Sunday, November 29, 2009

Vacation and an evil sock

Howdy everyone. Heh, who am I kidding. I'm fully aware that there's very little reading going on around here, and it's all my fault. I don't update nearly as often as I should.

We're currently on vacation, visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday, and it's absolutely gorgeous here. Chilly, but beautiful, for sure. Yesterday J, Granny, and I took a hike through the woods. J found a snail shell to add to his nature collection, and we had a great time rolling, running, and sliding down the levy and watching the sunset through the bare trees.

I'd share some pictures with you, but I don't have the cord to my camera, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Before leaving for vacation, I cast on several knitting projects, so as not to find myself stranded in a strange place with nothing to knit. Imagine the horror! One of the projects that I cast on for was the Nutkin sock pattern. It's lovely, easy, and zips right along, which is why I'm convinced that my knitting is out to do me in. I cast this sock on three different times before finding (what I thought) was the right needle size. Then I merrily knit away on it during the flight to Nashville. After arriving here, and preparing to start the heel, I realized that the cuff was impossibly small-- like so small that I couldn't get it over my ankle. I tried it on J-man in desperation. It fit him, but he deemed it too girly for him. So I ripped it all out and started over. After working the heel completely, I realized I'd made an error that I couldn't live with, so it was ripsville again. Ugh! I'm proud to report that I seem to have conquered the sock this time, and I'm well on my way to the toe. Let's hope that the second sock doesn't prove itself to be so much of a troublemaker!

Pictures will follow, once we return to Florida on Tuesday. For now, I think we'll go out and enjoy our last days on the farm.

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The story of a sock

There were once these socks I had the idea to knit. Socks. Pshhh... they're fast. I'll whip these up in a few week's time and give them to my step-mom for her birthday. That's what I thought back in April of this year. I had a yummy yarn to use-- Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett in the colorway Landscape Earth. I chose Ann Budd's undulating ribs for the pattern. Enough depth to give these socks some life, but not busy enough to be obscured by the color changes in the yarn.

They were lovely but just wouldn't ever seem to grow. I'd knit and knit, and they'd just stay the same size. Anyone who knits knows what I'm talking about. It's the same reason that I have a hard and fast rule about sweaters. When I think it's long enough I make myself add about 5 more rounds, or another repeat, whichever is the greater of the two.

I finished the first one sometime around July, I think, cast on, and did the cuff of the second. Then came my sordid affair with crochet, which ate up all of my time, and made it easy to cast aside my eternal sock companion. You see, somehow, when I separated the stitches for the heel, I separated in a different spot in the patterning than I did on the first, and when I started working down the foot of the second, I decided to try and fix it the lazy way-- by a series of stitches cast on on one side and cast off on the other. Should have just ripped, but I'll be damned if I'm going to rip out a heel that took me nearly 4 months to get around to doing! It was much easier, and a lot less painful to ignore them. Finally, a few weeks ago-- after finishing Delia's blankie and finding myself captive in the car loop with nothing else to knit, the socks and I had a heart to heart. I agreed to finish them, as they were, if they'd promise to behave for the rest of their time on the needles.

And, now I present to you my eternal undulating ribs!




In other news, my car, Gertrude (yes, her name is Gertrude, and it's much cuter when you hear Wil say it with his accent!), and I shared a tender moment:


I feel like I should treat her to an oil change or something. I'm truly surprised that she's continued to lurch along this far. I'm hoping for about another 20,000 more.

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Monday, September 28, 2009

Things finished, and just begun

I've found that I get a lot more knitting done now that J is in school. It probably has something to do with the ungodly amount of time I spend sitting in the car loop in the afternoons. Seriously, getting in the lineup by 1:50 means I'm about 20th in line for 2:25 dismissal. I can't complain too much, though, since it's a nice quiet 35 minutes where I can sit and get things done.

Here's the latest project to come off the needles.



Can you tell what it is? Yep. R2D2 all the way around. I'm not terribly pleased with this one, but it was good colorwork practice. I'm hoping it'll fit hubby well enough to get a little use. I might knit a lining inside to cover up the floats and sort of snug it up a bit, but there may not be much hope for it. It swallows my head, and I've got a pretty big noggin. I am going to cast on another one with one less repeat and see how that does. Yeah, sure, I could probably avoid the frustration of a poorly sized hat by swatching better, but c'mon, it's a hat. I could have finished half of this before I could get an accurate swatch, so I didn't bother, and I'm not upset with the result at all.

Now that I'm done with this, I'm back to working on the eternal socks. I somehow got all wonky on the second sock, and so I stuffed them back in their bag for quite a while and gave them a time out until I could think clearly. I think I've got it figured out enough to complete it now, and although it may not be the most perfect pair, they'll keep my feet warm this winter, and the 'messed up' part will be hidden in my shoe anyway.

This is an old picture of the first sock. I'm half-way down the foot of the second, so I'm in the home stretch now.

I'm starting to compile my Christmas gift list in my head, and I've decided I'm scaling back from last year's effort, yet still plan on making quite a bit.

I, obviously, can't share the entire list here, lest I risk completely spoiling any surprises, but I have a few ambitious things already started. First of all... this yarn, which was intended to be a sport weight, but ended up, even when plied, as a thin laceweight. I originally spun about 800 yards of singles, but then ended up cabling them, resulting in less than 200 yards of a 4-ply fuzzy sportish weight 100% alpaca, which I am hopeful will be enough to complete a certain something for someone. It's drying as we speak, and then I have to decide whether I'm going to knit it first, or dye it first. I want J to choose the color and help dye it. Not sure if he'd get more pleasure out of dying the yarn or the finished product. Here's a really crappy picture of it hanging to dry.



And, finally, I started spinning up some mystery wool today. I have no idea what's in this, but I love the colors. It's amazingly springy to spin after a long run with alpaca. I'm constantly amused by it's bounce. This was given to me by Michele, who bought it to attempt spinning on a drop spindle. I can see why she had so much trouble with it. It's slightly felted, and without a lot of predrafting it can be a little stubborn. Still, it's lovely, and I think the resulting yarn is going to be delicious.

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Beating the baby

I finished up the blanket I'd been working on for Delia this past Sunday, just hours before the mom to be arrived at our house bearing the gift of a delicious Jello cake.

And then, less than an hour after her arrival here, I ended up driving her home because she was having steady contractions 6 minutes apart.

"Talk about good timing!" I told myself.

False alarm. She's still pregnant today, but baby Delia will be here soon, and doggone! I beat the baby. Here are some random pics of it in progress. Worked mostly in the car loop over the last month, one little square at a time. I think it turned out lovely, but I have sworn off the granny square forever. As much as I hate weaving ends, this was a total nightmare for me! 49 squares, plus the rows of sc that bind the squares together, plus the edging. Yeah. Not my idea of fun.











And now, being free of my car loop project, I've cast on for hubby's super-secret birthday goodie. He's always complained that I never knit anything for him. Can anyone tell from this picture what it'll be?



True to form, this is turning out impossibly huge. It swallows J's mammoth head, and mine, too. I'm thinking of adding a lining of some sort, which will also serve to cover the floats in the back. Any suggestions, knitty friends?

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Thursday, August 27, 2009

A month in review







The past month has been a complete whirlwind of activity!

We celebrated J's 5th birthday with a party at the bowling alley with his friends, and the coolest army cake ever! Our fabulous friend, Mary, made it for us, despite being extremely pregnant and having an active 3-year-old underfoot. She's amazing!

J had a great time, and so did we. Best part? Not having to worry about set up or clean up or anything in between. We simply showed up, had a good time, and left. How refreshing! Totally worth the cost, if you ask me. Besides, we probably would have spent the same amount, or even more, if we'd tried to have the party here at home, and we'd have all been so crowded. Bowling was a great choice!






The same week as my baby turned 5, he also started Kindergarten. The first few days (ok, who am I kidding? The first week and a half!)was a tough adjustment for him, but he seems to be enjoying it more and more each day, and I can already tell how much he's learning! He's always been smart, there's never been a question about it, but now he's begun sounding out words, he can do math in his head (which is something I still can't do!), and he's become so much more patient and attentive. I can even tell what some of his drawings are! :)

This was his very first homework assignment-- sort of an 'all about me' project.


I'm just proud that he finished it at all. Even that is a big step from last year.

But enough about the J-man, what else has been going on?

I truly have nothing to show for it, but plenty! Heck, just trying to get ourselves back on a schedule after a summer of staying up late and sleeping until 10 or so has been a challenge. I've been knitting and crocheting and spinning, but so randomly as to have no real FO to share except for this pink wig I knit for a coworker's granddaughter.


Yes, I know it looks a little small on my enormous head, but it was made for a 3 year old. I tried to get J to model it, but ewww! It's pink!

I'm almost done with my second bobbin full of laceweight singles. I'm really proud of how even they've turned out. The wheel and I have sort of figured each other out, and we're getting along fabulously! I'm hoping to finish the bobbin this week, then work on getting it all plied up. I have specific plans for this yarn, but those will have to remain a secret for a while longer. I'm not positive on the yardage I've got going on, but I'm thinking that two bobbins full of lace singles will be probably double what I need, so I'm already dreaming of what to do with the rest. :) And, of course, at the same time I'm spinning lace, I'm dreaming of sweater knitting. No specific pattern in mind yet, though. We'll have to see. I promised I wouldn't cast on anything new until I finished the socks I've got going on, but I might have to let myself down on that one. I just can't seem to find sock inspiration right now. I do, however, owe someone special a new Sheldon, and a coworker has requested a pillow inspired by one she saw in a store for $60 or more. Hubby has been sulking for a vest for quite a while, so I might have to give in on that sooner or later, too. And I still have the Star Wars hats that I intended to make last year for Christmas.

Maybe once the temperatures drop below the boiling point I'll be more productive and start crossing some of these things off my list!

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Thursday, July 09, 2009

Obligatory Blog Post

Hello, dear blog. It's been so long, I know. It's not that I don't love you. It's simply that there's only so much of me to go around, and lately Facebook has been courting me with it's instant gratification and speedy interaction. I highly doubt people are interested in reading one line snippets here in blogland.

But, dear blog, you are my true love. If I had to choose between the two of you, you'd win hands-down.

Where shall I begin in catching you up.

How about with a picture?

Here's a hat I recently finished. It's the Fake Isle pattern, and I adore it. Too bad it's about a million degrees and I won't get to wear it for about 6 more months, if at all. I really love it!

I've also been doing some spinning when I get the chance. Little bits here and there. I'm working on some lovely white alpaca my parents sent me, and trying my best to spin a laceweight 2 ply. I've been somewhat successful. I'm proud for a first attempt at something so fine.

Really, there hasn't been much in the way of knitting or spinning going on. Things have just been too busy and hectic this summer!

In the never-ending quest to get J ready for Kindergarten, we've been spending a lot of time in doctor's appointments. So far we've managed to finally eradicate the strep that he's been carrying around since about December or January, eliminating the need for a tonsillectomy this summer. *whew*

We've also visited the neurologist, who ordered a sleep study and an MRI to be done. The sleep study was completed 3 weeks ago, and it was a story all to itself. Be glad that I'm sparing you the details. Imagine hooking any 4-year-old up to about 30 various wires, then instructing him to go to sleep in a strange room, without his beloved tv or lights. Oh, and did I mention that it stormed like crazy all night, just to add to the creepy effect? He did fine, but it was a long night for both of us.

We've got an appointment with the pediatrician next week for a physical, which is a prerequisite to the MRI that will be taking place the following week. Being 4, they're going to sedate him for it, which scares the bejeezus out of me. I know that anesthesia is pretty darn safe these days, but still... The day after the MRI he has a dentist appointment to fill a cavity, and the day after that we have our meeting with the school board to discuss his services and approve his education plan.

ARRG! Enough to make your head spin, right?

Now add to that a crazy-hectic work schedule, the fact that I'm also working my butt off to finish my transcription course. I finished my very last report yesterday. Now it's just a matter of submitting them all and taking my final exam. Yippie! I'm really, truly almost done. And just in time, as the girl that does our transcription at the office is going on vacation the first week of August, and I'm hoping they'll let me take over.

And to top off our crazy summer, our shed was burglarized last week and they stole all of our lawn equipment. More of a pain in the ass than a major crime, but still, a HUGE inconvenience in the middle of rainy season when the grass needs cutting twice a week.

But I don't want to end this post on a sour note. Let's focus on something good, shall we?

Our house sits right on the border of three school zones. Two of the three schools are decent schools, but unfortunately, we're about two streets to the other side of the decent schools, and J is zoned to go to a failing school. I put in a request for transfer before the end of last year, but wasn't holding out much hope. Due to budget cuts and capacity issues, most of the schools in the county are not accepting any transfers. Today I got the letter in the mail letting me know that J's request was approved, and he will be able to attend a different school! Yay!

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Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Yarn Harlot Comes to Florida

Yesterday Michele and I took a short (shorter for me than for her!) trip down to Vero Beach to attend Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot's book signing. This is only the second time she's ever come to Florida, so there was no way I was going to miss it. Last year she came to Jacksonville, which, lets face it, is just barely Florida, and it was on hubby's birthday, so I couldn't really justify it.

Even on just a few hours of sleep, after a nightmare of a traveling experience, she was hilarious and engaging. I'm so glad that someone with her publishing company realized that there really are knitters in Florida, despite the unfathomable heat. We're tenacious like that. I know that we didn't produce the same sort of turnout that she might get in Portland (ahem!) or some other more fiberlicious venues, heck, we don't even have a LYS to show off, but we do love our sticks and string, and our Harlot, Just as much.

We met up with three of the other girls from our knitting group at the book store, and sweet baby Sarah, who totally steals the show in the Harlot's blog post. In this post you can also find us sitting on the far left of the group shot, about 5 rows back. You'll recognize me by the enormous and shiny forehead. :)

And here are a couple of shots swiped from Hannah, who most certainly has a more superior camera. Thanks for taking these for us!




After the signing, Michele and I tooled around Vero for a little while. We stopped at the outlet mall and snapped up a few bargains at the Children's Place Outlet store, both for J and for her sweet little baby to be. See picture above. Doesn't she look fabulous for someone who's due any moment now?

We also had lunch at Olive Garden. Who can resist their soup, salad, and breadstick lunch? Not us, apparently. While there, Michele helped me figure out where I'd gone wrong on my current sock in progress and came to the rescue with a teeny-tiny crochet hook so I could pick up the stitch I dropped. Apparently I can't knit and laugh at the same time. I've never dropped a stitch, in a pattern row, and let it ladder back 8 rows before realizing something's wrong! All's right with the world of sock again, I'm happy to report.

After that, we headed back to Melbourne, stopped in at Jo-Ann to pick up some stencils for the baby's room, and some yarn, of course, and then to Starbucks for coffee.

It was great to get out with the girls for an entire day. I had a fabulous time. I sure hope the Yarn Harlot decides that Florida is worth visiting again soon.

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Monday, February 02, 2009

Happy Monday

Just a little blog update while I have 5 minutes to myself.

Not a whole lot of interesting stuff is going on around here. Hubby's car finally broke down on Friday. We've been wondering how long it would go before finally doing so. It's been a great car, so I'm not begrudging it one bit. We were hoping it would give us a couple more months because we're currently on the lookout for a new one, anyway. Looks like we're going to have to fork over the repair money and keep it a little longer though.

The only inconvenient thing is, it broke down on the very top floor of the parking garage, making it impossible to get a tow truck to pick it up. This morning after dropping J off at school we had to go up and push it back down to the street so that the tow-guy could get to it. Fun times, I tell ya. There's nothing like pushing a car, in the cold and rain, through a busy hospital parking garage. We got some ugly looks. But it's done, and it's now at Mr. Bruce's shop waiting on a new front axle and serpentine belt. The beast should run another 100,000 miles after this, given it's track record.

In the knitting/crochet arena. I have lots of projects I'd like to be working on, if only I could find the time. I've got the Granny cardi version 2.0 currently in the works. All I've managed to accomplish is the back and part of one front. Alas, I need to set it down and get to work on some baby goodies. Two of the girls in my knitting group are expecting. One of them in the next few weeks. I picked up some lovely purple wool/silk blend yarn the other day on clearance- $2.00 a ball. I'm thinking little eyelet cardigans for both, along with some booties? I'd better get crankin!

And that's it. Nothing much to report. I promise a better post when I have the time.

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Monday, January 26, 2009

Little bits

I haven't really found the time or the burning desire to blog lately, but I wanted to update in some way. There's been plenty going on around here. It's just been hard to find the time to put it all together in some sort of orderly fashion.

Consider this an extremely disorganized rundown, since I have about an hour to myself (bliss!) and don't want to spend the whole thing in front of the computer.

Where did we leave off? Oh, Christmas, right.

Since then, we've had a birthday around here. The nephew turned 10. Hard to believe it, but it's true. He's no longer a baby, or even really a kid. He's in the double digits, and seems more like a young man every day.

Of course, he wasn't too grown up for a Pokemon birthday cake, which I had the pleasure of making. Anyone here ever had to try and make frosting red?


My original plan for the cake was to make it an actual ball, but I had to bake the hell out of it to get it done in the center, and it was dry and gross. After tasting a little piece of it J gagged a little and asked "Is it still going to taste like this when it gets to the party?"

You have to appreciate the honesty there. So we baked a second cake at the last minute, and just a plain round cake had to do. I didn't even out the layers very well. Did you not read that comment about last minute? Seriously. It may have still been warm when he blew out the candles. Also the reason you can see chocolate crumbs peeking through the white frosting. Oh well. No one deemed it ugly, and everyone agreed that it was moist and delicious. There was only one tiny piece leftover, too. Not bad, considering it was 4 layers thick.


What else? Well, for Christmas Granny and Daddy Dave bestowed upon my son a bug vacuum and this little kit of tubes and bubbles and connectors and magnifying glasses. I waited the appropriate amount of time for him to forget about the thing, then tucked it into a box in his closet, hoping he'd forget it's there. Anyone in my family can attest to my dislike, and maybe even my fear of six-legged crawly things. But J has a mind like a steel trap, and he adores this particular gift. So I pulled on my big girl panties the other day, and we took the bug vac to the yard to try and catch us some.

Here's my budding entemologist inspecting his find.




Thanks Daddy Dave and Granny!

On the knitting front, I finally completed what I've officially dubbed "that damn sweater" that I started for J back in October or November. It's not that it was all that difficult. As a matter of fact, it was just that boring. I couldn't bring myself to work on it most days, simply because one more inch of plain grey stockinette was going to kill me. It turned out well enough. The sleeves are a bit too long, but but it fits him well otherwise. I could have made it an inch wider, perhaps, just to make it easier for him to get into and out of on his own. But it doesn't really matter anyway because he refuses to wear it, opting for his store-bought fleece hoodie. He says that "the yarn one is too itchy". He's right. It's not the softest yarn in the world, and he does have sensitive skin. But I intended for it to be worn over a long sleeved shirt, so didn't think the itch factor would bother him so much. Oh well. Did I mention I finished the damn sweater?





Moving along... we've had a cold spell here the past week. The temperatures have even dropped below freezing a couple of times, and J needed a new hat to wear. I'm the world's worst hat knitter. I don't have any idea what it is about the simple hat that baffles and eludes me, but my hats always turn out terrible. Either enormous, or too tight, or too short, or big enough to pull down over your shoulders. I can't knit a hat to save my life. But I do have a lot of this yarn, so I figured it wouldn't be wasteful to give a go to some stranded knitting. I mean, it's only about 30 total rows from cast on to weaving ends, so it's not like it was a major commitment or anything. I started this hat, the Polar Knits Skull Beanie, just before dinner time, and finished it before tucking J in for bed. I'm quite pleased. The pattern was simple enough that it wasn't overwhelming, and I learned that I'm not too horrible at the whole stranding thing. There's certainly room for improvement, but this one, amazingly, fit J perfectly. Made me want to cast on about 100 more of them! Yippie! I did have to alter the pattern a little, though. With 6 pattern repeats this wouldn't have fit anyone, so I scaled it back to 5. Easy enough.



Finally, here's a sad little picture of Kelli. Her Mama dresses her funny.

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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Now that's just wrong!

I've been waiting forever for the Yarn Harlot to come anywhere near the state of Florida and the closest she's ever been is Atlanta. It's hard to justify a trip that far just to see someone talk about yarn, so I didn't go to that one, even though Michele and I did consider it.

This morning she posted her new tour schedule on her blog, and she's coming! To FL! To the EAST COAST OF FLORIDA! I did a happy little squee! Started to pick up the phone and call Michele and all my other knitty friends to start arranging carpools to Jacksonville, and then stopped, looked at the date again... October 16th, 7:00 pm... Ummm... it's hubby's birthday.

Why, oh why couldn't it be a day before, or a day after that?

I don't suppose I could convince hubby that going to see the Harlot is a great birthday gift for the non-knitting man. :)

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Sunday, September 07, 2008

Over this

Damn, I'm tired. Like room spinning, can't focus on a thing, tired.

J's been 'not right' since Thursday afternoon. He came home from school, whined for a few minutes, complained of his cheek hurting, then promptly fell asleep on the couch. Totally NOT J-like behavior. He doesn't nap- never has. He woke 2 hours later with a raging fever and was inconsolable.

The doctor just shrugged at me, acted annoyed by my presence-- just another mom that thinks the sky is falling every time their kid sneezes. But honestly, despite his lower fever in the exam room, and his much more chipper demeanor, there's something WRONG with him.

I kept him home from school Friday, even though he seemed to feel a little better. I'd rather not be one of those moms that sends their germbag off to class to infect everyone else.

All day Friday, he seemed to be better, although there was still the weird cheek pain thing, and no interest in food.

Saturday... Ugh! Saturday. If ever there was a world record for longest day of the year, it would have been Saturday. Between a whiney, not quite right kid, and the other crap that I don't really feel like rehashing right now, Saturday was the suckiest of sucky days. Total suckage.

J fell asleep around 9. I joined him around midnight. About half an hour later, I was yanked out of my nearly-sleep by that croupy cough that probably every mom has heard at least once. It was nearly two hours of watching him struggle for breath, his little belly breathing, chest sucking, no air getting in, panic while sitting in the bathroom floor, holding all sixty pounds of him and rocking and singing while the shower ran out of hot water before he was, as if someone flipped a switch, fine again.

After that, going back to sleep just wasn't going to happen. We curled up together on the couch and praised the great deity BrightHouse for the fact that Noggin is now a 24 hour channel until the sun came up and he finally nodded off to sleep.

This day isn't going fast enough for my liking. J seems to feel good today, but has laryngitis and is frustrated by his inability to talk much. I have to admit, despite how much I sometimes wish he'd put a cork in it for a little while, I really do miss my little chatter box.

The only positive to come out of all of this is some completely ADD knitting. I got a wild hair and cast on for a pair of mittens at about 3 this morning, but as a result of no sleep and not enough coffee, I got gauge all wonky and these things could have fit sasquatch with room left over. Fortunately I wasn't so delirious that I got much past the ribbing before the little voice in the back of my head spoke up and said "hey dumbass, put down the needles!" So I picked up the crochet hook and finished J's spidey blanket. It's blocking right now, and once it dries, if it ever does, I'll find somewhere to hide it until Christmas.

I also cast on for Mystery Stole 4. Since MS3 was such a total failure for me, I figured why not go and set myself up for more of the same. Maybe this will be the year for me to actually finish something lace. Maybe.

Oh, and I did a few more rows on the Shalom Cardigan that I've been avoiding like the plague. It's not the sweater I hate, it's the sweater. The pattern's great, the result is looking good, but knitting it is an exercise in knitterly hell. Knitting something that big and heavy on giant needles-- man! Every single stitch seems so exaggerated in it's execution. The effort of just wrapping each stitch, and moving the resulting fabric along the needles seems like too much work. Or maybe I'm just that tired. I do think that the final product will be something I'm proud of, if I don't end up in dual wrist braces by the time I get there!

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Thursday, September 04, 2008

Where's Joe?

It's been a weird sort of day and I'm beat, but I wanted to take just a second to say how great it was to finally make knit night with the girls tonight- against all odds and despite the grumpy hubby I got to come home to.

I really needed a few hours of girly, knitterly time.

And the highlight of the evening was that Joe of SWTC dropped in for a little while to show off all their yarns and patterns. We had a great time petting beautiful sweaters and scarves and other samples he brought along with him. But it was almost surreal, having a real, true, yarny person hanging out with our little group for the night.

I'm sure I could do this post more justice if my brain were functioning at all, but I'm beat, and it's late. Perhaps I'll try again tomorrow.

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Sunday, August 31, 2008

This and that and nothing in particular

Proof that you can buy a kid every expensive toy in the world, but a cardboard box will still hold their attention longer.




I swear, I really want to be a better blogger. It's just that things get so hectic during the week that I don't seem to be able to find the time to sit down here long enough to put together a meaningful post.

J's adjusting to school much better than we anticipated. We made it through our first full week with only one grumpy, melt down sort of morning. I'm quite proud, and I know his teacher appreciates it, too. He can be a real booger in the mornings, and I can completely sympathize. You see, he gets it from me. I'm totally NOT a morning person, which is ironic, considering a I work a job that requires me to be up hours before sunrise, and keeps me going until after the sun sets. But I have the benefit of coffee to ease me through the first few hours when my brain can't seem to keep up with the world around me. J-man, he's just screwed. And I don't suppose it's a good idea to go stuffing kids full of caffeine just to avoid the morning grumpies. So we deal with it as best we can.

Did I mention that this year is going to kill me? J's school starts at 8 and I'm supposed to be at work at 7. Ummm... *scratches head*. I could force Wil to step up to the plate, since he doesn't have to be at work until 9, but the man can't get himself to work on time on a good day. Between the car shuffle that would be required, and the anxiety it would cause in me wondering if they're on time, if J's been fed, or is even wearing underwear, it's hardly worth it.

The second issue is that school ends at 11. On a good day, I can get to lunch by 12, but it's usually more like 2. Fortunately, the school does provide after-care services for a reasonable fee, so that's less of a headache. I'd be fine with leaving him there until I got off work completely, except that they close at 5:30, and we close at 6.

So my mornings now consist of rushing around in a brain fog, trying to rush my son around in a brain fog, then zipping across town to work, so I can be an hour and a half late, so that I can rush back across town on my lunch to pick him up and take him to Abuela's, so that I can rush back to work and finish my shift, then rush back to Abuela's to get him so I can rush home to walk the dogs before they explode.

Most days I'm on the go from 5 am, and don't find time to sit down, or even eat, until 8 or 9. I'm exhausted, and it's only week 2! This is going to be interesting.

But enough about school and work. Let's talk about those fun few hours of complete and total silence that occur on my days off while J is in school. Yes, those 6 hours per week are golden. It'd be nice if I didn't want to try and fit so much into those few moments. Most days I get nothing accomplished simply because I can't seem to decide which I'd rather do. Pathetic, isn't it?

There has been *some* knitting, though. Nothing worth writing home about. I'm working ever so slowly on my Shalom Cardigan, which is a really simple and quick knit, except for it's on huge needles with huge yarn, and well, it hurts my hands. So I only do a row or two at a time. I won't bother sharing pictures yet. It just looks like a burgundy blob.

And there's the Spidey afghan for J-man. I know! I'm crocheting! And I'm enjoying it so much! It just lends itself so much more readily to being picked up and set down constantly, and doesn't require the same attention that my knitting does. It's growing and growing, and people keep asking me when it's going to be done. I usually just shrug and say "when I run out of yarn". I fear that time is fast approaching, and I'm really not sure it's big enough for my taste. It's certainly big enough to be a cuddly blanket for J-- something to toss across him in the car, or while sitting on the couch, but it's not the bed-sized wonder that I was hoping it would turn into. All the same, I could stop right now and be perfectly happy with it, even with all of it's imperfections. I mean, for a first 'big' crochet project, it's pretty darn cool.


And I've also been playing around a bit with the sewing machine lately. I have a million and one things that I'd like to be sewing, and a huge bag of stuff that I'd like to do some recon on, but for now I'm just doing some basic stuff to get used to using it again. It's been forever since I've sewn anything.

Here are some pants I made for myself. They're made out of some super cheap mystery fabric, but they're soooo comfy. I want to make about a million and one pairs of these to wear every day! I did learn that pattern sizing is a whole lot different than regular clothes sizing. These are two sizes bigger than what I would buy in the store, and they're a little snug in the hips and butt, but not so much so that I can't wear them. I'll remember for the next pair to make them just a smidge wider in that area. Still, I love them.


And my other sewing project for the week was a pair of Blue Yonder's 'bandana pants' for J-man, which were featured on the SewMamaSew blog a while back. What a genius idea! And J really enjoyed helping to make them. He's so proud of them that he wears them almost constantly. It's all I can do to wiggle his sleeping bum out of them long enough to toss them in the wash. We'll make a bunch more of these, I'm sure. They're excellent play shorts and jammie pants. Yes, they' are a bit long- almost capri pants on him, but I couldn't bear to hem them and lose the cute little bones around the bottom. :)


I suppose that's all I've got for now. Right now J-man and the nephew are buzzing about making ungodly amounts of noise, but I have to admit, the noise is tolerable when it means that they are entertaining each other. I haven't existed since 8:30 this morning.

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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Unfaithful

There hasn't been much to show in the way of knitting lately. It's not that I'm NOT knitting, but simply that I'm ALSO doing a lot of other things, and so progress is slow and boring.

What's been occupying my time, you ask? Well, mostly this:


This picture cracks me up. Doesn't he look like a cross between Miami Vice and bad tourist?

He's also been eating into my computer time, ever since he discovered that he can play Noggin and Nick Jr. games online. Any time I sit down here to write something, he's immediately in my lap and stealing the mouse. To be fair, I'd rather him play a game than sit in front of the tv, so I don't mind so much.

Not having any computer time has lead way to another new addiction though-- sewing. To be fair, I've spent more time shopping for sewing stuff than I have actually spent sewing. I never realized how much you could love shopping for fabric! So far I've made one pair of pants that still lack a hemmed leg, and this skirt.



The picture's awful, I know. But it's hard to take a picture of yourself. Here's a closeup of the fabric.


It's just some stuff bought on the clearance rack for $1. I didn't want to invest too much in sewing if it ended up being just a brief phase.

And finally, after being inspired by this post by Amanda, I decided it was time
to revisit the world of crochet. I've never been good at it, and I've never really understood a lot of the required stitches, but I decided to try something easy, and went with a cute little cupcake pattern.

Here's my result. Still not spectacular, but cute enough to package up and include in a birthday gift to my niece, who turns two next week.


So anyway, there's my update on what's been going on around here. I've been terribly lax in my posting lately. Not that I ever have much of great importance to share. :)

This week I plan to do a bit more sewing, finish off a pair of very plain socks, and work a little more on a shrug I abandoned almost a year ago. We'll see how it goes.

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Saturday, June 21, 2008

Red on the head

I've been wanting to show you a picture of J-man from last weekend. We took him to get his hair cut, and the girl made him feel like a total rock star, complete with glitter and red dye. Of course, it was washable, and came out the moment his head met water. This meant it took me until Monday night to get him to wash his hair in the bath. Oh well, no one ever died of dirty hair, right?


I know it's not a good picture, but he's in this "no cameras" phase right now. I guess it just plays along with his rocker mentality. Seriously though, I haven't figured out a way to sneak up on him yet. We have better luck with Wil's iphone than with the actual camera because he doesn't see it coming.

This week my car's been in the shop, which has been interesting, figuring out how to get here and there without transportation. But we've managed to get by, and the car is now home, $500 and a new starter later. Why must my car be a total pain in the ass?

The knitting continues to be mindless with a pair of stockinette socks going on, and a pair of ankle socks requested by one of my doctors at work. I'm not using a pattern for either, as they're just plain old socks, but I'm not really happy with the requested socks. They're cute, but the yarn is more of a DK weight, and so acrylic that they squeak (loudly) on the needles! I think I'm going to try and find some 'real' yarn in a similar color and reknit them at a different gauge. These fit and all, but I just can't see how anyone would enjoy wearing socks this bulky. They'll be good for me to wear around the house. My feet are always cold, so it's not like this pair is a wasted effort.

Pictures eventually. I still haven't charged the battery in my camera, or located the cable required to load them. Call me lazy.

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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

When it rains

My car is cursed. Seriously. It has a mind of it's own, and works on it's own schedule. Usually, when it's feeling snarky is exactly when I need it to be on it's best behavior-- much like my son.

For months now, intermittently, it's left me stranded somewhere. You get in, turn the key, and nothing. It's not the battery because I can still roll the windows up and down and the dome light works, as well as the radio. Twice, I've pulled it into the auto parts store to have the alternator checked, and it's passed with flying colors, too.

Yesterday, while out running errands in the too-hot-to-breathe afternoon heat, it decided to play it's tricks on me. Every time I give in and call someone to come 'rescue' me, it starts right up when they get there. And true to form, once Wil arrived, driving 20 miles out of his way, in his company van, it did the exact same thing.

Fortunately, I have a pretty cool mechanic, who graciously allowed me to bring it straight over. He thinks it's the starter. That's a simple fix, I suppose. The bad news is he'll need to keep the car for a couple of days while the starter gets rebuilt. Apparently, that's the cheaper way to go, and I'm all for that. The problem with him keeping the car is that I NEED my car. It's the only car that's really safe enough to put J in. I suppose the chances of having an accident in Wil's car in the two days or so that I'd have to depend on it are fairly slim, but still... who wants to strap their kid into a car with back doors that stick, has no a/c, and sounds like armageddon when it runs?

Yeah, it's only a temporary thing, but still... I'm going to have to suck it up. Right now I'm on pins and needles every time I start it up, not sure when it's going to decide it's done for good.

As a bonus, this means that I won't be going to Stitch N Pitch this weekend, which I really wanted to do. J would have loved the game, and how often do I get a chance to hang out with a bunch of knitters?

*sigh*

In good news, I got my new-to-me computer this weekend, thanks to Michele. Soon I'll have pictures to share and I can get back on track with all things net related.

And speaking of Michele, it seems we manage to find some excuse to get together almost every weekend for a little knitting time, and yet my FO count doesn't seem to go anywhere. Funny how that happens. I did finish up my puke monkeys this weekend. Pictures soon, I promise. Let me say this: I adore the monkey pattern! It was a great and quick knit, and the result would be fabulous in a different yarn. I can totally understand why Knit Picks discontinued the Dancing line. I love the elasticity of it, but the color? Total Fug. Still waffling on whether to overdye these, or just leave them as is. I don't know if I know anyone who's got a loud enough personality to pull off wearing them as is.

I cast on a new pair almost immediately. That says a lot for the pattern. I've never once had a desire to knit the same thing twice. There are just too many good patterns out there that I want to do. But Monkeys are great lunch hour, car ride, tv watching socks. Unfortunately, I didn't like the way this yarn looked in the pattern, either, and they were turning out huge, even after starting them three different times, on three different needles. So they got frogged. I contemplated Jaywalkers, but with instructions to cast on 72 stitches for the smallest size, I feared disastrous results, and so frogged those too. I think this yarn just wants to be plain old stockinette socks. Oddly, I've never done plain socks before. I'll keep these in my purse for mindless knitting, and maybe go stash diving for something more mentally stimulating.

Anyway, long post, no pictures. I'm sure you're yawning.

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Saturday, May 24, 2008

Still no pictures

We got our cable, and our internet service back on Sunday, so on Monday I plugged my old computer back in, and sat down to do some catching up on my favorite blogs and various other online thing, and also started backing up my photos and other important files that I'd been neglecting for the past month or twelve. Sure enough, about an hour into my work, the poor thing went into convulsions on me, and was later pronounced dead.

We have two other computers in the house, so it's not like I don't have any alternatives, but that was MY computer. My comptuer with my files and my bookmarks, set up the way I like it.

We're going to try and pull the hard drive out and slave it to J's computer to see if we can retreive any of the stuff that's still on there-- ahem... like ALL of my transcription stuff that I'm truly ALMOST done with. Man, if I have to go back and re-do all of those reports I'm going to just sit down and cry! And I don't even want to talk about all of the pictures of J-man that are stuck on there, possibly never to be seen again.

Lesson learned-- I'll be more diligent about backing things up from now on.


On the knitting front-- did I tell you that I finished the ballet cami? Well, she's done. A bit too small, even after blocking the heck out of it. But if I block it a little less firmly, it'll fit my sister perfectly, so it wasn't a complete waste of knitting effort. She tried it on the other day and loved it, so I'll be glad to see it go somewhere where it'll get used.

I've cast on for the Shalom Cardigan, using an even thicker yarn than the pattern calls for, so I'm thinking it should fit just fine. Besides, it's a pretty forgiving pattern as far as size goes, I think. I'm loving it's simplicity, and I could see myself knitting this pattern again and again. Now to just wait about 10 months until we have weather cool enough to wear it!

Also working on a pair of Monkeys that I'm not in love with. The pattern, of course, is fabulous, and I like the make-up of the yarn I'm using, but the color is horrendous! It's stuff I've had in my stash forever, given to me by someone a long time ago. I'm considering finishing them up and then overdyeing them to tone down the blinding brightness and erratic color changes. Right now I'm calling them "puke-monkeys" and will share a picture of them just as soon as I have the capabilities.

Today we're meeting up with Michele and Thomas for a little while. The boys are going to go see Speed Racer, and Michele and I will do the usual coffee and yarn. Looking forward to it.

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Monday, April 28, 2008

Monkey Tale

A few weeks ago a small goodie arrived in the mail from Granny and Daddy Dave. Inside was the most enormous pair of red-heeled socks I've ever seen. Seriously! I have no idea how they managed to sweet talk Paul Bunyan out of his knitwear, but there they were.

Of course, J and I knew exactly what to do with them...




Meet "Bluey". J chose the hideous blue buttons for they eyes, and he adores them. Bluey is now his best buddy, and they are nearly inseperable. He even took a trip to the dentist with us today and got to take a ride in the cool chair. He's developing quite a personality, too. He tells J things like "You don't want to eat that broccoli," and "Bedtimes are for babies." But he also tells him that he'll protect him from nightmares, which is an awful sweet thing for a pair cut up socks to do. We are quite grateful to the evil little monkey.

A day or two after Bluey's creation, J turned to me and said, "Mama, Bluey's naked. He needs a shirt. A red yarn shirt."

And so, while no one else will probably ever be gifted with their very own handknit sweater, the mighty monkey wears his proudly. I didn't really use a pattern for it, and it's perhaps a bit large, but it makes it easier for J to help him in and out of as the weather dictates.


In other news, our little garden is coming along nicely. The tomato plants are starting to show their first little fruits, and the beans are climbing higher and higher every day. Last night we harvested our first tiny crop-- two radishes. J was brave and tasted one before deeming them "too ficy" and passing them along to Steven, who ate them right up. I hope the kid has a big appetite for them, because he's the only one in this house that will even come near them, I think.


Tomorrow we're off to Tennessee for my baby sister's graduation, and to visit with family. I'm looking forward to the destination, but the traveling and the prep that goes into it has just about wiped me out. Thank goodness we were able to get the kittens off to their new homes before we left. Could you imagine the nightmare it would have been to find someone to take care of them?!

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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Wednesday off

I switched my schedule around at work this week to accommodate my in-law's trip out of town, so I had today off.

I ended up going to work anyway, because one of my doctors wanted to adopt one of our kittens. They're technically too young to be going to new homes, but they're big and they're healthy, and the mother is done nursing them and anxious to escape the confines of our bathroom, so I decided to let them go.

I didn't think it was going to be hard saying goodbye to them. It's not like I ever entertained the idea that I might actually keep any of them, but kittens grow on you. Really, really grow on you. And when one of the other girls decided she wanted to take one, and chose the one that nearly died- the one I pretty much brought back from the brink of death- I did cry. Only a little.

So, two gone, two left to find homes for. And I realized after the fact that I really didn't have any pictures of them. Here's one of two and a half of them.


It's that little black and white one that really stole my heart.

After that, J and I went and spent some time at the park. It's been too long since we've done so, and it was great. The weather today was beautiful-- low 70s, no humidity to speak of, and wonderfully sunny. I was surprised that we pretty much had the place to ourselves.





Now, I do realize that the last picture isn't one of those cutest kid in the world sort of shots, but it's my absolute favorite out of the group because look what he's doing! Yes! My kid who, just a few months ago, had trouble negotiating curbs and steps is finally getting his balance and confidence. He's slow and meticulous, but he's climbing all by himself. We've visited this same park regularly for about 2 years, and today was the first time he attempted this.

The picture I don't have is of him deciding to try and slide down the pole! I'm glad I was underneath to catch him. Otherwise, instead of writing this, I'd probably be sitting in the ER right now waiting on sutures. :)

I still ahve yet to show you guys the progress I've made on the cami, but it's coming along. I'm just about to separate for the armholes, and I think it'll zip along from here. Still holding my breath about not running out of yarn, though. We'll see.

And I'll leave you with this shot of myself with a long-overdue haircut. I'm still adjusting to not being able to pull it back out of my face, but I do love it. She also trimmed J's up a little.

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