Today

Happy Birthday to Me.

My present to myself is to go to bed early and fall asleep with a book in my hand. I'll do that once the little dude falls asleep, which just doesn't seem to be happening tonight.

A lovely evening and an FO

Last night I got the little one off to bed in record time. By 7:30 he was bathed and in his jammies. By 7:45 his bottle was empty and he was snuggled with his Piglets and off to dreamland. I, still being fairly awake (I must confess to often going to bed right after him) decided to make a night of it. My love being at work till late, I had the house to myself. I brewed a pot of tea and settled down with my knitting, a purring cat (Loki has finally forgiven me for giving birth to my son), and Pride and Prejudice. The choice of film was to help cleanse the memory of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I read this fall. I had such high hopes for this book and was bitterly disappointed. The Pride and Prejudice was exquisite as always, a book that has a place on my list of books often reread. Zombies...well hard to go wrong there. The ninja aspect, yes I did say ninjas, was pointless, stupid, distracting and just plain idiotic. The illustrations looked like something a 15 year old boy would churn out and were inaccurate period wise. There was such potential and it was a complete letdown. I forced myself to finish it. I'm very glad I didn't waste my money on it (i borrowed it from the library). I had used my Borders gift card months before on a much better choice....I now have my own copy of Dickens' Bleak House.

Anywho...I settled in and set to work on my work scarf. This project was a re-knit as my very industrious son managed to start the process of frogging the original scarf. The scarf was group project from a get-together with ladies from a knitting forum I belonged to years ago. We all brought a skein from our stash and all had a turn knitting on it. At the end of the weekend names were put into a hat and I was the lucky winner. The scarf was knit the long way. The cast on and bind off were a bit tight causing the scarf to curl in an odd manner. I took the unplanned frogging as an opportunity to make the scarf more suitable for work. I needed it to be shorter and without fringe. When it's very cold and they have the doors open, I'll keep my scarf on while I work. It has to be long enough to tie but short enough to stay out of the paint.

This is what I came up with. I knit it the short way with a 2 by 2 rib, left out two of the yarns and didn't reattach the fringe. I purposely went with an asymmetrical look to force myself to break away from my tendency towards rigid symmetry. I don't know if this a new habit of mine but a rut I'd rather not be stuck in. So, nothing spectacular but just what I need to keep me warm. And it's a completed project. That is a feat in itself.

I'm back on the couch again tonight, watching the second half of P&P, Loki napping by my side. I think blogging will override knitting tonight, but I intend to pull together yarn for my next project.

FYI- I updated the other as well too. Check out my time lapse video.

Holy Crap it's a New Year!

When did this happen?!?!?

I think I'm going to follow the path of many out there and say that my new year starts on Monday. I'm off vacation then. It seems more like a new beginning. I'll be going back to a mess of a shop but the opera is finished. It will be a chance to clean up and perhaps do a few of the shop projects on my list. I'm heading into a HUGE show...but that's fodder for another blog. (note to self: update other blog)

I usually count my birthday as the new year but I think Monday is a better day. Wow, 2010. Arthur Clarke was WAY off, wasn't he. But then again I'm reminded of 1984, and we can never be quite sure what year it is. So for the sake of clarity we'll call it 2010.

What are my hopes for this year? Goals? Projects? and dare I say it, Resolutions???
Well, for one, I want to get back to blogging on a regular basis. (I know, I know, when the hell did I ever do this on a regular basis). I'm hoping by doing so I can switch out of Mom mode every so often. Now that the Little Dude is growing more independent, perhaps I can have some time for my own projects and have something to blog about. I also hope to do a little redecorating around my little corner of the blog-o-sphere. It will require me gaining some more computer knowledge (and I have a feeling that will involve a lot of swearing on my part) but I think it's time.

I'm determined to knock of several projects on the to-do list for the house. We've been in stasis for so long on many of them. In the last few months we have done more than in the last year or two. My love put in the new staircase to the basement and took out the old one. The transition for the cats has been slow and arduous, and they still get very confused. I hope to knock off a few big things this year (new roof, switch out the french doors, install the new exterior lights, install the new bathroom faucet, the basement plumbing fiasco). The roof we might not have a choice with, considering I discovered a new water spot on the ceiling yesterday (which I have yet to disclose to the husband). And that's in the newest part of the house. I'm looking at faux slate instead of asphalt shingles. I'm also formulating a plan for a new look for the front door. My time spent on the faux forum and The Steampunk Home have given me quite a few ideas. I also want to finish the decorating in J's room.

My knitting has dropped off in the last year or so and I intend to get back into it. I've been working on a few things here and there. My goal is to work only from stash this year. If I buy yarn it is only to supplement a stash project. I plan to dive headfirst into my stash of sock yarns. I've got some great yarns in there but I've been hesitant to use them. I'm not sure why. I need to move beyond my basic (safety) sock pattern and go for it. (though I do need a few more pairs of my boot socks to get me through the winter. I need enough to get thorough a week of work without having to do laundry)

To find myself a working space. The studio in the basement slipped away from me. (remember the damn orphan cats) Now it's becoming a gaming room, which is fine, but I need a space of my own. Plus my husband has been locking the cats up there at night, which means there is a litter box in there. I've apparently have developed an allergy to something they put in the litter. I can't be around the stuff. If the cats have just been in there, I can't have them on my lap. So the box being in there pretty much means I can't. I think I know where my sanctuary will be but won't say for the moment. My husband has the office. J has much of the rest of the house (oh did I mention he figured out the lock on the baby gates? Smart boy. too smart). I need something.

Where was I....oh there's the usual eat better and exercise. The eating better isn't all that hard. After being pregnant and breastfeeding for so long that has become the habit. I barely drink now either. I was doing well with the exercising until illness and extra jobs (yeah, I've been pulling in a bunch of extra painting jobs-one excuse for the lack of posting) cut into that. Again having a space of my own will help with the exercising. So will it not being winter. Little Dude does keep me going though. Man, he's fast.

Blah, blah, blah. I'm sure there's more but I've got a knitting pattern sitting next to me calling my name. You won't blame me for running off to start it...hey, it will give me something interesting to post about.

I'll leave you with the standard cuteness. (how could I not). You'll see my baby is a little man now.