Finished Grace's second square during the ketsu-ka tournament this afternoon. Finally. Ya know -- it's harder than one would expect to knit a five-by-five inch square. The gauge changes with each pattern, even when one is using the identical yarn. Most perplexing. But, I think most things are perplexing when my head hurts. I smacked it real good this morning at the barn and it has just hurt like hell all day. And my head is making me feel sick. Ugh. I think I was born without depth perception . . . in relation to my own body and whether or not I am going to run into/smack into something.

It was a beautiful sunny day - it actually got up to about 65 degrees. We could see the sunshine through the gymnasium windows as we watched the exhibitions, kata demonstrations and sparring matches. The kids and I really enjoyed it - and the highlight was watching DH spar for the first time in competition, only seconded by later watching the black belts spar. DH won 4th place and was awarded a very nice trophy. Pretty great showing for a first competition. We're all quite proud of him.

You know what this is? Yes - that's right - it's the new release, the 8th Pearl Jam album - due to be released on May 2nd.

Happy day! Happy day! It came in the mail today - Yipee! I'm so happy! Ok, so I sound a little silly - but hey - everyone should have something they're silly about!

I'm going to go listen to it again, and knit. Pearl Jam and knitting - now all I need is some chocolate and it'll be perfect!

Self Portrait Tuesday

I don't photograph well. I don't like pictures of my self because for the most part I look heavier, my skin tone is odd, my eyes are squinty - in short - there's very few photos that actually look like me. It's not just me, mind. Almost everyone who knows me and sees a picture taken at the same time they are there agree - the picture doesn't come out the way I look. There's worse things - I could just not show up on film every time a picture is taken, or I could break the lense (!).

I like this picture, though. I'm cuddling with my boy ten years ago. He'll be fifteen tomorrow and there's just no way we could both fit on the couch like this. I love him every bit as much as I did that day - and I think a bit more. I'm proud of him - he is growing from a fine boy into a good man. I think this picture shows who I really am and what truly brings me happiness - being a mom.

4.24.2006

Silly girl. I should know by now. I knit up the new pattern square, and it was pretty, and I was virtually done (at what should have been the cast off row) near the end of Medium, but at the number of rows I figured, it was short by an inch and wide by 1/2 an inch. If I was using the brain which God in his infinite wisdom gave me, I would have realized ahead of time (i.e. before I was on the supposed last row of the square) that the yarn gauge changes not only with the yarn you use, but also if you are using the same yarn, but a different pattern. So, I've frogged the pretty little square, reconfigured the pattern and am proudly forging ahead. because my brain's mighty powers are greater than simply knitting another gauge swatch. Stay tuned. Let's see if Cynthia gets to reknit the square a third time if her calculations are in error because she was too stubborn to knit a guage swatch.

4.23.2006

Cast on and finished my first square! Yippee! Started the second in a pattern I've never done before, but I think I have it worked out so that it'll be ok. We'll see.

I'd like to stay up and knit, but tomorrow is Monday, and as both the girls are going to the barn, I'd like to get up with them (5:30 AM), make them lunch and make sure they don't skip breakfast. So, it's off to tossing and turning for me!

4.22.2006

Took a drive, all alone to LYS and picked up some yarn for Bubba's and my Warming Grace squares. Some lovely shimmery pink and purple egyptian cotton and some pretty Brown Sheep wool pinks. I'll give Bubba the choice of what she wants to knit with and do up a couple of guage swatches tonight. I needed to pick up more Iceland to finish the capelet, but they only had one skein, and I think I need at least two more. I'll have to look into trying to find another skein or two of the same dyelot, so I think I'll have to wait to work on the capelet. This means we can punch out some squares for Grace and get them off in the mail to her aunt.

04.19.2006

Jesse's capelet is coming along. I am well done with the increases and am just knitting the pattern. I am a little worried about the end result, but I'll just have to wait and see. It is taking up much more yarn than anticipated, so I will have to make a run to LYS to replenish.

Tonight, I just found a heart-touching charity project for a little girl named Grace, who had leukemia but is in remission. You can find out more at her aunt's blog- Two Wooden Sticks and a Ball of Wool: Warming Grace .

Self Portrait Tuesday

When I was a teenager, I thought my feet were so ugly, most especially my toes. My mother had size five feet and my grandmother had size five-and-a-half, mine were enormous at size eight. And my mother's feet looked like they came straight off of a greek sculpture - delicate, elegant, slender. I so envied her feet. Well, truth be told, I envied pretty much everything about her - she was like a greek sculpture - she was so very beautiful and elegant and I was so not like her. My older brother used to tell me I was adopted, and I really believed him.

Here's the silly thing, though. One day, when I was thirteen and outside in my grandmother's gardens, I was looking at her sculpture of St. Francis - who I greatly admired (being a catholic school girl, I may have had a bit of a crush on him - I mean - he could talk to animals! How cool is that?). At any rate, I happened to notice that his second toe was longer than his first toe - just like mine! I was so happy that day. I didn't care so much that my other toes were stubby or that my feet were enormous - suddenly with that longer second toe - they didn't look quite so ugly to me. I felt almost pretty. It's funny what small things can take on so much meaning when you are caught up in the throes of being a teenager.

Easter Dinner

We had a lovely dinner with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and niece, but we couldn't stay as late as we wanted to after dinner because Jesse had to be up at 6AM for work tomorrow and DH had to be up early for Court. Still, it was so very nice seeing them - we hadn't had a visit since January (!) even though they are only about two hours away. Paula made an awesome baked ham and little Ally cooked zucchini and summer squash with garlic. Ally also made us cookies and cupcakes for dessert - what a talented little cook she is becoming. It was nice having all of us together - Jesse even came along as she actually had a Sunday off!

Kyle's cat mojo was in full swing - Inky (who does not like to be held) was letting Kyle carry him around much of the afternoon and evening. And then he discovered that Kyle had ham, so, against the rules, he sat in Kyle's lap during dinner, making Kyle very happy, and getting slipped little bits of ham.

Abby and Kyle and Ally played for hours outside while dinner was cooking, the weather was balmy in the mid-sixties and the sun didn't set until well past 6. It is so nice that spring is getting a hold on New England.Inky likes to sleep in Paula's big wooden bowl - he fits quite nicely - and it is easier for Bubba to reach him and sing to him.

04.15.2006

Today I knit - yes I actually knit. In the sun, with my Bubba girl, with the sound of the river rushing below, the circling hawks calling, the phoebes, robins, cardinals, chicadees and field sparrows singing. Some of the trees started to bud today and there are a few wisps of green grass sprouting here and there. Just one day of 70 degree weather and New England goes insane with life.

I knit again later, while enjoying some nice pinoit noir with DH and neighbor, listening to legal tales of woe. Not a peep about the hat or the scarf. *tear*

The capelet is starting to take shape - it may workout - I am feeling hopeful . . .

04.14.2006

Another no knitting week. Instead, we had the pleasure of completely pulling apart four out of the five computers, reformatting, reconfiguring, partitioning, swapping drives, reinstalling hardware and software, reprogramming the BIOS, ripping our hair out, swearing, getting about twelve hours sleep all week, as well as keeping the law office running and the family alive. So, I am posting because I actually have a working computer. All (knock on wood) the computers are now running, so I am going to go heat my heatpacks, curl up with a cat under a comforter (because it is cold and rainy out) and go knit for a while. Or, I may just fall asleep and drool into my pillow. Your guess is as good as mine.

And I leave you with a picture of Boy on his fourth birthday, because he is going to turn 15 (!) in a week-and-one-half. Can you believe it?

04.07.2006

I haven't done much knitting this week. Well, really, none at all since Monday night - and that was only a few rows. I had to work Monday, then got called into the office on Tuesday, again on Wednesday - and then Thursday as well. But, work went well, got some good work done and my boss and I got along really quite well. No anger, no raised voice - which, you must understand for a law office is quite idyllic. The payment for working so much this week was my son giving me flaming attitude last night and all day today. I then had a minor meltdown and very quietly took away his computer power cord. Which is apparently quite outrageous, as one should be able to game whenever one wants to, and definitely game instead of schoolwork, chores or eating proper meals, and the fact that I don't understand that is, well, I'm sure you know what it is. So, I'm fried and pretty depressed and when I went to pick up my knitting, the lovely child who I am knitting for decided that she should give me a dose of vitriol, so I looked at the knitting and thought "fuck it, I'm not fucking knitting for her" . This might possibly lead one to think that perhaps the problem is with me and I am actually the one being a bitch, but I must disagree withthat thought as daughter number 2 (Bubba) and DH are being perfectly normal and not cringing when I come in to the room, or whispering when I leave the room. As a matter of fact, the Bubba has been quite nice today, making the day a little less dark. I don't suppose the dark grey skies and rain helped much. So, by way of therapy, I took an alprazolam, ate chocolate, made black bean soup from scratch and stayed in my PJs all day. Damnit, I deserve a PJ day! Perhaps tomorrow, I will feel like knitting - or perhaps I will feel like starting another project and letting the capelet collect dust until mid-July.

04.05.2006

This is spring in New England. Would you believe it? Yes, I woke up to SNOW today. It's April. And it snowed last night. And it continued to snow all day. It's still snowing now as I post this. Isn't that just friggin' precious? And the poor phoebes and robins - their fledglings were awfully quiet today, so I am worried they'll die - because how many bugs can there be to eat when it's SNOWING???

Although, I do have to admit begrugingly, it is rather pretty . . .

04.03.2006

Made roast chicken with roasted vegetables for DH and boy and tuna pot pie for the girls tonight. The girls and I couldn't stop laughing - for some reason, the chicken just looked so . . . wrong.

Been working on the capelet - hmm - not sure if I like it. Have to wait and see how it knits up. It's much bigger - that's for sure. Should fit Jesse now.