Erica’s Blog

OK, so we all know what tomorrow is, but did you know that today is WIP IT OUT day?  Time to whip out your wips and confess how many things you have otn at once.  I don’t actually have too many (OK, OK, I purposely killed off two this week so I wouldn’t have as many).  What’s really funny, though, is Hubby’s attitude about it.  He was stressing out at the beginning of the week b/c I had so many.  Not being a knitter and having such a strong work ethic (thanks, Grandma Ruthie & Grandpa Paul!), he just can’t relate to feeling OK with having things undone.  For him, it would be like allowing himself to have a whole bunch of open work orders at work — something he just wouldn’t do.  That attitude makes for a terrific employee, but an abnormal knitter.

So, without further ado, meet the wips….

Thanks, Elspeth, for thinking of WIP it Out!  Oh, and in case you didn’t see that message:  My most sincere, groveling, sniveling apologies for unintentionally dissing you on the Knittyboard that time.  I wasn’t putting down Peninsula Knitters, merely differentiating so as to avoid confusion.  Wouldn’t want someone showing up in San Bruno, expecting to see you, Hollis, Lu, etc. and finding…us.  I got nuttin ‘gainst Peninsula Knitters – our group is an off-shoot of Peninsula Knitters!  (We just needed a group that met further North.)

 Took a break from my “regularly scheduled knitting” yesterday to crank out this belated birthday present for my friend LaSchaunda.  I had asked her if she’d rather have a scarf a la Gioia, a pair of wristwarmers, or a bag for carrying her Bible, notebook, pen, etc. to church.  She said she’s got a ton of scarves, but a bag would be perfect  b/c her youngest is finally potty trained, so she’s no longer carrying a big ole diaper bag.  She said her fave color was purple, so here we are.  I didn’t have enough purple in my stash to do the bag just in purples, but I really like how it turned out.

PATTERN:  The ubiquitous Buttonhole Bag (with variations)

NEEDLES:  US 13’s

YARN (from the bottom up):  WOTA + Lett Lopi; 2 strands WOTA; 2 strands WOTA; WOTA + mystery yarn; 2 strands WOTA; 2 strands WOTA

LaSchaunda deserved a special present.  She’s an amazing lady:  smart cookie (Cal grad!), mom of three back-to-back kids, took on guardianship of her two half-siblings when she was pregnant w/kid #3 (from 2 to 5 kids in the space of 2 months - yikes!), and a devoted friend.  If I’m having a rough morning emotionally on a Sunday and end up walking the halls, LaSchaunda is usually the one who finds me and comes to give me a shoulder.  She’s very cool, and she’s beautiful and talented (terrific singer), too!  Happy belated bday, you young thing!

 Wow, got my needles from Cee already!  Here’s an end view, along with the “extra little something” she sent on for the girls.  The kitty is in a bowl of water already, slowly growing.  The Things keep checking her every two minutes to see if she’s grown yet.  Pretty funny.  Thanks, Cee!

BTW, check out the upper left corner of the kitty cat package.  Gives new meaning to “grow your own”, eh what?

Today had a very inauspicious beginning:  Both Thing Two and Jenna puked. 

When Thing Two crawled in bed w/us this morning as she is wont to do, she informed me that she had puked on her floor three times during the night.  Hubby checked it out on his way to the shower.  Yupp.  Puke.  On the floor.

Not too long after I got that all cleaned up, Jenna puked in the hallway.  Lovely. 

Hubby, “all boy” kinda guy that he is, took a PICTURE of it.  He wanted me to post the picture and tell ya’ll to guess whose puke it was.  I thought about it, but I just couldn’t do that to you.  Besides, you could very clearly see the kibble.

Jammie day today for sure.  Couldn’t reach Angie to drive Thing One to school, but I’ll call Chrissy or someone to drive her home….

Happy First Birthday, guys!

Oh, that’s Michael Anthony in the left-hand picture and Matthew Paul (middle names from their grandpas) in the right-hand one.

Today is Jeannette’s birthday, so last night at our knit night, we surprised her with some knitterly love (We couldn’t ignore our “list mom”!).  That shirt is perfect for her personality.  Check out the fabulous European yarn Helga gave her!  (Gee, I guess I posted some yarrrn pr0n today, after all…)  1500 yards or so of fiberly goodness.

The last picture is the gang:  me, Jeannette, Rosalyn, Helga, Siobbhan (sp?), and Jennifer.  Rose didn’t make it this week.  (BTW, that’s the sweater for Noodles in my hands.  It should be done today or tomorrow.  It’s going so fast that there’s no point in posting any WIP pics of it; I’ll wait till it’s an FO.)

So, Jeannette, Happy 18 x 2.39th Birthday!

 THING TWO pulled out her “Yarn Craft” birthday present today.  First, she wanted to learn to crochet, but that lasted oh, three minutes.  She couldn’t get into the whole chain thing, not even when I pitched it as “a great way to make leashes for your cats”.

Next, she decided she wanted to make a blanket for Marie.  I cast on for her (w/the blue, of course).  I was really pleased that, even though it’s been a few weeks, she remembered the little rhyme: 

In through the front door, up around back, out through the front door, and off jumps Jack!

The really cool moment, though, came a few stitches in.  We were sitting together in the glider, with her in front of me, so she didn’t see my humongous grin when she popped out with:

I have to concentrate on my knitting because I don’t want to lose any stitches.

Ahhhhh, a convert!  She may only knit a row or two at a time, but she’s converted.  She even left off mid-row and, when I told her she shouldn’t b/c her work could fall off the needle, grabbed a set of point protectors out of my gadget bag and stuck ‘em on her needles!  (They were even blue.)  Now, there’s a girl who knows what she’s doing….

THING ONE:

 This is what was going on when I left for my various Tuesday afternoon appointments. 

What are they doing?  Well, ironing Thing One’s homework, of course.  WHY are they ironing it?  Because she dropped it in the toilet.  And WHY did she have her homework in the bathroom while she was on the toilet?  So she could do some work while she was going the bathroom, silly.  (Hubby told her that was called “multitasking”.)

It was so hard not to crack up!  She didn’t find it amusing at all, though, and gave me an angry face for it.  Me, I thought it was hysterical. I told her that she’d laugh about it some day. 

Oh, and…No, I forgot to tell Hubby he really ought to be wearing surgical gloves.  Guess it’s too late now.  If I microwave it before she turns it in on Friday, will it kill all the gross stuff so Mrs. C doesn’t get e. coli or something, or will it just burn the paper?

 Found this when I was taking pictures for Flash Your Stash (it was a WIP, see, so it had stash actually attached to it).  This was originally intended to be a shawl.  I appear to have thought I was knitting for The Jolly Green Giant, though, and it was too wide.  Plus, I lost some stitches along the way.  Plus, it’s all purled, which isn’t really my taste.

Today I grabbed it, cast off (knit, not purl - who cares at this point?), wove in the ends and tossed it on Thing One’s bed.  She can have it for a doll blanket.  Yes, it’s soft.  Yes, it’s pinky wonderfulness, but I hate it.  She won’t care; she’ll love it.

So, one WIP knocked off the guilt list.  Gee, at this rate, the next thing you know, I’ll be pulling out The Bag of Shame and finishing my repairs on Bobcat’s shawl or Auntie’s poncho.  Maybe.

BTW, no yarrrn pr0n tomorrow.  I’m saving up all my yarn pics (not exactly yarrrn pr0n, but that’s OK) for Flash Your Stash on Saturday.

 Saturday, Hubby & Thing One went to her buddy Devin’s birthday party.  They didn’t get rained on too much, thank goodness.  It was at one of those places with bumper boats, miniature golf, an arcade, etc.  All the kids seemed to have a great time.  Devin’s a really great kid though, sadly, his teams are the Steelers, Cowboys, and SF Giants.  Oh, well.  No one’s perfect.  At least he has the good judgment to have Thing One as one of his best friends.

Sunday, we all went to Elle’s bday party.  Unfortunately, I forgot the camera.  Too bad b/c she’s a cute little tow-head, and the party was very picture-worthy.  First of all, it was a sunny day in Pacifica; how can you beat that?  The food was amazing — definitely not typical kid-party fare.  They had chocolate-dipped strawberries, shrimp wrapped in prosciutto skewered along w/a tomato grilled on barbecue, mini pizzas, a big bowl of grapes & strawberries, veggies & dip, these little breaded chicken things, and fancy paper cones of “French donuts”.  The cakes were these beautiful cake/cream/berry creations from a fancy bakery.  And did I mention that it was NOT professionally catered?  They had paper dolls for the kids to decorate (boy, were they up late prepping that!), an Easter egg hunt, a teenager doing temporary tattoos (Thing Two got Hello Kitty.  Was anyone surprised?  NO.), and the fanciest “goodie bags” I’ve ever seen.  There were tons of people, and we were among the last to leave, hanging out with GingerBrett, Hobbes & Ron, MarkyMark & Bobcat.  Very cool.  I think Ginger must read a lot of Martha Stewart.  Maybe I’ll have her do my next party.  ;->

Much knitting of white preemie hats for Suzanne’s pet project.  Must.  Get.  Back.  To.  Regular.  Knitting.

Oh, and Donna was REALLY excited about the hats I’d made for her.  When I gave her the box of them all wrapped up, she said she had been meaning to ask me to make something for Simone b/c she’d never had anything handknit for her son, and no one had made anything for Simone, either.  I said, “Well, now you have something.”  She just about started jumping up and down, which is pretty funny for an eight-months-preggers woman who’s all belly w/skinny little arms & legs sticking out.  Must have been “Baby Hat Day” b/c Michelle made a point of letting me know that Kai is now fitting into the hats I made for him.  She said he outgrew all his tiny hats, so now the ones I made are the only ones he has.  

Finally allowed Thing Two to take her last bday present out of the box.  It’s been sitting in the laundry room, waiting for her.  I finally acknowledged that I didn’t have real reason not to let her play with it.  Saying “Because I don’t like it” doesn’t hold water when it’s not for a valid reason like the doll being dressed like a…um…bad girl.  I thought Cynthia liked us and our kids.  Maybe she’s getting me back for the Fun Fur scarves for her girls or the body art stuff we gave Georgia last year. Anyhow, this is the present.  Cabbage Patch doll + put something together + makes noise.  Now, of course, she wants the other three dolls to go with it.  Mmmmm…I think not.   (At least it’s not a smelly doll like the one Kiddo got from Lucky’s mom last year for the dead guy holiday…)