Fiber Arts Projects

With Bip in bed (and asleep!) by 9:00 last night, I got in some good knitting time. When Phil isn’t here, I rummage around our video cabinet for a good movie I haven’t seen in awhile and pop it in. Last night I found "Amadeus." I had forgotten how much I love this movie! I don’t even know when the last time I saw it was. (Boy, that was all sorts of bad grammar.) Anyway, I watched it until 11:00 when my eyes got too tired and I thought I heard the baby squawking. While I watched I worked on a poncho for Pumpkin Girl from a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern. She calls ponchos "pom poms" and pom poms "poom pooms." I have no idea why. She helped me pick out the yarn at our local yarn store‘s 2nd birthday party. She sat at the back table eating this gi-normous sugar cookie while I explored all the worsted weight yarns. She didn’t like the yarn I had picked out for said pom pom (errrr!) and this time I wasn’t taking any chances. I walked around the bins holding up skeins for her to judge. "This one? This one? How about this one?" She shook her head sweetly no each time, looking up at me with her big eyes from behind her cookie. Finally we found one. Just to make sure, I continued through the yarn, this time having her compare colors. "Which do you like better? This one or this one?" Finally she selected something very nice, but not in a color I would have expected. I thought she’d go for the pinks and purples, but she chose a green/blue/purple combo. I didn’t even look at the price, bought 6 skeins and headed back to car where the boys were waiting.

So now I’m working on the "pom pom." It’s done on circular needles, around and around and around. You make 4 increases every other row, just to keep you on your toes. So as a beginner knitter, I have gained the useful skill of being able to identify an increase stitch in my knitting. This is useful because I can never remember if I’m on an increase row or not as I pick up my knitting each day.

I also broke my cardinal rule of never having more than one fiber arts project going at once. I just got so tired of working on Bip’ sweater. All that I have left to do are the sleeves, but I have to start each one in 2×2 ribbing and I always lose count and have to rip it all out and start again. What I need to do is find some quiet, uninterrupted time (does that even exist?) to start both sleeves past the ribbing and then slip one onto a stitch holder to wait. Then I can continue the mindless stockinette stitch for the remainder of the sleeve without worrying about needing to drop everything, except stitches, LOL, to attend to somebody else’s minor emergencies.

So being bored with the sweater, I started a crochet project. Actually, that one was time sensitive and I finished it up quickly. That’s a story for another time. Embiggened (it’s a word!) by my success with the crochet project, I started another one. This one is almost done but I had to put it away because the recipient was visiting us last week. I can’t mention it any further because this person reads my blog. I’ll reveal it in pictures after Christmas.

Christmas Present Crochet Project carefully out of sight for the week, but my hands being empty as the baby was fought over by two sets of grandparents and a great-grandmother, I started work on Pumpkin Girl’s pom pom. I want to keep working on it for a while since I just got started. I’m sure I’ll get bored with it soon enough, knitting, knitting, knitting, around and around and around. Then I’ll go back to the crochet thing, finish it up and then tackle those sleeves.

Still waiting in the wings are a baby hat and blanket for a stamping friend who has been waiting forever to adopt a baby. I should probably start those and get the great cosmic wheels turning in her favor. (OK, I’m not really superstitious of course.) I would also like to knit a sweater for Boo. And hats for everyone. And learn to make socks and…

But for tonight, it’s the rest of "Amadeus" and more work on Pumpkin Girl’s pom pom.