I finished in time

I finished Billy's jacket last night. I sewed Friday night, Sunday night and last night. Before you ask, no, I don't have pictures. I'll try to get a picture of him in it while we're in SC.

Hubby thought it was very cute. He's sure B will want to wear it all the time, even when we come back to NJ and it's too cold.

I'll have more feedback on the process when I post the picture next week.

I have to pack tonight. I'm taking four knitting projects with me: Christmas gift in progress; second Christmas gift not yet started; birthday gift for my dad; and new socks for me.

I'm sure I'm overpacking the knitting. I never get as much done when I go away as I plan on. But, even with just a few hours, the first Christmas present will be done!

not a waste!

I called the service company back at about 11 and they said my appointment was deleted! She understood my problem and fixed it so that someone would come today. She told me that either the router or the tech would call me back. I pressed fabric, I cut fabric, I read blogs a little, I had lunch, I looked through my Interweave Knits Winter issue that came today. Finally at 1:15, the tech called. He was here at 1:30. I'd like to get the $200 I'm paying to fix my dryer back from the contractor that caused this problem. I'm sure being improperly vented for 4 years caused the coils to malfunction.

I got all the pieces cut out for B's jacket. The flat piping is pinned in place. I don't know that I'm going to get much actual stitching done this afternoon. Once Ezra leaves (that is his name, I am not making it up), I'm heading down to Joann's for a zipper and some batting to line the jacket.

I should go to the gym and take a shower, but forget that. Crafting calls!

Question for any sewists, do you cut out your patterns or do you trace them onto the fabric. My sister notes that she justs traces them. I'm thinking I'm an idiot for cutting all these years!

a wasted day?

It's 10:30 and I don't know if or when a tech will be here to look at my dryer (we cancelled the plumber because we realized that the toilet wasn't leaking). Guy calls at 9:30 or so to let me know that he's coming and asks about my dishwasher. I say the dryer's the problem. He says they've got it down as a dishwasher and he doesn't have the truck stock for a dryer. We chat briefly about the problem (I think he was going to come look at it until he realized that we're probably going to need parts replaced, like the heating element). So, he says he'll call the routers. I call Hubby. I do not blame him; he doesn't make mistakes like that. Guy calls me back. They're seeing what they can do and I should get a call, but it's already 10 o'clock and I may want to call them. So far, no call. I, of course, deleted the message from them last night confirming the appointment. There was no mention of what appliance as far as I remember, but there was a phone number. I'll see if I can get a hold of them. I think I remember the number.

In other news, I definitely need a different zipper (the one I have is 18", pattern calls for 16"). I do have the pattern pieces cut out. I actually spent a lot of time transferring the 5/6 size to white paper because I just couldn't bear cutting away sizes 7-12.

I'm going to try to call the repair number and then I'm cutting out the fabric.

Is it just me or do you often feel like there's no way you're going to have enough fabric when you're cutting out the pattern pieces?

One gripe about the pattern I'm using, no cutting layout. I have to fiddle around myself to figure the best placement.

tomorrow

My list of what I want to do tomorrow has grown.

1. sew jacket for Billy
2. dye some purple sock yarn (if I still have blanks and if I don't have something approximating what I want already dyed)
3. work on Christmas ornaments

I washed the fabric for #1 last night. I might get ambitious and cut out the pattern tonight. I only have 11 or so hours tomorrow to sew (depending on if I want to eat, bathe, or do anything other than sew).

I really, really hope I have a sock blank on hand. I really, really want to do a deep purple with transitions like my shamrock socks.

Plus, I want to go to Joann's like I mentioned yesterday.

super-secret update

Remind me to not do this super-secret knitting thing again. I know only one recipient reads this blog, and she seems to think she wants to know RIGHT NOW what her gift is, but I want them all to be a secret. It's a real PITA, though, to not share my progress. I think I'm about 30% through the biggest one. I need to get everything set-up to take the whole shebang with us to SC next week. I'm looking forward to the time away from work, but not so much the 10+ hours in the car each way. The family I married into talks way more than the one I grew up in. I think my mom, dad, sisters (at least one of them) and I could happily go 10 hours without saying more than 10 words. Not my beloved in-laws. Someone's got to be talking pretty much the whole time.

(I just started thinking about what some of the conversations are going to be like in SC. Hubby's grandmother is a big FOX news watcher. Change the subject, please.)

I'm definitely going to wash fabric tonight so I can start sewing up that jacket for Billy. I might need a different zipper, so I'm toying with the idea of picking up some batting and making it heavier. I should poke through my stash to see if there's anything else to wash, maybe to make something for me.

thursday is for sewing?

I have to take Thursday off from work. Our dryer is still not working properly. I did try to convince Hubby we could hang dry our clothes inside forever, but he'll have none of that. Our upstairs toilet seems to be leaking around the base again (I don't understand since it's not wobbling like it was before we had it fixed the last time).

I'm thinking I could spend the day at home sewing. (Or knitting.)

You may not know this, but I have a sizeable fabric stash. Over the last two years, I have stashed (bought and not cut into) 180 yards of fabric from fabric.com alone. It's nearly a month of Billy's tuition. Ohfa. In my defense, this is the bulk of my fabric stash. I have some things that I've picked up elsewhere, but not nearly in the volume that I've stashed from Fabric.com.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I think I should spend Thursday sewing this out of this and this for Billy. He won't be able to wear it around home much this fall, but it might be good in SC next week.

monkey tote

Nanette graciously agreed to model (I stuffed it full of yarn for Christmas projects to give it that full look).

I wound up sewing on Wednesday. Tuesday, I washed the fabric. I was concerned that the red might rub off on my clothes or jacket. Of course, I wound up with this.

Does this normally happen? The fabric lost a little sheen, but I'm pretty happy with the tote. Well, except for the crap straps I bought. One of the rings keeps pulling open and the strap slips off. PITA.

Funny story. I used the tote Thursday to come to work. On the way in, I stopped at a bank in Port Authority to get some cash. Then at lunch, I showed the bag to my knitting group. One of the girls asked if I take the bus. I said yes. Then she asked if I was at the bank this morning. She'd noticed the monkey tote walking by!

It's not 1953 anymore people

Why do people still insist upon calling female students coeds? I know for a fact when my alma mater started matriculating men, they didn't start calling them coeds. By all rights they could, since the admittance of men made the school coeducational. But, men are the default, so they get to be students. And even though it's not 1953 anymore, women are still the add ons.

I had a similar conversation my freshman year of college working in the college's publications office. My male supervisor was writing a news piece about a female student at a neighboring coed school and referred to her as a coed. I pointed out that he was using language that othered her. It made her something other than a student. It connotes that only men could be students and women are only coeds, something less.

I know I really shouldn't expect much from a piece that's all about woman as fashion hound or a tongue in cheek shoe blog, but come on. If you've got the column inches to spell out she's a college freshman in the first graph, you can say the students have done their homework later on.
It's not like anyone's going to assume the writer of the original piece is talking about men.

sewing tonight

I am itching to do some sewing. I haven't touched my machine in about 3 months. Wait, not true. I moved it back on the table last week to set up my swift.

I bought this fabulous fabric a couple of weeks ago and I must, must sew up a tote bag tonight! I'm tired of the freebie I've been using. The only problem is, I wish I had a different purse, too.

Monkeys on the outside, stripes on the inside with purchased black straps. I may do pockets, I may not. Depends on how big I want to go.



It will mean ditching the tunic I started in August, but haven't yet completed. Oh well.

pumpkins galore

I finished the second jack o'lantern necklace last night. Sorry for the bad work-bathroom shot of me. Now, to box them up and put them away until next year.

I forgot my knitting

I'm making a second, smaller pumpkin necklace (less i-cord between the pumpkins) and I forgot it. I haven't started any of the Christmas knitting. I plan on starting one project tonight. After I do some sewing and download a new audiobook. (I'm looking for reasons to not watch the election coverage with my Republican Hubby who is convinced he's going to be out of a job because of Obama's health care plan, which he has not read.)

I haven't voted yet. We just didn't get out of the house early enough to do it this morning. I'm going to grab an earlier train, pick up B and then go. Hubby can either meet us at the polling place or the diner. Unfortunately, I won't be knitting in line.

I'm crazy

I normally don't knit for Christmas. Since Dad's birthday is 4 days after Christmas, I'm usually up to my armpits in a sweater for him. However, since he seems to only want felted socks, I've decided to knit a few gifties this year. I'll try to post them on ravelry (I'm netterknitter) so any readers on ravelry can see them but my sister can't! I just ordered some yarn on Elann. I'll need to get out for some beads soon....

pumpkin patch

B's been drawing a lot of jack o'lanterns this fall. We have a mini-pumpkin patch on our kitchen wall and he's brought tons of pumpkin pictures into school for various teachers. I've started on my own little pumpkin patch. It's a necklace for me to wear on Halloween. The idea came to me last week when I was knitting with a friend at lunch. She was starting a necklace from DomiKNITrix Whip Your Knitting Into Shape. I thought, that would be neat in a larger gauge and as pumpkins for Halloween. So, I went home and ripped out my Hallowig. I would be nearly done, except I keep ripping out the second pumpkin and making the distance between the two shorter. I may do it again.

I also hemmed and hawed about what to use to stuff the pumpkins. Currently, I'm using cotton balls. I had thought about using polyfill and dyeing it orange so white wouldn't pull through when I duplicate stitched the faces, but now I'm stitching the faces before I stuff and close up the balls. It was a very simple pattern to re-engineer (I may have peeked at the actual instructions).

I forgot to mention yesterday that Mom loved her E pin. I wish I could have gotten a decent photo of it. But, my camera wouldnt' cooperate. As for her reacting more to the chocolate, my sis took a pic of her opening the gift with the chocolate in it and got a shot of her mouth open in a big O. I know she appreciates the hand knits. She wears them all the time.

Vermont

We had a great time. I hated to leave. I always do. B was asking to go home Friday night. But, he had a great time anyway. Cinxia was finished Friday night after Mom went to bed. She took forever to dry. Finally drying Monday morning. I think she liked it. It didn't get as great a reaction as the bag of mini Kisses my sister gave her. No, I'm not bitter.

from an e-mail I just sent a staff member

"I need a bell that goes off if I try to send an e-mail that has the word attach in it but nothing attached."

Someone let Google know to get on that, mkay?

No, I'm not drunk at work and I know it only works on Google mail.

collar begun

I've got one of five inches done on the collar. I hope to finish the collar before I get home tonight. So, all I'll have to do is seam the under arms and weave in six ends. I've been spit-splicing when I join a new ball. Which is good, because I've used parts of 13 balls (the sleeves used about 1 3/4 balls each). That would have been a lot of ends. I even have a plan in mind in case the sweater doesn't dry overnight, it involves the cargo area of my H3 and the foam fold-up chair we bring with us for B. I may try to get modeled shots with Nannette before I go up, but I'll definitely have modeled shots of Mom when I get back. I sure hope it's long enough.

I might just make it

As the rows get shorter, the goal seems more attainable.

My sister implied that I procrastinated on this and I'd like to point out that I cast on with more than a month to knit. Just because I can't stay awake doesn't mean I'm procrastinating, it means I just don't drink coffee.

cutting it close, as usual

As is my habit, I am once again cutting it close with the deadline knitting. Mom's birthday is Sunday. B and I drive to VT on Friday. Ideally, the sweater should be done, blocked, and dry before B and I pack up the truck and go. Le sigh, I've completed two of four sets of yoke decreases. I've got at least 5" to go, then the short rows for the neckline and the 5" collar. One saving grace is that the rows are shorter now. But, why do I do this to myself?

Actually, I blame the B. The last couple of weeks, he's been insisting that I lie in bed with him until he falls asleep. Not a bad thing, except I often fall asleep, too. Well, it is bad if I want to get something done after he goes to sleep. Last night I had to let him cry it out so I could call my mom and dad (they go to bed about 9 pm and I couldn't stay with him). He's nearly five and it's so hard to let him cry it out (although, we did do a modified Ferber to get him to bed as an infant).

You know what totally rocks?

I have the day off on Monday, but Billy and Hubby don't! (Not that I celebrate Columbus Day, I don't think we should have a holiday for an event that precipitated genocide, and if you want to say it's for Italian heritage why do I have to work on St. Patrick's day, but I won't go into the office in protest either.)

C'mon, you know I love my family, but a whole day to myself? Maybe I'll get some sewing done (finally finish that tunic, start a corduroy skirt, a fall tote bag, another apron). I know I'm going to get some shopping, cooking and/or baking done. Hubby's birthday is the next day and I promised him a special dinner. I know there will be no housework done, because M-i-L and F-i-L will be watching B Friday night (Devils tickets) and Saturday night (local drama club doing Urinetown) so I need to do any cleaning/tidying before Friday night. I think I'll tackle the bathroom tonight, since there's no Project Runway.

Mom's second sleeve is half done. I would be further along, but I watched I am Legend last night instead of the debate and couldn't concentrate on the twisted stockinette. I hope to be joining body and sleeves by the weekend.

nearly as many tries to cast on

Sleeve 1 was completed Saturday. I think I have the cast on done for sleeve 2. I've had it nearly done a few times, but kept screwing it up. I'll let you know tomorrow.