Camera's out of reach...

and Knittybaby is nursing away, so here's a meme for your blog entertainment (and mine):

Seven Things to do before I Die:
1. Be fluent in another language
2. Spend a year living in another country
3. Make sure hubby has his chance to get his pilot's license
4. Go beyond just being able to spin a little yarn, and actually learn the whole process, shearing, preparing the fleece, etc.,
5. Own my own fiber animals
6. Remodel my kitchen
7. Help my boys grow into happy, healthy adults


Seven Things I Cannot Do:
1. Understand the mechanics of a car
2. Eat meat
3. Become a good guitar player
4. Get clean laundry put away
5. Sit still and do nothing (hence the knitting)
6. Keep any sort of schedule
7. Learn German (I tried)


Seven Things That Attracted Me to My Husband:
1. He sang a Bob Dylan song out of tune
2. He's shy
3. He's a sensitive guy
4. He's a dreamer
5. He cracks me up
6. He gets me completely
7. He loves me for being me

Seven Books That I Love:
1. "Posession" by AS Byatt
2. "Operating Instructions" by Anne Lamott
3. "The Kitchen God's Wife" by Amy Tan
4. "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith
5. "Vegetarian Cooking for Everone" by Deborah Madison
6. "Heaven's Coast" by Mark Doty
7. "Original Sin" by PD James


Seven Things That I Say on Any Given Day:
1. Please use your words.
2. This house is a disaster!
3. Can you help me pick up your toys?
4. I think you need some quiet time.
5. Has anyone seen a spit up rag?
6. No, it is not TV time.
7. Can you get home from work early tonight?

Seven Movies I've Loved:
1. Love Actually
2.When Harry Met Sally
3. Pretty in Pink
4. Garden State
5. The Forsythe Saga
6. Pride and Predujice, BBC version
7. A Room with a View

Actual knitting!

My mom's birthday present:
Happy Birthday Mom!
Done in Noro, size 10 and 1/2 needles. My own pattern. Yup, the handles are crooked. It's impossible for me to make a felted bag with even handles.

A sock that had been forgotten and found last weekend. Can't find the label for the yarn right now, but it is the Fiber Trends Mt. Hood pattern. This is my first lace sock, and it's really puckering up. Anyone know how much it will smooth out while blocking?

The mindless knitting...Atacama on size 15 needles. Only one skein left and this shawl is done!
Have a great three day weekend, everyone!

The cutest feet...

...belong to Knittybaby!



I wish the picture had come out clearer, but he was pretty wiggly during his modeling session. These cute socks are courtesy of my SP8, who totally made my day when I opened up my first package and found this:

These are his first pair of handknit socks and they are so cute! And I am enjoying the dark chocolate right now, yum! Thank you so much SP8!!! I am one happy mama today!

Finally: Shepherd's Harvest Update

Wow, it's been quite the hectic week, and still kind of is, so here is my abbreviated Shepherd's Harvest report!

We had a pretty wet, icky day. Little Man was still in a mood, Hubby threw out his back and was walking around like an old man, I was coming down with a cold. Plus, it was cold and rainy. Knittybaby was the only one who was happy and well all afternoon. But of course, he was asleep most of the time! :-)

We had fun visiting all the animals, which was Liitle Man's best part of the day. The llamas were his favorite. After the animals, Hubby took Little Man and a giant bag of kettle corn back to the car to relax and settle down while I shopped with Knittybaby, who pretty much slept in his sling the whole time. Then it was back to the vendors for a little face painting and then we went home.

So what did I bring back? The pictures don't do the yarn justice. It's been so gloomy lately. But, I got:
Handspun, handpainted sock yarn and merino handpainted from Sandy's Palette out of Madison. She was so nice and had a lot of lovely colors. Today Little Man took the merino and said, "Look, it's blue, and brown, please make something for me..."

"What should I make you?"

"A tiger mask!"

Ummm, okay. Suggestions, anyone? I'm guessing he'll forget about it tomorrow so I'm not too worried:-)

Moving on:

From Blackberry Ridge, 2 skeins of their Kalidoscope and 1 skein of fingering weight.

Lastly, I've got a skein of Alpaca handspun from Anne's Fiber Expressions (no web site) of Monticello, WI. It is so soft! 600 yards. What should I do?

Also fun:I ran into a couple bloggers. First Kate, who I had a really nice chat with. She got to meet Knittybaby, but Little Man was still off eating popcorn. I also ran into Jess. We met a few years ago when our first children were born and hadn't seen each other for awhile, but we've both been reading each other's blogs lately. Funny thing was, we weren't sure from reading each other's blogs that it was indeed the same person. Now we know it is! I missed meeting up with Chris, maybe next time!

All in all, despite the rain, sickies and crabbies, we still had a good time! :-) Wish I could go to more of these.

SP8

Well, here is my SP8 info. I'm so excited, this is my first Secret Pal! I've always wanted to do one, so here we go...

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I'm definetely more of a natural fibers person. Love wool and alpaca. Not a fan of acrylics. I'm okay with some novelty yarns, like ribbon, just not the really furry/gaudy stuff.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have a straight needle case that my grandma made for me, and a crochet needle case for my double points, but since it's really for crochet needles it's too short so they always fall out. My poor circs? Jumbled up in a bag!

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I started knitting a few months after Little Man was born, so that would be close to three years. Geez, it seems so much longer than that! I'm intermediate, I'd guess.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Yup! right here

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
lavender and citrus, but only the all natural stuff like you'd find at a coop/natural foods place. I'm allergic to most synthetic stuff.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I'm learning to spin and bought my spinning wheel last summer. I 've sewn a bit, but my sewing machine is grumpy so I don't do it much. I like flower gardening when I get the time.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like classical, jazz, folk and folk/rock the most, but I'm pretty much open to anything that's not mainstream pop. Yup to MP3's.

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? Wow, that's hard! I'm partial to reds, blues, and browns but I really love just about anything. My least favorite would be the "baby" pastels as I tend to be drawn more towards brighter colors or jewel tones. Oh, and although I love each color separately, I hate pink/purple varigated; reminds me of Barbie dolls :-)

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I've got two boys, 3 years and 2 months, and a husband of 8 years. I've got two cats and a greyhound.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes to all! I couldn't make it through a Minnesota winter w/out them, especially my scarves. I made one poncho, but now I think I'm kind of getting tired of the poncho thing :-)

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I love to make socks! I also like to make stuff for my boys and sweaters for me, although I haven't actually finished one yet! They are both UFO's. Felted bags are fun too.

13. What are you knitting right now? A baby shawl and sweater for my youngest, socks for me, a shawl for me, dishcloths for my brother.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes I do! :-)

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Usually circular, addis or bamboo, but the more slippery bamboo like Crystal Palace. I also have a set of Denise needles that I love.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? yup, yup

17. How did you learn to knit? My Grandma! :-)

18. How old is your oldest UFO? 2 years. It's the Barbara Walker Learn-to-Knit afaghan. There are 63 squares. I'm only on 9!

19. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

20. Is there anything that you collect?
Other than yarn, patterns and CD's, I'm an anti-collector, LOL. I've been trying to de-clutter the past year, not that it seems to be helping much. All my new spaces keep getting filled with toys and little boy clothes :-)

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Wow, that's hard because there are so many new ones! I really like "Wendy Knits" or "The Knitting Answer Book." I'd love to get my hands on some of the great handpainted sock yarn coming out of all the Etsy shops lately, or "Socks that Rock" as I haven't had a chance to try it yet. I subscribe to "Vogue Knitting," "Interweave Knits" and "Spin Off."

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Lace! And although I've practiced on cable swatches, I've yet to make an actual garment. Magic loop would be cool too.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I love to knit socks. Size 8 shoe, length 9 and 3/4 inches, circ below the calf about 10 inches.

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) 3/29

Thank you Secret Pal!!! :-) This is going to be fun!

Bad Mama

Nothing like getting smacked around by your three-year-old in a busy parking lot...

Some days I just have very bad Mama judgement. Little Man has been cooped up all week with a bad cold and this rainy cold weather. So this morning for a treat we met a friend at his favorite coffee shop. It was great, he was great. We hung out, relaxed, and he enjoyed a giant peanut butter cookie. I forgot to watch the time and by the time he starts to get antsy, I realize it's 12:45, we've had no lunch, and I still need to get to the store. Do I make the right choice, and go home for lunch?

No.

It's cold, rainy and I don't want to drag the boys in and out more then necessary. I make the Bad Mama decision and drag my hunrgy, sugared-up, getting-over-a-cold three year old to the grocery store. Clever, huh?

As soon as I got in thereI realized this was a bad decision but by then it's too late. We manage to scramble through (thank god it was sample day!). I think I'm home free, but then Knittybaby wakes up to nurse, so then we've got to hang out for another 20 minutes. Little Man is barely hanging in there. Finally, it's time to go. I put him in his car seat and he FREAKS. I'm trying to buckle him in and all he can do is scream, hit, slap, kick, etc. (like any normal hunrgy, sugared-up, getting-over-a-cold three year old would do.) And I'm feeling that the entire parking lot is giving me the "look" and I'm thinking to myself "but he's really such a nice child and never hits me and I really am normally a very good mom!"......but, we all do it sometimes, it's part of motherhood. We make a lousy decision that sets up trouble, but I guess it's how we learn to be better parents. We're all bound to have major in-public meltdowns, right? (Please tell me I'm right so I don't get coal on Mother's Day, I'm really hoping for yarn!)

My one saving grace was the fact that just prior to the meltdown, a super nice shopper offered to push my cart and put my bags in the trunk (she knew we were about to blow!) and told me she had 6 kids and knows what these days can be like. So, God bles ya, whoever you are. Your kindness kept me from losing it too!

Okay, enough of the saga...

OTK? I am a mere 16 inches of I cord and a washing machine (gee, what on earth could it be?) from having my mom's Mother's Day gift done. Hopefully tonight, if Knittybaby doesn't have another gas attack, poor guy. Thank God I have an understanding mother! Pictures as soon as she gets it.

Hope to see some of you locals at Shepard's Harvest tomorrow! I know Chris and Kate will be there, and Susan will be doing a Sheep to Shawl. It will be fun to finally meet some other bloggers. If you're there, look for me. I'll probably be the only one with a baby in a pink flowered sling. (I promise Little Man will be rested and well fed:-)

And since I probably won't post again before then, Happy Mother's Day! May you all have a nice lady help you with your groceries, or wherever else you may need it!

What Little Man did, and other things.....

Wow, lots to write about that has sort of been piling up. I'll save Little Man for last.

It's been fun reading about all the other Minnesotan bloggers who were also at Yarnover a couple weeks ago. Knittybaby and I were there, but just for the shopping as I figured class with a 6 week old is not that practical. I got some very pretty Atacama alpaca yarn to make a shawl with, as well as a cute t-shirt. (Fresh out of my wrinkly laundry basket. Folding has not been a big priority lately, as I feel accomplished if we have anything clean at all!)


Aside from making a cute shirt/shawl combo, Arthur also says they make a nice bed:



I didn't buy much as I'm waiting for Sheperd's Harvest.

My third and last purchase I'm mad about. I've always wanted to do Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. Well, the shop with the Atacama had some samples and patterns for sale. I looked at the pattern, which was a pamphlet along with the original newsletter with the price of $3.00. I thought that was pretty cheap, so I bought it. Knittybaby was getting hungry so I just signed the receipt and left. We sat down and while he was nursing I took out my receipt and saw it was about $10.00 more than it should have been. So I went back, and the saleswoman told me the pattern was really $12.00!!! She said it had something to do with licensing and the fact that this woman basically wrote out the pattern line by line, which I'm sure is very helpful for a beginner, but the original Zimmerman pattern would have worked just fine for me! She was pleasant enough about it, but I could tell she didn't want to deal with a return and Knittybaby was getting fussy and ready to go, so I decided to just leave. But as I drove home, the more I thought about the fact that I just paid $12 for a pattern I can get for free at the library, the more irriatted I got. Oh, and the $3.00 price? That was on the original newsletter enclosed with the pattern. They definitely need to mark that more carefuly as there was no $12.00 marked anywhere.

Speaking of baby knitting, I just signed up for the Baby Sweater Knit-A-Long. Hopefully it will inspire me to finish Knittybaby's garter jacket and get started on something else for him.

I did decide to sign up for SP8, but I'm still waiting for the info on my pal.

Finally, the sock. It's not too dramatic, more funny. I had made the mistake of leaving my sock on the coffee table, and while usually Little Man leaves my stuff alone, something about those little double points is irresistable. So when I showed him the evidence with my usual mom-like "what-on-earth-you-know-better-please-don't-touch" speech, he looked at me very seriously and said: "But I put them back."





Based on where he stuck the needles, I don't think he's quite ready for his first knitting lesson.

A distraction

Hubby took off with the camera today, along with the sock pictures, so I'll introduce you to Grace, our retired greyhound. We adopted her four years ago from Greyhound Pets of America-Minnesota. If you are ever looking for a dog, I highly recommend adopting a racer! They are wonderful, sweet dogs who deserve a nice home after having a tough life in the racing industry, which is not the kindest place to be a dog. She is the dearest girl you could ever have!

She looks pretty skinny now, as she's getting over a long stomach bug, and she's a very finicky eater as is. But she is now on the mend and should be fattened up pretty soon (or at least fat by her skinny standards!:-)

My new sock

Tomorrow: what Little Man did to the sock.......