My favorite librarian sent me this link…snappy new knitting website called Twist Collective. Amazing socks people…go look. I mean NOW.

I love Dover Press…in unhealthy ways. For a while now I’ve subscribed to their free weekly sampler. Great stuff.

McCain and his wife…notice the bullet proof vest.

Anyhoo…they are now offering McCain and Obama paper dolls. I am thinking the girls might need a set. Especially since big sis has been taking such an interest in the election this year. She was pro-Hilary (a girl thing) but now she is pro McCain. She says she doesn’t like Obama because “All he ever talks about is change, and if you are he president you should like America and not want to change it all the time. AND he never says what he is going to change it to.” Her words.

The Obamas, so as not to show any preference to either candidate. All authentic outfits.

It is funny, as a teacher I try pretty hard to keep my opinions to myself. When politics come up I’ll ask questions, or point out a news story, but I really don’t want to preach my point of view. Especially with coaching debate, I really want them to analyze it for themselves, and really just look at stuff from a different point of view. It probably doesn’t hurt that as an army brat my parents were not allowed to be members of political parties of outwardly display preferences in races (folks are often surprised by this…)

But at home?

We’re trying pretty hard to just keep our opinions to ourselves and let her be interested. The husband is a journalist, so a lot of politics get discussed at home. Little-sis has an absolute bias against Doug Wilder since he dominates so much of our dinner conversation. “Doug?? Again???” Her words.

Another fun part of this election is the husband has interviewed both Eric Cantor and Governor Kaine multiple times. They are currently on the VP list for McCain and Obama, respectively. Seems unlikely either will get it, but still adds to the fun.

Oh, once you have your presidential paper dolls, you can sign up for their free weekly sampler which will include new outfits for your dolls. And a poll as to which doll is selling better. This cracks me up.

And to the person that complainedin the comments about my spelling -if ya’ don’t like my spelling, to quote my mother, tough toots! Scoot elsewhere. I can do multivariable calculus, know six programming languages, and knit a sock in a single soccer game. My brain is too full for spelling. And yes, my students constantly point out that I use spelling more, but my brain just doesn’t go there, so there.

OK, I promised this eons ago, but summer vacation just started and I frankly have a hard time transitioning from full time work to time off each year. I know that it sounds insane, but I really do better with a todo list and a bell schedule.

Here’s the pattern. I used superwash wool yarn-this was a sock yarn, but anything that weight would also work. I used size 1 double point needles. I do not do a heel…this way they fit baby’s feet longer, or they can be used as mittens.

• Using this cast on method cast on 8 stitches, 2 on each needle.
• Knit all stitches.
• Knit 2 Increase by lifting stitch below current stitch and pull yarn through. Repeat in next stitch and K2. Turn and repeat across stitches on other needle.
• Divide stitches between 4 needles, 5 stitches per needle.
• K2, place marker. Knit across all stitches.
• Increase row: Knit 2. Increase by lifting stitch below current stitch and pull yarn through. Knit to end of needle. On next needle knit until the last two stitches. Increase by lifting stitch below next stitch and pull yarn through. Repeat this over the next two needles. This will increase 4 stitches each time.
• Knit row.
• Repeat the last two rows until you have 8 stitches per needle (32 total).
• Knit 4 more rows.
• Move the stitches from needles 1 and 2 to one needle to make it easier to work the cable pattern.
• The cable pattern:
  • Knit 4, purl 2 (dots on the chart), knit 4, purl 2, knit 4. Knit the rest of the row.
  • From here follow the chart below. For the twist put the first two stitches on a cable needle and leave in front. Knit the next two stitches, then knit the two stitches off the cable needle.
  • 
• Work 4 repeats of the cable pattern.
• Work 16 rows in 2×2 ribbing (Knit 2, purl 2).
• Cast off loosely.

You gotta love Japan…this is from the official government website (Ministry of the Environment)

Visiting Japan last summer was so much fun, but one of the problems we ran into over and over was trash disposal. There are no single trash cans, but stacks of bins for recycling. Which is wonderful, but it was the one time my sister and I really couldn’t figure out the pictograms. I had several days where I got chastised by old Japanese ladies about trying to put something in the wrong bin, and wandered around all day with trash in my pockets.

Point being they are very environmentally conscious. I really would love to print this out to frame…I have a lot of Christmas bags I’ve made through the years to try to cut down on paper waste, but this is a much easier soltion.

I have been looking for something super simple to make for new baby/expectant mom. I finally settled on these:

Sorry for the cruddy picture. I finished them while we went to see Kung Fu Panda (better than I thought it would be).

It is super-wash 100% wool sock yarn of some variety. I used size 1 DPN’s. I worked them without heels since babies tend to grow quickly early on. Sort of a cable tube sock.

 The pattern is almost done, I’ll try to post tomorrow.

We are seconds away from summer break around here. I actually have been doing a lot of knitting lately…will try to post pics now that I have some free time.

To go along with all these knitted items I made some gift tags. All of my knitted gifts tend to be machine washable…giving someone a fussy handwash item for a new baby seems cruel somehow.

knitting_care_cards.pdf

These are too snappy:

• From the Museum of Childhood a paper toy theater. This reminds me of a Puss in Boots Pantomime book I have from the 1880’s. I cannot wait to do this with the girls.

• And from Big Huge Labs -This reminds me about my fav Pocket Mod, but it lets you use your own photos. If only the two sites could merge…I love their site. Lots of ideas for making toys from Flickr. It has anouther feature that will generate a palete from your photos. Here’s the panda from the SanDiego Zoo two years ago:

Just like my growing collection of old books, I also love journals. I am a journal junkie. I used to try to keep separate ones…work, craft, garden, personal, etc, plus a calendar. No more.

For the past few years I have just done it all in one. My ideal is about 4×7 with over 100 lined pages. I paste in some library card pockets, a calendar and a few sudoku and we are good to go. I go through about 5 a year.

I know, way too much info. The pic above is from a website called ex libris anonymous. Perfecto! They turn old book covers into journals. I had seen these a while back and just re-found the site.

I am really thinking I need to get myself a birthday gift…after all I turn 35 on Thursday.

I spotted this book over on the Something’s Hiding in Here Blog. This is sooo Japanese.

From the Check and Stripes book

When my sister and I visited my brother last summer in Tokyo we definitely noticed we were overly colorful…everyone there in western style clothes was so muted. Navy, cream, lots of linen. The most fascinating thing was that a lot of the teenagers dressed in the traditional yukata when they went out to party. I have a few my grandmother bought when they lived over there…eventually I need to pull them out and do somehting with them.

I bought several Japanese sewing books while there. They are all incredible. The bookstores had huge selections. All of them are about the same size, and range from traditional to western. All for under $15 dollars US!

My favorite thing was that so many of the upscale department stored had sections that specialized in trims: lace and vintage buttons.

This is a total substitute today. I had planned on sewing all day, but Little-Sis was up all night with a stomach bug, which means I was up all night too. I have learned not to cut up things while sleepy.

Not the most exciting thing ever-but we are practicing addition. This is a worksheet math puzzle. You do the problems and then fill in the blanks to get an Egyptian joke.

Anything to try to make 9 + 5 more interesting….