Two Black Sheep

Acid Tongue

My goodness a knitting post from Lola?!  Whaaa...  It happens, people.

I finished my first Ulmus around Labor Day.  I had plans to photograph it while camping.  It never was pulled from the tent.  After returning from the trip, it sat in the pile of Things to Wear.  But a warm stretch kept it folded up.  While Ava & I were in NYC, I stumbled on these two beauties.  I've passed over the Mulit one for the past couple of years.  I can't find the tag anymore, so there will be no sharing (maybe Ava remembers).  In its hank form, this yarn looks like Fall.  With a little encouraging from Ava, I snatched it up.  Knitty City happened to have an Ulmus example behind the counter.  "I could use this for the Rectangle version.  I like that better than the triangle one, but could I knit another one?"  Ava nodded and pointed me towards the Malabrigo Sock yarn.  Ochre was the perfect companion to this Multi.  But what to do with my current Ulmus?

I love knitting shawls, but a girl can have too many.  I was going to post it on FB.  That felt a little icky.  And then it hit me.  I'd send it to a friend that could use good surprise for once.  She has had a bad couple of months & I felt it might help.  Afraid that I might back out (shawls take a long time to knit), I folded & mailed quickly.  I got a message the next day that she liked it.  This gave me the freedom to start the Rectangle Ulmus.  Again, I'm smitten with the pattern.  It's the only thing I knit these days.  You'll find it on the couch.  You'll find it on the passenger seat of my rental.  You'll find it in the hotel.  You'll find it with me.

Lola

Microphone

Dear Ava,

If you get a frantic call from SK & he explains that he found me Elvis-Style, don't let your mind wander.  It wasn't a drug overdose.  It wasn't from a good whack on the head.  It was plain ole Motherhood.  Tell him to not spend money on any fancy "How'd She Kick It" test.  Just calm him down & tell him I couldn't take it.  Tell him my mind just exploded from questions!  How'd that tree get there?  What does he want?  Milk? Juice?  How'd the baby get into the belly? Why do we have to eat? Are you poopy? Etc. Etc. Etc.

-Love,

Lola

Good god people!  Motherhood might kill me.  Sometimes I find myself wondering how I'm going to make it until they're both 18.  But after today, I might have figured something out.  It's something that everyone else has already been doing for years!  Something that our family thinks is an insane concept.  It's called the bathroom door!

Growing up, our bathroom doors only functioned as towel holders.  We never shut the door.  Locks, what?!  I think that our doors only started to close when the Husbands came around.  We'd carry on full conversation while peeing.  And when the husbands did come, anyone would still barge in to ask or get anything.  I still never shut the door, but that has to change.  Sure, Tuck is being helpful by giving me toilet paper.  Sure, Gus is trying to educate himself by asking  "How are basketballs made?"  But I don't need help getting paper and I don't even know how basketballs are made!  What I do need is some alone time.  And the bathroom is now going to function as my tiny little oasis.

My two projects are really boring to blog.  Ulmus is a clever little knit.  I love the slipped stitches & the color combo, but I've got a long way to go.  The Featherweight cardigan is finished to about 2 inches past the armholes.  So it's back n' forth from here out.  The Malabrigo Sock yarn is still delicious.  Every time I pick it up, I get excited to let it run through my fingers.  Ava is looking for some & I can only hope that she find a big stash of it here in Ohio.  Cause if she does, I'm adding some to my stash.

p.s.  I was going to mention this, but now it seems like a good idea since Ava added a new picture to our Flickr account.  Add us as a Flickr Contact & be entertained by some photos.  I've been using our Family account a lot lately, but there are some photos that might alarm our Family.  Even though the bathroom functions like the family room at our parents' house, Mom would still have some concerns seeing me sitting on the toilet with yarn at my feet.  She won't get it, so I'll save her from this photo.  She'd also be alarmed with this post.  "I never felt like that & I had 4 kids," is what she'd say.  Good for you.

That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore

How do you choose a knitting pattern? Do you obsess over the latest pattern until you find one just right? Spend time on Ravelry looking for "the" pattern? Do you go back to the same style over and over again? Or are you adventurous and try new things? Me? I can't put my finger on it. I love reading knitting magazines and pattern books, yet I knit about 5% of the things that I dog-ear. I spend lots of time on Ravelry and queue up patterns galore, but most of those never make it to the needles. And I am about as adventurous as they come where knitting is concerned . . . but going back to the same style over and over again? Large rectangular shaped knitting, I am your bitch.

If the date is correct in our Ravelry project section (and I have no reason to distrust it), I technically finished the Lady Eleanor Stole in less than a year. I say "technically" because I bought the yarn about two years before I cast on for the project. Shoot me . . . I was envious of Lola's Lady E and asked Mom for the same present for my birthday: a gift certificate to purchase the yarn at a huge discount. But still it sat in my yarn cabinet for almost two years just waiting to cast on for this project. Can you imagine? Twelve balls of Noro Silk Garden sitting idle . . . who does that? Apparently I do.

In August of 2008, I cast on for the stole for a class I was teaching. I knit and I knit and I knit and I got really, really bored. It was, after all, a very large rectangle, so I sat it aside in favor of other sweaters, socks, afghans, and probably the spare large rectangle (creature of habit that I am). And then three weeks ago, MaryAnn casually asked how my stole was going. "Oh, it's kind of stalled, but I have been thinking about it," I reply. What was said next, completely took my breath away (and not in the "Hello, I'm Clive Owen, and I appear to be standing in your kitchen in my knickers ready to make coffee for you" sort of way). "I just love entrelac. You know, I could finish it for you if you want," says MaryAnn.  Speechless . . . simply speechless . . . and it takes a lot to shut me up. It was the gauntlet being thrown: finish your own knitting or someone might willingly do it for you.

For three weeks, nothing else mattered. I ignored the pain in my left hand; I figured out how to pick up stitches backward; I entertained knitting advice from the Flyer. I was a woman possessed. Finish my knitting for me? Who does that? Apparently a good friend will, or she provides the fire that needs to be lit under your ass to get you motivated. I could say that MaryAnn knew that I would muster up the strength and finish the stole and that's why she said it. But truth be told . . . she really, really likes entrelac. Hell, the woman knit two Lady Eleanors (before I finished mine) and has knit countless purses using the technique. So I guess you could say, I really owe you one, MaryAnn. Hopefully you can provide that same enthusiasm for the current large rectangle that has been languishing on the needles: the Melon Shawl. After all, you're casting on this Tuesday evening - in the most gorgeous shade of gray that I've ever seen, by the way - and I have about twenty some repeats done on mine already. I'm sure you'll be asking if I want you to finish mine in about three months. 

Enjoy the weekend! I have a dinner with moms I have known since our children were in kindergarten tonight, a sock class and Crab Feast tomorrow, and a wine festival on Sunday. Considering our weekends are usually pretty dull, this one might be a bit of fun.

Ava

Say Hey (I Love You)*

*I can't get enough of this song!  Find it.  Buy it.  Enjoy it!

Ava talked about my LA debacle in the last post & that's what I'll blame for my silence.  It wasn't just my West coast trip that knocked me on my ass.  It really was the amount of travel leading up to LA & it was just the icing on a big ole shit cake.  My body doesn't deal with travel the same way it did ten years ago.  It takes me time to recover.  After being stuck in O'Hare for around 16 hours, my body shut down.

But knitting came to the rescue once again.  I had been told that I wouldn't be able to get home for 48 hours.  So I literally wandered around O'Hare trying to figure out how to prove them wrong.  As I sat in the four hour Customer Service line, I was able to almost finish the leg of a sock.  I listened to other people's travel nightmare's.  A woman was also coming home from a trip out West.  She spent a week with a wonderful man that she had just met.  No fighting.  Just wonderful dinners filled with engaging conversations.  When he dropped her off at the airport, he told her that he wasn't ready for a relationship.  During the story, her phone would ring because he was concerned.  She ignored all calls.  She also told me about a TSA agent that made her open all of her IV eggs (I don't remember the correct terms.  I was exhausted at this point).  She was hoping that one would work, and she begged him to let her through. Once opened it'd be over.  I think she was planning on donated or sell anything that was left-over.  Who knew this stuff happened? 

When I was told that there was an option, I walked Concourse C until I found a 3-person bench to sleep on.  Thankfully, I remembered that I had another knitting nugget in my bag.  I started the Featherweight Cardigan before my PA trip.  I'm using Malabrigo Sock Yarn for this project.  I decided to take the LYS' advice & alternate two balls of yarn.  It makes sense since it's kettle-dyed.  It makes greater sense because it provided a nice little pillow for my O'Hare sleepover.   While I stood in line, I met a very nice man that was trying to reach his wife & four kids for a vacation.  He kindly offered me his sweatshirt to use as a pillow, but I flashed my knitting. 

Back to normal in Ohio.  So normal that I started another project!  I decided to treat myself to a little birthday gift.  Ulmus is in progress.  When I first saw this pattern, I wasn't sure about it.  The rustic nature of the body paired with the lace border, didn't make sense to me that day.  But I see it now!  The haze is gone, people!   I flipped through pages & pages on Ravelry.  Now the very thing that I didn't understand months ago is the very reason I needed this shawl!  I love the non-lace body.  Sturdy, but beautiful with the alternating of the two colors.  And the lace gives it a sweet touch. 

Comfest is this weekend, so I'll be drunk on indie music & mugs of beer.  Hippies galore.  Don't worry, Ava.  I'll keep my top on.  If I would join the hundreds of women that get their chests painted, I would skip the unicorns or butterflies.  No fairies or forest scenes that are very popular at Comfest.  I'd have the artist write, "These boobs nursed two very hungry babies.  Worship the floppy!"

Lola

Dancing Queen

Ahh.  She's done.  I told Ava last week that I really must enjoy punishing myself.  If there's a pattern out there that requires the bind-off of 500 stitches, I'll find it.  If there's a pattern out there that will have you garter the width of a football field, I'll tackle it.  If there's a pattern out there that requires you to finish a sweater on size 2 needles. . .  I have my limits.

I decided to skip the normal Shawl-Down-the-Back pose since I'll never wear it in that manner.  I'd be lying to you.  Sort like the Hand-to-the-Chin pose.  Who sits like that & why did every photographer use that position back in the day?  I guess an even better question would be why they floated your head into a Brandy snifter?  Back to Cleite. 

I bought the Malabrigo Baby Lace in Bobby Blue during one of Ava's visit.  I really enjoy this color & it's probably a big reason I never gave up.  Surprisingly because I'm not a huge blue fan.  That was always Other Sister's color, but this blue reminds me of spring.  I saved this yarn so I could find a pattern that would use every last inch because I hated the thought of it being in the trash.  I came pretty close.  I'd guess that I have maybe three yards of leftovers.  Leftover sock yarn, you can use for booties.  Aran can be used on anything!  I still haven't found a good use of leftover lace weight.  The pattern starts in the center of the neck and begins to grow.  In the end, I think I did one extra repeat & stopped shy of the final two rows.

Besides the yarn, there's is another fantastic part to this project: Addi Lace Needles.  When they first came out, all I read about was their sharp points.  This is a disservice to the needles.  If you're looking for sharp, I still think that Knitpick options are sharper.  If you're looking for a smooth needle, find yourself some Addi Lace.  Other needles were too shiny for the yarn.  Almost like knitting on ice.  It made the knitting slow & frustrating.   Once I started with these needles, I let out a huge sigh & started cracking.

Towards the end, I thought that this would make a beautiful gift.  Shawls seem to be things that you never buy for yourself, but can be useful to have around the house.  Sort of like finding money in your winter coat's pocket.  You didn't really need it, but it's nice to have.  More importantly, I think everyone deserves to be wrapped in Malabrigo .  Right now, I think that I deserve to be wrapped in goodness.  But the next time I use this yarn, I promise to give it away.  It's only fair.

L

p.s. The Banana Chocolate Chip & Ginger Bread was delicious.  Go on.  Try it.

p.p.s Thanks SK for the pictures. 

The Hazards of Love 1

Time for a tale.  Pull up a chair & pour a cup of coffee.  I've been planning this story for the past two weeks.  I told myself that I'd write it while Cleite was soaking.  If I would do it any later, her beauty would make me forget my anger.  Ahh, but here's where my story take yet another turn.  It actually take a U-turn.  A classic soap opera for knitters.

I fell in love with Cleite.  I love when the photographer shoots the shawl against the sky. That picture makes me search my stash faster than the Mittens-in-Front-of-the-Face shot.  When I saw the other pictures, I thought that this was a long shawl.  It travels pretty far down the model's back.  I'm close to 5'10, so a long shawl is a plus.  I must have been so in love that I never thought that perhaps the model was 5'2.  I bought & cast-on that day.

It's an easy pattern.  I can't remember a Baked Brown Rice recipe that I use every week, so I need to look at the chart.  But Ava could have had the pattern memorized in about 3 repeats.  I made it through the first hank & that's when Cleite turned on me like a toddler.  It all began with the Crisis of the Second Hank of Malabrigo.  While I was pondering what to do, I started to examine Cleite.  Why do my motifs point the wrong way?  This drove me crazy.  I searched the web & found out that there was an errata.  Why didn't I get the errata with my purchase?  I was furious.  I clicked & clicked my PDF.  I checked my notes three times.  Nothing.  I did it right, but it looks so wrong.  I began again.  I would finish this shawl if it killed.  It was also the least I could do after my troubled hank was saved!  But I was planning a vicous post.

I started the bind-off on Wednesday night with only a handful of yarn left.  In the pattern, I had 2 more rows to complete before bind-off.  If I powered through these two rows, I would have ran out of yarn. Another reason that Laziness isn't appreciated enough.  I finished the bind-off in the car on Thursday.  That last stitch made me so giddy.  But when I held it up, I noticed that I had a diamond shaped shawl on my dashboard.  Are you kidding me?  Do the knitting gods hate me?  More rambling messages to Ava. 

It wasn't until late last night after the fourth time I checked my file did I realize my error.  My huge error that had me creating horrible post for the past two weeks.  An error that made me feel like an idiot the size of Ohio.  Cleite is knit from the neck down.  It says it right there, people!  Right there in the beginning!  A good dose of blocking & I've got a normal shaped triangle shawl.  The errata is for the shawl prior to its release to Twist.  Can you all please slap me through the comments?

I'll post some final pictures once I calm down & get out of the corner.  But here's pre-soak shot.  She really is pretty.

The first picture (doesn't it look like a frame from Fiona Apple's Criminal video?) is from my morning baking spree.  Every since I read the  Banana Chocolate Chip with Crystallized Ginger Bread recipe from A Homemade Life, I've been dying to make it.  Once I found a reason & the crystallized ginger, which very expensive, I got to baking.  I ate a small heel piece, but I'll report once I get a nice hunk it.  I'm trying really hard not to slice off another piece.  I've got a gut feeling that I couldn't stop myself.  There's two empty boxes of Girl Scout Cookies to confirm that fact.

L

Woman in Love

What is that beautiful creature?  Is it really?  Yep.  That's the naughty hank of Malabrigo Baby Lace all dressed up and made over into a gorgeous cake.  Yet another reason why I love my LYS!  One of the women on staff agreed to untangle it for me and I am very grateful.  I was really afraid that Celite would be buried in the bottom of my knit cube.  Sandwiched between a lonely mitt and the front of a Trellis cardigan.

With the nasty hank out of the house and a little hope that she'd come home, I had some time to think.  I was hasty when I suggested scrapping Celite.  I was mad at her, but I've calmed down and come to my knitty senses.  Celite is going to be finished.  Penises and all.  At least they're pointing at my back.  And that's way better than at my face. . .  I was also worried about Malabrigo pilling if made into the Whisper Cardigan.  So Celite is going strong and I'm back to my original plan of knitting one full repeat before I go back to Modern Log Cabin.

Enjoy your weekend.  Once the babies are tucked into their beds, I'll be curled up on the couch working on Celite. 

L

Knotty Pine

Thanks for the "Get Well" wishes.  Now I'm under the sea of things that were ignored while I was getting better.

 

When I finally felt well enough to knit, I wanted a change from garter.  I love garter, but sometimes there's too much garter.  Right now the Modern Log Cabin is falling into this category.  I had a plan.  I would finish a repeat on the long ignored Celite and then get back to the baby blanket with a renewed passion.  So I found the lovely Celite and started with Row 1.  I got to Row 3 and realized that I had to wind the second hank of Malabrigo Lace.  I found it, gently unwound the hank, put it on the swift, and carefully cut the ties.  I found the end.  And then I found another end.  And then another end.  Hmm?  I picked one end and started the swift spinning.  The swift came to a deadly stop.  I tried to untangle and start the swift again.  Whapp.  Stopped again.  I picked the other end and had the same outcome.  Maybe this is why this hank had 3 ends?  Tried the third & met the same outcome a third time.  Instead of tearing through our basement screaming and spitting, I left it alone and went upstairs.

I tracked down Ava and explained the situation.  "You could do it by hand," she said.  That's what Ravelry  Malabrigo Junkie's forum suggested.  After the kids were in bed, I poured a big glass of wine and bought the hank into the family room.  I picked, untangled, strategized, and cussed.  Finally I admitted that I'm a beaten woman.  It isn't that the hank is tangled, but the yarn sticks.  It will get stuck so I'll have to pull pretty hard to get the yarn out of it's pickle.  I'm going to estimate that it would take hours to complete the task.  And then it would probably look ravaged.

Body Bag Shot

So that's where I'm at: stuck.  What's a girl to do?  I need the skein to finish it, but I can't bring myself to ever put a skein on my swift again.  I'm traumatized.  And the skeins aren't that easy to find.  I found one online vendor with the exact color, but I wasn't familiar with them.  That always makes me uneasy.  Do I go back to the store that I bought it from?  I love this color and the yarn.  The lace pattern is nice, but I was starting to fall out of love with it.  It sort of looks like a bunch of penises.  I think this is why I hadn't touch the project in a while.  But once I started working on it, I was really excited to wrapped up in Malabrigo.  I think I just want to be wrapped in Malabrigo.  Penises be damned. 

Here are my options: 

1. Find the color & finish the wrap. 
2. Fuck the wrap.  Order 2 Malabrigo skeins in another color & make the Whisper Cardigan from the latest Interweave's. (Make sure that the vendor handles the center-pull action)
3. Find the color, finish the wrap, order 2 more skeins, make the Cardigan too.

Help my friends.
L

"None of us are free until ALL of us are free"

Two posts in one morning?!  What the hell? But what a pleasant way to begin the weekend: visit a great new yarn store and become informed.  This morning, I came across this post & wanted to incorporate into today's post.  It's something that I've been spending a decent amount of time thinking about lately.  There are a number of reason, but I'll save that for another post (maybe).  Flyer already has asked Ava, "Has your sister gone really crunchy?"  I got a feeling he might throw another scoop of sunflower seeds into my granola.  Until then, just take some time visit a couple of sites & be mindful during your day.

That's exactly how I plan to spend my day: mindfully sitting on the couch with my favorite knitting project, finishing a book (anyone that can help me with a "calm approach" to my toddler is worth reading) & imagining my life with my favorite celeb family.  Damned 18 hours in the car!  My neck hurts, the dishes are dirty, the fridge is empty, & my laundry load has increased 100 times.  But who needs clean clothes?  Turn those undies inside-out, Momma needs a break!  I started Cleite on Monday & haven't stopped.  The yarn has plenty to do with my addiction to this project.  Did the gods create Malabrigo?  Ava & I have been having a discussion: Would Malabrigo make a nice sweater?  Would it hold up or pill to shit?  Someday I may just have to find out.  Spending hours with this yarn is a small price to pay for a "pilly" sweater.

The lace weight doesn't feel like a true lace weight.  More like a fingering weight, but I'm beyond OK with this.  I'll have to really block this in order to achieve the airy feel of the shawl.  I have 2 hanks of this yarn and I'm planning on using every last inch of it.  I want a nice big shawl.  Something I can wrap up in when I'm cold, sick, or just feeling a little diva-ish.

I'm off to the couch before I brave the grocery.  By the way, I popped the pickles last night.  Delicious!  I'll save the green beans for Mom's house, but the pickles won't make it.  Sorry.  Here are a couple other recipes that I beg you all to try.  The brownies are beyond yummy.  Don't be frightened of the black beans.  The muffins were so moist & a great way to use up zucchini.  I followed a commenter and substituted rolled oats for the oat flour and added a 1/2 cup of flax seed.

-L

p.s. Ang,  In the article, you talk about learning to hold the babes while you're breast-feeding.  If I can help, email me.

Everything I Do (I Do It For You)

Relative humidity . . . not quite sure, but it is g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s outside. A little bribery (pose for me and I'll take you to get your ears double pierced) and a little natural high (The Killers concert was last night) plus the nicest day in ages made for a very compliant Veronica. The only time she balked a bit was when I said we were heading to Columcille for the "shoot" but even that wasn't bad. I'm 99% sure that we may have interrupted a meditation walk, but we were far less intrusive than the woman yakking on her cell phone.

Mom left on Friday evening; I love the woman to death, but it takes a lot out of you being in tourist mode with someone who raised you. New York on Tuesday proved to be a little too long, yet we did just about everything that we set out to do, save walk through Central Park and visit Brooklyn General. The train ride in was long, and there was a little bit of stress when talk turned to the wedding and the Bro, but it didn't dampen our spirits. The girls indulged me in a quick trip to Purl (more about the yarn this week), and all four of us successfully negotiated the turnstiles that gave Lola such trouble. Philadelphia the next day was a bit much as driving in Philly unnerves me to no end. I hate it and I don't know how people how live there do it on a daily basis. Luckily, once we arrived at Temple, we left the car and did a little shopping. I think Mom was a little disappointed since we didn't do any of the touristy things in Philly simply because I find the town so maddening to navigate. If the girls do wind up going to Temple, maybe they can take their Mimi around. Fun for all!

I've been knitting away on the February Lady Sweater; it's every bit as fun knitting for an adult as it is for a baby . . . maybe even more so since I know that I'll have a lovely purple sweater in time for my birthday. There are two smallish mistakes so far: two missed increases (added them later) and an extra stitch in a repeat (decrease it on the sleeves). See what I mean? So small that I didn't even go back and fix them.

Last night took us back to Philly (actually, Camden, NJ) for the Download Fest in which The Killers were headlining. The Flyer missed the last concert due to a work conflict so we kind of jumped at the chance to see them again as a family and because we knew we could justify it as an anniversary present. The beauty of the Fest were all the other bands we got to see. Sia, one of my all-time favorite female singers, performed on a smaller stage for about 45-minutes. Wonderful voice from a tiny woman who really should be more popular than she is. She's performing at All Points West next Saturday so she makes it into a select group of artists I've seen twice. Iggy and the Stooges went on before The Killers and the Flyer and I were stoked. Fifteen minutes into it, Veronica commented that she was worried about Iggy slipping a disc and I was just bored.

That's it from this sister. I'm heading to Ohio in eight days to finish the tattoo and get all wedding-y. I think that Lola and I are taking the boys to the zoo one of those days, which should be all sorts of fun. There are very few things that I miss about toddlers, but zoos are definitely one of them. Happy anniversary, baby! You've made the last 17 years something special. I still wonder who lost bets on this one making it past year five. Their loss . . . more than my gain. I love you.

Ava

PS - forgive the title, please. It was the number one song when we were married. Our song? "Thorn In My Side" but I used it last year.