Of Course It Was Terrible The BMV Was Involved

So last night my 17 year old, my straight A student, my responsible one, my first in her graduating class, my legit being invited to apply to Ivy League colleges daughter

Turned to me and said "My drivers permit expires on Thursday so we need to go tomorrow morning to renew it."

Cue the swearing in my head.

Cause I have nothing better to do right?

But I'm a good Mom.  And I'm a stay at home Mom for just this kinda thing I guess.  We went online and filled out all the forms we needed, and gathered up all the various documents we have to have to prove she exists, and we checked what time the BMV opened, to be sure we had time to get it done before school started.  Thank goodness Wednesday is late start for the high school.

Which is how I found myself awake and dressed and made up at 6:30 this morning so we would be there as soon as the doors opened.

We got there ten minutes after the doors were said to open.  But it didn't matter because instead of facing a line out the door (as we did with our last trip to the BMV) instead we found ourselves in an empty BMV parking lot with a sign that stated "All metro BMV offices will open at Noon today."

Suck monkey!

I guess the BMV wanted to have late start on Wednesdays as well.  But I had other commitments today.  First thing in the morning was really the only time I had to do this.

There was much swearing in my head.

As I drove away I remembered that there are private companies where you can get these kind of things done.  They just cost more.  But I needed it done.  There was no getting around it.  We were going to have to pay the too-busy-to-deal-with-this-nonsense tax.  Quickly I pulled into an empty parking lot and googled (cause I don't google and drive y'all.  That stuff if dangerous).  Yay for us there was one in the same city we were in.

I tried to call them to ask if they did permit renewals, but then I remembered my cell phone doesn't make phone calls anymore.  It will take a call now and then, if it feels like it.  But it doesn't let me dial out.

There was even more swearing in my head.

I need a new phone.  A water proof phone.  A Queen Bean proof phone.  But that is neither here nor there. Desperate to get this over with I plugged the address of the super expensive private licensing company into mapquest and told it to start giving me directions.  I was just going to drive there and hope for the best.

It just kinda beeped at me.

Cue even more swearing but this time I think it was out loud.

Then I realized the empty parking lot I was sitting in was right next door to a strip mall which contained the aforementioned super expensive private licensing company.  I moved the car 200 yards and "You have reached your destination."

And that was just the start of my day.

All of this is to say I got up and dressed and left the house this morning which means I was semi-presentable, which means I have a finished knit to show off.

Photos are courtesy of Bird.  I think the last time I let her touch my camera was in 2007 when she broke my camera.  She's improved her camera etiquette since then.

Pattern:  I've dubbed this "The Good Sweater"  It is a franken-knit created using the pattern Isabel but modified to more closely resemble this picture.

I think I did a pretty good job

I love this sweater!

Mine is definitely a lighter weight sweater than the inspiration sweater but since I am not a lawyer in Chicago, I am instead a kept woman in a mild climate, it works.

Of course the finer details of the sweater are all fuzzy now.  Ravelry tells me I used a size 4 needle.  And I knit the 41.25 size.  I used four and a half hanks of Knit Picks Bare Gloss, which was less than I anticipated needing, so I still have a sizable amount left over.  Not enough for another sweater for me, but maybe for Sweet Pea or The Queen.  Gloss is a merino wool/silk blend, so the feel of this sweater is divine.  Soft, and yes, silky.  I adore it.

When modifying the original pattern I eliminated the short rows at the bottom of the sweater.  I also didn't want the A-line shape, so I cast on for the number you would have after all the decreases were worked for a straighter silhouette.  And I extended the rib pattern by 20 stitches on each side (I only know all this because I made good notes on Ravelry in the beginning).

 I did some other mods.  I remember it involved math but honestly I couldn't tell you what they were.  I stopped keeping good notes on Ravelry.  Sometimes I suck.  But even if I could explain what I did you wouldn't want to duplicate this part.  After knitting the body I put the sweater in a time out for a few months even though I only had the sleeves to go.  Imagine my surprise when I rescued the sweater from the yarn trunk in my bedroom (which is quickly becoming a satellite office for The Abyss) and I discovered I had bound of twenty stitches for one armpit, but I had bound off FORTY stitches for the other.

There was much swearing.

Out loud.

I made it work.

I couldn't tell you how.

But I made it work.

Sometimes I even surprise myself.

Speaking of surprises, this was the moment the bushes behind me moved and I realized I wasn't alone in the back yard.

I was barefoot in my overgrown yard with a lizard or three.

Good times my friends.

Good times.

There you go.

New favorite sweater has been properly documented.

Day three of pretending I am a blogger in the bag!

I'm Firmly On The Road To Hell

I've got finished knits Y'all.

I promise I do.

I've got stuff to show.

Only it's monsoon season which means it is migraine season and I'm feeling like a busted tube of biscuits.

On any given day I'm either in pain, or I'm exhausted (because being in pain is exhausting for some reason.)

Today I'm exhausted.

I wanted to show off one of my finished sweaters that I knit for me but that would mean running a comb through my hair.  Maybe putting on a swipe of mascara and some chap stick (because I'm fancy with the make up these days).  But I'm just not feeling up for it.

But never fear.  The Queen is growing like a weed (seriously.  She's recently transitioned from a mostly milk from a bottle diet to a real solid food only four ounces of milk in a bottle at bedtime diet.  It is awesome, but she is eating me out of house and home.  She's gonna be three feet tall by her birthday.  Maybe 3 foot 4!)  Which means she needs an entirely new wardrobe of sweaters for the coming winter-ish weather.  And I've got a fantastic purple fancy cables and lace sweater to show off.

I can always count on pictures of my cute children in knitwear to save the day!

Only I pulled the sweater out and realized

I blocked it but in true me fashion I never actually finished the finishing work.

I can't show off a sweater with ends dangling willy nilly.

Think of the children!

And then I turned around and realized my model

had curled up on the couch with her bear and fallen asleep.

Preschool is exhausting.

I've got good intentions.

My execution needs some work.

But here's to day 2 of pretending I'm gonna be a regular blogger again!

In Which I Try To Start Blogging...Again

Where did the summer go?

Seriously.

One moment it was April and I was planning for the end of the school year.  I had big dreams of lazy days in the swimming pool.

Meaty graduated 8th grade.

Then I blinked and it was the first day of school

I have a Senior in high school, a Freshman in high school, an 8th grader, a 4th grader, and the Queen is all ready to dominate in her first full year of Preschool.

Summer went way to quickly.  In summers past we have created a Summer To Do List and Daily Schedule that hung prominently on the wall in our Kitchen/Dining Room.  It was a fun way to make sure the children did their chores and that we had planned activities together.  I know if left alone I will give in to inertia and do nothing.  But this summer we decided to forego the to do list.  Which isn't to say we didn't go swimming, or eat ice cream or make craft projects.

We did.

It was just a more laid back less structured summer, that I think we all really needed.  Thanks to the skills their Grandma taught them, Bird and Sweet Pea kept us in a steady supply of cookies.  Pork Chop has a budding side business making bath bombs (We're still working out the recipe.  I think they're a teensy bit too oily but still pretty darn awesome.  The smell alone is worth having to scrub the tub when I'm done).  We ate our weight in popsicles and ice cream.

It was a good summer.

And a short summer.

It's time to get back to the business of learning.

And for me...KNITTING!

There has been knitting.

So fingers crossed I'll have a finished knit or two to show off six months from now. (that was a little joke.  and also maybe not a joke given my track record)

Here's to a fantastic school year and the best intentions to blog.

In Which I Lose My Freaking Mind

I was in Wal Mart the other day.

I am always in Wal Mart.

All day.

Every day.

I'm either buying milk or toilet paper.  Because that is my glamorous life.

But on the particular day in question I found myself in the fabric section.

Pork Chop is going to Disney Land with the Science National Honor Society.  Not only is that girl in the National Honor Society but she is also in the Science National Honor Society.  She makes me proud!

But anyways...

She is going to Disney Land and as such she needs a pair of Mickey Mouse Ears.  But not just any Mickey Mouse Ears.  A dorky circle hat with plastic ears and her name embroidered on the back just isn't good enough.  She has to have DIY character ears made from instructions she found on Pinterest with a few youtube tutorials thrown in for good measure.

She is so my kid.

Again, that girl makes me proud!

Which is how I found myself standing in the middle of the Wal Mart fabric section pushing the button for service for eighth time trying to find someone to cut me six inches of satin fabric in a dazzling array of rainbow colors.  For her ears.

And that is when I saw them.

A glorious row of fat quarters in colors and patterns that spoke to my soul.

Before I knew it I was googling how many fat quarters one might need to sew an twin size quilt.

The Queen is three and still sleeping in her crib.  It is better for everyone if she remains in her crib.  But she is growing.  And will outgrow her crib any moment now.  I can hear her hit the bars at night as she rolls over.  She needs a big girl bed.

Soon.

We have almost everything we need to move her to a big girl bed.

We have a bed frame.  A twin size mattress.  Tons of twin size sheets.  We have a baby gate to put at her door to attempt to keep her in her room.  We have a secondary gate we can use to block the stairs in the event that the first baby gate does not prove to be sufficient to contain the wild toddler.

We everything but a quilt.

She has a very very cute crib quilt.

But she will need a big girl quilt.

And I think these will work nicely for that purpose

The pink!  The grey!  The aqua!

The clouds!  The polka dots!  The chevrons!

I don't know what happened.  They were on the shelf one moment.  And then they were in my cart.  (for the record the internet said I needed 24 of them, so I bought 24.  I probably shouldn't have trusted the internet.  I probably should have bought 25 or 30 or 52 just to be safe.  But I took a leap of faith and bought 24)

It was only when I brought them home and set them on the counter beside The Queen's shoes that I realized how deep my problem is.

Evidently I am only purchasing from a single color palette lately.

But it is such a gorgeous one!

Now I just need to give up sleep completely to find time to actually make a quilt.

Cat For Sale...Cheap

My fat cat is a cat nip addict.

Each night when the kids go to bed she joins me in the family room where I present her with a goblet of milk and a pile of catnip served on a silver tray.

The Greatest wishes I was making this up.  

But it's true.

I am an enabler.

In October of last year Pork Chop crocheted a round cat toy and filled with with batting and cat nip.

That was hours of fun.

For some reason I hate stuffing.  Not the yummy food of the Gods you fill turkeys with at Thanksgiving.  But the white stuff you use in pillows/dolls/teddy bears/and cat toys.  I hate it.  Just hate it.  It's a texture thing maybe? Or bad flashback of middle school home ec?  I just hate the stuff.  We all have our quirks and I seem to be amassing more and more as I age.  Hating stuff is one I embrace.  (that was supposed to read "hating stuffing is one I embrace" but I think I like the typo better)

I read somewhere (probably on Ravelry) where someone kept all their yarn ends to stuff their cat toys with.  And I really really really liked that idea.  So I've been saving my yarn ends for the past six months or so.

And I've got half a cat bed full of left overs.  I could stuff three or four cat toys with my stash.

I bring this up because from looking around my blog one might be left with the impression that I haven't knit anything at all in the past six months or so.

And that impression isn't entirely wrong.

My pink socks are still in the Abyss waiting to be knit.  My red dress is still sitting on a shelf in my closet waiting to be turned into a sweater.  My Good Sweater is still hibernating in the trunk beside my knitting chair waiting for a miracle.  Even my Find Your Fade shawl is knit, and even blocked.  It is waiting for the ends to be woven in.

Another Find Your Fade and a Boho Blush shawl have joined it (see I did knit something!).  Both are waiting to be blocked.

In my defense, blocking has become a lot harder around here.  Not only do I have to fight my natural loathing of blocking (see...quirky.  also...hating stuff).  But fat cat LOVES blocking knits.  She ALWAYS lays on them.

And if the pins are bothering her she just pulls them up with her teeth.

Problem solved.

The only way to ensure my blocked knits actually dry to the proper proportions and remain relatively cat hair free is to lock her out of the bedroom.  Which is harder than it sounds.  She sits and meows at the door.  She tries to open it with her paw.  And heaven forbid you have to go in that room.  Don't let her robust physique fool you.  She is fast and she will trip you in her efforts to enter the room before you finish turning the door knob.  The other day I locked her out of the bedroom so I could block a sweater I test knit for Knit Picks.  She was so mad at me that yesterday as I sat on the couch knitting she chewed through my working yarn.  Revenge was hers.

Whose idea was it to get cats?

All of this to say I'm still alive.  I'm still knitting.  I hope to finish something one day so I may share it with you.

*fingers crossed*

Failure Never Looked So Good

So it looks like I spoke too soon.

The Queen began her morning with diarrhea.

And once she was freshly bathed and the carpet/couch/clothes were all cleaned, she proceeded to vomit all over the carpet/couch/clothes.

The Greatest cleaned each mess while I bathed the Queen.

He really is The Greatest.

Her fever has returned so we spent all day like this.

And sometimes like this.

My back is killing me from all the hours in the rocking chair.  That evil vengeful spirit sure is taking revenge in small petty ways.

On the knitting front I finished my Find Your Fade Shawl.  Wanna take a guess where it is now?

That's right.

I put that baby in The Abyss to sit and await blocking.

My goal in knitting this shawl was to create left over sock yarn.  Having a super cool shawl was a bonus.  I failed a little in my primary directive.

I used seven colors but I only have six left over balls.

And that one ball on the end

It isn't big enough to actually do anything with.  Cat paw included for scale.  And also included because she wouldn't leave my yarn alone.

Seriously

She wouldn't leave the yarn alone.

All my yarn was once again on the floor as I searched for the perfect stash combination for my next Find Your Fade Shawl.  Why am I knitting another one?  Because this pattern is addicting that's why.  It ought to come with a warning label.

After considering several combinations I finally settled on this one.

You might notice that two of the yarn ends from the precious shawl will be making an appearance in my second shawl.

So that's a double fail on the left over yarn ends.

But I'll have another awesome shawl.  So there is that!

The Curse Is Real

So The Queen was sick this week.

I always get extra nervous when she gets sick.  Her Down syndrome isn't something that really impacts our day to day lives too much.  It just is who she is.  I don't think about it much.  I don't think about it in terms of raising my daughter with Down syndrome.  I think about as raising my daughter.  Funny how when I was pregnant it was all I thought about.  Her diagnosis.  Now I'm too busy thinking about her.  The actual amazing person that she is.

But when she gets sick her Down syndrome comes rushing to the forefront.  It means she gets sicker than the other children.  It means she is sick longer. And with her heart defect it makes fevers feel more perilous.

I don't know if that last one is an actual medical danger or just how I feel.  But I feel it none the less.

For a few days it was just a runny nose, and a low grade fever.

Then a switch flipped.  She was whiney.  She was lethargic.  She was running a high fever that over the counter meds weren't touching.  And she was touching her ear a lot.

She cuddled any available body.  She fell asleep on my chest and as I cradled her hot little body I could feel her heart working over time.

She was really sick.

I was really scared.

It was no longer a cold.  But was it more serious than a virus that needed to run its course?  The ear clutching gave me the excuse I needed to run to urgent care.

I got dressed to go in the first things I grabbed from my closet.

Jeans and the cursed sweater.

It was there.

I wasn't feeling picky.

The trip to urgent care was uneventful.  Queen seemed to enjoy the novelty of riding in Daddy's big SUV.  I think it afforded her a level of luxury that was missing from her life.

We checked into the clinic and settled down in the waiting room.

All was well.

Until it wasn't.

The Queen started to fuss.

I stood to rock her and as I shifted her head up on my shoulder she puked down the back of my sweater.

Multiple heaves shook her tiny body as hot liquid flowed down my back.  I flipped her to my hip to take her to the bathroom to get cleaned up and she puked all down the front of my sweater.

Hot vomit in my bra.

Motherhood is so glamorous.

I'm 100% positive this was the work of the evil spirit haunting my sweater.

She didn't puke before that moment.

And she hasn't puked since.

A vengeful spirit is seeking revenge on my sweater.

And they're off to a good start.

To add insult to injury there was a spare outfit for the Queen in the diaper bag.  But there wasn't a spare shirt for me.  I almost never ever rarely ever get puked on in public.  The Greatest saved the day.  He gave me his sweater and spent the rest of the evening in a plain white t-shirt.  He really is The Greatest.

In other Queen Bean news, she had a round of steroids and is midway through a course of antibiotics and she is nearly back to her sweet sassy self.

I'm so glad she's feeling better.

On the knitting front my fade grows and grows.

I'm on my final color and I'm already planning a second one.  This pattern is addictive.  I would love to knit one from all variegated yarn but I'll be stash diving for this one as well, so a mix of semi-solids and variegated yarns will have to do.

I'm not even mad about it.

It's gonna be glorious.

Leggings Don't Judge

So in keeping with my desire to feel more in love with my life I wore leggings.

And I loved them.

Leggings do not judge.

Of course when getting dressed leggings are only half of the equation.

An appropriate torso covering is required as well.

Today that appropriate torso covering emerged from the depths of The Abyss.

This yarn first appeared on my blog is June of 2015.  But that project was destined for failure.  I tried again in the fall of 2015 as part of the Joji Fall 2015 KAL.  I knit the sweater in time to qualify for the prize drawings and everything.  But instead of entering my finished object I threw it in the Abyss where it sat for a year and a half waiting for the ends to be woven in.

Cause procrastination and self sabotage are how I roll.

One of my least favorite parts of blogging is staging pictures of myself.  I decided to pose knitting on the couch.  But when I went to check the frame someone else decided she wanted to knit on the couch as well.

While the Queen possess many various talents, knitting is not in her skill set yet.

A quick intervention was required.

She was not pleased.

Look at that look she's giving me.

I love this tiny tornado.

I'm on the fence about this sweater.  It has everything I love.

Look at that texture.

The cables!  The ribbing!  The textured stitch!

I love the shape of the sweater

The slightly oversized body with the fitted sleeves.  The way the back dips a little lower than the front.

Usually the make or break factor for a sweater is the sleeve length.  Did I nail the perfect sleeve length?

I did.

Everything is there.  Everything I love is there.  I should be living in this sweater.

So why am I withholding my love?

The yarn,

It was acrylic yarn I bought at big lots.  Huge score getting a sweaters worth of yarn for five or six bucks.

It's even a lovely shade of grey.

I do love a good shade of grey.

I could get weird and maybe a little dirty here, but I won't.

My children might one day read this blog.

Back to the yarn: its not even a really bad acrylic.  It isn't scratchy.  Its holding its shape well.  I was kept warm in my sweater today.

It just feels weird.

And I can't come up with anything more specific than that.

I just feel weird when I wear the sweater.  Like the yarn robbed an ancient burial ground and is now being haunted by a vengeful spirit who is just biding its time watching and waiting and creeping me out before it makes its move.

I feel wrong in this sweater.

Also my neck bind off was almost too tight.

So there is that too.

I need to knit this pattern again.

In a natural fiber.

I may be turning into a yarn snob.

My leggins won't judge me if I do.

Thank goodness leggings don't judge.

Dreams Do Come True!

I'm not going to lie

It's everything I thought it would be.  And more.

It's oh so quiet and peaceful and perfect for that beautiful slice of time after the children go to bed but before The Greatest comes home from work (working the swing shift is not for the faint of heart).  That precious hour where I can pee all by myself and eat the secret ice cream without sharing.

I've discovered I need a footstool or otterman of some sort.

The cat scratching post will work for now.  Until I think of something better.  And by better I mean prettier.  Way prettier.

Speaking of cats, my fat cat was furious with me for sitting in her chair.  She turned her back to me to express the depths of her displeasure and loathing for me.

But it turns out if I'm in the comfy chair fat cat gets desperate enough...

To use the cat bed.

This my friends is what winning looks like!

On the other side of the room Fluffy Cat was absoutely delighted to have the entire king size bed all to herself.

This may also be what winning looks like!

Yes.  We are going to knit such beautiful things here together.  Yes we are.