Chaos Theory

Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't handle chaos.  Uncertainty, chaos, unpredictability, it all brings out my...shall we say...ungraceful side.  And since Chris has forbidden me from obsessing over all of the uncertainties in our life right now (we have 5 weeks left on our lease and still no where else to live), I have been choosing to obsess over Other Things.  Inconsequential Things.  Pretty Things, even, sometimes.

So, knitting it is!

I started this amazing, intricately cabled sweater for Chris for Christmas this year.  It really is a gorgeous pattern.  So I bought the yarn I needed, and cast on for a sleeve, figuring that if I made a mistake, a sleeve would be less painful to rip back, than a body with 300 stitches on it.  After knitting for 6 inches it became evident that the sweater MIGHT fit the Boy, but certainly would not fit my husband.  So I checked my gauge, realized (holy CRAP) that I was getting 3 TIMES the number of stitches to the inch as the pattern called for (uptight, much?) and ripped the whole thing back.  At that point, I shelved the pattern.  I would still love to knit it up for Chris, but it will call for either a) different (thicker) yarn, or b) massively reworking the pattern so that I can knit a sweater that Chris can wear or c) both of the above.

So instead, I'm working on more socks for my boy.  He has informed me that he doesn't like the socks that I bought for him at the store.  He only likes the ones I make.  Which is just about the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a while, but yeah...that's a lot of work to knit up 6 pairs of wooly socks for his feet.  His feet which are the Lords of Perpetual Growth.  But I continue to work at it.  I started a yellow pair with a brown chevron strip around the ankle.  I'm calling them the Charlie Brown socks, and they are turning out super cute.  I'll post some pictures when I finish them.

And just as proof that, while my life contains more chaos than is comfortable for me, I have not yet surrendered my sense of humor, I offer you this...


Back last Summer while I was scanning 4, 820 pictures to use in the slideshow for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary, I came across this series of pictures.  It features my brother and I, and since there aren't many pictures of us lying around, it caught my attention.  (Talk about chaos, that would be having twins...two babies terrorizing around the house at the same time?  Yes.  Apparently, my aversion to chaos is repercussion for the chaos I rained down on my parents.) 

Anyway...here's the first 3 pictures:

I'm not kidding.  3 pictures, all of them basically the same.  One of us looking off, not paying attention, one of us not smiling.  Actually, that could probably describe every single picture of my brother and I until we were probably 14.  Anyway, I offer the next photograph as evidence that my inner smarta** is strong, deep, and I was BORN this way...

And voila.  I'm pretty sure my Dad was trying (repeatedly) to get our attention AND to get us to smile, you know, simultaneously.  And after the 4th attempt, I'm reasonably certain that I had had enough.  So that's what you get.

(Incidentally, there are enough pictures of me like this that my Mom calls it my "teeth are screaming at you" face.  AWESOME.)

The Battle of February

Why does February suck?  The whole month...it's just 4 weeks of bleh.  What's the deal with that? 

I used to think it was Chris' fault, because of his Annual Funk.  But this year, he decided to forgo the Funk and February was miserable anyway, so apparently, it's not his fault after all.

This year, I had to completely revamp the kids' schedule/routine because my children MUTINIED against rest time.  The Boy was playing with the Girl rather than napping himself, which was naturally keeping her awake and gifting me with two indescribably FOUL children all afternoon.  By the time I figured it out, I was seriously thinking about running away from home.  The good news is, after a week of experimentation, we've worked out a new pattern that works brilliantly.  The Girl sleeps for 2+ hours every afternoon, and the Boy insists he does not need a nap and will happily read books during rest time and go to bed early and then passes out for at least an hour every day.  It's lovely.  The kids both get the sleep they need, and I don't have to run away from home.  Win-Win!

We also found out that our apartment complex is raising our rent, so we restarted the house hunt.  This time we have a fixed deadline, so I think we're more determined.  We also have a different realtor.  I'm going out to look at the first round of houses all on my lonesome today (pray for us sinners) and hopefully, we'll both love one of these houses so we can start the Everest of paperwork by the end of this month.

My Girl has been cutting four teeth at once, because getting them one at a time is just so inefficient!  She's still not walking on her own, she's cruising  around all the furniture, and laughing maniacally while she does it.  It's just a matter of time...

My Boy is testing boundaries and my patience.  Hopefully, by the time he realizes that Mama really does mean what she says, we'll still love each other.  In the meantime, we have been reading A LOT and I have to say, it's the best part of my day.

I finished my first, and experimental, pair of knee-high socks.  Now I know what I need to do differently.  I have to say, though, they are the coziest things EVER.  Like warm, wooly, shin guards against COLD.  We did our taxes and I had a freelance project (yes, all of this happened in the last month...we've been busy) so I put in a large amazon order and bought all of these amazing knitting books, which taken singly are wonderful and inspirational, but taken together only served to prove to me that I am just TINKERING with this craft and know little more than nothing at all. 

I started a sweater for Chris for Christmas.  It's hard.  It's cabled.  Heavily cabled.  And I have, in fact, already ripped out the cuff of the sleeve that I started.  But it's better to correct mistakes than to pretend they never happened.  So I've restarted it and will be more careful in future.  And I keep telling myself that I have 9 months to work on it, tortoise and hare and all that.

I was telling my Mom the other day, I have all of this stuff going 'round and 'round in my head right now, but I'm having trouble forming any of it into coherent stories, so if I don't update much it's not for lack of topics, but maybe for an over abundance.  So for now, I leave you with the most beautiful part of my days...