in November, they looked like this:

And in early March, they looked like this:








Kind of a problem, considering I wanted them for the spring. So I put all else aside and worked on these exclusively, finishing them just in time for Easter:








These were made with one skein (much less, actually) of Marks and Katten's Clown yarn, which is 45% cotton, 40% superwash wool and 15% nylon. I used the Child's Lovely Lace sock pattern from a slightly aged Paton's book, Happy Feet. The yarn is a bit stiffer than I'd like, and it doesn't give much on her foot, as you would expect from many cottons. I do still like the idea of cotton or cotton blend socks for kids, and I'm pretty sure I can find a cotton that gives a bit more. I want to try this again. My daughter likes them, but I think the stiffness gets to her as well, and they don't really fit into her shoes :(. That's a bit of a problem, since you kind of need shoes to go out. So, since Easter, they've been really fancy house socks.




Next, my latest work for Schaefer, the Winter Bag made with Schaefer's Laurel. This is a 100% mercerized pima cotton, in the colorway Frida Kahlo. I had lots of trouble with pooling on this bag in the beginning:







and I ended up splitting the one skein I had into two and working with two balls, switching off on random rows. All in all, it turned out pretty well:









with much less going on in the pooling department, and frankly, aside from the pooling, it was a fun knit. I also really love working with mercerized pima cotton, even more than any wool or wool blend, so this was a treat. Hmmmm, mercerized pima cotton kids' socks? Maybe?








Finally, something I am actually working on right now! Progress on the much-talked-about-and-finally-begun Moderne Log Cabin blanket, which used to look like this:
and now is starting to look like this:









I was a doofus and forgot to place something in the pic for scale, but I can tell you that the measurements in this pic were about 39 inches long and 38 inches wide...that would be a bit bigger than a baby blanket so far. And maybe in the next pic I'll actually get the stray yarn ends out of the way, who knows?



So, I thought I had more to show, but this will have to do til I finish that blanket, whose endless garter stitch rows fill every waking hour these days. I'm not kidding. Really. I'm not (help me!). I'll *try* to remember to take more progress pics as I get further along. Hey, I hear you laughing out there...don't misunderestimate me, I blogged twice in two weeks!!!

Yarn Nirvana

Yes, we made another trip to look at yarn we don't need and buy things we hadn't planned to! This time it was the CT Sheep, Wool and Fiber Festival, and it was lovely. It isn't Rhinebeck, but I don't think it's really trying to be. It's just a modest, contained celebration of the fiber arts (of course with plenty of opportunities to purchase!), including music, food, border collie trials and real live alpaca! And the obligatory sheep and angora rabbits, of course :).


I took the trip with KnelleyKnits, WifeMomKnitter, CostumeChick, Yankee Lagniappe and blogless Pat. As expected, it was as much, if not more fun, traveling to and from the festival as was the event itself! As with Rhinebeck, my friends made the trip so much more than just another adventure in capitalism. Thanks, guys, I had a blast!


And, as expected, I didn't bring a camera :(. But I do have pics of my own modest take!


First, can't forget the family. I surprised them with this:



Maple cream from Just a Mere Tree Farm in Worthington, Massachusetts. If you haven't had it, you don't know what you are missing. It's a spread made from maple sugar, kind of like a Nutella for the maple crowd. In previous trips to Canada, this was a highlight of the trip, my partner being Canadian and having grown up on the stuff. I must say this made quite a hit at home.


Less popular, but still missing half its contents a mere two days post purchase:



Maple sugar, from the same farm. Great on toast or virtually anything you might want to put sugar on for sweetening.


And these for the kids:



Alpaca pops! Actually I loved them more than the kids, which is kind of dangerous for my waistline. Glad they are almost gone!


And lastly, these:


Raku-fired earrings from Keith O'Connor Pottery of Exeter, New Hampshire. So beautiful, I couldn't decide on which color to buy so I bought them both.


Yes, you read right, no yarn whatsoever in this haul. No knitting books, no tools. So boring, sorry y'all. I'm kind of feeling okay in that department and don't find myself longing for more yarn or more toys at this moment. Nevertheless, I still managed to spend more than I'd intended at the festival. As expected :).

My knitting is suffering from severe underblogging. Will catch up in the coming days, I promise! Well, I promise to try! Well, I promise to have every intention to blog and then apologize profusely when I don't ;).

Six-Word Memoir

Tagged again! Thank you, Nutmeg Knitter! I was tagged to do a six-word memoir. Sum up life in six words...this is *very* challenging.

Here's my best effort so far, with alternates at the bottom - because I think that life is just too big to be captured in six words!

It was never about the money.


Here's the NPR story that describes the concept and gives examples of six-word memoirs from writers and non-writers alike.

Here are the guidelines, should you choose to participate in this yourself:

Write your own six word memoir. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere. Tag five more blogs with links.

My alternates follow:

It is true. Knitting changes lives.
Four kids...what were we thinking?

Well, it's not perfect, but I still like my first the best. OK, I'll tag four...Once Upon a Cookie, The Original Test Dummy, Wife, Mom, Knitter and Passimenterie.

An Alphabet Meme

Yes, I know....it's taken me forever to pick up my tag and do this :). Sorry, guys! Tagged by Wife, Mom, Knitter for a new meme! Here we go!

Here is what you do. Use the 1st letter of your middle name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names,things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person you took this from had the same 1st initial.You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. Middle name letter: A

2. Famous artist/band/musician: Alison Moyet

3. 4-letter word: Arse (thanks, Yarn Harlot!)

4. U.S state: Alabama

5. Boy name: Andy

6. Girl name: Arabella

7. Animal: Abyssinian

8. Something in the kitchen: Armfuls of Easter candy

9. Reason for being late? Ate on the run

10. Body Part? Ankle

11. Drink? Appletini

12. Something you shout: Ask your mother!

13. Something you eat? Acorn squash

14. A movie you've seen? About A Boy

OK, I tag Nutmeg Knitter, Once Upon a Cookie and The Original Test Dummy! Have fun!