anything you can do i can do better...havent we already heard this song?

so i love my big sister to bits and pieces. but we've always been a bit competitive, and by we, i mean me. as the little sister i always tried to do everything that my big sis did, however, usually not with my desired outcome. so when lil milla made an octopus for my soon-to-be-named-cutest-baby-in-the-world, i got a bit jealous. my pink tutu was just not enough. i needed to do something. so i decided to completely copy what she made - except in pink! win! (this was my glorious vision....)


so i started knitting up my little pink octo. i think i may have gone 3 stitches before i got completely confused and had to call big sis to ask some questions. in the short time since mom had taught us how to knit in the round, i had completely forgotten. so this was the shiznit that i ended up w...
its all twisted about, nothing making any sense, and the more i tried to get this to work, the more frustrated i got. so i called big sis AGAIN. poor girl really needs to get verizon. after about an hour, a glass of wine, and having to rewind bridehead revisted about 15 times, i finally figured out how to get this started...
after getting more wine, i was excited that i figured out how to knit in the round. the only problem now- going on hour 2 - was that i cant read directions. i was increasing after every single stitch, every single row, instead of changing when i increase on each row. so im not sure what i ended up with after 2 hours, but it was nothing close to what it was supposed to look like, so i had to start over AGAIN. woo hoo. but this time i was much more successful, subjectively. ha. i could see the shape starting, as shown in the pics below, but the further i got along in the process, the more i realized i was making a balloon. thats right. instead of an octo head, i made a child's party balloon. win again.



after successfully making a balloon, i decided to call it a night. octo legs could wait till another night.

the next night to be exact! now i need to preface this with some admitting that i do have some faults- few, but some. and one of those is that i forgot how to crochet when i was 12 years old. as most tweens, i exhausted myself with this skill after making 10 million friendship bracelets. meg told me it was easy and to just google it. my other fault? not owning a computer- that works. so i googled on my super brilliant blackberry. win. i was able to get the gist of the curly cue, the stupid curly cue that looked like nothing (dont worry, pic to follow). so again, meg bailed me out and i was able to perfect 8 little legs.

what is that? really?

so anyways, my journey with my little pink octo was almost complete. just needed to stuff the little guy, attach the legs, and go on my merry way. so now, i would like to introduce you to my brand new little pink octo......

and here she is with my soon-to-be-named-cutest-baby-in-the-world's homemade tutu

so in the end i think i will admit defeat to my big sis. her lil green octo def beats my lil pink octo. but, i learned a lot and now need to get a cat to give my octo to.

next up? learning to knit with circular needles. here's a hint: i already hate it!

How to Get That Mojo Back

After two major knitting failures (gaiter and itty-bitty grand-daughter sweater), I thought I might take a break from knitting and focus on spinning or gardening or reading quietly in the corner.





That's when I was called in for a knitting emergency! Maggie had decided to make each of her 4th grade students a little something to remember her by. In this case, a knitted eyeball. Specifically, Deborah Boyd's Juggling Eyeballs. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/juggling-eyeballs





She needed 22 made and found herself in a bit of a pickle to finish them all before the last day of school. A quick call home and I completed this:



Ten eyeballs, stuffed with lentils, and ready to be overnighted to Los Angeles.

The task of knitting the same pattern over and over was strangely comforting and I found myself thinking about what else I should start knitting next as each little eyeball was completed.

I wouldn't call it mindless knitting, as I did have to keep checking the pattern for increases and decreases. But it was comfortable knitting. No challenge, no thinking, just having fun making something completely funny.

Thanks, Maggie, for pulling me into this. Now I'm on to my next project. I"ve just downloaded the Traveling Woman Shawl pattern.

love,
marmie

for your viewing pleasure...

pics from knitting in the round lesson w marm!

sorry meg, no pic of your circle. (note: i was incorrect! the first little ring is in fact lil maggacitas)

three little rings just thrown together.

and we found a use for my pink one!!

so long colden...poppa is driving us home!

So while Maggie is working away on creating her knitting menagerie, I have run into a major slump. Not a slump of inactivity - a slump of bad results.

First, I participated in the gaiter exchange at our local spinning guild. Basically, you get 4 oz of fiber from another member and have to spin and knit into a gaiter/neckwarmer. Then you return the gaiter to the original owner of the fiber. All very secretive and fun!

Well...fun if it works out. I had a beautiful tensil/merino blend to work with in incredible airy colors of spring. I spun it into a lovely, soft yarn. Then I knit it into something that can only be described as chainmail.

See? And, although I had 5 months to complete this project, I was finishing it up the morning of the exchange! This left me with no time to rip out and whip up something more in sync with the yarn.

The recipient was very gracious, but I wanted to snatch it out of her hands and exclaim "I can do better!"

So from there I moved on to a task of joy - knitting a teeny little sweater for my soon-to-be-here grand-daughter. A first after three grandsons, I had been eagerly awaiting knitting something sweet and girlie. Mom-to-be requested pink, pink, pink!

So I picked up Debbie Bliss' "Simply Baby" book and settled on her Fair Isle Cardigan. I chose to knit it up with a combination of Bliss' Baby Cashmerino in pink with edging and fair isle done in handspun merino dyed with soft koolade colors. cute, right?

It was working up quickly (I really need to knit more size 6 months garments - instant gratification). the back was done, the two fronts, both sleeves...all I had to do was join up at the yoke, knit 18 rows of fair isle and finish it off!

But something was wrong - the little fair isle yoke didn't resemble the one in the picture. Rip back and re-start. Still didn't look right. rip back and re-start. What is going on?? I decided to check the finished projects on Ravelry to see if anyone else had problems with this little cardi. Lesson learned - always check on Ravelry to see if there are any issues with a pattern. Apparently, the color chart doesn't match with the picture of the finished sweater. Thanks Debbie Bliss book editor.

Resolution - make up my own damn fair isle pattern and knit it up. So far it looks lovely. But I could have knit an adult cardi by now.

Sorry no pictures of this precious little garment- the camera has died.

Next project - find something that will make me feel like an accomplished knitter again!

Marmie

Octo-Mom!

Last weekend I went back East for a wedding and to spend time with the family. It was a much needed break from the craziness going on in LA. I also had a knitting motive. I found a pattern for the toy I wanted to make Mickey Mouse and I needed to add a few new techniques to my knitting repertoire. So JJ and I talked beforehand and decided we would make learning how to knit in the round our group lesson.

Marmie sat down with much patience on a hot, humid east coast day. We sat on the front porch, sipping pink lemonade, and trying to handle 4 dpn (double-pointed needles, for those newbies out there.) ;-) Mom did a great job and we each knit a little round nothing, which ended up looking a lot like colorful sushi when we mushed them all together.

I brought my newly found talent back to LA and this weekend I took on the task of remembering the technique and combining it with increasing and decreasing. In addition, I had an opportunity to refresh my crocheting skills when I made the curly legs of the octopus.

Here are the steps in the process, knitting in the round, stuffing the head/body, and adding those curly-q tentacles. Voila! I am now an Octo-Mom, living in LA....but not THAT Octo-Mom.



The only problem with making all these adorable toys for my loved ones is that I get so attached to them and want to keep them, hehe!

Happy knitting!