She likes it...

...she really likes it!! And it doesn't even have a thumb or mate yet.

I am knitting Eunny Jang's Anemoi Mittens for Muffy. The yarn is Louet Gems fingering weight superwash merino in Grape and Citrus Orange. I told her that I was going to knit mittens for her as an early birthday present, but I wanted the design to be a suprise.

There is some history involving Muffy, mittens and moi.

Many years ago during a period of unemployment I decided to make all of my Christmas presents. That included a pair of lovely navy and red Norwegian mittens from Flying Geese & Partridge Feet by Robin Hansen for Muffy, then 9 years old. The mittens were lovely and a triumph considering they were my first time knitting on double points, first time knitting fairisle, and at the time I did not know how to knit continental, so both strands were carried in one hand.

My good friends will know that even with all of that, the ending was not as happy as it should have been. She unwrapped them Christmas morning, loved them, tried them on. They were HUGE. Nothing like giving a nine year old a pair of mittens that would not fit for ten years. Saddly, now that they would fit perfectly, no one knows where they are.

So, with history...and my gauge issues only being marginally better, I decided to forgo suprise and make sure that they would fit. The fit is great and she loves the design and colors. Who said history is doomed to repeat itself?

Had to include this picture of pretty little Toscabelle. She was sitting in the window watching the little boy across the street try to skateboard. I swear I heard her giggle when he wiped out.

Rich

I am a very lucky person. I own a lovely home...dominated by two loveable cats. There is a job that does not often spill outside the company doors and pays the bills. I have three wonderful parents and a little sister I adore. Beloved gadgets fill my purse and my apartment is overflowing with beautiful things.

But my life is richest in the wonderful women who are my friends. While some of my other friendships have been tested and wounded me lately, you have all rallied around me and lifted me up. I love you all.

Today we gathered together at the Ten Stone...Sherry, Magda, Regina, Marissa, Emily and Mindy...

there were matching cabled berets...thank you Sherry, for letting me knit mine in the same color as yours, then rescuing me when I was short on yarn. Now there is a true friend!

Lots of yummy food was consumed, washed down by ciders and beers.

And even a little knitting was accomplished...loving these socks!

Comfort

What is comfort on a cold grey dismal Philadelphia Saturday?

Muffy and I headed down to the Reading Terminal Market today for brunch/lunch. They were having a special event called the "Souper Bowl."


We drifted around and tried some of the yummy free samples, had some soup... ok, but something was missing...

apple dumplings from the Dutch Eating Place. Amazingly there were two seats available at the counter. We hopped up on stools and split a warm apple dumpling with heavy cream (yes, that sound you hear is my arteries clicking shut!) Now, this is comfort food.

Comfort also comes in the form of yummy knit wear.

These are Pear Tree's Crocodile long fingerless gloves, knit in their divine 4-ply merino. The only mods I made to the pattern was to knit them in the round, and the length of the hand and thumbs. My hands and fingers are rather short so they would have been way over the tips of my fingers if I followed the pattern.

So many of my sweaters and tops have 3/4 length sleeves, so I always have a drafty gap between my gloves and sleeves. No more...these fill the gap perfectly. And they are uber toasty and comfortable. Thank you marveous Magda for getting me hooked on these gloves and lending me the pattern.

Hope you all had a Saturday of tasty treats!

in the 'burgh

I spent this weekend in Pittsburgh with my father, celebrating his retirement. Free at last, free at last....

Our first stop was the exhibition of Dale Chihuly's art glass at the Phipps Conservatory. I expected to be impressed by this exhibition, but I my jaw dropped to my knees before even entering the building. This amazing chandelier was glowing into the night through the glass dome over the visitors' center.

What I didn't expect was that the glass would be so beautifully integrated throughout the conservatory. Every room but one very formal garden room had installations of glass. Each item carefully placed by Chihuly and his team. An employee of the Conservatory told me that it took eleven days and a ten man team to do the installation of the exhibit. I think this huge Fiori was one of my favorites. The scale of some of these pieces is really impressive.

If the exhibit weren't closing this weekend, I'd encourage everyone to hop a plane to Pittsburgh. A special thanks to Gryphon's Feather's posting that brought the Chihuly exhibit to my attention.

The Phipps was a big part of my Pittsburgh childhood. My mom would take me once a year to roam the gardens. It was particularly magical to me in the winter...surrounded by lush greenery, flowers and warmth.

Another important part of my childhood was the Carnegie Museum and its collection of dinosaurs. As I remember it from my memory, it was a cold stark white marble hall packed with dinosaurs. The new dino exhibit is in a much expanded space and they have plenty of room to separate the bones by period. The exhibit has all the interactive bells and whistles to round it all out. Saddly the T-Rex is still being put back together, so I couldn't visit my old friend. The most impressive thing about the new exhibit is the new armatures for the fossils. They have managed to construct them so they are as unobtrusive as possible.

We made a stop that was not part of my nostalgia tour, but will be a sure visit for all future trips, Pamela's P&G Diner. The pancakes were thin, crispy and divine. Thinking about them is making me drool. They have a bunch of locations in Pittsburgh, skip the long lines in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, head straight for the Strip District where there are two larger rooms with tables. Thank you Christine for insisting that I have breakfast there!!!

B is for Basil

I love Edward Gorey's Gashleycrumb Tinies, but that isn't the Basil I'm thinking of.


This Basil is a baby blanket designed by Courtney Kelley of the Smith Island Pattern Factory. I knit this beauty out of Koigu KPPPM. This colorway is so scrumptous I almost unraveled the blanket to make a shawl for myself.

Basil was knit for the brand-new son of one of Muffy's bestfriends. It was a good deal, she handed over the cash, helped pick out Koigu in a color combo I loved, and I got to knit a pattern that interested me. This was my first experience knitting lace with Koigu. The knitting is fabulous, but the blocking really elevated the WOW factor of the blanket. It in no way resembles what the mother thought was a baggy lace beret when I was knitting at the shower.

Want an easy lace knit? Go with this baby! I wish I had taken pictures of the binding...a K1, K2tog row at the fold makes a lovely picot edging. The bind-off is fiddley but takes care of the hemming at the same time as the bind-off. The binding makes an edge with just the right weight...don't skip it!

A Blue Period

When I was much younger and I would tell my mother I was depressed. She would tell me I wasn't depressed, just in a funk or feeling blue. Now I know that I really was suffering from depression. At the moment, I really am feeling blue. Not to worry my friends...spirits are high, but the knitting is blue! Juliet has staged a comeback and is at the same place we left her before frogging (I'm still a little dizzy!)

I was on a real finishing kick, but last night I succumbed to the need for more variety in my life. I swatched...I know, hard to believe, but I did. First I swatched for Gretel on 7 DPNs. The yarn is uber lovely Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran. My gauge looked a little off and no 8 DPNs, so I put that aside until knitting circle, when I could take some 8s for a test drive.

Not to be discouraged, I pulled out my Pear Tree 4-Ply Merino and knit another gauge swatch for the Crocodile long fingerless gloves. That was a bust, went up a needle size and voila! Cast those puppies on and started knitting while watching the CA Super Tuesday returns. I am loving these!! One of the best things about this yarn aside from the beautiful sheen and amazing softness is the slubbies that occasionally pop up and add some character.

What else put a big grin on my face? Being awarded this by Andrea, my favorite frogger...

The rules are to give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about Blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times!

Here are the 10 people that make my day or inspire me:

Marissa, Sherry, Jan, Dacia, Wendy, Emily, Kate, Jennifer, Carol

And of course right back at you, Andrea!

Brunch is calling

There are few gatherings that I enjoy more than weekend brunches with friends. This afternoon Marissa, Madga and Moi hit up A Full Plate Cafe on Liberty Walk in NoLib....YUM.

So, my phone has a crush on Magda's phone; it calls her all the time. It called her phone today while we were having brunch. Last weekend when Magda couldn't have lunch with Mindy, Marissa and myself, my phone called her's 23 times and left voice mail messages that were little snippets of our luncheon conversation. Almost like being there if you listened to all the messages. Yup, there is a little stalker activity going on here.


Full Plate is so cute and the food is really delish. The real winner was the Cinnamon Bobka French Toast, OMG...so tasty.

I showed off my finished Endpaper Mitts. Don't they look fab? My only disappointment is that I took so long for me to finish them. Once I got past my past my completely irrational phobia of all things Kitchner, I was good to go. Mitt #2 was knit in a flash!

And do you see there to the right, part of Marissa's waffles with banana cream, strawberries and coconut?

Not much left when the feeding frenzy was over...just a lot of laughter. Good times, my friends, good times!

A Tragic Tale

...okay, not so tragic.

Basil is finally finished and ready for blocking. I'll post pictures when it no longer looks like there is a boob in the center. It was time for me to get back to knitting something for me, about damn time! Even though beautiful Debbie Bliss silk alpaca arrived to knit Gretel, I resisted casting on something new.

I have lovely items already on needles. First I picked up my Endpaper Mitts. They had stalled right at the Kitchner/Tubular cast-off on the first mitt. I turned on the high power magnifying lamp, pulled up the tutorial on-line, gritted my teeth and plunged in. It was a bit painful but I got through it. Then I knit and cast off the thumb. And spured on by my success I cast on for the second mitt. Yes, the Italian Tubular Cast-on, which was not so difficult this time, only four or five false starts. Now I am happily cranking my way through mitt #2.

Saddly, when I picked Juliet back up, the results were not so happy. Andrea told me to make the large, but I think I had already cast on for the XL. At knitting circle, only about 20 garter ridges in, I decided to try it on and make a decision about whether to make the longer or cropped version. Everyone agreed that it was too big...sigh. I stood with it draped around my shoulders while Andrea cranked the ball winder. Back to the start...rats....rats...rats!

Thank you, Andrea for being so gentle. What a good bud.

Kitchy Kitchy Koo

Baby super-model, Clyde, prenatally known as Flippy the Bean, graciously modeled my latest baby knits for me. I have hit yet another baby boom -- something in the water 9 mos. ago --thank heavens I was only drinking cider then!

These little hat and mitt sets are seriously the cutest and fastest baby gift around. The little hats are Lisa Myers' James Dean hat knit on 2s using Koigu mill ends. The pattern calls for Noro Kureyon. Clyde's father, Max, was the first to monkey with the gauge and come up with this adorable hat.

The only downer on the hats is the provisional cast-on and 52 stitches worth of Kitchner stitch. Yes, I just said 52 stitches. Before these baby hats my only use of the dreaded Kitchner stitch was 10-12 stitches worth on the toe of a sock. Every single time I have had to call up the tutorial and scroll through picture by picture. Now, 3 baby James Deans completed, I have mastered the Kitchner stitch...even walked away from the laptop and grafted away while watching TV.

I can tell that you are incredibly impressed. Ppphhht...I was.

The adorable little mitts are designed by my very sweet friend Emily. The pattern is posted here. These whip up in no time at all. The only thing that was not super fun about these were the laces...14 inches of i-cord on 0's. I did manage to survive and it was not too tedious.

These sets are gifts for twins Reno Jr. and Sarah Jo, and Tucker. Welcome to the world precious little ones!

Basic Sock?

Who said that stripes aren't flattering on short fat feet? This was my first ever test knit for Madelinetosh's Simple Socks. I am a very bad test knitter and just reported my results oh so very late. Sorry, Amy!!

These uber comfy socks were knit in Trekking XXL on size 1 DPNs. The socks could use a bit more negative ease. I am not sure if the fault lies with my measurements, gauge, the yarn etc. They are however really comfortable.

And they are loud, definitely the loudest pair of socks made to date. And I only possess one other skein in my stash that comes close to competing.

Any one have a suggestion for this skein of STR? I think it may be too wild for a pattern to show well. What was I thinking? Regina, you may be replaced this year as my Maryland Sheep and Wool shopping chaperone.

I'm just sayin'...

So Kool

...Koolhaas that is. My Christmas knitting is finally done and gifted. And it is only mid-January. I may be a little a head of my norm here.

Years ago I knitted a fleet of scarves for my friends as Christmas presents. Harold got a quilted flag wall hanging instead. He loved the flag, but I know he has always been wondering when I was going to knit something for him.

This year I knit the boys (Harold and Pedro) the hat du jour, Jared Flood's Koolhaas from IK's holiday edition.

This was a super quick knit, even with the pesky cable needle. I tried doing without the cable needle and have arrived at the conclusion that I am either missing something important in the tutorials, or it is just as easy to do it with the cable needle.

I knit the hats with Berrocco's Peruvia. This was my first time knitting with this yarn and I absolutely loved it. The yarn is nice and soft for a hat, not itchy and the boys said they were really toasty and comfortable. The colors were lovely too, with lots of dimension and interest. Stitch definition was also really good.

The only thing I was not completely thrilled with is that they were a bit long. I should have done 4 repeat rows instead of 5 that the men's size calls for. The boys loved their hats though and that is what matters most.

A Confession

Last Saturday, at Allison's Knit 'n Knosh, I confessed to one of my more egregious knitting offenses. In my own defense it was committed during college and that would have been in the early 80's. (I know, I know, I don't look like I could possibly be that old. You are so sweet to say so.)

This was one of the last sweaters I ever knit. And beside my gauge issues, there were techniques I now know that would have improved the sweater's technical merit. In retrospect nothing could have helped the design. It was a Vogue pattern and back then I considered any criticism of Vogue to be a heresy. I also know now not to spend a fortune and lots of time knitting an uber-trendy sweater.

The sweater was knit in an aran weight cotton. It was a very long (mid-thigh) vest with a very deep v-neck and long armholes. The main color was a hideous mustard/gold with... wait for it... wait for it... large scale intarsia tropical fruit on it. Yup, I knit a vest with a half a ruby-red grapefruit on my left boob and a banana cradling the right boob. A lemon, a lime and an orange segment rounded out the fruit salad. And I thought I was the shit in this thing!

Of course to finish the outfit, there was a white Petite Bateau t-shirt, white leggings and thrifted hot pink alligator low heeled pumps. Alison asked me if there was a belt involved...there wasn't...my grandmother always taught me a proper lady gets totally dressed and takes one thing off. It should have been the sweater vest. Atleast my hair was not huge, thank heavens for some shreds of good taste.

Oh, I wish I had a picture for you...I should have had Marissa sketch it for me...but I know that you all have vivid enough imaginations to make up for this short coming.

Catching up on Christmas

I wanted to share with my friends a little of the Christmas tree at my parents. Our tree is of the highly eclectic variety. My mother was quoted as saying this year, "There is always room on the tree for 10 or 12 more (ornaments)..."

The felt Lucy...one of the first indications of the crafty greatness yet to come in my future. The whole Peanuts gang is on there, in various stages of coming unglued. I think there will have to be a serious Elmers glue intervention in the near future. I love that Muffy and my childhood art projects still take center stage on the tree.

Below Lucy is Mother Jones in a Santa hat holding a tree. We have three of those on our tree- got to have Mother Jones!

These vintage paper mache ornaments are part of my earliest Christmas memories. They are signed De Sela. I have seen other ornaments by this artist on eBay, but none as cute as the ones we have. When it comes time to divy up the Christmas ornaments there could be war, thank heavens some of them are doubles. This little doodlebug is my favorite!

Maybe I'll let Muffy have this little grasshopper?

Angels and snowmen are multiples, so we each get one!

There is this sweet little worm munching on watermelon and another little worm chomping on a juicy pear.

A real struggle may occur over the little orange angel. My mom thinks she is ugly and has been trying to get rid of her; Muffy and I adore her. The only reason she still makes an appearance each year is because Muffy and I dig her out and plunk her down in the middle of mom's angel collection on the piano. I will try to be generous and share.

It is hard though...my mom and dad bought those ornaments when I was a baby. It is really one of the few times I differentiate between my family and hers. For 14 years these ornaments were my childhood and mine alone. But they have been on the tree for her whole life too, so...she can have a snowman and a little angel and we'll see where we go from there.

Here's mom, aka Jeannie, showing off her Pomatumus socks knit from the lovely sock yarn from Yarn Pirate. Fortunately the fit is perfect, cause I'd hate to knit them again!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas...that all your knitted gifts were met with delight...that Santa brought lots of knitting paraphenalia...and stockings were stuffed with cashmere not coal!

Cheers to us all having a happy, healthy new year!!!

Herringbone Happenings

...and happiness...my December has been all about herringbone. Embarrassingly, it took me a bit to realise that my two big Christmas knitting projects were the same stitch, oy. (Are you allowed to have Christmas and oy in the same sentence?)

I am knitting the My So Called Scarf for my uberfabulous handyman, Bill. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Bullfrogs and Butterflies in the Tuscany colorway. It is doing a pretty good faux argyle, which has kept up even though I have two skeins in here. I was so worried that it would stop when the first skein ran out. Love the pops of bright blue that will compliment his baby-blues.

Second up are the Charade socks for my also uberfabulous stepdad, EB. These are knit using Schaefer Anne in Mr. Greenjeans (love the name almost as much as the colorway!) This is the first time I am using Anne for socks and the fabric on ones is wonderful. These are going to be some toasty socks.

Last night I called my mother for a quick size check on leg length. Serendipity struck and I was just where I needed to stop for the ribbing. I love those moments...really love them...those socks were taking forever to knit. Hopefully tonight I'll get to switch the status to finished on Ravelry! I'll post finished pics when EB models them on Christmas morning.

Now, on to why I was being such a dip and not realizing for so long that herringbone had taken over my life. The stitch pattern is written differently on the two projects.

My So Called Scarf's line one of the repeat reads: *sl 1, K1, psso but before dropping the slipped stitch from the left needle, knit into the back of it*

And Charade's line one repeat is *sl1 purlwise, K1, YO, psso knit stitch and YO*

In my humble opinion the Charade version is much easier to understand and faster to knit. Since I have switched to that version, my scarf is growing much more quickly. I might even have all of my Christmas knitting off the needles on time. How could that happen?

Beatrix Again

My second Beatrix is all finished and ready to be mailed off to baby Alejandra. I am so happy with how she turned out, just lovely. Of course, this one I knit and frogged, and knit again because my gauge was horrifically off. Quelle suprise...

Knit in gorgeous Koigu this is my second Beatrix. I must confess that this was a happy knit because I got to use a non-traditional pallet for a baby girl. Alejandra's mommy is a decidedly unpink girl, so there were no thoughts of pink or pastels for Alejandra. I love the little teacup button closure.

I knit this adorable stripy beret out of the left over yarn. It was part of the bundle that I donated to my church's Harvest Festival. Another mutual friend of her mommy was shamelessly talked into buying the beret as a gift for Carmen, the mom, so they could have a "mommy and me" moment. I am so ashamed that I convinced him to buy it...I cannot see Carmen ever wearing it. Oh well, it was for charity....hehehehe.

Oh, and I had my first sale on etsy! Yippppeeee!!! I wish I had a beret to toss in the air...

Back from the West

Back from another Thanksgiving in Nevada at my uncle's. It was a very lazy vacation with a lot of lounging, reading and knitting. I finished off the last book in Dorothy Dunnett's series, House of Niccolo. It has taken me a long time to read all eight books and I took even longer with the last book, making it last. Anyone want to have the books to read? They are a great time for any history buff...and they are taking up half a shelf in my closet...really, does anyone want them?

Much progress was made on EB's Christmas socks and the scarf I am making for handydude, Bill. Of course a lot of that progress was made while sitting in the Phoenix airport for eight hours waiting for clearance to take off on the way home.

New additions have been made to the Johnson menagerie. This is India, named for the tawny spot on her forehead that looks like a bindi. Like all kitties she is by turns sweet, wild and ferocious. Its been a while since I was this scratched up and infatuated.


India is not the only new member; there is also Meaghen, who would not sit still long enough for a photo. All were a blur of reddish gold fur. She is a golden retrevier who looks and acts more like a dippy Irish Setter. She has all the potential to be a wonderful dog if anyone had the time and energy to train her.

This beatiful, but dusty boy is hopefully going to be the next member of our family. He doesn't have a name yet. He just showed up in my uncle's drive way and hopped up in his lap when he opened the car door. The cat looks a lot like my uncle's old kitty Midnight. Midnight was the love of my life...you know how I love black cats.

The Friday after Thanksgiving all the lights start popping up in Carson City. This Wal-Mart inspired gem was down the street from my uncle. Wish I had taken the time to learn how to use the movie feature on my camera so I could have captured the Muzak Christmas music that was being broadcast into the night.

This house was nothing when compaired to one of the houses in Virgina City. Saddly I did not have my camera with me to capture the splendor. They had not one, but a dozen blow-up snowmen and other important Christmas figures like Tigger and Pooh. There were prancing light-up reindeers, several Santa's workshops, old fashioned plastic choir boys and more.

Best was the nativity scene with the light-up baby Jesus. Boy, was that kid throwing off some serious lumens!

Our one field trip was to Truckee, CA. A very cute little tourist town, with the standard gift shops and a candy store that was blowing the most intoxicating chocolate aroma into the night air. My fat cells started to sing with glee with one whiff and positively danced after a cup of their hot chocolate.

The sky that evening was so cool looking. A bank of dense clouds where hovering just over the ridge of the Sierra Nevadas, a last bit of light shining through the break.

Imagine my surprise when I tried a different setting on my camera and captured all these "little folk" skiing on the hood of this wagon!

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving with lots of turkey, trimmings and minimal family disfunction.