May the Force Be With Us

Still alive. Trying to get Buby used to formula. I am going crazy and may lose my mind. I have a whole post in mind but it will have to wait. Started second Tofutsies sock and its going better. Now to try Jedi mind tricks to keep a baby from not screaming and perhaps please God sleeping.

This is Your Brain...This is Your Brain on Baby

The Wonky Mess

Have you ever known you were right? You are right the world is wrong. It doesn't matter if you have had maybe 2 hours of decent sleep in a week. You are right. How could you be wrong?


Went skipping, more like running at top speed, off to knit night last night. As promised the evil little sock was present but had to have a time out in its bag. I was going to start a new project. An easy peasy I don't even have to look at it project. I will preface this by saying I am not a cable virgin. I have done them and love em! They don't scare me. The fact that this was a 24 stitch cable didn't phase me. Yup, slip 12 stitches off let em hang out with their toes flapping in the breeze, knit 12 stitches, twist with all your might to get those first 12 back in line and knit those babies. No problem. Somehow I forgot my brain has been on baby lately. Screw the drugs babies are way more dangerous! They will rob you of every sleeping opportunity that dares present itself! I nestle in with a large orange mocha latte and begin. The cabeling doesn't start till row 9. I was there in no time flat. This is when all hell breaks loose. I can only say I firmly believe the knitting pixies have been in my bag and bewitched the pattern page. They made do 24 stitch cable, THEN k2 p2 6 times LOOK like do 24 stitch cable 6 times. Yeah, I didn't have enough stitches. I decide to carry on with the next row anyway. Some things are a leap of faith. Somewhere on the next row I stat giggling to myself, I get louder, then a tad louder. I WOULD have sounded like a hysterical loon if it had not been open auditions for American Idol in Starbucks last night. I am not talking about the customers. No, no the employees. Let me just say that was awful, bloody awful. My knit buddy keeps wondering why I am laughing and behaving a bit odd. I mention the need for a drink. Since Starbucks hasn't caught on to the desperate need for suburban housewives to knock a few back you are advised to bring a flask on your next trip to latte land. I realize its WAY late so I figure I must rewrite the pattern when I get home since it was so totally screwed up. I mean how dare they tell me to cast on 104 stitches when you need 152. The gaul of some people!


Meanwhile back at the bat cave. I am all ready to make a post ranting about the error on the local forum when I decide to look at the original pattern online. HMMM. I see the error of my ways and realize I knit 2 extra cable sections. Well no wonder knitting that damn thing was like wrangling an octopus! My hands felt like they were gonna fall off! My knit buddy mentioned the model in the pattern did have a look on her face that suggested she was thinking why in the hell did she knit the damn thing.

Rip, Rip it Good

The not so wonky correction

In the light of day, after a decent night of sleep. What? How did that happen? I ripped it back and fixed the mistake and all seems so very much better now. Moral of the story kiddies: keep your brain off baby.

Smell like matches?

This Tofutsies yarn is not destined to become a favorite. Granted I am a cranky, pissy, mess after going to bed at 12am, being woken up 5-6 times, then rising at 5:30 am with Buby. AGHHHH! This yarn is splitty, which I knew, but is highly irritating if trying to pick up a dropped stitch. After working with it my hands smell like I have been playing with matches. Will I suffer the dreaded second sock syndrome? No, I will complete the mate. I am seriously considering leaving this disobediant yarn home for knit night. Take that! Note the Coke in the background. If it were not for coffee and Coke I would be dead.

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

I am indeed alive. Let's just say Buby had two teeth come thru at once. Not so good for the sleepy thing. Add to that the psycho mama that is a hormonal woman weaning from breast milk and it hasn't been pretty round these parts. I had to school a woman in Ross about manners. I should be locked up until this is over. Zelda runs at the sight of me. I do have moments of rational thought, but alas they are fleeting. If you know you are acting crazy as you are doing it does it still make you crazy?




First attempt at matchy matchy (without knitting 2 socks at once) went fairly well. They are like a row and a half off. The old saying should be revised: Almost only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and now socks.


Whoo HOO! Loving having a swift and ball winder. This "Pansy" yarn didn't look so good in the hank. I immediately thought I didn't like it, but it has possibilities in a ball. Now to choose a pattern. I may give the monkey a whirl.

Smores. What a comforting color name. Must wind!

TOFUTSIES! Now this lovely yarn is made of wool, cotton, soy fibers, and crab and shrimp shell concoction called Chitin. Hey, it's supposed to be naturally antibacterial. Check out the free bag I got with a magazine. The magazine is so so but love a freebie!

The Gods Have Been Angered

I'm not the only one. Mother's Day was so nice it is now payback time. I got a grand total of 2 hours sleep last night. Yup, a whole two. All of this after a day where nothing went quite right. A day that ended with glass shattering all over the kitchen and a temper tantrum. No, Buby didn't have the tantrum. If this were ancient Greece or Rome or somewhere like that I would promptly offer a sacrifice. A blood sacrifice. You think it's me? Well lookie here. Warning: I about pissed my pants with laughter and commiseration.

The Sweetest Sound

I am not totally delusional. I know babies say vowel sounds long before they say words with meaning. Some of those vowel sounds can sound like words. Very important words. Hubby was been working behind the scenes with Buby. Isolated Mama sounds were made the afternoon before Mother's Day. All of this happened in the middle of Panda Express while Buby was in a very nasty highchair. I wiped it down with a wipe that turned black. YUCK! I believe he was saying Mama where the hell is my highchair protector?

How Nifty

This is what I have. Well, picture this as the tip of the iceberg. You know those motivational posters with the little iceberg tip on the surface with the HUGE extension underneath? Yeah, thats what this is like.

This is what I need. Neat little center pull yarn cakes. Yes, this one is not so neat because it has been played with and is behaving like a redheaded stepchild. It is beautiful so I will overlook that small detail. Enter the swift. You unfurl those long hanks onto the swift and feed it into a ball winder to make nice little cakes. It goes very quick with a swift and looks darn fun! Yes, I could learn to make center pull balls. Well, no I probably can't. I have tried. Picture me in a tangle of yarn swearing like a truck driver, or at least the sailor that I was. That was BEFORE I had a baby. So yes I need one of these. Hubby was beaten into submission and the swift was ordered on Mother's Day. I had to pull a little five year old behavior. You know what I mean. This is what I want and I want it now. Well, I didn't phrase it quite like that but you get the point. This concludes your education on swifties.

Back to Live..Back to Reality

Mother's day was bliss. I slept in. I DID NOT CLEAN! I did no laundry. Changed very few diapers. Found a HUGE card with handprints. Ate cheesecake. Guzzled Starbucks. Hmm my yarn swift got ordered. YAY! I decided to be very proactive and get the day I wanted. Today has been a slap in the face. Burned the crap out of my hand, which led to dropping my dinner all over the floor with glass everywhere. Well into the second sock on the magic socks. Tommorow I will try to return to intelligent thoughts.

Mountain Road

On the scarf front I have finished these lovelies and they will be in the mail tommorow. The KAL is doing a major drop off at the end of May so I didn't have as much time for this project as I thought.





Okay I had a hard time naming this one. Yes, we weirdo knitters name our knits if we make up the pattern. Patterns have some strange names. It does remind me of a mountain road in the spring time. Let me just say the pictures don't do this yarn justice. To really get it you MUST bury your face in it and inhale deeply. Yes, you will get a high. An angora high! Noro Kochoran is a wool, silk, and angora blend. Two skeins just leapt into my hands at the lys (local yarn store) and demanded to be brought home. How could I refuse? Once I touched this yarn I could work on nothing else until this was done. It was as if I might soil my hands by touching something else. What was it like 86 degrees today? Oh well the cold weather will come back eventually.

I am about to go sit on the dining room floor to work on my second pair of socks.

In other news: Yeah, it has now been decided I drop to 2 pumps a day on June 1st. That is a mutual decision between Will and myself. It's just taking a toll. I am still prone to being emotional about the whole business. To make it easier the thought of overfull breasts in 90+ heat is not appealing in any way.

The Torture Device

This baby has been used.

Yes, the paint is WEARING off.

Now proceed to the post before this one.

We're Not Gonna Take It

WARNING: THIS POST HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH KNITTING!

First Buby is finally cutting teeth. Poor little guy. Now Mommy gets what all the fussiness was about last Thursday. Oh dumb Mommy.

I have been wrestling with pumping breast milk since he was born. I really, really, really wanted to go a full year. It looks like I am going to fall short. I can't take much more of this pumping. I am in pain all the time and my poor nips have been bleeding everyday for at least a month. I present this to you because I know it is time to quit. I need to quit. I also think Buby needs my full attention. He too looks at the pump with distaste when I hook up. Time to put quality of time above my milk. I am not one of those who feel formula is bad. I know with the refulx bm is better. I am sure he will survive. I have to put this out there to make myself stick to this and not be swayed by guilt. Yes, tears have been shed over this issue. It is very difficult for me. Overall I want my time and my boobs back. It's been a good run. My supply is dropping faster than GW's approval ratings. I am tired of swilling various herbal teas and pills to try to keep it going. Funny that in my prime I was pumping 70+ oz a day. Thanks to a power outage my reserves are gone. I am going to take a month (maybe, I may not last that long) to freeze some extra, then drop from 3 to 2 to 1 pump. Then finito. I look forward to it and feel a little sad. The decision has been made. My pediatrician is just going to have to kiss my knits. She is VERY heavy on pushing bm for at least a year. If I get too much grief I will change to a new Dr. I don't really think it matters what anyone else believes I should do with my boobs. Thats that.

When You Knit Alone....In The Dark

Addiction: The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something.

If you drink alone, in the dark, in a secretive manner you are an alcoholic by the standards of some. What is it if you find yourself knitting alone… in the dark… on the floor of the closet at 1:39am? I am not sure I can admit this is an addiction (first sign denial). Okay so last night at my knitting meet up I made tremendous progress on my sock. Then as I sat there pumping away for the last time of the day I was knitting furiously with the mantra, "knit, knit, knit" going thru my mind at warp speed. Mayhem ensues, I am 2 rows; yes 2 rows, away from completion. Well, away from the kitcheners stitch. Agh. Then some snarling happens between the adults. Finally Buby is in bed. I can't sleep. Hubby is sleeping in the living room since he still has a cold. I can't sleep. It's past 1 am. I can't sleep. I hear this roaring chant from the closet, "two more rows, two more rows, two more rows". You get the idea. Those socks wouldn't shut up and go to bed! When your socks start talking you should be concerned. I can't go out to the living room as someone is sleeping out there. I can't go to any other room and get caught (there is the secrecy).

Pan to the next scene. Me sitting on the floor of the closet, hey it is the size of a small room, with a flashlight propped up (the light would wake Buby and I couldn't shut the door as it squeaks), finishing the sock. What could happen in two rows at 1:39am? Yes, I dropped a stitch. In the middle of the toe decreases no less. My trusty life hook (crochet hook) was in the living room! I could barely see the stitches as it was only a mini Mag-lite. I had to admit defeat and go to bed. I had bizarre dreams. No doubt a result of not completing my obsession.

You will be relieved to know I did indeed finish the sock this morning. Picked up that stitch and soldiered on in the light of day. They are finished. I believe I have developed a new addiction. Someone asked me how much can you blog about knitting? I'd venture a guess that given the levels of my insanity, plenty.

Whats On the Needles/Ain't That A Pisser

Magic Stripes Basic Sock

Ta Da! My first sock is done and its mate is more than half done. I put off trying socks for some time, but finally took the plunge. My desire for pretty socks finally took over. Seems every time I buy pretty socks they diappoint me in some way. The latest shamrock argyles had so many strings haning inside I could barely get my toes past it all without getting hung up. This is one of those where you think "Oh, that's not so hard." As a warning this has now bred a new obsession for sock yarn. Apparently there is some secret underworld to sock yarn. Who knew?

1 skein Plymouth Encore/2 Eskimo dusk

This will be the first scarf cast on! I have so much yarn to use for these scarves it is ridiculous! When I get brave I'll flash it for you.

In Other news:

I was pissed on before I had been out of bed for a whole 3 minutes. Not exactly a way I recommend starting the day. Opened the new creamer I bought cuz it was $.20 cheaper than my regular......I am not even sure I can describe the taste. Let's just say what the hell!? I will be going to the store today for a replacement which I will have to pay double the price to get since I am not near a commissary. It even looks like rain. Maybe I should join Buby in bed.