Monday, March 30

Superbaby!

It has been nearly two weeks since my last post, and though I have thought about blogging rather a lot, that probably counts for bupkis.

The most exciting thing over the past two weeks happened last Thursday: I became an aunt.


I got to hold Superbaby!


As you can see by the way my arms envelop the little guy, he's quite tiny (as babies tend to be). As I've heard tell many times already — my mom's very talkative — he came out flying. Bounced off the doctor a little even, hence his nickname, Superbaby. I suspect his tale will be told many a time at that hospital.

Ii don't recall if I said a whole lot about my brother Brox becoming a father. He turned 20 earlier this month; a few times I saw the deer-in-headlights look on his face and I could almost hear him thinking Holy shit, what have I gotten myself into? But I think he will be a good dad.

Being a proper knitting auntie, I have already queued up a number of knits for Superbaby, not limited to something World of Warcraft-related and a peepee teepee (no, really!). Chiefly on the list, though, is a sweater with a detachable cape, fitting his aerial entrance into the world.

To justify the WoW dorkiness, I'll tell you that, in addition to some thicker clothes, Superbaby's leaving-the-hospital outfit included an I (heart) Star Wars beanie and a onesie that read I'm the first in a clone army! (And I'm very impressed with the Etsy seller WeROnesieful who managed to fit that all on a onesie.)

So. Eventful.

Also, on the way back from lunch, I saw this, er, interesting yard art:


Wow.


That's a soldier with a rifle kneeling at a noticeably-smaller-than-the-gun cross. Scary.

That's all she wrote, folks. I've got stuff to do.

Tuesday, March 17

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

I saw the pattern for Lacy Clover last week in the HP House Cup group; someone had made it for Charms class. Well, I snagged some DK cotton and a hook last night, and set to making the pattern. I found it was a lot easier to follow the schematic than the written instructions (once I deciphered all the symbols, that is). I finished it off this morning. Have a gander at my terrible cell phone photo below:

Lacy Clover
Just in time ...


It's a bit brighter than that, but my photo editing program didn't want to go there. I'm pretty happy with the project; it was fairly simple, yet challenging in some spots. (I re-crocheted the last two rows of the leaves two or three times to get it to look right, and in the end deviated slightly from the pattern.)

I would have stuck it in my hair, but my hair would have none of it today. (Not to mention it's a bit heavy, as it's DK cotton and about the size of my palm.)

Don't drink too much green beer.

Thursday, March 12

Look! Her face could launch a thousand ships ...

Last night's choir rehearsal was an exercise in Making It Up As I Go Along. The rehearsal began with me coming into the sanctuary with a ton of photocopies (so the choir could at least try to learn the praise band's music for this upcoming service), and ended with a little "choral-ography". I'm not even joking. They decided it would be fun to start the anthem at the back of the sanctuary and process up to the front during the first refrain. It worked surprisingly well, and I was really pleased that rehearsal hadn't been a big explosion of Lame. (That was a valid concern, I feel.)

So, yay.

Some other things on my mind: Joss Whedon's new show on Fox, Dollhouse. I'm really getting into the show. Tomorrow's episode will be the fifth of the season. It seemed a little slow going at first, and I kept thinking there was no way Fox would keep it on the air. (Incidentally, last week's episode was the first I was able to watch in its entirety on tv. The others I've had to catch on Hulu. I'm really glad they're going online, just in cases.) Anyway, the fourth episode has been my favorite so far, though I'd like to go back through and watch them all again, because I keep feeling like I'm missing tons of the clue-like stuff Joss always throws in.

I'm also on iTunes right now, chasing Holst. Specifically, The Planets. By far one of my favorite orchestral works. I started poking around yesterday, and my dad said I should look up Tomita's version, which is his favorite. But I'm also fond of the Berliner Philharmoniker, which is who I went for when I purchased Bizet's L'Arlésienne. To illustrate the difference between the two, I present them via the Tube.


Isao Tomita: Jupiter


Pretty trippy, right? Now let's have another version.


Berliner Philharmoniker: Jupiter


Now you understand why I couldn't resist adding both to my iTunes cart. The only copy of The Planets my family owns is a cassette, and I don't have a cassette player any longer, except in the minivan.

Oh, and I added a little PDQ Bach to my cart as well: Please, Kind Sir and Variation V: Foghorn, Bell, Kazoo, Gargle (for which I couldn't find a video on the Tubes).

Anyhow, that's all I've got for now. I'm working on one shawl now, and a mystery stole pattern. Chart three will be released some time tomorrow; I'm about halfway through chart one. There's a small amount of catching up to be done. Off to the needles!

Wednesday, March 11

Spring Knitty: made of win.

I haven't written, dear friends, and I apologize. To make up for it, let me tell you what I want to knit from the Spring '09 Knitty, which went live this morning.
  • Shipwreck Shawl: a pi (circular) shawl, with a seaweed-y central motif and a fishnet outer edge. I am in love. (And if you scroll all the way to the bottom and look at the last shawl picture, you can see the sparkling green beads in the netting. LOVE.)
  • Aeolian Shawl: another beautiful shawl. This one calls for beads, which is fun. There are also 7- and 9-stitch nupps, which scare the hell out of me. (Nupps are notorious for being difficult. I've successfully done 5-stitch nupps, but these really big ones are intimidating.)
  • Hanne: an interesting vest-like scarf (or is that a scarf-like vest?) that would be a nice addition to a steampunk wardrobe, I think. It would probably look pretty smashing with my new goggles, which I got on Saturday.
  • Ripple: a faux entrelac scarf with a really ripply edging. Not queued yet, thought I might knit it sometime. It's really pretty to look at.
  • Absinthe: beautiful cabled socks done by my classics buddy, fyberduck. She has really outdone herself, and she's a fantastic designer. (Seriously, I let out a squeak when I saw the chart for the foot, let alone the whole sock.)
  • Flit 'n Float scarf: the description of this one made me want to knit it for my mom, because she likes butterflies. She also likes lavender, which is the color of the modeled scarf.
  • Flock: A mobile, made with knitted branches and birds. I love it. It will be perfect for my impending nephew.


I expect that, if you're a knitter on Ravelry, that you've already padded your queue considerably. If you're not on Ravelry yet, ask me for an invite, or get yourself there and get on the waiting list!

By the way, I also got my Princess Bride swap package last Friday. Grace from Ontario sent me a beautiful package full of awesome presents.

theloot
Foam crowns, yarn sleeves, knitted Inigo doll(!), chocolate wafers, a "farm boy, fetch me that pitcher", a lovely yellow scarf, and gorgeous, squishy yarn.


All of that was packed in a bubble mailer, which is pretty amazing. I sent a box to my secret pal (who is also in Canada). Maybe I should have gone the really-big-bubble-envelope route, too, now that I know you can pack way more than you think in one of those bad boys!