Achievements

Exactly one week ago today I had surgery to remove my tonsils and adenoids, fix my deviated septum, clear my sinuses, and remove some polyps from my sinus cavities. Everything I have managed to do since that time has been chalked up as a major achievement since pretty much every day since then something has been hurting, irritating me, or not doing the job I think it should be doing (I'm looking at you pain medications). Here, in no particular order are some things I've done that I feel are press worthy:

1. I took a shower. On Tuesday but still. I took a shower.

2. I ate chicken nuggets. 10 in all. Over a period of three days.

3. I did not pass out. Not when they took out my tubes (which were three inches long with butterfly wings on the sides). Not when I had to leave the office after taking out my tubes. Not when I hadn't eaten anything in two days except medicine and Powerade. Not yet.

4. I finished a blanket.

It's just a little one made from scraps of my hand dyed yarn but I like it and I think it will be lovely and warm once it's blocked out.

5. I made some booties.

Again, nothing big and huge but right now I can't really handle big and huge.

6. I worked almost a full repeat on my Red Dragon socks.

I never understood what pregnant women meant by not being able to knit because it makes them queasy. Now, I totally get it.

7. I started a pattern. It will be for a set of items with a chevron theme to them. A hat with a chevron band, mittens with a chevron design on the back and a multi-directional chevron scarf. I did that one at 2 in the morning so I really think I should get a prize for it or something. I'm telling you about it because I want to be held accountable for actually finishing the pattern. I want to offer it as part of the Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project's Game, Set, Match! campaign where we are collected matching hats and other knitted items for orphans. So, if you don't see updates about the chevron set in a few days start asking questions.

Now, I'm off to take another nap because I've been up for a total of 20 minutes and I'm exhausted.

Block Party Weekend

Today, while out furniture shopping (read about it here) I picked up some t-pins. That means that today was the beginning of a blocking extravaganza. Here's a baby blanket that I had finished a few weeks ago (pre-blocking):

I made it from leftover yarn. The red is deep red Red Heart that I used for the Simple Scarf. The blue is a Red Heart sport weight in Skipper Blue (loved the color!). The multicolored yarn is Red Heart super saver in Mexicana. I originally got the pattern from www.nancyhearne.com. But the pattern is no longer available. I've included it at the bottom of the page if you want to use it.


This is baby blanket during blocking. It's a "preemie" sized blanket at about 15 inches long.

And...I finished all the rectangles for the preemie sweater! I knit the last panel up while waiting for the high school band to perform at a concert on Thursday night.

And here it is pre blocking and before I sewed in the ends but it's set up in the way that it will be pieced together. I like how the purple in the yarn made these interesting tiger stripes in the sleeves. I think I'm going to make a hat and booties to match.

My friend Jenn is already begging for one when she has a baby. I was going to block this tonight too but I decided to wait since I wasn't sure if I had enough t-pins. The sweater should be done by the end of the week me thinks. I can't wait to be done with this cutie!

Raised Garter Stripes blanket:

Materials:
1 oz. each of 3 colors of yarn
US size 5 needles (the original pattern calls for size 6 needles)

Rows 1 and 2: With color *, K across
Rows 3-6: Work stockinette stitch (K on right side, P on wrong side)
Rows 7 and 8: K across; change to color *
Rows 9 and 10: K across; change to color *
Rows 11-14: Work stockinette stitch
Rows 15 and 16: K across; change to color *
Rows 17 and 18: K across; change to color *
Repeat rows 1-18 continuing to change colors for pattern.
*= colored yarn, you want to continually cycle through the colors. First A then B and then C. This makes the color changes different each time through the pattern.