Impulsive

First of all, let me give a little *wave* to the occasional visitor I have received from the Knitting Blog Web ring. Thanks for visiting! Thanks for your comments!

So, Sunday afternoon, while both of my boys were asleep (husband counts as a boy) I got this wild creative urge to sew... bean bags. The weather has been nuts here in Dallas, if it's not raining it's too wet to play outside or 95 degrees and humid. I decided we needed a rainy day game. Some bean bags, a piece of cardboard with shapes cut out and, viola, you've got some toddler fun for at least 10 minutes. It took me back to my childhood with a vacuum box that I used as a space ship or plane. I drew a keyboard on it and "Type in where you want to go." I was very hi-tech.

This, dear readers, is a typical example of my impulsive way of crafting and shopping for crafts. I had a few knitting projects I could have done, I probably should have napped, definitely could have cleaned, but this urge over came me and I had to sew. So maybe it's compulsive. Sometimes it's frightening... good thing I'm too lazy, too much of a Pisces (we're flaky, non-committal) to be a true addict to anything.

The sewing impulse continued, as today I took a break from work and went to the fabric store around the corner... two more sewing projects-worth of fabric is now sitting on my ironing board.

Back to the knitting! After finishing my cabled scarf, I decided I needed something else that would be a quick knit. I've reached the stage in Tulip where it is boring stockinette stitch over and over. I need something to shape. This felted fireman hat from Vickie Howell's book, New Knits on the Block, has been on my list for a while, but for some reason I couldn't get my brain around the short row shaping. But, thanks again to VH, I saw an episode of Knitty Gritty and my visual-learner brain clicked. (Confession time: I'm a little bit scared of the Dominitrix...)

So, I'm about halfway done, just using a Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tomato Red.... and Donovan sees the book and says he also wants the Viking outfit. Sigh.

And, despite my whining, Tulip is coming along nicely. I have just a couple more inches to go on the back and I bet the fronts will go quickly.

ttfn... off to knit!

A Downtown Adventure

This Friday Donovan took his first train ride downtown to see Daddy at work. So what if it took us 3 times longer to travel via train... it was exciting.

And a little bit scary...

with so much to see.

Downtown has so many fountains for splashing, we arrived at Daddy's office a little damp. Yep, those are cowboy boots. Since Pop bought them, they are his chosen footwear this summer. They look great with shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. "I'm a cowboy, yee haw!"

Watch out world, here comes the next real estate mogul!

The Need to Complete

I had an urge to work with needles larger than the size 5 on Tulip, so I picked up my cabled scarf and realized I could finish it while watching our Saturday night movie (which was Breach, about the US's most dangerous spy... not bad). It felt good to finish.

The story of this scarf: My mom took me to her new yarn shop in Burnet that a few ladies opened to provide the other knitters in the area another option besides WalMart. I made the mistake of picking up this Baby Alpaca Grande.... oh my. I could not walk away. It's so soft. It's so pretty. It's BURNT ORANGE (hook 'em). But, at $14 a skein I really couldn't justify the cost of all the skeins it would take to make a sweater, at least not impulsively. Plus, I've made a sweater with bulky yarn and, well, never again. Anyway, the yarn simply would not stay at the store, so I picked up two skeins to make a scarf for the one UT game when it might be cold enough to wear a scarf.

So, I'm not sure if the pattern works. I need to try blocking it with the steaming because it has a tendancy to roll inward. But, if you want to give it a try, here goes: (I've never written a pattern before, btw. Hope it works out.)

Simple Cabled Scarf

CO 20

K 4 rows

Row 5: K3, P4, K6, P4, K3

Row 6: K7, P6, K7

Repeat Rows 5&6 2 times (if you like a longer stretch between twists to your cable, repeat 3 times or more)

Row 11: K3, P4, Place 3 stitches on cable needle and hold to back , K3, Knit 3 off cable needle, P4, K3

Repeat rows 5-11 until scarf is desired length.

Knit last 4 rows.

BO.

Hanging the scarf on the fireplace makes me long cold snaps in the fall, wearing browns and boots, snuggling up under a blanket.... But, I'm not complaining! It's only 94 and no 100 degrees days in sight! I swear, I'm not complaining!

No Knitting for the Weary

I have been struck with the latest toddler-created cold (he is often referred to as the Petri Dish) and going to bed early, so I have no major updates on the knitting front other than my little Tulip sweater is coming along sloooooowly. I actually got out some of my favorite tops to measure - just like all my knitting books say to do! - and decided those brits at Rowan must be short, or I've taken to the 80s long shirt styles, and I need to knit a couple extra inches to make it to my liking. So happy I found that out before I finished the back.... just like the knitting books say. ;)

And, I got an email from another RECPTA member saying she read my blog and wants to join the next knit night! We have fans! Someone other than my mom read my blog! So, once the clutch of death makes it's way through my body we'll have to coordinate another Thursday night at the 'Dog.

On to random knitting thoughts... I've been listening to a new NPR show, Radio Lab. It's so great if you, like me, like to learn random things about human nature mixed with psychology and science. Very cool show. So, they were talking about sleep and dreams and how you tend to process the things you think about throughout the day in your dreams and work in other memories, emotions, just sorting it all out, putting what goes where. People who play Tetris for hours during the day will dream of Tetris in the first few moments of sleep, but later on their dreaming of other memories that may or may not relate to Tetris. Yet, I can't think about a time when I've dreamed about knitting, even though I obsess about it (knitted cupcakes) throughout the day and night. Maybe knitting puts my brain and emotions to rest for a while before bed so I've already worked it out before bed... it is my meditation.

See, crafting is cool

If the NY Times says so, it must be true. Click here for the truth.

But, Tom Wolfe hates my blog:

"Favorite blogs: Mr. Wolfe, "weary of narcissistic shrieks and baseless 'information,' " says he no longer reads blogs." (Read the full rant... pretty hillarious.)

Knit Night at the Nodding Dog!

Here's a photo of our first *official* knit night out in public last night! As you can see, our knitters (and one crocheter!) are a little on the shy side even though they are most likely the only ones who will read this blog, plus my mom, but not my sister. Yet, one DH calls us the knitting hotties... still shy.

And, in the background, the teenage shop keep who was ready to leave an hour before closing time...

We covered many important topics including childbirth, the challenges of staying home full time, knitting vs. crocheting and, most intriguing... knitted cupcakes. I'm thinking about them again today, ladies.

Let's do it again soon, shall we?

Knitting Book Review!

It's not a knitting pattern book, a fictional book "centered" around knitting.

Here's my review of The Friday Night Knitting Club.

eh.

Without offending anyone (btw, that's one of my blogging goals. a lot of blogs are really just whining and griping. not mine!)... do you like Julia Roberts movies? Yes? You will like this book. It is a 'chick flick' book. Rumor has it, that fellow knitter Julia is making a movie based on this book. So, there you have it.

For some reason, I tend to like weird, dark books that stick with you, sometimes haunt you for days, weeks, years. My favorite author is Margaret Atwood. Beyond the famous The Handmaid's Tale, go read The Robber Bride. Go read The Blind Assassin. Go read Oryx and Crake. (You will never think about chicken nuggets in the same way again.) I don't really know why, I'm generally a happy person, my childhood was not troubled, I just dig her books and others that have so much that you want to and need to read again and again. I had some pretty awesome English teachers in high school, so maybe they just ingrained in me that books should have something deeper... But, I feel I don't have the capacity to write well myself at this late hour so I will stop. But, here's a shout-out (am I too old to say "shout-out"?) to Mrs. Martensen, Mrs. Jensen and the others whose names escape me tonight. English teachers rock.

Maybe I'll go pick up The Handmaid's Tale and see how it reads after becoming a mom...

Apparently, I like purple

This weekend I just started on Tulip, a cute little cross-over summery top that I hope to finish in time to wear for late summer/early fall that often drags on into October here in Texas. (It has a cool little scalloped edging you get by rotating the left needle around the previous rows...)

The yarn is a nice linen, viscose blend in a slightly variegated plum. Suddenly ,I realized it's almost the exact same color as this hand-dyed mohair blend I bought in Maine over the holidays. I made a flowy droopy-neck sweater from Interweave that is packed away for the summer.

Add a little pink and you get the color of my Seaman's Scarf WIP...

Then, I think to the next sweater I have planned and the Berocco Ultra Alpaca that I bought for the next one on my list...

And, as I walk by the kitchen taking photos of my work, I notice tonight's dinner... pork chops with plum sauce (tastes better than it looks here).

Apparently, I like purple.

Paradise in Five Easy Steps

(A few photos from our recent trip to Tulum at the Cabanas Copal. )

1) The view from our Cabana.

2) A Corona at the beach bar.

3) Swinging beds on the beach.

4) So many iguanas, no need for the mosquito net.

5) The week's activity

We can't wait to go back.

In Memoriam

Ty Kitty
A. May 2000
D. July 5, 2007
14 years old

Sweet Kitty, you will be missed.