Month: May 2018

May Blanket Progress

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I love how the new scrap yarn blanket is turning out. I knit one square every day. I will be working on this for about three years, and will update the blog with a picture of it at the end of every month.

I started the blanket in mid-April, and I’ve made a lot of progress this month. I always keep a stitch marker on the most recent Sunday square, that way I can keep track of the squares. With travel and busy days I don’t always remember if I have knit a square yet until I count out squares from the marker. It has been very helpful.

WIP Wednesday: 21/52

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Happy Wednesday! As expected, I did not get as much knitting as I had hoped done on my trip last weekend. Even with knitting much less than normal I’ve been able to make some good progress on my vanilla latte socks.

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I picked up the gusset when I was out visiting Ivy at her farm. I forgot my notions bag so she lent me some stitch markers she got in her yarn subscription box last month. I’m sure she would want me to tell you that the stitch markers are part of the theme that month (The CW show Supernatural), but I think it is more fun to think that she has a thing for the dark arts.

I love how the socks are knitting up. The colorway is perfect for my current obsession with margaritas. I am amazed at how much I have to think about the pattern, as it is incredibly simple. I think it might be a sign that I am too distracted to knit.

This sock is the only thing I am currently working on. I have been spending a great deal of time on Ravelry looking at shawl collar cardigans for myself. I’m really feeling an undyed cardigan to wear over all of my t-shirts in the winter. I have plenty of things I should be knitting (cough, SYSKO, cough), but I am obsessed with finding the perfect cardigan instead.

Do you ever get distracted by dream projects instead of knitting things you should be working on?

Tuesday

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Do you ever have days where you get nothing done? Today was one of those days for me. It’s too hot to play outside, so we were stuck inside most of the day. I resorted to putting on a Laurie Berkner Band DVD so the kids could have a dance party. They needed to move and burn off some energy.

Audrey danced the entire time. I hoped she would nap, but it didn’t work. She usually only naps if we do something in the morning. So after trying to sleep for an hour she painted while Elliot slept.

Once Elliot got up they decided they would pretend to nap in my bed. I cannot explain how annoying it is that Audrey won’t nap, yet one of her favorite games is pretending to nap.

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After they stopped “napping” we finally left the house. We went to Aldi because we needed milk and I needed to get out of the house. I am really glad we went there because they currently have hydrangeas for only $10. I’m kicking myself for only getting one. I might head back later this week to get another one as we are redoing one of our front beds (we is not the right word, John is doing it and I’m telling him what I want him to do).

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I don’t think going to Aldi really counts as doing anything, as I just haphazardly walked around throwing things into my cart without a list. Tomorrow I will get things done!

SYSKO Update

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Do you remember how I told you about the scrap yarn shawl knock off for Mary-Claire? Oh good. I decided I’m going to call it SYSKO when writing about it because typing it all out each time seems excessive.

On Saturday night I was able to spend some time with my sister. I brought the yarn for the project along to get her opinion on the order of the yarn. We poured some wine into hotel paper cups and set the yarn out to take a look.

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It took one glance to see that making this a fade would look pretty gross. Mary-Claire said I can make it whatever pattern I want, it just needs to include the colors. I thought about making a fun chevron pattern, but then I realized that anything other than stripes is probably going to look like an afghan. I’m just going to knit garter stitch stripes with a row of stockinette at the color changes so they look cleaner.

Once the fade was out of the picture it became all about getting the colors in the best order. There was some intense discussion about this.

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It was Mary-Claire’s decision, but everyone wanted to weigh in on it. John had some pretty strong opinions about the placement of the pink and purple for someone who is not knitting the item, wearing the item, or even living with the person wearing the item. Mary-Claire and James almost came to blows over the color order.

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In the end Mary-Claire decided on the order of blackberry, spruce, turmeric, conch, gosling, and almond. It should be a nice mix of color to add on top of her gray wardrobe.20180526_214357-1516148705.jpg

Once the colors were decided upon I should have cast on a gauge swatch, but I decided to eat pizza instead. Margarita pizza is always better than knitting a swatch. 20180526_222909127407038.jpg

My goal for this week is to knit a swatch. I know it won’t take long once I sit down to do it. I just need to tear myself away from the book I’m reading to get it done.

 

Kansas City Weekend

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Happy Sunday! We made it back from our quick trip to Kansas City. It was a fun weekend.

On the three-hour drive down we stopped at the first rest area in Missouri to play and take a nature walk. It was hot – in the 90s. It was so hot Audrey decided she should walk down slides instead of sliding down them. That went about as well as you would think, and she ended up falling on her face. Luckily the playground was on the bouncy rubbery material that keeps kids from getting hurt. It was just enough of a shock to keep her from doing it again (hopefully).

On Saturday we went to my brother’s house to celebrate my niece’s graduation from High School. It was a great party. The highlight was discovering that Audrey is a natural at karaoke. She saw the machine and got to work singing nursery rhymes. Bailey, the graduate, was kind enough to sing a few songs with her.

None of us slept well last night, but we had been promising the kids a trip to the Kansas City Zoo for weeks. We decided to skip brunch and get some time in at the zoo before the kids crashed. I’m so glad we went. John hates to travel, so I like to squeeze family vacation moments in whenever I can.

We headed for home after a quick stop for lunch. Elliot, who woke up half asleep this morning, never napped. I have some very tired kids. Maybe they will even let us sleep in a little tomorrow.

I hope you had a great start to your long weekend!

 

Getting Used to New Eyes

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Seven months ago I had lens implants put in my eyes. I have worn glasses or contacts since fourth grade. I had strong glasses. There was no rolling over in bed and looking at the clock without them on. I couldn’t see anything without them. They were as much a part of my life as clothing. They were always there.

I don’t need them anymore. It is wonderful. I wake up and I can see. I can walk in the rain without fear of rain covered glasses. I can walk in from the cold and not be bothered about my glasses fogging up. It is amazing. It is life changing. I love it. I wish I would have done it years ago.

This morning was the first morning since surgery where I woke up and knew I didn’t need glasses. Until today, every morning I would wake up and reach for them. Many nights I would think that I needed to take my contacts out. I knew eye surgery would be great, but I never knew how long it would take my mind to catch up to the new reality. I would not have guessed seven months.