Holy Crap

Somehow the impossible has happened. Peapod is complete. That's right, the slog of all slogs is done. And only a week and a half later than I wanted. I can't even wrap my mind around it. I don't think I'll miss it. I can finally move onto new stuff without feeling too guilty (mild feelings of guilt due to the fact that Mason's blanket isn't finished - once again due to lack of yarn). But I plan on starting Flore, and finishing Elliott's BSJ, and the second Jaywalker within the next week to week and a half. I'll remain hopeful on those fronts. Even more hopeful that Mason's yarn will arrive at Knitting on the Square this week and I can make some head way with that.

Once again Maddie's gotta get in on the action

Pea Pod detail

Elliott's BSJ

Not too much to report on in my non-knitting world (big surprise). Mason is doing well. And Elliott loves being a big brother - don't try to walk out of the room with Mason while Elliott is stuck in his high chair - trust me. Still awaiting the arrival of Sarah. Tried to talk to C4 on the phone tonight- he wasn't interested because I wasn't grandma and he'd been rehearsing saying "Happy Anniversary grandma!" No love for Aunt Annie (Happy 35th anniversary to my parents by the way). Sarah's christening has been scheduled for 11/11/07. Of course, that is the day of Steelers v. Browns in Pittsburgh. The game that Elizabeth requested tickets for. On the 50 yard line. So of course, because this is my life after all, she'll get them, and I won't be able to go. Now, if my life were to be different, she wouldn't get them because the christening would be on a different day, but because it's that day, she'll get them.

Kisses for Mason

On a happy note, going to the Indians playoff game on Thursday!! Charlie got the parentals tix for the big anniversary. Can't wait. It's been too long since the Tribe has been playing in October. And I need them to do well to make up for the abominable season ND is having - and for the loss my Steelers suffered today - darn you Ken Whisenhunt!

I miss knitting

Seriously. I miss knitting. No knitting is bad. I haven't gotten to knit since last Thursday - very not happy. It's been finishing only. And ripping out finishing. And finishing again. And repeat. I HATE trying to sew in sleeves. Seriously can't do it. Looks amazingly terrible. And even more terrible when you've got a piece that is reverse stockinette. Does anyone know how to make stockinette to reverse stockinette in a sleeve invisible? Nope, I think it's impossible. So I improvised and resorted to the crochet method. May never do anything but the crochet method again. So tonight - after getting home late from the volleyball game - I'm going to sit and knit. No Pea Pod finishing tonight. Knitting only. Here's the progress, and the finished BSJ as promised. Sorry it wasn't sooner Libby!



P.S. I got onto Ravelry!!! Trainergirl15. Yay! Yay! Yay!

Nearing the Finish Line

So it's been a while since I checked in. Still here. Still training and knitting. I'm getting down to the wire with all three projects on the needles, and have started something new. I know it's bad - but it's for a class.

So first up, the Peapod. Two minutes ago, I finished the sleeves. So I promptly photographed all the pieces together. Yay. The major knitting bits are done. Now I have to sew in the ends so that I can block and then sew it together and add the button band. Which means that I have to go out and find buttons. Like this week. Note to self. Here it is, in it's almost completed state:

Haven't worked on either of the blankets since last weekend. I have 23 inches of Mason's blanket done and am waiting on more of the grey yarn to arrive at Knitting on the Square, so hopefully it'll be there when I go in on Thursday. And I've got 19 inches of Sarah's blanket done. Sadly I don't think that I'll be done with it by Wednesday when my sister is leaving for a mini-break to NJ. If only I didn't need to sleep...

And for the new project... it the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman, subject of my knitting class. It's a relatively easy project, and yet I've had to rip out sections twice already. Just a lack of concentration, and a mix up with the marker that denotes where to decrease. So all is well again with it. I'm doing it in Plymouth's Galway in a deep eggplanty purple and a light rosy pink. LOVE it so far.

I also signed up for the Secret of the Stole. It doesn't start until October (so my blankets and Peapod will have already been given to their owners). I've never done any lace, so I'm really excited, and super excited because I missed out on the Mystery Stole when I was on vacation. I also signed up the the Football-Along swap. First swap, and it should be fun.

Well, that's it from Mentor. Can't wait to go to work tomorrow - I've heard nothing but crap for the last month about how my beloved Steelers were going to get worked over by the hometown Browns. Hehehehehe. It's the end of the 3rd quarter and the score is 31-7 Steelers. Nothing but smiles. Now if only ND could beat up on Michigan on Saturday......

My Definition of a Good Day...

Is getting to stay in the training room on a 90 degree day due to lack of outside activity. And yarn presents in the mail. And feeling like I have accomplished something. And not going to the hospital to see a loved one.

So today was all of that, which means, that by my definition, it was a good day.

A good day because my dad came home from the hospital. He had a few issues on Monday that put him there, and much to his dismay they didn't let him leave until today. He's doing better, but we're going to have to keep an eye on him from now on.

Most of my athletic teams were away today, and as of right now, we don't have a football game scheduled for this week (big broo-ha-ha, let me tell you!) so the team watched film. So I got to take care of some non-fall sport athletes and make heel and lace pads (very exciting stuff). Didn't get around to sorting my paperwork. For some reason, alphabetizing 350+ physicals and other assorted medical forms does not appeal to me. Wish I had a little secretary fairy to come and do it for me.

Went to Knitting on the Square to get some white Encore for the edging of Baby Sarah's blanket. Not that I'm anywhere near to being done with it to start the edging, but that's besides the point. Got some wool wash too - for the very smelly Samus sweater that I finished in January and still haven't had on for more than a minute. Yes that's right, disbelieving family members, I am going to wash the sweater, and then... I will wear it! Kate, the shop owner, was very forthcoming with tips and new methods today. I'm very excited to try her way of knitting and purling on something other than the Peapod. But more on that later.

So, after I got home from a reasonable good day, I pull in the driveway to find a nice, long box leaning up against the door. What could it be? Yay! It's my swift, ball winder and pretty new yarn from WEBS!!! Made a good day better. So I immediately (immediately after eating dinner and talking to Jersey brother on the phone) set it up and started winding. Wound all my sock yarn - which means that the lonely Jaywalker will soon be lonely no more, which includes the very pretty Lorna's Laces that I got to make socks for my mom (Tahoe colorway, if anyone is interested).

See the pretty yarn balls I made?

And then, I petted my new Valley Yarns "Berkshire", which is a heavy worsted, wool/alpaca blend in then Colonial Blue colorway. So pretty. Can't wait to start the Notre Dame sweater.

And then I knit a bit. And in that bit, I managed to finish the back of the Peapod!!!! Pictures tomorrow maybe, I'd already taken a bunch and put them on the computer and didn't feel like doing it again.

It's like Magic

Magically, my camera now works. Mom came home from CA and played with it - with no success at first - then took out the batteries and popped them back in, and magically it works again. Go figure. The little door thingy to get the batteries in and out is cracked - don't know if that had anything to do with the crankiness of the camera, but it's cracked. Still want to get a new camera of course. Once you start thinking about new, upgraded things, you can't help but want them. Anyway. Major progress on Peapod. Have begun the armhole shaping! Very excited. I really thought that getting the back done with its miles of stockinette boring-ness, would take for-ever. But it didn't. And that makes me happy. So here's a photo, next to one of the front pieces for comparison purposes (Miss Madeleine did not want to be left out of the photos, and since I don't have much time this morning due to blogger's inability to load earlier, she'll just have to stay in the photos).

I cast on for Baby Sarah's blanket this weekend. It does go really fast, but there's no way I'll have it done with 8 hours of work. Silly Encore pattern writers. So far I really like the way it's turning out. No pictures because my brother reads this blog occasionally and gift knitting should be somewhat of a surprise, and seeing as he knows I'm making it, the only surprise is in what it looks like. I've done a few more inches on Baby Mason's blanket as well. Also no pictures for the same reason. Well, that's it for now. Need to go to Ellie's before I go to work.

The End is Near...

So near I can almost taste it. Ew, the end of 2-a-days does not taste good. It tastes of rotting pads, sweat, and mildewy gloves. Seriously bad. Everyone always asks me how I can stand to deal with the feet for my job, I don't have an issue with the feet. But the gloves... Yuck. I mean, if one of the guys hurts his thumb or hand or whatever and I have to palpate after they've taken it out of the glove, my hands and fingers reek of the gloves for at least 3 hand washings. It's so gross. But anyway, today is the last day of doubles!!! They scrimmage tomorrow night, under the lights (insert ooh's and aah's), and start school on Monday! So glad that it's almost over.

Can't say that my birthday was great - but I worked all day and didn't do anything afterwards, so considering that, it was good. Ellie came over with mini DQ ice cream cakes and a Hungry Howie's bacon cheddar cheeseburger pizza (so bad, but sooo good), and a promise of paying for my passport when I get around to applying for it as my present. Received a very cool digital photo frame that you can have a slideshow of your pictures on from Charlie, Rachel and Charlie 4, very excited to play with it this weekend. Charlie 4 called and sang "Happy Birthday" to me - so cute. Then he proceeded to talk very excitedly, but I'm not sure what about. He was very excited about the pre-schools he went to visit, and the fact that he went pee on the potty. So cute, breaks my heart that I don't get to see him more often. The Indians beat the Tigers - yay! Taped "So you think you can Dance?" and will watch that tonight before the finale. So all in all, not the worst birthday.

Knitting. Hmm, haven't gotten much done lately. Exhaustion has prevented most knitting capabilities. I've got about 8 inches of Mason's blanket done, and yesterday I got a few inches of the Peapod back done while at Knitting on the Square. Bought myself a birthday present while there, Interweave Press' Favorite Socks, I've been looking at it for a while, and it was on sale yesterday, and it was my birthday.... No socks until Peapod is done! Two of the ladies who were there knitting were working on baby blankets form the same book that Baby Sarah's blanket is from, and they both assured me that they work up very fast and are wonderful.

My camera is still broken. Geek Squad will look at it for $25 and then tell me what's wrong and how much it will cost - can we say rip off? Kodak.com says that the minimum it would cost to fix is $80 plus at least $50 to ship. Hmmmm, a new camera is looking better and better. Biggest paycheck of the year comes next week too.... We'll see.

Rainy Day Boredom

So it's raining. Amend that, it's thundering, which means that somewhere there is lightning. Which means that football cannot practice. Which means that I have spent the last hour getting caught up on my paperwork (surprisingly a whole bunch of injury reports for yesterday, surprising because we still haven't started hitting yet), and now I'm bored. Amazingly, there are no football players in my training room at the moment. So what else do I have to do but blog a little.

Not much to talk about. Made it to the festival Sunday night. Not too many people there because it rained. But Bridget, Chris and Kaylee came out. They had driven down to Dublin for the Irish Fest but it got shut down due to the rain down there so they come home early. Paul, Peggy and Elliott also came. I can't believe how big little man is getting! It's only been a few weeks since I've seen him, but he looks bigger and his face is starting to change. He's starting to lose that infant-ness of his face. Anyway, didn't win any money at the money jar - for the second year running. I'm starting to get a bit discouraged. But the ribs were really good, as always. And yay! Steelers beat the Saints in the first game of the year. Never mind if the starters only played one series, they still scored and the starters for the Saints didn't.

Finished the front of Peapod. Yippee! Cast on and started the ribbing for the back. Cast on for Mason's blanket on Sunday. I'd forgotten how fast worsted weight yarn on size 8 needles can go. It's been a long time since I've knit with anything bigger than size 2. But I'm really liking how it's coming out so far. Can't post any pics because my brother reads the blog and I like for gifts to be somewhat of a surprise. Plan on getting new yarn for Baby Jersey's blanket this week. (If a name has been chosen for Baby Jersey, could a Jerseyan please let me know, I feel bad continuing to just refer to her as Baby Jersey).

And here comes the weather warning... fun, flash flood warning. So maybe no practice at all today.....

It's too early..

Good Morning! And it definitely is morning. There's nothing better than an 8am football practice on a Saturday morning. No wait, it's better when you know it's going to get to 90 degrees on the field before 10am. Who doesn't love August in NE Ohio? We'll see how today goes, they get to add shoulder pads today. I have a feeling that I'll have at least one kid puking - as he's done both days already - hy should today be any different? Most of my order was delivered yesterday - yay!!!! Not too much of the stuff I was really hoping to get of course. All my tape came, which is great and all, but I've got plenty left over from last year. I need bandaids and blister pads. Hopefully the rest will come early in the week.

Made some headway with Peapod last night. Made it through the fourth repeat and half of the fifth. I forgot how fast it can go when you're decreasing and only working on half the number of stitches. I vow to finish the left front - evil evil evil left front - tonight. And move on to the easy peasy back section. Realized that I made an oops. Due to the lack of directions, and the fact that most of the time I'm an idiot (just ask my family they'll agree), the seven stitches that were supposed to be happily sitting on a stitch marker for almost the whole piece were actually knitted up as I went. I'm not really thinking that this is a huge deal. It was supposed to be knitted up after and then sewed to the edge, so I think I saved myself some sewing - which is good because it's definitely not one of my fortes. Those stitches are now happily sitting on the marker, due the decreases that had to take place. Maybe I'm just in denial, but I think it'll be okay. And if it's not, then this little cardigan is going to be burned in effigy. No wait, the yarn is way too nice to be burned. Maybe I'll burn the pages of the book that don't contain good directions. Yeah, that'll work.

Bad Blogger Me

Alright, I admit it. My blogginess has continued. But my week hasn't gotten any better. I really don't like to force my yicky moods onto others, if I can help it. (Family doesn't count). Worked my last day in the clinic - the same day that they decided to collect co-pays (at 4pm the evening before they made this decision) so I had to deal with several irritated patients, because... the secretary took the day off to have an abscessed tooth taken out (rightly so, but it was a last minute decision so I already had a whole bunch of patients on my schedule) so my day was a bit crazy, in the chicken-with-the-head-cut-off kind of way.

And then when I went out to assess the amount of damage done to my training room in my absence the next day, I learned that none of my supplies had been ordered. Even though I left a long and detailed note about how and when to do it for the person who was supposed to do it. Yikes. So I was told to go ahead and place the order. And here's how the conversation went form there :

Me - Do I need a purchasing order or an account number or need to talk to someone who handles the money at all?

Him - No.

Me - Is there anything that you can tell me about what I should/need to do?

Him - No.

So the next day, I track down the company people and get my reduced price bill from them and find out from the wonderful school secretary, that I do in fact, need a purchasing number. But of course, by the time I had gotten all this info, the nice lady in the business office had already left for the weekend. So I'm hoping that Monday is a better day. That next week is a better week. I mean, it has to be. There are only...4 days until football starts !!! As all the kids felt necessary to remind me every time they saw me walking across campus to fetch faxes and have useless conversations. That's right, FOUR days. Can you smell the smell? You know the one that is uniquely football? It's mud, sweat, pigskin, and old pads. Mmmmm, nothing like the smell of mildewy pads in the morning.

So, in all my crankiness and excitement over Harry Potter, I forgot to mention that my first ever order from Knitpicks came on Saturday. Sadly, it was incomplete, so that took a bit of the excitement away. But in the box was some of the yarn for Baby Mason's blanket, a set of US 0 DPN's, and Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Workshop. All of their books were 40% off and I so want to try the baby surprise jacket. And then in random web wanderings the other day, a LYS that I have yet to make it out to, has a class in September on the baby surprise jacket. So I may sign up and get it done there. Yay.

In other knitting news, I have almost gotten back to the point of THE FROG, in the Peapod. Finished the second pattern repeat yesterday. Here's what it looks like so far.

And here's how far I've gotten on my Jaywalker socks. They're done in Lorna's Laces in the special anniversary colorway for SimplySockYarn.com. LOVING them so far.

Crankiness

So it's been a week since I last blogged. Sorry, but my life hasn't been all that interesting. I got my Harry Potter and finished it before the weekend was out (wonderful by the way, but now what do I have to look forward to?). Spent all day Saturday at the Irish fest. Cleaned my room and the craft room on Sunday. Started a pair of Jaywalker socks. Decided that I need to frog the Baby Jersey blanket and find a new pattern (cheap solution) or a new yarn (expensive solution). Realized last night when I started to knit on the Peapod, for the first time in over a week, that I needed to rip out the 2 30-row repeats that I had completed. Crankiness ensued. Crankiness over the fact that I wouldn't have had to rip it out if the authors of the book that the pattern is in had not been lazy and not written out the directions for the left front panel rather than just say "do as for the right front but reverse shaping"!!!!!!!! Very angry at Tracy Ullman and Mel Clark for their pattern writing at the moment. VERY CRANKY! It's not like it's that hard to write out the pattern if you came up with it yourself. Some of us are not all that good at the pattern making - in fact some of us have never made our own pattern - so how the heck should we know exactly where the added purls go? Like I said, I've been a bit cranky. Rant is now over.