Ok I’m stuck. I need a little help. This just looks wrong. You can see some kind of pattern there but it doesn’t look right. It’s supposed to be a cluster stitch. It looks like a tangled mess. And I just kept knitting row after row just hoping that somehow it would start looking like the cardigan in the magazine.

The directions for the cluster 5 says: Pass next 5 sts to RH needle dropping extra loops, pass these 5 sts back to LH needle, ([k1, p1] twice, k1) into all 5 sts tog wrapping yarn twice around needle for each st.

What am I doing wrong?? Why doesn’t it look like the picture? Click here for close up of what the clusters on the bottom of the cardigan are supposed to look like. Help please! Anyone have a clue?

Update: I am an idiot. I think I know what I’ve done wrong. Will post about it after I’ve frogged it and started over.

Posted in: Knitting
6 Comments

I haven’t knitted in almost a month! My hands have been itching for a new project. But I haven’t wanted to start anything new without finishing my wave wrap. I am sort of blocked with that. I didn’t like the way it was looking and I was going to pull it and start over. Frogging isn’t fun. Everyday I’ve been meaning to get around to it so that’s why I didn’t want to start a new project, specifically the victorian lace shawl with the last yarn I bought.

Well on the way out to Cynthia’s graduation Saturday, we stopped by the Yarn Boutique to see if the yarn I ordered had arrived yet. It hadn’t. But all that yarn was just too much temptation. And I was there already and it would be such a shame to leave with nothing so I bought some new yarn for this pattern I’ve been eyeing. This is the belted cardigan pattern 34 from Vogue Knitting spring/summer 2006. I got 20 balls of Lingarn yarn. And I just had to knit so I started with the swatch. Guess the wave wrap will have to wait some more.

Posted in: Knitting
3 Comments

Click picture for larger image

This week’s topic for Illustration Friday is cake. I’m really attracted to handwritten text lately as an element in art. I used text as a background again like I did for last week. This time the text says Now that’s a piece of cake!

Posted in: Illustrations, Illustrations - Illustration Friday
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My cousin Cynthia graduated from San Francisco State today! How awesome is that! She was studying international business. This is the only picture where Isabelle was facing the camera. I would have liked to have taken more pictures but Isabelle in one hand and camera in the other doesn’t really work. She’s too heavy. And she was clingy today so it was hard to hand her off to Alan. Maybe it was because of the fall off the mattress. No, just joking. She’s fine. I think she was just tired and wanting a nap.

Posted in: Family
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We were so traumatized yesterday I wasn’t sure I was going to post this. Alan got the saddest look on his face when I was drawing this. And then I couldn’t decide whether or not to categorize it as a silly parent since it was so scary. I tried to, but I can’t really laugh at it yet. But this morning I can smile at our over reaction so silly parent it is.

What happened? I was in the kitchen cooking. Isabelle was on the air mattress in the living room with Alan when I heard this loud thump and then crying! I ran into the living room and Isabelle was in Alan’s arms. She had fallen off the air mattress. O.F.F…T.H.E…M.A.T.T.R.E.S.S..!!! Right onto her face.

Isabelle was crying and Alan was so upset that he wouldn’t let her go. I wanted her in my arms because I’m mommy and she feels safe in my arms. But Alan would not let go! I was so upset I was about to cry. Well he finally gave her to me and she was fine. A little red on her forehead but she wasn’t hurt.

Alan was so traumatized that when she had her nap, soon after, he didn’t want to leave her side. He wanted to rock her to sleep. But I nursed her to sleep because less protest from her. And then he kept cupping her head in his hand and kissing her and saying he had failed as a father. He didn’t want to leave her side even after she was asleep next to me and oblivious. Gawd, I would have needed a crow bar to pry him away! Hours after he just wanted to hold her.

Yeah, daddy loves his little baby girl.

Read Silly Parent #12, Close the Canopy.

Posted in: Illustrations, Illustrations - "Silly Parent" Series
5 Comments

At Isabelle’s last doctor’s appointment she was 1 pound and 1 inch away from the limits of her baby car seat. So we decided it was time for her to move up. So say goodbye to this seat. Now it will be used exclusively in the house. The bigger car seat is now in the car. And just because I feel like it…here’s a video (1.3 MB) of her in her new car seat for the first time.

Posted in: Isabelle Video
2 Comments

Wow this was labor intensive. I hand embroidered this pee pee monster’s outline. It took forever!! I must embroider super slow or something. And owww does my finger hurt just from holding the needle. I really like how the darker outline looks but I think I need to figure out a different way to do get this look.

And look it’s a teething monster! Inspired from this drawing.

I guess that’s better than calling him the kicking your ass monster.

Posted in: Finished Project, Sewing, Softies
6 Comments