October. Huh.

I'm not sure how it got to be October. I suspect I was around for June, July, August and September, but it all went so fast I'm not sure I can remember details. We got all of T's stuff moved over, and a very small portion of it put away. We need bookshelves galore, and that requires a trip to Ikea, which requires steeling myself in the most profound way. (Last time I was there I was 8 months pregnant with Bug, and told Rick that if he didn't find me an exit NOW, I was going out the second-story plate glass window. He didn't find one, but I did. And no one had to die, which was the miracle of that story.)
Anyway, it's October. (For those of you in the cooler climes, you should know that I just signed Bug up for his second set of swim lessons. The pool's heated, but it's outdoor.) That means I have actually started thinking about Christmas presents. (I know, but I'm not going to stop using that language just because some of you have delicate eyes.) I have picked out a pattern for the shawl and the scarf, and have purchased shawl yarn. Behold:



Alpaca with a Twist, romantically named Color 9005 (and it's far less spruce and more cedar than my picture shows), for the Echo Flower Shawl that I loved after I saw Cheryl's.

The cats are settling in just fine.



Dream and Icicle, or as I like to call them, Trouble and The Other One.

Since I finished the little snowman last week (it looks the same as last post, only it's actually officially done fer reals now) I got out another WIP, the Palindrome scarf for Norma's Orphans.



And for today's moment of cuteness, T just put his fedora on Bug and took him in to the bathroom to look in the mirror. T said, do you look cute or super cute? Bug said I look SUPER cute!

Knittas rockin'.

Last time I mentioned I was running the Komen race in October and asked for donations.  Less than 48 hours later my (modest) fundraising goal was achieved, and I felt all warm and fuzzy and supported and loved.  And recommitted to training, so I ran 3.25 miles on the treadmill (well, 0.25 miles of that were warmup and cooldown) to make sure I could do it. Well, and because I was behind on the training program I was supposedly following and was supposed to have upped my run to 40 minutes by now.  Which I did.  Oh yeah, I did it.
Anyway, don't avoid donating, if you're inclined to do so, because you reached my goal.  (In fact, my goal was to finish the race, and I feel confident that I can do that, now.)  Iffin you wanna, do go donate.  In honor of someone you know who has had breast cancer, or in thanksgiving that no one you know has.

Back to the business of living

It's slow going, for sure. First, let me thank you again for all the wonderful comments. He was a great man, and he was loved by many.
Several people commented about how everyone should be loved like that, and I think that most people are. You just might not know it. So if you have someone special - a husband, wife, mother, father, aunt, uncle, child, friend, teacher, whatever - I'd like to humbly suggest you create such a list for that person and SHARE IT. I know Rick knew I loved him with my whole heart, but I also know he didn't know half of the whys, and I'll never be able to share it with him. Please, if you are inclined, don't wait any longer.

I also wanted to bring your attention to Iraqi Bundles of Love. Read the site for details, but the gist is that you make a bundle of sewing or knitting supplies, send it to the IBOL Guy whose unit is stationed in northern Iraq, and the local authorities will distribute the supplies to women in the area. Time is short - you have to have these things in the mail by Sept 7, but truly, we all have stashes we can dig into, I'm sure. Mailing instructions are there, and you just leave a comment to get the address emailed to you. I'll be sorting through my quilting stash this afternoon.

Running out of time!

Boys and girls, it's almost time for Claudia's MS Ride. For the last two years she was the #1 fundraiser, thanks to the generosity of knitters and their loved ones. This year the fundraising is lagging a little. The ride is this Saturday! Please oh please, click on the link and donate! Even a dollar helps. (You get entered in the prize drawing one time for each $10 you donate - if you are not a knitter and you donate and win some yarn, I will knit something for you out of it!)

March didn't kill me

so April is taking its best shot.
The DH is away again, finishing up the last of that job that should have been finished weeks ago, but for the nardo in charge. Whilst there, he has been stricken with his FOURTH fever/flu/yuck in about 7 weeks. Fortunately for him, he's in a crappy hotel somewhere, rather than here with the sick, barely breathing, hacking wife and two children who also don't feel great but still have energy to burn.

A couple of days ago I posted about squares for Luke. I had half a skein of Cherry Tree Hill in some lovely denim shades (I think it was Moody Blues) that I'd used for Cathy's comfort blanket a while ago. That stuff is nice and soft and I love to work with it (and I knew, roughly, the gauge I got knitting it doubled on 8s) so I went to town.
And my swatches GREW in the hot water. WTF people? Every time I've knit squares for Cindy's blankie projects, they grow when I wash them. Why is that? It's not like my CTH socks grew several inches upon washing, so why should the squares? Scheisse. (If they dryer doesn't make them behave, I'll pull them out and reknit them, but DAMN. ETA: the dryer worked! YAY!) At least I used up just about all the yarn. (And why didn't anyone tell me mitered squares were addictive?)



April 1 was, of course, the next installment of the personal sock club, as well. I should really have known better than to open the package on that date, because a) DUH, and b) I hadn't finished my (dead easy) socks from March. You know, the ones that are basically stockinette? Yeah. Oh well, says I, I can just finished them up and whip out these new ones and get back on track for May. What did I pick, you ask?



Entre-fricking-lac. Even my freaking STASH is trying to kill me.

(BTW, if you didn't see yesterday's post, please go there and see the opportunity for the wonderful sock club! Sign ups start tomorrow!)

So, I had this plan

I am sick as the proverbial dog, and while I tossed and turned I planned my snarky blog post about how I was dying or maybe not and we'd know in a few days (and also regretting not giving DH more sympathy when HE was sick, but not like it'd matter cuz he has to go out of town again). It's 3am (roughly) and I got up because I was tired of tossing and turning and thought I'd work on my hat. (Oh, didn't I tell you I cast on for another hat? Yeah, monogamy, not so much.)
Anyway, I woke up to find this.
See the face? The sweet little face with the cheeks you want to pinch and the hair you want to tousle and maybe get him a gig on the Disney channel? Yeah. Knit a square or ten, please? Pretty sure I can crack one out with some astoundingly soft CTH by the time the sun comes up. (I think - I'm gonna hit publish and go try.) If you are inclined, think about sending in a square? 5" is all he needs. Well, and some prayers.

I think I spilled some bleach

Cuz everything in my house is pale.

First, there is the cancer-fundraiser wash cloth for Ryan.



Not a terribly flattering photo of my little knit, but it's good enough. Since I took that picture I wove in the ends and washed it.

Next, there is this.



Sock Madness round 4 has a dyeing option at the end, so I needed some dyeable yarn. I *had* to make sure I had enough - two pounds oughta do it, don't you think?
But wait, what's that off to the side? The slightly darker, definitely crappier yarn? Why, it's handspun!



Ungodly overplied, poorly done, but done by me. Aimed for fingering, ended up with worsted.

Then there's this. I am a closet hooker.



Don't ask me why, but I got a wild hair to crochet tiny lace angels. Whatever.

Sunday, with sky

It is Sunday, and we have a blue sky for the first time in several days. That storm that is pounding the northeast was a big one, and it covered my little corner of the world for four or five days with heavy black clouds. We got days of drizzle, which was actually pretty nice. The wind stayed low, so all the dust was washed from the trees and plants, and I think they all breathed a big sigh of relief. I also noticed that this year was Tucson's warmest November on record. No wonder it seemed hot for so long. (Of course, we're due to be back up in the 70s again this week, so maybe it's the warmest December too?)
I am chugging along happily on the second half of Juno. I expect to be finished with the lacy bit tonight, and then I will have days of stockinette and eyelet ahead of me. That's actually pretty nice and makes for good distraction-knitting. TV, SnB, all that stuff is doable in the body of the stole, so I get to make good progress during the week too. I have another votive sleeve started, but I want to chug through the rest of the lace on Juno while I still have weekend.
Months ago I mentioned to the DH that I wanted to make him a sweater. He was pretty noncommittal about the whole thing until Tuesday, when he announced that his new office is freezing, and how about that sweater you mentioned? I told him it wouldn't be done for Christmas, but I'm on the lookout for a pattern. I am thinking top-down raglan with wide ribbing and a zipper. (Yes, La, a zipper. I prefer zippers in man knits.) I am thinking one of the Valley Yarns worsted wools. A while ago, I asked around to other Ravelers who had used Valley Yarns in some of their projects, and the unanimous opinion was favorable. And cheap! And lots of colors! (Too bad the DH only wants gray. Not even the luscious caramel brown I picked out that would go so very well with his complexion... Sigh...) Whaddya know, looks like I might be a sweater knitter after all. I plan to finish the eyelet cardigan before I start his though - I can't be too giving or it will mess up my reputation.
Speaking of that, anybody wanna knit a pair of mittens or socks/slippers for kids for Christmas? They are needed by 12/17 (I think, but check the project blog for correct information) and will go to underprivileged children. I know there are lots of hands out asking for donations this time of year, but surely we knitters can come up with some mittens for these kids? I have some cotton/wool sock yarn I'm going to double up for a little girly pair, and if I have time, I'll get some more yarn to make a few more.
Also, BigAlice is having a One Skein Food Drive. Go, read, participate, and maybe win some stuff!
And now, since this started out boring and got worse is getting long, I have a funky sky pic for you. This was the front of the storm rolling in last Wednesday.

More FOs

I loved that little bag I made for La so much I decided to make several for myself. Blogless Lynn and I got together yesterday with our stashes and grand plans. We called it the Afternoon of Unrealistic Expectations. I wanted a sock bag, a padded bag for my camera (still in the shop) and a bag for my iPod. Lynn wanted a padded camera bag and a larger sock bag.
We got to working. She was more ambitious than I and tried a jacquard fabric for her camera bag. It came out great after much fussing, except the padding ate some of the extra room and it wouldn't close. It became a sleeping bag (an oh-so-luxurious sleeping bag) for the little softie mouse she made the other day for her daughter. My iPod bag came out just the size I wanted, but I forgot to account for the extra fabric needed to close over the top of the iPod. Sigh.
Instead, I decided it would be a notions bag. After Lynn left, I got to cutting and made a sock bag with the same fabrics I'd used for the iPod notions bag, only reversed (the lining of one is the outside of the other, etc.)



I'm thrilled with them. I haven't put the drawstrings in because the cording I have is too fat, and I want something a little prettier. I'm trying to decide what style of cord I'll make out of cotton embroidery floss.

Blogless Lynn has talked in the past about having a coordinating strip on the outside of the bag, and that inspired me further. (As designed, the inside of the bag has a strip of the outer fabric at the top - see this post for a picture.) I made a few changes to the size of the fabric, and violà!



A coordinating sock bag and notions bag! I lurve them wholeheartedly. Ironically, the two socks-in-progress I have will coordinate nicely with the bags themselves, although that wasn't planned. (It just happened that I got the purple/green fabric stash box out, and those are the colors of the two socks I'm currently making.)

Would you like a set for your very own? Go here and donate to Norma's OFA scholarship drive, and maybe you'll win one, in your choice of colors (limited only by what's available in my obscene fabric stash).

ETA: HOLY SHAMOLEY.

Pseudo-tweed

I have completed a knit! I know, it's incredible.


Bug hat.

One standard roll brim hat with pompom. Anyone know how to make the pompom stay tighter to the hat? I can never get it snug enough.
Anyway.
Roll brim hat in Elann Peruvian Highland Wool, held double, in red and orange. Colors changed at random when I got bored. Some stitch number I don't remember, since I stopped casting on when I got bored. I call it pseudo-tweed because the middle band looks tweedy to me, even though it's only just a strand of red and a strand of orange held together.




What IS this?

One for the Dulaan box, at least four more to go!

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

My favorite kind.
We took a quick trip to Phoenix last night and came home this morning. I knitted a little more than one row on Tendrils and gave it up. It's too hard to knit while stuffed in DH's old truck, betweeen the door and the giant car seat. (I never knew how big those things really are.)
Anyway, I decided I'd better take some photos or you'd think I was making it all up. First, Tendrils:



An artsy shot:



From a distance, it looks like a mottled earthy green to me, but up close you can see the problem - it's so mottled you can scarcely make out the individual stitches, and the beads are completely buried. This is why I will overdye this puppy when I've finished it.

The Irish Hiking Scarf for the Red Scarf Project:



Another artsy shot:



The first picture is close to the true color.

Oh yes, and one more thing. I never heard from Hypatia or Patty, so Bug picked two new names. Elizabeth D. and Heide! Hooray!

Running out of time!

Hypatia and Patty, please send me your contact info so I can send you some yarn! If I don't hear from you by Thursday, I'll pick two more names on Friday.

Tough lesson

Apparently the knitting goddess (I gotta come up with a (short) name for her if I'm going to be talking about her this much) was completely serious about the whole Zen knitting, no deadline thing. I thought the birthday party would be a reprieve, but no. No deadlines, period. It's done when it's done. I started to figure this out, with much cursing and frustration, when I decided to order more yarn.
(Pause in my kvetching to tell you about the adorable little finch pair outside - the male has a black head, a gray and white back, and the fattest, brightest yellow belly ever. What cuties.)
Anyway, I placed my order on Thursday, and the fastest shipping was 2-day. I thought that meant I'd have it by Saturday. Nope. When I called to see if I could even get it overnight(NO), I was told that 2-day would actually arrive WEDNESDAY. BAH. There is NO WAY I can bead up and knit two full balls of yarn in one day. Even if I call in sick on Thursday (which I am still tempted to do). I can't even show Aunt H what she'll be receiving, because I want to dye it a better color when I've finished it. I suppose I could dye it and the other yarn on Wednesday before I knit up the last two balls, so she can at least see how it will look. Is that just asking for Trouble?
In the meantime, I got some alpaca in oxblood from elann.com. It's very soft and yummy - after working with it for a little while, the Tendrils yarn felt positively scratchy. It seems a little thin for worsted weight, but it's making a lovely soft and drapey fabric. I'm doing the ubiquitous Irish Hiking Scarf, and I think it will be lovely. It's a little thin, which should be just right for alpaca. I don't want it to be too hot.
...sigh... I so love cables.

Yarn Drawing Boxing Day!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day, whether you celebrate it as a holiday or not. (There are worse ways to spend a Monday than not working.
Anyway, today is the day I intended for Bug to draw a name for the yarn.



I decided that he would draw two, since I have two colors of yarn. (I got some other yarn for my own red scarf donation.)



I did not actually wait for him to chew on them, as he selected the names while he was eating his bananas at breakfast.



Unfortunately, the two commenters who were selected left no way for me to contact them. Would Hypatia and Patty (not Patricia, sorry) contact me and gimme your info please?

In other news, we had a wonderful, if slightly hectic, Christmas. I am glad to be home, although the bits of wrapping paper and the lights look a little gaudy in the post-feast light of day. Now I get to spend the next year atoning for this season's excesses. Just like last year.

I give up

It's not going to happen.
I finished Clapotis last night, ends and all. (Even the one that I cut without weaving in, that I had to felt to a nearby strand. Oy.) That leaves about 25 inches of Tendrils before Sunday night. Oh yeah, and a green dyebath for same. Not happening. If I had the next days off, maybe, but I don't. I have made the executive decision that the holidays should be fun, and my family should not be punished by my ability to knit to a deadline. So, Aunt H and Aunt C will get little wrapped boxes with IOUs for knitwear, and my family and I will get a few days of peace. I'm not saying I won't knit during those days. I'm saying I will knit for relaxation, but not at the expense of time with my child or hot chocolate in front of the fire with my husband.
Instead, I will knit on Tendrils calmly, not frantically, and I will start my red scarf to alternate when Tendrils starts to get me down. I'll remember that knitting is a pleasure, not a chore. Since the winner of the drawing for the red yarn gets to pick between the bright red and the brick red, I have a few more days before I can start it. Time to devote to loving Tendrils again, time to pick up Sonnet? Good holy cow, I think Sonnet even predates this blog. Lawdy, she needs to have some love. And there's always Dulaan(link to PDF), the scam charity run by the indomitable Ryan. (For those that don't know, the scam thing is now a joke, based on the ridiculous comment left a few years ago by someone who didn't believe that there were homeless children in Mongolia. Search her blog for details.) Anyway, lots of choices abound for me to enjoy knitting again, with little thought for deadline or compulsion. Looking forward to some downtime as this year dwindles. I will try to get some pictures of Clapotis this evening or tomorrow, if there is daylight available.

a meme and more weird stuff

Bug screamed for 8 minutes last night. I think it might be working. DH slept in the camper and felt refreshed, so we're getting there.
Oh, and I would like to thank whatever nut first thought of using cabbage leaves to alleviate engorgement pain. I highly doubt I would ever stop to think, "Hey, these leaves would make a stellar bra" so I wouldn't have come up with it, but it worked.
Dont forget to go to this post and comment to enter in the drawing for some free Red Scarf Project yarn!

I like this meme, so I stole it from Anna The Fashionable.

Egg nog or hot chocolate? Yes please. Eggnog straight or spiked, hot chocolate Mexican style, with real chocolate melted in a pan, and fresh grated cinnamon.

Does Father Christmas wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Wrapped and unwrapped. Usually, big or unwieldy things (like Bug's first bike or something) will be set out, twinkling in the lights, but the others are wrapped.

Coloured lights on tree/house or white? Colored LEDs, the more the better. But never, ever, running or blinking lights on my tree.

Do you hang mistletoe? When I can find it.

When do you put up your decorations? It's a process. Usually mid December. I like the idea of leaving them up until twelfth night, but DH believes "out with the old, in with the new" and tries to take everything down by 12/31 every year. (Except that one year when the lights stayed on the shrubs until August...)

What's your favourite Christmas dish? Hmmm. Swedish meatballs made by my aunt. As a kid I hated to make them (imagine rolling about 5 pounds of ground beef the day before Christmas) but they are SOOOO tasty. Also those weird Corn Flake wreaths that would be toxic at any other time of year.

Favourite Christmas memory as a child? When Mom and Dad got us a puppy. Dad was so worried she'd be cold (she was in a box in the car, still warm from having gone to get her) so he kept saying "Open that one, open that one". It was a box with a dog brush and a leash, and the ribbon led out to the car. We didn't follow it, though, we just tugged on it until it all came in the house, then stared at my parents wondering WTF that was all about. Dad finally had to tell us to GO LOOK IN THE CAR.

When and how did you learn the truth about Father Christmas? My nasty older cousin told me. I must have been about ten. (I wanted to believe, and still do, really.)

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? My aunts on my mom's side always throw a big bash, and all the cousins receive a similar gift. (Everyone gets a shirt, or a CD, or whatever.) We got to open those on Christmas Eve. Now that we're all grown, I still exchange with my two aunts, so I open their present when I'm with them.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Colored LED lights, glass bulbs, and all the ornaments my mother bought me over the years. Plus new ones for The Bug.

Snow! Love it or dread it? Wish for it.

Can you ice skate? Not even to save my life.

Do you remember your favourite gift? Nope, but I remember the gift I wrapped myself. All the cousins got little portable radios for Christmas, and my mother asked me to wrap them. It never occurred to me that I would get the same thing, or that there was one extra, so I was genuinely surprised when I opened it.

What's the most important thing about Christmas for you? That feeling that, just then, all is right with the world. I know it isn't true and that poverty waits for no secular/religious holiday, but when it comes together, the petty family squabbles and the late gas bill are forgotten, for me, just for a little while.

What's your favourite Christmas dessert? Chocolate Christmas bells. It's crappy chocolate, but I love them beyond reason.

What's your favourite Christmas tradition? Walking through the Winterhaven neighborhood in my town, where most of the residents do a major, over-the-top display. There are horse-drawn carriages, hot chocolate, karaoke and a dance contest at one house, and everything is beautiful, festive, and tacky in a way that I still love. This ain't no Thomas Kinkade neighborhood.

What tops your tree? A woven straw angel with a red vest and red bow. I have no idea where she came from, but I associate her with my mother, and I love that little angel.

Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Giving. I'm sometimes a little embarrassed about receiving extravagant things (and DH is nothing if not extravagant at Christmas) but I love getting that One Thing that the recipient will just LOVE.

What's your favourite Christmas song? O Holy Night, sung by a male trio on an old record my father has. I have searched the innernets for it on CD, and have so far been unsuccessful. Also, Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt.

Candy canes? Not so much.

Mostly because I'm a little nuts

I'm somewhat disappointed that no one wrote "GIMME THE YARN, BITCH" in the comments of the last post yet. I thought for SURE at least Rabbitch would wander over for the sheer joy of cussing at me in print. Giving away yarn is definitely a good way to boost the comments. Hee.
Anyway, my little counter is starting to freak me out. No knitting was to be had last night - I skipped SnB and instead spent my evening fighting with DH and shrieking. It was So. Fun. Yup, skipping knitting with friends in order to feel bad, cry and sit in icy silence was totally glorious.
(Can I tell you that we're all a little tired over here, and we're trying to wean The Bug AND get him to sleep the night in his crib at the same time? And can I also say that engorged DDs are LARGE and UNWIELDY. And I bump things a lot, and it hurts.)
Hmmm, I was going to write about how I was in a good mood, but it turned into a post about my underwear and the giggling induced by same. Apparently, when I am tired, brand-new polka dot skivvies entertain me to no end. (I would like to thank whoever it is at Fruit of the Loom who realized that not all plus-sized women want undies that require a full yard of fabric each. Is ANYONE really comfortable in those bloomer-sized things?) Anyway, before I allow myself to really get going on the undies theme, I will just say, go comment on the last post for the chance to have some red superwash from knitpicks.

please excuse my absence

We have been away. Last Monday DH received a call that his mother was dying, so we scrambled to find plane tickets to Montana and flew away. We actually had to fly to Spokane and drive to DH's hometown, about four hours away, so we didn't get there until Tuesday. When we arrived, we found MIL sitting up and smiling, thrilled to see The Bug and feeling much better. Fortunately for all of us, she rallied and was stable and feeling reasonably well when we left. We were granted more time to spend with her, and DH got to sit with her and talk for hours, and she got to see her youngest grandson, and we are thankful.
I didn't get as much knitting done as I would have liked. I didn't touch Tendrils, but did make a dent in the last ball for Clapotis. I spent way too much time chasing Bug away from all the detritus that forms the household of an old woman. Unfortunately it was a little too cold for him to play outside much, especially since the ILs don't have a fence, and the Bug had his eye on the neighbor's swingset. He had to burn off all that toddler energy playing with the VCR, shredding MIL's magazines, unloading all the cabinets in the kitchen, and banging on the china cabinet full of hummingbird figurines. Poor FIL was at his wits' end - there was no place for him to find peace. I think he was glad when we finally left.
Anyway, this is my artistic Clapotis picture.



It's all I have, though with some diligent effort I think I can finish that puppy this week. It would be much easier if that pesky work thing didn't get in the way.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off reading the 300+ new blog posts on my Google reader. Whew.

Oh yeah, and I have some yarn to give away for the Red Scarf Project. Keep an eye out for some form of contest or another. Maybe I'll just make you comment and then pull a name from a hat. I'm lazy like that.
Yeah, that's it. Leave a comment in this post (only this one, I'm too lazy to compile names from other places) and any names in there before Boxing Day (12/26) will be placed in a hat. The first one Bug chews on will get three balls of Knitpicks Swish in either brick or bright red. I'd prefer you use the yarn for the Red Scarf orphans, but really, it's up to you.
(ETA: I should probably not have tacked that little yarn giveaway on the end of a depressing post - thanks for the well wishes, but you get entered in the contest even if you only write GIMME THE YARN, BITCH in your comment. Although I might spit on it if that is your comment, and you win...)