Category: Blog

Today is a day of patience. I am waiting for yarn to start my jacket, I am waiting for more yarn to start some christmas gifts for persons that read this blog, I am waiting for knitting tomorrow night, I am waiting to go to Craft Essentials tomorrow to get the rest of the yarn for more christmas gifts, I am waiting for our family pictures to be taken on Saturday morning and last but defenitely not least I am waiting to have enough money saved for a trip to DISNEYLAND! This will be the year we go between Thanksgiving & Christmas so we can be doused in the holiday spirit! Living in SoCal it’s sometimes difficult to get in the true holiday swing of things while wearing skirts & sandals.

My plan for the jacket is one of two things. I will swatch the yarn on size 5’s (that is the recommendation given) then I will swatch it on size 9’s & felt the swatch. I am SO hoping that the felted swatch comes out the way I would truly like the jacket to be. Then I will knit the pieces, felt the pieces, trim the felted pieces to the exact shape I want & sew them together on the machine! Now that is a great plan, but as we all know these things can go very amiss! I also have about 200 other items on needles & christmas gifts by the dozens to finish so the jacket may just have to wait until after the holidays but that makes me sad. Maybe I will forgo all other mundane things to give myself more knitting time. Like, no more house cleaning, no more laundry. They can wear things multiple times! Oh & cooking! Who needs food? Well I guess we need food but I am bound & determined to get it all completed before christmas arrives, mark my words!

I ran out of the yarn for the black cardigan with only one sleeve left to finish & then the assembly & collar. So that is on the list for the yarn store tomorrow. Meanwhile I picked up the Debbie Bliss fair isle sweater. I have the back & one sleeve completed so I worked on the second sleeve. That will done this afternoon & then I will cast on the front. It’s a fun, simple, colorful sweater that makes me happy to work on. I can’t wait to have it finished! I also love the Wool of the Andes yarn from Knitpicks that I am using!

Of course I promised pictures of the fan & feather shawl & camping sweater but for some reason I haven’t taken them yet. I will get around to it. The next overcast day will be perfect for a photoshoot!

 

i have this nagging jealousy of all you peeps out there that get to partake in the lovely season of autum. We here in SB, CA don’t get the luxury of an autum, we have fire season. When I was a firefighter that didn’t bother me much, I didn’t have time to think about it. But now that I am a “homemaker” I continually think “wouldn’t it be nice to put on a sweater & go for a walk in the brisk air? Yeah, that would be nice, let the kids play in piles of dead leaves…yeah…oh what palm fronds aren’t so fun to jump on? Oh, watch out for the spikes…too late….what do you mean you are too hot in your sweater I made you?? It’s only 92degrees! Fine, go in the water!”

I know, if I don’t like the weather here then why do I live here? Well, I live here because my husband can’t survive without surfing & beach volleyball. I can survive anywhere, not that it is such a huge sacrifice to live in santa barbara, 2 minutes from the beach & Bacara resort. It is a sacrifice though to knit & knit & then never be able to wear them here. It’s a damn good thing that my parents have a cute little ranchette up in Idaho where I can wear all my knits.

My goal for this winter is to knit a jacket. This jacket is the style I am looking to acheive.

Using this yarn from elann

 cinnamon Harris Tweed

Come on, I was a seamstress at one point, I am pretty sure I can pull it off but do you think I have the attention span & the patience? It’s a lot of stockinette with dk weight yarn! Scary but I can’t tell you how badly I want that jacket! And knit weight would make it the perfect weight for our non-winter temps here. Hmmm….think I’ve talked myself into this one? I think so.

On other knitting fronts. I finished the fan & feather shawl & will have someone take pics of it today at some point to post. I am very pleased & wore it all morning while I was out running errands. Doesn’t hurt that it’s merino, crack yarn.

Yummy!

 

ants are not our friends

these guys are moving at lightning speed, so fast my camera only catches the white of the junk they are carrying back to the nest

 

So I went to the mailbox expecting nothing but bills & catalogues & was pleasently surprised by a white envelope addressed to me!

Okay, okay!! So I am trying not to get too excited or the kids will knock me on my butt trying to get what I am so happy about. I casually walk in the house, drop the bills & crap on my table and walk out to the office. Ho-dee-hum….

WHAT?? (tearing paper)

YESSSS!! SWEEEEET!!

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you Frog! You rock!!

first thing, clean kids bath, swear at the clogged sink (again)

 

Trevor & the morning pile of clean laundry (it’s been there for a full 24 hours waiting its turn)

Trevors view of the morning

Trevor’s morning activities

now back to my day

a little time on the phone (1hr50mins to be exact) with the car insurance company

little business work

back into the house @ 3pm after getting kids from school and behold the destruction of laundry

Now for the rest of my day……