happybuela

It’s Got A Good Beat, And You Can Dance To It.

That old catchphrase from American Bandstand has been running through my mind a lot lately, for two reasons:

1) Ella has become quite the dancer. When she hears the mere hint of music, she starts to do that dance thing that babies do automatically, but she adds her own flair. She  shimmies her little shoulders, moves her arms around (occasionally like she’s doing a rumba or something), twirls a little, at times some tummy tapping, some Riverdance-esque foot action, and from time to time she even adds some funky head movements (a sort of “dance like an Egyptian” thing.)

Dancing Girl from Mary Kennedy on Vimeo.

But I became a little concerned one day when she was at my house, and a car drove down the street. You know the kind I mean. It announces its presence to the neighborhood and surrounding territories by shaking the walls and rattling the windows. If there is any actual music playing you can’t tell it, due to those enormously heavy bass sound waves that are penetrating everyone and everything that isn’t shielded by lead or something. At the second “beat” (wave), Ella was dancing. My heart broke a little. And then I realized my new mission: that I need to find some music, good music - music that has a good beat and you can dance to it - to expose Ella to for our dances together. So far we’ve been dancing to most of Yo Yo Ma’s “Obrigado Brazil,” Bob James, and some Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass, with a little bit of Mannheim Steamroller Christmas music thrown in. It’s been fun rediscovering some of my old vinyl and dusting off long forgotten CDs. (There’s a whole generation of music on cassette tape that is lost, I fear. I have no way to listen to it, and it will be too expensive to replace it all.) The icing on the cake is that Ella seems to appreciate all of it.

2) I’ve been working on this wrap.

Pattern: Button-up Shrug, in Classic Elite’s “Make It Modern.”
Determined to work from my stash, I chose some humble Lion Brand Cotton Ease (50/50 cotton/acrylic blend) in taupe. I’ve been really happy with the weight, the drape, and how the stitches look. And it was such a happy discovery that the stitch pattern is so nice and rhythmical, I can even knit this while listening and talking to other people. As I began to learn the stitch pattern, I kept thinking that, “It’s got a good beat, and you can dance to it.” A seven stitch pattern with a four row repeat, the wrap practically swirls off the needles.

And it does feel like my knitting is positively dancing.

To Ella, With Love

Copy of IMG_8810
Originally uploaded by happybuelaknits

This will be Ella's second Christmas, and already I can't wait! She's much more self-aware, quite mobile, and able to tear paper to her heart's content (when she isn't trying to eat it.) I had only been knitting a couple of weeks when Christmas rolled around last year, so there were no knitted Christmas goodies. But I had a dream.... and an image in my head. When I couldn't find a pattern to match my picture of a felted Christmas stocking, I just decided to go for it, and made up a pattern of my own.

I haven't finalized the name on the cuff yet, but here you go, Ella baby. It's Ella's Felted Christmas Stocking, made with love and a prayer in every stitch, and the pattern written up to share with anyone else who dreams of felted stockings for the loves in their own lives.

((If you end up using the pattern for your own stockings, I'd appreciate a shout (and a link to pics?) Good luck, and have fun!))

Download ellas_felted_christmas_stocking.pdf

Dream Baby

Every one of my Ella Days is full of digital camera action, as I try to document Ella's every moment - an impossible task, I know, but one I'm still compelled to try. After all, I'm the Buela, right? Due to difficult light conditions and an even more difficult camera, I lose a lot of really great shots, and the ones I get are often blurry or the light is really bad.

Last Friday some of those blurry and badly-lit photos accidentally turned out to be shots I love. I love them because they evoke (in me, at least) the feeling that I am in a dream, watching Ella in a dream... she is a real dream baby, after all.

The little "baby stole" she is wearing is actually the bottom of a Noro Hat, knit with Noro Kureyon. I just plopped it over her head and she was immediately at home wearing it. She never tried to take it off (like she quickly yanks off the hats and crown that I made for her.) In fact, she crawled and crept and rolled around and played, all the while grasping the tail end of the yarn ball.

The little stole is now half of a scarf, but I'll be knitting a new one for her as soon as I find the right yarn. Until then, I'll gaze into Ella's sweet eyes and enter the dream with her... 

Knitting Podcasts 1

Knitting podcasts?
Yes! Knitting podcasts!

I've mentioned before that Katie introduced me to knitting podcasts. It seems like every time I tell someone that I've been listening to them, or that I heard something on one, the reaction is usually incredible surprise that there could be such a thing - podcasts where people talk about knitting.

I have to admit, I was pretty surprised when Katie showed me the first one, and when I found even more if I'd only look for them. The first one Katie found for me was Pointy Sticks (by Christine of Big Pink Cookie.) By now I have listened to a lot of different 'casts, so I'm going to share with you about the ones I listen to faithfully, the ones I get really excited about when a new episode downloads to my iTunes. We'll just take these a couple at a time.

As I mentioned, the first 'cast I listened to is Pointy Sticks. I didn't have any way to listen other than sitting at my computer, so catching up on a whole year of episodes was a little tough until I got an iPod (any mp3 player will do, though.) I just couldn't stop listening! I still have not met Christine, but it felt immediately like I was with a friend, just listening about something she is passionate about. Just as "full immersion" language programs can teach a foreign language in a short time, this full immersion in the knitting world, with it's own language, proved very helpful in those very early days of my knitting life. Simply by listening to Christine I became familiar with terms that would later really mean something to me. She made me curious about the Magic Loop method (scroll down just a smidge), DPN's, sock-knitting, Addi Turbo's, knitting in the round, and so much more. If I couldn't figure out what she was referring to, a Google search was all it took, and soon I was learning all sorts of nifty knitting goodness. Katie had encouraged me to take a knitting class early on (thank you so much Katie!), and my instructor was really surprised at the things I knew about and had learned in the month between the two classes I took. I learned it all due to sitting with Christine, just listening. Now I'm considering lace. Thanks, Christine!

Another podcast I listen to faithfully is Sticks & String. Okay, I have to admit, part of the attraction initially was David Reidy's accent. He describes himself as an "Australian bloke who lives in the Blue Mountains two hours west of Sydney, and knits and podcasts about knitting." Let me tell you right off the bat though, when Australians talk about knitting "jumpers", they are talking about sweaters. It was such a relief when he finally explained that! :-) It's fascinating to hear about the knitting world in a totally different hemisphere!David posts new episodes every week, except when he takes a break between each series of ten episodes. I go into a little bit of withdrawal, but after all, nobody is paying him to do this, so I'm just glad he keeps doing it at all!

Okay folks, that's my first installment on knitting podcasts. Hopefully you'll give these a listen and come back with a greater respect for knitting podcasts! I'll tell you about two more of my trusted listens in about a week.

Just Do It

I've had a lot of knitting posts swimming in my head for a while now (can you imagine how hard it is to concentrate when you have stuff swimming in your head?), but am always so busy reading everyone else's posts that I never get mine done. I want my posts to be perfect, but Katie reminded me that nothing is perfect and people are forgiving (thank you Katie!) So, I'm heeding Nike's admonition to "just do it." Here I am, getting my feet wet with my first knitting post, albeit a short one. Many more to come...

Very soon after I started knitting (12/10/06) Katie introduced me to knitting blogs, knitting podcasts, and Google Reader to keep up with them. (Katie is helping me get in touch with the frustrated wannabe geek inside.) The first podcast I found was Pointy Sticks. I loved it immediately, and was especially excited to discover that Christine lives in the Houston area! I'm practically a stalker now (don't worry Christine, no harm will come to you.) Funny thing is, Katie and even Adam have now met her, but I still haven't! Someday soon, I'm sure... :-)

I can't thank Christine enough for her shout out in her latest podcast, and mentioning the knitting (and crochet) group that we've started up here. Second & fourth Tuesdays, 6-8pm, 1st floor of the Montgomery County Central Library (I-45 N & FM 2854) you'll find us stitching and yakking, encouraging and supporting, and challenging ourselves to learn more about our chosen fiber-arts crafts. If you're in the area, come join us! You can also email us: hiptostitch AT gmail DOT com.

In the interest of growing the group, we have a couple of tactics to get the word out (in addition to listing it in the paper.) The next meeting is this coming Tues, so my friend Debby and I are going to stalk the yarn aisles @ Hobby Lobby & Michaels today (alas, no LYS - Local Yarn Store - up here.) We always manage to strike up a conversation with people shopping in those aisles, then we get a chance to talk about the group, and hand them a 3x5 card printed with information. Afterwards we're going to Panera to knit in public. Don't know if anyone will actually approach us there, we'll see. I'm hoping to get Katie, Adam & Ella to Panera some time, too. I figure Ella will attract an adoring crowd, Adam can knit (to show that guys knit, too), and Katie can be working on her laptop, with a started project lying nearby (completing the picture that totally cool people do knit.)

I'm trying to talk Katie into talking to her boss about hiring me as the Company Knitter. You know, I would just sit around knitting, surf the net (at work!) for knitting blogs and sites, and hold knitting groups during people's breaks & lunches. I could throw in a few extras - Company Mom things like telling people not to run with scissors in their hands - at no extra cost. I think this would have a very calming effect on the office, which would mean lower stress, fewer sicknesses/absences, and increased productivity. C'mon Ed, how 'bout it?