A tiny invasion

There is a tiny invasion of one in my home. She moves so fast around the house I've not been able to trap her. These were the only pictures I could manage to capture to prove I've not imagined the whole thing.

When I woke this morning she was on the bookcase in my bedroom, but quickly ran out of the room when she saw I was awake...

Then as I was making my morning cup of tea I saw her on the counter & by the time I got the fly swatter she was gone!

I didn't see her for a while & assumed she had left, but you know what they say about what happens when you assume things. Turns out she was on the windowsill behind me & who knows how long she was there.

I jumped out of my chair & ran in fright. A while later I went to get some yarn so I could knit to soothe my nerves, who do you think was hiding there? Yep, she was right there.

I don't know what to do about this. Do I call an exterminator or a priest or what?

http://poppetplanet.com/

So Tired

Yesterday was a bright sunny day, I woke up & felt good. I wanted to write you all (you all meaning probably no one, I don't actually think anyone reads this) a lovely post & put up some pictures. I had it all planned out, but Blogger was down for me. I guess some parts of the country were down & some were ok.

Today I woke up very, very tired. I'm missing about 3 hours of sleep due to the millipede that was on my wall above my bed last night. I was tucking in to bed & my roommate came to ask me something & spotted the evil thing. I am terrified of them & freaked out while she actually killed it. I then spent the next 3 hours wide awake & today feel like a zombie.

Perhaps I'll come up with something nifty to post this afternoon when I actually am awake rather than wandering about like a zombie. Maybe a cup of tea would help...

Squares

Do you remember the blanket square I was working on? Well I think I cast-on & frogged about 6-7 of them & finally got one that came out right!

I know it's a little wonky & all, but for the most part I do like it. It's my first miter squares, so it was kinda neat to learn those.

I've also got my swatch drying, I measured before I washed it & I was a touch shy so hopefully it grew just a tiny bit.

On the Knitting Front

Check out the cutest new project bag I've got!

It's long enough my 10" needles fit in there at a slight angle. I've got my green shawl in there, I didn't have a project bag big enough to fit the needles in so I was very glad to get this. Plus it's my favorite color. It looks like the fabulous woman who made it isn't selling them right now, but here's her Etsy store in case she starts to.

Almost done with my swatch for the other sweater, looks like it's 2 stitches shy (on 4") of gauge, but it's silk/wool & it hasn't been washed or blocked so it should come out ok.

I also got in some nice hat yarn, I'm thinking once one more project is done I'll cast on a hat. I'm thinking of doing one with a pattern I have to follow line by line rather than a stocking stitch one.

Girl Child's Annual Check Up

We went to the doctor for girl-child's annual appt & did get a referral for her to go down to Mayo to see if she has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) like I do. I'm 90% sure she does, I feel very conflicted about it. I'm glad we are figuring it out young so she has a better chance than I did of not becoming so disabled so young. I'm glad we'll not have to deal with docs thinking she's lying about her pain. I'm glad we will have the chance to teach her to care for her joints. I'm guilty about the fact I gave this to her. I'm guilty about what I know lies ahead. I'm sad for the fact she won't be "normal". I'm sad for the fact she will have this color many choices she makes in life. I'm worried about how severe hers will be. I'm worried about her future.

Having a genetic condition, that you know is painful & can be horrible & knowing you gave it to your child sucks more than I can put words to...

Shhhh!

Don't tell, but I've cast-on a tension square.

I did frog 2 projects, plus I've one more I count as frogged, but I'm too lazy to do the actual frogging. Leaves me with 2 wash cloths, 2 pair of socks, 1 shawl, 1 sweater. I think I'll try & bust my butt & get one of the wash cloths finished in the next few days. The sweater is the one I hope to finish by fall, the shawl I'd love to have done soon, but I can't memorize it so it's slow going. The socks are hard, I want to knit them, but my hands don't want to. I will finish at least one pair of them at some point in the next few months.

I am also trying to teach myself to crochet. I am working on doing a plain chain. I do know for many people with hand/grip issues that crochet can be easier for them & since I've got crabby hands I figure it can't hurt to mix it up. Plus I think it's time I admit I will never knit a blanket, I am too slow, it'd take me about a million years to get one done.

Toys

Ok, anyone reading this who is a parent will understand my complaint about too many toys, too much junk cluttering up a house. Amelia has a bit of greed about wanting new toys as most young children often do & we are working on curbing that greed & reducing the amount of toys.

Step one was to take every single toy in the whole house & remove it all to one room. That is known as the toy room. Every week she is allowed 10 toys from the toy room & no more. At the end of the week she can swap out any of the toys she would like to swap & keep any she would like to keep as long as the number she has is 10 (or less, but she doesn't ever pick less).

We've been doing this for around 2-3 months now & it's been going great. We've also done a toy purge of stuff she was ok with donating to the thrift store & I think it's getting to be time to do another purge. I'd like it if all her toys could fit in to 2 lg rubbermade tubs, right now it's about 4. When we were packing to move it was 8 tubs & that's just way too much.

I love this toy library system & it has really helped keep the house, or should I say every floor in my home, clean. I am also finding she is really focusing in & playing more with each toy instead of becoming distracted every 4 seconds by another toy.