Ho ho ho, ha ha ha.

Does anyone remember that song they used to play on the radio around Halloween time when we were little kids? You know the one---"They're coming to take me away, ha ha..." That's what came to mind when I re-read my title up there.
Benjamin's had a puke-y bug for four days now, beginning on Saturday. It's not agressive as most stomach bugs usually are, which is what has me concerned. He goes twelve hours or so without throwing up and then there it is again. We're all wiped out tired, to say the least. Funny how he's the only one who got it. Hoping he's the last to get it.

Christmas felt weird this year, partially perhaps because of the vomit and all, but partially for some other reason, unknown, really. I'm not sure why I'm feeling funky right now, but I am. I hope this week off will get our batteries chargin' again.
And no more hurling, kid.

ZZZZZZZZZ...., or Why the Stinkin' Zithromax Did Nothing For Me

Two months, antibiotics, and a CAT scan later, it has been determined that I have not only a severely deviated septum but a rather large nasal polyp on the side opposite of the deviation. 2.5 cm by 1.5 cm, to be exact. "There is also significant blockages in the Something or Other Sinuses and a general thickening of the mucosa signifying chronic sinusitis."
Hmmm.... you think?
The doctor recommended that ugly sinus surgery ( you know, the one with three miles of nasal packing? Yup, that's the one) and suggested a referral to an ENT...but with my new position at the school I can't afford to be out now, so I pleaded her down to two weeks of amoxicillin and Rhinocort. Yay.


It wasn't until two days later when I was thinking about knitting and looking over a pattern (Didn't get to pick up the needles yet, though) that I realized that 2.5 cm is a freaking inch. I have an inch long polyp (hate that word, ick) in my nose. Ew.
Don't hate me after my nose job, now, y'all.

Bah humbug.

I posted too early and then blogger wouldn't let me back in to edit.
I was just talking about the fact that I have little time to knit right now. Long story short, I just accepted a position as the preschool teacher at a local Christian school. My older children are in second grade and kindergarten, and the littler two are in with me. It's a big change from what we've been doing, but I really felt it was a good move for us.
Oh, and I'm teaching 7th and 8th grade Literature, Grammar, and Composition. Can't forget about that. Sublime to ridiculous, she says. They're a lot of fun.
Sorry I've been scarce. I haven't knit a stitch in three weeks, if you can believe it. I'm asleep on the couch at 9...

Finishing, slowly

I'm still sick as a dog. I have an appointment with the doc this afternoon for that sinus infection or whatever I've had since we went to CA. Yes, it's been that long. I actually fell asleep on the couch last night at 6 pm and woke up at (yes, I did) midnight, whereupon I went to bed and slept until 6 this morning. I slept through the kids playing, I slept through bath time, I slept through bed time, and they usually put up a stink for Mike if I'm not there for bedtime. So hopefully this woman can figure out why a Z-pack and Nasonex can't do the trick.
In knitting news, though, I have made some headway, finally. I finished 'Sideways Spencer' and am almost done with the front of hub's 'Na Craga'. Such a fun knit.
Pics to come later when I have time...hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

You can't finish everything in one afternoon.

For your viewing pleasure....my UFOs. Brought to you by my former LYS and the cutest kids on the planet.

There's Beth, from DB Junior Knits.


There's Dancin' Daisies from the Fall '04 IK.


There's Forecast, by Stephanie Japel for Knitty.


There's Sideways Spencer, again from Fall '04 IK. No photo because Photobucket is currently killing me. This is my closest to FO, needing only buttons and a good blocking.

I've got a wrap cardigan from Vogue Spring '04, I think, inspired by Mamma's

But it's in Woolease, and I hate to knit with WE. Don't ask me why I bought 15 skeins last week when it was on sale at Joann.

I've also begun DH's sweater, Na Craga, only to find out that I screwed up the center cable. That will bug me, so I stopped and planned to restart.


The problem? I've misplaced the pattern. Pooh.

Here's a sleeve from a Drops Alpaca design. I got bored.


Don't ask me why the pics are so big. I have no freaking idea. I've resized them in photobucket three times and they're supposedly small, but freakishly large here.

Lacevember Q&A #2

What are your ideal lace making conditions?

ie. Do you prefer to knit with a cuppa coffe nearby? Music, lighting, favorite chair?


IN THE TOILET. THE POTTY. THE BATHROOM. THE WC. WATER CLOSET, IF YOU WILL.

WHY?





(wait for it)








Because that's the only place that I can think straight and get a bit of time to knit.



I'm kidding, really. No, really.
I usually knit at night after everyone's in bed and hub is watching football or what have you.

Another reason to move to CA

Not that I needed one.......

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

The Infamous Lacevember Questionnaire

My answers may surprise some, and then again perhaps not.

The knitting questions, or the usual suspects

How long have you been knitting? I have been knitting on and off since I was seven. I suppose I didn't get really serious about it again until about three years ago.

How did you learn to knit? My Grandma taught me!

Favorite thing about knitting? Can I choose one thing? There are so many things. I suppose that the connection I have to thousands of other knitters, past, present, and future.

How long have you been knitting lace? About a year.

Favorite thing about knitting lace. My favorite thing is that with a basic knit and purl, thrown together with a couple of YOs and decreases you can create something *fantastic*.


The yarn questions, or flash your stash -I'll flash ya later.

Favorite lace yarn? I like a fingering weight or heavier. I'm still not using laceweight despite its heavy presence in my stash.

variegated or solids for shawls? I love the variegateds and am really drawn to them in the skein, but I'd have to say solids for the shawls.

Favorite lace color? Red. Hands down.


Technique, or show us your skillz

Circs or straights? I only knit on circs, with the exception of DPNs for socks and mittens.

Favorite lace knitting trick? Trying to knit lace in the middle of four children eating chocolate frosted donuts and watching 'Cars'.

Lifelines? If so with what? Nope. I knit commando.

Fancy blocking wires, or just sewing pins stuck in your carpet? I really want blocking wires. That being said, I'm about to try the method that Stephanie described in one of her posts. The one with the thread run through the straight part of the shawl. Look it up.

Pattern, or can you follow directions

shawls or lacey items? Shawls.

triangle, rectangle, or circular shawls? Triangular.

Charts or printed instructions? I used to be a printed instruction gal but now I think in charts. I'm flexible that way.

Favorite lace you've knit? I can't pick just one. I really like the Flower Basket shawl, but that Shetland Triangle is so easy and repeats itself well. I also like Faina's scarf, but I only completed half of it and have to rip it out and start over in a new yarn.

Favorite lace you want to knit? I'm looking for one.


Just Fun, yup that's right, just for fun

Favorite jelly belly flavor? Strawberry daquiri. Who am I kidding? I get together all the fruity looking ones and throw a handful in my mouth at one time.

Tell me everything you know about Eric the Red..... I resemble that remark.

Coke, classic or with lime? Bring on the lime, bub.

Holiday carols, sing along, or wish they would be banned from all public airwaves? Sing along of course! I'm a singer!

What is the definition of irony? It's the opposite of wrinkly.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop? The world may never know!

Why is my cat always puking in front of my son's bedroom door? That's your problem, Amy. I'm done with puke.

What is your superhero power? Intercepting the brain waves of three children who are daring each other to __________________ (fill in the blank) and diverting them just in time.

If the laundry is 9 foot by 11 foot (just dreaming, that's a big laundry room), and the walls are 8 feet tall, and you are going to tile the entire room in tiles that are 3 inches by 5 inches, what color should those tiles be? Pink, of course.

What's for dinner tonight? Depends on whether or not my husband has the stomach flu by then. If not, then we're up for homemade spaghetti and meatballs.

What is clogging my children's bathtub drain? A Buzz Lightyear toothbrush, two matchbox cars, a Barbie shoe and a Binky.

Murphy's Law, or Why I Never Will Let My Husband Out of My Sight Again

Two words, folks.
Power Puking.
Hub has been in Las Vegas this week for business.
I took the monkeys trick or treating by myself. Took them to my Bible Study by myself. If it had just been them puking, I could have handled it by myself.
But no, it was ME.
Now I can count on one hand (three fingers, people) the number of times I missed school as a kid due to the stomach bug. Now that I have four kids, it's inevitable that I get it once a year.
But I've never been this sick before. I didn't realize it was possible.
I don't even want to knit.
Two of the four were sick alongside me, and my super-gracious lovely MIL came up to take care of the other two while I slept and ran to the bathroom yesterday.
This is how sick I was:
I've been waiting for the new IWK to come in the mailbox and have made an audible sigh at the mailman three days in a row this week as it wasn't here.
Yesterday, it came.
And it sat, untouched.
I thought I was going to die.
Hurry home, babe. Fly safely. We need you here.

Wrote a song about it....here it go

Imagine me, that person who looks semi-dignified on occasion, for a minute if you will.
Now imagine me, running through the house, singing at the top of my voice,
"I'm so proud of Benjamin,
'cause he pooped in the potty and not in his pants!!!!!!
I'm so proud of Benjamin,
'cause he pooped in the potty and not on McQueen!"

If you're a potty training parent of boy(s), you'll get the Cars movie reference in that last bit.
Only three days until Big Papa comes home. Not that I'm counting.

I'm almost extinct....give me some candy.

Hub left this morning for a four day trip for work.
To Las Vegas.
Can I say that I'm just a bit, um, meh, about this?
"But I'm in meetings for two days," he protests.
"Didn't you just get off the phone with the golf course confirmation, though?" I ask.
"Um, yeah, but we only have time to play 9," he says.

I leave you with this. Pictures of my four trick or treating monkeys to follow tomorrow if I remember to take pictures.

I am a real person

I spent the whole morning thinking about how little of myself I've shared here. Part of that is because I had no camera with which to share anything, and part is because I don't know how much is appropriate, really. That thin line between what I'm knitting and how crazy our life is here. I can show you the sweater I'm knitting for the boy, but can I show the journey it took to get there? Do I show the baby ripping it out while she giggles? Can I show another photo of my boys using #15s for swords? How about my two year old, pantless, sitting on the floor and 'pedalling' my spinning wheel?
It's insane, people, to homeschool with four children. Insane. Some days we have history of knitting, complete with sheep discussion and the Knifty Knitter. We watch mom draft a bit ( but not spin, as the brake on my wheel disintegrated and the new one isn't working well) and then it all breaks down. Most days are a bit of Math and History and teaching the five year old to read. It takes a couple of hours and is mostly chaos, but I guess it works.
So, dear reader (I've always wanted to say that, but I really do mean it) I leave you with two pictures. One is of myself, so you can see that I'm a real person. You have no idea how many of these I took of myself so as not to have a double chin or crossed eyes. The other photograph is of my morning, all wrapped up.
Have a great day.

Rhinebeck, or what I missed

Before I begin, I would like to say that next year, I'm sneaking off under cover of darkness before anyone realizes that I'm gone, and I will make it to the Fold booth before there's only two skeins of Socks that Rock in Olivenite left. And yes, I did arrive at 11 am but those knitters are tenacious, man. Tenacious.
To sum it up....
I have few pictures. My friend and I got a bit of a late start, but not a big deal, I thought. We brought three of our eight children, thinking that they'd be excited to see sheep and wool. Because we home educate said children, we thought it would be a fun little field trip for the girls and lots of fibery luxury goodness for us.
We were so naive.
This child


Turned into this child

and whined the whole way to NY. As did her seatmates.

I was informed later that my partner in crimes of wool and alpaca doesn't really like crowds and felt overwhelmed with all of the people there.

I just wanted to shop. I wanted to meet up. I wanted to wallow in Grafton batts.

From afar, I saw several bloggers that I 'know'.

This is what I got, and it was in the last fifteen minutes because I couldn't go home emptyhanded. It's Brooks Farm Duet, and three skeins of wool/silk fingering weight from Spirit Trail Fibers.


I've been sniffling over other blog posts but so far people have been fairly merciful to me.

YAY!

Mommy finally got her camera running.
Just in time for Rhinebeck.
Check back for the haul shots on Monday.

And just to be silly

A meme I spotted elsewhere. I always got a good chuckle out of this type of thing as a kid. I suppose I haven't grown much in that area.

The Name Game

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: ( pet and current street name)

Fish Baldwin

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your moms side, your favorite candy)

Ruth Cadbury Mini Eggs (Now that's catchy)

3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of last name, first three letters of your middle name)

H Eli

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)

Brown Alpaca

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)

Elizabeth Westbrook

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name and first 3 letters of the town you grew up in.)

Harambewes

7. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, favorite drink)

The Caramel Machiatto (although I'm leaning heavily towards the Pumpkin Spiced Latte these days)

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first name of both your grandfathers)

Harry Clifford

9. FUTURISTIC NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne and the name of your favorite shoes)

Michael Flip Flops. (And no, they're not my favorite shoes, but I couldn't pick one. I'm not a flip flop type of girl unless I'm getting a pedicure.)
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother/father's middle name )

Eldred Edward. How's that for weird. Guess whose name is whose :)

That dent in my forehead?

There's something about homeschooling that is remarkably like herding sheep. I once heard someone say that sheep are the dumbest of the animals, and I would hardly compare my children to them in that regard, but they repeatedly do not listen to the voice of their shepherd and go off on tangents all day long. I love these kids but I have to say I'm getting tired of beating my head up and down on my desk here. Add to the mix a teething, clingy baby and I have to say that the hair on the back of my neck is beginning to stand up. Breathe in, breathe out. Serenity now.
I haven't had time to get that camera up and running, so I'll leave you with a teaser of what's to come.

Evelyn Clark's Shetland Triangle
My second FBS, which is at 75% completion
Stephanie Japel's Forecast
Bonne Marie's Cutaway
Annie Modesitt's Sideways Spencer, sans acceptable buttons
and several other projects in various stages of completion

Blog, Interrupted

It's been a crazy summer, and now Autumn as well. I don't think I stopped much to knit, let alone write about it. I also had the disadvantage of not owning a digital camera, so uploading progress shots was daunting at best, not happenin' at worst. I decided to take a break based on the fact that I had nothing good to report.
But that's all changed.
Hub works for a major auto dealer that happens to reward its employees from time to time and we just spent a lovely weekend in Laguna, CA. We were gifted each night with clever, thoughtful gifts, such as a relaxation basket with Land's End robes and a Jack Johnson CD, a gorgeous painting of our resort by a local artist, and....
a digital camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just in time for Rhinebeck and everything. Yippee for yay!
SO....I now have no excuse for not updating anything as I can just take the pic and upload it right away. I'm so the opposite of anything technically gifted, so it may take a day for me to get ready, but I'll be there.
I can't imagine that anyone who used to even read me is still around, but if you are, hey. I missed you guys.

Another Meme and a few rows ripped

Spotted at three sites today:
Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me — it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so that I may leave a word about you.

And why is it that when you're knitting along, chugging, really, and you feel so proud of yourself, as in "Hey! I underSTAND these cables! I luuurrrve this pattern. It's so easy, I could probably knit you a car cover instead of a sweater. What's a few more rows?" is exactly when you realize that six rows back you wove left instead of right and now you have to pull the stinkin' thing back out because you can't figure out how to ladder down and fix the stupid woven basketweave cabled thing. Dang.

Gee, that lasted all of a week.

I admit to finishing the socks for MIL. If you don't count the grafting of the toe on sock #2. I really don't dislike grafting, unlike many knitters, but I was so tired of looking at said sock I just had to throw them back into the bag. I will finish that prior to the weekend in hopes of giving them to her on Sunday.
And it wasn't the vest that got me, either. It was Eunny's take on the male Aran sweater that kept me coming back to her blog day after day.
So, I've cast on for Na Craga for DH. Let's see how long this relationship lasts.

Accountability

It's been said that in order to undo the damage caused by one negative comment, one must give (insert number here, from 5-10) positive comments. Interesting, you may say, but what about the knitting?
I've decided that in order to justify the purchase of one new pattern and/or yarn for said pattern, I must finish five UFOs first.
My list, if you will:
1. Socks for MIL for Christmas. Yes, I know it's May. Did I mention that the littlest Monkey was born the week before the holiday? 75% done, should be finished tonight.
2. 'Beth' Sweater for the Monkey Princess. One sleeve, plus assembly and the knitted collar edging.
3. 'Dancin' Daisies' sweater, also for the MP. One sleeve remaining, plus assembly and embroidery.
4. 'Sideways Spencer', for me. In need of the button band and the finishing.
5. 'Cascading Leaves Socks' begun on the way to Rhinebeck in October. One down, one to go.

And so you have it. I will not even allow myself to swatch with the Merino Style I have (in the wrong colors, of course, but it's a swatch, people) until my list is done. And that kills me, of course, but I need to get these done before the MP is 15.

The best laid plans

It's been a crazy week around here at Casa de Redhead. The Monkey Bobo has been sick going on two weeks now and I haven't been able to get out to the gym in as much time because I cannot bring him to their childcare program. So we've been going a bit stir crazy with all this rain. Princess has a major book fair at her school with which I've been assisting. Add into that four T ball games and our regular life and stir vigorously.
So, I said to myself yesterday upon seeing that the rain was supposed to recommence today, "Self...set up the wheel tomorrow during nap time as I'm getting a little antsy over all the laceweight I've been seeing spun lately." I still have a ton of fiber from NYS&W to spin up.
And how did I respond to my request, you may ask?

By slamming my index finger in the walk-in cooler at Princess' school while putting cupcakes away. Blood blister, no spinnee for you. I can still knit, but as it's right on the beginning of the knuckle below the pad of my finger drafting would kill. Yes, I already tried.

So today will be spent dreaming up some new projects and finishing up the Gable, perhaps swatching for what's next,not that I know what that is yet.

Triage mode

Little knitting content. I'm knitting the Green Gable of Zephyr Style fame, and I think it will be too big, as I've knit the medium. Pooh. Knitting content over.
I keep reading blogs. I shouldn't. There are so many wonderfully talented knitters out there, that is not to be contested. What kills me is how wonderfully witty, coherent and funny they all are. It's almost like that's me, in my head, but the moment I attempt to write anything it looks like this:

aweuro;uaoweiru;oikawjfgozidfpjjdflvkdxlkfgjp. Uiuodfjgordiufjgotdfjg.
Hee haw, funny.

Perhaps it is my lack of sleep for the past few nights because of the 2 year old Chunky Monkey's fever and subsequent croup. Perhaps it is because I'm getting older. Perhaps it's because I have four children and my brain cells are already cranking at full-tilt. Dunno.

It's been said that contrary to popular belief, women with children actually think more clearly and use more of their brains than they did prior to having their children. I know there are a lot of moms out there who would just say, "Pbbbtttthppptt."

Please remember our friend

Mamma in your thoughts and prayers at this time when she's just lost her Mom.
~A

Bad blogger, bad, bad....

I apologize to the two people who read my blog for not updating in over a month. I've been quite busy at home with the four monkeys, you see, and although I'm still knitting, I'm not so good at posting about it.
Although I'm not a scarf knitter, I've finished two in the past two weeks. I'm still in awe of all of these mothers-who-knit who have 32 finished projects a month. It's just not happening here.
Ah, the baby calls. I just wanted to let you know I'm still alive.

Sick

Thumbelina and I are both sniffly. She's sleeping like a champ at night, but during the day, not so much. I feel like I'm trying to keep my head above water, literally. I pop online for three minutes here, two there and check blogs that I read to see if they're updated, and then she's up and screaming so I have to stand up and hold her over my shoulder, just like I did with Princess when she was colicky.
So obviously, I still have one and one quarter sleeves done, and not much else.
Oh, and I chopped my hair off yesterday, and it's now styled in what the Princess has termed, "Crazy Red Mommy Hair." She thinks it's cool.

One sleeve down

Two inches done on the other one. I wanted to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel so instead of casting on for the body of the cardigan, I started with the sleeves.
Is that so wrong?
Love the Knitpicks Elegance. It knits like a dream, shows detail evenly...cables look great. Love it. Hope it washes decently.
The baby calls....

I Ain't as Good as I Once Was

That yarn came and it's beautiful, people. THe grass green is lovely, more of an avocado really, and not at all vomitrocious. The Shine is a very pretty purply rose pink, and the Andean Silk in Sangria, well, I had purchased some for my SP awhile back and was craving it for months now. It knits like a dream, but unfortunately, I don't.
Why is it that the simplest of patterns is kicking my hiney right now? Baby Thumbelina's sleeping up to 5 hours at night, so I have no excuse...must be my hormones returning to normal...yeah, that's it. I started the corset and put it aside after frogging it three times because I didn't read the chart. I just kind of set off doing what I thought the chart read, and then realized that I was supposed to repeat row 1 for rows 3 and 5 as well...duh. I then must have missed a YO on row 5 because row 6 was short a stitch, or so I thought. I frogged, reknit, and realized I was counting wrong. Nice.
So. I started the cardigan in alpaca without glitter, here in the Elegance, and it's lovely. Good thing there's a lot of stockinette. It will give my brain time to heal.

Waiting on yarn...

While my dear mother was visiting this past week, she offered to go with me to the LYS and buy me birthday yarn. Yes, my birthday isn't until the end of the month, but it was the shared experience of shopping for the birthday yarn that we wanted.
As usual, however, this store didn't have enough of the Suri Merino I wanted for my Drops Cardigan with Glitter, so I was foiled. Mom ended up writing me a check and I ordered some goodies from KnitPicks instead. I bought two hanks of merino laceweight in Vineyard, some Andean Silk in Sangria for the Silk Corset, and I went with Elegance in lettuce (I think that's what it was) for the alpaca cardigan with glitter. I'm hoping it's not too evil a green, although I can usually wear the most putrid of green shades due to my hair and pink complexion. I just can't wear much of anything else.
I also picked up some Shine in Orchid, which is a color I don't ordinarily wear but I thought it was lovely. I hope it's fairly true to the website and catalog (wishful thinking, I know) as I sat here with both looking back and forth trying to make the decision. I'm making a lace camisole from the Spring '05 Vogue that was originally written for Anny Blatt's Kampur Silk~at $19 a skein. If it doesn't work out I'll be using it for Picovoli or something.
Can't wait to see my UPS man.

Put this in the "Things I should not be allowed to do" file

This goes in that category, certainly.
While wrestling the boys up the stairs for naps today, I thought I'd be clever ("'My, what a multi-tasker that Knitting Woman is'...I can hear them now!", I thought) and start the sterilize cycle for the bottles. I also put a pan of hot water on the stove to boil as I'm really new to this formula thing and I'm not sure whether I have to boil it first or not....anyway, that was the problem.
Multi-tasking. What ever made us think we had to do more than one thing at a time anyway? Isn't the world rushed enough? I feel so horrible that I'm contributing to that.
Turns out I'm not very good at it anyway. I got up to change the baby's diaper and smelled a funny smell. I peeked in on Bobo, who always has to poop three seconds before he falls asleep, and sure enough, he had 'llluck', as he calls it.
But no. That wasn't the smell. I flew down the stairs, dreading the thought of my rangetop in flames.
Yes, I boiled my dern pan dry. Amazing that I didn't catch the kitchen on fire, really, as I'm about as air-headed as I can be right now.
Somebody save me from myself.