Happy Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween from Chez Disco.

;0)

Welcome back

It's been so long.

I just finished this hat, for our friend, Ollie, in England. Modelled by Matthew, both of these four year olds have big noggins, so it should fit Ollie just fine.

I love the decreases at the top of this hat. The pattern is Shedir from Knitty.com. It is rather complicated and you must pay attention to every other row - the ones with the cables. It went a little quicker once I'd worked out how to do ALL of the cabling without a needle. I had to tink back a couple of the cabling rows - pretty soul-destroying, but worth it.

The yarn is a test skein of the new Malabrigo yarn "Dos", in colourway "Pearl Ten". I picked that up from Stitches West earlier this year. I love the colour, but think I may be allergic to the yarn itself - every time I knit with it, my eyes would get itchy and watery.

In the interests of equality, here's a pic of Teddy, getting his first badge at cub scouts this week.

That wheelchair lady must've been going REALLY fast!

Covetting Cotty

Hands up all those who like an easy pattern that gives really pretty results. I know I do, and I have loved making these Cotty socks the past couple of weeks. I started them just before we left Florida and knit on sock #1 during our journey up to our new home here in the Carolinas.

Congratulations to Carrie for writing a winning pattern :0)

So, here they are, completed in Socks That Rock Mediumweight - a rare gem, that I think is quite likely "Jade". Still with the cameraphone pics, so excuse the washed out colour look. Can you spot my 'deliberate' mistake?
This pair came out a tad small for my huge hoofs, so they'll be winging their way over to England pretty soon - Hubbs has a more delicate foot than me :0)

I loved this pattern so much, and had been reading about the merino/cashmere/nylon blends that others are, or will be, using that I just had to cast on right away with another yarn from my stash. The Yarn is the Pagewood Farms Alyeska I showed you a few months ago.

Do you like how I set the swift and winder up? My usual table is covered in crap, so I had to improvise. It's actually a pretty good solution for me, as I don't have to worry about the clamps scuffing the wood.
Blurry pic of the skein wound. You get the idea. It is mostly greeny, grey-y, but every now and then there is a little fleck of pink. Pretty.

So, this is my first experience with a cashmere blend sock yarn, and boy, do I like it. The yarn is so soft as it flows through your fingers while knitting. I think if Blue Moon made a MCN blend I would never need to buy from another dyer again. Tell me they don't, please!

Here's a progress shot, so you can see how it's knitting up.

Rockin in the Carolinas

Thanks to all for your kind compliments on my Shurtagals, they really are a pretty sock, right.

And so, to end any confusion. We are in Fort Mill, South Carolina. It is about spitting distance from Charlotte, North Carolina. Both towns being close to the borders of their respective states.

We rented a house in a master planned community which has its own 'high street' (or market street, if you like ;0) ) with a bunch of shops and restaurants on it; along with a YMCA which we live across the street from, literally; a 'British' pub (yay), a community center with pool and playgrounds; and all sorts of entertainment for our delight and delectation.

This past Saturday evening was 'music in the park'. They had a Beatles cover band playing from 7-10pm. It was SO much fun, we all had a blast. The boys were up and dancing almost from the start.

As chance would have it, for the past few months we've been listening to the Sjt Pepper CD in the car. I'm trying to give the boys a musical education beyond whatever is being played on the radio right now. We've started with Sjt Pepper, Abba Gold and Janis Joplin. They like it all I'm pleased to say. I have a Bob Dylan CD to be added to the mix anytime soon.

I have tried to sing Yellow Submarine to them before, but I'm not much of a singer. So it was totally cool when the band asked all the kids to join them on 'stage' to sing it. My boys, I'm proud to say, were first in line at the mic.

Here's a shot looking down the 'village green' to show it was busier than the previous pics made it look. And to the right, can you see the huge slidey bounce house too.

It was an absolutely brilliant evening and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. The boys lasted til almost 9.30, when Dad had to go get the car - yes, you could drive right up the side of the green to pick up - amazing.

And one thing I REALLY loved about the event? FREE. Yes, no money. The HOA organises it all. Well I guess we pay the HOA via our rent, but it feels free, so please don't rain on my parade ;0) The Carolinas are looking better and better.

And you know what else is looking better and better?

Matt's muscles. He's been taking part in kids fitness classes at the YMCA. They call the classes 'wee fit'. Too funny. Both boys are loving it. And it's great for me too - I get to work out while they do.

Happy Monday :0)

Shurtagal

I'm finally back in the land of the living wi-fi. We are firmly ensconced in our new home in South Carolina. We have electricity, gas, furniture, cable and internet services, yay!

So, I can do some catch-up blogging......

To start, here are my finished Shurtagals. STR mediumweight in Stormy Weather. This pattern is most definitely best in a more solid colour, The pattern isn't drowned in the colours. Just my humble opinion ;0)

pretty heel shot. I like the stripes.

And a final pool shot. These were finished while I was still in Florida. I couldn't resist. Look at the beautiful water......

Aye, aye, shipmates ;0)

I knit a wee something for the "Coat for a Boat" art project, in my home town. A telescope. Here's Matt, modelling the finished article.....I love his little sly peek to see if I'm still photographing him. This was knit in Lion Brand Glitterspun. The insert to keep it tube-like is a paper towel cardboard innerd. Cut down the middle and rolled on an angle.

The boys were fascinated while I was making this. I have another ball and a half, so, if I can find the scrap of paper I noted my stitch count on, I may make them some of their own.

:0)

p.s. note the wet ground. In the summer, it really rains here in Florida. Rains hard.

Up, up and away.......

I'm still in the land of the living. Even reading y'alls blogs, although not commenting much (mostly catching up using bloglines on my phone - teeny keys are not conducive to regular blog-commenting). I've been so busy the last few weeks. I've gotten a bit of knitting in, between house-moving, looking for a new house, birthday parties and organising volunteers for Teddy's school book fair (otherwise known as pulling teeth!).

We found a new house - it's in the community we wanted and is VERY close to the town centre. As in, three of the corners of our street are occupied by 1. the YMCA, 2. a preschool for Matt and 3. a pub for Mommy and Daddy :0)

We move in June 11th and I seriously can't wait. I even found a knit group on Ravelry that meets at the local coffee shop - about a 3 minute walk for me - woohoo :0)

In fun news (as if a new house wasn't fun enough), tonight we took the boys to see the new Disney-Pixar movie "UP". It was totally hilarious, and don't my boys look awesome in their 3D glasses. We ate out afterwards and what else would make the boys happy, but balloons.

I've a fun knitting project to show you tomorrow, so stay tuned.

:0)