Real boys wear pink!

Hayden's new obsession is the Cirque du Soleil show "La Nouba" at Downtown Disney. Dressing up has also become one of his new loves, so he decided that he absolutely HAS to be the Green Bird character from the show. The Green Bird has a pointy hat with 2 antennae at the top, a purple and yellow shirt, purple and yellow tights, some sort of tutu, yellow and red socks, and yellow shoes. Oh, and his face is painted white. Here is Hayden's interpretation of the Green Bird:

The skirt was originally some sort of headdress that he made at camp this past summer. The mask is in lieu of paint because it's way less messy. And the socks are our collaborative creation:

We went to Publix one Friday night and I let him pick out the colors of Kool-Aid he thought were Green Bird sock worthy - Cherry and Lemonade. I put one end of the hank in one pot and the other end in another. My goal was to have yellow, red and white stripes. When I started these socks last Friday night (yes - finished in a week! woot!), Mike said, "They look a little girlie." Obviously some of the yarn wasn't submersed well in the Cherry pot (wow, that sounds a little nasty!) and came out a little pink. Oh well. Hayden likes pink and looks good wearing it.

(He controlled this photo shoot. He kept getting into poses then saying, "Take a picture? Let me see!")

I finished these in record time - 1 week from start to finish. I never have made socks that fast, even on bigger needles! Part of my motivation was him being totally up my butt - "But where are your Green Bird socks?" They fit perfectly right now but in hindsight I should've made them a little longer so he could get a little more wear out of them. He's really enjoying them right now, though, so I guess that's all that matters. He wore them to drum lessons today, along with his white long-sleeve t-shirt with red stripes across the chest, madras plaid shorts and yellow and blue Crocs. My son, the fashion plate.

In other knitting news, I turned in my donation to the Jewish Community Center's silent auction this past Thursday morning:

(I'm going to start a fashion trend of wearing a pretty lace shawl with workout clothes!)

The infamous Kimono Shawl from Folk Shawls book by Cheryl Oberle. The yarn is Jaggerspun wool/silk blend. I used size 5 Addi Turbo lace needles and did only 14 repeats of the pattern. The pattern calls for 25 repeats, but I didn't have that much yarn. (The yarn was from my stash. One complete ball and about 3/4 of another one.) The shawl turned out to be a good size, IMHO, so I can't imagine how big it would be with 11 more repeats! I really like it and hope that it can bring in some good money. Every time I knit lace I really enjoy it; unfortunately I don't dress up enough to warrant many lace shawls.

Next topic: exercise. The triathlon season is coming to a close, and I did not do one single race. I did my share of volunteering and coaching, though! It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, standing on the sidelines and cheering everyone else on, but I am ready to go into next season healthy and primed to kick some serious ass. My ankle is still funky so I don't run very far or very fast (tried to push it at a Labor Day 5k race and ended up in pain the rest of the week - my time was still 4 minutes slower than my last 5k, so the pain wasn't even worth it) and I can't wear fins at swim practice, but I can do other things. I teach 3 Spin classes, 2 Bootcamp classes, and 2 strength classes each week. Those are my clients'/students' workouts; as far as my own, I've been focusing on strength. This past week started yet another 6-week stint in Chains hell, and I'm working once a week with a trainer who makes my legs feel like they're going to explode. (Yes, I'm a trainer myself so it sounds funny for me to work with a trainer. I know how to work out and I do it on my own a couple of times a week, but I really want that burn that you get when someone else is pushing you harder than you normally push yourself.) My goal is to become Super Buff Woman over the next 5 months, then turn my focus back to triathlon training and develop speed. I've already got races picked out - 2-3 sprints, 2-3 Olympics and 1 half-Ironman - and I hope that my planning will produce a lean, mean triathlon machine that'll make every woman 35-39 shake in their tri suits!

On a sour note: we found out on Tuesday that Rudy, our 13-year old Jack Russell terrier, has liver cancer. Tuesday was also my birthday - happy freakin' birthday to me. (That day I also had a fender bender in my new Mini Cooper convertible and tore a hole in the right side of my front bumper.) It's pretty widespread, so his days are numbered. We've had Rudy since he fit in the palm of my hand. This is a tough thing to deal with. We're trying to just enjoy him as long as possible, but the reality is that "as long as possible" isn't going to be that long. But maybe it will. He's an incredible dog and has amazed the vet time and time again. He actually died on Monday morning (went into cardiac arrest at the vet - they were able to revive him, then had to tell us what had happened in the examination room and ask us what we wanted them to do if it happened again) and was pretty bad off the rest of the day. Before we took him home that afternoon, the vet said if he didn't make any progress in the next 24 hours we'd have to talk about what to do. The next morning he was standing up on his own, walking from the bedroom to the laundry room. In the last couple of days he's jumped off both the bed and the couch, and has gotten up the step to the front porch on his own. He's trying his hardest to hang on.

(Old picture. Hayden's hair is much much more unruly these days.)

Update

It's been over a month since I've blogged. Sorry. I've been busy, both in good and not-so-good ways, and if I'm on the computer I'm either working or perusing Ravelry. I have about 20 minutes to blog while my Ravelympics project is soaking in a Eucalan bath. (Obviously I didn't make the deadline. Oops. Second try - I think I'm retiring.) This is the point at which my last Knitting Olympics project took a turn for the worse. I dropped the baton, I fell off the balance beam, I rode my bike into a ditch - whatever you want to call it. Wish me luck that it doesn't happen again!

Anyway, here's a pic of my last FO:

Pattern: Liesl by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Blue Sky Dyed Organic Cotton
Needles: can't remember - 10s or 10.5s?
Discussion: I was turned on to this cardi by a Raveling friend. What a cute and quick project! I actually made 2 of these in the same color - one for me with cap sleeves and one for my sister with short sleeves. It's very cute and has lots of different variations, so I'll probably make some more. (I should - since Ysolda is in Europe, the pattern cost over $8.)
Here's what I get when I take the bathroom mirror shot:

And here's what I get when my husband takes a shot from behind after I've deleted the one of my ass (he always thinks that's funny to do when I say, "Will you take a picture of the back of this sweater, please?"):

Nothing exciting, but very cute.

Hopefully soon I'll have pictures of my Ravelympics project. I did a Kimono Shawl out of some pink wool/silk blend I had in my stash. I'm donating it to a silent auction. I'll be curious to see how much money it'll go for.

Next on the horizon are some socks for Hayden (he's really into Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba show at Downtown Disney and loves the Green Bird, so we Kool-Aid dyed some Louet Gems sport weight yarn in red and yellow last Friday - to be able to understand what I just said, visit Disneyworld's website and find the info for La Nouba), a Rusted Root for me, and a sweater for Mike. His birthday was August 16th, and when he opened his gift, he said, "You got me yarn?" But it wasn't just yarn, it was 20 skeins of Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks in a grass green color. It was the closest I could come to the color of the green sweaters he liked in the Kenneth Cole store in Chicago. My plan is to make Avast from Knitty (sorry, no links - being lazy). After I showed him that, then he got more excited about getting just yarn for his birthday.

Okay, off to the bathroom to my shawl. Send me some good vibes!

Oh baby!

I finished my Smocked Babydoll Top last week and finally got around to asking Hayden to take a picture:

Pattern: Smocked Babydoll Top from Classic Elite Yarns Make It Modern leaflet, smallest size
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Cotton Bam Boo
Discussion: I am very happy with this top. I love the style, I love the fit, I love the neckline, I love the texture on the top, I love the yarn, and I love the color. This yarn has become one of my Desert Island Yarns, along with Cascade 220 and Rowan Kid Classic. It is so easy to work with and so very pretty. The pattern, even with all of its seed stitch, twisted stitches and cables, was pretty easy to follow. I did a lot of it in the car to and from Purl Jam. Closeup shots:

I'm getting better at taking the bathroom mirror shots - I think.

Who doesn't love a top that shows just the right amount of cleavage?

And here's a shot of my budding photographer, marching in a parade in his Thing 1 costume:

Yes, it's hot here in Nashvegas. He was a sweaty mess when we made him take that costume off.

Speaking of sweating, I'm getting back into working out and not a moment too soon - since the blood clot thing happened, I've gained about 8 pounds. It's so frustrating. I am 3 pounds over the number I said I'd never get to again, and I have become so self-conscious at the pool that I immediately run for a towel to wrap around my waist the minute I get out of the water. Skirts that used to sit low on my hips are now around my waist, so I've been living in running shorts and camis or sundresses. Running will really help me get this excess weight off, but I can't run yet. Ugh. I know that it'll eventually come off and I'll get back to where I want to be, but it's still not a fun place to be at the moment. And in addition to feeling pudgy and yucky, I'm slow. I went to swim practice this Sunday for the first time since the beginning of March. I have been swimming on my own and have tried to push the pace a bit, but it's hard when you're by yourself. As I started to get in the slowest lane, everyone else in that lane started telling me I didn't belong there, I needed to move up, they're slow, blah blah blah. I had to actually argue with them that I belonged there, and sure enough I was right - I was the slowest in the lane. It's embarrassing to be the girl who had the rockin' body in the bikini and could keep up a decent pace but now is soft and slow and running around the deck with a towel around her waist. I must keep telling myself that this too shall pass. A good friend has told me several times that a setback is a setup for a comeback. What the f*ck ever.

Okay, enough whining and back to knitting. I have started a new project: the Sasha skirt by Louet. I'm using 4 colors of Claudia Handpainted linen that I got at Purl Jam. Hopefully it'll go fast because I'd like to have it done in time for our Chicago trip in the beginning of August. I've also swatched for a Central Park Hoodie in Jo Sharp DK Wool Tweed. Mosaic Yarn Shop, the shop in Virginia that hosted Purl Jam, is doing a KAL, so I'm playing from far away. And I'm still on Sleeve Island with my friend's Fair Isle cardi. I'm working on both sleeves at the same time, and I'd like to get them done by the end of August.

Off to knit a bit more before Hayden and I spend some time in the pool. And no, I wont' be forgetting that towel!

Knitterly weekend

This weekend I went to the Purl Jam knitting retreat in Blacksburg, VA. Gina, the owner of Mosaic Yarn Shop, organized a wonderful weekend full of shopping, knitting, and taking classes. The instructors were Annie Modesitt, Cornelia Tuttle-Hamilton, and Jared. I, of course, am a big fan of Jared's, so I had picked 2 of his classes as my first choice and 2 as my second choice. When I got my class assignments, I found out that I was in ALL of his classes. Ack! What was he going to think of me? Would we become friends, or would he think I was some nerdy Brooklyn Tweed groupie?? It was all good, though. He didn't think I was weird (or at least didn't let on that he did). After spending the weekend with him, I feel obligated to design an aran sweater knit in the round then steeked (!!!) to become a cardigan. I think I'll do this for Hayden for the fall - smaller scale, plus his McTavish cardigan is getting a wee bit small.

Yesterday morning Annie did a Tips and Tricks class for everyone. She's great - she teaches you the most amazing things so thoroughly that there's no way you won't catch on before you leave the room, and she does it in a very funny, entertaining way. Be forewarned, though: if you're in one of her classes, DON'T TALK. She's very clear that she is the only one to be talking.

In addition to taking classes from these incredible designers, I also did some shopping. 15 skeins of tweedy grey Kathmandu Aran for a Cobblestone Pullover for Mike. (I'm not providing a link to the sweater. If you're a knitter, you know which one I'm talking about. If you're not a knitter, you probably really don't care what it looks like. You can wait for the FO.) 10 skeins of Claudia's Handpainted wet spun linen for the Sasha skirt. 2 books - Cornelia's Noro Revisited and Yahaira Ferreira's Sensual Knits, which has a Jared design in it. I almost bought some more yarn for a Norah Gaughan cardi that I've been coveting for a while, but there were only 2 skeins of a color that I needed 3 of. Mike probably went in there before me and hid it so I couldn't buy it.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Is Jared really about to cut his knitting? In front of EVERYONE??? Yikes!

I suggested that he do a shot of tequila before picking up the scissors, but he declined. What a brave man.

Jared wearing the infamous Cobblestone.

Me with Jared and Cornelia. Although I didn't take any of her classes, I did get to spend some time with her. She's really funny and very super-cool.

Jared, Cornelia, Gina and Annie. Gina is kick-ass. I'd totally hang out in her shop if I lived in Blackburg. Go to her shop blog to see more Purl Jam pics, including one of me flipping her the bird.

I got quite a bit of knitting done in the car. I'm almost done with my Babydoll Top - a picture of it should be coming within the next several days. I must get it done soon so I can cast on for my new skirt and also for my Katharine Vest that I keep blogging about. And I also have to start designing Hayden's Aran cardigan. And I have some socks to make for him. And I bought the Rusted Root pattern last week. And Mike's Cobblestone. And I'm going to do a second Cobblestone for Hayden. And I'm going to join Mosaic's knitalong for a Central Park Hoodie. Good thing I'm an injured triathlete this summer and have more time on my hands!!!

You've heard of Bennifer and TomKat - now meet...

... Snow Claus!

Yeah, I know - kinda scary looking. But props to Hayden - he created this character himself. Was dressed up as a full-blown Santa, then must've gotten tired of the beard and hat, so changed into Snow White wig.

This is his rendition of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, ice cream drip down the shirt and all.

Update on the clot: have been to the doctor 3 times since I've been back in Nashvegas, and this past Thursday got some good news. It's not a deep vein, life threatening clot like we originally thought, but rather a thrombotitis of the popiteal vein. Your average blood clot behind the knee. The treatment is still the same. Lovenox shots in the stomach will continue until Monday morning, Coumadin will continue for 3-6 months. I have to monitor the amount of vitamin K in my diet, and I cannot drink alcohol. I have to get my blood checked every week to make sure I'm taking the right amount of Coumadin, and I have to be careful not to get bruised or cut. I can't ride my bike (if I have a wreck, I'd be SOL) or rock climb, and I have to be careful when shaving or flossing. And I can't pick my nose - bummer.

So in lieu of the working out I can't do, I have been knitting a lot. I'm plugging away on my uber-cute smocked babydoll top, but WIP pics are so boring that I won't subject you to mine. I got a bit done today at our local WWKIP* meetup. It rained in the beginning, so our turnout was small.

Still fun, though.

Must get done with this top soon - the list of projects keeps growing. Damn you, Ravelry! Sleeves for Alice, Katharine Vest from Spring IK, Rusted Root, February Lady Sweater, Cobblestone Pullover, Unmentionables, Rugby sweater for Hayden, purl-free Monkeys, striped socks for Hayden, River Forest Gansey, Hanami Stole, Pomatomus, Ziggy ...

* - WWKIP is Worldwide Knit in Public for my non-knitting readers.

Un memorable anniversario

To celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary, Mike and I went to Puerto Rico. Here are some pictures:

This is the lovely dress my friend Alice crocheted for me. I've blogged about it before - now you know why I'm totally content to spend some time on Sleeve Island for her!

This is the Eyelet Surplice Dress from the Summer issue of IK that I was putting the finishing touches on on Tuesday night, the night before we left. It turned out really well. I used CotLin from Knit Picks and I'm very happy. My hair stuff exploded in the suitcase and even though I put that stuff in a plastic bag, some of it leaked out and got on this dress. Thank God CotLin is washable! I'm very happy with the dress, but I realized the night I wore it that I need to get a longer top to wear underneath. The skirt pulls the lace down a bit, and every once in a while I had to adjust myself so that the top of my hot pink thong wasn't showing in the back.

The happy anniversary couple!

This picture was taken yesterday morning as we were being discharged from the Metropolitan Hospital in Miami. I was taken by ambulance from the airport on our way home Monday morning to the ER where they found a blood clot behind my left knee. I was admitted and spent 2 nights there so they could get some blood thinner in me before deciding it was safe for me to fly home.

Story: We flew to Puerto Rico last Wednesday night. That night my left leg (the one in the walking boot) REALLY started to hurt. My calf was sore to the touch and the pain didn't go away the entire time we were there. I called my orthopedic surgeon's office on Friday and talked to a nurse about it. She said it was probably due to immobility and that I needed to stretch and take an Advil a day. She also said I needed to get it checked out if it started to swell or get warm to the touch. Everything stayed the same until Sunday night, our last night there. My ankle swelled, but we figured it was just because I had walked on the beach both Saturday and Sunday (something the nurse said I could do). The next morning we got up at 430am to catch a 630am flight. The swelling hadn't gone down at all, even though I had been taking Advil and was icing and elevating it after we got back to the room from dinner on Sunday. (Side note: At the restaurant Sunday night, a man told me to be careful when travelling in my walking boot because he was wearing one one time on a plane and got a blood clot which went up to his lungs and almost killed him. He was in the hospital for 3 days. 2 days before that, I said to Mike, "I wonder if I have a blood clot in my leg and that's why it's hurting so badly.") We went on, though, because it was so early in the morning. We flew to Miami then were supposed to catch another plane to Memphis to pick Hayden up at my parents' house. While waiting for the second flight, I called my dad to check on things and he asked me how my leg was. I gave him the report, and he said, "Sounds like you might have a blood clot. You should get checked out." We got the paramedics to come to me at the airport - their report was that I had some signs of having one but also some signs of not having one, so it was our call as to whether they took us to the hospital or not. We decided to go. The closest hospital was Miami Metropolitan - a Spanish-speaking hospital. I'm sure they figured I'd just get checked out and sent on my merry way back to the airport, but I wish they had thought about the possibility of my having to stay there. I know very little Spanish, and Mike knows even less. I think Hayden knows more than we do, thanks to his Dora the Explorer phase. An ultrasound done by someone who didn't speak a word to me revealed a blood clot behind my knee. The only English speaking doctor in the ER gave me the news and told me I'd have to stay at least for 24 hours. 5 hours later they admitted me to a private room away from all of the ER grossness. It was a surreal experience - the doctor knew English, some of the nurses had very broken English, but some didn't speak a word. It was an uneasy feeling to have such a serious condition and to be at the mercy of people who couldn't communicate with us. Who wants to be woken up at 5am by a man named Ignacio who sticks your arm, draws blood then leaves without saying ANYTHING? In order to be released, the doctor had to sign a paper for the airlines saying he felt confident that I could fly without having complications. We also had to order blood thinner shots that I get in my stomach twice a day, and they were overnighted to my parents' house so they'd be waiting on us when we got there.

My current situation is this: tomorrow I see my internist so he can start managing my blood thinner meds. I have to keep on getting the shots (Mike gives them to me in my stomach twice a day) and I also have to take a pill. The shots will stop once my blood level reaches a certain point, but I think I'll be on the pill for 4-6 months. (Pill as in blood thinner, not birth control. No more birth control for me, ever. That's one of the things that ups your risk of developing a clot.) I'm going to talk to him about my activity/exercise, but I'm pretty sure I'll be forced to be a couch potato for several weeks. I have to avoid things that could cause cuts or bruises since I'll bleed easily, so my American Gladiators goal is put on hold for now. (Make sure to keep watching the show so they'll continue it until I am well enough and back in shape enough to compete!) I'm pretty sure I'll also have to start seeing a hematologist.

So, what was the cause of all of this? I thought it was the change in cabin pressure on the flight from Memphis to Dallas that caused my walking boot to compress and squeeze the sh!t out of my leg. However, the doctor said no and he also says the pain in my calf and the swelling in my ankle (which is still there) is totally unrelated. According to Dr. Lopez, I had 4 strikes against me: an injury like a fracture, immobility, a long plane ride, and being on birth control. I've been on birth control since I was 17 (minus the time I spent cooking Hayden inside of me), but I had developed problems over the last several months and we had switched meds twice. I had been on Yasmin, but the high amount of estrogen was making me very nauseous. I then went on Yaz, but after a month I started bleeding 3 weeks out of the month. Thought it had to do with the incredible amount of stress I was under when everything fell apart with the behavioral consultant, but my OBGYN didn't think so. He switched me to Loestrin the week before we left on our trip. Everything was fine, or so I thought....

Well, that's my story in a nutshell. I'll keep everyone updated on my situation. And I'm sure I'll be knitting a bunch, so I'll have lots of pictures. (I did have some knitting with me when we were admitted to the hospital, thankfully. I am now almost done with a pair socks that I want to gift to Hayden's occupational therapist. Her last day is tomorrow.)

A morning overflowing with cuteness

I've always thought those little Amigurumi toys were so cute, so when I saw an Amigurumi for Beginners swap on Swap-bot, I decided to join and give it a shot. Behold Cute Exhibit A:

Pattern: Amigurumi Guy from the Lion Brand Yarn website
Yarn: Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand
Hook: J
Discussion: Yes, the yarn is nasty acrylic, but it's what the pattern called for and it was cheap, so I went with it. Boy, do I hate acrylic yarn. I will gladly give the rest of this crap away to anyone who wants it. It's not that it's bad yarn, it's that I am a yarn snob. Anyway, the pattern was very easy to follow and perfect for someone who isn't proficient in crochet. I started this 2 weeks ago but wasn't very motivated to finish. It's cute, but a) I hate the yarn, b) I don't enjoy crocheting for extended periods of time, and c) the mailing deadline isn't until the 25th. I was almost finished on Mother's Day, but all of a sudden I couldn't find my darning needle. DH found it for me earlier this week, so before I started knitting on my dress this morning, I sat down and sewed the arms and legs on. He turned out cute, but I'm not 100% satisfied with the outcome. Maybe if I had done his eyes better. Maybe if I sewed his arms and legs on better. Maybe if I had used good yarn...

Moving on to Cute Exhibit B:

When DH is away, Hayden gets to sleep in my bed. This is what I walked into when looking for shorts to put on. Now, THIS is a guy who is cute!!! He's such a love. The homeschooling thing we tried didn't work out and turned him into a bit of a snot, but we've made some changes and we're getting the funny, happy kid back. And yes, he'll be back in public school in the fall.

Because of this:

I'm getting a lot of knitting done. Yes, it's a walking boot. Sexy, huh? I've been having ankle pain since Nov/Dec, and in March it finally got bad enough to make me stop running. (Should've done that earlier, but I'm an idiotic, over-achieving triathlete who was having way too much fun racing and setting PRs and winning trophies.) Thought it was just tendonitis, so I started seeing someone on a weekly basis at $85 a pop to work on it. I went for several test runs but with no success. Finally decided to see my ortho friend to make sure it wasn't a stress fracture. He xrayed it and nothing showed up, so he gave me a steroid shot and more steroids to take over the next 6 days. He said after 3 weeks I'd be better and if I wasn't, I needed to email him. 3 weeks later I emailed him with a detailed account of what I had and hadn't been doing and what the pain level was for each activity, so he brought me back in and put me in this boot. He said I'd wear the boot for 2-3 weeks and then it should be fine. We also scheduled an MRI just to make sure nothing funky was going on. This morning I had an appointment with him to discuss the MRI - a stress reaction is what I've been diagnosed as having. It's better than a stress fracture, he said, because it doesn't take as long to heal. He thinks that I probably had a stress fracture but I raced through the pain (which he said people can't normally do, but I must have a high pain threshold - yay me!). Once I stopped running and started wearing the boot, it started to heal and that's why it's a stress reaction. 3 more weeks in the boot, then probably another 1-2 months of no running. Basically, I have no triathlon season this summer, because it'll be August before I can run again. When I do start running I'll be really slow, so would it even be worth it to do a race? Guess I could always get DH to relay with me if I really wanted to. But that's still a couple of months down the road - I can't even ride a bike outside. (Yes, I did get a new time trial bike at Christmas. No, I haven't taken it out yet. Yes, it'll be a while before I can do that.) I'm becoming what I always said I hated - a gym rat. My main goal this year was to qualify for Nationals at the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon - oh well. Now my goal is to strength train and get in shape for American Gladiators tryouts, whenever those will be. (I'm so not kidding about this. I want to be a contender so badly that I get a little verklempt just watching the damn show. Wow - can't believe I just admitted that to what little blog audience I have.) I worked out with a trainer yesterday who made my triceps shake uncontrollably, so that's a start. I told him about my Gladiators goal, and he said he'll get me there once I'm healed.

Anyway, on to the knitting! When I got the summer IK, I saw the dress designed by a fellow Nashvillian and decided that I need to have it when DH and I go to Puerto Rico at the end of the month for our 10-year anniversary. (Yes, that will fall within the next 3 weeks, so yes, I'll still be wearing the boot. I can take it off while relaxing on the beach or by the pool, so at least I won't get a nerdy knee-high sock tan. DH said, "Guess we'll just have to find ways for you to stay off your foot, hee hee.") Not wanting to wait til my LYS opened 2 days later to buy my yarn, I ordered some CotLin from Knitpicks in a coffee color and paid $17 for the rush delivery. I'm moving along quite well on the skirt part of the dress, but it's getting boring.

Maybe I should drink some caffeine tonight and pull an all-nighter to get through the rest of it. I think I've got about 5 inches to go.

Before I started that, I was working on the Smocked Babydoll Top from Classic Elite Yarns' Make It Modern leaflet. There are several great patterns in that book! I'm using the recommended yarn, Cotton Bam Boo, and it's a DREAM to work with. It's so soft and smooth, and I'm totally in love with the color.

I'm about to the interesting part, but I'm not picking it back up until the dress is done. We leave on May 28th, so I've got about a week and a half to go.

I've also been buying yarn:

Sunshine Yarns does sock yarn in the most wonderful Harry Potter-inspired colorways, but they sell out as soon as she posts them, so when I saw this one with "1 in stock" next to it, I acted immediately. This is the Accio Firebolt colorway.


Last week Hayden and I went to Memphis to go to my old high school's production of "Beauty and the Beast", and while we were there, my mom and I were perusing Ravelry. My sister has 2 little girls, 4 1/2 and 17 months, so I showed her Emma's Unmentionables from Knitty. We then got to the adult version - Unmentionables - and she decided that I MUST KNIT THOSE FOR MYSELF. Even though most Ravelers aren't terribly pleased with theirs, I decided that I'd add the pattern to my queue. This Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece is for those. I really like the white the designer used, but I was afraid my butt would look huge in such a light color (especially since I won't be running for TWO FREAKIN' MONTHS). I'm not going to start them quite yet. My order of importance is as follows:
1. dress
2. babydoll top
3. Katharine Vest from Spring IK (bought the yarn several months ago)
4. Unmentionables
There are other things thrown in here and there, but those are my Big Projects List.

That's it for now. DH is in Fargo, ND to run a marathon tomorrow (something I won't be able to do for a long time - ugh), so Hayden and I are on our own. I think we'll be leaving for the sushi restaurant soon.

Sure, it's a leaf, but...

...what ELSE does it look like?

Here's a shot of the other side. A little worse:

I think it'd be fun to do another one and trim it with black eyelash.

(BTW, I'm doing an afghan-along with some friends, and this is one of the squares of the week. We're using the book, 200 Knitted Blocks.)

I'm not a shawl person, but...

...I am IN LOVE with this:

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl from IK (too lazy to get up and check issue)
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Silk, 3.1 skeins*
Needles: Addi Turbo lace size 5
Modifications: bigger yarn than laceweight, nupps done as slip 3, p2tog, psso instead of the dreaded p5tog
Discussion: I got coerced into doing some charity knitting. "NO PRESSURE, but if you can do something for this auction I can get some letters of recommendation written on Hayden's behalf for Currey Ingram." (Yeah, this girl is not really someone I'd call a friend.) I figured something like a Swallowtail Shawl knit out of a very luxurious yarn in a very pretty, springy color would get top dollar, so I went to work. I chose something bigger than the laceweight the pattern called for so that I'd have a better chance of getting it done in time. And I tried, honestly I did. I wanted so badly to get it done - I do not like making promises that I have to break. But there was just no way. The San Antonio trip for that damn basketball game really cut into my knitting time, but I think even if I hadn't gone, I wouldn't have gotten it done. It turned out okay, though. I don't need the letters since we're not even applying for CI after all, and I really fell in love with this shawl. It was pretty before I blocked it, but then the detail came out:

(Man, I wish my camera skillz were as good as Jared's. I try for the artsy closeup and I end up with crap. But I tried.)

This was my second lace project, but definitely not my last. What shawl next? Hanami? Icarus? Kimono?

* - I say .1 because with 2 rows left before binding off, I ran out of yarn. Bummer! The shop I bought the yarn from didn't have any more left, but fortunately another shop in town had the same color. It was a different dye lot, but I was so close to the end that I didn't think it would matter.

Regifting a swap prezzie?!??

Okay, maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I just saw some pics of prezzies included in a package sent by the person I spoiled in a Ravelry swap. In this pic was something that was EXACTLY like something I had gifted to her! (Follow me here? Pics are of A's prezzies from B. I sent B her prezzies.) It's not something that seems like it'd be totally common, so I'm wondering about this...

But then again, maybe I'm jumping to conclusions. I am on steriods, after all. (Bum ankle.) And I've had an incredibly bad day/week/month.

Two years ago, I whined to y'all about Hayden not being accepted into Vanderbilt's TRIAD summer camp for autistic kids because he wasn't high functioning enough. Today at the end of his neuropsychological evaluation, I asked the doctor if, by the preliminary scores, whether he thought we should apply for Currey Ingram, a private school for kids with learning differences. He used to work for them, so he knows exactly why type of kids they accept. He, without sounding as mean as I'm about to sound, said no. Hayden's speech and language scores are so low that they bring down his total score below the level that Currey Ingram accepts. Twice in the last several weeks has the term "mentally retarded" been used in reference to him. ("I'm not saying he's mentally retarded...", "His previous IQ scores suggest he's mentally retarded, but we know that's not the case.")

Makes me feel like I'm giving my child more credit than he deserves. Are my glasses too rose-colored? (If you knew me in person, you'd definitely answer no to that question!)

Currey Ingram has been our goal for the past month. Now that's taken away, and I feel utterly hopeless. I have no idea what we'll do. Public school proved to be horrendous for him (won't go into details), and Currey Ingram is the only private school that we had a shot at. There are no other private schools in Nashville that would accept him. I've been homeschooling him for the last month, but I'm not cut out for this so we have to change. The preliminary plan is to up his therapy hours from 11 to 15 and bring in a tutor for up to 2 hours each day. We can afford that now, but when we reach 100 visits of therapy, our insurance cuts off and we'll have to pay full price. That'll be roughly $1500 each week, not including the tutor. That's a hell of a lot more than the $26,000/year price tag we were worried about at Currey Ingram. And I can't work a whole lot more than I am now - Hayden is with me during the day.

Sh!t.

F*ck.

Anyone have any drugs they want to send me???

Woot! New favorite sweater!!!

Pattern: Architectural Rib Pullover by Norah Gaughan - pattern in The Natural Knitter - I did the smallest size
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed, maybe 7 skeins but I lost track because I've become completely unorganized
Needles: Denise size 5 circs, Inox size 4 circs for sleeve ribbing and turtleneck
Discussion: OMG! I love this sweater!!! These pictures don't do it justice. I kept having Mike take more and more shots, but then I realized that the camera will never capture the full awesomeness of it so I settled. My mom bought me the book and the yarn for Christmas, and I cast on the day after. It took me a lot longer to finish this than it should because I kept getting interrupted by other projects (onset of knitting ADD*). I became somewhat monogamous with it again during the NCAA Tournament because I found that as long as I was sitting on the couch, wearing nasty sweatclothes and working on this sweater, my Tigers would win. (There - that's the reason they lost the championship. I was there rather than at home in my teal sweatpants from the 80s and my sorority sweatshirt that's 5 sizes too big for me. Totally my fault.)

This is a great pattern. It's such an unusual design - you knit the big ribbed, cable-y part from the bottom front up, put a neckhole in, go down (hee hee) the other side, then pick up stitches along the sides and knit outwards to the sleeves. It was so fun, and very easy to follow. And I think Felted Tweed is a perfect yarn for this project. Just the right amount of tweed, and it's lightweight enough so that you don't swelter in the high turtleneck.

Speaking of the turtleneck, that's the ONLY thing I'd change in my sweater. See that little bump right under the back of my neck? I think if the turtleneck weren't so high, that would lie down flat. I like the look of the high neck, but I'd also like the sweater to lie down in the back. But I'm fine with it.

Norah - if you're reading my blog, thank you so much for such a great sweater. YOU RULE when it comes to interesting design!!! I can't wait to do something out of Knitting Nature. I think my first project is going to be the skirt on the front.

Before I do that, though, I have other things to finish. I am making a promise to myself to finish this list of things before casting on for anything else (exception to this rule is below):

1. Swallowtail Shawl - I told someone (notice I didn't say "friend") that I'd make this for a silent auction because she said if I did, she could get some letters of recommendation written by some very influential people to help me get Hayden into this private school we're hoping he'll go to in the fall. I tried my hardest, but it just didn't happen. I could've finished it today, but I've run out of yarn. Yes, I am 2 rows away from binding off, and I've run out of yarn. And the shop I bought it from doesn't have any more of that color. M-f'er. I'm not totally concerned about the dye lot - after all, I am insanely close to being done. I'm going to go to another LYS in town to see if they have it. If not, I found that color on Jimmy Beans Wool's website, so I'll order it. One f-ing skein for 3 f-ing rows.
2. sleeves for a friend - those got put aside when the urgency of the shawl popped up, but now they're resurfacing
3. Baby Surprise Jacket - I started this for that auction as well - 2 knitted things would get me more letters of recommendation, right? I'm not even 1/3 of the way done. Oh well. I'm using Blue Sky Organic Cotton in gender neutral colors, so whatever size it turns out to be will determine who the lucky recipient is out of the pregnant people I know.

The exception to this rule is/are afghan squares. My LYS is doing a afghan KAL, and I'm a sucker for a KAL! I wasn't going to do it because I know I have too much stuff going on, but I caved. I've got 5 great colors of Cascade 220 to work with, so I'm looking forward to this. The shop owner will tell everyone in the KAL what 2 squares to add every Friday. I figure these squares will be my portable projects - every knitter needs one of those.

I've got lots of things waiting in the wings to be cast on for, so I better get to knitting!

(* - Funny ADD story: Hayden's occupational therapist is working on his cursive with him. They've mastered a, c, d, g, e, and l. Last week they started working on putting letters together to form words, and she gave me a sheet for him to practice at home. One of them was "add". I looked at her and asked why she was having him write ADD. Wow - do I live in the land of disorders or what?)

My team played in the National Championship game, and all I got were these pictures.*

Let's not even talk about the game. That ending has haunted my nightmares since Monday night. But it was an incredible experience, being there, and I did get some pictures of me with very tall black men (tall and black are both plusses in my book, yet somehow I married the whitest man in America - at least he's tall):



These 2 guys, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose (Derrick is the one on the phone) are going to be NBA stars next year, and you can say you read the blog of someone who has met them!


If you watched any Memphis basketball this past season, you'll know that this man, Joey Dorsey, has the nicest shoulders of anyone on the planet! I met 2 of his childhood friends before the game, and they said he was cut up like that when we was 15. Dang!!!


The little woman beside Sean Taggart is his grandmother. She is about the size of one of his legs. He was so cute with her. Towards the end of the season I found him incredibly sexy with his pointy, evil-looking goatee, but all bad boy images of him I had were wiped away seeing him with itty bitty Grandma. Awwww!


Pierre Niles looks really fat on TV, but in person he's not fat, just thick. Guess he's a prime example of how the camera adds 10 pounds.


Ahhh, Cedric Henderson - what to say about him? I've known him for about 14 years and have had a crush on him for that long. He played for Memphis in the mid 90s then went pro for a while with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That didn't work out too well, so now he plays overseas in Greece. I hadn't seen him since 1996, when I saw my beloved Tigers lose in the first round of the tournament to Drexel in Albequerque, but he remembered who I was. It was fun to take a picture with him, 12 years later.

I took knitting with me on this trip, but not a lot got done. On the way there I had every intention of working on my Swallowtail Shawl, but when the guy sitting next to me starting buying me beers, I decided to put the yarn away. Lace and beer don't mix. (BTW, this guy wasn't a stranger. He's our old realtor's ex-husband and he was headed to the game as well.) On the way home I didn't even try to knit. I had been up for over 24 hours at that point, so I needed to take a little nap. Lace and lack of sleep don't mix, either. Oh well.


*Did you notice how my beads were wrapped around one boob in every picture? It's not I'm that well-endowed so how they managed to stay in place so long is beyond me.

Bad ribs, good prezzies

Gah.

Remember in my last post how excited I was about doing such a great job with the ginormous pull set at swim practice 2 weeks ago? Well, ever since then, I've been f*cked up - the left side of my upper body, that is. Long story short: I have 2 subluxed (partially dislocated) ribs. I have been in constant pain for almost 2 weeks now. Even sleeping hurts. The chiropractor/ART guy I saw last Thursday worked on me for an hour, but one rib is being completely stubborn and won't go back to where it came from. Last week I ran, taught Spin and somewhat taught abs, and all of that hurt. This week I haven't done anything except for teaching 2 Spin classes (and knit, of course). The first class caused me excruciating pain for several hours afterwards; the second class was better because it was the morning after my doctor's appointment. Hopefully I can get in to see him again this week and he can fix me 100%, because then I can get back at it - running, Spinning pain-free, core work, and climbing. Not quite sure about the swimming yet because I really believe that's what caused this, but I'll ease back into it eventually. I have to - I'm a triathlete!

There are some other things that are frustrating to me right now, but if I talk about them, this post will turn into a novel and I'll lose what little readership I have. So I'll keep them to myself and hope they go away.

On a happier note, I got home from a hard afternoon with Hayden (bad experience at the symphony, aggravating trip to REI, embarrassing stop at the yarn store) to find 2 packages: my Yarn Smackdown hat and a box of prezzies from my climbing swap spoiler! (I'm being lazy and not linking to these things. Yarn Smackdown is a game on Ravelry, and the climbing swap is being played with a group of climbing knitters, also on Ravelry.)

This is the hat that has knocked me out of the first round of play in Yarn Smackdown. Kate and I mailed our hats to eachother on the same day, almost at the same time, so it was a race to see who's postman was quicker. I guess we Southerners just like to do things slowly. It's a great hat, though, so I'm not upset!

The other package was from Lia, my spoiler in the Knitters On Belay swap I participated in on Ravelry. She sent me some great things: Climb On! balm (which I almost bought for my spoilee), a new carabiner (which is the exact biner my climbing partner has - I'm super-excited about that because I have coveted his for so long), labels for me to put in my knitted garments, some beautiful Araucania Ranco Multi yarn (I smell a pair of Monkey or Pomatomus socks in my future!), a toy for Hayden, and some treats for Rudy and Gracie. I love swaps!

Another happier note: I finally finished my Gathered Pullover!

Pattern: Gathered Pullover from Winter 2007 IK
Yarn: Rowan Kid Classic, somewhere around 6 skeins
Needles: size 8 Denise circs and Clover dpns
Discussion: The verdict is out on the happiness level with this sweater. From the moment I saw the pattern in the mag, I wanted to make it. Then I saw one on Ravelry that someone did in Kid Classic (one of my Desert Island yarns) with short sleeves, and the urge to knit it grew even stronger. However, now that it's done, I'm meh about it. I'm not totally in love with the neckline - it's kinda wide and my cami straps want to peek out, and the notch in the middle of the girls is a bit wonky for some reason - and I wish it would be a little more form-fitting. I've toyed with the idea of throwing it in the washing machine and felting it a tad, but I'm scared. I do have another sweater out of Kid Classic that I no longer wear due to the WIIIIIDE neckline (the Greek Pullover from 2006 - although I love the sweater, I inadvertently flash anyone in front of me every time I bend over). I could experiment with that and see what happens, or I can wear the Gathered Pullover as is for a while and see how I feel about it. Here's a closeup of the chest detail - the only thing that kept this sweater from being a complete yawn:


Next up is the completion of my Architectural Rib Pullover. I picked it up again yesterday for the first time in about a month and am working on the neckline. After that's done, I need to do one side and seam it up. I've got a couple of spring projects waiting in the wings, which make more sense to work on right now since the temps are climbing, but I REALLY want to be faithful to one sweater for a while. Maybe once it's done, we'll have a 1-day cold snap and I'll be able to wear it before packing it up until October.

Kool(ha)as (sh!t) Hat

For those of you who aren't knitters, the Koolhaas Hat is the creation of the ever-popular Jared. This is my second Koolhaas, and I don't think it'll be my last. I want to make one that'll fit me, not make me look like Mushmouth from Fat Albert.

Pattern: Koolhaas hat, from 2007 Holiday issue of IK
Yarn: Cascade 220 superwash
Needles: size 7 (ribbing) and 8 (body)
Discussion: This hat pattern ROCKS. Not only is it really fun to do, it's a cool hat. I made one for my rock climbing partner, Robert, after he started teasing me nonstop about being a personal trainer and a triathlete and a knitter. He said knitting didn't seem to go with my other hobbies, and knitting was nerdy. (Notice I said "was" and not "is". He changed his mind after I gave him his Koolhaas.) I chose a beautiful heathered mustard color of Cascade 220 superwash to go with the pretty shade of his black skin. It looked great on him, but his tiny fro made it stand up a little too high. I blocked the hell out of it, and now it fits better. His roommate, Aaron, said, "Hey - I want one too! Can you make me one? Be sure it covers my ears."

He's got red hair, hence my decision on the green Cascade 220. You can't see his hair underneath the hat, but trust me - they go very well together. There's another guy who kinda has been hinting at one, but he'll just have to wait. I want to make one for myself first, and I've got some other things going on: sleeves for my Gathered Pullover, sleeves for 2 sweaters for a friend who is crocheting a dress for me (sounds like I'll be stranded on Sleeve Island for a while!), and one side of my Architectural Rib Pullover. Maybe I'll bargain with him: I'll knit him a Koolhaas hat if he promises never to take his climbing shoes off around me ever again. In the words of the Blackeyed Peas: STANKY, STANKY, STANKY!

(Speaking of climbing, I've been doing that about 2-3 times a week for a while now, and I noticed it paying off in the pool today. During a 600 meter pull in swim practice, I was totally running up the a$$es of the people in front of me. NEVER have I been a good puller, and today I was up the butt of a GUY. We had 2 more 600 pulls to do, so we rearranged the order of our lane, and I LED. Huzzah for strong shoulders created by climbing rocks!)

I'm also in the Travelling Scarves group on Ravelry, so every once in a while, I receive an unfinished scarf in the mail. I have to go through my stash, pick something to continue the scarf with, and knit 4-6 inches before sending it off to the next person in line. After the scarf I started gets added to by 11 other people, I'll have a great new scarf! Cool idea, huh? And everyone who is playing this game also is supposed to send a little somethin-somethin along with the scarf, so when I get my scarf back, I'll also get 11 little prezzies. I'm thinking that Goo-Goo clusters will be my gift - something you can only get here in Nashvegas.

I was planning on blogging a bit more about what's been going on around here - believe me, there's a TON of new info! - but I just got a call from a personal trainer I work with to see if I could take his 6am client that he forgot to reschedule while he's out in California. So now I have to finish up what I'm doing, figure out how I'm rearranging my schedule tomorrow morning to accommodate this guy, and go to bed early. I need to anyway after the reverse triathlon I did today - ran 7 miles, taught an hour Spin class, then went to swim practice from 230-4pm. (No, I'm not training for anything right now. I'm just crazy.) This follows a day of doing a 2 1/2 hour indoor cycling workout and a 3-hour stint at the climbing gym. Whew!