Extreme Knitting - How to Hand Knit a Mattress

This is just crazy!!

Bird Girl

Bird Girl in Summer.....

Bird Girl in Winter.....

What else is there to say?

I'm thinking babies!!!!

No, I'm not pregnant.

But my stepson and his wife (aka Boy and Girl) just may be thinking of trying to get pregnant this year and finally make us grandparents!

With that hope in mind, I've decided I'm going to start knitting baby clothes -- gender-neutral of course!

After researching patterns on Ravelry, I've come up with my first two projects.

The Baby Berry Hat

and

The Tomato Baby Beanie

Both patterns are available for free to all...

Yes, there are plenty of patterns out there for sweaters, hoodies, booties, etc. but these are just so darn cute (and gender-neutral) that I can't resist them!

Do you have any favorite baby patterns? Share them please!

OK, cold night. Time for comfort food.... Sloppy Joes. Here's my mom's recipe...


1 lb. hamburger
1 lrg onion
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 c. ketchup
1 c. water
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. paprika
1-2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
several dashes Tabasco
salt and sugar to taste

Brown burger, onion and celery in skillet.
Drain fat.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer at
least 20 minutes until celery and onion
are tender and sauce is thickened.

Brrrrrr.....

Okay, I grew up in northern Michigan where we went to school in the winter (when school was in) wearing layers upon layers... long johns (top & bottom), jeans, 2 pairs of socks, a turtleneck, a shirt and a sweater. Not great for showing off your figure, but definitely kept you warm!

I remember when we would have snow days for days on end, I would get cabin fever and actually walk into town to my girlfriend's house in the middle of snow storms and 4 ft. snow.

Well, after 25 years in metro Detroit ("The South"), I've lost my northernness, my thick blood, my ability to tolerate cold temperatures.

Woke up today and it was 3 degrees -- currently, midday, it is 14 -- woo hoo! I'm freezing my butt off and so are The Kids -- The Kids being 5 cats, a dog and a bird. Witness picture below. Sofia and EZ cuddling together which NEVER happens.

Sofia, right, EZ the Burmese, left ( aka "3-of-5" and "1-of-5", respectively for you Trekkies)

Rupert, the dog, won't even go out unless he really has too.

Meanwhile, Sylvi survives and cuff is done and the sleeve is actually in the making! No going back now!

Sylvi Obsession

Well, it's freakin' freezing here in metro Detroit! We're at our high of 14 degrees for the day with a forecast of a low of -9 -- yikes! We've had 37.5" of snowfall so far this season -- the most we've had in a longtime.
For those of you who don't get snow, don't want snow, don't remember what snow looks like -- I'm offering up this pic of my backyard taken this morning through a storm door window from the warm comfort of my kitchen! Enjoy, gloat, do whatever moves you!
So, after my requisite 3 hours of looking for a job on the Internet (found 1 to apply for, which makes it a productive day here in our island of economic depression called Michigan), I am finally free to ponder all things knitting and Nothing But Sylvi!

So this three-part tale....

Cuff #1

After much research and discussion with others on Ravelry, I decided to knit the small size but on 10 1/2" needles.
So I cast on and knitted the 14" according to the pattern and created finished the cuff with the 1" overlap.
Then I decided I didn't like the overlap.
So I ripped it out and started over.

Cuff #2

I cast on again and knitted to 13", stitched the ends together and happily picked up my 39 stitches, and I was off and running in seed stitch land.
Meanwhile, I was still obsessing about sizing. I definitely think (maybe) that the small is the right size for me. I'm 5' 4", 115 lbs and would like to wear this sweater in spring and fall, but wanted to make sure there was room for a turtlenect underneath. That's why I decided to go with the 10 1/2" needles instead of 10" needles -- to give me a little extra room.
And I kept monitoring the Sylvi KAL on Ravelry and with post I read this little voice kept nudging (screaming?) at me, "This sweater is going to be too big the way you're going!"
I put my arm through the cuff/sleeve -- it did seem pretty big around my wrist. I measured, tried on, obsessed some more and finally decided -- again, definitely, I'm committing to this and not changing my mind.
So I ripped it out and started over.

Cuff #3

Last night, I cast on... AGAIN!
I'm using size 10" needles, strictly following the pattern (except for the cuff overlap, of course). So I'm ready to stitch the ends in again, pick up my 39 stitches and humbly ask the gods for re-entry into seed stitch land and go forth....

Shrinking and Felting

Well, yesterday was time for my monthly visit to our family shrink to discuss my mental well-being in the face of unemployed.

When I first learned the restaurant was going to close and that we'd both be out of work, I started having panic attacks at the thought of having to return to some high-powered corporate job like I'd had before that would just consume my person and all my time (before the restaurant, I was the Director of Interactive Media for a multi-media publishing company).

A visit to my good doctor result in orders to take a hiatus this summer and regroup both physically and emotionally.

So on this particular day, I was sitting in the waiting room working on an i-cord handle for this felted wine cozy when he called me in for our meeting. I had told him that I've been knitting for sanity and he asked me what I was working on. The end result -- we spent the majority of our meeting talking about knitting!

I explained to him the felting process and ended up logging onto Ravelry on his computer and showing him this modified Groovy Striped Felted Bag that I just finished as a beach bag for my mother who lives on Lake Charlevoix. (Read post below to see how I modified the pattern!)

Then I showed him this blog... and he thought it was interested... now he'll probably read this to see how I'm really doing!