New Picture Friday

So, we've established the fact that vacation is over. This is the very last summer Friday of 2007. I am home through September 10th now, with two days of telecommuting in there, next Thursday and next Friday. There is no excuse to not finish the new wallaby and the new socks. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that I started a new Wallaby? Breaking all the rules here. I have to re-do the toes of the Jaywalkers, add the fringe to the poncho and still I have two new WIP: Tofutsies socks - Sailor's Rib and another Wallaby in size 12 for my nephew. This is also out of CottonEase, color is Lake. I wish that they'd come out with more colors already! Maybe later I will do the pouch on this. I am feeling tired today.

In other news, the washing machine broke down and the new one doesn't come until next Thursday. I got one of those top of the line front loader ones that does everything. Amazing that we used to get by with less than this. Everything gets cheaper (tvs, tape decks, computers, etc.) except appliances. They get fancier all the time. I think this one makes grilled cheese.

In other news, I am still reading Harry Potter! I am having a hard time staying away at night. I am also procrastinating about taking apart my entire house and getting rid of junk that we don't need. I also have to pay the bills, do laundry, vacuum the pool, go food shopping and knit. There is just no time for anything else. Maybe I'll win lotto and will have a maid, a nanny and a pool boy to take care of the pool.

Oh well, kids, who are still in their PJs and it's 11:00 AM, are watching Spiderman, the first movie. I matters well add some rows to my socks.....

Wallaby Update!

Have to show you my lovely pink Cotton-Ease Wallaby! Isn't she lovely? It's hard to see how nicely the pocket is fused. It's also hard to see that loose spot on the right that I have. I don't know what happened. I had a looser row of stockinette stitch and i tightened it a bit, working across the row with a little crochet hook. It needs a little more surgery to lie nicer. It's minor and can be fixed. I also haven't woven in the ends yet. It's starting to look more like a size 6. Suggestion: Make the body length longer than the pattern states. If you don't, it'll wind up at belt level, kinda short. I think that pullovers should be a little longer. Also, for a child, they can wear it longer. This is going to be slightly over sized for my THREE year old and it's a size 6. She is in the 65th percentile so she's an average sized three year old. (nearly 4..but still.) So, I suggest you watch the pattern and figure out the chest measurement. Her actual is 23" I believe (I will remeasure later) and the six actual completed is 27" unstretched. Be careful with the sizing for both children and adults. As for the sleeves, I chose the gradual method of increasing and I am magic looping them instead of knitting them flat like I did with hubbies. We'll see how I like a seamless sleeve. It's like making a sock, actually, with increases. Hmmn...this is giving me new ideas.

Here's how to do the sleeves this way. You CAN choose to drive yourself and do this:
1. Cast on half the number of sts for sleeve one. Then cast on ALL of the sts for sleeve two.
2. Put the ends of the needles together and attempt to join sleeve 2. I think...all these ends flapping around, a mess..

The easy way.
1. Using smaller needles, cast on all of the sts for sleeve one and do all of the ribbing. COUNTING THE ROWS.
2. When you've completed the ribbing and it's time to use the larger needle, knit half of the sts on the larger needle and then put the rest on a st holder or DPN. I use a DPN, size doesn't matter.
3. Cast on all of the sts for sleeve two and knit all of the ribbing, same number of rows as sleeve one.
4. Knit all of sleeve two onto the larger needle.
5. Knit the sts from the DPN onto the larger needle and there you have it.
6. At this point, you should have the tails both hanging to the left of each sleeve.
7. Mark beg of row to be at the left edge.
8. Now, magic looping, knit half of one sleeve, half of the other, pull needle through and knit half of the other and half of the original. You should be back at the marker and have completed row two of each sleeve.
9. Don't be an idiot like me. Once in awhile, I've knit socks together and it's a pain to fix, particularly if it's lacy.

I will post a better tutorial, with photos as soon as I get my new toy. Yes, yes, I sprang for a few bucks and ordered this camera. Tee hee. It does everything. We will be trying it out next weekend with beautiful posts of lovely scenery and my socks and sleeves. I can't wait for it to come!!! It has macro and sepia and black and white. Cool, hah?

Well, got a BBQ to attend this PM and I am making Florentine Artichoke Dip. Recipe link next time! Actually, I should post some of my favorite recipes. I've been collecting them for awhile, thinking one day of actually attempting to have a cookbook...we'll see. Need new Meal Master Software though, mine is obsolete. Note to self: look into recipe software.

Harry Potter book hasn't arrived yet. I am going to go and sit in my bow window, waiting attentively for the post man. I sure hope it comes today! I ordered it from Amazon and chose free shipping which means that I shouldn't get it right away but I think I will. I did last time. Oh boy! Now I have to read and knit and work and raise two kids and clean...and blog!

"So little time, so much to do! " , said the rabbit. (That would be the one that got Alice into trouble that day she fell in the hole.

Hopping along with the Wallaby

It's Thursday, the first day of my vacation and the next to last day of my being alone in the house. Next week, the kiddies and I will be home from work and school. Me for a week, them for the summer. Only a few hours to thoroughly clean my house while I have the chance finish up the Wallaby. Here's a new picture. You can see that I've only done a few rounds and you can also see that the sleeves need to be sewn up. It's time for everyone's favorite, the infamous kitchener stitch. I don't exactly know how it got it's name. Kitchener would be someone who works in a kitchen. You'd have to be really truly skilled to be able to do this PLUS prepare dinner back in the day. Imagine that, making bread from scratch, plucking feathers out of a turkey, cleaning the vat and squeezing in some time to kitchener stitch without screwing it up... I am going to do this while I have the house to myself. Kitchener the underarms, sew the sleeve seam and weave in those ends. The reason it hasn't really grown all that much is because I did work on some finishing. There are no loose yarn ends hanging anywhere other than the sleeves and the neck. Additionally, I swatched the next project, the poncho. I have to go up a needle size and I need the 8's that I'm using for this so it's all the more reason to finish Mr. Wallaby. I have neck ribbing and hood and that's all folks! We'll wash and block and put him away for the fall.

In other news, today it's 57 degrees. A bit chilly for NY in June. Today is not a day that will be warming up the ocean water making it swimmable by July 1st, no way..jut not going to happen. Once I was in Maine in July. I don't think it ever really gets warm enough to swim in the water. In fact, it wasn't warm enough for A/C for the most part. I stuck my hand in the water and it HURT. That's why the lobster is so good, or so I'm told by the Mainers. You can never swim there, too cold. Like, the glacier is still warming up. I'll have to go back and photograph a sock, in Maine, with a lobster. The cold weather should leave us by Sunday, when it'll be 90. Good. I thought because I spent my life savings on a pool I cured the planet of global warming.

#*!)&&~* !!! I was expecting a letter of thanks from Al Gore...

For summer projects, I signed the kiddies up for swimming (Wednesday morning) and Piano (Wednesday afternoon). You can see little Boobette here 'practicing' and singing. It's something that she (currently) really wants to do, violin and piano. My son has been taking piano for a few months now but he really would prefer drums. Tough. DH is a music teacher and we own the following instruments: electric keyboard, piano, acoustic guitar, a bunch of violins, a cello, a viola, we have a flute on hand as well that we're 'borrowing' for awhile. A few recorders, too. So, this isn't really foreign to them. They WILL play something. While I will have to play an active role in piano class, I can knit during swimming. They'll be in the pool at the same time, 1/2 an hr. Ah....self time, for the most part.

Tonight is pre-k graduation. I'll be crying. I hope it's nice and it doesn't rain. Being I'm home, we'll be picking up the kids at 3:30 or 4, going to dinner and returning at 6PM for the event at school. There will be cake and drinks afterwards and a place for the mommies to fix their makeup. Cap and gown...my baby boy...the little thing that I held in my arms...going to embark on his educational career...kindergarten in only a few short months....AND, do you know what he told me? He wants to RETIRE. He sees no point in spending your whole life doing this stuff and then you get to retire like his grandmother. Why not do it now, cut to the chase? I asked him where the money would come from and he said the ATM.

(Flashback: 1966, in the drycleaners, asking my mom for money for the gumball machine. She said we didn't have any, I said to write a check. Moral: times have changed, kids haven't).

It's 8:10AM, do you know where your Wallaby is? Mine needs sleeves. Puff puff, toot toot, off I go to kitchener!

BTW, did anyone catch a glimpe of the Yarn Harlot's blog? She has posted a picture of someone who knitted full length stocking socks out of my Rose Quartz STR. That must've cost her a fortune. They're beautiful but I don't know where anyone would wear them...except maybe while trying to swim in Maine.

Meanwhile, Back at the Wallaby

Ta-Ta! We're almost there! Look at how nice this is coming! Look now, in case I mess it up and have to take out another mile. Mr. Wallaby has recovered from his emergency surgery.

You can't really tell from the photo but I knit the sleeves two at the same time on a circular, flat, not in the round. When I started them, I didn't know how to do two socks on magic loop. It's the same. I'm sure I would've screwed up the increases. But anyway, doing a sleeve seam is no big deal. Now, I am ready to attach them to the body which has finally been nearly completely re-knit thanks to DD and the scissor incident that we don't talk about.

In order to distract her from future surgery attempts, I gave her cupcakes, (the little sheltie that you can see a piece of on the left is going to be 14 in July. She is the best behaved in the entire house.)

and then, parked her in front of the television today with the puppy and her brother.

The Wallaby seems to be very happy.

So, now, I'll join the sleeve in the round and attach to the body. Of course, I have to re-read the directions because they refer to a red marker and I have no idea of them ever telling me to go out and buy a RED MARKER. I think that I know what I'm doing but I'm not 100% sure. I also recounted all the rows in both sleeves so make sure they'll be the same length and I recounted all the stitches on the body and on the sleeves to make sure that I have the right amount. I think it's 288. Isn't that cool? 288 in one round. That should take me 8 minutes to go around at top speed. I know, I know, I'm weird, I just have to do this math stuff in my head all the time. I make things more involved than they have to be.

We also had a nice little pool party yesterday, despite the chill in the air and the intermittent drizzle, it was great. DS is swimming all alone, unassisted. The water is well over his head. I am very proud of him. He wastes a bit of motion but for the most part, he's doing a great job!

In other news, three more days until I'm on vacation. I have two days home alone, no kids, no hubby. I'll spend them cleaning out the basement finishing the Wallaby and maybe the crosshatch lace, which I'll show you next time.

Stay tuned for the next update on.........everything!

I'm Sailing Away with Wallaby!

This project is going so fast. You know, I can really get alot of things done when I don't have to go to work. I am on Vacation!!! I am waiting for the pool man to return. I plugged in the filter and it was as if I put one of those fire hydrant caps on the fire hydrant....it's squirting all over. He should be here this morning so we'll knit while waiting.

Here's the body, completed and waiting for the sleeve join.

I have started to knit the sleeves and I have decided, after much debate with myself, that I am going to knit two sleeves at the same time and they're going to be knit flat instead of in the round. Here's why:

1. It's easier to assemble and join when the sleeve is flat.

2. I am almost missing the purl stitch.

3. I like to sew sleeve seams and it'll look more like a grown up sweater if it has seams down the sleeves.

4. No second sleeve syndrome.

5. No need to count rows.

I do have to mark the edge of one sleeve otherwise I don't turn in the right place. There is a little phrase about "tails together" but I can't remember it now. If you don't turn in the right place, then one sleeve will have more rows than the other and that would be a very bad thing.

I did that last night watching American Idol, such a joke that show is...but anyway, I have to increase twice more and then knit until 18" in stockinette and join to the body. I'd like to get them done today but we'll see how the day goes because I have other things to do and they're only 5" so far. It's early.....

Also, I picked this up at Amazon. Being you have to spend $25 to get free shipping and I have an entire DVD Collection of children's classics, it was time for another knitting book. I was surprised at how nice it was. Although I have no desire to knit a 'Wand Cozy' or Harry's Cape or Molly's Technicolor Sweater, most of the patterns are very nice. There are house sweaters, a stuffed owl pattern, socks, beret and cap, the now infamous Harry Scarf (which takes like 600 yards of yarn, BTW) and is knit in the round so it's a tube. Harry's cape would be great for a Halloween costume. There is also a very nice visible invisibility shawl. Tons of stuff, nicely laid out, all in the spirit of Harry. Note that this book isn't endorsed by J.K. Rowling so there are no beautiful illustrations or movie pictures, just regular models but I love it just the same. **** !
I can't wait until the new book comes out.

On to other news. Yesterday, I took DS to kindergarten screening. They had a box of tissues there and I found out why. My little baby bundle of joy went waltzing down the hall with three evaluators to see about his "Kindergarten Prepardness". I sat in the lobby and cried..well...just a little. Ok, ok, more than a little. He's embarking on a new stage of his life and his mother is a basketcase. They asked him a few questions about where he lives, his phone number, things like that. They also asked him, "Why do you brush your teeth?" and he went on to tell them the truth. "Because if you don't the cavity monster will come and take them away when you're sleeping". He said they didn't laugh. I wonder if other kids have told them about the cavity monster? Only a few more months and I won't have two preschoolers. It's sad but it's good because public school is 'free' and day care is COSTLY!

Stay tuned for more Wallaby Adventures!