The Lost Notes

Today, I was tidying a little around the bedroom, and I found underneath my jewelry box some yarn notes. I had forgotten all about that yarn trip.

Well, that is what I call the day. I went out to to the "big city" for a wedding shower in September, and while out and about there, we passed by a yarn store. My sweetie was willing to indulge me in stopping.

Whew! I have never seen such a store. The yarns were so exquisite and exotic, I was afraid to even pet the yarn. And expensive! Quivit, cashmere, crystals, oh my! I just can't imagine paying over $ 100 for a single skein of yarn, no matter what I would knit with it. Even the clearnance racks were well beyond my yarn budget. I had an eye out for some interesting sock yarn to purchase, and I still walked out empty handed.

My sweetie wanted to stop at some sporting goods store (probably why he was so agreeable to the yarn store stop), and right next door was a Joann fabric. A huge Joann fabric store. What a smart store combination. Men to the left, women to the right, and we will meet in the parking lot between them.

I found more interesting, affordable and droolworthy yarns at JoAnns than I did at the pricey yarn store. I jotted down a few notes, figuring maybe we could go back to the big city again in a few months. Those are the notes that I found this morning.

I just have one more problem. I still have more yarn than time to knit it. But that is getting a little better.

Today, it is all about the dream yarns, both affordable and expensive.

Making knitting out if boredom

Continuing education Wednesday and today. Video replay. What a wonderful thing. It means that I don't have to trek 150 miles (round trip) for the live seminar. Plus, the mood is far more casual. People don't feel the need to feign interest during the more boring and useless parts. (Travel and cruise law? In my twelve years as an attorney, I have never had a cruise law issue. Who picks these topics?)

A little work, a little knitting, and we can skip the breaks and lunch to get done two hours faster. The proctor did decline the suggestion to view on fast forward, perhaps rightly so.

So I have been cranking out the sock inches. Twisted Tweed is nearing the heel. Probably close to the inch away that I thought I was at last weekend.

Plus, I did a little work on . . . . my red sock. Have I not named it yet? I am halfway done with the first sock. How have I not come up with its name yet? I will have to give that some thought.

As it turns out, if you lease a property at below market value to a religious organization, then there is a charitable purpose and you are entitled to a property tax exemption; if you lease property for below market value only because you are receiving government subsidies to off er low-income housing, then there is not a charitable purpose and you are not entitled to a property tax exemption. Welcome to my day.

Today, it is all about the learning.

The family taketh away, and the family giveth

Last night we had a little mishap. Bugaboo was doing something with a laundry basket and somehow fell and hit his head. I picked him up to comfort him, and saw the blood on my hand. Ok, deep breath. Don't panic. Forget that there is a very good reason that I never went to medical school, and let the Mommy training kick in. I spoke in soothing tones and cleaned a little of the blood that was dripping down his neck, onto his shirt, and onto my shirt.

The bleeding stopped within a minute or two. It took longer for my heartrate and breathing to return to normal. It took considerably longer to give him a bath to clean the blood, and try to look at the cut through that thick hair to ascertain whether or not stitches would be necessary. And even longer still to get him tucked into bed, with him milking the attention for all it was worth to delay bedtime.

So much for knitting last night.

But my sweetie, ever considerate of my knitting time (rolling eyes), created some for me this morning. He stubbed his toe getting out of bed this morning, and it was immediately obvious that he wasn't going to be able to walk it off. To quote the nurse that did the xray, he "did a number on his toe." Visibly broken and out of place. We decided to wait the couple hours to go to Urgent Care instead of the ER. Since I was now wide awake at 5 am, I did the things that I was supposed to do before the medical emergency last night, and was free to knit at Urgent Care. I will also be free to knit when I take him to the Ortho department in another hour, while they straighten that toe back into place and tape it in. Which leaves us all wondering how long it will take before he will be able to put his foot in a steel toe boot and go to work.

How thoughtful of my sweetie, to find a way for me to spend part of the day knitting instead of caring for children, doing laundry or working.

And while we are on the subject, why does one tiny little addition to the family increase the laundry exponentially? I am keeping track this month. 22 loads so far and counting. Yes, I started out October 1st with a weeks worth of vacation laundry piled up, but that is still far more than I would have expected. Now, excuse me, while I fold some clothes and start another load.

Today, it is all about the unexpected.

Efforts at Eyeballing

We went camping this past weekend. Well, camping trailer camping. Since my sweetie hates to have me drive his truck if he can prevent it, that meant 90 minutes of knitting time each way. What a treat!

I worked on my Twisted Tweed Socks. Near the end of the drive home, I had a brief flash of delight. Hey, I think I am almost to the heel. Where is the first sock? See only another inch. Well, maybe two. Hmm, that is more like three. Ok, so I am halfway to the heel. Whatever.

Today, it is all about the inaccurate eyeball.

The Best Laid Plans

I did a lot less knitting on vacation than I expected, for a number of reasons:

First, I forgot the headlamp. (To my husband: I know exactly where your headlamp is, and I will fetch it for you as soon as I finish what I am doing. To everyone else: if anyone perchance sees a headlamp around my house, could you please let me know where.) This limited my in-car knitting to daylight hours.

Second, I ended up reading more than expected. I got entangled a book that wasn't all that great but called to me during times of inactivity.

Third, I was tired more than I hoped, and knitting requires less energy and attention than other activities (see above paragraph).

So much for me making noticeable progress on my Twisted Tweed Sock, or Merry Berry shawl, or . . . .well, anything really. I did a few rows on each, nothing that anyone would notice.

Today, it is all about the missed opportunity.

Vacation Promiscuity

Grandma's sock are finished! I dropped by to present them to her on Tuesday. She looked very happy. But, of course, I forgot a camera. I will get a picture of them the next time I stop in to see her.

This means that I am no longer forced into knitting monogomy. And just in time, because tonight we leave on a little vacation, so I am ready for some knitting promiscuity. Deciding on the perfect vacation knitting is so difficult. Worse than packing clothes. My husband always accuses me of packing too much. (Not that he wants to pack for the kids, or isn't grateful when he comes up with something obscure that we need and I pull it out of a bag.) I don't want to pack too much, but I also don't want to run out of knitting (not that I think I am going to finish the socks that are only 25% completed, but I could get bored with them or hit an unforeseen roadblock).

Right now, I am learning towards the two socks in progress, plus the new lace stole that I started a week or two ago. On the "maybe" stack is the Merry Berry Shawl. "Probably not" we have my sweetie's hoodie. When space is limited, a XX men's sweater that is 3/4 finished, along with the sweatshirt I am using as a size model, is not the best option. I will take it if he wants, and even work on it, but if I do, I don't want to hear one syllable about overpacking.

The toe-up socks for my mother are still at the toe (I got sidetracked for them with grandma's request), so I don't think that I will bother bringing those either. Oh, maybe I will bring something new to cast on! Decisions, decisions. I feel like a single girl with loose morals traveling through Europe without my parents for the first time. So many choices. I wan't to indulge in them all!

We are leaving this evening, to do most of the driving overnight while children sleep. I have my head lamp, so I can knit during the nighttime hours. (Tested on a short road trip over Labor Day weekend.)

Today, it is all about the multiple (knitting) encounters.

Downhill to the deadline

I have (finally!) started the decrease the toes on Grandma's socks. It is all downhill from here, baby. Every (other) row, there are four less stitches to knit. Grandma's birthday is next week, so the deadline is doable.

As a bit of celebration, and since I was under the erroneous impression that I had forgotten the sock at the office, I cast on a pretty lace stole. "Is that something new?" my husband asked. Even he can't mistake lace for a sock. "What about my sweater? When are you going to finish that?"

Me: "What sweater?"

Um, you mean the sweater that is hidden behind the sofa? I don't know what you are talking about. Apparently, my days of knitting monogomy aren't finished.

Today, it is all about the substitutions.