Monday, September 28, 2009

How many handknits can you wear at a U2 concert?

Answer: at least 4!

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G and went to the U2 concert in Foxboro, Mass., last Sunday, Sept. 20. We drove up to Connecticut for the weekend. Spent some time with his family and some time with my brother, SIL, niece and nephew. My MIL babysat Sunday night and G, my BIL and his fiance went to the show.

We arrived early to tailgate with sandwiches, grapes, chips and wine. We played some bean-bag toss. We even popped into a bar that had a U2 cover band called 2U playing. They were really good! Not as good as the real thing, of course.

It was a perfect night, crisp and cool but not cold. The band rocked.

I wore:

A hat I made in the car ride up.
My pink stole.
My Dashing mitts.
My purple socks.

Fun times! Our next concert will be indoors, so no handknits. We're seeing KISS in DC in a couple of weeks. G is a huge fan. I am ... not. But I think the show will be fun all the same. He scored tickets in the second row right in front of Gene Simmons. We are going to take the day off and take Henry to DC. Hopefully it will be nice and we can go to the zoo. Then G's aunt will babysit while we go to dinner and the concert. I think it will be a fun day.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Organizing

I couldn't stand it anymore. So last night, after work while H napped, I attacked my knitting and craft area and organized it!

I gathered up all my knitting magazines from around the house and put them in magazine holders. I couldn't find two. Hope they turn up soon. I was thinking of finally starting the Spring 2007 Knitscene cover sweater, Kenobi Jacket by Norah Gaughan. Oh well, it will turn up eventually.

I organized my yarn. I now have enough sock yarn for it to get its own container. I have three large plastic tubs, plus the two big, heavy plastic bags that my Boppys came in (while I was nursing, I found it essential to have two: one for upstairs and one for downstairs). The bags are perfect for holding yarn! So my sock yarn is one and the other holds odd balls and partial skeins. I have one tub for shawls and scarves, one for sweaters and one for more sweaters and roving. Yes, I own some roving even though I don't spin. Some of it is from a needle felting kit I bought but there are two new braids that I had to buy because I love the colors. I just needed them for inspiration!

I also have one small, heavy plastic bag that a pregnancy stomach wedge pillow came in that I used for my cotton and baby yarn.

I also organized, in file folders, my loose patterns and the patterns that I've printed from the Internet.

The final piece of the organization was putting projects in project bags.

With a 14-month old, a full-time job, a house to clean, dinners to cook, a yard to cultivate, plus a moderate amount of personal and business travel, I find it essential to have a variety of projects in different stages that I can grab and go for different purposes, whether it's knit night or the dentist or a long phone meeting or a trip. I need plenty of plain projects that I can knit without consulting a pattern. I want some more complicated ones for when I have an hour or two to sit. When I have just two or three projects going, somehow I always end up at complicated spot in each of them at the same time. Maybe it's just turning the heel, but I can't do that while on a phone meeting because I can't count and give my full attention to the meeting. Starting something new always takes more time and concentration than working on something in progress, too. So, while my ideal number of WIPs is 3-4, I find it's better to start a few more than that all at once when I have a big block of time so I can grab and go later.

This whole organization project helped me find the perfect sock yarn in my stash to make socks for my grandpa. And I dug out the purple malabrigo that I bought a couple of years ago to make a shawl for my grandma.

I pulled out some sweater yarn to start two new projects and found an old garter stitch baby blanket I started before my nephews (now almost three) were born. It's pink and I figured that with two babies on the way one of them was bound to be a girl, right? Wrong! I do have a new niece now, so I'm thinking of making it a small doey. (A "doey" is what my family calls those small blankets that others refer to as "loveys.")

But right now I am going to go start a basic hat. I need a good stockinette in the round project for my weekend trip. We are driving to Connecticut tomorrow and going to see U2 in the Boston area on Sunday night!

Friday, September 04, 2009

Mini Break!

We are headed to South Carolina, near Charleston, for a long weekend. It's been a long week. Henry got his first ear infection and was home from daycare for a few days. I'm on deadline at work and could not take real PTO. I took PTO but I still had to work in order to meet the deadlines. Plus, I was trying to work ahead so I could be off while on vacation. So I was trying to get as much work done as possible during naptime and after dinner. Needless to say, I am worn out!

Still have a ton of work to finish up before we can leave today. And I keep thinking of things to add to the already-packed car!

I am hoping to find a yarn shop in Charleston. I already have one idea, thanks to Doris of the Baltimore Knitting Meetup group (that is no longer on meetup, just Ravelry now) and I want to try the Chocolate Coca-Cola cake she told me about!

I've got two socks in progress packed. Maybe I'll get some pictures of them on the beach or by the pool. We'll see. Vacation with a baby doesn't leave much time for knitting.