A Little of This, A Little of That...

My dear readers,

I don't have anything specific to blab about today, so I thought I would touch upon a few different things. It's sort of stream of consciousness typing, if you will.

First of all, this post is so horribly late because of those damn pills. I ate my dinner last night when I got home, settled in to watch "The Queen" while I knitted, and the next thing I knew, I was still in the same position on the Monster and it was 4:00 a.m. Another five hours had disappeared without my knowing it. I did a few things (like open up the mail that came yesterday), and picked up my knitting again. I got one round done, and then it was 11:00 a.m. I knew Hubster had a meeting and wanted to get up at 10:30, so I called for him. He answered from the other side of the computer and scared the shit out of me. I had slept through the alarm and didn't realize that he was already awake and had the coffee ready.

So I've managed to stay awake all morning, have knitted an entire pattern repeat on the Monkeys, photographed the booty from yesterday, and am finally sitting down to type. I still haven't taken my pills from last night, let alone today's first batch. I really have to get my life in order and get this sleeping thing under control, especially since the little ones are coming very soon. More about that later.

First, the booty. I was right - because of the holiday, I got an enormous haul. I think there were a dozen packages in total. I had to photograph them in two batches because they all wouldn't fit in one picture. So, for your viewing pleasure, the first batch.



The batik set in the upper left corner was custom-made for me by Blue Kitty Designs. It's a sock bag with a matching needle case and pouch for notions. It's beautifully done, and even has a plastic tag holder on the handle with little cards to stick inside so you can write down what project is in the bag, your name and address, or whatever else you want to add. The two skeins of yarn (the ones without the wrapping) are Woolly Boully in "Sunshine Family" (a new yarn base for Jenny), and "Lotus Blossom" in her Softie Sock base (it's so squishy!). The beautiful organza-wrapped skein is by Wooly Treasures in "Envy", a gorgeous, subtly changing colorway. The cake is by Prairie Daisy Handspun in "Autumn Delight", another subtly changing colorway that is going to be gorgeous when it's knitted up. The little monsters are Sam, Sharon, and Chloe - the maker was kind enough to send Chloe along for free because she missed her sister Sharon. :) I got them to put on top of the Mac next to Gabby. I just thought they were awfully cute, and they're also beautifully crafted. The book is by Wendy of Wendy Knits. She was kind enough to allow me to mail the book to her for her autograph, since I won't be at Stitches East (but I'll be at Stitches West!).

The second load of booty is yarny goodness (what else?).



In no particular order, there is Dream in Color in "Cloud Jungle", "Good Luck Jade", and "Dusky Aurora", and ShiBui in a bunch of numbers. I got these particular colorways because two of them are going to be made into socks with alternating stripes, and the other three are going to be made into socks with alternating stripes and some other textured stitch or possibly cables. I haven't got that far yet. There's also a fiber braid from Sweet Sheep (I keep forgetting that I signed up for that). I think it's called "Summer Garden". Also received but not shown are two pouches (I use them for my stitch markers which I sort according to size and/or type) and a SOTM. I used to keep all my SOTM kits in a separate bin, but that went out the window when I started going apeshit with the stash. I have officially stopped buying yarn now (well, except for Sheri's Sneak-Ups and Jen's new offerings), but I'm desperately trying to stay away from Etsy. Later this month is the TKGA show (where I'm actually taking four classes), and they're going to have a market. Then we're going on vacation. I have to stop buying now or I won't have any money to spend at either place, and I really want to spend some buckolas on vacation.

So last night I went and taught my third installment of the sock class. Most of the students had completed their homework (with the notable exception of one poor soul who had gotten her needles so hopelessly tangled that the only way to fix it was to take everything off the needles, straighten it out, and then get her to knitting again). I got them started on the gussets, and they did very well. One lady, though, showed me her sock; it was large enough to fit Bozo. She didn't understand that the stitch count at the end of the toe increases was meant to be counted all the way around the sock. She put the entire number on each side. The poor thing had something like 170 stitches all the way around. I told her as gently as I could that she had to frog it to the point where she had the correct number. I hate to see that - it was beautifully knitted, her lifelines were in place, and she had done everything right - except for that. I felt really bad for her. Other than those mishaps, the class went surprisingly smooth, and the girls even laughed during it. It was fun. I came home, ate dinner, and thus began my evening of snoozing, drooling, and getting no knitting of my own done. I'm working like a fiend in my waking hours so I don't miss the deadline for the sock swap. Then I realized that I had homework for the classes at TKGA that need to be knitted before the end of the month. ARGH. We're going to a Stitch 'n Pitch a week from Sunday (A's vs. Texas Rangers), so I think I'll work on the swatches I need for class while I'm there. I don't particularly like baseball, and Hubster doesn't particularly like baseball surrounded by a bunch of needle-waving harpies, but he's going with me just the same. I'm mainly going for the goodie bag. Offer something free and I'm there. Besides, it's a container, and you all know how I feel about those.

Maybe you'll notice that my pictures are crisp, clean, and not wobbly. That's because while I was teaching last night, dear Hubster went over to Best Buy and bought me a tripod. He figured that if I was taking a bunch of pictures, it would be better to have something that would keep the camera from wobbling. He also bought me a couple of movies to watch while I knit. What a guy - he's a keeper.

The thing with the little ones is that Hubster talked to our daughter the other day, and she's about ready to explode. She and the kids are living with my mother and grandmother, who are getting up in years and tend to yell all day about nothing. It's a bad environment for the kids, and even though DD is 30 and should be out on her own, she's not emotionally mature and is incapable of taking care of herself, let alone the kids. It looks like we'll have them a little sooner than we thought. That means that Hubster is busy cleaning out the room that was to be his office so the kids have a bedroom. As for DD, she'll be spending some nights over here on the couch. I was so spoiled by my old house - I had five bedrooms and more than enough room for anybody who wanted to come stay. Three of the bedrooms were guest rooms after the kids left, but we were turning one room into their bedroom and another one into their playroom. Maybe one day I'll have something like that again. I hope.

I bought a new book called "Knitting Circles Around Socks", which shows a new way of knitting socks on two circs. I'm always open to learning new ways to do something. I've only glanced through it; however, from what I've seen, the method they offer is more laborious than the one I teach. We'll see. I also have to dive into my Vogue sock book and all the other ones I've bought. I just don't have the time, what with my weird sleeping schedule. I have to be "normal" before my classes so I can go to them like any other person, sit through them and learn something (purely by accident, three of them are being taught by Nancie Wiseman), and then when vacation comes, I can actually get up at a decent hour so we can enjoy the attractions longer than an hour before they close.

I think that sums up everything that's been going on. For now, I'm tired again, so I think I'll have a smoke and then take a nap. Maybe tonight I can stay awake and get a lot of knitting done. I'm not knitting anything else until I finish these socks, which are actually going pretty fast (thank goodness, especially since I'm not a fast knitter). It would be nice to spend the evening awake with Hubster.

And maybe I won't find a DPN sticking out of my chest.