Just in the nick of time!

This will be short because typing is rather labor intensive.  I finished Giselle last night.  I was determined as I knew I wouldn't be able to do the crochet with a cast on.  I may be able to knit, but definitely not crochet!  


Details:  

Pattern:  Giselle from Stitch Diva, cropped version, Size Small

Yarn:  Handmaiden Double Sea Silk in Periwinkle--3 skeins

            Handmaiden Sea Silk in Mahogany--1 skein (for crochet edging)

Ribbon:  Hanna Silk Satin hand dyed in French Roast--3 yards

Needles:  Addi turbo size 6,  Crochet hook size E

Began Feb./ Finished March 27

I love this pattern but I'm disappointed that it didn't come in smaller sizes.  The smallest is a 34 which is my actual bust measurement.  This design needs to have negative ease.  The back view shows that the sweater doesn't quite hug the body the way it should.  In retrospect, I should have tightened it up when I put the crochet edging on.  I was also a little rusty with my crochet skills.  It's been years.  There was a graph type thing with the stitch pattern which was somewhat unclear.   I didn't get it quite right up the front and around the neck, but I figured it out for the rest!  Overall, I'm pleased with the results and I'm sure I will wear it.

I came home from my surgery today to find some surprises in the mail. 

First from the Yarnery:

I saw the chicks in an ad in the new IK along with some cute felted Easter eggs. I bought them as a kit. They are the cutest thing ever! I will probably pick up another snowman pattern--they have a smaller one and a collection of hats and accessories. Too cute!

Then there was my Ebay purchase:

Debbie Bliss Pure Silk for only $8 a skein! Gotta love that! This is for this sweater:

That's about it for now. Time for a Percocet.

Bushism of the day:

"When a drug comes in from Canada, I wanna make sure it cures ya, not kill ya... I've got an obligation to make sure our government does everything we can to protect you. And one -- my worry is that it looks like it's from Canada, and it might be from a third world." --George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004

Kitty Cam:  Mikey does his Humpty Dumpty imitation!

Easter N'at

For the uninitiated--the title of this post is in a foreign language--Pittsburghese. Bird was home from Monday 3/17 until this past Monday. He's picking up the local vernacular--saying things like "N'at", "yins" and the ever popular "jagoff." So we are adjusting to the new language we are hearing at our house. I haven't blogged in over a week. Things have been really busy. Last week at school, I had to put together a weeks worth of sub plans for next week. I'm a little nervous about that as my sub is somewhat spacey. It will be testing week and the kids will be a little off. I'm afraid they will eat my sub alive! I'll have to straighten them out when I return. I've already decided to bribe them with a contest. I am having a cast signing contest as I will have a cast on my left hand/wrist when I return. I'm buying a box of sharpies in 15 colors and the best class of the week gets to sign my cast. Funny how little things like that mean so much to kids. I never fail to pick up on that quality in them and use it to my advantage (and theirs!)

Then we had Easter. I set a lovely Easter table:
Note the napkins folded like bunnies.  I found the best website on napkin folding and I have used it a number of times.  Who needs a book?  You can find it here.  Unfortunately Ems and KC ended up having to work an extra shift and they couldn't come over so it was just the three of us.  We have enough food for the week.  We had baked ham, baked pineapple casserole, baby carrots and sugar snap peas in lime ginger butter,  roasted asparagus with asiago cheese, rosemary fingerling potatoes and popovers.  I hadn't made popovers for years.  They are a throwback to my own childhood--one of the treats that my brother and I would beg my mom to make.  For dessert we had angel food cake with strawberries and mango sorbet.  Of course I had to pick up a pint of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked for Bird.  I must admit that it is my favorite B&J's flavor as well.  Before dinner, I fixed some Pamatinis.  I have finally perfected the recipe and it tastes just like the ones at the Rams Head. I had to make some changes from my original recipe and it's just right!  I can really suck those down at happy hour!

Here is the recipe:

Pamatini

1 1/2 oz. Pama Pomegranate Liqueur

1 oz. premium vodka

1 1/2 oz Peach Schnapps

3 oz. pineapple juice

Place in shaker with ice, shake vigorously and pour.   Seriously good stuff and it makes a pretty big drink.  I have big martini glasses.  It always blows my mind to go to a bar and pay 10 bucks for a premium martini in a small glass!

I have to do the crochet edging for one more sleeve flounce on Giselle--then I'm done!  I need to finish it today as I won't be able to crochet with a cast.  I also cast on Bella Paquita.  I'm a little disappointed in the yarn.  It is Elann Incense--a blend of 50% wool, 25% silk, 25% bamboo.  It sounds luscious doesn't it?  What threw me off is that I only use merino wool and this yarn just says "wool"  not "merino" and I should have paid attention to that.  It isn't terribly soft, but at least it doesn't feel scratchy.  You get what you pay for.  

I'm trying to get stuff done today that I won't be able to do with my bandage on my hand.  I'll check in tomorrow night once the Percocet kicks in.

Bushism of the day:

"[A]s you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen to what I have to say." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2003

Kitty Cam:  Samantha enjoys the Easter flowers!

Ducks and bunnies and chicks! Oh My!

The snowmen are packed up and Easter is on it's way! A might bit early, if you ask me. It isn't even St. Patrick's Day and I've put out the ducks, bunnies and chicks! I typically keep my snowmen around and faithfully do my snow dance until March 21. That is Good Friday! This is way too early for Easter! Here's a sampling of my Easter goodies:







I have 4 more days of school until spring break! I have to get ready for my sub the week after break as I am having my hand surgery on March 27. I will take the following week off to recuperate. I have to record my chorus accompaniments so I have to practice them and get that done this week. My accompanist moved last summer and I haven't found another so I record the piano parts which enables me to conduct the choruses the way they should be. I'll have to search out a high school kid next year to play. It would be a good way for them to get community service hours.

I got a lovely little box from Webs yesterday.

The colorful skein on the left is Valley Yarns Franklin sock yarn. I am using that for a Baby Surprise Jacket. I'm taking a class with Pheelya next Saturday where we will begin the jacket. I've always wanted to do that one. The other two variegated skeins are TyDy by Knit One Crochet Too. They are for the Chameleon Scarf in the New IK. It looks like a nice portable project. The squares are knit separately then sewn together to they are small projects that can be put in the purse!

The other yarn is Louisa Harding Jasmine. It is Cotton, Bamboo and Silk with a metallic thread that adds some sparkle. It's hard to see it in the photo.

This is for Cecilia which I showed in a previous post.

I have finished knitting Giselle. Now I have to do the crochet trim and attach the flounces to the sleeves. I've wound the sea silk and I knit a small swatch so I can test the gauge of the crochet. Hopefully I will finish that in a week or so.

Bird comes home tomorrow. It will be good to have him here.

Bushism of the day:
"One year ago today, the time for excuse-making has come to an end." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 8, 2003

Kitty cam:
Greg loves rolling around on his perch!

Rip it, rip it good!

Okay, so I frogged some of Giselle. It was terrifying! I ran a lifeline which helped, but it was crooked so I ended up pulling it out. This yarn is so nice, the stitches stayed right in place so I was able to pick them right up.



It is a little loose after binding off but I can pull that in when I add the crochet trim. My gauge was definitely off. I thought the yarn had stretched, but if it did, it was minimal and I was just off with the gauge.



I like it much better at the new length. This is the length shown in the pattern.

Of course Greg helped me with the process!



I'm glad I decided to do that, though I hated seeing all that work disappear!

Bushism of the day:
"We ended the rule of one of history's worst tyrants, and in so doing, we not only freed the American people, we made our own people more secure." —George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, May 3, 2003

Kitty Cam: Greg has evil in his eyes!

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down!

Who remembers that song by the Carpenters? Well it's a rainy day. It started raining yesterday. That cold penetrating kind of rain which we actually need to bring the water table up so we can avoid a drought this year. Unfortunately, I had outside bus duty at dismissal yesterday and I was cold to the bone after that! I stayed at work a little late then went directly home where I put on my slippers and fixed a latte. That felt good!

I'm trying to finish up some knitting projects before my hand surgery. I've decided that I need to frog about 3 or 4 inches off of Giselle so it will fit like that pattern photo. That's at least a week's worth of knitting, so I'm really bummed because I wanted to finish another sweater before my hand surgery. Giselle did fit. Then I blocked it and it grew. I also ran out of yarn before finishing the second flounce and I ordered another skein. Now, I'm wondering if I couldn't just use the yarn I frog from the body to complete the flounce. That would save me about $40. The problem is that it has already been blocked and stretched and I fear it would mess up the flounce which hasn't been blocked and stretched. I will save it. I'm sure I could use it to make something like this:

I'll have enough from the new skein left to make a nice cowl or hat, so I guess that is what I will do.

Here are the photos of Giselle so far:



It is just way too long. The end should crisscross above the waist and not meet in the back. I had to pull it up over the boobs just to make it shorter.
Here is the pattern photo:


Frogging will make mine fit like that. As much as it pains me to rip out 2 weeks of work, it would pain me more to spend over $100 bucks on a sweater that I don't wear. I will wear it if it fits correctly because I love the style and the yarn, which is mostly silk, feels glorious on the skin.

Here is the first sleeve flounce:

The shaping is done with short rows. I used to hate short rows because I had trouble knitting in the wraps. That is until I saw this video and this video. Cat Bordhi is a genius!

I bought a couple of new books:

Knitting New Gloves has some really interesting designs. I love knitting gloves for some reasons. They are portable for one. You can tuck the project right in your purse--unlike a sweater. I have never had a desire to knit socks though. Why spend the time on something that will be hidden inside a pair of boots? That's when I wear socks so I'm not wasting the time. The book on yarn is a resource. It reminds me of Claire Schaeffer' s Fabric Sewing Guide. This book is a "must have" if you sew. It goes through fabric structure and fiber content and tells what needles, seams, linings, techniques--the list goes on--to use. I refer to it whenever I start a new sewing project. The Book of Yarn is the equivalent resource for knitting. Also--I found a new source for cheap books! Overstock.com was even cheaper than Amazon. The shipping was only $2.50 and it was here in 2 days! What's not to love about that!

I've been reviewing some new spring pattern books and stumbled on some designs to put in my queue:

From Debbie Bliss Coastlines:



From Debbie Bliss Prima Collection:


From Classic Elite Make it Modern:


Also that cute little scarf pictured above is from this book. In fact there is nothing I wouldn't make in this book. All the projects use Cotton Bamboo or Soft Linen.

Another new pattern that is coming out:


This is designed by Wendy Bernard who also designed Sahara. I will be hitting up MD Sheep and Wool for the Tilli Tomas yarn for that one! She discounts substantially at the festival.

Lastly, I found this new pattern:

Yup! It's crochet! I typically don't love crochet. I can't do it mindlessly like knitting. But I will be a one armed bandit and I can do it pretty much with one hand, so I may undertake this project when I am home from school after my hand surgery. My other project will be that of putting a ton of stuff on Ebay. That's how I pay for my New England trip every summer. Sell stuff on Ebay then use my PayPal card to pay for the hotel. Gotta love it!

Other news: I came home from work on Tuesday and saw this in our yard:

Our new shed! It's huge. Once we get electricity in there we can rent it out for parties!

I think that's the end of this one! Later!

Bushism of the day:
"You're free. And freedom is beautiful. And, you know, it'll take time to restore chaos and order — order out of chaos. But we will." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 13, 2003

Kitty Cam: Sammy knows how to spend a rainy day!

Simple minds, simple pleasures!

Okay, I'm bad! I haven't really blogged in well over a week. I will attempt to catch you up on what's been going on! Simple pleasures!
Feb. 13. A little snow. Not much, but at least a little!


Feb. 14. I received these flowers from DH at work. Everyone was jealous!


Feb. 15. On the way home from work I stopped at the grocery store and saw this when I got out of the car . . .

Nothing like a rainbow to brighten an afternoon!

Feb. 16. Visited my niece's new home and left with a big old sucker fish! Her husband didn't want it so we put it in the tank with Elvis. As a result, Elvis has turned into a big bully. He keeps chasing this fish which is twice his size!




Sunday Feb. 17. Went to G-Street to get some ribbon for Giselle. I'm not thrilled with it so I also ordered some Hana Silk ribbon from Japan that is hand dyed. Hopefully it will match.


Last week was fairly uneventful except that we had an ice storm on Friday and school was closed! That was fabulous!

I finished the main part of Giselle. I just have to knit the flounces for the sleeves then do the crochet trim around everything and join the flounces to the sleeves. I love the colors!



Sunday Feb. 24 we went to Pittsburgh for Bird's concert. We stopped at Bird's house to bring him some food then went to our favorite eatery . . .

They make a mean margarita! The waiters' t-shirts say "Practice safe mex!"

Check out Bird's beard! This has been growing since before Thanksgiving. He and a buddy made a bet and the beard has to grow until graduation on May 6. The only trimming can be around the mouth. The prize for the winner? A case of beer not to exceed $40 in value. DH keeps trying to bribe him by saying he'd pay the $40 to his buddy and buy Bird a case of beer--but Bird isn't biting! Hey, if you can't do this stuff in college, when can you?

Once again, the concert was in the beautiful Carnegie Music Hall.


Today it was back to the old grind. Grind is a good word as we begin to plan for testing. It is staggering how everything in an elementary school grinds to a halt during the two weeks of testing. It's all that matters. It is mind boggling and a total waste of time. That's another post.

So now we are all caught up! I'll try not to stay away so long next time!

Bushism of the day:
"Security is the essential roadblock to achieving the road map to peace." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 25, 2003

Kitty Cam: Mikey always keeps me company while I'm blogging. Sometimes I just can't resist his cuteness and stop to rub his belly!