I got some sleevage done!

I feel much better about it now – it seemed to get too narrow too soon before I ripped it back. Now I think I may have spaced the decreases too far apart, but time will tell. I also started a pair of socks for Emily. I’m getting a little impatient waiting for my sock yarn and beads for the beaded socks 🙂 Mind you, it probably won’t get here before Friday at the earliest.
I went to the Post Office today to mail off some Christmas cards. This is somewhat of an Event, as I am usually way too lazy to write and mail Christmas cards. Of course, when I got there, the queue was out the door of the Post Office, so I quit and came home 🙂
When I downloaded the sweater picture from the camera, I found that Em has been busy with my camera. This is our other family member, Fuzzy Lumpkins. Despite all good intentions to teach him to talk, it never happened, although he doesn’t realise that he is a bird. He is quite sure that he is a Person. He lives in our family room, near the back door with a clear view of the refrigerator. Whenever someone opens the fridge or goes near where the bread is kept, he reminds us that he is there and would like to be fed, too. Now. Anyway, I liked these pics alot 🙂


I thought they were pretty good (in an arty farty type way) for an eleven year old. Mind you, they were taken when she was supposed to be getting ready for school, but thats another story.
Here is how Fuzzy normally looks 🙂

Our Real Estate inspection is tomorrow. Our lease says that we aren’t supposed to have pets, but birds in cages and crabs in tanks are okay. Therefore, we aren’t actually supposed to have a rabbit. So tomorrow all evidence of Twinky gets hidden away, and Twinky goes to my Mum’s house for the day. Mum lives just up the street.
Twinky would rather lay in the dirt 🙂

Happy Tuesday! Everyone go out and buy Baby Silk from Elann. It goes up at 1am locally, so I want it to be all gone by the time I get up. Please 😉

I hit a snag with the Neckdown pullover. I did the sleeve decreases as the pattern advised, and had finished the decreases by the time the sleeve was only two thirds as long as I needed it. I could have just kept on going, knitting plain until it was the length I wanted, but the shaping looked wonky. So I ripped the whole sleeve. So I have made no progress!
This weekend and today, in addition to the house cleaning I have been busily getting stuck into some christmas gift sewing. The gift knitting is done, just a few things to finish up with in the sewing and I’m done. I think I’m happy with what I’ve done. Will the recipients be happy? Let’s hope so.
Am I the only one who gets a little stressy when making handmade gifts? I love to receive them, but I always worry when I give them. What if they don’t like it? What if they don’t want it? What if the colour is wrong, or the size is wrong? Then again, it would be unlike me not to worry 🙂
Emily’s social life continues apace. School Dance this Wednesday, End of year pool party on Friday. Year Six Farewell dinner dance next Tuesday. I should have half the fun!
Elann is releasing Peruvian Baby Silk again. Why have they done this to me? My stash is not shrinking. I have spent most of the day trying to justify buying some, and I can’t even come up with a project I’d like to use it for. Ideas, people – leave me some 🙂

Why is it that whenever I plan to have some free time, it never happens? I thought that after the dance concert, I would be able to settle down a little and start to have a little more time. Ha!
My best friend from High School had a baby boy on Friday. So today, we ended up at the hospital visiting. He’s so cute. Not cute enough to make me want one, but cute 😉 We spent a couple of hours up there visiting. We did some Christmas shopping yesterday, and although I planned to finish the shopping, I couldn’t get a great many things. Who would think that it would be difficult to get Pokemon Leaf Green or Fire Red this close to Christmas? And why didn’t I buy it a month ago? This game is a neccesity – we’re driving 17 hours to Queensland, and 17 hours back. I need it to keep Em quiet 😉
We rent our house, and the Real Estate sent me a letter on Wednesday saying that they are coming to inspect the house this Wednesday, so every other spare moment has been taken up with house cleaning. My favourite pastime. No, really. Really. No you’re right, not even I believe it.
And finally, this is the corner where the Christmas Tree goes.

What do you notice? (Not the stash box under the table!)
No Christmas Tree! I figure that seeing as we’re not even going to be here at Christmas, I needn’t bother. I haven’t even put the wreath on the door. Am I mean?

Em’s end of year Dance Concert was last night, and I’m pleased to say that it all went well, everything was beautiful and there were no major dramas. 🙂
And now I have some semblance of a life until Late January or early February, Yay!
In all the excitement I have even managed a little knitting. Here is this morning’s progress on the Neckdown Pullover.

The colour is pretty accurate on my monitor. I have since finished the body and cast off, and started a sleeve.
For the Six Sox Knitalong, I ordered some new yarn. So much for my Yarn Diet! I think I lasted a week, LOL! But it’s for a knitalong, so I needed it. And sock yarn isn’t really stash, is it?
So I went over to The Knitting Zone and ordered Lorna’s Laces in Pale Pink and some 8/0 beads in Blush. Not an exact match, but I hope that it’ll be fine anyway. I was good and didn’t order anything else. Good thing that, seeing as the car is being serviced today and the quote so far is pushing $500. Ouch!

Another heatwave today – it reached 42C locally, I am told. No knitting was done, I just laid around being hot all day, until the most welcome cool southerly wind came in at around 4.30pm.
Even Twinky was hot.

Usually she isn’t particularly fond of water. She is laying there between a frozen bottle of water and her food bowl, and has let me stroke her with my fingers dipped in cold water. In fact, she didn’t like it when I stopped, so I just kept going until she got up and shook herself off like a dog. 🙂
The next pattern has been announced for the six sox knitalong, but I can’t get to the pattern yet. However they are called the “Pink Bead Socks”.
Despite my abundant yarn stash, I have no pink sock yarn. Well, thats a partial lie. I have some Lorna’s Laces in Old Rose, but that is earmarked for the Breast Cancer Awareness Socks. So I have to get some pink sock yarn. And presumably, some pink beads.
Any suggestions?