Come Check Out My New Digs

I'm a movin' on up.
From now on you can find me here http://anotherknitter.typepad.com/

Knitting Olympics Fever

When I heard about The Knitting Olympics my first thought was that it's not for me. I'm not much of a joiner and knowing how long it takes me to complete a project with my crazy buzy life I figured the chance that I could complete anything before the Olympic flame was extinguished was slim to none. However, the more I read and hear about Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's reasoning behind starting this, the more it appeals to me. I know I'm too late to join on, but I'm declaring myself an unofficial alternate for team USA. An "alter-knit" if you will. My only challenge is this, I will stay true blue to my Debbie Bliss ribbed sweater and cast on no further projects until the end of the winter games. This is tougher than you might expect since I found this today and immediately wanted to give it a try. I will not be distracted. I am committed and I'm stating it here so you can all hold me accountable if I suddenly pop in a few days from now with a new scarf or ipod cozy, etc. Let the games (belatedly) begin. 

At Loose Ends: A Cautionary Tale

My knitting bag has become the Bermuda Triangle of fiber arts. It is a cute bag though, isn't it? I finally made use of one of those Jo-Ann's 50% off coupons that end up in my e-mail box all year long and picked up the circles bag from ArtBin pretty darn cheap.

I have cast on in the past few days two projects that have come out just so-so, and that's being generous. I'm not going to tell you what projects those were because I don't want to cast aspersions on innocent knitwear designers. It's not them, it's me. I've gotten cocky and I've gotten lazy. I completed a lovely tank top, except that it was perfect for someone about three sizes larger than me. I confess, I didn't swatch. Not only that, but I ignored the little voice inside. The little voice that watched this project grow larger and larger and kept whispering in my ear, "Psst! Hey, don't you think you should grab a ruler and check that gauge before you go any further?"

Earlier on in my knitting days I would have looked at this finished object and resolved to find someway to rehabilitate it. Now older & wiser , I frogged it. I frogged the whole thing (rip it rip it.) I will knit it again. I WILL knit a gauge swatch this time, but I'm not ready to tackle it yet.

The lesson in all of this is, I'm a fickle knitter. I had this lovely Debbie Bliss sweater I was working on. I loved the pattern, I loved the yarn, I was clicking along at a merry pace and then.... I heard the siren song of all these quick, funky little knits and now I have nothing to show for it. If I had just stuck with my original sweater I'd probably have it done by now and I'd be enjoying a lovely alpaca sweater in this New England Winter weather. Instead, I'm trying to muster the courage to face it again with my tail between my legs and trying to forget days and days of really bad karma knitting.

Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken Cardigan

Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken Cardigan
Originally uploaded by aimee70us.

I've been so busy nursing my family back to health that I haven't had time to take more detailed pictures of Blackberry or Marilyn's Not So Shrunken Cardigan. I did wear the latter to a Christmas party last month and here's a snapshot from that night.

Germapalooza

Someone needs to call the Guiness Book of World Records. My family has been sick for about all stinkin' Winter. This latest round was the dreaded flu. The flu that stops toddlers in their little footie sleeper tracks. The flu which tests the limits of seemingly bottomless mother love. When your little darling, the one you've nurtured since conception and gladly kissed away any boo boos, real or imagined, comes to you first thing in the morning with vomit encrusted hair saying , "Mommy, I think I'm sick." And you turn to her and say, "Oh, my sweetie. Come let mother feel your forehead and.....EWWWWWW!!!! Go see your Father."

The only way to atone for my maternal guilt over that less than loving response was to knit up some ankle socks in a toasty merino wool for one of my lovely assistants so she could recover in style. Knit up with Sock Landscape in Spring Prairie from KnitPicks, from a free pattern at The Blue Blog. They were the perfect quick knit inbetween cooling fevered brows and changing bed linens.

One of the worst parts about caring for sick children once you realize that they're on the road to recovery is the nagging thought that you're next. Washing my hands like Howard Hughes, contemplating a plastic suit a la John Travolta in The Boy In The Plastic Bubble, and all the while hearing that little voice, "You're next lady. MwaHaHaHaHa..." The hard truth is that when Mom gets sick she's still the go to girl for all household emergencies. It defies all reason, but I know my husband could set up a Customer Service booth in the livingroom while I'm five blocks away hosting Middle East peace talks and my children would still stand on the front porch hollering, "Maaaaaa! I can't find my shooooooes!"

Exhausted

I am exhausted. And I don't mean your wimpy Lindsay Lohan, Ashley Simpson brand of exhaustion. I mean bone deep, "Calgon, take me away!" exhaustion. I hate to sound like Scrooge, but I've never been so happy to wake up and realize the holidays have passed. However, I think I may have found a solution to my little problem. I'm establishing the Celebrity Domestication Normalization Therapy Center (CDNTC). For a nominal fee Hollywood A-listers can come to my house and get back to basics. Change a few diapers, do a few dishes and give me a break in the process.

"Paris, be a dear and run to the grocery store for me. And please do NOT return with just a cart full of Starbucks coffee and sunless tanner this time."

I did manage to get some knitting done during my blogging break. I finished the Hourglass sweater. No pictures of that yet. I also started the tubular camisole from Stephanie Japel and knit up a sweater for my daughter's American Girls doll.

I used some leftover Merino Style from the Marylin's Not-So-Shrunken Cardi and Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton (Yes, the same yarn I used to truss the Thanksgiving turkey.) One of my Christmas presents was a KnitPicks gift certificate and I used it to buy the Sweater Wizard software. So this little doll sweater was a great way to try it out. My daughter told me exactly what she wanted and in a few minutes I had a pattern. All in all I was pleased with the program, but it definately helps that I've already made several sweaters, ie: learned from my many mistakes. For example the software only allows for ribbed edging and my daughter wanted lace, so I had to select something from Knitting On The Edge and make adjustments myself. Not a big deal, but it could be limiting for a newbie.