Where did that weekend go???

I feel like I never left my desk. But through all the madness I did manage to get Colin's sweater sewn together and trimmed. Kelly really likes it. When she saw I had red buttons for it she was a little surprised but she didn't know about the red blanket stitch until it was finished. I will make the little hat that goes with it too. Eventually.

I worked at the Altoona First Festival at Lakemont Park on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon for Habitat for Humanity. It wasn't so bad. I worked the cash register most of the time so I didn't have to deal with the food which was fine by me. Then yesterday was all about Colin. He was baptized yesterday. So we had a big family party with too much good food. Way too much. We had a great day. The little guy is growing like a weed. The priest annointed his head with oil that smelled like cloves. He smelled wonderful all day. I obviously got it on my shirt because I could smell it all evening.
















The golf tournament on Thursday was a huge success. We are fortunate to have our tournament just keep getting better year after year when others are struggling. I think we owe it to the hard work my brother does to keep it going. He's passionate about it. I actually started a sock there early in the morning and turned the heel before I left that day. It is the worsted weight hunting sock on size 4 needles, so it went quickly.
















So today is Sept. 11th..... I can't believe it's been 5 years. I remember that year we had a decision to make about the golf tournament. It was scheduled for Sept. 13th and no one felt like doing anything but sitting at home and moping. We did decide to go on with it and it was a strange day. Everyone was so quiet. I sat out there all day long on that green just thinking about the ramifications and noticing how quiet it was without any air traffic. (there is a ton of air traffic over that area all the time) There is no way I could have realized that day how our world was going to change after that. A lot has happened since then. A lot of death and destruction.
It's been one year this month since we visited ground zero for the first time and only a few weeks since we've seen the Shanksville memorial site. We actually did see the Pentagon a few weeks after it was hit because we had a baptism in Arlington to go to. I just keep thinking.... how can this kind of hate exist?

I was in a meeting at the Blair County court house when it happened. I didn't know about it until after the meeting. I had my cell phone turned off and when I left there, I had a call from our secretary and frantic calls from my kids. I listened to my kids calls first and I was so confused. How could they be worried about two people in two different cities "because of what's going on"? My nephew worked at the Pentagon from time to time and my niece was living in Manhattan and often worked in the trade center buildings where her company had clients. No one rested until we heard they were both ok. We were lucky. So many were not.

The Great Outdoors

It's really difficult to believe that it's been about 7 years since my sister in law died from the ravages of Multiple Sclerosis. She and my brother were sweethearts (and neighbors) from grade school on. She fought the good fight for a long time and I never heard her complain. I don't think she complained even to her family.

Today is the 6th Annual Anne E. Barnes Memorial Golf Tournament to benefit MS. Time flies. I can't believe we've been doing it this long. My job is sit on one of the greens to verify if anyone makes a hole in one. (They get a car! Someone better be watching!) I love this job. I get to sit outside, all day, in one of the most beautiful spots in Blair County. After a few years they offered to relieve me of these duties and find someone else willing to sit out there all day. Hey! No way sister!

Last year I got half a scarf done for Pete's sake! :-)

Give to MS.

Knitting Night

I was able to add some length to Trellis and Vine last night. I'd say it is about 1/3 complete. I have a long way to go before Oct. 5th. (well, actually, Oct. 1st if you consider blocking time) Ugh. The pressure's on. The Jaeger Matchmaker merino DK is so nice. I highly recommend it. It is so soft.

Colin's sweater is dry and ready to sew. I can't decide between a back stitch seam or a seamless garter stitch seam. I read how to do that on knitty.com, but I'm thinking if I use the back stitch, it will take up some width and that might be good because it looks a little big for him. The floss will be used for a blanket stitch trim around all the edges.































In non-knitting silliness, I got this cool pen in the mail that has a lazer hickey on it. I get all these free pens in the mail because they want me to buy them to hand out to clients. This morning I was playing with it, and the dog noticed the lazer light and was trying to chase and bite it. Needless to say, I ended up having a lot of fun with that. Poor dog. Well I have to get my amusement in life somewhere.

My Dad

Thanks for all the nice messages regarding my dad. The diagnosis is myelodysplastic syndrome. (or something like that) It is a pre-leukemia condition that could turn into leukemia sooner or later. She said you just have to keep checking it. His white cells are WAY out of whack. They are going to treat him for anemia now and chemo later if it developes into acute leukemia. Acute leukemia was my fear. So, when I left there today, I was relieved. I was prepared for the worst.

Random Stuff

I've been a bad blogger. I'm so behind in catching up with everyone's news and knitting. But in my defense, there has been a lot going on. Work is insane with the transition. So much to do to get it completed. Much more than we ever realized. New signs, letterhead, office policy manual to be written, send licenses back to the state, advertising... the list goes on.

I did knit over the long weekend. Colin's sweater is blocking. Vine and Trellis is coming along. Tonight is knitting night so I should be able to put a few more inches on that. I want to get that finished for the beach on Oct.5th. I've decided to send for those stainless steel blocking wires to block it when it's finished. I wished I had had them when I was blocking Lady Eleanor so I know I'm going to want them for this. Then I'll have them for the LACE. I've decided I'm going to be a lace knitter if it kills me.

I am accompanying my father to a doctor appointment today that is very critical. He is getting some blood test results back that could be very bad news. All indications are that it is not good.
Keep a good thought. He takes care of my mother. Life is really scary sometimes.

Tea and Lace

Okay. I have the yarn. Now all I need is the pattern, the time, and the brains. Somehow I think the easiest one of these things to acquire is going to be the pattern. This is Scakel Merino lace weight. It's gorgeous. Unfortunately there are about 8 important projects ahead of it.

This being one of them:
















I know it's hard to tell right now, but these are my boss's hunting socks for Christmas. I scored this stuff at the LYS earlier in the week. It's worsted weight wool superwash from Kraemer Yarns. Warm and washable. What more can you ask of hunting socks?

So this is totally awesome knitting weather. Too bad I have to work all day. I can picture myself curled up in front of the fire just knitting away. Oh, wait, we don't have a fireplace. So I'd be curled up in front of the television with whatever golf tournament happens to be on with some college football game on the radio in the background, listening for the dryer buzzer to put another load in and worrying about what to cook for dinner. Work is sounding better all the time.

Knitting Sabbatical

I didn't intend to take one. It just happened. Don't you just hate it when life gets in the way of your knitting?

I worked on this last night:
















Colin's sweater. I have only the right front to go and it will be finished. Notice the little pocket. I slipped a business card in there. Oddly enough, I'm pretty sure this is the first time I did a pocket. Slick how that works. It looks kind of boring at this stage but I think it will be really cute with the red blanket stitch around it.

As for Sizzle, I've had some comments about taking it in on the sides. I had that done last summer on two of my tops ( Knitty.com's Soleil) The results were ok but not great. I tried it on again this morning and a thought occurred to me. I think I can wear it under a jacket if I pin the hem in the back. I know that's not a very good solution, but I actually do wear a lot of jackets with sleeveless tops to work and I tend to keep the jacket on all day anyhow. At least I'd get some wear out of it that way.

I picked this up in the supermarket this morning:
















It has some really cute things in it. ( and one ridiculously hideous thing... you'll know it when you see it) For those of you who knit for kids, it has two toddler sweaters in it that are absolutely adorable. Check it out.

On the home front, my son, who's old enough to know better, broke his hand last night playing tackle football with no protective gear on. He came in our room at 12:30 and said he was going to the emergency room. I gave him his insurance card and said ... have at it buddy.

Sizzle Fizzle

The Sizzle didn't shrink. Well actually that's not totally true. It did shrink lengthwise. It is definitely shorter now. The problem is, it's still just as wide which was the problem. In fact it just may be wider. Ugh. I see it heading to the Goodwill Box.

No knitting last night. I had a Habitat for Humanity board meeting that ran over time and I was exhausted when I got home. Tonight is MS Golf Tournament meeting and babysitting Benny and Corie. My sister and brother-in-law are out of town so I'm going to be substitute Granny tonight. I'm going to take my STR socks along and try to get a few rows in, but I don't see it happening. That Benny is on the move these days. Terrible twos.

I bought some gorgeous lace weight at my LYS on Saturday. It's pale pink. I have no clue what to do with it but I had to have it. Having lace on my mind and all. I left it there to be wound. That probably took all day. There was a ton of it and it is so fine. I forget the name of it but wow, it's soft and beautiful.

If you look closely at the photo below, you'll see a dancing hot dog. I just had to take a photo. You don't see this every day. (thank god)





















Oh, one more thing... I just read that they dropped their case against John Mark Karr in the JonBennet case. Gee. Go figure. Duh. Was there anyone who actually believed he was guilty?

just wrong on so many levels

Sizzle- definitely looking like maternity wear.















And what about this excess baggage under the arm?
(check out my little star shaped scar - ran into a wire fence at the age of 5)
There definitely should have been some sort of shaping under the arm. As it is, the fabric sticks way out under there.















Form fitting? I think not.

It's in the dryer right now. I forgot to take a look before I left for work.
Hopefully it shrunk. I'd love to be able to say, "Honey, I shrunk the Sizzle!"

Knitterly Birthday

My birthday flowers. Pretty, huh? I love those Bells of Ireland. Our local florist uses them in almost every bouquet. I say that, but actually, maybe they just put them in the things we order because of our last name. They probably just think they SHOULD be in there.
I got gift certificates for here and here. This is a positive thing. My family finally "gets" me. I'm thinking a few new books and lace weight yarn and maybe yarn for a Lady Eleanor shawl for me.

Work is insane. I had to complain about another agent yesterday to her broker. I've never done that before. But in this business when you mess around and procrastinate doing your job, it messes with people's lives. I won't sit back and watch someone's laziness mess with my client's life. There's no excuse. I'm busy too. But you have to do what you have to do if it means missing dinner, or the kid's ballgame. We signed on for this. You have to get it done. Now, of course, every other dealing I have with her will be miserable because she'll have it out for me. But, having said that, the paperwork I've been looking for for a week was on my desk this morning when I got to work. Signed 4 days ago. No excuse. None.

Cate is packing up her things today and taking a load to school. I'll miss her. She still needs a couch. I told her she can line up her kitchen chairs and pretend. We're going to have to find something somewhere.

It's a Habitat For Humanity weekend for me. I'm working tomorrow and Sunday morning at a fundraiser for them at WalMart. Happy Happy Joy Joy. I love the cause. I hate the fundraisers. But, hey, I signed on for that.

They say it's your birthday...

it's my birthday too yeah.





















Yeah, I'm old. Send sympathy. My sister's birthday is on Monday so we're getting together tonight for dinner. Should be fun. We have one of our nutso friends coming and we always have a good time together.

No knitting to report. Cate and I went to the Curve game last night and didn't get home until late. No knitting tonight either. I should be in the throws of full withdrawal by tomorrow morning. I may have to call in sick.

Pssst....How Many Months Along Is She????

That's what they'd be saying if I actually wore this. (and I was 15 years younger)

Sizzle is way too big. What is it with me and summer tops? Every one I have ever made is too big. It still needs the seed stitch trim around the arm holes. I think I'll finish it and hope Kelly will wear it. As much as I like it, I'll definitely try it in a smaller size next summer. And it turned out not nearly as low cut as it shows in the photo on the pattern. Which is good. I thought I would have to wear a camisole under it but I really wouldn't have to.

And, just to amuse you, here is Clifford, the big red dog, and Colin. Clifford made an appearance at my little nephew's birthday party on Sunday. So guess who's in that Clifford suit?? Yep. There isn't anything I won't stoop to.

My baby is 21 today. Where did the time go? I am assuming that this is the handiwork of his girlfriend who must have made a visit in the middle of the night. That poor van. It takes so much abuse. In the last year alone it's killed a deer, been stolen and made a few drug runs to Philly, gets treated like a dumpster day in and day out, and now the humiliation of tacky decor. It will welcome the relaxation of the junk yard some day.

By Jove, I Think She's Got It!

I worked on Trellis and Vine last night but I picked this up this morning before work and tried the mattress stitch again. As you can see, it's a nearly invisible seam with just a few little twists and turns in the road. The increases and decreases cause you to have to switch rows but it looks pretty good in my estimation. The only problem is, when you pull out on it, the seam does not look good. So, if it is tight fitting, which I don't know about yet, I may have to do the back stitch after all. This top is shorter on me than I had envisioned. In Wendy's photos (knit and tonic), the top seems so much longer on her. My guess is that I have a long torso and that is what makes the difference. I still think it will be fine.

T & V is coming along. It's fun to work on. The flash of my camera makes this blue look lighter than it actually is. This is going to be great with jeans and a white blouse and also as a scarf with my winter coat. I know I should be working on Colin's sweater but I can't put this down at night.

The big news around my office is that we are becoming a Howard Hanna franchise. Those of you in the Pittsburgh area will be familiar. I'm pretty excited about it. Our independent office has always been regarded as more of a commercial/appraisal real estate office and we're hoping that this move will improve our residential sales business. I think it definitely will. My hope is that I'll become SO busy with work that I won't have time to knit.

just kidding... c'mon, you know me better than that!

3 Needle Bind-off

Where has this technique been all my life? I can't believe I did this for the first time last night. What a great seam. It beats grafting as far as I'm concerned. The side seams call for the mattress stitch as you would imagine, and while I didn't have any trouble with that for the little multi-color baby sweater, I just couldn't get it to look right on this one. It was almost like it was the yarn that wouldn't cooperate. Tonight the plan is to try to figure out what I was doing wrong, if anything. I almost sewed it up with backstitch to get it done, but I decided to be patient and look at it again tonight. (definitely not like me)

Tonight is housework night because beginning tomorrow, it's all about watching Colin. My son-in-law's sister is getting married and they have a big weekend ahead. We'll watch him tomorrow during the rehearsal and dinner and then take him to the wedding on Saturday in his little kilt (and totally awesome highland socks) and then he's all ours until Sunday morning. I hope I have the stamina for all this! He's still not sleeping very well.

I want to get all my projects finished and start a lace shawl. I am determined. I can't get it out of my head and I am going to beat this thing if it's the last thing I do. I'd love to be able to take one to the beach in October but I don't think that's going to happen. I can have the trellis and vine shawl done by then but that's not really what I want. Why is lace so easy for some and so difficult for others???

I got nutin.

I worked on the brown garter stitch jacket for Colin last night. It's going to be cute but it's so boring to knit I almost have to put a gun to my head to pick it up. And speaking of Colin, here is his 3 month photo. The kid is cute. What can I say?






















I hit my head coming up out of a basement yesterday. I hit it hard. I actually saw stars. I'm not sure how I remained conscious. I realized that I had forgotten to turn a light out so I went back down and I was hurrying back up the steps. Some basements have this hideously low thing when you're coming up out of them. What were people thinking when they designed stupid things like that? It still hurts today. I've had a headache since I did it. Being a real estate agent is a dangerous job. According to statistics, there were 57 violent crimes committed against real estate agents in 2001 and 6 of them were fatal. I'm sure that number has risen in the last few years. But it's going to be the stupidity factor that gets me in the end.

Pooling

Here's proof that knitting with two balls of yarn does not prevent pooling. It just simply "stripes" the pooling.

knitting stuff

The little sweater is all finished. I'm not very happy with it. I think the sleeves are way out of proportion to the body of the sweater. And I had to add a row of crochet around the neck to try to pull it together. The neck was so big it wouldn't have have stayed on the hanger... or on the kid for that matter. And, lastly, I knit to gauge and this was supposed to be a size 12 month. It's more like a 2T. Not one of Debbie Bliss's best efforts.














The start of Trellis and Vine from Magknits. It has those two tiny strips of lace knitting, the exact same sequence of stitches every row, and I'm still biffing it up. I must be either forgetting yo's or not passing the stitch over on the skp's. Hopefully the blocking will hide the mistakes. I like the Jaeger Matchmaker yarn.

Sunday at PNC

Cate and I went to Stitch n Pitch yesterday... or is it Pitch n Stitch?? Well whatever it is, we had a good time. It took us a while to find the Stitch n Pitch table and get our bag of goodies and of course Cate had ants in her pants wanting to get to her seat so she could watch the Pirates warm up before the game. (I felt like I was with her father) The girl has her priorities all screwed up. Good Lord! You would have thought we went to watch BASEBALL!















There was some really neat stuff in the bag. I'll be able to make Colin a cool Steelers hat with the yarn that was in there. And the bag itself is nice too. Yeah, we'll go back next year.

Socks That Rock in the County Clare colorway. Yes, I'm using two balls of yarn this time to prevent pooling. You'll notice that we are sitting in peanut heaven. We (the knitters) had awesome seats but Catie and I moved to be out of the sun. It was just too darned hot.

Stitch n' Pitch

Anyone??? We're on our way. Why is it that every time I'm in the mood to clean, I have to walk out the door?

Houston.... We Have A Winner

Cate says no way. She's not goin in.
Congratulations to Yvonne for being the only one who figured out that the princess would not wear dog poop earrings in this lifetime. (personally, I thought she'd get it too) She made a good point in stating that there is the possibility that it may have been chewed before it was swallowed and if she went through the disgusting task of retrieving it, only to find out that it wasn't wearable anyhow, she'd have to kill herself. Soooo..... Yvonne, something great will be on it's way to you soon! Many thanks to those of you who participated in the contest. It was fun.