OK, the octopus is finished. He's not as cute and chubby as this crocheted one, but I'll be darned if he doesn't look like a smiling octopus. Well, maybe more like a squid, but whatever. And nevermind that he's three times the size of the rhinoceros I made. Charlie immediately took a liking to him and decided to curl up like best buds.

Now to finish the lion I started...

Posted by: Sarah at 12:02 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 It IS cute!

Posted by: Green at August 27, 2007 06:35 AM (VqW06)

2 Dang, he's cute. I'm at work (and will be for the next 240 or so hours), so I'll call you this weekend. Promise.

Posted by: Erin at August 27, 2007 09:30 AM (ElP9U)

3 Very cute. The octopus, the dog, and the two of them together.

Posted by: Butterfly Wife at August 27, 2007 10:15 AM (/LiOe)

4 He's pretty cute (and I really like that rhinoceros). The octopus's legs must have taken quite a while. And thanks for the comment on my octopus.

Posted by: Amethyst at August 28, 2007 04:00 AM (IvGyM)

5 Our pig has a special place in our hearts and home. Are you going for a Noah's Arc theme?

Posted by: jennifer at September 01, 2007 10:20 AM (TMBJh)

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I've been tempted by the Dark Side.

Craft-minded readers will notice that this stack of squares is not knitting but...gulp...crochet.

A friend of mine is compiling afghans for a charity. She asked for 6x6 squares, and she goaded me into trying my hand at crocheting them. At first I hated it with a passion, starting and ripping and starting and ripping. I did more un-crocheting than crocheting. But eventually I got the hang of it and figured out how to read the patterns. I got a lot of practice in on these squares, and boy howdy does crochet use up a lot of yarn. Stash depletion for a good cause = awesome.

I picked up my knitting again last night, and it sure felt good. But I think I will venture into crochet again sometime in the future. Especially to make the Exchange Bag from the Happy Hooker book.

And this girl's octopus is turning out waaay cuter than mine. Mine, I fear, is going to look more like a real octopus than a cartoon one (i.e. ugly and scary). I have images of my infant wrapped up in it à la 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Maybe once I put a smile on him, he will seem like a friendly overbearing monster...

Posted by: Sarah at 05:51 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I have been crankin' out preemie caps for my Fairy Godmothers group for the past two weeks. They are so fun to make because they're quick and you can play with different colors. I think I might freak some of the ladies out with my hot pink and lime green, but I think some hip young wife will like it.

I also have to do job-related knitting: Michaels is redesigning the front of the store and so we have to have season-themed projects on display. I copied The Girl's first baby project and made the baby pumpkin hat.

I also started knitting this spider last night, but I hate him. He looks more like a fly than a spider. I am going to finish him and then maybe try to make this variation of the spider pattern and see if it turns out any better. But I have to turn my seasonal knitting in by the end of the week, so I may get desperate and have to turn in the fly spider after all.

UPDATE:

OK, he doesn't look so bad now that he has legs...

Posted by: Sarah at 07:20 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Too darn cute for words!

Posted by: LMT at July 23, 2007 10:17 AM (ASoq0)

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Yes, yes, sweet, awesome, holy crap.
We just bought tickets to attend Stitch N Pitch at Busch Stadium. That's right, knitting and baseball acting like they're peanut butter and jelly. Too cool. We'll be going with my friend and her mom, the awesome lady who taught me to knit ten years ago, and a girl I met through my knitting class here whose husband is deployed. She's flying from Montana; we're coming from both coasts to converge on the StL for the best idea to hit baseball since the hot dog.
Best idea we've had for a vacation since we followed Feasting on Asphalt.

Posted by: Sarah at 08:20 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 So.Jealous. Hope you guys have a fantastic time! What are you going to take to knit???

Posted by: The Girl at July 06, 2007 08:02 PM (zZMCk)

2 So how long you gonna be in my town??

Posted by: Butterfly Wife at July 07, 2007 06:42 AM (P8wtu)

3 Just for the game, we're just passing through.

Posted by: Sarah at July 08, 2007 02:36 AM (vrR+j)

4 Go Cards!!!

Posted by: Chris at July 12, 2007 01:34 AM (m8iTb)

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Watch out, Vera Bradley; I'm quilting my own bags now.

I love my new sewing machine.

Posted by: Sarah at 03:13 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 I love your bags !! Its great that you have such sewing talents. Sewing & me don't go together but I am a good shopper and love purses, thanks for showing us your talents.

Posted by: MN Guard Wife at July 05, 2007 05:56 AM (mppwj)

2 Are you going to sell some? They're really popular nowadays! What machine do you have? I'm looking around for my own, since I just got married and Mom isn't too keen on me borrowing hers across state lines now...

Posted by: Green at July 05, 2007 07:38 AM (VqW06)

3 I am not sure what is more frightening. You quilting bags, or me a "non crafter" knowing who you are talking about.

Posted by: armywifetoddlermom at July 05, 2007 08:56 AM (YDkYg)

4 I love the bags. I wish I could sew like that. If you want to sell I would buy one.

Posted by: Reasa at July 05, 2007 09:41 AM (JfF5d)

5 The only problem with selling them is that I am a LAZY seamstress. My seams don't match up perfectly and stuff. But if you want a not-so-perfect bag, then I'm your man.

Posted by: Sarah at July 05, 2007 10:20 AM (vrR+j)

6 I don't look at seams as long as it does not fall apart after using it for a few days I am happy. LOL

Posted by: Reasa at July 05, 2007 10:33 AM (JfF5d)

7 OK, anyone who wants a purse, email me at tryingtogrok -at- hotmail dotcom and we'll talk

Posted by: Sarah at July 05, 2007 11:04 AM (vrR+j)

8 SO cute!

Posted by: Erin at July 06, 2007 03:33 AM (XRza7)

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Today I joined a group.

I went into a craft store to look for something for my mom, and naturally I cannot go in a craft store without sneaking into the yarn section. There I found a table with five older ladies knitting and crocheting. I immediately joined their club.

They call themselves the Fairy Godmothers, and they meet twice a month to knit and crochet little caps and sweaters for the preemies in the local hospital. I got patterns from them to get started on, and I can't wait until the next meeting.

I made five friends today. They're all my mother's age, but who's counting?

Posted by: Sarah at 08:08 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Once I got on a roll crocheting borders on my colored squares, I really got into it. I sewed the squares together as I went, so I could avoid having to do all the sewing at the end. Et voilà. I am really happy with how this project turned out. Charlie agreed to model the blanket, since he did such a good job last time. He's so funny the way he averts his eyes any time we hold up the camera. He hates looking directly at it and will rotate his head any which way to avoid it.

Now if we just had a baby to wrap in the blanket...

Posted by: Sarah at 08:09 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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The heavy lifting is done.

But the perfect method I had concocted for how to put all the squares together ended up looking like absolute crap. I thought I could just crochet the squares together, forming a nice border between each one. I didn't count on it looking like garbage. So we're at a standstill, and I've moved on to another project to calm down a bit.

I think what I will end up doing is crocheting a border around each square and then sewing them together. Not something I am looking forward to doing, but oh well.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm back home visiting my parents for the weekend, so I have not been on the computer. Blogging will resume in a few days.

On Friday, my flight schedule was pretty lame. I had a one-hour flight, a four-hour layover, and a 1.5-hour flight. Ugh. As I sat down to whittle away at those four hours in the airport, I realized something horrible: I had left one of my knitting needles on the coffee table at home. Four hours with no knitting and nothing to do except try to drown out the endless CNN loop above my head. I was miserable, as any true knitting addict would be. But I called a knitter friend and laughed at my situation: Here I was in an airport that's a major R&R hub, where I saw dozens of soldiers obviously anxious to get home, and I was ready to cry because I couldn't knit. I joked with my friend that I should tell one of these soldiers how much harder my life is than his because I was having knitting withdrawals.

Ah, that Perspective again...

Posted by: Sarah at 03:50 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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You know your life is remarkably good when your dreams are filled with knitting angst. If the hardest thing I have to deal with in my life is whether the best way to connect all these colored squares I've been making into a blanket is whipstitch or single crochet, then life is good indeed.

Posted by: Sarah at 04:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've developed a bad case of knitting ADD recently. For ten years I was a one-project woman, but lately... I think it started when I got my job and I was knitting things for home and things for work and I realized that there's no reason why I can't have multiple items going at once. So now I sit on the sofa surrounded by pieces of a baby blanket, an octopus with two tentacles, an afghan, the back of a sweater, and half a purse. And that wasn't enough to satisfy my mind yesterday, so I worked for 24 hours on this little fellow.

Looks like a pig mated with an anteater, but he's got a certain charm. He'll hop in the mail tomorrow and be on his way to warmer climes, as a long-overdue and much-anticipated gift for someone who was always there to rescue me when my husband locked me out of the house in Germany.

And holy crap, Space Invaders socks. Can I fit another project on the sofa?

Posted by: Sarah at 09:12 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I'm already nesting for a baby that doesn't even exist yet. How's that for tuning in to my maternal spirit? But motherhood is also a handy excuse for new knitting patterns. Here's what I've been working on for the past two weeks:

The wombat looks highly ridiculous, but I just wanted mine to be the only kid on the block with a handmade wombat. The rhino is actually pretty cool, I think.

I plan to crowd the kid's crib with these things. Next up: an octopus and a snake.

Posted by: Sarah at 09:10 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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There's been sewing in the house today!

Usually I get sewing ideas and they drag out over years. I never get around to actually doing it. But my double pointed needles really were begging for a home, so I sat down and worked this puppy out. It's not perfect -- I probably should've chosen a color besides yellow, and I should've made it an inch or two wider -- but it will certainly do. Hooray for the opposite of procrastination!

Posted by: Sarah at 06:30 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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If you're the praying type, send one up for me today. I'm gonna need it when my husband gets home...

I went to the store intending to buy $3-worth of yarn for teddies. Instead I came home with this.

Welcome to Divorceville, population: me.

LATER THAT EVENING:

Still married. In fact, he didn't seem that fazed. And I don't have anything specific in mind to make with it; I just bought all the store had because it was 50% off. Ideas will come...bags can be felted...the yarn will find its purpose.

Posted by: Sarah at 09:41 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Ok, now... you have to at least tell us what you intend to make with that gorgeous stash! You've posted some yarn p*rn, and didn't even give the entire story haha

Posted by: The Girl at February 13, 2007 10:16 AM (kRKY8)

2 I concur, you cannot post yarn p*rn without an explanation of what it's for. In fact your penalty for this transgression is that we get your stash.

Posted by: Mare at February 13, 2007 11:15 AM (Oc90P)

3 I went to a PEO meeting today and the program was a lady demonstrating her weaving looms, she does beautiful work. When someone asked where she got her beautiful yarn she said what she is working with now she bought about 5 years ago when a local quilt shop went out of business. She said, "I knew I would use it for something, sometime, and it was just too pretty to pass up." Her husband is pretty proud of her and I bet your is too.

Posted by: Ruth H at February 13, 2007 01:52 PM (c54X3)

4 I have no idea how you intend to make a "teddy" out of the yarn, but have fun trying... no wonder DH doesn't mind

Posted by: armywifetoddlermom at February 14, 2007 07:03 AM (n/bd3)

5 If my wife had told me that she had bought all that yarn for 50% off each, I would have said COOL A BARGOON! Then she probably would have asked me to take the bag up to her room! But Hey What I know! Tim C.

Posted by: TIM C at February 15, 2007 06:31 AM (SAiJg)

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I started a sweater while my husband was in Iraq, messed it up, and let it sit without touching it for two years. Well, I finally picked it back up, ripped it all out, and started over. I am happy with the final results.

But I'm kinda bummed that I now live in a place where I can't wear sweaters. Two seconds after taking this photo, I had to rip the sweater off before I suffocated. It's so danged hot here. Not that I'm complaining: my parents have been snowed into their house in Illinois for two days. Literally. They can't get out of the driveway.

But now I'm a knitter with a closet full of sweaters and scarves, and it's 76 degrees in December.

Posted by: Sarah at 09:56 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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My friend Angie had her third boy this year. Since they're an Army family through and through, I made her newest addition a camouflage teddy bear. But apparently I ushered an era of fighting into her home. Her oldest stole the bear from the baby.

So adorable. Except for the constant fighting. Apparently the boys fight over who gets to sleep with the bear every night. I feel so bad that I did something to contribute to discord in their house. So the Army teddy is getting some friends.

Now they have their own little multicultural squad. (I should make one more so they'd have a whole tank, but then they might fight over the extra bear!) Hopefully this helps lessen Angie's stress. And I learned a valuable knitter's lesson: never make something for one kid in a family.

Posted by: Sarah at 04:36 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Well, I didn't make it to the store or the post office or anything else I was going to do yesterday, but I did finish knitting a Detroit voodoo doll all in one day.

Heh. Go Cardinals!

Posted by: Sarah at 03:39 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I don't know if my friend from Sweden still checks in on my blog anymore, but if you do, don't look! The rest of you can check out the extended entry... more...

Posted by: Sarah at 05:03 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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So after I finished my teddy bear knitting kick (all in all, I made 13 bears), I started in on a handbag kick.

The white one is Tasha from knitty.com, inspired by The Girl's version. The brown one was my first felting experience, using the salvaged Unikat wool that Charlie tried to eat. Actually, I've discovered that Charlie has expensive taste: he couldn't care less about the cheapy yarn I use to make teddies, but he grabs the nice wool and runs under the bed with his treasure.

Posted by: Sarah at 08:35 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Update on the knitting re-dos. Those of you who know me in person may know that I have had half of a sweater back sitting in my knitting basket for, oh, two years now. I started this sweater while the husband was in Iraq, and then I realized that it looked ridiculous. It features vertical stripes of stockinette and seed stitch, and apparently I do those two at vastly different gauges. Seriously, my seed needed size 6s and my stockinette probably needed like 4s or something. So I let 16 inches of a sweater sit for two years. Well, today I set aside the urge to start a new project and decided to do something about this stupid project that I dragged across the Atlantic. I tore out the whole danged thing and started practicing my seed stitch. I'm fairly sure I can start over and try to get the two sections closer in gauge. I hope so, because I like the pattern and want to have the sweater, minus the big gaping panels of stockinette. More as it develops.

Posted by: Sarah at 02:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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