Purling Sprite

A taste for cables

*Updated:

I was reminded of this cables hat I made a few years ago. Hope some of you can use it and try your hand at cabling with the knitting looms.*

The response to the booklet has been vivid indeed. Thank you for the comments and emails you have sent me about the upcoming release of Learn to knit cables on looms. I haven't received my complimentary copy yet so I can't really tell you the layout or pages of where anything can be found. But what I can do is share a bit on cables. Here is a video I prepared on creating a 4-st left cross cable.

To the left is a picture that I took of the reboso before I sent it off. The yarn, if you are already preparing to loom it (coughLizcough), is Lion Brand Cashmere blend in silver. It takes only 6 skeins and ooh, it is sooo soft. If you think the yarn is soft on the ball after blocking it becomes even more so. Gorgeous yarn, fell in love with it before the project was done. I did use blocking wires (thank you Tina) to block it to shape, so you may want to acquire some of those in anticipation, they are not necessary but they make the job a lot easier--unless you enjoy pinning 200 Tpins.

Healthwise: I am doing much better. I was able to move around without aches or coughing. My voice didn't sound like a frog so much this morning and I didn't forget to pick up my kid from school today. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Yep, the responsible mother that I am forgot to pick up my child from school yesterday. I realized it about 5 minutes after his school was over. I am terrible! I blamed it on hubby though as I had told him last week that I would be busy for the next few days and the kids were his to take care of. He left for work which meant that the kids were home alone (theoretically speaking). Alright, so I admit it, I am guilty! I forgot him! And I kept beating myself up all day about it. But now that my cold is gone from  my head, I can think straight and remember 98% of my responsibilities--the dishes in the sink are not mine to wash, nope!

Well, hope you enjoy the video and find it helpful...book mark it, you may need it when the booklet above comes out...btw, have you pre-ordered your copy yet? Do you have a looming blog? I would like to do a book(let) tour...drop me a note and you may score a copy.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The latest news: Learn to Knit Cables on Looms

A new booklet will be hitting the stores in mid December: Learn to Knit Cables on Looms will be available really soon.

This little project booklet kept me busy for a few months this summer/fall and finally I am able to show you some of the projects in there. The booklet (not really a book as it is only 32 pages) was one of my favorite projects to work on. Why? Cables are my love in knitting. Cables remind me of my Abuelita and one of the items in the book: the shawl that is pictured on the front cover reminds me of my Abuelita. She always wore a Reboso (Spanish for shawl) and when I picked out the yarn and the stitch pattern I was thinking about her. When the projects come back to me, I am planning on sending it to her, so it can keep her warm and she can have a little piece of me with her at all times. As you can see, my favorite project from the booklet is the Rebosito :).

The book is available for pre-order at the Decor Accents, Inc website. I will be putting videos online as soon as the booklet is released to the public. The videos will demonstrate the cabling techniques so hopefully they will go great with the booklet.

Other happenings in my life: I am sick. I caught a cold/flu on Wednesday and I have been sick and irritable (my husband's description of me). Last night, I had insomnia and I was only able to sleep for about 2 hours. After tossing and turning for three hours in bed I got up with full intentions of working but I couldn't loom knit at all--my head feels like I have cotton balls inside, yucky!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Monday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving, I am so very grateful for my family. They are the only thing that make my life worthwhile. They are the reason why I wake up every morning (no, it is not that they pull me out of bed by throwing a sippy cup at my head!). They are the reason I smile, the reason for me wanting to be a better me.

I love you kiddos...yep, hubby-you are my kiddo too :). You are my everything.

I am grateful that the seizure episode that little Nyny had at the beginning of the year has not repeated.

I am grateful that my Wonderboy is enjoying school and that he has found little friends and that he is accepted by his classmates.

But most of all, I am grateful that I am their Mom and that I have a wonderful hubby that helps me and is an active part of my children's life.

May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with the ones you love.

Venting...

This list probably shouldn't make it here as I try to keep this a "happy place" but life sometimes sucks and well I am human and life is not really happy all the time! My work schedule is killing me...I need a vacation.

I have decided 2 months is not enough to write a book.
I am going crazy
I need a break
I have a cold
I have a migraine
I need to go and run 5 miles to make me feel better
I can't wait for Dec.24th
I have to agree with the Yarn Harlot: the process of writing a book is like S.E.X, the beginning and middle of it is not that fun, only the end.
I am so ready to give up on everything.
I must work on the A panel for the Baby Blanket.

One good thing that makes me smile today: my Nicki Fluevog boots that I found in my size (yep, Denise, I got them (I know, I could have bought food for an entire week with the price of the boots but at this point anything to bring me a little light)!). They run very small around the calf area and finally I was able to get some in a larger size and the calf area is big enough to put my chubby calf in. I saw these boots about a year ago (or two years ago) by following a link at Cynthia's blog. The moment I saw them I fell in love with them. My fluevog's...I love them....did I mention that I have a shoe-fetish? I like to collect shoes as well as yarn :). Well, at least I have a nice pair of boots to work in...back to the daily grind.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel...could it be the sun or a train coming right at me?

Decking the Halls! Itty Bitty Mitt Pattern

My Momma is coming! She is coming! Time to deck the halls and get everything ready for her arrival. We are already planning sleeping arrangements: she will sleep in little NyNy's room and NyNy will come to our bed (like she does every night, lol), and my brother will share bedroom with Wonderboy.

She is arriving Christmas eve and as such I have the motherload of preparing Christmas eve dinner (my Mexican roots) tell me I have to celebrate Christmas eve with a huge dinner and then a party at night. I like to open presents at midnight so we are going to let the kiddos take a nap and then at midnight we open presents and keep the celebration going.

We are all very excited! The children keep saying that Abuelita will be here for Christmas and asking if Christmas is already here.

My tentative menu for Christmas eve dinner:

Tamales: must be cooked the day before

Pozole: must be cooked 1.5 days before

Bunuelos: must be prepared same day and cooked about 30 minutes before consumption

Apple pie and mud pie: must be prepapred day before

Drink: I am drawing a blank on this one. I would like a warm cider (non-alcoholic) with lots of fruits but the recipe is not coming to mind. I would like something similar to a Mexican drink I used to have as a child but I don't recall the name.

Can you feel my excitement? It has been a year and a couple of months since we last saw my Mom and little brother and I am bubbling with excitement!

A little something I worked on yesterday to decorate our Christmas tree: the Itty Bitty Mitts. The pattern is  loom knitted using a bulky weight yarn and the Flower Loom (12 peg large gauge loom).

The Itty Bitty Mitt pattern is available for download. Hope you are able to use this pattern to decorate or make someone's life a little brighter.

PS: if you download the pattern, please drop me a note below on the comments section. Although I did my best to have the pattern error-free, I do have two kids and a very forgetful mind, so in case there is anything wrong with it, I can always drop you a note and alert you to the updated pattern.

Hip to Bead Book and my Beading, plus prizes giveaway

The baby shower went terrific! I had about 95% attendance and the Mommy was very, very happy. Personally, I had a great time. The most fun activity: the binky necklace game. It was a riot listening to all the many "cutes" and seeing the necklaces go from person to person.

I gifted my friend with a baby blanket--sorry, I didn't get a picture, when baby comes I'll take a picture of it :). It is a nice dark teal blue.

Now for prizes for my dedicated blog readers. Thank you for giving me  a shout-out. Sometimes I think I am all lonely...I think most bloggers like to see comments...what do you think? Anyways, thanks for dropping me a hello and for cheering me on for the baby shower. It is the first party ever that I throw and I am thankful for your support!

Anyways, for prizes, I gave all the comments to Monday's post a number and threw them in the random number generator. The prizes will go out as follows:

1. Starbucks $10 giftcard: Alwen

2. Set of stitch markers: my friend and neighbor Tina (totally random, lol, lucky Tina--maybe she will come visit me and I can give them to her in person)

3. Set of stitch markers: Danielle, whom gave me the idea of the babies in the ice

Top Picture: Katie Hacker's: Hip to Bead book. She sent me an autographed copy of her latest and so-inspirational beading book. Now, I only wish January was here so I can have some downtime and start beading. She sent me a few little things to get me started in my journey: bead stringing wire, a polyester chain (soooo way cool), Japanese Glass beads (sooo beautiful, I will put them in a bracelet) and crimping beads (must get a crimper tool). Thank you Katie...enabler! hehehe.

Other pictures: necklaces I have created with my beading skillz. Granted a necklace takes me about 2 hours to make but they are so worthy of the time put into them. There are two of them: one with blue swarovski beads and one with orange beads. The other beads are ceramic (green) and the black with white spots are glass.

Baby Shower Prizes

Thank you everyone who helped me come up with different activities for the baby shower. The big day is today and I am so excited and I still a gazillion things to get together and I am hoping in my heart that my friend is surprised and really happy about it all.  I am going to make guacamole and churros because those are two of the favorite things she likes to snack on lately....hope she is the craving for them.

Since you all helped me so much, I have some little somethings to share..since you can't come to the baby shower and be a part of the fun, I have decided to share some party favors--no they are not baby related, but knitty related.

1 person will get a $10 Starbucks gift card that I got in the mail for participating in a survey. I would use it but I don't drink coffee, so it is up for grabs.

2 people will get a set of stitch markers.

Activities that I have chosen for today's fun:

• Coloring Onesies. I picked up 30 onesies and some fabric markers and we are going to make some original little shirts for the baby.
• Binkie Necklaces: Little binkies hanging from ribbon and everyone will get one and the person that say the word "cute" loses their necklace to the first person that catches her saying the word. The one with the most necklaces at the end of the night wins.
• My water broke: put water in a plastic cup, place the baby and freeze it. Everyone gets a cup when they get to the party. The cup that thaws faster wins. I am planning to put some blue food coloring in the water.
• Everyone gets 3 papers and writes a boy name on each to give to Mommy.
• Everyone gets a diaper and a piece of paper and writes something inspirational for Mom. Mom gets all the diapers to use when baby comes.

We are an active bunch so I hope that the above are activies that we can do while chatting and visiting with each other.

All you have to do to win any of the above 3 prizes is leave a comment in today's post. Nothing specific, just let me know you are out there reading. I will post the 3 winners on Wednesday--winners will be chosen randomly. Again, thank you for helping me out with the baby shower. I am so happy about it and I hope everyone has fun...especially the Mommy to be :).

Crafting a Tutu

Since apparently I can't loom nor write, I have decided to dedicate the rest of my life to sewing...haha! That was just a joke, I can't sew either, so I think I will just become a cook. Wait...I can't cook either. Well, I guess I'll just be a bum!

I spent two days knitting away at a certain pattern that I have a looming deadline for (pun intended)...I knitted and knitted. I finished the back...beautiful work in pink. I started the front, I knitted and knitted. Today, I sat and admired the pretty stitches and the pretty in pink when I realized something terrible. The tragedy of it all...it is incomprehensible! My back and front were exactly alike...beautiful...if I were knitting a pullover sweater, not a cardigan! Ah, the tragedy. I just want to die and wake up next year. Timewise this could not have happened at a worse time. Oh, well, time goes on and knitting can be unraveled and reknit again.

One thing I can definitely do though is create a little happiness for my little one with the help of 4 yards of tulle, a yard of 1/2" elastic, and some overhand knots. Modeling: little NyNy, Wonderboy refused to model the tutu--boyzzz!

The PlayTime Tutu came about in a moment of wimsy. Since I got my license, I try to take little trips to practice my driving, on one of my trips, I ended up at Joann's and I came home with 4 yards of tulle and elastic. I followed the instructions provided by ambrosialove over on Flickr and in less than an hour, I had the little tutu finished.

I followed the instructions exactly as given. I bought 2 yards of shiny pink tulle and 2 yards of shiny purple tulle. 1 yard of 1/2" elastic (it took less than the yard for NyNy's waist). The Tutu is nice and full and it fits my shorty 2 (almost 3) year old. She loves to wear it over her clothes and since it was a very inexpensive item to make, she wears it everywhere...even Wallyworld! So next time you are Wallyworld, look for us...we will be easy to spot with this tutu.

Oh, yeah and I also made the little hairbows....I am so crafty...just can't follow knitting directions. Sigh...it is going to take awhile for my loomy knitting confidence to come back. I foresee a few other non-loomy projects in my near future...must take a breather.

(click on picture to see bigger and individual shots)

My most favorite pattern from the latest Knitty

I have been waiting for this moment! My most favorite pattern from the latest Knitty is finally up. I was able to see the lovely Juno Regina in person last time Kim was here and we went down to SLC to spend an evening with rockin' grrl Mim. Kim brought her camera and with her mad photographer skillz she took a gazillion pictures (hey grrls, the babushka pics made it to Knitty, hehehe).

The stole is luxurious and the fluid design calls my name. This is the scarf that I have been waiting for this entire year.

As soon as my loom knitting responsibilities are met this month, I will cast on for Juno Regina, one for me and one for my Momma. I can already see my Momma with her black coat and wearing this luxurious scarf around her neck.

Thanks Mim and congratulations on another beautiful pattern!

(Picture property of Miriam Felton)

Baby Shower Ideas

I am in need of help. I am planning a baby shower for a dear friend and I am running dry on ideas for baby shower activities. Do you know any? I need at least two of them. I have been to only one baby shower--my own, lol, so I know very little of activities. If you have any activities in mind that are fun, drop me a comment! Pleease...your help will be greatly appreciated ;).