Forward Motion

Burst My Bubble

Yarn: JKnits in the Tampa flavor

Needles:  Knitpicks circular size 2.5

Pattern:  My own, adapted from the Bubble Cable pattern in the Vogue Stitchionary 2.  Toe up with a short row heel.

I love this yarn.  I want my whole world to be boysenberry and charcoal colored.  I want to knit a tent out of JKnits Tampa and live inside it.  I'm not sure about the name though, because I've spent plenty of time in Tampa and it should be the color of traffic and strip malls.

I'm going to name this pair the Burst My Bubble socks.  Because as wonderful as they are, it kills me that the striping variegation isn't quite identical.  And I know why and if I hadn't been in a self-imposed hurry to complete them by the end of the month, I would have noticed it and fixed it.

As I was midway through the cuff on sock #1, I was horrified to see a ladder from a dropped stitch.  It began in the middle of the foot and went down to a few inches above the toe.  There was no way to bring it allllll the way up to my working row without getting caught at the heel turn and also totally distorting the fabric.  So I threaded a length of yarn through it, tied a loose knot, and wove in the ends. 

When I started sock #2, I should have decreased a stitch to copy that dropped stitch.  That one extra stitch accounts for the difference in the coloring of the socks.  It's not a big difference and I still love the socks, but darn it!  They could have been almost perfect!  Not totally perfect, since there's one cable that is short a row, but almost perfect.  And honestly, after wearing them today, they are maybe a tad too big.

But whatever.  Knitting and perfectionism are mutually exclusive for me.

Texas. Yay!

So, and let me pause here for a big WOOOHOOOO! or maybe a YEEE-HAW!, we are moving to Texas next summer.  DH got home late on Tuesday night and when I emerged from my fitness center (that would be the step and some hand weights in front of the bedroom TV) I noticed some papers carefully propped on my laptop screen.  When I started to read them, I demanded from DH, "What is this??  Is this for real?  Stop smiling and answer me right now.  I am not playing around."  You may remember a few months ago, I had mentioned that this assignment was a possibility and I was truly hoping for it.  But the rumor was that we wouldn't find anything out until January or February.  I hadn't said much to DH, not wanting him to feel he'd let me down if it didn't work out.  So he was actually worried that I wouldn't be happy about the news.

I think my jumping up and down and screeching joyfully and repeatedly punching him in the shoulder cleared that up.

He has been selected to attend the Sergeant Major's Academy at Ft. Bliss, TX.  I'm not sure how to describe what an honor this is.  There's not really anything in the civilian world to compare it to.  This school is the top of the heap for enlisted soldiers.  It's maybe like getting into Harvard?   I am so flippin' proud of him.

Ft. Bliss is located is west Texas, in the city of El Paso.  I have Googled my little fingers off and I am so excited about moving there.  It's a real city in a part of country that is new to us.  I lived in Arizona when I was 4-5 years old, and in Colorado in middle school, but I have been living in the Southeast since we came back from Italy in 1994.  This is going to be a different environment for us.  Desert and mountains instead of pine trees and humidity.  We'll be just on the border of Mexico and New Mexico.  I can remember visiting Carlsbad Caverns when I was a kid.  We'll be near there and I can't wait to take the kids. 

The kids are looking forward to the move as well.  I'm so glad that we've got 7 months to prepare, instead of the 3-4 months that many people are getting lately.  Within minutes of telling Grace the news, she asked if Ft. Bliss was near Dallas.  I told her not really, but we'd probably have to drive through Dallas on the way.  "Because," she said, "there's an American Girl store in Dallas we could visit."  The girl is all about the planning.  Alex has requested an excursion to Roswell, NM.  Aliens, you know.  I found that Ft. Bliss has a paintball facility, so he is also happy with that.

We'll be there for about 10 months, and then go wherever the Army decides after that.  If given the choice, DH will probably want to go back to Ft. Bragg, NC.  So I'm determined to enjoy my Western adventure while it lasts, right down to the last tumbleweed or scorpion or enchilada or whatever they've got over there.  We know we want to rent a camper and go to the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam, and hey, maybe Vegas while we're over that direction.

Some people can't understand how we deal with moving all the time, but I really love it.  I love starting fresh and seeing new places.  Boxing up all your stuff makes you decide what is worth bringing along and what is just taking up space.  We hope that there will be on post housing availabe to us.  The academy students have their own neighborhood on Ft. Bliss and it's new construction that looks very nice.  While I don't want to go back to living on post forever, for less than a year I think it will be great.

Apparently there are no yarn shops in El Paso, but since I don't have any yarn shops here, it's not like I'm losing anything.  There looks to be one in Las Cruces, NM which will be about an hour away.  Road trip!

I have gotten out the road atlas and there are like 6 pages dedicated to Texas.  It is huge.

It's official

Hmmm....maybe instead of ordering cute Mary Jane shoes, I should have been looking for some cowboy boots.

#&%!* Laundry

I am so far behind in my housework that I am using coarse profanities to describe the laundry situation.  I wanted to take pictures of some of the sock yarn that I've acquired in the last few weeks, but the last two days were nothing but rain and gloom.  I did snap a few photos today, but I left the camera in the bedroom now I'm too tired to go get it.  And I haven't forgotten that Wendy tagged me for a meme.  I love memes, they are like a free post pass since they have less creativity required.  You can just answer the meme.

I'm determined to finish the JKnits socks by the end of this month.  That would be this Friday.  3 more days.  All other projects are gathering dust in the hopes that I can make this happen.  I had a doctor appointment yesterday and only got a few rows of the heel done.  I didn't mind knitting while waiting in a paper drape, but the Christmas carols playing over the speakers were driving me bonkers.  If this test comes back normal, I can return to needing only yearly exams, which would be fabulous.  I also cannot get enough of the joy of stepping on the scale and not needing to tell the nurse that she might as well go ahead and move the little slidey thing over to the 200 mark.  I always hated that.

I bought some shoes just now.  Sierra Trading Post has a bunch of shoes at really deep discounts and PayPal is offering 20% cash back AND I had a little bit of a PayPal balance.  So I got these shoes which usually sell for around $110 for only $44.  Now let's all petition the Footwear Gods that they will fit, because they have European sizing and Sierra Trading Post does not have free reverse shipping.

and 2 side dishes of guilt

OOOooofff.  I did not stick to my plan of small, healthy portions.  In fact, I was popping mini-marshmallows at 10 a.m. like they were happy pills.  Today I am wearing stretchy pants and feeling guilty and not so happy.  I was going to go to the track for a long, long walk, but holy crap it is cold.  Cold, with that biting southern wind that just makes your fingers crack and your eyes water.  I'll exercise inside tonight, but tomorrow, no excuses.

Overall, the holiday dinner was a success.  I was not pleased with the mashed potatoes.  I've never made so many all at one time and I think my proportions were off.  They were a bit dry, but apparently people just dumped enough gravy on them and it was good.  I didn't actually burn the biscuits, but I left them in a bit too long.  Hardly anyone ate the sweet potatoes so I have a huge casserole dish left over.  I had bowl today and tomorrow I will sadly throw them in the trash, because I know darn well I'll eat them all otherwise.  I've got to start inviting more sweet potato eaters.

Today was really my holiday.  Yesterday I was so busy cooking and cleaning and hostessing that I never really relaxed.  Having strangers inside my house and being welcoming and pleasant and making conversation wears me the heck out.  Today I slept in, did a little tidying up, knit, and took a fabulous nap.

I finished the first JKnits sock and worked a few inches on its mate.  I finished the first Anatolian mitten and cast on for that mate.  I really shouldn't count the first mitten done because I'm not satisfied with the top and will need to redo it.  I believe I'm ready to start the cabling on the Mr. GJ sleeve, but I need to try it on again.  Earlier this week, I worked the crown of a hat for a 3 yr. old, but it's too big and the gauge is too tight.  I need to pull it out and restart it with bigger needles.

Two of my relatives have requested more felted potholders for Christmas.  I swore I wasn't doing any Christmas knitting, but both said that the ones I gave them 2 years ago are the best potholders ever created and could they please have more?  And garter stitch squares are so easy.  So I'll get to see how this new(ish, it's a year old already) washing machine handles felting. 

Also, I'm feeling a little guilty because the one thing that my great-aunt who is in the nursing home could really use is a lap blanket.  I should knit her one.  But I'd have to put all of my other projects aside to finish something like a lap blanket in 3 weeks.  Maybe if I used a strand of Homespun and a strand of something else on big needles.  I can just see that I'll buy the yarn and the whole time I'm knitting it, want to be knitting something else and I hate to give a gift knitted with resentment.  And yet, I'm already planning a trip to AC Moore tomorrow.  I know I should knit the blanket and be generous and giving and not so selfish.  I don't think I can handle the shame of knowing my great-aunt has a cold lap in her nursing home bed.

Happy Thankgiving!

Why Thanksgiving Kicks the Other Holidays' Butts

by Cat

1. One plate, five food groups.

2. No presents, so no awkward "Wow, thanks for the fugly pajamas."

3. No asking for treats door-to-door. Treats come to you!

4. Enlightening political discussions, or at least some good fights.

5. Two and three desserts accepted, even encouraged.

6. No dumb carols.

7. Celebrating what matters most: eating, napping and football.

Found at my favorite tiny little blog - Tiny Little Division.

Let's see if I can keep the biscuits unburnt this year.

Monday on Tuesday

Today I was thinking, "I'm so boring, I shouldn't be permitted to have a blog."  But there are no rules about boring people blogging, so here I am.

Yesterday, since I had nothing interesting to blog about, I snapped a bunch of photos of my day.  Then I didn't get a chance to post them until today.  Being busy doesn't make things any more interesting, which seems unfair.

I prepared 5 trays of fruit for dehydrating.

If you sliced them thinner, they are ready to eat sooner and were a delicious snack today.  You'd think all those trays would make a lot of fruit, but it's only about 2 cups worth.  I make each kid a little bag of their own fruit, otherwise I would just nibble it all and they'd get none.  Because it's hard to tell them to share if I hoard stuff to myself.

I had some hot cocoa.

Swiss Miss Diet Hot Cocoa is only 25 calories and it takes as good as any other powdered cocoa from a packet.  It would be better with 11 mini-marshmallows on top, however.

We had to run errands in the afternoon.

I decided to skip making returns at Kmart because my time was worth more than the dollar figure of what I was taking back.  Staples NEVER has what I want.  And yet I still go in there.  Why?  Target had everything but the bowls and the cutting boards.  I wanted those plastic-like cutting board sheets, as most of mine have fallen victim to the heating coil at the bottom of the dishwasher.  I bought a 16 qt. stockpot because I'm tired of having to make mountains of mashed potatoes in 2 or 3 different pots.  No matter how much I make, DH always wants more.

As of today, we have 7 guests (5 adults, 2 kids) coming for Thanksgiving.  So glad I went with the 23 lb. turkey.  I'm going to make 3 pumpkin pies and a pan of brownies.  I've also bought a pecan pie, since my homemade ones are an iffy proposition and I'm not willing to court failure when there's tasty pies already made for me at Publix.  Alex is not impressed with pumpkin pie, so he picked out a Razzleberry pie.  I also have vanilla ice cream, Cool Whip, and Reddi-whip in the can.  We will definitely be covered for dessert.

In addition to store bought pies, I'm really taking the easy route this year.  I bought those BirdsEye Steam Bags of green beans, instead of steaming fresh ones myself.  Green veggies are just for show at Thankgiving anyway, most everyone just wants the turkey and carbs.  The SteamBags really taste as good as fresh, so why slice a bazillion green beans that no one really cares about?  The gravy is from a jar because I have some sort of Gravy Incompetence Syndrome.  I'll still make the cranberry sauce from scratch though.

So that was pretty much Monday.

Today I took more photos.

I took a photo of the Slipped Stitch Rib sock.

I'm not loving the heel.  I thought it would be neat to do the pattern on the heel flap, but it doesn't work.  Or maybe it's because I added 6 more stitches when I turned the heel because the foot was feeling a bit snug.  I'm not sure what it is, but right there at the gusset, it's kind of awkward.  And now I have to knit the second one the same way.

The shrug is done.  Fly, Becca, fly!

I dunno.  It's just....not right.  The pattern kind of sucks.  I debated about undoing the sleeve bind off and making them longer because it seems odd to have my shoulders and back so very warm and my wrists out in the cold.  The collar doesn't flip back properly, which is most likely my fault for aimlessly picking up stitches without regard for the pattern.  By then I'd decided the pattern was stupid anyway.

(Ignore my VPL.  It's laundry day.) The back of the shrug is huge.  It's so heavy and wide that it doesn't feel like it stays on my shoulders very well.  I'm kind of doubting that I'll really wear this thing and have entertained thoughts of ripping it all apart and using the yarn for an Einstein Coat.  Which is what I really wanted to make in the first place.

The body of the first Anatolian mitten is done, now I need to graft the top and knit the thumb.  Mittens, I believe, are another thing that ought to be knit two at a time.  As lovely as the mitten is, I'm less than enthusiastic about doing it again for the other hand.

And that's pretty much Tuesday.  Tomorrow is pie baking & cranberry sauce making day. 

Friday

Sorry about the boring title.  Every single title I thought of was a terrible pun involving rocks and you don't deserve that.

Of all the mornings to go on a field trip here:

we picked a really cold one!

I'm not sure who thought our visit to the Vulcan Materials quarry was cooler, the kids or the parents.  We started out way up on the rock ledge looking out over the pit.  Unfortunately, every photo I took from that spot focused on the chain link fence instead of the big hole way down below.  The giant trucks looked so strangely tiny from up there.

It was in the 40s and we were in the shade.  My kids were wishing they had listened to mom about dressing warmly.  Yeah, you may look cool, but you wouldn't be shivering so much with a hat on.  My dad's company provides the inspectors with work jackets and being the Accounts Admininstrator (a title I gave myself), I snagged myself one.  I'm not sure how fashionable I was, but I was warm enough in this big Carhartt canvas coat.  I felt like I needed a hardhat to complete the look.  My feet were nice and cozy in my hand knit socks.  I brought knitting with me, but my hands wouldn't hold the needles because they were firmly jammed in my pockets.   

We went to the Vulcan offices next and watched a hilarious video that the employees had made to educate kids about gravel and aggregates and the environment.  Set to the tune of YMCA, it featured "Rockman" and I wish I could remember the lyrics because it had us all giggling and the chorus was a round of "R-O-C-K!"  Obviously, Vulcan is a fun place to work.

There was some  Q & A about rock mining and I got a little nostalgic listening to them describe the explosive methods.  The demolition guy and I had a nice chat about fertilizer based explosives and blast ranges.  Then we formed a caravan and drove down to the bottom of the pit.  It took about a mile to get the 500 ft. down there and I realized that they probably ceased operations so that a bunch of home schoolers could gawk at the big drills and trucks.

I love that you have to climb 10 steps just to get to the driver's seat.  Somedays when the stay-at-home mom thing has me feeling like a loon, I will pretend I have a job driving one of these huge trucks up and down a mountain.

The tires on this thing were taller than our vehicles.  Our guide said that one set of tires for these trucks costs $72,000.  That's more than the first house I owned.

And look!  They gave out little zippered bags to keep your crochet hooks and stitch markers in.  Or pencils. Whatever.

Obviously, Vulcan rocks. (snort!)

Bright decisions

There I was, so proud of finishing my one little thing this weekend, that I went and stuck it into an envelope and mailed it off without remembering to take a photo of it.  It was a 4 inch garter stitch square to send to Kay, who is going to sew everyone's squares together into some sort of blanket for charity.  I used the yarn leftover from that very first pair of socks that I knit.  The post is somewhere on my old blog, but I clearly remember the yarn.  I spent a lot of time with that yarn.

Can you believe that I sorted out that whole mess, rather than just cutting it to pieces?  I really, really hate to cut out tangles and will spend whole evenings unknotting my yarn.  I know, I could be spending that time knitting.  I can't help it.

So I made my little square and it was very satisfying. 

I am on a finishing binge today.  I have done all of the knitting on the bulky shrug and now am weaving in the many ends.  It's a beast.  A wearable beast, but probably not something I'd wear in public.  But for keeping me warm while I play WordsPlay, it will do.

The pattern for the Cut & Paste Socks is complete.  I think it has been done for while, I'm just nervous about declaring it done.

Last night I finished the Slip Stitch Rib sock.  Ends are sewn in and everything.  It's a pretty sock, but one sock does not do me much good and no way am I going to begin the second sock right now.  I'm so in the mood for a bright sock.  I'm going to cast on Jaywalkers, a pattern I've been wanting to try since I first began sock knitting.  Oh, but which yarn to use?  I'm waffling between my Fiesta Baby Boom and my Misty Mountain Farms yarn.

The Fiesta Baby Boom:

The greens are a little brighter than shown here, and there's a deep wine color to set them off.

or the Misty Mountain Farms Jubilee:

As much as I love that Fiesta, the turquoise and purple in that Misty Mountain Farms is really calling to me.  Actually, I bought some yarn from Etsy this weekend that is screamingly perfect, but I hate to have the yarns that have been in my stash a while to get jealous if I cast on right away with a new kid.

I have turned the heel on the JKnits sock, which really needs a proper name.  Poor Mr. Greenjeans isn't getting much attention because I'm doing the sleeve decreases and that requires keeping track of how many rows and which stitches and I've not got the prolonged concentration for that right now.

I bought a 23 lb. turkey today. 

Revenge of the lady bugs

So Angela and I are eating dinner in Moe's last night and she tells me that Thanksgiving is next week.  I honestly thought she was yanking my chain.  Then I struggled to form a calendar in my head and nearly fell onto the floor when I realized she was completely serious.  Thanksgiving is Next Week.  Where the heck did the first part of November go?  I can't believe I have to buy a turkey already.

All day I've been telling myself "Just do ______ and then you can sit down and knit a while."  Put in another load of laundry, slice some fruit, go to the post office, fix the invoice, exercise, etc.  And here it is the day pretty much over and I have yet to knit a stitch.  I'm thinking I should knit a bit first, then do _____.  I really want to start a new pair of socks, but I'm determined to finish the slip stitch rib sock first.  It's going to be a lonely sock for a while, because I'm not in the mood to start the second one at all.

Yesterday was DH's last day home from work for a while and I decided we should take a photo for our Christmas cards.  Last year I didn't even send out cards, so this is me being really on top of things.  I didn't want to do anything formal, just regular clothes in the back yard.  I told DH I wanted us to pose on his trailer he built and he was so pleased when he realized I wasn't kidding.  Well, we had to do something other than just standing around and the trailer was already in the back yard.

Why, why on the one day I want to take a family picture, why is there a lady bug swarm??  They were like a freakin' plague.  It was insane. 

Here's the very first photo we took:

Okay, you probably can't tell, but there is a lady bug on my mouth!   The camera must have snapped just as it landed because I sure the photo would be of my "Ptooey!" spasm.

Here's one of the following photos:

By this time, I was about ready to quit.  I was irritated with the kids overreacting to the bugs.  I told them, "They're just lady bugs.  They are not biting you.  Just flick it off and don't have such a fit and ruin every sitting.  The more you mess around, the longer this will take."  Finally, we took a break and went in the house for a lady bug break and to look at the photos on the computer.

It took 3 sessions of trailer sitting followed by indoor breaks to get some decent photos, what with the bugs, the dog (I did not care about the dog being in the photo, but I was overruled.), the sun, and geez-a-lou the bugs!  I have never experienced so many #$*&!ing lady bugs.  You see how hard I'm trying not to cuss?  You better believe I was thinking it.

For those of you who won't be getting a Christmas card from me (which, you know, sorry, but I don't have your address) here's the photo that DH & I chose.  There was one that I thought was more flattering of moi, but I had to admit that the kids looked kind of goofy.  I think my arm looks huge and pale, but at least there are no bugs in my teeth.  Note the dog with her tongue out.  She didn't care for the lady bugs either and kept snapping at them.

There's a lady bug on my thigh.  Whenever we see this picture, the first thing we'll remember is the stupid lady bugs. 

Now I've blogged, so I'm going to sit and knit.