The Magical Mystery Sewing Machine Tour!

I got bit by the quilting bug, badly apparently as this just came home with me on Friday.

tldr; Hey!  I shopped around & got a new sewing machine!

It all began because of the quilt I am making for Lil' Miss (isn't it easier to blame our foibles on someone else?) I looked at the meager machines available for sale at my JoAnn's while I was there buying fabric to back her quilt.  They were Singer's and none too fancy, a whole lot more expensive than my current Singer but just didn't seem to have the extra harp space I was interested in.  So I went home, thinking about how maybe it was time to upgrade my machine.  I looked online, I perused various blogs and discussions about which manufacturer was best and tried to compare as best I could.  Which sounds great, but have you ever tried to find the price of a sewing machine online?  It's like they're a national secret or something!  I finally realized I just need to make a trip to my local sewing machine dealer.

Happily my closest dealer is in the same shopping center as my JoAnn's and since I needed to get some batting anyway...  So I went in and told the nice salesguy what I was looking for, a machine good for a novice quilter.  He starts showing me this lovely machine, demonstrating what it does and all the cool bells and whistles on it as I am coming to the realization that this machine is way out of my league.  So I ask how much it is and almost loose my bladder right there on the floor, $2399 plus tax!  This is so beyond the budget I had in mind of $500 that it is just sad.  I explained there was a monetary constraint to this purchase and did they have anything more in my price range.

He showed me a perfectly serviceable used machine (who knew a 20 year old machine would sell for $500!) and their limited selection of lower priced machines, yes, $500 is lower priced in the world of sewing machines.  As he was getting call away to assist another customer he mentioned the machines up by the front window that were their best-sellers, Pfaff Amitions, and that the store did offer financing.  I looked at them but was feeling so overwhelmed that I needed to go home and resume my internet searching for these specific models now that I had narrowed the field somewhat.

Have I mentioned that shopping for a sewing machine has a lot in common with shopping for a car?  Trade-in's, financing, servicing plans, oh my!  Anyway I came home and resumed my search, looking specifically at the Pfaff Ambition line, because with the 0% interest financing I could definitely swing it.  The reviews overall for these machines were glowingly positive and everyone seemed to love the built in walking foot.  Although the used machine was perfectly nice, I will admit I wanted something new, I like me some bells and whistles.

meet Pfrannie Pfaff... I think we are going to be good friends, she and I

I was able to pick the brains of my friends in regards to my sewing machine quest and their advice was to test drive any machine before I purchsed it.  Their preferred brands were Viking and Bernina, but since Bernina is so far beyond my means I didn't even consider it.  As for the Viking I found that the Sapphire line seemed comparable to the Pfaff Ambition line, and after further research I focused in on the Sapphire 835.  I located my local dealer for their machines and planned to go test driving the next day with my 2 selections in mind, the Viking Sapphire 835 vs the Pfaff Ambition 1.5/

I charged up my ipod to entertain the monkeys while I was doing my test drives and got an early start the very next day to compare one right after the other.  The very nice sales lady at the Viking dealer went over the machine with me, not pushy at all and answered all my questions.  What I particularly liked about it was that there was more harp space than the Pfaff, about 1.5", and when you take your foot off the pedal the presser foot automatically lifts, a nice feature for doing straight line quilting.  I did not like that there was not a bobbin sensor for the model I was looking at (every damn time I sew I run out of bobbin thread and don't notice until at least a foot of fabric has gone under the needle, so this was a priority feature for me), and even on sale this machine was $100 more than the Pfaff with less stitches available and no integrated walking foot, a separate one would have to be purchased for another $100.  Additionaly, this dealer did not offer any financing or trade-in rebate.

At our second visit to the Pfaff dealer I homed right in on the machine I was interested in and the sales guy there went through a whole demonstration of all the features of the Ambition 1.5 for me, again he answered every question I asked kindly and with respect.  After sewing on it a bit, I was pretty happy with it and was ready to ask about pricing.  Turns out it was on sale, plus they offered trade in credit, and financing with a minimum $1000 purchase.  I really liked the integrated walking foot, the huge selection of 196 stitches including 4 alphabets, and the specialty buttonhole foot on the Pfaff.  The financing deal was the final trigger though, both machines were great but the ability to stretch those payments out over a year at no interest was what got me to pick the Pfaff, plus the offer of free classes on how to use the machine, a free service at one year, and the ability to trade up in one year while being cresited for the full value of the machine I just purchased (not that I will actually take advantage of this, but nice to know it's possible!).

check out all those stitches!

So yea, I am the proud owner of Pfrannie Pfaff, an Ambition 1.5.  I have barely started to play with her but I already know I will definitely need that free 'Get to know your Pfaff' class!  As typical for me though, this was partly triggered because I know to do free motion quilting you need to lower the feed dogs or cover them...guess what I found while packing up the Singer to take for the trade in?  Yup, that's right I found a cover for my feed dogs right there in the accessories storage area.  Oh well, still not sorry in the least that I upgraded, now I just have to learn how to use this fancy machine!

OCD Much?

That's Obsessive Compulsive Delightful as I heard on the morning news program the other day!  That said, I got rather obsessive about some quick to finish projects that would use up the bits and bobs of yarn that I have clogging up my stash bins.  Why did I get crazy about this one asks?  Well, I need to get rid of them so I have room for all the new yarns I want to buy!

For starters I gave away yarns that drove me crazy, such as the 2 partial skeins of Berocco Vintage left over from Destructo-boy's Tomten cardigan and some really pretty but difficult to use mohair bulky yarn.  The Vintage stuff just doesn't hold up, it pills if you look at it funny so regardless of how much I spent on it I'll never use those bits and off they went.  The mohair I just gave to Goodwill, I tried to knit with it, I really did but it made me cry (literally, is that sad or what?!) so away it went too.

For the knitting I first took a little trip through Rebecca Danger's great book The Big Book of Knitted Monsters, knitting 3 different monsters so far, with a 4th planned.  The monster creation used up 5 different yarns, hooray!  Then I made a pair of fingerless mitts for Destructo-boy (who put them on immediately and would not remove them for the rest of the day) and a ear-warmer headband for Lil' Miss (that still needs a cute crocheted flower to finish it off).  Those 2 projects used up 4 different skeins of leftover bits, so happy!

The only problem was that I have 3 larger projects going on already and I have been totally ignoring them in the instant gratification of pulling yarn out of my boxes, making something and being done in a day or two.  Additionally I found myself getting all anxious about the amount of yarn still in the boxes and that I wasn't getting rid of it fast enough.  Then I stopped and reminded myself that knitting is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby, not something that creates angst.  So I am currently back to the big projects and trying to remind myself to enjoy each and every stitch.  It helps some that I made a new rule for myself, only 1 yarn order allowed per month, and I still need to have room to put it into a box before I can order it...yes, I already made my order for March!

Excuse me while I rant

Hmm, no white here!

Can someone please tell me why it is so difficult to find the simplest of wardrobe staples, a white t-shirt?  You know, just a basic whit t-shirt that you can't see my bra through?  Okay, maybe I am totally out of touch with the current style (like I have always been, in high school I strongly resembled a goth-amish refugee, yup, imagine that one for a minute!) but it really shouldn't be so hard to find.  Apparently every clothing manufacturer has agreed to use the thinnest material possible and the public just accepts it.  It used to be that you could find a decent white tee, sadly mine was somewhat stained in the underarm area so it is now a lovely shade of rose pink, nice, but not white.  I mean, I even subjected myself to walking into The Gap (I hate this store, so not me!) bu even their most signature garment was ridiculously thin, I mean, a dermatologist could examine me through it!

With spring and summer on the way I really would like to find a decent white t-shirt, and when I do I'll probably need to stockpile them!  My favorite go-to store has sadly gone out of business, Mervyn's, and my second favorite store New York & Company has joined in the too thin material brigade.  It has been awhile since I last tried to find one, and I am getting ready to begin the search again, sigh.  This could be one of the reasons why I hate to shop for clothes, I need a specific item and just can't find it, or maybe I am being a bit like Goldilocks, this one too thin, that one too short, where is the one that is just right?!

Distraction

newly organized closet, yea!

This weekend I was trying to work on my scrapbooks and my Slice die cut machine was being difficult and not working right for me.  Okay, it's been buggy pretty much since I bought the damn thing but when it works, it really works and I love it.  Anyway, I got mad at it and needed to find something else to focus on, so I decided to move around some craft supplies as I had been contemplating doing for a long time while I waited to see if my Slice would spontaneously start working properly again.

Once upon a time I was an artist, well, at least an art student and I still have a taboret in which my remaining art supplies are housed (from Wikipedia: a small portable stand or cabinet, with drawers and shelves for storage. It is used as a method to bring organization to a work area. This name for a portable cabinet is common to artists.).  I came to the sudden realization that part of my reluctance to work on my scrapbooks is due to the fact it is a total pain in the ass to drag all my supplies from the closet where they are stored out to the dining table where I work with them so I decided to move the scrapbooking stuff into the taboret and relocate the art supplies...somewhere else (I so wish I has a craft room like I did while living with The Momster, I waited a whole week after Grumpy moved out to take over his room for my artsy crap!).

The scrapbooking stuff fits into the taboret nicely and all of the art supplies are neatly reorganized into my yarn storage boxes.  Huh?  What's that?  How did the yarn get involved in this you ask?  Well, it occurred to me that my current yarn boxes were bursting at the seams to contain the yarn I have stashed and since I use the yarn more than the art supplies maybe I should make sure the yarn is easier to get to and maybe devote more space to it.  So one thing led to another as you can assuredly see by now and I spent all afternoon going through stuff, reorganizing it, cleaning out things that I don't use anymore or are broken/unusable, purchasing some new storage boxes, etc., etc., etc. 

So, I got completely distracted and my dining table was still covered in partially completed scrapbook pages.  Sigh, maybe I'll make some progress on it sometime this week, but doesn't my taboret look nice with all the scrapping supplies in it?  And now I have some room to buy more yarn too!

obsessively labeled yarn boxes, hmm, OCD maybe?

I make a bargain with myself

Weird I know, but I often tell myself I have to do a less desirable project to then get to do something that is more fun for me.  Am I the only one who makes these kind of little deals with myself?  And am I the only one who almost always keeps them?!  Anyhow, since I seem to keep dropping the scrapbooking in favor of new knitting projects I decided to put a stop to that behavior with a new little bargain.  Thus, I am not allowed to start another knitting project until I finish up the birthday albums and fall 2010 pages that are in progress.  It seems a bit ridiculous, I know, but I have a feeling I'll just keep putting off the scrapping until I run out of yarn (like that would ever happen!). 

So all I have in the way of knitting right now is my Austin hoodless Hoodie.  I guess that'll help encourage me to get that sucker finished too huh?!  On the plus side I am actually making progress on the pages, I already finished their birthday albums and have the pictures all printed out for fall.  The only part unplanned right now is the journaling (the hardest part for me for some reason, you wouldn't think it since I blog, huh?  You try to be brief and poignant every time and you'll get writer's block too I tell ya!) and since I have all the pictures for fall printed out and ready to go onto my already designed pages, I just have to sit down and do it.

Of course right after making this little deal with myself Knit Picks released their new colors of Felici, the bastards!  So in spite of a self-imposed halt to new knitting I have a shopping cart full of yarn at KP that I will be ordering fairly soon.  Sigh, excuse me while I go pull out my glue to finish up fall so I can get to work knitting down my current stash to make room for the new fibery goodness shortly to make it's way here.

Growing Pains

They are more than just physical aches.  My lovely neighbor, The Child Whisperer, clued me into the simple fact that when a child is going through a growth spurt they start acting out at the same time.  I just realized after seeing how Lil' Miss has almost outgrown her leggings purchased for her at the start of summer that the major attitude problems we were experiencing over the past two weeks must have been due to a little growth spurt. 

In spite of realizing the why, the simple existence of the 'tude is beyond aggravating.  Ever have a cute little blonde blue eyed 5 year old talk back at you?  Doesn't matter how cute that child may be, you still want to grab them by the scruff of the neck and pitch them out the nearest window.  The fun is multiplied when you realize that elements of the 'tude are your own annoying habits being reflected back at you (yes, I really regret some of the choice phrases I have popped out with now that it's too late!).  Thankfully it only last a few weeks and then she gets back to her normal self, but nw we get the fun new tricks she is learning from her friends at school to deal with!

Not to be left out Destucto-boy has entered the terrible twos.  Lil' Miss didn't get there until she turned three, but the boy is already there.  It is completely normal for the age, but sometimes it is just so incredibly tiresome, especially when you are trying to get somewhere and he insists on doing everything himself.  Then when he doesn't get his way he starts screaming at such a volume as to put a Howler monkey to shame.  Some days I wonder why it ever occurred to me that having children was a good idea, then one of them gives me a hug or kiss and I remember.

Mister Vonkysmeed and I are not looking forward to the teen years, I don't know how we will survive!

Popping the sock cherry, part 2

So now I am working my way down to the toe and decided to check my gauge just for giggles, yup, you knew this was coming didn't you?  It has changed, I am now getting 8 stitches per inch just as indicated in the pattern, and that makes for a sock too small for my colossal feet.  Apparently working with the yarn and needles has changed my gauge, well crap, are the socks still going to fit?  Thank goodness for stretchy yarn, I tugged, pulled, yanked, slipped it on and can still get my foot into the sock, thank heaven for small favors!

Continuing on, I completed 7 repeats of the lace pattern from the heel flap break before starting to decrease for the toe.  I decreased down to only 34 stitches before grafting, but it looks kind of funky, really long, and the toe is rather blunt (okay, comments on my Yeti sized feet aside, this darn sock looks weird!).  I think on sock number two I may see how only 6 repeats of the pattern goes before starting to decrease, and decreasing for more rounds.  Yes, that would mean redoing the toe on sock 1, oh joy, feel my enthusiasm!

weird looking too big sock

Now why don't I just rip out the toe of sock #1 and redo that you ask?  Well, what if I'm wrong, what if only 6 repeats is not enough?  Yes, with my luck that is what would happen.   So on to sock #2, which will fit a little differently anyway due to my gauge changing as I knit and get more acclimated to these really tiny needles.

Yup it is definitely tighter to get over the damn arch, but the length is perfect!  Doing just six repeats of the lace pattern after working the heel before starting the toe is just right, so I will definitely be reworking sock #1.  Before I even finished sock #2 I was trolling the patterns on Ravelry looking for other sock patterns to knit.  I have some self striping felici in my stash I have to work with and am thinking the stroll tonal I have will get used for socks too (mind you I still have to redo the toe on sock #1 when I finish the second sock).  That's it, I am officially hooked!  I haven't even worn these socks but it was a fairly quick project, easy pattern, and it is an item that will definitely be worn.  Now I finally 'get' all the groups devoted to socks on Ravelry, I can see how knitting them can become an obsession.

It was very quick work to get the toe on sock #1 taken apart and redone, I was able to complete most of it before walking Lil' Miss to her first day of Kindergarten (more on that another time, sniff-sniff).  Now they are done, washed and laid out to dry.  I can't wait to get started on my next pair, but have some holiday gift knitting to work on first, sigh...

Popping the sock cherry, part 1

neener, neener, nee-ner!

They have been staring at me, I tell you they have, that stinkin' sock yarn and tiny little 2.5mm needles just daring me to do something with them.  Every time I go look in my box of fingering/dk yarn it stared up at me, taunting me to actually do something with it, I really hate cheeky yarn so I'd close it back up in the box and forget about it for awhile.  So I have been avoiding, avoiding, avoiding working with it, but since I just got a new box of smooshy yarn goodness I decided to finally use up the last remains from my last large order in April.

After much dithering and hemming & hawing I finally picked out a pattern, Monkey by Cookie A. from the winter 2006 issue of Knitty.  After seeing that there are over 12,000 projects using this pattern I thought it wouldn't hurt to use it for my very first pair of socks.  Plus there are lots of discussions about it in the Ravelry forums so adjusting it to fit my 'How the legend of Sasquatch was born' feet shouldn't be that much of a problem.

After fortifying myself with a large dose of chocolate I made my gauge swatch, okay, that wasn't so hard.  I then ran it through the washer and dryer and realized I won't be running my handknit socks through the dryer, the washer maybe, but definitely not the dryer.  The hanging ends of the yarn from the cast on and bind off felted somewhat and I fear what would happen with socks that actually get worn by my Amazonish feet (no worries, I have no desire to cut off my right breast, but I can tell you I understand why they did that, bowstrings snapping across really hurt!).  So according to the gauge swatch my stitch count is 7 stitches/inch but the pattern is 8stitches/inch.

Considering my gigantor feet and looking at adjustments to the pattern that were made for bigger feet I realized being off gauge actually worked to my advantage, I would have a sock of 9" instead of 8" as in the pattern, perfect for me! You know what they say about the best laid plans though, but more on that later.

Casting on was a total pain in the ash, I am doing this with the magic loop method rather than with double pointed needles.  I have a set of US 4's that are sock needles, but hey are so short it is really uncomfortable to knit with, so circular it is.  I used the cable cast on (I lurve this method, use it for just about everything) and boy do those stitches love to twist around the cable.  So I got it cast on, did the ribbing for the top and then onto the pattern. The pattern itself wasn't really hard, it's just like the lace I've been knitting, up til the heel flap, eek!  But I read through the pattern a few times and found some KnitPicks videos of Kelley's Sock Class on YouTube, and then got started.  Hey, this isn't so hard I even added in one more slipped stitch along the side as not only do I have Godzilla feet but I have an extraordinarily high instep/arch as well (remember those tight jeans that zipped up the calf from the 80's? I couldn't get my feet in them cause my arch was so high).  Uh oh, now I have the heel turn!  More videos and repeated reading, then woohoo, conquered that little devil too.  Then I just had to do the gusset, but now that I have wrapped my mind around what it is I am supposed to be doing it doesn't really seem that hard, yea me!

To be continued...

Talk to me already!

Destructo-boy won't talk, or can't, not really sure which.  Maybe he just isn't being given enough impetus to need to talk since pointing and going 'uh, uh!' seems to be working just fine.  Well, it works fine for him at least, I for one am getting heartily tired of it.  It just gets so frustrating, I know he wants something but he won't say what it is that he wants, we have to play an elaborate game of Charades to figure out his wants and needs half the time.

He is going to be two in October so he should have started saying some words by now, and we know he is capable of speech as he occasionally will let loose a single word never to be spoken again, no matter how much he is prompted.  Unfortunately if my history is anything to go by we may be in for a bit of a wait before he start to talk to us.  Apparently I was almost 3 before I started to talk, I also did the grunting and pointing thing for quite awhile myself (sorry Momster!).  That said, once I started talking it was in full and complete sentences, my first being "Jennifer get in the backseat of the car!" (apparently my cousin really didn't want to sit in the back and both my aunt and the Momster were instructing her to do so when I piped in). 

Lil' Miss tries to help translate his grunting, maybe another reason he really doesn't make much of an effort at human speech.  Oh, and the topper was this morning, his talking dog toy, Scout, (which we normally lurve by the way) was singing some stupid song and sang 'dog', so what did the boy do, he said 'dog' back to the damn toy, clear as a bell.  He talks to the bloody damn dog toy but won't talk to me!  Do you begin to sense my frustration level here!!!  All I can do is hope that he starts talking soon, I mean, he'll be talking by the time he needs to start preschool, right?!  Right?

Office with a view...

Yes, this is where I get to work everyday.  Aren't you insanely jealous, well, at least a little?  I am incredibly lucky in that I am able to work part-time from home, with flexible hours to fit into my parenting schedule.  It all started a few months after I quit my full time job to be a stay at home mom when I got a call from my old employer asking me if I'd like to do some research work from home on my own schedule, 'why of course!' I answered (I'd be kind of dense to pass up an offer like that!).  It's now going on three years and I feel so fortunate to have a job where I am not on a specific schedule and can actually get some work done while keeping an eye on my ankle-biters at the same time.

With the onset of some actual heat the ankle-biters really want to play outside instead of staying inside where it gets pretty warm while mommy works on the computer (no A/C except for the portable unit we use for about a month).  So after a quick request I actually have power at the patio table in the backyard due to Mister Vonkysmeeds' engineering skills (I have learned to not refer to him as crafty, but to use more 'technical' terms) hooray!  I'd rely on battery power but I get about 20 minutes before my laptop craps out, sigh.  But now I can set up in the backyard to do my play, ravelry cruising, facebook checking work during the hot months of summer and keep an eye on Lil' Miss and Destructo boy while they play in the pool and on the waterslide.  Yes, life is good, so nice you asked and I do hope your summer is going just as well too!

Backyard surprise!

That would be a surprise for the kids, not so much for us!  It's a water slide Mister Vonkysmeed created on an existing playground slide in our backyard.   Add a $15 plastic pool, a fountain pump (purchased at his toy store, Harbor Freight Tools), and some assorted sprinkler system drips and you too can turn your own playground slide into a super fun water slide.  Mister Vonkysmeed and I have talked about doing this for several years and finally decided to just do it because if we kept waiting the kids would be too big to enjoy it, so I told him to go be creative (within a reasonable budget of course-my standards not his)!

Both Lil' Miss and Destructo-boy love it!  Their faces when Mister Vonkysmeed turned it on were absolutely priceless, made every penny we spent worth it.  I think we do need to mark out a splash zone like they do at Sea World however as they create huge splashes across the patio every time they come down!  Although it would be awfully fun to see one of our friends get a nice wet surprise during our monthly barbecues!  We'll see how long we go without an accident, I can just see someone busting through the side of that pool and sliding onto the patio, not fun (and talk about road rash, yeouch)!

Too bad my butt's too big to fit onto the slide (yes, I have tried, unsuccessfully), otherwise I just might be tempted to try it out myself (like I did with the crib the other day on an especially rough afternoon with the kids).  Happy first week of summer!

Haven't you ever had a day like this?!

Haruni, my oasis in the stockinette wastelands

Something that isn't stockinette, oh happy day!  Having just finished the Twirly skirt for Lil' Miss (which she is prancing around the house in as I type!) it is time to cast on a new project that doesn't require miles of knit stitch.  My new project of choice is the absolutely lovely Haruni shawl designed by Emily Ross for which I will use the fantastic new stroll tonals yarn in royalty by Knit Picks.  As I am not sure just how long this sucker will take (I have never done a whole lace shawl before, or even a partial one for that matter!) and it is intended as a Christmas gift for Chatty-Cathy I decided to get started on it now.

First off I needed to wind the skein of yarn into a workable ball so I can actually knit with it and I thought you all would be very intrigued by my oh so fancy ball winding accessory (can you smell the sarcasm?).  As I don't even have the luxury of willing little hands to hold my untwisted skein carefully, I draped it across their chair, ain't it fancy!  Who knew that the family heirloom built for Mister Vonkysmeed's great grandfather would come into use someday as a skein holder for me?

Funnily enough, after complaining about doing too much stockinette in an earlier post, now it seems almost all of what I am doing is lace.  My Hey Teach! has now progressed to the lacework section, and on Isabella I have started the all too brief interlude of the lace panel  in the midst of miles of stockinette.  So my Haruni that was cast on with the intention of being my oasis has very quickly become more of a quagmire rather than an oasis you could say!  Anyway, for some reason I found the Haruni pattern totally terrifying, let me be blunt, it scared the crap out of me!  But since I want to have it done in time for Christmas gift giving (did I mention that already?!), there was nothing left but to knuckle down and get started!

Now that I am a few rows into chart A on this sucker I wonder what my angst was all about?  I am familiar with using charts, having knit and crocheted with them before, and I have used all of the stitches required before so nothing new there, plus the yarn and needles are familiar to me having used both before.  Yet in spite of all this I was anxious to the point of sweaty palms while getting it started, why, I guess I'm just weird that way (or is that wired?!).  Of course now that I have essentially said the pattern really isn't that difficult I am probably going to make some sort of foolish mistake and have to rip it all out, I just know it!

I think I will use lifelines as recommended by the knitters in the Beginning Lace Knitters group on Ravelry (can I just say how relieved and happy I am to have this resource if I come across any trouble whilst making this shawl?) as a way to preserve my sanity.  When it comes to lace it seems to me that the difficulty factor comes in when you need to remember where you are in the pattern and being able to repeat that pattern correctly across an entire row of knitting, as I discovered with my Hey Teach! the other night.  I performed the S2KP incorrectly, so ended up having to frog out 6 rows of knitting once I realized it would take more time (and much more patience than I could ever claim to have) to fix each error one by one rather than just going back to where I messed up in the first place.  Maybe I should use a lifeline on that one too!

Here's to hoping I can get this Haruni finished and blocked in time for Christmas gift giving!   I know, it's a long way off but I am nothing if not a worrywart...

Stuck in a stockinette wasteland

That's right, in my infinite wisdom I have cast on three different projects that each have miles of stockinette I am required to knit.  Currently on the needles are Isabella, Hey Teach!, and Twirly Skirt.  What makes it even worse is that in wanting to make things easier on myself (and see how well that worked out!), I adjusted two of the three projects, Isabella and Twirly Skirt, to be knit in the round so all I am doing is the knit stitch, over and over until the coming of the Apocalypse (at least that's what it feels like!).  Thankfully Hey Teach! gives me a little break as it is a button front cardigan so I am knitting it flat, one row knit one purl, although admittedly I am knitting the two front pieces and back piece all as one instead of in three seperate pieces so the rows seem to go on forever!

I'd give anything for some lace work or some fiddly cables right now, even some scary colorwork would be welcome.  But no, I have to perform the knit stitch, ad nauseum.  Theoretically I know it will be over eventually, but first I have to cross this boring desert of knit to either finish the item or progress to a far more interesting section of the project to work on.

Why not cast on a new project that has a more interesting stitch pattern you ask?  Let me present Exhibit A, the Lacy Shell that took well over 3 months to finish.  That may not seem like a lot to you, but I prefer to finish things in a more acceptable period of time (by my own standards, I am not judging anyone else's productivity here!) and this one kept getting put off with other projects so I instituted the 3 project rule (and I'm sticking to this one by gawd!) of no more than three fiber projects in progress at any one time.  So for now I am in the hinterlands of stockinette, but I will cross this seemingly endless expanse of desert and move onto something more interesting.  Something like the Haruni shawl I have planned, doesn't seem nearly so scary now that I am bored to tears.  Note to self, in the future make sure to cast on different kinds of projects, something with cables or colorwork, lace, ribbing, anything but endless row upon row of stockinette!

So you want me to knit you something...

Oh, you want me to make you something, do you now?  Well, you have to be knit-worthy for me to do so.  What is knit-worthy you ask?  Let me enlighten you, it is being deserving of my time and skill to craft something unique just for you.  Yes, I am a stay at home mom, and yes I may have more down time than you (okay that was funny, as if I have down time with two kids under 5!), yes I have the skill-set, and yes, I can't sit still for 2 seconds so am always knitting/crafting but none of this means I will necessarily make something for you.  Hand crafted items take a lot of time and care and not everyone can appreciate that fact.  Although I enjoy making items with my craftiness, if I am going to spend my time making something for you I need to be reassured of a few things first:

• You will wear it, use it, and enjoy it.  If it is destined for the back of the closet or the bottom drawer of your dresser than you can forget about me knitting/crocheting you anything.  This doesn't just mean if you don't like it and want to hide it before someone thinks you actually chose it, this also means that if you love it, use it, please don't hide it away as too 'precious' to use!
• It will not end up in a garage sale with the tag 'reduced to .25 cents' or donated to the local thrift store.
• You will make sure to wash it properly, if I advised you upon gifting you with the item that it would be best to turn inside out while washing and dry flat, please do so.  If it is a hand-wash item that you threw in the washer and dryer thus turning it into a cabbage patch doll sized felt apparel item, don't even talk to me for awhile, I will have heard the yarn screaming and know what you have done!  And don't count on getting anything else made for you for a very long time, if ever!
• If I have made you something before, you darn well better have thanked me for it.  I don't require toe kissing or candy & flowers but at least a "Thank you so much, this must have taken you a lot of time!" will suffice.  Lil' Miss has perfected the thank you speech and it more often than not results in a new project being cast on for her.
• If you effusively admire a gift I have given to another friend/family member who has already been deemed knit-worthy this might move you up to consideration as being knit-worthy yourself.  All crafters love praise and I am no exception.
• Have a baby.  Knitters and crocheters love to make stuff for babies, and even if you are not knit-worthy (yet) your unborn progeny most definitely is.  Since I am done having little ones (and the ones I have are not babies anymore, sniff-sniff) but love all the cute baby patterns available, I need someone to make them for, and if you have some offspring you'll get something made for them!
• I just plain have to like you enough.  There, I said it, if you are an acquaintance who I see once or twice a year it doesn't matter how nice you are or how much you admire my knitting (although if both are true why aren't you more than an acquaintance anyway?) don't count on a handmade item for you under my Christmas tree or around your birthday.

So if you want something from me on gift giving occasions, review the above list and remember it.   Even though I said it wasn't necessary, candies (the See's assorted chocolates are my favorite) will always grease the knitting needles in your favor, just sayin!