Sleeves, back, and both fronts of the sweater are off the needles. Now I need to clean off the bed in the sewing room so I can block everything, seam it up, and do the crochet edging. I’m making progress…slowly but definitely.

I frogged the sweater swatch last night and loosely wound it on the swift. I’m going to let the yarn sit and relax for a couple of days before winding it into a ball and finishing up the sweater sleeves. Right now it’s still fairly crinkly.

I pulled out the sweater I’ve been working on again this weekend. Just commenting on how close I was to finishing the sleeves seemed to give me the impetus to get back onto it. I rechecked my measurements, and I only needed about 1 more inch to reach the decrease point. Saturday was too busy for anything except taking that measurement and figuring out the adjusted math for the decreases, but then I was all set for Sunday. The only potentially looming issue was the fact that I was watching one of the two remaining skeins slither down to next to nothing and the second skein was getting fairly low as well. Sure enough, about two rows before the decreases started, the first skein ran out. I did have some more on the remaining skein that I was using for the second sleeve, so I just started using the yarn end on the outside of the ball for one sleeve while using the yarn pulled from the middle for the second sleeve.

This of course meant that the last yarn I had on hand started disappearing at a rather alarming rate. Doing the knitterly thing, I started knitting faster as I got closer to the end just to see if I was going to run out of yarn.

The jury is still slightly out on that point. I have one more decrease and the bind off left to do but company arrived yesterday evening before I could finish. There’s about two or three yards left, but I did notice a bad spot in the yarn as well. I scrounged through the project bag and thankfully I located the yarn from my original swatch. Ultimately I should be okay. I just have to frog the swatch and do some research on relaxing the yarn again. While I may not need it to actually reach the sleeve bind off point, I will definitely need it for seaming.

Things just got a little out of hand for a while…

Let’s see, since the last post in November:

1. Finished up the fall craft show season and all the custom orders
2. Reinstituted the making homemade chocolate candy for Christmas gifts tradition
3. Knit a dragon scarf for Dave’s Christmas present (might actually be able to get pictures for that at some point.) I started it about a week before Christmas, worked on it exclusively, and finished on Christmas Eve…other than sewing on the eyes. For some reason, I thought they were supposed to be glued on, so I didn’t have appropriately colored thread on hand.
4. Started knitting a sweater for ME. I made a good bit of progress on this while we were up in Denver at Christmas. I managed to do both fronts, other than the last few rows of finishing that needed to wait for comparison against the length of the back. This one involved EXTENSIVE math calculations. Knit gauge absolutely would not work with what the designer stated. Catherine hinted that perhaps the yarn really wanted to be something else, but I was determined. At this point the back is finished, sleeves have roughly 1-1 1/2 inches before decreasing, and then I can see about putting it all together.
5. Made a resolution to carve out some time for personal projects (see sweater listed in number 4 as example) each week as a New Year’s Resolution. This one hasn’t worked out quite as well as I would have liked. I’m still getting things done, but not necessarily the “personal” projects.
6. Daniel’s Science Fair project. His original idea involved growing plants from seeds but neither one actually sprouted. We wound up doing something involving the pinewood derby track which conveniently happens to be living in our dining room.
7. Basketball season for Daniel finished up.
8. Soccer season for Daniel and Michael started up.
9. Pinewood derby weekend. Dave made a “garage” for displaying the cars. That meant I made 8 little banner flags and then a black and white checkered banner to go across the entire thing. (Again, pictures can probably be posted at some point.)
10. Committed to helping with testing and parent conferences for two other speech pathologists for the next few months. (One of the reasons that the “personal” project resolution has stalled a bit.)
11. Had the structural engineer out to tell us what we actually need to get done about the foundation.
12. Scheduled a leak test per the engineer’s recommendations. Lo and behold, the plumbers actually found a leak. They went through the slab yesterday and are still working on it today. Unfortunately, the entire access to the sewing room (and the knitting project bag) is currently blocked. I wasn’t home yesterday when they started so I didn’t realize this was going to be an issue until it was too late to do anything about it.
13. Dave and I both came down with the flu. Luckily the boys didn’t catch it but the two of us were pretty much out of service for most of a week.
14. Scouting for Food project on two Saturdays.
15. Blue and Gold Banquet…this was the weekend at the end of the flu issue. Dave managed to get himself there after all, but didn’t work in the kitchen as he’d originally intended. (I’m sure everyone there was happy about that.)
16. Had a total of five days over two weeks without school due to weather issues. On the second week, the trickle in the boys’ bathroom intended to help keep the pipes from freezing somehow became the faucet turned on full blast, with the stopper in the drain…and a piece of plastic jammed into the overflow hole.
17. A visit from the water mitigation company to see what needed to be done about the resulting flood.
18. A visit from insurance to cut a check to pay for the repair work. The water got into the subfloor in the boys’ bathroom and at a minimum all of that flooring is going to have to be replaced. Getting that scheduled is still on the to do list.
19. Started working on taxes.
20. Had company over one weekend while their daughter was visiting colleges.
21. Started work on zipper purses. This item has never sold quite as well as I had anticipated. I suspect this is at least partially because it was a custom order and people either wanted it then and there, or didn’t want to deal with shipping. I’m going to make up all the kits I have left and just sell them as is. I’m wading my way slowly through the 40+ kits. Each one is taking half an hour or so to make up. It’s mostly a case of just finding the time and/or energy to sit down and get it done.
22. Have knit several eyelash scarves while sitting at sports games/practices. Not personal projects, but easily portable and they don’t require much in terms of attention.

Only two more shows left for the year. I could add one more yet, but I made the conscious decision to stop after the first weekend in December this year. At the moment, I’m swimming out from under the task of finishing up the remaining placemat sets that were started at the beginning of the season, as well as dealing with the custom orders that have come in. Currently I have three orders that haven’t been started, two that require less than 30 minutes to finish…and about 20 people I need to email about potential orders from the shows the past two weekends.

In the meantime my sinuses went haywire again. I’ve had laryngitis for over a week, and I think I’ll be going back to the doctor again this afternoon to see if we can do something about the cough that’s lingered for the past three weeks and gotten worse over the past few days, irregardless of the three different medications I’ve already been taking for the past 6 weeks. I guess they’re the reason that I’m still upright and functioning, even if I’m losing the battle of upper respiratory health once again.

The new washer and dryer arrived early yesterday morning. Dave worked from home so someone would be here when the installers arrived. They were actually here by 8:30ish, and Dave had the first load of clothes going a bit after 10, as near as I can tell. I arrived home about noon and the rest of the day was spent hauling more and more dirty clothes downstairs for cleaning. Typically I haul everything downstairs and sort before I even start, but with nearly two weeks worth of dirty stuff, I didn’t bother.

There were the typical dirty clothes, but there was also the fact that Dave had been at a conference the entire week before and promptly headed out straight from the airport for a Scout Leader Camping weekend…extra dirty clothes. There was the fact that one child still sleeps so heavily that he sometimes wets the bed. There were three sets of sheets and blankets sitting on the floor. There was the load of permanent press that had previously been sitting in the washing machine when the dryer expired that had to be rewashed.

I did step over to the next door neighbor’s house on Tuesday and run one load through the dryer. I knew we could manage until the new set arrived on Wednesday for almost everything. I ran the one load of absolute essentials and she just called me and let me know when they were out again. I love our neighbors.

The last load came out about 10 pm last night and almost everything is put away already. I feel an immense sense of accomplishment.

This month is generally one of the craziest ones on our calendar. By October, the craft season is in full swing. Soccer games are still going on. October seems to be the month for Dave’s fall conferences. This year’s schedule for the month is even crazier than most.

So far this month, Daniel’s had soccer practice each Tuesday evening. Both boys have had handbells and choir practice each Wednesday evening, and Daniel has had a Cub Scout den meeting each Thursday evening. Dave and I were responsible for the presentation on arts and artists at his last den meeting.

Michael has had Scout den meetings each week as well, including an additional basically all day Saturday tool workshop at the house. We had a morning session where the kids could come by and demonstrate how to use some of the tools before heading over to Home Depot for the monthly kid kit. Since soccer is still in full swing, we also had an afternoon session at the house for those who couldn’t make the morning session.

As to work, there have been a number of additional trainings that all seemed to fall this month. My 2 1/2 days a week became 2 full days and 2 half-days one week and 3 1/2 days another week. On top of all that, my annual sinus infection roughly a week after Dave starts sleeping with the windows open arrived.

Dave’s already been to Orlando one week for the first conference. He had two presentations at that one. He arrived back home Thursday night, was home Friday, and then was out Saturday for BALOO (Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation) training for Scouts. I had already scheduled a craft show before I found out about his training so Saturday turned into a wild case of logistics. In addition to both parents needing to be in different places, Daniel had his soccer team pictures and a soccer game.

Dave headed out Saturday morning. I dropped both boys off at different houses. Daniel went with a teammate’s family and after the soccer game they dropped Daniel off with the friends who were keeping Michael. We had arranged months ago that this couple would keep the boys on this date (and the other upcoming conflict). After it was all arranged, we discovered that the other two parents also had commitments on that date. Dad was off with oldest son for a talent audition, and Mom is going back to school and had class. Ultimately, they arranged a babysitter for all three boys and we split the cost.

So far, I’ve done two craft shows over 4 days in 2 weekends. I’ve got one more 2 day show coming up this month. Dave has one more all week conference. He’s presenting at that one as well. He’s arriving at the airport from that one and heading straight out to one of the Boy Scout camps for an all weekend training session that same weekend. The boys will be spending the night with our friends again that weekend. I’ve discovered in the meantime that the boys are supposed to be playing handbells at the early church service that Sunday and singing with the children’s choir at the late service that Sunday. I’m still working on the logistics for that one.

After that, there’s Scout Family Camp for another weekend and my high school reunion. I’m going to be so glad when this month is over.

Quick update: The dryer died yesterday in the middle of a load of clothes, with another load waiting in the washer. The repair technician confirmed today that the dryer was 25 years old, and the part alone would be over $200. We’ll be appliance shopping next week.

The second craft show for the fall was held on Friday and Saturday. The weather wasn’t great. It was overcast all day Friday, raining by Friday evening, then rained all night Friday night and basically all day Saturday. The good part of that was the fact that we didn’t have children’s sports games as competition for the shoppers’ time. The bad part meant that if they didn’t have to go out anyway, many people just stayed in. Sales were off a good 50% compared to last year’s show. Ironically, the sun finally came out just as everyone was packing up to go home.

As I was loading the tables in the van yesterday, the show organizer came by with the snack cart. They were giving away the last of the brownies for free. She said they had plenty, so I snagged one for each of us at home. Then I made one last trip to the restroom before heading out. Sitting on a table in that front area was a really nice box that was EXACTLY the right size for placemats. (I carry a tape measure in my purse. I checked!) Finding containers for carrying placemats has turned into a fairly neat trick. The commerically available containers are generally about an inch too narrow or too short or much larger than needed with a good bit of wasted space. I assumed someone had left the box at first, but it had cleaning supplies in it. I asked the people at the church if they actually needed the box and they let me take it.

I was on the road by 10 to 6, which was a bit earlier than I’d expected to be out. Our previous packmaster was receiving his Wood Badge and the ceremony started at 6. I got there about 6:20 and was able to see the end of the ceremony. After that, I headed home and started unpacking the van.

When I finished there, I pulled the van into the garage. We have one of those “bumper” things that you drive over and stop to let you know that you’re in the garage but not too close to the front. It had scooted forward somewhat, so I had pushed it back before driving in. I drove in and turned the van off only to realize that I hadn’t actually gotten over the hump, but had stopped in front, so the van was actually sticking out of the garage. I went back to start it up again and move it forward….The van doesn’t start. All I can hear is a clicking sound coming from under the hood. I assumed it was something with the battery at first but Dave says it’s the starter. He suggested letting the van cool, so I’m going to try it again this morning.

Brownies, a perfect box, a ceremony I didn’t expect to make, and a van that doesn’t work. I’m just glad the darn thing waited until I got home to go out!

Quick update: It was the battery after all. I now have a new one, so I’m good to go!

It was the first craft show of the season, and my only outdoor show for fall. The outdoor part basically means I have to travel with even more stuff than usual…a 10×10 tent, camp chairs, ice chest, etc. Getting set up is more of a challenge partially because of the extra items and partially because everyone else is trying to drive in and drop things off at their site before parking. Because of construction in the area, I was informed that a Friday night set up would be mandatory.

Just before getting ready to head out Friday night, I got an email from another vendor saying that the town was having a terrific thunderstorm at the moment and gave me a contact number to call. I was able to get permission to come in early and set up Saturday morning after all, but “early” in this case meant that I left the house about 4:45-4:50 because I had be unloaded and have the van parked elsewhere prior to 6 a.m.

So I got there, unloaded the van, set up the tent and tables in the dark, and then visited with some other friends until 7ish when it finally became light enough to see what I was unpacking.

The show itself started at 9. I was ready in advance. There was some shade close to where I was sitting, but short of cramming my chair under the crepe myrtle tree and pulling flower pieces out of my hair every time I stood up, I couldn’t find a spot to put the chair that wasn’t actually in sunlight. Even putting it under the edge of the canopy meant the sun was shining down on my head because of the angle of the sun. That didn’t change until almost 2 hours before the show ended. I briefly tried knitting on a scarf in my free time and finally admitted it was too hot to do anything but sit there and endure the heat.

The temperature hit the upper 90’s at the very least, and it was relatively humid due to the storms the night before, so it wasn’t exactly a comfortable day. I was sweating by the time I finished unloading the van before the sun even came up. I forgot to bring extra water, but I did bring extra ice, some soft drinks, and I purchased some bottled water there at the show. Minimally I drank at least a gallon of fluids, if not more.

Breaking down was actually easier than I expected. Putting up and taking down the tent is minimally a two person job, and I had some friends who helped with getting it set up. In the afternoon, there were three high school boys who asked if I needed some help and I jumped at the chance. They broke down the tent and carried most of the stuff over to the van for me. I was loaded up and ready to go an hour after the show ended, and at least 30 minutes earlier than I had expected.

Getting away early meant I actually had the chance to get home in time for the Cabaret program at church. The children’s choir was performing, so both boys were going to be there. Originally we were told that their part would be within the first 15 minutes, and we had anticipated coming home after that. I managed to get there about 10 minutes before the program started, and we actually wound up staying for the entire thing.

I got home at 9, pulled the van straight into the garage and said we’d unload everything tomorrow. After getting the boys in bed, I took another shower and washed my hair again and decided I was done for the day!

The latest MRI results did not show a stress fracture, only more edema of “non-specified origin”. In other words, I have a bruised, swollen foot, but they’re not sure why. The good news is I’ve been taken out of the plastic boot. The orthopedist suggested shoes with non-flexible soles….the tennis shoes with the orthotics appear to work, but he also suggested something along the lines of mules, clogs, or thick stiff soled sandals. I bought a couple of pairs of shoes on the way home, and we’ll see how they work out. At the very least, I had to buy new shoes for work, since apparently all my old dressy shoes are actually too small. I’m supposed to go back in two weeks if I’m not seeing any improvement.