Earflaps, Itty Bitty Toys, and Swine Flu

And here is the reason why my daughter appears so much more frequently in the blog than my son does:


He hates to sit still for pictures and does not care if I need a pic of a new FO for the blog. Unless you're looking for action shots. Then he's your man.
So here it is on the more than willing model, big sis:


Pretty cute, huh? And the hat is cute too. Haha.
I just added stripes and 12 stitch garter earflaps to each side of this free hat pattern. The size small is a tad big on Lucas, but it will last him for a long while. It's perfect on Natalia though. Maybe I'll make her one too. I think I'm going to add a pom-pom when I get the chance to pick up one of these Clover Pom=Pom makers. I hear good things about this one and I' going to need a good pom-pom maker because I just picked this up:

I am soooo excited about this book. I love Susan B. Anderson. She's amazing. I used my 30% off coupon from Borders so this beautiful hard-cover book only cost me about $13. I want to knit every project in here. Natalia has already asked me a bunch of times, when I'm going to knit the birdie for her. That one's her favorite. It was so fun to sit with the kids and look at the pictures in here. I'm very happy with this purchase.

On a more serious note...
All this H1N1 and seasonal flu talk is so scary! It took forever for all of us to get the seasonal flu vaccine because everyone kept running out. We all finally did get vaccinated for that and I got the H1N1 nasal mist for free at school, but I want the kids to get it too. There has already been a repoted case of it in their daycare. My county held free clinic for the vaccine last week. I showed up an hour early and there were already a thousand people there. We waited in line, outside, in the cold, with 2 kids under five, for THREE hours before we were turned away with vouchers. Now we have to go back tomorrow and supposedly we are "guaranteed" shots. And the kids will have to return in December for another shot. Ugh, what a nightmare. But, I'm afraid not to do it. I know alot of parents are against it (apparently they don't live in my county), but I feel like I have to do anything I can to protect my kids. This shit is SCARY. I am in no way a germophobe, but we have been hand washing like crazy over here.

Stay healthy,
Andrea

Happy Belated Halloween

From my little Snow White and Superman





It was a good one. My manager graciously gave the night off to all the mommies in the restaurant. The whole family got to see the kids since it fell on a Saturday this year. They had a blast with their cousins, uncles, aunts, Grandmas, and Grandpas. I feel like I gained at least 10 pounds in Kit-Kats, Almond Joys, Snickers, and Three Musketeers. Yes, my sweet tooth IS that bad.

I'll Eat You Up I Love You So

In between studying for exams there were Blondies.


sorry about the crap photo there haven't been too many sunny days lately. They were very good, but either a little too much butter or I undercooked them. I probably undercooked them.

We saw Where the Wild Things Are.



It may have been PMS, but I bawled like a little baby during this movie. It really captures the raw tenderness of a mother's love for her child as well as how hard it is to be a kid sometimes. I loved how just plain TIRED Catherine Keener seems. I am there so very often. The costumes and scenery were amazing. It was funny, hauntingly beautiful, and little unsettling. Maybe a little scary for some kids. James Gandolfini's voice is fantastic. I love him. This will definitely make it into our DVD collection. See it.

As for knitting...



Brooklyn Tweed's Noro Silk Garden Lite Ribbed Scarf

I think this will end up being for me. I can't see my mom or aunt wearing these colors. It's so fun and addicting. I thought I would be bored senseless by miles of 1x1 ribbing but the color transitions keep it from being monotonous.

Don't really want to talk about the Drops Jacket. Out of love with it and questioning my yarn choice. I'm letting it sit for awhile to see if I change my mind.

The Fuzz Wizard

The Drive Thru I knit for Natalia has pilled horribly in the last few weeks. I knit in in Patons Classic Merino Wool. I now know why it is so cheap. Check it out:



However, according to this review of the Canadian workhouse yarn, the Yarn Harlot (also Canadian) says that after a good initial de-pilling, it would not pill up as much again. And the Yarn Harlot would not lie about yarn.

So off I went in search of a sweater stone. I didn't want to order one online because I didn't want to wait for it. I went to a couple of places and it seems no one carries a sweater stone. At Bed Bath and Beyond (that place is such a rip off by the way, go to Kohl's or Target instead) a very nice and helpful employee recommended this:

It's the Fuzz Wizard. I plopped down $9.99 plus tax (batteries NOT included)and brought it home. I was wary at first, but here are the end results:




After a couple of these...



the sweater looks new again. Success.

In academic news, I'm right in the middle of midterms and things are totally nuts around here. I did manage an 89 on my Egyptian Hieroglyphs class which both shocked and thrilled me. Two more exams and one paper on King Arthur and I'll be half way through another semester.

Still working on the Drops 103-1. I can't wait to get this thing off the needles already! Coincidentally (I sweat I'm not obsessed with her), the Yarn Harlot just finished the same sweater. If mine comes out a third as good as hers did, I'll count it a victory.

I did some stash enhancing and bought a kit of Noro Sik Garden Lite for this scarf, by Jared Flood. It will be a Christmas gift for either my aunt (who has been begging for a hand knitted item for awhile now), my mom (if I can't finish a cardigan in time), or me (if it doesn't turn out like something either of them would wear.

I also picked up Jared Flood's pattern book for Classic Elite, Made in Brooklyn. My copy was autographed by Mr. Flood personally when he taught a class at a yarn shop in my area. Unfortunately I didn't know about it and did not get to meet him. There are some very cute patterns in here. I'll definitely be knitting Laurel and Redhook at some point.

That's it for now, gotta hit the books. Talk to you soon.

Rainbows and the Death of King Arthur

Check out the rainbow I saw while I was at work the other night. It was beautiful. You could see every color and the entire arch of the rainbow stretched across the sky. Amazing. I had only ever seen pieces of rainbows, never a full arch. We all went running outside to take pictures on our cell phones.

Not much crafting to report. My granny square afghan is on hold until I finish my Drops 103-1. I had to rip back a couple more times. I was hating my buttonholes, and the fit was just to tight for outerwear. I ripped for the third and hopefully last time and now it is looking great. I really hope I end up liking and wearing this since I put so much time into it.

School is still taking up almost all of my time but I'm learning to manage my time more effectively. I need to come up with a paper topic for my Medieval Lit class. It has to be an analysis of one of our texts. I'm thinking Sir Thomas Mallory's Morte D'Arthur.



I love Arthurian legends but I'm not sure what to analyze in this text, especially since I don't think we are allowed to use outside sources. Any ideas?

FO, Granny Squares, and Flowers

Here's my little knitting muse....


Kindly note my autumnal container garden. I didn't get a pic of my Halloween decorations, but those will be coming soon.



It came out perfect. I love it. The plan was to knit one for Lucas too, but as fabulous as the pattern (Wendy Bernard's Drive Thru) is, I can't knit it again so soon. Knitting ADD. I'm actually thinking of doing a grey Wallaby with some fair isle black skulls. I'll cast on for that as soon as the top down Drops 103-1 is done. I had some trouble with some wonky button holes but I'm plugging away.



And get this...the other day on a whim, I picked up a beginners crochet booklet at the craft store. I got a lot of nerve. As if I needed to pick up another craft to fill up my non-existent leisure time. Well, true to form I became slightly obsessed. I found it a lot easier to learn than when I first tried knitting. Maybe because of the knitting, who knows. But soon after picking up the hook and some acrylic scraps, I produced this:



Yep, my first granny square. I love these things. I decided I desperately needed to have an old school, funky, retro, vintagey, Granny Square Afghan a la That 70's show. After an extensive internet search, I decided on this beauty for my inspiration. I'm using the Lafayette's Afghan pattern. (Free Ravelry download)
Here's what I have so far.



I have often admired the crocheted flowers I've seen and was super excited to try to make some. I used this pattern. And here's another, albeit little, FO:



Which shortly thereafter became this:



You can use a bobby pin or two or pretty much any type of clip to use these flowers as hair accessories. Very satisfying little project.

Back to school and rainbow pancakes

Yes my kids are pretty awesome. That's us at at Friendly's following a traumatic vaccination session for Lucas.

Life is craaaaaaaaazy lately. Tons of schoolwork and zero knitting time. I've been staying up really late to get all my work done aaaaaand still working 5 nights a week at the restaurant. Tired and happy because this is absolutely what I should be doing with my life.

The kids went back to daycare 3 times a week while I'm in class. It was quite a shock to Lucas's system, but he's getting used to it. I love all the mental stimulation and social interaction they are getting.
That's it for today since I spent all my blogging time trying to organize my Flickr photostream. I have about a million photos to upload.

Oh yes, Natalia wants me to tell everyone that we had rainbow pancakes(sprinkles in the batter).