Um.... yeah.

I realize it has been quite a while since I've written anything here. The only time I can really think about what I want to say is when I'm trying to go to sleep at night, and well, the computer isn't near my bed ... therefore, no posting. So, this post is going to be a bullet post of stuff that's been going on, in no particular order.

• My parents came to visit in June.
• I had surgery on my right foot to remove a neuroma (that had been there for 15 years) while my parents were here. It made life so much easier to have their help with Margaret while I was immobilized!
• A couple months ago I was putting sunscreen on Margaret, when she pointed to the D in the word KIDS on the tube and said, "D!"
• Margaret recognizes D, I, M, O, E, P and sometimes T.
• She also knows the numbers 1, 8, and sometimes 2, 4 and 5. Crazy!
• My dad's sweater is stalled on the sleeves. When he came to visit, I had done some, and they were too narrow, so I frogged to the cuff (not too far) and started again from there. When I see him in a couple weeks I'll check my progress and continue.
• My sister is getting married in less than 2 weeks and we're going to California for the wedding!
• I knit most of the Short Jacket from Feminine Knits with some lovely brown wool my sister got me on the Aran Islands a few years ago. However, there is not enough for the collar, and I'm not sure there is enough of the dark green she got me, either, so it is on hold.
• I got a cute Owl kit at Stitches last year and am finally working on it again after putting it down quite some time ago.
• I started the Frost Flowers Jacket from Feminine Knits. I'm using Rowan's RYC Silk Wool DK and am in love. The pattern is the main reason I got the book, it is beautiful!
• Margaret started the Children's Day Out Program at Knox Presbyterian this June. She has a fun time and likes to hug her friends.
• We went to the Phillips Park Zoo today.
• I want to shear the llama they have at the zoo. Do you think they get a lot of questions about how one could go about obtaining the hair?
• We got a fence around our backyard July 1st! I love it, I can actually sit on the back deck and knit a bit while Margaret runs around and I don't have to worry that she'll run into the street.
• We got Margaret a Grover doll that she is in love with. She walks around with "Gro-go" and talks to him. She also talks about him as we come downstairs first thing in the morning. She also likes The Count.
• Dave and I got to go to a Cubs game with friends July 2nd. The friends live in So. Cal. and we hadn't seen them since they got married two years ago, so it was great to see them. The Cubs won that game with 4 HRs (including a grand slam by Derek Lee) so it was a really fun game to watch. And it was my first time at Wrigley. FUN!

Ok, so I think that was more than enough for now. I'd better go keep Margaret from climbing onto the kitchen table.

What is all this?

What the heck am I doing with bamboo poles, newsprint, a yardstick and a print out to make a cone? Yup, I'm making Margaret a teepee. I looked online, but didn't see any patterns that were what I was looking for, so I'm making it up.


Here you can see the strips I'm cutting of rip-stop nylon. Those will be seamed lengthwise to make tubes to hold the bamboo poles. I've also make a pattern for the six sections of teepee. I've had this stuff for a few weeks, but this is the first time I've got up the nerve to cut the fabric. I tend to be a "cut first, figure it out as you go, sew on extra pieces if it's too small" kind of seamstress, but this time I'm planning ahead, and that makes me hesitant.

In knitting news, the sleeves for the sweater have been started, no pictures, it's boring, so far. But I now have photographic proof that the front and back are done, however, they are not blocked. In the close-up, you can see the braid cable on the right of the honeycomb is not quite as snug as the one on the left. The one on the right is the one I ripped back and worked back up. I am hoping with a little blocking you won't be able to tell. Now that I am looking at this picture, I can actually see how far I had to rip. It's the far right braid on the back. Knitters, I'll bet you can tell.

And now I've told you everything I can think of about any crafting I'm doing. I'll leave you with some Margaret chasing birds.

Recovery

You can breathe now, the cable has been repaired. Needs a bit of blocking, but the back of the sweater has been fixed and bound off! Pictures to come.

In the meantime, have some Margaret fun.
Here she is trying to push one of the neighbor boys in her swing. He'd rather have his mom do it, though. No surprise, since Margaret isn't pushing him very high.

Here she is at the park before Stroller Fitness wearing an adorable dress my mom made for her; she's trying to figure out how to climb the "rock wall".

Jen was puppy-sitting this weekend, so we went to visit. Margaret loves dogs, cats, Jen and her daughters, so she was in hog heaven.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you see it? To the right of the middle of the picture? "Maybe it's just a shadow," you think. A bit of fuzz?There it is. A miss-crossed cable. Way way way down. When did I notice it? Well, the only good thing was that it was before I bound off. RIGHT before I bound off. As in, I was counting some rows to make sure that I really was at the bind off row, and that's when I noticed.

So, what to do? I'm not about to leave it, so...

I am currently working the cable back up. Updates later. But in the meantime, I will leave you with a happy Margaret after playing with washable markers.

Yes, I put her full name. Why after all this time? Well, because I like her name and it's who she is and it's other places, so why not here?

There are reasons

There are reasons I have posted much lately. This is ostensibly a knitting blog, yet there has been very little of that going on. Plus, M. had her first ear infection and I got sick and anyway, there you have it. She recovered quickly, I think I am getting sick again.

So, knitting. I've made some progress on my dad's sweater, and I will actually be going to knitting at Wool and Company this Friday because D.'s mom is going to come watch M. There might be visible progress for me to show you.

In M. news, she has cut some of her sixth tooth, and it's a molar. She going completely out of order, but she likes to do things her way. She also walked up a step for the first time a couple weeks ago. It was shallow, so that made it easier. She likes to walk around like Godzilla; I think she's practicing for steps on flat ground. First haircut was Sunday. Looks a bit less like a ragamuffin. She sat pretty still for it. My mom asked if I had cut it. Hahhahahaha. No.

She likes her hard hat.

Pre-haircut, notice the wisps at the ears.

Post-haircut. Shorter wisps.

Strange child

Today, M. actually took two naps. She was tired enough after our trip to Trader Joe's to go down again, she just wasn't quite aware how tired she was, I think. She sat in her crib for a while sucking her thumb and cuddling her bear, and when she fell asleep, she just leaned forward. It didn't look comfy at all, but I don't disturb sleeping babies.

Happy Birthday!!!

If she looks serious, it's because she's wishing her daddy a seriously happy birthday :)