Scrapping my morning plan

I'm probably going to regret this, but I couldn't bring myself to wake the kids up for school this morning. They've been so busy (for months, it seems like), that last night, coming home late from a birthday party, they both said they just felt like crying. Now, I'm sure that they're going to wake up and say there was something very important that they were supposed to do at school this morning, but right now I just can't bring myself to wake em.

The second sock is progressing much better than the first one. I think the uncertainty of knitting my first toe-up sock had me knitting slower. For the record, after avoiding toe-up sock patterns for years, I've found that I really like the technique. This one really seems to be clicking along. =)

Update:

I got to school with the kids, an hour late (it was worth it, says I. The morning was so relaxing), and I realized one daughter was looking really, really sad. Swimmy eyes, puckery mouth. What's wrong? I asked. Well, it seems that if you're tardy, you have to stay in for morning recess and do your work. And apparently the last time I called an easy morning (last year!), the teacher really grouched at her when she came in. This is my extra sensitive child, outside of whose classroom I sat for the first year of her schooling, so this was going to be a big deal. I sat for a minute in the parking lot, then thought, Screw it. I'll help them with their mountain of homework tonight. And here we are, having a relaxing morning at home. This is why, as much as I wish things were different, I am never, ever going to get Mom of the Year. Dangit. But I'd pretty much messed things up in January when I missed my oldest's dental appointment, so I was out of the running, anyway. *sigh*

I think, when I get my morning writing done, I'll work on my Ravelry set-up. I've been accepted for a couple of weeks, but haven't had a good chance to really figure out Flickr and such...

You could do that... or maybe brush the bunny?

Show'n'Tell

I've got some items on the go that I'd like to finally show everyone. I've been trying to master the toe-up sock. I've been really nervous about it, and asked other knitters exactly when they started the heel, and such. It wouldn't be a big deal to rip out, but I've been working with hand-spun yarn. It is two-plyed, and due to an unfortunate event, that of a friend ripping back socks from sock yarn I had made for her, I had the chance to view said handspun that had been ripped. It separated in a sad way, and I was definitely trying not to rip my current sock-in-progress if I could help it. (Sorry about that yarn, Mel, but it was my first) =/

So I cast on with some yarn that I liberated from the husband's socks-not-to-be. (Sorry, hon. They just weren't fun.) And I started a toe-up sock from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks, the Oriel pattern. I've poured over every step, from the provisional cast-on to the odd way she seemed to turn the heel. In fact, it was a bit like knitting a pocket on a sweater. I don't have to understand how it works, I only have to fanatically follow each step exactly as it is written. And it worked! The first sock:


















Cool, no? Now, here's a funny thing about my handspun sock yarn. Well, I'll just show you:


See what it's doing? It's striping. Now, let me explain. I am not a proficient spinner. I am, in fact, the spinner that pulls out great whacks of roving and spins it pretty thin, then Andean plies it back on itself when I get too much on my spindle. Then I roll it in a ball, put it aside and do it all again, getting four pretty good spindlefuls from each 4 ounces of roving. When I Andean-plied this sock yarn, it started to stripe. I thought it would stop pretty quickly, but with each color, it kept doing that. I had to show my knitting pals, and they thought it was odd, too. I mean, I don't know enough to make striped yarn. And yet, here 'tis. Unexplainable, and striped. We're pretty sure my daughter has invited little helpers in the house, cuz we believe in all sorts of magical beings around here, who bring us good luck to things like knitting, and souffles, for instance.

And that is my Shows. Now, my Tell would be a story I have of a friend of ours, who used to play tournament chess, when he was, like, 11 years old. He was pretty good, played for several years, and he brought a crystal chess set yesterday for my ten-year-old. She loved it, and they sat down to play. When they set up the board, they realized they were missing a king and a queen, one from one side, one from the other. Our friend was duly upset, promised to stop by the store on the way home and get another set, just to replace the two pieces. We chuckled about the marketing ploy of companies getting people to buy two of everything, just to be sure they had enough. Very clever. But my daughter wanted to play, so she grabbed a couple of substitutes from my three-year-old. Suffice it to say, our friend, the championship chess player, was deeply offended:


I'm not kidding. He was not amused. But they played for over two hours, with him explaining each move to my daughter, indicating why one move was more desirable than another. And he didn't let her win, but carefully explained why he won, and she left the table happy, which is amazing in itself. She has little to no tolerance for anything but excellence in herself, and I admit that I expect something close to the same. I'm working on being better about that. But the game finally ended, and I got up to put it away. (Don't go there. I don't know why it seems to work that way, either) As I turned the game box over, I found - oh, wait. Another Show:


Heehee. Sure, why was it on the back? But it also gives me a little insight as to why no one can find the ketchup in the fridge.

Automation is my friend

I'm glad to report that, due to sub-zero temperatures (fahrenheit), and an unheated laundry room, the washer was just frozen up. Thanks to you all for your commiseration on my handwashing. It was an interesting thing to teach my daughters, though, about how clothes used to be washed. They always tell me that they wish it was the olden days, back to log cabins and sewing by candlelight. I see their point, there is a definite attraction to simpler times. We like to sew here, and bake and craft, et cetera. But when it comes to laundry, I'll take a washer, thanks.

I've been doing some stealth knitting for a friend I promised to send a gift to. I got it done last night, the Fake Isle hat, with Noro Silver (I think) yarn, and alpaca - mmm, soft alpaca.... but it came out too small =/ So I'm casting on again today for a larger size. Here, however, is the grateful recipient of the too small hat:


Honestly, she would steal everything that came off of my needles. I'm glad she likes handmade things, though! If I could just get her to go sock yarn shopping, she'd have another pair of socks. I think it's very interesting how quickly kids get picky, when they know you can make them stuff. These potential socks can't be just any variegated color. She doesn't know what she wants, but it's nothing in my stash. On the other hand, this is my OCD child, and I can't exactly take her to the sock yarn room at my LYS. There is no way she would ever be able to choose a sock yarn. So, sadly, I'm left with the only other option I can think of: Buying a skein of sock yarn at a time and bringing it home for her inspection. Should she not like the one I've chosen, I'll have to put it in the stash and buy another, to try again. (Play appropriate sad music here)

In the meantime, we have a four-day weekend, no school! This is a good thing, because they get tired of the continual routine, and the roads are terrible. So we're going to get all domestic here again, make some cinnamon rolls, and - just to keep them honest about how drudgery works - washing walls. I swear no one has to wash walls as much as I do. How do they get foot prints so high up on walls????

Queen Domestic, or today I'm acquiring Man Hands

Sadly, last night our washing machine broke. My husband is pretty sure he can fix it, just like he's pretty sure he can figure out how to use the pottery wheel and rewire the satellite. But he's a busy guy, so I know it's going to be at least the weekend before that machine can get looked at. Now, we're a family that likes to pretend we could get along without modern conveniences, and, with a family of five, you can't exactly wait on the laundry. So here's how I spent my morning: I filled the bathtub with hot, soapy detergent and water, then put an approximate load of laundry into the bubbles. Then I agitated, like my faithless washing machine would do. I agitated and agitated, then I called the kids over. We had a lot of fun, that first time. Then I hand-scrubbed socks, and rinsed... and rinsed, and rinsed. Then I wrung the clothes out as best I could, and dripped them over to the faithful dryer, and threw them in. Then I went back to the tub and started another batch of clothes. I let those soak until the dryer got done, and went and did dishes. When I checked the dryer a long time later, the clothes were still soaking wet. Grrr. So I pulled out the heavy stuff, draped it around the house, cleaned the lint guard and threw the clothes back in. They dried in an appropriate amount of time, and then I was back at the tub, agitating, rinsing, then dripping the clothes back to the dryer. This time I wrung them out much better. I did three loads of laundry this way, people. I'm afraid of getting muscular, manlike hands already, my arms have reached muscle fatigue, and we have all redefined "dirty." Slept in your pajamas? They're not dirty. Get 'em outta the hamper. In fact, I was making cookies (since today now seems to be domesticity day) and I heard my daughter spill something. Her older sister said, "Get a towel," and I yelled,"A paper towel!" Yikes.


So the clothes thing is going okay, and they're all folded neatly into everyone's pile, to be taken care of. My husband is going to come downstairs, and I am going to show him my accomplishment. I'm nearly as proud as if I'd knit socks. I can hear him now, praising me, thinking how cool I am to have gotten the laundry done. And then I realize that, yes, I got it done, with no help from the washer. In fact, I had become the washer. And as long as I was the washer, and working fine, the other washer was going to go on the backburner of things to do. So now I'm on strike, and will get back to my knitting.


Thrummed mittens, nearly done:




Husband's sweater, moving nicely:




If the dryer breaks, I'm outta here.

Where did you go?

I have been reviewing my emails and spam quarantine, and so far, I've found entries such as: "Rod Dodson is 85% in January" (good for you, Rod, but what?) - a question, "Is my partner happy?" (I hope so) - "Here is the best stock pick of the year" (sorry, no money to invest) - "Your email won!" (This one may be legit, since it was from a company I've ordered from, but I didn't receive it any time recently, so I assume the opportunity has passed.), and the always useful, "Something that will make her always want it now, and begging for more." I assume they're talking about cooking recipes....


However, what I didn't see is any emails from my comments. I thought you people had been pretty quiet! I'm not sure what the problem is, though. I've asked Blogger to send me the comments in my email, so I can reply and let you know I appreciate your thoughts. I have allowed cookies on my computer, to help Blogger fulfill my request. I have searched the ever-interesting Spam Quarantine file, and there are no comments from the blog. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd be glad to try them. In the meantime, though, thanks for your comments, and I'm working on replying.


In knitting news, my daughters are very impressed with my knitting. So much so, in fact, that the second child has offered her "boy friend" (ahem) a pair of thrummed mittens for Valentine's Day. Yes, she did, and I'm pleased she likes hers. I'm flattered, in fact. I'm .... busy. So we had a little talk about appropriateness in offering gifts, and perhaps clearing it by the worker bee (moi) first, before promising the time of my hands. And after this useful talk, she added, "He likes green."

sigh....

You Make Me Smile

This You Make My Day award has been moving through the Internet, and I think it's a fantastic idea. I smile whenever I see one of my favorite bloggers get one, because it's a really nice thing to acknowledge when someone makes you feel good. And now, JohnK from Napkin Please has given me one! I am pleased, very, very pleased, to be acknowledged. Thanks, John! Your blog makes me smile, too.

And now I get to play! There are many wonderful blogs that I read. I try to keep my blogroll around 100 blogs, as that is about all I can handle, and even then I sometimes can't read you all. Here are 1/10th of my favorites - You Make Me Smile!

JohnK of Napkin Please - back at you, John. I always enjoy your knitting comments and perspective. Also, there is a great video of John being interviewed about knitting. Check it out. He makes knitting sound clever and artsy, which I know it is, but so many muggles don't....

Arleta of Arleta's Motley Wool - You pulled me into blogland, and it's a great place to be. You are always knitting something, and knitting it to completion, which I really envy =) If I don't get to knit at least once a week with you and Mel, I start yelling at the kids, so please keep up the knitting mornings.

Laurie of Issues With Knitting - you know, I spend so much time praising you in Comments, I bet you're surprised I haven't knit you a sweater. Laurie is always helpful and friendly, very reassuring about any and all insecurities I feel free to write her about. Thanks, Laurie.

Dave of Criminy Jickets - you all know I love reading Dave. He's clever and inspirational. I always want to knit everything I see he's finished, and I frequently do.

Del of Cozy's Place - You are so entertaining, I sometimes laugh til I cry. That's a talent, girl. I hope you know how much joy you bring to people with your writing.

CarrieK of My Middle Name is Patience - Beautiful cats, beautiful handknits, and a good commentor, to boot, I always enjoy when Carrie does a new post. If she lived closer, I'd *make her come to our knit-togethers.

Jen at PieKnits - Jen is a great designer, and I'm so glad that she's being so frequently featured at Interweave Knits now. I get happy every time I see one of her designs. She's beautiful, and knits very fun stuff.

Kat of Kat with a K - Kat, you're informed in ways I can only hope to be when I grow into a better person. I enjoy reading your take on politics and what's going on in the world, and you knit, too! I'm very impressed.

Noolie of Noolie Knits - Noolie does what I can never imagine doing, and makes it looks easy. She is a pattern creator, and shares so much of her designs and life on her blog. And go check out her newest creation, the prettiest little girl, she looks like a Gerber baby, but with better eyes.

Norma of NowNormaKnits - A varied and interesting blog, it's not just about knitting, but about fashion and funny comments about her take on life. I like reading Norma, as she always gives me a smile.

Trek, of Trek Casts On - Trek always has interesting stuff to write about, frequently about her husband and child, who sounds adorable. I'd like to spend a day being Trek. She makes things sound pretty darned good in her world.

If I haven't listed your blog, don't be sad. I love 'em all, but I was limited. As it was, I had to pretend I can't count to ten. The Yarn Harlot mentioned once that she couldn't condone a lot of self-pity on a blog, unless it was done artfully and in small amounts. So in a head nod to Ms. Stephanie, I will only say, "Why can I only name ten???" But I'm pleased to get to name any at all. It's nice to know that people want to read what you have to say.

My friend is a busy bee...

The other day, I had the most fun helping a friend of mine teach a spinning class to a whole whack of third graders. I love this age. They were so excited to learn about sheep and fiber, and how to make their own yarn. They kept asking, "When I'm done, can I knit with it?" Sure, says I, it's your yarn! It was a neat thing to watch, though we were really hopping around from one spindle to another, helping with overspinning/underspinning/dropped spindles. Arleta, another mom and I were showing technique, then the teacher dived right in with helping them draft, which was very sporting of him, as I don't think he had any idea what to do when he started. He's also very much a "sports" man, so I was doubly impressed that he got into the drop spindle. Here's some pics:


The lovely Arleta


A classful of potential spinners


Did I mention there were two classes of third graders?


Kudos to Arleta for volunteering to show this technique. It was pretty nerve-wracking for her, it being her first time and all. I have a feeling, though, with my kid going into third grade next year, she'll be asked to teach for the class again =)

Magician's Trick

Yesterday I took a class at our LYS. It was on double-knitting, and I just have to say, I love taking classes. I've been knitting since I was, oh, about 13 (though, since I'm only 20, that's just 7 years - heh heh). I've knit a lot of stuff. I've done fair isle and intarsia, set-in seams and raglan, button bands and rolled hems. In fact, I've knit about everything but a car cozy. Oh, and a double-knit headband. I missed that one, too. I love classes, with other knitters that have been doing neat things I've never seen. Firstly, I learned how to do a provisional cast-on. I've read about them, understood them, even tried them once or twice. But I really learned how to do them yesterday, and even though my hand was bent funny afterwards, and I might have had to tug at some split yarn a couple of times, I learned it. Never again do I have to think my way around that part of a pattern.

The double knitting, however, that was the trick. You do two separate skeins of yarn, two separate needles, after the provisional cast-on. Then you knit one stitch from one needle with one color, then purl one stitch from the next needle with the other color, then back and forth until all of your stitches are on one needle, but you have twice as many as usual. Then you continue back and forth, knitting and purling, from one skein to another every other stitch, around and around. It takes forever. If you're brave and not ascared of tinking, you can throw a pattern in there. See?


When you're done with the whole kit and caboodle, you separate them back onto two needles, and kitchener them closed. I'm not ascared of the kitchener, either, but that's going to be a lot of weaving. Still, you end up with a twice-as-thick knitted garment, and it's really neat. I know it has an element of magic, because I keep stopping and feeling it, seeing that the two sides are separate, even though they look like they should be intermingled. Very cool. And even though it will take forever, I want to make my daughter a hat like this. All last winter, she wore two hats, one on top of the other, so we're either to the felted garment point, or double-knits for her chilly little head. The temperature is down to single digits right now, completely different from two weeks ago and the springlike rain, and it's bitterly cold outside. This is the ideal knitting inspiration.

I spent all week putting off projects, waiting for the yarn to arrive for the husband's sweater. Then, at the last minute, I caved. I cast on for felted mittens, inspired by the Noro pair I made for my friend, RikiTiki. I want warm hands, too! Then I started the double-knitted headband, and of course, that's the day the yarn arrives. The manly blue color is inappropriately named Sapphire Heather. I have to say "inappropriately," because my husband says he can't tell all the boys the name. It's just "dark blue." Still, it's calling to me, and I have to finish at least the headband first. I don't mind having lots of projects on the needles, but it's hard to complain about the mess laying around the house when so much of it is mine.

So while I keep on with my inner magician, here's a picture of the "dark blue" yarn, waiting to be made into this. Happy knitting your own selves, and for goodness' sake, put on a hat before you step outside. Brr!

A Fuzzy Winner

Thanks, everyone, for your New Year's Resolutions on the blog. I left my camera outside for the night, so it was cold and frosty when my husband brought it in. We didn't realize that it's like you're wearing glasses, and come inside. They fog right up. So the pictures are foggy, but this is my niece, who spent the night, drawing the name from the many commenters.


Lovely, sleepy looking fuzzy picture. You can still tell I'm not wearing makeup, dangit. Niece looks good, though. And here she's drawn the name!


What? You can't read it? Heehee. Sorry about that. The name is CarrieK, from My Middle Name is Patience. Her resolution was to get a start on Christmas, starting now. Well, this will help! Two skeins of Christmas-y, self-striping cotton yarn. When you knit it up, it looks like this:


Ah, a clear picture =) Congrats, CarrieK, and thanks for being such a good reader and commenter. We get commenting threads going back and forth and have a whole conversation. I love it. All of the other resolutions are quite enjoyable to read, also, if you have a moment.

Now, for a funny knitting picture. I'm felting a pair of mittens for my friend and commenter, RikiTiki. When I get done, she's going to cut my hair, which it badly needs. This was knit from Noro Kureyon, color 102 Y. Look how big it is! I've got to get my mom to felt them down to the appropriate size, but with the necessary felting, these should be really warm. Your hands actually sweat in these felted mittens. The pattern is from this book, and it's easy and fun. These mittens spring from the needles with hardly any effort at all, which is fun.

Mission Possible 2008

Ooo, a knitalong! I do love a good knitalong. I can really get behind this one, too. You knit from your stash, one project a month, for the year. I can do that. Heyyyy, I've already done that! Do my daughter's hat and mittens count as one project or two? Probably one, unless I get desperate at the end. So, one down! My stash isn't huge, believe it or not. Something about a one-income house, five people.... it kinda makes me control myself, or they'd wonder why we were eating so much pasta while Mom's knitting away. =)

Actually, I think I've dodged the Kauni cardigan for now. My husband agreed that this was a beautiful sweater, from Knitting Daily. I just don't feel up to stranded knitting right now, but there's a lot going on with this solid color sweater. I'm ordering a deep blue yarn that may or may not remind him of the sea, but he likes anything he can relate to the earth, colorwise. Browns, tans, creams, greens - and he decided, since I wanted to knit a blue sweater, he could include the blue of water. So yay for knitting a new project! I'll still be knitting and spinning while I'm waiting for the yarn to arrive, but it will just be for-the-duration knitting, until my winter project arrives. I'm very much anticipating this one.

Oh, and two more days to leave your post for the Resolutions contest. Any old resolution will do, and I'll have whatever kid is sweetest to me that day draw a name from a hat and send the recipient some yarn! WooHoo!

First FO of 2008!

My daughters had a sleepover over the Christmas holidays, just to break up the - well, the boredom, at the end there. I think it's because the first part of break is filled with visiting and wrapping, then opening and eating and playing... then the next week, after New Year's, there's so little to do. Mom wants to rest, but the kids are circling like vultures, looking for something to pick over. So we had a sleepover, lots of girls - seven, including mine. That's only four girls invited over, but all in all, it felt like a lot of girls. I told them with seven girls in one place, we ought to be able to change the world. All we needed was a lever... Anyhoo, my husband and I thought we'd back carefully out of the room when they started watching movies (Aquamarine was one, and that is the most preteen, hair-flipping movie I have ever had the pleasure...). After all, kids at slumber parties should get a little space to play truth or dare and giggle over cute boys, agonize over Hannah Montana or Miley, et cetera.

I should be honest here. We had a child monitor placed in the hallway. Shhhh.

But I was very pleased and surprised when they asked me to come down and watch Indian in the Cupboard with them. I mean, I guess nine years old is a pretty good age, when it's still cool to have your mom in the room. But since the holidays were over, I was without knitting, so I grabbed a random ball of wool and made some mittens. The ball of wool I grabbed happened to be orange, but it was just an extra pair of mittens, possibly to be given to the school. If they were warm, the odd color didn't matter, really. (Can you tell I'm not into orange so much?) But when I got them done the next day, my youngest loved them. "They don't have bumps inside," says she. The decreases in mittens drive her crazy - because, you know, I needed another obsessive personality in the house. Don't you hate it when you rub off on your kids?

So I couldn't just let orange mittens happen. They have to have a hat. (Oh, OCD, you are a friend of mine) So the next night, I cast on for an earflap hat from this book, wool stripes this time, to cuten things up. "Cuten" may not be a word. And the next morning - voila! All patterns should go so quickly. It might have been the stripes, but I finished it fast, stuck it on her little head, and let her pose. Sorry about the not so perfect picture, but posing meant laying on the bed, pretending to be asleep. My kids seem to love this pose more than any other.


See?


How cute is that kid and her bunny??? And here's a pic of what he's given us, which I now have no idea what to do with.


Neat, ay? Other than thrummed mittens, though, which are great, I'm not sure what else to do with the wool. I don't have any carders to mix it in with another wool, so I'm just saving it, until I learn more. I'm sure I'll be glad that I did. It is really the softest stuff. However, as soon as Dot (the bunny) saw the wool, he started crawling all over it. I don't know exactly what he was thinking, but it may have been amorousness. (I'm really making up the words today!) See all the hands holding him back? So we scooped him up quick and put the wool away. Funny how picture ideas don't always go the way you think, isn't it?

Final pictures, and I'll let you go! I'm spinning up some sock yarn, and had to show the progress. I think this is just so pretty. The wool is from Copperpot Woolies", 70% merino, 30% viscose, 4 ounzes, colorway 46. I've been wanting to make sock yarn for awhile, and I can't wait to see how much I end up with. By the by, the artwork for the backgrounds of these photos was done by my bunny-hugging middle child. Jackson Pollack, watch out!




A quick aside - Don't forget to leave your New Year's Resolution in the comments of this entry. I'll do a drawing this Sunday and send the winner some Christmas colored dishcloth yarn, to get an early jump on next year's holidays!

As I stumble to the blog...

New Year's kicked my keister, folks! Too much partying, WAY too much. Speaking of too much, I'm realizing I'm overextended over here. With the New Year, I'm realizing all of the things that I juggle. I have Sunday School to teach (that's fun), and a home business (needs me more), teaching drama to our elementary school (way fun), being a mom (wheee!) and -- well, gosh, now that I look at it, that's not that bad. Surely I'm forgetting something, because I seem to be busy all the time, but scattered, scattered. So my New Year's Resolution is to take up Yoga, and I'm surely not the only one. When I was buying supplies at Borders (where so many good things come from), the salesman said, "What's up with the yoga sales today? Everyone is buying it." So there. Everyone is doing it, and I am, too. Do you know how rarely I'm doing what everyone else is doing??? Yes, mom, if everyone was jumping off a cliff, I'd be standing in line.... heh heh.

No, really, I'm excited about the yoga. I'm looking forward to getting more organized (heehee), since I really want to be that person that has got it all together. It's funny, though. The first afternoon the kids and I did yoga, we fell asleep on the floor. All of us. After the meditation, which I may not have been doing right, since I fell asleep. I find this all kinds of funny.

So someone else is probably doing this - I haven't been able to read any blogs since I've spent days sick from alcohol poisoning. But leave your New Year's resolutions in the comments, just for fun, ay? Don't type anything too embarrassing, because I'm going to do a random drawing in a week and give away some Christmas-y self-striping dishcloth yarn, in the hopes that someone else will get a jump on the holidays next year! And I'll post the winning comment/resolution up on the blog on the 13th. Happy New Year's!

Happy Moments

I have a moment to share again - I was at a party over the holidays, and wearing a white sweater, dressy pants - just the right look for a casual party, you know? And I'm chatting away with a woman, and go to refill my glass of wine. The wine comes in a box, which I don't mind, and I'm not too proud to type that I drink boxed wine if that's what's tapped. I am, however, too stupid to figure out how to work one of these things. I twisted the tap part a bit, but that didn't work. Then I pressed on this little button on it, and red wine shot out of the spout, straight up into the sleeve of my sweater. My first thought - check to see if it got on the white carpeting. No? Excellent. Next check - did the lady I was talking to notice? No. How could she? It was only a glob of red wine up my white sweater, which I had to swab with a napkin up my sleeve. Very weird. She didn't say a thing, and in fact, we kept talking about our educational system here in Michigan. When I was young and figuring the world out, this was one of those things I decided showed a lot of class. If no one drew attention to the fact that I just dropped a crab claw, shot a cherry tomato off my plate while trying to cut it (to look classy, you know), or sprayed wine up my sleeve, those people are pretty cool. I am always glad to find myself at that kind of party.

Here's my second happy moment - I took that sweater out of the washer this morning, days after the event, and the wine came out! Huzzah! I have no idea why that even happened, but it made me smile.

Since the big holiday, and the pressure of the holiday knitting, is past, I've been spinning. I took a couple of ounces of Corriedale wool with sparkle, from Black Cat Handspun, to the in-laws and spun on the spindle. They love to watch this, and never fail to tell me how clever I am. That came out to 46 yards of two-ply, heavy worsted weight. I also washed up the Llama Llama Duck 4 oz. batt from Black Cat, as well. Remember how stressed I was, and I kept smelling this wool, trying to get relaxed with sheep smell? Well, I wanted it in a scarf, so I could bury my face in it in future stressful moments. I've washed the yarn, of course, but I now have the memory of it making me feel better, so it's special. It came out to 144 yards of thick and thin single-ply. Chunks of locks are in the yarn, and I love that. I washed both skeins in the tub, then snapped them sharply to get the extra water out, and laid them flat. I didn't weight them to dry this time, so I'm curious as to the difference that will make when I knit them. I'm trying to think of how I'll wash my handknits, and if the yarn that is weighted to dry will draw up when it is washed. I'll let you know.





For Christmas, I gave my mom a pair of thrummed mittens, which I somehow can't find the picture of. But it was a close thing that she even got them, because I loved these. I'll definitely be making myself a pair, but my daughters are claiming their pairs first. Never an end to the knitting list! In return, she gave me a lovely pair of handknit socks. Ah, gifts amongst knitters. It's a wonderful thing.



She also knit my daughters, nieces and nephew all sweaters. November and December had her very, very busy! I wish I had pictures of those, but I don't. I'll try to get them. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

A Soon-to-be Merry Christmas to you!

It's 10:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and this is where I am at on my daughter's socks:



Am I stressed? No, and that's for several reasons. The first is that, when you live in a state of high stress, eventually its effect wears off. My body no longer wants to be stressed, so I seem to have become immune. Yay! I am also not stressed because the daughter that is to receive these socks loves handmade things in the disproportionate way that we wish every recipient loved our stuff. I will tell her that I was unable to finish the socks because I have to measure to her foot, and all will be good. I'm also going to knit a bit more, but not much.

Otherwise, the stockings are hung by the quilt rack with care, and I'll be heading to bed soon so I don't hold St. Nick up. From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

If you're a country bumpkin, sorry.

Yay, we're getting close to deadline! I've got some great pics of the Xmas presents, but of course it's all stealth knitting, as I'm sure many people's are. We'll all be posting a lot after the 25th, won't we? But I'm doing well, only one gift to finish, and if I put a movie in tonight, it will all be good, babee. I'll be sure to get it done.

I have to share this story. I was at a Christmas party, sitting across from a very nice gentleman and his wife. We were discussing where they were from, making nice chitchat. And I said, "Oh, I believe there was a sheep and fiber festival this summer in your town. I missed it, though, and I was really sad." The wife sat up straight and said, "Oh, no, we didn't. There are way too many rich people from that area. There is no way there was a sheep and fiber festival." Heavy pause. I was trying to think of some way to nicely contradict her, in that there certainly was a festival, and people with lots of money were helpful at these things. That's when she waived her hand in front of her face and said, "If you're a country bumpkin, sorry."

Ahem.

Well, while I may indeed be a country bumpkin, I have in the past been a court reporter, legal assistant, manager at a document and film storage facility, et cetera, et cetera. I am now a country mother of three, grooving on getting back to nature and being kind to the planet. Every one of these things are important in their way, but I believe I am doing my most important work so far right now. And she waved me away. Well, what would you have done? I admit, my first instinct was to straighten her out. (At least her husband looked embarrassed, having cottoned on to the fact that I wouldn't have brought up a sheep and fiber festival if it wasn't something that interested me.) My second instinct, close behind the first, was to just freeze her out, making pointed conversation with everyone around her, as I'm not naturally a confrontational person. But really, it was the office Christmas party, so I smiled and asked about her children. Now, I'm not one to point out when karma owes me one, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to win on a lottery ticket or something for looking the other way on that one. Plus also, she hasn't felt my thrummed mittens. I should carry a set to pull out and show people who think knitting is for rubes. I am completely hooked on making these, and every single person who has tried one on sighs. Oh, yeah. They are so soft and squishy, they should have the power to enlighten the high-minded but socially challenged.

A picture for the knitting minded: I knit garland a few years ago from silver eyelash yarn, while watching The Wizard of Oz. Well, it took more than a couple of nights, but that's what I remember most, knitting cording while watching Dorothy. Pretty, no?

One more holiday event, down.

It is an unfortunate truth that events that take weeks and months to prepare for can be over in a couple of hours. It happens to parties, birthing babies and, sadly, drama club productions. We had our Christmas program yesterday, and the kids got to perform three times, which was a happy thing. At least it wasn't just once, with all that preparation! The last few weeks before a performance, things aren't very joyful at drama club. I mean, we try to make it fun, but we really have to crack down on kids learning their lines. And it always happens that they do learn their lines in time, and it all works out great. And they are so excited and pleased to have been on stage, and performing with the lights and attention on them, and they are excited to do the next production. I swear, the week before, they would pass by me with nary a glance, they're so disgruntled with the hard work or the guilt, but after a production, I get the hugs! =) Very fun stuff. But it is over, and after Christmas break, we need to think about a spring production. But first a pizza party, and a chance to pat each other on the back. Whew! It's over.

I am WAY behind on my knitting. I've slashed my list of projects, so that many people are getting jam baskets or coffee baskets, instead, and I still have a scarf to finish, a pair of mittens and a pair of socks. However, here are a couple of dishcloths that I've knitted for my gram, who wants to gift them to her friend back home. It was such a compliment that she asked me to knit them, that I had to do it, even if it means giving a gift on the needles in two weeks. But I can finish, right? Sure, sure. I can still do it.

Ode to the Webkinz

o, little Webkinz,
so sweet and squeezably soft,
When I found you in a Unicorn,
I didn't hold you aloft,
but tucked you surreptitiously
between my coat and purse,
Happily, gratifyingly
grateful I found you first.

Because I just passed by a lady,
walking really fast,
Hoping to find a Uni,
with a GPS and a map.

I won't tell anyone
about the score that I just found.
Someone might grab you from me
and trample me to the ground.

So I'll pay and take you home with me,
my sweet little pink amore,
I'll say I got you on the Internet,
not the last one in the store.

Busy, busy!

It has been a very, very frustrating couple of weeks. I feel like I've done nothing to refresh my soul, and it's all work, work, work around here. I try to remind myself of all the times I'm very happy, and that all things pass. There are happy times, there are frustrating times. But I don't think any of us refresh our souls like we ought to, or our parents wish we would. Don't you think that's true? I hope my children grow up, do their jobs, then come home and paint, or laugh at sitcoms, or go out and dance until they're sweaty. There should be some roundness with our days. Instead, when my 3-year-old wakes me up at 4:00 a.m., all I think is, "Oh, good. There's an extra hour and a half that I can get things done this morning." Bah, humbug. lol - I think that just put me in a better mood. hehe. I'm not really a "Bah, humbug" kind of girl, and now I'm smiling that I even typed it.

I've been working on a scarf with yarn my daughter picked out at our LYS. The last three days, all I'm thinking is, "Man, this is NOT pretty. I don't like this weird beige they threw in here." So I pulled it out to show at my knitting group this morning, and in the bright sun of the room, looking at it with my friends, I realize it's doing this:


Do you see? Yes, it's blurry, but see the argyle effect going on? What a happy discovery! It's criss-crossing with the beige and the blue and all. I like it! I can't even tell you what the name of this yarn is, since I didn't bother to keep the ball band. And I think I must be feeling especially curmudgeonish to knit for three days and not step back and look at what I'm knitting. However, I shall be going back and getting another skein for a scarf for myself. (This one's a gift) Isn't it neat how this argyle pattern works without my knowing anything about it, doing anything special, casting on anyone's suggested amount of stitches? I think that's pretty cool. And my, that beige shows up nicely.

Sock Reality

I suppose it had to happen. It's happened to knitters all the world over. They've even talked about it, in front of me, but I've managed to block the reality of what they were saying. Until Wednesday, when I was sitting with my family, watching The Sopranos. (The kids were in bed, of course) I looked down, and - wah! A sock had actually gotten worn through! I'm so sad. And yet, it speaks a lot to the way blogland has changed me that I grabbed my camera and took a picture.



I've been knitting and wearing my own socks for a bit of time now, certainly over a year since I started seriously wearing only handknitted socks, and this is the first pair I've worn through. When I went to get dressed this morning, I looked at my socks very carefully, trying to decide which pair I could next spare to lose. Rats. Well, at least I have a reason to cast on again! Haha on me, when I wrote that I had enough socks.

And I've also decided that I don't like being caught up on my Bloglines. Now I'm reading your blogrolls, finding new bloggers through your comments. But that's okay, because I'm sitting at the computer knitting, anyway, and it IS fun to check out new blogs. I'm working on the felted mittens next, and hopefully buying more yarn later today. I love Christmas knitting, where I don't have to feel guilty about buying yarn! WoooT!

And because sometimes you're just too tired to take your coat off...

Stress Management

When I retire, my day will go thusly: Get up at 9:00 a.m., make coffee. Mill around and listen to coffee perk, grab a cup and sit down to read email. First, delete all spam, then read six relevant emails I've received since yesterday. Laugh at jokes, move on to Bloglines, laugh some more, commiserate a little, and think how I should be knitting more. Then get up and make brunch, think about shopping or calling a friend, then sit and read for a bit. Mmmmm. By evening, be ready for witty conversation and a glass of wine, and some knitting. On Saturdays, I'll go for a walk in the morning, just as a nod at healthy living. Until then, I have to keep plugging along at my life, which is pretty much exactly opposite from my retirement scenario. I did, however, get some knitting done last night.

And here I will say that everyone has their own method for dealing with stress. I bet, if I sat and thought about how I dealt with the prospect of running out of yarn mid-project, I'd get a pretty good insight into my own stress management. I'm not doing that, though. I might not like it. But with the boot socks for the father-in-law, I had to worry about running out of the cream color, and when I was last at the yarn store, there was only one skein left. I ordered blue yarn there weeks ago, and it's still not in, so I didn't want to have to wait for more yarn. This, by the way, is Lamb's Pride wool, superwash, one grey and one cream. So about a third of the way through the second sock, I couldn't take it anymore, and I put the cream skein in a bag. Then I knitted and knitted and didn't let myself look into the bag to see what I had left. This way, if I ran out, at least I didn't have to experience the stress of watching myself run out. It could be a surprise, and whoops! I'm out. Rats. But no advance stress, see?

But actually, instead of killing stress, I was just living with the hum of nervousness that I'm going to run out, so I knit faster and faster. I didn't put that sock down until - voila! A second sock! And a bit of yarn to spare, thanks very much to the knitting gods. I believe I may even get a small hat out of the leftovers, if I combine the two. Huzzah!


I've also finished a bit of stealth knitting, which took all morning, but - nyah nyah - I'm caught up on my blog reading! Again Huzzah! I know it won't last, but I'm dancing in the kitchen. I finished reading my bloglines list! Yes!