i gotz nuttin'

i'm sad to report that i have no FOs to show off for the month of march.  my knitting mojo is at an all-time low.  heh, i have no gumption for anything - sewing, crafting, anything.  i've been reading a lot - i suppose to quiet the chatter in my head - and i can tell i'm working off some depression by the number of solitaire games i play on my phone.

i have a couple inches of my march socks.  i think i'll take them on vacation later this spring becos i like knitting socks in the car, and we'll be doing a lot of driving.

i have about half of my weasleys' pants hat half completed.  it feels like a slog.  i should take that on vacation too.  honestly, how hard is it to knit 3 more inches of hat plus decreases.  not rocket science.

my FLS lays in abandon.  so much for "completing it in time for vacation".  yeah right.

my bourbon street shawl is also on ice.  i just haven't had time to work on it in relative peace and quiet.

i haven't sewed anything in ages.  the duffle bags i want to sew are in a holding pattern until i get more webbing for the handles.  i need to go to the fabric store for that.

even my cooking skills are shot.  i made a lot of crock pot soups and a roast becos i can't be bothered to make anything on the stove top.

i have this small pathetic piece of CROCHET (of all things!) to show for as a nearly FO:

i'm attempting to crochet a dish scrubby.  i got some new mesh scrubbies but they were in sad shape; i thought that i'd try to crochet one.  i thought how hard can it be to crochet a scrubby in single crochet?  apparently in my case, very.

that's a size N hook (one pattern i looked at called for a size H - that's small!)  i tried to crochet in the round but couldn't figure out how to make the magic circle, so i decided to my a square pad instead.  it wasn't too bad, until i tried to crochet under the legs of the stitches.  i had to use a smaller hook to pull the mesh through the loops.  at this point i might as well knit a scrubby!

oh well.  tomorrow's a new month.  maybe my knitting mojo will be better!

knitting ADD

i just realized today is i love yarn day.  go out and give your yarn a squeeze!


i'm in a knitting tizzy.  i have a bunch of projects OTN and just can't focus to finish one.  i also have a sore shoulder which makes knitting a challenge too.

in addition to the kiddos' owlet sweaters, i started these projects:

october's PSOTMC, plain vanilla sock with zitron trekking xxl.  i think they'll be xmas socks for grams, but i have no gumption to knit on them.  plus i have two other unfinished pairs to complete!!



this is the start of a shawl from a pattern i bought at KDO.  it's the bourbon street shawl.  i'm using cascade yarns heritage solids quatro colors in cerulean.  the pattern isn't even in ravelry's data base yet, it's so new.  bit intimidated by that.

throw in my two sweaters, two weener dogs in need of arms and ears, jonesing for mittens, a few hats...ugh.  i just have no focus.

how do you focus on getting your knitting done?

fall housekeeping - WIPs edition

tidied up the WIPs earlier this week.  time to clean out my basket so i can start some new things...

i'm two sets of ears and a set of arms away to completing the doxies...




june's PSOTMC languishes and i'm so tempted to frog...just not feeling it...




i really should finish my sunday swing socks...the pair's half completed, and the pattern flies...




it's getting cold and my FLS would be so handy...




poor swirl shawl.  i had this silly thought i'd complete it for fair exhibition this year...




and my poor quilted blankey hasn't been touched in over a year.

and let's not forget my ubatuba sweater.  i should complete the damn thing.  the yarn's been discontinued for pity's sake!  i pray the measurements still work.  i started knitting this **5** years ago and lord knows my body has changed since then.

time for a clean out!  

palate refresher

i have a ton of WIPs to finish.  so what did i do on maundy thursday?  start another shawl.



a while back a lady at church asked if i was interested in making a shawl for the triennial women's gathering.  this year it's in washington state.  they are gathering prayer shawls which will be given to a synod there to be distributed as needed.  i agreed to make one, becos i love any excuse to show off my knitting.

in the meantime i started clara, i've been slogging away at the baby log cabin, and my PSOTMC is in a bit of a time out. i haven't taken the time to research shawls for my skein of glimpse.  my knitting mojo is still sputtering.  blerg.

so i looked up information on what kind of shawl i need to knit (so i don't have to buy more yarn, i'm still trying to stash bust) and discovered that the deadline for the shawls is june.  double blerg.

i got the idea to knit the stay put shawl from a ravelry friend who is making one for her grandmother.  the  pattern seemed simple and mindless enough that i could throw it in my bag.  i found a lovely skein of mountain colors mountain goat in sapphire trail - mostly muted shades of blue, green and purple with bright spots of orange and red interspersed.

here's hoping for some long road trips.  

knitting mojo...

...i seemed to have lost it.  :(

i'm still feeling run down, and i haven't felt like knitting.  i worked on Clara today while waiting at a doctor appointment, but it was the first time i picked it up since last monday (ironically enough, at another doctor appointment).  it barely left my purse (except for me to take its picture yesterday):



Clara was supposed to be knit with Glimpse by 3IG.  Clara decided she wanted to be dream in color smooshy in pansy golightly.  right now i'm in the middle of the garter stitch increases, so it's nice quiet mindless knitting.


then there's PSOTMC for march - sunday swing:




swinger needs a mate.  apparently i have SSS.  not that the pattern is difficult or anything - loved working it and the sock flew off my needles - but for some insane reason, i'm just not feeling the sock love.  i have until next wednesday to complete it.  shouldn't be hard to do if i work on it during the evening.  just have to cast on, and there lies the problem.  i have no mojo to cast on.  :(


and i really gotta start cranking on this:



it's freaking garter stitch.  i'm making one stroller sized blanket.  not hard at all.   i want to complete it by the end of april.  but alas - i'm just not feeling it.


i think i am so exhausted from being sick, tending to petunia (and now freddie) and their colds and having a crazy busy weekend, that i can't be bothered to do anything.  my knitting mojo isn't the only thing taking a beating - so's reading.  i don't feel like reading either (although i have no deadline on any books).  

hopefully this weekend i can catch up on rest (!!! with kids !!!) and my mojo will return.  

ribbit

i went to knit night at the library a few days ago.  there are usually several different projects going on, and the topic was socks.  one lady had questions and needed help.  another lady worked on her socks, which she was knitting for a niece in Germany.  another was knitting a pair as she hadn't knit socks in some time.  i, of course, worked on my log cabin.  we talked about the merits of knitting socks, DPNs vs. magic loop vs. 2 short circs.

i mentioned that while i like magic loop for getting both socks done at the same time, i had not knit magic loop for nearly 2 years, not since before my miscarriage.  i had 2 WIPs, a fallish plymouth sock yarn that had grown too large, at which point i decided the socks would be for my mom;  the blue ombre sock blank i hand dyed myself, but started knitting from the wrong end of the blank becos i am a dink; and the pair of teal (maybe koigu?) socks for grams christmas present for 2008 that i started/stopped/started/stopped about a dozen times, which i then frogged and gave up on a few months back.  i knitted a couple pairs of socks for the kiddos, but knit them on DPNs.

the funny thing is, the thought of knitting with the magic loop makes me sick.  can't explain it.  dunno why.  i'm not sure if it's becos i associate the technique with my miscarriage.  it's not that i don't know how to knit with the magic loop, becos i do.  the cast on may be fuzzy, but the sheer practicality of knitting 2 socks at the same time is genius.

so the next day i got into my sock stash, and frogged the fall socks and the blue ombre socks.  the blue socks were trickier, becos as both yarns are carried together on the blank, i had to not only frog 2 socks, but keep them from tangling.  at some point i'll frog the blank to the point of having 2 balls of yarn, but i don't feel like doing that yet.  the fall socks are so big, i don't think they'd even fit mom.  so frogged they were.  i'll knit on them again, just on DPNs.

i'd like to knit on some socks again.  i enjoy the simplicity of knitting a sock.  i enjoy small projects that can finish quickly.

i showed my knitting teacher the new japanese sock knitting book i got last week.  turns out she has the same one, and she purchased it for the toeless sock pattern, which was the same one that intrigued me.  i haven't had a chance to really read through the patterns, but there are many intriguing patterns in there.

21 going on 28

i've now hit 21 weeks. YY are moving around a bit more, i'm constipated, and i crave foods that i shouldn't eat (like carnival fries and pie).

i'm more tired now. last week i ran to target and the grocery store, and the hour long jaunt made me really tired. the babies feel so heavy in my belly. it's weird having a belly balloon so quickly. with the boy, my belly grew gradually, and i didn't pop big until i was 7-8 months pregnant. in a way, this pregnancy feels cheated. i'm growing so quickly, my symptoms are much worse, and i just can't get comfortable anymore. and if i feel this lousy now, at 5 months, what am i going to feel like a few weeks from now, or in july, when the heat index is through the roof?

my 20 week checkup went well. the babies are 13 and 14 ounces respectively. when i looked up my week in my pregnancy book, the babies are weighing a few weeks ahead, like 22 weeks. this is astonishing, considering i have 2 babies crowding my belly. i thought they'd be smaller. we also had an ultrasound. baby a (on my left) was laying low, with "his" back towards the wand. we didn't get to see any features except the back (looks good) and the head. baby b (on my right) was laying higher up, and we got a good view of "her" profile. both babies are looking good, measuring well, and have strong hearts. i do not know what we are having, we don't want to know and want to be surprised when they are born. but my intuition says that baby a is a boy, and baby b is a girl. i hope i'm correct. i hope at least one of these babies is a boy. actually, they could both be boys and i'd be happy, since it would mean less shopping for clothes and toys and such. but, a part of me wishes for a girl, since i want to prove that i am capable of carrying a girl, since my miscarriages were (i think) girls.

it's funny, but i thought there'd be more fuss about the twins from people. i thought people at church would be "how are you, how are you feeling?", yada yada yada. no one really says anything. maybe it's becos i project myself as a highly private person (as i am in real life, except i'm sharing these thoughts with the world, funny as it seems). maybe people just don't care. whatever. i try no to take it to heart. but it hurts just the same. i've fussed over other people's pregnancies. i guess turnaround's not fair play.

i'm at a knitting impasse. i finished the second baby blanket. i have a bib to finish, gram's sock to finish, and the tree skirt to finish. i started a square for the glenn beck "we surround them" blanket. i should be knitting more baby things, but i don't know what to knit, and don't know how to start. oh, i know what to knit, have most of the supplies. but for some reason, i just can't.

week 19

this week is a little rough. i started a new brand of preggo pills, and they make me nauseous and tired. i miss my primacare. stupid mail order pharmacy.

i am so tired. i almost fell asleep grocery shopping. i don't understand why, since i did have breakfast (wheaties, so i could ease the constipation). maybe it's the weather. it's rainy and cold and i don't feel like doing much. i also got preggo brain at starbucks. i wanted some hot chocolate, but do you think i could remember what shot i wanted added to it (hint - i liked the salted caramel HC they featured last fall). at least i got whipped cream, which i wasn't expecting! they are doing away with their cup sleeves (you can still get one, but they are trying to green up). i guess this means i'll have to find my pattern for knitted cup sleeves! better still, remember to take my own cup along!

i'm more than half way through this pregnancy. it is going very fast (blessedly). i'll be happy to get to 20 weeks (next week) and 24 weeks. they seem to be my goals right now. i feel more squirming lately, but this morning yin and yang feel very heavy. i feel like i'm carrying a cantaloup in there.

on a good note, i got a little knitting mojo. i turned the corner on the second baby blanket, and started a bib. i figure, start small for quick results. so far it's working.

on a sad note, i send my condolences to kay of the mason dixon ladies, whose husband passed away this week. many thoughts and prayers are heading her and her family's way.

got my knitting mojo back!

i knitted 2 pairs of baby socks this week. 2 pairs in 2 days! i wish i could knit my socks that quickly! it feels good to be getting my mojo back. i have a lot of knitting to do for the next few months and this is the only time i can do it. no telling what kind of knitting time i'll get when the babies arrive.

mom and dad got us a new recliner for our anniversary. rust colored, rocks, just what we want. we also looked at sofas. mom had no idear my sofa was getting threadbare (i have no idear how it happened, either, since no one sits at that end). hubby thinks there's no reason to get new furniture if we're having 2 more kids, cos they'll be spilling on it, peeing/pooping on it, generally making a mess on it. so i'm going to splurge and get slip covers for the sofa and the matching chair (which has also seen better days). in a few years, either when the twins are bigger or we move to a new house, we'll get new furniture.

i wore my church pants today. a bit tighter, but i got another week out of them.

hubby went to a rain barrel class at our county extension office. he and dad (who went too) got free rain barrels. hubby is currently reconnecting the rain spouting so it collects in the barrels. figures, we no longer have a garden to water, but at least the water won't puddle by the fence or freeze in winter. it will feel good to collect nature's bounty, instead of using our town water for our plants (i still plant flowers and like a few tomato and pepper plants).

our neighbor kid is such an ass. saw his name in the police blotter for riding in a car while holding his baby, not in a car seat. this is the same kid who rode his bike with his kid slung over his back in a backpack. why does God allow degenerates like this kid continue to procreate? the little one is so sweet. he doesn't deserve such an asshole for a dad.

our neighbors get thumbs down this weekend too. they parked in front of our garage (across the alley) and naturally we couldn't back the van out well without risk of hitting their truck. it sat there all weekend. next time i see them, i will tell them to not park across from our garage. we have been putting the van in the garage not only to save the finish, but to prevent vandals from wrecking it. it's hard parking in the garage in the first place, but it's worse when you can't even get your vehicle out!

9 1/2 weeks

currently in the middle of 9 weeks. still feel nauseous, tired. boobs alternate between huge and sore and small and twingey. if i go to 36 weeks, i'm a quarter of the way through with this pregnancy.

i'm trying to get my knitting mojo back. i started another moebius scarf, this one for the library auction this spring. they asked if our group would make something for the auction. since we only have 6 weeks to get something done, we decided to make things individually. at first i didn't know what to knit. everyone else had good ideas - felted purses, knitted candle holders. then it hit me - i can make my moebius scarf since i'm the moebius queen! i started my scarf last night, first with size 13 needles in garter stitch but it was so loose. i frogged and made it a 4x4 basketweave stitch on a size 11 needle (which i fixed first, damn KP convertibles broke last night, BOTH of them). i'm feeling good right now with the knitting.