An FO parade!

But not today. This blogging thing gets terribly tricky when photos are expected, nay, required to tell a good story. Which is why the FO parade will be postponed until I can remember to take pictures of the aforementioned, hinted at FOs. And hey, why not bait you some more. Here's what's on tap for the FO parade:
1. Baby-Yours Sweater (Ravelry link)
2. Spectrum Scarf (Ravelry link)
3. A woven project (ooo, ahh!). In tencel (ooo, ahh!).

If you're lucky (and I'm ambitious), I may even photograph some in-progress projects, including:
1. Hedgerow socks (Ravelry link)
2. Toddler Jeneric's fall coat (ooo! A sewing project).

In other news, I am ecstatic at the release of the Kit, Chloe & Louise doll patterns from Wee Wonderfuls. I adore these dolls and have wanted to make them for Toddler Jeneric since forever. In fact, they are the whole reason I started sewing. How's that for inspiration?

A sock knitting meme and a hint at an FO

Yeah, I love memes. Great for blog fodder (when I think about posting, that is) and this one is even relevant to the blog - sock knitting (which makes me nauseous in early pregnancy). Today's meme courtesy of Claudia.

When did you first learn to knit socks?
About three months after I learned to knit. So Sometime in 2003 or 2004? Not sure the exact date, but I am sure the motivation was something along the lines of: there’s got to be more than squares to this knitting thing.

What's the first sock you ever knit?
A very simple pair in a self-striping Regia color-way.

Favorite Sock Pattern?
No specific pattern, but I do love short-row heels and toe-up socks.

Favorite needle method?
DPNs. Makes the project look edgier, scarier.

Favorite sock needles?
Wooden or bamboo, size US 0 or US 1, 5 inches in length.

Who do you knit socks for?
Anybody – family, friends, animals. It’s been brought to my attention that I have ignored the feet of my daughter and should feel enough guilt to make all of her winter socks this year. Doubtful that will happen, but I should be able to squeak out a pair.

How many pairs have you knitted to date?
No idea. More than a breadbox?

What is on your sock knitting to-do list?
Knit a pair for above-mentioned daughter (she’s under 2 – it should be quick).
Knit the purple Socks that Rock into a pair for Mother-in-Law, in time for Christmas. Don’t laugh!

What kind of socks to you like to knit?
Striped? Yes.
Colorwork? No.
Plain Stockinette? Yes.
Cabled? Definitely.
Lace? Most assuredly.
Anklets? Yep.
Knee Socks? Boy howdy, yes. I’ve made two pair, neither stay up the way I’d like. I see this as a challenge.
Solid colors? I’d like to say yes, but I’ve only knit one pair of solid socks. Wonder what that says about me?
Bright and crazy? Just wait until you see what I’ve in store for Toddler Jeneric.
Faux Fair Isle (the yarn doing all of the work)? Have done this, not keen on it.
---

What a difference a sleep makes. I've been speeding through the Baby Yours Sweater (Ravelry Link). There was a brief moment of terror as I attached the sleeves (I know - you attach 2 squares, but WHERE do you attach them? How does one figure that out? Because yes, in every other pattern I've made, the sleeve is shaped! There are indicators for attachment! But I digress). Never fear, I did indeed conquer the sleeve seaming (all while watching Murder on the Orient Express - what a cast! What bad acting!). Next up: seem the side and sleeves. Easy, peasy, says I. Pick up the little bar on one side, then the little bar on the other side. Yeah. Only it wasn't quite working that way last night (could be the suspense of the movie). I gave the sweater an overnight time-out, and this morning, in the 5-minutes before I ran to catch my bus, I totally figured it out and cruised halfway up one side. I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll finish the seaming tonight. Next up: a quest for buttons.

The little green monster

Well, not so much a monster as a tiny sweater for a baby-to-be. I've no photos, only a Ravelry link. It's the Baby-Yours Sweater, designed by the Yarn Harlot. And it was really only a monster for the first two or three cable rows, as I was getting my bearings. Of course, in that time I managed to futz the very simple check pattern - turning it into a 4-row pattern repeat rather than a 2-row repeat. No matter. It still looks lovely. Fingers and toes crossed that it's finished before Baby Wily makes his/her (preferably quick and painless) entry into the world.

Of course, there's enough yarn left for some booties and a hat. Priorities, though. Toddler Jeneric is patiently waiting for her fall coat and winter scarf and hat. Goodness. You'd think I slept 4 hours a day.

An FO

I know I ignore this blog like it was the ugly stepchild of a man I married just for money. And really, I am clearly having an affair with the far more handsome, if somewhat less-affluent Ravelry since I've been on a mission to photograph and update all my projects over there (User name: Jeneric). I've also updated my library and I'm toying with entering my stash (toying - let's not get serious about this Mr. Ravelry, shall we?).

In any case, visit me on Ravelry where you can see more FOs like the Baby Blanket (loosely based on the Mason-Dixon modern baby blanket - see, there's that connotation, again. Loose!).

Blue

Toddler Jeneric needs a fall coat. What do we think of blue?

For a cute baby jacket?

(never fear - it goes up to a 4T size)

This is a lined coat that can be done in raggy strips. For my first attempt, I decided to go with a single piece for the outer layer (the floral print) with a flannel lining (fall winds can be quite chilly in Michigan).

I also get to play around with Do Sew, a tracing paper of sorts so I can use the pattern for multiple sizes. I know a few babies on the way who might like a little coat of their own...

The other, other fiber hobby

I've recently decided to try my hand, yet again, at sewing. Third time and everything, right?*

So we've a great store where I can take courses here and there. They've got a back room full of machines that are free to use whenever classes aren't in session. So far, I've completed one project:





A reversible sundress for Jeneric. Which she loves!

I'm in the process of making some napkins for home use. If time permits the next time I'm at a machine, I plan to tackle bloomers to go with Jeneric's dress.

*Full disclosure: first time in third grade to finish a scout badge; second time in 7th grade as part of home ec. You'd think having a mother who's an accomplished quilter and seamstress would help with motivation. Or maybe not, eh?

Happy (belated) Canada Day!

Although I am not Canadian (not yet, at any rate), I celebrated Canada day by not getting burnt. I know, seems like such a small way to celebrate (what, no screech?), but if you'd seen the burn I got two Canada days ago, well, you'd be applauding my efforts.

Huzzah for Canada! Thanks for not invading the lower 48 (or Alaska or Hawai'i). We'll see if we can return the favor.

Procratina-meme

I saw this on And she knits, too, and thought to myself, self, you've read a lot of those books. Let's tally the data on this.

The guidelines: bold those books you've read; underline those that were read for school; italicize those you began but never finished. For simplicity, I'm just going to bold books I've read and italicize the one's I never finished.

Ready? Here goes:

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian: a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes: a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States: 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

Summary:
31 of 106 books read
7 out of 106 started and unfinished

Conclusions:
1. I usually finish what I start. Wish it were the same for my knitting.
2. I've not read nearly as much as I thought I had. Should I create a reading life list?
3. The Red Badge of Courage, which I read at least 6 times for school, was not on that list. To this day, I hold a grudge against Stephen Crane.

Cat or mouse?

Those of you who use Gmail are, perhaps, aware that you can set your 'status' in the chat box to anything at all. Available, Out-of-office, Blue or Red, whatever. I regularly set my status to simple questions: Plaid or stripes, Boy or girl, etc. Yesterday, I changed my status to Cat or mouse. Late last night, our cat, Acadia (the chunky one, natch) caught a mouse. And proceeded to play cat and mouse into the morning.

I'm thinking of changing my status to chocolate or chocolate.