Spring Top Sewalong!

One of my favorite bloggers, Rae over here is doing her Spring Top-athon again this year. It's grown from one week to a whole month-long event. This year, I'm helping moderate all the entries that come in. I'm also hoping to get some sewing done myself. I've had a HUGE itch to sew lately, but I seem to have a loss of a major ingredient required. I can't find anything with which to copy my patterns to in order to cut out the fabric and get sewing! When we lived in GA, I would either use freezer paper (which I didn't bring because the roll was huge and heavy), or I would tape together sheets of tracing paper, which I'm certain I brought with us, but cannot find anywhere. So now I'm hunting online for arts and crafts stores in the UK. I can't believe how hard a task that is. It seems like I'm going to have to travel nearly an hour to find one! I might have to talk to some of my local friends to see if there isn't something closer. I've only got until May 9th, and with the little bits of time I get these days, I'll need every minute I can get between now and then. In the meantime, be sure to check out Rae's great blog. Maybe she'll inspire you to start sewing too!

update on 'thick'

We had to go to London two weeks ago, so I used the time in the car when I wasn't holding a screaming baby who should be in his carseat to knit this. (In Monkey's defense, we did get caught in some standstill traffic for more than an hour.) So I got through three balls of the mystery thick yarn and decided I just didn't have enough to finish the sweater. Big bummer since I really had fallen in love with the design (Moshup by Berocco) while working on it. Guess that means another yarn purchase is in my future... Right, like I mind.

So that meant that once again, I was searching for a pattern for this awesome yarn. Before I found Moshup, I had found a really cute bolero; but it was in French. I scoured their English website, but to my great dismay, they had not translated it. That's when I found Moshup and decided to give it a go. Now that that wasn't going to work out, I was again drawn back to that French bolero. I took 4 years of French in High School, but that doesn't mean that I remember any of it (and I don't, honestly). I thought on it for a few hours and then decided, what the hell. I was looking for a new challenge anyway, so translating a French knitting pattern would apparently be it!

A week or so later, my Phildar book arrived and I got right to it. Luckily I found this blog with a French knitting dictionary! She also, thankfully, explains the French math that had me stumped for a bit. Between that, and this and some help from the Ravelry forum, my translation is coming along nicely and I hope to have it completed soon to begin working on my bolero. If I, by some freak chance, don't have enough yarn for this project either, I might just have to let that gorgeous yarn mingle with some other yarn in my stash for a while. *fingers crossed* that that won't be the case.

through thick and thin

When selecting my next knitting project, I wanted something that was portable, and mindless. I've had trouble with complex patterns lately as my attention is usually pulled in other directions than my hands. I have yarn from a friend that's been calling me from my stash since I got it, and I have some laceweight that had begun life as this, but it just wasn't working out for me, and had to be frogged. And since I always have at least two projects going on at one time, I decided to look for patterns for both. Strangely enough, they're the same color.

The laceweight is Malabrigo Lace. It's soft and warm and I love the way the subtle color changes throughout. The problem with the sweater I originally started in this yarn was that it was a bottom-up design. That's a LOT of stitches to start out with in such thin yarn. I got about an inch into it and yanked it all out just as I was about to yank out my hair. I didn't think I'd ever have the patience to knit a full sweater in laceweight. Looks like I was wrong (happily); because now I'm about to separate for the sleeves of this sweater. I love LOVE this design. It's so simple and sleek, and perfect for finicky Spring afternoons in central England. Best of all, it's a top-down design. By the time I got to the larger number of stitches, where one row takes about five minutes to work, I've already completed too much to turn back. Clever.

The unknown heavyweight, I'm hoping, will become this. I weighed what I have and if my wpi estimate is correct, I'll have JUST enough. I should know by the time I've worked up two balls of it. That's enough to know whether I'll have enough to complete it, but not so much that I'll be pissed if I have to frog it all.

It's fun knitting two different projects at opposite ends of the weight spectrum, in the same color. Selfishly, they're both for me! On that note, I've been trying to pick out some projects for my babes lately, but Monkey has all his brother's hand-me-downs and really doesn't need anything right now. Scooch doesn't really have anything mama-made right now, but he is So. Rough. on clothes that I'm afraid anything I make won't last long enough for him to grow out of it. Plus, we're having to change clothes after every meal almost these days, and I don't think I much like the idea of hand-washing his woolens that often. Ahem.

pancake day

Here in England, Fat Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day!  It's a day of indulgence before the period of abstinence that is Lent, hence the pancakes! 

I love pancakes.  I planned to make a day of it and have different types of pancakes, dressed different ways, for all three meals.  I planned on American and English pancakes.  England has thinner pancakes, more like crepes.  Mr. R brought home a container of shake and pour pancake mix for me.  I figured I would save that for the meal I felt least like making.  We had a bad start to our day so that ended up being breakfast.  Straight away I didn't like the looks of these pancakes.  I cooked them for a loong time and they remained moist.  I don't like moist bready things.  I tried them the traditional way, with honey and lemon.  I couldn't eat the entire thing.  Again, moist bread...  The next one I tried with peanut butter and Nutella.  I was able to eat that one, but I still didn't love it.  Nutella makes everything better, by the way.  Scooch didn't love his either.

For lunch, I made American pancakes.  I served them to Scooch with sliced strawberries, blueberries, and banana/apple puree (aka- baby food).  For mine, I added some maple syrup that I bought special for Pancake Day.  These were MUCH better aside from the maple syrup.  It was only 40% maple syrup. The rest was flavoring and something called carob fruit syrup.  Maple syrup on it's own is sooo sweet.  Why, oh why did it need to be made sweeter?  I thought I had a sweet tooth until I moved here.  Everything has the sweet factor turned up to extreme and it really isn't for me.  But, I guess there had to be something for me to miss in the states.  If it wasn't for the food, I might have no reason to go back (only joking Mom!).

After lunch, I had a seriously sweet stomachache so I put the kibosh on our Pancake Day and made spaghetti for dinner (see previous post).

scooch monkey!

Hello imaginary friends! I know you've all missed me in my long absences lately.  I do apologize.  Not much crafting, or even cooking, has been going on in this house lately.  Most importantly, no SLEEPING has been going on either.  Ugh.  I feel like a first time mother all over again.  O is soo different from his brother, nothing that worked for Scooch is working this time.

We do, however, have a nickname for O!  Monkey!  Hence the blog revamp and new name!  The address has remained the same for now. I will notify if it changes in the future.

I'm trying to think positively about this sleep situation we find ourselves in.  I'm planning big.  I've got plans for baking, sewing and knitting.  Right now, I'm dreaming in pasta.  We got this package yesterday from my mother-in-law.

Holy moly, would you like some spaghetti?  I'm a happy girl with all this spaghetti!  It's hard to find thin spaghetti here, and we prefer angel hair.  So get this, my MIL paid $45 to send us 11 boxes!!  Crazy?  Yes.  Awesome?  Oh yes, indeed.  Thoughtful?  She is nothing but.

Other than mountains of pasta, I do have some finished items to show, but I need to get my butt in gear and photograph them.  That's always the hard bit, actually getting around to taking the pictures.  One is a Christmas stocking.  From three months ago!  Oy.  Better get to it...

knitting for O (and mama)

I noticed that my last post about our impending arrival referred to him as R2.  He does have a name now (he'd better since he's due in something like 20 days!), but since this is a public blog, I'm trying to protect my children's privacy and will refer to him now simply as O, until he gets a nickname like his brother, Scooch. 

I started knitting for O while we were in NY.  I just completed everything and now am working on something selfish.  One might wonder how I have time to knit at all with a house to settle into and a crazy 2 year old to keep up with.  I'm learning to be more creative with my time; incorporating Scooch into some of my housework that he can 'help' with, or at least still be supervised while I do it.  Also, since I'm so close to my due date, I've been pretty sleepy lately and needing as much rest as I can find.  So usually in the mornings, I've been trying to stay still on the couch while Scooch plays, and I knit.  And knit.  And knit.  And so, here are the results:

First up are socks, guaranteed to stay on (so says the designer).  I used bamboo yarn, which I don't really care for.  It's slippy and hard to maintain gauge.  Hopefully it won't cause them to 'slip' right off his feet.  And yes, that is my hugemongous belly they are sitting on.

Next is a top.  I love this pattern because it includes sizing for many seasons to come.  I can even make both my boys matching tops.  It's knit in a circle, including the shoulder straps.  I almost want one for me!

Every baby needs a hat.  This one looks like an aviator hat (which is also how the pattern is named).  I love the chin strap to help keep it on, and it covers his ears!  Double bonus.  Again, another pattern that can grow with my boys.

Finally, a blanket.  I made Scooch a HUGE blanket which hardly got used.  I'm almost hoping he develops a blankie habit so it seems some wear...almost.  I made O a smaller one.  I didn't pay attention to how MUCH smaller, but it'll be great for covering him for a while.  It warmed him while I was making it too.  He would start squirming all over whenever I covered my belly with it.

Oh, I almost forgot!  Here's the baby pod I made in NY.  It looks huge now, and there were many many problems with the pattern, but luckily it was an easy enough design that I worked out the errors and got a finished product out of it.  I can't wait to snuggle him up in it.

And here are a couple selfish things I made before we even left GA.  Both will get a lot of wear here across the pond, I do think:

hello again, hello

Hello hello hello!  That's how Wallace enters a room on one of my son's favorite shows, Humf.  So a few days almost turned into a few months.  Sorry I've been away so long, my imaginary land.  I've been quite busy in my absence however.  I'm about to post about it, but just wanted to say hello first.  I'm still working out whether I can continue to make and sell Baby Travel Bags while I'm here without being in violation of my visa.  You'll know when I know about that.  I do plan on doing a lot of sewing and knitting however.  Even if I have to pack it all up and save it until I'm back in the states.  Anyway, I'll get on with what I've been up to...