Ok Mom’s of boys out there…I need some help! I’m currently making this sweater for a baby shower that I have upcoming:

(picture courtesy of : http://www.flickr.com/photos/11215979@N02/1932020543/sizes/o/in/photostream/)

The problem is that I used a heavier weight yarn than the pattern called for thinking the finished size would be just a teensy bit bigger than if I used the lighter weight. Well, instead of a 3-6 month size sweater, I have something that will easily fit 12-18 months or even larger. I’m going to try it on Madeline when I’m totally finished to see the exact size, but the initial sizing it up against one of her shirts indicates 12-18 months.

Now, I don’t know if this baby that I knit for is going to be a boy or a girl. The baby is due in May, so likely won’t get to wear this sweater until winter. Do you think this sweater is too girly for a little boy? I’m wondering if I should just save it for another friend who is definitely having a girl in May and see if I can finish a different sweater in the 6 days before the shower.

Thoughts? I need to decide today so I can either just finish it and suck it up or else go to the yarn store and get some more yarn.

I saw this posted in the Random Acts of Kindness group on Ravelry and decided it would be fun.

The idea is based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on.

So here’s how it works. I will make and send a knit gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?!

And, remember…you have 6 months to get your gifts done! Come on, you know you would love to be one of my angels. Then, one day, but you don’t know when….you will get a gift that I have made especially for YOU!

Please remember, you don’t have to knit or crochet to participate, anyone who can make a nice handmade gift is welcome to join

And here are the three lucky ones…….
1. Shaina is #1
2. Linda (aka Spinderella) is #2
3. Maryland Emily

I am a big Indian food advocate - learning to cook it forces one to deal with all sorts of interesting techniques, spices, variances, styles, etc. I learned to cook all food better because of learning to cook Indian food. Here are a food good links:

http://indianfoodrocks.blogspot.com/

http://www.khanakhazana.com/

http://www.ethnicgrocer.com/

http://www.sailusfood.com/

Enjoy! Feel free to comment with any questions.

-j.

Rick Garnett comments on this from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education:

An excerpt from F.I.R.E.:

In a stunning series of events at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Keith Sampson, a university employee and student, has been charged with racial harassment for reading a book during his work breaks.

Sampson is in his early fifties, does janitorial work for the campus facility services at IUPUI, and is ten credits shy of a degree in communication studies. He is also an avid reader who usually brings books with him to work so that he can read in the break room when he is not on the clock. Last year, he began reading a book entitled Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan. The book, which has garnered great reviews in such places as The Indiana Magazine of History and Notre Dame Magazine, discusses the events surrounding two days in May 1924, when a group of Notre Dame students got into a street fight in South Bend with members of the Ku Klux Klan. As an historical account of the students’ response in the face of anti-Catholic prejudice, the book would seem to be a relevant and worthwhile read, both for residents of the state of Indiana and for anyone interested in this chapter of American history.

Madness.

–J.

…by the tire repair place.  The (*&*(& rim didnt’ come in, so our car will sit there yet another day.

You know, the days where one (or both if necessary) of us could take public transportation to work were very convenient.  This is just annoying.  Jonathan has to leave work, come get Madeline and I so I can take him to his 5:30 appointment and go pick up Claire from my parents house (they went and got her at preschool).  Then we’ll eat, then go pick up Jonathan from his appointment.  Then take the girls home.

Aaargh.

Wait - The sky is blue?

No permacloud today? Wow.

Too bad it’s still cold.

The guy I share an office with pointed me to this personality test.  These are my results.

Enneagram Personality Test

Wow. I’m not really certain if that’s positive or negative, but it’s very interesting nonetheless.

This is getting more expensive by the hour.

The darn tire itself is $125. Turns out the rim is bent to the point where the new tire won’t seal on it. Grr. That’s another $200. And we won’t have a car until tomorrow.

I’m starting to hate winter.

Over on Catholic Ramblings, I’ve posted a link to a letter to Sen. Obama.

Also, I’ve posted an item on Notre Dame’s choice of Laetare medal winner.

-j.

I can honestly say I’ve never been bitten by the “workout bug” before.   I played sports from the time I was 4 through the end of high school, but I always hated the working out part of it.  I hated lifting weights.  I hated drills and most of all…I HATED running.   However, when I was a little kid, my two favorite things were to ride my bike around the neighborhood and go swimming.  I swam on the swim team at Morris Park for years….my wonderful mother took me to swim practice at 7am on many cold summer mornings.  (Yes, 65 degrees is a very cold temperature for getting in an outdoor pool…even if it is heated!) I was never very fast, but I loved it.  I loved the practice and I loved the meets and I loved those strange times when I would be one of 3 people in my heat and I would actually win a ribbon.

Fast forward about 15 years.   I see the sign at the Y for the Triathlon with the training program.  $20.  8 weeks.  8 weeks to build up to a 10 minute swim, 20 minute bike (spin) and 15 minute run.  I thought, yeah I think I can do that.

The first couple weeks were awful.  I was exhausted after the swim, my butt hurt from the spin bike and I couldn’t run more than 3 minutes at a time.  But I’ve really been working hard to get to the gym 1-2 additional times per week since I started.  I’m finding that I see the people in my Tri class working out too when I’m there.  Most of them are moms who have to work out at odd hours to get it in just like me.  It was starting to be….oddly…fun.

Last night at my training, we swam for 35 minutes, spinned (spun?) for 25 and then did a 15 minute run.  And I did it.  ALL.  I did have a bit of a leg cramp on the run, so I stopped and stretched, but I completed my 15 minutes.  According to my handy dandy Polar heart rate monitor, I burned 860 calories in the 1:15 and 35% of that was fat.  Wow.  I was so energized!

Next week is the last training session and the Triathlon is on the 15th of March.  I will be really sad to see it end.  I love the camaraderie of the workouts.  The instructors are so nice and fun and I’ve made some nice gym friends with a couple of the girls in the class.  It’s been such a challenge, but I am so proud of the advances I’ve made in just a few weeks.

I shouldn’t be surprised.  After all, I loved bike rides and swim team as a kid.  The running is the biggest challenge for me, but I’m getting there.

I have a number of recipe sites in my RSS feed reader (reader.google.com), one of which is the Weight Watchers site. They do a good job of making recipes both healthy AND tasty, which as many know, is not the easiest thing to do. I have linked to one of the recipes from today, which looks very good. Check it out!

http://weightwatchers-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/03/weight-watchers-thai-coconut-chicken.html

-j.

I need to make 2 different playlists for the triathlon for my iPod.  I need 20 minutes for the bike portion and 15 minutes for the run.

What are you suggestions for songs?  They can be upbeat to very upbeat for the bike but I need more mellow stuff for the run so I don’t go too fast and have my heartrate get out of control.

Gracias in advance!

….I Love

• The puzzle game Jonathan downloaded for Claire. It keeps her occupied on the computer for like 30 minutes. Amazing.

• The Preschooler’s Busy Book . So many awesome ideas. Every parent of a preschooler should have this book. I’m so excited to do some of the things. (incidentally there is a Toddler’s Busy Book that I don’t have, however a lot of the things in the preschooler book Madeline can do too). Thanks College Roommate Emily for the idea!
• The fact that Madeline will sit in her high chair and eat an entire apple by herself. I just core it and give it to her. When I put her in the high chair today she said “Tanks Mommy…AP-PLE”. Awwww. Her vocab is REALLY taking off. Thanks Maryland Emily for that suggestion!
• The fact that Claire recognizes that I like to knit and knows what I’m doing when I’m doing it. She told me today as I was working on the MarxBaby sweater while sitting next to her playing on the computer “Mommy, please don’t knit Kitty”
• My triathlon training. It’s really so awesome. Swimming, Spinning and Running all in one night. (Well the running part sort of stinks. I ascribe to the smurray rule about running: “I only run if people are chasing me”. ) I REALLY enjoy it though — it’s a great workout, I’m burning a TON of calories doing it and I can already see a difference in my fitness level. I’ll be sad when it’s over. The Triathlon is March 15th, so pray for me!
• Spinning. It’s fun. Despite what keith says. It’s not torture. It’s a fun, wicked hard workout. Hey I’ll take 600+ calories burned in 60 minutes anytime.
• My husband who went to Michigan to get me said beer. (see below)

….I do not so much Love

• Knitting with cotton. It just doesn’t stretch the way wool does. Maybe its the stuff that I’m using for the Marxbaby sweater. Or maybe I’m becoming a yarn snob.
• Soy milk because it’s stinky and too expensive
• Teething. Especially those Pesky Canine Teeth
• Pot Holes. Especially ones the size of the Grand Canyon that I hit with Jonathan’s car going about 40MPH
• When the spare tire is flat (see above)
• The cost of tires (see above)
• Gymboree sales. Ok, actually that’s not true. I love Gymboree Sales. My budget however, does not.
• Sunday nights. Sunday nights I always want a beer and you can’t buy beer in Indiana on Sundays (yes, I do live 500 yards from Michigan where you can buy beer on Sundays but you have to pay a bottle deposit there so it’s more expensive)
• Yarn Overs versus Make One. I never know when to do when and believe me the difference in the finished piece is substantial. Actually I thought they were the same thing until I actually looked in my knitting book.