Knitting

Late Start

March 8, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

WHAT’S UP

I’m getting a late start on blogging/computer housekeeping today, usually by this time I’ve blogged, cleaned out my inbox, answered e-mail, peeked in on what what’s going on with Rav, oohed and ahhed over the Friday FOs and moved on to thinking about dinner, maybe baking a little, knitting and reading and doing the straightening up that never seems to be quite finished around our house. Not today. Thinking about dinner has been accomplished, with chicken thawing, a couple of loads of laundry is in process and I just measured my newest on the needles project at a good, honest (no stretching allowed) 12 inches, a good start on a pattern that starts out with 16 inches of knitting in pattern.

GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME

I’m now 17 days out from my surgery and continue to feel a little better every day. I’d been missing my daily walks with Josie and decided to start back yesterday morning. We (Josie and I) walked to the post office, probably about a half mile round trip and probably since my speed is a lot slower than usual, I spotted some springy goodness along the way. Can spring be too far off?

I have an appointment Monday morning with my surgeon and am very hopeful he’ll release me to drive then. I’m beginning to get a little stir crazy here at home, even a trip to the grocery store sounds fun and exciting. Yeah, it’s that bad.

THE GRANDS

The Sprout – Just Happy to be Here!

Babydiva at Her Most Charming

and last, but certainly not least –

The Papoose Rocking the Shades

Cutest, sweetest, smartest, most beautiful and all other superlatives grands ever. I promise.

Real love stories never have endings. Richard Bach

Knitting

Tiny Dancer, Pacy Covet and New Project Excitement

March 5, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

IF YOU’VE MISSED OUT

on seeing a naked two and a half year old ballerina stopping mid pirouette to potty, you’ve truly missed out on the highest form of funny cuteness. That’s right friends, the Papoose is in the midst of potty training and I think it might have clicked yesterday. Then, just when our giggles were starting to slow, she ran into the bathroom to flush – her potty chair is in the den, getting us going all over again. Thanks to the wonders of the digital age, it’s all on video. If you’re wondering why her potty’s in the den, you need to know that potty training at this stage is more about timing and convenience and less about location. What’s true in real estate, location, location, location ain’t necessarily so in potty training.

BY THE BOOK

Way way invested in Robert Massie‘s biography, Catherine the Great. I’m just right at her arranged marriage to 17 year old Peter of Holstein. I’ve mentioned my fascination with the Russian imperial family before and finished Nicholas and Alexandra a little bit ago. Loved it and am loving CTG just as much.

BUSTING TO BE

on the needles is Olivia Petit, a sweater I blogged about in How Come. I got the yarn ordered this morning (13 skeins) and am anxious to see it in person and start gauging. After a little more thought over the past few days, I think I’m going to scale back my grand plans just a little and just go for a Easter sweater for the Sprout, I’ve not knitted anything for this poor babe. I guess that comes from being #3 in the grandbaby line up, so I’m giving her first dibs. Check my blog post How Come? to see the project picture. It’s the cutest thing!

KEEP YOUR EYE ON

the much coveted monkey pacifier that the Sprout got as a baby gift. It is really, really cute, a pacifier with a soft, floppy monkey (think Beanie Baby) attached, making it easy for little hands to hang on to. Well, let me tell you, this monkey pacy is much admired and coveted within the Coleman/Vaughan circle of grands and is fair game if it gets dropped or somehow laid aside and forgotten. See what I mean?

From the Sprout

To Babydiva

and finally

Back to the Sprout via Babydaddy

A word to the wise – if you come across one of these pacies, buy multiples!

You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith. Mary Morrissey

Knitting

FO Friday 03/01/13, A Stash Tour

March 1, 2013March 4, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

It’s finished and is all I’d hoped for and more! Introducing –

Etched Rio Wrap! TA DA!

I love it – it’s the perfect weight (not too hot, not too cool), the perfect color (love caramel), it stays put (not falling off one of my narrow to the point of almost nonexistent shoulders or the other) and the drape (OMG). After some initial misbehavior on the yarn’s part, we came to an understanding and this project truly became a labor of love.

STEP UP, STEP RIGHT UP

After reading a post on uknit2, I decided to document my stash status and share a little of it here. At the moment, it’s relatively neat and more or less organized, sock yarn, sport weight, lace weight, bulky, you get it, you’re a knitter but the more I looked the more odd I thought part of my stash was. Here, you be the judge.

Sock Yarn

Sport Weight

Odds and Ends

Here’s what I think is sort of odd

A Ziploc/Shopping Bag Stash

Actually, come to think of it, it’s not odd at all that I hoard ziplocs and shopping bags. After all, fiberphiles use more ziplocs than anyone else on the planet and for your safety, don’t get between me and a nice, heavy, handled shopping bag. I won’t pretend to speak for other crafty types, I’m trying to stick with what I know – but no, it’s not odd at all, it’s more than a little smart, green and best of all, frees up more bucks for my fiber fixation. So, strike the odd. Smarter than the average bear, us fiberphiles. I rest my totally turned around case.

IN THE OVEN

Not yet, kneading takes more than a little energy and I’m still promising Mr. Iknead to take it easy, but soon, very soon there will be fresh bread. I knead it (get it?)! I know, I love a corny play on words.

Fly by Tami Amis for more FO Friday treats – you’ll be glad you did!

Live so that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip. Will Rogers

FLASH – Bigmommy and the babies are in town and are headed over!! Pics and report tomorrow! Yay, getting a little lonesome!

Knitting

Inevitable

February 11, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

THE GRANDS

As of yesterday, all three grands have the sniffles and little fevers. The Papoose and the Sprout came to visit on Friday so, of course, Babydiva and her mommy joined us for lunch and a nice, long afternoon of play. The Papoose had a little runny nose, but that was all. None of us is particularly germ conscious; there were perhaps more sneezes than usual, but everyone felt well and like I said, played nice. I did catch Babydiva and Papoose swapping paccies back and forth, but that’s pretty par for the course with a two year old and an 11 month old, it’s going to happen, no big deal. Now all three grands have the sniffles and sneezes, along with me and Mr. Iknead. I, for one, caught a couple of sneezes full in the face but that’s the price you sometimes pay for two year old kisses and hugs. Totally, totally worth it. The Papoose did progress to croup and wheezing and got a tour of the Stuttgart ER Friday evening, but after a breathing treatment and some cough syrup, went home and resumed normal two year old activities.

BY THE BOOK

I started The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society yesterday and am totally enthralled. The setting is Guernsey (duh), a channel island off the coast of England, during World War II. The letters sent back and forth between these friends are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant and always interesting. Remember when you actually had to compose a letter, stamp it and take it to the post office to send it? Remember the anticipation of getting a letter in return and then doing it all over again? I still love getting and reading real letters, on paper, with pen and ink. The mailbox is so much more exciting than my inbox, I think.

ON THE NEEDLES

I finally got the Metalico yarn sorted out and rewound. With encouragement from vocalizard, I decided to salvage it and keep using it for my project and I have to admit, it looks a lot better than I thought it would; maybe a little fuzzy in spots, but that’s about it. Here’s a look at the one of the fuzzy spots. I don’t think it’s too terribly noticeable, do you?

I’m dying to start a new pair of socks with the lost then found Parakeet yarn but just can’t seem to settle on one pattern. The yarn here is the star, not really the pattern, so I want it to be fairly straightforward, so the yarn can shine on its own, but fancy enough to catch the attention of admirers. Does this make any sense? I’m always in search of the perfect pattern for the perfect yarn for the perfect sock. Must be a knitter thing. Suggestions?

Question: When’s the last time you sent a real pen and ink letter? Mine was to an aunt a few weeks ago, along with some old photos I found and thought she’d enjoy.

Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before. Mae West

Knitting

From WIP to 02/08/13 FO Friday Ready in Just One Hour

February 8, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON AND OFF THE NEEDLES

Still working hard at the Etched Rio Wrap, I’ve done ten repeats of the 28 repeats the pattern calls for and I’m still loving both yarn and pattern. The knitted yarn has amazing drape and softness, the only thing I can think of in the con category is that it’s very “grabby” and requires care not to become entangled with itself. This happened with the first skein, it got very tangled and by the time I got it sorted out, the yarn had lost some of its sheen and was a little what I call pilly. I’m trying to decide whether to bite the bullet and buy another skein (if I can find a matching dye lot) or go ahead and use the previously tangled yarn, probably at the very end where hopefully it won’t be too noticeable. Here’s what I mean:

Looks even worse than I thought. What’s your opinion? Use or not?

Now, on a happier note. In my efforts to find the misplaced yarn, I ran across a couple of WIPs that just needed to be cast off with the ends woven in. That’s how a project goes from WIP to FO in an hour; why did I procrastinate on this, that’s not usually how I am, did I get distracted by a newer, sexier yarn or pattern, did I put it down and lose it in the mess of the stash (this seems much more likely) or was it abducted by aliens and returned last week?

A good sized wrap/shawl/blanket I’m calling Rib and Ruffle because, well, it’s ribbed and has a ruffle. Why was it unfinished?

THE GRANDS

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted pics of the grands and boy do I have some cuteness today. First up, Babydiva

The Sprout during tummy time –

The Papoose in action –

Blessed, Mr. Iknead and I. A million times over and then some.

Don’t forget to visit Tami Amis for lot more FO Friday awesome!

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. Dalai Lama

Knitting

Mission Accomplished, After a Fashion

January 28, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

WHAT’S UP

I just spent at least an hour trying to get a new widget on my Iknead2knit blog, but it was like pulling teeth. For all intents and purposes, I’m computer illiterate. I can follow directions, but I have no idea why or what makes everything work. Consequently, it takes forever for me to finally put the right stuff, in the right place and in the right order to make things happen, but this is totally by trial and error, with me trying out different combinations of what, where and why before I hit the jackpot. I do have An Idiot’s Guide To WordPress which is of some help, but is somewhat outdated. Anyway, I finally got it and for my trouble, I have a pretty little periwinkle Yarn-Along widget residing in the Iknead2knit sidebar now. Nice, don’t you think?

BY THE BOOK

I finally finished Michael Hyatt‘s book, Platform – Get Noticed in a Noisy World and it was fabulous. It’s mostly geared to building an Internet platform to promote a product or service, but he has a lot of practical advice for bloggers who want to promote their blog and increase readership. I got a lot of practical information and even better, it’s an easy, interesting read in a format that didn’t get so technical as to being off-putting. Great book!

Next up will be Pam Belluck’s Island Practice. I can’t wait to get started!

Island Practice: Cobblestone Rash, Underground Tom, and Other Adventures of a Nantucket Doctor

THE GRANDS

Bigdaddy and Bigmommy came to visit over the weekend with the Papoose and the Sprout and did we ever have fun. That is, until the middle of the night, when the Sprout decided after her 3 a.m feeding that no, she absolutely, positively DID NOT want to go back to bed and made her statement in screams so high pitched that only dogs could hear. Poor Bigdaddy and Mommy were a little frayed at the edges as she has been doing this for the past month or so (she’s only four months old) and, of course, all the commotion wakes up the Papoose. Then, they have two unhappy babies going at the same time and then stuff just sort of snowballs. Mr Iknead and I were able to lend a hand so Bigmommy could catch up a little bit on the sleep she’s been missing, but, being a mommy also means that you’re never really “off duty”, and sleep with at least one eye and one ear open all the time. They know perfectly well that this won’t last forever but at 3 a.m., it’s hard to remember this and not get discouraged and frustrated. Ah yes, the joys of young parenthood…. FLASH FLASH FLASH I just received a message from Bigmommy practically shouting “She slept from 10:30 p.m. last night to 8 a.m. this morning!” They tried a different swaddle and it worked! Bigmommy says she feels like a different woman today! Hurray!!!

Reformed Sleep Thief (we hope)

I love the way she smiles with her whole face!

POP THE QUESTION

What’s your go-to for a good night’s sleep?

If you can dream it, you can do it. Walt Disney

Knitting

My Winter Tonic

January 25, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

TRENDING NOW (what’s that mean anyway?)

Any time one of us had the droops or doldrums, especially in winter, my grandmother always said we needed a tonic. She never gave us a tonic, just said one was needed, which was probably a good thing since when I hear the word tonic, I think of cod liver or castor oil, both of which are off the scale on the official Disgust-O-Meter. My own personal winter tonic is this:

Take one cold and cloudy day

Add a nice fire and some knitting

Mix in a couple of grands, chocolate milk and cookies

Monitor closely as not to miss anything

and

Watch your contentment rise

Repeat as often as necessary

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

The Papoose Gives the Sprout a Clean Bill of Health

ON THE NEEDLES

I’ve done very little knitting the last day or so, still working on the second Phloem Sock; I did remember that I promised a quick show and tell of the Metalico yarn that The Yarn Mart ordered for me and it’s more beautiful than I remembered –

Here are the stats:

Metalico

Blue Sky Alpaca

50% baby Alpaca and 50% raw silk

All natural/No dyes

Gold Dust

This is going to transform into Sarah Smuland’s Etched Rio Wrap and I can’t wait to get started. The softness and shimmer of this yarn is amazing. Check out the Blue Sky Alpaca website for a look at the pattern.

POP THE QUESTION

What’s your favorite winter tonic?

The only limit to your impact is your imagination and commitment. Tony Robbins

Knitting

Get your WIP, Get your WIP Wednesday here! – 1/23/13

January 23, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

This week’s WIP Wednesday offering is the second Phloem sock from Knitty, using Shibui Sock that I’ve named Sand and Sky. I loved the way the first sock took shape, with a botanical bent and so I was probably a tad bit over confident when I cast on the second. I just dove right in, not an unusual plan for me. After all, I finally had the pattern down and what the stitch key showed, right? So, last night, about two inches into it, I went back just to review something in the pattern and noticed that I’d completely forgotten to do the cuff. I waffled about just forging ahead and pretending it was OK but I just couldn’t, I knew it would bug me just knowing it was supposed to have a cuff but didn’t, so I frogged and started over. I can rest easy now. Yes, sometimes I tend to have a perfectionistic streak a mile wide and sometimes it serves me well, like last night. So here’s the do-over.

THE GRANDS

Remember Babysis, the Papoose’s baby sister? Well, I changed her name from Babysis to Alfalfa Sprout, as in Our Gang/The Little Rascals. She has a huge, no holds barred cowlick on the crown of her head that is so freakin’ cute I almost can’t stand it. I just thought that Sprout was a better fit than Babysis. See what I mean?

I wasn’t kidding, was I?

THE GREAT WASHING MACHING CRISIS

It’s over, it’s really, finally over – at least until another appliance gives up the ghost. Got my new, fancy washing machine delivered and hooked up. I think I did at least 15 loads that first day. Man, does laundry pile up or what?! Mr. Iknead laughed when I took a picture to share. I think he thinks posting pictures of washing machines is a little odd, but I tend to blog things that I’m happy about and things that interest me and I’m definitely both about my new washer. I think it’s very handsome, myself. To each his own.

NOT ON THE NEEDLES, YET

The Yarn Mart just called and said my special order yarn, Metalico Gold Dust, has arrived so I’m hot-footing over to pick it up. Pictures and description later, it’s calling my name.

Want more WIP Wednesday? Check out Tami’s Amis, you can’t miss.

You never truly understand something, until you can explain it to your grandmother. Albert Einstein