Another post about Miss Waaahhhh.

It was a rough day in the sand box. You should see the other baby.Melody is a very smiley baby and she has now begun to "talk" to people. It's hilarious listening to her babble. For some reason, she likes to talk to strangers or people she doesn't see very often. Since she sees me all the time, she doesn't talk as much, but she turns on the baby talk as soon as DH gets home. My sister came to visit over the weekend and Melody kept smiling and "talking" to her. The same thing happened when some friends came over on Sunday to meet her for the first time. I guess she likes to charm people. Now, if we can only translate what she is saying.This is how DH babysits on the weekends while playing on his XBox 360. I think he is hunting for terrorists. The boys are passed out, but Melody seems fascinated.
Karen asked me what brand of crochet hooks I was using on my last post. These are the Hamanaka Raku Raku Double-Ended Crochet Hooks. The soft rubber grip is ergonomic and the hook part is made out of aluminum. They are available from Japan and a lot of Etsy sellers sell them, but the price is kinda hefty. I was able to get a set from a Ravelry member based in Japan. On the Ravelry forums, she offered to help people buy the crochet hooks sets and ship them to us. She did not make any money from it and charged us the exact price of what it costs, so it was a lot cheaper than buying it from Etsy. Ravelers rule!

I got them in January, but never had a chance to try them until now. My normal hooks are the Susan Bates Aluminums which work well for me. I have tried a Clover Soft Grip Crochet Hook, but never liked it. I think it's the way I grip my crochet hook (like a knife). I really like the feel of these Hamanaka Hooks and it works well with how I hold a hook. They are very comfortable. I am still working on the bunny's arms, so progress is being made slowly.

Thanks, it worked!

Thanks for all the great tips on straightening the yarn. Even though I wanted to be lazy and just knit with it, I know it was way too curly to knit with it. I used my swift and wound it into a skein and tied it off. I soaked it and then let it hang to dry without any weights. It took 2 days to dry and then it was as good as new.The pattern is called the Gathered Scarf. The pattern requires you to use two different sized needles, so it keeps you on your toes.
My sister got me this cool Hello Knitty Tote Bag. It's a very big and roomy canvas tote that will be handy in holding my WIP's.
I found some quiet time to hang out with the boys today (of course, that meant that the baby bottles didn't get washed right away). I wish I had more time for them, but Melody takes up most of my time right now. I can't wait until Melody can start playing with them. They would really enjoy that.Up close and personal with Caesar. He loves walking up to the camera while Napoleon is very wary of the camera and tries to stay far away. It's a vast improvement from when I first got the camera and he would hide. Caesar has always been the fearless one.Napoleon and his favorite toy, Teddy. He likes to suck on Teddy's face and falls asleep doing it. It's like a pacifier for him.

Happy New Year!

Thank you all for your concern. I am slowly on the mend. My cold is still lingering causing me to cough at night when I am trying to sleep and the sinus congestion makes it really hard to breathe at night. During my OB check up last week, my doctor said I could take Benadryl to help me sleep at night (it's safe to take during pregnancy). I had gone to the doctors without sleeping a wink the night before so I must have looked really awful.

I wanted to show you my Christmas present from DH. I have been wanting a Yarn Swift for a long time and I put one on my wish list this year for Christmas. This arrived a few days after Christmas. The story is that DH went all by himself to Purl Soho and tried to buy it for me because that is the exact one I wanted. They told him that they don't carry it in their store, but he can order it from their website which ships from California. In order for him to receive it before Christmas , he would of had to pay $21 for express shipping. He opted to pay for regular shipping and bought me a few little gifts for Christmas Day and then told me about my real present that would arrive a few days later (I am glad that he didn't waste money on extra shipping charges). I love it. It's actually quite small and compact and it comes apart in 3 pieces. I'll let you know if it works well when I take it for a test run.

Look! I am trying to turn over a new leaf before the New Year. With the impending arrival of the wee one, we had stopped by Ikea for some organizing essentials. I got these boxes that has windows on it to store my fabric collection. Since I bought my Hello Kitty Janome sewing machine this year, I have been amassing collecting fabric. I was surprised to find that they all fit into 4 boxes.

And here is a year end look at all my projects:

32 Knitting/Crochet Projects completed. A all time record for me since I only completed 10 projects last year.

I got my first sewing machine this year and taught myself to sew. 13 sewing projects completed.

I hope you all have a great New Year's Eve! I have been having a lot of false labor contractions, so hopefully I will get to post again before the baby arrives.

Working Small

Since a lot of you really liked my Bird's Nest necklace, I made a baby bird's nest stitch marker for the giveaway. Just like the necklace, it's made with sterling silver wire and freshwater pearls. It is so small and cute. The original pendant is on the right to show scale.
Continuing the theme of making small thing into the kitchen, I made Jam-Doughnut Muffins from How to Be a Domestic Goddess. They are baked in a mini muffin pan and dipped in melted butter and rolled around in sugar. I dipped 2 in butter and thought it was overkill, so the rest was rolled in sugar without the butter. I filled half with blueberry jam and the other half was filled with raspberry. The texture is light and fluffy. A very tasty treat. Plus, it was really quick to make.

3 Ingredients

What can you make with 3 ingredients? Mix together flour, peanut butter and chicken broth and you have Doggy Cookies!The boys loved them! But to be honest, Napoleon and Caesar love almost anything edible. I don't like to feed them all the treats (crap) that is out there at the pet store. Have you read some of the ingredients on the back of the box? I try to feed them as naturally as possible. I have found some pretty good stuff at Trader Joes, like dry chicken strips which is just dried chicken. Their snacks during the day is baby carrots which they go crazy for. Caesar liked the cookies so much, he came into the living room and whined for more. Here is the recipe to make some treats for your beloved pooch or maybe for a pooch you know.

I have been working on another stitchmarker idea for the giveaway. A whisk made with sterling silver and copper wire. I think it's cute for those who like to bake or cook. What do you think?I used a Dime (US 10 cents) as a scale reference. I couldn't find a quarter in my wallet.

Reaching a Milestone

Last week was my birthday. My 20's are now officially over. I am not sure where the time has gone, but it has been fun.

I had a 3 day celebration full of eating. On Thursday, I went to Lure for a girl's night out, where I met some new people that I think will become good friends.

On Friday, my actual birthday, DH took me to Babbo. It was a fantastic meal! We ordered the Pasta Tasting Menu that consists of 5 pasta dishes and 3 desserts. I can't even describe the taste of fresh pasta. The food was amazing and the service was excellent. We were both so full, we almost couldn't finish the last dessert. Then they gave us complimentary mini cookies. I managed a bite of each.

Saturday, last night, my friends took me out to Blue Water Grill in Union Square. Delicious seafood! Then we tried to go bowling at Bowlmor Lanes, but it was a 2 hour wait since DH forgot to make reservations. So, we decided to try something we all had never done before. Karaoke! We had a fabulous time singing the night away. Even the non singers participated in a few songs. I was quite surprised.

The roses above was a gift from my friend, Karen. And now for pictures of my birthday haul.DH bought me knitting fiction books! I was so surprised. I don't even know how he found out about these books. It was so thoughtful of him. I have always wanted to read knitting fiction books, but never got around to it or bought any, but I know that I have never told DH about it. He even got me the companion knitting pattern books to go with the Debbie Macomber books, so I can knit the patterns from the stories. Also, hidden between the pages of the Knit Picks catalog was a gift certificate for me to buy yarn! Woohoo!
The Malabrigo (color is StoneChat) and Noro Blossom is from a friend that also knits. She also bought me Knitting Over the Edge. I own Knitting On the Edge and really wanted to the new ones.
A jewelry box from a friend that I have known since middle school.
Neuhaus Praline Chocolates and a Banana Republic Gift Card from my friend and her husband. The Belgium chocolate is delicious. And a Ann Taylor Gift Card from a friend that is also short and Ann Taylor Loft makes clothes for us short people.

Holiday Haul

I got some knitting related gifts for Christmas from my sweet sister. I was so happy and surprised to open them on Christmas morning.

Look at the wonderful Sundara Yarn and pattern! 5 skeins of "Smokey Plum over Cream" Somewhat Solid sport merino to make Tatami! I really can't believe that she waited for Sundara to update her site with new yarn. It's quite a buying frenzy when the site is updated.

And the DPN's that I have been coveting! Blue Sky Five Inch Double Points in a collectible tin.

I also got some baking books that I have been wanting, so that should keep me busy for a while. Baking and Knitting, aaaaahhhhhhhh Heaven!

New Toy

I am still busy preparing for shows. I got sick after doing a one day show in Brooklyn last week, so that was a set back. We are heading to Washington DC this Saturday for Crafty Bastards on Sunday. I hope the weather will be nice.

I was at Michaels this weekend looking for some craft supplies to make displays. As I walked in, there was a lady demostrating the Knifty Knitter. She was actually working on a pumpkin project. I have always been curious about using a loom to knit, so I stopped and asked her questions. She was very nice and showed me how the loom worked. I thanked her and walked away. In the yarn area, they had a display of the Knifty Knitter set and it was On Sale. So, on a whim, I bought the set.

It's actually quite easy to use. You just wrap the yarn around the pegs and then use the hook to take the loops off. I am playing around with the smallest loom right now. The only instructions it came with is for a hat. Does anybody have any patterns for the Knifty Knitter that they can share? I searched on Amazon and couldn't find any pattern books.

Show and Tell Saturday

Look at my cute new project pouch made by Piddleloop. The store is run by two sisters who are super crafty. Jen is very nice and is a big dog lover. Look at the extra cute goodies that came with my order. This fabric pattern is very popular and sells out fast. I had to practically stalk their site to see when they restocked it. There are more available now if you act fast.

The project pouch is really great for carrying around small knitting projects. It has a grommet hole for threading your yarn through so your yarn won't get tangled while knitting. Inside, there is a pocket on one side and a elastic needle/hook holder on the other. Here is my STR skein modeling the pouch. I am actually using it for the Classic Scarf.
We are picking up the new puppy this weekend! I can't wait!!! I will reveal the name of the puppy next week.

I am a winner.

I can't believe that I won something! I NEVER win anything. I just don't have that kind of luck. I didn't think that I stood a chance, but tried anyways. I entered the Mason Dixon Contest on January One and won a autographed copy of the Mason Dixon Knitting Book. What did I say that was my favorite thing Mason and Dixon? Long Island Ice Tea and Sweet Tea. Winning the book really salvaged the crappy day I had on Friday. Thank you so much, Cara!

Pure Knits is now open for business! And Yahaira is the proprietress. I was sworn to secrecy, but now I can tell the world.

My first sock is progressing nicely. I have finished turning the heel and the heel gusset. I am now working on the foot part. The pattern I am using is the Classic Sock Pattern from Yankee Knitter Designs. It is clearly written and easy to follow. And this is my first sock knitting book that came in the mail yesterday.

















Sock knitters, I have a question for you. What length and what kind of DPN's do you like to use for sock knitting? I am currently using Clover "Takumi" bamboo dpns and they are 7 inches long. I find that they are a bit fiddly and they get in my way, thus slowing down my knitting. Any recommendations would be very appreciated. Thanks!

My First Needle Roll

Look at what my DH bought me. A needle roll made by Thimble. I have been wanting a needle roll for a long time because my needles are all over the place and it's so hard for me to find the right size when I need it. I love the one that Thimble makes.












The silk screened "hands knitting" is really cool.











This is what it looks like unrolled. 2 rows of 14 pockets.

On the knitting front, I finally picked up the Anthropologie-inspired capelet where I left off. Click HERE if you want to see what it looked like in November. Now, I only have a few more raglan increases to knit before I separate the sections.

What's this?

Last week, I started a new crochet project. I had to stop because I had to wait for the polyester stuffing to arrive from Joann.com. Well, it finally arrived tonight and I started to stuff the body. I am not telling what this crochet project is, but you can guess. I have the body done and the inner ears done. I still have to work on the rest of the body parts. I will post pics as the project is shaping up. (You can click on the photos to enlarge.)













With that Joann.com order, I also got my ball winder. I have been wanting to buy one for a while and finally bought it when there was a 50% off coupon for Joann.com. Look, Amy used her new winder already.


I am almost done with the Pumpkin scarf. Just one more section repeat and I can bind off. Bulky yarn makes a fast knit.

Hot Off The Presses!

I had dinner with some friends last night and guess what my friend gave me? A new knitting book! AlterKnits is so new that it hasn't been released in stores yet. One of my friends is a book editor and she grabbed me a copy before she left work. Isn't she sweet?

Here are some sneak peeks into the book. Shhhh...don't tell.



A 32 page notebook for doodling and note-taking on the inside cover.


Recycled Sweater Totes


Screen Door


Abstract Cardigan


Zigzag Sweater Blanket


PDA Cases

There are 27 projects and the book also has 10 creativity exercises to expand your ideas of what you can knit.