Dogs Steal Yarn

" 'Gonna make it through this year if it kills me' (and it almost killed me)..."*

Okay, so I failed you with the promised bloggy photos of roving and mittens and things. Ever so sorry. I'll come through with them soon. Really, I will. The Sunrise Circle Jacket now has its buttons and I may very well wear it from now until my hopefully ever-so-far-off dying day. At which point I want to be cremated in it. I love this sweater. I really love this sweater. I'm hoping for some decent sunlight tomorrow so photographic evidence may be gathered.

I'll spare you the year-end roundup. Let's just call 2006 the year where I learned that blessings can kick your ass. And that the universe laughs at birth plans. And that there are some tattoos that should be delayed until the book sells.

Have a fantastic New Years. Wishing you love and luck and happiness and health in the coming year.

*Can you name this tune? Hint: it's connected to something I did this year... Let me rephrase that. Something fun I did this year. I don't mean the could-have-died-emergency-c-section thing. That wasn't very much fun at all.

Guess who can now sit up and rock out independently?

It literally happened overnight. Yesterday he could only balance for a few seconds. This morning he's sitting up totally unsupported and rocking out. I couldn't resist the action shot. Sorry if the blurry makes you sea sick.

The Snoopy comforter? All I'll say is that our normal bedding is in the laundry and it's Oscar's fault.

Bloggy things of note:
Photos hopefully tomorrow of the beautiful roving Julia custom-dyed for me
Perhaps also tomorrow, photos of an Anemoi Mitten in progress
The Sunrise Circle Jacket is eagerly awaiting the arrival of its buttons. Maybe some sans buttons pics of that too. Or maybe I'll make you wait for the buttons. I can be like that, you know.

One front left to seam, then the button loops (and choosing buttons), one more wash, and my Sunrise Circle Jacket will be finished. It's already my new favorite knitted thing ever. It fits far better than any previously knit sweater, and I can tell I'm going to wear it to death. Kate, I love you.

My mom was here today to hang out with Thumper while I got some freelance work done, and a minor miracle occured. My mother never asks for anything. Never. And she saw the Sunrise Circle Jacket, tried it on, loved it, and said she'd like to have one. I couldn't be more thrilled. My mom does so much for us, and finally there's something concrete that she wants, that I can make for her. So added to the To Be Knit list is one more Sunrise Circle Jacket, to be completed for her birthday in September.

The invisible mother

We trekked uptown yesterday to a holiday party at my mother-in-law's apartment, the ancestral home on the Upper West Side. (Oh, how I dislike the Upper West Side...) Thumper wasn't so into the crowded rooms and all the voices coming from so many directions and the adults he didn't know pulling funny faces for him, so we didn't stay all that long, maybe an hour and a half with much of that time spent nursing and cuddling in the bedroom. While we were there and circulating, though, I got to witness firsthand a phenomenon I'd only half-believed before.

Before she retired, my MIL was a producer in the news dept. of a major tv network. Won an Emmy, the whole deal. So at this party there were some rather high-powered people. Former editor-in-chief of the Times, Times columnists, people from her old network, people who look familiar and you need to stop and think if you'd met them before or just seen them on tv... Reasonable to expect some interesting conversation from the evening. And I'm sure there was plenty of interesting conversation. I just wasn't a part of it.

It happened each time Thumper and I were introduced. I was a mother holding a baby, and apparently that visual cue provided everything anyone needed to know about me, about who I am and what I might do or have to say. "Yes, he sleeps through the night. He's very good-natured, yes. Oh, we adore him. Yes, thank you. Six months old. No, he's not really a fan of scary monster sounds just yet, thanks."

No questions about what I do, who I am, what I might think about this or that. On one level, it was a relief to be excused from the usual chitchat one has with strangers at a party. On the other hand, I was quite aware that I was excused from that chitchat because I was holding a baby and thus wasn't expected to be anything but the mother of the adorable child. Not expected to have anything to say that's more interesting than a report of the child's sleeping habits.

I can't say it even bothered me that much. I'm quite shy in groups of strangers and I didn't go out of my way to solicit the kinds of conversations that used to be offered automatically after exchanging names. But it was interesting. I mean, I do stuff. I think things. You know? So either no one was ever interested and the baby is an excuse to do away with pretending to care about the chitchat, or I really do disappear behind that gorgeous little boy.

In other news, the Sunrise Circle Jacket is nearly done. It's seamed. Now I just need to do the hems and give it another wash. I knew the yarn was nasty with coning oil, but I didn't expect the water to turn quite so murky when I washed the pieces and a hank of yarn for seaming. One more wash once it's all sewn up to fully bring out that Merino/cashmere goodness, and then I plan to wear the thing to death. I love it.

And in still yet other news, Thumper and I are both fighting off a cold. Germs suck.

Six months old!

The half-birthday boy seen here in the midst of his new favorite activity--rockin' out. He's a wiggly tush-rocking, head-shaking, arm-waving dancing machine.

Koigu? Did I say Koigu?

Because I meant Fleece Artist. So there I was, standing in front of my stash, wondering how I could justify a purchase of semi-solid Koigu for these mittens, when I spotted two skeins of Fleece Artist Merino in perfect Cari Mitten colors.

Saffron for the main color, red for the contrast. 100% Merino goodness, and 100% from the stash.

Madly, deeply, truly in love...

These mittens! Have you seen these mittens?!

Technically my desire to own these mittens is a want, not a need. But at the moment, it really feels like I NEED these mittens.

Sigh.

Thinking of them in two shades of nearly solid koigu*...

Mmmmmmm....

*I just noticed that I no longer automatically capitalize koigu. I mean, Koigu. It's as if it were no longer a proper noun to me. No, it's not just a brand of yarn. It's something basic, essential. Like, I wouldn't capitalize "air" or "bread" or "chocolate"... Mmmmm...bread and chocolate.... And koigu...

Oh look. Cari's knitting a sock. Yawn.

Wait...what's that? Could it be? Why, yes, I do believe it is. She's knitting two socks at once. One sock inside of the other, as a matter of fact.

She probably thinks we think she's very clever, but anyone who's read this article knows it's actually pretty easy. And fun. Lots of fun.

*Cari pushes annoying blog narrator to the side and takes the mic herself, because sometimes you just have to go for that first-person narrative...*

So, yeah. Two socks at once. I somehow missed the double-knitting sock article when it first came out (was I the last one to read it? Is this very very old news?) but stumbled across it, surfing while nursing the other day. Which then led to an obsession with trying it for myself. I'd always known it was possible to knit one sock inside of the other--I just assumed it was possible but extremely hard. And it's not hard at all. (Check back with me when it comes time to do the heels, though.)

As you can see, I'm using two different colorways of Koigu to keep things straight. Now that I've tried it, though, I can see that it's actually quite clear which layer each stitch belongs to, so after I finish up the second sock for each of these current socks, I'll next time just go ahead and make a matching pair at one time.

Cool, hunh? It's probably slower than knitting each sock separately, what with all the moving back and forth of strand A, but it's fun, so what the hell... I do knit for recreation, after all.

Oh my....

Happy, happy, happy me. This evening I got some great news. I've received a Pushcart Prize nomination for "Go."

I think the final decision as to which pieces make it into the anthology happens sometime in the spring. Cross your fingers for me, please!