Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Yarn Along 9


I am not sure if it's just the second trimester energy bump or simple mania, but I have been a knitting/reading fool this week.

I just saw "The Hunger Games" at the theater (a trip to the movies without my toddler which was so, very, thrilling) and now that I have I feel comfortable reading on to the next books in the series.

I also have started one of those girly-feel-good-books.  I tried one a few month ago trying to make a story of strange women becoming fast friends all by being into yoga.  It kinda sucked.  This time I'm reading one about strangers becoming fast friends all by being into walking.  "The Wildwater Walking Club" is not that bad.  It's sorta cute and sorta annoying all at the same time.  My mother keeps getting me these books, so I'll keep reading them.  Even if they aren't the best.

In other news, after weeks of fighting with Interweave to send me something to me actual address instead of some random address they decided I must live at I finally got a copy of their Jane Austen 2011 special issue.  A lot of it is obviously warm weather stuff and I don't care.  I'm making every single thing in that magazine.  All 36 patterns.  (P.S. The articles are also really good if you're into the history of fashion and knitting.)

On the needles...what's not on the needles?  I still have the baby dress going.  Only 20 more rounds till it's finished.  I expect to bind off sometime tomorrow.  On Saturday my husband and I are hoping to go to a party themed around "white" so I made him a white superhero mask (just finished blocking it) and I'm making me a fascinator hat.

It's from an issue of "Knitting Today!"  I saw on ravelry that lots of people tried this pattern but got annoyed at the amount of i-chord it required.  I thought they were crazy.  Then I re-read the pattern:  4 yards of i-chord.  144 inches.  Ugh.  I'm 2.5 yards in and I am quite frankly sick of making i-chord.  And I used to think it was so much fun.  In other news...my toddler just LOVES playing with the yard stick.  So much so that when I use it to find out how far I've gotten she throws a huge fit.  Even if she wasn't playing with it at the time.  Mommy is not allowed to have the yard stick.

Other projects:  Practicing my crocodile stitch in crochet and attempting to put it over a paddle.  Working on two shawls, one in thread and one with said crocodile stitch.  And I decided to re-start the Jan Sweater in earnest...which I didn't do at all because I was making i-chord.  But I decided to be earnest about it.

I also discovered the "que" portion of ravelry, which means I have set up a bunch of new projects and designated my stash yarn to them.  Which is probably better than me just casting on another project...I'm planning to cast on another project.  However, it's not as satisfying.

So that's my crazy knitting mania week.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cravings

Yesterday I was asked if I had any crazy cravings during this pregnancy.  I wanted to give the funny story he was hoping to hear, but honestly I couldn't think of any cravings I had had yet.

I can think of some now.

I wanted pickles in the first trimester.  We didn't have any in the house though, so after Christmas when I had come home from seeing my parents my husband had stocked up on pickles for me...I didn't really want them anymore.

A few weeks ago I wanted Oreos.  I blame this on NPR which had a bunch of different shows run a story on how Nabisco had to find a new marketing strategy for Oreos in China.  Now it's a big cookie over there.  They talked about Oreos so much I wanted some for weeks, but held off because they aren't exactly the best snack.  I finally got a package, finished it off in a few days, and now I'm over it.

Yesterday I wanted Halo Halo (a Filipino desert).  The nice thing about living in Hawaii is that you can just get Halo Halo mix (dried fruits, beans, etc in syrup) at any supermarket.  Not only is it that easy to get it I actually had some in my pantry.  Even better.  I also found a package of pudding mix (my Dad always made Halo Halo with pudding instead of condensed milk - I like it that way better).  So, right then and there I craved a food and I could make that food.  The jar of Halo Halo even said "easy open."  Perfect.

It was not easy to open.  I spent 20 minutes trying to whack that thing open enough to turn it.  I finally gave up on the Halo Halo and had a peanut butter sandwich.

And here's the real problem with me having those typical crazy cravings and crazy times.  With Emily we were in Korea where my husband had a curfew at night.  It was an attempt to keep military members safe and out of trouble in a land of bars.  So if I did wake up at midnight and crave, say, ice cream - I was out of luck.  He couldn't go out and get me any.  I couldn't really either because a woman walking around Songtan alone at night is not-a-good-thing.

Now that we're in Hawaii there is no curfew anymore.  However, my husband works the wonkiest schedule ever.  Sometimes three days on, sometimes five.  Sometimes in the day, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes at night.  During the week.  During the weekend.  Sometimes he has to go in for 8 hours, sometimes it's 12 - usually it ends up 20.  So it sucks.  Bad.  I never know when he'll actually be home and I never know when he's home if he'll be awake.  And a wonky schedule with a tired husband and a crazy toddler means that half of my house is often off-limits just so he can get a little shut-eye.

So during my Halo Halo attempt he was actually home.  He could have helped me open the jar.  In a normal family he could have driven down the street and actually bought some real Halo Halo.  But he was sleeping because he had been out at 5am to 1pm and was gearing up for work starting at 8pm.  Incidentally, I'm writing this at 7am the next day and he's not home yet.

The thing I'm taking away from all this is it's exceptionally inconvenient to be pregnant when you're in the military, but if you are going to be pregnant - don't be typically pregnant.

I don't crave pickles and ice cream: I crave my husband.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Baby Alpaca!

I took a trip to Goodwill today.  I was in theory going there to find a large pot in order to cook huge amounts of pasta, but I like to look around and see what all is in there.  A few weeks ago when my parents where here we went looking for some clothes for my Dad.  While he got some shirts I found a skein of italian mohair for 99 cents.  Not a bad find, not bad at all.

Today, however I found a bunch of fun stuff.  Including, for 99 cents, two skeins of baby alpaca yarn.  It is so darn soft and lovely that when I brought it home I spent a good half hour stroking it and rubbing it against my cheek.  I would have rubbed it against my baby bump too...just to give the baby some alpaca yarn, except Emily started to get interested:

Yep, she loves it too.

We spent the rest of the afternoon alternately petting the nice yarn.  I have no idea what project this would be good for, but man is it nice to snuggle with now.

In other news the guy at Goodwill said that they had actually received four huge things of yarn.  I had cleaned out what was on the floor today (and picked up the mohair earlier) and he said there was more in the back.  They package this stuff in a weird way.  I had to buy some skeins of Sugar'n Cream in order to get both of the alpaca.  I also got some alpaca blends, and other pretties that I had to buy three bags to get the whole set.  I worry there may be more of this alpaca yarn in the back...waiting to be reunited with it's other alpaca friends.  Also, it'd be nice to have more than two skeins so I could have more project choices.  

Guess who is going to be haunting the Goodwill all week?  

Yarn Along 8


More Yarn Along!

I'm psyched!  The Bliss Dress I've been meaning to make for Emily is flying along.  I have about 30 more rounds before it's time to put on the straps and  convince her to model it.  After all those cables, just knitting and increasing is a breeze.  I'm liking how it's coming so far.

However, my ulterior motive for this dress has not panned out.  I bought this yarn originally for a blanket for my sister-in-law when she said she wanted yellow for her first child.  Then when it turned out to be a girl the colors changed to pink and brown and I was stuck with a whole lot of yellow, fingering weight, baby yarn.  I thought if I made a dress that should be made out of something thicker it'd use it up.  As you can see...it didn't even make a dent in one skein, much less the other four.

I need a new project.

I think I'll survive.

For reading it's pretty simple: I haven't.  I've cleaned.  I've knitted.  I have not read.  My book club is coming up and we are reading "Attachments" by Rainbow Rowell.  I was super excited by this because it's finally a book that isn't depressing or about a post-apocalyptic world which has been our theme for the past few meetings.  But I've just learned I have a military meeting I have to go to on book club night. It has taken the wind out of my reading sails.  Sigh.

At least I have extra baby yarn.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Knitting keeps me from unraveling

Judging by my last few posts, all yarn-alongs, the most interesting part of my life is currently my knitting.  Or rather the most enjoyable part.  I'm completely, totally, addicted to my knitting right now.  

A few weeks ago I told my husband I was getting depressed.  Either left overs from 1st baby PPD or a new beginning of 2nd baby PPD or it could be pregnant-lady hormones.  Whatever it is I'm slipping into the sad world.  It doesn't help that my husband's current schedule is really crummy.  5 days on at various times (Midnights, Afternoons, Early mornings, you name it) and then 2 days off.  Then 5 days on.  Then 3 days off.  Then another switch.  And another change.  When he isn't working he's sleeping and that means I'm awake with the baby alone - even when he's here.  

I'm lonely.

I'm depressed.

I'm pregnant.

I'm a little cranky.  

So one particularly bad day when I was lonely, sad, and had run into some real ugly in a person I don't really like I picked up my sticks and made a ball gag:

I'm calling it the STFU gag and it's for people who quite frankly need to, you know, STFU.

I felt better.

Then I casted on a baby blanket.

And a shawl.

And some odds and ends.

Then I bought some clearance yarn.

And I took some yarn off of someone else's stash.  

Then I did it again the following week.

I do a little work around the house and I then I search for patterns I want to make.  When I find one's I like I cast them on.  If I can't cast on right away I will go through my yarn and plan when I will cast on.  The other night I dreamt about some soft yellow yarn.  

When my parents came to visit I found myself grumpy again.  I was getting whined at by all the people in my house from age 18 months to 66 years and I was not happy.

So I casted on another project.  And I finished it in four days.  As soon as they left I spent the day cataloging my entire stash.  Today I took pictures of it, you know, for cataloging purposes.

I might be a little crazy over my yarn.  And my knitting.  And some crochet.  But at least I'm not feeling sad.

Proof?  The other day my husband said "You're handling that depression really well."  I responded "I have really pointy sticks."


Yarn Along 7



 I looked at my Ravelry page yesterday and noticed that I have four WIP's.  That I've documented.  I just like variety.

This is a project I casted on a few months ago, before Emily and I got sick, then sick again, then sick some more.  I actually think it's worse than that, I started this before I got pregnant.  It's a dress for Emily and it's very cute, but I'm using fingering-weight yarn for it and the cables and such are a pain to do.  Very slippery.  I am at the point where I only have three more rounds to do of the bodice and then I start on the skirt which is just increases and knits.  Over and over.
Yes, the bodice is short.  My kid is a toddler.  My Mother is appalled!

The book is "The Knitter's Life List"  I just got through the yarn section and now do indeed have a life list of fibers I want to play with.  Pineapple anyone?  Musk ox?  Yes please.  I've always wanted to cuddle with a musk ox.  

Actually, I've never been a fiber person before.  I tried to be practical.  I like to make clothes and I don't like to hand-wash them so I stuck to acrylics and cottons.  An occasional wool here and there.  Honestly, I mostly liked baby yarn - it's always care friendly and soft.  But now I am really into other types of fibers and yarns and getting into designer things like that.  Which is terrible.  You don't find that kind of stuff at Wal-mart.  The other day my husband asked if he could spend $160 on a hobby of his.  I shrugged and told him that I had spent $20 on yarn that week so he should be able to buy what he wanted.  If I get into fancy yarn my splurges probably won't be $20 anymore.  (Though I did find a skein of mohair for $0.99 at Goodwill this week.)

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Yarn Along 6


~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~


I've been busy fighting off the depression monster.  My main weapon of choice has been crafting.  I've been bouncing between tons of projects:
I told myself I would never knit another blanket.  I prefer to crochet them.  But I couldn't pass up this little number and when I found the Cheerful Blue Giggle Yarn on clearance it just seemed right.  I mean, it's made of Cheerful Blue Giggle yarn!  This is a spiral pattern baby blanket, super easy.  I started it last Thursday and am already quite far with it.  So far that I am considering doing fancy things to it like line it with cheerful fabric in the back and add rainbow colored fun yarn all around the edges.  New baby should be quite pleased.  


"Dragonwyck"  is the novel I'm knitting along too.  It's been raining like crazy here in Hawaii so a dark, gothic novel full of silly young women and brooding men seemed the ticket.  But so far it is far less depressing than "Wuthering Heights" and that's helpful.  


That's all.  Brooding novels and blue giggle yarn.  Take that depression!