Preparing for battle

I am eagerly anticipating the yarn shops in Austin... They won't know what hit them. Wait, darn, we're on a strict budget. But I would really like to celebrate my trip by finally getting those rainbow Lantern Moon needles. Can I do dishes? Wind yarn?

I finished correcting the purple newsboy hat last night but neglected to take a picture of how pretty the top turned out. That's on my List-of-Things-to-do-Before-Leaving, along with making sure we don't leave any trash in the trash can or dirty dishes in the dishwasher. No stinky-winkies when coming home. (where is this language coming from? Is it owning a dog? Too much British tv?)

I enjoyed fixing the hat. Gave me a sense of accomplishment and a good shake and spread (think sheets or a blanket) on making the chaotic bed of life. The puppy is even settling in our routine and I have to remind myself she is a smart dog and is not looking for sneaky opportunities to wee on the floor. She's doing really well and the kids are great with her.

But back to the hat. Call me insane, but I love the finishing part of projects. I know I've probably said this before but I'll say it again: watching the knitted mass come together and get all it's ends tucked in is a lovely sight. Makes me feel like I actually am SuperWoman and can create anything with just a wave of the knitting needle. (That reminds me, the puppy is so small and will be so small full-grown, Mom mentioned needing to get it a sweater so it wouldn't get cold in the winter. I laughed and said I could just knit one. That got my mind thinking: me knit for a dog? Are clothes really even good for dogs? She so little it wouldn't take all that long anyway... if you had told me 3 months ago I would be thinking about knitting for a dog I would have told you you were on a fast road to CrazyTown.)

Ok, maybe I'll finish about the hat now. I got it finished, checked everything, and then compared it to the chenille mass that has been sitting all by it's lonesome for a month or so. Ok, so the issue is the chenille has LOTS of give to it (is that what they mean by negative ease?) and I need to thicken it up/give it some structure/help it stay the gauge it needs to be. Solution: knit 2 strands at a time. Ok, that'll be note #1. Now for the actual stitch part. The thing is the picture I am trying to copy knitting is crochet and the crochet stitch used is the double-half stitch which has a nice little pattern to it but I'm at a loss on what to do knitting to get a similar look. Have I gone through my knitting books, no. Should I? Probably, but that would be too easy, wouldn't it. :) I'm thinking of this as not me being lazy but a test of my mental recall on what my knitting looks like and the different stitches. I'm considering seed stitch. The hat has a helmet look to it and I think that would be nice. I did purling on the right side for Helmet: Take 2 (as in the second time I tried it; Helmet: Take 1 was the attempt at the crochet pattern and looked like a dog bed) and that didn't look right. The only thing is seed stitch isn't tight fitting and I might lose some structure. I am knitting 2 strands together though... it might work. We'll see. I have my knitting bag to take mostly ready and I'm starting my little piles of things to take. I have to remind myself we are only going for a weekend, though, no need for half the wardrobe and "just in case" knitting extra projects.

Second thoughts

I did not have the hat finished, thanks to the dynamic duo waking up before I could get into anything. I did, however, have a spark of smartness: why not try the hat on the Lovely Aide to make sure it fits before it's finished (no more frogging for that one) and then KEEP the hat to measure the chenille one to it as I knit it this weekend. Genius, eh? I am oh-so proud of my cleverosity. Saves me the self-flagellation when I'm somewhere near Palestine (Texas, that is) with a half-knitted hat and questions about size.

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride...

This morning I did not shower. There was laundry to fold. It is not put away, but it is folded on the bed ready to be put away when time allows.

This morning I did not sit down to eat my breakfast until I had made peanut butter (the food processor would have been too loud to run at 11:30 last night and I didn't feel like putting 2 kids and the puppy back to bed), fed the puppy, fixed the rest of Hunky Hubby's lunch, take the puppy out to pee, feed Little Guy, distract the puppy from the shoes by the front door, change Little Guy (he didn't get dressed until later; I still had to finish the sandwiches), kiss Hubby good-bye, get SuperGirl up and fed, and survey the state of the dishes from the night before because I had run the dishwasher that evening (didn't feel like unloading it to clear the sink that late, so left it). There were other various things I did in there while I was running around and Hubby was making his tea and trying to get ready. He was slowed down because Little Guy peed on him during breakfast and he had to change.

The joys of being parents.

Now I've been at work for over an hour and have not gotten any work done due to Little Guy wanting to run around outside and a puppy not sure to pee or not to pee. There is a side of me screaming but there is a side of me shrugging and moving on.

I'm not complaining. I want to SO BAD but I'm not complaining. Things could be totally worse. Things could also be totally boring and me get more work done in shorter amount of time but I wouldn't have the pint-sized company. Also, it seems like there's always something that is going to slow me down or happen to keep things from being stable and consistent so I'm working hard at rolling with it. I'm happy that it's a 2-year-old tucking all my paper-clips and his Pawpaw's loose change in the filing cabinet and a potty-training puppy, even though that means cleaning out the filing cabinet in the next week and wiping pee puddles when I don't catch the potty dance in time.

On the bright side, I did start fixing the cabled newsboy cap for the Lovely Aide last night when I was helping one of my ladies from the class. It was so nice to make myself sit down and work on it, especially with how hectic things have been. I was able to work on it this morning in a 10 minute tea break before getting SuperGirl dressed (an adventure in itself some mornings) and I'm down to the last cable while decreasing. I had to knit 4 more cables to it to get the length I wanted to go over her ears and I think it's big enough. I plan on finishing it on my lunch break today so I can take it to her when I pick SuperGirl up from preschool. I promise to have a picture.

I did decide to take the chenille hat to Austin. I need to finish that. It's hanging around like a stinky sock with no warm wash load and I know I'll feel better when it's done.

Errata on the YO

I was reading my handy-dandy little Yarn Harlot page-a-day calendar here and she had something interesting: YO (yarn over), O (over), YF (yarn forward), and YRN (yarn round needle) are ALL THE SAME THING. A month or so ago with that blue/white dishcloth I knitted that they called "Feather and Fan" they had that "yfwd" instruction that I took to mean bring the yarn forward, as in to the front. Nothing about a YO. I realized once the pattern didn't work (and there wasn't a lacey anything showing up) that it was a YO, bringing the yarn to the front over the needle, and today's page-a-day further clarifies the variations.

Learn something new everyday. This makes me want to knit some more and find out new things in the different patterns you read but I'm having to OFFICIALLY WORK so I can't sit and play with my projects right now. I am, however, this weekend having to take a 5-6 hour car ride with the FabFam to see LMSS and take her baby furniture and clothes so there is opportunity for lengthy knitting time, provided the kids and puppy aren't high maintenance. I've been contemplating the project to bring but I know what I SHOULD do: bring that chenille hat. I can finish it by only having it to work on the whole weekend and it will be done. I should finish the other this week so I'll be able to get both to the Lovely Aide next week. I know a knit shop excursion there in Austin will be mandatory so I can reward myself by getting something IF I am a good girl and knit the hat. Let's see if it will work. Disciplining myself is never fun, even though I could use a time-out every few days or so.

Dishcloths, diapers, and doggy treats

To sum up this weekend, we now have a puppy (part terrier, part chihuahua, really cute and sweet), LittleGuy and I am the ones who are having more discomfort adjusting, and I decided to take on something smaller and that utilizes less brain power than Surprise Project #3 (another dishcloth knitted on the bias with alternating purl and knit row blocks) which I got halfway through when I realized I really need to finish that newsboy cap for the Lovely Aide because I'm going to have to help someone with that tomorrow night. Last week I had worked on Surprise Project #3 rather pleased with how it is coming along but it's more of a project you have to pay attention to (there is lace involved). I don't think I will have to frog it, or start a support group for it, so I think it's a keeper.

Now, a support group for someone who as aquired a puppy, the sweetest little good-natured puppy guaranteed not to get big, slobbery, and destructive, maybe. The human (me) has never really cared for dogs to the degree that she wanted to get one but agreed to it because it was for the kids and Hunky Hubby who have really wanted one for EVER... I'm coping. I feel like I'm toting around two babies: the almost 2 year old (LittleGuy) and a 9 month old who's furry and the size of Hubby's shoe, both a little jealous of the other but also coping and learning to play with each other.

Is there a maternity leave for dogs?

Hopefully I'll be back to my knitting leisurely soon...

Random Tasks

I'm back from lunch and thought I would write some random thoughts that I had made a mental note to include the next time I blogged but ... well, I didn't. Here they are:

I think robins are cute. Hubby taught me how to mow and while I was mowing there were robins popping over to check out the bugs I was stirring up. They were just taking care of business, knowing these people with their noisy grass cutters make easy work of unearthing the little buggers. (Hubby was doing all the edging and weed eating. I got to use the blower after finishing the backyard and that thing is harder to operate than it looks!)

While mowing the backyard I thanked God that I am a knitter; knitting has really helped me work through large expanses of boring rows or rowing boredom, however you want to put it. We have a backyard on the long side and it was fun to have thoughts like "how many squares can I mow instead of doing rows? Would Hubby like it if I did an octagon instead?" instead of "when will this @#$%ing thing be OVER?!?!"

Patience is certainly a virtue.

Sunday was not only Easter and fun time for the kids, but I actually got a quiet afternoon to build my herb garden. Mom and Dad brought a lot of bricks from their house (knocked off the back of their house when they added on in '93; they've been living in a pile at the back of their backyard with some young trees and two snakes, Mom told me) and I used them to build a 3x4 ft box in the backyard and filled it with the dirt I had dug out of the front bed a few weeks ago. The kids think the garden box is great, especially since you can stand on the little walls. We bought our herbs and they seem to like it too.

I'm finding the better I get, the more I want to stay outside. This weather is gorgeous! I'm even contemplating what it will take to dig up the brush on the side that I would love to borrow a herd of goats to eat it. I guess it'll just have to be me and my shovel. And Ph-i-l, Hubby, and the chainsaw. Darn. I love watching goats more.

Shalom!

This is me, again in my fabulous pajama pants, modeling the finished Shalom cardigan! This thing was truly over before I knew it. I did have to leave off 2 rows of the stockinette at the very end and 3 rows of the garter stitch at the finishing border so I wouldn't run out of yarn (there were only 3 skeins in this color and I used it all to the very loopy end. I have enough to darn with if needed, but that's it) but that only made 1" of difference. The only problem I have with it (and I should have thought of this but when I was knitting I was in denial because I love this yarn) is the 25% wool contained in the yarn. It makes it itchy enough to be mildly irritating. Not so much that I won't wear it, but enough that this will only be worn until consistently 75 degree weather and the factor of it being too warm will kick in. The nice thing is, now that my hormones aren't as imbalanced, I'm not constantly too warm and a nice cozy cardigan on chilly mornings is really nice.

Now back to surprise project #3 and the 2 hats for the Lovely Aide. I told myself I would have them finished by the time SuperGirl's preschool is over. (By the way, she is going to that year-round school next year; we got the letter last Friday. YAY!!!)

I'm not looking forward to tackling the chenille hat but I think I will knit it using 2 strands at a time to give it more body and structure. That should help. The other hat just needs 3 more cables added and that should be done in a night or two.

I puzzled out my puzzle ring and am now wearing it again. I bought it while engaged to Hubby visiting him at grad school. It's one of my favorites and now will not leave my finger. Literally. It's tighter than I remember.

I've made another pact with myself to not buy anymore yarn until these projects finish, as in not only these I have working, but the sweater for Hunky Hubby, the cotton colorful cabled (love that alliteration!) sweater for me, the socks for Ph-i-l and M-i-l, the afghan for AAnt (Hubby's friend who wouldn't have anyone else make something for him and he's a single male who likes my handiwork; how can I say no?), and I know I'm forgetting something. I still have more dishcloths to make and more yarn waiting for me to find the pattern they are looking for. Hopefully I can resist the call of the yarn for at least another month or so.