Kickoff to March madness involves wool, pantry stuffs, and a very understanding husband

Honestly I don't give a rat's patootie about basketball, so my version of March madness is another attempt at creating blog posts every day this month. It worked out nicely in November. Here I go again. As you can see from the photos, I've been at my cauldron doing this: dyeing yarn with turmeric and a vegetable steamer. Until the initial whim rapidly spun out of control, and the whole house smelled like wet sheep and Indian food. The shearings from a woolly mammoth dangled over our fireplace. The balls of yarn pictured above (starting with the smallest ball at the right and working clockwise) are natural undyed, black tea, turmeric, and paprika.



Up next are black beans (blue), and I have chamomile (light yellow) waiting in the wings.  I'll let you know how all of that goes.

And Happy Birthday, Angie!

Off the needles

I finished knitting a cardigan for Becca and Ernest's baby girl last night. It was my first successful go-round with lace. The sweater is so tiny! (Sorry no pictures.)  I need to get started on another cardigan, this one for Jamie and Kevin's baby boy, using the same pattern minus the lace. Last week I completed a Baby Surprise Jacket using scraps from my yarn stash. I intended that one for my nephew-on-the-way, but it turned out huge, like size 2T. When it's this cold outside, all I want to do is knit.

Some homemade is better than others

My recent knitting binge is finally slowing down because of the mixed success of this little number I'm calling Clown Puke. Slowing is a good thing because I really need to get going on Christmas and Mo's birthday plans. But back to Clown Puke. I improvised the pattern combining some details from recently made kid sweaters with some ideas I had while making several stocking caps. And the results are, well,...colorful. It's cropped and swingy which is good. Mo selected this yarn herself and then hugged and petted the skeins like  bunny rabbits for hours after purchase. Alas, she is less enthusiastic about the final product. We did a test fit, and she said, rather forcefully, "No, Mommy, take clown puke off me!” The heart is fickle. The sweater is definitely big on her and will fit better next winter. Maybe by then she will change her tune.



Last year Mo gave her cousins and friends a mix cd of some of her favorite songs. It was very well received. So we're releasing a new edition this season. Robb downloaded everything yesterday, and I designed the album cover. We might need to add What Does the Fox Say to the playlist though. Too trendy? Will it get old? No indeed, the Fox has a timeless quality: Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow! Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho! Tchoff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!



While we're on the topic of homemade, Robb made himself at least 3 kidney stones just in time for the holidays. One has passed, another will pass, but the behemoth pictured above is 10mm in diameter. That's 1cm. If you're rusty on your metric system, the stone is as wide as a dime (whoops, a dime is 18mm, so that was a wild exaggeration). Now before you start thinking that we have money coming out of our urethrae--that's the correct plural of urethra, I looked it up--let me just assure you that this bad boy ain't going anywhere on his own. I've named him Ebenezer because he's trying to ruin Christmas and also because Ebenezer means "stone." Okay, actually it means "stone of help," but this Ebenezer is only helping Robb to the hospital next week for some aggressive treatment called lithotripsy, which as I understand it feels akin to being beaten with a bag of oranges. Only much louder. Humbug, I tell you! Humbug!

[Robb will most certainly mention my naming of his kidney stone in his application for sainthood.]

Knitting season

Hot off the needles, two very modified sweaters. The pattern is for a cardigan, but I just can't stand for all the unnecessary purling. Besides toddlers are very interested in disrobing. It's trickier for her to pull something over her head than to unbutton it. And I cropped the green sweater about 3 inches shorter than the pattern calls for. And what a reluctant knitwear model I have. She's excited about everything I'm working on until I try to slip it over her head. Sheesh!

Just another Wednesday

I realized we've been watching too much tv when I heard Mo repeating, "P B S Kids Dot Org," while she played by herself in the living room. Yikes. I made some decisions about Mo's sweater which allowed me to make some forward progress. It's going to be a tunic. Also Mo did some nice coloring with markers while I cleaned the kitchen this morning. And she kept right on coloring while I put together an enormous dish of enchiladas--like could feed a family of 5 for a week--and in the process re-messed up the kitchen. Sigh. Good coloring, though.

I just wanna bang on the drum all day

I love my new job. Things were slow tonight, so I knocked out several rows of Mo's In Threes Cardigan which I am making as a pullover. I have run out of this yarn in this color and am deciding if the rest should be green (and thus Christmassy) or if I should use lavender (which will match nicely but it's scratchy). Who knows whether Mo will consent to wear it no matter what color I make it. Why am I teaching her to think independently again?


Also I did a doodle of this drowsy doggie. She had emergency surgery earlier in the evening. The doctor removed a corn cob from her digestive tract. Nasty things corn cobs. They are unfortunately the perfect size for swallowing and the perfect diameter to act as a cork within your pet's vital systems. When I left for the night this puppers was in recovery and doing just fine.

Tri-terra cardigan

I finished this little sweater for Mo at the end of March, just in time for her to wear to an Easter egg hunt at the community center. I used the Tri-Terra Cardigan pattern by Cosette Cornelius-Bates and improvised a little fake fair-isle colorwork into the yoke. Mom asked when I will start making them in adult sizes. Maybe next winter. My knitting has fallen by the wayside--as it usually does once the weather warms up--and painting has taken its place. Incidentally I had a little free time this weekend and updated my art blog. Have a look-see. By the time I finally know what I'm doing with HTML it will be completely obsolete.

Landscape artists who inspire me

It's nearly plein air season!  Paint Snow Hill 2013 is only a month away. I've been looking at some of my favorite artists to get the creative juices flowing. I have been poring over the acrylic knife paintings of Welsh artist Matthew Snowden. I stumbled on his artwork quite by accident when I was doing some genealogy research. Maine artist Tim Beavis' dunescapes have had my attention for several years now. I love--LOVE--the small town images created by New Hampshire artist Stacey Durand. Maybe I'll do more work in downtown Snow Hill this year instead of "in the highways, in the hedges" like usual. We'll see.

Also I am taking a portrait painting e-class in April taught by mixed media artist Regina Lord. I really love painting people, but it's been several years since I've actually done any portrait painting. So I am looking forward to getting back into that groove as well.

Oh, and although it's going to be spring any day now, I've been knitting a new sweater for Mo. I'll post some pics soon.

Have an artful Thursday!

Not much on the needles

This December I'm barely knitting at all compared to past years when I've been frantically weaving in ends on Christmas morning. I am making a heartwarmer for Maureen for Christmas (raveled here) using City Tweed merino/alpaca blend. I'm working in the color snowshoe right now but considering a color change for the lace. Maybe to toad or jacquard...we'll see. For now the project lives in my purse, and whenever the baby falls asleep in the car I drag it out for a little parking lot knitting. It's coming along slowly. Also I have a late night top secret embroidery project I'm chipping away at that may or may not be ready in time for Christmas. And this cowl neck project is on my post-holiday-crafting-to-do list. I need to figure out what item of clothing will go under the knife to become the frankencowl.

Homemade kind of day

Yesterday was a very nice, low key kind of birthday. I made these cookies (minus the browned butter because I can only cram so many tasks in between baby feedings). And yum. My baking buddies hung out in the kitchen with me. Robb made me dinner, and then stuck 3 candles in an ice cream cake. I will be listening to my mix cds in the car today. Love them!



I also made a rice pillow for Aunt Julie. It's green. I forgot to take a picture. She's undergoing cancer treatment and has been complaining of a sore shoulder. I thought a warm hug might help. We'll see her over the weekend. Tonight we are driving to the beach because this weekend is Paint Snow Hill 2011.



If you are in the neighborhood, please come to the Wet Paint Show & Sale on Sunday, April 17, from 1-4 PM. It's at the Old Firehouse on Green Street and will be the only chance to see and purchase paintings created by 60 artists during the 8th Annual Paint Snow Hill. Participating artists come from 5 states. We will be painting throughout the Snow Hill area April 15-16. 25% of sales support Snow Hill's Arts & Entertainment Program. Hope to see you there!

(No, there won't be any cookies left by then.)

In praise of things handmade

I must post about all the lovely homemade goodies we received and gave this holiday season. We did not make cookies this year. Thank goodness everyone else did. We got cookies from Mom, Sharon, and Chere, and blackberry preserves from Angie. Yum is right. Instead Robb baked pumpkin cranberry bread for our friends and neighbors. We took loaves of pumpkin bread with chocolate chips in it (we ran out of cranberries on the last batch) to our OB's office and to the main office at the marina, too.



My sister Angie made me a beautiful tweed stitch scarf (on Ravelry here). Her commentary on Ravelry is funny, though, because she thinks I am "a fall." I enjoy orange as much as the next person and brown perhaps more than most, but greens and blues are my staples. Check me out this morning looking super tired in my new scarf, favorite blue wool sweater, blue down vest, green mittens, and green eyes. Although I do wear the green eyes every day. Robb is in the background pumping gas.



While we're on knitting Christine made a pair of booties for our baby. She gave them to Mom for me several months ago, but I didn't get them until Christmas. Christine works at Dr. Fenlon's office, but I went to high school with her nephews, and we bonded more when she caught me knitting in the waiting room one day. So it's not as random as it might seem at first glance that my dental hygienist gave me a handmade baby gift.



I made a pair of mittens in this wool/alpaca blend for Mom but forgot to photograph the finished product. The alpaca should make them super warm. Of course she broke her thumb at work last week and can't really wear a mitten over her brace yet. All of my Christmas knitting got off track this year. I still need to make a pair of mittens for Aunt Genny and for Great Aunt Sissy and get them in the mail. I gave each of the veterinarians at the office an Eleventh Hour Scarf (Raveled here), and accidentally over-scarfed my mother-in-law Charlene by giving her the rose colored one she mentioned liking after she had already bought a green one from me at Beach Fest. I know Jen got her one, too. She's going to have the warmest neck in Maryland this winter.



Theresa made me an owl pincushion so cute that it's found a place among the pine branches on the mantle until we put away the Christmas decorations. I almost hugged it and impaled myself before realizing my name is spelled out in straight pins. We sent her and Rick a set of ceramic crabs (in which to bake crab imperial and other bounty of the sea) made by some local potter, but we were dismayed to learn that one broke fully in transit and two arrived chipped. We thought we had them properly insulated for shipping and are actively kicking ourselves now.



I hope that our gift to my brother Joey arrived in one piece. I matted and framed this sketch of dented old horns from a drawing class a few (9!!!) years ago. I've always liked how it turned out, so it seemed like a good gift for the family brass enthusiast. Jenny and Angie received raw materials. For Jenny we chose a sock kit from Knit Picks (not this one exactly but sort of close to it) that came with 4 skeins of yarn in woodsy colors and 12 patterns. And for Angie we picked this cardigan pattern and supplied her with enough blue and brown Shamrock Yarn to cast on immediately if she is so inclined.



We did not forget our favorite causes this holiday season. Rick and Theresa made donations to KIVA and to Dave Thomas Foundation for us. We made donations to Grace Church in honor of Aunt Sandy, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Linda, and we sent off a little check of our own to Dave Thomas Foundation for Mom.



I also want to show off the fleece blanket that Leigh made for our baby.



When we were unpacking Christmas decorations we stumbled across another bag of stuff from when I was a baby. Grandma Julie made this nursery rhyme quilt for me. It's far less complicated than the stamp quilt she made but darling nonetheless.



And there seems to be some debate over whether this bonnet was knit by Great Aunt Sissy or Barbara Streaker (my namesake). Either way it is a woolly tribute to Glenelg High School where both Robb and Mom attended. And baby it's cold outside, so our baby will be showing off his/her Glenelg spirit.

Other goodies worth mentioning...  I finally bought Alicia Paulson's Walk in the Woods ornament kit, and Robb is totally in love with it. I am hoping to get my tree, cottage, and deer made by next Christmas. My SIL Kate gave me The Little Box of Knits for Baby, and we dug through the patterns on Christmas day. I think we agree that the yarn colors in the illustrations are hideous, but the finished products (imagined in less radioactive shades) will be pretty nice. I have my eye on hoodie and the cardigan. You know, to make in all my free time. Theresa sent me the Doodle Stitching motif collection by Aimee Ray which I've sort of had my eye on for a while. (If you recall I got Aimee's other embroidery book about two years ago.) The motif collection gives me all kinds of ideas for decorating the plain white baby onesies. And I also ordered Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby--she has some super cute patterns.

Wow. I think I've covered everything here. I better get back to knitting if I want to finish these mittens before childbirth gets me really off track. Thank you to all of the knitters, sewers, bakers, donors, inspire-ers, and otherwise crafty folk who made this a very creative holiday season!

Snow day

We headed home from holiday festivities a day early to beat the snowfall, which turned out to be the right decision considering how messy the roads were here on Sunday. Robb and I made a morning trek to the grocery store, and it was a slushy mess and still falling. Sukey and I were totally wiped out from all the Christmas excitement. We spent Sunday afternoon here on the couch, enjoying the fire, listening to football games.



I think Sukey already loves her little sister/brother. At least as a pillow.



Funny how stretchy pants never would have entered my wardrobe 9 months ago, and now I'm all about them. I have this feeble idea that they accentuate how non-fat my legs and ass are compared to the ginormous belly. Please don't shatter this illusion for me. Also, please note that I am lounging in the tweed stitch scarf that Angie made me for Christmas this year and the lava boots (that's what I call them) that Jenny made for me about a year and a half ago. Hooray for handmade goodness!

A quick tour

I'm writing today from the Fortress of Solitude, otherwise known as Southern Maryland, where I am all alone. Except for Robb and Sukey and little baby-kicks-a-lot and our neighbors who had us over for Wii bowling and pizza last night and my coworkers and friends. Aside from that crowd, though, I'm completely alone. Truly most of our family and loved ones are somewhere else, and we consider ourselves lucky to get them down to our wilderness outpost once a year.

In addition I've hit this weird pregnancy travel barrier. Every time I'm cooped up in a car for over an hour, I get very twitchy and start making a low keening noise that grows and grows like a husky dog waking up from anesthesia, until ultimately I am howling and my left ankle has blown up to four times its normal size and the baby doggedly attempts to climb into my chest cavity. When I finally get out of the car, I feel achy and cranky.  (I almost typed "achy and breaky.") And let me tell you: I am a real joy to be around at that point. Just ask Robb.

Since I'm not traveling anywhere again until Christmas, and you're unlikely to visit our house until after the baby is on the outside of my body, and the baby's room will never been this clean and organized once that happens, it seems like a good time for a virtual tour. Welcome to the nursery. (Click on the panorama below for a closer look around.)



Actually I rarely use the word "nursery" in reference to the baby's room. I spent ten adolescent summers working at plant nurseries, and I can't quite bring myself to think of the baby's room as a place for wet sneakers and sweat and the fetid reek of decomposition. Perhaps a few dirty diapers will help me see how they are analogous.



For our impending offspring we chose the smallest of the bedrooms, which was previously the room in which I painted and sewed and got my craft on. All of that stuff has been relocated to the underused second living room, where it now looks at me with stern disapproval every time I walk by and pretend not to notice the mess. Robb has less luck pretending not to notice the mess. He even went so far as to trip over a painting and cut his shin open on the corner of the frame just to illustrate how patient and long-suffering he truly is. Photos of the new craft room in disarray will be included as attachments to his application for sainthood.



For the moment we have the Congratulations banner from my baby shower slung across the windows. We intend to replace it with honest to goodness curtains. In fact I ordered a cute set of green ones, but apparently 42" times two panels does not equal 100". I didn't happen to notice this until I was standing on a chair holding up a curtain panel thinking, "This looks a skosh narrow." Foiled by math once again!



No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is Billy Bass in the corner right next to baby's first fishing pole. We want to introduce the child to taxidermied animals as early as possible since their petrified bodies are hanging dustily all over our house. Unfortunately this is the only one that sings "Don't Worry Be Happy."



I have been playing dress up, making little unisex outfits to go with baby's growing collection of sweaters and knitted vests. I picked up Easy Baby Knits by Claire Montgomerie on Wednesday and am psyched about getting into it. Although word around Ravelry has it that the patterns run a little large and that it pays to check out the authors blog for errata. Makes me so appreciative of knit designers like Cosy who use real live test knitters for all their patterns and then proofread them like the dickens. Sounds like just plain common sense, right? But you'd be surprised how many knitting patterns hit the street with nary a test, written by people with poorer math skills than me.



All of the dresser drawers are filled to the gills with receiving blankets and diapers and 0-3 months clothing.



So I hung all of the larger sizes in the closet. Robb just shook his head, exclaiming that his unborn child has a larger wardrobe than him. In all the angst he somehow missed the fact that I have arranged the child's clothing by size and then by color. If I have already rainbowed our bookshelves and my own closet, why should the kid have it any other way?

Dude

This blog post is going to be EPIC.

It has a car chase, lots of sexual tension, a litter of kittens, some insider trading, a fireworks display, a recipe for the perfect Thanksgiving martini, rare photos of Lindsay Lohan sober and fully clothed, an iPhone app for finding Waldo, a partridge in a pear tree, and....



...a lot of confused people trying to perpetrate a cake walk at the Grace Church Holiday Craft Fair...



...at which I sold a bunch of scarves, note cards, and costume jewelry. Huge THANK YOU's go out to all my loyal patrons. And to all the mommas who shared their graphic labor and delivery stories with me to pass the time.



I got to meet Jen's new doggies. One is named Paris and the other one is Jeselle or Charlize or Baguette or something like that.



And then my awesome sister-in-laws threw me a baby shower. So much fun!



Please someone email me some good photos from the party because mine all look like this...



...or like this.



Seriously, though, I can only describe the gifts we received as an embarrassment of riches. Robb and I spent about four hours on Wednesday night taking tags off of tiny clothes and assembling gadgets and taking things out of boxes. Someone asked me what we still need, and I was like, "Um...just the baby."





Once again I discovered that if you let the universe know you love to receive handmade gifts, the universe delivers. Chris gave us this adorable Clifford the Big Red Dog quilt that her mother made, perhaps the last baby quilt her mother will make for anyone. Clifford was one of my absolute favorite characters as a child. I wonder how they knew? Check out that sweet heart print on the reverse side--that's all snugly warm flannel.





Aunt Maxine is an iron woman. This is the fourth (at least) baby blanket she has hand knit this year, and I believe it is the best one yet. Heh. What a labor of love! I knit, so I know--oh, I KNOW--what all was involved this blanket's making. The time commitment alone is mind boggling. We love love love it! And I officially declare that our baby will be wrapped in Aunt Maxine's blanket when we bring him/her home from the hospital.

Neither pictured or handmade, but completely awesome nonetheless, is the book that Anita gave us called Cool Spaces for Kids by Sam Scarborough. It has me ready to fast-forward directly to toddler, so we can start building teepees and puppet theaters and playhouses and all that jazz.



Some other lovely goodies came from Ellie and from our neighbor Carl. First, Ellie knitted our baby the teeniest tiniest stocking cap in the entire world. And she also gave us the little white cardigan, the sock monkey, and the embroidered poem. Each were handmade by someone. And Carl gave us a framed copy of the poem he had written for his sister's baby's birth a few years ago. Her baby's gender was also going to be a surprise, so the poem tells the story of a mom and dad painting their nursery half pink and half blue so their baby would be greeted by a cheerful world of color, no matter whether it was a girl or boy.





Chere and George gave Robb a tiny tackle box and fishing rod. But it was this t-shirt (front and back shown above) that they had made up that got him a little misty. Even though he won't admit it. I overheard him talking with DNR Rick (he works for the Department of Natural Resources so that's what we call him) the next day trying to figure out how soon you can take a baby out fishing. Together they determined that if trout season opens in March, then age two months seems appropriate.