Poke You With My Sticks

It's here!

2007-09-16T20:07:00.000-04:00

I finally got my new blog up and running. Now, I just have to start posting on it :)

I'm sorry to make you jump through hoops to get the new address, but you know how it goes. If you leave a comment with your e-mail I will send you the link. Or you can e-mail me (my address is on the sidebar). I've changed all of my profiles to the new blog on the various knitting sites (Ravelry, L&V message boards, knittyboard, Knitter's Review) so you can also get it there. My user name is the same everywhere, even my e-mail.

I know I have a few "lurkers" and that's o.k. I promise I won't keep your e-mail info and will let you stay a lurker, unless you want to introduce yourself ;)

So what are you waiting for?

Sockapalooza and some New Digs

2007-08-07T15:23:00.000-04:00

Let's do the fun stuff first today.

Usually, I start my sockapalooza socks as soon as I get my pal. But this year, I kept changing my mind on the yarn and the pattern. I finally made up my mind the beginning of July and made some kick ass socks. If I would have had more time to knit a different pair for my pal, I would have kept them for myself. Seriously!
The pattern is Twisted Flowers from Cookie A. And the yarn is Dream In Color Smooshy, "Some Summer Sky". The pattern looks complicated but was easy as pie. I liked it so much I think I'll make a pair for myself. And those of you who know me, know I hate knitting the same pattern twice. The yarn...Oh the yarn!! Out of all the sock yarn I have used and stashed, this is my favorite. It really is smooshy, and knits so nicely. I used size 2 needles, which is a nice change from toothpick needles. I love the way the colors blend. No stripes, so pooling. Just perfect. I have some more in another color for myself. (and I have the worsted to make a shrug too). My pal and I also have the same size feet so I had no problem making sure they were the right size. I'm happy to say my pal, who I believe is blogless, has received her socks and loves them.
Here's a close up:

Over the week-end my sockpal socks arrived. I wasn't expecting them so soon! The box was postmarked from England so I really had no clue what it was. Imagine my surprise when I opened it and realized it was my socks. Polly from All Tangled Up was my pal and she was a great pal. I've been reading her blog for well over a year (maybe two?) and love seeing all the socks she knits. What a nice treat having her as my pal! The socks were made with regia silk in a blueish gray color. They fit like a glove, and I LOVE them. I gasped so loud when I opened them that my son came running to make sure I was o.k. I really like how they don't have a ribbed cuff. It really makes the pattern pop, and they don't slide down any more than normal.
But wait! That's not all. There were some yummy candies for the kids and I. No pictures, because it's already been eaten :) There was a second tissue paper wrapped goodie. I figured it was the leftover yarn. So imagine my surprise when I opened it and found this:

The yarn is by Piece of Beauty Yarn. It's 100% merino superwash, the color is called "Deep End". It is SO soft and squishy. I can't wait to try it out. So needless to say, another kick ass round of sockapalooza for me.

I know I said I was going to blog more and then disappeared. I really wanted to blog but it's been a crazy summer for us. Christian had summer school, both kids played baseball again (it just ended last week). Emily, poor thing, keeps getting sick. First it was Fifth's Disease, rash and all. Then she got a little flu-like bug. I had my first set of fillings done last week, some girly doctor visits, a Mammogram in two weeks, more dental stuff in three weeks, Christian turned nine in July, and my brother is coming for a quick visit next week before he deploys for a year to Kuwait. So yeah...really hectic around here!

I have been doing a little knitting and some spinning. I'm really getting into the spinning (I guess I should show pictures of my fiber stash soon). I've also been sewing some baby stuff, and finally, I get to knit some baby stuff. No! Not for me :) I'll fill you in on baby detials later though.

On top of all that crazy, I haven't blogged because I don't like my blog. Ok, sure I like it. But I feel like it's a "knitting" blog and I shouldn't talk about much else. But then again, it is my blog and I can do what I want. So I compromised with myself. I started a new blog over at Wordpress. Much better than blogger! I imported all of my blogger posts over there, but the name is changed to something that doesn't scream knitting. That way, readers can't whine if I don't talk about knitting. *Not that anyone has complained before, but still...* I'm almost done setting it up. I just need to figure out the widgets and set up my side bar. I haven't decided if I will post the link or not. See, there's a crazy person out there sort of harassing me. Nothing crazy that requires police or anything. Just enough that I'd rather get away from him. I hate to ask me few readers to e-mail me for the link. Maybe you could just leave a comment and I can send you the link? (IF you do, make sure your e-mail address shows up. New blogger doesn't always show it)

I'm hoping to finish it later this week. I'll let you know when it's ready :)

It's a long one....ignore the typos I'm tired

2007-07-05T22:51:00.000-04:00

**I am so tired of messing with the stupids pictures. They are just going to have to stay the way they are. I miss being able to use Hello to load my pictures. Stupid Blogger. If you click on the picks it takes you to my flickr page. You can click on "All Sizes", which is above the picture, and you can see the larger sizes then for more detail. If you want to of course.**

I tried. I really tried. To blog more often that is. The kids are home on summer break, a new kitten who wants Mommy's attention all the time, and a husband who ripped a muscle in his lower back and is pretty much useless because of it, hehe. Oh yeah...and a dentist visit five years in the making. Just so you know, if you eat a lot of sugar, you are going to get cavities no matter how much you brush. Not only do I need a crown for an old root canal, I also have stage 1 gum disease and need a debrinement? or something like that (a special cleaning). But the worst part...8 cavities, all of my back molars!!! I was so embarrassed. I'm using it as an example for my kids though and they seem to brushing more often since then. I have so much work to be done that I actually have 5 appointments set up starting in Aug. and going through Nov. I'm not going to even mention how much it's going to cost me. Wish I could find a dentist who would take me as a charity case. I'm hoping to have the money by August 2, otherwise I'll have to reschedule everything. (there's a 3 month wait too, so that pushes me back the end of November and some of these cavities are real bad and before long I'm going to loose a few teeth) This sucks. Period. I need to find out if I can take a xanax before dental work, I am going to need it.

But enough about that...That's not what you come here for.

Up until last week, I have done minimal knitting. I just couldn't find the motivation. But now I need it...I still have sockapalooza 4 socks and some test knitting socks that need to get done asap. I signed up to do the Mystery Stole 3 kal, and wouldn't you know it, I sat down the first day we got the first clue and started knitting. I finished it Sunday night. And since then, I've had the urge to knit. Finally!

I decided to start my sockapalooza 4 socks first. I have an awesome skein of yarn from DoodleBird Creations that I need to knit up for an example, and I really want to get started on them. Unfortunately, my sock pal has to come first thanks to the deadline. (If you're reading this Beth, I promise to start on them as soon as I finish the sock pal socks!) So here's my sock pal socks. I'm using Dream in color smooshy sock yarn, color is some summer sky. And the pattern is Cookie A. Twisted Flower. I LOVE this yarn! It's so squishy when I knit with it, and the colors are just amazing. My only minor complaint is the tangled skein that took for ever to fix. Do you like my skull needle holders? I found them on Etsy and they are great.

After those two pairs of socks are done I will be making these:

It's a brand new, exclusive Cookie A. pattern called Marilinda. It was part of the June installment for Scout's Swag. I almost didn't make it into this round but when someone didn't pay, my name was next to come up. SO freakin happy about that! These socks are going to kick ass. The yarn is really hard to take a picture of without it looking like crap. If you look closely at the pattern picture, that's the yarn that came with it. And Cookie even designed the colorway too. Sweet!

Up next is something you wouldn't expect of me. Last year I got spindle kit from my secret pal. i tried it and hated it. I just couldn't get the fiber to draft. After that, I didn't think I would ever think of spinning again. "I don't want to make it. I just want to knit it." Of course, things have changed. In my not wanting to knit slump I needed something to do. So I pulled out my spindle but it was still crap. So I ordered a 2.2 oz schacht hi-lo spindle (bottom), along with two how to spin books and tried it again. It was a little better this time, but still rough. I decided to order a lighter spindle, so I bought this 1.5 oz Grafton fiber spindle (top). But still I couldn't quite get it right.

I stewed on it for awhile. I figured the only way I was going to get it is if I have someone show me in person. I called up the ever sweet Kathy, from Holly Spring Homespun and made an appointment for some lessons. Kathy was awesome, as usual, and after a short time, I finally got it. She gave me some white, local grown merino and I was on my way. Here's what it looked like a week later, plied washed and skeined. One is navajo plied, the other is regular ol' two ply. Not too shabby I guess.

One problem I am still having...I can't make thicker yarn. I suppose that's a good thing since I mostly want to spin sock yarn. But it's still frustrating. Anyhow....While I was there Kathy and I got to talking. We get along so well because the two of us can just keep going and going. I thought I would be there maybe two hours, and ended up being there for four hours! We just kept talking about everything you could imagine. It was really nice being able to talk to another woman, knitter, spinner in person. My husband thinks I have lost my mind because this is something else I came home with that day.... (yes, I just realized that is a backwards picture. I'm too lazy to redo it so imagine it's turned around the other way)

The story goes something like this: I asked Kathy if she would mind showing me a little wheel spinning, just to see what it's like. (I have never even looked at a wheel up close before, let alone watch someone spin) She got out her shop wheel, an old Ashford Traditional in gorgeous condition. I was glad to see that, and told Kathy that's the exact wheel I have been pricing. For future reference mind you. I didn't expect her to tell me she would sell it to me for $200. Um, hello?! How could I pass that up. First I had to try it out, and I loved it! Just loved it! So I did what any ~~sensible~~ crazy knitter would do...I bought it. Clearly, I have lost my mind. But who could pass up that deal? It's single treadle (which turns out is a little bothersome because of my bum right knee) single drive. I did order a new flyer for the extra speeds and a turbo belt which makes treadling a little easier for me. And maybe a few more bobbins (it came with three and I bought three more). My fiber stash has grown immensely, to the point it is rivaling my yarn stash. That's bad! I haven't had a chance to spin anything yet, and now with those socks, it might be awhile before I really get to play with it.
Here are some singles I spun the day I brought it home, just to try it out. What do you think? Good, bad?

Before I start spinning up everything, I want to spin this green corriedale on the three different speeds. I figure that will help me get a better feel for each, and help me decide which speed to use for what.

Oh yeah, just in case you haven't seen the 4,000 pictures already out there of this, here's my MS3 shawl at the end of clue one.

I'm using Zephyr Vanilla and clear rainbowy beads. (The same colors that the designer used. Yes I'm boring.) Surprisingly I zipped right through this and axiously await the next clue. I love how it looks so far.

I'll leave you with some Stanley pictures. This little guy is such a joy! And a momma's boy. He follows me every where. Cries if I'm behind a closed door. Sits on my lap when I go potty. He *still* sucks on my shirt. It drives me crazy because he soaks me shirt and makes this loud annoying slurping sound. But it's soo cute! If I am at my desk, he has to sleep in my lap. All day and night, every time. You can see that in the top two pictures. He curls up in wee balls and sometimes stretches out to tomorrow. The top left one, yes that "pillow" is my boob. They're soft and squishy, what can I say :) He's getting SO big! The bottom two pictures are my favorites. On the right, Leo and Stanley are sleeping together. If you look closely, you can see Leo's tail works quite good as a pillow. And the picture with me....that's me knitting my MS3 while the peanut naps on my lap. He doesn't mind my knitting, sleeps right through it. And no, he doesn't even bother with the yarn. It's shocking considering he bothers everything else in the entire house. But I won't complain.

Phew! I think I covered everything for now! I'm hoping that since I am knitting again, I'll be posting more. It helps to have progress photos and stories, you know? Also....I'm on ravelry so if you're over there add me. My name is ibmomof2 (big surprise) I actually got into Ravelry when it was only around 100 people, I just haven't had the time to add much to it. I'm working on it though.

New Addition

2007-05-18T14:44:00.001-04:00

Meet Stanley!!!

This is my new baby. On Mother's day, the kids and I went to a small local festival with my parents. We usually try to go every year. There's live bands, pony rides, craft for kids, loads of vendors, and all that great fair food. This year, there was a woman there who was giving away kittens. At first, I resisted. Even when the kids started begging. But we don't need another cat. Really. A little while later, my son asked how much they were. When the lady said free to a good home, I knew it was over. I have always wanted a tan/orange cat. We always manage to get black/white/gray. This was the only one who was all orange/tan.

It took us a day to come up with a name. We were going to go with Milo, but it just didn't fit him. The hubby suggested Stanley, and you know what? I think he really looks like a Stanley. So the name stuck. This little guy is a sweetheart! He's 7 weeks old. He went to the vet monday, and other than worms (which I'm told are normal for new kitties) he's in perfect health. Stanley weighed in at 1.6 pounds. He was already sort of litter trained, although we did find a little poo once or twice the first day. Since then, he's using the litter box. He won't use the small one though. He uses the big one that the other 3 big kitties use. He purrs all the time! While playing, eating, sleeping... The other kitties didn't purr when they were young so this is a nice treat. It sounds so cute! the other cats have warmed up to Stanley. Smudge, the mother hen, has taken to bathing him. Of course, now he follows her around batting at her tail. Smart girl, she just ignores him and walks away. He naps in my lap during the day, and give me baby kitty kisses. I'm in love.
He really has blended in quite nicely :)

Hehe...Look, he's a little bigger than a skein of yarn pirate sock yarn :)

In Bloom

2007-05-12T22:56:00.000-04:00

Have I ever mentioned that I have a brown thumb? Seriously, I can kill a plant just by looking at it. Last year, my Mom got into gardening. Big time. She orders flowers/plants like I order yarn. And we all know how much I like to order yarn. Sometimes she drove me nuts talking about gardening, showing me plants. But it wasn't long before I realized her hobby was like mine and I should support it, just as she did for me. My Mom lives like me. We don't work, we don't have any friends. Just each other. I took more interest this Spring when the real gardening began for her. She had trees cut down to make more room for her garden. Visits to the flower nursery were almost a daily excursion. The results, which she is still adding to, is inspiring. I started feeling envious. I mean, who wouldn't want a big beautiful garden to relax in, maybe knit a little? But me, garden? Ha!

So on one of our little shopping trips, I fell in love with some hanging baskets. Petunias. I decided to give it a whirl. I bought 2 yellow and a purple and hung them up across my front porch. They really are quite nice. And after a month, they are still thriving. They survived some late season frost. And me. It wasn't long before Mom decided I needed my own garden. (I suspect part of this is because she ran out of space in her yard, and thought she could start on mine.) We tossed around a few ideas, and that was the end of it.

Fast forward to this past week. I took Mom to Lowe's to look at more flowers. I saw this huge orange one and I fell in love with it. next thing you know, Mom was putting it in the cart. "Happy Mother's day!" she said with a smile. And on we went. Before you knew it, I saw a huge pink flower that I loved. Again, it was put in the cart with a smile from Mom. In no time, the cart was full of flowers. For MY garden. The one that doesn't exist. We worked our way inside the store where I saw a garden decoration that I *had to have*. With that same Motherly smile, it was added to the cart.

The next day, Mom came over. And we planted my very first garden. We had fun. We laughed. Especially when I found a ton of worms, some grubs and a spider whose abdomen was bigger than a quarter. Each time, I jumped and ran away. I'm such a girlie girl. Mom stepped in and killed the spider, moved the worms and the grubs and on we went.

It was a labor of love. We sat there, in our matching blue shorts and white shirts, which was totally unplanned. *we do this a lot actually* A hobby that before bored me, has now taken me over. Something that my Mom loves, I've grown to love. We made wonderful memories that day. I can only hope that this garden will grow and grow, over the years. (Yes, we planted some perennials.) It's truly one of the most wonderful gifts I have ever received. I will treasure it forever.

To the best Mother in the world, I love you Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Now...how about some pictures of my new garden?

Here we are working away. The hubby had to take a picture as proof that I actually did some work.

The finished product. I'd tell you what was planted, but I can't remember most of the names. Let's see: Lavender, rosemary, portulacas, African marigold (they're huge!). There's four more, I don't remember. I'll look in the morning (I did remember to keep the labels in the garden), and let you know. There's also a lemon verbeena on the table. I didn't want it in the garden, since I plan on using it in the kitchen. There's a cat who likes to play in our yard, and I don't want him peeing on it or something. And of course, my fairy statue from last year.

Close up of the big pink one I fell in love with. It's a vine. It came on a smaller trellis and it took us a good ten minutes to unwind it. We're hoping it will get tall enough to wrap around the column.

The big orange plant I fell in love with. This is my favorite in the whole garden.

And the decoration I had to have. I'm sure you can see why. It's my homage to knitting, my first love. I like how it looks like the sheep is grazing in the meadow. (that poor marigold in the back. They're so big and heavy they can't hold themselves up. Her head popped off after planting.)

When I went out the next morning to put the kids on the bus, I couldn't help but smile. It sure is nice to have these bright flowers greeting me in the morning. Now...where else can I make a garden in my yard? It's addicting, I tell ya!

Happy Mother's Day to my readers. xoxo

O.K. So I lied...

2007-05-07T22:43:00.000-04:00

I really did want to come home and blog Saturday night. But you see...that massage I mentioned. It really did a number on me. In a bad way. That woman was sooo damn rough! I must have said ow 4 or 5 times, she never got the hint though. So I spent the rest of my week-end eating motrin and bathing in icyhot. I kid you not, it hurt that bad. It's sort of ironic that would happen to me. The story of my life, you know? It's bad karma or some shit like that. It's ALL around me...

Sorry for leaving you guys hanging for so long after that dramatic post. I am doing a lot better now. All healed up. Sadly, I'm stuck paying crappy hospital bills *again*, and fighting with insurance companies *again*, and on top of all that...The surgery did absolutely nothing. I still have all the issues from before hand. I have an appt. with my Mom's Dr. but as a new patient, they can't get me in until the end of July. I'll stick it out, and wait. NO way I'm going back to that jackass.

the last two months have been a big roller coaster for me. I started taking zoloft two weeks ago. My IBS has gotten so bad I've been virtually housebound for weeks now. I was depressed long before the surgery. But that was just the icing on the cake. I've finally accepted that I need help. I want to get my life back. I've spent the last year pushing everyone away from me. The few friends I had are gone. I can't make new friends. I miss my old knitting group terribly. I really do. Mary reminded me that I can always join the group that meets closer to Richmond. But I can't. I'm too afraid of what will happen. they have such a good group, and I'm the outsider coming in. I know they wouldn't treat me like that. But after what happened with my old group, I feel like I'm all wrong (the world is all right) and it wouldn't be long before I would do something that would cause, hmm, I can't think how to word this. I just think if anything were to ever happen, it would be my fault. Intentionally or not. And I am just too chicken to set myself up for that heartache again. God...I must sound so pathetic here.

The good news is...The kids and hubby are great. Really. Married life is good. Our 10th wedding anniversary is 6 months away. And I've been buying yarn. And knitting. And buying yarn.

How about a little knitty FO as a thank you for actually reading this far?

This is Thermal, from Knitty. I love love love it! I used knitpicks gloss, Burgandy. I only needed 6 skeins, although the pattern called for 8. I didn't do any modifications to it. Although I did have gauge issues, I ended up knitting it on 4's instead of 2's. I'm surely not complaining. One thing I can warn you on with this pattern....It WILL grow when you block it. It grew a good 3 or 4 inches, which is good since it was too short. The sleeves, of course, were perfect. So blocking made them a wee bit too long. Fortunately, they look good rolled up. I've worn it several times and it is so comfy and cozy. LOVE IT! Here's a picture before blocking:

When looking at the two pictures, you should know...One pair of pants sit on my hips, the other closer to my belly button. So at first glance, the length might not look too different. Trust me, it's there though.

I'm going to try real hard to start blogging more regularly. Even if no one is reading (And face it, I can't blame you I'm SO boring!). I think maybe blogging will help me get out all these crazy things I'm feeling, which will help me in the long run. See you soon!

Long Time Gone

2007-05-05T10:14:00.000-04:00

I didn't really mean to leave the blog...It just sort of, happened. I thought about deleting the blog. I thought about starting a new one. But I really just want to stay put. I don't think I'll bore you with all of details today. Suffice it to say, things are back on track.

I have a few finished projects to share with you. A few in progress to share. And whole hell of a lot of new yarn to flash.

How about later tonight? Right now, I'm off to get an hour long full body massage. My first professional massage. Couldn't ask for a better birthday present. Well, unless it's yarn. :)

Complications

2007-02-05T23:32:00.000-05:00

FYI: This post is full of medical stuff, gross details and things you probably don't need or want to read.

Things are not going well after my surgery. I should have known. If you know my track record, you should have known too...I'm sneaking a few moments from my bed-rest to blog a quick update.

The surgery itself went well, I assume. Of course, it took five sticks before they got a vein for the iv. I was discharged around 6pm (surgery was at 12:45) My Dr. did not come see me/speak to me before the surgery OR after. When discharged, I was given an antibiotic that I have a known severe allergy too. The Dr. had already left the hospital so the nurse said not to worry about and gave me nothing. Dr. called and left a message friday morning and the ONLY thing he said was, "I"m waiting for pathology results and I'll call you back." Didn't say what he did or didn't do/find. Friday went well. A little pain, lots of pain drugs. Saturday, even less pain and less drugs. And then I started spotting. And by Saturday night, I was gushing, and passing clots. I thought it was a small after affect (Mind you, my dumb ass doctor never told me a single thing to expect afterwards.) Sunday, still bleeding and I couldn't sit up anymore. I was so dizzy and lightheaded, the room spinning. Finally, Sunday night my Dad took me to the ER (remember my husband is now in California on business).

Long story short...the ER got a hold of my pathology report and found out exactly why I was bleeding so much. During my sugery, the DR. removed my left ovary and left fallopian tube. AND DIDN'T THINK IT WAS SOMETHING HE SHOULD TELL ME?!?!?!?!?! According to the report my fallopian tube was diseased and attached to the pelvic wall.There was a large cyst on my ovary that was bleeding out. The official diagnosis from the report I have, word for word is, "complex left ovarian cyst and adhesive disease." I'm not mad that he took it out, obviously, it needed to be. But why in God's name didn't he share this with me the day I had my surgery.

I was kind of loopy last night so I don't remember all the medical jargon the ER doc used, but he said something about my blood level being 12, and at 10 I would have to have a transfusion. Thankfully, it doesn't look like that will happen. I'm still bleeding, but much less. I'm still woozy, but much less.

But I am so angry. And stunned. I have an appt. tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., and a laundry list of questions. And yes, once I'm healed and done with this Dr.....I will NEVER go there again.

I have to get back to the couch now...I'm starting to feel woozy, and the words are blurring. But I just needed to vent real quick about what happened.

Stay warm out there. It's fucking cold.

Long time, No blog

2007-01-29T19:37:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am still alive. It's been so long since I last blogged, I don't even know where to start. I have a ton of stuff I want to share. It would take all night to write it out, and really, how much of it would really matter?

Small knitting update: The central park cardigan is in the same exact spot since last time I wrote. I hate seaming, and it sits waiting for me. I'll get to it at some point. I also finished my Norwegien hat three weeks ago. Of course, it still needs to be blocked, weave in ends, and sew in the lining. Yuck! I did finished the Argosy scarf, blocked and ready to wear. No pictures yet. I've started, and re-started the Anemoi mittens three times now. I've tried two didn't tubular cast-ons and two different needle sizes, and the cuff still cuts off circulation on my wrist. I really want these mittens but I don't know if I have the patience to do the corrugated ribbing, agian.... We'll see. And that, my dear readers, is my knitting update.

Christmas was great, January flew by, Emily turned six a few days ago. My baby is six! I'm really sad about it, and at the same time, it's nice being able to do more as a family with "older kids".

This week is going to be chaotic for us. Jason will be packing for a two week work trip to Fremont California, for training. (leaving Saturday) Lucky bastard, gets to go to Austria in May for training too. He has some family in San Jose, so hopefully he'll have time to visit. And YES, I did give him a list of the yarn stores in the area. I told him, "When you go in the store, just tell them your wife is a sock knitting addict. Fingering weight. They'll do the rest." We'll see if he gets it right though.

And while getting ready for the trip...I'll be recovering. I've tried a couple new medicines over the last few weeks, and they're just not working. So this Thursday, I'm having a laparoscopy done. It's minor, and outpatient...But nevertheless, stressful as hell. Especially since he leaves less than 48 hours after the actual surgery. I've been re-assured I'll be fine by then, and I am sure I will be. But still....

So that's the last month in a nutshell. I'll leave you with two pictures from Emily's birthday party, at Skateland. She insisted on a skating party, and it was a big hit! Jason would kill me if he found out I posted this picture, but I just think it's so sweet. Us, holding hands, skating like a bunch of teen-agers. Awwww.... (That's me waving in the white shirt, in the second picture)

It's baaackkk...

2006-12-12T22:36:00.000-05:00

The knitting mojo that is. I've been a knitting fool for the last two weeks. I got this crazy urge to finally start the Central Park Hoodie. I've had the pattern since it came out, and even lost it and had to buy another copy of the magazine. So two weeks ago, I decide it's time. I wanted to knit a red sweater. I also wanted to use Cascade 220. I found a color I liked online, but really wanted to start that day which meant finding it locally. So, I got in my ~~annoying~~ fancy little rental car, drove up to Richmond and started the search. I went to three Ben Franklins and no one had the shade I wanted so I ended up buying a heather color. I don't remember the number but it's a dark blue (maybe denim) with grey heathered. I love it!

I came home started winding the yarn, and I was on my way. As of tonight, I have everything knitted. Tomorrow I block, then seaming making the hood and the button band. Friday, I'll look for some buttons. I am really amazed at how quickly this pattern knit up. And easily. Of course.....This might have helped pass the time....

I had the urge to watch the entire series of Alias. So for our wedding anniversary (which was on Dec. 2nd, Nine years!!!) Jason bought me season 2, season one not being found anywhere. I went through them in just a few days, and ended up buying 3 and 4. Rumor has it, season 1 was special ordered for under the Christmas tree ;)

FYI: Alias and knitting go together very well.

Last time I blogged, I mentioned some socks I've been working on. I'm happy to say that I finished those as well, while watching Alias of course. What do you think of these babies?

I am UTTERLY in love with these socks!!! I used Wendy's Generic Toe Up sock pattern and Diakeito Diamusee fine. I had this yarn in my stash for exactly a year. When I bought it I knew I wanted to make basic pair of socks with the yarn, but at the time I was too busy trying out patterned socks. So I just put it away. Then, along came sock hop yarn. I waited, and waited to buy some and one day it dawned on me....the diakeito is slightly similar. The twist of colors, the stripes, so I figured it was better than nothing and on the needles it went. I knit it at a smaller gauge than I needed to because I liked the fabric when I knit on addis size 1, anything bigger was too loose for me. To compensate, I used 64 sts for the sock instead of 60. Because I did knee highs, I was really worried that I wouldn't have enough yarn. (I had two balls.) So I started the ribbing early. Once I realized I had plenty left, I just did three inches of ribbing instead of two. It doesn't look bad, but more importantly, I think they stay up better with the extra inch. They fit like a glove, and are so dreamy. And I love love love the stripes. If I ever have a chance to buy more of this, you bet your butt I will. And you should too....

So what's up next for me? Well, as soon as I finish the CPH I'm moving on to the Stranded Colorwork Challenge. I recently realized that I don't have a winter hat. Not a single hat, and I've been knitting for how long.... When I saw the traditional hat from Bea Ellis Knitwear, I knew I wanted it. My winter coat is red, gray and cream so I decided to stay with the neutrals. I bought the kit with cream and a medium gray. It looks a little darker that the one in the pattern picture, but it'll do.

But wait!! What's that other yarn on the right? Well, the day after I ordered my kit Eunny debuted her new pattern, Anemoi mittens (which I think everyone has seen by now). At first I didn't want to buy the pattern. I'm still kind of peeved that she kept promising a certain pattern for argyle knee highs, and has yet to deliver. (I wouldn't be so annoyed except that I e-mailed her back in the spring and she told me she would have the pattern out in a month, and she had to because it was promised as a prize for something. And yet, here we are, no pattern. It's not that there's no pattern. But don't tell someone you ARE going to do something, and the don't do it. Big peeve of mine.) But I digress...I quickly put that aside and bought the pattern. I must have these mittens, now. I wanted them to match my hat, so Dale Baby Ull yarn was my choice. I ordered the same colors as my kit and it arrived yesterday. But wait! That gray looks a lot darker. apparently, I accidently ordered the wrong shade. Rather than pay to ship it back, and pay to ship the right color, I decided to keep it. And promptly ordered one ball, in the right shade. It should be here by Friday. I'm so deranged....

I'm sure you all have seen the new issue of Knitty as well. This is by far, my favorite issue. I saw plenty of patterns that I not only liked, but that I would actually knit. My favorite is Argosy. I was on a yarn shopping kick when I saw this pattern (hat and mitten yarn, remember?) and I figured I could use a new scarf to finish the set. I know it doesn't exactly go with the Norweigen look, but who cares.... I ordered the silk garden lite, which I've been wanting to try, in the same color shown in the pattern. I can't wait to get started on that too.

Of course, there is something new in my life that is taking my precious knitting time. Want to see what?

That be my Christmas present from Jason. I've been wanting one of these for quite awhile. Yes, I got it a wee early. Jason is as bad as me at keeping secrets. He was so excited that he found a Pink Nintendo ds, that he had to give it to me right away. Jason is buddies with an employee at our local Gamestop, and he e-mailed Jason the other day to let him know that they just received one pink ds. Jason went out an hour later and bought it. Apparently, the pink ones are hard to find. And you know me, I only wanted a pink one. Which turns out, was a smart idea. If I opened this on Christmas, you wouldn't be able to get me to do anything. Me and Super Mario Bros. = no sleep...

Phew... that was a windy update. Bored yet? I guess I had a lot to say tonight. That's what happens when you have no one to talk to, in real life (hell, online either)

I'll leave you with this picture of my kiddos, taken on Black Friday. They were playing in the "Leaf River" at Grandmom's house :)

*Hmmm... I can't get the spell check to work, so please ignore the many typos in this post.*

Good Things Are Happening

2006-11-20T19:35:00.000-05:00

I have some absolutely damn good news and I just have to tell someone....

For the last two years, the Hubby has been working at a big-name micron technology company (the parent company). He didn't work directly for them though, he was sub-contracted through his actual employer. The problem with sub-contracting is once that contract is up there's no guarantee you will get another. Jason's re-newel is coming up in February so we were starting to get a little stressed. But no worries anymore! Last week, the Parent company offered Jason a permanent position, which he gladly accepted today!!! It's a big deal because they came to Jason and asked him to come in for an interview. He will still be on nights (bleh!) But the family has gotten used to that schedule now so it won't be too bad. The best part, besides the nice pay raise...the insurance is way better! No more stinky United Healthcare (which I am currently fighting with over a check up they won't pay for), and our new insurance costs half of what we're paying now. Woo! This is a huge relief, and if things go as planned, we are going to be just fine. The contract they sent includes bi-yearly bonuses, which means we'll be killing some major debt next year. That is such a huge load off for both of us!! I feel like I'm being giving a second chance, and I'm damn sure not going to screw up this time... And did I mention how proud I am of the Hubby for pulling this off? He totally rocks ;)

So that's the important good news. But there is something else I'm dieing to share with you. Here, why don't I just show you....

That, my dear readers, is Sock Hop Yarn. Two skeins of Wild Thing on the left, and two skeins of American Pie on the right. Here's a so-so close up for you...

I LOVE this yarn. A little bird warned me in advance that this was going to be up for sale last week. I'm not lieing when I say I refreshed the page every ten seconds (seriously!) until it was there! Talk about fast shipping too! This yarn is even better than people have been saying. It is sooo soft. I don't know how I'm going to part with it. Yes, you read that right. I can't afford to keep both. But when I bought it, I couldn't decide on a color so I bought both figuring I'll have no trouble getting rid of the other. I'm keeping the American Pie, which means Wild Thing ~~is up for grabs.~~ I considered putting it up on ebay. I've never sold on ebay before and after looking into it, I don't plan on it. It's too much trouble for two skeins of yarn. Plus, I would have to upgrade my paypal account which I don't want to do. So now I'm torn on what to do with it. Do I just list it on the blog for sale? Maybe a trade for something kick-ass? What do you guys think?

I have been knitting on some socks...I really want to finish the second one before I share with you. I can honestly say out of all of my handknit socks, these are the BEST! I'm totally in love. Hopefully, I'll have them done in the next week or so. Who knows how much knitting time I'll have with the Holiday upon us.

I've been sewing a little too...Here's what I made over the week-end.

I used Amy Butler charm squares, quilted them, and voila! A lined messenger bag of my own. I didn't use a pattern. I just sort of made it up as I went. It has a magnetic snap closure, and a zippered interior pocket (the inside is plain brown). It was an interesting project, not having a pattern. I'm the person who has to have a pattern. I couldn't find one that I liked though. There are a few things I will do differently next time, but for the "proto-type", it works.

Here's the back if you want to see. That's my fat cat Tommy. He was "helping" me take pictures. Little stinker, kept swatting at the bag and making it move.

That's all I've got for now. Have a great Thanksgiving...Eat lots of turkey ;)

Socktober????

2006-10-30T19:06:00.000-05:00

So I did sign up for Socktober. But did I post the button? No. Did I answer the questionaire? No. Did I knit some socks? Why, YES, yes I did. My goal was to knit two pairs of socks. I'm halfway there. I finished these last week and figured I should try my hardest to get them posted before the end of Socktober. (I won't mention the hellish time we are having with our Adelphia internet. The tech is coming out next week. That's three times in 3 or 4 months?!?!)

These are the Up Scale dragon socks knit with Scout's Puesta del sol yarn. I love love love knitting with this yarn. The colors made me so happy. And I had a TON leftover. I really wanted to finish Jason's dragon socks too. At this point, I have one cuff done. It's going to be a while. And that's it for the knitting content.
I'm am planning a hat for myself. I'm searching for the right sport weight, solid yarn for a soft and warm hat. Nothing too pricey. It is just a hat, you know? Any suggestions?

We've been crazy busy around here the last month or so. I've started some new medicine (for womanly issues) and my body didn't like it all too much. Thankfully, the side effects are starting to wear off. The kids finished soccer season last week and now eagerly await Halloween. We took them to a Pumpkin festival two weeks ago... It was a blast. We couldn't leave without a group picture. It's me, the kids and Grand-mom (Pop-Pop is behind the camera) Big surprise, I'm the sheep. I'm so evil I fought my daughter over it ;)

Here's a picture of the barrel train ride they had. It's pulled by a John Deere tractor. Christian and Emily are the front two. It was really cute and they loved it!

Of course, the kids did pony rides and had to have their own cowboy hats to go along.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Emily (I took it too.) She is so darn photogenic, something she did not get from me.

I'll leave you with this picture of Smudge (on the right) and Leo. Ain't it sweet..... If you click for the larger picture, you can see their paws are crossed together.

Everyone....Awwww!!!!!!!!!!

It's Coming back... Ever so slowly

2006-09-29T13:30:00.000-04:00

This is where I've been 5 to 6 nights, a week. It's also where I will be 5 to 6 nights a week until the end of October.

Both of my babies are playing soccer this year. It's the first time for both of them. They both really like it, although Christian prefers baseball. I hope they play soccer again next year. The soccer games are much more entertaining than their softball/t-ball ones ever were! Of course, this means it's a little harder for me to knit at the games.

This is Christian's team, he's the one in red with the soccer ball.

And here's Emily, the one in purple, kicking the ball.

My Sock kit finally came this week. I am very happy with the yarn and pattern. She sent me the exact yarn I have been wanting, hand dyed by Scout! The color is called Puesta del Sol. In my ksks questionaire I mentioned not being able to find the perfect orange/yellow yarn so when Scout first blogged about this yarn and said it was a cutom dye job for a sock kit I couldn't help but wonder if it was for my kit. It was so hard to resist ordering it but I had to hold out, just in case. My pal never mentioned if it was in fact dyed for me, but what are the chances that someone else out there requested the same exact colors as I did? I could be wrong though... Doesn't matter cuz I got my freaking yarn and it ROCKS!

The pattern is Here There Be Dragons socks I have been wanting to try this pattern...Another good choice for my kit. In fact, I started my upscaled socks and have finished two of the cuff repeats so far.

I was so thrilled with the yarn and pattern that I had to do two things. First, I bought some more yarn (Yes, I'm buying yarn again?!?!) to make the Hubby his own pair of downscaled dragon socks. the green one is his. It's Welsh Green Dragon from Sunshine yarns. It's shades of green and grey (yes, it looks blue in the picture). And then I had Scout do a custom dye job for me. I'm a huge Ohio State University fan, ever since we lived there four years ago. Who wouldn't love a pair of OSU socks? Scarlett and gray, I mean c'mon, what a great combination. So I asked, and I received. I e-mailed Scout about it on Sept. 24 and I received it today, Sept. 29. That's a damn fast turn around for a custom dye job. Red is a hard color to photograph, but I assure you, in person, it is SO definately the perfect shade of scarlett. . If you need a custom dye job, go see Scout. You won't regret it.

Now you know, here in Virginia, the days are still pretty warm. But when the sun goes down, man does it get chilly out there. Which means cold hands. I haven't been able to find my favorite pair of fingerless gloves (I tore the house apart searching for them too. So sad... ) so I had to make a new pair. I use one skein of Noro Kureyon that I had laying around. I love them. They were knit on size 5 needles, so they're really snug and warm. I knit them in one day too... Gotta love that instant gratification. :)

Finally, I have to share something else I've been working on. My very own Stitchettes! Aren't they sooo cute?! I just love the old fashioned simplicity of these dolls. They are hand embroidered on cotton muslin. I still have to sew them shut and then they'll be complete.

Emily loves them... can you tell?

To say life around here has been hectic would be an understatement. We are still having internet troubles and have another technician scheduled to come out October 12. Yes, that long. Which is why Adelphia supposedly is giving us a free month. You bet your ass I'll be checking my statement. Between soccer, and school, and oh yeah.... Two kids getting strep throat, one right after the other, I haven't had much time to breathe. I've been having some minor medical issues lately as well. We don't think it's anything serious. Of course, I have to wait until October 18th to see the Dr. and find out what's going on. (Did I mention I haven't even started paying my other hospital bills?? Shit shit shit!) I've been able to do a little sewing, which I'll show you later. And I started my quilt. It's coming along, slowly.

I'm going to a Pearl Party with my Mom tonight. A pearl party is run sort of like a tupperware party. Only the lady brings oysters filled with pearls. You buy the oyster, get the pearl, and then pay to have it mounted into jewelry. I don't have any extra money for it...But a house full of women and wine sounds good to me right now.

If you got this far...Thanks. I feel like talking my head off today and there's nobody for me to talk to. So I blog. But there's so much I wanted to say, I can't keep up with my brain. the post is probably all over the place but I don't care. At least it's a decent post with pictures :)

Knitters... Unite!

2006-09-24T19:48:00.000-04:00

I have a mission. I am looking for a backissue of Knitters Magazine, Summer 2004. I found one on ebay but it doesn't end until Tuesday. The starting bid is $7 plus shipping, which I don't mind paying. But that's assuming no one else bids on it. The buy it now price.... $20! No thanks.

So, my readers, dig through your old boxes of magazines and see if you can find this issue. I would gladly pay for it or perhaps a trade of some sort. A needle case or something...

I really want this issue! So help a girl out!!!

Thanks for all the help. I was able to order a brand new copy for a reasonable price.

I have some Fo's to show you later this week. And surpise, one is a knitted item. My first knitted FO in months?!?! How exciting.

I'll be back...

I'm Around here somewhere

2006-09-11T23:50:00.000-04:00

The time span between each post around here keeps getting longer and longer. I'm not sure why I can't some to make myself blog. I'd like to say it's because I have nothing "knitty" to talk about. Perhaps if this was a mommy blog, I'd post daily. But really, I don't think I would. I've lost interest in so many things around me. I just drag through the days, holding myself together. How I do, I'm not so sure.

I don't have anything poignant to say about September 11. I do remember that day, vividly. I watched it all unfold live on tv. I was along with a 3 yr old and an 8 month old, in a house that I'd lived in for less than two months. My husband was halfway around the world on a Naval ship, where he had been for the last five months. We were one month away from his homecoming. I never wanted to be in his arms more than I did that day. And while I cried and prayed for everyone directly affected, I selfishly worried about my Husband. He'd already been gone so long... Would he be home soon? Would I be able to hear his voice again? It was five days before they were allowed to contact family. They had to be cryptic in their e-mails for security. I knew he was okay then...But really, was anyone ok? He did make it home just in time for Halloween. But he was never them same again... I don't think I'll ever be the same again, either.
I'm grateful that I have my family. Then and now, when things are hard, for very different reasons.

Wow. That was pretty deep for me.

How about some light stuff? The kids started school last week. Emily LOVES kindgergarten. Over the week-end she whined to get back to school. They started soccer this week... So as you can imagine, it's been hectic. Soccer practice several night a week, each. I don't know why I get myself into these things. Although the kids do like it a lot, and it gets me out of the house so it's worth the hassle.

I haven't done much crafting. A little sewing here and there. I started a sock for the hubby. I got to the heel before I realized/decided it fit me perfectly. It's been sitting ever since. I can't bear to rip it out, but the yarn is destined for him. I'll sit on it a bit longer I think.

Our internet has been a mess as well. A technician is supposed to come out on the 20th...three weeks from when we called?!?! I usually get about 5-10 minutes of decent service before it craps out and I have to reboot the modem. It's really quite annoying so I haven't been online nearly as much as I would like.

Oh yeah... I lied. In my last post I said something about "as long as my sock pal loves her kit, that will be enough for me"... I so fucking lied. I haven't received my Knit Sock Kit Swap kit yet. Last I heard, my pal is still out there and has an extremely valid reason for why it's not here yet. And while I am trying to be sympathetic, I can't help but be a little selfish and whine that I'm still waiting. It's such a freaking bummer. I guess in my last post what I should have said is "I'll be happy with whatever I get. As long as I get it" I don't feel anger towards her. I feel a massive amount of guilt that I'm upset and bummed about this though. I guess I really am a selfish bitch. (by the way, I used bold writing up there just in case she's reading. I don't want my pal feeling guilty about this. She has too much on her plate to be worrying about me and a wee little kit)

I don't have any new pictures to share...So how about this one of our boy Tommy, relaxing as usual.

I'll see you around.... Hopefully before October :)

SEW Busy!

2006-08-08T00:13:00.000-04:00

Yup. I'm still here. I don't think I've ever had a busier summer! Between softball/t-ball (6 nights a week!), Dr's appointments, and various other things, I haven't had much time for crafting. And the little time I've had has gone to something other than knitting. I'll get to that in a minute.

I finally finished my plain ol toe up socks using All Things Heather yarn in Avocado. I love these socks, but I think I'll skip the picot hem on toe ups for now on. It was a huge pain in the ass.

The only other knitting I've accomplished since the beginning of July is this lace shawl (Paisley Lace from IK)

And this tank top (Calla from Magknits) I've pretty much decided not to continue this project though. I'm using Svale yarn and it's a big pain with the cables. And keeping track of the pattern, not liking it right now.

I've recently aquired more sock yarn, surprise surprise. (Schaeffer Anne, Trekking that I won, and yarntini) So socks are in the future, but not much else, knitting wise. I don't plan on giving up knitting, but I just haven't been enjoying it as much these last few months. I've been depressed (various reasons why) which is part of it...One part, I miss my old knitting group. It's not fun having nobody to share it with in real life.

I sent my Knit Sock Kit swap package and it was well received. Apparently, I did a good job. I'm glad my pal was happy. My Mom asked me why I did so much more than I had to...I just felt like it. And I told her even if my pal doesn't come through/or I'm not happy with what I get (note to my pal: don't worry, I'm easy to please), that's ok. Just knowing I made my pal's day is good enough for me. Here's a picture of what I sent.... Heide blogged about it with pictures here.

My absolute favorite part of the kit was the sock needle/notion case. My own pattern. The ribbon that ties it shut has cute flowers embossed in it. And this is a picture of the case filled with my needles (I rememberd to take them out before mailing) My Bamboo and Knitpicks DPN's plus my Addis for magic loops. Fits in there nice, eh? I need to make one for myself.

I made two bags for my pal, plus the case and a clutch. At that point, the sewing bug hit me. BIG TIME! I've spent the last two weeks buying vintage patterns, fabric, and some new presser feet for my sewing machine. I can't stop...sewing, not buying!
Here's a top I made...Simplicity 4589. I love this fabric! It's little yellow tulips. Very vintage looking, to me anyhow. The skirt, I picked up at Goodwill. It was ankle length (yuck!) so I shortened it.

I didn't stop there you know... I made this little bag for the days I don't want to carry my big 'ol purse around.

Up next..I'm going to have some pillowcase fun. I found the pink ones (2) at a huge fleamarket. One is destined to be a drawstring skirt, the other a bag of some sort. The brown set, I'm not sure yet. It's a brand new twin size sheet set from Goodwill. I'm torn between using it for a dress and bag or for new kitchen decor (curtains, placemats, etc..) Or both?! And I have some great apron patterns (from the 60's) that I'm dieing to make.

But most importantly...My Fall project. I'm in the planning phase right now.

I've chosen my pattern (Hop Skip and Jump with small modifications)...I've narrowed down my fabric choices. I found some Denyse Schmidt Fat Quarter sets, and Hubby has aprroved the colors/patterns. I just have to pick between the two. I don't plan on starting until Septmeber, after the kids start school. That gives me time to practice my quilting skills. And time to see what my basic sewing machine can do.

So that's my crafty news, in a nut shell. I uploaded a ton of pictures to my flickr account. My little badge thingy on the sidebar has newer knitting pictures. Here's the Sewing Set I made. There are some close up, and inside pictures of the stuff I sent my KSKS pal. And here's a link to the pictures from our trip to Ohio for the 4th of July.

Other things have been crazy around here. Remember that colonoscopy? Well, I found out this week I have to pay a lot more than I was told. So now instead of paying the $500 deductable only, I also have to pay a $972 hospital bill as well! When I called before the procedure to see what they covered, the stupid woman didn't say anything about the hospital bill. And now I'm stuck paying it! And to top if off, hubby's work changed insurance effective August 1. So any deductable I pay towards this bill won't do crap for me, and I have to start all over with the new insurance! I have the most ridiculous history with insurance company's...Really, I do. Hubby has been job interviewing (we've heard an offer is on it's way from his first pick) so we could possible change insurance, yet again, in a few weeks. Augh!

Shameless plug here: To help offset some of that bill...I did some destashing. But it's not yarn. Two years ago I bought every scrapbooking/ stamping gadget I could get my hands on. And proceeded to not use any of it. It's been sitting in the corner of my closet ever since. I'd been wanted to sell it, but too lazy. However, hospital bills have a way of motivating me and it can all be found here

I think I'll stop here for now... I feel a little better venting about the damn bill, so thanks for reading if you got this far. I'm sorry I was gone for so long...I'll try to post more often. Even if it is more sewing than knitting :)

Home

2006-07-07T16:09:00.000-04:00

We finally made it home last night. 10 hour car trips are a little too much for all of us...I don't think we'll be doing too many in the future. We all woke up with colds/sinus infections. I haven't even thought about unpacking yet...Our pool looks like it's ready to collapse. Apparently, it rained A LOT while we were gone, the ground got too soft on one side and now the pool is leaning badly so I've been outside all morning trying to fix things. It doesn't look good. Both kids have baseball practice, tomorrow morning. Oh...And I haven't touched a knitting needle since last Friday..Not one bit. Withdrawal anyone?

but none of this matters.

We got some sad news yesterday. I called my Mom when we were about 2.5 hours away so she would have an idea when we get home, and not worry. I knew right away something was wrong. 10 years ago I got a cat, Cricket. I went to college, she stayed home. So when I got married, she stayed home with Mom, where she's been ever since. Mom found her outside yesterday crying and acting funny, barely walking. My Dad took her to the vet right away. Apparently, she had a blood clot near her heat and it burst, paralyzing her back paws and her tail, and she was having trouble breathing. there was no gaurantee she would survive for long, if at all. It was decided it was best to out her to sleep. The Vet said these things just happen, without warning. Our little Cricket. She was a huge pain in the ass, but she was our pain in the ass. The last few months she had become a lot more loving/cuddly. We will all miss her, Mom especially. The kids are upset about it. Emily keeps saying, "You mean we won't see her any more?" It's all very sad. (I don't have any pictures of her nearby, I'll try and post one over the week-end.)

We're off to go visit Mom. Try and cheer her up some. I haven't looked at any e-mail yet and I took a quick glance at bloglines. 245 feeds...I'll be busy catching up for a while. It will take all week-end to get things in order around here. I'll post in a couple days with vacation details, among other things.

I survived!

2006-06-28T15:31:00.000-04:00

Thanks for all the well wishes everybody! I am feeling much much better today and eating everything in sight. The colonoscopy went amazingly well. Seriously. I held out for so many years out of fear and it was so much better this time. For one thing, I didn't wake up during the procedure this time. I was even taken back 30 minutes early, at 8:30. And out of the hospital by 10am. The sedatives were great :) I passed out before I could even start to count backwards from ten. Guess I'm a good patient. And just as expected, the results are all good. Nothing there. (The only way to diagnose IBS is to rule out every other bowel disorder.) I rested most of yesterday and I'm back on my anti-biotics, lower dose, so hopefully I won't get so sick. And then it's back to Doc in two weeks to talk about the next step.

I haven't been knitting too much, again. I was so stressed all day Sunday, not being able to eat, that I couldn't sit still long enough to knit anything. All I have OTN is a sock and I'm a little bored with it. I wound yarn for three different projects last night though. It's all packed up with patterns and any notion I may need. Packed? Oh yeah.... We're leaving this week-end for a short visit to Ohio. We haven't seen Hubby's family in three years, and they're having a big 4th of July thing, so we figured why not? I'm a little nervous, for no reason really. We've never been away from our house that long (pathetic) but more importantly, my kitties. My babies...I know they'll manage, but Leo sleeps with me very night. Neither of us sleep well without the other... Should be interesting. Hopefully, I'll have some Fo's to report. We'll be spending most of our time on a lake, and with so much family around, I plan on pawning the kids off on whoever is closest. ;)

I have loads of e-mails to send but I haven't been able to get into hotmail today, at all! I got up at 8, and the server that holds my account is down. It's now 3:30 pm and still nothing....I'm going nuts without my e-mail. So if you're waiting to hear from me, that's why you haven't, yet.

I have to go get the kids ready for baseball practice.... I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to blog again before we leave Saturday...So just in case.... Have a Safe, Happy and Fun 4th of July. I'll see you guys soon :)

Almost time...

2006-06-23T14:13:00.000-04:00

At this moment, I have 3 and a half hours to eat as much as I want...And then it's 24 hrs on a clear liquid diet. I won't mention the ungodly amount of laxatives I have to take tomorrow. Ugh! Then, 9 hours of nothing (not even water)...All of this leading up to IT. The dreaded colonoscopy. I'll be sedated thankfully... But I'm all stressed out about it. When my body is sick like it will be tomorrow, I tend to make things worse. And I don't do well with IV drugs (they tend to induce anxiety attacks). Normal people can have the colonoscopy, go home and eat anything. I'll be lucky if I choke down toast. Hopefully, by Tuesday morning I'll be back to 'normal' And then you won't have to hear about this boring medical stuff anymore. Sorry for all the whinin...but the Hubby is tired of hearing it and I have to complain somewhere ;)

I don't have much to talk about knitting wise. I finished the first green sock with a picot hem. I'm pretty happy with, it took me three attempts. That's the only thing I'm knitting right now. I really want to make the razor cami, and nothing else is calling out to me. I just can't bring myself to order the yarn. What's this world coming to when Liz can't buy yarn, when she has the money?

Anyhow...I'm off to eat some cheesecake. I figure since I'm going to in the bathroom all day tomorrow, I should eat all the things I normally can't. We had deep dish Pizza Hut for dinner...It's been years since I've been able to eat that greasy crap. Yum!!!

Have a good week-end, see you in a couple days.

Knit Sock Kit Swap ?'s

2006-06-20T08:46:00.000-04:00

I joined the Knit Sock Kit Swap...I'm looking forward to getting started. Now if only I could find some good Fabric resources. *Remember, I don't shop at JoAnns anymore* Here's my questionnaire:

*edit to add* Sorry KSKS pal...I was distracted by my "I'm bored, three days into summer" Kids and left some stuff out. I added a few things here and there. Sorry! (and of course, these are all just suggestions!)

What are your favorite colors? Pink (I'm trying to break away from too much pink), Green, yellow, Blue . *edit to add* I really like bright colors.

Are you a new sock knitter? Not really, but I'm still learning all the different techniques

How long have you been knitting socks? Maybe a year and a half?

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? Hmm..I have to say I really like the multicolored ones

What fibers do you prefer in sock yarn? I don't know that I prefer a certain fiber, but I really like the sproingy sock yarns. *edit to add* Nothing that's going to be rough on the hands

Where do you usually knit socks? Starting this week, at t-ball practice. 2 kids=6 practices a week. I anticipate finishing a lot of socks between now and August 1.

How do you usually carry/store small projects? A small zipper bag from target. Or one of the various totes that I made.

What are your favorite sock knitting patterns? I don't really have a favorite pattern.

What are your favorite sock knitting techniques? I quite like the short row heel/toe if I could ever master it. And the Turkish caston/ Magic cast on.

What new techniques would you like to try? I've considered trying the 2 socks, 2 circulars. But I can't bring myself to spend the money on another pair of Addi's that I can get by, without. *edit to add* I completely forgot about the mitered socks from SoXperience! Carodan Farm launched their new websire yesterday and I was looking around, saw the pattern and said duh! I kicked myself for not taking that class...but I still want to try those socks. Here's the pattern so you can see what I'm talking about.

Do you prefer circulars or dpns for sock knitting? I've been on a magic loop kick lately, but I like dpn's a lot.

What are some of your favorite yarns? I've been using a lot of the hand-dyed yarns lately. Like I said before, I really like the sproingy yarns. Claudia's Handpainted is a good one too.

What yarn do you totally covet? Schaefer Anne (there's this red colorway that I can't find anywhere! It's just red, several shade of red) koigu *edit to add* THere's this color by Sundara Yarn, called Orange Zest...It was just bright orange and bright yellow. I would kill for it! Wether it be by Sundara or someone else. I've been searching for anything similar ever since. I found one, but it had some peach mixed in.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object? Not that I know of *edit to add* yeah, that mitered sock pattern calls for three skeins of koigu.

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? Bamboo, but the little ones bend too much!

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be? This question requires too much thought from me. Moving on...

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? I have a huge sweet tooth and love most candies.

What's your favorite animal? Cats

Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages? three Cats. Smudge, Tommy and Leo

If you were a color what color would you be? Green

Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else's).. It's a black cotton t-shirt with a fairy on the front.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? I love the ocean.

Tell me the best quote you've ever heard or read. "Let us be close throughout the years, When one cries the other tastes tears." and "The real killer was when you married the wrong person but had the right children."

Do you have a wishlist? I have an amazon list, but I keep buying the stuff I put on the list.

Anything else you'd like to share with the group today? Reading over my answers, I sound a little picky. Rest assure, I'm open to almost anything and I'm positive I'll like whatever you come up with. Have fun!

And there you have it!

Knitting hasn't been much the last couple days. T-ball started this week, practice is 5 days a week between both kiddos. Hopefully, I'll get some good knitting time in. How about some kitty pictures? A few weeks ago, when knitting butterfly, I had some company. Smudge was happily sleeping near me, when Leo (the one with the most white fur) decided to interrupt.

Moving in...

Settling down. Notice Smudge's ears and face... Boy was she pissed.

Ahhhh...All comfy now. At this point Smudge's tail was all over the place.

And five minutes later.... All better. Of course, two minutes after that, Leo attacked. He loves to get Smudge scared, let her guard down, and then he goes in for the kill. Little punk!

Business First

2006-06-15T20:51:00.000-04:00

**FYI-- I did a spell check and found loads of typos. And then when I re-read the post I found more. So basically, what I am saying is that I am aware that I might have mess-ups in this most. You guys a pretty smart, you'll get what I'm saying anyhow. Right?***

So, I saw the Dr. Yesterday and all in all it was a good visit. He was highly recommended to me, and even though it's a 45 minute drive to get there, it was so worth it. I didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable. (Carol, if you're reading this, thanks for telling me about this Doc!) So we went over my complete history and Doc is fairly sure it's still just IBS. But since I don't have any previous records, Doc wants to rule everything else out first. He wanted to do a colonoscopy yesterday but the nurse who does it was out of the office. (Don't worry, I mention Colonoscopy a few times, but I'll spare you the details.) Come to think of it, she was supposed to call today and schedule an appt., guess I need to call her tomorrow. You know...It was very surreal. I had a colonoscopy 14 years ago, when I was 14. I had to go to Walter Reed Hospital, stay for two nights, and drink a gallon of the most potent liquid you can imagine. To be able to do the test on the spot, in the office, that's kind of new to me. And as much as I detest the idea of doing it, I was kind of bummed I couldn't do it yesterday. Now, when I do go back for the test, I know I'm going to have an anxiety attack. Just the thought of it makes me dizzy.
Besides all that... I am on two seperate antibiotics, on the slight chance it's an infection. (one that I've had for 14 years, and really bad this last year?) I have to take Xifaxan- 2 pills, 3 times a day for 10 days. And Alinia- 1 pill, 2 times a day for five days. And the kicker...One of the side effects is diarrhea. Go figure! I totally understand ruling everything out, but these meds were not cheap! $150 for both. I also got some samples of Lexapro but I'm really hesitant to take it with the two antibiotics. Can we say overload? And I also have to start drinking this yoghurt drink called "Kefir". It's an organic drink, rather chalky. Doc wants me to drink this because months ago, yoghurt did calm my stomach. We'll see what happens. I'm guessing Doc expected to see me back within two weeks, he only gave me two weeks worth of Lexapro and no prescription for it (just in case I do take them).

So now that we covered the boring, "what do I care?" stuff, how about some knitting. I have lots of pictures tonight, for the poor souls who read through all that crap (pun intended!)...

First up.... My sockapaloooza socks. My apologies for taking so long to post about them. They're made with Mountain Colors Bearfoot, and fit perfectly. I have yet to knit with this yarn, but have two pairs of socks made with it, and I love them. Hands down the most comfy. Erica was my pal, and bless her heart, she got these babies knitted up and mailed, all around the same time she gave birth to her third son. Right on!

Up next....Pomotamus socks. I used Claudia's Handpainted sock yarn, color Red Wagon. Another yarn I love! The pictures don't do any justice for them, which is odd since it was taken outside in the natural light. Somebody, who shall remain unnamed *ahem, husband* spilled beer on them so they got washed and are still drying. I'll take an inside picture tomorrow. As for the pattern, I like it a lot. You have to really pay attention but it's not as hard as it looks.

Here's something else I'm working on. It's the Razor Cami, which I found on craftster. I'm not sure if it's going to work. I'm using cascade fixation and I think the fabric might be too tight. Of course, I would have ordered the yarn used in the original pattern if it weren't for shipping. The yarn is $4 a ball, I need three balls, so $12. And shipping was $7. I just can't bring myself to pay that much shipping, for such a small amount. And I can't find this yarn anywhere (Sirdar snuggly)

You like my needle stopper thingys? Here's a close up picture...

A lady (sorry, I don't have her name) at SoXperience told me about this. They're little foam beads found at a craft store. I have tons of these thanks to my crafty monkey girl. I stuck them on my size six needles, and they were just the perfect snugness. And so cheap, and easy to replace.

And now what I really want to talk about... I've been seeing these really cute sewn drawstring bags for sock projects. I have some patterns printed out and keep meaning to sew some up, but never seem to have the time. And then I went to Target (again!) and found this bag...

Isn't it cute?! There were only three left (1 red, two green). It's a little taller than a soda can, and zips all the way around the top. Want to know how much? $1 each... Of course, I bought all three, and would have bought more if they had 'em. I am totally loving my sock kit. It went to Doc's yesterday. I'm happy to say, she travels well. Now, if only I could sew up a needle case to go with it. I have this idea floating in my head on what I want. Of course, I haven't seen any already made ones anywhere, so I have to design my own. I. Do. Not. Design.

I guess you want to see what's inside eh? Have a look...

I have my All Things Heather yarn, color Avocado. Love it! A sock in progress. An altoids tin holding tape measure, row counter, scissors (they fold up) stitch markers, stitch holder and some post-it notes. A crochet hook, and a laminated card I made with a generic short row heel pattern. And there is still a little room left.
Here's what I have so far on the sock.

I am loving this yarn. Obviously, I'm doing them toe up, magic loop. I did the magic cast-on from knitty and I LOVE it. It's not any easier or quicker than the Turkish cast on (which I recently learned) but I was able to get it tighter than the Turkish cast on. I'm doing 60 sts, on Addi size 1's and it's just right. As I mentioned above, I'm using a basic short row heel. When I get to the cast off I'll decide what to do. Stretchy bind off, picot bind off, picot hem? Soo many choices here.
Here's a close up of the magic cast on toe... Isn't it pretty?!

Phew! That's a lot of info, huh? I think I'll get to bed now. We spent the evening in the pool. Man, that thing wears you out. I'll leave you with a picture of my furry kids at their favorite hangout. Mom and Dad's bed. Bird watching at its finest.

Have a great week-end! Mine's full of baseball practice (two kids) and Father's Day fun. Whee....

Yarn Sale

2006-06-11T13:49:00.000-04:00

I posted a bunch of yarn over at the destash blog. I still have some Lion Brand Cotton Ease I want to list later today.

I also have some Socks that rock for sale. I didn't list them just yet. I have 1 skein of Hot Flash and 1 skein of Alina, 360 yards each. And I have one skein of Hard Rock (pink, grey and black) in the 325 yard put up. E-mail me if you're interested in these.

Oh yeah... The link would help, huh?

Here You go

As promised

2006-06-10T19:54:00.000-04:00

How about a Finished Object week-end update.

First up we have Salina, from Rowan Vintage style. I finished the actual sweater about two months ago but the sleeves were way too long. So it just sat and waited for me. I don't remember much of the details. I used Rowan Felted tweed in Herb, on size 5's I think. Sadly, I've lost quite a bit of weight since I finished Salina, and she's now pretty baggy on me. The weight loss isn't sad, it's the size of the sweater. I like oversized sweaters so it shoudn't be a problem.
Anyhow...About two weeks ago I finally got up the courage to fix the sleeves. Courage for what? I cut the sleeves to shorten them. Yes, I took pointy ass scissors and cut through my knitting. I really wasn't bad, and easier than I expected. I also made the collar just a tad too short so it likes stand up. I think I'll just tack the collar corners down with some thread.
The pattern was very easy and the yarn totally rocked. I would definately knit with it again.

Up next...Butterfly camisole from Rowan 37. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this camisole. She hasn't made her public debut yet. I was going to wear it at SoXperience, but as sick as I was, and only having a porta-potty for the day, I didn't dare risk it. I did take it and show her off. I couldn't resist :)
This pattern was a piece of work. I read the 37 pages of posts for the knit-along at craftster.org, and was really worried about this project. I decided to knit it flat, as the directions stated. Warning to anyone who plans on knitting this....For some sizes, the chart is wrong. And you really need to add in selvedge stitches. I took a nice quiet Saturday afternoon and sat down and recharted the entire thing. It was a pain but very worth it. Once I had the pattern charted in a way that works I didn't have any problems. In fact, I knit the front and back in just under three days. Seaming lace is a bitch, but I managed. I think weaving ends was the worst part. For my size I should've needed 3 balls of Kid silk Haze but I didn't even use half of the second ball! I blocked it twice. Once before seaming but it was a little snug so I did a second time and it's much better. A little longer than I wanted, but I'll manage. I feel like I'm forgetting something....

I should warn you, as usual, the Hubby is not too good at taking pictures. These were the only decent two out of 15 or so. When I wear it out, I'll get someone else to take a few pictures.

Close up.

My thoughts are really scattered right now. I have so many little things that I'm trying to remember to say. I've been writing this post for three hours, off an on. So if it sounds a little corny, sorry.

Oh..Guess what I realized today... I signed up for the Amazing Lace and never posted my introduction. Oops... I finished my lace before I even "started". I wonder if I'm the only one? I'm signing up for this one tomorrow morning... Knit Sock Kit Swap I think this one will be a lot of fun. Now if only I could decide if I want to be part of the "Eff the Math" group or the "I Heart Algebra" group. I'm in the middle...Eff the math is sort of too easy, but algebra might be a little too much. Must sleep on it.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the Family. Grandmom and Pop-Pop bought the kids one of those big 16 foot pools. The kind where the sides come up as the water fills it. We have low water pressure, and it took ten hours to fill! It's worth it though. The kids were in it all afternoon and Emily had purple lips when she was done. It was a little chilly out there....

Here's Christian and our neighbor Abby.

And Emily with Daddy (Jason).

Up next.... SoXperience pictures, stories, and Yarn sale soon.

Where I've Been and Where I'm going

2006-06-07T10:19:00.000-04:00

Yikes! I know it's been awhile since my last update, but I didn't realize it has been over three weeks. Sorry 'bout that folks...

So where did I begin? Fo's, SoXperience, life in general? You know, when I'm driving in the car, I can write three posts in my head. They're witty and fun. But everytime I sit down at the computer to type, nothing. My excuse for being gone is complex in the most simple way. Life got in the way. I'm not going to go into too many boring details. I kind of shut the world out the last few weeks. No phone, no e-mail (not much anyhow), I even cut my blog reading for a short time. I just needed to step back from everything and stew. On what? Nothing really. I go through these phases once in a while.

Lucky for me, I did manage a good amount of knitting and stash enhancement. Details later. I went to SoXperience last week-end. I wish I could say the week-end was perfect. But with me around, how could it be? Mary was a great travel buddy, and was a joy to be around. Unfortunately, I was a mess. Two years ago, I had General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and for whatever reason, it decided to rear it's ugly head last week-end. I had three or 4 anxiety attacks, one that was pretty massive. I was so worried my IBS would kick in, and cause us to be late for classes that I had an anxiety attack. And what is anxiety to IBS? Of course, it brought on and IBS attack, which made the anxiety even worse.

I've had enough of living this way. This time next week, Iwill be at a Richmond hospital seeing a highly recommened specialist/Gastroenterologist. Let me tell you how hard it was to call for an appt. I had an axiety attack just thinking about calling. Afterwards, I was shaking from it. But I did it. It's much too long of a story, but I had a not so nice experience with a Dr. dealing with my IBS when I was a teen hence the anxiety. Not to mention how long it's been since I've actually seen a Dr. for it. I've 'lived' with this for 14 years untreated and I just can't take anymore. After I see this guy, depending on what he says/does, it's on to another Dr. for the anxiety. I've always been unhappy with my life and very well aware that nothing's going to change unless I make it happen. Up until now, I haven't been able to find the motivation to do it. So cross your fingers that all goes well....I'd really like to get my life back. For my Family, and for Me.

The week-end really took a toll on me, and right now, my stomach is still really bad. I haven't been able to rest much since I got home (As a Mother I don't expect to rest) and that's what I need to get my body back to "normal". I even managed to lose 4 pounds in 4 days. I'm sure when I am able to eat more, it will all come back though, which I don't mind :)

I do have a lot more I want to post about, knitting stuff. I'm going to spread it out over a few posts though. I have 2 Fo's, both Rowan patterns ,that I really want to share. And of course, pictures and details of SoXperience! I'm going to spend the afternoon photographing yarn. I went through my stash and have a nice size haul I am ready to unload. Yes, it's a stash sale. I'm waiting for membership approval at the destash blog, I think I'm going to post it all there. I'll let you know.

I'll leave you with a picture from the week-end. It was my first time in the Charlottesville/Harrisonburg area and I loved it. I can't wait to get back there and do the whole tourist thing.

Birthday Loot and a little knitting on the side

2006-05-12T20:08:00.000-04:00

So you all know by now that my birthday was last week. And my dear friend Debi sent me an amazing box of goodies to celebrate. It was this little box of magic. Everytime I pulled something out, there was more underneath.

Up first we have the best thing a knitter can receive. Handknit socks not knitted by yourself. I knew Debi was sending me one pair, although the color and pattern were a surprise. But the second pair was a big surprise!

These are made with Mt. Colors Bearfoot, and I have to say, I REALLY like how these feel when wearing them. I will definitely be investing in more of this yarn in the near future. Know what else makes these socks so special? The Pattern Debi wrote for MY socks. The pattern is called, "Lizzie's Lacy Ribs" and you can find it on Debi's blog, on the sidebar.

See those little feet? Debi even made Emily a pair of socks to match mine. I'll have you know Emily had them on straight out of the box and proceeded to wear them out in the yard, which had just been watered. Needless, to say, they were a huge hit. For both of us! The golden colored socks are knit with Koigu. Love Em! I couldn't get a good picture of them, but Debi posted them a few weeks back if you want to see more.

That was layer one.

Here's layer two...

The next best thing you can give a knitter...More yarn! The kroy sock yarn is the extras from Emily's sock. I love the colors. The blue is Brown Sheep Cotton fine, which will be used to make some socks for Christian. And the yarn on top....Trekking, color #131! Debi and I spend many hours on the phone at night window/internet shopping together. I saw this new color and fell in love with it...Debi, being the smart cookie that she is, immediately ordered it for me as a surprise. I haven't used trekking before and am really looking forward to it.

And then we have the bottom layers (the book was below all the notions). Size 0 comfort zone needles, huge stitch markers (which I LOVE), and 2, count 'em 2, Pink chibi's. Ebay anyone? (just kidding!) I've been wanting the pink chibi for a while. Pink is my color you know, and I wanted to finish my collection. I didn't want the needles, just the case. I wasn't willing to spend big bucks for it though. And that book...Debi was shocked when she found out I didn't have a stitch dictionary. Well, now I do, and it is sooooo much better than any of the ones I have seen at the bookstore. This book totally rocks!

Thanks Debi! You really know how to make a girl feel loved.

So now how about some knitting? I finished the mountain stream scarf. Can I just say how much I loved this project. It was my first time with kidsilk haze and I most certainly see what all the fuss is about. I used one ball in Heavenly blue. The technique used for this scarf was so interesting. It's based on the techniques used in traditional Orenburg shawls. I surprised myself with this knit...I didn't have a single mistake, and frogged it 0 times. That is an amazing feet, as I'm sure you all know.

Here's my sad effort at an "artsy" shot.

And the close-up.

And Emily modeling the scarf. She was so proud to help Mommy, and thrilled that she actually got to touch Mommy's knitting. hehe

Up next...I cast on for the Butterfly camisole last night. The scarf left me wanting more with the kidsilk haze, and lace. I've also been buying yarn again. (Yes, I am back!) I placed an order with Webbs on either Tuesday or Wednesday (Debi, do you remember which day?) and it came today! I got Brown sheep cotton fleece to make a Green Gable , in jungle green. And I ordered some cascade fixation to make this, in burgandy. and some ivory ribbon. It's not for me. What I mean is, I'm the one who will be wearing it but it's not "for me". Get it? ;)
I also am a little peeved. I ordered a skein of All things Heather yarn from kpixie last week, it was sent Friday and it's not here yet. Upon investigating, kpixie sent me the tracking info. The box started in Massachusetts, and somehow, instead of coming to Virginia, it went to Denver. Colorado. It says "enroute", so I don't know if it is lost or if it has been re-routed. I have to wait until Monday to talk to the Post master. Apparently, the boss leaves work at noon, and doesn't work week-ends. And he's the only one who can help me. Yeah, right.

So that's what's been going on around here. I'm still plugging away on my Pomatumus socks, I am really happy with the results so far. I would like to make my Harry Potter socks but can't seem to get the right gauge with this yarn. Anyone use it before, and want to share your secrets?

Still waiting for my sockapaloooza socks, but I did hear from my pal and they should be on their way to me now. Yay!

Today

2006-05-08T14:32:00.000-04:00

Things I planned on posting about today...

1) My kick ass birthday box from Debi.
2) My birthday that was really quite crappy.
3) The lace scarf that I finished.
4) The socks that I am working on (so loving the yarn, more on this another day)
5) SoXperience-- I have a traval pal, and a hotel room and we're all set

But instead of all that fun stuff I'm going to exercise my right to complain!

I feel like crap. I have this nasty sinus infection cold thing. On friday it was well over 80 degrees out, today I don't think it's going to hit 60. And it's raining. This weather crap is making it harder for my cold to go away.
My Birthday was a big ol bust (thank God for Debi!) Mostly due to the hubby who screwed up big time. I won't go into it right now because I can't see half of what I'm typing. No, not because I'm sick. Because the hubby decided to "fix" my computer yesterday for 7 hours and now it's worse off. In fact, I can't even do a system restore. I get some crazy ass error message. messing with my computer is not a good thing. Fucking it up after fucking up my birthday....It's any wonder how the guy is still living.

So I barely dragged my ass out of bed today. been dozing off and on while monkey girl gets a whole day of nick jr...And the only thing I really wanted was the mail. Which just came (230pm) I got dressed, walked all the way to the mail box in the cold nasty rain all for................ Nothing but a damn bill.

All I wanted was my sockapaloooza socks. I hope they're on the way, I haven't heard anything yet.
Know what else I want? Dayquil...Anyone want to run to Wal-mart for me?

I'm going back to bed...And hopefully I won't wake up until tomorrow.

SoXperience 2006

2006-05-01T19:17:00.000-04:00

This is soooo cool!

http://www.carodanfarm.com/soxperience2006.htm

I'm sitting here reading all the classes offered and sighed out loud, "Man, that would be nice." And Hubby, who is right next to me said, "Why don't you go?" Of course, my initial response was, "I don't have anyone to go with". But now I'm thinking why let that stop me? I can have a nice quiet, lonely week-end alone in a nice ass room, sans kids and Hubby. Kind of a no brainer don't you think? Of course, I would rather have a friend or two with me. I'm not sure if I'll get a hotel room or a Bed and Breakfast. But I know one thing....I will reserve the room for myself and then no one can tell me there's no room left for me.

So, my question is this....Anyone out there who would want to join me? I'll probably drive up Friday evening and of course, come back Sunday evening. I'll think on which classes I want tonight and sign up tomorrow or wednesday. Weeee!!!

Oh, and Wendy will be there signing her book that Saturday, a book that I already have :)

Oh...And here's a funny for you. I posted this at my old blog and didn't realize it until bloglines picked it up. Can you tell it's been a long day?

Update 1130 pm - I just registered for three classes so I'm all set.

I'm around, sort of

2006-04-30T17:39:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to let me readers that are still here, I am alive. Things have been really crazy. Hubby worked 67 hours the last week, and both kids have had umpteen school activites...I was just thinking how glad I am not be a "soccer Mom". I don't know how they do it.

Knitting, not so much around here. I am working on one sad little sock and that's it. I'm thinking of doing some destashing soon too.

This week will be another crazy one. The most fun will be spending wednesday (My birthday) chaperoning a field trip at the Children's museum with 15 pre-schoolers. At least i can say I got to act like a kid for my birthday.

I'll hopefully get back into the swing of things around here soon. I just haven't had much to say lately. Go figure.

F is for Finally!

2006-04-11T19:30:00.000-04:00

Finally a new Post! Finally a Finished project!

First thing First, a Sockapaloooza Update. I bet you're confused now. My lazy ass hasn't bothered to blog about Sockapaloooza. Not about the pattern selection, yarn selection, size issues, nothing. And here I am, just throwing a new pair of socks out at you.

What do you think? To tell you the truth I'm not sure what I think of these socks. One minute I love them, the next minute they're not quite right. It doesn't matter though since I'm not re-knitting them. And I'm really hoping they'll fit my pal. She only sent her shoe size, not actual foot measurements. There are so many charts with different recommended lengths so I just tried to stay in the middle. The good news is if they're too short, there's a good amount of yarn left.

Pattern: Yarn over Cable from Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Sock that Rock in Hot Flash on size 1 needles, toe up
Here's a close up of the pattern. Unfortunately, the picture isn't so great. The colors are so bright that they don't photograph well. But you get the gist of it.

Ok, not that I've got the important stuff out of the way, let's move on to everything else.

I haven't intentionally been neglecting my blog. I have actually been quite busy the last two weeks. And I haven't had much to say. Shocking, I know.
A crazy little 'bug' came through our house and the kids were really sick. My monkey girl, Emily, had a temp of 104.2 at one point. I have to say we were quite lucky, the fever was the only symptom they had. Phew! But that did last a week, combined.
Then I reconnected with an old friend. We were joined at the hip friends when we were in Jr. High/high school, until her crazy Mom up and moved, for what seemed like the hundredth time. After twelve years Crystal found me and it turns out she lives maybe 20 minutes away :) We spent most of last week-end together. I swear it was just like old times. Needless to say, I'll be seeing her again very soon. She couldn't have come back into my life at a better time.

Yes...I have been knitting. Hubby was really worried. Since I left my knitting group, he thought that meant I would stop knitting. As if! I have been doing a lot better on the buying yarn front though. In fact...I had a chance to buy the most beautiful sock yarn by Sundara Yarn today, and I didn't. It was in my cart, all I had to do was pay, and I resisted. No, that isn't a typo. I didn't buy it. I am still resisting...
Just because I'm trying to stop buying, doesn't mean I can't receive... See

That would be my STR yarn that I won from Cara for the Jaywalker knitalong. The colorway is Seastone. It was impossible to get a good picture of it...Some of the blues you see are really purple. Cara also included an orange chibi too. How nice! And those books....My Mom ordered those for me last week. I have the best Mom :) Ooopps...That yarn on the needles, I did buy that. It's my Gryffindor yarn from Sunshine Yarn. That, I couldn't pass up.

I've also been working on a lace scarf with kid silk haze. No pictures just yet. And I still need to finish Salina. There isn't much to do. Sew on the buttons and shorten the sleeves. That requires some minor surgery and as any knitter knows, taking scissors to a handknit piece is not easy. I'm hoping to get it done this week but we'll see. This is a project I want to take on when I have no interruptions, or not so many. With the kids home all week for Spring break, I'm cautiously optimistic. Here's a teaser picture for now.

We had a killer storm come through last week. In less than ten minutes the sky went from blue/perfectly clear, to this... That light part of the sky on the bottom/right.... The entire sky was that color before the storm. It's like God drew a line across the sky and painted one side black. It was wicked!

I guess that's about it for now. The rest of this week is going to be crazy. We have something planned everyday, from errands to birthday parties to Easter Sunday. I'm looking forward to next week when the kids get back to school and I can relax just a little. Wait...I forgot I'm a chaperone for a Preschool field trip next Wednesday and Hubby's Birthday is Thursday. I won't even begin to explain the cake he wants and what it's going to take to make it. So maybe the week after next I'll get a little break.

Ha!

But you know what...I kind of like being busy with Family things. Man, I love Family. When my knitting "family" fell apart...My real Family was there for me. Even though they don't quite get my addiction to knitting or the knitting group, they where there to help me up, wipe the tears and make me laugh. A lot. And my good friend Debi was awesome as well... I can't count the many late night phone calls she listened to me cry, scream, laugh, and just plain vent about what happened. Thanks Debi. Thanks Family. You guys totally rock. Being surrounded by these people, I know I'm going to be ok. :)

Blame this post on the Wine

2006-03-25T00:06:00.000-05:00

Here we are, Friday night, nearly midnight doing nothing. I really hate to have a pity party on my blog because I'm sure no one wants to hear it, but you know what...if I can't cry here, where the hell can I?

I just feel so lonely and sad. Like I lost my family. And that family, they sure haven't acted like it's bothering them any. This great group that I thought I had an amazing bond with, I feel like the last year was one big lie. Did they go home and complain about me? Did they groan when they saw me walking in? I know it doesn't really matter either way...And sure there's a good chance the answers are no, but right now, at this very moment, I feel like the answers are yes. And it really hurts.

Sorry for being so cryptic...I do plan on filling you in on what happened at some point. I'm hoping that writing about it will help me move on and forget about it. I just don't feel up to it just yet.

Ummm...Some quick knitting stuff.

Salina is finished. I have to do some sleeve shortening surgery, and then she'll make her debut. I started my sockapalooza socks, nice and bright. Pictures soon. I need to find something for 'F' for the ABC-along. I was going to use Friendship, but I guess there's no need to explain why that's not going to work now.

I did some fun work today....Two coats of primer in the bathroom. Tomorrow, I'm going to buy some paint (I'm thinking yellow) and a new shower curtain and other things for the bathroom. I'll be painting tomorrow night. Next week, I start on the Master bath. (We've been in the house 29 months, and it's still not started). I'm calling this: Operation Too Busy To Think About It. How's that sound?

And finally, thanks for all the compliments on the haircut. You guys sure know how to make a girl blush. I also noticed a few new people commenting...I hope this pity post doesn't scare you away. rest assure, this is not a common occurance around here.

Have a great week-end!

Been a while....

2006-03-17T22:54:00.000-05:00

Yes this is a knitting blog. Yes, I have been knitting. I just haven't been posting any in-progress details.

Up first...felted bag. the pattern is called Vertical Stripes by Pick Up Sticks. It was quick and oh so easy. I started out on the recommended needle size and it was really small so I went up two sizes. Of course, now the bag is bigger than the pattern, but I actually prefer it this way. I used Patons classic wool. 3 skein of grey and 1 skein of red.

Before:

After: (not the best picture, but you can get the gist of it) I want to line it but can't find any fabric I like. Partly because I have to buy it online now :) I want a white fabric with red paisley on it. Know where I can find it?

I'm sure you've heard of Comfort Jef.... I have to admit, this is my first ever "charity knitting". When I read about Christine's brother I cried so hard. And to be honest, I don't think it was so much because of what they were going through. (That sounds bad, but of course that was part of it.) I cried more because she obviously has a very close relationship with her brother. Something I always wanted with my brother and never had.

And now for the surprise finale. You remember that great Christmas present I received? And all the time spent knitting it? I never really went into details as to why it ended up in the bad pile. And it's been sitting there for weeks silently mocking me. Well I woke up this past Wednesday and decided I was going to seam this bitch up....NO matter what. And I'm pleased to say, I did it. There was some fudging involved, but it worked out. The only complaint I have...The sleeves are too snug to wear a long sleeve shirt underneath. Not a bad thing, except that the yarn made me itch quite a bit. Other than that, the fit is perfect. In the picture, it looks too short, but it falls below my belly button. Oh...And my facial expression...I had a really bad night before the pictures were taken and I was really pissed off. And yet, I still had the hubby take pictures for the blog. Clearly, I have issues ;)

I like the picture of the back better. No goofy face, and it looks longer.

I took my Mom to get her haircut two weeks ago...And I couldn't resist going under the scissors as well. Those of you who know me, know that I don't just get a trim. It's all or nothing.

Before:

After:

Again, not the best picture. But you can tell I chopped off a lot. And I LOVE it! No blow dryer anymore...No curling (not that I did that before). Heck, after a shower, I don't even need a comb. I towel dry, run my fingers through it, and I'm all set. Totally Love it!

Phew! I think I've just about caught you up on what's been going on here. There are some not so great things going on with my Knitting group, but I don't think I want to post about it just yet. It really is a sad situtation, and I've pretty much decided not to be a part of the group anymore. I feel like I lost my family. Some might say I chose to give it up, but I feel like it's the best thing for me....Either way you look at it, it just plain sucks. So excuse me for a moment while I throw myself a pity party or two.

I'm off to knit...And veg out. And enjoy life.

It's all about the GREEN

2006-03-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!

I might not be a full blooded Irish...but there's plenty of it in my blood. We don't do too much to celebrate St. Patty's day. No corned beef (yuck!), no partying at the bar. But I still have my share of green around here...

Green carnations.

Green Cookies...Yummy too!

My very own Leprechaun. The shirt says, "Kiss me I'm Irish."

Our very own Green Beer! Not that I drink it, but that's o.k.

But the most important green is this.....

What is that you ask? It's my Salina sweater, happily blocking away. Front, back and both sleeves are pinned out and slowly drying. The only knitting left is the collar, after assembly. And two cuffs for the sleeves. I'm going to venture out and say I should have a genuine FO by Monday, if not sooner. Hopefully the pieces will be dry in the morning so I can get seaming...Yay!

Hope you had a fun filled Saint Patrick's day!

D, E and why I will never shop at JoAnn's again

2006-03-13T19:09:00.001-05:00

Not only am I behind on my blog, but also for the Abc along. I don't have much for 'D' and 'E' but I did come up with something I haven't seen yet, boring or not. So I give you....

D is for Delivery and E is for E-commerce. Oh what money I would save if I didn't have the internet. All I do is buy more yarn. Not as much as some people, but still quite a bit.

This is the latest haul. It's been trickling in for two weeks. From the left we have three skeins of Socks that rock (Hot Flash and Lover's Leap), two skeins of Zephyr lace (turquoise), 14 skeins of Takhi cotton (bayberry), 8 skeins of Dale baby Ull, and two skeins of Regia sock yarn (color #5343) The pattern you see goes with the Tahki cotton, it's called the Rockstar Jacket. Sooo can not wait to start on it. All that baby Ull is for argyle socks, just as soon as Eunny gets her pattern together. Yeah, I bought the yarn a tad bit too soon. But I wanted to be ready for when the pattern does come. Now if only I could decide which two colors to use. There's 6 or 7 different combinations to chose from. And my copy of A Gathering Of Lace came today too.

So yes....Thank God for Delivery and E-commerce. It's just too easy and way fun!

And now for the ranting and raving. JoAnns Fabric is on my shitlist big time. This might get long so I suggest you get a drink and go pee before you start reading.

I have four skeins of some TLC yarn that I bought a while back. I don't remember exactly when, but it was way before Christmas. I decided I didn't want it so I would return it. Of course, I don't have my receipt anymore. But I had an old receipt and the printed return policy without a receipt says, "refunds or exchanges will be given at the item's lowest promotional price within the last 30 days, in the form of an in-store gift card or a mail check." OK...No big deal. Not like I won't use the store credit.
So I give the cashier the yarn, she does the refund and tells me, "You know without a receipt is's automatically a 50% refund?" Ummm...that is not what your policy says. It was actually quite funny because I asked for a manager and said to her I knew she wasn't one. And then I found out she is a manager. Oops. So I ask for another manager. She tells me that's their policy because they always have a 50% off coupon, and that is their posted policy. See my problem is simple. You can't print one policy and say another. And I'm sorry but "lowest promotional price" is not the same thing as "coupon discount". Not good enough for me.
Now before I had talked to the manager did two things. 1) Sent a nasty e-mail through the JoAnns website complaining and 2)Called the JoAnns 1-800 number. It was an interesting call. I talked to a woman named Donna. I told her my situation and her exact words were, "That is absolutely not right. We do not do things like that in our stores. And we will be contacting the store about it." In the meantime, she finds out I used my debit card for the purchase. That's a good thing, because now she can look it up and re-print my receipt for me. She tells me it will be sent to the store and I can get a full refund that way. Cool. Until I find out my receipt is over the 90 day limit.
At this point...I will keep the damn yarn. I'm working on principal now. So I get a reply to my e-mail from the district manager. Here's what he wrote:

Dear Elizabeth
When we don't have a receipt it becomes very difficult to determine what you paid for the product. I know just how you feel. In our company we run an mailer just about every two weeks. In every mailer we have a 40%-to 50% coupon off on item at regular price. It's a shame we have so many people that buy at 50% off with the coupon and want to return at regular price without the receipt. To keep that under control we had to put lowest sales price which really could be 60,70,75,90% off, but we just go with 50%. Please hold on your receipts and it will be so much easier to your return. We really want to give you what you paid for the item. We are not trying to cheat anyone. If you do find your receipt please bring it in and we would be more than happy to credit you the difference...Thanks Jim Moffat District manager.

Here's my reply. Not very eloquent but I was really worked up and my thoughts were all over the place and hard to put down.

HI Jim,
It's an unfortunate thing that because some people may try and and cheat you out of money, I have to to pay for it. Your coupons are most often for 40% off and correct me if I'm wrong here, but the coupons are good for one item, not the entire total. So I have four balls of yarn that I bought together, but because I can't prove it, I have to eat the difference. I'm going to be blunt and say that policy sucks. I suggest you change the wording in your policy that is printed in the store because it is very misleading.
My other issue is that fact that when I called Joann Etc, directly, the woman I talked to said, and I quote "We do not simply say you get 50% back. That is absolutely wrong, and our stores should not be doing that. We will be contacting the store." Perhaps she is wrong, but now I am getting two different stories.
One final thing, if I do find my receipt and is past the 90 day mark, does that mean I'm stuck with the products now?

And his reply, again:

Elizabeth I would be more than happy to refund one at 50% off and 3at 40% off if you like. It would be received in gift card format. Let me know and I can call the store manager. I will also need to know which JOANN you were shopping in. Thanks JIm Moffat

Oh HELL no! I didn't reply to this one yet. I'm going to call the CS number again and see what they say based on this. He didn't answer my question about the receipt being past the 90 mark. He didn't comment on the fact that I've been told two different things now. And he is still assuming I used 4 coupons on four balls of yarn. But you know what really gets me? Is he so stupid that he doesn't know they can re-print my receipt? Or is he just trying to pull one over on me? At this point, I don't want a refund. But I'm not dropping this either. I sure as hell ain't the first person to try and return something without receipt. I won't be the last. It's very simple. If you have a specific policy, print it that way. Period. And I'll never go back there again. Even if it means either ordering my sewing good online or driving 45 minutes to Richmond to Hancocks fabric. As for the cheap yarn that I sometimes buy...That's a no brainer. I'll park my car at JoAnns, walk two shops down to Michael's and buy my yarn. And I know they're return policy without a receipt. Store credit for full price, unless the item is on sale. Imagine that.

And that's why I'll never shop at JoAnn's again. Cheers!

C is for Catching up...If you want to call it that

2006-02-21T19:44:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking about what to use for my 'C' post for three weeks now. And I came up with quite a few ideas, but nothing was just right. Although my thanks go out to , who in my comments suggested "C is for complaining." Now why didn't I think of that one?
My 'C' List:
Cats (all three of 'em)
Children (all two of 'em)
Crayola (My crayola stash could supply my sons entire second grade class. I love buying
crayons, markers, etc. and always stock up at the back to school sales.)
Cupcakes....Mmmmm. I have a chocolate one right now. Love it.
Crap- weather, knitting
So I had quite a few choices, not were worthy enough so having that said....

C is for Cheating...I'm moving on to 'D', hopefully.

So tax season is upon us. We didn't exactly rake it in this year, but we didn't have to pay either. I won't bore you with the details but we bought some new end tables, movies stand, and tv stand for our living room. We tossed the old entertainment center and have a TON more space now. I've had all of my yarn stashed in the corner but the pile really was looking crazy, so I had to do something about it. I packed up some of my old books to make room and came up with this:

I put a couple boxes in the attic, but it's all stuff that I will never use or sell (no one would buy it). I totally love this, and it looks cool in the living room. Of course, it's not as big as other stash's I've seen but it works. The top shelf is all sock yarn. Next is all 100% wool. Third shelf down has a little bit of everything, and the bottom is cotton/loin brand stuff (yeah yeah...I know what you're thinking.) That basket on top is full of my yarn odds and ends. I like being able to see what I have now. Not that it matters right now....

Which brings us to my next ramble. I'm in a rut. I mean a huge rut. Hubby is trying to convince me to go away for a couple days, by myself (because I have no girlfriends to go away) and relax. He told me to fly somewhere for five days. Um, right. Any ideas where exactly I'm supposed to go on a limited budget?

My biggest issue right now is I want to make a sweater. Don't ask me why, I just really want one. The ella rae sweater is still not going to be talked about. I bought a bag of kureyon (10 skeins) for a sweater from a Noro book, ended up having to go down needle size, and would've had to buy at least four more skeins of the yarn. 14 skeins of itchy kureyon for a sweater. No thanks. So I scratched that. And then decided to start Rogue with the bartlett yarn I bought. It started off good. I knitted about 15 rows and went to bed. And woke up during the night with very itchy fingers. The under-the-skin-itch that won't go away. It took 24 hours for the itching/burning to stop. I have a swatch that was washed but it didn't soften up nearly enough for me. If I am reacting to it that much, clearly it's not something I want on my skin. So that's out.... Anyone want to buy 7 skeins of glen tweed?

Maybe it's the bigger needles that's killing me?

I did make some small needle progress. Here's my completed Mary ella. It's made with pearl cotton thread and 11/0 seed beads on 0000 double points. Surprisingly, it was fast and easy. Although I had a slow start. I say it often here, but I can be anal about things. There were 5 or 6 different shades of pink beads in the set I bought, and I seriously tried to separate them and string them in order. I got two colors done before I said the hell with it. I put them on the thread without looking. I'm pleased with the overall look. It only took me two days to make it. I have grey thread and clear beads to use for my next one.

It's a perfect fit and way cute.

I'm also working on Jaywalker two with more Vesper yarn. I just love it. Because of the "need to make a sweater" itch, these are taking a long time to make. This is the first sock and it's been on the needles for three weeks now. I'm expecting some new Socks that Rock soon, in some new colors not on the website yet, so I'm using that to motivate me to get these finished. I only work on one set of socks at a time, and when that yarn gets here it's going to be hard not to use it. See anything else in the picture? I was at the local grocery store today and the Easter shelves are starting to fill up. These are two of my favorite treats so I had to have them. Yummy!

The boys have been acting funny ever since we rearranged the living room. I've caught them sleeping like this the last four nights...Before that, never saw them like this. All together now.....

Awwwwwww.................

Quiet

2006-02-14T21:32:00.000-05:00

Hold on to your seats folks, I have nothing to say. That's a lie. How about, I have very little to say. Yeah, that works.
This last week has been all wrong for me. In every aspect. Fighting with the hubby. (We made up last night. And not like that, dirty people!) Fighting with the kids who are getting too big for their britches. Knitting hasn't been going well at all.
I complain a lot. I noticed it the other day when talking to a Mom from preschool. And I felt pretty stupid complaining about the stupidest things, often. And yet, I find myself wanting to complain again tonight. If I don't, there's nothing to blog about. How about some random thoughts for tonight?

--I don't have my "C is for" post ready, I can't decide on anything.
--The ella rae r-shirt sweater has been banished from my knitting bag. I'm not going to go into details right now, but after a bunch of "little, fixable problems" I've decided we need some time apart. I haven't decided if I will re-make it (again) or use the yarn for something else.
--That super cute Odessa hat I made is no more. Emily wore it to school on Thursday. Thursday also happened to be the first time I let her go home with a friend for a play date. Said friend's Mom took the kids to Target then to the house for playtime. Somewhere between all of that, the hat disappeared. I'm kind of mad at the Mom, because I know she didn't look too hard for it. Maybe if she were a knitter, and realized that the ball of yarn used for that hat was $8.00, maybe then she would have bothered.
--Because Emily lost my hat, I am having second thoughts on making her one of her own, with the same brand yarn, so she can lose it. Grr! And I even ordered size 4 and 6, 16" Addis circs, and now don't really "need" them.
--I hate Virginia. I just wanted one decent snow shower. 3 or 4 inches would make me happy, even thought I know it would melt the next day. And my brother, who lives an hour away, got 5 inches. We got dust.
--It was 56 degrees today, and tomorrow is going to be in the 60's. This is why I didn't even bother to knit my Latvian mittens. They would just sit in the closet. I'll knit them this summer, just in case we have a winter next year. hah!

I'm not going to read over what I wrote before posting. It is all random thoughts. I realize they might sound silly, make no sense, and may not interest you. But that's all I've got right now.

'Eye' Can see clearly now

2006-02-07T21:07:00.000-05:00

Do you know that in the last week or so I have gotten very little knitting done? What I have accomplished in the last week I usually can do in one or two days. I've been so busy, with what seems like nothing. I taught my first class last Saturday. I'm not going to blog about it, but it wasn't bad. Not great, but not bad. And because now you are probably wondering what could've
"gone wrong" I'll tell you this: The ladies who took the class were all really sweet, and the owner and her Mom were just as nice as usual. And that's all I think I'll share about it here in "blog world"

So I hit a knitting slump. Or rather, a finishing slump. I still haven't seamed up the ella-rae t-shirt sweater. And being the anal gal that I am, I can't start another sweater (which is up next) until I finish this one. I think what's making the seaming less desirable is the fact that when I knitting it, I use two balls of yarn at once, alternating every couple of rows. That did two things. 1) On the ends, I am having a hard time distinguishing between the sts and the yarn that was carried 2) I guess I pulled a little too tightly at one point and on one side you really have to pu;; to get the pieces to line up. And I can't count the sts because of the extra yarn. Yes, I am overthinking and complicating something simple. I'll blame it on PMS.

Then of course, there's the "I feel like doing something different slump". I haven't made very many hats, and I've never done any bead knitting. So when Grumperina's Odessa hat came around, I figured why not. I had the yarn and the beads. So I made it. I started and finished it on Superbowl Sunday. Show's how exciting my life can be. Woo. I really like the end result. More importantly, I really liked using the beads and feel another addiction coming on. I prestrung the beads but next time I'm going to try the crochet them on method. And then I went and ordered the supplies to make Mary-Ella. Someone made several of these and after seeing them on her blog, I was tempted to cross to the other side. 11/0 beads, 0000 double points, teeny ass crochet hook, and thread. Clearly, I'm nuts. If I were doing the knitting Olympics, this would be my project, 'cuz I have a feeling it's going to kill me!

And a close up for good measure. You can't see the bead colors very well but I think they are similar to hematite (is that right?) color wise. They sort of reflect blue to yellow to purple to green, depending on the light. I have two more balls of Rowan Cashoft dk in lime green and red so of course, I'm going to make two more. The green with clear beads, and the red with black beads for my Emily. A ladybug hat if you will. I feel like a huge follower, what with me knitting the same pattern more than once, and both times the pattern is by the same person. But I really like the hat, before at the Knitalongs popped up.

So did you notice something different in the first picture? I'll wait while you look.....
Yes, those are glasses on my face. Prescription glasses. I spent my day running around like a mad woman trying to find an eye doctor that could see me today, find glasses, and get them made today. Why the urgency? Get comfy, it's a long story and I feel chatty tonight (Once again, what's new?) I've had glasses since I was a teen. I tried contacts, but that was a waste. I don't like anything in my eyes. When I take a shower, I have a cloth nearby to wipe my eyes when I get water on my face. I don't like it. when I had contacts, it would take me an hour to get them in. Not kidding! So...I never had glasses I liked. Money wasn't around to pick the best, and with my odd little head, nothing suited me. So it was always "Get these and move on". Ugly glasses on a teen-ager? Yeah, I stopped wearing them. My vision is not bad, it's just barely enough for a prescription. I always wear my glasses when I am driving at night, if it's raining, and at the movies. Other than that, you never see them. I always said when I had the money I would find a nice pair and start wearing them. I'm still waiting for that money. Anyhow! The goblins broke my glasses on Sunday. The goblin shall remain nameless but he's closely related to a grown male who shares my bed and drives me car sometimes. The car where I leave my glasses in the console. The car that I left them in perfect shape, and then they somehow managed to twist themselves between the time I left them, the Goblin used the car, and then I used the car!
So I had fun today! And thank God I have some killer Vision Insurance (That's a quote from the Optitritian's office) I got a lot of help from the lady at Pearl Vision, and picked out to pairs. The one's in the picture are what my Mom calls "Lisa Loeb" glasses. I have always wanted some like this but never found any that fit my face. Until today when I looked on the kids rack. Told you I have a small head. I also got a pair of plain ol' wire rims just to have around. And Holy shit glasses aren't cheap! It's been 8 years since I bought my last pair and I don't remember them costing so much. The frames weren't so bad, but the lenses! Good thing I intend on wearing the new glasses all the time! I won't tell you how much I spent, but how about an analogy if you want to do the math and know the answer. (This is for us nosy types.)

Say Koigu costs you $10 a skein, and you need two skeins for a pair of socks. I could make 42.5 pair's of socks with the full price of my total, before insurance. After insurance, I could make 27.5 pair's of Koigu socks. Yes, my tax refund will pass 'Go' (The Bank) and go straight to 'jail', otherwise known as Visa. *sigh*

But I have great glasses now. And that hat...It didn't look half as good without the specs. :)

How's that for a Tuesday night ramble fest? Bore you to tears? Mwah!

Today's Show is brought to you by the Letter 'B'

2006-01-30T19:42:00.000-05:00

I feel like I'm hosting my very own episode of Sesame Street... And I'm also getting this in just under the wire. So without further ado...

'B' is for Birthday

Here is my little Emily on January 26th, 2001. If I remember correctly she's not even and hour old in this picture.

And here's Miss Emily now...

Collectively now....Awwwww!!!!! My baby turned five this week. She's very upset though, because she has to wait until the Fall to start kindergarten. Poor thing. Poor me. I love my baby hurricane, but she needs full time school. But then I got a little sentimental about things. My baby turned five this week. I'm not having anymore. And even if I wanted to, I can't. (Looong story there, but I found out after Emily was born that I should never have been able to get pregnant. I'm a medical mystery ya'll.) But I digress.... I'm just a tad bit sad about my baby turning five. And yes, I keep repeating that, but people.....My baby is five. *sniff*

'B' is also for Breast Cancer...

Here's my Mom, a survivor. Breast cancer has touched my life way too many times.

My Mom will be a 4 year survivor this May. My Aunt Rosie (Mom's sister) is also a survivor. Aunt Rosie's daughter, (my cousin) Rose Mary...She too is a recent survivor. And then there's my Mom's other sister, Aunt Mary. She lost her battle to it in 1989. We also have a close family friend who is a recent survivor. Needless to say, even though I am only in my late 20's, I've had my share of mammograms. I have two Aunt's and a cousin who make sure of that. I hope this disease doesn't touch your life....But Ladies, just in case, get those boobies squished!

And now for something less serious...

Let's talk about obsession. Addiction. Or maybe just Luck.

That, my dear readers, is Vesper sock yarn. We have from l-r: Aqua Melon balled up and ready to go; Crew; Newly acquired Paisely which will be wound and turned into Jaywalkers starting tonight; and what's left of the Neopolitan after I finished the last jawalkers. Can I just say, I seriously love this yarn! I'm obsessed, and even though I have all this, I am patiently waiting for the new colors to make their appearance.

Last but not least, how about a FO? Here's my Essential stripe pullover. I'm really pleased with it, although next time I'll make the sleeves smaller. You can't see in the picture, but they are quite baggy. I would definitely use this pattern again, only less stripes. That way there are less ends to weave. If it weren't for the ends, this sweater would have been completed three weeks ago.

Now if only I could get motived to seam the t-shirt sweater that is blocked and waiting...

4 Things...

2006-01-27T17:56:00.000-05:00

I've been tagged..

4 Jobs You've had in your life.
coffee shop chic
grocery store cashier
home care provider for elderly couple (I miss them.)
babysitter (haven't we all at some point?)

4 movies you could watch over and over. (This was hard to chose just four...)
Jewels by Danielle Steele
Empire Records
Pirates of the Caribbean
Sweet Home Alabama

4 Places You Have Lived
Ansbach, Germany
Bertchesgaden, Germany
Newark, Ohio
Virginia Beach, Virginia

4 TV Shows You Love To Watch (Again, it was hard to pick just four.)
Grey's Anatomy
Alias
Sex and The City
Two and a Half Men

4 Places You Have Been On Vacation (I haven't done a real vacation, ever. Just week-ender's)
Nags Head, North Carolina
Wildwood, New Jersey
McKinney, Texas (In Laws house, not sure if it counts as a "vacation")
Virginia Beach, Virginia (Obviously when I didn't live there)

4 Websites You Visit daily
Hotmail
Bloglines
Cute Overload
Kpixie (stalking for Vesper. Seriously.)

4 Of your Favorite Foods
German Chocolate
Stir Fry
Cheesecake (without a doubt)
Red Pepper Sauce on Pork Tenderloin

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now
The Ocean
Knit Night with my Girls
Yarn shopping (Duh!)
Germany

4 Bloggers You Are Tagging
Emmy
You
You
You

If you want to do it, have at it. There's no one left to tag out there.

Knitting Olympics

2006-01-27T15:30:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm late to the game. It's been blogged about everywhere, by everyone. I'm not even going to link to it, because everyone else has. I danced back and forth wether I would do this or not. I even have three projects that would be a challenge, but that I could probably pull off. IF I wanted to.

I have always thought of myself as a product knitter. You won't see me knit a sock yarn with four different patterns/needle sizes to see what I like best. I cast on knit and finish. I don't rush through my projects, but I don't exactly take my time. And knitting, for me, is my stress reliever. It takes the edge off, and I get some great wear-ables at the same time. So this Olympic knitting should really be a walk in the park for me. I could do it. It might take a little more push, and a little more sleep, but I could do it. But do I really want to? I mean, if I start pushing myself to get it done...And then the stress kicks in because I "might not" finish by deadline. And then what would I do to relieve the stress brought on by my stress reliever? (Yeah, I'm over thinking this. So what?) And then will I be enjoying the process? Wait! I thought I was purely a product knitter. Turns out, there's a little bit of process in me after all. I think I'll call myself a produss knitter for now.
So I've decided not to do Olympic knitting. Who knows, the night before I might change my mind and if so, I can just silently knit along.

I'm in a mini-knitting funk right now. I finished knitting the pieces for the Ella rae t-shirt. They are blocked and sitting on the table waiting for assembly. The pattern says to seam with the backstitch. I don't like it though.... And I can't decide if I want to graft it together, or follow the instructions. And since I can't decide, it's just sitting there. And I have nothing on the needles. Nothing. I don't want to start my next sweater until this one is done. I have so much sock yarn, that I can't decide which one I want knit next. I'm obviously suffering from icantdecideitis this week. And I'm still sick *whine* And that party we are having tomorrow for Emily...It's up to 14 five year olds now. Stuffed into a little Burger King, and all the parents too. What. Was. I. Thinking?

I'm also supposed to be setting up a knit along for Salina. A certain blogger said she wished someone would set one up and my big mouth said I would. I want to, I don't mind the work. But I'm so sure that no one will sign up for a kal by me, that I can't motivate myself to even get the info together. I'll think on this a little longer.

I did sign up for Socakpaloooza. I still need to put the cute ass button on my sidebar.

So you see, I'm just a whiny, complaining, non-knitting gal this week. And to top it off, I feel the need to buy something. Some knitting somethings. So I've been wandering all my favorites sites, and nothing is screaming "Buy me". So what do you want to buy right now or should I say, what have you bought lately? Maybe that will help me not buy anything. Who knows....

I'm so not in my head today, as evident by the ramblings in this post. I think I'll go curl up with my favorite blanky and a good movie. Wait...I don't like to watch movies without knitting. Which brings me back to what to knit. *sigh* It never ends.....

***Yes, I know life could be SO much worse. Just let me think that my problems are that bad for now.

I'm alive....for now

2006-01-23T14:57:00.000-05:00

So, I had like three different posts for the last week. Shocking I know. But I never got around to it because my whole family was hit with some mutant bug thing. The fever is gone, but we are all just a coughing away. My thoughts are all scattered right now (as usual). I have to entertain 12- five year olds this Saturday at Burger King so I'm trying to get things together for that. And I'm trying to get ready for my sock class in less than two weeks. I have one sock knitted up for it, but need to write out my pattern and some information sheets I want to give out. I wanted to talk about the Knitting Olympics. Will I or won't I? And I still need to set up the Salina Knit along I'm going to host. *I'm going to feel real dumb when no one signs up for it* But right now, I'm in a drug induced haze, thanks Dayquil, so I'll just show you all the new stuff I got. (I feel like a braggart, but I swear I'm not!)

***Picture Heavy***

Remember the box seen here? How about I show you what was in it?

That's 15 skeins of Mission Fall 1824 Wool. 7 skeins of a rust color and 8 skeins of a clay color. One skein of Cascade 220, a bag of coilless safety pins (love those) and the book is Noro Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton book 2. You know, the one with the Klaralund pattern.

Also in the box were these awesome candles. There's eight of the lavender vanilla votives, and then the three tins. Plus some really awesome fruity tea. (Awesome is today's theme I suppose.)

but wait! There's more.... A bunch of knitting notecards, a picture frame, notepads, a sheep bookmarker all the way from Ireland, and this kick ass journal. You see the pinup girl in the red swimsuit? The red part is actual beads. Love it! I collect journals, but I don't write in them. Yes, it's weird. I just love to look at them. But this one, I think I might make it my FO journal. Just to keep a little record of my knitting, since I can't remember what I knit a month ago.

But wait! There's still more!
This really cute chenille bear (which the daughter has stolen from me). And quite possibly my most favorite things in the box: Silver Fairy earrings from Ireland! I looooove Fairies. *My brother is supposed to be designing a new tattoo for me of a Fairy knitting....I only asked him to do it a year ago.* A cute Irish Sheep pin, again, from Ireland. Did I ever tell you (SP) that I am Irish? And some cool beaded stitch markers.

Here's a close up. The charms on the stitch markers say: believe, love, hope, peace and dream. And notice the one on the left? It's a little sweater on knitting needles.

SP6 you outdid yourself!! This box was well worth the wait. Thank you for everything!

I'm thinking I should rename my blog again. How about "I bought more yarn, again"? If I were to go through my archives, I bet over 50% of my posts are stash acquisitions. So of course, when I saw this new "a-long", I had to join. It's the "Buy More Yarn" along. This should be fun, and way too easy!

And to make sure I don't disappoint you, here's some more new yarn.

My first two Rowan books/mag. I got #37 to knit butterfly, and three balls of kid silk haze in the most beautiful baby pink for it. (This was bought with my X-mas money so Thanks Mom and Dad). Rowan Vintage style book to knit Salina, and 7 balls of Rowan Felted tweed in Herb for this one. I have always wanted to knit with tweed yarn, and this one feels/looks great. It has flecks of white, navy blue, and grey, so pretty!
Those other two skeins of yarn...The green one is Vesper Sock Yarn in Crew. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it for myself or give it to Emmy. I love the bright green, but not sure about that dark green. I would kill for some Vesper in Paisley (hint-hint).

That other ball is an amazing find.... It's schaefer fingering weight yarn. It's an exclusive yarn from The Knitting Chocolate. I don't even know what it's called. The label simply says "content: champagne -- 75%merino, 25% silk" . It's not even listed on the schaefer website. So what's so awesome about this yarn? That ball is 930 yards of silk/merino and it cost me all of $32!!! For 930 yards! I was going to make family socks with it, but now I'm thinking it would work better for something else. Don't know what though.

Phew! One last thing....It looks like bloglines is picking up my feed finally. I didn't hear from their tech support for five days so I -emailed them and basically said "Why hasn't the problem been fixed, it's been 8 days?" And they wrote back saying they would reset the feed, but that might not work. Well, it did. What I want to know is why it took 8 days to do that? And why I had to write them more than once to "remind" them. *sigh* At least I don't have to use the old blog for updating, for now.

The Sweater Song

2006-01-16T13:19:00.000-05:00

"If you want to destroy my sweater
Pull this thread as I walk away (as I walk away)
Watch me unravel i'll soon be naked
Lying on the floor, lying on the floorI've come undone..."

20 points if you can name that song and the band.

So here I was, cruising along on the t-shirt sweater watching Grey's Anatomy last night. And before I knew it, the back piece was done as well. So I pin them together to see how it's going to fit and my pieces aren't measuring up. I then decide to rip back part of the back piece to see where I messed up. Here's where we were when I finally went to bed at 1am

Here's where we are now

I don't know how I messed this up, but I did. If I put the pieces together as if to seam there was nearly I two inch difference. If I put them together back against a front, they line up. With a measuring tape I found that there's an inch difference; I counted rows and found a three row difference. My gauge is five rows per inch. Yes, I know how to measure and count. Clearly something isn't right and since I don't know which piece is wrong, I have to start all over again. At least I know I can knit this up quickly. I did the front piece in one day (it took ALL day but still). I'm a little frustrated, just a bit though.

Last week I saw this really cool bag in Knitters magazine. It's the first bag on this page. I love it, but can't spend that much on a bag. NO big deal, I can make one. Haha. here's my attempt:

Really it's not that bad. It's tad shorter and a tad wider. It's just plain ol' chocolate brown fabric that I found, and I sewed the pink ribbon on it. Added a pink lining and two inside pockets and voila! And it cost me all of $5 dollars. I can fit 8 balls of the Atacama yarn in it with some room leftover. I would still like the "real bag" but for now this will work.

I bought that book I mentioned in my last post. I couldn't resist a 20% off everything sale at knithappens. I also ordered 7 balls of Rowan Felted tweed in Herb to make Salina. I'm going to start a small knit-a-long for it so stay tuned for details.

Bloglines is still having issues. I finally got a reply last night from their tech support. It took 4 days all so they could tell me "We appreciate that you have brought this to our attention. We have forwarded your information to the appropriate technical department for further investigation, and regret any inconvenience" It's a good thing I don't pay for this service. Wonder how long this will take?

We're of to Grandmom's house for a wee visit. Translation: Break for Mommy. Yay!

Great Minds think alike because 'A' is for...

2006-01-14T23:42:00.000-05:00

Anniversary!

Today was the one year anniversary for our knitting group so of course we had to get together for some knitting and great food. We hung out at Becky's amazingly warm and cozy real log house. I swear, I didn't want to leave. I don't want to get all sappy about it, but I really love the gals in my knitting group. They've been so good to me this last year. And anyone who can put up with my incessant talking...well they deserve medals for that.
Here we are:
Top row, left to right: Sandy, Becky, Pam, and Emmy
Bottom row, left to right: Lindy, Me, and Beth

I promise Emmy and Pam don't always look grumpy, it was bitter cold out there! And we're all wearing semi-matching scarves. We played a little game, Emmy describes it well. She also explains the "Great Minds Think Alike" title of tonight's post so go to her blog for details. Sorry folks, but I'm do darn lazy to type it all out after emmy already did :) I am quite amused that we even had the same ideas for pictures. Speaking of Emmy, here she is. Gotta love blogging the blogger.

Here's the cake I brought. Nothing fancy but it sure was good. It says "Knit 1, Purl 2". Not very well written but not bad for store bought.

And now onto other things...A little hodge podge if you will.
I think I have my jaywalker problem taken care of. I give more details when I'm sure of them.
Sock class details have been taken care of and I am absolutely thrilled with how it worked out. (Except the yarn....But that's a story for another day.) We start in February and I can't wait.
I have finished the front of the Ella Rae t-shirt and suspect I will have the back done tomorrow. I'm to the armhole shaping now. It's knitting up really fast!
I still need to take pictures of everything in that bog ol' secret pal box. As soon as I can, you'll see em'. (And I need to e-mail SP and thank the girl! I promise I will soon.)
I'm coveting this sweater now, it's called Salina, and made with Rowan Felted tweed. Any thoughts on this yarn? I've almost ordered the book 10 times tonight. I put it in my shopping cart, close the window, google the book, put it in my cart...Repeat.
I did some kick ass stash enhancement too. New silk sock yarn, and a lace project in the works.

I had planned on blogging all this stuff the last couple days. Instead, I've been trying to get bloglines to pick up the feed for this blog. Argh! Until someone can get it working, I'll use the
old blog to let you know of updates. Sorry folks. It sucks. Trust me, I know.

I feel like I'm leaving something out. So many things I wanted to mention....Not so many brain cells left at midnight to do it. Oh well... I'm off to bed. Those gals wore me out today!

I am so freakin pissed off right now!

2006-01-11T23:54:00.000-05:00

Edit: It's now 5:50pm on Thursday, I posted right around midnight....But does bloglines pick up the feed? Of course not.

O.K. First off, in retrospect I know this is something little, and I need/will get over it. But right now, I need to vent! And knowing there are knitter's out there who will understand helps me.

I've mentioned before that I can be anal about things (Ohh that's gonna get me some nasty google hits). One of my so called issues, when I go to bed, everything has to be done. Clean house, toys put away. (I admit I have been slacking lately on the housework but none the less) I don't like going to bed when something's unfinished. So here I am, just about midnight and look what I have:

Jaywalker #2 almost complete using Socks That Rock Alina. First off, I hate pooling, but I can live with it if it isn't too bad. It would be nice if the pooling at least matched though. As you can see, it doesn't. That's not what ticks me off the most though. You see that strand of yarn to the right? That's what's left. A whole 25 inches, and I have 26 rows left (four regular and then the toe decreases) Clearly, my small size 6.5 feet are really not so small after all. I have heard of people running out of STR but I was sure I wouldn't, seeing as though all my life I got picked on for having small feet. Liars.
So what's a girl to do? Do you realize how hard it's going to be for me to get to sleep tonight? I don't have anything in my stash to use for the toes. I don't want solid color toes. of course, two toes is better than no toes, no matter how you get them.

And you know what gets me? My "formula" is nearly identical to Cara's.

Size 1 addis. Check.
76 sts cast on. Check.
12 rows of ribbing and 25 repeats. Check. (Although I did 6 ribbing and 28 repeats, it comes out the same.
Foot measurement of 8.5". Wouldn't you know, mine measure 8.5" sooo Check.

AND YET I RAN OUT OF YARN!!!!! WTF!!!!!

So like I said at the beginning of this post...there are worse things, and I'll get over it, eventually. In the meantime, I'm giving the evil eye to the other skein of STR I have, that's already wound into a ball. Clearly, it won't get used anytime soon. Which sucks, because I like the STR yarn A LOT.

I'll leave you with this picture for now, so I can go stew on this a little more.

What's this you ask? My final SP6 came this week. Emily was dieing to see what was in it. Are you?

Welcome to my new Pad

2006-01-07T15:56:00.000-05:00

Hello. Glad you found me, again. Pull up a chair, get comfy, have a good look around. Like my new look?

There is a sidebar full of buttons and archives and such on the right. When I posted it all shifted down the page. Not sure why, I'll have to fiddle with it later.

Most of you know I have been wanting to redesign my blog for months now. It took awhile, but I managed to find a designer that didn't cost an arm and a leg, and Michelle (I as going to link her, but the site seems to be down right now. I'll edit when it comes up.) was great. I found the picture in the header, and told her what colors I wanted. And the rest was all her doing. It's amazing how well she captured my personality. The swirlies are totally me. Take a look at the girl in the header. Do you see it? There's a shadow of a ball of yarn with knitting needles. What a neat extra touch, huh? I am totally loving the new look. So....What do you think?

I wasn't going to blog this week-end. I've been sick for two weeks now, and just not feeling all that great. The technical diagnosis is labyrinthitis. My Dr. is stumped as to why I'm still feeling symptoms though. Today I haven't had any problems, yesterday was really bad. It's kind of amusing...As a child everyone called me Dizzy Lizzy. And now I really am. But anyways, like I was saying. I wasn't going to blog this week-end, but something happened. Something so good, I had no choice but to blog about it.

A few weeks ago, the girls and I drove an hour to a new knitting shop in Emporia, Knitting Chocolate. We had a blast. I've heard stock has doubled since our last visit, which could be bad news for the hubby, hehe. Melissa (The owner) is a really nice gal, very easy to talk to. So I did. And it came up that I love knitting socks. *I wouldn't say that I'm a pro, but I like to think I'm up there in sock knitting land.* Melissa mentioned wanting to offer a sock class and needing a teacher, and would I do it. Of course, I said I would love to. In retrospect, I never really expected anything to come of it.
So today, Pam (from knit night) gives me a call from Knitting Chocolate. Melissa wanted to know if I had gotten her e-mails about the sock class, which I haven't. And then Pam says, "Oh. Well she needs to know when You want to do them because she has nine people signed up already." NINE people, already! And now my head is really spinning. I mean, sure I knit socks, and it can't be too hard to teach. But me? ME? I am going to go see Melissa Thursday to work out all the details, because, yes, I do intend to do this. But people, I am scared shitless! What if I suck at teaching? What if I confuse them? Give to much info? Not enough info? What if they hate the class? Will I meet their expectations? I'm haunted by visions of knitters throwing double points at me screaming for their money back. I have never been to a knitting class, so I don't know how to go about this. I know it can't be too hard, but...Oh, my head.

And this is where you come in...I really need some help here. I don't know where to start. Is there anything I should know as a "new teacher"? Anything I should/shouldn't do? Melissa said she was going to get some Cherry Tree Hill Supermerino Worsted, so we can start out on size 4 or 5 DPN's. Works for me, I think I have a good free pattern I can use. That's all I have for now.I don't even know what to ask you guys, so I'll leave it at this.... What would you want out of a beginner sock knitting class?

Oh, and one more thing. Look what I did this week...

Jaywalkers #2, with Socks That Rock Alina. I am so loving this yarn!