A trip down the Fox

On Saturday, we went on a Knitting Cruisette up and down the Fox River with Wool and Company. If you'd like pictures, go see Lynette; I brought my camera, but forgot to take any pictures. Anyway, it was postponed from the previous Sunday because of the torrential rains we had. The river was still high, but it was a beautiful sunny and warm day; perfect day to be out on the river. And, it was M.'s first boat trip! She seemed to enjoy herself, although she wouldn't keep her sun hat on... she used to be good about it.

In knitting news, I am still working on my dad's birthday sweater. The back now has progressed beyond the first skein, so that is new progress. I'll take it up to the arm holes, then work on the front. Since I'm adjusting the pattern so much (making set-in sleeves where there were drop-shoulders) I think it's best if I do both sides at the same time.

In non-knitting news, please click on the dragon eggs in my sidebar... little guys need some love.

And, since it's been lovely out, here's a picture of M. on the swings at the park:

Time flies

I happened to get a very nice comment on my last post today. Knifty Red gave me an award:

Isn't that sweet? It really made my day so much better! So, here are the rules:

1. Post the award on your blog (done)
2. Add a link to the person who gave you the award (done, go check out her blog!)
   
3. Nominate 4 others and leave comments on their blogs so they can pass it on.

So, here are my nominations:

KnitterSue is a prolific knitter Down Under with a couple of lovely children. Also a complete sweetheart.

Dyed in the Wool is a knitter and designer who battles M.E. and still produces beautiful things and is fun to read!

djennerosity is a knitter and spinner who I actually know in person and is a kick to hang out with (also fun are her adorable daughters). I love her posts.

Licensed2Knit is a knitter and sewer and I love reading her posts because I don't get to see her as much as I used to.

Now, I know I promised you Stitches fun. Well, it's been a while, so here is a short summary:

• Shirtless men handed out little samples of SWTC and temporary tattoos.
• Wool and Co. had a lovely booth, and were nice enough to let me sit in the corner to nurse M.
• Webs had a huge booth with lots of goodies.
• Toni from The Fold was there with a lot of goodies.
• I got a free skein of Malabrigo's new sock yarn that will be available in the US in October, just for the asking.
• Habu also had so many cool things.
• I went with Jen and so it rained, of course. Just to warn you all, we will be going to Yarn Con on October 4, so it will rain then. It will be inside, though, so no worries.

We had a very nice time. Going to yarn events with Jen is guaranteed to be fun.

Speaking of rain, however, it can stop any time it would like. We've had a really rainy weekend... 6" in the Chicagoland area, which is a record for one day.

In M. news, she's practicing standing by standing up without support for a few And she's figured out how to get back down the steps into the family room on her own. And she's started pointing at the pictures of herself that come up on the screen saver. M. has also realized that if she holds something in her mouth, she can still bring it with her, but can crawl more easily than whenseconds at a time. it is in her hand... she looks a bit like Fido! She also loves to push the lid off the storage ottoman to rip out the diapers. As soon as I put them back in and put the lid on, she's back at them pulling them out and shaking them around!

We had a nice time at Wool and Co. this Friday. You can see her hanging out with the wonderfully funny Carol, who held her for a while so I could get some knitting in. She's been teething, but Jen and Nan were also able to calm her down.

Alrighty, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

M. Likes Broccoli!

I gave M. broccoli last night for the first time. I had steamed some and gave her little bits and not only did she try it, but she liked it and had seconds! I was truly amazed ... I only eat broccoli because I know I should because it is good for me. She also had some corn and brown rice. This morning it was Cheerios and cherries. I am so lucky that so far she is a very good eater.

Ok, so you'd like to know about my Olympic fail? Here goes:

For my dad's birthday, I decided to make Alice Starmore's Na Craga for him. We picked out the yarn (Cascade 220) before I found the right pattern, though, so the gauge wasn't the same. Also, the sweater, as designed, is drop shouldered and baggy, not the look my dad goes for... he's 5'8", baggy just isn't good. So, I figured with that in mind, I would just start knitting the smallest size and work up to the arm holes (where I was going to make a modified drop sleeve) and then see how that fit him when I went to visit in August. So, I worked on the sweater for a while. I started thinking, at some point, that it might be a little small. So, with a new ball of yarn, I started knitting again, but the next size up. I finished that skein of yarn and took both the pieces to California.

Oh, I started at the very beginning with a sleeve, but the increases were too rapid in the pattern, so instead of dealing with it, I decided to wait to do the sleeves until the front and back were done.

Apparently, I think my dad is about the size of a 16 year old boy. Maybe I think he's 18. Anyway, the point is that both the smaller and medium sized "swatches" I did were too small. By a lot. Ugh. So, I did some figuring and some calculating based on these pieces I did. I decided I would just add more side panel repeats since they were not so dense and would be more flattering than adding more cable-y repeats. Figured out what I should be casting on and started knitting, ripping out the medium size as I knit.

I should point out that somewhere in there the Ravelympics sign ups happened and I signed up for WIP (Work in Progress) Wrestling for Team Rubberneckers. The rules stated that for other projects the only thing you could knit of your item before the opening ceremonies was a gauge swatch. It was around the time of the opening ceremonies that I discovered that what I had knit really was just a gauge swatch, and the WIP Wrestling wasn't really where I belonged, but that was ok, I would plow forward.

So, I knit and knit the new size. As I was knitting, I took a look at it and thought, gee, it's kind of big. But, considering I had thought the other size was just fine and it was too small, I thought I just had a skewed idea of size; I continued knitting. When I almost finished that first skein (again), I still thought it might be a little big, so I got out the tape measure and lo and behold, it was too big. In my calculations, I had forgotten that the side panels that had fewer stitches to the inch, which is precisely why they were less dense. I needed to drop a repeat on each side. Grrr.

Once again, I casted on and knit; this time there was enough of the skein left that I could do a couple repeats of the ribbing before taking the old panel off the needles and ripping back. There was a little more fussing and such, but now, well after the Olympics are over, I'm on my way to a sweater of the right size.

The Na Craga is a drop saddle shoulder, which, as I have mentioned was not ideal. I had planned on doing a modified-drop saddle, however, in Ann Budd's book of sweater patterns, her saddle shoulder is worked on a set in sleeve! It is perfect, and the side panels will be easy to make work with a set in sleeve.

Sorry, I don't even know if that made sense. Here's a picture of the Bean to make up for it:

And Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

Yarn Stores in California

I know I'm behind on posts, because after this one, I've got to post about Stitches Midwest. Also, I've been back from California for a week and a half.

We got out to my parents' on a Saturday, and the next Saturday, M. and I went with my mom on her usual trip to the Farmers' Market. We met up with friends my mom meets there most Saturdays and headed to La Bou for breakfast and chatting. When I mentioned yarn shops, one of them said to go to Babetta's Yarn and Gifts, that it was really nice. So, of course I had to go.

My mom and I went on a Monday afternoon and noticed a sign that announced that Babetta's coffee shop would be coming soon. A coffee shop in the same corner shops that had been there for many years had recently closed and she was getting the permitting required to help fill the void, not just for knitters, but everyone, which I thought was not only a good business idea, but very nice. Anyway, the store: SO MUCH YARN!!! Now, as I have mentioned, Wool and Company is my favorite LYS. They have a really large selection, which is only one of the reasons I like it so much. Babetta's has more. Lots. They have more room and just tons of yarn, and even fiber to make yarn. And books. And did I mention the yarn? Babetta herself is such a kind person, if I lived near there, it would be my LYS of choice. The only criticism I had, and it is minor, is that is was a bit disheveled; although I have to say, that considering she is trying to make room for a coffee shop, it wasn't bad. There is yarn everywhere, and a nice seating area for you to peruse the books or sit and knit. I only ended up getting a little fiber, though. I got this beautiful blue mix of wool, silk, alpaca, Angelina and who knows what else, hand carded by a woman in Nebraska (I couldn't get a picture that showed the depth of the color). But, it is not for me. I also got this cultivated silk... look at that sheen. So pretty.

That Wednesday we all took a trip up to Grass Valley. Fibers gave out a free bag pattern on Earth Day, and I wanted to see the shop it came from. It's in the downtown of Grass Valley, which is quite cute. The shop itself isn't very big, but it has nice yarn and the woman helping me was really very sweet. She had a hard copy of the pattern and showed me what yarns would be good for it. It is actually three string bag patterns on one page, and the best thing (having been to the Farmers' Market in Naperville) is the bags have two handles. I got some K1C2 2nd-Time Cotton to make at least one of the bags. I have two beige skeins, so I might do a two color thing. I also got four skeins of Frog Tree sport weight alpaca. Loved the color, thought M. needed some sort of sweater/dress out of this yarn. The last purchase was a little itty-bitty hand-dyed, handspun souvenir skein as a goody for someone.

After Fibers, we went to Fabrics on Mill Street, which, in case you are there and do any sort of sewing, is a beautiful open bright shop with great customer service, lots of patterns, and a good selection of fabrics, including fashion fabrics.

Before we went home, we had lunch, but I can't remember the name of the restaurant. We ate outside on the patio, which was great, except for the flies. M. liked my french fries (and my dad's avacado and chicken), and even at the lemon we gave her.
She did make the shivery-body-lemon-face, but continued eating it. Silly girl :)

Oh, and here is the family portrait of the animals that did not come to California with us, but did follow us home:
And I just realized that I still didn't tell you about my Olympic fail. Tomorrow. Really. Then Stitches.

Happy Flu

Saw it on Rabbitch's site...

Long time no see

I know, I've neglected this poor blog. I have reasons, though. Well, I have a reason: we were on vacation. I didn't want to say anything ahead of time ... nothing like announcing, "Hey, our house will be empty!" Not that there are a lot of thieves reading this, let alone thieves who can tell where I live; but I decided it might be best, anyway.

So, where were we? California! We went out to visit my parents, D. and M. and I all flew first class (thank you for the four trips to Alaska he had to make for work) . First class is the way to go, especially with a child in your lap. D. stayed a week, M. and I stayed almost a week longer, even though I had to fly back with her by myself. Although, she was amazing on the planes. She was happy and hardly noticed the pressure changes.

We pretty much took it easy while we were there, D. was able to relax and even had time to read a couple books. We went to a couple wineries up in the foothills one of the days. The Friday we were there, my mom watched the Bean and D. and I actually went to see a movie! The last movie we saw in the theater was the Harry Potter movie that came out last summer. We went to see The Dark Knight. Very good, creepy, but well done. Violent, but not bloody. I quite enjoyed it.

We also took a trip to the Sacramento Zoo. For a small zoo, it's nice. M. liked the tigers; we were able to see them up close. She also enjoyed the lemurs and monkeys. The orangutan at the zoo is hilarious; it was sitting around for a while, then got up and got a burlap sac of sorts and started playing around with it, as if, "Well, guess it's time for the 11am show." My dad took some pretty great pictures of it. The zoo no longer has elephants (I think they decided the elephants needed more room than they had), but they do have red pandas. The last time D. and I were they they were quite active, this time they were sleeping, but you can see one over her shoulder in the picture below of M. as an intrepid nature photographer.

We also took M. to the beach at Point Reyes. I have no pictures, only video, and not much of that because M. was tired and when trying to crawl in the sand, took a face plant. This did not amuse her and she was annoyed at the sand after that. My dad, on assignment from me, dipped her toes into the Pacific. She wasn't fond of that either, I blame her needing a nap ... and more time at the beach to learn to love it. It was a beautiful day, though, and a lot of people brought their horses to ride around Point Reyes, so she did enjoy seeing the horses. After getting back home, she crawled over to her high chair and stood up holding it for 15 minutes, just happy not to be in her car seat.

Since getting back, she has turned 9 months: 28.5 inches tall, 19 lbs 3 oz, and as of today 2 teeth!

Next installment will include my two yarn store trips and my Ravelry Olympic fail.

Thursday already!?

Saturday started early... like leaving the house at 6:30am early. I know that is not a time most people would consider leaving on a Saturday, and usually, I would agree, but this was a special occasion. The second annual Midwest Folk & Fiber Fair was the ultimate destination, and we all know, fiber is worth it.

So, we got up and left and got to Jen's just after 7am, picked up Jen and her lovely daughters and headed up to Nan's. At the house of Nan, we had some really yummy sticky buns made by her husband, met Carla and headed over to the fair around 9am.

Now, last year, the fair was held outside at a park. There were three big tents and one small tent with all the vendors. It opened on Friday morning. I guess there was stuff going on inside a park building, but I didn't go to that part. This year, it was held on McHenry County College campus, so it was only open Friday from 6-9pm because the school had classes during the day. This year the vendors were not in one location, but all over, from a gym, to the hallways, to an area outside. I preferred the feel and the set up of the previous year, I also liked being able to go during the day Friday. However, I did have a nice time with my friends... we got to eat lunch with Dee and Kimberly, and saw a lot of other friends, some of whom I met through Ravelry! And, the one bonus, this year they had alpacas, but I forgot my camera, so go to Dee's blog to see pictures. They sounded just like M when she babbles, and when she heard them "talking" she "talked" back!

But, what did I get? I'll tell you this upfront, I got no yarn. I went the fiber route and only got stuff to spin, and earrings. And I took pictures of that! On the right here we have the earring. The woman who made them is super nice, and she makes some really cool jewelry using old knitting needles. Nan got a lovely bracelet. You can find her on Etsy here. I figure I can wear these earrings in a year or two, whenever M stops playing with my ears.

In the same booth, Gale Evans of Gale's Art was selling her fiber. I got three 4oz ... skeins? bundles? whatever of her fiber. She had her normal colorways, and then potluck colors, which are dyed with the leftovers from the regulars. Up first, my two potluck grabs:

















Both the potlucks are Corridale Cross rovings. I just think they are so pretty.


I also got this:
This is Black Bluefaced Leicester wool dyed in the Deep Blue Sea Colorway.The colors just look so deep on black wool. Jen got the same colorway over white wool and it's a completely different look... much more like my second potluck "skein".

When we got to the fair, my plan was to look at everything first, then go back to buy my goodies after seeing it all... after all, I had a budget and was trying to be good. Here is what broke that plan:It is 4 oz of a 50/50 silk/wool blend by Creatively Dyed Yarn. The dyer is on Ravelry, but I can't remember her name or anything. I do remember she was really really nice and had lots of really pretty stuff. I just couldn't let anyone else get this while I was still checking out other things.

My last fiber purchase was a Blue Face Leicester top at Miss Babs Hand-dyed Fiber Goods. She had all sorts of beautiful yarns, but when I saw this top, I knew it must be mine. It looks like an iris and is so soft!

The only other thing I got was a Wraps Per Inch gauge at the Weaver's Loft. If I'm going to be spinning all this stuff, I need to know a bit about the finished product, right?

I can't start spinning any of it until I finish up what is on the wheel... it could be a while.

In other news, did I mention the inkle loom my mom sent me? Well, I finally got it out and got a book at the library, and last night, I warped it with EL Cotton Patine. I started weaving, but haven't gotten far and will take out what I've done and start over. I'm going to use my WPI gauge as a beater. I think I'll use it as a bag strap on an as yet to be made bag. It's fun stuff. I've wanted to do this for at least a decade.

Yesterday we had Jen and her great girls over for a tea party. I got out the teacups from my grandmothers and baked scones and cookies. Um, diet? Where did you go? Come back now. Anyway, Jen helped me get started on the head of the doll for M. That's the head stuffing in one of the teacups. It's now at the required 10.5 inches, so, I guess another tea party is in order to work on the rest of the body! I'd better abstain from eating this time. Now, Jen has made many of these Waldorf-style dolls, so her wool heads are firm just with wrapping the wool around. Mine, not so much, so I used needle felting to help achieve proper firmness. You don't want the head to get squished... that's just disturbing.

I know, long post, and where's M?
Sleeping.