new mag!
I picked up the new FC Easy Knitting yesterday. They usually have some goodies in each issue, even if it's just for inspiration. These baby costumes were unspeakably cute:

These were just about as cute as some costumes I saw in baby gap yesterday:

It's more fun to follow trends on kid's clothes than grown-up stuff, maybe because the kiddies outfits are cheaper (but not that much cheaper--these from babygap hat included were over $40 bucks I think). I might knit my own.

sonnet? haiku?
In other knittin' news, I'm dangerously close to swatching for haiku. Kristi is tempting me with the promise to give a prize to anyone who knits up both haiku and sonnet and sends in a mother-daughter photo. I hope to have a daughter by the time I finish the set--and I like prizes! Who out there is working on their own sonnet/haiku?

leafrog, anyone?
OK, enough already, I give up. Both my attempts at the maple leaf were butt-ugly. I'm going to take J Strizzy's excellent advice and... make more of the leaves I've already got, and try a few of the others in the KE book. Life's too short to knit ugly leaves. Grrrr. That's Roscoe looking on pensively, btw.

The good news is: between priming the guest bathroom and trying to get the baby's room ready, I managed to seam side 2 of the border for the baby blanket and have almost finished side 3. So the weekend wasn't a total waste, knitwise (pun intended).

Hey you guys--try out the TagBoard so I can be sure the thing works. Nothing's more depressing than a solo game of tag, right?

knitty, here I come
Late last night I sent my first design submission to knitty. It isn't actually my first design, just my first one for them. Hopefully it'll be accepted, but if not I'll make it a free knitalong project right here at bruxknits. So either way you guys get a free pattern! Hooray! Of course it's secret until I know if it's accepted or not, but I think I'm safe in revealing that it's an easy knit that doesn't use a lot of yarn. And...it's not a leaf (nor a sachet pillow)! Really!

harder than it looks
The maple leaf is just one of the leaves I see on my street that isn't satisfactorily represented in the Knitted Embellishments book. And last night I spent a few minutes trying to reproduce one, and my hat is off to Nicky Epstein--it's not quite as easy as a cast on and a few yarn overs and k2togs. Mine isn't a total disaster but it does need some tweaking. I'll post a photo after blocking.

I've had a terrible time this week focusing on work. I just don't wanna--would rather do so many other things, especially with the nice end of summer weather we've been having. :::sigh::: Oh well, at least it's Friday.

secret revealed!
Here's my other (now completed!) WIP! Like it? It's now the featured knit-along project over at Yentala's place. Hurry, go there now and download your own copy of the FREE pattern! And I hope some of you decide to knit up the "X-rated" version! Enjoy!

turning over a new leaf
This is the cutest leaf design in the Knitted Embellishments book, in my opinion. Here we see it at my house, pinned firmly to the blocking board. Well, okay, it's really not a blocking board, it's an ironing board.

If I ever plan to do more sweaters (and I do) I'll need a true blocking board (in the past I've used the bed in the spare room, which doesn't exist anymore). I read instructions recently somewhere on someone's blog, explaining how to make your own. What do you guys use to block larger garments? I need to keep mine several feet off the floor, to keep the kitties from using it as a napping ground. How have you all solved this problem?

And now I'm in a little bit of a conundrum: I don't like most of the rest of the leaf designs in the Epstein book. So I guess this means I'll need to design my own. Are there any other designs for leaves that you guys know about?

a necessary evil
Okay, everyone hates to block (or at least I do). But the appearance and behavior of my first three leaves for the blanket demonstrate why blocking is needed--the gold and green leaves are laying down nicely, with open eyelets and although you can't tell from the photo, they are incredibly soft. Little unruly red leaf, however, is all curly and doesn't want to lay down--and is defiantly pointing its stem straight up, right at the camera. Goldie and greenster started life right after bind-off just like red man, but have spent the night pinned to the ironing board after a good spritzing and steaming.

I think I've figured out why I never blocked anything for the first several years I spent knitting--probably because I:

1. only used cotton
2. did a lot of aran stitches like cables and bobbles, which don't need blocking as much
3. didn't use wool, and therefore never experienced the distinct transformation a wool knitted piece undergoes after blocking
4. didn't do fair-isle either

So intrepid knitters, if you're using wool or other animal fiber, are doing lace or fair-isle, or just simply want your knitting to take on a calmer and more professional appearance, block it and block it good!

P.S. If you're like I was, as soon as I finished the leaves I wanted to see what they looked like on the blanket, so here you go:

I think I'll wait until I have all the leaves finished to arrange 'em and sew 'em on. ¿Qué piensan Uds?

LYS visit
Well, I snuck over to the LYS on my lunch hour yesterday and bought this Rebecca back issue. Among the things I might knit (yes, I know it's full of summer knits--hey, it's never too early to start planning for next year):

This one (above) looks like the best candidate for something that would actually look good on me.

This design looks like it would be easy and quick to knit--maybe as a gift for my li'l sis!

And I'm having a MAJOR bag fixation right now--I might even be pursuaded to pick up the crochet hook and learn some new stitches (I'm a beginner crocheter and have only done some granny squares).

What do you guys think? I know it seems strange that I'm thinking about summer while everyone else is working on fall knits, but the designs from this issue looked so fun I couldn't resist!

like a hurricane
The wind is blowing and the rain is coming down. Whew, I'm glad I'm not on the coast. However, it might've had it's advantages--like being able to blow off work and stay home to KNIT. I do hope none of you East Coast knitters were adversely affected by Isabel.

An impertinent question--do you all find that many of the yarn stores you visit are snooty? I've been knitting since college and this problem seems to be improving with knitting's new popularity, but over the years I've noticed that only about 25% or so of the yarn stores I've ever visited are staffed with caring, helpful individuals who don't seem to care what I'm wearing. I've got one true LYS here in town, and since I'm a regular customer that the staff recognizes, I don't usually get the snub over there, but there are two other stores within 30 miles of me in a neighboring town and the difference between 'em is like night and day. One is staffed with friendly, down-to-earth people who are just a bit eccentric (like myself, I guess) but the other one is full of little old ladies who size me and my faded jeans up as soon as I walk in and seem to decide right away that I'm not a "real" customer. Would love to find out if this goes on other places too--what's the word in your neck of the woods?

what is it?

1. the letter S
2. a gift for you
3. a favor for a new friend
4. a secret
5. all of the above

Check Yentala's blog in a few days for details! In the meantime, enjoy the kewl new Knitty (or try out one of my free patterns at left)!

yay, knitty's here!
Will be late to work if I don't get going, but just had to share my joy at the fall issue of knitty! And after a quick rundown of the patterns, my favorite (I think) is the boo kid's sweater by Jillian. Nice work, knittin' frau!

I'll come back to rave more later--I haven't even read any of the articles yet.

bye bye mousies
Here they come Wendy! My two mousies. Honestly, with everything else going on I didn't think I'd be able to knit more than two before the end of the month.

I need a knit-along project over here at bruxknits. Any ideas, knittin' gods and goddesses? What kind of small projects are your faves?

blanket, part 2
As promised, here's the photo of the mission falls portion of the border for the baby blanket, in progress. Next to it is the green border you've already seen--it doesn't clash, does it? I'm not too worried about it, really--I hate to frog something just because it's the wrong color. Wrong stitch, yes, wrong color no.

Am bummed out about the results of the Ohio State/NC State (my alma mater) football matchup--at least they gave 'em a good fight. Triple overtime--as Yentala might say, oy vey!

my big wip
My main wip right now started like this: my mom presented me with a really neat old picnic basket full of yarn and swatch-sized garter stitch squares in several different colors--she found this treasure at a yard sale (for only two bucks--basket included!!) her next door neighbor was having. The yarn is wool and at least 20 years old but is mothproof and therefore was preserved amazingly well.

Now keep in mind that I've been somewhat of a garter stitch snob since I learned to knit--since garter stitch is the easiest stitch to do, I've always associated it with beginner/amateur stuff. So I couldn't think of what to do with all these squares--there were at least 15 of 'em in different colors. I laid 'em all out on the bed one evening to see what I actually had:

And I thought they might make a nice baby blanket (I don't believe babies should always be in or associated with pastels), if I added a nice border. That's when I really started to get charged up, because I've been itching to do a leaf border like the one mentioned in both Barbara Walker's Second Treasury (Tulip-Bud Edging) and Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments book. Then I decided after I finally get the border finished, I could add some leaves (also from Nicky Epstein's book) on the blanket itself, scattered here and there.

So! Here's what I've got so far (still need to seam the border on the right side of the photo):

Here's a closeup of the border:

And here's my dilemma--I have to do the other two borders (on the short sides of the blanket) in a different color, because there wasn't enough of the green left in the basket to do all four sides (I have maybe enough of it to do a single leaf to add to the blanket itself later). This gave me an excuse to run over to the LYS and pick up some of the luscious Mission Falls 1824 wool in a yellow-er green that complements. I'll post pictures of that tomorrow.

So? What do you guys think? Which leaves should I do? There were several in the KE book that I liked, but I'd love your advice. Also--do you think it'll look ridiculous with a border in two different colors?

And you may be wondering--whose baby is it for? Well, ours actually. We're adopting from Ecuador, hopefully a little girl around the age of 6 months and hopefully before the end of the year. What do you think?!

delicious
Took a quick inventory of my stash last night and discovered that I've collected several skeins of self-striping sock yarn. Do any of the rest of you absolutely love this stuff? I do actually plan to USE the stuff someday soon, but for now ain't they gorgeous? Starting with the left, I've got two skeins in that flavor earmarked for a pair of socks for myself (I wear a lot of red and black). Next in line is a single skein for a pair of baby booties, next was an impulse buy while visiting the in-laws a couple of months ago (socks for some lucky person I guess), and lastly the crayon colorway originally designed for Estebanito, but he's now a teenager and probably too cool for socks in crayon hues. Hmmmm. I'm pretty sure I'm not too cool for those colors!

i'm so mean
See mean mommy, dangling catnip mousie in front of the biggest catnip lover in the haus, Roscoe! Poor patient kitty. To my great surprise, though, when I finally gave him the toy, he wasn't really interested. So I gave it to his brother Osiris, who really seemed to enjoy it:

I don't think either one of them really likes to share. Read more about my kitties here.

retail confusion
On Saturday I couldn't find my kewl Clover cable needle set--I've had it for years and it has needles in three sizes. So I was peeved, especially since I needed to cable for the mousie (see below). I decided to make a quick stop by A.C. Moore, a place I usually don't go unless I need to buy Lion Brand (or beads, or Hello Kitty stuff)--I don't do scrapbooking or floral arranging. So I weave my way in there between all the gobs of Saturday crafters and was amazed to see that they've started to carry some of the gourmet novelty yarns from Katia, OnLine, Sirdar and others, at prices at or slightly higher than those sported at my LYS! I'm confused now--will the typical A.C. Moore shopper be willing to spend $13 on a single skein of eyelash yarn? And since a lot of these novelty yarns take some patience at least and practice/special skills at most, are the folks at A.C. Moore covering these concerns in the classes they offer? Makes me go "hmmmmm." Have any of the rest of you discovered the same phenomenon?

that was fun!
Here's my mouse-a-thon mousie! I'm afraid to show it to my kitties 3, but I've already started on one that they can share. I decided to do a ribbed version just like the one Cherilyn did (page 4 of the gallery over at WendyKnits), but the one on the needles now is the moss stitch version, just the way Wendy wrote the pattern.

And my template is back to normal, thank goodness. Thanks, Howard!

grrr...
Having trouble with my template and blew away the little bit of editing I did, including the free patterns. I've e-mailed tech support and hopefully this will be resolved soon.

lookie!
Check out this way cool bag my li'l sis brought me back from her vacation with the in-laws in Texas! It has red sequins all around the picture, white sequins making up her blouse, and the guitar strings are in gold thread! I LOVE IT! Pearcey, you scored!
In knitting news, I've got several projects going on right now that I am trying to document so I can share with you. In the meantime, I think I'm going to join the Mouse-a-Thon over at Wendy's blog. So a little furry woolen rodent may be the next completed thing you see here.

stash stall
I was digging through my stash earlier and found this. Yikes. It's so old, I was married to a different man when I bought it, at a LYS that no longer exists, in a town I no longer live in! Hmmm. What do you guys think--should I pick it back up and finish it, or is it hopelessly out of style now? I've completed the back and one of the fronts. I'm definitely glad I didn't buy the louder colorway, at least. And if I put it back away again, maybe it'll be fashionable again when I retire and have all day to knit. What say ye?

lost and found
It's like this: our office is in the process of switching out old cube walls for not so old ones, this includes new desks and stuff. So this afternoon I walk by the desk of a co-worker and saw a skein of yarn in her new daytime digs. And I say: "whatcha makin'?" and she says "nothing, this was actually in my desk!" Apparently a previous owner of the office cube system was learning the chain stitch when he/she could've been working! My pal, knowing my freaky passion for all things needle, hook and yarn gladly allowed me to take ownership of said treasure. So what if it's probably a cheapie acrylic blend, things like this can make an otherwise dull day much more fun and full of possibilities.

today's walk
Jojo and I walk almost everyday around the neighborhood. Today we encountered a feller I'd never seen before, with his two hounds. Of course Josie went NUTS, barking and carrying on. Thank goodness for the Halti--what a great invention and a lifesaver.

The Old Salt and Goldie made quite a ruckus as we went by, as always. Actually The Old Salt does most of the barking and snarling--Goldie only joins in when the mood strikes her. I'm convinced that if her penmate never protested at the passersby, she wouldn't either.

wips and wimps
I'm a fairly slow knitter. I knit left-handed but not in the continental style, and I can build up some speed when I get going, but it takes a while to finish a sweater. I have several wips, including a christmas stocking, a hat, a couple of baby blankets, and an entrelac sweater from 10 years ago (GAK). Perhaps for this reason I enjoy knitting smaller projects, like hats, mittens, bags, etc. It might also be because patience isn't one of my strong suits. Why do I knit? Well, I guess I enjoy forming new stuff from air and string. Plus, knitting feels good.

For the past few weeks I have been wanting to create a blog, thinking that I had lots and lots to say--and now I'm tongue-tied. Ha! Enjoy it now, because if past history is any indication, it probably won't last long.