Saturday, December 08, 2007

knitting causes bad dreams

Do you have stress dreams? You know, those dreams that cause you to have nightmares; those dreams that are the symptoms of the stress building up in your life?

I have two and they come and go interchangeably with no notice. I expect one of them anytime now due to the socks that I'm making for my Dad for Christmas. I hate being under a time constraint, I really do. Pressure is not good. Pressure bad. Pressure causing stress. So. I'll either have dream A. or dream B. sometime really soon. Guaranteed.

Dream A is where I'm arrested for something I didn't do and no one believes me and I'm sent off to prison. I've never been in jail and hope never to be in jail so don't ask me why this one keeps recurring in my slumber.

Dream B however, has happened in the past. You see, in this dream, I'm back in college (God forbid) and it's coming up on finals week. The problem though, is that I've skipped too many classes and no matter how well I do on the final, even if I ace it, I'm still gonna flunk the class. But wait! I've just got to ace that exam. Maybe God will step in and save me somehow and let me pass that class!

I'm tensing up just writing about them. No kidding, Dream B is particularly stressful and while I was writing about it my shoulders slowly crept up to my ears.

These socks are killing me!

By the way, notice the Christmas ornament update. The kid got another one.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

I'm on the Pay It Forward bandwagon!

So I'm jumping on the "Pay It Forward" bandwagon. Have you heard about this? Feel like doing something for someone else?

Be one of the first three bloggers to leave a comment requesting to join this PIF, and you will receive either a handmade gift or knitting yarn or quilting supplies from me at some point in the next 365 days. I'm changing the standard rule of just a handmade gift to add the option of giving knitting/quilting supplies instead. I can't guarantee the gift will be knitting, but I promise it will be fun!

What's the catch? You have to promise to do the same for someone else. Just put these simple directions on your blog, get your three comments and it's off to the races! How much fun is that? You'll feel great about giving and you'll make some friends as well. I know I'm excited about it!

To follow the links to see where this all started, begin here at the Arts & Quilts blog.

*****

I found some sites with videos and tutorials on Knitting and one on crochet that I thought that I would share. Some are basic How-To on knitting, but there's some really interesting stuff for intermediate and advanced knitters as well.

Check them out:

Knitting Links

Mostly Basic Sutree

Mixed:
Ehow Knitting Videos and tutorials
Make: Blog Videos
About.com
KnittingHelp.com
HelpThing


Crochet Links

Ehow Crochet videos and tutorials

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

kids, knitting and at&t

I swear that my children, my knitting and AT&T are causing my blood pressure to sky rocket.

First, I picked up the sock that I am making for my Dad out of a worsted tweed yarn. I already had the toe pocket, all I had to do was to begin the pattern. Well, I did just that. Unfortunately I did the pattern all the way around the sock, not just on the top of the sock. I was watching a movie and didn't notice this until I had done about 10 rows of the blasted thing. When I noticed, I might have said a few cuss words, but decided to rip back and try again. It turned into the biggest mess ever. So I cussed some more and frogged the whole thing.

I began again today (but with sock not worsted yarn) and decided to try the 2 socks on 2 circs thing again. The 2 socks at once thing is working, but about 6 rows in, I realized that I had cast on 2 more sts on one than the other. Its still early enough in the increases that I can fudge it and make it work. Trust me, my Dad will never notice. Still, it's aggravating.

Second, AT&T DSL decided to die last night. I could neither blog, nor read my favorite blogs. Do you know how much time I waste a day reading blogs on crafting and knitting? Way too much. Hi, I'm Shea, and I'm an internet blog addict. I swear I started getting the shakes.

Third, and most annoying, was the Eldest. A week ago, I caught him telling a lie. I threatened him and went on my way. Now, a 7 yr old, even though normally a compliant and basically good child, will still try to lie to get out of trouble even though he should know better. And honestly, who hasn't? But! He was caught again last night. Busted. Cold. Or rather, I should say very Hot.

Around 5:30 yesterday I noticed that it was getting really hot. I thought I'd been moving around too much and ignored it. About 10 minutes later I thought, "Whew, I'm roasting, maybe it's the wool sweater I'm wearing." Heh. I went and looked at the thermostat to see if I just had a fever or if it really was hot in the house. Guess what? It was not just hot, it was damn hot. The thermostat had been cranked to 86 degrees! By 11:30 it was still 77 degrees in the house.

Of course, when questioned, Eldest said in the most innocent of voices "I didn't do it." Well, if I didn't do it and his Daddy didn't do it and the Youngest can't even reach it, then by process of elimination, Eldest must have done it. Yep. Lied to me again. So, he now must endure an entire seven days without anything that runs on electricity or batteries. Full electronic restriction. And, his DS is now in my possession. It's a tough time before Christmas. I told him that yes, I would have fussed at him about the thermostat, but I wouldn't have punished him otherwise. But the lie is another story completely. Next time it'll be a month of electronic restriction. Not pretty.