Monsters Everywhere!

My nephew Jaidan is in a monster phase. At Thanksgiving, all he wanted to do was draw monsters with Rob. One of Rob's co-workers makes these great hats, so we got Jaidan one for Christmas.

Our Daily Bread

Today Rob's Facebook status was that he was waiting for me to drag my ass out of bed so we could go to the farmer's market. He took this photo to prove we did eventually make it.

Here's what we got: eggs, bell peppers in two colors, onions, broccoli, carrots, turnips, heirloom tomato (yes, just one), satsuma tangerines, mushrooms, baguette and, in the very back, a bison brisket I plan to brine for our Christmas dinner. Yum!

Toilet Talk

Fail!

Grammar aside, anyone else see the irony in using a neon sign to advertise hand-painted ones?

My Knitting Bag

In the 70's, my sister made a purse of an old pair of jeans. I decided to make a similar bag for my knitting. You know, the whole reduce, reuse, recycle thing.

I chopped off the legs and sewed them shut. The handle is braided strips of fabric cut from the legs. It's a great bag with lots of pockets for scissors, tapestry needles, etc.

I did make one HUGE mistake: I used velcro to keep it closed and my yarn catches on it all the time. Eventually I'll have to rip it out and put in snaps.

Man Purse

After our trip to New York, Rob asked me to make him a bag to hold his ear plugs, travel pillow and sleep mask. He wanted something he could pull out of his back pack and pop into the seat pocket on the plane. He refers to it as his ‘satchel.’ I call it his man purse.

I chose a stretchy yarn because I suspect the number of items he wants to place in the bag will expand. I’m 98% certain his iPod will be going in here and maybe some aspirin. The ribbed finish at the top of the bag ensures that, even with the drawstring open, the items inside will not fall out on their own. I like to tie the ends of the drawstring together with a half knot to keep the bag even more securely closed.

This is a quick knit ideal for the beginner looking to advance beyond squares. It’s also great for an experienced knitter who wants to do some stash reduction.

Originally this pattern appeared in the last issue of Essentia, the newsletter put out by the now-defunt Black Purl Magazine. It was supposed to be archived on the site, but since that hasn't happened yet (and I know L'Tanya is swamped), I decided to make it available here.

Skill Level
Beginner

Size
Finished bag measures 8 ½” by 4 ½” (21 ½ cm by 11 ½ cm)

Materials
MC: Gedifra Top Soft; 40% Viscose, 40% Polyamide; 20% Silk; 1.75 oz /50 gm 103 yds/ 95 m; color: 6514 (black): 1 skein
CC: GGH Linova; 74% cotton, 26% linen; 1.75 oz /50 gm 110 yds/ 101 m; color 26 (red): 1 skein
1 set size 7 (4.5) mm dpns
1 set size 9 dpns

Gauge
21 sts and 26 rows in st st in MC on larger needles equals 4” (10cm)

Bottom:
Using CC, cast on 25 sts onto smaller needles.
Work 8 rows in garter stitch.

Sides:
Pick up 3 sts along short edge of work, 25 sts on long edge of work and 3 sts on last short edge. Distribute over 3 dpns. Place marker. Work one round in in st st.

Switch to MC and larger needles. Work in st st until piece measures 6 ¼”.

Using CC, work 3 rows in st st.

Eyelet Round:
k2, k2tog yo for entire round.

Work 3 rows in st st.
Switch to MC work 5 rows in 3 X 1 rib. Bind off in pattern.

Drawstring:
Using MC and smaller needles work a 3 st icord until it measures 18”. Leave on needles
Leading with the cast on edge, weave icord through holes created in eyelet round. Using a second dpn, pick up 3 sts at cast on end of icord. Use 3 needle bind off to attach end of icord to picked up sts.

Finishing
Weave in all loose ends. Fill with travel necessities. Enjoy!

Rejection!

Knitty didn't accept my pattern. Given my history with magazines going under after accepting one of my patterns, that's a bit of a relief. I still want to submit this pattern somewhere, though, so I might have to pick a magazine I don't like! : )

They say bad luck comes in threes, so maybe after I get a third pattern published, and a third magazine closed, it'll be safe for me to get accepted at Knitty.

"The Man Who Loves Breasts" Is Here!

Rob's new comic, The Man Who Loves Breasts, debuted at SPX over the weekend. Woo-hoo!

If your local comic shop doesn't have it, you can get a copy from Top Shelf.

Or, if you live in the Bay area, you can pick up a copy from us at APE, where we'll be sharing a table with John Adams. And I'll have knitted Pentapi, too, if it ever cools down enough to touch wool again!

I Might Be a Jinx...

I sent a pattern for a "Man Purse" to Black Purl and they accepted it (Yea, me!) and now the magazine is no more. L'Tanya graciously included it in the last Essentia newsletter, but it's not archived on the site, so I might post it here as well.

I'm feeling cursed because MagKnits went kaput a month after publishing my Pentapus pattern. I just sent a pattern to Knitty and find myself hoping it doesn't get accepted. Bad luck comes in threes, and I'd feel responsible if Knitty went under after publishing one of my patterns!

I am woman, hear me roar.

Yesterday I replaced the keyboard on my laptop all by myself. I had to take it apart with a screw driver and reassemble it without losing 4 itty-bitty screws.

Now I can use the shift key and the letter 't'. Woo-hoo!

Matilda Hat

I made this hat for my business partner for her birthday. She'd seen a picture of it on my blog a few months ago and admired it -- even mentioned preferred colors. I can take a hint.

I couldn't figure out a way to get her head measurements discretely, so I had to guess on the size. Luckily, I was right.

The pattern's available on MK Carroll's blog.

I used the recommended yarn, Peace Fleece, for the hat. It felt coarse while knitting but, as several people on Ravelry noted, it washes up to be quite soft. For the flowers, I used a bit of Lamb's Pride Strawberry Smoothie left over from a purse I made her for Christmas. The variegated yarn gave an illusion of depth to the flowers and ties the look together if she happens to wear the hat while carrying the purse.

Modeling credit: Half-empty bottle of garlic and basil olive oil bought at the farmer's market. Yum!

Idget's New Favorite Food

Lettuce.

Yep.

Put a few leafy greens in this dog's bowl and he'll suck 'em down faster than filet mignon. He'll dig through the trash to get the rotting ones I found in the bottom of the fridge.

I knew he was from another planet.

Pastoral Dreams

I like to joke with Rob about getting a sheep when we get a house, so we don't have to mow the lawn and I can learn to spin. I figure we could "loan" the sheep to the neighbors to mow their lawns, if we run out of grass.

That house is still pretty far away, but I'm living the dream vicariously -- I bought a share of Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farms spring shear. I get all the thrill of following my wool from sheep to sweater and none of the dirt. Woo-hoo!

It's Always Something...

This morning I discovered that Idget had chewed the ends off my brand new circular needles -- the ones Rob just bought me to replace what was stolen in San Diego. And of course, the pair he decided to make his new chew toy were the ones I was currently using to make a sweater.

Sigh. I'm jinxed.

Idget Is Famous! (sort of)

A friend was watching Bikini or Bust and who should she catch a glimpse of but l'il ole Idget. Woo-hoo! A celebrity in the family.

Comic-Con Knitting Disaster!

Rob and I spent the last 5 days at Comic-con in San Diego. I brought my knitting for when the booth was slow and because I make toys of his characters to sell. After the show closed yesterday, Rob took a load of things to the car, but forgot his keys. He left my knitting bag by the car (yes, NOT smart) and when he came back, my bag was STOLEN. It had my needle roll in it with ALL of my needles, a scarf I made for my sister in law, at least a dozen balls of yarn and a pair of scissors I’ve had since kindergarten – 3 decades ago. I should probably add that I made the knitting roll myself and the scarf was a new design I had hoped to sell the pattern for.

We drove around the parking lot for a while, hoping whoever took it ditched it when they realized there were no comics in it. No such luck.

And so far, no one has turned it in to the parking garage, the convention center or the hotel connected with the convention center, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

It Tastes of the Earth

I made homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream for a potluck.

Instead of using extract, I cut mint from our garden and steeped it in the cream. Rob was impressed. However, when it was time to eat it, he only had two bites. Everyone else cleared their plate. Someone pointed out he wasn't eating his ice cream and he replied, "It tastes of the earth."

Later, he said that was the politest way he could find to say it tasted like the dirt the mint plant grows in.

Really, Rob? How often do you taste the dirt in our front yard???

The Nazi Wagon

Yup. That's a swatstika.

Keyed into the roof of my car.

We think one of the neighborhood kids is calling us Nazis because I gave him a hard time for peeing in his front yard. You know, because walking 15 feet to the toilet is way too difficult.

Bikini or Bust

Chances are if you ever thought about knitting a teeny-weeny bikini, you probably flipped through Sexy Little Knits by Ashley Paige.

Beginning Friday, July 11,(tomorrow!) Ashley will have her own reality show on TLC, Bikini or Bust. In addition to following Ashley’s career as a knitwear designer, the show will also focus on her animal rescue. Both Toaster and Idget came from RuffHouzen, and Ashley did an amazing job with them before turning them over to me.

If you’re like me and like cuddly, furry creatures as much as you like to knit, this is a show you won’t want to miss!

Bad, Idget. Bad! Bad dog!

Idget is turning out to be way more of a handful than Toaster.

He likes to get in the trash, with a particular penchant for Rob's snotty kleenex and used dental floss. He also like to pee on our bed.

Yep, you read that right. Idget has peed on our bed THREE times.

He is pretty much house-broken, but the second we aren't looking, he sneaks into the bedroom and lets loose on the comforter.

The other night, we didn't discover it till late, and this time it had soaked through the comforter into the mattress. Not what you want to find at bedtime.

Like a true gentleman, Rob offered to sleep on the couch and let me have the joy of sleeping on the half of the mattress that wasn't steeped in urine. I accepted his offer. At least our bedroom has air conditioning!