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...