Knitting Elf at Work

Sneaking some Christmas knitting during a piano lesson.  Clever, huh?  As long as he doesn't turn around I should be fine.

Are you knitting for the holidays?

Merry days to you!

Go Gophers Go

Happy belated Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful for all my bloggy friends who are understanding of my weird lack of blog/knitting mojo.  It's creeping back, though.  After making all the tiny little hospital hats, I cast on for a big girl hat in honor of the Minnesota Gopher hockey teams.  It's going to my wonderful neighbors who are avid Gopher fans and who also drive my boys to school every day so I can get to work on time. 

Big news.  My daughter (9) asked me yesterday if I would teach her to knit.  I've asked her so many times I can't count anymore and she's never been interested.  She found some pretty leftover Claudia Hand Painted yarn.  That was the first good sign.  Good taste.  Must get that from me.  heh.

I cast on and showed her what to do and after about 2 hours of solid focus, she had completed about 1 1/2" of the most perfect knitting I've ever seen.  She actually got angry with me when I told her she couldn't knit at the dinner table.  A girl after my own heart.  She wore a headlamp from Amma's house so she could knit in the car on the way home last night.

This morning, a tiny little girl with messy hair and bad breath crawled into my bed with her stuffed animal and her knitting.  After showing her that she has to always start with the yarn on her right, she was off again.  I am the proudest mama in the world.

So what does any proud knitting mama do?  Opened her a Ravelry account and entered her first project!  She has been on Ravelry constantly checking for messages (from her cousin) and sending me comments on my page.  What a nice Thanksgiving treat.

Happy Holidays to all!

Oprah likes me!

That might be a a stretch.  She liked my comment.  I've been "attending" Oprah's lifeclass online and each day she posts a question and you can post your own answer.  Out of 2600 people, my quote was one of 17 chosen as her favorites!  hee hee hee hee.  I'm giggling like a little girl.

Mine is in blue on the left side there.  heee heee heeeee.

More time to knit. . .owls.

I was just thinking to myself how lucky I am that football season is over.   You know - little guy football.  Now we can relax in the evenings because now we only have . . . (drum roll please) . . . piano, hockey, archery club (not even kidding), choir practice, confirmation, service club (before school - doesn't count), learning lab, after-school Spanish, ballet, theater class and rehearsals.   But don't feel bad for me - heh heh - and stop rolling your eyes.   And don't feel bad for my kids.  Except for piano - this is self-imposed schedule and spread over three of them, so it's not too bad. 

This may sound like a daunting schedule, but really - all this translates into loads of book-on-cd-driving time-reading-knitting-in-parking-lot time.   See how I spin that tune?  I'm the gangsta of the mini-van moms.  Didn't I tell you I drive a mini-van?  Watch me work it, ladies.

Photo taken from Retro Lemon Ravelry Page (i hope she isn't mad!)

This crafty lady on Retro Lemon Studio designed these little nuggets of cuteness which will now be using up some more of my leftover yarn stash.  She is kindly sharing the pattern on her Ravelry pattern page.  Here is the Ravelry link to OWL PUFFS.

Hello stranger.

Holy crap.  That was a long hiatus.  I can hardly remember my last post, except, there it is. . . right under this one.  And oh, there were those socks I was knitting.  I think I started them in June.  Wow.  It's October and I've managed to get down to the last toe.

I wish I had a great story for you - I was abducted by a pack of wild skunk-apes and kept hostage with no Internet connection.  Ah, no.  It was really much more mundane.  Just busy.  That's all.  Instead of knitting my usual stuff, I attacked those dusty yarn bins and began knitting little tiny hats for teeny tiny babies.  We're talking babies with heads the size of eggs.  Back on a yucky topic:  for babies born too soon that usually don't make it.  Sometimes these little babies are SO small that even preemie clothes and hats are too big.

As you can see from the pics, time is flying past and it's already fall.  I took most of these pictures a few days ago and already, the place is looking different.  Mother Nature visited yesterday with wind that stripped several of our trees down to bare bones. 

dippity-doo-dog

 And that little puppy still won't sit still, but she's turning out to be one hell of a retriever.  I will be needing your best wild duck recipes, too.  I'm afraid to cook them.  They look like bloody livers in my freezer and it's freaking me out.

Next week.  Finished socks, I swear.  And I WILL be back next week.  I miss you all!!!

Mille Lacs Mojo

I haven't touched a knitting needle in over two months.  This has kept me up at night, thinking of the three (or more) large plastic bins full of yarn and projects getting dusty in my damp, dank basement.

Then my niece showed up . . . the one who has taken up the calling, remember her?  She said, "Auntie, can you show me how to knit a pair of socks."  And she produced a few (sorry Liv) limp and dusty skeins of lumpy old wool and said, "I brought my own yarn."  Oh, you sweet thing.

So a quick trip to the Local Yarn Shop (LYS) for some Addi Turbos and a quick dip into one of those aforementioned bins* and THIS is what she whipped up in a matter of hours. 

 Literally.  Hours.  She is knitting faster than I am!  An eleven year old!  I am so proud of her.  She chose a nice Collinette Jitterbug sock yarn in the colorway: Popsicle.  Isn't it perfect for summer and for an amazing niece?

 Today she turned her first heel.  I am a very proud Auntie.

*Side note: when you open one of my yarn bins, there is an ethereal light that shines forth and if you listen closely, you may even hear angels singing the hallelujah chorus.  I'm just sayin'.

And while Liv was busy looking for the perfect yarn in my bin, I noticed this neglected yarn called "Icehouse" and thought how UN-icehouse it was, but how perfectly "lakey".

(Here is a picture of Minnesota ice houses - note the lack of, um . . . color).   This picture was taken in February of Lake Mille Lacs (say it with me "mill - LAX").

However, I spent a beautiful summer day fishing on Mille Lacs with some friends and family yesterday and these were, indeed, the colors of the day.  The photos don't quite show it off, but the day was heavenly blue and deep shady green.

So this is my Mille Lacs sock using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi - Colorway: Icehouse.

The pattern is Nutkin by Beth LaPensee which is a favorite since it is quick and easy to memorize.  So thanks to Liv, my knitting mojo has returned!  Thanks, Liv.  I'm back.

I'm still here, folks.

Hi friends,

Just me, here - Rani.  I am going to be up front and tell you that I haven't touched my knitting in over a month.  A MONTH.  It's just too pretty outside.  And warm.  And, well, I just don't feel like knitting. 

We've been in Montana for some rest and relaxation.  I didn't even bring my knitting.  !GASP! 

Aaaaaaaah.  Summer.  Hope you're enjoying yours, too.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary . . .

 . . . how does your garden grow?  Sigh.  Do you know what I've been doing lately?  Spending time in my garden.  Taking pictures.  Breathing the warm air.  Last week the air smelled like apple blossoms.  Really, it did. 

I took my camera out today and took a close look at things growing there.  I caught this tiny creature nibbling on a yellow flower.

Don't worry.  I let him go on a big hosta plant.  That will take him all summer to devour.  Good luck, little buddy.

I've waited so long for this. I'm going to savor every minute.

Miracle

Some of you may remember when I posted about my sister losing her baby later in her pregnancy.  This happened a year ago - May.  I am so pleased to tell you the great news.  That same sister, after a nail-biting pregnancy, gave birth to a healthy baby boy.  He is home safe and sound with mommy, daddy and big sister. 

My hubby meeting Little Buddy for the first time.

Where do you knit?

Where do you find the time and place to knit?  Here are a few of mine:

 Cabin time.

 After-school-sports-waiting-in-the parking-lot time.

Piano lesson time.

TV Time.

R & R

Hoooo, boy.  I just enjoyed a much needed little breaky-poo Up North.  This was Stella's first trip in a boat, on a dock and in wolf country.  Within an hour, she pulled a leg bone of a deer up onto the porch with meat still on it (shiver me timbers), presumably from a recent wolf kill.   This morning, we heard footsteps of a large (wolf-sized) creature trot past the back of the cabin just out of our sight.  We'd best keep that puppy close or she'll become a snack for the local wolf pack.  Sends shivers down the spine, doesn't it?  Last summer, we had wolf scat right in front of the cabin.  But I never hear or see them.  Hmm.

Anyhow.  I finished my beloved Coraline!!

This is what I look like when I'm blowing off steam and trying to relax...

She is a beaut.  A tad small.  But if I can't stand the fit, I have a nice sister out west who lives in sweaters and happens to be smaller than I am.

Yeah, it still needs buttons...

Puppy Problem Solving

I also started a kit that's been in my knitting cupboard for a few years now.  It's a pattern that was written in Norwegian and translated by Arnhild Hillesland.  The pattern is called Ladies Mitts.  I figured that it's putzy enough for me that I should start them now if I want them in time for next winter.

For my dog lovin' friends.