I’ve nearly finished the straight rows on the Clapotis, so I just have the decrease rows and final rows left. Which means I should be able to finish it this weekend in time for the June 21st kickoff to Summer of Socks! The orange socks are on hold until I’m done with SoS since I can’t participate with socks started before 6/21. As I’ve mentioned, my goal is to knit 3 pairs by September 1st. In order to give myself a little bit of a boost, I’m going to make the 1st pair in sport weight yarn.

One of the “problems” that comes with having quite a nice bit of yarn in one’s possession and an overwhelming availability of sock patterns, is that I’m often paralyzed with indecision about what to knit.

Enter you, my faithful homies.

Which socks to knit first?

Rainy Day Socks in Mama Blue Troika, color “Trifle”:

Citrine Socklets in Pigeonroof Studios Sport Merino, color “Green Ocean” :

Quill Lace Socks in Union Center Knits Sport Merino, color “Plum-Delicious”

Make your vote count in this crucial election year! Thank you!

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk stitch markers! I love pretty stitch markers as much as the next person, but I’m not usually a fan of stitch markers made with standard jump rings. I find that no matter how tightly you close the ring, at some point, the ring comes apart slightly and starts snagging on the knitting. I still use ‘em, but I’m always looking for a better (and still pretty!) solution.

I recently purchased some sock yarn from a fellow Raveler and when she sent it, she included a sample of a new style stitch marker she was making. The stitch markers are made with Swarovski crystals (sparkly!) and soft flexible jewelry wire instead of jump rings so they don’t snag! Brilliant!

I loved the one she sent so much that I bought some more from her store…

…but mentioned that it would also be cool if she made ones with smaller loops for socks. She said that was in the works, and included some with my purchase (shown here on a US 2 needle)…

…but explained that the reason the others came with larger loops was so that you could use them to mark individual stitches. You just pinch the ends of the loop and thread the wire through a stitch, then pull the bead through to secure it! Super brilliant!!

So much prettier than using safety pins or split ring markers! These kind of markers would be perfect for crochet too! Thanks Stacy! I love these!

And finally, I was tagged by my friend Emily for this meme:

What were you doing 10 years ago?

In the summer of 1998 I was living with my parents (I graduated high school in 1997), dating my ex-boyfriend, and working at an art gallery in Rockport, MA. I had to pre-screen artists for display in the gallery, manage gallery openings, train new hires, sell, sell, sell, and other filing/office type duties. This was my first non-restaurant job and while I loved it at first (ooh, commission! Fancy cheese and wine parties!) the owner of the gallery was a real piece of work (aka DOUCHEBAG EXTRAORDINAIRE). The owner (who also owns a gallery on Newbury Street in Boston) wasn’t there often, but when she was, she was a micromanaging, snobby, catty nightmare. She thought I was too young to be working there, didn’t know enough about art, didn’t sell enough, and constantly asked my boss (who ran the gallery from day to day) why she hired me.

I left there in the fall and started my new career in the illustrious field of t-shirt sales! I worked in one of the little tourist t-shirt shops, also in Rockport. Since it was the off-season, we weren’t very busy so I was always there alone. The owner owned a million other stores and was never there, but was very particular about the music playing in the store. He’d call at random times and make sure that the store CD was playing (Negotiations & Love Songs - Paul Simon) instead of my own CDs or the radio or whatever. So of course I just always made sure to turn on the Paul Simon CD anytime the phone rang. While this was the boringest job ever, I got to read all day and was paid under the table in cash, so it was also the best job ever. Funny story: One day a woman came in and asked if she could use the bathroom. We didn’t allow people to use the bathroom because it wasn’t part of the main store, it was upstairs in an apartment/storage area and there are a lot of public restrooms around anyway. The woman pleaded with me and told me she was pregnant and REALLY had to go. So I said fine. She was up there for a few minutes and left. About 20 minutes later, water started POURING through the ceiling, all over the clothes in the store! I ran upstairs and found the toilet completely overflowing EVERYWHERE. I got the plunger out and finally the source of the clog cleared….IT WAS A TAMPON! She wasn’t even pregnant! GAH! It took hours to clean up the gross toilet water, I was so mad! But not as mad as my boss who lost a few hundred dollars worth of toilet watered merchandise.

I left that job in the spring and went to work at my first REAL job, at a software company, where I later met Matt.

What are 5 things on my to-do list?

I actually have a to-do list today! Non work related items:

- June - Doc 9:00 (just a checkup)
- blog
- Pay car insurance
- post office
- check on matt’s b-day gift (his birthday is tomorrow)

Where have I lived?

Beverly, MA, Merrimack, NH, Gloucester, MA, Salem, MA, Danvers, MA

What would I do if I was a billionaire?

Pay off my debts, buy a house, buy a summer house on Fire Island, buy a couple new cars, quit my job, buy our parents new houses, give money to children’s hospitals and animal shelters, buy some yarn, visit the west coast, visit the UK, bank the rest.

I should be back next week with a finished Clapotis! Hopefully that billion will arrive soon.

1. Finished June’s shrug:

Pattern: One Skein Wonder by Stefanie Japel
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton in Azul, 3/4 of 1 skein
Needles: US 8

This was like the quickest knit ever! I easily could have banged it out in a day if I had nothing else to do. Thanks to some help from Stacee, I was able to modify this to be baby sized, as she had made one for her young daughter too. I think it will be perfect for chillier spring and summer evenings. Here’s a size comparison with my OSW:

2. Got some great mail from Heather! She had sent out a request around Christmastime for people to brighten her daughter’s day by sending a little mail-love to her and I put together a very small package of crap and sent it along. Heather repaid me by sending me Koigu (not worthy!) and making this adorable kitty for June!

Even though she looks terribly bored here, she loves this kitty:

Thanks Heather!!

(and an aside about that afghan…Matt’s grandmother crocheted it in the 70s, out of the nastiest, squeekiest acrylic known to man. I’ve got pictures of Matt as a baby sitting on it. When Matt’s grandfather moved to a nursing home a few months ago, the family was going to throw it away, and I rescued it. I am charmed by it’s hideousness).

3. Went to Vermont:

That’s the view from our hotel room, Lake Champlain. June was EXTREMELY impressed with the hotel, especially with the quality of the beds for jumping:

We also visited my grandma, June’s great-grandma!

4. And what would the unofficial first weekend of summer be without some trips to the beach?

(the water was FRIGID. She didn’t care)

5. Annnnd bringing it all back around to the knitting again:

Sock progress:

(Crown Mountain Farms Sock Hop in Spirit in the Sky)

And the humble beginnings of my Clapotis:

Phew! After all that, what will I have to talk about next week?! I don’t know!

The garter was finished on time…

The rain held off…

Friends celebrated with each other…

Two people joined in love…

With a long, but happy road ahead of them…

Alexis and Tony, may your marriage be as blessed as our friendship has been over these many years.

Fiberlicious Friday

Socks That Rock Space Dust. This reminds me of one of my favorite summertime activities as a kid: watching the original Star Trek while staying with my grandparents in Vermont and eating Fla-vor-ice.

I want to thank everyone who emailed me about Ripple, your words were comforting. Matt found him a foster home where he can live indefinitely until he is adopted. I am still crushed, but comforted by the fact that at least he is not in a cage and that the rescue society will provide him with any medical care he may need. Let’s not talk about this anymore OK?

What I want to talk about is what great friends I have! I received some awesome mail love at a much needed time! A new awesome package was waiting for me every day this week!

The first thing I received were these ADORABLE handsewn bibs from Gwensmom! I had admired them on her journal and she said they were for June all along! They are so cute, ladybugs and sheep!

June loves them too! (and just in time, she’s seriously teething and is a massive drool mill!)

Thank you so much, we love them!!!

The next day I got a package from Tipper! I had sent her some books about natural birthing and to thank me she knit this adorable hat for June! I believe the pattern is the lovely Rose of Sharon! I can’t believe she found the time to knit this when her loins are ready to spew forth a little girl of her own any day now! It fits her perfectly, but it’s stretchy so it should fit for a while! She also sent some so gorgeous Cherry Tree Hill Supersock for me (!!) and she was even thoughtful enough to include some gum for Matt, his favorite kind (not pictured since he confiscated it immediately!) Thank you Tipper, you totally didn’t have to do that, but we love everything!

Then yesterday when I got home there was an envelope from England! I was super-excited to open it up and find the Calorimetry I won from Phoe! It’s so beautifully knit in a delicious Alpaca/silk/wool blend (perfect for the often brutal Boston winters) and it fits wonderfully! I can’t wait to make my matching Chevron scarf! Thank you Phoe!

And finally, today I got home and received yet another package, this time from Jen! She sent these adorable froggies for June! I think the beady eyed bean bag one might live on my desk at work for a while, but the stuffed felt eyed one is perfect for June to play with! She really loved these, thank you so much Jen!!

You guys all really helped to make an otherwise awful week a little brighter!

Coming next week: ONE finished Sockapalooza sock (only have the toe left, really need to get cracking on the second one!) and June’s 6 month post!

I am pretty upset right now so I apologize in advance for the probable rambly and disjointed post that is to follow.

I never thought I would have to do this. We need to find a new home for Ripple.

(more…)

Koigu P187 & Nectarines on Fiestaware

Socks that Rock Downpour with my favorite tea & mug (both from Starbucks)
Two this week because I’m on vacation next week (yay!) Read more about Fiberlicious here and check out the Flickr group here!

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I’m one of those people who enters a lot of contests and stuff but never wins…until recently! First, remember the Summer Knitting Goals contest hosted by Skeins her Way? I was a runner up winner in that contest and I won the pattern for this beautiful top which is something I would totally wear and since it’s a tank top, maybe it won’t take me 1000 years to knit it! Then, I donated some money for Claudia’s MS Ride raffle and I won something in there too! A $50 gift certificate from Goodies Unlimited, purveyors of yummy smelling handmade soaps, lotions and balms! If that wasn’t enough, Phoe had a little knitted goods giveaway and I won a Calorimetry! I had wanted to knit one of these myself, but never got around to it! Now my ears will stay warm this winter, without messing up my hair! And now I know what colors to knit my Chevron scarf, green & blue so it matches! I think I’m gonna buy a couple scratch tickets while I’m on a roll!

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It’s been about 95 degrees and humid and disgusting up here the last few days which sucked even worse than it would normally suck, since our power went out 3 days in a row! Danvers is on it’s own local little power grid, rather than one owned by the big electric companies, and as such, it’s kind of fragile. So when it’s a really hot day and everyone in the whole town is using their air conditioners, the power goes out. June was less than pleased with this turn of events, but thankfully a cold front moved through last night and it’s supposed to be in the low-mid 70s for the next week or so. Phew!

We put up our tree last weekend and I thought I’d show you my favorite ornaments.

This ornament I swiped from my mom’s house when I moved out. She hand-sewed a bunch of these horse ornaments from a couple of my dad’s old silk neckties when I was a baby…they’ve all fallen apart over the years except for this one…I love it’s garishness.

My other favorite ornament is this old santa. It was my dad’s when he was kid. We have 2 or 3 of these, and it’s funny because when I moved in with Matt he had an identical one that was his mom’s when she was a kid!

And finally, this is our tree topper. When I was a little girl, my great-grandma would give me a china doll to add to my collection every year. None of them survived unbroken (courtesy of my younger brother!) except this one. She died when I was 4 or 5 and ever since then my mom has been using this as a tree topper in her memory. She gave it back to me after I got married so now I get to use it every year. She’s looking a little worse for wear, with her yellowed dress and messy hair (I’m sure the yearly dose of tree-sap doesn’t help), but I love her anyway.

I’d love to hear or see what your favorite ornaments are!

In other news, Christmas knitting is almost done. I finished knitting my dad’s hat, I just need to sew in the fleece lining. I’m about halfway done with Matt’s scarf and I started Branching Out for my mom last weekend and it’s going really well! I was worried it would be hard, but it’s surprisingly simple! I just like….follow the directions, and it somehow works! Imagine! I also have the blocks sewn for my Mother-in-law’s quilt, so hopefully I can get the quilt top assembled tonight and then maybe if I am really ambitious, basted and quilted this weekend…look for pics of all that stuff next week.

In baby news, I had a midwife appointment on Wednesday. As she was feeling my belly to check out the baby she mentioned that the baby seems kind of big for 34 weeks, but that it was hard for her to tell because it was all jammed up under my ribs…she was wondering how I was breathing these days (not easily). I asked if she could tell if the baby was head down yet, and she said she can’t tell because of it’s position, but that she thought she might feel the head under my ribs, which would mean the baby is breech, which would be bad because my hospital will not deliver breech babies (I’d have to have a scheduled c-section which is just about my worst fear in life)! So she’s sending me for another ultrasound on Wednesday to check the baby’s size and position. It’s still pretty early, so even if the baby is breech, it could still flip before I go into labor and there are some techniques I can try to get it to flip on my own, but of course I am worried about it anyway! I guess we’ll see on Wednesday.

And if you’ve made it this far, here are some cat pictures for your enjoyment. Cassidy has decided that the baby’s changing table is her new bed and pretty much only leaves that spot to eat and use the litter box. I don’t really want to encourage her to sleep on the baby’s things, but I don’t have the heart to kick her off there since she loves it oh so much…I’m going to buy her and Ripple a new bed for Christmas and place it next to a heating vent, so maybe that will coak her out of there.

And finally, here is Ripple after dinner last night. You can see what a mess he makes with the kibbles now that he has no teeth! I’m dustbusting that spot several times a day. But he seems to be feeling much better, despite the sad little shaved area on his left paw…hurry up and grow fur patch!

Baby stuff:
We went to a Halloween party Saturday night and I dressed as a pregnant kitty, as seen below (I’ll be 28 weeks on Wednesday).

I feel so huge (and I swear to god, I don’t know what’s up with this pic, but my face is seriously not that bloated in real life…I promise you!) I am not sleeping well these days and I am not very good without sleep, so that has been rough. The horrible heartburn I suffer from ALL DAY EVERY DAY has been unpleasant as well. I’m not ready to have a baby right now, but I am SO ready not to be pregnant anymore. 3 more months. Sigh. We’re getting the crib and dresser next weekend, so I’ll be able to set up the nursery really soon which should be fun!

Work Stuff: Work has been pretty hectic and probably will continue to be until I go out on maternity leave (86 days left unless I go into labor first!) We’re set to release the new version of the software 2 weeks before my due date, and I am the only QA person so I have to make sure it’s as close to perfect before it goes out. And this release contains a ton of srsly important and complicated government mandated changes, that I don’t even fully understand yet, so everyone is really stressed about it.

Knitting Stuff: On the needles right now is a Kidsilk Haze shawl that I will hopefully be able to finish by the end of this coming weekend, 1. So I don’t kill myself from the utter hatred I feel for this yarn and 2. so I can move onto my Christmas gifts. I have scaled down my knitted gifts list dramatically. I wanted to knit for everyone, but that’s just not gonna happen this year. So once I am done with the shawl, I’m going to work on the Rustic Scarf for Matt (which I’m only going to be able to work on when he’s not around, like on my lunch breaks and stuff) and then Branching Out for my mom and a simple watchcap type hat for my dad. I’m also making a quilt for my Mother-in-law and that will probably be it for the handmade gifts this year, barring a big energy burst, which seems unlikely at this point. Hopefully I’ll have a couple of weeks after Christmas before the baby comes to get at least a sweater and hat knitted for it.

Cat stuff: Poor Ripple! I noticed that he was having a hard time eating and closing his mouth the last week or two, and his little tongue was always hanging out and he has started drooling a lot…so I took him to the vet and she said all his teeth need to be pulled out! They did some bloodwork to make sure he was healthy enough to have surgery and that came back clear, so she’s sending me an estimate in the mail this week (will be around $500-$600, not including the $150 for the bloodwork…ugh) and I have to schedule the surgery ASAP. I’ve switched him over to wet food so he can eat a little easier (they normally only eat dry food) and he seems to be doing well with that. It’s important that he’s eating normally because he’s also diabetic and if he’s not eating, I can’t give him his insulin and his blood sugar gets all messed up. Poor guy. He’s only 7, so it’s not like he’s an old man yet. She says once his teeth are out he’ll feel a lot better and should be healthy for many years to come. I’m really nervous about it and I hate seeing him in pain, so I hope everything goes OK!

1. I made one of those 100 things about me lists…man, that was hard. You can read it here . Warning: I am SO boring.

2. Had a midwife appointment on Monday. She said everything looks good, except that when I had the ultrasound since the baby was so uncooperative (wriggly), they couldn’t get enough pictures of the heart. She said nothing looks abnormal, just that they want to make sure everything looks good, so I get to have a second ultrasound on Monday. She said normally they only give out 1 ultrasound, so this is my last chance to find out the sex if I want to…still undecided about that. She also said that I weigh 5 lbs less than my pre-pregnancy weight. She said that since I was a bit overweight when I got pregnant anyway that it’s not crucial for me to gain as much weight during the pregnancy as a thinner woman would need to, but that I don’t want to lose too much either, so she said if I haven’t gained a little by my next appointment, I might want to start drinking protein shakes or something like that…bleh! The problem is that I lost a bunch of weight being so sick in the first trimester. I’m not sick anymore, but I haven’t really gotten my appetite back and I kind of have to force myself to eat…Who knew the key to the weight loss I’ve been looking for was pregnancy (the ONE time it’s not safe to lose weight!)?

I also felt the baby move for the first time saturday night. I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep and I felt 3 distinct thumps, followed by a roll. It scared the living crap out of me. I’ve only felt it very slightly since then, but the midwife says it will be a few more weeks until I am feeling in consistently. It feels like I have a small parasite inside me, very politely trying to get out. It’s kind of scary.

We’re back from Fire Island! It was a really nice and relaxing trip! The weather was perfect! I am happy to be home though (though less happy to be at work today…bleh). I have like a zillion friends entries and bloglines to catch up on today, so let me know if I missed anything super exciting! 

This is us going over on the Ferry to Fire Island. It was really humid and windy the whole trip, so get used to seeing that hat…

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