norsegirl

To all that asked, this is a soaker:



It does not fit terribly well. I made it way too large, tried to felt it down and while that worked for most of it, the legs are still really large. I might try to put elastic or a dart in them. Or I might just not worry about it, we'll see. In that picture she was just trying it on over her clothes.

I made another one on smaller needles and the results are here:





As you can see, it fits a little better but is still not maybe as tight as it should be (which is fine as I was aiming for it to fit for Pennsic). She's actually wearing it as a diaper cover right now. She's been up napping for a bit so it's time to check and see if it actually performs well as a diaper cover or if those hippies that use wool are just on crack. (she's sleeping on a waterproof mattress pad, so now was the perfect time to check)

I've also knitted another one based on a different pattern and I'm nearing completion on that one, so we'll see how that behaves.

Off to see how G is doing...

So I've made a new friend down here and we're getting along very well. She's in the SCA and we share many of the same interests. I've also got her tempted into trying the cloth diapering thing and when we went shopping last week I discovered that they've come out with a brilliant little kit that will get you enough for 2 day's worth of diapers for a mere $100. Wish that was around when I started. That said I do enjoy trying all the different kinds of diapers that are out there. Anyway, this weekend while I was trying to clean the temptress sent me a pdf with a knitted soaker pattern. It's not like I've never seen these patterns before. And it's not like I could use the particular pattern she sent anyway (it was for knitting rovings, not yarn so the gauge would have been all wonky) but she tempted me and now the house isn't clean like I wanted it to be and I've got a soaker 1/3 knitted on the needles. I'm very easily distracted, especially if it gets me away from the crappy jobs like cleaning.

Today has been ups and downs. We started the day very early driving Jason to the walk-in clinic. He's just got a bit of bursitis in his elbow. No big deal, but a bit of a crimp in our schedule. On the bright side, Jason is being treated and we have a new family doctor (our last one moved out of the city and closed her practice here a few months back).

After dropping Jason off at work Georgia and I headed down to the local yarn shop for their monthly sale. Today it was anything in balls. I decided to take the plunge on some expensive Noro. I don't really like the feel of this yarn but I'm hoping it feels better once knitted, and to get the bright colours I was looking for this really was the only way to go.

This evening I wasted an hour or so doing what I always do when I buy a yarn without a very precise idea in mind. I know I want to make a scarf, but that still leaves it open to a lot of possibilities, so I stash the yarn in ravelry, and then look and see what other people have done with that same yarn. Sometimes you get an "ah hah!" moment where you see the PERFECT application. But more often than not you see a lot of examples of women grinning ear to ear in frumpy, mishapen knit disasters. It appears that it is a rare woman that can admit, after wasting hours of spare time, that what she has produced is in fact an atrocity that should not be allowed out in public. My personal favourites are the boldly and horizontally striped sweaters/coats/tunics/shells/shrugs/tank tops. Horizontal stripes are rarely flattering, make them a riot of mutiple colours and it is even less so. There's a special place in my black little heart reserved for the woman who knitted herself a large and unflattering sack 4 sizes too large and in her notes stated "Need to wear this with slim black pants/capris or a slim black skirt." Oh honey, that is soooo not going to help. Then there's the women who knit themselves "shrugs" that just look like they are re-purposing a garment stolen from their 4 year olds, complete with stretched-to-breaking fronts held together with a single button that is threatening to ping off and re-create that moment from the Incredibles trailer. Bonus points if their profile pic is of an adorable toddler, to whom they should probably return their "shrug". I'm tempted to post photographic evidence, but I'm not quite cold-hearted enough to mock a fellow knitter by name. Talking about these poor, tasteless, misguided souls in a general sense is one thing, but identifying them, even if they never saw themselves here, is a bit low even for me. Totally tempted though...

After the yarn shop, it was a beautiful day so I tossed my coat in the car, secured Georgia in her Moby and headed off to walk the strip. South Congress is an interesting place in which most of the stores give off a painful "trying too hard to be hip" kind of vibe. There's a lot of junk (they call it "vintage") shops, and stores selling crappy imported stuff (cheaply made jewelery and nick knacks), and then there was the back-alley record store that slavishly sold only vinyl. There's also the local food scene, which varies from nicer restaurants down to trailers flogging everything from tamales and BBQ to cupcakes and pies.

Most of the stroll was quite enjoyable, but I have learned an unpleasant thing... I can no longer shop in thrift stores. It's not that I ever did terribly well at these places. I lack the patience to sift through rack after rack of strange smelling garments for the perfect pieces. I did get my sewing machine from one of these places though, and at $35 for the machine and the table it was mounted in it was a total steal. I think I've been using it for 3 years now without so much as a single tune-up. Based on that success I keep holding out hope that I'm going to snag a really nice desk, dresser or mirror, so I poke my nose in if I happen to be close to one. In the length of time it took to walk from one end of this store to the other (just walking, not stopping to look at anything) I had 3 people try to touch Georgia. Complete strangers just sauntering up and trying to pet her like she was a chihuahua in my purse or something. The first woman simultaneously touched her sleeve and reprimanded me for letting her head flop forward (she's asleep, comfortable and none of your damn business lady). The second came out of nowhere and without saying a thing to me reached for Georgia's face. She barely brushed it before I swatted her hand away and she then shot me a look like *I* was the rude one in this exchange. As I passed the counter on my way out an old lady behind the counter exclaimed "she's so cute" and started rushing out from behind the counter. I high-tailed it outta there as I can easily outpace a senior citizen, even with 15 extra pounds and a door to contend with because the look on her face (and of course the bolting out from behind the counter) made it quite clear that she was wanting to reach out and touch.

I would never DREAM of touching anyone's child if they were not someone I was familiar with. What on earth would make these people think that is acceptable behaviour? Outside the thrift shop many people complimented me on how pretty she is (people especially like her eyes and eyelashes) but not one of them ever got within a foot of her. They didn't even bend down to get a better look much less reach for her. And some of them I even chatted with for a while!!! And right now, while we're dealing with the whole swine flu thing (we still have it here, Jason's bosses were both sent home for 2 weeks last month to recover from it) do they not get that physical contact with strangers is ill advised to say the least, especially for the young with their immature immune systems? The ill manners and over-familiarity must be something to do with the common background of these people. There has to be a pattern to the 3 attempted touches in 5 minutes I was there vs none in the other 3 hours I spent on the street and in other shops where I actually spoke to people. The only pattern I can discern is that we were in a religious charity shop. So it's either socio-economic class or religion. Am I more likely to encounter this kind of over-friendliness if I go to a Goodwill or a church? I don't spend a whole lot of time in either of these places so I wouldn't have had a chance to notice a pattern myself. And of course this is the first time I've set foot in a charity shop with a baby. So can I still comfortably wander into thrift stores if I confine my hunting to Goodwills?

I got a flyer for a clothing store this week. Let's just say the 70s called and they want their fashion back.

No one should ever buy anything called a "romper" or a "jumper" after they are let's say 7. Though even at 7 I think you could count on having your ass handed to you on the playground if you wore one.

This charming example is a "romper":


Jason thought this "jumper" was just slightly uglier than the "romper":


"Classic Plaid" my ass. If you aren't 70 and hitting the club house after a rousing 9 holes of golf, you have no business sporting plaid shorts.


And finally, the piece de resistance on the back cover was this charming party dress fresh out of the early 90s. I guess I should be thankful that they've paired it with hair from a different decade. The 70s Farah flip isn't great, but it beats the pants off the hairsprayed wave of bangs that marked pre-teen fashion in the early 90s.


Jason commented that this flyer really was counting on buff models more than wearable fashion to sell their clothes. I really hope no one is clueless enough to buy this unflattering stuff because I don't think my eyes could take seeing it again. And yes, I had to share my pain with everyone.

In other news, Ravelympics is going well. I've finished a sweater for Georgia (need to block it and then I'll get a picture of her in it). I almost finished a pair of booties for her (just need to weave the ends in on one bootie). And because I couldn't find a bootie pattern I liked I ended up designing my own and posting it as a free pattern on Ravelry. In the first 24 hours it was posted it was added to 17 queues and favourited 60 times *warm fuzzies*. I wasn't planning on doing any design projects, but there ya go. Now I'm just wrapping up a scarf that I think will turn out too short. We'll see what it's like once it's finished and blocked. I may be able to stretch it into a useful shape. Or I may have to go hunting for another source for more of the same yarn. This was one of the balls I pillaged from the closing of a local yarn shop last week and it was the last one in that shade. It didn't even have the correct label on it, so who knows it might have not been a full ball either as someone may have used a bit and returned it. Ah well, for $4 I can't really complain much.

Best way to write a recipe ever!!!!

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/

They write recipes like a chart instead of a list of ingredients and then the instructions. It is BRILLIANT! I can't wait to try one of their recipes and see if it really does work as well as I think it will.

In other news, we're less than 24 hours from the lighting of the flame. Are you doing anything special during the Olympics? What sports are you excited about?

I must admit a certain nostalgia for Canada is coming out during these games. I was miffed during the last Olympics what with them holding them in China and refused to watch even a minute of coverage. But with these games being held in Canada I find myself saddened that I will not have the opportunity to view the Canadian coverage, which concentrates on our athletes. It will be interesting to see what the American coverage is like, though I'm sure we had access to it when I lived in Ontario.

Anyway, I am interested in snowboard stuff, it's always pretty neat. And I'm celebrating the Olympics by participating in Ravelympics. The idea is you cast on when the flame is lit and you try to be done by the time it is extinguished. You're supposed to attempt something challenging but not impossible. I still haven't decided what my project will be. Must make that decision tomorrow.

I now officially have more finished objects than WIPs. And even the WIPs are mostly done. Georgia's doll needs a dress, but that's going to be sewn, not knitted, so the knitting is done. The rollerbooties have been re-purposed as Christmas ornaments so they've moved to low priority. The one mitten I made for Georgia doesn't fit great so I'm not sure I want to bother making a second one. My hat just needs a pom pom. The socks and bags are still legitimate long-term WIPs.

That said I'm thinking of taking a week or two off knitting to tackle some other projects. I've got fabric for baby gifts for the neighbour and I really should get those done before the shower.

Speaking of the neighbours, they came over yesterday and the day before and I am really suffering as a result. They own cats and of course that set off my allergies. Also, on Sunday when they came over Greg was wearing too much cologne and it's rubbed off on the couch where I always sit, so that's setting me off too. Not to mention I hate the smell. I'm torn about whether to say anything or not. It's unpleasant for me to smell this days later, but it's also one of those things you're not supposed to criticize. A few months ago my family confronted my Nana about her over-perfuming and she was genuinely and deeply hurt and felt like it was a personal attack (and no, I'm not just thinking that's how she felt, she was very clear with all of us about the subject). I wasn't there for the confrontation and she did ask me my opinion about it later. I can't remember if I stood by them or sold them out on that one.

In other news, Georgia hates when I sneeze while she's feeding. Pulls off to glare at me for interrupting her meal. And heaven forbid I cough to open the lungs a bit (seems to help me breathe when the asthma sets in). She's settled very nicely into Jason and my schedule. She likes to go to bed some time between 10:30 and midnight and wakes between 6:30 and 8 depending on how hungry she is. She plays in her crib by herself for a while every morning (we can hear the thumps of her kicking and sometimes she squeaks her giraffe or gets the music toy going) before calling for us. Life's good. I'm settling into this whole "being a mom" thing. The laundry is piling up, the kitchen is rarely clean and I haven't vacuumed in weeks if not months. But I'm happy and so is Georgia, and I'm thinking that's all that matters in life.

My weekend was ugh. That's all there is to it. Jason had a holiday so we had all kinds of nice things planned, but alas the universe and my immune system decided not to cooperate.

Saturday started out reasonably well. I finally got the pictures hung up in Georgia's room, I finished mum's scarf, I hung up my necklace organizing hooks in my bedroom closet (at last). I wanted to get more done in the cleaning and vacuuming department, and I had intended on working on the main floor more than upstairs, but somehow when it came time to actually do stuff there I was working away on the wrong floor. I figured no worries, I have the whole rest of the weekend to hit the main floor. Saturday ended with a trip to the Ethiopian restaurant with a few of Jason's co-workers. One of the couples owned a cat, so I spent all of dinner and a good part of the next day with an asthma attack, but that's a small thing compared to the shit that hit the fan the next day...

Sunday morning I woke up and felt a little funny, so I started the day off slowly. By mid afternoon I was calling next door to cancel our dinner plans. I had really been looking forward to it, but I didn't want to risk giving Rhonda the flu I had suddenly come down with. I spent all day moaning on the couch as every muscle in my body ached and my digestive tract plotted a mutiny. Needless to say I accomplished nothing around the house. I did manage to finish up the holiday hat I was working on though. Just have the pom pom to make and I can set that sucker to "finished". We also sat around and watched the "Being Erica" marathon. I quite enjoy that show and as it turns out we'd seen almost all of it. In fact, we'd only missed one episode that season. So of course, when that episode aired this weekend we had to have a blackout that lasted most of the hour - sigh. On the bright side, said blackout landed right at the time I would have been cooking dinner, so it was a good thing I'd canceled. Unfortunately, the blackout hit right in the middle of re-heating some lovely homemade stew Jason had pulled out of the freezer. I futzed around, fed Georgia and wasted as much time as I could in the dark until my hunger overcame me. We pulled the Coleman stove out of the garage and set it up on the porch, got it all hooked up and warming up, I transferred the stew out of the microwave bowl and into a pot, and as I stepped outside to put it on the Coleman the power came back. Just in time for me to dirty a pot. I remember this happening in Edmonton last time we had a long power outage too. As soon as I drag out the Coleman and dirty a pot the power springs magically to life. Maybe I should learn and drag it out sooner.

Monday I tried to make up for the lack of progress Sunday by cleaning the kitchen and making waffles for breakfast, but after all that was done I was overcome again and the rest of the day was lost. Georgia had a bath, but other than that nothing at all got done.

It would have been nice to get a little more work done with Jason being home and all, but I suppose it was nice to have him around to pick up the slack while I was sick. Being ill and dealing with a baby would kinda suck.

Today I'm on baby-minding duty so nothing much getting done yet again. Keeping an eye on her to make sure she's not catching this thing. So far so good, but who knows how long it might incubate. Back to baby entertaining and knitting...

Yesterday I took the car and Georgia and I headed out to Hill Country Weavers on South Congress. OMG YARNGASM!!!! It was a converted turn of the century house (so lots of tiny rooms and doorways too small to easily maneuver the stroller) that was completely stuffed with yarn. I don't know where to start. It was amazing and I was completely unprepared. I went to pick up some yarn to make a blanket for Georgia, but was overwhelmed by the choices and started thinking of excuses to buy other stuff to do with the lovely yarns I was confronted with. I'm quickly realizing that with this hobby, like so many others, that there are more ideas in my head than I will ever have time to complete in a lifetime.

I grabbed a bunch of Berocco vintage (not the exact colours I had in mind, but it was the softest washable wool) for Georgia's blanket. A few skeins of some lovely merino to make a scarf for my mother for her birthday. A few skeins I couldn't resist to make a scarf for me (I am as yet undecided what the exact design will be there). And a big ball of acrylic (I know, synthetics are evil) that was soft, cheap and will make something for Georgia out of it as it will also be washable.

I started on the scarf for my mother as soon as I got home. Browsed patterns online and eventually settled with what I had in mind as soon as I came up with the idea to make a scarf for her. Im about 1/4 of the way through it, but when G cried this morning and I put it down to pick her up it fell off the needles, so now I have to do some investigating and recovery work - sigh.

That makes 4 unfinished projects on the needles now. The awesome bag is coming along nicely, but will probably require another week or two to finish (bags are big). My hat has been hibernating in favour of more interesting shinies. The sock is painful. I've changed out the needles as the ones I had were a shade too long to be reasonable and that makes it slightly better, but it is still going to take a lifetime. I'd estimate at this point that I have about 1/4 of one sock done - sigh.

I also decided to set limits on myself when I started this hobby. I bought a box from Ikea and decided that my yarn stash was never to exceed this box. As of yesterday's shopping trip I have now officially filled the box to capacity. So this is it. No more yarn shopping until I get some of the existing yarn used up. I will admit that I am liking this limit (and the organization inherent in said limit) and may move on to set limits on some of my other project supplies.

I've become a bit knit-obsessed. Lots of finished projects. I have of course posted about my hat and the hat I made for Georgia. The rollerbooties still aren't finished as I'm still a bit daunted by crochet. Georgia's doll is still needing a dress. And I've got one half of a pair of mittens for both Christmas ornaments and Georgia still waiting to be finished.

With all that unfinished stuff you'd think I'd made no progress, and yet the list of completed stuff keeps growing. While my family was here I made my first pair of mittens. Alpaca yarn that was really soft as a ball in the store, but which I'm thinking might be a bit itchier than I'd like once knit. I'm going to try blocking and I'm toying with lanolinizing them to get a bit of waterproofing (that will probably be nice for my skin too). I made them as simple as possible because I was trying to make passable substitutes for naalbinding. Something that would be appropriate for my SCA-persona, but which I find tedious to do.



( knit Christmas ornaments behind the cut )

And just for the heck of it, here's a shot of the glass fusing that I've completed to date.



The bottom two and the one on the right are mine, the top two were Lauren's. I'm only really pleased with the green one as the first two were basically playing with the materials as I got a feel for it so I had picked the glass I liked the least of the glass assortment that came with the kiln. Still need to sand off the rough edges on all of them and then figure out what I would like to do with them.

It's a sweet bit of irony that posts get less frequent when you get busy because you'd think that would be when you'd have more to write about. That really hasn't been the case here though. We've mostly settled into a routine here where Georgia keeps me busy all day accomplishing nothing, and Roller Derby is on break until the new year.

Georgia continues to sleep through the night. We have our good days and bad ones. Actually I think it would be more accurate to say that mornings are always good and the bad starts any time between 1 and 7 and sometimes it stops in the middle of the afternoon and sometimes it goes right to bed time. Mornings are good, nights are good, the rest of the day is a crap shoot. I continue to get little done. This morning I woke up with a sore throat. I think I'm coming down with something, and that something is a knitting addiction. Because night time is the only time I know is all mine it has become my time to get whatever project done I've been obsessing over rather than sleeping. I know that I need sleep, as evidenced by the sore throat, headaches and general run-down-ness, but if I don't get something done I'll just lie in bed thinking about it, so might as well stay up.

So far I have started roller skate booties, but they are not finished as I'm still trying to figure out another way to make the "wheels". When I followed the direction on the pattern I got something blocky and asymmetrical and not at all wheel like. I tried crochet, but I h8 crochet. Felt circles are unsuitable as they would not be washable. I'm going back to the drawing board... I've also completed a doll, but have not made clothes for her yet. And I've whipped out a few cute christmas ornaments for the tree. I'll be making a lot more of those I think. Will post pics when I have a set of them.

This weekend we were supposed to get the "box room" all cleaned out and ready to set up as a second guest room. We made a small dent in the mess, but it is still a long way from being cleared out. I might tackle more tonight. We also put up the Christmas tree, which was not part of the plan exactly, but my mother was doing it at her place so I felt all inspired and Jason was home to help, so we went for it. Still have a bit of ornaments to put up and need to tidy up all the ornament packaging, but it's looking festive. Not having quite enough purple for my taste is what inspired the ornament knitting.

This week in "products I love"

Used up the last of the gift certificate Jason's office gave us at Babies R Us. Among the spoils of my shopping adventure was a Mothers Minder wrist band for myself. Best product ever. I no longer have to remember when she was last fed or guess which side feels more full. Great product, and cheap enough to toss into a gift bag for pregnant friends. Wonderful thing, I will be sharing this at baby showers in the future.

I got a hand-me-down Boppy and a My Brest Friend from one of the other roller girls. I will admit that I didn't "get" this item in the store, seemed to me like any old throw cushion on the couch would do the job just as well. The Boppy in particular felt uncomfortable when I tried to fit it around my waist. But they really do the trick when you rest the baby on them. If you are the parent of an infant and you don't have one, you should get one. I prefer the Brest friend as far as a positionner for feeding, but the undoing the velcro can wake a sleeping baby and the Boppy makes a better "baby nest" (place to rest the baby on the couch next to you, under close supervision, yes I know about infants and pillows). I'll be keeping and using both I'm sure.

Last week I also finally managed to get a used Bumbo from a used baby stuff store. I paid less than retail but more than the average Craigslist price. Got it in Purple which was one of my 2 preferred colours though, so I'm okay with paying a bit extra. Georgia LOVES this. She watched us put up the Christmas tree in it, she watched me make dinner, she watches TV with me. It's allowing her to interact with the household in a whole new way. Wonderful item! I also got the play-tray with my purchase. I'm not as sold on that, but I guess we'll see if I ever find it useful in the future.

Also discovered this week that Gerber sizing is just plain wrong. Put on a 3-6 month long-sleeved onsie for the first time today (she's a few weeks over 3 months now) and it was already super-tight in body length and the sleeves are 3/4 length. 3-6 months my ass.

Anyway, need to go pick Jason up from the office. We were supposed to go out to eat tonight but Georgia didn't let me shower and my shirt is covered with baby barf and in trying desperately to calm her this afternoon I managed to sit in my lunch. Not feeling like going out in public with butter chicken butt.