Graham cracker in the floppy drive

Really. Little J put a graham cracker in the floppy drive of my old computer. Anybody know how to get it out again?

Knitting on T.V.

Hey, I just saw a commercial about a knitter! Aleve showed a commercial on the weather channel. I'm not sure exactly what the woman was knitting, but she was definitely holding needles and yarn in her lap :) (just searched the web for it: she's making knitted slippers. Slippers. Not socks. Well, that's definitely a niche you don't see often.(and i even found a name. Debbie Bartelt))

that's funny, I just googled "knitting Aleve" and there are a ton of knitting blogs that mention Aleve. Wow. A lot of people seem to take Aleve for their arthritis. I've tried it, but Aleve dosen't do anything for me. Nada. I take it, I still hurt, and I can't take anything else for hours. Guess what, I don't use Aleve. go figure.

Oh, the red Rogue tree

I'm done with the main body cables! Yay! i bound off on the few stitches under the underarm (is that how you say that?) last night. Yippee Skippee!

I was on the next-to-last row when I saw that I had crossed the cables at the top the wrong way. I had been reading a knitting book, that said you could just undo one of the strands of the cables, down to where they crossed, then use a crochet hook to work the stitches back up. Well, I didn't want to froggit all the way back (more than 5 rows! sure I could have, but I really didn't want to) so I tried it. It worked, but it certainly wasn't as easy as that writer made it sound.

So, all my cables are now crossing correctly, and I'm ready for the next stage of my sweater.

Little J's got a new trick

Hah! And is it ever a doozy. He's figured out how to climb over the baby gates!

He really really wanted to go upstairs, because his Daddy and his Auntie were upstairs without him. But, there's a baby gate in the way. I heard frustrated screaming, and more screaming, then silence. I thought that he had found something else to do. But, the Big J yells down the stairs, "M, come see this!" The little stinker had gotten all the way up, and walked in grinning to see them.

We put him down at the bottom of the stairs again (to test it of course. Not because we wanted to see a baby climb over the gate, Nooo, of course not) and yup, he put his little toes in the plastic mesh and over he went.

Big J eventually solved it, by moving the gate up a step, so it's a bit too much work to climb over the top. But we will probably have to get a new gate. It's not so much the stairs (although they are dangerous enough for a little one) but that at the top, where there's a railing beside the stairwell, the rails are spaced so far apart that he could climb through and fall straight down to the bottom of the stairs. Ouch!

There's also all the other baby gates we're using in the house. In the bathroom (door had to stay open so the cats can get to their litterbox) and in the computer room to keep Little J away from wires...He hasn't tried to go over those yet, but it's just a matter of time...

Book List

Recently Read:

Vogue Knitting Shawls on the go!
Cables Untangled by Melissa Leapman

The book on shawls wasn't very interesting to me. There were a few patterns I liked, for example the Diagonal Drop-Stitch Shawl by Margery Winter, but most of the designs are very chic and modern. I tend towards more traditional, so, it's not for me.

Melissa Leapman's book is really two books together. First, there are her patterns (the cover says "More than 20"; there are 21 patterns) and then there is a cable stitch pattern dictionary she put together. One thing that this book made me realize was that there are different sets of symbols used for charting cables. I like the ones used in the book, they are fairly self-evident. I enjoyed the home-decor patterns(except for the sampler blanket. How in heck would you ever get it done??). They are an interesting use of cables outside of the traditional clothing. I also liked most of the women's clothing. I don't like the photography in this book, however. It's very professional, but there's too many shots of people who are missing their head or upper body. The pictures in the front part of the book are all glossy, but the pictures in the stitch dictionary were all matt. What is going on here? Was the publishers trying to save money? (Also note: A poncho with large cables is going to make anyone look fat.)

have i really not read anything else?? This feels so wrong...I had borrowed a book from the library, but I decided not to read it. It's very dark, I don't empathize at all with the anti-hero, and the few pages I skimmed were depressing me. "Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever" I think I've read it before, but it was decades ago.

Rogue Update

Hey-lo y'all...

Thought I'd post that i'm up to Row 59 on Rogue. That's row 59 of the chart, not including the repeated rows. :) I've actually did 77, I'm so proud of myself!

I was watching Monk on the idiot box (My one television addiction(I blame the Manhattan Crafters!)), and then helping my dear hubby scan through a movie for him to use at work. Y'know, it's amazing, I don't actually get that much knitting done while watching a movie. I have to pick up Little J, cuddle with him, put him down, pick up the cat, put the cat down, go help Big J, Fix something in the kitchen....that's what, 10 mintues knitting left per movie? I try though, because I can't stand just sitting in front of a t.v. and not doing anything. Argh! I feel like I"m being lazy, and I feel amazingly guilty for not doing something "productive". So I knit. And I can fool myself that I'm doing something practical, b'cause I actually make something, right?

I wonder how long it takes other people to make a sweater? Or how long it has taken people to make Rogue?

Rogue Progress Report

Wow. I realized that I've only been working on my Rogue sweater for a little over a week. (somewhat compulsively, I'll admit) It's going a lot faster than projects normally do for me. I've gotten far enough to attach the pockets back to the body, and I'm almost done with the repeats in the side cables. There's no mistake in the cables (yay!) and I can't wait to see what they look like as the cable panel expands again.

Book List Update

I have finished over the last week or so:

Sorcery and Cececilia by Patricia Wrede and Carolina Stevemer
The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by the same authors
Flag in Exile by David Weber
Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom (It got wet during Little J's bath. Oops!)
Natural Family Planning by ????
Ashes of Honor by David Weber (finished today)

I am running out of reading material. This is serious, I may have withdrawal symptoms. Last night I was whining to Big J, "I need something to read!!!", and he, helpful husband that he is, offered up H.P. Lovecraft, military history, and his treasured D&D books. I refused then, but now I'm getting very close to the line where I will read anything, no matter what. Oh, the ignominy of addiction!

LLL aplication - About You ver 2

This is the short version. ;)

I'm a 29 year old mommy of a very active one year old. I'm a wife to a wonderful man. And, I'm a person who hasn't found her niche on how to make the world a better place yet. I think that being a LLL leader could be the niche for me. I like to teach, to listen to other people, and I feel a need to help others. I have a strong educational background in biology, and I feel that nursing is very important for both mothers and babies.

Little J cuteness

Martha-esque Craft Project

Do you watch Martha Stewart? I would have said "No, never" but last week I ran across it while flipping channels. I watched for 5 minutes while they were making ohhh-so-cute valentines treats, then shut it off.

But then later, someone on one of my email lists sent a link for the Martha website. One of the projects that day had been for felt TeaCup pincushions. The picture at left is an example. They were created by Betz White

(image copyright Betz White, I'm sure. Or Martha Stewart).

They are so very cute, and sound so easy to make, that I showed it to little sister and asked if she would want to help make some. She also thought they were acceptably cute, and agreed to my nefarious plans.

Today's the first day I've been able to go driving about (Big J's had my car for the last week, since his was shnowed inside the garage). Little Sister and I went to the second-hand store (Yay Goodwill!) and picked up wool sweaters to felt. I figure, if they won't felt, I can take them back to the store. Who wouldn't want a nice clean sweater? We also got yarn for the trim on the teacups, and a spool knitter to make the cord for the trim. (I was looking for an Embellish-Knit, but neither Hobby Lobby, Michael's or WalMart had it. Phoey) I refuse to do that much I-cord on my knitting needles. Luckily, Little Sister said that she would do it. Yay!

The next step is to see which of the sweaters will actually felt. I'm throwing them in the washer with a couple pairs of holey jeans (to provide more friction). After I figure out which ones we're using, I'll post pictures of them.

mantra: knit 1, purl 2

Knitting is one of the good things in life. And, I use it often to calm myself down.

People who are compulsive, often have familiar habits that they do for comfort; rocking, counting, repetitive motions. Me, I'm not compulsive, but the repeated knitted motion is very very soothing. I don't have to think, I can count stitches, and let my hands do the same motions over and over.

Yes, I'm a bit stressed today. Weekends tend to be rough, I have to interact with my family ;) I think I'll go knit some more...

What's in my pocketsies?

Well, nothing right now, (gollum, gollum) but both pockets for my Rogue are done! Yay again! I did the cast on stiches differently for both pockets. The first one, I picked up stitches with a new needle, but left the old stitches on the old needle, then after the pocket was done, worked the old stitches for the body. The second pocket I used three needles at a time, and two balls of yarn, and worked two stitches in each stitch. Somewhere in there I got the two strands of yarn confused, so that the new ball is what I'm now using on the body stitches, but it's not important, and dosen't show up in the stitches. This sounds really confusing, and I think doing it like this took about twice as long as it would have taken to simply knit the pocket stitches, and then go back with a crochet hook to pick up stitches later. Live and Learn, right?

Red Red Rogue

I've got 13 rows done! Yay Me! and that doesn't count the facing. :D The cables on the sides are started, and are very cool looking. I'm at the point where I need to start the pocket on front, and since I'm doing it like a cardigan (that sounds like something Mr. Rodgers would wear...how sedate) I need to figure out how to split the pocket in half. Hmm...must go check Girl From Auntie website...

Rogue Day 2

or is it three?

I woke up this morning, and saw my little swatch drying on it's towel, and decided, what the heck, I'll measure the stitches. And oddly enough, and my brain is still going "huh?", after drying my swatch had exactly 4 1/2 stitches per inch. hmm....wierd, but cool. Maybe the yarn fairy helped out?

So, I've casted on 176(178) stitches (onto my straight needles because I don't have a smaller sized circ) and am starting on Rogue. Officially. Yep. Woo-hoo!

I found this on somebody else's blog. Pretty kewl, I think :)

Rogue swatch

Well, the #7 needles gave me 9 1/2 to 10 stitches per 2 inches. Which is almost what the pattern calls for, but not quite. My brain still isn't working correctly, for some reason I thought that I should wash and block the swatch to see if the yarn would shrink a little bit, so that I would have less stitches per inch. Huh?? Now that I think about it, that is so wrong. If the yarn springs back after washing, there will be more stitches per inch, not less. Oh well, looks like I'll have to make a trip to Hobby Lobby for new needles.

I'm a little concerned, though. At this gauge, my yarn is pretty light. I hope it's not too light for the pattern.

I don't feel like working on any of my WIP right now, but I don't have yarn to do anything else. It's a pity, I'm having knitting withdrawal.

Knitting with baby

When Little J was very small, I used to knit with him sleeping on my chest. He was small enough he didn't get in the way, and the knitting motions didn't bother him while he was asleep. He was so adorable...

Last night, Little J woke up again after bedtime, and wanted to cuddle. I had put in a movie, so we sat on the couch together, him on my lap. I was knitting, and just held the knitting in front of us both. It worked great, until he tried to grab the needles so that he could knit too! Baby, you're not old enough to knit yet!

a Rogue beginning

I've started making swatches for the Rogue sweater. The gauge needed is 4 1/2 stitches per inch, and, the first swatch with #5 straight needles gave me 5 1/2 per inch. If that had worked, I was going to buy a of #5 circ (I don't have a set. Err, for circular needles, is it needle singular, or a pair of needles?) but I guess I'm not now. (Digression: one of these days I'm going to have to get a complete set of knitting needles...) I don't have #6 needles at all, neither straight or circular, but I have both in #7. So, I'm trying #7 circ. I think the last time I used this needle, was when I knitted a dress in highschool. It was very cute, very warm, and I had two skeins from a different dye lot so there was a slightly different colored strip at the bottom. But it got me a purple ribbon at the county Fair!

I haven't gotten the Fair Isle gloves done yet. Bad me. :( I'm almost to the point of working the fingers, and I just don't have enough working brain cells to do that. Knitting simple square swatches is about all my brain will do right now. Maybe tomorrow will be a better brain day ;)

Book List

I've just finished The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley. I love that book! It's a warm comforting take-me-back-to-childhood thing.

Book List

I haven't been posting much. It snowed, and I haven't been able to get to the library, and the only books I have that I haven't read are on the computer, so reading cuts into my computer time for other things...and I can't knit while I read on the computer, either. It's really making me feel guilty about my book addiction.

Recently read:

In Enemy Hands, David Drake
Echoes of Honor, David Drake
The Truth, Terry Pratchett
Just Ella
A Knot in the Grain, Robin McKinley


Robin McKinley reminded me of how much I like "The Blue Sword". I don't have that one, and I wish I did. When I manage to get to the library, I'm going to have to check it out.

Book List

Finished Yesterday:

Goddess of Light, by P.C. Cast

Finished Today:

Conrad's Fate, by Diana Wynne Jones