When good plans go bad then go good again.

Saturday, I had in my hand a new ball of dark blue sock yarn to use with the leftover Wildefoote for a bear sweater. Last night, I could not find the stuff anywhere. Could it be that this yarn prefers to be a sock, and not a charity bear sweater? Is it hiding from me on purpose?

But bad turned to good. While searching the yarn stash I found some one ball wonders from some old grab bags, and some other odd balls from an e-bay purchase, and Viola! some nice bear sweater combos. I also got into some ancient hand me down sock yarn and re-rolled it, finding several bad bits. I threw away the dreck, and salvaged the parts that seem to be happy to be used for any reason at all. I feel so clean now.

Daughter needed to go to WallMart yesterday for replacement school supplies so I bought a few more bears to dress. I'm all ready to drive to Lousiana now.

I was tickled and warmed by the reaction from Maltese Knitter to a little comment. Don't we all get into the blogging stuff "for our own satisfaction"? Do we all secretly want to learn that we have developed a following of admirerers? Thanks, MK, you made my day too!

And all you all out ther - the comment button is there for you to punch.

What a weekend. As expected, not a lot of knitting, but I managed to grab some time here and there to stay on schedule.

Friday found me behind schedule, but on the way to finishing the toddler jacket.

We spent Saturday at an amusement park that was closed to the public and open only to scouts. Great time; not too motion sick; girls had fun; no sunburn. Successful day. I went to bed at 8:30.

Sunday morning, instead of getting up at the crack of dawn to go on a group bicycle ride, we slept in. I was able to spend some time while the family was sleeping to finish the mice. So, they will go in the mail today.


We did go biking in the afternoon. What a nice day. My husband and daughter ride a tandem, and they were in fine form, leaving me behind several times. I'm fine with that, and while I was pedaling along, considering my next knitting project, and admiring the fall wild flowers, I saw people falling from the sky. Lots of them. I had no idea the ride took us next to a small air field that hosted parachute people. I slowed down, and watched about twenty of them and their colorful 'chutes land on the field just across the street. Way more colorful than cows.

So, the jacket did get worked in the car both ways, and I ended up with about ten row to go when we got home. I collapsed for a few hours nap instead of finishing. We got up and saw Pirates of the Carribean, and I was awake enough after the movie to finish. See?

All she needs is buttons.

Loved Jonnie Depp. He's on my "hottie" list.

And Bonus this week -
Road trip to Louisiana.
I don't think I'll drive, so I'll be finished with all the pesky little projects for sure, leaving only the Girl Scout vest, and Henry.

I'm feeling better now.

A plan forms.

Here are the projects and what needs to be done:
Toddler Jacket - 1 arm and finishing
Mice - Sew, stuff and mail
SIL Xmas Sock - one done, second half way thru foot
Bear Sweater - waiting for sock to be done so it can be made from leftovers
Custom Vest I donated to a Girl Scout Leader - swatch approval friday
Henry8 - one and a half arms to go.

I have a two hour training today and two team calls on Friday, so I ought to be able to get the second arm on this baby/toddler jacket and finish it off. I also have a Girl Scout leader meeting, so I can show the swatches for my prize vest to the winner for selection.
I'll also stuff and sew mice so I can get them out of the house

check and check

Weekend will be busy with Girl Scouts and a bicycle ride. Finish the toddler jacket if it was not completed, or work on the sock during the drives.

Next week, the sock gets finished, and I can get going on the second bear sweater. Got the bear; found the blue yarn to use. Bear sweater needs to be done for an October 14th guild meeting.

Then the only IOU/UFO's will be the Vest and Hank. The vest is in worsted and I should be able to finish it by the end of October. Probably earlier. I'll probably have homework for the TGKA convention I've signed up for.

Then, the hard part. What, on my extensive project list to tackle next? What in my astonishing stash do I want to work on? Hmmmmm

A peek at the toddler jacket:

Is it the shadow, or does the color reversal hurt your eyes too? I like that in a baby sweater.

Wish me success with my plans.
Happy weekend.

And another Monday.
Cooler weather, but wet. Maybe Henry can come out from under the chair. His arms need finishing, and I just couldn't bear having him on my lap this summer. However, I'm bogged down with little projects. They are bugging my brain, as I think they should be done soon, but there are soooo so many of them.

I have two more mice to sew and stuff - should be done by Wednesday.

I have the second Queen SIL sock to do. Got started on the ride to the regatta. Not bad?

In case anyone cares, the regatta weather was perfect, the crew was fun to sail with, and we pulled a second out of a fleet of six. Much fun, and not too many boat bites either.

I didn't finish the body of the new baby mosiac sweater, but the fronts are done. An office baby was delivered yesterday to the mom who thought she was in labor two weeks ago. I hope to finish this in the next week so they can choose it, or not.

I've decided for sure to reverse the colors on the sleeves.

Then there is the Precious Pal project - want to do one more bear sweater before the October guild meeting. I'm thinking another mosiac with the leftover Wildefoote and some navy sock yarn I've got in the stash. Something like an Itty Bitty Teddy Toyko

(Photo Credit: I ripped the photo off of Handkintter Sara Peasley's blog. And did I mention that I very much admire the jacket, and have it on a project list somewhere. )

So, the baby sweater first, then quick on the socks so I know how much leftovers are available for the bear, and whoops, what about the mice? How did I get here? Yeesh. Henry is staying under the chair for at least three more weeks regardless of the weather. Poor Henry.

Product Plug.
I occasionally have this, um, condition that is eased by the application of a product that contains stinky fish oil. It's really hard to get it off of my hands, but this nice salt scrub does that nicely and leaves a pleasant tangerine/orange scent in its place. The salt is suspended in some odd mix of soapy oily stuff that feels odd the first time, but leaves my skin feeling soft and moist and ready to pick up yarn. My husband has been using it to scrub off dead skin from his poison ivy conflict.

Nice stuff.


Way too busy at home and at work for much knitting. Hope to have the body of the pink mosiac toddler jacket done by the end of the weekend. There is a regatta on Saturday, and my skipper just offered me a ride out to the venue, so I have a few hours of car knitting coming up on Saturday. I'm thinking about reversing the colors for the arms. Don't you think that would be fun?

Arrgh. Monday again.
Nice weekend - cooler and not too much rain. Only at night, like Camelot.

My wonderful husband bought me a new ride.

He keeps me in nice equipment and clothes, but can't seem to pick up his stuff. Anyway, we took it for a spin on Sunday out west of town in the county that thinks shoulders on roads are a GOOD idea. And, guess what? We ran up behind a "Texas Traffic Jam". About 50 head of cows and calfs with six riders, walking down the road to another pasture. No way were we going to ride throuigh, so we coasted, and chatted with the cowboys for a spell. I'm soooo glad we came up behind them, instead of head on. Those Texas cows have pointy horns.

What does this have to do with knitting? Well, on the ride out and back, I finished half the front of this:


Busy week ahead - probably won't make too much knitting progress, but pleased to be working.

Whhhooooo

I have to join that "no yarn purchase" pact. (see Sweater Girl and Handknitter ) I cleaned my yarn room, and wow. It was as horrifying as it was delightful. I can knit my brains out for the next 50 years, and maybe make a dent. Well, knitted brains may be messy, but you get the point. My husband says that when I pass on, my daughter will re-sell all that e-bay yarn again. Maybe we should make the mills stop making new yarn until all the yarn in our closets gets used up? Nah.

I'm finding that when my husband goes away I sometimes get depressed, and hit e-bay or the mail order sites. I have some big boxes coming soon, and he was only away four days. Maybe it's all the stress from the company re-organization and merger rumours.

I need help to stop now.

Slip Stitching away.
There is a fellow in the office whose wife thought she went into labor on Monday, and she still hasn't delivered. So, what do I worry about? I'm down to one girly baby sweater in my baby box. Oh no! I cast on for what looks like a toddler size jacket in a mosiac pattern using pink on pink. I'm loving mosiac patterns with garter edges these days. Mosiac has got to be on the top ten list of knitting magic. They look so intricate, lie flat, and are sooooooo easy.

I'm three inches into it. so look for pictures on Monday.

Too much excitement on the morning dog walk. We heard all sorts of chittering, and from a neighbor's yard out popped a coyote with a wad of critter in it's mouth. Then out popped a bunch of upset looking racoons. The coyote looked at the street, and took off back into the yard. I'm guessing that he had one of their friends in his mouth, and was taking it out for breakfast. Nice coyote. The neighbors told me to make sure I got my cat inside at night because sometimes these guys ran up the ravine. I figured they were full of it. Here's what he looked like, but I don't remember the tail being so fluffy. Maybe it was because I was trying to figure out what was in his mouth.


We found GingGong up the tree on Sunday. Thought she was doing a fine wood duck imitation. Maybe she knew something we didn't.


I do live inside city limits of a large city. Really.

A sock for a queen?


You can't quite tell, but this sock has some of the Mrs. Montegue lace from Barbara Walker's first book. According to BW, this was a pattern that was used for Queen Elizabeth's stockings. The notion I had was that my SIL is part of a Rennasance Faire guild, and does a lot of dress up and costume study. While this sock would not be worn in a Faire costume, it is the Queens color, and the Queens pattern - how fun is that? I'm not sure it's so great in modern sock yarn, but I'm about to cast on for the second one. Maybe I'm not thrilled because I have been overwhelmed with the drudgery of life, and everything feels either boring or tiresome.

Now, here is someone who is not feeling bored or tiresome: