So thankful...

Today, let's all take a moment to remember the sacrifices of our Armed Forces. If it weren't for them, being willing to put their lives on the line, we would not have the freedoms we hold dear. God, bless our military; keep them safe, and bring them home when the job is done. Amen.

Terminator: Salvation

It's a very good movie. I fully intend to rent it when it comes out on DVD, so I can catch whatever I might have missed the first time around. In this movie, John Connor(played by Christian Bale: swoon!) is a soldier. He's not leader of the resistance, yet. The machines have taken over, and are in the process of eradicating all humans. The Terminators still look like machines, not like people. John hasn't yet met his father, Kyle Reese, who is still a teenager at this point. But the machines know who Kyle is and why he's important, so they're trying to get to him before John does. John is assisted in his quest by a human/machine hybrid, which the machines created for infiltration.

The original Terminator makes an appearance, but considering how he looks and the fact that he doesn't speak a word, I'm pretty sure he was computer generated. However, his famous line, "I'll be back" is heard, just not from him. It's a great story of bravery, trust, redemption, and insanity. And there are lots of awesome guns. All in all, a terrific movie. Go see it.

Designing a pattern...

I am neck-deep in designing a pattern, which I intend to submit for publication. I have to keep it mostly secret for now, but I just have to share my excitement. And my exhaustion. I've designed several projects before, but none that I wanted to submit anywhere.

With this one, I was inspired by the yarn, which is unusual for me. I usually come up with an idea, then find a yarn to go with the idea. I saw this gorgeous yarn, at Walmart of all places, and knew I had to use it. I'm not generally a big fan of acrylics, but this one is so pretty. It's a Vanna's Choice Print yarn. It's variegated, but not in the same way most variegated yarns are. It's two colors, a dark pink on one side, and a lighter pink on the other side. So it knits up like double stranded yarn. The variegation is very subtle. It makes a lovely knitted fabric.

So I saw this beautiful yarn, and knew that it would be perfect for a garment for a little girl. Since it's acrylic, it's washable; a very important consideration for kids' clothes. And I've already said I love the way it looks knitted up. I'm not telling yet what type of garment I'm designing, but suffice it to say: it will include ruffles and lace, and it will be sized from 2 to 10, for girls.

I've spent the last couple of days swatching and calculating, and calculating some more. And I have to keep meticulous track of every stitch, so that it can be translated into a marketable pattern. I'm about halfway done with knitting my first sample, which will be just the perfect size for my youngest daughter this fall. After I finish hers, I'll recalculate for the next size, and the size after that, and the size after that. And the size after that. Fortunately, three of the sizes will fit my girls this fall; I may simply knit and save the other two sizes for when they will eventually fit someone. Or I may ask for test knitters. Actually, I'll probably ask for test knitters anyway, just to check my arithmetic; it is just basic multiplication and percentages, but still, a double-check is always good. I am very glad I have so many friends online who knit; I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding people who would like to try out my pattern in advance of its publication. It will be published, either by the online magazine I'll be submitting it to, or by myself here on my blog.

Anyway, I am exhausted from all this calculating, and knitting. My left wrist is sore; I need to take a little break from the knitting. So I'm going to a movie this evening with Hubby. We're going to see "Terminator: Salvation". I'm going to just turn off my brain for a little while and enjoy the movie. Note to self: don't forget the earplugs. Movies are so loud they hurt my ears, especially my favorite type of movies: action. I have hearing damage from shooting without ear protection last fall. I learned my lesson quick, let me tell you!

How do you tell someone their pattern is wrong?

Seriously. I want to know.

I spent a couple of hours last night, wrestling with what should be a very simple lace stitch pattern. I read the pattern. I tried charting the pattern, because I understand patterns better that way. But when I charted it as it was written, it didn't make sense. The yarnovers didn't end up where they were supposed to be, to look like the picture. Well, I thought maybe this pattern just doesn't lend itself well to charting, but in my heart I knew better. I decided to knit it exactly as written, as confusing as that was; and then to try charting it from my knitted piece. My swatch looked exactly how my chart had said it would. So I ripped it out and tried again. And again. Finally, I tossed the pattern aside, and charted it the way it made sense to me. My chart looked right. So I cast on and started knitting it just like I'd charted it. And it turned out right. My pattern works, and the original pattern from the big yarn company doesn't. And my pattern really was simple.

So how do I tell the big yarn company that their pattern is wrong? And will they even pay attention to me, a humble knitter? (or maybe not so humble sometimes) I mean, if I were the big yarn company, I probably wouldn't listen to someone who's been knitting less than a year and a half. I'd wonder who the heck she thinks she is, telling me, the big yarn company, how to do what I've been doing for goodness knows how long.

With that thought in mind, maybe I shouldn't even bother. But then, I think of all the other knitters who might try to use that stitch pattern and be as frustrated as I was. Most people would probably have given up and picked a different stitch pattern. I couldn't give up; the pattern had issued me a challenge, and I had to meet it, because I'm that kind of knitter. And I won. I'm glad I won, because now it means I can use the stitch pattern I wanted to use in a project I'm designing. But I'm also not glad I won, because I'm not an "I told you so" kind of person. I don't like making someone feel bad. Especially people who take the time to come up with stitch patterns and write them down for other people to use.

Any thoughts? Suggestions?

PS: I'm not mentioning the name of the pattern, or the yarn company that published it, because that is not important to my dilemma. I don't want to defame the company. I actually really like their yarns, and many of their patterns.

Decided I needed a new look...

I got my hair cut today! I've been wanting to do it for a little while. I've been dyeing my hair for so long that it's really damaged, except for the roots. The roots are nice and silky, like all of my hair used to be. So I've stopped dyeing it. But that didn't solve the problem of fried hair, so I decided to get it cut short. It's not quite as short as I had it when I was a newlywed, but pretty short. And it has a style! I haven't had a real style since I was pregnant with Princess...and she's four years old now. So now, I've got short hair, with style! I also got my eyebrows waxed since I was there, and they really really needed it. I'd never had them waxed before, but I think I will from now on. So much quicker than tweezing. And the pain is over with quicker too.

Now, if I could just lose 40 pounds...I'd be ready for summer! Okay, so I'm ready for summer as it is. But I am going to lose those 40 pounds. Starting now. Next summer, I'm going to need all new clothes!

I have a cold.

I thought it was just allergies. But now I'm pretty sure it's a cold. My nose is stuffy and runny. My throat is sore. And I feel very fatigued. I haven't even done anything today except take the kids to the library. So I should still have plenty of energy, considering I slept pretty well last night. But I need a nap. It's just past 10 in the morning, and I already need a nap. Bah. It's not fun to be sick.

I got a bunch of books at the library about knitting for babies; I'm thinking of knitting something special for Allyson. I won't get a chance to see her until October, so I'm trying to decide whether I want to make something for summer and send it, or make something for winter and bring it along when we go north this fall. I saw a pattern online for a pretty little short sleeved cardigan, which might work. But then, maybe long sleeves would be better. I can't decide. So I'm going to look through the library books and see if I find anything that strikes my fancy. To be honest, most babies' (or kids') patterns I've seen look like they're straight out of the 80s: oversized, boxy, too many colors, ridiculous patterns...if you knit, you know what I mean. No offense meant to anyone who likes that (outdated) style. ;) I'm looking for something sweet and pretty, probably with some lace, but nothing too intricate; maybe some ruffles...in either a very subtle variegated yarn, or a solid color. I might have to end up creating my own pattern. But I love doing that, so it's no big deal.

Now if I can just stay awake to look through those pattern books...

I must be crazy.

This morning, I took the kids to Ruckus Room, a local funhouse. It has four rooms, filled with those inflatable jumping things and slides. The kids love it. I love it too, but only for about an hour and a half. Today we stayed for almost 2 hours.

Here's Angel, hugging a snail...

Princess, about to slide...

Dolly, jumping...

Dolly, just after she went down the big slide, all by herself...

We had a great time, even though there were some bigger kids there whose mother was ignoring them. They were very pushy and rough, and my girls aren't used to that. At one point, they pushed past Dolly on the ladder of the slide, and she lost her grip and tumbled all the way to the bottom. She was more scared than hurt, but I was pretty upset. These boys were probably 5 or 6, and should know better than to be so rough with such a little girl. Sorry...getting down off the soapbox now... Aside from trying to avoid the little brats, we had fun. Princess found a couple other little girls about her age and played very nicely with them. Angel was very sweet to the littler kids, finding bouncy balls and giving them to the kids. Anyway, now I can check that off the list; the girls have been begging to go there for months. I'm exhausted.


Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I got a little more knitting done. Here's the first picture of the lace tank top I'm making for Angel. That safety pin near the bottom has beads on it and spells out "front". I did that because I'm knitting in the round, on two circular needles, and wanted to keep track of which side was the front and which was the back. That way I can keep my lace pattern straight; the beginning of the round is the front.

I need a nap...