Frustrated…

First excitement.  Squeals of excitement.  Shrill, little-girl shrieks of excitement.  Yes, I have finished the beautiful pink market bag for M.

I also have taken so many cute pictures of the market bags and their owners and friends. 

And now, the frustration.

I cannot stand Kodak Easyshare Software.  The camera works fine, I just can’t do anything with the photos trapped in there about a third of the time.  They won’t upload and the software just freezes up and sends me one of those polite “not responding” boxes. 

An hour after messing with the stuff (I just re-downloaded the software earlier this week, so that can’t be the problem), I finally decided to give it a rest for the night.

Anyone out there with some tips on handling easyshare upload?  Your advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to get to the bottom of it and get you the pics of the new (did I mention pink?) market bag.  You’ll have to be in suspense another day!

Dueling Market Bags

Well, after N began using her market bag and getting all sort of neat comments about it, little M decided that she needed one–top priority!  I’ve been working on a pink one in Plymouth Fantasy Naturale #9992 to suit her princess personality.  Photos should be up tomorrow, as I’m expecting it to be finished then.  (So is M.)

This pic shows the Plymouth Yarn version.

 

(Photo credit and easy peasy pattern, free, from Plymouth Yarn.)

 

 

Nothing like a little sibling rivalry to re-prioritize your knitting agenda!

You Are So Beautiful To Me

I am in love.  True love.  It’s okay–even though I am a married woman.  You see, I am in love with a skein of yarn.  Not just any yarn, mind you.  The Most Beautiful Yarn in the World. 

I saw this yarn a month or so ago at a cute little yarn shop where my friend Kari and I took a sock class.  Just looking at it is like beholding a work of art.  Seriously.  Gorgeous. 

No.  I’m not selling it to anyone.  Indeed, I am not even sharing the location of this fabulous fiber, because I don’t want anyone else to buy it either.  You can’t buy it.  Please don’t buy it. 

See, I cannot buy it.  I just cannot.  It is Not In Our Budget.  Truly, it’s outrageously priced, but it’s also  outrageously beautiful yarn (can you hear the rationalization?).  So I have exercised self-control, even to the extent of telling my husband how much the yarn costs.  Naturally, the amazing specimen has now become contraband.  No way is it coming into my house now, baby. 

But I do go and visit it from time to time.  Really, I mean it.  It’s still there on the shelf, waiting for me.  Last time I was there I took a picture to share it with you. 

I told you so.

Yarn rookie that I am, I didn’t even write down the name from the tag to share it with you.  I’ll get it on my next visit and let you know then.

Oh yes, and I’ve resisted the urge to hide the poor thing on the bottom of the stack toward the back of the shelf so someone with a champagne budget couldn’t have it either.  I mean this yarn deserves to be knitted into something beautiful. 

But for now, I still have my visits to look forward to.  *Sigh*

Got ‘er Done!

Woo Hoo!  At last N’s anklets are finished.  She is thrilled and to celebrate her latest handknit acquisition, she promptly put them on her little tootsies and slid across the floor. 

For any of you who need to see the before photos, click here.

Here are the sock pics, modeled by the one and only N:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And…(please pardon our dust, N was sliding across the floor that had missed its sweeping due to Ravelympics training!)

 

So proud of my little self.  Plus, N LOVES them–how great is that? 

Happy knitting!  🙂

Poor Poor Ducky

This post will seal the deal regarding my amateur status in all things pertaining to thread, yarn, and other fiber. 

I know mending doesn’t really qualify as a craft, per se, and there is no Ravelympics event for it, but when your little girl brings you her most cherished, stuffed buddy-type critter, with yet another tear in its threadbare little body, then the practical, the creative, and the mama in you collide. 

Voila!  Buddy surgery.  The newest craft. 

M’s bestest buddy Ducky (also affectionately called Duck-Duck by M, and Stinky Potato by N) had a big hole in her chin.  This particular treasure has been with M for over eight years.  Ducky has been through a lot in her life, including having her beak chewed off years ago by our Boxer puppy.  M smuggles the potato-sized, rattling shred of cloth and stuffing wherever she can get away with smuggling it.  So when Ducky gets a(nother) hole in her disintegrating little body, it’s a highly serious matter.

Behold the seriousness of the problem.  See what I mean…

So, today Ducky’s surgery was on the schedule.  As you can see, Ducky has already been the beneficiary of multiple amateur surgeries, designed much more to extend her life than to enhance her beauty.  Today chin surgery was the project.

Caveat and note to self and all others who might seek to attempt the new craft of Buddy Surgery:  Do not attempt to use said stuffed buddy as a make-shift pin cushion while reaching for other supplies while said buddy’s mama is in the vicinity.  Such an effort is certain to result in wails of protest–not from the buddy, but from the buddy’s mama.  (Silly me.)

But I digress. 

It is difficult to find the appropriate shade of dingy light yellow thread for such a well-loved buddy.  I was somewhat comforted with the sad truth that the dinginess would surely appear on Ducky soon after the surgery as M loves on her. 

Here is Ducky after her chin surgery:

Yes, I know.  A face only a mother could love.

Suffice it to say, M was delighted.  Dr. Mom came through and saved the day.  Indeed, I’ve developed a reputation among stuffed buddies as one of the greatest surgeons around.  🙂

In fact, the waiting list of new patients has piled up, thanks to M’s (and Ducky’s) joyful recommendations!

Here are my Future Patients:

 

Being a hero to your kids.  Really, is there any better way to spend the day?

Olympic Knitting

The Olympics are in full swing, and for me, that means lots more TV than I normally watch or allow my kids to watch and a Great Excuse for More Knitting.  My friend Kari told me about the knitting olympics for Ravelry crafties, called the Ravelympics. 

 

Credit to Kari for the avatar and the sharing the idea with me! 

I jumped into the Ravelympics like lots of other things I do, underestimating both the time my projects would take to accomplish and the volume of distraction from children, pets, home, husband and other important people and responsibilities in my life. 

But after all, this was supposed to be FUN so I’m not going to get too Type-A about finishing everything.  It’s been enjoyable to set some project goals and work toward them, since before this I was more of a “whenever” kind of knitter.  Now, of course, I am an “always” kind of knitter.  A little difficult to eat, sleep and read while knitting, but I’m working on it.  There has to be a way!

Here are the projects I’ve completed so far. 

One Hour Hat

(a lie–it took lots longer than an hour because I changed the pattern from straights to circulars and had never done anything like that before)

This was the yummiest yarn.  So much fun to work with that I didn’t mind redoing and struggling with the “pattern.”

 

Rolled Brim Baby Hat

No baby in sight to model this cute little guy, so we just used one of M’s pink balloons.  Balloon not included.

 

N’s Market Bag

Doesn’t this just look great? 

I’m also working on N’s socks (seen here) and hopefully they’ll be finished before the Olympics end as well.

The giant toothpicks are calling!  I’ll post more soon.  All the Best!

A Little Tense

Here is a photo of My First Sock Ever (knitted by me, of course):

(Date is wrong on these photos–but the socks are the Real Deal!) 

This knitting masterpiece was showcased in my post, Knit Together, on a different blog.  It was saved from being put in a frame or shadowbox and I actually made another one. 

Here it is:

 

Overall, they look pretty much the same, don’t you think?  Here they are together, a happy pair, seeming almost normal, almost congruent, like identical little sock twins:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But no–look at this one:

WHAT?!  I followed the sock pattern, struggled with the short rows and the heel turn and even did a proper Kitchener stitch (thanks to the greatest sock book in the world, Getting Started Knitting Socks, and some really helpful web videos).  I’m such a silly perfectionist that I even counted every row (way more than 100) to make sure the socks were EXACTLY the same.  So why did they turn out like socks knit for completely different sized people?

The answer, of course, is tension.  Like other places in life, the level of tension in your body shows up in everything you do.  Yes, smartypants, I know I should have realized this, but I didn’t!  I know it’s common sense, but I wasn’t thinking about tension. 

I was thinking about making sure that teeny tiny yarn could stay on those teeny tiny toothpick-needles to make those teeny tiny stitches, while perspiring and praying not to drop a stitch or lose a needle.  The second sock was much easier, and OF COURSE my stitches were looser since I wasn’t clawing onto the giant toothpicks as if life and death depended upon it.

So what I’ve got is more than just a warm and yummy, albeit slightly deformed pair of wool socks to snuggle into this winter.  I’ve also got a gentle reminder of how tension extends beyond my mind and into other areas of my life.  A good thing to keep in mind as we start our homeschool year.  I’m sure my kids will thank me for it.