October!

So, this is what happens when you don't pay attention. Time just trickles away, one day at a time, and whoosh! it's the middle of October. In the meantime, Egg turned two, I'm working away at Espace Tricot, and I crocheted a sweater (ravelry link) or rather, a shrug thingie that I finished yesterday and yet have to photograph.


We had some glorious fall weather, and my Mom was visiting for two weeks. During that time we went apple picking. Egg just loves it. She would go again any day.


Egg is still not happy when I drop her off at daycare, but I know that she's fine about three minutes after I leave. The payback time of my getting opportunity to work and some hours off mothering is night time. Going to bed usually was an easy thing. Since Egg started daycare it is a nightmare. She screams almost every night in protest. And three days ago she climbed out of her crib for the first time and hasn't stopped. She's also gotten quite good at it - after only five or six tries. I think I'm off to IKEA to get a bed rail to convert her crib into a bed. Somehow this leaves me uneasy, but she's getting out anyways, so I guess it doesn't really make a difference.

September!!

I know. The blog suffered once again. But a lot has happened chez Knit Stricken, and I had to prioritize.

August was very eventful. A new daycare opened at the corner of our street, and at the same time there was talk of me working part time in a yarn store (Espace Tricot) - so off I went and asked if there was a part time spot available, and it was. Egg is going to daycare three days a week now, and what can I say, I'm still not used to it. Today was especially bad, since she anticipated what was coming and was crying all the way there. Apparently she was not alone in being miserable, half of the kids there were crying, too. (I blame this effing heat. Usually they are all quite content.) I definitely have to get over the 'feeling guilty' part, I am well aware that it is futile. We're always told that she had a great time when either of us picks her up and she usually is happily playing when we arrive. And, while I am working, I don't get the time to think about it too much, so that helps!

I am also going to teach a lot of knitting classes - most of which I haven't taught before and that means a lot of preparation. I'm not saying I can't pull it off, but it is a bit scary. Then again, it's knitting, there's hardly anything else I'd rather talk about. So on to new adventures!

Last but not least, I have a design in the upcoming Twistcollective. Yes, I know it is early to talk about a new issue, but I am so excited about it! I mean, sitting here in this heat it is hard to imagine we will be wearing sweaters again soon.

Nooo, I'm not ready for my close up DAYCARE!!

Ricotta, Lemon and a scoop

Ever since I tried these some weeks ago, I wanted to make them myself. But it was too hot to even think about turning on the oven. Not so today. I finally got to make the Lemon Ricotta Cookies and I think they turned out quite well.


Here they are right out of the oven:


Apparently some people had a problem with the dough spreading too much, as you can see, I did not. They are quite big, because I used an ice cream scoop for portioning. Instead of 44 I got 25 cookies.

The finished product with the awesome and very easy to make lemon glaze:


I love that these cookies are very cake-like, they are not crunchy but soft and really melt in your mouth.

Cooking

Lately I don't really feel like cooking. One gets stuck in a rut - it feels like the same over and over again.

I looked through some cook books, and clicked around on the internet. Found this (don't remember how). That sounds easy enough, eh?


I might have overcooked it a smidgen. It doesn't look exactly the same as on the other blog. (I hate when that happens. It makes me feel I did something wrong. No, I don't mean the cheese. I know that's grated finer.)


It was good, though, and I might make it again.

More love

I don't do this very often, actually it's very rare that I do this, but today I have to.

Because we had an earthquake yesterday and Germany advanced to the next round in the Soccer World Cup, it's St Jean Baptiste and because, well, my ego is pleased:

Turns out I love them even more when you follow the pattern. (Who knew?)

Anyways. I just thought you should know and if you want to knit the Embossed Leaves Socks, too - the pattern is available in my sidebar or in my Ravelry shop.

Back to old crap*

*crap: lovingly used for old WIPs

So, last year in October I decided to cast on for the Featherweight Cardigan (rav link) because it would be so nifty to have a light weight cardi when it was getting colder and it would be the perfect layering piece and...well. Not so much. The cardi was begun in some vintage 2ply yarn, that said 'fingering' on the label, but is definitely lace weight at nowadays standards. I had no idea how much yardage there was, but since it was about 280 grams, I guessed I was safe. (I am, BTW.) Winding it into balls from the skeins it came in was a bitch. The single strands clung to each other as if there was no tomorrow and more than once I had to cut and begin anew. Thanks to a patient husband we made it through all of that was there and I was left with about 260 grams.

As always, the first bout of knitting on a new piece went swimmingly. I don't really know what made me stop, I just did once I reached the underarms and had knit the body more than halfway through. Wait a minute, now writing this I remember: I couldn't decide what kind of rib I wanted to use. Definitely not the 1x1, I don't like that much. 2x2, or any other? See, I couldn't decide. So the "Grünes Fliegengewicht" (rav link) lingered.

Two nights ago I was so pissed off with the design I'm working on that I decided to take a break from it. It's not that the design is bad, I just have to figure out some numbers and need to think about that for a while. So back to the green flyweight I went.

The body is done and one of the sleeves almost. I did a broken garter 2x2 rib, to make it lie almost flat and not pull in as 2x2 rib. The photo was taken before I got to the sleeve, but you get the picture.



Expect a FO soon. Maybe.

Currently 26 degrees C, feels like 32

If you know me a little, then you'll know this is almost too hot for me. Though the sun is really nice. Just a bit too hot.

I'm in a pickle. I promised not to haggle my wares here, but all I do at the moment is working on the "Lili & Leo" designs.

So, happy Victoria Day everyone!

This might be too much.

I finished a pair of knee highs for Egg on Sunday. I always try create outfits to show them off, since I think her chubby legs look übercute in them.

Newsboy cap, Allison cardi and Kickers. Darn, I don't have knickerbockers. Well, let's roll up the legs of her jeans, they are a smidgen too short anyways.

She was quite disobliging when I wanted to take pictures. But maybe you get the picture. (And, I do realize that you can't see the knee highs, but I do know they're there!)



Is this too much?

(I'm acutely aware of the fact that I won't ever win a photographer's contest. I suck.)

Long week

I'm sure this week only has 7 days as any other week - but due to some strange time warp thingies (or, maybe, my imagination) it felt and feels a lot longer.

Egg has seemingly a health problem, her temperature was elevated for the last couple of days but she didn't seem to mind at all. No other symptons, just a higher temperature than is normal. Which makes me wonder what's going on, but according to the internet doctors her temperature is well in the limit of 'oh, that's nothing'. As her mother I don't exactly feel that way, but try to stay calm and get her through it.

Now it's Friday evening, I have ordered pizza and am thankful that I don't have to cook dinner.

I do hope that the two remaining days of the week feel exactly as long as the others did - but in a good way. (However, that maybe asked too much.)

But wait, there's more!

The "Lili & Leo" blog with information about the designs for the first booklet can be found here!

A touch of class

Wouldn't you believe it, I'm going to teach a class! About Finishing!

See here. Am I excited? You betcha!

If there's anything you wanted to know about how to professionally finish your project, then you are at the correct address. I'll try my very best and teach it to you. Hurry though, since there are only 6 spaces available...

(I might be convinced to do it again. If there's cake. Just kidding. About the cake, of course.)

A little admin

I had to switch my prices from USD to CAD - has to do with Paypal and bank issues...

Well, just to let you know.

The first Kill of the season

Rather, the first Kill ever!

Before my zealous attempt to get all the laundry done in one day (ha, who was I kidding?)



After (be assured, it won't fit her anymore)


Never ever in my long knitting life have I felted a knit in the washing machine accidentally! On purpose, yes, but never did I miss a sneaky knit amidst all the other laundry and effed it up. There goes a hat...(and it just was perfect with all the coats Egg owns *sigh*).

Oh, and I don't know how I ever thought there's nothing to blog about - I manage to procure enough material, interesting or not.

One Step forward, two back - but this is finished

I think I have come to the conclusion that trying to finish everything before starting a new project is just not the way it works for me. When one project is almost done, I usually feel the urge to start another, or twonother, for that matter. The almost done project gets either done quickly or, sadly, lingers for a long while before it is completely done.

I get excited about new ideas and want to start them right away - which in return keeps me from finishing 'other crap', as I like to call it myself. (Not in a derogatory way, just because I don't feel like dealing with it.) Also, Egg often needs a certain item right away - or so I tell myself - and she has been a priority in my life ever since she has been born, hence the bestest excuse ever to start more crap.

Having said that, Egg didn't really need this hat, but I wanted to make it anyways. An adventure from beginning to end, and I'm not sure how it ended. You tell me!




ETA: I used Reynolds "Cool Cotton" (90% Cotton, 10% Steel - yes, really!) and the hat weighs 76 grams.

Knitting!!

That's how I found Egg after coming back to the living room, I'd left my knitting on the couch. (Oh, and please excuse the MESS.)

Outside!

The weather has been fabulous for Montreal in April. Whenever there is sun I get the request "outside!" and thankfully we have the outside right off our kitchen. (No sandbox yet, though. They were labeled as 'in stock' online and when we went to the shop to pick one up, they were of course not.)

This is how 'outside' might look:

Grapes taste soo much better in fresh air!

Even though it doesn't look like it, I have been working/designing. There is one piece in particular I am sort of proud of, but of course I can't show you a picture just yet. Here's a peek:


I have lots of plans - publishing some kids patterns, for example. One is being test knit as you read this, repeatedly, which means it will be hopefully ready soon.

In the meantime I have finished some knitting for myself and Egg: Hex is done, and so is a skirt and knee highs for Egg, amongst other things. I should get back to write more about what I am knitting, that might encourage finishing faster. BTW, I need to take photos of the finished Hex, once I've done that you'll get to see it, of course!

This is the Twirly skirt (ravelry link)



and these are the new knee highs:

For now Egg is still excited when I finish something for her, and accordingly very willing to try/put it on. The perfect knitter's child!

Embossed Leaves Redux

I have had a couple of inquiries why the pattern of the Embossed Leaves socks is not available online. That would be because I had not made it available - until now!

If you feel so inclined you can buy the pattern via the ravelry link on the sidebar (even when you're not a member) and get knittin'. For 5 USD CAD you receive a brand new version of the pattern with a couple of updates.




I added links to the tutorial of the tubular cast-on on my blog (since I did not use the twisted cast-on described in the other versions of the pattern) as well as a link to the sizing information.

Cutting the yarn after knitting the heel has been questioned numerous times, I eliminated that also.

Yes, I will be back to blogging without peddling my wares, I promise!

I can't even think of anything appropriate

I fell off the earth, again. I will know forever when I was very busy working (knitting, writing patterns) because that's when there are NO BLOG posts whatsoever.

Now that that is done and over with, I suddenly have the urge to blog again. It does take time and when that is sparse, one (or rather, I) just can't afford spending it on frivolities. Ha, as if.

I have started to tweet, though. Random things thrown at my readers (yes, there are a few, I myself am surprised) at least give the impression I'm still there and it's much faster. And most probably not really informative but maybe entertaining. Or the other way 'round, who knows.

I'll be back, I promise.

Done

Just to let you know: the beret is fixed and done and I wore it today. Love it.

One of these days

That would be today. Nothing goes right, child is cranky, makes me cranky.

Knitting a simple beret. Had to rip twice already. It's done now. Or so I think. It's too big. Rrrrrip.

Not to mention the countless scream fests we had today, and I had no clue why or what to do about it. Somehow the day went by only to end with another bang.

Child usually goes to bed without any drama. Not so tonight. Am close to nervous breakdown, but manage to stay calm. Child still doesn't sleep. Her dad is on sleep duty now while I hide in the office.

Please keep your fingers crossed that tomorrow will be better! Thanks, that would be all.

Yarny Yumminess

This arrived today. I want to start knitting right away. The Great American Yarns Merino is so soft and wonderful to knit with. Also, this is going to be not one but two samples for one of my new patterns soon to come!

Hex

Last year in June I got me some Kauni Lace yarn in the coveted colourway EQ from Tausendschoen. Once I received it I marveled at the size of the skein (280 g of lace yarn) and stashed it away. I had no idea what to do with it.




Then came Hex. For the last year or so I haven't been spending a lot of attention to knitty but some day I scanned the patterns of the Fall 2009 issue.

And there it was. The project ideal for my Kauni Lace in the coveted colourway EQ. Hex.

I felt attracted to the Stockinette heavy lace with the hexagon pattern - though I knew the size and form of the shawl wouldn't work for me. Not a problem, I have lots of yarn and can make it longer. So I wound my yarn into the biggest cake of lace yarn I have ever seen.




I started with a small swatch for the foam pattern, and didn't like how it came out. (Hm, even to me it seems now I'm a bit hard to please...) The Kauni is way different from the soft Malabrigo Lace and the drop stitches just didn't seem right. No foam then, I decided. I cast on and added one repeat, to make my shawl as big as I dared. I think my Hex sans Foam (Ravelry link) is going to be about 75" long and I haven't even figured out how wide it is. Huge, that's for sure.

I was worried that the pattern would become tedious over time, but the colour changes in the yarn kept it from getting there. I am still enchanted by the gradual changes from one colour to the next, and knowing the pattern by heart helps to enjoy the knitting process as I go.



The Kauni lace works up beautifully, and I do love the crunchiness (is that a word?) of the yarn. I'm sure it'll soften up some and so I'm not worried about any itch factor. My yarn cake has shrunk considerably over the last two months, and I'll just go on until there's nothing left.

By now I have only 67 grams to go, there will be seven colour repeats once I'm done.

Music on a Friday

Today Egg and I are off to a friend's house where we are going to meet lots of other babies and will play music and sing. Egg loves it, and I enjoy it as well.

Having said that, when no babies are around, playing Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" does the trick also. I wonder what Lady Gaga would have to say about that.

Hanging over my head

Old. All of a sudden this word threatens my existence as I know it. Well, not really suddenly, it's been creeping up for some time now. There have been some days in the last 2 years when I felt old. I have had back pain ever since Egg was born, but mostly right after I got up and when I was sitting for too long (more than half an hour that is) and then it went away.

A couple of weeks before Christmas I woke up to excruciating back pain. So bad that I wasn't able to pick up my toddler and even getting dressed was a painful ordeal. A trip to the emergency room revealed a kidney infection and, wait, a bit of Osteo-Arthritis in my back. Even now I wonder, is that like "a little bit" pregnant? (Which, to quash all expectations, I am not.) The kidney infection was dealt with, Antibiotics do the trick. But the other pain, the daily one that won't go away, is the reminder of said word at the beginning of my post. Thankfully the days when my husband had to lift me out of bed are over, but some days just sitting on the couch with a hot water bottle pressed against my back is the only thing that makes it bearable.

Having said all this, I totally know it could be worse. It could be my hands.



P.S. After trying three times to get her to nap, Egg slept for almost 45 minutes yesterday.

Monday

Random.

- Left over pizza for (second) breakfast for a toddler? (Hey, she insisted. At least it's home made.)
- Is she going to nap for more than 20 minutes today that I am alone with her? (She did so over the weekend, just to prove my complaints to my husband wrong.)
- Egg started saying her name on Saturday. It sounds a little bit as if her nose is stuffed up, but it's definitely recognizable.
- Big plans are in the make. Slowly. It involves Knitting and writing patterns.

I leave you with this:

Sleep or no sleep - Haiti doesn't care

In light of what has happened in Haiti I really shouldn't whine about disturbed night sleep and about a toddler not wanting to nap and being whiny all day long - but that's what's happening in my life, so it's important to me.

It was also important to me to make a donation for the relief effort in Haiti. Though it feels like darn little one can do to help out. Still, it's better than doing nothing. Right? Right!

First FO of 2010 - and lots of irritation

Gaaah. I'm having a bad day because Egg is having a bad day. She just does not want to nap. And I can tell she's tired, very tired. She's cranky, needy, pick-me-uppy, whiny...It's just - I have no words.

She's also wearing my first FO of 2010 - a dress made from Noro Iro which was a Christmas present.


I don't know how, but she must be aware that I am irritated beyond anything, because after our second try to get her to nap, she came to me and smiled, said 'hello' and tried to give me kisses, all the while not wanting to nap...Gaaah.

ETA at 3.35 p.m.: I might have overreacted. A little bit.

2009 Statistics

Blog statistics

6 unmoderated comments, discovered today. Yes, dear readers, I'm terribly sorry I didn't check better if someone had left one. Please excuse my sloppiness, I do very much appreciate comments, always! I got some unwanted crap, so I decided to moderate and look what happens...

To answer the questions:

@quinn: yes, it's her first - but most probably not her last.
@KnitandPurlMama: I picked the name Erna, 'cause that's what I secretly called Egg when I was pregnant before I knew she was a girl. Now we have another Erna around.
@lori: Erna didn't come with the sweater, I made it. And Egg was very excited about that. Just as excited as when I made the hat. She does appreciate hand knits.


Knitting statistics

Now to the other statistics, the knitting. Ravelry makes me look prolific, as my friend Melanie assures me. But then she clearly didn't have a closer look at how many childrens' hats I made to pump up the volume...no, not really, that just happened. I do admit though that there were a lot of smaller things I made in 2009, but also a baby blanket, two shawls and some scarves.

Projects begun before but finished in 2009:
- one baby raglan
- a pair of socks
- fingerless mitts for Rolf

That's 3 projects I won't include in the final tally.

Projects begun and finished in 2009:
- 8 baby/toddler tees, vests or shrugs
- 15 baby/toddler/kids sweaters or cardigans
- 11 scarves, cowls etc. (some lace)
- 2 lace shawls
- 7 pairs of baby/kids shoes or socks
- 1 pair of socks (OMG, just one pair?)
- 1 baby blanket
- 12 kids hats
- 2 hats
- 1 doll hat
- 1 doll sweater
- 1 kids tie
- 1 kids scarf
- 1 kids skirt

That's 64 projects, 1.23 projects a week. I was a bit stumped by the amount, I don't think I ever knit that much in one year.
Now I'm under pressure to make at least one more this year (which is, I can safely assume, not going to happen).

Happy 2010!

Egg and I wish you all a Happy New Year, may it be a good one for all of us!




(That's Egg last night having indulged in Orange Crush. She enjoyed it.)