NaBloPoMo Day 30: free at last!

It’s the last day of November! I am so relieved. I do enjoy the NaBloPoMo exercise but the last week has been somewhat excruciating. I’m sure it has for you too.

I said in the beginning that I was going to post a photo every day. I didn’t quite make that goal but here’s one for today.

It rained pretty hard for a large portion of the day so it was a relief in the afternoon to see blue skies and dark clouds over someone else. (Sorry someone else.)

To sum up NaBloPoMo 2012, number of days I posted about…

Knitting: 14

Not knitting: 5

My kids: 11

Food: 7

Dryer lint, without actually posting about dryer lint: 1

Sorry again about that last one. I managed to post photos 23 out of 30 days (counting today). I think that trying to post a daily shot pushed me to knit some days just so I’d have my knitting progress to photograph. That helps get stuff done, I think!

Now I’m done. See you next year! (Totally kidding, I plan to keep posting on my very erratic and not-very-frequent “schedule”.)

Advertisement

NaBloPoMo Day 29: a picture is worth a lot of crappy words

I am not going to try to say anything because I’ll just end up sounding like yesterday’s post. Instead, here are the pieces of my current baby sweater in progress.

I carried my other sweater project to knitting today but I didn’t bother to actually knit on it. Go figure.

NaBloPoMo Day 28: dryer lint

I shared yesterday’s post on Facebook and my friend Phoebe commented that she’s ready to post about dryer lint. Another friend mentioned that her friend bought different colored towels specifically to harvest the dryer lint for artwork which reminded me that when I was a girl scout we mixed dryer lint with wax and wrapped in wax paper to make fire starters. All of this gave me a brilliant idea to look up different uses for dryer lint and post that here.

It didn’t happen and I need sleep so it’s not going to. It’s the thought that counts, right?

NaBloPoMo Day 27: One too many fish tanks

My husband convinced me that he should buy a bigger fish tank. Silly me, I thought it would replace the one we currently have on the kitchen counter.

(I think it will, it just hasn’t yet.)

That’s all I’ve got today.

NaBloPoMo Day 26: in which I disagree

Those of you who know my knitting tastes know that I love Norah Gaughan. I have knit four of her sweater patterns, another Berroco pattern which was probably overseen by her if not designed by her, and I have another of her patterns on the needles right now. I have loved all put the Pucker sweater which I think was only a failure because I didn’t use the recommended yarn. But today, I disagree with her.

She posted on the Berroco blog today that

Loose sweaters are back. Not only comfortable and cozy, they are great for all figures (REALLY, I mean it)…

I love you, Norah, and I would knit almost anything you designed, but I have to disagree. I like the oversized, loose cardigan look (see the Rill sweater) but oversized pullovers flattering?? I don’t think so.

What I find most frustrating is that Norah herself actually has a similar figure to me but the models are pretty much all model shaped (which I am not). Berroco does have a plus-sized model in their booklets now, which I appreciate but I still think I disagree with the fundamental premise that those sweaters are flattering. Is it just me?

NaBloPoMo Day 25: stripe-tacular

I wish I could show you a better modeled shot of the hat I finished it but I washed it last night and it is still not dry. It’s gotten cool here which means that it’s damp and, apparently, nothing dries. Even though it’s wet, I can show you the jogless color changes.

I tried a new method for them this time. I usually knit around one row in the new color and then knit into the stitch below for the first stitch of the second round. That method requires that you have two rows of each color, though, and this hat has some single row stripes. I did a search, though, and found this method on TECHknitting. Instead of knitting into the stitch below you slip the first stitch on the row after you change color, even if that next row is another color. The slipped stitch then moves from being the first stitch of the round to the last, so you remove your marker, slip the stitch, and then replace the marker. It’s not totally invisible but it’s pretty good.

Speaking of stripes, I have a new stripey project.

It’s the Not So Baby Yoda Sweater. I love baby sweaters because they are so fast! I started this last night and that picture shows a sleeve and a third, or so. I am hoping to finish the second sleeve tonight so I can start on the fronts. No fancy techniques for this sweater, just adorable baby-sized stripey goodness.

NaBloPoMo Day 24: finished hat

I finished a hat.

Sorry for the terrible picture. I will get a better one tomorrow. I want to photograph the jogless stripes because the new way I found to do it even works with 1-row stripes! Very cool.

Now, my older son is having a friend sleepover for the first time so I need to go to bed early in case when they wake up at the crack of dawn.

NaBloPoMo Day 23: sunset over the bay

My parents and I took the kids to the Lawrence Hall of Science today. My kids really love that place. I enjoy it took and I love watching them so engrossed in the animals or building or damming the creek in the back.

This statue is in the back, by the water. It is called “Sunstones”. It is an astronomical tool that allows you to track the change in the position of the sun from season to season. I didn’t realize that until today and I just thought it was art. Go figure.

The Berkeley hills have some awesome views. Too bad we don’t live closer. We’d visit this museum much more often.

NaBloPoMo Day 22: Thanksgiving

You’ll never guess what I did all day.

Pie. Turkey, stuffing, and gravy too (those are the parts I helped most with) but we didn’t get any pictures of the meal other than the pie! Whoops.

Things I am thankful for in no particular order:

• I took my hat off of the needles in preparation to rip the whole thing out and put it on to show my mom how small it was… and it fits on my head! That yarn is stretchier than I expected.
• My husband quit smoking a little over a year ago and has been totally smoke free!
• My children didn’t drive me completely insane today, they only tried. Also, they both tasted new things at dinner and enjoyed them.
• My parents hosted us yet again and my mom and I put together a delicious spread (if I must say myself) and my mom saved my pie crust when I thought it was hopeless! It turned out to be delicious.
• On a grander scale: I am grateful for my family and their continued good health and for my own baby steps towards real employment again in the past year.

I hope everyone had an equally delicious Thanksgiving!

NaBloPoMo Day 21: good news, bad news

Good news: The kids were off today so I got to sleep in a bit.

Bad news: The husband wasn’t so I didn’t get to go for my morning walk.

Good news: I managed to sort through the between sizes clothes and move out some outgrown things from the kids’ drawers.

Bad news: We left the house later than planned and it took two hours to drive what usually takes an hour.

Good news: I started, and made progress on, a hat!

Bad news: I just discovered that my gauge is off again so I need to rip back and start over again.

Good news: It’s bedtime so I can just go to bed and think about that tomorrow! (After all the cooking, baking and eating, of course.)