Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...

Isn't my grandson Brayden just the sweetest little baby you have ever seen????

I thought you would agree. BTW, he is wearing the one-piece jumpsuit I made for his mother. It was the first outfit she ever wore.

My friend Melinda and I have both started the Chevron Lace Cardigan as a KAL. I am going to frog mine to make the next larger size and Melinda is going to frog hers to make a smaller size! It is easy to memorize the pattern so it goes fairly quickly. I plan on making some modifications to the pattern to make it more of a swing coat affair. We shall see.

Ripplin' On Again

I got an apartment in Sherman Oaks. Much relief.

Now that the weather has cooled, I am making some progress on the Ripple Blanket (afghan is an inappropriate word for something that hangs over a Queen size bed by a foot on each side). The rows seem to take more time than I remember. Maybe is it just the thought of actually getting to the end of it sometime that makes it seem to linger longer. But I will persevere! I really want this finished before the cold sets in around December. I have other projects to make for the holidays. I want this finished before my oldest daughter comes to visit for Christmas.

Facing the inevitable of moving my yarn stash (yet again) I have vowed once more to knit from my stash. All those lovely yarn shops with their fabulous sales will have to tempt someone else. I have more than enough to keep me busy for an entire year!

Falling off the wagon and getting pulled under the wheels...

Well, so much for the "Knit From Your Stash" commitment that I made in January. Actually, it lasted longer than I thought it would. I still have aspirations to get back on the wagon, but probably not until Bishop's is over their going-out-of-business sale. At 70% off, that is pretty damn hard to resist! Here is the haul from Tuesday's binge;5 skeins of Bernat Berella "4" in white, 4 balls of OrnaghiFilati Cashmerino, 2 skeins of Sirdar Snuggly DK in a lt. rust and 2 in a lt. grey/blue, a whole bag of Sirdar Snuggly DK in white and 5 hanks of Berroco Glace. The Berella "4" and the Snuggly is destined for baby clothes for an as-yet-to-be-discovered baby. People get pregnant all the time, right? (Not me, of course. I would throw myself into the middle of the 405 at 5pm!) The Cashmerino is going to be a pair of patterned socks for my daughter, Shiloh. The 5 hanks of Glace will be added to the 7 hanks I have of the same color (but I am SURE that it is a different dye lot...that would be too freakin' weird if they were the same!) so that I can actually make something other than a crop top. Nobody wants to see that...I will simply alternate rows of each dye lot and with the amazing color variation in the yarn, it will all be fine.

I have continued to work on the ripple vest. I am almost done with the back, about 1 1/2 inches left to go. After all that epiphany stuff, I decided to frog it back to the f*$#-up and crochet it correctly. It didn't take as long as I thought it would and I am much happier knowing that there are only a few small mistakes rather than one glaring boo-boo and a few small mistakes. Hopefully it will be done in time to start the front and work on that when I go to Seattle in August.

I feel better now. They say confession is good for the soul...

Whatever.

The Same Thing, Just More Of It

With the ripple afghan on hold, I am once again working on the Ripple Vest. I pulled it out at the WeHo SnB on Thursday and started working on it. Probably not the best idea as I need to count a few stitches here and there. Sure enough, I got to a place in the return row where the stitches do not line up. Now I have to rip back to the row before (or worse yet, the row before that!) and figure out what went wrong. Sure, I could just add a stitch here or there to make it all come out right, but it is RIGHT SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE of the vest and would probably show like a beacon on a clear night.

EPIPHANY!!!! While writing this I just had a thought. This is supposed to be the front but I haven't made the back yet and why not make this the back and make the front last when I really have my shit together on this pattern understand the pattern well???? Problem solved. Movin' on.

On Thursday night, we (the WeHo SnB) were displaced from our usual location of the upstairs dining area at the Farmer's Market. We then commandeered an alcove on the main floor for ourselves. Lots of people stopped by to ask what we were doing. (Laurie, we hope to see you at a future SnB!) A group of 4 small children seemed interested (one very interested) in what we were doing. The very interested little girl hung around until her mother made her go with them. I can hear the future interview now, "What made you become a world-famous knitwear designer?" "Well, when I was a child, I was fascinated by a group of ladies crocheting and knitting at the Farmer's Market......".

First one's free.

Hiatus

My ripple is about 1/3 done and this is where it stands. The weather has gotten too hot to work on it (that coupled with the AC not working in our apartment...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!) so it will have to wait until it cools off here in the Valley. Around November, I suppose. Sasha won't sit on it for a photo. I think she is put off by its brightness! Either that or she hasn't been exposed to acrylic yarn before and doesn't know what to make of it. I think it looks good on an all-white bed, don't you?

You'll Soon Be One Of Us

I have made some more progress on my Ripple Afghan. So far each color has been used twice with the bit of pink starting the 3rd set of 7 colors. So far, it is about 13 1/2" wide. Although I have never been to the Caribbean, that is what this makes me think of. The colors are so bright and cheery. I took it to the Thursday WeHo SNB and it met with rave reviews! I love this group, always so much fun and very supportive. Some people confessed to having been "secretly rippling" at home but not posting to the Ripple Along.

At first I wasn't really crazy about the acrylic yarn. Truthfully, it does have a few "hiccups" from time to time. Big globs of un-spun fiber or one ply being too long and wrapping around the others. I realized that I had become sort of a fiber snob. That is until I also realized that I love another thing that is made from acrylic! Several years ago my fingernails started splitting on the sides. I don't know if it had to do with age or what. I started getting acrylic nails and have been hooked ever since. Since moving to SoCal I have tried a few nail places but one does an exemplary job. Alice Nails on Ventura in Woodland Hills is great. Lani does the best "pink & white", EVER!