Off the Clock

I've been really trying to Fly along and been going hard on the bedroom this week. It's not perfect, but I've made some really good progress and decided I needed a reward. So I broke down and bought myself a vanity. I used one for years when I was a teen and young adult, but haven't had one now for probably 20 years. Since I can't see squat without my glasses and I can't put on mascara with them on I need a place to keep a magnifying mirror for those days I'm ambitious enough to make myself presentable. If nothing else it keeps all my makeup junk out of the bathroom. About time I got one again, doncha think? Speaking of bathrooms, DD decided about six months ago that she was going to redecorate the second bathroom. Although I told her I wasn't ready to get into that job, she went ahead and stripped wallpaper and took out some fixtures. Like the mirror. And the medicine cabinet. This would have been commendable if she didn't leave the wallpa...

The Gilmore sweater has come to a grinding halt as I've cast on to make a pair of socks (that clomping sound you hear is me jumping on the Jaywalker bandwagon). MIL was so happy with her Christmas socks that she wants another pair, and she has a birthday coming up in a couple of weeks. The yarn is Paton's Kroy Socks in Vista Sea. I absolutely love the colours, but it's not stripey as I expected. The colourways run in one or two inch segments. It's probably not the best choice to show off the zigzag of the pattern but it'll have to do. Being the cheap bastard that I am I don't buy a lot of knitting books. I can find most of what I want online. But once in awhile it's nice to curl up with a real book and have it on hand for reference. I already have the Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting and Pursenalities (both gifts) as well as The New Knitting Stitch Library , so I went shopping online at Chapters for a nice sock book. I've ordered Sensational ...

I've been seeing knitted vests everywhere lately. First I noticed some patterns out there in internetland. Then I've seem some nice ones on people's blogs, like here and here (scroll down). Lorelai wears vests on last season's Gilmore Girls. And last night the newswoman on tv had one on. I WANT A KNITTED VEST! I've got the yarn in my stash to make one. Actually two. But I'm trying to get the Gilmore sweater done first. So this morning I had the scathingly brilliant idea to try Blaze as a vest. Taaadaaa ! What do ya think? I wonder how my Tempting would look as a vest? Or Soleil ?

You don't realize how much junk you have until you start trying to declutter. I've had a really productive couple of days here cleaning out and organizing my pantry and freezers. I can't believe how much stuff I threw out! I go grocery shopping, think I should pick up stuff for future use "whenever", they it gets sucked into the vortex of the downstairs freezer or the pantry never to be thought of again. I threw away a bunch of old freezer-burnt meat, buns, pizza pops that the kids never found, and a bunch of UFO's (unidentifiable frozen objects). I even found two whole chickens that fortunately still look edible. In the cupboards I found a whole bunch of boxed rice dishes bought at various times that must have looked good when I bought them but never get included in meal planning because I forget I've got them. But what really amazed me about how I accumulate stuff was the home-canned stuff in the pantry. I had three jars of pickled beets and three...

There must be something tangible that floats in the air and infiltrates our lungs with the need to get organized when we rip off that last calendar page to a new year. Fed up with the mess and clutter that takes over our homes, we vow to turn over a new leaf with the new year. Kinda like everyone signing up for a new gym membership in January. I know I do it. Come on, admit it; you do it too. A return to sanity. Being able to find something that we set down an hour ago. Being able to greet someone at the door and not have to stand there in the freezing weather blocking the view of the "war zone". (at least it's been unseasonably warm here) So I've been getting back to the Flylady basics. I was using that program last year but burned myself out by trying to do too much at once. (Who, me? Obsessive? Nooooo....) I'm planning my meals a month at a time and making grocery lists accordingly. I took that filthy area rug from the living room to the cleaners...

I never did post a pic of the finished Christmas knitting. Yes, this is what took ALL that time to knit up (I must be a really slow knitter!). I've got two pairs of socks from Briggs and Little wool, an angora scarf, and the pièce de résistance, the Wallace and Grommit hat! DH asked me to buy the pattern (a child's sweater pattern) when I saw it on Ebay, but he doesn't wear sweaters. Then a couple of weeks before Christmas I had an ahah moment and used the pattern to make a hat. He's very proud and doesn't take it off for anything! Well, maybe when he takes a shower, but that's about it. Then DD wanted a body hugging sweater out of the never-ending cone of eyelash wool I picked up at the Spinrite tent sale. So I've been busy the last week making this for her. I'd have her model it but she's been down for the count with a bad case of the flu and I don't want to make her move unnecessarily without my umbrella handy. This is the cone before ...

This is the sweater that started it all. I just fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. Both Lane and Rory wear it in different episodes of Gilmore Girls; they have some awesome knitwear on that show! I love everything about this sweater. I love the colours, the fit, the fact that a classic yoked sweater can look so current, and the way her matching tee peeks out from the cuffs and waist. So of course I had to make one for myself. First I tried to make my own graph of the design, but that soon proved to be a bigger challenge than I was ready to take on from a small pic frozen from the dvd. So then I started looking through Mom's patterns and came up with this one from Beehive, which I figured was pretty close. (doesn't the model look like Monica from "Friends"?) Then being the cheap bastard that I am I proceeded to make it out of Bernat Super Value acrylic yarn. I left off the turtleneck and did it up as a crewneck. I'm not sure what size needles I used, ...