URL ABC Meme

These are my URL ABCs:

• A is for alison.knitsmiths.us/ - Blue is for knitting
• B is for boston.com/ - Boston you're my home
• C is for cnn.com/ - This is CNN
• D is for defectiveyeti.com/ - One funny guy
• E is for educause.edu/educatingthenetgen/ - Kids today...
• F is for fodors.com - Don't remember visiting this, but I went to high school with two Fodor kids
• G is for grumperina.com/knitblog/ - Funniest, grumpiest grad student and knitter in Cambridge
• H is for howstuffworks.com/ - What it says
• I is for imdb.com/ - Surprisingly central to my life
• J is for jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/blogshop/archives/000062.html - Ed Tech stuff
• K is for knitty.com/ - Gettin Knitty wit' it
• L is for latimes.com/ - I think I read something from the sports page here
• M is for marthas.blogs.com/massknitting/ - Want to knit in Mass? Start here.
• N is for news.bbc.co.uk/ - When you need an international perspective
• O is for oreillynet.com/mac/ - For work
• P is for pbskids.org/ - La la la la...PBS Kids!
• Q is for I had no Q
• R is for redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=78995&format= - Curse reversed
• S is for salon.com/index.html - My daily read
• T is for travelocity.com/ - Cheap tickets to Florida during school vacation week? I think not.
• U is for I had no U
• V is for versiontracker.com/ - Software stuff
• W is for web.mit.edu/ - Where I work
• X is for Nope, no X either
• Y is for yahoo.com/ - Thought maybe it would be Yarn Harlot, but no.
• Z is for zones.com/Mac_Zone/ - Frankly I think my husband went to this one.

Irene Cara got nuthin' on me

Fame! Our Sunday knitting group was a front page article (with photos) in the Somerville News last week. Included is a photo of yours truly and R playing his Gameboy. There's also a photo labelled as me but that is actually Julie. Someone once thought we were sisters, nope. We're sistahs in knitting though.

Just got back from a week in Florida, and not much knitting to report. I finished a sock for my mom using the Inox needles that Grumperina ordered for me, and made some progress on a sock for me. Haven't touched the Shapely Tank, but I did swatch for a Pinup Queen. Sadly, I can't get gauge using the sale Dale Svale (I should listen to Dick Dale while I knit it?), so I'm trying to rewrite the pattern. I did about half of the rewriting last night before my brain became too tired for math. The Svale is 5.5 stitches per inch and the pattern yarn calls for 5. I could just try and make the largest size PQ but that might be cutting it close. Or I can make life easier and just make a Rosebud.

Although I didn't knit much in Florida I did get to peruse my mom's knitting books. My daughter was enthralled with the Minnowknits, Too book - she constantly wanted to look at the photos of all the kids in it, especially the babies. She pointed to every cute little face and exclaimed "beebee!".

Cable trim raglan

After a weekend of sunny, 60+ degree weather, a cold snap means I can wear my newly-finished cable trim raglan today. I bought the pattern from the Patternworks catalog. It was billed as a top-down raglan, and I naively assumed that the top-down part included the cables on the neck, cuffs and bottom, but no. It is basically a pattern for a top-down raglan in bulky yarn (written for Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande, I used Lana Grossa Due Chine), with cable trim worked separately and then sewn on - sorry, the photo is lousy...get a real camera, I know:



I liked learning how to do the top down part, but I think sweaters in bulky weight are not particularly flattering on me. But, the sweater is cozy and theoretically machine-washable, so I'm happy. I don't think I did the neck quite right - I have to adjust it a bit to get an appealing funnel neck thing happening. Either I made the neck trim too long (instructions were very vague) or the yarn is different enough that it doesn't drape as much as the Alpaca Grande. And I made roughly five feet of cable trim, in installments. I will posit that cables are the Rice Krispie Treats of knitting - ridiculously easy to make, but with an end result that looks both better and more difficult than the effort involved.



Now I'm moving on to a Shapely Tank to use up the Filati Must from my stash. It'll probably be a heavy tank, but it's an excuse to learn short-row shaping. And I ordered some Dale Svale from the Webs sale - in pink! My husband picked out the color for me - I rarely wear pink. I will use if for either Rosebud from Knitty or Pinup Queen from Stitch&Bitch.

Mommy, stop knitting please

is what my daughter Z (almost 18 months) tried to say the other day. I was sitting beside her on the couch while she was engrossed in Teletubbies and I worked on her brother's second yellow sock. Suddenly a small person straddled my lap and put her forehead against mine, giggling. I gave her a biiiiig hug, being careful not to poke her with one of the double pointed needles. The yarn got a little tangled, but who cares? Then we played "Trot, trot to Boston." It was really sweet.
A recent post by Dooce made me realize I need to remember these moments.

Much to R's delight, I finished the yellow socks after he and Z went to bed. Upon presentation the next morning they immediately went onto his feet so no photo yet.

On the needles: cable trim for the raglan sweater (actually, I wore it Sunday without the bottom trim - I'm getting a little tired of the cabling), hoodie for my daughter (front almost done - not in any rush), and about an inch of some socks for me in Fortissima Disco Colori that Alasdairgifted me at our yarn swap.

No longer secret...

So my "secret project" was a felted Buttonhole Bag for my friend Stacy, whose birthday is tomorrow (head on over to Stacy's Plate and wish her a happy birthday!). The pattern is available at the Mason-Dixon Knitting site, and is made with Lamb's Pride Bulky on size 15 needles, so it works up pretty quickly. I gave it to her yesterday, so now you can see it too. Here's the before, pre-felted:



and here it is after felting (my first felting attempt ever, by the way):



The main color is Garnet, with Blue Magic on bottom and handles, and stripes of Pine Green and Autumn.

Oh, and at lunchtime yesterday I finished my niece's Florida footies:



Done in Classic Elite Star, size 3 dpns. They are stretchy, but I hope they'll be big enough. Her feet are a little bigger than mine - in the past she has sent her aunt hand-me-down shoes. I'm sending them off today for her birthday next week. Happy Birthday Stacy and Emma!