Just a Whole Lotta Stuff...

Life is crazy in chez Red's World. Lets look at those highlights, shall we.

The man-child Mr. E turned the big One-Four... yep 14.



I'm proud of him in so many ways, that it's really hard to even count them all. He surprises me all the time with his bountiful love for family and his sassy attitude. I'm happy he's found his voice, because for a long time during his childhood I didn't think he would posses the ability to stand up for himself, let alone others. And just look at him, I think he has his Coolness down pat.



Blocking has commenced for the Celtic Icon. It was a long time coming. Those damn sleeves took FOR.EVER. This also means that I'll need to start taking measurements for a zipper.



I have also jumped ahead a tad and started on the Faery Ring. The Knit-Along starts July 1st, but I just couldn't help myself. This is the boarder hem that is knit until the full circumference of the bottom. Then I'll be picking up stitches along the edge to build the rest of the jacket.

Bath Update

Over the past week we've made some pretty significant strides on the Master Bath. We had repainted the bathroom after a horrible glowing green monster color was not pleasing to the eye. Back to the Depot we go with toilet topper and sample tile in hand. We must have looked at 18 different shades of green, gray, beige and yellow... we then had our handy paint guy (who has always been there for all our paint selections - except for the botched monster green) who picked the one color we liked the most.

It's actually several shades lighter then the existing tub and toilet. The name is Winter Garden and it's quite striking. At different times of the day, you'll see yellow or green and it's as if we planned on using dated '70's colors!



The bath has changed quite a lot since this last picture. We've installed the plumbing for the faucet along with the cabinet and counter. So do you know what this means?? It means we, for the first time in 8 years have running water.



I sometimes feel like I'm living in a dream and have to run and test the faucet. It's fabulous. We still have so much more to go... tub faucet, towel bars, rob hooks, toothbrush holder, mirror, storage cabinet... sigh, but we've got water. real. water.

And I couldn't have done it without my husband. He's awesome. So, Happy Father's day to you all, whether you've made your wife happy with a new master bath, or just made a cup of coffee for her in the morning.. Cheers!

Honest Scrap

A:-) at Knit and Run nominated me for the Honest Scrap Award. It's an honor you think I'm so talented...Thanks!

The rules state: "When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!"

Now the honest thing for me at this moment is telling you how hard it is to pick people...not that I don't know or read really honest scrappy blogs, but just don't care for the whole peer pressure aspect to it. So if your reading this and have a blog, please take it upon yourself and consider yourself tagged.

10 honest things about myself:

1. I prefer bare feet to shoes.
2. I can count on one hand the number of times a professional has cut my hair.
3. I can't cook unless my kitchen is clean, but hate to clean my kitchen.
4. I played the trombone in Jr. High only to get out of gym class.
5. I swear like a sailor and it's my fault one of Miss Mac's first words was Shit.
6. I once wrote a boys name in the girls bathroom stall.
7. I love to sing-along at the top of my lungs when I'm alone in the car.
8. I am not a fan of reality TV.
9. I prefer the pool to the beach because I can see the bottom.
10. I once believed way back in 1994 that the Internet was just a fad and look at me now!

FO: Nubby Cardigan

Pattern: Nubby Cardigan (Ravelry link) by Deborah Newton from Knitscene, Fall 2008

Yarn: 15 skeins Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL

Needles: US 8 circular

Started: February 26, 2009

Finished: June 12, 2009



Comments: My first thoughts when I saw this in the magazine was that it would make a great work sweater, something black to go with my wardrobe. Living with this expectation of how the sweater would look and feel verses actually creating this sweater to fit that mold was quite hard.

First off, black is practically impossible to knit without living next to the sun and second it's a boring color to look at while knitting. I don't see myself knitting with black anytime soon. Other then that, it's been an awesome knit.



The yarn is soft and squishy and will keep me warm during the entire year because the folks in my office like their air conditioning. No joke.

I did not modify the pattern, if you can believe that and the only part that has been a bit of a sore spot was adding the large collar. Picking up and knitting close to 200 stitches around the whole collar and knitting 3x3 rib was painful. Lucky it goes quick. In the end I love it and plan to drape this sucker on my office chair for those day when i can't stand it!

A Little Celtic Icon for your Day...

This project seems to just go on and on... and I believe it's due to the fact it's broken up in pieces. My brain is just not in the mood to rewrite the pattern. Ideally it would be done in the round, but then I suppose it would feel like it was taking even longer.

Several pieces are now being blocked and sleeves are on the needles. Hood and placket will need to be added once the other pieces are seemed, but getting this far has really put an itch to get it done.

Meeting Ysolda Teague

Ysolda is from Edinburgh Scotland and has been traveling the states this spring with her new self published knit designs and I got a chance to meet her.



She is soft spoken, super friendly and a very talented knitter. I seriously want to be like her when I grow up!

Her designs were sprinkled all over Nana's Knitting Shop but one in particular just popped out at me...



This is Vivian and I'm so going to make this.

While in the store I also bumped into a few friendly faces...



Laurelena was working on her wedding shawl and zipping right through it. Sorry for the closed eye shot, but the smile says it all, right?



Then of course there is Amy who just happens to jump the knit-along start date and goes and cast-on for the Faery Ring anyway! Thanks a lot! I guess since my swatch seems to be coming sorta close to gauge I could cast-on for it too!

Spring Trip to The Fold

On Saturday our lovely gang of Stitch n' Bitch ladies headed out to a little sweet spot called The Fold. I just love how our group can feel like some hard ass bitches one second and innocent tea time ladies the next.



I promised photos, but besides for this random Lets Get It Started photo, I got nada! Six of us piled into Jenn's mini-van and off we headed in search of fiber.

We had an awesome time exploring the shop and discovering little gems to take home.



I picked up Chuckanut Yarn in hopes I'll get gauge for the Faery Ring, but as my cold has done funky things with my brain... I think I'll wash the swatches and recount later when I have a clear mind.

Home Improvement Hell

The tile was grouted and I'm loving being able to walk on a new floor. I then started to prep for painting the walls, so lovely plastic covers my new floors. We patch a few holes, clean off the walls and BAM! hit a problem. The walls were originally lined with wallpaper which I had stripped off years ago.

Seriously... it was a cave. I now have glue residue still on the walls. My dearest husband claims that I only need to sand the walls and prime. I on the other hand don't feel it will be that easy. I DID test the walls to see if there was any glue, hell I did my darnedest but when I slapped some paint on it only gummed up and refused to stay on. I'm not going to argue with my husband, but I sure will say "I Told You So" when it doesn't work.

Not sure how much knitting I'll get done this weekend, but at least I get to look forward to a trip to The Fold. Our Stitch 'n Bitch's 4th Anniversary is being celebrated by a little fiber filled day. I promise to take pictures of our gallivanting... it's always a blast!

Time Keeps On Slippin'

Slippin', Slippin'... Into the futurrrrre....

Okay, now that I've got that lodged into your brain. I can give a quick update on my crazy life. Knitting? Well there is not much to show. Honestly the damn house has me loosing out on my precious knitting time. Train/work knitting is about all I get done and that is a damn shame, because I use to relax with 2 or 3 movies over the weekends and just knit. Goodbye good ol' days... say hello to Homeowner Hell.

What little has been worked on in my knitting bag is the Tapestry Cowl, which I'm really loving right now. It's my mind escape because the pattern is a little tricky, but not to the point where I'm lost.



One of the major things I've been practicing in this project is purling continental style. How do you knitters do that? It is the most pain in the ass thing to purl holding your yarn in the left hand. I've even tried the combined purling method but I'm not sure that helps, as when I come back to that stitch it's been twisted and I have to untwist it.



One other pain the ass thing this weekend was I swatched for the Faery Ring in the lovely Ginger color and I'm not making gauge. sigh. The pattern calls for 18 stitches over 4 inches and I'm getting 20.5 on 7's and 20 on 8's. I rather work with a smaller needle to get a denser fabric. I love this color, but I'm wondering if it's really worth adjusting the pattern or perhaps I should just look for a different yarn.