Feel free to skip it if that doesn’t appeal to you.

Knititng Knews (sometimes I can’t help myself).

Sassy stripe sock #1 compelted using Stasia’s Gaugeless Top Up sock Pattern. It’s worked up really well. I made a slight oppsie in the heel that I will correct in the next sock (bascially, I got involved in a suspenseful movie and knit a little more than I should have giving me a point).

Overall, I like the sock and how it striped it. I may start the second one tonight or may try and bust out a few squares for the Warm Up America collection bin at Michaels.

I wore my Regia socks today. Loved ‘em.

Knon KNitting Knews.

I got my Nikon on Friday.

I am in love.

and…

You will notice I have included writing across the pictures. Since my pictures are moving more away from blah snapshots into something better, I thought it would be best to let people know that they belong here.

If any family members would like prints WITHOUGH Ericandjamie.com across them, just e-mail me and I”d be happy to take care of you.

Jamie, you may be thinking, that’s just one sock.

Yes, that’s true.

But , two make a pair….

My Thoughts on Sock Knitting

Thus Far

I started sock number one some time ago. I’m not sure how long, but I think it’s been finsihed since August. Sock two was longer in the making, but once i got downt o business, I finished it in three days. Overall, I like the process and the results.

Sock one had a few problems, though. I knittied it a tad too small. With trying on during the process it seemed to be stretching out well, but after washing it and drying it yesterday, it was DECIDEDLY too small.

So, last night, I finished sock two, did a toe I really love, kitchener stitched the end and came up witha sock I really liked.

Then there was sock 1. Sock one wasn’t right. It wasn’t right fit wise and it had a really ugly toe, so last night, while watching South Pacific on TMC, I picked out the stitching at the top and ripped the toe back a few inches.

I finished up sock #1 ( or is it now sock #2) just as south pacific was finished and today I have a matched pair of socks.

I sort of made up my own thing on this one. I didn’t follow a pattern per se. I used algebra (dont’ fall out of your chair–you really DO need algebra in real life) to adapt a heel used on both my fuzzy feet and Eric’s Christmas stocking. I liked how easy it was and used it here too. Just a basic short row heel. I did 3×1 ribbing down the leg, and the instep.

What I would change is that I would make them a hair (not much, maybe an inch or two) longer at the cuff. While I do prefer shorter socks, these ones are nearly too short, but still okay.

So, I’m moving on. From my estimation all of that sock yarn from Joann’s will be here tomorrow (well, it’s in Detroit now and I can’t imagine it taking more than one day to get here). I cast on for a toe up sock in my Moda Dea Sassy Strip using this pattern.

The Moda dea is a little thicker, so I’m using size 3’s on this one. I imagine it will work up much faster than the Regia on size 2’s.

Opening up this entry with a suggestion that everyone try Cooking Lights’ Cider Glazed Chicken and Cranberries for dinner. IT was so yummy. We had it tonight and it will become a fall favorite.

It was from the June 2004 issue of the magazine and was it ever tasy. Very fallish. Check it out.

In knititng news, I have put aside the doll sweater for now. I can’t seem to make it work and need to take some time away from it for the time being. Hopefully, after I knit some other things, I’ll be able to come back to it and finish it. It’s so irritating becuase I only have FIVE ROWS before I only need to seam, but it’s not working out. I think I need size 9 DPN to make it all work out and that’s going to have to wait a little bit.

So, I’m working on my sock. I cast on last night and turned the heel today. I’m at the point where you connect the heel and get back into the round and I imagine I’ll finish that tonight while watching t.v. tonight. I might be well through the foot as it really doesn’t take much time at all once you get through this point. I’m trying to hurry through it as 1) I have that aforementioned sock yarn order coming (it shipped today! Yikes!) and 2) I really want to wear my socks. I am now wondering if I will get one whole pair out of a ball of Regia. We’ll see.

I May be showing a picture of my first pair of socks tomorrow….but probably knot.

Here it is….

No, that’s not my child dressed in Halloween garb. ;o) That is a three foot tall Raggedy Ann doll my MIL made for Emily several years ago. When Emily was two, she could wear all of Ann’s clothes. I think my MIL could make a killing selling these things, but she just doesnt’ love making them that much. Emily has two sets This large one and a smaller set.

I dont’ have a set at all. My MIL is not saddened. She said she already made me two (I point out that those are EMILY’S).

Overall, I’m happy with how this sweater turned out. The fit, now, is fantastic. There is a very slight variation where I joined and started knitting to lengthen it, but it’s so very slight that i doubt the untrained (or non-knitter) would even notice it. I added five inches in length. I’m so glad it’s done.

There is a also a big difference in this sweater as opposed to Haiku. My gauge is so much more even (there are a few bumbles, but overall, very smooth) and my seaming is WORLD’S better now. I sewed the entire sweater with dark gray yarn. I dare you to look out an outside seam and find it.

Overall, a good experience as it has shown my improvement as well as given me a few new challenges (namely, picking up the sleeves and fixing my length error).

Emily is in love with her new nightie, though you cannot tell from this picture.

So now, onto that damn baby doll sweater. I feel lighter as this sweater has stopped becomming an albatross. Now just one more.

p.s. I really neeed to knit down my stash before those 8(!) new balls of yarn show up….

I think I have been feeling punny lately. ;o)

Last week I made up a list of sewing projects I had to finish and the order in which I wanted them finished. The list is as follows:

• Jumper (for school pictures)
• Costume (for Halloween)
• Pink Pajamas
• Print Pajamas
• School dress
• Princess Aurora
• Tinkerbelle

I just finished the pink pajamas about five minutes ago, meaning the jumper and the halloween costume are finished as well. Hooray! I took some pictures, but, alas, cannot find my memory reader, so pictures will have to wait. I’m so proud of my progress, though. Hooray!

I am considering finishing up the second pair of pajamas before putting my sewing machine away for a few days. The nightgown only took about three hours from start to finish (including cutting time) and I suspect the pamjamas won’t take much more than that. All of Emily’s current pajamas are ready for the donate pile. She had on a nightie I made for her alst year and it barely covers her bum. This nightgown is long and flowing. Definatly Emily’s style.

Last night while watching a move(it was okay. Some pretty funny parts, but I didn’t like the way Ray Romano did his character) I managed to knit some on the sweater. I tried it on Emily this morning and I have a few more inches to go length wise. I figure, two more inches of the white and then I can move on to the ribbing. I estimated the sweater was about four inches short, so my plan is to knit the four inches (or maybe five) in stockingette before moving on to my ribbing. I imagine I will have that done by this week, if I get a move on.

Then I will finish the baby doll sweater and then I will finish my regia sock and then I will move on to new things. I have an order of sock yarn coming from Joann.com. I couldn’t help myself. I bought, oh, 8 balls for $28. I didn’t think it was a bad deal. I’m going to have to seriously start knitting up my stash though. I’m running out of room!

I haven’t been knitting much. I have been buying yarn though. I bought some sock yarn on-sale through Joann’s. Not that I’ve been knitting any socks, I just feel like amassing sock yarn. :o) I have knitted a few rows on the two short stripey sweater for Emily. I know i”ll finish it eventually, but it feels like knitting is going so slow. Thankfully I was able to pick it up in the round.

Hopefully Eric and I can watch the couple of Movies we’ve had sitting around here. If we don’t go up North, that is.

We were supposed to go to IL for a wedding this week, but that’s not happening. Eric just got back from a week long business trip yesterday and we’ve had some family stuff going on that we think we should stay around here for.n We’re supposed to go to IL for a wedding next weekend too, but it will depend on aforementioned family stuff as to whether or not we will go.

I have been making cards and scrapbooking….

and

While I have supposedlysworn off scrapbooking shopping, I may have to call my LSS(Local Scrapbook Store) to see if they carry this paper. I’m in love with it. I want to make sure I have enough of it to finish my cards (and may even scrap a few that I’ve already made that aren’t up to par). I need more letter stickers too.

I’ve sewn a little bit. I fixed Emily’s ailing Beauty and the BEast dress this week and am working on a jumper for her school pictures. I think I might have made a little boo boo on it, so I’m going to have to rip a bit out.

Funny how sewing isn’t that different from knitting. ;o)

I’ve been working on some Christmas gifts too, including one for my MIL. I know she’ll love it, I just have to decide how I want to finish it off.

I’ve been working on my CHristmas cards again. I am up to just over 30 (maybe 31 or 32) of the 45 I need to finish off my list. I’ve been embossing (of course) slide holders and charms, which is really easy and really fun.

On top of those, I got two card kits in the mail in the last week and made these two cards last night…

The colors look off becuase I didn’t use the flash and it’s a smidge dark in here this morning. The colors on the last two cards are quite bright. The thank you card will be on it’s way out today.

And onto my sweater knitting drama.

Sigh.

So, as I’m knitting hte Strips and Solides sweater, I am trying it on Emily at every opportunity. As I got to the end, I noticed it was a skosh short. Long enough to touch Em’s wasit band, but short enough that it would ride up if she lifted her arms. I wasn’t concerned. I figured a little short wasn’t a problem and she could wear a t-shirt under the sweater to keep her warm if it did ride up.

Wednesday I set out to seam it. I did a very good job if I do say so myself. I seamed the whole thing in dark gray and you cannot see it at all in the white. Hooray me!

However, now it’s really short. Shortie short shot. TOO short to correct by putting on a t-shirt to help with ride up. WAY TOO SHORT!

ARGH!

What to do know?

With the help of Kurt at Knitting Novices, I’ve deicded to rip the ribbing back to where the stockingette starts and re-rib it. Since i’ve used all the bloody pink yarn, I’ll rib in white for a while and then move to finish off with a few rows of pink. I”m going to have Emily try it on again just to know how many more iches i have to knit. It’s several. More than one or two, I’m sure.

And the doll sweater is in the shitter too. I can’t frigging get the neck to pick up. It’s like knitting the damn poncho before I figured it out. It looks horrible and I can’t frigigng figure it out. I am still mulling over what to do. My solutions are as follows:

1) Throw the f*cking thing in the trash and tell Emily I lost it(hate to do that. We’re talking about the matter of four or five rows here)
2) Go to the store and buy a set of size 9’s (mine BROKE!) and some size 9 DPN and try again
3) Seam it first and then pick up the neck on the aforementioned 9’s.

I’m thinking option three.

Well, maybe one.

I bought some handpainted superwash merino sock yarn off of ebay. I won’t show you a current picture as I seemed to have some trouble winding the yarn and have spent the last few days unwinding it from the horrible knot I managed to get into it. This is a picture taken by the seller rpascal

The knot is now slightly smaller than my head. Maybe I’ll be done untangeling next week. I can’t WAIT to knit with it. The colors are a little wilder than I would normally use, but they’re socks.

I am still holding on to the darn dollie sweater. Not interested in doing any work with it. It’s nearly done! Just seaming and neck knitting. What’s wrong with me?

And, it’s sweater weather here to boot. I am putting off doing anything with Emily’s sweater until the doll sweater is done. I will attempt to block it first so I can check the results. Emily keeps handing me the pieces of sweater.

I got a new toy today so Ispent the day scrapbooking. I got a heat gun and some embossing powders and have been embossing everything I can get my hands on. I’m quite impressed with how simple it is to do (although it will lead to more stamp buying, which I have not shared with Eric yet). I embossed a really cool pumpkin that will have to show up on a halloween page. Well, the idea. This pumpkin was just for practice.

I managed to get three pages and two cards done. Hooray!

Yesterday we went to visit friends. Emily was dressed in jeans and a shirt and she looked so tall and beautiful and less like a baby than ever. I know four is NOT a baby by anyone’s definition, but she’s my baby, so a baby she’ll always be. I hate it when her growing up hits me in the stomach like a bag of rocks. I told Eric last night that I wish I could stop her right here. She may very well be the perfect age. Capable and fun. Less work than a baby. Very affectionate. Imaginative and joyful.

Wish I could bottle it.

I visit a message board where a woman says that if you’re out “supporting the economy”, then you’re a good patriot.

I was a pretty good patriot today. ;o)

After picking Em up for school it was off to Michael’s. I had a coupon burning a hole in my pocket and the knowledge that 1 skein of Moda dea was NOT a pair of socks going to make. One would think that I might have stopped with the yarn, but no.

Scrapbook paper was on sale 5 for $1. How could I resist 10 sheets.

I couldn’t.

And these adorable bead Christmas ornament kits were on sale, which went along with the fact that I’m giving out some Alterd Paint Cans for Christmas.

By the way, that’s not my work, just a link to some example work.

And then there was that little pumpkin stamp and the little ribbon bobbins for ONLY .99 cents and glow in the dark paint, and, and and……

It only cost $23.

The we were off to Wal-mart this even were we were patriotic some more. I bought some beautiful, gold fabric with acorns on it to make a table cloth for my equally lovely table. I was going to buy a pattern, but I should be able to sew two pieces of material into a rectangle, shouldn’t I? GUess we’ll find out sometime this weekend.

I think this weekend will be very crafty. I need to finished stuffing foam into my ikea chair. The foam I stuffed into the other made a HUGE difference, but the stuffing of the stuffing isn’t fun so I’ve been putting it off even though I love the results. I’m sewing clothes for the M