Weekend rundown

How in the heck does the weekend go by so quickly? All of the sudden it's 11:00 on Sunday night and I got only a small amount of everything done that I wanted to do. I met Kim for coffee on Saturday, where she was kind enough to forgive me for being late, and kind enough to give me some Gaywool dye. We chatted and knitted until it was time to get ready for her son's prom. I came home for the afternoon and then was out again to a Pampered Chef party. Once I got home, G had gone out with one of his friends, so after Catie went to bed, I spent the evening knitting, spinning, and listening to the last of Pride and Prejudice. A very nice evening, I must say. Once upon I time, I would have been mortified at the thought of spending a Saturday night like that. Apparently this is yet another sign I'm getting old. All that's missing is the prune juice.

Sunday we went out for a nice breakfast, went for a drive, then headed home for a lovely date with the weedflower bed. As I was trimming a shrub, I decided I didn't like it any more. So out it came. (Thanks, G). It felt good to be decisive. Some weeds, though nowhere near all of them, got pulled. Some fenced got fixing. I went to our local farm store to check out the seeds and get ideas for our little veggie patch. Then, the highlight of the night. Due to the miracle of iTunes, we finally got caught up on Lost. And I finished up the first of G's Trekking XXL socks. I've started the second, and think, after a couple of tries, I got the striping matched up. Here's number 1, and I'm happy to report it fits perfectly.

So I guess it was a somewhat productive weekend. I had visions of getting ALL the laundry done, not just a couple of loads. I wanted to try out that new dye, but didn't get there either. We still have a not-so-clean house/garage. And the back yard--yikes! As I always say...next weekend...

We've survived a whole week without anything breaking down. What a relief. Both vehicles are running. All our major appliances are still humming along. Thank god. If anything else broke, I was gonna really lose it.

I've had some good knitting/spinning the past few days. I've been working on G's Trekking XXL sock. The gusset decreases are done, and I'm just cruising along on the foot. I'll be cruising here for awhile becase, as I've said before the man has freakishly huge feet. Here's the progress thus far.

I'm into knitting anklet socks. Saves on yarn, and things get done at least a little more quickly.

I continue to improve (at least I think so) at spinning. This is some dark wool that was given to me. Cleaned, carded, and ready to go. Amazing, eh? I've slowly getting better at consistency, but there's still some think and thin spots. It's getting better though.

Next project...dyeing. But do I dye the wool before it's spun? Or dye it once it's yarn? Any suggestions? Which is better for a rookie dyer? Is that how you spell that? I have so much to learn.

A good weekend

Well, Sunday night. I've been on call this weekend at night, but it hasn't been bad at all. I've gotten several hours of sleep each night, which is great. I finally got my package to Ann for our 40 Days for Others project. Apparently everyone in Caldwell had something to mail as well. I was there for about 40 minutes standing in line. But I did see one thing that made it all worthwhile. A woman there was picking up boxes of "hatching" eggs. I was totally intrigued by the idea of getting all these live eggs in the mail. So many little potential chickens sitting there on the counter.

Also yesterday I hit the LYS with Erica for my next Sock Club sock and yarn. While there, we discovered that this weekend was a "fiber-fest" with all the local yarn stores participating. So of course I had to participate. I hit 3 other yarn stores. Drop a Stitch in downtown Boise, Handmade in Eagle, and Knit One, Quilt Too in Kuna. I got a couple of things at the first two, but I have no pictures to share because they're for my SP.

Today has been laundry day. And knitting/spinning day. I'd much rather just knit and spin on a Sunday, but clean undies are important too. And C probably wants clean diapers. So I guess it's not all fun and games, but pretty damn close. All in all, a good weekend.

Goodies

My secret pal is seriously the best s.p. ever. I got a great package a couple of weeks ago. And now...a bonus. Candy for the grown-ups, treats for the critters and books for Catie.

Here is a close-up of one of the books. The baby is wearing these this adorable knitted outfit...hat, sweater, booties, AND pants. As I was reading the book to C, I kept looking at the baby's clothes.
This cute little number is making me want to start a new sweater for Catie. Right now I only have only one project going. A pair of socks. That's it. For me, that is nearly unthinkable. I've been bored with knitting lately, but maybe it's just lack of projects to choose from. So maybe 7 is too many, but 2 or 3 to pick from and to alternate may be the way to go. On that note...I think I'm gonna dig out the yarn. Or maybe the KSH for Birch, or maybe...

When it rains, it pours

I've had a bad 6 weeks. The fuel pump went out on the Jeep. The pickup needed all new tires. Work has been a bit challenging. The computer crashed. We owe the IRS gobs of money. And Friday, our hot water heater quit working. So we've been trekking to my parents' house for hot showers each morning until we get a new one this week. Granted, I don't have the troubles outside my house that Lorette does, but I just keep feeling like we can't catch a break. I think things are over and we can relax, then bam, something else happens. I'm living in fear our house is going to come crashing down over our heads. Not much else can go wrong, right?

I haven't done as much knitting and spinning as I would like lately. Actually, I haven't been doing any spinning for awhile. This week is the spinning guild meeting, so I'll have to break out the wheel and get busy. I've stopped and started 2 different pairs of socks about 5 times. I can't get the right gauge on either of them. But I think I've finally gotten it right on G's new socks. I can't get the light right for the picture, but at least it should fit him.

And on the subject of socks, I just have to say how proud I am of Erica. It took me 6 or 8 months of knitting before I was brave enough to learn to knit socks. She has been knitting all of about 3 months and just jumped in. Yesterday she learned the magic of turning a heel, and I think she's now hooked. I've created a monster, folks.

Today was Easter Sunday. I hope everyone had a wonderful day. We had dinner at my mom and dad's. G was in charge of dessert. He made chocolate mousse. Catie had to try some. I think she liked it.

So now it's back to the ol' grindstone. And please-oh-please let nothing bad happen this week.

On speaking a foreign language

I love weekends. I wish it was the weekend all the time. Maybe I'd get tired of not working, sleeping in, going out to dinner and then to a bookstore, knitting all day, etc. But then again, maybe not. It was a great weekend, needless to say. Well, except for the doing taxes part (ouch!).

Over the past few days, I've finished a cotton dishcloth and the baby socks.

The baby socks were a blast. Fast and easy. I started on a new kid's hat tonight. I also started reading Knitting Rules. I kept reading parts of it out loud to G, but he "didn't get it". Actually he said he was only "getting" every third word. How could he not understand the language of knitting? He's been living with it for 2 years?? Does he not listen to anything I talk about? Apparently, he must only really listen to 1/3 of what I say. At any rate, I'm enjoying it so far, and am now getting into the more technical parts of the book. Tonight, I'm going to learn about gauge and why it's important. But isn't it more fun just to jump in and start knitting?

Tonight was the second meeting of our knitting group. And I'm happy to report that we've gotten another person into our grasp. Kim came, thinking she'd be social and just hang out and visit. But soon, she found herself being inexplicably drawn in by the allure of the sticks and string.

It can't be avoided, Kim. Give in to the urge.

In Catie news, we're convinced we have a genius on our hands. She said something that sounded suspiciously like "doggie" a couple of times today. When the doggie(s) were actually in the room and walking up to her. And she's starting to 'read'.

And what's that she's reading? Not just any book, mind you.

That, my friends, is an American Family Physician journal. That's my girl.

Proud mama/wife moment below.

Today we got a local newspaper to find this. I can't stop showing everyone I see that my baby was on the front page of the Local section of our paper. That's all. Enough bragging for me. Sorry.

Socks, secret pals, and more.

I'm now totally and completely hooked on baby socks. Maybe 3 hours of knitting and I got this. #2 is half done. I don't even have feet that are that big, so it doesn't take all that long to make socks for myself. But this instant gratification is hard to deny.


Also, I learned today that apparently I'm a STR pusher. Kim is now obsessed like the rest of us. And she started an Irish Hiking Scarf. I've never known such power. (insert evil laugh here)

To make today even better, I got my secret pal package. This is the first time I've participated in a S.P. Exchange. I always felt a little jealous when I'd read others's entries about their pal and gifts and such. Well, now you can all feel jealous of me. Because my S.P. rocks. Check this out

Trekking XXL in blues (my fave), wash mitts, soap, lip balm, a little card so I can keep track of what size needles I have, and best of all, Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. Unfortunately, I have a feeling there may have been some other goodies/candy in there, but our well-mannered dogs got to it before I did. Sorry about that, SP. But I LOVE all this stuff.

On the Catie front, I simply must post this pic. Please forgive me all my Catie pictures, but I just can't restrain myself. Can I help it if I gave birth to the cutest baby in the universe? I didn't think so. I love bath photos. All we have in our humble abode is a shower, so her bathtub is the sink. Here she is.

My husband is cool

Well, here it is Sunday again. Time to get ready to go back to work tomorrow. I have to be at the hospital early, so should get to bed. But instead, I'm here with you. You all should feel so special.

I did a few rows on the Chevron sock. But then I felt guilty because I haven't done any charity knitting for quite some time. So here's a pair of baby socks. I'm using my leftover Cherry Tree Hill yarn, and am just sort of making it up as I go. No specific pattern. Very daring for me. At any rate, I think it's so cute. I'm trying to resist just keeping them for Catie.

Now I have to put in a couple of plugs for G. Our hospital is starting a new class, Boot Camp for New Dads. G is the teacher/"veteran" instructor. Tomorrow is his training and his first class is Tuesday night. Now he can share all this knowledge he's learned from being a stay-at-home dad for the past 9 months. I think he's looking forward to it, and I'm excited for him.

He is also going to have a blues show on Boises new community radio station. It's online for now, and his first show is probably going to be next Saturday. Check out Radio Boise and Boise Blues. He's making me proud.

My first blog date

I'm so glad it's the weekend. So far it's been a great one. This morning I met my first fellow knit-blogger, Kim of Gib Knits. She and her son Joey met me for coffee at our local Moxie Java. How fun. It was HER birthday and she brought ME a present. How sweet is that? I got some yummy apple mints and pretty stitch markers that she made. Thank you, Kim. And thanks to Joey for putting up with all our knitting/yarn/spinning talk.

After getting home, I finished up the Branching Out scarf. I still need to weave in the ends and block it, but the knitting is done. It was a fun pattern, once I got into it. It took me a few pattern repeats to finally get into the flow, but once I did, everything went along nicely. Here you go--the not-quite-finished product.


I also started a new pair of socks. Now I'm back to dpns. These are the Chevron socks from Sensational Knitted Socks. The yarn is in my (and many others') beloved Socks that Rock yarn. Scottish Highland colorway. It's gorgeous!! We went to a friends for dinner, then it's back home to knit some more. It's been pretty much the perfect day. If only I could spend every day like this...