My latest project

The moment I have been anticipating/dreading all school year has finally come-- the time to start trying to get Dorian into Kindergarten next year. You may remember what I had to go through to get Sebastian accepted straight into 1st grade all because his birthday is in November and the cut-off is September 1. Well, now I get to do it all again since Dorian's birthday is 4 days after Sebastian's.

I've begun the process, talking to the principal, being told what the policy is, getting past the gatekeeper to an appointment for registration. So now all that's left is to get my supporting documentation from Dorian's preschool, write my letter of appeal, and hope for the best.

My biggest argument (other than the fact that Dorian is capable and ready) is that their policy is obviously not as cut and dried as they would like me to believe since they already bent it once for Sebastian with no ill effects.

We'll see how convincing I can be...

Trying to catch up

I'm feeling rather behind on things lately, mostly due to my complete inability to refrain from adding more projects to my life. So, I'm working on knocking a few things off the old to-do list and have made some progress in the last 24 hours.

This morning I put the first coat of paint on the floor in Dorian's room.

And last night, I started the fronts of Sebastian's cardigan. He picked out a couple of cables including one he thinks looks like DNA. That DNA cable should be a DNR. I hate it. It looks fine, but it is a gigantic hassle and I am going to have to tell him that I will definitely not be putting those cables up the sleeves as he requested. And I made (gasp!) a mistake at the beginning of one of those cables and even though it will probably annoy me for life, it happened far too long ago for me to be willing to rip it back and fix it. Oh well.
And later today I get to mow the lawn and make dinner for some friends before Beatles RockBand takes over our lives.

Please don't remind me about the quilt I haven't finished or the Halloween costumes I need to start making.

Busy busy busy

It has been yet another busy weekend around the Hott Pocket house.

Jeremy and I began painting the garage, which I think is looking pretty awesome, but makes the actual house look poopy. We have less than half to go, but I definitely need Jeremy's help to reach the tippy top because I do not want to tip like a top off the ladder. This is not the best picture in the world, but it is the most accurate color-wise.

Yesterday, I was lured by cupcakes to the yarn store which was hosting an event with someone from a local organic wool company. Marin was very nice and very talented and the cupcakes were very delicious. I found myself a little jealous of her and the yarn store owner who both get to knit all day and get paid for it. However, if I were to be paid for knitting, I know one of two things would happen: a) I would immediately lose my inspiration/resent knitting or b) I would develop a horrible case of arthritis. I was also tortured somewhat by the obnoxious truth that there are more projects in the world than I can ever hope to produce. So, to remind me of that I have more yarn in my possession now as we each got to pick 2 skeins to bring home and they are totally mocking me while I slog through the sleeves for the summer sweater. I am staying strong and not working on anything else, even though I just got all this:

The yellow and the 3 skeins of gray are the boys' future sweaters. The multi-colored ball in the middle is a self-striping yarn I found in the clearance bin which is begging to be a pair of mittens for the boys. And the 2 skeins on the right are the 2 freebies I got which are a cotton/wool blend and very plushy and are asking to be made into fingerless mitts/arm warmers/coziness that I think I may keep for myself.

And today, after painting the garage in the morning, I met Christine to see Away We Go at the matinee. I really enjoyed it. It was very funny and I love Maya Rudolph and her character was very Christine who I also love. I do not love John Krasinski, but I thought he did a good job. The first 2 couples they go visit are way over the top and a bit much, but I have to admit that I have met people like that, so it wasn't entirely unrealistic. Overall, it is a good exploration of family and home and life and how even perfect isn't perfect. I highly recommend this one. And I don't care what Jeremy's wheel has to say about it in the future.

Making headway

I resolved that this weekend I would complete a project because I am feeling a little overwhelmed by how many I have going currently. I also wanted to make progress on a couple more and have been pretty successful so far.

Yesterday, I inadvertently participated in Worldwide Knitting in Public Day by taking my summer sweater project to the lake. I am close to finishing the back, and that is certainly progress.

Then I came home and worked on my shirt for a while until the machine fought back and I surrendered. I got up this morning and finished the hemming by hand, which is actually the proper way to do it and the machine was really just stopping me from cheating. Remember, kids, cheaters never win.

So here it is:

I took on the bias tape and the interfacing and I survived. One project down, one million to go... Pardon me while I go back to stripping wallpaper.

Just because I have 18 projects in the works doesn't mean I can't have one more

I started on my shirt yesterday. And by started I mean that I cut out the pattern pieces, read through the pattern, realized I was missing 2 very important elements (bias tape and interfacing), and also realized that I don't know what I'm doing with either of those things and may be way over my head with what I thought was a pretty simple pattern. This will only be my second pattern ever, so I recognize that I am still learning and may make some mistakes. But I love this fabric and I really don't want to fuck it up. So wish me luck!

The post that should have pictures but doesn't

My aching back is a testament to all the things I've been doing but not documenting here lately.

I've gotten a lot done in the yard/garden in the past few days. Everything edible is planted, including my "Moon and Stars" watermelons which for some reason I thought were small melons, but, if the picture is to be believed, are actually ginormously long melons. (They get their name from the distinctive yellow markings on the rind that look like, you guessed it, a moon and stars.) I also purchased a couple more perennials for the bed out front-- poppies and coral bells. And the azaleas that I got for my birthday from my mother-in-law also went out front along the fence. Fence + shrubbery = more privacy. Oh, who am I kidding? This corner appears to be the least private spot in town.

I have been trying to get a little more exercise, and so has Jeremy, so Sunday we did a DDR workout which almost turned into a DNR. Then on Monday I did a bunch of gardening and went to exercise class which didn't have a whole lot of the ab action I need and instead crippled my glutes. Today was more gardening and lots of hobbling due to the sore glutes, but at least I had the sense this time to bring a chair to T-ball practice so I wouldn't hurt my back sitting on the lumpy ground. Go me!

I finally got around to cutting open the biggest squash I bought in October today. I have been more than a little afraid of what I would find inside after an autumn and a winter and most of the spring (that's 7 months, people!) of sitting on the floor of my pantry. Would it be rotten? Or just plain old moldy? Neither! Miraculously, it was still fine and smelled as sweet as a cantaloupe. So I baked the bejesus out of it (just in case) and mashed it. Then I made squash biscuits for tonight's dinner and my plan is to use the rest for a pie.

I also got a little more knitting in on my summer sweater. One and a half skeins down, 9.5 to go. I may not be wearing it until fall. Whatever-- it will get done eventually, along with all my other half-finished projects. Big knitted blanket... picnic quilt... wallpaper stripping in the dining room... baby socks for a baby that doesn't exist anyway...

Not totally slacking

I know that my percentages on the knitting projects have been completely stagnant, and there hasn't been any info about the picnic quilt or anything else. Things have been quite busy around here what with broken pipes and volunteering and gardening and stripping wallpaper, so the crafting has fallen by the wayside.

But I just couldn't take the fabric draped over my chair in the laundry room, all cut and ready for sewing Dorian's second pair of pants. So the other night I finally bit the bullet and got started. And then Thursday I finally finished them:

That's Dorian's special pose. Ask him to pose for a picture and that's what you get. Go ahead. Try it for yourself.
I know it is hard to see the pattern. You can click on the picture to get a closer look. This time I added a large side pocket. And when Dorian saw it, he decided he needed two. That is not happening. I am done with this project. Done. Check it off the ever-expanding list.
And then yesterday, I just couldn't wait to try one of the radishes. This one is purple, but we also have red and white. I know it is small, but I am impatient. I did get 4 slices out of it so we could all try and it was the juiciest radish I've ever had. And just the right amount of spice.

I also planted the garden on Friday. Here's what we've got growing:

• snow peas
• carrots
• parsley
• basil
• Swiss chard
• pickling cucumbers
• lipstick peppers (red and sweet)
• jet star tomatoes (red)
• Mr. Stripey tomatoes (yellow with pink stripes)
• chocolate cherry tomatoes
• sun gold cherry tomatoes
• green grape tomatoes
• dusky eggplant
• Easter egg radishes
• red and green lettuces

I also planted some mint and some oregano. And there are blooms on the black raspberry canes... Oh, it is so hard to wait...

Just in case you're wondering...

...why I talked about doing fun stuff with my brother, but then the only picture on the boys' blog was of hanging out on the couch and the only picture on my blog was of me and a daiquiri, then you should go look over here at the pictures he took.

...how our fence looks, check it out:

(Yes, it is going straight through the quince bush.) (And yes, the kids like to climb on it as much as you imagine.)

...who did most of the interior decorating in this house, I have a new theory. Ed Gein. I noticed the affinity for peachy beige some time ago, but the dining room takes the cake. We started stripping the wallpaper, because there is no better time to use a wallpaper steamer than during a heat wave, and under the sallow plaid upper layer were several other layers in varying flesh tones. Your average drugstore make-up department has less skin colors than this place. Witness:

...what is more disgusting than the crusty scab covering Sebastian's nostrils after his week of noseblowing, you'll love this one. I went down cellar to turn on the outside water so the kids could run in the sprinkler, and I made a gruesome discovery. There was approximately 2 inches of water on the floor and it didn't smell good. So I asked Jeremy to flush the toilet so I could see what happened. I almost wish I hadn't. The waste water from the house is draining right into the basement. At least it should be covered by our home warranty.

Spring pants for Dorian, or My sewing machine is a racist

Amanda and I packed the younger boys in the minivan yesterday and headed over to Keene to do a little fabric shopping. I wanted to make the boys new spring/summer pants like last year's which you can see here, here, here and here.

Dorian was coming with me, so he would have the whole store to choose from, but Sebastian had to give me a few choices of designs to look for. He wanted "gears, robots, rockets, or anything outer space." Bad news for him, because I kid you not, there were absolutely no robots or rockets to be found. There weren't even babyish prints or garish ones I refused to buy. There were none. There was one outer space print of some planets, but they were so large that it would not have looked good. I almost made an executive decision and got a music print, but he is getting older and pickier, so I opted to just not get him anything. Dorian was more successful and picked out the monkey combo you see above as well as a swirly blue design I haven't started on yet.

I had high hopes for getting these done quickly, seeing as I had made 4 pair of the exact same pattern last year. Not to mention things had been going exceedingly well for me with the sewing machine recently. We have had nary a fight while making the picnic quilt, the machine and I. No bobbin mishaps, no weird snarls, no thread snapping on its part, and therefore no cussing, crying, kicking or threatening on my part.

These pants were a 3 hour nightmare that involved multiple reloadings of the bobbin, seam ripping, snarling, breaking thread, and excessive frustration for me. And here's my theory: my machine is a racist. Yeah, that's right. See, the quilt is constructed with white thread and I was using brown thread for the pants. Plain as day, that sewing machine is trying to keep brown down.

We'll find out if it's pro-military when I use the navy blue thread for the next pair.

It's coming along...

While my frighteningly computer-savvy 3 year old was doing the PBS Kids thing this afternoon, I managed to get two more strips of the small squares and rectangles done for the picnic quilt.

One of the new strips is not pictured because I decided I needed to squeeze in time for one more after photographing and before I put the kibosh on Dorian's screen time. This is not a final representation of the order of the strips. That will come later when they are all done. But what you see there is about 28"x48" which I think is about half the size I want the squares to be. Making more strips and adding on a border or three should make it big enough for picnicking.

Although I probably would never pick out any of these fabrics in a store, I have fallen in love with them. You may recall that I got a one quart ziploc bag full of them at the thrift store for one dollar. They were all pretty random scraps, but some of them revealed that they were supposed to be stuffed bears and bunnies... probably for Easter. There is something so sweet and simple about the ginghams and polka dots and I just can't wait to get peanut butter and jelly stains all over them. The picture above looks pretty dull, I know, but I think only a grassy field will do it justice. We don't have any of those around right now, though.

And for the little bit of knitting I have managed since RockBand came in the house:

Miss Lydia's hat, modelled by Sebastian. It's the same old pixie hat pattern that I think I could do in my sleep, only fancied up with some flowers and leaves. I got to use up some of my many scraps of Lamb's Pride, so that was good. And I also got to try out some of the little embellishments in an awesome book my mom gave me, so that was also good.

No better Valentine's Day

Well, it would have been better if I hadn't been woken up by the children screaming at each other. But so far:

• We had heart shaped cherry pancakes for breakfast. (I had to make them from scratch, but still.)
• There were fabulous homemade valentines from my 3 guys, including a pop-up one and a flip-o-rama one.
• There was a box of See's chocolates, which are the absolute best chocolates in the whole wide world.
• I was serenaded by my guys who sang 3 of my favorite songs.
• Dorian named his bumblebee "Honeyhive" at Sebastian's suggestion.
• Sebastian said he "couldn't imagine anything better" than the mittens I knit for him. (and he's got quite an imagination, that kid.)
• And Jeremy liked his gift which I painted for him. (It's a tropical stinkbug. Tres romantique, non?)

• Add to that the gift that keeps on giving, RockBand 2, and it has been an awesome day.

Now for some grocery shopping before Quinn comes to babysit so Jeremy and I can gorge ourselves on Indian food.

Still plugging away

After a bit of a break from the picnic quilt, I got back to it today, but not for very long. A sundae at Friendly's was calling my name. I did sew that strip of squares and rectangles together, but more importantly, I figured out a better way to cut straight.

Before, I would cut while hunched over the cutting mat on the floor, or stand at the table, also relatively hunched. It should come as no surprise that my cuts were not straight, but were pretty hunched themselves. So today I had the genius idea to stand at the kitchen counter instead. It's the right height, and while it didn't solve all my problems, it did make a big difference.

"Lazy" weekend

For a change, we actually had absolutely no plans this weekend. No visitors, no birthday parties, no holidays, no urgent errands... what were we going to do with ourselves?

Well, a lot of hanging out, mostly. Saturday we took a break from the hanging out to go snowshoeing up Black Mountain, an event I hope to get the kids to blog about later. It took us almost 2 hours roundtrip and I ended up with the jelly legs. We played video games, the kids watched some Charlie & Lola, and we started reading Matilda by Roald Dahl. One chapter last night and everyone was hooked, so we have finished almost half the book today.

And after a bit of a hiatus, in which I finished another pixie hat (they're a bit addictive), I got back to work on the baby jacket. Six more rows to go, and the sleeves will be done. Then I will just have the making up and the collar to do, as well as getting and installing a zipper.

And, because we all know how fantastic my quilting skills are (ha ha), I started cutting out pieces for a new picnic quilt. I scored a bag of random gingham fabric, with some hearts and polka dots mixed in, at the thrift store a while ago for the low low price of $1. I have had in mind making a blanket for our frequent lake excursions and this batch of fabric seemed perfect. Of course, as I started cutting I was reminded of why I don't do piecework much. Namely, I apparently am incapable of cutting a straight line whether with scissors or a rotary cutter, and it's a lot of little goddamn pieces to make a big thing. We'll see where this ends up. But now that I have a table for my sewing machine, I do have a better chance of completing this project.

Snuggly

A snuggly flannel blanket was finished today for someone who won't be finished himself until later this winter. I couldn't resist this monster fabric!

The year in review/How'd I do?

A year ago I made the following resolutions:

1. Continuing to enjoy being at home with 2 crazy monkeys. I have made great strides in this area over the last year, and want to keep it up.
2. Getting more exercise. One 1 hour class per week probably isn't enough. Even if it is the hardest class on earth.
3. Improving our living situation. Whether this means buying a house, or finally getting the appropriate storage for this one, things could be better.
4. Not beating myself up for eating too much. I like eating and I should allow myself to enjoy it responsibly.
5. Making sure I continue to respect my own needs as much as I do those of the other people in my house.

So, how did I do? Okay, I guess.

1. I did/do enjoy being home with the boys, and I sometimes wish Sebastian were still home, but he's not and he's happy, so there you go.
2. I think I did pretty well with this one at the beginning of the year, but I only made it to one exercise class the entire month of December. And our current financial situation does not make me feel like a gym membership is a viable option, so I'll have to try harder. I'm hoping DDR2 will help with this.
3. We did buy a house. Which is awesome and way better than living in our old apartment. (Plus, the stair action must count toward number 2, right?) I'm still working on the proper storage arrangements for this house, though.
4. I apparently did so well with this one that I even forgot that I had to make such a resolution in the first place. Go me!
5. I would give myself a "fair" for this. I am definitely doing better than last year, anyway, which is a start.

So, what will the plan for 2009 be? Let's see...

• Painting the spare room, dining room and hallway
• Building a fence
• Growing a great garden and canning some of my own produce
• Not allowing myself to get roped into anything I don't really want to do, especially where Sebastian's school is involved
• and trying to find realistic, non-pharmaceutical solutions to my mental health issues.

Can I accomplish all that? Who knows? I'd say probably not, but that wouldn't be very optimistic, now would it?

The procrastination station

This weekend, in avoidance of a certain project for which I never should have done the math, I have completed one mystery knitted item and these 2 little cuties.

Once upon a time, I was given an advanced reader copy of Oddball Knitting, which is not for people who are oddballs, but for using up leftover skeins of yarn in creative ways. There was a pattern for mini stockings which I thought I might whip up a few of if I had time left over after finishing my planned projects. Well, somehow these became more inspiring to me. I did not follow the instructions exactly because I was using different needles than suggested and I didn't have quite enough yarn and I don't think I have ever followed a pattern exactly... but as you can see they do look like Christmas stockings, which was the whole point. I also decided to add the crochet edging as an embellishment.

Now I just need to decide who will receive them. I'm thinking the red one will go to my paternal grandmother, probably full of chocolates. I'm still undecided about the green, though.

This little elf is still hard at work

A little tease of 2 projects: one halfway there, and one complete. The one on the bottom is using up leftovers from the big blanket with a very subtle pattern of natural sheep colors. The top probably did not come from blue alpacas and sheep, but you never can tell.

So I wasn't entirely truthful...

You know how just 2 or 3 short days ago I showed you all a little tease of someone's Xmas present and said something about how there would be no more personal projects for a little while? Well, that was sort of a lie. Okay, it was a lie. Sue me.

I had already started this project a few days ago with the yarn left over from the hat, scarf and wrist warmer set that I made and didn't show you. So it isn't like I started a whole new personal project or anything. Here are the new winter woollies:

Anyway, I love that scarf. I pretty much wear it all the time. Especially because I'm afraid to spend too much on oil this winter so it's always freezing in our house. (Unless someone is coming over. Don't worry, I mostly only torture myself.) I love the yarn from the scarf and I had 4 skeins left, so I decided to make a little short sleeved sweater with it. Well, this is what I came up with:

Perhaps if I would bother to use a pattern, I might make something slightly more flattering for myself. I also did not really have enough to make the sweater as long as it should be for me. Oh, well. It's a 2x2 rib to the breast, then stockinette for the top.

Then I used my paltry crochet skills to make a ruffly collar and "sleeves". Once again, not quite enough yarn for what I had in mind.

Here it is on me:

I'm sucking in the gut in case you can't tell. If I don't, the effect is far less pleasant, and it's silly enough right there. So what do I do with this thing? Keep it? Or try to sell it to someone with a smaller frame?

My hands are not so idle

May I introduce Miss Kiki? You may have seen her already over on the boys' blog where she made several appearances in the birthday post. Somehow I never got around to photographing her until now. So here she is! Sebastian specifically asked for a pink kitty with yellow spots and purple eyes. I contributed the striped tail idea, as well as the other yellow detailing. This was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but a rainy birthday afternoon was all it took to whip her up, so she became a birthday present fresh off the needles. Sebastian picked this acrylic/wool blend whose only redeeming feature (in my eyes) was the $1 per skein price tag. I think the color and yarn make her look a little Grannycraftfair, but that does not make her any less loved. It was a real tragedy when I asked to borrow her for an hour and a half to take to knitting group. Rest assured, she came home safe and sound.

The other thing that came home with me was this:



Oh...Malabrigo! I have often lusted after this yarn. It is so plushy and soft! When I finally settle on a pattern, I will be making my next sweater for me with this yarn. Not this color, though. Alas, now is not the time for personal projects, as Christmas is fast approaching. So you may be getting the occasional tease such as this, but I don't want to spoil any present surprises for anyone.

The honeycomb hat

I had this idea for a honeycomb hat after doing a section in that stitch for my blanket. I decided it would make a nice birthday present for Dorian and found some bee buttons. Then we went to the yarn store yesterday, and when we got home I just couldn't stop until it was done. It was a design I just had to get out of my system. It was kind of a pain in the butt because the alpaca yarn I was using was so soft the stitches kept slipping off the double-pointed needles. But it turned out the way I had envisioned in my fevered mind, so it was worth it.

And, of course, I was too impatient to save it for 9 days, so I gave it to him this morning.

There are consistent honeycombs around the bottom that fade irregularly to the crown, and two little bees bring pollen back to the hive.

And this morning, I started on Sebastian's present, the pink kitty named Kiki. He picked out the yarn himself. It is mostly acrylic and extremely pink and nothing I would have chosen. But it is his kitty. At least I have design control otherwise...