Battle of Knits

I'm just trying to keep it real… while knitting.

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DIY Lobotamy

I have been seriously thinking about performing major surgery on myself lately. However, I cannot decide between a lobotomy and tubal ligation. Both would have results that might help my situation, but I am just not sure which would be more effective.

(Probably the lobotomy, since a tubal ligation is not retroactive.)

My son is seriously on thin ice with me. If this is the beginning of the “terrible twos” then one of us is in big-time trouble. It seems that he cannot go more than sixty seconds without being held. There are out and out tantrums several times per day now, when he used to be so wonderful. We cant take him to the grocery store… crap, I tried to walk him to the mailbox today and that was a disaster! It ended with me carrying an armful of mail & a package one one side and a kicking screaming kid in the other. He is hitting, throwing things, pulling hair and being generally defiant. In a way I am sort of proud of all his little kid angst… then I have to duck to avoid being hit upside the head with a toy car. He is seriously asserting himself and telling me that he will do what he wants. Well, I have news for that little boy… he had better hope that this phase does not last or he will be spending a lot of time in “the penalty box”! I have already been talking to Josh about it and I am going to have to begin the time-out training ASAP.

You just dont picture this aggravation when you are pregnant. Or when they are learning to crawl & walk… then BAM! Your sweet little baby turns into a monster. One day I’m getting six kisses in a row, then next he trying his hardest to kick me in the face. “Patience is a virtue” and whomever came up with that saying must have had many toddlers. I just hope I survive this. PLease please remind me of all this insanity if I ever say I’m ready for another one!!! (email me the link!)

Finally time to start a heel

My socks are coming along slowly. One needs another chart repeat, the other is ready for a heel. Eventually I might finish them… by the end of the Olympics? HA-HA yeah right! It just isnt going to happen and I have accepted it. I’m just glad everyone in our house is alive… for now. Oh and I have not yet been committed to a mental hospital.

The Strongbad Without a Face

In the land of crochet… Which I visited last night since I was exhausted from averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night for the past 5 nights and a bit burnt out on lace after knitting on my socks at Hank’s Sunday afternoon. I sewed him all together. I just need some felt for his face. His head is a tad lopsided, but I’m over it. I had to sew around the head about 40 times. The body and feet are stuffed with rice and lentils so they are heavier like a beanbag, but the head is just full of fluff, so it was nearly impossible to keep it from flopping… after sewing and sewing… and sewing… I looked at it. It was not floppy, just a bit tilted. It is going to have to do!  I have really enjoyed these amigurumi projects.

Handmaiden Casbah Sock ~ Ruby

Everything on the needles and hooks will be going ON HOLD in March. March 1st I am starting an Ishbel shawl. I have been committed to this for a month and I am very excited to start it. The yarn is delicious. This picture is terrible, since it was cloudy today, but dont worry. This blog will be saturated in photos of this shawl. I would like to gift this one too, however, this might have to be mine, since I am completely lusting over this yarn. I have named my project the “Ruby-ISH-BELla” because I am super lame. (I have accepted this too.)  :)

So on hold will be: The Vancouver Socks, the Tea Leaves Cardi, the Toodee doll and one day I might finish the crocus scarf. I had intended to work on it during the Olympics, but never even took it out of the bag. I think it is that yarn. Someone cursed that yarn. (Good thing crochet projects dont count on my 2010 goal.)

Off to knit a heel.

(BTW I absolutely LOVE this new theme!!!)

Posted February 22nd, 2010.

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Socks so far.

Pheasant Run socks, so far, as of 3pm 02/15/2010

Posted February 15th, 2010.

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Shawl (again!) & some updates + news

Yeah, I am going to make you look at that shawl again. Sick of it yet? I seriously love that thing. If i didnt mention already, that shawl is going up to Maine to live with my cousin Allie. She will appreciate and I know it will safe from grubby little toddler hands! Besides she has much more time to wear something like that. If it lived here it would be hanging on something for 363 days a year… what kind of life is that? That shawl was made to party!!! Ha, yeah… okay in all seriousness… I bragged like a little kid who just won a spelling bee on my LYS’s forum on Rav and Lorena is going to post some picks of it on the Hanks blog. Without further ado…

BEHOLD:

Traveling -up to Maine shawl

I think this my biggest accomplishment since carrying a child for 9 months inside my body.

It has really brought me back. I was out of sorts for awhile.

Totally unrelated news…

I have some more donations lined up for the big giveaway! I was hitting a lot of walls at first, but now I am having better luck– Keep checking in for more info!

Josh is in Miami tonight, for some work related conference. Now I have gone to many work conferences back when I was in the corporate world. Most of my conferences involved drinking tasting wine and trying to hold important conversations while completely buzzed worrying about how red my teeth were from the wine, but never once were they ever held in a strip club. What you say? A strip club? Well, he didnt tell me that is where they are held… I can just only assume he will be going to one and then will sleep in far too late to attend the conference. We will see. In 2010 I intend on exposing much more of my personal life. Why? Well, why the hell not? I Facebook and Twitter all day anyway. I would like to give ya’ll something interesting to read besides just pics of my knitting, pics of my kid doing crazy stuff and general whining. The stats have gone up considerably in the last 2 months. Now, dont let me scare you off… Stats just tell me how many people are reading, not *who* is reading. So you are still an anonymous reader. How do I know you wish to stay a closeted reader??? You dont leave comments. Come on people. I think you can do that anonymously too. So keep on stalking reading! :)

(Does this mean I need to hit the spell check once in awhile?)

I have a bunch of gluten-free product reviews to post. I just have no time. Clingy child= neglected blog. Sorry! Do I even have any GFree readers? Most people think this is completely in my head, with the exception being Josh, since he knows how sick I get. GLUTEN IS EVERYWHERE!!!

I am really feeling for the survivors down in Haiti today. Normally I live the usual selfish live, believing if I cant see it, it aint that bad. Well, today I watched Oprah (sue me.) and Wyclef Jean (dont be hatin’– I love him) was showing actual video his brother shot on a flip cam. There are piles and piles of bodies everywhere, dead children and lots of people just freaking out in general due to lack of supplies and care. He said the stench is overwhelming and the graveyards are full. Here I sit in my nice big house, drinking my wine, listening to music on my laptop, typing away on my blog— and it makes me feel terrible! I dont know what there is that I can do. My only idea is this baby hat pattern I made. I am going to post it on Ravelry tonight and sell it for $5 and list it under the Patterns for Haiti. All proceeds go to help Haiti. I was going to type it up and give it out for free. I mean, its just a baby hat… but if you need to get something for your donation… here you go! I sometimes wish I was independently wealthy and didnt have a young toddler to chase right now– I would go down there and help out the people. That would be a great life. Might be hard work, but at least I would sleep soundly knowing I did what I could for my fellow peeps. Yeah, if I had a billion dollars… I’d be there digging through the rubble in Haiti, trying to save people… children… and well, humanity in general. Until then… I will cherish my son and raise him to be as giving and caring as his mommy is. The kid is golden though, he will be a a wonderful addition to society, I just know it.

(LISTENING TO WYCLEF)

Okay off to post my pattern, then off to knit and watch some Nip/Tuck. Wait! I cant leave this on such a somber note… SO here you go:

Don't be hatin' on Wyclef.

PEACE.

Posted January 20th, 2010.

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FO Traveling Woman Shawl

I finished it today. I love it! I had read some notes about casting off very loose so I made sure too. I think I could have even gone looser than this, but live and learn. Except for some minor problems on the second repeat around rows 2-4 it went smoothly. The ladies in the Rav small shawl group were right, it is a great first shawl/first lace project.

Posted January 17th, 2010.

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Holy purls!

I have 8 rows left… Technically 16 if you consider that it is RS (right side) and WS (wrong side) rows. The WS rows are killing me… They are mindless and they seem to take forever!!! I feel like I am doomed to be freaking purling for the rest of my life!!! What a fate! I had a genius idea for a design during a purl row though! It is an idea for a sleeve-less little number and I am excited to put some ideas on paper. I just bought some yarn today that will be perfect… It is only a matter of doing some math really. Then sketching and knitting up a test… I guess purling isn’t so bad. At least it gives youind a chance to wander.

I am hoping to finish this shawl this weekend. I hope I remember to bind off super loose… So many Rav folks mentioned this in their notes. Then I will get working on a few fun crochet projects… Strongbad and Homestar Runner for Josh and Toodee from Yo Gabba Gabba for my buddy Boo bear. All while designing this IDEA. I think it will be the perfect pattern to include in the BIG GIVEAWAY… Yes! I am teaming with another mommy blogger to do a big giveaway! Expect it this Spring!!! There are 3 planned for the year so far, so bookmark this blog, check back often and tell your friends. This will be fun!

Enjoy some pics of the shawl…

Posted January 16th, 2010.

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The owl.

We had a vistor today and I was lucky enough to get a few pictures of him. Please dont mind my terrible photo. I really need to get the flash fixed or at least play with the settings.

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Owl, hunting squirrels, I hope.

“Here are a lot of superstitions associated with owls. Here are a few of them:  – If an owl lands on the roof of your house, it is an omen of death. Constant hooting near your house also foretells death.

 – If an owl hoots at the moment of childbirth, the child will have an unhappy life.

 – The Irish believe that if an owl flies into a house it must be killed immediately. If it escapes, it will take the luck of the house with it.

 – If an owl nests in an abandoned house, then the dwelling must be haunted. An owl is the only creature who can abide a ghost.

 – By eating salted owl, a person can be cured of gout.

 – If an owl hoots during a burial service, the deceased is bound to rise from the grave and haunt the living.

 – An owl living in the attic of a house will cause a pregnant woman to miscarry.

 – If a pregnant woman hears the shriek of an owl, her child will be a girl.”

I saw him fly into the tree and ran for the camera. I thought he was the hawk I saw a few weeks ago on the fence, but when I started snapping pics I realized it was not a hawk at all. I love owls, so this was really cool for me. Living next to a nature preserve has its drawbacks, like ticks and  pesky squirrels… but it is moments like this that I really enjoy it. Growing up in Maine I spent a lot of time in nature, playing in the woods, fishing, camping and hiking. Here in Florida you can do all those things, but it is hard to time things. The summer is too hot, Autumn brings too much rain, Winter is too cold and Spring is all there is left! Not to mention the spiders that make me want to scratch my skin off just thinking about them.
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I finished the Austin Cowl to go with my Starry-Night-Star Crossed Beret. I enjoyed both projects. The beret took no time at all and the cowl was also a quick knit. I still have a little yarn left and I cant decide what to make yet… I was thinking a headband or even a cuff might be cool. I love the colors of this yarn.
Currently I am working on some longies for Laura, some Kai-Mei socks for Amanda, a Wallaby for my little love and a baby blanket for baby Mia who should arrive very soon. She is due in October and I really need to hustle to get it done in case she shows up early.
I want to make a Traveling Woman shawl soon. Not for me, for a gift, since I am not a shawl person… I would consider myself more of a stole or scarf person. Lace knitting is not really the most enjoyable thing for me yet, so I want to practice some more lace projects before I write it off completely.

Posted September 25th, 2009.

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