Saturday, April 29, 2006

No, not the gauge!!!

So I started knitting my mom's mother's day gift today. Yesterday I bought a nice set of size 15 bamboo needles & Thursday I bought the yarn (a lovely Iceland wool that will be knitted together with a cotton/silk blend). So I'm all set. I start with step 1. The Evil Step. The Gauge.

It's off. The gauge swatch, I mean. I need bigger needles. And I'm here alone with The Kids. They are sleeping, so I have to wait for them to get up. But we must go to the craft store for the bigger needles today because needles were on sale 40% off...yesterday and today only. I hate taking the kids to the craft store, though. The carts are too small to get them in and there are many many things to grab and break. Plus enticing kiddie-like stuff, too. But I must begin the project today. It is imperative! So to the craft store the kids get dragged. Sigh.

I guess doing the gauge at least gave me some practice. So. Anyway. What burns me up the most about it is I just got back from the craft store (which, btw, The Boy innocently calls the 'Crap Store'--that is literally what he thinks I am saying) because I needed velcro to adjust The Husband's work costume. Yes, he occasionally dresses as a giant dog for his employer--FREE OF CHARGE. How's that for dedication? So.

Maybe I'll just drop the 'we need to go to the craft store' bomb on him after dinner...it would be easier if he herded the children.

Anyway, it is a lovely day outside and we bought some flowers to plant in the de-bushed area of our front yard today. I got this idea from work...they plant this huge bed in a random assortment of pretty annuals. At first it looks a little dorky but once the flowers take hold and start growing, I think it looks pretty fabulous. So I want to try it here. Hopefully it works. Wish me luck. Tah!

Monday, April 24, 2006

4 squares quilted. A zillion to go.

Ok, so The Girl can reasonably not expect to get a quilt for her birthday this year. Maybe Christmas.

I am now in the throws (throes?) of attempting to make a table cloth for my sister. She has a table that is 64 x 64. They just don't make table cloths that size. So I'm making her one. I bought two 50 x 70 table cloths to sew into one. Trouble is, I didn't think about the fact that 1) the pattern is plaid, and so will be impossible to match up, and 2) I am not a math genius.

Needless to say, the first time I sewed it I tried to put a faux table runner down the middle to camoflauge the lack of pattern matching. It looked dorky and also my math skills totally screwed it up.

So. I cut out the faux table runner and will instead be creating only one french seam, pattern be damned. Maybe I'll make her a real table runner to put over top of the seam.

Also, my mom gave me this knitting book for my birthday and now I want to knit something. I am so easily molded, people. Just give it to me to read, and any project you want done (maybe not very well, though) can get there. And...get this...I actually chose a sweater as my first project from the book. The instructions say it can be done in a weekend, so I am going to give myself a modestly larger amount of time (about 2.5 weeks) to make my mom a sweater for Mother's day. I know it is getting into summer and she won't be able to use it, but I think she would like it.

Anyways. If I ever get any of those three projects done (oh, and the curtains for the kitchen which are now obsolete since the kids destroyed the fabric that I recovered the chairs with) I'll post a picture. If I get to it. He.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Back to normal?

Well the strange schedule I was on for work has finally expired so maybe I'll be blogging a bit more these days. Hard to tell though because the weather outside is beckoning, so lunch time blogs could be hindered by my urge to see the sun.

Recent things...my mom is in Seattle now, working on building up stem cells to donate to her brother. Send her some positive thought waves if you have a moment.

The dining room floor is finally covered in laminate. All that remains is trim work.

The stove hood has been installed.

I don't think I've finished any quilt squares recently. I have pretty much resigned myself to not making The Girl's birthday deadline. Maybe for Christmas. Tonight is quilt night, though, so I'll probably be finishing up a block for The Boy's quilt. At this rate I may have all the blocks for his ready to go by the time I finish The Girl's quilt.

Besides gearing up for The Boy's birthday party here in a few days, there isn't much more to report. Hope everyone out there is having a nice spring day!