Fair Isle/ Finish up/ Focus February

So, for the month of February, I am going to focus on things that have gone by the wayside.  Like my blog, my work out routine, my laundry, the fair isle fingerless mittens that need mitten tops, the pair of boot socks that just need the ends woven in. So, I am going to do a little of each every day. So, talk to you tomorrow. :-)

And Breathe

This month has been like going into labor. There are moments of calm followed by painful progress that leads to a permanent change to life as you know it.  The only problem with this analogy is that you KNOW when you are done with child birth and every time I think I am at the end of this craziness, one more thing happens.

At the beginning of the month of madness, I was expecting to go through some big changes at work, lose a hubby to a crazy class/ work schedule and have my mother move 120 miles further away from us. All this has now happened plus

• We received Mom's stove, dishwasher and fridge that were all newer then ours which required finding homes for our old machines and install the new ones. Dishwasher still isn't quite right.
• The guy who was mowing our lawn and my mother's one acre lot quit and Bear had to take over mowing both.
• Bear took a renewed interest in the fire hall and has been volunteering at least one night a week
• I got a kidney infection and was laid up for almost a week.
• There has not been one week where I have workout all three times.
• Two friends have gotten the news that they have cancer.

There has been ups and downs but all and all I am glad to see the end of it. Knock on Wood.

Oh, when you have a Kidney infection and really good pain meds, there is little else you can do besides watching Firefly and knit on socks.






I think after this month, I deserve a pretty top and another pair of Monkeys.

Hurry up to make it easy

I am on a organizing spree of my house.  I have decluttered and organized the kids room, cleaned things that were not yet dirty, refilled soap dispensers that were half full, pulled out the crock pot and I have done more laundry then usual so I am actually ahead of my normal schedule.  Why?

I am planning to have a single parent week this next week and a crazy month this next month.  Bear is taking a volunteer fire fighter class 2 evenings a week plus two weekends in the next 6 weeks. This on top of his 48 hour schedule and one night a week mixed martial arts class.  So, I will be missing my knitting group and my nice evenings with a hubby who cooks and helps put the kids to bed.  TO add more stress, Hubby and I are both changing job descriptions, his has a raise involved (woo hoo) but both will be a big work change in the middle of crazy month. Good thing Maryland Sheep and Wool is coming up cause he will owe me a nice day off.


Speaking of all things fiber and knitting, I have an FO:



It is Hitchhiker by Martine Behm but I had to be smarter then the designer.  So I slipped the first stitch of every row. This made the shawl a cresent shape which while pretty is not something I will do again.  Next time I see a pattern I like that has over 5,000 people who have knit it, I will follow the design.

I will say this pattern is great for handspun yarn.  I had no idea what I started with and this is how much I had left over.



Like 4 inches, I think.  Isn't that amazing?  I think it is.

So, my goals for the next week:

1. Stay sane: if the kids eat PB&J or hot dogs more then once this next week, the world will not end.
2. Workout more: my birthday is coming up and I am almost down another dress size.  Birthday money will mean new clothes and I want them to be the smaller size.
3. Knit lots on my second Down the Rabbit Hole socks: my goal is/was to knit up everything I got from MDSW before I go to a new MDSW and this sock yarn is the last of it.

Edit to add: I forgot to mention my supportive, helpful, always there when I am in a pinch mother is moving two hours south for the next year and my trusty brother the babysitter is helping her get organized, packed and such so her house can get on the market in two weeks.  They are my normal safety net.  Sigh.

Edit to add 2: I forgot about the soccer practice, soccer game and school zoo trip I offered to chaperone before I knew it would be during this mad week (Bugs and Boo are both going with me but it will be for Bugs' kindergarten class.)

Hi Ho!

I am so sorry that I have ignored this blog for three weeks.  Everyone got sick and then the pretty weather came and I just wanted to be out in it.  I have nothing finished but I do finally have a HO*


Down the Rabbit Hole Yes, I am in my grinch pjs. They are cozy.


36" out of 60" done on my Stash Down Blanket


18 points on my Mermaid Hitchhiker I have to get knitting fast on this since I only have 8 days to finish it if I want it to count towards the SSK KAL. I may learn how to knit on the stationary bike.

Speaking of workouts, I can fit in my skinny clothes!! This is the size I was 10 years ago! I am still working out 3 days a week and hope to continue my weight loss.  I can do a mile in 15.23 minutes on the treadmill and 2 miles in 20 minutes on the elliptical.  Best part is that I look forward to my workouts. I am so excited about how good I feel.

*(Half-finished object normally when you have to make two of something the first one finished is a HO. See Stockinette Zombies for more details. They are awesome. )

Sick Day

I was sick yesterday and woke up today with more of the same.  I called in to my boss and as I got the boys ready for school, mentally started planning the day.  I would take a long bubble bath, finish a book, knit while watching Downton Abbey, write a witty blog post and eat any junk food that made me feel better.  Well, I drove the kids to school, came back and laid down on the couch with a book.  Two pages in, I fell asleep and woke up 8 hours later. Damn.

I just have time for a quick blog post before I have to pick the boys up.

On the Needles:

I have some socks on the needles for my mom. I have FINALLY turned the heel for the first one.  I cast on the socks during my Rhinebeck trip (which is like late October).  The socks are to blame however because they were fighting me.  My mother chose Whirlpool Socks. They were a pain to knit and I frogged them. Then I started Stuccato Socks but the yarn complained that it didn't look right in that pattern.  Down the Rabbit Hole has been perfect. I like to knit it, the yarn is happy with it. Plus it looks similar to the first pattern that my mother will likely not care.


I am designing some socks for my kids. Colorwork always looks so lumpy till you block it.


Speaking of colorwork, my stash dash rug is coming along nicely.  I have knit up almost 900 yards so far and I am only 1/3 of the way there.

Finished Objects:

Zombie the Podcaster

Chubby Chirp

Leaflett Cardigan

Something else to report is that I have lost 7 lbs and have had to put away all my "fat" clothes.  You know those clothes that are one size up from your normal size that you wear when your regular jeans are too tight. I was wearing those clothes all the time but not anymore.  I am hoping to get back into my "skinny" jeans this summer.  I hope everyone else is having a healthy day and I hope I can get out and enjoy this weather soon.

Wait! Wait! I can explain!

So, I got some more yarn and a project bag in the mail this week:




Considering I just blogged about some replacement yarn last time, ya'll are thinking I went over the edge. Well, Nuh Uh!



This is my Rock Creek Woodland yarn in the Cable-icous Sock Yarn (BFL and Nylon) base. It is a very special commission yarn that I pre-ordered in October.  I had to have it because RC's Twisterino is not withstanding Bear's rough feet and steel toe shoes very well but he NEEDED camouflage socks.



Then in January, RC had an update and the Sparkly Sock Yarn was so cute. I called fellow knitters to share in the cuteness of the yarn and my Mom decided that I had to have it. She contacted Rock Creek and behind my back she sent in the payment for both yarns and shipping. Because they were shipping together Sparkly had to wait for Woodland to finish dying. (There is a long story about why Woodland took five months to ship but lets just call it quality craftsmanship and let everyone know that I am very happy with my commission order.)




So, then about mid February, I helped a Ravelry friend with her new shawl pattern. Turns out my mad Microsoft Office skills are not just handy at work.  I really just made a beautiful pattern look pretty on the pages.  So, as a thank you, she sent me a Loopy Ewe gift card.  It was burning a hole in my pocket so I chose Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock in the Kristy colorway.


And lastly, the Knitgirllls got really Della Q cool bags on this week's episode (which I saw on March 1st) and I found them on Webs for $9, I couldn't pass that up.  Especially since it was burgundy AND  had the word "Random" on it.

So, if the mail lady (who has brought me all this yarn in the past week) contacts the knitting police, I can honestly say that only ordered one item a month, that I have only spent like $15 and that sock yarn doesn't count.

Because I know you are all dying to know, I have been working out three times a week since January without fail.  Now I just need to work on tweeking my diet and I will be losing mad weight.

Plodding along

I don't have a lot of exciting news this week. I am working on the 9 (of 15) section of the Curlicue Coverlet which means more yellow and more blue sections then last time I photographed it. I am working out on the treadmill at lunch on days that don't start with T and happy to report that at a 10% incline I can do an 18 min mile.  My first goal will be to do a 15 minute mile with the next goal being 2 miles in 30 minutes. 

I did see a middle age man steal a pack of cigarettes from the grocery store this week.  The man had been completely rung up (including the cigarettes) and everything was bagged up (except the cigarettes which were on the little check writing counter) when a computer glitch knocked out all the checkout stations. The cashier and manager started un-bagging everything and scanning it all back into the checkout computer. I was two carts back. I saw his hand clench around the cigarettes.  I saw the hand slide back just slightly and then just a little more.  I was staring intently when another cashier invited me to check out in her lane.  When I had checked out, I saw him tucking the cigarettes in one of his bags all the while talking to the manager. He walked out as I did and looked cool as a cucumber.

Why didn't I turn him in? Maybe because it is only a $4 item. Maybe because he was buying beer and dog food (wet and dry food, he loves his dog) so I pictured him, a bachelor, drinking at home alone with his dog and felt bad for him.  Maybe I have seen Empire Records too many times. (Damn the man, save the Empire!)  Mostly, I think I wanted to see whether he would get away with it or not. He did and I got a little secret excitement from it in a boring week.