BSJ notes

I am making some more baby sweaters. I guess I'll keep them handy for extra babies . . . or I'll donate them. At any rate, I'm going to put down a few notes for myself for later.

When I do them, instead of marking in the stitches for decreasing and increasing, I'm marking between (starting betw. stitches 36/37, counting in from each end of my 160 cast on stitches). For my decreases, I'm knitting up to the last 2 stitches before the marker, then SSK, move marker, K2tog. I decrease until 90 total stitches remain, as the pattern says, which means that I'll have 23 stitches in each end section and 44 stitches in the middle (if all goes well).

When doing the middle of the back to add length, I never do 10 ridges, but rather 5. I think it gives a nicer proportion to the jacket. I love doing this on a circular needle, too, about 16"-20" long.

The rainbow sweater is done with Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn on size 2 needles. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

P.S. My husband has confirmation for a new position. He gets to stay with the State, and he's even still in ODNR! Strangely, he's going back to his original degree (Petroleum Engineering) and will be starting as a Geologist in mid-July. Ahh, isn't God gracious to us?

Henna and embarrassment

I got the coolest henna tattoo on Saturday at the kick-off party for Summer Reading Club at one of my branches! It looked even cooler before I did Wheels on the Bus while it was still wet and smeared it. LOL Now I'm BRANDED!

Why am I embarrassed? Is it because I have an armload of henna that will take 2 weeks to wash away? NEVER! It's because the young people in Columbus were obnoxious to visiting knitters at TNNA and one of my fave bloggers wrote about it:

Columbus is plagued by roving bands of young men driving up and down the main drag by the convention center yelling rude things at innocent conventioneers in the crosswalks like "Hey bitch, could ya walk a little slower?" Columbus needs to invest in some midnight basketball leagues and a few good traffic lights.

Anyway - Knitter's Connection starts tomorrow, and I have 2 classes! Yay! Last year I spent a load of money on yarn, and I still have some left. This year, I'm spending money on classes (knitting backwards and double knitting) and avoiding the market. Why avoiding the market? 3 reasons:
1. I still have a huge stash that will take me years to knit up.
2. My husband's job is . . .umm . . . well . . . ambiguous at this point, so spending money that isn't already spent seems indulgent, especially considering point #1.
3. I've decided that time spent with my parents and kid sounds more appealing than spending money I don't have on yarn I don't need (see 1 & 2).

Stop me before I become a grown-up!

Some FO's!

First, my FO's (finished objects). These are my new socks - made from Tiny Toes yarn, color was called "City Brights", and boy, are these bright! Put on your shades before looking directly at my feet! I was going to make them basic toe-up socks, but then The Evil Sock Genius posted his latest diabolically wonderful heel pattern, and I had to try it. I love it! It creates a flap and gusset, just like we all love in cuff-down socks, but it's toe-up and it's easy - no picking up stitches! Miraculous!

This is a simple hat for my friend, Lisa, who is starting Chemo next month. I hope it fits her! She has kind of a big head, but even with measurements it's hard to really tell what will happen w/o hair.




And, since I have 2 new FO's, I cast on a new project - a baby sweater! This is obviously for a baby boy - our friends Dave and Vera are expecting in September, and I'll be hosting a shower for her in August. :-)



OK - knitting news is done for now. Now on to some bragging! Simon got a medal for decent GPA in school - that's cool. He also got a few certificates for participating in Mock Trial and Power of the Pen, and he won an award for "Outstanding Witness" in Mock Trial. yay! He also has something in the student exhibit at the Columbus Arts Festival, but I have to admit that I let the heat deter me from going to see it this afternoon. He didn't want to go, either, so we went to the pool for an hour instead.

And this is Samwise, one of our cats, who had burrowed under the bit of carpet at the back door. I think he thinks he's invisible there while he watches the bunnies and birds in the yard.

Sammy, honey? We can still see your head and tail!

Meme from KB

Knittingbrow tagged me, and I'll pass this meme on to you.
“The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.”

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
In 1998 I was working at the Main Library, in the Center for Discovery - the Children's area. It was like a wonderful dream because I was working with my best friend, Scott. We had a puppetry company called "Hoot N Annie", too, and it was fantastic. Simon was 3 years old, and he was just switching sitters, from the Houstons, who had him from age 5 months til then, to the James', who are still some of our best friends (our friends in Mt. Vernon). I was thinner then, and much more healthy in many ways. That was also (I think) the year we bought our house.


2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
Learn more about Project Manager stuff at work.
Get antibiotics to take before my dental appointment tomorrow.
Cancel health club membership.
Go to Boy Scout Court of Honor.
Meeting with Gerald and others at 11.
- I did them all!

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Salsa flavored Sun Chips
Dark, dark, dark chocolate
Ice Cream
Edamame
Sesame Sticks

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
First, I would pay off all of our debt (and any that our 2 sets of parents may have) and start a trust fund for my son and his future.

I love KB's idea of a Foundation . . . the Foundation I want to start would focus on funding/providing education programs for new parents, to teach them the importance of being their child's first teacher, and to help instill a joy of discovery in the parents as well as helping them find ways to instill that same joy in their children. I'd like to start it locally, but then take this information out, further and further, and become "The Carnegie of Early Learning" by starting and maintaining similar programs across the country and around the world. I feel that the best investment in the future is investing in early learning (before age 5).

I would also want to start/fund arts curriculums in the schools run by my church. They already have good programs, but I'd love to see them increased. I'd also like to provide for better salaries for the teachers there.

Then I would start trying to visit every continent in the world . . . and lots of the countries within them.

5. Places I have lived:
Boardman, OH
Grove City, PA (college dorms)
Columbus, OH: Doris Ave., Queensbridge Dr, Oakland Ave, and where we are now.
Yes, that's my complete list.

6. Peeps I want to know more about:
Slang
Yarmando
Aunt Gerry
Nick
Rachel
Amanda
Nancy
and Bob, even though I doubt that he'll do it.