So it exists. I have been saying, “I wish there was Junior Roller Derby for women!”…and today I found it! Derby Lite ~ For Women Old Enough To Know Better! I was skating with my daughter’s Jr. Roller Derby team a bit, but had to stop because they needed insurance for anyone on the track during practice. So, back to the couch to do some knitting while my girl skates. That’s fun, too, but not quite like flying around a track on 8 wheels, now is it?  I really love Roller Derby and dream of being a Roller Girl, but the sensible part of me (as small as it is) knows that (1) I’m out of shape, (2) I’m kind of uncoordinated, (3) I need to stay in one piece to be the best mom I can be, and (4) I’m no Spring Chicken. Why can’t we have one of these Derby Lite leagues in Colorado?!? I wonder how one would go about starting one…

UPDATE: I’ve been in contact with the Queen B in charge of Derby Lite and am getting info about starting one here!

Version Number 3 of the Ruffley Neck Warmer. This time featuring Red and Black Horizontal Stripes. I opted for a different set of metal buttons, but think the Skull and Crossbones would look fabulous (and PIRATEY!) on this collar. I am learning so much about sizing with this pattern. The first one was knit 100% acrylic and exactly as instructed with size 8 needles and turned out way too big. The second one was made with acrylic/wool blend yarn, same size needles, but the intarsia-inspired vertical stripes made the collar too small for a normal size adult and not very stretchy. This 3rd version was knit with acrylic/wool blend, same size needles, but is just right and can be adjusted (by moving the buttons) for very small up to 13 and 3/4″ necks. So, for this pattern, the yarn AND the techniques used caused major fluctuations in size. I am taking good notes

Back View…

Side View…

The buttons can be worn centered or at a jaunty side angle…

For sale in my Etsy shop! As always…other colors, sizes, buttons, and yarns are available.

I have finally found a Fingerless Gloves pattern that I love! I made several pairs from The Cool Girl’s Guide to Knitting and did like the pattern, but it wasn’t quite right. The main issue was the lack of an actual thumb. There was just a large hole and a seam right up the middle of the back of the gloves. They looked great from the front, but I wasn’t happy with the back. I have been searching high and low for a side seam pattern that I like and wasn’t having much luck (I did find lots of side seam patterns, but didn’t like the overall look of the gloves). Then, during a quick trip to the thrift store for something totally unrelated, I found a couple knitting books for super cheap and snapped them up. Well, wouldn’t you know, one of those books had a fingerless gloves pattern that was very close to what I had been looking for! So, I took that pattern, changed it up a bit to get the look I wanted (fuzzy cuffs and thumbs, stripes, picot edging around the fingers, and a few other minor changes) and the resulting FrankenPattern is exactly what I wanted! The first pair is black and violet stripes accented with black eyelash yarn. They did turn out a bit bigger than I wanted, but I’m learning. They are for sale in my Etsy Shop and I’m taking orders for custom pairs in other colors, sizes and yarns.

Hands Down…this is my new favorite Fingerless Gloves pattern!

Becoming increasingly alarmed that I have been choosing knitting over strenuous physical exercise, I am on a hunt for a way to incorporate the two. I found this awesome photo at Deluxeville and need to find one of these machines. Ha!ha! Not really, but I do need to get back into my exercise routine before knitting really does become hazardous to my health…

I was so pleased with the first Neck Warmer that I got right to work on the one I ~really~ wanted to make. I had this idea in my head, but needed to learn how to knit vertical stripes. Also, I wanted this Neck Cuff to be fancier, so adding a little fru-fru to the bottom edge was also something I needed to learn how to do.

The bottom ruffle is accented with some Black Eyelash yarn that I recycled from a huge gorilla-like sweater purchased at the thrift store .99 cent sweater sale last weekend. I saw that  sweater and immediately had the urge to unravel it and make all kinds of fun things with the yarn. So, I snatched it up and spent a few hours picking it apart. Easier said than done. It’s got machine sewn side seams, so I get a nice long piece and then have to stop at each side to pick apart the stitching. Oh well, it’s another good no-brainer project while watching TV or a movie.

I really wanted to keep this one for myself, but it’s too small. It measures 12″ around and would be great for a small lady or child. I was, once again, overly impatient to get started and did not knit a gauge swatch even though I was using different yarn from the first version. This yarn is an Acrylic/Wool Blend and, so far, seems to be holding up better (i.e. not getting so fuzzy) than the 100% Acrylic I used for the first version. So, this one became the first knitted item in my Etsy Shop! I am also offering to take custom orders in different sizes, colors, yarns, buttons, etc. It was really fun to make and I cannot wait to make more!

Now, I’m working on matching Fingerless Gloves with the Eyelash Yarn accent and picot edging around the fingers. Actually, this first pair was another experiment where I took 3 different patterns and made up my own pattern. I wanted them to match exactly with the vertical stripes, but wasn’t sure if my FrankenPattern would work out, so opted to do horizontal stripes first since they are a lot easier. I stayed up way too late last night determined to finish one glove. The Verdict? Adorable! So, I will do the second one to match and then start on a pair with vertical stripes to match this Neck Cuff. Speaking of…I need to get off this blog and back to knitting!

I was getting bored knitting fingerless gloves. Five pairs to be exact. Two pairs for me, a pair for Mr. Monkeytailz, and a pair for each daughter for Valentine’s Day (I need to take a picture). So, I started knitting a striped headband and got even more bored with that. Back and forth. Back and forth. zzzzzzzzzzz. I was really itching to learn some skills other than just knitting or purling in rows. I started searching around the web and in all the knitting books I have laying around (our local library had a nice selection) and settled on a Victorian inspired Ruffley Neck Warmer. I learned how to do a lovely lacey ruffle and picot edging AND the whole thing only took me one evening and an afternoon to finish! I’m so pleased with the way it turned out…other than it being a bit big because I didn’t take the time to knit a gauge swatch first. But, I fixed that problem by moving the buttons over and adding a couple snaps for a perfect fit.

I also learned that, contrary to popular belief, you CAN block acrylic yarn. Yes, I used acrylic on this project because I was impatient to start it and that was the only yarn I had on hand. I’m not a yarn snob yet, but I can see that changing once I get my hands on some really nice yarn.  

Check out the fun metal skull buttons! I bought them a year or so ago and never found the right thing to put them on until now. I didn’t want plain boring buttons since the whole thing is plain black. 

So, with the first Neck Thingy done and approved (by me!), I got an interesting idea for a ~fancier~ version and immediately started stitching and finished it late last night. I need to sew on the buttons and snap some pictures, but I’ll give you a couple little hints…it has a fuzzy edge around the ruffle and vertical stripes! Yay me for learning several new techniques this week!

And what became of the stripey headband mentioned in paragraph one up there? Doesn’t every knitter have several projects going at once?!? I figure I need at least one no brainer project in the works at all times to carry around with me and work on when I have a few minutes while waiting on the kids at school or in long lines at the store or at stoplights or…

I am busy. I need to slow down and enjoy a part of each day. I thought it might be fun to start a new tradition with Afternoon Tea. Thing 2 was very excited about the new tradition, Thing 1…not so much. Apparently, 13-year-old American girls think afternoon tea is “silly”. 9-year-old American girls love having daily tea parties Here is a photo from our first tea a couple days ago. For Christmas, my mom sent a cute teapot with a cozy and matching placemats and napkins that she made. We decided these would be perfect for our tea times! This little feast included mango tea, green tea, lemon poppyseed scones with Mock Clotted Cream, and fresh strawberries….mmmmm. We are now on the hunt for an inexpensive tea cart to keep our tea things handy. Oh, American dogs also like tea time and ~constantly~ try to steal the scones.

If you read my blog, you know that I have recently started knitting. I have been searching for knitting books at my usual thrift store stops, checking out stacks of knitting books from the local library, adding multitudes of knitting books to my Swaptree Want List, etc. I have learned so much since picking up the sticks, but am still a little fuzzy on some of the basics since I just jumped right in and started stitching. Today, I was cleaning out a bookshelf in my office and came across a copy of the Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Needlework (copyright 1979) that I picked up at a thrift store a couple years ago. I immediately flipped to the Knitting section and discovered clear, concise, easy to understand instructions and illustrations! There are lots of photos, but many of the instructional illustrations are drawings which really helped me with some of the mechanics of the stitches. A few things I have been struggling with, but forging ahead with anyway, now made complete sense! If you are a beginning knitter, or just needing some brush up, I recommend this book.

Yesterday, I needed to make some cupcakes. I didn’t just want some cupcakes, I ~needed~ them. Sometimes, the act of putting all else aside and baking something frivolous and fabulous makes everything OK for a little while. So, that is what I did. I put everything out of my mind except for cupcakes. What kind of cupcakes should I make? Well, I have all those vanilla beans just begging to be featured in all kinds of yummy creations, so vanilla cupcakes seemed right. My search led me to Double Vanilla Cupcakes by Vanilla Garlic on SimplyRecipes.com. I wanted to bring some to the SuperBowl party that we had been invited to, so I decided to make a double batch just in case they were really awesome and we wanted to keep some for ourselves. They were. OMG they were. This double batch called for a full pound of real unsalted butter and 4 vanilla beans…wow! Dense and cakey, buttery and super charged with vanilla…they were a big hit at the party and we still have some at home to enjoy. Check out the close up of the frosting (butter, powdered sugar & vanilla seeds)….gorgeous!

I am going to a Super Bowl party tomorrow and thought showing up with something besides beer…a hostess gift…would be nice. A while back, I found a bunch of cute little glass jars at one of my usual thrift store stops.  They’ve been sitting on a shelf, gathering dust, until inspiration hit. Today it hit! They are the perfect size for one cut up vanilla bean swimming in booze. I put together 5 little jars of homemade vanilla extract and then tied a bow around one of the jars to finish it off, but it didn’t look quite right…kind of unfinished. It needed a label! This part took way longer than making the extract…ha!ha! I spent about an hour scouring the web for just the right label and finally found some lovely vintage graphics that struck my fancy. Next, I “typed” on the label (i.e. PhotoShopped) with one of my favorite fonts, then printed on some parchment type paper, then turned the paper over and printed on the back with some handwriting from a very old scanned recipe card (because you can see the back of the label through the jar), then painted some Modge Podge over the fronts, then dried with a heat gun (because I was too impatient to wait for them to air day), then cut one out and popped it into my little Xyron Create-A-Sticker and…VIOLA!…a nice hostess gift!