Bad Knitter, No Cookie

I am trying to finish one of these, AlliGator Bag , even came up with a few modifications for it because I can't seem to leave well enough alone. And really, could I possibly leave something like this alone? Of course not, he must be a dragon, not a gator. A little felt for eyes and flame et voila, instant dragon conversion. This would have gone much better if I hadn't been in such a hurry to finish the bag itself. I knew I had the wrong number of stitches. Figured a stitch or two wouldn't be a big deal, the bag is felted a bit anyway, there was some leeway. And then, then I finished the bag. I looked at it laying there, ends not woven in and realized there was no avoiding it. I was going to have to rip out the bottom third of the thing and re-knit it. Blast and Damn. This bag has given me blisters (I knit rather tight sometimes). I've been knitting with band-aids on my fingers. Re-knitting parts of this are very last on my list of things I want to do, but I want this bag so very badly. It's perfect cartoon-like elegance calls to me.
I think this evening will require a few things; deep breathing, a glass of wine, some chocolate and someone else to fold the laundry.

It's Earth Day again

Do you grow anything you can use as food? Have you reduced your meat consumption at all? Can you honestly say you eat at home more often than not? If so, yay! Good for you! If not, why not? Yes, these are things are tend to take an investment of time, a little thought, but they also tend to be much cheaper financially than standard options.
Maybe it's me being a food junkie, but fresh raspberries, picked that morning, rinsed and eaten for breakfast, fantastic! Fresh herbs on just about anything works well, and tastes so lovely! Is there anything better than a homegrown, heirloom tomato still slightly warm from the afternoon sun? Absolutely delicious!
Growing anything is a labor of love. Patience and tending are required for plants to produce wonderful, tasty things for you to eat. For most of us, an entire bush of berries is worth the investment, instead of shelling out far too much money for a plastic container with a scant pint of berries in it that have been shipped in from another state.
If you really are unable to have even a tiny pot of mint or basil on a windowsill, please, find your local farmers' market. Encourage those who do grow these amazing things for you to eat. Try real food a few times. You don't have to go raw or even vegetarian, herb steak is yummy too. Just pick good meat, from a local butcher if you've got one.
Become a food snob! It's better for you and the planet!

Did I mention the yarn?

My biggest birthday present was yarn. Seven entire sweaters worth. One sweater for a cabled pattern that will fit my Darling Husband who is 6 foot 5 inches. That ends up being quite a bit of yarn! One of those sweaters just needs a touch of finishing. It only took me two days to knit up. I'm feeling much love for bulky yarn and huge needles. Only seventeen more knit projects to finish in the next two months. I might be over-estimating the time available to me.

Lately I've been trying to push myself physically. Actually exercising. Eating the way I know I'm supposed to as opposed to the way I would really like to. Custard eclairs and maple bars are not allowed to be standard fare! I want the clothes I am making to fit exactly right. I am so very much my own worst critic. ;-)

My New Froggy

This adorable lamp was discovered by Darling Hubby and Boy while wandering Hobby Lobby on my birthday. One look and they knew I would love him. The very nice lady behind the checkout counter asked if it was for me, (I had been wondering aloud where to put him), when I said yes my grin was threatening to eat my face and there were giggles starting. She laughed a bit herself and got a big grin. Happy is contagious!
He's really lovely when lit. The lamp also suits the decorating theme that seems to be overtaking my house, something akin to a modern eclectic Victorian. Funky, slightly odd with attempts at elegance (which could also be taken as a personal description). :-D

So much to do, so little time

My birthday went well. There was a little shopping, of which I need to take pictures. There was a lovely dinner out that included a large slab of chocolate cake with fresh berries. Every where we went, people were exceptionally nice. Yay! Made for a very entertaining day.

Then we got home. There has been discussion on possibly, definitely maybe, going home for a bit of a vacation this summer. Like nine weeks or so from now this summer. I am still in the midst of my wardrobe re-vamp and getting off my rear after winter hibernation (this is excusable, we had snow last week). I've got nine projects on the knitting needles right now as well as fabric for three sewing projects prepped and ready to go. Which is only half of the projects I think must be completed in those nine weeks or so. Yes, that is twenty two projects of various sizes and mediums in just over two months. It's also going to be time to re-henna my hair, as well as get back to regular work outs and weight lifting sessions. Did I mention the landscaping and victory garden that we are attempting to put in? I've got seedlings of eight types of tomatoes, four types of melons, cucumbers, sweet peppers, beans, sugar peas, and greens. The raspberry we bought last year is coming back beautifully. Then there are the herbs: mint, lemon thyme, catnip and lavender so far. I only have my red geraniums for flowers right now, with black pansies and hollyhocks soon, as well as bright red nasturtiums and cosmos. Did I mention the poppies (California orange and coral Oriental/Flanders)and the marigolds?
At least the kids' lessons are a steady routine. I've started looking into accredited distance high schools for Darling Girl. I'd rather not have her bouncing high schools, which would otherwise be likely thanks to Dear Husband's job. At least I have few months to figure that one out.

By Sock and Sweater or How I Survived the Car Saga part 2

The sweater came into major focus over the 4 days after the car died. Darling Hubby did not take the lack of vehicle well. He worried. He made phone calls, pacing the house waiting for people to call him back. His massive agitation and lack of focus was contagious. Doing more than two tasks in a row was almost impossible. My standard barrel through the house cleaning during the afternoons came to a standstill. Hubby trying to distract himself with games and movies only succeeded in distracting me as well. Knitting anything on small needles wasn't going to happen. I needed instant gratification. Something uncomplicated on large needles with bulky yarn. It's not that I wasn't worried myself, it's that I couldn't be if Hubby was. Someone had to stay calm, remember to make real food, and order the groceries. Luckily, Hubby works with an amazingly sweet man who let us borrow one of his cars so Darling Husband calmed down a bit.
That Friday was a field trip I wish I could have skipped. We all ventured forth to go car shopping. It was a requirement we all go as we had to make sure we would all fit in the chosen vehicle, growing teenagers require leg room. There was the standard obnoxious car salesmen and there were some that were actually decent. More work was done on the sock. I was pleased to note that at least one car salesman was rather disturbed by the sock, even left in a hurry when I smiled at him while knitting. Over that weekend, a car was decided upon. Roomy, comfortable, new and a lovely silver in our price range. Hubby drove it home Monday and things were much calmer. There was still another week of worrying over the old car. What to do with it? This caused a bout of finishing on the sweater as Husband himmed and hawed, finally deciding to sell it off to one of the local scrap metal places. The sweater was completed the day the old car was sold off. So the Car Saga ends favorably; a new car obtained, the old one no longer a worry, and I have a new rockin' sweater that looks even more fantastic on than I thought it would.

By Sock and Sweater or How I Survived the Car Saga Part 1

So, a couple Saturdays ago, Husband took the car into the shop to get a once over in the morning so we could head into town by lunch. Easy. He gets back from the shop and we drive into town. Before we even make it into the first store, someone has pointed out that our car is bleeding coolant. Up goes the hood. It looks like the mechanics just over-filled the reservoir, hood goes down, we head into the store, car to be checked once we come back out. Everyone and our purchases climb into the car an hour later. Husband turns on the car, only to have it immediately begin to overheat. Car goes off, hood goes up, cellphone comes out as the mechanic is called. This takes some time, so I pull out my purse sock and start knitting away. This sock has been my purse project for months and I was still not through the foot of the first in the pair.
We limp to the nearest garage to have their mechanics check out the car. We wait in the their waiting area, inhaling the smell of new tires. It takes them awhile, there are other customers and cars, it's a busy place. I have gotten three inches done on the sock foot. This only seems like a lot when you realize I am knitting with 2.75mm needles and yarn that is decidedly closer to fuzzy dental floss than say, soft rope. The guy in charge comes out and tells us we just had fans stuck. With everything topped off, we pile back into the car to head home(which is about an hour away). Ten miles down the road, the car is overheating again, rapidly. We pull over into a hospital parking lot, contemplating what to do next. Insurance company is called, the tow truck is on it's way, but....the cab of the tow truck holds at most 3 people including the driver. There were four of us in the car. Now what? Husband starts calling people who could give at least two of us a lift. No one is answering their phones. It's approaching dinner time on a Saturday. The one guy we do get a hold of, is on a trip in Montana till Monday. The bullet is bitten, the cab company is called even though we know it's going to cost us more than the tow. Father and son get in the cab. Mother and daughter get in the tow truck. We all get to the house about the same time. Everyone is home safe and dinner is even served on time. Sunday is quiet, the kids spend most of the day outside playing, while Husband broods inside, trying to figure out what to do. We only have the one car, with it out of commission, he's unable to get to work or even get to the train station eight miles away unless he walks. I turn the heel on the sock. As I knit away, I contemplate the food in the fridge and pantry, planning the use of supplies for the week. No car means no random store runs or even calling for take out. Luckily, I take being a housewife rather seriously and my pantry is rarely bare or full of things that are unusable. We make it to Monday with minimal drama. The rest of the week awaits.

Distraction

That is the word for February. I've had the attention span of a gnat. I fouled up the seaming on a sleeve on a top I had mostly completed, so instead of being angry and ripping out the seam, I put it down and started a brand new sweater. The new sweater is over a third done, it's been 3 days. I've bought sock yarn so bright as to make Boyo wince, in colors that make Darling Husband cringe. I rather like them and proceeded off on a tangent to find perfect sock patterns for such demanding yarn, to prove to them both that I picked fantastic yarn. Then, there was the bout of yarn exhibitionism in which I felt the need to photograph and post pictures of yarn stash at hand (not all of it, that would take far too long), with details of how much I have and what colors on Ravelry. I had to convince myself that I didn't need a Coraline sweater with glow in the dark stars right this instant, in colors from the book, not the movie. I've found and hoarded more patterns than I could possibly knit, figured out what yarns to use and calculated costs. Seeds have been started and a tiered raised bed planned and plotted for the front yard. I've finished reading three books, one while making dinner one evening, and have started a fourth.

Has anyone else had this problem? The feeling that you must do everything right now? Or do I just have a really bad case of Spring Fever?

I'd share if I could

As I really shouldn't be eating all this by myself. Darling Husband surprised me with a box, rather early in the morning, on Valentine's Day. Yes, that is a box of Godiva. That day I also made cinnamon rolls from scratch and a bacon spinach quiche(which had a perfect crust if I do say so myself). I suppose I will just have to force myself to consume the sweet lovelies as it would be a pity to let them go to waste.

It was a quiet evening

The kids got invited to an impromptu birthday party across the street just before dinner this evening. The father did face painting and I got brought home a large piece of rather garish looking Hannah Montana cake, but the kids had fun. With Darling Husband off working and the kids at the party, there was no one around to complain when I chose the History Channel as my evening's entertainment. There will be even more time to sit and knit while watching bad movies later after the kids are in bed. Honestly, I have no real excuse to not have at least two projects completed before the week is out. I do have pictures of what Husband got me for Valentine's Day, that I will get posted eventually, which will be keeping me company as I knit.

Temporary reprieve from at least one chore...

My washing machine died yesterday. Three quarters of the way through a load of laundry. Thankfully it was the last one for the week. Admittedly, it means I now have a perfectly valid reason to get a new one and for not doing the laundry for a few days at least.
I spent time yesterday taking advantage of the wonderful spring-like weather we had, scrubbing the outside windows,plotting to re-decorate the loft, and deciding what seeds to start, only to come inside and see the weather forecast. The weather forecast with the ever lovely red mark next to it indicating severe conditions, in this case harsh winter weather due to blow in and stick for the next five days at least. The abrupt change in weather would be more disappointing if it hadn't been so dry here over the last couple of months, we need any rain or snow that's willing to show up. Besides, a few days of bad weather means I have a chance at finishing some warmer weather knitting, before the warmer weather actually gets here. Back to watching re-runs of Bewitched and knitting things without sleeves.