Little Things

I had an idea that I would crochet an Easter garland, and ordered some lovely colors in this yarn. But it's clear that crochet is largely foreign to me. As I happily perused patterns and pictures of various crochet flowers, the one thing that didn't cross my mind was gauge. When the thread arrived and I realized how small a hook I'd be using, my vision had to be revised. The flowers are smaller than I'd like, but they work up quickly and I intend to make a lot of them.

However, lately I've been drawn to my hexipuffs. Another quick and dirty project, and one I don't even have to look at much while knitting. I do need to buckle down on the flowers if I want a garland by Easter, though.

I've been reading a little of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn at night, but mostly I've been rereading Story of a Soul and The Hidden Face . I think I will read about Therese's family next, especially since her parents are being canonized soon, and her sister Leonie's cause for canonization was just opened. I've been on a Therese "kick" since reading Shirt of Flame, and I think her autobiography was perfect for me to read right now.

Linking up with Ginny's yarn along.

Hexipuffing Without Fear

Last night was craft night. But all my yarn was in the freezer. I debated pulling out a skein of sock yarn that I was relatively certain was clean, and starting the mate to a sock I found buried in my project bag during my house-wide wool inspection. But it felt like a risk move. 

Luckily a friend came to the rescue. Her sister-in-law entered the cloister recently, leaving behind an entire room full of yarn, beautiful lace shawls, and knitted monsters. The boys and I went over to visit, and I left with my arms full of yarn.

Isn't that beautiful sight? I also filled a large basket! 

I still miss my yarn, and am sad at the thought of losing part of it. But I'm very grateful for this generosity, and the timing was such a blessing. 

There were also a few hexipuffs in the box. I adopted them. :)

Anyway, right now that box is in a plastic storage bin with cedar blocks for company. I took some out for craft night last night, stuffed it and my hexipuff materials into a Ziploc bag, and whipped up a few puffs of my own. The Ziploc is maybe paranoia. Better safe than sorry, right?

I think I am okay with knitting in my own house now. Maybe. As long as the yarn never leaves my lap. 

I am thinking, though, that this yarn will not all be devoted to hexipuffs. The colors all together are a lovely sight, and there is so much of some of them ... maybe a pair of stripey, scrappy knee socks? Wouldn't that be fun?

When in doubt ... hexipuff!

Still reading The Body of This by Andrew McNabb. The stories here are short and quite intense. I think I'm going to take this book slowly. (Although I imagine I'd devour it if I had a long stretch of time to devote it proper attention.)

So I am looking for another book to read at the same time. On my Kindle I have A Mother's Rule of Life and The Nesting Place; which should I read?

I ran out of yarn for my leaves from last week. I'm still in a somewhat scattered place and not ready to settle down to a real project. So instead I have turned to puffs. Now I am addicted again. And in no danger of running out of yarn anytime soon, as you can see from the above picture ... all fingering scraps go into the shoebox. And I have quite a few mini-skeins I traded for last year as well.  

These 14 are all from the past week or so. Last night I actually found myself knitting puffs in my sleep. :-P (Not literally, just in my head.) The one on the needles is #129. And if you are wondering what that many puffs looks like .... 

...the answer is surprisingly small. If I ever want this thing to cover an actual bed I have a looong ways to go. But I'm pretty sure I have enough yarn. Heh.

(I'm going to pretend that Sophie the giraffe is in this picture for size comparison and not because there are toys all over my living room floor. ;) )

Linking up with Ginny.

Puffing (and still settling ...)

I finished my birthday socks--not quite in time for my birthday, alas. I was about ten rounds short. But they are complete and I am wearing them now. I would post pictures but socks are remarkably hard to photograph when they're on your own feet. ;) 

I am waiting for yarn to come in for a sweater for Michael, and have finished a sweater and blanket apiece for the twins, so for the past few days I've been knitting hexipuffs from the leftover sock yarn.

Surprisingly, I am still reading Anna Karenina. Perhaps I will stick with it after all. I didn't want to be in the middle of a massive Russian novel when the twins were born, but who knows? Maybe I'll finish it before then. (Probably not.) The other two books are These Beautiful Bones  by Emily Stimpson and Small Steps for Catholic Moms by Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss. I won both of these in giveaways--one on Goodreads, one through Ginny's blog--and am excited about both of them, particularly since I probably would have bought These Beautiful Bones anyway.

Both those skeins are Tosh DK--one in Antler, one in Betty Draper's Blues--and I am not sure what to do with them. Originally they were intended for a Milo for Michael. Now I am wondering if they should go into Milos or Puerperiums for the twins. What do you think?

In case you're wondering why that last picture was blurry ... I had to work fast.

 My stash is officially unpacked, as are all the books that will fit on our bookshelf, so our little reading/knitting nook is complete. We are getting new couches tonight, so when the room is more together I will show you pictures.

Linking up with Ginny for her yarn along!

(almost) 100 hexipuffs

Linking up with Ginny for her fabulous yarn along!

Baby knitting has stalled. I still haven't found the yarn for Maximilian's sleeves, unfortunately. As for the other sweater, both sleeves are finished and joined, and I am knitting the yoke, but right now I'm just not feeling it. In fact, I haven't felt inclined to knit much at all lately. Or really do anything in the evenings except sit and stare at the wall. Bleah.

But I have managed to knit a few puffs. Especially since I discovered a group on Ravelry devoted to trading and selling mini skeins ... *cough* I had hoped to have 100 hexipuffs to show you today, but alas, I only have 98. Which seems a kind of anticlimactic number. But oh well.

Playing with hexipuffs seems like a legitimate way to spend naptime, don't you think? ;) I tried out a "flower garden" arrangement, but I don't think I'll go with this ultimately. I just don't have enough puffs of the same color. As you can tell from some of the very scrappy looking "flowers." Heh. 

My goal for this month is 15. I've knit 8 so far. I don't know when I'll be done or what "done" even means ... I don't think I'm making this for our bed (which would entail knitting 800+ puffs ... yikes!), so maybe the twin guest bed (that's currently in storage in my father-in-law's basement)? To throw over a couch? Or a window seat, if we happen to get a house with a window seat? (I really like that last idea, but we'd need a window seat first. :-P )

I'm reading Best American Short Stories 2012. March was a slow reading month, but I'm picking back up again.

Yarn Along--Malabrigo March

I know I'm a day late for the yarn along, but I want to link up anyway. I've been knitting this

for Malabrigo March. The color is Lotus, and it's a bit less purpley than in the picture. I might be able to finish it by the weekend. The book is Greenstone. Keith gave it to me for Valentine's Day; it has a slow, rolling pace which I am enjoying. It's set in New Zealand and has a different flavor than anything I've read before.

Meanwhile these mittens are patiently waiting for me to finish with the shawl so I can give them their thumbs. Since I already knit a pair for myself with these exact same colors (which the camera doesn't capture very well), I am probably going to give them away. Which will make me a little sad. So they need to go to someone who will really appreciate them. ;)

Also I've been knitting hexipuffs. So far I have 78. They are about to outgrow their home; I'm not sure where I'm going to keep them!

Unhumble (or, Why I Will Never Be a Food Blogger)

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. I offered to bake her a cake, and she said yes. I was pretty excited, since I have an ever-growing cake board on Pinterest, but I rarely get a chance to bake cake. I mean, we're just two people here. (Or at least, just two cake-eating adults.) We can't healthily eat an entire cake by ourselves. Which means that if I bake a cake without an opportunity to offer some to other people, one of two things will happen: the cake will go to waste, or Keith and I will get fat. Both of which are tragic outcomes. ;)

(Keith is often suggesting that I bake things to give away. Which I love the idea of, but when I try a new recipe, I'm paranoid of giving it away without trying it first to make sure it actually tastes good. Also ... I just want to taste it, hehe.)

I have no pictures of the cake I made, but it looked a lot like this only drippier (think a solidified ring of ganache around the bottom of the cake, lol). I don't have the presence of mind to take pictures while cooking, and anyways I do most of my cooking in the evening when the light is horrible for photography. Clearly I will never be a food blogger!

Anyway, the only change I made was to make a ganache for the top instead of simply melted chocolate (in other words, I added heavy cream when I melted it). And I have to say, it was pretty good. Neither the filling nor the chocolate was too sweet. And everyone complemented my cake. And all I said in response was "thank you."

Four times out of five, I can't present my cooking without apologizing for it in some way, even to Keith. If I try a new or unusual recipe for dinner (like winter root pie, or berry cobbler with added lavender (which was really really good btw)), I dish it onto the plate and bring it to the table and say, "Well, we'll see how this turned out." Or, "This is okay, but the sauce is too soupy." Or, "ehhh, I should have cooked this a little longer." Always some imperfection.

And it's good I keep track of what I want to do differently or better next time, because that will make me a better cook over time. But the problem is, my automatic response to any complement is to point out my own failures.

I can't say that this comes from a place of humility. First of all, humility doesn't consist of denying your own strengths and successes (although it doesn't seek out acknowledgment of them). At best that's dishonest; at worst it's a form of pride. Second of all, it's not that I don't like the complements ... but this response is so habitual it's like a defense mechanism. Maybe if I point out my own mistakes I show that I'm more "mature" than, say, a little kid who proudly displays her artwork that no one can recognize? That doesn't seem compatible with true humility to me.

I do the same thing with knitting. These mittens, for example. I love stranded colorwork and I want to get Very Good at it. I have yet to knit anything stranded without some puckering somewhere from having too tight a gauge, and it kind of bothers me. So when I show you these mittens, it is only with great effort that I restrain myself from pointing out each and every place they pucker.

See the puckering down the palm--how the stripes sort of disappear into a fold in the fabric?

That being said ... I love these mittens. A lot. And I am proud of them. (Or at least, the one I've almost finished.) And of the many places where it doesn't pucker. ;) So here they are, without the catalogue of imperfections to accompany them. And I won't point out the other imperfections, on my blog or on my Ravelry project page.

I think I'll be able to finish this one tonight.

Casting On and Off

I did quite a bit of knitting last week, but between doctor's appointments and story-writing and general busyness, I never got around to posting for Ginny's yarn along. But I am back today!

The BSJ looks about the same as it did two weeks ago, although I added a few rows. However, I have (finally) cast on the mate of my first Honeymoon Sock, and I have cast off my brother's birthday present.

For those who want to see the finished present, you'll have to head over to the Ravelry page. :)

I've also been kniting hexipuffs! I am enjoying these little things! It gives me a chance to work with these beautiful yarns again, and they are so quick and easy and lovable. They're made of leftover bits from my Haruni, my Annis, my cowl, and the light green one was knit of a strand of the Annis yarn and Kidsilk Haze (from my bridesmaid shawls) held together.

The book is Shadow Theater by Fiona Cheong, who is the chair of my manuscript committee. For whatever reason, I haven't actually read anything published by the members of my committee until now, so it's about time I did so!

Thanks to all of you who gave congratulations on my last yarn along post! I know I didn't respond to everyone because I got so busy, but I really appreciate it, and it makes me happy to be able to share our joy with others.