It Is Finished.

I completed my Christmas stocking. I used myself as a guinea pig, and picked a pretty complicated chart. I'm really excited that it turned out as well as it did.

The red yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Cranberry, the white is Patons Classic Merino in Winter White. I used two size 7 circulars, which I have to say, I don't like as much as using dpns. I know this makes me quite the rebel in the knitting world.

I'm also not thrilled with how big the heel looks on the finished product - but I didn't want to attempt the pattern across the gusset decreases, so I'll have to live with it. More room for goodies, right? Right.

I am very thrilled with the pattern. This is the first time I've done stranded colorwork, and it turned out really nicely. I even fashioned a knitting thimble out of heavy-gague coated wire we had.

Next on the needles is Tyler's stocking, which features crabs along the cuff and a sunburst motif on the body. He's so excited to see his name appear from the needles.

Down below, you can see the finished set I made for Todd's cousin, who is due in May (and whose last name is May, interestingly).

That's my bear

Tyler's favorite place to play is the bookstore, because it has a big train set. Oh, and books. More books than he could ever read! Heaven! In fact, we went to the bookstore on Valentine's Day night, because what's more romantic than reading? Nothing.
So there we were, settling into the big chairs with lattes and novels, watching our angelic little boy play with the trains, when a dark, dark cloud covered his face.

"Mama?" he asked, reaching down the back of his pajama pants, "I think I pooped all over myself." (Why was he wearing pajama pants? Because I'm Mom of the Year, that's why.)

Todd took him to the bathroom, cleaned him up,
then called me from the bathroom to request a plastic bag for
Tyler's wet (washed) underpants. The bag went in my purse. The Tyler went
back to the trains. As Todd and I were walking back to the kids area, I
said, "Why does he only shit himself in the bookstore?"
"I don't know. It happens to me sometimes."
"What?"
"I go to a bookstore, get all excited and, you know, poo a little."
"What?!"
"Metaphorically. But he doesn't know metaphor, so he just poops for real."

Craftastic

A few months back, Darth Vader yakked up some kibbles on my side of the bed. He re-ate the kibbles, and nibbled a 2-inch hole in my quilt. Because the barfy kibbles tasted SO GOOD and he COULDN'T STOP until every last drop was gone.

Anyway.

King-sized bedding is expensive, and I really like my quilt. So I decided to patch it. One idea led to another, and my single patch turned into a patch-pattern:

The original hole is at the crossing of the two lines. I bought cheap calico, some sheets of iron-on fusible webbing, and cut out the squares with pinking shears. It took me about 15 minutes to iron those bad boys on. I also bought a bag of red buttons (all different sizes and finishes) to go between the squares.

Total cost for my project? $13.00. I rule.

Christmas in.... February?

I am going to knit Christmas stockings for my family. Now that I've written that down, I can be held accountable, right? I want to do a two-color (probably red and white) traditional Norwegian design, or a mix of traditional designs. I want each of ours to be different, and have the owner's name on the cuff.

That's not too much to ask, right? Gulp.

My challenge now is design - which patterns do I use, and where? There are so many beautiful charts. Too many. I want traditional snowflakes, like this:



But I'm also drawn to interesting variations on tradition:

I'll figure it out, and keep you posted as to developments.

Also in the works: a pattern I'm writing to submit to Knitty. OOOOO.

A Tale of Two Puppies

Vader is one lonely guy. He has enough energy for two dogs, and he gets bored very easily. And when he gets bored, he chews.

About a month ago, we babysat for a French bulldog named Hugo and a chocolate-dappled weenie dog named Brownford. Vader was like a completely different dog. He was well-behaved and relaxed, and didn’t chew anything at all. So we decided to explore the possibility of getting another dog.

I wanted a rescue dog. I would prefer to save an animal from euthanization than pay a breeder for a "fancy" dog. We went to every adoption booth we could find, scoured the Internets, and came up empty-handed. We needed a dog that met a few very rigid standards - a smallish size (less than 20 lbs.) female that would fit with our current high-energy dog and our high-energy little boy. All the dogs I found were either not approved for children, or were senior citizens looking for a good place to retire, or didn’t like other dogs.

Dejected, we began discussing getting a second Boston Terrier. We’ve loved Vader - he’s the right size, build, and temperament for a little boy’s dog. Bostons are generally healthy, smart little dogs. And even if we were getting a "fancy" dog, it was still a dog that needed a good, loving home.

Luckily, we found a really nice breeder north of Tallahassee. She has a large property, with very comfortable kennels and lots of room for her dogs to run. All her animals were clean, healthy, and friendly.


We chose a sweet little girl and named her Coco - or Coco Puff, Coco Krispie, Coco Lopez, Coco Chanel, you name it. She’s fit right into our family. She and Vader snuggle up in the same kennel at night, and she never lets him out of her sight.


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What do you get when the Diamante meets the Pedicure Sock in a Parisian cafe, and they proceed to make sweet, sweet music?

The Diamante Pedicure Sock (goo-goo, ga-ga)


I knitted this with an unidentified hand-dyed sock-weight yarn that I received as a Secret Santa gift, along with some size 1 dpns. I liked the idea of the pedicure sock, but wanted something that would show off the yarn.

As in the Diamante pattern, I started at the toe, with a k2, p2 ribbing for five rows. Then I started the (very easy, very pretty) pattern. I'd never knit a toe-up sock, and I can't say that I like it better or worse than top-down. I'm bisocksual.

Here she is, on my foot:


That toenail polish? It's "I'm Not Really A Waitress," by OPI. It's my favorite red.

Merry Christmas, Y'all


This is my family: Moo-moo, Tyler-Bear, me, Nena, and Bubba.

I had a lovely Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, Tyler sat with us at the Candlelight Service. And he drew his first recognizeable picture ever. It looked like a brain-eating zombie, but Tyler informed me that it was a dinosaur. Whatever! I was puffed up with pride.

As at my house growing up, we left out Double Stuf Oreos for Santa. My dad swore up and down that they were Santa's favorite.

Christmas morning I almost had to wake him up. Around 8:30 he stumbled into our room, flung himself on the bed, and muttered, "Go away," just like a 13-year-old girl. But before the "s" in "Christmas" passed my lips, he remembered and was ready to roll. We opened presents, just the three of us, one at a time.


Tyler got Hungry Hungry Hippos, which he asked for. Repeatedly. Hourly, even. He declared, "I am the hungriest hippo!" and made us play one round before breakfast.

My family arrived around 11:00, and Round Two of the Gift-off began. Lunch was served around 1:30, and poof! they were gone by 3:30. My grandmother (who is 97) has a hard time traveling, and my mother says that if they stayed in a hotel together, only one of them would emerge alive. Plus, Moo doesn't like to board her dog. So they make day trips.

Actually, I was kind of glad they left when they did, because Tyler and I got to take the Third Annual Christmas Nap. And there was much rejoicing.

Todd's family rolled up to our house around 6:00, commencing Round 3 of the gift-off and Round 2 of the Turkey (or would that be Round 1 of the Leftovers?), simultaneously.

Todd, bless him, got me lots of books. He neglected, however, to give me time to read them. Ah, well. There's always next year.