Loopy Me or "I Give You My Heart"

Episode 16

I Productions Scheduling
1. Events
1. Ann Arbor Fiber Expo October 22 and 23rd at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds.
2. Yankee Peddler Festival in Canal Fulton, OH 3 weekends in September the weekend of the 10th, 17th, and 24th. I'll be at this event on September 18th. Be sure to drop by the Algonquin Spinning and Weaving Guild's booth. They'll be doing demonstrations and may have crafts for kids!
3. Newly scheduled and the event that is now the one I am most looking forward to! I will be attending Session one of Camp KIP April 21-24 2012. This is not the session with all the cool kids... but as I told my mom who I've talked into going with me. “We're cool and fun...” So we're pretty excited to be going and can't wait to see everyone in session one!
2. Production
3. What's in my Tea Pot
4. Material sourcing
5. After 5

II Production
1. The Embassy Scarf by Amy Polcyn found in the Knitscene summer 2011 issue. I’ll be knitting this out of Knitpicks Shadow lace weight in Foxtrot.
1. I made up for ignoring this pattern last week. This is the project that got most of the love. I think I did a better job with this pattern this week on pain killers than I have in the previous 2 weeks. Go figure! Strictly by eyeball I'll say I'm almost at the halfway point. I've kinda fallen back in love with this scarf this week. I had gotten to the point that the toe up sock was much more interesting. (Maybe since it was a new technique????) The resulting fabric is very fine and I'll admit that Joe caught me wearing it with the needles in it. IS it just me or does anyone else doh that?
2. Knitting A Basic Toe-Up Sock Using the “Magic Loop” Circular Method One Sock on One Circular which is a free ravelry download and available at http://www.tostetoes.com/onesockoneneedletoeup.htm
1. Even though I'm pretty sure I'll be running out of yarn for this i'm still knitting on it off and on. I'm praying for a miracle. But I'm expecting reality to break through at any moment. I'm to the point where I need to decide what I'm doing. I know I should frog the sock and turn it into a hat. But I have another ball of left overs. I'm tempted to cast on the second sock and then find something that coordinates to finish both.... Decisions decisions... I wish I knew why I'm sooo attached to this half done sock....
3. Kitschy Teacup Pot Holders: {Free Crochet Pattern} from www.tipnut.com. These are being hooked Sugar and Cream Cotton yarn in White, Rose Pink, and Hot Green.
1. I finally finished the second of the pink tea cups. So Now I have a set. All that's left to do Is put on the “lazy Daisy's” and whip stitch them together. One problem I can't lazy daisy to save my life. It may just be my currently muddled state of mind but I couldn't pull it off so the tea cup is hibernating in the project bag.

III What's In my Tea Pot
1. Storehouse Tea Company Earl Grey Organic Fair Trade Black Tea Organic Fair Trade black tealeaves and natural bergamot flavor. Organic Earl Grey is a rich full bodied blend of bold flavored Yunnan Dian Hong harvested from antique tea trees infused with natural Bergamot citrus from Southern Italy. Studies show black tea can help prevent plaque build up in the arteries and is effective for cholesterol reduction.
1. Straight out fo the package the Bergamot is a bit assertive. I like earl gray and I never thought I would ever think there was sucha thing as too much bergamot. Luckily brewing tamed it down and this is a nice Earl Gray. The leave are nice and large and stand up well to a second steep. I won't say that this will un seat my favorite Earl Gray but this is a great alternative if I'm out of my usual. I really enjoyed this one.

IV Material sourcing
1. Spinning this week was fairly minimal I did sit down twice this week to spin. I'm still working on the 1st eight oz ball of the 16 oz of Pot luck fiber in the party colorway from Paradise fibers. I'm trying to finish this bobbin so I can try out that alpaca blend I bought at the fiber fling last week. But as the podcast is late and I can't spin while I'm guilty... here I am... I have been looking at the previously plied bobbin and I think the long color repeats will lend itself well to a beret possibly... Sandra's Slouchy Beret by Sandra Alice which is as always a FREE ravelry download.

V After 5

After 5 was shaping up to be pretty productive this week.  Back in the time before AJ was banished to the shipping dock.  I had an office in a quiet part of the building.  I only had on neighbor that I cold rely on to actually be in the office.  We shared our “wing” with upper managerial types that traveled and the line leaders who were out on the production floor all day.  Needless to say my neighbor and I became pretty good friends.  So we started celebrating each others birthdays and exchanging at Christmas.  Even now after my banishment to shipping and her relocation to customer service we still exchange.  It just happens that Mel’s b-day was last Friday.  Now we all know that AJ is early for nothing.  So when Mel decided to take a few vacation days around her day.  I got a reprieve on the present.   Through the years I’ve gotten my friend just about anything you can imagine…  Purses, Earrings, candles, vases….  I’ve even knit for her!  Even though she does support my knitting and suitably oohs and ahhs over my latest pair of socks or lace shawl.  These items are not her style and I wouldn’t consider them appropriate gifts.  So I was in a quandary.  What to get my friend who has almost everything.  I had been hemming and hawing over this for days when even my interns had figured out what they were going to give my friend (A cookbook…).  So while I was wallowing in my indecision I started perusing yarn on line.  (Come on admit it you do this too….)  When I found it! On the Loopy Ewe Blog page.  A recipe for Cake Batter Truffles!  After some thought I figured I’d make the truffles and some Home made S’more Marshmallows put them in a nice new vase / container add some ribbon et voila’ a gift to put the interns to shame.  If you like cookie dough or licking the cake batter spoon you have got to try this recipe.  It’s easy, ingenious, and delicious.  They took about 1 hr total to make and looked like I spent a fortune on handmade candy.  But the best part is that when I was asked where I bought them I gave my little smile and said “Oh, I made those myself.”  my friend suggested that I make them to sell.  (To which I replied Uh …  when?)  And my coworkers are surreptitiously trying to inform me of their various birth dates.    Unfortunately the marshmallows ended up being a day late. The entire time I was in the grocery store making sure I had everything I needed I forgot the gelatin that goes into the marshmallows.  So luckily the truffle recipe made enough to fill the container I bought and have some left over.  I ended up outing that I had planned on making marshmallows and wound up committing my self to make them later in the week.  It was after all of this that I realized it was Wednesday and that I was having surgery on Friday so If they were to appear later that week they had to be made that night.  Why can I never manage to keep my mouth shut?  So B and I went back into the kitchen!  This time there wasn’t much for him to help me with since Marshmallows involve molten sugar.  His involvement was pretty much just licking the spatula at the end.  But that’s the great thing about kids in the kitchen.  They feel like they’ve accomplished something by just dumping sugar into a bowl and licking a spatula.  They almost did not get their chocolate and graham cracker coasting as I managed to seize the dipping chocolate.  Luckily I had some Hershey bars on stand by and everything turned out.  As of now…  In the refrigerator there are maybe 6 truffles, 2 dozen un dipped marshmallows, and ZERO s’more marshmallows.  I think we can tell what Joe like the best.  The one’s I didn’t take to work did not last a full day in the fridge and that’s with me not eating solid food and Nate on vacation with his dad

Not much else has been happening around the house here this week. My world was really derailed by my trip to the oral surgeon. I've been pretty stressed about getting my wisdom teeth out. I have a touch of white coat syndrome as it is. Combine that with all the horror stories I've heard about this particular procedure and my own brand of crazy and you'll get an idea of what a stress ball I've been. It was so bad that Joe got a bit snappish with me and I told him “When something aweful happens to me in their you're gonna regret saying that!” The really funny thing is for all that stressing and freakign out the actual procedure is the easy part! Sit in the chair... get hooked up to the tubes. Breathe the gas and go to sleep. The hard part is the week after. I had no idea how loopy the pain meds were going to make me. I spent the day of the procedure asleep. And when I wasn't asleep I was LOOPED! After that I figured out the dosage was to high and cut it back. Day two – four were spent in mostly sleep with a few precious hours of being up and feeling good. Which I put to good use and I knit! Today was the first day I felt anywhere near normal and that wasn't even until this evening. So I'm really not looking forward to finding all the things I botched at work this morning! But the hands down best thing that came of this was yesterday. Joe had gone back to work and it was just the kids and I home. I was about at my melting point. B just wanted to play and jump and be his normal self and I just wanted to lay down and cry. In typical 4 yr old fashion he suddenly out of no where had to use the potty. So off he runs and in about 5 minutes I hear that little voice … “mooooommmmy...” of course he needs help. So I go in and I;m helping him get back together and he say's. “you know what, mommy?” and I say “What, B?” and he says “I love you, Mommy.” He's already got me but then he pulls out the finisher. “Do you know what that means Mommy? It means I give you my heart.” I swear on a stack of bibles that came out of my 4 yr olds mouth and I did cry. And I told him”I love you to B.” and then he asks “Does that mean I have to give you flowers and presents?” Now if it was his daddy the answer would have been YES, flowers and Sparkly Presents that come in small hinged boxes... but for my little B I told him. “ No Just hugs and kisses.”

Special thanks this week go out to Moxiedot for the wonderful I tunes Review. Thank You!