Seriously?

Hi folks. Still here. If you've seen me lately, yes, I've been somewhat a frazzled mess. School started last week for Sylvain. What should have been a fun and exciting time was somewhat sober due to the death in a car accident of one of the scouts in Sylvain's troop. One of the saddest parts of this whole thing is that his parents are wonderful people and they've done everything right, but still, you can only teach your children so much. Yes, he caused the accident, and really the only thing they could have done to prevent it was to have kept him home all of the time, but what life is that for a teen? And at what point do you trust them to make judgements for themselves? This January, Sylvain will be 14 years and 9 months -- the age at which he can start Driver's Education in Michigan. Keep that in mind the next time you're stuck in traffic and think the driver in the next car over is looking a little young. Chances are, they are pretty damned young.

But, seriously, folks. I just got home from our first Guild meeting of the year and was hoping to spend some quality time on the computer, updating this blog, clearing out e-mail, and (once again) getting rid of the prostitutes that are following me on Twitter (Do I really need a spread-eagle crotch-shot? Apparently, something in my tweets led this person to follow me...), BUT my basement (where the home office is) stinks. Sorry...actually it's pretty darned rank and I think something died somewhere in here. I know that Chuck had put out some mouse traps because our first year here, we had an issue with them in the basement...but what could it possibly be now? And where? I phoned Chuck to let him know he has quite the task to take care of when he returns from his trip tomorrow; during this conversation, he thought to let me know that he found the outdoor vent to our dryer was off and asked if I had anything to do with that. Of course, I didn't, so now am wondering if something clawed that off, then climbed down the vent and died. I spent most of Saturday and Sunday doing laundry, so if something did crawl down there and died, it's pretty well cooked. Well, it's quite a possibility to ponder....

Now that I've totally grossed you out. I do have a dilemma to share. At tonight's meeting, Erin announced that part of this year's Guild program will be a knitting exchange. Each participating knitter will turn in yarn for a project that will be exchanged for someone else's project yarn. The recipient determines what the exchange item will be, knit it up, and return it during the May meeting. Immediately, I thought of some green Dream in Color yarn that I had. So, once I got home, I pulled it out (mostly to make sure it wasn't dusty), but found that my memory was false -- I was thinking that I had two or three hanks, but only have one.

I don't think there's much one can do with only 250 yards, so I turned to my stash and immediately saw two left-over balls of Interlacements yarn that were used for shawls given to Chuck's mom and sister Debbie last Christmas, as well as the remainder ball of silk used in a woven scarf from last spring (in yellow). The challenge here is that I know what the fibers are, but don't know the yardage on any of them. How well would it work out for weighing it? Does anyone know if that would be a reasonable enough estimate for someone working an exchange to go by? If so, then I'd mix one of the Interlacement balls with the silk, but which to choose?

These are questions that I'm opening up for you guys to help me decide. Please let me know when you see me in person, shoot me a message (either e-mail, FB, or Ravelry), or leave a comment....Sure, it's a month away, but I'm going to miss the meeting due to an orchestra concert. Yes, I must've missed the message from the school asking for my approval before setting the schedule. Maybe that's why the schedule is still in "partial" state....

Before I'm completely overcome with the stench, I did want to share my finished objects and make mention of Lisa's pattern and article on Knitty Spin. The Kindly Sheep mittens are the first test-knit pattern that I did for her way back in May. I don't quite know where my mittens are at this particular moment, and will need to root around in the yarn room to pull them out for photos. I'll be sure to do that soon (maybe even on Friday). The pattern also has a fun article titled "Seeking a Kindly Shetland Sheep", so be sure to check that out too....


Also, I'd like to thank Sarah for pointing out that the after-thought heels on my Vilai socks did not match, so on Labor Day, I labored by tearing out and reknitting both heels so that they do match. I'm very happy that I did that as the pair looks much better (though I couldn't tell the difference between the two heels on foot).

Lastly, in keeping with my tradition of making sweaters that don't fit me well: I blocked the Long-wrap cardigan that Nancy designed. The sweater is pretty and the yarn feels wonderful. Unfortunately for me, the yarn grew by at least 6 inches on the blocking board, and the chest does not fit around me. I don't know what I'm thinking when I start these projects, but I always seem to pick the wrong size for myself. Since the pattern is worked top down, right now I'm inclined to tear out from the bottom up and reknit from the bottom of the armhole back down with drastic increases along the front band so that it at least wraps somewhat close to the front of my chest. Nancy, if you're reading this, it's not you, it's me. I'm retarded. I can't even take a decent photo.