And now a word from the kidlets....

SOME people want to see more posts about the kids. SOME people are getting tired of all the knitting posts. Dear SOME people -- it's the Knitting Olympics! Sheesh! Nobody complains to NBC or whoever is covering the Olympics this time that there are too many sports broadcasts.

Anyway, in order to keep SOME people happy, here are a few words from and about the kids.

Some funny things: Lily told me she had a really bad day at school yesterday. When I asked why, she said her "cart" broke at nap time. I eventually realized she meant her cot. As we left the school, I mentioned her bad day to the center director, who commented "Yes, those cots collapse all the time." Lily said "Well, I think it's because I'm 5 now."

Jack got to have a pop tart last week when we tried out GymStreet USA (great place for kids, by the way). They had an open house this weekend, so Jim and I took the kids to meet some of their friends there. We told the kids they could get something at the snack bar, and Jack repeatedly insisted he wanted a "monkey bar." We finally figured out that he wanted a "pop tart." He still insists they are monkey bars.

I bought Lily a detective kit a few weeks ago, because her new goal is to become a detective when she grows up. On the way home from school that evening, I told her I had bought a real detective kit with fingerprint powder and everything. She said, very seriously, "Does it have a gun?" I assured her I wouldn't buy a gun for a 5 year old.

Sweet story: The center director told me last week that one of Jack's classmates was crying after her mom left her at school. Jack went over and hugged her to try and make her feel better. He has also stopped crying when I leave him at school. He just insists I have to give him a hug and a kiss before I leave.

Sorry, that's all I've got. Sometimes the kids don't really do anything funny or interesting enough for me to blog about. Not much has been happening around here lately -- we do our play dates, the kids play and we knit. It's the knitting olympics!!!

Here is some cute to hold you over until something a bit more blogworthy happens:

Entrelac Blues

The first day of the Knitting Olympics did not go well.

I'm afraid that the pattern for the Entrelac Bag I'm working on was written for people who have some idea of how to actually knit entrelac. I struggled on my own for hours and couldn't figure out how to knit the middle squares on the second row. After about 6 hours of work, I had what looked like 4 Tibetan prayer flags flying on my circular, one with a little blue triangle stuck on the side.

The good news? Having a lot of knitting friends means I got a lot of offers of assistance. The bad news? Because the power went out at my house during the whole process, I didn't find out about these offers until almost 4:30 pm. I ended up stopping at a friend's house on my way to pick up the kids from school. She couldn't figure out the pattern at first, either, but by laying the pieces out on the table and looking at a tiny, fuzzy picture of the pre-felted finished product, we were able at last to figure out where to pick up the stitches to start the first middle square. Once I figured that out, the rest of the pattern became clear.

Question: Assume you have two squares next to each other on a needle (let's call them Square 1 and Square 2). The instructions tell you to do some knitting on the edge of Square 1. Then the instructions tell you to pick up stitches on the "next square." Wouldn't you think they meant Square 2? Therein lay my confusion. "Next Square" did not mean Square 2, it actually meant the edge of Square 1 adjacent to where I'd just finished knitting. BIG difference. Can you tell I'm still a little annoyed?

Happily, once you figure out how to add new squares, you are doing entrelac! It's actually quite easy. I'm still fascinated by how you knit straight across, but end up making a diamond (because the square is in between two catty-corner squares). Intellectually, I understand what's happening, but it's still like a little magic trick. "Ladies and Gentlemen, watch as I knit across these flat stitches. Presto! Now it's a diamond!" Cue applause.

I only have 3 rows of diamonds left and the main portion of the bag will be finished. Somehow, I thought it would take longer. I'm going to try to finish the Lucy bag within the deadline as well, and if that's done early, then I'll work on the DNA scarf. Yes, I sound optimistic, but if you could turn straight rows of knitting into a diamond attached to other diamonds, wouldn't you feel like you could do anything?

Knitting Olympics

Initially, I said I wouldn't join the Ravelympics. What is the Ravelympics? Basically, you pick a challenging project, cast it on on opening day (August 8) and try to complete it by the closing ceremony (8/24). Yes, I do have quite a list of Christmas projects to get done, but I didn't want to put myself under too much pressure.

Then, Butterfly Yarns (link in side bar) offered its own Olympic Challenge. In fact, I think it was originally suggested by Knitty McGillicutty, one of the knitters at the Tuesday Night Knitting Group at Butterfly Yarns. I swore I would only participate if there was a Special Olympics for Pressure Challenged Knitters. Sadly, no one was willing to accommodate my aversion to time limited knitting.

Last night, when everyone was talking about their new projects and the Olympics, I got sucked in by the joinitis and signed up for an event (Felted Freestyle). I have been itching to cast on the Entrelac Bag, so I figured, what the hell, I need to knit the bag for my Christmas Gift Marathon of Knitting anyway, why not join in the Ravelympic fun? If I make it, I will get a badge for my blog! Woo hoo!

My goal is to try and finish up the Pinwheel before I cast on the bag, so I really have to get going on that.

Hang Me By My Magic Loop

Magic loop, you say? So awesome, you say?

So far, I am not a big fan of magic loop. I don't know if it's the really small circumference of the work (36 stitches) or the large size of the needles (US 9), but magic looping the sleeves on the Pinwheel Sweater has been wearing my last nerve.

So I did what any wise woman would do. I brought the work to knitting night and asked if I was doing magic loop the right way (I am). I then commented that my problem was trying to drag the inactive stitches back onto the needle part when I transitioned from one side to the next. As I said that, someone commented I was knitting really tight.

I never knit tight. I almost always have to go down at least one needle size because I knit so loosely. But when I heard that comment and checked my gauge against the rest of the sweater, I could see it was way tighter than the rest of the garment.

One of the ladies suggested "You'll have to rip it back and reknit it with a larger needle." I replied" Hell no, I'm not doing that!"

I went home and proceeded to knit the rest of the stockinette portion of the sleeve, and then started on the ribbed portion, paying careful attention to keeping my gauge loose. You know what? The knitting went a lot smoother when I didn't have to struggle to drag those tight little stitches onto the needle each time. Am I now in love with magic looping? No, but I loathe it a little less than before.

I have about 4 inches left on the sleeve. This morning, I tried the coat on my daughter because I was worried about how tight the sleeve looked in the upper arm (where I knit so tight it looks like chain mail). Lily said "I think this sleeve is TOO SMALL!" She's right.

Soooooooo...long story short, I will be ripping that sleeve all the way back today and reknitting it while paying much closer attention to my gauge. I'm also going to pick up a couple of stitches where the yarnover holes are, because one of them is huge and needs to be tightened up. So that will give me a little more room in the sleeve. I hate ripping back, but I can't finish a sweater with such tight sleeves, even if they will probably fit my niece. I want her to be able to wear this sweater for a couple of years.

In more positive news, I crocheted an edging on the jacket and it looks really pretty. I just did 5 double crochets into one stitch, chain two, skip a stitch, single crochet into the next stitch, chain two, skip a stitch all the way around the edge. It looks nice on both sides, so it will be fine when the jacket edge is flipped over to make the shawl collar. I think I will edge the sleeves the same way, even though the pattern doesn't call for it.

If I have the energy, I'm pretty sure I can finish up the jacket by tomorrow, leaving me free to finally cast on the Entrelac Bag. I'm really looking forward to hat project. I think it will be pretty quick. I continue to plod along with the DNA scarf. It would go much more quickly if I would stop losing my way in the chart. Yes, I am using a post-it as a marker, but I still manage to move it or forget to move it enough to screw up every 10 rows or so. I've finished 2 repeats and the pattern calls for 5 per side. I think I'm going to drop a repeat on each side to save myself some time. I really like how the DNA cabling is turning out, though.

Hey, Kool-Ade!

I did some kool-ade dying last week and it was so much fun! I got together with two friends and our 6 kids, and we dyed up a storm. I practiced on some kitchen cotton first, just to get an idea of how the dyes worked. Then I dyed a hank of fingering weight superwash wool in a bunch of wild colors. I was nervous because it looked kind of ugly while I was doing it, but as I wind it into a cake, it's looking kind of neat. Pictures later -- I got sidetracked while winding it and never got back to it.

I dyed a second hank of the same yarn in flame colors. I really like how it came out:



The kids tie-dyed some cotton t-shirts. Here they are, modeling their work:





Jack's shirt front is also decorated with chocolate ice cream.





Sadly, I have it on good authority that cotton does not take kool-ade well as a dye, so the shirts won't look like this again. My wool should stay dyed, though.

I'm going to make a sock monkey out of some of this yarn...after the Marathon of Christmas Knitting ends.

I cast on another project today -- the DNA scarf. It's a fun little pattern, although I found the directions a bit confusing at first and then decided to frog the whole thing after 2 inches so that I could change one aspect of the design. I forgot how annoying it is to use a cable needle. I'm going to give cabling without a needle a try after I get used to the pattern.

One tip for those interested in kool-ade dyeing: wear gloves! I can't stress it enough. My hands ended up nearly black from all the kool-aid, and the only thing that cleaned them up was bleach. Even that didn't get the color out from under my nails. Today (almost a week later) the color finally wore off.

After the kool-ade practice, I think I'm ready to try some of my acid dyes. I like more muted colors better than the brights of kool-ade, so I think I'll enjoy being able to blend my own colors even more.

Now With New Blog Links!

I've updated my blog links by getting rid of a few that don't interest me anymore and adding some new ones. Gotta change it up!

Very briefly:

(the customer is) Not Always Right: Hilarious stories about stupid customers. Good for at least one laugh a day!

A Wicked Good Yarn: Life and knitting from my friend Beth's point of view.

Behind the Counter: Snarky commentary by a former Wal-Mart employee. There's not much going on now, but the archive posts are a hoot.

Butterfly Yarns: What else is there to say? The best little yarn shop around.

Cake Wrecks: You'd better pray you don't get one of these cakes. This blog makes me laugh until I cry.

Can't Stop Knitting: My friend Lisa's blog -- she really can't stop knitting!

Fail Blog: Photo blog where the picture is worth 1,000 laughs.

I am Neurotic: Reading this blog will make you feel like the healthiest, sanest person you know.

New England Knitter: My friend Cathy's take on knitting and other good stuff.

Enjoy!

The Knitting's the Thing

It's been a while since I blogged about knitting, so here goes.



The Twisted Tree sweater is finished! The neck seemed a little small, so I tried it on Jack and Lily. Big mistake. Both kids have a larger than average noggin, and the neck was indeed too tight. Fortunately, one of my friends has a daughter with a normal noggin. The neck fit over her head just fine. Since I have no idea whether the intended recipient has a large or normal noggin, I decided I'll have to rip back the neck a couple of rows and redo the cast off in a stretchier version. The sweater is ready to block today, assuming I have time to get to it.



I also finished the Noro Hat! It's been a big week for me! I love the way the Noro hat came out. I'm definitely going to make another one for myself after the Great Christmas Marathon is over. My only complaint was the instructions concerning the second to last decrease. Now, I now my ability to read and properly interpret patterns is questionable, ever since the whole 5 US 2 needles thing (See this post for more info). Still, when I see (K1, K2tog) 12 times, it tells me I'm supposed to K1 and then K2 together, and then K1, and then K2 together, etc., etc., 12 times. The thing is, when you only start with 25 stitches, and need to get to 13, this instruction is NOT going to get you there. After several false starts and quite a bit of frogging, I finally K1 and then did K2tog 12 times. Voila! 13 stitches. So simple if you actually sit down and use math instead of pigheadedly knitting the row with the same mistake 5 times!



The Pinwheel Sweater is coming along so quickly it's like a miracle. It's been a while since I knit anything with size 9 US needles. I'm just blazing through it, even though I've been dealing with Captain Puketastic and Whiney Girl for the last few days. I have 8 more rows until the circle that forms the body of the jacket is finished. Then I just need to bang out the two sleeves and decide what I'm doing for trim. Here's my dilemma: the pattern calls for a looped i-cord around the circumference of the circle. I don't know why (perhaps it's the mind-numbing repetition), but I loathe knitting i-cord with the fiery intensity of a thousand suns. At the same time, I really like the way the trim called for by the pattern looks. I'm torn between sucking it up and doing i-cord or figuring out a crocheted trim that I like.

My next project will be a felted entrelac bag. I haven't tried entrelac yet, so I'm really excited to start. Plus, I bought some beautiful Elizabeth Austin Andes yarn, and I'm dying to see how it knits up.