Hey there, all you hot mamas, and hot expec - tant  mamas out there, Happy Mother's Day!

(I shamelessly stole this from these people, but don't copyright laws expire after 100 years? So it's not really stealing.)

Look at what my sweetie got me this year:

Yes, this is the most awesome of news.  I've been hanging around for at least three months saying, "Everybody has an iPod but me." (I did the same thing for the whole three months while trying to get pregnant, which is nothing compared to the true anguish that some people go through while trying to get pregnant, I know.)  So, only my sweetie would take our tax return money and get That Which I Was Truly Coveting.  (Who says that tax returns are the savings account of the poor?)

Thank you, Big Sweetie! That's his official nickname in our house.  It might become his new moniker here, too, as I've always felt "DH" to be a little dorky but I couldn't come up with a better alternative.

Check out the back, inscribed with my own personal motto:

Feel free to vomit if this is too cheesy for you ... I still love it, and highly recommend that everyone have their own personal motto.

I was thinking of having the perfect contest to name her, but I've already come up with a perfect name and I'd be disappointed if nobody else thought of it, so I'm christening her right now:

Rosita.

What will I be listening to on Rosita?  Great music, including a new personal favorite song (listen to it in its entirety here as a video -- it's really worth it to hear the whole song), and many old favorites.  This is what led me to rediscover both my own KBCO Studio C CDs as well as to find that little one packaged away that someone will win in an announcement soon.  Besides great music, however, I can also listen to great audio books.   Look at what I just checked out from my local library:

Yes!  Now if I could only get my hands on the Spanish version, I'd be in a quixotic heaven.

What of the knitting, you ask? 

Sleeve #2 of the A Line Ribbed Jacket has been completed, and I hope to rip out my other front and finish that up soon, too.  So, I'll have a photo of a finished object later this week.  Yep, sewn up, buttons in and everything. 

I've been a little stressed lately.  I've had a deadline hanging over my shoulders (or is it head? in case you didn't realize this already, I have an unbelievable knack for butchering clichés, which really keeps my husband on his toes and laughing hard,  so I apologize in advance if that sounds weird to you), and I've had this deadline since, oh, about when I started the A-line ribbed jacket.  (I also have this knack for avoiding responsibility for casting on for new projects.)  Well, I just finished it** and this little package in the mail helped me ...

Check it out!  A secret pal's package sent by not a secret pal, but a secret pal angel.  Yes, I joined secret pal 4, sent out some stuff, and got an email in return.  An email.  Secret pal, where did you go?  Luckily Lisa truly was an angel and showed me the definition of thoughtfulness  ...

We have a handknit dishcloth in my most beloved "happy" colors (reference my Charlotte's Web if you need to verify this), wonderful lavender lotion and soap (and not the cheapy stuff, but nice stuff from a nice store), and amazing alpaca (yes, the same kind that started my whole little alpaca addiction, thank you very much.  What do you see in this?  Gloves?  I thought so.).  And check out the chocolate ... gourmet chocolate. 

Lavender.  Chocolate.  Wow!

I'm not embarrassed to say that after an evening, I had this to show for it ...

(I can't help it, but titles that start with "In which ...." remind me so much of my very favorite novel of all time -- Don Quixote de la Mancha -- and also Cate's blog as she often titles her blogs in this way.  If you haven't read this book, you should at least read part of it ... many really believe that it was the first "real novel" of the Western world, and all the references that you still see today to that book are really so amazing.  I see Don Quixote in everything.  But I digress...)

Okay, I told you that I'd tell you about my mother's Grace Beaded Purse, and here it is.

If you recall, this is this pattern:

In which the knitter slips beads between stitches, starting with one bead, increasing to two beads after a certain number of rows, and leading up to 6 beads at the bottom of the purse. 

This is also the pattern in which the knitter uses size 0000 needles (yes, that's four zeros).

Well, I'm so clever ... I started through the one-bead section, and I don't think it's violating copyright to say that the first section lasts for 30 rows (meaning fifteen beads on each side visible) and then proceeds to have twenty rows per section (meaning ten rows per side visible), and that starts with the two bead section and ends with the six bead section.

This brings us to CASE #1 of my silliness:

So, being the oh-so-clever knitter that I am, I said to myself -- 15 rows!  I can remember that.  So, once I had seven beaded rows on one side and six beaded rows on the other side -- yes, fifteen rows -- I started the 2-bead section.  I referenced the pattern, as I'm known to occasionally do, and when I saw that the 2-bead section lasts for 20 rows (or ten on each side), I thought ... "How odd.  Why would they have more rows in the second section than for the first section, when the picture looks like there are more rows in the first section??"  So, I started the third section.  Let's not tell how many rows later it was that I read through the entire ill-written pattern again and realized my error.  Did you catch it?  (Yes, please don't gloat, I'm sure you immediately did.) 

So, I thought about not ripping it.  But, I knew it would just be totally weird, and without taking a photo I totally Frogged The Whole Thing back to the single-bead rows.  This is where I'm back to:

(Okay, I'm cheating and using a photo I took a while ago, but I think I'm even less than this with the ripping, so this is definitely a more interesting photo.)

No ... that's for the next entry.

Well, I thought I'd just say that I'm feeling really lucky right now that I have all kinds of neat, interesting knitters crossing my path.  I think that when I started this blog, I did it out of purely selfish purposes -- you might know what I mean, because you might be reading this blog and saying to yourself, "Wow, she has some nice projects, but I'm doing stuff that's as cool as what she's doing!", because that's what I said about your blog.  (And, if you don't have a blog, go get one!  Then other people can say that about yours, and the vicious knitblog-addiction will never end.  That's okay, we don't want it to.)  Well, meeting all kinds of neat people has been a thoroughly appreciated side effect of me doing this wierdo thing here in blogland. 

Last Friday, Cathi and I got together with our little kiddos, and snatched in some knitting between mommy moments.  It's rare to find people who you like, with kids that your kids like (and who they don't either beat up or get beaten up by).  So, to find someone like Cathi who is both of those things, plus who actually can understand this knitting language that I speak, and who gets equally excited by things like SEX, talking about our SABLE status, and other weirdo knitting acronyms, is really a blessing in my life.  Thanks for the playtime, Cathi!  (Sorry that I'm a lame blogger and didn't take photos.) 

I got to see Cathi again later that night because Wanda had a small impromptu little get-together with me, Cathi, Cynthia and Michelle.  A little knitbloggers get-together, if you will. A great time was had by all, attested to by the fact that we left no sooner than 1:00 AM (yes, we are wild and crazy gals). Wanda proved to be a Cape Cod-mixer-extraordinaire, while Cynthia kept us in stitches (pardon the pun), and Michelle wowed us with tales of being in the military and living in Saudi Arabia.  Cathi was just being hilarious and cool, like always.  Go see what she was working on that night, and just finished and you'll see what I mean.  I think the highlight of the evening was when I turned to the other girls and said, "Hey, speaking of Lorna's Laces, did any of you see that cool pattern that the Argyle colorway works up to in a sock?"  And ... they did.  I mean, this to me is the sign of a group of people who understand your language.  (And, if you speak my language, too, you'll go here to see for yourself.)   (Sorry again that I'm a lame blogger and didn't take photos.)

Okay, blessings aside, here's the mother's day update [and, if you're wondering, I haven't really let any of my family into my little "private life" here, besides friends who actually knit and just *might* be interested in this (but who probably aren't) so I can blog about such things without ruining any surprises].

I recently bought some Knitpicks Shimmer in Morning Mist and Maple Leaf to make little lacey scarves for the MIL and the DM.  I started last week on a faggoting stitch pattern (which I've always been so uncomfortable saying and now I can tell you that I'm also a little uncomfortable writing?).   Anyhow, did you know that faggoting patterns simply mean "do the same lace pattern on every row"?  I thought this would make my scarf easier, but I worked it on small needles, and then my yarn got tangled, and before I knew it I'd spent two hours on one inch of scarf.  This wasn't going to work.  I then remembered the "airy lacy scarves" from Last Minuted Knitted Gifts.  Joelle Hoverson to the rescue!  Size 10.5 US bamboos to the rescue as well!  Here's the scarf I cast on for at Cathi's house and finished at Wanda's house.  (Well, almost finished, I just had another inch and then I bound off the next day, but you hear me.)

Here's the blocking action:

And note the self-striping action of Shimmer. 

Finished and ready to go!  A little longer than planned, but a successful little scarf overall.  Just a little something to send along, along with a cute kitty pin and some cards that my kids wrote.

Meanwhile ... as for my Dear Mother, what about that little Grace Beaded Bag, you ask?  Well, that gets into my next entry, which I'm going to title "In which Jenifer makes mistakes and is sort of stupid."  You'll see soon enough.

Wow -- thanks for all the entries to  my stashbuster contest!  Trust me ... the CD is worth it.  So, enter if you haven't yet, and remember that you can enter as many times as you want!  Come back after May 5 to see a huge updated list of fun stashbusters projects, one which I'll be referring to soon enough because ...

Well, I'm trucking along on my ribbed cardigan ... I've finished the back, the fronts, and I've started the sleeve.

Let me back up there ... I've actually almost finished my second front ... but I noted something that MIGHT be problematic when I lined up the two sweater fronts (I discovered this while working the buttonholes):



Do you see it??

I'm not sure if this is a big deal or not, so how about a little poll action today??  (And my last poll didn't really work ... I hope this one does!)





Thanks, and I'll reveal more later.  I just don't know if this is a big deal (or if it shows well in the photo). 

MEANWHILE ...

The triada-along is already a lot of fun, and I can't wait to get started.  Wanna see??

And THANKS to everyone who's leaving AWESOME comments on my contest ... which runs through May 5.  There's still time to comment!  I'm going to have a killer list after this, which might help me de-stash a little. 

Okay, now for a contest ...

(and I know that I just broke all those formatting rules about not using too much bold and italics and underline all at the same time, but aren't contests worth it?)

As you all know, I did a little three-month experiment of a yarn diet from Dec. 1 to March 1.  It was a great experience overall.  I only had a few relapses, and overall I was pretty psyched that I used my a lot of my stash.  However, what did I learn from this??  My stash is out of control.  The only reason that I'm not at SABLE status (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) is because I'm 33 years old.  Otherwise, I'd start worrying.

So, more than anything, I realized just how many bits and pieces of leftover bits and pieces of yarn that I have. 

The question that I pose to you is ... What should I do with all of it??

So, here's my contest:

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PATTERN OF ALL TIME TO USE UP ODDBALL REMNANTS OF YARN?

By this, I mean, what specifically have you done with those bits and pieces of yarn? 

I'm starting with this list:

First, we all know that we can take any old pattern and make it into a stashbuster by putting all the yarns together and pulling out one at a time.  Afghans, sweaters, scarves ... those are always great ideas.  Here's a few more specific patterns to browse through, however: 

BLANKETS:
Laura's washcloth afghan made from lots o' washcloth squares
Berroco's Homage Throw would work great with lots of leftovers

PURSES:
The Booga Bag in scraps (must be feltable wool)
Sophie in scraps (must be feltable wool)
French Market bag in scraps (again, feltable wool)


SWEATERS:
Berroco's Luisa, a side-to-side cardigan using worsted weight yarns

VEST:
Leftover "inchworm" vest  looks interesting but I'm not sure I'd make it

SCARVES:
Berroco's Pastiche Scarf would look cool with lots of different yarns

SHAWLS:
Cheryl Oberle's Knitted Ruana in Folk Shawls
Berroco's Panache poncho using worsted weight yarns



To enter the contest ...

Please leave a comment to this entry telling me about any other specific pattern, and in what book or where online I can find the pattern whether it's free or for sale.  And of course, patterns that don't fall into the above categories are of course welcome!

I see that Michelle has made a fun yarn purchase of Fiesta Yarns La Boheme ...

And we all know that I picked this up at Woolen Treasures earlier this month ...

The Phoebe-along was so much fun (and in the end, helpful), why not join up for a Triada-along?

So who is up for a Triada-along? Michelle?  Anyone else?

Well, it's been a week since I've updated, so I thought I'd drop a note and share the goings-on in my life, in case you were getting worried ... (thanks for the note!...)

Thanks, however, first to all the comments on the Spanish knitting blog entry -- and I'll be posting an update soon on other  related things that I've gathered up.

Back to the goings-on ...

Last Friday was April 15.  This is important because it was deadline day for me ...

The #1 deadline was our taxes.  Yes, for the first time EVER, I put off doing our taxes until spring break in March ... and while using our Turbo Tax program, it said that I needed to refer to some numbers from our 2003 filings -- but I couldn't find our 2003 filings!  So, to make a long story short, we had to send off for our 2003 filings which luckily arrived on April 13, and which allowed me to get our taxes done.  In the end, I delivered our state tax form to the post office at 4:30 PM.  Hey -- I still had half an hour to go!  Who says I'm a procrastinator??

The #2 deadline was my little mystery project that I wanted to submit to Knitty.  And, being the procrastinator, I realized one week before that April 15 was the deadline -- but I still worked my little knitting rear off to get the project, the photos, and the pattern finished by April 15.  In the end, I submitted the pattern and picts at about 10:30 that night -- Hey -- I still had an hour and a half to spare!  (Did I mention that I'm a procrastinator?)

The good news is that I haven't been rejected from Knitty yet, so I just *might* have a shot at making it to the summer issue ... we'll see.  In any case, what really matters to me (and I really do mean this) is that I finished a goal that I set for myself, and a certain little man in my house is very happy about something that he gets to wear.  That alone is definitely a success in my camp.

Do you remember that I've been hunting down knitting blogs that are in Spanish?  There's a large number of blogs in French and I have a few bookmarked that I read over there on the left sidebar.  But in Spanish? 

Well, look at what I found ...

Waltzing Matilda writes a bilingual knitting blog.  That's lots of extra writing, but !gracias por el esfuerzo! 

(...and can I also mention that a big gripe of mine is that I can't figure out how to work the special characters in these blogging text editors, which makes an anal person like me really annoyed?)

And then there's ?Y qué si tejo?, another bilingual knitting blog that Pioggia updates in both English and Spanish at two different sites. 

La Gringa Tejedora is an English-writing knitter who sometimes incorporates Spanish. 

But that's it.  Let me know if you've found some ... I'd love to bookmark them!  I'll add these in to the left sidebar at some future point, too.