Happy Trails

We're Marching On...

I have that new song from One Republic stuck in my head, although when he sings the chorus, it sounds like he's singing "we're MARSHING on", which is just sort of weird.

Anyhoo!

I have no clue where this past month went. It flew by so fast I feel I have a little bit of virtual whiplash. I've also missed updating the blog, which is something I plan to remedy not only today, but also in the coming months.

March was packed with happenings. Salmaan turned 30 this month, and closed the first quarter of his life with great aplomb. He excitedly donned the Blackhawks jerseys he had been gifted, and still has some shopping to do with a few gifts cards he was grateful to receive. We had a chill weekend full of relaxation and time together. We also went to a John Mayer concert in Charlottesville, which, I have to say, was completely disappointing. I had purchased the tickets long ago, before he made a complete and total ass of himself in the Playboy and Rolling Stones interviews, but even after that I was still hopeful that he would put on a great show. We were left wanting. 

In all fairness, however, my lackluster assessment might also be colored by the fact that I contracted a very nasty stomach virus after the concert, and was more ill than I have ever been before. It lasted a long time, and after about 7 days of feeling awful and missing way more work than I was comfortable with, I realized just how important my health is, and how much I take it for granted. I'm sure I will drift into that bad habit again sooner than I would like, but for now? It's wonderful to wake up in the morning feeling good and ready to take on the day.

March 20th also marked my two year blogoversary! Woohoo! Yay blog! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I really love this space, and I feel blessed to have found such a creative, supportive community of knitters, crafters, cooks, spinners, writers, and just downright cool folks. Thanks for reading!

March also gave me some time to sit down with my rental wheel before I had to return it to the shop, and I created a couple more skeins of yarn. The first skein I completed was a fitting project for spring as things seem to be bursting into bloom all around us--this is 137 yards of heavy worsted two ply, spun out of 4.4 oz. of superwash merino from Pigeonroof Studios in the Crepe Myrtle colorway. 

I was really pleased with how this turned out, and very much enjoyed working with this fiber. It is slowly but surely knitting up into a nice knobbly gift for Little Niece. (Hooray for superwash and kid-knits!)

Another FO to share is this skein of 112 yards of heavy worsted two ply, spun out of 4.4 oz. of superwash BFL from Pigeonroof Studios in the Black Walnut colorway.

 This ended up being a pretty entertaining project. First of all, I have always found Krista's photos to be very accurate on her shop page, but that was not the case with this particular batch of roving. When it came in the mail, I was so happy to oggle over it as I had experienced a particularly long and frustrating day at work. Upon opening the package, I took the fiber out of its bag and laid it on the kitchen counter. Salmaan turned around to oggle it as well and gave a bit of a start, asking, "Sheesh, are you sure it isn't still alive???" I laughed my ass off, because he was totally right. It looked like road kill. And maybe, JUST maybe that perception was fueled in no small part by the fact that River had killed a squirrel in our back yard the night before. And maybe, JUST maybe it took us about a half hour to get her to let it go so we could toss it over the fence into the woods. Maybe. In any case, while I have tried really, really hard to imagine this yarn as being a reflection of some sort of woody, barkey, nutty goodness....I still kind of see roadkill. ;-) I have no idea what this will become, but I may be tempted to give the FO eyes and a gaping mouth. But don't worry, I won't toss it over the fence into the woods. Promise. In the end it provided us both with more than a few laughs, and for someone who normally knits in a palette more reminiscent of Rainbow Bright's wardrobe, a nice, earthy departure.

And thus ended my two month long relationship with Babe the rental spinning wheel. We returned it a couple of weekends ago in the village of Powhatan, and enjoyed an early breakfast with a good friend at a local restaurant, The County Seat. The food, I must say, was really quite good. And cheap. We'll be back.

Regretfully, there has been very little knitting at Chez K this past month, but again, that's something I plan to remedy in the coming days and weeks. Little Niece is turning 2 in May, which I think is probably JUST old enough to start worrying about monsters under the bed....don't you think? ;-)

A Road Trip--AND--Disaster Averted

I'm pretty pumped right now because I'm taking some time off this week to drive down to North Carolina and visit my friend, Julia. She was my maid of honor in my wedding, and we remain good friends. I haven't seen her for over a year and a half, and it has been WAY too long! She and her husband Tom and their little daughter, Anna Grace, live right outside the resort area of Lake Lure. 

Right before Anna was born, I knit her the Baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting. I think they enjoyed the gift, so I wanted to make her another little sweater now that she is almost a year and a half. After browsing through numerous options on Ravelry, I decided to make the Yoked Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. Next up was what yarn to use, and that was more of a challenge. I have SO much Malabrigo Worsted on hand, it isn't funny, but I was worried about it pilling (since I hope she will wear it often) and I worried about it felting (as I am sure at that age, it would need to be washed with equal frequency--and Julia is a non-knitter). So, Malabrigo was out--despite its luxurious softness. I didn't have any superwash worsted yarn on hand (which in retrospect, would have been fantastic), but I did have some Liisu that I purchased a long time ago from Orchardside Yarn Shop. (Liisu has apparently since been bought by the Unique Sheep, fyi). Add to that the fact that this particular blend is called "Anna's yarn" and the deal was done.

Anna's yarn is a 2-play mohair/merino blend, and knitted up, I find it a bit rough for a baby. BUT, I pressed on because I convinced myself that the mohair would lend wonderful strength and sheen to the yarn, which would carry the garment through multiple wearings and washings. 

The yoke was tricky. I didn't like it. It took me a long time and I have no idea why. Additionally, I don't think that the Liisu shows the ribbing well at all. If you look at other FO's (this one is my favorite, I think) you'll see what I mean. Given that fact, I made the decision to end the ribbing at the divide for the sleeves, and I think it was a good move!

 

I FLEW through the stockinette portion while enjoying the Olympics with Salmaan on Sunday, and bound off the body and completed the button bands during my day off yesterday. The garter border is 10 rows, the buttonbands are 8 rows. It was my first time knitting a button band. I dig it! 

I decided to bind off the sleeves where the yoke ended for a few different reasons, with the most important one being of a practical nature. I kept on thinking about Little Niece in her high chair at snack time ("Snack Time!!!! Yeeeeeaaaahhhhh..." as she always says), and how sticky and mucky her little fingers get as she plays with her food. Pureed yams in mohair...blurghegh...it's enough to make me go all green and...well...let's not think about that, yeah? Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah. 

So anyway I washed and blocked the little cardi-vest yesterday, and feeling QUITE pleased as punch (I hate deadline knits, and rarely pull them off on time--but I loved knitting this and it was done a day in advance!) I left the house for my Valentine's mani-pedi and massage. Salmaan met me out for dinner at our favorite sushi place. The head chef gave us a complimentary dessert. It was wonderful! 

We came home to items strewn all over the place, including my beautiful little cardi-vest, at the top of the stairs, with little bits of it cast about the hallway.

 I ran into the bathroom, slammed the door, and had a good cry. Salmaan very wisely gave me some alone time, and carefully picked up all the pieces. Eventually composed, I went to my computer, and the wonderful Amy was online, and patiently listened as I told her about the damage, and provided advice on my options, as well as encouragement in every way a discouraged knitter could ask for. (BTW, thank you, Amy. You too, Salmaan. Thank you for giving me the space that I needed to be a drama queen.)

In the end, I decided to make a patch. I knit it up last night, and made the necessary repairs today before sewing it on. 

My goal was three-fold: 1) make sure that the dropped loops were secured with the red wool (btw, I used the patons classic because it was pure wool, and would be a lot less slippery than the Liisu--plus I was hoping the mohair would catch on the wool a bit, and possibly felt JUST enough in the future to help prevent further unravelling--I think this was a good call) 2) find the loose ends, secure them to one another, and secure them to the red yarn (for reasons cited above) and 3) hope and pray like hell that this worked!

Honestly? (Knocking like a crazed judge in a courtroom malay on wood....) I think it DID work.  I pulled and yanked and tugged like crazy, with no additional damage. Woohoo! Disaster averted! Then all I had to do was secure the patch.

Since it was River's handiwork that necessitated its creation, I thought it only fair to give her credit. All in all, I think it came out nicely.

As the patch added a little bit more of a "handmade" feel to this garment, I went shopping and decided on these very playful ladybug buttons. I was originally (sans damage) going to use some pretty shell buttons, which, combined with the purple, evoked a very sophisticated "cottage by the seaside cliff at dusk" sort of feeling. (And yes, I actually thought that as I saw the combo of yarn and button!). Oh well, the ladybugs are perfectly appropriate for her age, and I think they look pretty cute. Anyways, seaside cliffs are dangerous!!! Yeah? Yeeeeeaaaaah. 

And, don't worry, I'm not upset with River. As Amy so fairly noted, "She couldn't help it, it smelled like SHEEP!" And goat, too, now that I think about it....sheesh, you really can't blame her, can you? And anyway, look at that face...who can resist it?

So, I'm off in the morning for my little road trip adventure--and off now to bake some cinnamon raisin bread for my hosts! Have a great week, all!

Sunday

Today is a lazy day, of sorts. Not to say that things aren't getting done, but the pace is slow and relaxed, the fireplace is on, and jazz is drifting through the air, softly mingling with the scent of baking banana bread. A nice way to end the weekend. River has no complaints.

 Yesterday we went a bit errand-crazy, and took our first trip to buy-in-bulk heaven (or hell, depending on your perspective), Costco. We've had a membership for over a year now, but have never gone to take advantage of it, mainly due to the fact that we knew we would have to make a pretty hefty initial investment to begin shopping there. We finally decided to just suck it up and take the plunge, and 4 hours and a stuffed pantry and extra closet later, we were finished. I have to say, it's pretty daunting to walk into a warehouse like that, but it was fun, as well. The prices are fantastic, and while buying in bulk is intimidating and feels glutenous, I think we'll end up saving a lot of mullah. We saved over $65 in coupons alone! Not too shabby. 

All that hard work earned us this for lunch today.

Ham, asparagus, and onion quiche, just another permutation of Julia Child's standard quiche recipe from Joy of Cooking. This was the best quiche I've ever made--and I must say, the sound of Salmaan saying, "Mmmm, MMMM!!!!" about every 5 seconds never got old. We enjoyed it with a hefty serving of gorgeous raspberries (Costco find) and some white wine. Delicious.

I'm working on a few small projects around the house right now, but I did take some time out to focus on a new found passion. Dare I share just a peak?

More to come on that later, but for now, it's a glass of red wine and the last DVD of season two of Dead Like Me--thus ends the series! *sniff*

Mother's Day Craftiness

I am admittedly proud of my crafty gift for Mom this Mother's Day. ALL handmade--a very soft washcloth (knitted out of blue sky alpacas organic cotton), two different scents of handmade soap, plus some very nice handmade goat's milk soap. I wrapped it all and brought it with me this past weekend, and asked her to open it early. She did, and I was really glad that she was happy with everything.

Normally, I'm not the best occasion gift giver. I'll make you something for your birthday--but don't expect to get it on time, Missy! I just don't like feeling the pressure...it freaks me out a little. But, if I can gift for no reason, then I'm happy, and the recipient normally is as well. The only thing is--people expect occasion gifts--and rightly so, I suppose. I've decided that it's probably time to grow up and learn to deliver.

So I've taken advantage of what I like to call "don't be an asshole" (DBA) applications--including Google Calendar (I *heart kiss kiss* Google), and this nifty little function on my new sports watch that has an "occasion alarm". Nice. Now I get notifications weeks and weeks in advance--cards are ready in the mail, e-cards are scheduled to arrive, and my crafty-self actually tries to get things done ON TIME. Maybe this is the New Me. A non-asshole Sherando...Inconceivable...!

Soapenstein

As of late, I have been pleasantly surprised by people--especially people at work. You think you're operating in this foreign environment, where no one (besides your fellow clerks) could possibly relate to you, and then you discover that those chicks down the hall? They're frickin' cool. And they knit. And they love to cook, and they even make stained glass--JUST LIKE YOU.

One of them in particular makes soap, and a few weeks ago she invited me to join her and another co-worker at her home to make some. Her kitchen was full of huge tubs of different oils and balms. She had zillions of scents--essential oils, artificial fragrances--you name it. Thinking she must have amassed this collection over a number of years, I asked,

"So, how long have you been doing this?"

"Two weeks." She responded. Her son, Daniel, who is in the fourth grade now calls her, "Soapenstein". According to his count, I am now "Soapenstein III"

Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera, but my hostess was kind enough to let me take pictures with her camera, and then she posted them to my Flickr. I tried to figure out how to place them on my blog, but apparently I would have to blog each picture individually as a separate post. I didn't feel like doing that, so you can see them as well as a description of the process here.

After the soap set overnight, they looked like this the next morning:

I popped each set out of the silicon loaf pans, and sliced them.

Then, I just set them on a cookie tray. Now they're sitting in the laundry room, "curing". It takes about 3 weeks for this type of soap to cure (which just refers to the time that it takes to harden). I'm thinking it will be ready to ship out to choice recipients on Mother's Day, and any leftover will make some nice birthday/anniversary/Christmas gifts!

I'm not sure how much I'm going to be doing this in the future. It definitely  won't be a daily hobby like knitting. While I think the soap is really nice, and I'm excited to gift it, I didn't really find the process to be "fun". I do really want to give goat's milk soap a try though....to be continued...