Echo's really decided to call it quits. I, for one, shall miss her.

Vacation from knitting? Riiiiiiiiiiight...

(I've got to lighten this scan a bit. There's way more contrast than it looks)
(edit: ok, maybe not as much as I hoped)

I'm working on my first Dale of Norway pattern. I ordered it from Bea Ellis Knitwear.

Though I'll admit that I'm not using the specific yarn for it. I'm using Emu Superwash that I ordered from Elann. It's working rather nicely I think.

Another 72 hour sweater this ain't going to be!

Knitting vacation

Vacation from knitting?

All I know is that after my recent marathon knitting spree is that my hands hurt! :( I think it comes from a combination of using larger needles than I'm use to (8's & 9's instead of 1's & 2's) and supporting the weight of the items that I made. I mean, how much does a sock weigh? Nada.

A girlfriend at work suggested that maybe I was getting arthritic. I did suggest that she take her suggestion and, um, well, nevermind...

So I'm taking it easy on my hands and giving them a chance to loosen up. OK, I'm not entirely not knitting, but I'm not using any needle larger than a 3.

And now I just feel in need of a nap!

Well Santa was a Knittin' Dude!

My sweetie gifted me with some Noro Silk Garden (enough for a big scarf), some needles, and a couple of knitting books. My Mommy Santa gave me an awesome gift of a wooden umbrella swift and a ball winder! Irina 'helped' me test it out last night ("But Sweetie, this is Mommy's toy.") And, finally, I can show the little knitting I did for the holiday this year.

Two Silk Garden scarves (the red for my Mom and the purple/gray for my SIL) and a purple hat for Irina (That turned out too big, but it is made out of Cascade 200 so I just felted it down)

She put it on and didn't take it off. She also thought the elves made it for her! ("Wow! Those elves sure were busy this year!")

And the result of two days of mayhem was that we were all sound asleep by 9:30 last night! (OK, I was asleep by 8:30 )

Didn't finish knitting in time?

Or, didn't knit everything you wanted? Feel free to print a few of these up!

Big file, so give it a moment to open. And, yes, I know there's no space between "too" and "busy". So I screwed up! 'Kay?

And with that I wish everyone a Merry Christmas (or just a nice day off!) Two days of nutsy-ness begins at 2:30 this afternoon, so I'll see you all in a few days!

iwillnotgetstressedoutiwillnotgetstressedoutiwillnotgetstressedout

And here's my favorite model...
showing off what I am calling the "Amazing 72 Hour Sweater" (aka: the result of crazed weasel knitting)

It's kind of funny. That was the fastest I have ever made a sweater, of any size. I mean, I really pushed myself to get it done as quickly as possible. With something like that I'd expect mistakes (especially from me); but this has turned out to be the most technically 'perfect' sweaters that I have ever done. I am really rather pleased with it.

And yes, my silly kid has big blue eyes...

It is quiet here.

Tony has taken Irina out to his parents today, giving me the chance for some nice, quiet, unstressful time to myself. My single goal for today is to finish Irina's sweater, which shouldn't be too much of a problem. I have one button band to knit and then just have to finish seaming it up.

I'm trying to decide what to do about the buttons. I'm considering breaking out the Fimo and making them, but I think that those might to be taken off every time the sweater is washed. And I am way to lazy to consider that! I think a quick swing down to Jo-Anne Fabrics after work tomorrow will be in order.

8,734 stitches later and the back was finished at 11 last night. *Phew*

And, oh yes, To the woman who was tailgating me down Route 9 yesterday, and then blew past me, in the breakdown lane, and through the red light:

Nyah, nyah, nyah!!! Didn't expect the police car to be sitting on the other side of the bridge, did you?!? :P~~~~~~~~~~

Crazed Weasel Knitting

That's what I'm going to be doing over the next few days.

I made, and finished, the Homespun sweater for Irina...and it really, really, really sucked! (Pardon Moi French) I mean, it turned out really, really, really bad! (Really? No, really!) I won't even post a picture of it because 1) Irina refuses to put it back on, and 2) I don't want to be responsible for anyone hurting themself from falling off their chair laughing.

So the short one and I took a trip to Creative Warehouse late morning and I picked up some Plymouth Encore Colorspun in a really pretty rose to gray blend. My goal (hahahha) is to have a sweater finished for Irina to wear on Christmas eve. I started at three this afternoon and have 3 inches left to do on the back.

Funny thing about going to the LYS now, knowing that there are other knitbloggers in my area. I look at everyone in the store, wondering if I know them. Wondering if I've emailed them or left a message in their comments. Read their blogs and been alllowed into a part of their lives. Hey, Philip's Mommy, are you reading this?

I know, I'm strange. So I'm going to go knit now...

(btw: crazed weasel knitting is a phrase that my friend Liz came up with. A highly technical term that any knitter can relate to)

My daughter's idea of telling a joke

Her:"Knock knock"
Me:"Who's there?"
"Yarn"
"Yarn who?"
"Knitting needles" (goes off in gales of laughter)

Ahhh, four-year-old humor

(And, yes, we are both feeling better! Hooray!)

Double crumb (and yuck!)

Irina came home from preschool with a nasty stomach bug that's been going around. Sigh. Hopefully I can keep her low-keyed over the next few days.

Nope, no can win.

Oh crumb

I think I'm getting the flu that's been making the rounds. Can I not win? Even a little?

And so why am I awake? Wassup wid dat?

We ended up having a crazy busy sort of afternoon. It turned out to be a day of sorting and organizing. All to try to fit in the tree! How cleaning out Irina's closet fit into that scheme, I don't know...but it somehow ended up being done.

And in her closet I found a sheizer load of yarn that I forgot I had! I think my stash increased by a third. I feel like such a dork! Anyhow, after looking at what I pulled out of the closet (most of which was Red Heart), I decided to have Tony take it to his church. There are ladies there who do a lot of charity knitting and if they can use it they are more than welcome to it! I'd like to say that I'd keep it and do the charity knitting here, but it is a *TON* of yarn, and I'd feel guilty because I'd never get to it. Send it where it can get some good use, I say.

I did run across some Woolease Homespun that I've decided to use for a cardigan for Irina. Actually, at 2 stitches per inch on size 10.5 needles, I've already finished the back!

Well, my spelling is going downhill rapidly, and the letters on the keyboard keep rearranging themselves, so I guess it's time to go to bed!

Well, Yay Hooray! I can see me again. I know, I'm more thrilled than anyone else.

Today is going to be a finishing day I think. I've got a bunch of things that are 'almost' done. That's the intention, anyway. I've decided to call it quits with Project X. Truthfully, I haven't worked on it for two weeks. I mean, the thought was great, but it really has been less that inspiring to work on. I'll keep working, but calling a Christmas gift is just plain silly. (I got an awesome alternative, anyway.)

Am I the only person tired of that damn Staples ad? Yawn.

We've got to get a Christmas tree today!

I watched Frosty the Snowman with Irina last night! It was the first time that she had seen it. When it started she wasn't terribly interested. After all, compared to today's animation, it is visually slow; but when the magic top hat landed on Frosty's head and he came to life!!! The look on her face was beautiful...It was great because I was able to watch it for the first time all over again just by watching her face.

Ohhh, The Temptation!

Clara is going to do her best not to gloat at her score, but have you seen the prices at the store in Denmark that she ordered her new knitting kit? If you haven't, GO! Shoo, shoo! (And here's a handy currency converter what it'll really cost ya).

Hmmm...Virtual chocolate and angora socks for cold tootsies...Both very happy things indeed! And, yes, Kat, you are close enough!

...Must...Have...CHOCOLATE!!!...

The Safety of the Universe IS at Stake

Anyone got some time to share with me?

I went and picked up some Noro Silk Garden to make a scarf for my SIL for Christmas (Lisa, you don't read this, do you?) I just lurve it so! I figure this way I get the benefit of working with it without the guilt of spending $$$ on myself! Irina is also insisting on a black scarf, and picked out a skein of yarn for me to use.

Now I just need 4 or 5 more hours in the day.

I really hadn't planned on knitting for christmas. Next year I will change my mind earlier...like in January!

That fuzzy fellow off on the left...
(getting the neck scratch of a lifetime) would be our resident fur baby, Topper. 18lbs of purrin' lurve! And he is quite happy that we have finally acknowledged that he is of royal lineage...

We are lucky that he has consented to live with us for the last 6 years.

(No, he's not fat at 18lbs! He's just bigger than most small dogs!)

I need some happy thoughts.

Home again today

When a major depression bout is in full swing it's nice to have happy things to look at. And my two happy things for today are the new edition of Kitty (I see socks that I may just have to make!), and that Darilyn's knitting message board is live!

Both are very cool and you must go visit. Now. What are you still doing here?

You don't knit with forks, so I see no reason to eat with knitting needles.
-- Miss Piggy, on eating Chinese food

So I'm looking around for a picture of Eleanor Roosevelt knitting, and number 4 in the Google search is our very own Fab Miz Carolyn! I should have known she'd have one!

Another cold day here in the NorthEast, and we're waiting for it to snow. A good day to stay in, hang out with the girlie, surf blog rings, and knit. Now if I can just convince Irina to go along with my lazy plans!

Am I the only person who lulls herself to sleep at night looking through knitting catalogues fantasizing about which yarns I'd like to use next?

Oh my...

I have discovered, really fallen hard for, Noro Silk Garden yarn. I spent a good long time in front of a store sample yesterday just fondling it. And the colors! The COLORS! I've always wanted to do a sweater with the colors of the sunsets that we sometimes see out our windows. Though at $11.95 for 110 yards it's not going to happen any time soon!...maybe a scarf...

Now I'm confused...

I keep seeing referals from one of the other Knitblogs on my site meter, and I can't figure out why, because that blog doesn't have a link up for me! Not that I'm complaining in any way, shape or form! Not in the least! I'm just confuzzled...

My soundtrack for this month

(scroll down and play #8!)

Ack!

The order of Knitblogs ring has changed! I can't find anyone! Panic setting in!

Ok, it's not that bad, but it is a little disconcerting. It's like someone came into the house, rearranged the furniture (leaving a few new pieces in the process), and left again.

I've been through two days of retail chaos. Nothing like the first two days after Thanksgiving to get the hysteria level notched up to high. Everyone kept coming into my office, where I gallantly womaned the phones, saying: "I can't get through the aisles out there!" I took it upon myself to remind them that that was a *good* thing and hopefully it ment that we might actually be getting bonuses at the end of the year. (Actually, I'm not holding my breath on that one)

My car rides have been a chance for me to come up with some design ideas. Now I've just got to find the chance to write/draw/chart some stuff out. Maybe tomorrow, after sleeping in and a nap!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I've knitting to do, family to hang out with, and newly downloaded Paint Shop Pro 7 to play with, so I give this to you now, just in case I don't get to it later:

TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING, BUT I JUST COULDN'T SLEEP
I TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS, I TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.

THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED - THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE
BUT I FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION WITH ALL OF MY MIGHT

TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION
THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION.

SO, I RACED TO THE KITCHEN, FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR
AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE, FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.

I GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,
PICKLES AND CARROTS, BEANS AND TOMATOES.

I FELT MYSELF SWELLING SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND,
'TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, I ROSE OFF THE GROUND.

I CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING, FLOATING INTO THE SKY
WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING AND A HANDFUL OF PIE.

BUT, I MANAGED TO YELL AS I SOARED PAST THE TREES....
HAPPY EATING TO ALL - PASS THE CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.


MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY, MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP,
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS.

Have a great day!

(I can't claim credit, it came from an email from one of my many SIL's)

Wow

Theresa made me Aortal! How cool is that? (I'm suprised that you're not blinded through your monitors by my grin!)

*My* No Hole Technique

Alison asked how I avoid the holes when I'm doing short row wraps on my sock heels. I think what I do is a mix of things that I picked up here and there that works for me.

First: I slide my wrapped stitch from my left hand needle to my right hand needle.

Second: I lift the two wraps up and over the "working" stitch, creating three seperate stitches.

Third: I slide the "working" stitch and the first wrap back to the left hand needle without twisting them so they look like an upsidedown 'U'.

Fourth: I slide the second wrap stitch back to the left hand needle, but I twist the stitch so it wraps around the needle.

Fifth: I knit all three stitches together through the back of the loops.

Clear as mud, yes? As I said, it may not be the classic method, but it works for me! :)

Umm, remember how I said that I wasn't going to work with the yarn that was delivered to me at work until after the holidays?

Nevermind.

I have a nasty case of 'Startitis' right now. Tony has agreed that there is no hope for me, for a cure is not known. Now I just wish that I could catch 'Finishitis' so at least I'd have some balance!

Sometimes I Have to Remind Myself...

That just because I don't agree with things that someone says, even if they make me angry, that doesn't mean that there isn't something that I can't learn from that person. Some days I have to remind myself of that more often than others.

Turn and Turn Again

Almost got the heel of my sock turned the other night then I decided that I hated the way that it was coming out, so I ended up ripping back to the start of the heel and doing it again. I was much happier with the way it came out the second time. I don't get why some people have such a hard time doing short row wrapped heels, make such a bit deal about it. It can be time consuming, yes; but I like the results.

I got yarn in the mail at work yesterday! WooHoo! S.E.X. at work, gotta love it! I'm planning a major Fair Isle project for myself for after the holidays. Now I just have to convince myself that there is absolutely no, no, NO reason to even think about starting until then! Right?

Yawn

I feel like I should have something to say, but I don't. I got to spend a very nice couple of hours knitting yesterday, feeling somewhat guilty all the while that someone elses babysitter was looking after my kid too. I'm thinking that I should have offered her something for her time. But I got a good half dozen plus rounds done on Project X. Which, at 240 stitches per round, ain't hay. It just seems like I haven't gotten far because I am working in the round, rather than back and forth.

And I had a coworker call me crazy today because I was even considering steeking (once I explained to her what it was). "Well that's dumb. Just work back and forth on the front and back when you get to the arm holes." *sigh* Everybody knows what I'm doing better that I do...

Today is one of those days when I could really use a cigarette! (Nope, I won't)

OK, I'm going to stop bitching and go do some knitting. I'll turn the heel on the first funky stripe sock tonight, so I'll feel like I accomplshed something today.

Great American Smokeout!

A subject near and dear to my heart. I quit smoking almost six years ago now, and I have done easier things (giving birth comes to mind); but I did it!
And if I did it, so can you. Won't you please give it a try? And if you want someone to hold your hand, and slap it if necessary, I will gladly be there for you!

Going Knitting!

Hooray! Today I get to go hang out with a couple of fellow knitters! And with the offer of free babysitting, how can one say "No, not today, Thank You". It would take a much stronger soul that I, I assure you.

It also helps that we have kids around the same age, so they amuse each other.

What a perfect way to spend a gray day.

See me in French! (Cool!)

Irina wore her Kokopelli sweater to preschool today. When I picked her up one of her teachers went absolutely ga-ga over it! Turns out that she's a Kokopelli addict, had him on three silver rings and everything. When she found out that I made the sweater she asked if I could make one for her. I did tell her that it wouldn't be cheap. She was like "40? 50 dollars?" I said "More like $200."

"Oh, I'd pay that for a hand made sweater."

Hmmm, we'll see if she's serious.

I'm trying another new commenting system (agaaaaaain!) Hopefully this one will work more often than not.

Rough day today

Have I ever mentioned that dealing with depression sucks? It do. I'm coping with the day by hanging out, knitting, and watching theWeather Channel . (Am I the only freak of nature who can watch it for hours on end?)

I'm almost done with 3.5 inches of k1, p1, in the round, on size 4 needles for 176 stitches. I'm majorly procrastinating putting the sleeves on the snowflake sweater, but I plan on getting it done this week. Really. I do.

Things That Really Tick Me Off

I received this email today as part of a group mailing from a friend. I have reprinted it here with her permission

Dear ones...

This has been a doozy of a couple of days. My son has
made me so very proud of him...herewith the tale:

Steve has worked for Whole Foods (an upscale, socially
responsible, healthy food store) for a couple of
years. He's been one of their "prepared foods"
managers - the guy who runs the deli and manages the
crew of folks who bring you healthy and delicious
taste treats. And life has been pretty good for him -
he has been looking forward to year-end and the rather
large bonus to be paid to all employees because of a
profitable year.

About six months' ago he was "written up" and
"reprimanded" for feeding a homeless person. You see,
prepared foods have a "holding time" and then must be
disposed of. He was getting rid of the food (putting
it in a dumpster) when this guy came up to him and
said he was hungry. Steve did the obvious. He gave
him food. And was "written up".

On Wednesday, there was a repeat of this scenario...he
was dumping food (unsellable but very edible) and a
homeless person came up and said he was hungry. Steve
gave him food. And this time he was fired...for
violating company policy.

The disparity between Whole Foods' policy of "social
responsibility" and the obscenity of throwing food
away in the face of hunger is unbelievable.

I am hoping he follows up, both with the Whole Foods
regional office and with one of the local newspapers.
It's completely up to him, of course, as to what
course he will take with the situation.

He can always get a pretty good job as a cook (he has
run small restaurants and done short order cooking
before coming to Whole Foods)...and meantime, I am
very, very proud of him.

mj
proud mom

This man was penalized for having a good heart and having the courage to do what was right. If this has bothered you as much as it has me, go to Whole Foods and let them know!!! Check with the Whole Foods and Bread & Circus stores in your area and find out what their policies are. If they can afford to throw food away, they can feed a homeless person. There is no excuse.

What Type Of Retro Gal Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Working on the Next Generation

I took a quick trip to the lys yesterday to pick up a size of circular needle that I did not have (Yes, they do exist). While I was there I picked up a pair of short wood needles for the small girl. We had had a short knitting lesson the other day and trying to use long needles was very hard for her. When I came home she was very excited to have her very own knitting needles and started "knitting" right away! (OK, so she's just stabbing the ball of yarn over and over again with the needles, it's a start!)

When she woke up this morning she came and crawled into bed with us for an hour. (Is there anything better than snuggling up to a warm kid?) I woke up to hear her saying: "I have to get up Daddy. I want to go work on my knitting."

Starting Again.

Even though I was most of the way up the back of Project X I've ripped it out so I can start again. Why? I just decided that I didn't like what I was doing. It didn't feel right. I wasn't enjoying it. And hey, if you're not enjoying it, why continue?

I've already started again. I'm winging it this time. I'm not following a specific pattern, but using a mix of some of the ideas in the Philosophers Wool Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified book. Why? Because I'm crazy enough to think that because I've read the book and can understand the concepts even though I've never tried them before.

Or it could just be because I'm crazy.

Wait a minute!

Christmas is in SIX weeks!!!

How the heck did that happen???

I finally finished knitting the second sleeve of the snowflake sweater last night. It came to me yesterday that I was having such a hard time finishing it because I'm afraid that I screwed up really badly and made it too small. Mind you I'm pretty, reasonably, almost, sorta, not even close to certain that it's going to fit properly.

Oh damn, I really just don't know. I know that there are parts of it that I'm not crazy about (I don't like the arm increases, for instance), but I'm the only one who's ever going to notice them. At least I hope that no one's going to be running around lifting my kid's arm to look at them! For some reason I'm feeling strangely panic-y about this sweater. I think I just need to finish it and be done with it.

Am I being weird?

My hair stayed longer, Irina's got shorter, yarn was picked out, and I paid a whopping overdue fine (which would have been worse but wednesday is half price fine day).

I have to admit that I'm not too crazy about the yarn that Irina picked out, but this is her sweater. Now I'm concerned that I didn't buy enough of the main color, which is the red. I know that there were two more skeins of it left so after I do the back I'll have to judge if I need to go back and get them.

Planning the day...

The short one and I are having our hair cut this afternoon (I am torn between letting my hair grow long again and saying the hell with it and having it all cropped off), so that means she needs to be dumped in the tub and scrubbed this morning. We usually hang out so Irina can play with my girlfriend's son but she sounded like she was on a fairly tight schedule today, so I don't think it's going to be an option.

Then I want to go to a LYS to scope out yarn for Irina's design. I know that yarn that I want to use, but I don't know if the colors will be in stock or if I'm going to have to order them online. Ordering them may be the better choice, but I want to fondle fiber and see the colors next to each other.

After that it's off to the library to return some overdue books (One a Philosopher's Wool one that has me really interested in this steeking thing. Maybe I could do it after all!) The only hassle I have with the library is that they expect you to bring the books back! The nerve of them!

Time to get motivated on the day!

Hey Boston area knitters! Martha is putting together a list of reviews of local/Massachusetts LYS. Check out the list and see if you can help out. I've already put my two cents in (Ok, it seemed more like .85, but that's because I'm wordy.)

I still haven't gotten the sleeve finished; but I am so freakishly ready to start a new project. Irina drew a picture of a sweater that she brought to me and asked me to knit for her! How can I resist? She even colored it in so I'd know what colors to make it.

*sniff* My baby's a budding knitwear designer. Makes a Momma proud!

I only have eight rows left to do on the second sleeve of Irina's snoflakes sweater. So why can't I seem to get it done?

I hereby declare my current redesign done! ('bout damn time) I had a large, screen size picture for the background, but it took forever to load! Now I can go and do some knittng...

I think I'm a frustrated web designer. It's the only excuse I can come up with changing this thing so much.

Comments are missing, I know how to fix it, but I just ain't going to do it right now. BTW, the yarn in the picture was a gift from a friend! Bunny angora! Gotta love it! (Thanks YarnFairy! I Love Ya!)

Ok, I know it's a little hard to read. I'm going to work on tweaking the text colors tomorrow. I though about having the table scroll over the background image (I know I've seen code for it somewhere), but the more that I thought about it the more that I realized that actually bugs the heck out of me on pages that do that. I'm always getting distracted by the background not moving.

Anyhow, I started doing this three hours ago! I did not intend to do all of this tonight, but I got a little carried away...

They're coming to take me away, ha ha, hey hey...

I'm trying something new! :) Please bear with me!

Now if I could only figure out what was going on with my comments...

I am a sock knitting geek

I enjoy doing toe-up socks. I know that they aren't a lot of peoples favorites, but I like the fit that I can get from it as you can try it on your toes to see how the sock is fitting and stop adding stitches when the sock is the right size.

Currently the method that I have been using to get the stitches on the needles is by using a figure eight cast on, but I hated, swore, and mumbled the whole time I've been doing it. Either I was wrapping the stitches on the needles too tight to be able to put the needle through, or the cast on row was really loose and I just couldn't snug them up enough to make a decent toe.

I don't know why, but when I was working on Irina's socks something clicked. It suddenly dawned on me that it was OK if the stitches were loose because I could look at them from the inside and know exactly which stitches to pull, and in what order, to close the toe. They had order. They had symmetry. They made beautiful sense. I understood the manipulation of the stitches.

I began new socks today. These will be for me. And I love the toes.

I know that my kid has recovered because she's driving me out of my mind!

I've been knitting a hat today. Would you believe that in all the years I've been knitting I've never made a hat? Or mittens? For some reason the compultion/desire just has not been there. But Irina asked me to make one, so who am I to say no? Actually Tony has also dropped the hint that he's going to need a hat, as he lost the one that he was wearing last winter.

Dang. I need chocolate. I wonder if I could raid the Halloween candy without someone seeing me. (Yes, we still have some left)

Don't you hate it when you spend forever looking at a site and it has tons of great links and you want to go back...and realize that you forgot to bookmark it despite your best intentions and can't for the life of you remember what it's called?

Oh. You don't?

(found it. Knitting Pages)

I decided yesterday that it was time to try and get a handle on my stash. (Rather, to find out just how big my stash is) So with the help of my two assistants I pulled it out of its multiple hiding spaces and dumped it all on the bed.

Then I loosely attempted to sort it by weight, but that could have worked better. So I settled for just taking some pictures of it.

Of course it struck me later in the day that that is not all of it! I very distinctly remember having some things that didn't end up on the bed. Hmmm. There are only so many places in this apartment that things could have gone...

And it also begets the question:
If I have so much yarn, Why do I want to go buy more???

A 25 carat diamond? A $3.5 million (that's MILLION) dollar ring??? And how many hungry children could they have fed instead of indulging in this gross display of wickedly bad taste??? I'm disgusted.

(My personal opinion, and if you don't like it Pbthththththththth)

My poor sweet baby was coughing like crazy all night last night. She's hanging out on the couch watching "Hey Arnold" and hopefully will fall back to sleep soon. It's frustrating because we can't get her to take any medicine, which completely baffles us. I mean, when we were kids we had no choice, we took medicine when we were sick. (And it was the really nasty tasting stuff!!!) My sweet girl becomes a screaming demon if we even suggest it. Sigh. Any suggestions?

(ed. Turns out to be croup, poor kiddo. She's feeling much better now!)

We're having an incredibly lazy morning around here. (Morning? It's afternoon now!) I suppose I ought to get dressed at some point...

Well, I knit a sock for Irina yesterday, but screwed it up royally. I'm doing toe up and didn't use enough stitches for the heel. As a result after turning the heel, it ended up looking like something that you'd wear over a high heeled shoe! OOPS! (Irina insisted on wearing it anyway) So I started all over again...At least kid's stuff goes fast!

Feel Better Mommy!!!

Visit the Princess, dammit!

And a shout out going to another Boston area Knitting Blogger! Hello Kenneth!

Have you seen the Dale sweater that Alison is working on over at Blue Blog? Very cool! I'm going to have to see if I can find the pattern, and if it can be made big enough for the short one. (But it involves steeking! EEEEEEK! I'm not that brave!)

I find that I've just been feeling really...sad...over the past few days. I haven't done any knitting (Pick up the needles, do a row and put them down again). Nothing inspires. I may go and root through my sock yarn and see if anything in there wants to be a mindless project.

Ever feel lonely in a crowded room?

I cannot believe what I just found in the trash in our laundry room! (No, I don't make it a point to go through the trash; but this was sitting right on the top and I had to check it out):

A hand loomed, 100% wool sweater from Ireland!
And why did this person toss it (And it literally looked like someone took it off and threw it in the trash! It was inside out and the sleeves were pulled through):

I didn't see the hole until I had it upstairs soaking in the sink, but hey, that it going to so easily fixable!

Yaah! I have some new Lorna's Laces sock yarn on the way courtesy of eBay. The color is called "Funky Stripes" and it's a cool purple and green!

Do I need more sock yarn? No. Do I love it? Yes!

So if I post to my blog will I be able to get into it? Hmmm...

So the small one had her 4 year old well child visit at the doctor today. Poor kid had to get three shots!!! My poor sweetie! :( After it was done she informed us that she was "one of those people who doesn't like shots". The good news is that she doesn't get any more until she's 11. Now I am trying to wake her up! She's been asleep for hours, and if I can't wake her up soon she'll be awake all night!

WooHoo! Sleeve number 1 is finally finished. (aren't you all thrilled?) Number 2 shouldn't take too long, haha.

Well I finally managed to crawl out of the sickroom just in time to have Tony crawl in. Irina hasn't caught the neverending cold yet, and I hope it stays that way! I mean, Tony actually stayed home from work today, which means that the guy is really sick! (I did have to talk him out of going to his night job. Somehow he thought that getting very little sleep tonight and then going into work in the morning was going to help him get better. Such a guy thing!)

I have four, count 'em, four rows left to do one sleeve number 1 of the Snowflake sweater. And I have finished the back of the "It's Only a Swatch" sweater and cast on for the front. I've decided on a cardigan, but for the life of me I can't figure out why because I hate picking up stitches for button bands.

The thing is, I have to do the ribbing for the second Snowflake sleeve before I can go beyond the ribbing of the "Swatch", because I'm using the same size needles for both. And, yes, I have to admit, I only have one pair of size 6 needles. *hangs head in shame* What kind of knitter am I, to not be prepared for any eventuality? sigh...

The mind absolutely Boggles.

SpongeBob as drawn by a 4-year-old on a MagnaDoodle!

He's jellyfishing, if you can't tell.

SEX with the Postman

Imagine the google hits that title's going to get! (Mom, I hope that you didn't shreik too loud!)

I got my Elann order yesterday. The colors I ordered don't go together as well as I might have liked, but hey, I'll use them. Am using them. What started out as "Oh, I'll just knit a test swatch and see how it feels" has turned into being one third of the way up the back! Like I don't have enough projects going on. Bad Kim! Bad!

As for the other projects, I haven't finished as much as I feel like I should have after spending a week sick at home. I'm about half way up the first sleeve of Irina's sweater, and could finish it quickly if I just sat down and applied myself. (is there an echo in here? where have i heard that before?) I really should just do it and be done with it. As for the 'other' project, I managed to put about two hours in on it today and have about 10 inches to do on the back. Which, at a few rows here and there, isn't all that bad.

OK, I've officially run out of things to say for tonight.

My sweet guy decides to make some creamy celery soup for dinner the other night, as I'm still feeling crappy and soup just goes down real good.
He's in the kitchen for half and hour chopping and blending and cooking. After a while he says: "Hmmm, this is a bit thicker that I thought it would be. Maybe if I put it back in the blender." I don't say anything as I am in the middle of counting stitches.
A minute later I hear him say "Ooooh."
"Find the problem?" I ask.
"Ummm. What happens if you put too much flour in?"
"Well, flour is used as a thickening agent. Just how much did you use?"
Silence.
"Ummm. A cup."
"How much were you suppose to use?"
Silence.
"A tablespoon."
I am silently shaking with laughter.
"Sweetheart," I say.
"Yes"
"There are tortelinni in the freezer."
"Well. Dinner in 20 minutes then."

What Cartoon Will I Lose My Cartoon Virginity To? The Tick (The Tick): Stronger then any other person on the face of the earth, although not very bright, The Tick fights evil with the enthusiasm of a child. Happy and cheerful, the only thing that motivates him is the cradle of justice. Spoon!!! What Cartoon Will I Lose My Cartoon Virginity To?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

I love the Tick! *giggle*snort*

Snow!!! We had freakin' snow here this morning!!! I'm not ready for this...

Finally finished the back of Irina's snowflake sweater last night and started on one of the sleeves, which I imagine will go up fairly quickly. Actually, I hope that it will go up quickly because I ordered the yarn from Elann for the next one! it wasn't the yarn that I picked out at the LYS last week but the colors are the same and even with shipping it cost me a third of what it would have. (10 skeins of yarn plus shipping for under $30. ? Sweet!)

Ugh. Things aren't much better today. I haven't even had the energy to knit the past few days. (You know you're sick when...) Oh well, maybe later. *crawls back into bed with tea and a case of Kleenex*

Today I sound like this:

I hate being sick.

It's been a busy couple of days! I managed to get together with my knitting buddies on Thursday, which is something we hadn't been able to do all summer. It was nice to catch up and talk knitting with somebody who's eyes don't glaze over at the subject! Liz had to leave early to get her son from school, so Lucia and I sat for a while and then went to grab some lunch (the small one was with me!)...And then we went to do something that I swore I didn't want to do...check out a new (to me) LYS! I was a very good girl and didn't buy anything but I do think that I picked out the yarn that I want to use for my next project, that may be, might possibly, a Knitty submission.

Other then that I've been working and knitting/knitting and working, blahblahblah. I'd much rather just be knitting, but one must do what one must do to afford to feed one's yarn addiction! I should be able to finish the back of Irina's sweater this afternoon. Of course, I might just take another three hour nap too!

Silly comment of the day yesterday:

I'm sitting in the breakroom at lunch working on Irina's sweater when one of my coworkers asks what I'm working on. I show her the pattern and she says: "Oh, a Nordic sweater. Does anyone make those anymore?"

Ummm...And just what am I doing?

I will give the people at work credit though. They no longer look at me and go: "Oh, you knit? I thought only Grandmas knit." Now they say: "You haven't brought your knitting in for a while. What are you working on? Bring it in, I want to see!"

It's a gray, nasty, windy, rainy day out there today! Perfect for hanging out and getting lots of knitting done! Part of me wants to go and fondle yarn in a store somewhere, but I know that I can't afford to buy any right now. Besides, I've got enough projects going on at this point.

Yawn! Sleepy Kim. I wonder if the short one will let me have a nap this afternoon...

Mom and Dad fly in from their trip to Salt Lake City today (Where Mom took a course in tracing Italian geneologies and Dad climbed mountains-and was buzzed by an eagle at 10,000 feet!). I hope that the weather doesn't delay their flight

I redid my Kokopelli page! --------->

Go see! Go see!

La, I am feeling particularly boring tonight. I could go work on some knitting, but there's nothing good on t.v. for my brain to zone out to while my fingers work, and it's too late (for me, at any rate) to throw in a movie. Knowing me I'll end up watching some unsolved mystery/forensic type show on Court TV, or some documentary or something. Those are my usual fall backs when my brain is bored. I don't do CSI or anything like that, mostly because I forget they're on!When it all comes down to it, I suppose that I should just go to bed early!

This is the back of the snowflake sweater that I'm doing for Irina. Gotta love doing kid's sweaters! This only took four days!

The colors really are more distinct. My flash kind of bleached them out.

Uninstalled Mozilla. It kept wanting me to inatall all this stuff that we already have on our computer. It also displayed some things so differently and refused to go to some sites that I frequent all the time! What a pain in my tush!

I actually finished that back of Irina's next sweater last night while watching Birds of Prey (which, in my humble opinion, ROCKED!!! Gotta love stong female characters!), and the Massachusetts gubenatorial debate. Who knew that the debate could have doubled as a drinking game?

Rules:

1) Every time someone refers to "small goverment" take a drink.

2) Every time someone refers to "big goverment" take a drink.

3) Every time Carla Howell refers to herself in the third person, take a drink. (Someone really should have reminded her that when reading a statement written about herself, for someone else to read, that she should replace the words 'Carla Howell' with the word 'I')

4) Every time Mitt Romney smirks, take a drink. (Oh, wait a minute, he never stopped! CHUG!!!)

Who knew that politics could be so entertaining? We were in hysterics by the end!

Dang allergies! Someday I will be able to breath again, but I'm not expecting it to be any time soon...grumblegrumble...Nothin' to do but sit and knit the day away, I do believe. Heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking. NOT!!!

I just downloaded and installed the Mozilla web browser onto our computer. It's amazing how different it makes things look. We are in the process of getting ready to cut ourselves free from the evil empire of AOL and have a free trial period with MSN set up for internet access. Now we just have to go through and import things from 'A' to 'B'. (I don't know though, the browser skin I downloaded is kinda bugging me. Oh well, more computer stuff for me to play with!)

I've thought about jumping on the train and going into South Station for the Boston version of the 2002 KnitOut, but I am just hopelessly lacking in ambition today. I'll just sit home with the fam', watching football and knitting up a storm. I'm about a third of the way up the back of Irina's next sweater already!

I did nothing but knit all day today, and took a three hour nap. Pretty much a perfect day. :)

Other than that, I am incredibly boring.

I am being driven slowly insane...

Tony's family does a Christmas list for the small folk in the family that is kept at his parents house. It's a central location and it's a great way to make sure that all the Aunties and Uncles aren't duplicating gifts.

This year i have a alternate method for creating Irina's Christmas list. I am just going to tape 2 hours worth of Nickelodeon and edit out the tv shows!!! "Put that on my Christmas list. I want that on my Christmas list. Is that on my Christmas list?"

*sigh* Just under three months to go...

It's the Friday Five!

1. What size shoe do you wear? an 8.5 or 9, depends on the shoe.


2. How many pairs of shoes do you own? 4 or 5. I wear one pair until they're trashed and I'm forced to buy new ones.


3. What type of shoe do you prefer (boots, sneakers, pumps, etc.)? Sandles! I hate shoes and do my best to have happy toes as long as I can.


4. Describe your favorite pair of shoes. Why are they your favorite? I have honestly never had a favotire pair of shoes. Don't get me wrong, I love shoes! I have just never found a pair that is 100% comfortable.


5. What's the most you've spent on one pair of shoes? I think it's the $80. I spent on the shoes for my wedding.

At least I wasn't in the top 10!

Mom! Tony found this and thought you might get a kick out of it!

International Black Sheep Society of Geneologists. For the geneologists that have found a black sheep in their family tree. Surely we must have someone in the family that qualifies us! (No, your children don't count! )

Mission accomplished! The yarn has been exchanged and I think I'm going to be much happier now. I got Patons Classic Wool for the Christmas sweater. (Shhhhhh, it's a secret) I also picked up some Reynolds Signature in black and color #104 for a sweater for the squirt. I want to try to get an effect kinda like Kaffe Fassett's Magic Ball technique, but without having to weave in eighty gazillion ends! (I also get the bonus of 80% acrylic so I can toss it in the washer and dryer!)

That being said, I need to go work some swatches out and, oh yeah...Sew the final seam on the freakin' Kokopelli sweater!!!!!

Yes, it's after midnight and I should be asleep, but I'm not. I was lying in bed listening to my stomach growl for over an hour and realized that I wasn't going to get any sleep until I had placated it. So here I sits, eating Trader Joe's Maple and Walnut Granola Cereal out of one paper cup and drinking milk out of another. (What? Mix the two in a bowl? Let the cereal get all soggy and nasty? Eeewwwww!!! Nope. Nuhuh. No can do. No way no how. Tried it once, made me gag.)

I made the decision to go back to the yarn store and return the Lopi-Lite! (I didn't buy it here, I'm just using it as a picture example) It sucks! I am hating trying to work with it! All those loose little threads keep getting stuck to one another, and the skein of the lighter color keeps splitting. And it seems to be getting scratchier the longer I wo...attempt to work with it. Nope, I'll just take back my unused skeins and request credit so I can buy me some decent yarn!

(Tony practically passed out when he heard me going on at length about how annoyed I am, and that I actually plan on RETURNING yarn! Poor guy had to go lie down for fifteen minutes to get over the shock.)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Trust me, just click here!

I had a very cool wildlife encounter today.

There is a hawk that has it's territory near my work. As I was leaving today, ducking out a back way that goes through the owner's driveway and down this strange little back road, I could see the hawk in the road in front of me. Pretty neat, I thought, but as I drove closer and closer to it the darn thing wasn't getting out of the way! I finally came to a stop no more than 4 feet in front of the bird. And it still didn't move. We proceeded to do nothing but sit there and stare at each other. I think that it was sizing up my car, trying to figure out who would be victorious if it came down to a fight. (My money was on the hawk!)

After a good two minutes the hawk decided that taking on my puny car wasn't worth ruffling his feathers over and oh so slowly consented to move himself over to the side of the road, which is when I discovered why he didn't want to move. It seems that I had interrupted his dinner. I know because he picked it up and brought it with him. (All together now :"Eeewwwwww") As I rolled past him I stopped long enough look out my open passenger side window to thank him for moving, and assure him that we was indeed the handsome bird that he assumed he was. (OK, it could have been female, but I got the distinct impression of male)

Ad I drove away I watched him in the rear-view mirror as he dragged his dinner back into the middle of the road, and as an SUV came slowly down the street to where he was sitting...and stopped...and they sat there staring at each other...

I know that the date says September, but getting up early enough to post this tomorrow just ain't going to happen! So, join me in a countdown to one of my favorite holidays...

31 Days to Halloween

OK, so who didn't see For Better or For Worse?

Well, bad Mommy that I am I went and passed my cold on to the short one. She crawled into bed with us at 6 a.m. and Tony was stuck with listening to *sniff*sniff*sniffle* in stereo for a couple of hours. I hate not being able to breath through my nose, but it beats coughing my lungs out. I've already decided to keep her home from school tomorrow. She's cheerful enough today, but I am a firm believer in having plenty of "down time" when you're sick.

I had to frog back 6 rows of the snowflake sweater (the 6 rows that I had done beyond the ribbing, in fact). The skein of yarn I'm using for the lighter color split twice, but at least that was on the end of a row and I could deal with it. No, it was discovering that I had dropped a stitch...somewhere...and couldn't figure out how to pick it up properly in the color pattern. Oh yeah, did I also mention that when I switched over to the larger needles I only switched one of them? So I was knitting onto a size 7, and purling back onto a size 5. If it hadn't been for that dropped stitch I might have just switched the smaller needle and not thought about it again. Now I've got over 650 stitches of the world smallest chart to squint through again...

Hello Hippygoth Knits! I thought that my decongestant had gone to my head but no, that page really does change color!!! Cool!

"I'b got a code in my node,

Oh, I'b got a code in my node"

What a pain in the tuckus!

Has anyone worked with "Reynolds Lite-Lopi" before? One of the skeins that I'm working with keeps splitting and it's driving me to distraction! Is this common with that yarn, or did I manage to get a bum skein? Veddy strange.

The pattern that I am going to be using for the next sweater. Not in these colors though. I know that I said I wasn't going to talk about it, but as I've been so dismally weak on the knitting content lately that I've got to put something up here!

The pics out of focus because I need to put new batteries in the camera and I'm too lazy to get off my butt and root through the junk drawer to see if we have anymore!

KnittyKnittyKnittyKnittyKnittyKnitty
KnittyKnittyKnittyKnittyKnittyKnitty

I did indeed go out and buy more yarn yesterday. I excuse myself by the fact that 1) it was on sale, and 2) I have a specific project planned for it. I've even started on the stitch gauge for it. But I can't say any more than that because I don't know if it's intended recipient comes here or not.

Still got to finish the Kokopelli sweater. Mattress stitch. Annoying to do, but it looks so nice!

It'a almost done, it's almost done, it's almost done!!!! Happy, Snoopy dance!

Both sleeves done, back done, front done, just gotta sew it up and do the neck!

Woohoohoo!!!

It has been forever since I feel like I've actually finished something. Now I feel like I need to start another project. Of course, I already have at least another half dozen started. Someone kick my butt and tell me to finish something else, eh?

(Hi Mom! *waves* I'm IMing with you right now! Did you get the pics open?)

It would have been nice to be able to work on the kokopelli sweater while watching football this afternoon, but it was just too darn hot & sticky! (Still is) I get another chance for good knitting tonight during the Emmy's. I should be able to get at least one sleeve finished, if not both. Then it's just a matter of blocking, sewing, and figuring out how to do the neck! Then I'll have actually *gasp* finished something! (Nawwwww, really?)

Tomorrow is "Apple Day" at the small one's preschool, and I volunteered to make some sort of apple snack. Hopefully I'm not the only person to volunteer, but when I signed up on Tuesday mine was the only name on the list! Hmmm...I think I'm going to be doing an applesauce coffee cake, which Irina seemed happy with; but she's sitting behind me right now going through the cookbook and may have some other ideas soon. Have I ever mentioned that she loves cooking? We may have a mini Iron Chef in our midst!

Finished the stripe-y sock for the small girl, and of course made it too small! Dang, she ain't a baby anymore, is she? I'm not bothering to frog it, I have more than enough of the yarn. I've kinda decided that I don't care for the colors that much anyway, too many big red stripes. And while red is ok, it's not a fave-rave right now.

Woke up with an outlandishly screaming headache this morning (the type when you want to drill a hole and let the guy with the sledgehammer out!). Tony took the short one to preschool so I didn't have to start functioning untill...whenever...fortunately it has passed and now I'm spending way too much time sitting here on the computer.

Remember that nekkid knitting calendar? How about nekkid gardening? the calendar was written up in the Boston Globe on saturday (with *no* ordering information, duh!) and we got a million phone calls from people looking for it ("What do you mean, you don't have it? You're a garden center, aren't you?" Grrrrrrrr.....)

Thanks Claudia! :) Maybe I'm just being sensitive...Chocolate. I need chocolate!!!

OKC:I've got the heel turned on the first stripe-y sock for the small one, working on the gusset decreases. Now that the temp really is going down (70's all week, hooray!) I should do the sleeves for the Kokopelli sweater, even if she won't be able to wear it until it gets really cold! (Watch Irina be like me...Wearing thick wool, even on the coldest days, makes me feel like I'm in a sauna. Light weight I can do, but the bulky stuff? Nope!)

I just saw that I was moved out of the active knitblog ring and into the que, and I don't know why!?! I was there this morning. That makes me sad...*sniff*...

WooHoo! I love it whan a plan comes together! If you're seeing a really ugly background with no images at all (just the "image is missing red X"), apologies. Leave me a comment and let me know. Even if you're not, leave me a comment & tell me what ya think!

Can you tell that I am sooooooo ready for fall? It is my favorite season!

I'm workin' on it! I'm workin' on it! This yellow ain't quite what I had in mind!!!!!!

I'm getting the urge to change my template again! The Hollywood Squares colors just aren't doing it for me anymore, 'specially now that Whoopi isn't on anymore...*sniff*...Hey, I like Woopi! So sue me. (Though it is nice that Tom Bergeron is still on. He's the "Home Town Boy Done Good" since he grew up in Massachuetts and spent so many years on Boston television.)

I'd like to say that I made it through the whole day yesterday without turning on the t.v., but I'd be lying. However spending 4 hours at a friend's house watching our kids playing, and then coming home and both of us taking a nap went a long way to cutting down the t.v. time. The penalty was a kid who didn't go to bed until after 10pm, but it turned into a happy day for both of us.

I did use the time to start a sock last night, which I promptly ripped this morning as the short one saw the yarn and decided that the socks should be hers. No biggie. Today will be geared to dying some fabric, and who knows what all else. Another nap, I hope!

I've been thinking, wondering, considering about how to mark 9/11. I know that last year I, like many people in this country and all over the world, spent days glued to the t.v. screen waiting for any one small tangible bit of information. Waiting in vain to hear stories of rescues that never happened. And watching those damned planes over and over again sticking their pins into the bubble of security that we as a country had wrapped ourselves in. My family was fortunate, we did not loose anyone we knew, though citizens of both our towns flew out of Boston that day. But I don't think that that makes the reality...unreality...of it any less strange.

Has it really been a year?

Irina was not old enough last year to really understand what was happening, and while I know that she has been exposed to it I don't want her to be subjected to the constant barrage that will be shown tomorrow. So I have decided that on 9/11, we will not turn the t.v. on at all. We will visit with friends, we will paint more fabric, we will play games and listen to music. And the t.v. will stay off.

And I will hug her as often as she will let me.

I picked up a wonderful butterfly fabric while we were out at my in-laws last weekend, and it is on it's way to being turned into a great quilt. (OK, the grammer in that sentence sucked, but I haven't had enough coffee yet to figure out how to fix it!) I love it when a material, be it fabric or yarn, speaks to me and tells me what it wants to be.

Unfortunately, I only bought two yards of the fabric, and I'm going to need a few more to do what I see in my head. So this afternoon it's a trip to the fabric store to see if I can find more. If not, it's a begging email to my Mother-in-law to ask if they could go to the store I originally bought the fabric at in hopes that they still have it in stock!

(Oh yeah...and while I am at the fabric store I *will not* go and peruse the yarn downstairs. I won't. Really. Even if everyone is starting to talk about Christmas knitting on their blogs, and I have to get started soon if I'm going to get anything finished, I will not go look at yarn. Really. Honestly. Quit laughing.)

Gettin' Crafty with the Girlie

With fabric, fabric paint and stamps



painting her fabric purple



white paint on the stamp



a dinosaur square!



my leafy heart square

No, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them! It was just a fun project for a quiet morning!

*sigh* I already think that the small one is going to drive me crazy today *sigh* It's not good when the first thing I want to do in the morning is cry *sigh* I think I'll toss a video in for her and go take a shower.

Well, there is absolutely not a heck of a lot going on around here! We spent part of the long weekend out at my Mother & Father-in-law's house, relaxing and being generally pampered. Irina got to spend a good part of yesterday afternoon playing with the cousin that is closest to her age on my husbands side. I tell ya, on their own those are the two sweetest kids; but get them in the same room! I swear in a few years that they will be planning global domination!

I've been doing more sewing than knitting lately. Now that the cooler weather is coming and Irina isn't going to be wearing shorts much anymore, she needs pants that fit! I also have a pattern for a light-weight jacket that I am going to make for her. I've never done anything like it before so this should be interesting, to say the least...

Just when you think tou're a total screw-up as a parent your four-year-old turns off the t.v (!), puts on a Beatles CD when you suggest listening to some music (!!), and then proceeds to sing along with half of the songs because she knows them from listening to the CD so many times before (!!!)

Damn, maybe we are doing something right after all!

It's a gray, rainy day here, which is a good thing, but I'm already ready for a nap! I think today is going to be seriously heavy on the caffine side.

Do I have anything exciting to say? Naw. Maybe later.

Neat! I actually made it almost all the way around the KnitBlog list last night, catching up with a lot of the 'old timers' and "meeting" all of the new folk! Many joyous Greetings to all!

I managed to pick up my needles and work on a sock that I started back in the end of June. It's been so hot this summer that the thought of working on wool socks has been right out. But September is in sight, and if I'm going to have to cram my pampered tootsies into shoes again after a summer of freedom in sandals, they are going to be properly cushioned by a pair of newly hand knit sockies!

I haven't been completely idle. I've been brushing up (OK, learning) how to do applique while working on this quilt. I started with the center block, and have a few of the others done. It's not huge, 48"X48", and will make a nice wall hanging. It will also be good the see my learning curve, because I gotta tell you, that first block is pretty damn bad! My applique goal? To be able to do a quilt like this one, and to do it well.

Six years ago, yesterday



Happy Anniversary, My Love

Oh m'gawd! Over 100 KnitBlogs! And how cool is that? I haven't been all the way around the ring in soooooo long! *sigh* It'll happen some night, when I have about 6 hours to kill and don't have to get up the next morning!

I hope my comments comes back soon. I miss them, even though they don't get much use. I have a headache and am throwing a pity party for myself. Blahblahblah.

Ah well. Must have something to make me smile!

Mmmm, mmm, mm!

Oh Hip, Hip, Hooray!!! We *finally* got that temperature drop that we've needed around here! (Tho' if one more person says: "It's not the heat, it's the humidity" I am going to thump them!) It was pretty funny today. I have never seen so many people happy, smiling, and even downright giddy at the fact that it was a gray, rainy morning! It was just a huge relief. When you work in agriculture the heat we've been having ain't nothing but trouble. Our only complaint about today is that we didn't get more rain!

I have to admit not doing any knitting over the last week or so. I only have to do the sleeves of the Kokopelli sweater, which will go up fairly quickly once I get started on them. It should be, I hope, cool enough over the next few days to get them done. Of course, I don't know why I'm in such a rush. It's not like The girlie is going to be able to wear it any time soon!

And, as per Grandma's request, a picture of her beautiful granddaughter not doing something goofy!

(not me in the background! it's my sis-in-law Tessa)

Dang! I have a 4-year-old! How the heck did that happen so fast?!? And how did she get so long and tall? I am constantly amazed by her...

I cease to be amused by the heat. Bleh.

Judy, where ever you are, hang on. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

I was experiencing blogging difficulties, but it seems ok now...

Heat waves suck. It's suppose to be near 100 today. No knitting, not much computering. Air conditioning. Must find air conditioning.

We will resume our regularly schedued blogging when the temperature has dropped about 20 degrees! Keep cool All!

Hard to believe...

Four years ago I started doing the hardest, scariest, toughest, most difficult, most rewarding, most fun job that I could ever think of having in my entire life...

I became a Mother!

Happy Birthday Irina!



My goofy Girlie!

My throat is sore, my nose is stuffy, my back aches and I'm tired. I should do some picking up around here, as my Mommy is coming up to have dinner with the girlie and I, but I don't wanna. Heck, I've already dropped the short one off at daycare, done the grocery shopping, and thrown out half of the contents of the 'fridge. I'm grabbing my Clive Cussler book and crawling back into bed for a few hours. I have to be "Mommy On Duty" for the next two days with little chance for space to myself, I should rest while I can! Right? Right! (Just nod and agree, it's safer)

I got the phone call that I wanted. Tony's there, healthy, and ready to bury himself in a windowless room with who knows how many other people playing games for the next 48+ hours! (He actually called a few hours ago, and was scheduled to start his first tournament shortly after that, so the gaming has begun!)

I, myself, am struggling with the sleeves for the Kokopelli sweater. I just can't get them to work right to save my life. I've knit and ripped one of them three times already and think I've worked the problem out. Now I've just got to try it again!

Aha! Now I know who to blame for my Alchemy addiction! I guess turn about is fair play...Have you ever played Marbles Christiane? >insert wicked little laugh here while rubbing hands together gleefully<

Plane number 1 has landed safely in Newark. Now I can breath for an hour until plane number 2 takes off for Milwaukee...

Well, the Mr. is at the airport (waiting in some long line somewhere, I'm sure) to board a plane that will take him to Milwaukee where he will be attending Gen Con! Yes, as he put it last night, he is going to ride on a plane for a few hours to go to a city far away where he will proceed to spend 3 days doing nothing but playing games! I don't see the fascination myself, but he doesn't understand my knitting or quilting stuff either, so I guess that makes us even. He's going to have a blast! And I? I will be able to breath again when I know that his plane has landed!

Yes! The back of the Kokopelli sweater is done! I don't know if I'm completely crazy about it, but Irina is happy so that makes it ok. She has decided that I'm going to do a sweater with SpongeBob Squarepants on it.

I only hope that I can get her to change her mind!

Pictures of the turtle coming when I have daylight and fresh batteries in the camera!

*AHEM*

Who was it who mentioned the game Alchemy in her blog? I'd like to have a *word* with you!...

...right after I finish this level...

Nasty headache today. I hope that means that we really are going to get the rain that they've promised for later. (I ended up with a bad headache, almost a migraine, on friday before the rain hit. That's Kim, the human barometer.) Tony ended up bringing Irina to day care, so I could continue to lay in bed and suffer. I hated asking him to do it, as he is off on thursday and friday for a trip, but I think being sick was an option at that point if I moved too much. (No, Mom, I'm NOT!)

Did a fair amount of knitting last night while watching Murder Rooms on PBS. I've only got the turtle's head left to do, and then an few inches of stockinette to finish the back. I just love 4 stitches to the inch! It's almost instant gratification!

Hmmm...Trying to figure out how to get my archives re-set up. I'm using Blogger for my general updating, but I may switch over to doing my archives manually ('specially as I can't seem to get my ftp path figured out)

(ed:Woo Hoo! Figured it out without hours of cut & paste! The archives are back Mom! *grin*)

(ed again!: ok, but for some reason the page isn't showing up. I think I typed something wrong, as usually the problem is with what I've done, and not something else!)

(edx3: Yup. It's confirmed. I'm a dweeb. They should be working now.)

Yawn. Yup, it's going to be another hot one today. Yuck! It's not too bad now, and the place is quiet as my tall one and small one have gone to church. What I should do is go take a shower and get some knitting in while it's still comfortable enough to do so. (Why does that weather bunny on tv have to be so damn perky when she talks about how uncomfortable today is going to be? Freakishly annoying!)

We had a beautiful downpour of rain yesterday that knocked the temperature down yesterday to make it pleasurable enough to knit. Unfortunately it didn't last through today. Bleh! And it's suppose to be nasty sticky hot again tomorrow. Blehbleh! Well, I managed to get about a third of the way up the back of the Kokopelli sweater last night, and the turtle design seems to be coming along nicely. I may not manage to get anything done tomorrow, but if my pattern of the past few weeks holds I'll end up sleeping most of the day anyway!

Dang it's been hot today. I knit about 5 rows today, and then realized that it just too sticky to be anywhere near wool!

I did manage to completely pick up the girlies room, paying attention to what she has and doesn't even look at anymore. Next week I'm taking a day off from work when she's in school (day care). I am going to go on a sweep in there and donate a huge amount of un-played with toys to Good Will! And she has so many things that have little pieces, and those are scattered all over the place! Unfortunately, she doesn't have the best examples in Tony & I (who have so much *stuff*!), but we could be more organized about it than we are. I'm feeling a major b*tching session coming on, because guess who will be doing the bulk of the major cleaning. Again.

ok, deep breath...he cooks and does laundry...he is very happy to be Daddy when he's home...he puts up with ME! At least he'll take the short one out of the way when I go on my cleaning spree...

Ask and you shall receive: Kokopelli Chart

Enjoy!

All I did yesterday was knit and sleep! I took a three hour nap! Oh, Glory, Glory, Glory!

Even better, I finished the front of the Kokopelli sweater for Irina!

click me!
Pardon my toes...

I've cast on for the back, and am in the process of graphing a turtle to put on it. I'm thinking of purple and green blocks on the arms, to match the small border along the bottom edge. Teeheehee! I'm having fun with this!

The front of the Kokopelli sweater is about one quarter done. I find it easier to work on something that has colors or cables. I'm always pushing to do a few more rows to see where the design is going. Back to work. I hope there's something good on tv to knit to tonight!

Charted out a Kokopelli design for a sweater for Irina yesterday, and started knitting it up. Will I actually finish this project? (Or, more accurately: Will I finish this project before I start jonesing to begin yet another one?) Fortunately kids' sweaters work up so fast that it shouldn't be a problem. Heck, I have to finish this one! Irina's already running around singing her "Kokopelli on my belly" song!

Stupid cat is driving me crazy! I've already dumped water on him twice today since we got home to stop him from doing something he shouldn't. Of course, this is a cat that actually *likes* water. Weirdo.

Oooh...I'm trying a new (to me, at any rate) javascript for my menu. Fingers crossed that this'll work right! Now I just need to re-update my links!!!

I've had to pull a Mommy Trump Card today. Irina is going on a field trip tomorrow with her daycare to the zoo, riding on a school bus and everything. She has been informed that if she does not mind me today, she's not going! (Those of you who are parents understand. Those who don't understand: She will go tomorrow regardless of what happens today; but if it means I can have a relatively peaceful and frictionless day I will hold it over her head! Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.)

After some beautiful, beautiful rain last night the heat broke and it stayed in the 70's today! Huzzah! Decent knitting weather, and we should get a few days worth. Happy, happy, happy.

I seem to remember someone in the recent past mentioning something about a site that will configure graph paper to print that will match the stitch gague. Does this ring any bells with anyone? Any clues? Bueller? Any help in finding it would be great! (Never mind! Found it! Actual Size Graph Paper)

The girlie and I got our hair cut today by a girlfriend of mine, and then we stayed for a long time so our kids could play. So funny to me, the difference between kids. Is it the difference between boys and girls, or just the way we raise our kids? A combination of the two? Anyhow, I got to play with the littlest member of Tracie's family, who is just 2 1/2 months old. What a sweet little guy! And, no, it didn't raise all of those "Gotta have another baby" crazies in me! As much fun as he was, I was perfectly happy to hand him back to his Mommy when he started crying!

It was a brutally hot day here today! I am one of the happy few at work who sit in the air conditioned office area, right inside the door to the sales floor in fact, and it was there that I found my humor today. Because everyone, and I mean everyone, who walked through that door today made some kind of sound! Be it a moan, sigh, cheer, or sob, everyone had some sort of reaction to suddenly being in the nice, cool air conditioning! I did it too, after going and sitting with my friends outside at lunchtime. As I was incredibly aware of it, I tried not to; but there was no way around it! I think part of it was actually being able to breath again after trying to suck in that thick sludge that tried to pass as air today.

And where else can one work where the owner, after paging an employee with a festive holiday name (Noelle), will start singing Christmas Carols over the intercom system? On one of the hottest days of the year? My job just cracks me up sometimes!

Which flock do you follow?

this quiz was made by alanna

WooHoo!

Theresa and Kate are cool, and I'm just a hanger-on-wannabe, but now I have a picture in the mirror project too!

And speaking of Theresa, where is she???

Did I mention that I was allowed to sleep until 10:00 this morning!!! WooHoo!!! I miss being able to do that on a regular basis...

Knit a swatch from my Vermont wool last night (it was cool enough to actually do it). Topper~His Majesty The Cat~who usually has no interest in my yarn was in love with it. He was acting like he had an industrial sized dose of catnip! Crazy Kitty!

Goal for today: Get some under the bed storage containers and try to get a handle on my fabric stash! (Ha!) Which includes weeding out the ugly stuff that I bought when I was obviously not in my right mind.

Because I haven't made you look at my beautiful girl lately (AKA: Freakish Mama Moment)

Well, I finally figured out what *I* was doing wrong. Sometimes you've just got to walk away from it for a little while. Now maybe I can do something fun for a while, instead of agonizing over what's going wrong here. (like finding a cool drop-down menu~I really am such a computer geek in my own way)

Or, it could just be that *my* server, now that it's back, is being horribly slow about showing my posts. I *know* it's slow. I am such a dork!

OK, the lack of comments may not be "my" fault, or maybe everyone else can see them but me? If you can, don't bother leaving me a comment, because at this point I won't see it! (as Kim goes slowly out of her mind...)

Trying to install new comments. Grrr......

Just when I figure out what I've done wrong, my server goes down! *sigh*. So I'm writing this knowing that I can't read it once it's posted (if it posts), and I can't check to see if I did straighten out my template after all. *sigh*

Sushi for dinner tonight! It's a good thing.

OK, I couldn't post for a while because I screwed up the blogger code, but I got that figured out. Now I need to figure out why my images are way the heck down the middle of the page! Hmmm...

Too funny! This the reply that I got from my husband when I told him that I was going to change my template!

Well, you know those great Blogger goddesses, when they decide they want you to do something, there's no half measures. The signs and portents just become more and more insistant until finally the appear in person and slap you around with a rubber chicken until you do it. Be glad you read the omens correctly before that happened.

Honestly, I don't know where that come from.

I just can not figure out what is going on with my javascript! Maybe this is the great Blogging Goddesses way of telling me that it's time to change my template? Hmmm...

Damn...And now I have some Javascript error on the page and my links have gone "poof"! Well, I can't find it (I'm sure it's just a missed comma somewhere or something dumb like that) Tomorrow. I'll deal with it tomorrow!

Finally!!!

I got all of my links updated! Someone kick my butt and remind me not to wait until I have 30 new links to add next time! (Gee, I hope that I got them all...)

She may be whining like crazy today, but my girlie let me take a two hour nap this afternoon! She actually hung out on the bed with me, looking at books and dozing herself (at least she was leaning on my legs every time I surfaced). From the big, dark circles under her eyes, I think that she should have taken a nap today. Can't win 'em all! I can only hope that she'll go to bed early tonight!

Finally made it to the new Walmart up the street this morning. Not too impressed, I must admit. Eh, it's a store, another giant munga store like the three other giant munga stores that have opened around here in the past year.

The kid is in full whine mode today. Driving me out of my mind!

Dang! Sweater design idea jumped into my head last night...it's still there this morning...But I don't neeeeeeeeeed another project!!!

Not much knitting going on around here right now! It's just a little too sticky to hold yarn. So I'm doing some quilting (hand applique), recovering from my reading bindge, and just trying to stay cool. Ah, well. More later as needs warrent...

Would you believe that I am almost done, yes about 125 pages left to go, with Drums of Autumn! When I finish I will have read over 3,000 pages of book in the past week and a half. Phew! I have not been on such a monster reading binge in a long time. Must go finish book!

Finished Voyager at 11:30 last night. Yes, I read a 1,000+ page book in less than 48 hours. If only I could knit as fast...

Look what I got! Look what I got!

I have been green with envy ever since I had seen it on the fab Miss Bonnie Marie's site! And now it's mine! Mine! All MINE! Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!

...I'm OK now...

Yes, it was my birthday yesterday, and a grand one it was! My girlie was sweet all day (!!!), my husband got me a nummy chocolate cake (!!!) and I got to sit around and read all day (576 pages of Voyager down, 483 to go! ~Tony picked up Drums of Autumn too, so I wouldn't have to ask him to!)

I'm sorry that people are having trouble getting here! I think it may have to do with the service that I have hosting my site, I have trouble getting here too, sometimes! (Mom, is it still looking funky to you? You can leave me a message in the "comments" you know, instead of just thinking that you need to tell me later *grin*) Sometimes I can't get here through aol, but when I open IE it works fine. I just don't know what to make of it.

I'm sleepy today...ah, well, back to Clair and Jamie I go...

That's enough excitement for one day. I'm crawling back into bed and pulling the covers over my head. (150 pages of Voyager down, 900 left to go...)

Well, I've got my first pieces cut for my applique quilt. Irina hovered over me, waching very intently, while I traced the templates and cut & placed pieces. She told me that it was going to be "Beautiful" and that she wanted to make one when she was a "big growed-up person". Kids are amazing, when they're not driving you insane!

Unfortunately, I'm paying the price of letting her take a two hour nap this afternoon! She's been out of her room wanting something three times since I tucked her into bed! I should know better than to let her sleep that long during the day. But it was soooooo quiet!!! (prepetual Mommy whine!)

OK, I finished Dragonfly in Amber. Tony has instructions to pick up the next book for me while he's at work tonight. Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow!

Things are feeling lighter now (Thanks Mom).

After being a royal pita all morning my girlie informed me that I "Need to take a nap" with her. So we lay down on our bed, had major snuggles, and both of us drifted off to sleep. I woke up after about half an hour with a sweaty kid stuck to my arm. She's still sleeping, and I'm watching John Edward. I had wanted to go and check out the new Walmart that opened up the street, but if the small one thinks sleep is more important I'm certainly not going to argue about it!

I've started making the templates for an applique pattern that I picked up in Vermont. I'm looking forward to doing it. At the same time it is unlike anything that I've done before, so I've got a small case of nerves (hoping I do it right). But what the heck? If I make a mistake, I'll be the only one who knows!

I know my Mom visits here, I think my MIL does, I don't know if what follows is a surprise to anyone in my family. It's my life and my blog. Oh, I am in a "mood" today.

(as an aside: depression sucks. i had really bad post-partum depression after irina was born, and i've never really snapped out of it. i mean, i think i've always had it to some degree or another, but i did a lot of "self medicating" as a younger adult and it wasn't until i was straight that i could look at what i deal with and realize that yes, i have an illness. and until recently i delt with it on my own.~delt with it? delt with it? who am i trying to kid, i didn't deal with it~some days are harder then others. this feels like it's going to be a hard one)

The sky, even the air here, is an odd gray color. There are wild fires up in Canada, and the smoke is down here making everything bland and colorless...Except for the sun. The sun is a bright orange/red ball hanging in a slate sky. It's such an odd bright spot of color that looking at it actually hurts. When the breeze blows the right way the burning smell wafts inside.

I'm starting to get myself organized and put up pictures of my trip. What I have so far is Images of Hope, Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont. Eventually the thumbnails will pop-up into larger images with descriptions, but I need to play with some code to see how it works. (Suggestions, anyone?)

Just made my way most of the way 'round the knitblog ring for the first time in a week! How amazing is it that there are almost 80 of us? Too wild! *grin*

I'm working hard on trying to get a few pages up from my trip! I've got my pictures from my digital camera somewhat organized (umm..."somewhat oragnized" is a looser term for me that for others, I'm afeered), and I have a couple of rolls of film ready to pick up. I've got a total knitting slow down going on right now, but I see that I'm not the only one. I think I'm just getting my creative rocks off doing some web design.

I have washed some fabric that came with an applique kit that I bought at the quilt show. And did I mention that I picked up some really wonderful hand dyed, hand spun wool at an awesome price? I should have enough for a sweater for myself, or Tony if he likes the colors. My yarn stash now completely overfloweth my hiding place...

Much too late now. At least we should be able to sleep in tomorrow!

It has been so hot here the past few days it's been practically unbearable. No knitting, very little time spent on the computer, just hanging out in my daughter's room in the air conditioning. I looked forward to going to work today just because of the air conditioning, being one of the privledged few who work in the offices. I really did pity those who were stuck outside watering over the past few days-and it was a constant job! Fortunately the heat broke here today. (Tho' I fear it's only going to be a brief reprieve)

I think I've got a nasty case of "startitis" right now. I have 801 things that I could actually try to get around to finishing, but nnnoooo, I want to start something new. Go figure.

Well, aren't I outrageously boring today?

This is going to take forever to load, but until I get myself sorted and organized and a few web pages up on my site, I am afraid that a slow loading blog is the only option!
After a five hour drive (we took our time and avoided all the really nasty major highways), this is the the view that met our sight. The red building in the front is a horse barn on the property. The white house just above and to the left is the Inn that we stayed at!


We took a left at this sign



And this is the porch where we spent a considerable amount of our time



Looking at this view!!!



All I can say is, if you are ever looking for a wonderfully relaxing place to go, with awesome food, and a view to die for, go there!!!

And now we've returned and it's blazingly hot here! Knitting is so completely not an option at this point!

I'm back. BooHooHoo!!!!!!!

What an absolutely amazing time we had! The Inn was astonishing, the quilts were astonishing, I managed to pick up some hand spun, hand dyed wool (of course!), and I have 7 rolls of film and almost 300 pictures in my digital camera to sort through...

I miss my girlie! Time to go pick her up!

I've actually managed to get some knitting done! I'm in the process of turning the heel on the "Pearls of Wisdom" sock, and I've done the ribbing on the Opal sock. The Opal sock isn't going to be quite as orange as I had feared, but it is making me hungry! It's red, orange, white, yellow, and green. I swear that it reminds me of nachos with salsa, guacamole, and sour cream! It could be worse, I suppose...I could be working with shades of brown and thinking about chocolate!

Man-o-man, do I need to update my links list! A task for next week...

If I don't turn off this computer and figure out what clothes I'm packing I'm going to be running around Vermont nekkid! And as laid back at the state might be, it sure ain't ready for that!!! Have a great weekend all!