9 years

Today would have been my 9th wedding anniversary.

Would have been if Lorelei's Dad hadn't passed away two weeks ago.

At the age of 33. Too young to die in your sleep.

2007 Knitting Summary

37 completed Knitting projects

• 12 Baby items (including hats, bibs, booties, and mittens)
• 7 pairs of socks - 6 adult, 1 Lorelei
• 5 hats (not baby-sized)
• 5 dishcloths
• 5 scarves - 3 Branching Out, 1 Lorelei scarf, and 1 for me
• 1 sweater - Lorelei's wallaby
• 2 misc - Fetching and Cozy

Happy 2008!

FO Parade

I've been busy with Christmas knitting so here are some FOs that I neglected to post.

Here's a scarf I made for Lorelei. Not really a Christmas present, but I did give it to her on Christmas eve (because that's when I finished it). I made a modified Palindrome scarf (I took out one of the able repeats to make it Lorelei-sized) using some red Plymouth Encore left over from Lorelei's wallaby.

Here is an unoriginal hat using some WOTA bulky hand-dyed (Redwood Forest?). I didn't have large enough DPNs, so the hat turned out a little tight, but I've been wearing it anyway because it's so pretty.
This is a last-minute purled beret that I originally started for Lorelei's cousin but I didn't have enough yarn so the finished size was too small for the cousin, but fine for Lorelei. After I realized it would be too small, I ordered more yarn and made another, larger one (this one I left knit-side out instead of purl-side). In the end, I blocked the cousin's so much that it ended up being too big.

Hope you have a Happy New Year!

Weekend Wrapup

Every Monday, I want to name my post "Weekend Update" and then I remember that's not what I call it. Maybe I've seen too much SNL.

• The Dolphins finally won a game. I had been starting to get a little discouraged since it is so late in the season, but at least they won a game. Yeah!
• Sad day - Dan Fogelberg died. Same Old Lang Syne (aka the grocery store song) is one of my favorites. I'm always amused that this is considered Christmas music - unhappy people running into old loves. Not the cheeriest of songs, but I love it anyway.
• The writers strike is still going strong. There's rarely new tv episodes in December anyway, but I'm worried that I'll have nothing to watch when Jan. starts. The new reality shows look ever worse than the old ones. Thank goodness for tv on DVD - I can watch my favorite shows over and over while I wait for new content.
• We finally ordered Lorelei a twin-size mattress (we converted her crib to a toddler bed a while ago. I'm tired of the crib sheets, it will be much easier to buy new sheets when I can go to any store that sells bedding (Target, Macy's, BB&B).
  
• OTN - I'm working on another purple hat (the first one I made for my niece was too small because I ran out of yarn, so I gave it to Lorelei). I finished the first Hedera sock, I'm about half finished with a new scarf for Lorelei, and one of these days I will finally finish the second sleeve of the perfect sweater. After Christmas, I'm going to work hard to finish the sweater - I'm ready for it to be over and it would be nice to be able to wear it this season.
  

Top 5: My favorite Christmas/Holiday movies

In no particular order:

• The Grinch - the old animated one, not the Jim Carrey thing.
• White Christmas - a classic.
• A Christmas Story - one of my favorites as a kid and I still try to watch it at least once a year (which is easy when one of the cable channels usually plays it continually for at least 24 hours). You'll shoot your eye out!
• It's a Wonderful Life - I don't watch this every year, but I still love it.
• When Harry Met Sally - One of my favorite movies of all time, and though not really a holiday movie, since the end takes place during a New year's party I always associate it with the holidays.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Shrek the Halls special this year. Lorelei giggled throughout the whole thing and I really liked how each of the characters had their own version of The Night Before Christmas.

You better watch out ...

This weekend, I took Lorelei to see Santa for the first time. Her daycare had Santa visit on Saturday, so we were able to meet Santa in a nice, familiar setting. Which was good since Lorelei started shaking as soon as we walked in the room. After she saw one of the other kids talk to Santa, she calmed down and went to sit on his lap.

S: What do you want for Christmas?
Lorelei: Chocolate.

More Santa and birthday pictures at flickr.

What happened to my week?

These last 7 days have been a little crazier than usual.

It all started with Lorelei's third birthday party. Actually it started with a visit from my parents and lots of time in the kitchen. I made a lasagna for the party as well as a cake, cupcakes, and blue frosting. In keeping with our Blue's Clues theme, I made a blue round cake with blue cupcakes to simulate a paw print (as seen in the Blue's birthday episode). [Photos will be added later, I'm pretty proud of that cake]

The party was good, though small. We only invited one of Lorelei's friends and her three local cousins. With friend's brother, there were 6 kids under 5 in my little house. More than enough.

Monday I took a day off work and wrapped presents. Santa is all ready to make an appearance at our house. BTW, Lorelei will have her first visit with Santa on Sat morning.

Yesterday, we had our first snow of the season. It was pretty, but it made the roads icy today.

All in all, a very busy week.

Random Thursday

OOPS - I seem to have missed Wednesday. Not to mention Tuesday.

• Hedera seems to be taking up my every waking moment (though of course, it's not. I have a job and a Lorelei and a house to get ready for a party.) I'm into the foot of the first sock and I love it more than I should. Especially since there are two rows where I knit row 1 instead of row 3. I'm not calling them design features. Features that will hopefully not be repeated for sock #2. The sleeve of my perfect sweater is starting to feel a little neglected. As are the Christmas hats/scarves/mittens that need to be knit.
• Lorelei turns 3 on Monday. I'm convinced that the "Terrible Twos" are really the "Terrible Threes". The tantrums for no reason, the arguing just because, etc. are all starting to drive me insane. Thank goodness, she's so cute and smart. Otherwise, I don't know how I'd put up with it all. Last night Lorelei wanted pancakes for dinner. So I served pancakes and she screamed. Then she stopped screaming, ate, wanted more. I made more. She screamed. I ate the pancakes. Then she stopped screaming and got mad because I ate them. At least the pancakes were good.
• My parents are visiting this weekend for Lorelei's party. It's Thursday and my house is still a mess.
• I broke the carafe for my coffeemaker on Monday. It was so traumatic that I still haven't fully recovered. It doesn't help that my coffeemaker seems to be discontinued so I had to order a replacement carafe directly from the company and I don't think they've shipped it yet. Thank goodness that they sell Starbucks in my office building. I don't know what I'm going to do this weekend.
• I know random posts are supposed to have at least 5 items, but I can't think of anymore right now.

Long Weekend Wrapup

A long weekend off of work has turned into a long weekend away from the blog. NaBloPoMo seems to be falling apart, but I've posted over 20 times in a month (about a third of the entire year's postings).

We spent most of the weekend with my SIL, BIL, and Lorelei's cousins. Lots of playing, lots of screaming, and not enough napping.

I finished up my latest Branching out scarf (except for the blocking). I'm on the heel flap of the first hedera. The heel flap seems longer than normal (but what do I know, I usually do short row heels). Next up are some hats for the niece and nephews for Christmas. And a new scarf for Lorelei.

I can't wait to finish up these Christmas presents because next up is Adamas.

Random Wednesday

It's the day before Thanksgiving. Let's see what's going on.

• I worked from home today so that I could go to the Thanksgiving feast at Lorelei's preschool. There was actually a lot of food and pie.
• Unfortunately, Lorelei decided that it was time to go home after we ate. So I didn't get to work much this afternoon.
• Luckily, work was dismissed two hours early for Thanksgiving.
• I got a lot of knitting done while Lorelei was taking a nap.
• I'm almost to the heel of the first Hedera sock. I'm over half finished with my mom's Christmas present. Still working on sleeve #2 of the Perfect Sweater.

Have a Great Thanksgiving!

I admit it ...

I missed a day of posting. And it's not even the holidays yet. Why would someone decide that November was a good month to write a novel, blog post, knit a sweater, etc. when it's a short month with one of the largest holidays of the year? I admit short months are good for blog posting, but for writing a novel and knitting a sweater wouldn't you want a month with an extra day?

I was hoping that this month of posting would help me to get a routine of posting started, help me find my "voice", and really rev up my little blog. I'm not sure it's helped. Also, I admit, I did not officially sign up for NaBloPoMo because I assumed I'd fail.

Anway, still knitting the same old stuff. Lorelei is still not potty-trained. I'm not traveling for Thanksgiving. Same old, same old.

Sunday is quiz day

Your Karaoke Theme Song is "Margaritaville"

You are a true party animal, but your style is mild and chill. Kicking back with a few friends and a few drinks is all you need to be happy. You certainly don't feel pressured to be a part of any party scene. In fact, you avoid trendier spots. You've been known to kick loose anywhere and everywhere. All you need is a cooler. You might also sing: "Gin and Juice," "Love Shack," and "Red Red Wine" Stay away from people who sing: "Wind Beneath My Wings"

What's Your Karaoke Theme Song?

Lazy Saturday

What did I do today?

Nothing.

What do I have to post about today?

Nothing.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Friday Current Events

• Barry Bonds got indicted. I'm really tired of hearing about Barry Bonds (he's getting up there with Britney). He just needs to retire and fade away into obscurity.
• Britney has ADD? Why does that not surprise me.
• Paige Davis is returning to Trading Spaces. I stopped watching shortly after she left the show, it just wasn't the same without her perkiness. I may start watching again after she comes back. Trading Spaces is responsible for my love of TLC, though lately I only watch What Not to Wear.
• Today starts the Thanksgiving travel "season." I'm really glad that I always stay home at this time of year.
• The WGA strike is still going on. We've seen the last episode of The Office for a while (I thought it was the best of the season so far). We're going to run out of my favorite shows soon. I'm going to be really upset if Big Brother and American Idol are the only shows on tv. Maybe the networks will start running reruns again. If I haven't seen it before, it's new to me!
• Our poor Miami Dolphins are still big losers (0-9) and the cheaters are (9-0). What is wrong with this picture?

FO: Husband socks!

Husband socks for Lorelei's dad. He picked out the yarn over a year ago at MS&W (Opal). He picked out the stitch pattern (stockinette foot, woven stitch leg). The woven stitch pattern was found in Sensational Knitted Socks. These fit him perfectly and I'm very happy with the way they turned out. Probably my best pair so far.

I finished these cozy wool socks just in time for cooler weather. He liked them so much that he put them on for the photos and didn't take them off for 24 hours.

More pictures in Flickr (click on the picture or the flickr button in the sidebar).

Random Wednesday

• It's almost 10pm and Lorelei is still not asleep. It's ruining all my evening plans. And I'm going to blame her for the late posting tonight.
• My Lorelei is a completely different Lorelei than the Lorelei at preschool. The preschool Lorelei always listens, eats all her food, follows directions, and uses the potty. The home Lorelei does none of those things. I'm feeling distressed by this.
• OTN: christmas present (Branching out) - repeat #2, sleeve # 2 of the perfect sweater, and 4 repeats of Hedera sock 1.
• I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week. I'm really not ready for the holiday/birthday season. Lorelei's dad ordered his own birthday present today and I have some ideas for Lorelei. I also need to buy supplies for the party and deep clean my house. Yeah!
• I swore to myself that I would send Christmas cards this year. Early. I need to get on that.
• I just finished watching this week's Heroes. It fills in all the holes, but I'm feeling a little underwhelmed. I think I was expecting something more surprising.
• Is it weird that I would really like to watch Sylar eat someone's brain?
• I downloaded a bunch of podcasts last Friday. I finally put them all on my ipod, but I still haven't listened to any of them. I still haven't listened to the last epipsode of Lime and Violet.
• I have come to the realization that I need more bags for my knitting. The plastic bag method really doesn't work well when I want to transport my knitting places. It also makes it hard to organize. Or maybe I just have too many projects OTN at once.
• I've been knitting socially a lot lately. I've been meeting people at work for lunch almost ever day to knit. There have also been some weekend events. I'm very proud of myself for being so social.
• Speaking of proud, it's day 14. That's almost half the month. Yeah, me!

Hedera

I cast on Hedera yesterday. I've had the yarn in my stash for close to a year and a half (KnitPicks Essential in chocolatey brown). I've been eyeing the Hedera pattern for a while. I decided back in February that this yarn wanted to be Hedera. So the build up to this project has been long. I've completed a repeat and a half of the pattern.
Thoughts:

• I love the look of this pattern.
• I love the chocolately color of this yarn. These will be perfect for work - the majority of my work clothes are brown, tan, or look nice with brown. (that's an issue for another day)
• I only have 1 and 1/2 repeats completed, but so far I really like the way this yarn looks with the pattern.
• But man, this pattern is fiddly. If I wasn't totally in love with the end result, I would have ripped this out already.

Weekend Wrapup - Holiday edition

I had a three-day weekend this week, so I've gotten a lot done.

• I finished the Husband socks. Pictures to come soon. I hope he likes them as much as I do (he picked out the yarn and pattern) because they're a little too big for me.
• I cast on a pair of Hedera. For me.
• I started sleeve number 2 of the Perfect sweater.
• Lorelei likes her wallaby so much that she's worn it two days in a row.
• Lorelei and I visited with friends yesterday. I got some knitting done (and football watching) and Lorelei played with her best friend, Jonah. She was so sad when it was time to leave, she wanted to stay and sleep with her friend.
• There was also a lot of cleaning and tv watching.

Sunday is quiz day

Your Pilgrim Name Is

Faith Hopkins

What's Your Pilgrim Name?

Lazy Links

In an effort to post when I have nothing to post about - Links I Like!

Knitting links (a very small selection of the blogs in my Bloglines):

• The Yarn Harlot - I own three of her books, one which I got signed in September when she came to DC. Funny.
• Wendy Knits (and Lucy) - Wendy and Lucy are practically my neighbors. Lots of socks.
• Grumperina - creator of the Jaywalkers (of which I've made two pairs).
• Crazy Aunt Purl - funny. The author of a new self-help book.
• The Panopticon - Franklin and Dolores.

Mommy blogs:

• Notes from the Trenches
• Woulda Coulda Shoulda
• The Parenting Post
• Parent Hacks

TV!:

• TV Guide's Michael Ausiello - all the important TV news and spoilers, though all of TV Guide online is great.
• E!'s Kristin Dos Santos - more tv news and spoilers.
• Televisionary - recaps, news, and opinions.
• TVgasm - recaps and a tiny bit of news.
• TV Squad - recaps and news.
• Go Fug Yourself - not really TV specific, but it didn't fit in any of the other categories.

Enjoy your weekend!