Coming Up To Breathe

Breathing is good. Not coughing is also good. Breathing and not coughing at the same time - really good. My advice? Get plenty of rest, take your vitamins and wash your hands alot. You don't want what's goin' round. There were five people out at work last week - that was just in my department, and that's more than half of us. I was, as previously posted, too sick too knit for a while. But now things are back to normal, whatever that is. Except for the fact that Oldest Son totalled his car last week. It's a gift from God that he walked away with only a scratch. Now, if we can just get him beyond thinking that he's invincible.....which is a very bad way to go through life.....

On a lighter note, I've made some serious progress in other areas of my life - namely knitting. Knitting is, after all, therapy. I made a baby beanie for a co-worker's baby (due March 1st). I didn't use a pattern, just the basic hat recipe that's in my head. And would you believe this is the first time I've done I-cord? Guess I never had a reason to before, but there it is, in all it's cuteness on top. I'm going to make another one, bigger and with primary colors. Them babies grow so fast ya know?

I'm down to the bottom ribbing on the baby cardigan. Then all I have to do is sew up under the arms and put buttons on. I LOVE THIS PATTERN. There's something incredibly satisfying about it that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the fact that it starts looking like a sweater almost immediately. I'm going to modify the pattern a bit for my next one though (wait, didn't I just say I LOVED it?), and eliminate the underarm seaming. I can't see any reason why, instead of putting the body on waste yarn and then knitting the sleeves, you couldn't put the sleeves on waste yarn, knit the body and then go back to the sleeves and knit those in the round, so there's no seam at all. Seems like a no-brainer but we'll see. I'm all for being un-seam-ly.

I also got a start on Nathan's fingerless gloves. We went back and forth on how to incorporate the teal in the gray, and finally decided on striped cuffs, and teal on the ends of each finger. I think it'll be pretty cool. And I'm sure he'll wear them since he had a hand (unintentional bad pun) in the design. GO SHARKS!!

The next project I'm anxious to start is EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket. This intrigues me intensely. I bought the instructional DVD from Schoolhouse Press - and I'm really looking forward to knitting along with Meg Swanson sometime soon. Worth noting: I have no socks on the needles at the moment! This is highly unusual, but I made a promise to myself that I'd finish some things before starting another pair of socks. My next pair will be done with one of the following yarns: Fleece Artist (Lagoon), Socks That Rock (Scottish Highlands) or Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (Watercolor). How about I show you my choices? (in the order stated).

The other knitterly thing I made progress on was washing the baby blankets, hats, booties, etc. that Strands of Love (our knitting ministry) has compiled in the last few months. Before we can donate, it all needs a good wash and block. We have at least three big bins of items to donate, which we'll be doing soon (I hope). Knit on sisters!