Do over

Whenever things don't go exactly as planned, my kids opt for a "do over". I don't recall having this option when I was a kid. Anyway, on to the knitting. DS tried the almost finished sock on this morning, and though it was a little snug and took A LOT of tugging and stretching to get on, he loved it. Gotta love a knit enthusiast.

It took quite some convincing on my part for him to agree that I could rip it our and reknit. Once I came up with the "do over" routine, he agreed. In fact, he helped.

I'll post an after picture once the sock is reknit.

A Yarn Fight! (or how family feuds start)

I thought knitting was supposed to bring a family together. All that time spent knitting for a loved one, be it your spouse, children, or parents; the loving thoughts you knit into each stitch, the tender care with which you wash and block the garment...

I can see in this family that knitting may be pulling us apart. You see, my youngest son and I had a yarn fight. I finally, FINALLY, scored some Vesper sock yarn from kpixie. I've been trying to get my hands on some of this for months. And when the box arrived, I let my son open it. I often let my kids open boxes. They usually say, "Oh, more yarn." and hand it over. Well, not this time. My son declared the Vesper sock yarn his own. Eeeeeeek!



Now, I am (or at least I thougth I was) the type of mother who encourages the creative arts in her children. They all sport hand knit clothing, scarves, mittens, and even the occassional sock. They appreciate the knitting rules (ie don't touch mom's knitting). I will let anyone sit on my lap and knit with me, regardless how tedious and time consuming the task. I schlep bring them along to fiber festivals. My eldest son has his own spool knitter. I have taught him to knit.

So, when my youngest decided to take ownership of the much sought after Vesper, I sort of freaked. It was a "hand over the yarn and no one will get hurt" situation. I was desperate. I bribed him with the promise of a trip to the LYS where he could pick out his own sock yarn. The kid has expensive taste. He chose a Lantern Moon bag (when did a bag become part of the deal) and a skein of koigu kpppm in the loveliest of blues. We came home and he wound the yarn into a ball all by himself. Then, he started to knit. He would not let me help. I wish I had thought to take a photo, because in hindsight, this was a rather cute moment. He eventually lost interest, as all 3yos are bound to do, and left the yarn on my bed. I hid it away - out of sight , out of mind. When he wasn't around, I cast on for a sock. Once he got to try on the SIP, he was alright with the concept of Mom knitting a sock for him. Here is the current progress:

I hope to finish the first one tonight now that his little foot is home from preschool to try it on for size.

Spring in Seattle

It was a lovely, warm weekend in the PNW, and we were exceptionally happy because our new au pair had arrived Saturday night. We haven't asked his permission to post his photo to the blog yet, so suffice it to say he looks as nice as he is in person. I haven't met someone so excited about being here to do this job since our first nanny left, back in October. There was an au pair meeting this weekend at Pike Place market, a place we generally avoid on a beautiful weekend, but we decided to suck it up and have a grand time of it. You can see the produce was plentiful (as were the crowds):

The kids got to meet the pig:

We came home and cooked up a yummy dinner from all of the fresh produce and seafood. A great way to spend a Seattle Sunday afternoon.

Reasons I heart Easter - a photo essay

Blocking

My DD is helping me block the shawl by pushing the pins all the way into the matress. Well, hey, it's not my bed.

I think I will go straighten up some of the diamond shapes now that I see what it looks like in the photo.
edited to add: blocked measurements are 56" wide by 26.5" long.

Off the needles

I just finished casting off the Diamond Fantasy Scarf from the KAL of the same name.

I love the way it looks, but it will look even better once it is blocked. I plan to soak and block this tomorrow morning, so it can have all day to dry. The current measurements are 44" wide by 15.5" long. I expect it to block several inches longer. This was an addictive knit, I stayed up really late last night finishing up the last of the pattern rows. The instructions are very well written. And charted, I should add. I followed the charts for the most part.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that the only vacation knitting I did was half a sock. This is the Sixth Sense sock which is a free pattern if you are a member of the SixSoxKnitalong. I highly recommend joining this group if you are a sock knitter, as there are some very creative free patterns, and a resourceful group of knitters to answer any questions. The discussions focus only on the technical aspects of the pattern, there is no chatter. I find it a friendly and welcome place to be. Oh, you want to see a picture, do you?

The yarn is sock weight merino in the Neopolitan colorway, hand-dyed by Dani of Sunshine Yarns. Her service is impeccable. And the yarn is yummy too.

Recovering...

From a wonderful Spring Break vacation that included the 3 kids, 2 grandparents, and a mouse with really big ears. It has taken me a few days to do the laundry get back on PDT and pick up the knitting needles.

Number of projects I took on vacation: 3
Number of projects I worked on: 1

I knit exactly half a sock while on vacation. Each and every night I was too exhausted from the endless walking and picking up of kids so they could see over the crowd to do any knitting. I was so grateful for my wonderfel parents who met us in Florida and let the kids play swordfight in their room every night. I needed a little peace.

We arrived back in Seaatle Saturday afternoon to:
1) rain (no surprise there), and
2) mail delivery! (Smart woman to have the mail delivered on Saturday instead of Monday).

My final package from SP7 which had been stalled at the border arrived! I was gobsmacked when I opened the package to see this beautiful blue Fleece Artist sock yarn jump out at me:



Aren't those blues yummy? My SP Christine knows I love all things sheepy. This little box will make a great place to keep the SIP (sock in progress). And look at that little sheepy magnet - how cute is that? I am letting the kids share in the sweets since I broke a tooth while on vacation chomping on a piece of candy and it hurts to bite I am such a wonderful, giving mother. There were also 2 skeins of solid black sock yarn in the tin as well as a skein of Noro. I have been planning to stash up on solid colored sock yarn since there are so many awesome free patterns for socks on the web. This was a really wonderful treat and Schmoodle, I thank you again!

Moving on...

I received a package yesterday:

That's the remaining yarn I need to finish up the square sweater. The kids are still fighting over who owns the sweater. I think we should wait until the thing is done and then see who it fits!

As for actual knitting content, the Sockapalooza socks are done!

My son really is happy to be holding the socks, he must have been squinting in the bright sun (not that I am complaining).

And just a bit of silliness for the day, Happy Spring!

I'm a joiner

but we already knew that ;-)

The newest KAL is for Sam the Ram (and Sue the Ewe):

I have had these two kits in my stash for several years, and when I saw the KAL, I knew it was time to dust them off and open them up.


My sockapaloooza socks are progressing nicely. I turned the heel on the second sock last night and am heading down the home stretch.

I finally figured out who my SP7 is! She's Christine from Schmoodle. She's been a great SP. Hi Christine!