Busy Work

That’s what a lot of my life has been consisting of since Friday. Busy work. I have some good news and I have some bad news as well.

I’ll start with the bad and then work my way up. As many of you know I’ve had a lot of emotional problems in my life. Unfortunately it seems like some of the problems have been genetically transferred to Jem and he suffers from ADD and another condition called ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder, it’s considered a mood disorder). The past few months Jem’s behavior has escalated from bad to worse. There have been empty threats at sending him to military school (I’m not in a financial position) or having the police arrest him for the things he’s been doing (mainly, he’s been physical towards Scout and he is 100 lbs. larger and 9 years older). Friday was not a good day for him and it exploded out of control around 5:00. Long story short the sheriffs picked him up and transferred him to a children’s psychiatric facility so that they could monitor his medications and confirm his diagnosis. I’ve met with another therapist (this will be the third that’s made this comment) that believes that Jem might have a mild case of autism. It shows with his social development and relationships. While it scares me, that word, it brings me some relief because maybe that is what’s really wrong and we’ve been treating him for the wrong malady. I don’t really know. I do know that I want Jem to get the help he needs because he obviously doesn’t want it from me. And I now that as often as I ask for “peace and quiet”, when he asks me what I want, I’d much prefer to be arguing with him than for him to be so far away and me feeling helpless.

The good news is that Shawn and I have been communicating a little more. We had a little bit of a problem with him not calling when he said he would which causes a lot of anxiety for me. But yesterday he came over in the afternoon and we had a wonderful time watching TV and “The Warriors” on DVD. I grilled some sirloin steaks and corn and for dessert we had chocolate shakes from Jack in the Box (I had  a buy one, get one coupon). He spent the night and I ended up waking up right before he left for work, it was like old times. I’m hoping the more that we work on our relationship the sooner he will realize that he wants to be home permanently.

In the meantime I’ve spent a lot of time using my sewing machine. Maybe it’s because I don’t normally have a lot of chances at it. Yesterday I got busy making a Barbie doll for Scout using the new Wee Wonderfuls: 24 New Dolls to Sew and Love.

{ Barbie }

Made using 100% wool felt and Michael Miller cotton prints.

Eyes and mouth are both hand embroidered.

I modified the dress, instead of hand sewing gathering stitches I decided to make a casing and add some elastic. It has the same effect. I also omitted the collar for the dress. The next one will have a more “professional” outfit. Yes, there will be another one. Barbie needs friends, you know?

Color

I realize that it’s Tuesday and I’m a bit late to blogging about the weekend but we had one amazing Saturday.

The morning was a bit scurried. We took Rogue to get her Rabies shot. This is only her third ride in the car and it was a bit rough going at first. Once she got the hang of it her nose prints were all over the passenger side window.

While Jem was at the skate park I had a thought!

A brilliant thought.

How about a slumber party?

I went to the grocery store for provisions: two flavors of ice cream, Cool Whip, Hershey’s Chocolate Fudge, Mrs. Robinson’s Butterscotch Caramel sauce, popcorn, sodas…

And balloons. We had to have balloons!

I set up the house. I lit candles. I dragged the kids twin beds to the living room and then brought out all of our pillows and blankets. We picked out scary movies (“Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Freddy vs. Jason”). We played truth or dare but no one really wanted to shave their eyebrows or streak the apartment building. (Who would?)

It was one of those rare nights when we didn’t have to think about Jem’s ADHD or if Scout would make a mess. It was nice having an impromtu party and we’ve already planned for a Tea Party with lemonade, tea, little cakes and sandwiches. And a Beach Party.

And just sweeten the pot:

{The Plucky Knitter Handpainted Fingering Merino: Saturday Jeans, on top, and Don and Betty, on bottom. Destined to be some kick ass socks! Maybe party socks.}

30 Days of Happiness

Over at Erin’s blog she started a Thirty Days of Happiness theme. I wanted to follow suit because the past few days, and I’m sure the days to come, have been and will be emotionally rough.

Inside I’ve felt anger, hopelessness, sadness, guilt and fear. Dalton’s death is still too new. Sometimes I coast through the day and I don’t give him a thought. But then I look under the coffee table as I sit on the couch to knit. He isn’t under there swatting his tail, left, right, left, right. I expect him to be sitting on the balcony soaking in the setting sun. But then I open the door and there’s nothing there but stucco and an empty herbal pot.

I need to dig down and find some happiness. I can not let his death consume me. I know that he wouldn’t want it that way. So I’m going to buckle down. I’m going to live 30 days of happiness.

The pictures all represent some type of happiness I have in my life, this minute.

It’s the end of the Summer.

I’ve been sketching and drawing in my spare time. Shawn bought me a new book and Derwent pencils, (my absolute fave).

I’ve been knitting the Rhiannon socks, but truth be told it will be slow knitting. (How hard does a sock have to be? Try knitting four charts at the same time. Mind you, they don’t all have the same row count.)

I also picked up a copy of Ysolda Teague’s new pattern from Twist Collective: the beautiful Vine Yoke Cardigan. I’m using some Cascade Ecological Wool that I had in my stash and already I’m quite pleased. I am thinking I might have someone make me some special buttons to compliment my new sweater.

And I have to say I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading. I think it’s suffice to say that it will be keeping me quite busy next week. The low down: I was born with club foot and had corrective surgery when I was a day old. Then when I was sixteen I jumped down off a fence and landed so hard on my right foot that it broke. Then I broke it again, playing softball, in 2003. The second time it didn’t heal and for the past six years I’ve had a lot of swelling, numbness and pain. I found a Dr. who can reconstruct my ankle and foot. It’s going to require a 3-5 hour surgery. A few days in the hospital. Crutches. And a lot of books. A whole lot of books to get me through 5 months in a cast/walking boot.

Any suggestions?

Hat’s Off To Me

Sleeping in on a Saturday morning – there’s nothing better.

Cloudy skies.

The sound of the water dripping from the rain gutters.

Sore throat.

Hot tea with honey.

Package of Sundara in the mail.

Lazy weekend.

Thick socks.

Finished Thorpe.

Made with Woolganic Australian Merino Wool, probably one of the softest wools I’ve ever worked with. Another plus is that it has some of the nicest stitch definition I’ve ever seen.

Happy New Years

In some parts of the world they are ringing in the New Year but here in So Cal we are 10 hours away from the beginning of a new year. I anticipate the new year. I welcome it’s newness. I welcome the resolutions. I welcome a fresh start.

I even welcome crossing over some of my projects that I started in my haste to cast on a new yarn. I decided to make Shawn a pair of socks for his birthday with the Malabrigo he bought me for Christmas. I’m making it up as I go along. I’m enjoying using a new yarn. I’m enjoying each stitch. I think of when he will put these socks on to ward off the nip in the air this winter. How they will comfort him. How they will remind him that someone cares so much for him. As of today, I have 28 days to finish. It shouldn’t be a problem but I find that my knitting has dwindled a bit with the holidays.

I decided on a twisted rib for the cuff, much more clean and elastic in my opinion. The rest will be a garter stitch rib found in a stitch dictionary.

As for my resolutions, well they are simple.

1. My goal is to read 48 books this year.

2. Take formal sewing classes, (this starts next Tuesday).

3. Finish the confounded Vogue Cable Tunic from 2005.

4. Knit more teddy bears for the Mother Bear Project.

5. Get back to exercising 3-4 times a week.

6. Join the Santa Clarita Quilter’s Guild.

7. Live simple.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Years! Cheers.

Preview

I’ve been working on all of my projects as much as I can and I’m happy to say that I’m much more closer to being done.

I have a Back Tack gift or two that need some finishing touches.

I have some numbers to embroider.

I have borders to cut and sew.

I have a scarf to wear.

Shawn knit 220 yards of worsted weight yarn for me. He knit 15 stitches of garter stitch back and forth for me. He knit 5 feet of fabric for me.

And I ♥ him.

Cobblestone, finally

The Cobblestone sweater has been done for a week or so, but we didn’t take pictures until now. With the weather and it’s dramatic changes, yesterday seemed to be a perfect day to not only take pictures but wear the sweaters. In fact, I wore my Tilted Duster. Shawn wore his Cobblestone. Jem wore one of the sweaters I made for him a few years ago. We were a sweater wearing family. All but for Scout, since she had on a long sleeved shirt.

So, with that said here’s to debuting the Cobblestone:

Cobblestone by Jared Flood of Brooklyntweed

Yarn: Mirasol Project Cotanani, used about 11-12 skeins, (I was bad and didn’t keep track)

Needles: US 7’s, circulars

Mods: Instead of knitting 4 rows in the round, I did a K, P, K, P for the neck edge so that it would lay flat, rather than be rolled.

While I love the end result I have to say that part of the process in knitting this was a bit of a pain. The yoke was the most difficult part. When it came to short rows I didn’t seem to be the only person to have problems. With sock knitting you have short rows but you normally pick up the wraps. With the sweater you don’t pick up the wraps and it causes you to have gaping holes. I had to go back and tighten up the holes when I did the seaming/finishing.

Something else I didn’t like: After picking up the sleeve stitches when joining for the yoke, you have to go back and seam the underarm by Kitchener Stitch. In my opinion, I don’t think it’s such a great technique. It just didn’t seem sturdy enough for me. So, I went back and re-seamed everything so that it would be durable.

All in all, it was a good project. The yarn was delicious to work with. If you’ve never heard of the Mirasol Project you should definitely check out their website and read their cause. And of course, you must try their yarns. Absolutely beautiful yarns. Gorgeous color. (The downside is that the yardage isn’t all that great, though it is priced right. Of course if you want to get a discount you should check out this great online yarn shop that sells the yarn by the bag at a great price!)

I also worked on, and finished, the Lace Cap from Knitty. I still have one more, in purple, to do this week, but here’s the progress I made on the white before deciding to finish it up this evening:

Lace Cap by Adrienne Robson for Knitty, Summer 2003

Yarn: Elann Peruvian Baby Lace Merino, double stranded

Needles: US 3, though I think while I got gauge, the cap runs a little small, (or maybe my brains are so big that my head had to grow to accomodate them)

Fairly quick knit, but when it’s for someone else, (and someone you don’t know), it’s not as motivating. That and this weekend I’ve felt pretty sick. I was supposed to go to the LYS yesterday but I just wasn’t feeling it. Shawn, his friend and his wife, and I went bowling last night and I felt ok. But when I got up this morning and started to clean up a bit, I felt completely blah again. I’ve watched three episodes of “Murder, She Wrote”, three episodes of “Matlock”, and am currently keeping up with the “Fresh Price of Bel Air” marathon while knitting. I still have a lot to do this weekend so I better get to it.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Something so simple, something so sweet

Not much to say. Some things are just so simple.

Shawn’s new and improved Cobblestone. Yarn is Mirasol Project Cotanani in a charcoal gray.

Other things are just so sweet.

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream using the ice cream maker attachment that Shawn bought for me two birthdays ago. Very delish.

Snake Socks Complete

I finished Shawn’s Snake Socks last night. This gives me time to work on the Charlotte’s Web. (The one that I accidently dropped a stitch two rows beneath and am now having to unknit two complete rows of 191 stitches…of LACE.) But that’s ok. I really am trying to stick to working on one big project at a time. My WIP’s are, (finally), decreasing.

Snake Socks for Shawn

Yarn: Koigu KPPM (the stuff I bought from the 50% off sale last month)

Gauge: 8 sts to 1″ on US 1’s

Pattern: I attempted to do that Basketweave pattern from Charlene Schurch’s “More Sensational Knitted Socks”, but it was wrong, (and I have to say that Charlene emailed me! and sent me the right pattern which will probably be the next pair of socks I knit). So I used her template and just did stockinette stitch over 80 sts in the round, Easy Toe and Short Row Heel, with a 1×1 rib for the cuff.

That’s pretty much it.

We ended up not going to the Strawberry Festival, due to finances, which was kind of a bummer. But I did have a chance to sleep in this morning, Shawn made a fantastic breakfast, I went swimming with Jem, and now I’m making manicotti and chocolate cupcakes. (Even though my TMJ flared up, again, yesterday…I’m willing to risk it again with cupcakes. I just won’t open my mouth too wide.) Yum!

Other than that, I am going to do Ann Budd’s 2×2 Toe Up sock from IK Summer 2007 for my Hogwarts Sock Pal in her House Colors and maybe make some headway on the Rowan Flood Sweater since it’s been sitting in the bin for a while.

Ciao!

Wouldn’t you know?

I’d say that I’ve been busy, that would be my excuse. And to some extent it’s been true. But the real reason I haven’t posted, (or knit much for that matter), is that I’ve been extremely tired. This whole week has been draining. But this weekend was excellent and here’s why:

After finishing the Little Bunny Foo Foo socks, (which I have to say thanks to all of you for your nice comments, I appreciate them), Shawn requested another pair. So I cast on for his socks and lo and behold, the pattern from Charlene Schurch’s “More Sensational Knitted Socks” was, dare I say, wrong! The picture didn’t match the stitch pattern. Instead, Shawn asked that I make them plain. As in Stockinette Stitch. Sounds good to me.

I had to use Scout’s Dino for a model. I couldn’t find anything else. We are going to call these Shawn’s Snake Socks. The Koigu reminds me of a snake. Thus, Snake Socks. I have no complaints about these socks, except that I may have cast on 6 sts too many, but I found a way around having to rip them out and start over. Stay tuned for that!

I started Scout’s Diamond Sweater from one of my many Debbie Bliss books. I’m using the Lana Grossa Elastico that I got from the 50% off sale that I got last week. I love this pattern. It’s the third time I’ve knit it and it’s never gotten old.

And a close up to show the texture.

And I bet you wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t have a picture huh?

Yup, that’s Shawn knitting!

You see, we kind of made this deal about him racing his r/c’s every Saturday night and me going knitting once a week for a few hours, (at night). Well after reading, “Babyproofing your Marriage”, I realized we really needed to make more attempts at spending more time together, rather than apart for our own hobbies. So yesterday, I went to see him race at 5:30. We stayed til about 8:30. And then today, he said he wanted me to teach him to knit. Now mind you, he’s not interested in knit/purl/dec/inc…he is just doing garter stitch. He says he’ll make me a scarf. I said I’d wear it. I’m really proud of him for a.) asking me to teach him and b.) that he took to it so well. Are you jealous? LOL.

This afternoon I made some cupcakes, (which would later turn my craving into my demise), for May: Yeah, I brought out the piping tips and all. I felt creative. Unfortunately, eating a cupcake caused my TMJ to flare up. My right jaw is extremely sore after having it locked up for about a half hour. The biggest problem is that the dentist really can’t do anything. They can send me to an oral surgeon, but short of surgery all I can do is take Tylenol and wear a mouth guard at night, (which I’m doing anyway). Surgery isn’t in the cards at the moment. Cold compress it is for the time being. *sigh* Were the cupcakes worth it, you ask? Yes. They were.

On the homefront, Jem is doing his State Testing this week. He also has his Psych Evaluation this Wednesday. It’s looking more and more like ADD/ADHD. We’ll find out the details on Wednesday and go from there. I must say, he’s been a pretty good kid the past couple of days. After he got called out on the attitude though. *boys*

Scout is doing well, as always. She’s eating cereal and baby food now. She ♥ Sweet Potatoes and Bananas.

She also ♥ her toys. She loves to suck on them.

As you can see.

And on a final note. I’d really like to know what you all think about swaps. I’m a bit disappointed in the Sockret Pal Swap. Not in the person who spoiled me. But in the person I spoiled. I sent off the first package, no problem. The second and third, I put into one box and had Shawn mail off for me. Stupid me for not having him get a delivery confirmation. Apparently the box hasn’t gotten there yet, and it’s been weeks. Now, I understand her disappointment BUT she’s posted about how she’s been “jilted” (mind you she doesn’t post my name), even after I offered to knit her another pair of socks and replace the things that I bought her. But I’m irked. It really bothers me that some people can’t be grateful for the things they do get. I tried my best. In fact, in my first package alone I went above and beyond the “minimum”, not to mention I constantly emailed without many responses.

I suppose my expectations of swaps are a bit more than the “post a blog twice a month, contact your pal on the 1st and 15th”, kind of thing. I do a lot for my pals and now I feel like I am being outted because the lousy Post Office lost her package. *sigh* So anyway, I just want to know how you feel about swaps? Do you join them or stay away? What have your experiences been like?