Secret Revealed!

If you've been reading closely, you'll already have figured this out, and SFK got it in one guess anyway, but we are having a baby in July!

Yay!!

Y'all will have to wait until late July/early August to find out whether we're having a boy or a girl because we aren't finding out either. :)

Business Trip

I'm leaving on a 3 day business trip today, so am working from home before my flight. And by "working from home", I mean answering a few emails but mostly catching up on my blog reading. The last two days at work were NUTS -- it was good that I brought lunch yesterday because I scarfed it down while I typed an email one-handed. Not such a good policy because I believe you should take a break during your day, but I was hoping not to have to stay too late since I'm leaving Mr. CTK for 3 days & he's going to the symphony with my mom on Friday night.

Knitting update: I got this *gorgeous* aqua color Rowan wool/cotton for the baby hat. Did the whole hat on #5s and then decided the decreased looked really wonky, so I ripped it all back and started over on #7s. Consequently, it was not done in time for the baby shower last Friday, but I will mail it to the mom next week. I'm taking it and a book on tape on the plane, so should get a lot done on this trip. Didn't do any knitting over the weekend -- just haven't been in the mood for it lately. Not sure why, because I enjoy it when I pick it up.

While at LYS, I also found the yarn for Blu from Knitty, so *had* to indulge, even though I forgot the American Express gift card that I had earmarked to buy the denim yarn. I figure if I use the gift card for necessities like groceries, it will all be balanced out. :)

Finished shopping round 1 for my secret pal downstream, so just need to get to the PO to mail things off.

We're home -- Knit Night tonight

We had a great time in San Diego this weekend -- once we actually got there! Went to the airport on Thursday night only to discover that SD was socked in with fog. They loaded us on the plane & then said that we were on ground hold since there were already a bunch of planes circling.

After about an hour on the plane, we gave up, rebooked for Friday, went all the way home & then came back the next morning. I was so tired from all that that I didn't do any knitting on the plane (either time!). I just passively listened to a book on CD.

Tonight I am going to a knitting group that occurs every 3 months or so. It is kind of nice that it is so infrequent because I could probably never do a regular weekly thing since I go to the gym on Tuesday and Thursdays for yoga. Or I used to. Hopefully I will start again soon. Blegh.

I need to go home and figure out if I have enough of any yarn to make a baby hat so I can cast on before going to knitting. I always like to take something that I don't have to think much about. A friend from work is having a small shower on Friday, so I'd like to get a hat done for that. Love those quick little baby hats! I'll probably do the umbilical cord hat from SnB. If I don't have appropriate yarn, a quick trip to Article Pract for some of my favorite Rowan wool/cotton might be in order. I just adore the feel of that stuff & with my Addi Turbos, I can get a hat done pretty quickly. Will have to remember to take my dpns just in case I get to the decrease part (which I doubt, since I am slow).

I can't remember if I whined here about my TiVo box going kaput. Was all excited because we came home and my neighbor called to say the new one arrived. Turns out the *replacement* was also broken! So now replacement #2 is on its way to my house. Grrrr. I have to miss the first American Idol tonight -- I love the early ones since they contain all of the crappy singers. Mostly I watch it to mock the contestants, but I usually end up liking a few. And then I usually want my favorite to come in second so they don't have to make the schlocky stuff that the AI producers make them do.

Hola, San Diego

Off to San Diego for the weekend, so I'll actually have an excuse for not posting!

I'll be taking along my orange yarn to work on Knitty pumpkin sections. I decided to go ahead and make the large one before seaming and felting both sizes. The pumpkin sections will be nice easy things to have on a flight -- very simple, so can be put down and picked up as I enjoy the delicious snack of peanuts that Southwest provides.

Don't know if I'll have a chance to visit any SD yarn stores as my SIL isn't a knitter & I'd feel pretty self-indulgent making her drive me all over to find them.

Really, it's only to be kind

Today I got chicken strips and fries for lunch. It didn't even come with a lettuce leaf lining the box in some sort of semblance of healthyness. 3 strips, big pile 'o fries. At least I had ketchup and mustard so there was some plant based materials involved. (Well, besides the potatoes, which I know come from plants)

At first I told myself that I was only eating the fries to slow myself down from scarfing the chicken strips. Kind of like the fries needed to keep the chicken company. But then the strips were all consumed and I continued eating fries "cause they were still hot". Now all the fries are pretty cold, yet they still sit on my desk looking forlornly at me. Yes, I could shut the box and throw them away, but then I start with the justification.

Potatoes contain potassium. I should eat all those fries because of the *value* they bring my body. While I consume those much-needed vitamins, I could be contemplating my afternoon sugar snacky item. See, I just ate a cold fry just now. And another.

Sigh. At least I ate healthy yesterday for breakfast and lunch. Nevermind that we are going away for the weekend where we will most likely eat out every single meal.
There's an orange sitting at my desk too. Must eat that before buying giant theatre sized box of candy at Walgreen's this afternoon (I really need to buy some safety pins, which is my justification that I'm not just going out for sugar.)

My secret pal has already been shopping for me -- yay! Now I gotta get cracking for my downstream pal!

Secret Pal Seven Questions

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? I guess I am a bit of a yarn snob, though I do appreciate some of the Lion Brands -- cotton ease and some of the wool blends. Red Heart just feels too scratchy.

2. Do you spin? Crochet? No, I save all of my time for knitting.

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? Generally, the packets they came in.

4. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? My knitaversary is coming up next month! I'd say beginner-intermediate. I was in grad school when I started knitting, so probably accomplished more projects in my first year of knitting than a lot of beginning knitters.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) Lavendar, Mint, Cotton, mmmmm, lots.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I'm an equal opportunity sweet lover, though prefer things like Swedish fish and Jelly Bellies to chocolate. I could eat candy every day and not tire of it. :)

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? I'm more into cooking than crafts beyond knitting. I do sew, but picked up knitting because it is so portable.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like a lot of different types of music. Try me. I mostly listen to 80s New Wave, the Beatles and girl singers from Ani DiFranco to Sleater-Kinney

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? So hard to choose -- I like greens & blues a lot. Have red hair, so I tend to avoid the red family.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Married, two cats, wee one expected in late July!

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Scarves and hats. I prefer gloves. No to the ponchos.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? I do love Rowan wool/cotton, but wouldn't really say I've been knitting long enough to have a favorite. More whatever strikes my fancy when I visit the yarn shop.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I'm not really into the novelty yarns.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? I don't really get on an obsession track -- I operate more on finding patterns that I like then getting the yarn for it. I guess baby hats are the one thing that I like to make that I'll freestyle with.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Anything that I don't end up frogging at some point. :) I like scarves and hats for the quick and easy-ness; sweaters for the end result satisfaction.

17. What are you knitting right now? the pumpkins from Knitty.com's fall issue

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? yes

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? circs, but somewhat project dependent

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Bamboo, but I do love Addi Turbos when I feel like splurging

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? yes, both.

22. How did you learn to knit? I took a class at my LYS, then picked up techniques from books and the web.

23. How old is your oldest UFO? Don't have any currently.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? Rudolph, probably.

25. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

26. Is there anything that you collect? no

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? none. I tried interweave, but probably would never keep up with reading knit mags. I prefer food mags because I don't feel the guilt if I never make a single recipe from them.

28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? None that I can think of.

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Not that I can think of right now.

30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Haven't attempted socks yet. Not sure of measurements, but I wear a women's 9.5

31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) 10/20

Pumpkin Patch

So, having yesterday off while poor Mr. CTK had to work (don't feel too bad, he gets Friday off), I cast on and completed six out of seven sections for a small Knitty pumpkin. I hope to complete the final section and some of the stem pieces tonight.

Hoo-ha! Now the only question is whether I want to attempt knitting up a couple of them, so I can have one big felting session. I love felting so much that I don't know that I will be able to wait!

I also took Mr. Max to the vet because he started limping around on NYE day on his left front paw. Poor little guy. He will still bear weight on it, and doesn't squirm when I palpate his entire leg, but when he sits down, he holds it up in the air & my heart goes out to him.

Anyway, the vet couldn't find any real reason, so thinks he could have done some soft tissue damage while wrestling with Frances. But, we did find a marble sized tumor right above that leg. The vet drew out some fat, so thinks it is just a benign fatty tumor, but shaved the area so we can watch for growth. Apparently sometimes a "good" tumor can hide a bad tumor. :( It would devastate me if we lost Max -- he is my total snugglepie bunny kitty. But, at least we found it while it was small, so the second any change happens we will cut that bad boy out.

Thoughts to San Francisco Knitter these days too.