Bad Moods

I am just in a bad mood. It seems like everything and everyone is on a mission to screw with me today. Ever have those days? Everything is just getting on my nerves. It's either because I'm really tired (my little man is going through a growth spurt and isn't sleeping well plus allergies make it hard for him to breathe) or my allergies are acting up (always a possibility) or it's just time for me to be in a bad mood, since I really don't have them that often. I am SO ready to start really getting up someone else's nose today.

I have, on the bright side, been finishing things right and left. I finished the Baby I.Q. Afghan (all but weaving in ends), and the body of Sheldon. I also organized my recipes. I find a stack here and there that need organizing, but it's all a process. It's supposed to rain this weekend, so I think I'm going to spend Saturday doing a few things in the house, rather than in the yard. I hope to start a couple of more projects this month, and get a few things finished as well. Here are the goals for April:

1. Finish Sheldon completely and give to recipient.
2. Complete toe-up double knitted socks and write down instructions.
3. Start on gloves for my brother
4. Start on socks for either my brother or sister-in-love. :)
5. Get desk/front room organized.

It doesn't look like a very long list, but trust me, it will keep me VERY busy this month. We're heading up to Toccoa next weekend to visit the in-laws. Hopefully I'll have some knitting time in the car to and from, so I can make some serious progress on some of the above items. I need to get the front room organized, so I can block my Clapotis. It's great as a scarf right now, but it could really use some blocking so I can wear it as a wrap.

Changing things

Ok, I'm going to try and get some changes going here. I signed up at Ravelry for the BOA (Blog Organization Along) and have yet to work on it. I think I tried to tackle too much. So, I'm hoping that next week I can start getting some changes made on this here blog. Work should slow down a little, and maybe then I can post a little more as well. I've got TONS of stuff going on, and I want it all done now. Ever have those days? I guess I need to keep a list going and prioritize in a major way. I just wish I didn't have to sleep...it's cutting into my knitting time (and other things as well).

Where does the time go?

I finished the Cardigan...almost (still). I bought snaps to put on behind the buttons, but my sewing skilz just ain't happenin'. I started on my own personal Clapotis. I know, I'm about 3 years behind the rest of the world...go figure. Also, for a while, although I'd like a few things from each issue of Knitty, this issue to me is the best in a long time. Almost all of the patterns I would LOVE to knit (the only 2 being the little girl things, because I don't have a little girl). Everything else is FABULOUS!

In the realm of baking, I am going to attempt new Heath Bars either tonight or tomorrow. Probably tomorrow, because I am flippin' exhausted today. Fortunately, since I made a double batch of the toffee, there's plenty to go around. I have 9 other recipes to choose from, and 3 of them call for granulated sugar, which I think was the problem in the first batch. I will conquer the Heath bars!

I have decided how to clean out my closet. First, there's the whole idea of only keeping what fits you...just about everything in my closet fits, so that's not going to get rid of much. The next thought I had (although it might be a natural conclusion for some, it took me a little while to figure this one out...I'm a little slow on the upswing some days) was to clean out everything I didn't like the color or pattern of. This will include a lot of the items hanging up there. I was keeping most of them because they fit...not because I liked them. This led to an overabundant closet and a small worn selection. We're going to fix that. I'm on a girly kick, so pinks, purples, reds, some blues and greens, will stay. The rest is getting packed up and shipped out (probably to the Goodwill store just down the road from my house). I really hate to give it all away, but in order to make room to receive more, I need to clean out what I have. I might even find a few items at the Goodwill to purchase; I haven't looked yet, so I don't know what they have.

Saturday is picture day! We're taking pictures of Little Man again, so I'm all excited! I just have to iron his shirt and pants, and figure out what outfit #2 will be.

The room with a view

I finally got some progress in the craft room. I know how I want it set up, and all I need is to get the stuff out of there that doesn't belong and put the rest of the stuff away. I moved some of the furniture (the sewing table, the cutting table and the file-cabinet-o-patterns) and decided what needs to go in the rest of the space. I can even relinquish some of the space for a half bath later. Once we get the money (probably in a few years, but hey, it's our house...we can take our time with getting it the way we want it), we can refinish the basement the way it needs to be done (read: the way it should have been done in the first place). It looks like someone quickly slapped a few walls up here and there in order to add square footage to it. On the bright side, it gave us a good idea of the potential. On the down side, there is stuff that needs to be ripped out and replaced. there's also some vermin issues that we will deal with as we progress. I'm hoping to get to some knitting tonight...or crochet. I seem to have craft ADHD recently. I even picked up some cross-stitch last night and started on that...again. Maybe I'll pick one project and work on getting it completed this weekend. We're skipping church tomorrow morning, to have some family time. That means no rushing around tonight and no hurried morning. I can stay up a little later and work on something. I've been busy today, and yesterday I got one box of patterns organized. There are several others, but one is a step in the right direction. I'm hoping to get more boxes organized as the weeks progress. Work is really slow, so I'm hoping that between that and the upcoming holidays I can make some headway.

No knitting for you

I did not get to knit any last night. Instead, I got to sit in traffic for 2 hours for a 45 minute trip while police searched cars for a bank robber. That's right; they shut down a major highway during rush hour to search for a guy who had traded a note for a bag of money (don't you wish you could do that without repercussions?) and did a car-to-car search. They were literally walking from car to car, searching each one for the robber. So, I didn't get to do much of anything last night, other than sit in the car (I was driving) and wait. It was sad. I did however, manage to get some stuff together for a productive day today. Hopefully, by the time I get home, patterns will be organized. :0)

Finally...decisions made and organizing beginning

I've been thinking about storing patterns recently. A friend of mine, who's going through the nesting phase of her third pregnancy, came over and started going through my patterns. She couldn't nest in her own home (due to there's nothing really to nest...she cleaned out everything back in January) so she started on mine. No worries. Her suggestion was to put all my patterns in page protectors and store them in binders. Good idea...with one minor problem. I have over 400 patterns, just on my computer alone. Added in to the ones from yarn labels, and others I never stored on my computer, and we're probably talking about a good 1,000 patterns, and that's probably just knit and crochet patterns! That doesn't even include the gazillion cross-stitch, few beadwork and tatting patterns I have as well. At $12 per box of 100 page protectors, that gets to be a mighty expensive storage solution. While some people might have a money tree in their backyard, I don't. So, we're going for a cheaper option. Here's the plan: I have a nice-sized file cabinet. I have file folders. The patterns are going to be categorized (sweaters, scarves, hats, stoles, etc.), put in file folders, and put in the file cabinet. I have plans to make sure all the craft patterns are downstairs in the craft room in the file cabinet, and all the financial files (tax returns, legal documents, etc) are upstairs in the desk. Those files will also require a copy in a fire box or safety deposit box of some sort. That will come in good time. I also managed last night to sort through some of said financial papers and get the trash gone (like envelopes, fliers, and those nasty little inserts they always manage to stick in there). Most everything went easily into some folders I had lying around, and a box of 100 file folders is cheaper and will go farther than the box of page protectors. Don't get me wrong...I love the page protectors. I'm planning on keeping a few of them around and storing the current WIP patterns in them, and putting those with all the yarn for the project (see how organized I can be?!). I did some of that last night as well. This weekend will prove to be interesting...I'm still half tempted to tell hubby to take Little Man and go visit his parents, and leave me at home to clean, organize, and do the grocery shopping. However, I don't think that will fly with him. So, in that case, I have lots to do between tonight and Monday. There's got to be a way to clone myself so I can be in two places at once.

Frustration

I can't seem to make the swatch work for me. I hope the color coding I did will help me pay closer attention and let it finally work! Crochet work update: I finished the Baby I.Q. Afghan for Sebastian this past weekend, and it went into the wash (pictures should be ready on Friday - I have to get it out and take them). Friday should hold many pictures for you.

I'm hoping to spend at least a little time this week in my craft room. If I get in there, pictures will be taken as the transformation happens. I have more pictures to take of the house as well, to show you what we've done (not much, but something's better than nothing).