Why I shouldn’t be allowed to play with scissors!

I have had a busy day today. I decided to go to the thrift store this morning to look for sheets. I saw a really cute skirt tutorial where the skirt is made from a sheet. The biggest bonus…no hemming!  I knew I had to make this skirt.  I managed to find two sheets. One is a blue floral. The other is a yellow and white check.  It already had a ruffle on it!  I knew it would make a really cute skirt.

When I got home, my 2-at-a-Time Socks book was in the mail.  I quickly read it. I then printed out the Judy’s Magic Cast on Tutorial.  I cast on immediately.  I had decided to take the Panopticon yarn from the failed Monkeymen and do a toe up 3×1 rib sock for DH.  Right now, I am about halfway done with the toe increases. This method is really clever. I also like that both socks will be done at the same time. I don’t mind the second sock when I am making socks for me, but a second sock for DH is too much!  I do think that I will still use DPNs in the future, but I also love this method.  I will post a picture later. I just couldn’t get a good one today!

After the boys went to bed, I got to work on my skirt.  I was just finishing the waist elastic, when I cut my finger. It is a pretty deep cut.  I was cutting through the elastic when the tips of my scissors caught my index finger on my left hand. I managed not to bleed on my project (only my white carpet suffered). After performing the necessary first aid, I finished the skirt.  It is so cute! I can’t wait to wear it (of course, I will need a white slip before I can, but that is a problem for another day).  After I cut my finger, DH took the scissors and told me that I couldn’t sew anymore tonight.  I picked up my knitting, but am finding that holding the yarn is a bit strange.  I may just read for a while.   I am still proud of how much I have managed to get done today.  I also think that I will be able to get a blouse out of the rest of the sheet (and probably some sleep shorts for the boys).

Besides all the crafty stuff, I have been learning my new phone too.  I got an HTC Touch Pro. I love it.  I can check my email, Twitter, keep track of all my contacts, keep track of my calendar, and play games (all from anywhere…even court).  There is a lot the phone can do that I haven’t figured out yet, but I am getting there!

One last thing, I realize that the last post seemed a bit scattered. I was going to go back and fix it, but decided against it.  LB had been having some health issues.  He had toxic synovitis (an inflamation in his hips following a viral infection). He has been in a lot of pain.  On Monday night (when I wrote the post), he was supposed to be sleeping. The pain was keeping him awake. He was crying every few minutes. It made it a bit hard to concentrate.  I ended up taking him to the doctor on Tuesday, where he had x-rays and blood work.   He is doing better now, although he still has times when he is pretty sore. They say that it will last for up to two weeks and will return anytime that he gets a viral infection in the future. It is pretty yucky stuff.

 

Catching up and the Great Garter stitch Glut

CB has been climbing… a lot. The other day, he climbed up to my laptop (it was on a desk…I had pulled the chair away from the desk, but he found another chair to drag over there). He popped most of the keys off of the keyboard. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, excpet that some will not pop back on.  On the back of the keys are really tiny (very flimsy) plastic pieces.  Unfortunately, the broken keys are R and K.  Two keys that I use a lot. I have not been able to post. I am posting from work (on my first light day in over two weeks). The good news is that I am getting a new keyboard and my lack of internet connection has allowed me to get lots of knitting done!

I knit two things for my Reducio Swap pal.  One of those things is a mini Ravenclaw sock (it looks just like the others that I have knit).  The other is the leaf bookmark!  It came out great. This appears to have started the garter stitch glut that I have been on lately. The leaf was super easy. I just made the I-cord long (to be a bookmark) and followed the Mountain Laurel Leaf pattern on Ravelry.

Then I decided to make booties for a friend at church who is having a baby.  I took a long time to decide on these. They don’t know if they are having a boy or a girl, so whatever I make has to be gender neutral.  I thought about trying another bootie pattern, but ultimately decided to make more Saartje’s booties. They are just too cute. To make them gender neutral, I decided they needed to look like frogs.  I used some of my Sunshine Yarns mini-skeins (I think this one is Algae).  I found some cute jet buttons (I looked for googly eye buttons, but didn’t find any small enough).  I really like how they came out. DH says they are still girly, but I think a baby boy could wear them.

Next I did another pair of Saartje booties. A girl from church asked if I could make a pair for a friend. They went to UM. That is my alma mater, so I felt like it would be fun.  I told her I would make these, but if she wanted more than I would teach her to knit!  These are made with random white acrylic yarn and Knit Picks Essential in Pine. The buttons were yellow, but I used some permanent stamping ink to make them a bit more orange.  They also came out cute.

Besides garter stitch booties, I have also made a lot of progress on my garter stitch Shawl that Jazz!  I love how this is turning out. The colors are amazing. I am still in awe of the cleverness of the design as well. It is knitting up so beautifully. My only (very small) complaint is that the yarn still smells like vinegar!  As I was knitting away, I had the sudden feeling my stitch count was off. I realized that I cast on 10 stitches too few.  I decided just to let it go. I was going to try to add them in, but I was worried about how it would affect the shape. I thought about ripping back, but decided that I was too far into it (I had about 3 inches done).  I think it will be plenty big despite the mistake.

Besides all the knitting I have done, I have also gotten some great mail.  First, I got my Loopy Ewe Sock Club package!  It has a great tote, a pen, candy, a beautiful pattern, and really gorgeous yarn!  It is called Luster Sox by Dye Dreams!  I love the greens. This yarn is so soft and has a sheen that pictures can’t do justice!

I also got my Reducio package from my pal. It has a mini-sock, a bookmark for wand tree identification, a journal, chocolate, Soak, two mini skeins (one Ron colorway and one hand dyed by my pal), and some tea.  My pal is so wonderful!  I can’t wait for the mini-skeins to join my blankie!

 

Random things on my mind

I haven’t been posting a lot, but I have had a lot I have thought about posting.  Here are just a few things that I have been doing and have been on my mind.

1. I did the third January square. I am on target with my Christmas knitting right now. I have been thinking a lot about my next scarf project, but I want to finish my shawl first.

2. I am on the 13th pattern repeat of my shawl. I was almost done with the repeat when I dropped a stitch. I really couldn’t see where it was dropped. I just knew I was missing one. I ended up having to pull back to my lifeline (inserted at the beginning of the pattern repeat). I am so happy I am using lifelines!! I  am still trying to decide if I am going to do 15 pattern repeats or more.  I can’t tell how big the shawl will be when it is blocked.  I may do 20. I don’t think I could make it too big, but I would hate to make it too small!

3. At Christmastime, we tried LB on dairy again.  He didn’t react.  We then had CB tested for allergies. We learned that he had also outgrown his dairy allergy. Right now, we are dietary restriction free! It is such a wonderful feeling not to have to worry about labels and monitor food all the time.  Unfortunately, LB doesn’t like most dairy items.  He went for four years without them. He just never developed a taste for them.  We are working on getting him to eat more dairy.  CB, on the other hand, has started gaining and growing like crazy now that he can eat dairy (and drink milk).

4. I have been a single mom this week. DH was in Orlando all week. I don’t know how single moms do it!  My kids slept terribly all week. I am so exhausted!  DH is going to take them for some time on Saturday so that I can catch up on sleep!!

5. CB is teething. He also has a yeast rash on his little bum (due to teething). He is a cranky baby!  He has also started biting.  He would be a holy terror if not for being such a cuddle bug!  I can’t wait for this stage to pass, but I hope the need for hugs and kisses doesn’t go with it. He is too cute when he is soooo cuddly.

6. I started Weight Watchers in January. I weighed the same as I did when I delivered CB (which is way more than is healthy).  Since then I have lost 15 lbs. I am now at my pre-CB weight and in my pre-CB pants.  I have a long way to go, but I am definitely happy. My reward…maybe some Malabrigo. I am heading to Hanks on Saturday!

7. Paperback Swap: It is a website where you can exchange paperbacks with people all over the US.  You post your books. People request them. For every book you send, you get a credit that you can use to request books from others. I have a ton of paperbacks and love to read. I love this site!

8.  I listen to podcasts all the time. One of these days, I am going to list all the podcasts that I listen to with a brief “why I like it” blurb.  Keep an eye on the Pages for that list!

9. My new church. We started going to a new church in June. We feel so loved and accepted there! I absolutely love it. I am the Kids program director. The pastor and his wife are our age (early 30s). They have two girls very close in age to our kids (5 and 3).  We feel very loved and supported there.

10. I am getting something new tonight!  I will post about it tomorrow, but I am super excited.  It is not yarn related.  Can you guess?

 

A little of this and that

This is sort of a catch up post. I have had a lot of things on my mind and have done a lot of things, but haven’t had time to post it all. I am just going to put it all in one post.

1. The Sock-it-to-me scarf for my niece is completed. This will be a Christmas present and has gone into the Christmas Present Box.  I got the yarn (Trekking XXL) in a swap. It is not exactly my kind of colorway, but it is perfect for my niece. She is going to go crazy over the scarf!  The yarn was scratchy to knit with, but it softened nicely after blocking.  The pattern is a really easy pattern (from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders). The only thing that I don’t like is that you kitchener the two pieces together. I love doing kitchener stitch. That isn’t the problem. I just don’t like how it looks with this patterned yarn.  I think I should have gone a little farther into the yarn to a solid color. I might have liked it a bit better.

2. DH’s Panopticon Monkeymen socks are coming along.  The pattern is so similar to the Monkey socks, that I had it totally memorized before I finished the first repeat (I am doing the version with purls).  The only difference is yarn overs are replaced by make ones.  I really love the colorway too! It is amazing. The striping is my favorite part. The photo was taken indoors with no flash, so it is blurry.  That is what happens when it gets cold and rainy here…no outdoor photos.  Despite the really bad photo, you can see the cool stripe effect!  The Lorna’s is so soft too.  I really, really love this yarn.  By the way, these socks are knitting up super fast despite being really big!  DH will never get plain, vanilla socks again. Patterned socks are so much more fun and so much quicker!

3. I got to go on a Girl’s Night Out this weekend!!  I went to a bridal shower. Afterwards, several of the girls were going to the movies.  I haven’t seen a movie in a theater since LB was 2 months old. I haven’t been on a girl’s night out since law school (at least 6 1/2 years ago).  I had a blast. We saw Bride Wars.  It was cute.  The best part was hanging out with some girl friends.  I really, really need to do more of that. I have been fairly isolated since moving here after law school. All of my friends have been male or “work friends”.  I didn’t realize how much I missed having girl friends until recently.

4. It is cold.  Admittedly, not the kind of cold that I experienced growing up in Wyoming.  That kind of cold is intolerable!  However, it is cold for Florida.  There was frost on the ground this morning.  Things were frozen (fortunately not our pipes as we ran a tiny bit of water last night).  I hate cold.  That is why I moved to Florida!  I miss it at Christmas time. This weather would have been welcome then (instead it was 80 degrees on Christmas day). I am seriously thinking I need a scarf and some mittens, but I want them now.  Unfortunately, by the time they would be knit, I wouldn’t need them. I am putting knitting a scarf and mittens (or maybe some handwarmers) on my calendar this fall so that I will have them for the next time it gets cold.  Today, I am wearing my first monkey socks.  They are warm. I am sure it is a horrible fashion faux pas as they don’t really match what I am wearing, but I don’t care.  I wanted warm feet. Only handknit wool socks will do when it is cold!

5. My shawl is coming along (although I don’t have new pictures). I finished another repeat last night (7 repeats are done).  The pattern calls for 10, but I am thinking I may want around 15 repeats.  It is so wonderful to work with. The silk content makes the yarn so soft!  The only thing I wish is that my needles were sharper (I am dying for the Harmony options).

6. I am not going to talk about yesterday, other than to say that it was a really terrible day in court.  I really dislike being in front of a certain judge.  Court drags and this judge treats me very badly.  I had court with that judge yesterday.  It sucked.  I couldn’t wait to get home and knit. I handle stress so much better with knitting.  I think I am going to claim a medical necessity and ask to knit in court. If all else fails, I could stab myself in the eye with my needle to make the day less painful (just kidding…although I really think that might be less painful sometimes).

 

You made it!!

Yay, you made it to the new blog!  Make sure you update your feed reader of choice. If you notice anything that doesn’t look right, please let me know. I will be making changes to some of the layout soon.

Some things that have changed…I have a list of my FOs and links to all my Secret Pal 12 related posts in “pages” now.  I hope that commenting will be easier!

 

Random Catchup Stuff and SP QOTW

1. Thank you to everyone who contacted me about my grandfather. For some reason, the blog wasn’t allowing comments. I got so many messages on Ravelry when I logged it. It was so nice to hear from all of you! Thank you so much to everyone who sent me their thoughts and e-hugs. They were needed and really did help. My grandfather did pass away on Tuesday. I will post about it when I have some time to gather my thoughts in a coherent manner.
2. We had a great couple of days in Orlando. We nearly got struck by lightening, saw Sea World and Animal Kingdom, stayed in a Disney Resort, swam a ton, and got some knitting in. I will also post a lot more about it (including some pictures) when I can sit down and really do a good job on it! Despite having our new air card, we did not have internet connectivity! Turns out that the resort is built in such a way that there are no cell phone signals in the room. We had to go out to the hallway to talk on the phone. I didn’t want to sit with my laptop in the hallway (no chairs).
3. The SP12 Question of the Week is: What is your favorite summertime drink?? I almost always drink Diet Mt. Dew. I am terrible about drinking way, way too much soda. I am trying to drink more water, but have been bad about it. I try not to drink bottled water because of the waste from the plastic bottles. I need to start carrying water with me. No good excuse why I don’t. I keep saying I am looking for the perfect bottle. I should probably just buy one and get it over with.
4. I finished DH’s big socks (finally)! I knit a bit on them poolside and while LB played on the playground. They are in the wash. I will get pictures and do a proper post tomorrow.

OK, so this post was mostly a promise for more posts later…I realize that!

 

A Comment about Comments

In the next day or so, I am going to be changing how comments are managed on this blog. I have been using Blogger’s comments, but I am getting very frustrated with it. Several of you have left lovely comments, but I cannot respond to them (by email or by locating a blog). For example, Deborah has left nice comments, but I can’t send an email or click on her name to find her blog. I read several blogs by Deborahs, I know several Deborahs on Ravelry, and I even know a few in person. I would like to respond to those nice comments either by email or on her blog, but I can’t through Blogger! Very frustrating. By the way, Deborah…thank you for the lovely comments!

As a result, I am switching to Haloscan for comments. I am not sure if the transition will be smooth or not. Please bear with me. Also, let me know if you notice anything wonky so that I can get it fixed!

Editted to add: I know that all the old comments appear to have disappeared (that is kind of a funny sentence). I am trying to get the old comments imported to the new system. It may take me a bit. Let me know if there are problems leaving new comments or if there are any issues with viewing, etc.