I should know better..

...than to make any kind of plans to finish something!

I was just cruising along on my A Little Bit Irish cardigan, or so I thought! I'm not sure if I messed up while at the airport, but I know I messed up on the increases while at knit night. The end result was frogging 7 rows of work:

Then I had to knit it all up again so I wouldn't have a knotted mess:

Now I can cruise again until it's time to start the next ball of yarn, and I'll pause to count rows and stitches and such then!

All brainless knitting isn't the same!

Tonight was my monthly knitting night. It's something I really need for several reasons. First of all, it tends to be my only contact with real people. With not working outside of the home, and being out in the middle of nowhere, and not having any friends out here, I simply don't have contact with people outside of my home other than the internet! It's also nice to meet with other knitters and crocheters... see what they're working on, get to feel and see different yarns and tools... just talk with other people that "get it"... ones whose eyes don't glaze over when you start talking about how smooth your new needles are, how squishy and soft your new yarn is, etc etc.

I learned long ago that for any knit night, that the project(s) I bring to work on have to be mindless, no pattern to follow, nothing that requires counting rows, no counting stitches above about 10. I decided to bring Raith's Wild sock, and my Little Bit Irish cardigan with me. The sock is over halfway down the foot, so I wouldn't have to worry about counting rows before starting the toe. The cardigan is at the point where I increase before and after the markers, and purl the wrong side. Both are very suitable for knit night, or so I thought!

The place we met this time was a restaurant, and was very poorly lit. That eliminated the possibility of knitting on the sock, as the yarn is quite dark for the most part. That meant working on the cardi, which is what I wanted to work on anyway! Well, at the end of the night, as I was saying my goodbyes, I commented about how I was going to go home and check my increases to make sure I got them all. I had knit about 6 rows of my cardi, which is 3 increase rows, but with chatting and such, I'm not completely sure if I remembered to do my increases before and after each marker! LOL!!


Nicole =o)

Travelling means slippers!

I can't recall exactly when the tradition started, but whenever Derek travels, I make him a new pair of slippers. He used to "blow through" a pair every time he went away, so I simply began making him a new pair before he left! Well, he has needed a new pair for some time now, and since his flight is at 7am, I figured it was about time I made some! I'm proud to announce my first FO of 2012: Derek's Travelling Slippers

I have also set up knitmeters on the sidebar to note how much yarn I've worked through this year. I downloaded my stash database on Ravelry, and it's over 170 km of yarn! Since this project was about 183m, that means I crocheted up 1/1000th of my stash! LOL! I will only be adding to that total as a project is finished, so the numbers will stay static until projects are done.

I am currently working on the yoke of my cardigan while I wait for the time for Derek and I to leave for the airport. I'm not getting the 3+ hours of knitting time as I had hoped because his 7am flight requires us to leave home by 2am! I can knit by feel somewhat, but I can't knit in total darkness. Here's how the collar turned out:

I will keep on working on this until it's time to get ready to go in about an hour or so. We printed up the pattern for the rose-coloured afghan today, so I'm pretty sure that Derek thinks that is the project I will be working on... won't he be surprised when he returns?!? I'm also hoping to have the cardigan done, or nearly done by the time he gets back. The cardigan, the popcorn afghan, and the commissioned projects will definitely keep me busy mindlessly for when I need a diversion from my mind wandering to places that it best not wander off to.


Nicole =o)

The little swatch that could!

Yesterday I was talking about my swatch, and here it is:

This is the third one I did, and is the correct stitch count per inch at long last! I slogged through the rest of the collar and got started on the body. I only did a couple rows of the body, enough to establish the increases. Those couple of rows were enough to make it easier going now that I'm using the larger needle size. 3.5mm needles and worsted/ aran weight yarn don't mix all that well, no matter how good your needles are! I'm not sure how much I will get done on this daily... I'm sorta aiming for around 10 rows, but since it will be over 300 stitches at the underarm before dividing for the sleeves, that number is definitely negotiable! I'm taking this project and Raith's socks with me on the drive to the airport, so I will have 3 solid hours of knitting time, and possibly more if I wait with Derek for his flight!

I want this project to be one of my "mindless" ones, which means that I don't really have to think. Follow the directions on the pattern, and "just do it"! I like these kinds of projects for the break from the brain-busting that some of my designing does. It's a treat to be able to just sit and knit and not have to think about what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and getting it written down in a way that resembles English. It's relaxing and soothing in a way that is hard to describe. I enjoy designing... I really do, but I also like to zone-out and feel the rythym of the stitches being formed by my fingers. All that being said, I am changing the type of increases that the pattern calls for. It calls for all eight increases to be standard m1 increases. While this type will serve the purpose, I really prefer to have mirrored increases, especially in a place as visible as a raglan sleeve. The increases I do are a type of lifted increase that I saw in a book once, and they give it a very nice look IMO. They don't take any more time, and I do them without really thinking about it anyway... kind of like how I do a ssk for any decrease paired with a k2tog, or a sl1 k2tog psso for any centred double decrease.

In unrelated news, I found the other missing pattern for my UFO afghan. I was searching around Ravelry a bit when I remembered a printed pattern I had found in the craft room by "SAG55". Searched a little bit more, and found the pattern I wanted on the Internet Archive. It's called Basketweave Afghan, and I remember it being a completely brainless project. It was my "bus project" for some time until it basically out-grew the shopping bag I carried it in. When I was looking at it, I guess-timated it to be around 50% done, and that's how I've entered it into my projects page. I also entered Derek's Popcorn MAM into my projects, but that pattern isn't linked in Ravelry either. I get started on that one Wednesday night!


Nicole =o)

Planning... and swatching... (fail to plan and you plan to fail)

I have discovered that I am a person that likes to report things "after the fact", rather than posting about what I plan to do. Yes, I like making plans and stating goals, but more in a longer-term sense, not a day-by-day "to do" list. Part of it is that it is easier for me to write in the evenings, after the house has quieted down a bit. The other part of it is that I know I rarely get done everything I plan to in any given day. I tend to "over-book" myself. The longer term goals are more realistic for me to complete on time... it's just how I seem to manage.

Yesterday is a typical example of my normal goals. It was Sunday, even though it really didn't feel like one, that means I'm supposed to be doing project finishing details. I ended up doing the opposite by starting a new project! I swatched for my "Tweed Cardigan" (link in yesterday's post), which I've named "A Little Bit Irish" in my Ravelry projects. My intent was to simply do the swatch, and then get on with other things I wanted to get done. As I half-expected, the needles called for in the pattern gave me a swatch that was off by one stitch width-wise, and dead-on for the row count. This is the same result I had when swatching for my cabled pullover (Gonna Try to Cable Pullover in my Ravelry projects. Unfortunately, in my enthusiasm for this project -- or was it haste to get on with something else? -- I decided to go *up* one size of needles for the next swatch, but I was trying for 17 stitches per 4 inches instead of the 16 stitches I got on my sample.

A quick lesson in gauge/ tension:

For those of you that are muggles (meaning non-knitters/crocheters), I will explain the importance of gauge for this project. Even my middle DD, who is a knitter and crocheter, looked at me puzzled when I said it was off by one stitch. It is only one stitch, how much difference can it make? A lot actually! The cardigan I am making has a finished chest measurement of 48 inches (~122cm). The gauge swatch is 4 inches (~10cm). A difference of just one stitch in the swatch means a difference of 16 stitches in the project. That means if I don't adjust my gauge, that I will end up with a sweater that's a full 4 inches larger than I want!

Needless to say, my 2nd swatching  attempt didn't match the stitch count I needed! Finally, by going down a size, I got the prescribed tension on my 3rd swatch. My row count is off slightly, but this patterns is written in such a way that the row gauge isn't as critical. I will be trying this cardigan on frequently while doing the shaping so I can add in extra rows when I need to. A good portion of (all? more than?) the time I wanted to spend knitting was spent on these swatches. After all that, I didn't really have time to do much more, but I did anyway! A needle of the proper size was assembled, a fresh skein of yarn obtained, and the collar was cast on. I only meant to do about 2 rows, with the intent of finishing the collar next time... however this skein produced a bigger wad of yarn barf than the previous, so I simply kept knitting until it was all cleaned up... which ended up being 6 rows. No time left to work on the "must-do" projects...

and that is why I don't write at the beginning of my day!


Nicole =o)

Facing it... and avoiding it...

Anybody who knows me, knows that I find different ways of avoiding things when I can. When I'm very stressed out about something, especially something that's out of my control, I tend to "escape" and typically that's into my video games mostly. It's the easiest way for me to occupy my brain with something brainless. That's why I was playing my games like nuts on Facebook Friday night... keeping my mind off of our loss.

During the day I did a ton of searching and such for my queue, and project plans for next year. It was a great way to focus my attention away from what was going on around me, and getting something accomplished as well. If you go back through my blog archives, you will find that quite frequently, my "avoidance days" are often my most productive days... just in other things!

So just what did I manage to accomplish?

Firstly, I discovered that any search for a cardigan pattern on Ravelry can not include "free" patterns unless you have about 4 days to go through all of the possibilities! I narrowed my search parameters to just what I already have in my vast library. With the selection of a few criteria, my choices were now down to just over 250 (from the well over 3000 when I included "free"!). This was a much more manageable list to go through. All of the ones that interested me enough, I added to my Ravelry favourites listing, along with a few keywords to help me sort through them later. After a few hours were spent on that, the 250-ish was down to about 30 realistic options. I tend to keep very few things saved in my queue and favourites, mainly using them for a "true" listing of what I want to make. Next, I went through the remaining patterns, and refined it all... adding yarn, size info; suitable Knit Picks yarn choices and the like. I ended up adding 5 (I think) of these to my queue, leaving the remainder in my favourites for the time being.

I am extremely serious about becoming more focussed in my projects this coming year. I want a sweater a month, a shawl a month, a design a month, a pair of socks a month, and an afghan a month! Those are pretty lofty goals, but since I already have some of these in progress, and the design can go hand-in-hand with one of the other categories, it isn't completely out of my reach. Now that I had quite a few sweaters and shawls in my queue, the next order of business was to get it all sorted. I added the tag "2012plan" to the projects I wanted to concentrate on the most... the sweaters and shawls... many in kit form just waiting for me to start them. After a lot of fiddling around with project order, and tags, and what still needed yarn to be purchased, I now had a game plan for most the first six months of 2012.

Nicole's Project Plan - January-June 2012

• January - Sweater: Tweed Cardigan (Mary Maxim kit); Shawl: finishing the Denise design; Afghan: finishing Derek's Popcorn MAM; Socks: finishing my Felici socks (Caprica colourway).
• February - Sweater: Melissa's Cute Knit Cardigan (Mary Maxim pattern/ Bravo yarn); Shawl: Diatom Shawl (Knit Picks kit, purples colourway); Afghan: finishing the Melissa design; Socks: finishing the Texaco design.
• March - Sweater: February Lady (Swish in Lemongrass or Swish Tonal in Kindling, which needs to be purchased); Shawl: Wandering Lace Wrap (Mary Maxim kit, Wood Rose colourway).
• April - Sweater: Melissa's Girl's Lacy Cardigan (Red Heart Soft, fuchsia colourway); Shawl: Season's Shawl (Knit Picks kit, fall/winter colourway).
• May - Sweater: In the Green (Bernat Cool Crochet, Tie Dye Shades colourway); Shawl: Nightsongs (Alpaca Silk, lavender colourway).
• June - Sweater: Primrose Path Cardigan (unknown yarn bag of mill ends, or Knit Picks CotLin, or Knit Picks City Tweed DK which would need to be purchased); Shawl: Chinook (Knit Picks kit, neutrals colourway).

I realize that I haven't planned afghans or socks for March and beyond. I have the rose-coloured afghan, and Wayne's afghan to finish, as well as a new design that's intended for Alex that I need to work on a bit and see if it will be accepted into the KP-IDP. I also have several other UFO/ WIPs in various states of completion. When it comes to socks, I'm never at a loss for projects! Derek is in desperate need of work socks, and I have several designs that need finishing up. As the end of February draws near, or I complete my January/ February goals, I can then decide what projects to spend my time on next.

Since beginning quilting and starting to sew again are also goals of mine for this next year, I am strongly considering creating a weekly plan... this day is for sewing... that day is for afghans... this day is for sweaters... you get the idea. I won't be able to purchase any of the quilting and sewing supplies I want/ need until the end of the month at the earliest, so whatever day I choose for sewing will be a "craft room organization day" for the time being. Sundays used to be for end-weaving, and that's what I want to do again... weaving in ends, and other project finishing details including photography. Monday is traditionally my "heavy cleaning" day, so working on the craft room fits in well there. That leaves me five more days to "assign", and I can work on that once the kids go back to school on the 9th (or is it the 10th). By that time Derek will be gone too, so I should have a couple of weeks to work on this "system". Fingers crossed that I can have that all sorted by the end of the month.

Wish me luck... oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


Nicole =o)

Tough decisions... a tough day...

My project plans for the next year have been first and foremost on my mind the last few days. More than anything, it's been to keep my mind occupied for many reasons. Derek and I have been on eggshells for the last week as we await word for when he embarks on his new job. Everything is in a perpetual holding pattern until we know when he's leaving, and all the other details that go along with that. As if that edginess in the house wasn't enough, we've been dealing with a very ill child. Our youngest has been sick since Christmas night/ Boxing Day. She's usually very cheerful, vibrant, and full of energy, so it takes a lot of wind out of your sails to see her so lethargic. I won't get into the details of how sick she has been.

Last, but not least, is the illness, and death today, of our beloved dog, Taz... better known to all that loved him as "Dipshit". Yes... that is what we called him most of the time, and what he answered to better than his given name. We knew when he was given to us nearly 3½ years ago that we wouldn't have him all that long. He was already at least 8 years old, prone to many health problems as a Lhasa Apso (not Shih Tsu like I said in a previous post), and had survived being hit by a car, abuse and a laundry list of other things prior to coming to live with us. His last few months I could tell he was declining. There were days when the 4 steps to the door were just too many for his old body to be able to manage without a big struggle. He also refused to get along with our new kitten that we rescued in October. This may not seem unusual to most people, but Taz was a dog that refused to believe he was anything other than a cat. He even purred when you scratched him behind the ears. Our guests would laugh uproariously when we explained that he wasn't growling at them... he was doing his version of purring! Towards the end, even the few things he still enjoyed, he didn't seem to be as excited about. Our daily walks were about the only time I would see him show any enthusiasm, and he was a very social dog... ask anyone in our village... he would visit them all on his "daily rounds"! All of us in our family have accepted that this is the best for him, and that he's no longer suffering. We are glad that he didn't suffer long. His last day(s) was(were) rough on us all, as about all he could manage to do was get up long enough to stumble, and bark occasionally from pain. He has earned his place over the "Rainbow Bridge"... with all the squeaky toys he can ever hope to break, and all the tires he could ever want to pee on. RIP our beloved Taz...

Decisions need to be made.

I'm sitting here looking at my Ravelry entries -- projects (WIPs and hibernating) as well as my queue. To add to that, a new Mary Maxim catalogue came in the mail yesterday with a ton of new kits for once, and many of them are quite tempting. In my last post, I talked about my resolutions and goals for the upcoming year. Now comes the time where I need to face those goals and decide what I will be focusing my energy on next.

I have way too many things on the go right now to be very productive at any of them, so the first order of business is to address the number of WIPs I have, plus what I have lined up to work on next. My WIP listing on Rav shows (in current order): Raith's Wild Socks; Nearly Instant Gratification Socks; Denise Shawl; Texaco; Neecie's Monster Ghan; and Melissa's Afghan. My hibernating listing on Rav shows 14 projects, but the 2 afghans I found in the yarn bombing last month aren't even there, and Wayne's Afghan is still in my queue! The ones I want to complete the most, plus are relatively easy to locate are: My Prize Cardi; Alex's Scarf; the rose-coloured afghan; Derek's Popcorn MAM; and Wayne's afghan. My queue listing on Rav is now at 41, and that means it's on 2 pages (30 per page in thumbnail view). I prefer that view because I can easily adjust the order of my projects, however the two pages makes it more difficult, and a little overwhelming for me. There is a wide variety of projects listed, some are commissioned, some are kits, some are WIMs with all supplies available, some are WIMs where I still need to purchase or assign yarn, and yet others are patterns that I would really like to make.

Addressing my priorities:

• Neecie's Monsterghan - This project is actually finished, but still needs to be laundered and have final photography done. That is mostly incidental, and can be done a day or so before delivery with the other commissioned items.
• Raith's Wild Socks - I am on the foot of the first one, and since these are commissioned, they have to be done in a timely manner. I would have to say that this project is my first priority.
• 2 pairs of slippers - These are in my queue, and are commissioned projects; this makes them a high priority as well. Luckily I can crochet a pair in about an evening, and the only thing that will really take any time is the  stash diving for acrylic yarn.

My commissioned items have to come before anything else. I have had these orders since September and they need to be filled. They are all going to the same customer, and I have been communicating with them on the progress, so the time it's taking isn't an issue at all. It's simply that I want to be working on other items, so I want to have these out of the way.

Addressing my goals:

Even though my list seems overwhelming, I do have a lot I'd like to accomplish each month. If I take it step-by-step, especially with how many things I already have in progress, I think a great deal of it is doable, for 6 months at least.

• Pattern release - The Gumdrop Placemat and Coaster Set, and 2 sock patterns are nearly ready for release. I have been procrastinating heavily on the finishing touches, and really need to get these out of the way. This can clear my slate somewhat for other patterns that need more than a spit and polish.
• Sweater or shawl - As much as I'd love to finish one of each, I can't honestly see that happening until I get some of my "backlog" (particularly 50%+ finished afghans) out of the way. I'm leaning towards the Tweed Cardigan kit for January's potential FO. It's a fairly simple pattern, and I could really use a nice, casual cardigan. I have the Denise shawl to work on if I have a craving for lace during the month, and can finish it in February.

The rest of the goals I listed previously are all on-going things... mainly keeping up with what I'm already addressing, and not really a goal-of-the-month. I want/ need to clear out several of my UFOs, and the first one I want to finish is the Popcorn MAM for Derek. I also have several socks on the go, and more I need to make (especially work socks for Derek). Right now I'm thinking that finishing an afghan and a pair of socks per month is possible, as strange as it sounds. I have so many afghans on the go, that picking one to concentrate on won't be difficult at all.


Nicole =o)

The end is near...

the end of the year that is!

I'm doing much better now than I was previously this month. I'm even knitting a bit again, although Farmville is sucking a whopping amount of my time. As much as that game is driving me to the brink, I have nearly a year invested in it, and haven't quite built up the courage to let it go. I will end up letting it go eventually, I'm just not quite ready yet.

A new year means new beginnings and such. Thanks to a ton of prayers and support from all our friends and family, Derek and I will be starting this new year completely fresh in a ton of ways. We can't begin to thank everyone that helped us out in some way, shape, or form over the last month. All I can say is to never doubt the power of prayer! Even our agnostic/ athiest friends were putting their hands together and looking skyward in our name.

This is the traditional time of year when people often start thinking of New Year's Resolutions. I am no different, although I don't do them every year, and am more likely to make resolutions when the opportunity presents itself, rather than a specific time of year. I have been very active on a few boards at Ravelry these past few months, in particular, the Knit Picks Lovers group. In November, the topic of 2012 resolutions came up, and got me thinking (realistically) what I'd like to accomplish this coming year. Without further ado, here's my list for the coming year (as posted in KPL):

1. Release at least one pattern a month.
2. Continue with listing everything on Rav. Most of what’s “missing” is hidden stash and UFOs! 
3. Finish a sweater or shawl a month (knit or crochet; for me or others; OPPs or original).
4. Learn/ practice knit colourwork. (This scares the beejeebers out of me more than cables did!)
5. Work on promoting myself more. (Rav group, Facebook page, advertising, etc.)
6. Reorganize my yarn stash, and get my craft room into a usable state.

Some of these I had already been working on, and some I have made a great deal of progress on since I originally posted this list in November. I have a few other additions to make, namely:

• Tweet (link on sidebar), update Facebook status more for self-promotion. Even if it's not directly related to my designs, even mentioning what I'm working on etc. can build up a following... something that has been missing since the heydays of Nicole's Crochet Bistro in the mid-00's.
• Improve my state of health. It had improved somewhat overall when I quit working outside the home nearly a year ago, but a wake-up call from my doctor earlier this month has brought many concerns to the forefront. Drastic changes are necessary, and necessary now.

I have a bit of a plan in mind for working towards all of these goals. I don't think any of them are un-realistic, and all of them will make me feel better physically, spiritually, or both.

• Releasing a pattern every month will make me strive to actually finish up the designs and patterns I have in progress already. I have several that simply need tech editing, formatting, and/ or photography. These are details that *must* be done, but I put off indefinitely. I have at least a half-dozen I can think of off the top of my head that fit into this category. While new designs are so much more interesting to me to work on, there isn't a point to calling myself a designer if I don't publish as well.
• Listing everything on Ravelry has several benefits to me. First and foremost, I am forced to face what I actually have on hand, and not focus so much on what I want to have. I have more acrylic in varying amounts than I could ever use in hats, mitts, scarves, slippers, and the like. This is what I tend to use it for mostly. I have to find projects that will quickly consume large amounts of this, without requiring large amounts of any particular colour. I often will reference many of my personal databases while out shopping, and this saves me time and money. While I have been diligent this past year about listing purchases of yarn, magazines, etc., it's my older stuff that needs to be listed. I got a huge chunk of it done in November, and was even sorting it into labelled bins, with those labels included on the listing for the yarn on Rav. The only listing that still needs major work is my needle database, and I want/ need to get that set up for mainly my Knit Picks needles. I also purchased bins today for lace-weight yarns and Derek's sock wool. Even though those yarns are all already listed in my stash, I will need to do the updates to indicate their locations.
• I have joined several KAL/ CAL groups with the goal of "12 in 2012". While I may not actually participate in them, and in fact with all the kits and such I have on hand, there is no way I could, I'm hoping for the inspiration to actually complete projects from start to finish in a more timely manner. I want to spend a little bit of time going through my shawls and my sweaters, and make a kind of "to-do" list for each month. This list would also have which design pattern I will focus on completing for release.
• Learning and practicing colourwork is something I've wanted to do for some time. I have recently purchased a few books on it, and have plans for acquiring a few more. I have one small kit purchased to try this out on a small scale. There are a couple more that are in my wish list at the Knit Picks web site.
• Self-promotion is something I have never been good at. I simply don't have the salesman gene. I started the ball rolling recently by creating a Facebook page for my designs. A very small sampling of my patterns are currently listed, and I need to force myself to add more... not "time permitting", but actually "making the time" to do it. I want to start a Ravelry group as well, but for now I can allow myself to procrastinate a bit on that while I work on the Facebook side of it. I have many friends on Facebook all over the world, and I have my fingers crossed that they can be a springboard to opening up new markets for myself.
• Reorganizing is a constant battle for me. For the first time ever in December, I can still access anything in my craft room with a relative minimum of fuss. Labelling my stash bins has already proven very valuable, as it cuts down the "diving" time drastically. I want to start sewing again, and doing some quilting this year, so that room has to be put into a state of usability rather than just storage. The biggest task was getting the yarns bins into better order, and while my living room had several days of looking like a yarn factory had thrown up all over it, it was all worth it. 
• Tweeting (link on sidebar) and Facebook-ing are two ways I can "get my name out there" with a relative minimum of effort. I don't have many followers, but the more I "contact the universe", the more "the universe can contact me". I don't expect, and I don't think I'd even want, to be as well known as Yarn Harlot, however it would be nice to know that more people I don't know "read" me, than ones I do know!
• Improving my state of health is gonna be a toughie. I finally have the life overall that I want, so the last thing I want now is for that life to be cut short. A discussion I had with my doctor recently has made me face all that head-on. Serious and drastic changes have to be made to my lifestyle and habits, and much sooner rather than later.

Stay tuned for my January task list... 

Nicole =o)

You were doing so well...

and then December hit.

My closest friends know and understand how and why I hate December. The Reader's Digest version of it is that nearly everything bad that has happened to me, or to our family in the last 10-15 years has happened in December.

This year we were hoping to change that pattern. The signs were all there that this year *would* be different. The month started off fine, but less than a week into it, "The December Curse" struck again.

I'm dealing with much more crap right now than any person should have to... at any time of year. It takes every bit of energy I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Even knitting and crocheting have been put aside until I can *deal* again.


Nicole =o(


Sent from my BlackBerry® powered by Virgin Mobile.

Peace and quiet.

Last night was just as I had expected -- the "baby" was "up" every hour pretty much. I think I was nearly as happy as my daughter when the "baby" finally turned off after supper tonight.

Today hasn't been an easy one for me, so I haven't been able to concentrate on anything. I was able to get a couple rows of my shawl design done this morning before we left for town, but afterwards even my Felici sock was taxing. My games on Facebook aren't even appealing as a diversion.

I think I'm going to take advantage of the peace and quiet and call it a night early for once.

A baby in the house?

Yes, we have a "baby" in the house this weekend. I howled with laughter when my middle daughter arrived home from school on Friday lugging a car seat, diaper bag, and her school work! Seeing her struggle through the door was good for more than a few chuckles. Before you ask, the "baby" is a robo-baby provided from the school to teach teenagers just how hard it is to take care of a baby. Now, all of my older kids understand how much work a baby can be. They all helped with taking care of the youngest two. Especially the youngest, as she was very fussy, and my stress levels kept me from producing enough milk, which made her more fussy, which made me more stressed... ad nauseum. You get the idea. Let the fun begin...

She arrived home around 4:45, and the baby was scheduled to "turn on" at 5. It wasn't long before this strange little doll began making noises. This is all for school, and the information from the baby is downloaded by her teacher, so she is graded on how good of a "mom" she is. There are all kinds of sensors, and a "time limit" on soothing the baby. Of course we all had a blast teasing her about everything, especially since she has been saying for a while now that she does not want kids of her own. It sure didn't take much for her to start feeling frustrated when trying to figure out what the baby wanted. At least she was lucky that night... the baby "slept" from about 11 pm to 5 am.

We shall see how well this continues!!!


Nicole =o)

Considerations...

That's about all I seemed to be doing today, making considerations about my future. Nothing life-changing or profound, but still deciding what to do. This is something we all do, every day, without even realizing it.

Some of it was simple, like what project to grab as I was running out the door this morning -- Felici socks.
Some of it was harder, like what to order for lunch at a new-to-me restaurant that hubby took me to -- Denver with oven-roasted potatoes and side Caesar salad.
Some of it I was out practice with, like making meal and grocery shopping decisions for the next two weeks -- not Ramen noodles.
Some of it felt really unusual but something I'd like to get more comfortable with, choosing $50 worth of wool for a sweater KAL in January -- Swish worsted in either Lemongrass Heather or Indigo Heather for the February Lady Sweater.

The next few weeks shall prove to be interesting to say the least... if nothing else, Christmas and the whole holiday season will be different from previous years!


Nicole =o)

A new beginning... well sorta!

Even though December is the end of the year, this time around it is filled with a bunch of new beginnings for me and my family. This is the first time since 2002 that I haven't worked through the holiday season. My last 7 Christmases were tainted by having to go in to work for 10:30pm on Christmas night for Boxing Day sale set-up. I am so fortunate that Derek is so thoughtful, understanding, and an excellent cook!

I have finished the Monsterghan, which means that I can finally start something new... although my "Nearly Instant Gratification Socks" in Knit Picks Felici qualifies since I'm only a few inches into the first sock. It's not a pattern stitch of any kind, so it will be a welcome break from "thinking", plus the yarn feels wonderful in my hands. I have several ancient UFOs that are nearly finished, and since I haven't touched 2 of them in over a decade, it will be like a whole new project to me! The pattern has been found for the newer one, and a similar pattern has been found for the older one (although I will be reverse engineering it more than anything else). The shawl design would also qualify since I'm only a few inches into that one as well, and like the Felici, it also feels wonderful in my hands. Hmmm... maybe the something new is me actually getting projects completely finished! LOL

We are also beginning the other family life adjustments... Derek travelling for work for long periods, and my no longer depending on my mobile for home internet. At least for my routines, it seems that my crafting is the one that's suffering, and not my housework... which is good in some ways, but not so good in others. More than anything, I'm looking forward to having better contact with people than I did with just my phone. Better contact seems to translate into better inspiration and motivation for me... which is good no matter what!

Nicole =o)

P.S.: The final measurement on the Monsterghan? 65 inches by 73 inches... it's a monster all right!

Finishing... and a lesson learned!

Well, today is the last day of NaBloPoMo, and I DID IT!!! A few of the days I was pretty close to not making it, but I did, and I'm very proud of myself.

There's also other things that I did, and did not get done. In the "I did" category, I got a ton of stuff done on Ravelry (so much more to do however), and I also got my blog template updated. My sidebars are now current with extra links and such. In the "I did not" category, I didn't get much of a new routine established, and as of this writing, I didn't finish off the Monsterghan... I do plan on working at it as soon as I sign off though.

One other thing I did today is learn a new life lesson! Do not take the extra-long way to the post office without planning ahead!
This may seem strange to most of you, so I will explain! My post office is nearly next door to me. My daily trip to check our mail is often the only real exercise I get in a day, especially if I'm not doing any laundry which requires me using the stairs! Before we got snow a few weeks ago, I would slip on my crocs and dash through our back yard to get there. That would take a minute at the very most. Now I take what I call "the long way", which is walking on the street. This about triples the distance I walk, and makes it a bit more than a 5 minute return trip, including stopping at the trash bins with whatever I've grabbed on the way out the door. Our dog, who is outside for 99% of the summer, is now 99% inside so he usually joins me for the walk. I desperately need more exercise, but can only do it in tiny amounts due to back troubles. It has been my plan to walk around the entire block on days where there is no mail, or I have no trash to dispose of, but that hasn't occurred... before today that is!
This is where the lesson comes in: First of all, my usual slip-on shoes had been knocked down the stairs so I decided to wear my ballet flats which were right there. That was my first mistake! I'm obviously retaining fluid because I had to jam my feet into them, and they were really tight. Now the ballet flats offer absolutely no protection to the bottoms of my feet, so I could feel every tiny pebble in the road, plus I had no traction whatsoever on the icy patches. I get as far as the trash bins, and realize I had forgotten the empty orange box I was going to throw out. For once I didn't stop to gossip at the post office (probably my only smart move in this entire adventure), just checked my mail and left. There was only a single envelope, so I decided that since the wind wasn't bad today, or so I thought, that I would take the "extra-long way home" around the block. As soon as I rounded the first corner I realized that the reason I didn't notice the wind before was because it was either to my back, or blocked by buildings on my way. I didn't have a hat or mittens on, so it was chilly! Next came the dog... I am trying to be careful in my footing since I'm wearing shoes that have no place being outdoors in Manitoba in November! Well, the dog loves to go for walks, but he's always afraid that you're going to take off on him. He walks exactly 18 inches directly in front of you, and stops suddenly every 3.8 seconds (approximately) to make sure you're still right behind him. He's a Shih Tsu (sp?), so it's very easy to stumble and trip over him, and it's not like he's big enough that you could fall on him without doing serious damage. So here I am... walking in simply horrific shoes... feet aching with every step... trying not to step on or fall on the dog... cursing the north wind... and wishing I hadn't chosen to do this today. By the time I was halfway home, it was clearly evident that any further excursions like this required much more sensible shoes... not only were my feet screaming from being jammed into these too-tight crazy-carpet-like nothings, but my back was screaming too from the lack of arch support.
At long last... well it sure seemed long... it was probably less than 10 minutes start to finish... I arrived home, put away my coat, quickly fixed myself a hot coffee, texted my best friend about my lesson learned, and sat down to rest.

Nicole =o)

How easily we can be distracted!

I have two very good excuses why the Monsterghan isn't done yet... well a third one too, but that's minor!

Excuse #1: My hands have been unbearably cold for most of the day. Even with doing dishes and the like, they never warmed up long enough for me to be able to do anything close to knitting. My hot water bottle does wonders for my cold feet, and my sore back, but nothing at all for my hands. I am still waiting for my crafting gloves to arrive. The company I ordered them from I haven't ordered from before, so I don't know if I'll be getting email confirmation of shipping, etc. It has been over 2 weeks already, but it is the holiday season, and all shipping is slower.
Excuse #2: I have to create a new at-home routine for myself. I no longer have to depend on my phone as my only source of internet at home, and no longer need to seek out high-speed wireless in-town for most tasks. This means that my typical at-home day, and my typical in-town day need to be merged somewhat in a way that is both enjoyable and productive. I expect this to take a few days to a few weeks at best, while I re-train myself! The learning curve on this will be steep. Derek is home on both Thursday and Friday this week, then leaves on the weekend for at least two weeks away. I am hoping to have myself straightened out somewhat by that time... it will be interesting, to say the least... Christmas decorating and cleaning need to be done by then as well!
Semi-excuse #3: I need to spread out the Monsterghan to get a more accurate measurement before I get too far into the border. I do have 2 (or is it 3?) more balls of Homespun left, so it's not like I'm running short of yarn (just short of motivation!}. I've only done 1 or 2 rows of the garter border, so it won't be hard to fix stitches as I go to make another "repeat" of squares. I'll get Derek's help once I'm done this post... Johnny isn't here playing CoD with him tonight.

Nicole =o)

P.S.: Only one more day to the end of NaBloPoMo!! I did it!!

Feeling a little sheepish...

Do you collect something? I collect lots of (too many?) things.

My favourite thing to collect is cute sheep. Not just any sheep will do, it has to be absolutely adorable! My dear husband, in all his wisdom, has chosen to indulge these whims of mine with a knowing smile and a sympathetic nod. I have things like a pair of Winnie-the-Pooh pyjamas, where Winnie is wearing a sheep costume. I have a sheep tape measure where you pull the tail to pull out the measuring tape. I purchased a pattern from another IDP designer on Knit Picks that's an adorable little toy (Sheepish pattern), along with 4 different colours of boucle yarn to make a herd with. I have a coffee cup with a sheep that says "Knit Happy" on the side. I swear I'm a sucker for any cute sheep anytime anywhere!

Today, my online adventures brought me to a relatively new-to-me website, Connecting Threads. I've nosed over there a time or three, but hadn't ever really taken a thorough look-see. This company is a sister company to Knit Picks.  Well, what did I find there? A wonderful cutie in the freebie pattern section, a lamb pin cushion!!! WAY too cute for words. I promptly downloaded the pattern, and am looking forward to making a herd of them as well.

Am I obsessed? You better believe it, and I'm proud of it too!


Nicole =o)

P.S.: The Monsterghan is now officially less than a border away from being done!! YAY ME!!

The ends never end!

I've decided to go back to my old routine of "Sundays are for ends". I can't recall exactly when I stopped doing that, but it was probably back when I stopped being "heavy" into my knitting and crocheting about 3-4 years ago. When I picked up my hooks and needles again a year and a half ago, I just never got back into that habit. Since I avoid doing ends as much as possible, as shown by my finding socks that were knit 2 years before that *only* needed 4 ends woven in to become usable, this forces me to work them. Even Derek knew that Sunday was my "end-weaving day"!

It felt really good to get some of the ends done on the Monsterghan. I was helping one of my daughters with untangling and rewinding some yarn from another UFO afghan, which provided me with an opportunity to take a break from the ends. I didn't get them *all* done, but I *did* make a good dent in them. I was even able to get a few rows knitted up. I'll have to measure it again a little later, or tomorrow. I want this to be over already!

Nicole =o)

This is how we slog!

Slog, slog, slog... that's what this afghan is... a huge slog! It's a chore, it's a drudge, it's a royal PITA!!! But it's also nearly done!

I'm forcing myself to continue on with this. I want so much to work on other projects. Not necessarily something freshly cast on... one of the UFO crocheted afghans would suit me fine. Anything, please ANYTHING but this heavy, monster, tarp of Homespun afghan!

All joking aside, this is the *itch* I get when nearing the end of any relatively large project. I'm so close to finishing that I begin chomping at the bit to get going on the next item. Unfortunately that leaves me with a plethora of "almost-done's" and a distinct famine of FOs.

I never have been, and never could be, a monogamous knitter or crocheter. I *have* gone through binges where I've been "good" and finished at least as many if not more than what I've started. History shows that after one of these periods of being "good", I more than make up for it by starting so many projects that my head spins!

So that is why I'm slogging through finishing this project. It *has* to be done, but at the same time, I want a clear conscience to be able to work on what I want... AFTER this is done!


Nicole =o)


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Going backwards to go forward.

Sometimes to make progress, you have to go backwards to go forward. That was the theme for today. I spent a great deal of time finishing up the basic reorganizing of my craft room.

Now there is no way I could completely "fix" my room at one shot. That would require at least a week (or three), and a great deal of bins and other organizational items. I have neither the time, nor the money for that. Truth be told, I'd rather not buy a whole bunch of new bins anyway. I'd much rather clean, declutter, and organize what I have better so that I don't need additional bins. So far, I can only see me wanting a large bin for worsted wools... and if I can clear one of my other non-yarn large bins, even that won't be needed. The only other category I need a bin for is lace yarns. I can easily *find* one in my collection, again by clearing and reorganizing.

I was able to get part of the walls washed, and a good portion of the floor. With a lot of shuffling and such, my craft room is now entirely accessible, if not usable yet. Nearly all the bins from this week's cataloguing were returned to the room, including the extra stacks of non-yarn bins that had been in the hallway for some time.

Even with all of these things being returned to the room, my daughter's will still be able to go in there to use my old computer. I can still go in there and get to anything I need to without having to tear half the room apart, or attaching myself to mountain-climbing gear.

At this point, even if every bit of my crafting "stuff" was removed from the living room and dumped in there -- a real possibility as the beginning of December approaches -- I could still get to everything I need to, and so can the girls.

So while some of my work has been "undone", and there's so much more to do, PROGRESS *is* being made!!!


Nicole =o)


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