Isn’t this a knitting blog?

Yes, yes it is. And in these hectic times, knitting has kept me sane – or at least partially so.

I was knitting very faithfully on the Manly Cable sweater for my husband. This is a top-down, raglan style sweater I designed just for him – Look, Ma, I did math!

The black Manos del Uruguay hides the intricate cables; click on a picture to see the cable-y goodness. Yum. I even put cables across the shoulders and inside the arms! I rock.

I was monogamous to this sweater until cables became too complicated for mindless knitting. I needed mindless, stress reducing knitting! I cast on the DROPS jacket with collar and lace pattern (100-12) in some of my hand spun. Oh, it was a beautiful thing, but I had nowhere near enough yarn. What’s a girl to do? Rip it and re-cast with alpaca and merino!

I call this my Super Soft Cardigan. It’s two strands of Berroco Ultra Alpaca with one strand of Dark Horse Yarns Rhapsody. It is smooshably soft.

Of course, I was chomping at the bit to knit with my handspun, so I started a little capelet.

Once again knitting from my brain (and ignoring any bats in the belfry) I did some math and cast on for a collar and a wide button band. I am increasing like mad, and hope to end up with a little capelet with three quarter sleeves. Can a cape have sleeves?

As always, I have many projects languishing in the craft room. They are not UFO’s yet! I’m still working on them – really! Some day I will post pictures of the finished objects and the world will stop laughing. Some wonderful day…

Shameless Self Promotion

If you have a chance, click over to Turtle Cove Soaps for my Spring Fling promotion. For a limited time, every order of soap will include a free face scrubbie handmade by Kreations from 100% cotton.

These scrubbies are cute little powerhouses for scrubbing away dirt and grime; they’re machine washable, and they only get better with time. They are a perfect match for my handmade soaps.

Bunnies, Kids, or Cats?

It's two out of three*!

Help! I am not a bunny mommy!

*And darlin', two outta three ain't bad....

Unexpected Guests, the Plague, and Sleevitis

Last weekend my aunt and uncle stopped by while on their cross country trip. It was great to visit with them, but I think they brought the plague. Whether they carried some mutant virus from the Great Plains or I ran myself down with the holidays, road trips, and visitors, I have had the cold from hell all week.

It's been so bad that I haven't been able to lurk at my favorite blogs or even hang out on Ravelry. The plus side is I got a lot of knitting done while watching bad day-time TV. I planned to work diligently on Sassy's Cherie Amour, but I had crippling sleevitis. Instead, I knit a very simple twisted wrap with the Trendsetter Venus yarn I picked up at Hanks. I used a provisional cast on with a garter stitch seam to create seamless shoulder wrap. It shows the variations in yarns and textures beautifully! I have a bit left; I think I will do a very narrow, very long scarf.


I also cast on Mrs. Darcy, finished the back, and started the sleeves. I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport and size 10 needles to match the gauge called for in the pattern. It has made a light and lacy fabric, perfect for Florida! The Lorna's Laces is soo soft. I love it!


Did you notice that I knit the back, skipped the fronts, and went straight to the sleeves? I thought that might circumvent my sleevitis. Maybe it's not sleevitis; maybe I just get bored with a project near the end and... Nope, it's sleevitis.

I have put a lot of thought into this disorder over the last week. First, I must qualify that I have freakishly long arms. According to da Vinci, a person's height is supposed to be equal to her wingspan measured fingertip to fingertip, across the shoulders. Well, I am 66 inches tall, and my wingspan is 70 inches. Four full inches difference! I should be in a side show.

So, when I knit sleeves, it takes an extra long time. However, my sleevitis cannot be simply blamed on my freakishness. Think about knitting the front of a sweater. You knit four inches, hold it up to your body, and look! you've knit from your hipbone to your belly button! Now think about knitting two sleeves. It's often the same number of stitches, so it should be just as exciting. However, you knit four inches, hold it up to your arm, and you've knit to your wrist. Hardly exciting.

I think we need support groups for sleevitis. Special stitch and bitches devoted strictly to sleeves. "Hi, my name is Eryn, and I have sleevitis. I have knit two half sleeves since our last meeting."

Even without the support group, I forced myself to knit Sassy's sleeves. They are officially done and blocking. I will be embarking on the grand adventure that is seaming as soon as all the pieces are dry.

Until then, I have much blogstalking to catch up on. First, my worst habit. I think it's obvious that my worst habit is procrastination. I will do nothing today that can be put off 'til tomorrow! The next assignment is a snap-shot of our knitting needles.

Here you see my needle drawer, including my brand new Options Harmony set (Whee!). So far I love them; they are beautiful: smooth with just enough grip that I don't lose my stitches. Maybe they can help me fight sleevitis!

From one end to the other

Wednesday and Thursday were utterly awful. I took stock, I hugged my kids, I cuddled my furbabies, and I knitted. My outlook is much brighter now!

I've finished the body of Cherie Amour. Hooray! I am doing something crazy with the sleeves. If I'm successful, I'll tell you all about it. If I'm not, I'll make some drunken post railing against the knitting gods.

Blue on blue on blue

I finally had a chance to take a picture of this in sunlight. Can you see the beautiful, subtle variegation? I am so gosh darn proud of myself! My sister had better love this! As a side note, before binding off the shoulders, I tried this on. The Hairy One's reaction was, "Wow!"

I am definitely making one of these for me!

Pet me, I'm shiny

And even though I have sooo many hedgehogs to knit, I cast on Fetching on Friday. This yarn is a gorgeous kid mohair/viscose mix. It is fuzzy and shiny! It's thinner than the yarn called for in the pattern, but by knitting a little loose (very easy for me on dpns!) I've found only my row gauge is off. I added one more cable round, and I am adding four rib rounds before the thumb.

I won't finish both of these this weekend, unless there is a series of miracles, but they should be done shortly. I really like these, but if I don't finish enough hedgehogs, I may be giving them away!

Why won't I finish these super easy, knit 'em in a weekend fingerless gloves? The Hairy One's back is wonky again. He spent the day in bed, and I had to stand in for him at a birthday party. I spent my afternoon manning the grill while teenagers and young children ran screaming. I don't think they were screaming because of my grilling prowess, but I'm not sure. The burgers were juicy, but the hotdogs were the weird red ones. They were rather frightening!

Now don't get me wrong, I am not a hermit, but I am not a fan of crowds or small talk or bullsh*t. Remember the line from Steel Magnolias: "Well, you know what they say: if you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!" That's me. It's fun in the right mix, but not this afternoon. I grilled, I read, I reminded my monsters not to kill each other or anyone else, and I knitted. I am such a social misfit!

The highlight was when Bubba proudly announced to another child, "Do you know what my Mom can do? She can knit! She made me a hedgehog and ear warmers and she's making a sweater!" My kid's proud of me! I'm enjoying it now, because I know it won't last.

After that fabulous afternoon, I went straight to my knitting chair, ready to watch some juicy crime shows on DVR. Black Tom told me in no uncertain terms that I was not sitting down.

I'm sitting in your chair

After cleaning up the blood and retrieving my dpns from the drop ceiling, I decided Tom could have the chair for a little bit longer. I'm going to see if he's done.

French fries do not contaminate your hot dog!*

Bleck. It was a craptastic day at work today. Thank the powers that be that it's knit night tonight! Two or three hours of nothing but knitting and kvetching! Whoo-wee do I need that.

Enough whining.... Here's some knitting:

Cherie Amour

Want to know a dirty little secret? I can count or I can knit lace. I can't do both at the same time. I have ripped the bodice lace on this three times. I'm now eight rows past the armhole division. I've decided to knit both fronts and the back at the same time (because I'm insane!). Actually, there is a method to my madness. I know that there is no way I could make all three pieces exactly the same length if I knit them separate. This sweater is for my sister Sassy, a birthday/Christmas gift. It may be done before she has her baby.

Wait... don't I have a baby cardi on the needles? Yep! And no progress. I've reached the hood and I am bored to tears. I have six inches to go and six months to finish it.

And, even though I needed to do two, I finished one hedgehog this weekend. He's brown and black and impossible to photograph without sunlight. Bubba loves him.

Last but not least, Blogstalking Week 9. (Is it really week 9? Well, Week Whatever!) The assignment is a pic of your junk drawer. I don't have a junk drawer, I have a junk room. Our master bedroom is really a mother-in-law suite, something I had never heard of until moving to Florida. Our bedroom has a teeny-tiny kitchen that doubles as my secret laboratory.


Most of the junk is stuffed in the shoe boxes. See the soap drying on the rack? Yummy Plumberry and "Forest's Edge," my blend of juniper breeze and sweet grass. It is fabulous!

*Yet another title stolen from conversations with the monsters. The Bug had a meltdown because his french fries landed on his hot dog. It's a terrible thing.

Finally a Finished Object!

First read this. I still need a few volunteers to test soap; you know you want to!

I've been promising pics of the Pretty in Pink Tank.
This is not a perfect sweater, but I've been wearing it! I bound off a little too tightly, and the straps will not stop curling.... I've taken to wearing it inside out to keep the straps in line. This pattern was quick and easy to follow; perfect for a first sweater.

I've still got the baby cardi on the needles, but I'm in the final stretch of stockinette for the hood and it's boring!

So, to keep my sanity, I started Cherie Amour! I plan on doing this sweater twice. The first time will be without modifications for my sister Sassy, the second time will be for me, with lots of mods. I've found this to be a very quick, satisfying knit, but I also know that many have been frustrated with various design elements. We'll see how it goes.

This is yarn that I over-dyed color on color to create a very subtle variegation. It came out perfectly, IMHO! I'm trying to get a good pic of it, but with the time change, I can't seem to take pictures in sunlight. This pic was taken in the parking lot at work (while all the other mindless drones wondered what the hell I was doing!).

And last but not least, I've calculated that I need to knit at least two hedgehogs this weekend. That's the only way I'll finish them all in time for the holidays! Hermione had her debut at the LYS on Wednesday; she was greeted with critical acclaim and applause.

Well, if I'm going to knit two hedgies this weekend, I'd better get cracking!

I'm Back!

So last Wednesday our modem craps out. We get on the phone with Tech Support and they are adamant that it is not the modem.... I changed out the NIC card (yay me!) replaced the cords - nothing. Back on the phone with Tech Support and they still say it must be something with the computer. I check the settings, the firewalls, the filter - the stupid thing should be working!

Finally they send a guy. He says, "I don't know" (after replacing 99% of the hardware). They send another guy. After three hours, it's fixed, but he doesn't know what caused the problem or how he fixed it. I love computers! And I love Tech Support!

So, mad catch up! First, a Day in the Life at the House at Two Palms:


That sums it up. The only consistent thing day to day is my coffee.

Next, some Works in Progress. These are actually a week late.

I've been working on a baby cardi for my little sister's peanut. I've decided that I need to knit more baby clothes. Talk about instant gratification!

I am so excited to finally be an aunt. Sassy is due in May, and that baby will have the most hand-knit items of any child in our family! This sweater only has three inches on the sleeves and finishing left. It's kind of an "Oh Duh" thing, but I've been knitting both sleeves at the same time.

I've also joined the Hedgehog craze. These guys knit up so fast that it's easy to see why so many people are making them. At the time of the picture, we were trying to decide between the orange and the teal funfur. The orange made him look like a team mascot, so I went with the teal.

I took him to knit night last week, and the fabulous Gigi was so taken with him, that she asked me to make one for the store. She gave me some wool that they are thinking of carrying; I get to be the first to test it! It is absolutely fabulous, smooshy marino wool. I'll get pics and details up soon.

Hedgie and Hermione are done and awaiting felting. I will be making at least three more, so you will soon be sick and tired of hedgehogs!

In other news, I finished the Pretty in Pink tank. Pics and pattern notes soon; I'm still waiting to get both sunshine and a photographer at the same time. I had to frog the Shapely Tank: I was knitting it in a cotton blend that did not take well to the pattern. I've got a light wool blend to try, and I'm adjusting the pattern to knit in the round.

I will add this week's wip's, catch up on Blogstalking, and post pics of the monsters in their Halloween finery soon.

New Stuff!

I had packages waiting for me tonight! Look and see what goodies I got:

Here's a bad picture of beautiful merino wool. After I wash and card it, this wool will be the first fiber spun on my DIY kick wheel. This will also be the first wool I have processed all by myself. I hope I don't end up with a big pot of felt!





And look - cheap coconut oil for soap. I stumbled across this on eBay with only ten minutes left in the bid. Can't beat that! Coconut oil can be drying for some people, but it is really the best oil for soap. It makes a super hard bar that will suds in salt water. To counter-act the drying effect, I blend it with olive oil and shea butter, among others. A little bit of coconut oil goes a loooong way.


I also started this. Thank you for the pattern, Amanda! I love sweaters, but it is too hot in Florida, so I'm looking for cami's, tanks and cardigans. This one is fabulous and very simple. The yarn is cheapo 100% acrylic from the evil that is Wal-mart. (I live in the fiber equivalent of the Arctic tundra. Thank the gods for the internet!) I was looking for something easy to work with and cheap - just in case I screwed up. I grabbed this because I love the color. If you asked me my favorite color, I would immediately say "Blue," but I am obsessed with lavender. When I see this color, I just have to touch it. (And it sets off my eyes!)

The Eye of God

The Hairy One went back to school this year, learning to be a rocket scientist. Tonight he got on-line to show the boys some of the cool things he's learned. He pulled up this picture of the Cat's Eye Nebula (dubbed the Eye of God) and the Bug said, "Whoa, that's my future! You learned about my future, Dad!"

That was an incredibly deep comment. Whether his four year old mind meant he was going to study things like that when he grew up, or if he meant that ultimately we are all cosmic dust, I am blown away!

Knitting and Felting

I've started my first felting project. I'm knitting a "project bag" so I can carry around all the other things I'm working on. I'm making up the pattern as I go along in a simple stockinette stitch. I love the color combination of green and purple.

The plan is to make the body of the bag in green with the sides and strap in purple. I have a test swatch to felt as soon as I catch up on laundry. That will give me an idea of how much shrinkage to expect and how much felting I want. I love the idea of changing a simple knit into felt.

On another subject, my Mom decided to buy me a new sewing machine for my birthday/Christmas/everything gift this year (I am sooo spoiled!) Yesterday I went to test drive machines at a local quilt shop. Of course I fell in love with a Bernina activa - what a machine! It practically puts the clothes together for you. So what if it's over four times the price range we're looking at..... Seriously, I'm looking at the Bernina bernette 90e. It has all the features I'd want (and many "luxuries" I'd never get if I bought a sewing machine for myself).

The most exciting thing about the test drive is I learned Bernina is releasing a computer program for garment construction that will act like a virtual dressmaker's dummy! After you input your measurements, the program will alter any pattern to fit you precisely. No more pinning and modeling twenty-times! The funny thing is, I turn to computers for everything: from filing and cross-referencing at work to photo albums. And yet, I never thought of a virtual dressmaker's dummy. I'm saving my pennies for this program!

Time to clean bunny cages....