Mystery Stole Update

Well, since we last spoke I jumped in the frog pond. (For you non-knitters: I ripped out all the work I had done on the lace stole and started over.) I was just not happy with my results and I knoew it would really stink to do all that work and not be thrilled with the outcome. I don't know why I didn't take a picture before ripping it out; I'm kicking myself now for that one. The problem was that the solid stockinet parts were not solid enough for me. I think I just knit too loosely (I had to type that twice in order to not type "loose too knitly") to use lace weight yarn.

However, yesterday I bought some sock yarn, which is a little heavier than the lace-weight I had started with. It is Trekking pro natura,which is 75% superwash wool and 25% bamboo, in a nice blue. I started last night after dinner and finished all of Chart A, which took me much longer to do the first time. And it is exactly the way I wanted it to be! I am so excited. It's a little scary how addictive this whole thing is. I am always thinking about knitting it instead of whatever else I am doing. I wish there was a way to study that somehow. It seems that if you are a knitter, you are a knitter all the way. Total obsession. I don't know anyone who just knits a little. Ok - enough with knitting philosophy. Here are pics of the stole in progress.

Before it was a stole . . . Trekking Pro Natura sock yarn, color #1510 and some random seed beads from Friends Lapidary.

Here is the completion of Chart A. Hardly a stole yet, but you just wait!

A little stich detail, and an idea of what the beads look like.

Sorry for those of you who couldn't really care less about my knitting! I promise a non-knitting post next time. For now, I am going to go do laundry.

(Yeah right - - you know where I am headed.)

Some pics to liven things up a bit . . .

A hot fudge sundae with Resees Peanut Butter Ice Cream a t Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen, and two cute girls. Can't say I don't know how to celebrate!

A random shot of Erin - Is it me or does she look like she is 10? (ok - maybe 5.)

If you tell Jill to smile for the camera, this is what she does. She started this a few months ago, totally on her own, and does it pretty much every time!

Why aren't you CELEBRATING???

(I know - caps are not polite. But I really am screaming. . .)

Do you know that today is National Ice Cream Day? I do.

And if you happen to discover this after the holiday is over, don't feel too bad because July is National Ice Cream Month. You will have time to make up for it.

My client had a beautiful baby girl after an amazingly uncomplicated, relatively easy birth. All are healthy and happy.

That does mean that I got no work done on my mark-is-off-I-am-going-to-work day. But hopefully I will have a grandpa-is-on-vacation-this-week work day soon. I don't know why but I have a hard time working for just a little bit. I really feel like I need a huge block of time to get anything productive done. So I either have to change that about myself (not likely) or wait for a big block of time to come (also not likely). I now will be teaching 8 times in August, so probably I need to just quit talking about working and actually work.

I am also trying to get pics together of finished knitting projects and works in progress (the latter being a much larger group of photos than the former) and put them on a Flickr site. I have been talking about that for awhile, but ya' know . . .

My new hero, the creater of National Ice Cream Day, has given me an excuse. So Graeters better watch out because Tablers are on their way!

Go on now - - get celebratin'

Waiting Game

Last night we had a birthday celebration for Mark & Helga, and the girls were jumping on a trampoline until 10:00 pm. Which is great fun, until about 10:01 pm. Jill hardly slept at all last night, and although Erin is in a good mood now, I am waiting for the tides to turn.

I also just got a call from a client due July 28 who says her dr. thinks her baby seems a little small and wants to induce. Although I was supposed to be working today on training outlines, I may be working today on doula-ing. She is trying to decide now what she is going to do. So I wait!

As for knitting - - I am very worried about the Mystery Stole I am working on. (since almost no one reading this knows what I am talking about, I will include this breif link to the group instead of trying to recap here. Just know it is a knit along where you get portions of the pattern each week until you are finished. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysterystole3

There are 6700+ members of this group! It is very cool.
So the worry comes in because my stole so far doesn't look nearly as nice as everyone else's pics. Maybe people whose stoles look like mine don't post pics! Or maybe I need to block mine and see it afterwards. If I do not doula today I will try to take a few minutes to post pics and get feedback. I guess if I have to start over, I will, in my efforts to force myself to be a process knitter!
Slow down and smell the wool. mmmmm . . . .

Is it ok . . .

That my very young children are playing in the front yard alone so that I can actually post on this blog??

I can see them very well from where I sit, but it sure seems a bit weird!

Just thought I would let everyone know that I am serious about this blog thing. I will post again before bed.