Christmas is coming

It's only August, and I'm already stressed about Christmas knitting. I'm trying to get these projects off the needles:
1. MS3 (goal to be done by the end of the Labor Day weekend)
2. Koigu Feather and Fan scarf (goal to be done by the middle of September for my mother-in-law's birthday)
3. Dad's socks (goal to be done by the middle of September for his birthday)
4. Clapotis (this is for me, but it would be nice to have done)
If I finish those things, I can focus on the following:
1. Husband's Christmas sweater
2. Mom's Christmas sweater
3. Another pair of socks for Dad
4. Hanami
5. Secret of the Stole KAL
6. Tulip sweater for ZEN christmas
7. Bee shawl
8. Tomato
9. Perhaps another Clapotis

This is looking to be more of a bah-humbug season than one filled with merriment and joy. And it's only August...

Finishing...and progressing...

ZEN's color block sweater from one skein is complete, even with buttons! I think I need to play around with blocking it again. It will be an outdoor sweater, because the wool isn't that soft, but I think it's cute. And if she ever has a brother, it will be easily adopted by a boy!

I continue to make slow progress on MS3 - just wanted to include proof! I'm jealous of everyone who has finished. I hope to be done by the end of next week, so I can give it to my dear friend, whose birthday was in JULY! I am also itching to cast on Hanami or the Bee shawl; I haven't decided which one, though. However, I am well aware that I can only handle one lace project at at time. I shortened the stole to suit my friend, who isn't quite 5-feet, but now I worry that it won't be long enough. I hope it stretches a lot with blocking!



And what's this? It looks like Shedir is growing, albeit slowly. I am enjoying the DK zephyr - we'll see how it matches up size wise. It seems OK so far.

It is really hot here, so luckily my friend's niece is probably OK for another few weeks while I finish it up. I would finish it faster, I hear, if I would teach myself to cable without a cable needle. However, I wonder if the time it would take to learn that would actually undermine my finishing pace?

Here's a picture of my progress on Clapotis. I love the yarn. I'm not sure if the colors are me, but I do think they're pretty. If they're not me, it will make a nice gift. It's such a trip dropping the stitches. I think that I might be a little too easily entertained! I plan to try to start another one with the Second Wave Clapotis KAL, which is starting late in September, I believe. That should be a fun group, too. First time Clapotis-ers and lots of veterans - it will be interesting to see all of the yarn choices! I have decided that I am a slow Clapotis knitter, so I may not be ready to start another one in time to play with the group. We shall see though.

ZEN was asleep and couldn't model her sweater (the fact that it's too big for her and that it's really hot here might also have had something to do with it), I'm putting in another cute baby picture, sans anything yarn-y. Awwww....

We are making a trip to Cincinnati this weekend. I plan to bring along my dad's birthday socks, my mother-in-laws birthday scarf, and clapotis. If I can make good progress on all three, I will be pleased. I will really need to focus on the two Christmas sweaters I am knitting, starting in October, so I'm trying to finish up lots of stuff now.

I love I love I love my little calendar girl...

Zen decided she wanted to take a shot at being a calendar model. My husband was horrified when I said that we needed to put her in her bikini because I was going to take a picture for a calendar contest. Had to calm him down and explain it wasn't a swimsuit calendar, just a knitty one!

Here are the pix. I know we don't have a shot at winning (the pix in past contests have been phenomenal!!!), but we had a good time. So here's my favorite calendar girl, modeling Jane of the Jungle from knitty summer 03. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer03/PATTjane.html
She's swimming in a baby pool full of blue yarns. And yes, her nose is a little yellow. She's been learning to eat veggies (carrots, squash and sweet potatoes can have this pigment effect, according to her doc).

I'm still struggling with picture placement, so sorry.

Lemmings and such

Can't sleep. I guess this is an opportunity to post another gratuitous cute baby shot. The other picture is of Daisy up a tree. Silly cat.



Helen "Of Troy" over at http://www.golden-apples.blogspot.com kindly offered some tips on photo placement and orientation. I'm still struggling, but hoping to have a prettier blog by 2008.

It's 11:16 p.m., which is past my bedtime. I need to be to work at 7, and my 32 year old body can no longer function on limited sleep. I suppose I could blame ZEN, but that's probably not entirely fair. She's a good little sleeper. I want to knit, but I don't want to go downstairs, because I worry I will fall asleep down there and not hear my alarm, and be late for work. There are solutions, simple solutions. I could knit the projects I have up here (a sock, but I'm too tired for size 2 dpns, or another special request by my husband from Naughty Needles, which I'm just kind of bored with for now). Downstairs I have Clapotis, MS3 and Shedir. Those are my happy projects on which I am focused. I am excited to knit on those. I guess I'm a bit of a lemming. I tend to pick projects that everyone else has done, or is doing. Is that my own insecurity? My own lack of creativity? My own laziness? Perhaps it's actually quite clever, tending toward the tried and true so as to avoid the pitfalls of unchartered territory? I'll be honest with myself; it's probably not the latter. My 32-year-old self has become aware that I am not particularly exceptional in any way, which is, I suppose OK. I am an OK mother, an OK wife, an OK knitter, an OK attorney. I suppose I am competent. When I was young, I had this bizarre belief that everyone had one thing that they were the best at - maybe it was styling hair, maybe it was neurosurgery, maybe it was hopscotch. I realize now that everyone doesn't have such a gift. Most people are competent, I think, at some things. I guess that has to be enough? I know that I will never be the best knitter; I will never be clever enough to design cool patterns (or any pattern!). I know that I will never be Mother of the Year, but my daughter seems to like me for the most part (of course, I kind of have her over a barrel with the breastfeeding; she may be less impressed with me after she's weaned). I would like to be a better wife. I am married to a man who is remarkable in many ways. He's not a Christian, but he embodies the qualities that so many devout people proclaim to be important. He has this amazing ability to not judge people. It's something that I cannot wrap my way too catty mind around. I know people (ok, fine, I'm related to them) who leave Mass, and complain about things the minute they're out the door - the sermon, the singers, the person in front of them who was snoring, the person who didn't put anything in the donation basket, etc.). I have asked these people what is the point of church if you leave angry like that. They have not provided satisfactory answers. I know many people who attend church (I am also related to these people), and truly believe and seem to strive to practice the tenets of their faith - it makes sens to me that they attend Mass. My husband is also an amazing father. He has stayed home with ZEN for her first 8 months of life. He has done this, and still kept his job, and done really well at both. I could never do that. I could never be a successful stay-at-home mom. It has to be so much harder than going to work every day. My job has some pressures, when we're litigating or negotiating, but at the end of the day, it's a job. I'm not a doctor, lives are not in my hands. ZEN's life is in his hands every day, and he makes it work. They have this amazing bond. I am sad that she has to start daycare part-time next week, because I know it's going to kill him. My husband is amazing, and yet I still manage to get so annoyed with him. How can this be? Why do I not just focus on his wonderful qualities, of which there are so many, and ignore whatever trivial thing bothers me? I don't know. I am trying to become more and more aware of it, and correct the problem.

I shouldn't blog at 11:16 p.m. I blather on and on until 11:33 p.m. I suppose that's ok - the anonymity of this blogging world makes it so.

Want some cool stitch markers? Go to http://www,weeones.etsy.com/. I don't have any myself yet, but a friend had them the other day, and they are ridiculously cute. What a talented person she is! She's remarkable. She is not a lemming!

Quick update

No pictures today, because I am still trying to figure out how to make them flow with the layout of blogger. I'll get there, but I am new to html and blogging, so it may take awhile.

Work on MS3 continues. I should be starting Clue 4 tomorrow. Clapotis also has grown. I'm to the straight rows, and dropping the stiches just makes me giddy. I haven't cast on for ZEN's tulip sweater yet, I need to rework the pattern for a larger size. I did cast on for the second sock for Husband's Christmas socks, and I casted on for my father's birthday socks. No update on the Annie Modesitt lace scarf or the Koigu Feather and Fan scarf.

A friend of mine has a lovely, wonderful, vibrant niece who has cancer - it is not breast cancer - I think it is non-hodgkins lymphoma, but I could be wrong on that. I am working on Shedir for her. I played with the yarn and needle size, so it may have to end up being a lightly felted Shedir. I am hoping to finish it fairly soon. Her hair is gone, but her spirits are high. Please think good thoughts for her and her family.

And finally, I was directed to a podcast that is new to me - We're Almost There - it is hosted by Wendy and Marty. They have been podcasting since October of 2006, so I will have to go back and listen to the older podcasts. However, their most recent entry points you to a blog that everyone should take time to view. I'll leave it at that - just go listen to the podcast to find out more and if you are in need of a serious dose of perspective. You can find it here:

http://werealmosttherepodcast.com/