Cleaning, wrapping and packing. That is all that is allowed today. No working on those last mittens or the last Booga J Bag, that will have to wait til we are on the road in the car. I do have all the gifts that will be traveling with us wrapped and packed. I have all my scrapbooking stuff (of which there is a lot!) packed in the car (on the second leg of the trip, my sil will be scrapbooking along with me). I still need to finish cleaning and wrap the gifts for tomorrow morning and pack all our vacation stuff (clothes, games for the car, etc).

To update on yesterdays activities, Moby is home and doing pretty well - the cyst looks terrible as it is filling again, but the vet said not to worry about it. Pete found a key last night that looked like it might be a Volvo key, so this morning I took him to work, he tried the key and it worked!!! YIPPEE!! Things are getting better!

Okay, back to cleaning, wrapping and packing....

What a day it has been.

Starting off with the drama with Moby. She still isn't home yet, at 6:00 she was still quite groggy, so the vet wanted to keep her overnight - poor thing looks so pitiful. The cyst seemed to have filled again so the vet was also going to drain it again. She said if it fills again after this, there really isn't anything that can be done, and it's not dangerous so we will just leave it be. When I saw her, the vet had shaved that part of her shoulder and it looked like someone took a baseball, cut it in half and slide it under her skin. The vet said it was huger before she drained it, then it was flat but is now filling up again.

Pete called at about 8:15pm and said that he lost his car keys. I can't seem to find the spare set (I think they were on my key ring when I lost it about a year ago), so I had to go and pick him up at work. Now we are trying to figure out how to get a key for his car on Christmas Eve -- argh!!! I don't know what we will do if we can't get one from the Volvo dealership - I guess we will have to have the car towed to our house (a half hour away) and deal with it when we return (Jan. 3) There will go a large chunk of the overtime money Pete has been making. He's been working til 8 or 9 nearly every night for the past two weeks. Thank goodness, cuz we need it.

Heading to bed since I will have get up soooo early to take Pete to work and then figure out this key problem, then pick up Moby and clean the house for Christmas and make it decent since the pet sitters will need to feed the two cats in separate places (I'm nervous about the two cats being together with Moby so vulnerable and Peanut so agressive -- I'm not looking forward to this!)

On the brink of giving up....

I've decided that I simply have rework the Knitmas list. After to do some rearranging (for dh, who surprised me with some gift-giving needs), and with Sean being soo sick (we are currently at a week and counting), I had to reevaluate my knitting gifts. There were a couple of things I had on the list that would have been extras anyway, so it isn't too bad and perhaps if Sean gets better I may be able to get a couple of things done en route, but I don't want to stress over them.

I have one Booga bag in the washer now and one more to make, plus a bunch more mittens, but maybe I can get them fairly quickly, maybe??? Part of the problem now, is that I have lost my motivation - I'm just so tired (from taking care of Sean) that I have little energy left for knitting. He wants me snuggling on the couch laying down with him almost constantly and that makes it hard to knit. In the past two days I have barely started one lonely mitten.

I really hope that he gets better so that we will be able to carry our holiday plans of visiting family in PA and NY. We rarely get to see them, so it would be a big disappointment if we can't go.

Just for fun....



I'm Marge, who are you? by Lexi

What a cool site that Brenda found! You can print out cute hand knit labels for your Christmas/Yule Gift Giving. I love it!

Meanwhile....Sean has been sick with a possible flu (that would be the offical diagnosis) since Sunday night. Today he seems to be doing better, except that now he is napping again on the couch.

I am planning to get some pictures up soon. I have been making some progress on my knitting, which is good since I haven't been able to do anything else like clean the house or do laundry or anything. Sean basically wants me sitting next to him 24/7. I was able to finish Bucket #3 and even the coordinating Bucket #4. I do have Bucket #5 underway, but I don't know if it is going to make it. I didn't swatch (me bad) and the band size came out bigger than I had planned, I doubled the Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted weight (I seem to get a better Bucket when I use a bulky weight), but I forgot to double it again on the brim, so the brim is a little floppy. I really love this yarn (especially when doubled), but I think I will either need to frog it or forget it. I think I will have to finish up the rest of the list before I go back and redo it.

In other frustrating news, I did another pair of mittens to coordinate with Buckets #3 & 4, but not thinking I forgot to change needle size from the smaller ribbing needle (7) to the body of the mitten needle (9). For some reason, maybe the yarn? (Encore Bulky) or the too tiny size? the mittens look weird - not very good. I am changing patterns back to the dpn style to see if I like the results of the next pair. And dog gone it - I had a good idea with those too small mittens, since they were knit on straight needles (well, mine were circs), I decided to knit them together - so I cast on for 2 mittens and using separate balls of yarn, knit them at the same time, made it very easy to be sure that they were the same size. Except of course, they were too small because of the needle problem.

Now to try and make up some time from all this knitting disasters (guess I actually wasn't very productive, huh?).

Sick Day!

Well, almost the whole day today I spent in bed, knitting of course. I seem to have a not so great head cold. The worst part is that my nose is now quite raw from all the nose-blowing. If it weren't for the fact that it is snow-storming today I would have sent Pete to the store for some Puffs Plus.

I was able finish up another pair of the mittens, finish the Bucket #3 and even did another Bucket today. I will do some pictures maybe tomorrow, if I'm feeling better. I've been trying to assess the gifts and started putting them into boxes to get ready to wrap. I think I will need to get some tissue paper since all the knitted things look rather pitiful just lying in a box. Seems crazy to buy tissue paper that will just get tossed, and normally I have a lot of recycled paper hanging around, but I've used it all.

Back to bed....

So after finished up the Mama Mitts last night I got the gumption to cast on for the next Bucket. It will be a colorblocked version is great bright colors and so far I really like the way it is coming out. I got the band done in bright blue and even the brim (in red) isn't rolling - I used some of the techniques from Bonne Marie to help with that. I purled the last row and then bound off purl-wise. I think it does make a huge difference. I just blocked the brim:



The top of the bucket will be bright yellow. I am using Encore Bulky Weight yarn and so far I really like it. I'm going to be making two in the same colorway, but mixed up a bit, different colors on different sections. I was going to go with a traditional watch cap or jester-y hat for these young fellows, but I think they will like the Bucket - since it is little different than the usual hat fare. If I have time AND yarn, I would like to make some color blocked mittens to go with the hats, but before that I need to get some other projects done.

Long Update since this has been in draft form for a day and half and since it is 2 weeks til Christmas, projects NEED to fly off the needles! :)

I cast on for the next gift today. I wanted something that would knit up quickly - hey it is December 11th!!! But I also wanted something that would be warm. The gal at my lys pointed me toward Lamb's Pride Superwash Wool, it looked good, I figured I'd give it a whirl. The pattern I decided to go with is knit flat and then seamed, but I didn't want garter stitch (already done those from the Knit Stitch), and this pattern uses SS. I doubled the yarn since I wanted to do the bulky weight sizing and so far I'm really loving it! Oh, did you notice that I went off my diet today??? Oh dear, well it is for a gift and that doesn't count does it? Here is the finished pic:



One very cool thing that I noticed is that I am now able to rib continental - how cool is that? I still can't purl very easily, but for some reason the 1x1 ribbing is fine - since the yarn slips to the back after I purl, it kinda works. I do end up twisting the stitches, but learned that if I knit into the back of the twisted stitches on the next row, it straightens them out. I believe I learned that tidbit from Stitch 'N' Bitch. Thanks Debbie!

And for a close up of the 1x1 rib, which just looks neat:


I also managed to get my latest Booga J Bag into the washer and it is now blocking. I think that means only 2 more to go! If I have enough yarn and time I think I will try to make another for a friend who has helped out watching Sean several times when I needed someone. The currently blocking bag is made with a new yarn for me. It is from Elann, it is their Peruvian Wool - the best thing about this wool is that it is slightly thinner in weight than the Lamb's Pride, which means that it WILL go through my handy Icord maker! (Lamb's Pride it just too thick and it gets stuck). I think it may be worth it to not have to do the Icord to switch to the Peruvian Wool - I also changed the needle size that I normally do (10 1/2) to 9. Guess I will have to pick up a new Addi size 9 this weekend :)

Here are a couple other FOs that I don't think I posted before. First is the finished Haiku:


Next is the Baby Albert:


I got an email the other day asking what progress I've made on the Prepschool Ties - basically the answer is not much. They are soooo slow going, perhaps in January they will become my car projects that just live in the car. Here are the latest photos with Prepschool #1 and then Prepschool #2 (the regia one).

Have you seen the newest edition of Knitty is out!!!! Yippee! What to make first??? Hmmmm....

Today I've been able to get some things done. I whipped out three more balls between last night and this morning, stuffed, seamed and finished! I also got a whole bunch of ebay sales packaged up and shipped out (okay, so they are waiting for the postman). I took a bunch of pictures for things I would like to get up on ebay hopefully today! And I've done a few rows on Haiku. Slow and steady wins the race, right??

Ahren commented this weekend how much she likes the stocking and holder that I bought last week. When I saw it, I knew it was perfect. It is an angel and actually lights up when you flip a switch on the bottom. I wanted to get something to remember the miscarriage that I had early this summer. I would have been due around now and wanted to do something to remember it. The angel was just perfect, since when I was on bedrest, we (Pete and I) had been talking about names for the baby, I had earlier been doddling some names on a paper and one of them was Angelina. Later Pete suggested that name and I asked if he had read my doddlings, he said he hadn't. We both instantly liked the name since we had individually come up with it on our own. Later that day, Angelina left this world. The next day when we told Ahren about losing the baby, the first thing that she asked was "what was her name going to be?" We told her that we were thinking of Angelina and how it means Little Angel and that Angelina's Spirit will always be with us, looking over us. She liked that, we liked that. Anywho, here a pic of the stocking holder:

A Productive Weekend

Today we actually bought ($20!!) our tree after church, even got it decorated. Here's a pic:



We got most of the Holiday cards made. It was a family affair - Ahren and Sean helped with the *cutting out* of the trees for the front, Ahren did all the rubber stamping and I did the assembling. Pete is helping with gathering the list of names to send out. They are simple, but cute - I think.

Knitting-wise, I was also productive. I got two of the in-progress Booga J Bags done AND put together - yippee!

First prefelting (that the bag and the Icord for the subtle bag, and the purple Icord for the other bag):



Now the afters of both bags:



I also finished the body and first sleeve of Haiku:



I did seam the second sleeve on Ahren's sweater but forgot to take a picture. Still have to finish the collar.

Trip to the LYS

While Sean was at school today, I made a trip to the LYS - not really a good thing while on a Yarn Diet. I found the pattern that want to do for Pete's sweater - It is a Raglan In The Round. But the pattern calls for chunky yarn and the yarn that I had already purchased for his sweater is worsted weight, so I took my bag of yarn to the store to have them help me figure out if I could just double-up on the yarn and knit the whole thing with two strands. She said that I could do, I would have to buy another 10 skeins of the yarn I already had, or I could just return the 10 skeins (they were still in the original packaging) and the chunky weight yarn. I opted for going with the chunky weight. I wasn't expecting to do that since I didn't think they would take the yarn back, but she was happy to do it. I was happy to. Then while I was there I bought a skein of black Zap. I think it will look good on the brim of my next Bucket-O-Chic, which will be dark brown and black. I did knit up one hat with those colors to go with my winter coat, but I didn't like the way it looked, so I think I will frog it and stick with the tried and true Bucket.

Living Room Arranging

In an effort to get ready for the Christmas tree, yesterday I worked on rearranging the living room to accomadate to new December addition to the room. I worked and reworked the room which was not easy with the very heavy modular couch we have. I found an arrangement that I really liked, although it wasn't perfect. I like to keep the modular pieces together to the point of, if need be, having the furniture stick out in the middle of the room creating a hallway-effect on the opposite side (this probably makes no sense to anyone not familiar with our living room). Pete does not like this effect. When he got home last night he started moving things around, he now has all 3 pieces of the modular couch broken up and sort of scattered around the room. I don't like it, not at all. It makes it not as cozy to cuddle up on the couch. I suppose I will try to live with it, it's only for a month. Either that or we will break down and get the 2 futons that we want to get *someday*. But really I don't see that happening, so I will just live with it.

Icord

Yesterday I started working on the Icord for the Booga J bag that is on the needles right now. One thing that I have found is that it seems much easier to do the Icord at the beginning of the bag than at the end. I don't know why, but it just is. I finished the cord for the wip bag and even today whipped through the cord for the purple/colorlash bag that has been finished for a weeks - all except the cord!

I'm hoping that I have enough wool for all the bags I still need to make.

Parade of Pics

I got out the camera tonight and took a bunch of pics. First, here is a pic of me in my latest Bucket-O-Chic. This was for the Bucket-A-Long, the deadline is December 4th and I actually made it! Yeah!



Next up, is the progress I'm making on Ahren's sweater. One sleeve is done, tho' it is running on the large size, and I did have to frog the collar, but hey she can grow into it and I can use the ribbing practice (yeah, right).



I finally took a picture of the purple Booga J Bag. This was made with lavendar Lamb's Pride and lavendar Flutter - it is really sweet and sassy. I still have to do the Icord.



And I can't forget my Whirlie hats!!! They really turned out cute. Definitely my new gift-of-choice for the preggo bunch.



Lastly, the start of the next Booga J Bag, it will be repeat of the one I gave my mil.

All Done Until 2007

I have served my requirements for jury duty until 2007. I ended up not getting into the jury pool even, not even to the voir dire! As it turned out, I was glad, since I was not able to take my knitting with me - I was even using my Denise needles and a set of bamboo needles, but they took them saying that they weren't allowed - I explained that they WERE allowed on the airlines, they even took my kids safety scissors!

Then one woman was clipping coupons with scissors and another woman was crocheting with a metal circular crochet hook (?) - looked more like knitting with a crochet hook! I was quite annoyed that for some reason these other women were allowed to play with dangerous items but not me! :(

So I did my civic duty at the cost of not getting any knitting done today. I guess that makes it a wash.

Sean had a good time with Parris and I even was able to stop at Toys R Us to get the one *big* present for Ahren -- Go Go My Walking Pup - she has been wanting one since September - so that will be her gift from Santa.

Now I get to finish up my resume for the teacher's meeting tomorrow morning. Have I mentioned that I'm going to be the permenant sub for Sean's preschool teacher's aide who is leaving in mid December to have a baby. I'm happy about it (especially a little bit of extra cash!) but I will lose the only kid-free time that I currently have. Oh well, it will be worth it. I especially really like the class' teacher, so that makes it all worth it.

Jury Duty

I just called the hotline number to see if I need to show up for jury duty tomorrow and I do. I am rather looking forward to it - relative peace and quiet (okay, so peace & quiet = no kids fighting or asking me for one more snack or a computer game!).

The last time I got called for jury duty was when I was 7-8 months pregnant with Sean. I ended up being on a murder trial. It was very, very interesting. We went for about 3 weeks and ended up as a hung jury. When it came time to select a foreperson, we all drew cards, with high card being foreperson - I drew the King. There were actually a couple of people who ended up volunteering to take it for me, since noone wanted the Great Pregnant Woman to go into labor early from stress. The trial ended around the beginning of November and Sean was born on November 25th.

I have my knitting all packed up and ready to go (with my bamboo circs hopefully they will okay with the detectors). Sean is going to Carol's house (who's daughter, Parris is in Sean's preschool class) for the day. He will have fun. Grandma is on call for after Ahren's bus drops her off, if I'm not home yet. I think everything is lined up. I wanted to wear my grey twin sweater set with black khakis but I can't find the shell for the underneath, so I think I might wear my denim Thanksgiving dress instead.