Trabbi with old DDR sticker in rear window

Iceland, here we come!

Land ahoy!
(look, you can totally see the curved horizon up here!)

Icelandic sweaters for sale in the gift shop

mountain somewhere off the coast of Iceland coming out of the sea

B trying to watch Lazy Town around the drink cart

hey, who left the heat on at home? (It's 8pm, for goodness sakes!)

Why yes, we did bring back some legos and some yarn. Just enough for a little second birthday celebration for me and the boys!

slammer bike for B

technic truck for S

Lana Grossa Teamcolors sock yarn for me

And that's it.* Man, I was so good.

(* Okay, there were some other legos from Oma and Opa, but they're small and I didn't buy them. And then there's the bags of sock yarn I got at the factory store, but I'm not keeping those, so they don't count either, right?)

Since we've been back, it seems like we've done nothing but visit doctors. Somehow all of our regular visits got scheduled for right after our trip. There was the boys' 5-yr checkup, my annual doctor visit, a follow-up with a specialist, and today we're all scheduled for our dental exam. One day last week I even had to go twice because the phlebotomist forgot to draw blood for some panel and had to stick me again. I've been over to the hospital and medical areas so much now, that I'm beginning to imagine there's something wrong with me!

Then there's the jetlag, which has been particularly harsh this time. The boys wake up early and want to play board games all morning (their current favorite is Monza). Then it's hot and humid all day and by about 7pm, we all look like this:

can we watch one more showzzzzzzzzz
(current favorite show: How It's Made)

All my usual knitting time has been lost to fuzzy-headed game playing, medical poking and prodding, unsatisfying sleep, and general malaise. I need another vacation.

Apparently I have not forgotten how to knit (despite a three-week forced knitting pause - it's true, I did no knitting at my in-laws due to 90 degree heat, no air conditioning and not a single fan). What a relief (knitting again, having air conditioning, the mere sound of a fan, all of it!).

blue suede shoes
(Velvet Touch; Fiber Trends pattern CH-36)

While I was not making progress on the baby geek sweater, the mom-to-be made serious progress on the baby, delivering him the last week in July. We got to meet the baby boy this weekend and not wanting to visit empty-handed, I whipped up some chenille booties for the wee one. Velvet Touch makes the softest little booties you ever felt. And they fit his little feet perfectly.

I still got it!

Let's see, first, wake up, build stuff.

Wendi wanted to know how we store all the boys' legos. Currently, they take up 3/5ths of a big IKEA bookcase and are stored either in their original boxes or in plastic boxes from the Container Store.

And one of the tea cups from the knitted tea set I made a couple of years ago serves as the repository for found pieces.

The boys' other current obsession, something we get to "enjoy" the whole day long, is these McDonalds toys that they got in Germany. They're like little pretend iPods that play a very annoying pop song (if you have never heard the "Dubi Dam Dam" song, thank your lucky stars right now, because I will never ever get it out of my head). They each have three of these music things with different songs and they like to turn them all on at the same time. Aaaahhhh! S has one with a German rap song and he turns it on and makes a pouty hip face.

S as Lloyd Dobbler in Say Anything

And finally, something to do on a rainy day (or a day like today where mommy has to clean and do laundry all day), new boardgames from the treasure chest!

They got this chest filled with boardgames for their birthday and since getting the Dead Man's Chest pirate toy in their last American Happy Meal, they are fascinated by treasure chests. They are convinced that by virtue of being in a treasure chest, these games have got to be cool. So much so that they've already learned how to play Parcheesi and want to learn Backgammon next.

I've just started teaching a new sock class at the store and since I needed a sock to start along with my students, I picked up my still packed swim cap bag and pulled out the retro prep yarn I dyed for my dye swap pal and myself.

Wow, I can't believe that I made that. Too cool.

S's blanket: half blankie, half rag.

The machine stitching I put in months ago is the only thing holding the edge together.

But the favorite corner has torn wide open.

He still loves it though and runs that stringy corner through his fingers every night to fall asleep.

Last weekend, a customer came into the store with a baby blanket that her mother had knit for her daughter. Coindentally it was knit from the same pattern that I used for the boys' blankets. The blanket had begun to fray in a couple of small spots along the edge. Like two spots. And some of the lacy holes had been stretched out by her daughter's loving little fingers. The mom was very anxious to have some knit repair done to save the blankie. It was kind of sweet to see her right about where I was two years ago (before I even started chronicling the death of these blankies), being so genuinely worried about the blanket.

Well of course they directed her over to me for my experience and "help". I'm not sure I gave her the kind of help she wanted though.
- Would the child let you put a backing on it?
- Maybe not, she loves sticking her fingers in the lace holes.
- Is the child upset about the tiny tears and stretches?
- No.
- Does the child love the blanket?
- Oh yes.
- Does the child want a new blanket?
- No.
- Okay then, stop-gap repairs should be able to give her more years with that blanket, but it very well may be that she's going to love it to death. And it's a beautiful thing to watch.

I can't show you the project I'm designing right now, but look, the yarn turned my Bryspuns red!

How funny!

Help, I'm trapped playing checkers with the boys! Can't blog, can't knit. Save me!

I've got design deadlines breathing down my neck, which means I'm working off various body parts trying to get other body parts knitted. So if I owe you an email, I apologize. Me and what's left of my ass and elbows will get on that as soon as we finish this knitting!

Sock class had me knitting socks again. Heel flap socks. Yuck. I'd forgotten how much I dislike the heel flap.

heel flap: rear view

I wasn't far enough along in my retro prep socks to throw in a heel, so I pulled out the sock I'd started with the yarn I received in the dye swap. I did the heel in a contrasting color of Artyarns Supermerino that I had in my stash. I thought maybe if it was in a different color, I might like it more. Nah. At least it'll be easier to rip out later!

Now, I don't mind wearing heel flap socks at all. What I dislike is knitting them (make heel flap, stop, turn heel, stop, pick up stitches, stop, knit gusset, stop - anything ELSE you'd like me to do? stand on my head? stick my right foot in and shake it all about? can I knit normally now?). And after making all those lovely little short-row heels with their pretty little diagonal lines, I've completely lost my appreciation for the flap look.

Sorry, flappers, I'm a goner.

In honor of my weasley sweater pattern being posted on the Leaky Cauldron's new Craft pages (isn't that a cool idea?!), I've started another weasley.

I'm fiddling around with the gauge of my original pattern and am treating myself to some fabulous Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed (in the perfect blue - just like the sweater Harry gets in the movie!). I'm really enjoying knitting this one so far. The pattern is so familiar to me now that knitting it is like visiting with an old friend again.

And in other Harry Potter news, I hear that Dani, of Sunshine Yarns and the fabulous self-striping Gryffindor sock yarn, has come up with some new Harry Potter colorways. She's done all the dragons and a Hedwig! Cool, cool, cool. I can't wait to see them when she posts them tomorrow!

Hubby gets this super cool mag called Make that has fascinating little articles like the one about a guy who built a mini-monorail in his backyard, how-to's like how to make a battery out of an ice cube tray and some coins or how to put an entire PC system into an old Atari game console, and reviews of books and gadgets for people who like to make stuff (they even included Knitting for Dummies in the recommended list in one issue!)

Now they're coming out with Craft magazine (for people who like to make stuff with a little less soldering, I guess) and it looks so freaking awesome! The first issue has what looks like Jess Hutch's knitted robots on the cover and the ad blurb speaks of "converting an old pair of shoes into chic knitted boots" - why that can be none other than Tina Marrin's knitted boots that I made! And here's a preview of how to put LED lights into a tank top.

No, I don't plan to make that (you were worried, 'cause I made the boots, I know), but I totally want to see someone do it. First issue comes out "this Fall" (how vague!). Still, I can't wait!

I didn't think I had made any progress on the baby geek sweater, but after laying all the pieces out, I can see that I am definitely half way done. The back, the hood and one sleeve are finished, leaving only the second sleeve and that crazy swirly front (can you tell I'm avoiding that?). The baby's already a month old, so if I continue at this pace (uh, what's that, like a piece a month?), I should still be able to get it to him before he's too big for it. Fingers crossed!

I received a bunch of yarn from a yarn company yesterday and look at the box they sent it in!

not for resale, I get, but best before Jul 06??

Do you see it at the top left? It's a Reeses Pieces box! I'm thinking that either means that they're buying old boxes from somewhere or the folks who work at Plymouth Yarn stay well supplied with delicious treats. Luckies!

We're visiting friends in DC this weekend. And since one of the friends is la gringa tejadora, I think we might even squeeze in a mini-yarn crawl! For the boys though, the trip's already been a blast.

excited boys in their new booster seats on the way to the airport

boys watching "Little Einsteins" at the gate

the boys declaring the house to be "extremely nice"

And we're off to explore (DC Ducks, National Zoo, Air & Space, here we come!)....

smile, smile, smile on the subway

Z... O... O... that says "zoo"!

hippo. hippo. (is the song in your head now too?)

B's really looking at the giant pile of rhino poop behind the giraffe

beating the heat at the "cooling station"

Knitting makes you an old maid? What's up with that?! She could at least be crocheting! (Gasp! Did I say that out loud? Just kidding crocheters, really.)

And now for the yarn portion of our trip... First up was Capital Yarns in Chantilly (you'd think it would be closer to the capitol, wouldn't you?). This store saved my hide once when I needed a specific shade of Cascade 220 Superwash and couldn't find it around me anywhere. They sent it lickety split and even sent me a lovely card afterwards.

It actually has a much better selection than you'd expect for a yarn shop in a strip mall, with yarns ranging from acrylics and acrylic blends like Plymouth Encore to Manos and even specialty yarns like Claudia's Handpainted. And the people who work there are extra super nice. This is the South, you know!

Next up was the "nirvana for knitters", Knit Happens, which is not only everything it claims to be, but was also having a HUGE sale. Everything in the store was between 10% and 50% off. Really, everything!

Look, I'm actually inside Knit Happens! I never thought I'd make it here! We spent forever in this store and I'm still not convinced that I saw all the yarn they have. It doesn't look like so much when you come in (just one room of yarn), but there's a lot there! And it's ALL fabulous. And did I mention that it was all on sale?!

I picked up some Cashsoft DK and some Cashmerino DK (in a mango color that I could not resist) for baby sweaters along with the obligatory souvenir Knit Happens Lorna's colorway. What can we learn from a peek at my purchases? I am still completely obsessed with pink. And hey, look at Shannon's loot - yup, she's still diggin' her earth tones. We are who we are, I guess!

Psst, she got that Alchemy Silk Purse yarn in the middle at 50% off! The Luxury Cotton in front is for Shannon's current cozy project and was from our last stop on the DC yarn tour, Stitch DC.

Loved Stitch DC! So cute and every single yarn in the store was beautiful, absolutely no dogs in the bunch. Lots of Karabella and Alchemy and Rowan. There was even yarn from Be Sweet and Habu. Wow! And lookie, nice people too...

Shannon's lucky to have such a sweet store as her local shop. And I was lucky to have a gift certificate to the store, which Shannon sent me for my birthday. I picked out some Rowan all seasons cotton (on sale for 60% off!!) for another baby sweater (doesn't it seem like there's some sort of pregnancy epidemic going around?). I'm thinking a gray hoodie, with either a pink stripe, if it's a girl, or a blue stripe if it's a boy. The colors were inspired by one of Shannon's cats and its beautiful collar.

Oooh, and I couldn't resist the super cute little Mac & Me project bag. It's just the perfect size.

What an awesome yarn crawl! The only thing we missed was this store in Maryland which we discovered online only after we got home. Check out their store philosophy! Great, a reason to come back!

A fabulous thing happened on the way to the DC yarn stores: I finished the intarsia on the weasley sweater. I LOVE it when the intarsia is over!

And thank goodness *cough* I did some knitting over the *cough* weekend, because an annoying *cough* summer cold has knocked me *cough* out since our return. *Cough* I can't be coughing on the weasley, now can I?

The little men who run around inside the computer to make it work (tip: use Babelfish to translate!) are very sorry for the downtime yesterday. They're back on the job now and everything's running smoothly. Before we close the curtain, I'll give you one peek at the backside of the weasley intarsia.

And now back through the looking glass, Alice.