Cuteness, and a Thank You

I hope everyone has been enjoying their weekends - for many of you this is a long weekend, and I hope you're loving that as much as I am. I've been pretty busy since I last posted, almost all of it surrounds the impending arrival of the bean, which I'm pleasantly surprised at how excited I am about it all. First of all, my weekend began wonderfully with an unexpected package in the mail from Oiyi.

How can anyone resist a fabric book on Care Bears? Oiyi, you blow my mind, I'm always inspired by the crafting and cooking that you do, despite the adorable new distraction addition to your family. Thank you so much for finding the time to make this book for the bean, who will adore it.

Next up, the nursery has evolved into an actual *gasp* nursery. We had a lot of difficulty picking the paint colour, well, until we had the curtain fabric picked out that is - then it was a cinch.


That Echino fabric is fabulous isn't it? So cute with the little dragonflies and spiders.


Mr B has been busy drawing some classic Pooh for the walls, all the pictures are great, but my fave is of Pooh climbing the tree.


I've still been knitting, although it's mostly been train knitting recently, but that hasn't mean that there's been zero productivity. First up, I made some cute socks (if they look familiar, that's because they are).


And, last weekend I managed to finish this adorable seamless kimono -deets (as usual) are on ravelry.


Some people have noted that I haven't updated the shop in over a month, I used to find this situation stressful, but I just can't let it get to me anymore - sorry to anyone who's been patiently waiting for some more fabrics. I'm really hoping to make a few more bags before I pop, but I'm going to have to see if I can enlist the help of Mr B, since the cutting of fabric needs to be done on the floor - we have no other surface that is big enough.

More catching up/stuff

There's a few things that I really need to catch up on.


First of all, both earthchick and aquaknits (and some spiders if you count the collective awards given out) gave me for the "you make my day award". And I was so happy to read that, I love both their blogs and have been reading them both for such a long time, they certainly both make my day (aqua, it's great to see you post again!). I have thought long and hard about which blogs I would nominate, and just. could. not. narrow it down to 10 blogs - how is that possible? So I'm taking the cowards way out and saying that I love all the blogs I read, each and every one of you - I love to see what's going on with little sneaky looks into people's lives. Thank you all of you for making my day!!

Second order of business is that, it occurred to me that this month brings about my 3rd anniversary of the blog!! This is actually more of an honorable mention than anything else, because I don't have it in me to do anything big and celebratory right now. But I did want to say a big thank you to each and every one of you who pops by to say hi, I appreciate each and every comment I get and love reading them, even if I've been a slacker at responding to them recently.


Third, this sock (which has been a royal pain the in my arse) is finally finished. And today it will be going to one of my spider buddies in our little valentine's single sock swap. It's actually a really great idea, where we each get a person to knit for (through this cute site called 'elfster') and knit them just one sock. You then give them this single sock, the pattern and enough yarn to make it's partner, while someone else will give you the sock they knit for you, etc. etc. It gave me a chance to knit a sock that I'm VERY sure I would not want to knit 2 of because of the concentration required.


The pattern is cablenet from knitty. Yarn is Regia silk is this beautiful burgandy/red - perfect for a valentines swap methinks, and all other deets will show up soon enough on ravelry. Not right now though, I have to get to a party at Marie's place.

Hope you're still here because this is where things get really interesting in todays post.

I have to admit to all of you that I've been holding out on you with one particular WIP. It's actually been in progress for about 3 months now.


Yup, the Schrodingers' Baby Bean!

I've gotta say that this particular project has taken more out of me than any other. I have never felt more like crap in my life - you know I'm not well when I don't even want to think about knitting. Good news is that I'm starting to feel much better now, and believe that I will actually be able to do more of the sewing and knitting I want to do. My big plan is to make a quilt for the bambino. Something that I've always wanted to do. However, it is more because I love the look of quilts, so I'm not sure I'm going to like the actual process.... Any advice from quilters out there will be gratefully received.

Now I really have to go, because this is what happens when you try to rush the cooling process of a banana, nut loaf, sigh! I'm off to buy a cake.

Mememeemeee

Not much so show you, just one finished sock. Knit using 'knitpicks' Felici, it will be one ball for each sock. Toe-up, using figure 8 cast-on, I just knit until I ran out of yarn - doing some increases as I reached the calf.

There are other WIPs going on, but they must remain secret for just a little bit longer. Since I don't have much to share, here's a meme. I was tagged by Jacqueline. This was tough, so tough it took me nearly 2 weeks to complete - yikes!

Here are the rules:

Link to the person that tagged you

Post the rules on your blog.

Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. I don't want to tag, it took me 2 weeks to think of 6 things, can't imagine how long it would take to thing of 6 people - if you want to do this meme - go ahead! Enjoy!

Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website. see above.

1. I tend to get fixated on certain lunches, and will have them at least 2 times a week for weeks on end. During the summer it was organic mixed greens salad, with avocado, mandarin orange, hearts of palm, turkey and walnuts. This week I had the "Italiano" Panini 2 times this week. I get completely thrown when they don't have exactly what I want and will sometimes just skip lunch altogether.

2. I hate going to the hairdresser, I hate having to stare at myself in the mirror for so long, I never really know how to place my hands (even though they are under a cape), I'm crap at small talk and many other things that just make me uncomfortable. I get really worked up when I get there and never fully relax, you'd think I was going to the dentist. I go as rarely as possible. I feel the same way about spa's and nail salons. But at the same time, I want to be someone that can go for a massage once in a while, I guess I need to find a non-spa massage place.

3. I told you about how amused I am when I hear many Americans pronounce "duties" or "Duty". I never mentioned the other one, which is when people have 2 do's run in a sentence, e.g. "It's important when you do do it that way". Dodo's make me giggle like a nine year old in the same way doodies do. And they seem to be much more common in important meetings at work.

4. At times I can appear really efficient and great at getting things done. Honestly though, I have to finish a task, or take care of a message etc, right away, if I don't, I'm going to forget and I'll be the jerk that never calls people back or finishes projects. So what may seem anal retentive to some, is simply self preservation for me.

5. Speaking of forgetting, I'm rely heavily on lists. While this is pretty common for many people, I will always email the lists/reminders to myself, so I will see them on my phone when I need to. I will also do this with hopstop directions and knitting patterns. I think I'd be at a loss without email capacity on my phone.

6. Going to work without watching NY1 would be an incredibly difficult thing for me to do. I like to touch base with the weather outside, and some of the random stuff going on in the city. It's an added bonus when I get to see Pat Kiernan do "In the Papers".

Socks, shells, spinning.

Well, a week has gone by and I have some more stuff to show you. First up is some pretty yarn that I should have showed you last week, but I selfishly kept it to myself.

I won this on Tiennie's blog, I wasn't trying to win - honest. But it turns out that I was the 5,000 commenter on her blog, can you believe that? 5,000 comments!? Then again, if you've seen her blog, you will probably easily understand, Tiennie takes amazing photos of her beautiful projects. I, for one, am happy to have found her.

I have a couple of FOs for you, I finally finished sock #2 from the beautiful single sock sent to me by Nova. I really loved knitting with the Shibui, and it's a really great color (Pagoda). I did have some pooling issues in the second sock, but the color differences are subtle enough not to bother me. Ravelry Details here.


The other FO is very important to show you. After I publicly shamed myself on my inability to actually finish Sheldon, and probably traumatized at least a few of you. The first thing I did was pick him up and finish him that night...

Here he is. Details here (ravelry)


And the spinning? Yes, I figured out the plying and am trying not to feel too stoopid about not changing the drive band - the one consolation is that my real issue was that the wheel had come loose from the back. After tightening the bolt at the back all was well. I couldn't get a great shot of the yarn for some reason, hopefully this will give you an idea.

Happy New Year

Austria is a stunning place - the views are magical. This is what I saw out of the bedroom window the morning after we arrived at my parents (it was pitch black when we arrived the night before).

There are actually too many stunning views than I could shake a stick at, even just the walk into town had views like this:


this:


and this:


you can go to my flickr set for more.

As for other things about the trip, the beer and food were plentiful. And over the holidays the neighbors bring home-made cookies and highly alcoholic orange punch.



I managed to bag myself the cutest slippers ever.


I gave gifts of socks to my parents and a hat to little brother (never got a picture of the hat, sadly).

Childs first Socks for Mum (Lazy ravelry link - sorry)


Dads Earl Grey Socks (another lazy ravelry link)


All were well appreciated.

I even made some mitten ornaments for the parents:


The trip was a lovely and relaxing one, we saw Salzburg and even got a half day in Munich. I had no idea how stressed I'd become before we went away, with work being full on, and all the sewing during my free moments. I'm still on wind down right now, it's great!

I did a bit of knitting while away as well, but that's for another post.

I love getting parcels

I felt like I had a lot to show you this week, then there was the realization that there are people reading this blog who'd have their holiday surprises spoiled (hi family!).

So instead, I'll show you something that I've had absolutely nothing to do with making.

These goodies arrived yesterday. They are from Nova, who made that fabulous project pouch there. I'm so happy with the Green & Blacks chocolate - and am astonished that I still have some left. In case you're wondering why she only sent me one skein of that beautiful Shibui, it's because one skein has already become this:


Nova knit me a Pony Express sock by Audrey Paquin. The sock yarn is Shibui in Pagoda - from which I'll knit its mate. The sock fits perfectly, I love the yarn colour and pattern - I'm a happy bunny. Thanks Nova!!

I hope I'll have some more stuff to show you next time.

Catching up

I just wanted to re-introduce myself to the blog. I'm so behind with blogging and bloglines, oh well, it's a sure sign of a busy life :) Everything is going well, lots going on, and much to show you. I don't want to bore you with a bunch of writing, so I'll catch you up with some photos.

First up, the dress - which I'm finally getting around to show you:

And the shawl, which I completely forgot to take a picture of actually *with* the dress, sorry for the crapola photo, I really struggled with this one:


Pattern: Muir from knitty
yarn: Yarn Place "Gentle" a cashmere, merino mix.
needles: US #6, denises
adaptations: I did one less repeat on the row pattern, making a narrower shawl, since I only had 690 yds. Worked out well for me.

I've knit a bit, and frogged a lot, so all the knitting I have to show today is this sock:


Pattern: It's the Honeybee socks by Stephanie van der Linden. The sock is available (in English as well as German) from a Yahoo German sock Knitting group. You need to join the group to access the pattern (yes, it's all in German, I used Altavista's Babelfish to help with translation, it's not perfect, but it gave me the gist). Once joined, click "Dateien", then the patterns are in the folder "Monatsmuster".
Needles: Knitpicks 32" circs us #1
Yarn: Opal in some yellow (obvious huh?) color
Thoughts/adaptations: I added some extra stitches in the purl part of the pattern and some extra pattern repeats for a longer foot. I'm very worried it won't fit the recipient (despite this being the 3rd sock pattern attempted for them), but I can't do another sock now, I. just. can't. As for the pattern itself, I've really enjoyed knitting it, but it took some time to figure out.

Other stuff: I went to Rhinebeck last weekend with Sharon, Cindy, Colleen and Nancy, we had a blast! I scored a good amount of fiber, a spindle and enough yarn for a sweater/cardigan, sorry about the bland photo.


(click pic for flickr notes on what I bought)

I had planned on buying a new spinning wheel at Rhinebeck, but the prices were the same as online, so I figured I would wait to get one delivered to my home, so my Lendrum Double Treadle arrived this week, and had some fun playing with some of the fiber bought at Little Barn.


It was fun, and so much smoother and quieter than my other wheel, I love it so much, I'm a very happy bunny now.

More socks!?

Wedding outfit update: dress is complete, shawl is not. Dress is a little too baggy at the waist/back, it occurred to me to try darts - but maybe I'm crazy, I've already adapted the pattern. I've never followed a pattern before, hell, I've never even sewn a garment before, I'm beginning to realize I'm more and more like my father, who believes that the best way to learn anything is to jump in the deep end first.

However, I do have an FO to show you.



The Esther socks are complete, they are, perhaps, the most beautiful socks I've ever made. However, I don't think I'd do them again, I started them at the end of July, and only just finished them, I could not memorize the chart, and by the time I was finished with them, I was relieved.


On to the stats
Pattern: Esther socks by Stephanie van der Linden. The sock is available (in English as well as German) from a Yahoo German sock Knitting group. You need to join the group to access the pattern (yes, it's all in German, I used Altavista's Babelfish to help with translation, it's not perfect, but it gave me the gist). Once joined, click "Dateien", then the patterns are in the folder "Monatsmuster" - I believe it's the July 2006 pattern.
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in 'grapevine'
Needles: knitpicks circs 32" US #1

Right, that's it from me today, the shop is nearly empty, and I have a lot of sewing (AND shawl knitting) to do. Happy Sunday to you all :)

Just Stuff

First of all, a quick shot of the prize from Knitting Philistine, don't worry, I didn't win another prize, I already 'fessed up to this one.

There's some Gentle Lavender Natural Mineral Sea Salt Soak, Herbal Spa Treatments for Bath (also Lavender), Sweet Orange and Clove Soap, and Peppermint Wish Foot Balm. I have to admit to opening the foot balm right away, and I LOVE it, my post-summer feet ate it up, I've tried a lot of foot moisturizers in the past, and this has to be my favorite so far. Normally I feel that my feet are over-greasy. Forget walking on the hardwood floors afterwards! But this was much better than any other I've tried, I felt like it absorbed a lot better, and was much less greasy. I also felt a difference in softness. I've not tried the other things yet, I think we need some cooler weather before I'm taking a bath. But I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Melissa. If you want to get some of your own, you can always check out her store.

Speaking of stores, I wanted to say that I'm blown away at the response to my box bags, the first batch sold out in less than 3 days, I've managed to add more here and there. I hope to do a bigger update sometime over the weekend. Anyway, big THANKS to everyone that's stopped by the store to visit, and those that have bought bags. I'm so relieved that people actually like them.

Every time I start a new project, I have, in the back of my mind, the crazyidea, this time it may *the one*. You know, the one that has zero errors, the one without any fudged-up bits. Although I'm pretty sure this will never happen - there is still a part of me, hoping that just maybe....

So, a couple of (slightly) fudged up FO's for you. First of all Spiral Socks. I absolutely adore these socks. I really enjoyed the STR - which is a relief since I have 3 more skeins to use :) it's so... round. As for the socks, I thought I was doing so well with the matching of the socks, opposite swirls and all. However, the swirl came around a lot faster on the second sock than on the first. I could. not. figure it out for ages. Trying them on after finishing last night, I realized what the problem is, I think I actually had less stitches for sock #2!!! Oh well, they still fit (albeit tightly for #2), and I still love them, even though they're not perfectly matched.


Pattern: Swirl Socks by Sulafaye
Yarn: Socks That Rock Lightweight - in January One (btw, how cool to have a colorway named after you?)
Needles: US #2 Pony Pearls
Mods and thoughts: Only the 'oops factor'. I highly recommend the pattern, perfect interest and not too 'fussy' for a variegated yarn.

The second FO began with even higher hopes. Orangina was supposed be knit faster than anyone else has done it (planning to practically finish on vacation - HA!), be perfect, AND make me slimmer. None of these things happened, of course. I'm had moments of losing my place in the pattern at times, creating 'unevenness', and being the lazy knitter that I am, I didn't rip back. Ripping back only happens when it's *really* noticeable, which is rare in my book, my standards are low :) Oh yeah, and I gave myself a face, for a change.


Pattern: Orangina by Glampyre Knits
Yarn: Rowan 4-ply in "Sage"
Needles: Addis Tubos US #3
Mods: again, only the "Schrodinger touch" to certain parts of the pattern, oh! and I made the back slightly longer than the front - not on purpose. I'm undecided about the pattern, like I said, I wanted it to make me thinner. Shockingly - it didn't. Oh well...

The one where I show you a bunch of half finished projects

There's some still time left to enter, so if you're looking for the contest ---> click here

Happy Labor Day everyone!

I don't have anything complete to show to you today, but I do have a bunch of WIPs. I'm going through a major amount of startitis - it happens sometimes, esp. when I have so much lovely yarn in my hands that I want to knit - now!! First of all, let me share with you a pic of the beautiful yarn I won from Scout.

It's 100% merino in the colorway "Harlot's Mums" - it's a beaut right?

Now for the WIPS - the clap is really coming along, not much else to tell ya on this one - except the Sea Silk continues to be a dream to knit with.


I started my first STR sock on Friday - it took 3 false starts, and much ripping back before the yarn (in "January One" colorway) was telling it *had* to be this pattern. I'm obsessed with this pattern, I LOVE the asymmetry of the swirls. And you all know I love my swirls/spirals in socks. Look at it! I don't know if you could share the same love I have for this sock, but I just can't stop knitting it.


Which means that my poor Esther sock will remain partnerless for some time yet - but at least one is done for now - a super pretty pattern this is (click here for more info on the pattern - or check it out on ravelry).


That's all for today, I will be drawing the winners of the bags later on this week, in the meantime - I have some more sewing to do...

Twisted Tweed Socks!!

Finally, I have battled the monster that is pdf creation. And the pattern is now freely available here. I have to say a big thank you to Harriet of Limedragon who gave me some pointers with little oopsies in the first draft of the pattern. Enjoy the pattern!

ETA: If you're a Ravelry user, you can queue the pattern here.

Click to Download
If that link doesn't work you can also try downloading from here.

Failling that, please try downloading from here.

Jan 2008 Update: I've changed one of the links for downloading the pattern. There are now 3 choices, all from free servers, that each have their own limitations - sometimes the bandwidth is exceeded for the day/week/month for one, which is why I have 3 choices. If none work, please try again later, or on a new day. Thanks.

I - Just - Couldn't - Resist

Having a wonderful time :)

He loves 'Em!!

Yes indeed, the Post office pulled through, they stopped striking and got Dad's socks to him in time for his birthday yesterday. When I called him and asked if the socks fit he responded "I don't know, I packed them already". The thing is, you see, my parents are about to experience a major life change - they just bought a house in Bad Ischl, Austria, which they will be converting into a place to live (for them) downstairs, and a couple of vacation apartments upstairs (you know, so they can earn money for food and mortgage).

My parents needed to sell their home in the UK in order to buy the Austrian house - they put their house on the market on Wednesday, and accepted an offer on Friday!! So, you can imagine that socks are not foremost in Dad's mind - although he did email me later to let me know that the socks fit, he loves them, and they will be perfect for those cold winter days in the mountains. I still can't believe how beautiful it all looks though.



In knitting news - twisted tweed socks are complete!


I've emailed the pattern to the people who volunteered to test knit (if you didn't get your pattern, check your junk box, or email me schrodinger212 AT gmail DOT com). I'm hoping the pattern will be available, for free, in the next couple of weeks.



I also finished one-skein wonder last weekend, but didn't get a chance to photograph it. It's a bit meh! to me, I'm not enamoured with it, maybe it's the yarn, the bulk of it, the feel, maybe it needs to be slightly bigger...


Yarn: ONLine Linie 44 Ravenna - black (about 3 skeins)
Pattern: One Skein Wonder by Stefanie Japel
Needles: Denises US 5 & US 8



One the sewing front, I did have success with these cute little headbands by Heather Bailey (thank you to gleek for pointing out the pattern).


They really do work, and are a cinch to make - best advice I got was to make many at a go, since they are so easy to do, so I have 3 of them, but I seriously wish I made more now.