Project Updates with PHOTOS!

    Sometimes I hate myself. I joined a knitting group on facebook, and so many people are doing the 10 stitch blanket. So many of them are having trouble with the beginning, and it finally caught me up. I decided to see if I could do it. At first I tried with Lion Brand Homespun. Big mistake. I couldn't even tell where the ridges were. I frogged it after only a few ridges and went to look for something else to use. I finally found one skein of Lion Brand Amazing. AHA! This will work, and I know I have more skeins around, stuck in different bags in my stash. Here's my progress on that as of yesterday afternoon.

    It's actually quite a bit bigger than this now. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but I opted not to wrap and turn the corners. I like the holes.


    Next is a photo of the blanket I'm making for Owen.

    And a close up of the stitch pattern.

   And lastly, here's my progress on the knitted strip for my yarn bomb.

    I have three more now. I went to a BBQ at my friend Bonny's house yesterday, and she gave me two really long strips that she had crocheted for me! As you can see, I am using Sugar 'n Cream cotton.


    P.S. For the 10 stitch blanket, all I did was watch the video on you tube. I did go to Ravelry and download the free pattern, but now I can't find it. Just like the pattern for the slouchy hat I paid good money for.....

Yarn bomb planning and a visit to mom's

    I don't know what's wrong with me. For over 20 years, I have had the perfect canvas for a great yarn bomb right in my back yard! And it's only now, that we are fixing and upgrading, that it suddenly occurs to me. The chain link fence around our pool! I want to wait until the new fence is up, but that gives me plenty of time to make 2" wide strips. Some of my friends are even chipping in to help!


    I have one crocheted purple strip done, I'm estimating it's about 12 feet long. I am currently knitting a strip, and also have another crocheted strip in progress. All this, as well as working on a new knitted blanket for O.G.


    The blanket for O.G. sprang from that wrap project from a few posts ago... As I was knitting it, I thought if I put a garter stitch border on it, this would make a cool blanket, and after a while I couldn't resist the call any more. So the wrap is in a time out, along with all my other projects that I got bored with.


    This past week, I went to visit my mom. We had a lovely visit, but it's funny how these visits bring up childhood memories that you think you've forgotten. One of the strongest memories for me is once I was sick, in bed, and mom brought me a glass of apple juice. As I drank it, I got a mouthful of apple juice mixed with dish soap.


    Now, it was a very insignificant event, in general, yet it affects me to this day. Whenever I'm at mom's and take a glass out of the  cupboard, I habitually put the glass to my nose and sniff the inside. You know, to make sure it doesn't have any dish soap residue in it....


   It goes without saying that to this day, I will not drink apple juice either. But the most significant consequence of that little episode is that it's made me what I call a "Super Rinser". When I wash dishes, I rinse them so well, there couldn't possibly be any dish soap residue left in there to dry and mix with anything in the future, saving future generations from the trauma.

Owen and knitting progress

    This morning, Owen was in his jumpy thing when I got there. About 20 minutes after Daddy left for work, I noticed that he was getting tired and not jumping as much. He would stop, and his head would start to fall forward, then he would open his eyes and start jumping again. He wouldn't give in. Eventually, though, he did give in. My question is this: Am I evil for taking photos *before* I took him out of it?

    The good news is that I was able to get him out of it, still asleep. He did start to jump again when I touched him to pick him up, but I shushed him and cuddled him, and he didn't wake up.


    As for kitting progress, there is some! I am currently finishing the 25th wedge (pattern repeat) . The color has changed again too. It turns out that the first color was a purplish pink, then came orange, now it's a bright pink.


    I don't have a new photo of my progress. I will take one tomorrow and post it. Promise.

Catching up again

    It seems we have found the problem with my laptop. The power/charging cord was bad. Hubs and I went to Best Buy and got a new one, and so far it seems all better! There is only one little problem left. This blog site isn't recognizing the browser I'm using. That makes no sense to me, as I use Google as my browser, and Google owns the blogsite. As long as I can continue to post, it matters not to me.


   I did get to go visit with mom yesterday, at least for a while. Hubs had to go to the house in Fishkill to look at, and hopefully fix, a couple of problems they've been having. He dropped me off at mom's so we could visit. We had a nice time. Unfortunately, it wasn't as long of a visit as I thought it would be. It turns out that everything was OK at the house, at least for now.


    I recently purchased a new nook HD+. It's the big one. I love it so far. I love the touch screen, and I made it so that when I'm reading and turn the page, when I swipe the screen it looks like an actual page is turning. It really is the little things that make me happy.


    Since my laptop is back up, I've been busy transferring photos from there to my nook. I can use them for wallpaper! I need to get some photos of Chloe, Mason and Owen from far away, because of the scale thing. I put a close up of Owen as a wallpaper, and all I got was an eye, a nose, and part of his smile. It was scary looking.


   My days last week babysitting for Owen were lots of fun. He is such a joyful little boy. And at 5 months old, he loves it when you hold him up and he stands on our legs. He can actually support his weight, we just hold him for balance. He might be an early walker. I'm not sure if I should be happy for Sara and Mike, or sorry for them!


    Here is the latest photo of Owen, having tummy time.

    I am shamelessly adding the photo of Owen because it seems when I post photos of the grandkids, I get many more views!


    I was knitting on the legwarmers, but the new nook took my attention away from them. I do take them with me when I go to watch Owen. I hope to get some work done while he naps. Keep your fingers crossed, I might take a photo of them if there's any visible progress...

News, news and more news!

    See what happens when I take a couple of days off? There are developments in nearly every aspect of my life! First, I'm excited about the craft fair next month. Even more so since I was browsing business cards and found one that was perfect for my cat toys! So I ordered some!

    And they will arrive before the craft fair, so I can put one on each cat toy! As if that wasn't enough, I got word from Hubs that our friends female cat is having kittens. They have a young Munchkin male cat, and he bred with their regular female cat. I get to have a kitten if any of the babies turn out to be Munchkins! I am so excited! Here is a photo of a Munchkin cat, just so you know what they look like.

    And here is what a kitten looks like!

    I have no idea what Sam and Jade's kittens will look like, it could go either way. Jade is a beautiful short hair, mostly white, and Sam is a long hair Munchkin. I'm really looking forward to meeting their offspring.


    As you remember, I watched Owen Monday and Tuesday this week, as well as my regular gig on coming up on Thursday and Friday. Well, this week, he rolled over for the first time! I was so excited! He did it four times in all, the first two times to the left and the second ones were to the right. He was so calm about it, he didn't startle himself at all. I tried to get it on video but he wasn't co-operating. I did get a photo of his smile, though.

    He's been drooling up a storm lately! I've been calling him Drooly Smurf. So far, no teeth have poked through, though. His mommy can't feel any yet.


    And lastly!! I have made a decision. After the craft fair, if I haven't sold all my cat toys, I am going to post them for sale in my etsy store. I've had one for ages, but never posted anything for sale yet. It should be fun! And I have the benefit of a good friend who has had experience with an etsy store so if I have any questions, she will help me out.

Two days with Owen

    This week was special, for a number of reasons. In case you don't remember, I babysit for my youngest grandchild every Thursday and Friday. He is the cutest patootie I have seen since his mom was a baby!


   We were having a great time together on Thursday, hanging out and talking to each other. Then he went and partially filled his diaper THREE TIMES! At least they were small ones, and easily cleaned up.


    He loves it when you talk to him, and sing to him. So yesterday, I made my own station on their Pandora, a 70's Rock station. Now I can really sing to him! He is so cute, and he really does sing back at you! I need to find a microphone shaped soft or chewy baby toy. This child is going to be a vocalist, as well as a drummer like daddy and grandpa.


    Next week I will be caring for Owen four days out of the five, so I will probably not be in touch. I'm sure I'll be a total basket case by the end of the week. Who knew that caring for a baby could wear you out so much? It's not like he's a toddler and running around and getting into everything! He pretty much stays where you put him.


    And now for a few photos. These are not new, just my favorites!

    I have been informed that this last one was not posed. He actually fell asleep like that!

An all projects update

   I am still knitting like a mad woman here. Unfortunately, every other project is in a time out. The Pi Shawl, the double knit pad for Owen, the legwarmers (remember them?), I'm sure there are more but I just can't recall right now. They are all in sleep mode and someday I will get back to them.


   Of course, in the meantime, I'm still working on the Huge Adventure Bag. This thing is taking on a life of its own. I am currently almost to the ends of skeins 7 and 8, with 9 and 10 ready to go. I still have 25 more rounds to go until I increase on the short sides for the handle attachment flaps. I would take a photo, but I really don't think it would make much sense to the eye. It would just look  like a giant mound of double stranded, purple stockinette, with four stitch markers  indicating the corners. 


    I'm still plugging away on the 36 inch circular needle. I did find a set of double pointed needles in the size needed, at Out Of The Loop, one of my favorite LYS's. I feel I should mention that Hubs actually volunteered to take me there! We were in Fishkill making a Sam's run, and he mentioned it, so off we went. While we were there, I decided to buy another skein of the yarn I'm using for the Pi Shawl, since I was concerned I would run out before I finished. Now I can make sure it's big enough to suit me.


    I may very well be out of touch for the next few days, as it's my turn to babysit little Owen tomorrow and Friday. I am out of touch with the internet while performing that task. I need to concentrate on the little guy. He's growing so fast! He's become so much more vocal, trying out his little voice! I have so much fun with him....

Project Updates

    1. Remember the great garter stitch monster blanket I was knitting for Owen? This morning I frogged it. I just wasn't into it any more, and it was too big anyway. I re-wound that yarn and have started on a different project. I am making him a double knit pad to lay on. I'm using the Elizabeth Zimmermann one yarn version. It's unbelievably awesome.


    2. I took the Pi Shawl with me on Friday when I babysat for Owen. I got quite a bit done on it. At least I'm through the next set of lace holes, at round 36 of the 48 rounds before the next time the stitch count doubles again.


    3. I am making some progress on my own double knit lap blanket. It's getting harder to do. I'm beginning to change my mind about making a big one for the son-in-law. I think it'll just be too much work. Those of you who know me, know I'm not a big fan of work. So it's back to rethinking a crochet pattern for his blanket. But he doesn't want holes....


    And lastly, 4. I'm still thinking about recreating my notes for my story. I just haven't decided yet.... and I have gotten encouragement. Thanks to those of you who have given it to me.



   

   

Adventures in Babysitting

    I was thrilled that this week I was able to physically get to Sara's house and babysit for little Owen. I missed him last week. I told Hubs that by the time I see him he will probably be walking and talking and swearing! But he wasn't. He was definitely a little bigger, and much more responsive. Lots of smiling and laughing.


    I just can't figure out how come taking care of an infant is so exhausting! It's not like he's running around or anything. I am so tired by the time I get to go home. Yesterday, we had a special moment. He was getting fussy, so I decided to hold him for a while. I laid him on my chest kind of sideways, with his head in the bend of my right elbow. He seemed comfortable there, so I started rocking him. Out of nowhere, I started singing "Soft Kitty" to him. After I sang it once, he looked up at me and smiled! Then he closed his eyes and went to sleep. I sang that stupid song over and over again.


    Today I went with Sara to see my mom. She takes Owen every two weeks to see her. I went this time because I had promised mom I would come see her while Hubs is gone and I haven't gone yet. Besides, I wanted to get a photo or two of her holding Owen.

    And because he's so darn cute, here's a close up of Owen!

    There's more about what happened at Sara's, but it wasn't to do with Owen. I'm saving it for tomorrow!

New Legwarmer Progress

    Yesterday I made some progress on the new legwarmers. I love that I can do them both together. While Owen was napping, I got three rows done, and it's nice and bright there, so I didn't have any trouble seeing the stitches.

                    

    Someone commented on facebook about knitting two things at once, so I will explain. Those of you who know already can skip ahead. First you cast on the stitches for one item (#1). Then using a second ball of the exact same yarn, cast on the same number of stitches on the same needle (#2). You knit the first row of #2 with its own ball of yarn. When you finish that row, drop that yarn. Then knit the first row of #1 with its ball of yarn. So you always knit all the way across, doing each piece with its own yarn.


    This method works especially well with sweater sleeves or other matching pieces, because they will both have the exact same number of rows. I once did this method one better, or so I thought. I did the two front pieces and the back of a sweater all together, but it didn't work out so well. I think I must have gotten confused, because one of the pieces was too short. Perhaps sticking to only two pieces at a time is a better idea.


   If my explanation is confusing, I apologize. If anyone feels they can explain it better, please feel free to comment.


    I am babysitting Owen again today. It's so cool getting to spend time with him when he's so little. Maybe I'll take some photos and post them over the weekend.


10 PM

    I just realized I should give credit where credit is due. My friend Jan Harrington, knitter extraordinaire, showed me how to do the two at once method. Thanks, Jan!!

Time for crochet while babysitting

    I had that for the past two days. I was babysitting for my newest grandson, and while he napped I had time to crochet. I got some more done on the first legwarmer. I think it's about 2/3 done now.


    Babysitting is quite an adventure in itself. First, I really hate having to get up at 5:30 am. I figured that I already get up that early two days a week, what's two more? It wouldn't have been so bad, except after the first day of sitting, I had an awful night of sleep. It was one of those god-awful nights where you wake up every 20 - 30 minutes? I think the best sleep I got all night was the 5 minutes after the alarm went off. I only know I fell back asleep because I was dreaming.


    Really, a newborn doesn't require that much work. But I was exhausted none-the-less. He really is a good natured baby, and doesn't really cry unless there's something wrong. The hardest thing is keeping him occupied for 5 minutes while his bottle heats up. But yesterday, he made my day...


    Sara went upstairs to get dressed. When she came back down, she brought Owen, who was still half asleep. She put him in his downstairs sleeping place. I left him alone in case he went back to sleep. After a few minutes, I looked in, and he was awake, so I leaned over and told him that Nana was here to stay with him today. He looked right at me and smiled!


    I was so very tired yesterday, and that's not a good thing. When I am that tired, I get extremely weepy. The littlest things make me tear up. It happened twice yesterday while I was at Sara's. And then again after Hubs got home from work and I was telling him about it. He just chuckles at me.