My Buddies

This is my little buddy. 

He is getting ready to be a big brother to more than just his little dog...

So Gramma has made him a little buddy of his own. This new little buddy does not talk much.

But this big buddy does. They talk about "Dah!" (the Hot Dog Dance and Mickey Mouse)...

And they talk about Ge (Gramma) and the Neow Neow (that is his word for Ge's cats)!

When I talk to my little buddy, he tells me about Neow Neow, Doh, Mama and Pop Pop! I think he really likes Pop Pop...

I know that he loves to play with Pop Pop...

Pop Pop makes little buddies fly!

I love my little buddy, and I am looking forward to meeting a new little buddy this fall. So is his baby blanket, which I finished just this morning:

Now it's time to check in with my friends online, do some "Mystery Knitting" and have a great Saturday! I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend, and that you are surrounded by your favorite buddies!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

                

Size Matters

As I sit here, freshly dug out of the first wave of this winter of 2014, I am reminded that size matters. It doesn't matter for everything, but in some things, size definitely matters! Want a for instance? Snow shovels and snow blowers...when it is snowing and blowing for 24 hours straight, you really need a substantial snow removal system! 

Also, when temps dip wayyy below freezing, you need substantial warm-up gear, like the three bulky afghans I knit for our home last year. They were not for Christmas, and they were not secrets...they were simply new afghans to go with the new paint, new carpeting and new furniture...and they are lovely! There's a red one, a green one and a white one! 

Quick and squishy, they are fun and super-warm to sit under! But, as the winter goes on, and I nap more on these new sofas, I am finding that they are a little small for naptime. Still they are good for putting across your lap as you knit or watch TV on a snowy day!

Size also matters when you are making stocking stuffers! If you are stuffing a stocking, your stuffers should be small...unless your stockings are not! I kept this in mind as I made my little gifties for the Knitters' Christmas Party, and I grabbed my jewelry tools and shrink plastic to make these:

Little charms for a wine glass or coffee mug! I remember Shrinky Dinks from when I was a kid, and although they are now found under many names, the craft is the same and just as much fun as ever!

And size matters if you are a cat thinking of a nap on this lap...Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, will there be enough room?

Take note cats...you don't want to be the one who falls off and has to sleep sitting up!

Size matters in lots of things...especially knitting sweaters. If you want it to fit, they say you should always start with a gauge swatch...did you do a gauge swatch for your last sweater? I did not, but I'd really like to wear my Plum Frost, so I guess it's time for me to do a swatch and cast on for this KAL!

So glad you stopped by, and I hope that you will Knit in Good Health (and out of the snow) this week!

Has Anyone Seen Happy?

::crickets::

I know. I am a woman in the middle of life, and I should reference the classic claymation a little less often than I do, but I don't. Rudolph's Shiny New Year has always been one of my favorites, and it may always be. It is what it is, and as I watch it again this year, I wish you and yours a very Happy New Year! May your 2014 be a little smoother, a little smarter, and filled with a little more "Happy" than 2013...and may there be more of your favorite things every day!

Sweaters for everyone! (But I'm going to start that first one just for me!) 

Happy New Year, and Knit in Good Health, friends!

3 More Wake Ups. . .!

And since it's on the front of my brain, here's a sneak peek of the "goodie bags" for the reception!
I got the bags from FairestLJ on Etsy (paper goods and paper-crafting supplies, great shop!), and they are perfect in every way. Then Dollface let me make up the newspaper clipping to attach to the bag. . .edited to protect the innocent, of course! And the ribbon can be used to close up the bags once guests have added some sweet treats from the bar! It's gonna be fun. . .

So the favors are done, the bulletins are done, the dresses are done, the decisions are made, and we are ready for a wedding! It is all so exciting, and now we rest until cupcake day, known to most of you as Friday! lol

So, for the rest, I am casting on a KAL sock for The Knitting Like Crazy group on Ravelry. . .in Destination Yarn, Bonfire. . .so hot it sizzles!:
. . .and, while I'm at it, another pink hat for Peanut! It's the Baby Beret from a book called Baby Knits Heads & Toes, and isn't it just adorable?!?

Between stitches, I am fretting (a bit) about the head count. . .did I account for everyone?. . .and buying up all the eggs and butter and sugar for the cuppy-cakes. . .and charging all the batteries in the phones and cameras. . .and thanking all my friends for loaning me (or giving me) the little odds and ends that have made the planning so much smoother! I have good friends!

The next time I blog, I will be getting ready for a wedding!

Until then, and forevermore, Knit in Good Health!

Thanks for stopping by!

Every picture tells a story, don't it?

What do you do when you find out that some of your knitting friends are going to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival (in Rhinebeck, NY, which was on the map for knitters waaaay before Chelsea's wedding, by the way), and you can't go? Maybe your finances are tight, or maybe you can't get away from your job for an extended weekend. . .it's not that you don't want to go, you just can't. . .sigh!

Several of us in the Cleveland Knits West group over on Ravelry were in just that predicament last weekend, but I think we made the best of it. After all, when life gives you alpaca. . .
. . .large and small. . .
. . .and a llama says, "Hey, Bay-bay!,". . .
. . .and gives you a kiss. . .
. . .well, then, maybe it's time for a West-of-Rhinebeck YARN CRAWL! You know, just like a beer crawl, but with yarn. . .just the thing for some enthusiastic knitters on a beautiful October Saturday! And really, we didn't miss the beer at all. . .we like wine better anyway! But even beyond our beverage of preference, when you talk about yarn (and acquiring more of it), knitters get pretty giddy! I think Andrea was even willing to hitchhike for yarn!
None of us thought that was a very good idea, tho. . .so we piled into two cars and headed out to four different shops that are fairly local to us. Thank you Andrea and Judy for driving! (See Andrea, you have a perfectly good car. . .no extra thumb activity required!)
First stop: Studio Knit (in Medina), where I contemplated silver and gold yarn for Christmas ornaments. . .
. . .and Michelle contemplated the giant wall o'yarn. . .
. . .and Annie contemplated which color(s) warranted the fact that she was signing over the rights to her firstborn. . .it didn't really matter. . .there was yarn to be had!
Then we were on the road again, passing the people in cars who were not as excited to reach their next destination as we were, forgoing rest areas and racing ahead to. . .
Our second stop: Black Locust Farm (in Lodi), where I picked up this funny book of "Kniticisms" and some sock yarn, as well as a couple of knitting knotions. . .
. . .Judy and Michelle frantically fondled the sock yarns. . .
. . .and Annie and Michelle contemplated the Zauberball!
We all loved this small store (she has limited hours, so call ahead or check her group on Ravelry), but it's soooo worth it! One side note: she does not take credit cards, so have cash or your ATM card, there's a machine on the corner!

We were hungry after all the shopping, so we stopped in at the Lighthouse in the center of Lodi, where the people eating lunch gave our giddiness a sideways glance, but still we gorged ourselves on good food! The burgers and onion rings are to die for. . .really! So, full and focused, we filed out and piled back into the cars and headed to our next destination!
Third stop: Soft and Sassy (in Broadview Heights), where I had to decide between these two lace weight yarns (I chose the Legacy, even tho Daphne was gorgeous) for a wedding shawl that I hope to make for College Girl! There was also another ball of sock yarn, I think it was Trekking XXL. . .I was into the earth-tones and naturals apparently! Oh, Annie and Michelle ended up with a sweater's worth of bulky yarn to knit Aidez from Berroco. . .I am pretty sure it was the yarn that the pattern called for. . .and now (surprise, surprise), there is a knitalong! To join or not to join, that is the question. . .
And after that, our fourth stop was River Colors (in Rocky River). Honestly, I did not see what anyone purchased there, but I did see the bags of yummy yarns in the back of Andrea's car as we left there! lol
After a full day of yarn shopping, and inhaling those intoxicating yarn fumes, what can a knitter do? Well, since we all ended up back at the farm, Andrea showed us how to "call" the chickens. . .just throw a tomato, or a piece of squash, and they go running after it, with the roosters cock-a-doodle-doing all the way! (I even heard a little William Tell Overature in the background. . .)
If you are out of tomatoes and squash, just bust open a pumpkin. . .
. . .that's right. . .a pumpkin. . .seriously gourmet meal here!
At the end of the day, all the knitters were tired from the shopping, and the laughing, and the riding, and the throwing of the produce, so we all went home to cast on something new. . .after we said good-bye to the chickens, of course!

And now, after 3 days of recovery, I am working on some Baby Booties, and socks and new baby sweaters shall be cast on soon for the coming of Grandbaby Number One! Stay tuned, and. . .

Knit in Good Health!

This about sums it up. . .

I love the original Willy Wonka! I mean, I like the new one with Johnny Depp, too (is there anyone out there who can resist Johnny Depp?, really?), but there is nothing quite like the classics when it comes to movie wisdom! And that picture up there about sums it up for me, especially this week. You see, this is the week that I have to finally admit that I fried a computer. All the files that are precious to me are on an external drive, safely backed up, but sometime last Thursday I lost all my Internet Favorites. . .and quick links. . .and my computer went to live with our Computer Guy for a while.

Don't get me wrong, I clearly have access to other computers. I think I have all of my software disks, and all of my important data will be restored. . .eventually. In the meantime, I just feel like I am in limbo. . .like the whole Computer Universe has it in for me. . .and I live in fear of frying the next machine - Oh!, Woe-es Me!!! How could this happen???

Note: Scarlet O'Hara moment now concluded. On to the knitting. . .Hooray! The knitting is ALL GOOD!

Exhibit One: New knitting pattern.
New, very rough draft of knitting pattern for a shawl, born of the desperation of a group of moms whose kids decided to stand for something and joined the military. . .while our country is fighting a war. . .in a very far away place. I belong to a group of these most amazing women over on Ravelry, and we talk about remembering to breathe quite a bit. You see, when your kid is over there, or getting ready to go over there, or on his/her way back from over there, you forget about the breathing. You wring your hands, you check their Facebook, and you try to go on. Some of us have sought out other moms online, and we remind each other to Knit 1, Breathe 1 (K1, B1) as a way to get through the toughest of emotions. I love these ladies, and I am so glad to have found them. And we have decided that the "B1" stitch is actually "YO, s2kp, YO" in knitting terms. We are going to do a knitalong, starting May 15, and this is the first draft of the lace pattern for a triangular shawl. We do pretty good work! Exhibit Two: FO in Crochet Hearts
While I wait for May 15 to start on that KAL (I know, who am I kidding? I probably will not wait that long!), I have finished an afghan. This is just a piece of the project. . .gift and all that, there should be some element of surprise, and I don't know if the recipient reads my little knitting (crochet on this one!) blog.

Exhibit Three: The Socks that I LOVE to Hate!

These were my In the Mood Socks, but as I finished sock #1, I realized that I really hated knitting it. (Note: The pattern is well written, easy to follow, I just don't like it. Good designer, good design, just not my taste, apparently.) This does not happen often, but I disliked it so much that I did not want to even start the second, and I didn't feel like trying on the first. Whoa, Baby! This was a new emotion for Pretty Knitty! But, as I always say, "There are no wrong emotions. Feel what you feel and move on," so I did. I ripped out the bind off at the cuff, and I started a plain-vanilla sock, toe-up. I have not decided what heel to work, but I have a few rows until I get there, so there's time. And, I am just gonna knit from sock to, well, sock! Here's the very start from yesterday morning:

I am quite a bit into the foot now, but I have not taken any new pics, so this is it! I hope to get my computer back today. . .please send good thoughts, prayers, whatever you've got that it actually happens. And, in the meantime,

Knit in Good Health!

Knit-A-long?

Or just start on my own?

So, the gals of Cleveland Knits West over on Ravelry have decided to do a sweater KAL, Hey, Teach from Knitty.com. And I love this pattern. And I want to knit along. And I have the yarn. And I want to have the sweater before the end of the summer. And the group decided to start the KAL on July 1st. And I finished all of my current WIPs recently.

(But, remember, I only knit one or two, or at the most 3, projects at a time. So, all that finishing is not as impressive as it sounds at first read.)

Anyway, I couldn't wait. . .I had to start. . .I just HAD to! So, here is the back of the sweater, and I have knit about half of the left front as well.

A great sigh of relief as I see the lace becoming the sweater which will become my best friend in an over-air-conditioned office. Yay!

In other news, today Hubster and I went to see The Taking of Pelham 123 with John Travolta and Denzel Washington. Now, I don't know if I have mentioned this before or not, but I am a HUGE John Travolta fan! From Vinnie Barbarino to Danny Zuko to the mother of that girl in Hairspray. . .OMGosh! I have always thought he is soooo hot! (I know, he was in drag in Hairspray, but that was the point! Still hot!) Yeah, I got it bad! Hahaha!

It was a good movie. Lotta swearing, but then there was a lotta tension, and tension in the movies often leads to that. So, in this knitter's opinion, it was a good movie. Totally worth the price of the ticket, especially if you like Travolta or Washington.

Well, that seems like a good length for a blog post, no? I think yes. It's good to see you here, and I hope you are enjoying all that summer has to offer you.

Knit in good health!

Come on World, there’s a sock that we’re knittin’!

C’mon get happy!
sigh - Ravelry-friendly David Cassidy?

I am pretty happy with my latest KAL sock for the Cleveland Knits West group over on Ravelry! It’s the Mad-Color Weave Socks by Tina Lorin! And this yarn, I love this yarn! Knit Picks Bare merino/nylon fingering! I have used this yarn before, and I have always loved the way things turn out!

And the colors. . .did I mention that I dyed the yarn? Well, I did! With Easter Egg dyes!. . .and I love the colors! I wanted some $30 yarn I saw in a shop, but I just could not justify the purchase with a skein of Bare sitting at home. . .so I gave it a go. . .not too shabby, eh!




And this pattern. . .well, it’s a bit fussy, but well worth it!. . .I love this pattern! And the socks are coming out pretty fan-tastic! So, I am pretty happy. Note: I skipped the heel shaping in the pattern in favor of my fave heel-turn. . .my eyes were starting to cross, so I had to do it!

Next up? I mean after the socks. . . Well, more crocheted pocket friends (see 5/13 post), and I have been choosing gender-neutral baby sweater patterns because all those women at church are pregnant! Again! Oh, my! I will not drink the water at church. . . I will not drink the water at church. . . I will not drink the water at church. . . I will not drink the water at church. . . After the baby sweaters, who knows?!

“Oh the places you will go!,” said Dr. Seuss.
Ravelry-friendly version: Oh, the projects you will knit! (or crochet!)

Knit in good health!