Conversations with a 3-year old

Scene: Mum placing her 3-year old into his car seat smells something she can't quite identify.

Mum: "EB whats that smell?"
3-year old: (very matter of factly) "It's my cologne."
Mum: ......(can't speak over shock of 3 year old applying cologne and knowing what it is - stares at son dumbfounded.)
3-year old: "I know, I smell cute!"

Wanted!!!

WANTED: Home for some yummy yarn stash. Owner has more stash than can handle and needs to focus her time and talents on other stash. Is seeking a kind and loving, and moth-free home, for a giving and soft stash. If interested, please check out pictures and info on each skein at my trade/sell stash page on Ravelry. (Thank you Marji, for helping me figure out the link thingie).

We're on a roll here

Three posts in three days. Earthtonesgirl will be in shock now.

As mentioned yesterday, I plan on showing some of the other "gentle domestic arts" that I've been working on.

Today I have some pictures of a quilt that I'm working on for my Little Princess. It is the Heirloom Romance Quilt by Crabapple Hill Studio. It has eight stitched purses on it, with lots of crazy quilting and additional embroidery. I loved it and have set a goal of completing this by LP's 8th birthday for her baptism.

The quilt and embroidered purses will also be accented with beads once the quilt is completed. (I'm kind to the person who will do the quilting on this quilt, so that she won't have to work around the beads)- and No - I'm not going to quilt it myself - to quote Austin Powers - "that's not my kind of thing, baby!"

www.earthtonesgirl.com

Pieces of Me

I don't have any real knitting news to share today, but thought I'd show you all some of the other projects I've been working on over the next couple of days. Today, you can see the quilting side of me.

Here are pictures of some of the pieces that I've completed for a Foundation Paper Pieced Quilt called Autumn Splendor by Judy Neimeyer. I started it last fall and worked on it until Thanksgiving and then put it away. It's fall again and the colors of the leaves reminded me of this quilt, so it's back out and hopefully going to get some more progress done soon.

Rebecca

The name Rebecca has been on my mind recently:

1. My new project - Rebecca by Beth Anne Paustain of Black Purl Designs. I'm struggled on and off with my yarn choice, which is Organik by the Fibre Company. I struggled with deciding which needles were the right ones for gauge. I struggled with the cable, although such a basic cable. In fact, such an easy cable that I got cocky and screwed up way to early and discovered rather late. One visit to the frog pond, and we were on our way again. Now, just struggling with whether I really like the color on me or not. Will I wear it? Hopefully.

These pics were right before I ripped it out for the first and second times.

2. One of my daughters middle names is Rebekah (okay, a different spelling, the same name basically). She started piano and ballet this fall and has been really having a fun time. Her name has especially been on my mind as I was filling out passport forms, because we booked our tickets to England for the holidays. (excited, would be an understatement).

3. I'm incredibly homesick for a visit to England and booking the tickets seems to have made it worse. Three months seems so close, yet so far away. To ease the craving for England, I've been watching all things British with my netflix account. I have been on quite the run of English movies. I watched a biography on the very famous Daphne Du Maurier who wrote the wonderful book (which inspired the Hitchcock film) Rebecca. Then I rented the modern version of Rebecca (I didn't think that it did as good a job as Hitchcock, but I'm rather partial to his movies). Now, I think I need to reread the book.

Back from Falling Off the Face of the Earth

Wow! Those Ravelympic events can really take a toll on a Ravelympian. As I sat up until 4:30am the morning of the end of the Ravelympics, I could feel a monster headache coming on. By the next day, it was an all out mutant migraine. After taking a few days to recover (of course, family and life didn't provide me much of a rest, so it took longer than should be necessary to recuperate), I kept meaning to take pictures of the New Zealand Pullover, but to be honest, I was completely burned out with the project. I'd put on the back burner some family and back-to-school stuff that needed to be completed and it was the last week of summer vacation and the kids wanted and needed some attention.... So, excuses were not hard to find in delaying photo shoots and blogging about THE sweater.

Finally, tonight, after day two of kids in school, the 'cute guy' agreed to take a couple of pics of the sweater. I'm so wiped out still that I didn't bother to look in the mirror and make myself look presentable, so beware of the fairly scary modelling job. He In fact, that's why I'm scowling at him, as it took him five minutes to take a crappy photo. Next time, I'm having the three year old take pictures.

I love the sweater, but am still thinking about ripping out the bottom half of the arms and changing the decreases. They're a little too narrow. I like tighter arms, but I think these are too tight. I decreased every 5th round as the pattern suggests, but really should have gone with at least every 6th, seeing as I had adjusted the pattern to suit my gauge of 6.25 per inch.

What do I love about this sweater:

The short row detailed yoke.

The gussets.

The color

The yarn

That it's finished and that the Ravelympics are over.

Often when I've pulled out a big project I find that I'm at a loss for what to start next. I can't decide whether to start which of the following next:

Staghorn from a Fine Fleece

Drops Jacket in Eskimo 103-1

Rebecca by Black Purl Designs/Beth Anne Paustian

Linden from Twist Collective

Shalom Cardigan

Butterfly Vest from Schoolhouse

DB sweater for Little Princess

Too many choices. Maybe I should finish some of my UFO's.

Maybe I'll just cast them all on.