Oh Say Can You See...

Here she is folks. The beauty we've all been waiting for. And I'm glad to see this is a solid medal without a hole in the middle. No CD hanging around my neck please. On Saturday I wore the scarf. I must say, it looked great. Yes, it's for G, but hey, he wasn't going to use it that day, so I took the opportunity to show off my skill. All those long hours of practice. My parents taking me to competitions all across the country. All the sacrifices they made so I could get here. This moment makes it all worth it, man. Totally worth it.

I've been working on trying to finish G's second sock. It's more portable than the beast sweater, so it's been going to work with me. Though it's stayed in the tote bag. But it's there, just in case. Tomorrow begins my 40 Days for Others. 40 days of knitting where over 50% goes to charity. In fact, hey Ann, this pair is for you.

I'll leave you with another pic of Catie at blockfest. This is basically just a close up compared to the previous one. But would you look at those eyes?

Ta-Da!

This has been a good knitting week. I finished the scarf a few days ago, then starting knitting on a pair of socks I started months ago. Like so many months ago I was still pregnant. C's 8 months old, so we're talking a good 10 months or so. I finished one sock back then. Then started the second one, but didn't get too far. I dug it out the other night after I finished the scarf. There were only 2 or 3 rows of ribbing done. So basically I was nearly starting from scratch. At any rate, I finished it tonight. It's a small sock, and would fit a kid. But still, this is by far the fastest I've ever finished a sock. Now it's on to sleeve #2 on G's sweater.

I had a pretty good weekend. Saturday morning I hit The Yarn Shoppe with Erica from work, who is now happily hooked on knitting as well. I bought a couple of new needles and some yarn for my 40 Days for Others projects. I'm planning on starting by making a couple of baby hats. From there it was downtown to Boise State for Block Fest. It was an activity for kids from birth to age 5. The basic principle is that playing with blocks helps kids learn about math and science.
Following is what Catie learned about science:

It tastes good!!

Today I went back to the fiber arts fair and happily spun away. If only I could figure out a way that I could knit and spin full time and still pay off my monstrous medical school debt.

Can't. Stop. Listening.

Today I had the afternoon off. I cannot even begin to tell you how much better my work hours are now as compared to life as a resident a year ago. I can (sort of) live somewhat of a normal life. So for my afternoon off, I spent a few hours at our local historical society's fiber arts fair. I took my wheel and my current sock project along. I spun for an hour or two, until I ran out of clean carded wool. Then worked on my sock for a bit as well. I have now decided I MUST have a drum carder. It certainly would make fiber prep go much smoother.

I also have discovered knitting podcasts. Yes, I know I'm quite behind the times. But the last few nights I keep downloading podcast after podcast to listen to while knitting. Last night I listened to a recent interview by Stephanie on About Time. For whatever reason, her voice was different than I thought it would be. I don't even really know what I thought Ms. Harlot would sound like. Weird that I'm all weirded out by it. Does this even make any sense? Probably not because it's late and I'm kinda really tired. But I can't stop listening. Right now it's Fiber Cast. What are your favorites?

I thought I'd leave you with a pic of my nephew. He's about 6 weeks old. This one cracks me up.

Better late than never

I finished the scarf knitting Sunday night. I had big plans of weaving in ends and adding fringe on Monday. Well, Monday I got home from work at about 11 pm. Last night I came home for about an hour from 6 to 7, then left for a meeting and got home at about 11 again. So tonight I finally got everything done. Here you go. I wish I had a bit thicker fringe, but I'm pretty much about out of yarn. All in all though, I'm quite pleased with the results. And so...without further ado...The Irish Hiking Scarf. The color is a little off. Really it's more of a burgundy. Here it looks more magenta or pink.

I did have a great surprise last night. I checked out some blogs after I got home before bed. Kristin listed me as one of her happy items. Hot damn. Seriously the high point of my week. Before I actually started my own blog, I was amazed at how interconnected all you knit bloggers were and how everyone seemed like they knew each other. I feel like I'm (hopefully) becoming a part of this community. Thank you to all who have visited and made comments.

Tonight is wool washing night. The fiber arts guild I joined is putting on a demonstration this weekend at our local mall. I have Friday afternoon off, so I'm going to venture out into the world of public spinning. But that means I need some clean fleece to spin. The guild was my meeting last night. I felt pretty inadequate there. Not because of spinning, though. I did fairly well at that. We all went around the circle and introduced ourselves. The woman right before me was there for the first time. She had brought a serious show and tell collection. Shawls where she had spun the yarn before knitting it into gorgeous finished products. Lace. Lace that was apparently featured in some national newsletter. I don't even know what else. When it came to my turn, all I could say was "Hi. I'm Jocele. Compared to that I've got nothing. Next person please." With time, I'll get there right?

In other news, Catie now has 2 teeth. Really she did pretty good through the whole teething thing. One bad night was all we had to deal with. Granted, she has only 2 teeth in her head at this point. We still have a ways to go. But it's a start. And here she is. I wish we could get her to smile more at the camera. Even without a smile, she's adorable. Not that I'm prejudiced, though.

All finished except the finishing

The Irish Hiking Scarf is done! I still need to weave in the ends, and G has decided he wants fringe, so I'm going to finish that up tomorrow. But the knitting itself is done. And it's so purty. Plan on pics tomorrow. Yippee. Maybe I didn't pick enough of a challenge for the Olympics, but I'm pretty damn proud of myself for getting it done. And now I'm on to finish the UFOs...the second toe up sock, G's sweater, the Spirit of the Southwest shawl, Branching Out, another sock that I started MONTHS ago. Like probably in April or May. At least one of the above will be done by next weekend.

There's a little problem with G's sweater though. I know that Addi Turbos are guaranteed to last forever, but I'm guessing that doesn't include a dog chewing up the cord. I came out one morning a few days ago to find the cord chewed to bits. Not sure which dog was the villain though. Perhaps it was a combined effort. Luckily the actual knitting was still on what was left of the cord, so I didn't have to deal with the sleeve coming unravelled. But I need to hit the LYS for another size 9 needle before I can finish. So that'll probably be my project next weekend. I'm seeing socks in my immediate future. Along those lines...the newest addition to my little blog on the range.

Friday. A collective sigh of relief is in order, I believe. It's been a good, but busy, week at work. I'm getting more new patients every day, and a good variety, which I enjoy. Don't get me wrong--I like women's health, but really, I went to medical school to do more than pap smear after pap smear. It's good to mix it up a bit. After all, it's why I went into family medicine. Babies, adults, elderly, men and women. The whole spectrum. I assisted on a C-section yesterday on one of my patients. A beautiful baby girl. Healthy mom. Healthy baby. Exactly how things are supposed to turn out.

Meanwhile, I'm nearly done with my scarf. I just measured it out at 42 inches long. The pattern estimates about 55 inches. So God willing, I'll be done with it by Sunday night. It's not too often I get an project done this quickly. Even a quick project takes me longer than the average person. I look at other's finished project albums and know I'll never be able to compete. I'm not the slowest knitter, by any means, but just have so many other things to do. I have a feeling just documenting my WIPs on here will help though. It's the accountability factor. Maybe I'll eventually post a little WIP meter along the side...there'd be a LOT of projects though. I need to get back to spinning too. I haven't spun anything for a couple of weeks, and feel guilty about this nice new (not cheap) wheel sitting here lonely. How will I ever fit it all in? I've decided part 2 of my olympic challenge will to be to try and finish a couple WIPS before the olympics are over. On that note--back to the scarf.

One skein down...

Well, I'm now officially just over 50% done with my scarf. Apparently I just need to set a deadline for myself on all my projects. I've just finished the first skein of yarn and started on the next one. Oh, and I got to wind it with my new swift and winder. I have the best husband EVER. What a great X-mas present. I think he was tired of helping me handwind my skeins. That and the jumbled knot of yarn that sometimes ensued. At any rate, I'm having fun with this scarf.


In non-olympic knitting news, head on over to Ann's. She has created a Lent knitalong. Instead of giving something up, we'll have 40 days of making things for others. Much better than giving up chocolate or caffeine or something like that.

And in Catie news, we officially have a tooth. Officially meaning you can feel it more than see it, but it's there. I've been wondering when this was going to happen. She's growing up so fast and learning so many things. It's amazing to watch. Enough sappy mom stuff though...

Mmmm...biscuits are good

The scarf is progressing nicely. I decided to take a day off from knitting today and get back after it tomorrow. Every athlete needs an off day. A day to rest so I can come back stronger than ever before. Hmm. Athlete. Like I even know what that is.

I haven't done any knitting in the past few days besides the scarf. The sweater didn't make its Valentine's deadline. G's socks still aren't done. And on and on. But I WILL finish this scarf, dammit. Plan on pics of a much longer scarf tomorrow.

And so now, the moment you've all been waiting for...Catie day. I promise it's not a dog biscuit she's chewing on, though it certainly looks like one. It's a teething biscuit. What the difference is, I'm not sure, but apparently she likes it.

Scared for no reason

3 days into the Knitting Olympics. I've gotten about 16 inches or so done on my Irish Hiking Scarf. Why in the hell was I all scared of cables? They're not at all hard, and this pattern is fun. I'm loving the burgundy color. I was going to give it to G, but now I'm contemplating keeping it for myself. Would that be bad?

In non-knitting news, I finally went and saw The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe last night. I read the book when I was 8 or 9. I'm going to have to go back and read it again. Then I thought it was just a neat story about talking animals and a mean witch and Turkish delight. I totally missed the whole religious concept. But I did enjoy the movie. Afterward we went out and had a beer with a couple of friends. Boy I play a mean game of shuffleboard. Today has been a pretty laid back day. I love Sunday afternoons. Knit a little, take a nap, knit a little more, eat dinner. I'm sure you get the picture. Ultimate laziness. Back to the grindstone tomorrow.

Good day for the stash

My stash has grown exponentially in the past 2 days. A month or so ago, I ordered some Socks that Rock from The Fold. Great service! I am still waiting for one skein, but here are 3 glorious colors--Red Rock Canyon, Rhodonite, and Farmhouse. Still waiting for Scottish Highlands, but I'm sure these will keep me busy for awhile.

This afternoon I went shopping as well. I got a gift certificate to Craft Warehouse for X-mas, so I hit them up for yarn and needles for my Olympic project.

Cascade 220 in burgundy for my scarf. Plus some needles, cable needles, and a little reading material.

And last but not least, my LYS, The Yarn Shoppe, in Meridian. I guess it's really not all that local, but it's the closest one to me. I needed to get a little help with the toe on G's sock. Plus I had a gift certificate there too. I joined their sock club and bought some other stuff too. Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Wilderness, Cherry Tree Hill in Blueberry Hill, and a skein of Lamb's Pride Sandy Heather (I'm nervous about running out of yarn before I finish the sleeves on G's sweater. His arms are really long.)

All in all, a great day. Plus I had some yummy flautas at our local incredibly authentic Mexican restaurant. Life is good.

A sigh of relief

You can all relax now. The camera has been found. Apparently I didn't check all the 2 bazillion pockets in the diaper bag. I missed just one, and of course that's where G found the camera today. Whew. I was a bit worried there.

The first sleeve on G's sweater is about 2 or 3 inches from being done. I sat and watched Law and Order and knitted. And knitted. But now I'm bored with that, so here I am, blogging away. On a more interesting note, here's the first of G's socks:


My first toe up sock. It's in Cherry Tree Hill, Green Mountain colorway, I believe. Very pretty. I'm glad my guage error wasn't in pink yarn though. "Um, yes, G, I planned for these socks to be yours the whole time. Of course I did."

Tonight I'm on call. So far it hasn't been bad. Hopefully the night will continue this way. I usually stay up a bit later when I'm on call, so I can get some stuff done. Back to the needles. I have tomorrow off (yippee), so I'm going to hit the yarn store (yippee again!) for supplies for my Olympic project...the Irish Hiking Scarf. Can't back out now.

So now I'll leave with you a couple of C pics. Check out the number of toys this girl has. And you oughta see her closet. Puts me to shame. My kid is a way cooler dresser than I am. The things we have to sacrifice...

Oh dear. Cross Your Fingers.

There's a little crisis brewing at the S-D household tonight. I sat down to download some photos to put on here, and lo and behold, no digital camera. We had it Saturday when we went to McCall for the day. It was in the diaper bag. Now, no camera to be found anywhere. Hopefully it's somewhere in the car or behind the couch cushions or something. Luckily we've been downloading fairly regularly so we have most of the pics saved. But still...if only I were more organized and the house wasn't such a mess, it'd be easier to find. Probably not because it's probably in the snow somewhere up in the mountains, but I can hope. Hence the "Cross your Fingers" title above.

So unfortunately no pictures for your viewing pleasure today. I'm avoiding G's sweater and putting off the inevitable. I just need to sit down and get the danged thing done. And I decided to joing the Knitting Olympics afterall, so I'll have yet another project on the needles. I guess I need to institute a rule where I can't start anything new until I have finished something on my ever-growing list of UFOs. I'm embarassed to say how many projects I have going. I don't even really know how many. I love starting new things though. That's the most fun part for me. I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this. But how will I ever finish anything at this rate?

Born in the wrong century?

Umm...I pretty much have nothing to write about. The sweater still isn't done. G's first sock is done and I've started on number two. I guess that's something after all. I'm well on my way on the second sock. I'm nervous about that whole short row heel thing though. The jury is still out on which method I prefer...cuff down or toe up, but I'm leaning towards cuff down.

Not much else going on. I'm busy spinning away. When I bought my wheel I got a huge garbage bag full of wool as well. I've been washing and carding little bits every few days. I'm struggling with the carding. The wool isn't coming out very even and I'm getting little clumps of wool. Plus I can't get out all the little flecks of hay. Adds to the charm. That's what I'm telling myself. Next I've got to learn to dye. That's all I need is another hobby. I have this little dream of my own dye garden where I grow plants to dye. Sometimes I just wanna be a housewife/homemaker. I used to think I would die of boredom staying home all day, but now I would have plenty to keep me busy, between the house and Catie and all my little projects. Too bad I have all that med school debt. I would miss my job, though. Maybe in my next life.

Coming up towmorrow--some knitting/spinning pics, and of course, photos of the adorable Miss C.