catching up on photos and clearing up a little confusion...

This is the package my wonderful secret pal sent me.
It was full of very lovely stuff. There is a lovely keychain of a sweater in progress that instantly found its home with my keys, some samples of wool wash, a pretty green stitch marker, size 0 harmony dpns, a knitting journal, dpn wip tubes, highlighter tape, and the new Harlot book (awesome, by the way). The yarn is some very lovely Dream in Color smooshy and Scout's yarn custom dyed in orange and maroon just for me, ptown hokie. Thank you so much! You are awesome! I love getting your comments and emails!

This odd little mass above became this lovely sweater below:
It is NOT for a child of mine. My two little ones are too big for this. I am not expecting anytime in the foreseeable future. It will be for HokieHubby's cousin's baby, due Christmas Eve. This is Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. I'm waiting to find out what gender the baby will be so I can buy buttons for it. Mom-to-be feels like baby will be a girl, so I'm hoping that is true. The sweater has a lot of blue in it, but possibly a bit too much purple for a boy. If it is a boy, I will add a blue edge around the neckline and blue buttons.

This is the package I received last month for the A Few of My Favorite Things Swap: an assortment of teas (delicious), chocolates (again, delicious), lavender soap (loving it currently: I think it repels mosquitos), candles, notecards, stitch markers in a box, yarn and needles. Thank you for a lovely package, Shannon!

Baby Surprise

Good news on the knitting front: my Ravelympics Baby Surprise Jacket is all knitted up! Right now it is a floppy piece of fabric waiting to be photographed and then seamed. Once that is done, I will be going out to buy buttons. We're not sure of the sex of the baby just yet, so maybe the more economical thing to do would be to sew it up and wait to buy buttons. The jacket so far is beautiful. I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Confetti, which is white, light blue, darker blue, purple, and pink. It's probably best suited for a girl, but I think a newborn boy could wear it fine. I'm going to use the buttons to hopefully clarify gender. I used one skein and part of the second, so I'd like to do a hat and booties to match.

So, doesn't it figure that the day I get up early, the kids sleep late? Usually they wake me up around 6:30. So I get up at 6 and they are just now waking up at 7:45. I really need to get up early more often.

trying to medal in Baby Dressage

In keeping with current events, here's the Olympic-themed SP12 question of the week:

Which Olympic event would best describe your knitting/knitting style?

Gymnastics Team

Lace=balance beam: this event requires massive amounts of concentration and I cannot take my eyes off of the apparatus.

Socks=floor exercise: this is the event that goes everywhere, to all the corners of the earth. It tends to be the one that has the most energy and moves/shaping.

Sweater=uneven bars: this is a new addition to my routine. It has highs and lows, simple stockinette turns and cable twists and releases. It is an in-depth exercise, involving many castons/mounts for each piece of the sweater and castoffs/dismounts. Gotta stick the landing: the seaming is the last part that leaves an impression with the audience.

Wee Tiny Prayer socks=vault: quick and dirty and full of prayers.

(Can you tell what I watched last night?)

Speaking of the Olympics and knitting, I am working on a baby surprise jacket for the Ravelympics. I'm doing pretty well, too! I hope to finish it before we leave for camping next Friday. I don't want to seam it on the road without my internet! My traveling project will probably be the Central Park Hoodie I started before the Olympics. I've finished the back and sworn not to knit more on it until after the BSJ. We'll see how that goes!

My pal is better than your pal!

First of all, thank you so so so much to my secret pal! You are spoiling me already! I took pictures, but Hokiehubby has the good laptop that makes pictures easy to upload. Let me just tell you that I have been properly spoiled. I can't decide what gift is my favorite! You'll just have to wait until I can post the pictures to find out!

OTN: Central Park Hoodie. I started this guy on the first of the month. I'm so excited, as this is my first sweater! It's speeding along; I'm on the armholes on back. Of course, the size 10 needles probably help, and the fact that I'm really enjoying the yarn (Knit Picks Wool of the Andes.) I was a little nervous about Knit Picks yarn, as I haven't enjoyed the sock yarn I've tried. This stuff feels good to work with.

Catching up on SP12 questions:
In many communities, "the fair" is a great place to visit and spendtime with your family. It's also where many have entered one productor another (jams, cakes, even knitting)...Have you ever entered your knitting (or anything else) in the fair?Would you ever consider it?

=I don't even know where there is a fair nearby. I've never entered a fair, but I might some day! When my husband's aunt saw my MS3, she suggested that I sell it. How do you sell something like that??? I worked so hard on it for months. It was my first lace, and it's full of mistakes. I'm very attached to it. Of course, my mother in law told me that she is going to be incredibly excited to open her Christmas present this year.

What is your favorite supper for a hot summer evening? For added flavor, post a photo or recipe link.

=I don't know that I have a favorite supper. If things are really rough around here and I don't want to cook, I would be happy with a bowl of cereal and maybe ice cream after the kiddos go to sleep. Hokiehubby and Hokiettes don't aways go for that. So they get hot dogs and mac and cheese. My latest experiment is once a month cooking. Now there is always something in the freezer that has minimal prep: thaw and heat and eat!

My MOPS year has begun. We had our first steering meeting yesterday and it went well. I'm still nervous about being Coordinator, but I know it will be fine in the end.

More later, when I can post pictures!

MS3 is done done done

to sleep or not to sleep...

My freakish need for sleep is officially cutting into my knitting time. Again.

So whose fault was it?

The facts:
-There was marker all over the bedspread.
-There were three markers (with and without caps) in Hokiefriend's bedroom that had originally been downstairs, accessible in a child's desk.
-The boys had been allowed free reign of the house while us mommies hung out in the living room.
-The boys had been told they were not to have crayons all over the house, due to last weeks "writing on the walls" incident.
-The boys had been told markers were for the dry erase board only.
-Hokieboy is 4years and one month old; Hokiefriend will be 4 next month.
-Hokiemama (me) is 30; Hokiefriend's Mommy is 28.

Observations:
-Markers were accessible at all times to curious preschoolers.
-The boys were never told the markers needed to stay downstairs.
-The boys were not supervised upstairs.
-The boys average 4 years old.
-The mommies average 29 years old.
-When confronted, each boy said the other one did it.

Conclusions:
-The boys probably knew they were not supposed to draw on the bed, but it cannot be determined for sure.
-The boys have impulse control issues; they are 4.
-The mommies did not draw on their additional 25 years of life experience to make some simple decisions that could have prevented the situation (ounce of prevention v. pound of cure, HELLO!)

Verdict:
-Boys: Guilty of succumbing to typical impulses affecting young children.
-Mommies: Guilty of stupidly allowing children with access to destructive materials to run amok unsupervised in a home with items that the mommies do not want destroyed.

Sentence:
-Boys: immediate suspension of coloring privileges until further notice; three strikes rule in effect: one more coloring offense and boys will not be allowed to play together indefinitely.
-Hokiemama: embarassment at seeming lack of control of Hokieboy's actions; awkwardness of not agreeing with Hokiefriend's Mommy's method of punishment; possible participation in replacement of destroyed comforter.
-Hokiefriend's Mommy: find a way to remove dry erase marker from comforter; failing stain removal, possible replacement of comforter; other ramifications unknown to this entry.

Conclusion:
Keep all markers out of reach of children unless supervised.