Kiss My Knits!

Yesterday our family went to visit our friends’ family. They’ve just moved to town from Maryland. They’ve got a great house out in the boondocks, with woods and a creek a couple of doors down. We all went out to throw rocks in the stream and explore.

Emily has trouble with balance and knowing where she is in relation to things sometimes (a sense called proprioception if you’re curious). In the past, she has tended to be fearful about physical feats, but that’s been changing lately. So yesterday, I helped her across the stream on some rocks. She was asking how she could get back across, and she spotted a log across the stream. She said she wanted to try it. It was fairly high up. If she fell off this thing, she could get pretty beat up, but I thought she could do it. Sometimes you’ve got to take a chance. I told her if she wanted, she could go for it.

She seemed nervous, so I said if she wanted, she could just use the bridge a little further down. But no, she really wanted to try. So she did. She shuffled her feet on the log until she was halfway across, then got a little more confident and walked the rest of the way carefully but normally. She stepped down at the end, turned back, and said, “I did it.” Then, adorably, she started jumping up and down pumping her arms in the air. “I did it! I did it!”

Of course, then she had to go back. And then return. And then go back again. There was much jumping and exultation. “I’m so brave!” Hee! That’s my girl!

I took a movie of one of her trips, but I’m having trouble getting movies to upload. I also took this picture, but unfortunately, my camera was doing that thing that it does. Even after color correction, it’s still pink. And runny. It’s like she’s crossing a stream on Saturn or something.

I’m so, so proud of my girl. This is good practice for Girl Scout camp in the Spring, if we go. And if we don’t, I still love that she’s becoming more daring. Today, the stream, tomorrow, Mt. Everest!

Pattern: Vinnland from the AntiCraft by Becca Compton, also known as
Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 from a swap with
Needles: Size 1 US (2.25mm)

Notes: Made 9″ circumference foot, decreasing to 8″ leg. It’s easy to adapt sizing in this pattern. This works well in the Fleece Artist. I think a yarn with greater color variation would hide the pattern, and the pattern’s just too pretty to hide. The sock doesn’t look like much when it’s all folded up, as all that ribbing pulls in on itself. When it’s on, though, it’s very pretty.



The yarn is quite soft and easy to work with. I wore them for a day and got some light fuzzing from my jeans rubbing on the legs and some moderate fuzzing on the heel. I’m also a loose knitter, so fuzz is a consistent issue for me. Handwashed these this morning and some green bled into the water, but not an alarming amount.

The picture at the left shows how much yarn I had leftover afterwards. The Merino 2/6 has generous yardage. There’s definitely enough for a small project – kid socks? wrist warmers? Hmm.

I’m pleased with how these turned out, and I’d make this pattern again.

Emily and I stopped by Visart Video today. She likes to get Madeline videos from there, and it’s only a buck for a week’s rental. While we were there, the clerk and another patron and I had a conversation about how business was up because of the writer’s strike, and how there’s nothing on but reality TV.

“Ah, but that’s not true,” I said. “The LOST season premiere is tonight.”

“Oh yeah. (SPOILER),” the patron said. “(SPOILER SPOI…)”

And that’s when I literally put my hands over my ears and started singing, “LA LA LA LA LAAAAAA!!!”

“Well, it was on The View,” he said in his defense.

Grrrr.

Well, in honor of LOST’s premiere and the spectacular island scenery, here are some fairly interesting nature photos, and here are some more. Y’all seem to be likin’ the links, so I’ll keep ’em coming.

Hat on the needles for: Queensland, Australia.

WELCOME TO THE KITCHEN OF TOMORROW!
Shirt by ssdesigner.com.
Body by neglect and sloth.



Tonight as I was cooking the rest of my father’s birthday meal, my husband brought in a package from the front stoop. I knew exactly what it was, but I hadn’t expected to get it so quickly! I shucked my shirt in the middle of the kitchen and tried on my new tee. The color’s a dead match to The Planet Express ship. The future has arrived!

Scott has a plethora of fabulous shirts, from a “Got Wood” Shaun of the Dead tribute to some really great Jayne ringer tees. If you’re looking to finish off your cunning outfit with Jayne’s famous yellow gun shirt, he’s your guy. And let me just say this: you know how my husband started working out like a maniac and lost weight? I got him a Futurama shirt too – because, really, who can stop with just one? – and his shirt makes him look even thinner. No lie. Must be some kind of Farnsworth invention – super-slimming microknits. As you can see in the picture to the right, this shirt is so awesome that it’s blinding me. It’s true – the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.

The best part? Going to my knitting group tonight, peeling off my jacket, striking a pose, and intoning, a la clip six on this list, “Welcome to the WOOOOORRLD of tomorrow!”

Anyway. Great product, great communication, quick turnaround – I can’t say enough good things about this guy. What are you waiting for? Go buy a shirt!

(P.S. – I forgot to mention that it beautifully matches my octo-purse! Better and better!)

For two weeks running, Emily’s told me that she read during art class. Apparently, they’re all working on self-portraits, and she finished hers, so she’s just been quietly reading instead. I feel certain that hers was completed in five minutes, and she opted not to include any detail or color, which would explain the time difference between her and her peers.

Loyal readers may recall this isn’t the first issue we’ve had with art class. And honestly, I could probably write it off if we hadn’t had these same issues in second grade. There was over a month where her answer was “I read” when I asked her what she did in art class. Her second-grade teacher had to have a talk with the art teacher about strategies to get her to not flip out or melt down.

I’m writing her regular teacher to see if a conference with the art teacher is in order. I get that the teacher has 20 little bodies to wrangle in that class, but if a child is having trouble, you can’t just shunt her to the side. If she has trouble with the assignment, she needs a modified assignment, not busywork.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!
(I’ll call you later to arrange delivery. I love you!)

I can’t remember whether I swatched for the Charlie Brown sweater with a size 6 or 7 needle. I cast on with a 7 but then thought… this looks kinda big.

Crud. Gotta swatch again. This is why you keep good notes at every stage.

Speaking of “facepalm” moments, I share with you:

Not Always Right. Tales of unreasonable customers in retail settings. Heh. That’s always comedy gold.

Okay! I’ve got the chart reworked and ready to go. I’ve actually modified this slightly since I made the graphic. It’s a couple of rows shorter now. I printed this out, several iterations wide, and held it up to my Dad’s midsection to be sure it’s the right height. He’s a good sport.

The chart is 22 stitches wide and I estimate a 110 stitch caston with an extra stitch on each side for selvedge will be correct. I hope. If I’m off by a tiny amount per inch, that gets multiplied fast over 110 stitches. Keep your fingers crossed!

Next hat up for: Paris. Ooh la la!

Kind of puts things in perspective.

Last October I lost five pounds and kept it off until the end of the year. Then in January, I was on the road a lot and ate a lot of fast food, and comforted myself more than I should have with food. I didn’t exercise over the holidays, and all told, I’ve gained back two or three pounds and a point of body fat over the course of the month. I want to get back on the metaphorical horse, but it’s so freakin’ cold outside. I love the snow, I hate the cold. Maybe I’ll NetFlix some Firm DVDs. The woman they’ve got on the front page of their website looks like she’s gone a little too far. Eat a sandwich, woman!

Steve’s having to work today. He works a lot on weekends. Poor guy. I complain about exercising in the cold, but he’s been walking a mile up to the Lynx station and taking the train into work to get a little exercise and also save money and wear and tear on his car. Whatta guy.

At right: just before I left for Richmond the other day, I took this picture of Steve, Emily, and the Groovy Girl dolls. He’s a good dad.

I realized last night that I’d charted the full-size Charlie Brown stripe wrong, so I need to go back and redo it. Fortunately I haven’t actually knit the stripe, just charted it with paper and pencil. I know there’s software that’ll do it, but I’m on a Mac, I don’t know that there’s something out there for me.

Still kind of sleepy, having gotten to bed late last night. Today I need to hit the library, Goodwill, and Home Depot, and hopefully a coffee shop in there somewhere.