Monkey Boy

This is my nephew, Jamesen Noah Johnson. Or, as I like to call him, Monkey Boy. Up close, he kinda looks like a monkey, you know, the kind they used to use in psych expirements.


Monkey Boy

I knit him a blanket, a pair of booties, and a hat.


Monkey Boy

Actualy, I knit him two hats. The one that actualy fits him is in the wash, so this is the one that he will grow in to.


Monkey Boy

Well, actualy, he will have to grow into everything except the blanket. The booties are still a bit big also.


Monkey Boy

But since it is 100+ out, then it is ok that nothing fits. By the time it gets cold enough out for him to need a hat or booties, he will have grown enough for them to fit him conftorbly.

And here is another one of the two of us, since he is a really cute baby.



Me&Monkey Boy

WIPs

I was looking at my sidebar (because I am done with my second day of my last simester of college and yet to really do anthing in class, so a 50 minute class ends in 20 and I have huge stretches...and I am rabling. Suffice it to say, I have no life) and noticed my "list" of Works In Progress. And I realised that is it a joke. It says that I have 7 projects. Tripple that, and you might have a closer count. But then I wondered, projects that you have no intention of ever finishing, do they count in your count? I mean, I have this blanket, and theoreticaly it would be a nice one. It is done in squares, then they are sewn together. When I started it years ago, I thought it was a good idea. Then I got board with it. I have maybe 5 squares of it done. I will never finish it. I realise it, even to teh point that the acrylic yarn that I bought for it (ah, back in my early knitting days, when all I used was acrylic. Memories) has been confiscated by other projects. Two skeins, one of dark blue and one of a lighter blue, have gone to nephew hats, which arn't on the sidebar. I have one mitten and one slipper, and I will probobly never make a second. I have half a backpack that I was making for my neice. When do you finaly let go? When do you say "enough is enough. I will never finish these. Let's frog them. Or just throw them away. They are made out of cheap acrylic that I will never use for another projects. I don't remember what size or pattern or needles I was using. Why do I insist on hangin on?"

And how many true WIPs are to many? The ones that you do actualy knit on. The ones that you will finish someday. The ones that the only reason they are not completed now is because you started something else.

Yes, I am a fickley knitter. Monogomy is not my strong suite. My knitting understands this. Unfortunetly, my kayaks don't.

Knitting Heros

Yesterday, I went to ASU to see the Mark Newport exhibit. I first read about Mark Newport in this Knitty article and noticed that he had a show up in Phoenix, only 2 hours away at the ASU Art Museum! So yesterday Sarah and I went to see it. He has some really cool stuff embroidered comic book covers, drawings, and the most important stuff, KNITTED SUPER HERO COSTUMES!!! They were really cool. My favorite was Sweaterman! It was great! He also did the classics: Batman, Spiderman, The Fantastic Fou, etc.
ANd it turns out that he lives in Arizona, he's on the faculty of ASU. Now, I am a UA student, and as such I should loath anything ASU, but after reading about Mark Newport and finding out that he teaches at ASU, I want to take classes there. If I could transfer to ASU for my last simester, I totaly would. Heck, I'll change my major so I can have him for a teacer!!
Sarah says that we need to make a shrine to Prof. Newport and worship him now. I tend to agree. Expecialy after we noticed that the yarn he was using was...wait for it...RED HEART!!! Can you beleive it!! This man in a genious, and he uses cheap acrylic yarn.
So now, I will never speak down aout Red Heart again, or listen to it!!
Some random knitter :"Red Heart is cheap gross yarn"
Me: "maybe, but Mark Newport uses it!!"
Unfortunelty, stupid ASU wouldn't let me take pics while in the galery, and they didn't have any pics to buy of his stuff. But you can download and print from the ASU site, so I might do that.

I highly encourage anyone who is able to see his stuff. At least check out the links to the ASU articles. Unfortunetly, It doesn't appear that he has his own webpage. Tears.

Cassie's Baby Blanket...

Here is the blanket that I am knitting for my ex-sister-in-law's new baby. I just heard that they are now saying that the baby will be a boy. I know Cassie was looking forward to a girl, after having 2 boys already, but it's ok. Hopefully they will name him something better than they were going to when he was a she. Though, her ex-husband just named his new son Jameson (but that's not how they spelled it. Some wierd spelling that I can't remember) Noah Shamus Johnson. That poor child.

The baby is due in October, and here is as far as I have gotten. About a foot. One of my feet. Cassie's beutiful baby blanket with all it's blaring mistakes design features.



Blanket

Perfection

Have you ever done something so well that you are afraid to do it again? Like, you knit something so perfect, and love the pattern, but are afraid to ever knit it again because you know nothing will ever top that article. Or you write a paper that just blows your prof. away, and you don't ever want to write another one, because you know you will never be able to reach thoes expectations again?

Sometimes I feel like that. I knit something, and was in the zone, and it just turns out so perfect, that you know no matter what, the next time you pick up the needles, you won't be able to do that again. But you do it, and you are so focused on trying to make it perfect again that you just keep messing up, and forget that you knit for fun. And you have to stop, and put everything away, and do something else, until you remember why you knit.

RIght now, I am remembering why I knit. I made this bootie for my new nephew (who I have yet to meet. Idiot Boy keeps saying "ya, come over tomorrow" then does something else.) and not only am I fighting with SSS, but with perfection as well. And I keep telling myself, if I wanted it perfect, I would go to the store and get ones that are perfect.

I am not perfect. Just practicaly perfect in every way.

Trying something new...

I am trying something new here today, multiple pictures in teh same post!! I know I have done it before, but for the life of me, I can't remember how. When I uploaded the pictures using Hello, they came up as different posts...
So, if this works out, you should be seeing a picture of a tiny Red Sweater. It should be done in Garter Stitch. It is my second for the Red Sweater.org project...


Red Sweater in Garter Stitch

If this next picture works, you should be seeing my first for the project, done in S-Stitch...


Red Sweater S-Stitch

And, theoreticaly, there should be a picture of the two sweaters next to my shoe (size 10) to show size.


Red Sweaters Size

"But you're not important..."

That is what my oldest nephew, Casper, informed me. Well, not exactly in thoes words. But he was so cute, that not only did I not get upset about it, but I have put most projects aside to finish this hat he wants.
You see, Cash starts school on the 15th (yikes!). Not just any school, but the 1st Grade!! I went with him and my mother and step-father to take him school shoping, and while we were out, I had a hat that I was knitting for his new little half-brother. He was enthralled by the hat. Every time I took it out he would watch, ask questions about knitting in general. But he would always start them with "Oh, so you are going to finish it now?" And every time, I would tell him no, but probobly that weekend. Finaly, he asked why it wasn't done, and why he didn't have a hat to. So I told him that I would make him one, but that I couldn't promise when it would be done, before it got cold enough to need one though. I told him about all the other projects I had on the needles for all the kids, and then I mentioned my socks. These are what elicited the above comment. You see, I have these socks. They are nice socks, or at least have the potental to be. I would post a picture of them, but it would make all knitters cry. They are maybe 2 inches in. They have been maybe 2 inches in for the last 3 months. So, I explained about how there are all these different project, so many in fact that I haven't had a chance to work on my socks. To which he said, "But Aunt Cerridwen, knitting stuff for you isn't important. But for us kids it is."
I laughed. He is deffinitly my nephew. So, his "really dark blue" hat is on the needles. I am doing a k2p2 ribbing, will do it enough so he can fold it up on itself, then s-stitch for the rest of the hat. Heck, I might make him 3 or 4 differnt hats. He's such a great kid. Sometimes I worry that he is to mature, being the oldest, but he's a great kid. If he wants a hat, I will make him as many as it takes to get them perfect for this kid. Anything to make him happy. The rest of the kids will have to waite a bit longer for their things.

On the edge of your seat...

I know that everyone has been on the edge of their seats worrying about me and my Latin class. Well, I passed my test!! Yay. The extera credit put me over the edge into the "passing" catagory. We are all very excited.
And I came home from class after getting my passing grade (!!!!) to find my wool in the mail box!! So hopefully I will finish the shawl and have some pics for everyone to oohh and ahhh over by the end of the weekend.
On a happier note, I finished my first red sweater for Red Sweater.org , I will post a pic soon. I finished the little hat for my nephew, who was born today. He was only 19" and a little ober 6lbs! I was convinced that he would be at least 8# considering how big she was. Now, a hat for the neice due in October. Also the blanket. So much knitting, so little time.

But Wensday(10 August) is my Latin final. Then I have a whole 11 days until the simester starts (22 August)! At which point I need to sign up for a degree check, yes, I know I should have done that at the end last simester, but I had issues getting in. Stupid people waited until the last week of school to get theirs done, expecting to graduate in May! I mean, the week before graduation?!? Oh well.

But we are seeing the end of the summer school. But people, please, learn from my mistake!! NEVER take an accelerated language course!! Plan your college carreer better than I did!!