Neglect.

Wow. Have I truly not posted at all this month? Well, let's get back on track.

Firstly, I want to share SuperBaby's first handknit sweater, the Offset Wraplan, designed by Fyberduck. It turned out so well, I almost wanted to keep it just so I could admire it. The sweater is a bit on the big side for SuperBaby right now, as you can see.


A touch big for him ...

It was knit in red Rowan Felted Tweed (wool and alpaca), and has little blue fish buttons that I found at Jo-Ann's. I hope he has some time to wear it before it gets to be too small for him, not to mention unbearably hot for Iowa. (We have strange weather here. I swear I heard the weather man say the temperature will climb to 80 by the end of the week!)

Let's see ... what else is new? I've really been enjoying Dollhouse and Castle, and I read the other day that Project Runway will be back on the air this summer; season 6 will finally be aired (on Lifetime, which I'm still not sure about), and they're putting out casting calls for season 7. So glad to hear the show didn't get flushed entirely. I was really beginning to be concerned about my Tim Gunn deficiency.

Also, I discussed starting up a community musical theatre group with a few former classmates. That would be kind of fun, I think.

As for what else I've been up to, let's let some crappy camera phone pics do the talking.



Watching your parents playing tic-tac-toe with straws and fake sugar at Perkins on a Friday night is always a great way to beat boredom while waiting for your nosh. (Note: this is before I got pulled over for speeding. With the parents in the car. At midnight. Talk about awkward. Good thing I only got a warning, or as my mom said, "That was almost a really expensive dinner." But we got pie, and ate it last night and it was delicious.)



I discovered this gem, a store version of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, when I was making grilled cheese for lunch yesterday. It was sitting innocuously in my parents' fridge, and cracked me up. When I commented on it later, my mom got very defensive and there was a five-minute discussion on how often my parents got real butter during their childhoods. I think I might draw a question mark on the packaging, because the phrase is really screaming for one.



And finally, the forsythia is starting to bloom. Spring is really here. (Of course I could have told you spring was really here yesterday; I was woken up by a chorus of every chirping bird in town telling me that the sun was going to come up soon. Ah, the woes of being able to sleep with the windows open at last.)

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.

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:


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.

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!

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.


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!

Take to the sky

... or at least have a good look at it.

I just saw a beautiful image on today's Astronomy Picture of the Day. I recommend that you click through to catch the photo in its not stolen full glory, as well as catch a few tidbits offered by the crew at APOD.



The photo is of Comet Lullin, which is quite visible tonight, with a pair of binoculars or a telescope. A little more information can be found here (via @scifri).

I'm quite fond of stargazing. I used to want to be an astronomer, until I learned how much math was involved. (I can do math, but I don't particularly love it. Words and languages are, for the most part, friendlier.)

When I was little, my dad used to take the family out to some dark location, hauling his binoculars, a tripod and a camera with a long-exposure attachment, in case he decided to take a photo. (Once I got in trouble for opening the car door, activating the dome light, while he was taking a photo; I'm pretty sure I not only ruined the exposure but got a little yelled at as well.) We've gone comet watching on a few occasions, and I think this would be a nice opportunity to do so again.