Monday, February 19, 2007

Saturday, February 17, 2007

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.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

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.


Wednesday, February 14, 2007

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.

Monday, February 05, 2007

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!!!!



Friday, January 26, 2007

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.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

...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!

Friday, January 19, 2007

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!

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

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!

Friday, January 12, 2007

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.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Sunday, January 07, 2007

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?

Saturday, January 06, 2007

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!

Thursday, January 04, 2007

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!)

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

speedy catch up

Since the last post (about a hundred years ago)...

We've grown a sixteen-year-old...


...decorated for Christmas, including my Grammie's "so-tacky-it-must-be-vintage" aluminum Christmas tree...


...finished a pair of socks for my mom's visit last week...


...had Wacky Hair Day at school...




...a Christmas dance...


...and recruited two new knitters.


Sorry for the short post, but it's so warm here in Western Pennsylvania...I have chicken cooking on the grill!

Merry Christmas and God Bless us Every One!!

Friday, November 03, 2006

Gotcha!!

Ha! Hooked another one!


Finally got the pictures up!

Here's a pot luck of pictures and updates...

I delivered the baby blanket (yes, the baby blanket) to Jakoby last week. He was (and I'm sure, still is) absolutely adorable, squeezable and sweet. Here are a couple of pictures.







Miss you, Kathy!


When I moved away from Big Run these boys were nine and six! I love this picture. It makes me feel so little!



In other news...

Halloween was a real success here. Elliot has been so terribly frightened by all things Halloween for over a year. He's been so truly afraid of skeletons and scary masks that he nearly broke my glasses trying to get out of the cart at Walmart when we went by the spooky section. I've been trying to reassure him while at the same time giving him the space to be scared. This is a real balancing act! Anyhow, we weren't sure how he'd handle the party and parade at school or if he'd even go Trick-or-Treating. I did talk to his Kindergarten teacher and she was fantastic about the whole thing. I'm sure she's seen everything...she's been a Kindergarten teacher for over 30 years! He had a wonderful time at school and even though he told me he cried on the bus because someone got out his ugly mask and was teasing him with it, he felt really good about the day. I think it helped for him to see the kids getting dressed, maybe. He did a great job going from house to house and only really hesitated once when he saw a skeleton head on someone's front porch. He went right up to it and stuck out his tongue! I was so proud! It was really hard to see him so very fearful for most of October!

Here are Claire and Elliot on Halloween. Kate and Christian were off with their friends by this point so it was really just the four of us. (Funny, sometimes it seems like we "lose" kids the older they get! We go from a family of 6 to a family of 4 quite often anymore. Don't know how I feel about that.)


I love this picture of Elliot. He looks like such a "guy".


Claire was so sparkly in her genie costume (Thank you, Mom, from the bottom of my heart for buying this as a birthday present so I didn't have to make it!) she was her own reflector!



In 1991, Christian was only 11 months old and we took him to get his first pumpkin at a stand in East McKeesport. This picture was taken of me then...



...and this is me now.


Here is Kate on the night of her Halloween dance at school. She was a flapper girl. Gone are the days of sitting on the front of Stevie Stumpf's pedal John Deer tractor in Big Run. (Stevie's the sweetie in the green shirt in the group photo above.) She's wearing my Halloween costume from last year!



I don't have the picture of Christian sitting on top of our car holding a pumpkin nearly as big as he was, but here he is now, nearly old enough to drive the car!



Now, look back at the baby picture at the beginning of this post and then scroll down to the good-looking TJ sophomore. Yep, that's about how fast it went!