Face-off...?

Had a conversation with myself today.  This occurred after the usual weekly rant to Dad about how I'm tired of certain unchangeable situations in my life followed by the universal question of "when can I have a break?!?!"  Dad, like the wonderful person he is, totally sympathized with me and reassured me like he always does, leading the conversation to me identifying what I can control and simplifying those things until the other situations pass.  That is what sparked this inner monologue that has been brewing for some time, I realize now.

My inner cool, calm, and collected self has been tapping me on the shoulder for the past few weeks, saying "ahem, ahem" (she wears a suit jacket, skirt, and glasses and the color hair I USED to have, looking suspiciously like my husband's sexy librarian fantasies) and pointing to a certain "to-do" list.  This list is a knitting to-do list and not only do I have everything written down in the order to be knitted I have it marked in my pocket calendar on the months it needs to be knitted by.  Not only that, I also carry a mental image of it everywhere I go.  Just as a reminder.

She is not liking this.  The conversation went something like this, Colbert-style, only the frazzled me never wears a suit:

Her:  What's that?

Me:  What's what?

Her: THAT.

Me: Oh, that?  That's my knitting to-do list.  Isn't it great?  It has everything I need to knit or sew for the next 10 months!  I know when the deadlines are and...

Her:  I...MEAN...THAT.  That.  That pair of socks for that person that's due next month.

Me:  Oh, those.  Yep.  Her birthday is next month.

Her:  So you are going to KNIT her SOCKS?

Me:  Yes.

Her:  That takes forever!

Me:  Well... yes.

Her: Why?  You've already volunteered to knit some old lady socks you hardly know, which you should be knitting right now instead of fooling with your daughter's quilt IF you are truly following this to-do list.  Why this one right after it?

Me:  'Cause I want to?

Her: Why?  Has she made you anything?

Me:  Um, no.

Her: Does she make anyone anything?

Me: Yes, all the time.

Her: Does she know you are going to knit her socks?

Me: No.

Her: Has she ASKED you to knit her socks?

Me: No.

Her: Do you even visit with her on a consistent basis?

Me:  Maybe see her 2 times a year...

Her: So let me get this straight:  you are going to spend 20+ hours knitting someone socks who has never made you a thing, has not asked for socks, does not even know you were going to knit her socks, and you see her about as often as you see the dentist, shoving you into the crazy zone when all these socks stack up, causing the things that people DO know about, are paying you for, and you said you would do to be rushed, cussed, and not be one ounce of pleasure to you at all.

Me:  [long pause with uncertainty and a hint of realization that comes with a cast-iron pan blow to the head] Yeess....

Her:  Let me ask you something else.  Who DOES make things for you?

Me:  SuperGirl.  Little Guy.  Hubby...

Her:  Who DO you see all the time?

Me:  Um, the same.  My family.  Some of my friends.

Her:  I only see a few of them on this list.  [sharp eye]

Me:  I think I get your point.

Her:  I hope so.  I'm getting enough gray hair it'll match yours.

Me:  Touche'.

So there you go.  The yarn is going back in the stash bin and it's being taken off the list.  I'll knit socks for her someday (she is a person dear to my heart) but this day isn't it.  Maybe next year or the year after when there truly is time.  I love making things for people but I need to be true to myself and not feel like I need to make something for EVERYONE.  Keep it simple.  And keep the inner self happy.  Simple as that.

Love is in the air

(the pictures are backwards; still haven't figured out Blogger's order reasoning no matter the order I upload the pictures)

SuperGirl's quilt was pieced and stacked yesterday. We took a day off, as in we stayed home because SuperGirl and I were tired and Little Guy still hasn't shaken whatever virus he's caught. I got caught up on the laundry, some cleaning, and moved more projects closer to completion. This quilt was one I was wanting to make some sort of progress on, especially since SuperGirl was home this week for Intersession and I can finally make her sit down long enough to give me an opinion on what she wanted. The above is the result. It's Moda's "Love is in the Air" 5" squares (can't think of the term for them ; they are the little 5" square stacks of sample fabric in a set/theme) cut diagonally and sewn with same size triangle flannel (the purple flowers on white). Pattern is sort of "Broken Dishes" (that was my thought anyway) and I bordered it with some leftover fabric from one of my baby slings. The pink and red plaid was perfect and I really wanted to use it as the back too but SuperGirl insisted on the blue flannel with the bunnies (see Picture #1). It's reversible!

I'm going to hand quilt it eventually (shouldn't take too long; it's only 45"x45" and I'm going to freehand a heart pattern) and bind it in the purple flower/white flannel. I was really excited when I stacked it because I was able to use two big pieces out of my batting leftovers, thus helping shrink that stash bin also! No necessary shopping and another thing on the conveyor belt of progress!

at SuperGirl's request

SuperGirl had asked me back during Christmas why I hadn't knitted her any socks. I reminded her of the conversation we had 6 months previous where I asked if she wanted anything and she said "No thanks, Mommy. I have plenty knitted things." She said "Well, now I want some socks."

Regia brand sock yarn, really fun to knit, toe-up (trying to write a basic pattern with help from a book), kid size, short row heel (which I'd never done and like; I maybe still prefer the heel flap version but this went quick) on circular needles. This is the first sock and I'm going to start the second one tonight once I stop getting distracted by my sewing machine (but I made another really great schlep bag for Mom!)

I'm really liking the socks on circulars. My laddering issues are almost nil as long as I'm paying attention to it at the needle breaks and it seems to go faster because less needle transistions (I'm guessing). It's really easy to use with regular double point patterns too because the Needles #1 and 3 are now all on one of the sides (when knitting with a circular you have only the top foot side and bottom foot side). I also solved my "ssk" issue with the socks. Instead of "knitting 2 through the back" like I had read somewhere to do or "slipping 2 individually knitwise and knitting them through the back" like my sock book said it's (and pay attention because I love the way it looks, it truly mirrors the "k2tog") "slip one knitwise, slip one purlwise, knit them both through the back." I have celebrated by changing my normal sock knitting pattern and go telling it on the mountain. Yippee.

Checkmate

I finally got a few minutes to download the pictures of that baby blanket for Crochet Queen's newest little one. Congrats, CQ!

I designed this to originally be 5x5 blocks but the 4x4 turned out to be such a nice size (and time constraints were getting really tight) I left it at this. All the blocks are knitted the same way but the green are WS to the front (i.e. cream are RS, green are the negative image) to add a little subtle interest. I seamed them together, picked up all stitches on all sides (around 104 each) and at each corner did 1 yarn over for corner space. It worked for these corners because the border isn't too wide but I think I'll plan a little more on where to do the yo if I do this on a wider border because the yo holes didn't go in a diagonal. I can't quite explain what they did do (went more lateral if that makes any sense?) but the great thing is it still looked great.

The Snowy Day

2010 is already proving to be something out of the ordinary. It snowed here last night and I have the pictures to prove it. Funnies are going around on Facebook saying "The Saints won the Super Bowl and it's snowing in Shreveport... is hell frozen, too?" The kids were bouncing around everywhere at the idea they'd get to build a snowman then once they got outside the first thing they said was "it's cold!" We are back in the house with 2 snowmen in the front yard (well, one snowman and one snowbaby; I'm still campaigning for a "Calvin and Hobbes"esque two-headed monster. Maybe when the 9 year old gets here...) having our hot chocolate and I'm trying to structure my day. I actually have some work to do (yippee!) so that's on my list, I have a birthday present to finish (give me 3.5 more hours and it will be!), and I have bills to pay (gag) so I'm going to try my 15 minute interval trick to see if I can get it all done and me still feel normal.

I had briefly considered this Knitting Olympics thing (briefly, very briefly) that has been going around Ravelry and blogs lately. Every Winter Olympics you get a project that's challenging, cast on when the torch is lit and work to have it finished by the times the games commence. I admit it was tempting: plan a full project and work like heck to actually have it finished and then have it finished to forever look at, wear, and say "I did the Knitting Olympics!" Then I thought of the budget, my loving family and the monster that would turn me into, and the fact that my own special Olympics (the Knitting Special Olympics... hmm... but wouldn't you have to be missing fingers or something? Knitting Para-Olympics?) would be trying to get 5 of my already existing projects finished by game commencement. Much easier on the budget, relief to my project stash, still heck on the loving family. So I'm just saying no to the Knitting Olympics and plodding along on my little "to do" list that has all projects scheduled for the next year (no kidding). I'm not allowed to add any more and I've already verbally agreed to 2 new knitting classes I'm designing (which made Hubby twitch slightly) so I'm good. Maybe in 4 years I'll take it on. Maybe projects will be more controlled then. Maybe I'll also have a stationary bike to ride at the same time so I don't turn into a tub of lard the 2 weeks I'm glued to the couch knitting. We'll see.

Homespun

Here is the picture of the "Muse Hat" I knitted. It's supposed to be more lacy but this yarn was slightly too thick to really show off the holes. I still love it. It's perfect, it's me, and the yarn was spun by one of my former sock students from her own llamas. How can you get any better?

I did knit another (see "two for them, one for me") out of baby alpaca but that yarn was a finer gauge. The holes showed up better and she loved it. It was perfect for her. (She told me later that they tried on their hats and scarves immediately when they got home to see how they looked even though it was 78 degrees outside!) I found the pattern about a year ago when I was doing a random search of knitted hats. It's fairly easy and quick and a great way to use up that one skein of really nice yarn hanging around in your stash.