Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

Such a versatile garment. You can wear it one of two ways.
Ugly and constricting.



Or just ugly.

Keeping My Head Down Toward the Finish

Every time I knit a sweater from the bottom up I have a moment of stupidity. It comes when I join the sleeves to the body and stupidly think, "I am practically done!" No, dumbass, you have about a third of your sweater left to knit. And not only that, it's the part that requires some thinking.

So what this means is that even though I joined the sleeves and the body on Sunday I am only just now finishing the decreases. Then it's on to the saddles. I feel very confident that the sweater can be finished by the end of the Olympics. If I wasn't going on vacation. It will be a sprint to get the steeks sewn before I leave.

Here's my giant lump of a sweater at knitting on Monday night. We're not in the photogenic phase of the project.



But one project that is extremely photogenic, completely beautiful and lots of fun to knit is Rivendell. It's a shop project knit in Smooshy. Love.


Click for extra big and lovely.

Make Your Own

The Malabrigo Mini Mitt pattern is now available as a free Ravelry download. Thanks so much for all the interest. I'm stunned to see that 39 people have queued the pattern already!

My Favorite Olympic Moment So Far

And it's not Michael Phelps.

Maybe He's Not Such a Genius

Scene: Driving in the car discussing The Tick.
Older Son: And then there's that one with the Terror and Ben Stiller!
Wes: What?
Older Son: The Terror introduces all the other guys and there's Ben Stiller.
Wes: Joseph Stalin.
Older Son: Oh, I thought it was Ben Stiller.

Sewing Day

Despite the Ravelympics deadline's swift approach, I declared today a sewing day. I haven't been sewing at all lately. I have a doll quilt that needs to be sent out by the end of the month and my sewing machine needs to go in for repairs before it's out of warranty (next week). So I chose the hottest day of the summer to hunch over my sewing machine and ironing board. Putting the sweat in sweat shop.

I had a plan for the quilt swap. I had a pattern. I had a vision. As soon as I started sewing I knew it was crap. I stopped and regrouped. I went back to my true love--scrap quilts.



I used the spiderweb instructions found here. Then I pieced together a billion scraps for the border. I'm really happy with it. I'm toying with the idea of hand quilting it. I've toyed with that idea before and always chickened out.

My Ravelympic cardigan is right on track. I will hopefully finish the body to the armholes tonight (then rip out several inches of the sleeves) and join the sleeves to the body. Then the most fun part--decreases!

The Kid is a Comic Genius

While walking past the Nordstrom shoe department I spotted these boots in a bright purple. "What do you think guys?" I said to just mess with the kids, "Should I be cool in some big, purple fringey boots?"

Older son scoffs and says, "Not unless 'fringey' is French for 'awful.'"

Let's File This Under "Worst Ideas Ever"

Texas school district to let teachers carry guns

Malabrigo Mini Mitts

Pattern: Malabrigo Mini Mitts by me (I will make it available, possibly through Ravelry, on Monday)
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted (less than 40 grams)
Needle: US7 Addi Turbos
Notes: I had this small amount of Malabrigo left after knitting the watchcap last week. I decided on a simple pair of fingerless mittens. These are 2x2 rib with a thumb gusset.

How Many Does That Make This Week?

There is another online knitting magazine debuting this fall. The preview for Popknits is up now.

This field is getting a little thick, isn't it?

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

Just what I need, a bullseye on my abdomen. I'm also seriously thinking about knitting a dart board for my ass.





I feel your pain, kid.

Wallace and Gromit on Hulu

The Cracking Contraption videos are now on Hulu.com.