Sparkly!

I'm making a couple of things for my mom to sell at craft fairs.

This is the first thing I started. It's a simple triangle shawl. The yarn has been in the stash for the last 2 years, atleast. Not really my style, but someone will enjoy it, right? The large needles don't bother the wrist as much as smaller needles do. And the bulky yarn means quick finish.

And I know that I mentioned that The Boy isn't sleeping. Well that means I've had less time to do homework and study. It also means more time for him to find trouble. I thought I could put a movie on and he'd watch it while I did some work. Boy was I wrong.

Yes, that is our fireplace open. Yes, that is my son covered in soot. And yes, that is Hubs' cordovan loafer that The Boy used to push the ash around in the fireplace.

*sigh*

He's sleeping now. Off to shower, do homework, do laundry, wash the floors, clean up the mess in the bathroom and wash myself. All within the next hour, which is when he's going to be up.

Wish me luck.

*Also, there's a new sign on the across the street neighbor's tree. Something about a foreclosure sale on the house coming up at the end of March....sad, but if you can't pay your bills- sell your boat. Oh, and how great is it going to look when we put our house on the market to have prospective buyers looking at that...nice?? Guess we're not moving until late spring, at the earliest, after all.

Shoot Me Now.

The Boy has a head cold. I've had some pretty nasty head colds myself. I know what it's like to feel stuffy, sick and gross with your nose all runny and chapped. I know he's not feeling well.

He's not sleeping.

The Boy is...a boy. He loves to bounce and jump and run everywhere, all day long. He crashes every day at 1. The house is typically silent, with the exception of a couple of knitting needles rubbing together (with an occasional swear muttered by me.)

Yesterday he decided that he wasn't going to nap. He cried, whined, threw a hissy then jumped out of his crib.

Finally I let him come out into the living room and sit with me on the couch. That lasted all of 2 seconds.

Today is the same thing. He's in his crib, jumping around like it's an inflatable castle.

Sleep, damn it!!

There's not enough Calgon in the world if he doesn't take a nap 2 days in a row.

Ready for My Close-Up.

As requested, this is the sweater close up.

I know alot of people don't like 3/4 or bracelet length sleeves, but I love them. I wash my hands ALOT throughout the day and I hate when the edge of my sleeves get wet. The shorter length eliminates that! Problem solved.

Anyways, any time you want a closer look at my photos, go to flickr. My user name is sunflowerfairyknits. (duh) I didn't realize that Blogger won't let you bigger the photo anymore.

Beaded.

Yes, the funny thing in the photo of me in the cardigan is that boat. On my street. No, our street does not flood enough to warrant a boat to be parked on it. I just live across the street from Sandford and Son. You'd think the neighbor would get the hint after people nicely asked him to move the boat or after the police being called repeatedly- but no. So, that's what I look out at every day...a boat. A broken one, at that. Lucky for him, he has the overgrown bush from hell blocking his view of the boat. I wish I could be so lucky.

I can't wait to have to explain it to people who are going to be looking at the house when we eventually sell it.

Anyways, today isn't about neighbors or boats.

It's about beads.

I've come to the realization that I'm sick and tired of having to bug Hubs for every cent I need. That's totally the worse part of being a stay at home mom, I swear. Plus it's almost fiber fair season and I want to blow every cent I own on more yarn.

So I'm doing something to make a bit of cash, hopefully.

And the beads are just one, very shiny part of it.

Wedding season is coming. Women need fancy beaded shawls to keep themselves warm, right?

Hmmm. We'll see...

Minimalist Cardigan- Done!

The Minimalist Cardigan is done.

Photographic proof-

Specs: Minimalist Cardigan from Interweave Knits, Fall 2007. The yarn is green Cascade 220. Great pattern. I was able to make it using the suggested needles and did the pattern as written. Loved the moss stitch, the sizing seems perfect and it's warm. I'm still trying to find just the right thing to wear under it though.

Anyone notice anything funny in the photo? Hmmm?

Tomorrow: beads!

Hat and Mittens Set- Done!

I'm barely (well, barely for me) knitting these days, but I did manage to finish a set for myself. These are a couple of mittens and a hat. The yarn is Louisa Hardings Kashmir Aran. Lovely, warm and great to work with. I will use this yarn again, next time I see it on sale. I'll use bigger needles though. The yarn would drape beautifully for a sweater. Before I blocked them, the mittens were a bit stiff and after- much roomier and soft.

I got the patterns out of Ann Budd's Book of Handy Patterns, and added the moss stitch for texture. The book I use frequently, more than any other book in the vast (haha) Sunflowerfairy knitting library. Yes, the pattern sizes can be a bit wonky, but if you are used to it, you can adapt. It's a great guide for people who aren't afraid to question sizing or challenge the ruler.

Anyways, I know a couple of you are looking for photos of the minimalist cardigan and I promise you I'll have them up soon. Hubs has been working late and it's tough to get good photos of the sweater hanging over a chair.

Also, I'm feeling somewhat better today. Thank you for the comments and guidance. This too shall pass, just like someone said in the last post.

Stuck

Sometimes I just feel...stuck. Stuck in the house, stuck financially, stuck in my marriage, stuck in life.

I have no idea if it's PMS or winter blues or what.

Tonight, I just feel stuck, achy and uncomfortable.

I just want to sleep until next week. Or run away to someplace peaceful.

Stuck sucks.

Retail Therapy

It's rainy again here in the old CT, so here's some online retail therapy:

I love this little crochet hook from 5elementknitr. They are for sale on her Etsy shop. Love it! It's a keychain! How handy.

Knitwitch's yarn bowls. I love the one that says, "Drinkin' & Tinkin'". Hysterical!

Pretty abalone stitch markers from See Jayne Knit Yarns. Give me the shiny, people. I love the shiny!!

Speaking of stitch markers, Weeones etsy shop rocks. I don't think I could ever decide which set to pick. They are all that cute.

Sweaterbabe's lace cardigan pattern. Oh my god, isn't it beautiful!?!

And did you pre-order your copy of Shear Spirit yet? Do it now! (34% off! Yahoo...or should I say, Amazon!)

So what's been your retail therapy lately??

Oh, and before I forget- I got to meet Gauss for the first time yesterday! She came to our SnB gathering because she was in town for a couple of days. Alina, I hope your day is going well. I thought of you last night, while the wind and rain were whipping against my windows. And thanks, for making my day yesterday. Hope you enjoyed New Haven. Maybe we'll be seeing you again soon!

Answers.

Thanks for the compliments!! I wish I could say that I'm brilliant enough to come up with using something as useful as the mats, but I'm not. I don't remember where I read it first.

How did the blocking mats work? They worked great. It was very easy to arrange the fabric and pin. They stayed put too. None of the pins popped up while the fibers dried. Yay!

It took a bit longer to dry than I thought. So much that I had to put the blocks near the fireplace to speed drying. I'm used to drying on the top of the dryer, a sweater rack or if I have to stretch and pin, then on a rug. Air doesn't move too easily between the fabric and the mats.

Did the smell of the rubber transfer? The sweater did have a noticeable non-sheepy smell to it. I'm not so sure how to fix that. Maybe putting a towel down before pinning? I don't know.

It's not so horrible that I wouldn't use them again.

Where did I get them? I bought them a few months ago for $10.00 at the Christmas Tree Shops. There's 4 good sized connectable blocks in each package. I had been looking that the kid ones at Target and ToysRUs, but for various reasons I didn't pick them up. Too many blocks, not cheap enough, not wanting to put pins in my kid's toys...the list goes on.

The sweater is being worn (by me) as I'm writing this post. Photos tomorrow when it's not so gray outside. The sweater is a great design. I can't wait to show you guys!

(And, I'm not half way through the semester. The algebra professor gives 4 exams so that we don't get overwhelmed. Nice, hunh?)

Food is Love.

Can you argue with that?


Valentine's Day was yesterday. We celebrated by Hubs working late and me going to school until 9:45. Romantic.


He did manage to buy me a couple of cards- one from him and one from The Boy. Very sweet.

I decided that since I dropped the ball yesterday (by not buying a card for him) that I'd make up for it today by leaving a few heart shaped sugar cookies around the house with messages. He's again working late and I have class. He will be coming in after I leave. I think it's a nice suprise.

Tomorrow is my mother in law's birthday dinner at my house. For those of you who don't know, Julia's is an amazing bakery in Orange, CT. There may be leftovers on Sunday...for my NHSnB friends.

Minimalist Cardigan is done and blocking on my new rubber blocks. I really hope it doesn't make the sweater smell like doo-doo.

Hey, notice the clutter? Crap. It's everywhere!! (I did clean up the office. It looks good. And feels better! Guess I have to work on the kitchen next, right?)

Misery Loves Photos.

Thanks for the support from last post.


I haven't started on the closet yet, so no photos of that. But I do have a photo of what I look at many times a day- and do nothing about.


This is the "In" basket on the desk in our office.


Notice the mess all around? School books, a pair of baby socks, yarn, patterns, notebooks, receipts, empty water bottle....all of it is just "stuff". After signing off here today, I'm going to pick it up. See Flickr photo, with commentary here.
I think.


Here's some knitting! Yay! Knitting!!


Fair isle vest:


and Minimalist Cardigan.




The vest is beautiful. And much easier than I ever thought possible.

The cardigan, well....I'm ready to be done with it. It looks good though, even with the bit of curling the stockinette causes. The photos don't do the mossy yarn any justice. It's the kind of color that makes me dream of walking through the green lushness of Ireland....mmm, someday...

Well, that's about all I've got. I'm going to pick up my mess, wake up The Boy and start a fire in the fireplace. We're about to be socked by a winter storm later. They're calling off night activities and putting up parking bans already. Perfect for knitting (or resting my wrist) and watching some TV.

Failing as a Blogger.

It seems like I don't have much to blog about these days. I'm not knitting nearly as much as I was, so therefore there's no fun finished knits to show off.

I'm still working on the vest for Schaefer Yarns. Still working on Minimalist Cardigan. I'm doing my best to rest my wrist.

And I'm also immersing myself once again into algebra. I'm actually *getting* it. I just have stop listening to the cute Brit next to me. (haha- inside joke for the NHSnB'ers.)

The sun is out, finally. But it's also an obnoxiously cold temp outside.

I just finished watching an episode of Oprah from last week. She had on Peter Walsh, a declutter expert. I love when he's on. There's a lightbulb moment in every show. By nature, I am a clutterer. I love stacks and stacks of things in my house. I have a love/hate relationship with the chaos of clutter. Growing up, I had a few bad experiences with someone coming into my room at night. By having my room a mess, the sound would wake me and give me a few seconds warning.

That internal, instinctive need for a safety net has never stopped. Although the person who hurt me in the past no longer lives with me and although I'm safe, I still feel the need for clutter, especially next to my bed. There's books, knitting, a few jars of hand cream, a lamp, clothes, papers, etc. all piled either on my nightstand or next to my bed. My very patient and loving husband understands why I do it and tends to let it go. When he feels it's getting out of control, he gently advises that I pick it up. Usually I do. Sometimes it's not the right time. Then a few days pass and I clean it up.

Anyways, back to Oprah- whenever Peter is on the show I feel like I need to reign it in a bit. This time I'm going to tackle my closet, which is in The Boy's room. I'm giving myself the generous time frame of one week to get it cleared out. Maybe, if I'm a brave beaver, I'll post a photo of the destruction and of the clean up.

Hubs and I want to move. We've outgrown our home (NOT FROM MY CLUTTER!) and it's time to move on. We can't show our home with my cluttery secrets, can we? So in the next few weeks I know that I have to really reach far into myself and let it go.

Stuff is just stuff.

Just remind me of that in 3 weeks- ok?

Bored.

It's the second day of rain here in CT. Earlier we had thunder, which made The Boy jump higher than I've seen in a long time.

He's still sick, so I can't go work out. He also wants to play outside, but I don't think that's the best place for him right now.

My wrist still aches so I can't really knit.

There's laundry all over the house, but with The Boy "helping" it makes no sense to try and do anything about it until after he goes down for a nap.

I have school work to finish up, but I just don't want to do it.

I'm craving chocolate like it's the air we're breathing. But there's none in the house and I shouldn't be eating it anyways.

I'm just a little bored and cranky, can you tell?

Stash Enhancement, Warm Porches, a Win and Hurty Wrists

I did buy something(s) at the sale. It's sad that I'm a knitter and I don't have a hat and mittens set. I have loved Louisa Harding's Kashmir Aran for awhile, always petting it and putting it down. The colors I found were mostly muted pastels.


Yesterday, I bought 5 balls of this:Soft, smooth and a stunning color. Can't wait to use it.

I also bought a skein of Country Style DK from Sirdar. I forgot how much I like this yarn. There's a ton of yardage per ball. I'm making a hat for a cousin's birthday with it. I hope he likes it.
Hubs bought me this:

For Valentine's Day. Sweet.


I also picked up two skeins of sock yarn for Gale.

After the sale we headed over to an aquaintance's house. He has an enclosed porch and since it was 50 degrees outside, we sat and knit in the warmth. I finished the Minimal Cardigan's sleeves.

Hubs and I went to a Super Bowl party, after leaving the knitting girls. He loves the Giants, like you would not believe. I honestly couldn't give a crap about football, but I want to see my husband happy. It was a nail biter of a game and very exciting to see Hubs and his friends dance around the room. Good for them. I knit during the whole thing (see hat above).

I also ate my weight in chocolate and crap food.

Workouts will have to be up'ed a notch or two.

I say that, but The Boy has a head cold and can't go to the gym day care and I've been dealing with (or ignoring) my wrist. It aches constantly, when it's not making my fingers tingle and go numb. Ugh. I put the brace back on, took some advil and I'm going to have to hurry up and finish what I need to do ASAP.

Then I'll take a break.

Until then, I'll suck it up.

And knit.

Giddy

Today is Yarn Garden's Super Bowl sale. It's a yearly sale, one we all look forward to.

It's 42% off all yarn.
I have no idea what I'm going to get. Other than a new SWIFT! Yay! Hubs is gifting me one for Valentine's Day. He's a little shocked that he doesn't have to go to the "awful place" (the mall) this year.


Anyhow, I'm giddy with excitement of sales and swifts.

I'll post when I can and show what I got!