Knitting And...

Saturday night was a near perfect knitting night for me. Baby A.K. was so tired from a great day with Grandma (Mother of A.K., who was visiting for the weekend) that she went straight to sleep without her usual tricks. Mother of A.K. was so tired from a great day with Baby A.K. that she went straight to sleep, too - no tricks there. And Husband of A.K. was out for the night playing a gig with the ska band. I curled up on the couch, Wrapper's Delight in hand, and began to make some headway.

About 3 minutes into it, I decided to watch a movie while I worked. Turner Classic Movies is having a month-long "31 Days Of Oscar" film festival, which we've taken full advantage of and have recorded many oldies on our DVR. My choice for this particular night: Lolita, which I've never seen. It turned out to be a truly excellent film. I mean, I listened to every word, but saw maybe 65% of it due to the fact that I can't look up from my knitting and watch TV. Just can't do it. And even if I could, I wouldn't be able to with this project because of those boucle loops of the Claudia Hand Painted yarn that I'm using. But I don't feel that I missed anything, because I find that I listen better when I'm knitting. So my sense of hearing overrode my sense of sight. This is probably why I mostly like listening to podcasts while I knit.

Knitting and watching TV. Knitting and listening to podcasts/music. Knitting and attending staff meetings (ok, I haven't done that one. Yet.). If you pair up your knitting/crocheting/spinning/crafting with some other activity, which one's your favorite? Do you find your attention to be more acute when you do, or is it all just background noise?

(I haven't posted any pictures in a while. I really ought to, but I've been lazy and I simply don't have any new ones. I will soon, though.)

I've Been Commissioned!

Last week, Bob, my project manager, came to my cube and said, "I have a request for you." I figured he was going to ask me to code something/research something/perform some kind of miracle for the project we're currently working on together. I grabbed my notebook and a pencil and was ready to take notes when he said,

"Do you knit on commission?"

And with those words, my first order has been placed: two hand-knit winter scarves will be completed as Christmas '08 gifts for Bob's wife and daughter. The wife's scarf will be a navy and white design, possibly Penn State-inspired. The daughter's scarf will be something funky with a lot of color. I'm really looking forward to researching some nice designs and presenting them to my "client". And I can't tell you how impressed I am that, for a guy who doesn't know much about the craft, he knew to order way in advance of the due date. Maybe that's part of what makes him such a great project manager to work with!

I'm Back.

Wow... sorry for the long break. I had a truly exhausting week since last Wednesday, which was complicated by a severe sinus infection and a staggering lack of sleep. I just got caught up with my email, and I'm also trying to clean my house a bit before tomorrow, when my good friends Joan and Doug come over for dinner.

So what's new with my knitting? Nothing. Still working on Wrapper's Delight, which I know will be great when it's finished, but, well... it's kinda boring. I highly recommend this pattern to any newbies who haven't gone beyond scarves or who have uttered, "I couldn't possibly make a sweater - it's too complicated" at some point (Cindy, I'm lookin' right at you!). But I guess I really need something more challenging. The socks I'm making for Husband of A.K.? Same problem. Socks rock, but again, not very challenging. I know what I need, too - the pattern for the lace shawl to use with my Filatura di Crosa Superior. Better call my LYS...

I'll Be Back.

Very short post today - I'm still fighting the ick that Baby A.K. doled out last week - I think it's a sinus infection. But the real reason for the short post is that I'm packing for a trip to NJ - sadly, to attend a funeral. I'll be back Friday or Saturday, but in case you need a good blog-y fix, try this one. It's all in the family, after all.

Despite the occasion for said NJ trip, there's always time to knit. I'll be bringing along Husband of A.K.'s socks, knit once again with Austermann Step sock yarn. This colorway is #18 - vulkan. So manly. I'll also have Wrapper's Delight with me. Whatever I get to work on, I hope I make some headway. They both really ought to be done by the end of next month, or sooner.

See ya in a few days.

I Need A Hat.

This happens every January: the entire Famiglia A.K. comes down with some horrendous strain of ick and ends up home together going stir crazy recovering. Now that I'm at the end of this thing, I can finally sit up and send out a call for help that's been on my mind since last Tuesday: I need a hat.

Obviously the first thing you're thinking is, "Just knit one, stupid." And yes, that's what I intend to do. But I don't want to knit just any hat. I want to knit a hat that actually looks great on me and that I'll wear happily all winter long. The thing is, I'm having a hard time finding a hat that looks great on me. I have a long face and pathetically fine hair, so most knitted hats make me look like... a boy. And they also make me look like I don't have any hair at all. And I really need a hat right now, because I went and cut all my hair off at the salon last week and my head's friggin' cold these days (ok, I'm being melodramatic. I didn't cut all my hair off. Just most of it.).

If anyone has any hat ideas for me to try out, please let me know. I'm cold just thinking about going outside tomorrow morning... or maybe I'm just still feverish...

Read Any Good (Children's) Books Lately?

Long before I became a Java developer, I was an underling manager for a certain humongous book store chain. All of us underlings had the usual "managerial" type duties - training new hires, opening/closing the store, handling irate customers. We also had to take ownership of a certain section of the store, keeping it relatively straightened and orderly. I was assigned the Children's section, which was like a death sentence at first. When you're in your early 20s and don't have any children of your own, you tend to find it rather difficult fielding questions from parents: "Can you recommend a few books for an advanced 7-year old?" "I need a gift for a 4-year old classmate of my son's." "What's the reading level of 'The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe'?"

In time, I became pretty knowledgeable about children's books, and today, my daughter is the proud owner of many of the ones I absolutely loved, either as a child myself, or as a bookstore clerk. Here are a few gems:

• Knitting Nell, by Julie Jersild Roth. A little girl who loves to knit teaches her friends and family about the joys of charity knitting. A good read for the 6- to 8-year old set (Baby A.K. likes it, too. She likes how Nell knits in the bathtub.).


• Smitten, by David Gordon. A (left) mitten and a sock who have lost their respective mates find comfort and friendship in each other... even when they're smelly. Check out what happens after Mitten becomes unraveled in a bizarre subway accident. Great for ages 2 - 102.


• Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown. You just can't find a better bedtime book than this. Beautiful in its simplicity, with adorable illustrations. Look carefully for the knitting reference in this one.

That's all I've got for now. Baby A.K. is, once again, rather unwell, and has escaped from her room 3 times already with a bad cough and chills. Come to think of it, I've got a bad cough and chills, too...

Looking For Inspiration.

Well, the title of this post says it all. I haven't blogged lately because I'm feeling kind of uninspired as far as knitting goes. Yes, I'm working diligently on Wrapper's Delight, and very soon I'll be starting another pair of socks, this time for the very wonderful and very patient Husband of A.K. Chalk it up to a very palpable need for a Yarn Crawl (Cris, I'm looking right at YOU!), the Winter Blahs, or PMS - I just can't seem to get my knit on.

I was hoping that a much-needed shopping spree would help jog my creativity a bit. Yesterday afternoon, I whiled away the hours (and my money) at the mall updating my wardrobe for Spring. Remember my New Year's resolutions? The one about treating myself to nice things (yarn excluded) once in a while? Well, check that one off the list. But as good a haul as I snagged for myself, nothing really screamed, "You need to knit something to go with me". Traipsing through the mall, I noticed many nice knitted scarves, but c'mon, I'm not gonna knit a scarf at this point - time to Think Spring. And I noticed many half-clothed, shivering pre-teens who clearly can't read a thermometer (or don't listen to the weather report, or don't care. What is it about kids who think it's a good idea to wear micro-minis and flip-flops in JANUARY? I'm sorry, but as a mom, I've got to be completely lame here and wonder, "How did those girls leave the house that way???") who I wanted to wrap in wool sweaters and spoon feed chicken soup. But nothing terribly inspirational.

Anyone else having a low point in their creativity during these long, dark winter days? Anyone know a good remedy?