Can You Believe It?

Hey - what is that I spy, blocking on the living room floor..... could it be???

Seven Rows an Hour

I'm on the home stretch, more than half way done with my sleeves, knitting speed, 7 rows an hour (yes, I timed myself). I've only got 30 rows left! It's even at the "portable" stage now- straight knitting, no more charts, I'm on page 18 of 19 in the directions! Theoretically I should be able to finish Rogue this week.

Theoretically - yeah, and theoretically I could be 30 lbs slimmer by summer, and theoretically I should be able to use the bathroom in peace by now.... my gosh, the kids are old enough to fend for themselves and even spend the weekend alone, but I still can't get a moment's peace in the bathroom.

"Mom, can I go over to whozit's house?, What's for dinner? What are we doing tomorrow?" and my personal favorite - "What are you doing in there?" Come on, do they really want to know?

Oy - I'm only going to be in here two seconds- can't I pee in peace? I mean, really, anyone who's a mom knows how to do her business in no time flat, can't they just WAIT?.... I've paid my dues, done the two minute showers with two toddlers in the playpen and the baby in the swing, parked right outside the open shower door - never mind shaving my legs or washing my hair - just a quick two minutes!!

I've done all the baby/toddler years peeing with the door open, with them all in there with you. I've hauled three kids into a department store stall... Then, even at home, when finally when you can shut the door and leave them on the outside, they're all still standing there, talking to you, waiting for you.

Now, they're teenagers, and they're still talking to me while I'm peeing - - my gosh, you'd think that would bother them by now!

yep- theoretically Rogue will be finished by the weekend - we'll see...

yeah - and pigs can fly, and I'm thin....

Please lift up prayers for Jeanie and her family today, thank the Lord for your many blessings, and hug your kids.

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he will strengthen thine heart.
Ps 27:14

I'm So Easy

So, I'm taking Kaity to our not-so-local yarn store yesterday, so she can spend her gift certificate - two days old and already burning a hole in her pocket....

Me, I'm not planning on buying anything - I've gotta finish Rogue and have yarn lined up for two pairs of socks, two hats for the hubby, and hand warmers for me - I'm covered for awhile.

As soon as I walk in, Lois, the owner, says "Lynda, - look what we just got in!!"

Oh My Gosh!!!! They're unpacking a tableful of Lorna's Laces - a new line to their store. Lorna all over the place..... sock weight and worsted..... (yep, you heard me right Wendy, you've gotta get right over there!)

Brand new yarn, fresh out of the box, hardly touched by anyone - I must have some! So, I picked some sock weight in the Sherbet colorway - to make D#2, the "pink" daughter some socks. I think I'll use that new pattern in IK - Simply Lovely Lace Socks.

So, there it sits, in the yarn cake corner of my desk - getting to know all the other yarn cakes - all my future projects.... calling to me.

I just love looking at them.

It's A Mystery

Hmmm, no one will confess to doing it, but poor Carmen is quite often found wandering the house wearing a toilet paper bow.

Cat fairies, I'm sure.

and, no, she's not too happy about it -

"I'm sure this never happens to Chaos."

Project Spectrum - PINK... the Birthday Edition

My baby turns 17 today!, and no one is more Project Spectrum Pink than D#2. It's pink everywhere with this girl.

Come on.... can I really be that old???, that 17 yrs have gone by since we welcomed our 10 lb 2 ounce "big" bundle of joy into the world... and brought her home to her 11-month-old sister and 3-year-old brother. Yeah - things were kind of a blur for awhile..., but she's an amazing blessing. She is our "bonus" child from God. We were all smart and thought we were going to stop at two... a boy and a girl...., and I am thankful every day that God knew better! Happy Birthday Lil!

And, for more Project Spectrum fun.... really, there are few material things in life I love as much as nail polish.... for your Spectrum Pink perusal I offer OPI's Cha-Ching Cherry! Love it!

Well, my pink fingernails and I are marooned on Sleeve Island. I've been promised rescue when I finish. And, that's good news for all of you, too.... I know you're getting bored.... Rogue, Rogue, Rogue.... will she EVER knit something else? I'm beginning to wonder, too...

Beware the Moon...

Ooooh, scary, the ghost of sweaters past....

I'm posting this picture because:

1. my hood is finished!
2. the picture cracks me up
3. it totally creeps Kaity out. She thinks it's coming to get her , makes her feel uneasy...

you know, in a "beware the moon, stay off the moors" kind of way.

I do have to say, the hood was the biggest challenge yet. Not the cabling so much, although there are a few mistakes that I will not be showing you. The decreases and grafting are a little tricky. The grafting, had I done it perfectly, would have been one of those real things of beauty - as it is, I got off a tad, and it's still pretty impressive, to me anyway- but not total brag-picture worthy.

hee hee.... I just looked at the hood picture again - I'm totally amusing myself! It just cracks me up - a little unsettling in a clown/sock monkey sort of way for me. I HATE clowns, and sock monkeys are just TOO freaky - can't have one of those around looking at me.

OK, back to knitting - check it out- I'm knitting two sleeves at a time. This makes me a little uneasy too - I haven't tried it before. I'm totally paranoid that about 3/4's of the way into it I'm gonna knit them together, or something else totally lame, get them turned around and get the fronts and backs mixed up, or somzing........ but so far so good.... all 1" of it. Must.Pay.Attention....

New Yarn, and Yarny Prospects

Got me some new yarn this weekend! Kaity and I met up with Wendy at her local yarn haunt - a place PACKED to the brim with yarn! Everywhere you looked there was yarn - to the ceiling, under the tables, in the back room. So.Much.Yarn.

Now, I always tell myself when I go somewhere new I'm going to buy something I can't buy at my regular LYS. I did okay with that in Solvang and got some very nice and different yarn.... but this weekend I bought stuff they have at my LYS - but maybe not in these colors! Besides, this NEW yarn store is just as far away as my regular not-so-local yarn store, so now I've just have two not-so-local yarn stores at my disposal - sweet!

Besides, this new one is awfully close to Wendy, and I bet I wouldn't have to twist her arm too hard to get her to meet me there again.

The Noro Kureyon is colorway #148, and is going to grow up to be this. That GORGEOUS heathered green is Cascade 220, #????

Hmmm, the band now seems to be missing because SOMEONE was fondling my yarn.... I need that band because I only bought one hank, and now I'm really wanting to buy more to make this! There will be torture involved when she gets home from school...

That's what I get for being wishy-washy and only buying one hank. Live and learn.... eh. Well, I originally bought it for a hat, so I can still do that, and by the time get around to making another sweater - well that just gives me time to change my mind, again.... like I said, wishy-washy.

But- I do have some exciting yarn prospects in my future! My sis is going to Germany in a week and the hubby gave her some yarn money to find me something cool and Germany-ey... I just told her pick out anything, you decide - surprise me! I hope she actually has time to sleuth out a yarn store and shop! She is on a working trip, after all.... but, really, what can a few hours in a yarn shop hurt.

And, some Rogue progress. Still working away on the hood, but I'm almost finished with it - and then it's off to sleeves!

**reprieve- the child is spared - I found the missing yarn band, Cascade 220, colorway 9336 - prettiest stuff ever.**

Project Spectrum - PINK

Here's s some Project Spectrum Pink, from BEFORE I knit... when the girls were babies - when I smocked.

A little nostalgia from the cedar chest.... waiting for my girls to have girls someday...

This is Gettin' Old

We really need to invest in a swift...

Rogue? - see yesterday's picture and imagine about 4 more inches of the same old hood. Still in love with it.

I did get to take a little time off the routine this morning and meet up with some friends who meet every Friday at the local coffee shop to knit. Very fun - must do it more often.... but, lesson learned: it's not too conducive to productive knitting - I can't, cable, knit, talk, and drink coffee all at the same time. Still fun though!

Slight of Hand and Parlor Tricks

That's what you're getting today.... random babble. You know, so that you don't even notice that Rogue pretty much looks exactly the same as last time you saw it. Just about 4" more of the same...

Here's the random babble that popped into my head this morning - you know, those thoughts or memories that come out of nowhere for no reason - stuff you didn't even remember you remembered??

When I was a kid, really young, before First Grade, when I was so surprisingly brought into another reality, I always thought boys had outie bellybuttons, and girls had innies - and that's how you told them apart (I guess I wasnt' concerned the "other parts" yet). My brother had an outie, I had an innie - in my mind that solidified it. I hadn't seen too many bellybuttons yet in my young life, and so far my theory had proven true.

Until one day on the playground, when we were playing on the bars. Now, back in the day... way back when I was in First Grade, ALL the girls still wore dresses to school. But, we also played on the bars. If you were lucky like me, and had a cool crafty, sewing mom, you had bloomers that matched everything. Very First Grade chic. That way, you could hang upside down on the bars and no one would see your underwear. Very important.

However..... one day Molly, one of my good First Grade buddies, was hanging upside down on the bar and, there it was, staring me in the face..... an outie bellybutton. Oh - NO!!!! Molly was a BOY!!! WHY were her parents dressing her up like a girl and making her be a girl??? I cannot tell you how upsetting this was. Shook me to my First Grade core. It never even dawned on my that my theory might be flawed. To me it wasn't theory, it was truth, something that somehow got stuck in my head and I totally believed. Poor Molly. I could not get over it. All this time, Molly was a boy..... why???

I went home and told Mom that Molly was a boy, and asked why they were making her be a girl. Of course, Mom wanted to know why I was so sure Molly was a boy.... then the whole ugly truth came out.... innies and outies were just that.... and for no really good reason... My way made much more sense. I still wasn't sure I believed her. I tell you what, though..... I was sure glad I had an innie!!!

What bizarre truths did you "make up" for yourself when you were a kid?

The Crafty Gene

Since Rogue looks pretty much the same, about 4" longer in the hood, but basically the same, I thought I'd share this picture with you. I did not knit this. My mom did, for my birthday, quite a few years ago. I don't wear it too often, because it fits better when I'm at my "fighting weight," which I am not at this time.... but, I'm working on it. I have a lot of things I'm going to wear and knit when I have "that body" again.... does anyone else do that? I just can't put the frumpy body in the cool clothes - they both have to be right.... hence, I live in jeans and Old Navy T's. I've really got to step up my game - there are a LOT of things I want to knit - and I WILL get back the body to wear them!!

Ok, enough for the little self pep talk...

Isn't this sweater pretty, though? When I wasn't a knitter, making something so beautiful seemed impossible to me. But, hey - now I can! I can make beautiful things, and it's not that hard! How fun is that?

See, I come from crafty genes, they just skipped my generation. My sis didn't get it either. Kaity did. How is this fair?

Now, I can be crafty, within reason. I think I talked about this in my very first post. However, for the most part I have to have a plan (someone else's), and a picture (VERY important, I have to SEE it to get it), and precise directions - and someone to help me interpret them. I can copy something, but I have few original ideas of my own. I'm a huge follower.... baa, baa

That's one of the reasons I love knitting blogs. I see the same pattern knit up SOOOOO many different ways! Ways I would have never thought of, in colors and yarns I would have never thought to use. Now, true, I usually don't use the yarn called for in a specific pattern, but that's usually a cost factor, and I usually pick something pretty similar.... but I am getting braver. You guys are stretching me, getting me to think outside my box....

Hey - you know.... it's not so bad out here, outside the box...

slow and steady.....

Progress on Rogue continues....

This is SO FUN to knit, still!! The stockinette never gets boring because it is always broken up by cables.... on the body, and now the hood, which I've just started, and the sleeves. I think when I get to the sleeves, I'll do them two-at-a-time.... if anything is going to bore me, it'll be the sleeves - they take forever.
Good news - I've tried it on, now that it's "put together" and it fits! Whew.... always my biggest worry!

But, so far so good..... pretty boring for blogging though..... I promise to pick a quick project for ya'll before I get back into something big and blog-boring again.

I'm wondering if I'd look as cute in a vest as Lynne.... check her out!! And, vest = no sleeves!!! Perfection!!

It Has Its Perks

Say what you want about California - it does have its perks. Like beautiful produce, all year round. I live and grew up in a more rural part of So Cal, around orchards and fields. Orchards of lemons, oranges and avocados; fields of celery, peppers, broccoli, lettuce, beans, and STRAWBERRIES! I don't even have to buy lemons or avocodos anymore, I have friends who ranch both. I'm spoiled and blessed.

My dad is famous for picking ANYTHING up off the side of the road, hitchhikers, tools, toolboxes, the girls have great sleeping bags (yes, we took them straight to the cleaners first), but especially produce. I remember when I was a kid eating what we now refer to as "roadkill produce." It'd be dinnertime and all of the sudden we'd be having broccoli, "your dad found it on the side of the road on his way home." Hey- the stuff just bounces out of trucks, it's still "perfectly good" - and free! We still talk about dad bring home assorted road kill vegetables.

Now, the hubby, people BRING him stuff. Yesterday a customer gave him a flat of beautiful strawberries! Daughter #2 is in heaven, they're her favorite! Mmmmm

Now, don't hate, at least I didn't post a picture of the lobsters another customer brought him yesterday! They were delicious, but lobsters aren't as photogenic.

But, between eating awesome So Cal delicacies in the dead of winter, I have been getting some knitting done on Rogue. I finished the cool kangaroo pocket and have almost finished the cables on the sides. Next, onto the hood! Wish me luck! - so far so good. Still loving it.

My Knitting Spot

I was tagged by Ariane, to show my knitting spot. So, here it is! I sure wish I spent more time here than I do, but it's my spot. I sit in that corner of the loveseat facing you... and use the foot rest from the other couch, since the loveseat doesn't have one.

My little table the hubby made me from an old sewing machine stand is next to me, with all my necessities. There's Melman, my glasses holder, my little box of knitting supplies, my stack of magazines (knitting, and InStyle), the little crocheted coaster that Kaity made me (usually has my Diet Coke perched there), some candles, and my pretty, but wimpy lamp.

The lighting is not great in this corner, but it's okay (I get up and run to the kitchen table if I need "really good" light) - but it's my corner, the couch is comfy, I can see the TV and the rest of the family from here, it's close to the fireplace, and it's where I get most of my knitting done.

I have really enjoyed seeing other people's knitting spots, so I'm tagging:
Jeanie
Kirsten
Sonya
Chris
Chris,
and Jill

- you don't have to play if you don't want to, but seriously, inquiring minds want to know - ok, maybe I'm just nosy....

Sweet Knittin' Skills

That's what I love about knitting - challenging myself and learning new stuff. Acquiring new sweet knitting skills.

At first it starts out as simple as merely learning to knit, then purl.... then the fabu yarnover - which gives amazing results with very little effort, as long as you put them where they're supposed to be. (yeah, yeah, I know, it still took me three projects before I figured out I was doing them all wrong, but still a sweet skill).

Don't even get me going on learning me some sweet sock-knitting skills!

Sweet skills.

Now, before Rogue I had done a total of three cables in my whole life... on a purse. Next thing ya know.... I'm all uppity and casting on for Rogue.

But you know what?, with a little bit of help and just reading the directions, cables appear! All twisty and what not.... I love this magic! Heather was talking the other day about how she is just ga-ga for bobbles.... for me, I am all over these cables. LOVE THEM!

And, almost as cool - check out the kangaroo pocket!! Follow those directions, and - Ta Da! Okay, so I haven't attached it to the body yet, but I have faith. It's an almost-pocket.

Gotta love well-written directions - so that even the most knitting challenged can create cables and kangaroo pockets. I am loving The Girl From Auntie. Now, she's got some sweet knittin' skills.

136 Socks!!!

We have 97 knitters now counting their socks! I visited everyone's blog over the weekend, checking for sock counting buttons and sock counts. What fun! I wish I had more time to visit each site - what fun and inspiration!

Here are some statistics:

New pairs of socks added since January - 137!! Woo Hoo!

Here is a list of people who knit their very first pair of socks!
Kitten Yarns and Crafts
Use Your Hands
Woolgathering
Passionknit Monica not only made her first pair, she made four!
Common Threads
Calamknitty
and Jennifer

And our most prolific sock knitters?? - there are three of you who have knit
eight pairs since January!
Even Quilters Mouth Off On Occasion, from one pair to nine!
Melissa Knits, from 23 to 31!
and Wendy's Intertwinement, from 7 to 15!

I hope you go and check out some of your fellow sock knitters - you'll be inspired! Thanks so much to all of you who have joined us! Please let me know if I have missed anyone's great accomplishments, or have incorrect totals, and I'll get it straightened out!

Keep knitting socks, updating your Sock Counting buttons, and please drop me an email whenever you add a new pair if you'd like! 135 socks in two months! That's amazing! Can we top that over the next two months??? Let's see.

And, if your not counting your socks yet and would like to - it's never too late to join - just let me know!

Backyard Greetings

Backyard Greetings

I found this idea on Jillian's blog yesterday, where they encouraged bloggers to post a favorite view from their backyard on Sunday, 3/5/06. I actually took this picture yesterday, after a rainstorm. You could see both ends, the entire rainbow, from our backyard, but I couldn't get far enough away to get it all in the picture.

I thought a rainbow was perfect for a Sunday Sabbath picture, a reminder of God's promises!

Let nothing disturb thee,

Nothing affright thee;

All things are passing;

God never changeth;

Patient endurance

Attaineth to all things;

Who God possesseth

In nothing is wanting

Alone God sufficeth.

Pink and Spicy

Oh yeah - extra hot Tabasco Pink and Spicy! Check it out.... two balls of yarn and two sets of needles all going at the same time.... and better yet, not tangled and going like they're supposed to!

This Rogue is FUN! I can hardly keep my hands off it. I'm doing it - and I'm doing it right. I am so spicy I can hardly stand myself. (about now my mom would say "don't break your arm patting yourself on the back").

But, I mean, really. I've started my cables, AND started knitting the kangaroo pocket, and it's all working just like it's supposed to. Blind faith, baby. Just follow the directions - you don't have to understand it. I had a couple panic moments that I had to have Kaity talk me through.... but other than that, if you just keep following the pattern, it all starts to make sense - cables appear, and you actually can see how this pocket is going to actually become a pocket! Fun, I tell ya, fun, fun, fun.

So, check out my cool "Twisty Cables and Shit" - as Heather calls it. (sorry again mom, but I was quoting Heather, who I love and admire, so I had to use the S-word). How cool is that!?

I mean, come one.... it may be a very small start at twisty cables, but they impress me, and, more importantly.... They.Look.Like.The.Picture!!! Come on everybody - happy dance with me!

And as Lolly pointed out, it's Pink, for Project
Spectrum - so, of course, I had to join! Thanks Lolly!

Check back in Monday, for more exciting cabley action and an update on Count Your Socks!

Pigs Flew

Who saw it yesterday. Come on, it was all over the place at my house, pigs flying, rumors of hell freezing over, "dogs and cats, living together" (ala Bill Murray) - I've gone and done it - I cast on for Rogue last night, just tossing an unfinished Spring Fling aside, totally messed with my own time-space continuum and, strangly, it doesn't even bother me as much as I thought it would.

Really, you had to see it coming... I mean, with my latest yarn purchases, and the fact that I now actually have a stash - meager at best, but a still a stash. My knit world is all topsy turvy.

I think I'm just developing into what happens to most knitters - I'm just a bit slower and more stubborn (go figure). I now have FOUR, count 'em, FOUR, projects on the needles. My Jaywalker socks, my Flowerbasket Shawl, Spring Fling, and, now, Rogue. I mean really, what's next - the little WIP list on my side bar?! I have totally stuck a toe into the Dark Side - and I'm kind of liking it.

I feel a little light-headed.

Of course, I asked Kaity what she thought about me starting Rogue and setting Spring Fling aside - I don't know, I guess I just needed someone to say it was okay..... yeah right - I know where to go to get the answer I want, don't I? I ask the girl who probably cast on six different things in the last two days while she was home sick..... not exactly good accountability there.

Well - be on the lookout for the stray flying pig. I've done it now, and who knows what I'll do next.... you can all say "I told you so" now. I deserve it, all my one-project-gal boasting, come on, give me your best shot.

PS - this weekend I will be updating Count Your Socks - I'll be checking all your blogs for updated sock counting buttons and posting Monday on our progress.