Battle of Knits

Hello readers…

I have gotten a lot of emails in the past few months. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. However I am moving the blog yet again.

Would you like to follow me to the new location? Please send me an email at battleofknits@gmail.com and I will explain everything as well as send you a link to the new blog. Simply send an email with blog in the subject line and I will reply. Thanks everyone and I apologize for all the confusion.

Testing, 1-2-3

Is this thing on?

I am just seeing if it is in fact working. I am alive and kicking.

I’m here

I have a load of drama to dump. If you are curious… please follow me back to Blogger.

It is only a matter of time until this dot.com goes away… since Josh owns it. I highly doubt he would be considerate enough to keep it for me. I love the new look and hate to see this blog go, but all things end. Please follow me back over to http://battleofknits.blogspot.com and as always thanks for reading.

Could it be molars?

I think my son is teething! I’m excited about this because I was starting to think he might need an exorcism. He had a low grade fever today, so I gave him Motrin, which really seemed to help. That and our beautiful day… it was 73 out and sunny. We played outside all day and I got the yard cleaned up and the back porch. My son got a chance to really check out the sandbox and I think he carried every toy he owns outside.

A happy moment today.

After hours of play I made him some dinner and he would barely eat– another sign of teething… I tried to check out his teeth, but he would not let me look at the bottom. The tops seem to have some molars halfway through and I think they may be responsible for turning my angel in an aggressive-tantrum throwing maniac. Today he only threw one big fit. It was like a vacation! I thought with him running around outside that I might be able to sneak in some knitting on the heel of my sock, but I put the chair in the sun, sat down and he climbed into my lap. Then he decided he would pull down the front of my shirt. So… no knitting was going to get done, so I put the sock back into the house. I came back out with the video camera and videotaped him playing around, being silly. I thought I might figure out how to upload a video to the computer. Then I couldnt find the USB cord. I have no clue why it isnt in the video bag, I never use the thing and I have no clue where it would be. So I guess it will have to happen another day.

I have about 1.5 inches done on the first heel. I hope to finish it tonight. If I am super motivated I may start the final chart repeat on the 2nd sock. Now that I am into the hell, I am getting kind of excited about them.

Socky #1

I got my new sock club yarn and I love it. It is a sock yarn set-up. Stripey sock yarn with solid trim for the cuff, heels and toes. Fun. Now I HAVE to make more socks. I have been surfing Ravelry looking for a good pattern for stripey yarns… No luck so far. It seems most people just make plain old stockinette sock with stripes. I might do just that. I should have taken a picture of this new yarn, but of course I forgot all about it.

The weather is supposed to be nice all week, so perhaps I can remember. Perhaps my son will feel better and perhaps I can catch up on some sleep!

(Finally, looks like the Yarn Harlot has a new post… must go read it!)

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!!!)

New Look!

I have updated around here. A new theme, some new pages… Please, let me know what you think!

Socks so far.

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

Do not order from BlueHouseSoaps.com

Melissa Gephart of Blue House Soaps took my money when I placed an order on her website, bluehousesoaps.com and never sent me the order. I ordered in November of 2009… I continually emailed her and never heard a word until January 2010. She emailed me to say she had moved and that in the move some orders had “fallen through the cracks”  — However I have no clue how countless emails can “fall through the cracks”– She asked me to pick another type of soap since she didnt have the one I ordered, so I chose another type. She emailed me again to tell me it would be mailed to me on the following Monday. Monday came and went. I emailed. No answer. Another Monday came and went. I emailed again… no answer.  A week after that I emailed her to ask for a refund. No answer. I emailed her for days asking for a refund. No answer. Pay Pal told me this type of transaction cannot be covered. I am furious about this!

I found her profile on DiaperSwappers.com and I placed a complaint against her. A few days later I was told that I am not the only one who has been ripped off by Melissa Gephart at Blue House Soaps…

I thought I would create a blog post about this, since I hate to have anyone else give her money.

“Oh Danny Boy…”

Tub Thumping — Chumbawamba

We’ll be singing
When we’re winning
We’ll be singing

I get knocked down
But I get up again
You’re never going to keep me down

Pissing the night away
Pissing the night away

He drinks a whisky drink
He drinks a vodka drink
He drinks a lager drink
He drinks a cider drink
He sings the songs that remind him
Of the good times
He sings the songs that remind him
Of the better times:

‘Oh Danny Boy
Danny Boy
Danny Boy…’

I get knocked down
But I get up again
You’re never going to keep me down

Pissing the night away
Pissing the night away

He drinks a whisky drink
He drinks a vodka drink
He drinks a lager drink
He drinks a cider drink
He sings the songs that remind him
Of the good times
He sings the songs that remind him
Of the better times:

‘Don’t cry for me
Next door neighbour…’

I get knocked down
But I get up again
You’re never going to keep me down

We’ll be singing
When we’re winning
We’ll be singing

I love this song for a million-ja-zillion reasons… one reason is because it was an anthem for partying and drinking while I was in my freshman year of college at the University of Maine at Farmington. Another has to do with the reference to “Oh Danny Boy” which reminds me of my mother and how Irish I am. I also love that song because it is such an uplifting drinking song… “I get knocked down…” which lead you to the bar stool you are sitting in — and then “But I get up again, Cause You’re never gonna keep me down” – I just love the fight, the desire to survive and persevere. So I hear this song and I get swept away to a time of complete recklessness and I realize that I survived. (*Good Times* *Good Times*)

^^^ What that says!

So I admit that the reason I am listening too and blogging about music is because I had the day of all days with my son. I need a whiskey drink, a vodka drink, a lager drink and a cider drink. I admit it, it is all my fault. We had a great morning I had a great morning. I asked Josh when he got up to let me sleep an extra hour since our son had gotten me up at 4am. He agreed. I honestly never got that sleep… All I could do was think-think-think and listen to the chaos on the other side of the door. I let Josh do his Daddy thing… it is good for both of them, in my opinion. Later when I was showering they came to the doorway and told me the tale… Our son had climbed on the dining room table several times, to push his firetruck off- of course, he had crawled out the doggie door and ran around the backyard, completely trashed the house and tried to ride the dog like a pony. ONE HOUR!!! I was impressed. No fires, no injuries, no authorities called… so I brushed it off. We then made a trip to Home Depot and the grocery store. Our kiddo was an angel as angelic as a near-2-yr-old can possibly get! I was again-Impressed!!! We made it home with Starbucks even! Then I put the groceries away, made the boy some lunch and settled down on the couch to watch some ski-jumping. It was past nap time… so I started to get the kiddo ready for it… An hour later, no dice. So I cut my losses and declared– no nap, but early bedtime (it was already past 3pm) and so everything was okay. He came out and played and ate some more food.

Josh and I are awaiting the arrival of the 55 inch TV (which I am conflicted about… but I will get to that later) so we were talking about the work he needed to do, to get it mounted and create new wall plugs, yada-yada-yada. I had the idea of putting some markers (post-its) on the wall to see where we wanted it. Glad I did. Josh wanted it on the ceiling. So after discussing it further and moving the post-its around we compromised on a spot that has to work. We have a 6 foot fire wall to work around which is a major pain. This stupid fire wall is keeping our tv just above eye level and making me nervous that I will be dealing with neck strain constantly. I asked Josh to put the current TV in the bedroom so I can just go in there if I do happen to have issues. I mean, I cant miss important things like General Hospital, Project Runway or Real Housewives of What Ev. Seriously.

So, anyway, all day he was working in the attic and in our my closet drilling and other man-stuff… I actually had to remove my entire yarn stash from the closet to keep it out of dusts-way. I filled 2 huge plastic tubs and a garbage bag. I packed it up and felt like I needed to buy some new yarn! Seriously, if I die, mummify me in my yarn and post the pics here. Jeez. Okay, so back to why the day was crazy… At 5pm I started making dinner, nothing complicated, just microwaved dinner… and I went to stir and set the timer again… in the 30 seconds that took, my son ran into the closet where his daddy was and proceeded to climb up the ladder behind him! He got two rungs up when Josh was hollering “Mama!!!!! HEY MAMA!!!!” I could hear his panic, so I dropped things and ran, noticing the child was not on my way there, so I knew he was being mischevious! Yep there he was, climbing to the third rung, with Josh at the top, trying to reach down and hold him so he wouldnt fall. One of those Kodak moments!!! I couldnt help but laugh so hard! He just wants to help Daddy do anything and everything! It was hilarious. Especially the innocent look on our little boy’s face, compared to the sheer panic on Josh’s face. Cute! Of course though retrieving the toddler-maniac from the danger resulted in a HUGE tantrum. I brought him out to eat his dinner and he calmed down a bit, but Daddy had to lock all doors behind him from that moment on to keep his “helper” out. This did not make an over-tired child very happy, so tantrums were exploding every ten minutes. Finally I tried to take him to have a bath… no dice. Well, by then I had given up and I turned to the one tried and true tantrum tamer — YO GABBA GABBA. I turned that on and gave the boy some chips and cookies. Yeah, I know… I know. Probably not a good thing, but hey, you are only a toddler for a limited time and he is trying to survive as my child– I am not ultra patient-parent, but I can just simplify the situation and pacify him for the moment. We both needed a break from the struggle. I am a bad-bad Mommy.

Early bed time came– 7pm. I was ready, I swear! I diapered him for the night, then I realized I needed to wash his PJs! It is still too cold for anything but footy-PJs, so I had to do some stupid-freakin laundry. A few more tantrums later I got him in some jammies and we put him to bed. He wanted nothing to do with it! We ended up reading him a book and hugging him goodnight, but pulling the ol’ cry-it-out routine. He has been sleeping good in his big-boy bed for almost 2 months now, so I was not loving this evening. I poured a glass of wine at 7pm! Finally there is peace and quiet in our house right now and I am trying to relax. I have some Olympic games on the DVR and some socks to knit. I dont want to make socks… I feel like I am cheating on my cardigan, but I am determined to finish them!

Flashback– why am I conflicted about the big TV? Well, Josh did not discuss it with me as much as he TOLD me we were getting it. It is huge and will be a focal point for the living room/dining room/kitchen area. I love TV but I am positive that I watch too much already. Now add the fact that he is hooking up a computer to it so we can play video games on it… Okay, I love World of Warcraft and would love to get back to building my characters, since I have not had time since I was pregnant, but I cant knit while gaming… and I cant clean the house either. I am also upset because in my opinion and I did mention this… I feel like with our ripped up couch we are those people with a single-wide trailer and an in-ground pool out back… you know? Priorities outta-whack? That is what happens when you let a man do all the thinking I guess. My goal now is too whine about the couch and search for deals HIGH AND LOW.

Okay. Time for knitting the darn socks. I got an inch of twisted ribbing (all I could handle) and 5 rows of the lace chart done last night. So I hope to have a bunch more tonight. Yeah, maybe.

“You said that irony was the shackles of youth…”

- R.E.M.

What’s The Frequency Kenneth?

…

-TOOL

Prison Sex

“It took so long to remember just what happened.
I was so young and vestal then,
You know it hurt me,
But I’m breathing so I guess I’m still alive
Even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
Got my hands bound,
My head down, my eyes closed,
Half closed, wide open

Do unto others what has been done to me,
Do unto others what has been done to you.

I’m treading water,
I need to sleep a while.”

Cardigan pics

The most accurate pic I could get of the colorway. "Crumble" Madelinetosh Worsted (which is now called DK, I believe)

Here is the cardi after finally getting the sleeves correct.

A secret project