Done!

Last night I finished "number 4". Hooray! I'm so happy, I decided to take a day off from knitting. My hands are tired. So this afternoon, I'm planning to work on Angel's second green nightgown. I cut it out several days ago, so now I just need to put it together.

♥

I intend to have Angel write in her blog this afternoon as well. It's part of her schoolwork for this year. Instead of keeping a paper journal, she's keeping a blog. It's helping her learn to use a computer, and she types more quickly (and legibly, of course) than she writes. If you're interested in reading her blog, the address is http://thirdgradeangel.blogspot.com

Busy...busy...frightfully busy...

Okay, you'll only "get" that title if your kids are into VeggieTales. It's from a song. Anyway, it about sums up my life this week. I've been cleaning, doing laundry, hemming shorts, knitting, killing ants, organizing for a trip, cleaning, organizing, killing more ants, doing more laundry and ironing...you get the idea.

♥

I haven't had as much time for knitting this week, so I still haven't finished Number 4. Number 5 is sitting in a sloppy pile in my bedroom, waiting patiently for me to finish 4. But I started a fichu for part of Angel's halloween costume. I know, it's my own fault I'm not done with my big project. I keep letting myself get distracted. Actually yesterday I was looking up patterns for cute baby socks; I have a friend who is expecting her first girl, and all she has is boy stuff from her other kids. I thought of making her some bibs, but she's learning to knit, so she's going to try making some herself. So, I want to make some cute, frilly, feminine socks for her baby. I haven't made many socks, and I haven't done any at all with sock yarn. So I'm thinking baby socks will be a good introduction; I'll get them done faster than adult socks.

♥

I think I'll bake some bread this afternoon. Maybe. I think homemade bread would go well with my Scotch Chicken. The chicken is already making my house smell wonderful. I put a bunch of chicken thighs in the crockpot with minced onion, minced garlic, and a little bit of Scotch whiskey. I turned it on low, and I'm just going to let it cook slowly, all day. I'll make some veggies and potatoes later to go with it.

♥

Okay, enough rambling for now. Time to get back to work. ☺

The pattern for "Laura" is finally available!

Y'all thought I forgot, didn't you? Well, I didn't. I was just trying to figure out how to upload it, since Blogger does not have an option for uploading PDF files. So I uploaded it to box.net, and linked to it on my pattern blog. This blog, "LovelyKnits" has turned out to be more about me than just my knitting, and will continue to be. My other blog will be just for my patterns. So if you want to knit your own "Laura", visit http://christineolsonoriginals.blogspot.com/ .

Who says Christmas only comes once a year?

Look at this happy face. I think she likes it. ☺

Princess and Dolly told me that they wanted purple curtains, instead of the green drapes I had so lovingly sewn two years ago. So I got them some new curtains, but then I had four panels of this nice green fabric, and it was hardly faded at all...hmmm...what to do, what to do? Well, Angel has recently grown several inches, and her nightgowns were getting waaaay too short. But she said that she didn't want a green nightgown, unless it was Christmassy. Fortunately, I had some red ribbon and lace laying around, so all I had to buy was the pattern and some thread. She wanted it to come all the way to the floor, so I added a very ruffley ruffle to the bottom edge.
I still have two uncut curtain panels, so I have enough to make one more nightgown for her, but not enough red lace...I hope she'll settle for white lace...
I'm saving the white muslin I had used for the linings of the drapes, to make petticoats to go with the girls' halloween costumes. Angel is going to be Betsy Ross, and Princess is going to be Felicity, from the American Girl series. So they both need very puffy petticoats. Dolly hasn't yet let us know who she wants to be.
♥
Now back to knitting...

Baby Bibs

I mentioned in my previous post that I was making some bibs for a friend. Here they are!

I made a total of six bibs: two each of bright blue, bright red, and olive green cotton yarn.

I started with the red garter stitch one, just to get the basic idea figured out. I cast-on 30 stitches and knit in garter stitch until I had a square. Then I bound off most of the stitches, leaving 7, I think. I continued in garter stitch until I had a strap long enough to go around a baby's neck and button on the other side. I did a yarnover and knit two together, to make the buttonholes, and I made three buttonholes on each strap, so that the bib could be adjusted to fit the baby's neck snugly. For the second red one, I cast-on a few extra stitches, to accomodate the "pulling in" nature of the cables. The cable on the left side continues all the way up the strap, so the strap was wider...9 stitches, I think. I didn't keep great notes, just figured it out as I went.

I don't know why this picture uploaded sideways. Oh, well. Again, I did a basic garter stitch one. The second green one is a slip stitch pattern I saw somewhere and liked. The stitch pattern is knit five, slip one, repeat. Then all the stitches are purled on the wrong side. I added a garter stitch border, to keep it from curling. The strap on this one was very wide: 11 stitches.

And here are the blue ones. The blue cabled one is my favorite. The wide cables are 4 stitches, the narrow ones are 2 stitches. All of the cables cross in front; the wide cables every 8 rows, the narrow ones every 4 rows. The background of the cables is just garter stitch, but there's only one stitch between each cable. The strap is 8 stitches, with the wide cable continuing all the way around.

I am very happy with how these bibs turned out. I was going to make some burp cloths to match, but the baby shower is next week, and I haven't enough time. So I'll just have to buy some. They won't match, but that's okay, too.

Done with the calculations...

for my big project! I'm still knitting #4 and #5, but all the arithmetic is done. I've got test-knitters lined up, and I am so excited. This project has turned out to be much bigger than I had expected. But then, I'd never designed a pattern in 5 sizes before, so I didn't realize what went into designing. I have a new appreciation for designers...and now I understand why so many knitting patterns are basic boxy-shaped garments. It's easier that way. Anyway, I'm ahead of schedule, and very happy about it.

I'm also knitting a bunch of bibs for a friend of mine who is expecting her fourth boy. I'll get a picture taken when they're all done, in another day or two.

And now I need to go eat dinner. I'm starving.

I do mean to write more than once a week...honestly...

Oops. I made my daughter write in her blog last week, but forgot to do mine! We've been busy. We've been swimming almost every day; the girls are getting really good at it. Angel even took off her floaties and dramatically declared she'd never put them on again! Princess tried to follow her sister's example, but quickly realized she wasn't quite ready for that. She could swim about five feet before going under, so the floaties went back on her arms.
I finished one of the ammo belts and mailed it to my father-in-law for his birthday. I still need to finish Hubby's. The first one turned out pretty well, though not as fancy as the one in the catalog picture Hubby showed me.
I'm making progress on my knitting projects. Number 4(size 8) is further along than number 5(size 10), but both are coming along nicely. I'm hoping to get them done before I go visit my family in Kansas next month, so that my little sister can take some pictures for me; she's a very good photographer, and will likely get better shots than I will. And another reason for getting them done this month; I want to leave plenty of time for test-knitters! The official deadline is September 2, so that would leave all of August for my friends to check my calculations by knitting their own. ☺
And now I'm off to the bookstore, to find some new books for Angel! That girl reads so quickly, it's hard to keep up the supply (of quality books) with the demand.

There's something wrong with my shoulders.

At first, I thought maybe my shoulders were sore from swimming so much; you know, overuse of muscles in a way they're not used to. Well, then I realized that if that were the cause of my pain, it would have started out really bad, then got better. But this pain came on gradually, and got worse...and worse...and worse. My shoulders hurt. They feel like they're on fire. They feel swollen. The way they feel, I look in the mirror, expecting to see a woman disguised as a linebacker. Yesterday, I was doing nursery duty at church, and lifted a toddler who wanted to be held. It was all I could do to keep from joining him in screaming. Later in the day, I couldn't even lift Dolly to put her on the potty (she's still too short to climb on it herself), or carry her up the stairs to bed. Stirring pasta for dinner was painful. Hubby came to my rescue with some Advil from out in his truck, because I had run out. I think he heard my groaning and felt sorry for me. The dinner dishes are still on the kitchen counter...and on the stove...and in the sink, because I just couldn't make myself pick them up and wash them last night. I feel a little better this morning, so I think I can handle it...after I go to the store to get more Advil.

Oh, and I think I've figured out what caused this terrible pain: sleep. Since I was a child, I have slept on my side with one arm under my pillow, switching arms when I switched sides. All of a sudden, I can't do it anymore. I don't know why this is a problem now after all these years, but I'm learning to sleep on my back. I'm hoping that takes care of the problem; I hate going to the doctor. If I'm still hurting in a few days, though, I will go to the doctor. I just hope she won't think I'm crazy...or faking...since there's no external signs that anything's wrong with me...except that I can't lift my 25-pound child.

In knitting news, I have finished number 3 of my big project. I need to go buy yarn for number 5, so that I can do the last two simultaneously. In the meantime, I'm making(sewing) ammo belts for Hubby and also for his dad. They both love to hunt. I didn't realize the belts were so cheap in the catalog, and he didn't realize they were so expensive to make. It cost about $20 for the supplies for each one; he could have bought them (ready-made) for $10 each. Live and learn. ☺ I had already started the work when we discussed the cost, so I might as well finish.

Happy Independence Day!

I thank God that I was born in this great country, to parents who love this country and taught me to do the same. I thank God for the founding fathers, the great men who created this country, and who based the laws of this great nation on Judeo-Christian ethics. I thank God for blessing our country so richly over the years. I pray that He will bless our country again.

I'm a "gingerbread mommy"!

I went to the chiropractor today. I often have back pain, and sometimes it's really bad. Just needed a routine checkup this time around. My favorite part of the visits is the electrical stimulus; the electrodes help the muscles of my back relax before the doctor goes to work on it. It's a nice, quiet, relaxing break from everything else. ☺ In the room where they do the electrical stimulus, they have this enormous bolster pillow that the kids like to play with; sometimes it's a horsey, sometimes it's a diving board...well, today it was a rolling pin. While I was hooked up to the electrodes, Princess told me that she was going to roll me out and make me a "gingerbread mommy". She worked extra on my rear-end, giggling as she did; she said it was a big bump in the dough. (Gee, thanks, sweetheart!) After a while, she pronounced me "perfect!" Gotta love kids!

Well, I'm off to work on my "big bump in the dough!"