Well, you did guess that starting a post title with X was going to be tricky, didn’t you? I can’t believe I got this far and nobody commented on it. Almost all the ways through my ABCs, and it’s only mid-July. That degree in English Literature is sure coming in handy!
I got the game pieces assembled, but I need to do a lot of sanding before I can call them done. Right now they’re more like portable splinter dispensers.
The seven SOMA pieces
Now, let’s make a cube.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
You can also place the last piece differently and make this pretty configuration.
The Crystal
And here are all four cubes, assembled. Sanding is next.
Four cubes
Whew! I don’t know when I’ll get to do the sanding. We have seen a couple of yucky bugs and it’s time to give serious attention to de-cluttering the house so we can have it sprayed.
Knitwise I haven’t done anything with the lace scarf in a few days. I guess I got tired of being so good at un-knitting it. But I have added two stripes to the current Doctor Who Scarf, and Fringed the second Pinstripe TenScarf on the 11th.
Next to get attention: Casting on for the second Noro sock, or attacking Tyrone. Maybe with scissors.
Don’t tell anyone, but there’s nothing to see here today. That’s right, move along, just move along folks.
Well.
There are actually a couple of reasons to make a blog post. The first Good Reason is that I’ve finished three items since the last blog post. You would think that finishing three items would yield more than two liberated needles, but that’s technically correct (the sock was on scrap yarn while I waited for more project yarn to come in).
I finished the Clayton Prayer Shawl and got all the fringe on. If I did my math correctly, there are 60 yards of yarn for just fringe. I took it to Late Night Knitting and had my friend Dale-Harriet model it in a test fit, since she’s about Elfriede’s size. She said it fit perfectly and she was keeping it, and I’ll admit I had the tiniest clench in my chest as I tried to think of what yarn I had enough of in order to make another one of these. But she did give it back.
Then I sat down at Late Night and cranked out the rest of a Windmill Dishcloth. The ladies in the B. G. R. wouldn’t let me present it as finished to the rest of the store until I had seamed it up and woven in my ends. I got it up to the front of the store at 10:01pm, too late to ring the “FO” bell. Rats. But I started it Tuesday, finished it Friday. No complaints and I will make many more.
Then I sat back down and pulled out the Spiral Rib Anniversary socks. These were the socks I started months ago in February in Universal Deluxe Chunky Tweed, a yarn so staggeringly popular that I had to list it as a different yarn in my Rav projects because it wasn’t in the database then. (It is now, and I got to contribute a nice picture of it! Woo hoo! I have now had sixteen minutes of fame) I took a look at the pattern, realized I had not noted any of my pattern changes on the actual pattern, shrugged, put it back on the needles, and carried on for two pattern repeats. Then it was almost 11pm, so I packed up, drove an hour to get home, pulled it out again, and did two more repeats and the toe, seamed them up, and wore them to bed. I finished at a little after 1:30am. (Oh crap. As I write this, that’s still TODAY.)
I spent most of today overhauling the tiny little space in front of the master bedroom closets. It was starting to look like a Grade A Packrat had taken up residence there. You know, the old lady with the stacks of magazines and the boxes she’s planning to reuse and all the detritus of the Hoarding Life? It’s the kind of reorganizing project you can never impress anyone with, because you never have the guts to take a “before” picture. You would just be so ashamed.
It looks much better now, and could actually be used for Knitting Things. And you can open the curtain and the window and close them again and stuff. I still have various items scattered all over the bed which I will have to get cleared off before midnight, but that’s OK. Small stuff.
The second reason for writing a blog post tonight is to have written one. I want to post more frequently, but the only way to do that is to sit down and do it. Sometimes you don’t think you have anything worth recording, but you have to sit down anyway, start typing, and see what happens. Sometimes the words come alive under your fingertips and all you have to do is try to keep up. Sometimes it’s just crap and stays crap. But if you’re not at the keyboard, you don’t know which one it will be. The words won’t have a chance at all, and they’ll likely creak with rust the next time you try to let them out.
Anyway. Three projects finished, photographed, and added to the FO page for the year. Two circs liberated. One package of dpn’s briefly brought out, then returned to storage. Mark your score cards accurately because I won’t be repeating myself.
Current projects: Season 12 Doctor Who scarf (just started), Season 16 Doctor Who scarf (half done), double-knitted scarf. I probably won’t even pick up Retro Rib until July (WIP month). But I’m on the verge of casting on for a lace scarf/stole, and another Sideways Ten Pinstripe scarf for some lucky Whovian friend. Good God, what is it with the scarves? My Rav Projects page is full of them, and it doesn’t have all of them, and it’s not like I jump for joy and do backflips when I’m making scarves. (I’m more or less thinking OH JOY. ANOTHER FREAKING SCARF.) But I sure have made a ton of them.
I might have to break up the scarficity with some charity squares — Shawn of the Comments (Shawn4Equality on Rav) is helping coordinate some 12 inch squares for an Admirable Effort. He should really give the details himself; maybe I can persuade him to write a guest post. I haven’t had one of those in a while.
While I was sitting here pretending to write, I wrote over 900 words. Now I’m off to Rav to talk Shawn into writing some. Be back soon!
P.S. Keep voting on the WIP poll, or encourage a friend to help you stuff the ballot box. I think you only get one vote each but who cares. I’ll look at it at the end of June to see what’s in the lead, and that’s the project I will dedicate myself to after Tyrone has been finished.
P.P.S. Hey, that’s almost 1000 words! I wonder how many I’ll need to type before I get to that magical glorious round number that will look so impressive on my stats page. Does WordPress count how many words I’ve typed? Ye gods!
Last weekend I was talking with a friend about the progress of some of my current knitting projects.
“How’s that February Lady Sweater coming?” she asked.
“Well,” I said, “I had to finish up Logan’s Blanket, then I had to set aside everything else so I could work on this prayer shawl.”
“Ah,” she said sagely. “Sidelined by moral imperatives.”
I think that for the last six months that kind of sums it up. Every January I sit down and sketch out the projects I want to knit in the upcoming year. I love lists and plans, and it would be great to just be able to sit down and work the plan. But that’s never the way it goes.
Last fall I had started soliciting knitting patterns for a booklet I wanted to do. No sooner had I done that, than the whole Connor Caps project sprang up as something that had to be done. In the middle of it, of course, was Christmas knitting. (Not that anyone actually asked for me to knit them something for Christmas, mind you. We can only speculate how much more knitting I would have been doing had anyone actually requested a knitted item.)
This year was going to be different, yadda yadda yadda. I took up the mantle of a Christmas present that didn’t get done in time for last Christmas, and finished it (and a fraternal twin) for this Christmas. But then I started Logan’s Blanket and was still helping coordinate the other projects for Connor’s family.
Whew! I cast on a cool project for myself and finished it in time to wear it while the weather was still cold. But by then I was organizing a local knit/crochet group, which will have its first meeting tomorrow night. (You are coming to Yarn-a-Latte, aren’t you?)
The most recent moral imperative has been to knit a prayer shawl. My husband’s grandfather passed away at the age of 92 at the end of March, and his grandmother came into possession of a prayer shawl made by someone she didn’t even know. While she is very crafty indeed, knitting is not her “thing,” so she was extra impressed by the thought of someone creating such a comforting item for a stranger. Technically it’s a very simple project, but it meant so much to her that I decided to pay it forward by making a prayer shawl in her favorite colors, blue and white.
Then, last week, my former father-in-law had two heart attacks and died suddenly. And then I knew who I was making the prayer shawl for. I went stash diving, cast on, frogged what I had, re-thought the project, wrote out a pattern, cast on again, harvested the top-down sweater for the rest of the yarn, and have neglected the rest of my projects since last Tuesday. It’s a simple project, true, but the simplicity allows for a lot of meditation as the hands make the stitches. This shawl is full of prayers and happy memories and good thoughts. And though the rest of life does go on and need its own kind of attention, the other projects can wait a bit until the prayer shawl is done.
Then it’s time for starting another Doctor Who Scarf, and knitting a Christmas stocking in summer so I can publish a pattern in the fall. So it doesn’t get any more sane.
Un-knitwise, the kids all took turns getting sick over the course of a week and a half, but they’re mostly better. It doesn’t look like swine flu — cross your fingers. Tom turns out to be farsighted and will need glasses, which explains a lot. I’ve been getting some physical therapy for my hip, which has been locking up. I’m also waiting to hear about TV show renewals for Castle and Chuck. Usually I just watch the show and get mad when they cancel it, so my degree of involvement with “save my show” campaigns this time is a surprise to me. They’re both a lot of fun to watch, and I’ll miss them when they’re gone, whenever that may be.
And, of course, Yarn-a-Latte kicks off tomorrow night at Tan-a-Latte in Jefferson at 6pm tomorrow night. There will be a drawing! name tags! and coffee! (It has already been suggested that maybe I should not be having so much of the coffee.) Knitters I haven’t even met in person yet have been helping me distribute flyers across the county and a little bit beyond. All are welcome, even if you just like to sit and watch other people crochet. Nothing wrong with that!
I might even take my camera and remember to take pictures. And blog about it.
Okay, okay, I think I get the message. You want me to finish Tyrone.
Right?
That’s fine with me. I even have a Ravfriend in Alaska that promised over a year ago to help me through the decreases. (I’ll be in touch, Birgie.)
Here’s what is currently on the needles and has to come off first.
Number One. Retro Rib Sock #2. I’ve done the cuff and the first pattern repeat on the leg. Just 16 more repeats to churn through before the heel flap. And all that that entails. Since it was my January Sock Club selection and it’s almost March, I’m starting to feel a bit of pressure. We don’t want my gauge to change, do we?
Number Two. Spiral Rib Sock #2. Snuck this one in on you, didn’t I? I started this one last Friday at Knit Night, severely modifying poor Garry Aney’s perfectly fine spiral rib pattern in bulky yarn. If I hadn’t bought self-shredding bamboo dpns to make it with, I would have finished the first sock even sooner than Sunday morning. It’s too bad they won’t fit my husband as I had intended (it was going to be an anniversary present — who knew there was a wool anniversary?!) but they will fit me. And my feet are cold.
Number Three. Norm’s Scarf. This was supposed to be a Christmas present. And it’s really sailing along right now. It’s super easy (every time I say that I have to go back two rows, but so far you can’t tell) and I’m sure it’s more than half done. Norm’s a great guy and deserves this scarf while it’s still cold outside. (If it doesn’t get done until spring, I’ll make his wife a matching scarf in baby blue. You heard it here first.)
Number Four. This is the super important one, more important than either of the socks. It’s a blanket for Logan, Connor’s little brother. The deadline is Easter, and I started it last night. Cast on 171 stitches and knit three rows of the Ann Norling “Baby Blocks Baby Blanket” pattern. It shouldn’t look very babyish in dark blue and bright red!
Number Five. Doctor Who Scarf, Season 16. But it’s just listed here for the sake of the order. If it had to come off the needles before I worked on anything else, it just wouldn’t be fair.
I thought about becoming a monogamous knitter on Logan’s blanket for Lent… but next I thought my brain would explode. We don’t want that because then we would never get the socks done, would we?
So.
Lent, for me, is going to be an attempt at 40 healthy days. Healthier eating, more exercise, better attitude, the whole thing. Take time for myself, be nice to others, the whole bit.
I should really kick it off by mailing out my swap packages tomorrow. Brandy in Texas, the lace kit came in and I’ll send you some goodies, too. Cate in Florida, I didn’t forget your spindle. Claire, I just need to find the right size box for the newspapers. And my secret Rav swap downstream partner — I’ll prep the package today. Jules, I owe you a bunch of goodies but don’t have enough yet. You’re an angel!
Here it is, Post 300. Long in the making because, well, these benchmark numbers put one under such pressure to perform! Until, finally, it occurs to me it hasn’t been three days since the last post, it’s closer to three weeks and by the time I write the next post there won’t be anyone there to read it anyway.
Emergencies
I have had my share of little panics over the past three days three weeks. Remember that extra little Christmas we had when I found the presents I’d hidden? One of them was a Scout knife, fresh from the factory and twice as sharp. The very next day, said Scout forgetting that putting it on top of his dresser wasn’t exactly removing temptation from his four-year-old brother, we had ourselves a small crisis. I’d tell you all the details, really I would — they were hilarious! — but until some sort of statute of limitations runs out, I’m afraid I’ll have to plead the Fifth lest someone from Children’s Services is reading this and decides I need some time in solitary to reconsider my parenting skills. (Short version: I did not know the knife was on the dresser until we were on our way to the doctor’s office for some skin glue. The reasonable explanations I heard for there being blood everywhere were all lies.) But we did meet a lovely new pediatrician.
That was a Wednesday. The following Monday I went upstairs to wake the same four-year-old boy for school, and was met with a zombie. I carried his limp body down to the couch, where he lay all day, eyes glazed, fever burning, unslaked by orange juice. The doctor’s office had no open time slots, so he didn’t get there until Wednesday, when it was discovered he had an ear infection and a teensy bit of, well, pneumonia.
It’s interesting to tell people that your child has a touch of, well, pneumonia. They look at you as if you’re about to breathe some pneumonia on them as well, while the thought bubble above their head wonders do people still get pneumonia any more?
Some of them do, and I hope they’re almost done with it. Because for a whole week, TV sucked, medicine tasted nasty, I was the most horrible mommy on the earth and deserved to DIE, and school became the Emerald City. But we did meet another nice pediatrician.
Meanwhile, I was adding “I am SO going to Knit Night” to the end of every e-mail I was writing last week. The events of the night were undiminished by the fact that one of my brake lines blew out as I was leaving the Beltline on the way to Verona, and were of course completely out on the hourlong drive back. I could tell they were handling differently — I just didn’t know why. But I brought me home safe. We dropped off the van on Monday, and maybe it will be fixed tomorrow morning. And we did get to reacquaint ourselves with the guys who fix my car.
So.
I finished a Secret Knitting Project I can now call the Old School/New School Scarf. Check it out in 2009 Finished Projects. It’s a tube scarf, with colored stripes transitioning from Marquette Warrior to Marquette Golden Eagles. It’s hideously warm and was completed two days before it absolutely had to be.
I finished my January sock for the Personal Sock Club — check it out in Finished Projects as well. I finished this sock yesterday, so technically it’s a January/February sock, and I don’t care to speculate as to when the second one will be finished. I might cast on for it tonight, just so that doesn’t get delayed any further.
Who’s left? The only other active project I have is a Season 16 Doctor Who Scarf. I’m coming to terms with my other projects not really being Works In Progress, but Hibernating Items I’d Rather Not Think About For A Few More Months. But I really would like to get them all wiped out by the end of 2009.
Thanks for reading my 300th post!
P.S. I did some spinning the other night — yes, Wookie roving. I have a spinning retreat coming up in less than a month and thought I’d blow through the open bag of Wookie wool, have fun plying it, and have all the bobbins free for the retreat.
Firstly and most importantly, the Connor Caps project was a huge success. In three weeks, knitters and crocheters from around the world contributed 145 hats to help support Connor in his fight with brain cancer.
December 5 was Hat Day at the school, and I had to leave early to get all the hats there. Unfortunately, I was just inside the city limits when I realized I had left one box of fleece hats at home. They had been sent from Hawaii, and represented the largest number of hats sent in by a single person, so I couldn’t leave them out. After a few moments’ panicked thinking, I realized that what I had to do was keep going, let the helpers start stringing up the rest of the hats, hope someone would take care of my two younger boys, and dash back home (ten miles away) for the fleece hats.
It worked out perfectly — the preschool teacher took Big Tom as well as Jack, and by the time I got back to school, all the rest of the hats were clipped to a clothesline that ran the length of the school gym.
The hats weren’t the only thing going on. The school principal kept everything moving through an intensely emotional ceremony. She explained about the Connor Caps project and how it had come together, then let Connor go up and pick out his own hat. Then each class from kindergarten to the eighth grade came up for hats. I made a little movie of part of the “hat sorting” and I’ll try to post it here. The quality is not great, since I made it with my little digital camera, but the emotions are what really show.
After all that was done, it was only 9am, and Jack still had school. It took me a full thirty minutes to convince Big Tom that he needed to come with me, and to convince Jack that he needed to stay at school until I came back for him at the regular time. To help me recover from the emotions of the morning, I went to the nearest quilt-shop-with-a-yarn-room and bought the prettiest and softest yarn I could find. I could only afford three balls, so I hid the rest of the dyelot and told the clerk not to sell the rest to anyone else.
Soft and pretty "reward yarn"
When I got home, there were more hats waiting for me. Even though they didn’t get here in time for the ceremony, they’re still part of the program, and if anyone wants to contribute hats they are still welcome. We came just ten hats short of making one for each kid at school, and I think the staff members would like to have hats too. If you’re interested and able, please contact me for the mailing address.
We have other projects planned for helping and comforting Connor and his family. The details are up at the Connor Caps group on Ravelry, but I can post them here, too.
Next there was a pilgrimage to Sinsinawa Mound. For some reason I had thought this was in the Eau Claire area, since it was described as being 2-3 hours away from Jefferson. Boy was I wrong. We went through some new Wisconsin territory for me, and I took a picture of the Verona exit from 151, just to prove there is something past it (that’s how I get to The Sow’s Ear). At one point our charter bus was stuck behind two Amish men driving their buggy home from Sunday Meeting. When we were at the spiritual center, I read on a flyer that it’s “just a ten minute drive from Dubuque!”
The day at the center was amazing, and there’s no way to adequately describe it all. I could refer you to read what Connor’s mom wrote in his CaringBridge journal — but she says the same thing.
It started snowing and squalling on the way home, and since James and I were in the first seat of the bus, we had an excellent view of how dicey the whole drive was. We were able to watch DVDs on the way out and back, and after the second movie ended, the kids decided to sing Christmas songs the rest of the way home. I can think of much worse road trips with schoolkids!
I found out later that when Connor’s family got home that night, other friends had put up their Christmas decorations for them, and they came home to a beautiful display of sparkling lights. They really are getting support from all quarters.
What comes next? Oh yes, Christmas knitting. I took a couple of projects with me (what? It was going to be as much as six hours on a bus!) but the only one I worked on was the Christmas stocking for my brother. I got a ton of it done, including almost finishing the colorwork section. After that it really picked up speed. It arrived at my parents’ house yesterday, and he doesn’t have it yet, but I can show you a picture. Even with the cuff folded, it came out to 27 inches long.
Ben's stocking
There really wasn’t any other requested knitwear to make for presents, but I did send out an Everlasting Bagstopper (i.e. cotton market bag) and make some dishcloths. In the meantime, I started working on a Season 16 Doctor Who Scarf as part of a mini knitalong. On Ravelry I became acquainted with a woman who finished her Season 12 Scarf as she sat with her dying mother. She was using the same yarn I had used and we both had lots of leftovers, so when she decided to make a Season 16, I started one too. I believe it’s the longest scarf, and I know I’ll run out of yarn at some point, but there’s no deadline. It’s all about community and support.
I also had a meetup at Thanksgiving time, with Christine (“akasha”) from one of my Ravelry groups. We met at a yarn shop (go figure) and I found the perfect tweedy yarn to start collecting for another variant on a Doctor Who Scarf. Talk about no deadline. And then, on Thanksgiving Day, I wore my Scarf all day long. My brother was impressed and eventually asked about it, and the upshot is that I’ll be making a machine washable version for him. Just yesterday I bought the bulk of the yarn I’ll need for it. I want to buy a special circular needle for the project, and I’ll get started after I find it.
I made another pair of the cotton footies in shades of blue, and gave them to James in his stocking. They’re a little big yet — I made the adult size — but at the rate he’s growing they will soon fit.
And after getting heavy snows and bitter cold and brisk wind, I decided to make everyone in the family a new pair of mittens, in wool this time. I started with Big Tom, and made a pair of baby blue mittens in Dalegarn Falk, using the Fittin’ Mittens pattern and adding a green Norwegian snowflake to each mitten. Jack’s are next. He wants an Autobot logo one one side and a Decepticon logo on the other, and on the other mitten he wants….
So, what’s on the needles now?
A Season 16 Doctor Who Scarf. The bamboo socks, newly restarted — transitioning to the toe color on one sock, with the other one watching curiously. Not Jack’s mittens yet, but soon. There are also seven (I think) other WIPs. One is a Secret Holiday Project that didn’t come close to getting done, but the others are familiar (cough Tyrone cough) if you’ve been reading this blog for a while.
Ugh, it’s driving rain right now and it’s melting our snowbanks down so everything will be ice when the temperature dips again. And the sky is thick with fog. Yuck yuck yuck! I’d rather it were cold straight through winter than to have this freeze/thaw/sleet junk, especially when we have most of the day booked for a huge Round Robin family eatfest today. With four little people to get in and out of the cars from house to house, it’s not easy, but we’ll do as much as we can.
We all had a blessed Christmas and I hope you did too! Stay warm and dry…. I’ll be back in a few days to make insanely optimistic New Year’s resolutions. We’ve all got to have a tradition, and that one’s mine.
What happened? Is it time to go? Where are my clothes? What am I taking?
Oh yeah.
I thought we were on track with getting ready for a week away from home, when I saw the 2-3 inches of wet snow on the ground this morning. OK kids, now I’m serious about the mittens and the hats and the scarves. And by the way, pick up a snow shovel on your way out. kthxbai.
There are a couple of knitting projects I really should be working on today, but in reality I’ll be doing dishes and laundry and making lists and packing for the kids. So any knitting will probably be just stress-release knitting. I started a little garter stitch scarf for my daughter that’s perfect in that role — filling the Garter Stitch Void where the Doctor Who Scarf used to be. (I’ll probably start another one after Christmas, if there is anything after Christmas.)
We currently have 20 Connor Caps logged in here at Hat Central. Today’s the last day I’ll be receiving mail before the deadline of next Monday. I’m preparing myself hoping for an onslaught of the remaining 180 hats then, when I go to the post office to pick them up.
If you haven’t emailed me for my address before 2pm tomorrow (Tuesday), just contact Sara (Spitfire) at the email she left in the comments, and she’ll get it to you.
And while I’m gone, try a visit over here. Apparently I have a German twin! When I update my blogroll in 2009 I may well make a separate section for Chocolate Sheep sightings around the world. If you see one, please let me know about it!
Yesterday I purchased a 66 qt. plastic bin, 200 feet of clothesline, and 200 wooden clothespins for transporting the hats to school on Hat Day and displaying them between the basketball hoops. Does anyone know if 200 feet of clothesline is going to be enough?
It’s come to my attention that I haven’t posted a picture here of my Doctor Who Scarf, fully fringed. So here’s one!
Everything is going forward. There is so much going on it’s like we did Hands Across America and all decided to walk to Starbucks together. We’ll get there, and all at the same time, but it’s going to take patience and coordination.
I finished almost all of one of the Christmas knits I’m making (including weaving in the ends, thank you). And I started putting the fringe on my Doctor Who Scarf, then realized I should have done it from the other side. Last night I sat on the couch, and undid each fringelet and turned it around. The fringe is 75 percent done now, and will be finished before Friday.
Everywhere I look, I have a project sitting and waiting for me to give it some attention. Yikes! NaKnitSweMo, Christmas knits 1 and 2 and 3, Bamboo socks…. we won’t even mention the Senior WIPs like Tyrone and the cursed IHS and the lace stole I started on Mother’s Day. Nope, won’t mention those at all.
I just got done shuffling my sets around on my Flickr account so I can post pictures of all the Connor Caps as they come in. I have lost track of how many people have asked for the mailing address, and I know quite a few hats are already in the mail.
If you are knitting or crocheting for the Connor Caps project and are not in the Ravelry group, here’s an extra bit of information I don’t remember mentioning here. I have recently found out that Connor collects postcards. If you want to include one with your hat, I will pass it on to my son to hand-deliver to Connor.
We’re also taking six-inch squares to be seamed up into an afghan. They can be knit or crochet squares, and there’s no deadline. I’ll set one eventually, but this is the wrong time of year to be announcing deadlines for anything. It’s too overwhelming.
Yesterday I got to go with my son to another classmate’s birthday party. Most of his class was there, and it was held at a skating rink. Do you remember all your elementary school skating parties? This was great, and they even played some AC/DC, which was what I used to skate to. Skating to the old school funk was really fun. I want to have my son’s birthday party there, too, so I picked up a schedule on the way out. Would you believe that they have an adult skate during my Wednesday morning free time? With free coffee? I am SO there.
But I have it on good authority that caps will start arriving soon, a few from France, some from Canada, and others from the States. The Connor Caps group on Ravelry now has members representing sixteen states and three other countries. WOW.
Connor himself has started chemo and radiation therapy, and after a rough start on the first day he was actually back at school on Wednesday, showing off his radiation mask for Show and Tell.
I nearly poked holes in my fingertips while making the beret, so I did shift to another project for the time being — an Everlasting Bagstopper from Amy Singer at Knitty. I can’t say enough about how cool this pattern is. It’s free, it’s fast, there’s almost no purling, it looks great, and did I mention there’s almost no purling? The only drawback right now is I’ll have to buy one more ball of Sugar & Cream yarn to finish it. Well boo freaking hoo, if that’s the worst thing happening right now. I’m sure I’ll be making whole batches of them.
In very slow progress
The NaKnitSweMo sweater is still sitting there where I left it, begging me to finish the crew neck. Obviously I won’t have a sweater by the end of the month. But I’m not beating myself up because there’s so much other stuff going on. The sweater thing was really a vanity project, and I’ll be happy whenever it’s done. Meanwhile, Christmas gets a day closer every day. I’m trying to panic quietly.
And I haven’t put the fringe on the Who Scarf, either. That must be done before Thanksgiving. Just have to start and keep going, I guess. (Shout out to Dale-Harriett, who is finishing the knitting and weaving portion of Scarfness, and sidling up to the fringe as well. But it’s a quiet shout out, since she’s working on NaWriNoMo and keeping pace. I’d link, but I don’t want to disturb her.)
The “diet” resolve is holding steady so far. I don’t know why things are different this time. Maybe I finally set a goal that was low enough — do everything I can to lose one pound a week. This morning I woke up and I was craving to hop on the Nordic Track and exercise. (Maybe there was a little bit of craving for listening to Cast On as well, but it doesn’t matter to me if it’s working.) I’ve been drinking less alcohol, less soda, more water, having fewer snacks, and eating better portions of better food. Weigh-ins are on Sunday nights and I am not checking in the interim. But I feel better already.
To wrap up, I have started and frogged the brown Merino giftknit scarf three or four times now. I need some pattern suggestions for something quick and warm and soft. I don’t want to repeat using these patterns for this person: One-Row Handspun Scarf, Mistake Rib Stitch, or Garter stitch. I would also be so slow at any kind of overall ribbing that I’m dubious about that, too. Any thoughts?
Thanks for your prayers for Connor and your hats for the schoolkids, if you’re making them. If you need the mailing address, just say so in the comments and I’ll email you back with it. And if you’re on Ravelry, do join the group!
P.S. Top Chef returns and it’s off to a soul-crushing start! Why oh why do they allow competitors who are still in culinary school? That’s just cruel.
I finished my first Connor Cap — a beret for my daughter. What do you think?
Great, now I can’t remember how to insert the picture. I hope the day gets better than this.
Whew. How come every time free software gets updated it gets harder to use?
Anyway.
If one hat is done it’s time to cast on for the next. At the Connor Caps group on Ravelry I’ve been getting to see people’s finished hats, and we have group members representing twelve states and three countries, but since I have only seen the one hat that came off my very own needles I’m unjustifiably paranoid that we won’t get enough hats. Knitch has a copy of the flyer, as does The Sow’s Ear (I think), and I’ve been emailing them out to folks who are going to get their knitting groups in on the deal.
But I suspect I won’t see much in the way of other people’s hats until after we get back from our travels at Thanksgiving. That will certainly build suspense into the project. Will we have five? Will we have five hundred?
I’d better ignore the worries and get started on Hat Two.
There’s plenty of other things to do — finish the stocking, complete some other Secret Holiday Knitting, and do something, anything, even a couple of stitches on my NaKniSweMo project. It’s so off the radar it’s not funny.
I could also work out. My husband and I got a new digital scale last week and weighed ourselves. I was aghast that I weighed something I have never weighed before without being quite pregnant or very recently pregnant. Um, the baby is two and a half and I’m sitting and eating too much. So, I’m trying to get moving again. This morning on the Nordic Track I decided I could only let myself listen to podcasts while I was actually exercising. And I do love my Brenda Dayne and David Reidy and WhoCast and High Fiber Diet. So.
From last week to this week I lost exactly one pound, and I don’t want to see it again. Bye bye!
Connor starts his chemo/radiation regimen today. Send him strong thoughts!
