Thoughts for 05/20/07

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One of my main thoughts today is wondering whether Elann's Sonata or Sonata Print would make a good choice for knitting dishcloths. I love looking at the colors. And it is great how they have even enumerated the coordinating colors.

I think I need to install some sort of stickies (post-it notes) software on my computer so I can have a running "to do" list that is easily visible while I'm in front of my computer. I tried keeping a paper list by the computer (the plus being accessible while the computer is off), but it always gets misplaced or buried underneath stuff. I'm losing my mind and suffer from CRS, so I need lists!!!

Items on my "to do" list include calling Carolyn to wish her a happy birthday. Her bday was on Friday. I know, I suck. I was out and about with Mom all day on Friday and didn't get a chance to call until late in the evening. Carolyn lives in Maine so I have to consider the 3 hour time difference. I didn't call on Saturday; yeah, I'm lame.

Another thing on my "to do" list is to give Lisa my phone number so she can contact me when she arrives in San Francisco. I've been meaning to do this for weeks.

I've also been trying to catch up on blog/forum reading. Don't ask me how many entries I have in my blog reader. Gosh, I'm so tempted to mark everything already read and start over from a clean slate. And I'm forever trying to catch up with email. I thoroughly suck at that, just ask anybody who knows me and they'll agree.

On the upside, I did manage to meet up with V on Saturday. Yay! :-) We went to Barnes & Nodle where we tried a Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha Frap which was pretty good. She was trying to tempt me into one of the Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes in the display case and I could hear KT Tunstall singing, "no, no, no, no no no, i said no, no, you're not the one for me." Those cheesecakes are sooooo good, but they're also sooooo bad. We looked at home improvement books while sipping on our mocha fraps. There's a whole new learning curve for me now that I'll be a homeowner. She also showed me how to get to Ulta at the Tanforan Shopping Center. I've seen their sign from outside, but had never been able to figure out how where the store was. Well, it's one of those stores that is only accessible from outside the mall. No wonder I could never find it. I always park on the Target side of the mall and never did managed to walk by it while inside the mall. I found some nice lipstick colors which I'll have to pick up when I run out of what I'm using right now.

Oh, I don't get to listen to my music anymore, but before M started to consistently demand her music whenever I turn on the radio, she would sing along to Black Horse & the Cherry Tree whenever it was on. She'd go, "woo hoo." It was really cute.




I finally watched last week's American Idol results. All I have to say is that it appears people are voting for their Idols the same way most people vote for their politicians...

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I eventually returned the needles I mistakenly bought the other day due to M's needle switcheroo, and picked up the Clover bamboo needles. I've never used bamboo needles before so this will be interesting. They're 29" 4.5 mm circular needles. I don't have many US7 size needles. I only had 3 of them... one stuck on a baby blanket forever-wip, and the other two needles were rotated among more than 2 wips. That's why I'm trying to add 4.5 mm needles to my stash. I've never used Clover needles before but I imagine they'll be on par with Susan Bates since both these brands are sold at Joanns... which leads me to presume that the highbrow would touch neither with a 3 meter pole. I suppose I'm becoming a bit of a needle whore (with way too many US1 to US4 size needles than I'll ever use simultaneously, lol) and will use almost any brand of circular needle, even the Susan Bates & Boyes. I do have some Addi Turbos and Inox Expresses in my collection. And I'm currently leaning towards getting a KnitPicks Options set. I understand they're like the Denise set. I have to look into both sets to see which one is better for me.

I finally did cast on some cotton yarn and feel like they move more slowly on these bamboo needles. The points are very sharp so I have to be careful not to hurt my fingertips when I push off with them. I didn't notice this as much with my regular metal needles. I imagine the bamboo needles will work great with the more slippery yarns ... Baby Silk comes to mind.

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My mom keeps hinting/mentioning that I should knit her a vest, so I finally looked into some possible patterns. I've never knit a vest before so this will be quite a challenge for me. There'll be seaming involved. Eeks!!! I was never very good at that. Mom is quite a critic so there would be extra pressure to make something that fits her and also wearable in public. And this would by my first attempt at making something "to gauge". I guess I better figure out how to do a gauge swatch.

Mom's vest criteria: v-neck; straight bottom hem; button front (viz. not a pullover type vest).

Here are some patterns I'm considering:
Lion Brand Patchwork Textured Vest
Berroco Luella Vest
Coats and Clark Casual Friday Vest

These ones seem to meet Mom's requirement, and I'm guessing they won't be too difficult. Yes? No? Maybe? I'm thinking the Luella Vest might be the most difficult one of the bunch. Which vest would you choose for a first vest project?

I'm kinda leaning towards the Patchwork Textured Vest. I haven't thoroughly perused the pattern instructions but I think it might be doable for me. I'm not sure I would want to use their suggested yarn, Lion Brand Cotton, even though I did pick up 2 balls of the stuff the other day. If I do, I would need to pick up an extra ball or two of the same color & dye lot. What are the chances of going back and finding that? When I picked up my 2 balls, I am pretty sure I found at least 3 different dye lots in that color. Of course I'm not sure what color Mom would like for her vest. She likes greens, and we recently had a discussion about clothing and agreed that lavender suits her. So I'm thinking a lavender colored vest would be nice. I am so sick of knitting with green...

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The idea of owning a house is sinking in. Now I'm thinking about window coverings, floor coverings, possible bathroom remodel, M's furniture, gardening, and stuff like that. V has offered the sage advice of throwing out the crap now so I don't have to move it to the new house, and also to start packing now. Somehow that seems much easier said than done...

Of course the whole house thing is not a done deal until escrow closes...

Not sure what exactly happens now. I wish there was some sort of house buying checklist so I know what's coming down the pike. As I understand it, everything got punted into the Loan Black Box where something happens and then it spits out loan papers for us to sign. I hear that the loan papers should be available after Memorial Day (May 28). DH has jury duty the week of June 4th, so I'm hoping we can get the papers signed sometime between 5/28 and 6/4, cuz I'm not quite sure how this is gonna work if we have to do it during the week of his jury duty. Our loan broker is an hours drive away.

Let's see... another thing I heard is that our Realtor will do some sort of walk through of the house next week(?). And I believe we get a walk through sometime later, probably just before close of escrow(?).

And sometime soonish we'll be writing the biggest check (or cashiers check) we've ever written (viz. the down payment). Eeeks!!!

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Several people have suggested keeping the bathroom door that leads to the back yard. I'm really warming up to that idea now. I had not thought about how convenient that door would be with kids. So I think we'll just get the door replaced (since the current one is deteriorating, and there's a huge gap underneath).

Hakucho wrote: I have an idea for you closets...could you get a piece of remnant vinyl flooring or those self sticking vinyl tiles?

That's definitely an option. Sounds like a low maintenance solution, definitely toddler-friendly. She's such a crumb/food dropping machine...

Bets wrote: Take a look at the carpet stores for swatches and remmnants, maybe in Home Depot!

I also like this idea too. Thanks! I have the feeling I'll be visiting Home Depot & Lowes a lot more.

The Knitorious Mrs B wrote: Iceice-baby? Are you a baby boomer?

Oh, I dunno about that. I guess it would depend on how you define a baby boomer. Do my iPod Shuffle posts (currently 3 posted so far) peg me for a boomer? If I am, it'd be a late baby boomer...

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M is awake, need to go do the whole morning routine with her, and then it's off to visit the inlaws for the day.

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