P3Tog

Book Review - A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

2014-07-21T13:49:00.000-04:00

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Finally finished! I liked the first couple chapters and the last few chapters. Everything else in between was just filler. It would be a great book if you have absolutely no imagination at all because every detail is described ad nauseum! I have enjoyed tomes in the past and with them, was surprised to find myself at the end of 500+ pages, as quickly as they moved along. Not so with this one. I found myself skipping entire pages that were irrelevant just to struggle to the end. While I think I liked the story itself there was no reason for it to be so long. Then to just stop it to be forced to read another tome of 584 pages made me want to scream! Sorry Deborah, I'll just have to live with never knowing what happened to your colorful characters.

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Book Review - Thunder Bay (Cork O'Conner Series #7) by William Kent Krueger

2014-07-15T09:56:00.001-04:00

Thunder Bay by William Kent Krueger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've listened to the previous six books in this series and wondered if I liked them because of the stories or because David Chandler was reading them. When I first heard Buck Schirner begin the narration, I was admittedly disappointed. I'd become so familiar with Cork O'Conner's voice (via David) it was almost sad to hear someone else speaking for him. But I do love the characters, the plots, the mysteries and the scenery of this series so I kept listening. I did warm up to Buck's voice and felt he gave a wonderful performance, especially the part where he was speaking as a young Henry Maloux.

Krueger did not disappoint in writing another captivating book. I especially liked this one because it had little to do with Cork's life (hasn't that poor man been through enough?) and focused on the life of Henry, one of my favorite characters since book #1.

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Book Review - The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

2014-06-24T14:16:00.000-04:00

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a longgg book and at times was slow moving, but that is exactly what was needed to describe how quickly a normal (for the times) life can suddenly spiral out of control fueled solely by fear. Of course I'm familiar with the Salem Witch Trials but had no idea what really happened. The lengthy descriptions of what led to the trials and what happened after was so perfectly delivered it is hard to imagine how unbelievably cruel humans can be to each other.

I wish I could just say, "Thank goodness it's fiction and that really could not have happened!" and forget it. But this is one of those books that delivers such a historical message, it has made me much more interested in that period if only in hopes that I discover it was far more exaggerated than the truth. Sadly, I don't believe that will be the case.

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Curious Reveries - Facebook

2014-04-10T13:14:00.001-04:00

As I was scrolling down my Facebook Newsfeed not too long ago, it occurred to me that everyone's feed looks totally different from anyone else's based on their friends, likes, interests and what they choose to hide or not hide.

Mine usually has a ton of pics of my friends kids and milestones from first smile to a photo of an upcoming graduation announcement. There are a lot of status updates that start with "5 years ago today..." and "I can't believe my baby is getting a drivers license today!", or something similar.

There are a lot of pet related posts on my feed as well. I too often have to post words of sympathy to a friend whose status is a picture of a beloved pet who crossed the rainbow bridge that day. There are shared posts of people passing on a post of a lost dog in Okemos, MI or a sweet kitty in Nashville, TN that needs a home. And I really never get tired of the funny pictures people share of their pets or even the silly ones from the internet. LOL Cat still cracks me up!

Honestly, I don't have any political stuff in my feed because I'm not interested in social media debate (or bashing) so I end up hiding that friend's updates from my feed. Sadly, that same friend might have something to say that I am interested in but I'll only notice it if a mutual friend shares it on their timeline. Same thing about religious posts.

Lately, my feed has a bunch of activity about "first 5k" or similar. Apparently, my friends of a certain age, all at once decided to start walking/running and over the course of 12 months have been training for, and completing, various k's, 1/2 marathons, and multi-marathons. Of course this mishmash of friends from different times and places in my life would have no way of knowing that, since they are completely unconnected outside of my feed, and yet, they all did it together. Collectively, I'm proud of them. I did walk my first 5k last week for a Heart Walk and yes, I did update my status to let them know.

It makes me feel better that in today's transparent world, packed with information and online friends, we're all still individuals. At least on our own Timelines.

Book Review: The Beach Trees by Karen White

2014-03-29T05:00:00.000-04:00

The Beach Trees by Karen White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An intriguing enough story with a lot of twists. Maybe because I was forced to read it, put it down for awhile and come back, but it really did jump all over the place and I don't mean the two time frames with two protagonists. I don't feel the characters were strongly developed over the course of the book so when then answers finally emerged, I had to pause to recall who was who and how they were involved. To me, the most interesting part was the author's real life explanation at the end of the book of the Katrina Trees and how her other books (the Tradd Street series, which I love) ended up in Charleston instead of New Orleans.

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Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

2014-03-24T15:59:00.000-04:00

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"What did I think?", Goodreads asks. I'm almost dumbfounded for words. First my review, then, I am forced to react to some of the reviews on Goodreads (which I never do and unless it's one of my friends, I don't even read what other people think because frankly, I don't care.)

What else is there to write about in this world on the tragic story of a young person suffering from a terminal illness?
Have all the words been used in all the possible interesting combinations to convey the misery that must be the end? I guess not. John Green magically made me pause and really think about young people in these situations. Like the Titanic, we all know what happens, why sit through a three hour movie living in denial? Maybe this will be different? No, it's not. Terminal is terminal and it can happen to anyone at any age. But the pages of this book and the characters in it made me want them to not die. I loved how candid they were about how they are treated, like with their "cancer perks". It wasn't a sappy "you're such a hero" rah rah book. Nope, it was raw and deep and a little unsettling at times. It made me mad, it made me laugh and it made me cry.

One of my favorite quotes in this book...

"This is an old argument in the field of Thinking About Suffering, and it's stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries, but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not in any way affect the taste of chocolate."

To the reviewer that said I have no right to find humor or even sadness in their tragedy because I don't "own it" by not have the misfortune of actually watching a child suffer and die, that's like saying my husband can't love my daughter as much as me because he didn't own the pain of labor and delivery by suffering through that.

To the other reviewers that said Mr. Green should write at the age level of these children, I say I knew more than a couple young teens in my youth that were old beyond their years and sounded exactly like Gus and Hazel Grace. Bravo to you for not making them one dimensional victims that can only speak to the latest celebrity antic, current music video or fashion trend.

In the end, a solid 5 stars for me.

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Book Review: The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

2014-03-20T10:08:00.000-04:00

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a big fan of historical fiction, especially the Antebellum era, there were times when I felt this might not have reached it's potential of genuine sentiment. However, over the course of the book, and certainly by the end, I came to better understand the characters and their place in the story. There were a lot of opportunities for the characters to grow even more,
but it covered so much as a whole that overall, they weren't lost. I very much enjoyed reading it and it was one of those books that you wonder what you can read next that will elicit such emotion.

~~~~~~~

While listening to this audiobook, I continued working on my Just Beachy Sweater. I didn't get a lot done during the book, because it's on CD (as opposed to on my iPhone) and I usually listen to CD's in my car during my commute. However, I've made progress! Finally connected in the round and am now knitting endlessly on the body. At least there's no more purling!

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/BeachBabyMom/on-the-beach

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Rav Games 2014

2014-02-13T07:01:00.000-05:00

There certainly wasn't as much mainstream public hoopla about these Olympic style fiber games as there was before the London games but there was drama on Ravelry behind the scenes. I won't go into it, because frankly, I stopped reading all the comments and opinions when the dislike button numbers far exceeded the other buttons combined on what seemed like every post.
Having participated in every one of the games since the inclusion of them on Rav, I was worried we wouldn't have one for Sochi. And, if we did, would anyone play along since the general interpretation seemed to be it was too complicated to participate. I was relieved when a bunch of members stepped up and saved the Games. Through their generous offering of time and effort (not to mention Casey's brilliance on the coding end), we did have a mass cast-on and I am thrilled.

For my part, I volunteered to be Team Captain for the first time and vowed to make it as simple and enjoyable as possible for our team. No long threads to read, no interpretation of complicated tagging, just a couple simple requirements to ensure our projects were included. The rest of the stuff I sorted out on my own and brought only the interesting and helpful parts to our team board. I've learned a lot but discovered what I suspected all along, KISS.

So far, I personally am entered in three events and crossed the finish line in two of them.

Here are my WIP's Dancing and Aerial Unwind entries:

Long lost UFO found in one of my bins.
With only one wedge to go, I don't know how it got lost in there.

Formally my Downton Abbey Gauntlets from a KAL with Jimmy Beans.

My most agressive entry ever in the Rav Games is a sweater. I've never knit something fitted like a sweater and I'm a little nervous. But that's really what the Games are about. To challenge a person and have fun. So, I'm doing both.

Here's my "Just Beachy" Sweater.

Wish me luck!

Book Review ~ Brightest Kind of Darkness

2014-02-12T09:37:00.000-05:00

Brightest Kind of Darkness by P.T. Michelle

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For a YA book, it was ok. But doesn't anyone just write one story anymore? Does everything have to be part of series? Even that's not so bad if the current storyline is finished up and a new issue with the same characters is created in the next book. Not with this. I noticed I was only ten or so pages from the end and I knew there was no way even one of the ends was going to be tied up before I finished.

To the writers that do this (A Discovery of Witches) comes immediately to mind, I will buy your next book if the first one is good enough. I won't buy it if you just stop writing so the reader has to buy the next one to see how the first ends. In most cases, I'm not that interested and there are plenty of other writers out there that know how to keep good characters and stories alive over a series.

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Just, why? Why do you do it?

2014-02-06T09:19:00.000-05:00

I recently saw a blog article titled "Why Bother Knitting a Scarf?". It was a short article that summed up a few of the reasons a lot of knitters would nod their heads in agreement to. It had a couple points that were socially conscious, supporting local small businesses (like indie dyers and local yarn stores) and touched on the emotional and health benefits. And I thought, that's a nice piece. But is that really why?

I get asked a variation of that question frequently. Sometimes it's my dear husband tentatively posing it when I've ripped something out after starting it three times and thrown the mess of yarn across the room. Sometimes, I'm asked that question while knitting in a waiting room or while my daughter is in her ballet class. Most non-knitters don't know that a really good sock yarn is not inexpensive so they aren't even aware that a comment such as "You know you can buy a whole bag of socks at Walmart for that cheap?" is way off base. Ha! If only I could get a skein of Happy Feet or Socks That Rock for the price of a bag of Walmart socks!

So why? For me it's much simpler and more complicated than a couple bullet points. But in the end, the reason I bother with the hassles that go into finding the perfect pattern for the perfect yarn, or getting gauge, or learning a new cast-on, or finally finishing a WIP is just this: "Because I can!"

This is one of the new techniques I recently learned. Arm knitting! It was loosely based on Simply Maggie's Arm Knitted Infinity Cowl. My daughter says it looks like a hammock and it is a little bulky for down south, but it was fun.

"Through a Glass Darkly" ~ by Karleen Koen

2014-01-22T12:37:00.000-05:00

I got this book on Free Nook Book Friday from Barnes and Noble and because I had nothing else going on, started reading it. A little daunted when I saw it was 726 pages (I was really just looking for a light read) I scrolled to the first page and dove in. Literally. I could not put this down.

Unfortunately, reviews of the second book aren't that good so I probably won't buy it. But, if it comes up at the library, I will despite the reviews.

Ha-Lo Kitty

2013-02-05T09:17:00.000-05:00

I love Hello Kitty. Not in a creepy, you-are-over-40-and-shouldn't-be-wearing-a-Hello-Kitty-headband kind of way but more that I'm glad I have a little girl so I can indulge in one of my favorite nostalgic icons from my youth kind of way. When Bit was small(er) she used pronounce it Ha (with a slight pause) Lo Kitty (slight emphasis on Lo).

I started this hat about a year ago and it's just as well I didn't add the face until this winter because it was too big for her 12 months ago. I finally got over my fear of embroidery over the holidays and added the eyes, mouth and whiskers. What a fun little project and she actually wears something I knitted for her. For added flair, I whipped up a bright yellow scarf to match the nose.

I got the pattern from Ravelry, here, but the original was posted on a blog back in 2007 here.

My scarf on my Ravelry project page.

Linking With These Parties This Week

Loopy Weekend

2013-01-15T10:08:00.001-05:00

Directions first. Editorial second. How to make a Fruit Loopy Scarf

What I did here:

CO 9 (using big needles - US 13 I think)

Knit garter for almost the entire skein of Juliblee (54 yards)

Knit 3 (will be the loops on the right)

BO 3 (will be the column)

Keep 3 stitches on left needle (will be the loops on the left)

Drop 3 stitches from right needle and carefully unravel each loop

Do the same for left needle

It only took about 1.5 hours to knit and 1/2 hour to loop.

I didn't knot them at the column of each loop as I did it but I wish I did. Due to the varying thickness of the yarns, one side unraveled strangely and the loops weren't very neat. Knotting would have fixed that. I also wish I would've made the loops longer by casting on 4 stitches on either side of the column so when they were knotted they wouldn't be so nubby. Finally, using very thick yarn, I probably would only make the column 2 stitches wide. That's more a personal preference than anything else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

My mother-in-law recently asked me for a fun scarf to go with her hot pink pea coat she got for Christmas. After searching my stash, I discovered the only thing I had matching her color request was some Madeline Tosh Sock in Peony. I needed something pretty quick and knitting a shawl/scarf that I know she'd love, with that yarn would take me too long with my limited knitting time. Breaking my "Stash Buying 2013" rule, I packed up my daughter and went to a big box store to find some big inexpensive yarn.

I had in mind trying something new but didn't know what to use or how it would turn out so I didn't want to spend too much. I found a new yarn called Jubilee (by Loops & Threads) that isn't even on Ravelry yet and after more contemplation than my "patient" daughter would allow, picked up some Paton's Grace and figured out two other yarns at home that would work.

Over the past couple years, my mother and I have seen those loopy skinny scarves at all the street fairs and crafty shows we go to. Every time, I look at them and tell her we could do that. I can't believe some were made simply of ribbon yarn and were selling for over $50! Silly. At one local festival, a lady I recognized from our local Ravelry yarn group (although I had not met her previously) said she had a pattern for similar scarves on her profile page for sale. I purchased it (for $7 which I thought was a little much for a simple pattern) to support someone local, and figured that was the perfect thing for my MIL.

As it turns out, I didn't really used her pattern since it's more of an edging technique than a pattern but I did make a loopy scarf that I think Wanda will love. Here's the pic (not a very good one, I'm afraid) and my notes on how I did it are below.

I really like how it turned out and it's perfect for my MIL. But it was so ugly as I knit the garter stitch that my husband said there was no way I was giving it to his mom. I wish I took a picture of the WIP. There was Fun Fur sticking out and blobs everywhere caused by the changing thickness of the Jubilee. It was pretty ugly. But he loved the finished product and can't wait for his mom to see it.

Reindeer Paws

2012-12-19T13:07:00.000-05:00

I've decided to actually try some of the things I've pinned on Pinterest. I made a board called "Pinned it; Done it" where I've posted my results.

Most recently (as in last weekend) I tried this popular pin from House On Hilltop...(Blog has been deleted)

Although not as pretty, I was pleased with the result and they were very tasty. I couldn't find pretzel rounds so I used knots and borrowed someone else's name for them: Reindeer Paws.

What's Her Secret?: Sun City great-grandmother knits for her family

2012-06-25T10:27:00.001-04:00

I'd like to share a story about a woman (who happens to be my Pastor's mother) that was in our local paper.

What's Her Secret?: Sun City great-grandmother knits for her family | islandpacket.com

I work in the office at my church which consists mostly of people over the age of 75. Of course, everyone was excited that the pastor's mother was in the paper (stuff like that is big news on a small island I guess). I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that most of the older folks said how nice it was for the paper to write a nice article about such a sweet little hobby.

My reaction surprised them. I had to stand up for our art! It's not just a hobby! It's not a dying or lost tradition! It's not exclusive to little old grandmas (no offense Helen - from the article) nor is it exclusive to women! And if last week's events with the American Olympic Committee is any type of indicator, we are not passive artisans to be ignored.

So, I pulled out a project bag (that of course I always have with me) with my Storm Cloud lace shawl, then I produced a hand crocheted ditty bag with a half finished sock (that I work on while in line at the bank, etc), then I started on and on about some magic web site that transformed me from a dish cloth making drone into full blown artisan using hand spun and indie-dyed wool and even dabbling in some design. I pointed out my recently completed colorful Miami Beach Shawl draped over my office chair and they stared at me in utter confusion as I explained SABLE (Stash Aquistion Beyond Life Expentancy) and world wide yarn bombing. I went on and on about my knitting friends, of all demographics, and our adventures in fiber.

"That's sweet, Dear" one of them said. At that, I was ready to poke my eye out with a dpn. I quietly went back into my office to get some work done so I would have time later in the day to bind off my shawl.

Aldo Tanners! Where Are Your Manners?!

2012-06-19T11:09:00.001-04:00

This cute children's book was written by a friend of a friend. It's available for free (for now) here on Amazon.com as a Kindle version so go ahead and grab it. If you don't have a Kindle, you can download a free Kindle reader for your computer, laptop, tablet (but not Nook unless yours is rooted) or smartphone. Enjoy, we sure did!

No Interest in Knitting - Scary!

2012-06-18T12:17:00.004-04:00

I didn't get much knitting done this weekend. Not because it was Father's Day ergo I was subject to my hubby's whims. It was mostly because I was having such a nice time not knitting with my family. Strange, I know. Especially since we were floating around in a little boat fishing for five hours which normally would be ideal time for knitting.

First, we found our own private island and had a picnic.

No interest in knitting while Bit ran after the fiddler crabs

Next we found the perfect fishing spot.

You can see that it was a glorious day.

Matthew finally hooked something other than little sharks and it was BIG!

He was letting run a bit when I took the picture but there were times when he was fighting it that the rod was practically bent in half. No knitting done for about an hour as he fought it. Too much excitement.

Finally, the big one got away. It was getting late and we were a ways out so we headed back. By the time we got home, cleaned the boat, made dinner and got Bit to bed, we were beat. One glass of wine and one or two paragraphs of my book and I was out. No knitting until tomorrow.

New Directions

2012-06-12T13:27:00.002-04:00

As I read through my blog entries (sparse as they are) I realized that if I am going to get back into blogging, the name and description needed to change as much as my life has changed since I first started it.

For one, and most importantly, it's really not about just me anymore. Also, it was started as a craft type blog but truth be told, I don't do many crafts anymore. I am however, hopelessly addicted to fine yarn and knitting. Finally, I've been through many life changes and challenges and as things finally start to look up, I'd like to blog about them too. So, I came up with P3Tog because it really should be more about how, as an older first time mom, my activities are more closely related to knitting my little family together.

Please have patience with me since this is more a WIP rather than a UFO.

Off the needles...

Miami Beach Shawl

Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On Instructions

2012-05-24T12:10:00.001-04:00

The long tail cast on is one of my favorites. It's quick, easy and works for most projects. However, I always have a too much yarn left or worse, not enough. Usually that's not a problem unless I'm casting on over 200 stitches and run out of tail at around 180. Sort of like what happened when I first cast on the Miami Beach Shawl. So I set out to find and alternative and here it is.

Awhile ago, I downloaded instructions linked to pattern on Ravelry by Betty Balcomb on how to do a Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On. The directions have since disappeared from Rav so here's a quick recap of how to do it.

From the same skein (or one each from two identical skeins), take the two ends of yarn and tie them in a slip knot with about a five inch tail on both.
Insert your needle in the loop created by the slip knot.
Proceed with a Long Tail Cast On (see below).
When you get the desired number of stitches, break the yarn from the end you won't be knitting from.
Smile because you had just the right amount of yarn.

As for the loop from the slip knot, I just treat it as the first cast on stitch but you could cast on one more and pull that out at the end. That's all there is to a Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On.

By the way, here are some links to great sites to learn how to do the traditional Long Tail Cast On.

Little Bit giving me her typical pose

right before her ballet recital.

Miami Beach or Bust!

2012-05-15T16:22:00.001-04:00

With the failure of the Damson still fresh in the frog pond, I have fearlessly casted on another lace shawl. This one is the Miami Beach Shawl and I'm working it with Dashing Dachs Dach Sox yarn, in a colorway appropriately named Jellyfish. The top picture is the one most true to color.

I'm only 1/2 way through the first lace repeat but I can already tell I'll love it!

I used Betty Balcomb's Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On from a "pattern" she distributed last year. I'd post the link to it but it's been pulled off of Ravely and every other site I can find. It's pretty easy to do and I don't know if you can copy-write a cast-on so tomorrow when I have more time. I'll post how I do a long tail cast on without having to guess how much yarn to pull.

Does This Look Thin or is it Just Me?

2012-04-24T16:40:00.000-04:00

I am seriously going to have to step back and take a long look at my failed attempts at knitting with lace weight yarn before trying this again. I do a lot of knitting on fingering weight but never any real lace patterns. Therefore, is my latest awful attempt at a lace shawl (done mostly in garter stitch) my inability to get my fingers around the skinny yarn, get my head around a lace pattern or could it possibly be, my lack of any knitting privacy where I can concentrate in more than 3 minute periods? I'd like to blame it on the latter because that would imply it's an outside influence that I have no power over verses my own sadly lacking talent. Damn you Damson! I'll be back!

Magic Ring. Here's Something New to Me

2011-05-23T13:53:00.004-04:00

I am by no means an expert knitter and I'm an even less accomplished crocheter. So when I stumble across something that either makes my hobby more enjoyable and/or makes my projects look that much better, I just have to share.

I was recently put in a position where I had to produce an infant baby hat by the next day. Of course, the first place I go is Ravelry to do an advanced search for what would be the best pattern for me. The very first pattern listed was called 30 Minute Baby Hat by Mary Ann Colatuno. Even the name was perfect. I immediately cast on and, with the exception of the flower part, was done within 30 minutes. Now, back to my original thought.

In her directions was a link to a crochetme.com forum post that quickly described this wonderful thing called Magic Ring. I would give you the link but she has since turned the directions into a pdf and I can't find the post anywhere. So, today when I wanted to hook a circular project I went looking for it to refresh my memory and since I couldn't click to forum post (typing it in the address bar didn't work either) I searched on YouTube and found it. I just clicked on the first one listed (you can see it here) and with one simple change, my finished work looks so much neater and was that much easier.

Here's a photo of the finished project.

Photo courtesy of my friend

Sylvia Schultz of

Sylvia Schutz Photography

Just Another Day in Paradise

2011-01-05T19:54:00.000-05:00

Someone pour me a strong one! Nothing major. Just another crazy day. Get Bit around for school, walk the dog, convince the bug guy to come to our place first because I forgot he was supposed to be there today, rush home from said dog walk, clear off enough floor space from returning from out trip right into a work week for him to spray, get said child to school, go open my store (do as much as I can before my mom relieves me), pick up Bit from school, get her some lunch, frantically look for her ballet stuff she hasn’t needed in two weeks, chauffeur her to ballet, find out I’m behind on all kinds of important mommy stuff, knit for 15 minutes and suddenly she’s out, get her home to a cold/rainy day and spend the next 4 1/2 hours reading, pretending, doing laundry, listening to “Mommy, look at this!” a billion times, not getting any knitting done on my mom’s 70th birthday present and no wine until 6:30.

Tomorrow should be easier, I just work.

If Not Knitting...

2010-09-21T15:05:00.001-04:00

then spend hours on Ravelry organizing.

Since it's a slow day at work and I can't organize my stash from here, I decided to clean up my Ravelry stash and queue. I'm the type of person that needs a list, a plan, an organized way of tackling a problem or situation. Of course, that only applies to my online life. In real life, I'm unorganized, running in circles and constantly trying to keep too many balls in the air. So while I'm trapped here at work, I figured I'd do my best to get some control over one of the few things I have control over, my knitting.

First up, move the items in my queue that actually have a chance of getting made to the top of the list and create tabs so I can easily find them. Secondly, link said projects to yarn I currently have listed on my stash page. This part is a little dicey since most of the yarn I intend to ever use isn't on there but I figure I will go back and refine this part at some point in the far far away future. Finally, I organized my projects page, so I can look at my final efforts and reaffirm that it is always worth it in the end. I even created a "me" tab so I could quickly see some of what I've kept for myself.

Better get back to it, only 6 more hours of work left.

My Beautiful, Sweet, Wonderful Little Devil!

2010-09-17T13:41:00.001-04:00

I'm just going to start this off with a picture...

I'm sure you recognize that as a mess of yarn attached to a work in progress, A Simple Baby Hat by Alison Williams. In fact, I have to change that into this by next week when my friend is having her twin baby boys.

Luckily, I managed to finish one, but I believe it will take me longer to unravel this mess than it would to knit these boys and entire layette. The point of this whole post is that I just can't understand why my 3 1/2 year old, who has been exposed to my knitting since before she was born and has always handled my yarn and projects with care (if she needed to move something), suddenly decides she wants to play kitty kitty with my WIP!

Oh, and she knew what she was doing. She came in saying "Mommy, don't be mad at me". She led me into the living room and it was strung out all over the place. Actually, I almost laughed out loud, after all it is just a baby hat that I can redo in an afternoon, but I wanted to have the right balance of disappointment and despair in my eyes so she'd understand never to do that again. I think it worked. I went back in the kitchen to try to fix it and a few minutes later when she came in to ask for something, I looked up from the fuzzy, slippery pile of yarn and said I was just a little too busy to play Candyland at the moment. She thought about it and said "Will Daddy be home soon?".