All This By Hand

On the Down Low

I miss the blog.  I miss being able to tell the world whatever I'm thinking.  Like that I don't like a single design in the new IK.  Or that I have a new love and it is Rowan Cashcotton DK.  Or that I lost four pounds last month because I joined a gym that will watch my kids while I workout and that's a huge motivator.  Or that Pete pulled a crucifix down from the wall of the cry room at church and got a nasty stab in the eyebrow from the crown of thorns.  My typepad expires in another two weeks.  I'm trying to tell myself I don't want to renew, but OH, how I miss the blog!

Thanks for the memories!

I loved blogging my patterns when I was designing and blogging my ever-expanding belly during both pregnancies, but I'm just not bringing my A-game to my blog any more.  Life is getting busier all the time and this is what's on the chopping block.  Thank you to everyone who read and commented and enjoyed a glimpse into my corner of the world.  My archives will be up until mid-May if there's anything you wanted to look at one last time.

I'll still be on ravelry -- I'm knitlet, so friend me!

Farewell, HOOT Fest!

I haven't blogged this nifty fact because I'm just the tiniest bit cautious about the internet, but now that it's all over I'd like to let the world know that my husband had been out of town almost the entire month of March.  So Pete's eye tubes? Spring break with no preschool?  Easter?  Yeah.  All on my own.  I've held it together well enough, but at night when I should be cleaning or otherwise being productive all I can do is put on Grey's Anatomy, grab my knitting and retreat into the complex fantasy land of Seattle Grace Hospital.  Their problems are certainly much worse than having a husband on a geophysics field campaign that was supposed to be two weeks and ended up being a month.  My mom called my nightly TV marathons HOOT Fest.  Husband Out Of Town.  He wouldn't really want to watch that much of a prime time soap.

Oh, knitting, right.  I finished this scarf months ago and in a fit of supreme laziness I neglected to sew in one end and left it in my knitting bag.  One end and a quick block later and presto! A scarf!

Pattern: Huckleberry Ascot from the IK Holiday issue
Yarn: Silky Wool, quite possibly my favorite yarn

Why, oh why, did no one tell me about this?

How on earth have I never seen Grey's Anatomy until now?  I am currently obsessed, shoving my kids into the car at 7:30 in the morning to drop a DVD off at the post office so that my Netflix turnaround time will be faster.  I'm actually getting lots of knitting done, but it's much harder to take photos and blog while watching TV. 

Here's a blurry picture of the latest shop sample I finished.  As in, snapped with a dying camera battery two seconds before I left the house to drop it off.

It was fun to knit and the construction of the polo placket was interesting.  I think the overall lace is a little too fussy for the casual shape, but who cares because it's a shop sample, right?  I was going to save my gift card until I really, really wanted something, but of course that happened after roughly five seconds at the shop.  I'm finishing up a few things I abandoned and then I'm knitting this:

ETA: It's from the Classic Elite Make It Modern booklet.

I'm using Rowan Cashcotton DK.  I can hardly wait.

Graduation Present

With the end of the school year getting closer, I decided to make John a graduation present. A knitted bear from the leftovers of his bumbleebee socks! I even had a cool name for it -- the bumblebear!

But once the toy was knitted, I had to give it a tail because it is obviously a tiger.

Pattern: Lovable Toys from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Bee Stripe

I made a 4 stitch i-cord, alternating two pieces of yarn to get a striped effect rather than two big blocks of color. I love this tiny tiger. I'm on a bit of a knitted toy kick at the moment, so I'm making John's birthday present a little early. It's the last variation on this pattern and John's favorite animal, the elephant!

Happy Easter!

Pattern: Easter Rabbit from Knit Something Special by Polly Pyne
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic

Ahead of the game

Pete's birthday is almost two weeks away and I've already finished his present!

I was organizing some stash last week and Pete wouldn't put down this skein of yarn, so it became a toy.

Pattern: Lovable Toys from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Alchemy Alpaca Pure in Dylan's Blue Depths

I'm liking the Miffy-style face.  I think Pete will love his bunny.

All in a Day's Work

I will forever be suspicious of the phrase "simple in-office procedure." I thought Pete was getting a simple little tear duct probe and we'd be leaving with a slightly miffed baby with little to no post-visit care. He's fine, but the ophthalmologist thought it would be a great idea to leave these little tubes coming out of the inner corners of his eyes taped to his forehead for forty-eight hours. This, of course, necessitated pediatric arm restraints with the charming brand name "No-No." I cannot wait to remove the tiny tubes tomorrow. Still here? This is what I was knitting before Thursday and will continue knitting after Saturday.

It's the back of a shop sample lace pullover in Gedifra Ayala. The efficient folks at Coats GmbH just named it 1133.

Although the color is way off, here's the lace pattern and a super close-up showing the construction of the yarn.

I'm barely halfway through the back and my thoughts are already drifting to how I'm going to spend my gift certificate. I'm thinking something for fall...

The Sweater that Time Forgot

Okay, so it's more like it was in a box we hadn't unpacked yet. I'm so glad I found this while it still fit Pete, just in time for the last few chilly days in Houston!

Without even thinking about it, the boys and I were all wearing hand knit sweaters today, much to the amazement of my friends at the playground. They noticed mine was hand knit first, then John's gansey, but one woman was incredulous that I'd actually knit Pete that little giraffe sweater. It was at this point that I decided not to mention that John and I were also wearing hand knit socks. Unless you knit, you just don't get it, you know?

The Sweater that Time Forgot

Okay, so it's more like it was in a box we hadn't unpacked yet. I'm so glad I found this while it still fit Pete, just in time for the last few chilly days in Houston!

Without even thinking about it, the boys and I were all wearing hand knit sweaters today, much to the amazement of my friends at the playground. They noticed mine was hand knit first, then John's gansey, but one woman was incredulous that I'd actually knit Pete that little giraffe sweater. It was at this point that I decided not to mention that John and I were also wearing hand knit socks. Unless you knit, you just don't get it, you know?