I had decided to make my tote square, (all sides 24 stitches, bearing the staghorn cable). I began the cable pattern. I got tired of second guessing myself, and I frogged. I’ve now decided to make the front and back of the tote wider than the sides. My sides are 24 stitches wide, and my front/back is going to be 28. Not a huge difference, but I think it needs it. I might frog and bump it up to 30. I don’t know yet. The cable pulls the stitches in a bit, and I think that the front and back will need the extra width.

As for what I’m doing next…….

I received two skeins of this yarn for Mother’s Day. The girls chose the color. I personally would not have. It is a really bizzarre reddish, pinkish, brownish sort of thing, that I don’t think matches anything in my closet. BUT, they picked it out, and I think that if I use it right, it can become more versatile. I know there are a lot of Bottoms Up Bucket hats on the blogs right now, and I want to make one too. I know that I should follow the pattern exactly the first time, and mess with it from there, but I’m not going to. I think that a straight shot with this yarn would be pretty dull, and virtually unwearable by me. SO, I’m going to tinker.

My bright idea is to do it in a nice stitch pattern. I have the daily stitch calendar on my bedside table. In it, I’ve noticed quite a few diagonal stitch patterns. I’ve had difficulty thinking of ways to incorporate diagonals into my knitting. Perhaps they would make a very nice skirt, if the skirt were covering a very nice, little bottom, (which I don’t have). And then I thought, “Oooo, wouldn’t the Bottoms Up look cool in a diagonal?”

Now, if I were smart, I’d try it out before throwing it all out there for the more experienced of you to possibly scoff and say, “Heh heh, silly girl. This will be amusing!” But I’m not. I’m kind of proud of my brilliant idea, and if I can pull it off, I will be glad I didn’t start it off like a coward. Plus, I really have no problem admitting that at times, I am insane.

This is Veronica, helping me on my way to uncharted territory.

The kids really love winding hanks. The husband does too. It’s fun!

That’s that. I’ll work on the tote ’til the Diagonal anticipation gets the better of me. Then I’ll begin the occasionally thrilling, more often frustrating journey of trying something that never should have been attempted in the first place. But really, that’s the whole fun of it.

is that I found the little felty fuzzy I need to sew on my Marsupial Tote pouch. (I really wasn’t expecting to.) The bad news is that it was in a bag of almonds that my children don’t have access to. This brings up two questions. How do I feel about publicly accusing my innocent little ones of loosing it? And, HOW IN THE WORLD DID IT GET INTO A BAG OF ALMONDS!? Well the answer to the first question is easy. They have obviously given me reason to suspect them, so they deserved it. The second question still plagues. Almonds???

Moving on. I haven’t decided what to do about the blue tote yet, so I don’t have any progress to show you. I am toying with ideas for a new project, but I’m not ready to post about that one yet. So here’s one of my very favorite hats on Abigail.

It is a little fuzzy from being worn, and worn , and worn, and worn, and worn. I don’t mind that kind of fuzzy. It’d have to be made from teflon to not be fuzzy after all the love it’s had. I’m very pleased.

Here’s another one I’m pretty happy with. This hat is being modeled by Olivia, but it is mine, so it is pretty big on her.

I have a confession to make. I cannot make decent pom poms. They shed. I tie the string around as tight as I can, fearing the yarn will snap, and still, they shed. Don’t come to me for pom pom advice, that’s all I can say. Nate can make a pom pom. We were making black pom poms together for the kids one night so they could have their own “soot sprites” (from the movie My Neighbor Totoro). He kicked my pom pom making butt. Who knew?