I have a secret

But I'm not ready to share it yet. I hope it will be ready this weekend.
In the meantime, I have been knitting a sock with my first Bearfoot. Moose Creek colorway. Pattern my own, inasmuch as a sock with a stitch pattern slapped on it can be considered mine. I took a picture because my blogless buddy Tracy wanted to see it.


Happy feet

This picture is in no way representative of the actual color of this yarn. It's deep blues, purple, black, green, with a little tan thrown in for good measure. Extremely soft, nice to work with, stretchy and squishy. All the things good yarn should be. I am also doing this sock using the Magic Loop technique, and I must say I'm enjoying it. I like having to keep track of only two needle tips.

I've taken the extra-long way home the last two days too, and I've enjoyed it. Well, except for that first bit when I leave the office and think about how much sooner I could be home, if only I would go the short way... But the walk is lovely, I listen to music and look for landscaping ideas in yards I've never noticed before, I walk through the park, and I arrive home feeling great. I've had DH drop me off about a block from the office on the way in the morning, so it rounds out my walking for the day to just over two miles. If I think of it, one of these days I'll bring my camera and show you what my walk looks like.

Tuesday:
2.1 miles walked

Today:
2.1 miles walked

Pretty good

This morning I was late, so I had DH drop me off at work. I felt guilty about not walking, so I took the extra-long way home. After a short while, I wanted to kick myself for doing it - I was tired. But half way home I bumped into a professor I knew briefly in college, who walks the neighborhood around my house, and I had a lovely chat while I walked most of the rest of the way. Walking alone is nice, but chatting with an interesting person is pretty awesome too.
Thanks for all the commiseration on the yarn. I spent a while working on one skein and I think I made good progress. I have the other skeins hanging to dry, in the hope that they'll be easier to untangle later.

Today:
1.86 miles walked

And now for something completely different...

I bring you Silk Dyeing!
I had some silk I bought from eBay - it was a sweater someone had thrifted and unravelled.

Yarny goodness

Some of the yarn had rough or weak spots, but I figured there would be enough good stuff to make a Shetland Triangle. I skeined up my yarn, mixed my dye, threw it in the pot


Steamy

let it cool, gave Bug a haircut


Buzzzzzzzzzzz

and chucked it in the washer to rinse out the excess dye. I think it was La (or mebbe Jen) who said that the rinse cycle was a bad idea, so I heeded that warning and selected the soak cycle. Turns out (you might wanna sit down for this)


Ouch

My washer agitates on the soak cycle.
That is six and a half skeins of silk. I managed to separate the skeins from each other, but haven't even thought about trying to detangle that mess. Turns out I also tied the skeins too loosely. Damn.

First Fo of the Year!

Hooray, a red scarf!


Scarf and beach towels, a study

Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Pure Alpaca, in Oxblood
Needles: Knitpicks Options, 5.0mm (US8)

Began December 30, 2006
Finished and blocked January 23,2007

What a fun scarf, and what soft yarn! I have heard that it's sheddy, but I enjoyed working with it, and with three dogs, who notices a little alpaca floating around? After this knit, I can cable anything without a cable needle!

Wednesday:
.86 miles walked

Today:
2.1 miles walked

Getting There

I have been making progress on my WIPs. I didn't officially join any stash-a-longs or UFO projects, but it has been my intention both to knit from my stash and to finish some UFO/WIPs. I knit much too slowly to finish all the projects out there that I'd like to make for myself. As a result, I tend to stash yarn and projects for ME. My goal in 2007 was to knit more for me. I still want to do charity projects, but last year I tried to do ambitious projects for others, and never did finish one thing for myself. (Well, not entirely true - I did finish three pairs of socks.) This year, I want to continue my charity knitting and do a little stash enhancement toward that end, but I'd really like to make some of the beautiful things I've had in mind, with the yarns I've bought for myself.
Progress continues on Tendrils, but since that's all I ever say, I'm not going to speak of it again until it's complete, washed, dyed, dry and ready for its closeup, Mr. DeMille. I finished the Irish Hiking Scarf last night and put it to soak in some Kookaburra wash. Tonight I'll have to take it out and lay it flat to dry, but I didn't have a place to do that last night. In the meantime, I got out my sad, neglected bearfoot socks to work on. They are all for me, so I can't wait to finish them.
Other projects slated this year:

Finish Sonnet - she only needs two sleeves

Faina scarf, in stashed Knitpicks Andean Treasure

Shetland Triangle, in stashed recycled 100% silk from eBay - what color?

Bombshell, in stashed Knitpicks Shine

I've been stash enhancing a little lately, too - it will be a little while before my latest purchase arrives, so I'll wait until they're all collected in one place to show off my latest pr0n.
I will be doing the sock swap again, and I have some projects on the go for Dulaan, but I'm not going to put it all aside and neglect ME anymore!

Oh yeah, and I forgot to add my paltry weekend walking to my total - it was cold and yucky, so we only went to the park. I did manage to get out today and walk to work.

Sunday:
Walked, 0.6 miles

WTF Wednesday, now on Sunday!

So, I have some photos to share with you, of my evening.


WTF?


Poor sad grass?


Ice plants?


Sad beach towels.

More photos here.


Y'all, mild winters are our reward for living through our heinous summers! Damn.

Thursday:
1.7 miles walked

Blurgh.

I have been struck most cruelly by that stomach thing that's been going around. Monday I walked to work like the good little doobie I have been forced to become, and at lunchtime I began to feel a little nauseated. (A bit of pedantry: if you say, "I feel nauseous," it means that you make OTHER people sick.) Anyway, it got worse and worse until I didn't think I could stand it, so I went home. A walk of nearly a mile when one has digestive issues? Not fun, but I made it.
Since then, not much. I managed to walk to work this morning, but it was rough. I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew, Runagogo-speaking. Since I signed up, I have not had a single week when I was able to walk or bike to work all five days. It's the weather. I blame the crazy-ass weather. I mean really - 70s in the northeast and icy sidewalks in the desert? Frozen oranges in California? No wonder we're all discombobulated.
I have been chatting with Jen about her parlor trick socks. She's doing one inside the other, on DPNs. I have had Bearfoot socks on the go in that way for ages, and after talking to Jen about them I am anxious to get back to them and finish them up! Soon, soon my lovely little bearfeets, I will get back to you, once I have warmed the neck of one college-age orphan and finished the Wrap That Shall Not Be Named Again.
They WILL be completed in time for me to start the Faina scarf with La!

Monday:
Walked 2 miles

Family Outings

Today started out cloudy and chilly, so I bundled up the Bug and headed to Sabino Canyon for a hike. You know, my lungs don't so much like the uphills, and my knees don't so much like the downhills. It'd be great if they could flatten out that mountainous trail, you know?
Anyway, I did four miles, plus a scootch. I discovered that I am a big giant weenie, too - I kept thinking, "Man, the 2 mile rock must have been washed away, I bet I've gone almost three miles. I should turn around." Right as I thought I would, the 2 mile rock came into view.


Are you sure that doesn't say 20?

It was a lovely day, and I was only mildly depressed by all the old people passing me right and left, while I hauled my giant self, huffing and puffing, up the trail. I was a little discouraged by the thousand-year-old woman with a bright red beehive, jogging uphill in a miniskirt. Oy.

So, here are a few pictures for your enjoyment.


Look, naturally occurring water in southern Arizona!


Sweet little white-tailed deer.


Funky tree in the river.

To see the rest, click here.

For the rest of the day, Bug just wants to do this:

Don't bother me, Mama, but hand me the remote, will ya?

Walked today:
4 miles (is that ALL?)

Oh LAWDY how I love Fridays

Cuz that's when the weekend starts. Oh yeah.
And, as the mother of a toddler and the wife of a man who works almost every weekend, I have a big weekend of sitting around planned. Since my knitting looks the same, and I have nothing else interesting to report, I will show you what a bad mommy I am when I feed my kid.

Last night, the Bug had ice cream for dinner.


I'm saving that blob on my chest for later.


Hey Mama, I wasn't done licking that bowl.

Tonight, as I'm trying to get him ready for bed, he's having his very own latte in his sippy. (Because Daddy isn't here to give him sips of black coffee.)


I'll make it big in Seattle or Portland.


Ayup.

(For those dialing CPS right now, know this: He's getting his molars and the ice cream numbed his little mouth quite nicely, and the latte he's drinking has less caffeine than soda and less sugar than juice. And a whole lotta skim milk. So there.)

Oh yeah, I do have fibery news! Y'all NEED to see these yarns at Mystical Creations. That link is her ebay listing. You can search her store, and she also has a blog and her own domain. (I think! I can't find the links now.) LOOK at those colors. They leave me speechless, and that is a rare thing indeed.

Biking today:
3.1 miles

even less today

Yesterday was DH's birthday, and I woke up late, so I drove (a mile, how sad am I?) to work and got no exercise at all. Today, I woke up even later, and again drove to work. Again, no exercise. I suck.
I AM nearing the end of the second ball of the IHS. At least SOMETHING is making progress around here.

Biking/walking
A BIG FAT ZERO.

Not much today

I knitted one whole repeat yesterday on IHS. I skipped SnB to go sit with my friend in labor, while her husband ran home to car for the cats and collect some items they wanted. YAY FOR BABIES!

Yesterday:
Biked 3.1 miles

ETA: La pointed out that it should probably be "care for the cats". It should, but "carring for cats" sounds like some weird sport on either ESPN2 or the Outdoor Channel, and it kinda makes me laugh, so I'm leaving it.

I blew it off

You totally knew I would.
Last night after Bug went to bed, I had no desire to play with that honking huge Tendrils, so I pulled out the IHS. That thing goes so fast, it's very gratifying. I think I did 5 repeats. About 6 inches or so! I love things that show progress after one sitting! I'll take IHS to SnB tonight too. Last week I tried to work on Tendrils there, and ended up really hosing the beads. (On one cable, I missed a bead in one row and put two in, two rows up. And I only knitted the three rows all night.)
Anyway, I stayed up too late again and I woke up late. Instead of being a whole hour late for work, I hopped on my bike. It was a brisk ride, and I got here huffing and puffing, but I'll live. I do enjoy riding. I just end up feeling a bit knotted up afterwards.
Oh yeah, and one more thing: I missed my own anniversary! TWO YEARS SMOKE-FREE. Awesome. (Even now, I wish I'd had my first cigarette of the morning before I took that pregnancy test!) I plan to start up again when I'm 70 or 75 and smoke a couple of packs a day, but until then I won't smell like an ashtray. YAY FOR ME!

Yesterday:
2.6 miles walked

Munday

It's work time again. ::sigh::
On one hand, I feel wiped out and tired because it's Monday, and on the other hand, I feel good and ready to go get started on a normal week for a change. I was late to work this morning, but I have nothing to do this afternoon, so I just accepted being late and walked the long way to work. I love walking under those oak trees while there's just a little bit of light in the east. Since we have nothing planned tonight, I will sit and knit on the last 34 rows on Tendrils before I start the edging.
Yup, it's true, I have about five inches left. Saturday I had 12. I am a speedy brilliant lazy knitter. I have decided that my brain cannot bear to go to 65 inches, and I will stop at 60. The overall stole will be about 63 inches long. In my estimation, that is more than long enough. Once I've finished, I will use up every blessed scrap of that yarn in charity hats, so I never ever have to see it again. (Well, every scrap except a little I save and dye with the thing itself, in case of tragic accidents.)
Bug was a little under the weather, digestively speaking, so instead of a long outing, we went to the park yesterday. When did my little boy learn how to ride the slide all by himself with no help from Mama? Sheesh! I really need to get out more. They must have taught him on the playground at daycare. He climbed the steps of the jungle gym like a pro, flipped around feet first and was down the slide no problem. (I tried to stop him that first time, but while he was dangling by the strap of his overalls, it occurred to me that he seemed to know what he was doing.) He even hopped off all by himself and ran around to do it again. Who is this big kid and where did my baby go?
Anyway, short walk and no biking this weekend puts me a little behind, but I am not worried.

Walked this weekend:
0.56 miles

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!

Friday at last

Yesterday I measured Tendrils. 53 inches, only 12 to go before the edging bit. Roughly six repeats. Tonight we drive to Phoenix, and tomorrow we return, so that's about four hours of car knitting for me. Can I do it? Do I even want to? The Irish Hiking Scarf is so soft and fluttery - I want to work on that instead. I joined the second of four balls this morning, and would like to feel that light, airy yarn in my fingers, instead of the heavy, beaded albatross of a wrap that is Tendrils. (I'd said to a friend that I don't understand why it's so heavy, because it's only 250 grams of beads. She pointed out that 250 grams is roughly half a pound. Oh.) But I'm so close, I will work on Tendrils tonight, and then maybe tomorrow I will have IHS in the car.
Today I had to drive to work because I had to run out for my yearly bloodwork. (If I'm trying to be healthy and exercise, I might as well have my yearly exams, too. ...sigh... I suppose I should make an appointment with the dentist...) Anyway, I feel a little sluggish already. It may be that it's Friday morning at the end of a tough week, or that the clouds are rolling in and it's dark, but I think it's more that my body didn't get my wake-up walk. I kinda miss it already. It's been a few months since I started walking to work. I haven't seen any change in my clothes (I'm pretty sure the Christmas cookie intake far exceeded any calories burned walking) but BOY, I miss being outside!

Yesterday:
2.4 miles walked

Discoveries

Two days ago, I discovered that I can knit and walk at the same time, without falling down (much).
Yesterday, I discovered that, if I think a commitment like 200 miles is no big deal and I'll do it anyway, I tend to wake up late and get a ride to work, so my 200 mile goal isn't a sure thing. Also, I discovered that, while I can knit and walk, my posture is so bad that my back is aching after just a few minutes.
Last night I discovered that I may have miscounted the number of balls I'd already knit into Tendrils, and I may not have needed the $3.29-turned-$11-because-of-shipping balls of yarn I ordered in a panic last week.
This morning I discovered that no matter how comfy my high-heeled granny boots are to wear at the office, they aren't the greatest for walking that 1.2 miles to work. I took the short cut (.86 miles), and DH was nice enough to bring me my walking shoes so I don't cry on the way home. (In my defense, they're chunky heels. It's not like I thought I'd go for a long walk in stilettos or anything.)

Resolved

Rachael is doing this thing.



100 miles by April 1. Walk, bike, swim, run, etc. At first, that sounds obscenely difficult. Well, it does to my couch potato self, but it sounds like a standard Saturday morning to my triathlete brother.



Anyway, once I started thinking about it, it's not that hard. I walk or bike to work every day, with the exception of the days when I have to carry something big or heavy. The shortest walking route is .85 miles. It's not a big deal to go slightly out of my way, for nicer scenery, which puts me at 1.2. That means that, at the end of an average week, I log between eight and 12 miles. Two and a half months of changing nothing, and I've walked 100 miles. I'm challenging myself a little. My bike route (according to that Google map thing) is about 3.1 miles. If I alternate, I can walk 100 miles AND bike 100 miles before April 1. This will require a little extra effort, because I'll have to include some weekend "workouts": trips to the park or hiking in Sabino Canyon with Bug, a walk to the zoo, even walking to a restaurant for dinner. All in line with my goals to lose a dress size and take Bug on outings. So, that's my plan. 100 miles walked and 100 miles biked before April 1.
Once I figure out where everyone gets those neat little percentage bars for the sidebar, I'll set up my progress indicators.

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.

A full accounting

I don't like to do it, but I'm gonna. These are my WIPs.

Tendrils. 60% done, at least

Irish Hiking Scarf.

Sonnet. Body done, only needs sleeves

Haiku. Knitting done, needs sleeves sewn to body

Bearfoot socks. Toes started

Fetchings in Shine.

HPT (heinous purple thing). Intended to be a gift for MIL, but I can't stand it. Frog pond.

Heirloom baby blanket. I like this thing, but Fluffy ate one of my skeins of yarn. Dunno if I'll ever finish it.

FOs this year:

Sockpal socks

Olympic socks

Green socks

Squares for Warming Grace

One square for Comforting Jenn

Clapotis

Frill

Next knitting, after Tendrils and Irish Hiking Scarf, is Faina's Scarf, in a knitalong with La and anyone else who loves that pattern like I do!

How did that happen?

Here it is, the last day of 2006. I try to remember not to wish away my days (Oh, I wish it was time to go home, Oh I wish it was Saturday already!) and yet the year sped by and has flown away. I wish I'd taken more video of my son. I wish I'd taken more PICTURES of my son. (I wish I'd made ONE SINGLE ENTRY in his baby book. I suck.) I'm pretty sure I could have been a better wife, and I'm pretty sure I fit knitting into every spare minute I wanted to. I don't think those two things are related.
Anyway, my resolutions are pretty thin this year, and really, I've been thinking about them for a month or so. Here they are, in a very general way.

• Finish Sonnet and the socks I started for myself.


• Always have socks on the needles, and actually work on them regularly


• Learn to spin on my spindle


• Lose one dress size


• Take the Bug on an outing once every weekend, instead of indulging my inner hermit


• Get a savings account and learn to use it!

I think these are attainable goals for the year, so I'm stopping NOW!

Happy New Year, y'all, and if you party tonight, please be very safe. (If you go to bed early like I usually do, don't be too hard on the hungover people tomorrow, no matter how tempting it is to wear a neon orange shirt and speak VERY VERY LOUDLY.)

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.

Hahahahaha

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Love it. Not true, but I love it just the same.

Getting there

Last night I measured Tendrils. I have 43 inches done, and the pattern calls for 65 inches before I finish off with the edge. I'm not entirely sure how long I'll knit it in actuality - there were more balls of yarn (Knitpicks Andean Silk Twist) with knots than without, if I remember correctly. I'm not sure what I've done with all my little bits and with the extra balls. I have two partial balls in my bag, which means that I should have two partial balls and some bits floating around the house somewhere. I suppose I should find them before I knit up all I have in my bag and have to get more or rip. It's my hope to finish up the knitting by the end of this long weekend, so I have the better part of the week to overdye it (and kill myself if I ruin it).
Damn, foiled again. Apparently the knitting goddess doesn't like it when we get too smug in our Zen-ness. (Can one BE smug and Zen at the same time?) Anyway, I have lost the last two balls of this damnable, dratted, flugen yarn. I had to order some more. Of this yarn I don't particularly care for. Oy. I had to have it sent two-day. I suspect that means it will get here next Tuesday, since that's two business days away. This means I will not be able to finish the bloody thing this weekend. This also means that somewhere in the house is yarn I dislike. It prolly knows I dislike it, so it's hiding. I have looked everywhere I can think to look, and it is gone. It will come out the day after I receive the feshlugen package from Knitpicks. Urgh.
Curses.

Brrrr.

This is my back step.


and the back patio.


This happened in ten minutes. See the hail? The ice? The BRRRR???? I know some of you up north are chuckling at me and my paltry ice. However, not four hours ago, the temp outside was 70 degrees. 25 degree drop in four hours. Brrrr.

Ungh.

That's what I felt like this morning when I had to get up for work. I may have said that very thing. I think people make the new year's resolution to get in shape in the new year because of all the excesses of the previous two weeks, or in some places, 6 weeks. (I am too lazy to maintain the holiday frenzy from Thanksgiving on.) Cookies for lunch, cookies for breakfast, cookies for desserts and snacks. January is one long sugar crash for me. My only saving grace is that I still enjoy my morning walks to work. (Ask me again tomorrow after the storm hits and we have sleet.)
Anyway, I have a few more days of Tendrils, and I find my devotion flagging just a bit. I am craving light fluttery fabrics. Something that weighs about an ounce, finished. I'd purchased some yarn ages ago for Clapotis, but I think life may be too short to knit the same thing twice. (Except socks.) La posted about wanting to make Faina's scarf from FiberTrends recently, and OH BOY do I like that pattern. It calls for sport weight yarn, which I just happen to have in a lovely deep red/wine that was to be the base of Clapotis-for-me. I think it might want to be Faina's scarf. I'll have to find something else to do with the laceweight I got to carry along with the sport weight in the Clapotis-for-me. I gotta call my LYS to see if they can get that pattern for me. I hope they have to order it - if they have it right now, Aunt H's Tendrils might get put off a little longer!
Hypatia, Patty, are you there? I have yarn for you!

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.

She smiled on me

The knitting goddess. Swift has been her wrath in the past, and now gentle and warm are her blessings.
Yesterday, I felt a weight lift when I said I couldn't finish Tendrils. DH and I have been in a rough patch since just before we left to visit the MIL, and it's just gotten worse. The stress of the holidays, MIL being ill... and then apparently, once, I jokingly said, "I'd rather knit than have sex" and he didn't get the joke. And he thought I meant ALWAYS. (While I don't remember saying it, I can see how it might cause hurt feelings.)
So, yesterday I didn't knit a stitch, by conscious decision. I made my boy some apple slices and went to fold laundry. While I was putting his clothes away, he came in and crawled up on my lap and hugged me, and just stayed there. And for once, I was paying attention and let him hug me as long as he wanted. (This turned out to be half an hour at least.) I wasn't worried about this or that or finishing Tendrils or wrapping Clapotis. I just got to hold my boy while he wanted some snuggles.
Later, after DH got home, I made some good hot chocolate with real chocolate and eggs and milk and cinnamon. (The eggs sound gross but that's what makes it rich and frothy.) We sat by the fire and had hot chocolate, we relaxed, we went to bed early and got actual real sleep. Real sleep rocks.
And the reason I think the knitting goddess was involved? Normally I see my aunts maybe twice a year, if I'm lucky. Always around Christmas, but any other time during the year it's by chance. I had resigned myself to having to mail their knits and not getting to see them open them. Yesterday, there was an invitation for a surprise party for Uncle N, Aunt C's husband. Thrown by Aunt H. I get to see them again in two weeks. Two weeks, I can do. I appreciate the lesson, and I appreciate the reprieve.
Tonight, pizza and hot chocolate with good friends, followed by some Christmas-light viewing, and maybe a little knitting by the fire. But just a little.

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.

Calling Harry Potter

Cuz I need a few things. Like Hermione's time turner? Yeah, one of those. (The only problem with that is that if you used it too much, you'd die younger. I mean, you're still living all those extra hours, so if it added up to extra days a month or a week, your life span would be awfully short by comparison to those not using a time turner. Um, I mean,... well, yes, I do think about these things way too much.)
The other thing I want is that spell that makes the insides of things much more spacious than they appear from the outside. Imagine it - unlimited closet space! I wouldn't want much more actual house, because that would mean it would be more to clean, but can you imagine a walk-in linen closet? Kitchen cabinets that held both your everyday dishes and your china? Never running out of room in the fridge? Yeah, that's what I thought - you want it too.
Anyway, I have yet to finish Clapotis. Which means I haven't touched Tendrils. Tonight I'm finishing Clapotis and weaving in the ends before I sleep, period. Here's where the time turner would be extra-handy. I could finish a few hours of knitting and still get a full night's sleep. I have so much time devoted to non-knitting pursuits in the next few days, I don't know if I'll finish. Dinner with friends tomorrow, Santa pictures Thursday, dinner with other friends and a light-watching trip on Friday... I need to have a few days off work to get it all done, but with the MIL thing of two weeks ago, I have no time left. I would berate myself for waiting until the last minute, but I started both of these MONTHS ago. I should berate myself for knitting slowly, maybe. Yeah, that would be helpful.
And one more thing: if you've recently applied ben-gay to your stiff, pained fingers, you should probably avoid scratching your nose or rubbing your eyes. Just sayin'.

Denial

Complete denial.
Cuz it's almost 10pm, and this is what I have:



This is the yarn Jessie dyed for me. There is no more. That little ball is all there is left. I have about 50 ever-decreasing rows. I hoped and hoped and hoped that I would have juuuuuusssstttt enough.

...sob...

I was so close.

Rrrrrriiiiiiiiipppppppppppp.

...sigh...

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.

Zoinks

Thanks Lynn, I knew you'd come through for me with a well-placed Bitch in the comments. (See, Lynn loves me!) Hee hee.
I am tired. So tired, there are no words.
So I'll tell you all about it.
Last night was the first night in his young life that we allowed Bug to cry it out in his bed. He did so, with gusto, from about 2:30am to 3:02am, on the nose. (I looked at the clock when the deafening screeches stopped.) This after about half an hour of on again, off again whining. Then the darling boy slept until almost 7am this morning. I would have found that extremely pleasant, except that I was supposed to be at work at 6:30 and I had to wake him to dress him for school. Someone PLEASE tell me this gets better, because OY. During that half an hour of screeching, we also indulged in a lovely hissed argument, where the words "sadist" and "child abuse" were hurled at me in a fit of exhausted crabbiness. In DH's defense, he would likely not say such things during the day, but at night, his mouth hooks into the part of his brain that only knows his exhaustion, and usually in the morning he has no recollection of talking to me at all. (I say "likely" because, well, he's a guy, and you never can tell about their judgement.)
Really, I know it has to get better, because it was my pediatrician and his wife who recommended this path to me (after 15 months, Bug sleeping in our bed and nursing all night to put himself back to sleep wasn't working for me). My pediatrician and his wife used this tactic on their first, and not only did it not kill them, they went on to have and/or adopt seven other children. This may speak to their mental state, but they seem so normal in all the other ways. In the meantime, DH will sleep in the camper. Bug's screaming I can handle - the midnight fights I cannot.
During the actual pleasant part of the evening, during which we watched our show (Criminal Minds), sat in front of the fire, and relaxed while I knit and Bug played with his blocks, I got a good bit done on Clapotis. I think I have less than a repeat left before I start the decreasing, so having the knitting finished this weekend continues to look like a possibility. I might even have time to weave in ends, although I do hope to get many many naps. Of course, I have to go to Circuit City on Friday, so this may all be moot - I may not survive the crowds.

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...)

IT

The knitter version of IT is nearly as scary as the Stephen King version, especially for slow knitters like me.
I think it is time to add a few hours to my day and give up a little sleep here and there. I hate to do it, but I don't think I will finish otherwise, and since Aunt H only received her Christmas quilt (intended for Christmas 2004) in September of this year, I would really like to avoid having things on the needles. I would have plenty of time, but I can't seem to convince DH that it's perfectly reasonable for him to assume responsibility for all household and parenting chores. I don't know what his problem is.
We put our tree up early this year, since Oldest Stepdaughter (OSD) was visiting. Bug looooooves it. He did the Happy Baby Stomping Dance around it the first morning, trying to decide what to rip off first. Once he realized he could reach almost all of it, he dove in with wild abandon. I will tell you this: the shatterproof ornaments from Target are FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. He bangs them together, on his bananas, on the floor, on the dog

and they do not shatter. He did manage to break one, after nearly two days of constant assault, when it landed just so and broke the little bit that holds it on the tree. I think it's fixable.

Click for closeup.

Anyway, more knitting to come, and by all that is holy in this world, after Christmas I'm knitting something for ME.

Browbeaten

Okay, three times in two days I have read about this, and Norma has guilted spurred me to participate. It's fun to think about not only messing with the Muggles, but throwing their sociology experiments a loop. Knitters have long been underground in polite society (mostly because we're too busy Knitting To Warm The World or something) so it's time the researchers took a look at the wonderful effects to be had by playing with wool and sticks.
Here's the research link.
Here's the place to ping.
Here's a little more background, if you like. (Scroll down to "Unleashing the Knitters".)

26 days, people. IT is coming.

Y'all, it's time to panic

Do you see that counter? As of the time I'm writing this, it says 27 days and some hours. That counts down to the midnight boundary of Christmas day, so we actually have about 28 days on the nose. Folks, that is just Not. Enough. Time.
(As an aside, is anyone else sick of that Overuse. Of. Periods. thing? It's just so expressive and easy - a Chandlerism in the written word.)
Anyway, that means there is much knitting to be done. Yesterday was the first day all long weekend I was able to knit. I finished the block for a comfort blanket (my own "design"!) and did almost a full repeat on Tendrils. It felt really good to have the yarn in my hands. My sinus infection still rages on, but the good folks at Alka Seltzer have provided me with a fine product that masks nearly all the symptoms so I can function until I get some antibiotics. Normally I like to ride these out, but this one whupped me right good on Friday and Saturday. That's Alka Seltzer Plus Cold and Cough. Go now. Buy the pills. Buy stock in the company. I have no affiliation, just a deep gratitude and abiding love for my purple happy pills.
In the last post, Judith suggests putting my Christmas tree in a playpen. This would be a perfect idea, except that I do believe the Bug would just view it as a challenge. You know, like if someone put a big fence around Everest. A friend told me about those frosted glass bulbs that are actually plastic but don't look it, so I will be scouting them out at Target later this week. I remember them from last year and loved the colors.
And now for something completely different - the coolest entry on the List of Things That Should Not Be: Smells Like Teen Spirit. I'm looking this up on iTunes.

It's been a loooong time

Yes, it's true, I didn't even have the grace to post about what I'm thankful for. I will tell you that one of the many things is this: no matter how they drive me crazy, whenever my family walks in the door for An Event, the first thing anyone says is, "How can I help?" Brilliant family feature, I must tell you.
A new thankfulness item on my list this year is AlkaSeltzer Cold and Sinus tabs. Ahhhh. I awoke the Morning After with sinus pressure so bad my teeth hurt. Blinking was excruciating. DH had to go out and run errands, and the darling man went to the pharmacy of his own accord, asked the pharmacist for a recommendation, and then brought me some with a glass of water. Sterling man, my husband. My body still feels somewhat trashed, but I no longer feel the need to lie around with a warm washcloth over my eyes, and I can actually focus on things. It's been wonderful. I still haven't knit more than a stitch or two in three days, first from stress, then busy-ness, then pain, but there is a light ahead. I hope when I get there I can find either my car keys, my cell phone, or both.
So, that is that. No knitting, only whining. Next weekend I have to throw a baby shower (why on earth did I sign up for that?!) and then it will be smooth sailing until next spring. Christmas will not be too involved this year, although with The Bug's newfound love of climbing, I may just have to decorate the tree and then lay it on the ground.

Saturday, at last

So, the last five days have nearly killed me. First, we moved to a new building with cubes instead of offices. This is actually mostly okay with me, since I sit at the end of a row of cubes and have only one cube neighbor, and I used to be fairly isolated in my old office. The not okay part is the fact that the woman in the next cube thinks that cubes are created to foster togetherness rahter than inhibit slacking, and thinks nothing of joining in any conversation within earshot. She'll stand up and lean over the wall if someone stops by to chat briefly with me, and twice I've heard her question people as they're walking by conversing about something. She is THE nosiest woman I've encountered in a long while, and has no concept of appropriate boundaries. (This is exacerbated by the fact that I have an overinflated sense of boundaries and get really tense and annoyed if someone gets in my space.) I'd hope she'd read this and get a clue, but a) I don't tell real-life people about this blog, and b) she wouldn't get it anyway.
Second, I started a new schedule at work, so I arrive at 6:30 and leave at 3pm. This is cool, because the afternoon just FLIES, but that morning has gotten long enough as to be soul-crushing.
Third, the bike riding is working out well so far. I have only been making the round-trip once instead of twice. I'd thought I would ride home for lunch, but at this point in my riding and my new schedule the lunch ride isn't feasible. My commute is 2.5 miles round trip, which is a nice short trip that still gets me a little exercise. The ride home is nicer than the ride there, since I ride a different way to avoid traffic. It's such a pleasure to get on my little bike and cruise on home through the neighborhood, past the park, down the little hill and into the driveway. Plus, the mornings are cool enough that I think I need to knit myself some mittens. Heh. (I know that 2.5 miles is piddly, but I suffer from two of those luxuries few outside the first world know: overabundance of food and complete sloth. I gotta work up to it.)
Anyway, all of this adds up to some serious exhaustion and not so much on the knitting. Yesterday I managed four rows on Tendrils and thought I was doing feats of Herculean strength. Today I hope for some napping, some house cleaning, and a little knitting. (The house cleaning is necessary - the cleaning lady is on vacation until the week after Thanksgiving, and I couldn't find anyone else to cover for her, so the house looks like the set of Lord of the Flies.)

On shapes

I would like to state that I am in terrible shape. Well, my shape is mostly spherical, which is not a bad shape as shapes go, but I would prefer something a little more svelte. Anyway, toward this end, I recently started riding my bike to work. Recently meaning yesterday. It's a short ride - today it took 7 minutes - but I arrive huffing and puffing and generally in a disgraceful state. I can see the bloody building from my front yard (the 7 minutes is due to the presence of a gated community between me and the building) and I arrive sweaty and breathless. Oy. The only reason this is going to work for me is that it is ONLY seven minutes. I can do that. I can do that no problem. Then if I want a little more later, I can go around the back way, or go up the street further and cut back, or what have you. When I get REALLY good, my intention is to ride the additional 2.5 miles round trip with a little kiddie trailer, and pick the Bug up from his daycare. We shall see. In the meantime, seven minutes, four times a day.
And can I just tell you something? Even though it's only seven little minutes, my sit bones feel like I rode a marathon. With as much padding as I have on my butt, you'd THINK that I wouldn't feel it as much.
No knitting content to show. Tendrils and Clapotis proceed. They look like slightly longer versions of the last photos you saw. Switching buildings, working hours (now I work from 6:30 - 3) and modes of transportation have served to tucker me out right good, so I hope that sooner rather than later I will have the energy to stay awake at night and knit. (Last night was SnB, and I only had energy to watch my friends knit. It was sad. Apparently I looked so tired that one woman was concerned that I wouldn't be able to drive the two miles home without falling asleep.)

I would like to direct your attention

Please note the counter in the sidebar. 42 days, people. Six weeks, plus a few hours. That is not nearly enough, I promise. Six freaking weeks.
I cut the Bug's hair yesterday. I think it's pretty cute. Suddenly he's a redhead. I'm not sure why, but he looks so much more like a little boy and less like a baby to me now. Anyway, a few photos.


Small boy with yarn.


Ten years off my life.

Please note in that second picture - he's not just standing there, he's walking from end to end.

Clapotis proceeds apace. I have about four rows before I start the straight rows and get the entertainment of occasionally dropping stitches. I am easily entertained. No doubt that if I were Wannietta or The Harlot, I would have been done days ago, but I am a slooooooow knitter.

I am also considering throwing away the Heinous Purple Thing. I have plenty of that purple yarn, and I really think there's a project that would be less heinous. If I don't rip it, I'll never finish it, and then MIL won't have a knitted Christmas present.

Eye Candy

But not in the usual sense.


I'm such a good sport.


Remember Ed Grimley?


If only ALL the little gargoyles were this cute.

In the land of the living.

So, that barfing flu was actually probably food poisoning. I was feeling much better the next day (DH swears it was because it was SnB day) but he and The Bug got some cold/flu thing that still has them feeling ucky. Good thoughts for me that I don't get it, cuz UGH.
Tomorrow, our company is moving my department to a brand new, shiny happy people facility. We go from offices to cubes, but I don't care, because the new place is blocks from my house. Hooray, riding the bike to work! YAY! Anyway, since all of my office things will be in transit, I get to work from home for the day. This means I will get to catch up on the laundry while working. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to being caught up on the laundry.
Last night during the second daily viewing of Cars (DH does love him some Pixar) and Criminal Minds, I cast on for Clapotis. The yarn is even lovelier knitted up than in the skein, if possible. I lurve it.

Softly shimmering little triangle of yarny goodness.

Jessie wasn't kidding when she said it stank, though. Anyone know how to make silk smell better after dyeing, because OMG, it's pretty rank.

Oooh, and I forgot that I read The Conjurer's Bird, by Martin Davies. Excellent book! I loved it. Good mystery, good adventure. Loved it. Buy it, read it.

Chaotic Rants Of A Card Carrying Dreamer

I have the barfing flu today, so I am home trying to not think about barfing. Bug made it extra hard this morning while he ate his banana slices. Bananas make me gag on a good day, but when I'm already feeling gross AND the bananas are in the hands of a toddler... oy.
I am feeling a tad better, though (woohoo, drank a whole glass of water without barfing) so at some point I imagine I will have time for fiberly pursuits.
This last weekend, we went to a little wool festival in Tucson. It was on one woman's farm, and there were all of about ten vendors. It was fun, though, and Bug liked the animals. DH even got him to pet a freshly shorn lamb, but sadly, no pictures were had.
I only bought this:

Scratchy fluffy Shetland.

The spindle is an Ashford that Bug got me for my birthday a while ago. (Such a big boy - his 13 month old self got online and ordered it all the way from Montana.)
Anyway, I have yet to spin anything on it, since the only fiber I had before this weekend was silk, and I'd been warned that I should probably know what I'm doing before I tried to spin it.

Oh yeah, and Deb is doing that November calendar thing. I apologize for the glare on this picture - there was no way to position it that didn't cause some, and this is the best.


I do love me some moosies.

The picture was from a calendar of all moose. A Year of Moose or some such. Given to me by the friend who gave me the moosey sweater for Bug. Mooses. Rock.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go recline on the couch with the back of one hand on my forehead. That water doesn't seem to want to stay where it is.

Oh. My. Gawd. Y'all.

Jessie is a color genius. This is three skeins of Henry's Attic Andromeda (50/50 wool and silk) she dyed for me when I couldn't find the color of Lion and Lamb I wanted for my aunt's Christmas Clapotis. I haven't taken the picture below yet (it's dark, I'll add the picture tomorrow before I post) but I can guarantee that no piddly amount of camera skills I have will do this yarn justice. I can't freaking wait to knit it.


Sorry for the lack of artistic posing - the Bug was headed for the yarn.

Below, 6 skeins of elann.com Peruvian Highland wool, in rainbow colors. For a Dulaan hat pattern that has been swirling around in my head. Yeah, someone has probably knit it before, but I haven't seen it, so in my reality, I thunk it up all by myself.



Not pictured: the skeins of Knitpicks yarn I ordered on 10/24, that shipped on 10/25. La's opinion notwithstanding, I like Knitpicks yarns. But seriously, do they pick "extra slow" at the post office or what? It shipped on 10/25 according to the website, and it's not here. The Elann.com yarn and A Piece of Vermont (Jessie) yarn both shipped on 10/30, a full FIVE days later, and BOTH of the later packages arrived first. Really, it's my only complaint about knitpicks thus far.
(Okay, after I wrote this post I wound five balls of Andean Silk into center pull balls and strung two with beads. Out of the 10 balls I ordered, three had knots. I think that's a little excessive. Even for cheap yarn.)

After all the new and wonderful yarns, it seems almost anticlimactic to show you Frill.




No, I don't know how to wear a stole gracefully. Why do you ask?

Bug-a-BOO!

The Bug's second Halloween has passed. He was a little more alert this year.

Then:

Bug as Wombat

Now:

The Flash!

We had fun carving pumpkins last night, and of all of them, the Bug and Boo ones were the biggest hits with the kids. (Mommy! That one says Boo! Look, it does! And that one says BUG!)


Punkins!

We went to four neighbors' houses, and then got in the car to go visit friends with a boy Bug's age. We didn't get two blocks before he conked out in his seat, so we turned around and went home to dole out more candy. All in all, a fun evening.
(Well, except for when I started to pin out Frill and found a hole with two live stitches right in the middle, but we won't talk about that.)