Knitting Tattoo

A huge thank you to Danielle at Sanctuary here in Portland. Exactly what I wanted! I have to say I really like the studio at Sanctuary - very clean and light and open. For a while there the sun actually seemed to be streaming in!

Not the best picture because it's on my right side and trying to take it myself was tough... but you get the idea and can see some of the detail - Danielle really is an artist and I love the shading!

Kyle's Bunny - Finished!

Kyle's Bunny is done - it only took two days! He's so happy to have it. He was very jealous that his brother got one first, so all is good in life now. Now I feel more ready for Easter... at least I'm not rushing to finish up projects for it. I'm hoping that Kyle will wear his sweater I knit to Easter dinner (he swears he'll never wear it).

Happy Easter!

Easter? Really?

Easter is wayyyyyyy too early this year. Just a week ago my mother mentioned that it's this month. Who decided that?!? I had hoped to knit the boys each a dinosaur as a gift, but the pattern I have is too involved, so they're getting bunnies. Last year I knit them chicks that didn't come out great so anything will be better. Dyl's sick so we were up most of the night and I managed to finish his in a day and a half. He loves the thing. This morning I had to serve them both pancakes and the bunny got my chair at the table. It's so darn cute!

On a completely different note - is it possible for the awful weather to stop? Seriously... another storm today. Yesterday was beautiful so I went for a run and Kyle rode his new bike. It was fun and I felt like we were out of hibernation. Now we're getting an ice storm. I'm almost at the point that I would take any amount of money for the house just so we can move!

Selling the House

The house has been on the market for 11 days now (http://www.realtor.com/realestate/portland-me-04103-1096641630/) and we've had 10 showings! Good? maybe. Eventually someone will love it enough to make it their own, but until then we have to keep it spotless and repeatedly hear about how low the ceilings are.... as though we didn't all ready know it. The virutal tour our agent did is gorgeous and I watch it often so I can feel better about this process.

It's not that I don't like the concept of selling and moving to a warmer climate, but I feel like I own a B&B (mental note to never own a B&B). We've only had 3 days in the last 11 that didn't have showings, so everyday I'm cleaning like a mad woman. I'm afraid to use the stove - it's so shiny and clean. I broke down and made spaghetti and meatballs Sunday night and ended up spending and extra 45 minutes scrubbing the little red spaghetti sauce droplets off the stovetop. Then there's this whole issue of being kicked out of my house and office on a regular basis. I'm all caught up on any errand I could possibly want or need to do. My car parked around the corner from my house is my new place for returning calls - if only we had decided to have wi-fi at home... I could probably work from there as well!

Cleaning out

Spring cleaning has come really early for us this year. We're getting the house ready to list - ideally on March 1st. This means going through 5 years of stuff, getting rid of what we don't need/want, packing stuff we don't need right now, but will want or need after the move, and then sorting through everything we're keeping. It's seriously cathartic. Why do I hang onto so much stuff? My house feels calmer the more stuff we get rid of and pack away.

Part of this now is that I'm trying to finish all those outstanding projects. Believe it or not, in the last 24 hours I've completed two of my 3 WIPs. Crazy. And I like them both. I did another dishcloth - I love the finished product, but hated the way the pattern was written, so I wasn't into finishing it. Now it's done. And the sweater for Jackson is done. It's gorgeous and I'm sending it down today. He was born on Friday, so I'm only a little late.

Now onto my last WIP - my socks. I just haven't felt like working on them, but now I'm going to finish them - before we move.... hopefully!

Orange Moebius Cowl done!

That was fast! It's been a while since I've done any moebius projects (I went crazy with them for a while last year), so it was nice to do one and have it come out so perfect. I can't wait to wear this with some of my sweaters. I love orange!

And now onto the baby sweater. It's not that I don't love to do it, it's that the project is a bit tedious. So I plan to reward myself - after I complete the back I can do my Drops headband, then I have to do front. I'll have to come up with another reward after I do it. So far I've done the first 10 rows, so that's progress!

And today I signed up for the National Body Challenge. In the past year, I've lost 35 lbs and gained 5 back. My goal for the next 6 months is to lose another 20. After the National Body Challenge I'm going to join Weight Watchers online - I just need something to keep me on track. It's so exciting - I've seen myself change a lot in the last year, it will be fun to see the changes this year!

New Year

Woo hoo 2007 is finally over! That was a tough year. I think ending it by having to bring my 3 cats to a shelter probably was fitting given everything else that happened. Anyway, 2008 had better be better than 2007. So what are the plans for 2008? We're getting our house ready to sell, so we can move to NC. Then hopefully I'll do well on my LSATs and get into a great law school for fall 2009 or 2010. Really, just being out of New England for a while will be great! The winters are too much for me and I prefer hot and humid weather. I just feel better when it's 85 out.

On the needles this year are a few musts - first I had to finish my mom's birthday present. It's the Irish Hiking Scarf from Hello Yarn. Super-popular on Ravelry and this is actually the second one I've made since the first went to Liz for Christmas. The yarn is interesting. I hope she likes it... who am I kidding? she likes it, she doesn't... at least I made it and I like it.

Then there's the baby sweater for Noah and Shelley's little guy due in February. I can't wait - they'll make great parents. And finally some projects for me! I'm working on a Moebius Cowl in an orange silk boucle. Once that's done I'm going to do this headband - I've got some left over yarns that might work well for it. That's enough for now... although I swear my ravelry queue grows weekly! Happy Knitting in 2008!