Crepes!

Older son is home sick today. He asked if we could make crepes for lunch. Sure, why not? The batter is so simple he could easily have made it himself. It took a few until I got better at spreading the batter out on the griddle without making bald spots or leaving really thick spots. Very yummy.

Today's Post is Brought to You by the Letter S

Younger Son is Sick with Strep throat (again) and a Staph infection. While I'm Stuck at home I put on the Sashing for the Scrappy quilt blocks and Surfed the internet. This Sucks.

Sick Ward

I have been to more doctors' appointments in the last month than I have in the last several years. It turns out that I have high blood pressure and a chronic small sinus infection that's been around for years. I'm on all kinds of medication right now and none of them are making me feel any better. In fact, they may be making me feel worse. Today is my day off and I'm joined by my younger son who has a slight fever and a little cold. He is currently very upset with me because I found him in his room last night at 12:15(!) playing on his Nintendo DS! It's been confiscated. The little sneak...

All this feeling crummy has given me a lot of knitting time. I started Girasole on Monday night. I'm using Rowanspun Aran I bought over four years ago. I kept thinking I'd use it for a sweater. I might have. But it's making a lovely Girasole blanket. And I definitely have enough to finish the project.

Right now it looks like some kind of sea creature.




This pattern is working up really quickly. All of these shawls I've been working on lately have been such pleasant, effortless knitting. I love lace knitting.

They're On To Me

I told my younger son the other day that this lamb costume was so cute I was going to have another baby just to have someone to put it on. He looked at me sideways and in his best Bill Cosby voice said, "Riiiiiiight."

Right!

The kids have been listening to The Best of Bill Cosby a lot lately. I summoned Younger Son to come downstairs and he said, "Whadya want? I've been good."

Not Kid Stuff

Older Son was stocking up on comic books at the library yesterday. He often tries to sneak home book with some not kid-appropriate content. One of the books he grabbed yesterday, X-Men: Magneto Testament, had a parental advisory label on it. I told him I would check it out and let him know if it was okay.

The purpose of the book is to tell the story of X-Men villain, Mageneto, in his youth. I'm not an X-Men expert. I knew that surviving the Holocaust was part of his backstory. The authors, one of whom Wes and I know, pieced together whatever clues about Magneto's childhood with an accurate history of Jews in Germany, Poland and at Auschwitz. It's a sparingly told story but incredibly effective. There are numerous notes in the back of the book to flesh out the narrative. There is also a teacher's guide and a bibliography.

There is a brief bonus comic that tells the story of Dina Babbitt, a Czechoslovakian Jew, who artistic talent was discovered and used by Josef Mengele. She paintings she produced while a prisoner are held at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum. She had fought for decades to get them back. And just now, as I tried to find a link about her to include in this post, I found she died this past August and the museum continues to hold her paintings.

This morning I gave my son the book to read.

It Won't Be All My Fault

Older Son is working on a big school assignment and wanted to use my computer. I was busy introducing Younger Son to Fraggle Rock. Older Son kept pestering and I told him to wait. Finally he said, "If I don't get into Yale it will be all your fault." He is 11 1/2.

Darn That Clever Child

Several years ago we instituted a Pay-for-Candy program post-Halloween. Basically, the kids started to notice that I was stealing their candy. So now we buy the candy from them. Older son, clever child that he is and knowing that I love Kit Kats, collected as many as he could on Halloween. Twenty-five! Because he knew they were as good as cash in our household.

Middle School Mortification

After one day of middle school I had this exchange with my son. Warning: Not for the faint of heart.

Kid Economics

I have a friend who was looking to unload her Wii (along with Rock Band) and I also happen to have two children who would give their left arms to have a Wii. So I'm getting them the Wii. The kids have attempted saving toward a Wii on and off. Eventually they save enough to get something else they want, something less expensive, and blow all their savings. So when I told the boys that Wes and I were going to get this present for them my younger son looked concerned.

"Do you have enough money for it?"

I nearly laughed when he said it but I'm very happy he's thinking about what one can afford vs. what one wants.

Someone Needs to Get Pregnant Right Now

Because this sweater is so cute I'm about to have fits. And how gorgeous is this little girl? Ooo, maybe I should February Lady Sweater it? Hmmm. Interesting.

So very little knitting talk on this blog lately, huh? Hang on. I'm going to take some pictures.


Okay, I finished the fronts on Georgie. I've knit just a few rows on the sleeves.



Everyone stops me to look at this sweater. The cables and the yarn and the color all really like each other.

I got to knitting last night and reached into my bag and pulled out...huh??



My sock yarn scrap blanket. I had brought this to the movies on Sunday night. Can you tell I normally knit it in the dark? I meant to bring the GLMC which is much-neglected and will most certainly not be ready for camp.

Coraline is at the "just started" stage. I've knit the hem to the body and am now in the beginning of a long stretch of stockinette.



I love the Cascade Pure Alpaca. It's so soft and floppy.

And just because I had my camera out, here is the yarn I bought at Sheep Meadow in Kichijoji.



No idea what it is or how much is there in yards. I know it's 220 grams and was told it was "summer wool." Which I think is code for "cotton blend."

In crappier news, Older son has a staph infection. We were slow to realize it because he has eczema and it's not unusual, especially when it's hot, to get a raw spot somewhere. In Japan he developed a bad spot between his fingers and I treated it like eczema. When it spread over his entire finger we got alarmed and took him to the emergencey room. In the meantime he sprouted new sores in other places. He's on antibiotics now and is feeling completely fine. Please DO NOT leave me any comments about infection horror stories or other gross medical stuff because I will have a total breakdown. Just think non-infected thoughts for him and the rest of us while I go wash my hands again and try to remember not to touch my face.

The Whole Picture

I'm happy so many of you were touched by my sweet children saving a special piece of pizza for me on my return home from TNNA. I neglected to include a photo of the huge container filled with pizza with a note on it that read, "[Older son] and [Younger son] pizza. DO NOT EAT!" So you see, they weren't being thoughtful. It was just a diversionary tactic to keep me away from their pizza stash.

Weekend Whirlwind

This weekend is scheduled practically down to the minute.

Friday night was spinning at the shop. I finished spinning singles from the "Batt of Beast" I've been working on on and off (mostly off) for nearly a year and a half. I think that's some sort of record for 2 oz. of fiber! I still need to ply.

Saturday we hosted a party at a local park. Older son is graduating from elementary school. He wanted to have one last hurrah with his gang of friends before the summer. A few friends won't be going to the same middle school so it's a bit of a goodbye too. He invited all his friends to come to the park for games and a potluck lunch. Ten 11 year old boys eat SO MUCH FOOD. There was a pizza, two plates of pot stickers, veggie wraps, crackers, cheese, meats, quesadillas, brownies, cupcakes, strawberries, grapes, watermelon. And there was not much left when it was all done. Older son wanted to bring something special so we made the Fruit Pizza from Clare Crespo's Secret Life of Food. It's the same book that the sushi cupcakes came from. I only have Wes's cameraphone picture of it. It's just a big shortbread cookie with a sweetened cream cheese mixture on top with strawberry jam around the edges, then sprinkled with fruit. It's really tasty, a bit like cheesecake but with a crisp, cookie crust.

After the party ended we hurried home to get ready for a friend's wedding. It was at the Olympic Sculpture Park. It's the perfect venue for a wedding. The space is gorgeous with a fantastic view, the catering was very good and the staff was very nice.

Now today we have Older son's cello lesson, then a simultaneous birthday party (Older son's classmate) and baby shower (knitting friend of mine) and then we all head to the Seattle Storm game with a group from Wes's work! I think I'm going to have a very hard time getting out of bed tomorrow.

I did finish the back of Georgie on Friday. I cast on for the fronts but have only gotten in a few rows of rib so far.

A Trip to Costco

While walking through the parking lot at Costco--in a marked crosswalk with the children--we were nearly struck by a woman who a) did not stop for us b) was driving erratically because she was c) texting on her phone. As she rolled by us, staring at her phone, I called out to the children to be careful because "she isn't going to stop for us because she's TEXTING ON HER CELL PHONE!" She seemed startled...you know, because she hadn't noticed us in the crosswalk in the first place.

Then older son said, imagining the driver's next text message, said, "And...now..some...crazy...woman...is...yelling...at...me."

A Man of Sophisticated Taste

My older son turned 11 today. He asked to have a birthday celebration at school. He knew exactly what he wanted to bring. Sushi cupcakes.

Nigiri


Maki


He was inspired by Clare Crespo's The Secret Life of Food. Crepo uses a sour cream frosting with coconut to simulate rice. My son doesn't like coconut so we just used leftover buttercream from the last birthday party (we freeze any leftovers and it keeps very well). We had to hunt around for a long time to find green fruit leather for the "seaweed." We finally found green apple fruit leather in the produce department at QFC. The kids at school really liked the cupcakes. One girl declared that older son is "a genius!"

Tonight we had his birthday party. He decided he didn't want cake. He wanted tiramisu. We used Modern Classics 2 by Donna Hay. We subbed very strong decaf coffee with sugar for the espresso and coffee liqueur.



We also sprinkled it with shaved dark chocolate and more powdered sugar before serving it. I was worried it wouldn't be sweet enough for the kids. But they all really liked it. The best thing about this is no baking. It's really quick to throw together and can be made ahead of time. I need to remember this for summer events when it's too hot to cook.

That is Lame

We were driving home from Mother's Day brunch and talking about comic book superheroes (as we always do). I confuse the Green Hornet and the Green Lantern. Sacrilege, I know. My older son was setting me straight about the Green Lantern. He was telling me about his ring and then said that his weakness is the color yellow, which he pointed out was kind of lame. He then began to enact scenarios when being the Green Lantern would not work out.

"Oh no, there's mustard on my hot dog!"

Younger son joined in.

"Ah! Lemonade!"

"Arg, a smiley face!"

"Oh my god, baby chicks!"

"Not a pencil!"

At this point they had to stop because we were all laughing so hard no one could breathe. But it makes you wonder, how did the Green Lantern ever accomplish anything?

They Grow Up So Fast, Birthday Edition

My older son was poking around on Amazon a few weeks ago. He looked up and asked, "What your favorite gem again?" I told him it was blue topaz. He then pointed at the screen discreetly and asked Wes, "Can I get mom this for her birthday?" Wes told him not to worry about it and shooed him away. I asked to see what he wanted to get for me.



How cute, right? So guess what a very proud ten year old presented to me this morning? I'm wearing them right now and they are perfect. Wes was grumbling something about how now older son is a more thoughtful gift giver than he is.

Chaos

Our youngest son is having his 9th birthday party tonight. There are little boys shrieking their heads off all over my house. You know that level of energy they get when they can only scream until they lose their freaking minds? That's where we are. It will be "bedtime" soon.

The sale at the shop was huge today. There is still a load of great yarns on clearance and all other yarns on sale all day Sunday at 20% off.

I am exhausted.

Also, Shalom is finished except for a little blocking and sewing on a button.

Tomorrow is pancake breakfast for party guests, back-to-back kid musical performances including a visit from the in-laws then, most likely, lapsing into a coma.

Doubleknit note: For some reason the latest podcast is not updating in iTunes. We are working on it. In the meantime you can always listen to it from the Doubleknit blog.

The Knitting-Sex Ed Nexus

Coincidentally Perri Klass, the knitter (oh, and doctor), just wrote a NYT article about boys and sex ed.

As Long as I'm Stirring the Pot

Last night after writing my blog post Wes and I sat down to watch the Oprah show about talking to children about sex. Anyone who knows me knows that I am very open and frank with my children about sex. Watching the show got me thinking several things.

1) My objection to the BK ad isn't about sex. I can talk to my kids about sex and sexuality until the cows come home.
2) When the Oprah show says "talking to your kids about sex" what they mean is "mothers talking to daughters about sex." As a mom and a dad with sons watching this show I thought they really missed the boat. It's not about just arming girls with information and confidence to they can defend themselves against the hordes of hormone-crazed boys who will endlessly come sniffing around. We should be sending the same message to boys and girls about intimacy, confidence and responsibility.
3) The most controversial part of the show was the suggestion by Laura Berman that mothers should talk to girls in their teens about masturbation. The audience went nuts. Would anyone have batted an eye if the suggestion was made to discuss masturbation with teenage boys? I don't really think so.

Coincidentally starting on Tuesday my older son will begin sex education at school. I'm really interested to see how it is approached and his reaction to it.

I will have a finished sweater to show you later today. I promise no more kids and sex talk for a while.

BK Follow Up

Okay so the reaction to this ad campaign seems to be breaking down along the lines of whether or not you have kids. Given that my kids don't watch commercial television I never imagined they'd be exposed to this ad. So it still seemed funny to me. Then today as I was leaving a restaurant after lunch with my children we walked past the TVs in the bar this ad happened to be on. Now I'm fairly angry. My children (boys, 9 and nearly-11) went insane.

"Oh my god! What was that?"
"Why are they measuring those women's butts?"
"Why are they showing those women's butts?"
"That's disgusting!"

I can't help but feel that I've done something right so far that my children are not accustomed or inured to the objectification of women. And I still stand by my original sentiment that, however fun a riff on Sir Mixalot is, selling children's items--whether to children or their parents--with scantily-clad women shaking their asses is inappropriate. I know my boys will continue to be bombarded with ladies in hot pants shaking their asses at them in an attempt to sell them things and I hope as they grow up they will remember how much this offends me. I hope it will offend them too.

They Grow Up So Fast

Today my youngest son turned nine. I brought cupcakes to school to celebrate. One of his classmates marched up to me, peered at the cupcakes and said, "Excuse me, is that homemade frosting?"
"Yes," I told him.
"Good," he replied.

Little pisher...

Conversations I've Had This Weekend

1)
Younger Son: What's tacoback?
Me: Tacoback?
Older Son: Tapenade!

2)
Older Son: When was Shakespeare alive?
Me: The 1600s.
Younger Son: Were his movies in black and white?

Anatomy Confusion

After the discovery of a dead squirrel in the woods today, my younger son asked, "Do bugs eat dead squirrels' intesticles*?"

Several minutes later Wes and I stopped giggling.

* He meant "intestines."

Totally Worth It

We got a robo-call at 5:45 am to inform us that school would be starting two hours late today due to "road conditions." I reset my alarm and settled in for a longer sleep (once my heart stopped pounding*). My younger son popped into my room around the usual wake-up time. I told him that school was delayed. I assumed he would tell his brother. I got up late, showered, strolled downstairs to find my older son looking a little concerned.
"Aren't we going to be late?"
"Didn't your brother tell you school was delayed?"
"No."
Then they both told me that they made their own lunches and breakfast and cleaned up their dishes! A pretty good morning for mom.

*Seriously, do not call me at 5:45 am unless someone is dead or dying.

It's Gone Now, You're Safe

The super red and super blue yarn is all used up. When I handed my son his hat he slipped it on his head and asked, "Is this a set?" Yes, dear, it's a set. A set that nearly blinds all who gaze upon it.

On the plus side he is actually wearing the sweater. He has worn it every day since I finished it. He kind of views it as outdoor-wear so he puts it on when he's going out. This morning when I came down to breakfast he was wearing it! And he's wearing the mittens too. He probably would have worn the hat to school today too if I had woven in the ends on time.

I'm so excited about this that I want to make him another sweater. I almost asked him a few times but held myself back. If he's still wearing the sweater all the time in a few weeks I'll check with him about a second one.

Now I'm back to finishing up some projects. My socks have just an inch to go before the toe. My baby dress is packed to take to knitting tonight. If I have a good night of knitting I might complete them both.

That's What I Meant

Scene: Leaving the house for dinner

Younger Son: Mom, can you help me? My zipper is damned.
Me: Jammed?
Son: Uh...yeah.

Lost in Translation

A few days ago I was in the kitchen with my younger son. He sneezed. I said, "Gesundheit." He sneezed again. Again, I said, "Gesundheit." To which he replied peevishly, "I covered my mouth!"

So for the last eight and a half years every time he's sneezed, and I've said, "Gesundheit," he thought I was scolding him for not covering his mouth!

Does This Remind You of Anyone?

My son just brought this comic over for me to read.

I Like Pi

Most of the time, if you ask my younger son a direct question, he replies, "I like pie." I always took it as a random, weird thing he did. A bastardization of Mr. Krabs on Spongebob saying, "I like money." But it turns out, perhaps by coincidence, that it is a thing people say to avoid a conversation. Is he a genius or did he learn this somewhere? We will probably never know.



Anyway, I love knitting my Pi Shawl. I've finished one skein of four so far and have not even glanced at another project since I cast on. The lace patterns were selected hastily from Barbara Walker. So far I've used English Mesh and Spider Stitch. Next up will most likely be something very simple and columnated (I had to double-check that that was really a word). Or I might go with something leafy again. I have about 8 more rounds before I have to decide.



Lace, I love you. Why have we been apart for so long?

Juno/Juneau

Older son hasn't seen Juno. Which is why when he said on arriving in Juneau, "Juneau, like the movie?" and I said, "No" and just carried on talking he did not understand why I thought that was so funny. I guess he'll have to see the movie. In seven years.

Thanks for Nothing, Kids

I asked the kids to help take some pictures of me in my still-unblocked Ravelympic sweater.




Funny how when they want to use the camera, say to take photos of their butts, they know how to use it just fine but when mom asks for a favor...

Maybe He's Not Such a Genius

Scene: Driving in the car discussing The Tick.
Older Son: And then there's that one with the Terror and Ben Stiller!
Wes: What?
Older Son: The Terror introduces all the other guys and there's Ben Stiller.
Wes: Joseph Stalin.
Older Son: Oh, I thought it was Ben Stiller.

The Kid is a Comic Genius

While walking past the Nordstrom shoe department I spotted these boots in a bright purple. "What do you think guys?" I said to just mess with the kids, "Should I be cool in some big, purple fringey boots?"

Older son scoffs and says, "Not unless 'fringey' is French for 'awful.'"

Sometimes Being a Parent is Really Fun

At a restaurant recently my 10 year old son saw a poster for The Last Polar Bear.



Son: If that's the last polar bear then why is there another polar bear in the distance behind him?
Me: Oh, after they took that photo they shot the other bear.
Son: What!? (dissolving into laughter when he realized I was making a joke)

Zombie at Work

When I came downstairs this morning I discovered this on the newel post.




A corporate zombie at his (popsicle) desk with a (Fimo) computer monitor and keyboard, telephone and pencil holder.

Overheard

Younger Son: (with pride while demonstrating in the shower) [Big Brother], wet armpit farts!
Older Son: (in agreement) They're better when you're naked!

Funniest Things the Kids Have Said So Far Today

Younger Son: We are *so* not young.

***

Younger Son: What's Ghost Rider's alter ego?
Older Son: Nicolas Cage

Proud Parenting Moment

My ten year old was telling me about his day. He told me he went on a walk with Wes but his younger brother stayed home because he wasn't feeling well. He then pointed out that his brother felt "better" (with air quotes) when it was time for computer games. Look at that. He's mastered sarcasm and air quotes. My little boy's growing up. Sniff.

Thanks Honey

Me (looking in mirror): Man, I have so much gray hair.
Older son: You don't have gray hair. (long beat) You have a lot of silver though.

Kids are Funny

I brought my spinning wheel to the boys' school today for the last day of the knitting club. The kids always get really excited about it. I was carrying my Lendrum, folded up, into the after-school childcare to pick up the boys. A little girl in kindergarten saw the wheel.

Girl: What's that?
Her Mom: It's a spinning wheel. You use it make yarn.
Girl: What about gold?
Her Mom: Good question.
Everyone chuckles as the girl leaves.
My older son (still laughing): You should put that on your blog.

He knows me so well.

Nearly a Bust

Today did not go as planned. We were going to have dim sum at Jade Garden then head to the Seattle Art Museum first thing this morning. But Bella has developed some sort of medical issue (gross and not worth discussing) so Wes took her to the vet. They haven't found out what's wrong yet but she's otherwise fine. So we head off to the International District two hours later than expected. The wait at Jade Garden was long and the kids were not feeling patient. Wes ran over to the House of Hong and got us a table immediately. You know there's a reason that one place had a long wait and the other had no wait. The food was meh. We ate quickly and headed to Kinokuniya. Usually the kids are game to look at all the Pokemon stuff for a while but today they just weren't feeling patient. Fortunately I found this cute lunchbag book. I'm participating in a lunch bag swap* and this is just the inspiration I need.

We headed to the museum and scored the greatest parking spot in the world. We were feeling happy and lucky as we headed in the door. Then there in the lobby were more people waiting in line than I have ever seen on all my trips to SAM combined in the last decade. It was mobbed. I got in the line to get a membership. I waited about 10 minutes and the line didn't move. It didn't keep the woman behind me from trying to shimmy around me or just stand so close behind me she kept bumping me forward. I was feeling really frustrated and let down. We headed back to the car. Wes got the great idea to stop at Le Fournil before they closed for some half-priced pastries (we were still hungry from the sub-par dim sum). We drove over only to find the pastry case empty. We trudged back to the car. We headed to U Village to get my son a book we promised him. At this point we were all feeling hungry, frustrated and generally pissy. We got the book and got out of there. When we got home I threw myself on the couch in a fit of pique (and MSG?) and fell dead asleep for three hours.

In an attempt to salvage something good out of the day, Wes fed the kids then gathered them up to accompany us to dinner at El Camino. They were reasonably well behaved and Wes and I got to have a grown up dinner. Nice.

I've been knitting away on my socks and have just turned the heel on the second one. they should be done in a day or two.

* I have been driving myself nuts on what to make. Do I sew something or knit something? I have too many ideas and I'm afraid my sewing skills might fall short of the visions of fancy-ass lunch bags in my head.

Kitchen Conversation

Older Son (almost 10), while washing dishes: Mom, how do sperm come out of your body? Do they just come out when you pee?
Mom, trying to be nonchalant and still slightly abtruse: They come out when you ejaculate. You have to be sexually stimulated.
Son: So like when you have sex they come out and go "Wheeeee!"
Mom: Yeah, pretty much.

These next few years are going to be rough.

Investigating Replacement Options

I was standing at the stove tonight starting to make dinner for the kids while my older son was putting away the dishes from the dishwasher. (He gets paid $.75. It's the closest I'm going to get to having a maid.)We were joking around and he, while standing on a stool to reach the shelves, gave me a shove. I lost my balance and hit the open door of the dishwasher and came crashing down on it. We are both in pretty rough shape. My entire left leg is sore and throbbing. While I was sprawled on the floor, weeping from pain and shock, my younger son came over and peered into my face.

"What?"
"I just wanted to see if you were all right."
"I'm okay."
"Can you get me something to drink?"

The dishwasher door is so bent out of shape it won't close.



I'm looking into replacement options.

I'll need to do something about the dishwasher too.

Sorry for Radio Silence

Well my six-day straight (while sick) work week has ended. I have one day off then it's back to work and all the counting, counting, counting. Working in a yarn shop is great until inventory. Yesterday I was doing all the needles and notions. So very tedious. Worse than intarsia!

I have been knitting though. I just finished the thumb increases on my first Endpaper Mitt.



This is two old skeins of Koigu KPM that have been in the stash for years. Nice to finally put them to use.

Wes got me a Sew-EZ table for Christmas.



I have finally moved my sewing machine off the dining room table. It was getting kind of crowded with the machine and the two laptops. I was so excited I started sewing up little scrap blocks. Why I didn't work on one of my current UFOs I have no idea.

I seem to have passed my cold on to my oldest son. I'd feel worse for him if he weren't being such a little jerk about it. You've probably already seen the Man Cold video but just in case. This is my life.



And every time I sit down to use the computer I get this.


Tug?

And if I don't play with her she gets all dejected.




So that's my life right now in a nutshell.

The Cobbler's Children Will Have Shoes

Last weekend Wes told me that we needed to go shopping because the boys need hats, mittens and scarves.

Uh, hello? Have you met me? I make stuff.

First I pointed out that our older son has the Star Wars hat from last year. There was no way I'd knit a hat, two pairs of mittens and two scarves fast enough for these guys. I decided to go the quick and dirty method on the scarves. I cut out two rectangles of polar fleece that I have lying around. Done! I was going to serge the edges to make them more "finished" looking but screw it. They're just going to lose them anyway so I can't be bothered. I cast on for the hat in Kid Classic which is done (see below). Then I started thinking about mittens. I found this tutorial. I started to make my first mitten. Halfway in I realized I had made it too small. I set it aside. I made another.



Not too bad. I didn't pull the elastic out enough so the cuff is baggy. I thought it would be good enough and went to start the second mitten. Ack! Not enough fabric. I had already used half my fabric for the aborted, too small mittens. Damn!

But wait. I'm a quilter now. Sort of. I can piece together the fabric I need!



You can see the remains of the first pair here in what looks like the female reproductive systems rendered in 30s reproduction fabric. Sadly, it was not enough even after I sewed together all my scraps. I set the mitten aside, wanting my son to try it on first before going any further. It's too big for him but fits his big brother who says he does not care if his mittens match.

Three more mittens to go and the cobbler's children will have shoes.

Enchanted

We took the boys to see Enchanted yesterday. It's a great movie. Amy Adams is pitch-perfect as a classic Disney princess. The film is clever, well-paced and lots of fun. The boys both thoroughly enjoyed it too. My younger son declared, as the credits began to roll, "That was the best movie ever!"

The grand finale of the film reminded me of watching Lord of the Rings with my older son. The boys, sitting on each side of me, kept saying, "Kiss her. Just kiss her!"

Scene from Sunday Morning

Parents in bed trying to sleep. Children in hallway whispering in conspiratorial tones. Younger son bursts into hysterically, wacky screaming while running around hallway.

Big Brother: (in defeated tone)[Younger brother], we're spies, not idiots.

I Can't Argue With That

My older son was running down the stairs when I heard a crash.
"Are you okay!?"
"I'm fine. I was just faking."
"You were faking? Why?"
"I ran into a wall. What? It's a classic."

Squaresville

This weekend was all about squares.
I joined a Ravelry group making mitered squares to assemble into blankets for Afghans for Afghans. I made my first square last night.



It's leftovers from my FI Cardigan. Even after all the squares I've knit, I still enjoy making them.

There was also a lot of sewing. I had friends over on Saturday night and I got many more units done for my Shadow Star quilt. I also did a lot of prep for Dear Jane blocks. That made it very easy for me to pick them up and sew them tonight.





That last one was my first attempt at hand-applique. I tried using a freezer paper template and don't know how I would have done it without it.

Wes came up with a new idea for our family--Screen-Free Sundays. A day with no tv, computer or video games. The children protested. In fact, my 7 year old cried (you may see a trend here). To distract them we went to the South 47 Farm in Redmond. Wes and my older son went through the corn maze while my younger son and I went on a hayride. Hayride, by the way, means sitting on hay bales while you inhale copious amounts of tractor exhaust. Lovely. We bought some squash. We looked at some goats. We had kettle corn. [This reminds me that I am briefly interviewed in the new Cast On. It was recorded at Stitch 'n Pitch so I sound a little funny trying to make myself heard over all the noise. I mention this because I see kettle corn has become a dominant theme in my life.] When we got home Wes made apple pie with our older son and playdough with our younger son while I sewed. We had dinner together. We had all this free time. We talked to one another. It was crazy.

As soon as the kids were in bed Wes and I sprinted to our computers.

Famous Moments in Mom History #3

Scene: Younger Son emerging from classroom after the first day of school with a scowl on his face.

Mom: What's wrong, honey?
Son: (Face crumbling as he begins to wail) [Student] called me a crybabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Instant Pikafication

After I finished the tea towels my younger son announced that he wanted to embroider Pikachu on one of his shirts. We went out and got all the supplies. I showed him how to make a running stitch and had him draw Pikachu on his shirt.

He lasted about an minute and a half. Then the whining and demanding that I do it kicked in.


Newly remodeled shirt


Close up

I have to go play Monopoly. Younger son is sick which is putting older son in a terrible mood. He doesn't like being stuck at home.

I'll have a finished quilt later today to share and hopefully I'll be able to slip out to buy yarn to knit the hem facings on my Seamless Hybrid because that's all ready too.

The Ramones as You Have Never Heard Them

Sung a cappella by a seven year old with a very loose grasp of the lyrics.

Irony is Lost on Children

The kids are in the kitchen right now singing Beat on the Brat.

I'll Have to Settle for Second

My son told me last night that I was one of the best moms in the world. I asked why I wasn't the best mom. He thought for a while and told me, "I think the best mom wouldn't swear as much as you."

Fug Monkey

At Madrona back in January I took a dyeing class. I was feeling light on inspiration and for one of my skeins I just poured the three primaries on in three sections and let them blend in between. The skein came out screaming neon. Screaming. When I got home and started unpacking my bags my younger son saw the hideous skein and immediately insisted I make him the spider monkey from Kath Dalmeny's World of Knitted Toys. He's been "helping" me knit it. He's knit about 17 stitches and I've done the rest.



The pattern has you sew and sew and sew a million pieces. I started changing parts to be knit in the round to save a little seaming but there is still so much to sew. And I haven't knit all the freaking fingers and toes yet. What a pain in the ass!

It Did Get Better

Yesterday did not turn into a full-on disaster day. For clarification I'd like to point out that I did not think I was a terrible mother for not knowing all the various Pokemon crap my kids have. My child thought I was a terrible mother. And then I told him he could bite me then...nah, just kidding. There was lots of apologizing, hugging and a trip to Target to secure the right game.

Yesterday also got better when I went to the Seattle Knitters Guild. Our guest last night was Sally Melville. She was lovely, charming and funny. She gave a talk on "10 Things Knitters Don't Like to Hear." It was a list of all the infuriating things people say when you're knitting in public, why they're upsetting and what we, as knitters, would rather hear people say.

I've got a few inches done on my Sockapalooza sock. I was doing them two at a time on one circular (partly because I could only find my 40" US1 Addi). I ran into trouble when I had to knit two stitches together and there was a whole other sock between the two stitches! So one sock is "resting" right now. Hopefully I can get them back on the same needle to do the heel and foot so there's some hope that they'll be similar if not identical.

The yarn is creating a barber-pole effect, which normally I don't think I'd like but in this case the spiraling of the color matches up really nicely with the cascading pattern.


Side A


Side B

Ways In Which I Sense This Will Not Be a Great Day

1) It is my older son's birthday. I bought him the Pokemon game off of his wishlist. It turns out he bought one already with his own money. I am a terrible mother for not knowing this even though he didn't take off his wishlist. I have now made my son cry over breakfast on his birthday.

2) The cat threw up under my desk. I found out when I put my bare foot in it.

Mother's Day Weekend

Yesterday Wes, the boys and I went on a little adventure. We took the bus downtown then got on a ferry and went to Bainbridge Island. I love going over to Bainbridge. It always feels like I'm really going on a trip even though it's 30 minutes from downtown Seattle. The fact that there's a gorgeous yarn shop there doesn't hurt either. Our first stop was the Streamliner Diner for some lunch. They were selling t-shirts that had the Bainbridge-Seattle ferry timetable printed upside down on them. I didn't get it. Wes pointed out that it was you could look down and your shirt and read the ferry times. Oh. The boys and I really loved the Eagle Harbor Book Company. It's a beautiful store with a fantastic kid's section.

When we finally made it home I was completely zonked. I took a little nap because my best friend was having her 40th birthday party last night. I woke up just before the party started. I think I was still half-asleep when I left the house. When the front door opened the house was filled with women all dolled up in dresses, high heels and make-up. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I told Wes after I got home that I am really bad at being a girl.

Today we had a Mother's Day brunch at Lola. I wanted to have a nice outing for once on Mother's Day. I hoped that between the bacon and the fresh donuts, the boys could keep it together. And they did! They were really well behaved and we had all had a great meal. They gave us all "Mom" tattoos with the check.



The restaurant is attached to Hotel Andra. The bathrooms are in the hotel lobby. I took my youngest son in and we each went into our own stalls. When I got out I found him sitting on the bench.
"Did you wash your hands?"
"I used the short sink in my bathroom that squirts water."
We washed his hands together at the "big sink" with soap for a long, long time. After Wes and I explained what a bidet is for. Later my son told me, "I didn't know I was washing my hands in a toilet."

The Peruvian Highland Wool Baby Surprise is all done.

I won't be seaming it up until I show it to my students later this month (I'm teaching a class on it)so I won't weave the ends in until then either. I haven't decided which side is the outside.

I also cast on for my Sock Pal socks. I'm making the Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks in Socks That Rock in the Mist colorway.

Designing Lace with Evelyn Clark

What a fabulous long weekend. On Friday morning I loaded up my car with yarn and needles, picked up two friends, and headed north. We visited four yarn shops, had lunch and strolled through the town of Mount Vernon. I tried out a Majacraft Rose spinning wheel and I do believe I am in love. My other great discovery of the day came at the Red Apple Market in Mount Vernon. (They had Mexican Coke! Coca-Cola in the US is made with corn syrup. In Mexico it's still made with sugar. Wes and his co-workers have been buying it by the bottle at a local restaurant and have fantasized about finding it by the case. The clerk at the store looked at my like I was crazy when I lugged a full case up to the register.)

We arrived at the "cabin." It's less of a cabin and more of a gorgeous summer house. Thirteen knitters in all including Evelyn and the organizers. We were fed, we sat and knit and took in the sunset.


Sunset on Friday night

On Saturday we has a leisurely morning then class began at 10. Evelyn has a new book which should be available soon from Fibertrends. The book gives a mix and match format to create a triangular shawl using four lace patterns. We were given all the materials from the book but also given the opportunity to design our own pattern.


A Rose-Kim Original

Evelyn had mentioned to me a month or so ago that she hoped some people would use handspun for their shawls. I was a little concerned that I did not have time to spin a shawl's worth of yarn. Then, while organizing my stash, I found that I had already spun a shawl's worth of yarn. Bingo! Dazzle the llama coming right up.

Then we started knitting.


And knitting.

I knit over 100 rows before we left.

I also started a new Baby Surprise Jacket with my leftovers from Retro Prep the Third.



The house where we stayed was called Eagle Point. There were sculptures of eagles everywhere. I fully expected to see an eagle while there. I didn't. As I complained to my traveling companions on the way home that we hadn't seen any eagles I had to screech to a halt.



There was an American Bald Eagle standing in the middle of the road in front of my car eating a flattened possum. I managed to grab my camera and snap this picture before he flew away. The sucker was ENORMOUS. Note his size in relation to the hood of my car. And he was at least ten or fifteen feet away from me. It was kind of amazing.

We took our sweet time heading home, stopping at few more yarn shops, touring the city of Mukilteo trying unsuccessfully to find a yarn shop that turned out to be closed on Mondays, eating lunch in Edmonds and toodling through the shops.

I got home just before five and in time to pick up the boys from childcare. I called out to my oldest son, who looked at me and said, "I thought Dad was picking us up." "It's great to see you too, honey." Then I called out to my younger son. "I thought Dad was coming." "I missed you too."