Hello?

If my knitting career had a soundtrack, it would go a little something like this:

I long to see the sunlight in your hair
And tell you time and time again, how much I care

Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow

Hello? 

I've just got to let you know
Cos I wonder where you are

And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely

Or is someone loving you
Tell me how to win your heart

For I haven't got a clue
But let me start by saying, I love you

 -Hello by Lionel Ritchie

I love you yarn.  Miss you.

Time for Fiber

I have found a spare moment to crack out my latest project.  It's late.  Kids are sleeping, or faking it - either way, they're quiet and peaceful so I'm not going to check.  And Mr. Man here is snoring away.  

So I am listening to a book on my laptop with headphones and sneaking in a few inches of a baby blanket for my cousin.

True to my nature, the damn thing wasn't done in time for the baby shower on Sunday, so my sister added my name to her card and gift.  (Thanks, Kage)  That gesture ensured that I have three more weeks to finish before the baby is born - if all goes well.  Notice the crochet needle?  I feel like I'm committing a sin, cheating on my knitting needles, somehow.   Doing something dirty.  The needle is aluminum, too.  Ick.


Thanks for your comments regarding the kids and their hectic schedule.  There were those who commiserated and those who gently reminded me to appreciate these days before they're gone.  Nice to have folks out there to nudge me along.


Happy knitting (or, shhhh, crocheting).

I don't really have anything to share right now other than to tell you that I'm extremely irritable.  I have been unable to touch my needles for some time now.  I've simply been too busy running around like a squirrel with an overloaded backpack trying to cross the road during rush hour. No.  Even better.  I feel like I've been herding squirrels across a road in rush hour traffic.  Yes.  That's it.

Would anyone like to adopt three very busy little children or can I hire you as my personal assistant/driver and you can just take care of my kids and their commitments while I knit?  Anyone? Anyone?

Hold onto your cowboy hats!

Yep.  Another FO.  AND it's crocheted!  Mwoo ha ha haaaa.

Just stand back and try not to inhale my dust, baby.

Green Crochet Doily Thing (aka this ain't your granny's doily)

Pattern: Spider Web Doily by Coats and Clark

Yarn: Knit Picks Felice "Green Veggies"

Hook:  Can't remember.  Something rather small.

This ditty of a doily is on its way to Texas to visit my good old buddy Tiffy.  Let's call her Texas Tiffy to be cheeky.  Bye, Doily. Have a nice time.  And take pictures when you get there.

I have in-law family coming from Iceland  on Sunday and I am supposed to be clearing a path from the front door to the dining room table.  The plan is that I'll be organized enough to serve them dinner.  I have also decided that now would be a good time to paint the living room, which also acts as our dining room.  There are yellowish test spots all over and spackle covering up years of pockmarks left over from our Toddler War days. 

So this obsession with finishing my yarn projects has really messed me up.  That and the whole 'going back to work and spending my spare time as a cab driver for my children and their friends' is really putting a big blotch on my To Do list.  I have exactly 34 hours (if I don't sleep) until the Icelandic "association" shows up on my cobweb infested front porch.  Wish me luck.

Wait for it . . . wait for it . . .

Hold your breath.  No don't.  That's not a healthy thing to do unless your diving for oysters or riding in the car with a couple of tweenage boys who have eaten nothing but hot dogs and grilled steaks with marshmallows for two days and have also decided to take off their shoes.  But I digress . . .

I have a big announcement. 

It's another FO.  I know.  "So soon?" you ask.  Well.  This here hat was started, oh, somewhere back in 2007.  I finished the damn thing but never wove in the ends.  My GOD, what is wrong with me?  My middle kid, Lumpy, found it covered in dust and whatnot and demanded that he wear it to the cabin and then to school.

I let it go out the door this weekend atop his fair little head, watching those little yarny threads dangling about.  I simply could not take it anymore.  I chased the kid down, sewed those little varmints into the backside, WASHED, and blocked the darn thing. Presto - Finished Object!

Isn't it darling?

I named it "Lorraine Cap" because it was Lorraine that first dared me to get off my spreading tushy and try my hand at cables.  Love them.

I think I may cast on for another in green.  Hmmmm.  I do have a few more UFO's to plow through first.  Oh, but the temptation is strong, my friends.  Very strong.

Pattern: Aran Watch Cap by Charlene Schurch
Plymouth Yarn Galway Worsted
US 7

Summer has left the building.

Summer has quit.  And she didn't even give us a two week notice.  That explains why my children are either at school today dressed in shorts and t-shirts or pants that are so small and tight, they are sure to land my oldest in the geek-squad.  Poor kid.  Sorry.

In any case, Senora Autumn is on the job, blowing at my north facing windows and reminding me to turn up the knitting mojo.

True to my word, I am knocking off my old knitting projects.

Specs for Hubby's Boot Socks - this is his third pair - they've become a favorite.  The yarn lasts a long time with a lot of wear.
yarn - 

Järbo Garn Raggi Multi 

needles - five

pattern - basic sock pattern

Just in time for fall outdoor adventures.

Is that the north wind I hear?

Alright, alright.  For all the yammering on about how much I love the heat of summer, there was something uplifting about waking up to 60 degrees and gray scuttling clouds.  It's knittin' season.

Here's a crappy picture I took of the view from my pillow taken by my laptop (my laptop was sitting on my nightstand and the camera was way over there on my dresser - simply too far away).

Those clouds are moving fast.  This is a good omen - I have those UFO's queued up - turns out there are more than eleven after I cleaned out my knitting bin, cupboard, bag, another bin, a couple of bags I found in my closet, a wad of project under my bed - you get the point.  This weather is a sign that knitting will be productive this fall.

WIP's

I heard an interesting expression lately: "A bloodhound can't catch a single rabbit if he's chasing eight rabbits at the same time."

There I was - over on Ravelry, organizing my projects, putting them in order of WIP (Works In Progress).  This resulted in a shocking realization.  I have eleven works in progress . . . ELEVEN.  And most of them are 75% complete.  Their almost done!  What is going on here? I know I'm a procrastinator and a bit compulsive, but eleven UFO's (unfinished objects) seems a bit excessive, don't you think?

I publicly pledge to finish these 11 projects before I even THINK of starting something new.  Here they are in no particular order.

Spider Web Doily

Small Shawl

Basic Boot Socks

Baby Cable Yoke Sweater

Baby Surprise Jacket

Central Park Hoodie

Baby Selbu Mitts

Luciole Mini-Shawl

Baby Wrap

Bunty Bunny Rabbit

Alan Dart Jultomtar's