Things Finished And Started

How was your weekend? Ours was very productive and successful!

Our poor, tired, drooping (and some headless) sunflowers are gone and the flower beds are clean. They look so much better now. I miss the sunflowers, but they were turning yellow and ugly so it was time to go.

We (and by "we" I mean "Ben" since I was out of steam by that point) ripped out the rest of the garden and got it cleaned up. Now we feel like there should be plants in there. So we figured if we can get compost in there in time we will try for at least a little winter garden.

We had clouds and thunderstorms Friday night and Saturday, complete with a little rain! It was so exciting. Although I'm pretty sure something around here caught on fire because I could smell it all Saturday night long. There's nothing more terrifying than waking up every few hours to the smell of burning. I never did figure out what it was. Perhaps one of the many dead fields of grass around here. The storm was very nice though. We haven't had a thunderstorm here in so long.

I have finished all these three things since Thursday. The (yay hole-less!) Berry Camo shawl. The brown ribbed mittens. And I started and finished the white Emilies in two days. Two days. I amazed myself! (Just tooting my own horn here.) Once I get good enough pictures I'll flood you with finished posts. Can't wait, can you?! Hehe.

I also started a little slouchy beret thing. I just started with some ribbing, increased the stitches by half (does that make sense?), and am working stockinette for the rest. I'll go until I think I have enough yarn left for the top and see what happens. I just wanted something to use this yarn on. Which I love. Love love love. It's Knit Picks Chroma in the colorway "Midwinter". It's 70% wool, 30% nylon and the structure is basically just a thin roving. It's so soft and delicious feeling. I got this ball as a bonus when I won a calendar from Knit Picks, and I would love more but it's $9 a ball, so it will have to be a splurge item sometime later.  I totally recommend it though!

I made a batch of cinnamon rolls Saturday, and we finished off the weekend with a batch of homemade Philly cheese steaks and fries. Let's just say I'm VERY MUCH looking forward to leftovers for lunch today. :)

How was your weekend?

Meg

A Jack Story

This happened at dinner last night and I laughed so hard I thought y'all would get a kick out of it too.

Last night we had BBQ baked chicken drumsticks, mashed potatoes and rolls for dinner. We were just about done and Jack wanted more milk. We told him he needed to finish his food before he got more milk.

Tyler gets down, puts his dishes away and leaves since he is done. Duder finishes up and does the same, Daddy is done and puts his plate away. And I am done and even start to wash the dishes.

All this time Jack is still munching away on his food very slowly. We tell him a few times to hurry it up and put his dishes away.

I am finally down to one dish to wash and I turn to him and tell him he needs to finish that food and put his dishes away because I am just about done washing.

He turns to me very earnestly and, pointing to his plate, says "I don't want to eat the bones."

Oh I laughed so hard. I laughed and laughed and laughed and had to catch my breath before I could tell him "No, baby you don't have to eat the bones. The bones go in the trash!" He smiled at my laughing and then asked for more milk since he had finished all the edible food. I gave him more milk and then laughed some more.

It was so hilariously adorable. He really thought he had to eat his bones before he could get more milk!

Happy Thursday,
Meg

A Whole 'Lotta Nothin'

I figured I'd check in just so y'all know I'm not dead.

There hasn't been a whole lot going on around here. This is one in a pair of mittens I'm working on. I cast on the second this morning.

The Berry Camo Shawl has been ripped back to the hole and is now being re-knit. When I got to the hole I was met with two little pieces of yarn, a long piece of yarn, and then the end of the yarn for the rest of the shawl (does that make sense?). All in all I had to re-attach one longer piece in between the first half and the second half of the shawl. I looked at the hole very closely and it looked like it got snagged on something and tore. The ends were frayed and torn looking. I'm just happy it didn't seem to be moths. So all is well now and I just get to do more knitting.

The craft show prep is under way. I registered last Tuesday after I went to the library. My sister is coming over this Saturday so we can go over set up and pricing and what we need, etc. I got some supplies (like price tags and receipt books) from Office Depot yesterday. I have no plan for a number of knits, I will just work until the show and see what I have. I have a feeling that if I shoot for a certain number I will stress out too much and I want this to be as fun as possible.

The biggest thing - and this is just for selling period, not just the craft show - is I've been wading through the FTC and CPSIA labeling laws. As of 2009 even hand/home crafters are required to have labels on their stuff. Since I am not only making garments & wearables, but I am working with wool as well so there's no way for me to get around it.

The FTC labels require fiber content, origin of manufacture and care instructions. The CPSIA labels are technically only required for things marketed to those 13 years and younger, but I will be adding the info to all my labels just in case. That one requires tracking information like item/batch numbers, place of business, etc.

It's kind of a pain in the butt since every piece I make is different, but I am going to make generic tags on printable fabric and then fill in the changing information with a laundry safe sharpie. Better safe than sorry - and in this case "sorry" is a $11,000 fine.

I've developed some kind of injury in my neck between my shoulder blades. I'm pretty sure it's a combination of knitting in my office chair (not great support) and trying to pop my neck too much (over did it). A bottle of Bengay, a borrowed  message pillow from Mimi and just trying to leave it alone will hopefully get it to stop soon. It's better today. That's mainly why I've been so quiet around here, just trying to stay out of this chair.

So, that's what I've been up to. Ben got Sunday and Monday off and it was really nice to have him for two days.

Hope your week is going well,
Meg

Finished Knit: Pointed Garter Scarf

Just posting the "official" finished post, so I can add it to my finished list. I started this back in February and it had been sitting in the stash closet until the end of last month. I needed something plain to work on while at my mom-in-law's. I started a new ball while I was there, and that night I finished the scarf.

Pattern: Pointed Garter Scarf by Meg

Yarn: Gedifra New Age in Teal - 98 grams/225 yards

Needles: US 9/5.5mm Brittany wood straights

Knitline: February 8th - August 31st

YTD Mileage: This scarf puts me up to 3.14 miles. 

Happy Knitting,
Meg

Tragedy

I was going to tell you how wonderfully productive I've been with my knitting.

Well, Pride goeth before a fall and all that.

Once upon a time I hand dyed some yarn with Kool-Aid, and started a shawl with it. I called the colorway Berries n' Cream. And the shawl I've named the Berry Camo Shawl, since that's what it was knitting up to look like.

I've been working on this plain shawl off and on for about two years now. It's usually stashed in my knitting bag and I use it as "conversation knitting" since it doesn't require any brain work.

Well yesterday I very proudly cast it off, and about an hour ago I put it in the soak bucket.

I pulled it out, squished out the water, and laid it on the blocking board to start the process of pinning it out. And then I gasped.

Can you see the problem? Here, let me help.

A GIANT HOLE.

I wanted to cry. I still feel like crying. Literally years of work, shot to heck. (Ok, it would have taken me way less than two years, had I actually stuck to it.)

I have no idea how it happened. I don't know if the yarn broke from stretching, or if it got snagged on something, or what.

I don't think I'm going to try to fix it. I think it would distort the fabric to much. So now it's hanging up to dry and I'll *sigh* rip the whole thing out. I love the yarn, so I think I will splice it at the break and reknit the shawl.

Man. Here I was all proud that I had another thing done.

I did finish a Pointed Garter Scarf, though.

Hope your knitting is better than mine,
Meg