Major Knitter

What's that BSO?

Yes, it's the attack of the BSO*.  My friend Lynn is teaching the Wonderful Wallaby class at my LYS - Westport Yarns - and since she knows I'm the Queen of the Wallaby, she asked me if I had any Wallabies lying around that she could use as the class model (since her original sample was sold during Knitting Central's "Going Out of Business" sale).  

Since I've already given away all my Wonderful Wallabies, I decided that this was just the motivation I needed to dig out the pattern and knit my favorite serial sweater once again.  Ahh - mindless stockinette that has nearly ZERO finishing required upon completion.  What could be better for me?  

I think I'm feeling the lovin' all over again.

* Bright Shiny Object

Quiet Cables

In between sewing costumes, knitting socks, attending Jambo meetings, collecting patches and planning Boy Scout meetings, I have been knitting quietly on the cables of my Faery Ring sweater.  I'm almost done with the left front.  As I guessed, the cables are growing at a faster pace than when I was knitting the entire bodice.  That's encouraging.  

This is progressing slowly because I really have to be alone at home to knit these cables.  The sweater is so large now that it's not very portable, and I have to pay attention to the cable pattern, so it's not the most social knitting around.  I am excited to see light at the end of the cabled tunnel.  Slow and steady wins the race.  That's what I keep telling myself.

Oh, and I'm not even going to tell you about the bright shiny object that was presented to me yesterday.  Mum's the word.

 

She Loves It! She Really Loves It!

Here's a follow-up from last week's sewing adventure:

Here's Gracie trying on her costume as soon as it arrived.  Don't you just love the fake moccasins?

Here's Gracie with Kaya ready to head out to the Education Fair.

Here's Gracie talking about the Nez Perce Indians with one of the parents.  

Does learning and education get any better than this?  

PS:  Gracie and my sister Ellen were featured in the local news coverage.  Check it out HERE.

Patch Trading

As many of you know, this summer is the National Scout Jamboree 2010 at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia.  

 This weekend was all about preparing for this momentous occasion.  One of the hottest sports of the Jamboree is patch trading.  We got a pretty good introduction to that with some collector's sets which focus on Sikorsky located in nearby Stratford, Connecticut.  What's more exciting to 440 boys than helicopters?

 

This is the trading set of 12 patches for the 11 Troops and 1 staff each featuring a different aircraft.

This is the special collector's set - with one aircraft from the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps.

Of course, this one is my favorite, it is the Presidential helicopter, Marine One flown by the best Marine Corps pilots out there.  What's not to like?

We're not even at the Jamboree and we already went crazy with the patches.  Just wait until we are surrounded by 40,000 other wild and crazy patch traders.  What then?

Finishing Friday - One Sock Finished, One to Go

OK, this is a stretch to call it a Finishing Friday, but I'm claiming it just the same.  It's one sock that I'm done knitting (but haven't kitchenered or woven in the loose ends!).  I also have to cast on for the second sock.

My entire knitting soul is filled with a bit of fear and trepidation.  Why you ask?  Well, have you EVER known me to knit socks consecutively?  No.  I always knit both socks simultaneously on two sets of needles to avoid second sock syndrome.  But this TyDy yarn has a very distinctive striping pattern, so I thought it best to finish one before starting the second.  I'll be casting on this morning and knitting during my weekend meetings and running around.  I hope to finish this pair soon so I don't forget what I did the first time around.

 

Good News, Bad News

I have some good news to share.  Gracie's costume arrived before lunch today.  That's pretty darn amazing considering I shipped it yesterday from Connecticut after 4:00 p.m. and it had to get all the way to South Dakota.  Gotta love Fedex.  To say that Gracie was thrilled is an understatement.  She was overheard saying "Mom, everything I'm saving my money to buy, Aunt Jennifer buys for me.  I don't have to spend any of my own money."  Uh Oh!  I'm in big trouble.

Now for the bad news:  the Boy Scout fleur-de-lis is not really working in seed stitch.  I think it might work better in reverse stockinette.  I'll try to knit up a few swatches and see which is better.  Then, once I've decided, I'll rip back the Boy Scout Baby Blanket and incorporate whichever is better.

That's it for today.  No pictures - just these updates.  I'm hoping to get pictures of Gracie in her costume at the Education Fair tomorrow and then I'll share them with you.  Happy knitting to all!

I Love Being an Aunt

Especially when it comes to little girls - because I get to use up my girl energy on them (since I didn't have girls myself.).  My niece is doing her project at Friday's Education Fair on the Nez Perce Indians.  So, of course, I felt she needed a costume.

I went to the Textile Store in town and bought 2 yards of camel colored felt and used Kaya the American Girl Doll as a guide for this made up pattern.  

Now I'm off to ship it via FedEx.  OK... so I like this sort of stuff, but life gets in the way and I should have planned better.  Please keep your fingers crossed that it gets to Gracie in time to wear for Friday's Education Fair.

 

I Should Be Seeing Red

But instead, I was distracted not only by the Bright Shiny Object (the Boy Scout Baby Blanket project), but also by the latest DVD that arrived at my house yesterday.

So this morning I sat down to watch New Moon and cast on for the Boy Scout Baby Blanket.   I'm sorry Red, I promised to be faithful to you, but you know how I can't resist the temptation of a new inspiration.  Plus, I needed the monotony of seed stitch to knit while paying very close attention to Bella with Edward and Jacob.  Sigh. 

Boy Scout Baby Blanket

A friend of mine and fellow Boy Scout Leader and his wife are about to have their first child.  I generally make olive drab baby booties for Scout babies, but last night my brain started working overtime (which it usually does, by the way) and I got out of bed at 1:38 a.m., opened Excel and started to graph out a fleur de lis - the Boy Scout symbol.  What do you think?

I have six skeins of Sirdar Snuggly from Knitting Central that I bought several years ago with baby gift knitting in mind. I used this same yarn to make a baby blanket some years ago, so I think it will be perfect.  I don't really need a distraction right now, but who am I to argue with creative genius?

I'm Up To My Armholes in Cables!

Or, here's another picture of 1.5 more inches of progress. Woo. Yeah. Give it up!

OK, so maybe seeing such slow growth is not the most exciting knitting news ever, but with this past week's hurricane nor'easter, my knitting was put on the back burner.  I spent most of the time on a dishrag kick.  Don't ask why.  I'm still pondering that one myself.  Today, I'm going to start separating the back and the two fronts.  I feel like I will start seeing the sweater grow faster - even if it's only an illusion.  I am starting to get very tired of this sweater, so I want to attack it with a vengeance and actually complete it,  You all know what happens to sweaters when I become tired of them.  They languish in the UFO/WIP pile rarely to be seen again.  This will not happen.  I swear this will not happen.  Wish me luck!