Tragedy in my Knitting World

You know those times when you are in the zone when you are knitting? You're feelin' the flow, gettin' it done. I was in that zone Saturday night. I was going to get Emily's sweater done. I only had 5 or so inches to go. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, then this happened:

This horrible unspeakable thing. This tragedy. My Denise needle snapped in the middle of my knitting. I know I can send for a replacement. But that's little comfort when you have a sweater to get done the next day. And of course I have no other size 5 circs. Why would I? I have a set of Denise Knitting Needles. "Relax, we're all here". Only, you aren't all here. Not anymore.

I realize that my yarn is not the best yarn. It's pretty crappy yarn actually. Some of the worst stuff I've ever used. Full of knots and shlubs. But it isn't steel wool or anything. It shouldn't have the power to break needles. And there I was, pushing it down the needle and I heard the sickening snap.

So the sweater was not done by Easter. The first time I have ever missed an Easter deadline. I am now trying to finish it on straight needles, which is an uncomfortable pain, and it is going slowly.

I will send my needle back to Denise to be replaced. I was so proud and happy to finally have a set of Denise needles. So I will get it replaced. And I will have the peace of mind that goes with having all my needles there for me, ready to knit whenever I need a certain size.

And I will slowly, quietly, one by one, begin buying Addi turbos on the side.

Spring-gulp-Cleaning?

Well, we got a little bit of snow yesterday. Not much. It would have been fine anyway, considering the temp today is supposed to be 42. Has Spring, sprung? Is it springing? I don't know. But I DID clean my kitchen today. Maybe it's a sign...I do not clean easily.

We did have visitors at our feeders. Here is the chickadee:
And the Nuthatch:
A bad picture of a bird I am pretty sure is a Junco:
And a squirrel actually using the squirrel feeder:

And I have been working on Emily's sweater. I have divided each area and I am about to do the first sleeve.
I am hoping by Saturday it will be done. I really dislike this yarn...it is Bernat Caress...definitely acrylic-y (and I am NOT a yarn snob. I love a nice acrylic.) but the "mohair look" they gave it does nothing but pick up all the cat and dog hair. I see why it sat in my stash for so long--and why it was 99 cents on clearance when I did.

But speaking of my stash, I have to make this pledge, and I know my 2 friends that read this will take me to task if I break it--my next 5 projects will be from what I have around the house--I will buy no new yarn. This reasoning is 3 fold:

A--I have too much yarn. (Yes, it is possible).
B--I have too many projects I need to get going on that I have purchased yarn for recently, and I have not started.
and
C--I have spent WAY WAY WAYYYYY too much money on yarn this month. I know it is because the tax return came back and I thought I'd go whole hog--but mostly it is because I am depressed, and when I am depressed, I spend. I can't justify it; that's a fact. So I need to stop the madness.

We want to take the kids to Disneyworld in October, and I also want to go visiting this year. I won't have any money saved, and can't show my kids the beauty of saving for something, if I don't do it myself.

Nicholas' friend's mom (got that? LOL) sells stuff on Ebay, so I'm going to have her show me how (mostly I am trying to figure out how to calculate shipping costs...) and I am going to get rid of not only yarn, but baby and maternity clothes. I don't think I will be in need of them anytime soon, and I figure if we are well off enough to have another kid, we will just need to have money to buy new clothes.

That last statement is pretty much resigning myself to the fact that I won't be having any more children. But I have 3 beautiful little angels/handfuls now, and I don't NEED another kid. Not to mention the fact that I don't really miss the "not sleeping through night/bottles/poop every diaper" days.

So I will be very happy when Spring comes. I can hopefully get my house organized to get us all on a routine, start putting aside some money (and paying some back bills. I did manage to get a few paid already) and we can get outside, get planting, get walking and get riding our bikes...because if the cabin fever doesn't kill us, the gas prices might!

Maybe it will be Spring soon?

Alright, I am following the rules. I set the stupid clocks ahead (and lost an hour of sleep...which I feel this morning thank-you-very-much!) I am making(stressing) about Emily's Easter sweater. I know Easter is in *gulp* 2 weeks. So shouldn't I get a little Spring? Instead of 10 degrees this morning?

Fortunately it is supposed to warm up the end of the week...to like 40 degrees! Which is good, because Anna spotted these little guys next door (tulips maybe? Or Daffodils?) who are popping up their heads!

She also spotted new grass, but I can't figure out where she saw that. Probably like 3 little sprouts behind a bush somewhere, but that counts! So I will have to ask her when she gets home to show me, so I can take a picture and share some Spring.

And we have a beautiful Cardinal that I think is making a home in the big pine tree behind us. This is as close as he'd get for me to take a picture today.

He was singing so beautifully this morning--Nicholas would sing back, and the bird would sing (Nicholas just learned to whistle) and he turns to me and says, "That red bird is singing to me!"

We put up new feeders yesterday, for the birds and the squirrels. We have chickadees, sparrows and a nuthatch around, and yesterday I swear I saw a Junco! I'll take some pictures if they get close. I love birds, as long as they aren't in my house I think!

Otherwise, I was working on my SOTM.
It's pretty, but it's fiddly. I don't know if it's worth all that...it's too hard to tell from the looks of the pattern so far.

And I just started Emily's Easter sweater (as my mother let her pick out her dress...you know, sleeveless for March 22 in Wisconsin....).
I used some Bernat Caress I had laying around my stash forever. The only problem I'm seeing so far is the cat/dog hair. But that's a given anytime I use white.

Goodbye #4

Do you remember where you were when you heard Brett Favre was retiring?

Thanks Brett. We'll miss you!

Nothing nicer than a Sweater and matching socks!

I finished up Emily's top down sweater in Encore Colorspun worsted.
I really like the top down method and can't wait to do a sweater for me that way. But first, I told Anna I'd make one for her, and I still owe Nicholas the camo sweater that I frogged (the Wallaby--ugh)

I had a ball of Encore left over and rather than stash it or get a refund (perish the thought--taking BACK yarn???) I made Emily a pair of socks with a free pattern from the Plymouth site.


I made the 2 year old size, and it was too small--and they don't do much in the way of heel turning, so it really didn't want to stay on. So I made the 4 year old size and they fit great!

I have one little lonely size 2, so I might whip up another one and bring it to Iris for the Dulaan project. (I think they are collecting for that one next).

I finally got my pattern from theknitter.com SOTM. It's a really pretty pattern and really soft yarn, so I am excited to start that. I need to make a drawstring for the Daria bag. And I need to start my sock for SKP 2008. I have to tell you--oy! The pattern is written toe up, magic loop.
A--I have never done a toe up sock
B--I have NO CLUE how to do Magic Loop.

Fortunately, I can do the sock anyway I want to this time, but I have to adjust the pattern, and we all know how comfortable I am with that. So I might try it toe up, but on dpn's. I have 2 months to do it, but I'd like to get it done and not have it looming so I am ready for the next one. I know I have to learn toe up socks eventually (and I might even like them...). It's just--oy!

So that's the story here. Oh and bizarre weather. Thunderstorms last night--not Thunder Snow, Thunderstorms. With rain. Then freezing rain. Then snow this morning. Not a whole lot of snow (It looks like it stayed at about 34 degrees all night). The trees are pretty this morning.

And I leave you with a picture of Emily.
I need to take a picture of her in her sweater ensemble, but I thought I'd post this one because I love when my kids are in overalls.