Sorry for the absence. My parents were here for a week and a half and there wasn't much time or privacy for blogging. I am very grateful for my parents generosity but they are some seriously nosy people. They have no concept of boundaries. I won't say anything else out of respect for them raising me.

I have decided that I am going to make a separate blog to talk about what we are doing with ds1. I don't want people to not read me because all I am talking about is RDI and other therapies but I would also like a place to be able to do an in-depth documentation of his progression. I have not decided if it will be a public blog or not yet but I am leaning towards not. I would like it to be somewhere where I feel free to be completely honest about my feelings without worrying about getting flamed.

In knitting news I am working on the Back to School U Neck Vest for me. It is from the book Fitted Knits. I am using Harrisville Designs Flax and Wool Blend in Spice. It is worked from the waist up and I am almost finished with the ribbing. I am also making my mom a pair of Jaywalkers in Steinbach Woole Aktiv Effekt. I picked both yarns up at a yarn store I visited in Knoxville recently. Next up I am making socks for dd and I have to re-knit my Sockapalooza socks. The other socks that I had knit the cuffs of vere just too messed up and I had to completely frog them.

There are lots of other things going on around here, some good some bad. I hope to get back in the swing of things this week and hopefully be back to blogging regularly.

It is very hot in my house right now. About 2 weeks ago the central air was acting broken. We called the repairman, he came out and fixed it for $65. This morning we were going out for the day so I turned it up to 82 and left. When we got back I walked into a greenhouse. I checked the thermostat and it said 90. I went to check the unit outside. The fan was turning in the top, it was not when we called the guy last time. If you have a central air thing you can look at the bottom and see 2 pipes going in. One is covered in insulation. If you are using the central air it should be cold and sweaty. It was hot and dry. I turned off the ac, opened the windows and called dh and the ac guy. He just got here so hopefully he can fix it quickly and cheaply. Ugh.

ETA: Hooray, it's fixed and it only cost $32. He just charged us for the part since he was just here 2 weeks ago. Now I have to wait for it to cool down so I can clean up. My mommy is coming tomorrow!

Oh Jan!

I love this cute little dress pattern. So simple but so darling all at the same time. I have made this twice in a month's time. The first was a size 4 in tunic length, this is a size 2 in dress length. These pics are unblocked. I had to run to the post office to send some papers to my MIL so I sent this at the same time. The recipient is also a knitter so she can take care of the blocking. The specs:

Pattern: Jan by Wendy Bernard
Size: 2
Yarn: Popsical Blue (Turquoise) Cotton Ease
Needles: US 7 Knit Picks Options
Mods: I feel that this needs a ruffle instead of the garter stitch edging the pattern specified. I increased in every stitch, knit one round, did another increase round and then knit about 7 rounds before binding off 592 stitches! I also did single crochet around the armholes and neck instead of picking up the stitches knitting a round, then binding off as the pattern directed.

A few weeks ago I got a copy of Fitted Knits. It was a busy time so I didn't get to look through it like I wanted. Last night when I got into bed I read through the whole book. There were two patterns that I have a deep, burning desire to knit right this minute. The first is this U Neck Vest that you see pictured and being swatched for. The other is the Cozy V Neck Pullover with Deep Ribbing. I didn't have the yarn for the pullover and I also can't wear it now since it is about 5,000 degrees here. I do have enough yarn (I think) for this vest. I am using Harrisville Designs Flax and Wool blend. The color is Spice, which is perfect for the yarn. I am a bit disappointed with the yarn so far. The vest is worked from the waist up. I cast on the waist stitches and in 2 rounds the yarn pulled apart 3 times. I have knit 4 more rounds since then with no pulling apart so I am hoping that it was just a bad spot. I look forward to getting this knit up. Hopefully quickly because I need to resume on my abandoned Sockapalooza socks.

A little about me

I have been keeping a blog at Xanga for the past few years but I am fed up with the premium bullshit and the slow, almost nonexistent customer service. I'm going to leave my old blog up there and still check in for the people's blog I do read but for now on I will be posting here. You can go over there and check it out if you are interested at all.

First of all I am a stay at home mom and wife. I have 3 kids. My daughter is 11 lives with her father. We divorced when I was in the Navy and stationed on a ship. When I got out she was already in grade school and happy where she was. She comes to visit us on school breaks and we talk often. My eldest son will turn 6 in a month. He will be going to first grade next year. Last week he was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and Oppositional Defiance Disorder. Now I have to begin to navigate the maze of therapists, school services and government agencies. I am still taking it all in right now. My youngest and last child will be 3 in August. He thinks he is a kitty kat. I've been married to my hub for 6 years now. We live in a small town in Southeastern Kentucky.

I'm also a knitter. I learned to knit when my youngest was born because I had to sit an nurse for hours and hours. I needed something to do with my hands. I have recently found that I really don't like big projects and my favorite thing to knit is socks. I can also crochet a little and sew enough to make a pair of curtains, though I would love to get better. I used to cross stitch years ago and am sure I still can, I just can't leave my thread laying around with the kids running around the house.

Another thing that I am trying to get into is meal planning and grocery budgeting. I used to coupon a lot, and still do sometimes, but it seems like most of the deals have disappeared in the last few years. I am very guilty of running out to the store for one of two things and coming out with $40 in groceries at least once a week, but often 2 or 3 times. Because of all of this I am spending way too much money on groceries. I would like to start planning a week of meals in advance and then work up to two weeks. I want to make a shopping list of all that I will need for the week, buy what I need and not go back. I also want to start buying everything that I can from Aldi, Sav A Lot and local farm stands and only go to Kroger for things that only they carry, like organic milk and cooking wine.

Oh, I hate this template but I don't know how to snazzy it up myself. If one of my more blogger savvy friends wants to help me figure it out I would love you forever.