Soho Dreamin'

Daughter #1 and I went shopping in Soho yesterday. But more than the stores, we took in the people. We've been over on Long Island too long and haven't had a trip to the city in a while. We didn't get the memo that little cotton sun dresses are EVERYWHERE! Daughter #1, being the major fashionista, wants them. Many of them. But nothing in the discounty type stores (aka Canal St.) would do. But when the price tag says $250, that's way over her price range on her tiny paycheck from her first real job. So we found ourselves over at Purl Soho Fabric and she realized that she could find a print that would work. So now we are off to find a suitable pattern to determine yardage, and I'm hoping my little girl will discover the love of sewing her mom has. I just have to figure out how to teach her so that
a) She doesn't get frustrated
b) I don't end up doing it all
c) She's pleased enough with the results to want to sew more
I just wish we had more interesting fabric options closer by. I'm sorry if I offend anyone out there, but JoAnn's is usually not my cuppa tea.
Anyway, some knitting eye candy for you. A bit fuzzy, but my camera isn't the best with closeups. Come to think of it, it isn't great with any "ups". Just a peak at my latest project...
Yea, I know, I didn't finish Monkey yet, but I have a present to make, and I'm still mourning the loss of my CP#1 in the yard.

"Don't You Wish Your SP10 Was Great Like Mine!"

My Secret Pal struck again! This time everything was wrapped in red (favorite color) sparkly tissue paper, festooned with flowery sequins. I saved it all, folding it up and storing it neatly away... Inside - a favorite sock yarn, Twisted Sisters Handpainted Zazu. This is an extra fine merino, might even be made into a small decorative lacy scarf. Gorgeous colors! The needles you see next to the yarn are bamboo #9s decorated with glass balls at the top and matching stitch markers. Lovely! I also received the most adorable stuffed lamby, which my 4 year old immediately took off with. Included in my haul was some nice stitch markers - colorful and rubbery. I needed these since the only rubbery ones I had were taken from a Happy Meal Toy - (or maybe it was Wendy's) some kind of ring toss game. They max out at size 5 needles. The biggest ones in this set will fit 11s. Yay! Next up is a set of bent tapestry needles and a case. I've only been using straight tapestry needles from my old quilt tying days.

Now hold on, there's more!
A cute lamb tape measure, which I really need since all of my old tape measures seem to have vanished. Try to measure a garment with a big flat Olfa quilting ruler! There's also a nice little brown dotty notebook. The pages are brown too and the whole book smells just like a paper lunch bag. Yes, I admit it, I smelled it. What does that say about me? I smell yarn too, but I guess that's no big deal in this realm we blog in. I'm terrible at keeping notes and I've decided that this book will the be the beginning of keeping track of what row I'm on.
{Mr and Mrs. Potato Head were there on the dining room table ready to greet the new kid on the block.}

So, this is why I'm singing "Don't You Wish Your SP10 was Great Like Mine?"

A Little Diversion from Knitting

What American accent do you have?
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net

Northeastern.
You're probably from somewhere near New York City, possibly north Jersey, or Connecticut or Rhode Island. If you are from New York City you may be one of the types who people never believe when you say you're from New York.

Take this quiz now - it's easy!

We're going to start with "cot" and "caught." When you say those words do they sound the same or different?

Same Same, no wait I mean different, maybe, a little bit different... Different

The More You Knit, the More You Learn aka Razor Cami

KnottyMouse said it best. She calls it Lace Lessons. I call it Lace Credo.

Thanks to shadkitty for pointing me in the direction of her wisdom. And for that matter, shadkitty has quite a bit of wisdom herself!

So here's a bit of lace, deceptively easy, but so easy to mess up too. As with many others who have come and knit before, I decreased a bit before I put on the straps. I left the pattern pretty much as is otherwise, because I'm a purist in that sense and felt that any deviation (like ribbing at the top) was detracting from the designer's intentions. The straps will probably need to be shortened because I didn't realize how much the cotton would stretch. Figures, I did a nice Kitchner on them too.
Pattern: Razor Cami from Oh My Stars (Thanks Katie!)
Yarn: Classic Elite Tencel Cotton, icey blue
Needles: Size 4 clover bamboo (all other #4s previously occupied but did the job just fine)
I loved the lace pattern, and loved the yarn. I started this last Fall, and put it aside when the weather got colder and I longed for the feel of wool in my hands instead of cotton. I ran out of yarn and reordered in April, and couldn't get the same dye lot. In this case you cannot tell the difference. I was lucky. So, this is technically a finished UFO, although it never got on to the sidebar. So folks, can I start something new now, or do I have to finish another UFO? Check back for my decision...

I'm Enjoying This

Come check out ThisNext.

Happy Mother's Day

Maia put a picture of her grandmother on her blog a while back. I found one of mine, and thought it was appropriate to put it on here for Mother's Day. My grandma had a huge roll in raising me, and I loved her dearly. I miss her every day, even though she's been gone for over 30 years. When the going gets tough, I feel her presence so strongly, like she's right by my side helping me. I didn't think I'd go this direction with my knitting blog - wanted to keep it all knitting, etc., but I thought grandma should be immortalized here. She would have loved the internet. She was forever clipping patterns for knitting and crochet from Family Circle and Good Housekeeping. I saved many of them. It's so great to have her handwriting on them. It makes me feel like she's still here. In her later years, she was enamored with crewel work, and we are fortunate to have some beautiful pieces - part of her legacy. We did all kinds of crafts together. We loved to paint ceramics together, and make Christmas ornaments with satin balls, sequins, bead and pins. Some of our ornaments were like snow globes, with little scenes inside, like a snowman or a creche. We would make a mess, and there was one night when Grandpa found sparkles in his meatloaf! BTW, that's my sister next to me, (the taller one, but now I'm taller) She was the Fetching recipient. Seems there were no pictures of me and Grandma alone that I could find, even though we spent more time alone together than either of my sisters did. So Alyce, you gave me the love of creating beautiful things. I love you. Happy Mother's Day.
Ah, a relaxing day at the beach! Mom and I (and the rest of the family) were visitng my Grandparents and vacationing in Florida. The picture probably preceded a lunch of hard boiled eggs and sandwiches. As you can see, I had an innate sense of fashion even at an early age... Claire, no one could love a mom more than I love you. Happy Mother's Day.

Are You Hungry?

I'm lovin' this. She has an ebay store too, with bidding wars going on. It's amazing what can happen when you suddenly veer off the safe and narrow knitting highway.

My Knitter Son

I'm proud to announce that my son has become a knitter. He started knitting about 7 months ago and would like to knit his sister a teddy bear for her upcoming birthday. We selected this pattern and this yarn and he's off and running...


He's concerned about the hole but I told him not to worry, he's still learning.
He brings it to school and knits during D.E.A.R. time (Drop Everything and Read). The girls crowd around, but at 10, he still finds them icky. Oh, how that will change in a few short years...