~ [Shadkitty Knitty] ~

May 25, 2007

I Have a Belly Button

I was tagged again for the 7 things meme. So, I'll just give you a fact or two, at random (Muhahahaha) over the next couple of posts. Nobody is getting tagged this time. Fact 1 - I have a belly button. It's been pierced twice, and I got pregnant 3 times, you do the math. So now there is a nasty scar over my belly button, I'm hoping to get a tattoo some day to cover it.

I'm not explaining this picture to you. It's kind of self explanitory. Sunne will probably hear all about it (I tend to vent to her lol), and Mr. Shad heard about it last night when it happened. Right now I'm done dwelling on it. Deep breaths.

To distract myself, I wound up and cast-on the Wollmeise worsted I just got. Bockstark Knits and I did a yarn swap (and I am such a bad yarn swapper! Eeee!) she gave me all sorts of really awesome things, plus of course the yarn. Wollmeise is so beautiful, go and buy now! Tell her I sent you! Anyways, the goodies included one of those mini sock blockers which I have (secretly) been dying to have. And gummy bears that the kids gobbled up. The yarn was two skeins of Wollmeise worsted in Iris Sibirica and Veilchen. Purty! Not to mention I just ordered two more skeins of sock yarn and another worsted which she mailed off today! Woot! I'll be rolling in yarn soon. It was a good idea to order it before he left so that it will all arrive when I really need it. :)

Do you believe I'm knitting a scarf?! Yeah, me either.

What else did I have to tell you all about? I don't know either. Wait! I remember! I won the contest on PRK! Woohoooo! Wow,there are a lot of exclamation points right there. I think I need to sleep. It's now 1:06am.

Another random fact (2) I have known my best friend for almost 20 years, we met in preschool. We're like an old married couple.

Labels: contest, disappointment, frustration, scarf, Wollmeise, yarn

09:50 | |

May 24, 2007

Some Good, Some Bad

So, today was not fun for the first...eight hours or so. Heather woke up at 4am complaining of her ears hurting. *sigh* She snuggled in bed with me, rolling around and crying at random. Until the boys woke up at around 8:30. I grabbed them, fed them, and called the doctor. We got her an appointment for 11. Finished feeding the boys, grabbed myself a poptart, and Heather woke up. At this point it was now 10, so I rushed to dress everyone, gave Heather my poptart and milk (I wonder why I'm always hungry), and checked the diaper bag. 10:30, rush out the door to discover...I have lost my keys!! After hunting throughout the house thoroughly while telling Heather to find the keys, I find them in my bedroom on the floor, by the nightstand. Oops. Back out to the car.

Oh, did I mention my monthly visitor arrived this morning too? Yep. So, Heather has an ear infection, Kyran has bug bites, I have cramps and Nolan...well Nolan is just happy. Tell you what, I'm making pie tonight!

Then, I come home. A package in the mailbox! Hurrah! Who was it from? I'm expecting several. It's from Pamela over at Flint Knits! She was destashing after her car decided to try to ruin her summer. Six balls of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran for $32? Oh yeah, I coud live with that. It will make a gorgeous sweater too! I'm thinking this, maybe with a cable panel? Yum. Yarn makes everything better. She also sent me a cute notepad, some chocolate (which I assure you is actually no longer in that cute little box), a book for the kids, and tea.

Also, I remembered my handspun. I finally got (I think) sock-able yarn! It's about 14wpi, that's like a sport or DK weight right?? Eh, it looks good to me. There is 330yds, which is plenty to make socks. Woot! Carded up some raw wool that I'd dyed, it didn't come out at ALL like I planned. Oh well. Still will be fun.

Oh, and the best thing (major ego boost), check this out! Someone made the booties using MY directions! Squeeeee!

Labels: happiness, life, purchases, spinning, yarn

13:03 | |

May 22, 2007

Um...Uh

This is kinda just a quick update. Right now the computer is not displaying anything but this box.

I have joined Summer of Socks, the link is in the sidebar. You should do it too, if you like socks that is. You know you want to. Maybe I will make you some pie.

To finish my Twisted Flowers socks before the end of the month (for SAM 3), I need to do 15 rows per day. Per day folks. Yeah, I'm getting off here soon.

Scoured some wool, I want to dye some of it soon. Weighed the rest of it all. There was a lot. lol Oh, I also put half my money down to reserve a fleece for next year. Since she was unnamed as of yet, I got to name her! The theme (Melissa has name themes, check out ABC Woolcrafts and you will see what I mean) was old actresses. So, my sheep is named Rita Hayworth. :D Squeee!

Saturday night I went to a karaoke bar with some friends. And my throat is still sore from "not" singing at the table with one of my friends.

This weekend I am possibly going to Maryland. Maybe. Anyone wanna come hang out with me over the next three weeks? No? Nobody? lol Alright, off to knit some more on Twisted Flowers.

Labels: blogging, life, updating, wool/fleece/roving

12:58 | |

May 21, 2007

Men

I love my husband. Honest I do. And I will miss him while he's gone over the next few weeks. But right now, I want to WRING HIS NECK!! He flubbed up the computer downloading mangas. We won't even talk about my current reason for being frustrated with him.

Anyways, since the computer is messed up now, I don't like to be online for very long. Sorry if I haven't checked your blog out recently! Or updated a lot. Here is some of what I did this weekend. Enjoy!

Labels: babies, funny, hat

11:38 | |

May 16, 2007

You Want My Pie

The only thing of note that I have done is make pie. But it's damn good pie. Peanut butter. Yum. I have this friend from school, and we have the most retarded conversations. Usually it is about Hot Sox on cam (because I knit on webcam occasionally), today it was pie.

Shadkitty: my pie is DELICIOUS
Shadkitty: well, the filling is, I tasted it
Joel: are you trying to make me pie jealous?
Shadkitty: yes
Joel: okay you "win" I wish I had yer pie
Shadkitty: you want my pie
Joel: yes I want yer pie so badly :P

Trust me, you all want some of my pie. :D Sorry, I can't help it. I'm dirty.

Stole this from Dawn over at Wild Yarn.

Mark with bold the things you have knit (or are knitting)/crocheting, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan (zippy hoodie)
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (uhh, what is this?)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns (with lace weight, yeah!)
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting
Knitting to make money
Buttonholes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks (yikes!)
Knitting art
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener stitch
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Labels: lists/surveys, memes/blogthings

11:39 | |

May 15, 2007

Norwegian Baby Hat

Alright, I had written a whole lovely explanation of what happened with the baby hat. And then my computer DIED. Isn't that awesome? So, I'm gonna write it all down on paper and then add the pattern to here. Does anyone know of a baby who needs a hat? The one I made is newborn sized, and Nolan isn't quite so little now. He's 9 months old now! Can you believe it? Maybe I'll make another one for him out of some sock yarn. If not, I'll make one out of sock yarn for the Q2 challenge. I'm just worried about sending handspun wool to a place that might not be able to take proper care of it. :D

Materials:
Heavy worsted weight yarn (approx 50-60yds)
Size 9 DPNs (or size needed to obtain gauge)

Stitch markers
Tapestry needle

Gauge: 4sts = 1"

Sizes: 0-3mos, 2-6mos, 6-9mos, 9-12mos
Finished Measurements: 13", 14", 15" 17"

Pattern Notes:
PM - place marker
DD - slip 2 sts together as if to knit, K1, pass slipped sts over
KLL & KRL - to view videos of these increases look here, you'll have to scroll down

I count the increase as one stitch, seperate from the stitches knitted before and after it. Remember that when counting stitches or you might end up off a stitch.

DIRECTIONS:

CO 53 (57, 63, 69) sts. Join in the round, being careful not to twist. Work in garter stitch for 3/4", ending with a knit round. K 18 (19, 21, 23), PM, K 17 (19, 21, 23), PM, K 17 (19, 21, 23). Markers are to help you remember where to increase, placing a marker for the decreases is (unfortunately) more of a hassle than a help.

Continue as follows:

RND 1: KRL, K 8 (8, 9, 10), DD, K to marker, KLL, KRL, K 7 (8, 9, 10), DD, K to marker, KLL, KRL, K 7 (8, 9, 10), DD, K 8 (8, 9, 10), KLL

RND 2: K around

Rep these two rounds until hat measures 3 (3, 4, 5) inches, remove markers and omit increases in RND 1 after this point. Continue until 5 (6, 6, 6) sts left.

Finishing
Break yarn and thread tail through remaining stitches using tapestry needle. Weave in ends and promptly chase down some poor infant to model your work!

Labels: babies, hat, pattern

19:29 | |

Play Tag With Me

Really, it'll be fun. :D

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog. Here are my facts:

1) I liked crazy socks even before I could knit.

2) I hug everyone. I'm just a huggy person.

3) I wanted to be an artist and had browsed several art schools around the DC/Metropolitan area before I moved down to NC.

4) I can't really swim. I can tread water and doggy paddle, that is it. Then again, I'm not really big on water outside of my shower. (And my best friend is a lifegaurd)

5) I always spell the word seperate wrong. Seriously, spell check it.

6) Which is funny because I am a grammar/spelling Nazi. My blog seems to be the only place that I write/talk freely. Without worrying about how I'm spelling yada yada.

7) I didn't get my driver's license until I was 20 years old and already had two kids.

I tag,
Kat (my PRGE pal Kat), Pins&Needles (Yeah, I know your real name but don't know how you feel about that), Robbie, O'Kitten, Carissa, MeanBean, and Kris.

Um, nothing much happened yesterday except that I frogged the hat several times because I didn't like the decreases. Also, I have decided I will knit that second Twisted Flower sock. Really, why stop a beautiful history of perfectly paired paw protectors now? Sorry about the alliteration, it was just fun okay?

Labels: memes/blogthings

10:06 | |

May 14, 2007

Moms Rock!

It is true. Everyone should know this, most of you are moms (and you all have moms).

My husband must really appreciate me. I got a lot of goodies this year. Some of it I bought myself though. Well, my MIL complimented me on my clean house when she got in on Friday, that was more than enough to set the weekend off right. Mr. Shad gave me (I'm listing it all, because he gave me these things scattered throughout the weekend) a kitchen scale, a belt (my old one was dead), a sticker, flowers, a t-shirt, Bicenntenial Man, Jack, and What Dreams May Come. I gave (to myself), 2 and a half pounds of Alpaca, a ball winder, and finished my first Twisted Flowers sock. My MIL and father cooked breakfast Saturday morning. It was a fantastic weekend folks.

The Twisted Flowers sock may end up twinless. I'm debating. The Koigu

wasn't making me happy, it's just too much money for the quality. Also, I messed up. I made the foot a bit short because I was getting impatient. So now part of the heel flap comes under my heel. It might not be a big deal really. Just not sure how I feel about it. The huge sweater also got a couple inches in. When I had the sock finished, and had spun everything I'd carded over the weekend...I realized there wasn't much else for me to knit. Today I started and attempt at this. Except...it'll look totally different because I'm trying it in some of my handspun. Hopefully I have enough. *sigh*

Hum, what else? My dad took lots of pics, forgot his wallet, and is still impressed with the fact that you can make "string" out of anything. lol Made cookies today. Plan on making peanut-butter pie for a potluck on Thursday. OH! And thank you to Carissa! She sent me a cute little sheepy card to thank me for some things and wish me a happy Mother's Day. Mr. Shad also bought himself a Wii. *rolls eyes*

Labels: alpaca, ball winder, fiber, gifts, gratitude, Mother's Day, socks, Twisted Flower

15:51 | |

May 11, 2007

What What?

Uh...I'm not explaining that.

Anyways, yeah. I don't know what happened to me. Had some difficulties mid-week. First I screwed up my neck, and then I just didn't feel like it. I didn't even check bloglines. Tuesday and Wednesday were not great days. Things are fine now, I just needed to rest I suppose. However, I have been on Ravelry. Sloooowly uploading my info. I can tell some of you others are too, your Flickr accounts have been updated with old pics. ;) Which reminds me, being new to knitting right now is good. I've only gotta update with stuff that has happened over the last year. lol

Actually, I have some new and old pictures for you all today. In a stroke of

brilliance last night I learned that our laptop has an SD drive. All that time I spent hooking up the camera to the computer...wasted. lol So, even though the camera is broken, the SD card still has the pictures on it. I uploaded those. Now you have good pictures of my haul from San Jose. As well as the guy from the hotel that we became friends with. So, here are those pictures. If you click on the picture of my Knitting Arts buys, it has labels. In case you are unfamiliar with any of the yarns.

Friends are the best. I am counting on all of you when Mr. Shad gets deployed! Anyways, a few of you have expressed interest in the TOFUtsies, I have to go back through my emails and see who wanted it and then make a decision. Guess I am just indecisive right now. Actually, I should do it right now, there are some things all packaged up to be shipped out sitting in my kitchen, that I meant to send earlier this week. Instead I just looked at them and didn't do anything. Sorry!! So, if you get a gift or anything late, my bad.

Dunno how my self-imposed mini-diet will go. It seems like I picked a bad time for it. Mr. Shad is going to Yuma until the end of June. *sigh* Hopefully I can still go

up to MD Memorial Day weekend. I'd been telling everyone that I was coming, making plans, and then...oh DUH, he's not gonna be here. That's okay though, I need to get back on the horse and make the trip. We'll see how well it works out. I wanted to wait until the YP Deep Cove got here to post pictures of the last Loopy order I made, seeing as how I ordered them on the same day. It's not here yet, but then, she did have to dye some more due to over ordering. I just didn't think I was an over-order. Then again, I like to send all of my packages at one time, maybe she does too.

So anyways, here is the last Loopy order. The pictures suck big. There is a cute stitch-marker that came as an extra, and you just can't see it. My order was the

yellow CTH. Man, it is so AWESOME! Can I explain to you that yarn has sucked me into this huge colorful hole? Seriously, I hate yellow. It's one of my least favorite colors. But it goes really well with green, which I have a lot of. Ridiculous people. This is crazy. The only question now is, which pattern?! I'm thinking the Child's First sock in Shell pattern. Then again, I want some cables. Dunno why, but I've been wanting some really yummy cables. Nothing too intricate. Maybe like this? Yeah, that's definitely going into the queue.

Hmm. What else happened?? Oh, my Twisted Flowers sock is up to row 18 on the foot now. If you are going to do this sock, seriously, take the time to learn cabling without a cable needle. You'll be glad you did. Otherwise, you might forget to cable

or twist here and there, considering that 14 rows out of the 32 row repeat on the leg have at least one twist or cable. Still, it's been fantastic to do. And going down a needle size has made it just the right size for my legs, which helps to make the design pop a bit more.

Shoot, right now I should be cleaning, my MIL just crossed the NC border and should be here in a couple of hours. She is a very tidy person, and I can't believe I didn't clean yesterday. Just not in the right frame of mind. Hopefully today I can get those packages out and get to the yarn shop. I'm hoping she weighed the Alpaca fleeces she got in. I want some. Have some milk and cookies.

*updated to add pic of the YP Deep Cove, that came in after I posted this*

Labels: life, Loopy Ewe, purchases, Ravelry, socks, updating, vacation, wool/fleece/roving, yarn

08:30 | |

May 6, 2007

Boom Baby!

I love that movie.

Anyways, I have loads of pics for you. What is stranger? That I haven't posted in three days or that that is unusual for me? My knitting and spinning mojo was gone for a little while. Now I am back! I am feelin it again. Probably because I started my Twisted Flower socks over the weekend. The miles of stockinette on that sweater were KILLING me. I couldn't even start the Ribs and Lace Tank that I bought some Cotton Ease for because all of my Denise cords are being used. Oh well, it's purple which isn't until August in Project Spectrum anyway. Right?

I've definitely done my fair share of tinking in this pattern, it's worth it though.

I love it. What I'm not loving, however, is the Koigu. It gets talked up a lot, I just don't think it's worth all of the hype. Many of the indie-dyers have better qualilty yarns in my opinion. Of course, you have to try something to know how you feel about it. So I will use what I have and just not buy any more. Wollmeise is still my all time favorite, it will be the first thing I buy after my self-imposed mini yarn diet.

Well, I'm not buying yarn, but that doesn't mean I can't buy books! Yesterday we went to the Books-A-Million, silly idea. I picked two books out of their needlecraft section.

Knitting Lingerie Style and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting. Then I took them to my husband, guess which one he chose for me to keep? Of course the one with lingerie. lol I thought he'd pick the new Yarn Harlot book because it was cheaper. Though I'm seriously glad he didn't, I want that book, but Knitting Lingerie Style is a beautiful book. The patterns are lovely, and it includes a few simple sewing patterns, which is lovely. Check this book out, not everything in it is underwear, there are some lovely lace tops, a skirt, armwarmers, and yes, a whole section of socks. :D This is one of my favorite patterns in the book. How sexy is that?

The stitch markers I won from Mouse's blog contest are GORGEOUS! They

are pictured with the Knitting Lingerie book. My stupid webcam doesn't show them off properly. Oh, I have some TOFUtsies yarn that I bought awhile ago, and then promptly forgot to photograph. I don't know why I bought two, I think they were packaged together like that. Is that weird?? Maybe I'll just give one away or destash it. Dunno which though. Anybody want it?? lol Alright, I'm off to do a few more rows of Twisted Flower, update my Ravelry, and hopefully get a small kitchen scale for weighing my fiber. We'll see what Mr. Shad is up to. He's got a cold that's kicking his ass and won't admit it. Oh, and here's a picture for Kat, since she says she hasn't seen many of the bugga baby.

Labels: babies, blogging, socks, Twisted Flower, yarn

12:22 | |

May 3, 2007

Punk Sock Star

I wish I had had a camera today! I felt on top of the world! Sunne is right, a good haircut and stylist will make you feel like a rock start. And I was pimping out my newly completed Thelonious socks with some rolled up jeans and 1" heels. Today I decided to go out with a friend of mine (who I had thought was not my friend anymore, long story) anyways, she wanted to get her hair done. When we got to the salon, I decided it was worth the extra $20 to look the way I wanted. This is seriously better. Another friend will be giving it some color soon, whenever she is not working. Which, actually, is rare. Do you love my Cry-Baby shirt, or what?

So, in fiber/knitting related news, Etsy is horrible and addictive, I love it. :D Yesterday I got in a gift for someone. Today

my fiber came in. *drool* Okay, so I have been stalking Maine Woods etsy shop for ages. I just love the cute little pictures of the rolled up bats (they are bats in that form right?), tied up with brown raffia. Finally, I ordered one. I just couldn't take it any longer. When it came in, and was larger than I had expected, I was SO excited! Somehow the pictures are misleading, they look much smaller. The second package contained my FatCatKnits fiber. It is beautiful. My only problem is that she didn't give the color a name. However, with colors that beautiful, who cares? Knitting has been slow, I just haven't been feeling it (okay, more accurately I haven't been feeling the projects I'm currently knitting). Got a few inches on the huge sweater done. And finally a pic. Just for laughs, I put it on Heather. It's cuter that way.

Hm...what else? My calves ache from the heels, my arms ache from carrying Nolan, my abs ache from doing some crunches last night, and my head aches from being here with the crazies alone yesterday. I couldn't help myself, Flint Knits has inspired me to knit some yellow socks, so I bought some CTH in Yellow from The Loopy Ewe. And then, some Deep Cove from the Yarn Pirate's new shop. Stopped by Bombs Away to see if Nik has finished my design. He hasn't. Slacker. :D The house is clean. Babies need baths and naps (can anyone say early bedtime?). Mouse invited me to join Ravelry! Seriously, everyone has been talking about it and I am so excited. Yet, scared at the same time that it will eat up the small amount of time I allow myself for doing my actual crafts. Oh well, I'll enjoy it! Now I am off to feed, bathe, and tuck in my babes. Then it is off to cavort on Ravelry. *grins*

Labels: fiber, hair, happiness, life, Loopy Ewe, purchases, rambling, Ravelry, sweater

15:39 | |

May 2, 2007

Before Bed

Okay, I am aware of what time it is.

Anyways, I just wanted to note that I finally updated my sidebar. Scroll down, see whose blogs I read, where I buy yarn, what projects I have in mind...and so on. It's still not 100%, but I am tired.

Also, PRGE reveals are happening! My pal (the one I am spoiling) is KnitKat, who totally rocks. This whole swap is awesome. Anyways, you'll see her over in the links now. Apparently she has been lurking. :) lol Alright folks, I'm off to pillowland!

Night

Labels: blogging, PRGE, sleep, updating

00:56 | |

May 1, 2007

Since I Can't Sleep

I will ramble to you. The other positive thing, is now I don't have to worry about blogging tomorrow. Generally my rule is to only post once in a day. So, this counts as my post for May 1st. Awesome

Fellow bloggers, I swear I have actually been knitting. Though my progress is slow going, mostly due to Lady A's distractions. Seriously, the only reason I'm not spinning now is I don't want to wake Mr. Shad. Who has to be to work in 4 hours. Is it strange that the exact time I looked at the clock was one a.m.?

The LYS sweater is making it's way around. It is huge! At some point I'll photograph

me wearing it. Really, it's not as big as I had thought, now that the sleeves are separated. It's just funny to see it on me. Loads of pictures from today. I got in my Loopy Ewe sneak-up order. Sheri is awesome. If you love socks, check out The Loopy Ewe. She sends yarn samples and little extras, AND (my favorite) a handwritten note in EVERY package. Who does that? She takes time to write you a note. I look for that little note every time I order. And now I'm addicted to ordering from her. Which is kind of sad, because I love my Etsy folks too! Speaking of...I ordered more fiber today. This is horrible. I need to ban myself from Etsy for awhile. Oh, I'm babbling. Back to my Loopy order. I got a printed version of the Twisted Flower Sock Pattern, (finally!) some Yarn Pirate sock yarn in Karma, and in my goodies bag I got "Loopy's Red Sock Kit". With a baby yarn cake and everything!

I know, that looks just like the pics I posted earlier. Sorry. It's the first bobbin full of plied yarn! Now, the debate is...keep the small remaining bit (to be plied tomo...er today) for myself, or send it to it's intended recipient along with the first skein? By the way, the difference between a hank and a skein, since I have been wanting to know, is that a hank is a unit of measurement, while a skein is not (gotta love wikipedia). They look the same though and knitters, I believe, use them interchangeably. Just a thought.

Labels: Loopy Ewe, purchases, rambling, sleep, spinning, stash, yarn, yarn addict

00:00 | |