Serrano

This yarn has begun the journey to becoming a sweater. I cast on for Serrano last week when I needed straight stockinette. Six hanks were wound into balls and 261 stitches to a row and I'm not quite to the turn for the hem. The yarn seems much more yellow when I'm knitting it up, but it's definitely orange. What looks red is really more of a burnt orange so deep it's nearly brown. I've been trying to post this picture for days. Finally, I'm online at home and here you go. Now I wish I had more pictures to post.

my one photo per week per blogger

This is what I was doing Saturday and Sunday. I've been wishing I could go back all week.

why bother

I have two great pictures to share with you, but I can't upload them.

Let's Freak the Muggles Again

Go here, put knitting as #1.

Is it just me...

Or does the Beatles' Penny Lane play in your head when you see Amy Lane's name? Must just be me.


I made some progress on the shawl last night. 11 sets of eyelets done. I re-did my math and I'm going to aim for 20-22 sets, depending on yardage, size, etc. No ripping and minimal dropping back to fix last night, even with a Desmond-centric episode of LOST (I just knew he wouldn't let Charlie die). Posing up there is my Koigu sock swatch. I washed it last night and have a gauge of 7 st/inch. That means that the 64 stitches in the pattern might fit around my big fat ankles. I really want to cast on, but besides having a job to do, I need to look up the cast on Teresa recommends.

Hubby had a work thing last night so we haven't really talked about this weekend. Although, after this morning's performance, I'm thinking leaving him with the grands won't be bad. He was so good last night. He ate well, came in from shooting baskets without fussing, took his bath, went to bed, minimal amount of frustration for mommy. This morning, he wanted his frog shirt, orange shirt with a bright green tree frog on it. I couldn't find it. I think it's at school in his emergency clothes bin (I'm going to check tonight and bring it home if it is, he's asked for it a couple of times). So, then he decides he's not going to cooperate at all. He wanted to wear PJs to school. He wanted a Bob the Builder pull-up while we used the last one yesterday and only have spiderman pull-ups and elmo diapers. After 15 minutes of no and wriggling and crying (all on his part, I behaved very well), we finally got dressed and out the door with no more fuss.

Although, I do still think I might want him with me. I wonder if I'm trying to avoid being alone with Hubby or if I'm feeling guilty about taking time off from Mommying.

Back to the fiber

I avoided posting my feminist ravings about the whole Don Imus thing, but I couldn't keep quiet. It's one thing when a group of women are insulted, it's another when 33 people have died.


So, back to the fiber, I'm about 4 sets of eyelets further along on the Spring Things shawl. I'd be even further, but I had to stop and rip, drop back, and tink a number of times last night. I have to remember that just because a pattern is easily remembered, doesn't mean that I can knit like it's stockinette in the round! I think the color is more accurate today. I'm planning on about 25 sets of eyelets before I start the upper border. We'll see what kind of yardage that takes and what size it gets me.

The green thing on top is a swatch for my Here There Be Dragons socks in the leftover Koigu from the lace leaf shawl. I just had to print out the pattern and try it. My previous attempt was on a much thinner yarn and it lead to a smaller sock. I'm hoping koigu on 3s will get me less than 8 stitches to an inch so that the socks will fit my wide-ish feet.

I'm enamoured of that greenish koigu and I have more than four skeins left. Two plus a partial ball should be enough for the socks. I'm thinking of using the other two to trim a future project. Maybe a lacy ruffle on a 3/4 sleeve of a plain beige sweater? With a little trim on the front bands? Just a thought. I'll try to remember to put the koigu with yarn I was thinking of matching it with.

In other news, Hubby's got his parents shore place for the weekend. (Definition of shore place: a converted motel suite one block from the beach in North Wildwood, NJ. M-i-L hates to call it a condo because it's an itty bitty, one bedroom converted suite.) Since the weather's going to be nicer this weekend (read: sunny in the 60s), I'm thrilled. However, we have a minor debate on bringing the B. This morning Hubby suggested leaving the B with his parents, they're already taking the dog, and it nearly brought me to tears. Usually, I'm all for getting the mommy and daddy alone time, but for some reason, as of this morning, I want B with me. Maybe that's just because he's been really easy the last couple of days. I'm sure if we get a "no pants" episode as I'm trying to get out the door Friday morning, I won't regret leaving him with his grandparents.

Cute thing B's been doing lately: over dinner, we get a run down of who pooped at school that day. Not sure how accurate it is as it always starts with "Nessa got poop." The other kids who "got poop" that day will vary and he invariably says no if we ask about kids by name, including him. Mostly we think it's entertaining, but Hubby was a bit uncomforatable discussing Nessa's bowel functions at the diner last night. Like the old people behind us don't regularly discuss BMs!

I don't want to write about it, but I have to

I don't want to say anything about the shootings at VA Tech. It's just too horrible to think about and my heart aches for those involved. But, the sexism inherent in the mishandling of the situation by the campus police means I have to say something. Boingboing.net said something that got me thinking (I'm quoting here because I'm not sure how to link to the direct graph):

But there's another security story that's not mentioned in this article. The part of the story that unfolded before Cho bought the guns and ammunition. He exhibited antisocial, threatening behavior for quite some time before he packed up weapons and killed 32 people. Much of that threatening behavior was directed at women. One female teacher reports being afraid for her safety when tutoring him alone. Cho is reported to have obsessively, persistently stalked a number of female students who lived on campus. By accounts now surfacing in the news, police came to speak with victims in one case (maybe more? maybe not), but no charges were ever filed, no further action taken, and the behavior continued to escalate. If even a misdemeanor charge had been on record, would he have been able to obtain those weapons so easily? Did nothing happen because the law enforcement system involved -- really, all of us -- don't take violent crime and threatening behavior against women as seriously as we should?

The assumption by the security on campus that the first shooting was a "domestic" situation and didn't require a campus lockdown was ludicrous. A number of spree killers murdered "domestically" before exanding their spree. The largest on campus spree killer prior to this, Charles Whitman killed his wife and mother before climbing into the tower at University of Texas. "Domestic" doesn't mean that there is no threat to others. Especially if you don't find a gun in the room of the "murder-suicide." I really do think that VA Tech bungled this. There were 2 hours between shootings. If they'd locked down the campus, by doing more than sending out an e-mail, they could have saved some lives. I know the ultimate responsibility for this act lies with Cho, but when will domestic violence, which is usually against women and children, be taken seriously as a real crime. It's just as real a crime as stranger on stranger.

all lace all the time

Here's the progress on the Spring Things shawl. Not bad considering I didn't knit at home last night. I hemmed some pants instead. How is it, that at 5'4" plus-size petite pants are at least 3" too long? Being fat doesn't make my legs longer; I'm still short! I'm totally grooving on the colors. I think they're a little more saturated in this picture than in real-life. I've got the pattern memorized for the upper chart. I've got many, many 6-row repeats to go. Since I've got 870 yards, I'm thinking I'll make it a little bit bigger.

I've gone ahead and signed up for the Cabin Cove knitalong. Got to remember to add the button to the sidebar.

I hope to have modeled shots of Lace Leaf later this week. I'm hoping the weather will improve so we can have some daylight modeling, either by me if I can find a photographer, or by my forsythia bushes if I can't.


Go find a Ben & Jerry's scoop shop. It's free cone day! My first experience with Ben & Jerry's was in grade school. In 1983, the town next to mine made the Guiness Book of World Records for the world's largest sundae. B&J donated the ice cream and they bussed kids in from all over to eat it. Being from VT, B&J was always the ice cream of choice. I remember seconds sales (esp. the seconds that were seconds because there were TOO MANY chunks), getting Peace Pops at the drive-in, visiting the original scoop shop in Burlington, coming to NYC in high school and seeing the famous Woody Jackson holsteins and realizing there was a bit of home in Times Square. When my cousin worked at their factory in St. A, she'd get sleeves of ice cream each week and would pass along the extras. Free cone, I think I need a pint!

that whole Koigu sweater thing?

I found the pattern. Serrano over at Knitty.com. One problem, 4 skeins of the recommended yarn at 560 yards = 2240, 12 skeins of koigu at 175 yards = 2100.

No grasshoppers today

Here is the lace leaf shawl all blocked out. It's a little wonky, first time I've blocked a triangle. I finished the cast off on the way to and from church yesterday. I washed (hit the dirty train floor) and blocked during Billy's nap yesterday afternoon. She was dry when I left this morning, but I didn't have time to unpin it. This was a very satisfying knit. Two weeks from cast on to blocking. I'll need to trim ends but she's ready to wear now. The pattern is Lace Leaf Shawl from Fiber Trends, knit in Koigu (I can look up the color if anyone wants to know it) on US 7s. I used by KnitPicks Options in the 32" length. I had to rip once, I think. There are a couple of minor errors (a k3tog in one row where the k2tog was missed the previous right-side row), but nothing I can't live with. I'll try her on and see what I think.

Meanwhile, I cast on for the Spring Things shawl on Saturday. I was waiting for B to finish the french toast Hubby made for lunch. Since the yarn, pattern and needles were sitting right there, I started. But US3s seemed too small. I started again on Sunday (during nap after I blocked lace leaf) with US5s. I liked the fabric better and cruised through nearly 40 rows when I realized I'd messed up but good back on row 6 or so. RIiiiip it went. I started in again this morning. I just love this thing and can't wait. Hubby's not convinced that I need to knit multiple shawls, but when has knitting ever been about need? (Okay, I know 100 years ago I would have been knitting out of need.)

In other news, parts of my town have become new duck ponds. Seriously, I watched from train station as a pair of Mallards landed on the water on High Street and just toodled around. Most roads were passable and the bus ride into the city was only 5-10 minutes longer than normal. The river hadn't wiped out much, but, the blocks near the river were not draining. The public schools are closed (some are being used for shelters for people who live near the river) and I'm probably going to need an alternate route to daycare if this hasn't subsided by evening.

Netter can't count

You know how I mentioned on Wednesday that I was just about done? I was wrong. I thought I was close to 290 stitches needing only to finish out that repeat, but when I recounted that night, I was at 260 something. I needed about 3 more repeats to finish. I'll have 307 stitches when I finish the next two rows. I'm starting the edging after that. The shawl measures 18" deep right now, and I think it will block out fine.

I could always knit another, bigger one from the leftover koigu if this one isn't deep enough (I'm currently on ball 3 of 8 that I have in this colorway and dye lot).

Speaking of Koigu, I won 12 skeins of p338 on eBay the other day. Can I tell you how excited I am? I'm going to figure out a lacy cardigan if it kills me.

I do have to start planning another baby item. Good friends of ours are expecting their first in September. Hubby suggested a blanke. I'm thinking a log cabin moderne or the courtyard steps from Mason Dixon Knitting. I'm thinking of getting a bunch of Elann sonata in neutral colors. We have another friend that is expecting his second in August. I decided this morning to do a baby surprise or tomten in Mets colors (I've got ASC in orange and blue melange). I could also do bibs and stuff.

Next, up, though will be my Spring Thing shawl in my Cabin Cove laceweight. Once I find the yarn.

Ladybug Presents

I've got no idea what the blog title means. Billy's been pretending to see ladybugs or grasshoppers out his window (second floor to the ground, kid's got good eyesight). And he's been obsessing about presents. Not just that he wants to get new stuff or even open presents himself. He was perfectly happy when Molly opened her present a week ago. So this morning, after telling me about the ladybug he saw, he started asking for ladybug presents. I really don't know if he thinks there should be a ladybug holiday for which we exchange gifts or if he wants to wrap up some aphids to leave for his invisible friends. I'm confused, but he's cute!

I've decided I'm going to make a bigger Lace Leaf shawl. I'm nearly to the end of what would be the last repeat of the smaller size, but it's only about 15 inches deep. I don't think it's going to grow by more than half with blocking. I don't know if I'm going to add seven more repeats to make the full large size, but I definitely want it to be at least 33" deep after blocking. Which is fine. I was kind of bummed to think that I'd be starting the 15 row border tonight on the way home. I'm not quite ready to be done knitting on this. Although, I was very excited to think that I might be blocking it this weekend. Oh well. If I'm not ready to block by Saturday, that means I don't have to clean off the guest room bed!

I did order the Spring Things shawl yesterday. I'm going to knit that up with my Cabin Cove yarn. (I'm going to have to join that knitalong when I cast on. Which is good. I like the buttons.) I just ordered a niddy noddy on eBay which will make the Icarus Magnum Dye much easier.

Rae, browse through here for some rectangular shawl ideas. I imagine some aren't too holey. Hey, there's always Clapotis from Knitty.

Big girls do knit, and they read sometimes

Amy, I'm a big girl, too. (Getting bigger by the day it seems.) The vest is knit on US13s or 15s but is going to be ripped as too big. I hope to re-start it for next Fall. I read somewhere, can't remember where, that bigger girls not where anything larger than dk or worsted weight. That could take forever if your bust is 48" or more (and that's 48" with no ease). I'm hoping a chunky knit that's got about zero ease won't look too bad. I'll definitely post pictures if I ever finish!

Both Amy and Rae asked about Wicked. It is indeed the book upon which the play was based and I put it down for a good long while about 1/3 through because I wasn't so into it. I got Son of a Witch recently and figured I should finish Wicked. I couldn't put it down. I'm about half-way through Son and do want to pick up Maguire's other books.

I love the re-tell from a different character's perspective. I think the best, and my favorite, is Grendel. I do want to pick up Finn which is the story of Huck Finn's father. It's gotten good reviews.

Rae, you can use Easter Egg dye, or any other food coloring, to dye protein fibers. And they're nontoxic, so when I dye, that's what I use.

I worked diligently on the shawl last night and am a repeat past where I had to rip last week. I'm torn about the size. The small size is supposed to be 68" x 33", which I think is a good size for 5'4", but I'm only halfway through the second ball with 2 repeats of 10 rows to go so I sincerely doubt I'm going to use all 600 yds called for. Does that mean my shawl will be smaller? The large will be way too big (90" x 45"). I guess we'll just see how it blocks out. It's looking like I'm going to have at least 4 skeins of koigu left. Methinks I have green socks in my future!

I inspired another knitter to start knitting on the train. She wants to make a blanket for her son, but doesn't have time. Maybe today, she'll be knitting instead of doing Sudoku.

little bit of this, little bit of that

I did dye as planned on Friday afternoon. Two skeins of chunky going from golden yellow to orange. Gave me some things to think about the magnum dye I'm going to do for Icarus.

I also dyed another skein of Iris in the superwash sock yarn (purple, turquoise and apple green). Looks pretty good.

Oh, yeah, a skein of "After the Easter Eggs" as well. It needs to be washed. Whew! does that smell of vinegar!

For knitting, I ripped out 12+ rows on the shawl Saturday. I'd messed up the last repeat something fierce. I haven't really touched it since. I've been too busy reading Wicked and it's sequel, Son of a Witch.

Friday, I did knit some on the pink, pink, and more pink vest I'd been working on. I'm going to rip it out. Hubby gave the colors a no vote, but the deciding factor was that it's a bit bigger than I wanted it. I wanted a slimmer fit. I don't agree that big girls can't wear chunky yarns, but I think they shouldn't be boxy or oversized in the least.

Icarus

I did a google search of images of Icarus this morning, to try to justify my thoughts on my dye magnum opus. I know in the myth, the wax holding Icarus's feathers melted from the frame, there was no fire. But, I always think of fire when I think of Icarus. This piece by David Bovey is what I think of, color-wise.
I have a piece I wrote years ago that references Icarus. I wonder if I could dig it up. I'm obsessed about this lace piece and am chomping at the bit to dye the yarn and start knitting. Soon, soon.

Not gonna rant

I was going to rant about how I shouldn't be here today, but since I got a total of eight e-mails over night (I usually get at least 30) and two in the hour since I've been here, I'm going to just buckle down and get somethings done. All of our European colleagues have today and Monday off, plus lots of people took today off (including my boss). The disruptions should be minimal, especially since it's probably going to be quiet out in the blogosphere today.

Our office is closing at 3, so I'll be home by 4:30, which is an hour and a half earlier than normal. I'm hoping I can get some dyeing done. Not the super extensive, so crazy you're supposed to be talking me out if it lace dye, but maybe a couple of skeins of sock yarn, but not all the sock yarn.

Since daycare is closed, B is with M-i-L for the day. I left the house at 6:45 when Hubby got out of the shower and B was still sleeping. M-i-L was going to get to the house at 7:15 so she can get B up and all that and Hubby can get to work on time. She'll take him to her place after lunch and is making dinner for us at their place tonight. (M-i-L is going to NC to visit her parents this weekend so we won't all be having Easter dinner on Sunday.)

Tomorrow Hubby and F-i-L are going to the Yankee game (belated F-i-L birthday gift) and B and I are going to an Easter egg hunt at church. (How many orange ones do you think he'll bring home?) Then while B is napping, I'll boil our eggs and we'll dye them when Hubby gets home. Gee, I think I'll have some skeins waiting for the leftovers.

Church on Sunday and F-i-L's coming to our place for Easter dinner (he has fewer vaca days than M-i-L so he's not going with her).

I hope to get more knitting done on the shawl. I barely finished one repeat yesterday. I was moving slowly.

Didja notice my little sister (the recipient of the handknit stockings) stopped by the other day and said she liked the shawl?

lots to say

Hubby and I took the day off yesterday. For the last X years he and I have gone to every Yankee home opener. Unfortunately, we couldn't get tickets for this year's opener so he got them for the second game. Which got rained out. But, before we knew we wouldn't be watching any cold, wet baseball, I was at home working on the Lace Leaf Shawl while he was on a job interview. (Um, yes, I did say that and that is where he was even with having 3 different jobs last year, let's just say the third time wasn't the charm.) I finished two repeats by the time he got home, then we had a nice lunch together and did some Easter shopping and then I took a nap. There's something wrong about taking a vacation day and still being in the shower by 6 am (had to get B to school at a normal-ish time or he'd freak out). I had thought if the game was rained out I'd do some housework or dye some yarn (my knitpicks order came in on Tuesday). Didn't happen.

Here's the progress on the shawl. Thanks for all the positive feedback. I can't wait to finish it and block it. I'm just under 200 stitches and aiming for 307. Am I half finished yet? Ironically, I didn't work on the shawl at all during tv time last night. Instead I picked up a plain stockinette vest I've been working on. Wine with dinner, I guess.

Why yes, the shawl is posing with 30 balls of newly stashed yarn. Thanks for noticing. (10 balls Rowanspun Aran in Gable, 10 balls Polar in Combat or gray, 10 balls Polar in Truffle or yummy yummy chocolate)

I do think I should stop stashing until I find the burgundy Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool I want to use in a design idea.

In other exciting mail, I received this from Adrienne. She had offered a hand knit hat to the winner of Thordora's PPD crazy race in February. I won the race (and a copy of Adrienne's book). Go to Adrienne's blog to see a picture of me in it. (I wonder what the neighbors thought while I was snapping away at my own head.)

I had started a long winded post about the book but I've lost it. I devoured the book shortly after receiving it and it deserves it's own post.

I think I'll wear the hat to the Easter Egg hunt at church on Saturday, since it's going to be knit hat weather. Nice springer we're having. It was snowing out my window earlier this morning. I would have taken a picture but I was interviewing someone.

Speaking of dyeing, I've got an insane idea to dye my own yarn for my icarus. I did buy a skein of bare laceweight from KnitPicks... It's a truly crazy idea that will take me hours to accomplish. Hours of wrapping and hours of dyeing. Really, someone stop me. (I'm thinking my pink and yellow from Cabin cove would be better as this.)

delayed gratification

Most days, I wait and wait until I can pick up my knitting. Sometimes, I'll knit on the bus into the city in the morning, but lately I've been sleeping. If I get a seat on the subway downtown to my office, I'll do a few rows. Usually, I don't get my knit on until I'm on my way home. Again, I'll pick it up on the subway uptown if I get a seat. But, generally the serious knitting starts when I'm ensconced on the train or bus. All day when I can't knit, I think about my current project, or the next one, or I shop around and buy yarn. I continually check my bloglines feed to see if anyone's updated so I can be virtually surrounded by my obsesion. It's only an appetizer, though until I am commuting and then, I relax into the bliss that it is the stitching. I hate to be interrupted. Woe to the person who asks me to get up so they can have that empty seat; I shoot them looks of death.


Unfortunately, with the shawl, I can't pick it up for just a minute here or there. I don't even bother taking it out on the subway. I look at it longingly in my bag, but I know that I just don't have time (the ride's 8-12 minutes). So, I can't feed the lace jones until I'm on my way home. It makes the desire that much stronger, delaying it until I'm on the train and I can get the pattern out and fire up the yarn overs.


I'm trying to be good at home. Not working on the shawl as soon as Billy's in bed. Last night, I did the recycling and worked some of the duplicate stitching on bounce before I dove into the lace. Tonight, I'll do the dishes and a few more baseball seams before I allow myself the release of the ssks and skps.


Still, I've made some progress. I put a life line in after the first repeat of the main chart (or row 31-40 if you're like me and you work from the line by line instructions). I'll move it after the next full repeat or so. I'm still loving the knitting and loving the koigu.

Hubby asked last night who the shawl was for. I told him "Me!" I did mention that if someone sees it and really wants it I might give it up. I'm not sure if I'm a shawl wearer, but I'm sure I'm a shawl knitter!

I think I'll go finish my lunch and work a couple of rows, if nothing urgent pops up, which would be a nice change.

addicted to lace

I'm wishing you a happy April, now that my mood's improved this morning. I was not a happy camper this morning. Billy's caught the cold Hubby and I were sharing and he has the gross propensity of mucus oozing from his eyes. No color to his eyes, mind you, but it was a bit touch and go to determine if they were still white, meaning mommy could come in to work.

This is the first of my planned April/May Project Spectrum projects. A Lace Leaf Shawl in Koigu. Late last year, I bid on and won 8 skeins of KPPPM in this lovely green (with blues and purples). I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, or even if I'd like the colors (the photos on the auction weren't very true), but I couldn't resist the volume at the price. Now, I'm addicted to lace. I wasn't sure about the start, but I'm through the first 40 rows and can't wait to pick it up again. I've been thinking about this and my Icarus for months. I wound the yarn yesterday morning (B was watching All-Star Alphabet for the 8 millionth time). I had to go up to US 7s to get gauge, so it doesn't seem to challenging, yet. I can't wait to start Icarus in laceweight yarn on 3s!

Hard work pays off

That time I spent back in November planting the daffodil bulbs payed off.

Here's what my raised bed looks like now.

Hubby had been giving me a running count of the number of blooms. I figured I needed to check last night.

Billy thought that taking pictures of flowers looked like fun so he went into the house and brought out his own camera. I took some pictures of him taking pictures, but blogger's decided you're only getting the daffodils.

In other news, I've got a killer of a cold. At first I thought it was allergies, yesterday was the first High tree pollen day. But, it's definitely the cold Hubby had this weekend. Fortunately, I feel more awake today than yesterday. That means I may actually knit tonight on the bus home instead of sleeping. I was in bed 20 minutes after B last night.

dye, baby dye

So, I was a bit busy with the dye pot last weekend. Friday night, I tried to do a three shade of blue pooler in three bowls. Didn't quite work (remember, lay off on the vinegar with the superwash or stir, stir, stir). Also, probably not a good idea to dye when Hubby is working late, I'm cooking and B is still 3 and awake. Doesn't lead to much stirring.

Saturday, I tried again to make a three shade blue pooler. This time, into the crockpot, no vinegar, and a gradiated dye. Again, not so much with the luck. I've got three shades of blue and it will probably pool if knitted back and forth (the whole point having been inspired by this post of Fathom Harvill's, although 440 yards of fingering probably isn't enough for a scarf, right?).


I've also been wanting to do an Easter basket dye with all my favorite Easter colors (or their closest NEON variation). This time I was going to hand paint. I used so much vinegar in the hot water that I mixed the colors in that I really didn't need to cook it to set it! That was fun. Although, my planning out of the color sequence was not so great.

Again, I didn't plan the timing of the activity so well either. Hubby brought B home earlier than expected during the dip dye of the blue and he came home during nap mid-way through the Easter basket pour. (He relieved me of Mommy duty so I could go shopping; bonus = new clothes, not just new yarn.)

So, here's a pic of my last five efforts. From L-R, Barbie goes Boca, an orange-y pink dip dye that was supposed to be gradiated. I made a slightly longer skein for this one. Next to that is Shamrock Sunday. I made a 14' skein for that one and it was supposed to be my green gradiated dip dye (got some great tips on how to better do that from Julie's last Knitty article). Next is Easter Basket (Hubby thinks it should be called Woodstock). Then Partly Cloudy my first attempt at a blue pooler. Last is Easy Blues, the other attempt at a blue pooler.

I am now out of sock yarn for dyeing. Must go order more.

In other news, I'm working on the border for the garter stitch baby blanket. Must go look up garter stitch mitres.

complete and utter liar

So, that whole Knit from your stash thing has bitten the dust. I knew if I bought that Calmer in February I'd lose it. Who uses their get out of jail free card in February? So then, I bought the yarn for B's 2008 Atrick's Day sweater. And now, I'm going nuts on eBay. I'm getting 10 sks of Rowan Spun Aran in Gables (pretty red) and 10 skeins of Polar in dark truffle (mmmmmm, chocolate).

I have no resolve. I have a large bonus check and no will power.

I'm going to try to keep the stashing to once a month. But, we'll see about that.

guess who

So, my friend and I are heading out to lunch today and when the elevator stops at the 3rd floor I think that the blonde woman getting on looks a lot like Jayme the wonder publicist. Well, it was. Guess who followed her onto the elevator!

Guess who didn't say anything.

My excuse is that my friend was talking and I didn't want to interrupt her (although I couldn't tell you what she said because my brain was all THAT'S THE HARLOT, STEPHANIE PEARL-MCPHEE IS IN THE SAME ELEVATOR AS ME!!! SQUEEE!). And I didn't want to be the dork.

Wish I'd worn a handknit today. She would have sensed that I was one of her kind.

The Harlot at FIT

I felt like a huge dork going to the Harlot's talk by myself last night. Hubby rightly pointed out that I should have talked to my lunch ladies about going, but I was very shy and nervous about it. Still, even sitting by myself, surrounded by knitters in packs, flocks, herds, I felt I was with my people. The auditorium held 750, and there were at least 650 people there.

I was tenth row center, and should have picked a closer seat so I could share better pics.

Steph is even funnier in person. You get to see her gestures and facial expressions. She's a great speaker. Her speech was about muggles and how they try to thwart knitters. Very funny. I cried.

She wore her finished Bohus Guld, which was gorgeous, even from ten rows away.

Joe surprised her by flying in with his mom. I've got a really horrible pic of Stephanie leaning down to kiss him. (Is it strange that I refer to someone I've briefly met once, but read everyday, by her first name as if I know her?)

I was so high on laughing and wool fumes (the Craft Yarn Council gave everyone a skein and needles to do a square for Warm Up America), I floated up to Penn Station for the train ride home.

I was fortunate enough to get a signed copy of the book. Apparently, they sold out of the ones she'd pre-signed and there was no time for signing afterward. Q&A ran to almost 8:30.

What a great time!

Guess what I forgot at home

I finished my represent hat the other day (Monday, I think). As you can see, there is patterning. I re-worked my favorite slip-stitch rib with the wrong side out so I was knitting, instead of purling in the round. Turn it inside out when done and whoop! finished hat.

Of course, instead of coming with me tonight to see the Harlot, it's sitting on my dresser. I realized this as my bus was travelling through Hillside. I thought last night when I was getting ready for bed "I should go downstairs and put that in my bag. Naah, I'll do it in the morning." And then this morning I was getting dressed I thought "I have to remember to bring that downstairs with me." Of course, I forgot. But, I remembered while eating my raisin bran and I thought "I have to remember to bring that downstairs when I go get the B." But, of course I forgot all about it until the bus was in Hillside and it will stay on my dresser until I can mail it to one of the other events.

Represent was knitted with 1 skein of Rowan Tapestry in the Potpourri colorway on US 6 dpns.

I'm still very excited to see the Harlot tonight and to buy the next book. I even dug out an old SIP to bring with me. The first sock of the second pair of beaded rib anklets. The should be good company on the line.

I've been quiet this week. I stayed home sick on Tuesday (little stomach bug) and had no time to blog yesterday. I'm feeling more caught up today, but I think that's a trick of my mind (I haven't looked at my to do list in a while).

future knitting

So, for Billy's green St. Patrick's Day aran, I present: Laurie, from Knitting Hearland by Jo Sharp. I've got 8 balls of mille fille fine which equals 10.2 balls of the called for yarn (Jo Sharp 8Ply DK wool). Mille Fille is suggested at 21 st/inch while the DK wool is 22.3 st/inch. I hope I'll be okay.

Represent, and more color

So, I didn't dye on Saturday. I wound up organizing the living room. Trying to get more toys out of sight. We really need to do a purge.

I did do some dyeing on Sunday, but no pics yet. My green gradiated dye didn't work as well as I had wanted it too. I set my intervals too long on the first segments and wound up having to add more dye which meant the later segments don't fade so nicely. I did however walk 400+ yards setting up a 14' skein.

When seeing me set up that skein around the dining room chairs, Hubby again asked why I can't just buy colored yarn.

I did do a 6' gradiation in pinky-orange. I think the intervals on that one were too short at first. The first two segments aren't quite as far apart as I wanted them to be.

I did take some pics in Sunday's sun of my previous experiments. L-R: Wool and silk blend in pink and orange (used cherry and orange kool-aid plus food coloring); Vegas sunset (NEON colors over superwash/nulon blend), and the most perfect shade of green ever (NEON colors at less saturation, over KnitPicks Donegal superwash).

I also started my REPRESENT hat (the in-laws will be picking up B for Hubby, he just can't get home early enough, and they'll have pizza dinner, and Hubby will put B to bed). I was going to use Cork in Delight (aka Cheetos), but saw a lonely skein of Rowan Tapestry in my craft-stash room/office. I had bought it to swatch with because it just looked so nice. Hmm, I thought. That would make a lovely hat. Looks pretty boring now, but there will be magic when I'm done. Magic, I tell you. It's been slow going. I couldn't find a small US6 circ, so I've done the whole thing on DPNs.

As for the B, he loved Atrick's Day. Once he got over that although we had cake, we weren't having a birthday party so there would be now Happy Birthday singing. I tried to get him to join me in Danny Boy, but he wasn't interested. Now, whenever he sees a shamrock, he says Happy Atrick's Day.

letter y show tell

Hubby agreed to stay home or to go home early if needed. He'd like to watch the NCAA tournament. I've got to show someone how to estimate costs. Lucky me. Rae mentions stuff is closed by her. Nope, our school district is open for business. The rain/sleet just turned to snow outside my office.

But, since the weather was winterish this morning, B wore his new hat to school. I took a couple of pics in the car this morning.

This one is him looking unsure about taking pics in the big red truck. Can't really see the hat too well, but doesn't he look cute?

This one shows the hat better, but he's crying because I wouldn't let him have my camera. Besides the fact that "me see it" is not the appropriate way to ask for something, he ain't getting the new camera. I went through the broken camera thing once, I'll prevent it to the last.
The letter of the week has been "Y." Guess what Billy brought for show and tell. He's very into show and tell and since he's been student of the week, he's brought a couple of things already. Friday, is class-wide show and tell, though. We were trying all week to think of Y words. Well, duh, he brought in a ball of Rowan Cork.

siren call of Elann.com

I couldn't resist.

I just ordered 8 balls of MilleFille Fine in Kelly green and a pattern book to knit Billy his own St. Paddy's day aran.

So much for not stashing in 2007.

Snow?

I think I want it to really snow tonight and tomorrow. I think I really want daycare to be closed tomorrow (or at least close early). I really, really want to take the day off. Shh, I know I took a day off last week, but I want stay home. I could take a vacation day, but having the last minute excuse of a big snow would be more fun.

Of course, I'd probably be more than ready to come back to work on Monday. What we think we want doesn't always work out to what we really want. You know? And three day weekends with the B can drive one a bit round the bend.

Poor kid. Mommy was very cranky last night. I'm all hormonal and people at work are not being nice (hanging me out to dry with the VP is not cool). So, we started off on a wrong foot. Then he all flipped out about the 8 being broken in Chicka Chicka 123. See all the numbers fall out of the tree and 8 has a visible tear in one of the pages. He wanted to get some scotch tape to fix it. I showed him that 8 has a cool green band-aid on the next two pages and is all fixed on the end papers, but that wasn't enough for him. Nice that he's so empathetic. I hope he remembers that the next time he kicks me when I'm trying to get him to do something he doesn't want to do. Or the inadvertent head to the throat the other night, that was fun. (He was trying to hug me, get me to save him from THE CLAW.)

We had a better morning this morning. I need to find patience for him everyday and not just when I'm in a good mood. And when I'm frustrated and impatient? I need to turn it down to about a 6. 11 is way too much.

Didn't knit much last night. I parked my butt with a beer (or two) and some popcorn.

now you're really going to be bored

I took a picture of my lunch. See, I try to bring in a frozen "diet" entree everyday. I also try to eat that and not go out for lunch. I'm not really on a diet, but I'm too lazy to make a sandwich everyday and we stock up when they're on sale. It really helps the wallet if I'm not spending $10 everyday for lunch.

I usually don't bitch about the meals, too much. Yes, they're going to be smaller than the sandwich from the deli around the corner, but it's healthier and cheaper.

However, the discrepancy between the picture on the box and the actual meal caught my eye today. I realize that these companies use "food wranglers" to make the meals look attractive. But, I could have used Ace Rothstein today*.

I got one lousy carrot in my meal. I saved it, and the two biggest pieces of meat for last.

*Remember the scene in Casino where De Niro as Rothstein tells the chef that every blueberry muffin should have the same number of blueberries. Yeah, that, but with the carrots.

Bored, yet?

I didn't get a picture of B in his hat. It was too nice to make him wear a hat or coat last night. After we got home we sat outside yesterday and played bubbles until Hubby came home. B was such a good helper yesterday, washing tables and putting away chairs, that he got a new mini-bottle of bubbles from the lead teacher. He got some Thomas stickers, too.

I'm averaging about 5" a day on the garter stitch blanket. Three more days or so and the body will be done. I'm getting a bit bored with it. I bet you're getting bored with looking at the pictures, too. Especially since I don't have any yarn to pose with it today.

I do have some thoughts on what I'm going to dye next. I'm going to fire up my crockpot on Saturday for a special St. Paddy's day dye. Yes, I'm crazy to plan an extended dye session when I need to clean (in-laws coming over for dinner) and hubby's going to be all in the kitchen cooking. But, I haven't dyed in nearly two weeks and since I didn't knit anything for myself for St. Paddy's, I want to dye something. I'm going to do some of the prep work early. It's going to require an extra long skein, so that will happen one night this week.

I've also got another dye idea in mind, prompted by a blog post I read yesterday. I might wait and do that one on Sunday.

I really want to start a sweater for me. I was thinking ChicKnits' Ariann in some white Saucy worsted. I've already done the math to upsize the pattern. Now, I just need to find the yarn and get the needles together. Or, I could start on the sweater I want to knit with that Calmer I bought a month ago. Then again, I have B's sweater to finish, socks in progress to find and work on, and a vest for me that I haven't mentioned that's stuck at the waist shaping. Oh, and mom's dishclothes and a hat I started way back when. Hrmm. Perhaps I shouldn't cast on anything new.

baby blankets and sock yarn

I've got a spoiler in this post, if I can post pictures. Andrea may not want to read very far.

Thanks so much for the compliments on Hubby's sweater. Susan, he really liked the color (amazing how well it matched his t-shirt), but was mostly happy with the price of the yarn. Me, I'm not planning any cables with worsted cotton again anytime soon. No lasting damage, but it was tiring on the wrists.

Rae, I'll see if I can get a picture of the completed Billy socks. They're in his hamper right now. I'm a bit miffed that he's not wearing them into the ground like his jacko'lantern socks. The blanket is just garter stitch. I cast on about 122 stitches and have been doing one row in each of three colors. (The yarn is a melange from light to dark so it might look like more than three colors.) It's a pretty boring knit, but that's what I want right now! When I'm ready to read a chart again, I have to do the duplicate stitching on B's bounce.

So, I've got over 10" done on the blanket and have just started the second ball of each color. I'm going to have a nice 30 x 32 blanket even without a border.

I knit up a quick hat for Billy Saturday while Hubby played in a poker tournament (I like the Showboat, they have nice seats outside the poker room). I got a little bit of attention from passersby. Since it's going to be 60° today, B saw the completed hat on the table this morning and had to wear it. I wanted to take a picture, but he was way too cranky. I'll try to get one tonight. Just a basic round hat with a garter stitch brim.

As for that pic, here's the blanket with the hand-dyed I'm sending to Andrea today for winning my little contest last week. It makes me think of Irises.

Finished!

Hubby's Aran was finished Thursday night. He thinks it's a little short. I think it would be perfect if he wore his waistband closer to his waist! Here he is at the AC St. Patrick's Day Parade on the boardwalk. He wore it all weekend, just like he said he would.

Details: Pattern is from Patons Aran Style. I knit it up in Bernat Handicrafter cotton (emerald). I got the yarn at Herrschner's last year for ¢77 a ball. Hubby thinks I shouldn't use any other yarn. I used US 6s and 8s. I started it last May as my green project spectrum project and it languished for about eight months. The only mods were to make the body a little shorter. Looking back, I should have knit to the pattern. I'm really glad that's done! I'm not planning to knit any cables or anything from a chart for a while. Here's a detail of the back.

Since that is done, and I also finished Billy's socks (which he's wearing today), I started a baby blanket yesterday. I decided I didn't like the diagonal stripe I had going on. So, plain garter stitch it is. I'm working it in three colors, one row each color. I'm carrying the yarn up the sides. I really like it so far. I have to more it to a longer cord. I can't measure it right now. I'd planned 30" but I think it's closer to 36", which means it will be vertical stripes. I've got an idea for a neat edging, if I have enough yarn left over.

A winner!

Andrea over at Paper Monkey was right, it was "A Clean Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway. Generally, I dislike Hemingway, but the nihilistic take on the Lord's Prayer has stuck with me. Send me an e-mail with your address and I'll get the package out to you early next week.

I don't know why, but I always underestimate how long it takes to seam up a sweater. I finished all the seams and wove in the remaining ends on Hubby's Green Aran. I'll get the neckband in tonight (along with packing and giving the dog a shower). I've got a pic, but I can't post it right now.

Seaming party chez Netter tonight

I'll be seaming up hubby's aran tonight. I haven't washed or blocked it, but it's 100% cotton. I don't know if a block is necessary. Most of the edges are seed stitch, so not much roll to account for. I did weave in all ends last night so I could put it in the washer, but didn't finish until 11. By then, I was ready for bed!

I brought these with me instead. I finished the gusset on the second heel this morning. I'd like to get them done tonight. That will be one more WIP off my list.

Not much response to my contest. I guess it was harder than I thought (either that or neon socks aren't that popular). I'll extend the deadline if I don't get many more responses today. One hint: macho American fiction.

I haven't taken any pics of Sunday's dye extravaganza. B and I went to Target last night. Hubby and I needed new sheets and a new quilt (we've had the same comforter on our bed for 11 years).

our nada who art in nada*

How can someone who was humming an hour and a half ago be totally bereft of something to say?

I'm less than 48 rows from the finish of sleeve 2. I will have it done tonight. I hope I can get it washed and laid out tonight, too. We shall see.

No pictures again today.

*Little contest. This one might be too easy. Where is the above line from? Skein of my hand dyed sock yarn to the first person to get it right (either via comments or e-mail). If no one gets it right, I'll do a random, but I think someone will get it. Entries close tomorrow at midnight.

Sure

You know you use a word too much when you hear it coming out of your kid's mouth. Billy's taken to answering questions with "sure." Well, when he answers in the affirmative.

I didn't realize I'd used it with him so much until he started saying it back to me.

Thing is, I broke Hubby of saying "sure" years ago. Of course, whenever he said it, it sounded patronizing and condescending. Now, he'll catch himself and it sounds like "shu, yes!"

structure is as structure does

Thanks Amy and Rae for your comments on Friday (oh, and did you read Rae's post about getting the yarn? My head, she grows). I agree with Amy that a heavily structured day probably isn't the best fit for Mr. 3, but most of the places offering fulldays around here think that they're prepping for Harvard.

I've spoken with B a couple of times about what is expected of him, and he seems to be retaining it. This morning he told me he needs to "coperate" with the teachers and he seems much happier about going than he had been for a while. I'm beginning to think he's just been moody, but we'll find out on Friday when we have our sitdown at the center.

Gee, Friday's going to be fun. Meeting with the teacher and then we do our taxes! Hubby thinks we're going to owe since one of his three jobs from last year wasn't taking the 401K contributions the whole time. I'm so going to need lunch at the Irish Pub in AC, with a Guiness, or two.

The weekend was nice, I didn't knit too much on the Aran. I'm just about done repeat 4 and will be starting the raglan decreases. I must get the knitting done tomorrow so I can have Weds and Thurs for seaming and neckband. I did knit a bit on Billy's indigo gold socks on Saturday. I went for a hair cut and spent three hours in the salon (1.5 waiting, it's a walk-in place and 1/5 in the chair). That morning we'd gone to the zoo. B was very happy to see the animals. It was all he talked about yesterday. During nap yesterday, I did more dyeing (had to make room for my next knitpicks order, made Friday). I'm very happy with the results. I'll try to get some pics to share.

Rae, the yarn's Knitpicks superwash and nylon. I really like the feel of it, too!

of arans and little boys

Here are the biggest sleeves ever. Seriously, why are they so darn wide? I've finished two complete repeats. Two more and I start the raglan shaping. It's all downhill from there. I think I'm right on track to finish by next Friday. I'd show you, but I've used up my blogger picture posting rations for the week. Ha! I got it to work. Ironic, thought that the pic is so small!

I have to call Billy's lead teacher (which is a bit of a misnomer). We got progress reports last night. And, although he's doing well in most of his "academic" and motor skills (we have to work on drawing circles and the potty), he's not doing well with the emotional and social skills. Seems he's still throwing tantrums and being rude to the teachers (yelling back at the mostly). He's disturbing everyone else's naptime (gee, his not sleeping during the day explains why he's so bratty at night) and, most worrisome, he's not sharing and has started hitting and pushing his classmates. So, we have to come in to speak with her. I spoke with him a couple of times last night and twice this morning about sharing and cooperating with his teachers, blah blah blah.

I know I'm his mom and I bear responsibility for this situation, but short of lecturing the three-year-old, how am I supposed to address this situation? I'm never with him in a room with 18 other kids (Hubby gives them the benefit of the doubt that not all kids assigned to the room are there all the time). If he talks back to me, I sit him in a chair and leave him. My options are very different from what they have at school and if he's disruptive at home? He's only disturbing me and Hubby.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to pawn this off on them, I just don't know what to do. I don't know what effect my unmedicated state has had on his behavior at school or Hubby's working late so much.

Part of me doesn't want him to be some little stepford child always blindly doing what the authorities tell him to do. But, then again, he's only 3 and doesn't know how to make good choices all the time.

Fortunately, Hubby's so wrung out about work, he couldn't get into his normal over-reaction frenzy about this last night.

I love .... cake

Thanks for the love on Rae's 80s cake. I hope it knits up as nicely as it looks in the ball.

I brought Orange Crush with me so I could take a few pics. I've got these huge windows now with northern exposure and I think the lighting is good for these kinds of macro shots. Someday, I'll grow up and use a light tent. I did have to adjust the color a skosh. It was a little too yellow.



Now, it's looking too pink to me. But, this is a hard color to capture and describe precisely because I wanted a mish-mash of orange and pink.

I didn't do too much knitting last night on Hubby's aran, but I'm 17 28ths through the first repeat.

The consensus at home is that I have to knit Billy his own orange hat. He's taken a liking to my orange swirl and Hubby thinks it's a little girls. Good thing I still have some Cork in Cheetos! I might try to bang that out this weekend before it gets cold again.

I was a real cranky pants this morning, but surprisingly we had a good morning at home. Well, once I let Billy wear his shirt backwards. See, it's got a large 8 on the back and he wanted to be able to see it (nevermind the small 8 on the front). Yep, I'm a lazy mom.

CAKE!

Yes, it's only 9:30, but doesn't that make cake more exciting?



It's not cake you eat though. It's a yarn cake. And it's for Rae.

Rae's going to be my guinea pig and show how the NEON sock yarns knit up. Since she doesn't have a swift and ball winder, I figured I'd wind it up for her.

Happy little cake, don't you think? The color looks a little dark in this pic. I also wound up my orange crush. That's at home and wasn't part of the photo shoot this morning. I think I may start a new pair of socks soon. Or at least swatch with it.

Sleeve 1 is done on Hubby's aran. I finished it as the train was pulling into my station last night. I've got the ribbing for sleeve 2 finished and will start the cabling tonight. Hopefully, I won't have to rip out 6" and this one will go faster.

just a Tuesday

Thanks for the comments on the yarn. I'm really happy with them. And I'm trying really hard not to order more yarn. I mean, how many skeins of sock yarn do I need? It's just so much fun, though. I've thought of a ton more color combinations.

I'm still not done that first sleeve. Should be today. I figure that means I'll need a week for the second sleeve, which gives me a couple of days for finishing. I should take the time to start weaving in some ends now. (Each piece takes about 8 balls of yarn.)

I'm anxious to start a new project. I've got that lovely tangerine calmer that wants to mimick a Mossimo pullover I bought a while back (high ribbed waist, ribbed boatneck, with 3/4 length sleeves). I've toyed with a cardigan, cause I wear them more. But, calmer is an against the skin kind of yarn.

I do, however, have lots of things to finish up. B's bounce for one. I nearly got the whole thing seamed up when I realized the sleeves weren't wide enough. Ha! I laugh in the face of these problems. Little triangular gussets to the rescue. Those need to be washed. Seaming needs to be finished, and then the duplicate stitching.

Then there's a baby blanket I started (ASC in diagonal garter stitch, think large, stripey dishcloth), Billy's Indigo Gold socks, my beaded rib socks and Here there be dragon socks. Mom's dishclothes. Not to mention really old UFOs.

I do think I'll be casting on something new when Hubby's Aran is finis. I'll just have to make sure it's not for another deadline!

good news

Two years after being implanted, B's left ear tube is finally out (the right one was out in November). Our little trooper let the doc put the needle-nosed tweezer thingies into his ear three times to remove the tube as it was sitting in ear wax in the canal. TMI? It's done, and if all things go well, we won't see Dr. Carl again!

But, that's not why I'm sacrificing serious knitting time to post tonight. Nope. I wanted to post the pics of Saturday's yarn.

The middle one is my favorite, and I couldn't recreate it if I wanted to.

color reward

I put my camera up out of B's reach yesterday and then forgot to bring it in to see if I could upload pictures today.

Damn shame. I think I got some really accurate shots of Saturday's experiments. I dyed 3 skeins of the Knitpicks Superwash/Nylon blend and although I got a splotchy tie-dye effect, I really like the skeins. The dyeing was my reward for getting some chores done while Hubby had B out and about running errands (errand running is one of Hubby's finely honed skills). I've got a new turquoise/purple/lime, a turquoise/purple/pink, and a red/orange/pink that I just adore.

I've got a few ideas on how to counteract the superwash's rapid and splotchy uptake of color. I'm thinking less acidity and a slower uptake will lead to a more even coloring. I've got one last superwash to experiment on and then I'm dyeing two skeins of silk/wool blend with koolaid. (I'm thinking they might not become socks but something lacy for me.) Then there's the donegal sock yarn that I'm torn between doing purple or turquoise for a friend here at work. For the longest time, she knitted with just donegal yarn. She's branched out, but I'm thinking donegal socks might be a good idea!

For the record, I was trying to get Hubby to tell me how pretty my skeins were and he said "I don't understand why you can't just buy red yard." Can we rewind his childhood and have some creativity put back into the man?

I've started the sleeve decreases on Hubby's aran. I'd hoped to have sleeve 1 done this past weekend, but I jammed my pinkie finger on my right hand on Saturday carrying B upstairs for a diaper change and it's been stiff the last couple of days. I hope to finish sleeve 1 today and get sleeve 2 done over the weekend. Hubby's chomping at the bit to wear the sweater. St. Patrick's day parade season starts Saturday in Hoboken and he's disappointed he can't have the sweater sooner. He's already informed me he's wearing it to lunch at the Irish Pub in AC next Friday.

"what color be?"

I ripped back to the ribbing. Yeah one and a half repeats gone. As I was trying to figure out where I screwed up, it came to me that I probably messed up at the very beginning, when establishing the cable pattern. So I decided right there on the E train to rip it back. And I did.

I've mostly completed the first repeat again. I probably would have made it slightly past where I was when I decided to rip, but Hubby had a really bad day at work (didn't get home until 8:45 pm) and needed a vent session. I figured he deserved my full attention.

I have lunch knitting today, so hopefully some progress will be made.

Hubby's miserable at his job, but otherwise we're all doing well. I think B's even had a mood elevation since Mommy's doing better. Hubby's promised since he's worked late so much this week to play as many board games as B wants this weekend. I'll hear many refrains of "Daddy, what color be?"

I got my knitpicks order last night. Be prepared for more yarn dyeing over the weekend. I'm very curious to see how the superwash/nylon blend takes up my food color.

did I mention?

Did I mention that I made great progress on Hubby's aran? Front is done (completed it Tuesday watching TV). Sleeve 1 is through 1 and 1/2 repeats. But I have to rip back an indetermined amount. See the right side has 2 fewer increases than it should but the left side has 2 too many. And I don't know where I effed up. Have to go back to someplace where they match!

Hey, look a post with a picture, or two

Just for Rae, here's '80s watermelon and it's companion Crockett's t-shirts. I can't wait to play more with these neon dyes. Not sure I need too many pairs of neon socks, but there are always hats and gloves and mittens, right?

We had a good trip to VT. My favorite part? Someone else playing Hi-Ho Cherry-O and CandyLand with the B.

My second favorite part? Seeing Dad wear his Kirk every single day we were there. He absolutely adores it and I imagine he'll completely wear it out.

It's the best zipper install I've ever done. It's a little small for him, but I wasn't expecting him to wear it over a sweatshirt, and he's put on a few pounds since he's been home on disability (neck injury leading to some nerve issues).

Just a quick FO report. Kirk from Rowan 36, knit in Zucchini Polar. I used about 7 skeins. Followed the pattern to the letter (including needle size), except I may have shortened it a bit (Dad's shorter than me).

I'm doing better. The meds have kicked in. So far, I've had some minor itching and hives, but I think daily Claritin is keeping it down. Hubby keeps pushing me to stop taking the fluoxetine and get something else from the doctor. I don't want to go back to where I was a few weeks ago. Just ask B how much easier it is to deal with mommy lately.

weekend plans

I didn't knit much after I got home yesterday. My evening was spent finally putting the zipper in Dad's Kirk. I'll try to get a pic of him in it to post. We're heading up to VT tomorrow and staying through Tuesday. Crazy, right? Fortunately where Mom and Dad are, they only got 15" of snow, whereas a lot of the Champlain Valley got 2 feet and where my grandfather lives (about 30 mi east), they're registering 30". Yesterday, they had a forecasted high of 5° farenheit. Fortunately, they know how to handle snow up there so all the roads will be cleared by the time we get there tomorrow. (Although, hubby wouldn't mind the opportunity to use the 4WD on the H3.)

I'm very excited to see my family. The one regret of my life is that VT and NJ are so far a part. I can't wait to tell Billy in the morning that we're going to go see his Nanny and Grampy. That we're going to Nanny's house. I haven't told him yet because he'll ask nonstop about going to Nanny's house.

I've got knitting at lunch today, so I hope to hit the armhole shaping on the front of Hubby's Green Aran (only about 10 rows to go). I'm still planning to have the front finished before we come back. I'll have 2 weeks to knit the sleeves. I can't remember if I started the armhole shaping at row 7 of repeat 4 or later in the repeat. I forgot the back at home (it's too large to carry both pieces all the time) and Molly chewed up my original notes. Oh well, if I get to row 7 today before I get home, I'll just put it aside and cast on the sleeves.

I don't know if I'll have much time after B goes to bed to work on the aran tonight, though. I need to pack for the weekend and part of me thinks I should do a load of laundry, too. I have to remember to pack the full array of DVDs for the 6 hr ride up. Oh, and we should bring B's favorite board games. I think he'd be bereft if he had to go four days without CandyLand.

We had a better morning this morning. He still didn't want to put on a coat, but there was less carrying on in general.

Polaroid rocks. They sent me a new camera. They determined the old one was defective. Woot! I'm so happy to have it back. I told Hubby again it was great he was able to find the receipt.

If the light is good when we get back Tuesday, I'll take a pic of the sock yarn I dyed. And I'll post it for you.

a little retail therapy

What a crappy morning.

B was fine about getting up and getting dressed. But he didn't want to stop playing. I had to wrestle to get his coat on and then wrestle him into the car (he was double upset because we wouldn't let him bring a matchbox truck to school). I angrily informed hubby that I was not going to assist in drop off, even though B was still crying in the back seat. I helped with that on Monday and it didn't help (we still had to leave him screaming for us) and was late for work.

I rushed to get onto the bus and then spent over an hour and a half sitting on it! 495 to the tunnel was a nightmare this morning. So, not only did I upset my husband by bailing on him (but really, he needs to grow a set and step up to this parenting thing), I got in even later than if I'd helped him and taken the train in.

I did get over 10 rows of the aran done on the bus.

Poor hubby, not only does he get snappy me, B refused to change out of his boots and the asst. director got on him for "disturbing the whole school."

I just bougth some KnitPicks Bare. All sock yarn for dyeing, including some silk blend. I had so much fun with the two skeins yesterday, I decided I needed to stock up. I'll post some pics once the two skeins are dried and hanked. One is totally '80s watermelon, but I haven't decided on a name for the second color way.

Quick LOST note: You'll win me back with episodes like last nights, esp. with the emphasis on Desmond!

snow, er, ice day pictures

Since B and I are home for the day, you get pics. Daycare called at 8 pm last night to let us know they would not be opening today. Nice of them, huh? I got to stay in bed until 6:40 on a workday, without a migraine!

This is my new sock yarn. The pinkish stuff on the right was supposed to be orange and red for B. I'll see what the colors look like knitted up. The top is Yankees Ikat from Dave Daniels's Cabin Cove. I love the feel of this merino/nylon blend. Not to mention the color is perfect. Underneath all of that is some KnitPicks bare fingering merino. I'm dying to dye it with some NEON food color I bought a while back; naptime here I come. (My knitpicks order was EZ's Knitting Around, an orange chibi, and some needles.)

This is the progress on Hubby's aran. I'm on row 18 of 28 for the second repeat. Must knit during my conference calls today (hey, work doesn't stop just because I can't go into the city today).

Better morning today, because, of course, there were no arguments about dressing the boy. Why argue about it when there's no deadline?

I think I'm getting my poloaroid back today. I got a ship notification from a company I don't know and I haven't ordered anything. I hope it works!

Happy Valentine's day! May you be with your loved ones today.

giant sucking sound

So, apparently B's been mouthing off to the ladies at school (saying No and having tantrums). We're supposed to "talk to him" about respecting adults. Like that's going to do any good. I realize that his behavior is probably no worse than any other kid's but he's usually so sweet and happy that it's very noticeable when he becomes Mr. CrankyPants.

Just what I need on top of the gravitational pull of being unmedicated for nearly three months. That giant sucking sound is not NAFTA taking jobs away. It's the black hole pulling at me. I am doing a littel experiment. I started taking my meds again. I think it will be a few days before we see any therapeutic benefit or the itchy, hivey wonder reappears. I really, really should call my doctor and insist he give me another SSRI. But, I'm taking the path of least resistance.

Things are not all bad. Last night a good friend came by for dinner. He came with bread, cookies, and a gift of new cars for B. He had fun playing games with Hubby and B (let's not discuss the resentment of me doing all the work for dinner while they played CandyLand). Apparently, B had fun too. Not only did he take one of the new cars to bed with him, he asked where Ted was this morning when he woke up.

Another good thing. I got some Cabin Cove sock yarn in the mail. This is my first skein of Dave's sock yarn and it is so silky soft and the colors are wow! I was going to take a picture of it and the sock yarn I bought for B and some naked yarn I got from KnitPicks, but decided to not bother since I can't post them from here.

I am so ready for a snow day tomorrow, if we get one.

someone bail me out

I'm using my get out of jail free card. Last week the numbers on that awesome calmer auction seriously started to dwindle. By the time I dragged my sorry behind out of bed Friday, she was down to 77 skeins. Shortly thereafter, she was down to 62. I bought 15. I hope to have them later this week.

Now, to keep myself from buying any more yarn until the end of September, I'm making myself a promise. I will try with all my might to make it to Rhinebeck this year and to make sure I have some money to spend, I'm putting $10 away each week I go without buying yarn. That's 36 weeks. Think I could do some damage with $360.

Gotta go update my ticker....

Bad case of the Mondays

Billy was not in the mood to get dressed and go to school. He wanted to stay in his PJs and play with his toys. I can't really blame him, but if mommy wants to get paid, mommy has to go to the office.

He was a right pill up until the moment we left him screaming at daycare. Well, he was fine and dandy when he was playing trains. But a right pill when I was trying to dress him and get his coat on and put him in the car...

However, after wrestling with Mr. B, Super Three, these office headaches will be a trifle, I'm sure.

Speaking of headaches, I had the mother of all migraine auras on Thursday, after B went to bed. We started with persistent after images of our diningroom chandelier, progressed through empty spots in my field of vision, became a sizzling line in one eye (my usual aura), and as I was trying to fall asleep, became one long string of holographic, multi-colored shimmering triangles around my entire left eye's field of vision (except my eyes were closed). Fortunately, the barbituates were taken at about stage two and the pain never came. I was, however, completely useless all day on Friday, until about 2 pm. I do actually enjoy watching the aura as long as there is no pain or nausea. It can be really trippy even when it's not as extensive as this last one.

I did manage to finish the back of Hubby's aran on the way home Thursday. I'm nearly finished the first repeat on the front. I think I'm still on track.

thanks

Thanks for the supportive comments on the potty thing. It's hard not to feel a little insecure in your decisions when a person of authority implies you're doing something wrong. But, I just know my B and if I push it, he's going to push back. The kid's surprisingly easy going much of the time (especially if there are other kids to go along with), but once he makes up his mind, there's no changing it.

I swear, I'm raising my sister all over again! From the time I was 12 and she was 7, I was responsible for getting both of my sisters up for school and watching them after school until my parents got home from work. In the summer, it was a 40 hour a week job. The youngest made it so much work. She was the most stubborn kid. So hard to get out of bed, difficult about hygeine (at 8 she nearly had dreadlocks), and you'd never change her mind once it was made up. One time, I purposefully gave her the wrong answer for a question on her math homework (because helping her meant doing it for her), and she went around for weeks giving that answer even though I had immediately corrected it the first time.

He's got her eye color (that blue/green/silver depending on what they're wearing eye color) and the same birthmark/mole on the right thigh. He does adore her and she him. Makes me wonder if my sis and I are more alike than I'd thought.

Alert the knitting media, I'm 4 rows from finishing the back of the green aran. I will be casting on for the front by tomorrow!

It'll happen

I'm not going to stress over the toilet-learning thing. Rae had some great suggestions, but I'm only with him 2 1/2 hours most days and daycare's got 18 little 3 YOs. I think I'll wait until he's ready and let him do it himself. It will happen some day. He's not going to want to wear a diaper forever. Right? (I still may try the feel and learn, just to see.)

The back of the green aran is rapidly decreasing. I'm onto the set of decreases that subtract 4 stitches each row. I should be done with the end of the sixth pattern repeat. I want to cast on for the front tomorrow and have that done by the time we get back from Vermont (2/20). That will leave me with two weeks for sleeves. I figure I can seam up in the car on the way down to AC for the parade (just need to wash and block before we pack up).

thinking out loud

Project Spectrum Plans:

Feb/Mar
Blue, White, Gray
Finish Blue Bounce
White, Gray Seagull sweater

Apr/May
Green, Yellow, Pink
Pink Icarus
Green (koigu) Lace leaf shawl

June/July
Red, Black, Metallics
Pinwheel in Red Silk Garden and Black Silkroad Aran

Aug/Sept
Brown, Orange, Purple
M-i-L’s beige sweater

2' 1"

That is how much height separates my three year-old child from me. Billy measured in at 3' 3" at yesterday's physical. He weighed in at 38 lbs. (When do you reach an age that it is appropriate to weigh more than your height in inches?)

All in all it was a good appointment. We had an issue with the insurance, but that's always the way. Dave was able to straighten it out. Nice to have a spouse in the biz.

B didn't need any shots, which was nice. He's hit all of his major milestones, including shocking mommy by knowing he's a boy and not a girl (although, when he sees me potty he tries to find my p*nis). The only things she wants us to focus on are potty training (she seemed a bit disdainful that he's still in a diaper) and circle drawing.

Question for mom's who've successfully accomplished toilet learning: how do you get a kid to potty when he doesn't want to be on the potty? When do I start to worry? We've been pretty low-key about it. I figure you can't force him to go if he won't and we don't have the time to sit him on the potty until he does. Sometimes the mess and wet do bother him, a lot of the time it doesn't. Should I move him to the feel and learn diapers?

I'm not worried about the writing thing. I know they practice that a lot at school.

The green aran is well past the armhole shaping. Although, it's going to be a while before the back is finished. This knit blogging thing is really boring without pictures. I need to start blogging from home.

to sum up

I baked this weekend. I played lots of board games. Did a little housework. And I knitted.

B really enjoyed his Birthday on Friday and Saturday. His lead caregiver gave him a paper crown which he wore to whitecastle for dinner (he gets to have a cheeseburger and chicken rings since the burgers are small, Hubby and I wind up eating what's left) and to bed Friday night. He enjoyed his presents, especially his new Thomas trains and his play dough doggie doctor set (guess who gets to do most of the work with the play dough. I love the trains because it's one thing at which he plays completely independently, so much so we are not allowed to touch them). Saturday we had dinner and cake and presents with M-i-L. Not too many new toys.

I've finally reached the raglan shaping on Hubby's green aran. Or I will once I pick it up today. First two rows are the bind X stitches and then we decrease and decrease and decrease.

Last week was not a good one for me. I was not in a great place emotionally. I'm better today, but I'm also not playing the 10th round of Farm bingo. For some reason, and I want to chalk it up to exhaustion, I couldn't enjoy playing with B and I had no patience for his fussing. Until Saturday. Saturday we were able to let him tantrum himself out over things.

M-i-L saved the morning for us today. She gave B a new coat for his birthday. And without even being prompted, on this the coldest day I've ever had in NJ, he said he wanted to wear it. I sure hope this doesn't mean he needs a NEW coat everyday!

I'm going to try to edit or post again this evening to add pictures. I moved offices and now have windows and natural light again for better blog pictures!

Groundhog day is special in our house

It's B's birthday (and after 14 hours in labor, no build-up just water breaking at midnight, I felt like I was in the movie, I mean 2 epidurals?)!