Something New!

No, I'm not marrying a white man. But, oh man! I've been wanting to blog so much lately. I've been so inspired when cruising through the blogs of my fellow needle crafters. Only thing is, if I don't knit/crochet, there will be nothing to blog about.

I promised myself that after my last project I would learn something new.

Here's my failed attempt at learning lace. I think that if I can do this shawl, I can really call myself a knitter.


I stuck with it, and started a successful swatch at the LYS. I really didn't need them, it was just the moral support that made my 30th try a success. No really, about 5 minutes after I sat down, I realized that I had read the instructions for one of the stitches incorrectly. After this realization, everything went smoothly. Well, if you don't consider the conversation that was forced on me by this hired home-schooler. She thought it important that I not be too graphic when discussing the birds and the bees with my son. She's researched just how damaging this could be. This was only after her teenage son became a teenage parent. I didn't think it at all necessary to tell her that I myself have 2 BD's. I mean, did I want the conversation to go any further?


The swatches are done in sizes 2, 4, and 6. I think I'll do my shawl in the 6, even though the knitting is harder to handle (for lack of a better term). I think the results will end in a lacier finish. The pattern called for some thread like stuff, but this is the laciest that knit pick gets. It'll do.

I also called myself learning how to spin with a drop spindle. I'm not gonna rush this. but I do want to learn.

Both of these failures caused me to cry out for stockinette therapy. I started this Long Line Jacket from Louisa Harding's Modern Classics. Ahhhh.

And finally, it is with great regret that I must inform you all that the toddler locs were unraveled. The sand was just getting to be too much. After washing it 3 times, when retwisting, grains of sand were still coming out onto my fingers. Yuck! I couldn't stand the thought of knowing that stuff was still in there. The sand was down to the core and would not be moved. Even after combing all her locs out, and washing twice more, she still went to school the next day with sand levitating at the tips of every puff ball. We will try again, but when?

Happy Mother's Day

This one especially goes out to the single mother, the mother who just lost a child, the heartbroken, the mother who has to plan her own mother's day celebration (cause God loves a cheerful giver and so do you) or has no celebration at all, and the mother who won't stop giving even though that child could care less. Happy mother's day, ya'll. I feel ya.

I let this heffa at my not so LYS calculate the amount of yarn I would need for my Sloppy Joe sweater. I was like wow, what customer service! I should have known. I ended up with two more skeins than I needed. I mean, I could understand one, but two? Well, now my stash has grown by one skein of lavender Cotton Fleece. That's right, I said one. I took this opportunity to make me and HP a matching set. Oh yeah, I sewed up the side seams completely.

HP went for her "first" retouch this weekend. I quote first because I had to do something before our next appointment. Her new school has this sand box that she just loves. I'm a germaphobe and am extremely concerned about ring worm and the baldness that it could ensue. She's been rolling around in the sand like an animal and the staff seems to think it's soooo cute. Ew, gross. I've threatened to withhold her after-school snack if I find her dirty from head to toe one mo gin. This and putting skirts on her seems to have worked. She doesn't like the sensation of the sand directly on her skin for some reason but doesn't mind getting her pants and new locs encrusted with this sand that doesn't exactly look brand new.

Anyway, I've tried to wipe the sand out but just had to scrub her head on Monday. I tightened the locs the best I could, but she doesn't like to wear a scarf either. So, this is what it looked like by Friday night.


Shannon put it back together on Saturday, and she slept with a scarf for most of the night. A long night it was with two pee-pee accidents and all. Pray for me ya'll, and I'll pray for you.

Now that there are two loc'ed heads in the house, I'm going to have to perfect my self-maintenance techniques. I've done it myself before, but you know how that goes. This time it wasn't too bad. I got pretty much all of them tightened. I thought I'd try to give myself some braid crinkles. Wrong idea. What could have been a good thing, ended up being a display of disorganized frizziness. That's why you see me with the up do in the above pic.

Big Catch Up

A lot has transpired since my last blog. First off, I've finished Sloppy Joe. I think that I've done a pretty good job. The only mod I made was to the sleeve increases. For my size I began to to increase every 5th row after 68 stitches. The other way would have produced sleeves way to long. I have to also give a hand slap to the designer, Louisa Harding that the width of the sweater be 44 inches. What a typo!

The design does include these split sides, but looking at the picture I don't think this suits me. I may consider sewing them up.

I mean, I like the way the sweater fits and all. It's very comfy and I love the yarn, but it's not as sloppy looking as it was on the model. I studied the picture of her and noticed that she wasn't very blessed in the boobs area. Although the sweater does not fit me tightly at all, I definitely think that it's not as loose as it was supposed to be. However, going up one size would have been a mistake. I guess I'm just not that into sloppy. The rib pattern is very cool.

I am also performing a major experiment. I mean, after the post before last you probably new this was coming. So, here's the beginning of my journal on Locking Tots. Hmmm, is this a good idea? Well, here are some pics on how it started out. Here's HP sitting on the couch. She felt very cute on this day and asked me to take a picture with her rocking the fro.

About a week later, she's sitting in the chair of my stylist, Shannon. Every day debris was stored up in the fro.

Here's HP Getting her neck and head massage,

Please take note of the glamorous-ness of Shannon. These perfectly groomed back length locs are exactly what we're going for, so HP is in good hands.

She's just been shampooed.

She didn't fidget or anything the entire time (about 1 1/2 hours).

Here she is half way clipped.

And now almost completely clipped (the reason I pay to have my hair maintained, Shannon is very meticulous and never neglects a single hair.)

Getting her under the dryer was a different thing, we eventually got the 4 pillows to stop slipping.

And, voila. HP loves it, and so do I. She's feeling it.

I must admit though, that after one week, she looks quite scruffy. But she's still just a beautiful.

She started pre-school. Where we live, pre-school is not free. You have to shop around for it like a daycare. She flipped out when I didn't let her out at the same school her brother went to. He-he-he.


Here she is with her new principal. You can tell the locs have shrunken back and stuck to her head a little. I tried to dress them up with barrettes.

She's already made a friend.And, believe it or not, she's sitting in circle time (in this case square time). She asks me everyday, if she's going to school. I'm so happy she loves it!