Purling Sprite

Almost 700!

I can't believe it! I am nearing my 700th comment! I am so excited,...I wonder if I will hit my blogaversary first or the 700th.

The birthday boy had a blast last week, a pizza party and  chocolate cake. Of course, I forgot to find candles for his cake so I had to borrow some at the last minute from my neighbor upstairs. She only had a few and the few that she had were PINK! Bryant didn't even notice the color--actually, he said "Mum, they are not my favorite color--black!" hahaha. Can you see me putting black candles for a 4 year old.

Life sometimes throws you a fastball and you have two choices: hit it or miss it. I am the type of person who will always try to hit it. Thursday afternoon, I got a fastball thrown at me, I really wanted to just close my eyes and miss it altogether. I didn't want to deal with it, especially when the deadline was less than 12 hours hours and I had a birthday party for B. I was in agony--as my dear friend may be able to tell you, I was frantic, I was in the midst of a nervous breakdown! I allowed myself to be terrified, I counted to 10, then I sat down and loomed for the next 10 hours straight--sleep, no, no sleep for the wicked and procrastinators! I was up to the wee hours of the morning looming my little fingers away. Had to take pictures and submit them, but I am afraid that my eyes had two market size bags underneath and I was not going to send those pictures in, so I again begged another favor from the neighbor upstairs, her and her daughter were very happy to help me out, with one condition--that I would go to bed right after!!

My heart all throughout was in my non-stripe sweater, I was sooo in the mojo for it and then the deadline hit so I had to put it away, now I have this terrifying feeling that my tension is going to be terribly different than last week. But look at it, it is almost half way there, ok, so it is not half way, but it is looking sooo good, I want to put it on and model it, but I am too lazy to transfer the stitches on to a scrap yarn. Do you all use a piece of scrap yarn to transfer the stitches then try it on?

I have also been playing around with some lace stitches on looms--I don't know how to call this one, but the little eyelets go up diagonally. I think it would be nice on a hat, or a sweater.

B is for....

Happy Birthday my little love. He said hello to this world 4 years ago. He is my honeymoon baby. We knew right away that we wanted to have a little one. After being married for 15 days, I took a pregnancy test just for kicks, it came back negative. Oh, I was sad, I was very sad, I remember watching the movie Tarzan (the disney version) one evening when Sam was at work, and I remember having tears streaming down my face. I wanted a little baby of my own soooo badly. I really thought that I wouldn't be gifted with the joy of motherhood, then a week later, I was feeling out place and disoriented and I thought to myself, heck, I am going to take a test again. The line was pink! I was going to have a little one of my own!  I rushed out of the bathroom, jumped over our bed to tell Sam the great news. We were psyched and overjoyed beyong words.

  Bryant was born on one of the biggest snowstorms that hit Utah in 2002. Everything was closed on Sunday and Monday due to the snowstorm--which allowed Sam to be with us at the hospital. Coming home, the roads were so packed with snow that we had to park our car about a block away from our apartment--then we had to climb up the biggest hill by USU campus! As Sam carried the baby in the car seat, I waddled through the snow trying to get to our cozy little studio. Getting Bryant home was the most exciting and yet terrifying experience we have both ever encountered. We were home with a new baby--what in heck were we supposed to do? Breast feeding--what was that? how do you do it? Baby awake every 2 hours-- why? Why couldn't he sleep like the rest of the world? Changing diapers a whole new experience for me--even when I didn't change the diapers I ended up being squirted! Little stinker--it seemed that he was just waiting for me to come and see and then he will just turn into a little water fountain--let me tell you, it doesn't taste sweet like all the doctors say! Soon, we realized that the hospital handed us a baby but they forgot to give us the manual and his checkbook!

Bryant, my beautiful boy, happy birthday sweety! May you   be blessed with a long healthy life and hope that I am able to be around to see you grow up.

An Olympiad's Change of Heart

You may remember that I had chosen to make the Hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts as my challenge for the 2006 Knitting Olympics. While I have not chickened out, I have decided to choose another challenge, one that does not focuses on me.

I reached my decision after seeing the Dulaan's project pictures. The children's faces melted my heart and I have a strong desire to be there for each one of them, to hold them, to make them feel that they are loved and cherished. Since I can't be there for them, I am doing the little bit that I can, my new challenge:

I will knit 16 items during this challenge. I will start on the day directed and I will finish them by the end of the ceremonies.

I can either loom or knit the items--Thank you Ryan for letting me know that we can loom knit our items too :).

Are you in the Knitting Olympics? Would you like to join me in making it a Dulaan Project and an Olympic Challenge...come join the Dulaan Brigade with me, you don't have to  make 16 items.  I have kind of made a button--more like an alteration, but feel free to take it :).

Knitting Coma!

Going one week without knitting or looming finally got to me Sunday evening. As I sat in front of the tv, attracted to it like a moth to a flame, I realized that one entire week had passed by and I had not knitted one single item. Yep! you read correctly. One entire week went by and I didn't loom knit or needle knitted anything! I was a bit burned out after the whole proposal and frankly I didn't have the heart to pick up anything else. I really tried, but I just couldn't.

Sunday evening, I finally came out of my "knitting coma". I ran to see the stash trying to find something suitable to knit. And to my utter amazement, I couldn't find anything in the stash, nothing! I couldn't believe it! I knew I had something in there worth while a couple of weeks ago, but looking at it closely, I realized that there was nothing in there that was calling my name at the moment. 5 bins full of yarn and yet there was nothing to knit! Apparently, the haziness from being in the knitting coma had not worn off, so I ran to the bookshelf trying to find inspiration in one of the many pattern books. Finally, I set my heart on Essential Stripes, so I turn back and tried to find yarn that would go --found some yummies in the form of Aurora 8 and Andean Silk, then disaster--no needles to go with the Andean Silk. Digging through all the stash trying to find the circular knitting needle case, I became frantic--where in the world did I put it last time I "organized" the stash? I finally struck a little bit of luck and found a lonely Addi in size 7.  Immediately, I rushed to the "knitting couch" and casted on and the knitting faeries were smiling at me--I got gauge on my first attempt! I was knitting again....what a relief!

But my luck didn't last--my gauge was good yesterday, but today, I have 26 rows/ 4 " where yesterday I only had 23! Am I supposed to rip it out and start all over---not to mention I don't have a pair of 8s in a 24" length! Arrrrggg! What do I do know? Should I forge ahead and just adapt the pattern to my new rows per inch gauge? Help!!!!

Ranting Major--shopping is not fun anymore!

Clothes shopping can be so depressing and I am not referring to the money spent, I am referring to how fast it brings one to reality--or not!

First some odd background on me and my bodily measurements (not like you need to know, but just to get the point across) I am about a size 10, sometimes I can squeeze myself into a size 8, or if I am very lucky and buying some good clothes from Gap or Banana I can definitely get myself into a size 6. I am short, about 5' 3", closer to 5' 2" than the 5' 3. I am a bit stocky, weighing at about 130s. My body shape is more of a triangle, having the main part of the chub around my hips and the endowed section boobs (remember, I am of Mexican descent ;) thus the hips).

Anyways, now that you know my "measurements", I can go on to explain my saddening experience of the day. I went shopping for a top to match this cute skirt I found last week.  As I was browsing through the "selection" of clothes, I just wanted to sit down and bawl like a baby. Everything was made wrong, I mean, they are nice tops, however, something is seriously wrong in the women's fashion department.

Exhibit A: Nice cashemere top, upon closer inspection, if a person with any boobs tries to wear it, the top will end up at least 4" above the belly button.

Exhibit B: Gorgeous silk top, upon closer inspection, the designer forgot to add half the material for the V neck--this thing gives the boobs the most open view to the world they have ever seen!

Exhibit C: XL ribbed top, upon closer inspection, the midsection is sooo darn tight that it barely fits around Nyah's midsection. How in heck did they manage that one!

Exhibit D: Perfect black top, goes with everything, except my shortyness! The sleeves are soo blooming long I can wrap them around me and call me Slinky!

Conclusion 1: Came home with two cardigans that can cover all the chubs and make me look "fill in the blank with your favorite adjective".

Really, I am asking myself--what are clothes designers thinking? Are they on crack all the time? Do they really expect "real" women to fit into the slinky clothes out there? I mean, I can squeeze myself into them, but I prefer to have all my skin "contained within the shirt" rather than having 1/2 of myself popping out at different places. Do designers really think that we are just made flat--nothing in the front and nothing in the back? Maybe if I were 12 years old I could fit into the top and have it reach a decent length upon my torso, but not even then as my boobs probably would have made it go up 3 inches up!

Conclusion 2: If I want something to fit me really nice and whichever way I want it, I am just going to have to knit it!

Hubby brought a good point up on the way home:

H: It seems that all the clothes are geared towards teens

Me: Yep, it seems that way. I don't mind fun clothes, but the size of them is a bit off.

H: You would think they would put clothes out there for people that can afford them. Really how much can a teen afford?

Me: Well, it appears that they can afford about 1/2 a blouse according to the sizes they are selling now a days.

Alright, so I was a bit frustrated at the time, but really, even my teen nieces have to buy undershirts to go with their tops so they can have their mid section covered.

Remember this is only my nightmare when trying to find a top. Don't get me started about trying to find a pair of jeans or a skirt!

Am I the only one seeing this when purchasing clothes? Tell me about your experience--tell me I am not the only one that feels "left out" from the fun shopping experiences.

Ok, enough ranting, now I need something to make me feel better--I think I saw some dark chocolate in the kitchen someplace....hehehe.

Stockinette Cast On Method for Knitting Board

Another cast on in the Knitting Board Series is the Stockinette Cast On. Usually a misunderstood cast on method as many do not realize that the first set of stitches are actually "live" stitches left on an anchor yarn to later be finished off by crocheting them.

The stockinette Cast On method is actually my top cast on method for many knitting board knitted items. It provides a nice crochetted first row. Definitely no loops at all. Although the Lucet Cast on provides a less loopy edge than the Figure 8 Cast on, the Stockinette Cast on provides the neatest edge I have seen.

I hope you find these files useful in your knitting board knitting. Feel free to leave me a comment about the latest files.

Enjoy!

***EDIT***The file has been moved to the DA site and now it can be printed.

Lucet Cast On-An alternate cast on for frames

Although the art of loom knitting dates back to the 18th century, very little is known about it today. There are not many records of it and very few patterns exist today, compared to needle knitting. New techniques and stitches are popping up almost every day. The Lucet cast on is one of those new found techniques.

When knitting on a knitting board, you first need to set the very first row of stitches (just like in needle knitting), so that you can build more stitches later by wrapping around the pegs and lifting over the wraps.

Usually, knitting board/frames instructions include the Figure 8 method of casting on. Although this cast on method allows you to place your very first row of stitches on to the board, it does not provide the neatest first row.

One evening, after Becky sent me a Lucet, I sat for a few hours knitting on it. When an "a-ha" moment occurred. I realized that maybe I could do the same on a board by using 2 sets of pegs at a time. So, I grabbed a board and right away, I started trying it out. It was easy and the best part of all, the LOOOPY edge was almost all gone. I had a neat first row!

I made a PDF file of the instructions in case you are interested in trying it out.

Download Lucet Cast on

On to the Olympics!

Thanks to all of you for the encouragement and the good vibes sent my way about the book proposal. I am pleased to announce that the package arrived safely and in one piece...it was held hostage for a day at customs, but it was finally released! Most importantly, the publisher liked all the items sent! I still do not know the final decision yet, but at least they liked the items, so that is always nice to hear.

Now that the loom knitting marathon is over for a little bit. I decided that I need a little bit more excitement in my life, since I am in Utah, and we do have some of the best powder on earth. I might as well get fit and enter the olympic games. What should it be--skiing? luge? snowboarding? skating? Oh, I think I will go with knitting. Oh wait, that is not a qualified sport, but it should be, it is winter, we all need something knitted--right?!?

Since sports are not my thing and since there is no one flashing a big burger at me to make me run, I am entering a competition where there is no pain involved: the 2006 Knitting Olympics!

My challenge: The Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

Where is the challenge in this project?
1. Never knitted a sweater of my "size".

2. Work full time

3. Have two lovely little imps who distract me every time I try to knit!

4. May be writing a book by that time

Squiddy and Knitterly things

A new monster scarf is born--I dub thee Squiddy! As I was knitting it, the scarf kept growing on me and I don't mean in size only, but I kept falling in love with it even more. The yarn is nice and soft--which is always a big plus for me, especially if I have to wear it around the neck.

Specs:

Loom: Any loom with at least 14 pegs. I used the blue KK.

Yarn: 2 skeins of Patons Bohemian, about 136 yards.

If you are interested in the pattern, drop me a note and I will send you the file. I will be uploading it later this week to my Loom Knit website as well as to the DA website.

***EDIT***Click here to obtain Squiddy Pattern.

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In other knitterly related news, last week I attended my ritual Nite in Knots at Yarn Today. During the event, a challenge was given to me and to two of my very good knitterly friends (I shall not write names in order to protect the innocent, hehehe). The prize, nothing less than a $500 gift certificate. You read it correctly ladies and gentlemen, $500.00 bucks! The challenge: To get my driver's license!

Yeah, I confess, I am 28 years old and I don't have a driver's license. I have never needed it--I think of it as a way to let others give some community service :), me being the community service. Hubby has driven me everywhere and anywhere I have ever wanted--no matter the time--he even takes me to the yarn shop, whenever I want! However, they tell me there is a freedom that I need to experience by obtaining my license--is there? I don't know, you tell me.

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A Meme from Tracey

4 Jobs You Have Had In Your Life:

• Worked at a cafe
• Receptionist
• Executive Assistant
• Slave to DA

4 movies you could watch over and over

• Ever After
• Lara Croft
• Harry Potter
• Lord of the Rings

4 Places You Have Lived:

• Mexico
• Queens, New York
• Yonkers, New York
• Utah

4 TV Shows You Love To Watch:

• LOST
• Invasion
• Phil of the Future
• Suite Life of Zack and Cody

4 Places You Have Been On Vacation:

• Poconos, PA
• Florida
• Utah (before I moved here)
• New York

4 Websites You Visit Daily:

• www.bloglines.com
• Over 10 Yahoo Groups

4 Of Your Favorite Foods:

• Enchiladas
• Tamales
• Lamb Tikka Masala
• Chicken Tikka Masala

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now:

• in Bed sleeping
• Hawaii with hubby only :)
• Mexico with the entire family to visit Grandma

4 Bloggers You Are Tagging:

• Dlandra
• Cathie
• Connie
• Denise

My future in a box!

Never in my life, have I ever mailed anything so important as this brown box. The waiting begins! I have sent out my future. This particular brown box contains items that may determine the next three months of my life. As I was carefully packaging everything and arranging it inside, I was thinking of all the terrible things that may happen to it on its destination, I was carefully documenting every item with pictures, just in case one of my "babies" got lost on the way there. Each and every item was carefully made by me or by friend, who was eager to help me meet a very short deadline.  Will it get there safely and in a timely manner...we will see. I didn't want to take any chances and since reading Mim's terrible luck with the courier services, I am imagining the worst! Please make it there, make it there on time too.

As the impact this particular box has on my future, I still do not know if I want it to succeed or fail. I feel like I have to little people sitting on my shoulders, one says--"yeah, do it! It would be sooooooo cool to be published. But the other little person says "I will have to loom knit, and loom knit non-stop and then write, and write, in addition to all my 'regular' duties" The writing part is not difficult, heck! I have written my fair share of loom knitting instructions available on the Internet, plus I can almost loom knit in my sleep (if I didn't drop the loom when I drifted off!), the difficult part comes when foregoing some of my "fun" time and the stress. 

I will be at the edge of my seat until the end of the month, waiting to hear what my future may hold.