WIPs and a 2 hr FO

I seem to be on a bit of a straight needle kick recently. Usually I prefer circulars for everything that aren't socks (DPNs all the way for those), but my two active WIPs are both on straights. What's up with that?

Haiku, in Wiltons dyed Lion Brand Fishermans Wool, for Boo

Rivulet, in some handspun yarn that will show up in the blog on Friday

Last night apparently, I was in need of instant gratification. One skein of superwash BFL handspun, bulky weight, some size 10 circulars and DPNs, and one viewing of Pan's Labyrinth later, I had a new hat.

Technically I suppose, it's not quite a finished object, since it still needs a button, but how can you miss with a hat that takes one movie to finish?

Pattern: Robin's Egg Blue Hat by Rachel Iufer
Yarn: one skein (of two) of Superwash BFL handspun (blogged about here), less then 120 yds. The skein was 122 yds, and I've got a good bit left.
Needles: US size 10/6 mm circulars/DPNs
Comments/mods: a lovely, quick pattern that is perfect for handspun. I had a bit of a neuronal misfiring (aka brain cramp) with part of the directions, but in the end decided to trust the designer and follow the directions (sometimes I over think more then a little bit!). It turned out beautifully, and the yarn is so soft that I suspect I will wear this every day I can over the winter.

Now I need to find a good button. Think there are any button stores in London?

Boo is two

And boy is she ever.

Dear Boo,

Well sweetie, another year has flown by. And you've gone from a very cute small person wobbling around to a running, jumping, talking (!) person with enough will of her own to push around The Incredible Hulk. Although you'd probably say "Mama, he's scary" right before you marched up and kicked him in the kneecaps.

You are what my great-aunt Hazel would term "pathologically independent". A typical second born, you have no fear, marching in to any new situation with abandon and not a care in the world for anything else. Although occasionally I worry that this tendency is going to give you some problems in the future, it is an amazing thing to watch, and as different from your sister as night and day.

Which is kind of nice, given that you two look like I'm running my own human cloning lab on the side.

You love singing and dancing and looking at books. You have inherited from your wonderful father the sunniest morning personality ever, which occasionally makes me want to stick my head under the pillow at Sparrow's Fart when you engagingly call out "MAMA!" so you can be released from your prison. But the huge smile lighting up your face when I come in the room, and the way you snuggle in to my neck and hug me makes up for it all.

The changes from birth to one are truly incredible to witness. But, having now gone through it twice, I think the changes from one to two are even more astonishing. You haven't grown quite as fast (although you will eat everything not nailed down, and have vaulted past size 2T into 3T), but the incredible changes in your abilities to communicate, to interact with the world around you and to express your personality are awe-inspiring.

I love you so much Boo. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Love, MAMA! (who has to go finish your kittycat cake)

I shudder to think of the therapy bills

that will result in my future because of the pictures I am about to show you. But so be it. They are too good not to share.

Wednesday morning, I noticed when Boo woke up that her right eye looked a bit swollen. Sure enough, someone (damn February mosquitos!) had bitten her right at the corner of her eye, and her lower lid was reacting in typical Boo-fashion (welt, welt, welt!). I didn't think much of it until I picked her up at school.

This is how she looked when we picked her up on Wednesday night.

Mosquito: 1, Boo: 0

The next morning it was even worse, Benadryl not withstanding, so we made an appointment with the doctor. One ped visit (complete with every parent's favorite words: Staph infection), and one large bottle of antibiotics later, we had this:

And as of Saturday morning, her eye looked totally normal, if a bit discolored around the edges. Poor thing. Thankfully she didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that her binocular vision had disappeared overnight. Or that she looked kind of freakish. In fact she took great glee in going up to unsuspecting people, sticking a finger in her right eye and shouting "Skeeto!" It worked better while it was still visibly swollen (the cashier in the grocery store yesterday just smiled and nodded).

Thankfully, Boo had some new socks to console her in her time of travail:

Pattern/yarn: the same as Devil's pink girly socks, only using Grumperina's helical stripe technique and two shades of Kool Aid dyed Knit Picks Bare sock yarn, dyed in Fall, 2006.
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm
Gauge: 7 sts/inch
Comments: Socks for the girls are my new love. Fast, sweet, and they use up yarn amounts that are silly for almost anything else. I'm still hoping I'll finish the geeky nerdo genetics socks by the end of the month, but in case I don't I've got February's pair covered.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Mondays kind of suck. The weekend never seems quite long enough, you have to get up early again, and the whole work thing is kind of a drag. However, when you have managed to somehow finagle your still-somewhat-jet-lagged husband to get up with not one, but both kids, allowing you to sleep for 11+ hours for the first time in (probably) five years, there's not much room for complaining. Even though I will try.

It's been a crazy few weeks - IM went on a week long business trip, Mermaid came to visit, the girls' daycare moved into a new building (where Boo's new teacher lasted all of three days before becoming persona non grata - oops!), and things swung into high gear on our moving plans. The grownups in the family are going to look for a place to live in a couple of weeks. Is is silly that I am inordinately excited about 1) a business class trip to London and 2) a week with no kids? Ok, the second part of that isn't silly, but the first part? Anyway...I'm hoping to keep my finishing-up-of-long-undone-WIPs streak alive by finishing Manon before we leave. Because I'm pretty sure it's not going to be 70-something degrees in the UK.

January was a big achievement month. Here's the recap:
Knitting
Boo's Tomten
Sunset Surf scarf (from handspun)
Devil's stripey pink socks

Spinning
Buckland, 8 oz of Finn top from Hello Yarn Fiber Club, November 2008
Spun 8 oz of Crown Mountain Farm superwash merino
Finished the second 4 oz of my first Yarn School spinning

Unblogged:
Two pairs of earrings (Rav link)
I finally finished the knitting on Duck Returns. However, I think it has a new intended target, so no pix until it's totally finished (lined) and in the mail and received on the other end.
I also had to lengthen Ironman's Christmas socks a bit, so I ripped out the cuffs, knit about 2 more inches on each, and finished them off. And I still have yarn left. Love that Trekking XXL!
Spun another 4 oz of my first Longwool (Masham) from Yarn School

And just in case anyone is concerned that Boo is getting left out in the sock department (and to save you from yet another picture-less post), behold the in progress sock. And if she pulls another screaming fit before 5:00 am tomorrow like she did this morning, I will make the foot longer and give them to her big sister. So there.

I want those four hours of my life back

If you're considering faking your death on the internet, please us this video as a primer so I can get some more sleep.

I will also add a postscript: going back to the community where you "died" as a sockpuppet but using identifiable aliases/similar email to register your new blog will probably not work out too well for you. Just sayin'...

What, knitting? OK, if you insist. Boo decided (after Devil wore her new socks for 36 hrs straight before I could pry them off her feet and throw them into the machine) that she needed new socks too. So she started pulling yarn out of the cupboard and holding it on her feet. And standing on it. I broke down and started a pair for her out of some Kool-Aid dyed Knitpicks Bare, red and pink, using Grumperina's model for helical stripe socks. They will not be done for the January progress report, but I have a whack-load of spinning to share for that.

Wee teaser: My WHMU(WHSKAL) buddies might want to take note of the spinning posts for the next few months. That is all.