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This is my new slogan.....for ever. I need to go somewhere and scream as loud as I can.
"I will never commit to knitting again." Repeat: "I will never commit to knitting again". Repeat often.
The body of the sweater for SIL is done. The sleeves are set and stitched in place; underseam sewn. However, upon laying out, measuring and re-measuring, it occurs to me that this sweater is never going to fit said SIL! I'm not sure; I wasn't given a definite size number, just measurements. But little "hmm's" and "ummm's" when questioning my brother of the size, indicates to me that she may be a bit larger than me. And I wear and X-Lrg.
The measurements he gave me are right on. But something just doesn't seem right. It just seems too SMALL!
I haven't seen her in almost 5 years; I know she's taller and bigger than me. I assume she's put on some weight. Or is it just a man trying to figure out what size his wife is?? Men!
Anywho, being that the sweater was knit all-in-one, there is no way to add, let's say, panels to the sides. So? Why not make the buttonbands a couple inches wider? Yeah. That'll work. That's the ticket.
I'm in the process of crocheting the buttonbands now. But I have my doubts this is the end of it. There's the problem of the already placed button holes. What to do.....what to do.....
Ok. So the thing was started just after Christmas; spinning the yarn was still going on while the knitting commenced. It was supposed to be done by Valentine's Day. But my brother gave me some leaway when he said..."Easter, but no later than Mother's Day". I'm shooting for Mother's Day. Hopefully.....this year.
BH told me ("suggested") that I never commit to knitting for anyone again. Well....yeah.....but I'll just tell the next person it'll be done in a year. And then keep my fingers crossed.
It hasn't bode well that I haven't felt anything for this sweater from the beginning. Not a lot of interest. Haven't felt the urge to just sit all day knitting, nor the excitement of seeing it grow, anticipating the beautiful finished garment. I have NO love for this sweater. Never have. And that's really strange for me. Even after the beautiful buttons with the stamped Celtic design came in the mail.....nada.
Well, it won't be all bad. If nothing else, I'll have another Aran sweater......that I will just love!
Pictures will be coming.
Remember that song by Sonny and Cher? An oldie but a goodie. And so true.
After almost 2 weeks, daughter is finally settled in her apartment. Every box unpacked, everything arranged, all decorations up. And she LOVES it!! We took a shopping trip on Saturday to a different end of town. She's never been there, but we have. It was just her and I. We shopped, stopped for lunch and shopped some more. She commented a few times "this is fun!" "I'm having a lot of fun, aren't you?" (why yes, I am!) "this is so much fun!" I think she really enjoyed the day!
The sweater I'm knitting for SIL.....just about finished with the raglan arm decrease on the last panel. When I notice something's. just. not. right. I'm running out of stitches to decrease before the top of the front panel is finished. Lay it out. Measure. Count the pattern repeats. Look at where the stitch panels begin to decrease. Ahhh......yes. Just as I suspected.....I do believe I was doing a double decrease - wrong side and right side - instead of just the right side only. So.....rip it back to the beginning decreasing stitches. Start over. It's only a month behind from my appointed delivery date. Oh well......perfection knows no time limits......right? LOL !
Went to granddaughter's information meeting by the Army for their deployment in June. It was an all day affair. They had several different classes for the soldiers and family with all kinds of help in many different catagories. Very enlightening. She leaves the first week in June for the Middle East. Her deployment will be anywhere from 7 months to a year. This makes me so very sad. But she is one tough cookie and smart as all get-out.
We've had some beautiful weather this past week. The snow is G.O.N.E. ! And except for the pools of "quick sand" all the way up our dirt road, it's been great. Yeah....our car looks like we've been "off-road" 4-wheeling it. Covered in mud. No point in going to the car wash until the road dries out. Which may take quite a while. Rain today.
My brother (one of 5.....a twin), who just turned 60 in December, called Friday night. He's been diagnosed with tongue cancer. He doesn't smoke or chew. Did love his beer....quite a bit....until recently. Doctor said if you don't do one, then it's probably caused by the other. I do know the past few years have put him through the "fires of hell" and created an awful lot of stress on him. And I'm sure that didn't help any. He went in for a PET scan on Saturday to the University hospital. I haven't heard how that went. Today is the appointment with the oncologist. I hope my brother calls tonight with an update. He did say surgery is going to be done.
And so our own mortality slaps us in the face. Memories of our parents, grand parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends near and far, come flooding back. Growing up. It's inconceivable that 30 - 40 - 50 years have gone by. Yes, most of our elders are gone now; we made it through the loss and the sadness. And now we've become the "elder generation". Now it's our turn. Our time is running short. Who knows what the cards hold for us. One by one, my siblings and I will leave this earth and all those we hold dear behind. The next generation will be stepping up to the plate.
So hard to believe. And...the....beat....goes....on.
So everyday this past week has been spent at daughter's old apartment. Packing, cleaning.....cleaning, packing. And there's been appointments thrown in for good measure.
We picked up the moving van Thursday; BH and son took out the furniture and the myriad of boxes. How can one person have soooo many boxes??!!
We couldn't move into the new place until Friday, but got that done relatively quickly and smoothly. Even got the carpets down in the bedroom and living room. Most of the furniture is placed where it's supposed to be.
Yesterday we took her refrigerator/freezer foods over and put them away. That was it. Came home and started a pot of Pork Chow Mein for supper. Granddaughter was coming with a truckload of her things for us to store for her.
Well, she didn't get here till 10:30 last night. After yakking for about 1/2 hour, catching up, she, the boyfriend, BH and son unloaded her things for storage. They left here about 12:30am.
Today, BH takes son home and I'm going to the apartment to start unpacking the many....many.....many boxes.
I hate helping people move. I hate cleaning apartments before and after. I hate unpacking. But I DO love decorating. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Because daughter and I are going to do some serious decorating!
And, of course.....thank God the weather was not all that bad for the move. We could've had some horrendous conditions here in northern Minnesota...in February.
This coming week is filled with more appointments and shopping. Then there's the meeting for granddaughter who's going to Kuwait in May, next weekend. Well, we'll have a mini-getaway to recoup.
Needless to say....no spinning has taken place and knitting on the sweater has been a few rows here and there. I'm getting the heebie-jeebies. Can't wait to get back at it. Before Spring arrives..and there's a ton of projects to be done. It never ends.....
