Knitting again.

I've been knitting this headwrap for a dear friend's birthday. I was worried that it was going to be delivered late (due to my starting it late) but now I'm positive. I have to rip the whole thing out and start again. It's too big. I'm knitting the smallest size on needles several sizes smaller than recommended and it's still too big. Ugh. I think I remember now why I stopped knitting for so long.

Knitting

I've been knitting and it's been fun (I'd lost the fun of knitting for a while - it had just become work). I also seem to have caught the dyeing bug again and just added three new braid to my etsy shop.


Knitting Flaming June using my Phat Fiber samples all spun up. So far I'm using the "Under the Sea" patchwork yarn and am loving it.


Rose Tyler fingerless gloves using Noro Silk Garden sock yarn that I acquired from my stepmother.

Would you believe that I'm not reading anything these days? I'm still waiting on a book from LibraryThings's Early Reviewer program. I was trying to catch up with the Kitty Norville books but accidentally read the most recent one before a couple that I'd missed so now I've lost interest.

Linking up with the Yarn Along, I guess.

Life in pictures

Things have been rough around here. Emotional crap and losing faith in my own abilities. This is me not wanting to complain - have some pictures instead.


Sweater for the Imp's birthday. Ravelry notes here.


Two months worth of Phat Fiber sample tags. So much stamping.


Feral mama cat. We're at our wits end with these cats. They aren't adjusting and we can't keep them locked up much longer. We can't get them fixed if we can't touch them to get them into a cat box. It's.. ugh. It's part of the frustration.


Finally finished spinning for the Nerd-along with Hobbledehoy. Ravelry notes here.

Busy

I meant to post on Wednesday for the Yarn Along. I took pictures and everything. Oops. At any rate, here's what I've been up to.


Future samples for Phat Fiber. I'm calling the colorway "Thunderhead."


More future samples. These are inspired by the sepia colors in Da Vinci's sketches.


Captain America sweater for the Imp's birthday late this month.


The third book in a series that I devoured.


Dyeing soy and tussah silk. I've also been dyeing banana silk, hemp, tencel, and bamboo. And wool, of course.


This is how the Elf amuses himself these days (when he isn't fighting with a computer to install Minecraft mods).

Linking up with Linda.

Madness.

I'm fairly certain that all of my kids are going through some kind of.. phase. I keep telling myself that they will be calm at some point. They'll stop screaming about everything. Things will "normalize" - whatever that is.

I haven't had the emotional/mental energy to blog. Nothing *bad* is going on. Just the everyday life of three boys. Which is enough, believe me.

Here's what I've been doing when *not* tearing my hair out:


This is a spin along (spin-a-long? I just don't know) from Hobbledehoy. I've started spinning it as a fine single to be chain plied. Mine is the 4th Doctor's Scarf colorway.


I've been making rolags! These aren't great looking, but they're only attempts two and three. Unlike the ones I pulled from the drum carder, these are skinny and long. How am I making them if not on the drum carder, you ask? (Okay, I know you didn't ask.)


B and I finally made a blending board! I've been obsessively thinking about, plotting, and planning this thing. It didn't work out quite how I'd wanted - the keel is majorly hacked. But it works! I wish we'd put the cloth another inch or so from the end and cut the board shorter. But these things are doable, though not high on the list.


This is one of the Elf's birthday gifts. It's my attempt at a intarsia/woven stranded hybrid. It's knit entirely from handspun. Not perfect, but I'm proud. I'm also making him some small crocheted Spartans (not historical but rather from Halo) but couldn't be bothered to take pictures.

In addition, I've been dyeing for the shop. I posted a large (for me) update today. And here's the admission, I've been spending more time than I should playing Borderlands. We finished all the DLC yesterday and started Borderlands 2. Yes, it's an addiction.

Why I love being an adult.

This is what I do at night after the boys go to bed: when we don't have to be role models and can unwind.


In front of me is my lovely wheel, Dervish, and B's video game (Fallout 3).


To my left, Pilot.


To my right, Ramses. Calcifer, whose back you can see on the table, later joined me in my chair. I don't believe in "proper spinning posture." I believe in comfy.


Also, I finished B's Vinnland sock. Ravelry details here. This is on my foot, though. My feet are larger than his, believe it or not.

Life and other sundries.

I keep meaning to post here. And then I don't.

Our weekend:
Saturday I battled wretched depression and spent most of my day in bed, staring at walls. Miserable for a thousand tiny reasons and no way to claw myself out of the funk. Yes, Saturday was no fun.

Sunday we cleaned and rearranged the living room. You can't tell from this picture (from today) but it really was clean. For about five minutes. I also fixed the rocking chair that was given to us when the Imp was a wee one. It's been missing screws and used as storage for years. Now everyone wants to sit it in. (Hey! I spy three out of eight cats! The ironic thing is that they're all still there and in mostly the same positions.)



At some point in and around the cleaning I dyed some of my handspun. It's all pretty thin (I'm getting much better at being consistent when I want to be) and strong enough not to drive me to ply it. My inner geek won out and I tried to replicate some of the colors in the classic Thundercats character Cheetara. Here's a peek at it before I re-skein it.



And B's sock. I was slamming away until after I turned the heel. Then I realized that I had to work the pattern on both sides and my momentum seriously faltered.



Other than that, the Elf and I have been plugging away at botany and history. I will sadly admit that Botany in a Day still doesn't make a great deal of sense to me. We tried to identify a plant I knew to be Cleavers. However, had I not, it would have been supremely difficult to figure it out using the method in the book. It's a struggle, but we're working on it.

Late Yarn Along

Okay, I'm a day late. But I think I'll link up with the folks over at the Yarn Along anyway.



I've been knitting socks for the toddlers. However! On the needles are two socks for bigger people. The orange is a "mystery knit along" for a Ravelry sock group that I don't belong to. Wow. That makes me sound like a stalker. Regardless this is the pattern. They've only released one "clue" which I finished in an evening. I'm using smaller needles so it won't fit me (not that it would have anyway). It may fit the Elf, though. And he's happy about that. The grey sock is for B, using this pattern. Again, I'm using smaller needles. But they have multiple sizes so I just picked the one that mostly works math-wise.

Reading: I got these two books from the library. One is for a read along thing on the Cold Antler blog and the other I came across while getting lessons (about the crusades) set up for the Elf. I really enjoyed Stephen Lawhead's Robin Hood books (Hood, Scarlet, and Tuck) so I'm more than happy to give these a try.



Close up of the "mystery" sock. I *had* to knit this one because it's based on a series of books that I loved when I was younger. I did mess up one of the cables (on both sides of the sock) because I *assumed* the directions would mirror a previous cable - that'll teach me, right?

Random

Last Monday the Imp came to me, dressed like this:


Imp: Who do I look like?
Me: uhm.. I don't know, who do you look like?
Imp: Knitting guy! (note the sheer number of handmade items the kid is wearing. I think his mother may have a bit of a problem *ahem*)


He was quickly joined by the Beast and we had a photo session of super hero poses. I'll spare you.


A while ago I bought myself some of the metal fixed circular needles from KnitPicks in US size zero to use for sock knitting (purple cable, silver needles). May I take a moment here to tell you how frustrating they were to use? They aren't very pointy, they don't really taper at all, the cable isn't very bendy. Ugh. Fast forward to last Friday. I was knitting with the lovely ladies at Really Knit Stuff and I decided to take a look at the needles in the shop. I came home with Addi lace needles in the same size (gold cable and needles). Can you see the difference? My goodness they're a dream to use! I highly recommend them (I usually use what I have and deal with it - but these are worth the extra purchase).


I saw this bunny here and knew that I had to make one. (Ravelry details here)


Which quickly led to a cat. With plans for a dog, bear, mouse, Totoro, and more. (Ravelry details here)

Weekending

This weekend it rained like the end of the world. So I sat at home with my boys. Here's how I've kept my hands busy since Friday:


Toddlers comparing handknit socks.


Applejack - ravelry details here.


Twilight Sparkle - ravelry details here.


Rainbow Dash - ravelry details here.


I've spun a bobbin worth of yarn every day for four days. It feels really good (at look at how consistent my yarn is getting! Yay!). This will all be dyed and possibly chain-plied. I'm just not sure what I want to do with it yet.


The Beast now has a *pair* of socks. He picked out color for the second one.

Now I'm working on a pair of red-and-sparkle socks for the Imp, as per his request. I love these kids and their crazy sense of style.

Much.

That has been a good word for this week - much. We've had much fun, much frustration, much success, just - much.

The Elf is doing better with his studies. We've found a rhythm for now and I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. We had a math breakthrough today. The lovely Tracey told me about a math program that might work for us. Since researching it I've tried to find ways to incorporate their concepts into our math. It works! My goodness, it works! He was doing a word problem this morning and couldn't understand it no matter how I explained it. Once we dug out some Lego blocks he very clearly *saw* how it works. Brilliance!

So yes, my life has revolved around homeschool this week, it seems. But I've kept busy in other ways, too.


The Imp has been scared to sleep. I have no idea why, but we instituted a "magic potion" (LuSa Organics sleeping potion) every night before bed - just a dab on his chest. It seems to help. He was still reluctant so I told him about dreamcatchers and he immediately wanted one of his own. Being the mom that I am, I stayed up until 12:22am making this dreamcatcher so that it would be there when he woke up. His little brother, the Beast, of course wants whatever the Imp has. So I've told them that the two beads are for the two of them. It works, they're happy.


I finished the sock. Whee! It used up every scrap of that ball of yarn - which was the idea. The Beast has requested a pair of socks now. I've started in on my yard sale stash. I also made another "sonic" screwdriver. This is the one I made for the Beast a while ago. He and the Imp were arguing over it so I made another. Of course, now no one can find it.


Would you believe that last night I got out Dervish and spun yarn for the first time this year? I'm pretty sure it's true. My hands are cramped but it felt so good to be spinning again. I'm going to put aside some time every couple of days (if not more often) to indulge. This bobbin due to be dyed and then plied. I'm waiting until I have a couple of hanks so that they'll all be the same colorway.


The ponies. Two of three. They aren't quite done yet as they still need their "cutie marks" on their flanks. You really wouldn't believe how much these boys love My Little Pony. I scoured the internet and found some small cowboy hats that will hopefully work for Applejack. The purple unicorn is meant to be Twilight Sparkle (before she got her wings).

So yes. This is my life.
(linking up with Linda)

Weekending.

For a low-key weekend, this one seemed pretty busy.

Saturday was the yarn yard sale at my favorite local yarn store. My youngest and oldest went with me. For $11.50 I scored a mess of sock yarn. Much of it is in small quantities, but since I'm thinking kiddo socks, I don't care. Also, I have no intention of making matching pairs. Ever, if I can help it.

The haul (before I rewound it all neatly):


After that we ran errands - everything was done before noon. The rest of the weekend I spent knitting, watching Doctor Who, watching B play video games, playing video games myself - generally relaxing.

The purple unicorn I was working on for the Beast's birthday has multiplied (still using Linda's pattern).


I can't work on them much while he's awake - their shapes are becoming too obvious. In between horses I finished my first every *pair* of socks.


(Ravelry notes here)

These are for me and I'm told that they likely won't last very long since there's no nylon in them. Maybe I'll stick them in a drawer and save them for when it gets cold - I wear socks to bed in the winter. That should save them from too much wear.

The images in this post, I'm afraid, look terrible. I overcompensated for the overcast skies with a too slow shutter speed. Blame my laziness and attempts to hide the horses from prying eyes for me not reshooting.

Yarn Along

Linking up with Ginny.



Knitting a unicorn (as mentioned in my previous post) and a sock. Amazingly, despite following this formula, my sock seems to be a bit big. Oh well. I had to frog the toe once already because I got the crochet cast on wrong. I made the mistake of just following the written instructions rather than looking for a video. It worked much better the second time.

Reading? Well, a bunch of books for the Elf's homeschooling. I'm still setting up the crusades and an intro to biology. Listing the books and websites would be.. tedious at best. I did recently finish Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers. It was recommended to me by an awesome lady and I enjoyed it very much.

And now my monsters are demanding dinner. Whee!

Busy hands.

This is what I've been doing:


I finished embroidering a gnome. The Elf thinks it's amazing. I think it looks haphazard. I'm still not sure which gnomes I'll swap, which I'll put in my Etsy shop, and which I'll leave around for the kids.


The Beast's birthday is at the end of April. He's currently in love with My Litle Pony (don't laugh, okay - it isn't violent and actually sends a decent message most of the time). I'm using Linda's unicorn/pegasus pattern. This will eventually be Twilight Sparkle. If I can find suitable colors I know he'd like some of the other ponies as well.


A sock. Or, the toe of a sock. I'm trying a toe-up with a short row heel. Only.. it's way too big for the littles and probably too small for B or myself. So.. it may never be a sock. It may be frogged to become a better sized sock.


I was so excited about these gloves. I'm a huge BSG fan. So finding a pattern for dradis inspired gloves was magical. I used a gift certificate given to me at christmas to indulge in Malabrigo Rios yarn (way out of my normal budget). Sadly, after knitting one glove I can tell you that it doesn't fit well and my stripes seem extremely off center. The off-centerness seems to be just part of the pattern, though. I'll be frogging this glove. Perhaps when it's closer to cool weather again I'll give it another try in something more solid colored - and with a much smaller needle. (Ravelry notes here)

Aside from that I've been trying to eek out a science curriculum for the Elf. I was thinking about having him study the human body. But then I ran into the dilemma of if I should start with biology (with an extended visit to the human body). With that in mind, I guess I'm looking for a place to start. Cells, maybe.

We're also about to hit the crusades in history. I have a particular interest in the crusades. It was a bloody, horrible time. But it is *fascinating* to me. Maybe because I don't have anything that could be called religious fervor. Maybe because it's been romanticized and some of my favorite books and movies (and games!) relate to that time period in some way, shape, or form. I don't know. But I find it most enjoyable to research. I will admit that I'm unsure of how to relate it to a ten year old and even less sure of where to start and what to skip over. I will say that he's very mentally mature when it comes to this sort of thing and he already knows some basics. Also, a friend pointed out to me John Green's Crash Course World History. The Elf has been *asking* to watch these nonstop. Score!

Anyway, that's where my thoughts have been while my hands have been busy. Linking up with Nicole's Crafting On post.