It is NOT a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Thank You Mr. Rodgers!!!

Signs that spring IS coming!

When it looks like this outside:

We start planting inside:

hands courtesy my friends Edie and Don-who thought I was nuts

Things start looking like this:

And signs of spring are everywhere!

If only I share with you the scents, the smell of wet potting soil just waiting for the little pansy plugs. The very "green" scent of a crushed geranium leaf. How vibrant a color the yellow pansies are! I've come home with dirt under my fingernails the past two days and couldn't be happier about it!

On the knitting front, I've started another pair of socks. (What else is new? I'm always starting socks!)

Mmmmm

I asked for a yarn color card from Black Water Abbey Yarns, and it came in the mail on friday. I have to say that the colors absolutely glow! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! I am sensing an order in my future, maybe one of their sock kits, to see how the yarns work.

I really am quite taken with the colors.

And now the Dixie Chicks are singing "Landslide". Perfection all around!

Smile Today!

200!

Wow!

Trade Anyone?


I have one full skein (and most of another skein that I had started winding into balls) of Lorna's Laces lace weight yarn that I have realized I am never going to use. I am just not a lace sort of girl. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought two skeins of it!

The color is "near solid" Old Rose. There are aprox. 1250 yards in a 4oz. skein, and the picture doesn't do the color justice. I will trade just the full skein, or both the full and partial one.

Let me know if you're interested. Leave a comment, and my email link is over on the left, by Wednesday the 26th. (And no, it doesn't have to be for yarn!) Coolest swap gets the goods!

WooHooHoo!!!

My comments are back! Thank you to everyone who sent me email letting me know that I was not all alone in that great big knitting universe! I loved hearing from all of you! :)

And, as a double WooHoo, tonight's knitting night! That's Barnes & Noble (in the cafe), Route 9 in Chestnut Hill, 7:30ish. Look for the folks with knitting needles!

So, I made it into work for about an hour and a half this morning.

I would have stayed longer, but I had the small one with me. Making it home in one piece definately had more allure that hanging around. Irina got to go with me because I forgot that preschool was closed today, so I promised her that she could. (Actually, I also forgot that Tony was home today, so he managed to get a little bit of time for himself)

On the knitting front, I'm still working on the back of the aran for Tony. I'd show you, but it looks the same. Only longer.

So, I've got plenty of knitting to do, enough hot chocolate to float a battleship, and I know that my family is home and safe. Life is cool.

(But it would be nice if my comments came back! Is anyone out there? Hello???)

More Snow?!?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Are You Insane?

Click here to find out! :)

I found a couple of New (to me, at any rate) Knitting Blogs! Howdy Folks!

Dorcas Knits

No Idle Hands (aka The Lady Who Knits on the Bus)

The Spirit Trail

Wallis Knits

So.....

*Puts hands in pockets and rocks back and forth whistling*

How ya doin'? Nice day we're having here. A touch cold, but sunny...

My hair? No, I haven't done anything to my hair. Nope, didn't lose weight. Nawww, I've been wearing these glasses forever!

Something's changed? Why, I'm sure I don't know what you mean...

Got out of the Valentine's cards easier than expected! *phew*

I convinced the small one that some Scooby Doo cards would go over even better than home made ones (heck, they're only 4!), and she agreed. Of course we couldn't find Scooby, so she picked...Barbie. I guess. I mean, I played with Barbie and I turned out OK. (Speaking of Barbie, has anyone else seen the ad for a pregnent Barbie doll called Happy Family Midge? I dunno. It's just kinda...weird. Creeps me out for some reason.) Anyhow, she latched onto them and wouldn't let go. And I actually managed to get her to write her name on some of them on her own! WooHoo.

And, yes, proof that I have been knitting

I've made it about one third of the way up the back so far. I'm learning to read a stitch chart, instead of writing out the entire pattern row by row, which is what I usually do so I can keep track of where I am. Of course it helps that it's an easy pattern, any major changes only happen once every 12 rows.

And now Biography is doing Clara Bow! Hooray! More quality knitting time!

Strange

We've got a white-out going on outside right now. Was that suppose to happen today? (All those sick of snow raise your hand and yell "Cabin Fever!")

It was good knitting tv for the past two nights, watching the Westminster Dog Show. I'll admit the I was rooting for the Newfie, but that's because I have a thing for big dogs. And isn't that Pekingese just the funniest thing? It reminds me of nothing more than a tribble.

And for all of the good knitting time, I managed to accomplish remarkable little. I've got some ideas percolating that I'm trying to work out. I'll just have to see how it goes.

Today we're going to have to start getting ready for Valentines Day. Irina wants to make all of the Valentine's for her classmates. She won't be convinced to go and buy a box of Scooby Doo valentines. Oh No! She has to make them herself! (Which means I get to make them, and she'll sign her name to the first three before she gets bored) I'm expecting a messy afternoon!

Today's Blog Brought to You By the Letters C-R-A-Z-Y

The short one's cold hasn't been getting any better. I would in fact say that is decidedly worse. And she was up for a good chunk of the night. I know because I was up with her. And she just absolutely refuses to sleep in her own bed! She'll start out there fine, but by three a.m. she's moved in with us and it's driving us nuts! Any suggestions? Anyone?

So this morning I am going to get her out of the house for a while by dragging her up to the Fabric Place to see if they have the spring edition of IK (which I can't find yet), and fondle yarn that I can't afford to buy right now. And as I know that she only got a few hours sleep last night I am almost guaranteed a nap (please, please,please!)

It's going to be a heavy coffee day, methinks.

Thank You, Thank You! :)

There is so totally nothing going on around here! I picked up a great basket at work yesterday to put my WIP's in, but I'm way too lazy right now to find fresh batteries for tha camera so I can post a picture. And while I have started the Ropes and Ladders cardigan for myself I just can't get into the rhythm of the pattern right now. I may be making it more complicated that it needs to be, but for whatever reason it just isn't grabbing me.

But I think that I've found a substitute pattern to do for myself. I'll find out if some of my stash will work for it. If not then I'll just have one less WIP for now.

I think she's feeling better...

If the fact that she's been boogie-ing around the living room to David Bowie and the Doobie Brothers is any indication. (Yes, I am exposing her to the good stuff) OK, the dark circles burned under her eyes don't look great, and she willingly took medicine so she could breath through her nose; but there were signs of life for a little while.

Sewed a sleeve on. Took it off again. It just didn't look right. And even though I've sewn the bottom hem edge and it isn't rolling anymore, it still wants to flip up. Hmmm...

Fixed it
(Yaah! Hooray!)

Now I'm slowy working on getting it finished, but Irina is in the process of coming down with a mega cold (poor kid's nose won't stop running), and is clinging to me tighter than a barnacle on the hull of a sunken pirate ship.

Actually, what I should do, now that she's temporarily detached herself to lie down on the couch, is go take a shower while I can!

I did it.

I sewed. I cut. I sewed the shoulder seams. I started picking up the neck stitches.

And it started falling apart.

After judicious application of chocolate/chocolate chip ice cream to my wounded self confidence I figured out what I did wrong. Instead of shortening the stitch length on my machine I (deep breath) lengthened it.
I can fix this. I will fix it. Tomorrow morning I will pull my machine out again, fix it so it is *not* sewing six stitches to the inch, and just sew around the neck and armholes again. Then I will knit the neck, sew on the arms, and be done.

Funny. I have to admit that I didn't panic when I realized that the stitches were coming out. Well, not completely. OK, I did swear. But, ya know, this is also the first time that I've ever done this, so I was kind of expecting something worse to happen.
And I did make it through the cutting! It was just like a friend of mine (who is an amazing seamstress) says: "When you're working with a piece of fabric that cost you $30.00 a yard the first cut is the worst. After that you realize that it's just another piece of fabric."

So, with best Scarlette O'Hara attitude in place, I will continue tomorrow, because "Tomorrow is another day".

We Now Return You to our Regular Blogging Topic
{Thank you to everyone for your comments/notes :) Mwah!}

I am so close to finishing the ABC sweater. I am literally at the casting off row...and it's taken me 24 hours to do it, because once I have the only thing left to do will be (cue dramatic music)...

STEEKING!!!
(crescendo)

I'm afraid. I'm very afraid.

I may just put it aside for a few days and think about it. Maybe. Or maybe I'll just do it and get it the heck over with. Maybe. Am I decisive or what?

Updates as updates are warranted. ;)

Beginning to bounce back

This is going to fall under the realm of TMI, I'm sure. But if it makes one person stop and think about themselves or someone they know, then it will be worthwhile.

I don't hide the fact that I live with depression. I don't like to say "suffer from" because I find that the phrase alone has negative aspects. Nope, I live with it on a daily basis. It is part of my life and part of what makes me who I am. I am not defined by the fact that I have a chemical imbalance, but it is in the definition of me (KIM: Wife, mother, knitter, garden center employee. Likes mystery novels, trips to Vermont, and her kid's crazy laugh. Can be seen frequently on the computer. Lives with depression)

However, I am unusual because I do talk about it! So many people don't because they are afraid of how others will see them. It's nothing to be afraid of, you can't 'catch' it like a cold, and it doesn't mean that I'm crazy. (I don't need depression as an excuse to be crazy!) It is just something that not a lot of people understand. But they should! Oh they should, they should, they should!!!

One of the aspects of my depression is something called Premenstural Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). Yes, the chemicals in my body that make me 'happy' are out of whack, and when I'm PMSing they sometimes get one hell of a lot worse. This goes beyond the usual cravingforchocolateI'mcrankyleavemealoneIwanttocry type PMS. No, no! This is more like giant industrial sized PMS with steel pointed toes mashing me to a pulp.

I mean, I'm sitting here typing this feeling OK, knowing that I'm up way too late and will pay for it in the morning, but relatively at peace with myself and the world. Two days ago, well...I can't tell you just how black my view of life and the world was because I don't know how to describe it so you would understand. It was a sudden plunge into a very deep hole.

And it can be just as quick a recovery, because when 'that time of the month' rolls around the chemicals in my body realign themselves once more the fog in my head lifts. It really can be like emerging as a whole new person. (And a much nicer one at that! I can be a real b!tch, above and beyond b!tch. Remember Mommy Dearest? That's mild.-not that I aim it at my kid!!! I try hard not to!!!)

Anyhow, that's where I've been the past few days, locked inside a black hole. Part of what gets me through is knowing that it is a temporary state, and that in a few days it will have passed. But it can be a very long few days. I'm coming out of it now, which is a relief. I even think the cramps are a good thing!

Anyhow, if you made it this far, click on the link above and learn more about PMDD. (btw-I answered yes to every question on the test). And if anyone ever wants or needs to talk, my mailbox is always open.