11.25.2005

One leg-warmer done! Knitting in the round is great. I'm running out of yarn, so checked out a yarn store here in Texas (Yarn & Stitches on Coit Road), but they don't carry the Noro : (

Paula, my sister-in-law, found several yarns she liked though. She's going to start two more scarves! She can knit in the van as we're driving cross-country. I can't though, it makes me sooo sick.

The weather has been much nicer here than at home. 50's and 60's. At home we got over a foot of snow on Thanksgiving! Glad I missed that one! The kids have been swimming outside in the pool all week here. This reunion has been really nice - to see all my husband's family and not for a funeral. It has been too long since we were all together. Two more days until we start the long drive back - 28 hours on the road - eeek! :p

11.19.2005

Jesse's second mitten is done! Instead of a poncho she wants a capelet, so I'm trying to create a pattern she'd like - I have a few vague references to go off of! She wants it out of Crystal Palace Iceland, so I've worked up a gauge swatch for it. I'll have to talk to the Knitting Goddess, Cynthia at the yarn shop to see if my idea for a pattern is right . . .

Abby's legwarmer is chugging along. I love the way the colors are blending! So pretty.

Kyle wants three fingered mittens. I'm not sure I can pull that off!!! I told him I would knit him regular mittens, but he still wants the mutant mittens. Boys.

The wife of one of my husband's colleagues is expecting a baby very soon, so I've started knitting the baby a blanket with some incredible *synthetic* yarn I fell in love with last spring. It was so very soft, like cashmere, I had to buy it. I know, buying yarn without a pattern, just because you like it - that hardly ever turns out well. But this yarn - Berroco Plush Colors Baby Mix - is so very very soft - it just makes your hands sing! I only bought two skeins, and I'm sure I'll need much more than that to knit a baby blanket . . . that means another trip to the yarn store.

Preop appointment went well yesterday. Got my second shot. Get ready for the mood swing rollercoaster!

11.17.2005

The Noro is knitting up so beautifully! I'll bring the leg-warmers to Texas and see how far I can get there.

11.13.2005

3 day weekend. How very nice! Finished Jesse's first mitten and got a good start on the second.

I get my second shot at the end of the week. Keeping our fingers crossed that it shrinks the tumor like it's supposed to. We won't know for sure until I go in for surgery.

Abby and I went into the yarn shop to pick her yarn, She decided then and there she wanted striped legg-warmers. Eeek! I told her my skills were not quite at that level, but we could look at a self striping yarn, if she could live with that (read: artistic daughter with definite ideas). We both fell in love with the Noro Kureyon. It's self-striping in a muted sort of way - makes me think of a Monet painting.



For her leg-warmers, I created a pattern, which I hope works . . . I measured the circumference of her ankle and her leg just below her knee, and then the length from the back of her knee to the top of her heel to figure out how long the leg-warmers should be and how many stitches to cast on. I'm going to knit up a gauge swatch first and then calculate how many stitches to cast on. I'm so excited - this is the first time I've done something like this!

11.08.2005

Making good time on Jesse's mittens. One is most of the way done. I like knitting with this yarn, and it is so pretty. It is just her color.

Things are a little nutty here what with work, preparing for the cross-country drive to the family reunion in Texas (in two weeks, !gasp!), preoperative screening and freakout about the surgery next month. Knitting is an awfully nice way to shut off my brain for a little while. It's getting harder to knit though, the Lupron has really made my arthritis quite bad. And I keep forgetting where I am in the knitting and have to start over again. Will I be this much of a space cadet with real menopause?

11.03.2005

Having a little trouble finding a pattern for the leg-warmers. Abby doesn't like any of the patterns we've found online and at the library. We're thinking of knitting them with Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride, the same yarn I made her mittens out of last December.

I've decided to knit up a gauge swatch with the size needles I'll use. SNB has pretty easy instructions for figuring out how many stitches to cast on, so I think I can figure it out.

I've started Jesse's mittens in Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride, a lovely purple color. They'll have extra long cuffs so her wrists won't get cold and snow chafed.

11.01.2005

Well, I've figured out what I'm going to make Jesse and Abby for Christmas. Abby wants wool leg-warmers. I'll make Jesse wool mittens to match the hat I made her in the spring. She wanted a poncho, but now she's waffling. Abby also wants me to knit the Kitty Hat in the SNB book, but I think I'll need a little help for that.