Heads or Tails?

Mr. Truck has not done so well taking the pictures to put here. And I can't seem to make him understand what exactly I want. So CherryPie says she'll take the picture and after much posing around her house we come up with the shot. BUT...heads or tails, Mom? Do I want my face or my butt on the internet? Such a decision. I chose tails. What would you have done?

The Pear Dilemma

Since it's WIP Wednesday, I thought I'd show you my latest WIP. I do have a finished sweater, the Bristow from last week but it has no buttons, yet. Maybe today. I started the Gathered Pullover from IK over the weekend. The dilemma I had has a lot to do with my hips. I am a pear, not a very big pear as Mr. Truck points out, but still, a pear. What size to knit? So I made the next to smallest size for the pear part and then decreased to the smallest size for the upper part. I did the decreases somewhere around where I think the waist is. We'll see.
And since I'm so in love with the new baby, here's another picture of her.
She's wearing the Pea Pod set I knit for her before she was born. Isn't she just beautiful?

Where was I before I was so rudely interrupted?

Oh yes, hats. As I was saying, some people look great in hats, any kind of hats. Have you seen f.pea's cloche ? Perfect on that head. Looks great. Now my head for some unknown reason looks terrible in hats, all hats, any hat at all! So basically I do without a hat. But we walk the big dogs every evening when I get home from work and a couple of weeks ago it was so cold I was in tears after a block. Mr. Truck in his unibomber dogwalking outfit was just fine but I thought my ears were freezing off my head. So I knit myself a hat and I don't care how I look, I will never be that cold again! I used this pattern and I love it. Not too tight, a little slouchy, long enough to cover my ears and a nice pattern to knit.

WIP Wednesday

So I've been reading that Wednesday should be WIP Wednesday. This is my latest: BRISTOW.
I have the back, both fronts and a sleeve done. It's in Ella Rae Classic Wool on size 5 needles. I'm liking it so far but I did have a BIG problem with the sleeve. I knit the whole first sleeve and got the right measurements but the sleeve was HUGE, I mean too big for Mr. Truck even. Frogged, reknit, still too big, frogged, reknit. It's much better now. Good thing I like to knit!

Introducing

Miss Reese Megan. Born a day ahead of schedule on 1/25/08. 6lbs 15 oz 20 inches. Isn't she perfect! And isn't Reese better than Willy Nilly? We're in love again.

My How Things Change!

Well I was all set to talk about hats today. About how some heads really look good in hats and others (that would be mine) not so good. But things have changed. Willy Nilly is going to be born on Saturday, so today is all about babies, or grandbabies in particular. First, let me show you what I made for her.

No, not the real kitty, that's Phantom.

Her mom requested knitted toys and this is what I have so far. Bunny by Debbie Bliss, Elefante by Susan B. Anthony, and Kitty by Lillian. I have a bunch of others in my queu. But I really wanted to tell you about the joy of being a grandparent. Too many people believe that it's because you can give them back but that's not it at all! It's because you no longer have the responsibility of them. That's their parents' problem. All you have to do is enjoy them. You can laugh at all the things you can't laugh at when you're their mom. You can do all the things you didn't have time for when you're the mom. It's like having your babies back but with unlimited time and patience and no other responsibilty. I now know why my grandparents loved me so much! I hope you all get to be grandparents.

PS

I forgot another reason, when the grandchildren get a little bigger, you have a common enemy...hee hee.

Welcome to 2008!

No pictures today but I've been thinking about this new year. I took down my FO's for 2007, and started my 2008 list. This got me thinking about what I really want to knit this year( have you checked your queue on Ravelry? mine is getting really scary) what I want to learn, and where I want to go with this blog and the blogs I read. I've read a lot of blogs lately that have been thinking the same thing. Do I want this to just be a journal, a comedy, or a view of my life through rose-colored glasses? Or do I want it to be just for me alone? I do know that I don't want my family reading it right now, I shudder at the thought of what the kids would say!
I have discovered how nice it is to get comments which has me commenting more on other blogs. I've always been a little shy about that, and now I just jump in even if it's only a couple of words.

As for my knitting, which is why this all started, I want to get better at, I really can't say perfect yet, my putting it all together skills. I do hate the seaming up, but I have to do it and do it a little better each time. Or just knit in the round and learn to steek!!!!! That could just scare you into seaming. Anyway, it's just the beginning of the new year and there are so many places we can go and things we can see.

It's Not Easy Being Green

I really try to be green, it's just so hard. The three things I always do are: recycle a lot, compost everything, and hang out my laundry. When I was little, everyone hung out their laundry, now not so much. But I still do it, my little bit to help the environment, plus I love sleeping on sheets that have been in the sun. The winter usually means using the dryer but today is beautiful so look what I did!!!!!

The Best of 2007 or at least the biggest

Last winter I bought the magazine Knitting because of the poncho by Nicky Epstein. I loved it! So I started. A year later it was finished. I picked this one because it is the biggest ^%$#@ thing I have ever knit. I knit all those little triangles, ran out of yarn, bought more, knit a bazillion yards of icord and then I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to put the thing together. Mr. Truck to the rescue. Then it was hours of seaming the things up (mattress stitch is my friend, mattress stitch is my friend...) then the hopeless task of making the *&^% knot out of the icord. Abandoned that, even Mr. Truck couldn't figure it out. (Sorry Nicky but you're obviously smarter than we are). Then it was hot out so I stuffed the thing in the closet in the hopes all those little ends would just disappear or maybe there would be a darning in the ends fairy somewhere. No luck. So I took it out of the closet and darned in all the ends myself. Now I actually wear it. I must say I've gotten a lot of compliments. We were in the little grocery store buying candy for the gingerbread house and a lady behind me kept saying "excuse me." Trying to be polite, I kept moving, she kept saying "excuse me." Finally, she said "I'm trying to look at your poncho." Oops. So this poncho qualifies as my best or at least biggest and longest project ever. And I have learned a lesson: never anything like this again!

Family Traditions

How do you know when something will become a family tradition?

Would you do it differently if you had known? A long time ago, I thought making a ginger bread house would be a fun thing for us to do at Christmas. After many crazy houses, we had perfected ours. No longer did we need pins, rubber bands, hot glue, calk, and luck to hold it together. (yes, all those things were actually used, not all at once, though) We knew which candy made perfect wreaths, how to shingle the roof with frosted mini wheats, the best recipe for the royal icing and how to tie twizzlers into perfect bows. Our candy lights were on the house in perfect (read non-duplicated) order, our snow in the yard was just right. Then we had grandchildren and here is what happened to our house. Actually, this year is quite a bit better than last year. Opa says it doesn't matter what the house looks like, they will remember this tradition and tell their children, maybe even make one themselves. And maybe their children will have snowmen jumping off the roof, too!

P.S. really think twice about a 5 year old boy and a pastry bag full of royal icing.