weekend craftiness

A long, lazy weekend for me, filled with a lot of knitting and crocheting. Maybe too much.
Left hand Right hand
My index finger on my right hand has now swollen to about 150% of the size of my left index finger. The second joint of the finger is really sore. I think it's from knitting, because I use that finger to push the needle in my left hand back and bring the stitches forward. I've been making a lot of progress on the Interweave Mohair Cowl Neck sweater -- again, maybe too much. I always preach switching crafts and methods to avoid repetitive stress injury, but apparently, I don't listen to my own advice.

But the sweater is coming along nicely, despite my injuries.


















I just have to do 5 rows of garter stitch to finish the left sleeve and then do the cowl neck. The colors of the yarn pooled in a really beautiful way on the sleeves:
Right Sleeve









Left sleeve

I hope it pools that way for the cowl neck, but I guess we'll see.

On the Baby Crafting front, I've added another project: stuffed animals. I'll be the first to say that normally I cannot support cheesy stuffed animals for babies. But there are a few cute patterns out there. Here's one (it's actually called the "Richard Rabbit," which I thought made it appropriate for the baby of Richard's best friend).

back in the saddle again

ok, so technically I've been back from camp for a week now, and I'm just getting around to posting here, but catching up is hard to do. Work and personal lives get busy and complicated, blah, blah, blah.

I didn't get as much time to knit at camp as I would have liked, but I've made good progress on the mohair sweater since I've been back. I've completed the body, and am now working on the sleeves. And I've been good about not starting any new projects, except for a baby blanket for the brand new Reng baby, Hope. But I made it on the knitting machine, so was able to finish the body in an afternoon. But I'm backing the blanket with the cutest fabric I found online at Repro Depot Fabrics. They have the cutest baby/kid related fabrics -- most of which aren't cheesy at all. And I need to complete 9 pompoms for the blanket. To date, I've only made two.

It's weird to write about the mundane aspects of my crafty life when a whole section of our country has been wiped out. Rich & I were supposed to go to New Orleans in two weeks. I was going for a work conference and Rich was going because, hey, free hotel and a cool city he'd never been to. And now the city, the region, are in chaos -- at least the parts not under water. Looters are breaking in to beauty supply stores, crazy people are shooting at Coast Guard rescue boats, people are stranded on roof tops in 105 degree heat with nothing but the shirt on their back. The devastation is on such a huge scale, it's hard to fathom. I guess Mother Nature is teaching everyone just who's the boss. And it's not Tony Danza.

So, if you can, consider opening your checkbooks and making a donation to an organization making a difference in the Gulf Coast area. Organizations like the American Red Cross, ASPCA, and Salvation Army all have disaster relief funds to support their work in the region.

no sleep till Brooklyn

SnB last night was great -- about 15 ladies and people got up and rotated around so I got to talk to just about everyone. Ellen is making another Seraphina shawl. She is the bonafide Seraphina Queen! This is her 8th one to date. Sara #2 (we have at least 3 Saras at SnB) finished her first pair of socks, which deserves a big round of applause, as many knitters know how hard that second sock is to finish. Darcy showed off a positively racy knit tank and Crystal worked on a new baby sweater.

I am making good progress on the mohair sweater, despite the gauge issues. I've now made the separation for front and back, which of course means I'm no longer working in the round, which means purling for stockinette. Last night I had my first experience of purling combination style. After a few tries, I think I have it, although it is a bit funky (although I guess purling always is). Looking at the pictures and diagrams, I'm amazed at how far along I am on the sweater. Really, I'm more than half way done. And because the sweater is worked ine the round, and the sleeves & collar are knit directly onto the sweater, the only sewing together I have to do is at the shoulders. I am so close.

I'm also not sleeping very well. (I know, awkward transition, but I haven't finished my coffee) This morning was the first one all week that I've felt actually rested when I woke up. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning was the worst. I took two Simply Sleep but I still felt so horrible that I didn't come into work until 11 a.m. Wednesday night/Thursday morning was pretty bad, too. I thought it would be ok, because I'd had a few beers after our kickball game, and normally that puts me out. I took a couple of Simply Sleeps, too, but I tossed and turned all night. I got a few hours of fitful sleep, but wasn't rested at all. Last night, I was tired, but still, sleep was just out of reach. Deano kept whining, until I threatened to kick him out, then he settled down and went to sleep on my feet. I think I finally drifted off around 3:00, and woke up around 8:30 a.m.

I don't know what has me so stressed out. Well, actually it is probably the interview I had up in San Jose last week that I'm not all that excited about, but that I had a follow up phone interview with this week. I'm not sure I want the job, but how could I turn it down if I got it? I couldn't, not after all the bellyaching I've done over the past year and a half. So that's probably it. I just hope the sleeplessness goes away at camp.

Ah, yes, Camp starts tomorrow. I head up to Big Bear for 5 days and 4 nights with 35 15-17 year olds with chronic diseases. I know I'll have fun, but it's so draining (physically & emotionally) that I'm always a bit apprehensive beforehand. We have a bunch of reporters coming up, so I'll be quite busy. Hopefully, I'll have enough downtime to get work done on the sweater. So this is the last post for a while. Have fun!

and victory is ours!

That's right, victory. Don Rickles with a Chainsaw won our first kickball game of the season last night. 4-2 over a more experienced team (aptly named "Armed & Hammered"), and guess who made the game-winning catch? Me. I was more surprised than anyone when the long line drive came right to me (I was playing third base) and I caught it and held it. It was a great feeling, especially when team members hugged me and slapped me (in a good way) and even the other team's members kept saying "great catch!"

It was a great game, for reasons other than my own ego boosting. Our team communicated on the field, we had a good time and no own went out of their way to be an ass hat. Armed & Hammered are a good bunch of people, so it was an out and out good game. Next week we play the Pregnant Cheerleaders, which is another good group of people, so it should be fun, win or lose.

On the crafty front, I'm being remarkably focused on the mohair sweater. Normally, I'm a project jumper -- I keep switching projects because I get bored if I stay with one for too long. But this sweater is a big project and I'm afraid if I'm not focused, I'll never finish it. But I have a lot of ideas swirling in my head. I bought 4 balls of Berrocco Foliage from Allison of SuperCrafty, and I want to make a crocheted sweater vest with that and the three skeins of Classic Elite Gatsby I have in chai latte. The Foliage is so super soft and the colors so eye catching. I should be finishing the Japanese Sunburst tank, which is almost complete. And I need to frog part of the Rowan "Cannes" tank top so that I can finish it correctly. And there is the green & brown Sweater Girl sweater. Ooh, and Christmas is fast approaching (at least for crafty people who make their gifts), so I have 4 skeins of Lamb's Pride waiting to be turned into felted purses. And, the big project: I told Richard that I would make him a sweater for Christmas.
What was I thinking? Isn't the boyfriend sweater the kiss of death? Well, 1. He's my husband, not my boyfriend, and 2. We're coming up on our 3rd wedding anniversary (in November) and our 12th anniversary of being together (in December). I'm hoping that's enough time for the curse to have worn off. So, the sweater is going to be his big Christmas present (he already knows, so I'm not spoiling anything here). I need to get an early start on it, as not only is it a big project in general, but it has cables up the sleeves, which I've never done before (never done cables period). But it's all part of improving my skill sets, which, way back in January, Faith & I decided would be our New Year's resolution. I haven't done socks yet, but maybe after Christmas.