What a week!

This has been such a crazy week! Between astronomical water bills and baseball practice, it's a wonder I'm still standing. It all started with the water bill. We had a leak last month. Leaks are the work of the devil, let me tell you. $200 poorer, the leak is fixed and the water bill is paid. Still, I called the utility company to make sure they double checked that bill. Of course they did and the nice lady told me how to check the meter myself to make sure we weren't still having a leak issue. So, still sweaty from my workout and donning flipflops, I trotted up and down the street in search of our water meter. I had no luck and succeeded only in looking like a mess while possibly muttering "evil bastards" during my search. DH later found it and everything's okay. Fast forward to Brandon (aka the little guy) and his t-ball practice. I got everyone dressed, fed, loaded up and off to the ballfield in record time. I should have known it was too good to be true. For 30 minutes, I had that child practicing with the wrong team. Of course, no hole was available to jump into to die of embarrassment in. On the upside, I did a pretty nice job of coloring my hair yesterday. See, a ray of sunshine no matter what! I got some pretty neat gifts in the mail from my sister and will post a pic a bit later!

Project Spectrum

Something red, something pink! Here's what I've got so far. The yarn was dyed with kool aid. As a quick note, if you get a hankering to dye your yarn after 10 at night--restrain yourself. It took me forever! The pillow I made quite some time ago from some fabric remnants I bought on ebay. The pink flower on the pillow is from a favorite but very worn sham on our bed. The picture of chloe is just because she wanted to take one! A great big Hi to my project spectrum postcard swap pal Mrs Pao!

Fickle and Fickler

Impatient and unsatisfied. That's how I've felt this week. Not sure why but I've felt like a teenager peering into the fridge and not seeing anything good to eat among the load of food available. The lace shawl has been sitting untouched since, wow, last week. I'm not planning to revisit it until at least Friday. That said, I've been promising a picture on my progress and so I shall finally deliver! I've made a few boo-boos here and there but I'm still pretty darn happy with the shawl so far. Every mistake has been a learning point for me. Now I understand charts and stitches so much better. All that understanding made my head hurt so I took a week off. I was feeling restless. I tried to satisfy my fickleness with some two on two circular socks. Better, but only a little because I'm getting these awful loose ladders on either side of the sock where the two circs "join" no matter how tight I tighten the yarn while making the next stitch. I'm really not digging that at all. It might be quicker and I know some knitters swear by that method, but I think I'll stick to my dpns next time thanks. So last night in yet another effort to quench the impatience, I picked up a crochet hook and some yarn and started a new project. Okay, it's a wrap from some LB Homespun (I know!) but I like wraps to wear around the house and whatever anyone may think of Lion Brand Homespun, it's really really soft. Plus I just got Deb Stoller's new book stitch n bitch the happy hooker. BTW, I highly recommend it! Something about the texture of crochet has always attracted me. I'm not a very skilled crocheter but I do enjoy it regardless. I guess for some things, crochet appeals to me more but for others I find knitting more appropriate. For example, I'm not a huge crocheted sweater fan. Far too bulky for my taste. On the other hand, crocheted socks are a big no no for me. They don't seem to have the same drape and snuggly stretchy fit. Just one woman's opinion. Both are really relevant and have their place. Today, my mind wandered to knitty's Mrs Beetons wrist warmers. I have the perfect yarn for them. I absolutely refuse to start them until I get those socks off the needles which, by the way, I plan to do this weekend. I'll figure out how to fix the loose parts then but somehow I see myself darning those areas. Maybe I should just frog them and do some socks on dpns. I'll think about it. Nah, maybe not. That might drive me over the edge! Thanks for the book suggestion Mandella! I'll definitely have to pick up a copy! We'll see how the top comes along. I'm looking for the right yarn and have a few ideas in mind. I'll post a pic when I get it sourced and sketched!

My favorite white shirt and other things

Have you ever had a piece of clothing that looked fab on and you wore it until it was worn to bits and couldn't be worn anymore? I had a white shirt like that. It was great. I was 22 years old and single. That shirt looked hot! Hell, I looked hot when I wore it! It had a deep u neck and was made of some stretchy fitted material that hugged my body appropriately. Not too tight; not too loose. I felt like Goldilocks. It was just right. That shirt is long gone now. I have no idea when I finally tossed it. Marriage and two kids later, I'd almost forgotten about it until last night. Last night, I joined project spectrum. Since I'd committed to knitting two tops already with the KAL for the sexy knitters club, I really wanted to use project spectrum to expand myself artistically. That in mind, I pulled out my sketch pad and colored pencils. I sketched up several different designs for tops to knit or crochet. The first was in pink, which is the color for March. (I'll be taking a photo of something red (also for March) in honor of my late grandfather who loved to take photos.) The second was in blue because , hey, I like blue. That's when I got to thinking about that amazing top and how cool it would be to knit one up for myself. Keep in mind the original was a store bought machine knit spandexy blend in an impossibly small gauge. Still, I thought, why not pay homage to it and knit up something in a similar profile that makes me look and feel amazing? Why not? I've toyed with the idea of designing my own knits before but have never pursued it. Well, today is the day I put pen to paper, take some measurements and begin the rough draft of a pattern. I can't promise I'll finish it soon but my goal is to get the top done by the time summer is upon us. I'll likely source the yarn next month so this is the month to do the math. I'm pretty excited about it! In the meantime, I'm finishing up my lace shawl for the class I took a Needlecraft University (needlecraftuniversity.com). It's been slow going but I'm taking my time too. I'll post an in-progress pic later. I've just started on some socks for the two up at a time on circs pattern I got from knitpicks. I needed a quick project to work along with the lace to satisfy my impatient side. Today we're trekking to the Barnes and Nobles in Waco. I really wish we had one here but it's only 40 minutes away so I guess it could be worse. So far, I'm really enjoying teaching cycle class. I did a 70's mix (thanks to Stephanie at Nakedie knits on blogger for the cd ideas) that really went over well. I plan to do a couple more new cd's soon. Meanwhile, I'm looking for ideas to expand my workout in ways that will be fun. I've layed off the weight training so I know I need to pick that up at least twice a week soon. Maybe I'll devise some type of obstacle course type drills. Something dynamic and fun to do. Till then, I've got a load of knitting and cycling to do. Funny, this is something I enjoy even though I get paid for none of it. Knitting is just fun and I volunteer my time for the cycle class. It's at the gym on post and the classes are for soldiers and their dependents. I don't remember getting this much satisfaction from work I got paid a lot of money to do. You know, I'm just glad I'm able to do my bliss. How many people can say that?