Hubby

Hubby is home from the hospital and doing well.☺  To anyone who prayed for him, thank you.  He's recovering nicely, though he is still pretty tired and weak.  The surgery went well, and appears to have been effective; we won't really know until the post-operative pain is gone.  So for the next few weeks, the girls and I will play nurse and take good care of him so his body can heal itself.

Hubby's having surgery.

My Hubby is in surgery at this very moment.  He's having some of the vertebrae in his neck fused, in an attempt to make them quit compressing his disks and pinching his nerves.  He's had a lot of pain lately, so I really hope this works.  Please be praying for him, if you're so inclined.

The girls and I will go visit him when I get the phone call from the doctor in a few hours.  In the meantime, I wish I could go back to bed, but the girls are especially loud this morning, so I guess I'll just have to go to bed early tonight.  So sleepy...

Knittin'

 I didn't get very far on the second sock yesterday....

because some more lovely blue yarn showed up in my mailbox!

I'm making another Evellyn Anne blanket with some yarn from Mara.  I am in love with her yarn.  I started this last night while we watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and I've just switched from the dpns to the circular, which makes me very happy.  Dpns are a pain in the tush, so I rarely use them, but I had to, to get this project started.  I'm zooming right along now!  And it's a good thing I am; I should be getting the yarn support for Crown Jewels next week sometime.  I'm going to keep the focus on this project, though, since I committed to it first. ☺ My goal is to get it about 1/4 done today, which would be 91 diamonds...somewhere between 6 and 7 repeats...I'll shoot for seven.  Three down, four to go!  I better get to it!

Another completed sock!

I finished the first of the Winding Road Socks!

It's very soft and comfy.  I can't wait to get the second one done so I can wear them.

♥

Happy Thursday!

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I am feeling better; still have a little bit of a cold, but not feeling like a slug anymore.  I got an email from Knit Picks today, and they're interested in my Crown Jewels shawl pattern, and will be publishing Julia Lynne sometime in the next two weeks!  Woohoo!

I got Angel to take some pictures of me with my KIP Bag today, so that design proposal is ready to go now.

She needs to work on not cutting people's heads off with the camera.  But she's getting pretty good at directing her subject..."Suck your tummy in, Mommy!"

♥

And just for a smile, here's Princess, crocheting a chain. 

Time to get ready for Knit Night!

When yarn speaks...

The other day, I decided I wanted to make something round and lacy.  I was thinking maybe a baby blanket, or a project bag.  I had a basic lace idea in mind, but when I got started I didn't like how it was turning out.  So I frogged it and started over with a simpler stitch pattern.  And then the yarn spoke to me.  It said, "Haha, I'm a snood."

I said, "No, you're not.  Nobody would knit a snood.  Or at least I wouldn't knit a snood."

It said, "I'm still a snood."

I threatened to frog it.  So it changed its mind.  "Okay, then, I'm a bag for holding a ball of yarn."

And I said, "A KIP Bag!  Now there's something I would knit!"

So here's the swirly lacy circle, waiting for the drawstrings...

 And here it is, with a ball of yarn in it!  I threaded the drawstrings through the outermost row of eyelets and cinched it up.

I used less than 50 grams for this, and it holds a 100-gram ball of yarn.  I was going to have one of the girls take a picture of me KIPing and using the bag; but I'm sick today, and the only place I went was the gym, and I don't take my knitting to the gym.  So that will have to wait for another day.

EDITED TO ADD: All three of my daughters have told me they want their own KIP Bags.  And only one of them knows how to knit. ☺

I'm wondering whether Knit Picks might be interested in a pattern like this.  It would only use one ball of yarn.  They don't have a lot of projects that use this little amount of yarn.  But they also don't have any lacy little KIP bags either.  I think I'll send a proposal, and suggest it as a free pattern, since it's so small and simple.

♥

And then I need to make a "banana bag" for my sister.  She asked for one ages ago, and I haven't gotten it made.  And she hasn't forgotten that I promised to make one either.  I haven't been able to find a pattern for one; the closest pattern I've found is a bag for a yoga mat.  So you know what that means....another design is in the works! ☺

Moving right along...

I've made quite a bit of progress on the Winding Road sock!

Yes, I modeled this right sock on my left foot, but that's only because it's easier to take a picture of the "inside" side of your foot than the "outside" side.  Anyway, I've finished the gusset decreases, and I'm continuing on the foot.  I'm really enjoying this pattern.  Once I had done two repeats of the cable, I didn't have to look at the pattern again until it was time for the heel flap.  It's an instinctive design, and very easy to follow.  And this yarn is so yummy!  Very soft, and such a pretty colorway, and I haven't had any strange pooling, just a nice all-over variegation which is what I was hoping for.  Mara did a great job with both the pattern and the yarn. ☺

♥

I've also started swatching a new idea.  I'm not sure what it's going to be yet, but I know that it will be circular, and have a swirly lace pattern.  I'm thinking it might be another baby blanket.  Or maybe a knitting bag.  Decisions, decisions.... I guess the swatch'll tell me what it wants to be when it's a little bigger.