Greetings from Ataranta

I'm posting from Atlanta this week, we've had lots of fun so far. Robby's been a hit so far. We tried feeding him a little rice cereal to see how he would doCheck out the crazy eyes in the first picture! He didn't take as well to it as I thought he would, I think he's more interested in the spoon, so I just give him a few tablespoons a day at most. I finished my shawl.Here is a picture of it warming the shoulders of my halmoni, it was 80 degrees in the house but she was happy to oblige, I hope it keeps her cozy when the weather gets cold this fall. It's been great being with my family, but I really wish my Korean was better, it's so hard to communicate with my halmoni, I wish I could understand more of her stories, she was born in 1916 and has so many interesting stories I wish I could hear.I'm already thinking of what I can make for my aunt for a present, a felted vest maybe....And speaking of presents, I started this for my mother in law, a belated birthday present, but heck, everything is belated these days!

Foiled again!

This is how much yarn I had with two rows left to go in the Swallowtail.Anyone know of a good use for almost 200 yards of KSH? So, I made an emergency trip to the yarn store. I'm not sure how it happened, but somewhow I walked out with some Addi Lace needles and this yarn,destined to be a gift for my mother in law. Check out the tip comparison between the Inox and the Addi,these are some seriously sharp tips people, I'm excited to try them out. These are a size 3 versus the size 4 Inox needles, but still, they have a very sharp tip.Here is Robby smiling at his mama!And here is a picture of him conversing with his friendly neighborhood Spiderman!

Meme!

I have achieved a milestone in my blogging, I got tagged for the 8 random things meme, AND by two people! From Rachel Ann, and from Beth! Ok, I've thought long and hard about this one.

The rules:

1: Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.

2: People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these
rules.

3: At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.

4: Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I am a one handed yoyo expert. Back in college, I worked at a yoyo store in Chattanooga, TN called Yo Mamma, (i'm serious), and at a yoyo/kite store on the Huntington Beach, CA pier. I can do all kinds of tricks, and even went to Hawaii with a group of kids from HB to the World Yoyo Championships. I totally choked in our group performance. No matter how awesome my Brain Twister or Atom Smasher is, the one trick I get the most requests for is Rock the Baby and Walk the Dog. I have a special yoyo case with a foam insert for about 15 yoyos, the holes are all filled up. One time, while I was yoyoing on the pier, it was getting dark, and while doing a Shoot the Moon, I smacked myself in the face, good thing the yoyo was rubber. Oh yeah, the Smothers Brother's? AWESOME.
2. I taught myself how to knit as a little girl living in the Bronx. I taught myself out of library books, and it took forever for me to understand how to do it. I just found out a few years ago, I was actually knitting through the back loops.
3. I have weird cravings for canned meat, SPAM, vienna sausages, corned beef hash, sardines. I don't often indulge in those cravings, because it's so bad for you, but every once in a while, I make me some SPAM fried rice.
4. I went to college and got a degree in electrical engineering, I didn't get very good grades, but I am working in my field doing 3D modeling on the compooter. I was inspired to get this degree by the light show at a U2 concert I went to my freshman year of college. Turns out, real engineering isn't quite that glamorous, sigh... It did pay off, I was able to wire every dang receptacle and light in our last house.
5. My favorite TV show of all time is I Love Lucy, I think I've seen every episode, and know all kinds of weird trivia about the show.
6. I LOVE garlic, raw, roasted, fried, baked, pickled, I love it. When my husband and I were dating I went home to visit my family and ate so much Korean food, when I came back, he said he could smell the gsrlic oozing from my pores. Good thing he likes garlic too.
7. I gained 50 lbs while pregnant with Robby. When Rob had to help me out of chairs, he had to plant his feet and get a goood grip. I have since lost the weight and can fit into my old jeans. Anybody know a cure for stretch marks?
8. I watched the Bachelor finale last night, this is the first Bachelor I've actually watched all the way through, I was rooting for Tessa. This is the most embarassing random fact I think.

I tag anyone who reads this blog and wants to participate!

Mother's Day Numero Uno

I had a great first Mother's Day. Robby got me this card and even signed it, with Daddy's help of course.The inside of the card says "Mommy, you do so much to make me feel loved. And guess what? I love you right back! Happy Mother's Day." Awwww. And here is a picture of Robby's signature.He's getting so big, and it gets more and more fun being his mom. He's not crawling yet, but will get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. He can sit up for several seconds if he supports himself with his hands. He already tries to get out of the car seat, the other day I put him in it and walked away for a second, and he had rolled over in the seat and was attempting to back out of the chair! The past two mornings, when he wakes up, he makes these funny noises, he will purse his lips and "bthhhhh" sounds. And he has become a lot more vocal lately, while on his belly chewing a teething ring, he will say, "Wowohh wowooooh." He is such a happy baby, he is warming up to all of his aunts, cousins, and grandparents. I'm excited to see how he does around my half of the family, only ten days till I get to see them, and stuff my face with Korean food! I've been zooming along on Swallowtail, I'm done with the nupps, yay!It's hard to get a good picture of the shawl, since I only have two hands, but I think these pictures show how drapey, light, and fluffy it is. I'm very happy with how it's turned out so far, and I have 10 days left to finish it.I think my grandma will love it. I've definitely caught the lace bug, I bought a copy of Lace Style, there are some amazing patterns in it. I definitely think I want to do another lace project for myself, maybe Eunny's Print O' The Wave stole? I think I have a sickness, I finish one project and start two more...sigh.

Goodies!

Look what I won from Francesca!She had a contest a few weeks ago, and Pipie picked my name out of the hat! I love the sock yarn, Regia is the first yarn I used to make socks, a LONG time ago. I love that you can get two socks out of one skein of yarn. I'm going to make these leg warmers for Robby. Now that he is scooting around all over the place and our house has wood floors, these will be great for keeping him warm, but will make diaper changes a breeze and keep his knees protected! I'm thinking I will do them in a 1x1 rib so they will be extra cushiony, and I may even double the yarn. These will be so cute :) Thanks Francesca!

Treeline Cardigan

I've been stalled on my Swallowtail because I left the pattern at my LYS when I went there last Saturday to knit for 5 WHOLE HOURS without ze bebe. Thanks Rob! I'm on the second border pattern, so I'm getting there. Soooo, this week, I've been working on the entrelac baby blanket, AND, last night, while getting caught up on some episodes of Lost, I started that Treeline cardigan. I'm thinking I will do the white and green together because the colors are kind of spring-y and a little more fun. Everything in my closet is some variation on black, gray, brown, or white, and it could use a little color, so I'm going to step out of my comfort zone. Like my yarn cakes? I bought the swift and ball winder last weekend, I can't believe I've waited so long, it saves me lots of time, which is very important when you have a baby, and my husband is free from yarn holding duty, so he was pretty excited about that. Like Adrian says, the combo of Kidsilk Haze, and wool (I'm using Cascade 220) is so soft. I got gauge first time, yay! I think I'll be working some mods, waist shaping, solid color ribbing on the front and neck, and I think, I'm going to beef up the shawl collar with short rows. Here is a another shot several rows in.The jog isn't totally jogless, but its symetrical, which is good, and is a nice detail, think. It took me several tries to get it right, this website has a very detailed tutorial, and I finally got it after seeing these instructions. Talk about knitting as therapy, the yarn is so soft, and working with worsted on size 8 needles is SO speedy compared to the socks, blanket, and shawl, I have been working on. Robby is helping me,he's become very grabby lately, and loves to grab on whatever yarn I'm working on, a future knitter maybe? He's not crawling yet, but scoots and shifts until he gets where he wants to be, and likes to grab onto anything that is NOT a baby toy and shake it or put it in his mouth. He actually got upset with me last night because I pulled some yarn out of his hand! We've both been feeling under the weather for the past two weeks, I can't shake a sore throat and sinus issues, and Robby's been super stuffy too, which means the booger sucker is being used a lot, and he's not too happy about that. Life is good, chaotic, but soon we will be moving into our new old house and we will finally be settled, I hope!

Almost!

Almost done with the Swallowtail, well, kind of. I've reached the border of the shawl, and am on my 3rd row of "nupps".They are a k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, then on the next row you purl into each of those, making 5 stitches, then on the next row, you PURL 5 together, yuck. I wouldn't even want to try these on the Addi Turbos, thank goodness, my Inox circulars came in just in time, and they are working great. The surface of the needle is just the right amount of stickiness without being so sticky that the stitches don't slide easily. Plus, the tips are nice and pointy, so I can do those purl 5 togethers without too much trouble. In Robby news, check out these action shots, sorry about the blurriness, but it's hard to get Robby still these days unless he's sleeping.This is my favorite picture,even though it's blurry, you can tell he's smiling, excited about being able to almost crawl, and smiling at me because I'm cheering him on. When he's trying to crawl, he gets frustrated sometimes, but when we get down on the floor with him and cheer him on, he always tries harder, it's so great. Can you believe he's almost crawling? He just rocks back and forth now, and has mastered the art of scooting backwards, but hasn't developed the coordination it takes to crawl. It was only a few weeks ago he was rolling over...sniff... I'll blink and he'll be a pimply 16 year old asking for the keys to my car, gosh it goes by fast.