Too many projects

Having issues with starting to many projects, I know that I am not the only one. If you are a knitter and reading this, then I would be what my dad would say, "Singing to the choir!"

I have several on the needles at the moment, then I remember that it is so and so's birthday coming and I should whip something up real quick for that (yeah right!) Or I promised this to that person a year ago! I have a lot of IOU's out there and I am excited to get them complete and hand them off. The real issue is me, stumbling across patterns like this...

This is Elijah (Ravelry link) by Ysolda Teague. Isn't he adorable? I could not resist him! And then I get to chatting with my friends about what they are knitting, I get so wrapped up in wanting to do a mini-KAL with them on their current project. I spent hours trying to research the right yarn for the project, chatting online bouncing ideas off friends about yarn choices, because no matter how big your stash is, you never have the right yarn, right? Or is that just me?

So this is a line up of what I have in my knitting bag at the moment, they are all gifts that I am trying to complete by the end of June. Now I have to just stay off Ravelry and not open another knitting magazine and I just might stay focused!

I am sort of proud of my stitch tension on this cotton and linen number. Cotton is hard for me to maintain good tension and not row out.

This is my Elijah and he will be going to my nephew, I can reveal that cause he is 4 and does not read my blog, I am pretty sure of it!

Oh and lets not forget this one, another gift project, so no real details to be handed out. I am further along on this project than what the picture is showing. It is steadily going, I just have not taken a recent photo.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend. If you have a US Flag, please remember to fly it at half-staff to commemorate U.S. men and women who have died in military service to our country. Regardless of your feeling about the current war, we should honor those who have fallen to defend our rights during any war.

Happy 7th Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to my little guy Mugsy. The one that I refer to as Punkin, Love of my Life, Mama's Boy, Mug-a-do and the newly established nickname...King Furry Butt.

Mugsy and his favorite stuffed toy.

Mugsy laying in his favorite spot, on Sensei!

Actual knitting content Alert!!

Mom dropped me a subtle hint a couple of weeks before Mother's Day-an email link to an Etsy site that is selling hand knit fingerless gloves with a note saying, "I bet those would look fabulous in black!"

And black fingerless gloves she got!

Project details:

Pattern: Glen from Purlescence Yarns

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash (almost 1 ball)

Needles: Addi US6 (2) Circulars (the pattern was written to use two circulars)

Ravelry Link to Project

The pattern is really quick and easy, great for a quick small gift and is offered in three different sizes.

Mom lives in San Francisco and even in the summer it gets cold there. She makes jewelry and sells them in her Etsy Store so she needs use of her fingers and these are going to come in handy for her.

Hall of Fame

Over the weekend my father was inducted into the Babe Ruth Baseball Hall of Fame. No, it is not Cooperstown where the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame is, but me and my family are very proud of this event. We even all gathered for it.

Left to right, my younger brother (the youth Minister) Kelly, my nephew Cody, Me, (in front of me) Josiah and Caitlin, my mom, older brother (the cop) Todd, G'ma (my maternal grandmother), Mimi (my paternal grandmother and Todd's wife Michelle. Crystal, Kelly's wife was unable to make it.

The ceremony was held where my dad started in Babe Ruth Baseball, Selma, CA on the field the city named after him. My father started as a coach in the Selma League and over time, his dedication and involvement led him to become State Commissioner for Central California. The state is divided into three sections due to the size and participation.

After the ceremony, we all went to Sal's Mexican Restaurant. If you live in the Central Valley of California, you know about Sal's! I have many memories of that restaurant, we used to sneak off campus to go and eat there when I was in high school. That story will have to wait, I will tell it, I promise.

On to knitting content. I started a project and I have given myself a deadline of June 30, let's see if I can make it. This is a sneak peak of the project.

This is the yarn that I am using.

I am still working on several different projects, Juno Regina, some children toys, the second Endpaper Mitts, ummm, there are others, but now I am a bit embarrased of how many works in progress I have, so I will stop there. And to end this post with some sugary sweetness, someone loves their Auntie very much!!

Greatness

This past Saturday I was in the presence of greatness. My knitting friend Sheetal and I went to see our other knitting friend Juanita in Ragtime at the Montgomery Theater in San Jose, CA.

If you did not go, then you missed out on a fantastic performance by the entire cast and Juanita was particularly great as Sarah's Friend and closed out the first act with her solo of 'Til We Reach That Day.

Juanita is a great performer and I am sure that we will be seeing more of her performances. Check her blog for more of her upcoming performances and of course the all important knitting content!!

Speaking of knitting content, the only thing I have to show you is another sock in progress and that is not very exciting but here it is anyway! My FakeIsle (my term, not the sock yarn or pattern) stockinette sock.

I don't remember the name of the yarn, I got the yarn at Stitches this year at the Webs booth, it has a German name, that is all I can remember. The ball band it at home, but if someone can tell me now what it is that would be FABO! Otherwise you will have to wait until I get home to read the ball band.

Adoption

So you are probably thinking due to the title of this post that I have signed up with an adoption agency, right? Well you are partially correct. I did sign up with an adoption organization, but not for a baby, well at least not yet (still holding out hope that it will happen) I adopted a solider! Yes, a soldier. Co-worker of mine did it and I thought that it was a good idea so I did too. Regardless of what your feelings are of the war in the Middle East, the soldiers should have our support. Both my father and my brother were in the Navy and I respect a person that serves our country no matter what decisions our government makes. So I went to this established organizations site, Adopt A US Soldier and signed up to adopt a deployed US soldier. When you adopt a soldier your level of commitment is as little as writing letters or as involved as sending care packages. The organization sent me an email with the name, address and email address of my soldier and a message from him which lists items that would be helpful if I would like to send a care package. Many of the US Armed Forces do not have easy access to items that would make them more comfortable while in the Middle East. I know when my brother was in the Navy it meant a lot to get packages of stuff when he was in the Persian Gulf. My soldier is from Florida and he is chief warrant officer (not sure what that means but I am sure I am going to find out.) Adopting a solider has given me a great feeling to know that I will make someones day a little better when they are giving so much of their life.

I thought that I would share a couple of photos of my father and brother.

Above is my father's Naval Academy Officer Flight School yearbook photo. I was trying to locate his formal officers photo but couldn't put my hands on it in time for this blog post, I will share later. My dad was stationed in Pensacola, FL in the mid 1960's

This is my brothers official Navy photo sitting on top of my fathers Navy yearbook. He was in the Navy during the late 1980's and was stationed in San Diego, CA. This is the brother who's business card usually gets me out of getting any tickets!

Since this is a knitting blog mainly, I am so close to finishing Richard's golf socks (Ravelry link) and I am just starting chart 4 on the Juno Regina (Ravelry link.) Whooo hooo, I am knitting lace!!

Breaking Blog Silence

I am breaking format that I attempted at the beginning of the year, writing letters to my great grandmother as my blog posts. Since my last blog posting was a while ago, I felt that I would just do an update of what has been happening.

First off, I am fine. Back in early March, the 11th actually, I found out that I was pregnant, the most blessed news that Sensei and I could have gotten. We have been trying for about 2 years and it was looking like we were going to require major medical help to have our family, so we were super excited when it happened naturally. However, only after a short 5 weeks of pregnancy, we lost the pregnancy. There are many details that have happened to lead up to the loss but the direct answer to what happened is I had an ectopic pregnancy. The ectopic was and is being treated with a chemotherapy called Methotrexate instead of surgery. So we are just awaiting more test and we will be trying again. There is nothing special about our situation, this happens to many people, but it just plain sucks. I have been quiet on the blog because I just didn't have anything good to say for a while. Well until now. I just want to let you know how much I love my knitting friends. They wanted to let me know that they were thinking of me when I was going through my loss, see what they sent...

And just when I thought the love couldn't get any better, in the mail yesterday I got this,




Yes, I took this picture at work. But look, I even got Hiya Hiya needles for each hank! The knitters really know me well to get me Hiya Hiya's cause my hands eat the nickel platting on the other needles.

So now I have to find just the right sock patterns for these, any suggestions? I am getting hungry for some cereal!!

Knitting projects, I started some "golf socks" for Sensei. We have been through a lot and I wanted to make him some socks. So I picked up some Panda Cotton in black and made some ankle socks for him to wear golfing. Knitting is my therapy, golf is his. And you know it is love when you knit black socks, the only up side about the whole project is that they are only ankle socks.

I am done the first one and I am on the gusset decreases on the second one. Ravelry details here.

I have more projects but I think I will save them for later so that I have more to post about. Looking forward to gettng back to blogging and knitting.