I've Been Interviewed!

Cari at Dogs Steal Yarn (yes, she’s the famous author of the Clapotis poem), has posted interview questions for me to answer on my blog. If you are interested in being interviewed by me, here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here. They will be different questions than the ones below.
3. You will update YOUR blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

And here are the five questions Cari asked me:

1. What trait of yours do you hope your son Jack inherits from you? What trait do you hope he doesn’t?

I hope he inherits my sense of adventure – I hope he sees as much of the world as he can, I hope he travels and explores and learns about everything that is interesting and important.
I hope he doesn’t inherit my complete inability to manage money.

2. What fictional character, from books, movies, or tv, would you be and why?

Brett from Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”. I know Hemingway often wrote women in an unflatteringly light, but Brett strikes me as someone who lives a life I would enjoy. She is running around Paris, marrying some Count from England, fishing in Spain. She goes to a bar with one man and leaves with another, and explanations are never offered. I’ve always longed to be an Ex-Patriot in the cafes of Europe, writing my novel on cocktail napkins and drinking too much gin.


3. You’ve been given the opportunity to create a reality tv show involving knitters and knitting. What’s the conceit? Any of those nasty surprise twists to catch the participants off guard?

Combining reality tv and knitting? It’s like a dream come true! Of course the best nasty twist would be to go and unravel someone’s knitting, huh? I think I would set up a team of judges – Stephanie Pearl McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot), Debbie Stoller, Amy Singer, and a few of my non-famous knitting friends. Every week the knitters would get a new challenge – lace, intarsia, sweater design, cables, fun fur (I hate fun fur. I think it’s harder to work with than Red Heart Acrylic for 89 cents a pound). Every Monday they would present their item to the panel. Instead of a rose ceremony or a tribal council or a boardroom, the person with the worst work would wake up the next morning with her project unraveled next to her bed, signifying she was off the show.

The winner would get to move in with Brad Pitt. Ok wait, that’s an entirely different show. The winner would get a prime time knitting show on Fox. One hour a week for knitters, by knitters. It would be like Knitty Gritty but long enough to actually cover the material, and more in tune with what knitters want instead of what yarn companies are trying to sell us.

4. I truly believe Italian Greyhounds are part alien. Offer evidence based on your life with Lucca to prove or disprove this theory.

Lucca has the preternatural ability to sense the mailman from miles away. She can be under two quilts in the back bedroom with music on and she will still know he is coming. And he comes a different time every day, so it’s not just a time thing. (She hates him so much I wonder if he is also part alien from a rival solar system. Hmmm.) She also can also leap unnaturally far – even if she’s leaping backwards. This often happens when the baby is trying to grab for her.
Lastly, she is known to have healing powers. If you are sick, she will glom onto you until you are better. And I am certain my recoveries are speedier due to her presence.

5. When has your (self-proclaimed) absentmindedness gotten you into real trouble?

Thank the heavens above I have not left the child anywhere yet, although I can see how this might happen. (Maybe not though, my every moment is consumed by the little character. And even though I’m sleep deprived I can’t fathom a time when I could actually forget about him.)

Other than banging my brand new car into a wall at a parking garage, I would have to say I haven’t done anything too terrible. I just lose my keys on an hourly basis, can’t remember a single thing unless it’s written down, and wander around in a semi-fugue state all the time.

It’s a good thing I have this interview, because knitting information is non-existent right now. My life is filled with little Jack. He’s suddenly become very inquisitive and interested in the world, thus taking up my time entertaining him. At least he laughs at my jokes.

Duh.

You know how I said I only needed one additional set of increases to get to 35 inches on the Baby-clapotis? I must have been drunk or something, because each set is only 2.5 inches, and the original shawl is 22 inches wide. So that’s 13 inches short, divided by 2.5 is 5.2! So I need quite a few more increase rows than I anticipated. I continue to increase and wait for dropping of the stitches. Regrettably, not much got done this weekend.

It’s Easter Sunday – the single most defining moment in Christianity, and people across the world are celebrating by eating too much chocolate and hunting for eggs. Even the non-Christians do it, which I think is pretty funny. I don’t go around fasting for Ramadan, so why do you celebrate Easter? (Yes, I am joking here a bit, so don’t all go running to the comments to get personally offended and call me names.)

But it is somewhat of an interesting question. I have two friends who constantly mock me for being religious (ok, constantly is a bit exaggerated. But I have had to defend myself more than once for believing in god, for going to church, and for raising my son Catholic). BOTH of these people celebrate Christmas and Easter. Why? I wonder to myself, aloud and on my blog.

We celebrated by going to church with my parents. They are Presbyterian and Joe had never been to a protestant service before. Of course he made the obligatory jokes about Benny Hin and Faith Healing, and of course the service was underwhelming compared to Trinity Broadcasting Network’s version of Christianity. The Presbyterians are pretty calm people – no shouting from the audience or anything. I think he was disappointed.

This evening we stopped by Joe’s Grandmother’s house for dinner. We didn’t stay long, the baby was fussing and tired. I’m hoping he’s down for the night so I can relax.

I updated my sidebar today – just a little rearranging and some additions to the blogs I read. And I added my email address because Potusol pointed out it wasn’t listed. If I ever get free time I may play with my template a little, the pea soup is a little dull.

Do you know what I should be doing right now?

Folding laundry. See all the laundry in the background? Oh, and you can also see how far I’ve gotten on my Baby-clapotis blanket prototype. Joe says it looks like a giant tube top. Instead of folding boring old laundry, here is what I am doing:



I’m sitting at the computer while the little boy sleeps in his crib. It’s very relaxing. The yarn in that picture will be used for the eventual Baby-clapotis blanket once I finish the prototype.

In other Clapotis news I finally got my yarn to finish the original, gargantuan, wooly and warm shawl I started two and a half millennium ago.



I am very impressed with Jimmy Beans Wool, but not because I got my yarn very quickly – I did order it over two weeks ago. When I didn’t receive it in a week and a half I sent them an email asking for the tracking number so I could find out where it went. Within an hour I had three emails from them apologizing and promising to send me a new package. AND, within a day I had my yarn. All told, I will certainly give them more business. I love their website and they have a great selection.

A friend of mine went to jail today. I never thought I would be the type to hang out with people who make jail time a habit, but it seems to be the case. The DUI laws in Arizona are pretty strict and for the second offence the minimum sentence is 30 days in tent city. So my friend will be living in a tent all weekend and at night, and going to work during the day as if nothing were amiss. How bizarre.

And lastly, dreaded Nick resurfaced last night for an extremely brief IM session with my good friend Parley. I hate when my friends get their hearts broken, and I really hate it when the person causing the breaking is so evil about it. I want to poke out his eyes with a stick. The worst thing is that he REFUSES to explain himself. He just pops up after a month and disappears again within the space of five minutes. I like to believe that all people are inherently good, but this guy is testing me.

Joey Tribiani

So now that Friends is no longer on the air and I have watched every rerun at least 16 times, I am forced to watch “Joey” on Thursday nights. It’s not a bad show I suppose, but it certainly isn’t as good as Friends was. And I find it unrealistic that he NEVER mentions his friends in New York. I mean, they were together for over ten years, wouldn’t they call? Wouldn’t it come up? Can’t we hear how the babies are? Or if Phoebe ever got pregnant? I mean seriously people, these were his BEST friends, and he never talks about them at all.

This was bothering me a great deal when I fell asleep, so of course I dreamt about Rachel and her baby. I think in some way I use tv characters in place of real friends. It’s easier, because tv characters don’t move to China and New York (unless of course it is some clever plot line, and then I get to watch.)

On the knitting front, I continue to increase for baby-Clapotis. I think I will need one extra set of increase rows to get the desired width, which should happen today. Then I will start decreasing and dropping stitches like the mad woman I am.

Yesterday two of my knitting friends came to my mom’s house to decorate cookies and eggs. Here is my mom with Gemma (Kim’s daughter) and Jake (Kirsten’s son). She is patiently explaining to Gemma how to move the dough without breaking the cookies:



We didn’t get any knitting done because the three moms were too busy eating cookies ourselves. (I gained back every single one of the three pounds I lost last week, and I know it is due to yesterday alone.) Kirsten borrowed my Denise cords so she can cast on for Mariposa. This is such a fun shawl, I know she will like it. I haven’t worked on it this week because I need to get moving on the baby blanket, but hopefully this weekend I can pick it up again.

We also planned the SnB calendar for the next few months. Knitting for Babies and Toddlers is going to be at the train park this time! How much fun will that be? I know not much knitting will happen, but the weather should be great and I know the kids will have a good time. We’ve also got our usual Changing Hands, Coffee Rush, Lux and now Essenza meetings.

I’ll post some progress pictures tomorrow – with hopefully some dropped stitches!

Essenza Coffee House

Last night I drove down to Mesa to knit at Essenza. Jen guilted me into it since I haven’t seen her in forever and she was going early. Jack behaved at first, hanging out on the couch. I think I got three rows done on my baby blanket prototype before he started to fuss. Here he is flailing his arms about:



Unfortunately it all went south after that. I tried everything in my powers to get him to go to sleep so I could enjoy the evening. No dice. As I’ve said before, I’m going to have to start finding a sitter for my knitting outings or at least bring my mom. He’s just way too high maintenance to have around unless he’s in a good mood.

A few people did make it. Becky was there, Eva and Jude. I had never met Jude because she usually goes to the Gilbert group on Tuesdays, and I was disappointed I didn’t get to talk to her. Her email address suggests she’s a doula, and I think Kim said she home-schooled her kids. I am fascinated by people who do this – I feel like I would send Jack to school now if I could get away with it!

Here is a shot of the knitter before I had to scram:



Anyhow, the baby blanket is coming along. I really need to get moving because the shower could be as early as April 20th. I’ve gotten to the point where I would normally start the straight rows, but I’m going to continue to increase until I get to 35 inches or so, and then immediately start the decreases. I hope it turns out okay.

No progress on Mariposa – I smartly decided not to try and knit on it while I talked to Jen and dealt with the baby. I know I would have screwed something up!

Leaving on a jet plane...

Many years ago (9 to be exact), one of my closest friends moved across the country leaving me bereft and forlorn. A mutual friend - in his failed attempt to improve my sullen mood over martinis - told me “People Leave”. I found his comment cold and cruel at the time, and promptly threw my Kettel One in his face. (This was before I discovered gin.)

Now I appreciate his infinite wisdom and realize this type of insight can only come with age. Here I am, almost 33, facing the EXACT same situation with the EXACT same person for the third time (yes, my dear friend moves a lot, and so do I), and I have to agree. People DO leave. Not only is this specific friend moving away, he is my single remaining foothold in the real world. He is someone I can spend time with and not mention the baby one single time. He talks about issues other than diapers and preschool and when to start solid foods.

To top it off, another friend of mine who will remain nameless may be moving to China.

China. Not like, oh, I may move to New Mexico, you should come visit. China.

I’m just going to lock myself inside all summer and knit. To heck with friends.

On that note, I continue Mariposa and I’ve found myself falling in love with the pattern. It is repetitious enough to set down and pick up throughout the day (very important since I am often interrupted by a small scream from a little bald baby), but not even remotely boring. I can even knit in the car (provided someone else is driving.)

Here I’m on row 7 of the 22 row pattern. Remember, there are 308 stitches per row, so completing one single row is a feat in and of itself:



And here’s a close-up of the lovely holes made by the fun yarn-overs. I love yarn-overs and I do not know why.



Hopefully there will be some knitting this week. I just heard there is knitting in Mesa tonight at a new coffee place. Hmmm. I wonder if we should go? Jack is rarely cooperative enough for me to knit however, so maybe not.

I’ve also just learned that our SnB group has a blog of all things. It’s being updated by Becky and can be found here. There is also a link on my sidebar if you’re interested.

And I’d like to welcome our newest reader, Stephanie Distler, a beader from Pennsylvania. Stop by her blog and say hello.

Ah, Knitting

Knitting at Coffee Rush today was mostly fun, although Jack didn’t really cooperate and there was some mild tension in the room. Knitting is supposedly more relaxing than yoga, but you’d never know it these days. I left feeling like my stomach was in knots.

Angus was having a good time, however. He fell asleep with his thumb falling slowly out of his mouth. I caught him mid air:



It was a pretty small group. Ede and Val were there, Bobbie Gray, Alison, Peggy, Pam (not crochetmeister Pam, Kim’s friend Pam), and of course my mom and me. I started the Mariposa Shawl from SWTC. Man is that a hard project. I’ve already ripped it out once, and I’m afraid I may be doing so again. Here’s a shot of how far I am just to give you some perspective:



308 stitches with a 34 stitch pattern that repeats 9 times. It’s pretty involved and probably not the best knit for talking and drinking tea.

This afternoon I went to visit my friend Donna and her daughter Brett in the hospital. They are moving Brett out of the ICU tonight and starting physical therapy Monday. Donna is in a very scary place and I give her all the credit in the world for keeping her spirits up. She is about halfway through her scarf project I brought her, so next week I will teach her how to purl and find a quick and easy sweater pattern she can make. She is a very good student, and even learned how to rip back rows on her own.

My other student, Julie, is going to start Ribby Cardi soon. She decided she wanted something to wear, so I recommended this project for her. She’s going to get some KnitPicks yarn and we’ll get her started. I am very pleased with her progress – she’s accomplished quite a bit in the midst of having a baby.

I just ordered a pizza for dinner and the girl on the phone said “Oh, you have 2 free pizzas coming to you!” Apparently we have ordered from Z Pizza so often that we are being rewarded with a few free pies. That’s pretty sad. This is my big treat for the week because I don’t have to weigh in again until next Friday and I lost 3 pounds this week! Yay for me. Only 8 more to go to be at pre-pregnancy weight. I have to say, carrying around a 17 pound baby does help the weight-loss happen more quickly. My goal is to be back in my real clothes by my birthday in May and I’m certainly on the way there.

I’m hoping to get some knitting in tomorrow while the boy goes to visit his grandparents in Chandler. Then on Sunday I’m going to head up to Scottsdale to hang out with my mom and possibly the ever-elusive Parley.

Knitting on the Town

Knitting at Mama Java’s last night was great, although a bit cramped. Apparently they double booked themselves and had some type of Irish reading going on in the main area, so we were crammed in the back room. The owner felt so bad she gave us free cookies, and I promptly ate them and destroyed my diet for the week. I’m really sad because some people came and didn’t find us. Judi Binderman – the one who makes those cool glass bead stitch markers and has the big felted bag – just posted on the yahoo group that she came and didn’t see us. What a shame! We should have put up a sign or something.

I took a few pictures before it got too crazy:

height="375" alt="mama java" / />
Becky, Eva and June


Pam, Melanie, and Martha

And as usual I did not knit a stitch. Jack was wide awake and wanted to walk around and see what everyone was making. We met a new girl named Lauren who is making a scarf out of a yarn called squiggle. It is her first project and looks really hard to knit with, but she seemed to be enjoying it. And Eva’s friend Karen is making Clapotis out of pink cotton twist. And I also met Michelle’s friend with red seatbelt purse. Her name is escaping my muddled head right now, but I’m sure Michelle will pop by and tell me what it is.

All in all we had a great time and as always I am glad I went. Jack is getting too old to take with me though, so I’m going to have to work out a deal with Joe to watch him while I go knitting. Elaine was nice enough to watch him while we had a quick committee meeting, but of course he didn’t last sitting in the stroller. He just doesn’t lie around and sleep like he did when he was a newborn!

This morning Joe came in and asked when I made his coffee. Why? I wondered. Is it not still hot? (we have one of those insulated carafes, so I could really make the coffee at midnight and it would still be good in the morning). I made it at six when I got up with the baby. Um, you forgot to put coffee in, was his reply, and I was wondering if you made it in the middle of the night is all. I had successfully brewed my darling husband a pot of hot water. Filtered hot water, however, because I HAD remembered the filter, just no coffee.

I think it’s times like these that Joe realizes I’m really not all here. And it probably worries him that I’m carting his baby all over Tarnation during the day. So far I haven’t left him anywhere though, so we’re doing just fine thank you very much.

Wine Fight!

I’m loving this Micro-spun Clapotis prototype blanket I’ve started. I’m going to do a few extra increase rows to get it to about 35” and then immediately start decreasing – that will make a squarish blanket, right? I guess we’ll see. The biggest problem with the blanket is here:



That is a small wine stain from knitting at Postino’s on Monday. Michelle threw wine all over me when I said something to make her mad. Luckily it did not get on my pink sweater, just this little bit on the blanket. Here it is from afar, you can see the stain in the lower right corner.



I will have to be more careful when knitting Elissa’s blanket and stay away from Michelle and her red wine! Especially because I bought the yarn yesterday and it's off-white. (I made her pick the color and told her I was making a blanket because I was leaning towards colors I knew she might not like. I’m glad I did because she picked off-white. I would have made lime green and I think she would have thought it was bizarre. Plus, I really hate surprises, especially when it comes to something that is going to take a ton of time. )

Yesterday was probably the last of the cold days here in Phoenix – a small wind came through and cooled things off. I needed a picture of Jack in his sweater my mom made him before it’s too small to fit over his head:



This made me realize why I don’t like to knit baby sweaters. Seriously, the little guy is almost 4 months old and he doesn’t really fit in baby stuff any more. If those 4 months fell in the warm season here, he never would have worn this sweater at all. Baby clothes on the whole are somewhat frustrating. I was at Nordstrom the other day and a woman was trying to sell me $35 rompers for Jack. Um, I’m sorry. $35? At best he will wear it for a few months. And Carters makes a similar romper for $8, although it is lacking the small polo horse stitched over the pocket. I’m not against expensive clothes at all, but for a baby who is growing like a weed it just seems a little excessive.

Knitting tonight at Mama Java’s! I love knitting there and it looks like the group will be smallish, so hopefully we’ll get some good chatting time in as well. Plus my mom is coming, so someone else can hold my wiggly child for a while. Jen, I hope you make it – we all miss you!

Baby Blanket Clapotis

Once I got it in my head that I was going to modify Clapotis to make a baby blanket for Elissa, I couldn’t stop myself from casting on and seeing how it would go. I considered many different yarns, but came up with Lion Brand Micro-spun. I know this isn’t the fanciest yarn in the world, but it’s washable, soft, and she won’t have to worry about ruining it. So I cast on for a prototype of the blanket just to see what I thought of the yarn in this pattern. Here is how far I got:



Now comes the color choice difficulties. She is not finding out what type of baby it is, so I have to stay away from blue and pink. I was actually considering off-white but I’m going to run by Michaels today and see what I think of the colors in person. I really like the lime green as well, but I’m not sure if that’s her thing.

Yesterday at Pita Jungle was fun. There were 10 of us I think and we had a grand old time. Here are some pictures from my side of the table – I was too lazy to get up and walk around. I know Pam is disappointed because she loves seeing herself on my blog. Next time Pam.


Nancy


Val and Ede

Today I’m meeting Michelle at Postino’s for some afternoon knitting and wine. I hope Jack decides to behave (i.e., sleep) and I can work on my prototype blanket. I haven’t received the needles for Mariposa so I can’t cast on for that yet. I ordered from Knit Picks and they shipped a week ago and still aren’t here! That is very disappointing.

If anyone wants to join us at Postino’s send me an email or just come – we’ll be there around 1:30.

still no clapotis

Sadly Jessica did not have the yarn, and she said it would take a few months to get her order from Lorna’s Laces. Drat it all, I wanted to finish that crazy shawl. I did find the yarn online, however, at this great site called Jimmy Beans Wool. I found them through Elizabeth who commented on one of my posts and they are located in Reno, Nevada. They have an incredible online selection – I was very impressed. Shipping is a flat $4 so I’ll let you know how the whole experience is once the yarn arrives.

Joe was funny yesterday – I told him I was going up to Jessica’s because I ran out of yarn. He said “Impossible. I know you didn’t run out of yarn. I’ve seen how much you have.” Well, Joe, yarn is not interchangeable.

I am considering making a baby blanket using the Clapotis pattern. A friend of mine is having a baby in July and two things occurred to me. 1. This pattern would not be boring to knit, as most blankets are. 2. It would be good for Arizona because it’s so warm here and the blanket would be light and airy. (Provided I make it out of something other than wool.) I measured one of our blankets and it’s 35” square, so I would have to make additional increase rows and not as many straight rows. I think it could work.

My friend’s daughter is not doing so well, so I will not be going to teach her to knit today. I am very worried, when she called this morning I could tell she was crying, and she said Brett (that’s the daughter) was not as responsive today as yesterday. I hope everything works out okay, I know this is very stressful for Donna. And I can’t go visit because of the baby – no children are allowed at all and my mom is out of town. So I’m going to try and swing by tomorrow at least to say hello and see if they need anything.

Ok, see everyone at Pita Jungle on Sunday. I think I will be working on the pink sweater again because I finally broke down and bought another pattern (this time I made a copy so I won’t lose it yet again.) I just have to figure out where in the heck I am on the pattern and we’ll be good to go. In case you all forgot what it looks like, here it is so far:



Or, I may cast on for the Mariposa shawl if I get the needles I ordered in time. 47 inch circulars sound awfully big, but I guess to cast on 308 stitches you really need it to be that long.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Knitting to the Rescue

I just got a bad phone call – my friend Donna’s daughter is in the hospital and probably will be for some time. She went with a headache and it turned out she broke a blood vessel in her head. What can I do? Teach her to knit, of course. I am going to pick her up a project tonight at Jessica’s and teach her tomorrow, because sitting in a hospital room is just no fun and knitting will at least take her mind off things for a while.

I am also going to Jessica’s because I ran out of Clapotis yarn. I am ALMOST done, seriously, here is a picture to prove it:



(My dog cannot stay away from my knitting as you can see.)

It makes me crazy that I came up short. Hopefully Jessica still has that yarn and I can finish it tonight.

Last night Michelle and I met at Mama Java’s for a little knitting. Jack behaved for the most part, so I was able to chat and knit to the end of my yarn. She lost her Clapotis yarn when we were at Changing Hands last week, so if anyone picked up a bag of Cotton Twist (I think it was brown and black and white), please post something on the yahoo group or email me. It’s awful to lose that much yarn!

Tonight I think there is a knit-in at Jessica’s. Joe will be working late again so I think I’ll head up there with the baby.

Two Items

1. Thank you thank you thank you Lynn of Mindful Moderation. I received a package with a sling, rings and a book I wasn't expecting! Knitters are so generous and wonderful!

2. Knitting tonight at Mama Javas? Anyone interested? I didn't make it last night as Jack decided to fall asleep, so hopefully tonight we can get together. I think Michelle is in, so anyone else let me know

I may or may not run out of Clapotis yarn. I'm on the decrease so I still may make it. More tomorrow

More Clapotis

Clapotis is almost done. I have one more dropped stitch before I begin the decreases. Look how big it's gotten:



I am afraid I am going to run out of yarn. Ugh. I hate running out of yarn. I will know today if I am, and I'll just give Jessica a call and see if she has more.

I switched projects with Kim for my SWTC test knit. She had a shawl and I had another baby sweater. For some reason the baby sweater just wasn’t exciting to me, and although the lace pattern looks complicated I think it will be pretty challenging and fun. I had to order size six 47" circulars online so I can't get started until they come. I think I will put off the flower basket shawl until I finish Mariposa.

Is anyone interested in meeting tonight or tomorrow night to knit? I know there is a group going to Cupz, but that is just too darned far for me to travel on a weeknight. Traffic makes me insane.

The Verdict is in

Joe finished his first trial yesterday and he won! The case had something to do with mules living in the town of Cave Creek (serious mules, not just stubborn people), and Joe's client gets to keep his mules and their houses (the mule's houses, not the people). I am very proud of him – he worked really hard on this case and I know when anything goes to jury it's always a toss up.

I did not lose any weight this week, which is no surprise given the cookie extravaganza at my mom's house two days ago. I'm just pleased I didn't gain any back! (You should have tasted these mint cookies she and Gemma made. I had to leave them in the car when I got home because I knew I would finish them off if they were in front of me.) So it's back to serious dieting for me. And back to the gym – I haven't been able to go all week because Joe is so busy, so my goal is to get there at least 3 times this week.

Jack was pretty tired yesterday after being gone all day Wednesday, so we basically just sat around the house in our pajamas. This is the danger of being a stay-at-home-mom. My disposition leans towards pajama day, which is certainly not overly healthy. My mom came over and brought me lunch because I didn't feel like going anywhere, and Jack slept a ton. I finally got to sit and knit!

Clapotis is moving right along - I dropped two more stitches last night. I’m a little worried that it is going to be too warm for Phoenix. I think I'll make another one in a lighter weight yarn, maybe some type of cotton or silk. Jen is trying it in lace weight I think, so I'll have to see how that turns out. I was thinking maybe sport weight or DK weight would be better.


Here it is spread out on the couch – it's getting really big


and of course, a close up of the dropped stitches because they are so darned fun.

Martha Stewart was finally released from prison early this morning. Her entire trial and incarceration were an absolute embarrassment. Seriously, aren't there better things these federal agents have to do than chase around someone for a very minor stock-tip infraction? I know she will bounce back and will be stronger than ever, and I hope all the companies who pulled ads from her magazine are sorry. I hope she tries to ruin them, in fact.

So Welcome Home Martha! I'm glad to have you back in the land of the free.

The Kindness of Strangers

I want to thank Lynn of Mindful Moderation. She commented that I should get a sling and I mentioned to her that I have one but it's too hot, so I'm having my mom make me a Maya Sling. Lynn is sending me her left over rings to make the sling, as well as a spare pouch sling. I don't even know what it is, but I am overwhelmed that she would go to the trouble of sending it to me. So thank you Lynn. (You should go to her site, she has a very cute sun salutation decoration on her blog.)

You may have noticed I am lacking in knitting content lately. I have gotten in a rut with my knitting, and I wasn't very excited about anything I was doing. I think the key for me is to have enough projects going on at one time so I can bounce back and forth and not get bored. Many of my projects are stalled. Clapotis had a problem because part of it fell off my needles and some of the stitch markers fell off. Pink Sweater – I'm missing the pattern. Red sweater is coming along. Purple baby SWTC test sweater needs the hood attached, and I can't seem to figure out how to do it. New SWTC test knit is sitting on the red chair (Kim, I would be willing to trade you if you want.)

So tonight I went to our SnB meeting at Changing Hands. Jack wasn't cooperating at first and it took me quite a while to get him settled. But finally he quieted down and I got Clapotis back on track. Tomorrow I am going to find the pattern for Pink Sweater, or I am going to call Jessica and have her send me another one.

Earlier today I went to Jessica's with Julie and Kim. We showed up with all three babies and took over the couch area – I think the other customers were a little alarmed, but it wasn't too busy so I don't think we specifically ran anyone off. Here are the pictures from our visit:



Kim working on her cool sock



Julie finishing her cousin's scarf



Mac sitting in the bouncy seat watching his mom



Angus slept the entire time we were there.



And Jack, sitting on my lap. He is a little needy these days, so I did not knit a stitch. (Nor did I spend any money.)

I didn't take my camera in to the SnB meeting tonight, but it was really fun. Not too crowded like some of the meetings have been in the past. I got to see Paula (a regular commenter on the blog) and Heather and Eva. I got to see some really cool stuff – Sherry finished this incredible crocheted vest, Alison brought her baby blanket, Pam had this cool scarf that she is submitting to the new SnB book, and Jen had some new yarn from her birthday celebration.

So I should have more progress on my knitting soon. Gloria is taking the baby on Saturday and I may lie in bed in my pajamas and knit all day long. Joe's trial is over tomorrow as well, so my evenings will be a bit easier.

It was good to see you all tonight! Hopefully we'll get to have some spring break daytime knitting in the next few weeks. I know Michelle is up for some Postino knitting, and I think Duck and Decanter has been suggested. Ymmmmm.

One panel down....

The back of Steph’s baby’s sweater is done! (His name is Quincy, have I mentioned that? Love the name.) This is the worst part of the pattern – stockinette stitch for 35 centimeters. Now on to the fun parts. Next I make the 2 pocket linings, which go very quickly, and then I’ll start on the fronts. I have to decide upon a contrast color – I may use the same navy I used for Angus, or I may try something completely different.



And no, that is not my bourbon in the picture, it’s Joe’s. Even though I drink while breastfeeding, I do stick to wine. (and Michelle, see your magazine in the picture? I have it out so I won't forget to bring it. You're coming to Changing Hands, yes?)

Paula asked if I will be going to Wildflower ahead of the meeting yesterday and I think I will. Usually Jen or Pam show up too, and maybe Kim if Jonny gets home in time. I will plan on being there around 5:30 if anyone wants to join us.

Jack and I are going back to court this afternoon. Joe has his first trial going on, and he will be examining a witness. We tried to go this morning and they were behind because the other side was taking a long time cross-examining the first witness. I am very excited – it was like Ally McBeal in there, only live. I just wish I had a place to take the little guy, because it stresses me out that he’s going to cry.

Tomorrow I am going to take a small trip to Jessica’s. Now, I know I said I don’t need any more yarn. And I know I said it was best to stay out of yarn shops. BUT. Kim and Julie and I are going up to my mom’s and Gemma is going to make cookies with her. I so rarely get the opportunity to get up there I figured I needed to stop by. Just to say hello to Jessica. Maybe I will look for a border for the baby sweater. Maybe I will buy one ball of yarn. But that’s it. Then I’m done I swear.

I just read there is another big storm hitting the East Coast. I’m so sorry for you all – it is supposed to be 80 degrees and sunny here this weekend. I love the winters in Arizona – really the weather could not be more perfect. It just sucks we have to put up with 3 solid months of hellishly hot temperatures on the other side of the coin. I suppose nowhere is perfect, huh?