As of today, the OFA has just barely 1300 scarves. They need 3000 for the Red Scarf Project, to send in care packages to college students formerly in foster care, who are going it on their own.

I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of these kids. This isn’t just some nutty knitters feeling good idea. The students truly appreciate what you are doing, knitting something by hand for them. Not only is it likely to be the only handknit they receive, it will likely be the only care package.

Here’s the plan:

1. Cast on for a red scarf and work on it as much as you can this week, and if you’re in the US, especially over Thanksgiving. Pick a simple pattern and you’ll maybe finish it by Sunday. Or next.
2. Be thankful for whoever supported you with a care package when you were a student. Think what it would have been like without them. And if there wasn’t anyone? Then you really know how it matters.
3. Tell another knitter about it . There’s info on the Red Scarf blog. And patterns.
4. STEAL THE POSTER above and put it on your blog. Really! If you click on it, it’ll go to my Flickr page, just steal it from there.
5. Call your local yarn store and tell them about this. If they need a poster to print out, there’s one of this one, print sized, linked to the Red Scarf blog. Offer to print it out for them & hang it in the store. Maybe they want to offer a discount on any red yarn for one day to perk things up?
6. Knit! I’m determined to finish the one I’m on now, and crank one more by the December 15th deadline. It is do-able. Join me?

My last pep talk on the subject is here, it has additional suggestions for helping out.

1. The worm farm: A friend was designing PR materials for a worm farm and needed photos of worms and worm poop. So that is the worm farm story. Odd and actually interesting (they sell to golf courses, landscapers & hotels and such). Worm poop – help your garden grow. Also, it is unbelievably hard to light worms and their poo. Really. Although, I must point out that lighting is not my strong suit and it’s been about a million years since I was in school. It falls under the category of “I know it can be done – just not by me.” That was really my mantra in college. I knew my visions could be realized and I knew people who could pull them off. I just wasn’t one of them. Add this to the list of reasons I never made it in photography.

2. The wooden ax: For those not in the know (everyone but family and CursingMama), TJ threw a wooden ax at AJ in anger. Apparently they were playing war with some of the neighborhood kids and AJ “shot” his brother. TJ did not want to be shot so he threw the item in his hand. That happened to be a wooden ax from the Renaissance Festival. After turning and ducking, AJ got beaned in the back of the head. He now has 1 stitch (yes, just one) which I forgot to take him to get removed yesterday. I know, you are stunned by my superior parenting.

The punishment for that act was being my slave for a couple of days. The house was quite clean and the child learned to do laundry but alas, such slave owning is quite time consuming so it had to end. Also, the best punishment was when they both came into the house to tell on/defend TJ and AJ removed his hands from the back of his head. Head wound = horror movie amounts of blood. They both screamed as if they had lost an appendage at the exact same time. Here it should be noted that TJ’s not so good with the blood thing. It took me longer to calm down his hysterical crying, dry heaving and hyperventilating then it did to calm the injured party. He is still visibly shaken when the incident is mentioned.

3. DKM: Anyone who has been around since last year my already know this one. Dropkick Murphys. We bought tickets this year. And – I am officially old. I loved the show but it was so loud that the lyrics were unintelligible and a couple of songs just degenerated into noise. See – OLD. But the bagpipes rocked and that is when I decided more men should wear kilts.

4. Knitting: This was not on the list but I’m putting it here anyway. I’ve been knitting. And frogging. A lot of frogging. My nonexisitent sock (see “lots of frogging”). And now a new purse. I love knitting purses. And I love this yarn. The warmth and felting ability of wool without the allergy medication needed to work with it.

All in all I’m horrifically stressed. Too many things coming up too fast and no money to smooth the transitions. GAH! Now to reschedule the stitch removal!

But, well… no. Not really.

In reality, I had big hopes for my blogging career this week. The children AND the husband are camping in the wilds of Vermont and I was going to blog, baby!

So what happened you ask?

My internet connect bit it for the last THREE DAYS. I know, it’s amazing I’m not dead. Although I think I’ve lost my last reader. But that’s okay because I blog for myself and I care not who reads my blather. Or something like that. Or maybe not. I need affirmation. It’s true. Sad. But true.

Anyway, on with the knitting. I’d love to say in my absence I was knitting but alas, no. Not that either. I was actually trying to fix my internet connection and burying myself in sudoku to dull the pain.

But before, before the children left, I was knitting. I’ve been on a knitting binge! And now to show you what I knit.

First I thought I’d try something easy. Quick. Knit it right up…

Now realize these took me approximately ELEVEN HOURS to make. No, really. I’m totally not joking here. Booties are f’in HARD, man. That and I’m a S-L-O-W knitter.

Then I found a kick ass knitting book called Stitch ‘N Bitch. Awesome and cool and oh, so hip. So I tried to make a baby hat for my soon to be nephew. Behold the hat:

Yes, there are two hats. That would be because I made the first one and MY GOD, it fits my 7 year old (except it’s too short). So then I made another. Let’s hope the baby’s head is tiny or it will end up being for one of the kids’ dolls.

Also, the photo does not show the true color of the hats. They actually match the booties. So, because I couldn’t get a good picture of the hats at their true color – here is a swatch of a color much closer to the real thing – yet frustratingly still not exact:

Now I think I will go to bed and clean tomorrow. I keep saying I’m going to clean the house while thye’re gone but I seem to have run out of steam. This may be due to the fact that I’m overdue for my B12 shot and they couldn’t fit me in today. WTF? Or maybe I’m just really lazy.

If anyone wants to chat yarn or knitting, let me know. I’m loving the sueded stuff I’m using and adapting patterns (which we can all see is not working out so well). I also pink puffy heart circular needles.

*Please keep in mind I am a novice. Hear me? N.O.V.I.C.E. I do not know what I am doing. Please be kind when judging my knitting. Oh, you know you are. You so totally are judging right now.

**Those last two lines are a take-off on some lines from a movie. But HA! I shall never tell which one.

***Really, I’m not insane. Just tired. My GOD, the tired.

• I am in the process of switching banks. The evil M&T should be gone from my life in the next 2 or so weeks.
• I have been knitting. A lot. I will post some pictures later for your viewing pleasure. Or maybe just for my own damn self so I can remember that I actually MADE stuff. BTW, booties are f’in HARD. And I said booties – hee!
• I’ve been getting B12 shots for the last 3 months. I was weaned down to once a month and I couldn’t make it. I hit a wall after 3 weeks. GAH! Now I have to start back at every 2 weeks (and possibly continue with that schedule). I am TIRED. I can’t believed I’ve been living like this for the past however many years. Damn, no wonder everything seemed like such an effort. It was! And I thought I was just lazy. (Which, I am a little but not like I thought.) Now I know how people actually DO things.
• August has arrived. And with it the killings begin. – I am not talking about me killing anyone. The children are starting to try to off each other. I expect the conflicts to continue to escalate over the next 4 weeks. All a.m. summer activities end this week. It does not look good. School is our only hope.
• How did I survive before I had to leave my family every day for work? This job is helping my sanity on so many levels. Although, I think if I worked full time it might cancel it’s self out.

Speaking of jobs…

No, I’m glad to be home. Happy for all the yelling and screaming and barking. I forgot how much the dog barks.

There have been shouts of happiness and tears already. I’ve already been told, “You are so mean!”

I’ve cut one kid’s hair and have 2 more to go. My to-do list for after the holiday weekend is growing.

The year is 1/2 over and I haven’t checked my progress on my goals for 2005. It may be best this way. But be warned… the goal update is coming soon. I’m afraid the results are not good.

Today is a day of baseball and holiday celebrations. Tomorrow, more celebrating. Then it’s back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I would like to note that I finished the sweater. You’ve forgotten about the sweater haven’t you. The non-evil yarn sweater for my brand new nephew. Remember? I finished it while I was visiting. The sweater laid out in it’s beautiful finished form…

And now for a picture of the sweater on the gorgeous tyke:

Off to prepare for the day! Have a great holiday weekend!

So? I had to rip it all out. And the yarn broke. And I went on-line and bought some new non-evil baby yarn. Not pastel. A blue denim blend of baby soft goodness. YAY for on-line yarn stores.

The evil, soft loveliness? Going to become a sweater for… ME. Made with BIG knitting needles. (Much easier with big needles) And most likely made by my mom.

No, this is not becoming a knitting blog. But I must vent. Why oh why do I make things so difficult? It’s all me. I know that. What has happened is something I do all the time.

Last night I went to the store to buy some yarn for the proposed baby sweater. My mom gave me a pattern and all I had to do was find the yarn. As I’m looking at all the baby yarns in their white and pastel colors I am saddened. WHY must it be pastel? I’m just not a big fan. Then I spot it. The most beautiful yarn. All soft and lovely. In with the baby yarns. Oh, how can I resist?

I checked out every yarn in the place. It is the yarn I MUST have. I buy too much but it is okay because I want to make myself something with the soft loveliness.

I pick up the kids on the way home and show my mom the yarn. A look of concern passes over her face. “It’s not really baby yarn.”

I go home, put the kids to bed and pull out my yarn. I pull out the pattern. I pull out my new how-to book. The one that explains all the abbreviations and terms. (I have mentioned I’m a newbie to this, haven’t I?) I pull out the #3 needles my mom loaned me.

I start to knit the gauge square…

Oh Lord in heaven! What the hell? Who made this yarn? What were they thinking? It is evil. Soft, beautiful, EVIL. It should come with a warning. Really. The warning should read:

** WARNING! NOT FOR BEGINNERS. THIS YARN IS EVIL. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO USE. STEP AWAY FROM THE YARN NOW! DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE SOFT LOVELINESS. **

So, I pulled out the beginnings of my gauge square. And then I started to knit. What you ask? Why? Have I mentioned the soft loveliness? It is SO BEAUTIFUL. The sweater will be beautiful. (Assuming I can actually knit it.)

I came close to weeping. Twice. For real. Once because of the evilness. Once because of the beauty. Now you all know. I will endure anything for the beauty. I can’t help it. I have considered getting regular yarn and beginning again. I can’t seem to do it. Not to say I won’t relent. Or never finish the sweater. It’s a good thing it is sized for 6 months. The way it’s going it will probably fit a one year old. That gives me 15 months to finish this thing. I think it may take that long.

Sigh. Why do I always have to make things so difficult?

• view the loveliness/hide the evil

• One kid getting over mono.
• Two kids with strep.
• Eleventy million trips from couch to kitchen & back. (with juice, water, medicine, etc.)
• Two trips to the doctors.
• Lost 5 pounds.
• Did yoga for strength and pilates (advanced level pilates- except for modified roll-ups).
• Kept sink clean, planned meals for the month, kept up with the laundry.
• Had a photo shoot in the kitchen.
• Discovered new downfall to diet – cinnamon almonds – yum!
• Got concussion when youngest slammed his rock-hard head into my chin while I was picking him up.
• Applied for two more jobs.
• Applied for writing grant.
• Finished knitting a scarf. My first knitting project EVER.
• Knit a gator.
• Stayed up too late.
• Got a flower from a stranger.