I thought it was time to put some pictures up. I realized it had been a while since I had much to show. I haven't finished anything but there's been progress.

Here's my second sock, I'm working on the heel flap:



I'm figuring it will be done tomorrow.

Here's the body of Mya:



I may block this and do the seed stitch trim this weekend if I haven't received my yarn for the sleeves. It shipped out yesterday but comes Priority Mail so it may not be here in time for the weekend.

Here is the Candy Wrapper Lap Blanket:



I've been working on this in the evenings. it's a good break from the small needles of Mya and the sock.

The knitting group on Tuesday was great. My friend Christina came and was working on her sweater. There were some faces from the last time and some new ones as well. Sonia, the woman I mentioned last time who was making the preemie hats, has gone completely in the other direction. She is doing a sweater for herself from Rowan, on 17s, in the most beautiful red colorway. We all told her we can't wait to see it when it's finished.

This link was posted on the Knitlist yesterday and I just had to share. Read this woman's story and realized you are taking your life in your hands whenever you pick up your needles.

I love living a dangerous life...

I finished the body of Mya before I ran out of yarn. I did know I was going to run out of yarn so I placed an order on Friday with New York Knits. Of course I couldn't order just one little ball of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, that would have been cruel and unfair. No one would expect such a small delicate yarn to travel alone, right?

So I in fact did a bit of Christmas shopping. Christmas is all about bags this year (I believe I have mentioned this before) so I picked up a skein of Cascade 220 and the pattern for the Madeline Bag by the talented Julie Anderson. I love her designs and in fact I have e-mailed the boys at Threadbear for a kit for the Amanda Backpack once they get up and running.

I grabbed my second sock from the car on the way to work this morning. I am really trying to get into finishing mode, so I can clear out all my WIPs and work on holiday stuff. I only have two large projects in mind for the holidays. I have been promising my son a blanket for years, quite frankly, and I really need to get that done. I also have promised my best friend a hooded sweater so that is also high on the list. I'm figuring with everything else being fairly small, fairly quick projects, I might get most of them done. Most importantly I am seriously excited about most of these projects so that helps a lot!

I also want to try to work on my IPod Cozy again so I can have a workable pattern. The last 2 attempts pretty much sucked but I have had a few brainstorms about them recently so I will try yet again.

Tomorrow night is the Knitting Group at Barnes and Noble again (86th and second). I have been looking forward to it for weeks. If you're in the neighborhood stop by and say hi! We meet at 7.

Check out CityKnitter's informal survey, she's looking for people's opinions on NYC yarn shops.

Well no news is good news at the moment. They put my mother on an anti psychotic so she is no longer delirious, which is good. I'm not sure about the whole "matter of days" thing. She is very strong and I think it is hard to put a time frame on how long a person can hold out. Thank you to everyone for their kind words and support, it really means a great deal.

I have been working sporadically on Mya. I have completed the left side and am working the back as of this morning. I am definitely going to need more yarn, so I will probably pick some up on my way home this afternoon. I think I will just have to suck up the Manhattan prices in this instance.

I am totally preparing myself for holiday knitting at this point. I want to clear the decks on my current projects so I can start casting on for some presents. I am thinking of jumping into Alison's Pool for the Pooling Colors Scarf from the Fall 2004 Interweave. I'm just figuring out who on earth I would give it to (or dare I keep it for myself?). I will contemplate this over the weekend and make a decision Monday. I also want to make up my list of presents this weekend so I can start figuring out my yarn needs. Hey, any excuse to buy yarn works for me!

I totally missed my blogversary on Wednesday. I have been blogging for a year now. Wow time flies and what great people I have met and corresponded with over this past year. It certainly has made the world seem a bit smaller and way more friendly so I thank you all for that!

Have a great weekend...

My mother has taken a very bad turn. It seems she has reached her final days, although knowing my mother it will be a few weeks, so blogging may become a bit sporadic for a bit.

I didn't work on Mya at all this weekend because of everything going on with my mother. After the rug issues I didn't want to risk it and frankly I was far too distracted. Harry Potter V worked a little better to de-stress me.

Thankfully my dear friend Christina, who's the recipient (well her son Joshua anyway) is a knitter so she was able to ooh, aahh and gush over the half finished product along with a picture of what it will look like.

I was able to pick her going away gifts. We got her my favorite stitch bible of the moment Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches and of course the Needlemaster

She is hoping to have some good knitting time being a stay at home mom. How true that is remains to be seen. She is also threatening to start a knitting blog, I wonder where she gets these crazy ideas...

So not surprising:

Which flock do you follow?

this quiz was made by alanna

I was Goth before it had a name...

Thanks to Ann for the quiz!

Devan update:

Steph's done. Go check out her Devan modeled by the darling Melanie!

Kathleen's ready to cast on.

Jasmine was finishing her second side and going to start the back.

Chris finished the second sleeve but discovered a problem when she checked out her potential seams.

I am chugging along on Mya, but I'm starting to worry about whether it will be done by Monday. I seem to be taking a great deal of time untangling yarn since I have 3 going at once in order to have the white trim. It is faster now that I am in the main part, let's hope it's fast enough...

Have I mentioned how much I hate small needles? Mya is going very slowly. Here's what it will look like:



Here's what it looks like currently:



I am doing all the seed stitch borders in white, with dark blue for the main color. I am hoping to pick up some steam now that I am in the stockingnette section. Seed stitch slows me down just as much as the small gauge.

Thanks for all the compliments on the rug. I realized you can't see the points of the chevron at the top in the picture because it's rather curled but they are there thankfully. I think that's what helps hide the flaw.

As promised here is a picture of my rug, in it's natural habitat no less:



 

See the screw up is not so noticeable (if you're far enough away anyway)...

The only thing I worked on during my vacation was the rug and I finished it on Sunday, in the car on the way to Jeeper's for my son's birthday get together (3 kids does not a party make). I wanted to put a picture up today but I forgot to upload it last night. I was too busy setting up our new TiVo which I bought my husband for our anniversary (10 years, I got a lovely diamond anniversary band from him I figure I'm going to get a lot more out of TiVo than he will out of my ring). I promise to put them up when the kids go to sleep tonight.

The rug is pretty and functional, but it went very wacky at the end. My mother took a bad turn last week and it would seem that much of the work I did on it while visiting her was really screwed up. I ended up about 10 stitches short at some point (damned if I know how) so I did an increase row rather than frog. So now of course it has a very odd indent in the upper corner. I decided that I should just leave it as a testament of this time in my life. My husband says he can't really tell because of the variegation and the slight rolling at the sides anyway. I may go back at some point and re-do those last 20 or so rows but it is for my bathroom floor, who's really going to be inspecting it.

Carrie joined the Devan along with her now completed Devan. She did it in Lion Brand's Magic Stripes Jelly Bean and Bernat's Hot Sox. It is very wild and cute. Definitely makes the other Devans seem quite sedate. I had been hoping to create the Devan Gallery last week while I was home but as usually is the case life intervened. So I hope to get it done this weekend and Carrie's will be the first one up. Stephannie is moving along. Her Devan is blocked and just waiting to be finished. Mine is with me today for subway knitting but I have a baby sweater that must been completed immediately so that will take precedence once I cast it on tonight.

The Rug Along officially began on Thursday.  I began my rug on Friday.  I managed to put down the lap blanket, thankfully.  I went searching on Thursday night through my various stitch compendiums and finally found a nice chevron stitch in The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches  (I also managed to finally do a row of single crochet,  but that's a story for another day).
 
So here's my progress as of Sunday morning: 
  
 
 
The pattern is exactly what I was imagining, with this yarn.  I made my husband measure the space where it will be so he could decide how big I should make it (he likes to feel involved).  It's about 20"  across and I will make it 32" long.  At this point I have about 10" done.  I want to finish it pretty quickly so I can get back to the lap blanket.  We are getting new furniture this week (ok not so new, the couch and chair from my mother's apartment since they are nearly brand new and my furniture is falling apart) and I would like to be able to drape the lap blanket over the back of the new couch while it still looks nice.  I figure I will have about 10 minutes once it gets here...

The Knitting Group on Tuesday went really well.  Over 12 people showed up, including a young girl who wanted to learn to knit and/or crochet and a young boy who learned to knit in school this year and "misses it".  We went around the table introducing ourselves and explaining when and why we learned to knit.  My favorite story was a young woman who had twins.  They were preemies, just a little over a pound a piece.  She said she received the most beautiful little knit hats from the hospital.  She decided now that her girls are happy and healthy (19 months old), that she would like to give something back.  So she taught herself to knit from a book and now she makes preemie hats.  The one she brought was adorable.  
 
I have been working on the lap blanket ever since Tuesday.  After working on small gauge projects I forgot how gratifying bulky yarn and big needles can be.  
Here's my progress so far:
 


Poor Devan is sitting neglected because it takes so damn long to see any progress.  I needed a break and the blanket is providing a good one.
 
Here's where I stand with Devan:
 


 
I was hoping to figure out the pattern for the bath rug since the Rug Along has officially started, but I would have had to put down the blanket and I'm just not ready to do that.  Of course the rug is done with even thicker yarn so that should give some real satisfaction in the speed with which it knits up.  I had been thinking of a basketweave pattern, but now I'm leaning toward a feather and fan or chevron type pattern.
 
I go on vacation next week so I am hoping that means plenty of knitting time...yeah right, oh well a girl's got to have her dreams...
 
Have a great weekend everyone!

Just quick reminder, if you're in NYC this evening stop by Barnes and Noble at 86th and Second. My best friend Maribel is hosting a knitting group. I will be there working on my lap blanket (she is featuring Weekend Knitting so I thought it would be fun to bring the blanket since it comes from that book). It starts at 7. I hope to see some of you there!

Just a cute little quiz my son had me take (I guess a love of quizzes is genetic), he of course was Harry Potter.

Which HP Kid Are You?

I finished the Magic Stripes tie:



Ray wore it to work yesterday and got lots of compliments. He said people were very surprised that it was knitted.

I also finally got my progress bars working. I decided to make them purple, I don't know why, it's my best friend Maribel's favorite color so let's say it's for her. By the way for anyone in the NYC area, Maribel is hosting a Knit Together at her Barnes and Noble store at 86th and Second Ave this Tuesday (July 13). Yours truly will be there as well as my friend Tisha, just hanging together, knitting, talking about the latest knitting books and whatever. It's something new they asked her to try (when they discovered that knitting wasn't just her hobby but a huge phenomenon at the moment), it's sort of knitting version of a reading group. So the more people who turn out the better. It will start at 7.

I finally started on Devan. I did about 4 inches on the left panel, then I decided to frog it. I figured since Ian will be 3 in October, just around the time he would start wearing it, I wanted to make it a little bigger. My gauge had been dead on, so I went up a needle size, that should give it a few more months of wear. As I recall kids slow down a bit once they get to 3. Of course I'm pretty sure Ian has put on 2 inches in the past week because suddenly he can reach things he never could before, countertops, the microwave, the button to turn the air conditioner on, the DVD player. I am sure you can imagine what the past few days have been like in my house.

As for the other knitalongers, Stephannie finished the back, but has a warning for anyone making the second size (6-12 months); she is running low on her contrast yarn and will have to rip out her swatch to have enough. She suggests doing your swatch with the patterned yarn, because you will need all of your contrast color.

Jasmine has been waiting for her yarn to arrive from Canada. It arrived this week so she hopes to start this weekend.

Chris is busy with her summer activities so she hasn't wanted to knit. She also needed to take a break from the small needles used in Devan. You can see how far she's come on her Devan Progress Page

Brynne's Devan was being blocked when last I heard but she has been a little busy with a completely different project. Go check out her beautiful new son John Francis...

Have a great weekend.

From Mindy who got it from Em.

You're The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

by C.S. Lewis

You were just looking for some decent clothes when everything changed
quite dramatically. For the better or for the worse, it is still hard to tell. Now it
seems like winter will never end and you feel cursed. Soon there will be an epic
struggle between two forces in your life and you are very concerned about a betrayal
that could turn the balance. If this makes it sound like you're re-enacting Christian
theological events, that may or may not be coincidence. When in doubt, put your trust
in zoo animals.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

This is one of my eldest son's favorite books so it works for me!

My best friend Maribel decided to hook me up for my birthday. She works for Barnes and Noble. She therefore has her staff trained to bring any new and exciting knitting books or items to her the moment they are unpacked.

Here's what she gave me:



I have been dying to knit a poncho and the one in the Suss Knit Kit is quite cool. In the picture on the package it looks like black and white, but it is really a varigated black and beige with subtle hints of blue. It's quite pretty. Here's a close-up but it doesn't do the color justice:



I love the books as well. The Knit Journal from Melanie Fallick just got reviewed in Knitty. It has a plastic case for holding notions, as well as a needle gauge/ruler, lot's of pockets and graph paper. It's a great size too. It will fit nicely in my bag.

The other book is called the Knitting Directory. It's a really cool reference book which gives you the basic stuff (about gauge etc.) as well as more advanced things to alter patterns to your liking. It's also small and compact, to make it easy to carry around.

All in all it was a pretty good haul for me. The blue bag in the background was also from Maribel. It's great to put things in for a day at the beach, which coincidentally is how I plan on spending my 4th of July.

Enjoy the holiday weekend everyone...

The new Knitty is up. Can't say there is much in it I would actually make but I love the creativity of these designers. Were I younger and less voluptuous I might be more adventurous, but if I have any bridal showers coming up I'll keep some of these patterns in mind.

I do like On the Moon,it's very cute. I think it would also make a nice gift for a young girl when she gets her first period. Something cute to help her keep her embarassment level low. It could be sized to fit pads as well.

The pattern I might make for myself is by the lovely and talented Stephannie! It's a very decadent sleep mask. Pretty cool.

Warning - Don't seam while riding in a car

I finished the water bottle holder:



Doesn't look too bad, does it? Of course I elaborately staged the photo (I don't have a yard, being an apartment dweller, so I sat it on the window sill with the plants to have that Yarn Harlot look) to hide the fact that the strap is a moebius strip! Damned if I know how I did it. I was working on it in the car on the way to the wedding that I went to yesterday, which was beautiful by the way. It wasn't at night, I had plenty of sunlight. Yet I twisted the strap when I seamed it. Then I attached it to the tube without ever noticing the twist. I got home around midnight last night, went to bed, got up at 6 this morning to finish it. Once I finished, I held it up to admire my work...and there was that twist. I gotta tell ya at this point I really didn't care. He's a good guy, he knows I can knit well, maybe he'll think it's design feature? Anyway I stopped by the school and left it in his mailbox with a note.

Heady with the freedom of a completed project I signed up for this:



This brings me up to 7 knit alongs (6 if you don't count Anouk which is finished). I have the yarn for the rug and it was always on my list of summer projects so I figured why not. It doesn't start until July 15 so that's plenty of time.

I was loving this test that I found at Ann's site:





Can't say I was surprised, heck I think I'm less evil than I thought!

Of course in the interest of improving myself I went on to do this quiz, that the lovely Ann also shared:


20 Questions to being a Better Person

"Your score as a human being is 77.5.

Middle of the road, eh? Does that mean you're yellow? Yellow as a salamander frying on blacktop? Yellow as a urinal cake? Yellow as a delicious marshmallow Peep? Mmmm. Peep. Sometimes I think if it weren't for Just Born candy, I would just expel my life force and expire. Hot Tamales. Mike and Ikes.

But I digress.

Nicely done. You are robustly average, and I approve of it. "


Funny how they're so close isn't it...

Why is it that if I have a deadline, I absolutely won't get a project done in time? I am sure my regular readers know that I didn't finish the teacher's present in time for today, the last day. The good news is that the teachers will still be in on Monday, so I will stop by in the morning and drop it off to him. I really get hung up on these long pieces. It's only 15 stitches in K1, P1 rib, but it has to be 58" and that ribbing slows me down. I did finish the tube that the bottle goes into and it's actually sitting on my kitchen table with a large bottle of Dasani in it. It fits very well.

No work being done on anything else obviously. I am going to start Devan this weekend but it's rather a busy time. We have a cousin's tap show to go to tomorrow. Sunday we visit my mother in the morning, and we have a wedding to attend in the late afternoon, evening. And oh yes it's my birthday. I am planning on celebrating next weekend since we had so many things to do this weekend but my best friend is going to come over before I leave for the wedding so there will be something of a celebratory nature going on.

Have a great weekend everyone...

I have not been exactly productive of late. I did not finish the tie (surprise!) for my husband for Father's Day. Thankfully being a well trained husband of a knitter he was able to show enthusiasm and appreciation for the half-finished product. It is made with Magic Stripes from Lion Brand and is a pattern from their website. It's actually coming out quite nicely but it's over 50" long on size 5s in sock yarn. That means progress is slow.

He gave me permission to put it aside to work on the water bottle bag for Avery's teacher. That is going quickly since it is bulky. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the smaller size needles with me today, so although I finished the body of it, I can't begin the strap until I get home. I did seam it up however so my time was not completely wasted.

I tried to buy the beautiful Memphis colorway from (Threadbear) Rob's blog, but alas I was too late. My Charlotte will come, I am sure, it was just not meant to be...yet.

I have cast aside all other projects for a mystery father's day project (my husband reads my blog occasionally hence the mystery). I am concerned about being done in time. Ray is away until tomorrow afternoon on a business trip, and I want to be finished by then as it certainly would lose it's mystery if he saw me working on it. I am hoping with a late night tonight I can just about finish it. I rented Honey to watch tonight, so it should be perfect for mindless knitting.

Avery was a runner up in a contest sponsored by the New York Post and the City of New York called Little Apple Heroes. He wrote an essay on how he would spend a day, with a group of volunteers cleaning up our neighborhood park and making it a "relaxation spot". I am very proud! Thanks to this we won 4 tickets to a special screening of the first Spider Man movie tomorrow, as well as a party before the movie.

I also have to start the water bottle bag for Avery's teacher. I am rapidly running out of time, but it should go quickly enough. The pattern I found used 2 strands of worsted, although it's on a lower gauge needle than you would normally use. I assume it's to make a good strong, dense fabric.

So what's missing? Devan! I do plan on casting on this weekend as planned. I just don't think I'll get much done until the end of the week.

Where is everybody else the Devan along?

Stephanie completed a front panel but is having some concerns about her color matching. I personally like the bright lime.

Chris is working on the back piece. The other pieces look great!

The rest of us have yet to begin. I'm sure we'll catch up soon enough...

I finished the clogs. I like the way they look although I am toying with shrinking them a little more. Of course I made them a little big because Ian is growing so fast.

Here is the before:


and after:



I have puffy fabric paint to put on the bottoms for treads so in the morning I'll decide if they should go through one more cycle. If not then I'll do the bottoms.

I also swatched for Devan:



I cast on for the Mya swatch, but this morning I realized that school ends next week so that means I am way behind on the year end teacher gift. Avery's teacher likes to go hiking so I thought I would make him a water bottle holder. The only pattern I could find was in Hollywood Knits. So now I have to figure out a good yarn substitute, prefarably from my stash, and make it masculine. I think my work is cut out for me.

I didn't post much last week so I missed the opportunity to comment on the outpouring of grief over Reagan's death. Frankly I sure wasn't feeling it, but since it's a new week I won't get into now, except to share my favorite comic strip, Boondocks with you. Check out Monday's strip

Monday Morning Finishing

I got up at six this morning to finish up the Fiber Trends Children's Felted Clogs. I am going to throw them into the washer when I get home tonight. I had a number of problems with this pattern. Initially I found it odd that there seem to be so many mistakes in the number of stitches you're working with, since the pattern is so popular, but then I realized that it is the adult version that is the really popular one. I suspect the designer quickly sized it down for a kid version, but most people just do it themselves with the adult pattern.

It's a great design otherwise. I am a little concerned about it being a bit lopsided but felting hides a multitude of sins, so I think they'll be fine. Besides he's 2 so he's not very concerned with appearance! I think I will spring for the adult pattern and just work with that in the future. Wish I'd done it that way from the giddy-up.

I finished weaving in the ends on the booties on the train this morning. When I was working on the clogs I noticed the booties sitting abandoned in the tray on the end table. I realized that I had never done the finishing on them. So I grabbed them this morning on my way out the door. I only had sewing on the clog left to do on the train so I knew I had extra time. I did it all in the trip to work. Glad I brought a book for the ride home.

Tonight I am going to do some swatches. I am going to swatch for Devan and Mya. Mya is a crossover sweater in Rowan Junior, that I've been wanting to make for another co-worker who just had a baby (they're just popping out all over). And of course the felting.

The Devan Along is growing a bit, since their is no real time frame feel free to sign up even if you're not sure when you'll start. I still haven't made any real progress on my shapely tank and that knit along started in April. This is a very low pressure blog...

I am not sure what is up with my progress bars, so until I solve the mystery of the missing color I have listed the percentages on the sides. Hopefully I'll figure out what's wrong very soon...

So the Devan Along is on. See it even has a button:



It's only 3 of us so far, but I hope more people will join up as we go along. The rules? Really none. If you're knitting Devan or plan on knitting it by then end of the year join up! Chris has already started, I hope to start next weekend. I think Stephanie wanted to start by the end of the month. It's all good. Just have fun. I will post periodic updates on everyone's progress. I will also try to get a gallery together of the finished ones as we go.

I have actually cast aside all my projects temporarily, because I had ordered the Fiber Trends Children's Felted Clog pattern. Ian needs slippers, what can I say. They seem to be going quickly after a few issues in the beginning (much frogging going on until the end of the first 5 rows). I think they're going to be adorable on him.

The shapely got frogged so I'm back at the short rows section. I couldn't quite figure out where I had left off, but I also seem to have screwed up the decreases somehow. So I ripped it out and started again. I think that was best especially since I did one side of short rows better than the other, now I can make them both look good...

I have finished a sock:



It came out very well, and it fit my son perfectly. Of course I did check before I started the toe:



It was very easy. I did frog that one time when I was turning the heel, but otherwise it went very smoothly. I did have some problems with the toe. I was working on it in the car and somehow I dropped my last stitches. Then I had to pick them up and of course I had lost a few decreases. I thought I had caught them all, but after carefully following the directions I had for grafting the toe, I looked at it and I had loose stitches trying to run down the sides underneath the grafted stitches. Thankfully I was able to pick them up before any damage was done. I will be sure not to attempt to finish on the road again.

Look what came in the mail for me:



From the lovely guys at Threadbear. There service really is wonderful. As soon as I catch the right colorway for me I will be ordering my yarn for Charlotte. What is this Kureyon for you may ask? A Christmas present! Yes, I am keeping to a new year's resolution (from the year before last) and beginning my presents early. This year it will the theme will be bags. This yarn is destined to be a Booga Bag for a very dear friend who always admires mine. I am scoping out patterns and hope to have a list together in the next few weeks of all the different bags I will be making. My goal is to have a bag as one of my ongoing 3 project at all times so I will be done in time for holiday gift giving with a lower stress level than usual.

Aren't you all impressed?

I haven't heard any interest in a Devan along. Stephanie is interested but I haven't seem to gather anybody else. Still I will be forging ahead. I am going to attempt to make a button for it. Check back Wednesday to see how I did.

I turned the heel on my first sock! It went pretty well. I frogged once because the pattern was a bit off, but it was fine after that. I picked up the stitches on the sides of the heel flap this morning on the train. Which prompted my beloved to ask, "you could have done that in the car!?!". No, I always knew it would have to come upstairs for this part, but I am hoping to finish it tonight.

I ended up working on it by default. I finished Anouk, which was a big hit with my friend Kelly (her daughter is absolutely beautiful by the way, anouk will suit her well). She thanked me yesterday and called me today to thank me again. Yesterday on my way in I grabbed my shapely tank. When I was in the car on the way to visiting my mother I realized I hadn't grabbed another ball of yarn and the one I was finishing was just about done. So Ray suggested I grab the sock and so I did. He's pretty sharp that one.


You may notice in my list of projects that the lap blanket has become the Candy Wrapper Lap Blanket. This is because I have joined the:



Thanks to Mindy for the tip. I'll do anything for free candy and there is a candy exchange involved in this knit along. The pattern for the blanket has a change in yarn (and gauge) every few inches to give it a gathered effect. The pattern has it repeated throughout the blanket but I have always planned to only do it twice on each end, making it vaguely reminiscent of a Tootsie Roll Wrapper. The lengths some people will go for the sweet stuff...

Ladies and gentlemen may I present Anouk:




I'm very happy with the end result. I am really hoping my friend comes to visit the job tomorrow so I can give it to her. I found the cutest buttons for it too:



Oddly enough the shoulder button ended up reversed. The button hole is on the back strap instead of the front, but it works just fine. I'd love to know exactly how I managed it though. You'll also notice that I only have one pocket. My husband was the first one to say one was enough. He felt that two was "too busy". I thought about it while I was finishing up and asked my best friend Maribel's opinion and she agreed. So I went with one pocket and I really like it that way. Next time I make it (and I will as soon as I find another girl baby to make it for) I may do it with 2 pockets, hell I might even get the button hole on the right strap, but I really love it just the way it is..

Anouk is very close to completion. I have to finish the back. Then I will put the straps together and do the collar. I can't deny I am a bit worried about the collar since my last attempt at picking up stitches and creating a collar did not work out the way I expected (that would be my son's hooded sweater, the collar was more of a cowl but he loves it that way so it all worked out). I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I am toying with hosting my first Knit Along for Devan. Any takers out there? I am not sure I have enough of an audience to do it. I know Stephanie from And She Knits Too! is planning on making it but I haven't seen any blogs mentioning it.

I am also really, really tempted to make Charlotte's Web. Am I insane? I've been looking for my first foray into lace and some of the versions of this shawl that I have seen around the blogs have been absolutely stunning. I also just found myself with a $50 amex gift check from a friend which would just about cover the yarn and pattern from Threadbear. Dare I dive in? Or am I just getting a little too cocky because so many lovely people have complimented my Anouk. I'm so confused...

In the meantime here's a quiz! Can't deny I was a little surprised at the outcome on this one, but when I thought about there is truth to it. Thanks to Amy for the link:


Take the quiz: "Which American City Are You?"

Seattle
Your dark exterior masks a caffeine driven activism. You'll take up a cause and you'll get ugly to advance it.

Anouk is chugging along nicely. I seem to have done ok adjusting the pattern for the Microspun. It actually seems a bit big, I'm doing th sixth month size, but when it comes to babies that's what you want. I finished the first side and 1 pocket, I couldn't wait to try the duplicate stitch.

It's looking pretty good:



I finally got the hang of the duplicate stitch by the leaves (of course) it is easier than intarsia, particularly for a small thing like this.

I have mixed feelings about the way the pattern is written. Following it everything is coming out beautifully, but there have been times when I was really unclear as to where I was going. I think it just requires an intuitiveness that I am not used to. That being said I love the design and the ease with which it is working up. I also have to say it attracts a lot of attention when I am KIPing. People love the colors and the look of it. I can't wait to finish. The intended recipient, our former trade book manager, is coming to visit next week with her beautiful new daughter. I'm thrilled that I can give it to her in person.

On Saturday a few bloggers decided to meet up and enjoy each other's company. Who came? Well it was Sharon of Knitknacks, Ann of Purling Swine and Mindy of Gidget Casts On. We also shared the day with Sharon's friend Kathy, a novice knitter, and Linda the creator and former owner of Patternworks (which was the first yarn catalog I ever saw!).

We went to KnitNY a combination yarn store/coffee house:



And here are the ladies (you will have to go to their pages to find pictures of me), from left to right, Mindy, Sharon, Kathy, Linda and Ann:



I had a wonderful afternoon. I arrived a little later than I intended but what a fun time. I am not typically this comfortable in a group of "strangers" but I guess that's the point, thanks to blogging we weren't complete strangers. It does seem to make the world a smaller and warmer place to live in.

The group continued it's day with a visit to Downtown Yarns. I unfortunately had to leave because I wanted to catch my best friend Maribel when she got out of work. I haven't seen her since I got back from the Bahamas, since she went to Puerto Rico soon after and we had some catching up to do. I had been hoping she could join our get together but the timing wasn't right. I have also been to Downtown Yarns before and it leaves me feeling like most Manhattan yarn stores, except for Seaport. The selections are beautiful, but the prices make you fell more guilty than you should and therefore remove a great deal of the enjoyment from the purchase.

I had a great afternoon and I'm so glad Sharon got us all together. We should do it more often...

I finally finished the second bootie on Friday as planned. So I was able to cast on for Anouk Saturday morning. Just in time for my get together at KnitNY that afternoon.

Here is where I was by about 10 last night (right after Alias, how are we supposed to wait until January to find out what's in that file!):



The colors are gorgeous together. The picture really doesn't do them justice. It is knitting up beautifully. I really love the look of the Microspun. I am actually well into the bodice now and about an inch away from the neck shaping. I have to tell you I am enjoying this one so much that I don't even want to do any work today, I just want to site at my desk and knit...

How was my get together on Saturday? I had a blast! I'll tell you all about tomorrow, with some pictures...

Of Booties and Hubris

I said that the first bootie took all week. I started the second one Sunday night. I was really happy at how well it was going. I didn't need to refer to pattern, I had it memorized. It was knitting up much faster than before, I suppose because of my familiarity. I decided I was hasty in saying this couldn't be my favorite bootie pattern. If I could finish it in a day or two with no sewing, there was a lot to be said for that.

I was ready to move to the instep by Tuesday morning. That's the homestretch. I was feeling quite proud of myself. Pride goeth before the fall. I pulled out the pattern to confirm my next step and there it was, P 4 rounds K 4 rounds. I had been repeating for 3 rounds. I was very,very disappointed. I came up with a few plans to avoid frogging, but it wasn't worth it. I frogged back down to the first 3 rounds and fixed everything. It's a personal thing now between me and the bootie. I have to make sure it's perfect.

I hearby vow to always, always double check my pattern before working on a second bootie!

This came in the mail yesterday from Handknitting.com to cheer me up:



My yarn for Devan. I am very excited. I am going to finish the bootie of the damned tonight, so I can finally start Anouk. I want to bring that to my get together at Knit NY tomorrow with Sharon. Then after Anouk, I will go to work on Devan. Of course I need to get back to work on my Shapely Tank, but once I've actually started Anouk I will feel better about switching between. One for subway knitting and the other for evening TV knitting.

And finally we haven't had a quiz in quite awhile and I loved this one:


You're chocolate. You're the old soul type, people
feel that they have known you their entire
life. Many often open up to you for they view
you as thoughtful and trustworthy. Although
people trust you, you have a hard time trusting
them. You prefer to keep your feelings bottled
up inside, or display them very quietly. It is
alright to open up every once in a while.


Which kind of candy are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks to Steph for the link.

And by the way Bron had to move, Blogger wasn't being very neighborly, so here is her new home Bron's Blog II. Pay her a visit and bring food...

Check out this article about Knit NY:

A ball of yarn, two needles and a latte

I guess I am just not a small gauge kinda gal. The bootie took me all week. Most booties take me a day each at most. I finished the first one in the car on Sunday (more on where I was going in a minute).

Here is bootie number 1:



I like it, it's cute, but it is not in the running to be my favorite bootie pattern. Once I finish it I will try one of the ones recommended to me by Chari or Natalie, since I still have one more set to make.

I finished my first Critter Knitter blanket late last night. I may drop it off at the Knit Out at Central Park on Sunday. I'm just not sure I'll make it since that is the day we take the kids to visit my mother. It depends on how early we get to the hospital. If I don't get there I will hold on to the blanket awhile longer since I hope to make 2 more. This way I can send them all together.

Where was I going on Sunday? To buy this:



My digital camera wasn't able to charge anymore so I needed a new one. It's a breeze to hook up to the computer and upload the pictures from. I took the bootie picture with it late last night, it's a bit dark but pretty good. I have to play with it more to see what it can do.

My husband thought the urgency was quite funny, since he knew the only reason I was in such a rush to get a new one was because of the blog. What can I say...I couldn't blog without pictures now could I?

The new bootie pattern is going much better. I am using this pattern. I do find the dpns rather cumbersome on such a small item, but they are coming out very nicely. Hopefully I can get my digital camera working again this weekend and I can put up pictures. The picture of the mutant bootie is actually from my scanner. It came out pretty well though.

I am also more than halfway done on my Critter Knitter blanket. I haven't been working on it in the evenings as much as I would like (the booties have been for the subway). I think it will be done tonight. If I do finish, then I will work on the second bootie this weekend, since I hope to finish the first on the train home. Then and only then will I cast on for Anouk. I am hoping that all my math is solid. The yarn cries every time I pick up something else. I really have to dive in on this one. I am toying with making it a size bigger than I planned since that may help if I have figured too small. One of the great things about babies (of which there are many great things) is that they keep growing!

I also did some yarn shopping this morning. Handknitting.Com was having a sale on sock yarn. So I bought some of this in dark grey (#1029) and some of this in the Royal and Gray Denim (#9099). So when it arrives I can make this:



I think this is the cutest sweater and Ian will look so adorable in it! There is absolutely no mother bias in that statement at all, it's just a simple fact ;)

Oh well I have to get back to the Danish Wedding webcast. I love a prince who finds his princess in a bar! Definitely my kind of people....

Bets in Chicago posted this morning on the Knitlist that she had created a page with all the knitalong buttons she could find. Check it out it's pretty cool...

2004 Knitalongs

What the heck is that?



It's supposed to be a bootie. I can't quite figure in what universe though because obviously they have different laws of physics. It is from this pattern. Now obviously I have been undergoing a great deal of stress. These were in fact cast off when I was in the emergency room with my mother last night but I gotta tell ya, I don't get it. The pattern says to sew up the front and back of the bootie but I don't see where a foot would fit in it!

I have started a new bootie from a different pattern on dpns hopefully that will go better. I may make a second one of this pattern so maybe I can discover what went so horribly wrong. I have made a few booties before so I can't see that I screwed up that much. As far as I can tell I followed the pattern line by line exactly.

We'll see.

I want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts. My mother is currently in Calvary Hospital. They run a wonderful Hospice Program and everything is as good as it can be at the moment.

Not About Knitting!

It was an interesting Mother's Day. My mother, who was still working at the end of April, could no longer get out of bed as of yesterday. I gave her morphine and percocet (at separate times) and there was still too much pain. I of course had planned a small party (very informal due to her health). Her sister was coming, my cousin, two of her best friends and my family as well. So I bathed her, dressed her, changed the bed with her still in it and told her screw it we would have the party in her room. I set up chairs and everyone had a great time.

Today I needed to arrange for her to go into the hospital for hospice care. I know she isn't really ready emotionally or mentally but it's not safe for her at home. She lives alone. I am at least a half hour away. I can only come by twice a day. We have no other family and the home hospice care is only 4 hours a day. Enter the HMOs. I spoke to the nurse in charge of the hospice and she said she would try to get her approved. I then received a call from the nurse assigned to the case. She was calling me concerned (thinking I had not been there all weekend) because of her condition. When I explained what I had been doing she said that the head nurse had not been able to get through to the HMO and that her suggestion was to call 911 have them come take her and put her in the hospital. At that point it would force the issue because they aren't allowed to send her home to an unsafe environment. The hospice is right across the street from the hospital and she would be moved there.

So I agreed and then had to explain this to my mother. I think that was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but it is the best thing I am sure. So I am going to leave work soon, pick up some things at her house and meet her at the hospital.

Oh yeah I have my knitting!

As promised here are the pictures from my Spring Knit Up projects. I didn't include Sonnet because after I put the buttons on it my mother in law whisked it away. So you'll have to use your imagination. Picture the shot I had up plus the buttons I showed you.

Here is the towel:



I added the hood and it came out beautifully at least it was worth all the work.

Here is the blanket:



I apologize this picture was before I weaved in all the ends. I Went to take a picture this morning of it all finished and discovered my digital camera died. I am not happy. I guess I should get myself a new one for Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day

I am officially finished with the Spring Knit-Up. Yay!! I finished the towel this morning (ok there are a few ends to be weaved in and the side of the hood to be sewn but that will be finished on the train ride home). I decided that the 36" the pattern called for was really too big. I measured my favorite baby towel of Ian's and it was 30" x 30" so that's what I made it. I also added a hood just because I think they're so cute.

So now I can really start Anouk and work on the Shapely Tank. Although I think I am going to do some booties next week for someone my husband works with. The baby isn't due for a few months but it will be nice to get a head of the game for a change. They're so quick and easy it will be good to get the instant gratification.

I am also going to try to do a critter blanket this weekend. That should also be quick. I would really like to send them a few so I need to get to work.

I will post pictures over the weekend of the blanket and the towel.

Today was a very busy and not altogether pleasant day. I had to go get some paperwork dealt with for my mother, power of attorney stuff like that. She has also decided that she is no longer able to work. So I had to go clean out her desk and speak to her supervisor about what she needed from the doctor to keep the sick leave going until it runs out. I was bordering on an emotional wreck for the entire morning.

All of this had to be done in time to get my son out of school and over to the dentist. Amazingly enough I got him to the dentist in time. At this point my day started to look up. We were going to a new dentist (a pediatric dentist to be exact). When we were called the assistant showed us upstairs to the work area, downstairs was the waiting room and play area. Avery went in for his x-rays and I sat down with my knitting to wait. The assistant walked by and said to me, "I have something I need to ask you". Then she answered the phone. Avery came out and went to the hygenist's chair. When the woman got off the phone she turned to me and said, "I am really have problems with my increases, they always make holes in my work". Here I am expecting questions about my insurance or my son's oral history and she wants to talk knitting, how cool is that! I suggested she try knitting in the front and back of the stitch and then pulling it extra tight, since that is my preferred increase method. We talked knitting for awhile, what our favorite LYSs are and how much we enjoy it. She has taught her daughter to knit and Avery made sure she knew he knits too.

I have to say it really made a difficult day much better.

I am really itching to start some new projects. I attended 2 birthday parties on Saturday and then had to do some visiting on Sunday as well as the Costco shopping (so shoot me I like bulk buying!). I of course didn't finish the towel and I discovered this morning that I had 3 hanks of yarn left not 1 which means I have more to do than I thought. The towel is supposed to be 36" and I am at 22". Oh well maybe next weekend.

In the meantime I have joined the Anouk-a-long that Julia is hosting. I haven't gone back to figure out the math on the decreases but I think I may re-do a few swatches and see what happens. There was something odd about the way it was working out so maybe the cruise was screwing me up. I can always hope. Otherwise I will re-work it. It will be the first time I have ever done this but the yarn is too perfect for the pattern for me not to try.

I am dying to start my lap blanket from Weekend Knitting. It's been on the to do list for awhile and while it may not seem to make sense as the weather is getting warmer to want to make a blanket for the couch, my apartment gets very drafty with the air conditioner on. It will definitely be used.

I have also joined Acrylics Anonymous. I am a huge fan of acrylics and I am not ashamed to say it! Thanks to Brooks mentioning it on her blog.

I got back on late Monday from my cruise but it's taken me this long to get back in the swing of things. I wish I had more to report on the knitting front. I never did get the right gauge with the microspun for Anouk so I re-did the math and figured out my number of cast on stitches, but I didn't have the patience to re-figure the decreases so I didn't start. I worked on the chenille towel so that's coming along. I am hopeful that my Spring Knit-up projects will all be done this weekend (since the towel is the last of the three).

I haven't worked on the shapely tank at all. I'm feeling a bit guilty about it (go check out Sharon's thoughts on guilt) but I really need to get the chenille towel monkey of my back!

As a consolation prize here are some pictures of my trip:

This is Tisha wading in the water of Coco Cay (that is Royal Caribbean' private Island):



This is the view from our boat of Paradise Island as we pulled away. If you look carefully in the distance you can see the Atlantis Hotel and Resort. Tisha and I took an excursion there and it was amazing. They had the most beautiful aquariums and the largest Casino in the Caribbean. The whole place is built to look like an Atlantean Palace:



Finally an extremely rare shot of me. I'm standing on the top deck of the boat and that is Nassau behind me:



We had a great time and I highly recommend taking a weekend cruise to any moms out there (and anybody else for that matter). It's long enough to really relax but short enough so you don't feel bad (there's that guilt thing again!) about leaving your family. I'm really glad I went.

Not much knitting going on. I cast on for Anouk's pocket/gauge swatch yesterday and I can't get the gauge right!. Ok ok I only tried 2 needle sizes (6s and 7s respectively for those keeping track) but I swear the swatch on the bigger needles is smaller than the first. What's up with that? My row gauge for those who are interested is absolutely perfect on the larger size needle. I am not a happy camper. I leave tomorrow for my trip and frankly I don't want to be swatching madly with my Needlemaster set surgically attached to my side the whole trip. Instead I want to be working on a dainty, beautiful dress that everyone will ooh and aah at from the minute I get on board all the way until Monday when I disembark with the finished product (that will have miraculously woven in all it's own loose ends , stitched itself together and blocked itself overnight). I don't really think I'm asking too much?

Alison posted this the other day and being that I work in a bookstore I felt a compulsion to try it...

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the sentence in your journal with these instructions.

" I tried to remember what it was like to be near so many people who knew me." Jon McGregor's "If Nobody Speaks Remarkable"

I should admit, somewhat abashedly that I picked up 2 other books first and the lines I ran into were far too depressing for me so I decided cheating was a better way have fun.

Oh well no blogging until I get back from the Bahamas (yeah baby!) so see you Tuesday....

I got back from Indianapolis late Saturday. I couldn't get my laptop to connect to the internet while I was gone so I apologize for the lack of posting. I did indeed work on the basket weave towel (even during some seminars) but at the small gauge I really didn't get much done. The blanket is finished, and Sonnet will get it's buttons tonight. I will try to get pictures up soon. So checking in on the Spring Knit-Up that just leaves me with one project left, the towel (the Shapely Tank doesn't count because I started it recently, nor does the sock because it's in the car therefore it doesn't really exist until I take it out of the compartment I have it hidden in).

I am going to start Anouk a day or so before my trip (I leave Friday for the cruise whoo hoo!). I'm figuring I will do a pocket as a gauge swatch and attempt duplicate stitch for the flower. If that works out ok I will do it for the second as well, otherwise I will do it in intarsia. I am not a big intarsia fan so I thought I'd experiment with duplicate stitch first.

I found my thought for the day from Mom in the Mirror my favorite non-knitting blog. The Modern Mother's Mantra:

Enjoy more, worry less

I think everybody could use it. Although parents do worry exponentially more than civilians, in this day and age everybody has far too many things to be worried about. So today go out and enjoy yourselves, it's good for your health...

A - Z

stolen from Gidget who swiped it from Iris, :

A - Age: 34 (35 in June)
B - Band listening to right now: OutKast
C - Career future: Textbook Goddess or school counselor if I ever finish school
D - Dad's name: Charlie
E - Easiest person to talk to: my husband Ray
F - Favorite song: currently Extraordinary by Liz Phair, it's not just a song it's my anthem
G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Bears
H - Hometown: Bronx, NY
I - Instruments: voice
J - Job: Textbook Buyer
K - Kids: Avery 8, Ian 2
L - Longest car ride ever: going back to Langhorne, PA when we discovered I left my bag in a restaurant near Sesame Place, when we were almost home
M - Mom's name: Barbara
N - Number of people you slept with: like I'd tell you...
P - Phobia[s]: anything having to do with eyes or The Exorcist
Q - Quote: "She Saved the World...A Lot"
R - Reason to smile: I am leaving for my Bahamas cruise in 9 days.
S - Song you sang last: "We Did It" from Dora the Explorer (hey I have a toddler ok!)
T - Time you wake up: 6:30 if my husband doesn't turn off the alarm before I hear it
U - Unknown fact about me: Mixed in with all my rap and heavy metal albums is an excellent Abba collection
V - Vegetable you hate: almost all of them
W - Worst habit: procrastinating
X - X-rays you've had: my teeth
Y - Yummy food: Entenmann's Banana Crunch Cake
X - Zodiac sign: Cancer


Still running way behind on the Shapely Tank. I had to frog back 4 rows last night on the train home. Somehow I screwed up the decreases on the very first go round. I managed to fix it and I did 8 more rows on the train this morning. I am hoping to have finished all the decreases by the time I get home. I'm off tomorrow (I leave for my conference Thursday morning) so I am hoping to get at least half way on the front by tomorrow night.

I did finish putting all the squares together into strips so tonight I put together the six strips and turn it into an actual blanket. Then I can wash and block it in it's entirety tomorrow while I'm home.

Posted on April 12, 2004 | Permalink | Co

May I present Sonnet:



I haven't put the buttons on it yet but it is done. My mother in law loves it, although I have some issues with it. Oddly enough the yarn which feels so light and thin when you are knitting with it, is really very heavy. The sweater pulls down quite a bit from the weight. It is longer than it should be. Granted I may have mis-calculated my gauge but I don't think so, since you plug your own numbers in I was pretty careful when I did my swatch. I think it is the weight that stretches it out. It did tighten up when washed. The Bernat Satin washes beautifully. It felt a bit stiff coming out of the washer (gentle cycle of course) so I was concerned but after 45 minutes in the dryer (on low) it is really soft and comfy feeling.

The sleeves also came out too long and too wide (my mother in law is quite small so this may also have to do with her size rather than it's size!). When I had completed the increases the instructions say to continue until the sleeve measures 16 1/2 inches. I was already at 17 3/4 inches when I reached the correct number of stitches. What I did to compensate a bit was to eliminate a few of the decreases for the sleeve cap. This helped, so now it works as a cuffed sleeve. Overall I do love the pattern and am pretty pleased with how it came out. It is after all my first adult sized sweater.

Here is my progress on the blanket squares:


I actually gave up blocking each square, I only did the really small ones. The larger ones were stretching too much. I had to laugh because I realized my math was off, 9 squares long and 6 across is 54 not 56. I guess I'm getting old. I have these 4 strips done, I will do the other 2 tonight (I had forgotten that yesterday was Easter so not much got done since I have dinner at my house). Then I will put them together and wash and block it as a whole.

I was able to get back to the Shapely Tank this morning on the train. I just completed the first decrease. I am hoping I will be able to get most of the front done before I leave for my conference on Thursday.

I'm actually making progress see :



That is the first strip of the baby blanket. I am blocking about 9 squares a night and then putting them together the next night. At this rate I should be done by Sunday. I also completed the first sleeve of Sonnet and I am about 1/4 of the way through the second. I'm getting there.

This is my inspiration:



Here is the yarn I bought for it:



I loved the yellow, so I decided to replace the orange with it. My husband says the dress in the original pattern was late afternoon and mine will be early morning (he's cute isn't he). I've been dying to make something with Microspun, it is so so soft. I think it will be perfect.

So here's my plan, I finish Sonnet tonight or Thursday, put it together. Work on the shapely tank during the day, the baby blanket squares at night. I have a conference to go to next week so the Chenille baby towel will go with me and I will be completely monogamous with it . When I return it should be finished and then and only then will I begin the lovely Anouk.

Anyone taking bets on how this is all going to work out...

You are a GRAMMAR GOD!


If your mission in life is not already to
preserve the English tongue, it should be.
Congratulations and thank you!


How grammatically sound are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks to Roxi for a great ego boost for a Monday morning. I frankly never would have suspected. Of course just because I can recognize good grammar doesn't mean I actually use it.

So how did I do this weekend? Well I bought yarn for Anouk...

I think I just need to accept the fact that I am a slow knitter. I am nearly finished with one sleeve of Sonnet. Granted if I hadn't fallen asleep Saturday night on the couch while my son watched the Kid's Choice Awards I would probably be finished, but I worked on it as much as I could. Yet it still is taking me more than 2 days to make one sleeve. Not good.

My husband did cut my cardboard squares for me so once I finish the sleeve I am working on I will block some squares. Maybe half, ok, a quarter of them. Then it will be back to the second sleeve.

Spring Knitty Has Bloomed

Leave it to Knitty to help chase away my knitting blahs. I absolutely am dying to finish my projects so I can make this, this, this and of course this!

Alison as always has the eye for styles I love and I do miss the comfort of my maternity clothes (without the shape that accompanied them), so Rosebud is a winner. I love Anouk and I was just looking for the perfect thing to make for a lovely little girl named Isabella who just joined our bookstore family and here it is. Devan is perfect for my toddler. It suits him so well and having just discovered the joy of striping sock yarn I am really dying to use it on something bigger than a sock. Bonbon is going into the Mother's Day baskets I had already decided to make for my friends, along with other pampering stuff.

Can you tell I'm excited? This of course means that finishing weekend must go off without a hitch. Hopefully the Knitty excitement will carry me through.

As far as the Shapely tank goes, I succeeded today in completing the first short row section and the picking up of the short row wraps, so I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I'll try to post a picture tonight when I get home.

Not much getting done. I've been really tired this week and I've only been reading on the subway to and from work. I did cast on last night for the Shapely Tank. Finally! I did the six rows of garter on the train this morning and I am hoping to start the short rows on the trip home.

I am really having issues with finishing things lately. The sleeves for Sonnet are just sitting on the table next to my favorite chair begging to be worked on. My mother in law is being very patient since she sees the "vest" portion of the sweater everyday (it hangs over the back of my favorite chair...see a trend here?) while she is taking care of my kids. I just don't want to touch it. I did put Stripey away so it cannot lure me with it's Siren Song of Stripes. It just doesn't seem to have made much difference.

I suspect I am just really bored with my projects. Casting on for the tank should help. I am hoping to devote the weekend to finishing, since I have pretty much banned all but the most important housework for awhile after last week's frenzy. I'll check in over the weekend and let you know how it's progressing.