WCMNC

I got the delicious white chocolate macadamia nut cookies baked last night. This recipe says it makes 54 but I got 72. Usually I get less than what the recipe claims. Oh, well, more for us to enjoy!

I got some cleaning done, too. I left a note for Mr. Aitch to vacuum the upstairs today and I'll do the downstairs when I get home.

My friend had a baby girl late Wednesday night. Please wlecome Brooke Catherine. I've been thinking of something to knit for this baby for some time and just need to do it!

Have a great weekend!

Foiled and cookies

My great plans to knit during lunch were foiled by a crossword puzzle. I love crossword puzzles almost as much as knitting. Since concentration (and relative quiet) were key to knitting and not missing another yarn over, I helped with the puzzle.

Brought my knitting with me today so I'm hoping I can work on it during lunch...again.

My camera was giving me fits last night. I managed to take a few pictures of the sweater-in-progress but the card reader on the computer wouldn't recognize the photos to download. Maybe I can post those pictures tonight.

Ah, tonight... Even though Mr. Aitch doesn't allow like me to use the oven when it's above 70 degrees, I will be making white chocolate macadamia nut cookies tonight. (I substitute white chocolate chips and add 1 1/2 cups chopped macadamia nuts.) His church is having a bake sale this weekend and I begrudgingly volunteered to make something. The dough is resting in the fridge as we speak just waiting for me when I get home from work. The church will get three dozen cookies and I will keep the rest for the weekend festivities.

My daughter and her family (best SIL in the world, twin 17-month girls, and two dogs) will be coming for the weekend and there's nothing like being greeted with fresh white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

Yes, Mr. Aitch and I go to separate churches. He's the choir director at a Methodist church and I am catholic and go to a catholic church. I do attend services with him sometimes though we never get to sit together since he is directing the choir. No, I don't sing well.
So along with baking cookies and knitting, I will have to do some clean up around the house tonight. Busy, busy.

ATK Blast!

This facility is only seven miles and two mountains from my house but I didn't hear or feel a thing.

Only two people were injured and were released from the hospital Monday evening.

I drove my car to work this morning. The fog was so thick at my house that I could barely see the house across the street. By the time I got across the Potomac River I could see the fog was lifting. Another three miles and there were blue skies and sunshine. Should have ridden the motorcycle.

But I did bring my knitting! I fixed the eyelet and yarn over mishap last night and am ready to knit forward hoping to make major progress on this sweater today during lunch. This meal consists of protein bar and some delicious Chobani yogurt. I heart Chobani yogurt. Since I can scarf down this fantastic nourishment in about five minutes, I will have 55 minutes to knit!

Perfection, purses and a birthday wish

During lunch today, I was telling someone (non-knitter) who worked in our building about the sweater issue and the missed yarn over. She asked if it was noticeable and would I really have to rip it out. The perfectionist in me thinks it would be noticeable so I have decided to try to fix it before I resort to ripping out the last ten rows.

The little person I am knitting this for might be visiting us this weekend and I'd love to have enough of it done to see how it looks and fits.

I could work on this during my lunch hour however, the big skein of yarn doesn't pack up real good to fit in the saddlebag on my motorcycle. I could find a smaller purse for when I ride instead of this monstrosity I currently use.

How do you transport your knitting?

Now where's that darn camera? And why isn't the battery charged?

Today is my Dad's birthday. I miss him.

To frog or not to frog

Last night I discovered I forgot a yarn over on the sweater I was knitting. eight rows back. And I have a few misplaced eyelets. Do I frog it all to the offending missed yo or do I try to fix it? I have one missed yo but three eyelets that are misplaced.
This is why I can’t drink wine and knit anything involving counting, yo’s and decreasing.

On another note, Mr. Aitch showed me some erosion arounf the concrete pad at our outside basement steps. I’ve noticed this for years and mentioned it several times that we needed to do something to halt the erosion. Did Iever get any reaction? No. But I reacted today and tried to slow the process with some hardware cloth and leftover pavers from the front sidewalk. Temporary patch, for now.

As soon as I find my camera, I will post some pictures.

Promise.

One drawer down...

I finished decluttering the drawer earlier today. At this rate I should be dine with the entire house by 2015. This drawer was truly a junk drawer and I thought it would be easy. Basically most of what was in there needed to be tossed and shouldn’t have been in that drawer anyway. Now I have to find a home for the “good” stuff. The other drawer in the island was organized a year or two ago so it shouldn’t take too long to go through that one.

Knitting note: Two more rows completed on the sweater last night. Mr. Aitch and I watched a movie and I couldn’t watch it and knit at the same time. The eyelet pattern isn’t hard but along with k2tog and yarn overs, there were k2tog and ssk decreases for the raglan sleeves. I’ve learned that if I can’t concentrate when decreasing, I have a lot of ripping and reknitting to do. I like to knit as much as the next person but I have a deadline with this sweater. More knitting tonight. The good thing is that decreasing makes the row go that much faster!

Let the decluttering begin

While in the shower yesterday morning, I decided I need to start decluttering my life of things. Since I share a 2152 square-foot house with my husband and his fish menagerie, I have to go one drawer, one cabinet, one closet, one room at a time or I will be overwhelmed in less than two seconds. This morning I started with one drawer in the kitchen island. The "plan" was to devote 15 minutes to the drawer. Two hours later, it was time for lunch. The useless stuff was tossed in the trash. Now there are a few small piles of stuff that need a home. The physical part of decluttering is easy. It's the mental part of deciding where the rest of the stuff will live that is the hardest.

I should have taken before pictures but I was too embarrassed to show the mess. Let's just say that I found things from the last century and let it go at that.

Meanwhile, the sweater progression is headed in the right direction. I've joined the sleeves to the body and am now in the process of decreasing at each sleeve and body "seam". A couple more hours and I will be finished with sweater number one. I'm using Bernat's Baby Sport in ecru. Granted the skein is HUGE and I will have a ton left over but it was the right weight and color I was looking for at the time. Sweater number two will be from Caron Simple Soft (discontinued) in white left over from another project. I didn't want to use two different yarns but I need to match the rest of the outfits hence the two different colors. The Caron is a worsted weight and I'm trying to decide if I want to go up a size or two in needles and down a size or two with the pattern...which I am making up as I go. As soon as I find a decent backdrop, I will take some pictures of my progress.

The drawer is calling me to finish what I started. 15 minutes. Not.

TGIF

I have many WIPs and really need to finish something before starting another project. The current WIP is one of two sweaters I need to finish by the end of June. I'm using elements from three patterns and pictures of two sweaters. As much as I prefer to follow patterns, I cannot find one that fits the bill. Summer weight. Eyelet. Toddler sized.

I like the edge and eyelet pattern from one sweater, the raglan sleeves from another, and the length of sleeves from a third.

Can I call this an original pattern?