february twenty-eight :: 38 months old

Sean is 38 months old today.
(3 years old & 2 months).

Mackenzie learned how to brush his teeth on his own.

This afternoon I met up with Tara, Caroline & Madeleine. Kadi was supposed to join us as well, we try to meet up at least every other month as a group, but Kadi had to unfortunately cancel. We chatted, we snacked, I played photographer doing a mini-photo shoot (which was really fun by the way) & I worked on my 2nd sleeve. I wanted to make sure it was done tonight before the Closing Ceremonies ended.

SPECS:
Pattern: February Lady Sweater (My Ravelry Project)
For: Me!
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Blue Lagoon
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Size: Medium
Timeline: February 12-28, 2010
Modifications: Knit pattern as written for the Medium Size
(As my measurement was smack in the middle between the S & the M size)
Opinion: I love it. I do need to block it. What an easy fast knit! I am still in shock that I just knit a sweater in 2 weeks' time.

And just like that, I achieved GOLD for Team Montreal! Until next time!

While out today somehow I talked about a skein of yarn that I had gotten in a swap back in 2006. It’s by “Painted Yarns”. The dyer of this yarn passed away in 2007. I realized that this yarn is not in my stash, but now it is. I realized it wasn’t in my stash when I went to go find it to find more info on it. I have no idea what to do with this lonely skein (260 yards). It seems to be on Ravelry listed as a DK. I guess that looks about right. Anyhow, I need a good project for it. So I ask you, my dear blog readers, what is your fave one skein project that I could do with 260 yards. (No ankle sock suggestions please). It’s a gorgeous color and I think it’s been marinating in my stash long enough.

Now that I have finished my February Lady Sweater, which I still can’t believe that I did in such a short time frame, I have another project up my sleeve, which I will talk about tomorrow.

This evening we all had a good laugh. We went out for dinner with my in-laws, sister-in-law, nephew & step-niece. After dinner (Chinese Food, as per my in-laws request), the fortune cookies were brought. Sean gets his, pulls out his fortune and reads “You will be your best hockey player”… (Of course it really didn’t read that, but that’s what he wanted it to say). Can you tell my child is hockey obsessed? That’s my boy!

february twenty-seven

I’ve been chugging away at my February Lady Sweater. Hoping to finish it tonight, but I’ve still got a bit to go on Sleeve #2. I will 100% be finished tomorrow, that’s for sure. Though, it’s late, and I can only keep my eyes open a little bit longer. Today I managed to knit on rows 49-68 concluding 17 Gull Lace Repeats on the sleeve, and then knitting 16 garter ridge rows for the edge & then did a p2tog bind-off with a 5.5mm needle. I like that the p2tog bind off allows some elasticity. I’ve started on the 2nd sleeve, knitting rows 5-14, which brings me to the middle of the 4th Gull Lace Repeat. (Rows 1-4 of sleeve were done already and left on needles from beginning of pattern). I will 150% finish this sweater on time tomorrow before closing ceremonies. You can count on it! I’ve used these Dangle-Free stitch markers throughout the entire project, putting one in between each repeat on the row (so basically after every 7 stitches). This allowed me to not have to think about where I was if I had to put down my work mid-row. They were really handy during this project. I love them. And they glided smoothly on my 5.0mm knitting needle.

We spent the entire day today (pretty much) with my father-in-law & my nephew Merlyn. We don’t get to see them too often, as my sister-in-law lives 3 and a half hours away. She spent the day with my step-mother-in-law for a girl’s day. (Not sure why I wasn’t invited, but that’s a whole other story). I spent the afternoon listening to Sean in the other room giggling with his cousin. He admires him so much. It’s really too bad that we don’t get to see them more often, Sean would love that. They built tents and forts and played hockey. Mack napped for a good portion of the afternoon (to which amazed my father-in-law). I think it’s because he’s so used to Sean not napping that Mackenzie’s crazy long afternoon nap baffled him a bit. I am certainly glad that Mack still has very good napping habits. (Knock on wood).

This evening we went out for dinner to a fave local dive.

Mackenzie entertained us.

And Sean was fascinated with Merlyn’s Nintendo DS.

I watched Team Canada win THREE Gold medals today. THREE! What an awesome day. Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom (Snowboarding), Men’s Curling & Men’s Team Pursuit Speed Skating. We are still in the lead for the most Gold Medals held by a team this year, with 13 Gold. We now have 25 medals in total, beating our record for most medals at an Olympic. I believe that our previous record was 23 medals. We’ve also beat the former Soviet Union for most Gold Medals won at a Winter Olympic. GO TEAM CANADA!! I can’t wait for tomorrow’s Men’s Hockey Game. We have to beat Team USA… we just do.

Today I saw 2 movies. The first was Post Grad. I got it a while ago and finally got a chance to sit down & watch it. It was really cute even though Jane Lynch is in it. I am NOT a Jane Lynch fan, I find her to be very annoying. I also saw Everybody’s Fine. I am a fan of Drew Barrymore & Robert De Niro. I really liked this movie, and even found myself shedding a tear at the end. Very nice movie. I recommend it.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow, I’m meeting up with some friends that I haven’t seen in a while. We’ve been trying to meet every other month or so, and it’ll be nice to finally see them again. Sometimes, I miss living in the city, for reasons like this. Some people just don’t have access to come out to the West Island, so I don’t get to see old friends as often as I’d like. It should be nice.

february twenty-six

I’m praying this snow goes away. There is a lot of snow on the roof of my house. In order for the roof to get repaired, the snow must disappear. I really don’t want to have to hire someone to shovel my roof, so send good thoughts that it disappears soon. The weather seems to be tinkering around +1C, so I’m hoping that it melts away fast. Once the roof is fixed, we can then go ahead and fix the attic. One step at a time.


Sean wanted to model his new Mickey Mouse hat. He loves it.

I love how it’s embroidered with his name on it. Mack has one with his name too.

Houston, we have a sleeve! Today I worked on the first sleeve on my February Lady Sweater. I knit rows 5-48 today. (Rows 1-4 of sleeve were done already and left on needles from beginning of pattern). I have now completed 12 Gull Lace Repeats on the sleeve. I keep trying it on to see how long it is to determine how long I want to make the sleeves. I believe I will do them three quarter length. I think it looks cute like that. I am hoping to have the sweater done by tomorrow night so that I can wear it out on Sunday! The sleeve will probably be just a tad longer than the black shirt sleeve I’m wearing underneath.

Check this out – the yarn dyed my bamboo DPNs! I couldn’t believe it!

Today on my way home from work, I fell in love with the sunset.
I love how it changes color so fast.

I’m looking at the amount of laundry I need to do this weekend (haven’t touched laundry in a while) and it’s very daunting. It’s a vicious cycle that just doesn’t end.

Tonight I watched (and knitted) Team Canada Men’s Hockey beat out Slovakia tonight 3-2. We had a great lead for most of the game and then somehow let 2 goals in during the 3rd period. The last few minutes of the game was a nail biter. Sitting on the edge of the couch, I jumped up when the game was over, and it was secured that we will be playing on Sunday to try and win gold against Team USA. I have faith – hoping for another gold medal for Team Canada. We’re currently in the lead for most gold medals won at the Olympics. We may not be in the lead for the amount of medals won, the USA has that on us, but all that matter is Gold. And we currently have the most. GO TEAM CANADA! Hoping for a few more before the Olympics are over on Sunday.

february twenty-four :: 88 weeks old

Mack is 88 weeks old today.

We left the house this morning to find a lot of snow. I know they’d been calling for snow, and that’s why the roofer didn’t come by today to take a look at the roof on the house. I am hoping that the snow melts away with the rain they’re also calling for, as I need to get my roof fixed as soon as possible.

However, as much as I don’t want the snow to be here right now (due to the roof), it’s still very pretty the way it falls on the branches and is so clean & pretty. I love photographing snow. So hard to photograph as well!




The guys finally finished the bathroom today! It’s done. It’ll be cleaned tomorrow morning & then we’ll be able to test it out. I do need to go to the hardware store and buy a massaging shower head for the stall because they destroyed the original one when they demolished the fibreglass shower stall we got rid of.

I love the new shower. I can’t wait to try it out!

I went into work today, I was surprised to see that my office was pretty clean, my manager had taken care of a bunch of stuff while I was out of the office last week. The driving was a bit slower than usual due to all the snow that fell, though the roads weren’t bad at all to drive. People drive slower than usual (and worse than usual) when there is snow.

This evening I went out with some good friends (hi M.E.C!) for dinner. We made sure we were sitting near a TV as the Team Canada vs. Team Germany Men’s Hockey Game was on. We won (7-3) and it was a good game. I worked furiously on my February Lady Sweater. I am now done rows 150-152 to conclude the 26th Gull Lace Repeat and then started on the Garter Ridge Edge at the bottom. I worked 10 rows of garter ridge, which brought me to just over 1 inch of the 1.5 inches required as the pattern states. Will be able to start on the sleeves tomorrow! I can see the end in sight. I can smell it! And when I’m done, not only will I have completed my first adult sized sweater, but I will have completed it in about 2 weeks. Two weeks. That’s crazy! I’ll show you an updated picture soon!

february twenty-three

I watched 2 movies today. The first one was Did You Hear About the Morgans? It was really cute. Sarah Jessica Parker was actually knitting in one of the scenes! I wonder if she knits in real life? Very cute. The movie was really cute as well. I enjoyed it. I like both Hugh Grant & Sarah Jessica Parker. The second movie I watched was Up in the Air. The main actor was George Clooney – hadn’t seen him in anything in ages. It was also a really cute movie.

Worked more on my February Lady Sweater. I’m now done rows 138 to 149 which is now 25 Full Gull Lace Repeats, starting on the 26th. I like my sweaters long, so I'm still going a bit longer. I will keep trying it on after every Gull Lace Repeat to see where I’m at. I’m supposed to be stopping 1.5 inches before the end as there will be more garter ridge at the bottom.I’m not there yet. I don’t want a sweater that is too short. I’m also not sure how this yarn will block because everyone is saying it grows. So I’m torn. Some people have even said that the yarn holds a bit of it’s memory… so I’m going to wing it, it seems and hope it’s not too long/big after blocking.

So there's good news today. It’s really just our luck with the mould in our attic... firstly, it’s contained to 5 sq feet. Secondly, it's luck that we opened up Mackenzie's closet ceiling to go into the attic that way, or we would have never have found the mould (the entire attic is insulated, so only by opening the floor, did we find it).

The only bad new is that the company that did our roof in 2005 went bankrupt the year before in 2004 (the guy must have given an illegal warranty). Not sure how to approach that legally, but I'm waiting to find out if there is anything we can do.

The lady who owned our house before us, (we bought the house Nov 2007) passed away in August of 2008 (I found her obituary online through google). Though, the money from the sale of the house, had to of been left to her children... so we need to find out who the estate was left to, and maybe we can go after them.

Now it would be for the ceiling/attic repairs (they will have to tear down Mackenzie's bedroom ceiling/closet) and we'll have to call in a new roofer to come fix the roof. But... we’re so lucky that it’s not the entire attic covered in mould, what he thought he was looking at yesterday was just water stains on the wood, but there is no actual mould (yesterday he went up with a flash light and today he went up with work lights). And, it looks like it's NOT going to be a $40,000-$50,000 job, which was my biggest worry.

The contractor that is doing our bathroom *thinks* the issue on the roof as to why it’s leaking water in, may just be that the flashings need repairs, so that would be on the cheaper side of what could have been with the roof. Though, I am having a roofing company that has been around for years come to take a look at my roof, hopefully sometime this week – snow depending. (They’re calling for 5-10 inches of snow tomorrow). As soon as the roof is fixed, we can have the contractor come back in and fix the attic.

My contractor was explaining to me that some guys who do roofs, are frauds. They are in business for 3-5 years and then go bankrupt and then open up a new company to avoid the warranty on the roof. You see, roofs generally have warranty when work is done for 10 years for labour and 25 years for the shingles. So, in order for them to avoid their warranties, they close up shop and no one can go after them for the warranty. My contractor said to make sure I call in a company that has been around for years. The one I called has been around since 1985. The reason that my roof is leaking is probably because the guy who already had closed up shop, did a crap job on my roof, just to collect that cash. The lady that was living here was elder, and he probably took advantage. Not cool.

Anyhow... luck is on my side today. This could have gone really badly.

february twenty-one

This morning I hung out with the kids in the playroom.
Mack decided to play in the toy box.

We made a huge mess.
This is usual for our house.

At lunch my parents called me up and asked if I was okay
if they took Sean to the park to toboggan.
It was a beautiful day today, why on earth would I have said no?

Sean had a blast!

Our bathroom got painted today. I think it looks great. The color is called Smoke. It’s grey with a hint of blue.

I’ve been working on my February Lady Sweater.

I can so be done before closing ceremonies.
Not only will this be my first sweater ever… but it’ll have been knit in less than 2 weeks.
Now, that’s an accomplishment!

After Mack got up from his nap we got organized and dressed.

And we went over to my parents house for dinner. We stayed until after the first period of the Canada vs. USA Men’s hockey game. After the kids were in bed we sat down to unfortunately watch Team Canada lose. We still have a chance though, on Tuesday night. We’ll be playing Germany (I am pretty certain it’s Germany). I still have faith in our boys. I am very disappointed in Martin Brodeur’s game tonight. We have the best of the best of NHL players born in Canada… I don’t understand why we lost to the USA today. It just doesn’t make any sense.

february nineteen

I don’t often photograph my cat. He’s usually off doing his own thing or sleeping. Today he kept me company in my office. He cozied himself up next to some books that I have to sort through and kept me company. It was nice having him around. He’s such a beautiful color, and I love his unique patches. He’s such a good cat. (Except at 4 am when he’s trying to sleep on my head or vomiting on my yarn – yes, he’s done that).

The guys working on my bathroom today did all the grouting. There’s just the install of the fan, the light in the shower and the door to put on, and then paint my entire bathroom. They’re supposed to show up at 10 am Sunday morning to continue. What I don’t get is why they’re going to paint the bathroom first, to then put a hole in the wall for the fan and a hole in the ceiling of the shower for the light to have to touch up the paint. Doesn’t it make sense to do those things first then paint? Well, they know what they are doing, so I trust them. We chose a grey color with a hint of blue in it for the bathroom, which will give it a nice change from the beige that we’re sick of in there. Change is good. Now they’re saying that they should be finished by end of day on Monday. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Today I watched a ton of movies. (And took care of the never ending laundry). I started off my morning by watching Then She Found Me. It was an interesting movie with Helen Hunt, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler and Colin Firth. Then I tried to watch The Namesake but it wasn’t for me. It had even more subtitles than the movie I watched yesterday (Raman Girl) and I just couldn’t focus. Maybe I’ll try another time to watch it. Then I watched Margot at the Wedding. It was alright. Nothing I’d watch again. Nicole Kidman, Jack Black & Jennifer Jason Leigh were in it. Then I watched the movie Dedication. It was a movie with Billy Crudup, Christine Taylor & Mandy Moore. It was alright (about a children’s book author). Lastly this afternoon I watched 2 Days in Paris with Adam Goldberg & Julie Deply.It was half French and half English (no subtitles), but that’s okay with me. It was alright as well. These were all movies that were on my list to watch for a long time. Then this evening, Jamie & I watched the Chris Rock movie I Think I Love My Wife. It was a cute romantic comedy. Steve Buscemi was in it as well. Today was quite the movie day. I don’t think I’ll be able to do these movie days again for a while. It was nice being at home while the house was being renovated.

I’ve been working on my February Lady Sweater. I will be starting the 12th repeat in the Gull Lace pattern tomorrow when I picked it up tomorrow. While movie watching today I worked on clearing out my entire email inbox, which I was very successful in doing, so I didn’t get much knitting done at all. It was much long over due to clear out my inbox and it feels good that I have done so. From what I’ve gathered from my research, it seems like most people have knit between 22 and 24 Gull Lace Repeats before the garter bottom, so if that’s the case, I’m half way to the bottom. Then there’s just the sleeves left after that. I have faith that I can finish this sweater before the Olympics end. Just wait and see!

This morning when I dropped off Mack at daycare his teacher asked me if he still naps/sleeps in a crib at home. I told her yes, because he does still. He’s only 20 months old. Sean moved into a big boy bed at 2 years old (just a few days after his birthday). I asked her how come she was asking and she told me that it was because I said that he naps on the weekends at home his usual 3 hour nap (sometimes even longer). Anyhow, she said she had thought of something, because Mack only sleeps maybe 1 hour at daycare every day. She said that today she was going to try to put him in a “crib like surrounding”. Basically she said she’d take cushions and mats, and make a “crib” for him. She had tried that once before with another child she used to have in her class and it worked. Well, when I went to pick up the kids today from school, I asked her about the napping situation and she told me that he napped the entire 3 hour naptime. Phew! Glad that is solved. He’s been coming home all week cranky because he hasn’t been napping properly. I am so relieved there is an easy solution to this.

february eighteen

Today I only got the chance to watch one movie – Raman Girl. Rhoda had recommended this movie to me a while ago, so I finally got the chance to watch it. It’s one of Brittany Murphy’s last movies, released in 2008. She was super cute in that movie. It had subtitles for some of the movie, but other than that, it was a cute movie. I also finished watching last night’s episode of Nip/Tuck, which I fell asleep watching last night. Boy that show is getting even more messed up than ever. Does anyone know if it’s the last season? I think I heard that, but I’m not entirely certain if that’s true?

My February Lady Sweater is coming along!
Today I managed to knit on rows 73-84 this evening, which is now 9 full Gull Lace Repeats.
However, I took this photo before knitting more on it.

Lovin’ it.

Today I finally found some time to put up some decals in Sean’s room to surprise him. He had no idea about the solar system that I put in his room on his wall.

He did know about the alphabet decals, because those he got for his birthday. I lined them on his wall along the top. He loved it. I think decals are so great because they’re removable.

The shower is now all tiled. It’s coming along. No way is this going to be finished by Friday. Now it’s maybe Monday or Tuesday. Ah… gotta love contractors! I just want it to be finished already.

The good thing about being at home is I had the guy come today (since I was home anyhow) to replace the humidifier on our furnace. He was finished late afternoon. When Jamie got home from work, there was a flood in our furnace room, the humidifier was leaking. So we called the guy, he told us how to shut it off, and they’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning to fix the valve. It’s a good thing that Jamie went in that room to take a look at what they did, otherwise we’d never have known it was leaking. We do go in the furnace room, as we have an extra fridge in there, but we never go behind the furnace, where the humidifier is located. I can’t wait for that to be working again, I’m tired of waking up with dry (and some time bloody) noses. And Mack’s skin (eczema) might clear up a bit once that’s working too (here’s to hoping).

february sixteen :: Link Love

It’s been mild for the last couple of days, and finally today it got a little bit chilly, so I pulled out my Canadian Olympic Mittens to wear. They’re fleece lined and so cozy. I got them as a gift from my in-laws for Christmas. I love the someone made a pattern to knit them!

Go Team Canada! We won our 2nd Gold medal today in Women’s Snowboarding! Keep on winning them on home ‘turf!

The bathroom renovations are coming along. Right now we’re waiting for the plaster to dry. I also need to pick out a color to paint the bathroom. Time for a change in there. The contractor is bringing over a swatch book tomorrow for me to choose a color.

Yesterday I watched the movie Love Happens. It was a little slow, but cute nonetheless. Jennifer Anniston was really cute in this movie as Eloise. Nothing I’d watch again though. Today I watched the movie The Invention of Lying. Very interesting, but nothing I’d ever watch again. There were a couple of big name actors in this movie, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe & Tina Fey, but nothing fantastic. I didn’t hate it though. I love that the “PC Guy” (you know from the Mac commercials) John Hodgman was in it as the Wedding Commissioner. I also watched Paper Hearts. I think Michael Cera is such a cute kid. It’s too bad that he & Charlyne Yi broke up after 3 years of dating. They’re so cute together. I also then watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. There is no way that either of my kids would have sat through this movie, it’s a little too old for them. I thought it was cute. Also not really a movie I’d watch again. There was a lot of good voices in this movie, such as James Caan, Mr. T!, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Lauren Graham & a few others. It seems like I’ll be stuck home for the rest of the week as the bathroom renovations, which was supposed to be done by today, may only be done by… uhm, Friday. I’m not complaining, being “stuck” home means I get to knit, which is good during the Olympics, with a deadline! At least over the next day or so the humidifier will be replaced as well. The guy may come tomorrow if he gets the job he’s doing at my parents house done on time, if not, it’ll be on Thursday. Who knew they had to replace their humidifier as well. The company that is doing it is based off the island of Montreal, so hopefully they can kill two birds with one stone and do it at the same time in our area.

Isn’t this rug the neatest thing you’ve ever seen? Must find yarn that large!
I was told it could be sailing rope.
Hmm, interesting.

Progress on my February Lady Sweater. It’s starting to take “sweater” shape now that I’ve put the sleeves on separate cables (love knitpicks options cables for this), and am working up the body. It’s coming along lovely. Have knit rows 53 to 65 completed today. I’ve done a full 4 repeats of the Gull Lace (including the one repeat before the sleeve stitches were separated). I am currently on Row 2 of the 5th Gull Lace pattern. If I were to ever knit this again, I would knit the last stitch of every row through the back loop to give it a nicer edge. I am not liking the edge. I may have to add a simple crochet border to it afterwards, to hid the edges. We’ll see when it comes to that at the ends. I only thought of this now.

- This photo makes me smile.
- This is the coolest Olympic ad ever.
- I love that this product still allows you to use broken crayons. I’ve been keeping broken crayons to DIY.

I’m beat. Had dinner with some friends tonight at a local joint I hadn’t been to in a while. We knitted (I made great progress on my Feb Lady Sweater, it's good that the lace pattern is so easy that I'm able to knit in public on it and talk at the same time), chatted, had good laughs and enjoyed each other's company. It’s time to go to bed, the kidlets will be up early tomorrow. I treated myself to some Strawberry Cheesecake for dessert and it was absolutely delicious. Totally worth every calorie. Ah, life is beautiful!

february fifteen :: 163 weeks old

Sean is 163 weeks old today.
He was a super star in his swimming class this morning.
He put his head under water whenever necessary.
He’s my little fish.

Today’s progress as of mid-day on my February Lady Sweater. She’s coming along.

My buttons are ready. I picked them up almost a year ago at the Knitter’s Frolic in Toronto.

I even tried it on. Though, it’s a little hard to see what’s going on due to the cable on the needle getting in the way. Though, I’m loving it so far. The color is gorgeous (a beautiful teal). And I’m really enjoying knitting with my zephyr tips.

Saw this dog wearing a knitted hat on a fido ad. This hat reminds me so much of this hat on Ravelry! Or even this hat. This hat is quite similar as well. It’s very cute in green. The dog’s got the right idea!

Renovations are coming along with the bathroom. It’s going to take longer than expected for it to get done, which I had a hunch this would happen. The cement has been laid down and now we’re waiting for it to dry. They’ll come in tomorrow do something, put down some more cement and then wait for that to dry. The fan needs to get installed, and we thought there was access to the attic, which there isn’t, so we’re going to have to create one, so that our house is up to code. (And if we ever need access to the attic, we’ll have one). Not sure why this house was built without access, but that’s another story. There’s still tiling to be done, the shower door install, and painting of the bathroom (since they took down some of the wall to open up the shower stall to let in more light, we need to fix up and paint). I just need to decide on what color to pain the bathroom. Not sure yet.

Since I was home today keeping my eye on the renovations, I decided to continue with my office clean-up. It’s coming along very well and I’m doing a huge purge. Call it early spring-cleaning? I’m not even sure how I’ve acquired some of the stuff that I have. Anyhow, I am making a very large pile of stuff and some of it will probably get donated. I really don’t want to chuck this stuff out because maybe it could be useful to someone else. I really am trying to de-clutter, and I think I’m doing a really good job of it. It feels very good to do this. Even the re-organization of my things on my desk, for example is very uplifting, if you could believe that. I’ve even chucked things that I am not sure why I was even keeping. And you know what? It felt fantastic. I recommend you do it. You'll feel freer too. Go on, free yourself. Clutter doesn’t do good to ones life, I’ve come to understand.

Off to go watch some tv with Jamie (24 is actually new tonight) and continue working on my February Lady Sweater. Only 13 days left before closing ceremonies and I totally want to have this sweater done so I can achieve gold for Team Montreal! I can do it. I know I can! I’d like to be reading to finish my book, I’ve still got more than halfway to read in my almost 700 page book, but my spare time is going towards reaching the end of my first sweater ever. The book will still be there when the Olympics are over, but the challenge of finishing my sweater before Feb 28th isn’t. Priorities!