Second Sleeve Syndrome

I have been in bed all morning with a bad case of it. Lazing in bed and still in my pajamas, I have knitted and reknitted the damn second sleeve of my Palette Cardi so many times I can't keep track. I still can't get them to match in width. I give up. They are what they are and I will just have to deal. It's 80 degrees out and I am inside sulking over a bunch of techno colored string. There is something so wrong about that.

Coming Soon to a Graduation Near You!

Grad Wear by araignee featuring Marc Jacobs heels

I am a community college type of person so the fact that #2 son is graduating from law school in a few weeks is scaring me to death. What is your mother supposed to wear to an event like that? Left to my own devices I would show up wearing the stuff you see in the fashion set I created this morning. I am going out on a real shopping trip tomorrow and taking Miss Sum Sunshine with me to keep me away from the clearance racks and all the sparkly temptations that lie in wait.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

My now 26 year old little bundle of joy just made me the happiest mum in the world by asking me for help in putting together her own blog. There are not many things I can do better than she can so I totally enjoyed showing her around Blogger. She confessed that she was up until 4 am working on her first posts and I totally get it. You can find her at: Sum Sunshine

House for Sale

Now that my broken wing is keeping me from all of my favorite waste-of-time activities, I have more time to spend tagging along behind The Mister. Good grief. I went out front today and found him mowing the lawn in booty shorts. Even worse, he was wearing bright blue latex gloves. We are going to have to move.

Out of Order

Yes, that is another hospital bracelet on my wrist. It is a very good thing that I write a bunch of posts all at once and then have them posted throughout the week or I would have MIA. All those things you think I did last week were actually done the week before. I spent some time in the ER this weekend due to a SEVERELY painful shoulder that appeared at 2 am last Tuesday morning after a very enthusiastic workout with my new resistance bands Monday afternoon. By Thursday night the pain and swelling were so horrific that I took a trip to the doc's who suggested the emergency room. Of course I hemmed and hawed about going until the Motrin wore off around 4 am Saturday morning. Happily for the Mr, it was perfect timing as I had the usually busy place pretty much to myself. I left there, still in pain, but at least no longer worried about what evil things may be going on in all those nooks and crannies that surround your shoulder. The diagnosis: Bursitis, a very senior citizen sounding ailment. I can just smell the Ben Gay. It brings to mind granny in the rocking chair rubbing liniment all over herself while trying to knit up that burnt orange and avocado afghan she's been working on since 1962. There will be no knitting needles, spinning wheels, weaving shuttles or quilting needles in my near future. Just lots of making small arm circles and walking my fingers up the wall. Doesn't sound like fun, but if it stops this crazy pain I'll try anything.

Grandma's Flower Garden

My first paper pieced flower is done. That paper stuff really works. It is great for getting all the little hexagons to line up but I have to admit my whip stitching leaves a lot to be desired. Up close it looks like a Frankenstein flower-with all the little stitches showing through to the front. I am going to have work on that.
I don't actually have a plan for all the little flowers I intend to make as yet. I am not ready to cloud my enthusiasm by turning it into a real project. I am just going to enjoy carrying around my new little sewing basket and stitching a block from time to time.

Spoiled

I have ONE of my chevron socks done. ONLY ONE. It has been so long since I knitted one-at-time socks that I am seriously upset that I have to now wait at least a month to get the other one. It is so pretty. I want to wear it NOW. For the first time in my life I have a bad case of second sock syndrome. I want to move on to something else but I have to finish the other one so I can wear the dag' on things.

For Trade

Last spring, I dyed some itchy white stuff with the leftover egg dye and spun it. I used it for a Morning Surf Scarf that looks great but is like having barbed wire around your neck. In spite of its faults I really like it-to look at. My daughter, who must have no feeling in her neck, LOVES it and actually WEARS it. She took it home and now I miss it terribly. Last year at the Maryland S and W Fest she picked out this gorgeous vari green finn top so I have decided to spin it, knit it into another Surf Scarf and try to offer it up in trade to get my itchy one back. She's saying NO WAY to my plan but when she sees how soft and fluffy and warm the new one is going to be I hope to win her over.

An Impossible Dream

I have had this idea for a scarf in my head for a long time now. It has taken three tries and my entire spring break to get it on the loom. I had to go so far as to fish the navy blue orlon out of the trash this morning at 6 am in order to attempt my third try. Meet my Midsummer Night Scarf aka the Navy Blue Nightmare. Working with this fine thread is a challenge. It tangles, it breaks, it comes untied. It ends up in the trash covered in goo, but thankfully it ended up behaving itself long enough to finally get a good start. The fabric is lovely-just what I wanted with the metallic gold running through like stars on a summer night-but those selvedges. Those are another story.

Happy Easter!

First we did this.






Then I did this.











And I got this!

Grass and Apricot

Just when I thought the second sleeve of my Palette Cardi was finished I was horrified to notice that I had picked up the wrong green on the second band of what I call the "peas and carrots" section of the pattern. Where grass and apricot were supposed to be I had put green and apricot. I seriously considered leaving it. I even continue to knit several more rows trying to convince myself no one would notice. I put it to a test with the SO and sure enough he spotted it right away. Rip, rip, rip. Three weeks of work down the drain. Damn. Damn. Damn.

Where Does the Time Go?

I was thinking about matzo meal tonight when I remembered blogging about matzo ball soup. Strangely enough, matzo ball soup means Easter around here. Digging through my archives I realized that my one year blogaversary was April the 5th and I had missed it.
In spite of the fact that I am aware that I am publishing my posts in a very public place, I am always surprised when from time to time a perfect stranger contacts me about something I wrote. I used to have a counter but I removed it at 1300 visitors. It was weirding me out thinking about actual people reading all the stupid things I write about.

What's New

My latest chevron sock project has taken me back to the good old days of one-sock-at-a-time double pointed sanity and it was a good thing. I put the major mileage on these socks while in hospital waiting rooms where my frazzled brain could not have handled anything more complicated. Elderly parents are continually in need of major tune ups especially it seems, in the middle of the night. This week I learned I can knit until 2 am and still get up and go to work the next morning. It's not something I want to get used to but it is nice to know it is possible. It also taught me to always have a purse project ready to go at all times because I'm pretty sure that my future is going to involve a lot of sitting and waiting.

Near the End

I am on the last few pattern repeats on the sleeve of my Palette Cardi aka the Knitted Bathrobe. My new chart keeper showed up last week and it has been a big help in keeping track of where I am. The sleeves have been particularly tricky due to decreasing while at the same time keeping the pattern going. I have tried using embroidery chart keepers before but they were not worth the trouble because besides being awkward, the magnets always slipped. This thing is doing a nice job of holding it all together while sitting on a wobbly pile of pillows in the middle of my bed while my lazy ass hides away from the world. My spring break got real broke this year. I am counting on all this pretty yarn to rescue me.

Why I am an Idiot

I was in a panic when I thought my blocking wires were not in the box with my last KP order. Now that the wires are here I can see why the nice lady at customer service seemed rather surprised that I was so stupid as to think they could have EVER been in this little box that the yarn came in. It just goes to show how little I know about this blocking stuff. Now I am afraid to open the tube. When you shake it, it sounds like a rain stick. There is a lot of little pieces in there that I am afraid to set free.

No Idle Hands

I am not exactly sure why my fingers have not fallen off. They are always knitting, weaving, spinning or using my keyboard, poor little things. Just when the knitting project basket was running low along came the ridiculous idea to start a quilting project. I already have one little abandoned quilt top decorating the wall of my craft room. My free style hand piecing turned out so wonky I can't get the seams together. I just heard about this English paper piecing technique that does away with all that wonkiness-I hope. Since I already have a giant basket of fat quarters without a purpose I suppose it can't hurt to give it a try. If you want to see it done, here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZcw7yxA2X4

I'm an April Fool

I agonized for months over spending $19.99 for those blocking wires that I desperately need to straighten out all my crooked shawls. I placed the order last week and added a bunch of other junk to my cart to make the order worth my while. The two boxes of stuff are here but the blocking wires are no where to be seen. It seemed to me that they must not have made the trip. The packing slip says they were sent but I couldn't find them. I looked at my order on the website and it seemed it was all sent out but all that arrived were my 4 skeins of the new kettle dyed lace weight in Clementine and Pacific (nice!), another carton of the really cool blocking mats and the chart keeper I have had my eye on for a while. I contacted the good people in the Knit Picks customer service department with my dilemma and they patiently explained that they were in their own box and will be arriving shortly as it clearly shows on the website. I feel like an idiot.