Some Christmas Knitting

Just because I haven't blogged in a couple months doesn't mean I haven't knit all during that time. Oh, no. I have been a knitting fiend. And I can prove it. Here are a few of the Christmas gifts I've knit so far:

The first is the Polarknits Skull Beanie. Am I allowed to say that I really liked the pattern, but the yarn, well, not so much? My fingers ached all through knitting this. What appealed to me about the pattern and the yarn was that it was bulky, therefore a fast knit, no? Well, it did go fast, along with my desire to knit for a few days. Still, Girlie looks fabulous in it, so all is not lost:
Dare I say that I'd love to knit this pattern again, just with another bulky weight yarn?

Now, if you've read my blog for any length of time, you know how my ZimDee loves fish. Little Sproutie has also developed a love for sea creatures from hanging out with his brother, yo. So out come the knitting needles, and pretty soon this takes shape:
What a silly looking little fish. My greatest accomplishment so far where this fish is concerned has been to keep it successfully hidden, hopefully until Christmas morning.
The pattern is Kureyon Carp. Sadly, I found no link to it out on the web, though you can find it on Ravelry. The pattern calls for the fish to be felted, but that's not really my cup of tea, so I kept it as is. I used Malabrigo Seleccion Privada yarn with some Fun Fur thrown in. Doesn't it seem almost like sacrilege to use Malabrigo and Fun Fur on the same project? But I think the boys will love it, and that's what counts.

By the way, the eyes are some buttons left over from my scrapbooking days. Guess when I gave up scrapbooking? Yep, when I started blogging. I realize now that this blog has become my scrapbook, and I get just as much pleasure (if not more) from looking at all the pictures and reading my old postings. Sometimes I surprise myself with what I wrote--I don't remember being so cheeky. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I cry, but always I smile.

It's great to be back!

Some Catching Up Before Moving Forward

I know it's time to start thinking about Christmas, and I am feeling the excitement of the season this year like I haven't for a while. But if you'll indulge me for a moment, I'd really like to show you how adorable my babies were this last Halloween. (yes, yes, I know it's December 1st, but sometimes you have to go backwards to move forward, know what I mean?)

Here they are in all their glory. My vampire Girlie, my penguin ZimDee, and my pirate Sprout:Next came time for the Annual Walk or Bike to School Day, and this year ZimDee was old enough to participate. He got to ride in tandem with Dad while Girlie rode on her own. The funny thing is, if you look closely you can see that ZimDee's little feet aren't even on the bike pedals. Apparently he just held on tight to the handlebars with his feet spread out on either side of the bike and kept instructing his dad to "Slow down!" Of course, when he returned home he proclaimed it the Funnest. Bike. Ride. Evar.
And more knitting to show. These are the Sweet Dreams socks from Dream in Color, knit in their Smooshy sock yarn in the Wisterious colorway. This sock now lives on the shelf at Twisted, the best little yarn shop in Portland.
I may have to knit a pair for myself one day.

Now, did I hear you say you wanted to see a close-up of that scurvy pirate? But of course:Aye, Avast! Um, I mean 24 days til Christmas!

As Promised...

Here are pictures of my babies' first day of school. ZimDee is now 6 and is in First Grade. His teacher is fantastic, and we are so happy that he will be in her class for Second Grade as well. He has really blossomed this year from a sleepy kindergartner to an enthusiastic first grader.

Girlie is now 11 and is in 5th Grade. We're very pleased with her teacher as well, and appreciate the fact that she is focusing on preparing her students for middle school next year. Be still, my heart.
I figured it out in my brain (I know! I'm so smart!) and realized that this will be the last year that Girlie will be in the same school as either of her brothers. The boys will go to school together, but not so my angel girl. It makes me a little sad, but she's ready to spread her wings.

Not to be left out, here is Sproutie with his Drammies on his first day of preschool:
He is becoming quite a little man. With him in preschool for two half days a week, I am finally able to volunteer in my older two's elementary classrooms, and I'm really enjoying it.

It took a few weeks for little Sproutie to build up enough stamina to stay awake on the ride home from school. Here he is after his first day:
(Notice he's still got his little backpack on).

Fall also brings with it Girlie's birthday. This year I tried to make a quadruple layer lemon cake with lemon frosting. It turned out more like something you might see in a Dr. Seuss book:
But it still tasted fabulous. Girlie didn't mind one bit.

And lest you think that I've forgotten that this is a knitting blog, here are some pictures of Knit Purl's first sock club project:These are called Andamento Socks and they are knit with Koigu yarn, in a specially dyed colorway called The Pearl. My love for Koigu yarn is well-known, so I was very pleased with this selection. The colors in these pictures do not do the yarn justice.
And notice the pretty decorative cuff. I knit these socks up in two and a half days, fueled by the emptiness of my house with all three children in school. It was just the project I needed to get me through those first quiet days.
Now things are not so quiet anymore. Here is why:
I just had to show you the new haircuts that these two hooligans got over Thanksgiving holiday. Aren't they getting big? Please, babies, don't be in such a hurry...

No, Your Eyes Are Not Deceiving You

I am finally updating my blog!

To ease into this slowly, I will start with where I left off. That would be the pink socks and the green sweater, both of which are now completed.

Here are the pink socks, knit with Lorna's Laces Flamingo Stripe on size 0 needles:This was the first pair of socks I knit using the two at a time toe up method. I've since cast on for two additional pairs (which are in time-out at the moment) and finished another pair that you will probably be seeing in publication before too long. I'm finding this technique to be much more useful than I expected it to be.

We also left off with the start of a green sweater, knit with Louet MerLin. Here it is on the finishing table:
And here it is in its completed form:
The pattern is Camellia by Kate Gilbert. The sweater now resides in the window of one of my favorite local yarn stores, Twisted.
I've enjoyed keeping up with all of you through your blogs. If you have missed me as much as I've missed writing, then it looks like the thing for me to do is to write more often.

During my unscheduled hiatus, I got my children safely settled into their new school year. Girlie is now in 5th grade, ZimDee in first grade, and little Sprout is now going to preschool two half days a week. This allows me to volunteer in the elementary school classrooms, which at first I found completely exhausting, but now I really look forward to it every week. I really like all of their teachers, and this is going to be another great year. Pictures of Sproutie's first day of preschool will follow in another post.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are looking forward to the magical Christmas season.

Knitting Progress and Dish Rag Tag Sign Up

I've been making great progress on my Flamingo Stripe socks that I'm knitting in my two at a time toe up sock class. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to miss the last class, so I read ahead in the book and was able to turn the heels by myself so that I'll be set up to learn the crochet bind off that will be covered when I'm not there.
I expected knitting two socks at a time to be fiddly, and it hasn't disappointed in that aspect, but just like motherhood, it is turning out to be funner than I anticipated. I don't know if every pair of socks I knit in the future will be done two at a time, but I will be using this technique more than I thought I would.

I'm doing a bit of test knitting too (you can go ahead and laugh).
This little green object will grow up to be a sweater someday.
I've been asked to knit the sweater with Louet MerLin, which is 60% linen and 40% merino wool. It's very slippery. The pattern called for size 4 needles, but I had to go down to size 1 to get gauge. Am I destined to knit with tiny skinny needles from now on? I hope not. Isn't it purdy so far?

Finally, sign ups for Dish Rag Tag start today. There are only 300 spots available this year, so if you want to have some fun, go now!
If you sign up, let me know what team you get assigned to so that I can root for you. See you there!

Fair Ribbonage and Some Hopscotch

So are you wondering how our entries did at the county fair? Because I'm here to tell you.

My red and white gull wing socks got 3rd place. Still a ribbon, no? They fared better than the face cloth, which is my first submission ever to not win a ribbon. I figured out the problem: I entered the cloth in the knitting: other than specified category, not realizing that that term is so broad that it encompasses, well, everything else. So the little face cloth, while cute and pretty, had to compete against a lot of unusual and gorgeous items. So I'm ok with that.

The jams fared better. Girlie won 2nd place for her raspberry jam, and I won 1st place. Here is Girlie standing by the jams, with the arrow pointing to her red ribbon. My blue ribbon is on the shelf below hers.
I'm so proud of you, Girlie!

Sunday morning ZimDee discovered some sidewalk chalk and made his way out to the driveway. When I followed him out there, this is what I saw:
I had no idea he knew about hopscotch. I asked how he learned about it, and he said his kindergarten teacher showed him at school. You will notice that each number is drawn in a different color. The boy's a genius, I tell you.

So me and my boys spent the morning playing hopscotch.
I hope your weekend was as wonderful as mine.