Knitting: Goals and Progress

It's nearing the end of the year, so my inner geek is checking the knitmeter.  Here's the 2013 progress report:

Number of finished projects:  41  (at time of writing this, could possibly be 43.)

Number of miles of yarn incorporated in these projects:  9.38 miles.  If I finish Sean's sweater by 12/31 (and it's looking good, provided that Webs ship the additional yarn needed quickly) it will be about 9.70 miles.  Last year I had over ten miles, and the year before was 12.5 miles.  (I knit faster and more when stressed out, and 2011 was apparently a stressful year.)   Still, 9.70 miles is fantastic!

Did I learn any new skills this year?  Looking back at my projects, no.  But I did get better at other things, like seaming, cables and lace.

Goals and Ideas for 2014:

It's gonna be another great year, knit-wise.

First, and this one is a surprise:  starting on 1/1/14, I am only going to knit from my stash.  That's right, I'm going on a yarn diet, and I will not be buying any more yarn until the Webs tent sale in May.  I will attempt to stay strong, in order to save up for a big surprise family trip in April.

And then the big news, to me anyway:  Webs has a colorwork class that's four Sunday afternoons, and each session the student learns a kind of colorwork.  After the third try to sign up, I got in!  I'll be learning fair isle, intarsia and entrelac this winter/spring!   Yes, I know that I could learn these things at home, alone.  But it turns out, sometimes my teacher is a nut and gets easily confused.  :)  So this is sooooo gonna be worth it!  Hence, this workshop series is the reason why the yarn diet starts on 1/1...I have to order specific yarn/colors to learn the techniques.

MORE charity projects, starting with the Hats for Halos of Hope.   I've got two patterns ready to go right after Christmas, and yarn in my stash.  One is the "Dean Street Hat"  and the other is called "Foliage."  Both use chunky yarn so they'll knit up quickly.  And of course, hats and blankets for Stitches from the Heart.

I also say that 2014 is going to be the Year of the Sweater.  After Sean's is done, I have patterns picked out for both Will and Brian.  I really want to make a sweater for myself too, and we'll see what the year brings.

It's My Birthday!!!!

I woke up briefly at 4am today and with dread....yep.  I'm 37 today.  37 sounds so, so much older than 36.  But Brad Pitt woke up yesterday staring at 50....so I'm feeling pretty good.

When I woke up and got out of bed I was my usual birthday self....smile and ready to party.  That's the Sagittarius taking over.  It's my birthday today, let's party!

It's the first birthday I've had in like 10 years that I didn't take the day off work.  I'm kind of a princess that way, but it's the only princess-y thing about me.  It's gonna be a good day though, Chinese food with co-workers, a pedicure this afternoon, my parents are cooking spaghetti at my house, gifts and time with my family, and my husband made me an incredible-looking chocolate cake.  I say "incredible-looking" because I didn't have any for breakfast.  That doesn't mean I wasn't tempted.  After Will got on the bus I treated myself to reruns of The Big Bang Theory and knitting the hem of Sean's sweater.  (What can I say....I'm easy to please.)   And I wasn't late to work!   My phone has exploded with Happy Birthday texts and Facebook postings, someone sent me an online gift card for a Starbucks fancy coffee.....it's a great day.

37, you are going to be a great year.   And Brad.....50 will be a good year for you, too.

Let it Snow.....Dammit Let it Snow, Let it Snow.

Not even Christmas yet and we're on the second snowstorm.  This weekend involved eight inches of snow and a birthday party on Sunday morning.  What kind of sadistic soul schedules a birthday party on a Sunday morning?????

Today's snowstorm brought on an early release from school.  That's a special kind of hell, getting your kidsready for school, and then messing up the day to be home for when they get off the bus, etc.  I got the call from Will's school that there was no afterschool program today, which wasn't in the original call.  Naturally, this call came AFTER Brian had left to take Sean to preschool.  Had I known that, I would have kept Sean home with me.  Instead I went to work for 2.5 hours.  And I did it in jeans, a sweater and no makeup.  Yep, I sure did.  The world didn't end, and only one person said "You look really pale, do you feel alright?"  

Now the boys and I are home, and Daddy is at work.  And will likely be at work because his boss doesn't believe in closing early.  Ever.  I've baked cookies though, and am about to settle down and watch Phineas and Ferb with the boys and work on that blue sweater for Sean.  Which is knitting up nicely by the way.  Optimistically, he might be able to wear it on Christmas.  Pessimistically, it will somehow wind up having a third sleeve at the neck.

So keep snowing, dammit.  Snow all you want.  I'm not going to let you break my spirit, Mother Nature.  It's way too early in the season for this New Englander.  :P

Parking Brake

Sigh.

I'm usually so much more on-the-ball about the holidays and everything this time of year.

Hubby's been sick so it's been crazy.  The kids are crazy.  The house is crazy.  Me?  I'm crazy but you all knew that already.

The to-do list keeps climbing, despite cutting back on things this year.  Does my oldest friend really need homemade fudge in the package that I am sending her?  No.  Nobody's going to notice that I didn't use decorative rubber stamps on the backs of the card envelopes.  Heck, nobody keeps the envelope! But, there's still  packages to send, Christmas cards to stuff and mail, goodies to bake, shopping to do, gifts to wrap.  On top of the clutter and the dirty laundry, the homework and the daily routine.  

I was chatting online with Brian earlier and I likened this feeling to being a car in neutral.  His analogy was better.....you're in drive, but someone has put the parking brake on and not told you.  So you're just revving in the driveway.

Here's to hoping that we can pop the brake soon, and hope not to slide on the ice.  :)  Just have to keep remembering to breathe, let go,  and to stop to live in the moment.  This really is the best time of the year, if you slow down to enjoy it.

I've Got the Blues.

It's an absurd concept, not having any Christmas knitting to obsess over.  Just plain whacked, that's what it is.  The last few days I've had only one project going at a time.  And that just will. not. do.

Blue yarn seems to be calling my name.  Instead of going to bed, I'm buried in my yarn stash, picking what new project is coming with me to the Hook and Needler Potluck and Swap tomorrow night.  The yarns on the left and right are sweaters for Sean.  Sweet boy....he asked if Mommy could knit him a blue sweater.  "Soon, Mom?"  Blue's his favorite, and oh, does Mama have options.  One would be a cardigan, and the other is a pullover.  Not sure which one to go with!  The turquoise-y wool in the middle is for a shawl for me.   That can wait to be cast on....a sweater for Sean should be next.

Aw heck....I'm tired.  I'll decide and pull out needles in the right size tomorrow.  Zzzzzzzzzzz.  Night all.

Duty to Warn

I've discovered another reason why I keep a blog, and why I go back and read things again.  Especially during the month of December.  It's the definition of insanity......"doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

Oh the potluck dinner.  I both love and despise you.  I love the fact that everyone shares the cooking by bringing something to share, instead of one person/family being responsible for the whole thing.  I detest picking out something to bring.  And then I re-read posts like this one that serve as a not-so-gentle reminder to cut the crap and pick out something simple.  Or if at all possible....something jazzy that Hubby is happy to make.  That's why I'm bringing stuffed shells and a case of soda to Friday Night's knitting group swap and potluck.  Stuffed shells aren't something I'd ever consider making myself, but he looks forward to it.  And I play with the kids/keep the house going while he cooks.  Sounds pretty sweet to me!

Another potluck for work on Tuesday....and it's an hour away.  Looking at the list of things that people are already bringing, I see that it's short on entrees and quite heavy on dessert and appetizers.  Then I spy that someone is bringing roast turkey.  So I'm bringing a potato side dish.  Not sure what kind of potato yet, but even I can handle that.  Done, and done!  No cookie craziness with five hundred ingredients, no possiblities of inhaling jalapeno.  Merry Christmas to ME!  :)

Hats n Mittens

I picked up Sean at school the other day, and I told the teacher that I would like to get a gift for the school for Christmas instead of for each teacher, and asked what they need.  Besides the usual "everything,"  (i.e. art supplies, paper, etc, like most preschools they have a very small budget).  The teacher hesitated and said, "Well, I was thinking about the mittens that you made for Sean.  A lot of kids come in here every day that don't have hats or mittens, and we have to keep them inside at recess when it's cold out.  Do you think you could make some hats and mittens?"  Tug on the heartstrings.  Because that is my Kryptonite....I cannot tolerate the very idea that there are kids that don't have hats and mittens.  We live in Central MA, in the heart of New England, where we get a crapload of snow and ice in the winter.  The thought of these parents (for whatever reason, be it money/budgeting or neglect, I don't care) not using hats and mittens on their kids breaks this girl's heart.  I told the teacher that I may not be able to do it by Christmas, but I would certainly do some.  

And that night, I started right away.  Yeah, I have a Birthday Swap package to finish (with a really cool cross-stitch!) and an ornament swap that I haven't even DECIDED on for this coming Friday.  Not to mention the two Christmas gifts that I want to make, but they're both for immediate family who I think would understand.    But kids without cold weather accessories and me with a huge yarn stash?  "Im right on top of that, Rose!"*

One red wool hat finished already, and I used Sean's head as a guide.  I started  a sparkly white acrylic hat for a little girl and well....it fit me.  Serves me right for not doing a gauge swatch.  I won['t be making that mistake again.

Luckily, I found a little girl at our Philly Thanksgiving that it fit.  This is Brian's cousin's daughter, so I guess that makes Brian and Miss K. second cousins.  Pretty sweet, no?  She wore it the rest of the night, which of course makes me very happy.  :)

 

*  Fifty cool points to you, my nineties friends, if you knew that this movie quote was from "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead."