It's the most wonderful time of the year....

3 Screwballs

Before I dive into why I do a little dance each morning as my children get on the school bus, I have to show you all this picture. A few weeks ago we spent the day at Blake's house, babysitting, and the boys watched Shrek in 3-D.

I wanted to show you this picture that very day, because this is a picture that must be shown, but it was being held hostage inside my cell phone.

This picture has nothing to do with anything I want to share with you today, but just look at those 3 boys for a minute.

Completed Socks!
Kristin's purple Narragansett socks and
Tiffany's New Year's Lights socks

Anyhoo--as I was saying, school is back in session. And having my boys spend 6 hours a day, apart from each other, in different classrooms, is the best thing that could have happened to our family right now. For the last couple of weeks, they have done nothing but fight. They are sick of each other, sick of me, sick of their best friends the neighbor kids who they saw every single day this summer, sick of this house....they are both loving school. And then they come home completely exhausted and by dinner time are fighting again. Perhaps boarding school is the answer?

Eric is becoming much more confident in his old age, being a big 1st grader and all. He has been standing up to his bossy older brother a lot lately and laying claim to what he feels is rightfully his. And Ryan doesn't like that at all. No siree. Things were much easier around here when Ryan ran the show.

And recently they both ramped up the dinnertime arguments, complaining incessantly about each and every single solitary thing they are served. Treating us as if we poisoning them. Cries of despair. Every. Single. Night. And we're talking about pizza. Tacos. Spaghetti. Not the liver and onions I had to endure at their age. So Mike and I lowered the boom and no one is allowed to say ANYTHING about what they are served. Not a word. Eat it or don't eat it. But say NOTHING. Unless you want to say "thank you mom for the delicious meal. May I have more?" you are not allowed to utter a word about the completely appropriate kid-friendly meal I have served you.

So yes, having both children in school full time--things can only look up from here.

As you can see, I did manage to finish 2 pairs of socks!

Hee hee hee hee hee

And holy toledo look at this chicken! It just needs eyes and a tail and then Lora, it's all yours! This chicken pattern was a lot of fun. So much fun, in fact, that we're going to use it as a Knit-A-Long for the shop. Which means I have to get going on my shop sample pronto. I envision a whole display window of chickens and it makes me giggle. I hope customers think it's as compelling as I do.

And in other happy news, my husband was a sneaky guy and bought tickets to the Keith Urban concert for this Saturday night. He bought them months ago, when we were jobless and destitute, so I have no idea how he pulled that off. But he did. And it was suppose to be a surprise, but he spilled the beans when I started reminding him about the dinner party we're to be hosting at the exact same time. So now dinner is at a different house, sans us, and I'll be hosting next month instead. I am actually very disappointed to miss this time with my dear friends, because I had to miss last month's dinner group as well, but with a ticket and license to drool, you won't hear me complaining.

I started babysitting 2 month old baby S yesterday, and he's lying here on the floor next to me right now, having a little conversation with me about how much he likes to kick his skinny little legs. So I better wrap this up before we have to walk to the bus stop and get those cranky boys. It's evil half-day Wednesday you know.

Making Progress...

Leah's Lilypad Socks

Hello people--I'm back. I have several things to share with you today, so prepare to be impressed!

1. Deer update: it seems the deer have taken my threats to murder them in their sleep seriously, as they appear to have moved on to greener pastures. Which means my tomato plants are laden with tomatoes and my rose bushes are short, but in full bloom. Any deer reading this, be for- warned--I shoot to kill.

2. I suck as a photographer. Jared Flood says that knitted items look best when photographed in natural lighting. So that is what I did today. I took all of the items I wanted to share with you outside and photographed them on the deck. Which apparently I did wrong because the sun was too bright and everything looks washed out. Whatever. If you squint real hard you can see Leah's finished Lilypad socks (see Leah, FINISHED).

Socks for Mom

3. I'm getting close on my mom's Mixed Berries Monkey Socks,

Socks for Tiffany

4. I'm starting on sock #2 for Tiffany...

Socks for Kristin

5. ...and I'm making good progress on Kristin's socks. Whew! That's a lot of socks! I'm a little embarrassed to tell you how much sock yarn I have left, thanks to Jane, but I will tell you that it's somewhere in the neighborhood of a baker's dozen....

Coffee Sleeve #1

6. I'm especially proud of this picture, being the worst of all the photographs I took today. Wow. This one is truly bad. But you still get the gist. My sister Emily has been hinting about coffee sleeves. Emily is a hairdresser. And more importantly, she is my hairdresser. And the irony is, she is one of those weirdos who never wears socks. Ever. Dead of winter--no socks. Here I am, oodles of sock yarn coming out my ears, and no point in gifting her with the only way I can afford to pay her (did I mention I never have to pay her?). So when she mentioned coffee sleeves, I remembered that my new Knitted Gifts book has a pattern for a great coffee sleeve. This first one I did in a charcoal gray Cascade 220 tweed (which is well hidden by the beauty of this natural lighting).

Coffee Sleeve #2

...and this second one I am doing in a brand new yarn called Brae Tweed, which is a merino, llama, and bamboo blend. I'm putting cables in this one, just to mix things up. This is a fair trade for a cut and color every 5 weeks, don't you think? No, I don't think so either, but it's a start!

One Step Closer

7. And finally, the piece d'resistance--I bought the pattern for the chicken this week. I think I shared this with you a few months ago, and it has been on my short list ever since I laid eyes on it.

Now, the original pattern, by Blue Sky Alpacas (and let's be fair, Susan B. Anderson) is fine. Cute, but not compelling to me. But when I saw that someone actually created this design and knit it up in these striking colors, well, there is no WAY I'm not going to make this thing! This has my friend, Heidi, written all over it. Between Christmas and her birthday, this will be gifted to her. And I can say all of this loud and clear on my blog because she will never ever read it.

Heidi is a dear friend. One of my best friends. And I don't believe she has ever read my blog. To be fair, I don't think she has ever read anyone's blog. Heidi cares less about technology than anyone I know (although she may be neck in neck with my mother, who can't find her own daughter's blog). So I can talk about Heidi and the gift I'm going to make her all day long on this site and she will never ever ever know of it. When I give it to her, she will be totally and completely surprised. Heidi Heidi Heidi Heidi! See--she can't hear me.

This particular chicken is made out of Cascade 220, which is so completely affordable. The pattern cost me all of $5.50, and the chart was generously made free by ElleM, who, let's face it, is a genius.

And now, I have 2 hours left of freedom before picking up my boys from their playdate. Then the fun will really begin when I take Eric to the doctor during rush hour to confirm his case of Fifth Disease (don't freak out people who have been around Eric--it's NOT contagious. I repeat, mother of Blake, NOT contagious). But since his rash currently makes him look like he's gone 6 rounds as a prize fighter, I'm thinking someone with an actual medical degree should confirm the diagnosis that I came up with via Shirley-the-neighbor and Cori-the-nurse. Rumor has it, the rash from Fifth Disease can last for weeks. Good thing they moved school pictures up to September 1st!

I'd love to stay and chat all day, but I don't want to. I'm going to bask in my last 2 hours of solitude.

The Knitting Queen's Excellent Adventure

I've done it again

It actually wasn't that excellent. It was fine. But indeed I have been on a 24 hour escape from the tedium that is my summer.

Yesterday at noon I dropped the boys off at Mike's sister's house for a sleepover. I need to emphasize this: this was completely 100% Tiffany's idea. I of course needed no convincing, but I do have to set the record straight that in no way did I foist these beings upon her.

The boys adore that baby, Blake, and Blake is mighty fond of them as well. There was much squealing involved when they greeted each other. And then there was some squealing of my own as I drove away at record speed.

My plan was this: 2 yarn shops, the bead store, the paint store, dinner with my husband before he went off to his 2nd job, and then hours upon hours of time to knit. I'm not sure where all those extra hours were going to come from, but that was the plan.

The first yarn shop, Village Yarn and Tea in Lake Forest Park, is a favorite. I oo-ed and ah-ed for a bit and really did intend to buy something fun, but of course since I actually had the time and some money, nothing jumped out at me. I then went to Acorn Street Yarn in the U District. I have not been to Acorn Street in quite some time and I always forget just how crazy that shop is. Crazy good. Crazy-floor-to-ceiling-shelves-of-yarn-and-a-library-ladder kind of crazy. Crazy as in they apparently carry every single solitary brand of yarn, do-dad, gadget and book one would ever need for knitting. Ever. All packed into this tiny crooked hexigonical shaped corner building.

And that is where I found Louet Gems Fingering Weight. The exact yarn needed for the Snowbird mittens. Because I'm disturbed and want to knit them. And I almost almost bought the pink and brown Lorna's Laces for the Sonata mittens. It was in my hands (because, again, this shop is amazing and they had SHELVES of Lorna's Laces sock yarn) and I walked around with it for a bit. See, a few days ago I (gasp) ripped out the Sonata mitten I had been making with the Cascade Heritage. I love Heritage and really wanted to make it work. But it wasn't working. On size 2's my stitches were uneven and on size 1's the mitten was too small. And I knew I would never make that 2nd pink and brown mitten. So I almost bought the correct yarn to give it another go. But I didn't. Couldn't pull the trigger. I think I may be over those mittens for the time being. But I did escape with my Louet Gems and I am itching to get started on those Snowbird mittens. Itching, I tell you.

I then went to the bead store, which was rather uneventful, and then went next door to Bellevue Paint to get a big pile of paint samples. See, I have 2 unpainted bathrooms and a 6 year old's bedroom that apparently needs to be any color other than the yellow we picked out for that room 10 years ago before he was even a sparkle in my eye. And I haven't been painting these rooms because destitute unemployed people don't throw good money around on paint. However, marginally destitute employed people with steady paychecks can throw good money around on a can of paint. So I'm beginning that process. Then, after traveling all over kingdom come, I went home to knit before meeting my husband.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Aunt Tiffany was unable to put Blake down for a nap because he didn't want to miss one iota of the party going on in his house, and my boys, who discovered her supply of Goldfish, kept telling her they were hungry, and naive new mom that she is, Tiffany kept feeding them said Goldfish to the point that, come dinner, they weren't hungry (to be fair, they also ate cupcakes).

I then met Mike at Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse where I had a great big ol' margarita and threw my peanut shells all over the floor, sent him off on his merry little way, and went back home for an evening of solitude.

Blake, ornery little stinker that he is, apparently didn't sleep most of the night because, again, the party (even though my boys were zonked out by 9). The boys then had donuts for breakfast, played some more Wii, and then I came to rain on their parade by taking them back home where they belong.

But of course, why go straight home when you can stop by Fred Meyer to look at their shoe sale and deals on school supplies? Which is great if you are Ryan and they have the exact pair of Sketchers that you have always wanted your whole life. And it sucks if you are Eric and they have several suitable pairs of Sketchers Z Straps and Super Z Straps and whatever the hell they are called but no Luminators which is apparently the shoe of his dreams. So it's a good thing I chose to go shoe shopping on the way home from a sleepover, because that left Eric with no coping skills with which to process the concept of going to a different Fred Meyer on a different day to look for these magical shoes.

We then drove through McDonalds and Eric was accidentally given 2 straws (2 STRAWS!), which is apparently worse than being given no straws, or even leaving the shoe store with no shoes. He complained about my choice of music the entire way home, and is currently in the living room, watching Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas and plotting my demise.

And people, this is why my shopping cart at Fred Meyer contained not only a pair of shoes, some bargain school supplies, but also a nice big juicy bottle of wine.

Royal Update

Actual Rose Buds!

OH HEAVENS TO MURGATROYD IT IS HOT THIS WEEK. Ok, fine. I know I complain about the heat all the time and I'm always telling you about THE HOTTEST WEEK OF THE YEAR. But this time I mean it. No, really. Seattle is in for record heat. Tomorrow it is suppose to reach 101 at SeaTac. And that always means a good 5 degrees hotter where I am.

People, we're not equipped for this here in Seattle. We have no air conditioning. We have no swimming pools. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we live by the water and can go to the beach.....THERE IS NO SHADE AT THE BEACH AND IT'S GOING TO BE 105 DEGREES. I can't cope with this weather. It makes me yell. The inside of my house reached 91 yesterday. That is with all the doors and windows open and the fan blowing. Currently it is 10:00 am and it's already 81 inside my house. Last night I actually sent my boys to bed with ziplock bags filled with ice.

I could complain about this all the live long day, but I do have other news to report. Namely, the deer seem to have disappeared. Perhaps they died of heatstroke. We can only hope. Actually, I have noticed their absence for the last few weeks, but didn't say anything in case they read my blog and were waiting for me to report that I have actual roses on my rose bushes and tomatoes on my tomato plants. Truly, now that I have shared this news with all of you, I will not be the least bit surprised if I wake up tomorrow morning to find that they all came back to the Keene breakfast buffet. I really do hate those deer with the same intensity as the hatred I have for the heat. Which proves my theory that they are creatures straight out of hell.

It's Here It's Here!

I'm telling you--nothing makes me crankier than a thermostat that reads anything over 72.

I do have some happy news to report: my beloved new book arrived! It came early and it came to me free of charge--how much happier could that make me, I ask you?

Hobby Horse

I just have to show you some of the projects I plan to make the next time money drops from the sky into my lap and the space/time continuum opens up and gives me 5 extra kid free hours each day.

Can you believe this Hobby Horse? Does this not have that baby, Blake, written all over it. Ok fine, you don't actually know him, but if you had a baby boy in your life, don't tell me you wouldn't be thinking of making this for him.

Gentleman's Scarf

I know it's hard to see the texture of this scarf from your vantage point, but trust me when I say, this scarf is stunning. They knit it out of a fine gauge cashmere/silk blend. We have some Blue Sky Alpaca Silk in a sport weight at the shop that I think would be equally beautiful. I do have a couple of men in mind that I think would actually wear this.

Texter Gloves

How funny are these?

Ballet Flats

I don't see myself making these anytime soon, but I just had to show them to you to give you an idea of how beautiful this book is.

Animal Crackers

Truly, I would have taken a picture of each project in this book, but my fingers are starting to fuse to the keyboard. There is a baby blanket that is flat out beautiful. There are great socks. Even the hat and mittens on the cover--a must knit for my niece Ellie who loves light blue hats.

I mean, honestly, when will I ever knit these things? But at least validate me in that this book is a MUST HAVE. And a girl can dream, can't she?

Today I'm taking the boys to see Ice Age, purely for the 2 hours of air conditioning. It will be a nice break from listening to the bickering over the slip 'n slide and the placement of the sprinkler.

For the moment, I'm going to try to get some knitting done before the yarn self combusts in my hands.

I'm a liar

Cousins!

That baby Blake came over with his mom yesterday to spend the day. Since it was 500 degrees out (well, 95, but after a certain point, does it really matter?), the big boys played in the sprinkler while Blake played on the deck with bowls of water and ate his first popsicle. And then played with his popsicle in the bowls of water. Tiffany and I then drank diet coke all afternoon while a nearly naked Blake emptied out my tupperware cupboard. It was entirely too hot to do anything else.

No Will Power

I also showed Tiffany the sock yarn I had ear marked for her. Several weeks ago I had described the sock yarn from Jane and she had been pretty excited about Black Purl (which is in black and various shades of purple). Yesterday I showed her all of my sock yarn and she quickly switched from Black Purl to New Year's Lights. She was really excited about it.

And so even though I told you I was not going to cast on any more socks, I lied. I have no will power and I wanted to see how these would knit up.

Help!

I can't help it. Each skein of Lorna's Laces knits up differently. Each one is a surprise. You just don't quite know what kind of pattern you are going to get. It's too compelling to patiently finished up the 3 pairs you are working on before starting a 4th. That, and I'm a bit unstable.

And I needed some success. I'm trying to knit a pair of socks for our friend Scott. And I've learned that you truly need to cast on more stitches for men. Mens legs are, how shall I say this...not dainty. Unless you are my son Ryan, who is the width of a toothpick, most men require a little more girth around their calves. There. I've said it. Men have big calves.

So I've tried two different Lorna's Laces for Scott--Baltic Sea and Forest. Both very manly and both, according to the many finished products I've seen on Ravelry, designed to stripe. I am unable to make these socks stripe. I think they would stripe if I cast on my usual 64 stitches, but again, the dainty calves issue. At 70 stitches, they won't stripe. I get this weird random warping color way. And I don't like the way they look on size 2's. I'm a tried and true size 1 sock knitter.

I did find a member of Ravelry who knit Forest for a man and they striped beautifully. But of course, she didn't log in the details of how many she cast on or what size needle she used. I emailed her, asking for insight, but alas, have not heard back.

My fall back is to use some beautiful charcoal gray Alpaca Sox from my stash, as soon as I get my Knitted Gifts book in August 1st. It has a pretty great men's sock pattern that I think would be fun. In the end, Scott will end up with a fabulous pair of socks, but the fact still remains that I have Lorna's Laces in two different male-oriented colorways that will only stripe in women's sizes.

Today Ryan's best friend Zach is here and Eric has spent the better part of the playdate whining and crying that they won't include him or do anything he wants to do (such as sit with wonder and awe as he dazzles them with his Mario Kart abilities). I then have spent a lot of quality time with Eric, explaining that no one wants to play with a kid who cries and whines. Want to be treated like a big kid=acting like a big kid. Which has produced more whining and crying. It's a vicious cycle. After some valuable alone time in his room, contemplating that, just because being a little brother sucks, doesn't mean life for the rest of us has to suck, Eric has emerged with the attitude that he doesn't want to lose yet another day of the Wii and perhaps Ryan and Zach's ideas aren't so horribly offensive after all.

And he wonders why he can't have a 9:00 bedtime like his older brother....

Back in the Saddle Again

Jane strikes again
New Year's Lights
and Forest

Wow--the last three weeks of my life have been out of control. Truly, this is the first moment I have had to sit at the computer for any length of time since the beginning of July. And today is only possible thanks to a handy playdate I arranged. I have 3 boys upstairs in Ryan's room as we speak. They are being awfully quiet, so I better make this quick....

Oh, where to begin....well, my husband got two jobs. Yep, two. One regular full time Monday through Friday job that we are very happy about. On the news the other night they announced that unemployment in the state of Washington is up to 9.3%, which is the highest it has ever been. So indeed we are feeling very very blessed with this job. And then he got another one. He is working swing shift about 4 evenings a week doing computer installs in different offices (where was this job 3 months ago?!). And so between the two, Mike is home for about two waking hours each day. Which kind of sucks in a I-don't-have-a-moment-to-myself-and-have-to-do-everything kind of way, but we're certainly not ones to turn down extra income right now. So Mike plans to keep up the 2nd job for a while so we can try and catch up.

And then, during the hottest July on record in Seattle, baby hat sales are at an all time high. Really? Knit baby hats in July? Whatever. Again, who am I to turn down income. So in between dealing with my kids all the livelong day, running 98% of the errands, and throwing my hands up in the air because I can't keep up with the house, I have been knitting like crazy.

Severe case of 1-itis
1 Sonata mitten,
1 Lilypad sock for
Leah, 1 Narragansett
sock for Kristin, and
1 Mixed Berries Monkey
sock for mom.

And this last week I worked close to 40 hours at the shop. So here we are. In a dirty house, in a city where it will hit at least 90 today, where I have traded poverty for single parenthood.

All of which accounts for very little blogging and an inability to finish a pair of socks or mittens.

Now, if we want to talk about knitting for a minute, you should know that crazy Jane has gifted me MORE sock yarn. Truly, I will never want for sock yarn again. I have some of it earmarked for people (should I ever get around to finishing my current sock projects. I'm not opposed to starting another pair--it's just that all my sock needles are in use), but I have several skeins just waiting for inspiration.

Must have...

Sock knitting aside, I still have about 3/4 of Mike's Town and Country sweater to go, 100% of my Must Have Cardigan to go, projects from my Estonian Lace book, a list of mittens and gloves I absolutely must make, and then there is this book. This incredible fantastic new book.

Our shop just got the new Interweave Knitted Gifts book in. And just sold out. It is fabulous. Some of the patterns are simple indescribable. And guess who has a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card burning a hole in her pocket? Technically this book is not available until August 1st (so why we got it and were able to sell it, I don't know). Come August 1st, my list of Must Knits will have grown by leaps and bounds.

Alrighty people. Time to go accomplish something. That baby Blake is coming tomorrow, so better pick up the Legos.

Who Who!

Who Who!

Well, look at me blogging again! That's twice in one week! Don't get too use to it.

I finished up these two Who hats that I found here. Pretty darn cute, don't you think? One is for that baby, Blake, and one is for Mara's baby that apparently will never come out.

Quick deer update: No sign of the evil one. Don't know if the Irish Spring is actually working, or if the creatures of darkness are haunting another neighborhood this week. We shall see...

Quick summer break update: So far my boys have spent almost all of their time outside, which suits me just fine, until they come in at the end of the day so filthy that I need to hose them down on the deck. Keith next door is nearly finished with the tree house his is building and rumor has it that Ryan and Eric will be packing their bags and moving into said tree house as soon as it's done. Again--I have no problem with that.

Quick job update: SphericalDave, husband of My Pink Toes, generously loaned Mike a laptop that, wait for it wait for it, works upon booting up. Each and every time. So that is making life a bit easier for the man who is spending every waking moment searching for jobs, applying for jobs, and networking with people who have jobs, all the live long day. Mike continues to apply for everything that moves and soon will have applied for every job posting in the world. One of those has got to work--right? We do have a couple of things we are a little more excited about than the average nameless faceless job, but we continue to wait and pray.

That all for now. Over and out.

Thursday News

Ellie's Koolhaas Hat

Hello people--yep, it's Thursday again. My unofficial blogging day. Let's see, what's new in my world. A whole lot of nothing.

I did finish my niece Ellie's Koolhaas hat, which I think is pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. And I know she will love it, so I'm very excited to give it to her. Even my husband, a person lacking in all details, commented on how much he liked it.

What's new on the job front, you ask? Well, Mike had his job interview a week ago. It was a screening interview, which he thought went well. And what have we heard since then? Zippo. Nada. Nothing. Zilch. Goose Egg. So the hunt continues. We are still hoping to hear from this particular company, but until an actual offer presents itself, the search must go on. And on. And on....Don't I sound optimistic and hopeful? I'm just a bright ray of sunshine these days. In fact, if you ask "how are you?" in just the right way, I may burst into tears right in front of you. Just ask Tiffany's mother-in-law. Oh yes, I'm just spreading happiness and joy where ever I go these days.

Glenwood Socks for Caroline

I did finish my sister's socks, so that can be considered a worthy accomplishment.

I also have a couple more hats I am making, one for Ellie's brother, and one for that baby Blake, but naturally I forgot to take pictures of them before beginning this post, so you lose. We'll try for next time, ok?

And now it's time for a really fun segment called ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE BROKEN AT MY HOUSE:

1. The garage door. Yep, still broken. Apparently those things don't fix themselves.

2. The front window. See #1.

3. My tomato plants and roses. The deer fencing I put up apparently was not tall enough, as I discovered the other morning. Bastards.

4. My Blue Potato Vine, the crowning glory of my front yard. A helpless victim of this last winter's prolonged subfreezing temperatures, now an ugly brown stump. In my front yard.

5. My husband's laptop, i.e. job-hunting-machine. His monitor stops working periodically. For significant periods of time. Very helpful when you're at Starbucks for the day researching jobs and in the middle of an on-line application. That's not frustrating at all.

6. Alice, the passive aggressing neurotic peeing cat. She seems to be irked at us again. For any number of reasons. And is taking it out on our comforter. Again.

7. The sucking/dirt picking up power of my Target vacuum.

8. Ryan's eyes. Apparently he can't see anymore, so he gets to go to the eye doctor tomorrow to determine if he needs glasses. That doesn't sound expensive at all.

9. And the newest addition to ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE BROKEN AT MY HOUSE: my car window. Yep, that's right. The driver's side window to my van. Which I stupidly opened yesterday while waiting in the car at school so Eric and I wouldn't suffocate in 80 degree weather. As I started the car I tried to shut the window and heard a loud CLUNK. Which is the sound of my window being stuck inside of the door. ARE YOU &#@!*@& kidding me?!? That was an actual fist-shaking-to-the-heavens moment for me. Really. The car window. Two days before it is suppose to rain. The ONLY thing that kept me from completely losing it with a car full of kids is the fact that my brother-in-law owns a garage. Guess he'll get a pair of socks too. That Jane has no idea how her sock yarn is blessing the people in my life.

The broken window comes on the heels of our dead 4 year old refrigerator (according to Sears, this was our fault for failing to vacuum under our fridge on a regular basis and so the dust that collected overheated the motor. Seriously, that is what the Sears repairman said. First of all, that is never going to happen. Second of all, see #7). So you can see why I'm feeling especially cursed these days.

You may now refer to me as Mrs. Job.

Show and Tell

Mom's finished mittens

Well, apparently I blog on Thursdays now.

First, the Tell: Mike has a job interview next Thursday at 3:00 pst. We are very excited about this job. It is an organization he likes, it is a job for which he is well qualified, and it is very close to home. For most of his working life, Mike has had terrible commutes. Awful commutes. Anytime you have to go from the Eastside into Seattle, and then anywhere in any part of Seattle, you're in for a bad commute. This job would be 10 minutes from our house. That, in itself, would be reason enough to work at this place. But this is a job he truly wants, so that would be just the icing on the cake.

I am very nervous about this interview. It's just too perfect. I refuse to allow myself to get too excited about it. But you have my permission to jump up and down behind my back.

And now the Show: I finished my mom's Druid Mittens for Mother's Day and I finished Pat's socks.

Pat's Slippery Socks
I twisted the left sock
to try to show you the
stitch pattern.
I don't think my
camera can handle
fine details. But trust
me, these socks are
very cool.

Both of these projects were very labor intensive and required a lot of cabling. I am quite ready to be done with cables for a bit, which is really too bad for Mike's sweater. But I have to say, it was quite a sense of accomplishment.

Woolly Chick
These have Leah
written all over them.

I've moved on to the Sonata convertible mittens, also found in the Vogue Fall 2008 issue. Of course, I forgot to take a photo, so that sucks for you, but picture this: they are pink with vertical brown stripes on the cuffs and the flap, and each finger of the gloves is edged in brown. I had Mike's leftover Dream in Color Smooshy yarn, which I am using for the brown, and I got some very inexpensive, yet utterly perfect Cascade Heritage sock yarn from work (the pattern calls for Lorna's Laces. And in case you are wondering, yes, Jane actually does have the pink, but she is saving it for herself. I suppose that's fair).

Yesterday I was up in Edmonds helping Blake's mom (Mike's sister) with her broken arm. Yep, she fell down the stairs and broke her arm. So I spent the day taking care of Blake and doing things for her that require the use of more than one hand.

And since I was in the neighborhood, I had to stop by Village Yarn and Tea on my way home. Now, given the fact that Tiffany lives, literally, across the street from Spin A Yarn in downtown Edmonds you would think I would pop in there instead. But that shop is weird. Seriously. Weird. They organize everything by color. And the shop is in an old house, so there are multiple rooms. You can't find anything in that shop. Say you are perusing the pink yarn in the pink section and you find a great yarn for your project. And then you wonder what other colors that yarn comes in--most shops will have all the colors of the yarn in that particular line all right together. Not Spin A Yarn. You would seriously have to go on a scavenger hunt all over this old house looking to see if they carry the exact same yarn in any other color. And I suppose I could ask an employee, but since they are always hiding upstairs and I could back a truck up to that place and load it up before they ever figured out I was there, that doesn't seem to be a viable option. And being a yarn shop employee myself, I honestly don't know how they can keep track of the 46 different locations of their Cascade 220, since turning their shop into a rainbow seems to be more important than selling yarn. So I don't shop there. It makes me dizzy. And angry.

But I digress. I went to Village Yarn and Tea. I do love that shop. The employees are very nice and they carry beautiful yarn, all displayed in a logical and organized fashion. Really beautiful yarn. I had a hard time not buying any of the really beautiful yarn (my shop also carries very beautiful yarn, but Village has a different inventory, so some of it I was seeing as if for the first time). Being destitute does make things easier though. No money=no yarn. However, I did spy this on the counter. Woolly Chick by Marie Mayhew. It's a felted chick with glass bead feet. Honestly, did you really think I could leave the store without that pattern?

Capillifolium Baby Bonnet

And then I found this. Village had a model of this baby hat on display and that was the clincher for me. The model was in deep greens, yellows, and reds, which showed me how stunning it can be in a variety of ways. I actually sat in one of their chairs and read through it, and then started to shop for the yarn before I came to my senses and realized that I would have to hold my own telethon to raise the money for this yarn. But I bought the magazine because, mark my words, I will make this hat. Blake may be wearing it to college, but I will make it.

Well folks, that's all for now. I have a 6 year old in the other room who has been begging me for lunch since 9:30 this morning. Perhaps I should go back to being a parent now.

Q & A with the Queen

Mike and the boys have left for a trip to Target, where the boys are planning to spend the money they earned picking up pinecones in Walter's yard, and feeding the other neighbor's dog, Ginger, over the weekend. Which means I have time to answer your burning questions!

Any news on the job front?
That would be a No. To date, Mike has applied for approximately 5498751987845784 jobs. Roughly. He's making good contacts, blah blah blah and I'm sure God has a darn good reason why interviews are not filling up Mike's dance card, despite my repeated requests. I would be delighted to know what that reason is. In the meantime, we're pressing onward in the job hunt. What did we all do before the internet? That is what I would like to know.

Does Eric really use The Snuggie?
Each and every day.

Seriously?
Seriously.

So Mike is done working his temporary job?
Yes indeedy. And, lucky me, this has started during Spring Break. I have ALL 3 BOYS here with me this week. It's like a family vacation gone bad. No one in this house is doing what they are suppose to be doing. Mike is not rushing off late to work, I'm not trying to convince Eric to get dressed for school, I don't have my designated Baby Hat Knitting Time while the 3 mess-makers are where they are suppose to be....today I spent hours in the yard while the boys ran themselves ragged all over the neighborhood (after picking up Walter's pinecones. In which he is sorry he agreed to 2 cents a pinecone since he apparently shelled out much more than originally budgeted. But since most of it went to his own daughter, I find it kind of funny). In fact, I was surprised to see the phone guy show up to fix our phone line that was apparently gnawed by small animals outside the kitchen window (perhaps the same animal that broke my birdbath. I'm developing a deep hatred of small animals. And big animals. But I digress) because it felt so much like a Saturday. But no, it's Monday and no one is where they are suppose to be. NO ONE IS WHERE THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO BE. I know that is grammatically incorrect, but it is SO TRUE.

You worked in the yard today? Does that mean is has finally stopped snowing?
Yes, 4 days ago it snowed, and today it's in the 70's. Both boys got sunburns and begged to play in the sprinkler. And by the end of the week it is supposed to be cold and rainy again. Seattle has apparently moved to the midwest.

As The Knitting Queen, are you actually knitting anything these days?
Let's see...Mike's Town & Country sweater is currently in a big heap. I have completed 1 Duet sock, 1 sock for Pat, 1/2 of a sock for Caroline, 1 mitten for my mom, and 1/2 of another Lorna's Laces sock, courtesy of my dear friend Jane. I think I'm too preoccupied with Mike's job hunt and our impending doom because I seem to be unable to finish anything I start these days. I have so many half finished projects that I really think I need to restrict myself from starting anything else. But as any knitter will tell you, the lure of the new project is always there. Especially when you actually have the yarn and the pattern. I could probably start 7 or 8 more projects. There are times when my stash calls to me. Loudly. But my knitting is so schizophrenic these days that adding one more project might make it spontaneously combust.

Did you know Keith Urban has a new album?
Oh yes. And guess who actually had enough money in her itunes account to get it....

Is Eric truly into Junie B. Jones?
Oh yes, that Junie B--she makes us laugh. Currently we're reading Junie B. is a Cheater Pants. Eric, that kid, is an enigma.

How is that baby, Blake?
We babysat Blake the other night. He has teeth, crawls, eats food--all that real baby stuff now. He is 10 months old (I think...is that right? Maybe 9 1/2. I don't know. I'm preoccupied, people!) and pretty darn cute. The boys and I read books to him before bed and that baby sat on Ryan's lap and listened to all of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie and Donald Duck and the Case Of the Missing Peanuts with more patience than Eric has.

I think those people will be returning at any moment. Sigh.....if I can magically make them all disappear again sometime this week, you may see me again. If not, then you'll know that I've smothered by the mess that can only come from 2 boys and their father during a week at home.

Questions for the Queen

Best Buddies

Oh yes, it is time for me to answer those questions that have been keeping all of you up at night:

1. How is that baby, Blake? Our nephew Blake is 8 months old new and precious. And he adores Ryan. Blake is getting to the age when he's a little wary of me if he hasn't seen me for a few weeks. But one look at Ryan and he's all smiles. And I have never seen Ryan take to another human being like he fawns all over Blake.

2. How did you like the Academy Awards this year? Well, let me tell you, you have no idea how close I came to disaster this year. We have discovered that both Dish Network and Fisher Communications are run by the devil. ABC is being held hostage by these greedy capitalists and Dish appears to hate me. Dish has assured me that I can expect an entire $1.00 credit on my next bill for the pain and suffering I am experiencing from missing Lost, Desperate Housewives, and the greatest television event of the year, the Academy Awards. And they know just what they can do with that $1.00. Because I told them. I came home from work on Sunday night, prepared to spend the evening encased in a black shroud. And then my husband, the love of my life and my reason for living, put himself to good use and discovered some dude named Justin who lives somewhere on Planet Earth and was streaming the entire show onto the internet, which Mike downloaded onto his laptop and then connected to our tv. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the miracle of modern science. We still have to download podcasts of Lost each week that mypinktoes' husband uploads for us to keep us from completely sinking into total and utter despair. I'm thinking of creating a Dish Network voodoo doll. Any ideas?

3. You don't seem to blog very often these days. What is wrong with you? Well, you can see that watching tv at my house takes much more effort than it should. So there is one reason. Let's see....hmmmm....you've met Eric. There's another reason. I feel compelled to do laundry on a semi-regular basis, I'm still selling lever shocks (and by "selling" I really mean spending lots of time on ebay uploading information and then selling one thing, and then flinging myself onto the floor in total agony at the amount of hours and fees it has cost me, then I pick myself up and do it all over again. It's a pretty good workout), and I drive to and from school about 25 times a week. I don't know. I'm busy, people! Things to do, people to see, places to go!

4. How is Mike's job search going? Watch the news much lately? It's going about like that.

5. Does Eric seriously use that Snuggie? Every day. Every single day. Not a day goes by that the Snuggie is not put to use. I even caught Mike using it one evening on the couch with his laptop--just like the commercials. That was...not pretty.

6. Knitting anything fun these days? Well, I'm working on a couple of pairs of socks, Mike's sweater, my mom's mittens, and I began a scarf from the Nancy Bush Estonian Lace book, that finally arrived from my Amazon gift card purchase in December, out of Jaeger 4 ply merino wool that I had in my stash. And baby hats. Always the baby hats. Things at Venue have really slowed down (not just for me, but for the entire shop), but Willow & Bloom is still going great guns.

7. Can we get an updated list of the broken things in your house? Oh yes, delighted to share that with you:

Front window--still broken.

Garage door--deader than dead.

Greenhouse window in the kitchen--slowly sinking into the ocean. Apparentely the lifespan of a 30 year old greenhouse window is about 29 years.

Speedometer on the van--broken, and then miraculously brought back to life through the power of prayer.

The interior of Mike's car--scary. Ok, that's not really broken. What IS broken is his ability to recognize the layers and layers of crap and the rattling of empty diet coke cans as they roll around the floor of his car. And the rear windshield wiper and one door lock on his car is actually broken.

Underdog DVD--missing. We have the case but cannot for the life of us find the DVD. Anyone know where it could be?

Mike's laptop monitor--broken and will die, looking much like what happens if we try to watch ABC, if you touch his monitor at all.

My new vacuum--stair attachment broken in two. Well, that makes sense, with me trying to use it and all...

There--don't you feel enrich with knowing all of this updated information about me? I for one feel much better having gotten it all off my chest. And now, since Ryan is home sick for the second day in a row, I have to go watch Shrek. Again.

New Hats

Blake's Earflap Hat

I don't have a lot to share today, but I just had to show you the two new hats I made for Blake. They are both made out of Cascade 220 Superwash (which I am not liking for the boys' Harry Potter sweaters on a 7, but is perfect on a 6 for these hats!). I think they are pretty darn cute!

Blake's Stocking Cap

Tiffany picked these colors out, so I had fun playing with them to make a couple of cozy and super cool hats for that little dude.

I also finished my Nutkin socks, but I am incapable of taking good pictures of socks. I need one of those fake mannequin feet, which would be weird, but I can't think of a better way to take a detailed picture of a sock without showing you my own leg. And no one wants to see that. That, and I'm frustrated with the finished socks. I hate the toes. They are very uncomfortable and I'm thinking it's because I decreased too much and did it on two circular needles. And I had to add a new ball of yarn and it ended up on the ball of the foot which is very uncomfortable. This will bug me until the end of time, because that is about how long it took me to make those socks in the first place, so I think I'm going to re-knit the toes. As soon as I am able to free up one of my two sets of size 1 double points.

I know you don't want to hear about the laundry, or the vacuuming, or my clean playroom, or the fact that I had a hotdog for dinner, but I will tell you that my husband has a job interview tomorrow morning that I am very nervous about because it could be so perfect for him. So say a little prayer for Mike at 10:30 if you're thinking about it.

And, to take my mind off of the impending interview, Mike and I will watch all 4 hours of the new 24 while I drink a second glass of wine and knit some mittens. I bet Jack Bauer would be a great knitter.

So, what do you want to know?

Christmas Eve

I'm back. It's been two weeks, in which I've accomplished virtually nothing, but now I'm back. The snow has come and gone, come and gone, come and gone. And now we have torrential rains, wind, and flooding. In Seattle, that is called JANUARY.

I did almost no baby hat knitting, no lever shocks, and clearly no blogging. Know what happens when you take two weeks off? You find yourself two weeks behind. And what did I do with myself during that time?

Well, we had Christmas.

What a great idea
See that ball on the left?
That would be the one that bounced
down the stairs and broke my front window.

The boys made out just fine. They got new basketballs, Nerf guns, a build-your-own-Clone-Wars-lightsaber, books books books, DS paraphernalia, Hot Wheels...you know, a bunch of boy stuff.

...and they got Nerf guns

Santa brought Eric a copy of Kung Fu Panda, which has greatly increased the amount of times Eric has talked about his tenders. And Ryan is so excited to have a stack of new chapter books--he now sleeps with a pile of books in his bed each night. Which I suppose is more comfortable than the basketball Eric had been sleeping with until we made its permanent home the garage after the window incident.

Gettin' Down with Grandma

Santa also brought our family Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party, which is just about the funniest thing we have ever seen. Between watching my mom try to pick up the dance moves to "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" and realizing that, yes indeed, there is a game in which you pee in the garden...well, it just doesn't get better than that, now does it?

Cousins
Grandma Keene bought the
boys and Blake matching
Christmas pjs.

We had our traditional Christmas Eve celebration with Tiffany and Marcus on New Years Day, due to the vast amounts the vomiting and snow. It took us awhile to make our way up from Renton to Edmonds that day, since we had to do some New Years shopping. First, Daddy had to get a much needed and long overdue free haircut from my sister. Another casualty of the snow. After the boys were able to recognize their father again, they begged him for their allowance and then immediately went next door to Barnes and Noble to spend it. Which is why Ryan and I are now reading Inkheart.

I then ordered them to take me to the New Years Sale at Village Yarns, where I purchased some ShiBui sock yarn (I'm a ShiBui virgin, but I hear it's worth the wait) and some chocolate brown Shetland wool to make my mom a pair of Druid mittens which she requested after seeing mine. And I stood in line for over half an hour to make my purchase. Half an hour! I'm sorry, but I they really should have been offering a lot more than 20% off for that kind of a wait. I love that shop and the ladies that work there are very sweet. But sllllllooooooowwwwwww.........

But we finally made it to see that baby (oh yeah, and his parents). Now tell me--is that not the most adorable creature you have ever seen?

Blake's Earflap Hat

And look what I am making for that baby. A little stripey earflap hat. Tiffany says he needs hats and well, if she's buying, I'll knit anything for that kid. He's also getting a cabled hat, which I think will be in the blue with a blue, green, and brown pompom on top.

Eric's Harry Potter Sweater

And let's see...what else have I done with my time? I'm back to working on Eric's Harry Potter sweater, I've learned how to play Boom Blox, I read Bunnicula, and I am actually caught up on my laundry.

Mike won a $100 Amazon gift card, which he lovingly split with me, and I bought for myself the Interweave 25 Favorite Socks book, which I have been coveting for quite some time now. I also bought the new Nancy Bush Estonian Lace book. Now I am not a lace knitter and, mark my words, I WILL NEVER KNIT A LACE SHAWL. EVER. That being said, this is an exquisite book and it has stunning scarves in it. Stunning. Again, I need to point out that I am not a scarf knitter. NOT A SCARF KNITTER. Beyond Knitting 101, I have never understood the habitual scarf knitters. Branch out, people! However, and this is a rather big HOWEVER, the scarves in this book are not merely scarves. They are works of art. They are challenging and gorgeous. So I treated myself to the book. And since I had a couple of dollars left over, I added a little bonus of the Casino Royale DVD. Merry Chrismas to me.

Eric has asked me about 45 times to come play Boom Blox with him, so I guess I should go pay attention to that person I am legally responsible for. Although since he recently requested that I no longer walk him to class and would prefer that I remain hidden in the car where no one can see me, I'm taking my own sweet time wrapping this up.

More from the palace soon...

Where is our 15 minutes of fame?

Snow-geddon '08

Snowstorm #4 here. 4th storm in 2 weeks. In Seattle. We are having Duluth, MN like weather in Seattle and are completely ignored by the media. Watching the Today Show, they are all about the snow in the midwest and the east coast. OOO--Detroit has 10 inches of snow...See, SEATTLE has a FOOT of snow. On Christmas Eve. Snow in Detroit is not news. That is called December. And really, a little snow in Seattle is not news either. We get snow. I have lived here for 40 years and I can tell you, we get snow. And since Seattle is built on 7 hills, unlike Detroit or Minneapolis, which have, um zero hills, there are reasons the city shuts down when we get snow and subfreezing temperatures.

But here's the thing. This is our 4th storm in 2 weeks. Our snow never went away. It just keeps growing. We don't get Buffalo, NY white Christmases. I'm used to a rainy Christmas. Or a couple of flakes. Or 50 degrees and overcast. A foot of snow on Christmas in Seattle? That is worth a mention on the Today Show, don't you think? Stupid east coast bias.

This is a picture out my back door. I have nearly a foot of snow on my deck and it comes right up to the back door. Those swings in the background? They are touching the snow. The ground has risen up to the level of the swings.

White Christmas Eve

No idea what this means for our Christmas plans. No idea. Our Christmas Eve plans have already been cancelled, thanks to the fact that Marcus the Opera Singer threw up 5 times yesterday. NOTHING will entice me in to a house where someone has thrown up. Nothing. Not Christmas, not getting my hands on that baby, Nothing. 5 TIMES? Forget about it.

As for tomorrow...don't know. My family is to come from all ends of the city. And they have most of the food. Which means if our family Christmas is rescheduled, we'll be eating corn dogs and chardonnay for Christmas dinner.

On the furnace front, I got an early Christmas gift. The other day I noticed what I thought was a gas leak. And Mike, who thinks I overreact to everything, actually called Puget Sound Energy to come and check it out. They said there was no leak, but they did trace the issue to our furnace and explained that because it was taking our burners too long to fire up, too much gas was being expelled into the air. And that the safety mechanism on our furnace was what was keeping it from turning into a giant bomb in our laundry room.

As I was thinking about revising my will and leaving all of my yarn to science, the PSE guys called out their furnace expert, who took the whole thing apart, made some adjustments to our burners, put it all back together, and declared it fixed. And the only cost to me was having to listen to him wax eloquent to the other two PSE guys about the glories of being a furnace fixer. And football. But the furnace is fixed, the house is warm, it cost me nothing, and when this house does go up in a blaze of glory, it won't be from that particular issue.

Eric refused to be in the picture
because Ryan touched the
carrot without permission.

That's all for now from Knitting Queen central. The gifts are wrapped, the cards are finally addressed, the wine is chilling, I'm on round 2 of making little snowman ice cubes from my new snowman ice cube tray, the outside snowman is built, and I'm ready to start on Eric's Harry Potter sweater sleeves. Church was cancelled on Sunday because of Storm #3. Cancelled. We're suppose to go to church tonight, being Christmas Eve and all. Can't really see that happening at the moment since it has been snowing steadily since I got up 5 hours ago. But we're safe, warm, and happy.

Merry Christmas from The Queen, The King, and our two court jesters!

Weekend Update

Ryan and Blake

Typically busy weekend at the royal residence. I'll just say this now and get it out of the way: I have no Halloween pictures. None. I can hear your collective audible gasp. What kind of mother forgets her camera and takes ZERO pictures on Halloween? One that works and has to meet her family at church for the carnival, that's who. One that is married to a man who NEVER takes pictures.

This won't be hard for you to imagine, though. Eric was Spiderman for the 3rd year in a row. And Ryan was Obi Wan Kenobi and wore a costume so similar to last year's Anakin costume that I called him Anakin for most of the evening. So just look at last year's pictures and you can consider yourself caught up.

On Saturday Tiffany and Blake came for the day. Marcus is in Greece doing some opera-y thing for the month, so we thought it would be fun give Tiffany a break. The boys were in heaven. They adore Blake. Ryan begged to hold Blake every chance he got and they loved to make faces at him and try to make him smile.

The Harry Potter Sweater

And when I haven't been working at the shop, I have been knitting. You would not believe the orders that are coming in. Who are these rich people buying cupcake baby hats by the dozens?!? Certainly no one I know. I'm finished with Ryan's Harry Potter sweater and just need to seam it up, but when I will make the time to do that is anyone's guess. I keep it in the living room, in a heap that is always in my way, hoping that I'll get annoyed enough to just finish it and put it away in his drawer. But sadly, I haven't reached that point yet. Which gives you an inkling of the state of my house these days. Did I mention I'm hosting a dinner party on Saturday? Pulling this off should be good. I already warned my guests that I may be greeting them at the door with a basket of laundry for each of them to fold. We'll see if they ever come back to my house!

Caroline's socks

I'm finished with Caroline's socks, which are pretty darn cute if I do say so myself (like I can take any credit for this self striping yarn). In fact, they are so cute, that Heidi took one look at them and immediate bought the same yarn for me to make a pair for her.

Happy Feet!

And look--I'm actually knitting something for me. A few weeks ago the shop got in a shipment of Plymouth Happy Feet sock yarn and I fell in love. I knew I would not be leaving that day without some Happy Feet. And as it happened to be my birthday, my boss gave me a gift card, which made my decision even easier--since I couldn't choose between two colorways, I bought them both! I'm making the Nutkin pattern, found on Ravelry, which I'm enjoying very much. And I'm forcing myself to use 2 circular needles, which, I hate to admit, is not completely objectionable.

So that's life here. Early in the morning I try to clean something and then I spend some time working on the computer while Eric becomes Wii Fit-ter and fitter. And then after I take him to school I look around my scary cluttered hovel, sigh, and knit some baby hats in peace and quiet before collecting Spidey and his grumpy pre-pubescent older brother from the bus. After dinner I knit on the hats a bit longer. Around 9:00 I allow myself to knit for me. And while this is going on the King is doing whatever it is he does on his laptop on the couch next to me and every so often I sigh and tell him that I could really use some help cleaning up around this place, now that I'm working so much. And as he looks around I can read on his face that he is thinking What? This place looks fine to me. If it's smaller than a basketball it is invisible to me so I don't know what that crazy lady is complaining about. But he knows that his very life depends on not actually saying those words out loud, so instead he tells me what I want to hear, and then we continue to live in squalor.

Ryan has his first sleep-over birthday party this weekend. I don't think that will make him cranky at all, do you?