Baby cardi

It's the Audrey Hoodie from Vintage Baby Knits. What a fun little project. Machine washable and dryable, too, for the new mom's convenience. I found the button in my button box. This is the exact shade of red/dark pink I had envisioned, and I can't tell you how excited I was to find it, and that it actually fits through the stitches. Most of the sweater is knit, but the scalloped border is crochet. I just put the button between the double crochet - chain 1 - double crochet that makes up the center of the scallop instead of creating a buttonhole. I love having a button box.

I got about an inch of my Nana's second sock done this morning. I am going to knit nothing else until this pair of socks is done! Hmph!

Tonight my church music department is celebrating the eve of St. Patrick's day with a prelude of traditional Irish music and a Mass. We've practiced well and I'm getting excited about it. I was hoping to record some of it, but now I'm thinking that's something I should have delegated. We'll see how busy I get, getting ready. If I remember to push "record," then it'll happen.

7 quick takes 2/27

Sigh. It's been quite a couple of weeks, and while I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm still pretty busy and pretty tired. But here's some news headlines.

1. Went to my first Friday Night Knit Night at my LYS last week and enjoyed it a great deal. Had snacks, finished Shannon's second legwarmer, and met a kindred spirit. I hope to make it again tonight.

2. Started a legwarmer for myself. Love it, love it, love it, and can't wait to wear the pair.

3. Jamie is going through a frustrating day-time sleep pattern right now. Gets all tired and fussy and eye-rubby after being awake for less than two hours, so I nurse him and put him down for a nap, then he jabbers in his crib for the next hour before finally quieting down. Don't tell me to keep him up longer, either, because I've tried and it doesn't change anything. It just makes him more miserable. But the one thing this kid has taught me is that he'll be different in a week. So I'm just biding my time.

4. Had an amazing rehearsal last night for a Taize prayer service. I can't even describe how serene and uplifting it was. I can only hope the actual service is as amazing.

5. My dentist tells me I have beautiful gums. "When we make dentures, this is what we try to make the gums look like," he says.

6. Andy: Rose, do you know who that is singing?
Rose: No, who is it?
Andy: It's Dinah Shore.
Rose (flabbergasted): What? Dinosaur?

7. More from Rose: "When we were at Applebee's, the Red Wings were on, and that's why Papa [my dad, her grandfather] was sooo quiet."

Can't believe I actually came up with seven. I actually have a knitting story to share, but I wanted photos first. Maybe next week. In the meantime, Jen's got her Quick Takes and all the rest here.

7 Quick Takes Friday, 1/16

With thanks to Jennifer at Conversion Diary for letting us play along!

-1-

I bought myself Stephanie Pearl McPhee's Page-A-Day Calendar, Never Not Knitting, just after Christmas. It came with an offer for a free online page-a-day calendar that comes in your e-mail. There were a number of choices, including Cats and Brain Teasers, and I chose 365 New Words a Year. It's been a lot of fun to open the e-mails, scroll down just far enough to see the word, and quiz myself before checking the definition. Then, there's always a link to click for more information on the history and etymology of the word. Yes, I'm a word geek.

-2-

Living right across the Detroit River from Canada, I'd come to enjoy CBC Radio 2 for classical music and great programs like Vinyl Cafe. So I'm sad that they seem to have changed formats from nearly all classical to more eclectic. I have nothing against eclectic, but it was nice to have an option in addition to Detroit's WRCJ for classical. At least there's classical in the afternoon, and Vinyl Cafe is still on Saturday mornings.

-3-

I made a dastardly treat yesterday. But next time I need to make sure the butter is super soft and mix the ice cream in quicker. It was still pretty yummy (For those of you worried about Jamie, we didn't have it until after he was in bed since he sleeps most of the night, and I only used a splash of rum).

-4-

Is it just me, or are people using the phrase "It is what it is" an awful lot lately? I have nothing against the phrase in particular, but I'm getting tired of hearing it.

-5-

My little project is almost done (Ravelry link, because I believe the recipient occasionally checks in on this blog). I knit it up in four days, and it's taken me the last three to seam it. I hate seaming, but for this one, it's worth it. All will be revealed on Monday.

-6-

Last night I was mulling over ideas for this post as I was putting Jamie to bed, then came downstairs to jot down a list to remind myself this morning. Of course, my mind blanked out before I remembered them all. I was thinking and thinking about the last one, willing it to come back into conscious memory, and then it did! And then I clicked my pen with gusto! And then I realized that I was holding the pen upside down and the ball point was already out! And then I said "OW ow ow ow ow" and forgot what I had remembered.

-7-

I know Christmas is over, even for us Catholics, but I had to share one last picture of the season (the plants are fake):

Isn't he the cutest thing?

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday. The Kilburns have developed a tradition of extending birthdays into a celebration that usually last three days, sometimes longer. It's a very nice tradition that makes up for my having to conduct (pun intended) two rehearsals yesterday.

It starts with "birthday eve," the night before the birthday, which is observed by the consumption of ice cream. Andy took me to Stroh's after choir practice (yes, I had three rehearsals in the space of two days; I love my job) and we had sundaes -- mine was Butterfinger ice cream with Sanders hot fudge and whipped cream. Yum!

Then, the actual day is celebrated with cards and dinner. Because of my schedule, we're having our dinner out tonight -- see, a three day celebration. We're going to Black Pine Tree for sushi, then to Borders to grab armloads of books and browse through them while sipping coffee and eating bad desserts.

Then, the best part -- the fall Knitty came out yesterday, happy birthday to me! and I got my Ravelry invite this afternoon, very happy birthday to me! So I'm going to be spending some time browsing and playing, and dreaming of projects-to-be.

This 'n' that, Part II

I'm at the bind-off of the first toe-up sock, and instead I'm sitting at the computer posting a blog entry. Why? Because I really want to use a tubular bind-off to make it nice and stretchy, and because I've never done tubular bind-off before, and it seemed like a great idea and check my on-line resources for guidelines (never mind that I've already got step-by-step instructions in a book on my bookshelf), and because I'm very easily distracted once I get on the web, here I am writing about why I should be knitting right now.

Hmm.

I got a call from MiniDisco while I was browsing. I had placed an order yesterday for a replacement remote for my MiniDisc player, and they were actually phoning to tell me they were out of stock for that remote and wouldn't get more in until Monday, so they wouldn't be able to ship my order until Monday. Now, I ask you, how great is that? I mean, today is Friday, and it wouldn't have been a big deal to me if they shipped it today or Monday, but they were thoughtful enough to let me know that.

I love my MiniDisc player. They're not very popular in the U.S., so anything I need to buy for it I need to order from MiniDisco. I was torn between buying it and buying an iPod for a long time. The iPod is sleek and cool and has a sweet interface, but the MD records digitally, and that was going to make it much more useful to me. That's how I was able to make the CD for the school choir. Record on the little unit, upload the sound into the computer via USB, edit, and burn a nice little keepsake. I also make rehearsal CDs for my adult choir with it. And a single 1 GB MiniDisc will hold up to 45 hours of music, either downloaded or ripped from my CD collection. The only thing I don't like about it is the software I have to use on my computer to transfer music to the unit.

On a completely different note, I was reading Real Simple magazine yesterday, and there was a question, "What was your most embarrasing fashion moment?" It got me to thinking. When I was a kid, and that includes my teenage years, I didn't know enough about fashion to realize if I was in fashion or out of it. Therefore, little embarrasment occured, since you have to know about your "error" in order to be embarrassed by it. But, my first year of college, "mall hair" was really big. In both senses of the word. (I've searched for images of this style, and I'm having a hard time finding one. This is why I need a scanner.) My roommate was much more knowledgeable than I in these matters, and she had humongous bangs (fringe) that, in that time, were just wonderful. She taught me how to achieve these bangs: first, comb hair spray through your bangs. Then, curl them up with a hot curling iron so that you have what looks like a sausage lying across your forehead, and spray them again. Let that sausage sit there for a few moments to set, then take a comb and, coming down from the top of the sausage, insert the teeth of the comb into the hair and twist your wrist back towards the top of the head. This usually resulted in a great globe of hair, which you then teased into more globularity (is that a word?), then sprayed it once again. Well, we did this every morning. One morning, I was sidetracked somehow between step 2 and step 3, and ended up heading to class with that sausage lying firmly along my forehead. I didn't realize I hadn't combed it into a globe until I had nearly left the dormitory, when, thankfully, I caught a glimpse of myself in the glass of the door. I ran back up three flights of stairs, shouted at Connee, "WHEN were you going to tell me my hair looked like this!?", and frantically started in with the comb. She hadn't noticed, of course, she'd never have let me go if she had, and we both had a huge laugh over it. In fact, she probably still remembers that. I should call her up to see if she does.

Socks, Sweaters, and CDs

Well, I'm up to the ribbing on this toe-up sock. I still like the pattern, and the heel went a lot more smoothly than the toe. Jo, I did use the double wraps. They were much easier after I realized I could scoop up the wraps and put them on the needle, then knit them together with the stitch. Sometimes it takes me a while to catch on...
Here's Nuala again. I think any cat owners out there know exactly what she's after.

And here's a better look at the actual colors of the sock. This pair will be for my sister, who has adored the color green her entire life.

Green Gable progresses. It's a nice, easy knit.

I've tried it on twice -- once when the lace section was completed (I couldn't tell much from that experiment except that it wasn't too small), and again when I was past the arms. It definitely is not going to have negative ease, like the pattern calls for, but I don't think it will be too droopy. It's such a pretty, simple little pattern. And I love the yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. It's the first time I've used it, but it certainly won't be the last.

I do feel I need to start something a little more complicated now, you know? Peg, like you said, it's good to have a bit of a challenge going as well as something mindless and easy to pick up (and put down) at any time. I've got two easy ones and no tough ones. It might be time to get the Kid Seta out of my stash and try Kiri! *tremble* I don't know if I dare! ;)

Another fun project I'm working on this week is related to my other life -- what I actually do for a living, LOL! As part of my job as music director at my church, I work with the choir at our parochial school. We rehearse once a week and then sing at the school Mass each week. They've really blossomed musically this year, so I recorded them singing ten of their favorite songs and put them on CD. I'm going to give each of them a copy inside a custom made CD case. Now that the music is recorded and the CD cover designed, the hard part is over, but it's still very time consuming to print out each cover and copy each CD. I'm really proud of them and their hard work this year, and I'm trying to make this little treat very special. So I'm making five a day; then I'll have enough by Friday morning, when I see them for the last time this school year, to give them out. That's been a lot of fun.

Muff follow-up

Dear Rachel,

Just a quick pic of me getting ready to head out for our carolling gig, wearing the muff.

(I'm not sure what Rose is doing in this picture.) It kept my hands so nice and warm! I'm going to end up making three more for other members of our group. That's real holly clipped from the bush in our front yard. Pretty, huh?

Love,

Kim

My Big Fat Irish Wedding

Dear Rachel,

I knew I should have taken my camera with me last night. Kilmullen (our Irish trio: Andy, me and our friend Mike Mullen) had a gig at a wedding reception in St. Clair Shores. It took place at a beautiful old country club on Lake St. Clair. There was a menu from 1929 with wonderful graphics framed and hung on the wall of the bar. The dance floor was round, covered by a sky blue dome, and right in the middle of the ballroom. There were original (I mean original) GE fans mounted on the columns that surrounded the dance floor, and the reverb under the dome was incredible.

The bride's parents were from Ireland. They had come here to work, had their family, then when all the kids were grown, they moved back to Ireland and retired. So half of the bride's family were speaking with brogues, which just about killed all three of us. They liked our music, which was a relief.

We played right on the dance floor as the guests came in, took a break during the toasts, then played all through dinner. As we packed up to leave, the bridal couple and party had their dance, and then professional ballroom dancers came out and put on a performance! And then, step dancers in traditional costume came and danced, too!

Okay, but here is really why I should have brought my camera: as we left the club, we passed the table that had held all the table assignments. It also held photos of the couple, mementos, a guest book, you know, all the usual things. There was also a decoration. A knitted wedding cake! Three tiers! White! Frosting! Flowers! Knitted!

Why didn't I bring my camera?

Love,

Kim