What a Life!

Last Thursday Steve and Ben went fishing. They went and bought Ben a fishing pole. Then they headed to a nearby lake. Steve taught (or attempted to teach) Ben how to cast. Then they enjoyed spending the afternoon at the lake, fishing.

Right after Ben announced that he was tired and ready to go home, Steve caught a fish. He reeled it in, and then he threw it back out and let Ben reel it in. [P.E.T.A. would not have approved.] Steve removed the hook from the fish’s mouth and released it (per his usual custom), and then they headed home.

When they got home, I asked Ben all about their trip. He talked about the big rocks they sat on and the picnic table that was in the sun and then in the shade (on account of the sun’s movement). I asked him if they caught any fish, and he said, “Yes.” When I asked him how big their fish was, he showed me (as seen in the picture above).

Clearly, his father may have taught him how to go fishing, but he has yet to learn how to tell fish stories!

[According to Steve, they caught a sunfish that was probably about ten inches long. These fish don’t get much longer than that but can weigh up to five pounds, so what Ben is showing me is the width rather than the length.]

Red is a very difficult color to photograph. I took sixteen shots of this piece of knitting. The ones you don’t see here (save one) were deleted. Yup. That bad. Our blue couch simply is not a good background for photographing red. It may look pretty sitting there, but the camera does not do it justice.

This is the beginnings of a vest I am knitting for myself. The yarn? Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. Black Cherry Heather. The pattern? U-neck Vest from Fitted Knits. Cast on? This morning. Status? End of the first ball of yarn.

Knit on!

When the world goes to the dogs, cats must be circumspect – walk on fences, sleep in trees – and know that all this barking is not the last word. – Garrison Keillor

Sorry for my apparent absence. The world went to the dogs for ten nail-biting days, and even though the cats have been back in charge for about a week now, it takes some time for things to get back in order again.

Steve has been enjoying some unexpected time off. Of all times of year for this to happen, I would have to say May would be the best. The weather has been splendid. Since we’ve had a recent overdose on home improvement projects (and really, there isn’t much of that stuff left to do), we’ve been simply enjoying ourselves. Going to parks. Relaxing at home and listening to the breeze come in through the windows. Reading. Watching movies. Knitting. A splendid vacation.

I’m telling you, it seems like the first time since I became a mother that I’ve had a real vacation. Usually when Steve takes time off work, we go somewhere. Going somewhere means extra work. I have to decide what to pack for myself and two small people and then keep track of it all. The boys are out of their normal routine, and they don’t have their beds to sleep in so they aren’t quite themselves.

Since we’re at home, everything is easy. Not only that, I have an extra pair of hands. Joey still takes naps, and Ben prefers to follow Daddy around like a shadow, so I’ve had more time to myself than I’ve had for a long time. Add to that perfect weather, I enjoying myself too much to do more than the minimum requirements of my usual routine. It’s like I’ve been in a completely different world.

Such a vacation, though, does not lend itself well to blogging. Somehow I don’t find myself in the groove I need to be in in order to write. So forgive me if I’m a bit scarce for a while. I will be back. Promise.

Announcing…the worst knitting disaster ever. At least in my knitting life.

I mean, I’ve accidentally felted things ever so slightly enough for them to no longer to fit. But that was my fault. This wasn’t.

For the record, I used the yarn specified in the pattern. The garment looked fitted in the magazine, so I made adjustments likewise to make it fit my figure. I knit it at a slightly smaller gauge than the pattern specified. And I tried it on before I blocked it. As in, I pinned it together and put it on, like anyone with a sewing background knows how to do.

Before I wet it to block it, it was so snug I could barely get it to meet in the center. I blocked it anyway.

After blocking and seaming, I had one big saggy mess.

As in, my shoulder-to-shoulder measurement is 15″ and I knit the garment exactly to those specifications based on the gauge I expected to get after blocking based on the swatch I knit, washed and dried before I began knitting the garment. Based on how it looks in the picture, I would say that the shoulder-to-shoulder measurement has to be at least 20″ since the sleeves are at least a couple inches off my shoulders. And those gussets at the bottom are supposed to start at my waist, not my high hip. The hem should rest just past my high hip, not just past my low hip.

Oh, it looked pretty on the table.

But the yarn. The yarn had a problem. Namely, it stretches. And stretches. And stretches. Take a closer look – really dig around – and you’ll find reviews where people tell tales of knitting hats with the stuff. Hats that fit perfectly at the beginning of winter and covers not just your eyes but your nose and mouth by the end of winter.

The yarn may be pretty. It may show off stitch patterns fabulously. And I totally love the color.

But it was not meant to be.

And may I just say that the designer should have never used this yarn for this pattern? Yarn that stretches…and stretches….and stretches…should not be used for fitted garments. Straight, boxy garments where growing doesn’t mean that it no longer fits are fine. But highly tailored, fitted garments? Nope. This yarn was not a good choice. Sorry.

What makes it even worse was that I spent at least three times as much money on the yarn for this project than I normally spend on yarn for a sweater. As in, I spent enough on one project to qualify for the 25% discount at Webs. Yup. [It was birthday money, okay? I don’t normally spend money like that.]

My theory was that I would knit fewer projects out of nicer yarn and I would have nicer things. Clearly, spending more money on yarn does not mean you will get better results. Just saying…

For those of you who are not knitters (if you’re still reading), this is what something looks like when it’s been frogged. [Again, frogging comes from rip-it, rip-it as you pull out all the stitches.]

R.I.P. Nantucket Jacket

If you took piano lessons for any amount of time, and got, maybe, to the intermediate level, then you learned how to play The Wild Horseman, which is the song that keeps running through my head every time I see Joey with the broomstick horse.

I had some Christmas money leftover from Steve’s brother Schon, and when we were at the grocery store last week (of all places!), they had these broomstick horsies. They had them last fall, and I intended to go back and get one, but I forgot, and the next week they weren’t there. This time when I saw them, I stopped and got one. I let Ben pick out which one. I like the dark brown one with the star on his forehead, but Ben chose this one.

When I was a kid, our neighbors had one of these, and I loved riding it. This one has the same type of stick, but instead of having that rounded top at the end of the stick like a broom, it has one of those rubber deals that goes on the end of a cane. Probably a good idea since we have wood floors.

Both boys have played with it a lot, but Joey’s ways of playing with it are just too funny, too original.

Apparently the horse is top-heavy so Joey carries it around upside-down,

…drags it like a broom,

…and uses it as a leaning post while he ponders what to do next.

The cuteness of it all.

Brrrrmmmmm!

[You know what song I’m thinkin’ of…]