The Knitting Siren

As if I'm not busy enough...

I am expecting baby #4 now!  Before you ask, no we are not building our own football team, we're taking over the world one baby at a time.   I saw the movie "Idiocracy" a few years ago and it convinced me that all the smart people in the world need to start procreating.  At least that's how I convinced my hubbie we needed more Hoffman's in the world.

People ask me how I manage with 3 kids and my own business.  Manage?  I'm probably one of the most disorganized people alive.  Now with #4 coming, I'm definitely going to have to get better control of my life to avoid a trip to the insane asylum (which wouldn't be all that bad, there is a good one in my home town of St. Peter, MN, LOL!) 

Change #1:  I need to seriously limit my computer time.  Ravelry, Facebook, Diaperswappers and Gmail are all a big black hole.  A friend tried to get me started on Stumbleupon, bad, very very bad.

Change #2:  Office hours.  Sometimes I feel like I work 7 days a week 14 hours a day (24 hours a day on Mommy duty).

Change #3:  I need a schedule.  Autistic children and ADHD kids seem to function much better on a schedule.  I think I would too.  Now to make it...

Change #4:  Establish a routine.  I did Flylady for a while and it worked quite well.  Getting myself onto a routine is the hardest part, but once it's ingrained, it's second nature.

Other suggestions are welcome!

Hard at work,

or hardly working.

Another, "I love my job" picture.

Good news as well!  We're finally at the testing phase for the Sideways Britches pattern, yippee!!!  I have my #1 tester going over it now.  Once she gives me the go ahead, I'll release it to my other testers.  Usually once we hit testing phase, it's just a few weeks before the official release.  I'm excited.

And, now that Sideways is nearing the finish line, the baby bag is back on the front burner.  I need to get a few done before November as we are expecting #4.  Surprise!!!

Update to my machine knitting rant :-)

I know my first post about machine knitting came off pretty negative.  I think it's partly because it was so long and some may have missed the positive sections.  I just don't want people to think, "hand-knitting looks to hard to learn, I'll get a machine," only to find the machine is just as hard to learn.  Maybe I shouldn't say hard, but both take practice.

Anyway, that being said, I'm getting a new machine!!!!!  Well, my lovely 8 yo was zipping through the house one day and knocked my USM off the table breaking it beyond repair.  I can't say I was all that sad, it just gave me an excuse to get the machine I should have gotten in the first place.  A Silver Reed SK-160  I am very excited about this machine.  It's even nicer than my lovely fine-gauge machine that spoiled me.  If you've never touched a nice knitting machine and got an Ultimate Sweater Machine as your first, you'd probably be fine.  But going from my Brother to a USM was like driving a BMW and then hopping in a Yugo.  The Yugo will get you where you need to go (maybe), but the BMW will do so in style and for many more years.

BTW, yes, we had a Yugo when I was little.  I had fond memories of that car (though my parents didn't).

Ewe Need Color

If you read my blog regularly, you'll know I'm in love with Doodlebirds.com yarn.  Well, I got another indie dyer to add to my list of favorites.  Erica from Ewe Need Color (isn't that a great name for a yarnie?!) signed up for one of my custom slots and sent me this super yummy yarn.  Awesome colors on the softest Rambouillet heavy worsted, almost bulky yarn.  I just love the texture of this yarn.

Anyway, here is what I made with it:

On another note, our vacation has been postponed :-(  Kiddo #3 has been sick for a good 2 weeks now and while he is getting better, he's still not his normal self.  We're thinking it'd be best if we let him get healthy before heading out on a big adventure.  I'm sad to be missing out on all the knitting time, but since I'm home, I'll get to keep working on the Sideways Britches pattern (so close...).

And speaking of the Sideways Britches pattern, any name suggestions?  This pattern is just to cool for a boring name like "Sideways Britches."  Hmm, I hear a contest in the works...  More later :-)

What's next...

I have a thing for ribbing that doesn't go in straight lines.  Who wants plain ribbing when you can make it do this:

This upcoming pattern is very very close to completion.  I'm taking a road trip to California, so with 8 days of driving (we're taking our time) I should get a lot done :-)

Why I love my job...

I think this picture says it all.

Poor little guy is sick.  All he wants to do is sit next to me so I'm getting a lot of knitting done.