Rigorous play

Friday afternoon knitting on my lunch break at the mall behind the capitol. It was a beautiful day, yet not many people were sitting out on all the benches and picnic tables. The rest of the weekend was beautiful! I and the rest of the family spent the entire weekend outside. Everything is much greener this morning that it was just the few short days since this picture was taken. I think we may have made it through the winter in Michigan!


My Pinwheel Sweater from Elann.com is done. Although it says 'one size fits all'... come on, we know better. As I was knitting it I did double check the width of the back before I started the sleeves and it was fine. I even added my regular inch+ for the sleeves. What I did fail to consider was the front. If I had to do it all over again - I would have continued knitting in the round several more inches. I sort of like it, but it almost resembles a shrug. Also the yarn that is recommended for the pattern it too light for my taste. I like a little more heft. I may knit another one and revamp towards my taste. Meanwhile I do love the crocheted edging!

Zoe loves her toys! That being said that once she starts playing with them, and with very little effort on her part - they only last moments. So while I was at the store, I looked for a sturdier toy. This looked like it would work. Read the label.

As I was putting away the groceries, the children gave it to Zoe. A few minutes later I hear, "Mom, Zoe has the rope off." No big deal. I didn't expect the rope to be sturdy. Then it was followed quickly that she had just removed the tiny cloth label on the toy. Again, it wasn't a necessity to the toy. And in less than 15 minutes from the time we gave it to her - you see the final photo. I wanted to return all the pieces immediately back to the store - just so they could see the time stamp of the receipt and what condition the toy was now in. I thought it was funny. Ram-niss stated that they would care less and just give me back my money. What fun is that??? Meanwhile, I rescued the squeakers from the toy. I may try to felt a few items with the squeakers inside and see if these would last longer than the sturdy toy. Maybe I could knit with chain metal. :-)

Quick Zoe story: The other day my SIL stopped over for a few minutes. Both the dogs were sniffing her over pretty good. I thought it was her sheep they were smelling. SIL said no, it was probably the mink she was working with. After I shooed Zoe away, she went upstairs. She returned a few minutes later with an old mink stole of Great Grandma-niss that was in T's room. (T keeps it in her dress-up box.) I thought Zoe had a good sense of smell, and it looks like she is pretty smart too. Now if someone could give me the magic words used to make her walk better. We are working on it, but 70 lbs. of momentum is hard to reign in. (We are getting better though.)

Doh! ... and done!

I had finally finished the baby blanket for a coworker due in June. The miles and miles of garter stitch was boring. The only entertainment was in the striping of the yarns. I crochet the edging because on the side that I weaved in the loose yarn it looked bad. (The large stitches makes it harder to hide the extra yarn. A tighter stitch seems to hold the yarn better.) I was all done when I discovered the hole. (A friggin' hole in the boring garter stitched blanket!) I thought I had cut the stitch when I had cut off the yarn ends after weaving. I was cussing myself out as I tried to figure out how to fix it. I decided sleep would be the first step. (I had images in my head of screwing it up more.) The next day I discovered it was a dropped stitch. I weaved in a new stand of yarn and it is now fine. I now have to wash the blanket and see what loose ends show up.

The baby wasn't due for a while. I had a lot of left over yarn and decided that I could make baby socks. I chose the green since it would help the gift remain gender neutral. (We don't know if it will be a boy or a girl.) When the socks were done, it needed something to match. I found this cute hat pattern. (I love the little dangling i-cords at the top!) I added the twisted stitch pattern from the socks so it would match.

Everything is done for the gift. I have to get it wrapped and give it to her before I start making a matching sweater, curtains, ...

Introducing...

Introducing...

Excuse me. She keeps moving.
Introducing...


Darn it. Trying to get T to hold her still.
Introducing...


Zoe! The newest member of the clan. Stella the remaining cat can't believe we brought another dog into the house. She is thoroughly disgusted.


Peaches favors the toys that came with Zoe.


Ram-niss likes Zoe. (So does T.) Zoe seems to be drawn to socks. I didn't realize how many socks were laying around in bedrooms till Zoe arrived. She is quickly learning the phrase, "drop it." Now that the socks are picked up, she is favoring felted clogs.


Tweedy socks completed, and not yet in Zoe's mouth. The new socks on the needles are being worked with the yarn I won from Stumbling Over Chaos.

What kind of yarn are you?

First off - T didn't wear her new knitted dress for Easter. I would say that it was too cold, but the real reason was - it needed a slip. I thought I could just stop at a store and pick one up. I couldn't find one. I went to several stores. Then I searched the internet. There are only a few places online. I really don't want to make one. It is a slip. A simple slip.

Do you know what I could find in all the stores for a size 4-6x?
bras. Yes, they have bras for little girls. Bras? Give me a break!

Oh, yes - also the 80's seem to be back. You can buy leggings and bike shorts with lace along the bottom for girls of all ages.

I am getting old.

You are Mercerized Cotton.You are always very crisp and neat. You are very playful and are happiest while outdoors in the sunshine. You are sometimes accused of splitting hairs, but in the end people find you pretty easy to live with.
Take this quiz!

Stop C.H.O.K.E.*

* Cultural Humiliation of Knitters Everywhere

Before this moment,T talking to Stephanie the Yarn Harlot, there was much planning.

On the Links' side - we left a little later than I planned. While filling the car on the outskirts of town T needed to go potty. Great - 5 minutes on the road. I had to call Ram-niss to bring the 'card'. I had every other debit card, but not the one I needed to fill the tank. Meg bought snackies. Not the ones that I had told her to buy, natch. So T was hopped up on slurpee and Little Debbie oatmeal cookies. Ugh.

Beautiful day! The drive was gorgeous, the girls were happy. When we arrived in Ann Arbor we drove all over these one way three lane roads looking for parking AND the library. Eventually we found a lot about a block away. Cool. We arrived at about 1. The seats in the lower area were filling up. Every time someone announced a seat was available, I couldn't get the three of us to move fast enough. Women who had just walked into the room, verses our 15 minutes of standing there, would just blow by and grab the seating. I realized that I just wasn't pushy enough nor nimble enough with kids in tow. Then one of the library people said that we could sit along the wall if we wished. Honestly that was great with me. We could spread out a little and it was easier for the girls to get up and move around.

During this time we were also told that Stephanie was stuck in Chicago trying to get a flight out. Looked like it was going to be a wait of a few hours in addition to the hour early we had planned. Fortunately we were at a library! My girls headed to explore. I knitted and chatted with very nice people in my area. After a couple of hours I began to wonder when the girls would return. Then it was announced that an impromptu Parade of Fools would commence through the room. (...and - No, family members it wasn't the knitters. I don't care what you are thinking. :-) The library had hat decorating for the children in honor of April Fools Day. I was hoping that T had a chance to participate.

Yes. T was in the group of children and parents coming through.

The nice thing about knitters is that we can wait till our knitting holds out. As time continued on more and more knitting was nearing finished objects. A few cheers went out when a sweater was cast off in the crowd. I wasn't too worried. Although I was almost near the end of my sock, it was the first sock. I still had the second sock to knit if I needed. Then I happened to glance at the doorway and I saw her. Well, that isn't right - I saw the sweater. Stephanie's Bohus sweater. I just started whooping. I couldn't say, "There she is!" I just started cheering. Several people around me looked confused till they saw her for themselves. Then Stephanie came running in with her traveling sock held above her head.

Stephanie had started at 3am that morning on a plane from Cleveland (? or Chicago, or Chicago may have been her start and return...) I am sure her blog will tell the details. She stated that she had been to Detroit twice that day. Something about not landing in Detroit due to fog, ended up in Chicago and not able to get a flight to Detroit. I have had bad dreams where I am going and going and yet not getting anywhere as it gets later and later. That was Stephanie's day.

Everyone was glad to see her. She was funny and articulate. How she can even function after the day she was having was a wonder! I must say that she was younger than I thought. Funny how when I read a blog have an image and a voice in my head. I pictured her my age (40's). When she talked her voice was lower, but the way she talked was the same familiar style as her blog. I was reading part of her book yesterday and there was a phrase where she stated that she had been knitting for 34 years. So unless she is Lynn, who claims I was Knit Together in my Mother's Womb, she does have to be close to the age I thought she was.

Her talk was wonderful and focused on CHOKE. It was funny. I really can't explain it. I tried to explain to family members where I was going and why. I got the general stare with a few blinks. I tried to explain to family members when I got home. Stare. Blink.

Knitters would understand. Knitters know.

After the talk T, Meg and I got in line for her to sign my book. While in line a very nice woman talked to T for quite a while. She has a son the same age as T. The whole time I was reading her name tag - Rachel H. Rachel H... the name was familiar - I just couldn't place it. Rachel H. When we arrived home later that evening I started Googling and then went to Stephanie's website. Oh! That RACHEL H! The fabulous friend who is often right in the middle of Stephanie's 'wouldn't it be fun if...' She seems like someone I would enjoy getting into trouble with.

Stephanie graciously offered to pose with us. I felt a little awkward about it. Especially since we were pretty close to the beginning of the line. It had been such a long day for her, and by the looks of the line it would be a longer day. So I was very happy with her signature and my passport stamp to the Land of Knitting.

Meghan said that she isn't yet a 'knitter' and definitely isn't a 'muggle' anymore. She says that she is a 'mutter'.