Welcome to November!

Halloween is done.

I woke up this morning to a light dusting of frost everywhere. Halfway through breakfast, it started to snow.  Mouselette was absolutely delighted and ran to the window shrieking about the snow and snowmen and Christmas (already?)

I am not done her new mittens yet.  I need to really get on that.  I have a thumb to finish on one mitt and then the second mitt to do.  I will be attempting to finish them tonight.

Last night was fun.  Halloween is always a little fun.  Despite the Facebook drinking game challenge regarding how many Elsas to expect, I had only one Elsa at my door last not. One Anna, too.  Lots and lots of Ninja Turtles, a Tenth Dr (complete with awesome tweed coat and red bow tie), loads of superheroes (girls and boys), lady bugs, policemen, firefighters, etc.  Very few princesses, though.  I think it was too cold for princesses.  It was pretty cold last night.  And rainy.  It is always cold and rainy.  This is the third Halloween in a row that it has been cold and rainy.

Mousehusband braved the cold and rain with Mouselette for over an hour while I stayed home and handed out candy.  I got some awesome knitting time in.  Plus, since I got the whole house vacuumed and floors washed yesterday afternoon, I have extra knitting time today.

My favourite pumpkin of the year was carved by one of my knitting friends:

Yarn barf!  Truly terrifying!  (I hate yarn barf... It is the bane of my existence.)

I woke up to an email from usps letting me know that my new (to me) tri loom is sitting on the other side of the border in New York.  It is my experience that once a package is processed there, it is about 3 more business days until it reaches me.  It's got to clear customs, get up to the main sorting facility, then make it on to the truck to get to me.  I am counting on seeing it by Wednesday afternoon or Thirsday.  For sure I will have it by Friday.  I am pretty excited.  I have a first project all planned out.  Haven't decided 100% on the yarn yet, but I am pretty sure I know which yarn I want to use.

Winter mittens!

We are supposed to be getting snow on Sunday.  Right now, the forecast is calling for "wet snow".  It has been glove and mitten temperature lately.  I have a pair of knit mitts for me, but Mouselette is lacking in the mitt department.

I think I need to get a pair cast on pronto.

I got an amazing deal on kids clothes yesterday.  There is a thrift store right next to my daughter's preschool, so I pop in frequently (too frequently, to be honest). I walked past yesterday and spotted a 50% off kids clothing sale. In I went to refill the ever-growing child's winter wardrobe (she may be petite over all, but she has monkey limbs like me, so she needs a full size above her age just to fit those long lanky legs and monkey arms of hers).  Among other things, I found a snowsuit for her for a mere $3.50!!  It has a tiny rip in the crotch, but nothing a needle and thread won't fix.  And for $3.50, I think I can deal with a tiny rip.

I also bought her a pair of winter mitts - the thermal kind.  Got them home and realized... Toooooo small!  So now, I think I need to get a pair of thrummed mitts knit up for Mouselette.  I have never actually knit thrummed mitts before.  I have plenty of awesome roving for thrums, but it is a new endeavour for me.

Cold mornings, warm blankets

I love the fall.  I love the late fall, when the trees are stripped bare and the frost covers the ground.  These are my favourite knitting days.

It is still relatively early.  There are as many leaves left on the trees as there are on the ground.  But the mornings are colder now.  The air is crisper.  The sun rises later.

I am bundled up with a very warm blanket.  My daughter is watching tv while she nibbles her breakfast.  I feel extra motivated to finish a particular pattern I have been working on.  

Today is going to be a knitting day.  

More pumpkin carving

Such a dilemma for a dedicated knitter.

We have two pumpkins.  One was carved with a picture drawn by my 3 year old.  The second isn't carved yet.

Do I carve a Hello Kitty for Mouselette's enjoyment, or a pair of knitting needles in a ball of yarn for mine?

Do you carve pumpkins for Halloween?  Show me your pumpkins in the comments!

Happier notes

I promised a happier post yesterday, so here it is.

Let's start with last weekend.  RHINEBECK!!!

Last weekend, I went to Rhinebeck for the first time ever.  I went with one of my very good friends from the knitting group.  We drove there and back and stayed at a pretty decent hotel while there.  One of the best parts of the hotel?  The fact that it was FULL of knitters.  Gotta love that!  I loved coming down for breakfast and seeing all the knitters hanging out in the dining room with their assorted projects.  

Rhinebeck itself was prett much amazing.  There were some very amazing deals, not to mention a beautiful assortment of hand knits everywhere you looked, from sweaters to shawls to socks... All the knitters had something to show off.

So what next?

It is almost Halloween.  I have never really gotten into the festivities of Halloween before.  I mean, we take Mouselette out trick or treating, and last year she painted a wooden pumpkin, but that is usually it.  This year, we went to a Pumpkinfest at the park.  They had pony rides (Mouselette totally squealed with excitement), a bouncy castle, free pumpkins, food, and so much fun.

Mouselette and I carved a pumpkin this afternoon.  Or, more accurately, Mouselette drew the picture, then Mousehusband kept her entertained while I did the sharp knife part.

This is the result.  The pumpkin seeds are roasting now.

Oh, and Christmas knitting has begun.  A super secret project for the knit night Christmas exchange, a super secret project for Mousehusband, socks for Mouselette (at her request... She is a fan of handknit socks), and a pair of socks for my brother in law, whose name I drew for the family Christmas exchange.

Hey, look, it's a blog entry... (With profanity, so... Be warned)

I am terrible at blogging.  I used to be decent at it and would update a few times a week on old blogs. Part of me realized last night that half the reason this blog fell down on the job was because I just focus so narrowly on knitting and don't give myself space to talk about other shit.

Oh, and I don't give myself permission to type words like shit in my blog.  But I say shit all the time. So, hey.... Shiiiiiiiit!

And guess what... Shit has been going down lately.  Too much.

Sometimes shit is too much to handle.  Sometimes there is too much of it.  Sometimes shit happens and it leaves you cold inside.  Numb. Confused. Sad. Scared.  And just when you start moving on, more shit happens.

It becomes about more than questioning the world, but about questioning your place in it.

Then, just to stick a shit cherry on a shit sundae, more shit happens. And it leaves you cold and numb and sad and scared all over.

I am tired of adulting.

Some of the above is obvious stuff, like the tragic deaths in Ottawa this week.  And then there is other stuff.  Personal stuff.  Stuff I cannot blog about.  Stuff that leaves me hugging my kid tighter, crying a little, and wondering how you get through it all.

Sometimes the bigger stuff makes my little stuff seem so insignificant.  Then sometimes the personal stuff becomes overwhelmingly big and makes the world seem insignificant.

Sometimes my coping mechanisms fail me completely and I retreat into my cloud of insecurities, ADD, and introversion.  I pick up my knitting and close out the feeling.  I knit because I can't think anymore. Because there is too much to think about. Because the world has become too loud, the tragedies too many, and the personal too hard.

So if you need me, you'll find me in the corner over there, crying softly for the ones I love, and knitting.  Because there is nothing else I can do.

Ps... I will be back tomorrow with a happier entry, because there is good stuff happening, too.  And I need to blog more often.  So, I will!  :)