Back from Cali, knitting socks and staying off my feet…fun times!

Been awhile again since my last post.  I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t seem to find the time or the energy for the computer these days for some reason.  I can’t remember the last time I actually checked my email.  If anyone has sent me anything and I haven’t responded, sorry.  I’m more apt to see something you send me on Facebook or Twitter than I am in an email…LOL  Kind of sad, huh?!?!

So I went to California on June 9th and stayed for 3 weeks.  Seeing my mother is always so great for me; if you know me and my mother, though, you also know that it’s a hugely stressful time for both of us.  We are both very strong personalities and we tend to clash in a lot of ways.  There is so much love there, though, that the happy moments always far outweigh the stressful ones.  This trip was about going to see David Cook with my favorite family member in the world, Krista and taking Jake back to Sea World to actually touch the dolphins.  The rest was all up in the air.  Spending time with Krista is always one of my favorite things to do.  We have the sort of relationship where we don’t really have to be doing anything special, we just like to be together.  One of our favorite group activities is, believe it or not, just sitting around with coloring books and colored pencils and coloring.  We both have these stupidly expensive Disney Princess coloring books that have really high quality paper and we guard them jealously, not letting anyone (no, not even Jacob) color in them but us.  Kind of sick, really, but it’s really so much fun to just stop for an hour and do something so simple and so rooted in our childhoods.  Oddly enough,though, neither of us really color at all when we aren’t together.  Krista gave me another new hobby this trip, though.  The Lakers were playing in the NBA championships against the Orlando Magic and K is a HUGE Lakers fan.  So the first night we hung out together game 4 (I think) was on and she said she had to watch it.  Anyone that knows me well at all knows that I’m absolutely not a sports fan in any way, shape or form.  So we got out coloring books and I got out Mom’s laptop and settled in for what I thought would be a boring television event, but still time with K is so rare b/c of the distance, so any time at all is priceless to me.  About halfway through the game, though, I realized that I was watching the TV almost as much as I was reading posts on Ravelry.  By the last five minutes of the game I had put the laptop down and was watching the action raptly.  By the time the final game rolled around a few nights later, I was all about the game.  I cheered and I booed and I jumped up and down.  I was almost hoping the Lakers would lose so that there would be another game.  They didn’t lose, though, and the victory was amazing.  So now I’m a basketball fan. A Laker’s fan at that.  Looking very much forward to pre-season.  Of course, knowing me, it may not last.  We’ll see.  I was a “hockey fan” for awhile when the Wings won their first Stanley Cup in however many long, long years.  That lasted about half of the next season and then I got bored out of my skull with it all (I think I just committed a sacrilege as far as my mother – a RABID Wings fan – is concerned).

I finally got my own copy of New Pathways for Sock Knitters, so I can finish the second Spiraling Coriolis sock.  I’m about 2/3 of the way done with it, maybe a little less.  I got so excited about sock knitting that I joined the 52 Pair Plunge III @ Ravelry.  Of course I haven’t even finished pair #1 so I’m WAY behind…LOL  I think , though, that once I finish the WIPs that are outstanding gifts I owe to people (the Moderne Baby Blanket for Fran’s new granddaughter and the Anouk dress for Lisa’s new baby due any time now) I’ll throw myself a little more into sock knitting.  I’ve just ordered matching sets of fixed circs. from Knit Picks: one each of the Harmony and the Nickle plated in sizes 0-3 (which is actually 6 needles in each material b/c there are 2 different sizes of 1 and 2 b/c of the metric measurements) in the 24″ length.  I was going to just order the sizes in the Harmony wood in the 24″ and 32″ lengths so that I could differentiate easily when using 2 circs (which I really do like for socks) but I thought that the different materials for the tips would make the distinction even easier and I really have found that I like the nickle more than I thought I did.  I have the Options sets in both materials so if I need longer than 24″ needles I’ve got that covered as well.

I love shopping at Amazon, btw.  I just ordered and received the newest version of the Kindle; it was an early birthday gift from my mother.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!  I’ve already got five or six books and several blogs on it.  So nice to have choices in such a slim and light container.  I always want to take something to read with me, but can’t ever decide what so I end up schlepping three or four hard cover books with me on vacations or when I know I’ll be bored for awhile.  Great for choice, but heavy as all hell.  This is much nicer!!  I also ordered a whole slew of knitting books:

• A Treasury of Knitting Patterns Volumes 1 & 2:  I’ve always wanted to have a great stitch dictionary collection and I like these the best so far.  I’m not big on designing things myself – I’m still too chicken to even play too much with changing elements in patterns that I’m following.  Just looking through these books, though, has inspired me a bit.  I found myself thinking ‘that would make a great cuff or edging on a sweater’ or ‘that would be a great cuff or leg pattern for a sock’.  It’s a step in the right direction.  I WILL get braver with my knitting before the end of year.  My goal is to design one thing, no matter how simple it is – maybe I’ll design the scarves I’m planning to make for TJ and Jake this year rather than following a pattern.
• Elizabeth Zimmerman’s  Knitting Workshop, Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Almanac and Knitting Without Tears:  I’ve  heard so many great things about E.Z. and I thought this would be a great time to “get to know her”.  I thought I ordered The Opinionated Knitter as well, but I guess not.  It’s something for the future.
• Lace Style:  You can never have too many lace knitting books
• A Gathering of Lace:  See above….love the lace knitting!!
• The Intentional Spinner, The Spinner’s Companion and Spin Control:  I’ve been spinning for a little more than a year and a half now and I still kind of feel like I’m working blind.  I can spin a decent yarn but I have very little control as to how it comes out.  I’m still not sure about the different kinds of drafting and how to do them.  I’m in love with spindle spinning, which I feel like I have a lot more control with, and I love my wheel, but I feel like I’m always playing catch up when I’m using the wheel.  I rarely, if ever, get the yarn that I expect to get from it.  I want to learn more and to get better.  I really need a spinning class to get me on the right track.  I need someone to teach me all these different “draws” and how they work and what I’m doing wrong…
• Teach Yourself Visually Hand-dyeing:  I love hand dyeing and another book on it can only be good.
• Sock Innovation:  I’m all about sock knitting these days and I’m a big fan of Cookie A.’s designs even though I’ve never knit one.  The chapters on design are really a big selling point for me.

• Toe Up:  This is the WendyKnits book.  I didn’t actually order this one, I bought it at Barnes N Noble while I was in CA.  I found I really like the toe up method of knitting socks and there are really cute patterns in this book.  I’m looking forward to knitting some of these for the “Plunge”

I’ve had a lot of time to look through my book and play with the Kindle in the last few weeks.  Here’s a big TMI warning if you don’t want to know more than you ever dreamed about my cycles and periods….

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I’ve been undergoing the very beginning of fertility treatments since late March.  50 mg. of Clomid from days 3-7 of the cycle.  Only did one cycle and it didn’t work.  I got my period 50 days into the Clomid cycle and it started with spotting that lasted for almost 2 weeks, which was annoying but tolerable.  When I was out in CA the real period finally started and was heavy (which I expect) and irritating – it got bad the same day as the David Cook concert, of course – but it wasn’t unbearable.  Now that I’m three weeks into this period and I’m bleeding like a stuck pig half the time with HUGE clots and not bleeding at all the other half, I’m irritated.  It’s gotten to the point where I have to stay in bed or on the couch most of the time b/c any real activity or straining myself makes the bleeding horrible.  For example I got out of bed on the 4th to hang out at the bonfire in the yard b/c my mother-in-law and TJ’s Aunt Nancy were there.  Just sitting out there, walking around and playing with Jake a bit was the most I did and when I got back inside I ended up having to change my pajama bottoms twice in 30 minutes.  I’ve been feeling dizzy, foggy headed, crampy and just plain yucky since this started.  Saw the doctor today, had an ultra sound and am going to meet with a new fertility specialist tomorrow morning.  So nervous!!  I am terrified that I’m going to find out that I can’t have another baby and that would break my heart.  TJ and I are not necessarily in agreement about fertility treatments.  I’m all about doing whatever it takes to have another child and TJ isn’t sure if he’s on board for getting really into the infertility treatments.  He’s terrified by the though of higher level multiples and he’s afraid that my body won’t deal well with “forcing” pregnancy.  IVF is still a long way away, I hope, but he’s so against the thought and while it’s not my first choice for a way to have a baby, if it’s my only option, I’m totally on board with it.  This is going to be a long process, and it’s going to take a lot of talking and figuring out what is important to us and what our priorities when it comes to family are.  I’m scared!

96 Yards of Handspun lace/fingering weight

I just finally (I actually finished spinning and plying the yarn in December) skeined up and finished the singles that were left after spinning and plying my Girl Insane top.  The colors in the top were light to medium pinks, shades of grey to black, light to dark purples and white. (Don’t have a picture of the top, so here’s the link to the original listing in etsy: Girl Insane Top.  I split the colors into lights and darks, spun the singles fairly thin (I’m still terrible about figuring out things like what drafting method I used or how many twists per inch etc.) and then plied the two together.  It came out really pretty.  When I was through, I had just under 100 yards of singles left from the dark batch, so I skeined it and finished it tonight – it’s drying right now.  Pictures to follow once it’s dry and I get off my lazy ass and take the pics.

Any suggestions on what to do with just about 100 yards of light fingering to heavy lace singles?  I’m stumped, but this came out so pretty that I want to use it.  I thought about plying it with itself after it finishes drying, but then I’ll only have 50 or so yards and I know there’s not a lot I can do with that.  Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

The Coriolis socks are coming out beautifully.  I’m back on track after the frogging incident and I’m really enjoying these socks.  I’m going to buy the book (I’ve had it out of the library for two renewals now and I don’t want to keep it out of the hands of others who might want to read it) before I leave for CA (on Tuesday) and work on the last sock on the plane ride.  It seems like a good, portable project for the plane.  It’s either that or my Clapotis and that thing is pretty big and bulky for a plane ride at this point.

As for my two baby gift projects:  I’ve hit a wall with the Moderne Baby Blanket as the book is still packed up in a box somewhere in this house (I swear we’ll never be fully moved in) and I was able to find the pattern as a freebie through Ravelry, but it’s a scan of the book and doesn’t include the border, so until I find the book I’m kind of stuck.  I know I could just come up with my own border, but I’m just not feeling that creative with this one.  I draw a blank whenever I try to think of a good border pattern for this…again, suggestions are welcome and appreciated.  The Anouk pattern is coming along nicely.  The baby it’s for is due in July and I’ve got the first half done and am ready to start on the second.  The first went really quickly so I’m hoping the second will be as swift.  These are the only projects I plan to bring on the trip, along with some needlepoint that I’ve been working on for awhile on and off.  I figure if I don’t have many choices I can’t get caught up in “startitis” and might actually finish a few things on time…

Bob Ross, I Love You!!

Now there’s a title for a blog post…LOL.  Being sick and forced to sleep whenever I can, I’m catching a lot of TV that I wouldn’t normally pay attention to at all.  So I’m flipping channels a few weeks ago (before I was really sick, but when I couldn’t sleep) and I caught the last few minutes of “The Best of The Joy of Painting” on PBS.  I remembered the “happy trees” from my childhood; I guess I must have seen the show when it was originally run way back then…maybe before or after Sesame Street, I don’t know.

So now that I’m having tons of trouble sleeping for more than a few hours at a time; the latest drug to help me sleep that we’ve tried, Elavil, didn’t do me a whole lot of good; I’ve been DVRing and watching the daily episode of “Best of…”  I’m hooked.  There is such a calmness to Bob Ross’s voice, it’s so soothing.  He seems to be totally at peace all the time, is he on qualudes?  And the afro, what can I say about the afro…so crazy.  I love the way he makes painting those gorgeous outdoor scenes seem so easy, so effortless.  Watching him, I keep thinking, ‘I can do that’.  There is a DVD workshop set that comes with the paints that he used and instruction for a bunch of his works that I’ve thought about getting.  Even better, though, Michael’s has Bob Ross Method classes regularly.  I definitely plan to take one of those one of these days.

It’s funny, I’ve never thought of myself as a particularly artistic person, but since I picked up knitting, and more importantly spinning and dyeing, I find myself reveling in creativity.  I want to explore as many different mediums as I can.  I’ve played with digital scrapbooking and I LOVE it.  I haven’t done it in quite awhile, but I have disks and disks of digital elements and backgrounds etc.  Now that I’ve written about it, I’ll probably find myself drawn back in for awhile.  I’ve never actually paper scrapbooked, but I have boxes of paper, stickers, elements and some tools; more than enough to get started and make several albums.  I have no pens, though.  Odd, that I forgot that after buying all the rest of the stuff.  As you all can see, I get obsessed with crafts and then frustrated when I’m not good at them from the get go.  I’ve dabbled with embroidery and cross stitch (I have a cross stitch project that I have to finish for TJ’s family.  His Uncle’s 2nd wife passed away early this year and she was an avid cross stitcher, they’ve asked me to finish the cross stitch she was working on when she passed.  What a great honor to have them have so much faith in me.  It’s VERY slow going, though, b/c I want to do it justice, I want it to be absolutely perfect).  The one needle art that I haven’t tried, but will eventually, is needle punch.  That looks like a lot of fun and fairly simple.

Sleep is still eluding me, but it’s giving me a lot of time for working on the X-mas scarves.  I was working on the one for my MIL and I realized something:  I’ve been using the chart for the first three or four repeats of the scarf, in fact I’ve been using charts rather than writeen directions ever since I learned how to read a chart, but last night, the way I was sitting made it difficult to read the chart.  Being lazy and tired, I started using the written directions instead of reorganizing all the things I had around me – being bed-bound is really annoying at times – and I got through the row much more quickly.  I think that I learn by reading much better than I do visually.  For some reason, when I read the charts, I don’t see the bigger picture, which is kind of funny.  For example, when I read (p3, k5) 3 times it’s simple for me to know what to do with the next 24 stitches, when I see the same thing on a chart, I take each part as a single entitiy: e.g. p3 then look at the chart, k5, look back at the chart etc.  I don’t know why I can’t see that it’s a repeat and take it as such from a chart.  Oh well, at least I can work with a pattern that has no written directions and follow the chart even if it does make me work slower.  I’d kill for written patterns for some of the mystery KAL’s that I’ve done.  I’m obsessed with mystery KAL’s.  I’ll actually finish one one day, I swear it!!  LOL

Home but still not well

I keep meaning to post more often, but this kidney infection thing is kicking my ass.  They sent me home from the hospital late last week and told me that with some rest I should be feeling better pretty quickly.  Here I am, still sick, still with symptoms and still feeling like total shit!!!  I have to go back to the doctor tomorrow and am anticipating another hospitalization…no fun!!!

On to happier things.  I’m getting ready to put together a package for my first swap.  I hope my swapee likes it.  It’s not going to be as extravagant as I had first planned b/c of this illness, but I figure I can save the really extravagant package for the final one.

I finished knitting the first of the fingerless mitts that I’m making from the yarn I spun from the camel/merino fiber I got at the Michigan fiber festival.  I love, love, love camel fiber is what I’ve discovered from this.  It’s so soft and so amazing to work with.  The yarn, I’m afraid, still leaves a little something to be desired, but I made it myself and that gives me a great sense of accomplishment.  I smile everytime I look at the glove and I imagine I’ll have a similar reaction whenever I wear them.  In just the short time I’ve put on that single glove, to figure length etc., I realized that this is a VERY warm fiber.  Would be great for a hat/scarf set or even for a sweater (Perhaps Evangeline from White Lies Designs – although that would be awfully expensive to do in a camel blend…LOL)

Evangeline is my dream sweater, btw.  I keep looking at it and telling myself I’m going to buy it, but I never do.  It’s definitely more difficult than anything I’ve attempted (I have yet to make a garment for myself or anyone else for that matter) but I love it anyway.

On the projects I want to start front:  I just discoverd that Knit Picks has a Sheldon the Turtle kit with his different career costumes here.  How cute is that?!?!  I’ve never really been struck with the urge to knit toys at all, but this one speaks to me.  You can’t beat the price, either.

On the swap front:  I’ve got a great swapper (the person who is sending to me) so far.  She’s been great about contacting me and we seem to have quite a bit in common.  I’m really enjoying the communication!!  Thanks swapper o’ mine!!  For my swappee I have some things planned.  I was planning for her first package to be big and extravagant, but with all the illness stuff I have going on, that will have to wait for the final package.  I really want to do a good job and spoil my spoilee the way I would want to be spoiled.  This being my first swap, I really want to make a good impression.

My Christmas knitting for my MIL and my FIL’s girlfriend Fran are coming along nicely.  Last year I started gifts for both of them, but didn’t finish.  ARGH!!!  So this year I picked something smaller (Tidal Streams for MIL in Silk Twist in the colorway Peridot and Storm Water for Fran in Sea Silk in the Dandelion colorway)  I’ve really come to love the Handmaiden line of yarns.  My dream yarn currently is the Camelspun that they offer.  I’m just obsessed with Camel yarns right now.  I really wish I had bought a pound of the camel/merino fiber at the festival instead of just the 4 oz. that I bought.

I’ve spent so much time on Ravelry lately drooling over patterns and yarns that I want and it’s almost like punishment b/c I’ve made a pact with myself to work on nothing but these scarves until they are done.  No debacle like last year, thank you very much.  The camel/merino mitts were different; I had to try out the yarn after I spun and set it.  LOL  I will post pictures of the yarn and the mitts when I’m feeling better and can do all the camera stuff.

Have I mentioned that spending the majority of one’s time in bed doing nothing but watching TV, knitting and playing on the computer is not nearly as much fun as it might seem?  When I’m well and doing stuff around here, I long for time to do nothing, but now that I’m pretty much bedbound for at least 3/4 of the day, all I can think about is how much I have to do around here.  The other day I was feeling a little better and I did some cleaning and reorganizing of the bedroom and the craft room and I woke up the next morning feeling worse than I had in weeks.  The doctor chastized me and said that rest does not mean major organizing projects.  Who knew…

We’ve sent in the app. for the apartment we’re hoping to move to.  It’s a three bedrom with a private entrance, two full baths (one in the master bedroom, yay) and a washer and dryer (full sized – what will I do with my washer and dryer though?) in the unit.  There is also a great balcony (bigger than any I’ve ever seen in an apartment) that we will be able to put some outdoor furniture on for BBQ’s etc.  It’s really well laid out and spacious and I can see us living there for the next 4 or 5 years.  That’s important to me b/c I told TJ that if we decided to get an apartment instead of looking for the first house available that we could afford, I wanted to commit to at least 3 years but would be happier with 4 or 5.  I hate moving and there has already been so much upheaval in Jake’s 4 years that I don’t want to put him through another move until he’s older.

Okay, I guess that’s it for now.  I have to get back into bed…ugh…I hate being sick!!!!

Merry Christmas…better late than never, right?

I don’t post nearly enough. I’ve been in a computer funk/trying like a madwoman to get X-mas knitting done. I didn’t finish on time (should have seen that coming) but I did show the progress I had made to the people who were supposed to get gifts; they were duely impressed and I’m going to have to keep working my butt off to get things done before V-Day. LOL Mom’s moebius scarf was actually done, the knitting at least, but I didn’t finish the blocking so I didn’t want to give it to her. She liked it, though. We also gave her a collage frame with pictures of Jake and us and John and Kate (brother in law and his girlfriend of 4 years – who say they’re getting married at the beginning of the year but we’ll see) and even one of her (Mom) at Christmas Eve Celebration. It really was a nice gift. I wish we did more crap like that for our house which, after a year of living here, still lacks all but the most basic of decoration. We suck at that homey stuff. Blah. Fran’s shawl is nowhere near done, but I did show her my progress and, again, it was complimented. I feel like absolute crap about that one, b/c it was the only gift we had for her and now she’ll have to wait for it. I’m going to prioritize getting that done after a SHORT break. It’s all I’ve been working on for weeks now and, frankly, I’m sick of it.

Right now I’m working on a pair of Fetching mitts for myself using the Malabrigo that I got before X-mas. I also want to make the thrummed mittens for myself that I saw on Grumperina’s blog. So pretty. I have some bamboo roving on the way, but I’m not sure it will be warm enough. I have plenty of other roving as well, so I’m sure I’ll find something to use.

I’ve done a fair amount of spinning over the holidays. The roving I got from Over the Rainbow Yarns on Ebay is spinning up really prettily. It’s full of electric blues and vivid pinks with some deap teal and a hint of purple thrown in for fun. I’ve been reading Spinning the Old Way and it’s been giving great insight into spindle spinning and I’m getting better, I think. I still have to give Shannon too her spindle for X-mas and I have yet to get something for Emily as well. I’m lazy, lazy, lazy.

Jake had a great X-mas. Got lots of stuff: a Leap Frog computer, REAL Tonka truck (metal and everything), a Thomas the Tank Engine playset, Radio Controlled racing game, some books, some clothes (which he didn’t care about) etc. TJ and I didn’t do too bad either. All in all it was a very nice Christmas with his family. I’m hoping to be out in CA next year with my mom and family for Christmas and after that start our own “at home” family traditions. All the travelling for just a day or two is hard on me and on Jake. I’m not big on the leaving the house to begin with and I have so much of it coming up. In Feb. I’m off to CA for three weeks to a month, then in April we’re off to Delaware for TJ’s work (we will be getting a side trip to DC out of it, though and I CAN’T WAIT for that), then in June/July we’re back out west to AZ to visit TJ’s grandparents (they haven’t seen Jake since he was 4 months old) and I might make a “side trip” to Texas to visit my best girlfriend, Brooke. She’s had a tough year; she lost her father to a six year battle with prostate cancer; and I want to spend some time with her. That’s a lot of travel for the girl who went six weeks or more without ever stepping foot any father than the front porch last year. See, all this going out to knit has been really good for me. It’s opened up horizons that I thought were closed forever. I actually like being social and all that. LOL

Off to have a late breakfast with the family. TJ has been tending to little man while I play on the “puger” (Jake’s word for it). Time to do my share. Later friends.

I’m not pregnant

There’s an interesting title for a blog post. It’s true, though. The hubby and I have been talking about/trying to get pregnant for a little while now, but to no avail.

****WARNING*** Personal, somewhat icky (to some) information re: my reproductive system coming up… Will let you know when it’s over…

Getting pregnant with Jacob was fairly easy. I read Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler and started charting. It worked. Within 3-4 cycles, I was pregnant with Little Man. Periods were slow to come back after I stopped pumping (he wouldn’t nurse adequately and I was determined to give him only breast milk for the first six months…that’s a whole post of its own, though) and weren’t regular to say the least; number of days ranged from 30 days (not bad) to 90+ days (kind of crazy). Didn’t really think much about it at the time since we weren’t interested in getting pregnant at the time. Since my back has been better, though, it’s become more and more an obsession of mine. It’s kind of like knitting and spinning but without the pretty yarn. So I’ve been keeping an eye on things and discovered something terrible. I’m not ovulating at all, nor am I getting a period without the help of Provera every three months. This is very disconcerting to say the least. My doctor has been rather casual about the whole thing, not wanting to get too crazy with treatment or even tests too soon. Frustrating, but I’ve been going with it. A few weeks ago, she gave in and ordered a panel of blood tests (which I’m still waiting to hear anything about the results on) and said that after getting them she’d call in a Progesterone cream script for me. Hasn’t happened yet. The frustrating thing is that my body is giving me all the signs of the regular hormonal things happening: My cervical mucus (that’s such an ugly sounding phrase) regularly goes from dry to sticky to wet and egg whitey several times per “cycle”. I regularly have three or four days of “egg white CM” which tricks me into thinking I might be fertile. I have to admit that I haven’t been great about the morning temping (by this I mean I haven’t been doing it) so I don’t have that information to look at. I also get the pregnancy/period on its way symptoms on a regular basis. Take this month for example: my boobs are heavy, rounder and sore, the veins in them are much more noticeable (it’s like a road map on my chest), I’ve had heart burn on and off for about a week and a half (that was the first sign with Jacob), not to mention the cramping which has been going on for a few days.

***END OF TMI WARNING***

All of these signs/symptoms led me to believe that it was possible that I really might have ovulated without realizing it and might indeed be pregnant. I didn’t get my hopes up too far b/c I knew just how unlikely it was that after all this time I’d just start ovulating, but I couldn’t help getting the tiniest bit excited at that thought. Another mid to late summer baby wasn’t a great thought, but at this point, I’ll take what I can get. Did a pregnancy test last night and, of course, it was negative. What was I expecting though. I’m starting to wonder if I don’t have to just accept the fact that Little Man will be the only baby I have. It’s not like I’m getting any younger. I really wanted to go with a more aggressive stance on testing and treating my fertility problems, but Dr. M doesn’t think it’s a good idea. I’m not concerned enough, yet, to push it to another doctor, but I’m not sure how far away that is, either.

Onto other topics. Color Wonder fingerpaints. Can I just say Hooray for these. Jacob wants to draw/paint etc. all the time. The problem with this is that, like any three year old, he has no comprehension that the bed, walls, cat etc. are not the appropriate places to do this. For example, I lay down with him one day last week for nap time and he woke up before me, rather than wake me up like he normally does, he got into my knitting notions bag and pulled out my dry erase markers that I use for marking up the page sleeves I keep my patterns in and drew all over my $200 dollar (my one real luxury item are my sheets) sheets, my pajamas and himself. I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or kill him. I chose laugh b/c really, what could I do. After that TJ and I sat him down and had a talk with him, but I really don’t think he gets it. We tried the Color Wonder line when he was a little younger – the marker and coloring book set – but he didn’t show much interest in it. He didn’t have the patience to wait for the chemical reaction to make the color develop. Those markers really do take a long time to develop the color. We bought the finger paints at the same time, but after his reaction to the markers we didn’t bother to get them out. The other night while TJ and I were making dinner, I got them out as a last ditch effort to get him to behave while we were cooking. Amazingly enough, he was fascinated by it. For the last few days it’s all he’s wanted to do. Of course we don’t let him finger paint all day, but it’s a great way to give him something to do that isn’t messy and totally engrosses him. I strongly recommend them to all parents of toddlers who have any interest in coloring/painting etc.

Knitting content: I figure, since the word Knits is in the title of this blog, there should be something said about knitting. The BJL&L Shawl is coming along nicely. I’ve got 10 1/2 of 25 repeats done. I don’t see a problem with getting it done long before Christmas, though. Or at least on time. I’m also working on the Circular Shrug which is my mindless knitting project. It’s all k2p2 ribbing and a mock rib pattern. I’m enjoying working on it and hope to have it done before Christmas so I can wear it. I’m making it with Noro Silver Thaw and it’s soft and very vibrant. The main colors are oranges and blue greens. I’ll post a picture when I get around to it. I’m really glad I only committed to two projects for Christmas this year. Anymore and I would have been screwed. There are actually a few more gifts I’m planning to make, but they are for people who know that they won’t be done until after the holiday. Small things like a ball band bag etc.

Project Update and getting ready for Halloween

Halloween is tomorrow night.  Do you think we are prepared here at the Dwire house?  That’s a big N-O good buddies.  As I’ve told you all, I’ve been sick as a dog for the last few weeks.  (Why do we say “sick as a dog”?  My dog has been “sick” about twice in his 13 years…I’ve never really heard of a dog being  sick, per se, unless it was something pretty bad.  A common cold or bronchitis, though, haven’t heard of that.  Oh well, something to look up on the internets later…)  We have roughly 30 hours until the big trick or treat  and we are very poorly prepared.  This will be Jake’s first real Halloween experience.  When he was 2 months old we dressed him up and propped him in a pumpkin.

I thought this was going to be the beginning of many great baby/toddler Halloween costumes.  You know, the ones where I got to pick what I wanted to see him as.  Not so much, though.  His 2nd Halloween, we were living up north and since the trick or treating wasn’t a very feasible option (it’s hard when you have about three neighbors in a mile radius and no mall or any other big place like that to take the kids) we planned to go to the Halloween party at the local Eagles club.  When we took him shopping for the costume, though, he wanted NOTHING to do with it.  He had a full on fit at the costume shop when we got near him with any costume, even Thomas the Tank Engine which he was obsessed with at the time (still is).  So he went to the party in a sweatshirt and jeans; we called him the cutest baby in town; clearly we don’t have a problem with humility when it comes to Jake.  Last year, he still wanted nothing to do with costumes or parties etc.  so we took him shopping, got him some candy and a Halloween toy and we called it good.  This year, we’re in Kalamazoo, in a house in a subdivision and he’s going to have his very first “real” Halloween experience.  He’s been saying that he wants to be Scooby Doo, not that he understands what dressing up means, really.  He’s mostly excited about the fact that he gets to ring doorbells.  He’s been practicing saying “trick or treat” and he knows that he’ll get candy.  We’re going to go shopping for a costume tonight and we’ll carve the pumpkins (we grew them ourselves this year) tonight as well. I’m thinking about taking him to the “zoo boo” at the zoo tonight as well.  Tomorrow will be a family day.  We’re going to take him to the pumpkin patch/cider mill to do the corn maze, maybe a hay ride. I want him to experience the whole season.  I feel like my illnesses and my physical problems have caused way too much missed opportunities for him.  He’s been cheated out of a lot b/c of me and I hate that.

I still have a lot of problems with follow through on what I plan to do.  It’s so much easier for me to stay at home and take it easy, to assume that I don’t have it in me to do this or that.  I always regret it and I always swear I’m going to do better, but I never do.  I really want to, but I’m a creature of habit and this staying home all the time is a hard habit to break.  It’s like quitting smoking only scarier!

On to the knitting.  I’ve been reading a lot of people talking about their UFOs and the things that either need to commit to finishing or send to the frog pond.  Knitting Daily has been doing a series on it and it’s got me thinking about my UFOs as well.   Off the top of my head I have:  Fifi (which is about 5% or less done), Lizzard Ridge (still on square #1), felted boxes (still on #1), felted bowl (need to work on the decreases and then felt), Booga Bag (done but for the felting), multidirectional scarf (about 50% done), garden path shawl (10% at best)… this is only partial and it’s very sad.  The Lizzard Ridge blanket is something that I plan to do for sure, it’s not on a time schedule and I’m planning to work on that as I go, buying the Kuryeon as time/money allows and going from there.  All the others, though, really need to go to the frog pond for now.  Fifi was part of my first KAL and I liked starting it and I think it will be an interesting and challenging (first garment) knit.  I put it up when I started working on Christmas gifts (which was a disaster in and of itself).  The Garden Path Shawl was a part of the Christmas thing and I had high hopes for it.  I put in weeks of work on it before admitting to myself that it might have been a little bit too ambitious for a first lace project.  I ended up choosing a faux moebius pattern for a scarf and doing it in a gorgeous cashmere blend.  It’s a much smaller gift, but something within my abilities and really quite beautiful.  I hope the recipients love them as much as I’m enjoying making them.  I really don’t have as much time to knit as I’d like, but I think it’s mostly due to poor planning and time management on my part.  My newest crafting love – spinning – is taking a lot of time.  I recently spent too much money on roving and other fibers for spinning.  I’m determined that I’m going to completely master the spindle before I get my wheel for Christmas.  I started spinning the Kareoke fiber (50/50 wool/soy silk) that I got and it’s a dream to spin!  The problem that I have is that I buy gorgeous fibers and I don’t want to use them until I know what I’m doing so as not to “waste” the fiber.  I keep telling myself that there will be other gorgeous fiber and that I’m never going to learn if I don’t give in and use it.  I’m quite excited about practicing dying with the silk hankies that I just got.  They are going to be fun.  I can’t wait to learn more about spinning them.

I’d love to write more, but Jake is clamoring for attention and I don’t think I can bear watching Cinderella III again…more on my spinning obsession when there is more time.  Happy Halloween!!!

Sick again

You know, I’d heard that you get sick a lot more once you have kids, but I thought that didn’t happen that until after they started school.  I’ve had so many little colds and things in the last year – the kind that come and go in a few days – that you would think I worked in a germ factory (what a horrible thought, working in a factory full of just germs).  This time, though, was worse.  I got myself a wonderful little case of bronchitis.  At least it didn’t turn into full blown pneumonia like it normally does, though.  For the last five or six days I’ve done nothing but sneeze, wheeze, cough, blow and spit phlegm.  Not fun.  I haven’t been able to sleep, to eat, to knit, to do anything really.  I didn’t think it would ever end.  I went to bed last night (early this morning) planning to call the doctor today to go in for a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia but woke up this morning with my nose clear (ah, the taste of food and drink) and my chest feeling lighter than it has in a week.  I think I sweat most of whatever I had out; my pillow was soaked this morning when I woke up.  The best part, though, is having some of my energy back.  I’ve felt like something the cat not only dragged in, but threw up on and then pushed down a flight of stairs all week.

I’ve decided to start a small business hand dying and spinning yarn eventually.  Of course I have to get a wheel, learn to use it and see if I have the talent needed to do this, but I’m hopeful.    I’m getting my wheel for Christmas and I can’t wait.  Ever since I got to use Shannon’s a few weeks ago, I’m hooked.  Admittedly, I haven’t done much spindle spinning in the last weeks, but I’ve been working on the knitted X-mas gifts for family.  I’m using totally different yarns and patterns than I originally planned.  My first ideas were a bit of a reach for my skills.  I think I could have gotten them done, but definitely not in time.  Maybe next year.

I’m becoming quite the little matchmaker.  I set up Andrea with Bubba (an old friend of mine) and they not only hit it off, they fell instantly in love.  I’ve heard of love at first sight, but never seen it actually happen right before my eyes.  I’m so happy for them.  Both of them are great people who haven’t had the best luck with love in the past.  They seem to be a perfect fit.  I hope this is the forever love that they are both looking for.

The Heat is on…

Being sick can really keep you away from the blogging and the computer in general.  I’ve been promising myself that I’m going to be really good about the blogging and I do well for awhile and then I start slacking like you wouldn’t believe.  I need to make a reminder on my calendar or something to remind me.  LOL  I’m getting over a bout with the flu (I’ve had it twice this summer), ah the joys of having a small child.  I’m feeling much better now, though.

I’ve been working on a few projects these past weeks. The Garden Path Shawl  has been giving me some trouble, so I’m thinking of switching to a different shawl for this gift. And the yarn, the Louisa Harding Impressions in the gorgeous rusty orange and pink shades is not working out for the Trellis and Vine pattern so I’m switching to the Pegasus yarn for that.  It’s only 2 1/2 months until X-mas, great time to think of switching everything.  It seems like a better choice, though, than keeping going for another month or so and then realizing that it’s just not going to work.  I’m going to just scrap it and start over and call it good.  I’m really starting to worry about getting these done in time.  I have to, though.  First of all, they’re the gifts I want to give and secondly, if I don’t get them done, I don’t get my wheel.  ARGH!!  This seemed like such a good idea back in July.  Startitis and other things, like spinning, have gotten in the way, though, and now I’m a bit under the gun.  I work best that way, though…LOL  Viva la pressure!!!

Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning

I’m home alone again. TJ and Jake are up north for the “weekend” (which is denoted by the days TJ has off work – Tues-Thurs – rather than the traditional weekend) and I’m at home with a cold and a ton of housework. I didn’t feel right leaving for a party and a mini-vacation while my house was in disarray. My how I’ve changed. I should be a lot farther ahead than I am, but I wasn’t feeling well yesterday and I was lazy. I got the maintenance stuff done, but I didn’t make a dent in the stuff that I need to get done in addition to that. I’ve been going through the stuff that we packed from the trailer and brought to the new house that’s been sitting in our garage for the last 4 months. I got through all the clothes last week, sorted them into fits and doesn’t fit, like and don’t like etc. as well as sorting all of the clothes that don’t fit Jacob anymore. They need to be washed and put away so that they’ll be ready for baby number 2, whenever that is – soon, I hope. Those clothes are all down the basement, sorted into piles and ready to go, I just haven’t washed it yet. That’s my goal for tonight. I also want to clean the kitchen and get the living room in tip top shape. I’ve lived in a house that’s a pig sty for so long, that this is like a revelation for me and I’m almost rabid about keeping it this way. I feel like if I slack for even one day it will all go to hell again and I’ll never get it clean again. It’s my current biggest fear, silly isn’t it?

I feel like it’s a whole new life and I’m trying to find a balance to it all. I don’t know how to reconcile the cleaning, child care and personal care and time with each other. Welcome to the real world, Shannon. I’ve lived in my own little world for far too long and now I’m trying to make the transition to a “normal” person and it’s definitely a challenge. I have so many things that I have to do and then things that I need to do and it’s hard to find a way to blend the two. I’m sure that I’ll figure it out in time, but right now I’m kind of struggling.

I’ve got the knitting that I have to get done: my scarf swap, which is so close to being done and my Christmas gifts that are also coming along. Those are the only things that I’m allowing myself to work on right now even though there are so many cute things that I really want to tackle. After Christmas, though, it’s on. I’ll allow my “startitis” to take over and I’ll allow myself to become overwhelmed with UFO’s. LOL Until then, I’ll be lost in my three big projects. I’m hoping to have the scarf swap scarf done in the next few weeks…less if possible. And then it’s all X-mas. The Garden Path shawl is proving to be a bigger challenge than I anticipated; I’ve had to tear it back to almost the beginning at least twice and last night I had to go back about 15 rows. I’m not giving up, though. I will persevere. I’ve put too much time and energy into this thing to give up now. I know I can do it. It’s generally just stupid mistakes that cause the problems; I work when I’m too tired to concentrate properly or I’m distracted while I knit and I don’t notice the mistake until rows later. I’m going to be more diligent about it from now on!!

I’m off now to put in laundry and read some blogs before getting out the knitting for the night. I think tonight will be a work on scarf until it’s done or I can’t see straight kind of night. Are you reading, Melinda? I’m still working on it. I haven’t forgotten or blown it off. Don’t lose faith in me…LOL

Later, y’all.