Weekends go too quickly.

It's been a whirlwind weekend.

Sean made it home Friday, very very sick, and I took care of him all day. He rarely gets sick, so I was glad that I could take care of him.

Yesterday morning, we went and picked up the new car, and then I took Sean to Urgent Care, where they gave him a nice round of antibiotics. He looked better within a couple of hours of taking the first one, so that was a relief. Once I got Sean some spicy Thai food for lunch, I headed off for an afternoon/evening of fun with Becca and company !

I finally got to visit 3 Kittens Needle Arts in Mendota Heights, and I found a lot of awesome yarns that I could play with. Without a specific project in mind, though, I opted not to buy anything, but I have some yarns in mind for future projects. I splurged on chocolate peanut butter ice cream at Cold Stone, and then we went back to Becca's to hang out.

I worked on the FIL Scarf while I was there, and managed to have a stitch that got away with me. I'm making myself figure out how to fix it, even though Becca said she could see how to fix it - because a part of learning this craft is learning how to fix my mistakes without ripping out everything and starting over. I'm nominally through 263 rows on the FIL scarf, and nearing the end of skein #2 of 4. It's moving along well, and will continue to do so once I fix this error. :)

Then we headed off to Brit's Pub, where much fun was had, and I haven't laughed that much in one day in a long time.

I came home, and Sean, while still sick, looked much better. I started to feel not so great, and headed off to bed, and slept pretty solidly after he came to bed 2 hours later. We got up this moning and just lazed about. Then I read the guest post on Becca's blog, which reminded me that it's no longer daylight saings time, but the clock we were looking at was not moved forward an hour.

It's a good thing I saw that, or Sean would have missed his 1:40 pm flight through ORD to SAN. He ended up being re-routed through DEN, but will get in at about the same time.

I suppose I should drag out the FIL Scarf and fix the error so that I can keep working on it. I want to keep going on the Fledgling Sock, but I'm thinking that I should wait till I am in class so that I can make sure I'm on the right track. Otherwise, what's the point of taking the class?

Photo Evidence of my knitting!

At last, the photos of my fledgling sock. It's a short sock, so that we can cover the basics of making a sock from the top down, in the 3 weeks of class. This photo shows where I've done the first 28 rows, and separated 24 stitches onto a needle for the heel, and the other 24 are on a stitch holder awaiting, I think, the instep instructions.

I did a row or two on the 2nd FIL scarf, also, this evening. It's just kind of coiling around the needle, since it's a lengthwise garter stitch scarf. It's a good mindless project, so I'm glad for it.


I need to get myself to bed soon. Sean's flying home on a red eye through Vegas, and I am going to get up early, get ready, and pick him up at the airport. I've come to appreciate maximizing the time we get to spend together, and if I can get another 30 minutes by picking him up at 5:30 am at MSP, I'm all for it.

He's got quite a cold, poor guy. He sounded so sick when I talked to him on my way home from work (the bluetooth connection from my gps unit to my cell phone works pretty well. I was just sitting in the traffic jam on 394 eastbound, so I was glad for the chance to talk to him. Made the traffic jam go by more quickly. :) ).

Fortunately, he's had a tk and a jdd and a longdog to take care of him this evening - he's spent time with our awesome frients Tasha and JD (tasha's directly responsible for how Sean and I met, 17 months and 28 days ago) and their dog Charley, who's a longdog.

I've got the makings for hot and sour soup and chicken noodle soup, and got Kleenex with lotion, orange juice, fizzy alka-seltzer cold-fighting tablets, and honey-lemon cough drops all on hand.

We're going to pick up the new car on Saturday morning, and then I'm absconding with it for an afternoon/evening of fun for Becca's birthday. Yarn and ice cream and drunken debauchery? Count me in! (I expect to see you wearing that tiara, by the way!)

Sunday, I plan on taking care of Sean (he takes such good care of me always, and he's rarely at home when he's sick, so I'm going to take care of him when I can!) and knitting. And not much else exciting.

Okay, sleepynight time!

...insert witty title here

Knittin' Kitten was fun last night.



I have always used a long-tail cast on. It's what Mindy at Fiddlehead Yarns taught me a couple of years ago when I learned to knit, and I've had no reason to use anything else.



Until last night. When I wanted to cast on for the FIL scarf V2.0, and with 250 stitches to cast on (for a scarf knitted lengthwise in rows), I knew I needed a new way to cast on.



Diana came to the rescue, with a knitted cast on that allowed me to cast on my 250 stitches and knit a whole row, in 1.5 hours. I came home and watched a Discovery Channel special about USA 1549, and knitted a few more rows. It's fast knitting, all in garter stitch. Someday, I'm going to make a striped version as is done in the pattern I stole for this scarf.



I have to work on my homework for sock knitting class, too, another few rows of K1P1, and then 9 rows of knitting in the round. Hoping to finish that tonight, so that I'm not scrambling early next week to get that done. And, of course, I want to work more on the FIL scarf V1.0 too! But before I do anything at home tonight, I need to clean up the kitchen! I haven't been home much all week in the evenings, and I've slacked on the kitchen. Must load dishwasher, stat!



Sean sent me a photo last night, as he was on his way to dinner, and it so made me miss California. I'm looking forward to making a trip out there soon, and at least in August, for an anniversary trip. Sean's back in CA next week, to San Diego.



Mind you, I've never lived in California. And only visited there a few times. But the Bay Area is one of those places where, when I visited for the first time, it felt like I was coming home to someplace I'd known and loved, not someplace I'd never been. And it doesn't hurt that some of my favorite people are there. Two of the places I feel the most at home are the Bay Area of CA, and southern ME. Talk about opposite ends of the country!


Sean and I are traveling to Boston in mid-April to attend a wedding, and we're making the drive up to Maine on Easter Sunday, to see my best friend Rose and her family. We'll get to meet Athena Jane, who was born the day after my 34th birthday, about which I am very excited. And her extended family, who was like a second family to me growing up, will get to meet Sean. Poor guy doesn't know what he's in for.


It was 38F as I drove in this morning and supposed to be in the mid-40s today. As much as Autumn is my favorite season, always, there's something about Spring that gives me a sense of renewal, and a sense of success at having survived the long winter.

I didn't have to use my AK... (for tk)

After work, I hung out at Caribou, had a divine mocha and some dinner, and knitted a few rows on the FIL scarf. I think I'm at 215 rows now, but I'm too lazy to go look at my row counter for confirmation.

Then it was time to head over to Roosevelt for my sock knitting class. There were 9 or so people in the class, which was a good number... not too many, so I could get help when I needed it. But, I successfully cast one and knitted 14 rows on a top down sock. The dpns are interesting to get used to, after using circs for so long doing flat knitting. but it's not so bad, and simple socks definitely have the potential to be added to my stable of knitting.

I have the black yarn I originally bought for the FIL scarf, and it's also going to be a FIL scarf. I think I am going to bring it to Knittin' Kitten tomorrow night and start a garter stitch scarf. Having a scarf that's all knit stitches would be good, I think, and I can still work on the Noro FIL scarf at other times.

Sean's on his way to San Francisco tonight from Chicago, and his flight got delayed. At least he was able to get a nonstop outbound. I think he flies through Vegas on the way home (and maybe on a redeye; I think he gets in about the time I'm getting up for work...). And he's in San Diego next week, all week. It's been a while since he had west coast trips.

I'll post a photo of the "sock"... I should do it tonight, but I'm too tired.

Exhausted update...

Too tired to knit more than a row on the FIL scarf. But it's one more row than I had.

The Audi started right up - I think it wasn't the battery, but the steering wheel got turned into the lock position when I got out on Sunday, and neither of us wiggled the steering wheel to let the ignition turn this morning.

We'll see tomorrow morning.

But now I have a set of jumper cables for each car, which I should have had a long time ago.

Tomorrow night's my sock knitting class. I was in a sock knitting class once before, and I still have the 2/3 of a foot that I completed during that class. Sadly, I was in that class when my mom died, and it's taken me this long to be able to really feel like I could tackle it again.

I found an awesome idea for a sewing machine cover, and I'm wondering if I can get the supplies and make it while Sean's out of town this week.

I should go to bed - I'll sit here till midnight if I don't. And I could use the sleep.

Eleven:eleven

I got a few rows done on the FIL scarf this morning as I was getting ready for work. Nothing spectacular, though, and I am really feeling quite tired now.

I just checked my cell phone, and it was 11:11. I make wishes at 11:11 when I see it on the clock. It's superstitious, but I do it anyway. It's why I always have at least one clock in my world that is not set to military time, though I just think military time sounds hawt when it's used. Don't ask. I love Roman numerals, too. What can I say? I'm a geek!

The night of my bachelorette party, my girls Karen, Barb, Heidi, and Carrie took me out to dinner @ California Pizza Kitchen, and drinks @ the top of the John Hancock Tower in downtown Chicago, and then we headed back to the hotel in the suburbs to stay up late and drink red wine and talk. A lot.


On the way back to the hotel, in the cab, Carrie said, "It's 11:11! Make a wish!" Not everyone was familiar with that, as I recall, but I made a wish that night. Not too much longer after that, Sean was surfing the web, and I saw this on his screen (originally from Postsecret, if I am following correctly).

And now, when I see 11:11, I remember wishing for a significant other who wanted to be with me for who I am, not who he wanted me to be. And I also remember how important my friends were to me surviving all that came before so that when I met Sean, I could recognize him as someone who wants to be with me for who I am. My life is so much the richer, not only for having Sean as an important part of it, but for the friends who stuck by me through so many things.

I don't have it all figured out. I'm not perfect, and neither is my life. I struggle, and doubt myself, just like everyone else. But I know that I am fortunate for all that I have, and now I'm making new friends here, as I will wherever I go.

At 11:11, I'm still wishing - for parts of myself as yet undiscovered, for friends I have yet to meet, for others in my life who could use a good thought or two through a rough spot.

What will you wish for when you see 11:11 on the clock?

Wow, it's early!

Sometimes, things manage to work out.

Sean got up to head for the airport this morning, and was going to take the Civic and park it at the airport, and I'd have the loaner car for the week. I'd forgotten to grab a couple of accessories for my gps out of the Civic, and was going to have him just swing them by our front door for me to grab. I ended up walking over to the parking garage with him instead, and am glad I did.

I got into the Audi to pull it in front of the building, and there was no power to the battery. *sigh* So, we got him further downtown so that he could catch a cab to the airport, and I have the Civic parked in front of the building. I don't have jumper cables, which I've needed to fix for a long time, so I'm buying a set of cables and a jump pack for both cars tonight. It's a reasonable investment given the MN winters.

But if I hadn't gone out with him, and hadn't tried to get the Audi out of the garage, I wouldn't have known the battery was dead until I headed out for work, so it all worked out. And now I'm wide awake, and it's just 5 am. I'd like to get to work a little early this morning, though not too early, so I'm going to sit here and knit for the next few minutes.

I didn't knit as much as I'd like over the weekend, but I'm sure I'll catch up this week. My sock knitting classes start tomorrow night, so I'm hoping that goes okay. Sean gave me sock yarn out of his stash, so I'm hopeful to knit a pair of socks for him.

I suspect I'll be in bed early tonight, though, since I woke up at 4 am.