My Bad

I have thought about the blog 10,000 times in the last week, but I have not been able to find the time to actually blog. Which is odd, because I can't think of anything I have done except work in the last week. Speaking of which, we are one week closer to June (which is ISLAND month) which is a good thing. The natives tend to be restless this time of year.
I finished the black and white mittens and delivered them. I did not finish the baby sweater. I am avoiding. Not real mature, but it is what I am doing. I cast on a top down cardigan and all goes well. I went to YD today and got 220 yds to augment my 1100 yds of yarn I all ready had for the sweater. That should be enough to finish it. Let's hope. I am going to finish the ball I am on, then work on the sleeves then go back to the body, that way if I get into trouble, I can adjust the length of the body. Seems like a good plan......

We are off to collect the eldest daughter from college this weekend. It is exciting that she is done with her freshmen year. Boy does it go fast. She sounds like she is excited to come home for the summer.

Island planning is going well. The activities director needs to submit a trip plan so we can plan our yarn shopping/Dairy Queen stops. All I know at this point is that thoughts of the Island are all that keep me going.

Captain No Fun

Yep, that would be me, Captain No Fun. We went to Action City last night for the end of year party for Club 78 and I knit. I worked on my mittens for almost 45 minutes before and I worked on them there. Everyone else was dashing from the go carts to the bumper cars, but not me. I don't know why, but I just have no interest in those type activities. Strange I know.
I am glad I have the mittens well in hand (oops, no pun intended). I have the thumbs to finish this weekend, that does not take long, so I will be able to deliver them on Monday. Happiness and joy. Perhaps this weekend I can finish up the baby sweater too. 2 of my knitters at school are making the top down baby sweater and loving it. They are excited to move on to bigger projects! Little do they know you knit the baby sweater on a 9 and an adult sweater on a 6. Won't they be surprised!
We have our last middle school band concert tonight, it is bittersweet. But it seems that all of my children lack a certain amount of talent in the musical department.
Onward to the thumbs, I can probably get one done before the concert!

Camera Out of Commission

Thank God for CT. Otherwise the Chicks would be "blogless." A little too overwhelmed to blog and the camera is not working correctly. For whatever reason. It appears I can view the photos on the stick, but to actually take a photo, all I see is black with some lines running thru it.
On to the knitting front. The dreaded "Pink Cardigan" is complete. Ends woven in and blocked last Thursday, so The Girl could wear it on Friday evening to the "Fine" concert (who were very fine by the way). On Friday ASJ said I could not complain about the yarn anymore because The Girl looked beautiful in it (I do concur). The Girl is a touch Bohemian, as is the sweater. Wish I had a photo! She also wore it to church on Sunday, and to school yesterday. Here is the kicker.

The Girl "It is so beautiful Mom."
The Mom "Yes it is, I am so glad you like it."
The Girl "It looks like a really expensive sweater you would buy at a store."
The Mom "Really, I am so glad you are over the moon with it."
The Girl "It looks like it would cost at least $50 in a store."
The Mom . . . speechless (not necessary in a good way)

On the needles. Claudia Handpaint sock yarn "Story Days. Pattern from my Interweave Sock Book, Cable Rib Socks, by Erica Alexander. The leg and instep of these socks are ribbed and decorated with a single cable at each side. I Love This Pattern!

Caught in the act!

Can you even believe this one! I sometimes sneak and check the blog at school. I do not post, but sometimes I would check it to see if anyone had posted. One day last week out of sheer boredom, I logged on and posted a comment. Now the blog is blocked to me at work. How in this age of all sorts of computer issues could they catch me so fast? Now I have to wait until I get home to check the blog. :(

On the knitting front, I am through the thumb on the LEFT mitten (and I did indeed make a left mitten) and on the palm. If I work hard tonight after I walk the dogs I may get these mittens done so I can move onto something else soon.

Island Planning (food): The husband has graciously agreed to make his braised ribs for the Island, I think in the salad front I may try to make (his) chicken tortellini salad. I also have a chipotle spread I plan to bring!

Island Planning (knitting/yarn): ASJ we need to get together and order our yarn!

The BIG day

Ok, so the big wedding is over, what a weekend it was!
Friday night the rehearsal dinner went great, we went to Deb's about 5 and got everything started. We had the Nescos all fired up and we were hitting on all cylinders. We served about 37 people including us, the 1.5 rule led to a fair amount of food left over, but better to have too much than run out. We got lots of compliments and no one developed stomach cramps, so it must have been ok.
The big day arrived and what a day it was. I got MMT off to ref her soccer games and I prepared myself for my 10:00 manicure. Meanwhile, the husband found a car he thought was suitable for GBT, so he spent his morning test driving and researching. After my mani, I wanted to take MMT to get her mani and pedicure at the joint by Borders (she missed hers on Thursday because of the whole urgent care visit). It is at that point the boy (hewhoskipsschool---another story entirely) wants (yep I typed an S) to go shopping for shorts for the summer. What now? MMT and I need to prep for big wedding. I dropped MMT off, paid for her manicure and pedicure, zipped out to the dealership to sign off on the new used car purchase for GBT and then back to Kohl's. By this time, MMT is nearly done, the boy assures me it will take him 5 minutes. Yikes, his 5 minute trip was actually 24 minutes. He got 4 pair of shorts and 8 shirts in 24 minutes, which is something like 1 item every 2 minutes, which on any other day would be impressive, but not on the day of the big wedding. Anyway, $127.00 later we are trying to find MMT to pick her up, after wandering and waiting, she decided to call her dad to rescue her!
Once I was home again I remembered that MMT wanted me to sew fake ribbon straps to her dress, so off to Thompson's True Value (one stop shopping). At 2:30 I am sewing the fake straps on her dress, at 3 I begin the process of beautifying for the big wedding. At 3:3o after ransacking my jewelry box (that is a totally misnomer--should be junk box) I realize I have nothing that really will match the new dress, I never did get out to buy new jewelry. This was a problem. The husband convinced me to wear a blue topaz necklace he gave me and in my mind it was green.
Onward to makeup. Remember we are in the middle of a very long drawn out bathroom remodel. The countertop is lost (again another long story) so our bathroom is a wreck at best. The mirror is an old 8 x 10 mirror the husband had in his college dorm room. And I am supposed to beautify with that! I pulled what little make up I own together to see what could be done. I have 4 things of concealer, but not a speck of mascara or lip stick. What grown woman does not own a tube of lipstick? I did the best I could and hoped no one took my picture.
I grabbed my new green shoes and downstairs I went to rally the troops to make sure we are in the car headed for church by 3:40. I slipped my right shoe on, then my left. Yikes! My right shoe is an 8 1/2 and the left an 8. In my haste on Tuesday to buy shoes and get to my tanning, I only tried on the right shoe. I gimped (or should I say limped) through the wedding (thank goodness for Lutheran weddings--22 minutes) and on our way to the reception we stopped and I exchanged my 8 for and 8 1/2.
The reception was beautiful and the food delicious, the only thing, they had the AC on, so it was warmer outside than in, so no one wanted to go inside, we all huddled outside for warmth. We danced a bit, and had a fun time, we were home by midnight. But now my big day is over, other than the Island, I have nothing to look forward to. Since I drained the savings account on a new dress, shoes, tanning, pedicure and manicure, I won't have very much money for yarn for the Island, but somehow, I think if I get into my stash, I will have enough for the trip.
Oh, this is a knitting blog, now that the big wedding is over I can get back to knitting. Speaking of which, I think I will do that now.

Stress

Here we are T-2 and counting for the big wedding. I got different shoes and my current handbag matches fine, so that is done. I tanned and booked my final appointment. I paid a sinful amount of money for the greatest pedicure I have ever had. All systems are go.
Until today.
Yep, I got the call every mother dreads. Hi, this is south middle school, your daughter MMT has been injured and will need stitches. Now! Today, you don't understand, I have a tanning appointment and 12 racks of ribs waiting to be baked.
So off we go to urgent care, 1 hour and 20 minutes later her knee is cleaned and bandaged. Stitches were necessary, but given the location of the wound, not an option. So we are bandaged and going to have a nasty scar (scars actually) on her knee. Just in time to wear a dress to the big wedding. Neat.

T.S.T.K.

T.S.T.K.
An acronym for "To Stupid to Knit." Honestly, I am surprised that the Knitting Police have not come to my home and stripped me of my needles, yarn, totes, etc. But I digress. Let’s look at the problem at hand a little more closely shall we.

We will ignore the fact that said knitter has been under extreme pressure from a source within the household to finish said dreaded cardigan. "Can I wear it tomorrow?" Has been asked of said knitter for the last FIVE DAYS. She has persisted in asking even though she has been informed ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, that 1) the sleeves must be finished; 2) the neckline must be finished; 3) the tie must be finished; 4) ends woven in; and last but not least 5) it must be blocked. I believe that it is a real testament to my patience that I have not sold her to wandering gypsies.

Moving on, I finished the sleeves on Monday evening. I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself. The end was in sight. Tuesday morning, despite that fact that I showered, attended to the children, the dog, gave one child a ride to school, normal early morning activities, I managed to pick up the stitches along the neckline. I have been knitting on this since October people. I was thrilled. Went home for lunch, ate quickly, let the dog out, turned on the TV to watch the Harlot on Knitty Gritty (there was not a blank tape in the house, but that is another story) sat down to knit and watch. Started watching (she was wonderful, did you know 1) she has a dimples and 2) she sounds like she slams down whiskey straight out of the bottle.) I started knitting. Each time I came to the end of one row, it did not look right (that should have been a clue). Mind you, each time I came to that end, try as I might, it did not look correct, I tried picking up more stitches, still it did not look correct. The clock is ticking, Knitty Gritty is winding down, the Harlot was still be funny and wonderful. I then laid out the cardigan on the cedar chest to look at what should have been a completed neckline. NOT. It seems that in my excitement and the usual morning confusion, I had not picked up all of the stitches. There were at least 14 more from the top of the sleeve down to the garter ridge band!

So tonight, after supper, and a choral concert at Delong, I came home put on my comfy clothes, put the Deadliest Catch on and proceeded to RIP OUT the neckline. T.S.T.K.