For Keith

I'm 100%

You are 100% Pittsburgh.

Great job! There's nooooo doubt about it. You're from Da Burgh. You deserve a reward, so go have an Ahrn City or two. And GO STILLERS!

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Notes...musical and otherwise

Goodness! It's been a long time since I last posted. Here's a quick glimpse of what's been going on...

The Thomas Jefferson High School spring musical, The Music Man, was a big success! This was Christian's first musical and he had a very good singing part. He was one of the school board members that forms a barbershop quartet. There was a lot of singing and he had the uppermost part...he had the best falsetto! We were very very proud of him.

Here's a picture of the curtain call on closing night and Christian in one of his costumes.

We had beautiful weather for a couple of days and the kids got to go outside and play a bit...




Kate and I made another trip to NYC. She took this picture and got to see Phantom of the Opera while I did some shopping and had a fabulous lunch in Little Italy.


This is the felted purse I was working on.
Before...


...and after.


Felting is so cool! It's amazing that it really works! I kept calling Keith down to the laundry room to "see it now!" I finished knitting the purse the morning of our trip and didn't finish sewing on the strap and button until 11:00 PM. (Our bus left at 1:30 AM and returned at the same time Sunday morning...uggh!) I told Keith I was taking that purse with me even if it was still damp! The flap was my own little creation...whoopee! The original pattern had the purse open at the top and I thought that would never do for the city. So, I just picked up some stitches and added the flap and a magnetic closure (which are super cool).

Christian also found out that he was hired by Kennywood Park to work the rides in Kiddieland. He was super excited! He has loved Kennywood since he was a toddler and working there is a real thrill!

Those are the highlights of the last few weeks. The truth is that for the better part of two weeks Claire's been very sick with a cold and an uncrontrollable cough. We had her to the doctor for the second time yesterday and they prescribed a different antibiodic. Hopefully this one will do the trick! She is one miserable little girl and I miss her *BLING*!!

I sat with her this morning and finished up one of the socks I'm giving my mother-in-law's friend, Karen. I found the pattern here. I really love the cable twist pattern.

The yarn I used made them a bit bulky, but they should be lovely for lounging. I'd like to make a pair in a lighter gauge to wear with my new ballet flats.

And, ANNY HAD HER BABY!!! He's soooooooo sweet. Check him out here.

Uh-oh

Cake Mania Mania!

My embarassment at admitting that I am sometimes addicted to computer games is WAAAAAAY overshadowed by the exhilarating fact that I JUST FINISHED MY CAKE MANIA GAME...ALL LEVELS! DONE!! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!



"What," you may ask, "is Cake Mania?"

Cake Mania is a game I initially found here and downloaded to my computer for a trial run. (Well, several trial runs...can you say "delete cookies"?) Eventually Keith bought me the full version and made an honest woman out of me.

Poor Jill, the brave heroine in our game, has to save her grandparents bakery by successfully waiting on customers of all types and filling their culinary orders in a timely and efficient manner. Easy? At first. Then there are more customers and grouchy customers and higher goals to meet. If you aren't quick enough for certain customers they just up and leave and then you're stuck with their cake which brings down your final profit. This is serious business! I have actually found my heart racing while I try to beat these levels.

Here's one screen shot of the game. You can see the different customers and the cakes they are ordering in the little thought bubbles.



As you earn more money you can buy faster equipment, super-speedy tennis shoes and a TV to keep your customers happy. You can even buy a microwave that makes cupcakes to give the impatient people in your line. The trick is knowing who is patient (college students with lots of time and little money) and who is not patient (the Cupid and Easter Bunny characters, not to mention the brides!).

So, now I feel all empty inside since I've finished all the levels. But it is nice to have the feeling back in my "mouse hand" and my heart rate has returned to normal. I strongly suggest you try this game! Don't think I haven't searched for a knitting game, but I haven't found one...yet.

Survey says...

If you really want to know if the sleeves will go into the sweater if they're knit in the round...take a sleeve out of an existing sweater and try it!

(Be sure to use as many colors as possible so that it looks ridiculous!)

This is soooooooooooo not like me to try something out to see if it works. I'm a "give me a pattern and I'll follow it really well" kind of person. But...I did it and it seems to work even though I didn't actually finish the sleeve in question.

Since I'm sick to death of Winter (even though we've only had about 2 weeks of real winter weather) I thought this awesome bright pink felted purse kit would give me a nice pick up!

Isn't it great? And yes, it really is that bright. I've never felted anything before so I suppose this could be considered a learning experience and not just therapy knitting.

To be honest, I bought the whole darn kit because I loved these...

Can't wait to sew them on the finished product.

This very pretty picture is a quick look at the before-mentioned ucky Winter.

Good News, Bad News

Well, there's been no more progress on the Fair Isle teddy bear sweater. I have the entire body and one sleeve finished and just don't seem to feel like casting on the second sleeve.

Instead, I've been working on adapting my favorite teddy bear sweater to work it in the round. The good news is that it began beautifully! There are no side seams...



and I sewed up the shoulder seams using the Kitchener Stitch...just lovely.

However, I didn't make the armhole decreases as usual because I didn't think the sleeves would turn out right. So, the bad news is...the neck is way too wide.


If I make the armhole decreases like the pattern states, will I be able to pick up stitches and knit in the sleeves? Seems like they will set in funny. I'm taking the whole thing to my knitting group tomorrow night for some expert advice!

In the meantime, Kate is knitting this awesome iPod cover...she even learned how to change colors. Isn't she amazing?


I also got these lovely orchids for Valentine's Day from my darling hubby.


In Holiday Inn, one of our favorite movies, Bing Crosby's friend orders orchids for one of his performers. He goes into a flower shop late on Christmas Eve and orders "Orchids. Lose. Looking like they don't care." That's what I got! They're so pretty.

Something new

This weekend I started some teddy bear sweaters using a new pattern I saw on Knitty Gritty. I have made 10 or 12 sweaters with a different pattern, (you can see some of them here, here and here), but I have wanted to learn how to make one in the round so that I can cut down on the seam-sewing. I absolutely loathe sewing sweater pieces together (which is funny because I like to sew, but if I'm knitting I want to knit...but I digress) so I couldn't believe it when this pattern fell into my lap! I missed some of the footage from the show because the show is inconveniently scheduled for 11:00 and I need to meet Elliot's bus at 11:20 each morning, but I think I can figure most of it out.

The first thing I had to do was get some yarn that would get my gauge close to the gauge used in the project. Of course everything I had was too heavy or too light, and I really hate to use yarn that doesn't feel nice, so most of my acrylic junk was out of the question. Now I know what you knitters are thinking..."You just HAD to make a trip to the yarn store! Clearly you had no choice!" Well, that may be, but instead I only went as far as the Joann Fabrics in town. As much as I love a good trip to Joann's, their yarn selection leaves much to be desired. I ended up buying the Lion Brand Microspun yarn (which I've never used before) in lavender and lime. It's not exactly what I wanted, but I'm approaching this as a prototype to be perfected later.

Anyhow, (my! she's long-winded) I cast on and got this far the first night...

I'm really happy with the color combination and the yarn is very soft, though it splits easily.

One of the things I liked about the pattern, and had seen before, was this hem facing that will be turned under to make, well, a hem.

Even though I also like the ribbed hem of the previous sweaters, this is a nice alternative.

So, today I finished the body of the sweater. It turned out pretty well.

It's difficult to minimize the ladders (loose stitches) between needles because you have to leave enough ease as you change colors so the sweater will stretch as it should. Perhaps some blocking or a fluff in the dryer will even out some of the rough patches.

There is no neck band as in the other sweater pattern. Rather, the shoulders are sewn and the remaining opening is the neck. Apparantly I'll be using these purl stitches (one round of purling before casting off) to magically sew the shoulder seams together.


It looked like a breeze on the show...we'll see!

What I'm trying to determine is if it is worthwhile to make the sweaters this way even though I am so much more familiar with the other pattern. A deciding factor may be the steeks. I have never (intentionally) cut something I've knit and I'm not really looking forward to it! I'm hoping that it is a technique that gets easier (and less daunting) every time you do it. Seems like you can get such wonderful results!! I'd also like to be able to make textured sweaters with cables and all-over stitch patterns, but I've never done this in the round either. Do I just adapt the pattern as I go since there is no "wrong side"? So much to figure out! I'm going to need to make a nice simple pair of socks after this. And that will definitely require a trip to the yarn store!!!!

We entertain on Fridays

Kate and I found evidence of one heck of a party that took place in our back yard tonight...

We were a bit unnerved by how close this party occurred to our house!


But nothing could have prepared us for what we saw next. Brace yourself...

According to the Discovery Channel, there are only four of these creatures currently being raised in captivity! Amazing.

...and by the way...

YOU DA MAN!!!

First Fair Isle

Finally! We have snow on the ground. Not so much that it's interfering with travel, but just enough so that it looks like January. Perfect.


Having said that, I would like one giant snow storm before Winter is over...the kind of storm that means that no one is going anywhere. The kind of storm (that hopefully hits after a productive trip to the grocery store) that shuts down the whole town for one solid day...no school, no work, lots of cocoa!!

Thoughts of snow made me think of hats and mittens and I decided to make Elliot a new set to match this year's red and black coat. This is my first Fair Isle attempt!


Very cool! At times I felt that I was completely tangled in the yarn, but I soon got the hang of it. This is the second project I've worked on lately that uses more than one color. The fist was last week's penguin hat. I think I prefer the Fair Isle knitting with it's continuous pattern to the Intarsia color blocking. I'm glad that I've tackled both since it opens up new opportunities for varying my knitting. To teach myself these two techniques I relied heavily on my Knitting for Dummies book (by far the best present my mother-in-law ever got me) and this great site that has video tuturials that are very easy to understand.

I also finished one bear sweater for the elementary school's Oktoberfest. (Yes, it's in October.)


I figured if I could make one sweater a week...minimum...I'd have 37 sweaters to sell at the craft table. Might as well give it a try, right? Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

All done!

Finished the penguin hat last night. Cute, but I don't really know how often she'll wear it!

It was a bit tedious at times...my first project with Intarsia...I'm not a big fan! It's not too bad if you have a large area of color, but small spots like the beak and the eyes are a bit of a pain. I'm sure there's a much more clever way to do it than the way I did it!

Happy Birthday Kate!

Kate turns 13 today!


(They always love these early morning photo shoots!)

Most of the excitement happened over the weekend...she had friends over Friday night...


Carlie stayed here Saturday through Monday...


and the family came over Sunday for dinner and cake and ice cream.

I just can't believe that goofy little Kate is a teenager! She's quite a remarkable young lady, too.

I was to have this penguin hat finished for her by today, but alas, 'twas not meant to be.


Of course this blasted chest cold isn't helping me get anything done. I thought today would be my one day to be sick and lazy. Looks like I'll still be sick tomorrow, but can't afford to lie around again. Ugggh!

Some Days I Feel Just Like This...

http://stuntmother.blogspot.com/2007/01/expertise.html

I'm not crazy! (and other updates)

I went to my knitting group last night. It was our first meeting since the new year. Our fearless leader, April, brought the cool "thing" she was making in the fall. How to describe it...hmm. It is like a shrug with only a back and long sleeves. Know the kind I mean? It was knit in an amazing assortment of variagated wool in a cable pattern and looked really cool when it was on. It looked like a very short sweater with no neck hole when you held it up, but you slipped it on, and...well, it was just really neat! She also brought her drop spindle to show us how she used it to spin wool...super cool. It looked frustrating and time consuming to get any significant amount of yarn on the spindle, but she swears it is relaxing. She has a traditional spinning wheel, too. Seems a lot more complicated than buying yarn all wrapped and bundled, but I'm sure it's also very rewarding.


Are you wondering what makes me think I'm not crazy? I was trying to knit a hat for Kate that looks like a penguin. I saw it in a check-out counter booklet for babies and knew she'd love it (and is just goofy enough to wear it.) It uses black, white and orange and is the first thing I've knit with an Intarsia pattern (or blocks of color in the design). I also thought I'd be a smarty pants and knit it on circular needles so I don't have to run a seam up the back. Guess what? Turns out you can't do Intarsia on circular needles. I sat at home, banging my head against the wall wondering what "duh" thing I was doing wrong. I kept ending up with my yarn at the wrong end of my work. I'd work a row of black and come around to knit the next row and the yarn was at the wrong end. Like trying to type on a manual typewriter (remember those?) without hitting the return key. After showing it to April we agreed that it can't be done. So, I've got to rip it out and put it on straight needles. So much for my stroke of brilliance!


I've started knitting this super simple (since my brain is still on post-holiday meltdown) scarf. I got the yarn at Pat Catans for $1 and the knitting needles were my birthday present from Kathy. She made them herself! They aren't a specific size, so I can only use them on projects requiring "Kathy-size Needles". Fortunately, this is one such project.

I've decided to use my Barnes & Noble gift certificate from Keith's mom to buy this...

I've wanted it for some time and saw a great sweater in the Knit Picks catalog that was from the book. Love doing cables. So how long before I actually make myself that sweater? Quite a while I bet, but I'll still enjoy having the book.

Love these guys!

Bookless!

I stayed up until 2 AM last night reading my current book, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I didn't finish it last night, but I did finish it late this afternoon. Creepy. It was the kind of book that made you question your decision to read until 2 AM...alone! I swear I keep seeing things out of the corner of my eye.

Now, unfortunately, I am bookless!

So, tell me. What are some of your favorite books and why?

Oh, and I do still knit!

I just looked back over the pictures in my file of the things I knit (or tried to knit) in 2006. There were a lot of projects there! I don't seem to get as much knitting done as I'd like, but I guess it hasn't been too shabby! Maybe I should begin a 2007 gallery for knit projects...not a bad idea.

Here's what I've been working on this week...

These little mittens are for a much-anticipated baby in our church family. The family is pretty sure it's a boy, but I went with the multi-colored yarn instead.



I am really proud of these mittens for a silly reason. Originally they are made up on straight needles and a seam is run up the side. I decided to make them on double-pointed needles instead and eliminate the sewing up. I also had different yarn than the pattern called for (that darn "gauge-thing") and had to try several times to get a decent size. So, basically I made up my own pattern...something I'm not really good at.

These bibs are for Claire's teacher's much-anticipated baby. Her teacher, Mr. Very, is anxiously awaiting his first child. Mrs. Very was due Friday and the kids are so excited. I thought I was pretty clever with the wording..."Very Sweet" (Mr. Very, get it?) and "Teacher's Pet" (he's a teacher, get it?) I just crack myself up! They're obviously not knit, but I still like them.


I also have two or three other projects started. A scarf for Matt...


...(good thing he didn't come in for Christmas, huh?)...

...a sweater for Claire (I hate the HUGE skein of yarn, but the price was right for this first sweater attempt)...


...and a mystery project in the bottom of this bag.


My knitting group begins again on January 11. I'm really looking forward to chatting about our knitting again. I want to get some help adapting my teddy bear sweater pattern (well, it's not my pattern, but it's the one I use all the time) for circular needles. I absolutely detest sewing those sweaters together. Other than that they are very simple to make and they are darling. I hope to make a bunch between now and October and sell some at the elementary school's Oktoberfest. I want to make different colors, patterns and maybe even some intarsia with Christmas trees or jack-o-lanterns. We'll see how it goes!

I know, I know

This is just a very short post before I have to meet Elliot's bus to let you know that I am aware of the dreadfully lagging status of my blog! Hopefully it will be up and running soon. (Hopefully I will be up and running soon!)