Pixie Purls

You know you remember it, and you know you liked them (if you were in middle school at the time). I totally loved that song. I remember wearing my black leggings, florescent pink socks with tennis shoes, and a long white t-shirt that had a black and white photo of the band, with like sprinkles of florescent green and pink splashes all over it. Remember those cool shirts that changed with your temperature? They went from all purple to all green or something.

Rumor is they will be on the today show friday to perform and announce their new tour. i will not be at the concert, but I will watch the today show to see how they all look and sound so many years later. I did love that song, I am not ashamed to admit it. I was 12 or something, I was allowed!!! :P

Their outfits and haircuts remember me of "Lost Boys", I think I'm going to have to rent that from netflix soon!

Posted by pixie at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

We ordered our plan tickets, hotel and car rental for Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, it is SO on!!

I was really frustrated because the flights went up in price form last week by a good $50 a seat, no fun. So who will I see this year? I wonder if Cara will come again. I met Eunny and saw Wendy and of course Monica of My Two Left Needles (who seems to be MIA and I miss reading her blog dearly!). It's too late and I'm too tired to link all those names up, sorry! I think I even have some pixie pins stashed some place.

I'm just anxious and excited about my new pattern (first even!) and a bit frustrated because I want to release it next week but I wanted to re-knit it but I won't get the new numbers until tomorrow so there really isn't time to re-knit and re-shoot the photos. So I am considering just using the test-knit photos for the pattern but that is very different yarn then I used (but I sure loved in the FO and now want to order some of the yarn myself!). The entire original concept was a patriotic top, but then I think if I make it less "theme-y" it will probably be more accessible to people. I could always use the photos of her in the 4th of July version but I like having a photo of a proper sized top to really show off how well it looks on the babies form. Properly fitting is always better. I could wait another week to release it, but I'm SO ANXIOUS! It's nice having you all along on my journey on becoming a "designer" and all the trials and tribulations one goes through. It's all rather fun though!

Posted by pixie at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It has been a whirl wind of a week. I am exhausted most days as even though BG is sleeping through the night really well, i still wake up at all sorts of odd hours and have been for the entire week.

I am SO excited about my knitting pattern, I stopped by the LYS this week and the shop owner ordered 4 to sell in her store! My FIRST sale! Wahoo! I also am going to lend her the first one I knit to display to hopefully bump up sales and have her order more. I did all kinds of wacky things wrong when I was re-sizing the math in the first one, so I want to knit another. I might actually knit 2 more. it's sort of addicting and so quick to knit and so easy to put on.

I got the first test knit in the mail today, all the way from Canada. It actually is pretty close to the exact measurements it's supposed to be. i think I messed up the larger sizes the worst. This one fits BG perfectly.

The yarn used is Avery Allison Yarns Premium Multi-Colored Hand-Dyed Yarn in Rose Garden Mary-Catharine is the talented knitter with perfect tension who knit this version. It's incredibly soft. I bet some STR (Socks That Rock from Bluemoon Fiber Arts) would be really nice for this little top. The pattern will be available NEXT WEEK!

(Country Kiddie)

I also am totally loving the "mommy" group I am in. It's a bunch of moms who all live in my county who have 2007 babies. Today I had a great conversation with another mom who cloth-diapers so I might get brave enough to really give it a go after she shows me how to use them properly. I learn best directly from people, visually! It was 75 out today, I was so hot it was insane!

Posted by pixie at 08:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

My DH's cousin, who I have featured in this blog previously when she came for a visit, is a knitter. She claims not to be a very good knitter, but as you can see she is a very good knitter!

Well she lives in the Bay Area and went to stitches west. What a dummy I was for not asking her to pick me up a bob pin huh? She actually stopped by the ravelry booth and joined the site sometime there after. She got the cool little passport and went around to tons of booths. She picked a little surprise up for me which was insanely sweet of her, and low and behold she picked out 2 things I would have totally drooled over.

How cool is that tee? I am not sure I can name all the wheel parts but I know a few! My Ashford Joy is such an odd little design it's almost confusing to look at traditional wheels. Its such a cool tee, and I love the color. Meeko doesn't know all about Blue Moon Fiber Arts, she has no idea how popular they are. Meeko if your reading this, when Blue Moon Fiber Arts debut their sock yarn at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival a few years ago, there was a line around the building before their booth even opened and they sold out within like an hour or something crazy like that, and they had LOTS of yarn too. Blue Moon is the creme de la creme of hand dyed sock yarn.

So lookit, it's a Blue Moon sock spinning kit!!! How cool!! Thanks Meeko!! You rock! Talk about a nice stash enchantment. Check out meeko's ravelry page and add her as a friend, she's new to the online knitting world! One day when they fit BG, I'll have some cute hats to show you all that she made before BG was born.

Posted by pixie at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's only supposed to be like 65 degrees today which doesn't bode well for the very first days of spring. However I remember two summers ago it was such a wonderful and mild summer (last summer was awful) and I keep hoping for another one of those mild summers.

I had to get out of the house saturday to work on my minimalist cardi. It needed to be "kitchener-ed" up and that really requires a lot of attention. I was very pleased with my results and it took about half an hour which is way to long but I don't use that technique very often.

I am having the Country Kiddy pattern tech edited and already there are some serious math flaws in it, I feel so bad for my test knitters! Ugh, who knew I was such an idiot with math (okay actually I did already know that, which was one reason I've taken so long to actually write any patterns despite all the ideas in my head). The good news is she may have it ready as early as next week! I think I might want to knit it one more time after that myself though to make sure I am happy with it.

I worked all weekend on my PDF template for this pattern and any future patterns and that took a few nights and several hours work, but I am pretty happy with it.

BG and I started swimming lessons when she hit 6 months old and it has been a lot of fun. There are two other moms in the lessons from my SAHM playgroup so that has made it even more fun!

Oh and here is a photo of BG and I on her first plan ride from the last weekend or whenever that was. That reminds me, I need to buy my tickets for MDS&W soon!

Posted by pixie at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Well here it is, my first pattern. I was going to submit it to knitty, but given the nature of the yarn I used and it being for the 4th of July, I had already missed the summer deadline. So instead I will be making it available on my site as my first ever published pattern! Here it is in size 12 months. It will be available in 6/12/18 month sizes. It can of course be knit in something other then this festive yarn so it's not specific to the 4th of July, but the idea came from my wanting something for BG to be able to wear that wasn't too hot, and I wanted something cuter then a regular top from the stores.

(Country Kiddie)

It's a bit too big on her right now as she isn't in a size 12 months just yet, I'm planning ahead.

I am currently having it test knit, as well as tech edited to make sure it is perfect! I would love some input and suggestion on names, if you have a creative idea mention it in the comments, otherwise vote for the names below.

I still have to create and format the PDF file, have a proper photo-shoot and of course clean up the pattern and get the results from the tech editor. Do you think you would want to knit it?

Posted by pixie at 08:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

So today was the first day of spring and it was 10 degrees colder then yesterday. Funny. This past weekend the husbeast, BG and I all ventured to Northern VA to attend and participate in my very oldest-best-friends wedding. Our MIL watched BG at the hotel, the husbeast was the "official" but "unprofessional" videographer and I was a bridesmaid. I only had to pump once the entire time, but omg my post baby body was frustrating me. I used to wear a size 4, and I had to get the dress in a size 10 going by my measurements at the time (3 months post partum). It just totally didn't fit right. I didn't look too awful but next to the size 2 bridesmaid next to me I could see how badly it fit me. It was a good 2 inches too high on the chest, and it was way to loose around the body. I'm a girl, this sort of stuff bugs me. I'm a neurotic girl, this sort of stuff really bugs me.

But really, I didn't look that awful. The bride looked, FANTASTIC.

I got the be there for my nephews birthday party, one of the first birthday parties I have been home for in like, forever. That was nice. I was tired most of the time but I suppose that is the norm now. BG was simply great on the airplane, and even when we missed our plane on the return trip she wasn't bad at all. She even slept in the hotel pack and play, and the other pack and play at my moms house.

Ever wonder what my mom looks like? I swear I was not adopted!

We are happy to be back home. It's funny now that I don't work I appreciate my house so much more then I used too. My official return date for work is when BG is 1 year old. That's sooner then I think, isn't it? hah

So we have settled in back home, and I am working on knitting up a second version of that pattern I am working on, and starring at the Minimalist Cardi sitting in the corner needing to be seamed up. I've been very lazy, enjoying these new nights of freedom by munching in front of the tv and surfing on the computer.

Posted by pixie at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

BG turned 6 months on friday! I have been waiting for 6 months because a lot of new stuff happens. I felt comfortable to try ferber once she reached 6 months, and I have given her rice and oatmeal a few times in the past 2 weeks but this week we got to try some Butter Nut Squash which she seemed to really eat up last night!

So last night we began ferberizing her. My husband says we have never 'really' tried it before but at 4 months we did, just not as easily as this time. I think it just went better and thats why he thinks we didn't do it right the first time. I also think she wasn't ready at that point.

I didn't want to wait to long, and I felt like she really needed to learn how to self sooth. 6 months is a nice age, not to young and not to old to be all pitiful and start saying stuff like "no tired" or something even if she is tired. Some people will do ferber at 4 months, but all babies are different and I think some are not ready that young.

So last night I slept in our bed, for the first time in maybe like 3 months or something like that. I made it until 4am and then co-slept for the last 4 hours. She only ate once, and woke up only at 2am and 4am so i think we did really good. We also ferberized her for her first nap which she made it 1.5 hours and her evening nap she only made it half an hour but I didn't have the heart to keep making her cry, half an hour was better then nothing. She still doesn't have the hang of it and has cried each time. 3 minutes, 5, 10 and then 15. She always falls asleep durring the last 5 minutes of the 15 minute period. I hope it doesn't take too many times for her to start picking up on whats going on and crying for shorter periods of time before going to bed, that's supposed to be what they do. I have heard about it taking one night (clearly not the case for us) to a few nights to an entire week. I hope she catches on quicker then that.

Today she started saying "Bwaaa Bwaa" which is very cute and for some odd reason she seems more independent today with her toys and I'm not sure why. She also seems to finally be rolling tummy to back again after having stopped a while ago after a few bonks on the head. No idea why this all coincided with the ferber stuff, could just be coincidence.

I returned the Rebel XTi and got the Nikon D80 which I have not learned how to use so some of my photos are crappy, I'm also waiting on the better low light portrait lens which I know will take better photos. I have a cute dress to put on her for some "6 month" photos so I can't wait to do that.

Hey, maybe I'll get to podcast again soon now that I might have some evening hours to myself!!! I didn't know what to do with myself last night. I put on discovery channel and ate some chips lol!

Posted by pixie at 05:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Out of the blue I had an idea, and I cast on and amazingly it has worked out so far to the inch as intended. Of course I havn't tried it on BG yet, but it looks good. I'm not sure what I'll do with the pattern, submit it to knitty, make it available on my site or magknits. I have no idea. I want to finish it first.

I am looking for one or two test knitters who would be interested in knitting it. I have nothing to offer at the moment, though I might think of something later. I most certainly could go stash diving and provide compensation that way if you don't mine a few stray dog hairs possibly on the outside of a skein or two :) no baby drool though, promise!

What you would be knitting: A summer top for baby, out of sock yarn, 6st to the inch and you would need to have enough sock yarn to make an adult pair of socks (as thats how much I am using. I have a 100g ball which I think is way more then enough).

If you had a baby to put it on (friend, knit friend, relative) that is even better so we can make sure the size fits. Or you can send it to me and I'll find a baby, and then re-send back to you. If you have a baby to put it on I would like to see photos. So the test knitting is to make sure my instructions make sense, and to make sure it actually fits a child and looks nice. Right now I have it sized for a 12 month old, but I plan to make one size smaller. I'm not sure there would be enough yarn in two adult socks for an 18 month old size, but maybe there is. You can reply in the comments or e-mail me directly pixieATpixiepurlsDOTcom

It's knit top down, in the round. You would need to have accurate gauge so I can make sure my math is correct! Thanks!

Posted by pixie at 01:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

My knitting is going at a snails pace, but it is going, so that is something! The back is blocked, but I still need to block the first sleeve and keep knitting on #2, but I think I will seam up #1 before I finish knitting it, just for a little fun of seeing an almost finished sweater. I hope it's not too big, it's so boxy as it has no shaping.

The yarn just shines doesn't it? I have gotten the husbeast to agree for us all to go to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. We can stay at a hotel and call it a mini-vacation. I want to find a close hotel with a pool, anyone have any recommendations? I've heard rumor there is a good sushi restaurant not too far away. Now we have to decide if we want to drive to save money, or fly to save time. We just havn't been able to settle on a location for a vacation, and with me not working it might come down between getting new carpeting in the house or going someplace more fun. Husbeast and I LOVE to travel so I feel the tug/urge to travel SOO BAD right now. Normally this is the time of year we go to Australia so around feb/march I always start itching to travel someplace exotic, different and fun.

As it turns out the husbeast is going to need his gallbladder removed but I think he's going to wait a few weeks on that. It makes me a bit nervous but the surgeon says its a pretty easy procedure if you catch the problems early on.

Also, I often gets e-mails and rav-mails asking me if I ever plan to podcast again. Indeed I DO! It all just depends on my little one learning to sleep. For example, she is napping right now so I am blogging. But I can't get up, and I can't podcast. She's laying in my lap on a boppy. If I move her she wakes up, and it's more important to me that she gets a good long nap, then I get 15 minutes to myself which isn't really a lot of time anyway, and then she's cranky and everything is miserable. I plan to try ferber again soon, we've been co-sleeping which I was happy to do if it meant she slept better. For a long while she would sleep 10-12 hours straight. Then around 4 months she started waking once a night, and around 5 months she started waking 2, 3 or even 4 times a night which brings us to know. She is not sleeping well and neither am I, so we will try ferber because this is one little girl who knows how to fight sleep, at any cost! So I'm going to try that soon, and if it works easily then I'll get my evenings back and can podcast again!

75 words

Speedtest

Posted by pixie at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)