New Year Revolutions

Only hours to go... 2006...Hope it was a good one for you.

In case you are wondering, Eldest says that he has not made a New Year Revolution. INBA says that he will make New Year Revelations when he is grown up.

As for me, I don't usually make any New Year Resolutions. This year, however, I am resolving to recommit to those things that I know I should be doing, yet rationalize ignoring.

I will go to the gym while INBA is in preschool. Too bad for me if all I get to do while he is occupied is exercise... my booty needs it.
I will stop snacking! Again, my booty doesn't need any more treats. It isn't a treat to spend more time at the gym (see above.)
I will continue to de clutter my life. It is amazing how much stuff comes into this house for no really good reason. It must stop!
I will love. I will love my life and everyone in it- including me.

I think that is the big stuff... the hard stuff... the almost feels impossible stuff. But it is the stuff that is my life, my health and my happiness.

Whatever your position is on Revolution, Revelation and Resolutions, Happy 2007!!!

Had Ourselves a Merrry Little Christmas

And then some... But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves... First there was a birthday. Or at least a party to display.

INBA had his buddies over and ate cake and ran around the house like it has been too cold to do it outside. Oh, wait, it has been. A great time was had by all.






So, now what are we going to do to keep our minds off pretty paper?
We hopped on the 'T' and took ourselves to town. At PPG Place they have the International Santas displayed (no picture for some reason, you will have to go see for yourself.) It was quite nice. They had music. We had bad timing as that Starbucks shut up their makeshift shop about 10 minutes before we arrived (but there is a 'bucks about 2 blocks away on Market Square- I survived until then.) They had an enormous tree and gingerbread houses decorated as a charity event. Being the 'burgh, someone made a replica of Heinz field.



This Bascilica was pretty cool.













But Rapunzel's tower was my favorite.

You can see the Arc de'Triumph in the upper right corner.
People were quite creative! Not being an experienced gingerbread house builder, I found it quite amusing what people thought to use for decorations. Like, shredded wheat for a thatch roof, frosted mini-wheats for a snowcovered roof, some kind of round wafers that reminded me of a colorful tile roof, pretzels for logs, jelly beans for rocks, all sorts of clever objects. It reminds me of going to see the Rose Parade floats up close. One doesn't automaticly think of kumquats and brussel sprouts and sunflower seeds when thinking of how to decorate a parade float. The first time I saw them, well, I don't know what I was expecting- maybe just the flowers since that is what they always talk about- it was really amazing to see and to think of all the work that goes into them.




That was a tangent, but here is a bit of what it looked like with more scale. Rapunzel is at my elbow.
















This is what INBA looked like the whole time, yeah, the gingerbread houses were ok, but there were at least 3 trains running...











There is an ice rink in the plaza outside.



The boys were forced to pose with Mommy... with promises of hot chocolate (Starbucks was getting closer by the moment!)












We were inspired!
Ok, so I had picked up the kit at Costco about a month ago, but we were inspired to actually put it together. To the boys, that means inspired to gorge themselves with candy.

Check out this kit. That white plate is part of the packaging and the ingenius assembly device!! Squirt some premade frosting in the slots, stand the sides up in it, slap on the roof, ta-da!! Yes, we obviously had issues with this part last year.
It is by Create a Treat. I hope Costco has it again next year!






The Mister and the boys had a great time decorating. The little gummies along the edges pick up the light and at the right angle, look like they are glowing! Very pretty.









Chez Mayhem.










Look at these boys!



The Jammies are from GMA, but I just couldn't resist INBA's face. Funny.










Happy Mommy...
Also known as spoiled girl.

My swift arrived. Thanks, again, to Stacy for the gift card contribution to the purchase. It is killing me, tho, not to wind up all sorts of good stuff and cast on for numerous projects...


what could keep me from doing that?











Oh, maybe this.
It must be done by the Mister's bday!!! MUST!!! I cannot take it any longer! Laurie suggested Epiphany as a target date for our respective didn't-get-the-husband's-sweater-done-for-Christmas-sweaters. I will work toward that, but I am thinking that mid-January is more likely. You just don't realize how long his arms are!!!
"All the better to hold you with, my dear!"
While I do appreciate that, I could use this sleeve as a scarf!! Ok, I exaggerate, but my impatience is getting the better of me. Must finish, must knit, must close this post and get on with it!







One More thing before I go... The second sparkle sock... For some reason, I didn't think to pick up the new ball when I started it, so this is how much more sock I can get out of 50g. I am about half way into the heel flap. I was pretty surprised by this. I suppose it is useful information but I am more happy at the moment that when I am done, there will only be one blob of leftover instead of two. Oh, and really happy that I am almost done with a pair of socks that is for MEMEMEMEMEME. And they sparkle, did I mention that?

Bad Mom of the Year

PreSchool Christmas Play
and who had a camcorder with no battery? Uh, yeah.
INBA was one of the 3 kings. He was too cute. No pictures. Bad Mom. But at least I was there.

Pooping Sheep

I didn't mention the exchange that we had at knitting last week. My lovely friends showered me with wonderful, thoughtful gifts. Stacy gave me a gift card that I immediately turned into a Yarn Swift (should be here by Friday!!) Laurie made me a green (nobody likes green) beaded watch and matching earrings, and Celtic Queen gave me luscious sock yarn and a POOPING SHEEP. I know that the latter was really for the boys... and yes, my boys will eat brown jelly beans that emerge from under a plastic sheep tail. I tried to dissuade them... but it was jelly beans and they were not going to be led astray. I guess they know real poop when they see it.

Uh-Oh

Maybe it is a Blue Thing.

Eldest was admiring the Mister's Blue Cable Sweater (BCS) the other day. As in, "Oh, I really like how that is turning out, Mommy. Maybe you could do one for me?"
Ok, this is the kid that turns his nose when I offer... knit it blue and twisted... I like it?!?!?
Men.

Eldest is now in need of glasses. He is pretty nearsighted. (This has nothing to do with him admiring the BCS, he was up close.) His eye doctor is right next to Mineo's Pizza in Mt. Lebanon. Yes, of course we had pizza for dinner tonight. And who did we see (loitering) at the pizza place? Magic Man. The boys were impressed. I told them that Magic Man comes to the knitting group with his girlfriend and does magic card tricks for us. Guess who wants to come knitting with me, now? He has been intoxicated with blue merino wool and 15 year old boy.

Happy Birthday, INBA!!
I guess it is official, if you are a whole handful, you are most certainly not a baby anymore. I don't know how it is possible that my baby became a 5 year old with puppy feet, but he did it. He informed me this evening that he is now going to go to Kindergarten with Mrs.H. He was not interested in the fact that he is going to have to wait until fall to get on the bus with Eldest. No sir. No more 4-year-old preschool for him.
Parenting sucks. One should not have to have their realities shattered at such a young age. Sadly, this is the price to be paid for not being a baby anymore.

Sorry, kid.

Think about it

There was a rebroadcast of a Frontline episode the other night on PBS. If I had looked at the listings, I would have encouraged you to watch it. Technology being what it is, however, you can watch it here with Windows media player or realplayer.

It is called, Is Walmart Good for America? Now, I am not going to harp on my global economics issues, but I do think that it is important to be educated. If you don't realize what impacts your decisions make, you may be making bad decisions. Ignorance is bliss, I know. And if we must speak frankly, and heaven forbid, have a far reaching discussion, these issues are about a lot more than corporate policies of one of the largest retailers in the world. It is still supply and demand, the more they supply the more we demand and the more that they supply. It speaks to larger cultural issues of gluttony, egotism, materialism and many more less than attractive attributes. We can talk about the breakdown of the American family, how wages and good jobs sent overseas and our 'need' for stuff often sends both mother and father off to work and leaves the television to parent our children. We can talk about how this cycle is self perpetuating and accelerated by the mindset that more is better and cheap is better yet and if we buy our kids just exactly what they want they will love us and forgive us for not being there.

So, I am not going to go on and on about this subject. I feel strongly about it, and I wish only that you look at this program and consider what part you play in this story. You have choices, and yes, maybe they aren't that much more attractive at this stage in the game in terms of where you shop. But, also, might you consider how you shop and not just where? How much is enough?

The Black Hole

Is Growing!!

My baby has lost another tooth! More precisely, he yanked it out at lunch on Friday. I was there for lunch duty. One of his buddies came rushing over, "Eldest lost his tooth! Eldest lost his tooth!" It was exciting as only it can be when a 1st grader has a tooth to pass around at lunchtime. He was very worried about it making it home and under his pillow. The letter that the tooth fairy sent after the last tooth warned that she wasn't going to pay for anymore teeth that went sight unseen. He was thrilled to find a dollar under his pillow.
Why is it that he has no qualms about believing in the tooth fairy, but he is struggling to believe in Santa?


That's what Friends are for...



The ever fabulous Laurie made me this unbearably cute bracelet. She indulges my odd attraction to christmas lights. Ain't it GREAT?!

Eldest and I took the leisurely way home last night after his school Christmas concert. I drove him through a neighborhood that is close to us with MUCH larger homes. I was surprised at the lack of lights let alone imagination. Places we have lived previously, the swank neigborhoods always had the great lights having the most to work with. Here, can you believe that our block of our street is probably the most nicely lit? Not that it is anything fancy, I only put some lit garland around the lamp post and swags on the doors. But most of the houses have a little something, and COLORS!! Am I the only one that thinks it a waste of time to put up all those white lights? And what ever happened to a little twinkle, people!!! Anyway, it makes it nice to drive up the hill to see a little something on each side and most every house.
What does your neighborhood look like? Is there someplace nice to go see lights without driving up to Hartwood or down to Olgebay and paying 15 or 20 bucks?


Preparations
Otherwise, here we are preparing for INBA's 5th birthday... party this weekend. His big bash is Curious George theme and his buddies Jack and Eli. I tried to talk him into more, but reality is, INBA is an intimate party kinda guy. I will have to remind Eldest of the merits of such parties when he starts writing his own birthday guest list.

Tell Me Why

Why is Tangerine Orange Zinger tea red? I don't doubt that the first ingredient being hibiscus has something to do with it. Still, it is rather disappointing that the only thing tangerine or orange about it is the way it smells when the package is first opened.

In Other News

I have been a busy little elf. The MIL leaves Monday to go off to see the Mister's siblings and she is driving the sleigh to deliver our gifts to the niece and nephews. So I have been wrapping and ribboning all of that. I figure, too, that I need to get the other stuff off with UPS, so a box is ready for my siblings. There is a box to be readied for Michigan another for Washington and lastly, which should be firstly because it contains a bday present for the Mother of the Pea (identity lost already, sorry Lynn,) California. We won't even get into the Santa's helper obligations... that's what the last morning of preschool is for. All this merriment and I have decided that my disposition is not one to write a merry letter this year. I don't need anymore stress. The boys will not cooperate for a respectable picture. I am not sending out the usual cards. Bah Humbug. Besides, all you do is toss it, probably don't even recycle it. Why bother? Ok, here is a deal, you send me a card, I will send you a card.

To Knit or Not to Knit

Laurie suggested that I need my own commuting knit time. She says I am allowed 40 minutes in the morning and in the afternoon. I have been trying, but somehow, it isn't all I would like it to be. I did take 25 minutes this morning. I had to get INBA to a Rock class at the Science Center, so it was knit or bathe. I did bathe, I thought the other parents might appreciate that more. I did work on the MIL's second sock while INBA learned about igneous rocks and the hardness scale. I am decreasing. I think they will be her bday present.
I will have to post pics of INBA's red socks- they have a blue heel and toe- cutest socks ever. I am almost done with the first. I am also thinking of withholding them to put in his stocking (it cracks me up to no end to put socks in the stocking.) The next pair of red socks will have a little cable in them, I think.
Speaking of cables... The Mister's Blue Cable Sweater... 2 rounds more than last Friday at knitting. Honest, I really really really love the mister... it is just so big!! And he is a skinny guy!!! God Bless you girls with guys and girth. I dunno, I guess I could blame the color. Laurie showed me how to cable without the needle. Incredibly handy trick. I just need to do it. do it. do it. do it. OK, FINE!!!

Let Me Tell You About My First Experience...

With a Cookie Press.
I picked up a press to use with a great Butter Cookie Recipe that I found online. The Mister and the boys like them, I thought it would be fun to make shapes that didn't require the mess of rollers and cutters. Anyway, the sad thing is that I had never used a cookie press nor seen a cookie press in use. I will not disclose how many blobs of dough were formed before I figured out the incredibly simple act of pressing cookies. *sigh* And no, the instructions that came with my economy minded cookie press (no sense becoming heavily invested if there is real potential of not using a second time) were minimal at best, no pictures, a lot assumed. And we all know what ASSUME stands for... Luckily, the cookies taste the same no matter what they look like.

Eldest way to spend a day...


Here is Eldest, center in red, at his last floor hockey game of the session. He sure loves running around with a stick in his hand.




















Here's a sprouted pea... a mere 9 pounds and 23 inches...

Is he not the most adorable baby you have seen all day?!?!









Here is a glimpse into after Thanksgiving entertainment. The Mister and his mom worked on the puzzle while I gathered up my projects. The Peapod was sent off to the pea that sprouted.










The Sven has been finished and is awaiting its
own departure.












And here is my contribution to an ornament exchange. I got the pattern out of the Interweave Knits Holiday magazine. I incorporated the fair isle pattern. I must say that it was unbearably cute.

Don't You Love it When

I am a little tired, it is a little late. I just wanted to finally put up a post. Then, I hit a wrong key? Or something. So, I am going to bed.

I will sum up, Happy Thanksgiving- a little late, and Can you believe the men I live with?
I solemnly swear that maybe I will post tomorrow.

It was good.... so.... good.....

I cannot say that a whole lot of anything noteworthy has transpired this week.
I can say that I love Christmas Knitting... maybe even more accurately, deadline knitting. I don't need any other excuse to sit and knit than that I have to get it done. It makes me happy to spend an hour during the day, in the (relative) sunlight, awake knitting.
Here is the Mister's Blue Cable Sweater. I had set it aside last week and now I am not sure where I am in the cable pattern. Pretty close to the end of the repeat, it seems. If I can figure it out, I will definately get a post-it to keep my place. It is so difficult to let go of the notion that I can remember anything.

Here is The Sven Sveater. I gave up on doing EZ's Invisible cast on for the second sleeve and just knit up from the ribbing. I rationalize this as a comparison of two methods and am willing to bet that no one other than myself (speaking in reference to the household that it is going to inbhabit) will ever notice.
I am zipping away on the body and am excited to do the yoke. Celtic Queen made this sweater for her niece and nephew and they were gorgeous. I cannot wait to see my niece in it.









Knock-off, anyone?

The fabulous and overpriced sock-bag has met it's match. Thanks to Mary Mulari's Made for Travel, I created my own version. I adapted the stuff bag, made it larger, taller, and added a few straps. Ta-da! It is red ripstop nylon. It even has a sock in progress already. The MIL was eyeing my sparkly socks so I let her pick a skein from the stash. Subtle but effective. These will be on the sly and either for her birthday or xmas (which are only 2 weeks apart.)


Socks Socks and More Socks...

INBA's red sock yarn finally came in. She only ordered 3 skeins for the store so I bought them all. I wonder how having such a limited inventory works for her? Seems to me that it just saves me money and I am sure that it does the same for others... whatever. I did pick up some blue... had to talk the boy into it, but he is going to let me put a blue heel and toe on a pair.

He is so funny. I took him to a preschool class up at the Carnegie Science Center last week. It was about worms, a favorite subject behind Trains, Sharks and Dogs. It was a good time, he made a worm box complete with rotting vegetables and egg shells. They did a little drawing and also made a worm out of a knee-hi stocking. He has been sleeping with "stuffy" ever since. We have a bedtime ritual of "talking dogs" where I converse with them about their day, but only in a scruffy voice and a stuffed dog in my hand. I think this began when they couldn't figure out how the dog was talking because they just looked at the dog and not me and of course I would pretend it wasn't me. Anyway, Stuffy now it the one talking. How do you talk a worm? Irrelevant, he wants the worm to talk like the dog (scruffy voice,) but Stuffy isn't allowed to bark. Ah, another fine example of how we spend hundreds of dollars on toys and really all we needed was a 25 cent stocking and some fiber fill.

Worth the Wait

I know, I know... I am so bad at blogging. But I knew that this post was going to be a lot of pictures, and I wanted to be able to tell the whole story... as it is, I have INBA at my elbow, wanting on my lap to see the train pictures. A mother can only do so much, so this will have to do.

Here the boys are in Cumberland, MD. We are at the rail station that their Grandma used to arrive to when coming to see her Grandparents. Her Grandfather was the conductor on the railroad, he would pick her up in Pittsburgh on the 11 o'clock train and take her, sleeping, into Cumberland. A lot of nostalgia as she told the boys about this, again.
Anyway, this is a brick relief. Isn't it the coolest thing you have ever seen? Ok, maybe the second. Either way, it is neat.



And I thought it nice to know that just up these stairs, a steam train would make my little boy's dream come true. At least I hoped. He has been pestering me since June to go to Colorado to ride a steam train from Durango to Silverton. Well, Cumberland is a lot closer and it is a steam train, too. I thought he might be distracted.

No. No such luck.



But this was his face as the engine steamed into the station. JOY, AWE, HAPPINESS. Score one for the Mom and Dad.

See, I am so thrilled for my child that I have gone this far without mentioning how FREAKING cold it was. Ok, by some standards, not so cold. I understand that it could have been colder. Not the point. Cold for me. And disappointing mostly because I had talked myself into believeing that wool socks will protect me. Not so much, not that you will be able to take them from me. I am cold. All the time. I would cry, but I am afraid of ice.



Anyway, this is a view of the country side. Very beautiful and we obviously missed most of the colors.









And then there is the view provided by the Mister leaning out the side of the train.

This is what happens when you let the Mister go wandering around by himself. And he didn't even come back with popcorn.











Here we are in Frostburg. It was sleeting. yuck. but we found a nice little coffee shop at the top of the hill that made Ghiradelli hot chocolate and really tasty vanilla lattes. It makes the cold more bearable.

by the way, that is my MIL, Me, INBA and Eldest.




We got to see them spin the engine around on the roundtable. I was not particularly enthusiastic about waiting around to see that, but WOW, that is something to see. I suppose it is the sheer size of the engine and the steam and smoke and noise that just becomes overwhelming.








INBA doesn't care for the cold, either. Or the noise for that matter, but what he was really mad about in this picture... Daddy made him turn around and look at Mommy. So much less interesting than the train.









For a kid who says he wants to drive these things when he grows up, he needs to be less sensitive to the noise. It is really something to be around a train like this. Just the pollution from this engine was staggering. It took 3 tons of coal to go 15 miles. It really makes me stop and think about a busy station with many trains coming and going. Makes me appreciate what we have, even when we can do better.






Knitting news... Peapod is complete. Somebody's something is complete. I have another pair of sparkly socks on needles (plain stockinette) and I am making my niece a matching outfit with her bear. This is the bear sweater. I am so proud of this!!! It isn't in the round, but I used the 2 stitch patter out of the back of the Big SVen and I love love love it!!
So that gave me the confidence to start on the big girl part.




It is Navy Blue and I am using leftovers of pink that I used in some clog socks, cream from the Orca mittens and green from the frog sweater. I don't feel so bad about the big bin of odds and ends now.

Apricots, Discounts and Lots of Love

The Mister loves apricots. So when Celtic Queen started talking about how it just isn't a holiday without Apricot Pie, well, I knew that the Mister would need to be having pie for dessert, soon. That was last Friday at Knitting, by Sunday I had soaked the apricots and whipped up a hunkaheaven. Neither the Mister nor his mother had ever had apricot pie before, so by all accounts it was the Best Apricot Pie that any of us had ever had.I did sprinkle the crust with the 'secret recipe' sugar and cinnamon, just because there was no spice in the filling. Thanks CQ.



I guess the dollar store really is a discount store. GMa picked up puzzles for the boys. Here Eldest is showing off his 99 piece puzzle. What do you expect for a buck? All 100 pieces?!?! At least it was just a bit of the Atlantic missing.















And then there is lots of love.
Yes, that is Eldest sporting Mamalove in the form of a sweater vest in school-color-purple (grape wool-ease.)
He likes it and I am swelling with love.

As for INBA, that is not bedhead. He and Eldest spent a silly amount of time in front of the bathroom mirror 'fixing' their hair. INBA thought his looked 'cool.' Thank goodness he isn't aware of what gel can do for a guy.

Whaddaya know?

I believe that this was refered to as random things that you don't need to know about me. How much fun is that. TMI?
1.FIRST NAME? Heather
2.WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?Supposedly that was a little girl in a Tide commercial gardening with her grandpa. This struck them because my grandpa was quite the gardener. Oh, and he died 2 months before I was born... on his birthday.
3.WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY?Um, Friday. I am one of those annoying people that cry about everything... happy, sad, sappy, angry, whatever. So annoying.
4.DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It is ok, so I don't dislike it.
5.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? I don't really eat lunch meat very often, but I suppose it would have to be shaved ham these days.
6.IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?Yes, I am a good friend.
7.DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL?You’re reading it.
8.DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?Yes.
9.WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Maybe.
10.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?Quaker Oatmeal Squares
11.DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I like clogs, so not really an option... but I think I untie my tennies when I take them off at the gym... but then, it tells how long since I have been to the gym when I cannot be definate.
12.DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Nope, pretty wimpy.
13.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?Chocolate.
14.SHOE SIZE?8.5
15.RED OR PINK?Definitely red.
16.WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?Hyper self aware.
17.WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?Godmom Patti.
18.DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?Post your own answers on your blog and make a comment here!
19.WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?olive green pants with a celery green shirt under a red corduroy jacket, handknit socks (sparkly disco ones) and red slippers.
20.LAST THING YOU ATE?pretzels and nutella.
21.WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?the TV is on and I can hear the spin cycle of the wash machine.
22.IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?Green.
21.FAVORITE SMELL?Oranges.
22.WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?My Mother.
23.THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO?The way they move. Although, I think it was the way the Mister stands... and he is gorgeous in tails.
24.DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON YOU STOLE THIS FROM?Yes.
25.FAVORITE DRINK? Diet Pepsi and Pinot Noir.
26.FAVORITE SPORT?I like baseball... Go Tigers!
27.EYE COLOR?Blue.
28.HAT SIZE?I dunno, but I think my head is a bit large... too much hair and too smart :)
29.DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No need.
30.FAVORITE FOOD? chocolate...it is its own food group, right?
31.SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? I don't watch scary movies.
32.SUMMER OR WINTER? Endless summer... sunny and 72.
33.HUGS OR KISSES?passionate kisses.
34.FAVORITE DESSERT? heartstopping chocolate cake
35.WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING?Introduction to the Devout Life, by St. Frances De Sales. I read a lot of magazines, too.
36.WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?N/A
37.WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV?Watched Radio on DVD.
38.FAVORITE SOUNDS?Well, I have to say the quiet that comes when the Mister and the boys are fast asleep. But this keeps me up late enjoying it.
39.ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES?Beatles.
40.THE FARTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Italy
41.WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I am a good mother
42.WHERE WERE YOU BORN?Michigan
43.WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?I stole it from pepperknit.

How Bad

See there? I was going to be better about posting. Ugly week. No excuse.

Anyway, I have been knitting my little heart out on pea pod. It just needs to have its sleeves sewn in. I took it to knittin last night, just nothing to pin it together. So it sits awaiting attention. I will have it to show, soon.

I cast on The Mister's Blue Sweater. That is a lot of stitches. And he is a skinny guy. And he has long arms. It may take a while. Maybe it will be done for his BDAY in January. I mean really, it has taken me how long to knit an INFANT's sweater?

I will be more inspired, maybe Monday.

Saturday Morning

Falling, Falling, Falling

This is how you get the boys to 'help' rake leaves. It was 42 degrees but sunny. Which is ok, because there are ones we love that were dumped upon with snow. It is all relative.

Pea Pod

I didn't think to take a picture. But, I did finish the lace panel of the right front, so I think that I am going to move more swiftly on the rest... it is that whole chart and paying close attention thing that I am not so quick with. The yarn is delicious. It is the Rowan Cashsoft DK in Lime. (As in Green.) It is a merino, microfibre and cashmere blend. Yum.

I Don't Need to be Fast

But sometimes it just doesn't seem fair that other people are so fast. Not that I want to be
anything like Wendy, I am a bit green of her completed in two days purple pea pod. I will refrain from whining about all the demands on my time and my inability to think coherently after 8pm and just plug along on my green with envy pea pod. It just has to be done by November or maybe the end of... the little boy is due the 19th...






And I don't like this sock yarn. Or maybe I don't like cotton blend sock yarn (oh, the maligned jaywalker.) Or maybe I don't like how my gauge is smaller once working on a sock than when I swatch. I know that this skein had a lot of burps. And I don't care for the colorway, it seems dingy to me. And it is a chevron pattern from my beloved Sensational Knitted Socks book by Charlene Schurch, that just didn't do what I expected. I am bummed and it is too small for me, so unless I can think of someone with a 8 years to small woman size foot, I am not going to mess with this. Of course, the Mister couldn't see why I was even bothering to finish the one in the first place. Well, I don't like unfinished objects and it bugs me that I spent so much time on it to rip it all the way back and toss the lot into the bottom of the odds box. At least this way, if I find someone I want to do the other for, I can... and only curse half as much.

This is Eldest's last chance for my knitting for a long time if he refuses it. My camera doesn't like purple, for some reason. It is crazy royal purple and it is going to be a sweater vest. It also happens to be school color purple. He will be dashing in it, if he agrees to wear it. So far he has not said no, he picked the skeins out himself. But enthusiastic, he is not. I still love him. I promise.




Ok, cross your fingers for me... the MIL is moving in tomorrow. She is only going to be here until her house is built... so maybe you should cross your fingers for the homebuilder. Don't cry for me, the Mister and I get to go out to dinner with friends on Saturday to celebrate our anniversaries (ours 10-10, theirs 10-12, oh, that was today!) The boys are excited to have a sleep over with GMA, they have been bugging her for that since we moved here, and maybe the Mister and I can steal a little extra us time. I hate to call it a built in babysitter... that would be a dream and it is just my MIL, after all.

Take this Attitude and....

Well, I guess I am going to have to break down and take a computer class. Obviously technology is eclipsing me despite my denial of such an event. I am a slave to my template and automatic popups. I so annoy myself. It is time to give in.

Laurie emailed me pictures from the farm so that "I had no excuse not to blog." Uh, my kids aren't good enough for your blog? huh? Well, it makes no difference because my email provider will only let me have them as a webpage, so I dunno. I suppose if I thought about it (ask the Mister to fix it for me) I might get it figured out. Oh, the effort that life demands.

A suggestion was made on her blog, ok, is fantasized about regularly at the BN Friday knitting, of a yarn shop career. I think it should be a yarn shop with attitude. And I do not mean the "nobody likes green" attitude. I mean, "quit your sissy whining and step away from the bulky wool. Socks ARE NOT hard. They have been knit for HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of years by people much less 'educated' than yourself." But it is like the lady that asked me, as I sat in the sunshine, waiting for INBA to be done with preschool, knitting a sock, "can you knit anything?!" To which my reply was, "Um, yeah. I can do anything that I decide to try." Attitude, people, attitude is everything.

Ignore the Inconvenient

At least that is what I was going to do. I haven't posted in 2 whole weeks? Ah, skip it. But then, NO! There are actually pictures. I had been planning to post, honest, I even have a little list on a scratch pad. Granted, I had been planning for so long, I don't know what a couple of those scratches mean. I still think that my memory is so good that I won't forget anything, especially something funny. Ha.

Well, let's get on with it, since you obviously don't believe that I have done anything but sleep for two weeks.

There are no pictures for yesterday. The boys and I met up with Laurie and her family at Trax Farm for the Family Fall Festival, or something like that. Laurie had a camera and looked to be taking some nice pictures, maybe she will post them for your pleasure. We were soundly defeated by the corn maze. We had to be led out by some small child who climbed between the stalks to find his way. Probably if we had listened to Laurie's Older Son- he was yelling "LEFT," I don't know how we ignored him- we may have found our way out without the shame... either way, it was an adventure.

Let's step back in time...





A picture of the boys from a week or so ago... notice that INBA is wearing a sweater that I made for Eldest and he refuses to wear. He was really smug when I noticed that INBA was wearing it, like he had pulled one over on him... Huh, huh, INBA is wearing that sweater, huh, huh.

Fine, be that way. The Mister says that I cannot love the younger one more because he wears my knitting. Besides he is still 4. He has his own issues.








Speaking of issues, INBA has very delicate toes. He cannot stand socks and the seams. Oh, what a fight to get the kid back into shoes for the winter. So, after a million dollars and the most seamless socks one can find commercially (which are not seamless, thanks for nothing stride rite) I made the boy a pair of socks. See, I took a picture when I started because I planned to post...

But here they are finished. I didn't pull ahead in the skein to match the stripes because I wasn't sure that I could get both socks out of one skein (knit picks Parade.) But I did, and could have matched the stripes and been ok. I do, however have another skein- purchased with the intention of a pair for myself- so I am intending to make another pair to match the first and then have 2 pairs of matched stipes... follow?



ok, it looks like I have extra pictures that show up in the post but not in my working area. Sorry.

Anyway, this morning INBA refused the "seamless" socks in lieu of mommy-made socks. But I don't love him anymore than I would have. I promise.








And there is Pea Pod. I really like knitting lace, I just cannot do it while tired or when I have a headache. So, progress is slow since I do my knitting in the evening after the world has sucked almost every last drop of energy from my bones.
I have gotten 3 of the buttons knit on, so it will get done. I suppose I will just have to give myself permission to knit during the day. It is a gift with a deadline, after all, not just for my pleasure -which I am certainly not entitled to during the day. :)










What Has the Mister Been Up To?
Well, he fixed our front porch.
Several of the bricks along the front and side were about to fall off. Also, many in the middle had the mortar crumbling around them. Every time I swept it I took more out. So he made it as good as new. How unbearably useful my Mister is!!







Then the Mister took the boys to Alcosan's Open House.
Yes, that Alcosan... Allegheny County Sanitary Authority- the waste water treatment plant.
They all really enjoyed it.
I had a couple hours to myself which I enjoyed as well.

Anyway, these are the pictures the Mister took.
The boys doing Mad Science.
The boys coloring.




No pictures of the 100ft deep pit that all the waste water flows into, no picture of the screens, no pictures of the river, nothing. I love my boys as much as he does, but geesh. At least he remembered to take the camera, which is better than I do most of the time. So, good job, Mister.

This is his favorite favor from the open house. Frankie the Fish on a Bethel Bakery Cookie. He made a point of taking this picture as soon as they got home.

Now, I solemnly promise to be better about my posting.
Peace.