One Crazy Fiber Lady

Town and Country is done!

 

Please to ignore my closed eyes. This was the best of the pictures, believe it or not.

I finished the sewing bits last night while watching TV.  

We took the kids apple picking today, loaded up a few bags of fresh Empires and Red Delicious. ¬†Unfortunately while walking between trees with my apple picking pole, I stepped in a hole and twisted my ankle. ¬†Yes, the bad one. ¬†Sigh. ¬†Its not awful, but I’ll probably need to wear my brace ¬†next weekend, if not over the next week too. ¬†Anyway, when we got home at 4pm, I turned on the pre-game show, put ice on my ankle and pulled out T&C. ¬†I sewed on the last button as the Sox hit their third out in the bottom of the 9th. ¬†Game over on both. ¬†I gave it a steam blocking. ¬†Not entirely happy with the button bands, but the sweater does close and it fits well. ¬†

As I was putting it in the closet, I noticed a bit of a trend.  I must like this color:

 

The Oranges

From left to right, Town and Country, Minimalist Cardigan and Shaped V-Neck.  I think my next sweater needs to be a totally different color  

Still dealing with the allergies and a total lack of voice so I’m going to call it an early night. ¬†Must find a good train project for tomorrow though I did start a pair of socks for Kat in the car on the way to the orchard.

And for those that laughed when I posted back in September about this being my Rhinebeck sweater:  nyah nyah nah nah nah

Craft on!

…is to admit you have a problem. ¬†Well I think I have a problem. ¬†Not sure, maybe you can confirm for me. ¬†I was looking for a skein of yarn. ¬†I got an email that references a cashmere cowl and remembered that I picked up a skein of the stuff somewhat recently at MY. ¬†So I went hunting for it in the recent purchases stash which lives in my bedroom. ¬†Let’s ignore for a moment that I haven’t found it yet. ¬†It’s here. ¬†Somewhere. ¬†I’m not overly concerned about not being able to find it yet as I got distracted by what I did find. ¬†6 skeins of Lorna’s Shepherd Worsted in a lovely dusky purple color that according to the bag and the receipt, I bought at MY on 3/27/08. Sounds good right? ¬†Here’s the problem, not only don’t I have a clue WHY I bought it (beyond it being nice), I don’t even remember buying it.¬†

Sigh. ¬†I’ve now checked my ravelry queue, my amazon purchase history and my blog for a clue as to why. ¬†Nuthin’. ¬†I can find good uses for it for sure, but I’m pretty sure I bought that much yarn with a particular sweater in mind. ¬†Oh well. ¬†

I apparently missed my blogiversary again this year ¬†Even with the ¬†countdown thing! ¬†It was yesterday. ¬†I never remember exactly, but I do remember starting right around the twin’s 1st birthday. ¬†Just never sure if it was before or after. ¬†It’s after. ¬†Makes it four years I’ve been at this because the twins are now FIVE! ¬†I don’t believe it either.

Unfortunately their birthday coincided with Yom Kippur this year. ¬†Probably won’t be the last time. ¬†My sister, who is late September, has had it happen too, either that or Rosh Hashanah. ¬†Didn’t stop the twins from having a good 5th birthday. ¬†

We had their birthday party with the little classmates at Little Scoops in Closter today.  Awesome place.  We went to a party this past March (hmm right around the time of the mystery yarn purchase) and I was mightily impressed with the place.  There are entertainment hosts who lead the kids through games, dances and other assorted activities.  Here the twins were put in the center of a parachute along with a couple of small beach balls.  The other kids then grabbed along the edges and flapped the chute bouncing the balls all around the twins.  It was really cute.

There’s pizza for lunch which is followed by ice cream sundaes that the kids make. ¬†

The birthday kids get to put their hand prints on the wall which are then name/dated.

Everyone had a good time. ¬†Including the mommies. ¬†Because of the entertainment directors, the mommies don’t really have to be involved in it and can socialize amongst each other. ¬†Gave me a chance to meet a new batch of mommies as just about all the kids they were in the class last year have moved onto kindergarten this year. ¬†

I got a big surprise a few weeks ago when I found out that I knew one of the mommies. ¬†She and I were roommates in the hospital during my long bed-rest stay there. ¬†I think I mentioned in the past (maybe i didn’t) but I spent 8.5 weeks on hospitalized bedrest from 26 – 34+ weeks. ¬†Well during that time A was newly pregnant and having awful¬†morning-sickness and wound up hospitalized for about a week. ¬†We hit it off really well. ¬†She came to the bris and baby-naming and unfortunately that was the last time we saw each other. ¬†We met again one day as we were dropping the kids off. ¬†It was cool. Her daughter and the twins will probably spend the next two years together in school. ¬†Small world eh?

Hmm, what else? ¬†Oh yeah, spinning. ¬†I’ve updated my wheel roundup page as there is a coming change in the herd of wheels. ¬†I’m selling the Majacraft Suzie Pro and buying an Ashford Joy. ¬†Nothing wrong with Suzie. ¬†She’s a very nice all purpose wheel, except I have a few all purpose wheels. ¬†What I really need is a good portable wheel that might just fold up small enough that I can tuck in the small closet in the forward cabin of the boat thereby letting me spin on the boat. ¬†I know there are others out there and I’ve owned the other choices ¬†I thought about another Journey Wheel, but just can justify the cash outlay that one calls for, especially since Deb doesn’t want to sell hers back to me ¬†I had the Victoria and just wasn’t impressed with it. ¬†Maybe it was because I had an early model, but my tension knob never stayed in. ¬†Made me nuts. ¬†And well the Gem and I never got along for more than a few minutes. ¬†Her treadling bothered my bum ankle. ¬†So, Joy it is. ¬†I bought a used ST off the spin-sales list the day after I sold the Suzie there. ¬†It should hopefully be here before Rhinebeck. ¬†Fingers crossed, if not Bug gets to go.

Speaking of Rhinebeck. ¬†Here’s a slightly out of date photo:

I took this on the 6th when I finished the knitting on T&C. ¬†On Monday, I started the awful process that I truly dislike of sewing the thing together. ¬†Well, a week later, I have half of it done. ¬†I really should get to work on it now. ¬†Ugh. ¬†Hates it. ¬†Love sweaters though. ¬†Hates sewing. Hates it. ¬†If I were to make this again, I’d revise it so it was in the round like FLAK or Celtic Dreams. ¬†No more sewing in dopey saddle shoulders. ¬†

Anyway, tired, feeling ucky thanks to some post nasal drip that is making a mess out of my throat and looking forward to a holiday off tomorrow.  We probably going to take the twins apple picking like we did last year.

Craft on!

…. so very close…

You can see the one on the left is just thiiiiis much shorter than the one on the right.  I made some astounding progress on it yesterday.  This sucker is going down today.  Which leaves, seaming, collar, button bands and picking n sewing on of buttons.  Almost indeed.  I seriously loves it.

Yesterday I had one of the rare days when I was able to go shopping by myself.  Let me repeat that.  BY. MYSELF.  Neither kid wanted to come along.  I know I mentioned on Saturday that the stores in my county are closed on Sunday, but the county over threw off their blue laws ages ago.  We all schlep over to shop there.  Not that terribly far as the southern end of my town borders the river, which is also the county border.  And for perspective, the town is only 4 sq miles or so.

So anyway, yesterday, both kids opted to stay home which left me footlose and fancy free.¬† I wanted to get over to Michaels to take advantage of a sale on Patons Classic Merino.¬† I’d decided that this year’s teacher gifts are slightly larger booga bags [ravelry link].¬†¬† I spotted the new Lion Brand Wool while I was there and picked up a mix of both the Patons and the Wool to use to make two bags.¬† They’re up in the queue soon after finishing T&C.¬† I still need to make the twins hats/mittens/scarves first though.

I also reallly realllly realllllly want to make this:

That’s Yank by one of my most favorite designers, Bonne Marie.¬† While I’d love to use the Pastaza that Bonne used in the original, I couldn’t justify laying out the bucks for that much of it.¬† I did find that I had some Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran in stash but the note in Ravelry says I bought it for Juno and I didn’t like the color for this project.¬† Good thing I put the note in it though as I couldn’t remember from looking at the picture the why.¬†¬†¬† I picked up the LB Wool in a dark navy blue at Michaels.¬† It is a 4st” on US8, just a smidge smaller than the 4st” on US9 that the Pastaza is but I think it will work.¬† I’ll have to swatch it.¬† It won’t go to waste as I could always do one of the other sweaters in Fine Fleece with it.

When I got home (after getting lost in Clifton having made a wrong turn on the back roads), we had a quick lunch and then took the kids over to the open house at the local fire company.  They got to see what the inside of a house is like when there is a fire.  They crawled around in theatrical smoke trying to get from the entrance door to the balcony where a fireman awaited at the bottom of a pullout ladder.  Then came the fresh made donuts and apple cider from a local farm (which is sadly going out of business).  Up next was a short film on fire safety which culminated in a ride around town on the fire engine with lights and sirens running!!  Dad was sitting up front in the cab while the twins, mom and I sat in the middle seats facing rear.  The back of the truck was filled with kids.  We even went down our block!  The kids loved it.  After we got back to the stationhouse, the kids got balloons and played on and around equipment with their friends, whose father is on the squad.

A good time was had by all and the weather was just lovely for it.

Craft on!

I might just make it. ¬†What’s this part of T&C sitting on my leg this morning?

Is it that pesky sleeve I showed last post?

Nope!  Finished that sucker during the day/night double header on Sunday.

Is it the second sleeve?  

Nope! ¬†After casting that on immediately after finishing the first, I took it all around with me over the last couple of days, including a picnic with the kids while celebrating the new year (L’Shanah Tovah to you)

Oh and yeah, I finished it during the debate last night (we’ll get back to that in a minute). ¬†I took this shot on the ferry yesterday.

You can see how close I was to finishing it I was.  Sadly I got stuck at work pretty late yesterday trying to fix a major production problem and had to skip not only lunch with Kim but also SnB.

So what is it? ¬†The last remaining large piece to be knit. ¬†The other front!! ¬†I’m so getting this sweater done. ¬†Oh holy hell, I just tempted the knitting goddess. ¬†I forgot about the whole sewing it together, knitting the collar and button bands, and oh yeah, I don’t have any buttons yet to even think about sewing on. ¬†

Now, back to the debate. ¬†I rarely (if ever) go into politics here. ¬†However this election has me so engrossed to a level I’ve never been before. ¬†Maybe because this election is more important than ever before. ¬†I think McCain’s picking of Palin is a petulant and irresponsible act. ¬†Her performance during debate last night further strengthened my belief that they are just the wrong choice. ¬†And in her honor, I donoted to Planned Parenthood.

I won’t go into everything that pisses me off about the ticket and why I wanted to smack her. ¬†All I’ll say is that I fell in love with Biden last night when he finally called McCain-Palin on this maverick business and slammed her on the looking to the past. ¬†Obama has my vote.

I’ll leave you with a moment of zen:

Craft on!

The last couple of days have been getting better and better. ¬†Its been like the clouds parting and the sun shining through. ¬†A few days ago, there was just glimmers of sun here and there. ¬†Today is nothing but sunshine! ¬†My headache is pretty much gone. ¬†There are still after images of sorts when it threatens, but worlds better than it has been. ¬†Sadly, a multiday headache is not something new for me. ¬†I’ve battled them since I hit my head in a car accident when I was 8. ¬†Again, I thank everyone for their commiseration, suggestion and support. ¬†It was much appreciated.

Moving along…Kat wore her new socks this morning. ¬†

Not sure what is up with the look on her face. ¬†I think she was confused as to why I was taking her picture in the car this morning. ¬†She doesn’t quite get the whole mommy blogging knitting thing yet. ¬†She will

And now for the regular update on T&C. ¬†I’ve finished 16 of 24 stitch increases on the first sleeve. ¬†Its progressing nicely and I should have the sleeve done before too much longer. ¬†Sorry for the crappy photo, but I took it quickly on the ferry this morning (which mind you was redirected to the World Financial Center since Pier 11-Wall Street was closed entirely. ¬†Some bullshit about the UN. ¬†I hear rumors that W was coming in and they closed the harbor. ¬†Give me another reason to hate the idiot. ¬†I got a nice long walk across the island. ¬†I couldn’t have gotten further from my office without going uptown on the freakin ferry!.. but I digress)

Finally, I’m so in love with my new bag. ¬†I ordered a Swift by Tom Bihn and it arrived on Monday. ¬†Here’s a shot of the outside (with iMac in the background

I got the crimson/black in the ballistic nylon. ¬† I’ve got all my daily needs easily packed into this thing. ¬†The straps are long enough to sit comfortably on the shoulder over a coat, though I haven’t tried that yet. ¬†Even with all that’s packed into it, it doesn’t weigh a ton. ¬†Not exactly sure why. ¬†I had the same crap in my Lady B and it nearly dragged me down. ¬†With this I’m tempted to toss in a book or two.

Cool bag.

Not sure how much knitting I’ll get done tonight as I picked up the new Batman Lego videogame at lunch today. ¬†Mom and I have played the Star Wars and Indy versions and loved those so I have no doubt this will become a pretty big time suck for us.

Craft on!

I want to thank everyone for their concern and commiseration last week. ¬†I stayed home on Friday, still quite uncomfortable. ¬†Talked with my doctor thursday night and he suggested seeing a neurologist. ¬†I put in a call to the dude he recommended and am still waiting to hear back. ¬†Whatever. ¬†Seems that while there was a migraine part of the weeklong painfest, it wasn’t the whole story. ¬†There’s a sinus component for sure (so I started taking my daily Nasonex again as it is that time of year) as well as a tension/stress piece. ¬†The fact that I wake up feeling fine and then within a few hours or so, the back of my head gets really tight leads me to believe that tension is a major problem, probably tense for fear that the headache will continue/come back. ¬†I feel this is working the same way an entrenched insomnia pattern operates where the fear of not being able to sleep prevents sleep. ¬†Vicious circle. Add in a little TMJ (I skipped the steak at dinner last night), shake well and you have one-long-assed-many-pronged-headache. ¬†I’ve chosen to ignore the whole thing. ¬†Mind over matter and all that.

Anyway… been doing the knitting thing! ¬†I finished Kat’s Princess Socks yesterday.

Cute little things eh?  One skein of Koigu KPPPM РUS1 magic loop.  Pattern is one of my own devising but is nothing really special.  Simple stockinette.  Started at the toe with 8/16st turkish cast on increasing to 44 st overall.  As for how long to make the foot?  I had a tracing of her foot on paper with lines indicating where the ankle bones are.  When the foot hit those marks, I did the short row heel down to 8 unworked stitches.  She happily tried them on last night and declared them perfect.  

Yesterday I finished the first side for Town & Country and cast on for a sleeve. ¬†I’ll spare you the photo of the cuff repeat again.

26 days to go.  Maybe.

Finally, I got the cutest box bag from JessaLu’s etsy shop! ¬†

She used Amy Butler fabrics and has the cutest pulls:

I loves my bag. ¬†Go get one for yourself. ¬†I’ve got a new sock project in mine

Craft on!

That headache I had?  Not sinuses.  Jess used the mom voice and made me go to the doctor on Tuesday when I had complained about having the same headache for 4 days.  My doctor diagnosed it as a migraine and prescribed Imitrex and Percocet for the pain.  I wound up taking the max two doses of the 100mg Imitrex and 2 of the painkiller over the course of the evening.  I tried to hide in my darkened room.

Wednesday morning the pain was mostly gone, but I had the postdrome or migraine hangover. ¬†Though it was hard to really tell the difference. ¬†I sat with my sunglasses on in the office, slouched down in my chair, willing my head not to move. ¬†I went home early and for a change turned in early. ¬†This morning, it is better, not great, but better. ¬† I still don’t want to move much (walking jars the head) and the back of my head feels like it was hollowed out and filled with concrete, but at least I don’t need my sunglasses this morning. And I don’t feel queasy either. ¬†Eventually it will go away. ¬†I have to check back in with my doctor this afternoon.

Before turning in last night, I was able to do a little knitting.  I finished the back of T&C.

Lurve it! ¬†I cast on for the first front piece but didn’t even finish the first row. ¬†I did that this morning during the commute:

Thanks to the head, I’m going to pass on SnB tonight and probably turn in early.

Craft on!

I finally moved my code that does the countdown to Rhinebeck (or other festival) to the sidebar for this theme. It is the finish line for Town & Country. Other than a now four day long sinus/tension headache, I’ve been getting a lot done on T&C. I went home and straight to my room last night, heading for the heating pad and my comfy chair. I had the heat on the back of my head, which helped. iMac on and dialed up for the Sox-Rays game (go Sox!), I was able to knit. Kat was so sweet. She’d periodically come over and pat my arm. While her bro went off to play, she stayed with me until her bedtime.

Today it doesn’t hurt quite so much, but I’ve got a hangover kind of feeling. The back of my head is tight, for the lack of a better word, but at least the pressure isn’t so great that all my teeth hurt. This too shall pass.

Moving along to the reason you stopped by, here’s T&C on the ferry this morning. I’m half a repeat from finishing the back. Sweet.

I did a full repeat of the center motif which is 24 rows since yesterday’s picture.¬† I’m a row or two from the midpoint now.¬† I feel pretty safe saying that the back will be done tonight.¬† Woot.

Now, take a look at this:

Does anyone else think:¬† “yeah baby:¬† spinning wheels and a keg”?¬† Or is it just me?

I know, I am crazy.

Craft on!

I’m cautiously optimistic that I might just be able to finish Town & Country in time for Rhinebeck. ¬†As I quickly mentioned yesterday, this weekend has been one for cabling. ¬†I brought my knitting with me to the park and stitched while the monkeys played. ¬†I sat by the pool yesterday and did more of the same. ¬†I did go in the water for the last hurrah of the pool this summer. ¬†Dad is busy closing today. ¬†Sniff. ¬†Anyway, here’s T&C as she stands now (photo on ferry this morning):

I finished one more full repeat of the center pattern since yesterday’s picture. ¬†I did a quick measurement last night and am about 6″ short of finishing the back. ¬†For perspective, the ribbing at the bottom is 4″. ¬†You can see my cable needle tucked in the honeycomb section on the right of center. ¬†I’m cabling with it for just the honeycombs and without for the rest. ¬†I find that that is the perfect balance between speed and ease on hands. ¬†I tuck the needle in my watchband between uses while knitting and just stick it in like thing when not.

The princess socks, while not done, are awfully close now.  I worked on them a bit this morning while I was standing around waiting for the train, and then the ferry.  I have one more plain round and then I start the ribbing.

Well, I’m off to Duane Reed for some sinus drugs. ¬†I’ve now had a sinus headache since Friday. ¬†Ugh.

Craft on!

Needless to say I’ve been doing a bit of knitting. So far it has been a relaxing weekend with the family and the yarn. I’m now on the patio, post lunch and cruising along.

Hope y’all are having a good weekend!