Things that happened in October

My Arch Nemesis

Yep, I'm really that lame. It's November and I'm just now writing my next post. People, I'm busy! For instance, I have to take care of these beasts which continue to haunt my back yard.

Leo

And I had to get Ryan ready for his Masquerade Bash at school. Since Ryan is in the Science/Tech program, the class project for Halloween was for each kid to come up which a famous scientist, get it approved, and then write clues so the rest of the class could guess who they were. Ryan was Leonardo Da Vinci, wearing Daddy's bathrobe.

The Boys and Baby S

And of course I still have Baby S with me 3 days a week. Every Halloween Gilman Village has Trick or Treating for the kids. Which is great for families, but frankly, a nightmare for everyone who works there. Mara and I spent 3 hours, not selling yarn, standing in the freezing cold doorway handing out candy. Both of our Mikes brought the kids by for a visit.

Earflappy Hat

Of course, throw in about 74 loads of laundry and you can see I've got my hands full these days. I did manage to clean my master bathroom today. That, wow. It had been awhile.

I'm using my extra-awesome photography skills here to show you the baby earflap hat I'm making for a friend. They also want matching mittens, which I think will be cute. But I honestly don't know if I've ever actually made baby mittens before....can't be that hard, can it? The great thing about baby mittens--no thumbs!

Snowbird Mitten

Last, but not least, here is my crowning glory. The left hand part of the Snowbird Mittens.

SnowBird Mitten Palm

I have to say, I'm pretty stunned that I was able to do it. Once I block it, I think it will look great, and it actually fits!

I'm still working on my 3 different pairs of socks, all for 3 different people, who should know me well enough to know that I have WAY over-committed myself here, what with the chickens and baby hats and scarves and everything else I'm knitting. I've been blatantly honest about the shear number of projects I have going, so if these 3 sock people are reading my blog (and I believe they do...), then they've hopefully done the math and realized that I'm a bit behind. I just continue to work on projects as the spirit moves me and somehow they all eventually get done....although I'm thinking I need to have a no new projects policy until I'm able to check a few of these outstanding items off my list.

If I intend to write this post and publish it in one sitting (and I believe I do), then the time for me to go is now. I have to fix dinner and present it to 2 boys who have no intention of eating it. They can't start whining until they see what I'm making, so I'd better get the show on the road!

It's October!

Happy Birthday from Jane!

...and do you know what that means? It means I haven't blogged since September! How did THAT happen? Let's see--what have I been doing with my time? I truly have very little to report, but here's the lowdown: laundry, watching Baby S, abusing my children by forcing them to do their homework, humiliating my eldest by talking to his teacher on the phone about his homework, laundry, running my "vacuum" over the carpet and pretending that it is sucking up dirt even though I can visibly see that the dirt remains on the floor, drinking Diet Coke, laundry...you get the picture.

Honestly, it has taken me 3 days just to compose this post, and after reading to the end you will undoubtedly say THIS took her 3 days?

October also means BIRTHDAYS around here--Mike and I are now officially 41. In our 40's. Old. Sunday my dear friend Jane gave me more sock yarn, under the guise that it's my birthday month. So how can I say no to that logic? More Pagewood Farms...yum.....

Finished Shedir hat!

I've been in a bit of a knitting slump lately. I finished my cousin's hat (which looks very cool in person and someone with greater camera skills than I would have actually been able to capture that), and now, what to knit....

I mean, I have things to knit. I always have hats. And I currently have 3 pairs of socks going. And I still have Heidi's chicken to start. And Mike's sweater, and my scarf... But nothing is reaching out and grabbing me these days. I need inspiration.

Snowbird

I have been making slight progress on my Snowbird mittens, but they require a lot of attention to detail. And my post-its keep falling off the chart. For my birthday Mike ordered a magnetic chart keeper for me from Knit Picks that is currently en route--I keep telling myself that my enthusiasm for this project will pick up after I've employed my new chart keeper. Because a gadget will improve my knitting, don't you think?

Honestly, I'm not one for gadgets and have very few knitting "tools". I mean, I have the basics--I have what I need. But I don't go for all the point protectors and row counters and special tension thimbles and all that. We sell lots and lots of gadget-y items at the shop that I do not own. However, I do think this chart keeper is a must have. I am so tired of trying to follow a chart and keep track of which line I am on with post-its that lose their stickiness factor after being moved 3 times. My only regret is that I didn't order about 4 of them....

Ryan w/ his stack of books to be signed.

In non-knitting news, Mike took the boys to the UW Bookstore on Sunday to meet author Jeff Kinney. Ryan is a huge Wimpy Kid fan (being kind of a Wimpy Kid himself....) and brought the entire collection to be signed.

Author Jeff Kinney

Eric got his own copy of the first book, which he is now reading, and they both got their books signed. Ryan is so excited to have these autographs that he is re-reading the series (which is so amazing to me--he has no time to do his homework, no time to do his 40 minutes of assigned reading each night, no time for his book reports, but has managed to carve out a significant amount of time to re-read the entire Wimpy Kid series. I plan to use this against him during our next "discussion" about homework. In about 10 minutes).

Well, unless I want this post to linger into a 4th day, I believe I will wrap things up. Let's see if I can return before November!

Yeah, I'm still here...

Shedir Hat

Listen folks, I'm BUSY! I don't mean to blog once every 21 days, but lately it just happens. I have things to do. My husband keeps asking me for clean underwear, and I often have to give it some serious thought before I can answer him. I have these boys that continue to need a mother. Again, the clean underwear question....and Ryan, who is currently writing a screenplay to send to George Lucas, keeps trying to tell me that he is incapable of writing a book report for school. Eric is practicing for the Wii Sonic Unleashed World Championships and it is serious work trying to bring that kid back to reality. I mean, he has too much homework and it's not fair that he has to read for 10 whole minutes every day. It's just not fair. So I spend all afternoon being the heavy to ensure I'm not raising two illiterates.

I have Baby S here three times a week, I have baby hats to knit each week, I have my job at the shop each weekend, I have boys to cart to and from Kid's Choir, and apparently we'll be playing basketball again...people, I need a personal assistant. Preferably one that can knit and will also pay me for the privilege of basking in my company each day.

In fact, the only reason I can do this right now is that Baby S went home sick today. And so while I'm very sad for 3 month old Baby S and his daddy who had to come pick him up, hooray for you because now you get my undivided attention!

I have been doing some knitting in the evenings. My two chickens are done, and I still have the original chicken, for Heidi, left to knit, but now I'm thinking of blue and white with yellow accents. Which means I need to buy some blue. Because I truly don't think my attention span can handle a 3rd black, white, and red chicken.

This Shedir hat is for my cousin, Lora. I picked this pattern because I wanted to make something pretty, and I'm using Debbie Bliss Prima (80% bamboo! and 20% wool) in black, which I thought would be a great color for Lora, but is clearly going to be the death of me. Ever tried to knit multiple cables in black? At night? It has now become a personal challenge and I Will Knit That Hat.

Again, just to mix things up and challenge myself, I am knitting these little court jester hats out of my leftover sock yarns. Because I need more challenges in my life. I have a whole bag of sock yarn remnants and it seemed like a fun idea to no only use up my stash, but try to sell them at one of my shops in the process. And to knit something other than a cupcake. You know I love my cupcakes, but I need a little variety now and then.

Felted Snowman

...and why oh why has it taken me so long to get on this project?!? I think I bought this pattern two years ago. The arms are beaded, there is a pattern book for all the little accessories...what have I been waiting for? I actually think they are going to be somewhat labor intensive, but holy smokes people, these snowmen must be knit!

...and more socks

And of course you all know me well enough to know that I have some socks on the needles. Always and forever, knitting socks. The pink socks are for Penny, my dear friend who moved away and now lives in North Carolina. And I promised her a pair of socks an embarrassingly long time ago. She chose pink and I love knitting with pink! Pink Pagewood Farms wool and bamboo sock yarn! The gray Alpaca Sox socks are, again, for Scott. I really need to get back to those...

That's it folks. That I'll I have to tell you right now. I have three hours that I can call my own until I have to get those little hooligans from school and remind them once again that I did not assign the homework so yelling at ME about it will get you nowhere but I would be happy to discuss your refusal to do the homework at your parent/teacher/student conference oh you don't want me to do that? And please tell your father to hunt for his own clean underwear because I'm busy fixing you all a dinner that is designed to ruin the rest of your evening because I'm secretly trying to poison you.

The magic never ends.

Weekly update...sort of...

Scott's socks
mmmmm...Alpaca!

This babysitting business is getting in the way of my blogging time! Don't get my wrong, Baby S is a cute little bugger, but between babysitting, knitting hats, and cruelly forcing my own children to do their homework, I haven't had much time to blog this week.

So we'll do this in one fell swoop. First off. Scott's socks. Made with Alpaca Sox. Yummy! I'm doing a broken rib pattern from the Knitted Gifts book, which I think is very masculine. Should keep him nice and toasty during those Montana winters!

KAL Chicken
This is my sample chicken for the shop!

Second, I'm on to my next chicken! I delivered Chicken #1 to my cousin the other day and it was well received. Her life really sucks right now. Really sucks. And so it made me happy to see her giggle when I gave it to her.

This next chicken is for our Knit-A-Long at the shop. I hope people do it. It's a fun project and the goal is to "borrow" the finished chickens and display them all. I need to get this thing done to rouse some excitement about my brainstorm.

Third: School. School is good. Both boys love school. However. Ryan has lots of homework. Which he knew about when we agreed to sign him up for the Science/Tech program this year. And in theory he still understands that it's his responsibility to do this homework. Except for all the excuses he comes up with each and every day. So now I've taken the tactic that all homework must be done before any other activity because he has proven that he can't be trusted to get it done in the evening. Because then, you know, he's tired. And it's not really fair that he has to read for 40 minutes each night. And it's also not fair that I'm forcing him to be alone when he reads because Ryan is fully capable of reading chapter books while the tv is on and his brother is playing the Wii and mom and dad are talking....I'm really mean.

At the Tacoma Dome
Wow. We look like we're almost 41.

Fourth: My husband was a nice guy and took me to Tacoma to see Keith Urban, as a surprise. Now, I'm not usually one for surprises, but this kind of surprise, well, he can show up with those tickets anytime he wants!

This nice couple asked us to take their picture, and then they offered to take our picture. And it turned out like this. Two people who look like they are about to turn 41.

Keith Urban Concert

And then we went to the concert, which was one of the loudest events I have ever attended. Including the last Keith Urban concert we went to. But it was very very fun. And again, Mike had to secretly admit that he had a great time.

Of course, part of Mike's enjoyment this time was the crowd of people in our immediate area. Sure there were plenty of people our age, and plenty of young blond girls who shriek a lot, but, and we still can't figure this out, there were several senior citizens in our section. Not just one or two. Several. And by senior citizens, I mean people you would never expect to see at this concert. Honestly, several people in their 80's. They had canes.

The couple right next to Mike, well, they had to be well over 80. And they sat still, not moving a muscle, the entire opening act (Little Big Town) as well as the concert itself. The wife put the binoculars to her face when the lights went down, and sat in that position for 3 hours.

The couple with the cane, same thing. The woman in front of us was the best. She was old. Old. I'm not trying to be offensive here. Truly--this woman was 85 years old. And she was having the time of her life. She boogied the night away for 3 solid hours. She was having way more fun than the 55 year old next to me who complained about everything the entire night. Everytime she wanted to get out, she let me know how inconvenient it was to have me there, she got mad at the people behind her for touching her chair, she got mad at the people in front of her who stood up when Keith came out on stage, and she ended up leaving early with her daughter, who I think actually wanted to stay.

A real treat, that one was.

Well, apparently I need to wrap this up. Ryan has been waiting all afternoon to play RuneScape on my computer (yes, the boys have a computer, but we have computer issues right now. Ryan has my old computer which has sound, but no wireless card. Eric has the world's oldest working computer, and it is connected to the internet, but for some reason it's not today, and you can't actually do anything on it anyway, and my new computer works great but has no sound at the moment and apparently Vista or whatever I have won't let me open certain email programs for no reason and I can't print....) and I seem to be ruining his afternoon, on purpose, by using my very own computer for my own personal use. So, any issues you have with this disjointed post--blame Ryan.

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.

Cluck Cluck

Chicken #1

My first chicken in hatching. That's right, my first chicken. Ok, first of all, how I can knit just one of these things? B. My cousin weighed in and expressed extreme interest in a chicken of her own. And 3. I'm starting to think my mom may need one as well.

Again, this girl who developed the chart is pretty darn clever. I am enjoying knitting it (although, truth be told, it's best done without too much wine). My only real disappointment is that she created the chart for the smallest of the three sizes. I was hoping it was for one of the larger chickens. And a smarter, braver, math-ier person might be able to convert that, but I know my limits. It's going to be small chickens all around.

Very little progress...

Leah's socks have been finished and delivered.

Mom's socks, finished and delivered.

Emily's coffee sleeves, finished and delivered.

Kristin and Tiffany's socks--inching my way along on sock number 2 for each of them.

Snowbird mittens--a whole 3/4 of an inch!

With free sock needles, I'm getting the itch to start more! It's all I can do not to allow myself to begin Scott's Alpaca Sox pair, especially now that my circular needles are again free. And I have piles of Jane's Lorna's Laces calling my name....Actually the only reason I haven't started the socks for Scott (husband to Kristin) is time.

With my husband working a 2nd job at night four nights a week, and then with me working on the weekends, I spend a lot of time dealing with things around the house all by myself (except for the giant dead rat in my driveway. That I waited for Mike to deal with. There are some things I JUST WON'T DO). But between the laundry, school shopping, refereeing Lego ownership, the laundry, convincing Ryan to eat his lunch, cleaning up popsicle drips off the kitchen floor which is interesting because I have a strict popsicles-only-outside-policy, the laundry...well, you get the picture. I'm not complaining, mind you. We're very grateful for the work. There are still a lot of people out of work, or waiting for the ax to fall. And finally finally finally, we are no longer those people. But as a result, my bathrooms don't always get the attention they deserve and my garden....oh dear. Well, fortunately, most of my beloveds will continue to grow even if I don't have time to tend them.

In less than a week I will officially have a 4th grader and a 1st grader, I will be able to rid myself of the giant pile of school supplies sitting on my dining room table, and peace will be restored to my kingdom once again. Between the hours of 8:00 and 3:15. All I need is some cold rainy weather and my joy will be complete!

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.

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....

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.

Weekly Update

Catawampus Hat

Hello All. I'm back again--this time with the pictures I promised. I have several updates for you, none of which is job related. We are STILL waiting to hear back from that interview. Apparently a key person was out of town for the week. Which is a very valid excuse for not calling my husband for a second interview and offering him the job with buckets of money. However, it was a long week waiting to hear that information. So we continue to look, and apply, and wait....

The scene of the crime

The deer. Sons of Satan. Masters of evil. Behind those soft brown eyes and fuzzy nose is the face of a killer.

So, I built this little fence out of the deer netting my friend gave me, but it seems it was not tall enough. Woke up one morning to find the tops of my roses and tomato plants gone. Fine. Need to build a taller fence. Keeping in mind of course that we're broke. Mike and I rummaged through the garage and found several pieces of spare molding that are quite tall and stuck those around the roses, draping the netting over them. It looks hideous. It looks awful. And I still don't think it's working.

Tuesday I went out in the garden for a bit to weed. I noticed one rose bush, closest to the house, actually had 3 roses on it. This bush is, honestly, not 10 feet from the big glass door which opens to the living room. It's right there. And on the other side of that door is the couch. The couch where I sat that afternoon to knit, with my back to the rose bushes. Later on that day I went outside to cut some peonies and thought I might as well cut those 3 roses while I'm at it.

Gone. The roses were gone. In broad daylight, just feet from me, while I had my back turned, they disappeared. The netting is still intact....72hours later I am still baffled. Roses there in the morning, gone in the afternoon. All I had to do was just turn my head. Now, you have to know, I have a big back yard. Any deer coming into my yard in broad daylight is walking several yards to get to those roses. And walking up onto the deck. That deer was 5 feet from me and I was completely oblivious to it. Lately I've been keeping that door wide open--I can only imagine how fun that would have been....

See that planter? Right there.
That is where the deer was.

My next trick is to remove the netting and place pieces of Irish Spring soap all around the rose garden. I've been told the strong scent is unpleasant to the deer and keeps them away. I'm not yet ready to let my husband pee in my garden, but I'm getting closer.

Who!

The knitting: I finished the Catawampus hat for my nephew Jack. I think it's a pretty awesome hat--just perfect for an 8 year old boy.And I'm nearly finished with Blake's owl hat. I just have to find little buttons for the owl eyes, to make them really stand out. This was a fun hat to make. I had a couple of skeins of Debbie Bliss Wool/Cotton in my stash (and where that came from, I'll never know!) and it was an easy knit. So fun, in fact, that I think my manager Mara will get one for her impending kid as well.

And I'm making Kristin a pair of Narragansett socks from A Fine Fleece out of the Pagewood Farms sock yarn that Jane gave me.

Narragansett Socks

Things that are broken at my house: Car window is fixed, Ryan's eyes are not. He had a thorough eye exam and they were not convinced he needed glasses. Apparently the eye doctor has seen a lot of kids lately who are complaining of blurry vision, and she thinks it might be the stress of the end of the school year. Perhaps that goes along with the fact that he has been pure evil lately. I'm suppose to bring him back in 6 weeks to see if there is any improvement.

The tv: Yes, after 8 months, Dish Network and our ABC affiliate finally came to an agreement and we now have ABC again. Actually, we have no idea how long we have had it back, since Dish didn't actually inform us of it. Mike just stumbled upon it a couple of night ago. "Hey, look at that--channel 4 is back". THAT is customer service, I tell you. No apologies, no notifications, in fact, no communication whatsoever. Clearly Dish is run by men. And what do you bet they remove the free channel they gave us for robbing us of ABC? Dish had given us The Hallmark Movie Channel as a special prize to make up for losing the ability to watch Lost, Desperate Housewives, The Academy Awards and the NBA Finals (when I emailed to ask if they planned to show The Academy Awards on The Hallmark Movie Channel, they didn't actually give me a response). I don't particularly want The Hallmark Movie Channel and don't really care if it is part of my package, but it would be just like them to try to charge us for another channel that is clearly costing them nothing, now that we've gotten access to ABC again.

I think the president of Dish Network is a deer.

Sometimes it's hard to be Queen

My little Mordecai

I'm currently reading The Other Queen, by Philippa Gregory. Historical fiction about Mary Queen of Scots. You know, things don't seem to be going well for her, either.

Ryan and I are also reading Peter and the Shadow Thieves, and Molly and Peter have just arrived at the Tower of London. Where I believe my dear friend Mary will be a guest soon. Molly tells Peter about the Bloody Tower and I ended up giving Ryan a little history lesson on Richard III, Queen Elizabeth I, and the song London Bridge is Falling Down, which is a sweet little nursery rhyme about the beheading of Anne Boleyn. All this to say, as far as queens go, there are others who have had it far worse.

Back here in the 21st century, Mike and I continue to tag team the job search. I spend a fair amount of time searching the job boards and Mike spends all of his time applying for those jobs, contacting people he knows at those companies, and driving around looking for help wanted signed to earn cash while we wait for the perfect job to come along. Or the not-so-perfect job to come along. Honestly people, we're flexible! And in my spare time I knit hats, do laundry (I keep forgetting that the warmer the weather, the dirtier the clothes. Apparently my boys have a pact with the neighbor kids and they are all digging a giant pit in my back yarn. Have you any idea what 5 small children look like after they've been digging for and hour and a half? Unrecognizable.), and I'm rediscovering the joys of Mike's Hard Lemonade.

And how are we surviving all of this? God. Seriously, God. He's apparently not quite ready to give us a job yet, but is continuing to provide us with very random ways to pay the bills and eat. Miraculous ways. Mike and I just look at each other in disbelief, unsure of how to react to anonymous gifts of cash and gift cards. I'm telling you, if you don't believe in God, come spend the day with me. We're becoming the Miracle on SE 137th Place. We pray and pray and pray, and somehow, some way, God takes care of us.

And now it's time for a new segment in my blog called Random Things This Week:

1. Ryan played Mordecai in the play of Esther at church this week. This was a much bigger part than he has ever had and, I have to say, he memorized his lines beautifully. Now if he can just work on delivering them with more inflection than a robot...above is a picture of my little pipsqueak, on the right, next to his buddies Ben (King Xerxes) and Paul (Haman).

2. On Monday Ryan turned 9 years old. We celebrated by taking the boys to see Star Trek after school. The monster on that ice planet was just about the freakiest thing I have ever seen.

3. Dear sweet Jane gave me more sock yarn this week. This time it was the beloved Pagewood Farms, one in purples, and one in springy greens. My friend Kristin will be getting some purple socks in the near future.

Lily Pad Socks for Leah

4. I've started on Leah's birthday socks. I had planned to do the Biological Clock socks from The Eclectic Sole, which has a strand of DNA down the sides. But this yarn is just to variegated to show it off. So instead I'm doing this sweet heart pattern down the leg, from last year's Stitch 'n Bitch calender. I LOVE the picot edge and the striping is perfect. I think these socks are going to be quite adorable when finished.

5. Mara was mean to me. Yesterday she called me at home and left a message telling me she ordered some new sock yarn that I would love. She strongly hinted it was cashmere. She had me seriously thinking about this luxurious new sock yarn and I was so excited to see what it was. The yarn is evil and I honestly truly with every fiber of my being can't understand how this yarn, by Austermann, sells enough to justify remaining in stock. She was sent the color card and, rightly so, thought it was so offensively atrocious, she decided to have some fun with me. I told her she has lost my trust forever. But this yarn, I must share with you because it is, in a word, horrific.

6. Eric has his first loose tooth and it is becoming quite wiggly. He has declared that he can only eat crunchy foods, in order to loosen it more. He refuses all soft and squishy foods because they are counter productive and do nothing to help him achieve his goal.

That's all I have for you. Random musings. This Monday, Memorial Day, we take Ryan and his buddies to see Night at the Museum II for his birthday party, after a chicken nugget lunch at our house. There has GOT to be a blog post waiting for me in that event.

D Day

Sonata Mitten

I planned to throw you off and blog on Tuesday. I took these pictures on Tuesday and thought HA--I'll surprise them with two posts within a week! Tuesday came and went. Yesterday also had blogging possibilities, but then I got all wrapped up in laundry and parenting and baby hat knitting and freaking out about my husband's interview, so Wednesday was a bust as well.

And so here we are, back to Thursdays. Well, you can't say I'm not reliable.

Today is my husband's interview. Today at 3:00. Pacific Standard Time. 3:00 pm. I have an entire army of people praying. Mike got a nice haircut and beard trim, so as to not scare the people interviewing him. He has clean shirts from the dry cleaners. This morning he started to put on his interview clothes and I looked at him and said really? You're going to wear that all day? And eat lunch in it? My point was well taken when Mike dropped a can of Diet Coke in the kitchen before heading out the door. He will be back at lunchtime to change. People, I've done all I can do. If I thought it would help, I would pace outside of the building with a sign reading HIRE MY HUSBAND, but something tells me that may be one step over the line. At this point, the best thing I can do is work myself up into a small panic and eat an entire bag of cookies. I promise to hold off on the drinking until after dinner.

As promised, here is a picture of the Sonata Mittens. Pretty darn cute, if you ask me! I'm frustrated because they are laddering a bit. I'm using size 2 needles, when I think I should be using 1's, but I honestly think they would end up too small on 1's. I hate this--I can have perfect tension for too-small mittens, or perfectly fitting mittens with wobbly tension. And I don't even know what I'm going to do with them. They were just too cute not to make. But I haven't decided if I'm a pink and brown girl. I may auction them off to the highest bidder.

Caroline's socks

I've also started on my sister, Caroline's socks. This is some yarn she picked out from Jane's stash. Lorna's Laces called Glenwood. I have started these socks about 5 times, each with a different pattern. I wanted to do something fun for her, but each pattern just looked weird. Lorna's Laces has a reputation for pooling badly if your gage is not perfect and I was finding all kinds of strange color patterns as I knit. I finally gave up and decided just to do a K3 P2 rib. And voila! Perfect striping! Who knew?

My socks

And these are some Lorna's Laces socks I just finished for me. I love the colorway (although I don't know what it's called), but I think Jane was sent two different dye lots. Look at the striping on each foot. And look at the pooling on the gusset. Not uniform at all. It's fine. They are for me and I still love them. But that Lorna is sure finicky!

That's all for today, people. I have Junie B. Jones to read, hats to deliver, 7968 cookies to eat, and, if I don't stay organized I won't have time to start my nervous breakdown . My life is so full.

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.