Monday, May 3, 2010

Hip drops and dropped stitches...

Happy Monday everyone :) *she says with annoying perkiness* I had a nice weekend, but this is finals time, and my poor Mike is very stressed with all of his studying. His last final is Thursday, so we're just about there. Keep him in your prayers :)

Thus, this weekend, I hung with Hank a lot. We did lots of playing with super balls and super heroes. He's got a small cold and/or seasonal allergies things going on right now, so he's been rather pathetic. I did lots of weekend nurturing, which I love. I checked on him at night, going in to kiss his little head as he slept, snoring away. I'm sure all parents can relate to what I'm sure will seem like an odd comment to everyone else - I love the way Hank's skin smells. It's some very evolutionary biological sense that he is my young. He's so very precious.

Yesterday at Mass, I didn't mention the children's liturgy session to him, just left it til the kids were filing up and asked him if he wanted to go. He said he didn't, *sigh*. But he also wasn't feeling good, laying down on the pew saying that his stomach hurt, poor baby. Another thing parents will relate to - child not feeling good, means that we feel bad about this, but on the other hand we secretly enjoy the good behavior that goes along with the affliction. So, I was able to nurture him during Mass while reveling in the peace and quiet. Bliss.

In other news, my bellydancing troupe has a show coming up, so this means much terror for your Catholic Librarian. I love bellydancing. I've always loved dancing, really. I took the traditional trio of tap, jazz, ballet as a child, and did that until I was about 16. Ballet was always my favorite. I enjoyed the structure *snorts* big surprise, huh? And the attention to form and detail. I think that's why I currently love Middle Eastern dance so much. My teacher was trained in ballet, and there are no sloppy hands or arms in my class, no sir. This I love. Her approach jives with what I love about dance, and I think that's why I've taken to it so readily.

I'm fairly self-conscious in class, but I've gotten better about that the longer I dance. But performances? This still induces much sweating. I'm doing the same thing we do in class, but...suddenly, there are all these people watching me. And I don't like people watching me. But I love dancing, so, it's a quandry. :) We still have another week to practice, so I'll reserve the sweating for another day.

Besides bellydance practice and nurturing my dumpling, I did lots of crocheting this weekend. It rained here this weekend, and was uncomfortably sticky and humid the rest of the time, so we didn't get outside much. I worked on my placemats - 3 done, only 1 to go. I also finished the spring shawl that I was making, and I love it to pieces. It's made in Lion Brand Cotton Ease yarn, which is super wonderful. It's a ripple pattern in green, cream, stone gray, and a corn color called 'maize.' I'll take a picture and post.

On my way home from work Friday, I stopped off at Jo-Ann's to get another skein of yellow cotton yarn for the placemats, as I was nearly out. I was armed with 2 coupons, and so naturally I couldn't stop myself from browsing after I picked up the yellow cotton. A fellow craft lover and co-worker, Linda, has been telling me about the projects she's doing with Lion Brand Homespun yarn. Anybody familiar with this stuff? It's just the oddest yarn ever, and it seems that crafters either love it or hate it. The only way I can describe it is to say that it has a unique look and texture. It's acrylic, so reasonably inexpensive, although at $5.99 per skein at Jo-Ann's more than I usually pay for yarn. This crafty girl is on a budget...However, the colors are insanely beautiful, so I'm always drawn to it. Here's what I see as the pros and cons to this yarn:

Pros:

Beautiful colors.

Very soft texture. People always want to touch this yarn. Maybe some would see that as a con...

"Different" looking; unique.

A bulky weight yarn, and there aren't many of those. Great for afghans and shawls.

Machine washable and dryable. Good for baby projects.

Cons:

I simply can't crochet with this yarn. I've tried. Immediately after creating a stitch, it will disappear into the ether, never to be glimpsed again by the naked eye.

Splits like nobody's business. And the cut ends fray into a giant puff ball.

Got a fuzzy thing going on. This is related to the soft and unique factor, see supra. Which isn't a bad thing in and of itself. This yarn just has a bit of a personality of its own - it's like it's a living being. The texture is simply so different. You want to stroke it continually to see if it'll move. Is this good or bad?

Finally, the analysis comes down to this: if I make a shawl in this yarn, will I look, (a) super cute and everyone will want to touch me, or (b) like a Muppet. I still haven't made up my mind.

In the end, with a 40% off coupon, and spotting a pattern for a knitted prayer shawl on the label, I ended up grabbing a skein, in a color called 'Parfait.' It's very pretty, all berry pinks and cream. I've been in the market for a simple knitting project, as I've missed knitting lately. The pattern is a very simple garter stitch. I cast on the stitches, and found that trying to work with this yarn on bamboo circular needles was like trying to move your feet in army boots through sludge. I packed Hank up and brought him with me to AC Moore, once again with 40% off coupon *halo* where I picked up a set of aluminum circular needles and the difference is heaven sent. So, so much better with aluminum needles.

So far...the jury is still out. It's really pretty, no doubt about it. And I keep stroking it. I hope it doesn't bite me. We'll see. But yet I keep scoping out other colors, plotting future shawl creations. Why does this yarn have such a hold on me? It's just the oddest thing. Alas, I am bound for Jo-Ann's again this week with my fresh coupon to pick up the 2 additional skeins of Parfait I need to finish the shawl. I'll post a picture, and you can judge it's level of attractiveness. Perhaps we'll have a furriness factor ratio that can be calculated in...

2 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about the baby/toddler smell thing! I'm always smelling Sadie's head when she sits on my lap and she'll turn around and give me a funny look and make little smelling sounds... Now she's smelling everything! I keep pulling her off the cats because she tries to smell them all the time and our 18 year old tabby isn't too friendly some times!

    I started knitting with Lion's Brand homespun and it was my very favorite yarn for a very long time (now my very favorite is Di'Ve Zenith Merino, which is actually pretty cheap at yarn.com in the clearance section, but it's been discontinued, so I tend to hoard it instead of using it).

    I made a shawl out of homespun before Sadie was born and it was really pretty (I just made up the pattern and did 3 knit stitches and then three purl all the way across with a few rows of knit stitches all the way across a few inches in to make a little border on either side). The only problem was that it was so heavy! I used to use it for scarves that I sold at craft fairs and they were really popular! I do always feel like it's so expensive for acrylic! Then again, I've bought a few "pound of yarn" balls lately, so I think that's skewed my view on yarn prices!

    I hope Hank is feeling better! Allergies (or being sick) just isn't fun. Sadie's been getting allergies too lately, but heres seem to be hives. We finally realized that it was the hand soap that we have that she'd been insisting on taking into the bath tub. I'm just hoping she doesn't get hay fever like her dad!

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  2. Hi Cam! I'm glad to know someone else has a fascination relationship to Homespun :) I'm finishing up my placemats, and then I'm going to evaluate my shawl more carefully. They do make nice prayer shawls, but I agree, super heavy! And you certainly wouldn't want to be wearing it out in the rain, yikes :) I'm looking at patterns for shrugs and boleros now, and I think I must be crazy :)

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