British people are....

Cooler than us. Check out this website http://www.castoff.info/album.asp If you can get past the knitted wedding pictures (ok, which are kind of bizarre at times) and check out some of their videos it's really cool. They are like a british knitting club of men & women that just knit in all kinds of surroundings and stuff. Why can't I take my knitting to the bar at night? Oh that's right, the brits are cooler than us...

A rant, a necessary one.

Ok the nice part of this post, Tracy proved to be a much better knitwear photographer than my husband and for that I am grateful!


So that is the gray cardigan. I'm happy with it. It's warm and wearable. Don't know if I'd recommend the knitpicks andean silk really (sooo fuzzy) but it's a keeper.

And then the ugly. Why oh why oh why did I buy this?

I don't understand. I've bought it before. I've hated it before. The fact that they first published it without the girl in the photo and then added it later (why to attract women, or repulse us more or????) just plain skeeves me. And all too often I've joined in the ridicule of the patterns at http://youknitwhat.blogspot.com/. (Face it the magazine could practically be the website) But no, for some reason I bought this. And maybe I'll give them like one teeny tiny speck of credit on having a 'men's issue' for originality. I guess. But still, nothing, nothing, nothing could ever make up for this:

That's right folks it's a knitting centerfold!!!! Like the pages fold out of the magazine and you can hang it in an auto body shop or something. What the?????? Does someone else get this that can explain it to me???? The caption so helpfully tells you where you can get the pattern to knit the fun fur faux bearskin rug. Oh thanks.... And I hate to point it out, but the way he's holding the one needle in his right hand as if he's... Ew ew ewwwww!!!! Sorry bub, maybe I'd think you were cute if I saw you on the beach or something but for now please keep your equipment away from my knitting equipment. Thanks!!!! And knit 1 thanks for burning out my retinas yet again. Next time I'll just flush that money down the toilet and make it a lot less painful.

But what have I been knitting?

Well the gray cardigan is finished.

And I'm much happier with it than I thought I was going to be. I have a couple of pics of it with me in it, but they were taken at the end of the day and let's just say I'm looking a little weary. But they will follow I promise. They have to because that's one of the things I like about the sweater, it really fits me and it is presentable. It's not like I'm just wearing it because it feels good and I like it because I made it. This is actually a very nice sweater, which was a nice surprise because god knows when I was seaming it I had my doubts!

My other main finished project for this week is this

No unfortunately it's not for my beautiful new niece Addie :( This is for a pregnant co-worker of mine who was very heavily hinting that she wanted something handmade after she saw what I had made for Addie. This one is kind of interesting, it's the strangely-titled 5 hour baby sweater. The version of the pattern I used is found here http://www.minidata.co.nz/major/freepatt/patt01.htm. Or there's another here http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/kp3.html. The sweater came out lovely, but 5 hours? Surely you jest! It was at least 8 or 9 easy. Maybe the next time it will be 5 hours, maybe. And next time I'm definitely making the seamless version. I made the version with seams why? I forgot I really, really, really don't like seaming I guess? Anyway, I think my co-worker will like it and I think I probably will make again in the future. The hat is actually the umbilical cord baby hat from Stitch and Bitch which is a pattern I love and have made several, several times. This one is a little different because rather than doing the I-cord & tying it I decided just to sew up the top & make a little bobble in it's place. I like it, I think it's a neater, cleaner alternative to the pom pom. Plus, making pom poms is a technique that continues to elude me. They're never tight enough or shaped right. Despite investing in the proper pom pom device, it's just hopeless, so I'll go with the bobbles.

Oh and the yarn is a yarn that is new to me, Bernat Satin. I loooove this yarn! So, so, soft for an acrylic. Which makes it washable, which I think it necessary for baby wear. And so affordable it's a crime. Definitely, will be using this again also.

Bright and shining and new

Yesterday, Friday, November 18, 2005 at 4:45 in the morning Adelaida Grace was born...

We are so happy to be able to say mom and baby are both doing very very well. Adelaida is a strapping 6 pounds 13 ounces already. She is eating and sleeping and living her new little life already. Best wishes and welcome to you little Addie! Oh the adventure that awaits!

Guess I better go buy some pink yarn!

The scene of the crime...

Sometimes we use the dining room for entertaining. We have friends or family over, I prepare a meal, we have some libations, laugh freeley. And sometimes the dining room is the place where I jump in and drown myself in whatever it is that's trying to be expressed here...

Today's story is one told with wire and glass and those dangerous looking tools. Ohh scary... See I have an upcoming knitting project that happens to call for 18 (yes 18, I'm frightened also) stitch markers. And rather than use the same old safety pins, random yarn pieces, crap I find in the carpet, I've decided to treat myself. So I invested in some jewelry making supplies, scratched my head and bit my lip a lot and somewhere pulled these our of the air

I am quite happy with them. They've bought me some comfort, I now figure hey, if I get the yarn on and it doesn't work and I'm totally confused, at least it will look pretty with some lovely danglies hanging off of it. Perhaps.

Now am I cool?

A photo from yesterday's Daily News...

Titled 'Spin in the city' (how witty) shows Sarah Jessica Parker knitting on the scene of a movie set. Sarah Jessica! Oh my! I knew we had so much more in common than our jet set lifestyles... So there. Knitting is cool. The Daily News says so.

November already... (In which the males of the house make a rare guest appearance)

Fall has come to lovely Matawan...

Fall can mean a lot of things, pumpkins, apples, football (groan), shorter days, back to school. Unfortunately in our household it also means this...

Having a spouse who works for waste management gives us the luxury of having garbage/leaves/old furniture picked up whenever we have the slightest desire. Having 2 huge trees in our front yarn gives us the obligation to rake leaves almost every weekend in the fall. And of course this is just a precursor to the next season where we get to shovel lots and lots of that four-letter word white stuff that is also always such a pleasure....

On a knitting note I am pleased to announce that we have a button band!!!

Last night me and the Mr. decided to stay in thus giving me the time to accomplish said button band. For dinner he made lovely chicken enchiladas (in this house nothing says 'I love you' better than a meal laden with cheese) and I made some rice & beans. We watched the movie A Home at the End of the World which was a pretty good movie based on a novel by the writer who wrote "The Hours". And I finished the button band, which I'm not disappointed in but I'm concerned the neck is going to be a little higher than I normally care for. I don't know, maybe it will be totally different once I have the sleeves on, maybe it's something about the gray color I chose but for some reason I can't help but think without the sleeves right now it looks like one of those colonial vests someone would wear at Williamsburg for a re-enactment of something. Like I can just see one of those Ben Franklin-types wearing it. Not the image I'm really going for here. I think that's just my general aversion towards vests speaking though (sorry vest lovers). I'm going to go forward and try not to make any more judgments about it until I get those sleeves on, and the sides seamed. Right Allister?

Look, they're marketing to meeeee!!!!

Check this out, I got a catalog the other day from a website where I keep my online photos & stuff. They're always coming out with new products you can stick a photo on and check out this one:


So you see the new product is a totebag you can put any photo you want on, how interesting they have chosen to display a knitting picture on their example? (I know it's hard to see, but it's some balls of yarn and needles, I swear) What does this mean? Knitters like totebags? Knitters will like totebags they can put a picture on? Veddy intervesting!