About Us

Went to California for Xmas instead of Wisconsin to see the in-laws.  Started in San Francisco for a few days and drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to Los Angeles, with a stop in Cambria half way on Christmas Eve.  Lovely trip with lots of knitting time.  I took my topdown raglan sweater to work on.  I started with a pattern, then modified it to add stitches in the bust but went too far and now it's all wonky. I modified the neckline too.

So, I have downloaded the Raglanify app onto my iPhone, entered my gauge from the non-wonky part of the sweater and will cast on sometime in the new year.

Currently my knitting rotation is:
Sister and Brother-in-Law's blanket.
Husband's blanket.
Baby Sweater for Husband's secretary (instead of the blanket).
My sweater or new baby blanket.  Not sure yet but that will be the project for Jan 1, 2012

Also my project for the new year is getting the adoption going.  We met with the consulting agency last week and they gave us feedback on the profile booklet we're putting together for birthmothers.

We've nearly finished the homestudy part where a social worker assesses our suitability as prospective parents, in an "objective" way.  This included criminal background checks, assessing our financial situation, visiting our home, getting letters of recommendation, and medical exam.  I understand wanting some minimum level of suitability, and am sure we meet or exceed all of them, but wonder how much leeway would be given to a poor couple, or a couple with health problems.

The profile booklet is much more subjective.  This is where we introduce ourselves to the birthmothers, describe where we live, what we do, how we live, our families and friends.  We spend the vacation taking pictures of ourselves as a happy couple, being careful to crop out any beer or wine glasses, and not cutting up like we usually do.

Putting this profile booklet is like posting on this blog or on Facebook.  Which sides of ourselves do we show?  We want to present ourselves as competent people, a happy couple, and fun-loving but not outrageous.

These booklets are given to the birthmoms and from these 15 to 20 pages of words and pictures, she decides whether or not we are the people she wants raising her child.

No pressure.

Managing projects

Not a great picture, but these are the knitting projects I'm focusing on now.

Three of them are gifts and are getting varying degrees of attention. So I decided to rotate them.  Everyday, I will work on one and then the next, work on another, and then the next day another, etc.  Some days I get more knitting in than others, so this should ensure that they all get some progress.  Especially the sloggy projects. 

I started this weekend and this is how it's shaking out so far.

Sat: started the Baby Blanket for Husband's secretary, who's due in February.  (Lower right)
Yarn:  Various worsted weight cotton and superwash wool yarns, held double.
Needle:  US 10 (6mm)
Construction:  Center out, stockingnette and garter stitches.

Sun:  Husband's Blanket (lower left)
Yarn: various worsted weight wool (not superwash, I don't know what I was thinking), black and pastel colors, held double.
Needle: US 10 (6mm)
Construction:  Using the Chinese Coin quilt pattern, but in stockingnette stitch

Mon: Sister and Brother-in-Law's Blanket (upper left)
Yarn: Various worsted weight superwash wool yarns in shades of blue and natural, held double.
Needle: US 10 (6mm)
Construction:  Cast on 200 stitches, random stockingnette stripes

Tue:  Sweater for me (upper right)
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed, DK weight
Needle: US 6 (4mm)
Construction:  Top down, funnel neck, raglan sleeves, stockingnette stitch.

Wed: back to the Baby Blanket
Thur: Husband's Blanket

and so on.

I just started this on Saturday, so we'll see how long I manage this. 

One snafu already: what will be my portable knitting?  So far, the DK weight sweater is still at a size and stage that is portable, and I'm going to a reading tonight, a lunch with a friend tomorrow, and an HOA meeting Wed night.  So I'll probably take the sweater for those days, and thus wrecking my knitting schedule already.

Option: Take the sweater out of the rotation, use it only as portable knitting.  Then add it to the rotation when it gets too big to be portable.