Hey, more knitting!

Crochet, anyway.

Hairpin lace!  Beaded hairpin lace!  I feel talented!  I would feel more talented if it looked a little neater, but for a first attempt I'm very pleased with it.  

It's the Fanny's Cross choker from Melissa Horozewski's "Austentatious Crochet."  I found the cross in my 'scrapbook' the other day; I think it was a Christmas gift from my aunt Melanie, but I couldn't say for sure.  I know she's sent me others.  

The instructions in the book were extremely vague, and further searches for tutorials left me baffled by the hook gymnastics, but after a lot of searching I found a video on YouTube that broke down the basics of how hairpin lace works well enough that I was able to figure out the gymnastics for myself.  

I used Aunt Lydia's metallic crochet thread, size 6 seed beads, and a size 0 hook.  I'm not sure exactly how wide the hairpin frame was set at; I just eyeballed what looked approximately like 1.5."  Finding a ruler in my crafting nest just takes too long, you know.

The book calls for a torpedo(?) clasp, but I just left the ends long and braided them.  Of course, I entirely forgot that I hate wearing chokers, because anything close around my neck makes me feel, well, you know.  I was blinded by my love of Fanny Price, eagerness to try a new technique, and the fact that I had a little cross much like the one on the book's example.  I'm at least happy that it doesn't make my neck look stumpy. 

I really dislike my face sometimes.  I know I'm a reasonably attractive young woman, if not entirely to society's standards body-wise, but it's a pain the neck to get a photograph where I don't look like a blob.  Like my glaring hat face from the previous post, where I appear to consist entirely of nose.  I'd like the internet to know that in person, I am not a walking nose.

Anyway.

I'm also working on a granny square market bag, because I am helpless in the face of dishcloth cotton string bags and granny squares in most forms. There's just something so sweet and kitschy about them.

Of course, what I neglect to remember is that I really, really hate seaming and weaving in ends, which you get a lot of in the modular construction that goes hand-in-hand with granny squares, but I'm keeping my chin up (as you could see in the last picture quite literally).

I made some progress for UFO Thursday on my Luna scarf.  I'm afraid it's going to need some very aggressive blocking in order to have any kind of drape.  It's almost but not quite able to stand up on its own right now.  I've never blocked acrylic, but I think this might be one of those instances for killing it would be in order.

This is an old picture, at about 49% completion.  I'm closer to 80% now, but the light is not camera-friendly.

I was really impressed with the scrubbing power of the Tribble tawashi my angel swapper sent me, so I'm trying to make one myself.  The first attempt was a dismal failure, but I'm hoping that casting on twice as many stitches this time will remedy the problem.  I have no idea what the problem was, but I'm optimistic that bigger is better.

No, I rarely make any kind of logical sense.

Other than that, I am knitting a rug for our kitchen.  I seem to have made some rather interesting mistakes in the cables, despite being about 4 rows in.  I believe I shall call it a design feature, or perhaps "something that will be hidden by the shoes piled on top of it."

Silas has a Hobbes.

Catching up

Hey, remember when this blog used to be about knitting?  Neither do I!  It's been an awful month, but here's some non-angsty stuff.

I knit a hat:

It's the Bloody Stupid Johnson hat from Knitty.  I think it makes my nose look huge.  I made it once before and it came out too small - this time I used worsted yarn instead of DK and it came out huge.  What was meant to be a beanie became a slouchy hat that just hangs off my head.  Ah well.  After the agonizing number of times that I had to rip out the cabled band to correct mistakes I'm not eager to try for a third hat.

On a whimsical note, I made this pin:

The blue base is made of strips cut out of a blue grocery bag, and the green bits are tabs from Lime-a-rita cans.  It's all mounted onto a safety pin, though unless I resurrect my crazy blue-and-lime-green outfit that I wore so many times in college, I'm not sure what I'll pin it to.

I also made a necklace and a hat to wear as part of a costume for Retro Day at work.  I was aiming for an early 70's look, but it turned out more late 60's flower child.  No pictures of the full ensemble yet, though the gal who shot one at work promised me a print when they're developed.

 The necklace is technically only half-finished, but I made it the night before I needed it and eventually I had to call it good enough.  I like the effect with the half-flowers, though, they look like leaves.  I may finish it or I may leave it as it is.

And I did FINALLY finish the Gazing at the Stars with Edmund shawl (Stargazing would have been a more succinct name, Ms. Horrowitz).

Please excuse the mess.  The shawl is pretty impressive-looking all laid out like this, but it's just about impossible to wear.  I knew it was impractical from the start, but I'm stubborn like that.

Jiji has some nasty looking abscesses on her neck now, because the poor thing didn't have enough problems.

Blah

My mind is all abuzz with the things I cannot say.  These little faltering attempts - what do they signify?

Jiji lost her kittens.  Four little bodies, fascinating and awful.  It was too soon.  Little kitten fetuses, with tiny claws.  Two of them had black noses already, like their mama.

The hundred other things weighing on my mind refuse to be typed up yet.  There's just poor Jiji, and . . .

I feel like a moth beating my wings against a window, trying to escape.  I feel like I've been poisoned.

Keeping secrets

Silas is asleep at the breast, Jiji is possibly having kittens under the bed, Theo is meowing at the window, Ryan is at work, and here I am, wishing I could run away.

I'm curious to see how it plays out.  Will there be another?  Was it just a temporary burst of madness?  I can relate to madness.

I've spent the day in a bit of a daze.  Part of it is hunger - there's very little food in the house as we try to coast by on what we have while we try to recover from unexpected expenses.  Dratted cars and their dratted alternators.  The rest, of course, is drama.

I try to avoid drama.  I find it exhausting.

Fighting back (or lashing out)

He drives me crazy.  He drives me bats.  I never should have let things come this far.  I knew it would be trouble from the very start, but I have a long history of ignoring red flags and letting my misguided heart take the reins.

Sensibility, thy name is Marianne.

You just make me so angry.  I'm so tired of being angry.  I'm tired of having this looming over my head.













































It's this feeling like everything I love is slipping out of my grasp, and there's nothing I can do to stop it, and if I even tried I'd break.  I am breaking.  I'm all run over with cracks, crumbling at the edges, just waiting for one good blow to finish the job.  These smiles are fragile.  These smiles are fake.

When did I get to be so good at faking it?  Must be retail.  Like answering the phone, I automatically put on my best polite voice and a nice smile to set you at your ease, and I can't answer back when you're rude.







































It's getting harder all the time.  It looms.  It lingers.  Even when I'm happiest, it's there, whispering in my ear that we're not all where we're supposed to be.  We'd rather be somewhere else.

I'd rather be dead.

I've never been given to violent impulses (lie) but it makes me want to burn their house down.  It makes







































I can't remember now.  It was such a big deal then.  I can remember standing in front of the mirror thinking about what a big deal it was.  I can remember being especially undecided about my hair.  I do remember my hair.  It was two braids, and on the advice of a friend I left them down instead of pinning them up.  There may have been ribbons.

I do remember what I wore then.  The black dress, the red skirt, the lace, the glower hiding behind the oh so fake polite mask, the absurd shoes.  In my head so unique, so set apart, so Susan, and you were so blah, and I wondered what it could possibly be.

I don't belong here.

It's such a waste of time.  I can disappear, and no one would notice.  Just vanish into the woodwork, into the hallway, out of your life, and you would be so much happier.

I'm a nice background, anyway.  A nice wallpaper.  Something pleasant to perk up the atmosphere of the room, but not much else.

How do I make myself matter?







































Homicide might do the trick.









































I hate you so much right now.  I wish I could leave town.  I wish you'd notice if I did.

I wish I could just get over this.

Well, it was fun for a while . . .

Swap package came today.  I guess my original swap partner disappeared, so I got an angel package.  It's really amazing that someone is willing to step up and send a second package to help mend someone else's dashed hopes.

Got this from my aunt Ann; not sure what it is, though.

Tidbits

The shawl of amazing enormousness and impracticality is entirely sewn up now, and I'm picking away at hiding the ends.  The 120 little ends . . .   This is what I get for trying to mix Star Trek with Jane Austen.  I have pretty much abandoned any hope of starting the other two projects that I had planned for the Starfleet Fiber Arts Corps, much less finishing them by the end of August.  It's the 25th already!  Four more months until Christmas!  How did this happen?

I did start the Bloody Stupid Johnson hat, and despite a few setbacks and a great deal of frogging, it's almost half-finished.  I don't think I'll finish it in time, but I just hope it fits this time.  I'm running out of regular-sized-headed friends to unload hats on.

I also started another design for a baby hat.  Technically it's a pattern that several other people have already designed, but not to the specification that I need, so I'm making my own.  It should be absurdly adorable, if a bit cliched by now.

It's also a surprise, so no peeking.

Fridays, Fridays

I wrote out a few depressing paragraphs, and then Jiji walked all over my keyboard and managed to erase it.  I'll take that as a sign.

  
She's a cunning kitty.

My swap package has been sent, and according to the tracking info, received, but I've gotten no confirmation from Ravelry.  Is she staring at the contents in disbelief, and too disgusted with my inept handling of the assignment to say anything?  Is everything sea green?  Is her internet out?  Does she have a life outside of Ravelry that is keeping her away?  No one told me swaps were so aggravating, argh . . .

Today was the deadline for sending things out, so I should be receiving a package sometime in the next week.  I'm so excited and curious to see what my partner picked out for me.  I hope it's purple, but I love all kinds of colors, so if it isn't purple I won't be at all disappointed.  I almost wish I'd said 'orange' and left it at that, just to open a box and see nothing but orange.  Orange is an unexpected color.  I love color.

I finally finished this darn bookmark.

Who knew second sock syndrome could be caught by such a small target?  My tension and row counts were inconsistent, so they don't quite match, but I'm just so happy to have another UFO off the board that I don't care.  It's a bookmark.  I'm happy.

Since that didn't take up all of my Wednesday, I also wove all the ends in on Jenn's finished mitten, and worked a couple more rows on the thumb of the unfinished one.  Have I mentioned that I hate those mittens?  I'm so glad I don't have to work on them again until next Thursday.  On the bright side, it's been so crisp and cool in the mornings that working on mittens is sounding charming again.  I can't wait to get back to work on my Hermione mittens.  I wish I had taken better notes (or any notes at all . . . ) on the first one.  I'm more or less starting from scratch with the second, except for the knowledge that I added eight stitches to begin with, and I can read cables pretty competently.  There's going to be some guesswork, though, and that makes me antsy.

Silas is rolling over these days.

He doesn't really look where he's going yet.

This pain that never goes away

I took Silas to the car show in town today.  I don't know anything about cars, but we walked up and down the streets, and I said, "There's a red one, and a blue one, and a white one . . ."

Someone shouted my name and came running up.  I can't remember her name for the life of me, but she was in my childbirth class when I was pregnant with Gabriel.  She congratulated me on the new baby and we chatted for a bit, and I tried not to stare too much at her little boy.  Gabriel would be his age, give or take a couple weeks.  Gabriel would be scrambling out of his stroller, and toddling along the street holding his daddy's hand.  Gabriel would be so big . . .

He's been on my mind for the past couple days.  I had to take a bathroom break at work yesterday to cry it out.  I've grown another year older without him today, and it doesn't feel like a very happy birthday.

He's always there, of course.  He's all over this house.  I carry him with me everywhere, and he's in Silas, too

Time Capsule

I was going through my old 'scrapbook' this evening.  I loved the idea of scrapbooking as a child, and I made one by scotch-taping every letter (and envelope) I received onto pages of computer paper and putting them in a trapper keeper.  Very linear, very left-brained.  My stamp collection is in there too, consisting of the stamps that I cut out of every piece of postage that entered our house, scotch-taped onto sheets of computer paper.  I didn't really get the concept of stamp collecting, either, but I was very pleased with it.

I really did save every letter and card I was sent, and anything else flat or nearly flat was taped in there, too, including a piece of the grungy old cardboard box that our Christmas tree was kept in before Mom finally made Dad throw it away and buy a plastic tub instead.  I was very resistant to any kind of change.

As I reached the last few pages, I found an envelope addressed to myself from myself, with a teddy bear sticker with 'stamp edges' in the right hand corner, and I was surprised to find that it had a letter sealed inside.  It's written in aquamarine colored ink on a page torn out of a spiral notebook in my wobbly handwriting, dated September 17, 2000.  I would have been 13, in eighth grade.  Spelling and punctuation are preserved.

Dear Me, (only 10 years older)

  Hi!  You remember me, don't you?  Somewhat pudgy girl, dark shoulder length hair, hazel eyes, 5'4, glasses?
  Is Miriska still around?  Do you still argue with her?
  What was college like?  Do you remember any Spanish?  Remember Esther, and Adventureland?
  What's your husband like?  Is he everything I imagined he'd be?  How many kids so far?
  Do you still talk to yourself?  Chew on things?  Where is Mom and Dad?  Phillip and Nathan?
  Do you remember how you used to wonder what Leukemia would be like?  Please tell me you never got it!
  Are you still forgetfull?
  What sort of job do you have?  Do you still have that rare sense of humor?  Do you still sing?  If you listen hard enough can you still hear people singing the song stuck in your head long after the radio is turned off?
  The potter's class you planned on taking, how did it turn out?
  Do all your daughters (Allana, Miriska, etc.) have long beutifull hair in gorgeous braids and twists?  Or is it kept short, because they can't take the pain of the brush?
  Are your ears peirced?  Do you still suffer through every period?  Please tell me you found an alternative to those terrible diapers you had to wear during the night.
  What do you look like?  Mom?  Or a gorgeus super model?
  Did you ever get the twins you hoped for?  What do your children look like?
  Have you taken a plane ride yet?
  I have to go now.  Dreaded Math Homework awaits.

Love,
You

P.S.  What happened to Melanie


I think I deserve some answers, don't you?

Dear Me, (12 years ago)

Hello!  I do remember you, sweetheart.  I remember you very well.  I see the unasked questions in your description, too.  I'm still 'pudgy,' quite a bit more so, perhaps, but I have some lovely curves, fantastic cleavage, and very sexy legs.  Can you believe I actually use those words now without feeling the slightest bit racy?  You're right - I still feel embarrassed every time I say them.  My hair is shoulder-length again - I let it grow long enough to sit on, and then I got bored of it (yes, I really did), and I cut it several times.  I'm letting it grow out again, though.  I never dyed it fully, but I tried putting some red in it once.  It didn't work - as usual you could only see a red cast when I was in direct sunlight.  I finished out at 5'6 and 1/2".  I remember how badly you wanted to be 6' tall, but believe me when I say it wouldn't have been worth it.  I wore contacts all through high school and college, but right now I can't afford them, so I'm back to glasses.  They're just geeky enough, and I honestly think I look a little better in them in most days than I look without them.

Miriska is gone; shall we say retired instead?  I've finally outgrown my imaginary friends, but if it's any consolation, they hung on almost all the way through college.

College was unexpected.  I wasn't ready to go, and I didn't take full advantage of my time there.  I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up.  I remember a fair amount of Spanish, and I practice it a little at work, but I haven't really applied it enough to maintain full retention of everything I learned.  I took Japanese and Sign Language in college instead of continuing with Spanish, so that didn't help.  I do remember Esther and Adventureland, and here's a happy surprise for you - it wasn't the only time you'd ever get to go to Adventureland!  You go again with your youth group, and this time you get to go on the really scary rollercoasters, and you entirely avoid the Tornado.

My husband's name is Ryan, and Amber was right when she said that he'd be entirely unexpected.  He's BLOND, and wears glasses.  She was wrong about the freckles, though.  He has lots of moles, which is close.  He's just under 6' tall, but it's enough.  He isn't really the dark, brooding, vaguely dangerous anti-hero you were expecting, and no, he isn't Scott Swenson.  He can dance, and he's outgoing, and he's just a little bit preppy.  I'm not joking one bit.  He's absurdly romantic and sweet, and sometimes I just shake my head and wonder how this happened.  We've had two children so far, but only one is alive.  I know it's hard to imagine, but think of Kevin, and the infant mortality rates of Victorian and pioneer children, and it will make a little more sense.  It happens.  It was like Kevin.

I don't talk to myself as much, but I desperately want to most days.  I've reached a point in my life where I'm a little less comfortable convincing people that I'm crazy, but I miss it.  I don't chew pens into paintbrushes anymore, and I'm a little too germ-conscious to stick everything in my mouth, but it hasn't stopped me entirely.

Mom and Dad are still together and alive, and Nathan is living with them.  They're in an apartment in Cedar Rapids.  A lot has happened to Dad in the past four years, but I'm not going to tell you about it.  Somehow it's even worse than losing our first baby.  You know something about babies dying, but I can't tell you about Dad.  You were always afraid that he'd die in an accident, but he didn't.  He never had a single accident.  He's still alive, he's still mentally alert, and he's happy, but a lot has changed.

Phillip joined the National Guard, but he's finished with that and now he's working construction in the carpenter's union.  He's living in his own house in Cedar Rapids.  He's not married yet, nor does he have a girlfriend, but he's pretty much the coolest person you know.  Take a look at your younger brother right now, and imagine him as cool.  Hard, isn't it?  

Nathan is a world away from the Nathan you know now.  He's still not normal, but he's more high-functioning than ever, and he has a personality and a voice.  A James Earl Jones voice, oddly enough.  He's into acting, and anime, and vampires.  

Leukemia.  Wow.  Those Lurlene McDaniel books, right?  No, I didn't get cancer in the last twelve years, and I pray to God I never do.  

Still forgetful, yes, but I wish I could remember what prompted you to ask.

I'm working at Wal-Mart in customer service, and it isn't terrible.  My sense of humor is still rare, and I sing whenever I can, though I'm aware now that I'm not very good.  I haven't been able to hear the music in a long time, but I also haven't tried in a while, either.

I took ceramics in high school, and it was . . . disappointing.  I didn't like the teacher, and once again, strangely enough, my best piece was ruined by that darn aboriginal art style they were so hell-bent on teaching us.  I'm sorry, baby girl, but we have no eye for movement.

I don't have any daughters yet, only sons.

My ears are pierced now - you didn't have to wait too long.  Ironically, I almost never wear earrings anymore.  The last time I tried they itched like crazy and then the baby tried ripping them out.

I haven't had a period in over a year now, thanks to pregnancy and nursing.  It did get more manageable over time.  It's less of a bloodbath at night, so no more Depends, I promise.  Single most embarrassing admission ever.  

I look like myself.  Not as pretty perhaps as when I was 22, but there you have it.  I look as much like Mom as ever but no more than ever, and I can honestly say I haven't seen any supermodels that I want to look like, so that's okay.

No twins yet!  Thank goodness, one was expensive enough.  Gabriel David Hanson was a beautiful baby with dark wavy hair and perfect hands and feet and such a tragic little broken body.  Silas Robert Hanson is absolutely adorable, and you'll love this - a redhead.  Straight hair, unfortunately, but enormous eyes that range from turquoise to dark blue depending in the light, and the longest eyelashes ever.  His eyebrows are just about invisible.  He also has the fattest cheeks you could ever wish for on a baby (and you will).

No, I still have not been on an airplane yet.

It's been so much fun chatting with you.  Good luck with the Dreaded Math Homework - you get to be pretty good at it.

Love,
Me

PS:  Melanie, strangely enough, became a bartender in Chicago.  Possibly an old maid, and she posts pictures of herself in bikinis on the internet.  I don't know.  We haven't really talked in years.  I still have all of her letters.  I wonder if she has ours.

Unfinished Thursdays

I've cheated today and continued working on my swap package instead of anything outstanding from my UFO list, but here at least is a thing I finished on a past Thursday.  It was a SquiPod iPod cozy for my Zen mp3 player, but I got bored of making i-cord tentacles not long after I started it, and then I retired the Zen, and it got tossed around the house a lot, but I finally finished all the legs, embroidered on some eyes, stuffed it with a nice crinkly bag, and a wee bit of catnip, and voila - new favorite cat toy.

No Better than Usual

Still trying to get to a place in my life where I can blog regularly.

The baby, he is growing.

So, I made him another hat.  Same pattern, with an extra increase round, an extra body round, and a slight mod to the brim so it wouldn't be super-ruffly.  Ryan was disappointed that I didn't leave it as a beanie, but I'm trying to keep the sun off my son, not make him look stylish.  That just happens naturally.

The cats still don't know what to make of him.  Theo is convinced that Silas is stealing the best seat in the house.

Everyone loves the swing.

In other knitting news, I joined a swap on Ravelry, right before I discovered that babies break the bank.  However, I've pressed on, and managed to avoid overspending.  As it turns out I have lots of things around the house that suit the theme.  The theme is Rainbow, which boils down to picking a color that your partner likes and filling a package with things that are all that color.  Pictures will have to wait, to keep things secret, but I had a lot of fun picking them out/making them.

Some other things I'm working on, since it's work in progress Wednesday:

A 'whimsical' shawl, as my husband described it, made up of various sizes of crocheted stars, from Austentatious Crochet by Melissa Horozewski.

Pictured before I finished all the stars.  Now they're all made, and about 1/3 assembled, and it's a daunting thought that I'll ever have all the ends woven in someday.  I hate it with great intensity, but hopefully I'll mellow out once it's finished and actually wear it.

I'm also making myself a purse out of granny squares.

Speaking of weaving in ends....

Ramblings

I'd just like it on the record that I liked Doctor Who before ANY OF YOU.

This is of course an exaggeration, but thanks to my dad having watched the show in its Tom Baker heyday, I was introduced to it a good ten years before the reboot, and I find myself looking at the explosion of fandom going, "Where were you when the foundations of the earth were laid?"

Because I'm dramatic like that.

Speaking of explosions, my mother and my sister have apparently decided to out all of our family crazy on Facebook.  Other people can read that, ladies.  No one can follow it, since you're nearly as accomplished as I am at being as vague as something unspecific, but please.  You're scaring the cats.

It was a delightful part of my recovery following Gabriel's demise that I was able to distract myself from being depressed by instead being annoyed at the drama llama that moved into my house for two weeks, arguing about how much popcorn you can eat before it makes you fat.  Please, shout at each other more!  I don't want to hear myself think.

I have a small chip on my shoulder, in the sense that Australia is a small continent.  (Sorry, Australia).  This may be their way of bonding.  I prefer Scrabble.

I'm kind of a brat.  Bring on the sauerkraut.

Sunny Days

Silas likes to go for walks - they instantly calm down a very fussy baby like nothing else.  The temperature in Iowa has been soaring of late, which makes for great walking weather, but also great sunburn weather.  What's a mom to do when it's too hot for her collection of wool and acrylic baby hats, and the summer hats fit like this?

Obviously, design a cotton bucket hat.  There probably exist patterns for baby bucket hats, but I decided to challenge myself a little.  

So, here it is - my first pattern:

Baby Bucket Hat for Sunny Days

Materials:

One skein of 100% cotton worsted-weight yarn - I used Peaches and Creme Denim
H hook. I crochet very tightly, so if you are a loose crocheter, try an F hook instead
Tapestry needle to weave in ends

Pattern: 

Make 6 single crochet in a magic loop

The crown is worked in continuous spirals without joining. You can use a stitch marker in the first stitch to keep track of the rounds' beginning, but I just count stitches

Crown:

Round 1: 2 sc in each sc around (12 sts)
Round 2: Sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc, repeat around (18 sts)
Round 3: Sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc, repeat around (24 sts)
Round 4: Sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, repeat around (30 sts)
Round 5: Sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc in next sc, repeat around (36 sts)
Round 6: Sc in next 5 sts, 2 sc in next sc, repeat around (42 sts)
Round 7: Sc in next 6 sts, 2 sc in next sc, repeat around (48 sts)
Round 8: Sc in next 7 sts, 2 sc in next sc, repeat around, sl st in next sc to join (54 sts)

Body:

Round 9: Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), working in back loops only, hdc in each sc around, join in second ch of first hdc
Rounds 10-14: Ch 2, hdc around, join

Brim:

Round 15: Ch 2, working in back loops only hdc in same st, hdc in next st, *2 hdc in next st, hdc in next hdc, repeat from around, join
Round 16: Ch 2, hdc around, join
Round 17: Ch 2, hdc in same st, hdc in next two sts, *2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, repeat from * around, join
Round 18: Ch 2, hdc around, join

Fasten off, weave in ends

Options: For a larger hat to fit an older baby, add one or more rounds to the crown and body of the hat, or use a larger hook 
Crochet the last round or two before the brim in a contrasting color for a classic hat-band look
For a more ruffly, girly style, change Round 15 to “2 hdc in every st,” and replace Round 17 with Round 15's original directions (increase every other st). This would look very cute with a flower embellishment sewed to the body.  All girls' hats should have a giant flower tacked onto them.

Friday at last!

 I accomplished things today.  I went grocery shopping, paid my insurance, set up an installment plan for those pesky hospital bills, fixed an issue on Silas's coverage, and set up an appointment to meet with a possible daycare provider.

As for finished objects for the week, you've seen the bag:

And the bookmark:

Both of which leave me giddy with feelings of fulfillment.  I need to put my beloved kindle aside for a while and read a real book so that I can put the bookmark to use.

Other than that, I have only finished these:

I'm torn between naming her Wilhelmina and calling her Billie for Billie Piper, or naming her Elizabeth and calling her one of the 30 odd nicknames that would provide.  Anyway, real quick dress and shrug pattern so that she's no longer running around naked, made from more leftovers of the Great Knitted Thing of 2006.  The shrug came out a little odd and doesn't fit her at all well, but shrugs are like that anyway, in my opinion.  While crocheting it I watched the first few episodes of the second season of Dark Shadows.  Soap operas were different in the 60's, weren't they?

Wrapping up

This edition of WIP Wednesday is brought to you on Thursday courtesy of fussy babies everywhere.

I restarted the Belle Ruffle gloves in blue and white, since I have lots and lots of Caron Simply Soft leftover from when I cosplayed as Rinoa way back in 2006, a time when I believed I could knit anything, no matter how big and crazy.

Also when my hair was long.  I miss my long hair.  Right up until I remember having to wash it.

I cast on enough stitches to make one more ruffle, which gives me a little more wiggle room for my giant hands.  Once I'd finished the ruffly portion, I showed it to my husband, who said he didn't like it.

He said it had been better in the pink and gray, more feminine.  I agreed that I wasn't in love with the new colors, but decided to ask Ravelry just to be sure.  Ravelry said my husband is crazy, so trusting the goodwill of random internet strangers, and the fact that we were on the golf course and I don't golf, I plowed ahead.

It is pretty darn cute, I think.  Reminds me of Disney's Alice in Wonderland.  Blue dress, white pinafore, all that.  Back then, blue was the color for girls, while manly red-shades like pink were for boys.

I also started another dishcloth (crazy, I know) for the sake of Ravelry.  It's a nice balance of mindless and complex.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled UFO Thursday.

I finally finished the Everlasting Bagstopper.  The handle is nice, sturdy single crochet, the ends are woven in, the cats approves.

If you look closely you can even see the second cat in those shots.  Camera-friendly Jiji is not.

Finally, all in one day I managed to finish the crocheted bookmark.

 Thread crochet is a bit tedious when it isn't lacy; it takes forever to see any length appear.  The end result is very nice, however - imagine squashing a worsted-weight bookmark in between the pages.  Yick.

 On the non-crafty side of life, Ryan and I celebrated our 2-year anniversary.  He bought me flowers.

Then we opened our hospital bills, agreed never to buy flowers again, and told Silas he was going to have to get a job.

Anyone know of any openings for a professional milk-taster?