What a Life!

A couple years ago, during the olympics, the Yarn Harlot got this thing going where you chose a really big project – one that really intimidated you and pushed your limits as a knitter. You started it at the beginning of the olympics and had to finish it by the end. So the knitters had their own olympics. Or something like that.

Now this year we’re having the olympics again. The 2008 Summer Olympics. I don’t know if there will be knitting olympics again or not. But there’s training going on right now for the olympics. And if I were to do a knitting project for the knitter’s olympics, this might just be something like what I would do.

Yes, my yarn arrived yesterday. I swatched yesterday afternoon. I had to figure out what size needles to use to get the suggested gauge for the design I’m making.

Then I had to go through the seemingly inevitable stage of questioning and self-doubt. Seriously.

Would I like this sweater? I love the yarn. The color. How it feels in my hands as I knit it. It couldn’t be more perfect. Is this the sweater I should be making with it? Maybe a cardigan would be more practical. If I got warm, I could open it up in front but still keep it on. A pullover is either on or off, you know. And should I do shaping? I like things with shaping better, but this sweater is supposed to be comfortable. It’s supposed to be the piece of clothing that makes me relax when I put it on. If I add too much shaping, I won’t be able to pull it up if I need to nurse. Yes, I’m perpetually on call as a mother. Does that mean I am never able to just let my hair down and relax? How much shaping could I do if I did shaping? If I did a cardigan, how would I knit it? I love the stitch pattern I’m using – how could I use that in a pattern?

And on and on and on. What sweater did I order the yarn to make, by the way? Notre Dame de Grace. Seriously. I fretted and fumed over it all afternoon. I wound the yarn, then I swatched, and then I became addicted to Ravelry – doing research, of course. All afternoon.

In the end, I am doing Notre Dame de Grace. As written.

[At least, at the moment. I may shorten the sleeves a little. To my liking. That’s one thing a lot of people on Ravelry complained about, and I know better anyway. You have to know your own measurements and make the sweater to fit you, not just follow some pattern arbitrarly.]

But you know what I think it really boils down to?

Someone came up with this thing somewhere that your challenge for 2008 is to knit 12 things. You decide what they are. They could be twelve things in your stash that you either knit up or get rid of. They may be twelve socks. Whatever. You decide. I decided to join in, and I am finishing twelve things for myself this year.

Yes, let me say that again. My goal is to finish twelve things for myself this year. I say “finish” because it’s okay if they were already in progress at the beginning of the year. It’s finishing them that matters.

Because I’m always knitting for other people and I never make anything for myself (except socks, which I cannot seem to let go of even though my dear mother would love to own a pair of handknit socks). The few things I do make for myself are such treasures that I cannot bring myself to wear them at home. I can only wear them when I leave the house because they are part of the “nice” portion of my wardrobe and must be saved for when I’m out and about.

Yes, I’m the idiot who sits on the couch in the evening and shivers even though I have sweaters that might keep me warm if I put them on but alas! I cannot because they are too “nice” to wear at home and I wouldn’t be able to let my hair down and relax if I put them on even if I’m freezing cold and they would make me warm. Yup, that’s me.

The thing is, when one has a limited wardrobe, one cannot wear the nice things in that wardrobe with reckless abandon. They might get worn out. And not just that. When you only have a few handknit sweaters, each sweater has to be “the ultimate sweater.” If I had more sweaters, then I could choose the one that was most appropriate for the moment and enjoy it for what it is. I wouldn’t have to worry about wearing it out because I would have ample selection and none would get worn so often as to wear out prematurely (though there is certainly nothing wrong with loving a single sweater that much). I could enjoy each of them in their glory with reckless abandon. Yes, reckless abandon.

So I decided that this may not be the ultimate sweater. ‘Tis true that a cardigan might be more practical. More flattering. More…whatever. But there are times when I will very much enjoy wearing a simple pullover with no shaping. When I can just let my hair down and relax and be warm. This sweater is not going to be the ultimate sweater, but it is one I will enjoy having as a part of my wardrobe.

Now may the Olympic Trials commence. I cast on last night after the boys went to bed, and I worked about four inches of the back. I don’t know how far I’ll get today. Or tomorrow. But I am going to be doing a lot of knitting this weekend.

The first sweater I knit – Galway Guy for Steve – took me a month for the front, a month for the back, and two months to do the sleeves, block it and assemble it. Salt Peanuts took about three weeks. Totally surprised me.

I’m thinkin’ this one could be done by Valentines Day. Or sooner. And then I would be warm. Because God knows, by the time I get it finished, the cold weather will be over and I won’t get to enjoy it until next January.

Seriously. It’s the perfect project for the Olympic Trials.

Last night I talked with my parents. They went on and on about the glories of their electric blanket. But I still don’t have one. They did make a useful suggestion though – wear a hat to bed. You know, a nightcap. One that covers my forehead and ears.

So I did. And I got warm much quicker, thank you very much. The first time Joey got up, it wasn’t so bad. After that, no more hat. I stayed warm just fine.

The wool I made that hat out of is rather itchy, though. The yarn was Shetland Soft. It may be soft for Shetland wool, but it ain’t soft as the other wool I’ve knit with. People say Peace Fleece isn’t made to be up against the skin. I think even Peace Fleece would feel much nicer on my forehead than that Shetland Soft stuff.

I have some Malabrigo hiding in my stash. Purchased just for me. To make slippers. Keep my feet warm. So pretty… Last year, I wore holes in my slippers I wore them so much [so I threw them away – they were made with ugly brown yarn anyway]. Somehow I’m questioning whether the yarn deserves a similar fate. Now I’m thinking a hat like Grumperina’s, just for wearing to bed. It would be so soft and warm. I’m swooning… But then, what to do with the other hank? [I know – issues.]

I’m thinking this is what I could do to hang those pictures of the boys on “the wall” in the basement. I have some really cool wooden clothespins. All I need is proper wire to attach the clothespins to and proper hooks to attach the wire to. Hmm….

How many ways have I heard people say my name?
Well, when people see my name spelled, they typically say it like the “tana” in Montana.

When they hear it said, they inevitably add a y to it and call me Tonya.

The most creative pronunciation was my high school biology teacher who said the first a long (like in tame), but otherwise like Montana. [I always got A’s on tests in his class, and when he passed out the tests after they were graded, he would say the names of people who got A’s as he handed them their tests. So I had two reasons for wanting to crawl under my desk.]

When I go to Starbucks, though, and they want to know what name to write on my cup, I just mumble and let them think my name is Donna. Works like a charm!

Yesterday it was 58 degrees. And yes, we went for a walk. I wore my 3/4 length pants and a long sleeve knit top. The wind was from the south, and on the way back (when we were going north), I got a bit warm.

Today our high will be 16. Gah!

I ordered yarn from WEBS to make myself a sweater. Something that would be warm but not too nice to wear at home (yes, I have issues). Cascade Eco+. They emailed me this weekend, saying that they only had four skeins in one dyelot – did I want to wait two or three weeks for them to get more in? I told them to send what they have – I’m cold, and the yarn is for more than one project anyway.

I’m going to make a Celtic Tote to carry my music in when I play for church, and Brooklyntweed’s Hemlock Ring Blanket to keep my lap warm while I’m wearing my sweater. Seriously. The tote should take one skein. The blanket should take one and a half, and the sweater should take two and a half. [Details all over on Ravelry, if you’re a member. If you’re not, you probably don’t care anyway.]

It’s strange, though. When I’m cold, it’s always in the evening. It’s like, the boys go to bed, and then I’m cold. I’m wearing the same clothes I wore all day. And I wasn’t cold all day. But the boys go to bed, I sit down on the couch to work (which I do during the day, too), and I’m cold. [Because the sun isn’t shining in, keeping the living room warm, perhaps?]

Then, at night, I’m freezing. I put all these extra blankets on the bed. Steve even suggested getting an electric blanket just to warm up the bed before I get in it (though I never liked sleeping under blankets with wires in them). When Joey gets up before 2 a.m., I’m freezing cold. I sit there and shiver while I feed him. And sometimes I put him back in bed before he thinks he’s done eating because I just can’t stand it anymore. Which he doesn’t like.

When he wakes up after 2 a.m., though, I’m fine. Same clothes, same house, thermostat on the same setting. It’s like I have to be in bed under all those blankets and next to my warm log [aka Steve – he loves being called that] for a certain amount of time before my core body temperature gets back up, and then I’m fine. I can get up in the morning, sit on the couch and work, wearing the same clothes I wore the evening before, and I’m not cold at all.

What is with that?

Right now the wind is howling. It was howling when I was up with Joey at 4 a.m. My legs are a little chilly, but otherwise I’m fine. That Hemlock Ring Blanket would feel good right now. But it’s somewhere between Massachusetts and Illinois (I’ve ordered from WEBS enough to know the route my yarn takes via UPS), and when it does arrive, assembly will be required.

I am so tired of being cold.

Flipping through iPhoto this morning, I came across this fun series of Ben playing his new ‘tar at Christmas. [Click here to see the set with all ten photos.]

It’s funny…he used to call his cement truck the ‘ment truck, but just this past week, when we got that toy back out again, he has started calling it his cement truck. So I suppose sometime soon, the ‘tar will also become a guitar. In the mean time, it’s fun to hear him talk like that.