The soaker saga, part 3.5

Here’s latest the update on the soaker. When I first cast on, I had in mind a triangle soaker. It was going to be knit flat, then sewn up so that it would pull on like underwear. As I was knitting, I decided I liked the idea of a wrap better (similar to the Tickle Turtle Wool Wrap pattern, only knit instead of crochet). Knowing absolutely nothing about soaker construction, and having no pattern for reference, the end result is a very unique and ugly thing looks like a stingray with a blunt stinger (I promise to post a pic when I can! It’s really quite humorous). Wide wings at the back, narrowing to a thin strip that goes between the legs and is then folded up at the front.

After binding off, I realized that the crotch area is a little too narrow to be effective. Instead of frogging back, I decided to knit two thin strips to sew onto each side (hoping that the seams work as gussets. Maybe it’ll work out that way? Did I mention I know nothing about soaker construction?). I also realized that I didn’t leave a lot of space on the front for velcro or snaps, and I noticed that the fold up flap is probably going to be too short. So, I made a wide front panel to add length and width. This resulted in 4 pieces that I need to seam together. The main body of the soaker, the thin strips, and the front panel.

After I seam all the pieces together, I’m going to lanolize (water proof) it and see how effective it really is. Of course, I made this more complicated than necessary, but It’s a learning experience!

Have some excitement with your morning coffee.

Apparently, Wednesday morning, a police chase ended on foot in the back yard of the home where my mom, grandma, and nephew live.

Crazy, huh?

Obviously, my mom and I don’t talk much – because I just found out today.

Here’s the unofficial story.

My mom went out on the back deck Wednesday morning, as she does every morning, to drink her coffee and smoke a cigarette or two. Little did she know, but the (armed?) suspects were hiding under the deck while police officers were stalking them from across the creek (their yard opens up into a park, where there’s a jogging trail and a creek, and then more neighborhoods across the wooded area across from the creek). Everyone, the suspects and the police, waited until my mom went inside before moving. Then the arrest was made in between their house and their neighbors house.

My mom did eventually realize that something was going on. Once she realized that two helicopters were hovering above her house, she thought maybe going inside would be a good idea, so she watched the rest unfold on the news and through the windows. There are more details, but I’m not so great at relaying 2nd hand info. I told my mom to e-mail me, and I’ll post it (if anyone is interested) when I get it.

It was apparently on the news, too. Note to self – watch the news once in while. I never have any idea what’s going on locally.

New speed skates, please?

Look what I’m getting!!!! The Labeda G-80 Silver Streak. I tried on a pair, and they’re so very comfy. Yes, they’re shiny and flashy, but I love them anyway! The flashiness adds to the fun. And I will very much be traveling back to the 80’s by putting purple wheels and pom poms on them. *giggles* My current skates hurt my feet (breaking them in didn’t help). Rentals are more comfortable. Figure skates are more comfortable! ACK! But I refuse to pay for rentals when I own my own, so my feet suffer in silence. I love to skate, and right now, skating hurts. This is a problem. I’m really excited about having a fun and COMFORTABLE pair of skates! It feels like being 7 years old and finding the perfect Christmas present under the tree. :-)

I was going to get myself a new camera for Christmas, but the skates will be more fun. (I found my old camera, by the way. Just need to find the USB cable – is that what it’s called? – so I can upload the pictures to my computer) .

In knitting related news, I think I’ve managed to salvage the soaker. It will be oddly structured, but functional (too lazy to frog and start over). More on that later….

The road trip didn’t produce a finished object

The soaker never happened, lol. About half way through, I decided to sway (drastically) from what I had in my head, which created interesting (and not useful) results. I’ll keep at it, but it’s not a priority anymore now that the weekend is over and I don’t need a soaker. One of these days (hopefully while she’s still in diapers), this child will have a wool soaker. Or maybe I’ll frog it and make something entirely different.

Winging it, and kind of clueless.

We’ll be leaving some time tomorrow for a very cold weekend at the lake. I can’t find one of the baby’s diaper covers (I refuse to use the plastic ones from Wal-Mart), so with the sole skein of wool yarn I found in the back of my closet earlier today, I’m going to make a soaker on the way there. I’ve never made one before. I don’t have a pattern, and I don’t have a printer so I can’t print off a pattern. Blah. Anyway, I’m thinking it’ll turn out ok. I’ve read (and tried to memorize) some patterns, so hopefully some of what I’ve read will stick. Now I just need to remember to get some Lansinoh before leaving “the city” (er, suburbia) and entering the Ozarks. The plan is for the soaker to be finished by the time I get there, and then lanolized and dry before Saturday morning (in the hopes that we can make it through tomorrow with three AIO’s and only one cover for the prefolds).

Advice would be much appreciated, though. I’ll check to see if I have any new comments before I leave…

By the way, Alex’s blanket survived the washing machine! :-) For anyone who might want to know, feather and fan blankets made with Caron Simply Soft can be washed at least one time on the rigorous spin cycle.

Let’s see what happens in the washing machine…

I might regret this, but my sons feather and fan blanket is in the washing machine right now. It’s made of washable yarn, and I’ve washed it before. BUT, this time it’s being washed with items that require the super heavy duty washing cycle. Let’s hope it doesn’t fall apart! Ack. It’s good to test these things once in a while, right? Otherwise, I’ll never know if certain things can be washed certain ways, right? I guess I’m going to find out when it’s time for the dryer.

(Edited to add: the blanket survived. For anyone who might want to know, feather and fan blankets made with Caron Simply Soft can be washed at least one time on the rigorous spin cycle).

Oh, and here’s a picture of the blanket (pre-super heave duty washing cycle). It was taken on a cell phone camera, and the combination of the camera, lighting, and the way the blanket is laying makes for a very unflattering picture of it. But, it’s all I have until I find my camera, so it’ll have to do. I made it a couple months ago (and still haven’t managed to get a good picture):

Roller Derby – Tryouts? And some videos..

It was requested that I post more about roller derby. This one’s for you. ;)

It’s old news, but I’m still thrilled about it. Congrats to the Kansas City Roller Warriors for winning the 2007 WFTDA National Championship!

Tryouts for KCRW are coming up quickly. The closer they get, the less enthusiastic I feel. I haven’t had much time to practice and get in shape. I’m seriously considering not trying out this year. Part of me wants to, even though I ‘know’ I won’t make it. It’ll be a learning experience, right? And it’ll show that I’m interested and maybe help me score some brownie points for when I am ready. I did try out last year, and what I gained from that experience has been carried with me thus far (just need time to practice!). How much more can I learn *without being accepted* this time around? Another lesson in humility? Sounds oh so tempting /sarcasm. Maybe it will be worth it. Another option I’ve been considering is becoming a ref. Refs don’t need as much skating ability (and some refs don’t skate at all). It would be a good way for me to get some skating experience, while learning the ins and outs of roller derby in preparation for the 2009 tryouts.

Decisions and self doubt. They don’t go hand in hand. While I’m trying to make up my mind, here are some videos of KCRW – the 2007 champions – in action. The second video is of my absolute favorite skater – Snotrocket. She’s awesome! The videos pale in comparison to watching KCRW and Snotrocket live, but they’re still fun:

Free pattern booklets from Bernat

 Edit:  This offer is no longer available on the Bernat website.

Bernat is offering free pattern booklets for taking their survey. The booklets are e-mailed in PDF format, and you get to choose which ones you want. Thought I’d pass along the info! :-) Just to let you know, I did take the two part survey, and they did follow through with sending me the pattern booklets. My in-box has remained spam free, to boot.

Some knitting yummies – and still no camera

Today, I discovered glass needles for the first time (thanks to Ravelry – I love that place!). There are three companies I know of that make/sell the very pretty (and very out of my price range) glass needles. Ready for some eye candy? Here are the links: The Glass Gem, Namaste, and GlassPens.com. Don’t they look heavenly? I would love to try knitting with them some time, even though I knit exclusively on circ’s and DPN’s. Although, The Glass Gem does have a limited availability of glass DPN’s, and rumor has it, GlassPens.com has glass circ’s available. Either way, they’re so far out of my budget, it’s almost not worth thinking about. Here’s to the future, though! Some day….

And I came across another wonderful Etsy store: Yarn Lust. The store owner hand dyes yarn in amazing colors. I fell in love with the Twilight Cashmere Yarn. More knitting goodness I can’t afford. *Sigh* At least I can still look at the picture. Maybe when things settle down for us financially, she’ll still be using that colorway on her yarns. Even if it’s not cashmere, it will still be a very pretty colorway to work with.

You know, not having my camera is driving me crazy. I’d love to talk more about my yarn stash and projects, but I feel as though those types of posts need pictures to go along with them. Sort of a point of reference, if you will. That, and I keep seeing things not related to knitting that I’d love to capture on camera. Oh well. It’s only temporary. I know I’ll find it sooner or later. :-) In the mean time, I’ll try to blog about more fun discoveries in the world of kniting and yarn.

Future project goals and WIP’s

First, I’d like to apologize for the lack of pictures of my current and finished projects. I lost my camera, and I’m saving up to buy a new one.

I’m currently working on two projects. First, Antifreeze for my husband so his face doesn’t freeze on the cold days when I need the car and he has to ride his motorcycle to work. I’ve only worked about an inch so far, but it’s coming along nicely. I’m very excited to get farther along in this. It’s my first project working short rows. And the Feather and Fan blanket for my daughter. This is really my project for when I’m in between projects, or when it’s not convenient to have a pattern in front of me. There’s so little variation in the pattern that it can become boring very quickly. I love the finished look of Feather and Fan, though, so I’ll be happy to have it around when I’m done.

My short term project goals are actually not to finish my current projects (much to hubby’s dismay, hehe), but to put those on hold temporarily and focus on knitting for Christmas (once I have the yarn. Just a few more days! I can’t wait!). I’m going to try as hard as I can to squeeze in Antifreeze before Christmas, but Travis has been the main recipient of my projects so far. It’s only fair to devote some time to others. ;) Here’s my knitting list:

• Roll brim hat in black chenille to go with Catherine’s Christmas dress (based on the the Rolled Brim Chemo Cap available at headhuggers.org. I’ll be making adjustments for her size, as well as some shaping adjustments at the top.)
• Mary Jane booties in black chenille to match her hat (some of my relatives have a “no shoes inside” rule, so instead of buying dress shoes that she won’t even wear most of the day, I decided to make booties. It’ll also help to keep her feet warm and help prevent too much wear on the toes of her tights).
• Leg warmers or pants for Catherine to wear under her Christmas dress while we go from place to place on Christmas. Tights just aren’t warm, and she gets cold so easily.
• Wool hats for my son and my nephew.
• Dishcloths, dishcloths, and more dishcloths!

So much to make, so little time! Fortunately, they’re all small items, so I should only have to devote a day or two to each one. It’s been a while since I’ve had so much diversity among projects. This is going to be great! I love having another reason to love Christmas.