Blisters

Okay, this might sound silly, but I don't get to knit much. I bring a project with me just about everywhere, but there just doesn't seem to be time to pull it out and work on it. Even at home. Right now I'm simultaneously making soup/stew, doing laundry, downloading new podcasts, and washing dishes after typing this up. I need my hands fo all of those activities, so they don't get to knit. And this is a weekend. I haven't even started on cleaning the bathrooms, doing the dishes after I'm done with my soup/stew, and picking up the messes left from the past week.

I'll probably be done with all of this just about the time when my boyfriend gets home from work, and then it will be social time. Not that I begrudge the social time.

Anyway, I started writing this post because, with all the time that I spend NOT knitting, I tend to overdo it when I can take time to knit. Yesterday I knit for an hour or so while I had my front brade rotors and pads replaced, a rear brake drum service, and oil change at my local shop. And now...I have a blister on my left pointer finger where I tend to rest the tip of my sock needle. Painful little bugger, and it means I shouldn't knit. Woe is me ;) ...I'll try a bandaid.

Cheers.

little knitter

My emergency babysitting (kid watching really) yeilded an unexpected result. Samantha, "almost 9", knit three rows on the blanket I'm making for her new little sister Alex. Two purl rows, and one knit row, only breaking long enough for me to do the border stitching. 3 rows! And I'm not even going to rip out and re-do! What's more, I forgot to mark them before I continued and now I can't tell where she worked versus my work.

So now Sam can tell Alex she helped knit her blanket..

What's more... Sam doesn't have any distaste for the purl stitch versus the knit stitch, and in fact, says it's easier. *giggle*

Had to share.

My First Experience with "Yarn Fumes"

I think I had my first experience with "yarn fumes" over the weekend. I was in my LYS, looking around, not planning to buy anything, so I checked out the pattern books and leaflettes. Rarely do I buy a pattern book because I wouldn't make or even like at least 75% of the stuff they contain. But this book was a lot of stuff that I DO like, and would LIKE to make!

So I picked up the book. $20 was do-able. Besides, it wasn't like I was buying yarn. So I set the book down on a table to flip through it again, admiring one particular pattern, and I thought...maybe I'd better look for the yarn it calls for, I might have something in a similar weight in my stash.

I think that's when I should have put the book down and RAN from the store...the yarn fumes were starting to make everything feel like a good idea. Oh yes, of course I'll pick up that ball, I don't have any cotton blends at home after all, maybe I'll just compare it to these other cotton blends... Nope, didn't find anything I like that's the right weight, I'll just put it back. OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS OTHER COLORWAY!!!

Did you detect the moment where I should have recognized a full blown yarn fume high?

I purchased the book, and the yarn, exercised the tinsiest bit of restraint and did not buy a button to put on it when I finish. And then earlier this week I took a look at my credit card statement and wondered what the heck I was thinking.

The good news (for my knitterly soul, not so much for my wallet...) is that the book AND yarn were both on sale this month at 30% off. And my LYS doesn't give refunds, just store credit. Well now, I've already started knitting this bolero I'd planned during my fume high, and since I can only exchange there's no reason to feel guilty anymore about keeping the yarn... I'll get my bolero and wear it too!

I hope. With my extreme case of startitis, project ADD, and perfectionist trends who knows if I'll ever finish it. But it's such a lovely yarn, and I really could use the article of clothing I hope it turns out to be that I should make a more solid attempt to finish this one.

We'll see. I'll keep you updated. ;)

Healthier Hygiene

Healthier Hygiene

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Where have you run into a knitter lately?

My nephew Dillon's 5th grade graduation ceremony was last night. It was cute, all the kids in nice clothes sitting up on stage while their teachers read off a list of kids with awards.... I think he felt left out since his name wasn't called for any of those. =( One of the girls read 179 books over the school year and was involved in EVERYTHING, I spy an overachiever...

Jess made a funny comment before it began, and I laughed but agreed. In a crowd of 300-500 semi-bored people you'd think you'd see more than two (us) people knitting.

I was thinking about that comment this afternoon while I was sitting in my doctor's office getting ready for my appointment. I'd just finished filling out this year's update to my personal information, sat down and pulled the zipper on my knitting bag when they called my name. Drat! Well at least it'll be quick, and I WAS the only person in the waiting area after all.

I told them what to put on my chart before they weighed me, and sure enough, 150 with clothes and shoes on. The girl taking my vitals and inital info laughed at that, saying that just confirms that everyone else that day that insisted their scale is 10lbs too high is a big fibber. I let on that I weigh myself once a week at the gym with a similar balance scale, that number is no shock to me.

When the CRNP (clinical registered nurse practicioner?) came in I had only knit across one needle on my sock, and commented that they're all just too quick tonight, I haven't had enough knitting time. She asked what I was making, and of course it was a sock, so I started describing it like I normally do... "It's going to be a sock, see this will be the cuff" and stretched it out in the appropriate area near my foot. She said something like yes I can see that, what kind of yarn? I knit too.

She knits too!

So in a room of 300-500 people there were two knitters. And in an office with less than 10 people in it there were still two knitters. I find that ironic and amusing.

Slow Knits

It's been a slow few months for me on the knitting front, there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of time to knit. I think my problem is I don't really have a good project corner. My stuff is a little scattered, definitely unorganized, and the house is too messy to make a dedicated knitting corner (which I would really like to do with the spare bedroom...).

Haven't finished any projects lately but am determined to finish two of them tomorrow--er, um, later today. Baby booties for new baby Clay, baby booties for July/August arrival baby Ceresa, and at least start on booties for September arrival baby Boettger. If I'm really productive, I'll even let myself start on some booties for November/December arrival baby Wachter.

Then again, maybe I should just finish baby Clay's booties and work on updating my stash and project photos instead. Argh, see?! There's always something to do INSTEAD of the knitting part of it. *sigh* Okay well, back to bed for me, I'm tired enough to sleep again. G'nite!

MDS&W

I might not be able to wear my leafy hedgerows socks, not knitting fast enough

...actually, not knitting. It's amazing how many things you have to do at home instead of knitting.

Dishes come to mind. And laundry, and eating, and sleeping...hmm. Maybe if I stop eating and sleeping I can have more knitting time. Come on, I'm not going to go around naked, gotta keep up with the laundry. If I'm not eating that means there will be no dishes to wash, and my entire food budget could go towards yarn. In fact, the entire kitchen could be converted to yarn storage!

This is a fun delusion, let's run with it while I sleep. ;)

Arbonne?

This afternoon after hitting the gym (hard, by the way) I met up with a lady who took the bodypump class Saturday. She's an Arbonne rep. I have some of her samples to try. Day one, so far I'm in love.

If this love connection continues I'll end up buying the set, and probably looking into small business start up costs. What kind of tax breaks do home-based businesses get? What sort of reporting/tracking do you need? What's considered a write-off? Should you incorporate first? What about insurance, the business and health sort? What sort of income could I actually generate doing this part time in conjunction with my insurance career?

It would be nice to be connected to a product I believe in. So far Arbonne sounds like all good stuff.

Hmm.

Knitting Time

Guess how much I've knitted lately. Go on, guess! You'll never guess.

Zip, zero, nada. I have not knitted one stitch in the past week or two. Aww, sorry, I should have warned you to sit down, maybe surround yourself with pillows... you never know which direction you're going to go when you faint, best to be prepared.

Yeah, no knitting for me for at least a week. Not because I didn't have time, or didn't want to, but because I've been playing with my favorite-est hand-me-down ever: Eric's "old" iPod Touch 16GB. *squeeeeee!* I'm kind of glad I'm seeing family today (after I hit the gym with the other hard core Body Steppers out there, and my favorite instructor Sarah), it's rude to sit there playing on an electronic device with one earbud in, but knitting during conversation is perfectly acceptable. Or maybe they just expect it now and think it's weird when Jess and I don't knit. Either way, I'm going to be knitting today.

I think I'll bring my Jitterbug "velvet leaf" colorway "Leafy Hedgerows" socks to work on. I'd kind of like to wear them to MDS&W, but I have to finish them first. I'm done the first of the pair but only on the cuff of the second (cuff down). And it's what, three weeks away? Better get stitching.

Aww, Shelby just laid down on my lap.

And I need her to get up, just looked at the clock, time to get dressed and head to the gym.

Happy Easter everybody!

another long silence, and now Frankie

since my last post a lot has happened in the yarn world, most of which I probably don't remember well enough to type about them now.

The most significant though is... I got a kitten! He was 12 weeks old when I picked him up from the SPCA on 12/20, all 3lbs of him. Now he's almost 5 months old, and somewhat above 6lbs, probably 6.5lbs. He's a brown mackerel tabby-abbysinian mix according to my vet, and he's as friendly and outgoing as a puppy.

Unfortunately, my boyfriend's kitty, a 6 1/2 year old tortie named Shelby, does not get along with Frankie. But Frankie thinks Shelby is great... so they have this annoying little brother to older wiser sister relationship. Problem is, Frankie will be bigger than Shelby when he's all grown up, she's only 7.5lbs, itty bitty kitty, and they're about the same size right now.

Also, I haven't been able to teach Frankie quite yet (and he's still young and stubborn) that my yarn is not his toy. I've had to start making sure that I don't leave a random ball of yarn near the floor because if he finds it... oh my, I found a yarn birdsnest all over the bedroom floor one night. I should have taken a picture of it before gathering it together to toss, it would have been funny at this point in time. Fortunately it was just some woolease so nothing to be heartbroken over. And the hank of jitterbug that he turned into a birdsnest, well that I wound into a centerpull ball with the help of my favorite knit shop owner Deb, who sold me the hank in the first place. It wasn't all that bad, just a little scary looking. Still had the yarn ties in a couple of places so all he did was muss it up a bit.

He still like stalking my yarn. He will jump up on the couch near me, trill a little and do that walking-on-me-because-i-love-you side rub, then sit down and look at my yarn, crouch, creep forward (he thinks he's invisible if he moves slow enough, it's cute), and then pounce. Ahem, I mean TRY to pounce. I touch his nose before that point so he looks at me, then he gets scruffed off the couch. After another 1-2 times of this he realizes that yes I CAN see him and no he will not be able to attack my yarn, so he curls up next to me to sleep.

I love my kitty, I'm the only one he talks to. Shelby has fallen down on her big sisterly duties such as teaching him a proper meow. Frankie, who was quite silent for the first week he was home, has not gotten out a full meow in all the time I've known him, and they're all quite high-pitched and baby kitteny. He gets out the "meee!" part and skips the "ow". Sometimes he prefaces the meeee with a little trill. It's adorable. I am besotted.

I am slightly less besotted in the mornings when my wake up alarm goes off because he takes that noise as license to walk all over me. Let me rephrase that, he takes that noise as license to walk all over the parts of me that he can see, which given that this is the cold season, is my neck and face. He will trill, walk onto my neck, rub my face while I'm trying to inhale, step off on the other side, then go back to the original side, sometimes taking a detour up to my forehead and back before rubbing on my face again. He is the best alarm clock ever.

As cats go, I think he must be on his second life, and in his first life he was a dog. He is so puppy like; friendly and outgoing with strangers, will play for hours, wants to be right next to you where ever you are, will flop down to sleep near you if you're not moving, greets me at the front door when I get home with a running trill-meeee hello...

I think it's time to stop waxing passionate about my kitten now and get ready for knitting at panera. yay. =)