Two Black Sheep

Imma Be

It's hard for me to get enthusiastic about garter stitch. I know, I know . . . some people love it (Lola, for one) and create whole garments centered around the humble stitch, but me . . . meh. I could take it or leave it. However, I loved Lola's Rambling Rows that she made for Tuck and decided that when my co-worker at school announced she was pregnant, I would make her a Rambling Rows.

Two small problems: she wasn't finding out the sex of the baby and I hate garter stitch. At first, they didn't seem like much of a problem, but try picking gender neutral colors and you are left with icky pastels or bright primary colors. Both kind of make me want to puke. I was almost ready to say, "You know what color really needs a fashionable baby resurgence . . . gray!" until Joanne found some shades that I could live with. I knit and knit and knit on this baby blanket until I felt like my knuckles will most likely in twenty years when arthritis sets in. And still, it seemed like I was only on block 14 of 55. Through every snowstorm (and three seasons of Battlestar Galactica on DVD), I knit. This blanket has taught me many things:

1. How to tension my yarn properly around my index finger - yup, never quite did that before. Only problem . . . can't get the swing of it whilst purling.
2. How to weave in my ends as I go - I would still be weaving them in with a tapestry needle had I not done this each and every time I switched colors.
3. How much garter still blows - I don't get it. Really . . . it's soft and squishy, but blah.
4. How much I hate Dalegarn Falk - the yarn splits, it catches on my hands (but some how manages to look and feel amazing). 
5. How piss poor my crochet skills are - still have to use the "I Can't Believe I Can Crochet" booklet to produce a single crochet (and I added a three stitch picot border on top of the single crochet border in a shade of yellow that will haunt me in my dreams many years from now).

So, amidst the epic Olympic failure that were the Johnny Rotten mittens and every conceivable project that inspired lust in my eyes, I created a pretty lovely little baby blanket for the baby of pretty lovely parents one of whom will be missed sorely as I teach without her for the next quarter.

That leaves me with a wide open knitting agenda, which has already been filled with the February Lady Sweater. Once more with enthusiasm, but this time with superwash . . . because I learn from my mistakes.

Enjoy the weekend and the holiday!

Ava

Sunshine Day

I haven't had that desire to knit lately.  I do, but I think it's just to keep my hands busy.  Still plugging away on my sidebar items.  But nothing has really grabbed my attention.  That attention sucker Flickr is still really strong.  Sorry knitting.

Then to make matters worse, Crochet struts into the bar.  I saw this & knew I was going to give the Granny Square one more try.  And with all my Cascade 220 scraps sitting in the basement, this is going to be a fantastic stash buster (remember this sentence, friends).  Last night, I bought & started crochet.  I stumbled.  Then I fell on my face.  But this afternoon, I found the right track.  I made my practice Granny out of some cotton.  Why?  Everyone knows I hate cotton & it just looked like shit.  I went downstairs & grabbed some tiny balls of wool.  Ta da!  One good lookin' square.  I love the all-over tan look of the original, so I had buy two skeins of yarn.  I went downstairs to look through my Cascade 220 stash.  Guess what?  It isn't there!  Two weeks ago, I took all of my tiny tiny skeins to Goodwill.  That's my luck.  My fiber juices are finally going & I've got only a few colors.  Ava, can you help your sister? 

Columbus is getting hit with another snow storm.  So I'm hoping to finish a couple squares while the boys & I keep warm.  I hope your winter is cozy too.

Lola

(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To

Let's see . . . since our last post, the following things have occurred:

1. I attended my first ever Stitch and Pitch along with several of the ladies I knit with on Tuesday evenings. We were going to take two cars but wound up only needing one . . . best thing ever to happen. It truly helps when your driver, the fabulous husband of one of the ladies in question who always calls to give us our estimated departure time on Tuesday evenings, is a former New York City cab driver. Enter car, sit down, laugh a lot, arrive at Citi Field without causing an accident. There were about 200 or so knitters in left field in the promenade (which sounds glamorous as all get out until you realize that it is a nice way of saying "nose bleed" section) all knitting away, which is probably what the Mets were doing, too. There is no other way of excusing the 10 run lead that the Braves had at the bottom of the 3rd. I knit on my EZ moccasins from The Knitter's Almanac; they might be one of the few patterns by EZ that I just don't get . . . truly not liking this pattern, but at least the girls will have a comfy pair of socks when I am done. Oh, and if you ever want free stuff, make sure you have Maryann with you . . . and by free stuff I am talking about books from Nikki Epstein that Nikki autographs to you right before she hands them to over (thanks for the Harding book, my Italian guru).

2. Owing to my crap skills of cabling and chatting at the same time, I crossed a cable the wrong way three times - it looks very, very drunken - on my latest project, so I had to drop down 18 rows and knit up the correct cable. I sure as hell was not going to rip out 18 rows just to fix four effing stitches. Then, to add insult to injury, the last cable that I knit that night after I actually got to knit was wrong. Maybe it's old age setting in.

3. Awesome segue . . . the Flyer turned 40 amid suffering from the flu. Sure it wasn't the flu, but it sucked ass nonetheless especially since the girls were home for the weekend. I debated whether I should get him a card that lamented what a pain it was getting older with the health issues or one that explained that he was just a few years away from making crap up . . . and chose the last one. Luckily he is on the mend, but between the two of us, we've been sickish since August 14.

4. Beth Brown Reinsel visited Mountain Knits and Pearls again for another workshop. This time, she demonstrated different gansey techniques with a small sample sweater. And, shockingly enough, I actually finished this one. Granted, it will never grace a person, bear, or Barbie, but I know of a really nice bottle of wine that has been longing for a hand-knit merino sweater.

5. Probably the best part of the blog silence, Lola had business in New York City earlier last week, so I hopped on a train (missing my first train by 30 seconds - I counted!) to visit with my sister for a day and a half. I treated her to her first Indian meal, which was excellent by the way, after which we both needed the ten block hike back to the hotel. The following day, I successfully got us to six different shops from the Midtown to the Upper East side to Soho and back again with only one wrong turn . . . and even that wasn't really a wrong turn since I simply didn't read the address on my print out correctly. Even Lola will admit that she was subtly impressed. Hits: Amma for dinner, School Products for the birthday yarn and yak, Knitty City just because. Misses: 'wichcraft for not living up to the hype, the R train for not having its schedule labeled better, and Purl for not having anything that piqued my interest (but I'll let that slide this one time). 

6. And finally, we bought a new mattress. We actually bought the box springs as well, but they wouldn't fit up the stairs . . . just another charming example of why living in a house that was built almost 100 years ago keeps you on your toes.

That's it . . . nothing major, nothing really new, nothing exciting . . . just life. I have several "obligation" knits that I have to get done before I can tackle anything fun and exciting. But all in all, fall is looking to be a pretty interesting season.

Ava

Hommage

Ava is right, I lost my knitting mojo.  Or maybe my ability to blog about it.  I actually have a number of FOs to share, but they're the only things I haven't taken a photo of.  How is that possible?  I've falling in love with my camera.  I tote her everywhere.  I get giddy while editing pictures.  But knit photographs?!  That's absurd, Lola!  I'm still plugging along on Feather-Weight cardigan.  I'm on the first sleeve & my goal is to have it completed before my trip to NYC.  Yep, my job is sending me somewhere fun for once.  Not that I'm bashing Plainfield, IN or anything. . . 

I finally got around to buying a food mill.  Why did I wait so long?  I hate buying jarred applesauce because it is so easy to make.  A food mill makes it even easier.  I think that if I trusted Gus with a knife, he could make enough applesauce to feed our family all winter.  With applesauce under my belt, I gave tomato sauce a whirl.  I used the Fast Tomato Sauce recipe from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian".  Not thrilled with the recipe, but more than happy with the ease of it!  I need to track down a good sauce recipe.  Any recipes, please share!

It's Halloween time in our house.  This year, SK has a partner.  Gus begged him to let him help decorate.  Skipped his nap because he was afraid that Daddy would start without him.  Here are some phrases that I'm hearing from the kitchen:

"Mommy should take a picture of this scary guy."

"A dead rat & a spider!!"

"Mommy shouldn't come out here.  It's too scary for her."

"This guy is a bad guy because he has body parts in a bucket"

Maybe Leather Face should go away until the boys are older.  I keep asking Gus what he wants to be this year & I get a different answer each day.  I counted on this so we're not making a costume until the last second.  I'm sure this is why our mother hates Halloween.   But Tuck is a different story.  He's still at the age where I can control most of his actions.  This year is the first year that I'm making a costume.  I have no good reason why I haven't in the past, but this year will be different.  Here's a hint. 

I'm not a fan of textures, but I thought it was appropriate.  There's a big piece missing, but the boys are good in the fabric store for about 30 minutes.  Not wanting to press it, I decided search my stash.

I'm off again for the road.  Quite frankly, I'm sick of her ass.

L

Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's a Shame)

Tons of tags on this one, but really it boils down to this: with knitting, I seem to pick projects that are either a) sweaters knit in one piece or b) really, really big rectangles or c) afghans that will never be finished. Look closely at the photos, and you might see why that is.

Take for example the Spirit Sweater. Granted, it's really the February Lady Sweater but I just can't bring myself to call it that . . . probably because I'm no lady. I knit a row and feel exhausted. Over and over again, I remind myself that I am knitting the whole thing at one time (except for those sleeves), but it doesn't do any good. You've got to love EZ and her simplicity but maybe this is why she had the pattern for a baby. Even Liz might have found knitting for a 52 inch chest in the gull lace pattern a bit daunting (probably not, but it gets me through the day). The Big Fat Girl Crush? Long rectangle. Check back with me in a year and we'll see if I've made any progress. It's not a matter of purchasing all that Noro Silk Garden since I have had all the yarn for two years. The afghans? Good lord . . . three and none of them will keep me warm this year unless I pile the pieces strategically around me.

Maybe that's why I like socks . . . they're quicker, more portable, and seem to be a smaller project. In reality, the only thing they have going for them is the portability aspect. Even that will most likely change in the coming months as I teach myself knitting two at a time so that I can teach a class at the shop.

Enter Interweave's Holiday Knits issue. I was looking for something fast like last year's home run Koolhaas. No such luck this time around. Granted, it was replete with gorgeous (and I would have put periods between all the letters but am too lazy) hand knits, but there was nothing that seemed like it would go quickly that truly interested me. The one that piqued my interest was the Frost Flowers Stole (long rectangle? I'm your bitch). I bought the last copy at the knit shop - there were more coming, lest you think I got greedy - specifically for that pattern until the reality of casting on 992 stitches sunk in. Let me repeat that 992 stitches. The next sentence in the directions is: Casting on a large number of stitches can be a challenge (really? Thanks for the heads up IK) so you might want to put stitch markers every 20 stitches and make the tail of the 100s longer. Again, you are so insightful IK editors. I never - NEVER - would have thought to put stitch markers every 20 stitches. Then again, I never will need to since I would be knitting this. If anyone knits this, let me know . . . I would like to tip my hat!

The girls received their SAT results and we were all very thrilled with the results. Now? We wait to see which colleges say, "Come on down" and which ones say, "Thanks." I don't really remember it being this nerve wracking when I was the senior, but it probably was. I have a meeting to attend today about the girls, and I'm dreading it. Suffice it to say, the mama bear in me is coming out and it usually isn't a pretty sight even when I am trying to control the tone of my voice. Veronica says that tone is worse than being yelled at. I'll post about it later.

Have a lovely weekend . . . and stay warm! It's freezing on the East coast and the wool clogs are coming in very handy.

Ava

PS - the Winter Knotions Preview is up . . . some very tempting items in that one, especially the knee socks. See what I mean? Even the socks are getting longer - UGH!

Turn, Turn, Turn

For the past 2 years, we've taken the kid/kids to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch.  We always go with SK's brother & his 2 kids.  I love this trip so much.  I like how excited Gus gets when he finds an apple.  I like how he points out the "dead" apples on the ground.  This year, his class took a trip a week earlier to the same orchard.  During that trip, he learned the proper way to pick an apple.  This year he took great care to twist the apple off its branch.  We picked a bunch of Suncrisp & Melrose apples.  SK enjoys a tart apple & I'm happy with any kind that makes a good sauce.  I also love the trip because we get the best pictures.  We're really trying to display more pictures around our house.  I need to learn how to adjust my Color Balance so the orange doesn't blow up my camera, but overall I'm happy with our pictures.   This year the trip also helped with my sanity.

Early last week, our company had to cut more positions.  Within my department, we lost about 8 people.  A year ago, my company did the same thing.  Right now, I feel like a sitting duck.  Well, this duck needs to get up & do something.  This news & all of the current economy woes is starting to get to me.  I don't watch the news any longer.  I try really hard not to click on CNN.com, but I seem to click a couple times a day just to punish myself.  Not to sound really Crunchy, but I can no longer live in what my Future might be.  It ruins my Present.  This is really easy for me to type, but much harder to actually do.  When you grow up, people are always telling you to think about your future.  Join clubs in high school & it will be easier to get into college.  Get a good internship so you can land a great job out of college.  Work hard now so your boss will recognize it & promote you.  But in the end, did any of that work for me?  I'm pretty sure I would have gotten into college without being part of the Yearbook club.  My internship had nothing to do with my current job.  There's no room for growth with my job & they still cut people. 

I'm not saying to live fully in the moment.  The kids' Well Checks would never happen because I'd forget to schedule them.  I wouldn't finish one project because I'd start the next one that inspired me.  Forget saving!  But I really need to stop worrying about something that may never happen.  And if it does, worrying about it now will have no effect on the outcome.  I've had to change my reading habits because they help my Worry grow at a rate that I can't control or sustain.  I've picked up a few books that I'm hoping will keep me sane & productive.  (side note:  Why doesn't everyone buy used books on Amazon?  I got a hard copy of Everyday Blessings for $0.46!)

I'm going to stop watching as much tv (Beside the Mentalist, there isn't a new show that I love.  How hot is  Simon Baker?) & get back to reading, sewing, & knitting.  I've got an apron & quilt to finish.  Why did I but material for B's quilt?  Another reason to live in the moment, there's always better fabric around the corner!  I finished Tuck's Runaround & have the yoke finished on Gus'.  I may have to rip out some of the length on Tuck's.  It's a little more tunic than pullover.

Sorry for the doom-and-gloom post, but I don't think I'm alone in this. Even just typing the post out has helped, but don't worry.  I won't use the blog as my therapy. 

Barely Breathing

Cobblestone? Baby, it's done. Cast-off. An official FO. Past knit. So why no photos? Umm, that last stitch was a bitch. A friend from knit night made one for her fiance and cast off four times because it wouldn't fit over her honey's head. After the second attempt, everyone came up with ways to make it work: a stretchier bind-off, maybe keeping the final rows in garter, get a new recipient (that was mine), but the inimitable Tricia came to the rescue for bind-off four. I decided to put a split ring marker through the final stitch and try it on the Flyer when I made his. The ceremonial "trying-on-of-the-sweater" went a little something like this.

The Flyer pulls into the drive-way. I eagerly greet him at the door. "Are you wearing a t-shirt?" I query. "Umm, no," he replies. "Oh well, take off your shirt," says the knitter. "Ooh, are the girls home?" he ponders. "Yes, but I want you to try on the sweater," I say kind of confused. "Oh," he says rather dejectedly.

Only later, after carefully helping him on and off with the sweater, do I put two-and-two together. I guess I should be slightly more careful about asking my husband to strip when he walks through the door.

Yet another conversation, this one between Lola and me last Thursday during the vice-presidential debate. Completely as an aside, when did the threshold for "winning" become so low as "not making an ass out of oneself by singing show tunes" because i must have missed that memo. Sorry . . . here's the conversation begun by moi.

Lola: (does not say hello) Okay, do you kind of sort of find Joe Biden sexy?

Me: Umm, yeah . . . always have, always will. He's married to an English teacher with a great name. But, Palin is starting (said with a "g") to remind me of someone.

Lola: Well, Tina Fey, but you were going to say someone else. Please don't say Mom.

Me: Fine, but she does and you know it. Click

See, our conversations are super, long drawn out all the time. Sometimes, yes, but every once and a while, they are brief and to the point.

The school year swing is so hard for me. I will sit down at night and realize that this is a two-person blog while I try desperately to remember when I last posted. Hell, I don't even know what letter we are on in ABC Along and Project Spectrum has been all but forgotten. However, a few days (probably weeks) ago, we received comments about passing on the "Six Random Facts."
So, even though it's late, here you are, Cici . . . and they are all about food because I am hungry:

1. My favorite sandwich is peanut butter and mayo. If I am feeling particularly adventurous, I might add a thin slice of cheddar cheese.

2. I once made Lola mac-n-cheese when we were kids but added tons of bar-b-q sauce calling it Texas Mac-n-Cheese and insisted she (and the Other Sister and the Bro) eat it since Mom left me in charge.

3. While making fish sticks, I forgot to put them on a pan with sides. Consequently, the grease spilled over and caused a slight oven fire. I, being scared, ran out of the house without my siblings . . . but grabbed the cat. Thank goodness for Lois "saving" them.

4. Once, while making cookies, I stupidly preheated the oven but didn't check to see if my mother was hiding the pretzels in a Tupperware container from the Bro. She was . . . and I had tons of cleanup to do before I could bake the cookies. Honestly, she never hid anything in there before so why think she had started.

5. When making a cake, I need two boxes as I eat too much of the batter to make one cake. My mother once sat and watched to see what was wrong with my cake.

6. I'm no better at cakes from scratch as witnessed by my angel food. I misread the directions and beat the flour into the most perfect egg whites instead of folding. Mom measured it at 5/8s of an inch (but still tasty).

Thanks for the shout out, Jeanne . . . we think you're pretty damn swell, too! From a time crunched teacher, I'm taking the easy way out. Consider yourselves ALL tagged! Share the love and nominate some folks or simply take a trip down memory lane and list your most random facts. Just tell us where to look!

Ava

Big Legged Mommas are Back in the Style

Oh good god, we've got cable!  I think that if I had to miss The Office or 30 Rock, I may have lost it.  No power for almost a week, I can deal.  No Jim & this city would have had a problem.

I think that everyone will eventually have to go through an extended power outage.  We just got one sooner. So how did the Great Blow of '08 prepare us for the next black out? I've put together a list of tips & tricks.

If your child's daycare is closed for 2 days, give them plenty of new toys.  Gus was trying to lure Tuck into the basket by placing a book in the bottom.  I'm not sure what he would have done if Tuck had taken the bait.  We didn't get that far because Gus decided to wrestle with him.

Always purchase the large box of wine, you never know when a freak hurricane will hit.  I don't know why it should be a box.  I think it just sounds cooler when you're sitting in the dark.

When finding a book to read during a freak hurricane, don't pick a book about climate change.  While I really enjoy this book, it's not an appropriate book to read at this time.  But who kept reading it for the first 3 days?  Yep. 

If you choose to ignore the above rule, look at the Box of Wine rule.  If not by the fourth day, you'll be in the basement building a fabulous new bunker for your family.  That's not something to do without a couple glasses of Merlot.

When your husband (and your own sanity) kicks in & forces you to chuck the Climate Change book, don't read a cookbook. You'll only be attracted to recipes that start with "Preheat the oven to 400 degrees."  Thankfully, I found the new Mason-Dixon book the day after we lost power.  Ann & Kay saved me.  I also got The Gentle Art of Domesticity from my library the day before we lost power.  It was a nice book to look at, but no power equals no pretty domestic duties.

Never ever try to knit lace by the freakish glow of a halogen bulb.  Cleite didn't see much action during my week vacation from power.  I did rip Tuck's Trellis & started a knit that doesn't require light.  A nice little EZ sweater for the holidays.  Like Kay & Ann, it saved me.

Find places that don't need power & let your kid show you the way.  Gus loves maps, especially zoo maps.  He'd pull it out & show us the places we'd been & where we needed to go.  edit to rule: Never go to the zoo if your son got 4 hours of sleep.  Eventually that map will be crumpled up & thrown in the trash by your son.  Then you'll have to deal with a melt-down in front of the tigers because "My Map" is in the trash.

When the power goes out & you have a load of wet towels in the washer & dryer, go to the laundry mat immediately! If you ignore this rule for 3 days, enjoy the sounds of your husband dry heaving.  This is another reason why I could not block Amanda.  She'll get done today!

When you have no tv & only AM radio, use your kids for entertainment.  Gus & I watched Tuck toss his pacifier out of his crib.  Gus would give it to him & tell him "Don't do it again Tuck!"  When he'd toss it again, we'd belly laughed for 15 minutes.  And when Gus' teachers asked the kids if they had lights, Gus responded "Yeah we got lights, they're just outta power."  Good times, but I'm ready for some quality tv laughs.

When cleaning the fridge, go back to the Box of Wine.  The smell & sight of dried breast-milk was not an enjoyable way to spend a Monday.  At least the Great Blow forced us to get rid of those 3 year-old salad dressings.

It's so nice to be back.  I missed the Internet.  Ava & I were trying to figure out how to tell if eggs were bad.  She says "I'd tell you to go online, but that'd be mean."  I had to tell her that I actually went into the office before I realized that it wasn't going to work.

L

p.s.  Of course, I'd try to see if the new Knitty was up from my Blackberry.  Why make myself suffer?  When all of the schools were open, I hit the library.  I'm thinking of making L'illo in pink for my newest niece.  Tatiana made me smile at the library's computer dock.  Probably will never make them, but I love 'em.

Goodnight Tonight

Generally, the week or so after school starts tends to be rather light from me. I'm swamped getting back into a schedule and might have to be prompted to get dinner going. How that last one differs from most other weeks is beyond me, but it sure sounds good. This year isn't any different except for the fact that I am knitting more than years past. Hell, I'm even trying to figure out how to assess more at school so that my evenings and weekends are free for more knitting. Right now, I'm feeling the deadline crunch as the Flyer's birthday is only 12 days away, and I still have a sleeve to finish and a yoke to construct. You would think that I spent all weekend knitting on that sweater, but you would be wrong. I spent it knitting, alright, to the point that my left hand is crippled with pain, and I am consistently making the same error typing because of it. While I wasn't knitting something that had a deadline attached, I had a blast learning new techniques and knitting 90 percent of a mitten, courtesy of Beth Brown-Reinsel's classes held at Mountain Knits and Pearls.

To be honest, I really wasn't sure what to expect other than increasing my skills as a knitter and some time spent with knit friends from the shop. Saturday kind of blew my mind. The sampler sweater looked easy enough, but for some reason, I couldn't keep up. I got ticked because my stitches were loose (personally, I think that Cascade 220 Natural is a wee bit thinner than the rest), I made elementary mistakes (picking up stitches, anyone?), and I became lost. All in all, the class was uber-informative and I know that I'll use the schematics and tables making a sweater at some point, but I was overwhelmed with everything. After the class, the Flyer and I went to see Burn After Reading and grabbed a quick cup of coffee. That was enough of a second wind to let me finish the back of the sweater but nothing further. When I finish it, I'll have Gillie - our cat - model it before I send it to Beaner for her doll.

Now, today's class was something completely different. Mittens, Norwegian mittens to be precise . . . you know the one's that come from Norwegia (family joke). Never made a mitten before today and probably shouldn't have finished the one that I did. For some reason, when Beth said that she didn't expect us to finish the mitten, the competitive ass in me came out. Ignored the pain in my knuckles and chalked it up to two-handed knitting. Gauge too tight . . . must be the needles . . . switch to larger ones. Six hours later, I had a finished mitt, save for the thumb. You know that feeling of vague dizziness and fuzziness when you are tired? You can completely knit through that, although I don't really recommend that. I proudly tried them on for the Flyer and then showed them to Veronica (who is graciously modeling), who promptly said, "Oooh, I like these. Can I have a pair?" Yes, sweetie, you can have a pair . . . you might have these since they are a little snug. To tell you the truth, I can see these mittens becoming addictive. Screw the sugarplums - I've got these babies dancing through my head for Christmas. Bring on those ThermaCare gloves . . . these lovelies aren't going to knit themselves. And neither is that Cobblestone for my baby.

Ava

PS - Who knew I was being disrespectful to Sarah Palin whenever I uttered my favorite phrase about the pig and the beauty enhancements. Since I want to cover my bases, I also enjoy "Putting a band-aid on a gaping wound," which probably offends McCain given his predilections for band-aids on his face and jowls. I wonder which molehill will become a mountain over "You're about as cute as a speckled pup" or "Handy as a pocket on a shirt," since I like them too.

If it Kills Me

I always go into a funk when Ava leaves.  It's usually immediate, but we had dinner plans on Tuesday.  I guess my body didn't have time to slip into the blues that night.  But Wednesday came and things sucked.  The house is quieter.  No one's there to discuss alternate ways to SSK.  When I make a snarky comment about TV, I don't get one in return.  Granted, there's a lot less empty beer bottles.  It's just sad and boring.  It only last for a day, but it's a long day.

The one potentially good thing about yesterday also ended with a loud "Fuck!"  Our very good friend was accepted into a law school that isn't in our city.  When I moved here after college, SK followed about 3 months later.  He & our friend moved into a house near campus.  Once they came, things got better in the city.  Our friend has played a huge role in our grown-up lives (when you finally realize that you're becoming an adult).  We asked him to be ordained so he could marry us.  We've visited him at the hospital a couple of times & it wasn't because of some dumb college accident.  He was the first person to visit me after Tuck was born.  I don't think the drugs had even worn off & he was there with coffee in hand.  I know his Moving Day is coming, but I'm not prepared.  Since he's still going to be in a cold climate, I started a Marsan Cap out of my leftover baby camel.  I covet this yarn, but I felt like this would be an important knit to whittle away at my last cake.  A day of 1x1 twisted rib (not fun) and I had a cap.  With the baby camel, you have to wash it to felt the thread-like yarn.  I was so excited to toss it in the washer & feel the glorious yarn on my forehead.  Seriously, this yarn has got to be how it feels to be wrapped up in a Jolie-Pitt (take your pick) embrace.  Yesterday, it was tossed in & I waited.  Here's what greeted me 20 minutes later.

Ah well, it was a fast knit.  Maybe I'll give Ava's new favorite a spin. 

When things go shitty, Two Black Sheep throw a contest!  Actually it's because we've almost got 1000 comments.  When we started our blog, we thought we'd get an occasional comment from the Flyer or SK.  We're so happy with the friends we've made & the processes we've learned from our blog.  Selfishly, one reason I enjoy the blog because it serves as a journal.  I'm pretty sure my mind is slipping, so someday I'll need a clue on how the boy went from babies to men.  Without the blog, I'd have to rely on our mother's photographs (I never took photo pre-blog) & other people's memories of the boys (I tend to exaggerate).  In honor of remembering your lives, Ava came up with this fantastic contest.  She found this book a couple months ago & called me about the idea.  As an example, Ava's would be, "Roller coaster, front car, hands high."  She said that I need to come up with one too, but I need way more time.  If you're a long-time reader, you know she's the Wordsmith of the family.  Basically, you need to post  your six-word memoir in the comments by July 9th.  We'll pick one at random & then pick our favorite. Two lucky winners will have a fantastic black-sheepy prize sent to their home!  Get writing!  We're not a huge blog, so the odds are in your favor that you'll be walking home with something from Ava's nice stash.

Happy 4th!  I'll be watching Christmas trees explode.  That's right.  There's a whole post coming, don't worry.

-Lola