Free Pattern!

Twilight Fingerless Gloves
Designed by Sheila Chew

Thanks to ChickenBetty’s sock pattern and Shiny Knits Eclipse sock pattern (great charts!)

I designed these fingerless gloves for my friend Beth using the above two patterns for inspiration and charts. I knit the white and black parts using intarsia, and then used duplicate stitch for the red apple on top. I also used duplicate stitch on the red ribbon.

Needle : US 3 / 3.25 mm
Yarn : Bernat Satin Sport Solids in black, white, and red
Darning needle for finishing and duplicate stitching

“Eclipse” Glove: (for the left hand)
Cast on 48 stitches onto US3 double pointed needles and join. Knit K2P2 ribbing for 8 rounds. Switch to stockenette and knit 26 rounds. On the next round, knit 9, knit a 6 stitch buttonhole*, and knit the rest of the round. Knit 8 more rounds of stockenette. Knit K2P2 ribbing for 6 rows. Bind off.

Using the charts from Shiny Knits Eclipse sock pattern, duplicate stitch a red ribbon around the glove.

“Twilight” Glove: (for the right hand)
Cast on 48 stitches onto US3 double pointed needles and join. Knit K2P2 ribbing for 8 rounds. Switch to stockenette and begin the apple/hand chart from ChickenBetty’s sock pattern, starting at row 30. Remember, you will knit the chart BACK and FORTH, not around, so use several needles and be patient with yourself. I knit only the black and white portions, and then added the red apple later using duplicate stitch. On the 27th row of the chart that you knit, put a thumbhole by knitting a six stitch buttonhole* starting 15 stitches from the end of the row. (knit the chart, knit a few more black stitches, knit a six stitch buttonhole, and the knit 9 stitches). Finish the chart. Knit 5 rounds (yes, switch back to knitting in the round) of stockenette, then 6 rounds of K2P2 ribbing. Bind off. Weave in all ends. Sew seam.

*Instructions for a six stitch buttonhole can be found here.

lots going on

Summer is in full swing over here at our house, and the days seem to fly by faster and faster. Some days I want time to slow down - like Sunday night when we were at the park, listening to big band music and watching the kids play (we were there with two other families) and sharing crackers and brownies and there was a cool breeze and it was one of those ultimate summer moments. Other times, when the kids are fighting or ganging up against me, I can't wait for the first day of school. (I read somewhere that one mom's favorite days are the last day of school and the first day of school. I know what she means.)

Sally had a great time at summer camp. She barely missed us, but she'll tell you she missed Dad and Mom alot. Don't believe it. We got one letter while she was gone - addressed to Sam and containing two sentences - which we received three days after she got home. I don't feel bad about it - that's the way camp should be. Fun and busy and barely time to miss anyone because you are either having a ball or fast asleep.

Sam had two weeks of VBS (two different churches) and he had a great time. I would like to be able to tell you that I got loads of things done while the kids were off learning about the bible, but that would be far from the truth. I did read some books this summer, and I've been knitting (of course). Mostly I was catching up from being gone for a week - I took the kids and went to visit my sister and her family. We had a really nice time together.

Sally had a soccer tournament this past weekend, so we spent several hours on Saturday and Sunday watching her team play games. Although they didn't win, their last game was a good one - the teams were well matched and both scored a few goals - and it's always fun to watch a good soccer game. I got really sunburned on Saturday, so on Sunday I geared up with lots of sunscreen, a hat, an umbrella, and I sat in the shade at all times.

Today I took the kids to the beach. They love Laguna Beach because of the tidepools there. We went early in the morning, and it was nice and overcast. I sat on my blanket (big hat, long sleeves, covered up with a sarong) and watched them play together in the ocean. When they get along, they are darling wonderful children. See?

This is where we like to park - by the Laguna Beach Lawn Bowling Club:

And check it out - a parking meter that takes VISA!

That's a new one for me.

welcome baby f!

I got this blanket knit just in time for the arrival of sweet little baby f. He was born a week (week and a half?) after I gave this to his mommy:Congratulations, M & C and big sister L!

(Sally is helping stage the blanket - she's a giver. The first pic shows the true color better. That was taken at my sister's house in her backyard.)

log cabin baby blanket knit up in cotton-ease yarn

this has got to be my favorite thing to knit these days

the next one will be off to my cousin, but she's not finding out if her darling is a boy or a girl, so I'll have to wait until baby arrives so I can pick out colors (or make two blankets. . . . )

props

Shouts out to my friend Christine who led me to the very cool (and free) playlist.com. Check it out. You can listen to my playlist, or make your own. Fun and free - what else can you ask for?

dropping off for camp

Sally is at summer camp this week. It's her first time going to camp. I miss her so much.

This is her and Sam by the bus, checking all the kids in. I tried to take more pictures, but she was so totally embarrassed by me that I stopped.

Joshua 1:9

Sometimes the mistakes are the cutest things. From Sam, singing at the top of his voice:

"Be strong and cre-aa- gous! Do not be terrified!"

Conversations with Sam

Me: "What did you have to drink at VBS today?"

Sam: "Water. They had juice, but I didn't drink it."

Me: "Why not?"

Sam: "It was orange juice, and I didn't know if it was free pulp or not."

birthday boy

Blue Blanket

The blue blanket is finally finished!

She's lovely.

Here's my favorite square - a nod to HP in Ravenclaw colors:

If anyone is interested, I have a list of all the yarns I used and all the needles sizes (a range from US3 to US 8). I kept all the squares to four inches, and I used only garter stitch in all of them.

open eyes

I've had a few of you wonder how I figured out that I've been sleeping with my eyes open. Well, one night I had been asleep for less than an hour when I woke up and my "good" eye felt very dry and irritated. I thought that was strange, then I realized that I closed it as I was waking up, which meant that it had been open. I haven't been back to the doctor since I've had this realization, but I have taken the following measures:

(1) I make sure all ceiling fans are off and that any other fan is not pointed toward my face
(2) I put on a good amount of goopy eye cream (muro 125 ointment) into both eyes, and make sure that it melts onto the surface of my eye and doesn't slide to the edge
(3) I wear an eye mask (the satin fabric kind) that I smear some vaseline onto the area that will be by my eye, and then I gently press that part against my eye so that it sort of sticks to my face

So far so good, but sadly I know that it could all change in one night. I usually wake up with the mask still on my face, but a few mornings I find it next to me on the pillow. I'm not sure what I do in the night. I did have one eye doctor tell me that I could tape my eyes shut with those eye patches, but he doesn't recommend it. I'm thinking of inventing some kind of night eye goggles, with a sensor so that when your eye opens, it sprays a light mist of eye drops into your eyes. Great idea, huh? But who would buy something like that? Probably only me, and then half of the time I'd take them off while I sleep. Maybe one of those sleeping chambers that fill with liquid like in that movie Daredevil. That would be really creepy, huh?

Blue Shrug

Let me start off by saying that I'm not normally a fan of the shrug. This pattern, however, charmed me by it's cleverness and by the fact that it is not cut high on the back, like most shrugs. I like the longer back. I joined a KAL on Ravelry, which helped me stay very motivated to finish. It was complicated enough to grab my attention, but easy enough to knit away while watching tv with my family. I started and finished this in exactly one month!

For the knitters:

Pattern: Textured Circle Shrug by Stefanie Japel (modified - left out the textured stripes pattern and added ribbing on the sleeves)

Yarn: Berroco Nostalgia in "Lilac"

Mommy Advice

At one of my very first outings as a new mommy, I learned the hard way to never run out of wipes. I was nursing my beautiful baby girl when I realized that there was a strange sour smell, and that it was coming from the baby girl. I checked out her hair and fingers and found nothing. I checked her shirt, but that was clean. I checked her neck - bingo. She had some nasty stuff in the neck folds. It was distugting. About the time I figured out a game plan, she had finished eating and was concentrating on the next activity: pooping. Great. New plan: change her diaper, then quickly swipe out the neck yuck and throw everything away at once. I got out the gianormous diaper bag, got everything ready to go, and opened up the wipes container to discover I had two left. Two. One for the neck, one for the other stuff. Not enough. Lucky for me, I was at a new moms group at the local hospital, and my friend - who's baby was five months older than mine - had a big supply of wipes and gave me a handful. I cleaned up the darling baby girl, thanked my friend, and went home to cram as many wipes as I could into that travel case. Then I took a quart-sized ziplock and filled it with wipes, and put that and a clean outfit and a clean diaper in a gallon-sized ziplock and put them into the trunk of my car. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that's about the time I started buying the case of wipes at Costco. Never run out of wipes.

Bonus: Wipes for Sensitive Skin
My daughter was prone to diaper rash, and when she had a bad rash, the baby wipes were very irritating to her skin. I finally figured out to do this: I would take the wipes and rinse them out over and over again until any smell was totally gone. Then I would rinse out the tub, and put in a little water and a little baby oil. Then I would put the rinsed wipes back in and let them soak in the baby oil mixture. This makes the wipes very wet - you have to squeeze out the extra water to use them - but it is much gentler on baby's skin. I know of some moms who would make their own wipes, but I tried that one time and it didn't do it for me.

Conversations With Sally

(talking about a man who volunteers at the school as a parking lot valet)

Sally: "He's about your age, right Mom?"

Me: "Ah, no. How old do you think he is?"

Sally: "Like, maybe in his 50's."

Me: "OK, so that's closer to Grandpa's age than my age. Besides, he's a grandpa too. His grandson is a student at your school."

Sally: "Well, that's not that far away from your age."

Me: "Um, yes it is."

Sally: "Only eleven years Mom."

Me: (muttering to myself) "Stupid smart children . . . "