What a Life!

This picture coming to you from the floor of my bedroom. I wanted to photograph it on the picnic table, but it is cold and windy outside today, which doesn’t lend itself well to such pictures.

Yes, Ben’s sweater is finished except for blocking (the knitting equivalent of ironing) and seaming. And yes, today is merely the 14th of September, and I have the larger of the two sweaters [for the boys] almost finished.

My goal was to have the knitting on Ben’s finished by the 15th, even though it is larger. Once I got his to this point, I could start Joey’s and still have time to finish both. I made it with one day to spare. Later this afternoon I will cast on Joey’s sweater.

Thankfully I can say I have not yet hit stitch pattern fatigue with this sweater. The gansey design – with the top being in a different stitch pattern than the body – certainly helps. Just about when I start to get tired of the bottom stitch pattern, it’s time to switch to the top. With Joey’s sweater, that switch will come even sooner. And the yarn color is different – that will help too.

Next year [I am thinking as I knit] I am going to start Steve’s sweater in January. [Steve is not getting a sweater this year.] My goal will be to finish his by the end of June and then cast on for the boys at the beginning of July.

I think the sweater I am going to make is going to be loosely based on this sweater. That entire post is worth reading, as she talks about the different sweater’s she’s made for her man over the years. I have the romantic notion that I am going to do the same for my men. I’ve only made one sweater for Steve. The second was so boring, I quit in the middle. I think if I start earlier [January] and just have it as a side project I plod away on when I need a break from interesting things [yes, that does happen], I can do it. [Other versions of that same sweater (or the one it is loosely based on) that I like can be seen here and here.]

As for yarn, I’m thinking Pampas Heather Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks. For Steve. I will order a ball first to make sure I like it as much in real life as I do in the pictures. Then for the boys, Camel Heather and Mink Heather…or Thyme [same yarn].

At least that’s what I’m thinking. Right now I have a sweater for Joey to knit.

Excuse me while I go back to my knitting…

The best seat in the ballpark is right behind home plate.

Did you know – it has been 7 years since a terrorist attack on American soil?

Today as we remember those who died on 9/11, we need to also remember those who have worked so hard to keep us safe. Our military. Security at home – from airport security to the officers patrolling our streets. And our president, whose policies, while not always popular, have kept us safe.

We live in a country where the #1 election issue is the economy, not fear of another terrorist attack. That says something.

Let us honor those who died by being grateful for what we have. Let us honor their memory by not taking for granted the peace of mind we enjoy. Let us stand up and be proud of our country and those who have given so much to defend it.

May God bless America!

As always, view more Wordless Wednesday here.

Joey has a new booster seat so he can join us at the table. Do you think he likes it?

Ben has a new seat too.

I convinced him to sit on it today. For a brief moment. It is made by Baby Bjorn, just like the little potty he is accustomed to using. Same size. Same shape. Just a different place. With the stool, it’s the perfect size for him.

But do you think he would use it?

He spent a moment sitting on it. A very short moment. A moment filled with fear and trepidation.

And then he went back to using his little potty.

Of course.

Joey’s starting to take an interest in story time. In typical Joey fashion, however, he brings – and reads – his own story.

Visit here to see the entire photo story.* Captions under the photos narrate the story, so be sure to view them in order. For the Flickr-challenged [you know who you are], click on the first thumbnail at the top of the series (not the large photo on the left), and then click on the thumbnail on the right of each page to flip through the photos. Note that the photos are arranged in the set from oldest to newest (rather than newest to oldest as they appear in the main photostream), so when there are two thumbnails on the right, click on the thumbnail on the right to view the next photo in the set.

*For the photographers among us, this photo story also includes a lesson on why shutter-priority is better than aperture priority when taking low-light pictures without flash. My general method is to put my camera in shutter-priority and then adjust the ISO so that the aperture is as wide-open as possible without affecting the quality of the picture. In the first few pictures, however, the camera was in aperture-priority mode and I needed to bump up my ISO. In that mode, the pictures have motion blur because the shutter speed was too low. When I’m in shutter-priority mode, I know I won’t take pictures that have motion blur, even if I have the ISO too high. The aperture will blink at me and let me know if I need to bump up the ISO in order to get a adequately exposed picture, and if I have the ISO too high, the aperture will simply close down and I’ll still have a picture that’s in focus. So please ignore the quality of the photos and enjoy the contents.