Bootie Call

Okay, everyone I know is popping out babies, and I am beginning the foray into baby knits. Now, since there are so many babies, I needed something to knit fairly quickly, and I wanted something that would be practical. After all, little human beings are completely ruled by their Ids, and I figure that any knits for newborns will need to be fairly study and somewhat easily cleaned. 

And ta-da! Stitch N Bitch Nation has the answer, with the One Hour Baby Booties. These are a delight to knit, and really do shape up really quickly!

I knit a whole mess of these! And I managed, on every single pair, to NOT make the buttons symmetrical. I wasn't even thinking about that. But hey--it makes it easier for new moms, right? Having both the buttons on one side? I say it does. I'm not sure how, but that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

The other really cool part about these booties is the little strappy thing. It's the SAME white yarn at the footie of the bootie, but dyed with Kool-Aid! So I only used one skein of yarn for all these booties, and I still have enough yarn for at least another pair!

And can I just say that dying yarn with Kool-Aid is one of the coolest things in the world. If you haven't done it yet, you really really need to. Although I'm fairly certain now that I am never drinking Kool-Aid again. 

What? A Blog Post?!

Yes. I finished a May-mester on Nietzsche with an A, began teaching my summer class (which went terribly today btw--my worst teaching EVER), and am KNITTING up a storm. Witness the glory.

I finally finished the tie for my dad! Okay, it's a late birthday present, but still. I probably should have rotated that photo, eh?

And check out the rug I knit for my kitchen!!

I got the pattern/idea from AlterKnits--it's old clothes that, for whatever reason, I couldn't give away. So I cut them up into strips, and knit them!! Whoa!! So, my rug was knit from, in order from top to bottom, a t-shirt that said "knit" on it that the washing machine tore up, a skirt that was stained, a donate blood t-shirt, a pair of jeans with an oil-based paint stain on the seat, a pair of khakis with tar on them, and a blue t-shirt that I wore as a scrub top. 

And as a bonus picture, this is my friend Stu eating leftover ribs from my birthday party, while standing in my kitchen and drinking chocolate coffee at 1 am, before continuing on his way to New Orleans.

Tie

Clearly, there is no photo, because I am too lazy to get my camera, and also, what I have thus far is really not worth a photo. I have just cast on a TIE for my dad's birthday on Saturday. Now, I am not going to be able to finish said tie, so I will either a) be lame and say "Look! You will get this soon!" or b) buy him something for Father's Day, give him that on Saturday, and give him the tie on Father's Day. That sounds really complicated, but really, it makes sense to me.

And can I just say what a relief it is to be knitting again!! I still have final portfolios to grade for my students, but I can finish that up tomorrow. The important thing is that I have yarn, sticks, and time. Yee-ha!!

Knitting with Judith Butler

Ha ha--I didn't really knit with Judith Butler. But she has been a large part of my knit-blog hiatus. My friend Melanie and I decided to team up for our presentions in my Subjectivity class, which resulted in presenting on Butler last Wednesday, with another presentation to follow next Wednesday. And if you've ever read Butler, then you know that she is not necessarily the easiest theorist to parse out. Indeed. 

But after much discussion, we came to the conclusion that our presentation, part 1, was successful, so even though I still need to read more for next week (not to mention the 15 books I checked out today for my women and jazz paper--for my Feminisms theory class, plus reading Helene Cixous for my Subjectivity paper and getting that started too), I have decided that I can finally reward myself with some much deserved blogging. 

And knitting! Because yes, the sweater is back on! In the meantime, I completed a fabulous new bag: 

That is the pre-felted pic. And after throwing it in the wash, I have my new satchel! 

And let me just say that I take this bag everywhere! It's the perfect size--I can throw a couple books in it, my wallet and keys and whatnot, and some pens and a journal. And in my world, these are all necessary items. 

Also, I knitted a fun little shrug for the cool spring weather. I haven't taken a finished pic yet, but this is what it looked like on the sticks:

Although the fabulous Noro colors came out well, I promise that the size is NOT decreasing, although it rather looks that way in the pic. It was straight knitting for 39", make another ruffle, and then sew the sides, leaving a hole in the middle. If I get ambitious, I'll get someone to take a pic so you can see what it looks like on. 

I'm absolutely dying for the spring Knitty--where is it? Must have patterns! Must have more yarn! 

Although my next project, after the sweater, will be to cut up some old clothes into strips, and then knit the strips with really big needles and make a lovely rag rug for my kitchen. Hooray!  

But it never hurts to have a back-up project. Or two. Or five. 

String Theory

My mom's birthday is today, so yesterday I finally found a yarn store here in Decatur. Not that finding a store was difficult, but I knew that once I found one, I would wind up (ha ha) with more projects on the sticks. 

But I wanted to encourage my mom's re-found knitting habit, and she has been curious about this whole felting business, so I decided I would put together a knitting kit just for her. Plus, what could be more encouraging then knitting a felted tote? So I searched through patterns, decided on the Marsupial tote from the first Stitch N Bitch (I think she'll dig that one), and made my list. And since my messenger bag/satchel/purse recently broke, I perhaps also decided that a new one was in order, and that the only course of action would perhaps be to knit Satchel from Knitty.com. So I Googled directions to the Needle Nook, sped through Atlanta, and after rejoicing in a wonderfully well-stocked yarn shop with an excellent staff, I returned home to rejoice in the profusion of newly purchased yarn.

I am likely not going to be able to cast on this weekend, which is probably good since I'm still working on the sweater and bulletin board (and still in search of a tri-glide buckle that I like--the ebay one is a little too mustardy for me, as it turns out), but hopefully I can work on one of those during my Sunday discussion group meeting. 

And since I'm getting ready to leave for Charlotte in a moment to meet up with my mom and my brother, I will post a pic of the knitting kit I put together for her.

How fun is that?! I was a little hesitant to put it in another tote, but really, can a person have too many knitting totes?

On the Sticks

So, I am currently listening to the Culture Club for no apparent reason. I have these amazing 80s CDs that I just uploaded to my iTunes, and it's such a treat--whatever happened to Boy George anyway?

He would probably approve of my sofa, which you will see featured in these pictures. Yes, it is orange. And yes, it is velvet. 

This is one of my current projects, a sweater. I chose to photograph it on my sofa since both my desks and my carpet are brown. Although you probably can't tell (yet), this is Tempting II, from Knitty (www.knitty.com). I have put it on hold, temporarily, while I await the tri-glide buckle I ordered from Ebay to see if it works. 

In the meantime, I am knitting this:

Yes, it's a big square. Why I am knitting a big square? Well, my plan is to use up some of this scrap wool, and knit several big squares, using whatever bizarre colors that I want (obviously, I'm in a solids mood at the moment). Then, I'm going to piece the big squares together, throw the whole damn thing in the wash, felt it good, and hang it on my wall. How odd, you may be thinking. No, no, this is genius! It's going to be a bulletin board, and I can tack all my incessant notes to myself on it! And it will be so fun!

This was not my idea. I read it in AlterKnits. Which, if you don't own that book, you probably should. It rules! In the book, the bulletin board is knit on HUGE circular needles, but since I'm looking for something I can tote about and knit on the MARTA, I opted for making squares. 

Actually, I think Cupist matches my sofa. Or rather, my sofa matches Cupist. Hmmmm...

flower that is not vertical

I am not savvy enough yet to make this amaryllis stand upright in the blog entry box. But if you just turn your head sideways, you can pretty much get the full effect.