Yesterday sucked. It was productive. But it sucked.

I finished Olivia’s backpack. I am still singing beautiful Yvette’s praises for sewing a liner for me. I made the button holes yesterday (for the first time EVER! I am very proud of myself), and knit and felted the i cord to hold it all together. Then I pieced the straps together and sewed on the button. It looks cute, and the liner adds quite a sense of legitimacy to the whole thing. I will include a picture, hopefully tomorrow. (I’m a little concerned about it having that “homemade” look, as opposed to the “handmade” look. Good thing she’s only 5.)

Poor Abigail is using last year’s backpack today. Fortunately, she doesn’t seem to mind. The sweet thing believes that I am going to finish hers as soon as possible, and that’s enough to satisfy her.

I received the meathead kits (see button in side bar) on Monday night, and look forward to knitting them. It looks like I have three hats worth of yarn. She included a packet of herbal tea in each kit, isn’t that cute? What a fun project.

And finally, I’m leaving you with something fun. I’m hoping this isn’t infringing on any copyright laws. I don’t think so, as no one is making, or losing any money by my using it. If anything, it is free advertising. So……. isn’t this hilarious?

this is a card I bought for Nate last Valentine’s Day. Check out what it says on the inside…

This kills me. I thought it was SO funny, and then I saw the back….

I died laughing. I didn’t even see the back ’til I was writing in it and ran out of room.

But before we get into that, I have a couple items of business to take care of. First of all, the quote from Friday’s post is at the end of the Cave Troll scene in Fellowship of the Ring. Second, I have not been receiving all of my email at the address attached to my site. If you want to contact me, or have contacted me and haven’t received a response when one was warranted, then please try me again at poormissfinchATmacDOTcom. I never ignore anyone on purpose.

Excellent. So on to my crazy yesterday.

I was reading Fluffa! yesterday morning, and had a sick feeling in my stomach when I read that the final day for the Bucket Hat knitalong contest was today. I had signed up to participate, and had no hat. Ignoring the fact that I have school backpacks to complete before Wednesday, I quickly scanned the stash and grabbed some old cotton yarn that my friend Gayle gave me recently, I believe from her late Grandmother’s collection. The following is an account of my mad dash attempt at completing a Bottom’s Up bucket hat for the knit along.

9:20 am- Read Becky’s site and realized I was in for it.

9:23-10:00 am- contemplated whether or not I really wanted to do what I was about to do.

10:00 am- raided the stash

and wound first skein of selected yarn into a ball. (Check out that label! I wonder how old it is?)

10:17 am- cast on a size small for Veronica. Smaller heads make for quicker knitting.

11:00 am- got Veronica out of bed.

finished brim to hat.

realized that in my haste, I had neglected to double the yarn for the brim. Oh well, no turning back now.

11:30 am- really finished brim, as I added another set of decrease rows.

11:32 am- bathroom break, no toilet paper.

11:35 am- discovered that I didn’t have a size 7, 16 inch circular needle. We’re continuing with size 6.

12:15 pm- tried the hat on Veronica for the first time to make sure it is even close to the right size as I didn’t take the time to swatch gauge.

12:20 pm- resumed knitting.

12:35 pm- changed Veronica’s diaper, brushed Olivia’s hair.

1:30 pm- finished hat band, took picture.

2:00 pm- ran out of first skein of yarn, wound second.

2:05 pm- joined new yarn and resumed knitting.

2:25 pm- switched to double pointed needles (closing the top).

2:28 pm- fed girls lunch.

2:45 pm- completed knitting the hat. Begin weaving in ends.

2:50 pm- ALL DONE!!!!!

3:20 pm- final photo shoot.

I think this will be the official photo I enter into the contest. Since I believe I have all day to decide, let me know if you disagree. I will include more highlights from the photo shoot in the link that follows.

I’ve enjoyed this wild and crazy ride. I’m glad I was able to fulfill my obligation as a knit alonger, and thanks to Becky for inspiring me!

Two days left before school starts. I’m guessing that at least one of the girls will be traveling to school on the first day with last year’s backpack. My (hopefully) realistic goal is to have them both done by next Monday. Abigail’s will need to be blocked to be finished “properly”. Olivia’s needs many things, but while I was glancing through Knit one, Felt too at Barnes & Noble a couple nights ago, I read some interesting stuff on how to fix a felted project gone wrong, so I’m thinking there’s hope. Plus, I had a good friend over Saturday night and she really liked it. That was encouraging.

I’m feeling the need to knit something for myself. I’m not sure what yet. There have been many, many “projects of my desire” discussed here recently, so there is a lot to choose from. There are a few projects I have waiting to be finished still, and I will do them. I’m just declaring that I would like my next project to be for me. I think that, more importantly, I would like my next project to be something I can knit without any stress attached. No deadlines. No “kind soul who was willing to purchase yarn so I could knit something beautiful” waiting for the finished object to arrive. Nothing hanging over me. Yes, that’s what I want. I’ve been knitting birthday gifts, school backpacks, the sweater for my mom that I’d like to get to her while the season is still right….. I need an experiment in frivolity. The highly practical side of me has been winning recently, and I’m desperate to fight back.

So, the flap, the flap, tell me about the flap!

Okay, I think I’m almost done. I’ve been thinking that for awhile, and yet, here I remain, knitting the flap. Seriously though, I am getting close. I have to be. For many reasons, I have to be. Here’s a picture, since I can’t think of anything else to say that isn’t begging and pleading with the Powers That Be to let me be done knitting this flap.

I’ve begun weaving ends in my down time. There are many ends (that is the consequence of stripes, you know), and due to the nature of this stitch (which I still like after all this time), it is going to take a very long time. Right, and the first day of school is Wednesday. I need a massage.

Sugar cookies. Coffee-less Frappuccinos. Late night grilled panini. Yup, yesterday must have been Friday. I didn’t realize until many weeks of writing Health Group that Friday’s seem to be a bit of a party day for me. Statistically, it’s been my worst workout day, and I seem to eat yummier things on Fridays than the rest of the week. Considering that, I think that Saturday is probably a really bad day to officially monitor my weight. However, I am stubborn, and will continue to do so.

This morning, I am still denied. 1/2 pound from being able to officially declare 20 pounds lost. Still, considering all things, I’m pretty stoked I’m 225.5. I would deserve a couple extra pounds this week, so I’ll take what I can get.

Monday, I did physical therapy and weights.
Tuesday, likewise.
Wednesday, the same, once again.
Thursday, I did nothing, justifying it by telling myself I’d make sure to do Friday and Saturday.
Friday, I did nothing, which blows my Thursday’s justification out the window.
Today, I hope to do both upper and lower weights, and manage to get aerobics in somehow. I’m not sure if any of that is going to happen. I am not feeling well. I’ve had headaches for a week and a half, and I’m having some serious discomfort in the left side of my low back. This is what kept me from working out yesterday, and it might affect today as well.

On a more positive note, I may have a lead on a treadmill. My sister-in-law has been wanting to get rid of hers because she, like me, wants an elliptical. It would be sooooo nice to have an aerobic machine here at the house so I could get aerobics in while the husband is at work and I’m here with the girls.

And now a bit about food- I’m still not eating very much because I’m still not that hungry. (You can just be quiet about yesterday. I don’t want to hear it.) There are a few schools of thought that I am aware of.
One, is that you should be constantly consuming healthy calories to keep your blood sugar steady.
Another, is that you need a lot of calories to enable your body to burn fat instead of storing it.
And then there’s the theory that the fewer calories you consume, the more your body will burn from fat stores. That last one, I know for sure, isn’t fail-safe. There are many other factors that contribute. I don’t know what to do. I’ve been hanging here at around 226 for awhile. I’m tired of it. I don’t know whether to eat more or less, or to continue to listen to my body and eat based on that.

Want to know what I am happy about? My cheekbones are more prominent and my neck looks taller and thinner. This is good.

So, how’s it going out there? The floor is now yours.

Still plugging along. I’m thinking now that I did the eyelets too low. Oh well.

I went to the LYS yesterday and picked up a pair of size 19 Clovers in anticipation of materials arriving for Larissa’s knit up. They are freaking huge. Check this out.

You could “spear a wild boar” with those things! (Anyone know what that‘s referencing?)
UPDATE- I misquoted, sorry. After there was some interest in the comments, I watched to double check, and it is “skewered a wild boar”. Sorry. I’m still not telling. I’m having fun at this point.

Tomorrow is Health Group. It remains to be seen whether or not I’ll have any official weight declarations. I wouldn’t suggest holding your breath.

I had a fabulous time at the S’nB meeting last night. What a neat group of women. I think there were a total of 7 of us there, possibly 8, I don’t recall exactly. It is so enjoyable to knit in company. And the seating was very nice. Let’s just say that there won’t be a soft leather couch like that in my house for a very, very long time. Little children and baby soft leather don’t coexist peaceably without incident. I finished the eyelets on Abigail’s backpack. I’m not it love with them, but they are functional, I don’t know how I’d do them better, and I don’t care enough to frog. Did I mention that the first day of school is in ONE WEEK!!!? I can’t believe it. I’m confident that I can have Abby’s bp done by then, but I’m not so sure about Olivia’s. I’m glad she’s too young to read right now because she wouldn’t be happy about what I’m about to say….. I don’t like hers. It bugs me. It is too narrow, too thick, and the straps are a catastrophe. I do believe that once it is all finished and I find a way to get the straps right, I will like it better than I do now. I just don’t see that happening in the next week.

I did laundry and some of Abby’s backpack yesterday, though not enough to make for an exciting picture. You’ll get one anyway. I have just started the experimental eyelets. I’m going with triple yarnovers, and I’m not sure yet if I’m going to slip them a row or not. I think I’ll start out that way, and we’ll see what happens.

(There’s a hole there!)

There is a S’nB group that meets about 30 minutes south of me on Wednesday nights. I was invited awhile ago by Sharlyn, who I have only corresponded with through the blogs, but I have not yet been able to attend. Barring something unforeseen and inconvenient, I plan on going tonight. This will be the first time I’ve been to anything like it and I’m looking forward to it.

I didn’t get much knitting done yesterday. I was pouty, and I’m not sure why. I didn’t get much of anything done other than meals and weightlifting. The weights felt good, and brought me up out of my grumpiness temporarily, but it didn’t last. Monday is laundry day, and that was neglected as well. I’m sad to say that today my poor, sweet husband has no socks.

Nate is looking for a better job. His current employers are agents of the devil, (I have proof), and he’s trying to get out. Unfortunately, Seattle is currently a depressed market for designers, even handsome, charming, and incredibly talented designers :-), so he has expanded his job search across the country. There are a lot of design jobs in New York it would seem, and one of them contacted him yesterday. It’s all preliminary stuff right now, so we don’t know much about the job, but it still makes one think of what it would be like to move the home, kids, dog and fish all the way to NYC. I shudder, to be quite honest. I love Seattle. I love the people that are a part of my everyday life. I love living close to an abundance of my husband’s family. I love my little house. And for those of you who have been reading awhile, you all know how I feel about Dennis & Julie, and Gayle. Who knows what will happen? I just hope something good happens very soon. Regardless of whether I’m in Seattle, New York, San Francisco, or Jamaica, I can still blog!

To add some color to today’s post, I’ve snapped some photos of another passion of mine. Fish. My fish. I really love my fish. They are beautiful. Meet Lucias, Jane, and Alexander. (In that order). They are between 8 and 9 inches long right now.

Nothing exciting this morning, but that’s what I’ve got. Here’s hoping I have a better day today, am wildly productive, and earn myself some glorious “kick back and knit” time. Have a great day!

I’m almost done with the main body of Abigail’s backpack.

How do you like the colors? I’m still loving the texture. I think I might be up for making myself another purse! Yeah, add it to the list. I need to finish Abby’s and Olivia’s backpack before school starts, I just signed up for the Knitup that Larissa is hosting* which has a deadline in September, there’s mom’s sweater, Olivia and Veronica’s best friend dolls, my brother-in-law who is currently in Italy wants me to knit him up a purse/satchel type thing (isn’t that cute?), I’d love to host a knit along this fall for my slip stitch garter hats, and I know I’m forgetting a number of others . Lots to do.

*(Please note the button in my sidebar. Ahem, this is the first button I have ever installed and I did most of the work myself! The hubby helped me finish it up, as I couldn’t get the image to show. I needed to change the code from whatever format it was in to an absolute path to the image. Now I know. BUT, hehe, I was a code monkey again! Hooray for me!)

Yvette (from France), who has been commenting for a few months on the site sent me a liner for Olivia’s backpack in a perfect-match purple, plus additional fabric to make one for Abby, plus a wonderful smelling cake of lavender soap, plus some yummy french candy! Can you believe it? What a sweetheart. Thanks Yvette! I hope you are enjoying your vacation!

And for Grandma….. click the link for some pictures of Veronica hamming it up!