Year: 2007

Mystery Stole 3 Swatch

Sarah Mystery Stole 3

Here’s my swatch for the Mystery Stole:

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The bottom half is on US4/3.5mm needles, the top half (with the beads) is on US2/3mm needles. I think I’d ideally like to use the size in between…but all of my size 3 needles are currently in projects! (I apparently gravitate towards projects that are all the same gauge at the same time.)

Anyway. So I don’t know what to do. I prefer the looser look on the bottom, but I think it’s just a smidge too loose. Maybe I’ll finish up a baby sweater sleeve that’s currently on 3’s and swatch again today. I could always order another pair of needles, I suppose. I’ll try not to stress that I’m already 10 days behind everyone else. I’m a fast knitter, I can probably catch up!

The beading technique is pretty cool, though. You use a crochet hook to put them on as needed instead of stringing them all on before starting to knit. It’s a bit fiddly, especially considering how teeny-tiny (1.05mm!) the crochet hook is, but it’s also a bit addictive.

Waterlogged

Sarah Carolyn, Dogs

There were probably things we should have spent today doing, but it was such a beautiful morning we decided to jump in the pool instead.

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And then we invited the dogs in for a swim. Molly loves the pool:
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Murphy, on the other hand, is not a water dog. But he does like to run up and down the sides of the pool while Molly swims back and forth. I think he thinks he’s a lifeguard.
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I’m Such A Joiner.

Sarah Mystery Stole 3

Partly because of the Yarn Harlot, and partly because I remember Julia doing it last year, I joined the Mystery Stole 3 knit-along.

Please don’t ask me why. I can’t for the life of me think of any place I might wear a lace-weight stole. But for some reason, the temptation of lace knitting, beads, and a project that I won’t know how it looks until it’s finished…I couldn’t resist.

Of course, I had neither the required lace weight yarn nor the required beads in my stash. So I visited a not-so-local local yarn shop in my area and swung by a bead shop on my way home. The color suggestions were black or white, but I wound up with a lovely green shade of Jaggerspun Zephyr. Off to swatch!

One Down, One To Go

Sarah SockapalOOOza

The first sockapalooza sock is done! I have to say, I love cables in socks, even if the colors are a little too busy to see them well.

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I did the picot cuff for the second sock at Sit & Knit tonight, so now it’s just a matter of doing the same thing I did for the first sock. I’ll easily be able to make the deadline if I don’t get distracted by too much! Now I have to start thinking of what other little goodies to send my pal.

Happy Fourth!

Sarah Holidays

Our nieces Lizzy and Michelle – and their parents, of course! – are spending a couple of days with us. It was pretty rainy today, so we spent the day at the Strong Museum. Carrie was beyond thrilled to be there with her cousins – and was also quite excited to run into Simone there – and (I think) it made up for not being able to spend the day in the pool.

Unfortunately, the annual fireworks display that you can see from the top of our street apparently didn’t happen this year. I can’t say I’m all that disappointed – Carrie was already asleep, and fireworks really stress Molly out – but I know that Lizzy and Michelle were looking forward to them.

Pampered Chef

Sarah Family

My Uncle John is a Pampered Chef consultant, so I hosted a party for him yesterday. The food was excellent: a sausage calzone (can’t find the link) and a berry salad, plus a berry tart for dessert. (And I was worried about what we were going to do with all the berries from Friday – they’ve pretty much all been eaten already!)

I can’t wait for all my neat new kitchen toys gadgets to arrive!

Strawberries!

Sarah Friends

Today is Lisa’s birthday, and to celebrate we went strawberry picking. Or, in Carrie’s case, strawberry eating. I really think I should have given them an extra couple of dollars for all the strawberries she ate! I wound up with something like six pounds of strawberries. Yummy!

We also picked some raspberries, which was much easier for Carrie to do – if they come off the bush easily they’re ripe. So she ate even more of those.

Is it any wonder she didn’t eat any lunch?

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Couch to 5K Update

Sarah Fitness

A few weeks ago I started the Couch to 5K running program. I wound up doing week 1 twice, because I was so out of shape that I couldn’t actually run all eight 60-second intervals for the first week. :P

But I did the first day of week 3 today, and…it didn’t kill me!

However, at the end of this program I won’t be anywhere near actually running 5 kilometers (or, for those of us who struggle with metric, 3 miles) in the alloted 30 minutes, because that would require me to run at 6 miles per hour. Um. I have to admit that I can’t even run at a full 4 miles per hour, I’m running at a really pathetic 3.7 miles per hour. I think turtles run faster than that. But at least I’m jogging, right?

Thirty-Two Months Old!

Sarah Monthly Updates

Dear Carolyn,

I tried to tell you that you’re two and two-thirds now, but you insist that you are two-and-a-half! I guess you’re not quite ready for fractions.

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Quite by accident, I discovered the other day that you can repeat rhythms. I can clap pretty much anything and you can repeat it. I have no idea if this is normal or if you’re going to be the youngest lead snare in the marching band. Along those lines, you’re completely obsessed with The Little Einsteins right now, which is all about music and using different musical ideas to complete a task – like listening for a certain melody to find something or singing loudly (fortissimo!) to make something happen.

In other news, you tried your first s’more this month. Ah, the joys of toasted marshmallows! The best part? You preferred the graham crackers alone. Well, with a side of chocolate, of course. And after all that work toasting you a perfect marshmallow!

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When you were sick a couple of weeks ago, I let you watch Cinderella. It’s now your favorite movie – “Cinder-gerella!” I’ll probably regret this when you’re begging for every cheap plastic thing with princesses plastered all over it, but for now I think it’s adorable that you love my favorite childhood movie.

Oh! I almost forgot! You can put together a 24-piece puzzle! We have a Winnie the Pooh puzzle that your Aunt Jeannie gave you, and I had planned to put it away until you were at least three, since puzzles haven’t really been your strong suit. But you saw the box and begged to play with it, and you can put it together all on your own (with a little verbal coaching when you start trying to force a piece where it doesn’t quite belong).

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Every month I’m even more amazed by all the things you’ve learned. You’re one pretty amazing kid!

Love, Mommy