Is Start-itus Contagious?

If so, you knitters had better stay away! Last week Goozle & I went to the Scarves for Cancer Patients kick-off at Yellow Dog. Goozle was very good. He didn’t knit, but he played with his cars, and Dixie even set up a dvd player for him in her office. By the time we got home, he was spent.

That’s where I picked up the start-itus. Scarves are really hard for me to knit. I don’t have much for an attention span, and they’re so long. So on Saturday, I quit what I was knitting and knit this:

I think I screwed up the pattern, but it looks cool. I used Arucania Nature Wool Chunky doubled on size 13 needles. It’s super squishy, and Goozle thinks it’s a track for his truck.

I also started the hat on the left and my cancer patient scarf on the right. Both are my own concoctions.

On Saturday Girly and I had girls day. We went to the pet store, so she could see the puppies without her brother freaking out. She loves doggies! Then we went down to International Festival. It was a super gorgeous day out. The only thing we got:

Cookies and drinks from Acoustic.

“1 more?”

I can dream

I had a dream last night that I was knitting. And, I actually finished projects! I had a baby blanket knit out of purple yarn that I inherited from my grandma in some kind of lily of the valley lace pattern. I also knit a sweater. It wouldn’t have been a strange dream, if I wasn’t finishing such large projects.

I love this time of year. I love the weather. There’s football to watch, and it’s apple season! I wanted apples yesterday, but it’s just not the same going apple shopping without my sister. Doesn’t that sound sentimental like we went and picked apples off of trees together? Here’s what we actually would do. There’s an apple orchard outside of Waupun. We would get a big bag of apples, a couple of caramel apples, apple turnovers, and a jug of apple cider. Then we’d proceed to eat all of that (except the big bag of apples) on the way home. There’s a precious memory for you! 🙂

There’s also a couple of my favorite local festivals coming up. Oktoberfest in Chippewa Falls is next weekend. As someone with a German degree, I feel strongly that I should attend. It’s a small Oktoberfest, but there’s good food and good beer, and a small chance I can practice my language. And seriously, in case you’re wondering why Oktoberfest is in September, it’s because September has better drinking weather. I have a German degree; I learned this! September 20 is International Fall Fest on Barstow St. There’s lots of people and food and vendors, and best of all, Yellow Dog does some demos and sets up some tables for knitting outside. I went last year, and it was a lot of fun. And I still didn’t finish the project I started. Maybe I’ll take that with.

Speaking of Yellow Dog, I’m linking to their (pdf) newsletter. Thursday September 18, there’s the “opening” of the Scarves for Cancer Patients drive. They get yarn donated to them for people to knit scarves, hats, etc. for cancer patients. Now that’s actually a project I finished!

Here’s another project I finished last week:

It’s from the yarn I got from Lindsey from the hand dyed yarn swap. I’m going to try to be one of those trendy, scarf-wearing people now 🙂

No More Humdrum Mittens Swap 3

I’ve joined the swap again, because I love knitting mittens!

How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? about 3 years–Cindi at Yellow Dog taught me
Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? advanced (more like fearless)
What are your favorite colors? Any you dislike? Reds, greens, blues–I don’t really dislike any colors.
Do you like Latvian type patterns? If so, what are your favorite patterns?  Yes–there are too many good ones to choose a favorite.
Do you desire mittens for yourself, your “special someone else” or your child? Meeee!
What is the measurement from your wrist to the tip of your longest finger? 7 inches
What is the circumference of your hand at it’s widest point? 7.5 inches
What other things do you enjoy knitting?  small projects like kids clothes and hats

What sort of needles do you enjoy working with? (straights vs circs, bamboo vs aluminum) any except plastic

What’s one project you’ve not yet tried but are dying to make? an adult size sweater or a pair of socks–I get bored easily
What’s one yarn you’ve not yet tried but are dying to work with? kauni effektgarn
What other hobbies do you have? Do you spin? Sew? Garden? Cook? spinning, dabble in sewing
Besides yarn, do you collect anything? postcards
What kind of goodies do you enjoy? Sweets? Salty? Anything you hate or are allergic to?  I prefer sweets.  I hate cilantro and basil, but I’m not allergic to anything.
Do you have any kids? Pets? 2 kids, no pets
What is your favorite part of Winter? how bright it gets when the light reflects off a fresh snowfall at night
What is your least favorite part of Winter? the cold slop that soaks the bottom of my pants and then dries and leaves salt rings

Goozle’s Growing Up!

Thanks everyone for the nice words on my promotion. Things are going so far, so good!

And, a long long overdue thanks to my dishcloth swap partner Carola:
She sent me a lovely package from Sweden! Girly likes to wear the scrunchie as a garter, and I just finally caved in and used the washcloths. They match my bathroom perfectly.

Goozle turned 3 a couple weeks ago. He absolutely loves cars! I made this cake for him:


It tasted better than it looked! Goozle also got a “real” race car for his birthday. He spent all afternoon driving it around. He only stopped to change his tires.

He got the Cars movie, too. The week before K and Tiny came up to visit. We went to the demo derby at the Dunn County Fair. The boys had fun; Girly was bored.

The same weekend, the kids and I met some celebrities on Barstow St. in Eau Claire!

We ended the day with ice cream, which resulted in stripping Girly’s clothes off and plunking her in the van.

More pictures soon

Well I’ve been too busy & not knitting to blog.  My main reason…I got promoted!  Finally!  So far the only thing I don’t like about my new position is that I have to share an office with my boss, but that’s only temporary.  He can read 8 pt font on a computer monitor from 10 feet away, so I haven’t even been reading blogs.  I just don’t like it when people read over my shoulder.  And I recently bought batteries for my camera, so I should be set!  More blogging with pictures…tomorrow.

Seriously?

It seems that my time spent not at work goes twice as fast as the time I do spend there. Plus, since it’s summer, we’ve been super busy. Last Monday, I got half-promoted. I spend 2 hours doing my old job, 2 hours doing my new job, 1 hour for lunch (which I love) and spend the rest of the afternoon alternating. It makes my days twice as long. Oh well.

Last weekend Girly and I had a girls weekend. We went to a wedding in Beaver Dam. Up here, Up North, in Eau Claire, we got a lot of rain, but it was nothing like the flooding they got in the southern part of the state. So the route I normally take had roads closed due to flooding. N printed off a map for me, but I got to one highway I knew would take me straight there. I should have just stuck to the map, because here’s what I ran into in Berlin:

I followed a Ripon Ambulance (not an emergency) around the back roads since I figured they would be going to Ripon. I could find my way from there, but in Beaver Dam, the downtown flooded. There was a map on how to get to the church, but it wasn’t very helpful since all the streets were closed. We caught the end, which is the important part anyway.
Girly, of course, had her own agenda:

at the wedding

at the reception.
She had a lot of fun dancing, and she started yelling “Denz! Denz!” when we left.
Tiny’s birthday is today, and he turns 4!

It was also my youngest brother’s birthday on Monday, so happy birthday to him, too!

Not in alphabetical order

Speaking of alphabetical order, I’ve decided my dream job is research librarian. Maybe someday. I would at least like to be some kind of librarian. This post is not about librarians, though, this is the knitting content post. Introducing W

I’m knitting it with Garnstudio Muskat doubled with a pretty chocolate brown and 2 shades of blue. I love the yarn, and I love the pattern. I hope it fits in the end.
The weekly topic for the Keepin’ Cool in Summer Dishcloth Exchange is our favorite dishcloth pattern. Here are my 2 for the moment: tribble (I’ve knit 3 already in 4 days) and…

Look at that! I can crochet in a straight line! At first, I was just making practice squares, but then I thought if I made them bigger and with cotton they could be dishcloths. I might even do the dishes, I’m so proud of my single-crochet squares. Side note to my swap pal: that’s my kitchen tablecloth. Everything is bright.

J is for…

Just Asking. Or the way Goozle says it “juss askin”

Apparently Goozle picked up this phrase from me, but he uses it wrong. If I catch him doing something naughty, he tells me he’s Just Asking. I try to explain to him that he’s not Just Asking, he’s actually doing. I should know by now that 2 year olds are always right.
The other phrase he’s been (over)using this week is “Good Idea”. Everything is a good idea. Today he did have a good idea. He wanted me to take a picture of his blue truck.

Then he wanted me to take a picture of his race car.

Then he thought I should get a picture of the race car’s mouth.

I don’t know why people make such a big deal out of boys playing with dolls. Goozle plays with his cars like dolls. He cleans them and tells them not to crash into each other. He even made them a house garage:

And he insisted he read the car book while he slept. Seriously, this is how he fell asleep:

I figured out how to make WordPress e-mail me when people leave comments, so now I can write back individually. I always wondered how other people did that. I was also thinking about the killer bunny from Monty Python! It was just a baby bunny, too.
I will have more knitting news tomorrow (yes, tomorrow) when I will have some impressive knitting progress to show. To quote Goozle again, “I’m so ‘cited!”

Keeping Cool in Summer Dishcloth Exchange

I joined a swap!  This questionnaire is a little late.  Sorry!

Please post to your blog no later than the end of registration June 6th!

1. Do you Knit or Crochet? For how long? I knit and try to crochet.  I have been knitting for about 2.5 years and trying to crochet for a couple months.

2. Do you enjoy using metal, wooden, or some other kind of needle\hook?  Doesn’t really matter.  I like pointy tips, and I don’t really care for plastic with the exception of the Boye interchangeable set I inherited from my grandma.

3. What are your favorite types of yarn? Any you just can’t stand?  I like all different kinds of yarn.  I don’t really care for bulky ribbon yarns.  I’m on a lace yarn kick right now.

4. When it comes to cotton, are there any brands you’d love to try and haven’t? I’ve always wanted to try Henry’s Attic Pigtail cotton.  It doesn’t look like it would be necessarily fun to work with, but it looks like it would create great end results.

5. When you make Dishcloths, do you use them yourself, or tend to give them as gifts? So far, all for me.  I’m going to knit a couple for my mother-in-law since she loves doing dishes and cleaning.

6. Do you have a favorite color? Any that you dislike? My favorite colors are greens, reds, and purples.  I don’t have any that I particularly dislike.  I guess I don’t really care for beige.

7. What color(s) (if any!) are your kitchen and bath decorated in?  They are both decorated in brights.  My kitchen is more primary colors with red and orange, and my bathroom has more magenta, teal and lime green.  Actually, that’s the theme for my living room too.

8. What are your favorite scents around the house?  I clean with grapefruit scented cleaner, and I always love the smell of coffee brewing.

9. What is your very favorite thing about summer? There’s more stuff to do: play outside with the kids, going out on the boat, baseball games, parks & zoos.

10. What is your least favorite thing about summer?  The humidity and the mosquitoes.

11. Do you use soap or body wash in the shower?  In summer, soap.

12. What scents do you enjoy in the bath?  Citrus, calendula–nothing too perfumy.

13. What is your favorite dishcloth pattern?  tribble or slip stitch patterns

14. What sort of treats do you enjoy? Sweet or Salty?  Both.  I’m addicted to coconut.

15. Imagine today is one of the hottest days of the year – what do you do to keep cool? Or are you one of those folks who loves the hot weather?  Drag the kids to a highly air conditioned place like the mall or the library.

16. What sorts of hobbies do you enjoy besides knitting or crocheting?  spinning, dabble in sewing, and I planted a garden this year

17. Do you collect anything (besides yarn!)  postcards and fabric

18. Are you on Ravelry? If so, share your ID!  myhobbyisyarn

19. Do you have any allergies? no

20. Do you have any pets? no

Things that lurk in the night

The other night when N came home, he came and got me right away, because someone had spooked him. N doesn’t get spooked very easily, and he told me the little jerk that jumped out at him came back to sit on our step. I went over to the front door and opened it. I grabbed my camera and got a picture:

Rabbits can be scary!

I haven’t done much knitting because I haven’t had the attention span for it. I learned a couple months ago that I would be getting promoted. That was a couple months ago. First they had to find someone to take my spot. Then they had to hire and train him. Well, the first guy quit after 2 days, so they had to repeat the process. Now, finally, I talked to the people in charge, and they said they’re going to have to bite the bullet and start me at my new position, because we’re not getting any less busy. So, either this week or next, I’m going to be moving on up to a new position that doesn’t even exist yet. I’ll be starting from scratch which is ok with me. I feel like finally my 8 years of experience in various aspects of the printing industry, my degree, ability to multi-task and communication skills are going to be put to use. Maybe when I’m not preoccupied with whether or not I’m actually going to get promoted, I can knit better again.
Wait, I lied, I had the attention span to knit a tribble.