I haven’t been posting many in progress posts/pics, lately and really just need to be more in the habit of doing that.
Here is my Anouk in Progress. I am using cotton-ease and yes, it is kind of hunter orangish, but I think when I get the pockets with the other colors on it will tone it down a bit. Anyways, Halloween is right around the corner and this is a little pumpkinish.
You have heard of the old saying, “Measure Twice, Cut Once,” yes? Tony is starting to do some wood working and I remind him of this. I learned that valuable lesson in quilting and sewing.
In knitting, it appears I measure and measure and measure, but have never knitted enough.
The funny thing and this is the real kicker…the pattern will say knit to 11 inches from beg. and I know that after that I will work on the neck decrease. So why do I measure when it is 8 inches and obviously too short to be at the neck? So I can say to myself, yep 3 inches left…keep knitting!
Don’t worry, it is a baby item I am talking about, knitty’s anouk. The Baby It’s Cold Outside pattern didn’t agree with me so I changed directions and am going to knit up this cute pinafore. I figured it would be a good way to use the Orangeade cotton-ease in my stash. It looks real pumpkin-y right now. I have to make 2 of these for baby gifts for a shower that has passed. She hasn’t had the babies yet, twins, so it is okay. I was sick when she had her shower so it kind of bought me time to work on these.
On a side note, I think I have delayed sleep phase syndrome. This has been a problem in my life for almost most of my life. It was especially bad in my 20’s and was probably due to my lifestyle. It is okay for me to be on this schedule when I am just a sahm, especially since my husband works swing shift and he is on this schedule, too. However, I am going to have an early morning class again, 7:40am and so I need to start changing my schedule now. I have a lot of anxiety about sleeping, not waking to my alarm, missing class, etc. I know I can do this I just need to not sabotage myself.
I have raised $130 for the heart walk so far and am happy about that. I need to get my legs moving to train for running it. That is my goal, but even if I only walk it I will still be proud of myself.
For the record Gimme Lean Ground Beef Style is really good. If you are looking for a ground beef substitute, try this. I made tacos with this last night and it was awesome. I fried it in a very small amount of grape seed oil. I tried to do it without the oil, but it is really sticky stuff so wasn’t frying real well. A small bit of oil helped and I could grind it up in the pain, just like ground beef. I added 1/2 a packet of low sodium taco seasoning. It looked like taco meat, which is good when you are trying to fool your mind. The bonus was when I started to eat it and really, really like it and so did Tony. I have fallen off the wagon a few times in the past few weeks with cooking, but the key is that I keep going back to what my body wants to eat and that is a lot of fruits, veggies and healthier foods. When Tony and I eat other things we both feel sluggish and not so good. We are learning.
I finished Knitty Childhood. It is a baby present and matches the little outfit I bought for a steal at Tuesday Mornings. I went all out with this. It was an easy knit, but the seaming was a bear. There is a band that it says to slip stitch on and so I did slip stitch like you would a crochet hook with my knitting needle and put it on. It went on very easy and did not become a problem for me like some other people. However, the sleeve caps suck. Part of the reason is because my sleeve cap had 44 stitches while the body had about 16 more. So, I am putting a smaller sleeve into a larger hole without having any obvious holes. Why oh why? I don’t know. I guess that is what happens when you are going by inches and not rows.
It is knitted with Cotton-ease in popsicle and pistachio. I used size 8 needles and got perfect gauge.
Overall I am happy with it. What? No buttons? I found these little yellow chicken buttons that I thought matched the outfit, but they are little and I worry about a baby having it in his mouth. Plus, the pattern calls for snaps and I think I fear buying snaps and sewing it on. Is it wrong to give a baby cardigan without buttons?
Who really buttons up baby cardigans in California?
Should I go get the snaps and put them on and then sew the buttons on too? (you know the buttons in this pattern are decorative.)
Suggestions…please.
Sorry I have been missing for awhile.
Can you believe I didn’t finish any of my UFO’s while on my vacation? I swore to you all I was going to and then I dropped the ball (of yarn.) I visited a nice yarn shop in Parkland. Of course, this was a “poor” vacation so I didn’t come how with soft wonderful lovely yarn.
The inlaws were very nice to see and are doing okay. The weather up there severely effected Tony. It rained the whole time. When we got home and it was sunny he was so happy and decided there is really no place like home. Funny thing is he grew up in rainy Washington, but finally told me he cannot go back there to live. He likes his sunshine and was bummed the whole time we were there because the kids couldn’t go play in a park. I also think he was sick of driving in the rain.
We also got to see both of Tony’s sisters. They are both doing well and I loved seeing them and watching them interact with the girls. Overall it was a very good trip and was especially important after the past few weeks that I had here.
Ps…yes, childhood is a new project, but hey atleast it is a finished one…or finished enough…in my book…yes, I realize there are no buttons…good thing babies don’t know how to button. 
