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...

Progress photos!

    I got to knit quite a bit today, and I'm proud to show you a new progress photo!

    You may have noticed the name on the yardstick. Yes indeed, we are related.

    That Scheffler was my Hubs' dad. Sadly, the lumberyard burned years ago, and he has since passed away. A very dear friend of my late mother-in-law's gave this to Hubs a few years ago, before she herself passed.


    Earlier  I commented on facebook that I am going to need to watch something light and fun before I go to bed tonight. I spent most of my afternoon watching Paranormal Witness on the Syfy channel, and getting the shyt scared out of me. It always worked for me as a kid, I sure hope it works now. One more hour until The Big Bang Theory comes on. I really don't want to be spooked tonight.

Back to knitting!

    That's right, I'm finally back to knitting. Hubs and I had a glorious weekend together, including a very nice dinner out, and he's now gone back to the land of the MASS-holes. Seriously, people say New York drivers are bad, they have clearly never tried to get out of a parking lot in Mass-hole land where the drivers on the main road completely block the exit, during their own RED LIGHT, and won't let anyone out. At least we stop for red lights and let people trying to get on the road actually get on the road. OK, rant over.


    I'm so glad to be knitting again. As much as I miss Hubs, it's really nice to have some alone time. I can imagine that eventually it will get really old. Then I'll be very glad to see him by the time he comes home! It kind if make me sad that I can't travel with him this time, but at least I get to spend two days a week with little Owen. Although I didn't get to last week because of all the snow. I can't wait to see him this week!


    There are no photos today of my progress on my legwarmers, you'll just have to trust me. I'm getting ready to increase again, 12 more stitches. I've been doing to it with the backwards half-hitch thing, I think it's called, but this time I'm gonna knit through the front then the back of the same stitch. It's a little faster. Sometimes I'm all about efficiency.


   

What I've been up to

    Part III of the storm wasn't much at all. We got another 1 to 1.5 inches of the white stuff.  After the almost 2 feet of snow from parts I and II, that was nothing. Hubs spent most of the day trying and finally succeeding clearing the lower part of our driveway, with a lot of help from the next door neighbor's plow guy, and his childhood friend Gary. It was a very large task, he wouldn't have been able to do it alone with just his snow blower. The berm at the top of that part of the driveway was over 6 feet tall.


    What I really wanted to tell you about today was an adventure I had after this past weeks Stitch n Bitch. Kim H and I went on a short road trip to Hobby Lobby. She needed something, I forget what, and as long as I was there, I found a couple of things I had needed! First, I found that they had some of the plastic rings I couldn't find anywhere else. The ones I use for the Lazy Kim's Cat Toys. I also found some black elastic thread to use in the top ribbing of my legwarmers. Huzzah!


    Of course, I haven't worked on them in days, since Hubs came home for the weekend, and I want to spend as much time with him as I can before he has to go back. In fact he's taking me out to dinner tonight, and this time we are actually going to go out, not just ordering in.


    I've also been enjoying watching the Curling tournament at the Olympics. I feel bad that our men's and women's teams aren't doing very well, but it's amazing to watch.


    Tomorrow I will get back to work on the legwarmers. Promise.

My Storm Day Activities

    Today it's snowing a whole freaking lot. We have at least 8 inches already, and it's gonna keep snowing until sometime tomorrow. I'd been waiting all day for our plow guy to call, so I could go out and clean off the Jeep so it can be moved so he can plow. (<-I know that's a horrible sentence) He called a while ago, said he would call me again when he was almost here. He didn't. He beeped. So I got dressed again and went out.


    The first time I went out to clean off the Jeep, it was really coming down. I cleaned off the front, then the sides and roof. By the time I finished the back and walked around to the front, it was covered again. WTF. He is a really nice guy (now, he was a brat when he was a kid), and when I expressed my fear of trying to break through the road berm, he even moved the Jeep for me!


    I came back inside and fixed myself a drink. Then I hear shoveling noises outside. I thought it was Hubs' friend Gene, who said he would come shovel me out later in the day. Imagine my surprise when it was our next door neighbor! He had borrowed our shovel yesterday and didn't return it. I was gonna go over and ask for it back, but no one has been home all day.


    Aside from all that, I've been mostly knitting today! I've made some real progress on my legwarmers. Between knitting and playing free cell, I'm managing to keep busy.


    I've also been keeping tabs on various family members who had to be out today. My daughter Sara didn't have to work, but her Hubs did. He's home safe and sound. Son Jesse didn't have to go in, but future daughter-in-law Julie did. I hear that they let her go home at noon. I know she's safe because she's posted photos of their snow accumulation on facebook.


   I know son James and his wife Jessica are safe too. My mom is safe because she didn't go anywhere. Friend Kim and her Cherub are home, still waiting for word on her mom, who should be arriving home from work very soon. I just got word that she's home!! Friend Bonny is safe for now, but she has to drive in to work later tonight. I will be anxious about her until I hear in the morning that she made it home safe.


    Once Hubs checks in tonight, then I'll know that everyone I care about most is safe. I didn't sleep very well last night, worrying about the snow, and if I would have to get to Sara's or not. So around noon, I got really sleepy so I went in to lay down and try to take a nap. I laid there for about an hour, but couldn't get to sleep. I kept hearing plowing noises that I thought was our guy. Eventually I gave up and got up.


    I've also been watching this really interesting show on Netflix. It's called The Following, and stars Kevin Bacon. Wow, it's really good. It was recommended to me by friend Kim. I'm glad I gave it a chance.


    I hope if anyone you care about is affected by this horrendous storm, that they are all home from wherever they had to go, and that they are safe and warm.

Visible progress!

    At long last, I have actually made some visible progress on the legwarmers. Huzzah! It seems that in the last few days I've had more free time than usual, so I was able to knit up a storm. At this rate they should be done in a flash.


    I have altered my plan for the legwarmers, I've decided that they don't really need to be knee high. They just need to be long enough to cover the part of my legs that get cold, so maybe halfway up the calf. Years ago, I developed the habit of wearing the bottom ribbing pulled over my feet, like a toe-less sock. That was back in the days when legwarmers were actually new, so mid to late 70's?

    Some of you may notice that I am using a different needle. Yesterday My friend Bonny called and asked if I wanted to go to Michaels craft store. Of course I said YES! So we went, and I figured that as long as I was there, I might as well pick up a shorter size 3 circular needle. Now I can return the borrowed one to it's rightful owner. Not that there was a problem, I just don't like having to borrow things, as I tend to lose things, usually my own.


    And lastly, there's an idea for a post that's been rattling around in my mind for a while now. I still need to think about it some more. I'm trying to figure out how I want to say what needs saying. The topic is something I've gradually become aware of over the last few years.

Knitting and memories

    I was thinking about my grandmother a little while ago. The one who taught me to knit when I was 10, whom I lovingly refer to as The Knitting Nazi. I was washing dishes, and she frequently enters my thoughts during that particular activity. Maybe she is the reason I hate doing it so much. She was a particularly unpleasant person when she got old, and I remember telling her I hated her when she made me wash dishes when I had a friend over to play.


    That train of thought reminded me that when I was a kid,  I hated that all the silverware was in the bottom of the sink. Do you know that as soon as I moved out on my own, I found a large plastic tumbler to be kept by the sink, that I put all the dirty silverware in. I put a few drops of dish detergent in there, and fill it with hot water. That way, the silverware isn't all in the bottom of the sink, and if I need a spoon I can wash just that one spoon. I have one there to this day.


    I managed to get some knitting on the legwarmers yesterday. I don't know if I'll be able to today, as Hubs and I are spending the day together, culminating in dinner out tonight. I'm looking forward to that.

After the storm

   At this point, all I can do is hope the storm is over. We must have over a foot of snow at this point. We have shoveled, and been plowed out. Maybe this afternoon I can get some work done on my legwarmers.


    Yesterday I didn't get to knit at all, we were busy at doctor appointments, grocery shopping, and picking up meds at the drug store. Hubs needed blood work, so that took a while.


    The bad news is that my Jeep broke. I made it home from Sara's house Friday, barely, parked it and swore I wasn't driving it again until it was at least looked at. I didn't get to tell Hubs about it until Saturday evening after he got home from work. With husbands, timing is everything.


    Friday night he was too busy venting about work. I would just have added to the stress, so I made the executive decision to wait. In the end it turns out that once again my instincts were correct. It seems that my right rear wheel was falling off. Two of the studs were broken off, and the whole thing was wobbling when I drove. That would have been the "whoop whoop" sound I was hearing when I drove.


   The good news is that it's now all fixed. And Hubs can return all those other parts he bought before he realized what the problem actually was. After he came home with my repaired Jeep, he was freaking out that he hadn't noticed the problem. And the fact that I had mentioned to him twice that there was a problem.


    So I get to babysit for little Owen tomorrow. I can't wait to see him! I just hope the roads are all passable in the morning.

Back to knitting!

    I've been working on my legwarmers frequently, and have progress to show you! It's helped tremendously to have the circular needle, and things are moving right along. Without further ado, here is today's progress photo!

A Successful Transition

    I have been working on my two-legwarmers-at-once most of the morning. Using the straight needles was getting really old. I have talked about this before, I am totally spoiled by circular needles. I use them for everything I knit.


   I borrowed a size three circular needle from my good friend Kim H. and have successfully transferred both legwarmers to it. Now I'm ready to rock and roll. There is enough of them done to easily tell which stitch to do now. The first few rows were tough, between the black yarn and the tiny stitches. I was sitting here chanting "knit, knit, purl, purl" over and over again. Gotta love 2 x 2 ribbing. There's going be about 5 or 6 inches of it, so I could very well go insane before it's all said and done.

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!!