It’s a good thing I took a picture immediately after the nice lady from the gym daycare painted their faces, because Sophie’s was ruined by the time we got home. Major hissy fit over not wanting to eat lunch at home.
Things are going that way this summer – we’re having lots of fun and learning lots of lessons, some the hard way. I have lots of pictures and details to put up when I get to them…
I mastered the challenge. Today I swam in my first open water race. Two miles at local Lake Harriet. I went into this race confident in my ability to swim two miles, pretty sure about my ability to swim two miles in open water, even with weeds and wind; and hopeful that I could make it within the hour and fifteen minute time limit for the race. All I wanted to do was finish.
Joe and the girls left the house extremely early for a Kang-family weekend and came down to the beach with a picnic breakfast to see me off. You can’t see it in the picture, but the paper Julie is holding is a sign reading “Go, Mommy Go!” (with the Gs written backwards).
There I am in the water right before the race, pretending to be confident. In actuality, I was trying to ignore how cold I was and convince myself that I was really going to do this.
Joe was in charge of taking pictures today, and while I was out in the water the kids amused themselves on the beach. I hear that there were a couple of dead fish involved, but my girls were only observers in that part of the entertainment.
The actual swim itself was fine. The first leg was a little – not scary, but I was nervous. All those people bumping bodies in the water, settling into my stroke, getting comfortable with trying to sight the buoy. Once I turned that first corner, though, the crowd had spread out and I settled into the swim – one stroke at a time. I’d swim thirty or so strokes, then pop my head up with a couple breast strokes to check my path. It’s not exactly easy swimming in a straight line when you’re not staring at the black line on the bottom of a crystal clear pool. I never did get too far off course, and pretty soon I was past the second buoy, then the next.
There was only one point where I was swimming against the wind and swallowed a giant lungful of lake water when a wave caught me right as I came up on a breast stroke. The thought going through my head as I coughed it up was not “I’m going to die” but “I hope the safety people in the kayaks don’t see me coughing and come over to drag me out.” And then I turned the last corner and came in for the homestretch and it was all downhill from there. At that point I felt like I could keep swimming all day.
And when I came up on the beach, I was so happy to finish feeling good that I did a little happy dance to the finish line.
There were a bunch of high-fives, hugs and general celebration. In this picture I’m surrounded by three of the women I swim with at the club, all Jennifers, one of whom swam in the race and the other two who showed up to cheer us on. How cool is that?
Here we are again – the Jen on the right is our coach – her kid is the one who touched the dead fish!
All this before 10 in the morning. The family and I headed home, I showered off the lake schmuck, and we all went out for brunch. Which was awesome. And then I came home and took a very long nap. The End.
Hi, this is me stopping by for another update on a little bit of everything. Here we go.
Since last we checked in, the school year has ended. Before the end, though, the kids in her class did a little play – a kindergarten interpretation of the Emperor’s New Clothes. Julie was one of the town’s tailors.
Here’s the “emperor” being dressed by the “trixters” – his outfit is labeled “Royal Underwear”.
After the play was over and everyone did their bows, they had a little photo op so the parents could take more pictures. After the serious, smiling face picture, they all did their shocked faces.
The robins’ eggs have not only hatched…
(and newborn robins are some ugh-lay little creatures!) more on the baby birds later in the post because moving pictures around in my little WordPress window is a pain now that they’re all loaded already…
Meanwhile, an update on the garden. A belated update, because these photos are more than a week old, and things are growing like crazy. It’s just silly how much enjoyment I get out of standing around staring at little vegetables. First the wide view…
Here’s a bunch of kale plants. They’re huge now. We’ve been eating kale this week, and it is yummy, and there is more waiting to be harvested.
Here’s a bunch of baby pea plants which will hopefully grow up around the tomato cage. I really should have planted these earlier, but the last few weeks have been cooler than usual, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I might have some small chance of a pea harvest yet.
And some little spinach plants…I think some of them are ready to eat now, and I’m only wishing I had planted more. I don’t think it’s too late to plant another row if I can squeeze it in between some of the other plants.
Calypso beans! Doesn’t the name sound fun? Supposedly, you can either eat them fresh or dry them and use them for soups. Also, this picture is specially squished-out for you courtesy of Photoshop and/or Wordpress.
That’s either a broccoli or brussels sprouts plant, just a little nibbled by naughty green caterpillars that I’ve obsessively been picking off the Kale and other cabbage-family plants, and which I think have moved on to greener pastures for now.
Another squished-out photo – this one is the beets, I think.
Onions!
Or maybe those were the carrots before, and now these are the beets.
Brave little sunflowers by the side of the house…
Other random flowers that we planted in the front, attempting to cheer things up there. Next year we are totally rethinking this bed. I’m going to plant decorative edibles, like lettuce and cabbages, which will probably mean building a raised bed but will have to be an improvement over the current situation.
This is the hanging basket where the baby birds live. It hasn’t been watered nearly enough, but I’m okay with that for the sake of the baby birds.
Okay, even though they’re really ugly, they’re also darn cute.
Mama bird spent all of her free time when she wasn’t in the nest or hunting sitting up in the tree waiting to dive-bomb anyone daring to encroach on the front porch area.
Totally random, Julie made this silly mask the other day and wanted me to take a picture. This is all her idea and implementation, crazy kid.
I had no idea how quickly baby birds grow up and fly away. This photo is from just over a week ago. This Saturday they flew off to start their own little adventures. I’ll miss peaking out at them 20 times every day.
That’s Julie and Sophie with Daisy cat. On a leash. Don’t ask.
Okay, I’ll tell you. She’s been bored since Harry died. She’s been wanting to explore the wider world, and I’d been supervising visits to the yard sans leash for the last couple of weeks. Joe thought she should have one just in case she got scared and bolted.
I’ve got a few singles spun up.
The problem with big spinning projects is that they don’t make for the best blogging because they take a lot longer and there’s not much progress to show. I had a pound each of the gray (100% Polworth from Rovings that I bought at SOAR last fall) and the hand dyed Polworth/silk blend that I bought at the same time. I’m trying to decide now how to ply the big mess – should I ply the colors with the grey as a two-ply? Should I navajo ply the colors and 3-ply the solid? This mess is destined to be a sweater – a simple garter-stitch jackety sweater I think. Suggestions welcome…
Here’s a couple of close-ups to help you think it over. The handpaint one is another squished photo. Must figure that out some day…
And those are the highlights. I’m continuing to work out all the freakin’ time. This Saturday is my two-mile Lake Harriet swim. I’m starting to get just a little nervous, but at least the weather is supposed to be nice and I am going to give it my all.
Also, I went to the dentist this week. I found out I have the first cavity of my life. I’m a little devastated.
I keep getting all these lovely e-mails, comments, and phone calls from friends and family wondering why I don’t blog any more, and I keep intending to get back to it, and it keeps not happening. And now it’s almost June. So here I am with a bunch of pictures to throw at you, to let you know a bit about our doings and that we are all happy and safe. Ready? Go!
There has been spinning…I had a pile of wool top that I turned into faux rolags to spin, and Daisy was the perfect background prop for one.
Here’s a pair of socks that came off the needles, and there Daisy was again…
Oh! Here’s the yarn that I spun with the rolags. Meh, it’s okay. The wool was purple and green and white, and mixing it all up made it a little brownish. I think I would have been better off making singles.
I’m working on this sweater – some cream alpaca that I spun up last year and some rainbow Kauni. It’ much farther along now – the body is knit up to the underarms and I’m well into the sleeves. Actually, I’m knitting the sleeves a second time after ripping the half-done sleeves out after having knit them with the wrong needle size and clung to denial for way too long before facing the music. I’m doing both sleeves at once in one big tube, and will be cutting them apart and seaming the underarms before joining them with the body.
Julie’s been losing baby teeth left and right. She’s lost five total, and for a while had neither of her top-front teeth. It was crazy cute.
This scene was one weekday morning as Joe was leaving for work. I just thought it was cute how both girls were snuggled up using their toy laptops. They are at such a fun age, and although they do argue and butt heads sometimes, mostly they play great together.
Here’s some more yarn that I spun up – it was from some awesome space-dyed merino tencel and I navajo-plied it. More on this later.
Daisy is a total camera hog. She’s gotten a lot more in-our-face since Harry passed, and is noticeably aging quickly. Sweet kitty.
Okay, and really – I have been meaning to blog and just not getting around to it. I was totally going to show you the girls’ Easter baskets…
There’s hardly any candy in there – mostly books and toys. The kids were completely happy – and the Easter bunny left them a little treasure-clue game that they had to follow to find their baskets. One of the clues sent them to the dish towel drawer…
So, Sophie has two of the most awesome pre-school teachers ever. We’ve been with them for two years now, and will be going back for one more year in the same classroom next year before she goes off to Kindergarten. I don’t knit for just anybody, but not only are these teachers great, but they both are the type that I trusted to appreciate handknits. Peggy got Lucy Neatby’s The Emperor’s New Scarf made with Casbah sock yarn.
Here’s a closeup. It was only semi-fiddly to knit, and the crochet finishing was easy and also semi-fiddly. But the results were cool. I’m a bit ashamed to say that I gifted this one without blocking it. I had the finished scarf in my bag when I went to pick Sophie up, and even though I had planned to give it to Peggy, I sort of spontaneously gave it to her that day because she’d had a rough couple of weeks and looked like she needed a happy surprise.
We’ve been doing a lot of gardening around here. I decided it was time to get back into growing my on veggies, and Joe agreed to help with building a raised bed. Here he is marking out the area to dig up. I did a lot of the digging too, and I’m proud to say that I was much more able to do heavy labor after all the working out I’ve done the last six months or so.
Oh, look – another pair of socks. These are from my own handspun, and are super soft. I really hope they last. ‘Cause they’re awesome. Also, you can see Daisy trying to take over the picture there again in the corner.
I’ve got a spindle spinning project going in the background – I wanted to have one going for the many hours hanging in the backyard I’m expecting through the summer. This will be sock yarn, probably navajo plied for stripes. I’m well into my second spindle’s worth now, but I’m not really in a rush to finish it – this one is mostly about the process.
There have already been many hours playing out in the yard this spring – some with the neighbor kids. Here they are playing tag after jumping off their bikes. Sophie says she’s going to marry the boy on the left when they grow up.
We saw our first game at the Twins’ new stadium…
Here’s Sophie’s refusing-to-be-in-the-picture-with-Julie-and-Daddy look.
Here’s a closeup of the scarf I knit with one skein of the pretty yarn I spun up…
Here’s Sophie looking incredibly cute on the one day ever she actually agreed to let me braid her hair. Most of the time she insists on walking around messy, and I’m mostly not willing to fight her on it.
Here’s Sophie’s other teacher, wearing the scarf I knit for her. It turned out beautifully, if I do say so, and when I was spinning the yarn it spoke to me and told me that it belonged on Teacher Marjeane. I’m pretty sure she likes it.
Julie’s class had a crazy-cute concert – she’s in the back row third from the right of the kids standing up. The songs were hilarious, and Julie sang her little heart out.
I made strawberry pie with a chocolate crust. It was really good – so good that I made another one a few weeks later. And now we’ve discovered another fruit that Joe can’t eat any more. He’s allergic to most fruits and nuts.
I’ve been eating a lot more salads lately, and in order to stay motivated to eat salads, I’ve had to get creative. One of my favorites is baby spinach with goat cheese crumbles, craisins and pumpkin seeds with a little balsamic vinaigrette. So yummy! And it’s actually super-easy to throw together if the ingredients are in the house.
Here’s the pile of dirt we ordered to go in the new garden. I took this picture on Mothers’ Day, which is when we moved load after load from the driveway to the garden spot. I chose to spend my Mothers’ Day this way, and again felt really great to be able to do the work painlessly.
Meanwhile, the girls have started garden journals that we’re going to try to keep going over the course of the summer. They spent some time drawing pictures of the veggie seedlings waiting to be planted.
Here’s the garden right after we started filling it in. It looks totally different now – must take more pictures because now it’s full of little green things.
This is really cool. The girls gave me hanging flower baskets to put by the front and back doors for Mothers’ Day. Within a week, a momma robin made a nest and laid her eggs in the one by the front door. There are actually four eggs now, and we are doing our best to stay away from the front and let her have some peace. Watching this evolve is totally fun!
That’s a pretty good slice of what we’ve been up to. A lot of the energy that I might have put into the blog otherwise has been going into gym time lately. I’m still swimming laps twice a week, and take a spinning class one other day a week, and now I’m trying to get a run in once or twice a week as well. Just last week, I reached a huge weight-loss goal – I’m down 20 pounds! I feel great. I mean, really really good. I’m on my way to where I want to be, and I feel like the results so far are getting truly tangible. Call me crazy, but I’ve signed up for a two-mile swim around a local lake next month, and a sprint triathlon in August. I’ve got all kinds of motivation to keep working hard. The only down side is that I’m awfully tired at the end of the day, and sleep takes priority over playing on the computer. Sorry!
Alright, that’s it for this time around. I’ll be back. Sooner or later. Thanks for sticking around.
Last night I had the opportunity to take a class with Annemore Sundbo, from Setesdal, Norway. I’ve been an admirer of hers since her first book, Everyday Knitting: Treasures from a Ragpile came out in 2001. It’s an amazing book of history of the sweater tradition in her specific region of Norway. It sounds kind of dry saying it that way, but the book is pure eye candy and is filled with amazing photos of sweaters literally dug out of a pile of rags meant to be recycled.
Well, when I heard that the Yarnery was bringing her in to teach a class, I signed up immediately. I just wanted to hear her stories, see what she had to say in person, yadda yadda. I’ve never done much embroidery (aside from a few early forays into cross stitch), let alone considered working the fancy decoration on traditional Norwegian sweaters. Actually, I didn’t really realize that the trim on those fancy sweaters was hand-sewn embroidery – I guess I just thought it was fancy ribbon. D’oh. Still, I figured I’d take whatever class she was offering and go with the flow.
It was well worth it – I’m so used to being the expert teacher, it’s good to be the abject newby again. Not to mention that Annemore was very nice, and had some funny stories and new insight to offer.
First, let me show you what we worked on…It’s just a little pincushion design, but it was just the right size project for the time allowed. She started us off with little felted flannel squares, and some waste canvas to stitch on. We basted the canvas down, then started embroidering red triangles. This embroidery is a free-form art, and each piece is meant to be unique, but there are some strict rules. You have to start with the red triangles, and you have to two two reds for every third other-color triangle. Apparently the red stands for love.
I sat next to my friend and co-worker Peggy, who has done embroidery before. Her work was faster and a little neater than mine.
Annemore brought several beautiful samples with her, as inspiration…
Mostly samplers at different stages of completion, but really rich in variety and beautifully worked.
Apparently the little old ladies of Setesdal are very picky about the stitches and will not hesitate to tell someone that their stitches are not small enough, or not right altogether. Annemore said that one of her neighbors looked at a sweater she had copied from one of the originals dug out of the rag pile, and that the neighbor told her she’d done it wrong. When Annemore said, no, I copied it stitch for stitch from this sweater from 1869, the woman said “Well, they didn’t know the right way to do it back then.” It sounds very familiar to knitting culture I’ve seen much closer to home.
I got the obligatory visiting-knitting-celebrity picture with her (and in my spiral sweater to boot!)
Once we’d finished the triangles, we did an outline with stem stitch around the square, then a second time round the square – both in red. We took out the waste canvas, and then added in some more decoration. Mine still isn’t entirely done, but I can’t quite believe how pretty it is – mine’s the one on the bottom right – and how all of them are beautiful in their own unique way despite the similarities.
I’m considering possibly doing some embroidery for the sweater I just started, even though it is not going to be a traditional Norwegian style. We’ll see if I have the patience for it at the end of that project.
Oh! and one more tidbit about traditional Norwegian sweaters. I was asking Annemore about what technique is traditionally used for securing steeks in these sweaters, and she pointed out to me that mostly the bodies of them are machine knit – the people don’t want to spend the time hand knitting them, so they are worked in separate panels – usually a front and a back, and sometimes with separate side panels. A girl might get a traditional outfit for her confirmation, and then add in side panels if her size changes as she grows older.
Okay – hopefully I have time for a couple more round on the new sweater before I head off to bed!
The girls and I are cuddled on the couch watching the Olympic ski-cross after a late start this morning, followed by a heaping pile of french toast, the reading of the Sunday paper and simultaneous Polly Pocket play party. We’re all still in our pajamas, but we’ll get dressed in a while to head to the gym for a splash in the pool.
Meanwhile, I thought I’d share a few pictures from the week…
Julie continues her obsession with the PowerPuff girls. This is just a portion of the pictures she’s produced in the last several days. Some of these are pictures of people she knows as they would look if they were PowerPuff girls.
Julie lost a third tooth on Thursday. The tooth fairy made another visit to our house, leaving behind a special note along with the cash. A survey of moms I know led to the conclusion that kids these days are getting a dollar for each year of age when they lose the tooth. I think I got a quarter for mine! The notes are new to our family in this generation – our love for all things fairy around here must have attracted special attention.
Last night’s dinner was my version of bibimbahp – rice, bite-sized pieces of marinated beef, spinach seasoned with sesame oil, sesame seeds, and vinegar, stir-fried julienne of carrots, and fried eggs artfully arranged in a bowl for serving, then doused with gochujang vinegared chile paste sauce and mixed together for eating. It is easier to make than it sounds, tastes reeeeally good, and is fairly healthy. Best of all, the whole family loves it and eats the whole mess without complaining – veggies, meat, and all.
Daisy cat joined us for a good portion of the meal. She just sat there on her chair and watched us eat for a while. Ever since Harry passed, she’s gotten more and more brazen about meowing for food, and sometimes jumping on the table or countertops to see what she can find when she thinks no one will notice. She especially loves drinking out of abandoned water glasses, which means that we don’t leave them around as much, or at least make sure not to drink out of any we’ve ignored for long.
In crafty news, my sweater creeps slowly forward. Really slowly. As in, I love the way it’s looking, but there’s hardly enough knit yet to show off. All those teeny stitches means it takes about half an hour to finish just one teeny round. At least while watching Olympic coverage, that is.
I finished a pair of socks, but they aren’t blocked yet. I’ll show them off some time this week – my BIL Dave asked me to donate something to a charity auction his non-profit is hosting next month, and I sort of promised them to him. But I also warned him that if the price didn’t go high enough to satisfy me, I was going to buy them back. I mean, hello – the yarn alone is worth $20 and that’s not even counting the maybe 10-15 hours I put into them.
The next pop-tab bag is done as far as the crochet part, and I picked up the fabric I special-ordered for lining it, so I’ll probably be working on that some time this week as well. There has been spinning too – one new yarn is waiting to be washed, and another pile of roving is almost turned into singles. It’s going to be another busy week around here, but for now I’m going to read the comics to my kids and cheer on the athletes.
Last week, the swimmers took to the knitting like, uh, fish to water. Hahaha. Really, they did pretty well. And then some more people expressed interest in joining us. There was no question of whether we’d have another meeting this week. One of our members is allergic to cats, so we decided to choose another place besides my cat-infested living room. Coffee shops tend to be good places for knitting groups to meet, and a new-ish local spot came to my mind. Here’s today’s group at a big table right in the middle of the well-lit, open room.
Pretty much everyone managed a solid understanding of the cast on, knit and purl business, so our next meeting will involve starting some mittens. I feel so lucky to be teaching this enthusiastic group, and to be paying back a little bit of the support I’ve gotten in the swim club over the last few months. I know I’ve learned a lot in the pool – one of my friends was telling me how awesome I looked doing the butterfly on Tuesday, and I was all “Yeah, thanks!” And then one of the real athlete people turned and asked “With or without fins?” and I was all casually “Without.” Yay!
But back to the coffee shop/bakery business. Let me just say right now that I am in no way being reimbursed for what I’m about to say. I’m excited about this restaurant opening nearby, and would like to put a good word out for it because I want it to thrive. I’m a huge sucker for a really good pastry, especially with a really good cup of coffee. I’m also pretty darn picky about what I mean by really good, and this stuff qualifies for sure!
They do have yummy cookies, plus pastries of the flaky, buttery croissant and brioche varieties. mmm…. And lemon tarts and chocolate cakes for the slightly more special occasions….
A nice selection of artisan breads and rolls for those who prefer savory to sweet…
Just look at this beautiful loaf of bread! I wants!
The first time I went in this place was a few weeks ago on a weekday afternoon when I was out running errands while the girls were in school. I picked up a flaky thingie called Kouign Amann, which is apparently a traditionally french treat, and is a little crunchy on the outside, tender-chewy in the middle and just the right sort of sweet. I ordered a small coffee with it, and was surprised that I got to pick out a coffee from a little menu, then watch the barista grind beans just for me and brew a tiny little cupful of coffee just for me. It was nice.
They do soup and sandwiches, too. I haven’t quite gotten around to trying those yet.
Let’s have one last look at the chocolate cakes…mmm…
The staff was really nice today when I walked in and asked if we could take over their big table for a couple hours. Today I had a shortbread cookie with chocolate chips, and a fizzy water that they bottle themselves. It was good, although the cookie was rich enough that I managed not to eat the whole thing – I’m still trying to keep my sugar portions under control!
Alright, I hope I’ve tempted a few of you locals to go support my new favorite cafe/bakery – Rustica. It’s sandwiched between Punch and Barnes and Noble in that strip mall over sort of by where Lake Street splits from Highway 7 when you’re headed west. It’s just north of the strip mall where Chipotle and Whole foods are across from Lake Calhoun.
Catching up on the last of the Valentine’s Day celebration, I made chocolate-covered strawberries for the girls (okay, for me too!)
These are so easy – wash the strawberries, dry them well, melt chocolate chips in the microwave, dip the berries and lay on wax paper to cool in the fridge.
Trust me, they were good. The girls were very excited to surprise Daddy with cards we’d picked out a week before.
Simple and sweet. My own knitting continues here on the couch in front of the Olympics. I had a false start on the sweater and ripped back everything I showed in my Olympic picture the other night – I’ll have an update on the revised version in a day or two.
As usual, I have a bunch of bits and pieces to throw at the blog this Saturday morning. I got a new camera this week. A fancy new camera, indeed. It’s a Canon Rebel Xsi – my first official DSLR. I was sick of trying to catch shots of the girls doing cute things and having my stupid Elph catch the moment just *after* they did the cute thing. The final straw was Sophie’s birthday party at the bowling alley last weekend. Low-light situations seem to be the worst, and I had a hard time catching the action moments. This new camera seems to be better, and I think it will take better pictures of my knitting stuff too. In fact, I think I may be able to claim it as a deduction on my taxes towards my knitting business. We’ll see.
This is a small thing, but it makes me very happy. I finally bought a set of hooks to hang some of my bag collection on. They’d been hanging on the doorknob behind my office door, and that was a bad thing as they kept falling down, and the corner where the door opens is pretty small anyway, so it made coming through with large things like laundry baskets and giant boxes of pop tabs more awkward.
They look a lot better hanging on the wall as decoration. Unfortunately, I’m running out of wall space in here. It’s all covered in bookcases, hanging yarn, fiber-related tools and pictures, and general miscellanea. Ahem.
I found myself a brand new group of wanna-be knitters to teach. The group that I’ve been swimming with is really nice, and a few of them expressed an interest (ranging from slight curiosity to avid pleading) in learning to knit. I had them over on Thursday while the girls were both in school, and we made a beginning. They all learned how to cast on, and I think knit. Next time they will hopefully learn to purl and perhaps start some mittens.
They all look so diligent. One lady just had toe surgery “because she just couldn’t run another marathon on this toe!” and that was part of the impetus to start them knitting – to give her something to do while sitting with her foot up.
I know you are all sick of hearing how much my family loves swimming lately, but I had to take the new camera to the pool on Friday. It was the perfect opportunity to test shooting speed.
I got some good shots, and I was pleased with how the camera worked. These pictures look nice and bright, but I know from experience with my old camera that the lighting in the pool is really not that great, so I appreciate the new one all the more. I even managed to catch the moment when Julie jumped in and made a huge splash. I feel sorry for their teachers sometimes, with the way my girls splash in with such enthusiasm. The poor teachers are always getting an eyefull of water.
Both girls had Valentine’s parties at school this week. Both took in cards for their friends and both came home with piles of loot.
Actuall, Sophie’s teacher requested that we just send in cards and not all the other junque that tends to accompany valentines these days. I much prefer that, as it limits the amount of crappy sugar and useless gizmos entering our house. The kindergarten variety of valentines fell to the other end of the spectrum. We did not send in any junque – just the cards, thankyouverymuch.
And finally, the Olympics. The knitting-crazy among my readers already know all about the Ravolympics and the KnitOlympics. The rest of you will just have to puzzle in amusement or walk away. I’ve been trying to decide all month whether and how to participate in these events. I finally decided to participate sort of as an exibition sport. I’m not going for a medal, I’m just going to see how well I can do personally. I know there is no way I will finish this project by the time the torch goes out, but I will do my best to focus on just this one item during the games, and I did start it while watching the opening ceremonies.
Really, who could wait for the actual lighting of the torch to start knitting? Not me!
I’m off to take a shower, run to the yarn shop, and then get ready for a date with my husband this evening. I can hardly believe it that my darling, stoic husband came up with the idea, arranged for his parents to watch the girls, and set up the reservation all on his own. But he did. We’re going to a new-ish restaurant in town, and it should be nice to have a real dinner out with just the two of us. Happy VD!
What to knit next? That’s the big question rattling around in my brain. Mostly, I feel called to knit another sweater. I’ve gotten kind of used to wearing handknit sweaters after having indulged in knitting for myself more over the last couple years.
Here’s swatch number one. This is some of that giant pile of fingering-weight four-ply I spun up not long ago.
I’d really like to whip this up into a sweater, but with only 1500-odd yards of this yarn, I’m going to have to make it stretch if I want a sweater out of it. I’m swatching up a lace pattern I like, and mulling my options over. I know this would be plenty of yarn for a nice-size shawl, but I know I’d get a lot more wear out of a sweater than a shawl, no matter how nice.
Here’s option number two.
Sitting here looking at these pictures, this option is looking a lot more viable. The green yarn is leftovers from my Kauni spiral sweater. I happen to have a whole other pile of the stuff, in the rainbow colorway. The tan yarn is some alpaca that I bought at Shepherd’s Harvest last spring and spun up. I think it will tone down the crazy rainbow-bright vibe nicely. The bottom half of the swatch is with a bigger needle, and a bit loosey-goosey. The top half is just right gauge-wise, and I like the reversal of colors in the top half versus the bottom.
This project is going to take a little while, and it’s not exactly mindless knitting. I think a simple project on the side would make sense. So maybe both at once? I dunno.
I find myself still pondering my next move on the knitting front, although I’ve been working up some swatches, and my next step tonight is to chart out a couple lace patterns for another swatch.
For now, though, I’ve been spending my free time crocheting more pop tabs when I’m not enthralled with the spinning.
The thing about this little hobby is that once you understand how to crochet the little buggers together, you can make a bag of pretty much any size and shape. Especially if the shape is somewhat boxy. In this case, I’m copying the size and shape of a specific bag, and I’ll show you that later once the thing is closer to done.
You have to use a little imagination and have a lot of faith that really this might turn into something worth having.
Yeah, still doesn’t look like much, but you can start to see a deconstructed box, right? I have made a few more pieces and joined them together since these photos were taken. It still takes quite a bit of imagination, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to turn out okay now.
I think I learned a few things from the first two bags. This one is going to get more structural support to keep it from sagging. It’s also going to have some kick-ass fabric lining. I took a trip to the local big-box fabric store a while back.
Which leads to a funny anecdote:
Me: I’m headed out to the fabric store now.
Joe: So, how long do you think it’s going to take? An hour maybe?
Me: Uh, I guess it depends on how busy the store is?
This is funny because the fabric store is a good 15-20 minutes away. It was a Saturday, so I knew the store would be busy. Also, I had a magical picture of the fabric I wanted in my head, and it took me three wanders around the store and another half hour pawing through the special order fabrics to find the closest possible match. Plus, I was enjoying the first free moments by myself outside the house in a while, so I was not going to rush. I spent some time browsing the yarn aisle, picking out sewing notions, and dilly-dallying in general.
I ended up ordering some really cool fabric that I had to pay for in advance and wait at least two weeks to get, but when it eventually arrives, I’m going to have a one-of-a kind bag that will hopefully be really neat and upcycled and all that rather than just tacky trailer trash.
So there you go.