I need a life line for my life.

Back from the wilds of North Central Wisconsin. Vaca was emotionally and physically exhausting...though darn pretty. Loons are cool. So is boating. So are secluded lakes and country roads.

Sometimes there can be too much togetherness with the extended fam though. The inlaws were once again gems. It was truly enjoyable spending more time with them and seeing what joy they take in the kids. Others were a tad more challenging and I unfortunately overheard an undeserved savaging of myself. What fun. Will leave it at that.

Did manage to some home a few pounds lighter. Ah, the power of hiking.

Did get some socks done.

The Simply Lovely Lace Socks, redux:

Love them.

The Funfetti Sock (slip stitch crochet) #1:

Love it. May never need to looks for another crochet sock pattern, it's that good...in Cascade Fixation anyway.

Frankly seem to be hitting the sock wall. or it could be that my head feels like it's going to explode any minute and falling into a good book is so much easier.

Feel like I've jumped into the center of a storm. Came home drag down tired to a leaking pipe, parents that need to move in 2 weeks and a dearth of school supplies to buy. My poor birthday is going to be over run not only by Labor Day weekend this year, but hoards of packing and heavy lifting and likely tears and emotions running amok. Just what I wanted.

It's going to be a loooooong 2 weeks.

SOS goes on vacation...FINALLY.

Yep, the big summer getaway is next week.

The in-laws have rented a HUGE cabin...OK, when it's 5000 square feet, I think we get into the realm of the "lake home". "Cabin?" Not so much.

Anyway, it's here, in Wisconsin's far, far, far northern reaches. I'm anxious to see how it compares with the north shore area in MN, which I find dreamy. I've already scoped out Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, just over the border in Michigan's UP...can't wait to hike and wave hello from the opposite shore of Superior. Oh, how I loooooove that lake.

Aside from some emerging anxiety over trying to wedge the "bare necessities" for 2 semi-grown-ups and 3 rampaging monkeys into one minivan, I so far have managed to avoid all panic. With the big pack happening tonight, I'm sure that will change very, very, very FAST. Tranquilizers may be needed by day's end. Good thing I have some percoset left over from the last c-section! ;)

Of course, that means I'll be taking the socks on the road. Of course, we'll be getting back after teh deadline for SOS's vacation picture contest, which is a major bummer since I anticipate getting some great shots, but SIGH, I guess I can't have everything. :( Never fear, I'll take pictures for posterity's sake anyway.

For those of you playing along, here's where we stand:


From the left, that would be Simply Lovely Lace Sock #3, working up to match it's mate with my new and improved modifications to the Interweave pattern. Then there's Molly, the Socktopia Mystery Sock pattern...3 lace repeats done, 1 to go. Am very much hoping Mama Monkey posts the heel before I head out tomorrow morning. #3 is the Tutti Frutti sock by Janet Rehfeldt out of Crocheted Socks!, working up in Cascade Fixation. It's a slip stitch pattern and oh my I can't wait to get it on my foot. It's sooooo springy and squishy and huggy. I may never crochet another type of sock again. #4 is the wavey ripple sock I'm designing. Need to get it done so I can write up the pattern by the first...yipes! It's been on hiatus for a bit as I just don't seem to have the brain power to keep track of what I'm doing. The kids need to start sleeping again or I fear it will never be finished.

With 6 hours in the car each way, I'm imagining I'll make nice progress. Of course, there will also be 3 kids in the car too, so I guess that might be a tad optimistic...stay tuned for all the sordid details.

Molly

She's coming along swimmingly. Slow, so more like doggy paddle than butterfly, but swimming none the less.

Love the twisted rib.

Love the Trekking subtlety.

Love Mama Monkey.

Sorry you can't see more detail. The camera still sucks.

Hooray for libraries!

Lookie what was sitting so innocently on the shelf at the library this morning:

Oh my.

Once SOS is done, there shall be scarves. Oh my yes, there shall be scarves for everyone.

I lust after almost everything in this book.

Why didn't anyone tell me?!?!?!?

Dashing off to update my amazon wishlist, b-day is right around the corner ya know...

TODDLERS ARE FRUSTRATING

Yep, mean ever single capital there.

It's one of those days.

Time for snort out your nose funny.
I know, it's stupid, but oh how I love me some hoops and yoyo....now if I could only find the right yarn to crochet them in...

Fridge Fairies

Oh, I wish I had some.

I think we must have fridge gnomes instead. They have food fights in there I swear.

Seriously, how oh how does it get so grungy in there? Everything comes in neatly packaged. Leftovers stashed in nifty coordinating containers. Fruit nestled in it's own bowl.

Yet there's sticky, crusty bits everywhere.

The veggie drawer I understand. They are sadly neglected at times and frankly we're all a bit afraid to delve too deeply in there until we have to. Surface veg only please! Yuck.

But the rest of the fridge? Yeah, I'm going with the gnomes.

Guess what went on my "pre-cabin trip to-do list"? So happy about that. One of my least favorite household remediation projects...that and wiping the schmutz off the toilets. UGH.

Any wagers on how long it will take me to get it done? Anybody? Anybody?

Unless I can lure me some fridge fairies that is...bet they'd keep things sparkling in there....

Let's just catch up on what will provide ample diversion from the fridgey nightmare, shall we?

Finished Simply Lovely Lace Sock #2, and really like the modifications I made. Much happier with the 3x3 rib and longer heel flap. Added a pattern repeat to both leg and foot as well.

So, the ball? Yep, it be Simply Lovely Lace Sock #1...soon to become Simply Lovely Lace Sock #3. Would really like to be done with this and move on to something else, but there's no sense letting the less than wonderful one languish, no is there? That has to be bad mojo, leaving handknit wonderfullness short of it's full potential and unusable. Yep, baaaaaaaad karma that.

On the crochet front, I've left the design as I go ripple sock sit aside and watch for a bit. The emotional hooeyness of the past few weeks is just too much for my brain. Nothing left to be figuring out the bits that need figuring. I so wish they could find the people left missing. They found 2 more yesterday in the cars trapped under the bridge. No word on who it was yet, but I pray it's the pregnant mother and her 2 year old. Please, let them be found. Let them be together and move on. Please.

Anyway, have provided myself with a bit of crochet brain candy.

It's the slip stitch sock from my crocheted sock bible, Crochet Socks! The leg may take me 3 months to finish, but wow, is it easy and mindless. No lace to goof up here.

I've also cast on and completed the cuff for the Mystery Sock Mama Monkey has posted over on Socktopia...who can resist Molly Weasley? Working with some great subtly striped Trekking in tones of brick. Mmmmmmm, makes me happy. And you know what? So does the 1x1 rib...cause it's twisted! Yeah! Now I have the answer to my 1x1 rib woes!

And have you read Michael Stackpole? I found a podcast for his book, Fortress Draconis, and wheee-hee! What a romp so far. And a sexier podcast reading you won't find anywhere, I swear, really I do. So, whilst burning time at the library the other day, I left the realm of kiddie books and wandered over into the Sci-Fi section...and the prelude to Fortress Draconis was sitting there on the shelf. Not a single other of his many books. Just that one. Nice when things work out, eh?

Anyway, I've been absolutely rampaging through it. Can't put it down. Very fun. Highly suggested if you like things in the realm of Middle Earth. Dragons and wizards and warriors oh my!

So, I'm heading into my weekend with the fridge on my mind, a good book to divert me and socks calling my name. Stay tuned for further developments.

I am not a gawker.

We went to snag some rogue carpet squares from the boy's project yesterday...and wow did I learn something about myself.

I.am.not.a.gawker.

At first it was wow, there's a lot of traffic, what's going on...was it a concert, festival or one of the ever-present "walks"?

Nope.

Seriously, there were cars everywhere. Stop and go, stop and go. Took 5 solid minutes to go the last block.

OK, granted the nearby highway no longer exists, but this seemed sort of extreme for traffic on an early Sunday afternoon with no Twins game.

...and the boy insisted that traffic hadn't been anything like this for the past few days.

So what was going on????

When I noticed the people clogging the sidewalks...all headed in the same direction, it hit me.

And I got nauseous.

All these people had come down here to the river to gawk. They wanted to see it. To point and gasp and "see something"...and maybe be on TV.

BARF.

I understand that some may have come with reverence. To pray. To feel the depth of the loss.

But man, that was not what I was seeing. Wouldn't have been surprised to see food vendors and t-shirts. Never seen so many extremely serious, annoyed police in my life.

It was creepy.

Yep, I am not a gawker.

Sock luck.

I had sock club this morning.

Which meant I had to drive over one of the "high" bridges over the Mississippi. Very surreal. The river was very quiet. The only traffic the crew team stroking quietly along. All half a mile or so from total chaos.

As was the total lack of air traffic. We're pretty used to planes droning over all the time, and their absence is glaring. Makes me twitchy. So did the president's heli roaring over.

Yep, all in all very surreal. Not your usual Saturday morning.

Sock club was a much needed break though...good company, good yarn...and guess what I won?

So worth toting my lone ranger of a May sock along with me. Can't wait to dig into her vast sockish knowledge.

too close to home

Bridges should not fall.

SIGH.

It's been an oddly disjointed week here.

I've been 2 kids short since Sunday as the big ones were with my in-laws until yesterday afternoon...when I journeyed into Wisconsin nervously counting bridges all the way to retrieve them.

So it was a very quiet week until the phones started ringing off the hook Wednesday night.

"Are you all home?"

I purged the basement to stock my friend Ellen's garage sale that will hopefully fund her MS Walk. 9 bags/boxes of toys and 11 of baby clothes, an exersaucer, baby bath, bouncy seat and doorway jumper have now left the building. We sorted through all the kid clothes riveted to CNN.

"Yeah, we're all here safe."

It's been odd seeing our little town all over the media. It's equally been surreal having them here, standing in front of places I've casually passed by my entire life. It's even more disturbing to have a gaping hole, emotionally and physically looming so few miles from our home.

I grew up in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis/Saint Paul. I've driven over that bridge without noticing more times that I can imagine to count. It's less than a half mile from my children's preschool. It's right on top of my husband's latest project. He drove under it on his way home from work every day for the last year or so.

He drove under it 20 minutes before it fell. Heading home early that day. Holding the baby instead.
That's the view from the apartments his development company owns across from the condos he's building. The news crews broadcast from just off the right side of the screen.

If you live in either city here, your days are spent crossing bridges. There are the usual highway overpasses and such, but 3 major rivers traverse the area. There are BIG bridges everywhere.

I've never thought much about them...until now.

Now I think about them way, way too much.

The bridges and the people.

The people that miraculously got away.

The school bus.

The people that ran to help without thinking.

The rescue and retrieval teams still trying.

The families still waiting.

They haunt me.

The people still in the river haunt me.

Seeing the anguish of the rescue workers able to see their faces below the surface but not able to reach them. Having to leave them there, in the river.

The river that's only a few blocks from our home. The river we walk along, watching eagles. Looking for tugs pushing barges. Cheering crew teams gliding along. So much beauty cutting through such an urban 'scape.

I can feel it pulling me.

(heavy sorrow)

But I can't go.

I just can't.

Goodies from Deutschland!

My reward for The Great CoffeeMate Search of 2007.

A friend on the Lime and Violet MB had a jones for some of the new CoffeeMate flavors (and expressed deep-felt longing for sharpies and lip smackers), so we effected a swap. I searched down the artificial flavory goodness (never found the requested Blueberries and Creme though...drat to be foiled by a coffee creamer!), tossed in assorted permanent marking lip shining wonders and she sent me all kinds of German yarny, crochety, tea-ish goodies.

Definitely worth visiting every grocery within a 20 mile radius...

Back on track...uh, sort of.

OK, the book is behind me.

(at least until I wrench it out of wonder-boy's hands and pour through it again....)

Back to the socks!

Had to rip the crochet sock to rework the stitch patter to make fewer stitches around but still have enough pattern reps to get the ripple effect. Still liking it, though the ripples are shallower and therefore more subtle. The heel turned well, and am plotting some decreases to snug up the foot a bit.

Simply Lovely Lace Sock #1 is done. It's only my 4th ever finished knit sock and it reinforced that I have a lot to learn still. I did it to directions, trying it on as I went, but it's just not quite right. I think I'll tweek #2 a bit...longer heel flap and different ribbing (the 1x1 is just too sloppy and once again I find I really just don't like it...so why do I keep doing it?). Which means that I will most likely be redoing #1 when I'm done, but hey, better to have socks I love, right? And I do really love the lace pattern. Fun to knit too.

Of course, another diversion came in the mail today...the latest scarf circle scarf:

...and I have a cabley idea in mind for it too. It needs to go out by the 7th, so it may bump the socks back a bit.

...and the inlaws are coming today for #2s b-day. (i feel positively faint thinking that he's 5 already...) So there is much frantic cleaning/throwing out going on and it will be all Cars all the time this weekend.

And try not to dwell on the unsightly leg attached to the socks...not mine, nope, definitely not mine!

The grandest compulsion of all

No yarn work this weekend folks. Even the socks lose out to Harry.

I finished up around 12:30 this a.m. and was happy to be able to sleep afterwards. Heavy heart today though. It's done and there are some tear jerkers it will take me some time to get over.

SIGH.

SOS...it's an obsession.

Seriously.

It's not like I'll be in the running for any of the contests. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

I have 3 kids. And 2 dogs. And a husband. All of which demand time and attention, darn them.

There are plenty of contestants without diversion that will leave me in the dust.

So why oh why can I only think of socks??

I'm stalking patterns. Online. Library. Every knitting and crochet book I own. I literally go to sleep regretting that I am not staying up to get a few more rows done, mentally reviewing the queue. Need I mention it's impossibly long?

Every other project has officially been laid aside...bye-bye blankets. Hasta la vista, fingerless gloves. Ciao snazzy summer headbands. Ta ta, any socks started before June 21!

Pair number 1 was finished over this past weekend. Quick crochet in DK weight Cestari cotton blend:


Can you tell which I did first? The "tell" of crocheted socks...once they've been worn, they never go back.

I'm happy with them. Soft and squishy. Oh so warm to snuggle up with a book and a cuppa in. Jammie socks for sure.

Feeling better for having finished something...possibly atoning for having spaced the start...I decided to do something different:

Yep, it's a crocheted ripple sock. Off the top of my head. Fabulous Mega Boots Stretch to work the color magic. Amazingly somehow working out first go round. Pray for me.

And because one is just not enough...and as at times the facility with which the afore-mentioned project is coming along is just too surreal:

Knitting. Simply Lovely Lace socks from Interweave. Again in Cestari DK. Love the perversity of doing up girly lacy socks in staunch grey wool.

(and do you see the bag? my fabulous craftstravaganza-purchased bag??? has been languishing with out purpose, but now has become the official SOS project bag of dooooooooom. *nods to L&V, source of my socky tendencies*)

Yep, it's a summer of socks alright. They have even made an appearance at teh soon-to-be tragically-sold-and-therefore-no-longer-accessible pool in my parents' backyard.

...and just for the record, yes, I did cry. AGAIN.

SOS! Secret Pal to the rescue!

After that last post, it should surprise few to find out just how spaced my brain truly is. For some reason I was. Go figure. Always the last to know!

Being house-bound with sicko kiddos at least had one benefit...time to quasi-catch up online. The kids are happy with movies under blankets on the couch, the baby is happy to snuggle on my lap (OK, let's be real..."refuses to leave my lap, grows claws when removal is attempted, and howls like a banshee when floor contact is made"...much more accurate), so I'm happy to surf. Perusing some of my fave blogs I stumbled across post after post about SOS 2007. And the vague recollection of having heard about it on Lime and Violet. And an even more tenuous memory of rushing over and joining up. Did I really do something so foolish as to put MORE on my plate? Checking the SOS blog, yep, seems I did.

Missed the kick-off by a cool 2 1/2 weeks too. So, after checking to see if I was still in the game, not banished for life for being a total and complete dunderhead, with much catching up to do, I pulled out the hooks. It's not "sock" yarn, but I decided to use some of the Cestari cotton/wool stash to whip up some comfy crocheted house socks pronto. All things happen faster with DK weight, right? And let's face it folks, crocheted socks aren't terribly shoe friendly anyway, so might as well make the most of what they are, which is super warm and squishy. Since Wednesday, I have 1 down, 1/2 to go:

Using the lace pattern out of the crocheted sock bible: Crocheted Socks! by Janet Rehfeldt and Mary Jane Wood. Some tweaking of heel and toe required with the gauge change, but with trying it on frequently that just kind of works itself out as you go along.

Normally I prefer an elastic yarn (like MegaBoots Stretch or Cascade Fixation) for crocheted socks. By it's nature crochet has little "give" and the stretchy yarn makes up for it a bit. So, these are getting a bit stretched out as I pull them on and off veeeeeeery gingerly, but I think it will all be OK. The finished one is a treat for the feet. Now if we only hand snow and icy hardwood floors....SIGH, winter's so far away!

My plan is to be working on one "challenge" sock and one "easy peasy" sock at a time. For now, crochet will hopefully help me make up for lost time. I want to design a ripple sock too. Maybe granny if I can figure it out. Whee! On the knitting front, this shall be my grand opportunity to make a pair of Jaywalkers and I have my heart set on the new Bellatrix and Fawkes patterns on Socktopia if I can manage them. Even have a skein of Lisa Souza Earth Birth that will be perfection for the Fawkes.

Socks may just save the summer.

...and my secret pal must have been reading my mind. My last package was laid in my grateful little hands by my smiling post-woman this very morning, and here is what I found:


WHOOT!

2 sets of Susan Bates DPNs (a little leery of the metal, but hey, I'll give it a whirl) in the perfect sizes to make the most of my new sock yarn! 2 skeins of Dreams in Color! 2 Skeins of an Italian wool blend that I am too lazy to walk downstairs to find the name of but promise I will put it in next time! The colors are great, so great in fact that I think I shall have to make the Dreams in Color in to an abbreviated Clapotis. Can you imagine breezing through next winter with the yarn equivalent of the Caribbean wrapped around you? I can now!

SP Miranda, you are the greatest!

Did I mention that it's a sanity thing?

Ah summer, how I wish ye would just end.

I know, we're barely into July. Oh how I know. September is so, so very far away, and I need to find a way to make the most of this summer with the kids...we'll only be here once, right? Enjoy them while they're young, right? I get it, problem is I'm outnumbered and I can't. 3 kids under 6, 2 dogs all day is just too much for me to deal with. I'm overstimulated all day every day, just wanting everyone to please for the love of all things sane, just leave me alone for 5 minutes!

I also seem to be in the downward spiral of bad karma. Don't know what I'm paying for, but I sure hope it was worth it, because every time I turn around something else is imploding. I'm trying to get things going in a positive direction, yet I keep getting slapped.

Want the list? Here you go: (if you don't need to hear me whine, skip the monster paragraph below...really, no need to read it, i just need to vent)

2 sprained ankles...or rather the twicely sprained ankle. (try chasing after the amazing 18 month presto climbo with that...don't know how it will ever heal. weight loss dreams that went out the window with surprise pregnancy #3 now are orbiting the Orion Nebula I think...) Parents in crisis, selling the house they've been in since I was a freshman in high school...and therefore the pool! (do i even need to tell you how much that hurts? every time i take the kids up to swim i just cry. they're so little they won't even remember it, and the baby will never even have it to not remember...and yep, am crying again...enough o' that.) Drove to Milwaukee last weekend to leave 2 of the 3 with the in-laws only to have fevers break out. (...so home we all came again...now with 2 pissed off kids begging to go swim, but not able to since said pool is in the backyard of the house that needs to stay immaculate and they have no idea is soon to be not in their life anymore...with the baby that is now sick and needing to be held 24/7. so much for the "finding the me in me again" week...SIGH!) The husband that has a major project closing up right now, not home even when his body is, which is pretty much just to have dinner, put the kids to bed and sleep. And the sock club missed 2 months running. And 2 separate spinning classes nixed as well. And we bought the much a-cursed minivan. How I hate that car. And what are you supposed to say when you go to your sister's "finally done with oral surgery residency" banquet only to have everyone you meet say they've seen and heard so much about your beautiful children, but that your sister never talks about you." Gee, thanks" didn't quite seem appropriate. My husband says I need to sprout thinker skin.

No, I am not enjoying my summer.

But I am enjoying my new summer shoes:


Rocket Dogs. They make me happy. Can you tell that the rhinestones are little hearts? Oh early 80s throwback joy!


So, in the spirit of the shoes, I'm determined to try to make lemonade with the lemons I'm being pelted with. Not quite sure how just yet, can't seem to find the sugar in this mess of my life right now, but hey, if I keep finding little things that make me happy, I'll get me that big, ice-cold glass of loveliness, right? Right?

So, on the quest for the sugar, I've put the yarn, hooks and needles to work.

Simple soothing crochet in colors that make me happy:

It's the Bella Dia pattern for the Vintage Vertical Stripe Blanket. Why I'm making it for my "off to make loads of money and live a horribly interesting life while I tell no-one about my SAHM older sibling" sister, I have no idea. (duh, she is my sister even though I'm piqued right now...) But the new "Cotton Ease " comes in such groovy colors that seemed perfect for a new bed blanket for her new place. I'm weak, I know. (and in case you're keeping track, this does in fact make blanket in progress #4. i did say i was weak, right?)

And I set my mind to conquering the DPNs. My first successful attempt:

(mitten pattern out of "One Skein Wonders" , slightly adapted with patterning at the cuff...rows of k1p1 alternating with rows of knit only...in Cestari 2 ply wool/yak)


For some reason the first flew, no troubles casting on or keeping ladders at bay. The second held ladders galore and I frogged it back at least three times to remedy them. At one point I even had ladders spiraling around as I shifted stitches between needles. (huge thanks to Annie Modesitt and the rerun on Knitty Gritty in which she so clearly showed the simple beauty of not trying to snug up the first stitch, but the second when switching between needles...and for holding them consistently so I could see what I was doing wrong. isn't she just the greatest? join me in sending undying love to the heretic by buying this pattern to send much needed support in time of medical crisis. death to multiple myeloma! and cases of double stuffed oreos for all if that's the ticket...no i haven't fallen off my rocker, read her blog. sometimes even knitters lose their minds it seems.)

And I'm off on DPN mastery project 2: (though I think I have to get a smaller size, this be working up preeeety loose. pattern is for bulky on 8s, I'm working worsted on 7s, think I need 6s.)


Same book. Wavy fingerless mitts/wrist/arm warmers. The loverly yarn my Lime and Violet bud sent me this spring...browns and purples and pinks with bits of blues and greens. In alpaca. Yeah!

Want to help? Bring ice. (seriously. have you seen what the weather's been like here? only plus, low mosquito count.)

The Oh-So-Cute Bag Pattern

This bag kind of made itself, and at the very last minute too. Always nice when that happens, eh? The end of the school year crept up on me once again, and I was in need of a very special gift for a very special Kindergarten teacher. Lucky for me she's the type to appreciate all things handmade. Nothing is worse than putting yourself into something you craft only to see the gift-ee's "oh joy, more crapilicious craftiness" strained expression when you give it to them.

It took me a bit longer as I was figuring it out as I went along, but I have to think you could whip this out in an evening, felt it before bed and have it dry and ready to go the next day.

Here's what you'll need:
3 skeins of Paton's SWS
US K-ish crochet hook...mine is bamboo and not the standard, but as you're felting it anyway, gauge is not critical.
tapestry/yarn needle lingerie bag ivory liquid dish soap washing machine with lots of hot water

This bag is worked in the round, starting with an oval to form the base of the bag by working down one side of a chain and back on the other, increasing each round to your desired size, then decreasing to bring the sides up and angle them in. Once the decreases are done, you work even rounds until shaping the handles. I started working spiral at that point, but I would recommend not. Once it was felted, that part of the bag seemed to twist a bit which made shaping more challenging than it had to be. My guess is that by finishing off each round and chaining up to start a new one that wouldn't happen. I used half double crochet hoping for a nice, dense fabric after felting and that is just what resulted.

Abbreviations
hdc = half double crochet
sl st = slip stitch
ch = chain
hdc2tog = half double crochet 2 stitches together

**at the end of each round, join with a sl st into the starting chain/hdc and chain 2 to start the next round.

Here we go. (be kind, I've never written out one of my concoctions before...)

Chain 30 loosely. (use a larger hook if you have trouble with this)

Round 1: Hdc into second chain from the end. Hdc again, back into that same chain space. Hdc into each chain space, though 3 hdc into the end chain space. Turn the piece, hdc into the other side of each foundation chain. Hdc into the end space. (the one you started with, it already has 2 hdc worked into it.) Join by sl st into the top of the first hdc.

Round 2: Ch 2. Hdc into base of chain. 2 hdc into next stitch for the next 3 stitches. Work even hdc down row until 3 stitches remain on this side. Work 2 hdc in each of those 3, 3 hdc in the end stitch, then 2 hdc in the first 3 stitches on the other side. Work even down this side, again until 3 stitches remain. Work 2 hdc in each and one in the base of the starting chain.

Continue working in this manner, placing 3 hdc in the stitch at the end of the oval and series of 2 hdc clusters to each side while working even down each side, for the next 3 rounds as follows:

Round 3: 4 stitches with 2 hdc clusters to each side of the 3 hdc cluster at the ends
Round 4: 5 stitches with 2 hdc clusters to each side of the 3 hdc cluster at the ends
Round 5: 6 stitches with 2 hdc clusters to each side of the 3 hdc cluster at the ends

Note that your starting point for each round will not stay the very end cluster of 3 hdc as you keep increasing. It will shift to the 2 hdc clusters at the side. Just pay attention to where you are in the process and you'll be fine.

Round 6: Work the entire round even, placing 1 hdc in each stitch of the previous row.

Round 7: This round introduces decreases to pull the sides up and in. You hdc2tog 6 times (using 12 stitches from the previous row) around each end curve of the oval, then *hdc for 2 stitches and hdc2tog in the third* along the sides.

Rounds 8-11: Work even in hdc.

Round 12: Decreases again, this time to start the inward slant. (If you don't want your bag to do that, just keep working even until you want to shape handles.) This time it's hdc2tog 4 times around each end curve (using 8 stitches from the previous row), and again *hdc for 2 stitches and hdc2tog in the third* along the sides.

Rounds 13-22: Work even in hdc.

Round 23: Handle shaping! Work 12 hdc centered around the end of the oval. Ch 25, skipping over the next 18 stitches from the previous row, then work 12 more hdc around the other end curve. Ch 25 again, skipping 18 more hdc from the previous round and sl st into the first hdc.

Rounds 24-26: Work even, placing 1 hdc in each hdc and ch in the previous round. (74 stitches)

Sl st into first hdc, tie off and weave in your ends.

Felting (OK, this is really, technically "fulling")

I highly recommend using a lingerie bag with this yarn. It sheds like crazy and unless you like hanging upside-down into your washer to clean it out, you really, really want to use one.

Leap of faith. Throw it in the washer on HOT, regular cycle with a scant squirt of ivory liquid. (and an old towel or 2, perhaps a couple of pairs of jeans to help with agitation) Watch it closely as this yarn also felts F.A.S.T. I have never, ever had to do more than one cycle to get the result I want.

Take it out and shape it. (I stuffed it with target bags and paper towels and clipped the handles and top opening together.) Let it dry and presto, bag perfection.

Lost in Summer Vacation...

Wow, totally blindsided by the black-hole-ish time sucking effect of having all 3 kiddos home all day. Though conversely, right now 6 pm seems to take approximately 2.35689 days to arrive. Quite a conundrum. Not enough time, yet the time I have I want to move oh so much faster. I am literally crawling out of my skin at the end of the day from complete sensory overload. Now I know why people paid the big bucks to crawl in those sensory deprivation tanks. Dare to dream.

So when y'all check in and I'm not round 'bouts, think sprinklers and real honest to goodness full sugar fruit punch kool-aid popsicles with these 3 rug rats, if I'm lucky that day anyway.

I have spent some bits of time in the evenings attempting to work on various projects. (when there haven't been a couple of beers after dinner that is...and I have a new summer fave, but more on that later...) Both ripples are stalled for reasons related to heat and humidity and lack of yarn. Difficult to motivate to go yarn shopping for a heavy, body encompassing project when it's 90 every day. UGH. They may be languishing for awhile...

I did whip up a bag off the top o' my head for a teacher gift.


Quite pleased with the results, and this time I did manage to take notes. Took a few hours to crochet once I figured out what I was going for. And how very much do I l.o.v.e. SWS? Felts/fulls/whatevahs like a dream in no time. Will transcribe said pattern post haste.

OK, just don't hold your breath, OK? I tend to be quite a bit over-optimistic about my abilities these days. The poor ripple blog is sadly neglected. I haven't done more than poke my nose in Ravelry in weeks. And let's please not talk about how very far behind I am in podcast land.

Have also been playing in a couple of scarf circles with my friends from the Lime and Violet message boards. May I heartily opine that this is the PERFECT project for a new knitter? Do you know what I'm talking about? You knit 6 inches of a scarf, pop the stitches live onto waste yarn and send it of on a grand adventure. You send it to someone that does another 6 inches and sends it off to another knitter and on and on until your scarf comes back to you 6 feet of multi-yarned, multi-patterned wonderfulness. And the scarves started by all of those playing along filter slowly to you as well, so not only is there knitting, but there's MAIL too! What more could a gal ask for?

Seriously, it's like swatching with a purpose. Not only have I dabbled in lace (yep, I can ssk, psso and yo with the best of them now), but I did CABLES. With a cable needle. And I didn't poke my eyes out, or even want to poke my eyes out.

With that project in mind, headed to the library today in hopes of finding some kind of stitch guide, since I don't have one adn I hit the jackpot....the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume 1. I'm in love. I'm saving my pennies starting now...it shall be mine.

Oh, but first I have to buy a spindle. ;p

On random yarn drops.

You know, sometimes the universe just knows you need boost, and miraculously provides.

My gunshot Mother's Day frenzied panic attack was drastically moderated by sassenach and her one year domain-o-versary, for which she generously dove into her stash for a "guess how much sock yarn I have" game...and I won.

Seriously, this is virtually unheard of. I never, ever, ever, ever win anything, but this time I guessed bang on perfect. Anyway, led to this landing in my mailbox this week...SQUEE!

(note the sneaky grubby little baby yarn coveter trying to pull a fast one?)

Could not have been more timely. Once again my faith in humanity is pulled up from the depths of despair by a random knitter. I will say it again. We should so be in charge. Of everything. Always.

Sassenach, my eternal thanks, hugs, and quite possibly not so virtual cookies to you!

So, that loverly skein of Lisa Souza Sock! Merino in Earth Birth goes to play with the rest of the sock stash, liberated from their zip-locked prison just for the occasion:


Though the Cherry Tree Hill remained under house arrest for colluding with a certain known grubby-fingered yarn thief...had WAY too much fun in it's toddler enabled maniacal romp through the house:

Off to drug my allergies into submission and reclaim 2/3 of the kiddies. Daddy's out playing this weekend, so they got an overnight pass to be spoiled rotten by my parents...must get there before sugar coma hits.

...and why oh why have my allergies been at an all time high this year? I can stop blaming the hormonal upset cause by birth of #3...sadly, I have figured it out. My favorite part of MN is ablaze and the smoke hit the cities this week. Our air quality is abysmal. But the thought of 75,000+ acres of this burned to char is much, much worse.

Decentralized Project Stashing

I now appreciate the genius of having little project bags tucked about the house. Or at least having several repositories for the working bits and a few spare balls o' yarn.

Why the sudden epiphany, you may ask?

And your answer:

I spent last night FREAK, FREAK, FREAK, FREAKING OUT!!! And without a scrap of yarn within usable distance. Trust me, I would have finger knit if there were even spare shoelaces within reach.

The story:

To cap off my horrendous week of sick-babysitter-means-no-billy-joel-concert-going, spinning-class-canceled, busted-budget-means-no-wool-festival-for-you, can-we-stop-pretending-about-mother's-day joy, some punk, jeans hanging off of his tattooed ass white suburbia living teenager came down into my sickeningly urban yuppie neighborhood with his wanna-be gangsta friends and ended up shot and bleeding all over the sidewalk across the street from my house.

Yes, we heard the gunshots...and saw the blood pool.

Yes, my 3 kids were sleeping less than 50 feet away.

Yes, I want to vomit just thinking about the what if.

And the worst part? The cops were freaking out about why these kids were here. I live in the city. Supposedly people move to the burbs not out of a love for Applebee's, but to stay away from what the city harbors. And the cops are freaked out about why this is happened here, in my urban neighborhood where this never happens.

WTF.

(OK, it sounds bad, but truly the worst part really might have been the sleepless night endured with out a stitch of yarnyness to work on because it was all downstairs and traipsing down to get it past the baby's crib, thus waking him AGAIN at 1:30 am when everyone finally cleared out seemed like a very bad idea. Must decentralize the project stash.)

Yesterday...

Guilty Pleasure: Hubby sneaking home in the middle of the day.

minds out of the gutter folks, now, you know these things don't happen to me, right? wait for it.....

Buzz Kill: Hubby dashing home mid-day after frantic call to pick up #2 at preschool as hyper-feverish, premolar cutting #3 barfed all over me on our way out the door to do just that.

Feeling I can forever and ever do without: The squish of curdled milk baby barf between my toes.

Thank everything the boy stayed home long enough for me to shower.

So, after that, what's a girl to do?

Knit socks.

These are all from the Sock of the Month Club I venture to one Saturday a month at a LYS called Clickity Sticks in Mpls.

The Ruffle Top Sock by Tamara Del Sonno, the owner and designer extrordinaire. My first successful attempt at Tofutsies...loving it now that I'm working it on US Os instead of the recommended 2s.


And another first...Regia Bamboo. LOVING doesn't describe the bliss I'm in working with this yarn. Triumphant chorus in my head. And the rainbow colors are so not me but make me happy. This pattern is a basic K2 P2 rib by Donna Johnson that has the Gerdine Strong heel, with a few tweeks I'm told, which eliminates the need to pick up stitches along the heel flap. ?!?!?!?! Obviously not there yet, but whoopie if it works!


EEEK! Cables! I've started these Irish beauties way too many times, and yes, I have still managed to mess up the braided cable but bugger me if I'm going to rip them out again. They're in Brown Sheep Wildfoot in Desert Grass, which I currently harbor ambivalent feelings about, but I'm willing to give it a go. The cables are going slow, and the chart gives me a headache since knitting charts are quite different from crochet charts and I can't seem to get the gist of why the little drawings mean what they do so I can't remember what they mean without going back to the directions...AGH!

And once again, accept my most humble of apologies for the camera that cannot satisfactorily accomplish it's singular task in life...focusing.

Funk Busting

Go.

Just GO.

Now!

HERE.

Guaranteed to make ya smile.

Craftstravaganza!!

Ah, the rogue artsy-craftsy glory that was Craftstravaganza! I tell you now, if you live anywhere within reasonable driving distance of Saint Paul, next year you need to come. Really. Go look. Dare you to get past the vendors page with out getting lost in links for a good hour at least. Do yourself a favor though and stash your cc with some unfeeling, trustworthy soul first. It should truly not be in any possible way accessible before you click that link.

My hands down fave vendor was "I Like You", a local consignment for local artists with attitude. This sock monkeys with arm hair, swilling a beer. Or another with a pink tutu and matching mohawk. Lots of fabulousness along the lines of "reduce reuse, recycle". They even shared the secret of turning your old LPs into kitschy bowls. Love it. I exhibited marked restraint and came away with this "rescued sweater" bag:


and some "reclaimed" modern bibs for #3...love the vintage fabric patches:

And from Sassy Art Goddess, truly the goddess of felted sweater bags...I could have bought them all, but would have felt very badly about the bounced check that would result...this one begged to come home though:

It's now a sweet repository for my latest sock projects. (check out her homepage for the Mamarox animation...l.o.v.e. it.)

And then we come to Aisha. Oh my. Yes, there was yarn. A whole table full of handspun and hand dyed yarn. Spinning batts too...which I could blissfully try to ignore as I don't yet spin...but she teaches classes damn it! At Crafty Planet. In June. AGH!

This is her handspun. Actually quite atypical based on what else was there, but it screamed "make me into mittens" when I touched it. Loverly and soft.


And this. Hand dyed, locally grown wool. She has a local farm she's fallen in love with. They have fancy shamancy French sheep that start with an R...Ramboulitte or some such. Too lazy to go unearth the skein. I'm thinking fingerless mits and a hat. Perhaps a bag though...we'll see. Fabulous and soft and I love the double local as much as I love my CSA. Aisha Celia Designs. Check her out.

That was the extent of my haul, mainly because I made myself turn around and walk straight out the door after buying the second bag. It's a good think I went alone. If I had to stay any longer, I seriously would have bought something from every vendor there, and that's saying somethin'. I'm usually very discerning at most crafty events. Not much usually calls to me. These apparently are my peeps.

...of pointy sticks and hooks

Both have been seeing lots of action since the vacation...which once again we're not going to visit in detail. Just haven't had it in me to finish that draft. See, I have these times when I seem to fall off the face of the earth, but this time, not only did I leave the planet behind, I think I've landed both physically and spiritually somewhere out near poor defamed Pluto.

Can't. Face. Anything.

Have crawled into my shell with my yarn and I sooooooo don't want to come out to play. UGH.

Yep, it's a full-blown, world-class funk.

Trying to crawl out of it with house purging and bits of organizational paraphenalia. Will it work? Stay tuned.

However, I do so very much have projecty progress to share.

Yep, the round ripple is waving once again. I'm totally working out of my head this time, and the decreases are needing a touch of fudging each round, but hey, it's working. Every third row is worked even, with the other two having either 2dc or 3dc shells at the peaks. Still in Plymouth Fantasy Naturale, and I'm still loving it. There will be many, many hanks of this consumed by yours truly in the future, I can assure you. Simply lovely cotton.

And that's the other bit of crochet improv I have rolling at the moment. The idea hooked itself in my brain when it leaped off the pages of Mason Dixon Knitting, wheedeled it's way in through my ear canal and lodged in my cortex, jumping up and down, raising quite the ruckus until I got it on the hooks. (and thank you to The Yarnery for timing their yearly purge just in time to scratch my itch.) Love the rug, but man, that would be a ton of work. And I so hate finishing in all it's many guises. I knew I could spiral much easier in crochet, and I was so right. This is working up in sock yarn and mercerized size 10 thread. To get the look I wanted, I'm working 2 "live" rows consecutively. A tad tricky with the increases, but I really like the effect. Felted wool rug so definitely in the future.

Ah, the tentacles. I do love them. Finished it up while driving to and from Milwaukee. CrochetMe pattern here. Lisa Souza Yarn here. Run. Play. Just remember to come back by dinner.

Ah yes, the socks they are done!! I finally gave in and bought another ball of the yarn since the "just in case" third I initially bought remains mysteriously missing to this very minute. My gauge was a bit looser on #2, so the heel is a bit sloppy. Wish I had taken time to try it on more, but I was rushing to get them done and proceed with yet more socks. Two other pairs already on the needles. Oh yes, I've got it bad.

Sorry this bit's a tad blurry, the camera refuses to zoom and focus at the same time. Not a good sign. This is my scarflet. The one I'm sending off to meet the world in my first ever "scarf circle". WHEE! It's in Mohana, a loverly cotton, merino, kid mohair, polyamid blend of German origin, made in Italy. Don't you just love how the yarn world works? The pattern I've adapted from the "Not in the Round Scarf" in Sally Melville's "The Knitting Experience, Vol.2, The Purl Stitch." Fare thee well, little scarflet. Enjoy your adventures.

Hopefully more soon...need to share my Craftstravaganza...off to funk some more.