This looks like a nice place to have a knitting blog...

...except for the incredible dearth of all things fiber related.  I have been doing fibery things, just not blogging about them.  First a quick catch-up on finished objects.

Starting at top left:
1.  Penguin dishcloth, finished 1/13/09 (Yeah, I'm that far behind.  Deal with it.)
2.  I love you dishcloth, finished 2/13/09
3.  Beeb's Peace Fleece hat, finished 1/22/09
4.  Bean's Fish Hat, finished 2/28/09
5.  Raspberry Charade Socks, finished 6/27/09
6.  Beeb Shorties, finished 6/28/09
7.  Beeb Shorties, finished 7/17/09
8.  Leyburn Socks, finished 8/21/09
9.  Bean Water Bottle holder, finished 12/02/09
10.  Sweater for Missy, finished 2/12/10
11.  Scrubby, finished 2/12/10
12.  Beeb Shorties, finished 2/12/10

There are also a couple of other things finished that need pictures yet (one is a biggie!).  I'll get them up eventually, and hopefully before I'm over a year behind!  Coming soon...the last of the past due FOs, a spinning FO, some knitting/crocheting WIPs as I figure out what's next, and hopefully some more regular posting.

FO: Market Bags

I finally finished the last of the three market bags! The first and second bags have already been proving their mettle at the grocery store and co-op. I love them, but I find that they seem to scare the baggers at our small-town grocery store. I'm not sure if it is that they are shaped differently than the cheap-o Roundy's bags or that they don't want to hurt the handmades (as if...these things are VERY sturdy! They will be around long after the Roundy's ones fall apart). They hold a ton of stuff...practically more than I can lift without complaint. The set of three bags took slightly more than two skeins of each color, so I have almost enough left for another set of three (I got four skeins of each to start). However, for the sake of variety, I might do some different bags or change up the stripes or lace panel. We'll see. I think I have had enough bag knitting for now...

What a week!

We have had a good mix of exciting and historic and quiet and routine-y this week. On Monday we joined our friend K at the state capitol for a Martin Luther King Jr celebration. It wasn't exactly what we expected. We had thought it would be more music and less speechifying and one of K's friends was supposed to sing a solo with a choir and didn't. Beeb and I had a great time wandering the halls. He looked and and felt different colors of marble, climbed up and down steps, and inventoried and inspected every light fixture in the place, while I listened to the musical numbers (actually enhanced by the building acoustics) and tried to listen to the speakers (made pretty hard to decipher by the selfsame acoustics). Bug and Bean sat with K, but I think the whole thing was a bit beyond a six-year-old and four-year-old attention span. When Bug was explaining what I had missed, his synopsis was "A man had a birthday and tomorrow he's going to be president." Yeah, Bug, but not exactly. However, the HIGHLIGHT of Monday was the repair of the washing machine. After about 10 days without a washer, I'm thinking the maintenance guy was lucky that we weren't home when finally did the repair. I'm pretty sure I would have kissed him full on the lips.

While we were watching some of the pre-inauguration on TV on Tuesday, we got straight on whose birthday it was and who was becoming president. We watched most of the inauguration, but Bug and Bean tended to drift in and out over time. At least it was interesting enough that we found some books about voting, the presidency, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from the library on Wednesday.

Beyond that, we have been doing our usual things which includes some knitting. I finished Beeb's winter night longies and I am just tickled with how they turned out:



I just hope Beeb's ankles and feet don't get too cold from the snowdrifts! And a close-up of the snowman:



We have also been playing Lego Star Wars on Wii and have discovered that Bug needs a timer when the game is going or he would never quit. I have been playing along with him and it's actually pretty fun. I like the cooperative nature of the game better than the Wii sports that came with it. Actually, I don't like getting beaten by Bug who waves the remote around in the air, mostly at random and still beats me at most sports.

First FOs of 2009

So, for several months now, when I tuck Bug into bed, I have to tell him "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed octopuses bite." Then I have to spell octopuses. I can't even remember how it got started, but I do know that for almost as long as we have been doing it, he has been begging for me to knit an octopus. I had been considering a Socktopus, but just wasn't getting around to it. I just wasn't feeling the love for a somewhat involved project. I really wanted something get-in-get-out-get-on-with-it. Anyway, I had been wanting to try some Amigurumi, but hadn't dipped my toes in. I can crochet, but it tends to involve a fairly colorful array of four-letter words. I decided that this might be a good time to try. Introducing Bug's Bed Octopus:



And little sisters being little sisters, her tuck-in included "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed hippopotamuses bite." So an amigurumi hippo for her:



And finally, as I was on a roll and didn't want anyone feeling left out (though there are currently no turtles in his bedtime ritual), I made a Turkel for Beeb:



Although knitting is still, by far, my drug of choice, I am happy to report that I am now crocheting with somewhat fewer curse words. There may be more amigurumi in my future. Wouldn't Kitty Daddy just be completely taken by these?