The kids went back to school...except one

There's this phenomenon in my family. Without fail, Abby is sick the last 3 days of school vacation and the first 2 days back to school. Every single vacation! At Thanksgiving it was strep throat, Christmas it was a stomach bug and now February break she has some unexplained virus. High fever, headache etc. I wonder what ailment will present itself in April....

I didn't get too much knitting done over the past few days...or anything else done for that matter. Not sure why though. It sure wasn't because I was busy! I did spend a lot of time staring at my feverish daughter...her temp went up to 104.1 and I was a little worried.

Do you ever do this?

I sometimes make deals with myself. Like sort of a reward system. I have soooo much "around the house" work to do everyday (paper work, house work, kids stuff etc) that I could easily spend 12 hours a day tending to it. (Jeez, that sounds like a lot but really, if you were to see my "to do" list you'd understand......there are things on there like, clean basement, sweep front walkway etc). Anyway, I'll make a deal with myself. If I get _______done then I can knit for _____minutes. It's what keeps me going sometimes when I'm faced with a "to do" list that's 2 pages long (single spaced, lol).

Sometimes I will just set limits for myself. When the kids are off to school and gone by 8:00 I allow myself until 8:30 before I start my day. I always use that time to knit or read. This all sounds corny but I can't be the only one who does this!!

This week the kids are on vacation. February vacation we reserve for relaxing. Typically it is cold and snowy so we spend most of the week indoors. I intend to enlist the help of the kids (and husband) so I can spend more time knitting (and sewing and clipping my coupons...).

Socks

The problem with knitting one sock and not knitting the next one right away is you sometimes forget the details; cast on, rows for the cuff, how many rows for the leg, how many stitches you picked up for the gusset etc. Also, what yarn you're using.

These socks were in the bottom of my knitting basket...no notes attached. I'm doing my best to figure out sock one so I can finish sock 2. I cast on 68, that was easy. I knit 20 rows of 2x2 rib...easy. I'm guessing, since I do everything in even numbers, the leg is 50 rows. The hardest part will be figuring out the heel flap and gussets...:(. I have no hope in figuring out what yarn I used..oh well! I do know it's wool and it's fingering weight :)

* I published this post from my iPhone

Valentine's Day gift

Opening a package from The Loopy Ewe is like opening a Christmas gift!

The yarn comes all wrapped up neatly with a cute little sticker! Be still my heart....isn't it lovely??

Colinette Jitterbug in the Mardi Gras colorway. This will make a nice pair of socks for my mom....she loves the bright colors (actually, she likes all the socks I make but the bright colors are her favorites!).

My Hadaki Cool Duffle! Love, love, love this! I needed a large bag. A bag large enough to fit my knitting, my Nook , my wallet, keys etc. and cool enough to carry out in public. I chose this one because my favorite color is ORANGE ;)

The bag was a Valentine's Day gift from my husband. I ordered it and when it arrived I showed it to him. I said, "Honey, look what you got me for Valentine's day!"....he replied, "I'm a great guy! I always get you exactly what you want, don't I?"....um, yeah, whatever!

Did I ever show you the picture I used for our Christmas cards?

Tommy is on the left, he's 13. Abby in the middle, she is 7 and Nate is on the right, he is 16. Jamie, my 19 year old, refused to be photographed so I had to improvise.....that is an artistic rendition of Jamie (drawn by ME!) that Tommy is holding. I looked back at old pictures recently and can't believe how much the kids have grown...time is flying by!

Rainy Day

While others in Massachusetts are getting snow, here on the south shore we are getting rain....which is fine by me! I hate snow.

I wanted to take a couple of pictures today of my mystery sock in progress but the lack of natural light is interfering.

I do have a cute picture of my daughter though!

Mystery Sock Knitting

I'm going to admit it right off the bat...I'm being a total copy cat. I joined the Blathnet Mystery knit along on Ravelry. Karen joined too (will add link to her blog later...I'm blogging from my iPhone and I have no clue how to add a link). That's not the copy cat part...I joined before I knew she did. BUT, the other day she posted a picture of her mystery sock in progress....a very pretty purple.
See what I mean?? I totally went and used purple for mine too!! I loved hers so much and my mom LOVES purple so I couldn't resist :)

I'm using Dirty Water DyeWorks yarn (link to follow). They're a local company (Arlington) and so far, the yarn (Bertha...80% merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon) is awesome! I chose "Lupine" for these socks but I also purchased "Storm" for another time. I love supporting local business and do so whenever possible!