Ten on Tuesday: 10 things you do every day

Every day, I...

1) check e-mail, Facebook, Google News, and my dozen favorite blogs.
2) Brush my teeth (about 5 times a day. Haven't had a cavity in my life!)
3) Brush my hair, because having long, curly hair requires constant maintenance.
4) Shower. Often twice a day. I sweat a lot and have a horror of smelling bad.
5) Eat.
6) Knit, crochet, or weave.
7) Read. (I read 68 books this summer!)
8) Hug my husband and kids, and tell them that I love them.
9) Take my allergy medicine.
10) Sleep.

One sock done

I was supposed to make a pair of socks for our neighbor's son's birthday, but Real Life got in the way and I ended up frantically binding off the first sock just before the party. I wrote a nice note in the card explaining that the second sock was OTN and would arrive shortly, but the card got separated from the present. I'm told that there was much laughter and confusion about the presentation of one sock before my husband was able to break in and explain.

So here, have a crappy low-light picture of one blue sock:



It was knit on #2 needles out of Bamboo and Ewe that I got at our local Jo-Ann Fabric. Amazingly enough, this sock used up less than half the ball of yarn, so I can get a pair out of one skein. Awesome!

Loving Knitty

I know... I make these lists four times a year and I don't do anything with them... although maybe when I retired in another 25 years, I can knit all the things I'm putting on these lists now. Or maybe I can just get more knitting done during my son's soccer practice instead of constantly swatting mosquitoes.

I love Kiwi. My sons are a little too old for this, but I've got lots of baby gifts to knit!
I also love the Ambroso mittens, and since I do knit mittens most of the time, these might actually get made.
It's the wrong color for me, but Apis Dorsata totally tickled my sense of humor.
Loved the cabling details on Papermoon, and since socks are the other things I knit reliably, these might also get made.
I think Tenney Park looks awesome, but I doubt I would either knit it or wear it.
I love Takoma but it's going to look terrible on me.

Notes on a project

My older son's teacher says that her favorite colors are sea-blue, and green.

I have committed to far, far too many projects for this fall!

Ten on Tuesday: 10 things you buy every week

Whew! Now that school has started, I barely have time to do the shopping at all. OK, I'll try...

1) Groceries (general category... Carole did it, so I figure I can, too.)
2) A ham-egg-cheese on bagel at DD
3) A large unsweetened ice tea with extra lemon at DD
4) Candy for the little bowl in the office
5) Sushi (my stress-out food)
6) Random craft supplies that one of the kids needs for a project at school (grumble, grumble)
7) Time with my husband (via the babysitter, who is expensive but worth every penny)
8) Library fines (sad, but true)
9) Books (just kidding! but I do buy a ton of books)
10) Yarn (once again, kidding! But really, it does feel like I buy yarn almost every week...)

Notes on a project

My younger son's teacher likes the color purple. I made her a scarf two years ago, so this time 'round I plan on making her mittens.

I cast on NHM#1 yesterday and am already halfway up the hand. It's amazing how much progress I can make when I have NOTHING else to do for three hours.

We came through the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee with nothing worse than a wet basement.

Ten on Tuesday: 10 things I want to knit this fall/winter

Yes, I'm posting late... yesterday was both my birthday and the first day of school, so I didn't have time to put any thought into blogging.

There are TONS of things I want to knit! My Ravelry queue is up to 250 items. However, let's be practical: I'll be doing Xmas gifts for the next three months, and then graduation gifts until May. So keeping that in mind, here are the things I hope to knit:

1) The 116-7 mittens by DROPS. (I call them Stripes and Snowflakes.) My gauge is not quite what it should be, so I plan to do the Large size for a small woman's hands.

2) Glitten by Julia Mueller (rav link). I'm on the hook for two pairs of these, to my husband's cousins in Toronto.

3) see above

4) Selbu Mittens (rav link). I made these last year and they were so gorgeous that I'm knitting another pair. Miracle of miracles, my gauge actually DOES match here, so no adjustments should be needed.

5) NHM #1 (rav link). I love snowflakes on mittens!

6) NHM #3 (rav link). Yes, I am a fool for Norwegian mitten patterns.

7) Elizabeth Zimmerman's May Mittens (rav link.) I need to build up some courage before tackling an EZ pattern!

8) Some sort of fingertip-less gloves for my aunt, who wants them "in a bright color."

9) Jonah (rav link) because a lot of my colleagues are having babies!

10) The Owl Baby Vest (rav link), because it's too cute not to make it.

The City, in Summer

I've become such a New Englander that I call NYC "the city" and expect everyone to know what I'm talking about.

My younger son and I went to The City to visit my mother and expose the little boy to the wonders of subways, buses, and the MOMA. On Saturday we ate vegetarian Dim Sum (I can't recall the name but it was #7 Mott Street) and bought dried plums and sailed boats in Central Park. On Sunday we saw a Brazilian street festival, hung out at MOMA and had lunch at Cafe #2 (where they screwed up my lunch order 3 times... sigh...), then had gelato at Grand Central and bought spices at Penzey's, and went for sushi at Sushi Time on 2nd Ave.

Today I had a pork bun and leftover egg tart for breakfast before taking the express back to CT.