Erica’s Blog

Just a few yards of Silk Garden from the end of a ball.

Jenny & Nicole of the Stash and Burn podcast graciously accepted our invitation to join us last night for our second knit night “field trip” to Cottage Yarns.  Here are some highlights:

 The gang. 

Mille grazie to Harold for taking the picture.

 David somehow didn’t know that we were going to Cottage Yarns and went to Starbucks by mistake.  When he didn’t see a single one of us, he checked w/the barista to make sure it really WAS Tuesday.  Once Jeannette clued him in, he came over. David was sans his knitting, but he spent his time trying on the store samples, as usual.

 (Part of ) what followed me home.  I also scored two 24″ size 3’s and two 24″ size 4’s for some gift socks I have in my queue. 

As always, a good time was had by all.  Many thanks to Katherine for staying open late just for us.  I have a feeling our purchases made it worth her while, even though David didn’t buy anything this time (I saw one or two whole bags of yarn leave with Jeannette).  And yes, Jenny and Nicole are just as cool in real life as they are on the podcast, though I suspect we overwhelmed them a tad at first.  (Was it my jumping up and down, flailing my arms, going They’re here!  They’re here!)  And Jenny’s Josephine sweater looks even better in person than it does in the pictures on her blog….

Hmmmm….I’m not so sure about this fourth grade stuff.  We’re not too happy about the attitudes we’re seeing, and Thing One’s really not thrilled with the homework.  We’ve made a change in plans that we’re hoping will help to cut down the distractions during homework time:  Instead of buying a plain loft bed for Thing Two and putting the bunk bed back together as a loft bed for Thing One, we’re going to buy a a loft bed with a desk for Thing One, then put the bunk bed back together for Thing Two.  T2’s fine with it b/c she’s still getting a loft bed; she doesn’t care that it won’t be newly-purchased.  Thing One is excited about getting a desk.  I’m hoping that this will cut down on a lot of the stress and drama in the afternoons, the NO.  I’ll help T2 with the computer; go do your work! etc.

I’ll keep you posted….

So, Thing One’s Cabo Hoodie has morphed/mutated into something different.  These aren’t the world’s greatest pictures, but here are some WIP pictures from last night, after I finished the lace edging.

Getting listed in city’s directory and on Craig’s list:  Free

Start-up cash for making change:  $20.75

Erica & Hubby’s profit:  $99

Being able to see the floor in the Things’ rooms:  Priceless

 Lace-edged women’s hat (chemo cap) for Michelle.  Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran.  I forget the needle size - 8’s?  I had approximately 30 inches of yarn left when it was done.  In hindsight, I should have used smaller needles.  Oh, well.

 Fuzzy wuzzy sideways-knit garter stitch scarf.  GGH something-or-other yarn from one of David’s “Zen Moments”, 100% polyamide (read: nylon).  Size 13 Addi’s (insert light-saber sound that Brenda Dayne uses here).  Used about 1/2 a ball of purple and 1 1/2 or 1 1/3 balls of green.

Scarf from less than one skein of Top of the Lamb, which I scored in a Knittyboard swap.  Size 13 needles.  The color in the detail shot is accurate - bright turquoise, but the edge isn’t as wonky as it looks in the picture.

 Quickie little coffee sleeve from the leftover Cashmerino Aran from Sean’s Halfdome cap (which he, apparently, has been wearing quite a bit in his world travels this early autumn).  Color is off in this picture, but I was in a hurry.  To see a more accurate picture of the color, look here.  US size 5 needles for strength & density.  (You are my density…Quick:  What movie is that from?)

[Aside to Auntie:  I know seeing this makes you worried.  Don't be.  I'm re-thinking your bag.  I may do a quick felted one after all.  Don't worry.]

I got really overwhelmed the other day about the projects I have in the queue, so after seeing Lime & Violet’s project information cards, I designed ones that would work for me & my giant chicken-scratch, bought a 1/2-sheet binder, some paper, etc., made myself a little notebook, and organized my upcoming and in-progress projects by when they’re due.  OK, now I see why I was overwhelmed.  Yikes!  I definitely needed something like this to keep track.  That said, I’m off to throw in a load of laundry, start the Roomba, turn on HGTV or Food Network, and get back to #6 of 13 preemie bereavement caps for our next donation to CPMC’s NICU….

Even if Nickelback isn’t normally your cup of tea, check out this great video.  Pretty deep.  YES, they played it at church last night (fits in w/our fall theme of changing and saving lives), but NO, it’s not sappy and religious — c’mon, it’s Nickelback!

Well, now we know why Thing One always sits so close to the TV:  She needs glasses!  Last week, she had to keep asking the teacher if she could walk up to the front of the room to copy down her homework assignments off the board, so Miss M moved her seat.  The Things had their annual eye appointments yesterday, and Dr. T confirmed it; she’s nearsighted and needs glasses for school, TV, movies, etc. (though it won’t hurt her to wear them all the time if that’s what she chooses to do).

Ahhh, to be young, slim & cute — every pair of glasses Thing One tried on looked great on her, so it really came down to which ones she liked best.  I really thought she’d choose the cool pink ones, but she chose some light brown ones because they matched her hair.  To start protecting her eyes now from the UV (cataracts, folks!), we got her the photo-sensitive lenses like Hubby & I have.  She’ll be a stylin’ kid. 

The glasses will be ready by her birthday.  For now, she’s totally excited about them.  We’ll see how long that lasts.

Thanks to our terrific insurance (Thank you, Genentech!), I didn’t have to pay a penny for their appointment OR Thing One’s glasses.  Hubby & I had a big talk with her, though, about being responsible with her glasses b/c if she broke them, we WOULD have to pay out of pocket for a replacement pair, and we gave her an idea of how much money that would be.  We don’t want her to have false guilt about stuff that’s not her fault (a kid on the playground kicks a ball that hits her in the face and breaks her glasses), but we do want her to be responsible and not leave them on the lunch tray and throw them away with her trash, etc.  I think when we pick them up, we’ll get her a cool lanyard thing so that they can hang around her neck when she’s not wearing them so she doesn’t have to set them down, etc.  (Me, I predict she’ll end up wearing them all the time, like I did when I first got my glasses.  I just couldn’t stand not being able to see clearly all the time.)