Polar bears and wardrodes that shine from within...

Friday, December 09, 2005

The title today is just a few of the gripes I already have about the Chronicles of Narnia movie. I can live with the polar bears since they only pull the witches chariot and not the sleigh but if that light is shining out of the wardrobe as soon as Lucy opens it I'm going to be very disappointed. In the book, every time they go into the wardrobe, they don't see a light until they are past all of the coats - then they begin to see a faint bit of sunlight. It just seems much more suspenseful to me like that. Anyway, we're going tonight as long as there aren't a hundred people in front of me in line when I go buy the tickets when the box office opens. I'll let you know how much I like/don't like it in my next post. I try not to be too picky because I realize things need to be changed for movie adaptations but often I just don't see the logic in *what* they decide to change.

On the knitting front, I finished the first hot pink sock last night and it looks awesome! The more I knit the brighter the pink looked but I'm pretty sure she'll love it. I'm going to try to get a good picture on my lunch break - last night the camera batteries were dead and it was really dark and crappy in the house.

Also, my last package arrived at my Secret Pal Jessica's house so she knows who I am and is thrilled with her package. Go over to her blog and check it out! I can't wait to find out who my pal is.

Secret Pal was so fun but I don't think I'll be participating in the next round. January and February are going to be quite hectic for me, I think, so I'll just watch this one from the sidelines.

And last, but certainly not least, my grandpa is doing much better though he has still not regained movement in his left side. Unfortunately, this means he will not be able to go home. Talk is that they are going to send him to Fargo (an hour south of here, two hours south of where he and my grandma live) to a long-term care facility. This sucks but I've heard it's a pretty good place so hopefully he'll improve even more while he's there. I have mixed feelings. On one hand I would rather he go home but on the other, if going home means my grandma has to take care of him like he is a child and further demean his sense of independence and decency I would rather he go to the long-term care facility.

So, that is my super long update. Have a great weekend!

*edit* What in the world was I thinking "pictures on my lunch break"?! I had to get Narnia tickets! There wasn't a crowd there but the lady in the box office told us to come an hour early in order to get seats together (there will be five of us). An HOUR! Guess I'll be bringing the sock. ;)

Worrying + Knitting = Comfort

Monday, December 05, 2005

Thank you so much for your comments. Things are looking a little better now though Grandpa's still not "in the clear," IE: sent to his own room out of the critical care unit. Throughout the weekend I spent quite a bit of time up in the waiting room with my Grandma and other family and the mood is definitely more optimistic.

I'm sure you know the little equation in my title today since you're all knitters. :) I've always been one to create when things are looking dim. So far, I've now finished one fingerless glove, minus the flap, the cuff of the second (my hospital project) and knit up to the heel of a sock for my sister in law. Hah, that's right. Everything I tried to make for her wasn't working and driving me nuts so I thought "Well, what *is* working right now?" and the answer was socks. I took a bit of time on Saturday to stop by my LYS, which I found out was CLOSING, for GOOD, THAT day, and bought some Baby Ull in bright, hot pink. I'm doing two little cables up the foot and am thinking about doing cables instead of plain ribbing on the cuff. They're awesome and it's going swell. Amazing what happens when you find the "right" project. Though I am very sad about my LYS.

So my socks are sort of on hold until hers are done. Then I will knit for myself! Really!

Oh, and I got a message today from my Secret Pal with a Yarn Market gift certificate. I'm overwhelmed by all the beautiful yarn and have no idea what I'll buy yet. Thank you, Secret Pal!!

And the new Knitty... well, it never fails. I'm underwhelmed. I do love Tubey but not sure how the square neck would look on me - usually they're not too flattering. i think it's because I have such a long skinny neck and white pastey skin. Oh well, it's always fun to look at the new patterns! And it reminded me that I was going to post pictures of my Knitty submission that wasn't chosen. I shall do that soon. For now, I'm off to try to concentrate on work...

The Good and the Bad

Friday, December 02, 2005

Well, I probably should have posted yesterday. Yesterday was a pretty good day. You see, my grandpa is in the hospital and is not doing so hot. But yesterday he was doing good. He had surgery on Wednesday for a clot that was bleeding in the back of his neck and it went well, and he was doing well yesterday. Today, not as much. Last night his breathing stopped and they put him back on the ventilator, via an emergency trach in his throat. You know, like you see on ER all the time. Ugh. This is tough. They're not too optimistic right now. If he does get out of the hospital (50/50 chance they say at this point) he'll go to a nursing home and well, the thought of my grandpa - who always needs to be busy with something, whether it be farming, fixing machinery, or the like - in a nursing home is tough indeed.

I've been wanting to post because I got a package the other day, which really helped with surgery day, helped me smile, you know? Thank you so much Marisa! I plan on posting pictures just as soon as I can - the card is so beautiful. And how did you know my favorite incense is Nag Champa? :-) I've already started a pair of socks with the yarn, though not in front of my Grandma, of course - not that she would necessarily notice at this point. It seems I knit a hell of a lot tighter with nice slick bamboo needles though so... they're a bit small and will have to be restarted.

Anyway, I just wanted to update and say "thanks". I also heard from my Secret Pal the other day and am excited about that. I'm headed to the office then the Post Office to send *my* pal's last box. I'm so excited to let her know who I am! Excited and sad and anxious and everything else. It's a difficult mix of emotions today. Hope you have a good one.

Stupid scarf

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Current listening: White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan

Um, so here is the curly scarf, dying a slow painful death.



It's only problem was that it was a little too wide - so wide that it sort of looked like it was going to attack and eat me starting at the chin and then heading south. You have to trust me on this one because during it's short life, the curly scarf did not have any pictures taken of itself. They would have been R rated for violence anyway due to the aforementioned attack possibility.

This was another lesson in listening to your instincts. If I had, I wouldn't have this pile of pink yarn puke right now. Once I realized it was going to be garter stitch I *almost* frogged and did it in stockinette instead because I knew it would look better. When I realized it was going to be too wide and hideous, I *almost* bound off right there and saved it while it was still cute. But for some reason, this illogical part of me just kept thinking: "if it looks bad, you can always frog it and start over." I just kept clinging to that... not really thinking about what it would be like to frog 720 stitches per row for four rows, or k in front and back loop increases, or hmm, let's see REALLY FUZZY YARN! How stupid can I be? This pretty much sums up the whole project. Oh yeah, and the fact that it was a waste of like ten bucks in nice yarn. Now broken, bedraggled, and impossible to use yarn.

So I started a different project for my sister-in-law. A Minisweater, aka Boobholder, that is also doomed to die. I think one of the problems here (heh, yeah, only one) is that I'm not currently feeling real lovey with this particular relative anyway at the moment. We seem to have a difference of opinion on something important but instead of talking to each other about it, we hear the other's side of the story from a mutual family member. This is ridiculous, I know, but I think her opinion on the subject is none of her business in the first place. But this is all rallying around my point instead of getting to it.

When I knit for someone, I find that I think about that person and our relationship. When that relationship isn't doing so hot, the knitting really suffers, which in turn drives me up the wall. Instead of being relaxing and fun, I've just wanted to throw my knitting across the room lately. Hopefully something will magically knit itself up for her and I'll have this over with.

Until then tell me, do you find that your knitting reflects your current relationships or emotional state?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Before I head out for the holiday I thought I would post some pictures. First off are Kurt's socks, which are not yet completed. I think I'll bring them along to my Dad's house but can't knit them at Thanksgiving tomorrow because my Grandma will be there. The grandma my sister wrangled foot measurements out of... so I'm afraid if I bring the socks she'll put two and two together. Anyway, here they are almost completed.



Then the curly scarf that I blogged about yesterday. You know, fizz stardust and all. I was a bit disappointed to find out this scarf doesn't give the instant ruffley satisfaction that Marisa's does. (Would you prefer I just name your blog instead of use your real name? I can change it.) But it's a much easier pattern so I guess I deserve to have to wait. Here is my attempt to make it look at least a little bit curly.



Next is the Mock Cable scarf from Stitch and Bitch Nation. Different needles, different yarn, just basically used the stitch pattern. It's so soft to the touch but a little scratchy on the neck.



Here it is on my neck, it definitely IS cozy. Don't mind the washed out look, that's just the flash and the bright light in my face. Help! I'm caught in the headlights! Erm, maybe that's only funny to me. Like when I started mumbling during my budgeting presentation about a funny typo...



The only other thing of note, I think is that I still haven't figured out how to fix the banner in Internet Explorer. Not sure what to do about that yet either. I'll think about it over the weekend and maybe ask someone who knows a little bit more about these things than I.

Well, have a great weekend! I'll be back next week!

House... What House?

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Yes, I believe the house deal is falling through as we speak, or type rather. It's been a rollercoaster of sorts. At this moment in time they may be willing to lower the price a little but I am no longer really willing to purchase it - or go as high in price as they would like. I'm sort of a commitment-phobe and while I really really REALLY love the house, this was all just too much, too fast, too hectic. When I find the house I'll buy I know it will all just fall into place... and I won't be worried about making the payments as they do so.

So, yet again, I am no longer a homeowner. Damn. There's a lot more to the story, of course, but for now let's all just go "Awww." and leave it at that.

"Awww."

As for knitting, it's been few and far between. I remembered I had one more knitted Christmas present on my list: my sister-in-law. She's in her first year of college, likes pink and brown, and doesn't need a hat, a scarf or gloves. So I thought a nice bolero would be perfect. A small, fairly easy, machine washable and inexpensive project. I gathered up a few patterns I liked (there were very few I could find that I did) and headed off to the various stores that carry yarn in this here town. Without going into detail, lets just say this shopping expedition, like the majority of my shopping expeditions, doesn't have a happy ending.

Once I got home, I started crocheting (yes, I know this is a knitting blog) with some brown Wool-ease and pearl beads and soon became disillusioned with my crocheting skills, which I previously thought were pretty excellent. I did, after all, start crocheting doilies at the age of nine. Ahem. Due to this little exercise and subsequent starting and stopping of three other projects with various needles, patterns, and ideas, my wrist is freaking killing me. Therefore, little knitting this weekend. I now think I'm going to make her a scarf - a Fizz Stardust Corkscrew Scarf to be exact. Yes, I realize she doesn't need a scarf and I'm copping out here but it's just too much stress and worry and whine for me. She's getting a pretty curly scarf. In a yarn that's more "cotton candy" than "fizz stardust". And actually, to help make me sound like less of a horrible sister-in-law, she will love this scarf. It's totally "her". But first, I'll finish the scarf for the Secret Santa exchange here at work, also made with cotton candy yarn.

Speaking of secret exchanges... Secret Pal... Are you out there? Haven't heard from you in, you know, a long time.

Fridays suck

Friday, November 18, 2005

Whenever Kurt and I talk about our favorites, which we seem to do a lot, I always say that Friday is my favorite day of the week. Mainly because it's the day we spend the evening together watching movies and eating popcorn and being silly. But I'm realizing it's not entirely true. While Friday evening is my favorite evening of the week, the actual day is anything but. In fact, it may be my second worst day next to Monday. Work is soooo slow and unmotivating because there is no one here. Really. In an office of 20-something, on Fridays we usually have 4-6 people here. This afternoon there are three. There are good things about it though: my boss usually lets us leave an hour early and sometimes, like today, he buys us lunch. But getting through the day is pure hell. So I'm taking my afternoon break to whine and complain to you all. I'll stop that now.

I *am* excited. Excited because after I finished eating free pizza for lunch I took off for the movie theator and got us tickets to Harry Potter. They weren't even sold out! I thought for sure they would be but I think the midnight showing last night really helped. So this Friday night movie night will be even cooler and more fun than it usually is. I'm wondering how I can convince Kurt to bring his invisibility cloak* without actually suggesting it. I just think it would be fun. While I was at the theater getting tickets there was a guy - about my age - wearing a Griffyndor colored polo shirt and that was just fun.

And while I took the sock to Turkey Bingo last night at Kurt's school, tonight it will have to stay back at home. I know I could bring it along and knit before the show starts, during the 30 minutes of previews and commercials (commercials! at a movie! I hate it!) but I'd rather sit and talk about the movie with Kurt. It's so fun.

So, ahem, this entry is all about fun. I hope everyone reading this has a fun weekend and I'm sure I'll be back next week with some more knitting content and even *gasp* more pictures.

*The invisibility cloak is just a big square of shiny goldish blackish see-through fabric we bought at the fabric store. It cost less than $5 and has been a source of entertainment for like two years already.

And a snag...

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Well okay. T-Bomb (can I call you Talitha?) left a comment letting me know that Internet Explorer (I'm assuming a little here) doesn't like my new design. Tis true, I opened my blog up in IE and all I see is the main posting area. The banner and sidebar are completely MIA.

Anyone know how to fix this?

I use Mozilla Firefox and with that my new design looks splendid but in IE it looks unfinished and, dare I say, ugly? Help if you can. I will do what I do best in situations like these: Google.

And a leap!

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Holy shit, huh? I decided to sit down "for a little bit" tonight and try to figure out what I was going to do about my blog. HTML hates me now. Blogger seems to hate the tables I make even though they're just like the ones I've used in the past. So I just edited my CSS style sheet one. line. at a time. I made damn good use of the Preview button tonight. Take THAT blogger!

Anyway, right now, bleary eyed and tired, I really like the slightly altered layout and I sort of like the new color scheme. I really like my banner. More than I thought I did. Does it make your eyes water? I know it's blurry but it's from a painting I did and I really liked the way it turned out even though it's blurry.

I'm rambling now. The second sock continues! I think I'll get to the heel tomorrow.

P.S. Don't be surprised if there's a new entry from me tomorrow morning saying I hate what I did to my blog... Hah. Hope not.

Baby steps...

Some teeny tiny changes to the page today. I realized last night (while knitting...) that I didn't even get the Secret Pal banner up and, um, Secret Pal is over in a few short weeks. So the little banner is up, as well as the Knitting Blogs one. I'd like to get my links to the blogs I read back up too. I know that's how I delved into this whole blog-reading thing - skipping from blog to blog - and I'm sure new readers (I know there are a few because I've had some comments. Hi!) would appreciate that. So I'll try to make time for it. The overhaul though, on the site, is going very very slowly... mainly because I'm having to reteach myself HTML and most nights I just feel like knitting and not HTML'ing. Anyway, some changes today. Hooray for little tiny banners!

In knitting news: I've now knit the toe on Kurt's second sock three times. THREE. But no matter how many times I do it, the stripes are not going to match up so we're going with what we got. And what we got are non-matching striped socks. Oh well, he'll love them anyway.

That's all. Have a great evening!

Pictures!

Monday, November 14, 2005

It's the Wave and Shell Shawl! And it's completed!


Here it is pre-blocking. Forgive the dark picture, I had to take it Thursday evening so I could get it blocked Friday before I left town.


Blocking Friday morning on my bed. This is the first time blocking on my mattress but not the last for sure! The pins go right in, and stay in, and I can shut the cats out of the room. PERFECT. I counted the pins as I took them out (weird habit) and there were exactly 100. Strange.


Completed. Picture taken this morning before I left the house. I guess we have a storm rolling in so there was no sun at all to light it up. Had to use the flash.

Pattern: Wave and Shell Shawl
Yarn: [I'll post later]
Finished dimensions: ~63" x 22"

I'm so glad to have it done and I love the end result. It's so cozy and pretty. You can see, in at least two of those pictures, the dark rows in the middle of the shawl. Thank God I decided to switch back to a lighter ball of yarn because that dark is really really noticable in the final shawl. It would have looked horrid had I just kept going.

With that out of the way I flew on Kurt's first sock and finished it last night. He's so excited and can't wait to have a pair. I'm so excited because this means I get to start a new project. Well, not counting the pink fuzzy scarf I started on Saturday for my Secret Santa exchange at work. I didn't get pics of that yet though. It's just the Mock Cable scarf from SnBN. I substituted some baby alpaca for the yarns in the book though. Cheap, easy, and looks great. Maybe I'll get pics of these projects sometime this week. But, for now, I'm off to work.

Did I promise pictures?

Thursday, November 10, 2005

...I'm slipping the digital camera in my bag right now. I'll take pictures this weekend and post next week.

I was just sighing over the new Interweave Knits preview that was linked on Jessica's blog. Never have I loved so many projects in a knitting magazine. The Windowpane Jacket, Fair Isle pullover, Bicolor Cables jacket, Retro! Even the Cabled Bandeau is calling to me even though I *know* for a *fact* it would look horrible on me. Tube tops never flatter the flatter chests. Not that I'm like a 7-year-old or anything but I'm certainly not curvy enough to hold that puppy up.

ANYway, the point here is that I have to buy this magazine.

For this weekend though: a dentist appointment, supper with my mom, completion of the Wave and Shell Shawl (finally!), blocking of the shawl (I can't wait!) and work on the ugly *ahem* on Kurt's socks. He doesn't like it when I call them ugly so I'm no longer allowed.

Also, I put a bid in on "the" house but we'll see if they take it. I doubt it, it's pretty low. And I wouldn't close until April 3rd due to renters living in it until then. Weird situation and a long story. But I'm off to have a wonderful weekend! Hope you do too!

No pictures yet...

Sunday, November 06, 2005

and for good reason. I fell in love with a house this week. I've been casually searching for a home for over a year now. I browse the realty circular every few weeks and look at realtor.com when I'm bored but I've never had anything pop out at me and say WOW. I've looked at a few houses, maybe 6-7 and there was only one I liked quite a bit but it needed too much work and sold like hotcakes anyway. There's been this one a few blocks from me that I've driven by but I thought it was a duplex because there are two front doors. This week I set up a time to view a different house also near me but it sucked. I mean really sucked. Weird layout, horrible painting jobs in almost every room and weird renovations. So on a whim I asked the realtor to show me this other one. Walking up to the house I sighed thinking that it didn't look like anything I'd want to buy: too big, too bland, too not what I want. Well, don't judge a book by the cover they always say... as soon as I walked in my brain screamed "this is it!" It's exactly what I want in a house. It's old (107 years!), original hardwood floors and woodwork, character seeping out of every pore, big rooms, a claw foot tub. Need I say more? Okay, it also has closets galore, three bedrooms exactly where I want them, a decent basement, and the neatest windows I've ever seen in the living room and main floor bedroom.

Alright, I'll stop gushing before I throw myself into another panic attack. Suffice it to say I was busy last week. Trying to coordinate some city grants I'll be eligible for, meeting with the bank to be approved for financing (which I was,) frantically working my budget to make sure I can afford it (I can,) and all this in the midst of the business of our every day lives.

I also managed to knit up a tiny baby beanie and mittens for my cousin who's baby shower was on Saturday. I'll post pictures when I get them back - I had to take them with a friend's digital. Then yesterday Kurt and I wound up the third ball of yarn for the shawl. I couldn't do the darker colors. I just couldn't. I left the three pattern repeats with it in there but then switched to this lighter ball (which, of course, is TOO light). The three repeats will be the exact center of the shawl and since I'm a centering freak this worked for me. I worked and worked on it this weekend in an attempt to keep myself calm about the home purchase stuff (I'm so scared someone else will put an offer in before me!) and it sort of worked. In any case, I'm now two pattern repeats from completion. Hooray! No more boring shawl progress shots! Now I can finish Kurt's socks and move onto making some fingerless gloves.

Wish me luck on the house! I'll be calling my realtor first thing in the morning. :)

Ten days is a long time...

Monday, October 31, 2005

I'm back! I've been back but it's been buuuuu-say! I had to find a flapper girl dress for my Halloween costume, which I did in record time on Friday afternoon. First thrift store I stopped at had one for $7.50, then it was unpacking and knitting up a cloche hat (alright, alright, I ended up crocheting it because I SUCK at knitting hats) and starting the laundry (in order to felt the cloche hat - I DO have priorities here.) Anyway, I won't bore you with the details but I will have a pic once I get my hat back from my friend's house who hosted her annual Halloween bash. Once again it was so. much. fun.

The trip went well and I actually got all knit back up to where I was on the shawl before I frogged. Looks great and I *think* the darker color is going to be okay. Well, it's going to have to be actually. Since it's a half and half thing I think I can live with it. Then again I haven't laid it out in the sunshine again lately to see it's fully glory.

I also knit a little on the ugly sock for my son and had a Yarn Harlot moment at a restaurant in Rapid City. After ordering and knitting away on the sock for a few minutes I realized that I only had a $10 bill in my pocket and my meal was a little more than that. Thankfully the server was very sweet and gracious and the manager thought my idea to work it all out was great (still not sure why a manager at a classy restaurant wouldn't have a plan for this in the first place.) I left my cell phone and knitting bag (with ugly sock and grandma socks) at the restaurant, walked back to my hotel and got more money and drove back and paid... and left my wonderful server a nice hefty tip.

While I was gone I received word that my blog has been accepted to the Knitting Blogs ring. Hooray!

Pictures forthcoming. (of the knitting, not the blogring)

Taking a trip...

Friday, October 21, 2005

Well, well, well. The Wave and Shell Shawl and I took a trip the other night. A trip you may know well. On the way there, we picked up my son and enlisted his help. Yes, it was a trip to the frog pond where 10 year old boys smile with glee as they get to rip out rows and rows of beautifully knit objects and knitter's cringe at the thought of reworking 3 hours of stitches.

I wanted to do some cool arrows and text-on-picture action but I didn't have time for that at home last night because I was sewing Luke Skywalker's pants*. So you'll have to peek into this photo to see my silly mistake.



If you look up the shell rows (note: they're actually upside down here in between the vertical rows of YOs) you will see two nicely spaced rows of garter stitch at the top (bottom in this picture) of each shell. Then, all of the sudden, three pattern repeats from the top there are four nicely spaced rows of garter stitch at the top of a shell... where there should only be two of course. I've worked the math and realized this must have happened at knitting group last Sunday. I must have done a few rows on the shawl before I left, then started the pattern repeat again when I got there. Damn. So we ripped.

I wouldn't have been so anal [maybe] if it had been for myself or someone else but my grandma is the queen of perfectionism. She used to make those giant crochet doilies and if she was like an inch from being done, but she noticed a mistake back at say, row 10, she would rip ALL the way back and fix it! So yes, I know she would love a gift from me even with mistakes but I'm determined to make it perfect.

And the other picture for the day is Kurt's ugly socks. Boy oh boy, when you let a kid pick out his own sock colors you gotta watch out. But he loves the colors and will treasure these socks until his feet get too big for them (and maybe even after that).



I plan to bring these and the shawl along on the work trip next week. If anything, it will keep me busy in my hotel rooms since I know now that I'll be going alone. Long story. It's okay, this just means I get to crank up the music while I drive across two states. But unforunately, no knitting while driving. Or goofy shenanigans with my supervisor.

* My sewing skills must have improved in dormancy because I finished the top and pants to Kurt's Halloween costume in record time and they both fit on the first try. Hooray! Now I just have to find a dress for me to wear. I'll make sure to post pictures of the day when all is said and done. But until then, au revoir!

*edit*
Almost forgot! Here is a pic of the darker blue colors in the second ball - just a garter stitch stripe in this pic. I'm beginning to think it will look alright since it does happen about halfway through but it sure is darker.

Katie needs

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Alright, alright, I finally broke down. Google your name and the word needs to find out what YOU need. Here's what I need:

Katie Needs IV fluids
Katie Needs To Go.
Katie needs a Project Manager
Katie needs help with feeding and drinking but she does manage to use the litter
Katie needs a C-section
Katie This lovely, gentle girl is in need of a new home.
Katie needs to talk to her friend
Only Katie needs our financial support.
Katie needs your help with vocabulary words to win.
Katie needs to get a grip.

This is an update, named update

Currently listening to: The Velvet Underground - "Who Loves the Sun"

My grey sweater may be done for. I washed it in the washer again and dried it with the other clothes for an hour or more. And it looks... better, but not as good as it did before this mess. It's too big. I mean, my point for making the next size up Ribby was so I could wear it over long sleeve shirts and still be comfy - my other one fits too snugly for that. So I guess it still serves it's purpose but it sort of looks like crap while doing it. The sleeves are back where they should be though so that's good.

I'm thinking I must get to work on new sweaters for myself once I'm done with my projects for others. Kurt's socks (in such and atrocious colorway I MUST post pictures once I get them done up a bit) and my Grandma's shawl, which is looking lovely. Except for the change in colors in the second hank. I should post pics of that too. The dark blue in the new one is waaay darker than the dark blue in the first one. I haven't decided if I can live with it yet.

In other news, I'll be gone almost all next week - traveling for work. I'll try to post the pictures before I leave so I can show all the progress I made when I get back. Well, that is if my supervisor gets to come with. If not, I can't very well knit and drive at the same time. But I would turn the music up really loud and sing like an idiot all the way to Rapid City.

Secret Pal is fun! I went shopping for mine this weekend. Don't want to say much about it publicly but I hope she likes what I got her. And that it's a big surprise!

Ta-da!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

I have pictures! Yesterday got really busy after I posted so I took the camera home last night and got some crappy pictures. It's SO HARD to get good pictures at night. Here's what I have:


Grandma's shawl. Could NOT get a good picture of this no matter how hard I tried. Hopefull it'll work better once it's done and blocked.


Finished socks and some of those lovely apples I've been raving about.

The other budgeting presentation was okay but the group was much quieter than the first and I was a little distracted for some reason and kept losing my place. Felt a little bit more like what I *thought* the whole experience was going to feel like. What didn't feel feel weird and uncomfortable though? Talking to my son about sex last night. It ended up being one of the easiest conversations in the world and I wonder why I've stressed about it. He's awesome and so much like me. He doesn't ask common kid questions like "how does the baby get OUT of there?" no, he asks "so what determines whether it's a boy or a girl?" and is fascinated about XX and XY chromosomes. The look on his face when I said we were going to talk about sex though... hilarious.

I think I need a second project to work on along with the shawl but I'm not sure what it will be yet. Socks for Kurt, fingerless gloves for Kurt, a sweater for me, who knows. Most likely socks though. Or gloves. It's so hard to decide.

One last note: I LOVE bamboo needles. And one more: I'm not sure about the name of my blog anymore. I really really liked it and now, not so much. It's so long.

Did I Shrink?

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

So I washed my second Ribby Cardi. The grey one that I never posted pictures of. I wore it this weekend while helping a friend put up a chain link fence (this is more work than it seems like, just so you know) so I threw it in the wash on Sunday. I thought, "I'll throw it in the washer, like I do with my other one." They're both made from Wool-ease so in THEORY this would be fine. But somehow it was not fine. My poor comfy grey Ribby that I wear at work almost every day because it's cold in my office, is now HUGE. The already long arms now extend past my fingertips, the ribbing is completely stretched out so it hangs like a bag around my body, and it's so frumpy-ugly I could just cry. Well, not really but I am pretty pissed about it. I know the sleeves stretched because I layed it over the arm of the couch to dry instead of laying it flat (didn't want cat hair on it) and let the arms hang. But the rib-loss? Why did it do this?? And what can I do to make it better? Right now my tentative plan (even though I know I should never do things out of anger) is to throw it back in the wash and then pop it in the damn dryer for an hour. THAT'LL show it.

Either way, whether it lives or dies, I need a new sweater. A nice comfy (real) wool sweater. Maybe in a pretty orangey/nutmeg color since my stupid biceps have outgrown my old pretty orange sweaters. Not that I'm buff or anything but when you look like a toothpick all your life and then start exercising, clothes have a way of seeming much smaller than they used to be. That'll be my next budgeting-for-yarn project, I guess. I think I just have budgeting on the mind since today's the day I give two budgeting presentations to Head Start parents. The first went really well, the other is right after lunch.

The only project (?!) I'm working on right now, my grandma's shawl, is still beautiful but isn't growing very fast. I promise I'll take pictures today on my lunch hour and post them up later.

And here's a "hello" to Nerd Knits, who I'm assuming is my new subscriber - bumping my blog subscriptions to a healthy two. And yes, I am the other subscriber, I subscribe to my own blog. I just like to see what it looks like from someone else's point of view.

Apples and pickles

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Last week a coworker told us about some apple trees he has at a rental place here in town and said we could go pick as many as we wanted. Hell yeah! So we went, my son and I, and no we had never picked apples before. I had done a drive-by and saw that most of the apples were up high so we went armed with some grocery bags and... a hockey stick. You can tell by that statement just how "hockey" we are. Quite awhile later and after a nice little chat with one of the tenants and we left with one large grocery bag fun of apples. We made Apple Crisp, which was super delicious, but in all my weekends strange busy glory, we didn't get to make anything else yet.

However, on Monday, the aforementioned coworker brought his apple picker* to work to let me borrow. How cool is that? So we went back tonight after parent/teacher conferences and I loved the apple picker so much that I want to marry it. Or at least buy one for myself! I could hardly stop myself! I think I would have picked all night if my hands hadn't froze to the handle. Yes, that's right: froze. We had snow here last night! Luckily very little, less than an inch, because our neighbors on the western part of the state got 18-24". Eighteen to twenty-four inches IN OCTOBER. The first week in October! Yikes. A strange weekend topped off with a strange week.

I'm a little more long-winded when I post at home, no?

Last night we stopped by my LYS to find some shawl yarn. Choosing yarn is the hardest part of a project for me. Imagining the way things will look when completed is not one of my strong points so I stress about every possible color and yarn choice. But I went with my instincts on this one and chose a beautiful lightly variegated blue yarn - just one of the many recommended ideas by the patient lady at the store. It's Araucania Nature Wool, which I've never heard of but love almost as much as the apple picker. I wish I could show you a picture but, you know, I'm not THAT together this week. I actually got spontaneously sick with a terrible cold on Tuesday and then got spontaneously "better" on Wednesday after sleeping for almost 12 hours but I'm still a little tired, hence the quotes on "better."

Did I mention the wool was pretty cheap? What a bonus, huh? AND, it knits up in the Wave and Shell pattern so beautifully I can hardly believe it. But, alas, no pictures yet.

What I meant to come here and post about were all the great discussions about blogs, blogging, blog-reading, and etc. that I've been reading around blog world lately but maybe I'll save that for another day. Suffice it to say that I like my blog, plan to continue it, but don't be surprised if life gets in the way pretty often.

* It's a tool, I learned, with hooks and a basket at the end of a pole.