Grandparents Rejoice!

Green thing took three days to dry. But it is now neatly folded and I've got something new blocking:

And something new soaking:

Just no pretty photographs of pretty Finished Objects to show off.

Such is life.

I do have some pretty photographs of my favorite models to share. I figured if I didn't include the children soon the Grandparents might rise up in rebellion. And everyone knows the key to a happy life is pleasing one's parents. So here ya go!

Public Service Announcement

When you decorate like this.

You can not be constantly surprised by this.

Stop being startled when the kids leave fake bugs on the floor. Your heart can't take the constant adrenaline rush.

Just something to keep in mind.

p.s. Pinterest

Moving Right Along

Everything is going according to plan.

I've got a pretty FO to add to my pile of pretty FOs.

I've got the next thing laid out to dry.

And I've got a new knit soaking in the blocking bowl.

(note= none of the pictures feature color resembling real life. I really should learn to work my camera)

I am well on my way to BLOCKING ALL THE THINGS.

Which of course means that something soon will go horribly wrong. Because nothing ever goes according to plan.

And I also think I've found a flaw in the plan. Once all my Pristinely Unblocked things become blocked they get added to the pile of things that need photographed. And of course photographs are stalled in the wait for a good hair day. Sometimes I think I'd settle for a clean hair day. But hair issues aside, moving them from one pile to the other is not enough. I must find a way to show off the finished knits. Prepare yourself for lots of bathroom mirror shots. Or maybe I can read my camera manual and see if it has a self-timer. I would probably know that if I knew how to work my camera. But I don't. And in order to read the manual I would have to find my camera manual. Which, sadly, I know the exact-ish location of. It is in my junk drawer. And the idea of sifting through all the stuff that ends up in my junk drawer makes me want to take a nap. If the mere thought makes me feel fatigue can you imagine how exhausting the actual process would be?

But I digress.

I'm talking about showing off Finished Objects to you. And today I just happen to have a finished crafty type project to show. Just not a knitted one. *shock* *gasp* *head tilt* *I didn't know there were any other kinds*

It seems to be my mission to mention Pinterest in every single blog post I write, so here is my Pinterest plug for today.

When I saw these I knew they had to be mine! So a trip to the dollar store and two minutes with my E6000 glue and there they were in my family room.

Don't you just love them? I'll admit it. I feel very clever for making them, even though it was not my original idea and no actual talent was required to glob some glue on the bottom of a vase. I added a third vase and opted not to put it on a candlestick for visual interest. I adore them. I'm thinking of filling it with pepermints for Christmas, or maybe holiday colored m&ms. So many possibilities. And I made it for less than $10. Can't beat that!

Progress

So it turns out that shame is a great motivator for me.

Shame and this picture I saw on Pinterest.

Looking at that stack of unwearable knits that just needed a bath gave me a sad. I put all that time into knitting them. I don't know why I stall out at the finishing step. It isn't even the sewing of seams or the weaving in of ends that I hate so much. It is the blocking. I've talked about this before. Blocking feels too much like laundry and I loathe laundry. I need to find someone I can outsource my blocking to, the way quilters will make a quilt top but then outsource the actual quilting of the quilt. (Speaking of quilting I've really got to get my kids quilts done. I want to have them under the tree as Christmas presents. I really hate the way Christmas is creeping up on me, creeping like a speeding bullet, but I digress).

I could not let the pile of Pristinely Unblocked knits remain. So I grabbed a garment for which I knew blocking would bring me joy. I grabbed lace.

Lace blocking is MAGIC. It is my favorite part of knitting lace. It turns a lumpy ugly blob of knitting into a work of art. There were three shawls in the pile of Pristinely Unblocked but I felt the blue one would block best. I was hoping that if I started with a bang I would keep momentum and block one thing a day. Yes, I am hoping to eventually BLOCK ALL THE THINGS!

A girl can dream.

I may not have all the things blocked, but I do have one thing drying on my bedroom floor.

This time tomorrow I should have a beautiful blue shawl to add to the pile of finished objects that need photographed to add to the blog.

And to keep things moving along I've already put something else in the soak bowl.

GO ME!

So my friend called me last month to yell at me for not blogging. "So you realize you haven't blogged since July 7th?" I was shocked. I was sure I hadn't blogged since sometime mid-June. Go Me!

So I put blogging on my to-do list. And every day it seemed to be one of the things that didn't get done, and was moved to the list for the next day. And for weeks I've carried this to-do around with me. I thought about doing it. But I played on Ravelry instead. I thought some more about doing it but I played on Facebook instead. And I went to the computer determined today was the day, but then I got sucked into Pinterest. (Side note: Join Pinterest and let me stalk your boards. I love Pinterest more than I love my Husband's dogs, but slightly less than I love ice cream.)

What else have I been doing?

Not much, just engaging in this little hobby of mine I like to call KNITTING!

I have been knitting like it is going out of style. Like I don't live in an environment whose weather is still in the triple digits. I'm knitting like I have half a prayer of being cold someday.

A girl can dream.

I have this stack of finished knits just waiting to be shared.

And I have this stack of knits that just need blocked and I can call them done.

Yeah, there are exactly eleventy billion things in that pile. I pulled out one sweater that I had completely forgot I knit. How sad is that. I really should learn to love blocking.

And I have this stack of partially knit things that I have abandoned and will finish at an undetermined future date. I was going to gather them all up for a photo shoot. But everywhere I looked there were more UFOs. Getting them all together from all the random places I have them seemed like too much work. So instead I just photographed the one that was closest to me.

The color in this photograph is only marginally related to the colors in real life. I never claimed to be a photographer.

As you can see I have knit my way through almost all of my meager stash.

This is an emergency.

SEND YARN!

Or I might be forced to finish a UFO. *gasp* *shock* *shudder at a fate worse than death*