Bella Knitting

Comfort Knitting

Laura

There is something about comfort food that is so, well comforting. Our whole family has been sick, really sick, since the middle of September. It’s a long non-blog worthy story but involves an old house and toxic mold. Anyway, we have found as we banded together that it was the little things that made us smile; that extra hug, a warm towel from the dryer, and the quintessential chicken soup, warm chocolate chip cookies for the kids, and for me hot oatmeal with raisins and a touch of brown sugar melting on top.

So when I was blessed with my first clear head yesterday, I knew I wanted to knit with something soft and comforting. Nothing too small, my eyes are not quite focusing yet; something quick so I could feel the satisfaction of knitting again after ten long weeks without (not that I was counting or anything). I found the perfect yarn for my purposes, Cascade Venezia. It’s super soft merino and silk is warm and cozy in my hands and it’s nice and chunky at a 3.5 stitches per inch.

With the holidays approaching our thoughts have turned toward the ski season. So I’m designing a hat that reminds me of those fabulous pictures taken the day after a big storm. You know, the ones with majestic mountain slopes, bright blue skies, loads of fresh snow and a single set of ski tracks swishing back and forth through the fluffy white powder. I also decided to try a few of Sarah’s absolutely fabulous tutorials so I started with a provisional cable cast on and will finish up later with an i-cord bind off. I’ve got a few tricks in mind for the top of the hat too. Let’s see how it goes - I'm kind of winging it.

So now I have my comfort knitting, a cup of hot tea, my two Velcro dogs warming my toes and cyber friends to share it all with. It’s a nice day.

Under Construction

Sarah

One of my favorite things about knitting is the infinite variety of ways in which garments can be constructed. Socks are especially fun to experiment with, because if a particular method of construction turns out to be less than fun or doesn't fit well, it's not a huge investment of time and energy.

For my brother's Christmas socks, I decided to try something new: a resoleable sock, specifically, the Two-Yarn Resoleable Socks from the Interweave "Favorite Socks" book. Happily, the pattern was written for worsted-weight yarn, which I wanted to use anyway -- my brother lives in San Francisco and likes to go snowboarding in Tahoe in the winter, so he can put thick warm house socks to good use.

So far, I've almost completed the top of the first sock. When that's done, I'll be using the contrast-color yarn to pick up a looooot of stitches to knit the heel, sole, and toe. I just hope the leg of the sock will be big enough to fit my brother (who has what are affectionately known as "cankles" -- ankles not much smaller than his calves) I also hope that he will wear these enough that they will actually, at some point, need to be re-soled!

Thankful(-ish)

Sarah

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I've been thinking about what I'm thankful for -- Jason,  Measure, my family, my job, knitting, the knitting community, the fact that I finished the neck of my dad's gansey and only have the sleeves left to knit...your list is probably pretty similar. These are good things, and I'm thankful for them every day, not just Turkey Day. (Oh yeah, turkey -- I'm definitely thankful for turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes.) But as I was thinking of my "thankful" list, I also started thinking about the things I wish for -- the things that would make me very thankful. Some of them are total pipe dreams, but hey, what's life without hope?

Here's my list:

• Wouldn't it be nice if people used their turn signals properly? That would make me pretty thankful.
• I'd also be pretty thankful if Measure would stop biting me while nursing. Ouch.
• If scientists could somehow re-engineer moth biology to make the little buggers hate eating yarn, that would be pretty neato.
• I'm thankful for my camera, but I'd be really grateful if I also had a macro lens. A macro lens would be sweeeeet.
• If angora could stop making my eyes water and run and my nose get all gross and stuffy, I'd be quite pleased, because isn't it completely adorable fluffy goodness?
• I know we humans really are wired to sort ourselves into "us" and "them," but do we really have to continue to follow instincts that made sense when we thought a sharp rock was (warning: pun approaching) cutting-edge technology? Seriously, let's live and let live, and work towards a world in which everyone has a chance at a good life. Helping each other helps all of us in the long run.
• For once, just once, I'd like to buy some knitting notions (measuring tape, needles, stitch markers) and not have them disappear. I suspect gnomes are sneaking into my house and stealing them. Gnomes, if you're reading this, I'd appreciate it if you'd buy your own from now on.

So what do you wish you could be thankful for? I'm wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving, or a plain old happy day if it's not Thanksgiving wherever you are.

Little Devil

Sarah

Arlette and I hung out yesterday, and while we watched the Creature Comforts DVD she brought over (hilarious, by the way) she knit up this super-cute little devil hat for Measure!

See how he's rubbing his hands together? I think he's plotting something...

Busy, Busy

Sarah

It's been a busy week. I worked like crazy on my project and drove up to campus with Measure on Thursday afternoon to turn it in -- he gave big drooly smiles to lots of college girls. He's a big flirt. Yesterday he had his six-month checkup with the pediatrician, and got more immunizations. Just so things would be fair, Jason and I got flu shots, too, so the whole family was sore. At first it seemed like Measure was doing okay after getting his shots, but he had a bit of a meltdown in the afternoon. Poor guy, I think his legs were really sore.

I've been getting some knitting done (sorry I can't show you more of the project just yet, we'll see how it shapes up) and it's been awesome. You know how sometimes, you're knitting and the entire experience just makes you cheerful? It's been that kind of project. Which is good, because this weekend we're going to be pretty busy: Jason and I decided to have Thanksgiving at our house this year, so we've got to go out and buy the turkey, of course, and ingredients for the sides, but we've also got to buy a new table, some more chairs, and track down some more flatware in our pattern (which, I'd like to state for the record, I wanted to order more of when we first got it). Ugh. A visit to Ikea on a Saturday tends to be about as much fun as being jabbed in the eyeball with a stick, so I'm not looking forward to it. But hey, you do what you gotta do.

Diversionary Tactics

Sarah

I really, really need to work on that important project for school. It's due Thursday. So what have I been doing? Housework. Knitting. Searching the closets for a bunch of old FO's, photographing them, and entering them into Ravelry. I even busted out the tripod and camera remote (you can see it in my hand there) so I could take pictures of myself actually wearing this stuff. Good time management skills, huh?

To be honest, I have been working on the project in increments...just not as much as I should have been. Like right now, I'm blogging instead of homework-ing, so sorry for the quickie post, but I've really got to get back to it! (Aside from the occasional quick break to check email, log into Ravelry, or read a few blogs. Because everyone needs a little break now and then, right?)

A Walk in the Rain

Sarah

After getting some work put in on both homework and other projects, I suggested to Jason that we take Measure and Syrus for a walk to the local park. It was raining lightly, so the whole time we were out I could feel the dance of little drops on my face.

Since it was just cold enough for a sweater, I suggested Jason wear the one I knit for him a year or two ago. I'm really happy with this sweater, which I designed just for him out of Noro Kureyon, and Jason seems to like it -- he wears it when it's cold, without my asking him to. This is the first time I managed to get some good pictures of him wearing it, which I wanted to get for my Ravelry page.

Taking a walk this time of year is always nice, as it's a chance to see the world in transition. The trees haven't completely changed their colors, but are tinged with rust. It's cool, but not too cold. As we walked along, Measure was quiet in his stroller, his wide eyes taking in the gray sky and the bright leaves.

Syrus, of course, was thrilled as always to go out for a W-A-L-K, especially when he noticed a cat lounging under a truck in someone's driveway. Lunging and barking his head off at that poor kitty was really the icing on the cake for him (the cake, of course, being the opportunity to carefully sniff, then widdle on, every lawn and bush along the way.)

I hope you get a chance to take a pleasant stroll this weekend, wherever you are. More photos from the walk are here, on my Flickr page. ETA: Thanks, everyone, for your response to the sweater! I think I'm all set for test-knitters now. You guys are great!

It Never Rains But it Pours

Sarah

As far as literal truth in common sayings is concerned, "it never rains but it pours" is kind of lacking. What about drizzle? What about sprinkles? What about light showers? What about that heavy mist that gets your car covered in droplets but fails to actually wash any of the dirt off? There are plenty of times when it rains but doesn't pour.

Metaphorically speaking, though, it's perfectly apt for what's going on right now. Laura and her family have been sick, and are also moving this week. This, understandably, has put a severe stranglehold on the amount of time and energy she has to work on the new Bella site, or the old, broken site. At the same time, even if I had the skill to fix or build web sites, I wouldn't have time right now either, because I am in the throes of a major project for the class I'm taking; I'm designing a complete unit plan for a freshman English course, and a presentation for my class based on the unit plan.

I used to have more time during the day to work on this kind of thing, but Measure is awake a lot more than he used to be, and of course he has to come first. He's definitely entering a new developmental stage -- this morning when I got out of bed to get ready to go to school (I observe an early morning freshman English class as part of my work for the class I'm taking) he immediately started to cry. He has come to realize that me getting out of bed will lead to me leaving, and even though he is nursed and comfortable and has his dad right there to cuddle with him, this is NOT OK.

So yeah, this is my long-winded way of saying I'm sorry for the sad lack of knitting content this week. By way of an apology I offer you this awesome, super-simple recipe for cinnamon candied walnuts from my food blog. It may rain, it may even pour, but at least you'll have a warm cinnamony-scented house and a nice stockpile of crunchy nibbles to snack on through the deluge.

Broken

Hi everyone -- just wanted to let you know that the Bella Knitting web site is down, and we are working to take care of the problem. In the meantime, if you need to contact us about a purchase, email bella@bellaknitting.com, and if you need any knitting help on a Bella project, email sarah@bellaknitting.com. Whatever you need, we are happy to help out, and we apologize for the (hopefully brief) inconvenience!

Teeth!

Sarah

I finally got a photo of Measure's brand new teeth! Slightly blurry, but still, you can see them. It seems like he's been "teething" forever, so it's nice to see some actual teeth. I think he's drooled enough to fill a swimming pool over the past couple of months, though I don't know if that's going to subside anytime soon -- after all, he's got a couple dozen more to go!