SHARK!!

So here I am enjoying my last free Wednesday for a while*, and wondering what I could show you that you would possibly have any interest in, but that won't ruin any birthday surprises later this year, and wondering in the meantime how in the world four weeks go by so fast with no posts... and I remembered. I have a shark.

His name is SHARK!!
I made him out of Cotton Ease.
I used size US4 double pointed needles (I think).
His teeth are pointy, but not so pointy that you can't toss him a fishy snack every now and then. And, he likes to cuddle.
I used this pattern: Natty Knits Shark
Here's the Ravelry link: Shark

Did I tell you his name is SHARK!! ?

And he has pointy teeth.

I also have a dilemma.
At first I thought that my awesome cowboy nephew might need a stuffed shark.
And then my awesome story-writing momma mentioned she might need a stuffed shark to enhance her octopus stories.
And then I finished SHARK!! and thought that I might need to keep him for my very own.
And then I decided that I wanted to make an army of tiny, sock-yarn sharks.
And then I bought some yarn for my shark army,
and then I didn't make any.
Sigh. What to do, what to do.

Regardless, SHARK!! goes very well with my BRAND NEW MESSENGER BAG for SCHOOL!!!


My AWESOME, MOST-FAVORITEST sister-in-law got this bag for me. I think it fits very well with my current underwater life motif.

*Registration for classes for the TAP MBA program is next Wednesday, May 18. On Wednesday, May 25, I start classes toward my MBA. I should be done in the spring of 2013, a gazillion Wednesdays from now. :) I can't wait to carry my books in my new bag!!

And As If That Weren't Enough...

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, if you had talked to me any time between last September and last Christmas, you probably heard about the octopi. That is, if you aren't my mom. At one point in November or December, a few of us went to lunch with a vendor for my day job, and I opened my big mouth about the gang of stunt octopi I was knitting for Christmas. The vendor jumped on it, wondering all about them, how big they are, and how much one would cost. I knew I was in trouble, but he wanted one for his girlfriend's birthday, which wasn't until the end of January, so at least I had some additional time.

This one presented an additional challenge, though... he specified not only the colors, but also that he wanted the head/mantle part to look like a yin yang.

I was somehow strangely excited to get started. The pattern calls for the head/mantle part to be knit in the round, so I looked up techniques for knitting intarsia (blocks of color) in the round. I even tried a couple of the techniques, but I couldn't get any of them to work on that small of a scale in a quick enough amount of time to satisfy my "hafta-be-perfect-the-first-time" mentality. So I ripped them all and knitted that part back and forth, adding an extra stitch on the ends to be able to seam him up. Once he was seamed, you couldn't even tell he'd been knit back and forth. (Thank you, drunken monkey, for learning how to seam for reals.)

He also wanted the bottom of the tentacles to be a mixture of colors, and my stash generously supplied some matching Cascade Quatro to fit the bill.

I had fun making a different colored octopus with a challenging design feature. The vendor wasn't nearly as excited or impressed as I'd hoped he'd be, but that's why I won't typically knit for cash. I knit for fun. I hope his girlfriend is taking good care of her octopus. He's a cutie.

I have two more octopi in progress in my projects bin. I have dreams of an entire fingering-weight-octopus army. But that's a lot of tentacles. And there are sweet babies in Washington that need some sweaters this year... :)

How Many Tentacles Is That?

So, did you know I knit my mom seven octopi for Christmas?

No, of course you didn't. (Well, if you talked to me any time between last summer and last Christmas, you probably did, except, for the sake of the blog, let's just assume that you didn't, okay? Great.)

Do you remember Oliver "Ollie" Octopolis? You probably do, but you might not remember that his name is Ollie, because I think he got his name after he made his appearance on my blog. Anyway, this is Ollie.

Ollie lives at my mom's house. She had seen one of his cousins at Great Yarns in Everett, WA, when we visited for Thanksgiving in 2009. So, I searched my stash (I know... were you sitting? Sorry.) and found some Cascade 220 in good complementary colors and got started. The pattern for Ollie is found in Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh. The pattern is not difficult, just a little tedious and a mite fiddly, but I love tedious and fiddly, so I loved the pattern. I made a couple sock-yarn-sized Octos, too, and if you clicked the link up there for the blog post about Ollie, you met Celia and Cedric the cephalopods, too.

Anywho, last summer my mom said something about how she really wanted to write a book about Ollie. (My mom writes awesome kids' books. Click the Knit Knack links on the side of my blog if you are unfamiliar with her previous inspiration.) When my mom writes books about her knitted toys, she puts them in various locations in various positions and takes various pictures of them, which she then uses to illustrate her various stories.

So when she went to write a story about Ollie, she ran into a snag. See, Ollie's tentacles have pipe cleaners in them, so you can arrange and pose and rearrange and re-pose Ollie's tentacles to your heart's content. However, Mom was (and still is) SO pleased with Ollie's current state of tentacular enlightenment, that she didn't (and still doesn't) want to arrange OR rearrange his tentacles. She proposed the idea for a STUNT octopus, a second octopus identical to Ollie, whose legs she could twist and pose to make him climb things and hold things and otherwise fill in for Ollie.

At first I thought she was crazy. ANOTHER octopus? Did she know how many tentacles those things had?

And then I kept thinking about it. And I thought about it long enough that *I* became the crazy one.

Because really... what's the fun in knitting one identical octopus, when you could knit a whole bunch of octopi that are *almost* identical? Really.

So between September and December of last year I knitted seven stunt octopi for Ollie. That way, Mom could hold auditions, or use various stunt doubles for various types of stunts, since all of them have different backgrounds, experiences, and disciplines. Would you like to meet them? Of course you would.

(On a side note, you need to know that each of the stunt octopi came with their own head shots and resumes. They all have the same objective: To become the stunt double for Ollie Octopolis in his popular children’s book series.)

Jeff “Jeff” Molluskwi
Jeff performed as a stunt double in the following movies:
- Anemone of the State (1998)
- Bridge on the River Octopus (1957)
- Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
- Tentacles of Fire (1989)
and lists the following interests and awards:
- Won “Best Work With a Submarine” at the 1998 Taurus World Stunt Awards for Anemone of the State
- Specializes in underwater fight scenes
- Enjoys gardening in his free time

Tommy Tutone
(Tommy was born from two different dye lots of the teal yarn. Half of his tentacles are slightly darker than the other half. It's not really noticeable in the pictures, but Tommy prides himself on his tonal qualities.)
Tommy has performed stunts in the following movies:
- My Fair Cephalopod (1964)
- Tentacles on the Roof (1971)
- Meet Me in my Mantle (1995)
- Eight Brides for Eight Brothers (1954)
- Octlohoma (1955)
and lists the following interests and awards:
- Won “I Didn’t Even Know They Needed Stunt Doubles in Musicals: Lifetime Achievement Award” at the 1995 Taurus World Stunt Awards
- Graduated with PhD in Musical Theatre from Shanghai Ocean University, 1954
- Taught tap dance classes with Fred Astaire

Josiah “Lenny” Reiff
Lenny has performed as a stunt double in the following movies:
- Running With Scissors (2002)
- You’re the One Eye Love (2000)
- One Fine Eye (1996)
and has made appearances in the following television programs:
- Miami Ink (2005-2008)
- 8 is Enough (1977-1981)
- Arms of Love (1992-1993)

Eileen Cephalopodopolous
Eileen is the only female stunt octopus, and has been the Bond Girl stunt double in a tentacle-ful of James Bond movies, including:
- Octopus of Solace (2008)
- The World is Not a Cephalopod (1999)
- GoldTentacle (1964)
- Doctor Octopus (1962)
- The Spy Who Inked Me (1977)
- For Your Arms Only (1981)
She also made a guest appearance in the recent television docu-drama, Octomom: Me and My 200,000 Kids.

Bruce McKraken
(The idea for Bruce's inside out legs was an inspiration from one of my very good friends at sock club - Hi Melinda! - who made her own octopus and inadvertently sewed the legs together inside out. Brilliant!)
Bruce has performed as a stunt double in the following movies:
- The Little Mermaid (1989)
- Arachnophobia (1990)
- A Mollusk Among Us (1992)
- The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)
- The Flying Octopus (2004)
- Eight Below (2006)
- Tickle Fight (2007)
and lists the following awards and achievements:
- Received “Best Underwater Pyrotechnic Stunt Award” at the World Stunt Awards, 2001
- Started the first underwater Ham Radar Station, O80CT, to guide stray submarines home

Simon Simone
Simon has performed stunts in the following movies:
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Jaws
- Ocean’s Seven
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Creature from the Blue Lagoon
and has earned his PhD in Underwater Theater.

T8tum "T8" Octum
(Tate, oh, sorry... T8 is actually the same colors as the other octopi, but he had his picture taken at a different studio and the lighting was not exactly the same. When you think of T8, imagine a strapping high school lad, his future laid out before him like the red carpet at the Oscars, and... well... T8 doesn't have a resume. He just has a mohawk and a dream.) The following is T8's submission:

Dude so like I never been in any movies but I look totally like this dude so I could totally be his stunt double. So I totally sk8board all the time cuz figure sk8ters are LAME!! And I almost gradu8ted in 2008 but I dropped out so I could go to the sk8board CHAMPIONSHIPS in fort Lauderdale and I was totally AWESOME!!! So you should totally let me be this dude’s stunt double cuz I ROCK and stuff.

Right. Well.

The octopi are getting along fabulously at my mom's house. (I really wish I'd taken video of her opening them and reading the resumes at Christmas. Each was a surprise, since I'd hidden most of them in the cupboards around her living room. Hysterical.)

Ollie is happy to have so many friends, and each stunt octopus has found his or her place in the household. The world is waiting with baited breath for Ollie (and his stunt septuples') adventures!!

ETA: Props to my good friends Randy and Kimmie Marksberry for their help and inspiration for many of the movie names and ideas listed above! Brilliant!

Oh, Deer...

Looks like somebody in the Sharpie advertising department has never gotten handknit socks for Christmas. Sad.

Bebe

I have lots to catch up on.
You'll get one thing at a time.
Don't complain, it means more posts.

My bro-bro and sis-in-law have a new addition to their family. She was born in July and the adoption process is trudging along the train tracks toward full Higgins-hood for the little one. She's so precious and I can't wait to meet her in a couple weeks. Here she is:


In proper Annie Grook style, I knitted her a welcome shrug. It's this one, knitted with Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton yarn, with a lettuce-inspired ruffle on the edges instead of the ribbing in the pattern.


Looks cozy.


Thanks, Mo & Mom, for the pictures. :)

Bliss

New apartment (with heat).
New couch (add blanket & cat).
New sock pattern (plus tasty yarn).
Time to sit down and knit (bliss).

Welcome back.

Highlight

For the last four years, I've traveled with friends to Wooster over Memorial Day weekend for the Great Lakes Sheep & Fiber Festival. This year was no different. There were alpacas and bunnies and more sheep than you could possibly count. I got some sock yarn and some more sock yarn and a sock book and a pretty good deal on some pretty blue linen yarn. We didn't get to dye yarn on Monday because it rained all morning and we opted to stay in and relax instead.

BUT!

The COMPLETE HIGHLIGHT of the WHOLE WEEKEND was the AMAZING GRADUATION PARTY I attended on Sunday night!!!!!!!

First of all, here is one of my FAVORITE FAMILIES in the WHOLE UNIVERSE:

(l to r: Tracey, Cydney, Brian & Garret)

Last year, Garret carefully arranged his graduation party for Memorial Day weekend, just so that I could attend! How thoughtful! This year, Cydney did the same. What a family! Tracey and I are already trying to figure out how we can get together again next Memorial Day...

Here I am with the happy graduate... She promised that someday when I grow up I can be as cute as she is.


And here I am with the proud Momma... one of my bestest friends in the whole universe. Congratulations, Tracey... I LOVE YOU!!!

Triple Threat

This is Ollie. He's from Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh. He's made with Cascade 220 and size 2 dpns. I made him for my mom after she saw an octopus at Great Yarns in Everett, WA, last Thanksgiving.

This is Cedric. He's made from the same pattern, only with sock yarn leftovers and size 0 dpns. I made him after I made Ollie, because I saw a ton of sock yarn octopi on Ravelry and fell completely in love.

This is Celia. She's made from the same pattern, also with sock yarn leftovers and size 0 dpns. I made her after I made Cedric, because making octopi with sock yarn leftovers might now be my favorite thing to do.

Celia and Cedric are sweet on each other. Awwww.
I wanna hold your hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand...

Celia now lives with Wendy, and Cedric lives with me.

I already have more sock yarn leftovers picked out to make another one...

and some worsted weight yarn picked out to hold three strands together to make a Giant Octopus!!! Beware!!

Finished!

Sometimes it's not about win or lose. Sometimes it's important just to finish the race.

I didn't officially participate in the Knitting Olympics this year, but I did make an unofficial goal of finishing two separate projects.

One of the projects is my Mystery Socks, both knit at the same time (sort of), started January 1 and finished February 18. I've done better, but that's not too shabby.

Pattern: Jan/Feb Mystery socks from the Solid Socks group on Ravelry.

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Semi-solids, Color: Jade

Needles: Kollage square DPNs, US1.5 (2.5mm)

The other project I finished has been staring evilly at me from the table next to my TV chair since last November. It was sleeveless when I took it to Washington with me over Thanksgiving. By the time I got back to Ohio, it had one sleeve finished, and the stitches for the second sleeve picked up. The week before the new year, the second sleeve was half finished. (Then the mystery sock pattern appeared on Jan. 1, and my focus went elsewhere.) This past Monday, when I was sent home from work early due to the severity of the White Death, I thought to myself, "How ridiculous is it that this project isn't finished yet???" I flipped on the Olympics, and, inspired by the endurance and tenacity of the athletes, I finished...

Calvin's Birthday Sweater!!!!!!!


Pattern: Sherwood from Knitty, Fall 2006

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease, 50% Cotton, 50% Acrylic

Needles: circulars and DPNs, US7

Size: 6-8 (30" chest)

Sure, his birthday was last November. But this is the FIFTEENTH sweater I've knitted for nieces and nephew, and this is the first time I've been late. And if you're gonna be late, you might as well be REALLY late. Besides, it's still the right season, and it will still fit him (I think), and it should still fit him next winter, too (I hope). And, I've already found the perfect pattern for his 5th birthday, and I need to get started on it very soon.

Plus, it's not about whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. And, uh... finishing. Yeah. Finishing.

Three Pair*

I've taught a few Fibertrends Felted Clogs classes at the store this winter, and in order to garner interest in the pattern and the class, I made a store sample last fall. I originally had no interest in a pair for myself, so I made the sample pair to fit Karen, the store manager. However, when they were finished, Joy, the store owner, claimed them for herself, felted one, and left the other unfelted to show the difference in the store.


But then I actually had to teach the class, and I generally like to work on the same project that my students are working on, so I decided to make myself a pair. I didn't want to buy more yarn, though, so I scoured my spare bedroom for leftover Cascade 220 and came up with a big bag full. So I made a pair for me.


Hmm. A bit big. Perhaps I should felt them.


Much better. Super toasty. They stay on my feet surprisingly well, too.

So, I figured I was done knitting felted clogs. Two pair is enough, right? Then I happened to draw Karen's name (the aforementioned store manager) for the store's Christmas gift exchange. What to get her.... what to get her... oh yes! She got robbed of some felted clogs! So I picked out some new colors and got to knittin'.

Pre-felting:


And post-felting, an action shot of the third pair of clogs showing off their practicality and keeping Karen's feet toasty in the yarn store:


There you have it. Proof not only that I can finish complete PAIRS of things for knitting projects, but that I can complete MULTIPLE complete PAIRS of things for knitting projects. But three is enough. At least for this year.

*This post brought to you by the song "Air Force Ones" by Nelly, chorus lyrics re-written here to fit the theme of the post, and hopefully make Brenda giggle:

I said give me three pairs

(cause) I need three pairs

So I can get to stomping in my felted clogs

(Knitters) stomping in our felted clogs

Mystery Medicine*

*Or, The Cure For Second Sock Syndrome

The "knitalong" is a concept that's been around for a long time. The basic concept is that a bunch of people knit the same project at the same time and talk about it, share problems, successes, frustrations, and provide motivation and inspiration to keep going if needed. People have been hosting knitalongs on the internet for quite a while, too, and now that Ravelry is around, it's way easier to find groups of people knitting the same pattern at the same time and sharing their thoughts and ideas about it.

The "mystery project" is another concept that's been hanging around for a bit. The idea here is that somebody designs a pattern for a particular kind of project (a shawl, a scarf, a sock...), and only releases part of the pattern at a time, so that the crafter doesn't know what the finished project is going to look like, and can only go as fast as the designer wishes for them to go.

I've never done an official knitalong OR mystery project before. But 2010 is a new year, and I signed up for both at the same time.

There's a group on Ravelry called "Solid Socks" for people who like knitting socks out of solid or semi-solid colored yarns. They host a mystery sock knitalong every two months. The made-of-awesome part of the current mystery sock knitalong is that the pattern was designed by Lisa, a lady in my sock club here in Cincinnati. How cool is that? I actually saw her knitting the sock last fall when she started coming to sock club, and asked her about it then. And now at least a half dozen women in my sock club are following along with the pattern and doing the same project, along with however many people across the world who are following along in the Ravelry group.

The first clue of the pattern came out on January 1, 2010, and I cast on that day. As of 11:00 tonight, just one short hour before clue 3 is available, I finished clue two for BOTH OF MY SOCKS. That's right people, this mystery thing has inspired me to do both socks at the same time. When I finish, I'm going to have a PAIR of socks done. Behold:



Two cuffs completely completed. I'm either going to have to knit only mystery socks from now on, or cut up my sock patterns and mail them to myself a piece at a time.

Admittedly, I'm also quite motivated by the fact that I will see designer-Lisa at sock club on Saturday and I'm trying to impress her. :)



(The color is better in the other picture, but this one shows off the stitch pattern better, I think.)

Only half an hour till clue 3 comes out!!

No Sitting

Found on www.passiveaggressivenotes.com.

Cute Kids, Cont.

The birthday girl liked her sweater.

And Calvin liked his crocodable.

Oh, did I mention Hallie REALLY liked her sweater? Mmm. Tasty.

I'm Posting Already

I have no idea what happened to November, honest.

I've been knitting a lot (it seems), but a lot of it is gifts. And we already know what that means.

But very recently, my FAB sister-in-law gave me a TON of photos, many of which I will share with you in the days to come. Today? My favorite picture. The one I've been waiting for. The one that brought a couple little tiny tears to my eyes.

This is why I knit.

P.S.

KnitPicks has released the Santa hat pattern I wrote up for them along with all the other Sheldon costumes. It's a free pattern. If you have a tiny head that needs a Santa hat this Christmas, go get your knit on!

KnitPicks suggests fingering weight for this hat... when I did Knit Knack's hat almost 3 years ago, I used a bulky weight yarn (and fewer stitches, obviously...) which gave it an oversized look that I really liked. Go nuts. Gimme a shout if you make one... I want to see who you put it on!

Actober Occomplishments

We're barely halfway through my favorite month of the year, and already I think it's been the most eventful half-month I've had in a long time.

My birthday was October 3, the same day as sock club's Socktober to Dye For.

19 industrious ladies plus my mom, aunt, Dani, Lise, Tobie and myself had a fantastic day mixing dyes, painting yarn, and trying not to be blown over by the wind. It was a gorgeous day for dyeing.

There were so many beautiful autumn colors painted into yarns that day. I had to be very diligent not to steal all any of them. Seriously. So much fun.

Then on October 8, my sand volleyball team (Sandy Pants) played in the fall tournament. It was cold and wet (but it had fortunately stopped raining) and our toes froze in the sand, but we won two straight games to win the whole tournament! Booyah! It was ridiculously fun, and I can't wait for April so we can start all over again.

October 10th was the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Walk for Kids, and I walked with my friends Scott & Joy for their daughter's memorial Find A Voice Fund. Our team raised over $9,500 toward purchasing a device to allow a child without a voice to be able to communicate with his loved ones. We walked three miles around Coney Island with thousands of other Cincinnatians trying to raise money for various causes. It was a great day and I was happy to be a part of such a great cause.

Then on October 11, I bent over, and all my activity ceased. I've spent the last week flat on my back with sciatic issues that I haven't dealt with for eight years or more. Five days later I'm feeling well enough to sit in a chair and do laundry and actually knit (!), and I'm planning on going to sock club in the morning. I'm not back to 100% yet, but I'm doing much better. The body sure knows how to get a girl to slow down!

Hope your October has been exciting as well, and hopefully less painful. Cheers!

Happy Birthday, Hallie!

My littlest niece Hallie turns one year old today!

To celebrate, of course she gets her first birthday sweater! This is the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman, knitted in Creatively Dyed Yarn's worsted weight merino, color Paisley. I LOVE the colors in this yarn, and the way it knits up all squinchy. This is the second EZ sweater I've knit for Hallie... I wonder how many other great Zimmerman patterns I'll try out for her!

I wish you could squeeze it. So squinchy!

The sibling gifts were handmade this time, too. Remember Maggie's b-day sweater? Here's the miniature version for her new American Girl Doll, Kit.

(This Kit borrowed from Wendy's daughter for trying-on and a photo shoot. Yes, Wendy, I did it all by myself!!!)


Mom had the perfect buttons in her button box and let me use them. Woo hoo!

This past summer when the west coast Higgins family came to Ohio, Calvin found a tree root growing above the surface out by the playhouse in Mom's backyard, and told me he'd found a CROCODABLE!!! So I figured he needed a croco-dable of his very own to play with.

Pattern is Hannah Kaminsky's Baby Alligator free amigurumi pattern. I used odds and ends of Cascade 220 from my stash! He turned out adora-dable!

Lots of love to all the Higgins kids... and their parents, too! Hope you have a happy first birthday, Hallie!