Uli's Creative Corner

Well, my Summer of Socks is in full swing, even though I'm taking the liberty and just for my personal sanity, any socks completed during this time are part of the summer of socks - not in an official capacity - just for personally me.  This pair of socks has been on the needles since last summer so they really deserve to receive an honourable mention.  I shouldn't have put them aside as they are lovely.  The Regia Silk yarn I used is absolutely wonderful.  It's so smooth, soft and well.... silky.  So here they are:

This week is a very, very busy week leading up to Jonathan's baptism on Saturday.  Family is arriving, we have a retirment thing for Evan's Dad, my good friend and Erika's and Jonathan's godmother is coming in, I have to finish up a giftie for her, the house is still a mess......... you get the idea!!!  Fortunately my Mom is hosting the luncheon afterwards so all I have to do is make some lemon squares.

Overheard at church yesterday........ kids can be so precious and unassuming.......... Every Sunday the kids get called up to go to the children's liturgy.  Our priest is wonderful with the children and when he calls them up, he talks to them and sort of prepares them for what they'll talk about when they've gone off with their teacher.  Yesterday he was talking about how parents protect their children even when they are sleeping and how God protects us and how Jesus protected the disciples. (not trying to turn this into a religion blog...... but I've got to lay out the story).  So one kid pipes up and says: "I always feel protected..... I have Alarm Force at home".  It was just too funny and that ended Father's words of wisdom to the children because he didn't know what else to say.

I just wanted to show you (and document for myself) a few of Erika's gymnastics pictures that were taken at her show week during her last class before the summer.  She has dramatically improved over the year:

And JR watching his sister

And just for kicks:

For another little video clip, check it out here: Erika at Gymnastics

I was going to blog about my latest socks this morning but instead I started playing around with this little video I just captured this morning. So, I'm just testing out how this works.

Click Here to view: Video of the Kids

A real post....... later........ after the water park and picnic....

We set off for another short trek this past weekend.  The trek didn't involve a whole bunch of walking but I thought I'd share with you anyways.  The Trekking 108 socks came along for the car ride and here is a progress picture:

Slow but steady progress.

Our trek involved a trip to the Honey Bee Centre where they had their annual honey bee festival this weekend.  It's a neat place any time of the year but it was great to see some of the interesting demonstrations.  It's a good place for kids to learn about honey bees.  One of the demonstrations we watched was what they called a "Bee Beard".  It is individuals who are willing to place a necklace around their neck. That necklace has the queen bee attached to it and it shows how all the worker bees gravitate toward the queen bee.  Amazing..... I wouldn't do it.  See this shot........ this bee beard is still small but this was the idea:

Here are a few more images of our visit:

Evan, the beekeeper and Erika, the little bumble bee

The honey bee spirit bear

Here is a link to the Spirit Bears in the City.  These spirit bears are popping up and many places across the city so they could be the inspiration for many more treks.  I'm kind of thinking of taking the map and planning little excursions around checking out some different spirt bears over the summer.  Read more about it here and here is a gallery of some of the bears that can be seen around town.

Trekking with the kiddos - the Baby Bjorn is a great thing for trekking in places where strollers just don't work well.

And here is JR, on a very bumble bee like yellow blanket with his favourite toy, the bumble bee rattle

Summer is here and it arrived with warmth and sunshine.  Many more treks are ahead of us this summer and we're having a blast.  Watch for our next trek......... unless we fit another short trek in this coming weekend, our next trek will probably be to the bird sanctuary.

Well, I only have time for a quick one so that it shall be.  I promised my pal to answer these questions yesterday..... sorry, pal...... but I didn't get near the computer until 10 pm last night and then I was too tired.  So here it goes:

The Questionnaire:

What are your favorite colors?

I love purples, blues, reds..... I like bright and rich colours

Are you a new sock knitter?  How long have you been knitting socks?

No, I'm not what you could consider a new sock knitter.  My Mom taught me how to knit socks (from scraps) when I was a young girl but then I never knitted any other socks until the first of the self patterning yarns came out and once that happened, I haven't put the sock needles down again.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?

Of course, I know that for intricate patterns solid yarn is a better choice but I do love all my variegated and self patterning yarns.  So I'd say, multicoloured is a fave around this house.

What fibers do you prefer in sock yarn?

I'm not picky.  I like the wool sock yarn blends as well as the cotton/wool blends. 

Where do you usually knit socks? 

Just about anywhere.  I always have a pair of socks as a take along project.  The travel so much easier than the bulky sweater variety I might be working on.

How do you usually carry/store small projects?

Store: well, most of my socks in project just go into a little wicker basket. 

Carry: I either carry a small little bag that just has the sock project in it or I just stuff the project right into main bag - which right now, of course, is the ever getting fuller diaper bag.

What are your favorite sock knitting patterns?

I like all sorts of patterns.  Easy and challenging is okay.  I still love to make my basic sock and that's what I make the most because it does carry along so easily.  Knit without thinking or having to carry a pattern.  For socks I also like patterns such as cables or lace that are memorized easily.

What are your favorite sock knitting techniques?

Leg down (top down) with DPNs, one sock at a time.

What new techniques would you like to try?

Call me boring, but I really like my DPNs and my leg down construction.  I have been meaning to try a short row heel because I always just do the basic heel flap heel and don't venture far from that.

Do you prefer circulars or dpns for sock knitting?

6" Bamboo DPNs.

What are some of your favorite yarns?

For sock knitting, I love my Lorna's Laces, Opal, Regia, OnLine

What yarn do you totally covet?

I've been reading everyone about Socks That Rock yarn so I'm dying to get my hands on some of it, just to say I've knitted with it, too.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?

Can't really think of anything right now.

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?

6" bamboo DPNs - I would love to try some Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?

I have no idea but probaby some soft and cuddly angora.......

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?

Chocolate

What’s your favorite animal?

I used to be a real dog person but now I live with cats.

Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages?

2 cats, Patches and Spice, 9 and 8 years respectively and if you consider the children pets (a girl, almost 5 and a boy, 5 months old) and of course, the husband pet....

If you were a color what color would you be?

???

Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else’s)..

I have a salmon coloured sweatshirt that's big and baggy and comfortable.  My husband calls it "old faithful".  It is stained.  It has a small tear in the front from sheer age and wear........ and I just can't give it up.  It's the one shirt that I haven't managed a replacement for but I'm only allowed to wear it inside our 4 walls now.  No wearing in public any longer.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?

It's too early in the morning right now to think....

Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read.

It's too early in the morning right now to think....

Do you have a wishlist?

Not one that's updated in any way.

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today?

Nothing special for today............

Dear Pal, I hope these answers help you out just a little bit.  I'm pretty easy going and not very particular.  Just the fact that someone is creating something out there for me is pretty cool in itself.

For anyone else stopping by today, if you're still here......... sock knitting day again.  I'll either work on my Trekkings or on the blue lace pattern that I've been working on.  I've got to try and fit JR in for an appointment at the doctor's.  He's had a bit of a cough most of last week but it's getting worse.  I want him checked out.  And at 5 months.... could he be teething?  I can't remember from Erika.  I think she was just over 6 months when she got her first tooth but this little guy seems like he's suffering with his little gums already.

We had a fun weekend and I've got some "Trek" pictures to show tomorrow.

I'm usually a pretty cheerful person but I'm in a bit of a grumpy slump today......... probably have been most of the week.   With the little Miss having been sick (she's all better) and myself getting the nasty cold and watching JR whether he'll end up with it or not...... well, I'm just feeling run down and tired and I have a big case of cabin fever.  I went for a big walk yesterday afternoon and that was good.  Now e-mail is down, too....... that really makes me feel that my connection to the outer world is cut off - or the adult world out there.  

So what's up today?  It's sock day around this house so I'm only going to knit on my socks in progress.  I think today I'll work on the blue Regia silk with the little lace pattern.  I'd like to get this one off the needles soon.  Of course I don't even have half of the ribbing done yet.  We'll see how much progress can be made amidst laundry and feeding JR and keeping little Miss occupied.  I don't even have a Father's Day gift lined up yet.  Maybe we'll go out a little later.  I have a card at home though if we don't have a chance to get out there.  Little Miss brought home the cutest baseball cap from daycare.  They got the kids denim baseball hats for the Dad's and the kids did their own painting on them.  It's quite crative.  And kids can't keep a secret..... the little Miss and I picked up the Father's Day card on Tuesday and then she helped me hide it and then she told Daddy "I helped Mommy hide your Father's Day card in Mommy's sock knitting book". 

Back to knitting, or finishing, after months in the finishing basket, I didn't knit a stitch yesterday in order to finish this little one:

Yarn: Sirdar Tiny Tots

Pattern: Sirdar pattern # (I'll look it up later)

Size: 6-12 months

It's a cute little top.  They didn't add anything to give a wider neck opening such as buttons on the shoulder or down the back but it's a very, very stretchy neck so we'll see how it goes.  I think it's quite cute - and finished.... that's even better.  I will remember this sweater because I started it while JR was still in the hospital and I didn't want to finish it while he was still there and I didn't have to.  I finished it soon after he got home and then it's been sitting there and sitting there and sitting there.....  Maybe that will inspire me to finish up Eris this weekend some time.

I made a bit of progress on the Eyelet Ribbed top.  It looks so small around but that's what you get on circulars.  All my calculations taking various gauge measurements come out that it's going to be slightly larger than the 45" finished bust the pattern is written for and that's fine.  But just looking at it, even stretching it on the needles doesn't give me that confidence.  I guess I could put it on some waste yarn and see.  It's always hard to tell when you're dealing with something that involves a bit of a rib and then some lace, too.  It all pulls in.  I sure love the pattern though and in real life, the colour looks great with the pattern.  Looks very lush and rich to me.

And I have been doing a bit on my Amazing Lace Diamond Fantasy Scarf project but the picture does not do this project any justice whatsoever.......... but here it is anyways.

It's a heavily variegated yarn to use with such a lovely lace pattern but when it sits there in front of me I really enjoy how it looks.  I think once it's blocked it will be very pretty.  I'm very much enjoying it but I'm only getting 1/2 of a pattern repeat done at one sitting and as the rows get longer that will become less.

What's up this weekend?  Maybe trying to do a few fun things, maybe even a trek to the Honeybee Centre.  It's close to home and it's supposed to be fun for the kids to visit.  There's an Open House this weekend, too.  We drive by it almost every day and have never stopped in.  I'm kind of interested anyways because me Opa was a beekeeper and we always had honey around from his hives when I was a kid growing up.  My Mom always says he had a special connection with his honey bees.  Not that I'm interested in developing a relationship with a honey bee but I'm curious to check it out just to learn some more about the topic.

Well, the crock pot is cooking already with a recipe for BBQ pulled pork which will be served on Kaiser buns with coleslaw tonight.  I've almost finished my cup of coffee (yikes don't get me started on my coffee topic for the day but that involves my lack of availability of coffee pods for my Melitta One-Cup coffe maker).  The kids are still sleeping.

And how bad is this?  We have a TV tuner in the computer now so while I'm writing this post, I also have the TV tuner tuned to Life Network, watching the Mom Show.  Love this show...... I got into it when they were doing 4 am re-runs when I was up at all hours of the night when JR first came home.  The TV tuner is maybe a bit information overload but hey, it's allowed me to get a lot of soccer Worldcup action in without just sitting on the couch. 

Okay, blah, blah, blah............ I should just shut up and go.  I'm just blabbing on today.  Sorry.

To leave off......... little guy loves to play with his toys on his play mat

Yesterday was tippy toe day at our house.  I didn't get to go to stroller aerobics because the Little Miss wasn't quite well enough yet to be taken to the childminding place at the "Y".  And I've got a touch of what she had so I wasn't totally up to running sprints around the gymnasium either.  With both little kids with me all day, I didn't get a chance for a lot of knitting.  Since it was sock day, I decided to just tackle the toe decreases of 3 socks that were close to that stage.  Now, out of 5 pairs of socks in progress, I have 3 singletons finished waiting for their partner.  Oh, to decide whether to now cast on and fnish one at a time or to just go for it and cast on all 3 so as to avoid 2nd sock syndrome for any of them.  We'll see......... but no more new socks will be cast on until, at least most of the five are finished.  Take a look:

This one is my Project Spectrum blue project of the month.  The pattern is from the now no longer existing German Mustersocken KAL and I started it last spring/summer.  The pattern is lovely.  I'm making them from the baby blue Regia Silk and it is one of the nicest sock yarns to work with.  It's soft and will be very comfortable to wear.  Of course, I stopped knitting, for whatever reason, about 1 1/2 pattern repeats before starting the toe.  And as I picked it up again, I had the hardest time getting into the rythm of the pattern again.  So my last pattern repeat is far from perfect.  They are lovely though and I will probably cast at least this pair on right away just to keep forcing some progress.

I picked up this sock with needles that had pulled out in the knitting bag and I was basically down to toe decreases in every round.  I was basically down to the last 8 rounds of decreases.  Why I put it away at that point in time.... who knows?  This is a very current sock project so it hasn't lingered in a sock basket for very long.  The yarn is Plymouth Sockotta which is actually the same as the OnLine cotton sock yarn.  I've got some duplicates because I bought some Sockotta and later I bought some OnLine and I was surprised to see that they were exactly the same in the same colour ways just with a different label.  Silly me.  I like this sock yarn.  The mottled colour effect works nicely and they seem to wear well.  I already have a pair made from them from last year.

Last but not least..............

This is a sock that deserves a real special mention.  This is a yarn I had never seen or heard of before until Shelley from Fun Knits made me aware of it.  It's Gedifra Fashion Trend Sportivo.  It looks a little heavier when you see it in the skein but it knits up the same weight as the regular 4-ply sock yarns.  It has a bit of spring and stretch to it and basically looks like has two plies.... on thread is always the main colour and then the graduated colour changes happen with the other thread.  It makes for an awesome tweedy effect and the colourways are great.  I knit this sock in a Knit 4, purl 1 pattern which is very difficult to see in the picture but worn on the foot it creates a nice effect.  What I really liked about the yarn is that the stretch seems to give a very nice snug fit.  I'm really pleased with this yarn.  Check out all the colours at Shelley's web store.  I think it's a yarn worth a try. 

I decided to participate in this:

It looks like a fun swap and I think I've already picked out the project bag I'd like to create for my swap pal once we receive our assignments.  Depending on my pals preferences, if they match what's in my head, I kind of have a plan laid out already.  Of course, if my pals preferences are different than what I'm thinking about, I'll take it in a different direction.

Time to wake up the house.......... it's almost 9 am and both kids are still sleeping.

Well, you all know my family.......... don't they look lovely and peaceful?

Given this picture, one might not think that lace knitting could be extreme with such a lovely bunch sitting on the couch.  Me in the rocking chair.  No problem........ right?  Why did I think I could do my wonderful lace project justice with them even being in the same room?  It's hard to re-create the atmosphere about 30 seconds after this picture was taken but imagine, husband talking to me about something, Little Miss' constant "but Mommy this and Mommy that" (yes, she's on the mend and almost back to normal) and of course, JR gets into the mix as well.  As he's trying to learn to roll over, Mommy's focus is of course divided, cheering on the little guy to just give his body one more little push (and then once he masters that skill other mobility related skills will follow and lace knitting in our house will become even more extreme).

So take a look where the lovely lace project ended up over the course of the afternoon:

Of course, all over the toys............... and you thought from the little image of the couch that our family room was an idyllic oasis of quiet loveliness..... just look around.  I think it's dangerous to ones' health trying to count and knit lace at the same time.  And once the little ones go to bed, I'm generally not in a too focussed state either.  Good luck to me, I guess.....

And away from the topic of lace....... here's Spice and JR........... Spice doesn't like babies but she settled herself right there all on her own.  I guess she's just not giving up her spot on the bed that easily.

Well, the diagnosis at our house is strep throat.  Oh, I hope we won't all get it but my throat feels kind of funny.  And I really hope JR won't get it........ the little Miss has been so sick.  Sicker than I've probably ever seen her with maybe one exception a few years back when she had multiple ear infections back to back.  For 2 1/2 days, I've done everything in my power to break her fever and even talked to the nurse line yesterday to get advice on whether she needs to be seen by a doctor as I was trying to not run her down to the clinic just for a cold.  We could only get the fever to break temporarily and for short stretches.  I feel really sorry for her.  So Evan's just at the drug store getting the antibiotics for her and we'll be having a quiet weekend.  I'm going to head off to get my hair cut in a little while but that's about it.

With sleeping kids and it being declared "sock day" yesterday I almost knitted one whole sock with some cool yarn that I'll talk a bit more about when I get a chance to take a picture of the sock.  Kind of like my own sock yarn review.

Well, I just watched Germany win its first soccer match of the Worldcup 2006 - yes, you guess it....... my one sport I will watch and get excited about is soccer and really only during the Worldcup.  But for the duration of the next month, my family will have to live with me watching soccer whenever I can get a moment.  Even the Little Miss let me watch the whole entire game without whining for Treehouse or a DVD.  The little monkey, of course, picked the opposite team to cheer for.  I'm sure just to spite me.  So that was fun.

I was going to show you all my socks in progress today but I'm just not getting the chance to snap the pictures.  The kids are sick.  Well, so far JR is okay but Erika is really suffering.  Yesterday morning, when we allowed her to stay home from daycare because she claimed she was sick, I thought she really pulled our leg and got away with tricking us into staying home.  I was a bit annoyed with that and bummed out that I was missing a chance to visit a friend for a few hours of knitting and chatting.  Well, as the day progressed, she started getting worse and in the afternoon she started running a high fever and her nose became a dripping faucet.  She turned into a sick, listless little child.  She hates medicine these days and I have each and every flavour and variety of Tylenol in the house because I've been trying each and everything to get her to take her medicine so that the fever will drop.  That and cold cloths and compresses.  I'm surprised I got a whole nights' sleep last night.  She was still pretty listless this morning but she's perked up a bit now but napping again.  JR is still okay but I doubt he'll get off unscathed. 

But anyways, I've declared Friday as sock knitting day.  I won't knit anything but socks on Fridays.  I will another sock knitting day or maybe even two but for now it's Fridays.  So today I'm knitting socks.  I've got 5 pairs on the needles so I need to devote some time to exclusive sock knitting.

I wanted to thank everyone who commented yesterday on my Trekking post.  I don't live for comments but it's great to get some feedbacks and comments.  I really enjoy them.  So it was great to see so many new commenters.  I know I'm not the most prolific, interesting or fun writer but I have fun doing it and blogging about life and my knitting and crafts. 

Have a wonderful weekend.

In true suburban Mommy fashion, this is what our first trek with me and the kids and the trusty Trekking XXL in colour way 108 on 2.25 Brittany Birch needles looked like.  We went to the "Fire Engine" park.  Called by that name because the slide and climbing unit right in the middle of the park is fashioned after a fire engine.  See.....

Our trek, of course involved a stroller and it's great to have those cup holders on strollers these days.  They not only hold important things such as coffee or water but they are also perfect little receptacles for sock yarn!!!

And when you're trekking with kids, of course you've got to stop and smell the flowers.  A good reminder to us all in our fast paced daily lives.  So what if we don't get to the park in lightning speed?

Less than minutes into the trek and JR is also eating his blanket.  Not sure if that's a great sign.  In retrospect, it wasn't a problem.  He went to sleep for the whole entire walk and visit at the park.

Oh, to be able to sleep like a baby.

And to play like a kid............

And when you've played hard and walked to and from the park then you take a well deserved rest on the couch:

Details on my Trekking socks are: Trekking XXL #108, using the ever so lovely waffle pattern.  I love the colours and I love the pattern.  Although I have about 4 or 5 balls of Trekking in my stash, this is the first one I'm knitting up so far and I'm enjoying the yarn.  I think there will be more Trekkings in my summer knitting adventures.