My Funky Knitting World!

Ok, So Maybe They Don’t Suck!

2006-05-26T08:44:00.000-05:00

I got everything straightened out this morning. Turns out, when you add a form of payment (such as I was doing the other day) the bank automatically holds that money. Once you hit “Complete Transaction” (which I was not doing) the fund actually LEAVE the bank. So even though the funds were still in the bank, they were locked so we couldn’t use them.

ANYWAY everything’s fine now, but I can tell you – I will NOT use my debit card for practicing anymore!!!

Mall Gift Cards Suck!

2006-05-26T07:25:00.000-05:00

So, a few days ago, I was testing out the gift card software and getting myself as familiarized as possible. Then when a customer threw a curve ball at me, I’d be ready.
To the best of my understanding, you could ‘test’ the system all day long and nothing would actually ‘happen’ until you completed the transaction. So, using my own debit card for the transactions, I was always falling short of that step. Granted, I did a LOT of transactions and put quite the amount on some of those transactions… but I digress.
Last night, Adam was at the store and our debit card was declined. Um…yeah. The software decided to take the money out of my account ANYWAY and now our account is in the hole BIG TIME!!!!!!

How could this happen?

I’ve got a call into the representative so hopefully this should get resolved quick. I’ll keep you updated because, well, I KNOW you’re on the edge of your seat. ;-)

Bad Blogger!!!

2006-05-25T14:19:00.000-05:00

Yes, I’m still around. Just been very busy! If you recall, I told you I work in a mall. Well, we JUST rolled out a mall-wide gift card and the program’s taken up the main part of my work days, which is about the only time I have to blog. By the end of the day, I’m so sick of being on the computer that the last thing I want to do is go home and get on it. However, my day’s are starting to free up again a bit more and come the end of June, I will be on vacation for 1 ½ weeks! I’m so excited! Adam and I are going to be with his family for the first part of that. We’re going to Medieval Times to celebrate out anniversary, which was yesterday. A whole 3 years! Anyway, then we’re leaving Kaylee with them and we’re going to come home and have the house to our selves for the whole week. Adam had the week off as well, so we’re going to lots of movies and dinners! 

Anyway, pictures are coming soon! I just signed up for Project Spectrum (now that the third month’s almost over) so you will be seeing those photos as well as my Dye-O-Rama yarn that will be sent off to my pal first of next week, should everything go right. In the midst of all this dying, I’ve noticed that not only is it a lot of fun, it’s MUCH easier to do than I thought.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll write soon with a post overloaded with photos! 

Mother's Day

2006-05-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

Look at what my wonderful baby girl got me for Mother's Day!!!

Violet

Check Out The Lady Bug!

Oh, and my husband helped a little, too ;-)

Eitherway, I LOVE the plant and thought it was sweet. :-)

Quiz Time!

2006-05-11T09:54:00.000-05:00

Think you know me pretty well? Want to find out some things you don't know about me?

Take My Quiz!

So Hungry!!!

2006-05-10T15:46:00.000-05:00

I could just about eat my own arm, I’m so hungry. However, we have visitors from corporate here at work today and I have to appear to be busy. Appear to be busy means no eating  I’ve gotten a ton of work done today too. I never realized how much I actually slack off ;-)

I got my shipment of Knit Picks in so I can continue to work on Something Red. I am DEFINITELY ripping the sleeves when the sweater’s completed, and re-knitting them to fit better. They’re a tad too short and too big – especially for ribbing. I’m finally about to start on the ribbing of the body tonight. That will start to put a little closure on the sweater for me. To know I’m that close to finishing is a good feeling. Granted, it is inches and inches of ribbing, but getting closer to the end none the less. Now, the hunt for the perfect under-shirt.

Mom’s socks are at a stand-still. I knitted one too short and don’t have the heart to rip back. I keep hoping that the next time I see it, it will have ripped back and re-knitted itself. 

I started knitting a bag a couple of nights ago, but I only have one ball of yarn so it will have to be tiny. It MAY be big enough to be a sock knitting bag. We’ll have to wait and see.

This Is So Me!

2006-05-05T09:08:00.000-05:00

You Have A Type B+ Personality

You're a pro at going with the flow

You love to kick back and take in everything life has to offer

A total joy to be around, people crave your stability.

While you're totally laid back, you can have bouts of hyperactivity.

Get into a project you love, and you won't stop until it's done

You're passionate - just selective about your passions

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

2006-05-03T09:43:00.000-05:00

*Sighs Heavily* How I wish I could join all of you at the festivities this year, but alas, I live in Florida and the money for two plane tickets and a hotel room is just NOT in my near future. However, I’m saving every nickel and dime (and an occasional penny here and there) and I plan on going next year. Hey, what’s one year? We all know how quickly time flies anymore, and this way I’ll have more time to knit something really nice to wear. AND I’ll have saved up a little extra to buy as much stuff as I want! :-) Joy!!!

Ok, now that you all know how broke I am (he he) on to knitting. Something Red’s progressing nicely. I’ve been in denial about how much yarn I had left, so I stopped working on it. See, my mom has watched Kaylee for 2 years and we never had to pay for sitters. Well recently, mom has decided to take it down to only 2 days a week and we had to start paying for childcare. Even more recently, she took it down to only 1 day a week. Now, I know we have been VERY fortunate over the past few years, but I tell ya, one sure gets spoiled with the extra income of not paying for a sitter. ;-) Mom needed a break, and that’s fine! So anyway, money’s been a little tight as we get used to the new system and I had to go on a (GULP) *whispers* yarn diet. I’ve never been on one before and went into complete denial. I believe my thoughts went something like this… “Well, if I stop working on Something Red, my last ball can’t possible run out!” Lol, so I stopped until I was able to order more yarn. As long as I had that yarn, I knew I could make a stitch here or decrease there, but when the yarn was gone, IT WAS GONE!!! Now that more yarn’s on the way to live with me, I’ve picked up the sweater and started working on the last ball. I’ve almost completed the second sleeve and am not too far from the ribbing on the lower half. I love working on it. The pride in knowing I am creating a sweater, my first sweater is so exhilarating!!! Can’t wait!

On the Weight Watchers front, I’m at a bit of a stand still. I’ve gained a pound the past two weeks, but last week I lost both of them. I’m at a tie for my lowest weight since I started, which I’m still happy about. I think exercise had finally clicked for me this week, so maybe I can get into the groove of that and lose more this week. HOWEVER, Saturday is the Kentucky Derby and mom and I are making a Martini Bar. Calorie City, but it will be fun. :-)

An Interesting Night Sleep

2006-04-26T07:49:00.000-05:00

This was too good – I had to post! I woke up laughing!

I have an extremely vivid imagination, so pretty much anything I experience throughout the day, I tend to dream about within the next couple of nights.

That being said, allow me to collaborate on the events of the past few days. Mom and dad are building a house on a 10 Acre lot, minimal 3,000 sf. Last night, I watched a show on the Food Network regarding a gingerbread competition. Everyone had to build famous mansions out of gingerbread. Yesterday, I took an on-line quiz, and the word sheep was involved in one of my answers. OK, my chain of events is set; on to the dream.

I was walking along, minding my own business, and out of nowhere was this HUGE house (one of the mansions from the competition) with the front door wide open. So, I decided to go inside and have a look around. Mom was standing in the living room, telling some lady that she loved the house. (I’m guessing this has something to do with them building.) I waited for her to finish, and we walked back outside. There was a lady squatting on the lawn by the side of the house. Surrounding her, were about 2 dozen tiny (about a foot tall) sheep! Suddenly, Adam was there and I was asking him if I could buy one! The squatting lady smiled and said “No honey, these sheep have….” After that, I don’t remember much more. I think she was trying to tell me something was wrong with their wool, which was the reason they were so small. I think I ended up getting on anyway but I couldn’t tell you for sure! :-D Ha!!!

Dye-O-Rama

2006-04-21T14:24:00.000-05:00

Look what I signed up for!

I can’t wait to get my match!!!

(Ok, I’m seriously through posting today)

Happy Camper Once Again

2006-04-21T10:13:00.000-05:00

I went to the store a little while ago and got some Excedrin Sinus and popped a couple. I’m in much better spirits now, and while my headache isn’t completely gone yet, the rest of the work day seems possible.  I don’t feel like shooting my boss anymore ;-)

Someone Shoot Him, Please

2006-04-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

My boss is whistling Take Me Out To The Ball Game. Does he not remember that my brain is about to explode from my eyeballs?!

I HATE SPRING!!!

2006-04-21T07:50:00.000-05:00

For those of you who Spring is your favorite season, sorry. For most people, spring is a lovely time of year. The weather is warming up, the flowers are blooming and shorts are in your near future.

Not me! For me, Spring is humidity (sometimes 100%) allergies, sinus headaches and we were wearing shorts mid January. The doctor says my allergies aren’t bad enough or frequent enough to be placed on allergy medication. Maybe they’re not bad enough, but having a sinus headache almost every day seems frequent enough to me. These headaches are the ones that sit RIGHT over your eyes and makes it almost impossible to keep them open. All I wish to do is go back home to sleep instead of having to work through it all day. I don’t believe it would be quite so bad if it wasn’t focused on only one side of my head. The left side of my face feels rested and quite happy for lack of a better word. The right side of my face on the other hand, feels like it’s been hit by a truck. I must have been laying on my left side when the truck ran over me. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a migraine. (knocks on Particle Board desk)

And that phone NEEDS to stop ringing!!!

Looking Up On Looking Down

2006-04-18T11:01:00.000-05:00

Although today is looking up from last Tuesday (the day I got pulled over for speeding. And how ironic I would see TPD (Tallahassee Police Department) pull someone else over in the exact same way to the exact same spot as me one week ago today) it is still a yucky day. First of all, as much as we need the rain, I do not like rainy days. Second of all, they’re dreary and dark. And they make me want to go to sleep. I LOVE sleeping when it’s raining so anytime it rains, I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than get back in my bed and sleep ALL DAY! On top of everything, rain gives me headaches and headaches make me cranky! Ok, enough of complaining!

On the knitting front, I’m still working on the FIRST sock of the FIRST pair of socks mom ‘ordered.’ By ordered, I mean pairs requested by the balls of yarn she bought. I told her however, I wasn’t sure how long it would take me so I’m off the hook there. I just feel so lazy! I’ve been working on this sock for weeks and I know good and well (thanks to the Knitting Olympics) that I can knit two pairs of socks in just 16 days! I have been working on other things, however. Like Something Red is coming along quite nicely. One entire sleeve is done. My yarn doesn’t have a lot of stretch in it, so the sleeves aren’t as snug as I was hoping for. In the end depending on the finished look, I may decide to take them out and taper them a bit more; we’ll see.

Kiri is still at a standstill. As I said before, I only have one size 7 circular, so it’s either Kiri or Something Red. I’m almost out of yarn for Something Red and am on a yarn diet until the first of May, so Kiri may go back on the needles soon. NOT until I finish mom’s socks though. After a long break from Kiri, that’s all I’ll knit on for days!!!

I am so tired today!!! I guess because I stayed up so late last night. Usually, I’ll fall asleep on the couch at 10:30 or so and Adam will wake me up around 1:00 and we’ll go to bed. Last night for some strange reason I was wide awake and didn’t go to sleep until 12:30!!! *Giggles at self* 12:30 used to be nothing!!! Now I’m dragging the next day if I stay up past 11:00!

Tonight’s Weight Watchers weigh-in. I’m NOT looking forward to it because I know I’ve gained! I ate SOOOO BAD this past week but I gave myself a break because it was Easter. Candy and eating out always get me in trouble! But that’s ok, tomorrow starts a new diet week and I’ll jump right back on program! I’ll bet I’ve gained 2 pounds!!! ;-)

As soon as I get off my lazy butt, I’ll download some pictures from Easter!

There Are Some Mean People In This World

2006-04-11T15:30:00.000-05:00

This entry is strictly for ranting, so skip if it you don’t feel like reading. You won’t hurt my feelings!

I was standing in the front office of where I work which just so happens to be right next to the public bathroom – yeah, lovely. Well, these three teenage girls came out of the bathroom and looked at my boss who was standing up there with me. Now, my boss isn’t the smallest of women. In fact, she’s rather large. She’s a WONDERFUL cook and likes food! Fine and dandy with me. Well, (keeping in mind only a single glass door separates us from the public) one of them said rather loudly, “Is she pregnant? She looks pregnant!” And the other girls, with no tact at all turns and looks promptly at my boss. This is the boss that doesn’t particularly care for me and tends to make my life hard around work, but even I felt sorry for her. I acted like I didn’t hear anything and started talking about something else. It just irks me.

A few minutes later, (after my boss left) two other girls walked down the hallway and started yelling something about change. Then I hear “Ask that lady! Hey LADY!!! DO YOU HAVE CHANGE?!?!?! LADY?!?!?!” She was two feet away and a single pull on the door. Something about me you should know. If I ask a question, answer me. Either with a nod or something; acknowledge that you heard me! On the same hand, I do not answer to “Hey LADY!” Being the sweet wonderful Admin I am, I ignored her. Finally, I heard her yell, “She can’t hear! She must be deaf…” and they started laughing. I turned to look at them and then the other girl yells (through the glass door, still refusing to open it) “Lady, I SAID do you have change?” I didn’t even check, and I knew I had it. But it was the way they decided to go about approaching me for it so I simply told them I didn’t have any. She gave me a look and walked off. Maybe I was a bit harsh, but you know, show some respect to me and I will show the same to you. Again, on the same hand, treat me like crap and you’ll get it right back.

May I Take A Mulligan?

2006-04-11T09:06:00.000-05:00

For those of you that don’t play golf or don’t know anyone who plays golf, the word mulligan in general means to “take back.” You shoot a bad shot while golfing and you can take it back, re-shoot and it won’t cost you any additional points.

I had a mulligan moment today. But I have to start it with a story.

My gas gauge in my car is a little screwy. Once it has 1/4 tank left, the needle jumps around all over the place. 1/4 tank, E with light on, 1/8 tank, ¼ tank… so on and so on. Last night I got home from work and it said I had a quarter of a tank left. This morning I get in my car and GUESS WHAT?! My gas light is on and my needle is now half an inch BELOW E. Hello. This is probably the one time I should risk my light going BACK off, so I fly down the road to the nearest gas station. (And when I mean fly, 70 in a 55.) Well, here comes a cop. Oh yeah. Doesn’t even wait to get to a turn around. He’s in the median coming after me. Keep in mind, I have NEVER been pulled over or WITH anyone that has ever been pulled over. “Ok Carrie, stay calm and SLOW DOWN.” So I set my cruise on 55 thinking that maybe if he sees I slowed down, he’d leave me alone. Nope. Lights on and I’m on the side of the road. Fortunately, he looked at my gas gauge and saw it was below E. I’m not sure if he believed my story of the screwy gas gauge, but anyway! So I handed him everything he asked for and sat patiently while he looked over everything. By then, my car had decided to play nice and back up my story. While the gas light stayed on, the needle slowly inched its way up to 1/8 tank. I think he finally believed me. But THEN!!!!!
“Ma’am, did you just buy this car?”
“No, it’s a 2002.”
“Well, you’re insurance card doesn’t match.”
“Uh…”
“This is for a Saturn.”
STUPID ME!!! I gave him the insurance card for ADAM’S car!!!! DO’H!
He let me go, but I still have to pay $7.50. He said that way he could let me go without getting a ticket and without it going on my record.

May I take a mulligan?

A Fun Weight Loss Update

2006-04-07T12:26:00.000-05:00

To date I have lost 17 pounds since I joined Weight Watchers. I have lost several inches between my waist, hips and legs and I have dropped 2 pant sizes.

One of the guys that does a lot of the roofing projects for my job came into the office just now. He had a new assistant with him. Now, this assistant didn’t say anything, but I noticed he kept stealing a few peaks at me. *Smiles* It wasn’t that annoying stare like when guys look at you like a piece of meat, it was very flattering. Since I put on so much weight, I NEVER got looks from guys anymore. That was fine by me because I have Adam and I know he loves me. But still, it’s nice to know I’m loosing so much weight that other guys are starting to find me attractive again. It makes me feel very good about myself and about all my work using Weight Watchers. If you’re looking to lose weight, give Weight Watchers a shot – it seriously works!!!

Reveal And A Thank You

2006-04-05T08:24:00.000-05:00

Secret Pal 7 is officially over now. I was spoiled by the lovely and thoughtful Veronica and even though she doesn't know it yet (She’s awaiting my last gift) I spoiled Kelly!

Thank you Veronica for all the wonderful gifts! My camera has been on the fritz so I don’t have a wonderful photo to share but inside the box is all sorts of wonderful yarns (Including Kid Silk Haze!!!) a sheep measuring tape, some post-it notes, a day planner a small and cute pack of tissues, a row counter and I’m sure I’m missing something else…
Veronica knits the CUTEST flower shaped washcloths and not only did she knit one for me, but she also sent some additional yarn AND the Interweave Knits magazine the pattern was in so I can make my own!!! I love everything inside! All so beautiful!!!

Surprise!!!

2006-03-31T12:22:00.000-05:00

Have you ever ordered something and then was truly surprised by it when it arrived? Well, that just happened to me. I ordered some size 00 Addi Turbos expecting to be able to knit more detailed socks with pictures knitted into them. I opened the package and while they are beautiful, this is one of those surprises I was talking about. The widest part of the needle isn’t even 1/16th of an inch wide! Holly crap I’m afraid I’ll break it! But oh…are they beautiful! Off to test them out!

Snicker

2006-03-21T14:52:00.000-05:00

I get in trouble with the paint program...

Yum...

Updates On My Yarn Cabinet

2006-03-20T10:01:00.000-05:00

Remember how I thought my yarn cabinet was going to be wonderful? Scratch that – it’s going to be beyond wonderful!!! A drawing to prove this:

Ok – this is facing the cabinet. The inside cubbies have changed a little bit and the drawers are a bit different as well. The MAIN difference and what I’m so excited about is the inside of the doors. Do you see all those cubbies on the inside of the doors? Um, hi. That’s JUST for sock yarn. I will SO be in sock heaven. Good thing I’m REALLY into socks this year ;-) The rest of the spaces inside the cabinet are for my other smaller skeins of yarn and the big drawer on the bottom are for bulky skeins. I think it’s big enough to stack 3 deep. The other two drawers are just for my needles – I decided against a drawer for my patterns. There are more efficient ways to store them. Oh, and that small space just above the top drawer? I have no idea what will go there – but it will be useful ;-) And incase you’re wondering, the doors will close all the way. Dad & Adam are cutting the inside cubbies more shallow so they’ll all fit together like a puzzle once closed. We’ve redesigned the front a little bit too, but that’s not nearly as important as the inside ;-) We’re going out of town this weekend, but next weekend we’re supposed to go over there with completed drawings and design ideas and start to figure how much hard wear we’ll need. This is finally happening!!! I’m so excited!

Happy Fridays!

2006-03-17T15:25:00.000-05:00

It’s 3:04 pm Friday afternoon. I have a pile of work to do, but am I? No…It’s Friday! Nobody works on Friday afternoons ;-)

Guess what? Cirque Du Soleil is coming to our town’s Civic Center. Adam’s a huge fan so I’m going to try to get tickets. They’re not cheap - $70 - $100 a pop, but to see his face light up will be well worth it.

Guess what else else? My Dad and Adam are building me my very own yarn cabinet! I may have mentioned this months ago but I don’t remember so I’ll mention it again! I’ve been working on the general design. Wanna see pictures? You do?!

What do you think? I, personally think it will be extremely efficient. All the cubby holes are for yarn, of course. I’m not sure if I think I will keep the bottom cubbies divided further or not – still playing with that.

The first drawer is for my circular and double pointed needles. The outside divisions are for the circulars so they cal lay all stretched out. I was going to hang them on a peg on the inside of the door, but I think extended time of hanging will eventually cause the line to dent or kink. The middle few boxes are for my DPNs. I don’t need quite as many places for those as I do my straight needles because I just don’t use them much.

The second drawer is for my straight needles. As you can see, the shelf is divided so I will have a place for each size needle.

The third drawer is for all of my patterns. While I thought a binder might be efficient, I finally decided on a divided drawer. It will keep them all in 3 nice, neat piles and will keep then from sliding all around. In my fantasy world, these boxes would each be letter sized, but I think they will be a little bigger. That’s ok. My pouch of crochet hooks might lay here when not in use.

The fourth drawer (although not pictured here because I forgot to draw it ;-) ) will be an open (no dividers) deep drawer for all my bulky yarns. The top cubbies are for my better, fancier yarns. I wanted to be able to have a pull out blocking board, but I’ll have to still work on that one a bit.

All in all, I love it and we don’t even have the wood yet :-)

Ok – How Pretty Is This?!

2006-03-13T15:03:00.000-05:00

Really the photo does NOT do the color justice but I absolutely LOVE the color. A silky feeling Terra Cotta with a sheen to it. As I pet the yarn though, I’m beginning to wonder if it will really be the right yarn for Knit & Tonic's Something Red or not. I shall see tonight when I cast on. I definitely need to swatch first and wash because I have the feeling it’s going to bloom quite a bit.

But…UGH!!! Isn’t it GORGEOUS!!?!?!?!?!

Okay Okay!

2006-03-10T08:32:00.000-05:00

I’ll quit putting it off. I’M BORING!!! :-P This post marks my 100th and I was trying not to post until I had something really post worthy to write about. Alas, in the 11 days I’ve been waiting, my life has been get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, go to bed. Oh well!

Something exciting though – I finally found some yarn for my Knit & Tonic's Something Red sweater. Oh, did I forget to mention I’m in LOVE with this sweater and decided to make it? Well, I am and I am. I finally chose a brand new yarn from Knit Picks: Shine Worsted in Terra Cotta color. I have a skein on the way to my house so I can figure out how well the yarn knits up but so far I think I’m really going to like it. I picked what seems to be a fairly simple pattern for my first sweater so maybe I won’t stress TOO much! If I get stuck, I’ll just take it to my LYS and ask for help. Meanwhile, does anyone know of a really great book on seaming? I haven’t done much of that yet.

I DID IT!!!

2006-02-27T09:36:00.000-05:00

I finished! I finished blocking the socks Saturday night! I was so excited! In all that had slowed me down over the past two weeks I still managed to whip out 2 pairs of socks. Of course I’m put to shame by Pink Lemon Twist who had the same goal as I and blew me out of the water by knitting not 2 pairs, but 4 pairs! They are beautiful though and I will make some of the flame socks eventually!
Kaylee was so cute during the whole thing, and kept asking me to let her try them on. Knowing that they wouldn’t fit I told her ‘no’ and that as soon as I finished I would knit her a pair. Keeping in mind that I have started two pairs of socks for her in the past and have yet to finish any of them! So last night I cast on out of my leftover Spearmint Lorna’s Laces (Kaylee picked that yarn – she LOVES it!!!) and got past a heel turn of one sock. She tried it on every 5 minutes (partially because she was excited and partially because her foot has grown so much since my last attempt at a pair for her that my pattern was wrong). Pictures of my socks and Kaylee’s socks to come soon!
Oh, my Olympic Ticker? It’s still counting down. Maybe to the next Olympics?

Knitting Olympics - Day 15 Update

2006-02-24T09:46:00.000-05:00

Ah-Ha!!! Maybe my Olympic Knitting Gold isn’t too far out of my reach at all! Due to a sick child yesterday I had to stay home from work. Although I had some work I still had to get done, I managed to do all but 5 rows and a toe of sock one from the 2nd pair. I was going to go to bed, but then got a second burst of energy and decided to transfer the 1st sock onto my DPNS (I use these to make the toe) and use my circs to start the 2nd sock. I got 6 rounds into the ribbing and think I may be able to actually finish. Luckily it’s the weekend and I have lots of knitting time!! I should have taken pictures, but I wanted to wait to show you to completed pair. This is my first EVER solid pair of socks and they are pretty and soft and I love them!!!

Wish me luck!

Oh, The Madness!!!

2006-02-22T09:33:00.000-05:00

I am NOT meant to have a Gold Medal for the Knitting Olympics.

Just as I get back on track – Gold is at the end of the tunnel, I can even see the little hole in the Gold Medal- I get FOOD POISONING!!! Actually, Adam and I both got it. I worked a full day Monday feeling horrible and then stayed home all day yesterday. There was so much knitting time passing me by. It was all I could do to make sure not to move the wrong way or I’d be visiting the Porcelain Goddess once again. All I can hope for is some speedy hands tonight when I get home from work. My Olympic Ticker on my side bar is slowly turning red NOT GOOD!!!!

Knitting Olympics – Day 11 Update

2006-02-20T17:03:00.000-05:00

One pair of socks is all I have to show. Still, I’m proud of myself, and I’ll tell you why!

I was given a big project at work. This huge project was given to me Wednesday afternoon. I had no time to work on this massive project until Thursday afternoon. Because of this unfortunate detail, I was forced to work ALL weekend on this GINORMUS project. If that wasn’t bad enough, I come back Saturday to find that EVERYTHING I had accomplished on Friday had not been saved. I didn’t save it I suppose. I don’t remember the program asking me if I wanted to save, but it probably did. ANYWAY that seriously cut into my knitting time. I STILL managed to finish the first pair only 2 days late. If I really book on the second pair and finish the first sock tomorrow I’ll be back on track.

Wish me luck!

The Knitting Olympics – Day 6 Update

2006-02-15T09:11:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of my Spearmint Gum sock.

I’m still working on the mate, which I didn’t take a picture of. It’s only 25 rows into the ribbing and would make for a pretty boring picture. To keep on schedule I should have been well on my way to a heel turn last night, but I have had a headache for ~~5 years~~ 4 days now and last night I finally crashed. I couldn’t do anything except on the couch staring at the TV. At least it wasn’t the type of headache makes me sensitive to light and sound or TV would have been out of the question as well. Hopefully tomorrow I will have Second Sock Pictures to share!

Good luck everyone!

I Left My Sock At Home – Gah!

2006-02-14T09:43:00.000-05:00

My computer at work is so much more forgiving than my computer at home. Therefore it is much easier to post photos at work. But did I bring my Olympic project to show off? NO! Can I go home on my lunch break and take a quick photo shoot? Yes, but I won’t. Tonight’s my WW meeting and I always walk my lunch break before the meeting. I guess I’ll tell you about it today and hope for pictures tomorrow!

The Knitting Olympics:
At the end of Day 4, I have finished the first sock and am 12 rows into the ribbing on its mate. I used my green and white Lorna’s Laces from my oh so generous Secret Pal. When I finished, Adam said it reminded him of a piece of Spearmint Gum. (I’m sure he meant the wrapper as the actual gum itself is white ;-) ) It is beautiful and fits perfectly. I’m definitely sold on Lorna’s Laces. But I can’t seem to find a place that sells them. If you know of a place please let me know! I’m hooked!

The Olympics:
Speed Skating
My speed skater lost his 1500 meter competition in the qualifying round. He was in 2nd place (top two continue) and would have been fine to stay, but he decided to jump ahead. Once he was beside the guy he put his hand down for balance and ended up catching the other guy’s skate. After that, it was all down hill. There are still other competitions he can enter but it was still sad. He’s the only reason I watch Speed Skating!
Snowboarding
Shaun White (aka The Flying Tomato) took Gold in the Halfpipe competition. After falling in his first run of the qualifying round he was a little worried. Nailing his second run guaranteed him a spot among the 12 finalists. With a score of 46.8, White took the Gold and shared the podium with Silver Medal’s American Danny Kass. White and Kass also stood side by side as gold and Silver medal winners in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

As a bit of an afterthought throughout all the knitting and Olympics, Happy Valentine’s Day to all! Hope your day is full of Love and Romance!

The Knitting Olympics Athletes Pledge

2006-02-10T14:12:00.000-05:00

I, a knitter of able hands and quick wits, to hereby swear that over the course of these Olympics I will uphold the highest standard of knitterly excellence.

I will be deft of hand and sure of pattern, I will overcome troubles of yarn overs and misplaced decreases. I will use the gifts of intelligence and persistence (as well as caffeine and chocolate) and I will execute my art to the highest form, carrying with me the hope for excellence known to every knitter.

I strive to win. To do my best, and to approach the needles with my own best effort in mind, without comparing myself to my fellow knitters, for they have challenges unique to them.

While I engage in this pursuit of excellence and my own personal, individual best, I also swear that I will continue to engage with my family in conversation, care for my pets, speak kindly with those who would ask me to do something other than knit, and above all, above every stitch thrown or picked, above every cable, every heel stitch, every change of colour, I swear this:

That I will remember that this is not the real Olympics, that I'm supposed to be having fun and that my happiness and self-worth ride not on my success....

but on my trying.

Let the games begin!

(Taken from the Yarn Harlot's Blog)

2:00 PM

2006-02-10T13:59:00.000-05:00

It’s 2:00 PM and where am I? At work. Where should I be? At home. What should I be doing? Casting on for my Knitting Olympic Challenge. Am I Sad? Very. Just wanted to share my pain. :-(

So Excited!

2006-02-06T15:53:00.000-05:00

I’m looking forward to The Knitting Olympics! I love knitting and to know that 2600 (and counting) other people will be knitting at the same time as you is just exhilarating. As I said before, I’m making 2 pairs of socks. After those, there are an additional 2 pairs I’m hopping to whip out pretty quick. After that I will finally be able to start on the Swing Jacket from the Winter edition of Interweave Knits. I think I’m going to attempt this in “Wool of the Andes” from Knit Picks but I’ve never used this yarn before so I’m not sure how it knits up. I’m thinking of ordering a skein and see if I like it or not. It seems to come in every color EXCEPT pink (and no, I’m not doing the jacket in pink. Burgundy is the color for me). I have been dieng to felt a pink and black striped shoulder bag but can’t ever find the color pink I’m looking for. If anyone knows a company that sells 100% wool yarn in baby pink at a reasonable price please let me know!
Guess what? I’m going out Friday with an old friend I haven’t seen in ages. It’s going to be awesome! Dinner, a movie, maybe some shopping and definitely some drinking! The only thing is I will miss the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. AHH!!! I need as much knitting time as I can get. But that’s ok. If I don’t finish in time, I don’t finish. I will have a great time with a great friend to think about instead and that’s well worth it!

Weight Watchers, Knitting and Secret Pals

2006-02-02T10:39:00.000-05:00

I’m having a wonderful time doing Weight Watchers. So far I’ve lost 5.4 pounds and am currently on my 3rd week. I just need to exercise a bit more.

On the knitting front, I finally finished that sock and am to the heel decreases on the second sock. I don’t think I already said that. Anyway, I’m so sick of this pair that I almost never want to knit socks again. Which isn’t good because I finally received that socks sampler I told you about last week. Let me tell you, this is definitely worth $50! There was every color of the rainbow; 50 grams each! I can’t wait to play with all the colors! Wish me luck on The Knitting Olympics!

My Secret Pal is awesome! I received my first package from my SP Monday. I was so excited. After bombing out last round that this round is even more exciting (and thanks again to Danni for being a sweet angel)! In my package was a beautiful purple ribbon with knitting instructions on it, a sock pattern book and two skeins of green and white Lorna’s Laces sock yarn. I was so excited to see that yarn! Secret Pal will never understand how much I’ve been dying to get my hands on some Lorna’s Laces! Yay! I think that will become one of my two Knitting Olympic socks! So thank you so much SP!!! Hopefully, I will be able to post pictures soon! My camera is just so aggravating!

Count down to The Knitting Olympics!!! 8 days until Cast on!!! Who’s ready?!

Projects Galore!

2006-01-27T08:14:00.000-05:00

Isn’t this pretty? I think I’m going to make it for Adam’s Grandmother. Her birthday is coming up and I wanted to do something special for her. If it hadn’t been for her, I would have never learned how to crochet and for that matter, probably would have never become interested in knitting. She has crocheted so many things for us that I thought it would be nice to finally make something for her.
My second WW meeting was Tuesday night. I lost two pounds last week. See? My little WW girl at the top of the screen moved 2 points! Yay!
I’m taking a break on Kiri for a while. I love knitting her but I just need a break. Work’s been stressful and I like coming home and relaxing. Relaxing doesn’t include a hard chart based knit. So I’m finished up a pair of socks in preparation for the Knitting Olympics. In which I will make 2 pairs of socks in 16 days. That a sock every 4 days. Challenging? I think so! My future knitting/crocheting plans include:
The Knitting Olympics (2 pairs of socks; the same old pattern I use for every sock)
The Blanket for Adam’s Grandmother (I’ll probably start that this weekend)
Fun With Color Socks (I have ordered a solid sock yarn sampler and am planning to give charting a try. I will make 2 pairs of socks. Yes, the same boring pattern.)
Kiri
Swing Jacket from Interweave Knits. SO Pretty! This will be my first attempt at a sweater..thingy. Yay! but I will finish everything else first.

Swing Jacket

Weight Watchers Is A Success!

2006-01-20T08:29:00.000-05:00

Ok, here’s an update on my WW meeting. I. LOVE. IT!!!! It can’t be any easier! Granted, I’m only on my third day, but I don’t feel as though I’m missing a thing! Last night I had two cheeseburger lean pockets, 2 chocolate chip cookies, and later that evening, a piece of candy. I’ve had a sweet tooth this week and my diet hasn’t stood in the way of it at all! It’s fantastic! And out group leader is just as sweet as she can be! A girl that I work with has a sister that just started WW and she’s going to start going to my meetings with me! That will be great to have someone I know. My sister is starting WW today, but unfortunately she lives in West Virginia so we (for obvious reasons) aren’t going to the same meeting. However we can still keep each other accountable through e-mail. I can’t wait to weigh in Tuesday night! I think my biggest problem will come tonight: I’m going to the movies with Adam. I CAN NOT go to a movie without getting popcorn. Now we can have low fat popcorn but I doubt the movie theater’s popcorn is low fat. Oh well, I’ll have to take a healthy snack.

Kiri is still trotting along, slowly but surly. A sock that I have been working on for almost a month is finally past the decreases and onto the foot. It NEVER takes me this long to finish a sock but I’ve been so tired this month that all I want to do is sleep! Like right now…I could just fall asleep…

AHHHH!!!

2006-01-17T11:17:00.000-05:00

Blogger is simply refusing to post any pictures!
So help me...if Blogger doesn't straighten up soon....

Weight Watchers, HERE I COME!!!

2006-01-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, if you couldn’t figure it out by the title, GUESS WHAT?! I’m going to join Weight Watchers. Maybe. I’m going to a meeting tonight to see what it’s like and ask a few questions I can’t find the answers for online. For those of you that are not familiar with the program, it’s a diet based on points. You get so many points a day (or week…one of those pesky questions. Hmm, I should probably make a list) and you can eat until you use up those points. You can eat whatever you want, but once those points are gone, they’re GONE! I was doing something similar when I was counting calories, but it was hard to really know how many calories were in that cheeseburger from Ruby Tuesdays. With this diet, they set points (roughly) for things like that when you go out to dinner. A chicken breast is, say roughly 5 points (I’m guessing here, I have no idea how many points they really are) so when you go out to eat you’ll know approximately how many points you’ll be eating.
I’m so excited! My girlfriends and I were talking yesterday at work and one of them said her friend (sister?) did WW (Weight Watchers) and loved it! So that got me wondering about it. I started researching it and had about decided to give it a shot when someone else (someone who had no idea about the conversations about WW earlier that morning) suggested WW and that their girlfriend was doing it and LOVED it! Ok, two people in the same day? It’s a sign. I HAVE to give it a shot now. I’m only signing up for the weekly plan though, and once I’m sure I like it, I’ll pay for the membership. So wish me luck!

On to knitting! Kiri is coming along beautifully! I’m so glad I went with ‘Jelly’ from Rowan’s Kid silk Haze. It is just the perfect color. She’s a bit of a tough knit (for me because I have such trouble concentrating) but even after setting her aside for a day or so I can usually pick her back up and get back into the swing of the pattern within a row or two. I sometimes find myself knitting an entire repeat of the chart (you work #2 for most of the pattern) before realizing it, and that’s saying a lot for me. Ok, not that I WANT to be diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, but I really sometimes think I have it and wish I could learn to focus a bit more. I know some of that’s self discipline, but still. Anyway, I have the rest of this repeat, 9 more repeats and the edging before I can block her. And you know something funny? As difficult as it is for me to stay focused, Kiri has so far been one of my favorite projects, and while I can’t wait to see her finished, this is probably the first project I’m not just DIEING to get off the needles. I guess I am experiencing the true ‘joy of knitting.’

So anyway, there you have it. I will be posting tomorrow (most likely) and I’ll let you know how the meeting went! Yay!

Hurray For Secret Pal!!!

2006-01-12T09:35:00.000-05:00

One matter of business:

A BIG THANKS goes out to Dani (a little late, sorry about that) for really coming through for me in Secret Pal 6. She was my last minute angel and a real sweetheart! I haven’t had a chance to post pictures yet, but she sent me all sorts of goodies: A little lamb tape measure, (which, by the way, I have been secretly coveting) 3 balls of sock yarn, Stitch N Bitch Nation (YAY) and two skeins of a yarn that’s just too hard to describe but oh so much fun. I will take pictures soon! And thanks once again Dani, I was so excited I literally started jumping up and down ;-)

NOW onto Secret Pal 7! I have received both my pals and can’t wait to get started! So excited! I already have my first two packages planned, hee hee!

Ok, for all you felting gurus out there I have some questions. My town for some reason doesn’t seem to carry anything 100% natural. I don’t know too much about what will felt and what wont felt so I haven’t gotten involved with buying any yarns online either. Therefore I haven’t had much luck with felting stuff. Well, yesterday at Jo-Ann Fabrics I found something close – 45% wool, 34% cotton and 21% nylon. I wasn’t sure if it would felt or not but it was so soft and fluffy I thought it just had to. So I knitted up a swatch (stockinet stitch with a garter stitch border) and washed it. Sure enough it felted, but I’m not sure if I did it right. The length of it shrunk by 1 ¼ inches but the width only shrunk ½ inch. Does the width usually not end up shrinking much? Also, the purled side felted much more than the knitted side and the garter stitch border didn’t felt much at all. Did I do something wrong or is the nylon preventing it from felting right? One more question and then I’m done: Do you machine dry? I didn’t..but it seemed so stiff I thought maybe I should.

Thanks for all you help!

SECRET PAL 7 QUESTIONNAIRE

2006-01-09T11:25:00.000-05:00

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? I like mostly all fibers although I’m starting to really love the natural stuff!

2. Do you spin? Crochet? I do both! I even have a spinning wheel named Suzie Q!

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have a small zip up pouch for my crochet hooks and my 5 inch double pointed needles, but all the rest are floating about.

4. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? Hmm..I hate rating myself. I’ve been knitting since April or May of 2005 but I’ve done things like socks and shawls – working on Kiri now. Maybe an Early Advanced?

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) Lavender

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I have a whole mouth of ‘em! I love candy such as sweet tarts, gummy bears, jolly ranchers – basically if it’s fruity and fairly small I’ll eat it!

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? I dabble in needlepoint a bit (but I’m not very patient with it)

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) My computer’s a bit screwy and only works when it wants to so MP3s may not be the best. As far as CD’s go, my favorite radio station plays ‘The best of the 80’s 90’s and today!’ Does that help?

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? I tend to really lean toward the darker colors – blacks, pumpkin and forest greens. I’ve not met a color that I hated yet. Although that putrid green is stretching it a bit…

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I’m married with a 2 year old daughter. I have a dog and a cat but they stay at my parent’s house.

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? I like ponchos (some) and am learning to wear scarves and mittens, but honestly I live in Florida and there’s really only 5 days a year it gets cold enough for all of that.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? I love knitting socks so obviously sock yarn, and I’m still branching from the ‘learning to knit with acrylics’ so it’s still all knew to me.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I’m not a huge fan of eyelash yarns, but of course as I type this I’m reminded of a certain magic scarf I’m working on made of just that!

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? Socks

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I know, enough with the socks!!!! I learned how to make socks in September of 2005 and I’ve had a pair on the needles ever since. I LOVE THEM!!!

17. What are you knitting right now? RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND nothing because I’m at work ;-) but at home, I’ve got 4 pairs of (yes) socks, Kiri and the infamous magic scarf I can’t seem to finish.

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes, but not clothing. Things like stitch markers are great!

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Depends on the project, but I’m really learning to use circulars for everything!

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Aluminum – ADDI TURBOS are awesome!

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? I own a center pull ball winder but am interested in getting a (center pull) skein winder – do they make those?

22. How did you learn to knit? Taught myself out of a book

23. How old is your oldest UFO? A needlepoint piece I’ve been working on ever since Adam (my husband) and I met (5 years ago!!!)

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? Spongebob Squarepants!!!

25. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

26. Is there anything that you collect? Bells, ‘Charming Tales’ and ‘Just the Right Shoe.’ Oh yeah, yarn ;-)

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? Spin Off

28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? I’m interested in Denise Interchangables….

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Seaming

30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? If you haven’t figured it out by now, let me clarify: I LOVE KNITTING SOCKS!!!! I’m a size nine U.S.

31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) 07/05/1983

Carrie, Kaylee and The Matching Christmas PJ’s

2006-01-03T16:57:00.000-05:00

The long-awaited Christmas PJ story:

What was supposed to happen:

Me and my two year old daughter sitting on the sofa – matching PJ’s and matching hand knit socks.

What actually happened:

The socks did not get finished. The yarn was TOO hard to knit with and it took WAY longer than it should have. I guestimated time wrong and came up way too short. Ok, fine, the best part of the outfit didn’t work but that’s ok – I still have the PJ’s! (The pj’s were matching red sweat pants and matching green Christmas t-shirts.) 3 days before Christmas I realized I hadn’t washed them yet so in the washer they go. Kaylee’s came out fine. MY t-shirt shrunk to be the same size as Kaylee's!!!! Ok, how can only one shirt shrink if they are made out of the same material and washed in cold?!?!?!?! Ok---don’t panic. I will just run to wal-mart and get another t-shirt. They were out-of course. As a last resort I grabbed two plain white t-shirts and was just going to get some fabric paint and paint something cute on them with an iron transfer. No Christmas patterns. In fact, they didn’t even have green fabric paint!!! So I ended up with fabric markers. They sucked but at least we still matched. Christmas Eve Kaylee and I got dressed in our crappy matching PJ’s and no socks and went downstairs. I walked into the kitchen for some hot chocolate and went back into the living room for a picture. Guess what? Kaylee had gotten a hold of some chocolate candy and had chocolate all over the front of her t-shirt. I stopped so short in shock I spilled my hot chocolate all over my t-shirt. These matching outfits were not meant to be. I’m already planning on our outfits for this Christmas and let me tell you: WE WILL MATCH IF IT KILLS US!!!!!!!

Ok, I feel better. Sorry to dissapoint. :-(

Hmm...

2006-01-03T11:42:00.000-05:00

In the year 2006 I resolve to:

Learn how to shear sheep.

Get your resolution here

These are supposedly random – maybe the sheep gods are trying to tell me something!

Kiri And The Melting Pot II

2005-12-30T08:42:00.000-05:00

Kiri is becoming much easier now. I’m getting better at reading the charts and I actually like them (almost) better than written instructions. I just have trouble remembering what line I’m on. That could be remedied easily; I’m just too lazy. I finished with the first chart. The second chart is repeated until you are happy with the length and width (I think the sample is done in 12 repeats). Work the last chart, block her and she’s finished! After completing the first chart you also complete your first leaf (or close to it anyway) and what the shawl will look like in the end starts to appear before you eyes. Actually, the finished leaves puff out a bit (kind of like a popcorn stitch) and I LOVE the depth it adds but I’m afraid the puff will disappear once it’s blocked. We’ll see. Either way, I’m already in love with her. I do have one recommendation: Kid Silk Haze is a pain to knit with Addi Turbos. They’re too dull. The patters says this but for some reason I completely missed it and bought Addis anyway. A bit of friendly advice!!!

Ok Donni, Here’s a typical experience at the Melting Pot for my family (are you hungry?):
The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant. Everything you eat there (except the salads) revolve around the fondue pot sitting in front of you. And no, not allowed after my diet begins ;-) The first course is bread and cheese. There are 4 different cheeses to pick from. We usually sit at a table with two pots so we select Beer Battered Cheese and Spinach Artichoke Dip. You get all sorts of cubed bits of bread, raw veggies and apples (which are bottomless as long as you still have cheese remaining) and let me tell you, apples and beer battered cheese are out of this world together!!! The second course is a salad. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like salads but not the Melting Pot’s salads so we skip this dish. I’m not very knowledgeable on this course so I’ll leave it to your imagination. The third course is a mix of meat. Seafood, chicken, steak and occasionally some ravioli. You pick from two different oils and two different bullions. We normally get an oil and a bullion. In these pots, you cook all your food. For the oil, there is a batter they bring so you can fry it if you would like but I like the bullion better. This course takes the longest because you are literally cooking everything you eat. The whole experience is fun but dessert (the 4th course) is by far my favorite and the one I always seem to talk about the most. Again, choose from several chocolates, we normally get Flaming Turtles (Chocolate, Caramel and pecans) and S’mores (chocolate and marshmallow cream with crushed gram crackers). Then they bring out strawberries, pineapple, bananas, cheesecake, brownies, gram crackers, pound cake, peanut covered marshmallows and Oreo crumb covered marshmallows. These are also bottomless (except the cheesecake) as long as you have chocolate left. The whole meal takes about 2 ½ hours to really enjoy everything so go a night you don’t have anything else to do.

Kiri And The Melting Pot

2005-12-29T10:22:00.000-05:00

OMG ya’ll…Kiri is so frustrating!!! I can NOT do one row without having to frog back some. I’m not good at reading charts so that’s part of my problem. There are written instructions for those of you who are chart-illiterate like me, but the written instructions don’t make sense. They’re totally different than the charts. I always had too many stitches on my needles at the end of the rows so I had to switch to the charts. I’m still having a blast knitting on her though. I have 8 rows left on the first chart which is the increase section. It’s beautiful!!! So light and airy! I’ve never done any lace knitting yet so this is totally new and different for me. I’ve crocheted a few doilies which I thought would be about the same – uh…no! This is way harder! But much more fun! Adam commented that Kiri doesn’t even look like a knitted garment. I think its beautiful now – I can’t wait to see it after it’s blocked!!!

In other news, my whole family and I all went to the Melting Pot for dinner last night. We tried to get dinner reservations for 7:00 but they asked if it would be ok to get them for 7:30. Only a 30 minute difference so sure, why not? Adam and Kaylee and I were 15 minutes late (surprise!!! We’re always late!) because we stopped to get Kaylee McDonald’s. 7:45. Mom informed me that there was still someone sitting at our table and had been there since 5:00. At 8:00 the manager apologized for the 50th time about the hold up and said the other party was just starting dessert. yay. So at 8:30 we were finally seated. The waiter turned on all 4 burners (yes, we had 4!!!) and walked away for about 10 minutes. When he came back, the one directly in front of me was still not hot. So the manager came back, fiddled with it for a few minutes and walked back into the kitchen to get a new one. It didn’t work either. So he fiddled with IT for a minute or two. Have you ever watched the comedian Bill Engvall? He’s famous for his “Here’s your sign” jokes. Well as the manager was down on his knees fiddling with the second burner, a man from the next table stuck his head around the divider and said “Can’t get it working?” I leaned over to Adam and whispered: No…I’m just here for my health…Here’s your sign!!! We both cracked up! Finally they got the burner working and the manager told my dad he was going to take care of the whole bill. The. Whole. Bill. I couldn’t believe it. I mean I understand they want to make us happy so we’ll come back, but none of that was their fault. It was needless to say an amazing night and we all had lots of fun and laughs.

Yikes!

2005-12-28T08:08:00.000-05:00

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming.

People love you, but sometimes you're just too much.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Um...I hate to say it, but its right...

SO ANYWAY...now that we've determined that I'm annoying...I'll tell you right up front once again that I'm photo less. It's not that I don't post photos on purpose; I just HATE dealing with Blogger! It's so slow and my computer needs a little tweaking too. The two don't make a good combination. So anyway, I don't like posting without pictures so by the time I finally MAKE myself post a picture, it has been a month since my last entry. So I've decided what I will do. I will post more often. I will post about everything that happens that post-worthy (and maybe some things that aren't) and you may or may not get a picture. That's the only way I think I'm going to be able to keep up with my blog better.
So now onto Christmas details! We had such a blast! We started Christmas Eve at 12:00 opening exchange presents and didn’t get finished until 9:00! Usually, we’re in the kitchen cooking all day but we’re not cooking your usual Christmas Dinner as you’ve seen me post about in previous months. We have sausage balls, cheese balls, pigs in a blanket, chips and dip, punch…basically a whole smorgasbord of food. After we stuff ourselves silly we’ll open all our presents from each other. That seems to last about 2 hours and then it’s time to put the kiddies to bed. THIS year however, we has snacks all day. At 12:00 we ate chips, dip, ham sandwiches and then we each opened a present. We were supposed to do this every 2 hours all day long starting at 10:00. We didn’t actually start until 12:00 though so by that time EVERYONE was starving. Of course we stuffed ourselves and nobody was ready to eat again until MUCH later that afternoon. So we kept opening our presents. We didn’t finish opening them all until 9:00 Christmas Eve night. Of course we had eaten a couple more times too. We were all so full and tired that we all went to bed. Well, most of us. My sister and I had to stay up wrapping last minute presents for Santa to put under the tree. Over all, it was a fabulous Christmas.
Some of my favorite presents:
From Adam:
A Nintendo DS
Charming Tail Figuring
From Karen:
Warrio Touched DS Game
Money for clothes
Money for yarn
From Mom and Dad: A Popcorn Maker and 3 balls of Rowan Kid Silk Haze in jelly.

I have already started using the KSH to knit Kiri. It’s a beauty of a shawl. I’m having a little trouble staying as focused on the pattern as I need to be and always find myself coming ahead a few stitches. I just frog back and start over. KSH is not fun to frog though let me tell you!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you have a wonderful New Year!!!

CRAP!!!

2005-12-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

I just sent my secret pal an e-mail from my non-secret e-mail address. I hope she won’t mind…Good thing the real reveal is only 3 days away!

See what I’m going to do? It's the 3rd annual Glitter Scarf Drive! I plan to cast on for it tonight. 400 stitched this thing has in it, but only 20 rows so it should move quick. I don’t have much time so I need to get booking.

Long Overly Drawn Out Photo-less Post!

2005-11-28T15:06:00.000-05:00

Turn Back Before It Is Too Late!

My goodness has it really been this long since I’ve posted? Sorry about that! I’ve been so busy recently and when I’m not busy I’ve been battling with high blood pressure. The medication is working though and slowly my energy level is climbing. I still get tired in the afternoons and need a nap every evening when I get home from work, but I’m able to keep up with housework a bit more and it’s not quite so hard to get up in the mornings. Getting Adam up is another story ;-) Oh and Sharon, thanks for checking in on me to see how I was doing during my blogging absence. It was a nice emotional boost!

So anyway, being so long since I last posted I have so much to tell you about! Again I don’t have any pictures, sorry! It’s a really long story but it basically boils down to camera technical difficulties. I kept waiting to post until I could download my photos (another reason I’ve been post-less for so long!) but then just figured I would post them when I get them.

Mall Of America – oh. my. gosh. If you are EVER in Minneapolis and have a little bit of time to kill you absolutely MUST go here! Although the mall’s so massive you can’t see much of anything in a few hours. Mom and I were there for three days, doing nothing but shopping, and we still didn’t see it all. We didn’t even make it to the 4th floor! When we first walked in, to be honest, we were a little disappointed. No, “GASP *mouth drop*” It looked like any other mall (except it had 4 floors except 2 or 3) but literally within about 30 minutes, we were completely lost. Had absolutely no idea where were or where we had just come in. THEN came the mouth drop. We were really there and officially sucked in. And it’s not quite as repetitive as everyone says – it has like 4 Starbucks (but there’s one on every corner anyway) and 4 Mall of America gift shops, but other than that there’s no major duplicating. You will not get bored! You WILL get tired. We were so exhausted by the third day that we would walk for 30 minutes and have to sit down! It was a happy tired though. It is now a yearly trip my mom and I will be making. So much fun!

I am only almost finished with one Christmas Sock. Just one. The same stupid sock I was almost finished with about a month ago. I just can’t seem to make any progress no matter how much I try. For one thing I hate the yarn! Red Heart Luster Sheen is NOT made for socks! It knits up WAY to tight and even though it may LOOK like the same thickness as regular sock yarn, it’s not. Socks are possible with this yarn but PLEASE do a gauge swatch before knitting. I didn’t and my feet can hardly breathe while in the socks. I’m hoping I can block the socks a bit bigger…does that normally work? At least I know to work Kaylee’s a bit bigger. Oh and Sharon, I found matching PJ’s for me and Kaylee!  Wait ‘till you see! Also, I’ve been working on Clapotis. I’ve only dropped the first stitch but there is progress! I felt so bad dropping that stitch…I kept wanting to pick it back up and put it back on the needles, but I didn’t. I left it alone! I’m dying to get to the next drop but the socks will take seniority for quite some time I’m afraid!

Next comes Thanksgiving and WAY more food than you could ever care to hear about! Actually, take all that and double it! We had TWO Thanksgivings! We couldn’t obviously be in two places at once so we had Thanksgiving at Adam’s family’s house the weekend before and Thanksgiving with my family on the actual day. Between the two meals we had yams, sweet potato casserole, dressing, turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, cranberry relish, broccoli casserole, macaroni and cheese, green beans, baked beans, cheese cake, apple pie, apple cake, apple pound cake and strawberry pretzel salad. WHEW! We. Were. Full. Two days after thanksgiving was the biggest rival football game of the season for our team: FSU (GO NOLES!!!) vs. Florida Gators! WE LOST! No…we were creamed! Something like 32 to 7. Ouch. But anyway the point of mentioning this was the food. MORE FOOD! Chips and salsa and cheese dip and onion dip, nachos, chocolate covered pretzels (which I made) pizza…I don’t even remember what all else! My family likes to eat! And we have Christmas coming up!!! MORE FOOD! Yum! Ok, I’m done with food now! I even ate a huge lunch and I’m making myself hungry for some dressing and gravy…too bad Thanksgiving only comes once…twice in my case, a year.

I’m REALLY gonna try hard to not let that long of a gap go in between my posts again but thanks for sticking by and waiting patiently.

I'm Boring, I Know!

2005-11-09T03:49:00.000-05:00

Around this time next week, hopefully there will be pictures of the Christmas socks (I plan on finishing the first one tonight). As for now – still no knitting content.

Instead – you get an update on my latest trip to the doctor. My lab results were fine, but my primary wanted to see me about my blood pressure being so high before mom and I leave for our trip (I had hypertension when I was pregnant with Kaylee – it’s never come all the way down). Yesterday I went to see him. He had to do MORE lab work which also came back ok (apparently whatever tests they ran on me last time didn’t need to be run). My cholesterols a little high but that’s just because of my blood pressure. So anyway, he prescribed me a medicine for my blood pressure. Problem solved, right? WRONG! I’m allergic to it! Why can’t this be easy?! So now I have to test run another medication tonight. Hopefully I’ll find out if I can tolerate this one before the trip or not. It’s only the day after tomorrow. The allergy doesn’t hurt – it’s just uncomfortable. My head is itchy and wherever I scratch, the whole surrounding area goes numb and tingly like when the hair on your arm stands on end. Can you imagine what brushing your hair feels like with this?! It’s almost like an invisible rash on my head. No bumps or anything. It’s strange. Actually, the only other medicine I’m allergic to I reacted the same way – weird.

Oh, and the whole “having your doctor place you on a diet, I actually though about asking yesterday. Until my Doctor walked in, who also looked like he had put on a few pounds. I decided against it. If he lets himself get as big as he is he wouldn’t tell me I’m overweight. Oh well! Wait until I see a skinny doctor! ;-)

Lab Results

2005-11-07T11:38:00.000-05:00

Patiently waiting for my lab results I had done on Friday (Ok, maybe not so patiently). They are supposed to call me within the hour. Why do I have a feeling it’s not good news?

And yes, they did make me take a pregnancy test. And yes, I did get my hopes up. And yes, it was negative.

Anyone else ever wished your doctor would put you on a diet? If my doctor would put me on one I know I would stick with it. Hmm…

Sorry, no knitting content today.

Bad Blogger! BAD!!!

2005-11-04T12:26:00.000-05:00

I would like to apologize for my recent lack of posting. I’ve been sick. Sick sick yucky sick! I’ve been really tired and feeling sick to my stomach all the time. Sunday night I was sick (At first I thought my dinner hadn’t agreed with me) and Monday morning I woke up feeling that I had pins and needles stuck in my feet and hands. Kind of like the feeling when they fall asleep. I didn’t really think much about it and went on about my business. It wasn’t fun but it didn’t bother me. Tuesday however, it progressed to LARGE pins and needles and the tingling was moving up into my ankles. I called the doctor. I have an HMO insurance (You know how those go) and they could only get me in on the emergency side at the time. I didn’t really feel it was an emergency so I canceled. Today I’m regretting it. My blood pressure is sky high. I had pre-hypertension when I was pregnant with Kaylee and it’s never disappeared. It’s been regulated however so when I saw it back up so high I got a little worried. I’m going to the doctor this afternoon. Mom and I are going out of town one week from today (more on that in a bit) and I want to make sure I have everything taken care of by then. We’ve been planning this trip for a month and a half and I don’t want to screw everything up. To be honest, I feel like I do when I’m pregnant (the symptoms feel like it, I don’t ‘FEEL’ like I’m pregnant. There is a difference. You feel different when you’re pregnant – even with the morning sickness it’s a wonderful feeling). I can’t be though – I’ve had regular cycles and I’ve been a good girl with my pills and I REFUSE to get my hopes up! I know they’ll make me take a test though and I’m going to start to think I could be and hope for those two little lines and it will only be one and I’ll be crushed all weekend. This month is particularly hard for me. It’s a long story and some day I will get into details, but I was pregnant after Kaylee. I was 4 months along when we lost the baby. This month she would have been turning one. We’re not ready to try again yet – soon but not yet. So if the test were to come back positive, it would be great but if I expect it and its negative…well, I already said that.
ANYWAY!!!!!!!!
So I’m going to the doctor to get this tingling thing checked out. And probably be placed on my blood pressure medication again. Joy.

So, my trip! A few weeks ago mom and I went to a movie and just had a good day together. No kids (well, I’m her kid so…..ok there was no Kaylee) and no husbands (this one I’m sure of)! We had so much fun! I was just about to sit in my car to go home when mom said “There’s nothing fun to do here!” So, on a whim I suggested us going to Destin Beach, FL for the weekend. That idea exploded and we are now leaving Friday morning to haul our butts to Minneapolis Minnesota to visit the Mall Of America!!! I’m uber excited! We’re leaving Friday and not coming back until Monday! Again, no kids (except me and mom ;-) and no husbands! We’re going to pack light and ship all our new stuff home – how great!!!

I need to skedaddle but here’s a little knitting update:

My Sunburst Socks Are Finished!

The colors are more true in the above picture

My project I’m currently working on is a pair of matching Christmas socks for me and Kaylee. They have a white fur cuff, red sock body, green toe and heel and a little Jingle Bell on the side! YAY!!! I knitted the cuff last night and did a couple rows of the red – seriously not trying to brag or anything but they are the darned cutest things I’ve ever seen and I thought the whole thing up in my head! No pictures until they are completed. It’s a surprise! My sisters and her family is coming home for Christmas this year and we’re all staying at mom and dad’s house. My plan is for me and Kaylee to come downstairs in our matching PJ’s (which I still have to find and buy) and matching jingly Christmas socks. There will definitely be pictures!!! Can’t wait!

Oh and here's a picture of a sweater I think I'm finally going to take a whack at:

Like?
It's a straight knit - not swirly like the picture looks - it posted funny.

WARNING: FOOD POST!

2005-10-21T01:12:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday, Kaylee and I spent the day with my mom baking Halloween cookies. We had so much fun! At first Kaylee didn’t know quite what to think about the whole process, but by the next-to-last dough roll-out, Kaylee had the rolling pen and was doing it all by herself! I have a video to prove it, but I can’t get it to post on here for some reason so photos will have to do.

Click on us to make us BIGGER!!!

And yes, Kaylee is sitting on the island. We didn’t have a stool the right height for her and I sure wasn’t going to hold her the whole time ;-)! She was (as you can tell) covered from head to toe in powdered sugar but had a blast! Making Halloween cookies, you have a very limited selection of colored icing you can use, so sorry if the end product is a little boring. We also only had 3 cookie cutters. Correction: we have more (we think) but looked and looked and couldn’t find them to save our lives. So again, sorry if the picture’s a bit boring.  Christmas will be more fun although Kaylee won’t be able to help the whole time. When my mom and I make Christmas cookies, we usually take up the whole day. We make around 3-4 dozen cookie-cutter sugar cookies and decorate them all. Then we have a cookie gun (It literally looks like a funky gun, you put the design of the cookie you want [flower, leaf] in the end, put the dough in the other end, lift up on the handle, press back down and you have a perfectly shaped cookie a bit bigger than a half dollar) which we’ll make another couple of dozen cookies from. We’ll use the flower shape a lot and put a dab of jelly in the middle before baking them. We make at least two dozen of those because between me and my dad, they get eaten SOOOOOO fast. Just last year, we started making chocolate covered pretzels INSERT PHOTO and this year I want to try chocolate covered pretzel balls. Those will by fun little eats. So yeah, those are just the cookies. We also make brownies and fudge. And yes, all in one day. This year I’ll take a picture of the finished table so you can see all the goodies! We really like the holidays, can you tell? We don’t have a typical Christmas dinner either. We have out dinner on Christmas Eve, and it’s more of a buffet. We have TONZ of stuff like Sausage Balls, Pigs in a Blanket, 4 or 5 different kinds of chips and dip and the best Christmas punch you will ever taste. I love it so much we had it at my wedding ;-)
Speaking of food for holidays, take a look at this:

Um....Trick Or Treat?

That is our Halloween candy for this year. Can you say Overboard? Now certain things (Pixie Sticks and Popcorn Balls) aren’t for the kids – they’re for me because they’re hard to find. But still. I don’t even want to know how much we spent!
And one last thing on food:

No, It's Not On Fire!

This is a meal in a box. Do you see the steam? Inside the box, you will find a white styrofoam tray with a black pad in the bottom, a tray of food with a plastic seal over the top, a tube of salt water, a pack with a napkin, fork, knife, salt and pepper. You pour the water over the black pad, put the food container on top of it, close it all back up in the box and the water reacts to the stuff on the pad. You hear it popping and sizzling, steam comes out of the box and after 5 minutes, you’ve got a piping hot meal. Mind you, I didn’t like it very well, but the cooking process if awesome!
Ok this post is WAY too long! :-) And for future reference, I’m SO jealous of those of you who get to go to the Sheep & Wool Festival. SO. JEALOUS. Bring me back something!

A Quick Shout Out!

2005-10-18T10:58:00.000-05:00

Hi Christi and Heath, congratulations! She’s beautiful!!!

Christi, my friend from work, had her baby girl yesterday afternoon. Mallory was
20 ¼ inches long, 7 pounds even and soooo pretty! (This is the baby I made the blanket for from the previous post.) I can’t wait to see them both again tonight!

Finished!!!

2005-10-12T23:04:00.000-05:00

Hurray for finished projects!

The Blanket

The Detail - I LOVE it!

The Blanket And My Model.
(She Loves To Pose!)

I finally finished! It turned out a lot better than I thought it would and I think Christi really liked it! What’s funny is I actually did the blanket with the colors of the baby’s room – I didn’t even know the colors of the room when I started! ;-) The whole thing is done in Caron Simply Soft. I love the blanket, but that will probably be the last crochet item I make for a while. I just love knitting so much more – I think I like the support of the needles better than working off of them. So one project down – 3 more until I can start my sweater!
Speaking of knitting, I’m planning on finally finishing my cable scarf. I started that how long ago? It’s pretty, but now that I learn more along the way, I wish I would have done a few things differently on it. For one, I would make the cables smaller, shorter, and each cable would have twisted away from each other instead of both going in the same direction. I might would have made the whole scarf a bit more narrow, but oh well. What’s almost done is almost done and I’m not frogging ALL THE WAY BACK! I will know next time!
My sweater – still stuck. No clue. I love the Cutaway Carrieoke had recently completed, but I’m afraid if I make that first, I won’t get the satisfaction I would get from making an entire sweater. What do you guys think?
There was the CUTEST knitted dress for a little girl (like Kaylee) I saw in a book the other day. Pink all the way down to her knees, white ruffle along the skirt bottom, pink i-cord straps and a green star on the front. It had a little rolled brim hat to match – darling! I plan on making that for her next year, maybe. If I get all my other stuff done first. I would love to have her Dora blanket finished by Christmas, but I’m sure if that will quite happen or not. We’ll have to wait and see.
Before you go, hop on over to Sharon's blog and say a quick “gook luck” to her. She thinks she may be pregnant! YAY SHARON!!!

Tassels, Tassels Everywhere!

2005-10-07T17:43:00.000-05:00

I’m putting the finishing touches on the baby blanket-the tassels! I should be finishing the blanket tonight, but that’s what I said last night and the night before. I stayed up until midnight last night putting on those tassels and it didn’t look like I had done anything on it! Tonight I’m gonna try REALLY hard to finish though! I have my next project in mind – a sweater! I’m not sure what yarn I’m going to use or what pattern it will be but I know I really want to make a sweater! I’m going to finish 4 projects before I begin it though or I’ll never finish them. My magic scarf, cable scarf, baby blanket (at least this one will be out of the way tonight) and my citrus socks. The scarves will be finished in a couple days of dedicated work, but I’m still only on the sock ribbing-and no, unfortunately they’re not toe-ups ;-).
I want my sweater to be something different- not your run of the mill average sweater. Maybe something with bell sleeves. I definitely want the color to be gray and something soft but not itchy. I really love (I know, cheap acrylics for a sweater?) Simply Soft’s Gray – I made Karen a stuffed elephant out of that stuff for Christmas last year. Ohh, you know what I could do? Mix the simply soft with a strand of mohair. I wonder if that would work well? Sorry, I know I’m rambling, I’m just so excited about the thought of knitting my very first sweater! I drool over the things that others have made and I want them! My ultimate goal was a pair of socks which I have completed so that I’m happy about. I guess I wanted to make a pair of socks more than a sweater because the heel turn intimidated me so much. Really, it’s not hard. It’s my favorite part of the sock, go figure! It’s kind of magic because you take this flat shapeless object and turn it into something three-dimensional.
1 hour and 19 minutes until I get to leave work and the weekend will officially start! YAY!

Any News?

2005-10-03T05:15:00.000-05:00

Not here! Ok people, here is a quick update! I’m finishing up the crochet baby blanket for my friend from work. She is literally going to have that baby any day now and I want to make sure it’s finished. I slacked on it big time and am now pushing myself to get it done on time. That being said, I haven’t had time to work on anything else. I am planning on finishing the blanket tomorrow or Wednesday but we’ll have to wait and see. There may not be a whole lot of activity around my blog this week but I promise I will update as soon as I am able to. Well, as soon as there is something to update about! My clappy is the same, my magic scarf has an additional 5 rows and my socks are 1/3 the way through the ribbing. Kaylee’s Dora blanket hasn’t been touched and neither have her socks. Oops…

Progress!

2005-09-27T11:31:00.000-05:00

Hope you're ready! I've got photos galore to show ya (Click on them to make them bigger). YAY PROGRESS!!! In the first photo, we have Kaylee (my big girl - sniff) dressed up for Halloween. I got her costume in the mail Friday and I just couldn't wait! Doesn't she looks cute?! The next picture I had to show as a proud mom. That was the first time Kaylee climbed into her new 'big girl' bed! Again, sniff! I can't believe she's already going to be 2 yrs. in December. Time flies! (did I mention sniff?)

OK! Now onto progress! this first photo, we have my first bunch of sock yarn. Yes, this is the infamous 2 ply sock yarn swatch I've been promising for a week or so at least! I wanted to felt it SOO bad, but it's small to begin with there would probably be nothing left. I still haven't felted anything yet....

Here are two pretties! The first one is silk/merino blend (I THINK) and the second is my wool all ready for dying. This white wool is what will eventually turn into my Halloween socks. Speaking of...

This first picture is the white wool in the above picture dyed with Wilton's Food Coloring. The dye was black. And yes, you are seeing reds and greens, but no blacks. Ahem. Don't ask, I don't know! The second picture is the same stuff, just rolled into a ball. It's very red now that it's dried...

Ok - here's my big news!!! I figured out the whole '2 socks on 2 circs' thing and ya know what? It's not NEARLY as scary as I first thought it would be! I had NO idea what to expect and I had NO idea how in the world this could possibly work! I figured it out though and LOVE it! The thought of finishing two socks at the same time is so gratifying! Actually the picture was just after the cast on and first row. I continued to do 4 more for a total of : TA-DA!!! 5 rows! And it only took me a couple of hours ;-). I'm having to get used to it all over again; something new and all.

I'm so happy!!!

The Levee Broke. AGAIN!

2005-09-23T17:58:00.000-05:00

Getting close to a month ago, I remember watching the weather channel and receiving updated information on a newly formed Tropical Storm named Katrina. Several days went by and as it approached the base of Florida I began to get a little worried. Living in the panhandle of Florida, we never know what part of the storm we’re going to catch. Looking closer, I noticed the winds were only at 65 miles an hour. Usually, a storm that low in winds and that close to land will not become very powerful so I began to calm down. That was Friday afternoon. I went to bed that night happy and peaceful; didn’t give the storm much thought on Saturday. Sunday, I checked the weather channel again. Over two nights, Katrina had exploded into a massive strong category 4 hurricane and was heading straight for New Orleans. No chance New Orleans would survive a direct hit from this storm. America waited with baited breath and watched as New Orleans collapsed under hurricane Katrina. The levee guarding New Orleans broke, resulting in millions of gallons of flood waters drenching what was left of the city. I almost felt somewhat to blame. I kept thinking to myself that I would never look at another 65 mile an hour storm and think it wouldn’t amount to anything. As people took refuge in the Superdome it seemed like a chance for survival. So America thought. Several were raped and murdered in the so called ‘refuge.’ I remember a news report of people shooting at the helicopters that had come to help and rescue. What had this monster done to our country? Once the storm blew over, New Orleans was nothing but a pile of rubble. Katrina left one thousand people dead, and even more homeless. The American Red Cross stepped in and helped Katrina victims as much as they could. They took in over $100,000.00 alone at the Florida State/Miami football game. The city of New Orleans, now almost one month later, builds the levee back up to protect from any further damage. As we pan over to the Atlantic Ocean, we see what appears to be a tropical ‘disturbance.’ Its winds are about 65 miles an hour and it’s close to land, but there’s not a chance you will hear me say it’s going to be a ‘dud’ storm. I learned my lesson. As if you were watching a recording of Katrina, the storm upgraded and hurricane Rita twisted and turned her way towards the southeastern part of the US at a category 5. One of the first reports I heard this morning was the levee surround New Orleans broke. AGAIN! My heart sank. As I think of what more to write…I realize I am suddenly at a loss for words. What are these poor people going to do? PLEASE be in prayer for these people, and please do as much for them as you possibly can!

MY YARN!!!!

2005-09-21T13:09:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much for the kind words Donni, you made me feel a lot better.  Like I said, I know everyone goes through it, but it’s nice to hear someone else’s story!

Thanks to my GREAT secret pal, I have learned how to set a very strong twist in my handspun yarn. I spun up an ounce of yarn last night, wound it into a hank, soaked it in hot water and hung it to dry overnight. I was so excited about it this morning, I got dressed as fast as I could and ran into the bathroom to get my yarn. I began winding it into a ball, but had to stop because I would be late for work. Tonight, I shall finish winding it and hopefully knit it into something. What can you make with only one ounce of yarn?
I began spinning my wool last night for my Halloween socks. I think for this pair I am going to try dying the yarn with Wilton’s food coloring and add a bit of extra vinegar to set the color more. We’ll see if it works. I’m only trying an ounce at a time to make sure I don’t screw it all up ;-)
So ANYWAY, I have a picture of the ‘first attempt at sock yarn’ swatch, but it’s kinda crummy and I keep forgetting to take another one. Tonight I plan on taking pictures of all my new ‘stuff’ and will try to post them soon!

Hem Haw

2005-09-20T11:32:00.000-05:00

I know I haven’t been posting very often. It’s not that I’m not knitting or anything, I’m just devoting myself to two projects until they are complete and, well, they’re not through yet. One is the last baby blanket I will probably ever make. Ok, not really, but at least for a while. I thought I had another month on this blanket but I doubt the girl’s going to make it another month before having that baby. So I’m stressing over that. I have 59 more rows and the tassels to complete. I’m getting to where I’m not enjoying crocheting any more at all. I’m glad I at least have the skill though.
The second project is my Halloween socks. I still have 1 ½ ounces to card from my wool and then I will have 3 ½ ounces to dye, spin and knit into my socks. I’m so excited I can’t wait! I would like to work on Kaylee’s Dora but I have so many projects on my needles right now I was to finish first. Is that selfish? Is it selfish to want to finish the baby blanket and 4 personal projects before working on her blanket? Or better yet, I still haven’t finished those socks of hers. I’m such a bad mommy…
There are some days I get so down in the dumps. Sometimes I feel like I’m too tired to clean the house, or I’m too tired to play with Kaylee. I get so tired I find myself snapping at her and Adam for the tiniest of things and then I feel so bad and vow to be the perfect wife and mother from that point on. The next night, it starts all over again. It’s not that I don’t try because I do – very hard. I’m just afraid nobody else (especially Adam) will recognize my efforts and think I’m just slacking. That’s why last night when we got home from work, we loaded Kaylee up and went for a walk around the neighborhood and then cooked a good dinner. I put Kaylee to bed while Adam did the dishes and then I worked on the blanket while Adam worked on bills. I figured if I can walk a little bit more and become more physically active, I won’t get so tired and maybe I’ll have a little more patience. It’s all in my head; Adam always tells me what a great wife and mother I am…I just don’t feel like it sometimes. I guess everyone goes through that sometimes.
Thanks for listening to my sob story…;-)

No Time To Post Much, BUT...

2005-09-15T04:50:00.000-05:00

How dumb! I thought I had already posted these forever ago!!! OOPS!

The Infamous Baby Blanket For My Niece!!! YAY!

Closer Shot - A Little Wrinkled From Not Being Blocked

So sorry about that! And I promise, big post coming soon!

SP6 Has Begun!

2005-09-13T17:08:00.000-05:00

Wow! I’m so lucky! We JUST received our Secret Pals like 30 minutes ago and already she’s e-mailed me telling me she’s bought me a year’s subscription to Spin Off magazine! How cool is that?!? This is going to be so much fun!! Thank you Secret Pal!!!

I’m still working on getting all the wonky stuff out of my blog from where I messed it up so badly yesterday afternoon. I still wish I knew what I did to it. It went all crazy and posted that picture of the sock I had drawn all over the blog – only it was in places it shouldn’t have been like the header and footer. Crazy! I’ve still gotta fix all my buttons back, all the links to my Gallery (which is, yes, still currently under construction) and my other piddle stuff. Hopefully I’ll get it all up and runny smoothly soon! Until then, if you spot something wrong – ignore it ;-)

Um...Hee Hee Hee!!

2005-09-13T01:53:00.000-05:00

For anyone that decided to take a look at my blog this afternoon sometime - I would like to apologies for any...uhh....technical difficulties my website may have been experiencing. I'm not sure exactly what I did - but hopefully it's fixed now.
Again - sorry for the confusion!

Gotta' Love Sock Yarn - Especially Home Made!

2005-09-12T18:48:00.000-05:00

Ok, I’m giving myself bragging rights for a few minutes. I have successfully met my goal on my spinning wheel. I have spun two singles and plied them together for a thickness no ‘thicker’ than sock yarn. YAY!!! I started knitting it into a swatch for even more bragging rights, but I haven’t finished it yet. I’m knitting it on size 1 DPN’s so yay for me! My next goal is to make enough orange and black sock yarn for a pair of Halloween socks. I probably won’t meet that goal with Halloween only being 1 ½ months away, but we can always hope for Christmas. And if I’m bound and determined to make Halloween socks, I’ll have them for next year ;-) I hope to finish the swatch tonight and snap a picture of it, but I think I’m getting sick and don’t feel so good so the picture may have to wait a couple of days.

Something along the lines of what I was planning on doing with the Halloween socks.

The orange lines along the top are maybe a two colored ribbing, but I’m not sure how well that would work. We’ll see, I’ll just have to play around with it. Maybe I’ll mess around with a little two colored ribbing tonight and see how it works. Would it be too much with a solid orange ribbing? I’m thinking maybe…
Ok I’m off for some Chicken Noodle Soup and bed! Hopefully I won’t wake up sick-er in the morning.

Catchin' Up!

2005-09-09T09:18:00.000-05:00

Ok Wow! Remember that last roving I told you I had dyed? Well I spun it last night (Sorry, forgot to take pictures, I was a little tired – I slept from 8:30 last night until time to get up this morning ;-) ) and it was SOOOOO thin! We’re talking as thin as thread! If I get three plies of that stuff together I could have a nice ball of sock yarn! That’s my ultimate goal in spinning – to make enough sock yarn for a pair. I would love to start on some fair island socks for Winter/Christmas but I’m waiting to see if I can spin the yarn myself first. That may have to wait and become a project for next winter.
I told Adam last night, and I’ve already said it on here before too, but I just love my spinning wheel. It’s one of the greatest gifts anyone has ever given me!
Speaking of socks, Our Ben Franklin craft store closed last month. What does that have to do with socks, you might ask? One word – Going out of business sale! Ok, that’s 5 words but you get the picture. They had sock yarn and plenty of it, so I stocked up. I have enough to keep me in socks the rest of my life. Well, at least several months ;-). It was by Red Heart – I didn’t know they made sock yarn! Ok, well it wasn’t actually labeled ‘Sock Yarn” but it was so tiny it had to be! Either way – it will work for sock yarn and that’s all I care about 
We’re going to go pick up Kaylee tonight. She’s been staying with Karen all week – part of the reason I haven’t posted very much. We’ve been too busy living up the ‘no kid’ life. We’ve gone to movies, dinner and even the FSU/Miami football game! I really miss her though and can’t wait to see her tonight!

My Boogie!

Start To Finish

2005-09-08T05:49:00.000-05:00

Ok all you picture lovin' people! Here is a step-by-step photo blog on "Raw Wool to Dyed and Spun Yarn - Start to Finish! (Clicking on each picture below will open it to a larger window!)

Raw, smelly wool

The raw, smelly wool taking a much needed bath

Carding out the dried,clean wool

A nice clean white roving ready to be dyed

My roving taking another bath, only this time it's in lemonade!

My roving after being zapped in the microwave. See how the water's clear? That's what ya want!

The dried wool resting

My wool re-carded and turned into a roving

My finished spun yarn! So! Much! Fun! I had to do this on my spindle 'cause I wasn't patient enough to wait until I had made enough to spin on my wheel;-)

Ok, so maybe that was a bit more information than you wanted to know, but I hate reading something I'm interested in and then not being able to find information on it. So there ya go! I had wanted to do something fun with the pictures like grouping them all together and clicking on them individually to open a larger one, but I couldn't get it to work right so this is what you're getting :-)!

Now, something I'm even more proud of:

My First Hand Carded-Hand Dyed-Hand Spun-Hand Knitted swatch!!!Click For More Yummy-ness!
I spun this yarn on my spinning wheel. It's actually funny I picked these colors. I'm a HUGE FSU football fan and Miami is our biggest rival. Green and orange are Miami's colors ;-)

Oh, and since you haven't seen her yet, May I introduce:

SUZIE-Q!!!

TA-DA!!! And there you have it! This is what I've been up to recently! I actually dyed some more rovings last night cherry, but I haven't had time to take pictures yet. Soon!

SP6 Questionnaire

2005-08-31T19:05:00.000-05:00

I should be posting a lovely post, full of pictures from my spinning extravaganzas on Suzie Q, but SP6 is coming up and I'd rather make it easy for my SP to get to know me ;-) Ok pictures soon!!!

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high-end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? I do not dis-like Red Heart (although I must say it is my least favorite yarn to crochet with...I haven't tried knitting with it yet) and I LOVE Caron Simply Soft! My favorite yarns are the ones that don't cost a fortune, but they're different enough that you can't normally find them in Michaels or Wal*Mart. So a semi-snob?

2. Do you spin? Crochet? I crochet but prefer knitting. I LOVE spinning (new at it but I love it) and have recently purchased an Ashford Traditional spinning wheel which I named Suzie-Q. Seemed like a good name at 2:00 in the morning!

3. Do you have any allergies? (Smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) Smoke, STRONG perfume and will get to sneezing if I bury my nose deep into just about any animal fur.

4. How long have you been knitting? Hmm....3 1/2 months? And in that time I made a pair of socks I'm so proud of!

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No, but any books other than "The Knitters Bible," Interweave Knits or "The Knitters Journal" from Stitch N Bitch would be appreciated!

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) Lavender

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Very much so - Chocolate's last on my list though (I say as I shove a caramel filled Hershey's Kiss in my mouth ;-). I love hard candy (no watermelon) and Gummy Stuff. OHHH You know what candy's my favorite? Peach Jolly Rancher Sticks!!! YUM! I'm not sure if they even make them anymore...

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Spinning and dying my yarn, cross stitch, crochet, knitting, scrap booking and a little beadwork.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD). My favorite radio station calls their music selection "The best of the 80's 90's and today!" Does that help?

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? I love blues, black and fall colors!

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Married 2 years with one 20 month daughter names Kaylee and no, no pets - yet!

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know) To be the best mommy and wife I can be - simple but true. Oh! And I want to go to Paris and Australia!

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? Acrylic Blend: Caron Simply Soft, but I would like to branch out. I'm dying to try Rowan Kid Silk Haze in the color Jelly. I want to make Kiri and it takes 3 balls of Kid Silk - something I haven't gotten around to ordering yet. Of course that would mean I'd have to buy 4.5mm and 5mm circular needles, like Addi Turbos! I also want to experiment with Lorna's Laces....

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? So far I haven't found any that I absolutely *don't* like. As I said Red Heart's not my fav....

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? My Magic Scarf and my Clappy!

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Socks and Shawls at the moment...

17. What are you knitting right now? Magic Scarf, Clappy, Socks for my daughter Kaylee, Cabled Scarf, and I'm crocheting a baby blanket! Seems like there should be so much more...

18. What do you think about ponchos? I LOVE them! I've sold a couple of them and always had such a hard time giving them away. I crochet a matching set for Kaylee and myself last winter! Good times!

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Depends on the project...although I'm really starting to see the joy in circs!

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Aluminum Addis and maybe bamboo needles as long as they're REALLY sturdy! I broke both pairs of my Addi
Bamboo circs....:-(

21. Are you a sock knitter? I LUUUUUV hand knitted socks, and if I ever finish my daughter's pair, I'm sure she will too ;-)

22. How did you learn to knit? Taught myself out of a book!

23. How old is your oldest UFO? I'd have to look in my stash to make sure...but I'll bet on a crocheted Roseanne Blanket. For those of you that watched the ever popular Roseanne, remember the black blanket she always had on the back of her couch? It's one of those...hence the name :-)

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!!!!!

25. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas, hands down. I also get into decorating for Halloween.

26. Is there anything that you collect? Other than yarn, right? ;-) Porcelain figurines and DVD's ;-)

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? Interweave Knits

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on? I would love Stitch 'N' Bitch or Stitch 'N' Bitch National (is that what it's called?)

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another? To be honest, I haven't done much shopping for patterns. I'm pretty new to knitting so I'm living off the small freebies still. I can't wait to experience the "World of Patterns!!!"

30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like? I'm a size 8 1/2 ish and I love just about any kind of socks. If they're prettyful and functional, I'll like 'em!

So there you have it soon to be SP! Hope this helps!!!
Have fun!

Spinning Spinning 'Round And 'Round!

2005-08-25T12:12:00.000-05:00

Your Mood Ring is Blue-Green

Inner emotions charged
Yet, somewhat relaxed

Mood Ring Generator

Ok, that’s crazy…it’s actually right. How does my computer mouse know my mood?

So today’s going to be a really long day. I’m not going to be able to take a lunch. We’re short a public safety officer. See normally they cover Customer Service for two hours, long enough for Customer Service to take an hour lunch and then an hour for her to cover my lunch. Today, I’ll have to cover her lunch, but she’ll need to get back out there ASAP so she can’t cover mine. That’s ok though, I had to take an extra hour last Friday so this will make up for it. Anyway, that’s more information that you wanted to know ;-).
My spinning wheel came last night! I was so excited when the UPS man showed up! It was in several more pieces than I figured, so Adam had to put it all together. I worked on the blanket (which I will finish tonight) while he began that project. Around 12:30 last night I fell asleep on the couch. He was still going strong at a quarter ‘till 2:00 when I finally go up and went to bed. I told him he didn’t need to feel obligated to finish before he went to sleep, but he likes building things and hates stopping in the middle. When I woke up this morning I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I threw the covers off of me and ran into the living room. There it was – my little Suzie-Q. I’ve been racking my brain for weeks trying to think of what to name her and last night it just hit. I slept a little late and didn’t have time to play with her this morning (ok – 5 minutes but I was just trying to figure out how to work it all). Tonight after finishing the blanket, I will have the rest of the night to spin until my heart’s content. It’s not as easy as it looks either, let me tell you. You don’t just stick your foot on the treadle (pedal) and make the wheel go around. You have to start the wheel with your hand which gets the treadle going. The you have the pump the treadle HARD with your foot at first because if you don’t, the wheel will start spinning the opposite direction. Once you get the wheel going, you must pump in a very steady motion or she’ll stop all together. Confusing, but a lot of fun! And I learned all that in 5 minutes! Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have pretty pictures of what I was able to spin. Maybe I’ll have a whole pile of it even! I’ll need to put down something to keep her from sliding. We have tile floors and she started walking away from me! Guess she wanted to go back to sleep…;-)

MAJOR (We’re Talking Major) Photo Blog! Part 2!

2005-08-24T09:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it turned out to be two days later. I hope you don’t hate me!
First of all, let me just say that I went to the Melting Pot for dinner last night (cheese and chocolate only) with some of my girlfriends – and MMM MMMM!!!! I always forget just how yum that place is!
~Anyway~
I forgot to tell you guys that I finally got around to ordering my spinning wheel last week. I would expect it in the mail either today or tomorrow, but it may not get here until next week. I ordered the Ashford Traditional single drive single treadle wheel with a clear lacquer finish. Adam wanted me to order the Cherry finish, but I love the Beachwood color so that’s what I got. Oh, and let me tell you the story about the wool I ordered. Most of the time, to get a pound of white 100% wool you would need to shell out around $30. So naturally, when I found a pound on the internet for $12 I snatched it up. Small problem; the description should have read: 100% un-carded wool! I thought I was getting ready-to-spin stuff. Uh..no! It was literally shorn off the sheep and shoved in the bag (and MAN, does it smell!). That would have been ok (more work for me..but ok) except I don’t have any wool carders. I JUST placed an order for them a few minutes ago and now believe I have ordered everything I need for a good time of spinning. So, pictures to show off all my new toys!

This is my lovely sheep in a bag. Don’t open it though – the smell that comes from that bag is enough to kill you.

Here’s a better, more textured shot of it

Here is the exact same stuff, just washed, cleaned and spun as much as I was able until I have my wool combs. Looks a LOT better, huh? SMELLS a lot better too…

This is 8 ounces of a luscious pink silk/merino blend. The whole thing was only $20! I have ordered Golden, Black and a beautiful dark Sky Blue as well in the same blend. They didn’t have them in stock at the time…so patiently I wait.

Here’s a better shot of the yumminess!

My ball winder! I couldn’t decide on a ball winder or a skein winder, but eventually ended up with this. As a beginner spinner, I shouldn’t be winding TOO much stuff at first. I can always get a skein winder if I need it…;-)

SO! MUCH! FUN! I can’t wait till my ‘missing pieces’ arrive, like my wheel! And for your entertainment, two of my current projects:

Mommy Sock and Baby Sock. Yes, I started this thing forever ago, but just can’t bring myself to finish. She’ll be to big for them before too long.

This one I’m proud of. It’s the Clapotis from knitty.com. I love this pattern and I haven’t gotten to the dropped stitches yet, how cool is that?! I definitely see myself making a thicker one for late fall/early winter. Yep Yep!

As I said: Two days ago + today = MAJOR Photo Blog! Hope you enjoyed!

MAJOR (We’re Talking Major) Photo Blog!

2005-08-22T17:34:00.000-05:00

And when I say major – it causes for a warning:
There ARE indeed knitting photos, but if you’re not interested in seeing random photos of other things that really have nothing to do with each other, here’s your chance to turn away!

We begin our little tale with a shopping extravaganza. This splurge happened after dinner with mom and dad at Cracker Barrel last weekend (Man, it’s been a long time since I last posted!). As you know, IF my memory serves me right and I have indeed told you this before, Adam and I are decorating our kitchen in Apples. Ever since we began decorating, I have been looking for an apple cookie jar. Not just any apple cookie jar, a cookie jar that was actually a huge apple and nothing more. Easy, huh? Not so much. We began decorating our kitchen in apples last September and it’s taken me a year to find a cookie jar. But lo and behold, lookie what Cracker Barrel was hoarding in its hot little hands just for me!

I’m the beauty that has driven my mommy
to near insanity for the past year
Needless to say, I’m SOOO happy! Next we bought an apple cider jug with four little matching cups that appear to be apples until turned around in which case they shed their true identity – A jack-o-lantern! Which is great because we can keep them out all year and just turn the face to the wall in non-Halloween times. We also bought a little glazed pumpkin tea kettle and matching salt and pepper shakers, but I didn’t need to photograph those. After all, the cookie jar had already stolen my heart by far.
Speaking of stealing your heart, take a look at these! $40 at Wal*Mart. Have I mentioned how much I love Wal*Mart? The people scare me sometimes, but when you stop and think about it, you suddenly turn into one of those people by just being there. Oops! Did that make sense to anyone but me? ;-) Look how happy my little boogie looks! She slid on that slide ALL day!!!

Kaylee's New Pool

Go Kaylee! Go!
And last but not least of the random pictures – then on to fiber-y things.
Just because I was so proud of how well this turned out:

MMM Brownie!
(Said with a Homer Simpson accent)

A Slice of Heaven
Or at least Brownie
“Food, so?” If this thought has entered your head, you clearly aren’t normal because
A. It’s chocolate
B. It actually came out right! I Do-Not-Cook! Not to say I’m a bad cook or anything, but I have a history of things never coming out EXACTLY right! So there you have it!
Actually, it’s a form of the loved Molten Lava Cake. Never had it, you say? Well, it’s basically a cake or brownie, where the outside is fully cooked but the inside is warm and ooey gooey and still melted. Slab a bit of vanilla ice cream on top and Yum-O!

Will I be horribly frowned upon if I take a break and finish this post tomorrow? I hope not – sorry!

Knitting Guru

2005-08-17T13:24:00.000-05:00

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com

What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Happy Anniversary To Me!

2005-08-12T17:46:00.000-05:00

Today is my 3 year anniversary with my current job. Work’s been very pleasant recently and even fun (almost). But anyway, enough about work.
In knitting news, I’ve been slacking a bit on all my WIP’s as I JUST turned the heel on Kaylee’s first sock last night. I was going to take a picture, but it doesn’t really look like anything yet with it being so little. So as soon as I finish the sock I will snap a couple.
I’m WAAAAAAY behind on my sister’s baby blanket. Again. My parents are leaving in two weeks…I need to bust my butt and get it done.
Scarf- No progress
Clappy- Ripped it
Dora- 4 rows?
Is that all I’m working on? Seems like so much more…;-)

My New Pride And Joy

2005-08-10T14:35:00.000-05:00

No yarn in the mailbox for me last night when I got home, but my circs WERE!!! I did not open them though, and went right to work on the baby blanket. Ok, I peaked, THEN I worked on the blanket. Ok, I actually took them out, started on a pair of socks for Kaylee out of my leftover sock yarn and didn’t touch the baby blanket, happy ;-)? Oh, they are dreamy to knit with! The joins are the most incredible joins I’ve ever seen on a pair of circs. I kept showing Adam how easily the sock slid back and forth, and finally on like the 4th show-and-tell, he smiled and rolled his eyes a bit to show me casually that he had had enough of the circular needle join.

TA-DA!!!

2005-08-09T15:29:00.000-05:00

Congratulate me! I have officially finished my first EVER knitted project, and I am pleased to say it is a pair of socks! My brown socks to be exact! It really seems like socks are HUGE to take on as a first project, but it’s not what you think. I’ve swatched stitch after stitch, started project after project and have played with many a needle size. Contrary to what it may seem, I did not decide I wanted to learn how to knit and then pick up some DPN’s and make some socks. Wish I could say I did though ;-).

Click on us to make us BIGGER!!!Ignore the stitch markers please!
Anywho, all that aside, I am very happy!!! I bought some yarn for my next pair of socks and it should arrive sometime this week. Along with my new aluminum circulars. YAY, no more DPN’s! Wouldn’t it be awesome if they were both in the mail today, waiting for me to get home after work? Actually, it would probably be better if they’re not. I know as soon as get them I will begin on the socks and I HAVE GOT to finish my niece’s baby blanket. I hopefully will be through next week, which will still be in time for mom and dad to take it with them when they go for a visit. Then I also have the rest of the cable scarf, the Dora blanket and the blanket for my co-worker, but that’s all. My next big project after the socks will probably be a sweater. I’m about to die to make one, I just haven’t found one I‘m all ga-ga over yet. I just want a plain top down sweater for the winter. Nothing too heavy considering I live in Florida and it doesn’t get all that cold down here. I want to make a shawl too, but I’m having a time with the Clappy and I don’t have the yarn for Kiri, so I’m stuck in the shawl department a bit. That’s ok, socks will suffice for now.

Naughty Blogger

2005-08-05T11:09:00.000-05:00

I’ve been bad, I know. I HATE not posting every couple of days, but work’s been an absolute MAD-HOUSE this past week. All I can say is hurray for Fridays! I don’t have a whole lot to day today so I figured I’d get caught up (all except pictures because I forgot my memory card) as much as I could.
Like I said, work’s been crazy. I love my job, don’t get me wrong, but it definitely has its ups and downs and this week’s been more downs. Also, mom’s recently told me that she’s not going to watch Kaylee anymore during the day so that’s been stressful trying to find someone. It’s coming down to the wire and we’re still looking. Adam’s making a few phone calls today, so cross your fingers and send good luck vibes!
In crochet news, I’ve got 1 ½ more strips to make one my sisters baby blanket (out of 10 I think) then I have to sew it all together and crochet the border. YAY! I’m almost finished. I don’t know WHAT I was thinking making a blanket totally out of motifs. I HATE motifs, but this blanket really is beautiful and I love it. I’m sure my sister and the baby will too, and that’s what matters. I’ve done absolutely NOTHING on Christi’s baby blanket yet. She’s not due until the end of November, so she can wait ;-).
In knitting news, I’ve been having sock trouble. In fact, I’m having trouble in about all I’m knitting. I don’t know what’s up with me.
Brown Socks: I had completed the sock heel Wednesday night (minus 2 rows) and was about to turn it. I still can’t resist trying them on after like, every 3 rows, so I put the completed one on my foot and then slid on my down-to-the-heel sock. The heels matched up great, but the top of the sock I was working on came up WAY higher on my leg than my completed one. What had I done to screw up my oh-so-perfect-pattern you may ask? Well, as I was writing my oh-so-perfect-pattern, I decided to add an additional 30 rows for lord knows what I was thinking. See, my pattern reads (when written correctly) 30 rows of ribbing, 10 rows of stockinet stitch and then you work the decreases and increases to fit my ankle over the next 20 rounds of stockinet stitch. That’s how my first sock was. On my pattern however, I wrote to do 30 rounds of ribbing, 30 rows of stockinet and THEN work the decreases and increases over the next 20 rows. So I had an extra 20 rows I had to rip, not to mention my heel flap I was only 2 rows away from completing. Here it is Friday, and I still have 10 more rows to my second attempt on my heel flap. I haven’t put quite as much heart and soul into it as I was there for a while. Oops.
Scarf: Remember that pretty grey, white and black cable-scarf I was knitting? No news. It’s still there, just not growing any. I’m sure my motivation on that will change one the temperature quits rising to 90° every single day. It’s! Hot!
Purple Socks: I quit. I have two lovely skeins of this sock yarn and I just can’t bring myself to waste them on a pair of socks that do not fit me at all. I just can’t. But now I’m so sick of looking at the yarn from my many failed attempts of turning it into socks, that I’m not ever sure if I want to make a pair that fits. So what do I do with it?
Clappy: I make a Clappy! Well, I try anyway. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel that this is one of those patterns that take every single bit of your concentration to make. No TV, no noise, NO NOTHING!!! I keep forgetting to purl into the front and back of the stitch before turning the row so I always come up a stitch short. Finally I got so aggravated I ripped it all out. Luckily I was still only on the increase rows.
I ALSO cast on for a Dora blanket I want to make for Kaylee. I was going to crochet it, but when placing a picture on a blanket such as Dora, a single crochet doesn’t always work the best. So, being as though I like knitting better and I already have the circulars I needed, I just decided to knit it. 200 stitches by 200 rows! This will take forever ;-). And I promise I won’t bore you with row by row updates although for starters, I’m 3 rows in already. Here is a picture of a crocheted Dora blanket that someone made so that you can get the idea.

That's the lady who made the blanket, not me
Guess what? (Forgive me if I’ve already posted about this) I broke my bamboo sock circulars and had to go back to my double pointed needles. I was very sad. I finally broke down and bought me some aluminum ones from e-bay but they won’t be here until next week sometime.
So there you have it, a week in the life of Carrie. Great week, huh? He He!

HELP!!!

2005-07-28T18:52:00.000-05:00

Please deal with me for the next 20 minutes. I have a 3 day weekend coming up. Its 20 minutes away; I am falling asleep. I can’t possibly stay awake all by myself for the next 20 minutes. I just can’t do it. I have no pictures; I have no knitting stories (except that I will probably begin the toe on my brown sock tonight, maybe); and my head is killing me (my headaches seem to be coming back with vengeance). So you will be my buddy for the next ::checks clock:: 14 minutes. No, it didn’t really take me 6 minutes to type this, I was chattin’ too.
So, La La La I’m trying to stay awake and meanwhile try to think of something interesting to tell you about. Like my day off tomorrow! I’m stoked!!! I told Adam I’d get up early and clean the house before my doctor’s appointment (I’m having some moles removed) but in all likelihood, I’ll sleep in as late as possible and knit the rest of the time. I’ll be in SO MUCH PAIN from having the moles removed I may just have to run by Faye’s and buy me a skein of sock yarn. And yes, I will be in pain, if I’m not knocked out cold. ANY sedative will kick me silly. Having a mole removed is such a small thing, that most people could jump on a tractor and mow the yard right after. I’ll be lucky if I’m able to walk out to the car on my own. I’m basing this theory on the last mole removal I went through. I had two taken off and was falling all over the place. This time, I’m having 3 (count ‘em) 1, 2, 3, removed. That’s THREE shots of happy medicine! I will be sleeping the rest of the day. Yep…Luckily Adam will be there to drive me home. *Shrugs* Happy day off to me!
P.S. Thanks for keeping me awake!

Finally, A Quick Photo Post!

2005-07-28T01:25:00.000-05:00

I don't want to let down any of you that were expecting photos tonight, so here they are! However, it's late (Ok, not really, It's only 11:00 pm) and I'm just ready for bed :-)

So we have....

The Purple Sock That Doesn't Fit Worth a Crap!
(It comes up WAY to high on my leg,
and that's with it folded over!)

The Side Of My Prettyful Brown Sock!
It Looks All Crooked, But It's Just The
Way The Circs Are Laying.

My Heel, Just Because I'm So Proud Of It!

My Beloved Brown Sock On My Lucky foot.

And, The Beautimus Detail
Of My Stitchery, YAY!!!

There you have it! Nothing special to anyone who doesn't hand-knit socks themselves. I think they are beautiful and they are soft, pretty and fit GREAT! Hurray for hand-knitted/custom socks!

OOPS! Or 'Up-zie' As Kaylee Says

2005-07-27T11:57:00.000-05:00

I had a serious learning episode last Friday night. Remember how I promised pictures and everything? Well, I had a really rotten day that Friday so accidentally DELETING my pictures before posting them was kind of my last straw. I thought they had posted, so I deleted them off my memory card. They never actually posted though. From now on, I will make sure to check that a little closer. Since then, I haven’t done much of anything. Hardly any knitting, picture taking and definitely NO POSTING! I needed a break I guess. But I’m back and fully charged!!! YAY! I worked on my brown sock a lot yesterday and completely finished the gusset decreases. I tried to do a practice toe, but it ended up looking like a cone in the end. I guess I decreased too often. Tonight when I get home from work, I will again attempt to take pictures. Does anyone know roughly how many rows one would knit before beginning the toe decreases? The toe, for some strange reason, horrifies me! Much more than the heel ever did. I guess that’s because it’s the end of the sock, it looks this good so far and I just hate to screw it up.
I’m debating on finishing my purple sock or not. It just bugs me a little to waist all that sock yarn and KNOW that the socks aren’t going to fit. Maybe I’ll just finish the one sock and use the rest of the yarn to make a pair that fit. I don’t want to feel like I’m backing out of a project, but still. I’m just a little stuck.
Oh, for those of you who are interested, here is a picture of the newest edition of our family, my little niece, Kendall Grace who is a week old this morning.

Baby Kendall

Isn’t she cute? Makes me want to have another baby SOOOO bad! I’ve wanted to have another REALLY bad since Kaylee was born, but now I want one even more. Adam says no though, and that’s ok because I know we can’t afford another one right now. Maybe in a couple of years.
So as I said, tonight I will try my second attempt at pictures. Sorry about all that...

But for now, my nice new yummy yarns that finally arrived only a WEEK after ordering them. Yeah, these are the yarns that were only supposed to take 2-3 days ;-).

Blue Bubbles and Merve Atlantik

Close-up of Atlantik

Oh! Here's a quick funny for you:

Meet Edward!

This is Edward. Edward is the Mall Office's new shredder. We named him Edward from Edward Sissorhands. It seemed fitting. Why am I so happy to show off our new shredder? Because I don't have to do it by have anymore, YAY!!!! :-) Now if only I could get this excited about finishing Kendall's baby blanket!

There Would Be Pictures

2005-07-22T11:01:00.000-05:00

I know, you're going to kill me for non-posting of pictures, and I was seriously going to post them today but I forgot to bring my memory card to work with me. TONIGHT!!!
I picked up my purple sock last night and did a few rows on it. I'm still working on the decreases past the heel. I noticed I had dropped a stitch and knitted over it again. Kept going 20 rows before I realized what I had done. I tied it up in a way it wouldn't run down the rest of my sock and kept going. The socks don't really fit and I'm not going to wear them anyway, so what's the point in taking out 20 rows just to fix that one stitch? Actually, you’re probably wondering why I’m even finishing the sock if I know it doesn’t fit. That’s because it’s a learning experience, and the moment I rip out the sock, I’ll wish I still had it. “Errors and all, this is my first pair of completed socks.” So there ya go. The pictures I took last night are of the purple sock on my foot (toes hanging out of course) to show how big it is on me, and a picture of the brown sock to show how nicely it fits. I’ve altered my orange sock a lot. The purple sock leg was 18 rounds of ribbing and then 76 rows of stockinet stitch. My orange sock had 30 rows ribbing and 30 rows stockinet stitch. I. LOVE. IT!
Did I mention it’s Friday? Thank God. It’s been a quick week, but I’ve had some stomach problems the past couple of weeks and I’ve come home feeling absolutely I’ve-been-hit-by-a-truck-exhausted every single night (no, I’m not pregnant). But it’s Friday and I have the whole weekend to recuperate for next week. That means lots of knitting.
In yarn news – Did I have any yarn in the mailbox when I got home from work last night? No. Did I e-mail the person? No. Why? Because I’m not confrontational. I always SAY I’m going to tell this person off and I’m going to say this to this person, but I rarely do. You have to REALLY piss me off before I’ll talk to you about it. I’m a pushover and I know it, but over the past couple of years (since I got pregnant) I quit letting people take advantage of me (as much). If the yarns not in my mailbox today I’ll e-mail the person and tell them I want my dime back for faster shipping. Yeah, it was only a dime but it’s the principal of the thing; don’t offer fast shipping if you’re not going to deliver (pardon the pun).
Ok, I’m done complaining now, thank’s for listening.
TONIGHT!!!

Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Skien Of Yarn Gone?

2005-07-21T18:46:00.000-05:00

I turned the heel last night on my brown sock and it turned out great. It fits me so well. I had no idea customizing the pattern to fit my foot would be so easy! I’m to the same spot on my brown sock that I am in my purple sock. So you know what I have to do now? Finish my purple sock before I can finish my brown one. Reason being, I’m ‘fitting’ the brown sock based on how the purple one fits. Did ANY of that make sense? I sure hope so. Anyway, today SHOULD be a happy mail day. I ordered the brown skein of yarn and the blue bubbles LAST Friday and I paid extra for 2-3 day shipping. Personally, I think they should have been here yesterday, but I will be a bit more patient. If they don’t come today, I’ll be e-mailin’ someone. I’m a patient person and all, but hello. It’s YARN!!!! It’s projects I could be making ;-).
I went to Jo-Ann’s Fabrics on my lunch break today. They had the biggest skein of yarn I have ever seen in my life – seriously. It was a type of Boucle, but I’m not sure which. I kinda forgot. Anyway, we’re talking 853 yards, 12 ounces, in the perfect blue-jean blue for only – TADA!!! $7.00! A steal or what? Did I get it? No…because I wasn’t sure what I’d make with it. I have a pretty sizeable stash anyway, with 4 skeins of yarn supposedly in the mail on their way to me. Speaking of stash, mine needs to develop some serious organization skills.
I didn't have dinner with Melissa last night after all. She never called me back. Weird...

How cool is THIS?!

2005-07-20T16:02:00.000-05:00

I ran into an old best friend this morning that I haven’t seen in years. I’m so excited. We swapped phone numbers and are planning on having dinner tonight! YAY! Good times, we can get caught up on everything. I haven’t seen her since right after Adam and I got engaged. We’ve been best friends since we were 9, but then we grew up and she went away for college. We kind of lost touch with each other.
No sock news. I picked up my cable scarf and tried to work a little on it. I got about 6 rows done and then I put it down. I worked on my sister’s baby blanket. A. LOT. The baby came this morning and now the pressure’s on to get it done. I think the stress of the blanket (my own fault for putting it off for so long) is weighing me down knitting wise. I just don’t have any motivation right now. I have all these lovely projects to work on, and I just don’t want to. That’s so bad!
Anyway, baby news! She was born around 8:00 this morning, weighing in at 8 pounds 12 ounces. She was 21 inches long and they named her Kendal (but I’m not sure how they spell it) Grace. I haven’t seen any pictures yet, but I’m sure she’s lovely.

I LOVE SOCKS!!!

2005-07-19T12:34:00.000-05:00

I finished the last 6 rows AND I knitted the heel flap. This flap looks even better than my last one. Which is so cool! That really all knitting wise. Let me just re-state that I love socks! It’s my new obsession.
OH!!! I have to tell you something funny Kaylee did yesterday. If ya’ll don’t know by now, I’m TERRIFIED of spiders. Well, I brought Kaylee home from mom’s, set her down in the kitchen, and then I walked into the bedroom to put away some things. All of a sudden I head a little voice floating from the kitchen saying “Ohh, pretty spy…” (Kaylee calls spiders spys). I TORE into that kitchen and (calmly) asked “Kaylee, do you see a spider?” She nodded. “Where baby? Show mommy the spider.” She then HOLDS.OUT.HER.HAND.AND.OPENS.HER.FIST!!!!!!!! HELLO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I freaked. I suddenly gained courage from who knows where, brushed the spider off, killed it and proceeded to tell her that spiders are BAD!!! ;-) I don’t want her to be scared of them like I am, but I want her to understand that they can hurt her. The only reason I’m so scared of them was a ‘traumatic’ experience with a spider when I was 6. Oh well, can’t change the past. I’m SLOWLY learning to deal with it. But not really ;-).

Hi ;-)

2005-07-18T17:44:00.000-05:00

No sock news from yesterday. No news about anything really, but that's just because I've been at work all day. I WILL have news about my beloved socks by tomorrow! I just wanted to drop in and say "HI!"

Happy Socky Sock!

2005-07-18T01:15:00.000-05:00

Ok, here’s how head over heels I am for this new yummy sock yarn. I have put my purple sock away (just for a while I PROMISE) and I am only 6 rows away from the heel flap on the new brown sock. I am so in love with this sock. I loved the last one, but I’m really custom knitting this sock just to fit my foot. I’ll write out the pattern when I get through if you’d like, but I have really narrow ankles, so it may not fit you quite right. I can’t WAIT to post pictures.
I think Adam’s getting a little aggravated that I can’t stick to one project at a time. I just can’t help it though. Besides, it’s HIS fault. He’s the one that wanted me to learn how to knit. Seriously! I was perfectly happy crocheting and then he told me to give knitting a try. So yeah, it’s his fault. Really though, I am so bad about starting so many projects at a time. I have a scarf, two pairs of socks and two crochet blankets all in progress right now. I want to start something with the blue bubble yarn I bought on Ebay too, but I’m not sure what. I was thinking a shawl, until I bought:

THIS!!!Click For More Yummy-ness!
This will make a beautiful shawl, don’t you think? Maybe I’ll make a clappy. I loved the one Carrieoke made; it was gorgeous. Normally I don’t much like browns, but this year I’m going hog-wild over them. Maybe it’s going hand-in-hand with my new ‘early to bed’ phase. ;-) Or maybe I’m just REALLY reaching.

I Lied

2005-07-16T13:29:00.000-05:00

BIG TIME! I did, oh maybe 4 rows on the sock last night. MAYBE! By the time we got home from On the Boarder and shopping, I was beat. I went to bed at 12:30!!! Hello?!?! When was the last time I went to bed at 12:30 on a Friday night? I was just SO tired! So, no sock progress.
However, this morning I went to Faye’s like I promised (see, I know how to keep at least SOME promises). I was bad. Oh, was I bad! I bought the 2nd skein for my sock like I had intended, but then I saw a BEAUTIFUL skein of sock yarn. I couldn’t resist. It was browns, and reds, and oranges….oh the yumminess, and soooo soft! I bought it. I know! I shouldn’t have, but it was too pretty. In fact, it’s so pretty, I couldn’t come home and pick up my first sock. I started on a new sock with my pretty brown yarn. I’ve actually picked up the circular needles again, and guess what? They worked this time! I’m so happy! I’m not sure how well I actually like them, but I’m just happy I could get it working finally. And it wasn’t that my instructions weren’t as clear as crystal, I was just being stupid. I’ve actually only done 9 rows of the ribbing, but I’m going to call it a night. I’m SOOOO tired! 11:30 PM on a Saturday night and I'm off to bed. What is up with me?

YUM-O!

2005-07-15T18:01:00.000-05:00

Ok, real fast, how yummy is this stuff? I just bought it on E-bay. They seem to be having REALLY great deals on bulk yarn. I bought two skeins, each 150 yards, for like $5.00 including shipping! I'm happy! I believe I will attempt my first lace shawl with this, depending on how big the actual 'fuzzies' in the yarn are.

Click For More Yummy-ness!

Socky Sock Heel Turn

2005-07-15T02:33:00.000-05:00

I turned the heel last night – again. It took 4 tries, but I did it. I was watching TV and not paying very close attention, so I counted wrong several times. Anyway, I went in the bedroom, climbed on my bed and did it. Surprisingly, it looks even better than the last one. As I was picking up stitches along the sides, I picked up a couple extra to avoid a hole. The patter says you may want to pick one more, but I did two. I hope it doesn’t screw me up.
Today is Friday, finally. It’s been a really freakin’ long week. That’s ok though, tonight will be worth it. We’re going to On the Border for dinner tonight (can you say happy hour Margaritas?) and then I will watch a weeks worth of my soaps and knit all night! Yay! I plan on finishing the decreases (the right way) and be well on my way into the foot of the sock by the time I put it down for the night. I would LOVE to finish the sock by Sunday night, but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen or not. I need to go by Faye’s tomorrow and pick up another skein of yarn for the other sock. She told me it would be enough for a pair, but this pair I’m making sits pretty high up on your leg and it uses quite a bit more yarn than your normal pattern probably would. But then again, I’m telling you stuff you probably already know, sorry. This socky sock stuff is just so fun and new I want to tell EVERYONE!!! Even people I know have NO interest in it whatsoever. I’m just glad Adam takes an interest in it or else I’d go crazy.
OOO I want some skittles…Sorry, that was random.

Still, I Didn't Throw It Against The Wall!

2005-07-14T17:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, so last night I’m knitting along, all happy, I’m about to finish the decreases and start on the foot. I looked down at my pattern to see how many stitches I was to end up with, and…Uh Oh! I had decreased on every row instead of every other row. No biggie, I’ll take it out. Well, I unraveled and unraveled and unraveled and realized, I wasn’t sure exactly how far to unravel. The more I unraveled, the more confused I became. I ended up pulling all the way out until right before the heel turn. Yay. Still, I didn't throw it against the wall. Honestly, that is something to be proud of. I am ;-)

Sock It To Me!

2005-07-13T16:44:00.000-05:00

The heel flap and turn of my beloved sock was anticipated. The beauty of the turn however, was not. Ok, I’m warning you, I PROMISE I’m not gushing or trying to brag, but for my first sock...HELLO?!?!?! I’M REALLY FREAKIN’ PROUD OF MYSELF! Sorry, I’ll quit yelling now. I’ve just got to finish the decreasing and then the foot in stockinet, decrease the toe and I’ll FINALLY be through with the sock. I’ve had a blast with it, but it’s been a little aggravating.
When I get through with this sock, I’ll know more of what I’m doing though, so my next pair should be quite a bit easier. I already have the yarn picked out ;-). It’s a whiteish grayish wool blend and it is so soft and yummy! I think this pair that I am knitting up now is going to come up a tad bit too high on my leg, but that’s ok. See, the neat thing is that now I know what I’m doing, my next pair can be more about what I want them to be like. If I want them to be short, I can make them short. If I want them fitted around my ankle a bit more (and I do) I can do that. Although, knowing how much to decrease and then increase back for the heel will be trial and error. But once I get it just right, I will have the perfect pair of socks. Then my next sock adventure? TOE SOCKS!!! I love them! I’ll have to pretty much create my own pattern though, because I can seem to find one anywhere. It shouldn’t be too hard though. Getting the toes to fit just right may be tricky but once you do, the rest of the pattern is the same as a basic sock. And then there’s a pattern for a half sock, divided at your ‘flip flop’ place on your foot, and only coming about 6 inches back. SO! CUTE! Kudos to the creator of this adorable project! I took pictures! Well, A picture at least. Wanna see?! SO! HAPPY!

TADA! I am a sock (almost).
(Click For Detail)

Happy Birthday Dad!

2005-07-13T12:16:00.000-05:00

Here's a shout out to my Dad! It's his birthday today and I wanted to wish him an outstandingly happy birthday! I love you dad!!! MWAH!

Sick Day

2005-07-12T14:07:00.000-05:00

I took a sick day from work today. I don’t get paid for it though. The new company that took over the mall doesn’t give us any paid time off during our probationary period (90 days). Personally, I don’t think we should have a probationary period, but no one asked me what I thought. Anyway, I’m using this day to sleep and knit on my sock. I anticipate a heel turn by the end of the day. That probably won’t happen, but I will be very happy if it does! I’ll be even happier if it turns out right! I have my written instructions, but I also have a sock episode of Knitty Gritty taped on my TiVo that is using the exact same heel flap and turn as I am using, so if I get stuck I can follow along with this lady.
I’m not really sure what was wrong with me last night, but I was up sick ALL .NIGHT. LONG! I HATE being sick. Actually, It’s not being sick that I mind so much, it’s the headache’s that come with being sick I hate. What’s great though, it that Excedrin is the BEST headache medicine and now they have a different kind of medicine for each kind of headache. YAY! So I didn’t take off today really for not feeling good, I took off so I can catch up on the sleep that I missed last night. I literally slept, like an hour. But not even a solid hour, 5 or 10 minutes here and there. Yuck! I tried to take a nap a little while ago, but I had a crazy dream. I dreamed I was sleeping, and I woke up to realize Adam was home earlier. The way I knew he was home though wasn’t the fact that I saw him, because actually I didn’t. I saw his shadow and I heard him whistling. And for some reason, I woke up (for real this time) SCARED! I got out of bed and literally walked around the house because I felt that someone was there with me. Although, granted I was still half asleep and once I woke up a little bit more, the feeling went away. Teaches me not to get out of bed too quickly after a dream ;-). So, from waking up too soon, I’m still exhausted and am about to head back to bed for a (hopefully) more restful sleep. Wish me luck!
Oh, Taco Bell sure does sound good. *Grins* Just thought you may like to know that! BTW, speaking of Taco Bell, have you tried their new crunch wrap? SO! GOOD!

But I Didn't Throw It Against The Wall!

2005-07-11T17:22:00.000-05:00

Last night was another knit fest. I was already up to row 45 (not including ribbing) of my sock. I turned it right side out (I prefer when knitting in the round, to knit outside in) and was about to show Adam how nice and neat my stitches were, when I noticed a hole. I shrugged and thought, “Oh well, what’s a dropped stitch? I’ll fix that up in a jiffy. Now, where are my crochet hooks?” Only as I looked closer, I noticed it wasn’t only a dropped stitch, but a dropped stitch that had been knitted over ROW.AFTER.ROW. 25 rows I had to take out. In fact, guess how many rows I had done yesterday before finding my mistake? 25!!! Woo-Freakin’-Hoo! I get to rip out everything I have done today. Honestly though, I’m glad I found it before I got any further. And be proud of me, I didn’t throw it against the wall. I tried it on to see how it was looking (minus the hole) ripped it all out, picked up me needles and started over. This was at 10:00 pm last night mind you. I was JUST about to go to bed. But of course, it was on then. I couldn’t go to bed till I had fixed my mistake. Come 10 rows left I could not stay awake anymore. So I went to bed. So close..and yet so far. Today I went home for my lunch break, but with living so far out and, well, actually needing to eat on my break, I had time to knit all of about 3 rows. So I’m 7 away from fixing my screw up. Then I will only have 36 more rounds (ugh) until the heel. Which I’ll probably screw up that too somehow. ;-) I don’t think I’m supposed to knit this sock or something, why else would I be having so much trouble?!  Just kidding! Anyway, if I EVER make progress, I’ll snap a progress picture soon enough. Until then!

Go ME!!! Again!

2005-07-10T07:26:00.000-05:00

I did a whole honkin' 20 rows on my sock today! So much for the blanket ;-) I'm really happy about my progress! I’ll be back to where I was prior to ripping the whole thing apart soon. Now, I just hope the heel and turn are pretty easy to work. On the show Knitty Gritty today, they were doing a special sock episode, and the way they were doing the heel is a lot like my pattern, so maybe between the two, I’ll get it fairly easily. I’m just so scared of venturing out too much in fear of putting all that hard work into it and it just looking awful. Like a sock I crochet; the whole thing looked great until I got to the heel and then it looked like a 5 year old had made it. If one more thing goes wrong with this sock, I think I will pick it up and throw it against the wall before continuing ;-). We’ll see.
Well, hurricane Dennis is slowly making its way towards land. I really don’t think we’ll get much from it, which is good for us, but bad for Pensacola. They’re going to get the worst of it, again, poor people. We have stocked up on supplies though, JUST incase. We’re all set. Bring it on!!!
Oh! Here are a couple of pictures I thought you'd get a kick out of!

Go Me!

2005-07-09T16:12:00.000-05:00

You will be so proud of me! At least I'm proud of me! I did 14 rows on the sock last night and finished the ribbing!!! YAY! Kaylee went to bed at 7:30 and Adam took a nap right after that. Actually he slept until 12:30!! So I had the whole house to myself and did major knitting. 14 rows of ribbing may not seem like a lot to you guys who have been knitting for a while, but to me...MAN! I felt like I could achieve ANYTHING after that! I set up a Works In Progress page, but right now my sock's the only thing in it. Tee-Hee! I could put the baby blankets in there I guess, but this IS a knitting blog. Speaking of which, I REALLY need to pick those blankets back up. I have 5 weeks until my parents go to visit my sister. She's having the baby next Wednesday. I didn't want to mail it to her though, so I decided I'd just let mom and dad take it to her. So pretty much I need to put that blanket before my sock, as much as that will suck. Not that I don't want my sister to have a blanket, I just love knitting on those socks! :-)
Well, I'm pretty tired from staying up so late last night, so I'm going to go take a nap. :-) Talk to you tomorrow!

Melting Pot Photo Blog

2005-07-08T19:47:00.000-05:00

In knitting news, I did a whole TA-DA!!!! two rows on my sock last night for a grand total of four rows!!! Lol after getting home so late from eating and picking Kaylee up, I picked up my sock, knitted one row, went in the bed room to change, and the next thing I knew I was waking up on my bed at 1:30 am! I don’t remember changing, and I don’t remember lying down on the bed. And no, before you even start, I had 3 sips of a drink and that’s it! So I wasn’t drunk...just REALLY tired I guess. Anyway I groggily carried myself into the living room, knit one more row and called it quits for the night. I was so tired and still half asleep so I had a lot of problems with that row. But I think I got it all straightened out. I’ll have to take a good look at it tonight, and if it’s not too screwed up, I shall continue and hopefully make a bit more progress than I did last night. In other news, hurricane Dennis is heading right for the Florida panhandle. Joy. Not that I wish more storm damage to anyone ESPECIALLY Pensacola but I just hope it moves away from us! Only 5 weeks into the hurricane season and already there have been 4 named storms, 1 of which has already brushed us and one of which is a category 4 (expected to become a 5) and is headed right for us. It’s really scary. Being where we are in the state, we don’t get hit by the REALLY rough weather of hurricanes very often, so I don’t worry about getting 100’s of gallons of water and 1,000’s of batteries, but with this storm I may consider it a little bit...ok a lot. I have to admit, hurricanes don’t tend to scare me, but this one’s getting me in a bit of a tizzy.
We’re having a part-timer quit out at customer service. Her last day’s in 4 days and we still have no replacement. In fact, we don’t even have any applications from the new company yet. They seem to really be dragging their feet. They were closing on another mall about the same time they were closing on ours, so they may be busy with that, but still. It seems like if they knew that they were going to be this busy, they wouldn’t have scheduled the closings so close together. Maybe that’s just me. ;-)
Anyway, Melting Pot time! I have LOTS of pictures so if you're tired of hearing about the Melting Pot, here’s your chance to turn back.

No?

Ok, here we go then!

I.Had.So.Much.Fun!!! I got there at about 6:35 and everyone else was already there waiting on me (oops). We stuffed ourselves stupid! We didn't really get any pictures of the food except the main course so here goes (OH! Adam said I can start posting his picture now! YAY!!! Now you can see my darling hubby!):

Adam and I Trying To Decide What To Order

Mom And Dad Ordering
(Sorry The Color's A Little Off)

I Call This Photo "Where Is Dad?"
He's In There, I Swear

My Prettyful Mom

Here is a picture of me drinking something that was...well, not very good! I'll spare you the picture of me making a face ;-)

My Nasty Drink

And Finally:

Me And Adam Standing Outside As We Were Leaving
(See How Much Taller He Is Than Me?)

These pictures just don't capture how much fun we had, but I tried. Maybe this at least makes you wish to seek a fondue restaurant a little bit more now. :-)
Well, now I'm off for the weekend. Hopefully a weekend full of knitting progress! Wish me luck!

Blech!

2005-07-07T11:10:00.000-05:00

That's how I feel right now. Just sort of blech. Or maybe that should be blah! Anywho, tonight’s Melting Pot night! I’m so excited! We’re going to have so much fun! I’m going to drop Kaylee of at Christi’s and then head on over. I doubt I’ll get to mom’s in time to be able to ride with them, so I suppose I’ll just meet them at the restaurant. Doesn’t matter how I get there, as long as I do and the food is good! Ok, I’ve bored you enough with the whole Melting Pot thing, so onto newer and better things.
KNITTING!!!! I cast on for my socks on the circs last night. As I began to join it, I realized I had no idea what I was doing. So using this pattern I learned how to join the round in a very nice neat way. So I’m humming as I knit, minding my own business, and I notice I have cast on 1 too few stitches. I decided not to do an increase since I was still so close to the beginning and I ripped it all out. –K- so I cast on again, joined the round, and knit the first row. STILL had 1 too few stitches. I mean come on, I know how to freakin’ count! So, I muted the T.V., told Adam not to talk to me for a while ;-) and got to work. I cast on for a THIRD time, joined the round, counted my stitches once again (I had the correct number this time) and joined the round. Knitted 2 rows and realized I had twisted my join somehow. After that…lol I picked the dpns back up. Oh well, maybe I’ll give the circs another try later on down the road. I knit two rows on the dpns and called it a night. I know, not a lot of progress but there would have been had I not screwed up so many times! Oh! After I swatched with the size 1 dpns (keep in mind that I WAS working on 2’s) I looked at it and about fell over. It REALLY looks like a sock!!! I thought the size 2 swatch was beautiful, but the size 1 swatch puts the size 2 to shame. Adam really liked it too. I know, all of you who have knit tons of pairs are probably laughing at me right now, but to me this is GREAT! I’m totally stoked (ok, how long has it been since I’ve used that word?) and really excited to see further progress on the sock. No pictures though, because to you they would look JUST like the cast on and first two rows of the last sock attempt. If you REALLY want one let me know, otherwise I’ll post one later.
Ok one more time for the road: MELTING POT!!!!!

Happy Hump Day!

2005-07-06T15:08:00.000-05:00

Guess what happened last night? I went to the bookstore to look for a book on spinning and I ran into this lady who was hosting a knitting group there! She spins too and was giving me all kinds of tips on what kind of wheels and things to get for beginner spinners. I have decided that I am going to get an Ashford Traditional. It’s a beautiful wheel and seems like it will fit me perfectly. It’s not quite as fairytale as the Elizabeth II but the Elizabeth is a double drive and the lady I met said double drives are harder to learn on. Anyway, I’m really excited. Now I just have to decide what kind of accessories I need with it. Have I mentioned that I have the greatest parents in the world BTW? This is my birthday present from them. Is that not the coolest? And if I didn’t already say this, I’m SOOOO EXCITED!!! Adam bought me the Hard Rock Cafe Barbie Doll. I collect the Collector’s Edition Barbie Dolls and we both LOVE the Hard Rock Café so the two were a good combo!
So anyway, as I was knitting on my sock Sunday night (10 rows from the heel, mind you), I noticed that it was just too big. I went a little big on purpose, but this was going to be a freakin’ huge sock! So…..yeah. I ripped it. All of it. Every bit of it. All of every bit of it. As I looked at the unwound pile of yarn of what used to be my sock, I almost cried. I mean, that was my very first sock. Part of me wishes I had kept it, that way I could say “This is my very first sock!” I guess now I’ll just have to say “This is my very first finished sock!” Really though that’s ok. The more experiences and practice the better. So anyway yesterday I bought some smaller dpns and I also got two pairs of circulars. I want to try the sock on circs this time, but I’ve never used circs before. I wonder if it’s really hard? If I have too much trouble, I can always go back to the dpns. Maybe tomorrow I'll have some pics of socks on circs! :-)
We’re going to the Melting Pot for dinner tomorrow night! Me, Adam, mom and dad. Christi’s watching Kaylee for us so we can take our time and have fun. I’m so excited. It’s for mine and my mom’s birthday. We’re not skimping either, we’re having the appetizers, bread and two cheeses, then the main course will be lobster, steak, chicken, shrimp, scallops, ravioli, vegetables and something else I can’t remember, the dessert will be chocolate with fruit, cheese cake, pound cake, brownies, Oreo covered marshmallows, peanut covered marshmallows and graham crackers. YUM-O! And they will keep bringing you food as long as you have chocolate! Seriously guys, if you have a Melting Pot or some kind of fondue restaurant, you gotta go! You don’t know what you’re missing. I had never gone before, and since I went my first time in March, tomorrow night will be my 3rd time. It is that good!
Ok, well this is enough for today! See ya soon!

Happy Birthday To Me!

2005-07-05T17:31:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday! I am 22 today! And I have to work. This is the first year I've ever had to do anything on my birthday. I've always taken it off from work or school. And let me tell you, people who say that working on your Birthday is no different, LIED! Working on your birthday sucks. I can't really talk about why it sucks though. It's mostly work related issues, and well, you know. Oh, look at this pic of my angel! Isn't she sweet (Ignore me)?

Mommy and Boogie

We are using the term "Boogie" as a term of endearment. It all started when she was born. She spit up all over a new clean shirt and I looked at her, smiled at her and called her a booger. From then on, every time she spit up on me she was 'Mommy's little booger" but that sounded gross, so it became Boogie. The name kind of stuck, and now she's our Boogie. :-) Maybe that was more information than you really wanted to know. ;-)

Happy 229th Birthday, America!

2005-07-04T11:39:00.000-05:00

YAY! Another year celebrated of our independence! We didn't shoot any fireworks, nor did we even see any but we still had a grand old time. Kaylee did NOT want to get out of that pool. We bought her a little float and she had SO much fun in it. We could tell she was getting a little tired of sitting in it though, so we took her out and held her in the water for a little while. After that, she did not want back in it! We let her stay in the pool until she was about to fall asleep from swimming so much, poor little thing. Anyway, just like I had hoped for, we grilled out for lunch. I wish I had snapped some pictures, but my camera’s not water proof, and I didn’t want to get it near the pool. I believe mom snapped some though, so maybe I’ll get some from her. Here’s a picture I did snap:

This is a picture of Kaylee right before heading over to mom and dad’s. Normally she’s a camera ham, but not this day! She did NOT want her picture taken, so this was the best I could do!
After swimming and eating until we could no longer do so (either from the rain or our stomachs having a holding limit) we put Kaylee down for a nap, dad and Adam went to the store and I showed mom my new love: SPINNING!!! Here is a picture of some yummy stuff I’ve spun up:

I’m really having a great time with it. If you’re looking for a new craft and have (a little) money to throw around, why don’t you pick up spinning? It’s a little frustrating at first, but it’s a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. It’s a little addicting, and definitely much more rewarding than buying pre-spun yarn. Anyway, that’s all for now! Happy knitting, crocheting, sewing or spinning!

Oh, Scary Days!

2005-07-03T18:06:00.000-05:00

I had something really scary happen – I took a dosage of medicine in 6 hours that is supposed to be broken up over a period of 48 hours!!! This is what happened: Friday night I woke up at like
4:00 am (ok technically it was Saturday morning) with a torn up stomach (TMI!!!! Sorry) and a killer headache. I moseyed into the bathroom, still half asleep mind you, popped two Excedrin and went back to bed. You can take Excedrin every 4-6 hours, so the next morning at about 10:00 or 11:00 am I popped two more. No sooner than those two pills slid down my throat, I noticed I wasn’t holding my Excedrin. I was holding my Excedrin MIGRAINE medicine, which you’re only supposed to take every 24 hours! I didn’t see my regular Excedrin anywhere which had to have meant that I had taken it the night before too! I was really scared, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. And I was scared to tell Adam, so I kept it to myself and went on about my business. Nothing happened luckily. I finally told him about it and he started freaking out, yelling: “You should have told me!!!! You should have called the poison control center!!!!!” From now on, I will try to wake myself up a little bit more when the situation is in regards to medicine. Wow, scary!
Anyway, we ended up not going out to eat with my parents last night. We had decided to just go out tonight, but now mom's sick so we're not doing that either. That's ok though because we'll be with them all day tomorrow for the 4th. I can't wait! I love summer holidays because it normally consists of grilling and swimming, and I really love both! :-)

Saturday's Are Great Fun!

2005-07-02T19:34:00.000-05:00

I love Saturdays! The beginning of two whole days off from work. Well, 3 this weekend because Monday is July 4! The following day is my birthday but I'm not able to take that off. Oh well! Anyway, Karen left today :-( but we've had a good time since she's been here. Last night we went to Bealls to do a little shopping. (By the way, if ya’ll have a Bealls in your town you gotta go! They are always having terrific sales!) I got about 5 new pairs of pants and around 7 new tops for only $125.00!!! And they’re really cute too, not that ‘sale’ looking stuff. And you know what ‘sale’ looking stuff is, the old picked over stuff that nobody else wanted. Oh, and then we had Sonny’s for dinner – YUM!!!! Corn nuggets! Karen told me that I’m going to turn into a corn nugget!
Oh, my parent's wine chiller came in yesterday too. I hope they like it! It looks a lot nicer in person than it did in the picture, although most things tend to. I almost want one myself, but I don’t drink that much wine. I’d rather load up on the Margaritas.!
Other than that, not a whole lot’s happened around here. Adam had to go help my dad stake up a tree that some drunk driver had plowed down in my parent’s yard. I hate when people don’t fess up for the things they do, and then the owner has to fix it at their expense. Bugs me...
Well, I need to go get ready. We're going out to dinner with my parents tonight. I'm SO tempted to give them their present tonight, but I will wait until the 4th! Oh, the excitment is too much!!
OH! Before I forget, I have a couple of pictures to show you. And finally, one of the pictures will be of Karen! Well, that’s all for now! Until tomorrow!

The long awaited 'Karen' picture

My Kaylee-Girl
(Don't you just wanna eat her up?)