Late for Dinner

A funny thing happened on my way home from work last night. I got to my car in the commuter garage and started it but then I turned it right back off and I went nowhere for an hour and a half. Yep - an hour and a half. That’s how long it took me to finish the book I was reading. I had been reading it on the train and I was at a really good part. I picked it up with the intent of finishing the few pages left in the chapter and the next thing I knew the book was finished and I no longer needed my sunglasses on.

I felt somewhat sheepish because the family had been waiting, with dinner on the table, for me to get home. Oooops! In my defense I can only say that it was a really good book. Most of the family groaned and looked at me funny but one person was proud of me. The Drama Queen assured me that she understood. That’s my girl! She’s a reader just like me and she’s proud of it.
I worked on the hat again last night. It was easy since the book was all finished. I won’t bore you with another picture though. I’ll wait until it’s finished for that. It shouldn’t be long.

This weekend wasn’t supposed to be a busy one but it’s shaping up that way. Stinkette starts swimming lessons tomorrow morning (translation = knitting time for me) and both girls start Sunday school again. There is also a rummage sale for DQ’s Girl Scout Troop that I need to help out at on Sunday. Oh, and let’s not forget that my favorite craft fair is in town this weekend. That’s a must!

Is it Live...

… or is it Memorex?

Do you remember those commercials? Now cassette tapes of any kind are just so passé. When we ask if it’s live these days it generally refers to the shows we’re watching. Are they live or is it T*VO? For us it’s the difference between watching our shows uninterrupted by commercials and getting up to do household chores during those advertisements. It sounds like such a small thing and yet – it’s addictive and, like so many other things, there is a tendency to become dependent on it. Not convinced? Just ask my dad.

Yes, my dad is still living with us and it’s likely that he’ll be here for some time to come. They’re still cleaning up his house and I’m not sure when the rebuilding will start. For now he has settled in at our place and, after spending the first week of his stay telling us about how he lives very nicely without T*VO, he has now joined the crew asking – if the shows we’re watching are “live” or if we have the "power" to fast forward.

One of the shows that we watched “live” last night was Project Runway. I was very happy to see Vincent voted out. He was really annoying me but not as much as Jeffrey who irritates me each and every time he’s on. Why does he have to be such a dick? No matter what I thought of Angela, he was needlessly unkind to her mom and gloating after she was voted out is just totally uncool. I have to say that I’m enjoying this show much more than I ever expected.

On the same note, I’m totally amazed at how much I’m enjoying knitting the 3-pattern hat. I worked on it all night (between all my mommy activities) and now the cuff is finished. I’m so into it that I took it for my commuter knitting instead of the usual sock. What a shock! I probably would’ve gotten even further on the hat except that I kept looking at the wrong side and admiring it. I’m sure it’s not as neat and tidy as some people but it looks way better than I expected it to. I think I may even be doing this right. Is that possible?

The only thing that threatens to distract me from the hat right now is this book. I read Kristi’s review of it the other day and it sounded great so I went to the library and picked it up right away. I finally started reading it on Monday and I just can’t put it down. It's just my speed and I’d be finished by now but work has been getting in the way. I just hate when that happens. It’s ok though because I’m near the end and I’m sure that I’ll finish it today. Then I’ll just have to go get the next one from the library.

Lucky Me!

One of the benefits of a serious stash organization effort is that you find all kinds of stuff that you may have forgotten. One of the things I found the other day is the very beginning of a hat I started to make for the Drama Queen last fall. It was one of those things where I took a book out of the library and liked a bunch of stuff so I showed it to DQ and let her pick out something she liked. Big mistake! Naturally, she chose a hat that was way over my head (pun intended).

This is called the Triple Patterned Watch Hat (from a book I can’t recall) and, when I pulled it out on Monday night, I had only completed 2 rows beyond the cast on. That’s it! Looking at it reminded me of how I sat with that pattern forever and just couldn’t figure out how it worked. I read it forwards and backwards and it made no sense to me. Monday night, I pulled out one of the 2 rows I completed last fall and started knitting. After a few hours this is what I have. It’s Fair Isle and I usually stay away from that because of tension issues but so far I think this looks ok. If anything it may be a touch too loose but that's better than too tight - right? I took my copy of Vogue Knitting and read the tiny section on FI to get a little help on carrying the yarn properly. I’m still not sure I’m doing it right though.

Just like with Lily, this is making perfect sense now although I know it was totally confusing before. I didn’t realize that my understanding of knitting had changed so much. Maybe it’s just a case of fresh eyes seeing things differently. Whatever the reason, this hat is moving right along and actually stands a chance of being completed before the weather gets really cold. Imagine that! I may get a project finished just in time for it to be useful.

Aside from the huge progress that I’m making on all of these old UFO’s I had another reason to be super happy yesterday. Actually, I had two reasons – I won 2 contests. I rarely win anything and usually, when I do, it’s not something that I’d actually buy. You know what I mean? Sometimes you win something and it feels really good to win but the prize itself isn’t something super exciting – like a mug, or a logo t-shirt you’d never wear. Not this time! This time I won stuff that has me totally stoked! First, I won the contest that One Crazy Fiber Lady was having in honor of her 2000th comment. I can’t even imagine 2000 comments. That sounds huge. Anyway, if you look on the page there is beautiful pink and green yarn that’s coming my way. Woo hoo! Then, I found out that I won Susan’s contest over at I’m Knitting as Fast as I Can. She sent me a copy of her new pattern for the Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl. I was just talking about that pattern with a friend over the weekend and now I have a copy. Hooray!