it's going to be a hard week

It's time to put our dog Quincy to sleep. I'm generally practical about pets and veterinary care, but calling and making an appointment to euthanize the dog I've had longer than my driver's license? hard.

I think I made it thirty seconds into the call before I started blubbering.

The thing that sucks more than losing this dog (which I've come to view as closely intertwined with my youth) is that my kids are losing this dog. We went to the library and checked out all of their pet loss books. It's going to be a difficult week.

because I'm tipsy

I'm going to admit that my two most favorite movies are How to Make an American Quilt and The Sex and the City Movie.

And yeah, they're not crazy deep, but they're about female friendship, and they make me all mushy for my girlfriends (and one boyfriend who is like a girlfriend). You ladies rock.

(this blog entry helped me to not post this confession on FB)

Wurm!

In the past month, I've knit the same pattern twice.

This is the Wurm hat. It was a fun knit, both in Noro Yuzen and in a Savers-score alpaca.

this is Hannah's version, inside-out.
I'm not one for a lot of color, but I kind of want to steal her hat.


Mine has less color and more slouch.




This was my first time doing a knitted hem, and I'm kind of obsessed now. It's so neat and satisfying.

In doing a google search for "wurm hat", I came across this neat blog. One hundred hats in one year- yikes!

Happy 30th, Mr. F

and this gem:

from November 3rd, 2005.
Apparently I left this little note for my husband and then I took a three hour nap.

Aha!

I've been wondering how long it's been since I've been a knitter. I had a vague idea, but no solid date. I was scrolling through Chris' old Photo-a-day looking for pictures I'd like to hang in the house, and I came across this one:

From August of '05. Now I know.

Yesterday we received a birthday party invite for a fellow homeschooler. Part of the party will be making hearts for Hearts That Help. Unfortunately, we'll be unable to attend.

I found a pattern on Ravelry for a felted heart, and Hannah and I have a heart assembly line going on.



Another set of homeschoolers created their first little company, HOPE cookies. I wish I had a link, but I think they're really small-scale. They're selling 5 cookies for $5 and donating all of the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders. They've already raised $600. These kids rock.

Mostly Hats

I've decided to spend this year knitting hats. I've tried sweaters and scarves and mittens, but I really love knitting hats. The other day I actually found myself listing the reasons why I like knitting hats. It went something like:

a. instant gratification and increased likelihood of a finished object

b. no-guilt ripping out

c. the winter is cold

d. bad hair day solution

e. gauge matters less

f. i have a habit of buying one or two skeins of yarn

The desire to own this pilot cap is the reason I started knitting, and I've come back to it at least 20 times, for my own children and as baby gifts.

Some other patterns on my list for this year:

Windschief by Westknits

Habitat by Jared Flood

Wurm by Katharina

Odessa by Grumperina

Botanic by Westknits

Very Warm Hat by Elizabeth Zimmermann

I am also anxiously awaiting the release of Twisted Wooly Toppers, which will round out my list.

This is about it for my New Year's "resolutions". Knit more hats.

Not looking

Both the library books and the armwarmers were found within 2 days.

The library books were under a blanket, in a wagon, in my in-laws' garage. The armwarmers were under a couch cushion at my grandparents' house. Tearing apart my own house was completely unnecessary. At least I got some cleaning done and saved the $32 library fee...

Looking

It seems like I'm always looking for something. Right now I'm searching for 3 things: two (overdue) library books and my new knitted armwarmers. My superstitious side believes that if I post this, I'll find them. It also believes that the word "quiet", uttered on a L&D floor, will bring a shitstorm of nightmare patients. Not entirely rational.