Such a Funk

I have not knit anything since the year started.  This makes me sad.  And I think it's because everything I'm working on is at a point where it needs concentration and I've been so busy I haven't wanted to think about anything!  They all need brain power right now!

Case and point.  I had a movie night with the Mr. last night and finally picked something up.  It was a simple hat at the decrease point.  I started the decrease, read the directions and thought "that doesn't sound like how the pattern looks" but went with it.  Forever later the decreases looked like I was making a giraffe neck warmer, not a hat, and I went back to the pattern.  Turns out the pattern said the exact right thing and I just read it wrong!  At no time did I think "i should reread that, it sounds wrong".  Nope, I just went with it and ended up pulling out about 4 inches.  What a pain.  So the little bit of knitting done has now been ripped.

Other aspects of this year are in fact going well.  I've hit day 17 of my 30 day Yoga Challenge. Erin Motz is amazing!!  I feel great!  I've lost 8 lbs. I'm less stressed.  I have more energy.  And I've started doing more workouts as well (Jillian Micheals Yoga Inferno was yesterday).  You would think with all that said I would not be in the knitting predicament I am.  Oh well. Hopefully my next post will have more knitting!

Boy oh Boy

Where has the time gone!  I literally haven't posted anything since I've moved into this house.  That has been a whole four months!  1/3 of the year has gone by without posting (and I've already been in this house for a whole 1/3 of a year?! No way!)

Oddly enough my life has been happier here, but also much more stressful.  More to do.  More time with my little one and me, which means challenges in itself.  We've already had more people come visit than the whole time we lived in Kansas.  Crazy huh?  Like they say "location, location".  We've also gone to visit family 3 times and will be doing that again in a few days.   And I've started a new endeavor - Jamberry Nail Wrap Consultant.  If that interests you at all e-mail me!  

But I think I can say with confidence I'm back.  And the knitting has not lagged, even if I've totally slacked on posting about it.  I have a few new yarns I've worked with, I went to Rhinebeck (oh yeah I Did!) and I'm starting a year without yarn purchases!!  I've almost finished my husbands never-ending sweater which may very well be the death of me.

Oh yeah, last week I turned 30!!  And my birthday sucked.  Big time.  Just putting that out there.  It had nothing to do with the age either.  And my daughter turns THREE in a little over two weeks.  That's the one I can't believe the most.  Three years old.  And acts like a 5 year old.  Seriously though- her mannerisms, her vocal, her ability to recognize letters already, her height and her attitude.  I swear.  My current 2 yr old has acted older for the whole year.  People seriously never believe she's 2.  She's already wiping our kisses off.  I thought I had at least 7 more years before that happened!  Where has my baby girl went?

Well glad to check in.  I am in fact still alive and kicking.  Just busy as can be it seems.  But I haven't disappeared and I sure hope some of my readers have stuck around.  Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

New Year for Me

I've actually had a great year this year.  So many things accomplished, I'm finally getting my house together and organized, and my daughter is getting so big and provides such joy.  Granted we've had our downsides.  The biggest was saying goodbye to my husband during his long deployment.

2014 will bring great things I'm sure.  But just so you understand an Army wife's thought process I'm sitting here thinking that it will either be an amazing year with a homecoming, or the worst year of my life from that dreaded knock on the door.  That's the way we think, sadly.  Especially after we just lost 5 soldiers from my husbands battalion.  I don't think I've talked about that here.  A heart wrenching few hours of not knowing if my husband was ok after hearing his type of aircraft went down in his area.  Turns out he was on the recovery mission instead.  I'm really going to try not to take advantage of anything after that experience.  I'm not going to dwell on it either or sit at home constantly worrying.  I'm going to spend quality time with my daughter and make every moment count.  That's the theme this year.  (the Knitmore girls do themes instead of resolutions).  There's so much that them encompasses.  Time with my daughter, not sitting around on my butt and my cell phone,  not eating when I can be working out.  Or knitting.  Or sewing. Or blogging. Seriously if I added up all the 5-10 minute increments I sit here playing candy crush or cruising Facebook I could do so much with that extra time! So here's to 2014!


                                                  2014 - Make every moment count

WIP Wednesday - A Quiet House

I have to admit I would blog every morning dutifully if every morning went like this morning has so far.  And I would love life immensely.  It is 8:45 am.  I woke up at 8, started reading in bed for a bit, then I just came downstairs and got my coffee started.  It's storming outside my windows and my daughter is still asleep.  This is positively the most peaceful morning I have had in ages.  It must be karma.  I flat out and can tell you I deserve a morning like this and it's about damn time.

I also hope that there is more of this in my future with daylight savings coming to an end this week, but it could very well mean I'll have more of the opposite.  I'm scared though because Miss A has been up at 5 am twice this week.  How much earlier could it get?  I've had a week from utter hell.  She's been sick.  I've been sick.  She's been embracing the climbing, crying and utterly defying actions of the terrible twos all at the same time.  I've needed some solace.  It's no wonder that I've left my sewing behind this week and only concentrated on knitting.  I think the knitting honestly takes less brain work. And I've been doing alot of it.

Three projects going on this week.  One is off the needles so you can come back on Friday to see it.  I've been continuing on with my Grandpa scarf.  I'm knitting the pattern Celtic Cables and it's not like this is my first time knitting a cable.  But it is my first time knitting several traveling cables all at the same time like this pattern.  I was a little intimidated by it at first and thought it would just be one of those patterns that requires a bit of extra concentration.   I discovered that this is my "no brain required" knitting for the time being.  When I'm utterly drained at the end of the day and don't want to think about what I'm doing I'm pulling this cabled scarf out. This is a sure sign that I am advancing as a knitter.  I never once thought I would consider a cabled scarf like this autopilot knitting.  It's also becoming a bit potato-chippy which I think is probably a great sign since I have a lot more to go.

Next up, I'm getting back to Nozky for Baby.  I've realized I have all the things I want to cast on syndrome, but I always feel like I don't make real progress when I have so many projects on the needles at once.  So I like to whittle down my WIPs first.  These baby leg warmers are something small and easy that should be done in no time!  I'm thinking maybe today?  Especially with this wet and stormy day that lies ahead.

The book.  I'm reading The Yarn Whisperer as half the knitting world itself is.  Maria of Subway Knits instagrammed (that's not actually a word.  I made it a word) about reading it and in my head I shouted "Yay! I am too".  Then I said we should have a read-along in the group.  It's not really a formal one since some of us have started, some of us may have finished and some people just decided to order the book.  But it's a nice place to go and discuss Clara Parke's writing. This book is made up of small essays.  They all relate in some way to a fiber topic, but almost as in comparison to something else. I'm realizing while reading this book that I'm finding the topic at hand more compelling than the actual way it relates to fiber.  This tells me how great of a story teller she is that I could almost take or leave the fiber content.  And that's the only reason I picked it up in the first place.  That might sound like a criticism but really I'm saying that she does such a great job with her writing that she doesn't have to write about fiber to entice me to want to read more. This is a good thing.

Linking up to Tami's Amis for WIP Wednesday and Yarn Along this week since I actually had some reading to talk about.

Deleted It - Blogger App Review

I'm purely sick and tired of the Blogger App.  Anyone else have issues with it?  For a website used so often you would think they would finally improve their app.  First the issue was that you couldn't put pictures where you wanted in posts; you could only upload the pictures and they would all be at the top of the post (or the bottom).  I would write my post up then have to go to the laptop to play with picture orientation.  Well, they have finally done something about the pictures, but the issue with links remains.  What issue?  The fact that you cannot put in hyperlinks at all.....that's a big issue.  I've reviewed the apps, and so have so many others.  It apparently doesn't matter much to them.

Now I'd probably be asking me the question, why do you even use the app?  Well, when you have a toddler that insists on climbing up the bookshelf into your lap everytime you try to sit and use the computer you'd understand.  Sometimes she just makes it a real pain to sit down.  So I use the app and sit on the couch and she leaves me alone.  Kind of.  Then, when you are using pictures from your phone it makes it a whole lot easier, instead of logging in on the browser app, or emailing the pictures to myself.  So I typically use both.  Back and forth.  For one post.  It gets rather annoying.

As if this wasn't enough to frustrate a person.  The past two posts I've completed as well as some others I've started in the past have completely disappeared.  I guess this is partially my fault, because I didn't technically hit the save button.  But so many of you have iphones.  When someone texts or calls or you just want to jump to another app you expect to return to the Blogger app and have the same exact page sitting and waiting for you.  It never is.  So if I get interrupted by something else which happens a lot with smart phones I can't return to my post.  I'm so sick of losing progress that I've altogether deleted the app.  I'm very upset with this and wish they could improve upon themselves.  I've had the app for over two years now and I've already explained the minuscule improvement they've made in two years.  I thought Blogger was better than that.

As If You Haven't Heard it Enough

The government is shutdown.  Now I'm not big into politics but this pisses everyone off.  Especially me.  A military spouse.  I have a few things to share on my opinion and feel free to skip this post if you don't want to hear my view.  There might be a few choice words used as well.

This might not be what you expect me to say, a spouse of a soldier who is currently overseas, but other wives are the people who have driven me to my wits end most about this damn shutdown.  I really wish they would get their shit together so the idea of missing a paycheck or two is not the end of the world!  I can't believe I'm the one saying this since I'm not exactly an expert at managing my finances, but these families really need to learn to control their spending.  Mind you today is the 6th.  Payday was less than a week ago and I know people who are already worrying about getting less (because the bill was passed to pay us, but we might not get everything we are entitled to at this point) money this month because they are already broke.  I don't get it.  And the worst culprits?  The ones with deployed spouse.  I'm not going to give you numbers but my husband is getting close to double his paycheck while he is deployed.  This includes things like combat pay, separation pay, imminent danger, all things that probably won't be included this month, but have been since he's gotten there.  So I ask, WHERE IS YOUR MONEY GOING?  Hell, I understand a little extra spending.  I've gone to a fiber festival and bought a TV.  I still have money in our checking AND savings!

Then there is the whole commissary closing deal.  If you aren't close to anyone in the military or a base itself you may not have heard the drama over this.  But they are furloughed.  So the commissary closes. Naturally.  Would you really think otherwise?  Now OCONUS (overseas) this is not the case.  There are so many spouses, soldiers and families in general that are freaking out.  Seriously.  I'm going to say it again.  Get your shit together!   There are 8 regular groceries stores within 20 minutes.  I shop at the commissary every week, so I'm not saying this because I don't ever use it in the first place like some spouses I know of.  Some food is cheaper and some truly is not.  Some meat is ok and some places around here have much better quality.  I'm not trying to evaluate the quality of the commissary in the least. It might be more convenient to drive 5 minutes instead of 20.  Do you know how many people have to drive an hour to get to a grocery store?  Hell, when I lived in Germany many of us had to drive 40 minutes to even get to the commissary!  I'm just saying, for a week, a month, even a few months you people should be able to handle going off post.  Put your big girl (or big boy) panties on and suck it up.

Don't get me wrong here.  I believe my husband and those doing his job are entitled to their pay well before Congress and the President.  And any pay they don't get during this shutdown, they better get back pay for very soon after this whole thing is over.  You know, after Congress can stop giving each other the silent treatment and acting like 7 year olds.  My husband isn't fighting this war, as you all think of soldiers doing.  He is MEDIVAC this time around (3rd deployment under his belt) which means he is saving the lives of those who are fighting, and those natives that get stuck in between!  If it wasn't for all of the guys and gals doing the job he's doing the casualty rate would be higher on both sides, and for that they are heros.  And heros deserve a paycheck.  But I will say this, most of them would stay there and do this job as volunteers, even if they were told they weren't going to get paid and were given the option to leave (not that it would ever happen) and for that I am proud.

The Post I Never Thought I'd Write

It's sad that I'm doing this, but I am going to prove all those stereotypes about housewives correct.  Well one of them at least.  Please all feminists out there don't send me hate mail.  I Love My Vacuum.  There - said it.  I do.

I'll start at the beginning.  The very beginning.  I was that kid that you could only get to vacuum their bedroom once or twice a year.  Yep, that was me.  As I've matured into adulthood I understand that you need to vacuum more than that.  But that doesn't change the fact that my vacuum broke in our move from Germany and I didn't buy a new vacuum once while we were in the old apartment.  I finally broke down and bought a n vacuum when we moved on post after we had a friend house sit and he made a mess in the house.  Needless to say it still took me two weeks because if I was going to drop the money on the vacuum I was going to get the one I want.  The store still didn't have it, or my 2nd choice and I couldn't wait any longer.  I bought the cheap one.  A Dirt Devil EZ Lite Canister to be exact!  I'm warning you now, don't buy it unless you have a very small room to use it on and you don't have pets!  Or kids!

This year my husband bought me a Eureka Whirlwind Rewind.  Whoever says don't buy your wife cleaning appliances for presents must have great tools already.  Sometimes it's so nice to get something that works right.  Now I've been vacuuming 3 times a week on a regular basis.  The fact that you can see what you pick up actually motivates me to use it more often because I am picking up so much!  It actually disgusts me to think about what was on my floor and in my rug when I wasn't vacuuming very often - with a crappy vacuum no less.  Just look at how full this is after just my living room and play room!  

Don't think I feel bad if you skip this post (of course you wouldn't be reading this if you did) but I just wanted to point out that sometimes things you once hated can be enjoyed when your tools change.  I think this can apply to so many areas of life too.  Next time ill have to try it with a martini in hand.

So Many Distractions

I'd love to tell you I'm sorry for not posting in almost 2 months.  But you know what?  I'm really not.  I have no pressure here to post constantly.  I don't feel like my readers are pressuring me either.  And I've had life to deal with.  Alot going on right now for me and blogging just hasn't been on my things to do. I am however sorry that I haven't really wanted to blog.  I think that so much of it has to do with my toddler.

Little Miss A on Mother's Day

And toddler really is the only way to describe her now.  Baby definitley doesn't fit anymore.  She runs me ragged.  She is constantly getting into things. We are constantly telling her no, pulling her down from climbing furniture, and dealing with tantrums.  She's hit the terrible twos quite early.  She's also been sick 4 times already this year, which of course doesn't help the behavior any and makes it even more challenging.  It's a big reason why I haven't touched my blog.  Why I haven't touched much at all.

Oak Trail Hat

That's not all of the stress in my life.  I can't go into detail (for the safety of my husband and anyone else in his battalion) but my husband is deploying soon.  Sometime in the next few months.  This will be our first time going through a deployment while married and of course the first time with a baby.  It amazes me how much there is to do before d-day, as if it isn't stressful enough knowing he's going to be gone.  But man, I swear this time is more stressful than the actual time away will be!  It doesn't help knowing that we have every weekend packed with plans already and we will be doing some traveling.  Needless to say, its very possible you will see more posts about Army life and possibly some venting.  Everyone told my husband couples get into more fights before a deployment than any other time - I'm not surprised one bit.

Spring Foliage Mitts

I wouldn't say all this has put a halt to my knitting, but it sure has slowed the train down a bit.  I've finished three things in the past few months.  Two of these projects were for the Alana Dakos KAL that was with Subway Knits.  I made the Oak Trail Hat and the Spring Foliage Mitts.  The mitts I think will be a Christmas gift for my Grandma.  The Oak Trail Hat was gifted to my Aunt (In Law).  I finished it while visiting the family and she took quite a shine to it.  I decided it was such a nice, quick knit that it didn't really need to come home with me.  I do, however, want to make another one.  The construction is quite unique and it was very easy and fun to knit up.

Mrs. Tumnus Shawl

I also finished the Mrs. Tumnus Shawl by Eskimimi (on a side note, if you have checked out her blog Eskimimi Makes, I highly suggest it!).  I've never made a shawl from the outside in and this was a new challenge to me.  I will say that this project is what pushed me into charts - rather than reading the written directions like I always have.  It was lace on both sides and the chart just all of a sudden really made sense to me!  This shawl turned out gorgeous. I actually ran out of yarn and had to find a contrasting color for the center.  I wasn't so sure at first but after I knit it, I fell in love.  I almost decided to keep it, but I made it for my husbands Grandmother and I know she's going to love it.  In just a few weeks I'm going to be able to give it to her in person - only the second time I'll ever be meeting her.  I can't wait!

Stripe Study Shawl & Socks On A Plane

On the needles I have a few things going on.  I started some simple stripe socks a while back with some Knit Picks Feleci and was too bored with it so I ripped and started the Socks On A Plane pattern by Laura Linneman.  Much better for my brain right now.  Also have the Stripe Study Shawl on the needles in yummy, bright Wollmeise!

Lettuce Pullover (its more navy and less gray than it seems here)

Last but not least, a blast from the past!  I started the Lettuce Pullover in March of 2011.  Didn't even get to the sleeves when I got pregnant and decided I didn't want to finish a sweater I wouldn't be able to try on.  It went in hibernation through both moves, then got unpacked into the hibernation stuff.  Last week I pulled it out.  It's been on my "things to do" list for this year and I looked it over, looked at the pattern and really thought I was going to have to pull it out so I started looking at the other patterns I could make with the yarn and I kept coming back to the Lettuce.  Well, I thought if I'm just going to pull it out (i didn't know what size needle I knit it in!) I might as well try it first then pull it out if I can get it right.  Tried sliding the stitches to one needle, a size six, which I soon discovered wasn't the right size for my gauge even though it was what the pattern called for.  I switched down to size 5 and I'm on the right needle.  And now I'm almost half way done!  So excited to really finish a sweater!  Finally - linking up to Tami's Amis WIP Wednesday.  Nice to have you back if you're a reader and thanks for visiting.  Come back again if you are new!

One Year

I really can't believe my little Jelly bean as I called her in ultra-sounds is One Year Old today.  It's like the slower I say it, the more I think it should sink in.  But it doesn't.  She is the source of so many laughs and smiles everyday.  She is my motivation to live and love every minute!  So here's to her, my little sweet pea.

 

                                               

                          

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS A!!!

Hard Mommy Moments

Having a child isn't easy.  But it's not the hardest thing in the world either.  There are moments I want to tear my hair out, yes, but I don't feel that I'm one of those mother's who get anxious about anything and everything related to their first born.  I've seen my share of those Mothers after working in daycare for years on end and being a military wife. She was never colicky. I'm pretty laid back.  Miss A is very independent and I let her really navigate her play on her own, minus reading and teaching moments of course.

With that said, I experienced what I feel was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done this past week.   I'll start with a little bit of background.  If you don't know, my husband is in the Army.  We arrived back home after a few weeks in Rochester visiting family for the holidays and he left for training a few states away the very next day.  He'll be gone for 6 weeks, which leaves me home without a whole lot of friends here to depend on.  And no car for the moment (long story).  Two days later..... Miss A gets sick.  And so do I.  No big deal.  We go to the doctors and both of us have "colds".

I wasn't really happy with that.  Me?  Fine.  But my daughter had such a horrible sounding cough and what concerned me most.....really tight, rough breathing.  The nurse wanted to give her a breathing treatment.....but NO.  The doctor didn't seem to think it was necessary.  Really?  What could it have hurt?  It would only have benefitted her.  So Hard Mommy Moment #1:  Watching my daughter be sick.  And not being able to do anything about it.

Three days later, we have most obvious wheezing.  Maybe this could have been prevented if we were given a breathing treatment?  So a trip to the ER is in order, sadly.  Hard Mommy Moment #2:  sitting in the ER waiting room alone with a tired, cranky, sick child around other very obviously sick people for 2 1/2 hours without being seen and making the decision to stick it out even though the thought to go home and take her to the doctor the next morning was definitely in the back of my head!  Putting my child's well being first, as it should be.  But it's not always the easiest thing to do.

Finally we get seen by a doctor.  Next is a chest X-ray to show if she does or doesn't have pneumonia.  So of course I wouldn't even hesitate at getting this X-ray!  I didn't think about HOW they give a baby an X-ray.  Never having experienced it before, you really think an X-ray is an X-ray.  So onto Hard Mommy Moment #3: Watching your baby be put into this random contraption that looks 100% like some type of mid-evil torture chamber while she is screaming her lungs out because she just doesn't understand since she's, well, a baby and having to idly stand by and watch it all.

So you think the hard part's over?  Guess again.  My daughter is too strong willed.  Not surprised with the gene pool she has.  She kept pulling her arms down, even though this contraption - which is called a Pegasus- is designed to keep a child's arms up.  They can't get a good X-ray if her arms aren't straight up so now for Hard Mommy Moment #4, you guessed it!  Mommy had to run over and hold her arms up in the air.  The screams and crying that pursued and the look on her face just broke my heart!  It took everything in my to NOT pull her straight out of this darn thing and cuddle her and make her pain go away.  But I knew how important this X-ray was.  So instead I just held back tears myself till it was all over.

You know she is just so darn cute that it was all totally worth it, and it will be the next time I have more hard mommy moments too.  I know being a Mom isn't all fun and games and there will be alot of rough days sometime in the future.   I am glad to say she doesn't have pneumonia and we got the right meds to help.  She's still working on getting better.  Oh, and I should mention that the first thing the Doc did (even before the X-ray) was to give her a breathing treatment.  I still hold a grudge with that doctor and I'm glad to say it wasn't our usual one.

Things Will Be Different

Both with my blog and my life.  I have a few "resolutions" as you would call them both for my knitting life and my life in general.  Really though, you can make resolutions anytime during the year.  I find that the New Year just seems to be the convenient time to do it.  Screw "going to the gym" and "losing weight".  Not that its not a goal, but the fact is, it they are always a goal!  So saying that my resolution is to go to the gym more really is saying that I haven't changed anything. I've told myself I'm going to the gym more, and going to eat better, and lose weight for the past 6 months.  And sometimes I do great and sometimes I don't.  Saying that just because it's January will not change anything.

So here's my real list.

Get A Job.  I need one.  I want one.  And I will go stir crazy if I don't have one when my husband deploys.  Even if it means less knitting time and less time with my daughter. It also means more socialization and no longer being alienated from the outside world.  Plus, money.  Money never hurts.
 
Spend Less Money.  I'll use the cliche' phrase here, but I'm going on a yarn diet.  Why?  Because I have so much stash and it can and will keep me busy.  The only exceptions to this rule is if I use all my garment amounts of yarn (yeah right!) and want to make another.  But this extends beyond knitting.  It means when I go grocery shopping I don't need to buy everything I want.  Stick to the list.  And plan meals better.  Not hard.

Organize My Life.  This means stash, this means storage, and this means my computer.  I want to go through all my pictures and get them into albums.  All my patterns should be in one folder and easy to find.  All my (physical) pictures should be in real albums or on the wall.  My stash needs some type of organization, rather than all thrown together in 2 big bins.  I want to get some storage for out of season clothes.  Boxes are not practical.  Same goes with seasonal decor.  I need to move it out of the moving boxes and into more practical and permanent containers.

Read More.  I need to start reading blogs again, which makes me want to blog again.  I also need to read real stuff.  Books.  Newspapers.  Current Events.  I read like crazy till Miss A was born.  Since then I pick up a book at bedtime and I fall asleep.  My solution to this was to just not read.  I've since realized that it doesn't work for me.  So I need to change when I read.  But reading more doesn't just include me.  I want to read to my daughter more.  We have books upon books for her.  But I really want to take the time to build "reading time" into our daily routine.  It is an important pastime and I want to instill that into her life.