Emily: “Why do you have to hold onto a bicycle’s handlebars?”
Me: “So you can control it. That’s how you steer the bicycle. Do you think you’d like a bicycle for your birthday?”
Emily: “Yes. Also, a can of snakes.”
Me: “What would you do with a can of snakes?”
Emily: “I would open it and they would fly out!”
She gets that from her Grandpa. No doubt about it.
This kid’s on a roll today.
The snowman has finally melted away. There was enough last night for me to pick up a pinch of snow, make the world’s tiniest snowball and throw it at the house. It was a nice last hurrah.
And speaking of world’s tiniest things, my dad’s birthday was Tuesday. No, that’s not a “short” joke! A while back we were talking about this Charlie Brown sweater, and I said I couldn’t understand why the giftee had never acknowledged receipt. I figured any baby would love to have one! Dad quickly said, “Or any adult! I mean… I know I’d wear one. It’d be fun. You know. If someone… were to… make me one. You know.”
Hee hee! Okay! I think he forgot about it, but I filed it away. I didn’t have time to make a complete full-sized sweater by his birthday, and I didn’t have his measurements even if I had had time. Instead, I made this, put a tape measure inside it and presented it in a little bag. And that was his gift. I’ll be taking measurements later for the real deal.
I’ve finished up another project, this one for a baby. It’s too big, but I like to knit big for babies because they grow so fast. The parents get all this tiny stuff at baby showers, and then six months later the kid has outgrown it all. However, I have to mail it to its receipient, so I can’t show it just yet. But it’s really cute. It’s hard to hold off posting it.
The hubby has to work today. Emily says that I can go to the store and get bagels by myself and bring them back. I’m pretty sure Child Protective Services would have a different opinion on that. We’ll see if she wants them badly enough to stop lounging around in her pajamas and come with me. I may insist, because now that she’s mentioned it, a bagel sounds great!
Heh. Sorry, sugar, a parasol won’t help. Answer’s still no, but I love the creativity.
SNOW DAY!!
Emily had to run around to all the windows to make sure it was actually snowing on all four sides of the house. And no school today! I’m not feeling that great today, but you know what? It’s all okay, because it’s SNOWING! Snow is magic; it makes everything better! YAAAAAAY!!
Did I mention that by correcting the issue at the shoulder to follow the pattern exactly, another issue cropped up? That you’re increasing to the same number of stitches on each side, but you’re starting from a different number, so you have to do more rows on one side than another?
This pattern is a giant pain in my tuchus.
Let’s sum up Tracy Chapman’s “Toys To Knit,” shall we?
No gauge given on patterns. Garments can come out badly sized.
Example: these are supposed to be pants, not hip waders.
Poorly phrased instructions lead to confusion on garment construction.
Example: armhole that was apparently supposed to be a neckhole.
No diagrams or detailed pics of finished items to show how to assemble.
Example: elephant man head.
Summary. Pretty pictures do not a good pattern book make. Avoid! Avoid!
Hats up for: New Zealand, New Zealand, and New Zealand.
And today, what my daughter learned were the words “inhabit” from the sentence “the island was inhabited by cannibals” in Pippi Longstocking, and also the word “fart.” From… uh, never mind.
However, she did teach me about matter, mass, properties, and temperature. So I suppose that’s a fair exchange.
Everybody wish my father a happy birthday. This marks the 32nd year in a row of him turning 39!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!
I can’t believe I scheduled a Dragonrealms event during Heroes last night. I just completely forgot it was on. Fortunately, it’s available for download, but I always prefer to watch these things on TV. Well, the DR event was certainly fun, so I’ll say it was worth it.
Emily has been bringing me her doll periodically over the last few days and reminding me that she needs clothes, which I am working on. Last night she revealed that she can neither play with nor name this doll until she has clothes. I guess she needs to know the doll’s fashion sense before she can determine the name.
I’ve made two pieces for the pants. They’ll be seamed up most of the length to make two tubes, then joined near the top to make the seat and waist. The pattern calls for some elastic to be sewn in. The ribbing at the top is working fine for the panties the doll’s got, so we’ll see if the elastic is necessary for the pants. The yarn is the same brand as the doll, Dale Baby Ull, but held doubled. These will be some thick pants.
I started to seam it up last night, but it wasn’t as neat as I would like. I have a larger project coming up that will require seaming, so I decided to use these clothes as practice, and go ahead and block the pieces and do it properly. So now they’re wetted and pinned and waiting to dry.
I’m going to use the time to finish up a project for the grandchild of someone I know. It’s been 80% finished for more than a week, there’s no reason to let it languish.
Besides – I’ve got Heroes to watch!