Sugar Bunny Boulevard

The Week in Pictures

Hi everybody!  How are you?  I've been away from the blog.  And away from blog reading.  It seems like forever but has been about two weeks.  I'm still waiting for some pictures from the ladies that went with me to Greensburg - yes, Ladies.  They were still up for going even though it was an evening event and we didn't get home until 11pm on Daylight Savings Time weekend!  Benny and Suzannah also went along and we took 50 afghans plus all the washcloths/dishcloths, hats, scarfs, mittens, baby blankets and sweaters, hand knit socks, etc etc etc.  Everything was well received with greatful hearts.  It was a good time and I'll tell more soon - though there isn't much more to tell.  We'll be visiting again in the fall with about 50 more afghans!

I'm getting ready to go visit my friend Kyra in Kansas City this weekend and meet the sheep who is happily giving up her fleece (link to YouTube video) for me to call my very own, so to keep this quick I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves.

Last weekend:

During the week (all in my etsy shop):

This coming weekend:

Everybody have a beautiful springy warmish weekend and take good care of every little thing!  XOXOXOXOX

Afghan Delivery in Five Days!

Here we go!  The time is upon us - the time for Afghan Delivery!  Yay!

DATE:  Saturday, March 8, 2008
TIME:  5:30pm
LOCATION:  First Baptist Church of Greensburg
MAP:  If you are planning to attend please email me for info/directions
OTHER DETAILS:  The afghans will be delivered and presented at the beginning of a community event being held the evening of March 8th from 6-8pm.  They're hosting the Toney Brothers Quartet at First Baptist that evening.  I'll be setting up during the 5:00 hour and doing a brief presentation prior to the concert.  I'm not finished counting but I believe we have close to 50 afghans to take with us to Greensburg!

At this point, Jeff and I are probably the only ones going, though it's possible one or two others from church might come along.  If you have family in the area who you aren't certain will be at this event and you would like them to receive an afghan please contact me - we can plan to be in town early enough to deliver afghans to those families.

I've arrived at a final decision about care labels.  I'm using a sew-in fabric label that I will print the label information onto.  It's special fabric for quilts that people print photos and everything onto - washable, permanent, etc.  Here's what the label text looks like.  What do you think?  Suggestions?  I'm probably printing these tonight or tomorrow and look forward to seeing how it looks printed on the fabric! (ETA:  I'm checking the date - I think it was actually May 4)

What else is going on around the Bunny Hutch?  Lots of yarn dyeing and I just got another shipment today of my Benjamin base yarn!  Yay!  I've been having fun creating ads for Ravelry too...

The babies have been wreaking havoc all over the house while I'm dyeing yarn and making Ravelry ads.  (sigh)  Here are a few pictures of them not destroying anything or flushing soap down the toilet or any of a number of other crazy things they've done in the past few weeks.

I've continued with with my EPS Immersion.  EPS2 has been knit and finished.  It's a teeny tiny little raglan cardigan made from just one skein of Cascade 220 - big enough to fit about... oh... I don't really know.  I don't have a little baby around to try it on but I think it'll fit up to a 12mo baby.  It's too small for Lila Pearl.  The simple but pretty buttons are vintage shell buttons that I bought at Twist.  That little butterfly of yarn is all that was left over from the skein.  This was my first steeking experience.  Won't be my last.  Won't do it the same way ever again - I had a major steeking panic after cutting when I realized that whatever I did Was Not Enough!  Cut ends floating around = panic! panic! panic!  heh  My biggest mistake was thinking I didn't need to sew the steek as agressively as EZ recommends.  Silly me.  Repeat:  Won't do it the same way ever again.  This is such an awesome growing and learning experience as a knitter.

EPS3 has begun and is a striped sweater with round yoke decreases, also child sized, with no color repeats in the striping sequence.  I've finished the body and one sleeve.  This is a slow one because I'm changing colors "X" number of rows, and increasing every 5 rows on the sleeves.  There's been a lot of tinking on this one sleeve that I just finished last night.  I need some good time with it so I can get the crazy thing finished - I don't want to do another quite like this again!  EPS4 will be a gray cardi with some kind of color work around the bottom with saddle shoulders, also child sized.  Most of these small sweaters will be on display at Twist soon to promote the EPS Workshop that I'm leading/teaching beginning March 22nd.

Time to get going - I've got a lot afghans to sew labels on to! 

Take good care of every little thing and I'll see you again this week with some afghan pictures and another shop update!  XOXOXOX

A Gathering of Ducks

Surely you have realized by now that when my blog is quiet I am busy.  I've tried keeping the blog out of my mind for at least a week because if I tried adding it to the juggling act I'm trying to put on I'm sure everything would crash.  ha  Blogging sounds and seems so simple but it takes a lot of thought and planning!

So I've been trying to get my ducks in a row and you know how that works.  They don't want to fall into line easily.  And I'm often distracted by things like.....

and

Thank you everyone for your concern about the fate of Lila Pearl and the sweater.  I think I replied to most of the commenters and will assure all lurkers:  No Childen Were Injured During The Repair Of This Sweater.  Jeff did read about "the incident" on the blog and called home right away inquiring about Lila Peal's well being.  She really never knew anything was going on.  A quick "LILA PEARL!!" and she immediately surrendered the scissors.  After I started breathing again I inspected the damage to find only one cut of one stitch so it was a classic text book kind of repair - thank Heaven.  It delayed completion of the sweater by maybe 20 minutes and the whole thing was fixed and finished that night.  More details and photos on my Project page in Ravelry.

The biggest thing I've been working on since completing this sweater has been setting up a web site and shopping cart for Sugar Bunny Boulevard!  The blog address will not change, and there is a link to the new shop in the sidebar so if you've been a regular reader here at the blog you probably won't notice anything different except that I will hopefully be mentioning shop updates more often!  For new people who are looking for yarn, they'll be directed either to my web site home page (www.sugarbunnyblvd.com) or directly to the yarn shop at http://shop.sugarbunnyblvd.com.  I've begun advertising in specialty forums on Ravelry and will eventually get in line with Google searching so at the moment I'm hoping to focus on spinning and dyeing for the shop.  Whew.  Picking a shopping cart was Not Easy.  What I'm using was my third stab at choosing a shopping cart and it's STILL not exactly what I wanted.  I think Zen Cart would have been an excellent choice but all the CSS necessary to customize it the way I wanted was liquifying my brain.  I ended up using the shopping cart option available through GoDaddy.

I know there are probably people out there thinking I've abandoned the afghan project.  But no - we have not!  We are planning a trip to Greensburg on Saturday, March 8, and from what I've been told, they NEED THESE AFGHANS!!!  Apparently there are a LOT of FEMA trailer homes in "FEMA Villiage" as they call it, and they are not well insulated.  It's cold out there!  So I'm updating my admin info and getting everything together for the book I intend to include with each afghan.  The final step is to decide how to make a care label.

If anyone out there still has an afghan for seaming that needs to come back to me, please try to get it finished up and sent out ASAP.  I haven't cross-checked my list yet with what has come back but I know there are still a few out there.

Whew!  Okay.... is there anything else??  OH!  YES!  My WLC'08 is going GREAT!  I've lost 2.5 more pounds making a total weight loss of 12.5 lbs in 5-6 wks - I don't know exactly how long it's been.  I haven't been going to the Y for the past week because I've been working on getting the store/shopping cart thing set up but hopefully most of that is on autopilot now and I can start going to bed a little earlier now.

Everybody take good care of every little thing!  More this week with a belated "B" post!  XOXOXOXOX

Something Completely Different

Let's start with something sweet.  :)

This is Emeline and Lila Pearl yesterday morning trying to pose with the Morning Glories before we left to deliver some afghan packets to a few ladies here in town.

Is anybody tired of me posting about nothing but afghans for the past five months??  Sorry but it's not over yet.  And even though this post isn't officially about the afghan project I wanted to add something to what I wrote about yesterday.

It might sound like I'm a little worn down by this project after working on it for five months but I'm thankful every day that I can do it.  Thankful every day that I didn't lose my home, my posessions, my family members or neighbors to the tornado that did so much destruction in the town of Greensburg, Kansas.  Thankful and blessed every day that I can work on this project in the comfort of my home with the hustle and bustle of a healthy happy family around me.  And reminded every day that the people and families of Greensburg still have a long road of rebuilding and recovery ahead of them - materially and emotionally.  I'm thankful for every single person who has helped with this project and thankful for your continued interest and support.  That includes my husband and children who did NOT sign up for any of this and were at the mercy of my whim to start this whole project not knowing what it would grow into.  Thanks everybody.  :)

NOW on to Something Completely Different!! 

We've got new yarn for sale and it's not just a new skein of yarn.... we've got two entirely new lines of yarn that I'll be offering depending on your interest.  It's nice to be the master dyer at Sugar Bunny Boulevard because I can make up the rules and change them as I go along!  heh 

The first new yarn we're offering at the Hutch is called Peachy Cotton.  You don't have to ponder long to conclude that the base yarn is Peaches and Cream cotton.  I wanted to make the One Piece Baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting and wasn't very excited about the color options I found.  The next step was obvious:  dye my own.  And I now have more than I needed!!  Soooooo.... you get to try it out!

The first colorway is called AUTUMN and you can find a description along with prices in the Bunny Tales shop (also linked in my sidebar below all of the afghan info).  I'm offering three skeins which is more than enough to make the Baby Kimono from MDK.  You could probably get a matching pair of booties out of that much yarn!  Awwwww.  :)

Peachy Cotton AUTUMN Swatch

The next new yarn is something I'm really excited about.  It's a 100% Merino Superwash Wool sock yarn that I'm calling Benjamin.  My blog is named Sugar Bunny Boulevard because I always called my babies Sugar Bunny.  With Benjamin being my first baby it only seemed appropriate that my first named line of yarn would be called Benjamin.  I'm thrilled to be finally upgrading my base yarns and this is the first one I'm happy to call "my own" with a name.  Ravelry is creating a lot of interest in indie dyers and I'm looking forward to having more time to dye this fall.  Check out the details of the Benjamin sock yarn in my Bunny Tales shop.  I think you'll love this yarn and I look forward to listing more in the shop in the next week or so!

Benjamin sock yarn in CRANBERRY

Gotta run - I've got some special knitting to do, pictures to take, and squares to sort!  OH!  And maybe some babies to take care of.  heh  Have a great day and take good care of every little thing! XOXOXOX

Families

I'm getting caught up y'all!  It's feeling better and better all the time around here.  Boxes going out... dining room getting roomier.

Five months.  I've been doing this afghan project for FIVE MONTHS.  I couldn't believe it when I was updating the original post and saw it was dated May 8, 2007.  And realized it's been five months.  And it seems like it's not even close to being over.  But I think we're more than half way for sure.  :)

Not much to report except that I've updated the "Where are the squares now?" list and a few more available packets have been listed.  Packet #54 is Autumn colors and wow.  Y'all, I wish every person could see the packets.  The Autumn colored packets were popular at the seaming party but honestly, as I have been sorting the past few days.... they're all awesome.

So the title of this post is about FAMILIES.  Color families to be exact.  I have sorted squares into color families.  Every time I count 56 squares for a "Neutral" color packet I think WOW.  Not even the "Neutral" packets are boring.  They're gorgeous! 

Blues and Greens:  colors are obvious - blue and green.  But it's amazing how many variations there are.  And overall the tones blend to feel more like aqua and teal and turquoise.  Jewel toned water colors.  I love this one.

Reds:  Oh man.  The reds are amazing.  And varied.  Bright, subtle, marroon, brick, rust, striped, patriotic, sparkly, tweedy.  Everything you can imagine in the "Red" family.  I love the Reds.

Darks:  Nice. Masculine.  Rich.  Navy, black, dark mahogany, dark variegated colors, a few light stripes here and there.  Classy.  I love the Darks.

Pinks and Purples:  The name is a little deceptive because there's nothing very "pink" about this one.  The colors are more like rose, raspberry, fuschia, grape, lilac, orchid, and all kinds of variegated and striped squares add lots of visual interest to this category.  The tones blend to feel more like amethyst and rose jewel tones.  Love love this category.

Light:  Sweet.  Pale.  Clean.  Pastel.  Baby colors.  White, cream, pale pink and blue, mint, and light colored variegated and tweedy colors have a very cuddly overall look to the mix.  I've got too many girls in the house not to like this color family.

Neutral:  My first thought is "boring" until you start seeing the great variety in these squares.  Tan, pewter, oatmeal, sage, brown - variegated yarn and stripes add rose and other colors.  The interesting mix in this color family makes me think of granite or marble countertops!  A very classy subdued range of colors.

Autumn:  When we first started sorting the 8" squares for the seaming party we didn't know what to do with some colors.  They were too bright for the "light".  Too loud for the "neutral".  Orange?  Where do you classify Orange.... and I mean like Deer Hunting Cap Orange... Hazard Orange... Road Construction Orange.  BLIND YOU if you stare at it for too long Orange!!  heheh  How did people knit and crochet with this yarn without sunglasses?  There are a few yellow squares that bright too.  You will be amazed at how GORGEOUS it goes with rust.  Gold. Olive. Mustard.  Peach.  GreenRedWhiteBlueYellow variegated.  "Camoflage" variegated.  "Autumn" was one of the favorite color families at the afghan seaming party and wow - I'm still overwhelmed by the awesome colors and blends as I continue sorting.  Maybe it's the season?  Maybe they're just colors I love (when they're put all together!)?  All I know is that this makes for a gorgeous afghan.  :)

Packet #54 is an Autumn colored packet and it has a special square.  This is what it looks like.  Who will request it?  Hmmmm.....

Time to go - I'm teaching a class at Michaels tonight.  Only a few more weeks of working at Michaels.  My time is feeling more "my own" and I've been enjoying a lot of knitting and dyeing lately.  I've got some new yarn that I'll be listing soon but I haven't decided if it'll go in the "Bunny Tales" shop in my sidebar, etsy shop, or just listed on the blog.  I'll start on the blog - we'll see where it goes from there.

Everybody take care and have a great rest of your week!  Hope the weather is feeling nice and cool where ever you are!  XOXOXOX

"Special Needs" Packet

Hi everybody!

I'm busily sorting squares to send out packets and trying to keep the list updated about available packets.  My hand written list is up to #50 so far!  WOOHOO!!!  Keep sending those requests.  If you want a packet there are still plenty to send out.

I have just finished sorting the 7.5" squares and have a decent size stack of mitred squares that were sent by knitters who obviously thought "let's rock this project with something different!"  I'm really loving the mitred squares and set them aside as I came to them in the 7.5" sorting process (didn't do so with the 8").  I have a stack of 29 mitred squares and thought they would work well in an afghan containing 36 squares (set 6x6).  That would be a total of nine sets of mitres (3x3).  If you have no clue what I'm talking about you can see an example here.  Pattern is available in various places including the Mason Dixon knitting book.

So is there anyone out there who is interested in taking on the 29 mitred squares and making 7 more for a 36 squares blanket?  I'm just thinking this would be really awesome for a child or lap blanket.  The 7 additional squares can be any color but just need to be 7.5" square.  I can even send you some nice Cascade 220* in gorgeous colors to make the 7 extra mitres!!  :)

Leave a comment or send an email if you would like to take this packet.  It'll be #51 when I update the chart. 

* Compliments of a very generous Canadian who sent a beautiful box full of seaming yarn!

Where were we?

There are times when a person is so busy
and they have so many things to do
that they can't get it all in order.
There sometimes seems to be no proper order to it all.

That's where I've been. 

And it's at those times when I get the very least accomplished.

But I've snapped out of it for the time being and have started getting a handle on all of it and am trying to put an end to some of the things that make me feel like I'm spinning my wheels.  Like teaching classes at Michaels.  I put in a lot of personal time preparing for my classes (planning, knitting, pattern writing, driving, finding someone to keep the babies, etc etc etc) and I often have just one student every few weeks.  My last paycheck from Michaels was $16.  Yep.  It hardly pays for my gas to drive there and back and definitely doesn't cover stopping at McDonald's or Taco Bell on the way.  It's just not the "something to get myself out of the house" that I was looking for.  So anyway, I'm trying to cull out the things that are the least satisfying/rewarding/fruitful in the list of stuff I do.

The organizing of my life helps make room for the important things like moving forward with our Greensburg afghan project.  October is going to slip away before we know it and I haven't made the list of packets available to y'all yet!  So here we go.  I have more stuff to tell about but first and foremost, let's get these squares into the hands of people who can seam them together into afghans.  The list is on a seperate page here and is organized as a table showing the packet number, a brief description, and if it's available for adoption!  I have a ton of squares to sort and so far it just hasn't worked out to have a sorting day where we get them all finished at once.  That means they're going to be made available as I get them sorted.  Today I've added a few to the list.  When they're claimed I will mark that on the table/chart.  If you want to request a packet to sew there are a few things to know:

1.  When requesting an afghan packet please tell what packet number you would like to adopt from this list.  Look for the ones that say AVAILABLE.  You can do this by leaving a comment on this post, leaving a comment on the table/chart page, or by sending me a private email at sugarbunnyblvd@aol.com.  IMPORTANT:  If the packet you would like has already been requested, do you want to be placed on a waiting list?  I will respond to every request.

2.  You will need to pay the postage for the package via PayPal before I can ship it.  To estimate how much the postage will be please consult the USPS Domestic Postage calculation page.  My zip code is 67042.  You'll need to enter your zip code and the weight is 6lbs (small package size).  All packages will be sent PRIORITY MAIL.  This is because 12x12x8 Priority Mail boxes are the best size I could find for the packets and the boxes are FREE.  If we had to buy boxes just for cheaper postage it would end up costing the same anyway.  The farther you live from Kansas the more it will cost. It's about $15 to Maine, about $12 to California, and about $8 to Kansas City.  You will also be responsible for return postage.  When I receive your request and have a packet available for you I will send a PayPal invoice for the cost of shipping the packet to you.

3.  Afghans need to be completed ASAP and sent back out by November 1st.  That's a target mailing date of November 1st.  If it's Nov 2nd don't panic.  But do try to get the completed afghan sent out by Nov 1st if you can.

4.  Each packet includes 56 afghan squares and coordinating yarn to whip stitch them together.  If you prefer to use a different method of joining the squares (like crochet) please let me know and I can include more seaming yarn.  If you would like to do a single crochet edge around the entire finished afgha please let me know and I can also include yarn for that.  I have received a lot of seaming yarn now.  :)

If I'm leaving out details about something please let me know.  Ask questions.  Tell me I'm crazy.  All that, okay?!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

What else have we been doing around here??  Uhhhmmm.... besides Mommy being in a daze the kids have been doing really well in school.  Suzannah is playing the flute in band this year.  This is Katie's first year marching - she's a percussionist so she has one of the "glory" marching positions.  Benny is playing on the Varsity AND the Jr. Varsity teams so that means two games per week for us.  Only a few weeks.  Only a few. more. weeks.  The babies are growing like crazy and getting into everything as you saw in my last post.  That was just one event in a long string of crazy stuff they were doing but Mommy decided it was time to get away from Ravelry, clean up the toy corner, and spent a little more time entertaining the babies. 

Last Saturday I had a busy day teaching a knitting class at TWIST then doing class preview at Michaels.  I didn't get home until about 6pm.  During the day Jeff took the babies to the park where they played on the playground.  That evening when I got home Jeff told me that Emeline fell from a piece of equipment about five feet down to the ground and scared him to pieces.  At the time she held her arm for quite a while saying it hurt but by the time I saw her she said it wasn't hurting any more.  All during the week about once or twice a day she would complain about the arm hurting but she seemed to be playing normally and didn't complain about it VERY consistently.  Long story short, she complained about it hurting this morning when I was dressing her and that was the final straw.  I called the orthopedic doctor's office and made an appointment for this morning.

As we were leaving the house I asked Emeline "Do you mind if I bring my knitting?"  She said, "No knitting Mom."  I hesitated and gave her a pleading look.  She said "Leave the knitting.  Put it down."  Ugh.  I really need to get a sock to a certain point for my class tomorrow morning!

After taking a few x-rays we learned that Emeline has a fracture through the humorus growth plate (upper arm just below the shoulder).  They can't cast it but she has to wear a shoulder immobilizer.  It's this tiny little thing that's decorated with Charlie Brown and Snoopy and she calls it her vest.  It was fun to wear for about the first five minutes.  Now, not so fun.  But she did get to pick Sonic for lunch with a Braums chaser.  I took a little movie of her talking about it but I haven't uploaded it to youtube yet.

Gotta run and get the stuff ready for this table/chart for the afghan project.  I've been knitting like a maniac.  And trying to get my projects entered on Ravelry.  Everyone was right.... Ravelry IS a time-suck.  I do not have extra time for this thing but overall I think it's good.

Let me know if you have any afghan packet questions and if the packets are already claimed, click back again because I'll be adding more until the squares are all used up!!  I'm sure we won't be able to get them all finished by Nov 1st but goals are a good thing!

Everybody have a wonderful weekend and take good care of every little thing.  XOXOXOX

Something For You

Eye Candy Friday ~and~ Checking In and Catching Up

(Mostly Written on Thursday...)

I'm going to TRY to keep this short and let the pictures speak for themselves.  Additionally, there is a long long list of names here that represent the latest update in afghan project data.  Thank you to EVERYONE that has sent squares, sent money, commented, emailed a little "how are you?", said a prayer or sent us good vibes.  I'm sorting squares and trying to keep it all under control - the dining table has been COVERED UP with squares for several days .... just waiting for inspiration to strike and tell me what to do with them all to keep them organized for the next step.  So far I've washed and sorted about 1250 squares and that took about five hours last Sunday.  I've spent today getting my mind and house in the right place to continue with the next bunch.  I've basically only got one week left to finish the sorting - let's see how it all goes.  :)

THE DATA:  The items and quantities added to the sidebar total are shown below.

• 474 squares
• 3 pair mittens
• 1 winter hat
• 1 scarf
• seaming yarn
• 83 yarn needles
• 1 shawl
• 2 afghans
• 4 cloths
• 1 baby bib
• $80

The grand total of squares is now at 4672.  Whew.  I'm kinda thinking we won't probably get all those afghans finished on September 15th.  But I could be wrong.  :)

All of these squares and mittens and the darling hat and seaming yarn and needles and money and other wonderful things came from the following people:

• Elisabeth - Chicago, IL (my Sockapalooza knitter!)
• Kathy - El Dorado, KS
• Bea - Bergen, NORWAY
• Britt - Floroe, NORWAY (Bea's Mum!  maker of the Cutest Hat in the World)
• Kristin, Kelli, Andrea and Melissa - Kansas City, KS (for the University of Kansas Medical School Knitting Group)
• Jessica - San Jose, CA
• Virginia - Pine Hill, NJ
• Maeve - Arlington, VA
• Millie - Vienna, VA
• Beverly - Lawrence, KS
• Clara - Silver Spring, MO
• Penny - Tulsa, OK (HUGS!!!)
• Renee - NEW ZEALAND
• Kate - South Natick, MA
• Annell - McPherson, KS
• Kelly - New Brunswick, CANADA (Brought in PERSON 131 squares all the way from Canada!  Thank you Kelly!  XOXOXOX)
• Mary - Churchton, MD
• Anonymous Knitter - Smithville, TX
• Amy - North Adams, MA
• Jill - Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA
• Doris, Lana and Sue - Orverland Park, KS (for Blue Valley Baptist Church of Overland Park)
• Norma - Florissant, MO
• Juanita - El Dorado, KS
• Yvonne - Unknown Location
• Patty - Lakewood, OH
• Laura - Arlington, VA
• Amy - Houston, TX
• Pam, Karen and Misty - Lompac, CA
• Bev - San Jose, CA
• Catalina - Rye, NY

That's everything y'all!  It was a little bittersweet to open the last package today (I had about five sitting around waiting for me to clear off the dining table).  I think there are other packages yet to come with completed afghans being made by knitting groups around the country but this was probably my last package of squares.  What a relief but... ha.  No buts.  It's very exciting to move into the sorting phase.  I'm touching every single square again.  And measuring it.  And putting it in a stack with other squares the same size.  It sounds boring but with all the colors and textures and fibers you wouldn't believe how exciting it is.  It's hard not to make a stack of squares I want to put together except that I keep wondering what will the next one in this size look like?  And the next?  It's fun.  Fun also to realize that squares who have been patiently waiting together, made with the same yarn by the same knitter or crocheter... are now going their seperate ways because they are a different size!  People who sent more that one square are touching a lot of different families when their squares are sorted by size.  Then color.  Then maybe texture?  I'm having fun with it.  I guess I'm easy to entertain.  :)

OH.... and you'll be interested to learn that in the Sorting Game the 8" squares are winning.  7.5" and 8.5" are tied with each other and each are half the quantity of 8" squares.  All the rest are fairly minimal but 7" and 9" are about tied as well.

Everybody have a wonderful weekend and take good care of every little thing!  XOXOXOX

Infinity

There is no Alpha and no Omega.  (I really don't know what I'm talking about.)

There is no beginning and no end to all of the bazillion things I would like to cram into one catch-up blog post.

Afghan project.  Kelly visiting.  Babies cuteness.  Knitting.  Swaps. Morning Glories have bloomed.  Trying to keep the garden watered.  Trying to keep my bloglines under 900 unread posts.  Sleeping - or the lack thereof because my only quiet time is at night.  Dyeing yarn.  Socks.  Yarn Harlot coming to visit.  Driving kids everywhere.  Weather has been hot.  House is a mess.  Babies are growing.  Visit to the zoo.  There are still 4326 people ahead of me in the Ravelry queue - I think that means that Franklin (the Panoptican) is in.  Mmm... no - looks like he'll be in some time next week.  So so so SO many things.  And if you don't realize the importance of Ravelry you might not be a knitter.  Or a knitter with a computer.

The afghan mail is slowing down.  Kelly and Moose were here and are now several days gone and there is an embarrassing lack of photos on my camera to document the occasion.

I'm in one of those funky moments that I really have to snap out of.  One where I'm not sure exactly what to do first because there are so many many things to do.  Knitting classes to teach.  Patterns to revise.  Patterns to write.  Classroom samples to finish knitting.  Babies.  Oh yes, I have five children.  I'm constantly driving them places and giving them five dollars for this and what... $55 for that??  Sheesh.

And I'm feeling worried that nobody is coming to the afghan seaming event.  I will have 70... 75.... 80 packages of afghan squares...?  I will have a lot of bags of afghan squares - hopefully sorted by size - and will anyone help?  I do have quite a lot more seaming needles now.  And a bit more seaming yarn.

On the other side of the fear is this:  a million people will come help seam squares and there will be no food for lunch. 

I'm frantically putting things together in my mind and everything seems to have a scenario of potential disaster haunting it.

Since my last post I finished the Loksins socks for Sockapalooza and have started another pair of socks - not the Loksins in Lisa Souza sock yarn that I hoped.  Actually I started them and realized this is one of those thinner sock yarns that will require a smaller needle.  So on a whim I began a pair of the Tulip socks designed by Stephanie Pearl McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot) in honor of her upcoming visit.  First sock is finished and 2nd sock is almost ready to begin the heel.

I have a LONG list of names and packages received for the afghan update but as usual I've spent all the time I had for this blog post yammering on about stuff rather than getting down to business.  I'm taking a rare evening away from the house and babies to knit at TWIST... and I've got a few things I have to do first.  A full square report and update will probably happen over the weekend.  Thanks for your patience.  :)

To whet your appetite..... anyone out there anyway?  I've had crickets chirping in my in-box for a while now... If there's anyone still checking on me and the project (see?  I can't hide from my fears), here's a video I made a few weeks ago telling about the record setting day when we received 415 afghan squares in just one day, August 13th.

Click two times on the arrow in the center of the image to play the video here on the blog without going to YouTube.

Everybody take care and have a wonderful happy and safe holiday weekend!! XOXOXOXOX