Random Spring WIP

It is spring. The impact of the season is a little lost in a climate such as Houston. But still, it is spring and we are enjoying the more mild weather of the season by being outdoors as often as possible.

Meh. That's how I feel right now. Like the swirling waters of a Houston flash flood my mind is raging with so many thoughts and ideas that none of it makes sense. Like why I'm a rebel and paper towels, parenting, babywearing, feminism, dreams, writing, France, schooling, birth, work, friendships, church, art, Lent, redecorating (is it redecorating if you never decorated in the first place?), organizing, house cleaning, spanking, eating, cooking, books, what kind of mom I am, sacred rhythms, childhood, discipline, and on and on and on. Clear as mud, right? And my house is a mess. Which is pissing me off.

So the machine is back and the very first thing I typed last night had loads of extra letters. I freaked. As in my eyes bulged out of my head, my jaw dropped, I snapped the computer closed and exhaled a slow-mo "noooooooo" as my chin dropped to my chest and I slumped in my chair. The Piano Man came rushing in, worried something was seriously wrong with somebody, as in a live, breathing person not an inanimate object. Since nobody was actually hurt (I beg to differ, the computer IS a person too), he suggested we make another appointment. I didn't want to do that, that would mean going back to the mall! I broke out in a cold sweat just imagining it again. No, I wanted an entirely different approach. The "let's-pretend-nothing-is-wrong-and-try-it-again-where-it-will-be-magically-healed" approach. And you know what? It worked! My friend Mac is back in action. I love that pretty little glowing apple.

So since the machine was out of action for a few days I'm behind on my Weekend WIP. I'm behind on everything though and I can't blame it on the computer. No, wait, maybe I can. The laundry, I'm behind on the laundry and it is totally because of the computer. Crap, that's true too. Man, I was trying to be tongue in cheek.

WIPs!

Knitting is tres slow going these days.

Mindless knitting: dish rags.

Found some old shelves out by the trash and we're (read: The Piano Man) is using the wood for part of our reorganization/redecorating WIP.

Shelving between kitchen and dining room.

And in the Living Room:
Creating an office nook.

Yarn and knitting finds a place.

Decluttering Magazines.
I love Family Fun and a few other mags but can't hold on to old issues so I'm cutting out the recipes, projects, ideas and articles I want to keep and sorting them into page protectors and binders.

The WIP family:

The Piano Man made a shield for the birthday girl.

Smunchie started laughing. We all live to get a giggle from her now.

I've read that one or two photos are enough for each blog post so I guess that means I use too many. Whatever, I don't care. I like pictures.

I tried to get a pic of this last WIP to put up but blogger didn't like the screen shot for some reason. You'll have to click the link to see it. But you totally should, there's a give-away there.

Nevermind, tried again and it worked! Yay me!

You know you want to go check out a blog called The Leaky Boob. Who wouldn't?

So now, I'm going to go back to meh.

Weekend WIP, slow going

Knitting is slow going these days. Time, interest, energy, etc. are lacking and sometimes I just plain forget to knit when I do have the time. I made it all the way through Tuesday night's LOST, Thursday night's Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, and a movie (The Fountain, I don't recommend it, found it very boring but maybe I'm just too sleep deprived to appreciate it) and never picked up my knitting. I didn't even think to until they were over.

So my WIPs really are just a Karius (Stockinknit stitch Backtus) and a pair of socks that I should have finished ages ago. There are a few FO (but I don't have pics) and a few hibernating works but I'm just not really doing a lot of knitting these days.

The slow-going Karius:


I made sure to put the yarn label some place where I could find it easily. I can't find it. It is sea-silk sock yarn, hand dyed by Selah/Becoming Art. Evidently I have a thing for torturing myself with knitting tiny yarn on tiny needles. The relaxing knitting every mom with a newborn and 4 other children needs. Why do I do these things to myself?

Further proof of my slightly masochistic knitting desires, socks. Socks that should have taken me 4 days. We're going on 4 weeks. For the first sock. I almost knit two at a time on circular needles but I didn't have two pair circular needles in size 2 anyway. So, to increase my knitting pain/pleasure, I'm using #2 dpns doing one sock at a time! Yay me! About to turn the heel. Using superwash wool/bamboo blend from Sensations' Bamboo and Ewe pattern line of self-striping yarn in purples and grays. I like it a lot.


Evangeline finally put the hat, scarf and mitten set all on at the same time on a lovely spring day. I bet she's going to love the set come July and won't let me take it off her in August. Just like she refused the scarf and hat when we were in Colorado in November and it was 20 degrees. I don't think E has a future as a weather girl. Watching her try to eat an apple with mittens on was incredibly entertaining.


There just isn't much happening on the needles right now. I do knit something every day, even if it is just a row. There are just so many other types of WIPs going on right now and my arms are very often full making knitting difficult if not impossible.

Weekend WIP, Belated New Year's style

How we manage to function at all right now. Jeremy and I have God, each other, and coffee. Friends and family too. And more coffee.


While most of the world was ringing in the New Year in their various ways; noisy, quiet, with crowds or just a few, I was sitting on my old IKEA couch watching "Hangover" with Jeremy and alternating complaining about my sore boobs and how tired I was as though these things were a surprise after having my 5th baby. There was knitting sitting next to me but that was a week ago, I forgot which project it was. Sometimes I even picked it up and knit a stitch or two but only if I had both hands free which isn't that often with a newborn around. I was also browsing craft blogs (I can do that one handed), particularly knitting blogs and making smart mouthed comments about the lists of FO that ran on and on. Don't they know nobody likes a show off? So you knit 13 shawls all of lace weight and on size 2 needles? And 24 sweaters, all adult size and nothing more than fingering weight with the exception of that one Noro on worsted? Then there's the spinning and dying you picked up leading to numerous cowls, mittens, scarves, and hats out of hand spun, hand dyed OOAK yarns. Not to mention that 10 new patterns they cranked out, the baby layette set a week for friends of friends having babies, the two pairs of socks per month and all manner of quirky toys, hot pat holders and cozies. What the...? Let me be frank here: You. Have. No. Life. These aren't people, they are knitting zombies. Knitting zombies that make me feel totally inferior and jealous. Blankety-blank zombies. They totally got to me! Those b*tches. (I know, I just said a bad word but I mean it all in the nicest way you can imagine.) All postpartum-y hormonal I decided I'm not going to make a FO list for 2009 because it would make my yarn buying habit look REALLY bad. Besides, I rationalize, I can't remember what I knit in the past year! Seriously, who can remember that? I can't remember what I was knitting last week. Ok, maybe I will this year because now I do strange things like TAKE PICTURES of not just my FO but my WIPs. And blog about them once a week. Holy crap, those knitting zombies HAVE gotten to me! Oooooh! Maybe I'm on my way to being a real knitting zombie too! They annoy me mostly because I'm insanely jealous. My brother reads this blog, I can totally see him shaking his head and laughing his ass off at me. Yes big brother, I know, I'm a total dork, NERD is screaming from every one of my knitting callouses. This is not news, anyone that knows me, really knows me is aware that I am a complete nerd. The point here is that I'm not making a FO list but I am making some New Year's Knitting Goals. I don't want to call them resolutions, to easy to let myself off the hook with "resolution" and it seems like I'd just be following a trend, you know, the trend of making resolutions every New Year? Check the title of the blog. Rebel here, don't do trends. Except maybe a little if I really like the trend and if I can somewhat claim to have started it. Like those people that say "I was drinking espresso before Starbucks was popular." I say "I was knitting before Ravelry was around," and "We cooked with couscous all the time before there was Food Network" and now "I make goals for the New Year, not resolutions." Just call me trendsetter. Or nerd.

I'm still working on my NYKG (New Year Knitting Goals- I'm starting that now so I can claim that I was doing it before it got popular) and ponder these weighty matters often between 3 and 6am every morning when C can't stand the silence of the house in the middle of the night and refuses to sleep. From this place of sleep deprivation I've come up with a few goals so far. I will share them so next year I can come back triumphantly with a FO list worthy of blog gloating. Oh yes, can you smell the faint hint of failure to come already?

NYKG 2010 (this is a WIP)

1. Knit every day.
2. Knit socks.
3. Knit lace.
4. Knit a shawl/kerchief for myself.
5. Knit something for everyone in our family.
6. Keep knitting fun.

That last one is the most important and if any of the other goals make that one difficult then I'll ditch them because knitting isn't my job and doesn't have to be something I suffer through. That defeats the purpose. So there you have it, my NYKG 2010. Sound impressive doesn't it? A bit like Y2K. Because that was so much fun.

So this weekend's WIPs:

I got this book put out by Sterling Publishing during this past year and determined I'd get a lot of use out of it. It hasn't exactly lived up to my expectations but that could be more on me than the book. I'm using it right now for a lace pattern I thought would look adorable on this sweater (heavily modified) for C. in Purewool in Coffee and Creama or is it Chocolate and Creama? Can't remember.

Honestly, I thought I'd have this set finished ages ago. This sweater *should* have taken me an evening, I thought. But in my stroke of postpartum brilliance I decided to use a different lace pattern.So I turned to my book and found this. Instant love. My new baby girl would look precious in this bellflower lace pattern. Never mind that I'm sleep deprived and a grand postpartum mess, a 17 stitch, 15 row lace pattern would be a perfectly reasonable goal with a newborn. K1, nurse, frog 2 rows, K3, YO, change diaper, P2, S1, K1, PSSO, bounce baby to sleep, frog back to start, etc. Oh yeah, lace should be a freakin' piece of cake at this rate.

I could have knit the sweater 3 times over with the number of times I've frogged this lace pattern. I still don't want to admit defeat but I am starting to think that the lacy scallops on the next page of the book would be a better option for this particular sweater. Having done them several times before successfully makes them even more attractive.

When lace is making you crazy because you are far too sleep deprived to keep track of where you are, what is one to do? I need to knit something, I'm comitted to really resting during my postpartum period for the best recovery possible and any of chance of that happening means sitting and laying around can't be boring. Feeling like I'm accomplishing something helps. What to do? Start an easy little gnome for a certain little girl that is turning 2 tomorrow. There will be more of these, they take all of 15 minutes to knit. I need to sew them up, stuff them and knit their hats. Bits and pieces of yarn from my stash, some Lamb's pride, Patons wool, and an unknown colorway I got in a grab-bag of wool scraps make up this one.

Requiring no pattern at all and thus a good knit while I'm nursing I started a simple wash cloth that will have a matching soap sack and a bar of handmade soap for a gift. Peaces and Cream dishcloth cotton in a flecked natural colorway. I liked it a lot and have no idea what I was thinking I would make with it but for $1.48/ball it made me happy to have it in my stash and now will be a perfect gift. Both are FOs now.


A WIP I started in November but has been hibernating since has finally come back out. A wrap/shawl/scarf for me, this is BFL dyed by one of my favorite indie dyers, Elliebelly (no longer stunning the world with her amazing dye work, sadly) in my favorite feel-good colorway ever, crayon. I picked the dummy clap because... it looked easy. People, sometimes you want something that is pretty but easy even if it is boring as all get out to knit.


Remember these? Yeah, so sad that they are still a WIP. They should have been done ages ago. I would feel guilty about it except the child these are intended for refuses to put any mittens on her hands, even to try them on. She also doesn't wear the hat and scarflet that match these mittens. It will be an adorable set that never, ever gets worn. Her hands were red and cold today so I pulled them back out to finish them so she can wear them during this cold snap even though I know she won't actually wear them. I'll just feel better having finished them so she could wear them if she would. Anyway, I'll get pics of the set when the second mitten is finally finished.

This last bit is yarn that I'm dying to have be a WIP. The problem is I don't have needles that deserve to work with it and I haven't found the perfect pattern. I'm going to try out another pattern or make my own but I want this luscious dusty rose silk (by Debbie Bliss) to become this for C. I know it looks kind of peachy in the pic, all my pics have long shadows and golden afternoon light thanks to holding a fussy newborn most of the morning. That fussy newborn would be much happier if I could get this yarn knit up for her, I just know it.

I feel hopeful that I'm already doing pretty well on some of my NYKG 2010, not that I've even thought about intentionally doing any of them at this point. Maybe I'll keep this up, maybe not. Not exactly a knitting zombie yet but I am a postpartum zombie for sure. KEEP KNITTING FUN! (KKF!)

WIP weekend, new baby style

Poor little Cosette has had a time with jaundice meaning lots and lots of time laying naked in UV light. Our heat has been boosted up considerably and the rest of us feel like it is the middle of summer. Only more dry. A lot more dry. This has given several of us time to sit next to our newest little one and knit or read while keeping her company in the light. I have to say my knitting has slowed down but like my blogging, I promise I have a good reason.

Daddy keeps watch while working on a belated Christmas gift for a friend, another elf hat ornament which is now a FO.

My WIP (one of them and the only one I photographed) has been frogged TWICE since this photo and it is just a simple little baby cap. Driving me crazy. I'm about to frog the body of it again and instead of following the pattern this time I'm going by my gut and see if I can figure out what is wrong. It will be an adorable little pilot style cap when I finally finish it (again) and is part of a set for Miss Cosette. Some of my other WIPs include gifts for the birth team and I'm probably going to cast on another pair of newborn pants just for something easy to knit.

No photos of any other WIPs though O and L both have things going. Jeremy just finished a great pair of pants for E that I'll photograph tomorrow to share, they are simply brilliant and lots of fun.

I've noticed on the blogs of other knitters, those far more prolific than I in their knitting and blogging, making a list of your FOs (finished objects) is the thing to do at the end of the year. Being the rebel that I am, I shan't be doing that. It would be depressing, I can't even remember what I've done and figuring it out sounds like work. So no, there won't be a FO list here. There wouldn't be much on it anyway. Instead, I'll leave you with a bunch of new baby photos.

WIP weekend, still sick

My WIPs greatly slowed down this week, I concentrated on one main project: getting better. Loads of fun that is and if it weren't for the fact that I felt so miserable and my head felt like it was going to explode every time I tried to lift it I would feel terribly unproductive. As I emerge from the snot fog the inkling that I've wasted an entire week laying on my couch blowing through rolls and rolls of TP is starting to be impressed on me. Oh well, it is the last week before Christmas, must wash my hands and get on with it.

So the WIPs I have to share are primarily those of others and there have been a few busy bees around me.

O's been working like crazy, still knitting with pick-up sticks (yes, as in the game) and doing tiny clothing for favorite dolls and stuffed animals. She's enjoyed it just as much as the recipients will love getting them. Not much one to follow a pattern (I have NO idea where she gets that from!), all of these are her own design.

Sorry about the long shadows, the day got away from me before I got to take these in better lighting. Tiny sweater and pants for a tiny stuffed animal. Just need the ends woven in (again, procrastinating on weaving ends in? WHERE did she get that from?)

This is a bag knit with some sock yarn.

I think this is going to be a tiny dress (sock yarn on pick-up-sticks) for a tiny fairy but she just cast on when I asked her to bring them outside for a pic so I'm not real sure.

And a hat ornament for a friend, also knit on pick-up sticks, notice how she coordinated the colors of the sticks with the yarn?

O with all her WIPs for now. She'll finish a bunch of these in the next day or two and start some new ones for sure. She's a busy little elf.

L's FO really, a yarn wreath ornament for a friend. She'll be making several more of these this week including a big one for our front door! Her knitting WIP is still the pink bamboo baby hat, I expect that to continue for a good long while, ha!

H made a similar yarn wreath with some fun yarn which was, well, fun! Also a gift for a friend she did great and will be joining L in making a few more this week.

So this isn't a WIP any more, more of a FO. These are even, one was just more slouched than the other on my model. I need to make a bunch more of these, my girls want some for themselves as well and I think I may want a pair too though not pink. I had just enough of the darker pink (alpaca/silk blend) to finish the second leg and the exact left-overs were just enough to make a bow on them to pack up to send to the special little girl I hope enjoys her leg-warmers and tutu set. I'll be finishing the tutu tonight while we watch The Muppets' Christmas Carol.

This WIP is for V, a wool baby gown. The top is a wool blend, I'm not happy with the sleeves so I'll be frogging those and redoing them. The shoulders lace up with pink ribbon, there is a large satin ribbon to go between the top and bottom, ribbon for the eyelets in the ruffle of the skirt to make a drawstring and if I get around to it, pink flowers to embroider along the skirt. The matching hat and bloomers are already done and the booties should be a quick knit.

Obviously not a WIP yet but likely my next one, just simple, plain longies for V. Tomorrow I'll also be casting on for an iPhone case for a friend's Christmas gift but decided I didn't have any yarn that would really work for her. That sounds impossible considering my stash.

WIP of a different sort, the living room. The yellow base is finished and waiting the glaze to come and red trim but we got slowed down with being sick. Everybody pitched in to help.


Lots more to come, hope you're enjoying your Christmas crafting and other fun projects you've got going on!