Possibly a sweater in my future

I thought I might have to give up knitting sweaters for the next year, but I recently found a pattern that would be very adjustable and forgiving to any changes in size or shape: Hannah Fettig's Effortless Cardigan (I'm afraid I couldn't find it off her Knitbot site and only on Ravelry, so the link will only work if you are a member of Ravelry). Cosmicpluto's Rayne Wrap Cardigan had also caught my eye, but in the former you can see that it's obviously a raglan that just continues on and with the latter, I'm not exactly sure (but here is PlumBlossom's project, who has posted a more illuminating picture in terms of sleeves). I'm afraid of having to pick up stitches and then doing short rows for set-in sleeves; I've done that before and the results weren't too pretty.

So then, a possibility of a sweater in the near future (and woe to those future socks that will have to wait even longer to be knit!) but what about the yarn? Do I want to go with a beautiful and vibrant Madelinetosh, as recommended by Fettig? Or Misti Alpaca's tactiley Tonos Worsted? Or, or, possibly better yet (if such a thing could be possible), Fleece Artist's Blue Faced Leicester? I love Fleece Artist yarns for the fiber, but I suspect their colorways are not that flattering for my skin tone. Nonetheless, this sweater pattern means possibility. To dream and guess and hope.

Smackdown. . . Scotch-style

Recently the boys tried the Macallan Cask Strength v. Glenlivet's 18 year. The Macallan won. It smells positively delicious and I can't wait for Hubby to get a bottle. Today he got Macallan's 15 and Lagavulin's 16 year. I suppose that taste test will take place soon. BevMo sells that Lagavulin for $80; at Costco it was $65. You've got to love Costco.

The Macallan Cask Strength was just amazing though, I've never smelled an alcohol that smelled so good. It was complex, fragrant and smooth.

As to the Overholt, I don't remember that one (no, not from over-inebriation). I just got these pictures so I threw them all up, but I think it may have been from an earlier sampling.

Niches, niches everywhere

Saw this today, I didn't even know there was a magazine devoted to just beer. . . although I probably should have.

Who loves ya, baby?

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, a recruiter emailed Hubby, but he was busy writing his thesis so he ignored the email. He finished writing his thesis, he defended his thesis, and lived, somewhat happily ever after, in postdoc land. But the recruiter emailed again, so Hubby wondered what to do. And I said, "It can't hurt to talk to them." So Hubby talked to the recruiter, who wanted Hubby to do a phone interview. And the phone interview turned into another phone interview, which turned into a day-long interview with lots of different people. And at the end of the day, the company gave him an interview gift. Hubby had never gotten a gift for going to an interview, so he was amused.

A couple of days later, the recruiter called to let Hubby know that the interviewers got together and they all decided that they really wanted Hubby to be hired. Hubby was not opposed to seeing what kind of offer they would put together, so he gave the recruiter the green light. The offer was not bad, but not amazing. Still, it was very good and much better than Hubby was making in postdoc land. So he told the recruiter that it sounded good, but he had a couple of questions on a few certain points. The recruiter said they'd get back to him and so Hubby waited and waited. Eventually, the recruiter called back with an amazing deal that Hubby decided he couldn't turn down, so he said yes. So they sent him the paperwork. And then they sent him a gift basket filled with goodies.

I have had a lot of jobs and for the most part, they've been crappy. When I worked for a Dilbert-esque company, on employee appreciation day we were given a CD case (like a cheaper version of a Case Logic one) and they had the greasiest, cheapest pizza in the break room. It was so bad everyone got indigestion from eating it. And it only had pepperoni. But I digress. And then there was the company after that, which had employee appreciation hour. (No, I'm not joking.) They gave us ice cream bars in the parking lot. You could only have one.

So suffice it to say, I've never been sent a gift basket from a future employer. So I'm kind of impressed. And jealous. But either way, the Asiago cheese dip is really, really yummy with the honey wheat dipping pretzels.

FO--Green helmet head to go with the green ribbed baby jacket

The set, together.
Just the hat, finished today (as in, I did the second button and sewed both on).
Close-up of the buttons.

I know I said I'd do a tutorial, but I was so rushed today I completely forgot to take pictures. I made buttons for the Twinkle Rockefeller sweater too, but forgot to take a picture of the buttons. Maybe in another post.

Almost New Year round-up

This year I have completed: seven sweaters (two of which, the Ribbed Baby Jacket and the minImogen, are baby-sized, but I'm still counting them, the rest being the Twinkle Rockefeller Cardigan, Vine Yoke Cardigan, Imogen, Hourglass pullover and Textured Circle Shrug); three pairs of socks (Garter st resoleable socks, Alexandrite Spiraling Coriolis socks and Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern); two shawl/scarfs (Storm Cloud Shawlette and Crayola Baktus); the Isabeau purse; one Star-Crossed Beret, three Aviatrixes and one Calorimetry (so kind of five head coverings/hats). And counting, because it's still November and the year is not over quite yet.

My favorites from this year are the Imogens, both for the process as well as the finished product, the Crayola Baktus (more for its portability and then also for the extremely stretchy and wearable finished product), and the Aviatrixes. No socks made the list. Maybe I'm turned off on socks. So perhaps it would be a bad idea to start pondering a yarn diet for 2011 and work on stashbusting for a year. After all, I have enough yarn for more than a dozen (really, I just tallied) pairs of socks. Although it might get boring just working on socks.

But then I could work on perfecting the perfect architecture. I like Cat Bordhi's Sockitecture book (the first one) but it doesn't seem to be the best fit for my foot for some reason. The (gasp!) no-gusset short-row heel seems to be a good fit for me, but I need to figure a way to also fit in heel stitch on the bottom of the heel since that's where I end up wearing out my socks.

There are socks that have been in my queue forever: the Waving Lace socks and Embossed Leaves socks from IK's Favorite Socks book. Queen Kahuna-method socks. Lace patterns from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks (Oriel) and More Sensational Knitted Socks (Little Arrowhead). I figure if I can make a good dent in my sock yarn, then and only then, can I buy more. And then I plan on buying me some Briggs and Tuffy Durasport and Tuffy.

I have a fantasy, a sock fantasy. Where every day I wear handknit socks. And that I have so many pairs (kind of like that picture of a bunch of different socks from Knitting Vintage Socks) each pair only gets worn maybe once or twice a month, so they don't wear out for a super long time. Of course, this ties into my handknit fantasy, where I wear at least one handknit every day.

And I've wanted to knit more hats and scarves and mittens, but being in Southern California I am not very motivated. And I have the lace-weight yarn for a Whisper cardigan, but I hate knitting in lace-weight yarn, I always feel like I'm about to break the yarn, so while I've started it twice, I need more impetus to restart. Maybe soon.

But. . . I also have gigantic skeins of lace-weight yarn waiting to be made into shawls. Specifically, I have a 250 gram ball of Fleece Artist's BFL 2/8 (in Ivory), and a 150 gram skein of Hand Maiden's Sea Silk (in Midnight). Wait and see, I guess we'll wait and see.

Makeup can be toys too

I picked up these two kits from this year's Friends and Family event (at Sephora). Honestly, I bought the entire Best of Basics set because I wanted to try the Josie Maran Argan Oil without splurging for an entire full-sized container. As to the mascara sampler, I realized post-ordering that they had TWO different mascara samplers, the other with a cute little eyelash curler. Oh well. I think the reason I always want to try different mascaras is because my lashes are so deficient--if I were satisfied with them, I would find that one Holy Grail product and stick with it (for base, it's Jane Iredale's Pressed Powder foundation and for lips, it's Burt's Bees lip balms, Lorac Gloss Sticks for lip gloss, and Smashbox oh crap, I just looked it up and it's been discontinued (which is when the search begins anew), but my HG product had been this but tinted for lipstick. Actually, I just searched for the LORAC gloss stick too, and apparently that has also been discontinued in the past year (because I bought some during last year's FF event). But, I don't use lip products that often--because I'm satisfied with my lips--so I'm probably safe for a little bit longer.

But mascara. My lashes are pitifully short and straight and thin. So I am always on the lookout for a mascara that will thicken and lengthen without smudging, last an entire day and not smudge (I have a huge problem with smudging which somehow does not deter me from wearing eye makeup, although perhaps it should). So I keep looking. My HG has been Fiberwig, but it always clumps. It's not perfect, so I'm still looking.

I already broke open the mascara sampler and started on the Hourglass Superficial. The brush bristles are very short, compared with other brushes, but I like it because it seems to coat my eyelashes well. Also, even though they tout the formula as moisturizing, I find it to be rather dry (not a lot of slip), which again I don't have an issue with, because it has relatively few clumps. I get smudging after a few hours though, and this isn't a crazy lengthening mascara like the Fiberwig (which has actual fibers in the mascara that adhere to your own eyelashes) so it's more of an everyday effect. But for that, I guess it's decent.

WIP pics of a FO --Claret Rockefeller

The fronts and backs cast on, via the Tailored Sweater Method by Tuulia Salmedi.
The sleeve caps picked up and the sleeves completed.
The body, continued.
The sweater, cast off along with pockets but before the giant ribbed collar.

Originally I wasn't sure how to do the pockets, as I was doing this sweater from the top-down rather than bottom-up. I ended up putting the 10 cable stitches on a holder, then doing a crochet provisional cast-on of 10 stitches to continue the body (since the stitches I put on the holders would now become the back, or inside or the pocket), then continue knitting in pattern. After finishing the ribbing and casting off, I picked up the stitches and did the pattern for the requisite ten rows. On the "top" layer with the provisional cast-on, I picked up my stitches and did the rows of ribbing (as in the Twinkle pattern). Then I messily sewed the whole thing together. Because I sew quite poorly--that's why I knit!

I really do need to take a FO pic, maybe after I do the buttons and sew them on. But I'm not impressed with the sweater. It's a shame, because it took from the start of one weekend to the end of the next (just over a week), but I don't love it. In fact, I tried to give it away to my mother (she wouldn't accept it since it was acrylic and holey, but the holes were part of the pattern! But I digress). I think I just don't like bulky sweaters. I felt like Chewbacca. And it didn't feel good (this part is my fault, since I knit this with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick). But it wasn't warm and I had flashbacks of junior high when I had many sweaters but was still, perpetually cold (in hindsight, it was because all but one of the sweaters was made of acrylic and sadly, the one sweater that was made of wool had a pattern of intarsia dogs which, at the time and probably still now, wholly embarrassed me). So what am I supposed to do with this huge monstrosity, frog it? I just might, some day.

A little light reading. . . not

After reading Po Bronson's "NurtureShock" book, I looked for that Vygotskian book they sort of referenced. I also ordered Christine Carter's "Raising Happiness" and decided to start with that. But it made me feel like everything I've done has been the wrong way and depressed me so it's been slow going. Meanwhile, I haven't opened the Vygotskian book. In fact, I'm a bit worried that by the time I get to it, the kids will be out of their early childhood and any elucidation will be moot. So perhaps I'll just take a break from Happiness and get to Vygotsky. Before, you know, it's too late. Unfortunately, this will further cut into my knitting time.

Afterthought Pocket tutorial

For anyone that uh, wanted one (although I'm sure there are others out there, I just figured I'd document my pocket). Basically, I just followed Jacqueline Fee's method which was actually EZ's method, but I took pictures. This is me putting the second (left) pocket into my Imogen. These pockets are vertical, rather than horizontal, so I made slanted pockets so that they wouldn't be perpendicular to my body. So the first thing that I did was decide where I wanted the pockets to go and where the middle stitch would be. My mom helped with that, as I needed a person looking at me rather than looking down at the sweater. I put a coil-less safety pin in that stitch.
Then, I cut half of that stitch.
And I unraveled nine stitches to the left and nine stitches to the right so I had a hole my hand could go through.
And picked up the stitches on two circular needles. Then, I started sewing my slanted pocket, see:
Perhaps I should have waited until my pocket was a bit longer so that you could see more of its slant, but I was excited. The directions say to purl the bottom edge I think, I ended up purling the side the back of my hand would be against (rather than the palm-side) for a crisp edge. And to get it to slant, I made my increases on the "bottom" side of the pocket and my decreases on the "top" side.

Tonight I was hoping to finish the pocket (via Kitchener), but the kids had a play date at a museum this morning and were too hopped up to sleep in the afternoon, so there was no time for knitting today (boo hoo). So hopefully tomorrow.

Why it's harder to be fat and fashionable

Or perhaps that is politically incorrect. The LA Times Image section had an article about why plus-sized clothing was typically so unfashionable. I knew the proportions were different but I guess I'd never really thought about how that affected the construction and drape of clothes in different sizes. It was an interesting article.

One leaf of red cabbage

No graphic, sorry. So we've started putting one leaf of red cabbage into the smoothies and I'm happy to say I can't taste it. I'm not opposed to the taste of cabbage, after all, I love the shredded cabbage in Wahoo's fish tacos (if you haven't tried them, you're missing out but I believe it's a regional thing, like In-and-Out), but it's not necessarily something I want in my smoothie. But it imparts very little taste in the large scheme of things, and it gives the finished product a very pretty color I must say, so we'll say red cabbage is a winner.

Mango is obviously a winner too. A yummy one.

Not meant to be humorous children's books but. . .

The first time I saw the first title "I Wish Daddy Didn't Drink So Much" I was astounded. I mean, they really have books for everything, don't they? And I'm not trying to play down alcoholism, I just really, truly did not expect to find a children's book that addressed such a serious topic. The "Who's Your Daddy?" book is a board book (for the non-initiated, that means it's for toddlers because they can't rip the pages without great effort). It doesn't question paternity, but the title was funny.

A new toy (yes, I know I just used this title)

This is more recent than the stroller, but with a 50 percent off coupon at Michael's I picked up some Sculpey tools (I know, I couldn't find anything better to spend the coupon on). The next time I make buttons I'm planning on breaking these out though; that silicone mat I got (basically, a Silpat for plastic clay) worked great.

A new toy

We got this as a gift a few weeks ago but really only took it out this week. It's a Maclaren XT. We have this Esprit stroller (but in red) that we got in Singapore when Bub was still a bub, I guess it was a knock-off of the Maclaren. I can't knock the Esprit though; I was able to go through airport security holding a baby and folding up the stroller with the other hand. It got really beat up going through airports though, so we'll probably leave this one for nice mall trips and stuff. So far though, so good. It runs smoothly, it's light, my only complaint is the extremely small (and delicate) basket storage. It's nearly useless, the Esprit stroller had a better basket. This one has a larger sun shield, comes with a rain shield, and handles that can be lengthened for taller people. We'll see how it works out.