Final deadline approaching

I’ve managed to finish everything else on time so far, but the ice cream cozies for the craft sale are dragging. I just don’t feel like knitting. I finished two last week and am about halfway through another. That brings the grand total to 4.5. I may have some other unused models sitting around the house.

And the thing is, I’ve had plenty of time to knit. In fact, I spent two days this week sitting in a hotel room by myself watching cable like a starved woman.

Meanwhile, just two weeks to finish as many ice cream cozies as possible. I even packed about six skeins of yarn. It’s insane.

The pictures are of my sock for the sock contest. I hand dyed the yarn with Wilton cake dye. It was my first time doing that, and I was really happy with the outcome. The pattern is Ellington by Cookie A. I love her patterns.

Too much!

After finishing Girasole, I took a break from knitting for a little bit. My brain was a bit fried; I had some reading to catch up; I just wasn’t interested in holding needles again. I churned out that Amazon cozy for my friend pretty quickly and then went back on hiatus.

The shop I knit the shawl for pushed back the dates for a sock contest, so I realized I needed to work on an entry. I had 3 weeks to finish then. I knit the first sock in just a week. There were a few days I didn’t feel so well after that, though, so now I’m just onto the foot of the second. I have 3 days to finish now and I’m getting a little stressed out! I know I can do it, but now I feel like I should stop typing and go work now!

After this, I need to start serious production of ice cream cozies for an upcoming craft sale. And then there’s Christmas. I feel like everything I’ve knit in the past few months has been a deadline project and it’s taking the fun out of it for me. I have a sweater that’s been stuffed in my purse forever, a vest that I need to frog and redo plus a cardi that I cast on in a post-Girasole haze. I want to finish something fun soon!

Garage Sale the Sequel

We are exhausted. Today was our second garage sale. It wasn’t nearly as much work this time around because we had less stuff and new the game a bit better. Last time, I think I took out almost $100 in change and bills so I could break anything. This year, we used $40 of quarters, ones, fives and tens. The things you learn.

Like last year, we invited our friends to bring their stuff over for us to sell, or to come hang out with us and sip mimosas and coffee. We had a few takers, and it was a good time. Friends help pass the time!

We were pretty successful at getting rid of our junk and clearing out our garage just a little bit more. One more garage sale, and we may be able to get both cars inside! It’s really motivated Hubby to clean and organize. Hubby who’s asleep on the floor right now because he’s so exhausted. I’m trying to keep him up until at least 9 so he doesn’t get too off schedule.

I don’t feel bad for him lying on the floor, because I’m sitting on the floor. One of our “big ticket” sells was our couch and love seat. It seemed like a great idea at the time since our new couch and love seat (that we ordered over two months ago) will be delivered on Monday. Now, not so much.

The woman who bought them got a great deal and was very excited. We got to talking a bit, and she said the furniture was for her son who just got a new apartment but was currently in the hospital after a double lung transplant. I asked, and he has cystic fibrosis, like American Press reporter Brian Guilbeau did. It’s an awful condition, but this mom was really hopeful and excited to be helping her son set up his new place. She came back with her whole family and a moving van later to get the couches. They gave us some yummy cookies.

This is sort of a ramble, but by coincidence some of my friends from the American Press participated in the Great Strides walk today to benefit cystic fibrosis research. It’s a great cause, and if you’d like to consider donating, you can do so here.

A gift

KindleCozy

Friendship is a gift. I have a dear friend who’s moving away for a few years. I’ve known her for 6 years now, and I used to see her at least once a month. For the past 2-3 years, it’s been more like once a year or so. But sometimes you recognize a kindred soul and that’s all that matters. Facebook has been a real boon to communication, and she recently began a film and book blog where a great group of people swap recommendations and opinions. I think we’re more in touch now than we’ve ever been.

As a big reader, she recently invested in a Kindle. I searched and searched for a way to gift an e-book on Amazon, but apparently it’s impossible. You can give an Amazon giftcard and the person can use it as they choose, but there’s no way to pick a title and send it along. Knowing that she couldn’t bring much on the plane with her overseas, I brainstormed for another portable gift, and I somehow ended up searching Ravelry for a Kindle cozy. Voila!

The pattern called for about 4 more repeats of the cable pattern than I did. I was about one repeat short when I looked down and realized that it was ridiculously long. I looked up the Kindle’s dimensions and unraveled a lot of work and then skipped straight to the seed stitch edging. I added a button and loop closure because I would want a way to keep it secure if it was me. You may recognize the yarn as my Tour de Fleece merino/silk blend.

I love knitting for people who appreciate it. My friend was so pleased with her cozy that she took this picture (which thrilled me because I’d forgotten to photograph it myself) and even posted it on Facebook. I’m going to miss her dearly while she’s gone, even though I haven’t been the best at keeping in touch in person. Somehow it’s been a comfort knowing that such a wonderful spirit was in the same state/continent. I know she’ll have an amazing experience, and I’m looking forward to hearing about her adventures.

Girasole

photo

Originally uploaded by knitandwit

It’s done! It’s sitting upstairs on the guest bedroom drying. I can’t believe I finished it in just over a month. This is one of the largest projects I’ve ever done. It’s beautiful. Jared Flood is a genius.

This is actually a store sample, so I’m going to have to turn it over to Upstairs Studio for a few months. I already can’t wait to have it back. I’m so proud of it.

Crafting can make you sore

First of all, E.A.M., if you’re reading this, stop! You can’t read it for a few more days at least!

I have a very crafty friend who LOVES making baby shower invitations by hand for all of our friends. Two years ago, just about everyone we know got pregnant, so there were four big showers each with personalized handmade invitations all designed and coordinated by E.A.M.

Now E.A.M.’s expecting! My friend S volunteered to be in charge of the invitations and had big plans. They had to be up to E.A.M.’s standards, though. And everything had to be beautiful. Everything had to be perfect.

I went along for the first trip to craft stores to help pick out supplies (with a hangover – it wasn’t pretty until I had some coffee). It took over an hour for us to hone the vision and pick out the supplies. We went back to my house to work on the prototype for a few hours. As we cut and glued and imagined, we realized we needed more supplies, so the following day we made one more big run and went back to my house to finish the proof. It was beautiful. It was perfect.

Now we needed supplies for the 31 others.

Today we met up with a couple of friends at S’s house to do the rest of the invitations. Seven hours later, I arrived back home with a sore back, sore thumbs, sore fingers and a tired brain. The invitations are done. They’re beautiful. They’re perfect.

I can’t wait for people to see them. I’ll post a picture once it’s no longer a surprise. I’m off to ice my back now … and stop typing. It really does hurt my right thumb!

Quick Getaway

My husband and I took a quick trip this weekend. We left Friday morning and headed to San Antonio, where we stayed in a cute bed and breakfast. Their breakfast was as great as our room. We ran ourselves ragged on Friday, heading to happy hour at the Tower of the Americas. Me, being terrified of heights, had to look inward as the elevator went up the tower. Once upstairs, I was OK with the view for the most part. I was happy when we were back on the ground, though. We headed to the Riverwalk and took a boat tour, had dinner at an unremarkable place and just wandered around.

Saturday, we went to the Alamo and visited the diorama in the History Shop (who knew Phil Collins was so into Texas history?). We went back to the Riverwalk for lunch at Boudro’s. Then we visited the four other nearby missions. I’m such a huge National Park Service geek, I actually have an NPS passport (though I never remember to bring it). A ranger at one of the missions gave me one of the hidden stamps and I sort of freaked out. I’ve gotten a bonus stamp here or there, but never a hidden stamp.

While resting our feet at Mission San Juan, we actually ran into a couple we know. None of us knew the others were planning to visit San Antonio, so we were all pretty amazed to find each other in such a random place.

We were exhausted after all the missions, but we headed back into town and had an amazing dinner at Rosario’s. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing next to the river, reading and knitting respectively.

We had our delicious breakfast this morning, then headed home, stopping at Buc-ee’s for a quick break.

Back to work for me tomorrow; hubby still had a few more days off.

The Life You Save May Be My Own

I know all of you are too kind, too smart and too beautiful to ever drive rudely, but please pass this reminder on to people you know.

Bicycles are vehicles and state law mandates that they are to be operated on the road in a safe manner. Bicyclists are not pedestrians and are not to be on sidewalks unless that’s the only option.

Many states and cities (neither Texas nor Houston among them, but hurray for Louisiana) mandate that cars must maintain a 3-foot cushion between bicycles.

Believe me, we feel bad that we slow you down momentarily, but we feel worse when you knock us down in your rush to beat us to the red light. I use my bike to get around to places nearby my house, and I’m training for a long bike ride. There’s no way I can do these things on residential streets.

Yes, I was knocked down today by a jerk who apparently didn’t know he was supposed to get over to pass me. I yelled at him and his response was, “You should be on the sidewalk.” A) He’s wrong and I told him. B) Even if he was right, he should still have gotten over for safety’s sake.

Boring/busy

This week was really busy at work, so I’ve been keeping my head down. School starts next week, so we’ve all been busy with various projects and anticipating that first week/month crush.

Knitting wise, more of the same. I’m working on a store sample for Upstairs Studio and it’s big and complicated. It’s going to be beautiful, though. I’ve been using my lunch break to get through a few rows on the henley I’m knitting for myself.

On the kitty-cat front, the two of them are laying in their cat beds on the window sill right now. They’re ridiculously cute.

What have you been up to?

In which I decide this blog will have lots less knitting content

The other day, I was thinking about how I needed to blog, and I realized I was dreading it. I dreaded it because it meant taking pictures, uploading them, tagging them, then writing a blog post and linking to those pictures. It’s not just writing, it’s logistics. Sometimes I want to just sit down and write. About things that are important to me.

For instance, I exercised a lot today. I’m exhausted and redfaced. I did a triathlon a few years back, but my swimming’s pretty bad and the only upcoming triathlon is far too close for me to consider. I’m toying with the idea of a duathlon. There’s one this fall that requires a 2 mile run, 12 mile bike ride, 2 mile run. I haven’t ridden a bike since that tri 5 years ago, so I’m working on that first. Today I rode to my neighborhood pool where I swam a few laps, then sat to dry a little. I hopped on the bike, then tooled around the neighborhood until I was ready to fall over. I’m trying to build up my “share the road” confidence and briefly ventured onto one busy street. I bailed on another, though, and stuck to the sidewalk.

So now I’m sitting here on the couch drinking my Peachee and thinking about what I’d like this blog to become. I enjoy thoughtful conversations with thoughtful people about all kinds of things: crafts, books, movies, food, politics, travel. The blogs I enjoy reading most aren’t controversial. No one whacks you over the head with what they think, but they do inspire thought. And laughter. And creativity.

I’m going to give myself permission to write about something other than knitting when I want to. As has probably been evident sometimes, I’ve forced myself to write about yarn previously when I wasn’t that excited about it. But many of the best knitting blogs contain little in the way of knitting content. So I’m not going to fret anymore. I’ll let the spirit take me where it does, and hopefully I’ll flex my writing muscles a little along the way.