Knitless

I have been mostly knitless all week.

I have been studying for the bar exam, I am way behind where I'd like to be and I haven't had much time for knitting.

Sad

You would think a person would learn

I'm knitting away on a lovely green sweater and measure it - check the schematic - measure again - knit some more - measure again - check the schematic. It's not coming out correctly.

So rather than looking for errata I frog the whole thing, in spite of the fact that my gauge swatch was perfect.

This morning I get up and do a bunch of scribbling and decide to check for errata. There it is - a simple measurement missing from the schematic. Drat!

Oh well. Back to knitting.

Swaps

I love swaps. Admit it - we all love swaps.

I love shopping for my swap partner - looking for that little extra something to make their day. My first swap was a delight - she was a brand new knitter so there were all sorts of little notions she didn't have. I found the best technique book ever ever ever while shopping for her. And she updated her blog - sometimes.

Lately I have had several horrible experiences. I've been stiffed twice. My angel the first time was so sweet, the second time my swap partner strung me along with promises until about 4 months after the swap ended, the she just disappeared.

The rest of the swaps have only been unhappy because there was no communication. Emails went unanswered and blogs weren't updated. And recently - no answers to my emails. I sent one a week and I think one was answered. What makes this fun, at least for me, is chatting with someone and getting to know little bits about them and then sending them a package you've put together based on what you learned about them (or think you did).

So here is some advice for potential swapees - check your email often - and junk mail too, send your partner emails - chat about 'stuff", make sure you update your blog, read your partners blog - you would be amazed what you can learn about someone by reading their blog. And a significant part of the fun is getting to know someone new. Send your package Priority or however you like - but get that delivery confirmation, it only costs an extra 65 cents, but it's well worth it. I have only had one package disappear but I really wished I had the delivery confirmation.

For the organizers - even handed application of the rules is a good thing - REALLY, but common sense is also a useful quality. There is no way to avoid the random flakes. but communication requirements help. And if you can't keep up - ask for help. I know there are a lot of people who would like to help.

As if anybody cares what I think anyway

WWKIPD

Today didn't start out so well. A smoke detector started a low battery beep yesterday. I had a new battery so I wasn't worried. I put the new battery in but it still beeped. It was late so I just closed my door so I could ignore it and get some sleep - It'll still be there in the morning.

Around 3am the one in my bedroom began to beep then the one in my daughter's room began to beep. I messed around trying unsuccessfully to get them to stop until 6am. Then I called my spouse, who is on vacation and woke him up at an ungodly hour. We talked about it for some time, he told me to unplug them, I figured out how to unplug them (they are wired in but they have a little plug - who knew). I managed to get them unplugged and then waited until 9 when the store opened. New batteries fresh from the store did the trick.

After that morning fiasco I stomped around for a few hours, finished a shawl and baked some bars.

My friend and I headed out to World Wide Knit In Public Day (we do it all the time so it was hard to see it as special). She needed to replace a broken needle so she could finish her socks. We hit two stores before we managed to find them. Then we went to The Double Ewe. They were having quite the festivities. It was fun. I didn't win a door prize - but really - what do I need with more yarn.

I started working on my Box Sweet sweater. I have finished 7 squares and I hope to finish a couple more yet tonight.

After knitting we stopped at the liquor store and headed to my friend's house. Her husband was making us dinner. It was really tasty.

So in spite of everything I will count today as a win.

Should have brought a camera

I'm sitting in lovely Tucson. It's a work trip so I'm not getting much chance to enjoy it, but it is beautiful here. I think I could live here.

But tomorrow I return home. It's too bad that I didn't manage to find any souvenir yarn. I didn't even have time to look. (le sigh)

I'm suffering a little from the time change - that or sitting alone in a hotel room is boring enough to send me to bed early.

UFOs

I have been quite busy finishing stuff and starting socks. I started two new pair in the last week. I am also working on finishing a shawl I started last year. I'm just past the half way point.

I have also been working on my garden. The plants are growing and lovely. I have flowers and seedlings to brighten my day. Today we put down mulch to protect the new plants and keep the weeds down. I don't really care much for mulch but weed suppression is important. I don't have time to give an un-mulched garden the attention it deserves.

I also REALLY want to get started on the StrickWear cardigan I purchased. I keep trying to get my daughter to ball the yarn for me - but so far she keep resisting. I might lose this particular battle.

Today we had - Family law, more specifically - alimony (in all it's many forms), child support, visitation, and conflicts of law (or is the conflict of laws?). The lecturer should have used terms other than foreign and forum. They sound much too similar on tape and when strung together two or three in a row I had no idea which one he was using. I'll have to grab text for that in order to get it all figured out.

I also managed 2 of 3 on some crim law questions. Must remember assumption of risk.

Why did I think this was a good idea?

In knitting news I had to rip back the second sock of my third pair of Sock Wars socks. The prior assassin had finished the first one and used a stockingnet heel. I had already completed the s1k1 heel, turned the heel and almost finished the gusset before I noticed. Great attention to detail. I had checked her gauge but nothing else. Her gauge was perfect. The yarn is a lovely color of Tofutsie I will have to seek out.

Woohoo

The weather has finally gotten beautiful.

We have had quite the week. Last weekend the bathroom had issues. We had to pull out the toilet and do some clean up and then replace everything. That was mostly done Friday. Last night we came home and the closet rod had come loose from the wall. After we cleaned up that mess and replaced the brackets I put most of the stuff away again.

In the midst of this I finished my Lucy Bag. It's nice enough - but I'm not sure if I like it. It may become a raffle prize. We'll see.

This week my daughter comes home from her school trip. I'm going to start prepping to clean up the basement bedroom it will be a really mess. But it will also be nice to have that finished as well. We are also going to start finishing the basement bath. Yikes!

I have nearly finished the knitting part of the sheep for Shannon. I'm going to go ahead and knit up the rest of the yarn I have (I think I will get two sheep) before I do the felting.

There really isn't any other finished object news this week. But I am mostly between projects. So there is a significant likelihood that something new and interesting will make an appearance on the needles. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures of yarn girl!