The New Workstation

Once upon a long time ago, we ordered furniture for our basement. Economic crisis, or not, it finally came in and we are thrilled to have it (especially me). This is the brain space of the house for me - where I do my work. The windows actually look out at ground level and the dogs like to play right outside and distract me, and when they are tired, they curl up right next to the window and stare at me. I am trying to decide what I want to put on the wall by the desk. What's on the desk? A cardigan that I am currently tech editing (it's really pretty), swatching yarn, all my tools, and my iPod/iHome (that's how I drown out the TV and kid "music"). I should have taken a picture of the old desk... a total disaster area!

Knitting. Yes, I have managed a little bit. I have the yoke of a raglan cardigan completed. I'm working with Debbie Bliss cashmerino dk in #18013 (natural). I have used this yarn before and love its softness. Now I have to find the time to 1) figure out how many sts to pick up to work the body, and 2) then actually do it! I know it will get done, I just get impatient with my own knitting.

Monday was DDs signing day for college soccer. She and a classmate both signed for the same school, so they had a joint ceremony and party. She will be a student/athlete at Univ of St Mary in Leavenworth, KS, a very small school (at the opposite end of town from the military prison/federal penitentiary), but the perfect academic match for her interests. A lot of her games will be within an hour of our home, so DH and I are happy to be able to see her play most of her games. DS15 got out of class for the hoopla, and the school activity director snapped lots of pictures. DS will not be happy that he's pictured here in his school uniform! Maybe his day will come... a new pair of track cleats are in the mail, and he's already dreaming about new soccer cleats, too. 

But college is really about developing their brains, isn't it? But it's okay to have fun, too. For me, that means knitting on soccer road trips!

B-I-N-G-O

Finally some FOs to post about.... I whipped up a pair of Fetching Fingerless Gloves for the Bingo prize for DD's NHS service project. These were a really quick project.

They have an interesting picot bind off -- it seems to me to be off by a stitch. I think the picots would look better if they were centered over the purl columns, but I can make that adjustment next time. Since I didn't know who might receive these and how they might feel about hand washing, I made them from some washable Lion Wool-Ease that was in my stash. I wouldn't mind having a pair for myself.... more stash diving maybe?!

And here's a quick snap of the white cotton pullover. I intend for this to be worn under a jacket, therefore no sleeves to get bound up and aggravate me. It looks kind of curvy on the hanger! 

I am thrilled to have found time to knit! 

Weekends are made for....

I would like to think that weekends are made for knitting and relaxing, but that's not how it usually works out.

This weekend was the Sweetheart Dance at school, Sadie Hawkins style. DS had a really good time with his friend (and he assures me that they are only friends). They were supposed to eat at a Japanese Steakhouse, but the reservations got messed up, so they ended up (14 of them) eating at the local Wendy's in their semi-formal attire. The other restaurant patrons took lots of pictures which, I'm sure, are all over Facebook now. DS is there in his Johnny Cash black shirt and pants that I had to buy in the ::gulp:: Men's department. He's so proud to make the giant leap out of the boy's dept.

 

What else did I do this weekend? I broke a sweat vacuuming and mopping (ugh!), baked some awesome bread and some brownies, too. I shopped for groceries (twice), worked a little bit on some tech editing, went to church and soccer game, and ta-da..... (drum roll) finished the white cotton pullover. I didn't take a picture... yet. Actually, I still need to weave in the yarn ends, but the knitting part is done. Yea!

Next project... fingerless gloves for a Bingo game prize. DD participates in Bingo for a group of retired women once a month as part of her service hours for National Honor Society. I printed off the instructions for Fetching - I hope somebody will like them. I'm in the mood for a stash-diving quick project.

: ) Happy knitting!

Not Knitting

There is not a whole lot of knitting activity going on at my house these days. Rather, I have been extremely busy tech editing lots of patterns for some very creative designers. I'm planning to clue you in on some of them in a future post. For the moment, I feel like I have traded my needles for rulers, calculators, red pens, pdf files and coffee.

As of last Friday, DH joined the multitudes of layed off workers across the country. Times are v-e-r-y tough in the business jet industry. So, also instead of knitting, I have helped him update, reword, fine tune, and tweak his resume. The first print is being hand delivered to a hiring manager tomorrow. We are firm believers in the power of personal networking, and we feel at a disadvantage since we have lived here less than a year. We do have cautious optimism that he will find a new position before the severance runs out, and we are thankful for his military pension, but we sure hope that we don't have to live on it! 

So far, he's not bored at home. The weather was nice so he went fishing yesterday.

He was proud of this big trout!

He made it home before the rains came, and when the weather turned nasty to our south and east, we saw this double rainbow from our back porch. I have yarn in all those colors. And someday I will find time to use it.

I never grow tired of rainbows. 

Long Time, No See

I wish I had wonderful tales to tell of the times I have had since I last posted. The truth is, I have been incredibly busy. There have been icy road trips (not fun), soccer games, lots of work, and not a whole lot of knitting. And this is the week of meetings in the evening. Meetings kill my prime knitting time. 

The ice was followed by a couple of unseasonably warm days... the ones that fool us into thinking spring is just around the corner. And then that silly Groundhog sees his shadow. Thanks, Punxsutawney Phil! So how 'bout a basket of spring. I went stash diving and came up with lots of leftover cotton. 

Nonetheless, I started a little sleeveless pullover for wear when it does get warm. Does that make me an optimist? I hope so. I've seen some bulbs popping out of the ground this week.

It must be okay to think about spring when I have already had to sign off on courses for DS to take next fall. That's just how the world turns!

Three cheers for quality knitting time and warmer days to come!