What a week!!

After coming off the high of not having to get up at the a$$crack of dawn every morning, it was back to the grind. The kids grumped about having to go back to school but they got over that pretty quickly. The rest of the week, was easy-peasy. On Thursday things got interesting. I got to hang out at Knitty City to see my knitty friend Kristen Rengren at her first book signing!! for “Vintage Baby Knits”.

(smaller photo so Kristen doesn’t smother me with a fleece).

I got an acknowledgement in the book!! I wasn’t expecting that, and Mr. BeanKnit was tickled pink, as if it were HIS name.. sheesh.

I must admit that I was not planning on knitting anything from the book because all my newborn days are behind me, and for all the people I know who are expecting, their gifts are already made. I’ve never really been thrilled at knitting baby items, which is weird because I like quick knits. Part of it is an apprehension about the item possibly being too small for the baby, and the rest is simply not knowing that many pregnant women. In fact, I have one friend whose infant is now 5 months old! She’s actually a friend of hubby’s so we don’t talk much; she sorta snuck that by us like a teenager tippytoeing in from a party at 3am.

After having manhandled the knits from Kristen’s book at the signing/trunk show, and getting a better look at the patterns(and photos), I think I might have to knit some of these just for the experience. Don’t ask me who I’ll give them to though..

Then on Saturday I packed a cooler with some goodies and hauled the kids out to Central Park. We had one helluva day. We got there just in time for the 15th Annual Parkinson’s Unity Walk. (which heretofore I’d never heard of). Throngs of people filled the park, and still more coming. Had I known about it, I’d have found a sitter and participated.

We set up under a still-blooming tree and kept inching around it as the sun kept finding me. Eventually we moved further uptown and landed at the Harlem Meer:

I used to hear that phrase, “The Harlem Meer” alot and wondered what the hell it was. Turns out, it’s a lake. Who knew? Since moving I’d find myself going by there and thinking that one day I’d like to go visit. Since the kids didn’t get their playground on and I wasn’t ready to go home just yet, we stopped by and the kids got good and tired.

While we hit up the parks I worked on more of the Center Heart squares.. I’ve finally made it to 8:

I’d still like to get some of the colors I don’t yet have. I’m a little wary though, because some of the yarns are thinner and not as tightly plied as the others.. I’m hoping the rest of the colors are better.

Well, that’s it for this weekend. See ya round!

Can’t sleep? Blog!(or, At it again!)

Today was a good day. Went to MIL’s with the kids and got to work on another iteration of the Center Square block from the 2009 Block-a-Month crochet-along. Finished it at the NYC Sit ‘n Knit meetup.

Then I started another with some of the same colors:

Despite an error in the pattern(which I think I’ve managed to figure out–or reasonably fudge), this is a very addictive square pattern. I’m debating just leaving the CAL and just making a blanket full of these. It’s insane. I have 3 more colors of the Caron Simply Soft that I haven’t used yet: Raspberry, Soft Green(which I like to refer to as Mint), and Bone( aka Beige). Seeing as I haven’t gone too far with this 3rd block I might rip back that light blue and continue it in some of the unused colors. And, is it bad that I’m wanting to go back to the store with another discount coupon to get the colors I didn’t buy?

In other news, how many of you out there are knitting Decimal, from the latest Knitty? I am waiting for school vacation to be over so I can cast-on without interruptions. Well, I do have a stack of new stitch markers(read: coil rings) to keep track of how many stitches I have. I also have a tube of super glue and lots of beads . So at least I have something to look forward to for Sunday. Otherwise, I’m set to knit Decimal using Elann Lara in Antique Blue. Lara is one of the yarns several knitters have used for this cardigan. So, I thought I’d give it a try. It’s a bit splitty but my best alternative would have been KP Shine and that sheds like nobody’s business. I took splitty over fuzz-all-over-creation. I finally got around the gauge issues and am looking forward to working on it.

If I can stop crocheting those squares.

Cut the ^%$# and let’s go!

Wow, lots of time since the last post. Much has happened. I won’t get into all, but rather highlight some of the goodies.

Mr. Bean is on vacation while the kids are on Spring Break. We’ve been running him ragged on family outings. My favorite so far was a trip to the Maritime Aquarium in Connecticut. We’d never been to this one before. We had a fairly good day despite the breeziness. A nice warm wool sweater would have been a good thing to have.. I won’t bore you with details but if you’d like to see some photos of the trip, be my guest.

I highly recommend you up there even if only to pet the stingless rays. They felt sooo umm.. I’m not sure WHAT the word is.. not velvety but just something you don’t expect.

We tried to go to the Guggenheim Museum but it was a full house. I must remember never to attempt to go when EVERYONE in the world(or so it seems) is on vacation. When that didn’t work we settled on the American Museum of Natural History. I used to work there a long time ago and it has really changed a lot since then. We took a bunch of pictures, but really, a zoo would have been the same, only with live animals.

You want to hear about yarn and fabric crafts, don’t you?
Let’s see:

I’m halfway to finishing this bag:

I couldn’t get a hold of the Happy Hooker to make the Fat Bottom Bag like I’d wanted so I went on good ole’ Ravelry and found this gem. Now all that’s left is to put a fabric lining in and attach the handles.

I’ve since finished this sweater(but without the hood–there goes that streak of LAZY again), and I had a picture of it with two zippers laying on it for advice on which color to use. Then I realized I’d purchased dress zippers instead of separating zippers and now I have to go back to the store. But at least this time I know I’ll go with pink. I’m surprised it still fits littlest Beanlet. I’d better finish it before she heads off to college.

I’ve finished a pair of socks and am looking for a pattern for a next pair. I’ve resumed the 2009 Block-a-Month Crochet A Long but with different yarn. And I’m starting all over again. So far we’re up to April. I’ve switched to Caron Simply Soft in bunch of colors–gotta love a coupon from Michaels!– because I think my slow-down on the project was slightly due to not really feeling the yarn. I AM using it for a different idea. Trying to make up some knit tops for the girl Beanlets. Easy-peasy, and the Cotton Ease is sproingy enough for it, but not soft enough for the blocks..

Forgive the jumbled thoughts. I haven’t really felt much like blogging. But I have been working on projects. Mr. Bean and I were debating a newer camera that would help my photos pop more. Maybe then I would feel like my posts were worth something. Because after all, aren’t the PHOTOS what people really want to see on blogs like this?

For now, I’ll just leave you with these cute little guys(or girls?)