Sleep Cycle

I've fallen into this weird sleep pattern. My usual habit has been to stay up very late, and work on my projects. These last few weeks, I've been falling asleep on the sofa pretty early, then waking at 2 or 3 AM. Always, the Man is asleep, normally at 10 PM. When I wake up, I bundle up Piccolo and myself for another dash outside in the cold before going to bed for a few hours. I really need to get into some better sleep habits. I'm sure it's why I'm so slow moving every morning.
I started this a few weeks ago, and picked it up again last night. This is Manon, from Norah Gaughan Volume One, using Berroco Pure Merino. I purchased the project at the last Stitches Midwest, from Webs. One sleeve is done, and this is the beginning of the body. It's an interesting piece to knit in terms of construction. Hopefully it will look good on me.

Hit Me Hard

I've got that flu thing. I can do about one activity a day, today it was laundry, then I'm just done for. At night, I start to feel worse. For a few nights I've been waking up every hour or two. It's miserable. My teeth itch now, which means my sinuses are involved.
We're hunkering down here under even more snow. Who knows if I'll venture out tomorrow.
The photo is little Zoey wearing a book project, the same sweater that's on the cover.

If Not for Knitting

I swear, if I didn't knit, I wouldn't have a social life. Both excursions out in public this week, outside of work, are knitting related. Tuesday was a dinner before the Guild meeting at Tank Neighborhood Sushi, with a few fellow members. This has been a little tradition that we started last year. It's fun to try new restaurants, that normally doesn't happen in my world with the Man. Tank is superb, by the way. This same group has a dinner out during Stitches Midwest, for the last three years or so. Tonight, if I last that long, it's my KIP group at Alliance Bakery. This might be what I'll work on there. It's Mr. Ben, which will be a huge sock monkey, from Two Old Bags. I'm actually further along from when the photo was taken. The body is completed, and I've started one of the long legs. The provisional stitches will be where the red monkey butt is knit. He'll have a hat, and I had the wacky idea of doing a mini Sunflower Tam. I've knit five of them so far.
We're fighting off illness at the Lucky Penny household. I had a cold last week, gave it to the Man, who was really hit hard. He's been home for the last five days. Now I might be getting it back. I'm doing asprin and Airborne to try to thwart it. Let's not talk about the unpacking.

Feels Better

I don't know what it is. But it feels like the earth moved closer to the sun today, and the warm sunlight melted a little bit of that snow that had gotten me so down. Instead of being full of drudgery, suddenly my world seems full of possibility. I have no explanation for it. I noticed too, today, that for all the stair climbing I've been doing over the past six weeks, that suddenly my knees don't hurt as much. I would have expected the opposite. At the Lucky Penny headquarters, the squirrel appears to have been working on a little nest in that nook between the window and air conditioner. I've decided not to disturb it. As long as the squirrels don't come in the apartment. That's all I ask, little creatures!
Finally some finished socks. It's a Three Trails Handknit Designs pattern, done in Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters (one of my sock favorites!), color Ruby River. It's not the first time I've knit this design, and not likely to be the last.

Lake Effect

When I came back to the Lucky Penny headquarters tonight, my car was miles away. The phenomenon of lake effect snow. Heavy snow was not predicted for today, but that's what we got. Crippling heavy snow. I knew I might be in trouble when I got into the space on the street, and my tires spun as I straightened out the car. These last few weeks here have been a layer cake of snow and ice. The snow covers the ice so you can't see it underneath. It's been a problem to get around this winter. Now that Piccolo has her galoshes, when we are out she wants to go, and her mommy needs to keep her footing so we don't fall. I had parking issues over the weekend when I went to Quiltology to work on the new piece, but the parking fairies gave me a break a few hours later, and I powered out of the slush and into the street. Today I went to work, keeping my fingers crossed that I would have good luck again. It didn't happen. I walked to the el, and took it home. Yes, wool socks do keep your feet warm even when wet. I didn't anticipate needing boots today.
I don't mention my day job much, because I don't feel it defines who I am. I stopped thinking of it as a career years ago. The good thing about this job has been that I have the luxury of making my own schedule, which now has become my downfall. I do consulting at multiple sites in the city and south suburbs. I should be at one of my buildings about forty miles away tomorrow (intuitively, I postponed going there today), but who knows if the Man and I can get the car out. I'm dreading the thirty five mile drive early Friday morning for a staff meeting with more snow predicted. These events have me feeling just totally beaten down, and that I need to change how I work. More than anything I want to stay closer to home. I normally welcome cold weather, as I love my wooly garments, but the thought of a milder climate is very appealing at the moment. Snow is pretty, and looks really pretty from up here, but once you have to go out into it and function, the romance is over.

The Anitdote

After that failed custom sweater, I had to make something beautiful to get over it, and for the most deserving recipient. Shown in progress here, a bulky wool sweater for my Piccolo. Using my beloved Briar Rose, Beth Ann, now discontinued. The edge trim is Aisha Celia, purchased at the last Renegade Craft Fair. I experimented with a seed stitch body. You really have to love your dog to do seed stitch, but I like the result. Since the photo, it's been finished and worn. I've been so inspired by taking a bulky yarn, and making something refined from it, that I've been adding similar items to my Lucky Penny retail stock. These days, I'm also loving Malabrigo Chunky for the dog sweaters, and hats for myself.
We discovered a new, fabulous product for pets. I was in Wigglyville last week, and saw a dog wearing what looked like red balloons on his feet. They're disposable rubber galoshes for dogs. I purchased the XS size for Piccolo, that come in a bright safety orange. The only thing that would make this better is if they glowed in the dark. Packing up the apartment for the move, I found many sets of dog boots, none up until this point have been successful. After the initial wearing of the disposable boots, Piccolo really got used to them, and cooperates for the most part while I try to get them on. What used to be a twenty foot walk will now go around the block. I'm going up a size, the red ones for next time. The product is called Pawz, and I can see using them this Spring to keep feet from getting muddy.

Re-Gift

A knitted item for the King of Regift. I think it was six or seven years ago that I made this for the Man. I got the idea when he cut an old sweater into the shape of a dickey. I thought it would be a good idea for someone who works in the building trades to not have a long dangling scarf on a work site. I think he didn't like the nomenclature of the garment. Even for a silly person, the word "Dickey" is a little off-putting. So, he rejected it, and I packed it away, maybe to show at a Guild meeting along with a funny Man story. It's from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Around, done in practical Wool-Ease. While packing for the Big Move, I found it again. Re-gifted here.
I don't make many knitted items for the Man. He really doesn't appreciate it. Funny that my mate is like that. I should perhaps try knitting for my adorable nephews. They might like something.

Quilt Class

It's been over twenty years since I've done anything quilt wise. I have some vintage quilts that are now decayed beyond repair. For my last birthday, I gifted myself with a beginner class. Here's part of the project, which will be a generously sized throw for my new sofa. It's a Sunshine and Shadow patchwork. It's made my sewing together long strips of fabric, then slicing them crosswise to make the squares. The process was a lot of fun, and I couldn't resist purchasing more fabric for a bed sized quilt, which is almost ready to sew. I took my class and purchased fabric and supplies at Quiltology. I've been using the sewing machine there, as my studio is still in disarray. That place is buzzing on the weekends. I'm so pleased that this shop is taking off, which means it will exist as a resource for me. I have a third, baby sized quilt in mind for my Piccolo girl. My interest is playing with the colors, so I'm leaving the actual quilting part to professionals. I should be getting my first finished quilt in a month.

The Intruder

We live in the tree tops. It makes for a lovely view when it snows, which over that past few weeks has been a lot. Which makes coming and going and unloading a difficult, messy slog. There's an old air conditioner in the studio window, at the front of the building. The squirrels scurry up the overgrown evergreens in front. I've noticed that the accordion pleated extensions on the side of the air conditioner had holes in them, more like slashes. Sort of looking like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock film. This is a photo of the culprit. It was very close to scratching its way into the apartment, until I had the Man tape things up. The squirrel was hanging off the side of the building and grinning at us yesterday morning. It's a big one. I shudder to think about what would happen if the squirrel did make it inside, and then freak out when it realizes that this is not the place to be. The scratching that I've been hearing for a while that the Man said was tree branches against the window has actually been squirrel. I can hear it now, tonight, even.

Reasons To Be Cheerful

I'm out of the loop when it comes to marketing my book. D-list author, you know?
So, some friends told me that my book was available for pre-order at last month's TNNA. Unicorn Books posted a list of their top 100 selling titles at TNNA on their website, and Doggie Knits was number 39. In front of some books by knitting luminaries. I celebrated by buying more yarn, the new Green Line organic merino from Lorna's Laces. Maybe I'll get something lovely done to wear to my trunk show at Arcadia Knitting on March 26th.