Failing

This blog thing is not as easy to keep up with as I had imagined it would be. Heck, the baby isn't as easy to keep up with as I had imagined. Where I believed I'd have all sorts of spare time to have knitting fly freely off the needles while my darling child slept soundly beside me, the reality set in and kicked my butt about two months ago. Yes, he's a little dearheart, and seems to know exactly when Mommy is about to have some sort of meltdown so he can shoot me one of his big, goofy, gummy-mouthed smiles to avert the aforementioned pending disaster. But his sleeping time has become one of three things:

1-Nap time. Seriously. After the first few weeks of snatching 2-3 hour blips of sleep and functioning mostly on adrenaline, I thought I'd feel SPECTACULAR when the bullfrog started sleeping longer. Well, he has, and to be honest I feel worse now than I did before. Maybe it's because I'm hitting deep sleep and being wrenched back out of it before I've had half as much as I need, but I feel more run-down the more sleep I get.

2-Frantic Cleaning Time. Because as we all know, the dirt doesn't stop just because you want it to. Nor do the dishes wash themselves. (Why haven't scientists gotten on this one? I'm not talking dish washer, that requires loading and unloading and gets full. I want self-washing dishes that put themselves away.)

3-Cooking. This one isn't such a big deal, except when there's something on the menu that takes more focus and energy to put together than I can muster--usually because I skipped #1 to work on #2. I've come up with some tasty new things, and everyone is enjoying dinner time, but if I really work on this like I want to, it leaves a mess that loops back to #2 either that night or the next day, either of which--one again--interferes with #1.

Nap time eclipsed knitting time long ago, and I can't even get that in as often as I'd like. The house is still a happy little disaster and is never as clean as anyone would like, and there's still at least one night a week where I throw something frozen--usually fish--in the oven because I'm just too beat to consider anything else.

How do people do it when they're working full-time?? I hardly ever leave the house and I feel like I'm drowning in unaccomplished tasks.

I think what I'm going to try and do is set myself up a schedule. Yes, it's a little lame and will probably end up looking like those chores sheets parents set up for their kids, but I do well with lists. I'm sort of neurotic about them, actually, it's one of the many things that makes Ravelry so dangerous (but that's neither here nor there). I'm also going to be setting up a spreadsheet to plug in the month's grocery expenditures so we can figure out where all the money's going and get the spending under control. Having a weekly menu planned helps, and I had tried to set things up for Monday and Thursday shopping days, but life seems to interrupt way too often to make that work the way I'd like it to.

Unfortunately, I don't have anything on my computer that does spreadsheets. Not even Microsoft Word, let alone Excel. So the first order of business will be to get that straightened out...because there are all sorts of knitterly pursuits that could be documented as well.

So Far, No Good

I've made a lot of fuss about wanting to get my stash organised this year, but so far my progress has been nil. I blame the ongoing construction, not only for my dismal lack of progress but for some several tears shed on behalf of the stash.

Several bags (hey, the cedar lined trunk isn't big enough fr everyone, so some had to go into bags...they're the good reusable ones though, I'd never be caught dead with plastic) were put into what will be the baby's room, when it's all said and done. This happened after the majority of the flooring was laid, after which there was a lull as Link waited for another box of said flooring to finish it off. It was one of those excruciatingly frustrating moments similar to nearing the end of a project only to find you don't have enough yarn to bind off...not pretty. After the flooring made it home, I never really stopped to consider all the stuff in the room because it usually takes the boys a while to get things moving.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when I woke from a nap downstairs to find the floors complete...with the saw set up practically on top of a nigh-overflowing bag of yarn. The victory of a finished room was shattered by the layer of sawdust that's covering EVERYTHING. Yarn, love seat, pack-n-plays, you name it, it's all filthy. The chore I now have in front of me includes re-laundering anything that will fit in the washing machine, and doing my best to clean by hand anything that won't...including the walls.

The real heart breaker was the yarn though, since very little of what I have is washable. I stood there crying for a few minutes before flying into a raging fury and spent the rest of the day stomping around with a repeating litany of "Why didn't they TELL me they were doing the floor?! Or, heaven freaking forbid, think to MOVE THINGS OUT F THE ROOM BEFORE THEY STARTED SAWING?! Or cover it! We have miles of painter's plastic lying around, how hard would that have been?!" Not that righteous indignation has ever really gotten me anywhere, or magically removed depressing amounts of sawdust from a substantial amount of yarn.

This all happened last month, and as yet I've made no move to correct it. Why, you ask? Because now they're constructing WALLS. The mess makes me miss the good old days of floor installation. It's a good wall, necessary even, and the closet will make life appreciably easier once it's in. But for the time being, it's miserable and dusty and dangerous as lumber and furniture and scraps of drywall get shifted around a very tight space. I already have plans to move downstairs into the spare room with Garrett when sanding begins, because that's just going to be too much. I'll have to take some refuge yarn with me as well.

Pictures!

-Will be up either later today or sometime tomorrow. I'm such a tease.

I did find the camera though, which is the first step in photo-documentation. I even took a few pictures. Not of everything, though, and dangit, I want it all!

Last night in a wine-induced tipsiness, I finished off the Seaweed I was working on so as to use it while running around for appointments today. I need to go back around the button holes to tighten them up a bit (apparently 2 stitches was too many to cast off-ah well) but other than that, I declare it perfect. The Cadena yarn from Knit Picks knit up beautifully, the color is exactly what I hoped it would be (not too orange, not too purple, and not too bright) and while it fit over the Little Man well, there's plenty of stretch for him to grow in to. I'm excited to make myself a matching hat, and maybe one for him too, since there will probably be enough yarn left and the last one I made him is now too small. Not trying to be stupidly match-y, but I'm working on a limited budget here.

Other than that, things are a mess because of renovations, but that's another post altogether as I now need to go change a diaper.

Success: A Delayed Report

The pants are a total rockin' success, though it took some reworking and heartache to get them there. The folks on the Knitty boards saved my butt--or should that be Garrett's?--by recommending I cut the pants in half, pick up the stitches on either side, knit in the extra length, then graft the two sides back together. Certainly more time consuming than just picking up stitches...especially when you inadvertently splice into a short row...but despite the hours of extra work (yes, hours. What of it?) it really was worth it. The grafted seam is pretty much invisible, unless you're me and looking really hard for it, and the stretchiness has not been compromised.

They've had quite a bit of wear already, more as pants than soaker-longies since the fabric's not quite dense enough for my liking, and my only minor complaint is the alpaca's lack of memory--the waist band is a bit loose, but I can always weave a ribbon or something through to tie.

In other news, we found the camera! If I have time tomorrow around Mama Dorothy coming over to help me figure out diaper patterns, I'm going to take pictures of all my FO's to post. = ) Yay!

Pantsed

Last night, after a few days of steady knitting, I completed the longies for Garrett. Thrilled at the prospect of having him wear them out tomorrow to show them to Jen, who provided the yarn, I did something that usually takes at least a week of procrastinating and not only grafted the crotch seam, but wove in all the ends as well.
Needless to say, I was feeling like some pretty hot stuff-I mean I did the short rows and everything. After waiting rather impatiently for the kiddo to wake up (it seemed mean to wake a baby just because I'm a nut) I excitedly rushed to try them on, loudly bragging on myself while fighting to get his silly little kicking feet through the leg openings. They looked good, no, great!

Till I picked him up and realized his diaper was hanging out the back...not a good quality in a soaker. The stupid rise isn't high enough, so now I have to try and pick up at the waistband and add another couple inches. It wouldn't bother me as much if it was garter or stockinette, but I'm afraid it's going to screw up my nice stretchy ribbing. I put a post up on the Knitty boards, so hopefully I'll get either reassurance or a different fix-it method.

Sigh.

The New Year

2009 flew by, and so much happened it's sort of pointless to try and summarize it all here. To hit the major points of the last few months, all I really need to say is that Garrett is here, healthy, and an amazing little creature that leaves me awe-struck every time I look at him. It's enough to make me forgive the time he's cut out of my knitting (haha).

I've never been much for new year's resolutions, but I think this year I'm going to make an effort...there are other people who will benefit from my self-improvement, and while I might not be motivated enough to make changes for myself, I love them more than enough to at least try.

The big thing is to try and keep things better organized. We're still unpacking from the move, and aren't likely to be finished any time soon since the flooring in the baby's room isn't done yet. I refuse to unpack only to have everything covered in saw dust, so our room is still an obstacle course. Once we CAN unpack though, I want to try and find a place for everything, and to keep it there. I've been systematically opening boxes of clothing to try things on, and have ousted more than half of what I've seen. Between things not fitting properly after 9 months of pregnancy (the hips are wider and aren't likely to magically go back, so there's no point trying to keep pants that won't zip) and them just being old and worn out-I'm not keeping anything that was purchased in middle or high school-most of the things that I've been carrying around the past few years are better off in a thrift store than in my closet. As I slowly replace things, I'm going to try and make sure I have a slightly more adult wardrobe. I don't know what the heck I'm going to be doing in the coming year, but I do know I'm tired of feeling shlubby all the time. Garrett deserves to NOT look like he's the spawn of poor white trash.

As far as this all applies to knitting, I've already gone through my Ravelry projects and queue to remove things I'm not doing and tagged the queued items and moved them to favorites so the queue is ACTUALLY a working queue. I'm going to try and keep better track of all those bajillions of patterns I have marked, and am going to figure out the stash thingie to get the yarn under control. I have to go through everything I have, put it in there, and then go through and see what I can make on the queue or in the faves from what I already have. Money's just too tight to go out and buy more yarn every time I get the itch to cast on. I also need to finish frogging the sweaters I bought at the thrift store to salvage the yarn, which will increase the stash as well. Having it in Rav will help me keep track of the salvaged fiber contents as well (hopefully!).


Anyway, on to current projects. I have a skein of really pretty brown Berocco Ultra Alpaca that Jen sent to me via Harlan, which I've been eyeing and dying to cast on since it came home. I exercised a little self-control though, and (mostly) finished Mom's holiday stocking first. Granted, I still need to graft the toe and pick up the afterthought heel, but the main part is complete and really, it's not like it's going to get any use before next December anyway. The baby needs pants NOW! So I have my favorite Chiagoo bamboo needles poised and ready to go, after a bit of time looking over different soaker patterns I decided to splice a few together. Between the Spare Ribs pattern and the Curly Purly one, I think I'll get the fitted waist I want to reduce bulk and the stretchiness to let the kiddo grow into it a bit...not to mention the room for the various flat and prefold diapers that add all different amounts of poof to his butt. I'll keep you posted on how it goes, and if things work I'll put up the spliced pattern I came up with.

If things work the way I hope they will, I'm going to try some foot-up longies starting with the stay-put bootie pattern. The ones I made from the leftover Merino 5 are fantastic, but are going to be too small for him soon. We also have a definitive lack of pants, so I think it'd be a good idea to try some footies.


All this talk of soakers is too much--I have to go cast on now. But my other resolution is to post here at least once a week, just to keep my head straight. Maybe next time I'll bemoan my inability to find a suitable yarn for Mom's Zora.

Oh my

I really am bad at this updating thing, aren't I? At least I can console myself with the knowledge that the reason for my distraction is baby preparation. In that vein, I'm pleased to announce that the nursery is at least one coat of paint closer to being complete. The green is on the walls, and I love it and am rather proud for having mixed it myself. I just need to put a little blue on the trim around the closets, and call it a day. Other than that, the footing is the only thing upstairs that still needs a coat of paint (didn't know the boys were coming to install it, or I would have painted it before it went down) and I can't physically crawl around on my hands and knees to do it right now. So until there's a little baby around to make things a little more difficult, the footing stays three different colors and I've decided to be alright with it. I've also taken apart all the hand-me-down baby stuff to wash it all, so the carrier and co-sleeper have both been cleaned up to my standards. Woot!

As far as the knitting is concerned, the little trousers I was so excited about last post? Frogged less than 24 hours into the project. After an hour or two of plucking slowly along with tiny yarn on tiny needles, I was already at the point where I was having to pep-talk myself over the perceived lack of progress---it just wasn't going anywhere fast, but I was willing to keep at it if only to try and make the super-cute mental image in my head an eventual reality.

That was up until the point where I realized with horror that I'd twisted the stitches. Fits of rage and frustration ensued (after at least two more rounds of "Maybe not! Maybe I just have the stitches squished funny!"), I ripped the whole thing back, and threw that tiny yarn back into the bin. At some point I'll fish it back out and probably try again, almost definitely holding the yarn double so it doesn't seem like such a fruitless endeavor (I like noticeable progress after hours of work, so sue me!) but for now I'm happy with other things...not including the substitute trouser-jumper things I've almost made out of horrible chunky acrylic. Worst. Yarn. Ever.

Between weaving in the ends of the baby moderne blanket (crochet edge worked out fine, and there's only two or three inches towards one corner where it's slightly less wide than the rest as I ran out of blue yarn) I whipped out a ridiculously cute little top-down hat, complete with a Techknitter TKIO boing at the top. Inspired, I also dove into my Ravelry favorites to go through the baby things I'd marked but done nothing with, and busted out a pair of Stay-Put Baby Booties. While the first one took a little bit longer than I'd like to admit, since it took me a while to figure out the best way to pick up from the sole (I was multitasking, damnit), once it was done I was able to fly through the second without even looking at the pattern. Amazing little moon-booties, and I'm not ashamed to say I'm more than tempted to make them in grown-up sizes. I can think of at least two people who might appreciate ridiculous moon shoe slippers, and I really did enjoy whipping those suckers out once the pattern clicked in my head.

Other things are afoot (hah) before that happens, however. The first of many yule stockings is nearing completion, Lauren's to be precise, and I had another one of those intensely gratifying "Aha!" moments when the theory of the Afterthought Heel snapped into focus. We're at the home stretch and I have to say, for my second fair isle project it's looking pretty darn snazzy. I can't wait until Harlan wakes up and I can ask him to figure out how to get the battery out of the camera so I can charge it and take pictures...and then ask him to figure out how to get them up on here.

What else is on the plate at this time...I have a big skein of camo-colored yarn to do a hat for Mom's school roommate that I think is really ugly, but hey. It's not going on my head, right? Elden also picked up some yarn for a pair of fingerless mitts, and I have a couple ideas for cabling to jazz up the charcoal. Boring color palette, but I'm hoping I'll be able to keep it interesting. He likes owls a lot, so I'm probably going to try and work the owl cable into it some how. Maybe do one with owls, the other like a tree-? Try and do the owl IN a tree? It needs more thinking, but there's hope that it won't be the most tedious, boring project ever.

Other than that...after throwing some baby stuff in a bag to take to the hospital, I'm filled yet again with an overwhelming urge to knit up a bunting. We have several of the little sack-shirt things, but they're all pretty light cotton. Good for general use, not so much for going outside in the cold. I might just have to set aside my aversion for man-made fibers and hit the stash for some of the gifted skeins of machine-washable acrylic, because I don't have the money to go find more superwash. It's looking like all other promised projects are going to get shuffled aside--again--while I frantically kick out another baby item. I figure acrylic for what's essentially going to be an outerwear kind of piece isn't too bad...not like a sweater or something where he's going to be in it all the time and be sweltered by it....See me trying to convince myself? It's going to happen regardless, but I still need to talk myself up to it. Another reason for Harlan to get up--my trunk-o-yarn is upstairs and there's no way for me to get at it quietly. Rats.