Sugar Rush

My inlaws came into town yesterday. I didn't tell the boys because I wanted it to be a surprise. They were pretty mellow about it. The inlaws were pretty mellow about the mohawk. (Apparently, I was the only one surprised! By the reactions, that is.)

I'm super-lucky. In many ways, but today I'm talking about inlaw ways. When we lived in Tucson, Dave's parents (DP) were the primary care-givers for the boys. (When we needed care-givers. With my job as a massage therapist, I only worked 1-5 hours a day, 3-4 days a week!) Also, Dave's mom cooked for us at least 4 nights a week, we had dinner at their house every Sunday, and when they sat with the kids at our house, she'd clean the kitchen and even do some laundry! We never bought laundry soap and didn't buy diapers for about 6 months before we moved to CO. We miss them.

And they miss us. Or at least the boys! They are planning on moving out here this summer. They decided to visit for the boys' birthdays. Dave's mom expresses her love through food. She's really good at it. I lost almost ten pounds when we moved out here in Nov. They visited us for Christmas and I gained it all back. When they showed up yesterday, she had 3 sacks of groceries in the trunk of the car. I say groceries but it was all junk food. Here's some hi-lites:
A 3 pound sack of peanut m&ms's; 2 bags of cheetos and one of fritos; two plastic tins of chocolate covered pretzels and another 3 pound bag of Hershey chocolate covered pretzels; 2 bags of marshmallows; 2 bags of suckers; a bag of Oreos (my biggest weakness); 3 dozen of her awesome homemade chocolate chip cookies.... I'd go on but I'm getting fatter just thinking about it!

And her cooking! It's the best! I already had dinner planned for last night (meatloaf) but tonite she's making her fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Again, she makes the best fried chicken gravy I've ever had! (I thought my mom and grandma were good cooks! She's better!) They are going to be here for about a month. sigh. At least our house will be really, really clean!

I love them and can't wait for them to move here. I'm just going to have to exercise more. sigh.

Here's a tip for Tippa Tuesday:

The first time I had to knit handles for a felted bag, the instructions said to cast on 11 stitches, and knit for 26". I know me. I don't see me knitting something for 26". And then doing it again. (That's probably why I've put off learning to knit socks for so long!)

This is when I discovered knitting two things at once. You cast on for the first with one ball and then for the second with a second ball. That way you are doing the 26" (or whatever) twice, but only once. Get it?

I find this most helpful with sleeves. This will also ensure your sleeves are the same length/gauge. I also do this with the front/backs of sweaters when the pattern says, "Knit front same as back". When it says, "Knit front same as back until..." then I knit them at the same time until it calls for the change. I slip one on some waste yarn, finish the other, then finish the one on the waste yarn.

To keep from getting the balls tangled, I either sit with a ball on each side or I sometimes put them in ziploc bags (if I'm going to travel with them) and put a bag on each side. It can get a little fiddly, (whenever I have to stop and then when I go back to it, it takes a minute or two to sort out which ball for which piece) but for me, it's totally worth it to not have to do big (or long) pieces twice.

I also mark each piece with a separate colored marker and either write it down or just remember (blue for back, red for front - that sort of thing). And I slip the markers onto the "right" side of the piece. That way, I know just by looking at it, what I'm doing (in theory).

Going for a walk, Ruth!