I knit in public.

I like to knit on public transportation. Granted, it sometimes gets hard to hold everything on your lap. Take this morning for instance. It was snowing, so the bus had more riders, as did the train. I had my purse, my knitting bag, and a plastic grocery bag with DH's Black Water Abbey pullover in it. Why not in the knitting bag? It was too full of other projects that I needed for the class I'm teaching tonight at String.

Anyway, I had some yarn I needed to wind from the sleeve I ripped out. So winding and balancing things, and trying not to have too much body contact with the person sharing the seat with me was interesting. Add in the fact that I had a bulky long coat on, as did he, and there was less space to sit. The poor guy got elbowed a couple of times, and I did apologize though he never responded.

I did get the yarn wound. I also managed to add four rows to the back of the pullover. The thing is - I'm thinking I want to get this done in a week. Is this possible, or am I just insane? You see, we celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6th, so it would have to be knit, blocked and sewn together on the 5th, so I can put it under the stocking (you put out stockings for St. Nicholas the night of the 5th, and if you are good you find something in them the next day). I still have both sleeves to knit and about 40 rows on the front and back. I'm thinking I may be kidding myself. Ya think?

We shall see....

I'm Back...

I am back from my vacation. Wow. It seemed to take forever to get here and now there is only two days left. We flew into Orlando and drove up to Lakeland, FL which is where my parents and one of my sisters lives. We got in late that Thursday night, the boys didn't sleep on the plane so of course they crashed in the car. The next day we went exploring around Lakeland. Here I am knitting (of course) on a statue of a gator (of course) in a nice park on a lake. There also was a beautiful garden there with numerous fountains and places to sit. It was chilly the first two days - in the 50s and 60s so of course every Floridian thought it was freezing. I thought it was nice.

The next day we drove back to Orlando and visited Sea World. The boys sure enjoyed the dolphin and whale shows. DH loved riding Kraken, a roller coaster that goes upside down. I just had fun. Here's the knitting with the boys by the Flamingos. We later checked into our hotel, where the youngest son had a fight with the coffee table and ended up with an awesome black eye. Yes we got looks, when people saw him. Today he is a beautiful shade of green and yellow - he is on the fading side now.

The next day we were off to visit the Magic Kingdom. We rode in the front of the monorail with the engineer, which was a hit with the boys. The oldest son wasn't that adventurous with the rides, the little one loved the Haunted Mansion and went on it three times, but the oldest would only go once. The Pirates of the Caribbean was a big hit, along with Peter Pan's Adventures, Small World and the Buzz Lightyear rides. Here's me and the boys along with the knitting, waiting for the character parade. As you can see, the weather was back up in the mid to high 70s which was really nice. Like the hair? Lovely humidity!

The next day was Epcot. Ah yes, they serve adult beverages there. Why not in the Magic Kingdom, parents need a break there too. So we visited the different countries, rode rides, looked at beautiful Dale sweaters in the shop at Norway, drank beer, margaritas, and enjoyed the day, but the legs and feet were getting tired of three non stop days in a row.

Next day, back to the Magic Kingdom. The crowds were insane, there were girls in tiaras everywhere from some beauty pageant I have never heard of. There was a lot of knitting while waiting in line. That night we went back to mom and dad's. My brother and his family and my sisters were there. It was a night of card playing, and margaritas. Yep, a good time.

This is where we went on Wednesday. Yes, it was nice, yes it was really warm (my kids and my niece and nephew were in the water swimming). Hard to believe, because when we got back to our car last night at the airport it was 19 degrees outside with snow on the ground. I looked for shells. Yes the knitting made the trip to Clearwater Beach too!

Thursday was Thanksgiving, a big family meal with football and cards and fun.

Friday morning I braved the crowds to do a little shopping, then that afternoon we were back on the road to Orlando to fly home.

What knitting was done? Nothing finished, but I knit about 20 mitered squares, worked on the little ones hat and mittens. Worked on a sock. Never touched DH's sock or the shawl, or the new Dale. Oh well, got another flight in a week and a half. More knitting time.

Well after getting the nails and the pedicure this morning, I'm back to chores, with some football and knitting to be thrown in. Have a great day! It's pretty out there, but cold!

The yarn is doing what you say?

Kicking my arse, to borrow an expression. That’s what an incredibly simple lace pattern was doing to me on the train this morning. A lace pattern of 6 rows, that I normally could do almost with my eyes closed. And it kicked my arse. So as I ripped back for the 3rd time, you see I spent more time ripping than knitting, I wondered why I was screwing this up.

So I came up with a few reasons:

1. I was in no mood to go to work. I have a telecom today on a case which I hate from the bottom of my soul. I never, EVER, wanted to work labor law, and this case from hell has been dragging on. So I get to talk to the judge today, along with this idiot, and see what she wants us to do. I want to win the lottery tonight so I can ship this case off to my boss and never, EVER, work another labor case.

2. I have so much to do before I get the kids on the plane tomorrow that I am feeling disorganized and frustrated, which is what the knitting has become. But I cast these socks on last night because I thought they were idiot knitting. Maybe I was the idiot who was doing the knitting.

3. I’m tired. But I’m always tired. Nah, not the reason.

4. I can’t count. Well, I can count, but maybe I wasn’t paying attention.

5. Someone’s alarm that wouldn’t stop beeping, albeit it wasn’t very loud, was driving me nuts like the drip of a faucet, and I wasn’t paying attention to my knitting.

6. I turn 50 in a month. I’m already getting stuff from AARP. Yes, it’s AARP’s fault.

Oh well, I need to re-knit the eight to ten rows I ripped back. Hey Leanne www.purpleprincessknits.com, I’m getting SO MUCH PLEASURE out of using this yarn for the fourth time!

Hey – where’s the snow we were supposed to have this morning?

Enjoy the day, hey go ahead and rip something back for the heck of it!

Just Five Minutes

Not much time, but it’s all I have.

Too much is going on. I have to get ready for the family vacation, try to figure out what to bring since it will be warm. Pack clothes for the boys and double check their backpacks so they don’t try to bring a toy gun or a sword on the plane, no matter how “Cool” that would be. Make sure the neighbor girls know how to take care of Norton and Cochise. Go grocery shopping, do laundry.

Figure out what knitting is going along. I think I have the list whittled down to the Icarus Shawl, the little one’s pirate hat and mittens (I don’t care that he told me he now doesn’t like pirates!), DH’s socks, my cable socks, some beaded socks for an upcoming class, and a sweater. I think that should be enough. Okay, I know it’s way too much, but there will be lines when we visit Mickey Mouse, and knitting is visiting the Magic Kingdom too.

And I'm at work.

Speaking of socks, I ripped out my heel in the cabled socks three times. Normally this would ensure that the vile sock would be banished to the dungeon of unfinished socks in the yarn room, but I’m determined that this sucker will not piss me off four times in a row. In fact, this is going to be finished on the vacation, but then I still need to do the mate. Oh well.

Okay, my 5 minutes are up. Have a great day!

Sunday already?

Where did this week go? It seemed to fly by (except when I was at work), wow, it's Sunday afternoon.

Taught a lot of classes this week. Wednesday was a stranded knitting mittens class. A group of friends had asked for this class, so off we went. Would have helped if I had double-checked the pattern and had them on size smaller needles for the cuffs, but all in all, I think they had a good time. We shall see tomorrow night when we meet for class 2.

Thursday was the modern quilt wrap class. Oh these are going to be so pretty, and so different. Everyones colors are different, and the tone of each changes as a new color is added in, 9 colors in all.

Yesterday was class 2 of Icarus. We are still in the boring stockinette section, but it slow going for one. I think she is a good knitter, but is letting the lace defeat her. I had her walk around the store and take a break before going back to it.

What about me? I was working on the cabled socks, but after turning the heel, decided to rip back and do it again. Picked up DH's Black Red Rocks pullover this morning and put some rows on it. The little son decided he didn't like pirates and doesn't want his hat and mittens. There are new socks to be cast on, shawls and sweaters screaming for me to pick them up. There's other things that need attention, and projects to be picked for the Florida trip.

But I'm tired, I have a rebound headache from yesterday's migraine and I'm just drained. So like it or not, the boys are lying down for a nap in a half hour (after the Bronco game), just like mom. DH is at a memorial service for a fellow agent who was killed when an IED exploded under his vehicle in Iraq this past week. Sucks.

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful day.

Yard work, yawn work, and Yarn

Oh my, today was just one of the prettiest days and being Saturday, of course, chores were high on the list. If you don't live in Colorado, you just don't really know how blue a sky is. I think it's something about being over a mile high, you are just closer to it. I don't know. All I know is we have this amazing Colorado blue sky. So as I was driving back from the allergist with my littlest one (I got the shot, not him) I thought, what a great day - a good day to work in the yard. The roses need their winter whacking back, there's leaves everywhere, the butterfly bushes and sage need to be cut back, and let's not even think about the sea oats. I think there is still stuff that should have been cut back last fall. The lilacs have taken over the other side of the yard. So out I went. I lasted about two hours, any more and my arms start to itch from the dried stuff I'm ripping out or whacking back. Then of course, I had to make a leave pile for the littlest one. Here here is after a running long jump. My baby.

Then off to lunch with the boys at NoNos. Their idea, but who am I to say no to blackened catfish and a glass of crisp white wine.

Then there was yawn work. Laundry. Okay, granted you can throw a load in and walk away, but it's a boring chore, and then I have to walk upstairs with the folded items and put them away. Also, another yawn is Lady Eleanor. Oh I so want this done. I am on tier 40. 40 entrelac tiers and still counting. I have a little over 3 balls left. Do I see light at the end of the tunnel? Small, very small, just a pinprick but it is there.

Yarn. I cast something new on. (Stop laughing!) I'm not saying what, but I LOVE THIS YARN!!!! I have never used it before, and I am in love. I will be designing something in this yarn at a future date. The yarn is Melosa fingering from Lamas Punas. Handpainted yarns from South America. 100% merino. It has the feel of Malabrigo, but it is fingering weight. Oh my, just like butter. I am so loving this yarn.

I was a single mom today, DH had to work, so no knitting at the LYS, or Borders, sorry Nachaele, missed your phone call. I am going to sit down to knit now. Okay, okay, back to Lady Eleanor. I think I need some Halloween candy to put me in the mood. I'll leave you with some pictures:

Me with the cast on Kerry cardigan at game four of the World Series. See the glove? As usual, we were in foul ball territory, but not one came our way.

DH and I at the game.

Been a while

Okay, it has been a while since I have blogged, and I do have pictures to post, but alas, I am not at home, where the camera is. So you get the idea that I really should be doing something else right now (oh yeah – working) but oh well.

Let’s start with the Rockies. They lost. It was sad. DH and I were at game 4, which besides the loss was a lot of fun. I love fly overs so of course I loved seeing the fighter squadron buzz us after the National Anthem, which was sung by Trisha Yearwood – another plus because I have many of her CDs. The weather wasn’t bad, I knit THE WHOLE GAME! I decided not to knit on purple yarn, because that had not helped the Rockies, so I put up the Kerry Cardigan in some deep red, almost cranberry Black Water Abbey. Let me tell you, increasing 91 stitches evenly across a row while you are drinking beer, hopping up and down to scream for joy or hurl insults at Ramirez, Ortiz or Twinkle Toes, is not an easy task, but I managed it. But, they lost. Crap. Next year.

So knitting, what I have I worked on. A little on Kerry. But then, ah oh, I got sucked into stranded knitting. It’s not my fault. Cassidy asked me to finish a mitten class started by another instructor at String. It’s the stranded Corazon mittens. Well I looked at the pattern and thought, shoot, without the chart, it’s the same as the little son’s pirate mittens that haven’t been started, and a pair of Latvian mittens that I started during the winter. So out came both, along with little son’s pirate hat which is 2/3 done. So I am cruising on his mittens, and then pulled out the hat to work on it. And I went crap. Dumb A**. You reversed the colors. On the hat the skulls and cross bones were white with a blue background. I had made the skulls blue on the mittens. I showed them to the lunch bunch, and Kris in all her niceness told me I was clever. (I think that’s her code word for Dumb A**). Well, before class last night it was into the frog pond, rip it, rip it, and rip it. So now they are being knitted the way they should. Yes Leanne, I’m getting twice the pleasure of the yarn…..

Anyway, the class went well, 5 knitters having a good time, AJ and Steph, Ruth Ann, Sara, and man, I forgot, oh I remember Debbie. They are doing well, so the next class we will be doing the after thought thumb.

I have a lot of classes next week too, another mitten class, a mitered class, and a shawl class. Going to be busy. It’s looking like another beautiful day in God’s Country. Been up since 4:30AM, so I got to see the sun rise. Enjoy!