Revisiting the past

I just found out how to change the date and time on a post (shows how little I've bothered to explore this, right?), so I can go back and put some posts in where there are excessively long pauses in my blogging. I have no idea when I'll get around to doing that, but at least I know now that I can do it when I find the time and motivation.

I have this urge to make a baptismal gown, sweater, bootie, blanket and bonnet set. I am sure it isn't something I will start on anytime soon, but I'm looking around now for inspiration. I have this mental image of the sweater, bonnet, blanket and booties being super soft and fluffy, with the gown maybe part linen, part crocheted lace (a panel down the front, probably), a hint of beading. I'll probably mimic some of the lace detail for edgings on the blanket, bootie cuffs, etc. Right now, it's still in the percolating stage, but I am definitely going to start looking around for a nice, fluffy yarn to use.

Currently, I'm making -- yes, you guessed it, yet another baby sweater! This one is a soft, pale pink, cotton terry cloth type yarn. It coordinates with the blankie I just finished. What is it with me and baby sweaters lately? I really need to get out of this rut. They are cute and all, but who needs a dozen or more of the things just hanging around? That's where I'm headed if I don't make a change. Maybe it's time to pick out my pattern for the sweater along... an adult sweater, I mean!

And, of course, I still have to make the hat I promised my one brother for his birthday. His last birthday! Poor guy, everytime he sees me, I have my workbag and it's stuffed full of projects, but that hat just never seems to get made. I actually made 3/4 of one for him, then decided it was too boring and frogged it. I think he's starting to feel unloved. Really, though, I don't think the problem is so much to do with doing the knitting for the hat as it is the design of the blasted thing. He is a Cowboys fan and wants the hat to be team colors. I loathe the Cowboys, being a life-long Steelers fan. I'll bet if the hat was black and gold, it would have been done ages ago!

How funny is this?

I just discovered, thanks to my eldest niece's sleuthing, that one of my brothers has a "secret blog" going. I wonder if that is coincidence or something to do with genetics? Or would it be more nurture than nature? Do the other seven of us also have "secret blogs"?

Of course, compared to my brother's (or pretty much anyone else's, really), mine is rather pathetic as blogs go. I mean, heck, I can't even get myself to post in it more than two days running!

Still, the fact that he has also taken to blogging and also chosen not to let on to the rest of us that he is doing so, struck me as highly amusing. It's also given me a bit of a boost in the ol' motivation department -- can't let him have all the fun!

This is supposed to be fun, right?

Crazy, Crazy Times

Been away for quite a while, due to a combination of crazy things happening in my life and, of course, my omnipresent resistance to sitting down and writing about myself. I think I'll skip the craziness of the past several weeks, other than to say the lowlights were things like me getting admitted to the hospital for the first time ever, the death of a family friend, and lots of work on the house.

What inspired me to drop in today, though, was the challenge posted on Stitch-Stirrers. Crochet addict that I am, I just had to support the effort. The current challenge is "Limerick Your Crochet". Here's my attempt:


There once was a gal who'd crochet
All the time: every night, every day
She'd spend all her cash
Happy filling her stash
'Til her husband took her hooks away!

It's not true to life, of course. The Cap'n would never deprive me of my hooks! Still, I had fun coming up with it and I am looking forward to the next challenge.

I'm starting to wonder...

...if I will ever get into the habit of blogging on a regular basis. It doesn't come naturally to me at all, not that I really thought that it would. By nature, I am a pretty private person, and I think most people who know me would be surprised to learn I've begun a blog. I haven't given the blog info out to anyone yet, nor do I plan to do so. Add that to the fact that I sincerely doubt anyone on the internet has stumbled across my blog and read it, and I suppose I am doing the internet equivalent of talking to myself in a public place.

So I'm crazy? What else is new?

Our car, The Swamp Thing, flashed me an idiot light the other night. It's the little battery icon, so I am guessing the alternator may have given up the ghost at last. I'm no mechanic, so I'll leave it to the hubby to figure out. In the meantime, though, I'm stuck without a car to tootle around in, which stinks.

Captain Cantankerous is due back on Sunday next. I'm looking forward to seeing him, and not just because I know he'll be able to fix the car, either! Life is a lot less fun without him around, you know?

Projects, projects... Well, I haven't yet finished the baby scarf cap I am knitting. I have finished one half of the scarf and am working on the hood. I'm a bit irritated with myself, though, because even though I have plenty of balls from the same dye lot, none of the others contain the same portion of the variegation (it's a loooonnnnng repeat). That being the case, I am debating about whether or not to rip it out and start over with a different ball -- one that DOES have a match!

So, yeah, I've set that to one side and am thinking about it. Meanwhile, I started and finished a cute little toddler-sized cardie with 3/4 length sleeves. I crocheted it in Louisa Harding's Impression #6, and I think it is very pretty. I'm not sure what to do with it, though, since my niece utterly rejected it when I went to try it on her, and she's the only child of my acquaintance who is the right size to wear it. I guess it goes into my gift stash for now.

With that completed, I've started another baby sweater, this one in Jojoland fingering weight wool, a lovely blend of blues and purples. I'm just making this one up as I go along, and keeping the stitches very basic to showcase the yarn. I'm almost done the back and ready to start on the front.

Catching up

Sorry for the long absence. Had an early mis, and my focus has been anywhere but here in blogland. Understandably so, I guess. Hopefully, when we try again in a few months, we'll have a better result. For now, though, the Cap and I are just going to take things day by day and try not to dwell on "what might have been".

Moving on...

I think I am becoming too obsessive about the quality of my knitting, particularly for someone who is still sort of novice-ish. I think I've ripped out about 6 or 7 times the amount of work that I have to show for the little scarf cap I'm working up for whichever of my friends and relatives happens to have the next baby. (I like to have a stash of baby gifts on hand.)

Anyway, the pattern is a very simple one that I found in Leisure Arts "Our Best Knit Collection". I eliminated the stripes and decided to use a variegated wool. I picked a blue/brown worsted wool with a long repeat from Jojoland's Rhythm collection. That color combo is pretty unisex, I think, so it's perfect to add to my layette stash. If I ever finish it, that is.

I need to find an interesting crochet project to occupy me when I get fed up with playing the Frog Queen with my knitting. I'm a much, much better crocheter than I am a knitter, so the juxtaposition of the two is good for keeping my ego healthy -- I'm too lousy at knitting to get too puffed up about my crochet skills and too good at crochet to fall into despair over the struggle I sometimes still have with knitting.

Turns out that the laptop hubby talked me into getting a few months ago was a huge help in passing the time while I was stuck on bed rest recently. Unfortunately, it also helped me get myself into a bit of trouble because I went a bit yarn happy for a few days there and bought lots of wool on the internet, primarily on eBay. Hubby had me pick him up a couple of superhero figures he didn't already have, too, which may be why he is letting me slide about the yarn.

He goes away in a few days, for his annual two weeks for the National Guard. Of course, he's the one who always gets roped into being part of the advance party, so he'll really be gone for almost three weeks, instead of two. I always miss him a lot when he is away. Guess that's the price you pay for being in love with your husband, eh? That's okay, I can take it... :)

Tonight, we grump...

You know the saying, "When Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"? Well, the atmosphere at my house tonight is a perfect illustration of that. I'm not usually a grump, but I've noticed that I tend to slip into full-on grouch mode when my husband, Captain Cantankerous, starts getting ready for his National Guard weekend each month. I think it triggers thoughts of when he was deployed to Iraq and, while I am very proud of him and his service to our country, I hurt so much every day that he was gone. It's not a fun time to remember, which is probably what gets me a-grumpin'.

The poor guy walked into the house after a long day of beating transmissions into submission and found his wife comfortably ensonced in front of the computer with a big scowl on her face. No, "Hi, Honey! How was your day?" He tried to make conversation and I replied in monosyllables. So he went and did his packing for the weekend and then came back to see how I was doing. Deja vu: I was still in front of the computer, still more liable to growl than purr.

So now he's offered to make dinner -- nothing fancy, just some kielbasa, green beans and some of the leftover potato salad I made for Easter -- and the guilty feeling I have over being such a stinker is starting to wrestle my grumpiness into submission. I think I'll go apologize and help him dish up...

Thanks for stopping by.