Ipod Tunes 4-27-07

1) "I've Been Everywhere Man", Johny Cash
2) "Hey You", Pink Floyd
3) "The Sound of Silence", Simon & Garfunkle
4) "All Around the World", Red Hot Chili Peppers
5) "Write This Down", George Strait
6) "Let's Dance", David Bowie
7) "Tuesday's Gone", Lynard Skynard
8) "Rainy Days and Mondays", The Carpenters
9) "Baby Jane", Rod Stewart
10) "Walking in Memphis", Lonestar

How's that for an eclectic shuffle!

A Day Off

Yup Joan I was due for one! Finally. A real, honest to goodness, scheduled, planned, non sick day off. So nice to hang the sign on my door...out of office until 4/30. Call xyz# ...someone else..unless it's an emergency) So nice to tell DD....nope..ya gotta take the bus this morning. I'm sleepin' in. But I still got up and made coffee and poked around pretty early. I found this thanks to Jayne! Jayne you are a very very bad influence on me. Thank goodness I wasn't in spend mode...but I've earmarked a couple of other nifty items for future gifting oppotunities (to self and others of course!) Don't go to Etsy...really..you won't like it...it's a trap...yeah..set up by aliens...

I finished Wren. I am smiling. I like her and will post pics this weekend. She will be a 3 season (read 3months in alaska..haha) sweater that can be dressed up or down. And the ribbing in the back doesn't flip up anymore. Yay.

Grandma Clara has an in-house appt this morning with her podiatrist. Yeah, the traveling foot doctor...as she bills herself! She drives a cute VW bug and goes to her patients homes, nursing homes, or sees them when they are at other healthcare provider's offices. She doesn't bill insurance or medicare or anything but provides you the paperwork to submit if you desire. She is VERY REASONABLE in her rates. $75, comes to your house, does a thorough exam of the feet, trims nails, treats any problems...etc. etc. She brings all her own gear and cleans up after herself and is friendly and chatty. She spends an hour...a solid hour...with her patients. Seniors love her. I love her for taking care of my Grandma Clara's feet and being so kind with her. I can't deal with feet. (I know...I know...I deal with other parts that would make most folks cringe...but bad feet really bug me for some reason...go figure) I have her come every other month and now Grandma Clara (who was so resistant to the idea at first) asks if it isn't time yet for "the lady foot doctor to come"..she looks forward to the visit. Score one for me! Score one for Grandma Clara! I love it when everyone wins in these little struggles in her battle to maintain as much autonomy and independence as possible.

After that, I have a very self indulgent afternoon. I'm going to have my hair done...yay! Trim, highlights....the whole get ready for summer thing. I think I've said before that Alaskans have the absolute worst hairstyles in the nation. And I get sucked right in too. I don't think I've been out of a slicked back ponytail more than one or two days in the past 4 months! But all will be rectified soon. And then...get this...I'm getting a pedicure! I have a gift certificate for one that is almost a year old....and i forgot all about it until i had time and inclination...like today.

This is all assuming that my first time mom who is due May 15 doesn't go into labor. I don't think she will. I just saw her Tuesday and she just was looking bored...but not imminent. I think I'm safe to go under hair chemicals for a couple hours.

I also received my yarn for SunRay. I decided to do the Violet Heather Highland Wool and save the Fern Adara for a Luna in Juna (ha! yep, cracked myself up with that one!).

Hope everyone's having a great knitterly day.

HEAD ON OVER......

To check out the website for the Elann Shawl Knit-A-Long !

I am totally GOBSMACKED to steal one of Jayne's and Karin's Canadian expressions. The interest in the Elann Shawl Knit-A-Long has been much greater than I'd anticipated so instead of hosting it from my little blog, I've set up an honest-to-gosh KAL site just for those who want to participate. Whoo....it feels like a party! And just like with a party, you need an invitation.

So, here's how it works....you let me (as the administrator-in blogspeak) know what email addy you need the invite sent to. Then you wait for me to send the invite. I'll try to turn them around really quickly over the next week, but remember...I work..and have a family ...and such (just like you all do too of course!) so it may be 24-48hrs before you hear back.
Once you receive the invite, follow the directions and you will be able to write a POST, post your PHOTOS etc.
Anyone can LEAVE a COMMENT...not just those signed up for the KAL.

My apologies to those 15 or so folks who received an invite that doesn't go anywhere. That was my first attempt. This is a learning process for me too :) You should receive another invite within the next 24 hours...If you don't, feel free to email me or leave a comment!

my email is: midwifeknitsatyahoodotcom (subbing symbols as appropriate!)

Once a week (usually on Friday) throughout May and June, I'll do a wrap up/recap of the activities and post it both here and on the KAL site. After that, if there's still interest....we'll see how it goes, someone else may want to take over...or it may have a life of it's own...or it may just fizzle. Whatever!

To answer the button question:....to grab a button for your blogsite: double click on the image, save it to your desktop or wherever you save your images. Open your blog's layout section (if you have new blogger...it's easy, just click on add an element, then however you've saved it-photo, html...etc. just like you add a photo or other image in your text posts:). If you need the actual html sent to you, let me know and I'll paste it into an email, then you can copy and paste it in. (Anyone else who can explain this more clearly...please feel free to chime in!)

And remember...the site won't be "officially" open until the KAL "officially" begins on May 1!

Have a great knitterly day! Looking forward to the PARTY!

Elann Shawl Knit-A-Long Buttons

I received the nicest email back from Dianne at elann.com today giving permission for use of the Elann images and name for the knit-a-long buttons. She also stated that having links to the shawl/wrap patterns is fine as long as no one posts/publishes any of the patterns in their entirety (copyright and all...you know!)

Here are the three buttons Trishmade for the Knit-a-long. Feel free to grab one! I'll move them to the sidebar later this week.







Here is a recap of the pattern list and links:

1) Pacific Waves Shawl-Danielle Miner
2) Luna Moth Shawl-Shui Kuen Kozinski
3) Adara Rainbow Shawl-Elann
4) Moonlight Sonata Shawl-Shui Kuen Kozinski
5) SunRay Shawl-Shui Kuen Kozinski
6) Chunky Highland Wool Wrap-Eileen Casey
7) Tapestry Wrap-Lisa Bennett
8) Stained Glass Wrap-Christine Pruitt
9) Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-Libby Grant
10) Rambling Leaves Shawl-Dee Smith
11) Bed of Roses Shawl-Debbie O'Neill
12) Delta Shawl-Carol Jackson
13) Garden Path Shawl-Shui Kuen Kozinski
14) Victoria Lace Shawl-Michelle Ciccarriello
15) Flower Petal Shawl-Elann
16) Peruvian Cuzco Wrap-Elann
17) Lace Shawl-Woolgathering Designs-Karen Conner

And an update of participants who've thrown their needles into the ring!

CBM plans the Luna in Filati Fantasia Cezanne, in Pale Straw (she's starting early bless her heart!)
Grace plans the Luna in Peruvian Alpaca Atlantic Mist
Trish (button maker extrordinaire) plans the Luna in Peruvian Alpaca in a "purply something"
Theresa from Queens has her Luna on the needles already in Paton's Classic Wool (but I still don't know the color!)
Bets plans to KAL when time and needle space allow
Mary (are you blogless Mary?) plans the Victorian Lace Shawl in an Aran weight
Jayne will plug along on her Moonlight Sonata in one of her custom dyed "Blueberry" merino blends.
Svetlana plans a Luna in Elann Alpaca in Eggplant
Cate plans a Moonlight Sonata in Baby Silk or Baby Cashmere...uh oh, Cate may be waffling on the choice of pattern...I'll keep my ears open!
SMarieK is thinking of doing a SunRay in Baby Silk (maybe doubled?)
Benne...oh how could I forget dear Benne...Queen of Ducks.....will be stashdiving and sorting through SKs beautiful patterns and will let us know soon!
Amy QOY will be Luna-ing along in a yet undetermined fiber
Arielle is joining in with her on the needles Adara Rainbow! I can't wait to see that one Arielle, are you doing it multicolored as in the model?
Suzann is planning a SunRay in Ruby Highland Wool (in an air conditioned environment because it's already summer where she is!)
Billie will be doing a Luna (but don't call it a Luna Moth Shawl...she has insect issues) in some fancy shmancy new yarn she brought back from her recent Spain trip.
Patty (Fiberly One) will be taking a Luna with her (in a yet undetermined yarn choice) for travelling entertainment as she goes "across the pond".
Connie is also considering knitting along, but she says she's intimidated by lace....(go to her website and urger her on!)
Joan will be completing her first Luna very soon and plans to knit-another-Luna with the KAL...fiber to be announced.
and me....I'm going for the SunRay but I'm yet undecided on the yarn choice. I've ordered some Adara in Fern and some Highland Wool in Violet Heather....I'll decide between them once they arrive.

Wow, that's 19 folks expressing interest so far. I think it will be so fascinating to see the different yarn choices, colors, and variations that knitters come up with. I'm getting really excited about this KAL!

I will drop a little hint that a bird told me.......according to a well known shawl designer......the Luna could be very smashing in a summer weight yarn. Just saying...in case anyone's wondering....or undecided on yarn choices....or anything.

Talk about your inspiration! Late last week T posted several of her "objet d'artes" and of course, being the copy cat that I am, had to try it! Wren is complete but for seams and some sort of collar action that I haven't quite yet decided upon...but she needed a closure and Ms. T gave the perfect solution. Since I'd promised Grandma Clara an outing on Saturday, my self-serving self said "self, here we have an opportunity to go to the big box crafty store and kill two birds with one stone as it were". So we did. Grandma Clara got new Peaches N Cream in about 50 different colors for her dish towels and wash cloths she's been crotcheting. An I purchased some 16gauge wire and big glass beads. Once home I confiscated an old pizza pan, a hammer, and dug out my jewelry making pliers/wire cutters/etc. Fixed a big glass of raspberry lemonade and sat out on the concrete sidewalk playing for a little while. This is what I came up with (shown on a folded piece of Wren).





The fam came out intermittently to ask "what are you doing" to which I replied "playing". Later, they oohed and aaahhed, but what really cracked me up was when DH & DD said, "wow, we don't usually think of you as the crafty type"....WTF? I knit, sew, quilt, embroider,crochet, paint crap, make earrings/jewelry......who...me...crafty? Sheesh.

Elann Shawl Knit-A-Long

I want to host a Knit-A-Long. Everyone is invited to play. The finished object will be ANY shawl from Elann's free pattern section! If you've already begun one....great! Join the KAL and enjoy the cheers from your knitting peers. It may just motivate you to "git 'er done". And we'll have a beautiful gallery to display at the end. I'm looking to "officially" begin May 1 (but you may certainly jump right on it should the muse be with you!) and posting a weekly display of progress notes and finished objects through June 30. Many people are uncomfortable posting non-elann purchased yarn FOs over in the Elann.com chatroom, so if you fall into that category here's your chance to shine.A button will be created for your sidebar decorating pleasure. No rules as to type of fiber, it can be a new purchase or from stash or recycled or whatever. The only rule about this KAL will be that it has to be a shawl ( or your own interpretation of same) and should be knitted from a pattern (with your modifications as desired....you tweakers know who you are!) provided free at elann.com. Below is the current list of free shawl/wrap patterns. Should you opt to modify a scarf pattern....hey...who's to stop you. No matter what your experience level....or your tastes.....there is a shawl for you!

Current Elann.com free shawl patterns:

1) Pacific Waves Shawl-Danielle Miner
2) Luna Moth Shawl-Shui Kuen Kozinski
3) Adara Rainbow Shawl-Elann
4) Moonlight Sonata Shawl-Shui Kuen Kozinski
5) SunRay Shawl-Shui Kuen Kozinski
6) Chunky Highland Wool Wrap-Eileen Casey
7) Tapestry Wrap-Lisa Bennett
8) Stained Glass Wrap-Christine Pruitt
9) Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-Libby Grant
10) Rambling Leaves Shawl-Dee Smith
11) Bed of Roses Shawl-Debbie O'Neill
12) Delta Shawl-Carol Jackson
13) Garden Path Shawl-Shui Kuen Kozinski
14) Victoria Lace Shawl-Michelle Ciccarriello
15) Flower Petal Shawl-Elann
16) Peruvian Cuzco Wrap-Elann
17) Lace Shawl-Woolgathering Designs-Karen Conner

Now, this listing does NOT include ponchos, or patterns for which elann.com no longer carries yarn. The list also shows only ONE view of a pattern. Many patterns are shown in various fibers to allow the knitter a glimpse at "other options". I love that about elann.com. Go to their website and wander around a while if you've never. But be warned. It may begin or further enable a lifelong addiction.

Trish has made some loverly buttons for the shawl along. I've left an email query with Elann asking permission to use their name in the button. Buttons will be posted upon their reply. So far, there has been a ton of interest on the elann.com chatsite:

CBM plans the Luna in Filati Fantasia Cezanne, either in a Pink or Pale Straw
Grace plans the Luna in Peruvian Alpaca Atlantic Mist
Trish (button maker extrordinaire) plans the Luna in Peruvian Alpaca in a "purply something"
Theresa from Queens (hey...have you run into my wayward sister? she's a Queens girl too!) has made noises as if she has already begun a Luna in a "non-elann" mystery yarn....go T!
Bets plans to KAL when time and needle space allow
Mary (are you blogless Mary?) plans the Victorian Lace Shawl in an Aran weight
Jayne will plug along on her Moonlight Sonata (I'll have to recheck her previous blog posts for the yarn)
Svetlana plans a Luna in Elann Alpaca in Eggplant
Cate plans a Moonlight Sonata in Baby Silk or Baby Cashmere
and me....I'm going for the SunRay but I'm yet undecided on the yarn choice.

Hoping to add a gallery to the sidebar soon for WIPs and FOs! Some folks will likely finish their (first) KAL shawl before the actual start date. Their FO photos will prove inspiration for the rest of us.
Have a great knitterly day everyone.

Ipod Tunes & Knits Shuffle Friday 4-20-07

I have to admit that Shakira is one of my favorite newer artists. The video above was made in the later 90s before she broke onto the American scene. I think she's an amazingly talented and brilliant young woman. Not only does she move like a boneless wonder (her dancing is beyond compare!) she sings, plays an impressive array of instruments, writes music/songs etc....and speaks more than a dozen languages fluently! While "Hips Don't Lie" is of course a smash hit, you should check out some of her older videos including "Whenever, wherever" and the above linked "Donde estas Corazon". Maybe not to everyone's tastes, but one of my personal new favorite artists!


"Te Lo Agrades Pero No"....Alejandro Sanz y Shakira
"The Angels Cried"......Alan Jackson & Allison Kraus
"We Looked Like Giants"....Death Cab for Cutie
"Try a Little Tenderness"....Otis Redding
"Stars on the Water"......Jimmy Buffett
"Have a Nice Day".....Bon Jovi
"Stand By Me".....Bruce Springsteen & U2
"Lido Shuffle".....Boz Scaggs
"We'll Be Together"....Sting & Annie Lenox
"Rapture"......Blondie


On the knitting front......the overloaded project bag is much smaller. Finished both Daisy sweaters, one boy flavored, one girl flavored, but there's a new Daisy on the needles in some blue OnLine Gaucho for yet another lil boy due in July. My God can't those relatives and friends stop with all the breeding. It's a good thing those Daisies only take a few hours!

The Wren is a rather unchallenging knit, but all her parts are complete. She's blocking and awaiting seaming and her collar or whatever collar modification we work out. I'm all about a shawl knitalong for the next KAL or K alone project. I'm thinking either a new Kiri (i'm still obsessing over that pattern because 1) it kicked my butt and 2) Bets & Libby whipped theirs right out and put beads on them...the showoffs...and they were gorgeous!) On the other hand, the Luna shawl is also calling my name. I'll have to check the stash and see what yarn is most demanding to be knit up next.

The sock is still a lonely and unfinished sock, but her heel is turned. I don't consider socks UFOs because there are always socks on the needles. In fact...there must be ummmmm..3 more soxy singles in various colors in the sox knitting basket! wow, that would be 2 pairs of almost finished sox if they were the same color.....hmmmm...maybe i should just have a FINISH THE SOCKS week...Wishing the sockapalooza sock swap wasn't closed already....that would certainly give me the push I need, a sense of urgency to finish....hmmmmm...well, we'll see what happens this weekend after Wren.

Lastly, the Tangerine Dream baby loop surprise is growing veeeeerrryyy sllllloooooowwwllly. If she's had 2 more rows it would be a miracle. Just haven't had much in the way of knitting time the last few days. In fact, haven't gotten home before 8pm or so all week! TGIF and I'm truly hoping for a nice easy weekend. NO one is due for at least 3 weeks right now and I don't have any hospital call scheduled until next weekend, so it looks like there will be some quality time to spend with fiber.

That's what's on my tunes and knits shuffle list! Have a great day!

I'm such a copy cat!

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Project Overload

I've described how messy and chaotic my life generally is..........and today......i believe you can see proof of this in my project bag. Yes, this is the very same project bag I carried to my overnight on-call at the hospital Thursday night...complete with all the projects. What the heck was I thinking...talk about bad juju! In the 12 1/2 hours there was a grand total of oh...maybe 15 minutes....between admitting 8 laboring moms and delivering 5 sweet new babies.......to take a break and eat and...of course...knit. I think i jinxed my shift by bringing "The Bag". So here, in all it's glory is my spring knitting bag..analogous to my life....

Here we have the lovely bag...she was a thrift store find and had big clunky ugly wooden handles, one of which was cracked..so for a buck...and new bamboo handles (also scavenged from another $1 thrift store bag) I recreated/recycled something new. She's a great bag because she has so many pockets, both zippered and open!



Not too scary looking on the outside, rather pretty and sweet even....but take a look inside....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaghhhhh....holy crap....how much yarn, how many projects can be crammed into one bag? I'll show you!



Well, first of all, there's the famous Wren for the Wren KAL....we have 2 sleeves, right front, part of the left front, and part of the back......


I started on Wren's back when I didn't feel like doing 'a lot' of shaping the other night. The back was flying along until i noticed this "crease" right at the needle size change...which is causing the ribbing to flip up. Dampened, it seemed to smooth out....so I thought i'd plug on....but it's flipping up even after dry so I'm kind of on hold. My question to you....do YOU think this will block out or should I just rip and reknit?



And here's the Rainy Day Sock....a few more rows since last pic...but not much...this was waiting in line at the drive thru latte stand knitting.....



And here we have the Tangerine Surprise...with about 2 or 3 new rows knit during the rain of babies Thursday night/Friday morning....this color is soooo energizing....but i think i like knitting baby loop mohair as a carry along better than alone...we'll see when the surprise project is completed....



And here we have the Daisy from a couple of posts ago. Buttons were purchased. That's progress...right...just ends and buttons to do.....



And because I visited a "new to me" LYS...The Knitting Grounds...yarnstudio & coffee shop in a concrete floor warehouse in the industrial district of southside Anchorage. There's a website for them...www.knittinggrounds.com...but I'm not able to bring it up for some obscure reason! But here is a lovely and far more elegant review of this yarn studio by Deborah Robson for Knitters Review! I attended the expo she writes about and am only just now reading the write-up...hahaha......
Anyway....Knitting Grounds had such a friendly atmosphere and the owner was just as nice as pie...and her cute little miniature schnauzer followed me around for ear scratches....i had to buy something didn't I...well of course...so for another Daisy, I picked up 2 skeins of Cascade Sierra Quatro....I must say...I LOVE KNITTING THIS YARN...it seriously is so soft and all that it practically is knitting itself...see!



Well, I heard from Grace that Kiri has finally arrived in Joisy....stay tuned to see what that tramp (Kiri I mean...not you Grace..haha) has been up to... in the meantime....have a great knitterly week!

Yarn Head

Otherwise known as why redheads shouldn't wear pink! But seriously, when I received my order (at work no less) from Yarn Discontinued earlier this month, I kind of squealed with delight (read: made an ass of myself) and danced around with a ginormous gorgeous skein of hand dyed baby loop mohair in Tangerine Dream. My boss happened to be in the office and said "You are such a YARN HEAD!" (huh, Yarn Head.....hmmmm...i like it, i like it)...I told DH about it....and he agreed...so for your viewing pleasure, I give you..The Yarn Head....kind of feels like Raggedy Ann gone wrong...but what the heck, I have no shame!



And I seriously am in lust with this yarn.....her colors are sublime...glowing flames of red and orange with little pink and yellow hints to lighten and brighten. I love the way the light catches it. It glows I tell you!





I wound it up finally last night.....1000yd skein. I got a hand cramp turning the winder crank! And then I cast on! What can I tell you....I got the perfect fabric on size 7s....but had to change needle type 3 (yes, THREE) times. First I had used the KnitPicks Options...thinking, fine mohair needs fine point needles...errr no...they kept snagging in the boucle' loops. So then I tried my Addi's....blunter tips...but noooooo......the last 10-15 stitches of each row kept falling off due to the slipperyness of the needles...same problem with the KP Options but I didn't realize it was going to be a continual problem...so now she's merrily and rather easily chugging along on old standby bamboo Clovers. Can you guess what I'm making yet?



I'll tell you later.....(it's a secret because I'm cheating on Wren! shhhhh!)

In other news....Kiri should reach her Aunt Grace's house in Joisy by the weekend....according to our local friendly postmistress!
Aaaaaaaaanddd........you can just call me "Professor MidwifeKnits" from now on...Haha....I got a call from UAA (University of Alaska Anchorage) asking if I'd be interested in teaching one of the undergrad nursing elective courses this summer...Nursing the Chemically Dependent Patient.......after discussing it with the family and my boss at work, I accepted. I think it'll be a good experience and an opportunity for me to see if I'd ever be interested in adding academia to my clinical/research repertoire. I've taught other courses at local technical and community colleges...but never in a nursing program or within the University system. I feel really honored to be asked.....especially by one of my former faculty from a decade ago...wow! On the other hand....it's a pretty small healthcare community up here (remember there are only about 600,000 people in the entire state) and because summer's so short, labor is in short supply....what kind of fool gives up extra time in the summer? uh...that would be me.......anyway, it'll be very interesting to be on the "other end" of the academic whip. First class is May 14th! Wish me (and my prospective students/poor victims) luck!

And as always....have a great knitterly day!

Somewhere between Winter & Spring

It reached 50 degrees yesterday. The snow is melting so fast! My garden is almost bare ground today. There's been enough of a warm breeze to help dry out the sucking mudpits known as the driveway. I'm sleeping with the bedroom window open at night. The songs of sweet spring birds as they build nests and start families fill my ears in the morning. It's about damn time.

Re: the Wren....I started on the back last night and am at about 6 inches..almost the last of the waist shaping decreases. But I have a "funny looking" indentation (on the right side) and a ridge on the wrong side, just above the needle size change. It's wanting to flip the ribbing up. I've dampened it and "think" it will block out...but if it doesn't, the whole back will need to be ripped out and reknit. Funny, this didn't happen on the fronts. Maybe my tension was screwed up...maybe it's the width of the piece....please knitting goddess let it block out....but if it doesn't....hey, it's only string and can be reknit..right? right?

Have a great knitterly day!

Little of This, Little of That, and a Pinch of the Other

Well, he's finally back for a week or so. Hooray! The man traveled to Skagway, AK , flew home for less than 24hr (just enough time to fix the thermocoupler on the heater) and flew right back out to Barrow, AK . This shot from Barrow looks out over the ice field and onto the Arctic Ocean. Barrow is the northernmost community of the United States. An amazing place, 340 miles north of the Arctic Circle, polar bears are frequent visitors to this uniquely Alaskan town. The "arches" you see are actual whale ribs. Winter still has a very icy grip on Barrow!



I couldn't believe it was already Monday! And no blogging since last Wednesday or Thursday! You are probably thinking, what is that lazy ol' midwife doing? Taking a vacation or something? Isn't she part of that Wren Knitalong?
Well...umm..the lazy midwife has been taking care of the DD and the little Grandma Clara, who suffered the same ugly gut bug that has swept the state. I became rather close friends with the bleach mop. Then of course there was Easter, with all the cooking and egg dyeing and falderal that entailed. But...I did get a bit of knitting going on...rather a bit in fact. I finished a lovely little baby sweater for one of my favorite pharmacists who's due with her first baby the beginning of May. The pattern is the Harlot's Daisy. One of my favorite baby sweater default patterns. I added a little crochet trim around the neck and edging. It still needs a few ends woven in and the sunny yellow buttons, but it's essentially done and blocking. See!



Bets turned me on to the yarn. It's Plymouth Bella Colour, an acrylic/cotton blend that I picked up from Yarn Discontinued. I also picked up a baby loop mohair in a wild hand dyed orange/red/pink blend that I'll show another day. Overall this yarn was "OK". Not great, not bad...but I could feel the acrylic/plastic sort of feel...mebbe cuz it says to knit it on size 10s and I knitted this on size 7s....but...I liked the fabric better, for a baby anyway.



And did I mention my sweet Wren? I was zooming along and finished up the swatches/sleeves, then finished the right front and moved over to left front land....and left my silly knitting bag at the office all weekend....oh well....not like there's not any yarn in the house, eh?



So, since I was feeling the knit mojo....and in a sort of soxy mood....I started on the Rainy Day Socks using up some oooollllllldddddd sage green Wendy two ply from the stash. The cuff is supposed to have a clever picot edge made by YOs and K2Togs alternating and then folding over and knitting the cuff hem....hmmmm...i followed the directions...but nope...no picots? what happened? I'm going to assume it's the fuzz of my yarn...or something.



And I'm not 100% sure the knitted hem is "supposed" to look like this...but I'm not going back and frankly, it fits and looks fine from the outside...we'll see when I start the second one.



So really, I have been doin' a little of this, a little of that, and well...just a pinch of the other. Hope you're all having a great knitterly week.

Have You Seen This Man?

If you see him, tell him to come home! He's doin' way too much traveling these days.

Poor DD......started getting sick around 3am. "Moooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmm.......there's a bad mess in the bathroom". Sigh....me and my bleachmop are doing overtime these days. But...in a different light... I feel fine AND I'm having a stay home day. I"ll probably be dinking around with the blog so if it looks wierd or anything don't worry. I enjoy YouTube and thought I'd try to add the widget for some cute/funny/interesting things...we'll see how it goes. If it doesn't work out or I don't like it...it's only a few clicks to delete it right?

On the Wren front....I have sleeves and left front completed. About halfway through with the right front now....hate that when a pattern says "reverse shaping" and doesnt' give you the directions. I'm "winging it" (hahahahaha...cracking myself up) and it's going fine...but I probably should have taken the time to write out the reverse directions....because I left my project bag at work yesterday...and well..frankly...if it requires thought and it's been more than 24 hours...it may be disastrous. But there's more yarn at home and the pattern can be reprinted, maybe I'll start on the back today!

It's starting to look a teensy bit like spring...we call it "breakup" here. All the snow melts very rapidly and the ground becomes saturated and it's very easy to lose a shoe in the sucking mudpits of the driveway/parking areas or basically any non-paved area. It's still freezing at night though, so there's a relatively solid crust of ice/mud to walk on in the morning. Soon it will be time to lay out the plywood and spread straw all over the parking area to soak up the extra yuck. Life in Alaska...aaah...it's a grand state! Amazingly, pussy willows are starting to bust out everywhere......and I saw a little bit of green in my garden right at the base of the house.....looks like one lily has started pushing up, and new growth on the veronica (speedwell) too!.............Gardening dud in the newspaper says to wait another week before planting seeds. I've started pots of dahlias in the living room already. If you haven't checked out CBMs latest post...scoot on over for her Tour of Roses! Wow...that knitter has a green thumb for sure!

Hope everyone has a great knitterly day!

Kiri Nagalon Is OVER!!!!

I know you probably thought to yourself..."what a loser...she said she'd do the drawing on 3/31"
Unfortunately, life intervened in a very..er..ummm......uncomfortable & unpleasant way. Suffice it to say, it involved a nasty gut bug.....and several hours with the toilet and a bucket....at the same time. gross. And the thermo coupler on the home heating system went out, and DH was out of town, and the laundry room had "seepage flooding" from the spring melt...and altogether the weekend sucked...but now it's over. Yay. Probably waaaay too much info. Sooo....

Without further ado....we have the entries......


We have a nonpartisan name drawer........


And .......we have a winner!!!!!


Congratulations Grace! So now you'll have not one ....but two packages winging their way to Joisy!

I have to laugh though....DD was curious as to all the paper snipping etc....and when Grace was the winner she said..."hey, isn't she the one whose gonna finish that...did you rig it or what"...gotta love those young suspicious minds!

And no...it wasn't rigged.......it was truly a fair and random drawing based on number of comments with Kiri , shawl, nag, or some reference thereto. One comment, one paper snip...Grace & Jayne both had 9, there were several with 8, and a few lonely only's...(hey Mehitabel..I was rooting for you!)