Listen, Peeps, I'm Not Sorry

Just because I've been gone for more than a month doesn't mean that you can judge me. So what if I haven't been posting? I've got reasons! I've got excuses! You can't just say that it's laziness or a failing on my part.

Well, none of you have said that, technically. In fact, I'm sure most of you haven't even noticed I've gone missing other than saying to yourself, "I haven't heard much about any Slytherin scarves recently". FINE! So you're saying I've been avoiding my own blog out of shame for no particular reason?!

Here's what happened. In my last posts, I was going to visit Paul in Massachusetts where I was going to knit like mad during the Olympics. That was a success. Then, I got home, and was preparing myself to finish up my scarf during the second week of Olympics when Nathan came down with a cold.

As some of you might guess, this was not a small thing in which my baby clings to me for a few days and I nurse him with juice and soup. This was warfare on my part. See, Nathan is prone to asthma attacks and ear infections while sick and his last three colds had ended in hospital stays. With this cold, I promptly went on the attack right back at it with regular doses of nebulized drugs and warm steamy baths and humidification of his room and baby Motrin. This meant that approximately two hours of any given day was spent holding him while I gave him breathing treatments. Another few hours would be holding him while he watched television or played with trains. I was sleeping approximately five hours a day, broken into hour or two hour sections. After approximately ten days, Nathan was better, and I was sick and the Olympics were over and I knew I wouldn't finish the scarf in time for the end of winter.

This is when I gave up hope of ever knitting or sewing or cross stitching again. (Remember, I was sick and delusional.) I laid around, coughing, and watching season one of Psych. By the time I was better, I was also bitter at the world for making me fail at Ravolympics. I decided my time was better spent reading and playing Final Fantasy XIII.

So, it's only within the last week that I've actually pulled out my knitting again. As it turns out? I'm about twenty rounds from finishing this scarf. See, I didn't buy the second skein of grey yarn like I thought I had, so this scarf will only have thirteen unlucky striped sections before I finish it. If I manage to knit tonight, I might actually get this scarf off my needles in time for the eighty degree weather we're having this week. Awesome.

Anyway, welcome back to my blog. I'm sorry I avoided you and tried to pretend you didn't exist. It was me, not you. I'd spend more time chatting you up and getting a feel for where you are, but I've been avoiding my Flickr account and my Facebook games and I need to go make up with them too.

Holidays and A New Year

Well, I know I said I'd be back soon, but the holidays, taking care of Nathan by myself on weekdays, and the lack of crafting made me a liar. December was a busy month. Besides general extreme illness, there was my favorite holiday!



I love Christmas to bits, and I love Christmas with Nathan and Paul even more, but I'll save that post for my family blog, and talk about my crafting/blog resolutions from last year.

1. I will make more cupcakes.

LIES CREAM! I didn't make more cupcakes at all. However, I consider myself forgiven because though I didn't bake much, I did bake more, and I posted some of my baking stuff on Helen's food blog! And Helen's blog, unlike this one, is totally real.

2. I'd like to make some holiday pillowcases using my sewing skills. ANY HOLIDAY will work at this point, and I'm counting birthdays as a holiday. These pillowcases would be for my bed pillows.

FAILURE AGAIN! I'm not doing so well so far, am I? I wish I had done this, but I didn't pull out my sewing machine enough.

3. I'd like to make Paula (and myself) some Halloween table napkins, much like my Thanksgiving napkins. In fact, I'd just like to make some more table napkins since I feel fancy when I use them, and they're now out of season.

I made myself more napkins at least, but then I ended up not liking them because I did a slip-shod job. Does it count if you're disappointed? I'm tending to think not.

4. Knit with Malabrigo yarn.

Success! I used some Silky Merino so I count this as a win.

5. Use up some of my stash.

Screw this resolution. It didn't make me happy. I got more stash, if anything, but I'm still not stash heavy.

6. Knit several pairs of socks, but try Shaeffer Anne, Dream in Color Smooshy, and Duet Sock Yarn for some of those socks.

I knit several pairs of socks, but the only one of these yarns I managed to knit with was Schaefer Anne.

7. Sew a skirt.

Damn, success! I did this! I even wore it out.

8. Learn the skills to make my favorite dress pattern ever. I don't need to make the dress this year, but I need to get more skills.

I didn't get all the skillz probably, but I did learn more about sewing. I count this as a partial success.

9. Blog at least once a week.

Well, I started out really well, but then I started to flag because I wasn't doing enough. I really need to finish this damnable Slytherin scarf. I will say that when you count in my personal family blog and Helen's food blog, I came much closer to my goal.

10. Knit a sweater.

I bought the yarn to knit a sweater. That doesn't count, does it?

11. Lose some damned weight. (Only crafting related because it means I can buy less yarn/fabric to make clothing items!)

Extra failure. Let's not discuss it.

So, my 2010 resolutions? Let's get to 'em. I know some people (in my personal life) are all "I don't do them" but I do, so that's that.

1. Sew more.

This is a simple one, but one that I'd really like to try to work on. I just don't knit or sew enough nowadays. I'm on this computer too much.

2. Try blogging on any blog I write for twice a week.

This includes my non-existent except in .txt format on my desktop book blog. I just want to write for people besides myself more.

3. Knit a pair of socks for Paul's grandmom.

She's in her nineties and her feet get cold because she has bad circulation.

4. Exercise more.

Forget losing weight, I just want to feel more together. I've added several workout DVDs to my Netflix queue. I also want to give yoga a real try.

5. Think about what I read more.

I tend to read a lot, but then I let it fall out of my mind easily because it is mostly junk. I am getting a Nook (WHEE!) and I need to read at least a few books which are quality.

6. Sew an Oliver and S garment for someone.

I just love the look of their patterns.

7. Learn to make macarons.

I know this one will bring me heartache.

8. Get off the computer to make more time for Paul, reading, and crafting.

This one is going to kill me. I really do love the computer.

9. Finish the Slytherin scarf.

Seriously. Make it my Olympic knitting, if need be.

10. Knit a sweater and holiday pillowcases.

My two undone resolutions from last year that I'd like to give a serious try.

Some of my plans for blog posting will come about next blog post. See you all then.

Two Finished Objects... SOON!

I'm sorry for the delay in posting, my small, but incredibly loyal, audience! I am sick with something or other. I generally feel like I've been run over by a very large truck and my remains have been thrown in icy water. The only part of me left whole is my throat which is all screwed up and pained.

Paul's been picking up a lot of the slack around the house with cleaning, and my mom (who can drive me crazy) is a saint when I'm not feeling well. If I told her I needed her here tomorrow morning at seven in the morning, she'd be waiting on my doorstep at six. I will probably go visit her tomorrow.

Unfortunately, between Nathan's odd allergic reaction to a virus (which made him break out into a very very spotty rash all over his whole body) and my need to sleep about 12 hours a day, I've not had time to post and process photos, including photos of my finished objects.

Normally when I'm not posting it's because I have nothing to say. Today? It's because I just want to watch some Glee and get some sleep.

Talk to you later. Also, if any of you have any advice on how to handle a baby that's starting to get opinionated and talk-backy (amazing, considering he can't talk), please let me know. Today, when I told Nathan not to touch the cat stratch toy, he looked at me deliberately, and ran his hands up and down it really fast. I managed not to laugh, but I was at a loss for what to do.

GLOAT GLOAT GLOAT!

Guess who just won ninjakitten.net? If I can ever get the nameservers to update (propagate, BASTARDS), I expect that this blog's URL will change, and I'll feel up to working on my book review blog. If not, well, at least you can reach me at my new domain email addresses.

I wouldn't normally post this short an entry, but I won! Also, I finished a sock. Wowsers. That is what knitting is like? I forgot!

People, I'm Dying

I know, I know, I know I said I'd have some pics and posts that were relevant to crafting, but that was prior to my imminent death by cold. I'm exhausted, stuffed up, and grumpy, so I thought I'd tell you all that before you decided my blog sucks due to lack of updates. Which it does.

Three important notes before I head out for today.

1. I am bidding on a vanity domain for my various blogs. Obviously the words ninja and kitten are involved, so wish me luck.

2. Nathan has actually walked in his quest for more food to shove in his mouth.

3. Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back on the menu at Starbucks. I spend half my year waiting for this day.

Still Cameraless

I actually have items I want to show to you now, and my camera is still gone. I told Helen earlier this week that I had no more new photos of Nathan to post because I have no camera and I finally caught up with my backlog. This is ridiculous. I literally feel no need to craft, too, because without a camera, my mind subconsciously feels there is no point.

Anyway, very very hopefully I'll have photos to post on Monday of my new cute tape measure and my sewing. My cousin Talena (at whose house my camera is currently visiting) offered to get together on Sunday. Let's just pray that Nathan doesn't flip out and ninja us with his snots like he did yesterday. Babies with molars coming in are not happy campers.

In other news, I am listening to a few new podcasts, but I haven't yet mentioned that I enjoy The Knitmore Girls. I'm not going to say it is my favorite podcast of all time, but it's great enough that it isn't leaving my listing of recommended podcasts any time soon. It features a mother and daughter discussing their knitting, spinning, mistakes, and news. Some things that irk me include that the daughter, Jasmin, can be a bit judgmental and kind of snobby. Now, for those of you who know me, you can all think to yourself... *ring*, *ring* "Hello?" "Hi, this is the pot, kettle. You're black."

They also tend to advertise in their podcast a lot as well as ask for donations to go to things like Sock Summit. But then again, that might just be me being envious, so I tend to let it go. What's good about it? They are both insanely fast knitters. They give good reviews of yarns. Their discussion of buying fleeces is intriguing. They have a great relationship! They used to have Tika from Gives Good Knit guest host. (Seriously, I love her podcast.) Jasmin is a very smooth speaker, which isn't true for many podcasters. They have very good sound quality in later episodes which matters more than you might think to me. Give it a try if you like two people podcasts. For the record, I can say that I listened to the full backlog of episodes which I usually don't, because I found them all interesting.

For all those who are keeping track, I now listen to Manic Purl, Never Not Knitting, Stash and Burn, Gives Good Knit, Knitmore Girls, Knit Picks, Sew Forth Now, and Sticks and String. I've ordered them their by my preference.

Update: Because even my positive reviews tend to sound mean, I'd like to re-iterate that I really like the Knitmore Girls podcast and that the faults I cite in Jasmin are faults that I acknowledge in my own self. It is a good podcast that I enjoy.

I'm Melting!

Before I get to my rambling, anyone have any good recommendations for where I can buy some Malabrigo online? I'd like lots of color choices, and good photos of the yarn.

Woah, I bet you guys didn't even miss me, did you? If you did, I'm sorry and I have legitimate excuses for not doing anything in August.

One, I'm still down one tape measure. I wonder if Nathan just ate it. At this point, that idea seems plausible.

Two, it is hot out. (I'd make a joke, but every joke I could make sounds incredibly joke-y as if I'm mocking jokes about heat, so let's just say we're in the middle of a heat wave in Philly.) No scarf knitting in heat waves, since the scarf is now about four feet long and made of heavy yarn.

Three, my camera is at my cousin's house. And as I always say to Helen, "If you can't take pictures of it, you can't blog it. And if you can't blog it, it's like it never happened." So, why knit if it never really happened?

Four, the library is my doom. I'm getting book after book after book from it and stuffing 'em into my brain.

Five, Nathan is on the verge of both walking and talking, meaning I'm spending a great deal of time bribing him with food and toys and wondering how I'm going to cope when he walks and talks. He already has a good handle on making his will known with his single non-mom, non-dad word, "GOOOOO! GOOOOOO! GO! GO! GO!" and Indian war-cries. (There is nothing on Earth more hilarious than having your son get incredibly upset and go into an Indian war-cry.)

Six, I'm too lazy to take out pieces to sew stuff.

Seven, I'm really focused on the success of Helen's food blog. She's gotten links from a number of awesome food blogs in Philadelphia and from a store she reviewed! I publish Paul's recipes there occasionally, so check it out. I'll be posting a Tarte Tatin recipe soon, I hope. If you live in or near Philly, you might even consider subscribing since Helen does restaurant highlights and reviews.

Eight, I'm dreading the return of television season since I always fall behind on watching my shows in October and I never catch up until July.

Nine, I spend about an hour or two a night washing dishes, surfaces, cleaning up toys, doing wash, cleaning the bathroom, scrubbing floors, etc.

Ten, I still love computers. I need to love them less. I also need to stop fantasizing about owning The Sims 3. And buying a PSP, PS3, and XBox 360. (If I ever bought those three machines within the same year, you might as well give this blog, my Twitter feed, and my Flickr account their last rites.)

Anyway, I still love you all. When it gets cooler and I feel more ambitious and I stop obsessing over my library, I plan to come back to you. I need to knit Shalom after all.

Summer Downtime

Don't you love how every knitting blog in the whole universe is suddenly either shutting down, talking about gardening or sewing, or simply discussing vacation plans?

I've not been knitting much myself. I keep going on the sock, but I appear to have lost my tape measure to one of Nathan's daily playtimes, so I need to order another one (or two or three). It is way too hot to knit on a long wool scarf that weighs a lot. Truth be told, Nathan has been so active and whining recently, that by the time night rolls around, I just want to read a book or my blogs and then go to bed. I do read a lot now. That library reserve feature has revolutionized my life once again.

I haven't been sewing or cross-stitching either and I miss both. I might close up shop on the computer early tonight to cross-stitch. It's a quiet activity that allows me to focus on the television, so I can watch things like the third season of Gilmore Girls in peace.

What's up with you, internet? Have you been shutting down for the summer too? Going to the shore? Or are you knitting away like some of my friends?

Just So You Are All Aware

I resent every single one of you who didn't tell me that knitting socks on size 0 DPNs would take effing forever.

I've been working a tiny bit on my gorgeous Schaeffer Anne anklets, and I'm only half way done the first heel! I'm not a fast knitter, by any means, but this is unusually bad, even for me.

Anyway, internet -- shame on you for not warning me.

Highlights Of A Disorganized Internet

I was on Facebook today, and a random grade school individual who I never chatted with had friended me. I was feeling generous and I friended her back. It was odd because on reading some of her wall, I realized I'd probably like her now. I'd probably be friends with her. We have a ton in common, including reading habits and the same sense of humor. Yet, we'll probably never be anything other than Facebook friends. The internet is weird. I think I would have been happier not knowing this.

It's been a while since I posted random links to my blog to see what sticks, so let's get to it.

I'm on Ravelry, Twitter, and Facebook. Let's be social networking pals, okay? If you don't think I follow your blog, let me know, so I can!

I follow a lot of sewing blogs, and I've seen a series of people doing jeans this summer. None of them have impressed me as much as the ones Quixotic Pixel has done. If I thought I could make these jeans, I would start sewing now.

So, I have a terrible confession to make. I don't like the sweaters people make from EZ books. I just don't. I don't like her baby clothes either. It is horrible because this probably makes me a bad knitter. I mostly try to get over it, skipping EZ related podcasts/blog updates/stuff, however, I had to read this blog post about a children sized February Lady Sweater. It's so adorable on this little girl that I'm thinking about adding the FLS to my queue!

Knitted fabric scares the pants off of me. I have yet to work with it, and I'm terrified to. When scanning through Vogue's patterns one day, I noticed a very cute drawn picture of a dress made from knitted fabric and it was one of their Very Easy, Very Vogue patterns (Vogue 8571), so I added it to my wishlist of patterns. I started to believe that it was too cute in the drawing and made up it'd look horrible. Turns out? I was totally wrong. It's super cute in this blog post and I want to make it in deep red or brown or grey. What say you, internet?

Anyway, it's time for me to head out now. I need to go put on my cute new cupcake pjs and knit a row of my scarf and go to bed. Oh, what cute new cupcake pjs, you ask? Well, that's another blog post!

BTW, if any of you use a social site for keeping track of books, let me know which you prefer, okay? Thanks!

New Ninja On the Block

You might have noticed, but a new blogger posted on 'my' craft blog here. It's no longer really my craft blog, however. It's our craft blog. I finally guilted Helen into blogging with me. I feel no shame about doing it, either.

I have been complaining for years now that I want a co-blogger for Ninja Kitten Knits, and as I began branching out into other crafts, I started to reconsider my blog concept, as well.

Tonight, at dinner, while discussing blogging with our friends, Helen started to lay down the guilt on Paul for not posting to her food blog. We got into our discussion and I pointed out that no one posted to my crafting blog, and she told me she'd join, so I promptly invited her, and she already has one post. I then joined her food blog, even though I'm the worst person to have on a food blog ever, and posted. (Seriously, if anyone else would like to invite me to blogs that are inappropriate for my hobbies, skills, or abilities, I am also horrible at sports, applying make-up, singing, and being laid back. Just invite me! I can discuss my failures in each of these topics at length.)

After some IM discussion with Helen, I decided to change my site name since "Ninja Kitten Knits" was inaccurate in all ways. We are now "Ninjas, Kittens, Crafts". Our topics still include knitting (primarily), but we will also branch out into other topics such as beading, sewing, card-making, kittens, and our ninja adventures.

To go back to knitting, however, Helen is thinking of working on her first sweater, and, if she does, I think I might also and force a first sweater knitalong with her. I've already talked about how I'm a much better competitive knitter than not. Ingenue by Wendy Bernard in Custom Knits has been calling my name for a while too! However, Helen has wanted to knit a cardigan. Anyone know how easy the Featherweight Cardigan is to knit?

In the meantime, a big hello to our newest Ninja Kitten, Helen!

A Library Break

As many of you know, I love books and I love to read. Since I'm trying to save a bit of money, my book spending has gone down in recent years vastly. Prior to marriage, I probably dropped hundreds of dollars on books each month. My library was full to packed, and I had multiple bookshelves which were double stacked with books. I had books piled on books in front of other books.

When I moved in with Paul, he kindly got my to realize this was stupidity. There was no need for this great amount of books, most of which went unloved. I had a library card and I could buy books that I really wanted. We only have one bookshelf and most of it is packed with my books, again stacked on each other in front of other books stacked on each other. I have some books in the attic as well, and many other books are still at my mom's house, but now, every time I decide to keep a new book, I must decide to get rid of another. I've virtually rid myself of manga, silly romances, and less than awesome fantasy novels.

When I started to use the library, I found they had a new option that I had never known of -- reserving and holding books at the library using the internet. It's like Amazon, but for free, and you have pick up and return the books. I used it liberally those first years, but then, I got delayed on sending some books back, and then I got pregnant, and then I had Nathan, and then I owed roughly one hundred and fifty dollars to the library.

Taking action, I decided to call them. They told me if I returned all the books I had out for years, I would be down to owing fifty dollars. I "promptly" returned all my overdue books. I then let that fifty dollar fine sit and sit, and it hurt. I wanted to get books out of the library, but I couldn't, and I was visiting the damnable library all the time for Nathan's story times.

This week, I broke down and decided to pay them some of my fine with cash I had been carrying for three weeks and not using. After paying, I asked the librarian helping me if I could get books out or if the fine was too much. They said, "Go ahead and get some books!"

That's all you needed to tell me. I came home and promptly reserved five books, a few related to crafting and a few fiction. Let me tell you, modern crafting books are apparently a hot commodity in the library world. I am five out of five people waiting to borrow Sew What! Skirts.

I got my first reserved book today, and I am thrilled with it. It's reminiscent of Battle Royale, but without the slight strangeness that Battle Royale brings by being a product of Japan. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a young adult story of a girl battling for her life in an arena where there can be only one victor in a fight to the death between twenty four teenagers. I ripped through the book in less than two hours, so it's a very quick read, but it is one I can suggest for people who like young adult stories or who like fantasy stories about people being forced to battle for their lives in a game. For those of you who care, I mostly liked the main character, a girl who volunteers for the game to prevent her younger sister from being taken to play in it. She's deadly and focused and while romance between herself and another of the players is a theme of the story, she has the sense to realize that romance is stupid until it can benefit her, and even then the romance is another of her tools in the game.

Anyway, check out the book. If you're curious, this whole post is a byproduct of not having any significant crafting to share with you. I am now nearly halfway done with my scarf. I flipped out this week and started to knit like the wind on it. I followed through with my knit at least three rounds a day promise to myself and it has made a difference. I can't show you any sewing because for the last week or so, my sewing area has had no light. Our switch broke and poor injured Paul has just repaired it today.

Pictures of my crafting soon. I promise. Until then, go browse some food sites or something and make some delicious asparagus dishes.

Competitive Knitting

Mrs. Knitpicky (or Wit on Ravelry) wrote a nice comment to tell me that I was doing well and that knitting isn't a competitive sport. This is true, but it is also false.

I forget that nowadays I actually have several readers/subscribers I know solely through online means or whom I might not even know at all. People, I'm competitive. I'm ridiculously competitive. When I meet people I don't know well, I have a story to point out how competitive I am.

When I was young, and still freshly dating Paul, we sat down for a game of chess. Paul had taught me how to play just a month or so before, and I was interested in the game, though he beat me in four moves the first game. (If I might make a note to those of you who ever decide to teach another person how to play chess -- do not do this. Point it out if you think they are opening in a way that leads to this capture of the king. If you actually beat them in four moves it will demoralize them greatly.) Well, we played several games and I lost them all, as you can imagine. Paul is just as intelligent as I am, after all, and he has a much much better strategic mind. Let's just say that if we were in a war, and you had a choice of who could be your general and tactician, me or him? I'd advise you to choose Paul. So, one night, we sat down for a game, and Paul beat me pretty badly. I tried not to, but... I cried. I cried hard. I sobbed like a girl. See, I equate chess to intelligence, and to consistently fail at chess meant I was stupid, as far as I was concerned.

People, we didn't play chess for roughly eight more years. We just played a game in the last year. He still beat me, but not so badly. I kind of wonder if he let me do somewhat better just to keep from depressing me.

So, as you can see, telling me that chess is not a competitive sport is good advice, but I've already ignored it. I'm already competitive. Do you want to know how I could be a faster knitter of Harry Potter scarves? Someone I know in real life such as Helen or Marlon could tell me they've taken up knitting Harry Potter scarves and they were into section six or whatnot. I will tell you right now that my little fingers would fly to keep ahead of them. This is not an attractive personality trait, but it's one that I'm sharing nonetheless. This is my blog, you should know how I am.

Other horrible traits I have include being horribly shy, judgmental, and slightly mean. Other people have called me self-centered, selfish, capricious, flighty, and evil.

I promise I have good qualities too. Keep reading my blog -- you might learn about them at some time.

I'll give you one right now, I persevere! I restarted my Schaffer Anne socks today. I am also kind to kittens.

Photo by Fofurasfelinas

Silence On The Craft Front

I haven't been doing much recently. What with trying to get our washer/dryer fixed, a vacation booked, cards/presents for Paul's bday and Father's Day, and dealing with Nathan's first birthday, I've been mostly just vegging. I mean, I watched the beginning of True Blood and I didn't even break out any knitting during that time. Normally I love to knit while watching television, but, instead, Paul and I just cuddled. That was nice.

However, after a good restful weekend, which included delicious naps and the best quiche I've ever eaten, I decided it was time to get back on the crafting horse. Since we were driving to Paul's parents for dinner today, I took along my Schaefer Anne sock yarn and started a vanilla sock on size 0 needles. If I like the look of the variegation a lot when I come to the straight stockinette part, I might rip the whole thing out and cast on another pair of socks, only using a pattern. Or, since they give so much damned yardage and I have 'small' feet, I might just get a vanilla anklet pair and a patterned pair.

Since I don't have much to report right now, I thought I'd tell you all that a new free online knitting magazine just started! It's specifically targeted to patterns for children which makes me so happy since I have one now. Petite Purls is starting with a summer issue and it actually includes a pattern for boys. Better yet the pattern calls for two skeins of a yarn I've been dying to use. There is an adorable little stuffed lobster pattern too, but I've got my heart set on sewing my first homemade stuffed animal, and then knitting Sheldon. Of course, I'll never do any of this because I'll still be knitting the stupid Slytherin scarf when I'm 90.

Miss you all! I plan to write more soon, but let me just get past Father's Day, okay?

Share It Sunday!

I'm not doing much crafting wise, recently, but I still want to blog. Since I'm not listening to any new podcasts (as I'm trying to listen to all the back episodes of Stash and Burn, as well as Knitmore Girls), I thought I'd share several cool links, et cetera. Feel free to ignore this post, or to read it.

First, my friend Sophy has just bought a house. Congrats, Sophy! However, even though she's probably as busy as all get out, she has not yet stopped crafting. In fact, she took the time to create an awesome Star Trek costume for the premiere! By the way, if you haven't, go see the movie. It's not deep, but it is fun.

Second, I love this video. I love the music in the video. I love that these are not model helicopters.

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Lastly, I love the new nail polish shade, Mermaid to Order, from Sephora. I tried it on today at Sephora, and I fell in love with it. I'm definitely going to buy it, and if I like wearing it, I have a feeling I might stock up on another bottle.

The Best Laid Schemes, Gang Aft A-Gley

Last week, I told you all my plans. Wow. I don't even know why I pretended to plan last week. Let us review...

Thursday: cross-stitch

I think we already know how this turned out. Now, I did cross-stitch a tiny bit that night, but ten or fifteen minutes of cross-stitch doesn't really count, does it?

By the way, thank you to everyone who so kindly complimented my socks. I'm a little defensive when people do so because I believe they look hideous in my mind, and I'm not taking the compliments. I'm sorry. They are very soft and very warm, and if I can find some colorways that I like, I will be buying more of the yarn.

I have talked of hating crazy varigations in the past, but I'm a hypocrite. While I'll always believe that a colorway like Space Dust will look like clown puke when knitted up, I'll happily buy Koi Koi or any other pinkish/bluish colorway. I believe it was Christy, my future sister-in-law, that said to me that I liked yarns that looked like unicorns had thrown up on them. Sigh.

Sunday: sewing, another cloth book

I didn't even craft on Sunday. On the weekend itself, I might have done another thread or two of cross-stitch, but nothing noticable.

Monday: knitting (scarf if it isn't too hot, socks if it is)

I knit about two rounds of my Slytherin scarf. Okay, lie, I finished one of the gray groups, and started on my green rounds. I'd be sad at the slow progress if it weren't for the fact that I haven't worked on it at all for months!

Tuesday: cross-stitch OR drawing

I might have spent a few minutes cross-stitching this night.

Wednesday: knitting (scarf if it isn't too hot, socks if it is)

I went to Helen's, ostensibly to knit. Then, her three foster kittens brought me low. It was horrible! I was knitting while watching The Tudors and then these three kittens sat on me and my knitting. I then proceeded to pet them because KITTENS.

So, I was going to let this whole entry going to go pictureless, but I think we all know what I think about blogs without photos. Here is a picture of The Rose of Sharon cross-stitch.



Hours and hours of work to show you that I added about two square inches of work from the last time I photographed it. Perhaps less. Next time, I'm just going to link to other people's WIPs and pretend that I did a lot more.

I also have an updated photo of the scarf!



In case you're curious as to why it is laying so oddly, I keep the actual yarn stuffed into the center of the scarf to prevent my kitties from taking it out and carrying it around my house. Since I spent part of the weekend simply rewinding my silver yarn again, I clearly needed to take action.

So, are you asking if I have plans for the upcoming week? Yes, I do. I'm not giving up on my plans. I think I have started alternating projects to good effect, but I do need to be a little less stringent about my planning.

My plans are thus: two days of sewing, two days of knitting, one day of cross-stitch, weekends are free as usual. Ideally, I'd also like to start Nathan's matching ugly socks. I'm still working on leaving my computer a bit earlier, though I've failed tonight!

I do still want to get my cloth book done for my cousin's baby, but I'm itching to start another garment with my sewing. I wasn't going to do the Flouncy Tank Top project from the book Sew Everything Workshop, but then I saw a gorgeous version that made me drool.

Mmm, I love when I find inspiring blogs or photos.

Lastly, thank you to the person who came to my blog and followed my links to Amazon and made purchases. It was nice of you and I made a whole dollar! I was stunned when Amazon told me it had happened, actually, and then I told myself that I'd buy a Simplicity pattern to make for my blog! I love the dollar pattern sales at Joann!

A Spam Machine

Apparently, Blogger had to review this blog to make sure that I was not a spam site. I wonder what happened in my first post to trigger this fear?

Anyway, I'm rushing along on my baby blanket. It is supposed to measure a good forty-six inches long, and I measured it today and found that I was already at 20 inches, which is nuts. I'm tempted to cast on for a nice soft hat now, but I must stay on target. The hat can be done after Kittle. The blanket must be finished prior to Kittle!

Damn you, Ravelry, for having so many people posting non-baby projects that are just gorgeous.

In other knitting news, I plan to hit some knitting stores in my area this upcoming week, and I want to buy some yarn for Helen's socks as well as buy some yarn for socks for the baby and myself. Perhaps I'll buy some knitting magazines as well.

Failed Blogger

I'm a multiple time failed blogger, but the only time that I was even remotely successful was when I was blogging about knitting. So, why did I stop last time? After years of some interesting projects such as three baby blankets, three tops, and about fifteen pairs of socks, I decided I would knit my husband a Harry Potter scarf and do NOTHING ELSE. I eventually stopped knitting. I stopped blogging. I started to draw and cross-stitch and do other artsy things. Mostly I just sat on the internet.

After a bit of light prompting on my husband's part, I finally finished the scarf, and I was pretty proud of it, but reluctant to move to anything else. Then, two of my good friends decided they were going to have a child, so I started knitting them a baby blanket. As anyone who has ever knit a blanket knows, it can take a good long while, so I hunkered down on that.

By this time, I was almost over knitting. Then, I found out I was going to have a baby! I knew I had to knit just a few things for my own baby, including its own blanket and hat, and maybe a small wee sweater or socks. I finished the baby blanket for my friends Paula and Tom and ordered the yarn for a hat for my own baby. I told my boss, Helen, that I'd teach her how to knit, and I gave her one of my knitting books and some beautiful Cascade Pastaza yarn and some nice bamboo needles.

Bad luck struck at this point for me, I got a blood clot, and a nasty one and ended up in the hospital for several days. Bored, angry, tired of playing Tetris on the DS, I told Paul to bring me the yarn for a second sock I had never finished as well as my needles. Over a year earlier, I had made the first sock in a ribbing that I ended up hating beyond all belief, and I had refused to start a second sock pair without finishing this pair. The small, light project was the perfect thing for laying around drugged up in a hospital bed. I finished the second sock in two or three days. By the time I got home, I was in fine knitting form. My yarn had come for my baby's hat and it turns out my knitting magazines were easy light reading for the bathtub (where I spent most of my time), and knitting was a nice activity to do as it allowed for me to fall asleep into a drugged haze easily. I could knit in bed or on the couch. Since I could read my stitches easily, I never got lost on where I was.

By the time I had finished my baby's hat (or nearly finished it depending on my baby's eventual gender), I had ordered the basic yarn for my baby's blanket and started knitting that. By this time, I had gone back to work (while on blood thinners) and found out about something called Ravelry. I applied to join Ravelry and forgot about it. Then Bryan sent me a link to his friend Sophie's Knitting Blog where she had beautiful work, and the next thing you know, I was writing to her about her blog and listening to her discuss Ravelry.

I joined Ravelry a few days later, and then rapidly became OBSESSED with it. If you see this and you want to see my projects, I'm Septy on there.