Although, if you can believe it, Abner DID actually throw up yesterday morning. It was the weirdest instance of irony that has happened to ME lately. It appears that he and Abby are better now, and no one else has shown signs of illness.

I worked on Lauralund again yesterday. I seamed the body pieces and have nearly completed the first sleeve. It’s much, much bigger around than I intended. I don’t know why. I did a really big, really good swatch. I tell you, swatches lie. I’ve ranted about this before. Stephanie has declared it as fact, so you know it has to be true. She’s the goddess.

So, as I said, it is very large, and a little short. I’m thinking this will simply mean that it fits now, as opposed to being a little snug, with room for me to shrink, as I originally intended. As of now, I don’t care. It’s experimental anyway.

I also bound off the Flower Basket Shawl yesterday. I had only finished the first chart, but hadn’t doubled the yarn, and I was working on a smaller needle. I wasn’t very happy with it. So now it’s a swatch, and I’m going to start again.

For the sake of visual interest…

I don’t think I posted any Halloween pictures, other than the pumpkins. Wanna see what my sweet little bunny rabbit turned into after an evening of trick-or-treating?

I’m happy to say that she’s fully recovered. Must have been something she ate.

I finished my flower for the Flowerswap! Introducing…

my very good friend, who will remain nameless on account of being quite internet shy-

(and sweetie, you don’t need to worry about being recognized, because when Nate came home and saw the picture on the monitor, he thought it was me).

Isn’t she lovely? And how ’bout that pin disguised as a hairclip? (It isn’t quite as humongous as it appears). My Flowerswap partner lives in Hawaii, and while the flower itself isn’t overly tropical, I felt that I’d show it to you in such a way that would maintain the spirit of where it’s headed! Quite frankly, I wish that I was heading there this week as well. But even though I am not, I’ve caught the flower knitting bug. This one came together very quickly. I want some. In fact, I want many, to wear in my hair. Not Hawaiian style, as my beautiful friend displays, but on the back of my head, under the bun that seems to now permanently reside there. Also, I think these flowers would be an excellent birthday present alternative to the Best Friend Dolls that always seem to take an entire week to complete. Yes, I think I’m going to keep an eye out for good flower yarns now.

I know, there was more to the title of this entry than just flowers. I’ve been working on Lauralund again. The front is blocking under my piano right now. I don’t have a picture of that for you, mainly because it looks identical to the photo I showed you recently of blocking the back. I’ve begun the first sleeve, having no clue how this is going to turn out. It is completely made up, other than imitating the basic construction of the original Klaralund. The sizing, the stitch patterns, the yarn weight… I am not experienced enough to be doing this. I take comfort in the fact that it is a simply constructed sweater, but I’ve never knit a sweater for ME before. Adds to the excitement I guess.

Finally, the stomach flu. Yes, Abby has it. I’m guessing it’s only a matter of time before it works its way around the household. Right now, I am feeling very grateful that 85 pound, adolescent golden retrievers don’t catch human stomach bugs. I just don’t think I could handle that.

Good morning! I did better this week!

Monday, I did weights and 50 minutes of treadmill.
Tuesday and Wednesday, I did treadmill.

That’s it for exercise, but I’m still happy with it. I hope to do better next week. I’ve been eating too much gingerbread and skipping meals. There’s definitely room for improvement there.

I’m a little distracted right now, as we have a friend over to look at our roof, which has been leaking for many months, and we’ve just been told that our sub-roofing, on more than half of our house, is molding. As in, we are completely screwed. I’m not very happy right now.

Are any of you successfully avoiding the dietary pitfalls of this time of year?

Time to look around the knit-along and see the Haydens!

Karen has finished one for her, and one for her daughter. You’ll need to scroll down to December 12th. Cute! And, drum roll please…. The one, the only, the charming and lovely Miss Hayden has completed her Hayden! (I really get a kick out of that). Ignore the fact that her picture is blurry. This is really cool.

Anyone else have anything to report?

So, I worked on my mohair flower at the birthday party yesterday. I finished all five petals. It’s cute.

Notice how the variegation in the petals nearly all match? That wasn’t remotely intentional. It kind of wigs me out, actually.

I now have ten ends to weave in. I need to connect the petals, create some sort of bobble thing for the center, and knit a leaf. I probably could have completed it, but I spent 5 hours baking gingerbread houses yesterday with my friend Jennifer. Yes, it was insane. We mixed 3 double batches of dough. We cut and baked 24 houses, and then some neighbor girls came over to assist, and I had them start on the miniature trees, reindeer, santas and sleighs, stars, snowflakes, etc. we use for landscape enhancement. I have no kitchen table right now. I have a mountain of gingerbread.

Mom just called as I was about to post this entry, and said that she loves her sweater! (Huge sigh of relief). I’m SO glad. She is going to have a picture taken so I can post it. I’m glad I made the smallest size. The width came up a little smaller than the pattern measurements, and she said it is still a tad roomy. (Must be nice). Some of you may recall, I was going back and forth as to which size to make. But enough of that.

WOO-HOO! The sweater fits!

I didn’t knit a stitch yesterday, so first thing this morning, I sat down and started a new flower.

I am taking it with me to a birthday party soon, and I intend to get more done while surrounded by wild, birthday monkeys.

Abby lost her first tooth last night.

The tooth fairy, who in this case, was male, was generous. Abby woke up to a $5 bill. Now, I admit that a quarter doesn’t really amount to much, you can’t even make a phone call with one anymore, but $5? She scored. Nate says that it’s extra special, because it’s the first.

The list of sweaters I want to knit for myself is growing. After seeing Jessica knit the Big Sack sweater from S&B, I gave it a second look. I think I want one. I also want the Hoodie from the same book, and the Ribby Cardi. I need yarn.

That’s right. It’s 10 days ’til Christmas, and I haven’t been doing any knitting to speak of. Blast. My top priority right now is getting the flower done for the flower swap. I haven’t worked on it since blogging about it a couple weeks ago. My goal for today is to do my exercise first, then color my hair and shower, (we’re talking over an inch of grow-out, and MERCY, I’ve got some gray hairs. Silver, actually. They catch the light and shine. If the whole head would go silver, that’d be cool. Until that happens, I’m coloring.), and then, I’m going to knit. After the flower, I’d like to work some more on Olivia’s doll. The body is done. I need to stuff it, sew it, add appendages, and then work on clothes. If I get all that done, I’ll retire and move to Mexico.

My beautiful, wonderful, generous and amazing friend Michal (the one that was beautiful, wonderful, generous and amazing a week ago when she took my children and made me dinner), took me to lunch yesterday, then came over and helped me clean my house for an hour and a half. She rocks, yes, but this also means that my house is clean enough that I can spend an afternoon knitting without feeling guilty or suffering for it later. This is a good thing, because my back has flared up and I want to die. Knitting will do me good.

So hopefully, you’ll see a neat flower or two tomorrow, and not a tribble. :-). If I’m lucky, you’ll also see another Christmas doll.

That’s me and my scarf.

There were multiple factors contributing to the less than ideal pictures that were taken yesterday. The first is that a five year old can’t really hold a camera still while the shutter is open. Second, on a darkish, gray day, if you get a lot of sky in the shot, everything else will be significantly underexposed. Third, it was raining.

On the plus side, Olivia had a grand ol’ time taking my picture, and it was extremely cute running back to the computer with her so she could see what she had done. She’s very proud, and I’m proud of her. Thanks, girl.

It looks like another knit-along is in the works. I’ve had quite a bit of interest in the afghan I linked awhile ago. It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? Sometime after the first of the year, I’m going to start it. I will probably offer to host a knit-along, if there continues to be interest. Right now, I’m keeping an eye out for yarn. Gayle found a site, and I can’t remember it at the moment, that recommended Peace Fleece. Has anyone knit with it? Would it make a soft, snuggly blanket? They have some groovy colors, and the price is very nice.

You’ll probably never guess what I did over the weekend. I knit a scarf. This may not sound like anything special, but it is a milestone for me. I’ve never knit a scarf. (The lacy daisy swatch that will one day be a scarf doesn’t count). I’ve never worn scarves. I don’t tend to like novelty yarns. However…

When Nate and I were out and about on Friday, we stopped by Kirkland Yarn and Stitchery. It was our first stop of the day. I found something yummy. It didn’t hit me so much in the ball, but they had a shop scarf knit up in the dark blue color, and it looked like a blue scarf covered in a snow flurry. I loved it. I bought three balls of a blend of browns, berry-corals, and teal. (Sounds scary, but it’s cool). It is a three ball scarf, knit in 2×2 ribbing, on size 13 needles. It’s 8 feet long. Thereabouts.

It’s soft, it’s lovely, and I’m extremely happy with it. The girls have been begging for another turn with the camera, so I’ll be modeling it for you soon.

Also, I am trying to find someone who will teach me how to make these…

or sell them to me cheap. Gayle was given three. She gave me one. I really like it. It is small and simple enough not to be in the way. It doesn’t snag my laceweight, which is my concern with beaded stitch markers. It’s cool. I need some. This one is made with one of those Swarovski crystals, so it sparkles real pretty.

There is going to be some Health Group carryover right now. I am DETERMINED to do both treadmill and weights, and drink massive quantities of water today. Oh yeah, I’m also going to eat loads of healthy stuff made from scratch. It’s also laundry day. Sound daunting? Right. Today my goal is to be Mrs. Incredible. Can I do it? You bet I can.

Well, I haven’t exercised. I haven’t been eating too good. The good news is that I’ve only gained a few pounds, like about three, so that’s nice. This sort-of-not-feeling-good is really holding me up, but I do legitimately feel much better. I think that next week will be a good one. I miss the exercise, I miss the vegetables and healthy eating. It is so stupid how, when I enjoy eating well, I still eat crap instead, just because it’s more convenient. Blah.

Anyway, I am very enthusiastic for next week. Strength and energy are returning.

Let me know how you’re week has been. Brag to me. I want to cheer for you!