A big decision

A decision had to be made. Last night, I finished my first Red Delicious sock. It should probably be called my Apple Pie A La Mode Sock as I used Apple Laine's Apple Pie sock yarn in Red Delicious with my plain vanilla sock recipe. The yarn is almost as good as apple pie, too. The wool/mohair/silk/nylon mix makes for a very strong, very sturdy, very soft, very cushy sock. I'm glad I stuck to plain vanilla for this yarn because I love how the colors appear with no pooling or flashing or striping. Perfect. Though it's probably going to be too warm to wear them much before apple picking season I know I am going to LOVE these socks.

Here's the problem. I have four size 1 Knit Picks circulars. Two of them are being used for the Claudia sock I'm making for my son. These are destined to be shorty socks for his size 12 feet and I've got the foot done but I'm so bad at doing short row heels that they've sat for over a month. I need to get out my Lucy Neatby DVD and just follow her directions but I haven't had the time or patience to do so. So one pair of needles is tied up in this unfinished sock languishing at the bottom of my knitting bag.


The prudent thing to do - the thing I would normally do - would be to immediately cast on for the second Apple Pie A La Mode sock. I'm not a big fan of the single sock thang and I don't normally suffer from SSS before I always cast on for the second sock right away. The problem is that my Loopy Sock Club yarn has been calling to me. It will make wonderful summer socks with the bamboo content and bright blues, greens and yellows. I could wear these socks NOW. What to do? I slept on the decision last night and woke up bright and early this morning and decided.



I couldn't help myself. The fall socks can wait. Summer is right around the corner.

Loopy Sock Club

I've waited almost 24 hours to post hoping that most Loopy sock club members will have received their packages by now. I don't know how she does it but Sheri has the fastest shipping. I've been waiting for this first installment of the Loopy Sock Club for months. Sheri told us it would ship on Monday and I just knew it would be here on Wednesday. Yesterday, as I was leaving for my four mile walk, I spied a package hanging from the mail box. I KNEW what it was. You should have seen me running and skipping (yes, skipping) to the mail box. I sat down immediately and opened the package. Squee!! Everything was wonderful! Well, I did have a little moment of panic when I saw the envelope of lemonade Kool-Aid and thought I'd have to dye my own yarn.

I walked those four miles with a light heart (though it was 90 degrees) because I knew what awaited me when I returned. I couldn't wait to check everything out more closely. I took it to the back yard to be photographed. Sheri always pays attention to detail. In addition to the sock yarn and very nice pattern (yes, I fully intend to use the pattern), there were chocolate kisses, Kool-Aid, some sheep soap, and, best of all, an exclusive Loopy Ewe Sock Club pouch.

The yarn is by All Things Heather in a colorway named "Skinny Dipping". It's a superwash merino/bamboo/nylon blend. Sounds perfect for summer socks.


And because Sheri likes to see yarn (well, really socks but that would take awhile) in trees, I took a photo of it would into a cake.

I took a stroll around the yard this morning to see what was in bloom. I really like this photo of the fully opened flower over the flower still to bloom. I'm sure I could make all sort of great analogies but, really, I just like the photo. There aren't many flowers blooming in my yard yet. We have a wooded property that provides lots of shade. All the rain and the natural shade have slowed down the flowers. They'll be out soon enough.

With all the baseball craziness going on around here, I've decided to take Saturday off for Mother's Day. The schedule works out so that the wonderful Mr. Baseball can take all three boys to their games. Me? I'm going to NH Sheep and Wool. The weather is supposed to be cooperative (there's a long tradition of drenching rains) and I really need a day off. I'll spend my day surrounded by animals and wool. Sounds good to me. Is anyone else going?

The Red Sox's Josh Beckett picked up his 7th straight win last night. If he can get 8 straight wins he'll tie some Red Sox greats like Babe Ruth. If he can manage 9 he'd be in a class by himself. Right now he's hot.

Still freezing

The yarn is Apple Laine's Red Delicious. Doesn't it look yummy? It's got a wacky content of 50% wool, 20% mohair, 20% silk and 10% nylon. It feels very, very soft but substantial at the same time and it is a dream to knit with. I'm making a pair of plain vanilla socks and there is no striping or pooling or flashing. The colors are great. I'm loving this yarn.

Did you know that you can freeze and get a sunburn at the same time? It was a long week of baseball in which I froze my butt off most of the time. Yesterday we were at the field for over 5 hours. I served over an hour in the concession stand - missing a stand up double by the oldest while I was in there. The rest of the time I spent walking back and forth between the fields to watch all three boys play. I didn't take off my fleece all day because it was too cold. When I got home last night I learned that I had a sunburn on my face. Sheesh! You'd think if you're freezing you wouldn't get enough sun for a sunburn.

The weather is supposed to get warm this week and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm tired of being cold.

Laundry day

There's not as much knitting as I'd like going on. Busy, busy schedules. Middle son came home from Florida yesterday. He had a great time but the reentry into the family has been a little bit rocky. The boys are so sweet individually but put them together and it's unpredictable.

Oldest son has all baseball all the time. He's had one game for each team this week and both teams won tough fought games. His thumb is fine - thank you for your concern. The juggling of two teams with two coaches with different thoughts about how to play baseball is challenging but we're hanging in there.

I spent the morning catching up - doing laundry, getting schoolwork done, giving haircuts. I love to be able to hang the socks outside again to dry in the sun. They smell so good.

The Red Sox won again last night and Josh Beckett took his 6th straight win. Very impressive.

The post is very choppy today because that's how my brain feels. I'm going to try to get some knitting done at baseball today (from 3-8) if it's not too cold to hold the needles.

Mexicali Peppers

Yarn: Mexicali Peppers by Perchance to Knit
Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Stockings by Nancy Bush in Knitting Vintage Socks
Needles: Size 1 US Knit Picks circs
Modifications: Cast on the number of stitches she had decreased down to



I finished these socks yesterday morning in time to photograph them and wear them to book group. I just squeaked in under the wire to finish my April socks for SAM 3. I haven't missed a single month in SAM 2 or 3 yet and I didn't want April to be my first.

I almost lost the faith folks. I was sure I didn't have enough yarn to finish the second sock. You know how it is once that center pull ball falls in on itself and starts looking all floppy. Once I abandoned the Whitby I took another look at my second Mexicali Peppers. I wound the yarn into a ball and it started to look better. I decided to just knit and see what happened. As it turned out I had more than enough yarn - I've still got a small ball left (should have taken a photo of that, too).

This yarn is wonderful. If you have a chance to check out Perchance to Knit you really should. All her yarns come with a handmade Swarvoski crystal stitch marker. The yarn has good yardage and is very soft and nicely spun. I can't wait to knit with it again. I now have another Nancy Bush pattern under my belt. My goal this year is to knit at least Nancy Bush sock from each of her books that I own.

Baseball season is really in full swing now. Although the weather did not look promising yesterday with thundershowers all afternoon and pop up showers throughout the evening, we were able to get in all our baseball. The oldest had school practice from 3:30 to 5:00. That practice ran late by 15 minutes which created a small problem as he needed to be at his Babe Ruth game in another town by 5:15. I rushed him to his Babe Ruth game only to find that he was the starting catcher (13 year olds don't normally catch in Babe Ruth) AND that his school coach had "borrowed" his catcher's mitt and not put it back in his bag. He was able to use the team mitt and caught a beautiful, hard played, slug fest game. He got hurt in the last inning - took a pitch to the hand - and we'll see how he feels when he wakes up this morning. In the end, they won 11 - 10. It was an exciting game.

The Red Sox are looking great. They won 2 out of 3 games with the Yankees this weekend and 5 out of 6 in the last week. Woohoo!! It's early in the season but wins against the Yankees should count twice because they're that much more satisfying.

I'm speechless

Warning - Photo Heavy Post
I've been stalking the mail carrier ever since my SP 10 Pal told me a package was on the way. I was so disappointed when I checked the box after lunch and there was nothing - not even a bill. I soothed my disappointment by working on the Mexicali Peppers sock (I'm on the stockinette portion of the toe now). While I was sitting knitting, the mail carrier pulled up the driveway. He only does that when he has a package to deliver so I practically ran out there. Ahhh ... a package from my SP!!

Here's what it looked like when I first opened it. I promise you it holds unimaginable treasures. My SP wrote a little note and said it was hard to choose things for someone else. I don't believe it for a second. She is amazing! You really won't believe what she sent me. Please click the photos for bigger pictures.


First up - the yarn. Mountain Colors Bearfoot in an unlabeled color that is dark purples, greens, orange, blue and black. Koigu KPPM all in purples. Muskox Qiviut - all the way from Alaska - in purples and blacks. What a haul of yarn! I'll admit that my self imposed yarn diet had left me feeling a bit deprived. Now I feel like I have so much abundance I could cry. Seriously. I love Bearfoot - it's one of my all time favorite, desert island kind of yarns. I have never knit with Koigu. I've been tempted but always put it back. It's just so lovely. The Qiviut speaks for itself. I can't imagine that I would have ever bought some for myself. It is so soft and amazing. Now I need to find the perfect project for it. I'm a big yarn sniffer and all the yarn smells so good. Of course, the lavender sprigs in the package probably helped.

My SP didn't send all that yarn without some inspiration. She also sent me this beautiful book to help me out. I haven't really checked it out yet but it's filled with color photos of wonderful looking projects and has lots of reading too. I think I'll bring it to bed with me later.



As if all this wasn't enough, my SP 10 included both papery goodness and eating yummies. I love good paper products and my SP sent me some truly lovely notecards and a Bling Book. I really need a new notebook for my yarn bag and this will do the trick quite nicely. I also got an organic dark chocolate bar and some toffees. Mmmmm.


Phew! I'm exhausted and overwhelmed. Thank you SP. You are truly the best!!

They're getting so big

I haven't posted a picture of Lucy in a long time. Here she is relaxing in the bathroom window - one of her favorite spots. She's recovering nicely from her surgery earlier this week. She's getting bigger - almost big enough to go outside with the other cats. We just have to make sure she's big enough not to get carried away by a hawk or an owl.

I got a phone call from my middle son at Disney World last night. He'd had a wonderful day and just watched the parade. He's not a big communicator on the phone - it's hard to get him to say much more than "Yup" but he went on and on about the parade and the rides he had been on and the pool at the hotel. According to my mother, my son was most impressed by the fact that their hotel room had a bathroom! Clearly he is not a world traveler. I am amazed that this 9 year old son of mine flew on an airplane by himself to go over a thousand miles away to stay with his grandmother. There were times I wondered if he'd ever even be able to leave us to live on his own as an adult. He's getting so big.

Lastly, I picked up the Mexicali Peppers sock again. I decided to just give it a go and see how far I could get before I ran out of yarn. Funny thing is that now I'm starting to feel optimistic. I've got 4 repeats on the leg done - only 3 more until the toe - and I've got a nice little ball of yarn still. Now I'm actually excited to see if I can finish them with the yarn I have so I'm cruising along. It's getting pretty big. I'll let you know how it goes.

Baseball Knitter

Whenever I speak at homeschooling conferences I remind new homeschooling parents that it's important to remember the word "home" in homeschooling. Presented with many wonderful opportunities for their children, many parents believe they should sign their children up for everything so they don't miss any experience or opportunity. Often by February these parents and their children are burned out. They are tired and, truth be told, often behind in their schoolwork (behind being a relative term for every child or family). This is because in order to homeschool well it is important to be home some of the time.

We live in the country. We love our home, neighborhood and town. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. The only real downside is that we are at least 25 minutes from anything - and often it's more like 45 minutes. I've had a busy week so far. On Monday I had to get a new driver's license as my old on had expired on my birthday. This meant driving 45 minutes each way to the DMV. On Tuesday I brought our kitten to be fixed - driving 45 minutes each way twice. Yesterday I drove my middle son to the airport so he could fly to Florida to visit my mother - another 45 minute drive each way plus the requisite waiting at the airport.

Today I do not have to be anywhere. I can't tell you how free that makes me feel. I listened to NPR on the computer this morning while I did a little knitting. I was able to walk this morning for the first time all week. I have laundry going and the kitchen floor washed. I plan to clean both the family and living rooms. Dinner is already planned and will be simple and delicious. I feel like I can breathe.

Next week our baseball schedule kicks into full gear. My oldest son has practice or a game every day of the month except Sundays (which could happen in case of rain). He often has practice or games for different teams in different towns on the same day. My younger boys will have baseball three times a week but Mr. Baseball is their coach which makes the transportation easy. Although we normally eat dinner together every single night at the dining room table this will not be possible for the next month. We'll have to do a lot of eating on the run and my oldest will have to eat a lot of sandwiches in the car as he changes his uniform and we drive from one town to another. We will all survive but by the end of baseball in June we'll be very ready for it to be over.

I need to keep myself healthy during this time. This means daily walks, plenty of sleep and eating well. It will take discipline but it can be done.

I'm hoping that I can continue to knit during baseball. I got lots of knitting done last year during practices. It's somewhat weather dependent - it's hard to knit when it's too hot or rainy or when the black flies are swarming. At least I can knit at night when everyone's home and showered. It's always easy to knit during Red Sox games (woohoo, what a game last night!). Knitting helps me feel centered. It calms and relaxes me. It makes me feel that I accomplished something. This is why I'm the Baseball Knitter.

It's a good thing

I brought my copy of Sensational Knitted Socks to my local Staples and had the binding cut off and this spiral binding put on. Little did I know they were having a "binding" sale at the time so the whole procedure cost me 49 cents.

Now my copy of SKS lays flat when opened. It makes it so much easier to read and use. It's a good thing.


And in case you're interested, the Red Sox swept the Yankees in a three game match. The games were exciting to watch - especially the third game when the Red Sox hit 4 home runs in a row! I've never seen anything like that before.

Whitby

She looks like a lovely Whitby, no?

Truly I enjoyed every moment of knitting her. The Louet Gems is a dream to work with and the pattern was memorizable right from the start. I even enjoyed knitting with my old Pony Pearls that haven't been used in years.
You'd think that I'd be happy and celebrating the completion of the first sock and eager to start the second. The problem is the sock doesn't fit. Oh I know it looks like it fits but it fits like a latex glove. It's just too darn tight. My gauge is a smidge off from Nancy Bush's but that's not unusual for me. I typically knit to a much tighter gauge than she and my socks still always fit. My gauge was only off by 1/2 a stitch. I got 7 spi whereas she got 6.5. Normally my gauge is more than a whole stitch tighter than hers.

What to do?
I can't wear the sock as is. I'd lose feeling and blood flow to my feet. I could go up a needle size but I'm not sure that would be enough and truthfully I like the fabric at 7 spi. I could add stitches between the diamonds and the cables and add a couple more ribs to the back - bring the stitch count from 51 to 59 or so (I haven't done the math yet). For now, it's just resting. I didn't cut the yarn or kitchener the toe or rip it out yet.
I started working on my second Mexicali Peppers sock again. That's disheartening also because I know I won't have enough yarn to finish. I guess I've got to knit until I run out before I plan a solution - see how much yarn I'll need. I'm not opposed to contrasting toes but I'm not sure what the Perchance to Knit base yarn is and I'd like to match it. Maybe my friend, Sheri, at The Loopy Ewe could help me figure that out.
April may be my first sockless month in a long time.

I've got sunshine

It's a beautiful day!

I'd almost forgotten what the sun looked like or felt like.
My SP10 hostess, Shelby, asked us to flash our stash. With the sun shining, it seemed a good time to take the stash out to play. I don't have my stash organized in a fancy way. It lives in Rubbermaid containers in a corner of my closet.

Here's the smallest container. It has my most favorite yarns that I plan to use in the immediate future. Sweet Georgia, Apple Laine, Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Cherry Tree Hill, J. Knits, Louet Gems, and Brooklyn Handspun. There's even one lone ball of Rowan to make a Shedir.


This picture shows the bottom layer of the larger container. I don't have any immediate plans for any of this yarn. I should finish the last 5 inches of the Irish Hiking Scarf and I intend to make a red scarf with the Patons. The rest of it just sort of lingers there with no plan or intent. Two lonely skeins, one each of Lorna's Laces Sport and a Handpainted Brown Sheep, look particularly sad. I don't know what to do with these yarns.



The final picture is the top layer of the larger container. These are all lovely yarns with a plan but no timetable. Enough Lorna's Laces for 3 pairs of socks, some Cascade 220 to make a Christmas stocking (pattern still undertermined), yarn to make a There Be Pirates Hat, my felting penguin kit, some beautiful Furryarns, and the second ball of Claudia's to go with my son's toe up socks that are languishing at the bottom of my knitting bag.

The power of water

This is the scene in my neighbor's yard. A waterfall of water running through their yard and onto the road below. Normally, we have culverts in front of the houses which handle the rainfall and divert it to a common source that runs under the road and forms a small stream on the other side. The culverts couldn't handle this amount of rain and backed up.

This is what the awesome power of water can do.

See how there is no longer any shoulder to the road? If you were to stand or drive on the very edge of that pavement it would crumble beneath you because the dirt that is supposed to be below it has been eroded away. There are many gulleys like this all along my road.

It is still raining/snowing/sleeting today. We did not see even a glimmer of the sun all day. I keep checking the weather forecast and they claim we'll see sun and have temperatures in the 60s by this weekend. I'll believe it when I see it.

Meanwhile, it's been good knitting weather. The Whitby I started yesterday is 5 inches long. I wish it were on circs so I could try it on easily but I'm kind of enjoying using double points again. Whitby is a super easy pattern and knits up quickly with the sportweight yarn. I may end up with a finished pair of socks for April after all.

Counting my blessing

I am counting my blessings today. We are in the midst of a terrible Nor'easter here. Generally this means many inches of snow - and we did get a bunch of snow yesterday - but the temperatures are too warm to support snow so we're getting rain. Lots and lots of rain. We've gotten about 5.5 inches in my small town according to the local news stations. All the major roads have been washed out. We were called by the Chief of Police this morning who told us our road was washing out and there was too much water at the bottom of our hill to leave the neighborhood. Schools were canceled and Mr. Baseball stayed home from work.

The weather is depressing and a little scary but I'm counting my blessings. I live on top of a hill so our house is not subject to flooding (just some water in the basement around the bulkhead door). We are all home safe together and we have both power and heat. I am so very, very grateful for power and heat. We planned for the storm yesterday and have everything we need right here. We don't plan to leave our house until tomorrow. The boys are excited to have Dad home. He was able to help everyone through their schoolwork this morning and has had time to play with everyone too. We've had some rousing games of dominoes and have promised to play Clue later.

I decided to wind a hank of yarn and cast on for a new sock. I love my Mexicali Peppers socks but it's become very apparent that I won't have enough yarn to finish the second sock. I haven't decided what I'll do when I run out of yarn but I'm open to suggestions. I'm kind of sad about the situation because I really do like the socks so much. I'll get back to them another time. To cheer myself up I've cast on with some Louet Gems in a colorway called Robin. It's a very nice orangey color. I've been wanting to knit Whitby for quite awhile and I think this is the perfect yarn for it. Long time readers may be surprised to see those Pony Pearls in the picture. I'm a devoted two circs knitter but I have yet to find acceptable 2.75 circs. This yarn is a light sportweight. I didn't want to use my 3.0 Knit Picks circs nor did I want to use my 2.5 Knit Picks circs so I pulled out the Ponies. So far, so good.

It's here

Downy Woodpecker at the feeder this morning
Thank you to all of you who sent good thoughts or prayers or who kept their fingers crossed all day yesterday. I drove up to the school yesterday morning, through the snow, to pick up the notification letter. While at the school I ran into the coach who told me to come back at the end of the day. So I waited until the very end of the day and drove back to the school through much snowier roads only to run into the coach again. He told me something had come up and he hadn't gotten the letters out. Ugh!

Finally, this morning I called the school and found out that Adam's letter was waiting in the front office. I went to pick it up without him as he didn't want to leave the couch. He asked me not to read the letter until he read it first but when I was handed the letter it was just a folded over piece of paper - no envelope or tape or staple- and the front desk wanted to be sure they were giving me the right thing so they unfolded the letter. The only word I saw was Congratulations!

He made the team. I'm so happy for him. It takes a lot of guts to show up to try out for a school team when you don't attend the school. I know this will be a good experience for him. It's a lot of work and commitment for our family. He's not already at the school, after all, so I need to drive him there every day for practice and then return to drive him to another town for his Babe Ruth practice. He'll be at baseball from 3:30 to 8:00 many nights a week and the other two boys have their own practices (thankfully, my husband is their coach). Now if the weather would only look or act like baseball season we'd be all set.

Just drumming my fingers

Here's a sample of the fingerprint animals my boys have been making this week. This collection was done by my 7 year old son. Aren't they cute?

I'm up early today distracting myself by reading blogs and knitting. I nudged Mr. Baseball out of bed early too and suggested he go to work so he could come home early. Then the miraculous thing is that I got out of bed myself.

It's nerves keeping me awake. Good old fashioned anxiety. There are two things running through my mind this morning (well, there are more than two things in my mind but two are at the fore front). Both of them are completely out of my control and I don't really believe in worrying but they're making me nervous.

The first thing is that we're expecting another snow storm today. *deep, deep sigh* We sometimes get snow in April in New England but we don't usually get big snow followed by days and days of cold that prevent the snow from melting. We don't usually get snow at the end of the second week of April. I'm done with the snow for this year. It's starting to piss me off. Furthermore, it's really messing with our family schedule. With three boys playing baseball and involved in Scouts, we have a busy calendar at all times. When things start getting moved around and rescheduled the calendar gets impossible. It's not snowing here yet but according to the forecast it should start soon.

To understand the second thing causing me anxiety you must be a parent. Really. This week my 13 year old son tried out for the school baseball team. This is the first time he's ever "tried out" for a team. He's had to show off his skills before to make teams but it's always been a situation where every boy would make some team, it was just a matter of which. This time only some of the boys will make the team and the rest will not. Period. I so want him to make the team because I know he'd love it but also because I don't want him to suffer the disappointment.

What makes the situation even more difficult is that we homeschool. They've never had a homeschooled kid on the team before but the coach didn't bat an eyelash when my son showed up. The coach seems like a very fair minded kind of guy and everyone in town tells me what a great guy he is. He will hand out notes today to every boy who tried out. The note will tell them whether or not they made the team. My son's note will be left in the front office for me to pick up. I'll bring it home for him to read. Alone. Without any of his buddies around to congratulate him or soften the blow. I'll have to be the one to do that. Please let me be the one congratulating him. Please.

First Mexicali Peppers sock

The first Mexicali Peppers sock is done!
I used the Gentleman's Fancy Sock pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks. For some reason it cracks me up that this is a Gentleman's Fancy Sock. I doubt that Nancy Bush imagined these socks in these colors. And yet, I love the yarn and pattern together. I followed most of the pattern. The socks are sized for a man and I don't have man sized legs so I started the legs with the number she had decreased down to. I also left out the purl stitch in the middle of the heel. I don't have a scale at home and I'm very nervous I won't have enough yarn to make the second sock. I cast on for the second sock right away and I'm hoping for the best. I didn't graft the toes of the first sock just in case I have to rip the toe back.

These socks will be my April entry for Socktopia for the Sunshine on My Shoulders theme. You can't imagine how much I miss the sunshine. Spring is coming very, very slowly to my part of the country. We still have 6 inches of snow on the ground. Baseball practices have had to be canceled and tryouts for the school team will have to take place in the parking lot. More snow is predicted for later in the week. I've had enough. Really.

Birthday presents

Mr. Baseball worked half a day yesterday - after spending 1.5 hours snowblowing his way out of our driveway - and then came home to spend the afternoon with me. I convinced him to go shopping with me. We decided to pool our money to buy a tv for the bedroom. We may be one of the last couples alive not to have tv in the bedroom but I believe it's bad for the sex life so I've avoided it like the plague. The thing is, though, that we don't air condition our house in the summer. We only air condition the bedrooms at night. I don't mind the heat during the day but by night time I've had enough and usually retire to the bedroom to soak up some ac. In the past we've moved the tv out of the spare bedroom in to our room for the summer but that tv is on its last legs so I made the decision to buy us a new one. We found one we liked but it's on backorder so it'll take awhile. That's fine. We won't be needing ac for awhile - especially since there's still snow on the ground.

I also decided to buy myself something with my birthday money from the inlaws. Nova encouraged me to buy something special - something I wouldn't ordinarily buy - for my birthday. I decided that I'd like to knit a small shawl. I went to a wonderful LYS and told the owner what I wanted. I want a small rectangular shawl, something lacy but not too intricate with no stitches on the side that need to be picked up later. I came home with a pattern from the LYS, new needles (which I hope help with the Carpal Tunnel), two skeins of Zephyr in a copper color and a big bottle of Eucalan that the owner threw in as a birthday present.

I also bought the second Lucy Neatby socks DVD. I've repeatedly asked one of you to come by to help me with my short row heels but none of you have showed up. Now I can have Lucy right here with me. I haven't looked at the DVD indepth yet but I checked it out briefly last night and it's going to be perfect. Perhaps I could even loan it to a friend or two when I'm done with it :-) I'm happy with my presents.

I've almost got the first Mexicali Peppers sock done. I hope to post pictures this weekend. It sure looks like Spring.

The Red Sox were kind enough to win on my birthday. That always makes me happy.

1983

Me - 1983

This is my high school graduation picture that I recently found while cleaning out my father's house. I must admit that I like this picture of myself. I look so young. It's hard to remember being 18 - it was a long time ago. The feathered hair makes me laugh because I remember how hard I had to work to get my hair to cooperate. I'd spend lots of time in the morning blow drying it to look just like this and then I'd hair spray the death out of it so it wouldn't move. Note the wool sweater. It was something like 95 degrees the day this photo was taken but I had already picked out what I wanted to wear for my senior photo and I wouldn't let a little thing like the weather change my mind.

I just found out that plans are underway for my 25th high school reunion next year. I'm not in touch with anyone from high school but I look forward to attending. I loved high school - mostly. I was listening to the Meat Loaf cd that I took from my father's house. I thought it was funny to find it among his Eric Clapton and Beatle cds and I remember how much my mother and all my friends' parents didn't want us listening to this album. As I blared the music while cleaning the house this morning I realized why(a post on that later). Anyway, somehow it helped me to remember exactly how I felt as a teenager. Scary!

Anyway, I'm quite glad to be 42. It's just hard to believe how long ago 18 was.

Seriously

This is what it looks like outside my window this morning. And it's predicted that by this time tomorrow we'll have 4 to 6 inches more. It's making me grumpy. I love the snow and I think it's silly to complain about the weather but ... come on, it's April. I am so ready for green grass and crocuses and tree buds. I'm done with snow until December.

The doctor appointments went well yesterday - even if we were there for over 2 hours. All the boys are strong and healthy. The oldest, just 13 for one day, is now 5'7"! He's grown 8 inches in the last two years and has gained 42 pounds. He's eating us out of house and home. If you've never raised a teenage boy you can't imagine the amount of food he can consume. In a few years, they'll all be teenagers and we'll be in the poor house. The doctor wouldn't predict how tall the oldest will get but it's going to be well over 6 feet.

I forgot my knitting at home which was just as well because I was kept quite busy trying to juggle all three boys through the doctor's office procedures and making sure the boys behaved in the waiting room while I was in the exam room with each boy chatting with the doctor. The doctor didn't hassle me even the teeniest bit about my unvaccinated boys and I was so grateful. I didn't have the energy to fight with him.

Mr. Baseball took the boys home so I could do a little shopping. I stopped in to a LYS and couldn't find a single thing to buy. Their stock was skimpy and I'm rather picky so I left without a single thing (though I did find another copy of Knitting Marvelous Mittens). I guess I need to do my birthday shopping online. I'm just not sure what I want. I'd like something that I haven't tried before. Any suggestions?

Birthday week

I don't tend to get very sentimental about things. I'm just not that sort of person. Yesterday was my oldest son's 13th birthday. We have our very first teenager in the house. The day just really made it official. We've seen the dramatic changes during the last year - first he got smelly, then he got tall, his voice changed, his feet grew even more. Sometimes it's hard to see the little boy left in him at all.

I watched Nova celebrate Little Sir's first birthday and I remember how we felt when our first born turned one. I've looked through the very thick photo album. I'm trying to remember our second and third son's on their first birthday but the truth of the matter is I can look at photos and remember pieces of their lives but they just don't stand out like that first child. Life just goes by too fast and it's hard to remember small moments. The boys start to blend together until Mr. Baseball and I struggle to remember which boy did what when.

Today I'll bring all three boys to the doctor for their physicals. They'll get weighed and measured and looked over. Mostly this is done so they can get physical forms filled out for camps and sports. We know they're healthy and we feel very, very blessed to have such healthy children. Still, it's always amazing to see how very much they've grown since the last time they were officially measured and weighed (unlike the marks on the laundry room wall where we measure their growth).

It's a birthday week here at the Baseball household. My son turned 13, I'll be 42, and my Nana turns 81 - each three days apart. It's snowing outside my window. We're so ready for SPRING. We all want to be outside in the sunshine but it's snowing. It reminds me of the birthday parties that were canceled for me and for my son because of snow. It shouldn't snow in April. Please send us some sun.

For those who care about such things, the Red Sox lost their opening game yesterday. To Kansas City of all teams. Ugh! It's a long season and I think we're in for a bumpy ride.

Round 1 Project Spectrum Overview

I'm such a groupie

When Sheri at The Loopy Ewe blogged about her weekend plans last Friday, she mentioned that she might be doing some needle felting for the first time. She got her kits from Laurie at Wool Pets and I had to check out the store. Oh. My. Goodness. These things are so cute. I've never done needle felting before but I've been wanting to try for a long time. I suggested to Mr. Baseball that he get me one for my birthday next week but he couldn't figure out etsy and asked me to order it myself. Here's the one I decided to get. Almost as soon as I ordered I had an email telling me it's on its way.

Isn't that the cutest thing?

A fresh start

I mentioned in my last post that I was bone tired of the icy cold colors of the Project Spectrum color triad of blue, gray and white. I am so excited to move on to the new triad of pink, yellow and green. Truthfully, I don't really care for pink, green or yellow. You won't find much of my home decor includes those colors and very, very little of my clothing. I have olive skin and yellow and green make me look ill. Pink has always been a little too "girlie" for me and I don't wear much of it either.

BUT ... I have been strangely attracted to all three of these colors as I've been stash enhancing this winter. I tried to get a picture of all my triad stash together but it's not fit to share right now. I'll have to gather my yarn and head outside with it. For now, I'm sharing a picture of the yarn I picked up during the Loopy Ewe update a couple of weeks ago. It's by Perchance to Knit and the colorway is Mexicali Peppers. It is SO bright and cheerful it almost hurts my eyes. I have great plans for it and will use one of the Socktopia April themes. The April themes are the best so far.

Stay tuned to see what this snowboarding ball of yarn turns into.

A day to myself

It was a beautiful day here today. The sun was out and temps were in the high 50s. I was able to go out with just a fleece vest. The boys were all able to play outside and dinner was cooked on the grill.

I took the day to run some errands. I visited a LYS to see if they had More Sensational Knitted Socks. I really like this store and the owner is terrific. The prices, however, are high and sales nonexistent. I don't buy a lot of yarn there. The owner told me that they sold out of MSKS yesterday but I was able to find a copy of Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks Warm Feet which has become difficult to come by. I'm really wanting to learn some new techniques and this book comes very highly recommended.

I also got my hair cut. It hasn't been cut since last May. It's gotten rather long and the ends have gotten splitty. Most people have told me that they like my longer hair but even long hair needs to be cut to look healthy. She cut off 2 inches or so and put in some long layers. I think it looks much better but the lovely husband says he can't see the difference.

I also spent some time doing one of my favorite activities. Besides knitting the one thing I really like to do is bargain shop. Oh, you can't imagine the thrills I get when I find a good bargain. I'm a member of The Grocery Game and enjoy clipping coupons and finding food and health and beauty items for free or vastly reduced prices. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I love to buy deoderant for 8 cents. It's even better when a store pays me to take an item off their hands. So I had a good time at Target where I got lots of good stuff for very little money.

I even visited Borders to get my new educator discount card. Even with the 25% off sale this weekend there wasn't anything I was tempted to buy. I'm trying not to buy reading books for myself - borrowing from the library frees up more money to buy yarn. I'm always happy to buy books for the boys because I believe that having a houseful of books leads them to be active and voracious readers. Today I didn't even buy a book for them.

I have only knit 32 stitches all day. My wrists really hurt and I'm not really excited about either sock I'm knitting. I decided to turn the Claudia Handpainted toe up socks I'm knitting into shortie socks for my 12 year old son (who happens to wear size 12 men's shoes) but I need him around to try them on and I'm not really anxious to try the short row heel again. I sure wish I had someone around to walk me through it. All the helps I've found online just haven't worked for me. I need a real live person. Anyone want to come visit?

Cable Rib Socks

Pattern: Cable Rib from Interweave Press Favorite Socks
Yarn: Yarn Pirate's merino/tencel blend in Malamute
Needles: Size 1 & 2 Knit Picks circulars

I was so happy to finish the Cable Rib socks this morning that I went right outside in the below zero temps to try to get a good picture of them. I have found this colorway difficult to photograph and I wanted the pattern to show up too. I just parked my butt in my driveway and took some photos.

I don't usually worry about running out of yarn on my second sock but I started worrying as soon as I finished the first sock. I made these socks longer than my "normal" socks (a little over 7 inches from top to heel) and the ribbing and cabling use lots of yarn. Thankfully, the worrying was for naught as I had a nice ball of yarn left over.

When I first started knitting with the merino/tencel yarn I wasn't too fond of it. It felt kind of stringy. As I got used to it, however, I came to love it. I'm not sure what the purpose of the tencel is but the socks feel wonderful. The cables and ribbing make these very leg hugging socks - no worries about these puppies slipping down. I really enjoyed the pattern. It was simple to memorize by the first repeat. I love so many of the patterns in this book but I was looking for something that would work with this yarn. I think I made a good choice.

This will be my last Project Spectrum project for this triad of blue, gray and white. Truth be told, I am bone tired of these icy cold colors. I'm ready for SPRING and some new, brighter colors. My current sip is not very colorful but it is greenish in a khaki sort of way. I'm using Claudia Handpainted and going toe up because this time I know to be worried about the yardage. I'm almost to the heel of the first sock. I'm feeling confident that this short row heel will go much more smoothly than my last short row heel that had me pulling my hair out.

Just wait until you see my new yarn for my next project. I promise it's bright and cheerful and very, very springlike. It's made by Perchance to Knit - I bought it when The Loopy Ewe had their giant update a few weeks ago. It's certainly not like any yarn I've knit with before but I needed to make a drastic change to chase away these winter blues.

Got box?

Wouldn't you be excited if UPS showed up with a nice big box like this?



Imagine how you'd feel if you opened the box, dug through the protective bubbles, and found this:



Here they are together:



I ordered 10 reams of printer paper from Office Depot yesterday. I used a bunch of coupon codes and needed to add the paperclips to the order to bring it over a certain amount. The paper came packaged all together in a normal sized cardboard Xerox box. The paperclips came in this giant sized box. Do they not have smaller boxes at Office Depot?

Ski day

I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel that is winter. I love winter - I really do. One of the things I like best is that it gives me a time to regroup, a time to be idle without feeling guilty, a time to just be. By the end of winter, however, I start to get antsy. I'm tired of all the grays and whites. I'm tired of the layers of clothes. I'm sick and tired of being COLD.

Today was the last homeschool ski school day. The weather was perfect. The boys spent every minute on the slopes while I hung back in the lodge to help them when they came in. I got some knitting done - started that dreaded toe up Claudia's sock - but the wrists are still bothering me so I take a lot of rests. Mostly I chatted with another homeschool mom and various kids from homeschool families. Because the weather was so nice I was able to venture out onto the slopes to snap a few photos. This picture is of Mr. Baseball Knitter and our middle son. That middle son just loves the opportunity to have alone time with Dad and loves the chair rides up the mountain.

The early Daylight Saving Time, the end of skiing, temperatures in the 50s ... spring is right around the corner. I know the cold will return before spring is here for good and I know the reality of spring in New England (where it's affectionately referred to as Mud Season) but for now I'm happy to have had a taste of spring on a ski mountain in March.

Funny Way to Start the Day

At the risk of being redundant, I feel I must post this YouTube video. If you haven't seen it yet please watch it. I just about died laughing.



In an attempt to be completely honest, I have to say that my grandmother is a crocheter. I learned to crochet years and years before I learned to knit. I could crochet these cute little worm bookmark things which I gave to all the girls in the 4th grade (and maybe a boy or two). I also made about a zillion granny squares from great yarn like Red Heart which I purchased at stores like Ames or Zayres with my own money. I have no idea whatever became of all those granny squares but I know that I never put more than 4 together.

But back to Nana. Nana crochets. And smokes. Yuck!! Getting a gift from Nana is it's own special kind of torture because you have to act excited about the object while trying not to get sick from the stench of smoke. First of all, Nana believes in themes so I get questions like, "What theme is your kitchen?" Hmmm, I know there are theme people out there but I'm not one of them and Nana finds this incredulous. Secondly, Nana believes everything in the kitchen should be covered by crocheted items. To this end, and I kid you not even a little, she has crocheted throw rugs, curtains, tie backs, seat covers, magnets, blender/toaster/teapot covers, and tops of towels which then button around your oven door. She's also big into bathroom crochet objects - big butterflies that go on the wall, covers for toilet paper rolls (with granny heads on top), covers for tissue boxes, bathmats, toilet tank covers, skirts for underneath the sink.



I don't have a picture of the worst gift my Nana ever gave me but I wish I did. When my oldest son was born, Nana gave me the scariest shower gift ever given to womankind. Picture a slinky - a real metal slinky - that has been crocheted around. Yup, crocheted around the entire length of the slinky. Then on the sides are two crocheted arms with plastic hands and on the bottom are two crocheted legs with plastic legs. Finally, on the top is a plastic clown face with a crocheted ruffle around its neck. This thing actually gave me nightmares and I had to hide it in the closet (until I hung it from the shower rod of my girlfriend's house to "surprise" her in the morning).

I love my Nana. I really do. I'm glad she has found a way to occupy her time. She has even made a few beautiful things like bedspreads and afghans. Please know I mean no disrespect to Nana. You'd just have to see her house to understand.

First Cable Rib

The first Cable Rib sock is finished. I really wish I had a better photo to share but it's WAY too cold to go outside to take a photo. I'll get a good shot when the pair is complete. Let me just say that I really like the pattern. It's quite simple with a 6 stitch cable on each side of the leg and the cables cross every 10 rows.

I have totally changed my mind about the yarn. I'm using Yarn Pirate's merino/tencel blend in a colorway called Malamute. If you had a Malamute dog you'd totally understand the naming of this yarn. I didn't care for the yarn at first but as I knit with it and got used to it I decided I really like it. This pattern pulls in quite a bit with the 2x1 ribbing and the cables but the yarn seems to have nice elasticity. It definitely has good stitch definition (even if the photo doesn't show the cables very well). I wish I had a digital scale because I'd like to weigh the remaining yarn and sock to compare them. I'm just hoping I have enough to complete the second sock.

Speaking of worrying about running out of yarn ... I want to start a pair of socks with some Claudia Handpainted that's been sitting in my stash. I tried to start a pair of socks a couple of weeks ago with it but had gauge issues. The yardage is also an issue with me (with my size 10s). I've decided to bite the bullet and do these socks toe up. I hated the last pair of socks I knit toe up and vowed never to do it again but this yarn is really calling for it. I'd prefer to do them toe up but with a heel flap and gusset. I just want a plain vanilla pattern, toe up, with heel flap and gusset. I'll be searching. I need pictures and very small simple words.

Stash

I've been feeling a little guilty or overwhelmed or immensely grateful for my stash recently. At the rate I am knitting it will take me quite awhile before I could ever hope to knit it all and yet I keep buying more. The truth is, I've been indulging in some retail therapy. I haven't been feeling well - a combination of thyroid and hormone issues - and haven't been able to find a decent doctor to work with. The combination of some winter blues and not feeling well has me searching for ways to lift my spirits. I don't buy clothes or shoes or household decorative objects but I do love to buy yarn. I'll share a photo of some stash acquisition as soon as it arrives.

On a similar but different note, I've also increased my library of knitting books this year. This photo shows just the books I've purchased since January. Books don't make me feel guilty. In fact, they give me hope that I will indeed turn all this lovely yarn into items that can be worn. Oh how I love a good knitting book! I could thumb through the pages for hours and hours just planning which patterns I'll knit and which yarn would be perfect for each pattern. Sometimes I get industrious and make a list of possible pattern and yarn combinations.

I feel awfully lucky to have found a copy of Charlene Schurch's Knitting Marvelous Mittens at a local yarn store. This book is awfully hard to find. I'm particularly enjoying Knitting Vintage Socks and Favorite Socks. I've knit socks from both books already this year. I have a plan to knit at least one sock from each of my Nancy Bush books this year (they're not all shown in this picture).

What is your ONE favorite knitting book?

I'm coming around

After saying last night that I wasn't so sure I had picked the right pattern for this yarn I decided to try the sock on. Wow! What a difference. The cable doesn't show up well as I'm knitting and I thought it was all but lost in the yarn. Once I tried it on, however, the ribbing and cables spread out nicely and I'm quite pleased with the pattern.



See what I mean?

Okay, it's 40 degrees outside and we're expecting a snowstorm tonight into tomorrow. I didn't get my morning walk in today so I'm putting on my sneakers and heading out for a 4 mile walk.