Knittymom

Happy St. Patrick's Day

knittymom — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:40:00 GMT

Knock. Knock.

Who's there?

Irish.

Irish who?

Irish you a happy St. Patrick's Day!
(From my own personal files of really, really bad St. Patrick's Day jokes. Sorry, honestly I don't know any really, really good ones.)

And from the files of "It's nearly spring so it's Science Fair Time", here's this year's entry in the messiest science fair project...ever.

Yes, that's me, two kids and lots of plaster of paris.

Yes, we're making craters. (The one top right was from a baseball sized asteroid of plaster dropped from about 2m (6 ft) into a tub of wet plaster. Nice parabolic pit crater, if I do say so myself.)

Yes, it took DH and I scrubbing the sun room on hands and knees to get the resulting ejecta of that big one off of everything. And I mean everything: windows, walls, chairs, table, floor, refrigerator, drying racks, the kids and each other. The impact was, well, quite a bit more, let's say, "energetic" than we expected.

(On a different front, I'm almost done with a sweater that I started Jan 2009 -- pictures soon!)

A right proper Snow Day!

knittymom — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:43:00 GMT

Finally we have a proper snow day!

The whole neighborhood was out. DD#1 was cross country skiing while DH shoveled out the driveway.

DS was trying to single handedly shovel out the front yard.

And DD#2 got the best spot on the sled.

A few smiles...

knittymom — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:34:00 GMT

1. I'm a bit of a sci-fi fan -- pencil me in for a good Star Trek, Battle Star Galactica or Doctor Who show any time. So I'm familiar with these baddies from decades of battles with The Doctor..

As I was washing up some of the kids' drink bottles, I spotted this formation and for a split second I thought there might be a tiny plastic invasion force in my kitchen....

Well, they totally amused me.

2. On a completely different note, we had our own Spinning Olympics at the Genesee Valley Spinning Guild meeting last Saturday. I competed in the "spinning while balancing a Golden book on your head" event.

And won the bronze ~~metal~~ sheep! Let's hear it for good posture payoff !

DD#1 competed in and had an excellent showing in the "spin while blindfolded" event.

(That is actually quite difficult and her yarn was even despite not being able to see it.)

3. Here is the latest addition to our family...

"I will name him George, and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him. ..."
(Extra double points for those of you who can guess the source of the quote!)
(Here's the link for those of you who might not be up on children-of-the-seventies cartoon culture.)

(Actually it's some lovely fiber that is destined to become another pair of warm rustic socks for DH.)

4. And have you ever seen a cuter Harry Potter?

(Wish I could say I made the vest.)

Friday is for random thoughts...

knittymom — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:56:00 GMT

It has been a while only because the last couple weeks have been a bit crazy. Suffice it to say.... Is there an official emoticon for kids with the stomach virus. No? Allow me to suggest one
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So as previously promised some knitting and some random thoughts...

1. For the love of wool, someone stop me from knitting more Maine Morning mitts!

OK, the mitts may look a bit familiar because, I don't know, it may be that I have knitted about 5 other pairs. I saw this ball of Noro Kureyon (Color 170) at Yarn Boutique and I fell in love with the colors -- I think they look just like a sunrise. So somehow the skein jumped in my basket and before a full day passed, I had another pair of mitts. I think I have a problem.

2. On the not-making-mitts knitting front, I finished a scarf from the Spunky Eclectic roving that came in November.

Here is what the roving looked like sorted and carded

This is the finished Navajo-plied yarn wound into a ball:

(Yes, I added some nylon sparkle to the fiber when I was carding it.)

And the finished project:

My new scarf from the Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun scarf pattern. I was going for a slow change of colors as the scarf progressed from one end to the other although I like the slight variation within the progression. I also like that this scarf pattern is reversible -- kind of something I look for in a scarf.

3. And for DD#2, who requested a sweater to keep her warm during dance because during these frozen-solid-in-February kind of days, the studio has become a bit chilly.   A bit of a variation on a shrug.

Of course, anything would look cute on DD#2.

Pattern:   Short jacket with ties from DROPS
Yarn:   Universal Bella DK Tapestry
Mods:   Clearly given the name of the pattern, I got rid of the ties and replaced them with over lapping front panels with crocheted button holes. The yarn was also a completely different gauge so I had fun fiddling with the math to make the proportions work out correctly.
Complaint with pattern: I really dislike patterns that take the easy way out and don't bother to write out the full set of directions. The sum of the directions for the left hand front panel: "Knit like right but reverse."   Well, yeah, I kind of figured that.

4. I won some yarn!!!   Did I mention? I won some yarn!!!

Two skeins of sock yarn: one skein of BeBop by sKNITches (several family members have comment how nice this would look as socks for them) and a skein of the oft sought after, Wollmeise in the color Kurbis. (I looked up Kurbis and after thinking "what a nice color orange -- look just like a cooked pumpki pie", turns out Kurbis means "pumpkin in German. They clearly nailed that color.)   Thank you Loopy Ewe for having the drawing!!!

5. Now from the random thought arena:
Sometimes I have an issue with the media saying things just because it sounds good. So not to belittle the blizzards that have blanketed the East Coast but the media has taken to calling it "Snowmageddon". Really? "Snowmageddon?" Granted that looks good as a headline but is the media implying the snow represents the ultimate foe in the last great battle between good and evil prophesied to occur at the end of the world? I know they received a record amount of snow and don't have the capability to move like we do here in western NY but when all is said and done, sit tight, it's going to melt.   Not much of a battle when your ultimate foe will quietly disappear when the temperature goes above 32 degrees.

6. Lastly...

Happy Valentine's Day! Hug someone you love!

I do like a good Henry Moore sculpture

knittymom — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:39:00 GMT

In our recent and fleeting January thaw, our once noble snowman lost quite a bit of his bulk and has become an homage to Henry Moore's sculpture work.

I think it bares a striking resemblance to this 1957 sculpture entitled "Woman". (Gotta love simplicity.)

Now admittedly, I don't always "get" modern art. I mean I get the rage against the urban jungle forms where art is constructed of metal castoffs or even shocking images that are meant to be challenging because they break social taboos. But there is a genre of modern are that seems to be largely random organic shapes and blotches of color. For example, in the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, there is a nearly completely blank canvass, it has a few shades of white painted across it, about 12in by 12in that the placard says is called "untitled". And, ok, is it "untitled" to reflect the blankness of the canvass or is there another deeper meaning I'm just completely missing or is it "untitled" simply because the artist just didn't really want to bother thinking up a name? Still in all, my in depth analysis is...that I like it. (I should probably work on my in depth analysis.) I find walking through a gallery of organic shapes and blotches of color completely enjoyable and satisfying even if I don't think I really "get" it.

One of my favorite sculptures was in the Sculpture Garden in front of the Hirshhorn (What kind of name has two consecutive h's??!!!)museum on the Mall in Washington, DC. It was a series of five giant bronze "spores" and I just couldn't get enough of looking at them. I was completely bummed when on our last visit to DC, they weren't there any more but I did find pictures on the Hirshhorn web site. They are a series of sculptures called "Spatial concept: Nature" by Lucio Fontana. So if you see these guys sitting around some green space somewhere, please let me know. I would love to have a look at them again.

Oh, one more I found another sculpture on the Hirshhorn website by Fernando Botero (say that name out loud -- it just rolls of the tongue) and the title for this is the very definition of truth in advertising...

It's more than 3 feet tall and almost 2 feet across. You wanna guess the title of the piece?
The Big Hand.
I love it!
It doesn't appear that Mr. Botero continued in this series with the Big Foot (potentially trite) or the Big Nose (potentially gross).

(More knitting next time.)

Simple Pleasures

knittymom — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:15:00 GMT

a haiku for my electric blanket

oh, i love you so

always warm spots for my feet

snuggling in tonight

Mid-winter knitting

knittymom — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:52:00 GMT

Mid-January in western NY turns thoughts to ~~chucking it all and moving to Florida~~ making mittens. (Truthfully, we have had some very welcome sun the last few days...not a lot of warmth but the sun has been wonderful.) I've finished some mittens that have been in the works since September. I had my own little scavenger hunt at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival to find all the colors of rovings required in the patten, spun the wool, knit the mittens and viola!

Sheepy mittens! All the wool is from local shepherds (lovely ladies all), most of whom I know from the Genesee Valley Handspinning Guild. I feel very connected to these mittens as I'm only one step away from shaking the sheep's ~~hand~~ ~~paw~~ hoof that grew the wool in the first place. Very cool.

Pattern: Sheepy mittens by Amy King from the book All New Homespun Handknits. (Presumably there is a not so new Homespun Handknit once published that has now been lost into the murk of the river of time.)
Yarn: All wool. All spun by me.
Mods: Only the typical lengthening of the hand and thumb. I added an extra row of solid color between each set of sheep and several rows for the thumbs.

Close-up!

I like the tessellating sheep pattern -- it doesn't scream sheep (Who would really? Not a very profound thing to scream. "Sheep!") but has a more subtle sheepiness to it.

Other mid-January activities have, of course, included building snowmen and I think the neighborhood kids have shown a gratifying burst of creativity on this one....

I love the mohawk and the heart tattoo. (Hi DD#2!)

Side view to get the full effect of the mohawk:

And a snowman with ears and a backfin, brilliant!

I mentioned we've had some clear skies which have provided a palette for some stunning sunsets.

Since our neighborhood is so full of trees, I really only get to see sunsets at this time of year. The rest of the year, I have a somewhat obstructed view -- not that I'm complaining about the trees. One of the greatest sounds in the spring, is finally hearing the wind in the leaves again.

** Point of clarification from the last post: I was re-reading my last post and I wrote some flannel about "If I drank beer...blah blah blah...." I seem to be implying that I don't drink beer. I actually do but have a very small subset that I enjoy. I don't like light colored hoppy beer. I do like fruit flavored beers. Yes, I know those barely count as beer. I also enjoy Guinness, but only on tap. I've tried the Guinness from a can that has a head-making capsule in the bottom. Well, interesting use of compressed air but a poor substitute at best and having the can rattle when it's empty is just unnatural -- feels like someone was prematurely using the can as a penny bank.

Not just a one trick pony....

knittymom — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:18:00 GMT

This is my latest project...

Clearly this did not involve, yarn, needles or wool. (OK, you in the back, stop the feigned surprise.) What this does represent is the accumulation of kids' souvenirs from our family vacations over the last 3 years. After some ill-fated searches for appropriate souvenirs, we finally settled on patches. Previous attempts included:

Post cards: Pluses: Light. Inexpensive. Minus: Largely ended up in a box under the bed.

Tourist brochures: Pluses: Free. Light. Minus: Again,ended up in a box under the bed. Only so much room under bed.

T-shirts: Pluses: Practical. Minuses: Can be expensive when dealing with 3 kids. Kids out grown them, then I save them. Again ending up in box under the bed. (If you visit my house, please do not look under beds.)

Rocks from various sites: Pluses: Free. Fun for kids to look for unique specimens at each location: Minuses:   Truthfully, we should have seen the major flaw in this scheme coming. Um, rocks are really, really heavy.   Even if each kid only picks up 8oz of rocks a day. With 3 kids, that's a 1 1/2 pounds of rocks total per day. If we're gone for 10 days, we're coming home with 15 pounds of rocks!

Patches: Pluses: Light. Inexpensive. Flat and easy to pack. Appeals to our kids' wide age range. Pretty much the perfect souvenir.

So the plan is, now that the patches are sewn to denim squares, to back each square with flannel, sew the square together and make blankets for each of the kids. (Denim and flannel have the plus that you don't have to finish seams as the fabric doesn't unravel.)

Here's my favorite square from last year's trip to San Fransisco and Monterey, California.

OK, there may be a couple of draw back to patches. Despite the claims that patches are "iron-on": They are most definitely not. They must be sewn on if they're going to stay put more than 3 seconds. And, due to plastic backing, you do need to use a machine unless you have finger tips made of galvanized steel. (And it would be tough to hold a needle with finger tips of galvanized steel.)    Also some patches are shaped -- well, they're not round or square. They have legs or their designers opted for an irregular shape. This square shows the full gamut of patches from easy to not.

"Cool as a moose" patch is nicely round -- easy to sew. "Mount Desert Island" -- not so easy. Too many coves. And the moose -- legs and antlers! If I drank beer, it would have been beer o'clock from that one. Though I do believe there was some chocolate rummaged out the pantry as a reward. So I guess, I found my threshold for chocolate o'clock.

And because it's winter is western NY, I'm obligated to talk about the weather. DH has another chore that creeps up this time of year -- shoveling the roof. Although DH has a special tool for the task -- gotta love "special tools". (Oy!)

(Sorry Sweetie, your face was blotted out by a rather large snowflake.) Our house is about 120 years old and prone to icicles.  The playroom (in picture) is the prime spot for large icicles. Years ago it morphed into being when someone closed in a porch, so the roof is poorly pitched, not insulated and there's only a crawl space underneath. Although the snow has been fluffy, pretty and a nice change from early December gray.

And because it's winter in western NY, we also have to talk about ....Hockey! In addition to following the Buffalo Sabers (Go Sabers!), we make trips to DH's and my alma matter of RIT (that'sRochester Institute of Technology 'case you're interested). Both the women's and men's teams are nationally ranked, so we get to see some fast, well played games.

Hi, DD#1 and go Lady Tigers! (The Lady Tigers (ranked #4) ended up in a 3-3 tie with Elmira Golden Eagles (ranked #3).) Great game. Oh, and did you ever come across a word that just causes happiness with its saying? A word that just feels good as it trips off the tongue? One that makes you giggle when recited rapid fire?

Zamboni! Zamboni! Zamboni! Zamboni! Zamboni!

On the twelfth day of Christmas....

knittymom — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:56:00 GMT

Yes, Virginia, there was Christmas knitting...

And now that the recipients have their Christmas woolen snuggies in hand, on foot or around neck, I can post pictures of all the projects.

As you can see, I went on a bit of a mitts jag this season. So summing up (Sing along to "On the first day of Christmas..")

Five pairs of mitts
Four size 6 dpns
Three hours embroidering (OK, not that long but it felt like it. Turns out the letter "S" is really difficult to freehand.)
Two soft wool scarves
and a Pair of nice warm socks for my hubby.
(Hey, I didn't hear you singing!)

There was a small rainbow of Maine Morning Mitts out of Noro Kureyon.

My DDS requested some mitts to go with her Ohio State sweatshirt. So, tahdah!  Knitting the mitts was easy, finding red/black/white yarn was a fun quest, embroidering "OSU" on them was not and not just because I wanted the letters to be sized and spaced perfectly. Perfectly, I tell you!   OK, maybe that was the problem. My DH kept saying, "The letters looked fine." as I ripped out the stitching for the sixth time.

Pattern: Basic mitten pattern from Ann Budd. I just stopped before the shaping at the top of the mitten and thumb.
Yarn: Lana Grossa Cento (1.2 balls)

And these mitts, made from my own handspun, went to our Mail Ma'am. She's just a delightful mail carrier who not only delivers our mail with a smile but leaves our dog a treat everyday. So she delivered the fiber, I spun and knit it, and returned the finished project to her. Kind of a whole circle of life thing...only with fiber.

Pattern: Fetching (According to Ravely (online knitting site), people have knit nearly 14,000 pairs of Fetching mitts. That's just mind blowing!)
Yarn: My own BFL handspun from AllSpunUp

And finally...

Another pair of Fetching mitts for DearMomRoss to keep her hands warm around the house. And when DearMomRoss opened them, she was just so thrilled with them she nearly made me cry.   More knitting coming her way....

Pattern: Fetching (Um, now 14,001)
Yarn: Sublime DK (Cashmere, Wool and silk) Lovely soft stuff to work with.

A scarf for my DDS who requested a scarf long enough to wrap around her and keep her warm while walking around the hilltop campus. Here are the stats on this one.

Length: Nearly 7 feet
Yarn: Nearly a fifth of a mile of yarn knit up in that one. (Brown Sheep bulky -- wool and mohair)
Pattern: K2P2 over and over and over and over and over.....and over.....and.....over.....K2....P2...in ...my....sleep

And if you ever want a quick buttery soft scarf, pick up some Malabrigo Chunky.  It's like knitting with marshmallows. If you could stretch marshmallows out to make a yarn and form a stitch without them sticking to each other and degrading when they got wet and drying out over time. Ok, not the best analogy. But the yarn is incredibly soft and squishy.

Pattern: Filippi scarf by Tamara Del Sonno from One Skein Wonders
Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky (1 skein) in butter yellow (also for DearMomRoss)

Last knitted item:

And DH requested some new socks. Here they are in a simple broken rib pattern some basic socks made from Berocco's new Vintage yarn. Vintage has some nylon and acrylic in it so I'm hoping they will wear a bit longer than plain wool socks.

I love knitting for Christmas because not only do I get pure enjoyment out of just knitting and creating something, but I get to think about the person I'm knitting for while I'm doing it.

Here are a few pics from our Christmas holiday...

The traditional blinding-of-the-children-with-flash-photography when they descend the stairs pre-dawn on Christmas morning. The brief resulting exclamations ran something like this   ..."Ahhh! Mom! I can't see anything!"   "All I can see is a big yellow dot!" Moms have to have some fun. Complaints only echoed for about a half a second before they saw the tree with presents under it.

Um, Christmas cookies!

And this is DearSon's prize Christmas gift

Yes, a lego R2D2. Yes, about an inch tall. Yes, sometimes the best things do come in small packages.

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and a peace filled New Year!

It's the day before the night before Christmas and I'm busy, busy

knittymom — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:44:00 GMT

No really....I'm busy. Not completely crazy busy but busy enough that blog posts have fallen off the end of the proverbial "to do" list. So to quote one of my favorite movies...

"Let me 'splain. [pause] No, there is too much. Let me sum up."   (Triple extra points if you guess the movie.)

So hold on here we go...

DD#1 took up fencing.   (It looks so cool that ....Argggh, someone hand me a foil, I want to channel a pirate!)

We picked out and decorated our Christmas tree.

We all participated in our church's Christmas Pageant (Have you ever seen a cuter sheep?)

DD#1 turned 11. Happy Birthday and nice job with the cake!

It got cold -- really cold. That's Fahrenheit people!

Happily, I knit (that may be a significant understatement) so there are lots of snuggly accessories to keep everyone warm. The Star Wars hat and mittens are new -- more at the bottom of this post.

We had a bit of a miscommunication here as to what "Leave the mixer on low speed" actually means. Further illustrated by self-explanatory picture below.

And DD#2 practiced diligently and passed her solid yellow karate belt test. (I'm so proud!)

And, of course, there was knitting. Although as much of the knitting for the last month was for Christmas, I can't put up pictures just yet.

That's a rainbow of Maine Morning Mitts by Clara Parkes. As I get silly happy just watching the colors change and 1 skein makes a pair of mitts, it's almost a perfect project. I say almost because as much as I love the colors in Noro Kureyon, the yarn itself is not the best quality. It has an extremely short staple length and is bit scratchy so I wouldn't use it against any other skin other than hands. And there is always at least one knot in the skein which doesn't sound that bad until you're counting on a certain progression of colors. A knot interrupts that to great frustration.

I made a couple of boy hats for our "hat tree" at church. This is Rib-a-roni pattern by Jane Tanner, free on Ravelry. I liked the pattern for donated hats because it is so stretchy. These hats will fit a variety of head sizes because, unlike my family, heads do come in other sizes other than rather large.   The yarn is Vintage by Berroco which has some acrylic in it so it's washable (good for donated items so no fussy care directions)  It feels just a bit slippery which took a bit of getting used to. I like to knit with 100% wool because it has some "tooth" to it. Pure wool has the ability to grab a bit at the needles and to itself.

And this was my Thanksgiving weekend creative outlet and I'm admittedly rather proud of it. It took some charts of R2D2, figured out the gauge of my yarn and went to town with colored pencils and a graph. DearSon has approved of it and will actually wear it, the ultimate mark of approval from a 4 year old regarding hats. (The yarn is Wool of the Andes from KnitPicks.)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Note to self

knittymom — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:47:00 GMT

1. Note to self: When driving through a car wash with curious 4 year old in the back seat, lock the automatic windows. Just saying.

2. Note to self: Remember this moment because of its sweetness and humor.   DearSon has discovered the Wii Lego Star Wars games and is learning characters and settings. Currently we have Dark Vader (no, not Darth, Dark), White Vader (Count Dooku), Yoga, Bubba Fett (presumably Boba Fett's country cousin), Sees3pOhs, Empurwere and of course, "Why is Princess Leia naked, Mommy?" And as an animated lego person, she does look naked in that Episode 6 bikini thing. Naked and weirdly angular.

3. Note to self: Why do I get all the hard questions from the kids? Driving home from my DS house in Ohio, I fielded about 824 questions from the kids in the back of the van. I don't mind answering questions though this was a particularly tough bunch including "Why don't people take care of the earth?" (Remember "I don't know." is not an accepted answer.) "How does Santa know what we want for Christmas." "Who will get to play the Wii first when we get home?" (There's one fraught with a lot of whining potential depending on the answer) and of course, "How do people die?" (Yikes!) Those and many others were the questions directed at me. Specifically me. I know this because every questions started, "Mommy, why/how/when .....". After sometime my DH decided to field a few questions so he asked that the next question be directed to him. You want to know what question he got? Ready? DearSon asked "Is turkey made from turkey?" Answer: Yes

4. Nothing makes a bus stop happier than the first snow of the season.

Other notable happenings

5.  DD#1 has begun her own yarn stash. She's following in her mom's footsteps. <sniff>

She won the drawing for the box of Queensland yarn from the Yarn Boutique during Rochester's first Yarn Crawl. There was one ball of yarn made from wool and milk proteins. Appropriately named, Leche, it is heavy for its size and very slippery -- interesting.

6. DD#1 needed a new hat.


Pattern: Who? by Sara Amoroso. DD#1 wanted eyes on just a couple of the owls -- side and back.
Yarn: Arucania Nature Wool in purple
Mods: Well, given the size of heads in this family, yes, I had to make it one owl repeat larger so the owl portion was worked on 121 stitches.

Next up lots of knitting....

Happy Birthday DD#2

knittymom — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:28:00 GMT

Happy 8th Birthday, my dear daughter! Your smile makes me happy. Your enthusiasm makes me smile. And your cheerful, "Good Morning, mama!" warms my heart everyday.

In the early hours of the morning the day you were born, Daddy and I bundled up, went outside and watched the Leonid meteor shower and an aurora borealis -- such a precious memory for such a precious child. Happy Birthday!

And, of course, there was knitting...

Poofy, warm scarf made from Plymouth's Baby Rimini yarn which is a super soft boucle made from a wool and acrylic blend. The pattern... extremely intricate...um, that is kind of knitting tongue-in-cheek (which would be quite an impossible way to knit...giggle)....anyway...I cast on 11 stitches and knit until I ran out of yarn. (2 balls)

Randomish Monday

knittymom — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:02:00 GMT

Here is some stuff in no particular order (Can you tell I'm going for the Pulitzer today?).

1. Fall in Western NY, although often gray, can be filled with a lot of fun for the kids. There really is just nothing like a giant pile of leaves.

2. Halloween was a complete success...

even when DD#1's pumpkin tried to eat her.

3. I believe this is the visual definition of the word "standoff".

4. I'm a label reader. There's just an incredible amount of information available on the backs of packages. Although sometimes you get one where the people who designed front of the package clearly have not consulted the people who designed the back.

Front of package which clearly, proudly even, says this product is "alcohol free". OK.

Back of package:

Equally clearly states that the number one inactive ingredient is "benzyl alcohol" which, last I checked, is a form of alcohol. Making this product not so "alcohol free" as one would think.

5. Now admittedly, it is time for me to let the whole Second Grade Snack Snafu go. But somehow, I can still find myself getting worked up about it. (For background read my September 19th blog entry.) Anyhow, here are the new items on the school lunch menu for today.

Really? Are they going to ask the kids if they would like an amber or a stout with that because that certainly has crossed into the realm of bar food. I'm not going to deny that this meal probably tastes good and will be very popular but I think anyone would have a hard time making the case for a healthy lunch for the kindergarten through fifth grade crowd. And I wouldn't be on such a jag with this if I hadn't had to argue my case with principal and teachers that if I wanted to send whole wheat crackers in as a snack that my child shouldn't be escorted to eat them alone in the cafeteria upon arrival at school because they weren't on the "approved" list. (OK now I really need to get over this.)

6. Hey, how about some fiber??

This is domestic wool that I spun from the Spunky Eclectic October club. DD#2 has professed undying love for these colors so she has dibs.

This is some BFL wool that I dyed and that DH has expressed an interest in so he has dibs.

This is a wool/mohair 2-ply I spun from Tintagel Farms in the tidepool colorway. I have dibs.

And this lovely pile of wool and tencel fluff from Susan's Spinning Bunny will soon be yarn for socks. (I may also have dibs on this one.)

Happy Birthday, My Sister!

knittymom — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:49:00 GMT

A very happy birthday to you, my sister dear!!!

We love you very much!

Now on to the things which had not been spoken of. Well, nothing so mysterious actually. Just the the knitted gifts I have been working that I gave to DDS on her birthday. (Have I mentioned I love knitting for DDS? She just totally gets the work and love that go into them.)

First, for the love of all wool, please stop me from knitting more mitts! I'm definitely on a mitt jag. They just seem like such the perfect fall project when you don't quite want the full coverage of a mitten or glove but your hands need just a little extra to keep warm.

Mitts - the first

Pattern: Maine Morning Mitts by Clara Parkes
Yarn: Noro Kureyon - one ball resulting in mismatchy mitts
Modifications: Longer hand and thumb.

Mitts - the second

Pattern: Rib and Cable Mitts
Yarn: Knit Picks City Tweed (Wool and Alpaca) in poseidon and habanero.
Modifications: Longer hand and thumb, as always.
The the third knitted item is.....

Yes, that is what you think it is. I knitted a hot water bottle cozy. (Hey, you in the back. Stop snickering.) Really, who wants synthetic rubber against skin?

So I give you a cabled hot water bottle cozy with coordinating scarf.

Pattern: Hot Water Bottle Cozy by Yarnagogo.
Yarn: Cascade 220 and left over Opal sock yarn.
Modifications: I didn't sew the bottom shut because it's much easier to get the hot water bottle in the cozy if you can pull it through from the top and bottom.

Hey, DDS. Happy Birthday!

Randomish Monday

knittymom — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:14:00 GMT

Ready for a little randomness, in no particular order. (Redundancy is my middle name today.)

1. We took off for a quick overnight in Niagara Falls after the first week of school. Highly recommended after the craziness that is the first week of school. (We're now in our sixth week and there's a whole other level of craziness associated with that.)

2. Sign we saw in Table Rock tourist stop in Niagara Falls.

You know, if they're that angry, perhaps you shouldn't make them wait. And I imagine the greeting at the "Fury Welcome Centre" would be "WHAT DO YOU WANT!".

3. It's fall here in western, NY and, oh, it is beautiful. (Looking down the Erie Canal from Lift Bridge in Fairport.)

Random colorful leaves

4. Scarecrow festival and our scarecrow. He came to life with DH's creativity and a local artist's talent, she painted his face and all the signs. Who is Fletcher Adelbert Defendorf? Just the last Democrat to serve in Perinton town council in the year 1917. Yes, 92 years ago. There are a number of excellent Democrats running this year and here's hoping they're elected! Single party rule isn't good for any town as government benefits from different points of view. (Fletcher stood in our living room for 3 nights waiting for the beginning of the scarecrow festival and scared the snot out of me every time I entered the room -- he's quite the imposing figure.)
:

5. And there has been yarn.

I bought these rovings at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival, from Neko Farm (light brown) and Nistock Farms (gray, white and dark) and spun them into these:

which I hope to soon make into these cute sheepy mittens designed by Amy King from Spunky Eclectic.

6. I decided I needed some fingerless mitts and made this pair with Noro Kureyon, a Japanese yarn known for funky colors.

I think I achieved funky colors and I enjoy they're mismatchiness. (That's not a word, is it?) The pattern is Maine Morning Mitts by Clara Parkes.

7. One of Erin's "mommy love mittens" (That's what she calls them and it makes my heart melt every time.) , went AWOL from the winter hat and glove bin, so I knit another. One of the many wonderful things about handmade knitted clothes is that the items can be re-made if needed. So here is squirrel mitten #2.

8. And for my DH, I finished these warm woolly socks just in time for October chill. (I love knitting for him because he truly appreciates the effort, time and craftsmanship that goes into socks.)

Close-up

Patten: Roger Socks fromKnitspot in Grandmother's Blessing yarn from Briar Rose Yarns.

That's probably enough randomness for now.

Metamorphosis

knittymom — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:30:00 GMT

I give you our backyard metamorphosis.....

Happy Anniversary, My Love

knittymom — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:48:00 GMT

Today is Mike's and my 19th anniversary!

Happy Anniversary, My Love!

Muir Woods, California

Bar Harbor, Maine

(And just because someone asked, according to Hallmark (the self-appointed keeper of such information), the official gift for the 19th anniversary is bronze, not wool, that was for the 7th anniversary.)

Oh, Fiber Festival, my Fiber Festival!

knittymom — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:58:00 GMT

The Finger Lakes Fiber Festival was this past weekend and it was wonderful! I enjoy it for so many reasons (yes, the presence of an absurd amount of fiber is the most obvious reason). It also happens to only be an hour from my house, has a nice variety of vendors and is big enough to keep me busy visiting booths for 2 days but scale of the event is completely doable for our kids of 4, 7 and 10.

So how do you know you're at a fiber festival....

Hmmm, could be when DH starts smooching the alpacas. (Have I mentioned I love my DH?

And, of course, the sheep are always a give-away.

And where there were sheep, there also were the kids.

The kids weren't really ready to make peace with the whole circle of life thing.

Pet the sheep ---> eat the sheep?
(Though DearSon was ready to lobby for chicken for lunch.)

There was a nice variety of food. We snacked on kettle corn, a jumbo chips n' cheese (anything with " 'n " in the title probably tastes better in the open out in the middle of a field) and artichokes french/greens 'n beans. Actually the arichokes french would have tasted good in any venue.



Yes, DD#1, that bunny is realllllllly cute.

Yes, DD#1, I know you realllllly want a bunny. (And stop looking at me like that!)

There was a skein and garment competition display. I couldn't back up enough to get the entire display in one shot, so you'll have to mentally knit the two pictures together yourself. (Yes, pun intended -- I'm feeling witty.)

I volunteered in this area Sunday morning where I was able to look at yarn and garments and talk to people walking by about yarn and garments. Holy perfect job, Batman!

Hey, did you see those?? Some of the items were made by me and DD#1.

I'm such a proud mom: DD#1 won a ribbon in the junior category for her wheel spun shetland wool!

And I was gobsmacked that my work did so well in the competition. (And pleased. I really am very pleased.)

I was particularly proud of this skein that won the best spindle spun award.

(The fiber was Blue Faced Leicester (BFL - a sheep breed) from Spunky Eclectic -- delightfully soft wool that was a pleasure to spin.)

I'm also proud of my mittens. There's extra gratification when a project goes from fiber to yarn to useful garment.

The fiber was BFL from AllSpunUp and the mittens are luxuriously soft. Can't wait to wear them to ward off the cold this winter. (OK...I could maybe still wait a couple of months...November would be good.)

This skein won first place in Navajo plied yarn. A Navajo plied yarn, sometimes called chain plied, is one where a single strand of yarn is used to make a three ply yarn by making a loop, reaching through the loop and pulling the next loop through, all the while continuing to put twist in the yarn. The point of the technique is to preserve color order from a roving in the completed yarn. If you make a three ply yarn from three separate strands of differing colors, the effect is that of rather freaked out barber pole. That was quite the explanation, ay?

The fiber was corriedale (another sheep breed) from Sunset Fibers. The colors remind me of an autumn sunset.

It was just a delightful weekend and one I look forward to all year.   Next post I'll regale you with the treasures I brought home from the festival.

You know that road paved with good intentions....

knittymom — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:11:00 GMT

You know that road paved with good intentions ...well, I was forced to board the crazy bus and drive up and down that road looking for an off-ramp for a week. Well, perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration but there surely was a lot of energy expended on my part talking to school staff trying to understand and be understood. Here's the story...

At second grade curriculum night last week, the teachers put up a list of approved snacks. The snacks listed were fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and cheese. They were trying to promote healthy eating at snack time. That was the good intention, a wonderful intention even.   The problems were
1. It was an unresearched, exclusive list that did not include whole grains or lowfat dairy.
2. There was a punitive element that if a child brought in a non-approved snack, rather than taking the matter up with the parent, the teacher was to take the food away from the child.

Number one first: I feel that my child needs some whole grains at snack time to give her enough energy to make it to lunch as she has a metabolism that burns through calories. The list didn't include whole grains. After some research here at home(that is a google of "healthy school snacks" -thank you DDS), we found that a great deal of work has already been done to put together programs that promote healthy school snacks.    All of them included whole grains and lowfat dairy as elements of a healthy snack.

Here are some of the links:
Mayo Clinic
National Institutes of Health
New York State Department of Health Their Activ8kids program which is the NYS School Nutrition and Physical Activity Best Practices Toolkit available from the NYS Department of Health. Excellent resource!

Number two: Honestly, this is the aspect of the policy that bothered me the most. My child's nutrition is my responsibility because I know her needs, medical history and personality. I don't want a teacher taking away her food that I have specifically packed.  I really don't understand why they choose such a negative and coercive model to try and promote healthy eating.   After several discussions I was told that if I persisted in sending in whole wheat crackers (with cheese) that either the teacher would take away the crackers or my daughter would be escorted to the cafeteria upon arrival at school to eat her snack and would have to sit quietly later during the class' snack time while everyone else ate.    Really? Contraband whole wheat crackers??

Let me also say -- the teachers at my DDs school are a terrific group of talented educators. I'm really at a loss of where the disconnect between my opinion and theirs came from.

End of the story is, the program has been rescinded and the approved snack list has now become the "recommended" snack list. I can send in whatever snack I feel is appropriate for my child. Thank goodness. And since I'm obviously all about healthy eating, I have also offered to put together a "Healthy Snack - tip of the week" for the teachers to put up on their websites or to send home with their students. I hope they take me up on my offer.

Side note: School lunches available to buy in the last 5 days: Chicken nuggets, hot dog, crispy chicken ranch BLT, chocolate chip pancakes and pizza.

9/9/09 9-9-09 9909

knittymom — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:41:00 GMT

The only reason to post today is just to have the chance to type the date over and over again....9-9-09. It is really is amusing me...there's something just so symmetrical about it. 9.9.09

As it's Wednesday and I don't have anything hugely cohesive to talk about, here are a few random items in no particular order.

1. Kind of sad and quiet here. DD#1 and DD#2 went back to school today and I miss them. I enjoy having a full, noisy, busy house for the summer and I don't really look forward to the beginning of school. (On the up side, they were happy and excited about getting back and seeing all their friends.)

DD#1 and DD#2 The bus stop

2. I'm just sayin' that it's lucky for the world that I use my creative powers for good. I give you....Banana Dog!

3. The monarch caterpillars ate their fill of milkweed and have become chrysalises. Hopefully it will stay warm enough long enough for the whole process to complete.

4. After lots of hard work, DD#2 got her green stripe belt last week at karate.

5. I've been spinning.

I had 14oz of romney batts** from Sandy Long that became about 650yds of lovely light worsted yarn. (Romney is a breed of sheep with a sturdy long staple length.) Sandy Long (doesn't appear to have a website) will be at the Finger Lakes Fiber Fest which is Sept 19-20. That's 10 days from now, people!!! Have I mentioned I can't wait!!!! Love this festival!

.

I spun about 220yds of this colorful yarn made from 3.2 oz wool left over from teaching the spinning class to 120 4th graders during Homespun Days last year. (I bought a pound from Ragtime Farm on Etsy.)

One more picture, just because the colors are so rich.

6. I have also been knitting and I'm nearly done with a couple of projects: a simple triangular shawl (hopeful hip wrap for belly dancing) and the mittens from last blog. Pictures forth coming.

** Mister Spellchecker is at it again. He suggested that "romney batts" is incorrect and should be "romney butts". I certainly wouldn't spend my time spinning 14oz of romney butts. Um...ewwww.

Knittymom

Happy St. Patrick's Day

A right proper Snow Day!

A few smiles...

Friday is for random thoughts...

I do like a good Henry Moore sculpture

Simple Pleasures

Mid-winter knitting

Not just a one trick pony....

On the twelfth day of Christmas....

It's the day before the night before Christmas and I'm busy, busy

Note to self

Happy Birthday DD#2

Randomish Monday

Happy Birthday, My Sister!

Randomish Monday

Metamorphosis

Happy Anniversary, My Love

Oh, Fiber Festival, my Fiber Festival!

You know that road paved with good intentions....

9/9/09 9-9-09 9*9*09

9/9/09 9-9-09 9909