Lack of Knitting Mojo

Actually it isn't lack of mojo, it has been that the last two weeks it has been just the girls and me. Mom is on vacation in Arizona, and between working full time and doing house stuff, homework, church activities, and music lessons and being sick on top of it, there just hasn't been much knitting accomplished. But the tide is turning, I can feel it. It isn't spring, since we just got hammered with our worst winter storm of the year, so it must be the return of knitting all the time fever! Throw in a little spinning and I'm getting excited!

So while I have no new knitting pictures (however, Tonks socks are done except for toe kitchnering) I will throw in this lovely shot of Gadget. Taken by Emily. Gadget you will notice is wearing the latest style in headgear. Coffee filter with ear holes cut out. I just love his expression.....he is one patient dog.

Blink and a week goes by

Mom left for Arizona last week, arrived safely and is having a fun relaxing warm time with family and friends. The girls and I hibernated for most of the weekend. I was able to sleep for long stretches of time and feel the tide has turned on the cold that lasted for a month. So not right.

Even though it was Knit Out at MOA last weekend, instead we travled to Lakeville and went to Knitter's Pallette. It was a lovely store, light and bright, I could drool over the wheels and dream of the day I will have one. Someday. I picked up some fiber Emily fell in love with, looks like Neopolitan ice cream...pinks...creams...browns...spins up nicely.

I also started Ellen's hat. She picked out yarn before Christmas as her birthday present and left up the pattern to me. I found a nice beret pattern, simple cables. Yarn matched well but it just ate up the yarn. So 2 months after buying the yarn I went back to Amazing Threads and picked up another skein. A different dye lot, but even looking in the weak daylight that is February in Minnesota, I can't see much if any difference. I'm decreasing at the crown, so hopefully will be finished tomorrow.

And since I have no yarn shots, a snap of Emily while we were at church waiting for Anna to finish piano lessons. I'm a blessed momma.

The Joys of Spinning

There is something about spinning that intrigues me. I don't know if it is the history or what. Maybe it is just doing something that has been done for so many years before me. Something that in our current world of giant box stores and sameness everywhere that appeals to me. To actually take something in its nearly raw state, refine it, manipulate it, and then make something out of that product that strikes a chord with me. Who knows, maybe somewhere in my ancestry there was a great spinner? My ancestors come from Sweden and Germany so it is highly likely.

In any event, I'm working with my drop spindle, it is soothing to me. Which is a good thing right now. I've mentioned my youngest daughter had surgery due to her cleft lip. That was over four months ago. I'm still fighting with the insurance company to cover the cost of much of her surgery. Turns out that "rhinoplasty" is not covered under my insurance plan, they make no distinction between non-cosmetic surgery (Emily) and cosmetic surgery. Just a big, "NO" it is not covered by your plan. I've talked to countless people, gotten conflicting stories (surgery was preapproved but suddenly they show no records of that conversation), received denial letters, the first one dated 1/13/09, the second review started on 1/12/09, before I even was notified of the first denial? It makes me so angry. I fought for years before being able to adopt Emily in the first place. I thought I was done having to fight, turns out I'm not. Fine. I'm up for it. It is ridiculous to have a blanket policy with no wiggle room, there is no medical code to use that describes the work they did on Emily's nose structure other than rhinoplasty. So the fight continues. I do believe it will be resolved. One of the advantages of working in the legal world I guess. But in the mean time, I will continue to spin and ply my yarn. Knitting is the best meditation I know.

I'm back!

I'm back. I've been sick for the last two weeks and it wasn't pretty. I hardly knit at all which just goes to show how crummy I felt. But I'm finally feeling better. I worked on the oldest UFO I have. I started this afghan probably 2 years ago. It is simple, but I love it. It is a simple pattern of knitting ten rows and then the next ten rows you increase by knitting in the front and back of each stitch to double your stitch count. You knit and purl for 10 rows, the next row you knit 2 together across and repeat that pattern of ten rows. I added a border of seed stitch (five stitches worth) to help keep the rolling in check. The ruching is simple but adds a really nice look and texture. And it will be so nice to snuggle under the next time I'm not feeling well.

I also got a wonderful surprise this weekend. I ordered some roving from The Loopy Ewe last week. I don't order a lot online because I'm lucky to have many nearby LYS and I love to feel and touch and drink in the colors of the yarn in person. But I have ordered in the past from The Loopy Ewe and always was thrilled with my purchases. I knew they had a policy where when you have ordered from them six times, you join the ranks of "The Loopy Groupies". I also knew that on the sixth order, they threw in some wee gifties and surprises to welcome you to The Loopy Groupies group. I did not pay attention to how many times I'd ordered from them. I always read Sheri's blog and enjoy it very much. Last week she had a great picture of some roving and yarn spun from the roving that I fell in love with, so I quickly ordered it. And Saturday I got a much larger box than I expected from the Loopy Ewe. I realized it was my sixth order.

I was so excited to see not only the lovely roving but sock yarn, a sock pattern, a calendar (not pictured since my youngest daughter already absconded with it), Loopy kisses, and handwritten note all tucked into a Loopy Tote bag. Talk about exciting! There is nothing better than getting unexpected gifts and when those gifts include yarn? Heaven.

So if you haven't discovered The Loopy Ewe yet, hop on over and give it a look. They have lots of indi dyers and new yarns that you won't find many other places. They have great customer service and a very personal feel to their product. And I LOVE my Loopy tote!

Time warp

How do all the other knitters in the world knit so prolifically? I'm in some sort of knitting vortex where I knit but never get anywhere. I have so many things I want to do, so many lovely yarns in my stash I want to use, and yet I'm stuck knitting the same thing and getting NO WHERE.

I'm still plodding along on my second Tonks sock. I'm past the gussets which should mean I would be flying. ya, not so much. I would normally think I would be done in the next couple days. As long as I've taken to get to this point, I do not think that will happen!

Now I have started spinning again on my drop spindle. So maybe the spinning time is truly stepping on my knitting time. So what am I to do? I simply don't have enough time. I work, I take care of my girls and my mom. I sleep. (not nearly enough lately) and I try to knit and spin and read in my "off" time. sigh....and I wonder why I'm not getting anywhere.

So I wish I had Hermione's time pendant where I could simply spin it, go back and hour or two or three and knit instead of working.

No Knitting

I have some kind of creeping crud. Emily stayed home yesterday, but is back to her old self today. I don't feel horrible other than very tired. It would be great to just curl up and go to sleep. But not an option. I must really save all my PTO since this year involves 2 out of state weddings. One being in Florida this summer and the girls and mom and I are going to make a real vacation out of it by going on a cruise! I'm super excited and looking forward to some relaxing time away.

And a week from Friday, mom heads to Arizona for 2 weeks. I'm thrilled for her and I'm equally thrilled for me. I get to have 2 weeks just me and the girls. Those times only happen at best once or twice a year, so I really cherish the time we eek out just the three of us.

So all in all a good break coming up. Hopefully knitting will get back on track. I have so many things I want to do, I just need to buckle down and crank out and finish some of my older projects so I feel free to start some new ones.