CarmelKnits, etc.

It's just like I said. Every year I try to be cool and collected and bring only what I have a possibility of finishing. Then I check Ravelry. Then I remember it's almost November and time to knit my younger brother a hat. Then I start browsing hat patterns. Then I dig into my stash - which, lets be honest, is dangerous on a good day... 36 hours before I leave for a retreat, it's certfiable insanity. Lets not even visit the fact that I printed a baby sock pattern that I tossed in the mix and the mini balls of left over sock yarn to work on those babies Or the sock pattern I printed with a fresh skein of sock yarn even though I have two pairs of socks to finish. Oh and I have a baby blanket to finish, not to mention a sweater for Beans to make some headway on... Nope. The restraint flew right out the window last night and into the bags, that's right BAGS, went at least 10 balls of worsted weight yarn, my whole tin of dpn's and every...

In a follow up to last nights post. It may or may not be fact that I may or may not have printed out seven additional patterns to bring on my retreat this weekend. It may or may not be possible that I'm mentally searching my stash and pairing up yarn with the theoretically printed patterns. It may or may not be possible that I've gone off the deep end. It may or may not be possible that I am delusional in thinking that I can finish Malt Ivy Trellis Socks Watermelon Socks Beans Hockey Sweater and cast on The Age of Brass and Steam Matching hats for Bump, M and C Ankle Socks for me Nasturtium socks for me Baby socks for everyone (trust me, every time I sneeze someone tells me they're pregnant, or at least, that's how it feels) oh my no wonder D gives me sideways looks from time to time, it's not because he's thinking 'wow, she's mine, aren't I lucky' it's probably more 'whoa... look what I got hooked up with, a big ...

The knitting retreat is literally two days away! TWO DAYS! I'm so excited! Breakfast Friday morning and Saturday morning at the Braeburn! Saturday with my friend Rhoda who I used to knit with every Tuesday! Dinner at Prima Bistro, They just got a load of brussell sprouts in and I can't wait! Wandering thru the Whidbey Island Soap Shop Knitty Purls The Star Store The Star Store II (homeopathic apothecary style and they also carry my favorite tea!) EEEEEKKKKK!!!!! And my room! My room looks out over Saratoga Passage, has a little deck, a fire place and... my gosh I'm so excited I can barely type! Knitting retreats are awesome. If you've never gone on one you must find one and go. I made a list of projects I'm going to bring, and I was really trying to reign myself in this year. I mean, last year I won the prize for having brought the most stuff to work on, and lets be honest, even bringing five projects is a bit out there. last year I brought 2...

Friday was part two of operation hill billy. Prior to Friday I thought this would be a three part process but things aren't working out that way. Apparently the bone loss was so much so that they had to do a lot of bone grafting and now that has to heal before they drill the screw into place. I have to wait six months for the bone to heal and the screw to go in. Six months. That'll put us at almost a full year for this process. This my weekend has been laying low, snuggling with the dogs, knitting on blanket number four, and eating all manner of soft, almost liquid foods. Instant cream of chicken is my new fave... Thank goodness the pattern for Malt is simple enough that I can still knit and not totally jack it up when I take my Vicodin... Happy Sunday!

Mostly for Mr. Brown. We had his follow up yesterday to see how the ol' orbit is healing. The good news is that it has healed... a little Not as much as we had hoped. The middle part healed so now when they put the glow-dye in it looks like he has an hour glass ulcer in his eye. What does this mean for Mr. Brown? Three more weeks in the cone. Dr. B rubbed the still healing areas with a dry q-tip to kind agitate it to heal after numbing his eye. So another round of antibiotic eye drops three times a day More pain meds More anti-anxiety meds (all natural) I might start taking them too. More $$$ And three more weeks in the satellite dish. Three. More. Weeks. His frustration level is high. My frustration level is high We're all sporting semi-circle bruises from him running into us.  Hopefully on November 15th it'll all be healed. The cone can come off and we can go back to normal. I think if it's not bet...

Pattern is 'Malt' by TinCanKnits on Ravelry. It's a free pattern designed for beginners learning how to knit. When I ran across it I thought it looked so snuggly that I had to make it for my cousin and his wife and their soon to arrive baby! This is the first time I've been able to use most of my sushi stitch markers, it's like a full meal right there on my needles, wasabi included!

 If you're crossing the mountain you need to stop at Zekes for a shake and a cheeseburger it's been here forever.  at my first Oktoberfest. I really whooped it up Friday night. Really, I did a really great job at it. so well that it took all day to rest up for Saturday. I learned a few things: 1. Drinking beer out of beer steins is super fun. 2. Doing the Chicken Dance with about 300 other people, super fun.  I don't know who these people are but they were dressed so awesomely i had to take a photo...  3. AC/DC played on the accordion, AWESOME 4. Wearing silly hats is an unwritten rule. Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego??  5. Spinning in circles and bouncing up and down with a belly full of beer drank from a stein, not awesome.  one of the many many places you could buy your beer. You buy a souvenir stein and then get your plastic cup full of beer and then pour it into your stein for con...

That's right, I said 'objects'! I finished baby blanket #3 and this morning sitting by the fire in our hotel I cranked out a newborn bulky hat in matching stripes. Pattern for the blanket is my own. Bulky weight yarn 130 stitches Stripe and knit to your hearts content. I used 3 skeins of knit picks swish bulky and had one skein each of four contrast colors. The hat is a free pattern through Jimmy Beans wool. The pattern is Swan Island Bulky hat, size newborn-6 months. The beauty of this pattern is it goes all the way to adult! Time for tail weaving! Happy Sunday ya'll!

Last night I cranked out quite a few more rows while hanging out in a sports bar watching the Seahawks beat the Az Cardinals... I'm happy to announce that the fourth and final color, Planetarium has been added and I can say without a hint of skepticism that my color choices for this blanket were spot on! I have enough of each color left over to make a little something extra for the little baby boy to sport when he arrives! L is excited because, as she puts it, these are BOY colors! Yes they are! Happy Friday!

It's possible that this weekend I'll finish baby blanket #3. It's possible that I'll buy at least one skein of yarn, possibly more but that depends on who is with me at the time. It's possible that I'll end up in a Dirndl Skirt dancing on a table swinging beer steins around.  picture courtesy of http://www.leavenworthoktoberfest.com/  It's possible that if I'm in a dirndl, D will be in lederhosen. It's guaranteed that there will be no photos of this... It's Oktoberfest weekend and anything is possible! Things that are a given: 1. I'll be visiting a new yarn shop over the weekend called Wooly Bully Yarns. I'll give a thorough report as soon as I'm done there! 2. I will be making french toast casserole and monkey bread this weekend. 3. Beer will be consummed. Possibly in large quantities. 4. There will be singing, dancing, dirndls and lederhosen, not necessarily gracing this body but they w...

Three years ago today C & M got married. Three yeasr ago today I got to see one of the scariest most beautiful pieces I'd ever knit in action. Three years ago today we welcomed a new family member who is one of my favorite people in the whole world. The day after three years ago today I suffered the worst hangover ever. Three years ago today I partied as if I wasn't ever going to party again. Three years ago today I met M's family and became fairly smitten with all of them. I am still smitten with them all. They are delightful, every last one of them. Three years! Yippee!!! Happy Anniversary to my brother and sister-in-law!! I love you two so much! xoxo Carmel

I've probably gone down this road before, at least that's the tickle in my brain 'don't blog about this you've done that already, or have you?' so better that I just get it out of my system, again possibly, and be done with it. people, I want to learn to crochet a granny square. one giant granny square blanket. I can't explain it. It's a burning desire. I blame it on Churchmouse Yarn and Tea for their amazing Crochet Granny Square Blanket... I blame them because that's the one I want to make. with a fierceness. I think about it all the time. I look at it all the time. Its possible that I bought the pattern having no idea what all the stuff means. I did buy the pattern. I need to buy the yarn. They did it in noro. It's amazing You can look at it on their website and drool. crochet! I've been known to openly mock it. I've come to secretly love the granny square though and all it's possibilities and chains and...

  Mr. Brown got home about 3:30 yesterday, still pretty sedated. Well, that wore off about 12:45 last night and he freaked out trying to rub and scratch his eye... I popped a few Benadryl in him and then laid down on the floor to keep him restrained calm until he fell asleep. fast forward 3:25 a.m. Freak out number two where I launched myself from the bed and tackled him to the ground. Took him outside, fed them both their breakfast (it's the normal feeding time for them during the week and they like to keep a tight schedule) gave him his pain meds, more Benadryl, followed by more of me sleeping on his bed with him holding his head and legs so he wouldn't damage his eye... he didn't settle this time. these procedures are incredibly painful for dogs and the cones of shame cause Mr. B more anxiety than I can even describe. This soft one doesn't seem to be a problem for him which I'm grateful for, but between the hours of 3:45 and 6:45 there was pac...

Procedure went well... Still feeling the sedation but he ate his dinner and is currently passed out... I hope he starts feeling better soon. Till then, we're gonna snuggle and I'm gonna love on him a while.

It's going to be a long day. It already feels like a long day. It's just me and my Gabby today. Mr. Brown went in for a follow up on his corneal ulcer and instead of getting better it did the opposite. that's right, it got worse. way worse. the good news, because there is good news. His ear infection has cleared up. the downside? He's getting a corneal keratotomy on his left eyes... they are basically scraping a grid onto the ulcer to promote a healing response. Gabby doesn't like being at home when Mr. Brown isn't home. neither do I for that matter. I rearranged the furniture in the living room because the boy is coming home with a satellite on his melon so it'll be easier for him to walk around... it's going to be wicked for a while here. on a positive note, the transformation of the guest room to guest/office/knitting room has begun. I still have my desk from 1985 (thanks mom) and the chair, and the poem I wrote in 1985 and I...

I am breaking out the fall knits and loving it! I dug out my cashmere bandana cowl (pattern available for free on the Purl Bee Blog) and my Rustling Leaves beret by Alana Dakos from the book Coastal Knits... I love this cowl so much and wear it whenever I get a chance. Plus, being 100% cashmere it feels amazing resting against my neck. What have you busted out for fall?

It started on our honeymoon in Oahu. We had accumulated a lot of ABC store points and used them to buy souvenirs. One of the souvenirs was, and still is, the cheesiest wedding frame ever. I love it. From that moment forward every trip D and I take together we snap a photo if ourselves and seek out the cheapest (can't be over $20) cheesiest frame as a memento of our trip. I keep them all together and they make us smile.