Stitch n Bitch Tuesday

Last night was Stitch n Bitch. I haven't been for a few weeks due to travel and sickness, so it was good to see the knitterly friends again. I got down to the heel on the Pomatomus socks and then switched over to the Moderne Blue Baby Blanket. Good times were had by all, including when Suzanne put a hank of mohair on her head like hair. No picture - use your imagination. Love ya Suzanne!

Growing Pomatomus...



I also enjoyed fondling (don't snicker, if you like yarn, you do it too) some Socks That Rock. That's some good stuff. I finaly caved and bought some...Farmhouse and the ever-popular Seal Rock. Yum! I need more sock yarn like I need a hole in the head, but I guess if I have a hole in my head I can stuff it with some nice warm Socks That Rock.

Smoke detectors suck

I'm log cabining to beat the band (whatever that means). The moderne baby blanket grows...



I think I need a longer needle, because I'm getting to over 100 stitches and it's getting crowded. I use the Boye Needlemaster set, and you can attach two cables together, but when I do that, it's never in a straight line. So I might have to cave and actually BUY needles.

I'm considering buying one of the new Knitpicks needles - they look like the points are nice and, well, pointy, and the joins look good. The joins on the Needlemasters are really big, which is a pain when knitting lace.

Oh, and by the way, I hate smoke detectors. Ours all went off a'wailing at about 5 AM. After checking everything, we noticed that one was blinking more than the others. So we checked the battery. That stopped the wailing, but then it started chirping every 30 seconds. Not a quiet chirp either. We tried for like an HOUR to change that damn battery, but it kept chirping. We gave up and, because it was almost time to get up anyway, got ready. Then I started thinking (not something I normally do at 5AM) and decided to try another battery. Lo and behold, we had been trying to put a broken battery in - no wonder it didn't work. (Remember, it was 5AM and my neurons were not all firing.) I put in another battery (the last 9V in the house) and -THANK GOD- it worked.

So, I really hate smoke detectors. Especially at 5AM.

Ribbit

While Ann may be birdwatching and Laurie is watching out for snakes on a plane, it's all about the frogs here.






We have a bunch of frogs in our yard, and they come up at night to feast on the bugs on our front porch. Nothing says YUM like a fresh bug.

So, I'm back from Canada. Luckily flights were all on time (handy when you have TWO connections) and we managed to miss the crazy weather in Chicago. While I was up there, I had a small bit of free time, so I swung (the wrong way up a one way street) over to Hip2Knit to check it out. It's a very nice shop, but I did actually leave empty-handed. I was really hoping for some Canadian yarn that I just can't get down here, but I can pretty easily get everything they had.

I managed to get almost one leg of the second Pomatomus sock done on the planes. At home I've switched over to a blue version of the Moderne Baby Blanket for a baby due NEXT WEEK. Eeeek.

(I tried to come up with a clever frog joke, but frogs say "ribbit" which is why knitters say "frog it" when we we rip something out...but I'm not ripping/frogging anything right now. So, I got nothing.)

www.gofeltyourself.com

I finally broke down and bought the domain www.gofeltyourself.com. So now if you want to access this page, you can use that or melanieknits.blogspot.com. Hooray!

I finished the garter rib socks - I still love the Cherry Tree Hill! Luckily I bought two hanks at Maryland, so I have another to work with. It's time now to switch back to the other Pomatomus sock, but first...


My feet.

I'm off to Canada next week for work, so there will likely be no blogging (I'm not consistent when I'm at home, why should I be when I'm away??). Enjoy the heat everyone!

Scared Hitless

Last night I went to a Pampered Chef party (this has nothing to do with the title of this post). I bought a bunch of stuff - I'm a sucker for neat gadgets, which is funny because I don't really cook. Although, the Pampered Chef stuff I do have, I use all the time. So I guess I can justify buying all that stuff. Yeah, that works!

I finally took a pictures of the Moderne Baby Blanket:


And I took a picture of the Hanging Garden Lace stole, although it just looks like a pile of string...


I ordered more TLC Cotton Plus for another of the same baby blanket. This one will be for a boy about to be born next month, so I need to get moving. Chances are good it will be late (the blanket, hopefully not the baby).

Tonight we have a softball game - I'm on a team at work. We are Scared Hitless. We have shirts and everything. Don't let that fool you.

Magknits x2

I keep forgetting to take pictures. So you'll have to imagine a purple, pink and white log cabin blanket. (Then make sure you imagine a 3 year old with it, so you don't start to wonder "What the hell is she thinking with those colors?")

So, Ainsley's log cabin blanket gets bigger. The hanging garden lace stole gets longer. The sock gets a little longer. Everything else gets no love, and therefor stays the same size.

Last night was Stitch n Bitch but I missed it because I was feeling awful. I went home and slept on the couch for a few hours and today I feel much better. Sadly, I won't see the knitterly friends for another few weeks, as next week I travel to Regina, SK for work.

But there's good news...check out Magknits in September AND October for two of my patterns! Hooray!!

Happy Birthday Brian

Today is my brother Brian's birthday - he's 25 today. He's a Peace Corp Volunteer in Thailand working with AIDS - check out the web site about it here. Stop by if you get a chance to his blog for some entertaining posts and wish him a happy birthday while you're there.

Ainsley had this to say...

Dancing and log cabin blankets

Here's a picture of Ainsley before dance class...she's taking class at The Little Gym and it's a riot. They do tap, creative movement, ballet, and tumbling.



And there's knitting too! Ainsley's new blanket:


I like this log cabin stuff. Mindless knitting is for me.

Fourth of July, or, Fireworks are Fun

Happy belated Fourth of July!

This past weekend was busy - my roommate Julie came down for a visit, which included TWO missed connections in the lovely Laguardia airport. Unfortunately, both were the last flight out, so she got to spend a night on USAir's tab at a hotel on each end of her trip. That happened to me once, and they put me up in some hole motel about 20 minutes away - luckily they put her up in a nice hotel right by the airport. Travel woes aside, we had fun going to the pool and to Potomac Mills to the mall and IKEA which is my new favorite store. I could go crazy in there (I was good this time, but only because I don't have a bigger car).
Picture proof of Julie with her goddaughter...




I worked on Monday, and Tuesday was lots of fun. Our neighborhood had a parade (which we skipped because it was almost 100 degrees outside) and a pool party. We played in the pool for a while, Ainsley took a nap, and then we went to fireworks at the Fairgrounds with a bunch of neighbors. The kids had a great time sitting in the back of the trucks (and the adults had fun too).







I do have some knitting going on...I ordered some TLC Cotton Plus for a new blanket for Ainsley and I started the Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting. It's Dora colors - pink, white and purple. I'll work on pictures.

The lace stole gets longer (you'll have to trust me - lace is boring to photograph), and I'm down to the heel on the second garter rib sock. The other log cabin blanket is on hold until I finish up Ainsley's blanket.

Huzzah for short work weeks!