Tara, let it be said, is smart. I, not so much. 😉

It never would have occured to me to take photos of my “secret” project and post them on my Ravelry* page, so that crafters could see them, but the gift recipient- my mother- couldn’t. Brilliant and simple idea. Totally not something I’d come up with. (Then again, I am the girl who couldn’t figure out to just move her garbage can). I would have thought it made more sense to create a flikr account and come up with a password knitters might know that my mom wouldn’t (like “amphibious knitting term**” or “the color of the Chibi case EVERYONE wanted a few years ago”***) and send people there to look at them.

I’m crazy like that. I like doing things the hard way, just to prove I can. I rarely take the easy way if the hard way is cooler. There is a card came called Liverpool that I play with my family. It functions in much the same way as Gin Rummy where you go for sets (3 or 4 cards of a kind) or runs (3 or 4 suited cards in a row), only you start with 6 cards dealt and progress each round until the last one has 16 cards dealt, and each hand you have a specific objective you must get in order to win. For example, 6 is 3 + 3 (you need 2 sets), 7 is 3 + 4, 8 is 4 + 4, and so on. Just like in Rummy and the tile game Rummy-Q, once you have the minimum requirement and it is your turn, you can “go down” and lay your cards out on the table. This gives you the advantage of having only a few points in your hand should someone else win (otherwise you’d be stuck adding the total of ALL your points to your score. Oh, and yeah- the lowest score wins). (Also, in Liverpool the last hand is 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 and you can’t “go down” early, you can only put your points down if you can win all at once…but that’s irrelevant to this story). If you get good cards you can hold them all in your hand and then on your turn when you “go down” if everything fits except that one last card to toss on the discard pile, you can win that round and everyone else will be stuck with all of their points. Well, I’ve been known to get screwed with all my cards in my hand when I could have gone down earlier, because I was hoping to be able to go down all at once and screw everyone else. (I said I like to make things harder for myself…I didn’t say I was always smart about it. It’s strange that I sabotage myself like that because I always play to win. Anyways…)

I don’t remember why this story was supposed to lead into my reason for writing, but pretend it made sense and smile and nod and play along, okay? It’s late, and I’m tired.

I was only going to write to complain. I didn’t get anything done all day today, but finally managed to finish my mom’s thing around 10:00 tonight (those knots I’d mentioned earlier). I wanted to finish my Fibonacci socks so I could start a new pair with a clear sock concience, but the pattern for those socks is on my Palm and I am having issues with the program I use to read the pattern, so I can’t access that right now. I went downstairs and through all my packed knitting stuff and pulled out my Marble Clapotis. I sat down with it and in about 2 minutes decided it will be frogged. I don’t know why it seems so “eh” to me right now. I still love the Clapotis pattern, but it needs a better yarn than the Marble. I still like the Marble yarn, but it needs a pattern that makes more sense for it than the Clapotis. The scarf I’ve been working on for almost 2 years now is going to be frogged once I can find my ball winder. (Plus I’ve got some Noro Silk Garden waiting to become a scarf that I’d rather work on).

Then I decided I’d jump ahead and work on Mona’s Mystery Socks. I searched my office but after doing a quick tidy for Yannick’s parents who slept over all weekend (in my office/spare bedroom) I must have tucked the pattern somewhere and couldn’t find it. No matter, I decided I’d choose my yarn first. I dragged Yannick upstairs to show him the in progress photo of the sock on Karine’s blog and the snippet on Mona’s. I then dragged him downstairs to help me find the right box with all my sock yarn from before the move. After 20 minutes (and getting into a stupid fight about something completely unrelated) I gave up on finding the box, and remembered I had 2 skeins of non-project-specific sock yarn upstairs; the Socks that Rock in Chapman Springs, and Colinette Jitterbug in Jewel.

I dragged myself back up to the computer to Google finished items with these yarns to see which would knit up best for the pattern. After 15 minutes I realized that I’d have to swatch it ‘cus both are really busy and it would depend on how the pattern knit up. I took both yarns in hand, found the right size needles and parked myself on the couch…only to realize that a) I still didn’t know where the pattern was and b) both yarns are still in skein form and my ballwinder is still missing.

Enough was enough. I was going to just give up and go to bed, but I really wanted to knit. I remembered Robyn’s September Sock Club kit. I liked the idea of using the yarn with the pattern it came with, and I’d already wound the yarn into a cake. Finally- something that would work!

Or not. The pattern calls for a US 1 needle with a gauge of 17 sts to 2″. I 99% of the time use a 2.5mm needle for socks, which is also referred to on some packaging as a US 1. Except…it’s not. A US 1 is closer to 2.25mm. I swatched with my 2.5mm and got 14.5 sts to 2″. I forced myself to get off the couch after all this and got up, went to my needle bag and took out what I thought was a 2.25mm. I swatched again and handed it off to Yannick to count for me (I was too irritated). This time there were only 11.5 sts. He looked as confused as I was until we looked closer and realize I’d grabbed a set of 2.75mm needles. I went back to my needle bag…

I don’t own a set of 2.25mm needles.

I’m going to bed. I can’t take any more of this tonight.

*Link coming soon…I want to put more stuff up first.
**frog
***pink

Does anyone else think Criss Angel is getting dangerously close to pulling a Rachel?

I keep doing this to myself. Every time I take on a project that has a deadline (the charity affair, gift knitting, etc…) I tell myself “no more!”. Sure, I enjoy the ones I get paid for, but the ones I do for gifts usually end up causing me more grief than anything else, because I never think of doing them in advance. If I could plan out my year in January (except for stuff due in Jan/Feb) things would be fine. Instead I decide to knit for someone a few weeks (if I’m lucky!) before the warranted occasion.

Take last night. I was in the finishing stages of my recent project. I can say it is for my mom, ‘cus she knows I was making her something for her birthday (last Thursday but we’re not giving her gifts until the dinner this coming weekend), but she occassionally reads this blog so I can’t post photos yet. In any case, I was excited about the fact that I was almost done. Finishing a project opens up the whole world of new projects I get to start. Don’t get me started on my Ravelry que, but yeah- there are a TON of things I’d like to do. I also took on a huge family project yesterday, plus I want to finish a pair of socks that have been stalled at 1 completed for over a year, then get to Mona‘s November Mystery Socks, then…then…then… (you get the point).

So why in the love of all things pointy did I open my mouth to ask my sister and her boyfriend if they’d like knitted gifts for Hanukkah this year? You know, that holiday which starts, oh, NEXT WEEK.

I think I like to please too much.

*&#!

Oh well. Out of the two I think I’ll only be knitting for her boyfriend Mike (T.O.M.) and I came up with a kick-ass gift that he will absolutely flip out over. I need to get some info from him first, but I think this will be one gift that will be really loved. Plus he’s not Jewish so I technically have until Christmas to knit it! I’ll provide more details on that as I get to it.

I have news though! And no, it’s not that Jakob LOVES sweet potatoes. (Although he does. So much so, that he will cry after he’s eaten the last spoonful because he wants more). Nope- the big news is that I finished my mom’s project. It’s done, and it’s gorgeous! I love it so much that I want one for myself, but I can’t bear the thought of knitting this again right now. (Oops- I’ve said too much!)

Photos and other random stuff later when I remember to bring my camera upstairs.

/begin mommy talk

I’m so proud! Jakob was on his playmat on the floor while I ate lunch. I looked down to check on him, and he was on his back, trying to get the toys I’d put out of reach. I glanced at the TV, ate a bite or two, and when I looked back at him he was on his stomach playing with the toy!

He’s done a complete 180 roll two or three times while he was sleeping, but while awake (and, I’m assuming, deliberate) he’s tried to turn but gotten stuck at the armpits because he didn’t know how to get his arms out of the way. So he’d wind up with his belly and legs face-down but his chest twisted and his head back.

This was the first time I’ve ever seen him do a 180 while awake! Not on only that, but a few minutes later once he was back on his back, he was playing with a toy and rolled over again, while I watched and still holding the toy!

I know this means a step closer to crawling and any chance I have to knit while he’s awake will go right out the window, but it’s still a milestone for him and I’m so proud!

/end mommy talk

Regular knitting stuff will resume in the next post.

I wanted to upload those photos I talked about yesterday. I tried, even. For some reason Blogger is having issues and won’t let me upload anything, so they will have to wait for tomorrow.

I spent the day doing yet more laundry, trying to knit when I could, but for the most part I was making baby food again. I boiled up some chicken and turkey breasts (separately) and pureed them, and also made a batch of peaches. I really wanted to make the peaches from scratch but the grocery store we were at didn’t have a single fresh peach, so I bought a can of peach slices in water (no sugar added) and pureed that up. I taste all the purees as I make them (and I’ll admit to licking the edge of the spoon when feeding Jakob the squash) and I’m really not happy with how the canned peaches taste when pureed. They definately don’t taste as fresh or “real” as the other stuff does. I’m trying to get all my purees done and the freezer stocked so I can forget about it for a little while, so from the fresh ingredients I’ve still got sweet potato, carrots, apples and pears to make, and from frozen stuff I’ll be cooking up some peas and green beans.

Hey- if you have, or if you know someone who has traveled with a baby, or ideally has taken a cruise with a baby, can you email me? I need some tips/advice. Thank you!

I’m having a hard time blogging lately. Time-wise I feel like there is always something going on, so when I could be blogging, I should be doing something else. Lately that something else has been everything from cooking and cleaning to doing a crossword puzzle or three before bed to unwind. I have been doing tons of knitting but I can’t show it off yet because it is a gift and the person it is for occassionally reads my blog. Plus it is one of those projects that looks the same after a little bit so it would be a bunch of boring “look more inches!” posts anyways.

That leaves me with Jakob. For those of you who aren’t into the baby stuff, please check back tomorrow. There will be more baby photos, but the baby will be wearing a ton of hand knits, so that should appease you.

For those of you who ARE into the baby stuff, here are some cute food photos. I had wanted to wait until he was 6 months old to start any fruits or veggies, but to be as vague as possible…what was going in wasn’t coming out. When it had been almost a week I called his doctor, and he suggested starting him on some prunes.

Sucess!

Having no idea what was in store for him…

…the first taste…

…not sure…

And the verdict is? Contrary to what this photo shows, he really loves squash. Each frozen cube is equal to 2 tablespoons of puree and he will happily eat an entire cube. Ever since Saturday he’s had squash alone for lunch (after breastfeeding) and with cereal (after feeding) for supper, and tonight he barely touched his cereal and had no interest in eating but once I brought out the squash he started laughing and talking and opening his mouth up big for each spoonful. After watching him eat 3 different kinds of cereal, prunes and now the squash I can clearly see that he has a preference and really does “like” squash, as opposed to just eating it because I give it to him.

Up for tomorrow…those photos I promised with knitting in them. For tonight I’m going to do another few puzzles then crash before this headache turns into a migraine.

Before I forget, here’s our weekly photo for this past week…Mommy with Jakob at 26 weeks. I have to go back to work in 14 weeks! Ugh…I want to stay home forever.
Our little monster is 6 months old today. I say this every month, but time is going by SO fast! Every Thursday we have playgroup, then I look forwards to the weekends because Yannick will be home. I just finish getting through a weekend, when whoops it’s already time for the next playgroup! I’m going to *blink* and be at his wedding, I just know it.

See that thing he’s doing with his mouth? That’s his new favorite thing. He started doing it a few days ago, and now every time there’s nothing in his mouth (finger, toes, shoes, etc) he’s got his lower lip sucked in like that.

My brother sent me this link…you have to watch this, it’s hysterical!

http://www.ffk-wilkinson.com/

The link is for a short trailer, followed by the option to download a game. You will need the sound on, but it is safe for work…if your work doesn’t mind you watching movie-esque trailers at work.

Thanks Aaron!

A little while ago I was at CNN’s website looking at photos of the LA fires. I have a friend who lives in LA and I wanted to see what has been happening there. In the sidebar of CNN’s page was this anti-wrinkle ad. They did their best, I’ll give them that…but seriously, are we really expected to believe this? Come on! Hold your hand over one side, then over the other. I’m guessing it is one woman, with some serious photoshopping done on the “old” side of her face. Oy.

In other news, still sick. Still feeling crappy. Still haven’t knit yet. Jakob fell asleep so I’m going to try, just as soon as I make a big pot of tea.