One birthday gift done... on time!

Well, the camera is still out in the Great Unknown somewhere, so I'm digging through pictures to see if anything strikes me. I was hoping the camera would turn up by now, though.

I finished Edison's birthday gift. He asked me to make him a blue dinosaur with a long neck. After much digging I settled on the Bronty pattern I found on Ravelry. I showed him the pattern and he gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up. I used slightly less than one skein of Plymouth Jelli Beenz in colorway 0133 (it's a deep royal blue plied with one strand of a rainbow variegated yarn.) The variegated strand looked really prominent when I was working, but it knits up as flecks of color, very nice.

I tweaked the pattern just a little, I changed the first decrease on the tail each time to look smoother and I moved the eyes a little further back on the head. The yarn I chose kind of hid the eyes, so at 3:30 in the morning, I was learning how to make a French Knot. If I had discovered this earlier, I could have had Mom teach me, but I didn't think she'd appreciate my waking her up in this case. Thank goodness for the internet. All in all, the pattern was very nice. It was easy to follow and the dino was simple to assemble, a little fiddly getting the legs on, but I think that was a user issue. I'm not a big fan of seaming and sewing up, but since I want to eventually make a sweater, I guess I'd better suck it up and deal with it. In the meantime, I have to figure out just how to wrap this little guy for my little guy...

Derailed

Well, I was right on track for a while there. I started Gran's second sock, but didn't get as much done on it as I would have liked. Winter weather paid us a visit, but at least it didn't settle in like it did for our friends Up North. Then over the weekend, the baby developed a beautiful ear infection which we found out today has turned into pneumonia and the three year-old (who was fine at the doctor's office) woke from his nap with an ear-ache. It's like that commercial, "Life comes at you fast..."

Oh well, I still have the chance to knit in the waiting room tomorrow and there's always the 8 hour trip back home. I'll have these knocked out in plenty of time. Besides, Gran always said, 'Loved ones are far more inportant than things any day. Keep your priorities straight." I bet she'd be OK with one and a half socks if need be.... as long as she gets to hold the baby.

Right on track

Today, I celebrate... well just a little. It's not like I'm actually finished with Gran's socks, but I have cast on the second one. I showed the first one to Mom and it got her stamp of approval and I got the OK to declare it finished. Of course, in my true style, I have simply left the stitches "live" just in case I decide the leg should be longer. (This decision has resulted in my using the yarn for my provisional cast-on as a stitch holder for the leg stitches, so I now have three balls of yarn involved. What can I say? I apparently enjoy living on the edge.)

My brain feels bruised from working on a PTO agenda (two copies, one with notes and one without.) It's an issue every month, but is doubly important this time as I won't be running the meeting. I'm feeling a bit better after the procedure, but not well enough to tackle that. My throat still gets sore pretty quickly (My kids seem to be enjoying this a wee bit too much. I may have to come up with some extra housework for them.) Add to that the time spent creating a card for the students to stick a Polaroid inside (I hate fighting with my software to get it to do what I want it to do instead of what it will allow me to tell it to do. Aaaaargh.) and I'm ready for a big bubble bath and a giant bar of chocolate. Oh well, in lieu of that , I'll take a snuggly quilt and a few hours of sleep. Tomorrow, onward and upward with the second sock...

KUI

I'm just posting quickly because I'm in a bit of a tight spot. I'm still frantically working on my Gran's socks, but now I'm fighting two battles. First I have to fight the dreaded Single Sock Syndrome which shouldn't be too difficult, a single sock is kind of a crummy gift. The problem I usually have is that I like to try out new patterns and by the second sock, the pattern is no longer new. Oh well.

The other battle is a bit more challenging. My Gran's birthday is February 29 and every year I agonise over what to give her. This year I have already decided what to do the problem is that I have to force myself to finish the socks first. My aunt mentioned that Gran needs a white sweater, not off-white, not cream not nearly white, but really and truly white. Apparently there are no white sweaters to be had for love or money. If there are, I certainly couldn't find any, so I'm going to do the only logical thing. I'm going to put aside my fear of commitment to a large project, scour the internet and the yarn shops and crank out a handmade, white cardigan in two months' time. I've never knit a cardigan before. To date I have made socks, scarves, a couple hats and some teddy bears, but for some reason I seem to believe that it is perfectly sane and reasonable to expect to be able to make a sweater for my Gran who lives 8 hours away and for whom I have no measurements whatsoever.

My judgement may be somewhat clouded by the after-effects of my tonsillectomy. I have spent the last few days unable to do much of anything. The doctor gave me Lortab for the pain in my throat and while I typically have a hard time remembering to take pills once a day, the throbbing, burning ache in my throat has me keeping close track of my dosing schedule. Once I take my medication, I have about an hour to do whatever I can that requires any sort of attention span. I have actually caught myself dozing off with my knitting in my hands... more than once. In the past 24 hours, I have added approximately 10 rows to the first sock. That's barely one inch. And yet I remain confident I can finish both socks before Christmas and Gran's cardigan before the end of February.... and while I'm at it, I think I'll knit my step-dad a pullover (jumper) for his birthday (Feb. 17). If the Knitting Police catch up with me, I'm sure to be charged with "Knitting Under the Influence." I plan to blame the yarn fumes.