corn-thrift

It's the first day of Fall! My very favorite time of the year. The leaves have already been changing here for a few weeks, which always suprises me. (How does that happen when it's still summer?!)

When I was little, our church had a huge picnic every year and there would always be sweet corn being shucked and boiled in huge batches. My friend Sarah K and I would start making corn husk dolls for ourselves (inspired by the directions in the American Girl's Guide To.... I forget the rest of the title), and then other kids would come over asking if we could make them one too...sooner or later, we'd have made a whole army of corn husk dolls, and would finally have a few to keep for ourselves. I kept a tiny little family I'd made one picnic for about 5 years. When we moved from NJ to NY I found them still intact!

Yesterday I passed on this Great Knowledge to some of my little siblings:

This season has been consistantly good as far as corn goes. There's a farm stand near my parent's hous that we've been buying as much as 4 dozen ears a week from! Fantastic, sweet butter and sugar corn. Ah! I'm probably getting a few dozen tomorrow.

My little siblings (and Mr A) and I made about ten dolls, including this mommy with a baby in a sling:

This morning I cast on for Orangina by Stephanie Japel of Glampyre fame. I'm using a calm raspberry color of Rowan 4 ply cotton (shockingly enough, what the pattern calls for!):

This will be my first pattern in lace.*

Yesterday Sarah D (formerly Sarah S) and I went thrift and yarn shopping at The Salvation Army and Spin A Yarn, respectively. After reading Stitch N Bitch Nation, we've been wondering about thrifting a sweater for yarn. She got me this pure wool sweater to play with. The sweater isn't all that amazing looking, so here's a close-up of the flecked purple goodness:

Can't wait to do something with it! Imagine, enough yarn for a sweater for $3.50.

Also, I must admit that I'm an enabler. Sarah D normally has incredibly good control when shopping. Sarah D normally is a stablizing influence on my shopping habits. Sarah D has had a craving for Noro since shopping with me last time...I wasn't going to let Sarah D walk out of Spin A Yarn with anything less. She was a few dollars short for getting 2 balls of the chosen color, so I helped her out a little (that's what friends are for, and after all, she was only a few dollars short because of the thrifty sweater purchase). So, for the first time ever, Sarah walked out with what she'd been craving, at the moment she was craving it. Bought it full price. It made me feel good to see her get exactly what she wanted. Shopping!!!!!





*After two days of working on the lovely Orangina (or Raspberina, as I should call mine), I have only managed two repeats. Please don't ask me how many times I've had to cast on. Please don't ask if I'm just about to rip out those two repeats. The scene is too ugly for blogging. A moment of silence______________Raspberina will rise again! I shall cast on again tomorrow...

Lesson learned (AGAIN): When one is still a reletively new knitter, one must read directions carefully and not assume anything, unless one would like to spend the better part of two days frogging and casting on. Otherwise, carry on there, good fellow.

Pictures!

Today I'm at my in-laws, and as promised, here are the pics. (Because after all, you don't visit this blog for my jazzy little grumblings -- let's be honest here) =)
It is with great satisfaction that I can photograph my finished Newsies Hat. It's not a big project, but I learned cables on it, and figured out a few more things about short-row shaping (I think that's what the brim was). Knitting with Blue Sky Alpaca was wonderful. I highly recommend it; the knit fabric feels fat and soft in the hand.

This is what my first attempt at cables looked like. I was twisting the knit and purl stitches. Also, I had to rip out the brim three times. It pays to read directions carefully, especially when doing something for the first time.

Here I am modeling the finished hat. I am super proud of it as you can see.

This particular shot also happens to be a little plug for my friend Steve's band, Like Summer. Check them out here

Here is a closer shot of the hat:

Not sure if I did the cables properly, but they're consistent. Are they supposed to be twisted that tightly?

My siblings were making fun of this hat when I first tried it on, but now they have all been wearing it. Does it really look silly on me or should I wear it out? I think it's cute, personally, but now I feel self-conscious. Most likely, I should not obsess over such trivial matters.

Oh, and remember this stuff?

It really did all fit in here:

Amazing, isn't it? My husband, the master packer.

This is the Wonderful Wallaby (hooded sweater sweatshirt) that I'm making for Mr. A. As you can see in this photo, I'm starting to pick up the stitches in a contrasting color for the front pocket. We went to my grandma's 90th birthday party in NJ on Sunday (round trip of 6 hours), and it always amazes me how much I can get done in the car! Only the ribbing was done before the start of the trip.

In my monitor, the color is true to life. I wouldn't make something in this shade of blue for myself, but with the little guys blue eyes, blond hair and incredibly pale skin, this will look great on him.

Dialing...checking password...verifying member...connected...uploading settings...

Please put me in a padded room. Never mind the mutterings...it's just dial up insanity.

I literally feel like my head will explode. I've been attempting to upload pictures now for over an hour. Yes, shoot me now. Anyway, no pictures for today. So sorry. I will be at my in-laws tomorrow, and they have cable, so it will be no sweat. I had cable a week ago. But since we moved out of Watertown, I've been staying with my parents until Greg gets everything "squared away" down in GA. (Woah, please excuse the rhyming.) And my parents have dial up. Yes. Sucks.

We never recovered the phone, but we had insurance, so he got a new one for only (?!) $50. I won't bore you with my rants, but I must pose the question: what the hell is the use of a deductable to me? If I pay you for insurance, why can't you just buy me a new phone? Infuriating.

Comments are the lifeblood of any blog, and I thank those of you who have continued to check in and leave kind words about the phone. Also, to those of you who have emailed me, please excuse my terrible response time. I can't even access my hotmail/gmail until after midnight, which is kind of an exausting hour for me. I also feel bad that I haven't been keeping up on the blogs that I look forward to reading each (normal) day. It will be wonderful to have my own house, my own computer back to me again. But all is not lost. I get precious time with my family these days, and I will not be seeing them until Christmas once I leave. So I can dwell on those thoughts.

While I haven't been blogging (due to the move and the s-l-o-w moving internet), I have been knitting. I finished the Newsies hat, and started a sweater for my little Mr. A. I did take pictures. You cannot see them. I must end this post now before I jump through the window, but please check back tomorrow. I shall surely blog again.

Have you seen this phone?

Today someone stole my husband's phone. It looks just like mine, except it has a black leather cover on it. This is mine:




It's an LG 4400, and most of the numbers in there aren't backed up anywhere. I know, bad idea, but it's true. He's getting a new phone now because that one was insured, but we're definitely getting my phone and his new one backed up now. Anyway, the main thing is that we need it back. If you live in Watertown, please post a message here to let me know if you've seen it. If you live anywhere else, please, please: back up your phone.

A girl stopped by our house right after the movers left at noon and asked to use our phone. She was pretty shaken up and said that her brother had just punched her in the mouth. We let her use our house phone. She sat on the couch while making the call, next to my husband's cell phone.

About a half-hour after she left, we looked for the phone and it was gone. Since there's pretty much nothing left in our house, it didn't take long to look through our suitcases and realize that it was definitely gone.

We called Verizon to see what the time was of the last call from that phone was and it was 3:11pm, definitely after we found the phone missing. So we have verified that it was stolen and has been used, and the only person in the house since the movers was this girl (the phone was still on the couch after the movers left). Following is a description of the girl -- things we observed and things she told us about herself (so some of that -- like her name -- could be suspect)

Here's a description of the girl who (we assume) took it:
Appearance:

• Age:20
• Height: 5'4"
• Hair color: Medium to dark brown very straight, pulled back in low ponytail hanging to mid back
• Light denim skirt ending a few inches from knees
• Dark blue/navy short sleeved shirt
• Flat shoes (possibly dirty, light blue flip-flops)
• Swollen lip and cut chin (from being beat up)
• Uneaven pasty white skin
• Large scabs on knees and legs
• Brown (or hazel) eyes
• Receding chin

Things she said about herself:

• Name: Nichole
• Place of residence: Palmer St, Watertown, NY
• Goes to school at JCC community college
• Brother is a large guy 18 years old and a senior in highschool (probably Watertown High)

If you see this girl or find a phone in a parking lot or something, please let us know. Thanks!!

the real deal

Today the movers came again and loaded everything that was left yesterday. The house looks so weird. Here's a bunch of our stuff out for all the neighbors to gaze upon. (I figured since the neighbors were probably spying out their windows, I might as well share with the whole wide web world as well). (Try saying that 5 times fast and let me know how you fare.)

Brand new couch! Bought from a neighbor this morning. The ugly green one is getting donated back to the Salvation Army where we bought it from in the first place.

Yet more crap

Most of this is going to fit into three suitcases and two diaper bags (present in picture) when the babies and I fly in a few weeks.

Believe it or not, all of this will fit in a 2000 VW Passat

And now, since this is a knitting blog after all, here's a bit of eye candy for ya.

The yarn I'm using for the Newsies hat.

Boxes and piles and posters, oh my!

Well I am sitting here eating my homemade granola as usual...except that I am surrounded by piles of stuff. How does this much stuff even FIT in a house?! Unbelievable. And we threw tons of stuff away, too.

The movers are coming today to pack up whatever we didn't, and then tomorrow they take it away. They could come anytime between 8am and 5pm, so it's anyone's guess when they'll actually show up.

Still can't believe we're actually leaving here.

moving and Newsie news

Well, this is The Week. The week that we move four years of settling and head on down to Columbus, GA. I feel a little wierd about it, like I'm watching someone else do this. Like I just have to do a really deep house cleaning/organizing, but that we're not really going anywhere. How can I be prepared for something I've never done? Maybe it'll hit me after I actually get there. My husband is driving down with the movers, and my little guys and I will follow in a few weeks, once everything is set in place and organized in the new apartment. The only problem is, now that gas prices have spiked, airline tickets may be going up too. I may be stuck in NY longer than planned.

On the knitting front, I have cast on for the Cabled Newsies hat from SnB Nation. I've completed the ribbing, which is not all that exciting, so no pictures for now. This will be my first cabled project, so I'm interested to see how it goes. This is also my first project using the actual yarn called for in a pattern. I chose a soft green, which I'm pretty happy about.

On the needles

In NJ the other week, I bought my very first Koigu. Pretty, pretty Koigu. Up until then I hadn't liked any of the colorways I'd found before, but this one -- oh! There is orange, pink, brown and heathered tans all spund together in this beautiful twist.

I had hoped to recreated a feather-and-fan scarf that I'd seen at Spin A Yarn in Binghamton. Unfortunately I forgot to ask for the pattern when I was there last, so I looked online and found something I thought would be similar. It wasn't. After working it in several sizes of needles and ending up with this:

I ripped it out and wound it all back up. I suppose it will be a pair of socks now. Unless I can think of something else to do with it...I am dying to start my next pair of socks, but I really want it to be machine washable. Also, I've heard things about pure wool wearing out quickly at the heels and toes. Sooooo....I guess I'll be picking up some wooly nylon thread (to reinforce) at JoAnn's sometime soon.

A few weeks ago at Knit Night (which, if you remember, is held at my LYS), I finally gave in to it's seductive call and brought this home:

This $36 hunk of beauty had been whispering to me ever since I first set foot in this place. The price tag deterred me for a while, but really, it's huge. I should have put it next to something so that you could fully appreciate the size, but it's probably over a pound. I could make a toddler poncho out of this. I think I'm going to see how it works up as Clapotis. This is what I knit it up into initially:

As you probably can't tell, it was going to be Stacy's "My So Called Scarf", but the texture of the yarn was too much for it. And now after reading things like Thirteen Ways of Looking At Clapotis, I feel as though I must make it. There's no two ways about it. Dropping stitches on purpose -- how much better can it get? My only concern with using this yarn is that because of the nubby factor, it may not drop the stitches all that readily. I'll work up a few rows and see how it behaves.

This is the Noro that my grandma bought me a while ago. At my LYS, The Bamboo Needle (or is it called Three Sisters now?), there was some Noro worked up into this multidirectional scarf, and I've never made a scarf. This pattern looked so interesting, and ended up being quite fun.

Unfortunately this is two skeins worth, and all the Noro I've got in the color. Now I need to pray that Spin A Yarn in Binghamton still has some left so that I can make it long enough. Otherwise I'll just have to rip it out and start again, making it much skinnier.

It's all worked in short rows. Simple, but lovely to look at. I was pulling from the middle of each skein, so it was so much fun to see what color would come out next. Each color is spun with black, which adds depth. There are also little nubs throughout that I found pleasing. Alltogether this was a very relaxing, fun project.

And now look at this!

Could it be? Yes, it is that funky little backpack that I had dropped a while ago. Vowing never to return...I thought, though, how my 7-year-old sister would love it...so, as I predicted, I have picked it up again. After only a little effort, all the pieces are complete. All I have to do now is seam it together, make a lining....yeah, it'll be a little while, but I've made significant progress and am very proud of myself.

So that's what's going on with me. Thank you so much to all who keep stoping by in the cyberworld to check up on me. Our move is, well, moving along, but it's a heck of a lot of work! I don't know when I will be able to blog again but hopefully soon. For those of you who asked, we're moving to Columbus, GA. I hope there's good LYS's there!! Otherwise, it'll be mail order for a while... (I know that there's a ton of them in Atlanta, but that's about 1-1/2 hours from where we're going to be.)

whatever happened to Faith?

Ohmygoodness, so sorry about the recent lapse in posts. After going to NJ two weekends ago, I returned home for two days, then our whole little family headed to Harrisburg for the weekend (for music festival Purple Door). Now the Mr. is in GA finding an apartment for us while I'm staying at my parents house with my little guys. Quite a whirlwind. I have stories from Purple Door, and even a few pictures of WIP's, but unfortunately the batteries to my camera died and I didn't bring the charger, so I can't upload them at this moment...yes, I'm full of excuses, but maybe I'll get back on top of things sometime. Maybe even later today?

Right now I have to bake some cinnamon roll bread (since the ENTIRE loaf was domolished almost as soon as it left the oven yesterday), as well as something for a coffee house tonight. Both my boys are sleeping, so I'd better get cracking!

hurry hurry, everywhere

Yesterday I got back from a trip to New Jersey. Since we are in the middle of our move to GA, I won't have much time to blog until next week, but I have taken a few pictures. Unfortunately I can't currently find my camera. Probably it's in my car, but my husband has that at the moment.

Two different scarves I planned on makeing have turned into something else, due to the fiber being very definite in it's wish to be another pattern (one is yet another scarf, the other is...well, yet to be seen). Will post more on that later.

I had my first big splurge: a (nearly) $40 skein of yarn. It's really huge though, so I don't feel too bad. I've been gazing at this particular chunk of yarn for weeks now at my LYS, and finally brought it home to stay. (Wish I could show a picture, but read above.)

Picked up some beautiful Kuigu in NJ -- the first that I've really liked.

Just a few minutes ago I purchased and downloaded the pattern for this. Shockingly enough, I think I actualy have the yarn for it too! Unless, of course, I decide to use something else...