It's finally Friday!

Promising developments. I went swimming for the first time. In my life, I've spent thousands of hours in the water, but never swimming laps. I just got my first goggles and swimcap through mail order this week and boy, do I look stylin' in them.
PT went well today - the therapist thinks the root of my problem is my shoes/feet. I have another set of exercises and instructions to go shopping for new running shoes.

To the knitting ~

Okay, another bothersome feature of weekdays - it's too dark when I'm home to take photos. So, here is a pic of the Icelandic sweater last weekend - post cutting. Damage done. Scary.

I finished all of the trim - neck, placket, and sleeves, with an attached i-cord. Then I started adding a grosgrain trim (the zipper was a utter failure), then decided to block it before finishing the trim.
I sewed in many, many, many ends.

Here it is drying in the cold sunshine with its attached i-cord trim. It smells a bit sheepy, so I prefer to dry it outside. Still work to do, but she's coming along!
The one downer of the weekend - Robert has been diagnosed with pneumonia. He's feeling okay, but bummed. He's not very good at resting (like someone else I know). I'm going out of town this weekend to visit friends - which I'm very excited about - but I am sad to leave him home sick and alone.

A final note - a little sunny joy inside!
Have a happy weekend!

Is the weekend here yet???

The blasted week continues. My dear husband is still sick. The Helsinki trip is still not confirmed. I'm going to PT for my hip. It's going well, so the therapist said to try running again. I did. It felt great! The whole rest of my body was thrilled. I had a rhythym, good energy, high spirits. All good. Until I stopped running. My hip is now angry. Livid, angered, apoplectic, enraged, foaming, fuming, furious, incensed, indignant, inflamed, infuriated, irate, ireful, mad, outraged, rabid, riled, roiled, shirty. Yes, all of these at once. After a mere 1.16 mile run.

Other little bothers are the office continue too. Little, but collectively, a bit more than I want to take in a week.

I do have many things to be grateful for - it is just my hip, not multiple body parts; the husband is sick, but not hospitalized; I do have a job; I do get vacation. And thank goodness, the weekend is coming!

Ugh, Mondays.

My love of weekends is countered by my basic dislike of most weekdays. Sunday evening can sometimes qualify as a weekday. After 5pm becomes a school night.

So, after the Sunday afternoon excitement of finding a great deal and booking our summer vacation to Helsinki, Finland - fun weekend! - the Icelandic sweater became a big behemoth littered with straight pins - unfun school night. The sweater is wonderful (photos coming later), but that zipper, whoa nelly. I realized that I do not know how to put in a zipper. After many pin pricks, I discovered that I wasn't really stitching the zipper and the sweater, more the zipper and fuzz on the edge of the sweater. I'm going to remove the poorly stitched and pinned zipper (mostly pinned, I didn't get far on the stitching) and try it on just open as a jacket. I think it is going to be perfect.

So, Monday. My daily routine was all off from the time I was awakened to hear my cell phone turn itself off at 430am due to my poor recharging routine (downstairs in my office mind you - I'm also poor at volume control). My wonderful husband is sick. The Helsinki reservation fell through. A collection of interruptions meant no productivity at the office (a team is replacing all of the computers - how much of a recipe for disaster is that?!).

I'm trying again with some new dates in Helsinki. That trip is essential for the sweater - I think a single toggle closure may be the grand final touch. And that I may be able to stitch on correctly. And I have a plan for non-computer dependent tasks at the office.

I'm looking forward to a better Tuesday.

I LOVE weekends!

What a great end to the week and weekend. Knitted with friends on Thursday evening, then again on Saturday - with the extra special addition of friend's knitter extraordinaire mother, then game night with a friend and some new friends! Oh, and a visit to the yarn shop in between.

Progress to share:

How fun to knit something I actually need. While in the kitchen recently, I realized I'm down to four dishrags. I think the average household needs at least a dozen, if not two. So, I pulled out a UFO, made it an FO along with a second. This yarn was a Christmas gift last year - at the time I had no idea how much I needed it. Turned out to be the perfect gift. And how fun is the MDK Ball Band dishcloth! Can't have too many of those. The other cloth is some pattern I stumbled across in a magazine. I'm looking forward to the little scrubby bobbles.And so cheery colorful too! Here they are, a little blurry, posing with the teapot I got for Christmas this year. I absolutely adore it. I just admire it. And use it too. I just love it.
Better, less blurry photo, sans lovely teapot.
I finished the i-cord bindoff to the neck and bottom of the Icelandic sweater and finished crocheting the reinforcement to prepare for - gulp - the steek. I have to redo the cuffs of the sleeves and sew in many, many ends. That will allow me to procrastinate for a while longer before cutting.
I bought yarn for the next project!
And I did the math and suddenly realized that I need seven baby gifts for five pregnant friends. Here is the yarn for bibs. Or something else if I find a different pattern sooner.
And most of Sunday left to enjoy. What a joy.

Blasted squirrel

So, I’m out for a knitting stroll during lunch. I’m happily working on some socks, admiring the large number of folks in pink and red, and enjoying the sunshine. I’ve broken a cardinal rule of walking knitting – a pattern. Usually the most challenging project involves ribbing – this sock involves a chart. Just knits and purls, but nonetheless, a chart. So I got to the end of a row and I realized I was off. No big deal, just a mere sixteen-stitch stretch. But this was going to take some concentration, so I headed off for a bench.

The State Capitol is brimming with trees, birds, flowers (not this time of year, but usually), and many squirrels. I work in workers’ compensation – I’ve seen a number of claims for squirrel bites. My friend has also spooked me regarding these cute fluffy rodents. Today, I felt like the cat being pursued by Pepe le Peu. This squirrel was all sorts of interested in helping me with my knitting problem. I’d move, he’d follow. I moved again. He followed again. Always getting eye contact with me when I looked his direction. And from a distance of two feet. He was right there! With his soft fur and sharp little teeth. I was getting no stitches corrected.

So, I started walking again to get outside of the Capitol grounds so I could resume work. The little guy trailed me down the sidewalk as he scurried up and down the trees as I walked. A very persistent fellow. Then I realized I lost my stitch marker. Blast. It was a cute beaded one I made. Sure, it had a rough edge that always snagged on the yarn, but it was so cute! So I had to head back into squirrel country retracing my steps. This time I managed to elude my Valentine, but didn’t recover the marker.

I’m sure it will make a lovely Valentine present for a little critter’s sweetheart.

UPDATE: Found the stitch marker in the cuff of my pants. What a bizarre walk. I may stay in tomorrow.

Projects, projects, projects!

Here is the Icelandic sweater to date:
As soon as I figure out how to do an attached i-cord, I'll be ready to cast of and - gulp - steek. I feel well prepared from my tutorial at the Yarn Lounge last weekend. We'll see how long the confidence lasts.

I am almost done with my first bobble project - a fun hat for me!
And finally, my shy socks.
Welcome weekend!

The joys of weekends

A great weekend! Two good workouts, a hard night's sleep, two trips to the yarn store (same one, second time I took a friend), birds finally started enjoying the bird feeder (the zoom on the camera won't get close enough for good photos), lots of knitting, a lazy Sunday afternoon watching recorded television with the SO, a new project on the needles with two more new ones ready for the gun - yippee - how fun is all that!

I finished a pair of socks, but they are a little shy for the camera. They are brown socks but have grey toes because I ran out of yarn. They are fearful the other lovely socks on the web will make fun of them. They are way chunky - KP Swish Superwash - socks only a mother could love.

Here's to a good week of knitting and note writing!