mary makes merry

Regress, or, A Few Weeks in the Twilight Zone

On Friday, I ripped out my second Ariann sleeve, which was about 1/4 complete, because...it was correct. And, believe it or not, that was the sign that I had emerged from the Twilight Zone! The first sleeve, which has been finished for some time, was wrong literally from the get-go. I cast on 56 stitches when I should have cast on 44. The fact that I finished the entire sleeve and didn't realize the error till I saw that its cuff was lots bigger than Sleeve 2 really befuddles me. Not to mention the fact that I, like everyone else, always count carefully (I guess in my case, however, it's now "always" count "carefully") when I cast on, or that I don't think there's a 56 anywhere in the pattern for casting on sleeve stitches! On the other hand, it does explain why I reached the final number of stitches before doing anywhere near the prescribed number of increases.

Ah, well. I'll keep Sleeve 1 as it is and have already begun a new Sleeve 2 to match. A little extra space in the cuff will actually be fine. Yikes-o-rama, though.

Progress

• I managed to get my mittens in the mail to Afghans for Afghans
• One sleeve of Ariann is finished, and the second is on the needles
• The first cardigan sleeve for Ellie's Maisie is almost finished -- I'm a little stuck there, but we'll keep movin' on that eventually
• (non-knitting) A pair of navy linen trousers just needs hemming. I think I've had the fabric for about four years, so it's plenty aged by now!
• (non-knitting) The shirt from Sew U by Wendy Mullin awaits a hem, buttons and holes to put them through

So it's been a pretty productive few weeks. And hey, I've even worked on my dissertation! Will wonders never cease.

See you at KIP tonight! Wheeee, yahhhhh

Crafts gone by

I was one month shy of 11 when my youngest sister was born, and I was big into crafting. I made a fair number of toys and things for her, including a soft-sided train, with Velcro (sort of new at the time!) to couple the cars together. Most of them have gone to the Toy Box in the Sky. But, hardy thing that plastic canvas is, these blocks survived.  'These have letters on most sides and animals and flowers using patterns for a bag that also, miraculously, survives, though with less charm than the blocks.

My mom kept these safe for about 25 years, then suggested I bring them home for Ellie...where within days they became smushed and lopsided. But other than that, they're fine.

Little furry hand puppet

Ellie's nap on Tuesday left much to be desired, both in duration and in mood elevation. So we made this:

I printed out this pattern and was grateful for it, though I sort of winged it when it came time to sewing this fur stuff in such a small item. (The pattern is scaled for toddler hands, not my big meathooks). His first role was as Big Smelly Bear in our rendition of the story by that name.

What I really loved was that, though Ellie herself spoke the role of another character, Big Fluffy Bear, her hand played the role of Big Smelly. The two bears are arguing about whether or not Big Smelly Bear needs a bath, with him insisting, louder and louder, "No, I do not!" When I would say it, she would shake her hand back and forth to make the puppet shake his head. It cracked me up, and both of us shook off the short-nap crankiness.

He's being propped up by a bottle of glue. I myself am being propped up by popsicle sticks, though today's nap was much better.

HT's first restaurant review

Everest = excellent. Lovely, delicious, unprententious (very important), and part of the Lettuce Entertain You world, which means that if you get their gift cards as gifts, you can save them up for a few years and spend them all there! Enjoy an incredible meal, without spending the rent/mortgage! That's how we did it, anyway.

I'll be KIPping!

Need I say more?