I’m sensing a theme here.
I’ve moved on from watermelon knitting to mitten knitting. I’ve started and stopped and swatched several times until I’ve found the needle size that should give me just what I’m looking for. Smaug. No, I mean MITTENS! This should be a quick and simple knit if I’m can pull myself out of my doldrums, get comfy and really knit.
I’m going to love the color 🙂
Other than some mild soreness, I have suffered no ill affects from my fall on the ice and I was even able to get more done on Sunshine’s scarf. I knit several rows in the dark while watching The Hobbit with the cute boy. I was pretty sure I could pull off a simple garter stitch in very low light and I was mostly right. I could ‘feel’ where my needles needed to go and muscle memory took care of the rest. When I got home I did find a mistake several rows down. It’s a garter stitch scarf so I was leery about unraveling just the one column of stitches but I did it. I figured it out and fixed it. I have to admit, I’m kinda proud of myself 🙂 Sunshine wants the scarf long, so I’ve marked on the yarn where I need to add the beads for the watermelon seeds on the other end and will keep knitting until I just can’t stand anymore or I reach that spot.
Keaton thinks I should have made it look like turkey instead of watermelon.
I spent this last week of single digits wishing that I could knit as fast as the Yarn Harlot . I would be finished with Sunshine’s scarf and I could be working on mittens to keep my poor hands warm. I have some planned but I have to finish this scarf first. It’s already late. I want mittens. I don’t have a pair of real wool mittens to call my own and I think after this year’s lukewarm response to most of my knitted gifts, I would like to do some knitting for someone that I know will really appreciate my efforts. Me. While I’m at it, I would like a hat.
When the temperature gets above freezing after a week of single digits we tend to get excited around here and think we can run around in t-shirts. We also tend to think that we can step off our front porches without being careful about the ice that we should have realized had reformed since the sun had gone down. Landing on one’s back and slamming one’s head against the concrete tends to infringe on knit nights and derail the planned hours of knitting that should have allowed one to be a lot farther along on the really cute scarf than this:
I should have known better about the ice. I’m not seriously hurt, but I ache all over. The weatherman tells me to expect a storm here tonight or tomorrow and I plan on keeping my poor aching self tucked in bed or on the couch and knitting my little heart out. I’ve signed up for HPKCHC again and planning on fitting lots of wooly goodness into the classes. The muscle relaxants that I have left over from my car accident a year and a half ago shouldn’t have any negative effect on this plan.
Should it?
Happy Birthday, Sunshine. If you were here I would fill your room with 21 balloons.
The size of the family living in this house changes frequently. There are three people that live here permanently full-time. There are two people that live here temporarily full-time. There are four people that live here permanently part-time. And then there are two people that come sometimes but there isn’t a set schedule of when they come or how long they stay but it’s usually when all of the other people are here. This means that there are usually five to eleven people in this house at any one time. When nine to eleven are here I call this my full house and it is usually a weekend.
Full House weekend means that 21 cups will be in the dishwasher after just one formal meal when there are only 10 people in the house. The entryway will look like the coat and shoe section of DI and family dinners will be an interesting mix of table manners. Usually a decided lack thereof. And no matter how many times one asks for each person to wash their own dishes, there will be a sink full of dishes when they go home and dirty socks will have been stashed all over the house. I tend to be a lot more comfortable away from this crowd where I don’t have to endure eating sounds, noisy chaos, and table manners that would be frowned upon where I grew up. The weekend will pass, the crowds will thin out, the noise will abate and the coats and shoes will disappear. The socks will linger on.
Here is a shout-out to all the step mothers out there. We have a damned difficult job. Even with the fantastic support of my wonderful husband who always backs me up, it’s a rough job. Here’s a second shout-out to those step moms out there that don’t get the back up they deserve. I feel for you.
I spend a lot of time in my room during those times, not because I don’t love this crazy full house, I do. I love and enjoy the company of everyone in this house, including our two new house guests. There’s just no room to sit and the noise level makes any sort of concentration next to impossible even if we were to all be watching a movie. I hope to have a house someday that will accommodate a large group. David and I have our eye on this couch that has two recliners in it. Until that day, I hang out in my own personal space. I can usually get some knitting or writing done.
This week’s knitting is a scarf for Sunshine who turns 21 in a few days. The scarf is going to match a hat and mitts that I made for her previously and that she seemed to enjoy.
I’m hoping that I have enough of the red yarn to make the scarf as long as I want. Since I’m on a big yarn diet (I’ve gone what is called cold sheep), I can’t get more and the scarf will have to be whatever length it turns out to be.
I’m also hoping I can find where all the socks were stashed before the people all come back.
I don’t know what it is about a new year, other than having been raised to believe this way, that makes one think you can start afresh. 2012 was a horrible year, the last half of it anyway, and I’d like to believe that the simple action of turning a calendar page can make things better. I don’t know that 2013 will be better, not enough has changed to indicate that it will be much different. And yet, I have hope. So, I will make my plans, and make my lists, clean things up and move things along. I don’t really have any end of year traditions, but I had heard of some that I found pleasing. I tried to make them come to pass but didn’t get as far down that road as I wanted. I wanted the house spotless and the laundry done, but a small hiccup early in the day laid those plans to rest. Some dishes were done, Mount Washville was ignored, and pizza and sparkly juice was consumed. Two of the people that permanently live in the house got sick. The other two took care of them. I kissed the year goodbye, bade it to not let the door hit it in the bum on its way out, took some Tylenol PM and went to bed.
Today, however, I got some things done that I wanted to do. I cleaned my desk. I put together a small shelf that allows me to store my printer underneath my desk and that frees up some floor space. Cables and cords have been tamed and arranged nicely and that always makes me feel better. Having an organized space gives me a sense of comfort and allows me to get certain chores done without extra stress.
Knitting is always part of my plan so that will figure into my day in some manner.
So, here is my partial list:
1. I will take a walk whether I lose any weight by doing so or not. I’m just doing it to feel better and if other things happen, good for me.
2. I will kit up several sock projects using patterns I’ve already purchased. I have loads of sock books, there is no need for me to constantly be on the prowl for more patterns.
3. I will organize the knitting bags and stash so that I can just pick up and work on whatever I want without hunting around all over the place for what I need.
4. I will knit some nice things just for me.
5. I will write in my journal and update past journals.
6. I will scan all my pictures.
I woke up to more snow and there are great looking icicles all over the house and yard. This is a good start to the year and it looks like some laundry might even get done.
Happy New Year.
