Socks On Two Circs

I took a Socks on Two Circulars class at my LYS and can I just say. . . socks on two circs are a HOT MESS! All those cables and needles hanging and yarn getting all tangled up (and fussing and cussing...). All that and yet STILL easier than knitting on double points! Who knew? We worked on baby socks (Gracie's SOX by Cathy Hannigan) and I pretty much got the hang of it until it came time to turn the heel - the class was Saturday and I'm still trying to turn the heel. I think I need "professional" help. Know what I mean.

In other news, I cleaned out the "yarn corner" of my bedroom that was driving the dear husband nuts, and guess what I found? Not one, not 2, but FOUR started -but-not-finished projects. So typical of one who suffers from can'tfinishitis. It's a sad and debilitating disease...I'm sure you know. I would post a picture of said corner, but I'm just too embarassed. Sad. Just sad.

I packed up a box of "what the hell was I thinking when I bought this" yarn and have it ready to send off to charity. Well, not exactly charity, but to a fellow knitter in D.C. who needs it for her student knitting group. It's not awful yarn, not even bad yarn, just not the kind of yarn I like these days. So, off it goes this week to find a good new home where it will actually be knitted. Novel concept, I know.

In the what I've been reading latetly category is It's About Your Husband by Lauren Lipton. Quite entertaining. And Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair by Crazy Aunt Purl. Hys-ter-i-cal. Only a truely Southern gal could fully understand. Bought it on Friday - was finished by Sunday. A very quick, very entertaining read.

Back to Normal (maybe)

I think we've got Punkin's meds issue figured out. The neuro called and gave us the OK to put her back on what she's been on for the past 6 years. So far, so good. She still doesn't want to go to school, but we have a week for her to change her mind.

Now that the medication problem has worked itself out, I have more time to dedicate to fun stuff! I wanted to have the Tempting sweater finished by this weekend but it appears that half a dozen rows ago I switched knits with purls and now I have to ladder those stitches back and fix them. I just don't have that in me right now. So, I'll work on an easier project - like socks or something. Maybe I'll finish the Wildstripes blanket - it's all done except for seaming up one end of the lining and adding the topstitching details. My hubby would be SO excited to actually see me finish something.

I still need to finish the Knitting Pure and Simple Summer Cardi (knit in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in a nice shade of blue - goes well with my eyes). I've gotten as far as dividing for the sleeves; so it's pretty much straight, mindless knitting from here on out. I've got a lot of travel for work coming up and this might be a good project for my first plane trip. Afterall, it's kind of hard to screw up plain stockinette stitch.

My mom sent me a great recipe for a breakfast casserole so I thought I'd share:

Sausage Grits Casserole

1 lb sausage, ground

1 c quick cooking grits (not instant grits)

8 oz grated cheese, divided

1 c milk

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

Brown sausage and drain. Prepare grits according to package directions. To the cooked grits add 3/4 of the cheese, stir until well melted. Add the sausage and other ingredients; pour into a casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I Obviously SUCK at Blogging!

It's fair to say that anyone who goes S-I-X months without a S-I-N-G-L-E post might not be cut out for Blogging. However, the third time's the charm, right?

It's been a busy first half of the year. The merger between AT&T and BellSouth (merger - funny word....totally was a "we bought you" takeover) closed in late December - practically on New Year's Eve. Since then, my life has been a total blur. Work got crazy. I got moved to a new team with a new boss who is in Chicago of all places. (I love Chicago.) There's no one on my immediate team in the ATL. The good news is I like what I'm doing and it's relatively the same as what I was doing before.

I ran a marathon! Totally true. 26.2 miles. I decided that I needed a way to manage stress (and the accompanying fat ass that it gives you) and it was either take up running or become really good friends with the wine guy at the Duluth package store. You get some "interesting" looks when you go to Cost Plus World Market, load up a cart with bottles of wine and respond "nope, all for me" when the clerks says "having a party?" Plus, a good Baptist like me isn't really supposed to be coping with a nice bottle of Chianti, right?

Back to the maratoning....so, in January I signed up with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program to run the Rock 'n Roll Marathon in San Diego, CA on June 3rd. My first run was 3 miles at the beginning of February and I thought. I . Was. Going. To. DIE. Seriously. Nearly killed me. Four months and more than 350 training miles later, I ran my first marathon! I finished in a stellar 6 hours, 39 minutes and 55 seconds. (You had to finish in less than 7 hours -- 20 minutes and 5 seconds to spare!) Who cares? I FINISHED! And I raised more than $4500 for those in Georgia/Atlanta metro area who are battling blood cancers. I told everyone that, next to childbirth, it was the most exhilirating and excruciating thing I've ever done. And it was. This picture of me is post race (see my medal around my neck!) and I was getting my blisters, um, "tended to" by some poor volunteer.

Crafting...ah, yes...my forgotten hobbies. Now that it's summer, I have time to break out all the works in progress. And honey, there are a lot of WIPs. Just ask my dear husband. He'll tell you. I'll try to take pictures and post but just for your pleasure here are the ones I can think of:

• a lovely blue top-down cardigan
  


• an crochet afghan for Neely that I just have to piece together (hello? what was I thinking? 48 different pieces)
  


• two different pairs of socks
  


• a blue "fish-netty" scarf out of Melody by SWTC (sidebar: quite possibly the most frustrating yarn I've ever worked with)
  


• a white heirloom baby afghan that's 3/4 of the way done
  


• a pink baby afghan for a baby that was born LAST NOVEMBER
  


• a black bottom up 2x2 rib sweater from Jenna Adorno (pattern from Knitty.com)
  


• this cute tank for Neely which needs to be seamed and blocked


• an adorable purse made out of crocheted triangles that I need to piece together


• then there's the ballet neck sweater from "Hip Knits" that I finished in 2005 that I steamed and blocked and just haven't sewn together (I obviously need professional help for my "can't-finish-itis")
  


• and that's just some of the yarn projects. We haven't talked about scrapbooking and stamping and sewing and . . . .
  

Whew! That's enough, I think. Perhaps my goal for the rest of the year should be to, I don't know, finish what I've started! Oh, I'm not sure if that hurt or felt good?