Baby Hoodie Model

If the baby's ears are no bigger than my model's, it ought to fit. Lol.

This is out of Cotton Tots, which I'm not wild about knitting with - I have trouble getting nice even straight stitches - but it's pretty sweet!

Baby Hoodie

This is a twist on this pattern: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/khs-hoodedSweater.html
The pattern only goes down to a size 2, so I used smaller needles, yarn, less stitches, and added some pattern to it. I'd be finished today if work didn't get in the way!

I told you you'd be SICK of BB by the end

But this time you get to see its happy recipient too.

Black Beauty is officially DONE!

The model will be here later. The picture doesn't do the buttons justice. I decided making them would make me CRAZY, so I bought some.

BB's getting a Bottom!!

I know I'm the only person out there that is so enthralled with this thing, but I couldn't resist posting an update. This has been the most fun I've had knitting. I've got about 8 rows to go, and I'm in no hurry. I'm going to try to make the Chinese knots for buttons out of icord. If that doesn't work, then I'll look for buttons that look like black pearls.

Today's Shopping Show and Tell and Holey Heels

No knitting to post, so I thought I'd share my shopping excursion.
This kitchen rug is happy. I had to have it. And even though I'm sure Miss Kelli would like to claim it, it's mine. (Did you see that on the right - cafe macchiato. I've never even had one, but I love to say it.)

Bromeliads are a real bargain. You get fresh flowers that last about a year and if you amortize the cost over that period, it's almost like next to free. Did you know that they only have one bloom in their life?? After that they're done, except for baby plants they sprout. Then you can separate them and have a new plant. Problem is once the bloom's gone (which lasts FOREVER almost), I want to replace it. Then where do I keep the old one until it's babies hatch? I don't like clutter.

And last but not least, I found a handsome new home for my ming aralia. The poor plant's growth was stunted in it's dinky old pot. I love this tree.

The only knitting related comment I want to make is to tell you that after I got home, of course I kicked my shoes off. Then as I was walking back into the garage to grab some stuff from the car, I felt something cold and slick on my heel. My heart stopped as I jerked my foot up to look at it, and sure enough it was true - one humongous hole in the heel of my HANDKNIT SOCK! This does not amuse me. Yes, I know I can fix it, but they just aren't that old! I bet I've only worn them 15 times if that. Grrrrrrrrr

BB's got Buttonholes!

Good Lord! Look at all those buttonholes and I'm not even done! For some reason I'm unknitting with less aggravation than ever before to fix all the stupid mistakes I find. I think it's because I'm in love. It's just so dang beautiful. And I really bad-mouthed this Tree Frog yarn before and I'm feeling kind of sorry about that. It's really not bad yarn. It's feeling pretty good, and it'll be perfect for a sleeveless top - not too heavy.

One thing I have decided - no more knitting the new skein in with the old to join. It shows on this a wee little. That mistake I left. So it's back to weaving. And another thing - do you count EIGHT stitch markers on there? Oh, man, I've got to think. I better stop for today.

(By the way, notice those BEAUTIFUL four stitch markers in the middle? Miss Holly is in the business, you know.)

I've ripped the needle out of this more times than I care to admit to rip back five, ten, fifteen rows. Perhaps it's the power of suggestion. There's a whole honking huge KAL on this, and all people do is talk about froggin.

P.S. Yes, that's a Fiber Trends Clog on that foot. I've gotten kind of used to them.

Snow!

(This is NOT a Where's Waldo - look again! It really is up there!)
This picture doesn't do justice to all the snow up there, but I didn't have my camera when I went to Mom's. The view was breathtaking from her place! The bank on Carnelian told me it was 48 degrees at noon! I wish we had more of this weather -- The beauty of snow with none of the headache, and chilly enough to wear sweaters, scarves.

Knitting my way to Los Angeles Union Station

Fridays are good days to take off, but there's something about mass-transiting (Metrolink) into downtown L.A. that makes it an almost acceptable Friday frolic. It enables me to pursue two of my favorite sports, people watching and eavesdropping, while purportedly engaging in reading, knitting, even working on my laptop en route to my job. That definitely beats the Friday freeway fracas and humors my love of travel as I definitely feel like I'm in another land.

But this past trip, I met a fellow fiber fondler knitting away on a shawl with some kind of organic yarn. I told her about Knitting Help and Knitting Pattern Central, and she told me about two yarn shops in Southern California that I had no knowledge of, one in Temecula (Temecula Valley Yarn Company http://www.temecula-yarn.com) and the other in Corona (Knit Affair), the latter being her favorite. A quick search on the internet revealed another knitter (www.knitandspinwithsusan.typepad.com) who definitely agrees with her saying, "This (Knit Affair) is hands down the best LYS I've been in ever. Serious. They have an amazing selection of yarn, all the ones you just want, and a few you didn't know you did."
I can't wait to check them both out. But before that I must complete Black Beauty.

Black Beauty and the Circle of Dots

The bust decreases are done and am on to waist decreases. It's moving along pretty painlessly.

Now, on the life issue - Bob and I were discussing the day's challenges, and he said, "You know, I used to always say, 'If I can just get....things will be good,' or 'If I can just do....things will be good.'" And I said, "But now you know it's just until the next pile of @#$% comes along?" He said, "Yeah. It took me 62 years to figure that out." So in the spirit of "don't sweat the small stuff" and "enjoy the moment," I sat back and sipped a glass of Cabernet and played with Black Beauty a bit. Somebody once told me to think of life as a large circle made up of teeny tiny little dots and whatever challenge you're facing, remember, it's just a little bitsy blip in the circle of life and soon it'll be nothing but a memory.

There're good days, and then...

well, there're other days. But let's talk about Friday. It was a good day. First I got to go lunch and then shopping with Kelli. I've included a picture of the goods we captured. Then we got home and Bob says, "You have a package from Pennsylvania." WOW. I made a beeline. I was totally amazed, excited! And I've attached a photo of the knitting books/pamphlets MrsBear87, aka Abi, aka Miss Holly sent me! Woohoo! The page that it's opened to will be the first thing I make out of this book. It looks like some challenging color work and the sweater will look great with jeans!

But wait! It isn't over yet. Then Kelli's cell phone rings and it's MAC! She had a second interview for a permanent position at the Pasadena store, and she didn't think it went too well. SHE GOT IT! There were a few more good moments to follow, but I won't bore you with the rest of my fairy tale day.

Black Beauty Update

Warning to any blog visitors: You will be sick to death of this project by the time I finish it!

I should be embarassed by how long it took me to figure out how I could photograph an update, but I'm not. This is Frog Tree 85% pima cotton, 15 % silk. It's not exceptionally nice, but affordable. It splits very easily, so I have to watch closely. My mathematic skills are constantly being challenged during this project, and I will say my ability to count is improving. And I'm also getting quite good at unknitting.

Knitting Help Web Ring

Well, I joined Fridaknits' web ring. I'm not quite sure of what it all is or means, but I joined! And a fellow KHer left me a message!! Thank you, Earthchick!

Work's getting in the way of knitting for a while, and all I want to do is this corset. I'm through the lace edging around the top and just beginning the ribbing portion. I'm wishing I had some black pearly beads to incorporate in it and knew how to do it! I haven't seen any finished ones in black. Now, I understand black doesn't show off patterns to their fullest advantage, but I don't care. It's going to be gorgeous! And if it doesn't fit Kelli for some reason, it'll be artwork on my wall!

Black Beauty Beginning

Just imagine casting on some challenging item, knitting away not quite understanding it all, and it works out just perfectly. Now wake up. That isn't life. I'll begin again tomorrow! But it's going to be gorgeous. I just know it.

And here are a couple of scarves I've finished. Ran out of pink 1.5 repeats from the end of that rosey pink stuff. Bought another skein. So now I've got to do SOMETHING ELSE in it!

Lace Scarf

Not much knitting going on here lately, but I did press out what I have done on this scarf to show the pattern that I'm using up the rest of that rose/pink yarn on. I really like it, though I'm a little tired of this yarn! I want to start a real project, i.e., a sweater!