Sugar Bunny Boulevard

Finally!

A millon things!  I have at least one million things to tell and my crazy keyboard keys are sticking so badly I can hardly type at all.  If you see freaky little typos please don't send me hate mail.  I'm not a bad speller.

SO.... it's horrible but I've been avoiding blogging because I wasn't feeling so great about how my WLC was going.  But this morning started great when I looked down and saw 210 staring me in the face.  I lost 10 pounds in January!  Awesome way to start the year.  By summer you won't even recognize me!  :)

I've started my first EPS sweater.  EPS is also known as the Elizabeth Zimmerman Percentage System.  I spent quite some time over the past few months thinking HARD and searching far and wide for "just the right pattern" to teach a sweater class.  Nobody will learn to seam up a sweater attending an EPS workshop but they will learn a lot of sweater construction info and several finishing techniques that don't involve mattress stitch.

A few weeks ago I did get yarn and buttons to make myself an EPS cardigan but decided to do a "practice" sweater first in Emeline's size (so Lila Pearl could grow into it, obviously).  Using the big box o' Cascade 220 that MargaretD from Canada gave me, I did just that.  And EZ is correct - even if you're using up stash nobody would guess it if you insert some color work.

I started this small sweater (co 135 stitches for body) and decided to stretch the main color as much as possible.  The hems are all contrasting with a heathered tangerine color.

It's amazing that I still have a hair on my head after trying and tryin to sew down the hem the first time.  I really like doing a provisional caston because it works better for me - don't ask me why because I don't know.  I just like the way the live stitches present themselves a little better than some other ways I tried.  Finally I did find a few very helpful photos and description of this method on the Schoolhouse Press web site where Meg Swanson (Elizabeth Zimmerman's daughter) did a Christmas Stocking knitalong.  Toward the end she tells/shows how she seamed down the cuff/hem and included a tip of knitting the last row on a contrasting hem in the object's main color, then obviously stitching it down with yarn matching the main color.  Oh what a difference that made for me.  And here I am wanting to lead an EPS Workshop?  I hope my students don't read my blog and then think I'm a big phony and don't know what I'm doing.

Reaching the body/sleeve join was an exciting moment but I had been a little concerned about my main color lasting through the whole project.  How to stretch that color without a startling contrast to the very strong color section at the bottom??  I settled on a very simple color section with low contrast colors.  It's supposed to be something like a trellis look to compliment the flowered section at the bottom.  Hopefully it doesn't result in a busy overall look.  The idea is to make it appear that I planned all of this ya know.  ha

I still need to finish all of the hems and graft the underarms, then sew in loose ends in various locations.

OH MY G O D.  As I'm sitting here working on this post Lila Pearl just went over and took my embroidery scissors and CUT A HOLE in the front center main color section.  Of. This. Sweater.

Post Over.  Gotta go destress just a little.

Saturday Sky

Good morning!  You might think this should be Saturday Surprise because I'm actually posting a Saturday Sky photo at the proper time.  heh

If you were a morning glory vine on my fence today this is how things would look to you.

If you were my fair isle sock this is how you would look today.

I'm really not thrilled with this sock mostly because I should have used a smaller size needle for the ribbing and heel.  Oh well.  I'm NOT ripping this out.  And if I make one sock, I might as well make the other.  The only problem is that I'm still waiting on 7 colors of Palette yarn so I have to think long and hard about what colors to use next so they're not too boring.  Also I made up the little section where there's the lavender/purple lattice on the pink/red background because I ran out of patterns and didn't want to do a checkered pattern again until it was time to do the heel.  I made the heel decreases one row too long so it makes a weird little extra bit when I tried it on.  OH MY GOSH you can't believe how hard it is to put this on because there are at least 2.5 million ENDS hanging inside the sock.  Don't make a pair of fair isle socks with lots of color changes unless you're really into making yourself crazy.

My back is still slowly improving.  Here's hoping it gets all the way better and I don't have to go back to the doctor.  I'm trying to cut back on the drugs but.... I am probably not through with them.  Oh the drugs make me so crazy - I'm such a lightweight when it comes to this stuff.  My body just isn't used to it.  If I'm sitting quietly at home in my chair or laying on the couch I'm just fine.  But take me to McDonald's or the park and I become a crazy woman.  Can't walk.  Say things that embarrass my husband.  Oh my.  It's not good.  heh

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!!

OH!  By the way - the darling crown worn by Emeline in yesterday's photos was a gift to her from Kelly at Celtic Caston.  She got the supplies to make it from Michael's.  The crown is a precut foam sheet that has a little reinforcement at the ends where you poke a plastic coil through little holes as a stretchy strap across the back.  She glued on jewels and foam letters and included a piece of veil netting that is loosely tied to the back.  It's just adorable and Emeline has fun wearing it.  I've seen the precut crowns and plastic coils at our Michael's so I know you can get them in the US even though she's way up in the farthest eastern part of Canada that I could ever imagine.

Eye Candy Friday

• We're all fine - kids are fine - a little disappointed about the hearing being delayed for two weeks but overall, just fine.  For now.
• I'm in pain - somehow hurt my back and ended up at the doctor's office on Wednesday morning.
• Now I'm on drugs.  Darvocet + muscle relaxer = helps a little but not 100% but I think my back is s l o w l y getting better.
• I can still knit while on drugs.  But that doesn't mean that I should.  I made a mistake on the sequence of one row on the sock above and it's glaringly obvious.  Oh well.  They're for me.  And the mistake will be well hidden under my pant leg.
• Emeline knows the difference between a car, truck, and van.
• Emeline is recognizing the color pink and identifying it by name.
• Emeline is recognizing the letters M and O and the number 5 and calling them by name and names "mommy and mouse" for M and "owl" for O.
• Emeline is learning that "mouse" and "moose" are two different things.
• Even though it seems like it's all about Emeline, Lila Pearl refuses to be ignored.  :)

Everybody have a wonderful weekend - I have to get out of this computer chair and hobble back to my cozy knitting chair with the heating pad.

We Have Winners!

Yay!  Contests are so fun and there are so many wonderfully fun and nice people in the knitting blog community - you all made me feel like I was receiving a comment party.  heh

First things first:  The winner of the 1000th Comment Push is Kelly of Celtic Cast On!  If it weren't for Margene's craziness, however, I'm not sure if we'd be there yet (she left a total of 22 comments between my last two posts!).  So they'll both be getting a little something in the mail.  Like Susie said, Margene deserves a prize for persistence!  But according to Margene her persistence isn't for prizes, it's just because she likes me - awwww.  Thank You to all of my fun friends that participated in the comment push.

Next there's the contest within a contest - the "Guess what sock I'm knitting" contest!  Marina got it right out of the chutes but the contest was open to ANYONE guessing, including anyone who jumped on the "It's the Canada sock!" train without really knowing.  Copying isn't cheating in this contest and was encouraged.  heh  So this is how the drawing went...

Mommy:  Hey Emeline, we're going to do another drawing for a contest prize this morning!

Emeline:  Hmm.  Can I help squish up the papers with you mama?  Is it okay if I do it while I'm watching Mary Poppins?

Emeline:  I've changed my mind - I don't want to help any more.  I want to read books.  ::starts hauling book bag over to the middle of the carpet and grunting and straining under its weight::

Mommy:  Okay, yes, you can read books but can you just please pull one name out of this bowl so we can have a contest winner?  No, not all of them... just one... just one honey.  No, can you take a break from the book for just a second and help Mommy?  UGH.... NO Emeline, don't do that... just please draw one name and put the bowl down..... please? (all the while Mommy is trying to orchestrate this deal with her face behind a camera)

Emeline:  Mama, I really don't know what the big deal is about.  What do you want me to do with the paper once I pull it out?  Show it to you?  I don't have any idea what you're talking about.  Hmm..... this trick worked last time....

Mommy:  GAH!  Don't do THAT again!  Let me see that thing.....

The winner is Patty, who appears to be blogless!  Patty, if you have a blog please let me know so I can link you.  Otherwise, you've been contacted by email and will be receiving a little present in the mail if you'll send me your mailing address.  :)

So for the sock.  Yes, it was the Canada sock from Nancy Bush's very popular Knitting on the Road pattern book.  Back at the beginning of Sockapaloooza I saw a Canada sock that someone had started but I didn't go back to see the final results or whether she sent them to her pal.  The ones I found in my searching last week were by Rachel of Have You Any Wool - these are the same ones I saw at the start of S'poooza!  I just realized I left her a comment complimenting the pretty colors on March 1st (she's changed her blog wallpaper now so I didn't recognize that it was the same blog)!  In my comments a few people also reported seeing the Canada socks knit by Beth of Hermione.  Both Rachel and Beth used a different main color for their Canada socks than shown in the pattern example.  Even though I liked the colors I used for my swatch, the stranded section was too tight to fit over my heel.  SOOOO.... I frogged it. 

But don't despair... I restarted it using a bigger needle for the stranded sections and here are the results.  I also decided to change my main color and I'm completely in love with it.  The main color I'm using now is simply undyed yarn.  The Red Rover and Pecan colors show up so nicely on it, I'm very pleased.  These will be either a Christmas or Birthday gift for my daughter Katie (yes, she has big feet like I do so I knew the green one would be too snug for her heel too).

I hit another level of Knitting Maturity last night.  I realized that I had switched around a few of the purl stitches on the "clock" pattern section so I let the stitch go, laddered it down about 12 rows to where the mistake was and re-knit the stitch back up putting the knits and purls right where they belonged.  Not once, but twice - and it worked out perfectly for both stitches!!  You can't even tell where it was.  I'm so proud.  Doing one of those new Knitting Maturity challenges always makes me stop breathing for a while.... but when you realize that the world isn't going to stop turning just because you are dropping a stitch, breathing becomes natural again.  heh  In the old days I definitely would have frogged the entire project if the mistake was bad enough.  Or just let it go.  I seriously considered leaving it the way it was, but I thought.... No - this is a gift for Katie - it needs to be as perfect as possible.  I have heard people say you can do this kind of repair - I've read the process described more than once.  If everyone else can do it, I can.  And I did.  And I'm glad.  Phew.  I wonder how many more stages there are in the Knitting Maturity Self-Challenge? 

The Latvian Twist caston has been done correctly this time around as well.  It does look better twisted the right way.

We survived the weekend without incident - no injuries - no accidents - and none that we know of regarding our family or friends.  Jeff worked at the office on Saturday and Sunday, but Monday stayed home.  We cut a low branch hanging over the driveway.  We went to the nursery to buy a few plants and seeds.  Jeff mowed the grass - the back yard now resembles a yard rather than a field.  I worked in my little garden spot.  I've always dreamed of having a free form style garden area with flowers and vegetables and herbs mixed in together - but I've never had the time/money/energy/place for it.  I have a spot like that now that I'm developing - picture another day.  Yesterday I planted the garlic I showed on my last post, one eggplant, two cherry tomatoes, cosmos, foxglove, more sunflowers, leaf lettuce (yes, I know it's probably too late for it to do well) and yellow straight neck squash.  I think that's all.  I haven't moved my rosemary or oregano into the garden yet - waiting for them to get just a little bigger.

Then yesterday afternoon we took the girls over to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house for burgers and chatting with grownups and playing among little cousins.  Their kids adore the babies and Emeline had fun seeing someone else's toys and other children.  Lila is just plain fun and easy going - she's very roly poly now and coos and smiles all the time.

Everybody have a great week - I'm deciding how to divide up the leftover yarn I have from this sock pattern to offer as kits.  If anyone is interested please let me know in comments or an email (does not commit you to purchase).  I won't be putting them in my etsy shop - there will only be a limited number available on my blog.  Main color options will be Dill Weed, Red Rover, or natural undyed.  Give me an idea what combination you might like.

What?  Why aren't you letting ME help squish the papers and pick a contest winner Mommy?