Thursday, December 18, 2008

Update and Today UPDATED!

Got almost everything done Tuesday and Wednesday that I was supposed to, plus some stuff done early instead of later.

Today:

Drive kids to school (we usually walk, too much time today!)
Get buttons for steeked sweater (I even knit on the bands last night)
More chicken for double batch of Indian food, gladware, batteries
Bank
DS's Christmas program at school
Teacher gifts to school
Volunteer time at school
Wrap cranberry breads
Make Cranberry bars (half done)
Kids in shower (TMI)
Doll hat #2 (started)
Choir practice 7-9:30 (that's a killer) but forgot to have a cup of tea before I left, a major problem (yawn)

I've put off some more shopping (easier tomorrow) and selfishly added in the trip for buttons for the newly cardiganized sweater. If there's any light today, I will shoot it, but I'm thrilled with how it came out.

One dolly Santa hat is done, hope another one will be today. Yesterday's knitting time was devoted to the sweater during viewing of "The Dark Knight" which was good and, of course, sad. Ledger would have continued to grow and get better and more interesting.

Tomorrow (because I won't have time to do this again):

Snowball cookies
Student of the month assembly
Stroganoff x2
Shop for foodie gifts, stuff for GS meeting
work?
pay bills (3)
Practice solo for Sunday with duet partner and organist practiced with organist last night at 9:30
Finish cranberry bars
Wrap breads
Teacher gifts to school
Practice offertory with duet partner

Really not so bad!

Peace.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Must.Not.Sit.Down (except to work, ho hum) UPDATED

I've made my lists (which will get longer, no doubt).

I'm down to 1.8 gloves to finish by the 28th. No problem. Good airplane fodder. Can wait.

I've made two types of cookies so far, the only ones with no vanilla. And I'm out of baking soda. Another trip to the grocery store.

I've made my DH one meal to eat while we're gone so far, three more coming and a pie.

Kids have gone caroling twice (me once) with one more to go.

DS is Student of the Month this month, yay L!

But I cannot stop moving. No blog surfing after 8 a.m. without doing something else at the same time. No going out that's not on the list. No days without baking. Or work.

But if I stick to the lists, I'll be okay and not too crazy. I just CANNOT waste any time lollygagging about!

So here's today to keep me on the ball:

Work
Store for: Vanilla, baking soda, chicken breasts, Cool Whip.
Make cranberry breads
Clean up kitchen (before above) and then do it again!
Make sure DS has right clothes clean for Christmas program
Figure out some gifts (just being vague)
Cash for tips for lawn guys in the house

Update: I also got gift bags and wrapping paper and checked over the end of my big garage-purge-of-too-small-clothes project, both of which were on tomorrow's list. Back to work!

I will report back on my progress.

Finished gloves for DD's friend last night, but gifted them without taking a picture, that's how flustered I am this week. But I'll see her again, maybe she'll model for me.

I also have a secret plan to make DD's American Girl doll(s) Santa hats for Christmas. Yeah, I know, presents for dolls. But they're REALLY for the kid, you know? And it will make her happy. I already bought (yeah, I know) a stuffed animal for the one she has now. Sheesh!

Gotta go!

Peace.

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Perfect cartoon

Obama's options:



If you can't win, ignore the complaining!!

Peace.

Friday, December 05, 2008

I'm obsessing...

About a silly thing that I can't buy till August. I must seriously stop doing this. It is rampant consumerism and evil. And I keep checking ebay for deals. Stop. It.

Random stuff:

Spinning continues apace. Daughter's teacher's gift is finished and needs a wash, but even the ends are woven in.

I've got my wool for my winter spinning for October Frost, yum! Thanks, Dad!

Tomorrow has only one social event in the evening, lovely!

We've survived Parent/Teacher Conference week. Good grades all around, congratulations, kiddoes!

I appear to also be suffering from a surfeit of exclamation points, woo-hoo!

My cold is going away, albeit slowly. [cough, cough]

I've been working hard but not too crazy. Hoping to make my goal this month.

Looking forward to singing a really nice arrangement of "Lo How a Rose Ere Blooming" in a couple of weeks at church and also doing a radio play of "Little Women" with some friends next week. I lurve me some radio theater!

This is the crazy time of year when I don't get to sit down much, so I may have to curtail my bloggy activities, yikes! I don't know if I can, I am a total addict. Something I have in common with the President-Elect, I guess. Wish I could go to the inauguration, even though I don't like million-people crowds. It would be worth it. I'll probably liveblog it for GroundReport, that will be fun.

Is this random enough? No coherent thought, must go to bed.

Peace.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

I have more to say? That's impossible!

I neglected to post pictures of my recently completed Fetching Mitts so here they are: Mrs. Lester's Fetchings These are for my son's teacher, handspun singles, superwash merino from Crown Mountain Farms, Ain't No Mountain High Enough (dyed by the sadly no longer doing so Teyani).

Izra's Fetchings These are for my daughter's friend, who requested them after I made some for another friend because they were too small for my son's teacher. Again, handspun singles, superwash merino from Crown Mountain Farms, American Pie (yadda, yadda, yadda).

I'm choosing yarns/rovings based on people's color preferences. If I have yarn that will work, it will be used. If I have roving, I shall spin. If neither, I will purchase. Haven't bought anything yet, but the season is still young.

why mitts And these are finished for my son, although I have not gotten a modeled shot yet as he loves them but is inexplicably embarrassed to wear them all the way to school. Ho hum. Noro Kujaku. I would wear these myself but they are way too small for me. Need to make more, they are so wild!

And so I move on. I have almost finished the first Princess Mitt for my daughter's teacher and then three more pairs. My goal date for finishing is...are you ready for it?...December 12th. Then I can start my sweater finishing jag early!

Oh, and if you miss the politics, come on over to GroundReport and read my stuff. I'm having a blast!

Peace.

Monday, December 01, 2008

I Would Like to Point Out That...

I am NOT participating in any "knit 12 sweaters in 2009" knitalongs OF ANY SORT. NO. Sock Madness took it out of me (although it certainly put it into my sock drawer) this spring and, well, let's just say it wasn't acceptable to be driving around looking for Wi-Fi to keep track of the group at inappropriate moments. Just saying.

Which is not to say that I am not a stasher-of-yarn and could not, if pressed, do it. I live in fear that my yarn/fiber budget will be (and it has been so don't think this is hyperbole) so small (who are we kidding, it is now) that yarn purchases are right out. Completely. For an unknown period of time. But the stash is an important sanity-retaining device. For if I had nothing to knit, who knows what trouble I would get into!

Instead, I propose a knitalong of my own devising, in which I will contentedly be the only participant (although others are welcome and encouraged!). It addresses the aforementioned problem of USING UP THE STASH (this would be bad) and also my desire for NEW SWEATERS to appear with reasonable frequency. And my children's concerns about my sanity, as I will be able to keep knitting.

I will call my knitalong NaFiExpleDeUnfiSweStaSa, or National Finish Expletive Deleted Unfinished Sweater Stash Saving. Can't I do better than that? How about SoCalFiSwe or FiGDUFO? Ooh, that's almost Finish it, Doofus!

Obviously, suggestions are needed.

WTFAYSASF? (WTF Are You Starting A New Sweater For?)

It is to be profoundly hoped that the prospect of so many newly completed sweaters will stop me before I cast on again. But I'm only cautiously optimistic on that.

Here are the culprits:

evil raglan finished... I knit this sweater as a mindless project for standing in line at Disneyland, the yoke is handspun, the rest is lovely sale Montera that my mom got me in New Jersey. I've worn the thing. And I love it, except that the neck opening is a bit large. Always intended to steek it and turn it into a cardigan. Ought to be able to complete that before going away for the holidays, right?

scoop sleeve This is Scoop du Jour by the always talented Bonnie Marie Burns of Chic Knits and, notwithstanding this picture, is about 75% completed. The yarn is beautiful (way on sale) Merino in my absolute favorite color. I could take this one with me on my trip and finish it while I'm gone, easy peasy.

must have 2 This lone sleeve is the extent of my Must Have Cardigan. I really liked knitting this sleeve and have had a crush on this pattern FOREVER. While I attack my next project, this will be the one on the needles in January/February, if I can resist the urge to cast on...Kauni, Tangled Yoke, Tempest, Mr. Greenjeans, February Lady, all of which are in the stash. Calling my name.

However, as you have suspected, I will be spinning this winter as well. And I have big ambitions. I have stalled on my Bettna sweater out of handspun (and you can see it has not yet resurfaced), although almost all of the yarn has been spun. This one is hard to work on as it requires yarn changes that mean I either have to be home or carry around a huge bag of stuff. What I should do is take the (endless) time to make a ball of yarn that changes on its own and then just carry that around till it runs out. We shall see.

If you remember, last year I was spinning up samples for October Frost from A Fine Fleece. I was going to try to use fleece that I have in the garage, but the wool I carded up did not want to be spun into the yarn that I want for the sweater. So I am back to my original plan of Oatmeal BFL. News at Eleven!

However, since I don't yet own that, and in a terrible paroxysm of switching fiber in the house for fiber in the garage, I believe that I can spin for a Tempest with two lots of fiber I have here. What I want are two analagous yarns, one light, one dark. I don't need a huge amount by weight as the sweater is knit with sock/laceweight. So my new spinning project is:

blue targhee too light Targhee for the main color. This fiber is MUCH darker than shown here, very dark blues and purples. I have about 6 ounces.

acadia roving And for the contrast color, Acacia from Spunky Eclectic's Fiber Club on Finn. I lurve me some Finn.

These pictures really do not show the contrast in value of these fibers. And I am hoping that my Acacia will come out like the yarns I have seen already spun up and even itself out to a light bluish green sort of yarn. If not, I will move on, but since I'm going to end up with sock yarn either way, I won't be disappointed. Handspun socks are always welcome here!

Is this long enough? Sheesh!

Meanwhile, life goes on around here. We're working as hard as we can, volunteering as much as we can, giving as much as we can and looking forward to spending some time with our families far away. This week is all the usual stuff plus: getting DS through his requirements for the Computer belt loop for Cub Scouts, cantoring a Christmas Carol singalong (cross your fingers that my currently-gone voice reappears by Wednesday), Girl Scout meeting with our girls and a troop of Brownies to make stockings for sick kids in our local hospital, Parent/Teacher conferences. And the kids come home early every day this week. But it sounds a lot worse than it is. Hey, next week it will be time to bake cookies, rehearsing for and performing a radio play of "Little Women," a birthday party at Build-A-Bear and two Caroling parties with the kids. Luckily, it's all fun until someone loses an eye.

Hope your Thanksgiving was fun and filling!

Peace.
The Spinning Wheel
Join | List | Previous | Next | Random Powered by RingSurf
Knitting Wendys
Join | List | Previous | Next | Random | Previous 5 | Next 5 | Skip Previous | Skip Next
The Spinning Wheel
Join | List | Previous | Next | Random Powered by RingSurf