This week’s FO is not very impressive. Well, actually it’s impressivly strange but was not much of a challenge to knit. At all. Like I practically knit this during a two hour nap. But it’s just so damn funny. I love it.

This was knit from that strange novelty yarn I bought from a local spinner lady at the fiber fiesta. It has three strands: A finely spun almost threadlike strand of variegated pinkish orangish alpaca, a weird polyester ladder novelty with random tufts of very-off-white almost orange fluffs or tufts, and a very fine strand of pink sparkly polymid so it’s sparkly! I made it very thin (seven stitches) and super super long, like almost twice my five feet two and a half inches.

What really gives it the personality is the fringe. I had such fun with this fringe because I didn’t worry about making the strands even and balanced. In fact, I wanted it to be as shaggy and wild as possible. We’ve dubbed it the “Craaaaaaaazy” Scarf. And one must flail and shake the fringe about as one says “Craaaaaaazy” in a nutty voice that goes up and down an entire musical scale. Trust me it really adds to the charm.

I totally dig this scarf. Even if it could be considered the simplest silliest piece of knitting in the entire world, ever.

I was very creative with the photos today. Mostly because it was really hot and impossible to get a full shot of such a long scarf with such incredibly short arms. So I got a little slap happy in the heat. But I got some great photos! Including some amusing self-portraits.

A really cool and strange closeup of my tattoo with my reflection below.

And a shot of both our tails.

Winter wanted me to hurry up so we could go back inside. So it must’ve been 115 degrees.

And Melon’s doing a whole lot better! Her Monday blood tests (here was a photo taken for petblogging Monday that never got posted. I’ve been a bit busy this week.)

had some great results. A few are still slightly elevated but that crazy Bilirubin is back to normal. So she’s not on the antibiotics anymore and thankfully I don’t have to do the subcutaneous fluids because as she recovered she fought harder making getting that needle in properly very nervewracking. We’re also weaning her off of the steroids. I’m still watching her food intake very, very carefully. If I don’t see her eat enough during the day I make her swallow a few syringes of food to make sure she gets the minimum calories. She hates this but I’m not having another scare like I did that friday afternoon week before last. I thought I was going to lose her right there. Thankfully it’s very clear she’s feeling a lot better. Let’s hope it holds.

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The nephew loved his presents. Especially the knit hedgehog. I’ve heard he sleeps with it every night now. He had a wonderful birthday on Saturday. My mil asked me to bring the real hedgehog down so all the kids could see her. So I brought her little playpen and food and stuff. There were lots of questions about her (like why she kept sticking her head in an empty toilet paper tube and what she eats) and curious little hands. Zola behaved BEAUTIFULLY, as did most of the kids. I’m very proud of my little hedgehog she was extremely well-behaved and not nearly as grumpy as I was worried she would be. I mean, hedgehogs are just plain old grumps anyway but with so many curious little nervous hands I was prepared for the hedgehog tantrum of the century.

Speaking of grumps I watched American Splendor last night and thought it was hilarious. It seems I have a special affinity for grumps and find them highly amusing and adorable. The grumpier they get the more amusing I find them. So of course I thought this movie was charming as all getout. What does this say about me?

I didn’t bring the camera on Saturday so I didn’t get any pictures of the kids playing with her or of the ‘phew and his new hedgehog friend, (who has been named Sam but apparently so has every other stuffed toy) but I’ve been promised they’ll get a photo for me.

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So if you looked at my FO you’d think I had a lazy week. Bah. Check out the WIP I cast on Sunday and need to finish for the baby shower this Sunday afternoon.

Yeah I decided to go ahead and make something for them. Mostly because this is the first grandchild of the aunt who taught me to knit in February and I wanted to make something nice to thank her and make her proud. She hasn’t knit in years and years and had to read the stitch n bitch book to remember how to do it before showing me. She still crochets a lot though.

That’s the baby kimono from Interweave Knits’ Spring 2005 issue. Although I think with the length it actually is more of a Hapi Coat or a Haori. It’a appropriate I’m using the amyville sushi stitch markers isn’t it?

Naturally I had to mess with the pattern so I’m doing it in a stockinette stitch with garter edges rather than doing the whole thing in a garter stitch. I’m using some amusing Sirdar Baby Yarn and thought stockinette would show the little wormies better. Yeah the little rayon baubles look remarkably like little mealworms but because I have a pet insectivore I’m probably more familiar with them than the average person. I still think it’s a fun and unusual yarn to use for a baby. Yarnsnobbies may wrinkle their noses at the acrylicness but moms always thank me for the easy washability. Yeah, it’s acrylic but feels pretty cottony.

It’s a fairly easy knit. Probably would’ve been easier if I’d done the whole thing in garter but whatever. I finished the right front including the right front sleeve on Wednesday and I’m almost finished with the back and the backs of the sleeves. Then I’ll only have the left front and sleeves, do a three needle bind-off for the shoulders, seam the bottom of the sleeves and make a little button flap for the front. I have a huge wooden button for closure rather than a ribbon. I think it’ll make it more Japanese and a bit more gender-neutral.

They think it’s a boy but I wanted to make it neutral just in case. I also picked up some organic cotton baby clothes and socks. The only gender-specific item I bought for the shower were those peepee teepees suggested by Daysleeper Chickie from the Gaiman boards. Those were BRILLIANT! I can’t wait for the aunts to see those little things! Many many thanks daysleeper!

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My parents are flying into town Monday afternoon so there’s been much panic-induced cleaning going on. It still looks like I haven’t done a damn thing and the yard..well, the yard’s a lost cause at the moment. But Cody’s off this weekend so we should get some serious work done in the house anyway. I’m finding that a fully-loaded (all supplements) Keva Juice Smoothie with a mocha frappucino affigato chaser gets me good and hyped up for cleaning.

Knit. Clean. Fold Laundry. I am the woman in the dunes of unmatched socks.

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Just to make this the most convoluted post ever I thought I’d throw in a random ten.

Guster - Amsterdam
Weird Al - Gump
Velvet Underground - That’s the Story of My Life
Nick Drake - Poor Boy
The Cure - The 13th
P.O.D. - Bullet the Blue Sky
ABC - How to be a Millionaire
Petula Clark - Happy Heart
Guns N Roses - It’s So Easy
Wire - I 2 X U