Thanks Honey

Me (looking in mirror): Man, I have so much gray hair.
Older son: You don't have gray hair. (long beat) You have a lot of silver though.

Kids are Funny

I brought my spinning wheel to the boys' school today for the last day of the knitting club. The kids always get really excited about it. I was carrying my Lendrum, folded up, into the after-school childcare to pick up the boys. A little girl in kindergarten saw the wheel.

Girl: What's that?
Her Mom: It's a spinning wheel. You use it make yarn.
Girl: What about gold?
Her Mom: Good question.
Everyone chuckles as the girl leaves.
My older son (still laughing): You should put that on your blog.

He knows me so well.

Nearly a Bust

Today did not go as planned. We were going to have dim sum at Jade Garden then head to the Seattle Art Museum first thing this morning. But Bella has developed some sort of medical issue (gross and not worth discussing) so Wes took her to the vet. They haven't found out what's wrong yet but she's otherwise fine. So we head off to the International District two hours later than expected. The wait at Jade Garden was long and the kids were not feeling patient. Wes ran over to the House of Hong and got us a table immediately. You know there's a reason that one place had a long wait and the other had no wait. The food was meh. We ate quickly and headed to Kinokuniya. Usually the kids are game to look at all the Pokemon stuff for a while but today they just weren't feeling patient. Fortunately I found this cute lunchbag book. I'm participating in a lunch bag swap* and this is just the inspiration I need.

We headed to the museum and scored the greatest parking spot in the world. We were feeling happy and lucky as we headed in the door. Then there in the lobby were more people waiting in line than I have ever seen on all my trips to SAM combined in the last decade. It was mobbed. I got in the line to get a membership. I waited about 10 minutes and the line didn't move. It didn't keep the woman behind me from trying to shimmy around me or just stand so close behind me she kept bumping me forward. I was feeling really frustrated and let down. We headed back to the car. Wes got the great idea to stop at Le Fournil before they closed for some half-priced pastries (we were still hungry from the sub-par dim sum). We drove over only to find the pastry case empty. We trudged back to the car. We headed to U Village to get my son a book we promised him. At this point we were all feeling hungry, frustrated and generally pissy. We got the book and got out of there. When we got home I threw myself on the couch in a fit of pique (and MSG?) and fell dead asleep for three hours.

In an attempt to salvage something good out of the day, Wes fed the kids then gathered them up to accompany us to dinner at El Camino. They were reasonably well behaved and Wes and I got to have a grown up dinner. Nice.

I've been knitting away on my socks and have just turned the heel on the second one. they should be done in a day or two.

* I have been driving myself nuts on what to make. Do I sew something or knit something? I have too many ideas and I'm afraid my sewing skills might fall short of the visions of fancy-ass lunch bags in my head.

Kitchen Conversation

Older Son (almost 10), while washing dishes: Mom, how do sperm come out of your body? Do they just come out when you pee?
Mom, trying to be nonchalant and still slightly abtruse: They come out when you ejaculate. You have to be sexually stimulated.
Son: So like when you have sex they come out and go "Wheeeee!"
Mom: Yeah, pretty much.

These next few years are going to be rough.

Investigating Replacement Options

I was standing at the stove tonight starting to make dinner for the kids while my older son was putting away the dishes from the dishwasher. (He gets paid $.75. It's the closest I'm going to get to having a maid.)We were joking around and he, while standing on a stool to reach the shelves, gave me a shove. I lost my balance and hit the open door of the dishwasher and came crashing down on it. We are both in pretty rough shape. My entire left leg is sore and throbbing. While I was sprawled on the floor, weeping from pain and shock, my younger son came over and peered into my face.

"What?"
"I just wanted to see if you were all right."
"I'm okay."
"Can you get me something to drink?"

The dishwasher door is so bent out of shape it won't close.



I'm looking into replacement options.

I'll need to do something about the dishwasher too.

Sorry for Radio Silence

Well my six-day straight (while sick) work week has ended. I have one day off then it's back to work and all the counting, counting, counting. Working in a yarn shop is great until inventory. Yesterday I was doing all the needles and notions. So very tedious. Worse than intarsia!

I have been knitting though. I just finished the thumb increases on my first Endpaper Mitt.



This is two old skeins of Koigu KPM that have been in the stash for years. Nice to finally put them to use.

Wes got me a Sew-EZ table for Christmas.



I have finally moved my sewing machine off the dining room table. It was getting kind of crowded with the machine and the two laptops. I was so excited I started sewing up little scrap blocks. Why I didn't work on one of my current UFOs I have no idea.

I seem to have passed my cold on to my oldest son. I'd feel worse for him if he weren't being such a little jerk about it. You've probably already seen the Man Cold video but just in case. This is my life.



And every time I sit down to use the computer I get this.


Tug?

And if I don't play with her she gets all dejected.




So that's my life right now in a nutshell.

The Cobbler's Children Will Have Shoes

Last weekend Wes told me that we needed to go shopping because the boys need hats, mittens and scarves.

Uh, hello? Have you met me? I make stuff.

First I pointed out that our older son has the Star Wars hat from last year. There was no way I'd knit a hat, two pairs of mittens and two scarves fast enough for these guys. I decided to go the quick and dirty method on the scarves. I cut out two rectangles of polar fleece that I have lying around. Done! I was going to serge the edges to make them more "finished" looking but screw it. They're just going to lose them anyway so I can't be bothered. I cast on for the hat in Kid Classic which is done (see below). Then I started thinking about mittens. I found this tutorial. I started to make my first mitten. Halfway in I realized I had made it too small. I set it aside. I made another.



Not too bad. I didn't pull the elastic out enough so the cuff is baggy. I thought it would be good enough and went to start the second mitten. Ack! Not enough fabric. I had already used half my fabric for the aborted, too small mittens. Damn!

But wait. I'm a quilter now. Sort of. I can piece together the fabric I need!



You can see the remains of the first pair here in what looks like the female reproductive systems rendered in 30s reproduction fabric. Sadly, it was not enough even after I sewed together all my scraps. I set the mitten aside, wanting my son to try it on first before going any further. It's too big for him but fits his big brother who says he does not care if his mittens match.

Three more mittens to go and the cobbler's children will have shoes.

Enchanted

We took the boys to see Enchanted yesterday. It's a great movie. Amy Adams is pitch-perfect as a classic Disney princess. The film is clever, well-paced and lots of fun. The boys both thoroughly enjoyed it too. My younger son declared, as the credits began to roll, "That was the best movie ever!"

The grand finale of the film reminded me of watching Lord of the Rings with my older son. The boys, sitting on each side of me, kept saying, "Kiss her. Just kiss her!"

Scene from Sunday Morning

Parents in bed trying to sleep. Children in hallway whispering in conspiratorial tones. Younger son bursts into hysterically, wacky screaming while running around hallway.

Big Brother: (in defeated tone)[Younger brother], we're spies, not idiots.

I Can't Argue With That

My older son was running down the stairs when I heard a crash.
"Are you okay!?"
"I'm fine. I was just faking."
"You were faking? Why?"
"I ran into a wall. What? It's a classic."

Squaresville

This weekend was all about squares.
I joined a Ravelry group making mitered squares to assemble into blankets for Afghans for Afghans. I made my first square last night.



It's leftovers from my FI Cardigan. Even after all the squares I've knit, I still enjoy making them.

There was also a lot of sewing. I had friends over on Saturday night and I got many more units done for my Shadow Star quilt. I also did a lot of prep for Dear Jane blocks. That made it very easy for me to pick them up and sew them tonight.





That last one was my first attempt at hand-applique. I tried using a freezer paper template and don't know how I would have done it without it.

Wes came up with a new idea for our family--Screen-Free Sundays. A day with no tv, computer or video games. The children protested. In fact, my 7 year old cried (you may see a trend here). To distract them we went to the South 47 Farm in Redmond. Wes and my older son went through the corn maze while my younger son and I went on a hayride. Hayride, by the way, means sitting on hay bales while you inhale copious amounts of tractor exhaust. Lovely. We bought some squash. We looked at some goats. We had kettle corn. [This reminds me that I am briefly interviewed in the new Cast On. It was recorded at Stitch 'n Pitch so I sound a little funny trying to make myself heard over all the noise. I mention this because I see kettle corn has become a dominant theme in my life.] When we got home Wes made apple pie with our older son and playdough with our younger son while I sewed. We had dinner together. We had all this free time. We talked to one another. It was crazy.

As soon as the kids were in bed Wes and I sprinted to our computers.

Famous Moments in Mom History #3

Scene: Younger Son emerging from classroom after the first day of school with a scowl on his face.

Mom: What's wrong, honey?
Son: (Face crumbling as he begins to wail) [Student] called me a crybabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Instant Pikafication

After I finished the tea towels my younger son announced that he wanted to embroider Pikachu on one of his shirts. We went out and got all the supplies. I showed him how to make a running stitch and had him draw Pikachu on his shirt.

He lasted about an minute and a half. Then the whining and demanding that I do it kicked in.


Newly remodeled shirt


Close up

I have to go play Monopoly. Younger son is sick which is putting older son in a terrible mood. He doesn't like being stuck at home.

I'll have a finished quilt later today to share and hopefully I'll be able to slip out to buy yarn to knit the hem facings on my Seamless Hybrid because that's all ready too.

The Ramones as You Have Never Heard Them

Sung a cappella by a seven year old with a very loose grasp of the lyrics.

Irony is Lost on Children

The kids are in the kitchen right now singing Beat on the Brat.

I'll Have to Settle for Second

My son told me last night that I was one of the best moms in the world. I asked why I wasn't the best mom. He thought for a while and told me, "I think the best mom wouldn't swear as much as you."

Fug Monkey

At Madrona back in January I took a dyeing class. I was feeling light on inspiration and for one of my skeins I just poured the three primaries on in three sections and let them blend in between. The skein came out screaming neon. Screaming. When I got home and started unpacking my bags my younger son saw the hideous skein and immediately insisted I make him the spider monkey from Kath Dalmeny's World of Knitted Toys. He's been "helping" me knit it. He's knit about 17 stitches and I've done the rest.



The pattern has you sew and sew and sew a million pieces. I started changing parts to be knit in the round to save a little seaming but there is still so much to sew. And I haven't knit all the freaking fingers and toes yet. What a pain in the ass!

It Did Get Better

Yesterday did not turn into a full-on disaster day. For clarification I'd like to point out that I did not think I was a terrible mother for not knowing all the various Pokemon crap my kids have. My child thought I was a terrible mother. And then I told him he could bite me then...nah, just kidding. There was lots of apologizing, hugging and a trip to Target to secure the right game.

Yesterday also got better when I went to the Seattle Knitters Guild. Our guest last night was Sally Melville. She was lovely, charming and funny. She gave a talk on "10 Things Knitters Don't Like to Hear." It was a list of all the infuriating things people say when you're knitting in public, why they're upsetting and what we, as knitters, would rather hear people say.

I've got a few inches done on my Sockapalooza sock. I was doing them two at a time on one circular (partly because I could only find my 40" US1 Addi). I ran into trouble when I had to knit two stitches together and there was a whole other sock between the two stitches! So one sock is "resting" right now. Hopefully I can get them back on the same needle to do the heel and foot so there's some hope that they'll be similar if not identical.

The yarn is creating a barber-pole effect, which normally I don't think I'd like but in this case the spiraling of the color matches up really nicely with the cascading pattern.


Side A


Side B

Ways In Which I Sense This Will Not Be a Great Day

1) It is my older son's birthday. I bought him the Pokemon game off of his wishlist. It turns out he bought one already with his own money. I am a terrible mother for not knowing this even though he didn't take off his wishlist. I have now made my son cry over breakfast on his birthday.

2) The cat threw up under my desk. I found out when I put my bare foot in it.

Mother's Day Weekend

Yesterday Wes, the boys and I went on a little adventure. We took the bus downtown then got on a ferry and went to Bainbridge Island. I love going over to Bainbridge. It always feels like I'm really going on a trip even though it's 30 minutes from downtown Seattle. The fact that there's a gorgeous yarn shop there doesn't hurt either. Our first stop was the Streamliner Diner for some lunch. They were selling t-shirts that had the Bainbridge-Seattle ferry timetable printed upside down on them. I didn't get it. Wes pointed out that it was you could look down and your shirt and read the ferry times. Oh. The boys and I really loved the Eagle Harbor Book Company. It's a beautiful store with a fantastic kid's section.

When we finally made it home I was completely zonked. I took a little nap because my best friend was having her 40th birthday party last night. I woke up just before the party started. I think I was still half-asleep when I left the house. When the front door opened the house was filled with women all dolled up in dresses, high heels and make-up. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I told Wes after I got home that I am really bad at being a girl.

Today we had a Mother's Day brunch at Lola. I wanted to have a nice outing for once on Mother's Day. I hoped that between the bacon and the fresh donuts, the boys could keep it together. And they did! They were really well behaved and we had all had a great meal. They gave us all "Mom" tattoos with the check.



The restaurant is attached to Hotel Andra. The bathrooms are in the hotel lobby. I took my youngest son in and we each went into our own stalls. When I got out I found him sitting on the bench.
"Did you wash your hands?"
"I used the short sink in my bathroom that squirts water."
We washed his hands together at the "big sink" with soap for a long, long time. After Wes and I explained what a bidet is for. Later my son told me, "I didn't know I was washing my hands in a toilet."

The Peruvian Highland Wool Baby Surprise is all done.

I won't be seaming it up until I show it to my students later this month (I'm teaching a class on it)so I won't weave the ends in until then either. I haven't decided which side is the outside.

I also cast on for my Sock Pal socks. I'm making the Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks in Socks That Rock in the Mist colorway.

Designing Lace with Evelyn Clark

What a fabulous long weekend. On Friday morning I loaded up my car with yarn and needles, picked up two friends, and headed north. We visited four yarn shops, had lunch and strolled through the town of Mount Vernon. I tried out a Majacraft Rose spinning wheel and I do believe I am in love. My other great discovery of the day came at the Red Apple Market in Mount Vernon. (They had Mexican Coke! Coca-Cola in the US is made with corn syrup. In Mexico it's still made with sugar. Wes and his co-workers have been buying it by the bottle at a local restaurant and have fantasized about finding it by the case. The clerk at the store looked at my like I was crazy when I lugged a full case up to the register.)

We arrived at the "cabin." It's less of a cabin and more of a gorgeous summer house. Thirteen knitters in all including Evelyn and the organizers. We were fed, we sat and knit and took in the sunset.


Sunset on Friday night

On Saturday we has a leisurely morning then class began at 10. Evelyn has a new book which should be available soon from Fibertrends. The book gives a mix and match format to create a triangular shawl using four lace patterns. We were given all the materials from the book but also given the opportunity to design our own pattern.


A Rose-Kim Original

Evelyn had mentioned to me a month or so ago that she hoped some people would use handspun for their shawls. I was a little concerned that I did not have time to spin a shawl's worth of yarn. Then, while organizing my stash, I found that I had already spun a shawl's worth of yarn. Bingo! Dazzle the llama coming right up.

Then we started knitting.


And knitting.

I knit over 100 rows before we left.

I also started a new Baby Surprise Jacket with my leftovers from Retro Prep the Third.



The house where we stayed was called Eagle Point. There were sculptures of eagles everywhere. I fully expected to see an eagle while there. I didn't. As I complained to my traveling companions on the way home that we hadn't seen any eagles I had to screech to a halt.



There was an American Bald Eagle standing in the middle of the road in front of my car eating a flattened possum. I managed to grab my camera and snap this picture before he flew away. The sucker was ENORMOUS. Note his size in relation to the hood of my car. And he was at least ten or fifteen feet away from me. It was kind of amazing.

We took our sweet time heading home, stopping at few more yarn shops, touring the city of Mukilteo trying unsuccessfully to find a yarn shop that turned out to be closed on Mondays, eating lunch in Edmonds and toodling through the shops.

I got home just before five and in time to pick up the boys from childcare. I called out to my oldest son, who looked at me and said, "I thought Dad was picking us up." "It's great to see you too, honey." Then I called out to my younger son. "I thought Dad was coming." "I missed you too."

My Little Baby

My baby is seven years old. SEVEN! I can't believe it.

(I'm sure 40 years from now I'll be saying, "I can't believe my little baby is 47." I guess it's just another reason it sucks to be the youngest.)

The Party's Over

(Edited to add photos)
We just wrapped up what might be the mellowest 7th birthday party in human history. My (anti-social) son invite only five friends. Only three could make it. Then one got sick. So he and two little girls stood around the dining room table and drew. There was a brief bit of excitement when they played "Pin the Tail on the Pikachu" which my son created himself. And then there was the Spinarak pinata which Wes made.



The pokeball cupcakes were made by me.

More Writing Practice

My son is still practicing his cursive.

Michael is a celebrity which means he is famous.
A yeti is a himalayan bigfoot.
Micheal is a big barf bag filled with crap and puke.

Charming, isn't it?

You Are So Busted

When I came down to breakfast yesterday I was greeted by a grouchy 8 year old. This is not at all unusual.
"What's up, honey?"
"Mom, you were rude on your blog."
"My blog? When did you see my blog?"
[backpedaling] "Well I wanted to know more about your vacation so I went to your blog...and you were rude. I saw what you wrote about the table. And you swore. "
"I'll let you in on a little secret, honey. When I'm not around children I swear all the time."
I explained that my blog was not written for children and that he shouldn't be reading it. Then I changed the password on my computer.

Back in Sick Bay

My younger guy has what the big one had last week. He's crashed out on the couch all day and I'm home from work.

Retro Prep the Third is two-thirds up the yoke. The yoke always seems to take me longer than I think it will. So I say with a little hesitation that I might finish knitting the yoke today. But I was thinking of holding off from cutting the steek until Purlygirls next Monday. It's so much fun to cut your knitting in front of people who have never seen it before. I love that terrified look in their eyes.

What Watching The Lord of the Rings with an 8 Year Old Sounds Like, Part Two

"Is he going to die?"
"Is he going to die?"
"What happened?"
"Is he going to die?"
"Is he dead?"
"Is he going to die?"

and during the final moments in Mount Doom
"Drop it!"
"Just drop it!"
"Throw it in!"
"Drop! It!"

Writing Practice

My eight year old son is learning cursive at school. He's very excited about it. He was up early this morning practicing. Here's what I found in his notebook.

Hey there Julia!
Repel the rats that are in the cellar!
Holy crap! Salsa races are radical dude!
Catch it Jack!
Cereal is delicate.
Fill the hull!