Stuff

Well. We have had a birthday party for a REAL LIVE person! DS#1 turned seven, and he requested a Lego-themed party. He wanted to invite everyone in his class (12 kids) but only three RSVP'd. Why? I'm not sure. Then, only two of those came. Very disappointing. We had fun with the two who came, though! We had all sorts of Lego games--guess-the-amount-in-the-jar, speed-building, height-building, chopsticks-moving, relay racing with spoons, aiming into buckets, scavenger-hunting/clue-following. There may have been other games, but it is kind of a blur! We had Lego pizza (thanks Saporito's! They made rectangular pizza with the cuts and the pepperonis just so) and Lego cake. All in all, it was a good time for my boy.

Two more Letter Boys have also had birthdays. We have celebrated H Boy and I Boy days. H Boy saw everyone wearing Hats in his honor, and Hot dogs eaten. Everything was pronounced Hilarious. A couple days ago we celebrated for I Boy. He got Italian food and homemade Ice cream. There were many sprinkles involved--I think the kids liked it. J Boy will probably see Jello eaten, but I'm not sure what else...

Knitting! I've been enjoying myself. I've finished the knitting on the Mrs. Weasley's bag. (Have I said this already?) The bag needs to be lined and have handles attached. That may take me a while, but there's no real rush. I also got on a string bag kick--I think I made four out of cotton. Different patterns, different results. I also made two out of plastic bag strips. One is extremely colorful, and I really like it.

When that little burst was through, I made a hand towel with linen I bought at Knitch the first time Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was in town. I didn't think I would like knitting it at all, but I did! I have used linen before, but didn't enjoy it. That time the yarn was held doubled; this time it was a single strand. Maybe that made the difference? Maybe it was the stitches? In any case, I'm glad I made the towel. I would be glad to make more if I could find an excuse!

Now I am knitting some yarn that my sister gave me three years ago for Christmas (or five?). She used to travel extensively with her job, and had an opportunity to go to Hong Kong. I asked for cashmere yarn (I was going to pay for it!), because I thought it would be cheaper/easier to find there. (Four years makes a difference in yarn shops and what they carry.) At the time, she did not knit--what a brave girl she is to have done this for me! She actually found a yarn shop, managed to communicate what I wanted, and got beautiful yarn. The yarn wasn't from or made in China or Hong Kong, but it is beautiful. I got 5 skeins of On Line Linie 38 Kaschmerino, which knits up at 9 1/2 stitches and 5 3/4 rows per inch. She also gave me a pattern for a beautiful cabled scarf which is NOT written in English. Thank goodness for charts! This project has, for some reason, been languishing for a few years. As this is The Year I Will Finish UFOs, I have brought it out. In the past couple days, I have knit about 1 1/2 skeins worth of the scarf. Why, oh why has it taken me this long to finish it? It really is beautiful yarn and a beautiful scarf. I have decided that I will use some of the yarn to make fingerless mitts to match the scarf, so when I have finished skein #3, I will pause what I am doing to make those. Then I can finish the scarf with whatever yarn remains. I will be oh-so-stylish next winter!

I have completely ripped out my Rogue. There is more than one way to take care of a UFO! I love the pattern, but really DON'T love the yarn (for this sweater). The pattern will have to wait until I can afford nicer yarn than what I was using. The yarn, though, will make wonderful felted bags. I have a couple patterns that I've wanted to make but couldn't justify right now, so those now have a chance to get knitted. I want to say "Stay Tuned" (like this is heart-stopping drama), but I have a couple baby blankets to plan and knit, so those will probably make the queue first.

ttfn--rag

And tomorrow is for G Boy

Wow. I haven't told you about the fun we've had celebrating birthdays for D Boy, E Boy, or F Boy! Where does the time go? Here's a teensy summary: D Boy got a Dozen Decorated Doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts. E Boy got a bit more...Es and many E words and pictures on the driveway until it rained, Eggo waffles, Edamame, burned-to-a-crisp Empanadas (put out in the rain to stop the smell), and Egg decorating, as it was the week before Easter (fortunate!). F Boy got Formal Fancy-Font invitations to his Fete, Fiesta, Festival... There were Fragrant Flowers, Fajitas, Flour tortillas, Fanta, and fun. It was Fabulous! It was also on Friday (natch!), as it is every year (according to DS).

G Boy's birthday is tomorrow. The menu hasn't been completely nailed down, but I have a few options: there could be Grilled cheese, Grapes, Granola bars, Ginger Ale, Grape juice, Gatorade, Ground beef sandwiches (sloppy joes), Garden Salad, Guacamole, &/or Garbanzo bean salad. DS and I were at a store yesterday and saw a huge display of G things for the University of Georgia. He was terribly excited by all of the Gs, but I didn't think we needed to buy balloons or cups or stickers or anything else UGA related for the birthday. Now, if they'd had napkins, I probably would have buckled. G napkins would have been really cool.

What's funny about these "parties" is that the older kids (one in 1st grade and one in Kindergarten) seem to feel that they are missing out on something neat. If only they knew.

Knitting is happening. It's weird--I haven't been doing any "have to do" knitting at all. I've been on a string bag/farmer's market bag kick lately, and it is fun! I have a bit (ahem) of a cotton stash, and I've been trying to make a dent in it. So far I've finished four string bags from four patterns. One was crocheted, three were knit. I've been testing their sturdiness today--boy, are they strong. Also, the one which was my least favorite to make has been GREAT (G word!) to use. I may have to make another one. That is, after I've tested the other eight or so string bag patterns I have printed off...