Doll Quilt

Please forgive my crummy taken-on-the-floor-of-my-craft room picture; I just finished my Doll Quilt Swap quilt top! Now I need to figure out what the devil I'm doing for the quilting part of the operation.

It seems I am also prepared to make another quilt (or two) from all the strips I cut and sewed.

Yikes, Stripes!

Some time last week the Monkey and I charged into the fabric store, intent on purchasing 1/4 yard of a bazillion different cotton fabrics so I could get to work on the Doll Quilt Swap. Within 5 minutes my cart was full of a dozen choices. But then I started to doubt-Is it too modern? Too pastel? Too something that my non-blogging swapee is not going to like? How am I supposed to stalk this lady so I know what to pick? I picked up and put back approximately every single bolt of fabric in the quilting section before choosing a half dozen fabrics I hope she loves, or at least doesn't dislike.

Once I actually had some fabric in my hands the work has been really fun. I decided on a roman coin design, and actually got up early (well, earlier than everyone else) to sew strips together Saturday morning. It is coming together so quickly, I should have the top finished in the next day or two.

Unless something comes up, which it never ever does in our home. Nope, nothing but smooth sailing here. We never, for example, spend an afternoon binging on white chocolate mousse and crying after a stressful meeting with the Psychologist evaluating Monkey about speech and behavioral therapy where he screamed for the entire 1 1/2 hour appointment.

Donuts

I had the weirdest experience this morning. While getting the Monkey ready for yet another speech evaluation I promised that if he hurried and got in the car early I would get him a donut. Donuts are possibly the ultimate treat for him, and he actually hurried. So we stop at a donut place on the way to his appointment and rush in, asking for one glaze donut (least messy). So the guy grabs him a donut, puts it in the bag and says "$1.26". One twenty-six? How can it be one twenty-six? "With tax" he informs me. But the sign says one donut, 59 cents. How can the tax on one donut equal one twenty-six? "$1.26 with tax," he tells me again, and I begin to think that this might be the extent of his English. All I have in my wallet is a single dollar bill, and he doesn't take credit. Aaaaarrrrrgggg. I'm short on time and confused and frustrated, and Monkey is thrashing around. Finally he takes the dollar and tells me I'm fine. I'm not fine, but I'm in a hurry so I flee instead of pressing the issue. I buckle Monkey in his car seat and race off, tossing him the little bag with the donut. He happily munches away as I drive, completely perplexed. A stop light or two later I turn around to check on him, and he hands me the paper bag, which you have of course guessed by now, contains another donut. Man did I feel like a genius. This poor donut guy must have thought I was a complete idiot. On the other hand, if you work at a donut shop you may need a better understanding of the phrase "One donut please."

Opportunity

Recently I was suckered into offered the opportunity to become one of the leaders of our church Young Women's group. As much as the thought scared the crap out of me, I accepted anyway and am having a surprisingly good time. And the nice part of being in charge you make the decisions about what activities to do. So when I have a pet project come to mind, I can just set the minions girls on it. Recently I heard that Skip to My Lou was collecting tiny blankets to send to China with her nephew. He is traveling there with Hope's Heart in order to work in three orphanages. So I bought some fantastic fuzzy flannel and some satin, and in one short evening of music and pizza rolls we cranked out 12 little blankies. I got them in the mail that night, and at the end of the month they will be on their way to China.

Doll Quilt Swap

Before I even had a chance to post about it, the Doll Quilt Swap has filled up. Holy smokes, I am glad I heard about it early. I do much better in my life (crafty and otherwise) with solid goals with deadlines. I am impatiently waiting for the next sale at the fabric store, so I can go in and make some poor employee cut 1/8 yard of a dozen fabrics.

I finished this skirt last night with more space between finish time and deadline than usual (I needed it finished by Sunday, as I'm tired of wearing the same black skirt to church). I love it! More girly than usual for me, but when you buzz your head you sometimes have to step it up in the female department. Skirt assembled with a few tips from this snappy tutorial, and pattern drafted with lots of help from geometry, my friend and yours. Pictures taken inside on the self-timer because there was a fantastic lightning storm going on. I feel especially smug because I used <$8 worth of broadcloth.

Sticky

Monkey and I have plans to hide inside the rest of the afternoon eating Popsicles. It rained really hard this morning, but it turns out that precipitation does not equal cooling trend here in the South. Here, you just have hot rain. You can see how humid it is in this photo. It was so wet this morning that even thought the rain had stopped the water in the air was making the light do strange things.
These hot pads and towels are now on their way to California, to be prizes for my little sister's bridal shower. I felt like a bum for not trekking across the country for her big party and volunteered to make something for the winners of assorted silly shower games. The hot pads are inspired by Denyse Schmidt's beautiful quilted oven mitts. Only not so complicated. Initially I intended on accompanying each towel with a rectangle and circle hot pad but at some point I remembered that I had a deadline and circles are rather difficult to edge with bias tape (if anyone knows of a good tutorial let me know, as it stands I have three beautiful circular hot pads that are finished except the edges). So congratulations, Little Sister! I wish I could be there with you but plane tickets for the Monkey and I cost an entire paycheck, and that would make me feel like a huge jerk. Give your boy a kiss from me. Wait, never mind. Give your boy a firm handshake and a heartfelt congratulations, and I will see you in August for your big day.

Hurricane season

My first official day of Hurricane season has so far gone without a hitch. There is still time though. Anyone else notice that the 5th Atlantic hurricane/tropical storm is going to be named Erin? I advise you to watch out for that one.

I really do still knit, although my thoughts have strayed from my sweater and Adamas shawl; it is just too stinking hot to sit under a big pile of wool right now. The project of the day is a pair of socks for the Dulaan project-a pair of Horcrux socks, to be exact. First pair of socks made following someone else's instructions, instead of making it up and flying by the seat of my pants like I usually do. This is going to be one sturdy pair of socks, I'm using the worsted weight yarn called for and size one needles. Six, maybe seven stitches per inch? Who knows; I didn't exactly gauge this one (gasp!) The yarn is a ball of Nature Spun worsted in China blue or Nordic blue or Someothermeaninglessdescription blue, overdyed with a smidgen of red to make it less flat.

Carnivores

If we are going to live in such a buggy part of the world, at least the predators here are adorable.

(Make no mistakes, there are some EPIC insects here. Without the frogs et al. we'd be screwed.

Seizures

Late late late posting tonight because a certain husband has been playing Age of Empires for approximately five hours. Not the awesome Memorial day activities I had planned. Of course, my awesome plans didn't include waking up at 5am when the monkey had a big seizure.

I was really hoping his brain had forgotten how to have those.

It wasn't terrible, just terribly disappointing. The on-call Neurologist upped his meds. Now we restart the clock, counting down to when he has been seizure free for two years and we can see if he is fixed. This does mean that lots of the small privacys and freedoms he has gained are gone again; no more swimming, or sitting in the bath alone for a moment or playing in the backyard without me.

He is doing well now; he slept in late and seem completely unaffected by his early morning workout. I am a mess. I was together enough this morning to throw my knitting in my backpack though, in case I ended up back at the hospital for three days like last time.

Shorts!

While I have been getting a lot accomplished, this last week or so has been rather difficult so you haven't seen any of it. So, in synopsis (of the crafty parts):

McCall's #M5393
97% Cotton, 3% Spandex
Fabulous pattern, but the body measurement/size chart on the back of the package are a dirty lie. According to the chart I should have been making a size 12 or 16 off of hip and waist measurements, respectively (I am shaped like a cardboard tube). Instead I made a size 4 and was delighted at the fit. A much better estimate of the size you want comes from the finished garment measurement chart. Size 4 called for 6 inches of ease at the hips, and really, who wants that?

McCall's #M5393 again, this time in shorts

100% Cotton duck, plus some cute fabric savaged from a bandanna for the inside of pockets, flaps and waistband.

Boxer shorts, pattern drafted directly onto the fabric with a piece of chalk. Something this simple I don't use a pattern for, just a tape measure. Piece of cake. Used some fabric I've had in my stash for 12 YEARS (seriously, I remember buying it.) Cotton? Polly? Some sort of blend? Who knows! I've used it for some small projects, but still had an embarrassing amount left over, especially since the color/print seems a little...intense for me now. So I made a pair of boxers for kicking around the house in.

Crazy

I am going to need a nap today.

The night before last was long and sleepless, thanks to my boys. When Monkey wasn't having dreams that required my frequent reassurance and tucking in, Lawyerboy was snoring. Most of the time I'll rub his back until he stops (seriously, he is the only person in the world who snores while sleeping on his stomach) but that usually wakes him up and he was getting to work at 6am the next day, even earlier than usual. By the end of yesterday I was tired enough to be having muscle spasms in my eye (normal for me) and in my butt (not normal). Laying there somehow this shaky, twitchy feeling made me feel hugely anxious, like I was going to have an anxiety attack (yes, sometimes I suffer anxiety that I might have an anxiety attack-awesome! Self-perpetuating worry!) So I did some 1am yoga and then wasted an hour or so reading about how to play the didgeridoo.

You would be amazed to know how often I recall my nights during the light of day and think, man, I really am crazy.

Yo-yos

Making a fabric yo-yo takes more finesse than I expected.

At least, that is what I'm going to tell myself as my first one turned out less tightly gathered in the middle and more of a gaping but very evenly puckered, well, hole. Really, it can not be gathered any tighter without a pair of vice grip pliers and stronger thread than I used. And that still wouldn't make it turn out.

While cleaning out the craft room tonight I started thinking how cool it might be to make a few yo-yos out of the leftover fabric I've used for various projects, and in a million years or so I could have enough to stitch together in a really cool wall hanging (There is almost no chance of ever covering my king-sized bed in tiny fabric circles. Maybe if both my legs were broken.)

My last week has been lots of gardening, running in sprinklers and sewing. I've finished a pair of black capris and blue shorts but still need to photograph them (I'm not much of a model and Lawyerboy isn't much of a photographer). Tonight I cut out the fabric for a blouse from a pattern I bought probably 10 years ago (hurray for stashes!). Hopefully it will turn out as cute and useful as the capris and shorts, which I've been switching between nearly every day.

I harvested my first vegetable today, one cute and delicious radish. There are easily twenty tomatoes on my vines but they are taking there sweet time ripening and I had to buy another crappy store tomato for our salad tonight. Luckily the radish was there to offer some actual flavor. In another week I should have a couple crookneck squash, yum.

Back on the needles

Once long ago I started Mim's Adamas shawl, knitting straight off a cone of Zephyr. Sadly, at the beginning of December when I really needed a soothing project that I wouldn't accidentally finish too soon Monkey pulled the needles out and did quite a bit of unraveling.

Lucky for him, it was bed time when this happened, so I put him in his room and locked the door instead of beating him.

I tried running a thread through the stitches that occur before the incident, but that is not an easy thing to do on lace. Finally, to avoid getting any more angry, I folded it up and stuffed it in a ziplock bag with the cone. Hid it under my bed.

This weekend, I finally decided I wasn't mad any more and pulled it out. Rip, rip, rip; I tore out two or three inches. Delightfully, it was surprisingly easy to get the live stitches on a needle after ripping back. So Adamas is back in action. Only like a million more rows to go. But that is ok, because it is already hot here so my shawl needs are rather small for the next 6 months or so. Or more.

Declaration of War

Attention Squirrels that live in the trees around my home:
I really do think you guys are adorable. I loved watching you leap from tree to tree, playing grab-ass and other squirrely games. I was tickled to find out you actually make tiny purring noises at each other. I loved leaving you peanuts on my bedroom windowsill so I could watch you eat.
But that is no more.
It was one thing when you kept eating the blossoms (and a great deal of the plant) off the Impatiens and Petunias I planted near the front door. I was fine resorting to a little chemical warfare: planing garlic among the flowers (it is probably too late to actually get a crop of garlic if they grow; but I know the plants smell garlicy and I hoped it would deter you).
I was completely willing to overlook that. Hey, it might not even be you, I have no proof.
But building a nest on my engine block, from my cars insulation, is TOO MUCH. What if had caught fire? Really not good for my car, and less than ideal for the tiny squirrels you intended on placing there. Thankfully, I discovered the nest in an un-squirreled state.
I try to use my car as little as possible to be kind to the environment and save on fuel costs. Not to create a squirrel hotel. Stay the hell out of my car. I know you are just rats with personality.
No peanuts for you!

Gardening

The garden is coming along beautifully here at chez artiste. All the tiny plants I bought are doing very well. The tomatoes are going crazy and have blossoms all over, as well as half a dozen smallish green tomatoes that seem like they are taking forever to ripen. Must be patient! The crookneck squash greets me every morning with beautiful golden male blossoms that are spent by the evening like morning glories. There are some small female blossoms developing, so there should be some tiny yellow squash soon, nature willing. The zucchini, which were so tiny when I bought them, are getting bushy and healthy looking. The bell pepper is getting tall and looks great, but I think it needs more heat before it will blossom. Still waiting for the eggplant to do something fabulous, but it will catch up. The cucumber is reaching desperately for the fence, and the cantaloupe is covered with little blossoms.

The seeds I planted are doing better than I expected too (I don't seem to have much luck with seeds). Monkey and I planted carrots and radishes last week, and the radishes have sprouted in a cute green little stripe that I've already had to thin. I highly recommend anyone plant radishes, they sprout in no time giving you the instant gratification that I rarely experience with seeds. Plus, when you thin them you can save the sprouts and throw them in a salad-super delicious! I had nearly given up hope on the carrots when they all seemed to spring up in a furry little row yesterday. We started a rotating crop of assorted lettuces Monday and will plant more once a week, so we will have constant fresh greens all summer.

All this growing and I really wish I had blocked off room for more. I've sent off for some purple carrot seeds, having looked everywhere for them. I'm reading about growing potatoes. Monkey and I started some peas and melon in little cups yesterday. Apparently, after 12 years of living in apartments, I am ready to be a farmer (at least in my head).

Striped Socks

Finished!
The first pair of socks actually knit for me! Some simple ribbed socks, with a cute little cable down one side. Knit from a ball of Opal that the fabulous Margene gave me when I left Utah for parts unknown. Short row heal brought to you by an exquisite tutorial from Misocrafty. These socks have been a security blanket for months now, being carried everywhere as the perfect "just in case" project. I'd better start some more socks pronto.


So now that these are photographed and posted I can pack them away with the lavender I picked last summer, because wool sock season has passed me by.

Interview

Finally my interview, questions by the lovely and talented Eliza.

1. Do you like living in Floria? What do you miss most about Salt Lake City?
I love living in Florida, but I really miss the mountains in Utah. I miss hiking every weekend, and the ocean just is not as good for keeping you oriented as the mountains were. I also really miss our geek-fest Saturday nights with our best friends Jeff and Mary. We got together virtually every weekend for about 7 years to cook dinner, RPG and let the kids get together. I miss all my Salt Lake knitting friends too, people just aren't that into wool here.

2. Who taught you to knit and how old were you?
My grandma taught me to knit when I was 5. I was a patient kid with an unnatural ability to sit quietly, and since my grandma was frequently knitting I wanted to learn too. I lived with my grandparents for a while then, and I always wanted to be around my grandma. She had this amazing gift to make everyone feel like they truly were her favorite person. Or maybe I really was her favorite grand kid. My first project was a doll blanket, made patchwork style with a block from every skein in her stash.
I resisted learning to knit continental for years because she taught me to throw. She died almost 10 years ago and I still miss her almost every day. Strangely, I wanted to knit the way she taught me, as though it would somehow be disloyal to do otherwise. It was my lady Mary who convinced me to pick, which has an awesome circularity because I initially taught her to knit.

3. How long have you been playing the guitar? Do you play any other instruments?
I've been playing guitar (well) for about 5 years now; I took a guitar class in college but it taught me nothing. A friend moved in with Marc and I when he was having marriage trouble, and the guys wanted to form a band. To avoid being stuck as the bass player I practiced really really hard. (Nothing against bass players, I sleep with one. It's just that if a band has one girl, she is ALWAYS playing bass. I refused to be a stereotype.)
I also play Mandolin, which is what I practice most now. I also took 6 years of clarinet in school, but that was a long time ago.

4. What is your favorite food/comfort food?
Initially I would say lasagna; but last week we went out to dinner at a place on the beach where you order a bucket of steamed clams, mussels, shrimp, oysters, lobster and other goodness and that was definitely in the top 1% of meals I have ever eaten.

5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I have this lovely image of visiting Greece by way of sailboat. The ancient Greeks were so closely connected with the ocean, this seems the best way to see the country. There are some places there aren't roads to, you have to take a boat. Plus, this was suggested to us by a Greek couple we met in Rome. We just need to convince a few other couples to go with us, and it is a pretty reasonable way to travel.
I would also go back to Japan in a heartbeat. Or Switzerland, that was another favorite. Really, in all our world travels the only place I wouldn't return to was the Bahamas.

That was fun! Anyone else not been interviewed who would like to, just ask. Although I'm pretty sure I am the last one to this party again.

Excuses

The lovely and talented Eliza was kind enough to interview me last week; unfortunately I was unable to answer until now (by now I mean sometime tonight when I finally get everything together.) Last week Monkey started having a new kind of seizure, not quite the grand mal seizures he had last year but extended absence seizures. We ended up at Sacred Heart in Pensacola having a long term EEG-the first 30 minute EEG he had turned up NOTHING and his doctor was smart enough to realize that was not right. The Valium he received in the ER was suppressing them so the immediate EEG was useless. After 18 hours of having the leads glued to his head the doctor reviewed results and it turns out my sweet little monkey is having tiny seizures that exhibit no outward signs every few minutes.

This sounds like terrible news, but that EEG gave us more information to help him than anything else we've done.

He is now on some new medication that has prevented any noticeable absence seizures since Sunday, the longest he's been seizure free for months. The bruises from falling during seizures are starting to turn green. And we are set up for re-testing him concerning speech deficiencies and Autism in a few months; his really awesome doctor suggested that we see what his brain will do after a month or two of not interrupting itself every 10 minutes.

Despite how crappy all this sounds, the last several days have been the best we've had in a while. So later tonight I'll post my interview, along with some finished knitting (I had a lot of time in the hospital where a knit sock was the perfect thing to hold myself together with). Hurray!

April

Green really is a perfect color for the April and May Project Spectrum. Everything around my has exploded with bright greens in the last weeks, astounding considering how green everything looked when I got here in December.


Monkey and I installed some vegetables in the garden this weekend: tomatoes, zucchini, crookneck squash, cantaloupe. We still have room leftover to put in seeds for carrots, radishes and peas, as well as cucumbers and eggplant when I get over to the nursery to pick some up.

Green is also the little lizard hanging out on my bedroom window ledge this morning, looking all charming and tail-challenged. And fast, almost too fast for my s l o w camera. We get geckos here too, cute little guys with round sticky toes on windows at night, but they are too fast for my camera.

Mother of the Year

About time I get back to this blog thing.
There has not been a great deal of crafting going on around here. A pair of capris will be cut out tonight and the sock plods along slowly, but nothing really exciting in the diy category.

I have been enjoying myself though.
Disneyworld was a lot of fun but insanely hard. Monkey is not an easy kid and being at the Happiest Place on EarthTM didn't make things easier. There were still plenty of screaming fits that make you feel like mother of the year, plus the absence seizures that make me feel sick. But overall I'd call the trip a success.
My sister was in Orlando for a medical conference and the Monkey and I met her there. We started off with the tiny kid rides, but noticed in Pirates of the Caribbean that Monkey's favorite parts were the drops. Turns out that he is tall enough to go on the good stuff, like Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad (not Space Mountain, sadly. You have to be 45 inches for that). People really look at you like you are insane when you load your three year old onto a roller coaster, but they love it when it rolls back into the station with him laughing and clapping. The crazier the ride, the better if you ask him. He was downright bored on the Peter Pan ride. Splash Mountain prompted singing and clapping.

The only real regret about the trip is that despite carrying it in my backpack the entire time, the sock NEVER ONCE got pulled out.

Sewing

The sewing world does not seem to be as online as the knitting community. Disappointing because I bought several patterns yesterday and there is not a single other person who seems to have used the pattern and written about it. And I would really like to see someone else's execution of what these capris are going to look like in real life, so as to get some pointers before I get started. If this was a knit pattern that hit bookshelves yesterday, today there would be 9 knitters out there with detailed stats about what yarn they used/needle size/gauge, what size they knit, pictures of the finished product on a real body, what alterations they made, their opinion of the pattern, and a picture of their cat looking adorable.

Technically there is a photo on the front, but this leggy model's body is no more comparable to mine than a framework made of popsicle sticks would be. She's also wearing 5 inch platform sandals, something I rarely slip on for a jaunt to the supermarket or playgroup.

I would be posting the before mentioned details on the pattern right now but I only got as far as prewashing the fabric and ironing before my sister broke my sewing machine. Oops. She was nice enough to go order the part before telling me. I hope I didn't come across as mad, because more than anything this really cracked me up-so much for our craftacular weekend.

The monkey, and therefore me, has been very busy this last week. First a general physical to meet his current doctor and get a neuro referral, then a screening visit to see if he is delayed enough for speech therapy. Slam dunk there, which meant a hearing test too (passed with flying colors). Next comes a long evaluation of how well he actually speaks. Then how well he listens and processes. Plus a visit with occupational therapy. Someday all this will be done and he will start speech therapy and once or twice a week I may get a chance to KNIT again!
Which would be awesome.
Because I haven't even turned the heel on this one yet.

Teeth

Today was the third and final day of much needed work on my teeth and I am so delighted to have it done. I keep running my tongue around my mouth and smiling; for problems that no one else could see I was terribly self-conscious of them. Plus if I bit wrong the pain left a lot to be desired. But I am all reconstructed and so happy now.
During procedures I kept my sock-in-progress on my lap. Not that I have the concentration to knit while having my mouth worked on, more of a security item. Thinking about what a Crafty job dentistry is helped me be less freaked-out too. Dentist drill? Just a teeny tiny Dremmel.
Now I just hope I'm never so broke again that I have to wait as long between checkups.

Grrrrrr

Why yes, that is a finished sock with the toe un-kitchnered. I had a darning needle around here somewhere, a needle that actually had some sentimental value, but it seems to be missing.

It is 1am and I'm up knitting and blogging because I'm too wound up to sleep. One week from tomorrow Monkey will be evaluated to determine what his deficiencies are, so he can begin speech therapy. But until he learns to communicate I still have to live with him grunting and shrieking any time he wants something. Or doesn't want something. Or is bored. Or excited. Or it is just too quiet. Like, say, tonight; when he can hear my brain start to relax and decides to scream for an hour. No half-assed cries either, but full strength Soylent Green is people! screaming. So it's not shocking that my gauge is a little tight tonight.

Thank goodness for knitting, otherwise I'd be eating ice cream straight from the carton.

This morning I was expecting some serious weather. Thunderstorms had been predicted for all day. We even got upgraded to a tornado warning, and then a tornado watch. 100% humidity, but not one drop of rain. Looks like we got lucky.

I have the potential to be doing a lot of knitting for others in the next little while. Good news from my brother last night, he and his wife are expecting a baby! And my little sister seems to be falling head over heels for a guy... So I surmise, she's always with him and therefore never catches my phone calls. I've decided not to start anything for her until I get a confirmation that she might like something lacy for her potential big day. The pre-baby will get a tiny pair of cammo socks from the perfect yarn sent to me by the lovely and talented Jennifer for the Knit Sock Kit Swap. Absolutely perfect for my brother's baby and will still leave plenty left over for socks for me.

In case you were wondering...

A Dyson vacuum cleaner pays for itself when it effectively removes fish food from your laptop.

Baklava

I sit here tonight, impatiently, waiting for my baklava to cool enough to eat. Did you know that most of the recipes tell you to bake and then wait 24 hours to eat? Who has that much self control? The whole house smells like butter; it's all I can do to not gnaw off my own arm waiting for it to cool enough to avoid serious burns.

But still I celebrate, because I have my computer hooked up now and once again have the ability to post pictures. Yipee! And with such abilities, you get to see the awesome job I did of boiling over the honey glaze.

There has been knitting lately, but none of it is really at that picture taking state yet so I should get to work. I leave you tonight with a photo of our Saturday sky:




Eta: This is the recipe I used for the baklava. Piece of cake, anyone can do it. The hard part is done for you by the lovely people at Athens, who use whatever arcane magic that creating phyllo dough takes. It probably is a lot more fun to cook with someone else in the kitchen with you, because the layering does take some time. If you are by yourself, I recomend a little Jimi Hendrix.

Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading

In celebration of the Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading, I present you with one of my favorite poems. Not the most bright and cheerful of poems, but the depth of emotion expressed is nearly tangible.

The Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827) is considered one of the 4 great Japanese poets. He was remarkably prolific, leaving more than 20,000 haiku in journals when he passed. He wrote this after the death of his daughter Sato. Dew is a common symbol for the Buddhist theme of the transience of all things. According to Buddhist teaching, life is as fleeting as the dew and we should eschew attachment to the things of this world. But he can't quite let go, his heart aches with the profound loss.

This world of dew
Is but a world of dew
And yet, and yet

Poetry, especially haiku, is difficult to translate (the above is the translation that best expresses the feel of the original Japanese, imo). This has also has been translated as:

this world
is a dewdrop world
yes... but...

And in Japanese for those of you who are picky about such things (like myself)

tsuyu no yo wa
tsuyu no yo nagara
sari nagara

Poll

So I have a serious question for all you knitters out there:
Monkey and I are getting ready to go to an Air Force playgroup for the first time. Do I bring knitting, which has the potential of helping me meet other knitters or possibly start up a conversation with someone who wants to learn, or do I go knit-free, because I really really really need to make some friends and my social anxiety disorder may just cause me to bury my nose in the yarn and never make a peep?

Yipee!

Today this bad ass grrl bundled up, snuggled the monkey cozily into the bike trailer, rode to the auto parts store on base, picked up a new battery for the car, took it home and installed it.
The car again lives.
I feel so awesome.

Stupid car

I was totally going to get a spinning wheel for Valentines day, but the car won't start this morning. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap. The problem better be something inexpensive. It is freakishly cold too, like 31 degrees. Making the bike and trailer less than delightful, but still necessary because we are out of diapers. Perhaps there has never been a better time to potty train the monkey, a task that has only been neglected because he can't get his pants on by himself yet.
At least things went well at the dentists. I was embarrassed but they were very kind. Stuff is getting fixed. And my teeth do feel remarkably clean.

What can I wear that makes me look not nervous...

Being newly covered by actual dental insurance, in a few hours Monkey will find himself at a babysitters for the first time ever and I won't even get to enjoy my time alone. This has created more than a small amount of anxiety (though whether it is more about the teeth or the babysitter is unclear) and I just keep sitting here thinking I'd rather be going to see the gyno.

Believe me, simply brushing your teeth 3 or 4 times a day does not prevent cavities. This is remarkably unfair.

I wonder if I can lay in the chair and work on my current sock?

Florida, some more

So I am finally settled in my lovely new home, at least as much as anyone can be settled when all your bookcases arrived sans shelves. No place to rest books, just tall, empty boxes. It is quite lovely here, mere minutes walking with the Monkey's reluctant steps to the beach. It is not that he doesn't love the beach, but he is at that 40 lb. stage where he prefers to be carried CONSTANTLY. Excepting just that, a lot of behavioral issues have extinguished themselves now that he and I are not couch surfing but have planted ourselves firmly here with Marc. Our new home is beautiful with tall ceilings and an actual back yard. I cried when we finally got our keys, I haven't had a back yard since I was a kid and the Monkey never has. The yard needs some work, as previous occupants had a dog much like this one, but the Air Force has given me all supplies I need. Seriously. Dirt, seeds, plants in the spring. Amazing! Living on base rocks! And I love the work, especially with Monkey helping with his tiny garden tools. Not much planting quite yet (it has been recommended I wait until February when the temperature doesn't have the occasional freak trips into the 30s,) but lots and lots of pruning trees that need the love and removing expired or just plain hideous bushes. Quite therapeutic. Not a lot of knitting going on, we have been rather busy and I seem to have misplaced my Adamas shawl (!) but I've been reading EZ and I am INSPIRED. Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and emails. Now that our house is finally online updates should begin again. Now where did that lace go anyway...

Florida

Just a big quick hug for everyone out there in internet land. I'm in Florida, it is beautiful, and we found out today that there are no 2 bedroom homes available, so they are giving us a 3 bedroom. Happy Birthday! My boys reunion in the airport was as adorable as could be imagined, with the Monkey yelling "Daddy!" and running down the hall to him. I'm even getting some knitting in :)
More when things are a little more stable, even with a finished object or two.

Hurray!

Just got a call from Marc and on-base short term housing does have room! Funny how these things change in just a day. Packing up all my stuff today, finishing Christmas preparations. Last night I gave up on sewing a paintbrush roll (same as a knitting needle roll, just for paint brushes) when I couldn't find any cute red fabric so I just bought one and feel so much better for it. Actually read the instructions for Knucks and am putting them together correctly this time. Fell asleep with them in my hands while reading EZ's Knitting Workshop and had knitting dreams. Awesome.

Motivate me!

I have so much to do right now that I am overwhelmed to the point of complete inactivity. Every new thing I remember I need to do makes me want to do everything less. When the Monkey decides he wants lunch I'll probably lapse into a coma.
Thursday at 0700 we fly to Utah.
Friday the movers come and pick up all our crap stuff. This in a way terrifies me, because they are supposed to inventory everything which means opening all my terribly packed boxes. They will see that I've packed my dishes with tshirts, that my Kitchenaid is wrapped in a feather duvet, and the last several boxes I packed are helpfully labeled as "Stuff" and "Things."
Saturday we fly to Florida (!) to finally see that guy I think I married or something. It has been a long time.
Who knows what happens after that. According to my planning-ahead-kind-of-a-guy, he informs me last night that there is no room in apartment-style billeting (short term housing). There is also no on-base housing available. Freaking awesome. At least our car will be there by then, as it was my job to have it shipped.
Perhaps some accountability will get some things done here though. Today I need to:
-get suitcases, which can not happen before mom gets home (no car) done!
-Michaels for candy bags (also must wait) done!
-divide up candy amongst recipients (five kinds! yum!) done!
-glue tops on Ukrainian eggs and divide them up done!
-pack in a preliminary fashion, or at least clean room done!
-vacuum
-bake bread done!
-get fabric and sew SIL a paint brush roll on my mom's crappy sewing machine (also needs a car) done without the work-I bought one!
-mail hats for Soaring Eagle Project
-order cat drinking fountain for my sister

Stupid Cheetos...

You know, Christmas is getting close. I'm running out of time to screw around and knit non-gift stuff. I've even hung up my sock for the time being (after doing a really cool short row heal thanks to the fabulous advice from Misocrafty and the Knitting Fiend). So when I screw something up and waste a day, I am rather frustrated. I started a quick hat for my Monkey today. I want to give him something that isn't silly and last minute; we probably will still be in temp housing on base on Christmas, and that doesn't really lead to a festive atmosphere. I think. This is all new to me, I'm literally making up what it is going to be like in my head.
Anyway, started a cute easy hat for him while riding to the Train museum today, while watching him play in the Thomas exhibit, while riding the Santa Express train. And I was just not happy with my stripes. All wrong, somehow. Damnit. After ripping multiple times, but not as far back as really needed it, I cast off the cursed three inches and called it a headband. Enjoy it, Mom, but please don't wear it tomorrow, I don't really want to look at it right now.
Also, the bag of chips I confiscated from the monkey are kind of stale. Or perhaps that is how baked Cheetos are supposed to taste.
Why don't I ever knit something chunky?
I did figure out a jogless stripe though, desperately thinking back to reading instructions in Knitty maybe a year ago.

Shedir, again!

At Thanksgiving my brother was in town, and was blown away by the complete awesomeness of my Shedir hat. Plucking it from my head, he instructed me to "make mine about an inch longer, and a color that looks good with desert cammo"(he is in the army, and will probably be wearing desert cammo soon.) Done! Same pattern modifications as last time, with the exception of knitting 9 or 10 rows of plane ribbing before getting to the good part.

Hot dog Christmas time rocks. Big time motivation to get lots and lots of smaller projects done, ignoring large projects that you worked on all summer but still haven't finished. Ahem. Not that I don't have two of those.
Tomorrow starts candy week for me as well. If I do one different type of candy each day before I hop on a plane and begin several days of wandering the country I will have plenty of delicious snacks (and cavities) to put in everyone's basket.

Shedir, take 2

Saturday night I started another Shedir, with the goal of finishing it by tomorrow. Inexplicably, it is taking all my discipline to stick to knitting this hat for my brother, and not, say, turn the heel on my brainless sock-in-progress. Socks for me, because I'm selfish. When I knit this pattern for myself I couldn't put it down. I seem to be feeling a wee bit grinchy today. Not grumpy, grinchy. I finished and mailed off a custom order for a half dozen Ukrainian eggs yesterday; I should concentrate on the warm glow of accomplishment finishing something for someone else brings. On the other hand, a half-finished shedir does make a lovely tree topper.

Weekend

Finally all the Thanksgiving guests are gone, for which I am thankful. I haven't been on the computer for days, due to its constant use by people who have important research papers due, or some crap like that. Silly students, use your laptops! Anyway, I finished a shawl just in time for this weekend. Not one of the knit ones. I did not compete (I don't have full regalia yet) but danced in many of the open social dances. Monkey sometimes accompanied me.
It was WONDERFUL.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've had a lovely day today filled with cooking with my sisters and mom, hanging out with family and fancy dancing all over the back yard.
I am especially thankful this year, for many things including:
-Trileptal
-Being employed for the first time in 3 years, minus crappy summer jobs Marc did during law school. Go Air Force!
-Still having the Monkey. I've wondered several times the last 7 months.
-Knitting, of course.

What about you?

My boy is so sweet

In non-knitting news...
Today is Marc and my 9th wedding anniversary. (Wow, I'm older than you thought.) I could not ask for a better companion. We have been together since we were kids and our history is epic. I look forward to the next nine years and forever after that with much happiness.

I especially look forward to December 16th, which is my tentative move date to haul myself and the Monkey out to Florida to meet him there when he leaves Maxwell AFB. I miss him so much.

Shedir

This knitting for myself thing is kinda fun. Finished the hat on Saturday night, but have been crazy busy with family stuff and hardly get a minute to myself on the computer due to said family. Luckily I've had my spiffy new hat to keep me warm in this autumn weather. I love it! So comfy, exactly the right size and much quicker than I would have expected too. This is more than a little due to my adjustments to the pattern, explained below.

Pattern: Knitty's Shedir, from the Breast Cancer Awareness Issue
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes worsted in Sapphire Heather, one full skein plus probably 5 yards. An even more beautiful color in person.
Needles: size 3 oak dpns that I made myself (oooh, so crafty!)
I was knitting by the seat of my pants on this one. I started out by casting on only 112 stitches, enough for only 7 repeats of the cable pattern instead of 8. My half-assed, non-gauging logic for this was as follows: I always have to go down a needle size to get gauge. Always. I would not call myself a loose knitter, I never drop needles and my stitches are even and consistent, but to get gauge on the needles called for in most patterns I would have to cause the needles PAIN. I figured that if it was too small for me, I would give it to the Monkey. Too big for me, it would be the start of a sweater for the Monkey. Fortunately, like Baby Bear's porridge, it was just right. I only knit 6 rows instead of 9 of the plain ribbing, and then only two repeats of the cable pattern instead of 5. After that I did some measuring and calculating, and determined that 25 rows would be a better finished length for me instead of the remaining charted 31 rows. No problems. I removed lines 73, 76, 79, which are repeated rows anyway. Since I had only seven points in my star instead of the proscribed 8, I needed to decrease a little faster to avoid the conehead look. After line 81 I drew the tail of the yarn through and pulled the seven stitches closed, eliminating another couple rows and ending with the perfect length.
I'm short enough that I've received several compliments on the nifty star on the top already. I had no idea the top of my head was that visible.

Knitting in the Ghetto

My cable needle is pretty awesome. I started Shedir on Tuesday and it is just zipping along, especially since I adjusted the pattern so it would work with the needles I have. And if the monkey will just relax and have his quiet time (just because he doesn't need naps anymore doesn't mean I don't need the break) I should have a FO up by tonight.

Holy cow

Look, I am in no way a fiber snob. I knit with acrylic, I buy supplies at Walmart, etc. But when I call a local yarn store and no one, including the OWNER, has ever heard the blessed name of Saint Elizabeth Zimmermann, I am going to be a little shocked.

After

My mom, isn't she cute!
The hat, after felting. I've fulled a number of things, but this has probably been the most dramatic shrinkage so far. Possibly due to my not paying attention to previous projects. The yarn is pretty intolerable pre-felting, due to an unbelievable volume of fuzz constantly shedding. But the little wooly hooks grabbed onto each other very nicely in the hot water and no longer leap from the project to my eyeballs.
Pattern: Felted Cloche Hat
Yarn: Patons Soy Wool Stripes, around 1 1/4 skeins (110 yards per)
Gauge: around 11 stitches/4 inches on size 11us needles. To be honest, I didn't gauge very closely since fulling adds a lot of flexibility.

Pattern Modifications: Boy howdy. To start with, the pattern called for a strand of really...textural eyelash yarn to be knit in at hatband level. Easy enough to ignore. I also spread out the decreases in rounds 7-13 so they wouldn't exactly line up. Not rocket science. I also knit the whole thing flat, mostly because I have a beautiful pair of size 11 needles that I made and really love knitting with on the rare occasion I need something that huge.

Before

A teaser picture today, the pre-fulled hat for my mom. Started on Thursday, finished already! Which is what you get when you knit with bulky yarn on size 11 needles. Tune in tomorrow (or whenever the hat dries) for after photos, which will be a much more accurate representation of what my Mom actually looks like.

Multi-tasking

Aw crap.

My right eye has been bugging me for two days now, a mysterious cloudiness occasionally bothering me. Mostly while sitting at the computer. I attributed it at various times to tiredness, stress, a psychotic episode, or my lasic surgery.
I just figured out what it is.
Based on what I'm knitting right now, it is a single fiber of wool, silk, or soy. Probably wool, it is a little crimped. Occasionally, I can see it if I look in the mirror at just the right time.
Ah, the way we suffer for our craft.

Hat weather

Voila! Two hats knit for a good cause, modeled by Mr Incredible and PenPen. Ribbed tuques, knit from no particular pattern from some cute and soft acrylic because not everyone has the ability to carefully launder hand knits.
Today I rewarded myself for finishing another few rows on Adamas while the monkey took a nap with a handful of leftover Halloween candy. Really, the hour to myself while he was asleep should have been plenty a reward, but I wasn't about to deny myself the chocolate after my past several days.
Also picked up a couple skeins of Patons Soy Wool today, to full a hat for my Mom's rapidly approaching birthday. Finishing this by the 13th is a lot more realistic than my Mothers Day sock marathon knit though.

Babies!

Not mine of course. This morning I purchased some soft red and green yarn, to knit a strawberry baby hat for my expecting cousin-due at the end of the month. But I heard as soon as I got home that the baby was stressing, and they were inducing her. No way I'd take the chance of prolonging her labor, so the yarn sits expectantly by the phone, waiting for good news. It seems I'll have to work on some project already in progress, instead of adding another new one. The Adamas shawl is coming along swimmingly, and is getting quite large and therefore slow. I really seem to loose steam as obvious progress slows, and such is the nature of a triangular shawl. Must be vigilant!

Fixer-upper

Found the perfect place for me (stashed in my parents' attic for who knows how many years).
Constructed (poorly) by me when I was twelve, a birthday gift from my grandma.


It needs a roofer.

And a glassier.

The kitchen needs to be gutted.
A great fixer-upper for while I am still homeless (it turns out you can't knit constantly, your wrists just won't take it.)

Happy Birthday!

Today my sweet little guy turned three years old. Happy Birthday Monkey!
Yes, that is a Trogdor cake. He was delighted.

Marc left for Maxwell AFB this morning. Now I'm all alone (with the Monkey of course) staying at my in-laws house.
A week ago we didn't know where he would be going and now he's gone already.

Frequently at night we would find ourselves snuggled on the couch, him playing video games, me knitting, and we would discuss quantum physics, Elvis' affect on the culture of music, how sad it is that the Pieta is behind glass in the Vatican and you can't really experience it the way Michelangelo wanted, or whatever. So I don't really feel much like knitting in the quiet tonight, even though I am quite enjoying Mim's Adamas shawl. If anyone feels like hanging out and talking while I knit though, call me. We have dozens of video games and half a container of Cookies and Cream ice cream. Snuggling optional.