knitting update

So I discovered that I have been knitting on my Sweater O’Doom with a 5 instead of a 6. I almost have an entire sleeve done with it. Should I rip it up? It does seem to fit my arm, so I do not think size is an issue in that regard. Should I just keep knitting and do both sleeves with the 5. Would anyone notice that the body stitches are a different gauge than the sleeves? God I hate this sweater. I have totally put it aside. I have been working on my rib warmer, which I think is going to be huge. I don’t think it will be too a big a deal though, I would be wearing it over stuff anyway. It is a very pretty color. Although I do not think I will have enough of the Cascade 220 I am using. Sigh.
I am also working on my lace shawl. It is going pretty well. I know I have some mistakes in the beginning, but I have not had too many. I do not think anyone will notice since it is at the top. I am too far to rip it out. I have done about 7” or 8”.

Here is one last picture from Mostly Male:


Look out Ladies… I am ready to prowl the scene in my completely knit outfit.

Even the belt is knit!

Groovy!

Memorial day weekend

I had a great weekend! My Beloved Husband (CD) gave me the best anniversary presents. In the morning, he gave me Destroy All Humans 2 and said the other one had not arrived yet. I was still really happy with the game and played it until it was time to take the animals to the vet.
We always take all 4 at once, so it is really chaotic, but we get a 25% discount, so it is worth it. They all received a clean bill of health, even our oldest cat (she will be 17 this August). They did do some extra blood work on her and we will get the results today, so hopefully it will be okay. But the vet said they all looked good and were good weights…yeah!
After that, hubby and I went to lunch and then picked up The Girl (she had spent Friday night at a friend’s house). She was dressed like a pirate in celebration of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, which she went to see with her girlfriend. We all went over to St. Paul to visit a scrap booking shop. She got some piratey paper so she could make some ATCs. CD and I have been making them for Swap-Bot and she wanted to join the fun. It was a really nice time.
When we got home, my other present was there! CD bought me Barbara Walker’s “Treasury of Knitting Pattern”! He is the best husband ever!
Then CD and I went downtown Minneapolis to one of our favorite restaurants, Vincent. We ordered the tasting menu. It was pricy, but divine. If you are ever in Minneapolis and looking for a good meal, I would highly recommend it. On weekdays, they have a prix fixe menu that is very reasonable and always good. I have never had anything bad there. The chef, Vincent, is from France and was trained there. The roast chicken is to die for.
So it was one of the best anniversaries ever.
The rest of the weekend was good too. I played a lot of my new game, worked on ATCs and did not do much knitting (which was the only downside).

Feeling Low

I am feeling a little off kilter today. On Tuesday I went and saw “28 Weeks Later”. It was a good movie, but very depressing and upsetting. It was not really scary in the traditional horror movie sense. I left feeling sad and queasy. I went by myself, since it was between work and the time I have my knitting group. I was glad DH was not there since he would not have liked it at all. It brought up all sorts of issues of family and survival. Not to mention military occupations. Would I die trying to save my loved ones? Or would I run like hell to save myself? Stuff like that is brought up.
No one showed up to my knitting group, so I just sat a knit on my lace shawl, which was okay. I was able to get through 8 rows without having to go back to my rescue line. Yeah! This is my 1st real large lace project. It is really kind of daunting. I was hoping to get it done for my one niece’s wedding (June 23rd), but I don’t know if that will happen.
Then last night’s Lost added to the feeling of melancholy. I love Lost. It is one of my all time favorite shows. We all watch it together as a family. Last night though, Charlie died, which of course was to be expected, but I sort of hoped that maybe there would be a reprieve. It looks like they are going to be rescued, but then there are 3 years left of the show… so perhaps not. But overall the worst part was the flash forward. Knowing that they get off the only to have it screw up Jack completely is really depressing. Perhaps it is an allegory for life in general… you know… we try to escape something in our lives only to find out that it was the best thing we ever had. Whose funeral was it? No doubt someone from the island and someone that no one would even attend their funeral… I think Ben.

On the plus side, my anniversary is on Saturday. I will have been married for 17 years. Wow. How did that happen? 17 years is a really long time.
Here are the recommended gifts according to About.com: Traditional Gifts: nothing, Modern Gifts: Furniture. Who the hell give furniture to your loved one? Here honey, have a chair! I don’t think so. That is a really bad gift.
According to wikipedia.org, here is the tradition gift from Britain (Turquoise) and the Modern (Watches). Now receiving either one of those gifts would be nice. I of course, bought my sweetie books, which is in fact the best gift I can get him. Oddly, books are nowhere on the lists unless you count paper in the 1st year. Hmmm I give books almost every year. Go figure.

8 random things

I was tagged by Paula at bassetknitter.blogspot.com

8 Random things about me.

1. I do not know enough people on line to tag anyone
2. I always thought that the life David Banner was leading in the Incredible Hulk was cool.
3. I am more responsible than anyone I know, in high school more than once I did not kill myself because I had to go to work that night and I did not know who they would get to fill in for me on such short notice.
4. I think my husband is the greatest man to walk the face of the Earth.
5. I still miss my grandmother who died 17 years ago.
6. I love dogs and can image why anyone would be cruel to them.
7. I wish I could have chickens, but my suburb has an ordinance against farm animals.
8. I love fresh watermelon and could eat it everyday.

More from Mostly Male…

Here are some more pictures from Mostly Male.
Here is one of the unisex sweaters. The one they show for the woman’s sweater is slightly better colors, but really this one is too bright for anyone over the age of 6.
Check out the cigarillo. He is TOO cool!













Is this guy getting in the pool? Shouldn’t he take off his sweater first? Although he really looks like he should be getting out, but then his sweater would be wet…
Either way, the sweater does not really go with the swim trunks and why would he need a sweater at an indoor pool?

Knitting's past

When I took up knitting, I started to look for patterns everywhere. I now have more patterns than I will ever knit, but I find it enjoyable to look at them, so I keep collecting. I love history and anything which gives a glance into the past… old books, old magazines, old pictures, etc. So naturally, I started to collect old knitting patterns. Sometimes they are things which I think I will knit when I learn how to convert them to my size (large American) or when I get a 26” waist, whichever comes first. Others I buy just because I love the pictures. It might be the outfit or it just might be the expressions which the models have. So I have decided to share some of these pictures with you out there in the blogsphere.
The first one is from a 1971 Brunswick pattern book called “Mostly Male”. This is the back cover.
One word… Shazam



I will post some more pictures tomorrow from this fine publication.

Mother's day weekend

I had a wonderful Mother’s day. The Girl made me a card declaring me the best mom/aunt in the world. How can it get better than that? Well, then we went and got our hair cut together! Her idea. And my lovely husband made my favorite grilled meal.
The Girl and I also went out and she drove me around a parking lot. Her first time behind the wheel. She did alright.
That was my Mother’s day.
On Saturday I went over to Shepard’s Harvest. It was great fun. I bought some llama yarn and a kit to make a tea cozy that looks like a sheep. I talked to some Alpaca farmers(?, not sure what they call themselves). I looked at a variety of sheep and goats and llamas. Next year I am going to drag my husband with. He had his improv class at noon and could not come with me.

Sweater of Doom

I am still knitting on my sweater. I am on the first sleeve. I swear to God that it is not getting longer no matter how much I knit. Arrrrhhh. I am also working on a shadow stripe hat. It is slow as well.
I am trying to think of something to knit for the “Joy Luck Club”, which was our reading selection for April on Knit the Classics. I have absolutely no inspiration. I am thinking of knitting my mom something for Mother’s day and submitting that, but I have to get in gear since the deadline is May 6th. I was far more inspired by “The Historian”, which we read right before. There is a shawl mentioned in that book that I want to create. I even bought some yarn at Yarnover I could use.
I had to rip out my rib warmer and start over, because it look odd with just the mohair. So now it will be Cascade 220 and mohair. I have not really worked on it lately because I was trying to get my sweater done. I hate that sweater. I know I will love it when it is done, but right now it is nothing but a black hole of doom.
The Girl is flunking out of school and has refused to go at all so far this week because she is sad. I have to say I am disappointed that she thinks so little of herself that she can not do better in school. I do not know how to fix this problem. Of course, one of the therapist at the hospital told us that we have solved too many of The Girl’s problems. It has not been easy to raise someone else’s kid. No matter what we do, we seem to be screwing her up… sigh. It is probably just as hard to raise your own kid; I just am not in that place.