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Sunday, July 30, 2017

Year SIX: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - Update #31

Hello and happy Sunday. I'm going to warn you now, this is going to be a photo-heavy post because....well, you'll see why in a mo'.


Finished Objects (FOs):
1. Pussy Hat: started January 10, 2017; finished January 16, 2017
2. Hermione's Everyday Socks (v2): started November 14, 2016; finished January 28, 2017
3. Frene Creek Farm Corriedale (spinning): started October 12, 2016; finished January 16, 2017
4. Pikachu Hat: started February 3, 2017; finished February 10, 2017
5. Trusty (v2): started December 22, 2016; finished February 24, 2017
6. Pussy Hat: started February 13, 2017; finished February 27, 2017
7. Pussy Hat: started March 2, 2017; finished March 8, 2017
8. Pussy Hat: started March 9, 2017; finished March 21, 2017
9. Pussy Hat: started March 21, 2017; finished March 30, 2017
10. FlockSock Yarn #1: started April 5, 2017; finished April 5, 2017
11. FlockSock Yarn #2: started April 5, 2017; finished April 5, 2017
12. #initiateknitdesign challenge from ArohaKnits: started April 3, 2017; finished April 11, 2017
13. Knit Picks Bare Palette Fingering: started April 9, 2017; finished April 9, 2017
14. Malabrigo Rios: started April 9, 2017; finished April 9, 2017
15. Nashua Creative Focus Superwash: started April 9, 2017; finished April 9, 2017
16. Pussy Hat: started April 13, 2017; finished April 30, 2017
17. Pussy Hat: started April 30, 2017; finished May 13, 2017
18. Messed Up Moss: started January 4, 2017; finished May 17, 2017
19. Pussy Hat: started May 19. 2017; finished May 23, 2017
20. Pussy Hat: started May 24, 2017; finished May 26, 2017
21. Baby Pussy Hat: started May 26, 2017; finished May 26, 2017
22. Pussy Hat: started May 26, 2017; finished May 26, 2017
23. Bugga Bare (2 matching): started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
24. Bugga Bare: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
25. Bugga Bare: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
26. Malabrigo Twist: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
27. Malabrigo Twist: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
23. Vanilla Socks: started March 30, 2017; finished June 8, 2017
24. Stormageddon's Vest: started October 17 2016; finished June 9, 2017
25. BMFA Handpainted Roving: started March 23, 2017; finished June 23, 2017
26: Malabrigo Sock: started July 3, 2017; finished July 4, 2017
27. Malabrigo Sock: started July 3, 2017; finished July 4, 2017
28. Sanguine Gryphon Traveller: started July 3, 2017; finished July 4, 2017
29. Sanguine Gryphon Traveller: started July 3, 2017; finished July 4, 2017
30. Bonbon for Miss C: started June 24, 2017; finished July 6, 2017
31. Sandy's Palette Merino/Silk Roving: started July 1, 2017; finished July 7, 2017
32. Sandy's Palette Merino/Silk Roving: started July 2, 2017; finished July 10, 2017
33. Miss Babs BFL: started July 11, 2017; finished July 21, 2017

No, I didn't finish anything new this week. That's not surprising, given the kind of week we've had....



Works-in-Progress (WIPs):

1. Wink: started January 5, 2015
2. Oh, She IS a Bad Nut: started August 11, 2016
3. Fall in San Francisco (prototype 3): started October 4, 2016
4. Smooth Operator Socks: started October 13, 2016
5. Morvarch Aardvark: started January 1, 2017
6. Stomping Grounds collection: started February 26, 2017 (no project page)
7. Hat Design: started March 20, 2017
8. Vanillaish Rainbow Socks: started June 1, 2017
9. Twilight Socks (from blanks): started June 8, 2017
10. Garter Stitch Baby Blanket: started July 6, 2017
11. Veggie Socks: started July 6, 2017

I took photos of seven of the above projects this week. I didn't necessarily work on all of them but they were photographed :)



This is Wink. There is no reason this is taking me so long other than the charts...it's worsted weight, it's on US #6 (4 mm) needles.......yeah. I'm pathetic. ::sigh::



My Smooth Operator Socks saw a little action this week...like a round and a half. But that's the first one completed and the start of the second.



I don't know why I bothered photographing Morvarch, honestly....it's not really changed since the last time I photographed it (which is also the last time I worked on it). Whatever.



My Vanillaish Rainbow Socks......I need to Kitchener the toe closed on the first one. Then I'll be moving along to the second one, I suppose. I spent quite a bit of time on these last Sunday. I discovered that I didn't have the appropriate tools for Kitchenering so I wound up stopping until Thursday or so (when I discovered they needed a couple more rounds anyway).



The Twilight Socks are.....in the design stage. I think I finally have the chart written correctly the way I want it...now I need to make it so I can take it places and then I can, you know, maybe get some work done on these. Maybe.



The Garter Stitch Baby Blanket continues to grow at a snail's pace but it's growing. I'm still on the first ball and I have four total...I think I'll be okay. I don't know that it's going to end up big enough to be a baby blanket but we'll see.



And lastly, my Green Veggie Socks. I was going to make these normal socks...and then, for some reason, the idea popped into my head to make them shorty socks. So, I'm quite a bit further along than I thought I would be.


Moving along.....

17 UFOs in 2017
1. Wink: started January 5, 2015
2. Oh, She IS a Bad Nut: started August 11, 2016
3. Fall in San Francisco (prototype 3): started October 4, 2016
4. Frene Creek Farm Corriedale (spinning): started October 12, 2016; finished January 16, 2017 **DONE**
5. Smooth Operator Socks: started October 13, 2016
6. Stormageddon's Vest: started October 17, 2016 **DONE**
7. Hermione's Everyday Socks (v2): started November 14, 2016; finished January 28, 2017 **DONE**
8. Trusty (v2): started December 22, 2016 **DONE**
9. Design: Susan's Hat
10. Design: Little Man's Baby Blanket
11. Design: Paradiddle Socks (aka Little Drummer Girl)
12. Design: Pacific Waves Hat
13. Design: Fall in San Francisco Hat
14. Stash Inventory (photos, in Rav database) **DONE**
15. Dystopian Novel
16. Doctor Who blanket (1)
17. Doctor Who blanket (2)



"OMGLSGWTFBBQ" Lists


Children's Items:
1. Stuffed toy for Mr. K (SIL's foster child)
2. Stuffed toy for Miss E (SIL's adopted daughter)
3. Stuffed toy for TAZ (brother's daughter)
4. Undetermined hat for Little Man
5. Undetermined hat for Stormageddon
6. Mittens for Little Man
7. Mittens for Stormageddon


Items for ME (selfish knitting FTW!):
1. Park Slope (fingering, specifically Mountain Colors Crazy Foot)
2. Worsted weight house socks (worsted, of course - maybe something like Lumberjack)
3. Classic Silk Mayfaire Camisole (Miss Babs Northumbria with modifications)
4. Evangeline (worsted; solid or semi-solid)
5. Lichen (Aran or Sport/DK; solid or semi-solid)
6. Moyen Age (fingering; one of my Vice Yarns? Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20?)
7. Ginny's Cardigan (DK; solid or semi-solid)
8. Drip Drip Drop (sock; solid or semi-solid)
9. Celtic Myths (worsted; solid)
10. Jag in Garter Stitch (DK; 2 colors)
11. Cobh (fingering; 2 colors)
12. Offhand Lace (bulky; solid or semi-solid)
13. Whitman (DK; any color)
14. Flax (worsted; any color - Misti Alpaca Harry Potter-esque one?)
15. Hoar Frost (Wollmeise that's wound in the bag)


Christmas/Charity Bin:
1. 198 Yds of Heaven (worsted; solid)
2. Comfort Food (Aran; solid)
3. Tombreck (worsted; solid or semi-solid)
4. Premie Spiral Hat (DK; any color)
5. Pumpkins & a Pattern (any weight, any color - gauge doesn't matter)


Designs:
1. Susan's Hat *started* - need new prototype & write pattern
2. Little Man's Baby Blanket *started* - write pattern
3. Paradiddle Socks - need prototype & write pattern
4. Pacific Waves Hat *started* - need another prototype & write pattern
5. Fall in San Francisco *started* - need another prototype & write pattern
6. Stormageddon's Baby Blanket - need prototype & write pattern
7. Cabled pullover (grey look-alike sweater) - need sketch, grading, swatch, prototype, & write pattern
8. Christmas stocking for Little Man - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)
9. Christmas stocking for Stormageddon - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)
10. Christmas stocking for Husband - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)
11. Stomping Grounds collection (everything: charts, prototypes, swatches, etc.) *started*


Spinning:
1. Faerie Mountain Fibers Crazy Batt
2. Wash & start processing Alpaca fleece from Lambtown
3. Wash & start processing Merino fleece from Lambtown

Other:
1. Stitch markers
2. Make sure my vintage patterns are in Ravelry (Workbasket magazines, leaflets, etc.)




This week has been.....very trying. It started out pretty well, actually. We drove down to Los Angeles on Sunday, leaving before 8am. The drive was uneventful, other than cursing all the idiots on the road that don't know what "cruise control" means. I spent most of the drive down working on the Vanillaish Rainbow Sock and the Green Veggies sock. That night, we took the boys to Medieval Times in Buena Park.




They had no idea what they were in for or where they were, even though they saw the castle.






I didn't take any photos during the show because it was dark and the children weren't exactly cooperative. Well, Little Man was okay...Stormageddon was a booger. We finally had to placate him with Husband's phone.

We then continued on our journey and landed ourselves in Carlsbad for the night. The traffic coming out of San Diego was horrendous. Comic-Con was also last weekend so the traffic very well could have been from that.

On Monday, we were up early and headed to Disneyland. We still didn't tell the boys anything about where we were going. We had to let them figure it out. Little Man tried reading the signs at the parking garage but couldn't....so when we got to the floor we were parking on, he saw Donald Duck. I took a video and had to coax him to say it. They were excited until we had to wait at the front gates...I swear we were in that line for at least a half hour (probably 45 minutes), just to get into the park. Little Man was not thrilled about that.



They liked the little tram ride over to the park from the parking garage...but then the line happened. 

We spent most of the day flitting around here and there, all over Disneyland. We skipped some of the more popular rides (I wanted to go on the Matterhorn and Mister Toad's Wild Ride and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, for example) because the lines were super long. I think the Matterhorn was at 165 minutes for a wait time at one point when we went past. 

I know we went on the Jungle Cruise; that was the first one. It was a good teaser for the boys. Not too jumpy, not too scary (though Stormageddon was a little apprehensive about the hippos that come out of the water). 

We climbed Tarzan's Treehouse, which would have been fine but you climb up like three or four flights of stairs (I was okay with that), you walk around on a level for about two minutes, then you climb down to another level, repeat until you're at the bottom. I could go up the stairs just fine but the switch to going down so quickly screwed up my quads. I'm just finally able to get around without being in pain. 


I didn't notice until I tried to roll over in my sleep. In the meantime, there was a lot of Disneyland left to explore. 


When we hit Pirates, the line was only 20 minutes. Stormageddon was not impressed and spent most of the ride covering his eyes and snuggling into my side. 

After that, Dumbo....and that was probably the longest wait we had. Unfortunately, it was right around lunch and Stormageddon was crabby. But, he survived. 



Stormageddon rode with me.....


 Husband rode with Little Man, and they were in front of us. I think Stormageddon liked that one. But after that, we decided lunch would probably be a good idea. Of course, I can't remember where we ate.....oh well.

After lunch, we headed to the Star Wars area, which isn't finished (not even close) and met Darth Vader.



Little Man pulled the sword from the stone during one of our wanderings (possibly when we went to ride the carousel).



We watched the parade. Stormageddon was excited about seeing Donald Duck.



And, of course, we took the boys to meet Mickey Mouse.....which was also a long line but it had a few things like Japanese Mickey cartoons from just a few years ago (and they were...interesting....seriously, when did Mickey, Donald, and Goofy turn into hooligans?!)




The boys managed to last until almost 9pm, which meant they had a 12-hour day.....and then they fell asleep in the car, which means we had total success!


Even better, when we got to Nana & Papa's, Stormageddon crashed on the runner rug the second he got into the house. Their dog, Wookie, was sniffing at him because he was concerned. 

The next morning, Tuesday, we got up early and went to Universal Studios. On our way down on Sunday, Little Man saw the Minion peeking over the building and we managed to not let on that's where we were going on Tuesday.....

The boys were so excited because MINIONS and Husband was excited because SIMPSONS and I was excited because HARRY POTTER! And we all got what we wanted. 


















In addition to that, Stormageddon met Scooby & Daphne and the boys also met Spongebob (but I don't have photos of that - they're on Husband's phone). 


And then I got to my happy place.




Olivanders. Little Man decided he wanted a wand......and I told him he was going to have to let me read Harry Potter to him and he said he was ready for it. As of yet, it hasn't happened. ::sigh::










We split up for part of the day. Husband, Little Man, and Husband's friend went on the Universal Tour and Stormageddon and I wandered around.....mostly in Hogsmeade. 

We left Los Angeles around 4pm and we were home by 9:30pm. We got out of LA before the nasty traffic hit. 

Wednesday was spent relaxing, doing laundry, and unwinding from the whirlwind couple of days. Thursday was our usual day of Husband working from home, the boys and I doing a few things around the house (cleaning Little Man's room, specifically), and swimming lessons.

.....except swimming lessons didn't happen.


Yes, that is Little Man in the ER with a splint. He was running around in the backyard before swimming lessons, tripped on the hose, and fell on his arm. So, off to the ER we went. The x-rays didn't show an obvious break but there was swelling and it's right by growth plates so to be safe, they put him in a splint and sling. ::sigh:: 

And on Friday morning, this happened....


It's difficult to tell but that is Stormageddon post-op in the hospital. He had ear tubes put in Friday morning. We had to be there at 7am, he was brought back to surgery at 8:20am, I sat down, knit a round and a half on my Smooth Operator Socks, and the doctor came out to say he was done and Stormageddon was in the post-op recovery. It was 8:45am. We were out by 9am. 


.....and this was him by 9:30am. Fully awake, playing on the iPad, eating Kix and he was asking for milk. You wouldn't know he'd spent two hours at the hospital that morning. 



And Little Man in his sling. He doesn't do too well with it. He's too big for the kid one and he's too small for the adult one. I don't know why there wasn't an in-between size but there wasn't. He goes to see the orthopedic in a week and a half. ::sigh:: I don't know if he's going to make it that long. I'm probably going to have to re-wrap his splint before then. 

So, it's been a long and exhausting week. I hope your weeks have fared better than mine. 

8 comments:

  1. What colorful childhoods your boys are having. Man do you have stories to tell. I can't believe you did Disneyland in a day; I would be such a grump. Totally green that you were at Universal. We LOVE Minions! Saw Despicable Me 3 recently. I like your Twilight socks; that's a really cool sock blank.

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    1. I'm surprised we were able to do Disneyland in a day. I think it was because we were going all over and didn't spend the day waiting in crazy-long lines. Same with Universal.

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  2. They are definitely resilient...I hope everyone heals quickly! It looks like you had a great trip though! I love the veggie socks.

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  3. Our favorite family fun was just going and not telling where to.

    You got quite a bit done on the crafting front too.

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  4. What a great trip - with great memories for you all. :) And what a lot of lovely knits you've got going!

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  5. Yes to getting to Disney and Universal without spilling the beans, I'm not sure I'd have been able to contain that from mine! This past week sure was a blast for you all and very tiring I'd imagine but so many cool memories for the boys and Harry Potter! Jealous! Hope Little Man's arm isn't broke and he gets the all clear from the ortho and it's crazy how quick the operation for the tubes are for ears, one of my sons has had them in twice. Ruth

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  6. Oh my - what a week. First of all - good work on your photography of your projects - even if some of them aren't progressing you are still getting good shots - something I need to work on. Secondly thank you for the picture tour of all those places I have never been. Looks like fun (except for the line-ups). and thirdly so sorry about the splint and the hospital visit. You certainly lead a busy no holds barred kind of life!

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  7. Whoa Nellie! You did have wonderful but tiring week! Love all your pictures from Disneyland and Universal. The boys are so cute. Your projects are all looking great and your cables are beautiful....I love me some cables! The socks are all so pretty in the yarns you've chosen and the last one is stunning. I can't believe how Stormageddon popped back so soon after surgery! Ah, to be young and heal so fast! I hope your legs feel better by now. Take it easy and I hope you have a quiet, peaceful, uneventful week this week. Mom needs a break, I think!

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