Didja ever notice how a project is never just done? Or is it just me?

The Hemp Skirt is finished knitting, bound off, i-cord done, ends woven in, and almost done drying as it’s blocked, and there is still just one more thing to do…I need to find some beads or doo-dads to sew/tie onto the end of the i-cord drawstrings. Then it will be done. Really done. Then I can make a post that says the Hemp Skirt is ready for it’s fork, please. Maybe tomorrow.

I cast on for the Luna Flickering Flames Circular Skirt last night.

Pattern says gauge is supposed to be 4.5 spi on size 9 (5.50 mm) needles. I knit up the swatch and absolutely hated how wide open the lace looked. So I tried a bunch of other sizes and finally settled on 3.75 mm needles. When the swatch was stretched and pinned out, I measured about 5 spi, sometimes 4.5. It’s hard to measure lace gauge, I think. I knit about 7 rows of stockinette between each needle size and that’s where I measured. 4.5 spi x 160 cast on stitches, should give a waistband of around 35-36 inches. My waist measures 33.5 inches. The waist band is going to have to come up over my 40.5 in hips. I toyed with the idea of casting on 180 and adjusting the pattern, but that would mean I’d have to order more yarn. It was cheap , but I don’t feel like hassling with trying to get the same lot or if I can’t trying to adjust for that. So my plan is to cast on the 160, knit the waistband and one pattern repeat, then put it on some longer cables and see if it goes up over my hips and doesn’t look all stretched and yucky in the waist. I figure that knitting time is the same as if I futzed with trying to get more yarn. I guess we’ll see tomorrow.

I hit my newest low weight this morning. 139.5. Yay me!! I’ve finally gotten under 140. We’ve been on Atkins for almost 30 weeks now and I’ve lost a total of 30.5 pounds. My goal weight is 130. I’m losing an average of 1 pound per week. I probly won’t be there by Aug 31 like I hoped, but soon after. I’m happy as hell with how it’s going. One of these times I’ll post the before and afters.

Ravelry. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. I’ve been hearing about and anxiously awaiting my invitation to it for ages now. I signed up on 6/15/07 and I’m #9328 on the list. There are 1159 people in line ahead of me. They’re averaging 114 invites per day. How do I know the average? Because I’m a obsessive freak who has a spreadsheet page devoted to tracking this. I have a few websites that I automatically open each morning and Ravelry Check Where You Are in Line page is one of them. My spreadsheet also includes a projected forecast for my day of invitation and right now thats falling on 8/24. Nutz!!! We’re leaving on the Cali trip on 8/24. Gone til 9/3. I won’t be able to even do anything with it until I get home. booo-hoo.

Random Cutenossity:

Fourth of July fun. the Boy just loved playing on the tractor all day.

It took me for-fucking-ever to drive over to my first client’s house today. It’s Uptown Art Fair weekend and that means trying to get in or out of the ‘hood is ssssssupppppperrrrrrrr sssssslllllooooowwwwww. Once I finally reached the house, I realized I’d not brought the key. After bashing my head on the steering wheel and screaming a bit, I started back home and again it took me for-fucking-ever. I finally got home, got the key and set out on the slooooooow trek again. Normally driving is ok, cuz I listen to what ever audio book or podcasts I have on my mp3 player and it’s all good…but the book ended part way to the house and I was left with nothing to listen to. Finally reaching the house again, I went in and got the first two dogs out of the crates and on their leashes (I’m a professional pet sitter, btw). The third dog went wild when I let her out of the crate and in the ensuing wrestling match she peed on me. Oh, joy. No paper towels, so I splashed water from the kitchen sink on my legs and took the dogs outside. The wrestling, peeing on me dog kept jumping up and raking her hundreds of razor sharp claws on the back of my bare legs. More joy. I went back out to my car to grab something and smashed one of my fingers in the screen door. Are you picturing all this? Here let me help you: I’m an hour behind schedule, pissed on, water running down my legs along with welts and my finger is smashed.

Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to chew through the straps…

I’ve been looking at news accounts and videos in the aftermath of the 35W/University Ave. bridge collapse disaster. It’s horrible to watch and so scary to know that it happened here, to us. As is normal, people in Minnesota can be trusted to help each other out when there’s trouble. This time was no different. Every single story I’ve seen has an account of victims helping others out of their cars and off the bridge. It seems a natural part of Minnesota being to think of the others around you, even in dangerous times. That’s Minnesota Nice. I’m so proud of my fellow Minnesotans.

the Rock Star’s normal commute would have had him on that bridge, around that time. He went to happy hour with his co-workers, and so started out 45 min later than usual, and was no where near the disaster. We feel dazed and lucky. Kind of hard to describe, you know?

We got back from camping on Sunday (7/22) around 4:00 pm. I picked up my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at 8:00 pm. I finished reading it 29.5 hours later at 1:45 am on Tuesday 7/24. Not all that time was spent reading. I had to put the book down to sleep Sunday night and to work on Monday. I’m tired but very happy, I’m completely satisfied with how it all turned out. I’ve spent my driving time thinking it all over today, and I can’t wait to get the CD version in the mail so I can listen to it. It’s definitely worth a second go.

Go here: http://www.shellykang.com/2007/07/contest.html and make a comment to win a copy of “Victorian Lace Today”. oooooh, I hope I win!!

It’s the weirdest thing…I’ve been trying to blog for the last couple weeks, but the blog software was all wonky and wouldn’t let me post or change the sidebar or do anything at all really. I kept coming back and wasting time trying things out…

Tonight, without any real hope, I tried again…and what the fuck!? It works now! I can make and delete posts. I can edit and delete items in the sidebar. I can blog from Flickr. Woot!!! To bad I’m to tired to do anything else tonight.

I’m gonna knit a bit on my hemp skirt (more on that later) and then go to bed. It’s been a rough day. Rupert (my little white dog) had her teeth cleaned and a couple of them extracted this past Tuesday. This morning when I woke up she was yelping in pain and spent the morning talking to the vets and trying to calm her down. I gave her a pain pill and she started acting normal within an hour, but it was still very, very stressful. The rest of my day looked bleak as I had to take my mom for some medical testing. It didn’t go that badly, though and I even got a little knitting done. So I’m tired. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to post a couple current pics of us and the Boy, plus my many finished knitting objects.

Don’t pull in front of me and stop so you can make your left turn. If you fuck up on where your going, you don’t have the right to make the rest of us stop so you can make your turn. Fucker.

Just had to get that off my chest.

Has it really been nearly a month? Wowsa!! I’d like to say I have a lot to tell you, but I really don’t. It’s not like nothing has been happening, quite the contrary, in fact. It’s just that very little of it is really bloggable. How’s about a few headlines? OK? Cool. (oh and no pictures. I’m far too lazy to do all that. Next post, I promise.)

Honey I Shrunk the To-Do List!! — I didn’t stick to the plan as well as I wanted to but I did enough to get my to-do list under control. The house is mostly clean, my business paperwork is mostly caught up, and we are starting to consider adding exercise to our lives. We’ve already started trying to cut back on portions and resist most desserts (damn Girl Scout Cookies taunting me). There’s a lot of room for improvement in my sticking to the plan, but overall, I feel good about it so far and my stress level has lowered measurably. I feel good enough about what I’ve gotten done, that I rarely feel guilty about spending the evening knitting. And speaking of knitting…

Holy Finished Objects, Batman!!! — The pink sox are done. I actually wore them for a couple of days. I couldn’t wait to weave in the ends, block and photograph them. Uh-unh, no way. They went onto my feet as they came off the needles. I love them. So perfectly comfortable and so pink and cheery!!! One teensy little complaint, it seems like the yarn kind of pills up with wear. On the plus side, the gaps around the heel don’t show up much at all and certainly don’t affect the comfort. And the Boy’s Weasley Sweater is DONE!!! As in seamed, ends woven in and blocked. I just finished it about a half an hour ago (10:00 pm CST). I can’t wait to try it on him tomorrow. I already know it’ll be way to big for him, but that’s what I planned. It’ll be perfect for him next winter. It turned out so good and I love, love, love it!! This project taught me so many things and gave me a ton of confidance to take on more sweater projects. Turns out I don’t mind doing Mattress Stitch seaming. A lot of people kind of groan over doing the finishing, but I gotta tell you pulling those stitches tight and watching the two pieces come together….and the line is invisible…WOW! It’s so cool!! I get a little thrill every time I look at it!! The duplicate stitch Z on the front turned out great and I didn’t mind that part either. I’ve always loved needlework, so it was kinda fun for me. All in all, I loved this pattern and can see myself repeating it. Maybe matching sweaters for the Rock Star and me? Next up are socks in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport. I’m going to try the Zig-Zag sockulater at the Knitting Fiend to make a Jaywalker like sock. None of my stash of sock yarn matches the Jaywalker pattern’s gauge and I don’t really know how to modify it. I’ll be trying to do it 2 socks on 2 circs, top down. Wish me luck.

We Didn’t Win the Lottery. — More’s the pity. I could really use the money as I consider what my next project will be. I want to knit Clapotis from Knitty. I looked into the Lorna’s Laces Lion and Lamb 50/50 wool and silk, but holy crapoly that stuff is expensive. I can hardly justify $85 for a shawl/scarf I may not even wear. I’m not really a shawl wearer…I just think its a cool looking pattern and might wear a shawl more if I had one I really loved. I’m looking at another yarn now that’ll be half that price. It’s from Brooks Farm and I’m torn between the Muted Varsity, Mission Red, Black, and Intense. I wish I could feel it before I buy it. I should try to find out if anyone around here has it. I’ve seen a picture of Clapotis done with this yarn and it is quite beautiful.

The Wave of the Future — Podcasts. I’m crazy for Podcasts. I listen on my iRiver while I’m driving, walking, knitting, cleaning and any other time I can. I listen to several knitting podcasts. I listen to a history podcast. I listen to Dawn and Drew and Quirky Nomads, who defy categorization. I love being able to listen to what I want, when I want. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to radio.

Like Sands Through the Hour Glass — the Boy turn 18 months old on 3/10. So much to say about that, I’ll leave it for another post. I turn 42 or 43 (can’t ever remember my age) on 3/30.

Fucking Weather — There’s only so much knee deep snow I can slog through before I stop thinking, “Oh, how pretty!?”. Tomorrow I’ll take pictures of my world in white. Yesterday and today, I just couldn’t stand it. Too many dogs to walk, cats to visit and driving for the winter wonderland we are living in to be all that wonderful.

Guess that’s about it for now. I’ll post pics soon.

Today, Sunday, at noon we are starting a plan. A plan to change our lives. We don’t want to be behind our to-do lists and stressed all the time. We want to enjoy the blessings in our lives. Our plan is about getting caught up and then maintaining our tasks so that we can enjoy our free time more fully.

The plan calls for going cold turkey on everything except our to-do list or sleeping for the next week. I won’t be knitting or reading blogs or spending any time on anything at all unless it’s on my task list. The only thing I’ll be blogging about is our progress on this plan. Wednesday evening, we get a two hour free time IF we’ve stuck to the plan. In a week, next Sunday, we’ll assess our progress and plan for the next week. It’s drastic, but necessary.

I’m grateful to have such a wonderful husband. Together we’ve identified what’s wrong with our lives and together we’ll try to fix it. Please wish us luck.

We are still sick. the Boy has mostly gotten over it, but the Rock Star and I are in worse shape than ever. The cold from Hell seemed to get better then got much worse. It’s made worse by not being able to get any sleep. It seems like the universe conspires against us in that department.

List of things that has kept us awake this past week:

• the Boys illness
• each other’s snoring
• our own hacking coughs
• each other’s hacking coughs
• the Dog’s hacking cough (I am not kidding about that)
• the Cat’s sudden desire to attack a heretofore ignored baby rattle
• the Rock Star’s insomnia
• our stuffed sinus’s
• general physical discomfort

I can’t even begin to list the things I have not gotten done in the last week. It’s not like my to-do list needed a week off, either. The stress of all the things I should have done and haven’t is making it hard for me to sleep, too. It’s a vicious cycle.

We have company in town. the Rock Star’s brother is visiting from San Francisco. It’s always fun to see him, but not from across the street cuz we’re afraid to breathe on him.

Practically no knitting has taken place. Just about 10 rows on the Boy’s Weasley Sweater.

Someday I hope to blog about happy, healthy times again. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

We’ve both got it now. By we I mean the grown ups in the house. Scratchy throats and naggy coughs. Looks like it’s gonna be a super fun weekend. Not. We’ll be rockin’ the Airborne.

So there I was in the grocery store, feeling grumpy. I’d stopped in to snag some lunch. I knew exactly what I wanted: Cherry Chicken Pasta Salad. As I tried to quickly walk to the item and get it, people and their stupid shopping carts kept slowing me down. *grumple, grumple* I mean, the nerve. Shopping! While I’m in a hurry. Stupid people. *fume and fuss* I finally get to the deli, grab my grub and am walking past the cheese sample lady when she pops up with a huge smile ands says, “I’ve got Gouda!” to someone else, in the most cheery, friendly, exuberant voice you can imagine. I had to actually cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. I’ve got Gouda!! I got all the way out to the parking lot before I couldn’t stand it anymore and stopped in the middle of the way, bending over, slapping my knee and just bellowing laughter. I’ve got Gouda!!! It’s so fucking funny.

I’ve got Gouda!!!

Either it truly is funny, or I’m going insane. *shrugs*

Oh. My. God.

Just watched the epi I taped last night (Tuesday). May I just say: Oh. My. God.

How can a show make me cringe in horror and shiver in delight at the same exact time? Tell me!! How is it possible? America is the best country on Earth and this show just proves it!!!

When I grow up I wanna be just like Crystal’s mom. *nods* mmmm, hmmmmm.

I’ve uploaded several new pictures to my Flickr page of the Boy. Click the pic to be taken to the photos. Beware the Cuteness.

The Subaru is totalled. Now we wait to see how much the insurance company will pay for it. Then we (read the Rock Star) will shop for a new one. In the meantime we are a one car fam. A very small car. Even though we’re a small fam (3 peeps), it doesn’t seem like enuf. As luck would have it, after months of working a contract where he took the bus, the Rock Star recently started one where he needs to drive. Or be driven, as is now the case. I need the car for dog visits and other stuff. I don’t mind. It’s just a bit more planning than, deciding who gets what car on the fly, which is how we used to do it. Plus, I don’t like driving the the Boy in the Ford. It’s a great little car, but the Suby was bigger and heavier and it felt like there was more protection in case of a crash. If the Ford got smashed with us in it, I don’t think the outcome would be so good. So yeah, car shopping. Fun.

Hi there. I’m back. Long time no blog. I’ve started knitting again and that means I read a lot of knitting blogs and that means I get the urge to blog again. So I’m gonna try to get this MT deal tuned up for the moment. Can’t turn on comments. Sorry. I had to turn them off a couple months ago, cuz I was spending half an hour a day clearing out the damn spam. Spam fuckers. Hate them!!! Anyhow, I’ll post like this for a bit and if you want to comment you can email me at “theprocrastinatrix at mn dot rr dot com”. If you know how to find this blog, you know how to turn that into a usable email addy.

the Boy is 16 months old in 4 days. He’s walking, running, and has a few words now. Unbearably cute and bright. This is from Christmas Eve:

the Rock Star is working on a couple different contracts outside the house. Most of his real work is keeping me from falling apart completely. He’s a saint.

I’m alive and doing ok. I ended up going on anti-depressants a couple months ago. My father dieing unexpectedly in April was the culmination of many months worth of crap and I finally couldn’t take it anymore. I was barely functional, but through the magic of the pretty pink pills, I’m feeling better now. But get this. I totalled another Subaru day before yesterday. It was a little over a year ago that the guy rear ended me. This time a woman went through a red light and smashed the crap out of the front end of the Suby we bought to replace the last one. I was alone in the car, which is a blessing, cuz this was a much worse accident than the last one. My seatbelt kept me from being injured to badly, but didn’t stop my head from conking pretty hard into the door. I had a CAT scan and xrays and everything’s ok. I’m just very sore. Happy fuckin’ new year.