Long Weekend!

I've only been off work since Wednesday at 2 pm, but it feels like forever! It was a fun weekend, one of the best holiday weekends I've had in a long time.

First off, a new knitting project - I started this on Thanksgiving, using some Rowan Kid Classic in "Peat" I had in stash:

Here it is, unblocked and majorly curled up:

close-up of the cable section:

I have the back (from the armholes) to do and both sleeves.

On Thanksgiving, we visited Jim's aunt Vicki and uncle Frank and their kids and grandkids (the ones I used to knit for) and then went to my parents' house. It was a good Thanksgiving, way too much wine involved (if I'm going to overindulge, wine is where I do it - I rarely overdo it on food as I hate that stuffed feeling) but we had a great time seeing everyone and hanging out. Jim's dad spent the day with Jim's brother and sister and kids up there in northern Wisconsin, and we talked to him in the afternoon - he seems to be in good spirits, which is encouraging.

I didn't have my sewing class on Saturday because of the holiday and so I worked on my next project, the pants. They are fitting PERFECTLY and I have them done except for the zipper and hems. Pictures to come soon.

On Saturday night, our friend Paul had asked us as a special favor if we could babysit his five-year old son, who he had for the weekend - he had a "gig" that night (he plays keyboards and does sound production as one of his jobs) so we agreed to watch him. We decided we would paint wood ornaments with him (something we do ourselves every year) and he painted five of them and probably would have done more. He lost a baby tooth that night so we told him the tooth fairy would come when he was in his own bed (LOL.) A good kid overall, but he didn't have any interest in going to sleep. He watched a bunch of freaky cartoons on Nick at Nite (the normal SpongeBob but also weird ones like El Tigre and Avatar - these were bizarro) and played his video game and drew pictures.

Funny story - I was repeatedly asking him, "What time do you go to bed?" to which he replied he doesn't go to bed, to which I said, "Hmm, I can see you not going to bed if you're at your dad's house, but what time does your mom have you go to bed? He replied that his mom was far away - she lives in Iowa - Paul drives him back and forth on weekends he has him - and I didn't want to be the "heavy" so I accepted this. If he stays over again, he will have a bedtime. Like I told Jim, we shouldn't be asking him to sleep, we should be telling him. Anyway, I was exhausted by the time Paul finally came back from his gig at about 12:30 (kid had gone to sleep at around midnight) and I was ready to go to bed. Reaffirming my decision that kids.are.a.lot.of.work. I gotta hand it to anyone who does it and does it well, but as we've known for a long time (forever?) we won't be signing up.

To continue the family fun, Jim's cousin Anna had asked me if I could help her make some drapes for one of her co-workers. I had never made them before but agreed to work with her to figure them out. She came over Sunday at around noon and we were done by 3:30. They turned out really cool - used the coverstitch machine to do the hems (they were a cotton fabric with cards printed on it - for her co-worker's game room) and then sewed the casing/heading with the regular machine. Anna pinned, I sewed. She's going to take pictures of them once they're up, so I'll show them then.

Overall, busy weekend but lots of fun! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Comments

[Jenny]

It was such a nice long weekend for me too. I could use one of those every month! Gathered pullover is looking awesome!

[kozykitty]

Gathered pullover is one that I have had stashed for a long time. I'll be interested in seeing how it fits. I've heard people say that it was really low cut. I may pull that one out to make this winter. I've been trying to do that--pull out the projects that I queued years ago but never started. I just started Wicked and I've had that yarn at least 2 years! Your pullover looks really good!

[marjorie]

It seems as if you had a good weekend despite the bedtime issues. In my experience, it is best to be firm about bedtimes despite the complaining. What's worse than the bedtime issues is that little kids wake up at the crack of dawn.

I love the color of your new sweater. Can't wait to see your drapes.

[Adrienne]

Sounds like you had a good weekend inspite of :)

Love the new sweater!

[Andrea]

I'm glad you had a nice Thanksgiving, and weekend. The pullover is coming along. I really like it. Can't wait to see pictures of the pants.

[Debby]

Thank you for showing sweater inspiration. I'm amazed at how fast this is knitting up! And I'm glad to hear that your pants are fitting so well on the first try! I would think you'd have to make 2 or 3 pair before you'd be able to get that kind of fit.

I admire you and Jim for taking on the babysitting for Paul. Sounds like you did a great job -- I'm not sure I would have done as well. Parenting is a heroic job, to be sure.

[Zonda]

The pullover is looking good! Kids sure can wear you out. Especially ones that don't like to go to bed early (like mine!) Look forward to seeing your pants. The last time I helped a friend with drapes I used my serger...so much nicer and easier.

[bettyc]

That gathered pullover is one of my favorite sweaters. I did raise the neckline in order to wear it standalone, but if you don't mind a layering piece, the neckline should be fine

[Carol]

Heh. Yeah, I have discovered through my own babysitting gigs that a definite bedtime is a requirement. Generally I ask mom or dad and when it's time, the announcement is made. Sometimes I'll make a pre-announcement "bedtime in 15 minutes" to prep the kid. But I sure wouldn't want to do that full time. Whew, kids are a lot of work!