Knitting & fever

Not to be confused with Knitting Fever, but knitting with a fever. Apparently I don't knit well while sick. I think it is the fever, I'm restless & want to do something, but once I'm trying to concentrate on a task, I just can't do it. Lame. My youngest got sick last Friday with a fever and congestion, my concern was that it was the 5-Day Fever virus (congestion, headaches, spiking fever for 5 days). Saturday, I was sick and confirmed the virus. Interesting thing with 4 year olds, even while running a 102 fever, they will still proclaim themselves to be "just fine" and "not sick". Even as they cough their blessed little heads off and struggle to breathe through their blocked sinuses, they are not sick. Really. Hmmm. If only the germs didn't spread anyway.

So, Now here I am home with the 4 year old, I guess she's on day 4 now, and I'm on day 3. I was feeling pretty cocky yesterday. I believe my exact words were: "This isn't so bad, I'm not really having the bad headaches and the fever has been pretty mild. If this is all it is, I"ll be fine and get some stuff done around the house." An hour later, the Virus Freight Train ran over me. Repeatedly. Headache - check. Fever that just won't go away - check. Congestion - check. Feeling pretty miserable - double check. That'll teach me to get all cocky about how I can handle the virus that is wiping out folks left and right up here. Really, why should I be different? Some nice hot TheraFlu got me off to a great start this morning, however, so right now I'm fine & wacked out on drugs. Better living through chemistry, that's what I'm talking about! I am glad, however, that my oldest and DH have not yet succumbed to this virus. I really hope they both manage to miss out on this opportunity. It hardly seems likely though, does it? Anyway, I'll live with the (probably misplaced) optimism that they are going to miss the virus.

Today is my oldest dd birthday, she is 7 years old today. I can hardly believe it. I also have to register my youngest for kindergarten today (if the drugs hold out, I'll get this done). I'm feeling pretty sad that I'm spending her birthday sick, but since we're not planning to do her birthday party until the 24th, I guess it is okay. I'm taking cupcakes to her school today and she is so excited, she could hardly sleep last night. She told me that when she woke up today her feet would grow (for her birthday). I have no idea where that came from, but okay. She is totally jazzed at being 7. This girl is a sweet, loving, thoughtful delight and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. Happy Birthday my Sweet Monkey!

Fiber news. Well, as I said above, I don't do well knitting while sick. I wonder if it is just me, or if this is true for others as well. It is a darned shame since I am losing some long hours of knitting time I normally don't have. Maybe as I lose the fever I will feel more like knitting. I keep trying, just in case. However, I did put my time to good use yesterday. I wound up some sock yarn and my youngest wanted to pose with it. The lighter pink yarn is Lisa Souza in Violet's Pink Ribbon colorway. The green yarn is Lisa Souza in Emerald City and the darker on is the Mountain Colors Barefoot in Obsidian that I bought a few weeks ago.

Here's another shot of the Mountain Barefoot. I'm having a hard time picking up the colors. Black, red and a bit of dark green.Well, later I might try some knitting, again and if that isn't working maybe some spinning. Mom's don't really get to rest and recover unless they are exceptionally ill (like when I had pneumonia last November). If I have to be up feeding and watering my youngest DD to keep her healthy, I might as well find something I can do so I don't feel like I'm wasting time being sick. Hmm. Why is it that I can't just be sick and take it easy? Ah well, there are quite a few books in my pile to read, that would be an excellent choice too. We'll see how it goes, eh?

Snow day & one project down

Last Wednesday it took me over 3 hours to make it home after work. This trip is usually (on a good day) between 40 minutes and 75 minutes long (Fridays always take longer). Fortunately for me, I had a big pile of podcasts on my Zune, and a full battery, so I was good to, um, sit. The reason? Well, we had a bit of snow.
The forecast said we had a pretty decent chance of snow on Thursday, but, well, we all know about weather forecasting, right? It started snowing some time in the afternoon, but I was unaware of it until I left work. There were a few scattered flakes in the downtown area, but no indication of what was waiting for me further north. When all was said and done, I made it home to about 4-5 inches of snow. I was just glad to make it home, past all of the folks who got stuck and ended up on the side of the road. Thursday morning looked like the picture and I think we had an easy 6+ inches of snow. The day was nice and sunny and warm, so the streets were clear by the evening, and the kids had a beautiful day in which to build a snowman army (scattered throughout the neighborhood). I got a day off. None of my coworkers live in an area that got snow, so it was just me. I love the weird wacky weather of Seattle!

I thought I'd get time for spinning and knitting. Um. No. It was a strange day off, & I was glad to have it, but I accomplished nothing & I can't really explain how that happened. Sad, really, but the kids had fun, DH worked from home and I think I spent my time feeding the 4 y.o. ALL DAY. (I have no idea where she puts it all!) The snow was pretty though.

This weekend I finally finished the Knucks!

I used the Rowan Felted Tweed in colorway 141 for these. I cannot tell you how delighted I am to have these little gems off of my needles! It isn't that they aren't a fun knit, because I really think they are, but this was the second pair in a row (in only slightly different colors) and I made some really stupid mistakes on this pair. I had the fingers all off, so I decided I'd just hem them up. That seems to have worked out, DH likes the way the edge looks much better with them turned under, and they are not too tight. So. He wore them to work today and practiced his flute with them last night. I'm just glad he likes them, he is wearing them and they are done.

My next project is... finishing the darned socks. (puns anyone?) No, really. I mean it this time. Well, I plan to finish the first sock and hope I'll be inspired enough to want to do the second sock as well. Once I switched to the two circ method, the sock went really quickly. I've just had to ignore it while I worked on gifts. Now that I'm done with gifts, well, anything that needed to be done now, I can take the time to work on things for me and, more importantly, things on my Stash List. So, I'll start up the socks and then make a decision about the sweater pattern for the blue Softwist yarn. If I manage to do this, I might just get the sweater done in time to wear it this year. Wow, what a concept. LOL

Book extravaganza

...or something like it. From time to time, my DH sends me a list of books that he wants but, for whatever reason, he is unable to order for himself. I'm not sure why this is, but perhaps he feels that since I do acqusitions at my library I can't wait to do them at home as well. Who knows? Anyway, This latest round of book orders pushed me over the edge a bit. I've been trying to avoid buying new yarn (yes, don't remind me about the Mountain Colors over the weekend), so I seem to need to buy books to compensate. I don't think I'm alone in this. Right? Three Elizabeth Zimmerman books later... when will I find time to read these?! Ack! I am comforted by the fact that these books are all staples for any knitting library (and they were used). They will be waiting when I am ready, I guess. That'll teach the man to leave me in charge of home book acquisitions. LOL

I found out yesterday that Jim Butcher will be coming to Seattle for a book signing on April 3. I am SO EXCITED! I met Jim and his lovely wife Shannon (a new author - romance) once before. They are very nice people. Jim writes fantasy/urban fantasy (depending upon the series) and is an awesome writer and a very nice guy. He also has had the good fortune to have his Dresden Files book series made into a TV series on the Sci-Fi channel. The TV series is based on the books, so it isn't a re-tread of every plot (not that I think that would be bad), and the episodes are well written and very, very good. I've been a happy camper the past few weeks watching my favorite characters come to life & having my uber-geeky fan moments. In fact, I've probably written about Jim before, but since I'm a fan, well, just give it up and read the books!

You can take the librarian out of the library... LOL Thus endeth the book pimping for today.

You scored as Albus Dumbledore. You are very wise, observant, and analyctical. You have a very "well-organized" mind, which makes you function in a calm and fair manner. Though you get angered easily, its rare of you to ever act our of temper. You are constantly seeing the good in people and are naturally forgiving because of it. You're easy to please and a great person to learn from. Luna Lovegood 78% Sirius Black 78% Albus Dumbledore 78% Ron Weasley 75% Hermione Granger 75% Harry Potter 72% Oliver Wood 66% Severus Snape 63% Bellatrix Lestrange 63% Neville Longbottom 63% Remus Lupin 53% Percy Weasley 47% Lord Voldemort 41% Draco Malfoy 19% Harry Potter Character Combatibility Test created with QuizFarm.com

Perfection & Stepford-ville

Yes. I had a whole 20 minutes with the house to myself yesterday. Wow! That was sweet! Everyone left the house to go get pizza and I was working away at some mindless task in the kitchen. I wandered off to pre-heat the oven and sat down to knit instead. There was a fire in the fireplace, it was raining outside, the cats were sleeping in their baskets and there was not a sound to be heard inside the house except for the clicking of my needles. I'm sure all of you have had those moments of pure bliss. You know, when you think "it doesn't get much more perfect than this, I'd better enjoy it while it lasts." Maybe that is what makes it perfect, the fact that it is rare and the knowledge that it won't last long. I'm good with that. I could have used more than 20 minutes of it, but more than an hour would have been too much for me with all the mom-guilt or stuff-needing-to-be-done guilt. Still, it was perfect.

I got the camera issue sorted. Or, I have a work-around sorted. Since my camera is older, they may never update the driver to make it compatable with the newest software, but at least I can still get to it. So now you can see the progress on the Knucks 2. DH has decided the fingers are a bit too long for his liking. I have to admit, they are too long. I don't want to rip the whole darned thing out though, I want them finished! So I'm thinking maybe I can just hem them? I just don't know what to do here. It was, perhaps in payment for the perfect knitting moment, a frustrating weekend in many fiber respects.

My balls o' yarn were falling apart, so I decided to wind them. My 4 y.o. decided to help me. We've done it before, it isn't that hard, right? Uh-huh. In her rush to help, she bent the metal yarn guide thingy on the winder. In my rush to fix it, I broke it off. Team effort, gotta love it! I tried winding a ball using my hand as a guide. Um, no. That didn't work so well, so I had to go get a new one. I called around and the only shop close to me that had one was a new LYS I hadn't been to yet. That should be cool, right? I haven't gone because I've been trying not to buy yarn and I don't like to go to new places and not buy stuff (especially if they are a small shop). Well, here was a legitimate need and I told myself I could have new yarn IF something really hit me over the head. (Like that would be hard).

Okay, so not only was this shop incredibly hard to find, it was in Stepford-ville. I rarely ever get lost, but I spent 25 minutes looking for this place. No joke. Okay, maybe I should have printed the directions before leaving the house, but I don't usually need to do that once I've looked at them. Okay, maybe I should have looked at them before I left the house instead of relying on a two week old memory of the directions, but still, I've done it before with no problems. At least I had my DH near the computer to look things up for me once I was well and truly flummoxed. Even so, I still missed the turn and had a slight anxiety attack looking for the shop.

Stepford-ville. Maybe you've been there, or maybe you even live there right now, I don't know, but it freaked me out on some level. Have you seen the new (at least it is new here, maybe it is old school where you are) building trend that incorporates shops into an apartment community? We sometimes shop for groceries in a place sort of like this, except the shops are all seperate and a littler center with the apartments all together and a bit further from the shops (adjacent & easy to walk, right?). I'm good with this setup, it works for me.

This place I went to had the shops built into the bottom level of the apartment buildings and there was like a park area with the aparment club house, oops! I mean Community Center in the Village Square. There was a big clock tower in the park as well. And no people. Seriously. There were cars and restaurants and delis and shops and no people. I felt like I was entering a Really Bad Movie, the kind where only bits and pieces of them are ever found. The shop was nice and very, very small (they are moving to a larger space soon - across the square), cozy even, but I could not get over the creeped out feeling. They had a nice, but small, selection of yarn. The ladies were very nice (and not creepy) and invited me to their open knit night in the Community Center, but I really don't know if I could go back there again. At least not sober, which means someone else would have to drive, which means I'd be putting someone else in danger in Stepford-ville and I'm not sure I should shop for yarn while tanked. Probably not. It was just weird. I'm sure it is incredibly convenient for the folks who live in these communities, to have shops so close and all, and perhaps a good use of the ground floor space, but, it really creeped me out.

I bought my wool winder and some Mountain Colors Barefoot yarn in Obsidian. Jinkies! That stuff is SO SOFT! Yes, I did not need any more sock yarn. Yes, I bought it anyway. Very pretty & you know, support the LYS. Also, I was trying to make myself feel better after having so much trouble finding the place and being all creeped out. That's my story & I'm sticking to it!



Lastly, I have a photo of a bobbin of my first attempt at merino top that I've been spinning. It is still a single, and there's a nice blob of pre-drafted fiber next to it. This colorway is Northern Lights. It is pretty, if not quite what I was expecting. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens with it when I ply it. I still have not decided if I will have a 2-ply or a 3-ply.

My list

Okay, here's my list of projects for my de-stashing. I'll jump in on these just as soon as I finish my current project (Knucks). I'm feeling pretty anxious to get started on the list, so I'm really ready to be done with these gloves, like, yesterday.

1. Alien scarf in Stitch ‘n Bitch (shadow knitting), done in purple & black rather than green &
black like the book. – gift
2. Cardigan for DH in Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool (025 flax), pattern from Rowan Vintage Knits
3. Matching scarves in a fingering weight blue alpaca – gift, no pattern yet
4. Another pair of Knucks – Rowan Wool Cotton - gift
5. Summer sweater (for me) in Berroco Softwist (9436 American Blue) – still looking for the
“perfect” pattern
6. Socks – about 7 or 8 pairs (based on how much yarn is in my stash, I could use it for
something else, but I do want most of the yarn to get knit up this year)
7. Sweater for youngest DD, Katia Jamaica yarn (colorway 4005, selected by DD)
8. Shawls from various ladder yarns – at least two, gifts
9. Fingering weight alpaca from Bolivia – need two projects for about 1500 yds each (I have 17.1
oz of each color & NO, the colors will not go together)
10. Washrags (or something) with piles & piles of Peaches & Crème yarn – gifts, me, the cats,
strangers on the street...
11. 11 balls of Moda Dea Aerie yarn in black, need a project for this leftover yarn - gift
12. Jayne Hat (Firefly) – me!
13. Scarves and maybe hats for the girls in various novelty yarns. This includes: purple & silver
(1), blue & silver (1), varigated purple eyelash (2), blue & silver eyelash (1) (a different yarn
than the first), grey/green & silver eyelash (1)
14. Not quite de-stashing on the yarn side, but on the fiber side. Ruby Red Merino top spun to
make a French Market Bag - gift.

I confess I added the last one in to avoid having 13, how silly is that. Still it is a project on my list for the year if only because I'm having a hard time getting spinning time in and this will motivate me to make time. Also, I'm looking forward to making something with the yarn I've spun and this will be a great project to start with (I think).

The order above is not necessarily the order I'll work in, I'll probably just go with what feels right at the time (what I need to work on, need a break from, etc.). I hope to work on one project at a time and finish each before moving on. I think I am much more likely to finish everything (whenever that happens) if I limit myself to the number of items going at a time. HOWEVER, I will do whatever it takes to make progress, so if a project starts bogging me down, I'll try something else to keep me going. Also, socks and washrags are pretty darned portable, so they can travel much more easily than, say, a cardigan. They can also provide a small break in a larger project, so I might just keep one small project going with these items and work on a bigger item at the same time. (Well, heck, that makes two projects at a time.) If necessary, I will leave the bigger projects at home and work on smaller ones while out and about. I hope that for the most part, I'll be able to work on the big projects at work since that is the most consistent knitting time I get in during the week.

Well, hmmm. What I'm getting out of this is that I have a lot of HOPE and maybe that will get me through my stash. :) We'll see how it goes.

The Borg ate my photos

Well, not really, but they are preventing them from getting posted. Sorry about that. See, my DH works for the borg, or perhaps I should just say he has been assimilated into the collective. So when the borg released their new OS (Vista) he rushed right out and got a copy along with the new Office update. I asked him nicely to wait 6 months or so before updating our system, you know, let others boldly go (since I'm abusing the whole Star Trek thing anyway). Nope. Nothing doing. He had previously backed everything up "just in case" and so the new stuff was installed.

Let me state clearly and for the record that I actually like Vista so far, and the updates to Office that I have had occasion to use are pretty rockin. Really. I DO like them (and no one is holding a gun or other apparati to my head, notice I'm still using the pronoun "I", so I have not been assimilated). However, and you know this was coming, there have been some "issues" to work out. Please, let me share.

1. You remember my new Zune (which also totally rocks!)? Yep. Those suckers were released how long ago? Uh-huh. Yeah. Not particularly compatible with Vista. Impossible you say? Right. I had to reinstall my Zune software and when I plugged it in to synch it, it wiped everything on my Zune. Since everything was backed up in my files I could reinstall it, but it did wipe out all of the pre-programmed videos & stuff that came on the Zune. Lame. Also, my podcatcher was not compatible with Vista so I had to go find another one that would work. That took some time, and until I got one that worked properly I had to individually download every file I wanted to listen to. No prob, 'cause I have copious amounts of spare time. Right?

My question to my in-home borg representative: How is it possible to release two big items in such a short period of time and have them FAIL TO BE FULLY COMPATIBLE? Seriously. No wonder people go running into the arms of The Other Collective. Jinkies. I would feel much better if I knew Someone (whomever that might be) was in big trouble for dropping the ball on that one.

2. The driver for my digital camera does not recognize Vista (or vice versa) and so I can't remove the pictures I've been taking. Neat, huh? I can probably download them onto a different computer (DH only updated the one I use) and them copy them to the computer I use. This will have to wait until I have some more time. Until it gets worked out though, no pictures.

Sorry. I've been putting off posting until I could update some photos, but I think I won't keep waiting, I'll just promise to take pictures and get them up asap.

My knitting has been almost as good as the updates. I joined the thumbs on the Knucks and proceeded to knit several rows without reading the instructions. You know, because I made these once before and even though I've never knit any other gloves I MUST know what I'm doing. Right? Yeah.

I forgot to do the decreases that follow the joining. I am not ripping, however, it was two or three rows. I'm taking the chance that 2-3 rows will not make a significant difference in the glove and I'm just moving forward. I know this might be a mistake, but (1) I really want to get them finished, (2) I've already woven in the thread for the thumb join, and (3)I can always make him another pair if it really does look weird. DH is getting a bit snarky about how long it is taking. He does not seem to remember the thing about the gift horse and the mouth. Oh wait, does that make me the horse? He probably shouldn't look at the other end either. LOL Anyway, I'm also really anxious to work on something else. I still like the pattern, but I'm hankering to work with different yarn or something. Soon my precious... (insert image of me petting my stash with glazed look on my face)

I'm still trying to put together my List of Stash Projects and put them in some sort of order so I can get to work when I finally finish the Knucks. Wish me luck... Once I get my list together I'll post it to help keep me honest.

Lastly, thanks to the folks who have taken the time to leave comments and offer helpful suggestions on how to add the ring button. As soon as I get the chance I'll give your instructions a try. I was attempting something slightly different and it didn't work, so hopefully your instructions will do the trick. Thank you so much!

Is it really only Tuesday?

I don't know what is up, maybe I'm just fighting off a virus or something, but I am SO tired today. My husband is sort of sick (not bad enough to stay home, just obviously not well) and my co-librarian is sick (he is bad enough to stay home) , so it seems inevitable that I've encountered their germs. I had a lot of headaches last week and was a little stuffy, but that is all. I find it hard to believe that I've dodged this one. But if I have, I AM GRATEFUL! We'll see how the week works out.

On a related note, since I work in a college I am surrounded by students who, well, live like students. You know the diet: Red Bull, ramen and beer, oh and don't forget - no sleep. We've had a virus rolling through the school very slowly (that I've also managed to avoid), but I am constantly noticing a disturbingly large number of students who don't wash their hand in the bathroom. I cannot say "ICK" loudly enough. One of our local high schools actually shut down for a few days last week due to the fact that 1/3 of the student body was out with a virus. They shut the school down and disinfected the whole building. And people don't take the simple precaution to wash their hands. I think I need to say "ICK" again.

On a somewhat happier note (or at least mostly germ-free note), I'm almost ready to join the thumb on the Knucks. I'm a little disappointed in this pair as I'm getting a bit of a ladder where I jump from one circ to the other. It isn't bad, yet, and I'm working on ending it now, but I don't want to rippit. It is on the bit where the index finger goes down to join the thumb, so at least it isn't on a broad place in the knitting, but it stinks that it is there. The first pair of Knucks didn't do this, so I "know" what I did, but I don't know how I did it (if that makes sense). I thought I was being really careful. The finger join looks really good, but I also made the pinkie a bit too long for my taste. sigh. I don't think my husband will notice, which is good, but it bugs me that I fixed the things I did wrong the first time only to do things wrong now that I got right last time. Aaargh! That could be an argument for only doing things once, or else making a dozen of everything. LOL

On a seriously happier, happier note, I'm going to order some more KnitPicks Options needles. I don't want a whole set (not yet, anyway) since I typically prefer knitting with wooden needles, but I do want sizes 0-5 because I love these needles for socks (and gloves)! And maybe, just maybe, some patterns or, dare I say it, yarn? No. I must be strong. I'm knitting from stash this year.
Eek.
Wish me luck!

Application in process

Well, I'm finally in sync with the Knitting Blog Ring and I've got my application in process. I should meet the requirements, unless there is one for being clever enough to add a button to my template. sigh LOL

Last night was Insect Night at my daughter's school. They have cut so many educational corners to spend more time preparing students to pass the stupid WASL that they seem to need special nights to spend time on content that ought to be part of the regular curriculum. (I may be a bit biased, I HATE the Washington State school system. Not the teachers, the system.) Sorry. Anyway, we all had a great time looking at lots and lots of dead things pinned in boxes, watching a film and then playing with real insects. The girls got to hold a variety of stick bugs, a 10-inch millipede and a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach and a Brazilian Roach. Isn't that neat? I was good with everything but the roaches. We don't really have them here, so they are a novelty and rather exotic. I come from Texas. We have very healthy roaches there and I have a very different view of them in general. Still, I try to let the girls form their own opinions about those kinds of things. The photo up top is DD holding the Brazilian roach with the hissing roach on the table. The one below is the Madagascar Hissing Roach and then the other photo is the millepede (with both of my girls next to their friend A.).



The gloves are moving right along, but I've had absolutely no time for spinning this week. I'm pretty bummed about that, but we've been cleaning the house to prepare for house blessings and I've started taking Taekwondo classes with the girls and then there's homework for the oldest and just general other "life" stuff, so knitting only happens at lunch and spinning can't go there. Unless I learn to use a spindle and I'm not quite ready to tackle that.

I've been pretty good about adding any new yarn, which means I haven't been yarn shopping in a month! I've done really well with it, but now I'm starting to get all itchy again. I had decided to unofficially do a Stash-busting thing this year and only work on projects for which I already have the yarn. I was browsing the other day, putting a knitting notebook in order (all the Internet patterns I've printed, other patterns I've purchased but not knit yet, etc.), and I'm starting to create lists of new things I want to knit up, most of which would require new purchases. In an effort to reward myself for good behaviour, and yet not let go of the real goal of reducing stash, I think I've found a compromise that seems reasonable. If I can work on stash projects until the end of Lent (4/8) without buying new yarn for new projects (additional yarn to finish a stash project is okay), then and only then may I make one new project purchase. Sound fair? I know some stashalongs allow sock yarn a free pass, but sock yarn is one of the things I need to knit out of my stash. We'll see how it goes. Part of me is just hoping that if I can hold out on new purchases until April I'll lose the urge and be content with the stuff overflowing my yarn basket. This will include roving, which is surprisingly more difficult right now. Odd, since I'm having even more trouble finding time to spin. Even so, I am determined! Step up the knitting pace and reduce the buying sprees. That sounds so responsible. I wonder if I can handle it? LOL

Caelie knitting

I'm back! I've been really busy at work, info literacy tours in the library and hiring new folk, then training new folk, then hiring another one (I hired two, one never showed up, so I had to hire another one), getting caught up on stuff for the end of last quarter, trying to stay on track with stuff for this quarter. Jeesh! Then there's all the stuff at home that's keeping me busy. I simply haven't had much time for blogging stuff. Sorry.

School was crazy busy the past two weeks, the library was packed and really full of people. Which is a good thing, it just kept us all hopping since we're short staffed. I'm glad to be past the rush though, I've got to get new people trained & it is hard to do with the library packed full of people. Bad librarian! Wishing for fewer patrons. Well, just for a week or so, then it can fill up again.

We went to a caelie this weekend. Friends of ours had a caelie for their daughter's 3rd birthday. It was pretty awesome. There were about 15 or so musicians around the room, most of them trading instuments as they went. We even had a piper (fireside pipes, the "quiet" ones)which was so cool. I LOVE PIPES! The music ran non-stop from about 7:00 until midnight. It was actually an early night, but that was fine with me! We had two people who did some Scottish dancing as well, and a couple of singers jumped in. It was quite an event, all in all, and everyone had a great time.

I didn't jump in with the musicians/singers, but I pulled out my knitting and sat near the piper. I was joined by another knitter, and two other ladies who also knit came by to chat and see what I was up to. That was an unexpected bonus for me. I've joined the fingers on the gloves - yes, following the instructions does make for a better join than the last ones! - and they are going quite well. I'd like to finish them in the next two weeks, which seems like a long time, but I know I'm going to be so busy I'll be lucky to get 3 hours/week knitting time right now. I'd keep my fingers crossed, but then I couldn't knit. I've been thinking about knitting only from my stash this year, or at least for the next 6 months, but more on that next time. The result of my thinking, however, is that I'm really anxious to move on to some other projects. Really, if the yarn has been waiting for the past year, I think it can wait another few weeks. Right?

The kids ran around and had fun making Sleepytime Pals. The Sleepytime Pals are stuffed animals that the kids filled with flaxseed and essential oils, the animals were sewed shut and they can be zapped in the microwave to warm them up. So, a nice warm snuggly animal to sleep with at night. My oldest made a big cat that has yet to be named. My youngest made a big floppy-eared bunny that she has named Evil. Here's the conversation on this one.

4-yo: You wanna know what I named my bunny?
Me: Yes, sweetie, what'd you name your bunny?
4-yo: Evil
Me: Evil?
4-yo: Evil
Me: Um. Okay. Why did you name your bunny Evil?
4-yo: I like it.
Me: Okay.
4-yo: Nobody told me to. I just like it.
Me: Okaaaaaay.

Now. The part that bugs me most is the immediate jump to "nobody told me to". That was a spontaneous addition that was not prompted, nor is it common to her pattern of speech. She is, however, a bit quirky like her mom. So, I'll keep a watch out for pea soup and head spinning and wait and see if the bunny has a different name later this week. That's usually what happens with all the others, a name change every day. With my luck, this will be the one that sticks.

Spinning right along

*dubby-dum dubby-dum* footloose and fancy free. Getting there is half the fun, come share it with me. Yeah. Okay, Muppet Movie soundtrack off now. Of course, I'll have that song (their version, not mine) in my head all day now. Maybe even all week. Sorry, it couldn't be helped.

That is pretty much what I've been up to all weekend. Spinning. I'm trying to get the hang of mohair top. I learned on Romney and that is all I've done. I felt like I got the feel of Romney, though to be fair, I don't have many uses for Romney. It is a bit coarse for my tastes, though it does have its uses, make no mistake. I'm VERY sensitive to the scratchy wool thing, though, which is one of the things I had to overcome with knitting. Learning that there are actually soft, NON-scratchy wools. Who knew? LOL Anyway, mohair certainly is different and since I am doing this on my own, unsupervised if you will, I am feeling pretty insecure about it. I don't have any friends who spin, although I belong to a mailing list for spinners. If I can ever get caught up on my email, I'll ask them for support. (Note to self: get caught up on email!)

I'm working on this lovely bit of roving called Northern Lights that I got from Pacific Wool and Fiber. I also got the Ruby Red (not in my picture, just mentioned in a previous post) from them as well. I love the feel of it all, it is just different to spin. This colorway is really lovely; black, brown, turquoise, bits of purple, blue and even white/cream. It isn't what I thought it would be (the website didn't have a photo of it when I ordered it), but I do like it. I'll probably use the Northern Lights for some socks. The Ruby is set for a bag for my grandmother, although, I love the color so much, I might have to a) get more for me or, b) find a different red for her. I'm thinking choice A at this point. It is a really nice shade for me, a nice blue undertone. Since I'm so pale (skin and all that white hair), I'm very picky about reds. Well, colors in general, but that is a whole different rant. Trust me, I've got a serious color rant. LOL

Anyway, we had a fairly quiet weekend. The girls are sort of sniffly, and I thought it a good idea to keep things low-key this weekend. I recaulked the bathtub, woo-hoo (not, but there was a leaky spot), and generally washed everything that could be washed (dishes, clothes, car, etc.) Since our New Plan of more eating at home, I've been planning menus (a first for me) by the week. The kids refuse to eat most of it, which makes me feel great, especially since Himself works late more nights than he is home. So I'm the only one making a dent in the food that is taking so much of my time to make. What I'm trying to say is, we had a left-over sort of weekend as well. Mind you, I enjoy cooking, I'd just like an appreciative audience. I admit, the 6 year old tries it all and eats some of it, it is the 4 year old who is the problem. And well, she's 4. I think that 4 = problem child, at least when it comes to food.

School is back in full-swing. Now that the snow and ice has moved on, no more late starts (which were very nice for me) and no more snow days (the public schools are all frantically trying to work out make-up days). I'm back in my regular routine of Information Literacy tours for classes and also trying to hire two new student employees. Today. I've got 8 solid applicants, which means I have to sift primarily by schedule availablity. I hate it when it comes down to that. Oh well, then I have the fun of training to look forward to. Maybe just some pointy sticks in my eye instead. No? Well, in my hand maybe. That should take the edge off.

Howdy New Year

Wow. I had no intention of skipping new posts, but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men! I hope everyone had a lovely New Year celebration, or hibernation, whichever you prefer. Schools back in session, students are everywhere. I'm hiring new student employees for the library, so lots of interviews right now. Boy, they are exhausting! Then the training & balance that with info literacy tours for classes. I am BUSY at work! But it is fun again, now that things have settled down a bit in my little library.

We've been inundated with icy cold weather here, so lots of random snow days, late opening days at school, REALLY BAD TRAFFIC and such. Most of us got very small amounts of snowfall, but Seattle (the general metro area) is NOT prepared for snow/ice that does not melt within 24 hours. It rarely happens, since we are at sea level, and so when a major storm hits and stays for a week or more, well, the city does not do well. ("the city" here means Seattle proper, all the infrastructure meant to deal with traffic conditions and the immediate surrounding suburbs. Folks further removed from Seattle proper probably fared much better overall for all I know.) I had numerous commute times of over 2 hours each direction, that is double (or more) my normal commute time. I did not have fun. Although, I did get to listen to lots of podcasts, so it wasn't all time wasted.

For my birthday, Jan 7th, I got a Zune and I've been busy loading all sorts of musical and podcasty goodness to listen to while I travel and, sometimes, while I work. I'm enjoying it and I love the fact that I can load a bazillion pictures in it as well. I've been listening to some new podcasts these days, among them, The Butcher Block, which is a podcast for one of my favorite authors, Jim Butcher (an all-around awesome guy and a great writer). His first (book) series, The Dresden Files (genre is urban fantasy), is going to air as a series on Sci-Fi Channel starting January 21, so everyone tune in & watch it! Jim rocks and, by all accounts, so does the show.

On more crafty fronts, I finished the quilt square and, of course, forgot to take a picture. >sigh< I was doing so well for a while. Anyway, I got it finished and turned in for the quilt, which was a relief. It was, all in all, a bit boring to work on since all of these quilts are using patterns of a similar style. The pattern may change, but the look/feel is always the same. Oh well, I didn't do it for me or my own pleasure, AND it got me through to the point where I can knit again.

I've been spinning quite a bit the past couple of weeks. I finished the Romney all up and got in an order of some Merino top in ruby red and also in a colorway called Northern Lights. I'm working on the Northern Lights first. I've never spun Romney and it is very different from Merino. More experienced spinners are laughing right about now I'm sure. By the end of the Romney, I felt I was getting pretty darned good at managing it. Picking up the Merino is almost like starting all over again. I feel pretty rediculous, but, I'll just keep at it and eventually it will all sort itself out. I figure spinning is a bit like knitting, there's a right way, lots of other right ways and a few wrong ways. You can tell if you've done it right by whether or not you like the finished product. (Yes of course there is technically a correct way, but if I let myself worry about that now, I'll never accomplish anything with my spinning.) I have decided that I need to find time to find a spinning group. There are two that meet monthly fairly close to where I live, it is just finding/making the time to get there. There is another group that meets more often, but they are so far south, I just can't imagine making the time to make that trip when there are other options (even if they meet less often).

Yes! Knitting is happening again! I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have needles and yarn in my hands again. It is crazy. I've picked up the Knucks glove for my husband again and it is wonderful. I'm over halfway done with the fingers, so while he didn't have them for the cold spell we've been having, maybe I'll still finish them up before too long. Hmmm. Maybe a Valentine's Day gift. I'll have to see how much knitting time I can squeeze in. I'm pretty keen to be back knitting again, so that shouldn't be too much trouble. Sadly, all the down time I've had led me to think up projects that would be fun to knit. I think I have way too many things on my mental plate right now & I really need to get them sorted out: Real Projects vs Dream Projects (e.g. those that will never really see the light of day, or needle and yarn as the case may be). Still, my energy level for knitting is very high right now. Notice that I qualified it to "knitting"? Well, I don't want to do any false advertising now, do I?

Spinning for Christmas

Well, my hand is still healing - oh, so slowly it seems, so knitting is still not a real option right now. I do seem to be getting better, though, because I seem to be using it more which means it is hurting more. I'm trying to watch myself a little better. I'm sure there must be some line between reasonable use = continued healing and overuse = new (or re-) injury. My guiding line so far has been, if it hurts much it is probably bad. If it just aches a little it is probably okay for a brief time. You know, rebuilding muscles. There is still a fair bit of swelling around the actual joint and thumb area. I've also got this weird little twitch in my thumb from time to time. For a while, it was waking me up at night, but not any more. I'm not sure if that is because it is twitching less or I've just gotten used to it. Hopefully it is a phase in the healing and not a permanent thing. It is kind of freaky to see (I think).

I finally! got to spend some time spinning this past week. Long overdue in my mind, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. I've just about finished up some Romney that I got to practice with while learning, so now I'm almost ready to start with some fun stuff. I've got some red roving that I plan to use to make a French Market Bag. I've been dying to do one of these, but couldn't decide what I wanted to use. Then I was pondering what to try my homespun on and a little lightbulb went off. So, I'll use the Romney I've been practicing on for the bottom, it is kind of a grey/brown color so it won't show as much dirt, and I'll spin some ruby red for the rest of the bag. Then I plan to gift it to my grandmother. If it goes well, and I like it, I'll do another in homespun for myself. I do want them to be a bit bigger, so will have to be sure to spin plenty of yarn. Oh darn! LOL The best part is that I am spinning and it doesn't hurt my hand, so I don't feel like I've abandoned my knitting. I'm just in therapy. Practice and therapy all at once.

Other non-knitting projects include another cross-stitched quilt square for a wedding quilt at church. I'll get a picture of this one when it is done. The quilt is all in earth tones again. I don't know what it is, but the last 3 or 4 quilts have been increasingly brown. Don't get me wrong, I like brown just fine. It's just that it would be nice to do something more varied; blues, greens, reds, yellows, pinks, purples, ANYTHING that wasn't brown, beige, tan, khaki, cream, gold, rust, maroon. They work, but after 4 of them, BORING for the stitchers. Ah well, it isn't for me so I probably shouldn't be complaining about it.

Christmas went very well and was a lovely day spent at church, playing with the girls, and then over to a friends house for a lovley meal. We had a great time visiting with them and it was a very nice and blessed day. Of course, it was back to work for me the day following. I think this is the first time in over 8 years that I haven't taken extra time off following Christmas. It feels very strange, but I wanted to save the vacation time for when my hand is more normal and I can actually spend my time doing stuff, whatever that stuff might turn out to be. As far as gifts go, I didn't get anything knitting or craft related. Well, unless you count cooking and my new Alton Brown cookbook that I've been wanted (the new revised edition). This year I took pity on my husband and gave him a list of 3 things I'd like so that he could concentrate on the joy of shopping with the girls instead of worrying about them AND what to get me. I also tried to pick the easy to find gifts to help even more. (The poor man does struggle with the whole gift thing. he wants to get something nice/meaningful, he just doesn't know how to go about doing it.) So I listed the book, a movie (Pirates of the Caribbean 2) and some Knit Picks needles (size 0 - 4 circs, I LOVE this for socks!). I didn't get the needles, but I do have a birthday on Jan 7, so I might get them yet. If not, I do know where to get them for myself. LOL

I didn't really need anything, so I was very pleased and happy with my gifts. My DH also surprised me with the new Gin Blossoms CD. I've been waiting so long for a new one, I'd given up, so this was a very nice surprise (and spontaneous gift giving on his part). In fact, we all had a much simpler Christmas this year. None of us needed anything, so I really didn't want to buy a bunch of junk that would never get used. We did more charity gifting and less for us. I'm glad and hope we keep that up.

Well, the hand is getting tired, so time to stop. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! And in case I don't get back online this week, Happy New Year!

One week to go

Just in case anyone needs reminding, LOL. I can't believe how far behind I am in Christmas preparations this year, and I'm not knitting anything for gifts. I had the foresight to know that the surgery would put me out of commission as far as Christmas gift were concerned, but I failed to grasp how many other things would fall by the wayside as a result of the surgery. How lame is that?

No Christmas cards, no family photo (we usually do those ourselves), most of the decorations are not up (just the tree), etc. I have a good excuse, but I still feel like a slacker. I'm having a hard time letting go, which is lame. But at least the deadlines are all in my head and not any "hard" commitments that I have to keep.

I got my order of Violet's Pink Ribbon in yesterday, and it is georgous! I ordered two skeins, though I'm not quite sure what I'll do with the second skein yet. Maybe something for the girls as they both really liked it. If you like podcasts and haven't heard Lime & Violet, check them out. They are not particulary for very young ears, but I think they are lovley, crazy women who manage to make you feel like you are part of the fun, rather than some listener stuck in a long commute home (which is where I do most of my listening). It could just be that they remind me of how my friends and I were when we got together, but I love listening to them and they make me laugh (and sometimes snort tea out of my nose). Miss Violet recently had a big scare finding a lump in her breast. Some portion of the proceeds from sales of Violet's Pink Ribbon will help defray Miss V's medical costs, a wonderful way to help out a fellow knitter, and oh so appropriate since it is sock yarn and she has, well, sock issues. Lisa Souza's yarns are amazing, so be sure to check those out in any case.

While ordering from Lisa Souza, I also got the Emerald City colorway (only one). Beautiful and so incredibly soft! I got all excited and picked up my knitting, put on the splint and knit for a whole 10 minutes. It went better than before, but still feels really awkward. I got really frustrated and just put it down. I know, shocking, but there is still quite a bit of swelling in my wrist joint and the back of my hand. I am concerned about causing new injuries since everything is still obviously healing, so I'd rather err on the side of caution and take it easy. Also, I just wasn't feeling it, you know? Of course, it is possible that that was just because I wanted to cast on with the new yarn and start something new. >sigh<

I did have some fun this weekend, we got together with some friends to brew a Nose Nipper holiday beer. It was a pretty involved recipe, lots of add-ins (citrus, cinnamon, & peppermint), but I'm looking forward to trying it out. We've been lazy about brewing lately, which is too bad because I enjoy it so much, but maybe we'll get back to it. I love the smell of the malt & hops simmering away on the stove, so yummy! I know we have plans to do a Russian Imperial Stout style beer in May, but I hope we do something before then.

Our school is on break so I've been attending meetings at work this week. There is a faculty member knitting a poncho and one crocheting a scarf (or something in a long thin strip). I'm used to being the lone knitter in public, it is odd to see someone else doing it. I am so jealous! I just sit there, trying not to twitch in public. I know, it will pass. Thank goodness I have all of the holiday anxiety to distract me! LOL! I'm squeezing in last minute gifts, shopping trips to malls that still don't have power back on in the street lights surrounding it (yep, just when you thought Christmas mall shopping couldn't get worse, those wind storms last week really helped - NOT). And now, another cross stitch project for a wedding quilt at church. That will keep me busy too. Maybe by the time that is due I'll be back to knitting again. I'll keep my needles crossed.

Photos will come, really, I just have issues wresting control of the computer from my husband, finding time (and the camera) to download the pictures, etc. And maybe, after the first of the year, I can actually get on a knitting ring. Woo- wouldn't that be fun! Well, in case I miss posting again this week, I wish you all a very blessed and Merry Christmas.

Freedom from the cast & remembering to be grateful

I got the cast/splint off early! They moved my appointment from Monday (12/11) to last Friday. Wow! What a gift. I am SO excited to have that thing off my arm, I'm pretty sure that I would need sedatives if I actually broke my right arm and had to have a cast for months. Seriously. That was a brutal 9 days, maybe just because it was my right hand, but man, I was a total wimp. I think I managed not to whine about it, but I wanted to hug and kiss the woman who took the thing off. (I'm only slightly kidding.)

The good news is that I have more freedom to move my hand and arm, the bad news is that I am supposed to continue to avoid repetitive movements (can you say KNITTING?) for a while yet and I'm also supposed to avoid lifting weights for the next month. (that would be all weighted objects, not trips to the gym.) The doctor took pity on me after he saw the look on my face when I asked about knitting, and gave me a splint. He said if I could knit with a splint, I could knit, but I should be careful not to over-do it. I've decided to try to hold out as long as I can, and then to knit with an egg timer or something so that I can limit how long I'm knitting (maybe a row limit would be just as effective, I'll bet I'm still pretty slow.

One thing I've observed over this Wrist journey is how our comfort/discomfort level is constantly re-setting itself. Originally the wrist was a minor problem, then it grew into a painful problem that I could not wait to resolve. I remember stating to one (ineffective) doctor that I thought I was beginning to understand what would drive an animal to chew their own foot off. He looked disturbed by my comment, but he was busy planning his trip to France, so I probably shouldn't have bothered speaking to him. - ah, does that sound bitter? Sorry. Then the great relief at finding a competent doctor to diagnose and treat the problem & the frustration of waiting for surgery. Now that that is done, I was miserable with the cast/splint and my inability to do anything very effectively/quickly. Now the cast is off & I'm still frustrated at my limitations and now, horrified with the scar. Frankenhand is what I call myself these days. (The kids like it.) What I forget with the scar and pain and limited mobility, is that I am also very grateful that the problem is fixed and that I am on the mend with my hand still attached and, if I behave myself, the knitting will come back to me in time. I am amazed at how limited my range of motion is, but it will come back. I worried that I would favor my hand too much to get it all back, but that's what young children are for, they make me react without thinking just enough that I should regain all range of motion in no time. LOL Still, a little frustrating and slow, but I am trying to remember how miserable I was waiting to get this all sorted out. The temporary issues waiting to heal are just that, temporary.

So today's theme, remembering to be grateful, even when things are still not quite "right". At least I can type again, albeit for limited amounts of time and I've about reached it for this hour, so I'll wind this up I think. I decided to include a picture of the newly released hand, but I want to warn you, it looks pretty gross. I don't want to hit anyone's squick button, so I decided to tell you now DON'T LOOK AT THE PICTURE BELOW IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH. There. You've been warned.

Something to occupy my time

Success is sometimes found in unexpected places. I've tried unsuccessfully to knit with my cast, multiple attempts with multiple yarn/needle sizes. That didn't work. I've been trying to read, but the weight of the book strains my hand after a while. So then I decided to try something really crazy. I picked up some cross-stitch that I haven't worked on for ages, seriously, and gave that a try.

I can do it! Dang! That was a shocker, but I feel so much better. I mean, I know it is only 10 days, but I really need something to fill in the downtime when I can't do anything else. I'm really enjoying it, it has been a looooong time since I did any stitching. In fact, I took up knitting to replace my stitching, so I guess there's some symmetry to the whole thing. I also recently went on a binge, buying all of the companion pieces to match the pattern I'm stitching. (Mermaid of the Pearls #26)

And why, you may ask, did I give up stitching in the first place? Well, I found it extremely difficult to do a very nice job stitching while holding my first baby, and whenI thought how tempting the pretty colors of string would be to a toddler, you know, strings attached to tiny hard-to-find needles, I thought maybe I should consider putting the stitching on hold for a bit and come back to it when it seemed more manageable. Now, I know many, many others would be perfectly able to continue stitching, but it just wasn't working for me. Maybe I just needed a break from it for a while. Who knows? Anyway, I found my way to knitting and I haven't looked back. But now and then I think I'd like to find a way to work both into my life. Maybe this 10-day trial period will help me on that path.

But knitting still rules! LOL

Sweet alpaca deal

Still in the world of limited typing but I wanted to share my sweet deal. My priest's daughter is in Bolivia right now and she shipped back some yarn she picked up from a mill (I guess, I can't find the place listed online although I know there was an email address on the color cards). Holly paid something like $30.00/kilo of 100% alpaca fingering weight yarn, several different colors, and so I bought a couple of, hmmm, chunks of yarn for $20.00/ 17 oz. The yarn is kind if folded, it was probably in hanks, but since my hand is all splinted, I can't really do muchmore than pet it. I picked up a nice tweedy-looking purple and a red-ish tweed. The red is really not a good color for me, so it will have to be something for my DH, but I LOVE the purple. I'm thinking I should have gotten the teal color instead of the red, but if she still has it next week I might try to trade.

On the other hand, I have no idea what the heck I'm going to do with this much fingering weight yarn. It's really tiny, you know? Whatever it is has to be good AND fun since it will take a while. It was one of those circumstances where the price was too good NOT to buy any, but I really don't have any need for that much fingering weight yarn. Aslo, I did want to help support Holly, these things help provide her with money while she is living down there, but since I'm one of two people that her mom knows who knit, it will be hard for her mom to unload the yarn I think. I'm saved a bit by the fact that most of the yarn is in colors that I cannot wear without looking very ill, so I won't be adding more to my stash. How I wish it had been a heavier weight yarn though. Maybe if I did machine knitting...

Still kicking

...but not typing so good.

Just a brief update today. I seem to have recovered from the round of pneumonia, except for some lingering asthma (which hasn't bothered me for years). Oh well, at least i"m still breathing. My wrist surgery was initially scheduled for last week, but was moved to yesterday due to a high number of trauma cases at the hospital requiring all of the surgeons to postpone their elective surgeries. The surgery went well, to the best of my knowledge, and i can wiggle my fingers, but i have a short cast (they called it a small splint, but it seems closer to a cast) so I don't bend my wrist, etc. I have to type using a pencil in my right hand, sorry for the typos.

OTOH, I have 3 days of morphine for the pain (+ codeine in case that isn't enough), so I'll be just fine. LOL I've started a pair of fingerless gloves for my DH, and have 4 fingers done on those. I'm not sure how long it will be before I am back to knitting. I'm supposed to use my fingers as much as possible, but I must balance it with the pain thing. I'll try to post pictures of the cast/splint and the knitting asap.

Here's a shot of my blue fingers. They're very pretty. LOL

Sick knitting & sock knitting

Well, turns out I don't have a virus/flu after all. Lucky me, I've got pneumonia! Isn't that just, erm, peachy? I've (thankfully) never had it before, and I hope I never have it again, but there it is. I have virtually no appetite, the fever finally left me sometime yesterday so I 'm feeling falsely healthy, and the least activity (going up and down the stairs, for instance) wipes me out. Then there's the lung-launching coughs. Wow.

I am finally feeling well enough for about 10 minutes computer time and then a day propped up in bed knitting/reading/watching bad TV. Of course, today I have last night's episode of House, but it won't last all day. Yesterday I found myself thinking, "What is this garbage and why am I glued to it?" . It was some celebrity fashion thing (100 worst or something like that). OTOH, it made for good background to the knitting.

The knitting. I'm back on my sock and I've turned the heel! Woo-Hoo! It really was surprisingly easy, once I jumped in and just did it. I'm very pleased. That was the last bit I finished before going to sleep last night, so I'm pretty anxious to pick it up again. Although, I have a new book I really want to read. I'll probably start with the knitting and see how it goes. I hate to say this out loud, but I will, I should probably read instead. This quite sick time at home alone is the only reading time I'll get. I can knit when the kids get home. You know? Still, the sock is sooooo exciting now that I'm in the final stretch!

I'm waiting to find out if I need to cancel my wrist surgery next week because of the pneumonia. My GP said yes, but the surgeon's office said to wait until next week to make a decision. If I have to reschedule, I won't be able to get in before the first of February, so it would be nice to get it done. But, I'd rather not increase my risk of death or something. I'm funny that way.

Well, I've taken a picture of the sock after I turned the heel, but it will have to wait to be loaded. I'm too wiped out just eating my banana and drinking my hot tea. Time to wander off to bed again.

Finishing fever

Well, here they are. Finished at last! And so am I. I'm seeing a bazillion flaws, why do we do that?, but when I compare them to the drawings of his hands, these should comfortably fit the student. The finger joins are about 60% nice & 40% dodgy, but when they are on, you can't tell that the joins are less than perfect. So, done.

I finished these on Thursday last week. These were a very fast knit, you know, in knitting hours and in spite of the length of time it took me to finish. I got distracted (Halloween costumes) and work, etc., so that took a bit longer. Still I liked them. What would I do differently next time? Well, for one, I'd use the pattern as originally intended, for fingerless gloves. The problem with the finger join was that the pattern called to join live stitches, which I just did not have on the fingers. It is possible that problem could still have been avoided if I had put the cast-on stitches on waste yarn to keep everything in the right place, instead of trying to pick them up again later. Jeez! I won't try that again! Lastly, I would have switched to smaller needles for the wrist ribbing to give them a better fit, although I think they fit fine, it would be nice if they were a little tighter.

The fever part. Oy! I left work on Friday feeling fine, by the time I got home, I had a fever. It is now Monday and the fever is still here. I hurt all over on Saturday, so I just stayed in bed while my DH took care of the kids. I hurt so bad I couldn't read or even knit! Talk about feeling lousy! I felt a little better on Sunday, not very achy, so I sat in the living room with the family and buried myself under blankets. I was still cold, and when I got around to taking my temperature, I found my fever was actually higher than it was on Saturday. So, I crawled into work today. We're down a person since our director has moved up the food chain, so to speak, so I need to come in and get things rolling in the morning and make sure all the student help is going to show up. Once they are all checked in, I'll be on my way to the clinic. This fever and a bit of a cough seem to be stirring up my asthma. Also, I have surgery on my hand next week. If this lingers, I would have to cancel my surgery and reschedule which would stink. I probably not be able to get in before the end of January.

Oh well, at least the gloves are done and I don't have any projects hanging over my head. Here's one more shot of a single glove, a little closer detail. I'll be back when I recover a bit.

Soggy, soggy day

But I like it! We were to have 5+ inches of rain yesterday, but we didn't make it. We only got about 3-1/2 inches instead, it has warmed up, though, so no snow. Still, there's been enough rain to raise most of the rivers to flood levels, send folks in low-lying areas to shelters, and still it keeps raining. I feel bad for the displaced folks, but I do love the rain. I just wish I was at home curled up with my knitting and a book. But then, I also wish I could knit and read at the same time - LOL! Still, I can take turns with each of them. We should be getting some breaks in the rain by tomorrow, but then it will come back and the temps will drop again & there will be snow in the mountains. Well, that's what the weather-folk say. Goodness knows what will actually happen. :)

The gloves are done, except for the sewn bind off, which should be done by the end of lunch today. Oh yeah, and then I need to sew up the holes around the fingers. So, two things that need to be done and I'm finished. Still, barring incident, these puppies are done in the next day or so. I'm really glad to be done with them before the surgery, it is a big relief. Of course, now my husband wants me to get started on his, but I won't have a deadline on these and the second pair should go faster, right? At least I get to go shopping for yarn. Woo-hoo! While I won't go so far as to say that I've been on a yarn diet, I have been avoiding any new purchases until I finished these gloves. Technically, I've been avoiding any new yarn purchases until I get more projects done, but I don't really want to make a formal commitment to that lifestyle. LOL Anyway, I still get to go shopping. I hope I can resist anything else calling my name, but I'm just not sure I'll be strong enough.

Cuff 'em

Yep. I can't believe how pathetically slow this project is going, though make no mistake, I'm still enjoying the knitting. I feel like a snail could get more knitting done in an hour than I can. But maybe not since they don't have hands. I should probably find another slow thing to compare my speed to, hmmm.

Anyway, life has just gotten so busy that I'm having a hard time getting things done. I think it was all the festivities last week when my boss left. Lots of lunches out, extra meetings with people I don't normally meet with, etc. Not as much lunch time to knit, and very little time at home. I'm working on it. The important thing is that I'm nearly finished, just the cuff in a simple k1p1 pattern. I'm thinking this will probably be the part I can't get done right. LOL Wouldn't that be a kick?

The bag pictured above is a lovely gift from a friend. Her sister just returned from a trip to Cambodia and picked up this nice silk bag for my knitting. It seems she saw me working out of a rather trashed plastic bag at my daughters' swim lessons. But, hey, I'm just recycling the plastic bags the yarn stores give me. I use them until my needles poke too many holes in them, then I use a new one (hopefully before I lose anything out of the holes). This apparently looks rather sad, so she thought I could use a new bag. Very sweet & I love the bag! It has been the perfect size for this project & likely all my socks as well. You know, when I get back to the socks.

Now for November

We survived the seriously cold weather last night. I was right about "Princess Jasmine", she nearly froze her bare little tummy off. The cape helped, and I brought along some blankets to help warm them up. DH had the brilliant foresight to get some hand warmers (like skiers use, etc.) and they carried them around in their hands and rubbed them on their faces (& tummies) to stay warm. It was enough to get them around the block. For some reason, we had about half the houses "open" that we had last year. I don't know if folks just didn't expect many kids due to the cold or if there were just more folks not around. It worked out though, if we'd had many more houses to go to, the girls wouldn't have made it.

Still, we had a surprisingly early night and minimal candies consumed - without even trying to limit them! I have no idea how that happened, but I'm sure they'll make up for it just as soon as they realize how much candy is still around the house. LOL Here's a little better picture of the bat wings, since I spent so much time trying to figure out how to make them work. I'm thinking about starting my costume for next year soon so that it will be ready for next year. If it is going to be this cold, I need something I can wear without freezing to death. Also, I'm still loving my new sewing machine, and I don't want to forget about it. LOL



On the knitting side of life, I've got three rows left and then I'm at the cuff. I underestimated how many were left yesterday, so I had more than I thought. I got most of them in after putting up the outside decorations (we were really behind this year) and before getting the girls. Mom took almost a whole hour for herself! I finally got to watch last week's ep of Supernatural and knit for a while. Nice. Good episode too, lots of laughs last week.

Hope everyone else had a nice Halloween. Now we will all be bombarded with the over-merchandising of Thanksgiving (for those of us here in the States) and Christmas.
Whee! (NOT)

A-ha! & Boo!

Noooo. Not the band, although I do like them (are they even still recording?), I mean I finally found something about the folks doing the urban knitting, at least I think it is the same group. There are no photos of the column that I have in my previous post, but surely there aren't two rival gangs of urban knitters tagging the city?! Ye gods! What is the world coming to? I wonder what the initiation rite is like...

On other fronts, I'm about two repeats (6 rows) of finishing the the thumb gusset decreases and then it is just the cuff, baby. I'm ready to get these gloves off my needles. Not because I no longer love them, mind you, just because I really need to get them finished before 11/22 (surgery day) and I really don't want to be up all night on 11/21. LOL There's no reason they can't be finished very quickly, unless I start procrastinating. Hey, it can happen. Things are really crazy right now and it would be very easy to get lazy. You know that slippery slope, it goes like this: Oh, I have plenty of time to finish this project. No need to rush. I know! I'll work on this other project for a while, spend some time with this nice yarn over here. Ooooo, squeeze in some spinning time, that'd be nice. What?! What do you mean I'm out of time?! What the...!?

Yep. I dare say we've all done it. I'm determined to NOT do it this time.

Today is my boss lady's last day. We're having a nice big party catered by Macrina Bakery & Cafe. If you watch the Food Network, Road Tasted (Paula Deen's boys) included it in their show on Seattle. Yummy, yummy food. Two of my student employees and one librarian also had a birthday this month, so we are celebrating everything all at once. Then I'm going home (early) to get my house and kids ready for the big Trick or Treating event. In typical Seattle style, it will be FREEZING tonight. (It either rains or it is the coldest night for weeks.) It is supposed to be in the low 30s (F) tonight, so my youngest, Princess Jasmine, will be freezing her tummy off even with the cape I made for her. But boy! Am I glad I made the cape! I'll be sure to get pictures and get them posted as well.

I love Halloween. It is so much more fun as a grown-up, I think. I can buy my own candy, so no more depending upon the neighbors to pick out "good" stuff. I can dress up any way I want, and even wear it to work (which I did this year, you know, the party and all). I can decorate my house as much as I want, and I can watch all the scary movies I want (after the kids go to bed). Ahhh. October is my favorite month, my anniversary month, and although it is cold today, it is gorgeous outside! The leaves are so nice, and since the rain has been pretty light this month, they are still on the trees. Puget Sound is very blue, the mountains are crisp and clear, the bald eagle is sitting outside my window at work on the giant E of the Edgewater Inn (a Sesame Street moment, if you will - Eagle on the E, get it?) and, just, Wow! I love Fall. Can you tell?

Happy Halloween!

Knits are everywhere!

I know I've read something about this somewhere, but do you see the colorful blob on the post by the tree? That is a nice cozy scarf for the column. Someone, or many someones, are knitting stips and grafting them together. I assume they mean to cover the entire column. This is a column that supports the monorail at Seattle Center & I drive past this every day.

When I first noticed it, it was a much smaller band of color. It took me a while to think to use my camera on my cell phone instead of trying to remember to bring my camera in the car. I would probably have gotten a nicer close-up shot of the thing with my digital camera, but then again, the entire column would probably be covered byt the time I remembered to bring it. I'm curious as to whether the knitter(s) will stop where it is. The current height would require some sort of ladder to reach the scarf. If they bring it lower I think they will risk someone "finding" a nice warm scarf, or an entire wardrobe of scarves. It is fun to look at though, so many colors. A nice way to get rid of those odds and ends left from other projects and such. I always get an itch to go knit for a while after I've looked at it. (I ALWAYS get stuck at the traffic light at this intersection, so lots of time for contemplating knitting.) I just wish I could remember where I read about it, I know it was a blog. Hmmm. I'll have to try to track it down later.

On knitting news, I'm decreasing in the thumb gusset and that is going well, but still a good bit to go before finishing the gloves. I know I'll have them done before my surgery though, so I'm not worried. Of course, I've probably just jinxed myself now... Still no pics for that yet, I have to figure out where the software is now. My DH has been working hard getting things set up, he just hasn't communicated it well to me. Gee, that never happens. LOL

The costumes are all but done, just some hand sewing to put on the clasps for the cape. The sewing machine died in the attempt, however. I got a new one (mine was a 1968 Singer, so it was probably time). My new baby is a Brother PC210 & that puppy is AWESOME! It threads itself! Did you get that? OMG! This thing is so awesome and sewing is an absolute dream! I think my DH was feeling guilty about his recent purchases and talked me into replacing my machine rather than repair it, again. I didn't struggle too hard, though maybe I should have. Now all I want to do is sew stuff. I've been thinking about making myself a new knitting bag. The one I've been using was a gift from someone, a shopping bag from New Zealand, and it has not held up well to knitting needles that lost their point protectors. I'm starting to lose things out of the holes. LOL. So maybe after the costumes I'll make myself a bag. Or two. And maybe a needle holder...

Plugging away

Well, the thumbs are on and I'm into the thumb gussets. As far as I can tell, I'm in the home stretch. I finally have enough length to try them on and when I did, I found that the "errors" at the join don't really show that much when you have them on your hands. So, I've decided, no ripping. If he doesn't like them, he doesn't have to wear them. He was warned, after all, that they would be my first pair of gloves and might be a bit wonky. LOL

Other news is that Himself got a new computer for the house. Originally it was to replace the PC I usually work on, but once it arrived, he changed his mind about getting rid of one. I won't say how many we now have, but let's say that I think it is excessive. (However, polling of other with a family member working in the computer world would indicate that we are about average for those folks.) Our house is a total wreck as we move things around to accomodate the new machine, just when I was trying to accomplish a major clean/purge. You'd think these things would mesh, but, no. I really isn't working out that way. Anyway, all my pictures are transitioning between machines and I'm going to be delayed posting any updated photos for a few days. Sorry.

I'm losing a bit of knitting time this week to Halloween costumes as well. My oldest has decided to be a bat for Halloween. I cannot find a bat costume anywhere, so we are improvising. Improvising = mom is sewing bat wings for a costume party this Saturday. Have I mentioned lately that I have no spare time in my life? Well, now I have less. I'm a total costume wh*re, however, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE making them (and yes, wearing them), so I'm enjoying the opportunity to do something, I just wish I had more time to enjoy the process.

Work continues to spiral into chaos. I'm waiting for my psycho boss to screw me over one last time on her way out, I know it is going to happen, but when? In the meantime, we (the librarians and about half the students) just wish she'd go now instead of waiting until the end of the month. She is no longer doing anything work related to this place & she's really in the way, piling on work she needs done to help her do her new job while we're struggling to get the work done for our job. >sigh< She really thinks she's helping us out here. Have I mentioned she's crazy? Tick, tock, tick, tock... at least there is an end in sight. That's better news than I've had for a while, so I'll try to be grateful for that instead of dwelling on the struggle that can't be changed.

Ready to add the thumb

Woo-Hoo! I'm making progress now, ready to graft on the thumb. I'm still not sure I like the way the other fingers look at the grafting point. Although I'm pretty sure I did them all the same, I apparently didn't because some of them look a little off (and others look fine). I sort of want to rip back and start over, but I'm afraid I wouldn't actually improve on my current job & that I wouldn't finish the project if I rip it back (before the surgery). I think I need to make a final decision before I graft the thumbs. Don't you? LOL

To seek perfection or not? That is the foolish question. Hmmm. How compulsive do I feel right now? Maybe I should try sewing up the fingers and see if that improves the look, or count how many look normal/weird and make a choice based on percentages or something. Argh! I have enough chaos in my life right now, I really don't need to create more. Anyway, I tried to get a picture of the problem area, but it just won't show clearly in the photos. I've included a close-up, but I don't know if you can see anything. The problem is at the join for the finger second from the right. It looks a bit like a purl. I'm wondering if maybe I can just put some sort of arty stitching there later. Hmmm....

Knitting again!

Yes! I got all the fingers joined and have successfully made two rounds on the main "body" of the gloves. I think I'll have to wait for a few rounds to see if the join looks okay. I'm not sure what I'll do if it doesn't because I REALLY don't want to rip it and try to put it all together again.

I forgot the camera today, so I'll have to get a picture tonight and post it later. The important thing for me is, I'm back to the knitting part & I worked out the two-gloves-on-two-needles thing. The optimism (or is it just determination to make it work?) seems to have paid off there. Just suck it up and do it, right? I'm insanely relieved when that works out. I have a theory that if I don't know what I'm doing and just bully through it, it will usually work out okay. If I think about it too much, I'll screw it up for sure. Funny, I don't mind fixing my mistakes when I bully through something, but if I overthink it and screw it up I'm cussing my way through the fixes. That's probably why I'm approaching knitting the way I am & I should probably apply that approach to more areas of my life.

I found out yesterday that my boss is moving to a new position. Its a secret, so don't tell anyone! LOL We've worked here together for just over 8 years (she started a month before I did) She's been pretty psycho for the past, oh, two years, so it is a really good thing. (No really, I mean PSYCHO.) I've looked many times over the past year for a new job, but librarian positions in Seattle can be hard to come by. Still, now that I know she's leaving I will start to worry about who will replace her. More bothersome, should I go for her job? >sigh< I'm not impossible to please, I guess I am just used to worrying about job stuff. And I've been thinking about the phrase "better the devil you know than the devil you don't". Perhaps I just lack confidence in the folks who will decide on her replacement. Hmmm, and now perhaps I've just said too much...

This may take a while

Well, it's a good thing I was so optimistic before, 'cuz I'm not feeling it now. Zowie! I've picked up stitches for 8 fingers more times than I can remember. No matter how carefully I check, it seems that I get several fingers in and find that I picked up the wrong thing on a finger back towards the beginning and have to take everything off again and start again. I'm using waste yarn, well actually I'm using floss, but I still have mangled things several times. I'm sure I'm learning lots of neat things that I can use again the next time I make this pattern. That's what I get for modifying a pattern instead of just finding the right one to start with.

I'm okay with it. Really. I haven't given up, or decided to hate the project or anything, I'm just spending a lot of time getting things back on the needles. (Something like 2 hours, but with very little cursing.) Well, I think I've got them all on, but now I'm a bit confused at how to make it all work on the magic loop. I think I've just gotten myself confused because of the trouble I've had picking up the right stitches. I'm sure now that everything is properly on the needles I'll be able to figure it out and get going again. I hope. (ooooo, look, I might have a little optimism left after all.) Anyway, we'll see how it goes at lunch today. I feel like I will be fine once I get all the fingers joined up and all the fussy bit is done. Maybe a little brief trauma when the thumbs are joined, but by then I will be able to apply lessons learned from all the fingers. >sigh<

It is also the first week of the term for my school. I've got tons of new students and classes coming through for info literacy tours and it is taking up too much of my time that I need to be spending on other tasks. Also, I'm training two new student employees this week and they take up quite a bit of time as well. There's a new class being offered for incoming freshmen and the faculty have put off their planning till the last minute. That means they are all showing up here at 7:15 am (or calling) and asking to bring a class into the library later that morning for a tour. Um, NO. Plan ahead & make reservations please. Jinkies! It seems to be making me a bit cranky, so I'm really hoping to get back to knitting soon to help soothe my soul. Also, there was no House on last night (baseball was on instead) and I'll be missing that for a few more weeks. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike baseball, I just want to watch my shows when I'm knitting at lunch. Oh well, at least my other shows will be on the rest of the week.

If I get the knitting going again, I'll post pictures tomorrow.

10 little fingers done

Woo-Hoo! Well, I've finished up the fingers & now it is on to the rest of the glove. I'm anxious to get going for fear that I'll get stalled worrying about whether or not everything will fit, work, etc. Why on earth do we do things like this to ourselves? Isn't it enough that I've already learned so much and gotten so far so quickly on this project? >sigh< I really must work on that Devil May Care attitude. I won't skip gauge, but I must simply learn to let the rest go. Most of the time... LOL

On another front, I finally got in to see a orthopedic specialist about my wrist lump. My GP was right, it is a gangliar cyst. So I'm sending a BIG raspberry out to the crazy rheumatologist who wanted to treat me for arthritis and put me on a life-long course of crazy strong meds. I'm also going to write a letter or two, but somehow the sound of a raspberry is so much more satisfying right now. Ha!

The other side of that is that I am scheduled to have surgery to remove the cyst the day before Thanksgiving. I was taking the week off anyway, so I won't have to take extra vacation time, which is nice. OTOH, I won't be able to cook either. I'm one of Those People who enjoy cooking the meal (maybe just because it is never a large crowd of people), so I am actually a little sad about that part. Then again, I will be so glad to resolve this thing (since JANUARY!) that it will be a fair trade. I will have a wrist brace for 10-16 days. I don't know if there will be physical therapy with that as well, I forgot to ask. The doctor thinks knitting is great therapy for the hands (isn't he a nice doctor?) but isn't sure how long I will have to wait before I can start knitting again after the surgery. So. I'd better get cracking on the gloves. I'd really hate to have some amount of them to go when I have surgery. I'm pretty sure I can't knit with my toes...