The sock money is off my back July 29, 2004

Cameron’s Trekking socks are finally finished. I really didn’t care for this yarn. ‘Course I have a ton of yarn left. Enough for a second pair for Owen–maybe with a contrasting or afterthought heel. Or maybe not.

Finishing these socks means I can start Devan. Finally. I am still not certain about the colors for this little boy (I am using the original colors). And Kersti, I love Kersti. I finished a sleeve and started a second. The Dale has been neglected so I could finish the socks. Cameron wants a pet bed for his Build-a-Bear dog. And I desperately want to knit Karalund. I almost ordered the pattern yesterday but figured I could pick it up in the city next weekend. I could exchange my Diamusee for Silk Garden. Will my husband be offended? I dug through my stash closet yesterday for stuff to sell on eBay to justify any more yarn purchases.

In other exciting news, I am getting together with Ann from Purling Swine, the ladies from Webheads and a couple of other women. Yipee! Off to play more Fast ForWord.

July 28, 2004

Which flock do you follow?

this quiz was made by alanna

Thanks to Ann of Purling Swine.

Which flock do you follow?

this quiz was made by alanna

Thanks to Ann of Purling Swine.

Which flock do you follow?

this quiz was made by alanna

Thanks to Ann of Purling Swine.

Happy Birthday July 26, 2004

You say it’s your birthday….well, it’s my birthday too! Yup, 34 this weekend. I am almost halfway to 70. It was a pretty good birthday. I have been treating myself to birthday yarn. The Kersti was an early birthday present (thanks mom) and this was a more recent one. This is Jamieson Soft Shetland in Wilkinson. I had planned to use it for St. Brigid. Wilkinson is one of the original colors AS used in her Aran Knitting book. It’s just a lot brighter than I expected. The heathery bits are almost a chartreuse–not exactly what I had in mind. I wasn’t quite certain what color I wanted to knit it in. I was avoiding green, due to my overuse. Soft Shetland is becoming more difficult to obtain for the time being due to changes at the mill or something. I may have settled. I am not sure yet. Another year older but not necessarily another year wiser.

In other exciting birthday present news…Gracie gave me a necklace she bought in Maine. It is too small for me so she is wearing it. And she gave me a little stuffed pug ’cause no one is buying me a dog. Or supporting my cause in my house. Boohoo. Thanks Grace. Cameron gave me a stuffed dolphin he won playing the crane game and a Mighty Bean. In the spirit of returning birthday gifts, I gave him the dolphin and kept the bean. Kevin got me a Coach bag. It’s just not me, so it will be returned also. I will be keeping the yarn he got me though. What a cutie. He got me some Diamusee yarn at Seaport Yarn. Which is unbelievably close to his office. Lucky him. I am hoping to make a cuff to cuff sweater of some sort with this.

We got a babysitter on Saturday night and saw Bourne Supremacy. It wasn’t as good as I thought it would be and we had a flat tire. But the babysitter worked out well. She is a highschool senior and she wants to get her Bachelor’s in Special Education and work with preschoolers with autism. I told Kevin she should be paying us to let her watch Owen. Just kidding. Owen did surprisingly well with her. I am not saying he likes her or anything but he didn’t get upset and he didn’t avoid her. It’s all good. I also went out to breakfast with my best friend from highschool and her husband–she’s the one who introduced Kevin and I. Oh, and she brought pictures of her cat, Cal, sleeping in the felted kitty bedI made.

Last, I will leave you with pictures of my birthday cakes. We had an Entemann’s cake on my birthday and my sister and I shared a cake yesterday (we are 2 years and 8 days apart).

I wear my heart on my sleeve July 22, 2004

The more I looked at my sleeve, the more I decided the bullseye looked like a heart! Can you see it? It’s no shroud of Jesus but I’m a true believer in the power of Kersti. Can you feel the love?

Anyway…crazy day yesterday. Cameron and I started his Fast ForWord program. I am excited. He is very motivated by the token economy we started. He picked some cool toys out at ToysRus. You know, Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Crash Test Dummies–nothing over $5.00. After 20 stickers, he picks a toy. We are up to 4, with 3 more stickers to earn today.

We went bowling yesterday. So cute. Owen loved it. Of course, he really liked the buzz the lane made when he stepped over the foul line. I had no idea there was a foul line! Bowling has gone so hi-tech. Gracie won with a 79, Cameron came in with a 69 and Owen had a 51. I see much more bowling in our future.

My not-so LYS, Three Black Sheep, is having a yarn shop. I hope we can stop by tomorrow. Have a great day.

No peeing in the pool July 21, 2004

Remember how delighted I was with the colors of my Kersti? And how I loved when the colors sometimes overlapped? Well, I started a new ball of yarn and there was rough housing around the pool. I ripped out the new ball and started from the other end. Plum pools changed to blue pools. It reminded me of that urban myth of peeing in the pool and the water changing color. Is it the amount of stitches on the needle at this point in the sleeve? Or is it just the variability of one skein from another—even in the same dye lot! I balled another skein and I am alternating balls every two rows. I accidentally increased a 2 more stitches than suggested. I changed it to 4 and will do so on both sleeves. It shouldn’t make a huge difference, right?

The other thing I am unhappy with is that ring-like thing on the sleeve. It looks like a bullseye and reminded me of Lyme Disease. It looked worse before I alternated yarns. Never a dull moment around here, I tell you.

The Dale sweater has been sadly neglected. Devan is untouched. I have Cameron’s socks to finish before I can start it. Oh, and that poor Everyday Cardigan. Perhaps it should be renamed, Maybe Someday. And somehow, I have it in my head that I really want to finish the Kid Silk Haze shawl for Owen’s teacher. Summer dreaming! Off to speech with Cameron, who’s coming? Kersti, of course!

Kersti love July 19, 2004

I started my Kersti sleeve this weekend. I love it. The colors are more beautiful than I could have imagined. I can hardly believe it was my 3rd choice. The way the colors sometimes overlap…it is just lovely. I definately see more Kersti in my future. My only issue with the yarn is the splitting but it is more than worth it. As far as the raglan pattern–I am not loving Sally’s increasing technique and I spent some time reading the Audrey Knit-along archives. I am varying my increases between the second and third stitch depending on where I am in the rib pattern. It looks much better. I didn’t rip it out and reknit the first few increases as I have read Kersti doesn’t rip well. It’s all in the seam anyway.

Cameron and I got Gracie from the airport on Saturday. It was a bit of a disaster with delays on the outgoing flight where Gracie was expected to arrive and a gate change that I wasn’t notified about. I found her but it was a bit disappointing that American Airlines employees were so slack in their care of an unaccompanied minor. Gracie had a fabulous time but was glad to see us. ‘Course she wanted to know who the sweater was for…ME!

We are off to see Garfield this morning. Cameron and Gracie are anxious to see it. The reviews have been the pits but what the heck–the weather stinks today. I hope everyone had a terrific weekend. Thank you for all of your kind comments regarding Owen. He has made a lot of good progress. It’s hard not to always want more…and more…And I signed Cameron up for FastForword. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he has some tremendous success there.

My Kersti is here July 16, 2004

My Kersti arrived yesterday–at my mom’s house. I had ordered it before we left for Hilton Head and sent it to my mom rather than have it held up with the rest of our mail at the post office. My first color choice, 324, was no longer available in a single dye lot. So Ram Wools emailed me the option of mixed dye lots (no thanks) or other colorways with my specified number of skeins. Of course, checking up on all these colors on dial up was a real joy. I finally chose 513. By the time they got back to me, over the weekend–it was sold. ::sigh:: When I got back to NY, I called them, determined to get something and settled on 117. They were supposed to ship it to me but I guess things were a bit confusing at this point. Their price is fabulous, a bag of 10 is $85.50 and they have free shipping over $129.95. I am not trying to enable anyone, I swear.

I am excited to start a swatch with this yarn. It is so nice to touch. And I am excited to see how the colors combine. I guess it is a plum color–which falls in the purple category. Just like the Shetland yarn I purchased for my next aran. I am predictable if nothing else.

Cameron and I are off to Owen’s school shortly. I think Owen thought it was Saturday and didn’t want to go to school today. We are planning to go bowling next week with his home ABA teacher. And we have a trip to the Long Island Game Farm in the plans. It was really rough in the beginning of the week with Owen. He may have had an ear infection…yesterday was a great day. A friend from high school was visiting (she also went to college with Kevin–and introduced us). Owen typically avoids her–either going upstairs or down but he stuck around. Granted there was a pizza on the table but his eye contact was amazing!

I am going to well up with tears here…but we are approaching the two year mark for his ABA therapy. When we were "shopping around" for treatments the studies said after two years of ABA, 48% of the children were recovered or indistinguishable. That’s not going to be the case for Owen and it’s hard to admit. But admit it we must and move on and fight the odds. Beat the odds. One of his teachers said it best, three steps forward and two steps back but it’s still progress.

a boring post July 15, 2004

Not a whole lot going on around here. I just finished another Critter Knitter’s blanket and am considering knitting a third before I mail them off. Cameron and I have been enjoying our time together while Gracie is enjoying herself in Maine. Owen is at school during the day so Cameron and I have been trying to have some fun. We are off to Chuck E Cheese with a friend this afternoon. This morning we are checking out a speech program called Fast Forword. Anyone have any experience with it?

I am awaiting some new yarn in the mail. I ordered Kersti and some Jamieson Soft. I am anxious for their arrival but really want to finish Cameron’s socks–at the very least–before I begin anything else. The Everyday Cardigan is so sadly neglected. Fortunately, I finally got my addi turbo 8. I think, at the end of the day, I just don’t love the color I ordered for that sweater. I am so drawn to green…and purple. Was it too much Barney when Gracie was a little? I love green, green loves me…we’re a happy family.

Kevin was just asked to speak at a conference in the Bahamas–the day before my birthday. I told him to go. I think it is a fantastic opportunity–for many reasons–but he is reluctant to go. We’ll see…I could easily make it up to myself…another trip to Paris, maybe? 🙂 Seems fair, right?

Gracie returns Saturday. I hope there is no post-Caitlin blues. Tomorrow I have a parent training with Owen and Cameron will be doing peer modeling with another student. Afterwards, we’ll have to plan something fun. The knitting guild meeting is tomorrow. I am not going. I guess I could have found someone to watch Cam but they changed the time to 11am and are making a felted flower pin. Um, no thanks. Ann, you going?