Getting ready and a big finish.....

This little one was not feeling well on Friday.  He woke up crying with a,"fever" although no actual fever, I think to Little Buddy that means he isn't feeling well.  He spent about seven hours on the sofa watching his shows before he managed to plop down on the floor for a bit.  By late afternoon he was feeling better and by yesterday he was back to normal.  Whatever it was it did not last long and luckily there were no messes to clean up, just a quiet boy to attend to.  As for me it forced me to stay home and get things done.  Things I had already planned to do but also with a trip out to get last minute gifts for therapists and office staff.  Oh well, we will get to those this week.  I did type up two major re-evaluations for work so I am done with my intense paperwork for the month.  Next year things will be different at work.  They are changing the major provider for medically fragile children in Florida.  I am not sure if I will be able to see the children I do, at the frequency I see them, or the duration they need, it is all a mess right now.  I am not sure if Little Buddy will still get the services he so desperately needs.  I know, not the best news before Christmas but there you have it.  Our current Governor has not been kind to people and children who have special issues and need services to help them function at their most independent level.

As I have been visiting just a few blogs this weekend trying to catch up I see so many beautiful Christmas decorations all around.  I had to laugh because if you look at the two photos above you think I have it all together.  Yet if you just shift to the right you will see the following area below.

My dining room table is covered with presents for the kids I work with, Little Buddy's baby sitter and therapists.  It is a big ole mess, but an organized one.  While stranded at home on Friday I got all this done so I can deliver them this week.  I also have oats and glitter to make reindeer food with my little ones, cotton balls and paper plates to make Santa's, it is a tradition the week before Christmas to do these activities and it is amazing that even the older kids still love to do them.

This was taken this morning as the morning light started to peek through the clouds.  I have so many photos of Max in this very spot, searching the woods for squirrels and deer.  I have not officially forgiven the boys for their escape earlier this week, but I am thawing.  All the children in our school district have a color chart behavior system that the teacher indicates in their planner how they did that day.  Each child starts on green, and if you stay on green you have had a good day.  If you move up to orange or blue your day has been fantastic with blue being the best day.  But you can also move down to yellow and red, red being very, very bad.  I made a chart on a small chalkboard we have and put Hank and Bear on red after their escapade.  Little Buddy thought this was so funny.  He wanted them moved up to yellow and then green far earlier than I did.  He actually asked me to move them up because they were making good choices now.  So there you have it they are back on green and all is well.

I have a finish can you believe it?  I know with all that is going on this time of year and with work I actually have found time on the weekends to work on this sweater.  I started it is November and finished it yesterday.  Hooray!  This is the Slouchy Stripe Cardigan by Ashleigh Kiser.  I loved the pattern, it has written directions, photos and a graph which makes it super easy to follow.  It was a very fast project.  If I had serious time to crochet it would have been done in a week or two.  But seriously, who has that much time to crochet this time of year?

Made with a size J hook and 7 skeins of ZZ Twist yarn by Lion Brand, in the color Silver Agent.  ZZ Twist yarn is made with crocheters in mind, and I have to say I like the yarn.  It did not split and is durable.  I am not usually an acrylic fan, but for this sweater it is perfect as it makes it light weight and washable.  I think about 1,700 yards were used to make this up, not much was left at the end.  I bought it at Joann's on sale so that is an even bigger bonus.  I did make some modifications on this sweater.  Instead of joining in the round while making the sleeves, I picked up the stitches at the sleeve and crocheted back and forth leaving an opening to sew up later.

I think the seam looks better sewn up instead of joining in the round as I am notoriously bad at that.  My joined seams are all sorts of wonky.  I also extended the collar for 11 rows or basically until I ran out of yarn.

I actually wore it this morning for a few hours before it got too warm out.  I think it fits really well and I am so excited to have made something I will actually wear!  I mean I am usually all about the project and not about the product.  I have a million shawls I have given away because I love making them but rarely wear them.  It feels good to have a good finish.

Wishing you all a wonderful week.  I better get going on more Christmas stuff.