Hello!

Hi! Hi there!!!! Hi there blog! I miss you! Just wanted to say hi!

I miss blogging more often I really, really do. But it just seems like lately the precious weekend hours have been getting away from me. All to often I find myself collapsing on Sunday nights, without a single picture taken or idea reported on. But things do go on, like the Central Park Hoodie. This weekend it morphed itself into a big, soft, woolly, beautiful mess and I love it.



The pieces are all done, I seamed the shoulders and got the sleeves in. Now I'm simultaneously working on the hood and the side seams. I had read on Ravelry that since the yarn I used to knit this was pretty bumpy, that it was easier to seam this with DMC Perle Cotton instead of the yarn. I bought some Perle Cotton and tried it and while it was probably easier, I felt the cotton was totally obvious, so I'm seaming with the Kathmandu Aran I knit it with and it's really not that bad. No suckier than seaming usually is, but that whining is for another day.

Because this hasn't been so portable lately I have been working on my smaller project I usually keep going. I finished the sloucharific green hat (crap forgot to photo it, next week I promise) and started the first sock I've knit since before Christmas.



Ain't it pretty?

Tracy gave me awesome Socks that Rock in the Raven-Valkyrie colorway and I love it. I'm finally using a pattern from the More Sensational Socks book. This one is Double Lace Ribbing and it's pretty fun.

Speaking of fun I just found the video podcast Gardenfork on iTunes this morning. So far I've watched the episode on making raised garden beds (so informative, I needed to see this done, I'm so glad I found it) and the episode on street food from Jackson Heights, Queens. Also very fun. Hopefully next week I may have even more to report!

Pizza! Pizza!

I can never, ever, ever get enough pizza. I love it to death. Even though I had it for dinner last night, I still went ahead and made a different version of pizza for lunch today.



It's a spin on this Rachel Ray recipe. Instead of spinach I had baby arugula in the fridge. And I made sure I tossed it well with olive oil, salt and pepper. Other than that it's the same, as simple as it gets. Refrigerated pizza dough, olive oil, arugula, tomatoes and fresh goat cheese. Yum! Really, I'm a sucker for goat cheese on anything. But I understand people who don't like it, you either love it or you hate it probably. Just like a lot of people and arugula. I happen to adore both. Can you image how good this will be if I can make it again in the summer with my own tomatoes?



Look at those happy little guys just growing away! All I can hope for is that the growing continues this way when I put them in the ground in about 6 weeks. If that happens the Recession Garden will surely be a success.

In the meantime Central Park Hoodie is growing also. I'm knitting the fronts at the same time to make sure they're even. Also to avoid second front syndrome. This way when the fronts are done, they're done!

Avalanche!!!!

Now I can be a cluttered person at times but this really is a bit much...



See the slanted piece of wood next to the desk? It's attached to a small cabinet. It, the cabinet and a small but very cherished collection of action figures, knick knacks and toys used to be resting on top of the desk. Thursday night after getting a check with some extra expendable income we were expecting in the mail, and after finding out I'd only have to work a half day on Friday our beloved desk and toys and collection decided to somehow all implode on itself when we tried to hook the husband's laptop into the cable modem. Miraculously, the work laptop, the home computer, home monitor, external hard drive, printer, etc. all escaped without a single scratch. However the toy collection and our sanities were given a bit of a shake up. And well the afternoon off from work, and that little bit of expendable income of course went right out the window since we knew I'd have to go right to Staples the next day and get something to replace the 14 year old pile of IKEA particleboard we had probably entrusted way too much of our life to. But I think I did ok.





Aah, order and organization has been restored. Along with order and organization there's a lot of spring green around here lately. I'm starting the plants for the Recession Garden inside from seeds. They've just begun to poke through the dirt a little, I think I'll have a really good picture of them for you next week, at the moment they look mostly just like a box of dirt. Other green things: the back of the Central Park Hoodie is done.



Pretty! And then I have this hat that I've started but I'm not exactly sure where it's going.



A very loosely based amalgamation of the Twiggy Bobble Hat and Le Slouch this is my current traveling project. Knitting the Misti Alpaca Worsted stockinette in the round is lucious enough to make me enjoy knitting it alone. I think this is going to be one of those slouchy, baggy rasta type hats you're seeing everywhere that I'm probably too old to wear at this point. But still it's so fun. I keep re-naming it. On Ravelry it's Slouchy Mc Slouchington. Sometimes is Slouch-o-rama. Sometimes it's Slouchilicious. Either way, at least I'm having fun knitting it. And re-naming it constantly. That should count for something...

New Jersey-The Garden State

Yes, New Jersey really is known as the Garden State. In keeping with this theme I picked up a couple of new books yesterday.


In my job, which is really pretty boring unless you do it too, trust me, fraud is not an uncommon occurrence unfortunately. We are constantly getting updates and warnings from our underwriters, FDIC etc. about whatever new real estate scheme is going down. I've actually heard important people at important meetings refer to New Jersey as "a hotbed of fraud" and talk about the many "Fraudsters" (that one makes me giggle especially hard) peppering our landscape. So when someone recommended The Soprano State to me earlier this week I had to pick it up. It is supposed to be J-U-I-C-Y baby! I can't wait to hear about some more Fraudsters! It's always so funny it's sad, and by the look of the index and the names named so far, I don't think it will disappoint.

As for the gardening book it's hopefully going to help me with what I've referred to as my Recession Garden.



Because thanks to the Fraudsters people, we are in the middle of a Recession and I figure when everything starts doubling in price it might not hurt to have some free food around. This is my first official gardening adventure and I'm pretty excited about it so far. I've started seeds for peppers, tomatoes, flowers and herbs. I like working outside in the yard and I've always wanted a garden so I figure I'll give it a try. Worse case scenario, nothing takes and I'm just left with the box of dirt I started with in the beginning right?

In knitting news the bandwagon ride has been going along smoothly...



Chris in my knitting group originally suggested that we should all knit the Central Park Hoodie as a race. Being the person who would have to knit the biggest sweater I put the kibosh on that right away. It just wouldn't be fair. However, I don't think anyone else has really started that much... and Chris has been on vacation in Florida where I'm certain it's got to be too hot to be knitting a Central Park Hoodie right? I might actually be in the lead so... race on ladies!!! Eat my dust! Ok, just kidding, who cares when anyone finishes. I'll just be happy if the end result does not look like a circus tent or a sausage casing. That's how I usually gauge my sweater success. Aim high right? And if it comes out the wrong size I'll just have to go and find someone that it will fit to own it.

Wool... and some golden brown deliciousness....

The top down raglan quietly blocks and I wait...



To find out if this is a weekend sweater or if this sweater will be good enough to qualify as during the week workwear status. The neckband was a little wavy when I tried it on the other night. I hope the blocking stopped that. By the way what do you think of my new blocking board. I think it's totally awesome! We realized that the store that my mom works at carries table pads made by the same company that makes the boards. So since she was able to get one with that steep employee discount it was one of my Christmas gifts. It's pretty nifty if I do say so myself.

In the meantime I started swatching the Queensland Kathmandu Aran I bought from WEBS at the last Stitches. I'm going to be jumping on that Central Park Hoodie bandwagon this week and I just can wait...



In food news this evening I made this Chicken Tetrazzini recipe from Everday Food. Something tells me like the Stuffed Shells I made with my mom a few months back that Chicken Tetrazzini probably qualifies as retro food.



It has that 50's casserole-ey aura about it and I'm pretty sure it's something that I probably rejected eating a few times as a kid. But the last time I visited my sister this very recipe was the meal she had waiting for us when we got to her house from the airport. Something about being tired, going into a family members home, being served food, such good feelings you know? So that memory probably makes it even better. But still, if you want to try something you might not have eaten as a kid, it's really is pretty good eats on it's own. Chicken, mushrooms, peas, pasta, smooth Parmesan cream sauce with wine? Either my mom didn't make it this good when I was six or those taste buds just had not developed yet I guess. And the recipe makes enough for one dinner now and one to freeze for another time. You couldn't beat it with a whip if you tried!

By George!

Remember back on Monday when I talked about having the flu? Ha! By the next morning my cough had progressed to sounding something satanic and I threw in the towel and dragged myself to the doctor. What I just figured was the flu was actually bronchitis, a sinus infection, a nasty throat infection, fluid behind both eardrums and a temperature of 102. Since then I've been on hardcore antibiotics and cough medicine and a decongestant. I'm starting to feel more like myself but I decided I'm tired of winter for some reason.

Normally, I love winter but this winter, as far as winters go kinda blows. It hasn't been that cold really, we had a lot of those weird days where it's like 50 degrees and warmer and hardly any snow whatsover. Friday was our first major snow 'event' but it really wasn't even an 'event.' I believe we officially need over 4 inches to have an event. This was less than that and today it's starting to warm up again, and you can already see the dirty grass through the snow. I hate that.
To make matters worse I believe my sweater sleeve is having an identity crisis. This is why I should probably be knitting with a pattern.


I rely too much on this 'try it on as you go' stuff. I swear I did the math at the top of the sleeve and thought I had my decreases down pat but I've decided that on this sweater gauge is just a big fat liar!!! I had one gauge while knitting the yoke back and forth, another gauge knitting the body in the round and now the sleeves are another gauge all of their own. This lead me to start out decreasing every 3rd row at the top of the sleeve, then changing to every 5th row in the middle and now as I'm nearing the wrist I figure I'm almost completely done decreasing, maybe I'll just do it one or two times more. For all the erratic-ness the sweater still actually looks decent on. If my notes are good enough and I can manage to duplicate this sleeve for the second one I might actually have a wearable garment.

Boy this post sounds cranky for some reason! I promise I'm really not in that bad a mood, it's just coming out that way. Well, in non-sick, non warm weather or sleeve crisis news the Oscars are on tonight everybody! You know what that means!! George is going to be on tv!!!!

Sigh... George I love you... Even when you played George on Facts of Life I knew you had only begun to tap into your hotness. And I loved Michael Clayton. I work with attorneys. Why can't any of the attorneys I work with look like you? Why can't they look like someone who might even qualify to carry your water bottle? That scene where you have on the shearling jacket and black turtleneck? You should wear turtlenecks all the time. You should wear a turtleneck tonight to accept your Oscar for best actor...


So look at it this way whether he wins or not, we'll probably get to see him in a tux so really, how bad can the 4 hour speechfest be if there's 30 seconds of George in a tux... Even if Juno wins, because let me tell you I've had a whole Juno rant these past few weeks.... Yes the movie was cute but best picture? No. I haven't been this irritated since Julia Roberts won her Oscar for Erin Brockovich. This is basically how my whole argument goes-Julia Roberts does not win Oscars, Meryl Streep wins Oscars. And Juno is a teen movie, as much as John Hughes has affected my life let's face it, teen movies do not win oscars. Heathers was a great movie. Never won an Oscar. The Breakfast Club was a great movie-no Oscar. So as much as I love Michael Cera-no Oscar for Juno. Sorry, hands off that statue Diablo Cody... That one is for George!

Racer

Somewhere between last week and this week I found I've tumbled headlong into what honestly feels like some type of horrible, Dickensian-era type of plague... Ok, I'm whining, I know it's just the flu but still I hate it. Fever, chills, sneezing and a lovely cough have all somehow yanked my 3 day weekend right out from under me. I slept all day Saturday and Sunday, and when I say I slept all day I mean I slept all day. No knitting, no socializing, no eating, no tv, just sleep! Today, I am feeling halfway human again. The cough still hangs on but I did manage to get up and about and get to the bank and grocery store. So by tomorrow I should have things back together, just in time to go back to work...



I finished the hemmed edge of the body of the top down raglan this week. So far I'm happy with it, it flips a little but I'm hoping blocking fixes that. It actually doesn't flip when I put it on. I got a ways into one sleeve and then realized I don't have the needle I want to do the sleeves on magic loop so I placed an order from Knitpicks and in the meantime I'm working on the second sleeve until it gets too small for the 16 inch circular. So since I'm kind of in the middle of this long slog of stockinette on the top down raglan I thought I'd take some time and go over the origins of this sweater. It's kind of funny. Well, it all starts with my favorite sweater ever, this thing



I know it's not pretty. It is pretty old though. I think I got this in high school. My dad bought it for me at the mall for my birthday one year. And yes, don't ask me why I still have it and I still wear it on my mostly-staying close to home days. There's something about it, well it is soft, yes, and black which always appeals to me. But something about the slightly open neck and the ribbing also makes it at least somewhat flattering without being too form fitting. And I like that. So all my of knitting days I've always thought in the back of my head, that I should really re-knit this sweater someday. This one is totally pilly and fuzzy and it really wouldn't be that hard to knit- 2x2 rib. The only thing I think intimidates me would be figuring out how to get the ribs to line up for the yoke. I see myself inevitably completing a body and 2 sleeves that do not fit together in any logical way at all.

Once day back at Stitches East 2005 I thought I had it figured out when I saw a sample sweater at the Shelridge Farms booth. It was ribbed and long-ish, it looked like the right silhouette and the tag said it was Unisex. But it looked girly enough to me. It's not a ball gown or anything but I figured I could wear it with jeans and I didn't think anyone would call me 'Sir' by mistake. And I liked the yarn and the price and it came in my size so I kindly asked a salesperson if they had what I wanted in stock. When they gave me the kit this was the photo on the front.



Sigh.... Anyway, I guess after I brought it home and forgot what the sample looked like and kept looking at these photos I kind of fell out of love with the pattern. Nothing against the poor lad in the photo (because let's face it he looks a lot more like a 'lad' than a 'guy' or a 'dude') but he always looks to me like a younger calmer Rowan Atkinson for some reason.


And while I adore Rowan Atkinson I just don't think I'm up for wearing a calmer, younger version of his sweater. Even though it appears that perhaps the designer originally meant for this to be a women's sweater pattern after all!



The writing saying unisex was on the pattern when I bought it, not my writing. But still it's Rowan's sweater and I needed to go my own way. Anyway, the yarn is great and hopefully my top down raglan comes out ok. If in the end I totally hate it for some reason you know I could always frog the whole thing and knit myself a Racer...

First Football Free Weekend!

The Mitered Mittens are done!



Pattern: Mitered Mittens (for May) from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Almanac

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran 1 1/2 balls

A few years ago (I've had that stuff this long, yikes) I waaayy overbought on the Cashmerino Aran for some Fetchings. This gray stuff has been sitting there forever staring back at me. Not only did this pattern give me a good opportunity to use it up, I really enjoyed knitting them and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Pretty happy because I still like the more colorful versions of these I've seen on Ravelry, the ones made out of Noro, etc. a little better. Also while the gloves look lovely off and just lying there when you put them on, the thumb does yank that center seam over to the side, since most of us don't walk around with our thumbs glued prettily to the centers of our palms. But otherwise they are warm and done, good and good.

The current traveling project is the Fine Cabled Mitts pattern from Knitspot. Using some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport I want to use up. Black is hard to photograph.



But take my word for it the pattern is terrific. This is the third of Anne's patterns I've made and I'm always so impressed how well written and easy to follow they are. Plus, going with what I have now, I think I'll just adore the finished product.

And the top down raglan is moving right along. I'm just going to do a finished hem at the bottom and the cuffs, I'm thinking I'll probably finished off the body tonight or tomorrow and then it's just the sleeves and the neckband and I'm done!



In non-knitting news it's the first Sunday of the New Year with no football. Also known as the first Sunday of the New Year I get to have the remote for the big tv and knit! Today I watched a few episodes of Everyday Food, the latest Project Runway and Lost from the other night. I'm really starting to like Lost even though I am a really, really late newcomer to it. I like the characters and the suspense and the surprises that seem to be popping up all the time. It's not Heroes, but here in the middle of February, hopefully close to the end of the writers strike, it will do just fine...

Monday, Monday...

I finished off this weekend yesterday thinking another weekend past with no blog post but I have a few minutes this morning so maybe I'll try to do a little quick one.

My mom came over the other day wearing the white Fiber Trends Fuschia Lace Scarf so we decided to take some photos.


I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I think the Zara Merino yarn I used was perfect. I think she's pretty happy with it too.


And in non knitting news Friday night I went to see Fuerza Bruta with some friends in the city.


It was amazing!!! Great music, dance, performance art maybe??? Like nothing I've ever seen. Anyone around New York City for the next few months, definitely take some time out to catch it. I promise it's like nothing you've ever seen!

Today the procrastination ends here!

I found out a few days ago I would have today off from work. I am resolved to use it to do the stack of things I've been putting on the back burner for 'when I have time' for way too long. One of these is mailing out some charity items I knitted (gasp) probably years ago. The Here and There Cables Scarf I just finished. But the EZ hat, baby and preemie hats, baby sweater and booties were made ages and ages ago.



So many ages ago that the sweater is actually the first sweater I ever made. (I think I might have even made it before I had a blog! I told you-gasp!) I think trying to knit a baby sweater before an adult sweater gave me a lot of insight that helped before I made the real thing. Even if the sleeves probably are way too long, hopefully it can help out some poor baby somewhere that's chilly and needs needs help keeping warm this winter. I feel bad I've held these things for so long, on the other hand it seems somewhat appropriate to be packing up charity items today. In the spirit of helping out others, I think the Reverend Dr. King would approve...

In more current knitting news the top down raglan is going so much more successfully...



I think I'll be separating for the body and the sleeves soon. I really am having so much fun knitting this one.

And the mitered mittens are moving along too.



I think the thumb on the first one looks a little chubby, but these are for me and it doesn't fit so badly that I feel like I should rip it out. These are really fun so far. Sometimes I think they look kind of plain, the Noro ones on Ravelry are so much more colorful. But the Cashmerino Aran is so soft, I usually get over it once I get I on my hand...

Knitting, Stamping, L-Boxing

We're off to a Christening in Brooklyn today. You know what that means-I'll need to have some knitting for the car-



While I'll admit I'm back to drooling over pictures of socks being knitted on other peoples blogs already, I'm not ready to start knitting them again yet. Which is ok, I've had a barrage of mitten and fingerless glove patterns kicking around in my head for months. So these are the first ones I decided to start. EZ's Mitered Mittens from The Knitter's Almanac. The I-Cord border was a little tricky but I think it's really pretty. And I'm a little concerned about the upcoming Thumb-Trick which involves clipping a stitch and unraveling the knitting to expose live stitches. But I'm up for it. What's the worse that can happen right? It's not like I'm going to end up frogging 70 rows of a top-down raglan or anything like that...



Yep, this sweater looks mysteriously smaller this week doesn't it? After trying on what I had over and over and over and knitting more and re-calculating and knitting more and re-calculating it became clear that the v-neck I was working on was going to have the bottom of the 'v' positioned probably just slightly above my belly-button. I wanted an open v-neck true, but this was going to be obscene, tank top underneath or not. So to the frog pond I went and it's really ok. It was a relief in a strange way to see all the yarn balled up again, to see that it survived just fine and is all ready for me to take a second chance. It's not wasted knitting time lost-it's yarn forgiveness. A very Zen perspective isn't it?

I did have a lot more success making a rubber stamp this week.



In a former life I was big into making linoleum prints so this was a fun venture that felt very familiar to me. Lime and Violet started talking about Letterboxing in Episode 49 1/2 and I'm pretty intrigued. Basically you follow clues posted on the website to a planted 'letterbox' where you will find a stamp and a book. You stamp that stamp in your book and your stamp in the book in the box. It's a nice twist to a walk or a hike and becuase you get to use a compass it's just nerdy enough for me to give it a try. Chris was very, very intrigued and has already been out to find her first. I'm thinking next weekend I'm going to go out too and give my stamp a try.

Knits and Giggles

I officially finished the last of the holiday knitting for real. These Fetching mitts were done in plenty of time to gift to my hairdresser yesterday.



I always think hairdresser sounds like an oldy-lady word. Like she's going use a pick and lots of Aqua Net on my hair or something. Anyway, she loved them. I did a regular knit bind off at the top this time. I've done the picot bind off like the pattern suggests in the past and I find it curls back a lot. I like how these came out. The recipient was also very happy with them!

And I finally (finally, finally, finally) got to start a sweater!!!



Although I have this icky nagging fear that this sweater start might just be extensive hopeful swatching and my not end up being a sweater result. I'm using the book Knitting from the Top by Barbara G. Walker for this one. The book is amazing but it involves a lot of trust. I figured my pattern based on a much wider neck opening than recommended. It's a top down V-Neck and I like my V-necks a little wider than I think some patterns account for. I like to wear them with tank tops underneath just fine. So far each time I put it around my neck and 'pretend' like it's a sweater it actually looks ok. I guess I'll know for sure when the time comes to join the neckline in the round.

Other than knitting this sweater the other thing that just plain freaking made my week was my new favorite website EVER!!! I Can't Believe He's Still Single is a blog that copies REAL personal ads from the internet and it is hilarious!!!! And for those of you that think it's mean just remember-I met my husband on this crazy internet. And before that I will admit I did kiss a few frogs. And apparently those frogs are still single and there ads are being posted on this blog!!! Ok, probably not really, but some of these scenarios do seem somewhat familiar... You guys have to read it, it's just so, so funny. Do not, do not miss the post Millionaires Need Love, Too or Dumb and Slutty ISO Dumb and Slutty. And on Bloglines there are only like 5 subscribers or something? How is this possible? I'm telling you guys I marveled about the ability of Ravelry to just suck the time out of my day. This site is just as good. Seriously. Enjoy.

Happy New Year!

Oh my gosh! I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged! I missed my blog! I think it was just that I liked looking at all those finished socks on the last post over and over. That and of course those holidays in between. The shopping, the cooking the wrapping, the baking. I loved it all and had a lot of fun. But a lot of the time I found myself at the end of each day wondering where the time went.

Ok, so since I'm here now and I'm writing I do first of all to say a big Thank You! to Grace from Little Knitting Black Crow for this awesome package.



Grace was the person I got to buy for a while back during one of the first Punk Rock Gift Exchanges. She was so much fun to buy for, I didn't expect anything in return, but this stuff is great. Lavender soap, Tasmanian honey, nice warm wooly sock yarn, a cool sewed skull and a cute bookmark. Good stuff! It was a really cool surprise!

On the knitting front it has been happening. I finally finished a scarf that seemed like it was taking forever.



Pattern: Here and There Cables from Scarf Style
Yarn: Patons Canadiana
Needles: Lantern Moon, size 7 straights-possibly my faves

The real reason this seemed to take so long was that the holidays and the gift knitting that went with them fell in between. But it's done now and I'm really happy with it. I feel like this scarf really is a testament to how much I like knitting. I have no one to give it to. I don't really want to keep it for myself (I already have a ton of scarves and several red ones) I'll probably donate it to charity. And for a charity scarf it's a really lovely pattern, in a sturdy, warm, workhorse yarn, that took me a pretty long time. But that's fine. I knit it just to knit it. Just to see how it came out on the other side. And it's really pretty awesome if I do say so myself. I hope it's a help to whoever ends up with it through whichever charity I decide to send it to.

And that's where I'm at on this 01-01-08. I've also been doing some swatches for a sweater I'm probably going to start later tonight. (Finally!) And I'm ready to face the new year ready to go. While I'm glad I made it through a lot of the challenges of 2007 I also had to acknowledge yesterday that a lot of those challenges really sucked. I spent the summer on crutches. We lost our beloved little pet. My husband & I both went through job changes. And a lot of our family members had surgeries and similar rough patches of their own. Is everyone ok now? Yes, we're fine. Do I count my blessings? Every day. Things can always get worse and we're luckier than most. Would I change anything at all? Nope, never. However will I be sad if there is a little bit more smooth sailing and fewer 'challenges' in 2008? No, I think we deserve a break. And I feel like I'm starting with some sturdier footing this year. (No pun intended) So that's good.

We rang in the New Year last night in the best way possible, with friends and food and merriment. I hope you did too and you had a great holiday season and I hope you're as ready for 2008 as I am!

14 Socks

I think I'm in the home stretch, I finally started the last sock!


Only thing is of course, you know these are for my husband so of course they are ginormous. Don't expect a post showing them as finished tomorrow or anytime this week probably. In the middle of these and the white scarf somewhere I also managed to knit these up.


Wee little socks for my wee little niece! Unfortunately, even with wee socks I have yarn-running-out issues. This is just some random acrylic I had floating around, I was certain when I started them there would be more than enough. Oh well... So if you look really, really close you can tell the one in the back is probably knitted tighter (because I knew I would run out) and then the tip of the toe is actually some Kroy sock yarn I found and used triple stranded to finish them up. Hopefully she won't be too bothered by it, she's two you know. So big socks, little socks I had to take this picture.

And of course my favorite picture:


I wish I could have taken this when the second husband sock was finished, on a day that wasn't gloomy gray so I'd have better light, but I'm hearing the lines at the post office are murder this year so some of these have to get wrapped and mailed soon! But still seven pairs of socks... 14 socks... I want to print this picture out and carry it with me and when I feel blue I can say, in 2007 I knit my friends and family 14 socks... and boy it sure was fun! Or what if I put it on my desk at work next to my wedding picture... Now that wouldn't seem too weird would it? I guess it would, I've realized lately that when the people at work hear me talking about knitting it's probably a lot like when the people at Dunder Mifflin hear Dwight Shrute talking about growing beets... Or Ping Pong...


Yup, I can see it that sock photo on his desk, right next to the bobble head and the Sheriff Mug... Too weird...

Can you believe it's December already?

I certainly can't. I know back in August I promised pictures of the girls in their soakers. I don't think I could have asked for cuter photos! The pink pants look much better on, and it looks like they fit pretty good!


This is my sister's friends daughter. I figure the pants must fit ok and I guess the itchiness isn't issue, otherwise she would never be able to do this-


Right? How cute is the acrobatic photo? So sweet. And of course I made soakers for my niece too. Except her version wasn't the pants, it was just the regular short soaker.


I'm not crazy about how this one came out kind of see-through. I think maybe it was the Cascade 220 being a little thin. (The pink pants were made with Patons Merino and that yarn is a little thicker) Also if anyone is thinking of making these my sister did agree that if I make any more in the future she thinks she'd prefer the long pants-version like the pink ones. With that one the baby can just wear them like little leggings, and they don't really need pants over them. With the short version the soaker is still very diaper shaped, and not so fashion forward.

As for what I'm knitting now I'm motoring along on the white scarf.


And I do concede that I no longer think it looks like crap. It is actually very, very pretty. I saw someone had knitted one of these out of Silk Garden on Ravelry and I swear it made my heart go pitter-pat. Proof again, that it's just the white that's really not my thing, otherwise this pattern is actually really very nice. You never know, on a different day, in a different yarn, I might someday knit one for myself!