Archive for July, 2009

Updates

July 31, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized

So, I know I’ve been a bit behind on updates, so here are the recent highlights.

My new little niece, Baby Juju, arrived on the 13th, and she is the most gorgeous child – aside from my own two babies of course :-)   She’s so tiny – it’s always difficult for me to hold a newborn and remember that my little ones were ever that tiny. They grow so fast! When they’re that young they remind me of a little loaf of bread.

Here’s Jazz with her new little cousin:

jazzyw

Seeing as my brother and sister-in-law live a good hour’s drive away, I’ve only gotten to see her twice, but did manage to sneak a few minutes this week.  Before I met my brother to head out to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!!!  WOO HOO!

Speaking of which, I loved it, loved it, loved it!!! I think this is my favorite HP movie since the first. (Or maybe I was just so excited to be out of the house with grownups and munchkin-free). We went to an afternoon matinee and were the only two people in the theatre – which was majorly cool. Kind of felt like a movie star myself – getting a private screening and all :-)

Other than that, our big highlight was our very quick family vacation to Disney. Due to constraints beyond our control, it was just a short trip hitting only the highlights, but still very fun. Both kids loved Pirates of the Caribbean, and hated the Haunted Mansion (my fav – boo hoo!). Traveling boy really loved the water play areas:

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And Jazz loved all the countries in EPCOT. They were all great, but I think the people were friendliest in the Morocco pavilion (and that’s saying something, because everyone is friendly in Disney). They taught Jazz to bellydance:

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EPCOT offers what they call KIDCOT, where the kids get a mask and stop in each country for a stamp and a decoration to add on. We also bought each of them the EPCOT passport, so they got that stamped in each country plus, a note written in the language of that country. That included translating their names into the various writing (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese). We had a great time looking for the stop in each country.

I think EPCOT was my favorite too. I love visiting all the countries – I could go crazy in the shops (but, thankfully, held myself in check).

Especially loved Norway though:

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That’s me with my new best friend.

It was probably a good thing that we only had time to hit the highlights.  I would have come home broke :-)

Knitting, you ask????  Oh, that . . .   Well . . .   You see . . .  I’m still having a bit of trouble getting that knitting mojo back. Did manage to work a bit on the Can Cans. And I love Hermione’s gray hat from HBP, so maybe . . .  Really, it’s starting to come back.  The CanCans won’t take long at all once I dive in.  And of course, the purple malabrigo scarf still stares at me longingly.  Hmmmmm.

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Vampire Baseball

July 13, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , ,

YEA!!! My Carlisle Cullen scarf is finished. This was a test knit for a pattern that is being submitted to the (hopefully) upcoming Twilight Knits book. (Think Harry Potter Charmed Knits, and you get the idea.)  Hey it worked for Harry, so why shouldn’t it work for a sparkly vampire too? Am I right?

This was really a quick, easy knit.  It’s not exactly like the movie – I’m not even sure if the movie version is knitted – but it’s definitely along the right lines. I think if you are familiar with the film you’ll be able to see it’s a themed knit. Take a look:

ccscarfw

I thought of trying to vampire-ize the teddy bear, but his eyes just didn’t look right as gold.  Oh well, you get the idea. Bottom line, I love this scarf.  It’s done in a cotton blend, and is sooo soft. Definitely not a winter scarf, but it should be nice for the fall with a denim jacket. And you never know when your favorite vampire family will invite you for a quick game of baseball, and you’ll need to be prepared with appropriate knitwear.

So after that, I decided that I really needed some kind of pouch for my MP3 player, since I’m paranoid about dropping/scratching/etc.

mp3w

I had some leftover Noro Daria so I thought this might make good use of it. Especially since I lurrrvvvv Noro Daria – it’s so stinkin’ pretty! I used Designedly, Kristi’s Nano necklace, but had to do some major gauge modifications because Daria is not like normal yarns. Overall, I’m not too pleased with it, which is a little disappointing.  I mean, it works and all, but I don’t like the way the i-cord necklace attaches. It’s not tight enough against the sides of the pouch, but if I used fewer rows it would have been too tight.  And, while I loved the look of the Noro while I was knitting the pouch itself, the whole project upon completion feels like more crayola throwup to me.  But, the good news is that it works. So, I’ll use it – at least for now. And I’m considering trying again with my kool-aid dyed yarn.  OK – so I know if I’m trying to avoid the whole rainbow vomit thing, I’m probably asking for trouble . . . I suppose I’m just a glutton for punishment.

We shall see.  In the meantime, I’ve started some CanCans in a light green (just because that’s what I have on hand). So far I’m really liking the pattern. It’s working up really well (and quickly too!). No photos yet, but I’ll post some soon!

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It’s a Good Day to Dye . . .

July 6, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , , , , ,

So I’ve been promising Jasmine for the past few months that once summer hit, we would dye our own yarn. Unfortunately, the entire month of June continued our “rainy season” that started in April.

Thankfully, the weather finally started to break, which meant, it was time.

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TA-DAAAAAAA . . .

OK – so I know it looks kind of like the crayon box threw up, but I’m still very pleased with myself.

I decided that we would go with Kool-Aid dying since it’s relatively non-toxic (better for children). And, armed with a print-out from Knitty, off we went.  We decided to do hand painting (just to make things more fun), and collected cherry, grape, blue raspberry, orange and lemon Kool-Aid packets, as well as some empty ketchup and mustard containers from the dollar store.

The whole thing did end up getting a bit messy (our fingers were pretty stained by the time we finished), but still really fun.  And, I was amazed at how the wool took the dye.  It seemed to absorb all the color, and the mix water running through would come out clear (way cool!).  We ended up using twice the amount of Kool-Aid than Knitty suggested – I think that’s because we were hand-painting as opposed to just putting the wool in a jar. Since we don’t have  a microwave (I know – we’re strange), I steamed the finished product in the rice cooker.  (Again, a good reason for my non-toxic Kool-aid choice). Then a quick wash, and lay out to dry, and voila!  Varigated yarn!

For a first try, I think we did pretty well. The left skein is mine and the right is Jasmine’s. Now I have to figure out what I’ll make with mine.  Jasmine has already decided that hers will be a purse.  But, she’s not a very monogomous knitter, and with three projects already on her needles, I’m thinking I might suggest she hold off for a while until she actually finishes something she’s started.

We still have two skeins of bare left – one DK (for Jazz) and one sock (for me). So my plan is to do a cherry/orange combo for the sock yarn. (Like I really need more sock yarn . . . )

On the knitting project side.  I used the extra purple cotton left over from my DROPS shrug to try another DROPS pattern – a crocheted tote.  It’s double stranded and larger than I expected (although I am right on gauge, so I think it’s just the way they took the photo). It’s already one of my favorites. And, yes, I know – purple again . . . (No, Mimi, the purple phase doesn’t really end, does it?)

dropstote

It’s very strong – there are about 3 large hard back books in there.  The photo doesn’t do it justice. LOVE IT!!!

So, now I’m trying to find some new knitting mojo.  I’ve just started test-knitting a Carlisle Cullen scarf for a designer on one of the Ravelry Twilight Groups. So far it’s coming up nice – very easy – another one of those medatative knitting projects (ie – no thinking required). And, of course, there is always my Purple Malabrigo scarf (Mmmmm – Malabrigo) – which hasn’t gotten too much longer, although I am over half way done.

But, seeing as my new little niece should arrive ANY DAY (!!!) I’m sure I’ll have lots of  ideas very, very soon.

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