I was seduced this weekend and I'm sorry to say I don't have any pictures of it...

Ok, now get your minds out of the gutter, I, of course mean seduced by a new project. Now normally this wouldn't be an issue but of course the sock I should have been working on has a deadline. I did end up ripping part of it out on Friday. I panicked about the yarn and the length so I pulled off about 2 inches. Then I put it down and didn't look at it until this morning. So not good. Especially considering I need to start the other one tomorrow to give myself the full 2 weeks. I am consoling myself with the idea that the second will go quicker since all the little issues will have been worked out on the first sock. Let's hope I'm not lying to myself.

What stole my heart? Well I shouldn't really discuss it because it's for my cousin but I will say that I gave up the original pattern for the baby blanket I was making and have switched it to this click here if you're not Ingileif. This works much better for the yarn I am using and it is so beautiful I couldn't put it down.

We also had a busy weekend. We went to a few open houses this weekend to get an idea of what kind of house we would like if we were to look for a house. I know that seems very vague but that's where we are at this point. We love out neighborhood so we don't really want to leave it, but a backyard and parking space would be nice. On the other hand neither one of is sure we want the upkeep of a house so a co-op or condo may be better suited to us. Either way we need more room but there is no timetable and therefore no urgency in our search which I figure is better.

We went to Linen and Things and did a bit of shopping. I bought some new drawers for my stash but I will show you that on Wednesday since I didn't upload the pictures of my stash organization project yet. There is something in the air, or on the blogs, it seems like everyone is organizing or culling their stash. I seem to have caught the bug as well.

I also bought something that I am almost embarrassed to mention.

I bought Roomba:



I have been wanting one of these since they came on the market. As a sci-fi lover and housework hater what could be better in my life than a robot that does my vacuuming for me? They were definitely too pricey when they first came out, but after they upgraded it recently the price dropped on a basic model. Imagine sitting on the couch knitting while this little disk whirls around your house vacuuming. My husband stopped laughing long enough to say he supposed it could come in handy. Well he wasn't laughing yesterday when we got home. We set Roomba to go as we left to see a few houses and when we came back the living room rug was lovely. It got under tables that I haven't gotten under in months, it was a very thorough job, far better in fact than the job I do with my upright. I am very happy with my little Roomba.

Now if I could get a robot to do the laundry...

I'm not feeling very happy about my sock. I think I am going to run out of yarn. I also find the cuff far too long. Now my personal preference is for a short cuff but my Sockapalooza buddy lists no such preferences, so I followed the pattern. It's an 8" cuff, now of course it can be folded over or worn straight but it makes me wonder if the length of it is what ate up all my yarn. I turned the heel last night and I am now in the foot decreases. I am going to keep going until I finish or run out of yarn, whichever comes first. Of course I only have a little over 2 weeks before the socks have to be sent out and it has taken me nearly 2 weeks to complete this one...you see my dilemma.

Happily we got our tax refund yesterday so I went shopping through the Patternworks catalog. Ray has decided he wants a really long scarf, but he was concerned that it would get too boring for me. I found this yarn last night in the catalog and I think it will keep it interesting enough. I figure I can start it now and just work on it whenever I want until the Fall. Then finish it up in time for Winter.

I also decided to get the pattern and yarn for this baby blanket:



It's the Log Cabin Baby Blanket made with Sierra. I think I'm going all the way with this one and using the recommended yarn. I'm not in the mood to take the time to find a suitable substitute and I would really like to make a nice blanket for a friend of Rinaldo's who is expecting. I can't show any of the things I will be making my cousin's baby as she reads my blog. Can't spoil anything for her now can I?

Have a great weekend everyone...

Just in case anyone was beginning to doubt me. Here are pictures of the Sockapalooza sock:



Sorry this one looks so weird. I took it early this morning and it was really dark. I brightened it with my photo program but it looks a bit odd now that I see it.

Here's a much better close up:



The 2x2 rib is coming out very nicely. Overall I do really like the sock, I just hate how long it is taking me. I had been hoping to show you the beginning of a heel but I fell asleep on the couch last night so that's all I have. I am about 1 or 2 rows away from starting the heel now though thanks to the train ride. Our computer system here at work is down this morning so I'm thinking I might get a bit of knitting done at my desk for a change. How decadent...

I received an e-mail this morning from 34 Million Friends. I have donated to them in the past. Here is part of the e-mail:

In Honor of International Women's Day on March 8
Meet the Challenge - Add Your Voice and Your Dollar

On the 10th anniversary of the United Nations World Conference on Women - the internationally agreed roadmap for advancing opportunity, equality and health for the world's women - and to help commemorate International Women's Day on March 8, 2005, 34 Million Friends of UNFPA, a grassroots movement in solidarity with the world's women, is urging Americans to demonstrate their compassion and commitment to women's health and opportunity.

We are challenging 10,000 Americans to contribute at least $1 in support of the world's women by March 8.

"One dollar, says Lois Abraham, is a very low barrier to entry to become committed and to take a stand."

If you can take a moment to donate $1 and help women around the world.

Happy Wednesday...

I have been tagged by Erica and Susie:

1. How much space is left on your Tivo or Comcast Box?

Maybe 5 hours, sweeps has really caused it to fill up quickly.

2. Have you ever bought a DVD of TV series and if so, which one?

Too many, I have the entire Buffy series, the first 2 seasons of Angel, seasons 1,2 and 4 of Coupling (BBC version obviously), the first season of Wonder Woman, season 1 of Homicide a Life on the Streets and the entire run of Firefly and Wonderfalls. Any others I will not admit to in writing...

3. What was the last TV show that you watched before reading this message?

Medium

4. List five shows you won't miss. Must see TV:

Veronica Mars, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Monk and Medical Investigations (it's been a really good season)

5. Name 3 people to whom you will pass this stick.

I'm not sure who to pass this on to so I am giving an open call, if you want to answer it consider the stick passed on to you...

I love hockey. I mean really love hockey. On my desk I have a Rangers puck and on my wall I have the little flag they gave away of the large flag hung up in the rafters of Madison Square Garden when they retired Mike Richter's number. I, of course am suffering a great deal at the moment. When the season was called of this week I was not surprised but I was very sad. I'm very concerned that the NHL can't come back from this. People here in the States barely notice that there is no hockey. Which doesn't bode well. However being a true hockey fan I enjoyed this piece in the Times today.

I think they should award the Stanley Cup to an AHL team or another league that I don't know about. It should be awarded for excellence in hockey, not monopolized by the NHL. Half of the NHL players are playing in Europe anyway and Scott Gomez is playing for his home team in Alaska (I love this guy, even if he isn't a Ranger). There is a site called Free Stanley that discussed the true meaning of the Stanley Cup and why any Canadian team that plays hockey should be eligible for it.

This rant on hockey is really meant to disguise the fact that I have no knitting to discuss. I have worked on my sock but as it is a 2x2 rib it is going slower than molasses. I have been swatching for the baby blanket but so far I'm not thrilled with the swatch so I'm not ready to share. Maybe the long weekend will bring some real productivity.

I just saw this on Stephanie's site so I decided to look up my own and saw that I got a nice review. It's fake but I enjoyed it anyway. If you have a blog look yourself up, who cares if it's real, it's an ego booster anyway.

Enjoy the weekend everyone...

Having finally finished Clapotis, I have been a good girl and started my sockapalooza sock...a few times in fact. I kept having issues with the start of it, but I have a few inches of ribbing now so I am comfortably underway. I'm not doing anything too fancy as it is only my second set of socks ever. I am using the pattern from the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. I am going to continue the ribbing across the top of the foot just to be different from the pair I made Avery.

I also finally bought more yarn for poor neglected Bob. I found a blue that seems to match his overalls, at least I think it's close enough that Ian won't notice the difference. I'm hoping to do a little work on him this weekend, but only if I have made significant progress on sock 1.

I also bought yarn for a baby blanket and started swatching for it. I have 2 friends who are expecting and most exciting of all, my cousin is expecting in late summer. My cousin lives in Iceland so I'm figuring I can really deck this kid out in good knitted clothes! So lots of baby knitting to come.


Enjoy the day!

This weekend has been somewhat productive. Rinaldo and I were both off Friday so we took the car in for it's inspection. This let to a great deal of time to work on Clapotis. Once that was done we picked up the boys and went to see The Heffalump Movie. It was Ian's first movie so we weren't sure how that was going to go. Oddly enough the Heffalump scared the heck out of him but just as he was about to really get upset and try to leave the regular characters, Pooh, Tigger etc., would come on and he would calm down. About 10-15 minutes before the end it got to be too much and he asked to go. Rinaldo took him out and Avery and I finished the movie. All in all it wasn't too bad and Ian has been on a Pooh kick all weekend.

I finished Clapotis Saturday morning and I decided it would debut in an appropriate venue.

I present The Gates:



The boys and I went downtown to check them out. They are really beautiful. The boys loved it. Ian loved to run through them and Avery liked chasing him through them:



Here is the lovely clapotis:





I have barely taken it off all weekend. Yesterday all the managers had to go in to do a practice inventory using a new scanning system (I won't tell you how badly that went) and I wore it most of the day. It's so much fun to wear. I used it as a scarf and as a shawl. It is larger than I'm accustomed to and if I make it again I will make it smaller but it's pretty cool.

I am off today to spend Valentine's Day with the hubby. I need to get going on the sockapalooza sock. It's only a month until I have to send it out.


Happy Valentine's Day!

The extremely talented Alison was kind enough to create a new button for me:



I figured the new blog look for the year also required a new button. I will not be retiring the old just adding the new one as an alternative. I love it, it's very bold, not unlike me I suppose.

I have actually decided that I really do border on being quite insane. I had Rinaldo making a ball out of the last of my four play for Clapotis. I was just finishing the second ball so it was overdue. I guess the Wonderfalls DVD was a little too much fun for him because about halfway through the skein he told me he had reached an impass. It was a huge tangled mess. Now for full disclosure I must admit this is what happened to me last time and that is why I asked Rinaldo to do it this time. Hoping he would have better luck. Frankly I needed Tashie, she seems to have the gift for never tangling yarn. I took over the yarn. I didn't finish it last night so what did I do? I took it on the subway with me this morning. I, of course, dropped it under a woman's legs and I had to go run after it as it was rolling away. I also didn't finish it on the train. So I continued to work on it at my desk, in between answering e-mails and placing orders. I have actually just finished it. Nuts right?

I did wash and block the skein of (poorly) spun yarn from last week's drop spindle class. It does resemble yarn a bit more but still pretty sad and pathetic. I finally tried some more last night (that's what I was doing while watching Wonderfalls, by the way everyone should buy this set and watch it, it's really, really good)it was only a little better. I have to say I'm not crazy about using the drop spindle (yes Alison, you did warn me). It feels a bit unnatural to me. I can't seem to keep the spindle going while feeding it. I'm curious to see the wheel she will be bringing tonight. I might like that better.

This was posted to the knitlist earlier this week and I loved it. Scroll down to the fourth entry. It hasn't happened to me yet but there a a few projects where I'd appreciate the help.

Now go buy or rent Wonderfalls...

Well the weekend is over and I don't have much to show for it. I made the foolish mistake Saturday of getting on the scale. I haven't so much as looked at it for months. I knew I had gained during my mother's illness but I didn't realize how much I had gained since she died. That does explain why I haven't been feeling very well lately. I suppose it's good that I've already been trying to do something about it, but frankly I got very upset by the number that I saw.

So rather than sit and mope I decided to take action. Avery started his fencing class Saturday. It is held at the gym here at work so I worked out while he fenced. I also brought my gym clothes today so Tisha and I will start going during our lunch hour again. We had been really good about doing that, but I pretty much abandoned her when my mother went into the hospital. There were so many things that were out of my control last year that I'm just realizing how many things I let slide that I should have been taking care of, including myself.

I have quite the dilemma this week. I have my knitting group tomorrow at Barnes and Noble, but I have my second (and last) drop spindle class on Wednesday. I'm definitely going to class, though I've been bad and haven't touched my yarn or my spindle since last Wednesday. I am just not sure it I want to spend 2 nights out in a row. We'll see how it goes.

Clapotis is slowing down. I was reading most of the weekend. I started and finished 2 really good and completely opposite books. Persepolis by Satrapi and Through Violet Eyes by Woodworth. Both amazing in completely different ways. I would really like to finish it before I start my sockapalooza socks but I'm running out of time. The socks are to be sent out March 15 and I want to give myself a month to finish them just to be safe. I better get with it and work on Clapotis religiously this week otherwise she will be tossed aside.

I had my drop spindle class this past Wednesday at Downtown Yarns. I'm not sure how well I am going to take to it but I did get finish a skein such as it is. Most of it is underspun but there is quite a bit that is overspun as well:



I will block it this weekend as my teacher instructed and we'll see how it looks. The homework is to complete a skein so I will try another one. I was getting better at it toward the end of the class. I had a problem with my spindle and when it was changed it did seem to help.

I also got to meet Susie. As you can see from the picture on her blog her spinning came out much better. We talked bookstores, clapotis and spinning so it was great fun.

I got this in the mail from Jody:



It's really cute. I don't think I want to wait until Christmas to hang it up so I think I will bring it to my office to put on my wall.

I also got my Knitters Without Borders shirt. Unfortunately Cafe Press' idea of extra large does not exactly agree with mine. Ian kindly agreed to model it for you:



And finally I got tagged for the music meme by Amy:

1.) Total amount of music files on your computer:

6.8 gigs

2.) The last CD you bought was:

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - U2

3.) What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?

Dance of the Seven Veils by Liz Phair

4.) What are your five favorite songs and why they mean the most to you:

Tough call on this one as it changes depending on my mood.

Death on Two Legs by Queen
I love to play this song when I'm really pissed off about something or at someone. It just captures all those feelings and lets me vent by singing it really loud.

Extraordinary by Liz Phair
Mostly I love this song because it's how I feel about myself on good days and how I want to feel about myself on bad days.

Gold Dust Woman by Fleetwood Mac
It's tough picking just one Stevie Nicks song because so many of them meant so much to me at various points in my life, but this is quintessential Stevie. It captures best what is cool about her music.

Around the Way Girl by L L Cool J
L L does a lot of great songs and he is the most beautiful man on earth (and just as sweet in person as you would expect) but this song is special because he is praising the regular girl, not the supermodels or actresses but the girls from the block and you know he meant it 'cause he married his baby mama.

Hymn to Her by The Pretenders
Only Chrissie Hynde could do a song like this and make it so good and not hokey. It could mean many things but I of course take it as a celebration of the Goddess and it always makes me feel better.

5). What 3 people are you going to pass this baton to and why?

Ann because she's fun and interesting, so I'm sure her answers will be also.

Alison because she's a Bronx girl of course.

Susie because we're just getting to know each other and a person's choice of music tells you so much about them.

I did not have a great weekend. On Saturday Avery and I went into the city, with friends to go to the Museum of Television and Radio. They were running a day long Animation Workshop for kids. We got there around 1:30 and were told they had run out of materials. We had to figure out something else to do. We went to hang out at the Donnell Library which was close by. So I got to see these guys:



It's the original Winnie the Pooh toys. I had seen them years ago when they visited the Children's museum of Manhattan when Avery was a little younger than Ian. It was still cool to see them again.

We hung out reading and the kids got to hear some stories about snow including The Mitten, which is all about a pair of knitted mittens. Then they got to make snowflakes to hang up. They enjoyed it. Unfortunately on the trip down Avery lost the hat that I made him. It must have fallen out of his pocket. He was devastated. Thankfully I have plenty of the same yarn left so I can make him another (and fix the flaws I thought it had).

Then on Sunday the kitchen flooded, not once but twice. We have been having problems with the sink in the spare bath room and it got out of hand. So I spent most of the day cleaning up that mess.

Yesterday the cold I have been trying to fight off finally got the better of me. It has completely settled in my lungs so it's really killing me. Avery was sick too so we stayed home and watched movies all day until Ian got home from school. I got quite a bit done on Clapotis.

Maribel came over last night with a surprise for me:




Aren't they cute? She got herself a set too. That went a long way toward making me feel better.

I am home again today. I'm still not feeling well and I think poor Ian has an ear infection so I am taking him to the doctor. Hopefully he'll let me get some knitting done today as well.

I am feeling a bit better but I have to say I am really tired of the cold. Which is a bit unusual for me. I hate the summer because it's way too hot. I prefer winter since I figure I can always put more clothes on. Somehow this time it is just really draining me.

Working on Clapotis helps though. See how it's coming along:





The pattern is straight forward and logical so you don't have to keep checking to see where you are. It's simple enough to be fairly mindless but complicated enough to keep you interested. It really is a fun project.

I was a bad girl and bought myself this today:



I bought the first one but I have yet to make anything from it. I was really planning on passing this one up until I saw this:



I simply must have a Joan Jett doll. It's really just that simple. I have also already had requests for a Henry Rollins doll and a Joey Ramone, so it looks like I'll be making the whole set.

I also found this:



Now picture it a little longer, with no stripes and no pom pom and there you have my hat. It's exactly what I was looking for. I may yet have enough yarn from Clapotis to make it since I have yet to finish the first skein. Lucky me.

Oh well off to bed...enjoy the weekend...

I am really feeling under the weather today. Unfortunately it is the second week of classes which means that only death can get you a day off and even then you have to call in...

Clapotis (I find it very funny that Blogger spell check tries to correct this to slapdash) is coming along. I was going to take pictures last night but I was too lazy, although it was probably a precursor for the way I feel this morning. I am working on it as much as I can because I want to wear it before winter is over. Which may seem like a ways a way with the weather we've been having in NYC but frankly with the weather lately it could be next week.

I was talking a lot of knitting yesterday. We rode the train part of the way with my downstairs neighbor and when I pulled out my knitting she mentioned that she had tried to teach herself, but her hands just couldn't do it. She then said she should just give me her needles and all her yarn. Now for a moment I was quite excited by this prospect but I decided to take the high road. I offered to teach her to knit. I explained sometimes you just can't get it from a book and maybe she just needed a person to show her. I said I had taught some of my friends at which point my husband interjected something along the lines of "yeah she created her own cult" not quite a direct quote but that was the gist.

Later at work, the woman who does our displays came in. She is a knitter and has been for awhile but mostly scarves and such. She is attempting to make her boyfriend a hat in the style of the characters in The Life Aquatic. She was attempting to do a 2x2 rib and the knit and purl were getting all tangled. I had re-cast it on for her the day before and done a few stitches in the round to show her how to read it but when she brought it in she showed me my stitches and then hers which were once again tangled. I tinked it back to my stitches and worked it a bit. Then it suddenly occured to me to tell her to bring her yarn forward when purling and back when knitting. Voila problem solved.

If only all problems were that easily solved...

The snow is lovely but I can't deny having a bit of cabin fever from being inside all weekend. Ray took the boys out today and I cleaned and vacuumed the living room but that's all the housework I've done (the laundry is literally screaming, I'm sure Maribel hears it from around the block). I have been working on Clapotis all day.

I didn't really get much of it done yesterday, both boys wanted all of my attention. I've done a lot today but it seems Desperate Housewives was just a little too good. I was on my last repeat in section 2 and I have either too many stitches on one side or too few on the other. I am tinking back to figure out which.

Of course the real reason you're reading this is to find out who won the contest. Well first a little disclosure. It's a good thing that I was picking a winner at random since the question was a bit tricky. I do live closest to the 4, but it's only 1 or 2 blocks closer than the D. So really A or C could have been correct.

Avery pulled a name out of a hat and the winner is...Colette. Congrats to her and thank you to everyone for de-lurking to participate. Try not to be strangers.

Have a good Monday...

It is 8 degrees outside...

there is a blizzard warning in effect...

my poor husband had to go to work...

it seems to me like it's the perfect day to start...

Clapotis!

My yarn arrived yesterday:



See how beautiful it is:



It turns out Brooks Farm didn't have a match for my yarn so they simply offered to dye 3 skeins for me in a similar color so they would all match. Aren't they sweet? I actually love this color more. It has far more blue than the skein I bought.

I'm so excited.

I'm was actually supposed to work for a few hours today and Ray and I were going to go to dinner and a movie after work, but I don't want my mother in law coming out in this weather. There was nothing seriously pressing on my desk and if the storm turns out to not be as bad as expected I can go in tomorrow instead.

I realized I forgot to show you the lovely gifts I won from Chris:



Here's a close up of the luscious yarn:



I should have quite a bit left over from Clapotis so I think I will make a hat from that. I am going to do something else with this yarn, I'm just not sure what yet.

We will be picking the contest winner tomorrow. I will post who it is on Monday morning. Good luck to everyone!

Have a great weekend...

Just a short post because work is really busy, classes started yesterday and the first week is the worst.

I cast on for the Sockapalooza socks on Monday but I haven't worked on them at all. The person I am making them for has a fondness for blacks, blues and purples. This worked out for me because I had a purple and black varigated sock yarn that I had bought to make the Broad Street mittens in Knitty for a Christmas gift. Since I decided to not really make any gifts it has just been sitting in my stash.

I finished the reverse bloom washcloth. I screwed up a few rounds in the middle and my gauge was definitely way too tight. I kept breaking the stitches, cotton chenille has absolutely no forgiveness in it. I like the pattern overall though and I will make another soon to try to get it right.

I signed up for a Drop Spindle Workshop at Downtown Yarns with just a little enabling from Susie. Let's see how I take to spinning.


I've decided to make a hat for me from the yarn that I won in Chris' contest. I have been inspired by the freezing cold of the past few days and how warm my husband and sons look in their hats. I am having trouble finding a pattern. Certainly I can do a basic hat without much thought, but I wanted something that will show off this lovely yarn. I was thinking cables but the only pattern I found was a bit more complex than I was looking for right now. So any ideas on a nice hat for me? Do you have any favorite patterns that you think will work?


Remember the contest runs through Friday you can still send in an entry. Read the post below for details.

Finally Friday

It has been a very long week and it's not over yet. I still have to come in to work tomorrow, but I am dragging Avery with me and we will duck out early to go catch Racing Stripes. I suppose I should ask for some sympathy but I had a thing for zebras when I was a kid so I'm secretly looking forward to it myself. January is always difficult for him. He has the whole family home for a week and a half during the holidays and then it's back to school and Rinaldo and I are both working more than usual. I thought a special outing this year might help.

I decided when in doubt go back to basics, so I am knitting a washcloth. I may give it to my father in law to bring home to his wife if I finish it before he leaves on Saturday. I'm not crazy about her but I know it is difficult for her when he is away so what the hell I can be generous. I am doing the reverse bloom washcloth that was so popular a few months back. It's kind of fun and definitely easy.

So on to the contest. Over the holidays I ended up getting a second Charlotte's Web kit, exactly the same as the one I have so I have decided to give it away. Remember even if you don't want to do Charlotte it is 5 lovely skeins of Koigu KPPPM. See:



Here' s the deal- Send me an answer to the following question (it doesn't have to be the right answer I'm doing a random drawing). Next weekend I will have my son draw a name from a hat (or bowl or some other roundish thing) and I will announce the winner that Monday. Tisha informed me that the question should be something about the Bronx so here it is:

I live on Mosholu Parkway that means I live near what subway line?

A- The number 4.
B- The D
C- Both of the above
D- How should I know I've never set foot in the city!

Send your answer to bronxgirlknits at gmail dot com.
And yes this is really just a shameless way of finding out who those 70 people are who visit my blog everyday. I only know about 6 of you!

Good luck and have a great weekend...

Charlotte has kicked my ass. Ok, there I've said it. I have knit and ripped it out so many times this week I have lost count. I am constantly forgetting yarnovers. Maybe I'm not ready for lace knitting or maybe it's the wrong time of year for it (we are 1 week away from classes starting so work is at it's most intense). I took it with me to my knitting group last night and I finally got to row 17. I was very happy. Then I counted my stitches, the requisite 19 on one side and 18 on the other. I tinked back and still couldn't find what went wrong. Then a large hole mysteriously appeared. I ripped it out and started again. I was at row 11, the beginning of the lace pattern when I got home. I sat down to work on it and I couldn't make it work at all. Mind you I've never had problems with that row before. I ripped it out in disgust and went to bed.

I think I will put Charlotte aside for now. Today I won't bring any knitting with me to work. I am frustrated with Bob because I ran out of yarn in the middle of his overall bib. The kit didn't include full balls of yarn. They measured out what they thought it would take and in this case the blue wasn't enough. That means I have to find a blue to match. I am so not happy.

On a happier note. I've decided that having won a contest, I am going to run a contest. Check back Friday for details.

It's been a weekend of frogging. I ripped out Clapotis, until I find out if I will be able to get more of my yarn. I decided to cast on for Charlotte's Web. I knit until row 15, then the math stopped working so I ripped it out. So far I have only re-knit 4 rows, but we are watching the DVD of Arrested Development now so I might get back up to 15. I actually was watching Igby Goes Down earlier when I first started it and I think it demanded too much of my attention. It was really good, dark but funny.

Bob is going well. I got his legs and his body done, but the yarn is a bit hard to work with. It's a heavy duty acrylic so my hands get tired easily. I figure Charlotte is the perfect counterpoint to him.

The weekend went well. I had to work Saturday but I had today off and I had the joy of watching my father in law going around fixing things in my apartment. He re-did the sink in my second bathroom, yes, I live in an apartment in the Bronx and I have a second bathroom. It's really too small to use for it's intended purpose so we use it as kind of a garage of sorts. I also attach the washing machine to the sink in it. He also fixed some electrical sockets and my shower head, I had no idea he was this handy!

So far no word on whether Tashie will be here this week or not. I was really happy she was back last week. I've really gotten use to having her around and I miss her now that she's not here. We'll see what the week brings.

I have my knitting group this Tuesday at Barnes and Noble on 86th and Second. If you're in the neighborhood come on down. We meet at 7. I'm really looking forward to it. I missed the last one and then we skipped a month because of Christmas.

I just found out the best news., I actually won a contest! Chris was having a drawing for a this book and this yarn. She just e-mailed me that I won. I'm very happy. I so rarely win stuff that I really get a kick out of it when I do. By the way it's her birthday so go leave a comment for her with birthday wishes. She's really cool people.

Good luck with Monday everyone!

Man it's been a crazy week.

My mother in law was extremely dizzy on Wednesday and also felt awful so she decided to go to the emergency room. This threw us into a bit of an uproar because she is the person who takes care of my kids after school. So Rinaldo left work early that day. They couldn't find anything wrong with her, but they kept her, still in the ER. On Thursday a different doctor saw her (the third I think) and said that she may have had a small stroke. .. what!?! Yesterday afternoon they did an MRI and finally got her a bed by last night. We've been going nuts, my husband is worried of course, but we also have to deal with getting the kids and it's Rush at work (Ray works for the University also). Then Ian's school sent home a notice last night saying that there was no school today because of District Mandated Staff Development. How do they do that? People can't necessarily take off work on such short notice. I don't blame the school, I'm sure it was the District office's fault but damn. Rinaldo and I had to split shift the day again. The good news is he just called to say they are releasing his mother today so the MRI must have been ok.

On Wednesday Tashie called to say she had to come over. Her mom had decided that after the holidays she should start communting from home to get to school instead of staying with us. Wednsday afternoon on the way to pick up Tashie (she picks her up on her way home from work) her car died. Really died. So Tashie stayed with us Wednesday and Thursday.

Then I hadn't mentioned that my father in law was coming for a visit. He arrived yesterday afternoon (and don't think we haven't all thought about his visit's effect on my mother in law's health, they do have a bit of a tempestuous relationship, it can be somewhat entertaining if you're in the right mood). He is quite a character so that also makes everything run at a slightly higher pitch.

Oh yeah and my friend's father died last week, so I had to go to his memorial last night.

I gotta tell you I'm beat...

Meanwhile down at Brooks Farm in Texas, they have dug out all the Four Play they have left and are anxiously awaiting the sample I am sending of my yarn to see if they have a match. Randall Brooks is my new best friend. They are amazingly kind people.

That means that Clapotis is on hold. The IPOD cozy is done. I started Bob the Builder yesterday. He's kind of a fun thing to knit so I may not have to work on him sporadically. I'll at least keep going until I feel I'm losing interest. I have his legs done and I am up to his body.

I wish I could look forward to getting rest this weekend but I have to work tomorrow. No rest for the weary.

Have a great weekend...