The Sheep Heid Three

On February 15th, 2013 my friends and I started the Sheep Heid by Kate Davies. We found a group of people on Ravelry who were joining together to buy the 9 colors of Jamieson & Smith Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight yarn. See, each hat only requires 25 yards of each color and the yarn is sold in 188 yard skeins. It is rather difficult to get the yarn in the US so joining together actually saved on shipping too.

Anyway, we chipped in and got 3 lovely kits in the mail from the lovely woman in NJ who coordinated the whole thing and then smartly told the next group who came along to "do it yourself." We knit along but there were some bumps in the road. We had to tink and frog a couple of times and put it away when life got too distracting.

This hat combines 9 natural colors of Shetland sheep (no dyes used.) They have cute names like Moorit and Gaulmogot.  Did you know that Shetland sheep actually come in 30 different colors?!?  I didn't until I bought this pattern and made the hat.

This is us, a year later, we are all wearing our hats. Great job, Kerry and Kathryn! We did it!

Running Short

I have been knitting the Op Art baby blanket by Melissa Dominguez published in Knitty 2008 in Rowan Softknit Cotton and Halcyon Yarn Casco Bay Worsted for my new Nephew who is due any day now. I did stockinette on all the rounds but the last stripe.  Garter stitch in the round is slightly evil.

I am on row 6 of 16 in the final stripe (which is white) of this baby blanket.  Last night, hubby commented that it is almost done. I said "Yep and I will have a lot of black left but not much white."  I pulled the cone of black out to show how much is left and then pulled out the white ball that was looking deflated. A little too deflated. 

Tiny ball and big blanket.

I checked my math with my trusty food/ yarn scale. I had used this 50 gram ball to do 7 rows, I have 10 more ever increasing rows and it now weighed...GULP...20 grams.

I ran to the computer to buy another ball.  I found a coupon in my e-mail that gave me free 2-3 day shipping from Paradise Fibers. They are the super fastest shippers and I knew I could count on them.  I even got a notice that it shipped today! "I am going to have it before I finish knitting up this ball!" I danced around the house.

Then I saw the weather...we could get anywhere from 5-18 inches of snow tomorrow night. Sigh.
USPS says, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."  However, I believe I may be knitting on something else to get me through the storm.

My Mom "LIKES" me alot.

When I logged on to Facebook this morning, I saw that I have 5 notifications.  Three of the notifications were telling me that my mom "liked" something I wrote.  Sometimes, I think she uses the "like" button to mark where she has been, like my dog on a walk around the block. We have 55 friends in common which means anything I write, she sees. Most of the "Favorites" on my projects on Ravelry are from her. She has my first knitted washcloth and my Kindergarten art smock.  She has retired and moved to my hometown. I see her almost every day. She will be the first to read and comment on this blog post. To say she is my biggest fan is a bit of an understatement.

I was talked to my co-worker from China and she said, "You are lucky. Your family is so close. They all love and care for you." Her family, including her husband, is all in China except for her daughter, who my co-worker raised alone. 

I read my favorite Ravelry board, Selfish Knitters.  Lots of them have narcissistic mothers and they are just now as adults learning to tell people "no." Their mothers think the world revolves around themselves.  It is a very child like attitude that is hard for me to understand in mothers.

Then I drove home and thought about it.  My commute is my time. I listen to NPR and Pop music with no comments regarding my taste or political leanings. I call my best friend for a nice phone chat that is not interrupted by, "MOM! He is touching ME!" It is kinda nice.

I was so deep in thought, I lost track of time and ended up in the slow lane. I looked at the clock and realized I wasn't going to make it to both day cares before they close.  CRAP!  I picked up the phone and called the only person I knew who could help.

"Mom? Would you pick up the boys from daycare?...Thanks...Yes, Subway sounds nice for dinner...Yes, after dinner I have to take both boys to Bugs' Cub Scouts because Bear is at work and then I have to go to the grocery store...Oh...Yes it would be nice if you could take Boo AND go to the grocery store while Bugs and I go to scouts...Thank you, Mom, you are a life saver."

She wouldn't even let me pay for dinner or my groceries.  She makes me wish that real life had buttons.

So, I can click "LIKE"