Here booky, booky, booky

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I read alot.

I know, I know. Where do I find the time, right?

Here's my secret: I'm a really poor multi-tasker*

I read before bed at night. I read at breakfast. I read while I'm cooking dinner. I read on the can. I read in the shower more often then I'd like to admit. And most days, the westside Houston commuters will find me on the bus, reading, knitting and listening (sort of) to Morning Edition.

I've always wondered how many books I read in a year. So I'm going to keep track. Feel free to skip to the next fibery post if you are so inclined.

So far in 2009:
7. Darwinia - Robert Charles Wilson
6. Undertow - Elizabeth Bear (I needed some aliens to recover from the overload of teenage vampire hormonal angst and wizard vs. werewolf shenanigans)
5. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
4. Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer (phew!)
3. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
2. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson, translated from Swedish by Reg Keeland.

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Finally got another Tomten modeling shot:

Devil on her new bike. She is much, much faster now. Maybe almost fast enough to ride while Mama goes for a run around the neighborhood. Hooray! And FYI, these sweaters are so much cuter in action then lying on the couch that I just about fall down everytime the girls wear them.

* As IM would say, why do one thing well when you can do three things badly?**

** This is why I am a triathlete, not a cyclist or a swimmer or HAHAHAHA a runner.

Oh bugger

This is what my current pair of socks looked like while I was waiting for the bus this morning:

This is what they looked like when I got to work.

I had the sad duty of coming to terms with the fact that, although I was almost done with Chart 3 (of 4) on the leg, the sock was too big. Just too long. And if I kept going, I might not have enough yarn for sock #2. So I spent my bus ride imitating a froggie. My socks for this month might have to be some quickies for the girls instead of these bad boys.

Speaking of the girls, I did manage to get some modeled shots of Boo in her Tomten.

Last night watching TV.

I think she likes it, because she wouldn't take it off until bath time, resulting in a lovely ketchup splotch across the front from dinner.

She wore it again this morning, so I think this one is a keeper!

Please note the pink Dora Crocs, three Dora books clutched in one hand, and 'Raf under the other arm. She is prepared for the day.

FO: Two Tomtens

Last night, in the throes of an oncoming cold that had my brain leaking out my ears and unable to do anything remotely complicated, I finished Boo's Tomten. Staying home today gave me a great opportunity to do the crocheted edging and sew on the buttons.

Pattern: Modular Tomten by Elizabeth Zimmerman (I used the version in the Sweater Workshop)
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky from the stash, with additions in Pink for Devil's version. Devil's Tomten: 2.5 skeins of purples, less then 1 skein of Really, Really Pink (chosen by Herself). Boo's version: 3 skeins in Blue Magic, plus Lamb's Pride Worsted in Creme held double for the edging/buttonholes.
Needles: US 11/8.0 mm, size 10.5/6.5 mm hook
Start/finish: never mind
Gauge: 3 sts/6 rows per inch
Comments/mods: first for Devil's jacket. I was really limited by the amount of purple yarn I had in the stash, so we went to the LYS and she picked out some pink for stripes. I didn't bother with a hood, and used the pink to add button bands once I'd finished, since she tried it on and it was a wee bit small. She picked out the Flip Flop buttons herself.

For Boo's, I had plenty of yarn, so I did the hood - I think it ended up a bit small, and I used every scrap I had. Instead of grafting the top I did a three needle bind off.

The buttons were some I had lying around. I wanted to finish this today because they're predicting 20-something degree temperatures around here in the next few mornings. Which means there's a small chance I might get a modeled shot. Very small.

Time for me to head off for a nap. Begone damn cold!

Two extremes

So the last time we saw this project, I was bemoaning my lack of competitiveness in the Ravelympics and making myself blind with black beads and fingering weight alpaca.

I'm still making myself blind, but the shawl has grown considerably, and I am now only 50-something rows away from being done. Hooray! Granted, I'm doing one less repeat then is called for, but from my extremely scientific calculations* this thing is going to be at least 40+ inches across. Plenty big enough. The only issue is that the rows are approximately 550 stitches each (and only going to get bigger), so I get maybe four rows done per day commuting to and from work. Which means 5 more weeks of knitting. And Christmas is only 6 weeks away right? So...hmmm...we'll see.

To combat the wear and tear on my noggin from Ms. Isis up there, I cast on a few days ago for something nice and simple - garter stitch.

Devil has decided that she needs a "coat", and due to our impending relocation across the pond, I've decided that I need to do some serious stashbusting, and fast. Enter some stashed Lamb's Pride Bulky (in a barely acceptable purple color, since there was no pink to be had), and a couple of evenings with EZ's The Knitting Workshop and Alias, Season 1 DVDs, and I've gotten almost to the armpits of my first ever Tomten (Rav link).

Look at the squishy garter stitch! Absolutely the perfect brainless evening knitting.

So Isis for the bus commute, and Tomten for after the kids go to bed. Or for Knit Night, since I brought Isis last week but was extremely uncommunicative (which totally negates the entire point of going to Knit Night**, right ladies?).

* I pulled on the center to stretch it out, put it next to a piece of paper for comparison and said "That looks like about 16 inches, and with 50 more rows, I'm sure I can get 4 more!" You know, Scientific and shit...
** Which is, of course, to talk very loudly, share completely inappropriate and embarrassing stories about our children/spouses/pets, and scare the folks who go to Whole Foods to, you know, buy food or something!