Today, Bobo is Three!

Miss Bobo, aged three, relaxing with Lilith. Mesmerized by "The Wonderpets."

Emma Elaine Lacey

aka "Bobo"

February 27, 2004

Today, my baby girl is three years old. Where does the time go?

The obligatory birth story of Bobo begins on February 26th, 2004 at 9 p.m. It was a Thursday evening and DH and I were watching TV in bed. The Bug had been in bed for an hour, and Will and Grace was on early that night. At 9, The Apprentice came on and DH asked me if I was watching it. I said, "No, I'm just laying here trying to decide if my water broke."

I was dampish. I went downstairs to check. I was leaking something alright, but no big gush like you see in the movies. So I called the on-call Doctor and he said to head up to the hospital. If it was broken, they'd keep me. If not, I'd come home. So we grabbed a few things, dropped a drowsy Bug off next door with Sister and went to LRGH, third floor.

My water had indeed broken. They hooked me up to a monitor and admitted me. I'd not had so much as a single contraction, or anything resembling a contraction. My mom came up, fresh from a local watering hole, as did my cousin Carla who helped me bring Bug into the world. We sat. We talked. Nothing contracted.

The nice nurse and I went for a walk. All night long, we walked the floor, around and around. Not a twitch. Not a pinch. Not a cramp. Ma went home, said she'd be back in the morning. Carla went home said she'd be back in the morning. DH wished fervently he'd be back in the morning, but he hunkered down in the Marquis de Sade armchair and waited.

I finally lay down to get some sleep, knowing that with no water left and no contractions that I had a pitocin drip in my near future. Which I'd had with Bug and I told the nurse in no uncertain terms that I was going to have an epidural and make whatever calls were necessary to procure me one.

At 9:00 Friday morning, the good doctor came in and said it was time to induce. I was a good three centimeters dilated and we were good to go. They hooked me up and we were off to the races. I had a big iced coffee and nice nurse snuck me some toast. Thus fortified I was ready to rock.

I got a couple hours into it when I decided, "Owee, this hurts. Medicine please." They summoned the worlds oldest and worst anesthesiologist they could locate. He stuck me at least twice, all while I'm curved over in a U trying not to move or scream. The third time he said he got it and promptly taped me and left. I got an exam, while I was already uncomfortable. It was something like 8 cm and fully effaced. Great. And I was feeling every minute of it.

I distinctly remember asking--nay whining--over and over, "When is it going to work?" My mother, who hates seeing me in pain, replied over and over as reassuringly as she could with a note of panic in her voice "Soon. Soon. Any minute."

Carla, in the meantime, had a perm and a color to do at her shop, and rushed up as soon as she was finished, figuring she'd have time. But she said she hurried because she had a feeling she should be at the hospital. And she got there right as I was starting to push.

Anyway, any minute never came. I got numb in the feet area, but that was it. And dr came back in and told me it was time to push. Okey dokey, then. I was in no position to argue. And I pushed. At one point her big old head was stuck under my pubic bone, so nice nurse pushed down as hard as she could while dr grabbed her head and started reefing. (My mother was on the other side of the room saying "Oh, my God, he's going to rip that kid's head off. He didn't. ) It was very uncomfortable, but she popped free and slithered out. Aunt Carla cut the cord, a privilege ceded to her by DH who gets queasy about such things.

I was very happy to see her. I had Nubain with Bug and was very whacked out for her arrival. I was hyperconscious of this birth. They plopped her on me and I loved her. While I held her, dr. stitched me up. A small tear and five stitches he said. They hurt like the very devil for weeks after. In contrast to the many, many stitches I had with the Bug's episiotomy that I never felt. Weird.

When they finally took her to weigh her--the whole thing was very relaxed and unhurried--they told me to take a guess at what she weighed. I said, I dunno, 'bout the same as Bug. 8 lbs, maybe a bit more.

9 lbs, 2 oz.

Dr. said that they had so much trouble popping her out because her arm came out with her head at the same time.

It still hurts when it rains.

Happy Birthday, my baby, my little love.

Let the Knitstorm Commence!

I got the yarn for the Easter sweaters yesterday. Schlepped all the way to Center Harbor to come back with...

Acrylic.

Yep. Reynolds Utopia in "cotton candy" pink. 100% courelle acrylic.

We looked at every yarn we deemed appropriate to the project. We rejected cotton (though the Cotton Twist ran a very close second) because of it's tendency to pull downwards in that weight. And you don't want a bolero pulling at the hem. Not cool. We rejected most wools because of the "fuzzy" factor. Such a summery light dress would be overpowered by a wintery sweater. We liked washable wools, only none were the right color. Finally, we landed on the acrylic. Right color, right gauge, machine washable, bouncy, not too squeaky and very soft...well, acrylic it is!

We both swatched last night and we both have to go down two needle sizes to get gauge, but I got going on my bolero last night and it's coming along swimmingly. I don't know if I'm mastering my stockingette knit flat or if the yarn is really as forgiving as it seems, but my rowing out issues seem to be minimized on this project. Which is good since it's knit almost entirely flat.

So far, Bug's bolero looks good. I like it. I just hope it's not enormous on her. Debbie Bliss tends to design on the baggy side. Cross your fingers.

I did break my own Lenten fast about not working on Sunday by listing a bunch of stuff in my etsy store. Many new mittens are up and I'm hoping for some late winter sales. I made up for working yesterday by playing cards with Bug and Larry T.

Today, after having an amazing lunch at Canoe whilst shopping yesterday, I start my Atkins Induction phase. I've been dieting lowcarb for the past two weeks, and after indulging a bit this weekend, I'm going hardcore for the next two weeks. I wasn't doing well with the other plan. Too many carbs. So Atkins it is. It works well for me.

Bobo's birthday party was Saturday afternoon. It was an intimate gathering and we had a lovely time. Emma didn't nap either Friday or Saturday and kept me up half the night Saturday night. Of course it was because I had to sing on Sunday. You watch. I don't have to cantor for the next three weeks. I bet you dollars to donuts she sleeps like a rock all three weeks. She is the very devil, that one.

Oh, and I had some cake. It was delicious.

The Calm Before the Storm.

I got a couple of projects off the needles last night. I finished MIL's red legwarmers and Buggy's So-Called scarf.

The legwarmers in a shade of red that can best be described as Christmas Red on Steroids are made from Encore DK, mostly acrylic with a touch of wool. I used the One Skein pattern as a guide for the lace edge, then I did a 4 x 1 rib for the leg part before switching to a 1 x 1 rib at the bottom edge. I also did some increases and a loose bind-off to make them super stretchy.

Bug's scarf is done in the same yarn as her hat and mittens and Bobo's hat and mittens. And I have nearly a full skein left, so I'll probably make her some fingerless mittens for spring because she loves them.

On the needles is a shawl, possibly for myself out of Artful Yarns Jazz in a nice brown colorway. I will likely work on that one today.

The storm that's a-comin' is a hat and legwarmer set that I'm making for a customer on etsy. The yarn has been ordered and is presumably on its way. I told her it'd take a month, so it's a priority.

Adding to the storm is the need to make some small sweaters for the girls to wear over their Easter dresses. Sister and I think "Molly" by Debbie Bliss will be perfect and we will choose and buy the yarn this weekend so we can get started. She'll do one and I'll do the other, and betwixt and between us we should be able to get them done by Easter morning.

So that's what's looming on the horizon. It's going to be a busy 5 weeks!

Lent started Wednesday and I cantored at Ash Wednesday mass. I was proud of myself for doing as well as I did on the psalm that I thought was so hard. Then I screwed up the Gospel Acclamation. Flat out forgot to come in on time. So I waited and they played the intro again and I got it on the second time through, so no big deal. But that's what I get for thinking well of myself after the psalm. For His glory, not mine. Gotta remember that...

I managed to fast and avoid meat all day, which is not easy when you're on a low-carb diet. Your meatless options dwindle dramatically when you avoid carbs. But I did it. I've decided to start the induction phase of Atkins on Monday. I did well on it before, and once Emma's birthday party (and cake) are out of the way this weekend, I can buckle down and cut out those carbs! That way, by the time Easter arrives I can have a bit of this n' that without throwing my body into shock.

I just remembered today was Friday. No meat again. Well, got to go rethink supper!

Second Legwarmer Syndrome

I have it. I have made one for my MIL and can't get motivated to make the second one. Curses! Usually it's second sock syndrome, or SSS, and if it happens with mittens I just frog and reuse the yarn because life is too short to knit things you hate.

But I did promise these, and since I'll see her on Saturday, I'd like to get them done.

*sigh*

I'm going to go cast on now...

"Return to me with your whole heart."

First, the knitting part of our portion.

This weekend I finished the hat and mittens for Bug's friend Rachael. Her coat and snowpants are two-tone purple, and so are her hat and mittens now! I used my own pattern for the basic hat and mitten, and the design is from the Setsedal mittens from the Folk Mittens book. I used Cascade 220 and had quite forgotten how lovely and bouncy it is to knit with. Not that I don't still love my more bargain yarns or anything, but Cascade really is a joy to knit.

But all was not rosy this weekend. The Bug went sliding with her Brownie troop on Saturday and returned quite early. First, she got hit very hard by another girl on a sled. She got up and went right back up for another run, but then told Papa she didn't feel good. She came home and took a nap on the couch. Quite unlike her.

She didn't seem like herself at all, and that should have been a clue for me, but I let her go on a scheduled sleepover with a girl from her class. Luckily they don't live far away because her friend's mom called at 9 to tell me that Bug had just gotten sick and wanted to come home. So she packed her up and delivered her to me. She had quite a fever, so we dosed her and put her to bed. She spent most of Sunday on the couch eating saltines, ginger ale, and Tylenol. She was disappointed at missing her sledding day, her sleepover, catechism class and church. All in one weekend!

So this morning I felt her head and she was a bit warm still. I was ready to keep her home one more day for good measure but she assured me she felt great and wanted to go to school. So a couple more Tylenol for good measure and off she went. I thought she still seemed a bit lethargic, but otherwise okay. Here's hoping she doesn't need to come home.

In other news, Lent is right around the corner. As in it starts on Wednesday. Sister and I went to Nashua yesterday to hit Trader Joe's and we discussed what to give up. It's really hard this year since we're both on pretty strict diets and have already given up stuff that we would normally have reserved for Lent.

I'm leaning toward not so much giving something up as doing something extra this year. I think I may try to reclaim Sunday again like I did earlier in the year. It worked, for awhile. So with an eye towards examining my conscience and using Joel 2:12-13 as my guide, I'm going to spend Lent concentrating on these three questions:

1. Does God hold first place in my life, or have I allowed myself to become the servant of money, popularity, success, or anything else? (I actually think I do pretty good with this one, all in all. I would say that if anything I put my family above all else, but as my marriage and family are my chosen vocation, that can't be all bad. But it's a question to bear in mind, certainly.)
2. Have I given priority to God on Sundays and holy days by attending Mass and making a special effort to seek him? (Certainly I go to mass every week. And I think being in the choir and a cantor has allowed me to served Him more fully. But I am going to make my church life the most important thing on Sunday, and I'm going to try to avoid those things that turn my attention from Him. Plus I'm going to practice my psalms more diligently than ever so that my offering can be as good as it can be. Even the easy ones.)
3. Have I nourished my love and knowledge of God through regular prayer and Scripture reading? (My bad. I pray all the time, but in a casual devil-may-care kind of way. Me and God are pretty informal most of the time. I'm going to try to focus my attention more during prayer, and I promise to not do all the talking. And I'm going to pick my Bible up more often than just to look something up. It's not a reference book, after all.)

It's kind of a random Lenten sacrifice, and certainly harder to measure than say, giving up chocolate or something like that. It's easier to offer up your failures and shortcomings when they can be quantified. I mean, either you ate the candy or you didn't. My plan is going to be harder to assess as far as success or failure is concerned, but I think with this kind of sacrifice, even if I'm less than perfect, I'm still better for it.

And after all, only God is perfect.

My Needles are A'Flyin'!

I finished Bobo's hat! I didn't put a pom of any sort on the top because she always wears her hood up over her hat, but a jaunty flower (pattern courtesy of Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments) on the brim finished it off nicely!

Unfortunately with Bobo, she's got this Earl Hickey thing going on with cameras. I can't seem to keep her from flinching before the flash goes off!

Currently on the needles: a hat and mittens for Bug's friend from school. I decided to time myself on this one. So far I got the hat body done and I'm ready to decrease. It's taken me 3 and a quarter hours.

Must. Go. Knit.

Snow Day!

I don't know why photos taken with this camera come out so dark. I mean, it looks bright enough in the room, and there's a flash, yet it looks like I live in a cave. A dark cave on a permanently overcast day. Weird.

Anyway, yesterday was our first snow day of the year! And we have a two-hour delay this morning thanks to the wind blowing all the new snow around.

As you can see, snow is fun when you're six. Bug had a good day off, all in all. She did some sledding and helped Grandpa snowblow and shovel the yard. Bobo stayed in and helped me wash and block a bunch of stuff.

I direct your attention to my drying rack system. The photo is dark, but I have a couple of sets of stacking cookie cooling racks that I use to dry my mittens and hats. I usually stack them atop the pellet stove where it is warm but not hot, but in the interest of speeding things up, these are on a chair in front of the stove where the warm air circulates a bit more. It doesn't work for sweaters, but I don't make many of those anyway.

And I finished a freeform hat for the Bug. Their mittens are all done, in a marathon of cramp-inducing knitting fury. This hat's got a rolled brim, earflaps with tassels, and a knit pompon on the top. (Making pompons drives me crazy, so I just knit a couple inches of i-cord and then increased for a couple rows, knit plain, then decreased a couple rows, stuffed with a bit of polyfill and closed it up. Pretty cute, I thought! And no chopped up bits of yarn crumbs to contend with.

I call the hat "freeform" because I didn't have a pattern or anything going into it. I started with 96 sts, knit ribbing for a few inches, then switched to a larger needle in stockinette. I made it a bit shorter than I'd have liked, but I added earflaps so all is well.

Currently on the needles is Bobo's matching hat. Hers will be devoid of pompon since she always wears her hood over her hat, but I'll do something to it for visual interest. Maybe I'll put a flower on the front of hers or something. Eh, stay tuned! And I will have enough yarn left over to make Bug a scarf too.

And before I forget, a big shout out to Friend Bob whose birthday is today! Happy Birthday, my friend! I'll call you later!

Yarn, or Underpants?

Don't you hate it when you have to decide which to buy? I sewed some holes in two pair of unders today just so that I could put off having to spend money on them. I hate spending money on underwear. It irks me.

And I went yarn shopping on Saturday, so I've got some yarny pics for y'all!



First up, my order from handpaintedyarn.com finally arrived! Yay! On the far left we have a bulky weight called Perla Roja, which is a rust color with purplish grey that I hope will blend well with some of my grey homespun. In the center is two of the four skeins of Circo in a worsted weight that I bought for the girls' hats and mittens. On the right you can see Bobo's mittens all ready for blocking! I finished both pair of mittens this weekend and I started one of the hats. I got two pair of mittens from one skein, so I might have enough left over to make bug a scarf too. Yay! I'm just so glad it got here.



Picture two is a steal I found at the Patternworks! Three skeins of Suri Merino, which I didn't even think they carried. Two-fifty a skein! It's 55% suri alpaca and 45% merino wool and it's like buttah. And there's 110 yds per skein! I got dark pink, light blue, and stone. All so pretty, and I have no idea what I'm going to make just yet.





The last picture is two skeins of Encore DK in the reddest of reds for my MIL's legwarmers. She has a pair in just this color, but she lost one, so I'm making her new ones. I think I'm going to use the pattern in One Skein, but make them longer and probably work some elastic into the tops. The Encore is 75% acrylic and 25% wool, so they wash and wear quite well. And there's a random skein of lavender Cascade 220 to go with the dark purple I picked up a month ago in the clearance bin. I promised Bug's best friend a hat and mittens, and these will match her coat.



I should get all this hat and mittening done by Spring!


But winter isn't done with us just yet, it seems. There's a nor'easter heading our way on Wednesday that should give us a foot to eighteen inches of fresh snow. We've had all of four inches this year, but then they weren't predicting much this year anyway. But I'm already hoping for a snow day. Got my fingers crossed!


I think Emma is going to be my knitter. She likes to wave my needles back and forth and say "I'm sticking! I'm sticking!" Then she'll sit down with a couple of balls of yarn and weave the ends back and forth and claim that "I'm yarning!"


If she ever puts those two things together, I'm opening my own sweatshop.

Some Days You're the Windshield

And some days, you're the bug. I should have taken pictures of this, and now I'm sorry I didn't.

Because it's -2F, my dad, who lives next door, has been letting me take his truck to drop Buggy off at school while he hangs out with Bobo. I wouldn't mind walking to the bus stop with just Bug, or standing in the cold with her, but Bo is just too little and I worry about frostbite. Besides, she gets to hang out with Grandpa and eat Oreos at 8:30 in the morning. Life's little pleasures.

Dad lives upstairs in a 2-family home with Sister and Baboo downstairs. They share an enormous driveway with the church rectory. So I get back from school and as I'm pulling in the drive I notice a car stuck on the side of the street behind the mailboxes and the telephone pole. I'm wondering to myself how a car even got there, when I saw the tire tracks on the side of the driveway. The "older gentleman" driving said that he slid on the ice and wound up there.

So I park the car and go up to Dad's who is just incredulous at the stupidity of it all. According to Dad the Eyewitness, the guy didn't slide at all. He was backing down the driveway and thought he was at the bottom, so he cut his wheels to back onto High Street. Only he wasn't there yet, and wound up backing onto the snow-covered lawn and wound up behind the mailboxes and telephone pole. Dad's opinion was that anyone stupid enough not to look behind them while backing up deserved to sit there in the snow until spring, but he put his coat on anyway and went out to try to help, despite himself. He's a good man at heart, that one. Of course, I couldn't figure out why the guy backed down the driveway in the first place. I mean, we're talking about a huge driveway and there wasn't a car in it while I was gone. He could have pulled in and made a big circle before driving out the right way, for God's sake. Suffice it to say he had plenty of room to back up in the driveway. Some people shouldn't drive. Ugh.

Long story short, the tow truck had to be called. Rusty's came and got them out, but not before knocking over the neighbor's mailbox. Dad's out there right now trying to fix it for her. 'Cause you know no one's digging a hole out there for quite awhile.

I checked my mail while I was out there and my yarn still isn't in yet, but at least I know it's on its way. Apparently my order and some others got left behind in Uruguay or something and they'll send it as soon as it gets here. I hope I get it before winter is over.

And I found out last night that one of our choir members has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, stage 1. She's only 20 and has a 1 year old. I hope she beats it.

And another friend from choir has been in the hospital for 7 weeks and I still haven't been up to see her. I feel so badly about it that two days ago I popped up to Joanns, grabbed a couple balls of soft acrylic and made her a shoulder shawl. I'm going to bring it up either today or tomorrow. I also record our practices on my digital voice recorder to practice during the week, so I may bring it along so she can hear some of our singing. Not the best quality, but it's the thought that counts.


Anyway, the shawl is Lion Brand Jiffy, 100% acrylic. I know, I'm a yarn snob and I generally shun the use of acrylics. But I wanted something easy to care for, and this can go right in the washer and dryer and it feels even better after washing. The color is a dark red, the color of good red wine and his has a halo--kind of a mohair-y feel to it. The pattern is Lion Brand as well and is free on their website, Easy Triangle Shawl. And it was easy. But if you make it, bear in mind that the Jiffy isn't as bulky as the Homespun it calls for and your shawl will not be as wide or long. Which is perfect because something as bulky as the original would be too much for what I needed. Also know that you will need a 36" circular needle to handle all the stitches, even though it just calls for size 13 needles on the pattern. Trust me, use the circs.

Oh, and the best part of the shawl? Two balls of Jiffy: $5.00! What a bargain!

Crikey!

Yesterday I attempted to make Bezzie's Texas Forgotten Frost Toque. I say attempted because it appears to me that I am physically, mentally, and emotionally incapable of making a pattern as written. I just can't do it. I must tweak. I will tweak.

So for starters, mine is not made from homespun, mostly because I didn't have any that was appropriate; but per the instructions I used some regular worsted weight yarn, in this case Elann Peruvian Highland wool. Nice stuff, and the price is right.

Secondly, I chose a different stitch pattern. See, Bug is still a little girl, and I found that the original pattern was too wide to serve as a headband for her. It was more like a hat, really. So I just chose a narrower pattern from one of my many books. This particular one was originally part of a lace ribbed hem from Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments.

Third, I used pearls instead of seed beads. Originally I got out my white seed beads, but against the off-white wool they looked awkward. So I used some random pearls instead. Right church, wrong pew.

Finally, I did do the increases and decreases as written, as well as the buttonhole placement. I didn't go with seed stitch on the increases, though. I threw caution to the wind and just kept it in ribbing right up to the lace part. And as she points out, anyone getting that close to the back of your head better be sleeping with you. Or you need to redefine your concept of personal space. (I heart Bezzie!)

So I guess what I have in the end is a headband that isn't exactly a Texas Forgotten Frost Toque, but something reminiscent of it. It's an homage to the original. Were it to hang in a museum, it would say "inspired by" beside it. And not for nothing, but the frost here is anything but forgotten. It was -5F when we went to school this morning. No frostbite worries here, though. We have plenty of woolen handknits to get us through the coldest of cold days and, oh yeah, Dad lets us take his truck!

Bug loves it no matter how it came out and wore it to school today. So it's all good.

Lately, what with it being so cold and all, I've found myself envying people whose houses burn down. I know that's awful to say and a darn good way to call down some bad juju, but hear me out. See, my house is old and drafty and needs a lot of work. Work which takes a lot of money, which we of course don't have. And I see people who had old drafty houses that they were fixing up and something happens and it burns to the ground. And less than a year later, they've built a brand new one with all new stuff and most importantly, a new roof, insulation, siding, heating system, windows, floors, insulated pipes...you get the idea. Suffice it to say that an out of control fire would take care of my crazy clutter, my out of date wardrobe issues, and many home improvement issues.

So this morning, I cleaned out the ashes from the pellet stove. When it's cold like this I don't have the luxury of waiting until the unit is cold before cleaning it, and usually there are some hot embers still in the ash pan. I put them in a metal container, of course, and put them out on the porch.

I got back from school this morning and coming up the stairs smelled something burny. Not smoldering ashes burny either. I picked up the metal ash bucket and the hot bottom had singed the wood porch! I put the ash bucket in the snow and put some snow on the scorched part to stop any lingering burns. Lesson learned. See, I almost got my wish!

(I'm not stupid or anything. I thought the bucket I was using had a lip on the bottom so the hot part of the bucket never touched the porch. I was wrong. That's the other ash bucket that's out in the shed. Now I know. I'm going to put a couple of bricks on the porch to set the ash bucket on from now on.)

Finally, you have got to see this. You will pee.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Or-m8VbGzA

Pineapple! Pineapple! Pineapple!

I Felt the Need to Felt

Remember months and months ago when I told Bug I'd make her a poncho and she picked out the ugliest yarn ever? So I decided to make an Andean style poncho and added even more ugly yarn to it, only to discover after 8 inches of involved colorwork that there was no way it was going to fit the bug, as my poncho pattern was made for pattern stitches that have some give. Which left me with a triangularish piece of knitting that was too much work to toss, and too many short pieces of yarn to frog.

Well, yesterday I felted it. I sewed up the bottom and the part that was going to be a placket for her head to go through, and tossed it in the wash. When it came out and dried, I tucked the corners in and tacked 'em down and then whacked a crocheted strap on it. Voila! Perfect for Bug to tote around her Polly Pockets or whatever else it is that kid is toting about these days.

Back before the holidays I started knitting a sheep from a Fiber Trends pattern. It was kind of involved and a bit tedious, and I was almost done knitting it when I set it aside for awhile.

Well, I finished the back hooves, ears, and tail, sewed them on and tossed Lambikin in the washer. Oh. My. God. I love him so. Yesterday I put on his button eyes and a bell on his neck. I don't know what I'm going to do with him, but I'm very much in love with him. I might just let him hang out near my knitting basket for inspiration.

Finally this weekend, I made a pair of mittens. I have been getting ready for Flash Your Stash 2007 by neatening up the stash, and I took some half-used skeins and wound them into neat little balls. Turns out I had lots of different pinks and I made some Sweetheart mittens. I am so happy with these too. It's really been a good weekend for knitting all around.

New Haircuts!

So yesterday--that'd be Saturday--I took the girls to see Aunt Carla for haircuts. Emma's never had one, short of bangs trimmings, and Buggy was well overdue.

Look how cute!

I just love them so! Bug went first and we found out that her hair is getting quite thick. Still not a lick of curl to it, alas. But it does that cute flippy thing at the bottom that I love. And since she's so cute, I'm going to make her Bezzie's "Texas Forgotten Frost Toque". I have to go pick a color in a few minutes. See, I knit things other than mittens. Sometimes.

Emma did not care for the haircutting experience at all. It was her first, after all. But Carla said she's seen worse...foaming at the mouth, hyperventilating and all that. So despite the fact that I had to stand behind her and hold her head still while Carla cut her bangs, it was pretty good. And how cute is that wee pageboy? She seems to have lost all her curls in the haircutting process though. *insert sad face here* I guess her curly curls were just baby curls after all. It happens sometimes. But I saved some locks for their baby books.

In knitting news, I finished these mittens for the etsy shop, and I'm going to finish a pair today, God willing and the creek don't rise. I really like the pair that I'm working on. Wicked cute! These are made from that Elann Highland Wool that I got the other day. (Still no yarn or word from handpaintedyarn.com. I emailed them and everything...) These are celery, rose pink, and bisque. I like how the little pink and white flecks look like candies. Mmmm!

I have to go knit now! Hooray for Sunday!

"It's not THAT the wind is blowin'..."

"...it's WHAT the wind is blowin'. If you get hit by a Volvo, it doesn't matter how many sit-ups you did that morning." --Ron "Tater Salad" White.

Larry's grandparents live in Lady Lake, Florida which got nailed by a tornado last night. My FIL spoke with them this morning and they are fine. Which is a great relief, thank you God! It's hard having elderly relatives that far away, especially when they live where the weather can be dicey. And it's disconcerting to hear that their whole county and surrounding counties have been named as disaster areas. Not good.

I got some knitting to show you! Wanna see? Of course, you do!


A pair of mittens for a toddler. I used up some green, fuzzy wool from JoAnn's own line of yarns. Single ply, felt a lot like very sturdy roving to knit with. Fuzzy and soft, though! The pink is some leftover Knitpicks Swish. Keep that "leftover" part in mind. It's a theme today.

Red wool mittens with one cable down the backs. Made from Knitpicks WOTA in red, leftover from all those Red Hat Lady slippers. I still have plenty for more red mittens, too.

Brown wool mittens from Lion Brand Wool, or it could be Paton's Merino. Only it doesn't feel soft enough to be merino, so I'm voting for Lion. The cuffs have stripes of maroon, gold, and dark green. More leftover, naturally. I did buy the brown just to have, so that doesn't count as leftovers.

Here's some fingerless mittens made from Brown Sheep Nature's Spun in dark blue and the light blue is Paton's Classic Merino in light blue. I have to say that those weren't leftovers either. I like blue yarn and have lots of it.

The last pair of fingerless mittens are brown with red trim. The brown in Patons again, and the trim is more of that red WOTA from the slippers. I love brown and red together. Remember in the Little House on the Prairie books when Reverend Alden's church back east sent a bunch of presents for the settlers, and Laura got a brown wool coat with red trim, and a fur hat and muff that matched? Yeah, that's what these mitts remind me of.