Knit n Things

I know I said I wasn't going to post. I lied - I got a package in the mail today. Guess what it was. A package from my Kit Swap pal Birdsong (how cool is her name?! And for the record I haven't even looked at her blog yet I was so anxious to show you what I got!)

How cute it this bag?!?! And love the Trekking colors! My LYS 0nly has Trekking in subdued earthy colors these colors are so fun!! Chocolate is ALWAYS a good this & this chocolate is for a good cause TOO! And cute little sandle candles & a funky cool soap shaped like a quartz & sock shaped point protectors there was even a hand made card and some fresh picked lavender (which smell divine & which I forgot downstairs so it didn't make into the picture.) By far the coolest - the pattern - which I was (no lie) talking to Quiddity Jane about YESTERDAY. She just finished a pair using that pattern and I really liked it so I was planning to do my next pair of Trekking socks with it!

You did a great job Birdsong I'm totally stoked - you've made my day in the midst of all this chaos. Thank you so much!!

Just a quick post - I'll get back to the good stuff soon I promise. Zeke's wedding is on Friday. I've got a ridiculous amout of stuff to do for this wedding - considering the fact that Im not getting married. And then there are the houseguests that can't decide when their comming - today, tomorrow, Friday - it changes every few hours. Very hard to plan for people when you don't know when they'll be here. Haven't knit a stitch in days - but I made a ribbon boquet that's really cool. I'll show it to you when I've got more than five minutes to fight with blogger. Until then...

Do you remember the feeling you had the very first time you knit something? That "holy crap look what I just did!" feeling? Sometimes you forget how amazing it is to learn something new and then to make something that actually looks good with your new skills. Don't get me wrong I am totally charmed by every little thing that comes off my needles – but to do something that you have no skills with, to create something cool that you didn’t think you could do – that’s a special feeling.

When T talked me into the Sock Kit Swap she swore she’d help me. Last night T & I finally got together to make my bags. Sewing is not really my thing and the making of my bags was an interesting event – much laughing, a great deal of cursing, and a little blood. (sewing needles are crazy sharp!)

First – I couldn’t manage to measure 10". If T hadn’t been standing over me subtlety double-checking every single move I made I’d be heading back to the fabric store today.

Second – I’m afraid of the machine. She’s got this cool surger thing that has the four needles and sews everything together and trims the extra so you have this. This machine does not do the nice slow speed that I feel comfortable at – it wants to race along the edge and eat everything in it’s path (this is probably T’s fault because she doesn’t do slow.) The first few minutes with the surger were colored with much cursing and squealing.

Third – I can’t sew a straight line. Really I can’t. Tisha still can’t believe I can’t, and her instructions of "just use the foot as a guide and keep the fabric lined up" didn’t help at all. Knowing and doing – completely different. My seams are charmingly roaming all over the edge.

The funniest moment had to be when I triumphantly held up the liner of my bag and hollered at the top of my lungs said "look I made a bag and it doesn’t have any holes in it or anything!!" and then stuck my hand through the gaping whole in the side seam. Tisha and I completely collapsed into fits of giggles. Despite a few mis-measured cuts (I did managed to screw that up regardless of Tisha’s watchful eye) and a couple of wonky hems I managed to make this. I’m ridiculously proud of this little bag. I hope my KSKS partner likes it as much as I do.















**Many thanks to Tisha for letting me play with her very fancy sewing machines - and not yelling at me when I did something stupid that might put a machine into mortal peril. Everyone should be this lucky to have a friend like her!

It’s my birthday today. Because of the proximity of my birthday to the Fourth of July – the fireworks have always been a huge part of my birthday celebration. When I was a little girl my grandmother had a house on the river and the barge that they used to set off the fireworks anchored right in front of her house. After the display we would go into the house & have ice cream cake I was probably ten before I finally figured out that the fireworks weren’t a grandiose birthday gift from my family (parents lie – it’s ok though they made me feel like the most important kid on the planet), because of the holiday my celebration goes on for days!


I MUST do fireworks – it’s a rule - so the crew and I went down to the park early on Monday to get a good spot & did a little stitchin’ while we waited for dark. The display was AMAZING – I was awed by how good the fireworks were this year! It totally made-up for the huge crowds that insisted on encroaching on our space. I took some lovely pictures hopefully I'll be able to share them at some point this week.

Today I came into work and got a wonderful surprise! Tisha and the kids stopped in to give me my first birthday gift of my 31st year. I got two handmade bags with matching small project bags and cards made by her kids and a little crocheted change purse type bag (I'll show you pictures as soon as I can). It's shaping up to be a wonderful birthday!

Hey gang – I should probably warn you, blogging is probably going to be even more sporadic than usual (and very light on photos because my work computer & blogger don’t like each other). My computer crashed this weekend. I’m not really sure what happened to it, it worked in the morning and then in the evening – nada. As much as I love technology – it really can be a pain in the ass! I’ve got to see if I can find the driver disks, all computer crap is packed away because of the remodel we’re in the middle of – doesn’t that just figure!

I’ve got some exciting news. Two of my cousins are pregnant! I’ve got two winter babies to knit for!!! For the past ten years I’ve had one baby or another on the way so I’ve always had baby things going on. This past year, no babies so I’m really excited about these two! I don’t know the sex of either baby yet so I think I start with a very unisex sweater. I really like Trellis from Knitty so I might run out and get the yarn for that this week.

In sock news the pink & blue toe up is just about done. (I did take pics but you know – they’re on the computer) I’ve turned the heel and done the leg but it’s a bit tight so I might rip it back and do a few less decreases. I have to take a minute to praise the construction of this sock. The pattern is the cable top sock from Socks Soar on Two Circs. It’s brilliant! The toe is done with this invisible cast-on using the cable as the second “thread” so you don’t have to pick up stitches - you just turn the toe like you would a heel. Then the heel – I love this – you increase for the gusset, then do a short row heel (it’s my first) and then decrease the gusset stitches. There’s no flap or picking anything up – and looks fab - I love it!! I take back all the not so nice things I said about working with two circs. Doing it this way is highly entertaining!