Holiday Hubub

Ok…the great sewing extravaganza is over and in fact, so is Christmas!  I was so exhausted from the show that I’ve not had the energy to post a thing.  I did manage to get some photos up on Flickr and a video of BalletDaughter’s performance that I shot from the wings during the first performance. 

I can’t tell you how proud I was of her.  This was her first solo on pointe and it had some rather difficult steps for someone with only a year of pointe work behind her (under her??).  But she was lovely.  Amazingly, HER costume was the easiest one I made! 

The Bellerinas, who dance with her, were significantly more difficult but I only designed them; constructed one as an example, and another mother did all the sewing.  The difficulty came when the hula hoops we planned to use didn’t get shipped!  So UkeHubby, after driving for six hours from the Bay Area, helped me cut and form yards and yards of plastic tubing.  We had to warm it in the oven to get the right bend in it because it had retained the tight twist it had on the spool at the hardware store.  We had to insert them in each dress, then UkeHubby rivited each one so that it wouldn’t twist.  Twelve costumes – completed the day before dress rehearsal!

I also made the (10!) tops for the Intermediate Latin class and some new costumes/pieces for the soloists.  I was busy and my studio still looks like a bomb went off in a thread factory.  But my serger was a godsend.  I had been so afraid of it (why????) and then when I used it – heaven on earth!

So, ballet concert is over; smashing success.  December is a hectic time for us.  UkeHubby’s birthday, our anniversary, Christmas, BalletDaughter’s Birthday…then New Years is rapidly followed by my birthday.  We can barely breathe.  But UkeHubby and I did manage to go out to dinner for our 7th anniversary.  We’ve come to really enjoy Abruzzi after BalletDaughter’s dance teacher gave us a gift certificate last year.  So we chose their romantic atmosphere to celebrate 7 years of marriage.  BalletDaughter snapped a picture before we left, with UkeHubby swathed in the wool scarf and hat I got him as an anniversary present (did you know that the 7th anniversary is WOOL??? But I have LOTS of wool already.  And wool blends…skeins and skeins of wool!)

 

 

We had BalletDaughter with us for Christmas and it was wonderful.  She had been told she couldn’t get up Christmas morning until UkeHubby was up.  I generally get up early and that morning I got a text message about 8:30 asking “When’s Tim getting up???” She used modern technology to approach a child’s age old dilemma on Christmas morning!

As usual, she was spoiled.  And so was I.  I got the new camera I had asked for.  We loved our old (?) Canon but wanted to supplement it with one of the tiny cameras that would travel in my purse more readily.  UkeSanta got me the Canon SD1100 and I’m thrilled with it.  I’ve taken hundreds of photos just experimenting with what it does.  Trust me.  It does a lot.

I didn’t finish my gift knitting completely.  I hope to get that done this week.  But I did manage to crank out a quick scarf for myself - a Fidget.  I love it.  As soon as it’s blocked I’ll post a picture.

Until then, we wish you the Happiest of New Years! May the coming year be filled with joy and peace and contentment for us all!

 

 

Big City Women!

Ever since we moved to Eureka, Kiddlebiddle and I have taken one day of our summer visits to go to San Francisco.  When she was little it was the zoo.  A year later, Chinatown.  The next year, Fisherman’s Wharf.  Always touristy kind of stuff that could be done in a day.

This past year we’ve been to the city for very short overnights when we went to the ballet.  And as we drive through the city every three weeks on our “visit with Dad” drives, I’ve begun to think about showing her more of the city of my birth; the city I love dearly; where I went to college and where I lived for several happy years.

This year I decided to do just that.  At 11 she’s actually interested in learning more about mom’s history.  So I began a search for a reasonably priced hotel and was lucky enough to find  a package deal at what turned out to be a wonderful hotel!  The Galleria Park Hotel on Sutter, right in the financial district and just 3-4 blocks from Union Square (major shopping!) and Chinatown!  It was a FANTASTIC weekend!

First, the hotel was a renovated old building that was in outstanding shape and perfectly located.

 

OMG - ACROSS THE STREET FROM OUR HOTEL!!!

in the lobby of the hotel

On the way in to San Francisco Thursday afternoon, I took her by two of the places I had lived.  It’s been almost 20 years so though I knew where they were, finding my way wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped.  The trip down memory lane was pleasant for me and Kiddlebiddle seemed to enjoy it as well. 

 

Hickory Dickory Dot…DIC KAL

I’ve finished the main pieces and now have them blocking prior to sewing together.  This is going to be sooooo cute!  The designer is “Jujube & Lolo.”  And tomorrow I cast on the second one (TWO great-nieces!!!) in two different colors of Dream in Color.  This one is in “Giant Peach” and “Blue Lagoon,” the next will be in “Petal Shower” and “Gogo Grassy.” I got all the yarn from The Loopy Ewe (Hi, Sheri!  Love you!) http://www.theloopyewe.com/  And I’m in love with this “Giant Peach” colorway.  I’m thinking of what I can make for myself out of it!

Since each “baby” has a big sister who’s two, the big sisters are getting a matching “Buddy Bag” http://www.jujubeandlolo.com/patterns/buddybags.php  I got both patterns when I was at Stitches. I’ve finished most of the bag (easy knit) without the i-cord (38″ is going to take some boring time!) and I’m going to line it!

Here’s the “Buddy Bag” in progress…showing off my recent “goodie” from TLE!

The bag will have a nest with a birdie fingerpuppet and I’m going to make a little mouse to go in the pocket of the sweater.  Because it’s for such a young baby (though I’m making 18 month size), I think I may actually make the mouse out of fabric so that it’s not so messy when/if (who am I kidding, WHEN) she puts it in her mouth!

I’ve done quite a bit of knitting this week and it feels good!  But then, I’m really good at starting things and not finishing them.  But if it’s being blocked, surely I’ll seam it and finish it all! Well…off to bed. 

 

Finished Objects

I’ve had stuff done for awhile…but I keep forgetting to take pictures.  The light in my room was great this afternoon…but maybe not the best for photos.  Ah well….

This was from the book “Hip Knit Hats,” it’s called “Beth” and though modeled by Kiddlebiddle was knit for me from Malabrigo worsted weight…held two strands together, that I bought at Stitches.  Gooooorgeous yarn.

  These, my dears, are “Cloverleaf Lace Mitts” (pattern: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9437809) made with Yarn Pirate’s wonderful yarn!  I was in her sock club for two sessions and loved this yarn but didn’t want to hide it in my shoes!  Anyway, I used the pattern designated needles for the wrist but thinking my hands were a bit bigger, I went up one size for the hand.  Shouldn’t have.  The pattern has enough give and would show off the stitchwork much better if I’d just stuck with the same needle size.  Should teach me to let the designers do what they do best….

I must be in to blue…because this was a hat I came up with to teach beginning knitting to Kiddlebiddle’s fifth grade class (the kids who took knitting as their “elective”).  It was knit flat and allowed me to teach them basic knit stitch (for garter stitch band), then purling (for stockinette body), with decreases…and finally, seaming.  Well…it would have if more than one student had finished the hat!  They never wanted to do the “homework.” 

And last (for tonight), a hat I knit, also for myself, out of a lovely Cashvero by Cascade…part cashmere, part merino.  I think the hat needs to be blocked, which I rarely do for hats.  But it would shape better.    It’s actually a lovely purple, and the pattern is CORONET by Alexandra Virgiel, on Knitty.  http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter03/PATTcoronet.html

 

My Meez

I love my Meez!  Have you tried it?  www.meez.com  You can make an avatar that looks EXACTLY like you!  OK…so this isn’t really how I look.  It’s about 30 pounds too light; the face shape isn’t quite right…and today the “meezmaker” just refused to put lipstick on me!  But I do live in the Pacific Northwest and I do knit!  And my hair kinda sorta looks like that now.  And I live in jeans, sweaters, and clogs.  So yeah…this is me.

 

STITCHES WEST 2008 – YIPPEE!

Last weekend (2/22 & 24) I attended the market at Stitches West.  It was the second time I’ve been there so I had an idea what I was getting into and was prepared.  (I’d dusted off the credit cards!)

The plan was to meet up with one of the other members of the Lime and Violet message boards – Tikabelle, whom I had never met before!  But before I met up with her I attended Vicki Howell’s presentation, sponsored by Southwest Trading Company.  Though they had some technical difficulties, the folks showed us a good time and we were treated to not only a free pattern from Vicki’s new book, Catwalk Crochet (not coming out until next year!) but a show of how several of the patterns could be accessorized and worn to achieve different looks with the same piece.  Now, the book is all crochet patterns, and I don’t really crochet, but now I think I’m gonna hafta learn. 

Craft magazine made a video of the presentation…available here:   http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/02/vickie_howell_lena_walker_smit.html  Also got a nice attendee to take a shot of me with Vicki.    And when I returned Sunday (yes, I went on Friday for most of the day…actually all day, and went back for two hours on Sunday!) with my daughter, who was absolutely speechless (a rarity for an 11 year old) Vickie quickly asked if we had a camera to catch Kiddlebiddle’s excitement.     

Vicki was quite agreeable to photos.  Stitches Market however, was not.  Tika and I were disappointed that we weren’t allowed to snap photos within the market.  Especially when we were invited to take off our shoes and jump into a big bin of yarny goodness. 

First thing we hit inside the doors was the Ravelry booth.  I don’t know about you, but I’m soooo glad they came into existence.  And we got to meet both Jess and Casey.  I ended up going back to the booth to get one of their tote bags.  There was no way I was going to make it that day without something to carry my new stash additions!  (Had to empty it at the end of day one so there would be room for day two’s endeavor!)  If you haven’t seen it yet, go to the Ravelry site and check out the mosaic they had (Casey made, of course) that is the Ravelry logo made of ALL the avatars of Ravelry members!  www.ravelry.com  

I went to the Stitches market with the intention of getting some more STR in the Raven series and I did.  I wasn’t alone.  Here’s Tika with her Ravelry passport and “Notorious Sock Knitter” bumpersticker that she picked up at Blue Moon Fiber Arts.       

And here’s my “Socks that Rock” Raven series yarns Korppi on the left and Silkie in Thraven on the right (they are both much darker than they photograph):     

There were so many wonderful vendors at Stitches.  Many we knew about and sought out; many we’d never heard of.  We went from booth, to booth, to booth…petting skein upon skein of lovely yarns; reveling in ingenious notions, pondering new patterns and kits, and meeting wonderful people with the same passion we had!  

Here’s a peek at my stash from Stitches.  This photo doesn’t include some of the patterns I got which are in my “pending” basket right now!

If you go to my Flickr page you can actually hover over areas of the photo and see what’s what ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/balletmommy/2307003060/)

 

Part of the stash is:

Malabrigo – two skeins (oh yes!) 

and Jojoland Meloday (with which I’m making their Swirl Shawl…sorry no pic)

A GORGEOUS scarf pattern/kit that Kiddlebiddle insisted she “needed” me to make for her.  (They had other patterns for this yarn, but this is what she wanted…)

And I got myself some new needles…Signature Needleart…I’d heard about them from Annie Modesitt’s blog and they are heavenly to work with besides being gorgeous:I

Also bought some “Hemp for Knitting and a couple of patterns from them.  The hat, already cast on in the dark orange, is for…guess who….Kiddlebiddle.

 

And I fell in love with a shawl from Fiber Trends.  I didn’t get the kit because they only had it with brown as the accent color and I really wanted the blue in the demo shawl.  Check it out:  http://www.fibertrends.com/viewer/V4_shawls.html

 I did buy plenty of patterns though.  Baby patterns intended for great nieces (if I ever get my act together and actually finish a baby project!), scarves, hats, a book of Norah Gaughan patterns….

 All in all it was a great weekend.

 

Wheeeeee!

Kiddlebiddle got a new bike for Christmas.  Actually, she got two!  One at her dad’s and one here.  We got her a great mountain bike so she can ride some of the trails around the area (with us, of course).  But yesterday was the first time she was able to get out and about on it.  (We had to get her a helmet!)  She loves it and though mommy is a bit apprehensive about letting her grow up and be independant, I did let her ride around a few blocks.

               

WOW!  While I was typing this, Tim came in and told me there was snow mixed in with the rain!  We live on the northern California coast and while we can generally drive to the snow within 20-30 minutes, it rarely snows here on coast (we can see the bay from here).  Big soft flakes are mixed in with the rain.  Not sticking though…

 Lastly, holiday knitting.  I did go on a “warm up the family” bender and knit hats, scarves, etc.  Here’s KB with the Koolhaas hat from Interweave Knit’s Holiday issue.  It’s a gorgeous hat (knit in Cascade 220) even though I had to rip it out three times before I got the repeat correct.  I need to make me one too — as soon as I finish my fingerless mitts I’m working on….

 

Every morning I get up, get coffee, feed the cats, and have a few quiet moments before I get Kiddlebiddle up for school.  This is what I saw about a week ago:

 

I’m baaaaaack!

Whew!  Bad blogger!  I have this “thing” about getting stuff done (I don’t).  And I didn’t want to post until I got the photos from our trip to Canada (back in August!!!!) up and available.  I did it today.  They’re over the on the Flickr site but here’s a taste.

  

 So much has happened since I last blogged.  Kiddlebiddle did have another recital and I promise I’ll get what photos I have of that up within the week.  I only took a few shots during the dress rehearsal so they’re not the best but I have put the videos up on YouTube. 

 Knitting…been busy with knitting but, as usual, for everyone else.  I knit the cutest hat for Kiddlebiddle, a scarf with Noro Kuryeon that I ended up giving to hubby (though I like it…he’s out in the cold more than I) and a hat with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino that I enjoyed knitting but I’m not as crazy about how it fits me so…hubby gets that too.  I really wanted to knit myself some more fingerless mitts but haven’t started them yet.  The weather’s been cold enough that I’ve really wanted all these things which is sort of unusual for me.  I do think I’ll start the mitts or another pair of socks tonight though.  I’ve got all sorts of lovely yarns from Yarn Pirate (so much so that I didn’t “join” the sock club this last go-around!) plus some lovely Dream in Color Smooshy that I just got from the lovely Sheri at The Loopy Ewe.  Can’t wait to start with it!

 So, now that I’m back, I’ll try to blog more often and let ya know what we’re up to!

 

How many at once???

How many projects can I have on the needles at once?  Apparently, LOTS.  That “gauge” over on the sidebar isn’t exactly correct. I’ve got lots more things going, some I started ages and ages ago (as in years).  I’ve got half a sweater done…I really should pick it up and finish.  And tonight I cast on the Huggable Hedgehog!  (Photo is the designers photo…I’ll post mine when it’s done.)  I had so much fun knitting the flamingo that I thought I’d try for more toys.   Maybe these will actually reach their intended recipients!  I have a tendency to knit baby clothes but not block them and send them!  Of course, the kids outgrow them and here I am with the sweetest little sweaters and dresses! 

I’ve got some gorgeous Alpaca for another sweater.  I’ve had the yarn for a year.  It’s a lovely brown with specks of blue in it.  I’m dying to make it for myself but I just haven’t found the perfect pattern yet.  That, and I keep wanting to loose weight before I knit a sweater.  Silly.  I keep wanting to loose weight before I do anything.  Not a good idea.

 Anyway…the shrug I’m planning to knit for Kiddlebiddle I think I’ll save for airplane knitting.  It’s fairly simple and she’ll be with me to check for size.  Plus, with circular needles I’m sure the airlines won’t have a problem (though I hear they let knitting needles on anyway now). 

 I’m losing track of all the projects I’ve got/want.  Well, not really.  I’m keeping track of them over on Ravelry (great new site for fiberistas – still in beta but I was one of the (thousands) lucky ones.  Absolutely LOVE the site.

Gonna head off to bed now.  Enough knitting (????) (well…maybe I’ll take a sock to bed with me….)

 

Summer of Socks – Progress Report

Well, I’m certainly behind in my blogging!  I did finish the Flame Wave socks for Kiddlebiddle and she loves them.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture yet of her wearing both socks!  This pattern is a quick and easy knit and looks divine.  They are knit with Cascade Fixation and though it took some getting used to, I really liked the feel of the finished socks.  I bought some more of the same yarn for another pair (for me??). 

I’ve also just about finished the first of the pair of Undulating Rib socks for Hubby.  They’re being knit with J.Knits which I found somewhat splitty at first.  But since I switched to my KnitPicks DPNs (which are quite pointy!) the socks are sailing along without problem. 

 Because I can’t have just one pair of socks on the needles, the other night I cast on my second pair of Monkey socks using Louet Gems.  Boy is this a nice soft yarn!  I’ll post new pics as soon as I can.

 Lovin’ the socks.