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now is later

Ever since my last post I’ve had little ideas for blog posts.  Tiny snippets, each not worthy enough to be a whole post, but part of a larger entity.  A photo of some wound cakes of yarn.  A picture of my funky nail polish.  An “aha!” or “oops!” or “groan!” moment that I wanted to capture.

So I make a mental note to do a blog post later, and use that little nugget.

Usually I’m at work, or feeding the kids, or driving, when these thoughts come to me.  Usually they are forgotten once I get to the next thing I’m doing, which, more often then not, isn’t a blog post.

I don’t think I need to save up for a big post.  I don’t think anyone’s checking their blog aggregator eagerly in the morning to see if I’ve come up with a 15 page treatise on let’s say cables.

I’m going to try to post these little things as they happen, maybe from the computer, maybe from my phone.  Each individual post might not be much, but as a whole they’ll probably add up to a lot more.

Kinda like knitting.


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this new year is broken, i want a new one

I didn’t mean to let so much time go by between posts, but the (Jewish) new year has been rather unkind around here.  Starting the week between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, health and other issues around here went haywire.

There were some good moments, though, and some bust-a-gut, laughing-out-loud moments, like the night I went to check on the boys and walked in to find Henri asleep like this:

He stayed that way while I took the requisite pictures (a mommy’s right) and even slept through me cracking up.

This weekend brought these smiles, when we had a rare day all together as a family and spent some time at the park.

I’ve finished the back and both fronts of my Linden, and that bit up at the top is my first sleeve-in-progress.  That was also all the yarn I had left, so I took a break while Maaike used her spinning wheel to spin up the single cakes into double-stranded skeins, and then hung them to dry.  They’re currently in my basement, nice and dry, and I plan to spin them up tonight.

The break in Linden came at an opportune time, though, as my aunt had a hernia operation last Monday and I wanted to make something for her, so I’ve spent the last week knitting her a pair of cushy slippers.  I’ve just got about 7 more rows on the cuff and weaving in a few ends to go, and I hope to finish that tonight.

I also hope to knit a swatch from one of these babies tonight too.  Next month’s Montreal Knitting Guild meeting is going to be a swatching challenge, and Veronik Avery graciously donated these two cones of Nordique (in Carrot) for our use.  I need to knit up a swatch to know how much yardage one would take, then wind off about 40 mini-cakes- one for each member at the meeting.

Luckily I’ve finished my studying for the night so I can devote the next few hours to knitting.


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linden’s left front – done

Last night I finished the left front of my Linden jacket.  I remember reading on Ravelry that people said to not continue the cables in the collar shaping, so when I got to that part I was careful to pay attention, looking to see why so many made mention of the collar directions being difficult or to avoid the cable crossings within the shaping, etc.

End result?  I have no idea why so many people had problems with it.  The directions are all there, nothing is omitted or unsaid, if only you know how to read it properly.

Here’s how it works, and hopefully this will help others who haven’t knit this yet but wanted to, and maybe were nervous they wouldn’t “get it”.

After the majority of the front is complete, the st st portion of the front is decreased away  then bound off completely, and the cable is worked on alone until it is long enough to reach up around the back of your neck.  There are short rows worked 4 times to make the collar curve nicely over your shoulder and around your neck.

I don’t want to write out the actual directions here, because it’s part of pattern copyright.  But I think I can be vague enough to not infringe, while still being helpful.

The cables are on a 16-row repeat, with the cable crossings themselves on rows 7 and 15.

The collar shaping instructs you to work 5 rows of short row shaping, then 7 rows in est pattern, and then to repeat these 12 rows 3 more times.  Only the first 4 of the collar shaping rows are partial (short) rows, the 5th row (a ws row) has you working back across the complete row.  The pattern also has you only start the collar shaping once you’ve done a cable cross row, either row 7  or 15, depending on the size you are knitting.

For my size, I started the collar shaping after working a row 7 cable row.

I think what’s throwing people off is that they are looking at the 12 rows you work 4 times, and are thinking it doesn’t work out within the cable crosses.  What’s being overlooked is that you’re not working 12 COMPLETE rows in the cable.  You can ignore the first 4, and only count the 5th row, because that’s the only one that is actually worked across the whole row.

Therefore:

Collar Shaping Row 1 – WS – doesn’t count with cable rows

Collar Shaping Row 2 – RS – doesn’t count with cable rows

Collar Shaping Row 3 – WS – doesn’t count with cable rows

Collar Shaping Row 4 – RS – doesn’t count with cable rows

Collar Shaping Row 5 – WS – counts as cable row 8 (or 16, but I’m working with my size here.  You can adjust the row numbers for where you ended before “Shape Collar”).

Work 7 Rows in Est Patt:

Row 1 – RS – counts as cable row 9

Row 2 – WS – counts as cable row 10

Row 3 – RS – counts as cable row 11

Row 4 – WS – counts as cable row 12

Row 5 – RS – counts as cable row 13

Row 6 – WS – counts as cable row 14

Row 7 – RS – counts as cable row 15 – cable crossing row

And that’s the first repeat.  Then you do it 3 more times.

How this works out is that you have some short row shaping (the first 4 partial rows), then 7 full rows of stockinette stitch, then a cable crossing row, 4 times total.

It’s actually really smart how the short-row shaping was worked into the cables without actually affecting them at all, and hopefully this will help anyone having trouble figuring it out.

–

My mother-in-law called this weekend to say that we’d be celebrating Thanksgiving next Monday at my sister-in-law’s place, and wouldn’t it be nice if I were to surprise B with her long-awaited  pillows?  Hmmm.  Subtle.  So unfortunately I’m going to have to put Linden on partial hold while I work on the pillows.  It’s frustrating because I’m seeing it progress so fast, but I think I’ve figured out a way to work on both, by bringing Linden as my “take-along-knitting” for the appointment I’ve got later this week, but keeping the pillows (and their accompanying “designing”) as my night-time knitting.


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my boys and linden notes

Two weekends ago we went to a birthday party for my friend’s daughter, and besides some really cute pics of the birthday girl, I also FINALLY got good ones with me and the kids.  (I usually get good ones of them…but I’m rarely in the photos myself).  Sorry they’re blurry- another round of iPhone photos.

Me and Jakob who has a grape in his mouth, which is why it is all pulled to the side.  He’s 4.25 now, and I think he’s part hamster.  Earlier in the month my mom babysat while I went to the guild meeting, and she gave them a “treat” of a Mike & Ike’s candy, one each.  After dinner they played for about 20 minutes, brushed their teeth, then went to bed.  My mom was reading Jakob a bedtime story when she thought his cheek looked pushed out.  She asked him to open up- it was the same Mike & Ike’s candy- even after brushing his teeth!

Me and Henri, who does not look only 2-and-a-half.  If Jakob is a hamster, then Henri is a parrot.  In fact I’ve started calling the boys “Pete” and “Re-Pete” (repeat) because anything Jakob does or says Henri will usually do.  He runs on a 4-second delay, and is pretty consistent.  🙂

Besides all the studying, I’ve also spent some time over the last week knitting.  I’m determined to not take on any (more) commissions or obligations until I knit something for myself, not counting the stocking stitch socks I’ve always got in my purse for “found moments”.  My current project, I think I mentioned in my last post, is Veronik Avery’s Linden.  I was originally planning on knitting it in a ribbon yarn- a strange choice, I know.  Instead of an outdoor garment, my original plan was for it to be a dressy-ish layer to wear over a dress or a tank and a skirt, the kind of thing I could bring to an event in place of a shawl.  I have the perfect ribbon, in the perfect color, had swatched and got gauge, and had even ordered the extra bit I was missing from a Ravelry seller.  And then some woman in Quebec contacted the guild to see about selling her handspun, and next thing you know both Maaike and I had swatched the wool doubled, got gauge and cast on.  She’s finished hers but I got sidetracked with my busy Summer knitting/school schedule, and am only now getting back to it.

I’m making some modifications, but only to affect the final size.  A lot of comments on Ravelry talk about there being excess fabric under the arms, and I know in its nature as a swing coat, there will be a lot of extra fabric at the waist.  I’m smaller now than I was before, and while I like the style, I don’t want to look like I’m drowning in it.  Therefore I’m trying something that I hope will work.

My bust size is around 40.5″.  I was originally planning on knitting the 44.5″ bust size, but that was when I’d first seen the pattern, before I lost weight.  Now I realized that my belly/waist is smaller than my bust, so while I’d get it to wrap-around over my bust, it would be huge around my waist.  Then I was going to knit the 40″ bust size, but I took a measuring tape held at the measurement for the lower edge, and still found it way too big.  My thing with jackets is that I rarely wear layers.  I may wear a thin layer over a tank top, but usually it’s just a tshirt or top/blouse and my jacket.  If this is going to be a Fall/transitional jacket, I don’t care if it closes at my bust.  I can put a scarf around my neck…it’s really only at the belly/waist I want it to be able to close.  And Linden doesn’t have buttons or any form of closure anyways.

So here’s my risky decision: I’m knitting the 35.5″ bust size.  I’m following it as written except that I’m modifying the length.  The pattern for the larger sizes has you knit at least 4.5″ before getting into any shaping.  The 35.5″ size has you knit 3″.  On Ravelry people say you can add extra length at the end by making the garter border longer.  I actually made the bottom longer instead, by knitting the back and will make the fronts 6″ before shaping.

I also want my armhole to be deeper than that of the 35.5″ size, so I added about 1.75″ of length in the area that will be above the armpit (‘cus there are no real “armhole” sections with this design).  I’m also lengthening the sleeves by about an inch, to keep them 3/4 length, but since my arms are more the length of the larger sizes…though I’ll probably adjust that as I work the sleeves themselves.

Oh, and for the left-leaning decreases I’m working them still as double decreases as written, but working them as SSKs instead of K2TOGs, so they mirror the other side properly.  (The decreases go against the slope, but I just found that while the twists in the decreases were left leaning, I wanted the decreases themselves to be left-leaning too).

So, yeah.  I’m making changes, but I go into this knowing full well this may not work out.  In other words- if in a month’s time I’ve finished it and end up frogging, don’t hold it against Veronik’s pattern when the fault will lie with me!  🙂

Here’s where I”m at with it so far.  The back is done, and seems to be the perfect length, falling mid-butt.  I used to want everything to fall longer but according to all those “What Not to Wear” shows you look slimmer when your clothes aren’t too long, so we’ll see how this goes LOL!

The short piece is the left front, so far.  I love how the cables look, and I think I’ll really enjoy wearing this sweater/jacket.


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happy new year

Whoa.  2.5 months…did that really happen?

I didn’t think I’d been gone that long, though in truth for the last 2.5 months I’ve completely forgotten I even had a blog.

To sum up:

July: studying, studying, and more studying…a brief hospital visit when Henri limped for half a day, then more studying.

August: studying then final exam- I got the highest mark in the class, what WHAT! Knitting began in earnest for my magazine sample, slowed only by the need to write down everything I was doing.  It obviously wasn’t portable knitting, so a pair of socks was knit during wait times.  More doctor and hospital visits for Henri, including one with a specialist that I was hoping would give us answers, but instead just wasted our time.

September: more knitting for the mag, ‘cus a work-in-progress left unattended with young children led to a mishap that required a week’s extension on my deadline.  Once the knitting was done and the sample sent off I worked on writing up the pattern and grading the other sizes.  There was a brief respite for a long weekend spent at a lovely b&b in Woodstock (same place I’d gone with Maaike for Rhinebeck last year), this time done to celebrate my 5 year wedding anniversary, plus mine and Yannick’s early September birthdays.

And now…the pattern is sent (once I do some minor style corrections) and should be appearing in the Spring 2012 issue of the new online magazine called Clotheshorse, and my knitting nights are my own again.  All the old wips are still there, though there may be a few fos you guys haven’t seen yet, including one I whipped up mostly during the drive to- and from Woodstock for a friend’s newborn daughter.

I’m currently actively working on my sister-in-law’s 2nd pillow (my at-home project, ‘cus it requires designing and note-taking while I work), a pair of socks for Yannick with a random stash ball (my “on-the-go” knitting, ‘cus he’s worn through 2 of his knit pairs already), and a Linden for myself with handspun (not mine) pure wool sold to the knitting guild by a local woman, my project when I’m fed up with either of the other two.

One thing I’ve been keeping up with (unlike blogs…sorry) is nail polish.  In fact my trip to NY yielded little more than 20 bottles of random, not-available-in-Canada drug store sparkly polishes to add to my stash.  Yes, I’ve got a polish stash too.

I’m at work now and can’t share any knitting pics, but I can photograph my nails and share those!

Today’s themed manicure is for the current Jewish holiday- Rosh Hashana- the Jewish new year.  The Israeli flag is white and blue, so I went with those as main colors, only I reversed them.  (The flag is mainly white with 2 blue stripes and a blue Star of David).  On this holiday we eat and serve slices of apple with honey pots for dipping, as a way of starting off the new year on a sweet note (to foretell a sweet new year).  So I used nail polish and a toothpick to paint a bumble bee (for the honey…though now that I type this I’m wondering if bumble bees are actually the honey producers…drat), and an apple.

I’m actually really proud of how the apple came out!  It started off as a cartoonish blob but a little playing around with the drops of polish on a Kleenex gave me some darker and lighter colors, and a few jabs of the toothpick later I had a shaded apple!

Happy New Year to those that celebrate, and a big “hi, and thanks” to those of you that stuck around even though my posting has been rather sporadic.


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a post for jayjay

I still don’t have any knitting I can share, and I don’t have a newer pic of the boys, so I’m going to use the space of this post to show the generosity of a friend, and answer a question with a photograph.

Back at the beginning of my time home following my latest surgery, I received a lovely package in the mail.  I’d kinda been given a hint that it was coming, but I must have forgotten because I looked at the package on my doorstep thinking “I didn’t order anything!”

I opened it up right away and was so touched to find this inside:

That’s some English Breakfast Disney Wonderland Tea (The Official Unbirthday Tea), and a skein of Brown Sheep Serendipity Tweed (60% cotton/40% wool) in Blueberries.  YUM!  I love tea, and I love blue, and I love the drape of a cotton/wool blend- I think it’s perfect for everything from kids’ clothes to accessories, especially multi-seasonal items.

The card appears to be handmade from fresh pressed flowers, and it is so beautiful.  A huge thank you to JayJay for sending this package to me.  It means so much to have made friends all the way across the world (almost) all thanks to a hobby we share.

Oh, and to answer her question from my last post about Jakob’s favorite machiine: does THIS make it a backhoe?  🙂  Same vehicle, other side.

Totally apropos of nothing, check out this awesome article about Ravelry.  It’s wonderful to see Jess and Casey getting the attention and recognition they deserve, from OUTSIDE the knitting community.  You can view the article here.


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what’s wrong with me?

I’m not sure what’s going on.

As I mentioned, my 3 big projects going on right now are 1- school, 2- the pillow I’m making for my sister-in-law, and 3- the pattern for the knitting magazine.  I’ve been making the effort to catch up on my schoolwork during the day while at work, or in the background while my kids play on the weekends, so that I’m free at night or during their naptimes to work on the knitting stuff.

The magazine pattern is sketched out and swatching is in progress, but the pillows are due first since B would like them by her birthday, and I think that’s only fair considering she gave me the yarn and chose a couple of cable patterns LAST May.

Last week I swatched the 2 cables that would be incorporated into the 2nd pillow.  It took longer than expected, because I hadn’t properly prepared my chart or my knitting.  I figured- it’s a swatch- who needs stitch markers or anything?  Turns out that I do!  It’s a pain to try and find your place in a complicated cable with a 32 st x 20 row repeat while watching TV and trying to get an inventive 4-year-old back in bed.

Once the swatch was done I was able to take the measurements and do all my calculations (math, how I love thee) to figure out all my repeats, etc.  Plus I wanted the pillow to look good, plus there’s going to be a button band, plus I’d like it to match the first pillow in details…so that took a day or two of charting the whole thing out in Knit Visualizer, reorganizing in Excel, writing out the pattern in Word, finalizing a repeat in Excel, making the proper repeats in KV, then putting it all together in Word while it was still fresh in my head.  I’m thinking of publishing the patterns for the pillows once they are all done, so this saves me the trouble of trying to remember what I’d done, after the fact.

I finished finalizing the pattern on Sunday.  We had a funeral to go to in the morning, then when I got back I went with my inlaws (who were babysitting) and the kids to McDonald’s for lunch.

Unfortunately a birthday party group started 5 minutes after we sat down in the play park to eat…and it got VERY loud.

While the kids napped in the afternoon I went over every last step of the pattern, double-checked my repeats and was completely done.

I printed it Sunday evening and put it with the yarn on my couch, ready for night-time knitting.

I had dinner with Yannick.  We had steaks and veggies and literally jumbo shrimp.

We watched an episode of America’s Got Talent.  Or three.  I sat there with my empty plate on my lap, and the knitting bag next to me, and I could NOT bring myself to touch it.

I thought about casting on.  I wanted to cast on.  I didn’t cast on.  I just couldn’t force myself to do it.  When Yannick left to go study a bit, I got into bed with my laptop and did my nails.

On that note- I’ve been doing my nails a lot lately.  I’ve always been a bit into funky techniques and stuff, and had even bought a big kit of the Konad nail stampers when on my honeymoon in 2006.  My friend and neighbor is also into nails and she invited me into a group that posts photos so I’ve been putting more of an effort in lately.  I haven’t posted photos here ‘cus I didn’t know if anyone would be interested, but I’ll show you this one ‘cus I think it’s so cute.

These were my nails last week.  I’ve seen the “newspaper nails” technique online in various places but when I tried it I decided to use the crossword puzzle instead.  🙂

So back to the knitting.

Yesterday, I did my day’s worth of studying at the store.  I picked up the boys, gave them dinner, played, bathtime, then by 7:30 was done- kids in bed, I’d already eaten, nothing left to do but sit down and knit.

So I made a huge Greek salad to have for lunches for the week.

By 8:15 I was done- ready to sit down and finally cast on for the pillow.  Then a friend called and had to stop by and show me her glasses so we could see about getting her a new lens.  And I invited her in to chat.

By 9:00 she left, and I sat down, ostensibly to knit.

At 9:30 I gave up and decided to go upstairs to bed and do my nails.  I just COULDN’T bring myself to touch the knitting bag.

I don’t know why.  It’s not like it would be hard- all I had to do was cast on.  But for some reason just the thought of starting was too much for me.

I actually did go upstairs and get out my nail stuff.  Three times I sat down on my bed, then got up and walked back to the stairs…I knew it was only 9:30.  I could knit for 1.5 hours, and still have plenty of time to get into bed, knit and blog-read until my nails dried.

I forced myself.  I made myself get back on the couch, pick up the knitting bag and cast on.

Once I’d cast on, it was easy.  It was the usual- knitting flowed and I watched tv until 11 while working up my set-up rows on the pattern.  I don’t know what the mental block was that I had to get through, but I’m glad I made the effort to do it, ‘cus now it’s done, and I don’t have to do it again.

My plan for tonight is to keep working at it, while doing 5 or so loads of laundry.

On an unrelated note, I took a self portrait with my iPhone on Sunday and was wondering if it is better then my current Ravatar.  What do you think of this pic?

And COMPLETELY unrelated, here’s a pic of Jakob posing with his favorite vehicle.  (What’s it called, by the way…back hoe?)  We went to the dep for freezies on Saturday and they had one parked in the lot, and he was SO excited to get a chance to get up close and see it.

 

At


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where i’ve been, where i am and where i’ll be, part 3

Where I’ll be:

I’ll be playing with these guys:

I swear there’s nothing more cute than watching my boys interact.  They’re so close!  The other night we let Henri try to sleep in Jakob’s bed – I say “try” ‘cus normally Henri’s asleep by 7:30, so when by 8:30 Jakob’s chatting was still keeping him up and we could hear him through the monitor saying “I’m sleepy…”, we took him out and back to his room.  But, before taking him out, we were cracking up listening to the two of them hug and kiss and say “I love you Henri”…”I love you too Jakob”…”Give me another hug!”…”Did you say I love you?”…”Yes”…”Ok, I love you too!”

Oy!

I’m going to try to post while struggling through the next month.  It’s going to be insane!

First we’ve got our last online test due by July 9.  Then our final exam is August 9.  As if it weren’t enough to study for that, I just found out that next year’s program only has a September start- not a January start like we’ve been doing.  Which means that all of our practicums (ie: lots of paperwork) which are normally only due by Nov 1 (and as such, aren’t done yet!) are all due by the final exam.  Yikes!  We’ve got just over a month to do all our written work for the year, and study for the final, and then no break afterwards ‘cus the following year will be starting in early September.

AND I’ve got that knitting magazine deadline of September 1st!  Crazypants!

I know it will all get done…somehow…I just really can’t wait to be on the OTHER side of August.

I will continue to dress these guys alike as long as my mom continues to buy them matching outfits.  It’s nuts- they’re the same size.

Unrelated, some sad news.  Remember when I talked about having to pick up/chauffeur my parents’ dog Nikki back in Jan or Feb?  She never really recovered from whatever was ailing her, had dropped down to 5-6 lbs and over the last few days couldn’t even be coaxed into eating people food or treats.

We went over on Sunday and the boys played with her and told her they love her and gave her kisses, and I got some cute pics of them holding her.  By Monday my mom was force-feeding her water, just to try and hydrate her.  On Tuesday she was brought to our cousin, the vet, and she never made it home.

Rest in peace, Nikki.  You were a silly and crazy dog who only wanted to be cuddled and held and rocked like a baby, and you gave us a great 13 years.  XOXOXOX


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where i’ve been, where i am, and where i’ll be, part 2

Where I am:

-I am finally back at work!  Technically I was back two weeks ago, but missed most of the 2nd week running around taking care of Henri.  I missed one day to bring him to the doc to get a puffer for a chest cold, then missed the following 2 days going back to the neurologist at the hospital for another consult and then blood tests.  Each time we got home at lunch time- too late to get him to daycare, which meant I had to bring him home for nap.  And if that leaves me with nothing to do during his 3.5-hour afternoon naps but watch TV and knit…well…there’s no rule that I can’t enjoy it. 🙂

-I am 40 lbs lighter than I was on my wedding day!  Since I came home from my honeymoon pregnant with Jakob, I’m not counting gaining/losing any baby weight.  If I go back to my highest weight while pregnant, then I can say I’ve lost over 60 lbs.  Woo hoo!

I went shopping for the first time in  years and had a heck of a time trying to figure out what size I am, and what fits.  It’s going to take time, but I’m slowly trying to rebuild my wardrobe.  I’m really looking forward to spending less money and less time knitting garments for myself, that’s for sure!

-I am still studying nightly for school, and really looking forwards to my final exam in  August, just to feel like the year is finally over.  Only 2 more to go…blargh.

-I am also trying to catch up on non-posted projects.  To that end, here’s a project from Sept 2010 that had a redux just a few months ago…

Aren’t they cute?  My friend/neighbor C is a HUGE Pee Wee fan, and a long time ago she’d sent me a link to these guys in the Crafty is Cool etsy store.  I can’t find a link now, so Allison’s patterns may only be available through Ravelry now, I’m not sure.  Some of you may have heard of/seen her amigurumis before- I believe her Oprah doll made the rounds a while ago, and her Conan O’Brien was huge on the ‘net around the time of the whole O’Brien/Leno debacle.

Anyways, I’d made a joke to C about making them for her for her birthday.  And then she promptly forgot about it.  I didn’t.  🙂  I LOVE when that happens, not only when there’s a perfect gift opportunity, but especially when it’s a perfect handmade gift opportunity!

Her birthday is in September, so last year when I was home recuperating from the hernia/tonsil surgeries, I made these for her.

Pattern:  Pee Wee Herman Amigurumi PeeWee Doll and Chairry from Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Amigurumi by  Allison Hoffman (Ravelry link)

Size:  one size, Pee Wee about 16″, Chairry about 8″ or so?

Yarn: Assorted Phentex acrylic from my stash and Zellers, in gray, white, peach, aqua.

Needles:  4mm crochet hook

Dates:  September 3 – 11 2010 (Pee Wee) and September 12 – 14 2010 (Chairry)

Modifications:  None.  I used a bamboo skewer cut in half to support the neck, and some white, red and black felt from Fabricville.  I didn’t know if the self-adhesive felt would work, so I just sewed everything by hand with matching thread.  It took a try or two to get Chairry’s eyes right, but I used pins to hold them in place and get a idea of where I wanted to sew them down.   Pee Wee’s eyes are black yarn sewn over and over small black felt circles, and there’s a touch of blush on his cheeks.

The only problem I had with the pattern was the placement of the black hair cap- I’d thought the widow’s peak was crocheted into the cap, as were the sideburns.  Turns out neither are, you just need to arrange it as you sew it in place.  An email to the designer was answered pretty quickly, and I was able to finish well in time for C’s birthday.

It worked out great- I was able to get her hubby to let me into their garage when she was out, and I arranged Pee Wee and Chairry together over a birthday card, as a surprise for when she got back.  She loved them, and even took Pee Wee with her to meet the REAL Pee Wee at his stage show!  He (the real one) saw my version of Allison’s work a 2nd time when C tweeted a pic of her hubby, son and dad all dressed up as Pee Wee serving her a birthday breakfast, and holding the doll, and the real Pee Wee retweeted the pic!)

As usual you can find my finished (and unfinished!) projects in my “projects” page by clicking the tab up at the top of every page on my blog, and I also have this project in my Ravelry notebook here (PeeWee) or here (Chairry) .

C’s brother H loves Pee Wee almost as much as C, so when his birthday rolled around this April, C asked if she could get me to make one for him too.  We worked out a trade (she’s a fabulous seamstress and I’m in need of clothes being taken in!) and so when I was home recuperating from this latest hernia surgery, I made H’s Pee Wee.  (Apparently I make one each time I’m recuperating LOL)

Pattern:  Pee Wee Herman Amigurumi PeeWee Doll by  Allison Hoffman (Ravelry link)

Size:  one size, about 16″ tall

Yarn:  Assorted Phentex acrylic from stash (leftovers from the original stash/Zellers purchase)

Needles:  4mm crochet hook

Dates:  April 18-23 2011

Modifications:  None.

I didn’t remember to check a pic of the first one, so without realizing I made Pee Wee the 2nd’s eyes much bigger.  I also added eyebrows and a light reflection, in trying to make it look good.  I think I also forgot the blush on the cheeks, and I overstuffed the legs- they are awesomely stiff, but you can see the stuffing through the holes in the stitches.  All in all, I think I prefer the first one.

As usual you can find my finished (and unfinished!) projects in my “projects” page by clicking the tab up at the top of every page on my blog, and I also have this project in my Ravelry notebook here .

 


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wise men say only fools rush in

I suppose I’m lucky- I don’t have that many craftastrophies in my past.  In my knitting and crochet life, as far as Ravelry and my memory are concerned, there are only 2- the pocketbook slippers, and the licorice thong.

Until now.

🙂

I’m a longtime reader of Faith’s blog The Needle and the Damage Done.  (Some of you may remember her from the sadly-defunct Knitting Cook podcast).  A while ago Faith knit a Lace Ribbed Bolero.  And another one.  And another one.

I suddenly decided that I needed one too.  I stash-dove (the advantages of having 85% of my stash in Ravelry) and realized I didn’t have anything in the proper weight for what I wanted.  While I was at it I looked through my queue and found a tank/vest/thing I’d liked for a while, the Deep V Top, and figured I’d look around for yarn and would knit/crochet whichever one worked out.

This all took place in March, back when I was supposed to have my surgery.  It was postponed because I’d injured my belly muscles in an incredibly non-accident car accident, but I was still home for a week to recuperate- home with time to kill.

I don’t know why I went to Zellers instead of my LYS.  I guess I figured that I’d score some cheap yarn and make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear…I dunno.  All I know is that I was somehow roped into the allure of cheap yarn.  I don’t even mean “inexpensive” yarn- I really mean cheap yarn.

1 lb of “lovely” bright teal blue acrylic, worsted/bulky weight.  I guess I thought it would be summery?

2 days is all it took.  Less, even.  I cast March 9 and finished attaching the loooooong border March 10.  6mm and 6.5mm crochet hooks.

It was thick, huge and stiff.  (heh).  It looked and felt like wearing a cardboard vest.

I put it on twice, once to see if it fit, and once for this photo (where I’m making my best “catwalk pout” face).  On the 3rd day, before I could change my mind and convince myself it was “fashion” or that “I’d actually wear it”, I ripped.

On the 4th day I went back to Zellers and bought ANOTHER bag of the %&*( stuff!  I’m going to blame stress, pain, and boredom.  I knew I couldn’t return the open bag, so somehow I told myself that meant I needed MORE of it so that when I was ready to use it for something, I’d have enough.

 

Argh.  It’s not bad yarn, it’s a perfectly good bulky-ish acrylic, and there is totally place in my stash for acrylic yarn.  I know when I have a need for it I’ll be glad it’s there.  (Maybe I’ll knit some giant toys for the boys?)

Still, there’s a small part of me that wishes, back on that March morning when I impulsively stopped at Zellers after dropping the kids off at daycare, that I’d kept on driving.  My LYS is 3 minutes south of Zellers.  For the price of the two bags I could very possibly be wearing a Deep V Top right now.  It would be too big, ‘cus I lost another 10 lbs or so after the latest surgery, but that’s not exactly the point.

The project is here on Ravelry, if for any reason you feel the need to revisit.