Happy 25!

Yesterday was my 25th birthday, and it was a good one. Actually, the birthday celebrations began on Sunday when Michael surprised me with tickets to the Spokane Symphony. I had been told that we were meeting my parents and in-laws at some fancy restaurant in downtown Spokane for dinner to celebrate my birthday at 3:00 in the afternoon. I thought this a slightly odd time, but who am I to quibble about such details when someone is wanting to do something nice for me. We left pretty early to get to Spokane ostensibly "to give extra time because of the bad weather" (it was raining/snowing at the time), but still got into downtown around 2:20. As we drove past the newly remodeled Fox Theatre, Michael said "Oh, look, it's the Fox Theatre. Since we're so early and we're going to park close, maybe we can go in and check it out on our way to the restaurant." At this point we saw a member of the Spokane Symphony walking across the street in front of us, fully decked out in tails and carrying his instrument. At this point I said, "Michael, I'm pretty sure there's a concert today, I don't think we'll be able to just go in and look around." Michael didn't really respond and began to pull in to the parking garage where there was a sign, which read "Spokane Symphony Event Parking $5."

"Do you think they'll make us pay $5 since we're not going to the symphony?"

"Well, actually," with a flourish, "we do have tickets. Happy Birthday!"

They played a wonderful program, including Mozart's Overture to The Magic Flute, Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. It was amazing. Afterwards we went to dinner at the restaurant in the Davenport. It was a lovely evening.

Yesterday on my actual birthday I got to leave work early in honor of my birthday. I usually get off at 5:30, but yesterday I got to leave at 3:00. We went to my parents' house for pizza, cake and ice cream, and presents. I got new jeans, since I am shrinking out of all of my pants, the new Harmony Guides for knitting stitches, a great big non-stick skillet (mine are all too small for the things I cook in them), a gift certificate for a massage, and yarn for a gorgeous sweater I want to make.

Speaking of yarn...

I just bound off the stole I'm making for my mom for Christmas. All that remains is weaving in the ends, washing, and blocking. My socks are nearly done (I might finish them when I'm done writing this), the sweater still needs to be put together (maybe this weekend?) and I finished the pants for my friend's baby and started working on the blanket. The pants turned out really cute, but they're a bit too big. I'm going to make another pair, but I'm going to size them down for a newborn. The baby's coming on December 10, so I need to get started soon. But things are progressing nicely.

Four Day Weekend

May I just begin by saying that four day weekends are lovely. I now work four 10-hour days per week, so I regularly get three day weekends. This week we had Monday off for Veteran's Day (ah, the joys of working for the government), so Michael and I got to enjoy a leisurely four day weekend. Not only that, we will get another one next week because of Thanksgiving. It's wonderful. I spent much of my weekend knitting. I'm nearly done with the sweater for Michael. I'm almost done with the second sleeve, then I need to put it together and knit the trim around the neckline. I anticipate finishing it this coming weekend. I'll post photos when it's done. It's not much to look at just yet. My other Christmas project, the stole for my mom, is well under way. It's called the Voyager Lace Stole, and you can view the pattern and photos of it here. I just realized this weekend that at the bottom of the lace chart it says to repeat the chart 40 times. I just finished number 17. So, I'm almost halfway done, but still have quite a way to go. Not too bad though for two weeks and two days of work. Again, pictures will be posted later. Probably not until after Christmas due to the fact that my mom knows I'm knitting it for her and she's not allowed to see it until Christmas Day. My second sock is nearly to the turn of the heel, which is nice. I'll be glad when it's done, as I'll have a complete pair. My first pair of hand-knit socks just for me! The only other socks I've knit were baby ones for my niece, as mentioned last time. Last night I began yet another project. My friend Cynthia is pregnant and I am knitting her baby a cute pair of pants out of really soft wool yarn. I'm most of the way done with the first leg. The nice thing about knitting baby clothes from worsted weight yarn is that it goes pretty quickly. I'll post some photos of those when they're done, but if you'd like to see the pattern, you can go here. Enjoy!

On Nieces and Knitting

So, our nieces came to visit a couple weeks ago, and let me tell you, they are cute. We had lots of fun getting to play with Allyson and Lauren. Uncle Michael was dubbed "Michael-Michael" and I became "Attah." Here is a picture of both girls. Allyson is the older one, and Lauren is the baby. We went up to Greenbluff north of Spokane and got apples and pumpkins and rode on a little train. We also stopped at an alpaca farm. Allyson loves animals, and was excited to see some. While they were here, I got to give them the things I'd knitted for them over the last few months. I made Allyson a really cute sweater that I got the pattern for from lionbrand.com. She looks adorable in it, as you can see.
To the right is a picture of Allyson and I before we left for Greenbluff. Isn't she cute? Both girls loved Michael. He's great with little kids, and babies are fascinated with him anyway. I think it's because he doesn't have any hair either. Here's a picture of Lauren laughing like crazy while Michael was playing with Allyson.And here's a picture of Allyson with her Michael-Michael.


I also made Lauren a pair of socks and a blanket, pictured below.















Since then I've been knitting like crazy on a pair of socks for me (one's done and I've started the other), a sweater for Michael (it's getting close to being done) and a lacy scarf for my mom. I'll post pictures as they are completed. I also have a sweater for myself on the needles, but it's on hold for now due to the volume of other projects. I'm also going to be starting a couple things for a friend who is pregnant, but I need the patterns first. I'll keep you all posted!

Fall Is Here

So, I think it's pretty much official. Summer is over and fall has arrived. The leaves are changing and falling, and it's definitely cooled off. Last week it was still regularly in the 80's, and it's not expected to get much above 70 anytime soon. I always enjoy the changing of the seasons, which is one of the reasons I wasn't a big fan of Texas. There are basically two seasons in Abilene: hot and less hot. Now, back up north, I get to experience all four seasons. It's nice. My only regret is that I can't nap in this perfect napping weather. I love napping when it's rainy. Or just curling up on the couch with a blanket, a book, and a mug of hot chocolate. Mmmm....I do enjoy cold weather clothing and cold weather activities.

News Of a Piratey Sort

My friend Katrina has informed me that it is National Talk Like a Pirate Day (Arr!), so in honor of that I present you with my pirate name:

My pirate name is:

Red Bess Flint

Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

The New York Phil's Opening Night

Last night was the New York Philharmonic's Opening Night concert. And I got to watch it. Granted, it was on PBS, not in person, but it was still fabulous. They played a program of pieces all by Dvorak (for the uninitiated, it's pronounced "de-vor-zhak". It should have a little upside down ^ symbol above the r, but I don't know the keyboard command to do that. Anyway, he was Czech, thus the odd pronunciation.) It was great. Yo-yo Ma played the Dvorak Cello Concerto, and, of course, played wonderfully. I was in awe. The broadcast started at 8:00 pm and didn't get done until 10:00, so I stayed up too late. 5:45 comes quickly when you're not in bed early enough. Despite that, it was a wonderful close to the evening. After work I was able to make dinner quickly (it's amazing how remembering to thaw the chicken ahead of time speeds up cooking times), then I practiced for about an hour. It's wonderful to be playing again. I'd missed it more than I realized. The five grad school rejections in quick succession were just too much for me, I guess. That's really why I stopped playing for so long. Now that I am playing again, it makes me miss Boston and the opportunities that I didn't take advantage of while I was there. At least I'm playing and teaching again. And I still get to hear some of the best orchestras in the world, just on PBS rather than in person.

Slacker

So, I haven't posted in almost two months. What can I say? I've been busy. We've finally moved into our own place. It's small, but great for us, and the price can't be beat. It's an apartment, so we have shared walls, but one of our neighbors we can't hear at all, and the other one is on the shared wall in the bathroom and the spare bedroom, and we can hear the TV in those rooms during the evening when we're home. He's hard of hearing so he turns the TV up loud, which is the only reason we hear it at all. Blogging has also fallen by the wayside largely because I spend 8 hours a day sitting in front of a computer, so doing it at home isn't entirely appealing. But, for you, my loyal readers, (who I'm sure no longer check my blog) I will try to blog again. I've been knitting a lot in my spare time. I've finished a blanket for my friends Matt and April, who had a little girl, Erica, on May 5th. I have progressed on to a blanket for my new niece, Lauren, who was born on May 13th. She'll be getting that in August, when Justin and Amy and the girls move up to Seattle from Houston. We're all very much looking forward to that. I'm also knitting a little sweater for my niece Allyson for when they move up north. Other than that, we've both been working a lot and going out an about a lot. There's always something going on.

Blech

I don't feel good. It all started yesterday afternoon. Michael and I were driving around checking out neighborhoods of potential rental properties. After a while my head started hurting and I started feeling sick to my stomach. I have a tendency toward carsickness, so I thought that's what it was. I convinced him to take me home and I went immediately to bed. I actually started crying a little I felt so horrible. I slept for about two hours and missed the thing we were supposed to go to last night. Of course I couldn't sleep last night when it was time to go to bed, though I still didn't feel good. I awoke this morning fighting waves of nausea and decided to make use of my meager four hours of sick time. At least I'll get paid for half the day. So, I've been reading and watching TV, drinking 7up and eating toast. Hopefully I'll feel better by tomorrow. I hate feeling yucky. It's no fun.

Paper Cuts

I started a new job last week. I'm working in the prosecuting attorney's office for the county at the front desk. I answer the phone and talk to people who come in (ask me about my favorite visitors thus far). I also build and schedule the dates for traffic infractions and misdemeanors. It's fairly interesting, I stay busy (which means, not bored), and the people are nice, so it's pretty good. It's much better than the last place where I felt bored and unappreciated. Also, I don't support one particular person, so no one's breathing down my neck if they don't like something I did. And, if a file gets lost it happens so much that no one seems too perturbed, we just order another report and bug the records people. The biggest downside to my job is the paper cuts. Last week I ended up with five or six, and I've gotten two so far this week (one per day isn't bad). The one from yesterday is on the webbing between my thumb and first finger on my left hand and the other one got my cuticle on my right middle finger. That one really hurts, especially since I kept catching it on things all day. Hopefully I'll learn how to avoid them better, but for now paper cuts are the bane of my existence.

Interruption

I just needed to post a quick little addendum to let all interested parties know that I finally have a job. Starting Monday I will be working in the Prosecuting Attorney's office for Kootenai County. I will be a Senior Clerical Aide. I had the interview yesterday morning, they had me go wait in the conference room for a bit while they checked my references and deliberated, then called me back in and offered me the job. Apparently they liked me.

Part 2

So, my series idea was originally that I would post about these women on three consecutive days. This, as you can see, didn't happen. What can I say, I'm kind of a slacker sometimes. Moving on, the second woman that has had a large impact on my life is Shari. I knew her for so long, and she seemed like such a permanent fixture in my life for so many years. Through her life she taught me so much, and in her death she brought home to me that life is transient, and no one is here forever. When she died of breast cancer I was in Abilene, TX in my sophomore year at Abilene Christian University. I was unable to attend the funeral, but I did write something to be read at her funeral. I have no idea, really, if they did read it, but I will post it below. It is a good summation of what Shari meant to me. Here it is:

I am truly at a loss to put into words all that I would like to say. It was suggested that I choose a memory to share, but even that seems nearly impossible. I have known Shari almost my entire life. Selecting just one of the many memories made in the last 19 years or so is difficult, to say the least. However, I shall try.

Over the years Shari has taught me many things. From the time I was a five-year-old in her kindergarten class to just this last summer during the short time I was home, I’ve learned from her example. One thing that constantly stands at the forefront of my mind when I think of Shari is when I was learning to read. We all got to take turns reading aloud with her one-on-one. I remember looking forward to that time the most during school. After mastering the first little books, Shari, or Teacher, as I called her at the time, would have me read some of the shorter, easier Psalms from the Bible. I believe those times cemented my love of reading and my love of the Psalms.

More recently, Shari has taught me what it is to be courageous and dignified, while still keeping a Christ-like spirit. Never once dwelling, or even letting me dwell, on her sickness, her concern was always for others. The last time I spoke with her was when I called her this last time she was in the hospital. She answered all of my inquiries into her well-being as briefly as possible, and soon countered with a question of her own that required a much more detailed explanation than my questions. I have been loved by and have loved Shari from the time I was a very small child. Knowing her has been one of the greatest blessings of my life and I will cherish her memory until the day I can see her again.

9-23-02

To My Mother, Just 'Cause

Lately I've been thinking about the women in my life who've made the greatest impact on me. Lots of people come and go and leave impressions of varying depth, some more noticeable than others. In this spirit I have decided to do a series of posts as tributes to these women. The first person who immediately comes to mind is my mother. While most people's mothers are good (there are of course some crazy women out there who do very bad things to their children, but I think that they are by far the exception, rather than the rule) there are so many people who do not get along with their mothers. I have been blessed in that my mother has not only been a wonderful parent, but also one of my best friends for many years. One of the hardest things about having been so far away for the last several years was not being able to see my mom. Sure, we talked on the phone for long periods of time, sometimes nearly every day. But it's not the same as being in the same place. You can't do things together. And there are things that you just don't want to talk about over the phone. She has guided me through so many struggles, and continues to dispense her wisdom. She has supported me through everything and let me choose my own way, while still making sure things were right. When Michael and I would come back to visit we would always split the time between his parents' house and my parents' house. At first he didn't understand why I insisted on staying with my parents, after all his parents have a queen size bed, while here we have to sleep on a double (we're used to sleeping on a king size bed). But I have to stay with my parents after being away for long periods of time in order to reconnect. If we were staying in separate houses my mom and I can't stay up talking until after midnight, when we should both probably be in bed, laughing and just enjoying each other's company. I love spending time with my mother. It is from her that I have learned what it means to be a wife, and what it will mean to be a mother (though, that prospect is still far away). If I am able to raise my children half as well as she raised hers, I will consider myself fortunate. I love you, Mom.

On The Nature of Colds

The last few days have mostly been spent under a pile of used kleenex. Lovely image, isn't it? My family has been passing around a cold over the last couple weeks, and I was the last to fall victim. Normally I dread colds and do everything in my power to avoid them. This is because, in my experience, what is just a normal run-of-the-mill cold in anyone and everyone else that blows over in a few days turns into a raging infection once it takes hold in my head. The normal course is that it progresses normally for a few days, lulling me into a false sense of "maybe this one won't be so bad," then, just when I should be getting better, WHAMO! it turns into a sinus infection. I have had enough of these that I can recognize them with a certain amount of accuracy, but, lulled as I have been, I hope I am wrong and delay the inevitable visit to the doctor's office (this is combined with my general dislike of going to the doctor, as they are prone to poke you with sharp things like needles at the least provocation, and, despite my vast experience with my upper respiratory system and it's usual m.o., they often don't believe my diagnosis and protest my requests for antibiotics so that the infection doesn't spread). This leads me to the next step. When untreated as a sinus infection, the "cold" moves into my chest and becomes bronchitis, thus I am infected from the top of my head to the bottom of my chest. Doesn't that sound like fun? The last time I let it go that far I ended up at an urgent care clinic (in Abilene) with a fever of approximately 101 degrees, where they insisted on giving me a steroid shot "to help me feel better." Upon receiving the shot I immediately felt worse, mostly due to the fact that the nurse basically punched me with the side of her fist and a hypodermic needle coming out of it. Michael almost punched her.

Fortunately, this cold doesn't seem to be one of those. While I just admitted that I often try to convince myself that my sinus infection really isn't one, I always know that it really is one. This time, I really am starting to feel better when I should, not worse. Perhaps this is because I am able to get all the rest I need, since I have no obligations such as school or work to get in the way. We are still hoping for a change in that status before too much longer, so as to facilitate our ability to not live with our parents forever. For now, my only wish is that I did have my own place so that I could go to the soon to be closing local animal shelter and adopt a dog before they "terminate" all of them. I want a puppy dog.

Gasp!

Prepare yourselves. I have a confession. I just spilled approximately eight ounces of water all over the computer desk and floor in my parents' basement. I came down to innocently check my email, look up a few random things, surf around a bit and I brought my water with me as I tend to be thirsty most of the time. New rule for Jessica: all beverages must be at least three feet away from the computer and related equipment or in a container with a closed lid. After the spill I ran up the stairs to the kitchen and grabbed a towel to try to mop up the mess. After about ten seconds of trying to get the corner of the towel to absorb the droplets of water in the crevices of the keyboard I gave up and went for reinforcements: paper towels. They seemed to do the trick, being thin enough to fit between the keys to absorb the little drops hanging out waiting to cause irreparable damage to my mother's still fairly new computer. I used the towel for the giant puddle on the carpet. Fortunately, nothing terrible seems to have happened, and all of the keys of the keyboard seem to be in working order. (Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to type this.) I wasn't planning on posting tonight, but for some reason I felt the need to air my clumsyness to the world. There you go.

Purses!

So, I have finally finished my mom's felted purse. I finished with the knitting and the felting nearly two weeks ago, but actually put the finishing touches on it (i.e. the pocket and the snap) on Saturday. This was due in part to a snap conundrum (how to attach the snap to the flap without having to look at the back of the snap on the front of the purse? Solution: make a little patch, attach the flap half of the snap to the patch, sew patch onto flap and voila) and also because of my general dislike of hand sewing the pocket and snap patch onto the purse. But, when it finally came down to it, it wasn't so bad after all. It was seen at church on Sunday and I'm sure will make more appearances in the future. But, for those of you who were not fortunate enough to see it in real life, here are some pictures.


Also, here is a photo of the purse prior to being felted.


Anyway, I have moved on to other purses. I am in the process of making a tote inspired purse for the Coeur d'Alene Christian School auction. I think it'll look really neat when it's finished and I'll definitely post a picture of it. Also, I am in the process of making a purse similar to my mom's for my mother-in-law. Unfortunately it has been relegated to the back burner for now, because the purse for the auction has to be finished by February 13 (one week from today, I might add). My mother-in-law's purse should have been finished already, but due to some unfortunate decision making I had to rip the whole thing out and start all over. So, it's been restarted, but is going much slower since I'm focusing the majority of my time on the other one. I'm hoping to have the main body of the auction bag finished by Friday and have it felted on Sunday, giving me Monday to sew in the details. We'll see how well that works out.

The End of January

Well, it's the last day of January, and, therefore, my last chance to post for this month. Today isn't particularly exciting. No more than the usual. Last night I was the pronouncer for the Seventh Grade room for the Private School Spelling Bee hosted by the Coeur d'Alene Christian School. I read the words and my mom was the judge who deemed the spelling "correct" or "incorrect." The entire thing only lasted about a half an hour. But, the first and second place winners get to go to regionals. Anyway, today I hung out for a while, then I decided to go for a walk. I got all bundled up and went outside. Bentley, the dog, wanted to come with me, but I don't know if he has a collar or leash, so I left him at home. It was nice. It felt good to be out of the house (Monday I didn't leave the house at all, nor did I leave the house on Sunday) and moving, rather than sitting on the couch watching television. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed January and we can all look forward to a fun filled February.

Soreness

For some reason I am overwhelmed by the desire to post on my blog. This is not a particularly common occurrence (as evidenced by my meager postings for the month of January as compared to November and early December), but I feel the need to let everyone know how I'm feeling right now. Not particularly fabulous, I must admit. My back is ridiculously sore and I've had a raging headache for most of the day that nothing has put more than a dent in. I didn't get up and go to church this morning, as I had fully intended to do, because Michael and I got up, I took a shower, we conferred afterward and decided we both felt pretty awful and went back to bed. The fact that I could barely stay upright and keep my eyes open at the same time contributed to this, paired with the aforementioned raging headache and acute soreness. I'm still tired, despite all the sleep I've gotten today. What has reduced me to this state? The Tweener's Retreat at Camp Prince's Pine. And I didn't even stay for the entire thing. Friday evening Michael and I drove up to camp geared up for a fun filled weekend of snow and fellowship. Our expectations were met in full, somewhat dampened, however, by Michael's stomachache. This was the reason for our premature departure last night. The retreat was scheduled to last until this afternoon. We did have a lot of fun, though. I lost track of how many times I went tubing down the hill. A family from church composed of two parents and nine children came up for the day yesterday. One of the younger ones, three year old Aidan, attached herself to me after I saw her watching everyone barreling down the hill on inner tubes and I asked if she wanted to go with me. She looked at me and solemnly nodded. Thus our partnership was sealed. Every time we went down she would get off the tube and say "Again! Again!" We took a break to go eat lunch, then she coerced someone else to get my attention to go outside with her to do some more tubing. After holding myself and a little girl on a tube at least 10 times it's no wonder my back, biceps, triceps, and various muscles in my lower body are rather sore. My muscles are not accustomed to this kind of treatment. I did eventually decide that I was simply too tired to go anymore, and she found someone else to go with. It was a fun day, and I'm glad we went.

Interview

Well, I'm sure some of you must be wondering how my interview went yesterday. In short, it went well. I'm quite certain I will be called for a second interview, I'm just not certain when that will be. Toward the end of the interview, the lady I was interviewing with (her name is Jana, and I said a variant of the word "interview" way too many times for 4 sentences) began discussing the second interview and told me to think up some more questions to ask the man I will meet for that interview. So, she didn't come right out and say "You're going to have a second interview" in so many words, but she might as well have. Otherwise, why bring it up? It seems like an exciting job. If you want to read the whole description, go to www.mda.org and click the "Employment" link, then click the "Case Aid" link. Hopefully I'll be hearing from them in the next day or so to schedule the next interview.

In other news, my mom's purse is drawing to a finish. It is being constructed in two pieces (therefore I have dubbed it the "Two Piece Purse") and the first piece is finished and I should finish the second piece tomorrow. Once the pieces are finished, they will be sewn together, then thrown in the wash in hot water for two cycles. Once complete, it has only to dry and it will be done. I'll post a picture. But, you local folks will likely see it around, as my mom will be using it at church at least some of the time.

It's Snowing!

I'm looking out the window into the back yard and the wooden fence, birdhouse, and trees are all covered in snow. And more is coming down. It's so gorgeous, and I get to sit inside, knit, and watch the snow fall. I think I'll go make some hot cocoa.

Look Both Ways

Last night on our way back to the house we saw four deer. I believe I've mentioned previously that my in-laws live near the base of Canfield Mountain, and, as a consequence, we frequently see deer roaming around. Last night we saw a deer look before crossing the street. We were about to turn the corner to get to the house, and there was a deer standing on the corner looking at us. Three other deer had already crossed and were waiting for it. Michael stopped when he saw the deer, the deer waited for a minute, then realized we weren't going to keep going and crossed the street. Who knew that deer moms teach their kids to look both ways before crossing the street? And it sticks with them into adulthood.

On a completely different note, Michael got a job today working for the IT department of the Idaho Department of Transportation. We're excited. It pays well for here, and he starts on Monday. Yay! Also, I have an interview with the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Monday at 1:00 pm for their Case Aid position. Wish me luck!

In the knitting department, I've almost finished the first of my pair of fingerless gloves. I have to do the ribbing around the thumb part, and that's it. I also started working on my mom's church purse. I did a test swatch and felted it yesterday, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I also have a better idea of how much everything will actually shrink, which is good. Well, those are my news updates. Have a great day!

Things I've Learned Recently

Sheep yodel. I learned this from my friend Caleb. He's three (almost four). He's the son of my friends Paul and Katrina who invited Michael and I out to lunch yesterday after church to the local gourmet restaurant known as Wendy's. We had a lot of fun. The kids both got kids' meals which came with the sheep from Charlotte's Web. Caleb was playing with his and yodeling. We decided he must've seen a yodeling sheep on a cartoon or something. Katrina said something along the lines of, "I hope he doesn't think sheep actually say that." Upon questioning, in Caleb's world sheep don't go "Baaa" they say "Yodellay-he-hoo!" It's true. You learn something new every day.

I've also encountered the joy of knitting on extra large toothpicks. Okay, so they're not really toothpicks, but they sure do look a lot like them. They're double pointed knitting needles (knitting needles with a point on each and and much shorter than standard straight knitting needles) in size 0 (in metric it's the 2mm size). I'm knitting some fingerless gloves from a pattern I found on a knitting blog (www.eunnyjang.com/knit, if you're interested). The pattern writer called them Endpaper Mitts. I plan on wearing them to help keep my ridiculously cold hands slightly warmer, while still retaining the full use of my fingers. So, I started yesterday. They're knit on size 0 needles and size 2 needles. I haven't gotten very far, but I think they're going to look cool. They're in burgundy and white. I'll post photos as they progress. This is project 2 of 3 that I'll be working on simultaneously. I started another sweater (I had the yarn sitting there, staring at me as if to say, "Well, what are you going to do with me? Huh? C'mon, get started!" and I hadn't yet been to the store for the yarn for the fingerless gloves, so what else was I supposed to do?) It's in Autumn Red, and it has cables all over it. The progress will be much slower than on the last sweater for a few reasons: 1) it's much more intricate than the last one, 2) it's on much smaller needles than the last one (size 6), and 3) I'm working on two other projects at the same time. My last project is a purse for my mom. It will be felted. Felting, in case you don't know, is what happens to wool when you throw it in the washer in hot water. It shrinks it up and fuses the fibers together, making it sturdy and great for bags and purses. It'll be dark brown (as per her request) and will be a "church purse" (which in Mom-language means a smallish purse for the main purpose of using at church, as opposed to her regular purse which is large and seems unnecessary in certain situations, i.e. church). We actually just bought the yarn today from a cute little shop on Third Street called Harmony Yarn. I haven't started the purse just yet, but intend to tomorrow. I'm making it up as I go for this one (rectangles aren't very hard to make after all), so I'm still formulating a plan of attack. If you would be interested in a church purse, or any other type of purse for that matter, let me know and we'll talk. I'll let you know how this one goes.

Ha!

Victory is mine. I have beaten into submission my sundry bits of knitting. I gave up on my little get things wet then pin them out to dry idea and took a wet towel and an iron to it. I read somewhere that heat was bad for synthetic yarns (which is what I used), but in my experience it works much better than the non-heat option. Here are a few photos of what things looked like.

Here is a sleeve straight off the needles, nothing done to it:

Notice the extreme curling of the edges.

Here is the back piece after being pinned out to dry, but before ironing:

Notice how the edges are still quite curled, though not as badly as in the previous photo.

Now, here is the sleeve after it has been ironed:


While the edges still curl slightly, it is nothing compared to the previous two pictures. Thus I was able to finish blocking all the pieces and sew it together last night. I am actually wearing the sweater right now. It's currently an open front cardigan, but I think I am going to get some toggles to close it with later today. I'll post a photo when it's all done.

On another note, Michael and I went to Target earlier to purchase a new pair of clippers. His other ones died today (we've had them for over two years) and had to be dumped in the trash. While at the checkout counter I noticed that there were already swimsuits out on the racks. Swimsuits? It's January! In North Idaho! Did I miss something? Why are swimsuits already out en masse? I don't start thinking about swimsuits until April or May. What is going on? Crazy Target swimsuit marketing people...

Grrrr...

So, I promised last time that I would tell you all about the blocking process. Blocking, in case you don't know, is something done to knitted objects to make sure they're all the right size (you can stretch things a bit with blocking) and to flatten them by getting them wet and pinning them mercilessly down and leaving them to dry. Due to limited numbers of pins and space limitations I am only able to block one piece at a time, and the sweater is composed of five pieces. I am now on piece number three (I've blocked the back and one front piece, the second front piece is drying currently, and the sleeves remain). The entire thing is knitted in stockinette stitch, which is what you most commonly see on plain knitted sweaters with no embellishment. What you may not know, is that stockinette stitch curls. Like you would not believe. The two sleeves that have yet to be subjected to soaking and an arsenal of pins, look like two rather silly tubes of knitted fabric. The other pieces once looked like this, and still faintly resemble said tubes. Thus the source of my frustration. The edges still curl. Not quite as badly as before, granted, but still. Isn't the point of blocking (as mentioned above) to flatten the knitting so that it no longer curls? Why then is my knitting still curling?! Yesterday, after having blocked one of the front pieces and it still looking mostly like it had before I did anything to it, I wanted to take it outside and burn it. Instead, I got it really wet and reblocked it. I think it's a bit better, but still not uncurled. Grrr... On most of the sides I don't care that much because they'll be sewn together, but the outsides are still curling up! I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I still have two more days of blocking before I can put it all together.

Walking In A Winter Wonderland

The last couple of days Michael and I have decided that it's time to stop sitting around eating junk food and actually get a bit of exercise. In that spirit we went and walked around Tubbs Hill yesterday. It was fun. It was actually in the low 40s, so we didn't freeze to death or anything, and we actually saw a few other people out there. It made me feel pathetic, though. I used to traipse all over that hill and didn't feel a thing, and yesterday I was getting winded. We can blame it on higher elevation (than Boston), blah blah, but we all know the truth. I'm not in very good shape. We had a good time, though, and also visited our friend Paul who works in the IT department of North Idaho College. We chatted with him for a bit where we discussed our mutual eczema woes, and I discovered that he has no prescriptions for his eczema which is taking over his eyes. (Katrina, if you're reading this, make your husband go to the doctor! It's easily treatable and the appointment will only take 15 minutes, tops, and it's oh so worth it to not have itchy scaly yucky skin. Trust me, I know.) We managed to walk back out to our car just as it started snowing that weird little popcorn snow. You know, the little snow pellets. They're strange. Today it has snowed pretty much all day. Michael and I thought it would be fun to go walk around and see the world under its fresh blanket of snow. Of course, it was still snowing when we did this. But, we got all bundled up and out we went. I thought we were just going to wander about the neighborhood a bit, but Michael decided that we needed to head up Canfield Mountain. For the uninitiated, Canfield is a much steeper climb than Tubbs Hill's gentle paths. Needless to say, I didn't last long and we turned back after we were only barely out of sight of the street. We did walk around the neighborhood a bit, but the wind was picking up, and I don't care how pretty snow covered trees and hills are, you can't see them if the snow's blowing in your face. It did feel good to move around a bit, though, and we came back to the house and had hot cocoa. I started the last piece of my sweater today...the second sleeve. I also started blocking the pieces, well, at least one piece. It takes lots of pins to block out anything. More on that later. For now, good night.

Happy New Year!

Well, the first day of 2007 has been rather busy. Michael went to Starbucks with his friend Paul and a couple other guys he used to work with, and had a good time. We were also invited to go to a New Year's party with my in-laws, Mike and Donna. We went and watched the Polar Bear Plunge (lots of people running into the frigid lake at noon) and pointed and laughed at all the silly people dripping and shivering after they got back out of the water. It was approximately 25 degrees at that point. After that we went to the party. We stayed for a couple hours. It was nice, but I didn't know anyone else there, so it wasn't terribly exciting for me. After that we went to my parents' house and opened our Christmas presents. They went to Houston for Christmas and just got back last night around 10:00, so this was really the first chance we had. I got a new sweater, a fleece, some slippers (yay! now my feet can stop freezing!), the new book by Isabel Allende, a book of sudoku puzzles, some cash, and a new Max Lucado Devotional Bible. This is in addition to what Mike and Donna got me (8 skeins of yarn, which have put me in a knitting frenzy, 3 books, PJs, a new ionic ceramic brush which I love, and some other smaller things, which are nice). So, yes, I knit, and I'm in the process of knitting myself a sweater. It's knit it 5 pieces, and I'm on the third. I'm excited to finish it and get to wear it, though it'll be a couple more weeks before that's possible. I'll post a photo when it's done. My parents enjoyed their presents, which makes me happy. We got my dad a Boston t-shirt, my mom got a lighthouse that we got when we went to Maine in October, and I made my parents a scrapbook tour of the Freedom Trail in Boston. They thought it was really neat. After presents we came back to the house we're staying at to let the dogs out for a bit, then went back to have dinner with my parents. Now, we're just hanging out watching movies on TV and trying to keep the dogs from jumping on us too much. Anyway, so far it's been a good start to the New Year.