As you can see by the new button, I've joined the Knitting Secret Pals Program. It's being sponsored by Sandy over at Sandy's Knitting. Check out the details here, and if you're interested, sign up now. The names are being sent out Monday.
Thanks for the kind comments to my last post. We're waiting for test results, so nothing new on the health front.
I do have new knitting progress to show. First of all, there's Charlotte's heart sock.
This is still the first sock, and I'm nearly to the toe. I had to redo the heel a few times to get the heart right, but I think it looks pretty good.
Next up is Charlotte's blue Debbie Bliss sweater, aka the UFO of the Month.
I'm about 25 rows from finishing the back, and seeing as there are only three more days left in February, I don't think it will be finished before March. Maybe if I finish two UFOs next month, than I can pretend that I didn't break my New Year's resolution.
I've been spending a lot of my regular knitting time trying to get a stray cat prepared for and into a foster home. I really want this cat to get adopted into a good home, but I'm having a very difficult time finding a rescue group with room to take her in. The sooner we hear some good news from a group, the better. Right now, it's just one too many balls in the air for me.
On a more positive note, we may have finally found a babysitter for Charlotte. When we moved, we left all of our family- babysitters- in GA. Mike's family was kind enough to watch Charlotte when they visited for Christmas, but I'd kind of like to have more than one date a year with my husband. We contacted a couple of potential sitters from a baby-sitting service last month, but one wouldn't return our calls and the other went out of town on the day she was supposed to interview with us and has not called us back to reschedule. If I can't rely on these people before we've even met, there is no way I'm leaving my daughter with them. We have found another sitter in the area who has good references, lots of experience, and is actually excited to meet us. We're seeing her tomorrow and hopefully everything will go well.
That's all I've got time to post today. My sweet princess is turning into a grumpy monster.
I hope I'm not too late. She's already got monster feet!
Mike and I have been ttc for about four months now. We had no problems with Charlotte, so I was expecting to have it easy this time as well. Unfortunately, that's not the case. I went in to the doctor today, and it looks like I've got some sort of hormone imbalance. I have to go in tomorrow for some blood work which requires the 12 hour fasting beforehand - definitely not exciting. After this, I get to look forward to another blood test and possibly an MRI, followed by drugs to get my body behaving the way it should. Normally knowing what to expect calms me down, but in this case, it's just made me upset. Maybe it's because now I know for sure that something is wrong. Or maybe it's because we've wasted time trying for another child and all along my body wasn't going to let it happen. I was hoping for a baby by Christmas, but now I know it'll be at least a few months later.
I was pretty bummed out, so I ended up going crazy in the magazine section of the bookstore. (One of the things I miss about living near Atlanta is Joe Muggs Newsstand. I could spend at least an hour there going through their very extensive craft magazine section.) Now I've got four new knitting magazines to keep me occupied tonight. I've also started working on Charlotte's heart socks.
I'm almost finished with the ribbing on the first one. The pattern is another from Knit a Dozen Baby Socks. This is what they'll look like when they're finished.
I love the little heart on the heel. These were supposed to be for Valentine's Day, but Mike's gloves were on my size 0 dpns so I had to finish his gift before I could start on her's. I was a little disappointed that she wasn't able to wear them on the 14th, but I know she'll still be able to wear them many other days.
And speaking of Mike's gloves, they were a hit. He was able to wear them last night while counting, bagging, and tossing papers. He was even able to write with a pen without taking them off, and they keep him very warm. Mission accomplished.
Well, I'm off to get some down time, and a lot of food, before going to bed.
I know it's about a week late, but I finished my husband's gloves.
In answer to Christine's question, the gloves were originally going to be a surprise. I was worried about the fit when I got to the fingers, so I ended up telling him. He didn't mind knowing or going through frequent fittings to make sure the gloves fit. The first hand took awhile because I needed Mike to try it on everytime I was close to finishing a finger. There isn't much down time between when Mike gets home from work and when he goes to bed for the night, so I was only able to finish one finger per day during the week. Things picked up for the second glove, because I could just count the rows off the first one. Anyway, here's the important info once more for these gloves.
Pattern: Progressive gloves with a basic gusset from the Winter '03 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Peruvian Baby Silk in Galaxy Blue
Needles: Size 0
One pair of Men-Along gloves down, one pair to go!
I'm working on the pinky for my husband's second glove.
It shouldn't take long to finish now; I just need a little uninterrupted knitting time. I also finished the Warm Up America squares. They'll be dropped off at Michael's today.
Charlotte just threw her bowl in the floor to let me know she's finished with breakfast, so I need to go clean up. Even more than having her potty trained, I'm looking forward to the point when mopping the kitchen floor is not part of my morning routine!
You are bamboo.
Warm, cozy, and thoughtful, you take your time and
enjoy how things feel, smell, and taste. You
love the craft and beauty of traditional
things, and you value the comfort and
experience of knitting as much as the results.
But while you are reveling in your warm cozies,
don't get stuck. Warm is wonderful, but so is
the whole wide world!
What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
And in case you're curious:
You are Merino Wool.
You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to
keep you close because you are so softhearted.
You love to be comfortable and warm from your
head to your toes.
What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Here's the completed Wavy Ribbon Tank.
This is what it looks like on.
I've also changed the look of my blog. It's been in the planning stages for about a month, but I needed Michael's help to get it done. With the long weekend, we finally had time to update it.
When I went for training on Friday, I left with some Colinette Giotto for the Wavy Ribbon Tank in the new Interweave Knits. You can see the tank at the bottom of this page. It'll be crocheted up for a store sample. Here's a picture of it so far.
I'm using a size L hook and the lapis colourway.
Yesterday I was training at Knit Happens, and I think I'm going to have to work hard to bring home any money from my paycheck. They have an amazing yarn inventory, and there's still more to come before the store opens in March.
Charlotte and Mike also stopped by on Friday to meet everybody. Kristine was taking pictures, so Charlotte was having fun hamming it up for the camera. First Charlotte modeled one of the samples.
Then she showed everybody her bellybutton.
Finally she had some fun playing peek-a-boo with Liz and Kristine.
Due to some really bad luck lately, there hasn't been a lot of knitting progress around here. It seems that each time I plan a block of time for my projects, something stupid happens to keep me from getting anything done.
Yesterday, I was supposed to meet up with some people around 1 for food and knitting. On the way to church, the car's brakes started locking up and smoking. So we got to wait at a service center for about three hours. I didn't need to bring my knitting for church, so I didn't have it with me to work on at the car place. By the time we got home, it was too late to meet up with everyone else.
Today, I was going to work on the gloves for a couple of hours while Charlotte was in kid's gym time at the Rec Center. The center is supposed to be an on demand stop for the local bus. This means it isn't a regular stop, but, if you ask, the driver is supposed to stop there. Well, we ended up just riding the bus for an hour, because the driver refused to stop at the center. We could have gotten off at the regular stop closest to the rec, but it would have been a 20 minute walk that includes crossing a very busy 6 lane road and by the time he got to the stop, it was already 10 minutes into the two hour gym time. At least Charlotte isn't old enough to understand she missed out on playtime with the other kids.
Steph pointed out a good site for discounted yarn on her blog today. While you're there, be sure to check out their prices on Silk Garden.
I haven't knitted much the last few days, so not a lot of progress to report. Michael's first glove is nearly complete
and I've almost finished the second main cable repeat in the Weekend Sweater.
Charlotte doesn't feel like my knitting is progressing fast enough, so she's offered to help.
