Great times, great yarn...

Saturday morning was dull and boring. I was home with the kids while my dear husband was at work. No matter -- I had plans for the afternoon. I was going to get away for some "ME time." My DH knew this... and got home exactly one half hour before I had to BE at my "plans." And I had not showered. *sigh* So the choices were: a) shower and show up late; b) don't shower and get there on time, but so stinky that no one would sit by me; or c) don't go at all. Well, considering I was going to WEBS to see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, choice C was NOT an option, and I highly doubted she'd sign my book if I went with choice B. So, shower and get there late it was. I left the house five minutes before 2pm, and showed up at the Clarion hotel at about 2:15. Thankfully, I hadn't missed a whole lot -- I think Stephanie was just starting her talk (of course, I missed whatever intro there was).

Can we say "hilarious"? The woman is funny in her books, and so much more funny in person. I sat and laughed and knit (I was working on this camisole from DB Cathay). And she brought her Olympic sweater. GASP. She showed us the front, the back, and THE INSIDE!!! I've never seen a more perfect sweater (my camisole hid back in the bag when Stephanie's sweater came out). I've seen expensive store-bought machine-made sweaters that were NOT that perfect inside. I was in awe. I felt unworthy to be in her presence. I totally felt like a knitter compared to that Knitter. Wow.

One good thing about getting there late was that I was sitting towards the back and managed to get out of there and back to WEBS very quickly. In fact, I got to the store at the same time that Stephanie did. Browsed for a couple minutes, and then got in the book signing line. I think I only had to wait five or so minutes for my turn. In an attempt to spare her poor hand, I only had one of my three books signed -- my favorite Yarn Harlot. If you haven't read it -- get it and read it. I laughed. I cried. I read it aloud to non-knitters. Great book. Just awesome. Anyways, after I got my book signed, it was time to shop. Everything I bought was on sale, because WEBS is just amazing and is having a totally fabulous anniversary sale. I got some pima cotton/silk for a bonnet for Emma, some Cascade 220 for the store, and a bag of Jo Sharp dk wool for some knitted toys. It was a great day.

And yesterday -- wow! What a yarny mail day! All this lovely yarn arrived at my door:
2 skeins of "Tin Whistle" targhee from Dashing Dachs
2 skeins of "Reilly", 3 skeins of "Keane", 1 skein of "Grady" and 1 skein of "Murphy" -- all peregrine merino from Irish Baby Knits. I can't wait to start knitting! And you know what? ALL that yarn is for MY KIDS!!!!

Of course, still working on orders. Finished up (almost) a pair of medium shorts for a customer, and a pair of Devon's booties for another customer. Got a mocs order shipped off yesterday. I'm feeling quite accomplished. If only my To Do list wasn't taller than my two year old.

Sleep is totally overrated.

At least, I'm trying to convince myself of that! Little girl is not a good sleeper, and after a year of multiple night wakings, I'm exhausted. But changing her bad habits is going to be VERY difficult. And even more exhausting. My boy is such a good sleeper -- this is just so hard to deal with. I'm not a happy person when I'm tired. Oh well... more coffee, right? oh, and I should have some Dagoba chocolate coming in the next couple days. YUMMY!!! That'll help for sure!

On the knitting front, I sat down yesterday and made a list: Current Knitting Projects. It has three subcategories: Orders, Gifts, and Personal. I listed things (that I know of) that I've got to get done by Mid-October. Nine things on the orders list (obviously top priority), nine things on the gift list, and seven things on the personal list. YIKES!!!! And some of those things are "groups of things" listed as one item. Maybe I'll solve my sleeping issue by giving up sleep altogether. I might need to to finish these! ha ha

Thankfully, some of those orders will be done in the next couple of weeks. Its the gifts and personal projects that have me the most concerned -- those are more involved, or have birthday, or leaving the country, or season deadlines! ha ha

Here's a couple pics. The pants for the order set are nearly done! Here's a picture of the pants alone, and of the set. Still have to make some slippers with the solid pink from the sweater. The variegated is Berry Burst from Little Turtle Knits. I LOVE it! So pretty. And yes, the legs are darker than the body on those. They are two different skeins. I don't think it looks bad -- much better than it would have if I had just knit to the end of the first (lighter) skein and then used the second (darker) one for the last inch or two of the second leg! ha ha

Here are some wool balls I knit up on Saturday -- these are for the Hyenacart Forum giveaways. If you haven't checked out what all the buzz is over there, you should!
And last is my babywearer, which only gets worked on in the car or over at my mom's house. At this point, its still pretty portable, though it is getting more cumbersome! Its a wool/alpaca blend called Berkshire Bulky (Valley Yarns) from WEBS. Lovely stuff. Soft and warm. Of course, the days aren't going to be cool for much longer, so I'm hoping to finish it up soon. But, orders first.

That's it for me. Need to get the kids down for naps, and then sip a coffee in peace.

progress check...

I've been trying to finish up some loose ends around here lately. I managed to get the shorts and flirty for my daughter's (late) birthday party done. Also finally got around to felting some mocs for an order. Now just have to sew leather bottoms to them. Don't have pics for those, though...

Now for the picture progress. We'll start with orders:

First: a size 6mos easy peasy in 2ply LTK farm yarn. The colorway is Cotton Candy, and I love it. This is part of a set, so I'll be posting another picture when the order is complete.
Next: The sleeves of a hooded sweater. The front and back are complete -- just have the sleeves and the hood to do left, then the making up. I have to admit, I'm really disliking this project. But, its for a very dear friend and for that reason alone, I'm pushing onward. It LionBrand Homespun yarn in "Roccoco" -- I'm having fits with the yarn, though. Splits and it feels plasticy. I'll be glad when it is done. And I hope to never knit with this yarn again. Some may love it, but I don't. Soooo.... if anyone would like some purple Homespun, drop me a comment. I'll send it to you for FREE!!! (and S, if you read this, I do like how the sweater is coming out -- just don't like the yarn! ha ha)
NOW to the fun stuff! I've been knitting so much for my daughter, and my poor son has been neglected. So, I've made a commitment to make three things for him by Easter. And I finished the first thing today!

These are Stripey Slippers in "Dragonfly" BFL yarn from Nada. Lovely stuff, and my boy picked it out himself. (well, sort of. I put three balls of yarn in front of him, and thats the one he grabbed). Glad to finally have some cute slippers for his feet, since we can never seem to find a matching pair of socks for the kid. I swear, my cat has a pile of socks stashed away somewhere, because it takes us 30 minutes to find two socks that sort of match.

Along those lines, here are the socks I'm knitting for my boy. The first is done, and the second, well, got a long way to go on that one, but I've been busy with other things. Not second sock syndrome, though -- because I really do want to knit it. Just have other commitments that HAVE to be fulfilled first. They won't fit him for long, unfortunately. I should have made the foot a bit longer. Will do that for the next pair.
So, that's it for me! Oh!!! And I'm having a "yarn sale" -- trying to bust some of my stash. Here's the link if anyone is interested! Yarny Goodness!