So I’ve been gone. What the hell was I doing?

First, scrambling like a madwoman to keep my house spotlessly clean all. the. damn. time.

So that, eventually, I could do this:

To get here:

Click here to see a full gallery of house photos

And then get from here:

to here:

Click here to see a full gallery of improvements so far

And then while still working on all that, I had to spend a LOT of time here. My Daddy had a valve replaced in his heart, and a bypass, and a procedure to correct a problem with his heart rhythm. (He is only a few days out of surgery, but so far recovering well.)

So it’s been a busy couple of months.

There has been a little knitting. Not much, but a little.

I finished hubby’s socks.

I keep meaning to get a modeled shot — they fit! hooray! — but in the insanity that has been my life, it has not happened yet. Soon, I hope.

I finished Rogue — got her sewn up, and have for the moment decided not to put in a zipper.

And again with the modeled shots — soon, I hope.

I have been wearing the hell out of this cardigan. (Which should be making you go “WTF?!?!?!” given that it is the middle of July, I live in Houston, and the sweater is made from a wool/cashmere/silk blend yarn.) Maybe it’s just me, but I find hospitals to be very, very cold places. So I’ve been wearing it up at the hospital this week. It is DIVINELY comfortable and sooooo warm. I love it. I am just in love with this sweater. And I’ve gotten lots of compliments on it, too! It’s the first time I’ve really worn a piece of my knitting enough that I get comments on it, and that makes me feel all warm and gooey inside. I’m sure the people who say “I like your sweater!” don’t understand the bigass grin they get in return, but that’s okay.

And Kiri. I have progress shots of Kiri, too.

Yeah.

I picked it up one day in the middle of packing, and I screwed it up but good. Shifted the whole fucking pattern over by a few stitches. I still don’t know what I did. But of course, I didn’t notice it until AFTER (and I mean, literally about 2 minutes after) I moved my lifeline at the end of the repeat. I tried my damnedest to get it back on the needles after I pulled out the offending repeat, but there was nothing doing. I was tearing my hair out with the frustration and figured it would be better for my sanity just to rip the whole thing and start over.

I haven’t started over yet, though. Right now I’m contemplating a different pattern, and I knew I needed some mindless knitting to work on, not lace.

So I’ve been working on Mother’s bag, and on a pair of socks for Nate from the leftover hubby sock yarn. (He wants a pair of socks that match Daddy’s. Isn’t that cute?) I have no progress photos of either, though, yet. I’ll get there eventually. (This has become a mantra for me in the last couple of months.) The new house has significantly less natural light (more shade, fewer windows) for photo taking, and it’s kind of a pain in the ass.

But really, I will get there eventually.

It’s good to be back.