Anja Knits

Where to start...

2010-09-20T17:57:00.003-04:00

Ugh! I can't believe I haven't posted a real update since March! It doesn't seem like it's been that long. I've been busy and SOOOOO MUCH has been going on.

What's happened since my last update? Well, on June 11th, my dissolution was finalized (*insert happy dance here*). Not even a full month after the dissolution was finalized, my ex-husband married the woman he cheated on me with. I admit it did sting at first, but now I just don't have any emotion or feeling towards him. I just can't muster it up to care. Apathy at it's finest.

I was going to move into an apartment located pretty close to where I was living, but that fell through. So, for now, at least, the kids and I are living with my parents. I love being this close to family, so I'm looking for a place closer to them (we were living 45 minutes away). It's a small town, but it's nice here. The kids love their new school. Speaking of which, Hannah (my youngest) started kindergarten this year! My baby is getting so big!

I've been loving my job. I'm working in a yarn shop, and it's wonderful! I do the mundane retail stuff, plus help customers with their knitting (which, no matter how frustrating, is always interesting), and I'm even teaching a class! Right now I'm teaching a class on how to cable without a cable needle. It's been a lot of fun.

Being a Mom and working at the shop has been keeping me pretty busy lately, and as a result of that I didn't knit much for a few months. However, in the past few weeks, I've been getting my knitting mojo back. Maybe the cooler weather has something to do with it, certainly my job has. Currently on the needles I have Reid, a sweater from knitty.com for my cousins 2 yr old daughter. I'm using Hempathy for that and it's working up beautifully. I also just finished a Scarlet & Gray baby blanket & hat set for my best friend's little sister's first baby. They're Ohio State Buckeyes fans, so I figured I'd help get the baby ready for his first OSU game...lol

Sorry there's no pictures in this post. I know you guys like looking at projects, but for now you're out of luck. My camera died and my phone doesn't take very good pics. It'll probably be a while before I get a new camera, but, please! give me suggestions/recommendations! I don't know much about cameras, so educate me!

And, before I forget! On the weight loss front, I am extremely proud to say I've lost a grand total (so far) of 50 (yes, fifty!) pounds! I reached the 50 pound mark back in July, and I've been avoiding weighing myself lately. I've been slacking off on the hooping and I just know I haven't lost any more. But that's okay. I'm trying to get back into a routine with the hooping and those pounds will start melting off again! I started out weighing 232 and I'm down to 180.

2010-08-09T00:05:00.002-04:00

I know, I know, I haven't updated in forever. I'm sorry about that. There's been A LOT going on lately. I'll write up a real post soon letting all of you in on what's been happening. I'm touched by the emails asking me where I've been & why haven't I updated. Everything is okay, I'm just busy doing what needs done. I promise I'll give you guys a real update as soon as I can :)

Knitting content? really?....wow

2010-03-23T10:28:00.002-04:00

I know I'm sick of the personal drama, so I'm guessing you are too. But for those interested, everything is pretty fucking good right now. I have a job, I have the best friends anyone could ever ask for, and I have wonderful family. I feel better than I have in years, both physically and emotionally. Weight wise, I started out in January at 232 lbs. I'm now down to 210, and still losing. Emotionally, I feel free. I'm moving on, and I feel more positive than ever.

Now, since this *is* a knitting blog, how about we move on to the actual knitting content?

I dug through my UFO pile (decided that I have to finish a UFO or two before I can CO something with my DIC smooshy) and started working on the Ellington socks again. I'm not knitting on it as much as I should, so it's going slowly, But I'm almost to the half way point on the leg of the second sock.

I know what they say about good intentions, but I still have every intention to finish Vivian. I have the body section done, and one sleeve completely done, the second sleeve is mostly done, and then all that's left is the yoke, hood & sewing on the zipper. I haven't actually worked on it since December, but I hope to get back to it soon.

I'm also still (slowly) working on my entrelac blanket. It's about 14 inches in length right now, but like I said before, it's a long term project, and I work on it when I can.

I've reached a point with the UFO pile that it's either finish something or frog something, because I'm running out of needles for other projects...lol

You spin me right round, baby....

2010-02-25T22:49:00.002-05:00

...right round, like a record baby, Right round round round...

oh, you're welcome for the earworm :)

Back in mid-January, I started hooping. I bought a 40 inch hula hoop from Nicehoops on Etsy.com, and was very quickly addicted. It's the most fun I have ever had working out. Mid-January is also when I started trying to lose weight, so not only did I start hooping, but I've cut out soda, and dramatically cut down the fast food (from 3 times a week to zero or one time a week). In that time, I've dropped 15 pounds. It's a wonderful feeling. Clothing that used to be snug and tight are now loose and baggy. Plus, I just simply feel better :)

It's getting to the point where I'm hooping more than I'm knitting. I love turning on some loud, fast-paced music and just playing with my hoop. It's good for centering me when I've had a bad day, and relaxing me when I've had a hectic day. And you know what? It's just plain fun.

btw- I'm still (slowly) working on the entrelac blanket. Right now it's living on my couch and I knit a few stitches here and there, but I knew it was a long-term project before I started it. I have learned something new on it though. I learned how to knit backwards, so I don't have to flip the whole project every ten stitches anymore...yay me :)

meh...

2010-02-20T12:46:00.002-05:00

Crap keeps happening, but I'm ignoring it. Nothing I can do to change it , and some of it I don't want to change. So, I choose to move past it. Easier said than done, but I'm doing it. AND, I'm getting my life put together.

I've been putting out resumes and job applications for the past month, and I finally got a bite. One of the resumes I sent out, I sent to my favorite LYS. I have a job interview with the LYS owner on Monday, March 1st. I'm hopeful, and this feels right, so wish me luck :)

Also, my 28th birthday is coming up soon! March 3rd! I love birthdays!

I am okay...

2010-02-05T12:05:00.002-05:00

and I've even been knitting a little bit :)

DH may have left me, but now, I'm feeling good about it. I feel empowered by this. I'm single now (yes, technically still married, but we're not together and never will be together again) and I no longer have a partner to answer to. I don't have to consider him for everything anymore. Yes, we'll be connected for eternity because we have three children together, but I am my own person now, not just a wife and mother. This is a good thing. I've been bettering myself for me, and I feel great. I'm loosing weight, and feeling more confident. I've been getting glimpses of the vibrant, confidant woman I used to be before the depression changed me. I'm looking for a job now, so cross your fingers for me and wish me luck. It's no longer a question of IF I can do this, because now I know that I WILL succeed. For my kids, I can do anything.

And, as for knitting, a few days after Christmas, I decided to start knitting up all of those seemingly millions of worsted weight yarn scraps leftover from other various projects that I had laying around. I'm using them to knit an Entrelac blanket. I'm using each color one at a time until it runs out, then I start another color. I threw all of the scraps into a big shopping bag and I'm grabbing new balls at random. I cast on 210 stitches and made my base triangles/squares 10 stitches wide. This blanket is one of the ugliest things I've ever seen, but I love it. HERE is a pic I took of it on January 28th, It's a little bit bigger and more of an eyesore now....lol

FML

2010-01-23T21:47:00.004-05:00

seriously. the shit storm didn't end. fuck my life. my husband decided our marriage is over. I can't bring myself to be mad at him. I keep thinking that if I were mad it would be easier to let him go. But, we have 3 kids, so for them, I'm glad I'm not mad at him. Since I've been practically a Stay at home mom for the last 10 years, he's agreed to stick around and support me fully until I can get a job, some savings built, and get on my feet. I'm extremely grateful for that, But, I'm scared. no, scratch that, I'm terrified. I'm terrified of being single. I've been with my husband since I was 16 years old. I don't know how to be single. I don't want to be single. I'm terrified of being a single mom. I'm freaking out over having to enter the work force completely unqualified, and worrying about making enough money to support my kids. I know I'll get spousal support and child support from DH, but I don't want to have to live on that alone. How will I find a job I can do in the hours while my kids are in school that will earn me enough money to give my children a good life? Worrying about all this has been keeping me up at night. Worrying about this has made me loose my appetite. I've been forcing myself to eat, but I've still dropped 10 lbs (the weight loss was triggered by my oral surgery, but furthered by heartbreak depression). Who knew that with the stereotype of heartbreak = ice cream, pizza, and cookies, that the reverse would be true for me. Oh well, I'm happy to see the weight go. I've got too much to begin with, and family has always told me, that when your heart is broken, the best revenge is looking good.

DH is right about one thing though. I have a lot of love to give and I deserve someone who will love me back.

is this the end of the shitstorm? please?

2009-11-16T14:02:00.003-05:00

Knitting....hmm...I think I remember what that is. I seem to remember enjoying it once upon a time. Oh, that's right, I still love to knit, but a nasty little thing called life has been getting in my way. UGH. I think/hope that things will get back to a more normal pace soon.

In my last real update, I mentioned that I had an Uncle who was dying of cancer. On 11/06 at 11:06pm, he passed. It's okay, the family seems to be doing fine. I am worried about my Aunt Debbie, though. I just think that for someone who just lost her husband of 39 years, she's remarkably calm. We have a big, strong (completely messed up and crazy) family, and she knows we're all here for her when/if she needs us. The funeral was nice, I just have issue with the fact that when my Aunt and Cousin got up to talk about Uncle Paul, instead of talking about what kind of man he was, they went on a tirade of 'if you don't believe in the god we believe in, how we believe in him, then you will BURN IN HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY'...ugh. I know the service was in a church, so some of this was to be expected, but when I heard that I rolled my eyes and then noticed the pastor saw me doing so. I have more respect for people than to make waves at a funeral so I just avoided the pastor. Being the only Atheist in a family of Baptists is fun...oh yeah.

btw- do any of you guys watch True Blood? I was greatly entertained by the fact that the Pastor of the church my Aunt goes to looks a lot and sounds a lot like Steve Newlin...LMFAO

In that last post I also mentioned my Mother was in the Hospital. She was only in for a few days, and the Dr's never did figure out exactly what was causing her problems. They were all very thorough and all the scans/cultures/tests came back normal. They ended up giving her some meds to help her symptoms and released her. She was fine for a few days, but I found out yesterday that her symptoms are back. She's got an appointment for a specialist soon. I only hope they can get to the root of this because I want my Mom healthy again.

And, in ever more exciting news, I get to have some oral surgery done. woohoo. I've been having some pain and upon inspection, I have some teeth that are fully formed under my gums that refuse to come through (3 of my 12-yr molars and 2 wisdom teeth) and are causing me some issues so they need to go in and remove those teeth. I also have 2 cracked/damaged molars that need removed, so I'll be having a total of 7 extractions done. 6 surgically. They're going to put me under general anesthesia for this and give me a prescription for some good pain meds (lortab...YAY!) I called and scheduled the procedure earlier, and I'm going in for this on January 7th.

And all of the above is why I started a new journal and titled it 'My Choo-Choo Jumped the Track'...LOL

Anyone Else But You

2009-10-30T22:06:00.003-04:00

Yes, I know, I don't normally do meme's here, but I'm in a strange mood tonight, so I'm going to do this one. Don't like it? Tough shit. Like it? Comment. What the hell, comment either way.

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player,Ipod etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how silly it sounds.
4. Title this with the song from the last question.

If someone says 'are you okay' you say?
~The Static Age- Green Day

How would you describe yourself?
~White & Nerdy - Weird Al

What do you like in a guy/girl?
~If I were A Carpenter - Bobby Darin

How do you feel today?
~Dream Lover- Bobby Darin

What is your life's purpose?
~Lump- The Presidents of the United States of America

What's your motto?
~O, Death- Ralph Stanley

What do your friends think of you?
~Jenny Says- Cowboy Mouth

What do your parents think of you?
~Baby Love -The Supremes

What do you think about very often?
~You're No Good - Betty Everett

What is 2 + 2?
~Libiamo- La Traviata

What do you think of your best friend?
~Walkin' After Midnight - Patsy Cline

What is your life story?
~She Wolf - Shakira

What do you want to be when you grow up?
~Angel of the Morning - Merrilee Rush

What do you think when you see the person you like?
~Cell Block Tango - from the 'Chicago' soundtrack

What will you dance to at your wedding?
~Holding out for a Hero - Bonnie Tyler

What is your hobby/interest??
~The Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel

Whats your biggest fear?
~Bad Things - Jace Everett

What is your biggest secret?
~My Freeze Ray -Dr. Horrible's sing along blog

What do you want right now?
~21 Guns - Green Day

What do you think of your friends?
~Ain't no Sunshine - Bill Withers

What will you post this as?
~ Anyone Else but You - The Moldy Peaches

Hectic Days...

2009-10-30T11:47:00.002-04:00

Gah....I know, it's been a month since I've updated my blog. I am sorry for that, but life has been absolutely crazy recently and the blog was put on the back burner. Long story really short: I have an Uncle who is dying from cancer, another uncle recently diagnosed with skin cancer, and my Mother is currently in the hospital. She'll be fine but the Doctors can't figure out what's causing her problems.

Oh, and sorry, no pics in this post (only links to pics), I don't have any recent knitting pics saved on this computer. They're all on my netbook and the power cord died so now I can't use my netbook until I can get another power cord. I also don't know how to insert pics from my flickr into my posts.

Okay, so let's move on to more pleasant things. Knitting! Yes, I have gotten some knitting done this past month. In my last post I mentioned a sweater I was knitting for my Cousin's daughter, Grace. Well, I finished the sweater the morning of her birthday party :) I used a cotton/acrylic yarn, and cotton is really hard on my hands, but I still had fun knitting the sweater. I used this pattern from DROPS, and Knitpicks Comfy Sport yarn for this adorable sweater. Here's a link to see the finished sweater .

I also knit up a quick project for my sister, Dawn. She asked me to knit some simple fingerless mits for her, so I did. I had her buy the yarn and she chose Naturally Caron Country (or something like that, I don't have the label anymore) in a charcoal grey color. They were really basic, and only took a few hours to whip up the pair. Click here to see the Mits I knit for Dawn.

I still have several WIP's and UFO's laying around. I've done a few more rows on sock #2 in the Ellington pair, I pick up Vivian and do a few stitches every now and then, and I've also started working on a mesh grocery bag. I want to get enough of them made so I can use only them for bagging my groceries at the store. I haven't really been working on any of these a lot, just here and there whenever I get the whim to do so. I'm trying to get back into it though. Knitting is very meditative and relaxing for me, and I need that right now.

Like sock yarn, leftover birthday cupcakes don't count.

2009-09-30T11:43:00.002-04:00

Monday the 28th, my oldest turned ten years old. I still can't believe it. Part of me feels like it's about damn time, and yet another part of me is weeping because my first baby is now in double digits. Plus, I'm a bit sad because before long, that little booger is going to be taller than me. Now, I'm barely 5'2", so becoming taller than me is no major feat for most, but when your oldest kid is up to your chin, you can't help but to look over at him and wonder "when the fuck did you get so damn tall?!?" He'll begin to hit puberty soon, and I can't help but to watch in amazement and think I'm too young for this shit. At least, I get to eat the leftover birthday cupcakes. They're Devils Food....yum

Also, I thought I should share a picture of the finished Ellington Sock (pattern now available on CookieA.com)
I followed some of the instructions written in the pattern for altering the sock to make the leg 12 rows shorter, and I also started the sock using one needle size up from gauge to make the top ribbing looser, because I had some issues with the twisted ribbing being a bit too tight on my massive calves of DOOM. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this sock. I know I say that all the time, but hey, that's the norm for sock addicts. I'm completely obsessed with Cookie A's patterns. I want to lick her mind (and if you can guess the show that quote is from(though it's 'your' not 'her' in the quote), I'll love you forever and send you virtual smooches). I have the second sock for the Ellington pair started, but it's been moved to the back burner so I can concentrate my efforts on working on a very special sweater for a very special little girl.

That special little sweater, is this DROPS pattern, and I'm making it for my Cousin's little girl who is turning one in a few weeks. I'm making it with different colors, and I'm using Knitpicks Comfy sport yarn. I'll share some pics of it when I get further along.

Ellington, Vivian, and 9 to 5

2009-09-12T14:01:00.007-04:00

I'm test knitting again! This time, I'm testing the Ellington Pattern by Cookie A, and I'm going to play it safe and just show a progress picture of what I have so far, and not say anything about the pattern other than that I LOVE it :) I'll share more when the pattern is released, I know how you people love your details :p

I thought I'd also give you an update on some of my other WIP's I was working on before I started the test knit. Here's a pic of where I am on the Vivian sweater. I started this several months ago, but during the summer months I couldn't bring myself to work on it in that heat. Now seasons are changing and working on Vivian again just feels right. I have the body done and the left sleeve done. Next I have to knit the right sleeve, then connect all the pieces and knit the yoke and the hood, then sew in a zipper. I am still really enjoying the pattern and the yarn, and it's another one that makes me very happy that I know how to cable without a cable needle.

And, here we have yet another sock! I know, shocker, right? But anyway, the pattern for this one is 9 to 5. I'm shortening the leg of the sock significantly because I generally prefer shorter sock legs. The yarn for this one is Knitpicks Gloss Sock yarn in Cosmos.

In which, I bitch....

2009-09-03T16:37:00.004-04:00

In other words, this is a 'Fuck You' post....feel free to add your current 'fuck you's in the comments.

I know a lot of what I'm feeling right now could , at least in part, be blamed on PMS. I freely admit I'm in the midst of hormonal mood swings that turn me into a bitch unlike which has ever before been seen, but also can reduce me to a puddle of tears in less than a heartbeat. Mood swings like that are exhausting.

First off....FUCK YOU cancer!!!! I just got word yesterday that my Uncle Paul's cancer has returned. Doctors think it may have spread to his brain this time. I kind of fazed out when my Mom got into telling me the details, but things don't look good. Best case, He'll have another year with us, but if it is in his brain, it's more like 3 months. This just SUCKS. I'm not even close to that part of the family, but they're still family, I still love them, I'm still crying for them. I've already lost too many family members to cancer. Granted, it hasn't been many, but even one is way too many. It's really fucking hard to watch someone die of cancer. FUCK YOU CANCER!

Secondly.....FUCK YOU NEWS! This morning some woman died of the H1N1 virus. Yes, death is sad, but it happens and that's not what I'm pissed about. The News kept saying "A pregnant woman has died of the H1N1 virus"....then a few minutes later they said the woman delivered the baby several days ago. Hey, assholes, a pregnant woman DID NOT DIE. A woman who recently gave birth died. Saying "A pregnant woman has died of the H1N1 virus" implies that she was pregnant at the moment of death and that the baby died with her. I was on the verge of tears thinking about that baby's death. I don't deal well with infant death, and I certainly don't need any more emotional roller coasters right now, so FUCK YOU NEWS!

Third....FUCK YOU to my cold!!! More specifically, FUCK YOU to the parents who sent their sick kid to school last week. That kid gave it's cold to my kid, and my kid ever so generously shared that cold with everyone else in the house. Fucking lovely. Now I'm sitting here with absolutely zero energy, emotionally drained, snot dripping from my nose, and clogged up sinuses. Pretty picture, huh?

Can I crawl in bed now and ignore the world for a few days?

Hey, Guess What?

2009-08-18T12:44:00.002-04:00

I've been KNITTING!!! WOOHOO!!!!! It's about damn time I had the urge to knit. I missed it. I even started knitting a new pair of socks! I do have two FO's to share with you though.

Here is a little cabled cover for my netbook. I used Knitpicks Essential Kettle Dyed sock yarn in Bordeaux. Using the yarn held double and size 7 16” circs, I CO 90 stitches. (K2, P2, K4, P2) around. I did a cable twist every 7 rows in the K4 panel. When it was long enough to fit my netbook, I flipped it inside out and did a 3-needle BO to close one end.

And, here's a Chevron Scarf I knit. I used Schaefer Nichole sock yarn in the color 'grapes on the vine'. I'm in LOVE with the yarn, and will definitely be buying more soon.

I also have some pretty damn neat news to share with you. If you follow me on Twitter, Plurk or facebook, you already know this. But you remember a few months ago I posted about knitting a mystery project? well, actually there were 2, but here I'm talking about the first one. I was doing some sample knitting for Cookie A's next book. Knit.Sock.Love. is the book, and by the preview it looks AMAZING! It'll be available in February 2010. Oh, btw- the socks I knit for the book? yeah.....well..... The purple socks on the cover, I knit those!!!

My Kids are nuts...and funny....and wonderful

2009-07-29T23:52:00.003-04:00

So, I was bored and looking through some of the things I've plurked about my kids over the past year. I was ROTFLMAO so I decided to share some of those things with you. When these started, the kids were 8, 6, and 3. They're now 9, 8, and 4.

-Andrew just came to me and started a sentence with "when I'm an adult and if you're still alive...." jeez kid....thanks…

- While watching the Simpsons movie with the kids, and Alex asks "what's Otto blowing bubbles into?"...um... I told him it was just a funny shaped glass…I think age 6 is just too young for me to explain a bong…

-I think it's funny that every time the oven timer goes off, Hannah says "Mommy, the oven's calling your name".

-I just asked Andrew where he left something. He said "it's in my room, you know, where the walls are..." OMG kid, that does not help.

-Alex keeps singing "saying be careful means I love you", I replied "nope, it means I don't want to have to take your butt to the hospital". Hey, it got him to stop singing..lol

-I just asked Andrew what planet he was from, because he's acting goofy. His reply: "I haven't figured that out yet, I'll let you know"

-I need to work with Hannah (3 y/o) on her pronunciation of the word 'Bear'. It sounded like she said "I love my big beer. He's good beer. I love beer".

-Alex just told Andrew "Everything you do makes me MAD!" Then Hannah ran back to them and told them "stop fighting and clean your room NOW!!” Well…her being Little Miss Bossy made my life easier….at least in that incident.

-I just told Andrew "well, then quit putting Gorillas in your shirt"...It’s just one of those sentences that one never thinks they’ll need to say.

-Alex just asked me if the Wizard of Oz was a new movie when I was a kid, OMG kid!! I got a piece of paper out and showed him the math. Wizard of Oz was released in 1939, Mommy was born in 1982. *Sigh*

-Hannah is walking around the house repeating "fuzzy wuzzy had no hair" over and over again. I fear for her stuffed bears.

--Word of Caution: When engaging in roughhousing with children, make sure nobody is holding an etch-a-sketch... fucking oww…

--Hannah just climbed in to her father’s lap for a snuggle and said "I love you…Monkey Licker!”

- hehehe…I know I'm raising my kids right because Andrew just said "I wish I had a Tardis" Alex agreed. A few nights ago, the 8 y/o told DH "The Tardis could kick the Millennium Falcon's big old butt!" Geek kids are great.

- A conversation I had with Alex: "Mommy, you should run away." "I would love to, but I can't." "why not?" "Because you kids drove me so insane that I now want to stay"..lmao

- I think there is nothing funnier than watching a 3 y/o running down the hallway trying to run & pick a wedgie at the same time.

- Hannah thinks it's the funniest thing in the world to run up to me, fart, and run away laughing. It doesn't help that as she runs away, I laugh…

- WTF? the 8 y/o just smelled the wall. when he saw me giving him the WTF look, he just said 'What?' like I'm the crazy one. At least he didn’t lick it and say "the schnazberries taste like schnazberries"…though that would be funny..lol

- 3 y/o just brought me one of her purses. I found the contents funny: 1 knit cotton baby sock,1 foam block,1 empty altoid tin & 1 barbie head.

--the 3 y/o came up to me and said "do you want to know a secret?" I said "sure." She climbed up into my lap, got close to my ear and said... "this is the secret" and then she licked my cheek.

- DD just said "I'm a doggy...woof woof...I eat birdies...MEOW..."

- the 3 y/o just said to me "I get cranky when I'm sleepy....and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!! Mommy, can I have some candy?"

--I mentioned to the 9 y/o that I had a slight nose bleed earlier today, and what does he do? He says "HA HA" (in his best Nelson voice)

- the 9 y/o was playing outside and I saw him poking the ground with a big stick. I asked him what he was doing and he replied "hm...good question, Mom" and then he turned back and kept doing it

- if I only had 1/4 of the amount of energy that the 3 y/o has, my house would be spotless in 2 minutes. she's running in circles around the living room, laughing hysterically the whole time, every few minutes she stops and drops her pants, pulls them back up and starts running again.

- my kids were asking me how big my cousin's new baby is, So I pulled out my measuring tape and was showing them. The 3 y/o said " that's as big as my head". So, I wrapped it around her head and she was right!

- I told DD that the apple she's eating looks yummy, and she put in her shirt and scowled at me "It's for me...not YOU!"

- 7 y/o asked for another cookie, I said no. 7 y/o said "you just don't want me to be happy." Kid, nice try on the guilt trip, it didn't work.

- I should know by now to not trust the 3 y/o when she says she has a surprise for me. The last 'surprise' she gave me (just a few minutes ago) was to sit on my lap and fart.

- I was dancing while sweeping and the 3 y/o gives me a 'WTF?' look and said "don't be a dork, Mommy."

--OMG...DH bought a new leaf blower and was telling the boys how it works, and the 7 y/o says "I want to feel the air.BLOW ME, BLOW ME!"

- the 3 y/o just got mad at the 7 y/o and said to him "you're a HUGE piece of cat poop!!!"

- 9y/o was getting a cup of juice,& he finished what was in the bottle. He started yelling "MOOoooOOM! We're out of juice!" Then the 3y/o looked at him and says "chill, big butt, there's more in the cabinet"..

- a conversation just overheard between the 9 y/o & 7 y/o: 9y/o- "If you don't stop that you're going to drive mommy crazy." 7 y/o replied "maybe I *like* driving Mommy crazy"

- DD is pissed at oldest DS because he wont let her put a belt on him and lead him around like a puppy. She just looked at me and said "I'm getting tired of his stuff"...LMAO

- I said 'eat shit and die' to my computer, and the 3 y/o heard that and said "yeah....eat poop....ON A STICK!"

- DD is sitting next to me eating some raisins. I asked her "Good Raisins?" she shook her head no and kept eating. I then asked her "do you like eating raisins?" and she shook her head no. I just asked her "are you eating raisins?" and she said "no...I'm trapping them".

--I was just lightly whacking the 9y/o on the leg with a pillow. 3 y/o sees this and yells "MOMMY! NO! Stop! You might hurt my pillow!"

- out of nowhere, the 7 year old just stopped playing, said "I like farts" and then went back to playing.

- HAHA...DD was repeating every single word I was saying, so I looked at her and said "antidisestablishmentarianism". She tilted her head and she said "you're a booger" and she ran off to play.

- I was joking around with DS & I purposefully said "I didn't do nothing!" DD(4y/o) looked at me and said "anything. you didn't do anything"...

- my overly dramatic 4 year old told me she is going to STARVE to DEATH if she doesn't get a cookie NOW. I laughed & here I still sit. she's standing right beside me whining/fake crying "pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaase? I LOVE you! Mommy....I NEED a cookie..." I’m thinking ‘yeah, well, honey, Mommy needs booze....’

-I love the way my 4 yr old's mind works. she was just looking at a pic of the little mermaid and she asks me "where does Aerial's pee come out? Does she pee inside her tail?"

- my 9 y/o was goofing off, so I looked at him and said "you're weird". He replies "I know. I like it that way"

- I didn't hear the whole conversation, but my 4 yr old just told my 9 yr old "I'm going to go buy a dog and make him pee on you!!!"

- 4 yr old is making a big pile of shoes. I asked her what she's doing, she says "oh, I'm just being weird." and went back to her pile.

Crazy Neighbor story time!

2009-07-16T16:38:00.002-04:00

I know this is supposed to be a knitting blog, but I haven't been knitting much lately. I couldn't let this blog just sit here doing nothing, so I decided to share a childhood memory.

I was five when we moved into the house on Amana Ct. We soon learned that our next door neighbor, Jaralyn, was bat-shit crazy. She had a HUGE crush on my Dad. She would make up excuses to talk to him, She flirted with him shamelessly. The whole neighborhood thought it was hilarious. My Mom used to try to rescue my Dad whenever she noticed Jaralyn trying to corner my Dad while he was out doing yard work. Jaralyn would just give my Mom dirty looks and the cold shoulder before muttering obscenities under her breath and slinking back into her house to play with her dogs.

Oh, god! I felt horrible for her dogs. I'm not sure exactly how many she had, but it was at least 4. Jaralyn treated them like babies. Literally. She would constantly have one of them swaddled in her arms, talking to it. I remember seeing her try to feed a few of them from baby bottles. When she put the dogs outside (in her fenced in yard), she would put them in playpens. Not fenced in dog runs, but honest to goodness playpens meant for human infants. She also always had at least one of her dogs on her lap while driving.

All the neighborhood kids were scared of Jaralyn. She would scream at us from her front door whenever we would walk past her house on the sidewalk. She was also one of those people who left her Christmas lights up on her house and outside trees year-round. One Summer, my friends and I made a game of sneaking into her yard and unscrewing and stealing the colored bulbs from her strands of Christmas lights in her trees. I never did get caught.

Okay, so maybe Jaralyn wasn't completely bat-shit crazy, but she definitely wasn't all there. She certainly made our life on Amana Ct. a little bit more interesting, though. I don't know what happened to Jaralyn, but I do wonder about her every now and then. She was still there when we moved away, but she wasn't still on Amana Ct. a few years later when we moved back.

I think I've lost it....

2009-05-27T19:31:00.003-04:00

no, not my mind. *That's* been lost for a long while now....lol! This time, what I've lost is my knitting mojo. I have projects that in my mind I want to work on, but I just can't find the passion for it right now. I want to say I miss knitting, but at the moment, I don't. Maybe I just need some new inspiration. Usually, I'd find inspiration while yarn shopping, but I don't even really want to do that right now. My stash is being neglected. Maybe re-organizing it will help? I want to say it's the warmer weather causing this, but that's never been a problem before, yet there *is* a first time for everything, right? Oh well, it's not that big of a deal right now. I have no knitting deadlines and no birthday presents to knit.

If you happen see my knitting mojo wandering around out there somewhere, please send it's lazy ass home. I miss it.

Second Mystery, or, May 1st came Early

2009-04-28T22:53:00.004-04:00

So, I guess I'll come right out and say what the second Mystery Project was/is. I was test knitting again!

The pattern I was test knitting this time is Nebula (Rav link). We test knitters were originally given May 1st as it's release date, but we were just told that Nebula was a pattern for the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling! Cookie A mentioned that she'll be getting this pattern available online in May. While I don't have both socks completed as of now, I do have the Right sock finished and I'm a couple inches into the Left sock. This pattern is a lot of fun to knit, but it made me VERY, VERY happy that I know how to cable without a cable needle.

I have another mystery....

2009-04-17T22:37:00.002-04:00

...however, this one I'll be able to tell you about on May 1st. If you LOVE knitting socks, I promise, you are going to LOVE this :) What I can go ahead and tell you about? Well, I can tell you about the yarn I choose to use for it. A few months ago, I bought some Dragon Feet yarn from Cables & Lace in the Goth Girl Violet colorway, and OMG I fucking LOVE it. It is *the* perfect shade of purple for me, and the silk content adds that sheen I love and drool worthy softness. Yum yum yum yum yum :)

Mystery Finished!

2009-04-12T14:39:00.002-04:00

The Mystery sample knitting project is FINISHED!!!! I still can't tell more about that project, but I had a lot of fun knitting it. I'll be shipping it off to the designer tomorrow (Monday).

Now I get to work on Vivian again. :) Plus, I'm planning on knitting a small case for my laptop. Any ideas or favorite pattern suggestions? Anything goes :D

Mystery Knitting

2009-03-27T13:08:00.003-04:00

The mystery project has begun! I CO late Wednesday evening, and have knit until my fingers have begun feeling sore. I'm being careful and taking proper breaks so I continue making good progress on the project, but still giving my fingers the rest they need so they don't get painful. I am really enjoying the pattern. It's a fun knit that looks MUCH more complicated than it really is. The yarn....ooooohhhh....the yarn is very pretty, with beautiful stitch definition, and it feels like velvet sliding through my fingers.....yummmmmmm. I will definitely be buying some for myself soon.

As for Vivian, I worked hard on it before I started the mystery project. I have the body of the sweater set aside and made it to about the half way point of the first sleeve before I had to put it away to concentrate on the mystery project. I'm looking forward to getting back to Vivian after the mystery project is finished.

2009-03-14T11:31:00.002-04:00

Have you ever wanted to write something, but when it comes time to get it on paper (or the screen, in this case), you find that you can't translate it from thoughts into words? I've been experiencing that for a while now, it's quite frustrating. My brain has turned to mush...lol.

As far as knitting goes, I'm going to be starting a mystery project soon. So, while that's going on, there probably wont be many blog updates. As soon as I can get started on that, it will be my only project until it's finished, and I can't really blog about it. I'm going to be monogamous for a few weeks, what a novel notion for me...lol. When I can blog about it, you can bet your ass I will. I'm really excited about this project, and I can't wait until I can start on it.

Since my last blog update, I have finished the knitting for Egeblad. It still needs a good blocking (my favorite part of knitting lace), but it's still pretty. It's the size of a large doily, and I'm going to put it aside until my Mom's birthday and give it to her.

I have also been working on Vivian. I'm about 11 inches into it now and loving every stitch. I love the pattern and I am in love with the yarn I'm using. I'm using Cascade eco + and it's just YUMMY, and it has fantastic stitch definition, too. I am going to try to get as much of Vivian finished as I can before I start my mystery project.

I'm still alive!....lol

2009-03-05T12:39:00.005-05:00

Sorry it's been over a month since I've updated my blog. I've been both busy and slacking off.

Since my last update, I finished my Leyburn socks. I love the way they turned out, but they have re-reinforced to me the fact that short row heels just don't fit me right. I've known this little bit of information for a while now, but every now and then I'll make another pair of socks with short row heels hoping that this time it'll be different. Eternal optimist. yeah. that's me.

Details on the socks. The pattern is : Leyburn Socks by MintyFresh. Yarn: I used BMFA STR lightweight in the color Socktopus. I'm pretty sure that color has been discontinued.

I've also cast-on some new projects. I've started Vivian with some mauve Cascade Eco +, and I've been working on Egeblad with some white size 10 crochet thread. I'm only about 5 inches into Vivian, and I am LOVING the cables. The pattern is not only beautiful, but is also very well written. Egeblad is perfect for a quick and easy lace project. I have about 5 rows left to knit, and it's looking great. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Egeblad when it's finished, but I saw the pattern and just wanted to knit it. I might just put it in a box and wait and give it to my Mom for her birthday in October.

okay. Now back to the slacking off. :p

Staying warm

2009-02-02T11:41:00.003-05:00

So far, it's been a rather snow & ice covered winter here in Ohio. The freezing temperatures have made me want to make some useful cold weather knits. So, that means that I have 2 new FO's to show off :) (Those of you who follow me on Plurk have already seen these.)

First up, we have a Birds Nest Smoke Ring. I had a lot of fun knitting this. The pattern is well written , it held my attention well, and was still simple enough to knit while watching movies. I used Knitpicks Essential Sock yarn in the color Lantana.

And here we have my new mittens. I fell in love with the Evangeline fingerless glove pattern, but I wanted mittens, so I added some length to the hand and decreased/BO similar to as I would for the toe of a sock. These worked up extremely quickly, I made this pair in 5 days. I don't know what yarn this is, I found it in my stash bin and it was missing it's label. It's worsted weight, though.

DH has started knitting again. He goes in spurts and only knits every now and then. He can't find the convertible mits he made for himself a few years ago, so He's cast on for another pair :) He keeps asking me to work on them for him because I'm a faster knitter than he is, and I almost feel guilty saying no. But then I remember the differences in our tension (I'm a tight knitter and he's an even tighter knitter) and feel less guilty about it. I also have the feeling of he is capable and can do it his own damn self ...lol.

Zombies are REAL!!!

2009-01-29T10:01:00.005-05:00

Even to those of you who read this who are not knitters, this is entertaining shit. I am not very good at putting all this drama into the snarky words it deserves, so I will just link you to someone who does a *MUCH* better job than I could. Read: Snake Oil and Cybercide.

Anyway, since I'm not above naming names, and I think this shitfucker should be named, The Zombie is MommaMonkey/Monkey Toes. She's the designer who brought us several beautiful patterns such as the Belatrix, Fawkes, and Carolina Socks.

First Kisses

2009-01-23T00:19:00.003-05:00

Shockingly, there is no knitting content in this post.

Earlier, I came upon a thread in LSG (Ravelry link)about first kisses. I posted about mine and then started thinking that it might make for an interesting blog post.

When I was 5 there was a boy in my kindergarten class named Jake, and I had the biggest crush on him. So, one day I decided I was going to kiss him. The next day, I sat next to him on the bus to school. After a few minutes of sitting there beside him, I just leaned over and quickly gave him a kiss on the lips. He looked shocked and we sat there not talking or looking at each other for the rest of the ride to school.

My first ZOMG-butterflies in the stomach-boyfriend kiss was in 8th grade. His Name was Ryan (Ryan the first, as I had a series of Ryans a few years later on). He was in 7th (but we were the same age), he was dumb but pretty (and the only boy I’ve ever dated who was shorter than me (which is an achievement as I'm only 5'2"). All the rest were at least 6 inches taller). He had dark brown hair and amazing blue eyes. (I was then and still am a complete sucker for pretty blue eyes, every single one of my past boyfriends and my DH have blue eyes.) He and I had been ‘going out’ for about 3 weeks, and one day after school as we were saying goodbye in the hallway, we got all sappy and romantic. We were staring into each others eyes and we kissed (I leaned in first). He’s the only boyfriend I've had that I still remember what his lips tasted like. A few weeks later I decided that even though he was fun to kiss, he was too stupid for me so I dumped him for a moody goth boy in my grade named Graham. Graham and I never ‘dated’ but we fooled around a lot and he introduced me to pot.

The stories about Jake and Ryan were what I posted in LSG. After I posted it though, I started thinking about all the boys I've dated, and about my first kiss with each of them. Out of all the boys, there's only one first kiss I can't remember, and of those that I can remember, there's only one first kiss that I didn't initiate (and I married that guy). So, tell me about your first kisses. I like reading those stories :)

Nope

2009-01-03T10:25:00.006-05:00

I didn't finish that last pair of mittens before Christmas. In fact, they're still not done, and it's January 3rd. I think I *might* be burnt out on the mitten knitting for now. So, it looks like I will have to force myself to finish them.

However, Since Christmas I have been knitting. In the short time since Christmas, I've knit a Bubby Bear and a little cardigan for him. I'm not 100% sure of the yarn I used to knit Bubby with. It was a partial ball of yarn laying in my stash without any labels. I think, though, that it might be Knitpicks Swish Superwash worsted in Coast Grey. His Cardigan I knit with leftover sock yarn that I really don't remember what it is.

I also started a new pair of socks. The pattern is Leyburn Socks (Ravelry Link) by MintyFresh. The pattern is really simple and is working up pretty quickly. I CO this morning and already worked through the toe and 2 pattern repeats. The yarn I'm using is BMFA STR lightweight in Socktopus. I really love this yarn. It's soft, has a wonderful twist, the colors are beautiful and it's just yummy.

I doubt I'll make it.....

2008-12-19T11:05:00.003-05:00

I have serious doubts that I will get my Christmas knitting finished in time, but that's okay. I'll come close. As of now, all that I have left to finish, is a hat for one of my nieces (which is no problem, I can knit that in a few hours) and a pair of mittens for my best friend. These mittens are just over half way completed, but I'm having problems finding more than a few minutes at a time to sit down and work on them. These mittens are another pair from the book 'Selbuvotter', but I'm taking a glove pattern (Annemor#8) and making it a mitten pattern, and changing the cuff pattern.

Here's some pics of some of the Christmas knitting to do have finished:

This hat is for my niece, Talia. The pattern is Butterfly Hat (Rav link). Since Talia is only a year and a half old, I went down a needle size from the pattern. I'm a tight knitter who usually has to go up a needle size, so I went down 2 needle sizes from what I would need to get gauge.

~

This is Foliage from knitty.com. I knit this one for my niece, Justice. I knit the worsted weight version.

And, I finally sat down and finished my Mom's mittens! I've needed to knit just the thumb on mitten #2 for over a month now. This pattern is NHM#7 from the book 'Selbuvotter'.

~

I also have a Halley's Comet Hat finished for my niece, Laney, but I keep forgetting to take pics of it. I used Knitpicks Swish Superwash worsted in the color Bordeaux.

~
I'm going to give it a valiant effort, and with any luck I'll get those mittens finished before Christmas.

lots of FO's.....

2008-11-26T09:54:00.005-05:00

I may not have been blogging much lately, But I sure have been getting a lot of knitting (and some crocheting) finished.

First, we have some crocheted snowflakes. The pattern for all three is HERE. They were quick and easy, I did 4 snowflakes (3 above and 1 below) in one day. I used basic white size 10 crochet thread and a 1.80 mm crochet hook for all 4.

This Snowflake pattern is called Aunt Lore's Snowflake. I blocked mine out a little differently than the one on the website was.

These Elegant Crocheted Ornaments (free pattern but you have to register to download) were a little trickier than the snowflakes, but were still pretty fun and quick to work up. The pattern is for a set of 6, and I only have the 3 in the pic done. I'm not sure If I'll be doing more or not. We'll just have to see where to mood takes me. I used basic size 10 crochet thread, and on the gold and red balls I used a 3.5 mm hook and on the silver I used a 1.80 mm hook. I did that just to see the difference in the fit on the ball. I think you can see in the pic that the silver one in A LOT tighter, but I like the look of the other 2 better.

This bag is Via Diagonale from knitty.com. I wanted a new purse, so I knit this one up in under a week. It does have a sewn in fabric lining, but I didn't get a pic of that. This was a pretty easy knit, and I enjoyed knitting it. It was also my first time lining a knit purse. The yarns I used were Wool-Ease worsted in Black, and Valley Yarns Northampton in Amethyst. I also decided against sewing on the handles and I attached them with D-rings. I'm debating about going back and adding on the i-cord top border.

~

My Oldest sister asked for a hat for her Christmas gift, she wanted something thick and ribbed, so I double stranded some worsted (wool-ease in dark rose heather and black) and did a 2x2 rib. In the pic the hat is being modeled by my 3 year old.

~

Here we have Thuja Socks from knitty.com. I knit these for a friend of mine, and he has big feet. Well, when knitting socks, anyone whose feet are bigger than mine has big feet. I used (again) Wool Ease in Black.

And, finally, here we have the last project in this post. These mittens I knit for my other sister's Christmas gift. The pattern is NHM #1 from the book 'Selbuvotter' by Terri Shea. I used knitpicks Palette yarn in Blush and Ash. My row gauge was off, and I needed to add a few rows of length, so I added in the 3 dot things at the tips of the mittens. These still need a good blocking, but I'm calling them finished :)

A Pinwheel for Hannah

2008-11-06T09:49:00.004-05:00

I knit a Pinwheel Sweater for my 3 year old, Hannah. I love this pattern, it's quick and easy. Well, everything on it is quick except for the loopy edging. This is the second pinwheel sweater I've knit (you can see the first HERE), and I don't usually knit a pattern more than once, so that has to tell you something about how much I enjoy knitting this one.

For this sweater, I let DD into my stash and she picked out her favorite colors. Pink and Pink....LOL. It's actually Rose Heather and Dark Rose Heather colors of Lion Brand Wool-Ease. I chose to do the 2-color loopy edge shown on the adult version of this sweater instead of the single color loopy edge shown on the baby/child version. I think it turned out great :)

When I first finished this sweater and showed it to DD, she told me that she didn't like it and that she never wanted to wear it. But, she's 3 years old and I think we all know how fickle they can be. This Morning I showed it to her again and she told me she liked it, but she still didn't want to wear it. Just before I started writing this blog post, she brought it to me and asked me to help her put it on. So, it all worked out well.

Now, I'm going to concentrate on finishing the socks for my friend, and then I can focus more on doing some Christmas knitting.

insert clever title here

2008-10-29T10:53:00.002-04:00

I'm sorry it's been almost 3 weeks since my last update. Let's see, what's happened since my last update?

Well, on the 10th, my Cousin had her baby! It's a Girl! Baby Grace Ann was born on 10/10/08 at 12:53pm. Click here to see her online birth announcement. My cousin loved all of the little baby things I knit, and I can't wait to see baby Grace wearing them :)

I haven't done much in the way of knitting lately. I've been pretty unmotivated. I've worked a bit on sock #2 in the pair I'm knitting for my friend. That sock has suffered a little set back though. Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I found that sock WIP laying on my bed, needles missing and it had SEVERAL dropped stitches. Before this incident I was almost done with the gusset, now I need to frog it back to the heel flap and re-knit. I don't have a dog or cat to blame this on, so it had to be one of the kids. When the boys get home from school, they're all going to get a talking to about owning up to their actions. They should know by now that if they would have told me about it when it happened that it wouldn't be as big of a deal.

I've also been doing a row here and there on the mittens I'm knitting. for the pair I'm knitting for my mom, I'm about 3/4 of the way through mitten #2, and for the pair I'm knitting for my sister, I'm about 1/3 through mitten #2. If I were more motivated It wouldn't take long to finish both pairs, only a couple of evenings if the movie I put in isn't too interesting...lol.

It feels as though we only had about a week of Autumn weather. The past several days the temps have been dipping into the 20's at night and hovering in the 40's at mid-day. Oh well, this means that it's time to use the wonderful handknit socks I've made. The other day I wore a pair of commercially made socks and my feet were freezing all day. UGH! I'm sticking to my handknit ones from now on.

Once I get a bit more progress made on some of my projects, I'll update with some pictures. Until then, Stay warm!

Sick Knitting

2008-10-09T09:26:00.004-04:00

For the past week, I've been suffering from a cold. Which is both good and bad. Bad in that I feel like crap and have no energy, and good in that since I had no energy to do housework, a good amount of knitting has gotten done. So, here's what I've been working on:

First, here we have a baby hat. My Cousin, Shelly, is pregnant with her second child, and is due to pop and second now. I had cast on-itis so I figured something cute and quick was just what was needed. The yarn is Vanna's Choice from Lion Brand in the color Dusty Green. The pattern is Cabled Baby Hats by Julie Hentz. The only thing I changed, was instead of having all of the cables twist the same direction, I alternated right twist and left twist cables.

On Saturday, October 4th (the day before I got sick) I went along with my Mom (btw-it was her 50th birthday! Happy birthday MOM!), my Aunt, and one of my sisters, went to Prairie Peddler Arts & Crafts Festival. I had a lot of fun, and ended up buying some fresh honey, some homemade soap, and the wool fiber pictured above. I've started spinning some already, but I'm still a beginner spinner and it shows. That doesn't stop me from having fun with it, though:)

Here we have Mom's Mittens that I'm knitting for her Christmas Gift. I think I've only done 3 or 4 rows since I lat posted about these, but progress is progress no matter how small. I love knitting these, but I can't be trying to watch anything interesting while working on them. The yarn is Knitpicks Essential in Grass and Black, and the pattern is NHM#7 from the book Selbuvotter.

More mittens! This is mitten #1 in the pair I'm knitting for my sister, Dawn. Another from the book Selbuvotter, this is pattern NHM#1. I am using Knitpicks Palette yarn in Blush and Ash.

And, Lastly, here we have sock#1 in the pair I'm knitting for Bleahy. Sock #2 has been started, but I'm still on the cuff.

Achieving Serenity

2008-09-30T19:41:00.004-04:00

There were a few times while knitting this baby blanket that I completely lost all passion for knitting it, but I still loved the pattern so I kept on (in the long run, I did enjoy knitting this). I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment for finally finishing the Serenity Baby Blanket. I started this blanket back in July, and just finished it today, September 30th.
I LOVE the finished product, but I doubt that I'll knit this pattern again. I think I'm done knitting baby blankets for a LOOOOOONG time. Now that this is finished, maybe I wont feel guilty for working on Christmas gifts instead of baby gifts.

The intended recipient for Serenity is due to arrive in mid-October (and we don't know the gender), but the last time I saw the expecting mom she looked more than ready to pop (and completely adorable, picture a model skinny person with a beach ball shoved in her shirt). Adorable.

btw- I fully intend to post pics of the baby wrapped in Serenity after he or she is born :)

Troll Socks are finished!

2008-09-19T10:33:00.002-04:00

I've been working on these socks sporadically since May, and I finally finished them last night.
The pattern is Diagonal Cross Rib Socks from the book 'Favorite Socks'. The pattern was easy enough for me to keep my mind on TV or conversations, but still there was enough to concentrate on so I didn't loose interest in knitting. The yarn is Regia Strato (now discontinued) in color 5740 - Troll.
These socks don't really photograph well, it's really hard to get a good picture that shows both the pattern and the yarn colors, but I think these do a decent job of capturing both. All I ask is that you ignore my pajama pants in the pics...LOL

Knitting by Candlelight

2008-09-16T09:00:00.004-04:00

Remnants from Hurricane Ike came through Ohio on Sunday. We lost power Sunday afternoon, along with approx. 1.9 million other Ohioans. We were lucky though, we were without power for only 20 hours (just long enough for everything in our fridge and freezer to go bad), while the electric companies are saying some people could be without for a week. My Parents and both of my sisters are still without power, and one of my sisters and her family live just down the street from us. Local airports are reporting that the winds got up to 75 MPH in some areas. There are fallen trees and branches everywhere. 6 deaths have been reported so far. My kids are on their second day of no school due to power outages. My next door neighbors tree in their front yard split and 1/2 the tree fell, blocking our driveway and the street. It missed landing on DH's car by only a few feet. Click here to see some pics of the downed tree. Dh and I got the larger branches removed from our lawn yesterday, and today I'm going out there with the kids and we'll get the sticks, twigs and leaves taken care of.

However, in all that, I managed to get some knitting done. While the power was out, after the kids went to bed, I didn't have the distraction of TV or Internet, so Knitting by candlelight it was.
I had a lot of candles, so it wasn't too stressing on my eyes, and I made a decent amount of progress on Mom's Mittens. I know, I'm crazy for doing colorwork by candlelight, but it's the only WIP I have going that the pattern was not on my laptop, and no power= no laptop (the battery for my laptop is kaput), and I didn't want to start another WIP.

Time to get back to the cleanup. Fun....

ETA: almost 48 hours after power went out, my Mom just called me to say her power is back on!!!!!

yet another boring WIP update post...

2008-08-15T13:40:00.004-04:00

I started working on some of those mittens I mentioned before. Please ignore the fact that these pics need to be fixed, I had to do a system restore and I haven't reinstalled any photo editors yet.
I am about half way done with mitten #1 in the pair for my Mom. The pattern is NHM#7 from the book 'Selbuvotter'. The yarn I'm using for this pair is Knitpicks Essential sock yarn in the colors Grass and Black.

Justice's Birthday Sweater is FINISHED!

2008-08-08T13:33:00.003-04:00

Another FO! YAY! This sweater I knit for my Niece, Justice's 11th birthday. The pattern is February Lady Sweater. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease, and this sweater only took 2 1/2 balls! I knit the xxs size, and I'm still amazed it didn't take more yarn. I know, lace can be tricky like that though :)

I might be a little bit insane.....

2008-08-04T11:17:00.002-04:00

I've decided that I will, after all, knit a few gifts for Christmas this year (despite my previous attitude of 'this year, Christmas can go fuck itself'). That's not the insane part, though. I've decided that a few really special people (6 including me) will receive some really special knit mittens or gloves. All the patterns I'm going to use are from the book 'Selbuvotter, Biography of a Knitting Tradition' by Terri Shea. I want to tell you who all of the mittens & gloves are going to be for, but some of the intended recipients might read this blog post.

So, 6 pairs of Selbu mittens/gloves by Christmas, plus all of the baby gift knitting and birthday gift knitting I need to do between now and then, 4 months..... That is the insane part. It's okay though. I throughly enjoy my insanity :)

Laney's Sweater, FINISHED!!!

2008-07-31T12:44:00.004-04:00

I love that feeling of accomplishment a knitter gets every time she/he finishes a project. This sweater I knit for my niece, Laney, for her 4th birthday. It's the Eyelet Yoke Cardigan sweater from Lion Brand, and for it I used Lion Brand's Wool-ease yarn in the color seaspray. I knit the largest size for the pattern (4) and it took all but a few yards of 2 balls of the wool-ease. I didn't really enjoy knitting this one. Each and every time I picked up this project I just kept thinking of better construction methods that would provide the same result. Knitting the pattern as written, there's just WAY too many seams to sew.

The other birthday present I'm knitting is nearing completion too, it's the February Lady Sweater I'm knitting for my niece, Justice. I finished the body and am about 1/4 done with the first sleeve. I still have a week and a half to finish it, so I'm sure it'll be ready in time.

Thursday = kicks yesterdays ass

2008-07-24T11:38:00.003-04:00

I have had nice, calm and rather productive day today! Well, so far I have, it's not quite noon yet, so I guess my day *could* still turn to shit, but let's hope that doesn't happen.

I wanted to pop on here and show off my progress on 2 of my WIP's. First up we have my Nanner socks. Say it with me "ooooooOOOOoooo PRETTY!!" The pattern was a limited time only thing from WendyKnits, and is no longer available. The yarn is BMFA STR lightweight in Socktopus. This is my reward project. I get to work on it ONLY after working on either the February Lady Sweater or the Eyelet Yoke Cardigan for at least an hour. This method has turned out to be really effective for me. While I haven't touched the Eyelet Yoke Cardigan for a while now, I have made a lot of Progress on the February Lady Sweater.
I've only got a few more inches (2-3) for the bottom of the body of the sweater, and then I need to do the sleeves. I've been primarily focusing on this sweater because it's a lot bigger and will take more work than the eyelet cardigan, so it'll take longer to finish.

Wednesday=FAIL

2008-07-23T20:19:00.001-04:00

enough said.

add another to the pile....

2008-07-21T09:38:00.002-04:00

Considering my last blog post, I shouldn't have done it. But I did. And I like it. It feels good. I've been working so hard on the 2 sweaters that still need to be finished for gifts next month, that I became bored of them. I didn't want to knit. I was sick of those sweaters. I NEEDED something else, something new. I'm sure you can guess what I did. I CO a new project. Socks. Not just any socks, but Nanner Socks (Ravelry link). My fingers needed some luscious sock yarn sliding through them. They were tired of the yarns I'm using for the sweaters, they were protesting, demanding better treatment. So, my Nanners are being knit with some STR lightweight (my absolute favorite sock yarn) in the Socktopus colorway (ooohhh.....pretty). I only have the toe of sock #1 done (toe up socks), so no pics yet. I'll post some when I get more knit.

I have WAY too many WIP's...

2008-07-09T09:45:00.003-04:00

and I don't yet have pics of all of them.

I technically have 11 projects in varying states laying around the house, but honestly I think 3 of them have become UFO's and I don't know if I'm ready to admit it....lol Those 3 would be my half finished pair of Twisted Flower socks, my half finished pair of Earl Grey socks, and a dishcloth that I started one day at my desk because I was bored and haven't picked it up again. Some other projects have just been pushed aside for a little while because I have to concentrate on some projects with a deadline. Those temporarily on hold are Annemor #2, my Troll socks, my granny square blanket, and my Icarus shawl (which has been completely frogged and re-CO, no pic yet). For those not counting, we've mentioned 7 projects out of 11 thus far.

Now for those projects I'm actively working on.

First we have a baby blanket!!! My Cousin, Shelly, is due with her second child in October, and is waiting for delivery to know the sex of the baby. I'm using the Serenity Baby blanket pattern with Caron Simply Soft yarn in Grey Heather. A beautiful pattern in a gender neutral color, and still isn't a typical baby color.

And second we have an Eyelet Yoke cardigan that will be given to my Niece, Laney, for her 4th birthday next month. The pieces in the back are the body up to the armholes waiting on scrap yarn, and sleeve #1 is on the needle cable. after I knit sleeve #2 all pieces will be placed on one needle and worked together for the yoke. I'm using Lion Brand's Wool-Ease yarn in the color Seaspray.

Third, we have a big messy pile of crochet that will eventually be a blanket for my bed. See those long chain columns? those will be laced up when the blanket is finished, creating kind of a lacy cable look. I'm using Caron One Pound acrylic yarn....I despise knitting with the stuff, but when it comes to crochet afghans, it works beautifully.

WIP #4 has no picture because my camera decided to be a big monkey licker and crap out on me. The project is a February Lady Sweater that will be a birthday present for my Niece, Justice, next month. I can't believe that booger is turning 11. I am, again, using Lion Brand's Wool-Ease yarn, only this time I'm using color Dark Rose Heather.

There, now that I've posted about all of those projects here, maybe I'll be more accountable for them and they might actually get done.

I Love Yarn Mail!!!

2008-07-03T16:33:00.002-04:00

My most recent KP order arrived today! I was sucked in by the book sale and the new fall colors :) The book I got is 'Spin to Knit' by Shannon Okey, and for yarns, I got Gloss lace weight in Pinot, and the balls top to bottom are Essential Kettle Dyed in Boureaux, Essential Kettle Dyed in Soot, and Essential in Lantana. I need to get some gifts off of my needles, and then I can start working with some of this yarn :) I'm going to go back to smooshing my new yarns now.

Ornette-FINISHED!!!

2008-06-27T08:30:00.003-04:00

I really enjoyed the process of test knitting these socks. And now you guys can knit them as well! The Ornette pattern is available to purchase now on Cookie A's website. I just kitchenered the toe of sock#2 last night, and got pics first thing this morning of the FO. I am already thinking about knitting another pair. Since these socks are mirror images there was absolutely NO second sock syndrome, and the cables are complex enough to keep me interested without being too complicated at the same time. The yarn I used was BMFA's STR lightweight in Rose Quartz, and if you are planning on making Ornette, you'll either need to use a yarn with more yardage than the STR, or buy 2 skeins. Since I only had 1 skein, the legs of my socks are pretty short.

Pinwheel

2008-06-18T09:48:00.003-04:00

I finished Talia's Baby Pinwheel Sweater!!! It took less than a week to knit, and it was just the project I needed to get my sock mojo back! Now, it gets to go sit in a box until August...lol :) I needed to use a machine washable yarn for this, so I choose Lion Brand's Wool-Ease yarn in the color Rose Heather. I really enjoyed this quick knit, I think I will definitely have to knit another one in the future.

Now that I have this off the needles, I'm going to focus on finishing my Ornette socks and then I'll allow myself to CO the other birthday sweater (Justice's sweater is already started (Starsky Jr.) and sitting in my knitting bag, I need to start on Laney's) and the baby blanket for my cousin.

sinus meds are fun.....

2008-06-17T13:06:00.003-04:00

Forgive me if this is short and makes no fucking sense at all, I'm on the good antihistamines that make me a little stoned, but at least I can breathe! :) Also, there's no pics today, I need to recharge the batteries for my camera.

I got a little tired of only working with fingering weight yarn, so I decided on Thursday (the 12th) that I needed a worsted weight project. So, I CO for a sweater for my niece Talia's birthday present. I know, her birthday isn't until the end of August, but it still needed to be done, and I was smart enough to choose a pattern that she will be able to wear for years. I'm knitting a Pinwheel Sweater for her, only making it a solid color instead of striped. I'm using Lion Brand's Wool-ease yarn in Rose heather. It's turning out to be a really quick knit, I'm only a few inches away from finishing the second sleeve, and then all that's left is weaving in the ends.

Ornette is close to being completely finished. I am working the foot of sock #2 (almost to the toe), but it's going pretty slowly right now because of the much needed break from fingering weight yarn. Troll is coming along at a similar pace, only I'm working the heel of sock #2 of that pair.

Once I get some of this stuff off the needles, I need to CO for more birthday presents (My Niece's Justice and Laney have birthdays coming soon, too) and a baby blanket for my cousin (due in October). Unless I have a drastic change of heart, I'm not knitting for anyone's Christmas gifts this year, so that's freed up a lot of ME knitting time :) it's been rather refreshing.

Ornette, Half Finished

2008-06-02T16:44:00.003-04:00

I finished the right sock of Ornette!!! It has been a really fun pattern to knit, and with this pair, there is no chance of Second Sock Syndrome, as the Left sock is a mirror image and the stitches are different! I plan on casting on for the Left sock tonight.

TROLL!!!!!! In the dungeon!

2008-05-28T09:36:00.003-04:00

I am working on another pair of socks. I haven't really had the urge to work on anything else but socks lately. The latest pair to be cast on is the Diagonal Cross-Rib socks pattern from IK's Favorite socks book. The yarn I'm using is discontinued Regia Strato in color # 5740, otherwise known as Troll. I took a lot of pics of my sock in progress, but in the end it came down to either choosing either a pic that showed the color off well or one that showed the stitch pattern well......I choose one that showed off the yarn colors.

Last week I finally finished a pair of socks that were intended to be a Mothers Day Present for my Mom. I cast on for those on May 3rd, and worked my ass off on them, but I only made it to just past the gusset on sock #2 by Mothers Day. So I took my time working on them and finished them on May 20th. I totally forgot to get a pic of them finished, too. It was the Anniversary Socks pattern , again from IK's Favorite socks book, and I used KP gloss sock yarn in Parsley.

How's test knitting Ornette going? Well, I'm working the right sock, and it's going really well. I've worked the foot and now I'm just waiting for the last part of the pattern to be given to us test knitters so I can knit the toe and get started on the left sock. When that happens I'll post another pic of the finished Right sock. I really have loved this process of test knitting, and I can't say enough how wonderful this pattern is. I already have plans to knit another pair using something from my stash with more yardage so I can make the leg portion longer than I can with the STR. Did you ever think you'd ever see me post about wanting to make a sock cuff/leg longer ? LOL :)

BTW- I just counted, and Ornette and Troll are my 6th and 7th pairs of socks in 2008. Not too bad...

A New Picture

2008-05-14T14:26:00.003-04:00

There was a break in the rain but it was still cloudy so the pic doesn't have the best lighting. I also need you to ignore my pasty pale skin :)

Enjoy ogling the pretty cables!

I Love this Sock

2008-05-06T12:15:00.002-04:00

Test knitting for Cookie A's new sock, Ornette, has started, and I'm one of the lucky test knitters!
I'm starting with the Right sock (Right and Left socks are mirror images) and we've been asked to pause at 3 inches, which is where I am. Problem is that I love working on it so I want to keep working on it. But I'm being a good little girl......lol. So, to keep myself in line, I cast on a pair of socks to give to my mom for mothers day. I hope I can get them finished by Sunday. I'll post about them soon. Back to Ornette, I'm using STR lightweight in Rose Quartz, and I'm using 2.5mm dpn's.

The pattern for Ornette will be released in June 2008.

Holy Bleeding Monkeys, Batman!!!

2008-04-28T12:01:00.003-04:00

A pair of socks in 10 days......damn that was fast! I knit up a pair of no-purl Monkey socks using STR lightweight in Tlingit. I love the pattern and I love the yarn so I couldn't keep my hands off of them. I finished the socks yesterday, and this morning I got them photographed. After I was happy with the pictures I got, it was time to put the Monkey's in a bath. I knew some dye would rinse out in the water, as it had been bleeding on my hands while knitting (I love this yarn so much that I SOOOOO did NOT care).
I was surprised, though, by the color that the water turned. I was expecting a muddy grey because of the amount of black in the yarn, What I got was a really pretty shade of pink. The pic was taken when the socks had been soaking for about 10 minutes, but the water didn't get any darker/more dye than this.
The socks are still drying, but they still look as good as they did before the bath.

Do you know how hard it is to take a decent picture of the back of your own head?

2008-04-15T17:11:00.002-04:00

I knit a snood. I've always liked the way they looked in movies, and I've wanted one since I started going to Ren Fes t 10 or so years ago. So, when I saw this pattern, I had to knit one.
The pattern is Snood Deux by Twisted Stitches. I'll need to use a few bobby pins to keep it in place when I wear it, but I still LOVE it :) I had it on earlier today, and I tried several times to get an okay pic of it (hence today's post title), but I failed my in quest, miserably so. Oh well, when I get someone willing, I'll have them take a picture of it on for me. The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn, but I didn't have any in my stash that was a color I wanted to use for a snood, so I combined 2 strands of lace weight for the substitute. I used leftovers of Jaggerspun Zephyr in Charcoal, and Knitpicks Shadow in Vineyard Heather.

I finally got off my ass.....

2008-04-08T11:02:00.003-04:00

and I finished my Phineas socks! Well, depending on how you look at it you might as well say I got on my ass to finish them because I knit sitting down....LOL
This morning I sat down and finally knit the toe of sock #2 for Phineas. These socks were really easy, good, mindless knitting. They would have been a really quick knit if I hadn't gotten sidetracked with other wip's and a little thing called life...lol! The pattern is written to knit these socks toe up and magic loop. When I started these I wasn't in the mood for that particular sock construction method, so I knit these cuff down on DPN's instead.

The yarn I used is Knitpicks Essential sock yarn in the color African Violet. Ever since KP re-did the Essential line (a long, long, time ago), I've been loving this sock yarn. The old Essential was really rough and splitty, but the current essential is a million times softer, and isn't nearly as splitty (I haven't had any splitting problems, but have read that a few others in blogland have).

Right now, I'm trying to get as many of my WIP's off the needles as possible, because I don't want them distracting me in a few weeks. I'm going to be participating in something I'm really excited about. Cookie A is coming out with a new pattern, and told readers of her blog that she was looking for test knitters. I volunteered, and was one of the 24 that were picked! If you're wondering about the sock we'll be test knitting, go to Cookie's blog, and it's the purple sock pictured in her April 1st post. When we get started, I'll post progress pics on here (don't worry, Cookie said we could post about it on our blogs, I'm not breaking any rules).

I love baby knitting

2008-04-07T10:18:00.003-04:00

I love to knit baby things. They go so quickly :) I've started knitting some little things for my Cousin, Shelly. She's pregnant with her second baby. I've been itching for another baby to knit for and she and her DH were more than happy to oblige....LOL! Shelly mentioned to me the other day that she wanted something handmade with love for her baby (and she went on talking about maybe making a quilt for the baby), and I started grinning. I've already started. well, at that point I just had some yarn bought for a baby sweater and had Serenity (ravelry link) picked out to knit for the baby. Anyway, this past Saturday, I was sitting around with the kids and I wanted a small project to work on because I'm kind of sick of looking at all of my other WIP's. So I looked through my stash for inspiration. I saw my skein of Lime & Violet Sasquatch Superwash in Buster Keaton sitting on top. I thought it would look great as a baby bootie & hat set. So, I wound the yarn into a ball, and cast on for Saartje's booties and a few hours later I had this:

hehehehehe....aren't they cute? I'm still trying to decide on a hat pattern though. I need something gender neutral because they aren't going to be finding out the sex of the baby. (pattern suggestions, anyone???)

Flurp

2008-03-24T08:52:00.013-04:00

I couldn't think of a title for this post, so I asked my 6 year old what I should use. He said 'Flurp', so there it is. :)
I bought a book that can only be described as beautiful. The book is 'Selbuvotter :Biography of a Knitting Tradition' by Terri Shea. (btw- i ordered it from knitpicks and it was, I think, the quickest I've ever received an order from them. I placed the order Wednesday morning and my package arrived Friday morning) Looking through the patterns in it, I just had to run to my stash, pull out some fingering weight yarn, and CO something, any of the patterns would have done. I decided to start with Annemor #2, one of the child sized patterns in the book. They're intended for my DD, Hannah, even though she probably wont be able to wear them until next winter, as it's already the end of March and I doubt we'll have very many more mitten wearing cold days (if any). I'm already itching to buy some new yarn and start a pair of mittens for me.

There's also a small chance that I *may* be getting a spinning wheel. A friend of DH's has unfortunately fallen on hard times, and his wife has a spinning wheel that they're talking about selling. I told DH to tell them that if they do decide to sell it, I would LOVE to buy it from them. I don't have any details about the wheel, DH didn't think to ask about it, but I don't really care, because at this point, I want a spinning wheel SOOOOO badly that I don't care what it is, I just want one.....LOL

My Purple Greenjeans is DONE!

2008-03-14T16:23:00.004-04:00

I finished my Mr. Greenjeans! I had to shorten the sleeves, and I added some buttons, but those are the only pattern changes I made. I used WEBS Valley Yarns Northampton in the color Amethyst. This sweater took about 3 weeks to knit.

Other than finishing this sweater, I've started a cardigan for my niece Morgan's upcoming birthday (march 25th), and I bought some yarn to knit my niece Justice a Starsky Jr for her upcoming birthday (in august). I have two more nieces with summer birthdays that I need to plan gifts for as well. One will be turning 4, the other turning 1. Any pattern suggestions?

Where the F%$# have I been?

2008-03-07T11:50:00.003-05:00

Long time no post....nice to see you again....yadda yadda yadda....LMAO

Here at home I have been going on a HUGE organizing and purging crap kick. I'm just sick and tired of looking at the clutter and we really don't need this much CRAP sitting around the house. Soooo, I've been busy getting rid of old kids toys that no longer get played with, old baby, kid and grown-up clothes that don't fit anyone anymore and general odds and ends that I'm just sick of looking at. I'm slowly feeling better about the clutter levels around here, but I still feel like I don't even want to sort through it anymore, I just want to throw it all away. But, I can't do that. There are some important documents that need salvaged and I really do want to keep the coming home outfits that each of my kids wore on their trip home from the hospital after being born. Once I get those things out, I'm just going to chuck the rest.

Even with all the lugging of boxes and sorting of crap, I have been working on some yarn projects. I started 2 new projects that have been my primary focus and I still don't have Phineas or Earl Grey done....oops. oh well, they'll get done eventually. My 2 new wip's are a Granny Square baby blanket I'm crocheting for my cousin who's pregnant, and a Mr. Greenjeans sweater for me.
This first pic is the baby blanket. I'm using a crappy, frustrating, snaggy yarn, but it's soft, squishy, warm and machine washable. It's Joann Sensations Rainbow Boucle yarn that self stripes in shades of red. It was on sale for $5 and it's over 800 yards so I took a gamble on it. I wont be buying anymore of it (but I did buy a ball that shades from black to grey when I bought the red ball so I have another ball to use up, maybe I'll use the black/grey ball for a boarder on the red) This blanket is working up pretty quickly, I've only been working on it for 2 days now and it's big enough to cover my legs (but not my feet) when I have my footrest up. Granted, I'm only 5'2", but still, it covers my legs....LOL

This is my Mr. Greenjeans. I'm using WEBS Valley Yarns Northampton in the Amethyst color. I'm really pleased with this yarn so far. It's not the softest yarn, but it's not scratchy and totally wearable against your skin. It has great stitch definition, It's just a fantastic all purpose wool yarn. As for the sweater, it's a really simple top down raglan sweater (and if you've been reading my blog long, you've seen I really like doing the top down raglans) with cables. I'm finished with the body and I'm several inches into sleeve #1. Still left to go is the rest of sleeve #1, Sleeve #2, and then the button band/collar.

damn...I'm out of things to write about on here, so I guess it's back to de-cluttering the house.

More Socks!

2008-02-20T10:52:00.003-05:00

So, I still haven't started sock #2 for the Earl Grey socks I'm making for DH. I'm seriously suffering from second sock syndrome with that pair. It's just that pair, too. Since starting Earl Grey, I've started and finished the Carolina socks, and I'm about 2.5 inches into sock #2 for a pair of Phineas Socks that I started. Granted, I think this is partly (ok, maybe mostly) due to the fact that my feet are tiny compared to DH's , so socks for me take a lot less time to knit. Plus, I'm kind of an instant gratification whore and socks for me give me that FO high a lot quicker. Anyway.... the socks pictured are what I have done on Phineas right now. While dragging the chair outside, I accidentally dropped the socks in the snow. Oh well, they may be wet right now, but at least the snow is pretty.

Down to 1.....

2008-02-05T15:20:00.000-05:00

This morning I finished the Carolina socks! This means that I am down to one WIP, The Earl Grey socks for DH that I had originally wanted to finish before yesterday. Yesterday was DH's birthday, and I only have sock #1 completely finished. I'm working on sock #2, but I'm not very far into it yet. Maybe the socks will end up being DH's Valentines gift instead.

Anyway, back to Carolina. It was a fun pattern, very good for mindless TV knitting. I will definitely be knitting this again, maybe eliminating the purl row from the repeats. I'm just not a fan of purling in the round. I used Yarn Lust's Merino/Tencel blend yarn and size 2.75mm dpn's. I LOVE how the yarn pooled into pseudo-stripes. I really want to get my hands on more of the yarn from Yarn Lust.

Only 2.....

2008-01-30T09:30:00.001-05:00

Wow....I have ONLY 2 wip's OTN right now! This feels weird. This is new. I normally have 5 or 6 WIP's going at any one time...having so few is going to take some getting used to. This feels weird, and yet I still don't have the urge to cast on any new projects right now. This is very weird...lol

First, we have the Earl Grey socks I'm knitting for DH's birthday gift. I had gotten caught up in finishing Adamas, so these socks got conveniently 'forgotten' about for a few days.....oops. Now I'm back to working on them and I'm only on sock #1, but I only have another inch to knit in pattern before I start the toe. I tried this sock on DH's foot last night, and it was SOOOO pretty. The cables were beautiful and it looked like a really good fit (so far...lol)

And here we have the beginnings of some really pretty socks for me. The pattern is 'Carolina, Last Queen of Naples' by Monkey-Toes. The pattern is beautiful, easy, and fun to work. The yarn, however, is just WOW. It's from Yarn Lust on etsy, and it's her Merino/Tencel 50/50 blend in the Melancholy colorway. Absolutely stunning shades of Green, Pink, and Blue. I HIGHLY recommend this seller, she was really nice and I had the yarn in my hands 2 days after placing my order. Plus, there were some extra goodies in my package that were MUCH appreciated. I will definitely be buying from her again.

Ribbit.....Ribbit.....

2008-01-28T09:01:00.000-05:00

I've decided that my Icarus Shawl is going to go off to the frog pond. I was moving papers around last night, and my post-it that I was using to keep track of how many pattern repeats I had done and what row I was on got lost. I could very easily figure out what row I was on by looking at my stitches and comparing what I see to the chart, but I still have no idea how many pattern repeats I have done. Plus, I did have a bit of a mistake several inches ago (that I was going to fudge with a darning needle and yarn before blocking) but If I frog, then all of these little problems go away. I wasn't completely happy with it, so that makes it easier to frog. I'll probably start on another Icarus soon.

That was F&*#@!$ Quick!

2008-01-25T16:20:00.000-05:00

So....6 hours later and it's completely dry! My lace weight Peacock Feathers shawl took twice as long to dry, that's why I was worried that Adamas wouldn't be dry before bedtime tonight.

SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!! I love it! This is one of my most favorite projects that I've knit. I think, though, that may have more to do with the absolutely gorgeous yarn than with the pattern.

Screw Waiting....

2008-01-25T10:51:00.001-05:00

I decided to go ahead and use the pins. This morning I put Adamas in a nice bath, and then put an old comforter on my bed and pinned out the shawl. I have a fan on it in hopes that Adamas is dry before DH and I want to go to bed tonight.

Done! but not finished......

2008-01-24T12:49:00.000-05:00

My Adamas Shawl. I completed the knitting of it this morning, but I still need to block it. I started on this project a few days after Christmas, so it took just barely under a month to knit this. I really enjoyed this pattern. It was simple and straightforward, and yet still busy enough to hold my attention and keep me interested in knitting it.

The pattern is written for Lace weight yarn and size US5 needles. But I wanted to use yarn I already had, and I've been wanting a shawl thicker than lace weight, so I decided to use a fingering weight yarn (BMFA STR lightweight in Korppi) and size US6 needles. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I can't wait to get it blocked. Problem is, I want to block it NOW, but I hate doing all of those pins and I don't have any blocking wires. So, I have to decide if I want to just suck it up and use the pins, or wait until I can buy some blocking wires, which could be a few weeks.

He's a Dirty Trash can Full of Poop..........

2008-01-12T13:30:00.000-05:00

So, the kids are watching 'Surf's Up', and one of the little kid penguins says "He's a dirty trash can full of poop" about the movie's bad guy, and I thought it was just a really cute line. Come on....read it to yourself in a tiny cute little kid voice. The cuteness of it all will put a smile on your face :)

Anyway...
I've started working on a pair of socks for DH's upcoming birthday. DH's birthday is on February 4th, so I've got a few weeks to get these done. I'm knitting him the Earl Grey sock pattern form the Yarn Harlot. The cables are difficult to see unless the sock is on, but once the sock is on, the cables are beautiful. I was going to say more about these socks, but before I could write it one of the kids needed me and now I can't remember what it was. I hate it when that happens.

I'm still working on my Adamas shawl, and with every stitch I fall deeper in love with the yarn I'm using. BMFA did a wonderful job with their Raven series, and the shades of green and purple they have in the Korppi colorway are BEAUTIFUL! The shawl still looks like the last pic I posted of it, it's just a few repeats larger now.

And, as for Icarus......oops. I haven't worked on it in the past week. I've been having too much fun with Adamas and Earl Grey.

What's the strangest....

2008-01-04T22:13:00.000-05:00

If you have some kind of stat counter on your blog, what are the strangest search keywords used that have landed someone on your blog? Looking at the search keyword list on my stat counter, I've come to realize that there are very few people who can spell 'Little Bunny Foo Foo' correctly, and there are a surprising amount of people out there looking for pictures of a Baboon's Ass. The strangest one on my search keywords list, is Whip Porn. That guy got to see a post of mine titled 'WIP's and Yarn Porn'....lol That must have been a disappointment for him....LMAO

I want to say thank you to those who have commented and emailed me to wish me well. I have high hopes that this antibiotic is kicking this infections ass. It's stronger than the one I had before, and this one is supposedly designed to stay in a persons system fighting bacteria for two weeks after they finish the pills. I have another Dr's appointment soon, so we'll find out then how things stand. At this point I'm just hoping that the repeated ear infections haven't caused any permanent damage to my ear.

Despite my ear/sinus crap, I have been knitting.
I've started an Adamas Shawl using my STR lightweight in Korppi. I am currently on my sixth repeat of chart 2. It's really working up quickly, and it's a rather simple pattern, so it's good for working on during the evening while DH and I watch movies. I tried to get a good pic of all the subtle colors in the yarn, but I couldn't come close. In this pic, you can clearly see certain shades of the purple, but there are several more subtle shades of purple, and a few subtle shades of green, too. This yarn is really beautiful.

I also have a FO. The Anastasia Socks are finished. They are going to be given to my best friend for her birthday (which was on the 2nd, but between illness and work we haven't had time to get together to celebrate yet). I finished these on the 1st, so they were a pretty quick project (just about 1 1/2 weeks). I think I'm going to knit a pair for myself. This is a pretty pattern for showing off multi-colored sock yarns, and have several of those in my stash waiting patiently to be used.

There are NOT Enough Profanities....

2007-12-30T17:28:00.000-05:00

...to describe what I'm feeling. Remember that Double Ear infection/sinus infection thing I had just before Christmas? Yeah....the fucking thing is back. Antibiotic resistant infection. FUCK!!! The good thing is that I made it to the Doctor before it got really bad. (thank goodness for my best friend who was willing to drive me to urgent care at 8am on a Sunday morning when she was out until 5am the previous night) Right now it's just my sinuses and a middle ear infection. I'm on even stronger antibiotics now.

My knitting mojo is back!

2007-12-27T10:17:00.000-05:00

First, let's talk about how Christmas went....

We had a good one here. On Christmas Eve, FIL gave his presents to the kids, and his gift to DD was a little doll house that she LOVES. On Christmas morning, when she came out of her room, she ran past her stocking, past the big pile of presents, while yelling "MY DOLL HOUSE!!!!!" and she ran to the doll house and happily played until meanie Mommy and Daddy told her to open her presents...lol. The boys both have been playing with their new toys non stop as well. I don't think any of them received anything that they didn't absolutely love :)

My Hand knit gifts were well received this year. My Mom absolutely LOVES the afghan I knit for her. So much so that a few hours after we arrived back here at home from visiting her house, she called me just to tell me again thank you for the blanket and she just kept going on about how pretty it is and she asked me a million questions about how long it took and the construction details. I love that my mom loves the afghan. My sister, Jammie, loved the Baboons Ass socks. My other sister, Dawn, loved the Montego bay scarf. She put it on after opening it and wore it around for a few hours. She absolutely LOVES how soft it is (merino/silk blend). Baby Talia is only 4 months old, and as soon as her Mommy helped her get the sweater out of the box, Talia saw it and started crying....lol. And as for Laney and Morgan's sweaters, Look below:

Here is my (sleepy) Miss Morgan trying on her sweater.

and, here is my Laney Belle trying on her sweater. (and my dad fresh in from doing yard work in the background chomping on a cookie)

I hope everyone also had a good Christmas.
~

As soon as my Christmas knitting was finished with, and the last button sewn on, I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my chest. I was free to knit whatever I wanted again! Such a liberating feeling!! So, either on the 23rd or 24th (I'm not sure), I started a pair of Anastasia socks for my best friend's Birthday gift. Her birthday is coming up on January 2nd. I am using some discontinued Regia Strato Color that has been sitting in my stash for a LOOONNNNGGGG time. I think it's been there for at least a year and a half. The ball band says the color # is 5747. I have sock #1 completely finished, and on sock #2 I'm done with the toe and I'm either 4 or 6 rows (I can't remember) into the first pattern repeat. Not shabby for only a few days work.

I have also rescued my Icarus shawl from my UFO pile. I haven't really done much with it, so it still looks the same as the last pic I posted of it. Icarus became a UFO so I could concentrate on Christmas knitting, so its been waiting patiently since October for me to return to it. Also, I have 3 skeins of STR lightweight in Korppi waiting to become an Adamas Shawl.

Thank you

2007-12-21T09:04:00.001-05:00

Thank you to everyone who emailed or left comments wishing me better. It really meant a lot to me. I am doing A LOT better now. I still can't hear out of my left ear, and I still get a little dizzy occasionally, but that's it. I can actually function now! YAY!.....lol I had a few days where I could function just fine as long as I could sit still, and on those days, I managed to knit (and finish) a Halley's Comet Hat for my niece, Morgan; and I finished the Baboon's Ass socks for my sister, Jammie.

Here, you can see DD modeling Morgan's hat, it's a better pic of DD than it is of the hat :) Instead of a rolled brim like the pattern specifies, I did some 2X2 ribbing. To make the hat more of a toddler size instead of adult , I went down a needle size. The yarn I used is Lion Brand's Cotton Ease in the Berry color. This hat took less than half of the skein, and was a really easy, really quick knit. DD saw that there's a flower on the top of the hat, and she asked for me to knit one for her, so I let her into my stash and she picked out a skein of Violet Cotton Ease for her hat.

This second pic, is the finished Baboon's Ass socks. It's a crappy pic (pun NOT intended), but I didn't feel like being persistent in getting a better one...lol. The pattern is Monkey socks by Cookie A, and I used Knitpicks Essential sock yarn in Burgundy.

So, as far as Christmas knitting goes, all I have to finish is both sleeves on Laney's cabled Sweater, 1/2 a sleeve on Morgan's hooded sweater and the buttons on both sweaters. Since these sweaters are for a 2 year old and a 3 year old, the sleeves are pretty short and wont be a problem to finish. And, buttons in this house are never a problem...lol

I doubt that I'll be posting again before Christmas. So, everyone, have a happy holiday! Have a great time celebrating with your families, loved ones, and SO's!

weeeeeeeeeeeee!

2007-12-17T09:06:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it turns out that what was thought of as a run of the mill ear infection, is really both an inner and an outer ear infection. The pain got so bad that my best friend (who is the BEST BEST BEST best friend in the whole wide world) took me to the ER at 3am on Sunday morning. Apparently that cold I had last month that I thought was just a bad cold, was really a sinus infection. And that never getting properly treated, is what caused my ear infections. So, now I'm on strong antibiotics, ear drops and pain meds. The pain meds caused the title of this post. They make me a little stoned. I may feel good now, but this really sucks. I can't drive (even if I weren't on the pain meds I couldn't drive. the fluid in my ear makes me really dizzy at unpredictable times). I need to go grocery shopping. DH is going to take me tonight, But I really hate feeling like I can't get things done.

Big Road Bump....

2007-12-15T08:15:00.000-05:00

I was making really fantastic progress on the sweater for Morgan, I finished the 1st sleeve and the hood, only one more sleeve and buttons to go. On Laney's I still have both sleeves to finish, and buttons to sew on, and I still have about an inch and a half to do on the Baboon's Ass socks. It kills me that I was making such great progress, and I have to take a few days off from knitting. I have an ear infection in my left ear. I'm managing the pain pretty well, but if I spend a lot of time upright, I get dizzy(even while sitting). Plus the drainage is grossing me out. No knitting yesterday. I was in too much pain. No knitting today. I'm too dizzy. I hope I can knit some tomorrow. Christmas is in 10 days. I can do this. Really, some sleeves, some buttons and a sock toe. I can totally do that in 10 days. Hopefully I'm not out of commission for too long.

Would you like to know something interesting? This is the very first ear infection I have EVER had in my life. None of my 3 kids have had ear infections either. I've always known I was REALLY lucky (especially with the sinus issues I have). I know that babies Eustachian Tubes are smaller than adults are, and that alone makes babies more likely to get ear infections and I just keep thinking how awful it is for a teeny lil baby to have to go through this. Poor babies.

And, here are the pics....

2007-12-11T09:49:00.000-05:00

the ones I mentioned in the post below. I forgot to get a pic of the Baboons Ass socks, but if you've seen one ass, you've seen them all.....LMAO! (cheap joke, but worth it) Below you'll see the pics of the cardigans I'm making for 2 of my nieces for their Christmas Presents.

I'm using WOTA Bulky for both of them, Grape and Sky for Laney's, and Mauve for Morgans. I bought 3 skeins of each Grape and Mauve for the sweaters (the Sky is leftovers from another project), and for Laney's, I'm 3/4 through ball #2 and working on a sleeve; and for Morgans, I am almost ready to join ball #3 and I'm still on the body. I'm thinking I *may* have to end up using some of the grape for sleeve cuffs on Morgans sweater (the pink one).

A Pic-less update

2007-12-10T19:30:00.000-05:00

I just realized it's been a while since my last blog post, so I figured I would do a quick update now, and I'll probably be able to post some pics tomorrow. I've been working a lot on trying to finish up Christmas gifts, and REALLY REALLY REALLY craving the sensation of casting on a new project. However, I have promised myself that I wont cast on anything new until I finish the Christmas gifts. This promise is EXTREMELY difficult to keep because I have my new STR Ravens (Korppi and Tlingit) sitting in my knitting bag begging to be knit. Anyway..... I'm getting close on the Christmas gifts. I just finished the body and started the sleeves for the Cabled Raglan Cardigan for my Niece, Laney; I am past the sleeve separation and working the body of the Hooded Raglan Cardigan for my Niece, Morgan; and I am about 90% done with the Baboons Ass (Monkey socks made with Red yarn) socks for my Sister, Jammie.

DH is out of town right now, visiting his Mom (Hi Nancy!). So, for me that means a lot more knitting time in the evenings, IF I can stay awake. Last night I started dozing off in the middle of purl row on Morgan's sweater and, miraculously, was still knitting(purling) when I jerked back awake...LMAO.

WOOHOO! I'm on a roll.......

2007-11-30T10:09:00.001-05:00

But I doubt it'll last long......

I finished another Christmas Gift!!! This sweater is the hooded baby sweater I knit for my niece, Talia. You may remember my model, Floyd. This sweater is a 6 mos size (can you believe Talia will be 4 mos old at the end of December! It still feels like she was just born!). I used 1.5 skeins of Patons Decor yarn in the colorway 'First Spring Varg'. I've gotten to the point with these sweaters that I don't use a pattern anymore, or else I would link you to the one used.

This means that out of the 6 gifts I had to knit, I have 3 down and 3 to go! and one of those 3 is already about 80% done!

The #@%&ing Afghan is Finished!

2007-11-28T09:33:00.001-05:00

Knit from the center out, I bound off 808 stitches last night. It started by following the Kerry blue shawl pattern and then I decided to change a bit after a while. This small afghan measures 52" on each side. This was a relief to BO. Now, I only have small projects to finish for Christmas, and it all seems SOOOO much more manageable now.

For this afghan, I used Caron Simply Soft worsted in Autumn Red, Bone, and Dark Country Blue. I'm not a fan of the colors, but I know my parent's will love it.

For more pics of this afghan, and so you can see the center portion, you can either look through old blog posts, look on my flickr page , or look in my project page on Ravelry (username: PurpleYarn). I'm having issues with blogger this morning and I'm lucky to have gotten this one pic to post....lol

busy, busy, busy.....

2007-11-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

Now that Thanksgiving is past, the Christmas Knitting Countdown has begun! Today is November 23rd, and we now have just over a month to complete our holiday knitting. I have recruited DH to help out this year, but still he is only responsible for one gift (lucky bastard....lol). Here, I am posting progress pics of some of the Christmas gifts I'm knitting this year. I've already finished a Montego Bay Scarf for one of my sisters, and the Baboon's ass socks I'm knitting for my other sister haven't been worked on at all since my last progress pic posting, I'm not posting a pic of the scarf DH is working on, and I'm also not posting pics of the sweater I've started for my niece Morgan. It just has a few rows done and isn't very interesting to look at yet.
But, anyway......

First, we have a progress pic of the afghan I'm knitting for my parents' gift. One side now measures 50", well, it's a square so each side measures 50". When you consider that I'm only 62" tall, this thing is BIG. And, that also makes me very glad that my parent's aren't much taller than I am....lol

And here we have the hooded cardigan I'm knitting for my niece, Talia. I love the way this yarn is pooling. It's Patons Decor in the First Spring Varg colorway, on size US7 needles.

and this one is the new and improved Cardigan for my niece, Laney. I wasn't happy with the old one, so I frogged it and started this one instead. I'm using rev st st for the back panel, the front panels are cabled on a rev st st background, and the sleeves are regular stockinette st.

Everyone, I bid you good luck on your holiday knitting endeavors!

Progress Pictures

2007-11-07T13:37:00.001-05:00

Just a quick posting to show off some progress pics.......

First, we have the afghan I've been working on for my parents' Christmas gift.

and, secondly we have the Baboons Ass socks for my Sister, Jammie's, Christmas gift.

that's all we have today, all I've been working on (knit-wise) lately.

7.212

2007-10-29T13:30:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, I was bored so I decided to haul out my stash bin and all of my knitting bags so I could go through my Stash. I ended up not only organizing my Stash, but also taking inventory of it and then I created a spreadsheet for my Stash. I have a rather small Stash as of now.....it used to be double what I currently have, but I've been working on downsizing it a little at a time for the past year. Now, in this Stash inventory, I did not include the skeins of yarn intended for Christmas gifts or any other current WIP's that are on hold until Christmas knitting is done, this is strictly stash yarn. I made my spreadsheet have categories for brand / name / fiber content / yarn weight / yards per skein / #of skeins / colors and intended project (when it gets one). I also calculated my total skeins in Stash, total Stash yardage and I then converted yards into miles. I have approximately 12,693 yards of yarn in my Stash and that is about 7.212 miles. That represents 52 skeins of yarn, and 32 of them are sock yarn, enough for 21 pairs of socks.

When my Christmas knitting is done, I have a lot of socks to knit.

Deviating from the pattern.......

2007-10-22T16:03:00.000-04:00

I'm making a lot of progress on the Throw. It's now to the point that I have over 410 (worsted weight) stitches all held on a 47"circ. It's kind of crowded on that needle. (see where the 'points' meet? that's the middle of the blanket, the blanket is now at 32" diameter) I also stopped following the pattern about 8 rounds ago. I'm into the Feather and Fan section now, and I've decided to change the rest of the pattern. At this point, it's just small, insignificant things I'm not doing, that you can't even tell I'm not doing . I'm going to continue in this feather and fan pattern for a few more inches, then I'm going to change to a dark cream color (almost tan, but not quite) and keep the F&F pattern going for a few inches, and then I'll switch back to red and continue for a few inches, and then I'm going to switch to a very pretty dark blue and do a garter stitch border.

Hats

2007-10-09T09:23:00.000-04:00

I know I need to be working on my holiday knitting, but some winter hats needed to be made too. These 3 were made over the past week. The blue hat is for my oldest ds, using Knitpicks Swish Superwash yarn in the color Delft Heather. The little hat in the middle is for baby Talia (my 6 week old niece). I used the Odessa hat pattern from Magknits , omitting the beads, and using Cherry Tree Hill Supersock potluck yarn on size US3 dpn's. It looks teeny, but it stretches. A LOT. So, she'll get at least one winters use out of it. The pretty hat on the right is for me. I used the Fake Isle Hat pattern from Magknits, with Noro Silk Garden (#205) and Patons Classic Merino in Black. I still have 2 more hats to make (at least), One for DS#2 and one for DD.

and no, I didn't completely ignore my holiday knitting while working on the hats. I did complete a few rows on the throw for my parents and I finished the leg and started the heel for sock #2 for the baboons ass socks I'm making for my sister.

Throw

2007-09-27T10:07:00.000-04:00

This is a progress pic of the throw I'm knitting for my Parents' Christmas gift. I figured posting a pic of it on here might make me more likely to work on it and finish it. You guys will help keep me accountable for this thing, right? It's just starting to get big, and each patterned round is taking me approx. 40 mins to complete. Right now I have it on my KP Options 47" cord, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to buy longer cords before long so I can finish this throw. I'm using the Kerry Blue Shawl pattern from 'Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls' with a worsted weight yarn to make it large enough for a small throw.

Did I say I was going to knit a baby blanket?

2007-09-18T16:49:00.001-04:00

Yeah.....well....Fuck that.....
I decided a baby blanket was entirely MUCH too insane for me to attempt right now. So, I instead knit this little baby sweater for my Cousins baby. I didn't really follow a pattern, but used a few different ones for suggestions. I ended up using a figure 8 cast on and then knitting the sides of the hood, doing a decrease row at the neck, and then continuing as I would for a basic top down raglan. It meets the measurements from yarnstandards.com for a newborn baby sweater. I used US7 needles with Caron Simply Soft yarn (one of my favorite yarns for babies; machine washable and really soft) in the color 'Raspberry'. My model is Floyd, my Daughter's stuffed puppy. Isn't he cute?

One down.....several more to go....

2007-09-12T11:42:00.001-04:00

The Montego bay scarf I've been working on for a Christmas Gift for my sister, Dawn, is FINISHED!!!! excuse me while I go do a 'lil happy dance in celebration....
.
.
.
ok...

This was a pretty simple and easy knit. The pattern was VERY easy to memorize, so that made it an easy project to take to work with me to knit during my breaks. I did learn something while working on this though......I DO NOT enjoy braiding fringe. If I ever do another project with fringe, I WILL NOT BRAID IT. I will simply knot the ends to help prevent fraying instead.

Last night, I decided to get organized for my Holiday knitting. I dug through my stash bin and got out all yarn intended for Christmas knitting, gathered my patterns and my Christmas WIP's, and I actually put all of it into a knitting bag (we'll see how long this lasts...lol) to keep in the living room. It's my goal to only work on Christmas knitting from now until I get it all finished. There is one exception though. My Cousin is pregnant with her first baby (a girl!) and I'm going to work my ass off to get a small baby blanket knit up in time for her baby shower. Which is October 7th. Less than a month away. I'm planning on doing an entrelac blanket, alternating tiers of color, and doing it in either a bulky yarn or worsted double stranded to help it get done quicker. I'm going to buy the yarn on Friday night. I'm waiting until then because that's during friends and family days and my employee discount it upped to 40%. This isn't entirely insane.....is it? I can do this, even if I'm weaving ends on the way to the baby shower....lol

I'm seeing RED!!!!

2007-09-04T10:04:00.000-04:00

LOL....I just realized I MUST have a thing for the color red for Christmas gifts this year. Out of the 5 gifts I have OTN right now, 3 are red. One, is the Throw I've been working on for my parents' gift (which is collecting dust for now until I can get a longer circ). Second, is a pair of socks I'm knitting for my sister Jammie. And, number three is a cardigan I'm knitting for baby Talia.

This first pic, is what I have so far of the Baboon's ass socks I'm knitting for Jammie. I call them Baboon's ass, well, because it's the Monkey sock pattern with red yarn. I know....I have a weird sense of humor.

and this is the beginnings of another Daisy baby cardigan. This one will be baby Talia's Christmas gift. I'm using Knitpicks Main line yarn in the color Red Velvet Cake.

Remember those booties I made?

2007-08-26T09:21:00.001-04:00

Friday night I got a new niece!!!! Baby Talia was born at 11:44pm weighing 7 lbs 12 oz! I went to visit yesterday and I put her in the bonnet and booties I made and took a pic. They fit perfectly, for now.

Where do your WIP's live?

2007-08-23T10:26:00.000-04:00

In the past, I've tried keeping all of my WIP's in one location, whether it be a basket, knitting bag, or just tossed on the same shelf somewhere. It doesn't work for me. The more organized I try to become with my knitting, the less knitting gets done. The last part of the last sentence doesn't sound correct, but at the current moment, I can't think of the proper correction for it so it'll stay. So, Where do your WIP's live? Here's mine:

Behind the couch, next to my desk:

On top of the bookshelf:

Next to the t.v:

those are the main places I toss my WIP's. Occasionally, I do keep one, shockingly enough, in a knitting bag.....but not really. That's more of a vacation spot...lol.
~~~~~~~~~~

And here, last of all, we have a small FO! Yesterday, I knit up a bonnet to match the booties I made for my niece, Talia. (whom we are STILL waiting on the arrival of. send some labor vibes to my sister, Dawn. Her back is killing her!) I used the Top Down Bonnet pattern from Hello Yarn (also check out her rovings....drooooollllllll....)

Wee Bitty Baby Booties

2007-08-20T09:23:00.000-04:00

hehehe...aren't they CUTE! (btw- for the 'hehehe' my spell checker gave me 'bonehead' and 'axeheads' as possible correct spelling options...LMAO) Measuring 3 1/4 inches long here we have finished baby booties for my new niece, whom we are waiting very patiently on the arrival of. My sister could pop any moment now. I can't wait!!!! I LOVE babies, and since I wont be having any more myself, I'll have to just play with (and knit for) the babies of others (I need more people I know to get pregnant). I used Saartje's Baby Booty pattern (in the right hand side bar), and some Regia 6 ply crazy colors yarn I had in my stash, on size 3 bamboo needles. Considering I used yarn larger than the pattern called for and needles larger than the pattern called for(3.25mm instead of 2.5mm), I was expecting the booties to end up larger than the pattern specifications. That didn't happen, so I must embrace that I am a tight knitter and move on.

YAY...a good start!

2007-08-08T08:37:00.000-04:00

I think I've gotten a pretty decent start on Christmas gifts this year. I have a raglan cardigan for my niece Laney OTN, I've got a throw for my parents going, a pair of monkey socks for my sister Jammie (I'm making them using a solid color.....red.... so every time I look at them I cant help but to think that I'm making my sister a Baboon's ass), and for my sister, Dawn, I've started a Montego Bay scarf (pattern in Interweave Knits Summer 2007 issue).
I'm using Knitpicks Gloss in Serengeti (yes, leftovers from the Entrelac socks) for the main body, and for the fringe I'm going to order another color of gloss and make the fringe 2 strands Serengeti and 4 strands other color yet to be decided. Any suggestions for the other color? I think all of them will look good combined with the Serengeti and it's making for a difficult decision, and my sister doesn't have a favorite color (well, she's 9 months pregnant and can't make up her mind....LOL).

Well, I think the only WIP I have going that is NOT a Christmas gift for someone, is my Icarus Shawl. I'm not going to post a new pic of it, only because I've gotten maybe 4 more rows completed since my last update, and it looks just the same as before...lol. And pics of the cardigan, baboons ass, and throw mentioned above have to wait until DH comes home and dumps all of the pics from the camera and gets them burned to CD. (no, I can't do it myself....I've tried in the past and each time I fucked it up somehow)

New little lovelies

2007-07-27T10:31:00.000-04:00

Look what came to my doorstep this morning!
On Friday the 13th, Macoco from Craft Pirate posted that she was giving away the books 'A Good Yarn' and 'Back on Blossom Street' by Debbie Macomber. I guess it's obvious at this point who got them, huh?
See that gorgeous blue and green thing sitting on top of the books? Well, Macoco included that little surprise in the package. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL? It's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in the colorway Icehouse. And, since I have smallish feet (size7) , it's plenty for a pair of socks with a short cuff (which is how I like my socks anyway!).

THANK YOU MACOCO!!! I cant wait until this afternoon (nap time for DD) to dive into 'A good Yarn'. You're the best!

a cute lil' something...

2007-07-26T16:58:00.001-04:00

...to go with the Daisy baby sweater I posted yesterday.
Using the yarn leftover from Daisy, I made this cute little Bunny Blanket Buddy (you might have to register to view the pattern, but it's free) for Sarah's new lil' niece. My DD (2 yrs old) fell in love with this one when I finished it, so I'm going to dig in my stash for some yarn to make one for her too.

Another FO!

2007-07-25T10:10:00.000-04:00

My best friend, Sarah, also has a new niece arriving in Sept. So, as a joint gift for the new baby, Sarah bought some yarn, and I knit a baby sweater for the lil' pea. It still needs buttons, but Sarah will add those when she gets the chance. I used the Daisy pattern from knitty, and Caron Simply Soft yarn in the color Plum Wine. I love the bottom up construction of this sweater, but I must say my seaming skills (for the sleeves) need some work. This sweater didn't take long to knit, I cast on for it on Saturday morning and worked on it while waiting for Deathly Hallows to be delivered (I finished reading it Sunday morning and OMG it was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!! (the epilogue sucked though)), and I finished the knitting and seaming yesterday afternoon. I can't wait to see a pic of lil' pea wearing it!

and, here is a progress pic of Icarus. I am on my 3rd repeat of chart 1. It's coming along steadily, but I am starting to get a little bored with this section of the pattern. oh well..... after I finish this repeat, I'll only have to do 2 more repeats and then I get to start another chart that looks MUCH more interesting!

Embossed Leaves FO!!!

2007-07-21T00:15:00.001-04:00

HA!
FINISHED!
It's after midnight and I'm tired but wired on caffeine, but THEY'RE FINALLY FINISHED!!! I conquered SSS (second sock syndrome) this time....I still need to start sock #2 of Twisted Flowers...but damn......it's feels good to have an FO! Now I wont feel guilty about neglecting my knitting later today when I'm engrossed in Deathly Hallows.

2007-07-16T10:05:00.001-04:00

Well, I mentioned that my bout of SSS (second sock syndrome) was slowly subsiding. :) I am now on the foot portion of sock #2 of my Embossed Leaves Socks. I know I'm using a yarn that's too 'busy' for the pattern (or a pattern too busy for the yarn...take your pick...lol), but I really like how it's turning out. The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock lightweight in the Little Bunny Foo Foo colorway, and the Embossed Leaves Sock pattern can be found in the book Favorite Socks by Interweave Press.

And, here is a brand spankin' new WIP. I cast this on earlier this morning. This, my friends, is an Icarus Shawl (Another Interweave pattern, available in the Summer 2006 issue and also available for download for $6.00 HERE). I am using KnitPicks Shadow lace yarn, in the Vineyard Heather Colorway. I'm only about 9 rows into the first chart, but I'll be able to make more progress later (as in when the kids aren't bickering over every single teeny tiny itty bitty little thing) I'm hoping I'll enjoy knitting Icarus A LOT more than I did knitting the Peacock Feathers Shawl, and so far, it looks like I will.

This WIP, is just a simple raglan cardigan, and I am adding a cable alongside the button bands. The cable is the Cruller cable from the Vogue Stitchionary Volume 2. I am using Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Sky for the collar ribbing, and Grape for the body. This is going to be for my niece, Laney's Christmas Gift. This was going to be for my niece Morgan, but I did too many increases to fit Morgan, so now it's for Laney because I didn't feel like frogging...LOL

It's gone.......

2007-07-08T11:21:00.000-04:00

I don't know when or why it happened, but I no longer possess the burning desire to simply expand my stash. I used to yearn for yarn, I NEEDED it, I felt I needed to have as much yarn as possible in my bin. I guess somewhere along the way it just became pointless to just buy yarn having no real intention for it. I still love yarn, I just no longer have the desire to just buy it. Now, sock yarn is the exception here. That is always bought with a project in mind.....socks. It's just all the other yarns out there that I just can't get it up for anymore if I don't have a project planned out.

In other knitting news....the SSS (second sock syndrome) I was suffering from, has ebbed some. I have been working on sock#2 for Embossed Leaves again. I have gone from having 2 rows done, sitting on my shelf for weeks, to having only one repeat left to finish for the leg, in less than a week! I have also completely finished Monica and the Anthropologie Inspired Capelet. I have also started the cardigan for my Niece, Morgan's Christmas gift. I decided to use leftover yarn from the Capelet for the collar ribbing, and am using the grape for the body. I am also doing a cable alongside the button band. I'll add a pic of this WIP and more details of the above mentioned FO's when I get another chance to hop on here.

WIP's and YARN!

2007-06-26T10:44:00.001-04:00

well....My Monica in the round has been coming along quickly. The Body and Ruffle are done, it's just the straps left now. I'm working both straps at the same time from 2 balls of yarn, and will graft them to the stitches held for the straps at the back. This Monica is going to be a birthday present for my Niece, Laney, who turns 3 at the beginning of August. I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Prosperous Plum and Blush. Pattern from Knitty.

This WIP is an Anthropologie Inspired Capelet that is for my Niece, Justice's 10th birthday coming up in August (3 days after Laney's birthday) (if you wanted to know, Justice and Morgan are my Nieces from my sister Jammie, and Laney and new baby are from my sister Dawn) I am working on the sleeves, but there's not much work left to do on this. I altered the pattern slightly to accommodate a buttonhole (instead of using a broach) and to make it smaller to fit a youngster. I need to find the perfect button. I'm thinking something pale pink and/or lavender and sparkly would be prefect for a 10 year old. The yarn I'm using is Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Sky.

My Nieces are going to look SOOOO FREAKING CUTE in their birthday gifts!!!! I'm all giddy and excited!

And, now, YARN!!!

Here we have some Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Mauve and Grape. These are going to become some cabled cardigans for my nieces Laney and Morgan's Christmas Gifts. I'm still planning the cardigans out. Right now I'm thinking make one mainly grape with mauve ribbing for the collar and cuffs, and the other mainly mauve with grape for the collar and cuff ribbing. Both with a cable pattern going down the front panels beside the button bands, but the cables will be different on each sweater.

This is Knitpicks Main Line yarn in the Red Velvet Cake colorway. The lighting in all of these pics is off, but in this pic the color is the most inaccurate. It's a really pretty creamy red. I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do with this one. I only have 5 balls of it. I'm thinking maybe using it to knit a cardigan for DD to wear this fall. I probably don't have enough for that, so I might just use it to make a sweater for my newest niece, Due September 1st. 5 balls is PLENTY for that.

......and here we have some sock yarns that have been residing in my stash bin for a while, but I don't think I've ever posted a pic or even mentioned them here before. From top to bottom, we have BMFA STR lightweight in Socktopus, Lime & Violet yarn 'Penelope' colorway, and another Lime & Violet yarn called 'The Human Skeleton'. You can see a gallery of Lime & Violet yarns HERE. They do WONDERFUL and BEAUTIFUL work.

want some details?

2007-06-19T13:21:00.000-04:00

After I read the comment CraftPirate left on the post I made yesterday, I realized some might like some details as to what it was on my needles in the second pic in the post below. Well, remember the Monica I was working on before? I wasn't happy with it, and I had a sweater version of second sock syndrome (couldn't make myself start the back), so I decided to frog the fucker and start it over, but knitting it in the round this time. So I'm making a slightly altered version of Monica from Knitty, using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Prosperous Plum for the body and Blush for the ruffle.

Speaking of second sock syndrome, I still haven't started sock #2 of Twisted Flower, and I've only managed a few rows of sock#2 of Embossed leaves.

I LOVE Options!!!!

2007-06-18T08:04:00.000-04:00

I FINALLY ordered the Knitpicks Options needle set a week ago (Monday 6/11th), and Saturday (6/16), a mere 20 minutes before I had to leave for work, they arrived!!!! I hurried finishing getting ready to leave, and ended up having a full 10 minutes to play with my new beauties! I transferred one of my wip's onto the KPO's, and as soon as I started knitting.....I was in love :)
They're SOOOO very smooth and slick....the stitches glide easily across them. DH likes them too. He already transferred a project to a set of my KPO's. Sometime soon, I think we'll have to get DH his own set of KPO's....I don't want to share :)

the ability to breathe through ones nose is greatly underappreciated

2007-06-10T15:46:00.000-04:00

Sorry it's been so long since my last update. The kids are out of school on Summer break so I've been busy chasing them around and going crazy. The little boogers decided to bring home one last cold from school too. I felt it coming on Friday, and it hit me full force Friday night. Yesterday was so miserable, I spent the day half passed out on the couch. Today, I'm much better. I still have a sore throat and some muscle soreness, and I get dizzy if I try to stand for too long, but still, MUCH better than yesterday.

As for knitting......not much has gotten done lately. Thursday evening I was working on a project for my niece's 10th birthday, and the cable snapped on me. This was the 2nd Denise cable to do this to me. DH, hearing the string of profanity leaving my mouth when it happened, told me, "just order the Options you've been blathering about for the past year". So, that's what I'm going to do :) (don't worry, I got all of my stitches rescued on some scrap yarn) I am also going to have Denise replace my snapped cord (they have EXCELLENT customer service), so I'll have 2 sets of interchangeables soon :) Not much else has been worked on lately. I started knitting yet another garterlac washcloth, and I did a pinwheel washcloth. A few stitches on some other projects have been knit, but not much.

Also, because of some family drama, and my freaking cold, I was unable to attend any part of Knitters Connection. You have no idea how torturous it is to know that not just an emporium of beautiful, yummy, spectacular yarn and fiber, but also my two favorite podcasters (Lime & Violet), were just a mere 25 minute drive away from me. Not to mention missing out on the Knitters Connection goodie bags. Sometimes life fucking sucks ass.

an update....YAY!

2007-05-29T10:31:00.001-04:00

Here's a pic of a WIP that I've mentioned here a few times, but haven't posted a pic of. It's going to be a throw for my Mom & Dad's Christmas gift. I am using the Kerry Blue Shawl pattern, but instead of using lace weight for a shawl, I'm using worsted weight yarn and size US7 needles for a small blanket. My Mom & Dad's living room is tans & browns, so I chose this red (it's a bit darker IRL than in the pic). It'll look beautiful in their living room.

And here is sock #1 in the pair of embossed leaves socks DONE! I've already cast on for sock#2, but have only done a few rows so far. I still need to cast on for Twisting Flower sock #2.