sherriknits

or why blogging has changed my life 

First the knitting….

I am really enjoying the Francie socks.  This is halfway through the pattern.  The increase rows can be a little awkward but not impossible.  I’m using size 0s and slipping 2 then passing those 2 over a purl stitch gets a little tricky.  Also left and right purl lifts…but it looks right so no worries.

The suggested yarn is a more solid color to show off the pattern but when I found this yarn in my stash, I actually thought this out.  The green in the sock represents the tree, the brown the bark and the bleakness of the neighborhood.  The blue is the sky that Francie would see through the leaves when she laid on her balcony under the tree.  That was one of my favorite parts of the book, she was so able to find beauty in the midst of such need.  I need to re-read the book, as I said, so I can refresh my memory…but the book so affected me in her ability to see what so many people would miss.  Poor hubby had to listen to hours of my interpretation of her insight. 

And now to the mom part.

Since I have started blogging, it’s funny how I can look at things differently.  Instead of getting frustrated and angry over a situation, I begin to see the humor of relaying it to others.  I’ve commented to friends a few times, “my life is a blog!”  haha.    Funny how that will change an attitude, but it does.  I’ve always tried not to fall into the pit in my thinking, but sometimes it does happen.

I wanted to share the little snippet of therapy yesterday.

I can do this from Sherri Knits on Vimeo

Last night, I looked at my Mother’s Day cards again.  I think it’s so funny how when you read things when everyone is watching, you miss what things say.  This is my card from mama-to-be:

This is what I missed originally

Thanks, sweetie, I needed that.

Technorati Tags: blessings, family, littleimp

For that, I can rejoice because that is a high calling in this life.

But does it ever make me weary?  You bet.

Before I tell a little about my day, I’ll show some knitting since this is supposed to be a knitting blog.

These are the beginning of Francie socks named for Francie Nolan in “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”, one of my favorite books.  They are fascinating and like the designer said, it is full of unexpected beauty and character with stories hidden in the folds.  Just reading her description of the socks made me really excited because that book was so full of so much for me.  I may have to load it on to my iPod because I have the audio version of it. 

(see my new porch cushions?  the little imp and I bought them today)

Now to my day.  We started back to therapy today.  We got to Olympia early so we drove out to our favorite water front to hang out for awhile.  I started my socks and the boy stood outside and watched the water and told himself stories.

Today we did some sensory work.

His OT had hidden animals, people, and money in the beans and he had to find them.  There would have been a day he could not have done this.  Progress.

Mom, go away with the camera.

Ok, I will.

Then we went here there and everywhere looking for cushions for our porch furniture.  I ran into an old friend I haven’t seen for many years at K-Mart, a store I probably haven’t been in in at least 2 years.  We finally found some cushions and they were 20% off.  I always start looking for things too late.

We got headed home about 3:45 and I thought that seemed perfect to get us home before 5.  We stopped for a treat and the little guy got cheetos for himself. I got grape water. 

We were about 15 miles out of Oly when my cell phone rang.  The caller ID said it was the little imp, but when I looked in the rearview mirror he was not making a call to me.  It was Target and he had left his phone in the bathroom.  We turned around and headed back.  grrrrr  After I picked up the phone, we saw a Verizon store right next door so we went there directly and bought a case for it.

It will stay on his pants (or let’s say “should”) and he flips open the magnetic flap to pull out the phone, just like his brother-in-law.  When I went to pay for the case, I discovered my wallet was in the car….halfway across the parking lot.  I said I’d be right back and we ran, ran, ran to the car.  I decided to drive back over there and discovered the little imp had brought the case with us.  lol.  I am such a rule follower and I started getting nervous that they’d think I was driving away.  I have to say the sales guy looked rather relieved when we came back in the store, I’m glad he didn’t see me jump in my car. 

Sooooo, by the time we were back on the road, it was more than an hour later.  The drive was long after that.  I am listening to a book but it felt irritating to me and the boy was tired out so he just kept himself company.

We weren’t home long when the dog got all riled up.  The high school marching band was turning on to our street and the boy was headed out the door.  I dragged the dog to the bathroom because all I need is to have him lumbering out there and getting in the middle of that. Our street isn’t really narrow but we still have the RV parked in front of the house so there were kids marching on our sidewalk and in the street and up on the other sidewalk.  Then there are the usual crowd following.  I had to run in and put my shoes on and by the time I got outside, the boy was well on his way down the street.  I motioned for him to stop but when that band is there, he is oblivious to any rule there is.

When he turned the corner, I started running.  I ran 2 full blocks at my top speed (maybe not saying a lot) and by the time I was finally gaining on him, he was headed out across the street as they turned up a hill.  With all the confusion of those following and the little kids who live on that block, it was intense. I was yelling, “Stop!  Stop!  Stop!”  He chose to ignore.  When I got ahold of him, he was determined he was with the band and we almost had a scene, but at the last minute I was spared the embarrassment.

What is funny is, I thought I was taking video of him when he was not yet in trouble but I actually didn’t start recording until I thought I was turning it off.  YouTube is down for maintenance so I can’t show you that or his swinging lesson today.

I am beat.  Really beat.  Hubby was very late getting home and I had to throw the imp into the shower, much against his will,  before the band incident because not only was that face a mess but he was just plain dirty and too much to clean up.  I had just finished eating when hubby came home, I thought I had misunderstood him but he just got hung up.  I think this little family that is left in this house is headed to bed early tonight. 

I do love my boy.

Technorati Tags: knitting, littleimp

Well, back to routine.  We had our first therapy session since November, I think.  The little imp actually did very well.  He hates to be corrected and when the therapist showed him that even though he had the right numbers there, his sister was not 81.  Oh my how he grumbled when she requested he write it again. 

Hubby went with us today because it was snowing this morning and part of the road on the way to therapy is known to be bad even if everywhere else is fine.   We knew  the snow wasn’t supposed to last but who knew how long it would keep on until it realized it wasn’t really supposed to be serious.   Crazy weather these days.

This was after about 10 minutes of snow.  In another 10 minutes, it was all gone.  I think this is supposed to go on much of the week.  The road was just fine and we got the treat of having Daddy go to therapy with us.  We then went birthday shopping for big brother.

On the way up and back, I played a little with my new sock yarn.

I think I am going to frog at least part of it but I wanted to experiment a little and see what I came up with. 

Hubby’s Fuzzy Feet are calling me from the bottom of the knitting bag, though, so I can’t play too long with the new yarn.  I owe him some kind of FO, it’s been a long time since he’s been the recipient of anything.  (who has?  I’ve been on the longest streak of UFOs ever!  but that will change)

Back to the grind.  We started therapy for the silly boy again.  The day was so warm and we had a new activity!

It ended up being a lesson in obedience.  When the OT says “Stop!”, that’s what we mean…not “pedal pedal pedal” (as he calls it) then “glide”…but stop.  We had to have an example so guess who got elected.

It’s a wonder she will go with me.  haha

We also worked on swinging (gross motor skills) and bouncing on the therapy ball.  Time went fast this time and we were on our way to lots of errands.  He wasn’t too thrilled and in one store stormed out and said “I’m going home!”  We finally had to throw in a bribe of ice cream so we could get the rest done quickly.

I did do a little bit of knitting.  It was a little silly that I couldn’t knit because I didn’t have my stitch markers.  Then I realized they were probably in my bigger bag in the back seat so I got a few rows started on a child’s sock for Afghans for Afghans.

I’m doing these double-stranded…I know it gets very cold there and if I’m going to make socks, I want them to be warm.  I made a few socks single-stranded and I just feel like they aren’t warm enough.  More opportunities to play with Cat’s new book!

Today I finished clue 5…the first time since this whole mystery shawl started, I have time to spare. 

There are so many pictures around of what the whole thing looks like that I am just going to show the pattern.   Once you get the pattern, it’s easy.  (until you tell your friend that you can recognize when you make a mistake now….and 2 pattern rows after that statment was made, there was a glaring error.  I didn’t think I was in danger of getting too proud of myself….lol)

So, what am I going to do with my time?  Study my new book….New Pathways for Sock Knitters.  The concept is still new and I want to practice a little.  I got to try on my friend’s sock and I LOVED how it felt!

When I went to work today we had some real entertainment.  The theater work across the street continues and it was getting a little scary watching these fellows work.  When I arrived today, the lights were getting pulled off.

I took it through the window because there wasn’t time to get outside.  It’s all quite a mess.

Add to it the fact that it’s raining…yuck.  It is fun, though….

Yesterday was therapy.  The little man and I went alone…which wasn’t a problem except I had to use the restroom.  I was considering how to handle it, and realized all I can do is take him in there with me, which flips him out because it’s the ladies’ room.  I just can’t risk leaving him outside, it doesn’t take much to distract him and he forgets all he knows to go after what’s in front of him.  As I made the decision and was dreading the fight, I saw coming towards me from the other end of the parking lot my sister-in-law and nieces!  What timing.

Anyway…he worked very hard yesterday.

When he has to do the writing, his breathing radically changes…very labored and he starts sweating.  He hates it.  Ah well, tis life.

As usual, I had a rough start to the new clue…it just seems to be my way.  The pattern is fairly simple but it’s short rows and I had to learn how to tink back without losing the purl 2 tog at the end of the purl rows….they get away so fast!  I finally got smart and put a lifeline in the last row of clue 4.  I wore out some of the yarn and ended up just breaking it off and starting over.  I had the brilliant idea of changing needles and ended up with quite a mess on my hands.  Oh well, it’s just part of the journey.

I know it’s all over the internet, but in case you don’t know about the mystery stole, we did find out last Friday what the theme was…Swan Lake.  The last part of the shawl is a wing…it is asymmetrical.  Melanie gives the option of repeating all of the clues over and making it symmetrical but I think most are going with her original design.  I am hoping I don’t regret shortening it, but personally, I just don’t want to go back any more.  It should be about 66 inches and I hope that’s enough.

I seem to be sailing smoothly now.  I’m on row 71 of 99 rows.  It was my hope that I’d finish the clue this weekend so I could knit on something else, but it wasn’t to be. 

Tomorrow we go for the little boy’s therapy.  We have only gone once this summer so far.  This will be the only visit this month because we hope to take a little bit of time off later this month if I can figure out how to do it.  I think it would just be the 3 of us this time since the other kids are working now.

The little imp got a job at church morning.  We give mugs filled with candy to any first-time visitors.  A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend and I saw him take some of the mugs to the front to hold them up when they asked if we had any new visitors.  I am not a mom who sits back smiling when her child does something like this, but somehow I saw he had a need to have a part.  So did the the head usher and he went up with him and sat in the front row.  When some people raised their hands, he steered him to them and they were pretty tickled.  I was talking to them this morning and they said they could certainly arrange to have him help.  He needs to understand that he can’t do it every week, no one else does… but he can have a part.  It might keep his thoughts from being part of the worship team. 

I was blessed so much during worship this morning.  Hubby was leading and during one of the songs, I heard a beautiful (young lady’s) voice singing this song:

Amazing grace, How sweet the sound
Amazing love, Now flowing down
From hands and feet, That were nailed to the tree
As grace flows down and covers meCHORUS:
It covers me
It covers me
It covers me
And covers me 

and it took me a minute to wonder who it was…when I looked up there, I could have fallen over…it was my #2 daughter who was the only female on the platform! (I did know she was playing keyboard).  We’ve always known she had a beautiful voice but she hides it from us all.  She also has a heart of worship.  She’s been leading worship in youth church for a few weeks, but we’ve respected her wishes to not go until she is more comfortable.  To hear her voice come out so strong and clear during Sunday service was so incredible.  Hubby and I have been humbly grateful the past few months over our kids and what we are seeing.  So, my heart just sings today.  I am the only un-musical member of our family, but I do love worship just the same…I just need someone to follow.

I totally forgot Saturday’s sky yesterday and can’t even remember what it was like…pretty exciting, eh?

Back to knitting a few rows on this crazy stole!

I decided to just start over on the mystery shawl.  I felt a little emotional over getting through about row 80-85 since I did them so many times, but a friend showed me the optional chart written out and that is working for me.  I kind of feel like I’m knitting blind because I like chart knitting…but I am not tensing up as I near row 80 or so.  It’s all going pretty smooth and since I always thought it was an easy knit it’s just going as it should.

Sometimes I just make it hard on myself.

I’m starting the heel on the Jaywalker, but didn’t take pictures of the progress.  That one has also taken a little journey.  I thought it just seemed so big so I knit it on 0s.  It looked great.

The only trouble was, it wouldn’t go over my heel.

So, while riding in the car, it got frogged.

I started knitting it again on size 1s and it’s much better.

Yesterday was therapy for the boy.  We hadn’t been since April because of the wedding.  Summer will be hit and miss for both us and the therapist, but it’s always been this way.  She did some testing this time.

He had to stop the ruler with his thumb when she let go of it.  He caught it every time, sometimes just in the knick of time.  He also did some jumping.

Today was hot, hot, hot.  I went to lunch at a seafood restaurant on the river.

I nearly over-heated on the way back to work so decided to go home and change my clothes.  Summer skirts sometimes are not made to keep you cool.  I ran in to work and grabbed my keys and right back out and a wind came up that fast.  By the time I drove home and went back to work…10 minutes…the temperature had dropped 20 degrees!  The fog was coming in from the ocean.  It’s ok, I was hot for the rest of the day.

And last but not least…my little world travelers are both home safely.

I’m kind of holding my breath on the laptop…it shut off twice today and won’t open one of my Quickbook files, but I decided to not fret over it today.  I’m just happy to see them.

Warning:  heavy photo content, not much knitting today.

This morning little sis and I went tanning.  Confession:  I am terrified of laying in a tanning bed, but I will stick my legs in a leg tanner.  My brother owns the tanning salon and try as I may, I just cannot get in one of those beds!  At least I can get some reading done while I’m tanning and I’m finally starting to see some color after about 6 visits! 

When we got home, hubby and I took off for big sis’s wedding site so we could get the driving directions written down for the invitations.  When we got home from that, silly little boy got to get his toenails cut.  He HATES it and years ago, his therapist taught us this little trick:

Now this is what was shocking!  That little stinker started trying to pay Dad to stop!  Where in the world did he learn that one????

Then it was time to head off for the hour drive to therapy.  We’ve made it a habit now to go to lunch together then  do some (wedding) shopping before therapy.  Here is a day in the life of one silly little kiddo and his “deester”(sister):

This one is for Melissa.  Take note:  pepperoni, cheese, sauce…that’s all!  And of course, ice water!

We did stop at Target and thankfully Dad didn’t accept the bribe to stop cutting those toenails because he had money to purchase the dvd he has driven us crazy for for weeks and weeks.  He was pretty happy during the rest of the time in the store.  I felt bad because he had $17 in $1 bills and when we got to the register, he wanted to count them out one by one for the cashier, but there was a line and he is very slow and meticulous so I had to tell him we knew there were 17 there and please tell the lady here is $17.  Next time, I will let him count it out for me before we get in line, then coach him to hand it to her and tell her what amount is there.  Learning experience.

After many stops and many frustrations for a boy who just wanted to watch his new dvd, we arrived at his therapy appointment.  This year is the first time in all of his life that we have had to go somewhere for OT services.  We had always had in-home visits, but the one advantage to this is that there are lots of things there he has never gotten to experience.  Can you see the fun he had today?

He had fun in the spandex swing and when she would spin it, every time he came around, he’d yell, “hi, Mom!”  We had to take a pic to show him how funny he looked in there!

Big sis is a good sport and she rises to the occasion every time she is called in to action.

Sometimes I get a little concerned she won’t come along when she has to do things like this:

And then getting out with the help of her brother:

I did get a chance to get some knitting done today.  Sis drove up and back so I knit on my shawl and made good progress.  It is turning out to be an easy knit and I got several rows done.  When I got home, I remembered the linen face cloth I was supposed to be working on so I knit and re-knit until I found a pattern that works.  There isn’t enough progress to show yet, but it should go quickly now.

I spent the evening working on that, visiting with a friend who stopped by…and worked on adding addresses to the wedding invitation list so we can get started on those.  Yikes!!!

I am a little frustrated right now, my internet connection lasts about 3 minutes at a time tonight and I have lost this post 3 times.  I guess it’s time for bed!!!!