Decluttering.

We have too much junk. When I bought this house (single and hadn't even met G yet), I thought that 1200 square feet was way more than I'd ever need. I had lived in a studio-type carriage house my last 2 years of med school...basically a single living room/bedroom, and tiny kitchen and bathroom. The fact that the house I was buying had a separate living room and 2 whole bedrooms was almost more than I could comprehend. Flash forward 6 years...married and 2 kids in a 2 bedroom house. Now with a wicked fiber addiction to go along with the book addiction that was already well established back then. It's getting a little crowded, to say the least. But really, I think it's more a matter of too much stuff and not enough storage. Oh, okay. Maybe just too much stuff.

On Sunday, the kids went to my mom and dad's. Without that distraction, G and I tackled the kids' room. Well, mostly Catie's room, as Jack is still in our room. But eventually, they'll share it. We hauled out 4 garbage bags of kids clothes to take to a resale store. Plus there's 2 boxes of stuff we're keeping...you know...the stuff they wore home from the hospital, special outfits, etc. We got rid of a bag of toys. I still have a couple of boxes of papers to go through. The room looks great. It needs a rug, but it's so clean and uncluttered. I LOVE IT! I haven't taken any pictures, and can't now, because Catie's already in bed, but it's wonderful. I'd like to do this with each room in the house.

Clutter is my downfall. I certainly know we won't have the "perfect" house. It will always look lived in. I'm okay with that. And I know it's a matter of doing a little bit every day to stay on top of it. I just can't figure out how to do that and get everything else done that I want or need to do.

This post really has no purpose, I suppose. Just me rambling. We're trying to simplify things here, and this is one of the steps on the way.

In other news, it's been snowing like crazy all day. I'm nostalgic for the good ol' days in school, when we could very likely have a snow day tomorrow. None of that now, though. That, and I'm knitting myself a sweater. I've always made them for other people. Now it's all about me!

Vacation update

We've been back for just over a week, and I haven't blogged yet. Vacation was wonderful. The coast was stormy, which I don't mind at all. We walked on the beach every day, and Catie chased seagulls. There was much knitting and reading. Also a fair amount of sleeping. And we did 2 different thousand piece jigsaw puzzles. We had clam chowder every day. and unlimited, dedicated time with the kids. I want to be on permanent vacation. Seriously. Or maybe just retire now?

Here's one of the projects that dominated my knitting time. I finished the Tulip Sweater. I started back in October or November, but it got set aside for one reason or another. Well, I pulled it out, and worked on it. I finally finished it yesterday, and am pleased as punch at how it turned out.It was an easy knit, and the colors make me happy to look at. This is the smallest size, and is a gift. Though last night, as I was weaving in the ends, Catie said, "You make big one and I wear it?" How can I turn that down?

Vacation knitting

We're on vacation. The first official, real, week-long vacation since I was on maternity leave. I've had a couple of long weekends, but this is the first time I've had a whole week off. More like 10 days actually. We're in Seaside, Oregon. There's been lots of knitting. So far I've finished one project that's been lingering for months. Tonight I'm going to finish a sock I've had on the needles since the fall. Tomorrow...the Tulip sweater. And I brought the spining wheel...so when I get home, I'll have all sorts of pictures to show you. Enjoy your week.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! Remember back when you were young (21 or 22) and New Year's Eve was a big event? If only I could have seen my future...I was in bed by about 11. Ahhh, blissful slumber.

I thought that today was my blogiversary, but after looking back through the archives, it was actually yesterday. So, happy late day to me as well. 2 years ago, I sat up late on New Year's Eve, and started a blog. After reading so many knitting blogs online, I wanted to jump into the fray. I've not been the most consistent blogger by any means, but I have enjoyed it, and enjoyed getting to know you all.

One of the many resolutions I've made this year is to be a better blogger. I'd like to get a couple of posts in each week. It's probably a little over-ambitious, but I'll try.

I actually went to 43 things and made up a long list of resolutions. Feel free to go check them out. This will be a process that will take more than a year, but I really want to get my life in line with my values. I feel sometimes like I do stuff because it's the way I've always done it or because it's convenient, not necessarily because it's the right way.



One of the biggest things that is going on this year is that we've decided, as a household, to not buy anything made in China. All year long. The safety issues, as well as the fact that jobs are being taken away from here in the US, all in search of the glorious dollar and increased profit margins, has prompted us to do this. I think (and hope) it will cause us to research and plan ahead, and really buy only what we need. Out little political statement about the economy and the shifting of production overseas isn't going to change anything, but we'll feel better about it. I'm sure I'll have updates with the struggles we have regarding this from time to time.

One of my resolutions was to go to bed earlier and get up earlier...I better head that way.

Well, there went 6 weeks

No post since Thanksgiving. I started one a week or so afterward, but never finished it and never posted it, obviously. So, yeah, wow...those weeks just flew by.

We had a good Christmas. Santa was good to me. I got a new one of these. I've been having fun finding podcasts to download onto it. The kids were great fun on Christmas. Catie finally figured out this whole Christmas deal...Santa, presents, opening them, etc. Jack, well, he ate wrapping paper.

So here comes the new year, and with it, resolutions. I always tell myself I won't make any, but it's so ingrained in me that I started making a list a couple of days ago. I have tons of little things, but mostly they boil down to simplifying our lives, and becoming more healthy (financially and physically), and just overall living a better life. They're not all things I'll necessarily start on right away, but just goals for how I want to live my life over the coming months. I'll probably further expand on this in the days to come.

And, just in case you were worried there wouldn't be any pictures...I give you the 2 cutest kids on the planet.

Catie saying "cheese"
















And Jack enjoying a little splash time in the tub

Thankful

Turkey day. The day we stuff ourselves into misery. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite days...mostly because of dedicated family time and the relative absence of the utter consumerism that is Christmas.

This has been somewhat of a stressful year for us. There was the bathroom remodel that took 3 times as long as originally thought. The whole pregnancy complication/bed rest/baby in the NICU thing. Work has been rough at times.

But overall, we're blessed with each other, a cozy house, and more food and clothing than we'll ever need. We have great friends and family. We have happy and healthy kids. Along those lines. the thing that I'm most thankful for is that we went from this:to this:

One down, one to go

I didn't get quite as much done today as planned. I ended up not having quite enough fabric to make 2 pillowcases because of the way I laid it out. But I had a blast making this, and it was quick...only about 45 minutes to do the whole thing.

Here's a full shot of the pillowcase:and then a close up of the ribbon I added...grainy picture though.

I had so much fun making this. It's not perfect, but hey, it's a pillowcase. It's just going to get drooled on anyway. Not by me though...it's a birthday present.

Yay! I have to go get a little more fabric and I'll get the second one done this week. Then what shall I work on? I'm thinking about fabric napkins in a nice fall print for Thanksgiving. Sewing rocks!

Early morning and the house is quiet!

It's 5:45 on a Sunday morning. And I'm awake. Damn. Jack woke up about 4:30 to eat, and I haven't been able to go back to sleep. So instead of laying in bed, I thought I might as well get up and start my day. It just has to be a quiet start to the day, as everyone else is sleeping. Like they should be at this time on a Sunday morning. We have a small and creaky old house, so I'm pretty limited at what I can do. So I'll blog, then knit. Mostly I've been working on a pair of socks lately. It's the garter rib socks from Simply Sensational Socks. I'm not at all a good photographer, so you can't get much detail from the picture. Something about these colors reminds me of a stained glass window, so I've been calling them the "stained socks". Last night I finished the cuff of #2, so now it's on to the heel.


In the crafty world, I so badly want to become an accomplished seamstress. So far, I've made one whopping apron. But I've bought fabric for several other projects. I recently found a new website, The Sewing Garden. I want to make every single pattern they have. If the force is with me I might try and make a pair of pillowcases today, just using existing pillowcases as a template.


And one more thing that I've been incredibly negligent about. A couple of months ago, Kim tagged me as a Rockin' Blogger. I never passed along the next tag. So, 2 months late, but better late than never, right? My pick is Heidi. This girl is amazing. A crafty cloth diapering momma with her own little farm, Etsy shop and amazing handmade soap. Heidi, I want to be you.

Warning...Cute kiddos below

Happy November to you all. We're recovering from the chocolate coma caused by leftover Halloween candy here at out house. As always, I bought gobs of candy, because I'm afraid we'll run out. But we never do, so, well, I mean, that candy can't just go to waste (waist?)

Here we have the Decker kids all dressed in their finery...a fairy and a "Jack"-o-lantern


This was the first Halloween we took Catie trick or treating. There was a "Trunk or Treat" at the hospital, where groups handed out candy from their trunks to the bazillions of kids that lined up. The theory is that it's a safer environment, and all the people handing out candy were local business or health care groups. Fun, but the line was waay too long. I'm not sure we'll do it next year. Then we went to my parents' house...I think Catie had more fun opening the door for trick or treaters at their house than she did actually trick or treating herself.

And on the knitting front...when I was in St. Louis a month ago, I stopped at
Knitorious. This place is literally 2 blocks away from where I used to live. In some ways, it's good I hadn't caught the knitting bug back then, because I would have literally gone broke or starved had I lived that close to that store. Great place. At any rate, they had
Dream in Color yarn. And if you bought enough skeins, you'd get a free pattern. Well, needless to say, I bought more than enough. So I started on this

Yup, the Tulip Baby Sweater. It's so fun to make. There'll be some ends to weave in, but this is a blast. And it's going fast, which is always a bonus. This one is for a friend's baby, but I should have enough to make one for Catie. As well as the Rocketry cardigan for Jack.

I've been looking forward to this weekend and some uninterrupted (I hope) knitting time. I'm hoping to have the border and sleeves done by tomorrow. Cross your needles for me.

A great autumn day

Today we had the best day. We got up early (well, relatively speaking for a Sunday morning), picked up my dad, and headed north to Horseshoe Bend to the Thunder Mountain Line for a trip to the pumpkin patch. There was a little nip in the air as we got on the train. We made our way through the dining and snack bar cars, and found our seat. It was a short ride, maybe 20 or 30 minutes one way. But it was pretty neat. We followed the Payette river to the pumpkin patch in Montour, ID. Here's C and her Boppa checking out the scenery.

Once we got there, C got to pick out her pumpkin. She picked out Jack's too, because, well, he didn't really have much of a preference. Here she is with the winner.

Here I am with the 2 best kids in the whole world. Seriously. Don't even try and dispute this fact, folks.
And then we got back on and headed back to the station. Jack has just started to suck his thumb in earnest. But the whole hand seemed like a good idea this time. However, he might be in for a bit of a surprise if he chomps down too hard...his first tooth broke through today!!

Later this week...knitting. Yes, knitting. Hard to believe, given this blog's name is "Knitting on Call". It feels like there's been a lot more "call" than "knitting" in my life lately, but I hope to rectify that soon.

25 days already?

Yup...it's been awhile. I've been reading all your posts out there, but can't seem to ever find the time to sit down and actually WRITE something. So it's midnight. Everyone's asleep but me. I have nothing to keep me from this. Well, the camera is out in the car, and I'm not going to go out to get it, so no pics tonight. Let's see...in the past 25 days since my last post, I've made 2 trips to St. Louis and had a stint where I worked a grueling 11 days straight. There's been some, though very little, knitting. This is the first weekend that I've been home and not working since the end of September. I had high hopes of sleeping late, but my body seems to wake up at 6:00 these days, regardless. I did manage to fall back to sleep for a bit, but it wasn't what I had planned.

This morning we went to the farmers' market in Nampa. Earlier in the year, I made it almost every Saturday morning. Somehow, we slacked off over the past 2 months, which is too bad. I enjoy going, and at least looking at all the booths, if not actually purchasing anything. I imagine myself someday having a booth at a farmers' market, silly dream that it is. Today was the last day, and there weren't many vendors there. It was a little windy and blustery, but still pleasant. We did manage to score some great potatoes and homemade bread and jam. Plus a couple of little artichokes. They're on the menu for tomorrow night.

After we were done at the market, we headed to the Flying M for breakfast. I had apple cider and a pecan roll. There is nothing better than hot apple cider on a cold fall day, if you ask me. On the way back to the car, we stopped at the LYS, which is now expanding and including fabric as well. OH MY GOD...that is one beautiful space! It just further cements my goals of becoming a master seamstress as well as spinner/knitter.

Tomorrow should be a fun day. G, my dad, the kids, and I are headed up to Horseshoe Bend to catch the Thunder Mountain Line to the pumpkin patch. Catie is so incredibly obsessed with trains right now, that I'm anticipating she might explode with glee over this. Jack...well, he's getting more and more fun by the minute. He's getting more of a personality and sense of humor every day. He's definitely more of a clown than his sister every was. Sometimes my heart feels like it's going to explode, I love these kids so much.

Finally, the OFF haul.

So it's been a good 9 days since we've been home. OFFF was great. Unfortunately, I was there before I realized my camera's batteries had died, and I wasn't about to leave to go buy new ones. So at this point, I have no pictures from the actual event. I did take some pictures with my mom and sister's cameras, but I don't have those yet. Needless to say, the critters were cute. Seriously. Now I want Shetland sheep. There was lots of great stuff to buy, as evidenced below:

First stop...the Blue Moon booth. Where I snatched up 5 skeins of STR in various colorways. That and a few patterns. From there I bought a couple of shawl patterns from another booth.

We headed into the next building, where I bought a couple of books




And a rug hooking kit from Little House Rugs. I've tried this rug hooking thing over the past couple of days. I'm no good at it yet.

And speaking of a learning curve, I bought this
from Woodland Woolworks. I've been trying to master the spindle thing. As long as the yarn doesn't break, I do okay. But as soon as I have to join in new wool, I'm in serious trouble. But it's fun. And somewhat more portable that the wheel.

We also hit the zoo while in Portland, as well as the obligatory stop at Powell's bookstore. I can't even begin to tell you how much I'm in love with that store. It's probably good that its 400 miles away. Otherwise the checkbook would be in even more trouble than it already is.

But hey, we bought a scratch off lottery ticket tonight. And we won...$1. SWEET!

I've Been Chastised.

Tonight I went to my spinning guild. I haven't been there for a couple of months. Okay, maybe 3 months. At any rate, Carrie was there, taking pics for her blog. I made the comment that I haven't posted in awhile. Since September 3rd, as I was informed. At least someone out there cares. I know there are a few of you out there who still check on me from time to time. Thanks for putting up with my sporadic posts. But as I pointed out a few weeks ago...no apologies anymore.

It's been a busy fiber month. Saturday the 8th, I went to the Wool Growers day in the foothills in Boise. Usually this was held at a local winery, and was a fiber festival of sorts. This year the focus was much more on education. I showed up with my wheel and was directed to the children's booth. I bet nearly 200 kids took my Rosie for a spin. I was too busy to even take a picture. Thank goodness Kim was there.

This past Saturday was our local Indian Creek Festival. The spinning guild set up at the local museum, and we spun the day away. It was a gorgeous day for spinning. Here's Pamela and Pauline showing off their talents:
I also recently finished my modular scarf. Well, mostly finished. I still need to weave in the ends and block it. But apparently C decided she needed to model it one day. This picture just cracks me up every time I look at it. It's like she's striking a pose or something.

This weekend we're headed to Portland for the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. Yup, it's a good fiber month. If only EVERY month could be this way. Every day, for that matter. Eventually....

A Productive Weekend

I love 3 day weekends. Because, well, it's a 3 day weekend, folks. But then you go back to work and it's a short workweek too. Sort of a double bonus. Oh, the mind games I play to get through my week sometimes.

It was a great weekend. I finished a pair of socks on Friday night. Monkey socks in Glacier Teal from Mountain Colors.On Saturday, G took the kids for a couple of hours so I could work on trying to get the house organized and do laundry. So I started a load of clothes and tackled the dining room. In our house we have a little nook under a window where I keep my yarn and such. It's about 8 feet by 2 feet. Full of yarn and fiber and JUNK. I got pretty much all the yarn entered into Ravelry. I'm embarrassed at how much sock yarn I have. Probably enough for 20 pairs of socks. If not more. At any rate, it took 3 days, but finally, it's all organized. May I present to you "Wool Corner".

In the bottom bin is fiber. The second bin is generic yarn...worsted, lace, etc. The 3rd bin is all sock yarn. The top bin is notions, like needles, tape measures, and stitch markers. To complete the scene is Rosie and all her spinning paraphenalia.

The next project is to build a window seat for the nook. With more storage space. Because we don't have enough bookshelves.

I was on call on Sunday, but it was a pretty quiet night. Got some more laundry and such done. Monday my parents came over for dinner and we played a game of pinochle. Catie helped frost the cake.
Jack is about to start crawling. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. Plus he army crawls. He's 6 freaking months old. But it makes him tired.
This is actually from last weekend, when we went to Yakima to see G's mom and stepdad. But I haven't had a chance to post it yet. Ain't he just the sweetest thing?

Enjoy the short work week!

No going back now.

Well, after weeks of perseverating, I've done it. I've booked this. Just G and me. No kids. They're staying with Auntie Karlyn and Uncle James in Seattle. Holy Crap! Lots of knitting for me. Lots of Alaska for George. I'm so excited!! And it's only what, 9 months away?

In other news, I'm sure you've all heard the Larry Craig news. Eewww. Makes me a bit embarrassed to be an Idahoan. And in reality, being an Idahoan has nothing to do with it. Well, except that we've voted him back into office over the past 25 years. But the creep factor is unbelievable. I don't give a crap if you're gay. Or if you've every been gay. Just don't lie about it and make all sorts of blanket anti-gay statements. The whole bathroom stall, foot tapping, and worst of all, throwing your business card in the arresting officer's face and flaunting that you're a senator? That's beyond inexcusable, if you ask me. It's taking hypocrisy and the abuse of power to a whole new repulsive level. Resign already, Larry.

Real. Live. Knitting.

Where does the weekend go? Before I know it, it's Sunday night and I'm doing laundry for Monday morning. Time flies. It was a pretty good weekend. Saturday morning Jack and I met Kim for coffee and knitting. Jack was fascinated with Kim's bright red toenails. And Kim gave me a really cute felted bag as a b-day present (thanks, Kim!!) From there, we headed to my parents' house to hang out. I got a fair bit done on my sock (Monkey). You girls are right...it IS a fun pattern.

Catie spent the night, so we headed back this am for breakfast and to pick her up. I used my mom's washer to felt this:


It's the Marsupial Tote from the Stitch N Bitch book.

Funny thing about both these projects--they're both Christmas presents. Unfortunately, they're not because I'm so far ahead for this year. Oh no. They're from 2005 for the socks and 2006 for the bag. Just a wee bit late. But at least I'm getting them done.

If only there were more hours in a day. Or I could live on less sleep. Like 4 hours. Then I could get everything done I wanted to and still have time to hug on my babies. I'm considering cutting back on my work hours in a few months, but until then, do you think I could get one of those time traveling things like Hermione had in one of the HP books? I think it was the 3rd one. Then I could be in 2 places at once. If only...

Why do I always apologize?

Well, it's been a month since my last post. I always apologize and vow to do better. Then I post a bit more frequently for a week or two, then it's back to sporadic posts. I'm not going to apologize or feel badly. I've been busy. 2 kids. Working 70 hours a week (or more). A trip to North Idaho for a wedding. Time to drop that Catholic guilt thing. (If only I really could.)

But there has been knitting. Some spinning. And even a little sewing. I've been doing more reading too. I have a tendency to read non-fiction. I'm happy to report that in the past month, I've read 2 fiction books. And a couple of non-fiction. I've read the obligatory Harry Potter, but I read this too. A nice piece of fluff for a Saturday night.

Sunday G took the kids and I got to have an afternoon to myself. I think it's the first time since Jack was born that I haven't been at work or with one kid or the other for more than an hour. I met Kim, Margene, and Judy for coffee at the Flying M in Nampa. I started a new modular scarf, and tonight I started a new pair of socks.

The camera battery is dead, and we're out of AA batteries, so you'll have to make do with some kiddie pics that are already downloaded.

Here's Catie and her cousin Hannah at the wedding reception
And Jack sitting on daddy's lap just before the wedding. Hard to believe he's almost 6 months old.

I finally got my Mystery Stole started on Friday night. Oh..the saga. I had Friday afternoon off. So I went to the craft store to get beads. I picked out some very pretty ivory beads. Then rushed anxiously home to get started. I busted out the crochet hook I bought last week, just for thi purpose. Unfortunately, the hook was 13 cm long...not size 13. It's a size 12. The hook wouldn't go through the beads. So I decided to go ahead without beads. I got a few rows into it, then fell asleep. We went to Joann's yersterday, but they didn't have a size 13 hook, so I'm resigned to the no bead look. If I waited until my next day off to get a smaller hook, who knows when I'd get any more done? Here we have a whopping 35 rows of the stole.

I'm definitely not one of those people who has the clue finished within a day or two of it coming out. But eventually...

And in food news, this is our local meal of the week.
Tortillas: local tortilla factory in town
Eggs: bought at the farmers market in Nampa from a farmer that lives here in Caldwell
Veggies and potatoes: from various booths at the market.

Thank god for the Nampa Farmers' Market. I go basically every single week, and we load up on goodies. We have this little routine...walk partway through, then stop and have a lemon/blueberry scone, then carry on. I tend to frequent and support the same few booths each week. I hope that the Caldwell Farmers' Market will eventually take off and become as successful as the one down the road, but it's on Wednesday nights from 4-7. Right now it's way too hot to be an especially pleasant experience.

And now, Jack's happy with daddy. Catie's in bed. I best be getting to knitting.

A Perfect Sunday/One Local Summer

What a great day. I was on call last night, and busy until midnight. Then things settled down, and I got some sleep. This morning we got up and went out to breakfast, went for a drive in the new car, then went to Ste. Chapelle for their Jazz at the Winery. We got there early, so were able to get great seats in the shade. As we listened to some blues, I was able to knit my swatch for the Mystery Stole. Then I read a bit. After we got home, I was tickled to find my invite to Ravelry. I'll have to somehow find a way to keep from spending ALL NIGHT on this site. I have no clean clothes for work tomorrow, plus I need to work on a project for the residents. I need to find some self-discipline.

I also am desperately behind in my posts for One Local Summer. This is our meal from a few days ago.

Roasted red potatoes and onions, a salad and fixin's, all from the farmers market in Nampa. I must admit, the chicken isn't local. Unfortunately, the same day I signed up OLS, we discovered our freezer in the garage had lost power, and we lost all of our meat. This is some chicken we've had in the freezer in the house that we needed to use up. But the pesto on it is from our local Coop. It's a start. We need to find a source for local beef/chicken. I'll keep working on that.

And now...the dilemma...laundry or Ravelry. HMMMMM....

G's Lucky Day

7-7-07. The day thousands of couples want to get married, as they'll have good luck and long and happy marriages. Well, today is the day G turns 38. So in honor of his birthday, we went to the yarn store. We walked out with $110 worth of yarn, none of it earmarked for him. See...isn't he lucky? His comment as he carried the bag out of the store was "YAY. Happy Birthday to Me!"

I felt guilty.

So I bought him this:


Just to qualify this...we've been contemplating buying a new car for a few months. And we'd done a fair bit of internet research and pretty much knew what we wanted. It's a Ford Edge. We bought it off the showroom floor. I've heard about this before, but never knew anyone to do it. Weird, huh? But this car is sweet...and now Catie and Jack's car seats won't be right next to each other. And we won't have to say things like, "Catie, get your finger out of your brother's mouth. Quit poking him in the eye." At least until they're older. Hopefully by then, he'll be big enough to fight back.

Back to the knitting, though. I have to admit to being a joiner. After I told myself I wasn't going to do any more knitalongs. I signed up for the Mystery Stole 3 after reading about it on Stephanie's blog. Me and about 2 billion other knitters. Including the girl at the counter at the yarn shop where I bought the yarn today. Misti Alpaca laceweight, in ivory. I'm on call tonight, but I'm hoping to get my swatch done in the next 24 hours. I'd like to use the beads as well, so I need to find a place to get those as well. But we'll start with the swatch and go from there.

But for now...we're loving that new car smell.