Phoncible

Last week, while perusing yarn stashes on Ravelry, I found two skeins of Noro for a new hat, Phoncible to be exact. I’m not really a hat wearing type of gal. I don’t look too great in hats except maybe a cowboy hat. No, really. I look great wearing cowboy hats. But there was something about the playful colors and striping that snared me. And having a wool hat for the cold weather wasn’t a bad reason to start this either, know what I mean? (Anything to justify casting on something new.)

So without further ado,

Phoncible by Presentsknits

Yarn: Noro Kureyon, 2 skeins (dye lot numbers 152 and 184)

Needles: US 7 (16″ circulars and DPN’s)

Mods: I cast on 112 instead of 100  (to fit a 23″ circumference). I also started decreasing over 110 sts instead of starting at 100. This makes for a roomier hat, especially if you have a big head or lots of hair.

Personally, I think Scout looks much cuter trying it on.

Then again I think she’s cute no matter what she does. Don’t you?

A Remedy

Sage Remedy, that is.

I finished up my little sweater last night with less than desirable results. Don’t get me wrong, the sweater is absolutely gorgeous. It’s insanely soft. It’s lightweight, so it will be perfect for any type of weather Southern California can come up with. The color is both neutral and simple. But the fitting, well I found the pattern’s schematics to be a little off. Then again, I had problems with the pattern to begin with (I wasn’t sent the second, revised, pattern when I purchased it) so maybe I’m just a little disappointed with that to begin with.

However, I digress. I will wear this sweater. And if it doesn’t fit quite the way I want it to, well who cares? Really. And in the end I can always lose weight to make it fit, right? There’s looking at the sunny side of things!

{The back lace panel.}

{The front.}

{The Fan and Feather lace panel on the bodice.}

Would I knit this again? Absolutely. Would I make changes? You betchya. I would most definitely lengthen the sweater by at least two inches. (I’m 5’8″ and for me I like my sweaters to cover the waistbands on my pants/jeans.)  I would have picked up more stitches for a larger sleeve as well. I would probably knit this on larger needles, should I use the same yarn. I would most definitely use the Invernal again. Mmm, angora and merino wool. You can’t go wrong.

Nope, you can’t go wrong.

{rainy day}

Today is a rainy day.

One of those days when you lay in bed and you reminisce about those days when you went off to elementary school, lunchbox in hand. How you ran to your classroom trying not to get your Mary Jane’s wet. How recess was held inside. Games strewn over the double desks. Monopoly, Checkers, Old Maid. How you skipped in and out of the puddles on the way to the lunch room. How you watched the water drip, drip, drip. How there was a sweet scent of children, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and wet rain coats. How the YMCA counselors would open up the auditorium and all the kids would put on fake plays on the stage.

Those days are over, but they are lovely to remember. We hardly get much rain here in Southern California. Especially in the area we live in now. So when the sweet scent of water and asphalt mixed, I knew we were in for an old fashioned rain “storm”. It’s been raining all day today, so Scout and I had a rainy day inside.

I wonder. I wonder when she’s older, will she remember watching Scooby Doo with me on the couch under my comforter? Will she remember how we had “fair food”, (pizza rolls, soft pretzels with cheese, and cupcakes), and how we practiced our spelling out everything we ate? Will she remember the wonder in her eyes when she looked outside and didn’t really know why there was water falling from the sky? Will she remember the way the wind was so powerful that it shut our bedroom doors and bent the tree boughs right by the patio? Will she remember the sounds of the heavy cars splashing water onto the sidewalks? Yes, I wonder.

While side glancing a few episodes of Scooby Doo I finished up the shoulder warmer that I offered to make on Etsy. I’m happy to have it done. It wasn’t tedious. It wasn’t difficult. But it was time consuming and I am so behind on a few projects. I really need to catch up. And it seems like the rain just may allow it.

Ravelry link

Pattern by Crocheteria

Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Solid, (Charcoal Gray), almost two skeins

Needles: US 8′s and Us 9′s for the ribbing

I still have a scarf and a pair of mittens for Etsy customers to make, but I’m nearly finished and I can’t wait. (Patience, anyone?)

In the midst of our rain and knitting, Scout and I stopped to have a little snack: Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting,

and a little bit of reverie, (for me).

Yes. I think all of these memories are what justify my love for the rainy days we have.

Already Autumn

{Bringing out the Halloween decorations and lighting candles, day and night. Tahitian Vanilla, Apple Blossom, Strawberries.}

{Apples. A lot of apples. Apples for baking, apples for apple butter, apples for everything, really.}

{More knitting. Of course.}

Beginnings

Yes, beginnings.

A fresh new start.

Autumn is a new beginning. It’s the one season where I see the most changes. The cool Santa Ana’s whistling through the canyons. Waking up to Scout and Marley snuggled under three layers of blankets and quilts. Apple cider and hot cocoa, both a staple in our pantry. The crunchiness of the leaves.

It’s also a new beginning for knitting. I had a “revelation”, if you will. Something inside me that told me my knitting would be forever changed. I really don’t know how to explain it. There aren’t any words. The best way that I can explain it is that knitting is a life force. It’s comfort. It’s home.

My fingers are enveloped with the angora and wool. There is a constant click of metal against metal. Sometimes, when I open up the windows, the wind will rustle my notes. I embrace this. I embrace the Autumn. I embrace my knitting. I embrace my life.

Punkin

It’s spelled correctly, really it is.

When my mom was a little girl my grandpa used to call her his “punkin”. When I was little and would visit him he would call me his “punkin”, too. That’s what inspired me. That and the upcoming, hopefully soon, Autumn.

This hat is actually for an Etsy customer, but I decided why not put it on paper, (online, really), and let all enjoy?

Scout is a bit possessive in her young age. Every time I had her try the hat on she would throw a tantrum because she couldn’t keep the hat. Thus,

She must have inherited that face from me because Jem also makes this face.

I should have a pattern up in a day or so.

30 Days of Happiness: Knitting

I’m happy to be resuming my “30 Days of Happiness”. I’m just counting down each day. And even though it’s only, technically, been one day, I have to say that I am happy. At least, happier. In every sense of the word. I think it might have to do with this new book I’m reading, too. And it most definitely has to do with this:

I cast on for the Vine Yoke Cardigan yesterday. I cast aside the scarf that needs a hood and the colorful Chevron scarf with the never ending yarn. I put off knitting a dozen mini hats with pom-poms, all twenty four hats and mittens which need to be embroidered and hung to a very long i-cord. I set aside the four very different cabled socks with varying charts. There’s another sock, waiting for it’s mate. Patiently. I hope. I think.

The thing is, it made me happy. There’s something about newness. It’s very zen. I highly recommend it.

30 Days of Happiness

Over at Erin’s blog she started a Thirty Days of Happiness theme. I wanted to follow suit because the past few days, and I’m sure the days to come, have been and will be emotionally rough.

Inside I’ve felt anger, hopelessness, sadness, guilt and fear. Dalton’s death is still too new. Sometimes I coast through the day and I don’t give him a thought. But then I look under the coffee table as I sit on the couch to knit. He isn’t under there swatting his tail, left, right, left, right. I expect him to be sitting on the balcony soaking in the setting sun. But then I open the door and there’s nothing there but stucco and an empty herbal pot.

I need to dig down and find some happiness. I can not let his death consume me. I know that he wouldn’t want it that way. So I’m going to buckle down. I’m going to live 30 days of happiness.

The pictures all represent some type of happiness I have in my life, this minute.

It’s the end of the Summer.

I’ve been sketching and drawing in my spare time. Shawn bought me a new book and Derwent pencils, (my absolute fave).

I’ve been knitting the Rhiannon socks, but truth be told it will be slow knitting. (How hard does a sock have to be? Try knitting four charts at the same time. Mind you, they don’t all have the same row count.)

I also picked up a copy of Ysolda Teague’s new pattern from Twist Collective: the beautiful Vine Yoke Cardigan. I’m using some Cascade Ecological Wool that I had in my stash and already I’m quite pleased. I am thinking I might have someone make me some special buttons to compliment my new sweater.

And I have to say I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading. I think it’s suffice to say that it will be keeping me quite busy next week. The low down: I was born with club foot and had corrective surgery when I was a day old. Then when I was sixteen I jumped down off a fence and landed so hard on my right foot that it broke. Then I broke it again, playing softball, in 2003. The second time it didn’t heal and for the past six years I’ve had a lot of swelling, numbness and pain. I found a Dr. who can reconstruct my ankle and foot. It’s going to require a 3-5 hour surgery. A few days in the hospital. Crutches. And a lot of books. A whole lot of books to get me through 5 months in a cast/walking boot.

Any suggestions?

Littleness

I am a little stressed. I stare at the computer screen. Words are not flowing. There is no fathomable rhythm. There is no starting point and no ending. Today is just one of those monotonous days.

You know, the type of day where you just go through the motions. I didn’t ask myself why there were so many dirty dishes in the sink this morning. I just used a little soap and washed them.

The type of day where it doesn’t really matter if the bed is made or not. I just pulled on the corners of the comforter a little and made it a bit more straight.

The type of day where I answer the phone and I really don’t have anything to say to the person on the other line. There’s very little to discuss that hasn’t been mentioned before.

There are little problems around me.

I say little because I am trying not to make a big deal of them. At least until the time comes.

But my best friend in the world is dying. Little by little. My Dalton, my sweet Dalton. The cat who thinks of bringing me pigeons, mice, rats and squirrels as offerings of love. The cat who prefers to drink out of my cup rather than a water bowl. The cat who stretches himself  as far as possible just to lick the last bit of yogurt from the cup. The cat who I’ve loved relentlessly the past 9 1/2 years. My friend. My friend who squints his eyes in love and understanding. Each day gets harder and harder. I know what I must do. It’s a matter of being prepared. I think to myself that once he’s gone a piece of me will die with him. I think it already has.

In the shadows of this situation there are others happening in which I want them to be little problems. Things that can be fixed with a little ingenuity. But they are overshadowed. School can wait a semester until funding can come through. School will always be there. Another surgery? My hopes and dreams of feeling normal. Being able to walk in the sand instead of limping to the coastline. Being able to go for a run rather than cry into a pillow. Being able to walk for hours and not have to rest for “just a little while”.

It’s the little things, isn’t it? The phone calls in the middle of day. I love you. No, I love you. I love you more. Popsicles that drip down the back side of our hands. A bowl of popcorn while watching a much loved movie. Closing the bedroom door and reading a good book. Taking a nap while my arm envelopes my baby, making us one once again. The feel of fabric long forgotten in a dusty box. A handwritten letter.

And even a little knitting. On little needles. And little yarn. And just a little progress.

Toasty Warm

I finished up the mittens as promised last night and I wish it were Winter. That way I’d have a feasible excuse for wearing these roasty, toasty, warm mittens. They are delectable.

Pattern: Bella’s Mittens, (from “Twilight”)

Needles: US 9′s, slightly off the gauge. I knit 16 sts at 3 3/4″ instead of the 4″, but they are still a perfect fit.

Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Green Line Worsted in Echo

Now I’m off to work on those confounded little hats and mittens.