Krafty1

Dirty Birthday

It was THE BEST birthday EVER!!

The day was spent with family and friends...sitting around the table laughing, eating, telling stories, more laughing, and enjoying each others' company.  It was truly the perfect birthday. The kind I remember from my youth. The kind I've been searching for in my adult life. 

I have great memories of birthdays from my childhood. I don't remember the gifts. They weren't important. But I DO remember the filling of our apartment or house with family, friends, food, and fun...a true celebration.  Just like today.

 

And...soon...this shall be the room we fill with family, friends, food, and fun.

Yes, Happy Birthday to me!

The Olympics are closing and my sweater isn't finished.  But, we've done SO much during these Olympics that will forever be captured in my memory. My house is sold and now we will only be homeless for a few hours.

That's right! Happy Birthday to me!  Our new home in one short month!!!  Time for new life!

There will be plenty of work involved.  But my parents have my emergency kit all packed. And with what we've faced on our own over the past two years, remodeling does NOT scare us at all.

The best part, it'll be mine...all mine...to be shared with my two wonderful girls and all the family and friends that manage to find their way through our front (or back) door

Happy Birthday to me!

I just don't know

It's late.  Really late.  The body of the sweater is finished and so is one sleeve.  The second sleeve still needs to find its way onto the needles...and the turtleneck needs to be knit.

I just don't know.

There was a time when on the final day, I would've put all else aside in order to finish in time.  Not anymore.  Sunday will be a full and glorious day surrounded by friends and family for something we have dubbed, "Dirty Brunch".  I invited the whole crew to join us for brunch at our house after church in the morning...and I vowed NOT to clean the house!

Once the paperwork was signed last week, we quit cleaning.  After a year of keeping the house ready for showing 24/7, we don't have to any longer...so we aren't.  It feels good.  And it'll feel even better to have everyone over!  Dirty Brunch.

I just don't know.  Dirty Brunch is going to be SO much fun...no knitting required.  Hmmm...I think the sweater will understand.

Out on the town

I can't help it. We haven't been able to manage much time at home lately.  So, the sweater sleeve has now managed to find its way into my purse.

The show was great!  And intermission allowed for a few rows on the sleeve.  Celtic Legends...no time to find their link...BUT here's a bit of another of their shows.

I took my girl and her friend.  We ALL had a great time!

But tonight, I finally found my way to my knitting chair and watched the Women's Figure Skating long program with my girl.  Great evening again.  Another to leave its mark.

However, the striping on my finger and the red tinge to my palms tells me that this sweater had better have a really good soak before I wear it.

The progress...gold medal worthy...yes, that's a finished sweater back and the beginning of the sweater front...a sleeve and a half to go as well.  Will it be finished before the end of the closing ceremony?  Only time will tell.  In any case, this sweater will have left its mark on me in much the same way that these past two weeks have forever left their mark also.

Stay tuned.

Splitting up & a Tiennie bit

Thank you one and all for all the cheery comments here and on Facebook!  It feels SO good to have forward motion and put the past behind me.  Thanks again.

However, all the activity plus the addition of the home sale and now a home search have NOT totally hampered my Olympic progress!

The body has now been split up and work on the back is progressing.  However, the distraction that is my new home search is keeping me a bit sidelined for the moment.

  Since I accepted less for this house than I'd hoped for, I can plan that the next house I buy will need some work.  But, this past year has taught me that I'm not afraid of a little work.  And painting, I'm a pro at this point!  But now I'll get to paint the colors that please ME!  Finally, I might be able to get rid of the link to Tiennie's own painting projects from TWO years ago!  I loved the colors that she used and saved the link for "someday".  Well, baby, "someday" is about to happen!!!  Ironically, Tiennie is also the person who designed the sweater that is my Olympic challenge.  Cool!! 

A Tiennie bit in my life either way!!!

We interrupt this blog...

for an announcement. 

No, I didn't finish the sweater over the weekend.   In fact, there was far too much going on to do anything more than get the cuff started.

I knew this past week would be difficult Olympic Knitting.  My schedule was NUTS.  And as if it wasn't "nuts" enough, one more item got added to the list: an offer came in on my house...a LOW offer, but an offer none the less.

Negotiation after negotiation.

And in the end, the offer wasn't nearly what I'd hoped for, but I took it.

It means "the end". 

It means "forward motion". 

It means "new life".

And I'm scared as hell...I have no idea where we'll go.

BUT, I know we WILL have someplace to go because even if we're "homeless" come March 31st (closing date), we have family and an entire "family" of friends who have offered campers, blue rooms, basements, etc to make sure the girls and I have a place to lay our heads.

We are blessed!

And maybe now I can get back to some knitting...but first, a new roof for over our heads. 

Olympic Moment: This is my Olympic Moment...complete with tears.

Home Safely

For Amy, Pat, Michelle, and Laurie...it was great being your teacher last night.  I know you were worried about me driving after a long day followed by a couple of hours of teaching.  So, though I wasn't going to post this morning, I knew that I'd better at least put it out there that we made it home again (safely and without incident) at 12:30 this morning.

It's been a short night, but my girls are here with me and it makes me very happy.  Thanks for a wonderful evening (even if short row heels are a pain)!

Equipment

aka "you have to have it in order to use it"

How about those Olympic athletes?  Do they have to have all of their equipment with them?  I mean seriously, if they blow a blade is there a sporting goods store in the Olympic village?  I know that in NASCAR they can only use the tires they bring...there's no running down to the Goodyear or Michelin stand to get replacements.

Thank goodness it's not like that in the Knitting Olympics!

The idea of knitting the sleeve during this crazy busy week was good.  However, after working about three inches of it, I realized I needed to go down a size needle.  Do you think in ALL of my needles there was one stinking US4 to be found!?!

That's right.  Nope.  Not only that, but the only US4 in the lot was a 29" circular...and believe me, magic loop does not work for 66 bulky stitches on a 29" circular! Yes, I tried.

Yesterday's lunch hour was the first one this week that allowed me time enough to get to Magpie's Cottage to test out and purchase a US4.  There were several other ladies knitting there also...SWEET!  Happy with the results, I made my purchase and headed back to the office.

Once home last night, and finally in my chair for some Olympic viewing, the sleeve made its appearance at long last.  Guess what? It's still too big.  Looking back at the pattern, 66 stitches is the same count for the size I'm working on as well as the two larger sizes...larger sizes for a MAN'S sweater.

Yep, you guessed it.  Tonight I'll rip out my work again and cast on the next smaller sized sweater's cuff (60 stitches) and go again.  Thank goodness these "penalties" don't bug me anymore!

BTW The red in this photo is a more accurate to the true color than any of the prior ones you've seen.  Amazing what a difference a little DAYlight makes!!

Olympic Moment(s): Lyndsey Vonn at the end of her run, collapsing with thrill and relief!  The smile on Shani Davis' face.  The mikes on prior to Shaun White's final run and having Bob Costas apologize for the coach's "language".  Shaun White can sure "get air"!!!

Steep Incline Ahead

That's what this week should be labeled.  Like those that climb, there are times that it doesn't seem that much progress is being made because the incline is so steep and a climber is forced to take a slower more purposeful pace.  The running pace is over and now the work begins.

Not that the knitting on this project has gotten any more difficult...just that the amount of time available for knitting has evaporated.

Monday: night class

Tuesday: Mardi Gras party (and, sorry, I no longer take my knitting much to social gatherings)

Wednesday: Ash Wednesday services...and it is a fasting day...fast from knitting???

Thursday: I'm teaching a sock class and then driving two hours to pick up Panda

Friday: a movie IN THE THEATER with Panda

Saturday: set up for the Meals on Wheels Love Bowls fundraiser

Sunday: volunteer at the fundraiser and then take Panda back to school

All in all, it's a busy week...good busy...but the kind of busy that doesn't see much noteworthy knitting progress for this "Olympic Mountain".

 

Two inches over the past two nights is all that I've managed.  The lower body is now finished. (My daughter's Valentine envelope was my marker for the sixteen inch point on my ottoman.) As to working on a sleeve, that hasn't materialized yet due to an "equipment" issue that I'm hoping to remedy today.  More on that tomorrow.

Olympic moment: totally bummed that I missed the men's snowboard cross on Monday night...managed to see men's figure skating short program...boy, not sure who it was but one of those skaters could REALLY spin!!!  When he finished, I was dizzy!!!

Seeing Red

Appropriately so for Valentine's.

My goal/hope had been to get the sixteen inches of body work completed before going into my crazy week ahead.  Fourteen of sixteen isn't bad...I lived a life this weekend AND got some knitting done.

Laps to go for lower body: 12 laps

Time per lap: still holding at eight minutes each

After the lower body is complete, there will be an additional 12.5 inches of flat knitting for the upper body (front and backs separately).  Since there will be very limited knitting time this week and progress would be non-apparent, I'm considering starting a sleeve as strategy for the upcoming week.  Maybe continual progress on that will keep me encouraged since there won't be large blocks of time available for "laps" around the body.

What do you think?

Favorite Olympic Moment: Watching Moguls skiier, Alexandre Bilodeau, bring home the first gold medal for Canada on home soil!  I had goosebumps!

Day Two- The Endurance Run

Saturday there was a lot to do. But I managed to steal away a good amount "laps" around the body of my sweater.

 

Each moment in the chair allows time for another "lap" or two.

Current lap time: 8 minutes

Number of "laps" till lower body is finished: 42

Estimated time for remaining lower body: just over five and a half hours

This is truly the endurance part...and thankfully I've made a HUGE dent in the knitting because this coming week is SO FULL that there won't be much chair time for additional laps!

Favorite Olympic moment: watching a new piece on the Dutch love of skating followed by seeing fellow Dutchmen Sven Kramer win a gold medal for the Netherlands in Speed Skating.....Go Team Orange!!!