Well at least for my Celtic sweater. I finish the new neck last night or early this morning if you want to get technical about it. I foolishly stayed up until 1:30 a.m. completing it. I’m not quite done though, I have a few duplicate stitches to add to the knot. Even though I followed my chart I found a couple of spots that need to be brown to make the knot look better. I also have a loose stitch at the neck egde that needs to be tighted with a stitch, especially since it’s at the front.

I’m not sure if I’m going to block any further with it as it fits well and is already sewn together. I’m hope it’ll be a less stiff after I wash it. It very fitted so the stiffness could be a problem, but I think after I wear it for a bit it’ll soften and loose up.

I’ll post a picture of me wearing as soon as I fix those few problems.

I’m trying to get out and play with the girls as much as possible. Soon the cold weather will be here and it’ll be harder to get outside. I’m not big on playing in the snow. Perhaps that’ll change this winter, but I can’t make the girl’s any promises.

I took the camera out today and took these shots:

Lovely red leaves

Little G looking at leaf

Little G getting a little too close to the camera

Little A and I (please excuse my lack of make up and even brushed hair)

Little A being cute

After yesterday’s disaster I walked away from my sweater for a few hours. I looked at it and swore a few times, then I got out my sissors and carefully ripped out the neck edge. I decided I should have cast on more stitches. I’m still so sore about the whole thing that the sweater sits in a neglected heap in the living room while I happily work away on 5 mm dpns on little G’s winter hat. Stupid sweater can sit there for another day or two.

Uggh! I’m having one of those days. After struggling for the better part of the day trying to figure out how to do kitchener bind off in the round (my first time every trying it out). I’ve discovered that this bind off is rather unforgiving and I can’t get the @#$% thing over my head. I think with a regular cast off it would fit fine. So here I sit, having to pull the neck out and start the whole neck over. I couldn’t possibly unravel the kitchener bind off at this point. It’s going to be easier to hack at it with sissors (okay maybe I need to step away from this until tomorrow). I’m pretty sure the number of stitches I used around the neck are fine, but maybe I should start over and add a few more just incase.

Okay I need to go and weep for a while. Maybe I’ll have a cup of green tea and some dutch spice cookies to make me feel better.

My husband, who’s always thinking of my interests, sent me this link The Last Knit. I want you all to note that at the beginning of the animation the knitter’s silhouette appears to be an old woman, but when you see her you realise that she’s actually a young woman. I like that a lot because it reflects well the resurgence of knitting in the last 10 years of young knitters. Knitting isn’t something that just Grandma’s do. Although I’m very thankful that my Grandma knit because she taught my mom and they both taught me. I got the wealth of two great knitter’s knowledge early on in life.

Here’s the beginning of little G’s winter hat. Not much I know, but I’m glad I cast on with a contrasting colour. I think stuble hints of white will look nice. I’ll probably do a white tassel on top. I love working with dpns, especially bamboo ones. I think they look like little chopsticks.

The front

The back

I got the first sleeve sewn in. It look insanely skinny along most of the length of the arm, but it’s only because of the way the double rib looks. The whole time I’ve been making this sweater I’ve been panicing thinking it looks too small. Granted it is a snug fit and the next time I create this sweater I think I’ll be adding a few inches in the width here and there. I hope to get the second sleeve on and then knit up the neck. I still haven’t decided if it’ll be a turtleneck or a crew neck.  I guess it’ll depend on whether I feel like doing a bunch more ribbing.

I blocked the sleeves today and I hope to sew them in tonight. It’ll depend on whether they are dry or not. That’s the problem with blocking on the rug in the basement family room, it takes forever for stuff to dry. Unfortunately it’s the only good place for me to block. Speaking of blocking does anyone know of a place online that I could buy a blocking board? Or maybe some suggestions on what’s good to use for blocking. The rug is good, but I worry about my girls or the cats getting at the pins. If I had something portable I could lean on the wall in a room that’s off limits to children and felines alike.

I’ve started little G’s winter hat. It’s nothing fancy, dark blue with a white contrasting edge and a white tassel. At least I think since it’s still a pattern in my head. It feels strange knitting with 5 mm dpns after working on 3 mm straight needles for so long.

Little A had a wonderful birthday. Her favorite gift would have to be the puzzles she got. I think she was given four puzzles in all even one that goes on the fridge.  Today she did a 24 piece Dora puzzle all by herself. Pretty good for a 3 yr. old. Now if potty training could only work that well. Little A still isn’t trained and is only mildly interested. Little G is about the same, but she’s not even 2 yet. I’m going to train them together. I wish I had started little A earlier but I avoided it when I found out we’d be moving.  Tonight she kept putting her doll on the potty and reading to her. I’m hoping this is a good sign. I’m doing the sticker chart thing too.

Ally after her birthday hair cut. She looks a little stunned, but this was the best picture I could get. She tends to be goofy in front of the camera.

The birthday girl eating her cake. Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday.

It’s been a whole week plus a day since I posted. This is not good. I guess I’ve been pretty busy getting everything together for little A’s 3rd birthday. Her party was a hit and everyone enjoyed themselves. We’re all quite tired now and the girls and daddy are playing a Dora game with bought for little A while I catch up on blogging and email.

Last blog entry I mentioned we had a babysitter and we were going to the movies. Well Murphy’s law felt otherwise. Big P ended up working until 3 a.m.! It sucked big time. We are re-scheduling our date for next Friday.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a big Halloween lover. We’re going to have a party again this year. I’ve decided to go as a pirate. I started looking around for costume ideas (I like putting something together on my own rather then buying a pre-made one) and found the majority of women’s pirate costumes to be of the slut variety. This would have been fine if I was still 25 yrs. old and hadn’t been through three pregnancies over a period of 3 years. Bare midrifts just don’t work for me.

After some looking I found these costumes which I’m going to try to loosely re-create.

The second one is a bit more covered up in the cleavage area then the first. I don’t have a problem with cleavage (one thing actually improved by having babies). The trickest thing is the corset part. See I knit but I don’t even own a sewing machine. So it’ll be interesting to see how I solve this problem.

Speaking of knitting I’m almost done the sleeves. Finally no more mind numbing double-rib. Just a little sewing up and rib for the neck and I’m done. I hope to get it done by the end of the week. I want to be able to wear it when I go on my little trip in October for my 5th wedding anniversary. We’re going up north to stay in a little cabin at a resort. I can’t wait. I haven’t been away on a romantic get away since my first anniversary. We’re staying at the Shamrock Lodge in the Court House.

I don’t think I’ll be posting any progress pictures on my Celtic sweater this weekend. It’s slow going as I’m still working the 25 inches of double rib of both sleeves. The sleeves are so long because they go all the way to the neck edge and I have long arms. It’s slow and boring and now I’m increasing the width as I go too. They are getting wider and longer.

I’m off for the day on Saturday to visit some friends and tonight I’m going to see The Illusionist. It is a great freedom to have a babysitter again. We had a lovely sitter in the city we lived before, but she’s too far away to make it worth the trip to babysit for a few hours. I hope the girls will adjust okay to a sitter. They haven’t had much exposure to being babysat before. They behaved well for their grandparents a few weekends ago though.

It’s little G I’m most concerned about. She doesn’t always want to stay in bed at night. She’s been really good for the last month or so, but a change could be enough to cause trouble. And by trouble I mean running around the room yelling, slamming the closet doors, pulling all the books off the book shelf and dumping every blessed peice of clothing she owns on the floor. Okay so the kid’s not even quite two yet and I can cut her a break. I got spoilt with little A who is so well behaved it’s a miracle. She’ll probably get me back as a rebellious teenager.

This is invitation I sent out for little A’s birthday next weekend. It was one of the rare days she let me put her hair up in a pony tail. She looks so grown up.

This is little A only a few hours old. She was born along with her twin sister, Samantha, 13 weeks premature (in the 6 month of the pregnancy). It was a tough struggle which sadly her sister didn’t survive but happly little A did. My little girl is a big miracle.

This is were I’m at with the sleeves to my celtic ribbed sweater – not as far as I’d hoped. They look really narrow, but it’s only because of the ribbing, plus they are supposed to be pretty fitted. They fit around my arm just fine – although I have thin wrists so the 7 inches for the cuff would probably be a bit snug for some people. I just love the way this cotton is knitting up.

I bought this cotton at Camilla Valley Farms in Orangeville, Ontario. I haven’t ever been there in person yet, but I hope to make a trip there with my mom this Fall. I love, love, love their cotton. Did I mention that before? Anyway I may try picking up weaving again. My mom has a small floor loom and said I could have it. Just to find a place for it.

Is anyone else getting excited by the fact that Fall is coming? It’s my favorite time of year, I love the holidays of Thanksgiving and Halloween. The crisp air, cool evenings, beautiful colours and the smells of the whole season. I used to dread the Winter that followed, but I’m starting to appreicate the frozen season.