Knitiot Savant

Eye Candy Friday

Have a wonderful weekend!

Beauty and, uh, Brains?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLIcY2QgLeA

Eye Candy Friday

Look what arrived bright and early yesterday morning! 

We couldn't be happier!  Have a wonderful weekend.

I promised myself I wouldn't post...

until I had a finished object to show you.  And I do!
Behold the ballet bag.  Here are the specs:
Pattern:  "Dance TV" from "New Knits on the Block" by Vickie Howell.
Needles: Size 8 straights, circs and DPNs.
Yarn:  Smooth DK by King Cole
Modifications:  I didn't modify the pattern but did do a couple of things differently.  The pattern suggests using cotton webbing for the backpack's straps and the drawstring tie because the straps stitched in moss stitch were too "stretchy".  I decided to knit the straps, stretching as I went  The yarn is acrylic so I figured it could only stretch so far.  I was right!  The straps stretch to nicely and bounce back, too.  This bag isn't meant to hold anything heavier than ballet slippers and leg warmers, (making those next) so a little stretch isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

I also didn't check gauge and didn't use the yarn the project called for.  Honestly, I wasn't too concerned about gauge.  I just wanted the bag big enough to hold cute little slippers.

What I Learned: I learned how to do a picot edge.  The top of the bag is a picot edge turned inward.  (I think you can see it better on the picture up top.)

Thoughts:  I really enjoyed this pattern and the book has some of the cutest ideas for kids.  Not your typical "you'll wear a cardigan and like it" sort of stuff but things like an Egyptian Princess dress and Alien Head Tooth Fairy Pillows.  I can see those pillows in my future already.  For now, though, I'm off to finish up some socks.  Have a great day!

Sort of like knitting but without the needles

Our weekends now feel normal.  We're finding places for all our things.  We have fewer and fewer boxes to unpack and we're now talking about painting.  For me, painting the rooms of a house really help make it a home. 

This weekend was wonderful.  Saturday morning Boogie went to her very first ballet class.  This was the first time she's attended a class without me since I stopped working.  Boogie teared up a little when the teacher came to take the children to the classroom but she didn't bawl her eyes out like this one poor kid.  There wasn't an observation window for Boogie's classroom but one of the instructors said that I could probably see her from the outside of the building.  Me, Big B and another couple hightailed it out of the building and went to the front.  I walked through the lovely landscaping, over some bushes and climbed up on the edge of the window.  I couldn't see the kids but I could see the teachers.  I stood there for a few minutes reporting to the other couple what I saw while Big B just laughed his ass off at me.  Once we were all satisfied no one was crying...at least our kids weren't crying, the couple went for coffee and Big B and I headed back to the waiting area.  I knit while we waited and Big B read.  The couple we met earlier came back just before the end of class and let us know that if we went to the very back of the building and moved the trashcans, we could see into the class.  I jokingly said we'd meet them there next Saturday with coffee and lawn chairs.  We parents are a whacked group of grownups.  (Just so ya know, I wasn't really joking.  I'll be hanging with the trash next Saturday.)

At the end of class, all the little ballerinas came out with big smiles and welcome notes from the teachers.  Boogie loved every minute of her class and told us all about it over lunch.   

Last week I totally forgot to show you what I got in the mail.
I ordered these books back in July and they finally arrived last week.  Two knitting books and, wait.  Is that a book on hooking?  How'd that get in there?  Uh, it's for my Mom.  No, it's for my, uh, dog.  Yeah.  My dog.

Michael's had a sale last week on Cotton Ease.  Yeah.  I scored some cotton.  Sweet.

Have a great week!

Eye Candy Friday

This is our domovoi.  He lives in our kitchen window.  Sort of mischievous looking, huh?

We have a winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest!  Hope you had fun coming up with weird captions.  And the winner is....

But before I tell you who won, I want to talk about the judging process.  Mostly because it's pretty damn funny.  Big B was the judge.  As I mentioned earlier I decided not to use a random number generator because, though they are random they don't have a sense of humor.  Why would I burden Big B with the awesome and daunting task of choosing a winner?  I mean, doesn't he have enough pressure with work, family, fencing...all that crap? 

Big B was the judge because he doesn't think LOLCats are funny.  Go ahead.  Read that sentence again.   I'll wait.

My logic was that if one caption made him smile, or maybe smirk, it had to be pretty good.  Last night I pinned him to the sofa and read all the entries to him.  He smiled and may have actually giggled.  Big B's choice was:  Enid!  Congrats Enid!  I'll email you with a few questions, (you didn't actually think that Koigu would be the only prize now did you?) and get your prize in the mail as soon as I can.

A Friend in Need

My weekend got off to a wonderful start when I opened my mailbox Friday morning and discovered a box from Texas packed with these goodies.  Some of the chicks in the uber cool knitting group I left behind decided I needed a taste of Texas.  From left to right we have an Amazon gift certificate courtesy of Amy,  Candlelight coffee from Mary, (that's the coffee house where we knit), Rudy's Barbecue Sauce from blog-less Claude, and beautiful custom dyed yarn in colorway "Go Spurs Go" from Amanda the Dye Mistress.  (The link on the colorway name is Amanda's Etsy store.  Visit it.  I dare you!)  As I opened the box I started to cry like a big ole baby.  This summer has been hell and it ain't just 'cause of the heat.  This bit o' love from Texas made my day.  Thank you so much, ladies.  I miss every single one of you every day, especially on Sundays when I know you're drinkin' mimosas and gettin' into bar fights.  Knit on, my friends!

Not much knitting happened this weekend.  Friday night we ate at Rhinehart's and it was fantastic!  Saturday we spent the entire day going through our books and actually putting them on the beautiful shelves we bought.  Sunday we tackled the lawn, ran to Lowe's for more crap for the house and tried to stay cool.  Once Boogie was in bed Big B and I settled in to watch "The Company".  Ah, the Cold War.  Those were the good old days.

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest.  Big B is going to hunker down with the entries tonight and I hope to announce a winner by Wednesday. 

If you've emailed me and I haven't responded or I promised a phone call, (you know who you are) I'll catch you this week.  Last week was shot to shit by a migraine and the end of our carpet saga.  Hope everyone is having a great week!

Eye Candy Friday

One of my favorite flowers.

Don't forget to check out my contest.  Deadline is Sunday at midnight.

Contest!

Awhile back I passed the 1500 comment mark.  I'd intended to hold a contest but moving, flooding, bad carpeting and equally rotten purchases seemed to conspire against me.  I persevered and,  as threatened, now proudly present the contest and it's rules.

Contest:  In the style of LOL Cats, write a caption for this picture:

Rules: Leave your caption in the comments, (only 1 entry per person please!).  Contest will closed on Sunday, August 12 at midnight.  The winner will be chosen by Big B.  ( Although random number generators really even the playing field, they don't get funny.  Big B does and he has the added bonus of being fair.  Very nice.)
If you'd like to copy the photo and put the caption on it, you have my permission.  Just put the photo on your server and leave me a link for your blog. 

So what's at stake here?  One word:  Koigu.

Good luck!