Yarn?

or something else?

Me and my spindle are getting aquainted. At this point we were not getting along very well. Totally craptastic stuff isn't it?

But then....

things started to get a little better.

A better close up.

Ok, all you spinners out there, I know it isn't great, but it resembles yarn a little bit, yes? I have no idea what these fibers are. They were all given to me to practice on and none of them are labeled. I do know that the lighter blue/green stuff was much easier to work with than the first two. I have some yummy looking cream BFL to try next. Wish me luck!

The "easy" one

Well, I am officially working on one of my older UFO's for February. It is my "easy" shawl (as opposed to my harder laceweight shawl - yes the one that I am still not on speaking terms with). This UFO challenge has been good for me (Thanks again Kat!). I should be finishing this one up soon.

It is the After Hours Shawl from Briar Rose Fibers in Sea Pearl. I don't know why I didn't finish this earlier (I know. I say that about all of my UFO's). This yarn is just gorgeous and the pattern is very easy. I am modifying it by making it much smaller and leaving off the fringe. I want it to be the size of a shoulder shawl to throw on over a blouse or turtleneck. I think tencel is some yummy stuff! So soft and shiny. I wonder how it blocks. I really want to block this thing wider vs longer.

Pretty stuff huh?

I am making a little more progress on the Lopi sweater. I would be done by now if the pattern weren't so doggone confusing. (at least to me hehe) I am not giving up, and I hope to have it done in time to wear it yet this winter (don't worry, winter is very long in Michigan).

I will be home all day today (again). The Monkey is sick (he was yesterday too), so I am not getting any of my errands done sigh.... and I have lots of them this week. His birthday is on Thursday, so I have extra stuff to do for that. Oh well, at least I have knitting. :)

Quickie

Sorry, but I only have time for a quickie post today. This week has been crazy again. I did have a little knitting time and I am happily chugging along on the Lopi sweater.

I did make a stupid mistake on the chart and had to rip a few rows, but I am back on track now. I would really like to finish the fronts this weekend. Hopefully I will have some knitting time tomorrow because I will be at a volleyball tournament all day today.

I also started a new pair of socks, and I am working on a pair of slippers for the hubby. That's all the knitting for today.

Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers for my family. The funeral and dad's surgery went well. I'm just glad this week is almost over...whew!

A cartoon

Ok, I swear I am the star of a new cartoon. Or I might be the knitting coyote, and the roadrunner is kicking my butt over and over again. I feel like the anvil is falling on my head, for the eleventy-billioneth time. Yeah, that is how my knitting was going for a few days. Ugh.

First, I found a mistake in an old project. I started these socks like ages ago. I finished the first sock, but it didn't fit anyone here. So I put it aside to see if it fit my mom (elf feet, except no curly toes), and if it did, I would knit her the other sock. Well, it fit. So....I started the 2nd sock (after hunting for the stitch pattern for over an hour. I really need to keep a journal! DUH!). Everything was going fine until I picked up the gusset stitches. My stripes in the yarn were not matching with the first sock, and they had been until the gusset. So I compare the two socks. OH MY GOSH!!! I never turned the heel on the first one. I just picked up the gusset stitches right after knitting the heel flap. AND I KNIT THE WHOLE SOCK WITHOUT NOTICING IT! What a loser! So now, I have to rip the entire foot out of the first sock and reknit it WITH A HEEL TURN! Crap, I just found a mistake in the second sock too. I am ripping these, I give up. The anvil has landed on this one for the last time.

Enter second knitting problem. I picked up the Swallowtail shawl the other night. I have not worked on this in ages. I really have to be in the mood, and be able to concentrate, without distraction, to work on lace. Also, I am not accustomed to working with THREAD. Yikes that laceweight yarn is fine! Well anyway, I was knitting along (about 45 min worth), and things were going fine. I go to knit the next row and the stitch count was off at the end of the row. So I think, well I can tink this and fix it. Well, WHAT WAS I THINKING?! After tinking for about 45 min, I decide to rip back to my last lifeline. In other words, absolutely no progress after almost 2 hours of work. Sigh. I could have cried (if I hadn't been so mad!).

Yeah, today might be better right? My dad is having surgery, so I will definitely have some knitting time at the hospital. I am actually making some good progress on the Lopi sweater.


I have the back finished and one front almost done. Yay! Things are looking up. I just got a shipment from the Acme Knitting Company (maybe I can get rid of that roadrunner hehe). Just kidding. By the way, I always hated that cartoon. I did not think it was funny. I felt sorry for the coyote and that smug little roadrunner just needed a good slap (or a good jab with really sharp knitting needles).

(Please forgive the blatant overuse of capitals. A frustrated girl needs her capitals.)

Hedera

Quick post today. You get the bare minimum. I apologize for the bad pic and lack of links. My aunt passed away last night so it is a little bit crazy around here.

I finished my Hedera socks this weekend. This pattern is so nice. Easy to memorize, great looking and a fast knit for most people.

I did shorten the heel flap, it seemed way too long in the original pattern. I used two skeins of Koigu on size 1 Addis. Go ahead, make yourself a pair. I will make the knee-high version (Sodera) eventually, but I think I will wait until I have my new Knitpicks circulars. It will be easier and faster with sharper points.

I am working on another UFO. I thought I would quick finish some socks up, until I found a bonk-to-the-side-of-the-head-stupid mistake on them. Yeah, you won't even believe this one!

I am not a model

Here is the proof (giggle).

I love my new sweater. I still have not blocked it. I know, terrible of me, but I have had SO MUCH other laundry to do. The sweater is last on the list. It doesn't look that bad pre-blocked, but the seams and neck band need a little help. I also need to get some buttons for it, I just haven't had the time or the desire to get out for them. I can't even decide if I want white, colored, or metal buttons yet. What do you think? This will definitely be a spring/summer sweater....what would look the best?

This is the only part I like about doing laundry.


I just love seeing all my handknit socks lined up on the rack like that. It just makes me happy. Can you tell we really like to wear our handknits here. This is less than one weeks worth of sock laundry. I say why choose store bought if you have these lovelies to wear. I am almost done with the Koigu socks too,. Yay, one more pair to choose from soon!

Nostalgia

There has been a lot of reminiscing around blogland lately. I wonder why.....

I am feeling a bit nostalgic myself today. My wonderful father-in-law passed away one year ago today. He was such a nice man, and I miss him.

Some of this remembering is hilarious. Did you read Laurie's blog today? I almost snorted pop out of my nose on that one. Hehe, do you smell something? Do you just want to dance or do aerobics in a snazzy outfit? :)

Jen also posted some memories. Wow, I could relate to those! Moon boots, snowmobile suits.....what else? Legwarmers? Gauchos? Shag haircuts? Bad perms? No you are not getting any bad pictures of me. For one thing, I don't actually have any, and for another, even if I did, I am not as brave as Laurie. (giggle, she has the most embarassing best pics ever!)

I do have some great memories, but I think some of them could start with the phrase "you know you're a redneck when" (imagine an amazing hillbilly accent there). We lived next to my grandparents when I was young. I think we moved "to town" when I was in 4th grade. My grandma was my very best friend. She was just the greatest. We spent hours and hours together. She taught me to sew, garden, crochet, iron, bake, can, freeze, feed the animals, clean their stalls, gather eggs, ride a pony, drive a pony cart, and many more.

Horror of all horrors, I actually learned to "clean" chickens. Now you city folk, cleaning a chicken does not mean giving him or her a bath. This is what happens when the chicken needs to go from clucking to dinner. My gramps would kill the buggers and then gram and I would pluck 'em and clean 'em. You city folks should know, chicken does not just grow in those little yellow, neatly wrapped packages. It starts out with feathers a beak and ugly feet. We would have to put them through a plucking machine, and then....(squeamish people turn away here) clean out their undesirable insides. Then on to the freezer they went. Not a fun job, but part of farm life. Hope I didn't scare ya all to death there. My gram was a saint. She let me make her dozens of crocheted potholders, ugly quilt squares, and yucky cookies. She was the best! She helped me to love crafts after all, which led to knitting, yay! Yeah....lots of my memories are so much better than chickens!

Big Ole Update

Well, we are still snowed in here, well sorta. They are just advising people not to go out unless necessary. We continue to get snow, and the temps are in the single digits or below. It now looks like this out my windows:


It just keeps getting deeper and more slippery on the roads here.
School was cancelled again today. Two days in a row is unheard of here. We are not wimps. We live in Michigan!


I looks beautiful from INSIDE, but yuck, this weather pattern can move on anytime now!

I do like the amount of knitting I get done when I can't go anywhere.


I made another hat for The Monkey, because he was so crushed that he lost his other one. He loves the new one, although I think I could have made it a tad bit longer.

I also started a new project for The Sporty One. She got a new coat and didn't have a hat to match.


So far I made her a bulky earflap hat, and started a scarf. I am going to embellish these a bit more with the contrasting yarn, and maybe make her a pair of mittens too. Wow can you knit something quick in this big ole bulky yarn! Fun stuff! She is bugging me like every 5 minutes to finish them, so I guess I will be working on this project today.

I actually have more progress too. A LONG-IGNORED UFO is now officially sewn together and just needs blocking. YAY FOR ME! This thing has been haunting me for way too long! I also made some progress on the Hedera socks. I would have even more progress if I had not been surfing blogland and obsessing over knee socks! I want to knit some, but haven't really found a cuff-down pattern yet. I keep seeing lots of toe-up versions which are gorgeous, but as of yet, I have not mastered the toe-up sock. I am also concerned about yardage. How many yards do knee socks actually take? Help me out readers! I need to make some knee socks!

Blizzard!

I live in Michigan, and wow is the weather nasty here today! We are under a blizzard warning.


That is what it looks like out my window already, and it is supposed to get much worse! (sorry for the bad pic, but it is snowing like crazy out there, so I took it through the window) It is deep already here, I am sure we have over 2 feet on the ground in spots.

The forecast says more accumulating snow, winds picking up to 40mph, blowing and drifting, dangerous travel conditions, and wind chills between -10 and -20. I guess I will be staying home today, YIKES! Everything around here is cancelled for today anyway, and probably will be tomorrow too. Parker lost his hat yesterday, so I think I will be kntting him a new one. Maybe I will haul out one of my shawls in honor of the UFO challenge too. Have a good weekend and happy knitting!

Be gone UFO's!

I was reading Kat's blog yesterday and loved her idea of a UFO challenge. Believe me I need this! I don't even like to count my UFOs. I barely squeaked in by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. Sign ups end today.


I technically have to work on a UFO today too, in order to qualify for the January challenge. Well believe it or not, I have the perfect thing. I am actually horribly embarassed to even admit I have this UFO. It is a FREAKIN DISHCLOTH! Yes, a dishcloth. And this is all that needs to be done on it:


Ridiculous isn't it? Now why in the world did I not finish this thing? Why let it haunt me as a UFO when I only have a couple rows to do? I don't know. It's just dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

I am so glad that Kat came up with this idea. I have lots of projects that won't have to haunt me anymore! (By the way, not all of them are as dumb as the dishcloth.) Ok. I quick sat down and finished it!!!


And while I was at it, I found another face cloth that just needed the ends weaved in. I finished both of them. Yay two UFOs gone for January! Go me!

Nothing special

I don't really have anything spectacular or even great. I have been knitting on the Koigu socks.


So far I really like the yarn and the pattern. I can't find the ball band for the Koigu, so I have no idea which colorway it is, but the pattern is Hedera from Knitty. It is fun and easy to memorize, even for me. I am totally memory challenged!

I didn't make a lot of progress on my Lopi sweater. I went to The Sporty One's all-day volleyball tournament on Sat. I left at 8:15 am, and didn't get home until 6:15 pm. I was exhausted. I had a little something to eat, fell asleep on the couch at around 7:30 pm and slept until 8:00 am Sun morning. Ya think I was a bit tired hehe? I also had a migraine yesterday. Migraines and knitting do not mix. I couldn't even concentrate. Well, the migraines are a medication side effect, and I don't have to take it anymore, so I hope that will be the last one! I am having outpatient surgery tomorrow morning, and it should take care of a lot of my health issues. Yay!

I'll be back when I'm feeling better!

Knitting! Really...I'm not kidding!

You probably thought you would never see knitting again here. Well today I actually have some to show you. I would have posted this stuff earlier but The Sporty One took my camera to school. Apparently she wanted to take pics with her volleyball team and friends. How rude! Does she not realize I might need it to blog?!!

The other night, I finished the never-ending Trekking Socks. Finally!!! Here they are in all their stockinette glory, not so beautifully displayed on my uber-cheesy, make-your-own, wire hanger sock blockers. Eh, they do the job. I really should invest in a cute pair sometime though.



They did turn out really cute, but honestly I don't think I will wear them. I am not kidding. These socks just left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe it's that knitting funk thing. Thank goodness that is over! The Sporty One is very willing to wear them, and she will enjoy them much more than I would.

I also started on the Lopi sweater that I have had languishing in the stash for a while. I love the looks of this pattern, I was just really intimidated to try knitting with multiple colors. I just started the first row of the colorwork.



And, big suprise hehe, I already need help. I am going to my LYS shortly for help with the purl side. I cannot figure out how to avoid long floats when purling. Hopefully they will be able to show me what I am doing wrong. The chart doesn't work out right on this pattern either. Not fun for a person who has never done a pattern like this before. I searched for errata, but I couldn't find any. I am not giving up! Any hints for me out there?

I also started some new socks in Koigu! Believe it or not, this is the first time I have used it. I'll have pictures of those next time.

Thanks for all the compliments on my ring. You guys are all so sweet! I wish I could meet all of you someday! I really only have a couple of local knitting friends, so I just love having blogging friends too!

From "Oh No!" to "Woo Hoo!"

I have a sad little story for you. (but it does have a happy ending if you're patient)

I don't remember if I mentioned this on the blog before, and I am too lazy to go back and check, so bear with me if you have already heard it. Last year on New Year's Day I woke up to a horrible discovery. The diamond in my wedding ring was GONE! Yes GONE! I was crying my eyes out. I even vacuumed the entire house so the darling hubby could go through the vac system and filter all the contents through a screen. No luck! It was not to be found. I was devastated. My diamond was gone forever! To top it off, we didn't have it insured, unless it had been lost in a fire or stolen. So for over a year, I was without a wedding ring. That was a very odd feeling for me. I didn't like it much. My hubby HATES buying jewelry, not to mention the fact that diamonds are EXPENSIVE, so we put off buying a new one.

Well.....finally he let me get a new one. While I was on my cruise, I visited a jeweler in St. Maarten that was highly recommended by a friend. She has purchased quite a few pieces from him in the past, and every time her jewelry appraised at FAR more than she paid for it. I was so excited to see his stuff, and he had exactly what I wanted. So I brought home this:



Excuse the disgusting looking old lady hands in the picture. Hehe, apparently I have not used any hand lotion for about 2 years. But anyway, I love the ring and I am so happy to be wearing a wedding ring again.

In other news: I actually picked up my knitting today. (Don't laugh! Yes I still knit.) The neverending pink Trekking socks will be finished tonight (I hope). About time huh? Gosh I have never had a pair of socks on the needles for this long. I cannot wait to be done with them. I love that yarn, but I am so sick of seeing it. I think I will definitely give these to the Sporty One. She loves them and I think they will just remind me of the horrible knitting rut I have been in lately. I can't wait to move on to other UFOs or a new project!!!!

Also, I promise I will show ya some cruise pictures, as soon as I get them. I didn't take my own camera along on the trip, because my girls wanted a camera at home. They had their winter dance at school, and wanted pics of everyone dressed up. I can't blame them. So, my sis and my friend both took their cameras. Now I just have to wait for them to make me a cd.

P.S. - Thanks so much for all the comments, even when I have been the worst blogger EVER! I just love hearing from all of you, and I really appreciate you not giving up on me. You really helped pull me out of this funk I have been in. Now I am actually excited about knitting again. Yay! Bring it on!

Anyone still out there?

I am back.

I am exhausted.

But I am tan!!!!

Preparation

Like I said yesterday, I am busy cleaning, organizing and packing. I am going on another cruise. This is by far not a normal occurence. The only reason I was able to go on this one, is because my sis is a travel agent, and she got us a great deal. Her husband couldn't go, so lucky me! A friend of mine is going with us, and it will be a girls week away. Yay! The Sporty Daughter has a volleyball tournament tomorrow, so we will probably leave after that to get to the airport. We will fly out early Sunday morning, and arrive in San Juan late afternoon. Our flights kinda stink, but oh well, we will have fun anyway lol.

I feel so unorganized right now. I really need to kick it in gear here. Seeing I will be at the tournament all day tomorrow, I need to be finished packing by tonight. You see, I have this chronic overpacking problem, so I am trying to reduce the pile! I never know how much knitting to take either. Last trip I didn't do much knitting, but you never know. This trip could be different. I think a few projects should be enough. I will take the three things I mentioned yesterday and call it good.

A couple of you asked about the pink Trekking yarn. It is color #05. I found it at my LYS.

Well I will see you all when I get back! Thanks for all the great comments lately. You guys are the greatest!

P.S. I completely missed my blog's one year anniversary. I will do something fun to celebrate when I get back.

Finally!

Yay, I can post again! The computer was giving me fits, so I finally broke down and brought it in for service. Now it is working great and I can blog, keep up with my bloglines, chat with my friends etc. I have been missing all of them so much!!!! I hope not everyone gave up on me. I actually got a little knitting done too. Haha, don't get excited or anything, I just made some progress on the pink Trekking socks.


I thought working on a simple project might help get me in the right mood again. I was right. I am ready to go!

I think I am going to start a vest (probably one from that book) this weekend, finish up the socks, and I might start a new pair of socks from one of the slip stitch patterns in Sensational Knitted Socks. I have never tried that technique before, so we will see how it goes. I have the perfect yarn for them though. I received this yarn from a secret holiday swap partner (thanks Sharon!!!!!), and I can't wait to use it!


She gave me a skein of each of these colors, and I think they will make a beautiful pair of socks! Wish me luck!

I have been shopping, organizing and packing. Tomorrow I will tell you why. (squeal!)

Maybe TMI?

Ok, I am giving you fair warning. This post could be filed under the Too Much Information category. So, if you don't want to read any further, I understand.

You can probably tell that I have been a little lackluster in the posting category lately. It's actually a combination of things, including a bit of post-holiday letdown. In addition to that.....

*Things have been a little, shall we say, overwhelming in the extended family situation. Some family members are just plain difficult to deal with sometimes. We will leave it at that in case said person(s) happen to read this blog. Highly unlikely, but not worth the risk.

*In the knitting category, I am a little burned out. After crunching out the Christmas gifts, well, I need a little break. I am waiting til the overwhelming urge to knit like a madwoman hits me again. So far, it hasn't. Sigh..... I feel uninspired and highly unmotivated. All is not lost however, as yarn, books, and browsing still tempt me bunches. I have been filing away all sorts of good knitting ideas for when the urge returns. I wish it would hurry though.....

*Health has also been an issue. Due to a new medication I am taking (which I will be calling the Dr. about very soon), I have been having frequent and annoying headaches. Quite frankly, they are really wearing on me. I am hoping to be off the medication soon, which will probably result in a small outpatient surgery, but hopefully it will alleviate both the headaches and the need for the meds. Enough said.

Sorry if I bored you with way too much info. I hope to be feeling better, getting the knitting urge back, and posting some great stuff again soon. Does anyone have anything really inspiring to share with me? Maybe it will help!

I love surprises!!!!

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the surprises. My sis, my Dad and I all chipped in this year to get my mom the best gift!

Do you think she will like it?



Is she not the cutest? We picked her up this afternoon and the party is tomorrow. I am almost bursting with the anticipation!



We love her already! She really likes Parker too. She is the sweetest little thing ever! Ooooh, I can't wait til tomorrow!

Ready to wrap!

Well, I have some gifts finished. Now I just need to wrap them.



I put the button on my niece's purse and felted the slippers. I am sure she will really like them. Aren't they just super cute!?



I also felted the slippers for my mom and her friend. I actually like the ones with the pink stripe better. The contrast is better between colors. Lesson learned. But I know my mom won't care, and if she doesn't like them, I will just make her another pair.

Now I just need to felt two more pairs and I am done with the Christmas knitting. Next year I am definitely starting earlier. I had hoped to get a pair for each of my girls done too, but I don't think I will keep trying. I will just make them after the holidays.

Next year I think I will vary my gifts a little bit more too, so I don't have slipper burn-out! They have been a really great project to take along to volleyball games though. DD Al is playing, and it has been fun getting some gifts done while watching. Yay for multi-tasking.

How about all of you? Got all your holiday knitting done?

Christmas Fun!

A Christmas meme (found various places in blogland)

I had so much fun reading the answers to these questions on other blogs, I hope more people do it!

1. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Um, he is the big kahuna, he has his elves do it.
2. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Well I prefer white lights, but I like the colored ones if they are tastefully done. My pet peeve is when people have all sorts of mismatched lights randomly scattered around their trees and yard. I especially hate it when all the lights on a tree match except for one strand. Gah!
3. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Well that is hard, because I am a huge holiday baker. I can't pick just one either, because my favorite food besides sweets during the holidays, is appetizers. I just love them! Meatballs, shrimp, those little bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, cheese balls, you name it, I probably like it!
4. What is your favorite Holiday memory as a child?
That would be opening up my Ballerina Barbie. She was just so beautiful with her little gold crown and her fluffly white tutu with gold trim. I just loved her. (just a little bit more than my Baby Alive)
5. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Actually this depends on the year at our house. We schedule our own family gifts around all the other parties, so sometimes yes, sometimes no.
6. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Our tree has all white lights, and ornaments to match my family room. Lots of gold, crystal, and shades of rusty red, and a big gold scrolly star on top.
7. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
I actually like it until the end of January or so. After that it can just go away.
8. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
My favorite would have to be all the goodies I make, especially my grandma's toffee recipe, peanut brittle, and fudge!
9. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Oh how hard to pick just one. Maybe O Holy Night, I really love that one.
10. Candy canes! yuck or yum?
Eh, I could take them or leave eating them. But they are such a part of Christmas, I would never want them to disappear.
11. Favorite Christmas tradition growing up:
Being together as a family. I loved it when I would get to see my cousins from out of state, being with a really big group, and
12. Breakfast or presents first?
Breakfast. A girl's gotta eat!

I really love Christmas. There is so much meaning behind it, it is such a wonderful season of family togetherness, and it is just so beautiful! The lights, trees, music, parties, food, surprises....I can't even decide what part is my favorite, because I love it all!

Sneaky knitting

Well, I am have been busy doing my sneaky Christmas knitting. (Hopefully the recipients of these gifts will not read my blog.) Now I am waiting for more wool, so I can finish my last few projects. So far I have 4 pairs of slippers done, and I am hoping to felt some of them this morning.



2 pairs of clogs, and 2 pairs of my thrown together slipper pattern.



I think some of my family and friends will have very toasty feet this winter. I can't wait to see how the stripey ones turn out. I think they're cute already, even though they are HUGE!!!

Well I am off to felt and do some holiday baking. I have at least 20 different cookie, bar, and candy recipes picked out. I just love baking at Christmas time. It is a huge tradition in our family to make tons of goodies. My mom and I have baked together for years. My sister is coming today, and hopefully my mom too. Mom can't eat much of it anymore due to health reasons, but I hope she still comes just to hang out and have fun baking with us. We give some away, take some to parties and eat the rest! Now to decide what to make first!!!! Yumm, I can't wait!

Let it snow!

Well we sure have winter here. It just keeps snowing and snowing and snowing. We did dodge a big storm last night though. Yay! I don't hate snow, but I don't love it either hehe. Last week the kids had a snowday. They loved it, until I made them do this...



You would think I asked them to give up all their worldly possessions. P fought me for about 10 minutes just because he doesn't like sweaters. He wanted a sweatshirt! Well all his sweatshirts have logos and stuff on them, so um, no. Wear the sweater already! I did manage to get a few very nice pics though. This is one of my favorites. I used it to make my Christmas cards. We are supposed to get more snow again tonight. Maybe I will get playing-in-the-snow pics next time!

I have been knitting, but I can't show most of it here. Sneaky Christmas gifts, ya know? Sorry.

Just ducky

This picture just makes me want to say "Quack!". (or possibly don a clown wig)



My good friend JT (currently known as the clog knitting maniac lol) sent me some wonderful clogs to felt. She even made them in my 2 favorite colors! Whoopee! I can't wait to felt them. They came just in time too!



Hehe, here is my old pair. Um, you could say they are well loved! With my gift knitting, I wouldn't have been able to knit myself a pair until after Christmas, but she surprised me with these. Yay, now I won't have to wait! Thanks J!!!!!!!

Oh, remember those wonderful pics from my last post? Well they are but a fading memory....



This is the view out my window this morning. Pretty sure I won't be too hot to knit anytime soon!

I'm back!

Well we got back a little ahead of schedule on Thurs. We were able to catch an earlier flight home, which saved us about 2 hours of airport waiting time - YAY! That is always the worst, getting stuck in airports when you just want to go home and smooch on your kids!

We had a really nice time. It was very relaxing, warm, and fun!



That is our ship anchored out a little. We took small tender boats off the ship to this private island in the Bahamas. The sand was so white and soft, just like baby powder. The water was so incredibly blue, and the weather was perfect that day. We just bummed on the beach for a few hours, and it was just wonderful!



I did just a little knitting on the beach, but most of the time, it just felt too hot. It was more fun to watch people and just relax!



The next day we were in Nassau. We took a ferry so we could see the giant Atlantis Hotel. That place is amazing! Huge. Beautiful. Unique. I have truly never seen anything like it. They are actually building another phase of the hotel right now, even though it is already MASSIVE! We saw their beautiful aquariums, the lobbies, casino, and some of the grounds. Those yachts parked outside were HUGE too. The whole place is truly indescribable.

All in all, it was a great trip. I really enjoyed just getting away with my wonderful hubby. :)

Sailing away.....

Yupp, that's me. Tomorrow morning we are leaving very early for a short cruise. Steve and I celebrated our 20th anniversary this week, yay, so now we are taking off for a little rest and relaxation. Bahamas and Grand Turk here we come!

I have a lot of knitting packed, so I don't get bored on the plane or at the airport. I started a pair of felted clogs (Fiber Trends pattern) for my sister. I have yarn along for a pair for my mom too. I thought they would be nice Christmas presents. I am also bringing the pink Trekking socks, and yarn for another pair, just in case. Wow not too ambitious am I?

Sorry I didn't get a chance to update more this week. I was catching up from musical, Thanksgiving was in there, and I spent the rest of the time doing laundry and packing. I promise I will be more faithful posting (and commenting on your blogs) when I get back. Have a great weekend everyone! I'll be back sometime on Thursday.

Hard for a talker to do!

One

Word

Meme

No

Exceptions

and

No

Cheating

(stolen from Jenn)
1. Yourself: Silly
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): Sweet
3. Your hair: Fine
4. Your mother: Loving
5. Your Father: Special
6. Your Favorite Item: Yarn
7. Your dream last night: Forgotten
8. Your Favorite drink: Diet Coke
9. Your Dream Car: Pilot
10. The room you are in: Office
11. Your Ex: Non-existent
12. Your fear: Heights
13. What you want to be in 10 years? Alive?
14. Who you hung out with last night? Family
15. What You're Not: Boring
16. Muffins: Poppyseed
17. One of Your Wish List Items: Laptop
18. Time: 9ish
19. The Last Thing You Did: Walked
20. What You Are Wearing: Jeans
21. Your Favorite Weather: Sunny
22. Your Favorite Book: Bible
23. The Last Thing You Ate: Cornbread
24. Your Life: Content
25. Your Mood: Happy
26. Your best friend: Sis
27. What are you thinking about right now? Tomorrow
28. Your car: Honda
29. What are you doing at the moment? Sipping
30. Your summer: Short
31. Your relationship status: Married
32. What is on your TV? House
33. What is the weather like? Cold
34. When is the last time you laughed? Tonight
35. Who do you tag? Anyone

P.S. I made a pair of slippers for my nephew. Today my sis tells me that all of a sudden his feet are huge. Crap. I may have to rip out the toes and lengthen them before felting.

Sorry, I will try to have a better post later this week. I am still doing laundry from the musical. I am also preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday. (thank goodness I don't have to do the turkey!) I need to pack too! We leave for vacation on Sat. Yikes, will the busyness never end?!

Oh What FUN!

I went to dress rehearsal last night. It was so much fun. They did so well. I think the costumes turned out wonderfully. For all of you who I promised, here are the pics!!!



That gives a pretty good idea of what the pirates looked like. The pirate king is on the far right. He looks spectacular in his costume. He also did very well on all his parts.



A daughter shot. The one with her arm up is mine. She was singing one of her solos here. She did a good job tonight. Hopefully it will go as well for the rest of the performances!



Another shot of the daughters, with the two of the leads on the left. The one in the center of the trio is L again.

I can't wait to go again tonight. They sound and look awesome. Our school has some major talent I think!

I haven't done a lot of knitting. I started on the next pair of slippers for my nephew. Hopefully I will get them done by the weekend.

Girly Girl and Duh!

I finished knitting some slippers for my neice. She is such a girly girl. She loves frou-frou, glitz, ruffles, well pretty much all things girly. I think she will like these.



I need to felt them yet, but don't they look cute already!

And, hehe, they will match perfectly with the little bag I made for her.



Double cute eh? When I catch up on my laundry I will felt them. Then I just need to sew a little button on the bag, and waalaa, one Christmas present done!

By the way, can ya all wish me some extra brain power? The musical seems to have eaten all of mine. Case in point: I received a note home from P's teacher asking for some corn muffins. Their class is having a Thanksgiving feast on Tues Nov 21. So last night I am thinking at musical....tomorrow is Tues...do I have to do anything tomorrow? Corn muffins popped into my head (the Tues thing is what got me). So I come home and bake corn muffins at 10pm. Yes 10pm. Um, duh, this morning it hits me that they are not due until next week. (Insert entire body blush due to extreme embarassment here.) Yeah, stupid, stupid, stupid! Please, someone out there, fess up that you once did something kind of flaky. At least I didn't send them to school......then I would have received the queen of stupid award. Grrrr!

Duh. Yupp, just duh.

P.S. I hope nobody snorted coffee out of their nose, while laughing at me.

A breather....

Today I am taking a breather from musical stuff. I was literally busy all day and all night every day this week with costumes. We had a minor crisis with the lead's dress, but it is fixed now and looks much better! We still have a few last minute things to do next week, but today and tomorrow I will try not to think about any of it. I need a break! By the way, thanks for all your encouraging comments! (and thanks for not leaving lol)

I have done very little knitting. I am still on the gusset decreases of the pink Trekking sock. I have only been able to sneak in a few rows (sigh). Oh well, only one week to go, and then I will have knitting time again. A few of the projects I won't be able to blog about (secret stuff), but I hope to start my Christmas knitting during Thanksgiving week. I'm getting a little nervous about getting it all done. I want to make about 5 pairs of felted slippers for family members. I know they don't take long, but 5 pairs, yikes! I have that secret stuff to do too. I will have to knit like crazy!

Well I am off to catch up on laundry. I'm sure I will be at it all day. I hope that pile doesn't swallow me alive lol. It is almost bigger than me! (not kidding...really!) I will try to get a few rows of knitting in too!

Only

This is the only thing I have been working on, but oh is it making me happy!

What happy yarn! It's Trekking color #05.

A sock is all I have had time to work on. I sneak in a few rows here and there, and I am making pretty good progress. I started it on the way to dinner Monday night and I am already on the heel flap. It is my on-the-go project.

I am so far behind on everything else. Last night I left for the musical at 3pm and didn't get home until after 8pm. Yikes! My house is a disaster! My laundry pile is multiplying like bunnies, and I have no hope of making a dent in it today...sigh. Later this morning we are fixing dresses, running to borrow some pirate boots from another school, and shopping the thrift stores for a few last minute props. Tonight we will be gone all night to practice again. Last night I fixed at least 5 fancy hats, pinned everything in sight, and so far we have only covered one of the outfits that the cast is wearing. There at least 2 more to go, OH MY!!!!!! (I can do this, I can do this, I can do this!)

I will not think about the fact that I have barely started my Christmas knitting. Oy!

A different focus

Because I haven't been working on socks (the toe-ups have still not been mastered lol), my other knitting projects have been growing.

I have been making good progress on the prayer shawl.



I have about 10 inches to go, which shouldn't take too long if I get any decent knitting time. A friend of mine finishes all her prayer shawls with an i-cord edging, and I think I may try it for this one. A nice finished edge would be a nice change from fringe, especially with Homespun yarn. This yarn frays very quickly, and I want this shawl to stay looking nice for a while for my friend. I would feel terrible if it started looking yucky right away. Let's just hope I don't hate knitting i-cord edging as much as I hate making i-cord hehe.

I also made some progress on my Swallowtail shawl. (yeah, I know, we haven't heard about this shawl for ages)



I pinned it out a little, but I think it will look much better when pinned out properly for blocking. I hope to get through this main part of the body soon, so I can move on to the next lace pattern. I wish working with laceweight yarn went faster for me. At least I am smart enough to use lifelines. If I hadn't, this would be a giant pile of frogged yarn. A couple of times I needed to rip out about 4-5 rows because I dropped a stitch and couldn't get it picked back up right. Whew, so thankful I didn't have to start over completely!!!!!!

I picked up this fun little surprise at the grocery store the other day.

No, I didn't need it, but I am a sucker for these shiny little booklets. Plus, who could resist those little booties? Awww....

Well wish me luck. I have a lot of costume stuff to do this week for the musical. Performances are next week, so right now we are putting the final finishing touches on all the costumes, making sure everything looks good together, and doing last minute repairs, changes, fittings, etc. Let's just hope nobody rips a sleeve off or something. I have to be at a few rehearsals too, so this week will be very busy! I may have to cast on a sock (cuff down maybe? snort). That way I will have a portable little project to carry along, just in case I can sneak in a few rows here and there. I will try to get some pictures too!

P.S. Thank you blogger for being so fast today, however, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't eat my first draft ever again.

Note to self

Toe-ups are not fun.

Me and the toe-ups......
we are not friends.

We may never become friends.

They don't like me.
I don't like them more.

My precious first skein ever of Koigu has been frogged at least 5 times. I have almost cursed way more times than that. I will only do these again if absolutely necessary. (as in only if it is life and death)

Currently I am trying the turkish cast on. It is going okay. Although if I were knitting a cuff down sock, I would have 1/2 a leg done by now. Just sayin. What do you toe-up people see in this method besides being able to use every bit of yarn? It is so fiddly. More than fiddly. Pain in my butt fiddly.

I am a cuff down girl. Period.

I will not let the toe-ups beat me. I will win. And then I will cackle with glee. And tell myself that they were only for a challenge, I mastered it, so now I don't have to do them again. It will be a lie. The truth is....
so far I just hate them.

Dang how I wish those Sodera knee socks were cuff down. Pout.

Pictures I hope!

Well we will see if Blogger is playing nice today. Nope. Of course not. That would be too much to ask. So I will continue to write this posts in shifts, and pray it actually lets me load all my pics. So far I have tried about 30 times (ok, now updated to at least 50, and 3 pics is all you get today. I have had enough!). I think my eye is twitching now grrr....

Anyhoo.....
The hat I told you about yesterday: (Haha this pic is so gumpy. I will try to get a better one later!)


Very simple. Two little gray stripes. He loves it. That's all that matters!

I am also working on a prayer shawl for a friend of mine. She requested one at Bible study one day, so I am going to surprise her with it.



I am using Homespun yarn (not my favorite by a long shot) because that is what she liked. I am using the standard prayer shawl pattern, nothing fancy. I hope she likes the color I chose for her.

I am also working on some socks out of Cherry Tree Hill sportweight yarn. I am still on the first sock....sigh.



Yeah, normally I would have had these done by now. Why, you ask, am I making like no progress? Because I simply hate hate hate this yarn. I normally love CTH yarn, but this sportweight is a whole different animal. It feels like you are knitting with the cruelest cotton imaginable. My hands kill after just a few minutes with it. It says it is still superwash merino, but you would never know it when knitting with it. I don't know if I can even bear to finish these. Maybe I should save it for a future baby hat and booties or something, just so I don't have to deal with it anymore right now. I do have that knee socks yarn waiting lol. (But I am so chicken to try toe-ups. Can ya all send me some bravery?!!!)