Four Feet More

I knit a lot this Fall.  I may have only completed two projects, but they were pretty big projects - two sweaters that I absolutely love and wear all the time.  However, that last cardigan kind of did me in.  After it was completed, I simply lost the desire to knit.  I thought about knitting something else, but my heart wasn't really in it. 

During the Winter Olympics, I began to feel inspired to knit again.  Team USA's Opening Ceremony hat was awesome, but since Spring was approaching, it seemed a bit to wintery of a project to begin that late in the season.  I also absolutely loved Team Sweden's crocheted hat, and really wanted to make on for my friend J9's new baby (J9 lived in Sweden for a while, so I thought she would dig it).  Only problem is, I don't know how to crochet.  I tried several times, but it didn't work out so well.  It's like I have a crocheting mental block or something.  A friend finally gave me a tutorial, and while I think I could now crochet a fairly decent scarf, the Sweden hat is still beyond my capabilities. 

So I set aside my yarn and needles for a while and took a hiatus.  I've enjoyed watching TV without counting rows and doing nerdy things in my free time like working on puzzles.  But there is one pattern that has been on my mind since the fall - the Slanting Gretel Tee.  Last week, my fingers began to itch for the knitting needles again.  I also got the new Knit Picks catalogue in the mail, and wouldn't you know it, there was the perfect yarn in the exact color I was thinking of for the Slanting Gretel Tee.  It was a sign! I ordered the yarn and it came in the mail today.   Perfect.  Now I can begin a new project while watching "The Power of Madonna" episode of Glee!  Sounds like the perfect evening.

What follows are some completely unrelated bits of information which I will attempt to link together with creative segues:

First off, I finally finished my February Lady Sweater! I had set it aside but rediscovered it this summer, when I began working on the sweater with the goal of having it done in time for Fall. The garter-stitch top was easy, but the lace pattern for the body and sleeves gave me a bit of trouble. In fact, I had to rip the dang thing out 6 times before I got into the rhythm of the pattern. Watching T.V. while knitting certainly didn't help, but towards the end of the sweater, I was able to do both. Here is the finished result:

I actually made clothes for myself! I think I may do it more often (especially since I won't leave my sweaters lying on the playground to be trampled by hundreds of children, as Vika and Eamon do). I'm still not sure about the length of the sleeves - they seem like they should be either longer or shorter. But I don't have it in me to rip them out and finish them again, so I think I'll leave them this way for now.

The show that kept distracting me from the lace rows in this pattern is one Jeff and I recently discovered called "Firefly". We got it on Netflix in order to alleviate our "Star Trek" cravings (that movie will be released on DVD in November), and were pleasantly surprised. The show is on DVD because it was canceled after one season, which is a huge shame, really. "Firefly" is a SciFi Western, which despite the contradictory nature of the genre, is actually a lot of fun. My favorite lines from the show so far: "Well, my days of taking you seriously have certainly come to a middle." and "Your mouth's talking. You might want to do something about that." I would love to use that last line in my everyday life, but I think it would make my kindergartners cry.

Speaking of my students, have I mentioned that 3 of my kids have life-threatening food allergies? Well, two of those kids had allergic reactions last week, and it kind of freaked me out. Fortunately, I didn't have to use the epi-pens stored in the classroom, but it still was pretty scary. I really feel for their parents, having to deal with this on a day-to-day basis. Hopefully we'll get through the year with the epi-pens still unused, and all three kids happily going off to terrify a first grade teacher next Fall!

Have a great weekend everyone!

This week, the kids have been in day camp, and it has been GLORIOUS! From around 8:30 am until 3 pm, they are at the local community center doing fun activities with friends. This week's theme is "Totally Talented," which translates to a lot of karaoke, camp songs, and talent shows. Although they did learn the dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" the other day. It was funny to see them dancing (jerking) around with their zombie faces on. Unfortunately, the video camera was not charged, and by the time it was, Vika and Eamon had forgotten most of the dance. *sigh*

The best part about camp is not that the kids get to be out of the house having fun, but it's that I have some actual free time to myself. I haven't had that for over 3 years now, and I'm enjoying every minute of it! I've been knitting my sweater (this little number,which I really want to complete in time to wear this Fall) and watching a lot of "The Tudors" on Netflix. Although I was a bit put off by some of the explicit scenes at first, I have come to love "The Tudors." I must admit that I am lured as much by my admiration of Henry Cavill as by my interest in English history - however fictionalized it may be for dramatic effect. "The Tudors" is something you definitely don't want to watch when kids are around, so having Vika and Eamon at camp has been a perfect opportunity to catch up.

Next week, we're off to Florida and Disney World. It may be hot and sticky, but since we haven't had a lot of hot weather in Northern California this summer, I figure we're about due for some heat. Although the poor kids did get a bit sunbured on their faces yesterday. I lathered on the sunscreen, but they went on a field trip to the waterpark and forgot to reapply later in the day. This prompted a mini-lecture from Jeff on the merits of sunscreen and why it's important to protect your skin. He did a wrinkle demonstration and then said that "once the damage is done, there's nothing you can do about it."

Eamon, ever the optimist, replied, "We could wish...on a star...."

Now, is that a kid who's ready for Disney World or what?

It's finally here - Winter Break. After all the bad news we received last week, I find I need this break now more than ever. I'm looking forward to two weeks of hanging with the family, working on projects, and enjoying the holidays.

Our halls are officially decked. Here's the artificial tree that I swore I'd never purchase and now am completely in love with. It's nearly 10 feet tall, and the lights twinkle. When I saw that it was selling for $200 more than we paid for it last year, my love for the tree grew. Who knew we were getting such a bargain? Plus, now I don't have to deal with all the pine needles my cats hack up after chewing on a real tree.

Our stockings have been hung by the chimney with care.

I bought these from Pottery Barn Kids during the month between our first trip to Russia and bringing the kids home. And I've received e-mails from Pottery Barn Kids nearly every week since. During this past month, I've received them DAILY. It's getting a bit irritating, but honestly, seeing this stocking after meeting with this little girl, how could I refuse? Pretty much it was Vika's pom-poms that sealed the deal. I'm such a sucker.
















And last, but not least, a few knitting projects I've recently completed. First, a button-tab Banana Republic knock-off hat that I made for my BFF, Mel. The second is an ear-flap hat I made for Eames. It's my first ear-flap hat, but I think it came out pretty well.












Next on my list is a "Brain Monster" hat for my soon-to-be-born nephew, Tyson. It's a hat that looks like a monster is eating the child's head. Appropriate? Probably not. But I find it amusing anyways.

Never one to sit and dwell on negative things for too long, I'm now ready to get out of my slump and start moving forward again. First up, my Favorite Color Swap Package!


I know it's not the best photo, but I really did get some nice stuff from my FCS3 pal, Mary. She incorporated all three colors I mentioned into some great gifts. My favorite is the navy blue Rowan felted tweed yarn. I can't wait to find a pattern to use it with. The spices (Green Goddess and French Gray Sea Salt) were great ideas, as were the navy, green and gray M&M's from NYC! The best thing was that Mary also included gifts for Vika and Eamon - crayon packs of mini M&Ms, which they LOVE!

Thanks Mary, for the wonderful package! It helped to lift my spirits after days spent in the doldrums.

Another bright spot this week was the completion of this felted flare-top tote that I made for my best friend, Mel.

It was her birthday on April 18th, but I had to give her the gift late because I kept messing up the dang thing! I re-started this project 3 times before I got it right. Then, after the knitting was complete, I felted it in the washing machine. This was my first time "felting" a project, and it went much easier than I anticipated. I'm very happy with the end results, and think I might even make a tote for myself. Of course, since my purse is often referred to as "luggage," I'm not sure a stylish mini-tote will meet my needs. Perhaps I can find a nice pattern for a felted hobo bag? We'll see... Actually, the flared-tote pattern could be slightly modified to make a cute bucket hat as well.... That might be fun.

This week of Spring Break just flew by! It's been a good one, although not as productive as I would have liked. I'm much more content to sit and read a book than do any actual work, which means that I still have a stack of papers to grade and lesson plans to write. Oh well, I've still got 2.5 days before I have to go back to school.

Easter was a fun time. My uncle from Chicago is visiting with his family, so Vika and Eamon got to spend sometime with their cousins. Here's the three little ones (Vika, Eamon and Macaroon) after a successful Easter Egg Hunt.

We were able to spend some time with Uncle T and the family on Monday as well. We all went to a local Bocce Ball place, played a game (which the guys won) and had lunch. Jeff takes his Bocce very seriously.
On Tuesday, Jeff and I took the kids to Thyme for Tea, where we had a Victorian tea and wore silly hats. Vika espeically enjoyed it and spent the whole time sipping tea with her pinky up.


The rest of the week has been spent recovering from my chest cold and experimenting with yarn. I tried kool-aid dying, which was a lot of fun. My first batch was supposed to be a self-striping dark-red and pink sock wool (I used Black Cherry and Blastin' Berry), but it wound up being more of a varigated red. It still looks cool though, and the smells as the yarn was brewing took me right back to my childhood. Last night I experimented with Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade and wound up with a lovely pale aqua yarn that I may use to knit Vika a shrug or something.

That's it for now. I've got several more interesting posts swirling around in my head, so maybe I'll get the motivation to write them down. Or maybe I'll just go back to my book...

A blogger named Fioleta has offered up a crafty exchange in the form of a (not so) random act of kindness. I actually found out about it through my own bloggy friends, Rachel and Starfish, and am happy to join in and "pay it forward."

Here are the rules:

"I will send a handmade gift (of my choosing) to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange, and who make the same pledge on their own blog. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward."

Anyone interested? If so, drop me a comment! I'll most likely be making knitted gifts, so let me know what colors/items you prefer, and I'll get working on it. Now that my Christmas Gift-Making Extravaganza is over, I find myself with a lack of project ideas. So really, if you sign up to pay it forward, you'd be doing me a favor.

Or, at least it would be, if I hadn't broken my camera. I finally finished knitting Eamon's "E" sweater, after many months and one re-do as a result of child-growage. I must say, it looks pretty darn good! The sweater is a bit big for Eamon (I was NOT going to start that thing again), but he loves it anyway, and does this disjointed little happy dance every time he puts it on. Crazy kid.

Vika wants one now too(she didn't at first). She has specifically requested a brown sweater with a pink "V" on the front, and maybe some stripes or flowers going down the sleeves. I think I'll skip that part, because it would look RIDICULOUS, and just do the V. Maybe I'll actually be able to get it done before Winter is over. I won't hold my breath though.

Another knitting project I've finally finished is the "Column of Leaves" scarf I was making for the "Infertility Sucks Knit-A-Long." It came out quite lovely, with absolutely no odd bumps along the side or weird pulling in the middle (that's my story anyway, and since I cannot post a picture, you'll just have to believe me). I've wrapped it up to give as a Christmas gift, but I'm not sure who should be the lucky recipient. Perhaps I'll give it to my sister-in-law, N, as a peace offering.

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering about N and her response to our Open House invite, I have an update for you. She responded that she will not attend because she and her family are spending Christmas in MEXICO!!! Did I mention that she was a hypocrite? She gets all miffed and hateful towards us last year for wanting to do Christmas Eve on our own, and then she plans to spend the holidays on vacation in another country! Oh well, in the spirit of the season, I have decided to let it go and be merry. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Back to my knitting projects now. Why I thought it would be a good idea to make everyone hand-knit gifts, I'll never know. If I decide to do such a thing again, would someone please cyber-slap me to snap me out of it? Perhaps if I start working on things in the summer, I'll feel less pressured the 2 weeks before Christmas.

My regular readers know that I love to knit. Every night, after we put the kids to bed, I sit on the couch, knitting while Jeff and I watch TV. It has driven Jeff a bit crazy because he hates to sit around doing nothing. And for him, watching TV is not the most productive use of his time. I don't know how many times he said, "I wish I had something like knitting that I could do while we watch TV." Finally, about a month ago, I said, "Why don't you learn to knit."

His response: a blank stare, punctuated by a couple of blinks.

So I dropped the subject, and continued knitting my hat. Then I found a video on YouTube called "Real Men Knit," and I showed it to Jeff. The video is kind of funny, if you have a few minutes to check it out. There is another video called "The Manly Art of Knitting" in which an older gentleman knits a hammock out of rope with a pair of sharpened pool cues. I mean, really! I know these guys want to make knitting seem manly, but that's going a bit too far, don't you think?

It wasn't until I suggested to Jeff that he try knitting a fisherman's cap, that his ears really perked up. I could just see him thinking, "I could knit a fisherman's cap without seeming like too much of a sissy." So, he grabbed some bulky yarn, the fattest needles I have (size 13, for you knitters out there), and after a mini-tutorial from me, set to work. His first hat was this lopsided little gem which Eamon wore on our fishing trip. The second hat was much more symmetrical, and he kept that one for himself. For his last project he made a hat and scarf, which he gave to his daughter Ali for her 18th birthday this weekend (HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALI!).

The kids have even joined in on the "family knitting circle." Vika began knitting a year or so ago, and she is working on a scarf for her Dora doll. Eamon mostly just tangles the yarn into an elaborate mass of knots. It doesn't matter though. We're all sitting together on the couch, chatting as we work on projects and drink our tea and milk.

* When writing this post, several cheesy endings came to mind - so now, it's Pick Your Own Ending time! Please select one ending from those below, and use it to finish off the story. Or, if you have another suggestion, drop it into my comments.

1) Knitting our family closer together with each stitch.
2) Tightly weaving our family bonds.
3) Becoming more attached with each knit and purl.
4) Knitting the ties that bind.
5) I think that ties it up nicely.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Finally! Finally I completed a knitting project that turned out exactly the way I wanted it too. It is the "Twisted Pumpkin" hat from Charmed Knits. Let me tell you, for someone as inexperienced as me, the hat was not easy. I started it a couple of times, only to toss it aside in frustration. My gauge was off again, and the hat was not turning out as it should. After about a week-long break, I decided to scrap the whole thing and start all over again. Then, I measured Vika's head, and used math to calculate the number of stitches needed to complete the project correctly (to Mrs. Rangle, my pre-algebra teacher, I sincerely apologize for not believing you when you said we would use that stuff in real life). Here is the final result:

I'm pretty proud of it, and can't wait to take a picture of Vika wearing her hat in the pumpkin patch.

Some of you may also remember the sweater I was working on for Eamon. Well, I nearly finished that too, complete with a capital "E" on the front (thanks Starfish, for the kick in the butt I needed to deviate from the "H" in the pattern). Then the boy goes and has a growth spurt. Much to my dismay, I realized that if he has another one of those before Fall, the sweater will be too small for him. *Sigh* So, I had to scrap that project and start all over again, knitting it at a size that will fit a 6 year old. That ought to accommodate any more pre-cold-season growth spurts. If not, then we'll have to cut back on his food rations, because I am not starting that sweater again!

I've finally decided to move beyond the realm of scarves in my knitting. I began knitting a couple of years ago, and have pretty much stuck to scarves ever since. But this book has inspired me to step out of my narrow knitting mindset and move towards some more ambitious projects.

The first project: a Dobby (the house elf) Tea Cozy hat for Eamon. The problem: I didn't have the right gauge yarn, but decided, what the heck! I'll knit the dang thing anyway! The result: a hat that is WAY too long for Eamon's child-sized head. Actually, it's too long for my adult head as well. But, if we roll up the brim and put it on Vika, it almost looks cute.

So, now that I've learned my gauge lesson, I've moved on to my next project. An H sweater, a la Mrs. Weasley, for Eamon. Why not an E sweater, you ask? Well, the pattern's for an H, and I'm not brave (or skilled) enough to deviate from that just yet. It will be our own personal homage to Harry Potter. So far I've completed the back and have started on the front. Hopefully this garment will turn out much better than the ill-fated house-elf hat.

If you are a knitter and a fan of Harry Potter, I recommend checking out the Charmed Knits site. They have some free patterns, as well as a knit-along project to make hats for disadvantaged children living in cold climates. A worthy cause, indeed. And the thought of a bunch of kids walking around in hats featuring the Hogwarts House colors makes me smile.

Of course, I won't be sending in my hat. That would just be cruel.