Uli's Creative Corner

Well, I didn't read it all today but I did finish "A Deadly Yarn" by Maggie Sefton today.  It's the third in her Knitting Mystery Series and as with both of the other books, I thoroughly enjoyed a light and easy read.  It's a fun read and I needed something easy....... this was perfect.

Maggie Sefton writes as a co-writer on a blog called the Cozy Chicks.

I'm feeling better thanks to a change in antibiotics....... these are the strong kinds.... the ones that made the pharmacist call me today to see if I'm doing okay with them and their side effects.  Luckily, I can only list tiredness as the major side effect so far.  I see my doc again on Monday.  Her parting words were "see you on Monday unless I hear from the hospital sometime this weeken"......... geez..... how about sounding a bit more encouraging.  That kind of freaked me out.  I'm glad these antibiotics are doing the trick because I would find it awful to have to be given IV antibiotics at the hospital.  Now that would really suck.

And talk about something else............. Can you believe it?  Only a few more threads to weave in and Eriks is done.  Then onto the blocking board.  But right now my scarf for the International Scarf Exchange is waiting in the sink to be blocked.

Oh, and I'm dead in sock wars.  I'll talk more about that when I get a picture of my deadly socks. :-)  They came in nice and handy last night when I was getting cold feet so they'll keep me snuggly warm at home this winter.

Off to throw some laundry on.

Elton John rocked the house last night.  It was awesome.  A great way to celebrate 9 years of marriage (even if a few days early).  We went out for some nice Japanese food first.

I haven't been to many concerts but this one was cool.  The crowd was definitely older but there still was a good mix.  It was jam packed.  Elton John came on stage at 10 minutes after 8.  Nobody to start the show first and he played and sang for almost 3 hours straight - no break.  It was very neat.  Unfortunately, we also had the guy (along with his wife, girlfriend, whatever) who was probably the biggest, most annoying idiot in front of us.  Fortunately they were a couple of seats over.  He almost got into a fight with the people who sat directly behind him.  In my imagination, I saw a fight break out and the idiot flying right off the balcony and then that would stop the concert and that would have been sad.  He actually, closer to the end of the show, got hauled off by the security staff and a cop.  I guess he was just a tad too drunk or stoned on something to behave like a civilized human being.

But, it was a great night.  The kids behaved for their grandparents.  Even JR went to sleep like a little angel for them.  And we got a great anniversary gift from my inlaws.  We walked in the door and I saw a brand new piece of furniture in the family room with a big bow on it.  It's a gift for us but really it's a gift for me.  A little wall unit that will store all my WIPs and whatever I want to keep downstairs to work on.  It is so cool.

Today I'm off to my doctor to get things checked out - see previous post.  I'm not sure the antibiotics are doing the trick.  I look like I suntanned and had a wardrobe malfunction on one side and didn't even know about it, fell asleep and got burned.

First of all, the birthday party and general birthday celebrations were a hit.  I'll just show off some pictures of the cake (that one was store bought) and Little Miss actual birthday, then of us making the cake (Little Miss was a great helper), and the cake itself.  We had a great party.  13 kids plus Moms or Dads or both added to just over 30 people total.  I think the kids had lots of fun.

This all happened while sock wars launched.  I know I'll soon be killed but I think I can kill my target sooner than that.  Both socks are travelling in the mail as we speak.  The postal system may be on my side but I won't live much longer.  Here are my socks of doom made with some Opal I got from Germany.  I think it was mislabelled as a fingering weight as I easily got DK gauge of 22 stitches to 4 inches from it.  It definitely seemed like a 6-ply just feeling it. 

And can you say OUCH.................. After breastfeeding 2 babies and #2 is almost getting to the end of his breastfeeding experience although we're not yet showing signs of slowing down (by the time I go back to work in January I hope to have him weaned completely) I've got a case of Mastitis.  I was still fine at 2:30 yesterday afternoon and by 5 I was under the covers with the chills as well as very sore.  We had dinner and I decided to shuffle down to the medical clinic.  I saw the doctor at 9 pm and had to get a prescription filled right away.  I didn't get home until after 9:30 pm and was just exhausted.  I hope it clears up soon because it's extremely painful.  I've been taking my medication and been trying to get JR to nurse, nurse, nurse and of course, that's also very painful.  Yikes.............  I HAVE to feel better tomorrow.  It's Elton John night.

Yarn........... check

Target............. check

Pattern........... check

Needles................ check

Gauge..................... check

Ready to knit!!!!!  Will I knit fast enough before being targetted?  Who knows given the birthday party and all.....

I'll talk to you when I resurface from all of this.

Happy Birthday to my 5 year old!!!  Yes, Little Miss is 5 years old today.  It's beyond my understanding where the time has disappeared to.  She was just a little babe........... see...........

And 5 years later.....................

All girl, all attitude........ but pretty special and cute!!!

Happy Birthday Little Miss!!!!

We're having a cake tonight and one gift and then a big party on Saturday.  I've been run off my feet all week trying to get ready for it including the baking of over 50 cup cakes yesterday.  20+ for Kindergarten and another 20+ for daycare.  Been just going so nuts that I also forgot to wish my blog a Happy 3rd bloganniversary.  Can't believe it's been that long.  3 years ago, I was also getting ready for a birthday.......  Little Miss 2nd birthday.

Having said that............ I shall go and give my little guy, who is also growing up way too fast some food and then we're off to deliver cup cakes to Little Miss' Kindergarten class.

I'm feeling just way too busy to even enjoy these last few days.  I've got to settle us all into a routine so that my last few months of not having to go to work won't just disappear into nothing by not ever taking a minute to take a breath.

This weekend, I made these:

They are less than perfect but still pretty.  For my first attempt at something like this, I'm quite pleased.  It was just for the fun of it but I'd like to try some other things.  Now, I guess I need a bead stash, too.   I won't point out the flaws but I think they're pretty obvious.

I'm inspired to start a new knitting project.  This week is nutsoid....... tell you later why - but you can imagine if I mention Little Miss has a birthday and we're having a big bash on the weekend.

So maybe I'll manage to get the yarn wound tomorrow.  It's a project I brought home from Stitches last year.

I'm writing it down here for me to be reminded.............

fall is coming quickly now.  It's cool, it's rainy, it was a yucky afternoon yesterday.  I was out with JR while the little Miss was in Kindergarten and I don't even want to describe how soaked I got.......... 3 times in a row.  Of course, I used my jacket to shelter the stroller so it all went right through my shirt and made me really cold.

Anyways, the point of this post (although it's not a very important post at all) is to say that this weather is finally prompting me to finish Eris.  All I have left to do is do the finishing work and blocking.  Come......... I can do this.  Can I?  It's going to take priority this weekend with the little bit of time I'll get.

Shall I only come back with pictures of the finished Eris?

I've been doing a few things................ so I just thought I'd show an update what's going through my hands most often these days:

Here's something that I finished for JR this weekend.  It's his Just Ducky flannel book.  I purchased this fabric panel at the Sewing and Craft show earlier this spring and finally put it together.  It was very simple.  Cut out the pages, cut out some thin batting, put the pages together with the batting in the appropriate order.  Sew the individual page units together, assemble in the right order and stitch down the middle to make a great little book that can be played with and of course chewed on and as it turns out, it also works very well for playing peek-a-boo games.

Very quick, very fun project.  Just right for these busy days.

And while we're on the baby topic, here is the baby................ and what he does if I don't show up with his food fast enough.

(Note the cracker in his hand)

What else have I been working on?

Here's the scarf I've started crafting for the International Scarf Exchange.  The picture is crappy but it's a lovely cabled scarf that's reversible made from some lovely alpaca yarn.

Note, one side has three cables and the reverse side 2 cables. 

And then I've been working a lot on Ruby and the progress is good:

The pocket construction is wonderful.  I have 2 of these to knit so I'd better get cracking and finish #1.

I'm struggling with wanting to cast something on for myself and what I should cast on for myself.  There are some good choices.

The fall Knitty is out.  I'm loving a few of the designs but I'm really enchanted with Ivy and of course, Elann is offering the yarn today (looks like it's going quickly and so I won't have to suffer for too long, tormenting myself over the fact that I want to buy some but can't).  I also like Avast and Evan likes it too so he might see himself with a new cardigan one of these days.... he's been wanting a new one anyways but I just hadn't found the right pattern yet.  I love Lizard Ridge but I won't, not in any near future, have enough Kureyon to make this project.  As for socks, Diamante and Cablenet require some closer inspection.  Ayla is as cute as anything but only if I had enough stash wool, would I probably sit down to make it for the little Miss.  I know she'd love it though.

Off to get some lunch.  JR is giving me a bit of a break and the Little Miss should be off to Kindergarten by now.  I let her new daycare do her first drop off at Kindergarten today.  It's giving me a bit of a break and her a chance to get into the routine of what it will be like when I do go back to work which is coming up faster than I'd like to admit.  At the same time, I can't wait to be back in the work environment with my colleagues and the challenges that my job brings.

So this is driving me crazy.....................

At the beginning of summer, all the future Kindergarteners got a summer homework assignment.  They got a big piece of poster board with the instructions to create a summer memories poster.  I had visions in my head of what could be done even though we weren't doing much of any interesting vacationing.  The teachers suggested that we help the child create a poster showing their special summer memories such as pictures but also a rock, a seashell, a ticket stub or anything else that was a memory of the summer.

My daugher is very independent!!!!  Very...... "I can do it myself" is at the top of her vocabulary.  So we went to work on the poster and of course, I had to let go.  She cut out her own pictures and stuck them on all over the place.  She wrote her own caption "Erika Summer"...... the poster is hers but of course, it's less than perfect from the view of a perfectionist adult who really wanted to grab thos scissors and do that perfect little summer memories poster.  But, I decided to let go and let it be her poster.  Was that the right thing to do?  Well, I don't know after I saw all the other perfect little posters that all the other Mommies had created.  I talked to some of them and they said their kids wanted nothing to do with doing so the Moms made these perfect posters....... the kind of poster I would have made.  But the teachers will know right?  They will know that Erika did it herself......... I hope it will be okay and that they don't think I'm a bad Mom because of not having a perfect poster but a poster she did all by herself.

The insecurities of a Mom with a kid just starting Kindergarten..........................

Well, the Trek Along is complete and it was fun.  It was fun getting out there with the socks and the kids (and the husband, too....) to do some exploring.  We were more active in July than in August.  August seemed busy with the pool and many more visits to various playgrounds and even though my Trekkings accompanied me often, it would have been boring posting the same Trek to the same park every time. 

Our last official trek before school started took us to the beach.  We visited White Rock and had some fun at the beach.  I sat and knitted on my last Trekking and watched JR while little Miss and Daddy explored.  I don't have any images of that day because we forgot the camera but you can take a peek here and here to see some images.  It's sad to say that we live in close proximity and we only visited once this summer.  We have so much beauty in our backyard........

So here are my Trekkings I completed on and off our trails:

I've shown these before.  They are my Chain Link socks that I designed for my Sock Kit Pal.  If there's any intereste (let me know in the comments), I'd be happy to format the pattern (which is less than perfect) into a printable format and have it for download on the blog.  Right now, it's this cute pamphlet style print-out not well suited for a web download.

And here are my Trekking 108s, knit in a waffle pattern.  I quite like this colourway.

And just as the summer Trek Along finished, I started one more pair of Trekkings in the current Six Sox KAL pattern:

I'm test driving the 2.5mm Knit Picks DPNs that I'm borrowing from my knitting bud Lara.  So far, I love them.  Love the points, love the feel of them.  I can't complain.  I quite enjoy knitting with them.  I still love my Bamboos but I think for a lace pattern, I'd choose these given their nice sharp points etc.

I knit these socks on our first real trek to school.  Thursday was Little Miss real first day of Kindergarten where she actually spent an hour in the classroom and met her teacher.  I was amongst the Mommies who just sat around the playground, removed from the windows of the Kindergarten room and waited for the hour to pass.  I had a nice chat with another Mommy from Little Miss' class and worked on these socks.  It went well for all of us and apparently after class when I chatted with the teacher I found out that little Miss was talking a mile a minute in the classroom.

Check out these images:

At home, just before going up to the school

Meeting the teacher with a smile and a hand shake.

And today the weather is following through with a day that very much feels like fall is in the air.  It's rainy and cloudy.  Last night, the weather was still beautiful but when neighbours of ours showed up at the door (Little Miss has a new Kindergarten/Daycare bud and they happen to just live a few doors down from us) asking us to come over to the park, I had to put long pants and a sweater on JR so he wouldn't be too cold.

And to not forget JR - look at how intent he is with his toys:

On the knitting front, I have started my scarf for the International Scarf Exchange.  I'll talk about that one more later.

Christmas gift project supplies have been ordered and are ont he way!!!!  Lots of stuff to do in the next few months.