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July 28, 2006
Road trip!
Gosh it's been a busy week!
Little Caleb is doing great and is expected to come home SOON (maybe even as soon as today!). Thanks for all the well-wishes!
I have been knitting bunches this week while Geoff has been in Chicago. I finished the entrelac scarf! I still have to weave in the ends and maybe block it. We'll see if it really needs it. Pics will have to come next week.
I'm picking Geoff up at the airport in a few hours and this afternoon we are heading up to Chapel Hill, NC to see Iris Dement. I love Iris. I love my husband. I love road trips. It's going to be a fantastic weekend!
See you next week!
Posted by allison at 08:51 AM | Comments (1)
July 25, 2006
Update!
Little Caleb is doing better but he will have to be in the NICU at least until the end of the week. He removed his feeding tube yesterday (stubborn already) so the nurse tried him with a bottle and he did pretty good. I think later on they tried the bottle again and he was sucking on it so hard that his breathing rate and heart rate got wonky again. So back in with the feeding tube (which he was not happy about).
Here's a pic of him wearing a hat that I made him and being warmed by a blanket I made his brother.
Now Caleb needs his own blanket! I've been waiting for the perfect pattern and I have found it! I will give more info once I figure out what yarn I can use that won't break the bank.
And as for knitting, I've been working on the entrelac scarf when I can! Geoff is in Chicago all week so I've turned off his Netflix queue. Now all the movies coming into the house are mine all mine. My ass has a date with the couch tonight and knitting will ensue! Tonight's Netflix feature will be Season 1 of The L Word.
Posted by allison at 09:42 AM | Comments (2)
July 22, 2006
Send good thoughts!
My nephew was born yesterday afternoon and looks great. He's a big boy! Unfortunately, he is having some respiratory problems and they've transfered him to the NICU to administer antibiotics for a possible infection. He should be in there at least through tomorrow so good thoughts/prayers (whatever you do!) are welcome! Thank you!
Posted by allison at 10:38 AM | Comments (2)
July 18, 2006
Welcome!
Wow! Many of you are coming here because of today's story in The State Newspaper! If you'd like to join our group just click on the button to the right!
For my loyal readers who are not in SC, click here to read the story online.
What a great story highlighting a great group of people! I'm glad to be a part of it!
Special thanks to Robin Nalepa and Jill Richards from The State for coming by and having fun with us last weekend!
Edited to add: many people have asked me why there isn't a picture of me in the print version of the article (for those who've only seen the online version, there are several more pics in the print version). The photographer always picks out the best pictures for the articles so that may have had something to do with it. Also, I do a bit of freelance work for the newspaper and posting pics of me may fall in the "conflict of interest" category. I only do the police blotters and have never had a byline but they can get a bit touchy about that sort of thing so I was actually surprised that I was quoted so much. I actually expected it to focus more on the other members and mention me only briefly. This is all fine with me as I think that the pics that were chosen really show off the group well and the article was such a great way to bring attention to us!
Posted by allison at 08:54 AM | Comments (6)
July 13, 2006
I did it!
I finished Hourglass! Sorry for the poor picture but I just wanted to prove that I am indeed finished! Well, I do want to block it and I have some ends to weave in (though not too many because I used the felted join method of joining new yarn). A preliminary fitting says that it fits. Yay! But there are some drape issues that I hope to fix with a good blocking. I'll try and get a modeled shot of it after that.
Here are the specs:
Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
Started: March 21, 2006
Finished: July 10, 2006
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: US 8
Size: x-small (33"chest)
As you can see, I actually finished it on Monday. I was a knitting machine last weekend. It started last Friday afternoon with just about 1/5 of the second sleeve completed. I put the pedal to the metal and finished the second sleeve on Saturday and finished the yoke on Sunday! Then I tacked down the neckband on Monday! Whew! Watch out! The entrelac scarf will be the next to get finished. I'm in a finishing mood! Though I am still suffering from startitis.
We had a fun time at our Stitch 'n Bitch this past Saturday. We had a reporter and photographer from the newspaper join us for a story! We are going to be famous! Heh heh heh. I'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress of the article.
I better sign off. Words don't seem to be coming easily to me this evening. I have a lot I want to tell you but I am plumb wore out! Yes, I'm still getting up every morning around 5:15 to head to the gym. Geoff has been getting up with me so that's been nice! He joins me at the gym a few days a week and then runs with his running group on the other mornings. That crazy boy wants to run another marathon! We're getting fit here at casa di LoCicero!
I'll be back when I feel more coherent!
Posted by allison at 07:39 PM | Comments (6)
July 06, 2006
A small detour
Just one day left of my 3-day work week and it's time for the weekend again! I could really get used to this kind of schedule. Our 4-day holiday weekend was a bit more chore-filled than Geoff and I had anticipated but a lot was accomplished and I guess that's a good thing, right? Unfortunately one of the things that didn't get accomplished was a lot of knitting.
And this is where my little detour comes into play. You see, I did find some time for knitting but the problem is that I didn't really use that time for knitting. I used it to try and teach myself a little crochet. The book Cozy Crochet has been getting cozy on my bookshelf for months and it was this post from Diana of Streets and YOs that prompted me to pick it up. I wanted to make some of those coasters! My ultimate goal is to be able to one day crochet the Scoop Neck Pullover...
So yeah, I wanna learn this whole "crochet" thing so I started with project #1 in this book - a dishcloth. It was done completely in single crochet. Not a problem. About half-way through it I decided I was a pro at single-crochet and ripped it all out to try my hand at project #2 - the coasters. This is where my story ends. I can't figure it out! So I've got The Happy Hooker on hold at my library and will pick it up tomorrow. Hopefully that will shed some light on the subject. It's the whole round thing that has me a bit confused. And I'm not used to the lingo so it's like trying to read a foreign language. I don't see how I will ever learn all of the stitches!! Single, double, triple, half-double (which to me sounds like it should be a single), triple-sow-cow, quadruple lutz double, etc. Ok so maybe I made up those last two. But seriously, there seems to be more to remember with crochet than there is with knitting. Do crocheters (is that a word?) commit all of these stitches to memory or do they just carry around a handy reference guide in their bags? I'm intrigued.
But, don't fear. I'm still knitting. This is not going to turn into a crochet blog (besides "Freckles & Single Crochet" doesn't have a good ring to it). But I hope to learn enough so that crochet will make an appearance here and there.
As for that knitting thing, I'm still working on the second sleeve of Hourglass. The second sleeve always goes slower than the first and it feels like a horribly long case of deja vu.
Posted by allison at 10:16 PM | Comments (6)
