Somebody Finally Won!!

Yay! Somebody finally won the movie line contest for Air America. And it was two somebodies, in fact. Both of whom claim that the other should receive the chocolate. What to do? Award chocolate to both! So treats are on their way to Tim and mamma. Well done. Now go back and watch the movie--it really is hilarious. Especially the coloring book scene in the back of the plane. Watch it for that if nothing else.

Here is the new movie line for you to guess. This one should be considerably easier:

"It vexes me. I'm terribly vexed."

That line always makes me giggle. I'm still determined to use it in my everyday life, if I could but find just the right opportunity. I could use it with my kids, since they are the ones that seem to "vex" me every day, but they wouldn't know what the heck I was talking about. Maybe if Girlie's teacher makes me mad at school, or when arguing with the phone company over my bill? The Count would just laugh at me if I used it with him, but then again, that's the point, right?

In knitting news, Tim's scarf blocked beautifully. I don't always block scarves, but this one is special, remember? Now all I have to do is weave in the ends and it will be on its way to Shikaka (Trophy Wife and beloved Sister's name for Chicago).

Mamma had a question about how many skeins of Noro Silk Garden yarn it took to make a hat. For me, personally, it takes one skein for an average size head if I cast on 80 stitches with size six 12" circular needles and start decreasing when the knitting reaches 6" in length. If you do make a hat out of the yarn you were gifted with, I can't wait to see a picture of it on your blog.

While I have been typing this up, little Sproutie has been playing so nicely in his papasan chair. He's been laughing and talking to me, and I wanted to get a great picture to show you his cute little smile. Unfortunately, there is no getting that perfect Sproutie smile with my digital camera. The flash freaks him out, so this is all I ever get after 40 shots: I think it's because the little orange light blinks and tips him off. So I tried to take pictures without the flash, and this is all I get because of the settings and movement. I know just enough technology to get something to work, but I don't know how or why. He's still cute blurry anyway.

Have a great day all.

Has it really been 5 days?

Wow. I can't believe it's been five days since my last post. There must be something to the way of thinking that an artist is more prolific when suffering, because my mom came for a visit last Thursday and just left today, and no posts from me. I actually have been very productive on the knitting front, which I will share with you. I've been working a lot on completing knitting the projects I've started, and seaming up those that have been waiting, and blocking. It's very feng shui to get these things out of the way, I've learned.

First of all, here are some precious pictures of my mom and her grandbabies. Funny that I don't have any of Drammies with ZimDee, though. They played a lot, but ZimDee's a lot like the Tazmanian devil these days, and is constantly spinning. I'm convinced that he was there when the camera snapped the photo, but spun off before it could capture his image.

I was able to knit the hat that my mom wanted while we sat and visited, and she was able to immediately try it on. Instant gratification. Here it is on her head:
and not: This is my fourth hat knit with Noro Silk Garden (45% Silk, 45% Mohair, 10% Lamb's Wool) and it is fabulous for that purpose. It knits up fast because the colors actually hypnotize you, I think.

Next, I finally seamed up a baby sweater that I knit last fall. The pattern is the raglan sweater from The Baby Knits book by Debbie Bliss. And here is my shameful confession: it is knit with Rowan Cashsoft (57% Extra Fine Merino, 33% Microfibre, 10% Cashmere). Please don't yell at me, I didn't know what I was doing at the time. I was still pretty inexperienced, and just blindly used whatever yarn the pattern called for. Now I know that cottons, acrylics, and wools are much more reasonable to use for children's clothing for washability if you want said child to wear the garment more than once in their lifetime. Perhaps I'll just put it on him for pictures. Or chalk it up to a learning experience when he spills green beans all down the front of it. But now that it's finished, it is quite snuggly and yummy and all those things that cashmere should be. So I have no choice but to enjoy it, don't you think?

And here is Tim's scarf peacefully blocking. I can't show you too much of it right now because it is a gift, and he doesn't know about the illusion. I want him to discover it all on his own without my telling him, and call me up all surprised from Chicago when he sees what he thinks he sees, and proclaim me a genius. More pictures on the finished product to come in a few days, after I get that particular phone call. Aren't you so excited? Me too.

And finally, the piece de resistance (ha-had to spell check that): Sproutie's sweater to match his leggings. You saw this blocking in the last post. Again, this is made out of Rowan Wool Cotton from a pattern in Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies. And here he is modeling it for you. Isn't he a sight to behold?Do you see what Sproutie is looking at in that last picture? Look closely, and you'll see ZimDee's face pressed against the inside net of the playpen. No joke, Girlie and ZimDee use this thing much more than Sproutie ever does. If it keeps them quiet, who am I to judge?

Finally, I guess I picked a movie for the contest this time that nobody has seen. Before giving up, I'm now going to tell you the two main actors in this movie, which was made in 1990: Mel Gibson and Robert Downey, Jr. Does that help at all? Please somebody win this chocolate before I turn into Cookie Monster and eat it all myself.

Love to all.

Learning...

Today I made a lot of progress on the finishing work for two baby sweaters that I knit last fall. I had said before that I wanted to wait until I felt more confident in my finishing techniques before ruining the sweaters I spent so much time knitting. So after taking that class last Saturday and getting some valuable input from my more experienced knitting friends (thanks again to mamma and Tam), I set out to try to get them done before they are too small for Sproutie to fit into. Here is my first foray into wet blocking: This is an unusual sweater designed by Erika Knight that is actually knit in one piece. That's why it looks so funny pinned down. It is knit in wool/cotton, and it is the matching shirt to the leggings I just finished for Sproutie. I'll have more on the particulars when I get it seamed up. But I'm so proud of myself for diving in and getting it done. (doing the happy dance now). I've blocked before, mind you, but with steam and in the back room of the local yarn store with help. Now I've graduated to doing it all by myself. I feel so self-sufficient.

Tam asked for a picture of the newly felted Rowan Aura hat for Girlie. Except I don't know if I'd actually call it felted, because Rowan Calmer is a cotton/acrylic blend, not wool. I just counted on the cotton content giving some shrinkage, which it did. And it made the stitches pudgier, for lack of a better word. Girlie likes its softness now. Here is the picture of the two hats together. I don't know if the camera shows much difference. The shrunken one is on the right.

And today I also discovered a great way to be able to fold my laundry without Sproutie getting separation anxiety. Yes, he is now at that stage where I can't get more than three feet away from him without him crying. So here is what I came up with: He's playing with his little fishy here. It seems to make him happy. Oh, I love him so.

More Movie Line Clues

I'm going to post more lines from the current movie line contest to see if that helps anyone out. The current clues are:

"Don't bother me when I'm coloring, all right?!?"

"Bender? Nah, this isn't a bender. This is just night-time."

"It's just that I'm used to being the weirdest guy in the room, and all of a sudden I'm not even in the running."

"Holiday Inn. Southern California. Own and Operate."

The next two lines up for consideration are:

"I wish you wouldn't use the words American intelligence to describe what it is that you do."

"I'll tell you the reason why--because last time you colored the sky all flesh-colored and it looked stupid."

Good luck to one and all.

Of Dinosaurs, Babies, and Hats

Yesterday was a school holiday, and my babies and I hung out all day in our pajamas. I love days like that. The babies played and I knit, and the world was right. Here are some pictures of the things we did: Girlie set up her dinosaurs to play, just so:Then I asked her to entertain baby Sproutie so I could *gasp* fold the laundry. Here is proof of her entertaining him: Look at this scary face! I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my kids hate it when I do housework. Could it be that it makes me grumpy or sum'in? Anyway, while Girlie was playing with Sprout, ZimDee decided he should get in on the dinosaur action. Thankfully he didn't go for the same big ones as Girlie. She has relegated some smaller, lesser ones for his enjoyment. She is the oldest, you understand, and pecking orders are intricate and as old as time, and not mine to fight. I am the 3rd child, as I've said before, and I was born into a world where the biggest toy, the newest clothes, and the unbroken cookie were distant dreams. I automatically accepted my place. So I hide and watch as my kids fall into these roles. And while ZimDee occasionally makes a grab for what Girlie thinks is rightfully hers, he usually comes to accept (as I did in my childhood) that these things are her birthright. And you must remember that he's got a baby brother growing up that he can claim 2nd bests over. But don't you worry, as a 3rd child, I am sensitive to Sproutie's plight. There will be days when big brother and sissy are in school that secret ice cream cones and candies will be had. You can be sure of that.

Anyway, since I interrupted Girlie's playing to ask her for help, it was oh so helpful that ZimDee found other related toys to play with instead. Though he did knock over the T-Rex poised over an unsuspecting victim (notice in picture) Zim was quite satisfied to let the little ones duke it out. Let's check out the carnage: By the way, ZimDee is wearing flannel pajamas lovingly sewn by his wonderful Dram-Drams.

And after all was said and done, I had two very exhausted boys on my hands. Tired boys who sleep are good boys. Look at what I found when I peeked in:

Ohhh, that just makes me melt.

So it was a great day.

In knitting news, I'd like to thank Tam and mamma for weighing in on the blocking issue. Your input is appreciated.

I've been knitting a lot of hats lately. It's probably due to the arctic weather that is lingering here. I've now made a total of three hats out of the Noro Silk Garden: one for the Count, one for MovieMan, and I had just enough left over from their hats to make one for myself. Here is ZimDee modelling it.

He and I wear the same size hat because his noggin is so big. He wore it to school today, and I don't mind sharing. He looks completely adorable in it.

Girlie was mentioning that her Rowan Aura hat felt kind of big, so I knit a smaller one. And because I had nothing to lose, I threw the first one in the wash and shrunk it. She likes the shrunken one best because she says it's softer. That leaves the other one for me, maybe. It doesn't look half bad. But we'll see. I know a lot of people who would like that hat. And I even have enough yarn left over to make one more...

Remember there is a movie line contest in the works. Here are the two lines currently up for consideration:

"Don't bother me when I'm coloring, all right?!?"

"Bender? Nah, this isn't a bender. This is just night-time."

And because I love you guys so much, here are two more lines from the same movie:

"It's just that I'm used to being the weirdest guy in the room, and all of a sudden I'm not even in the running."

"Holiday Inn. Southern California. Own and Operate."

Good luck to all.

Two movie lines this time

Congratulations to Tim for winning the latest movie line contest from I Love You To Death. "Ok, ladies, let's go: Monopolyyyyyyyyyyyyy".

Here are the new movie lines up for consideration. I'm giving you two from the same movie this time:

"Don't bother me when I'm coloring, all right?!?"

"Bender? Nah, this isn't a bender. This is just night-time."

Good luck to one and all.

Yesterday I went to a knitting class on finishing techniques. While the teacher was low energy and tended to stray off-task, I at least learned what I needed to know to seam together sweaters and finish off buttonholes. She skimmed over blocking techniques: wet blocking vs. steam blocking. I have only done steam blocking, and I have a question for the more experienced knitters out there: what is your preferred method of blocking, and why? Your input is very welcomed and appreciated.

I like taking classes for the most part because it puts you together with other people who like to knit, and there's always something new to learn. And as much as I adore my children, any adult time I can get where I'm not pulled in 20 different directions is bliss for me.

I hope everyone is having a great day.

Reality TV

Congratulations Mom+SIS+Auntie for winning the movie line contest for Parenthood. I could have gone on and on with those funny lines--there are so much of them:

"Don't worry, Dad, you can still find the bar"

"What a loser, huh?" "I meant me."

"Did he say Cool?"

"After slipping around on somebody's guts for a while, afterwards I like to...blow balloon animals."

"Let me out of here, Mango-face!"

For those of you who haven't seen this movie and who are parents, you must watch it.

And yes, Mom+SIS+Auntie, I did watch Drew's rumba last night on Dancing With the Stars. I'm glad you brought that up, because they said that Michael Buble' was going to sing on tonight's show. For those of you who don't already know, I am a serious reality TV watcher, and despite the cheesiness factor, I will not be reformed. The rumba is my favorite dance. I did like Drew's performance, but not as much as watching Jonathan Roberts do the rumba. He is Anna's husband. He was partnered with Rachel Hunter last season and Gisele Fernandez this season. I have those performances permanently "saved until I delete" on my TiVo. I have most of this season recorded on hard copy (after the first couple shows) (WITHOUT commercials) so I can plug them in and watch them consecutively like you would, say, 24.

And speaking of reality TV, whatever happened to the funeral home guy on American Idol? It never showed him after his great audition. I had him pegged as one of my favorites. Did he even make the trip to Hollywood? They picked the final 24 last night, and he was nowhere in sight. My only consolation is that the "hissy attitude" twins (Simon's quote) are gone. Their voices were fine, but their diva ways grated on me. Have a criminal record much?

On to the next movie line contest. The line is:

"And this is for me, this candy?"

Good luck to all.