Knittin' and Lovin' It

Knitting, RA, and Other Ouchies

I think I remember posting awhile back that my RA meds weren't working anymore and that it feels like my joints are constantly trying to kill me. There have been quite a few mornings and many more nights where I wished they'd hurry up and finish the job already which led my doctor to give me Humira but my TB test came back positive which means nine months of TB meds and a swap to a new medication because I guess Humira is super dangerous to take while being treated for TB. How I managed to contract TB I have no idea. It's been in the last 11 years since my last TB test was in 2001 and it was negative. It's not like I make a habit of jotting off to third world countries or anything like that. I have almost 3 months of TB treatment done and 6 more to go. I finally got the approval from my insurance for the Enbrel and the foot doc gave me the green light to start. I was waiting on her because of the two toenails that I had removed. I took the first shot yesterday and so far so good. No serious reactions so now it's time to sit back and see if the meds help reduce some of my RA symptoms. This complicates our move a little more since I'll have to find a suitable way to keep the meds cold because they have to stay refridgerated. I did some research on how much this medication costs and from what I've found if you don't have insurance you're looking at $2,000 to $3000 per 30 days for most of the basic biologic meds, Humira, Enbrel, Orencia, etc. Makes me very thankful for the health insurance we have and will continue to receive after Shawn retires but also makes me sick thinking about the people who aren't getting the help they need because they don't have insurance. It's a rather scary thought. I don't know what Shawn and I would do if we didn't have insurance to cover my meds.

Moving day is happening 5 Sept. WooHoo!!! I'm not looking forward to the drive back and all the stuff I have to do to prep for the move but I'm so looking forward to being home again. MyiPod will be loaded with music and I need to find a good bluetooth headset for my iPhone. Budget gave us one hell of a deal for a moving van rental since we're military and they gave use 150 extra miles since we have to drive over a 95 miles to pick up the truck in Helena. A little over $300 for 5 days is an awesome deal and they frickin rock!! U-Hell wanted over double that. We've opted to move essential stuff that we need since we're living with my sister for awhile so most of our stuff will go in storage until we get our own place. Plus there are things I just don't trust the movers to pack and move, ie family photos, computers, my yarn, etc. I'm already in contact with a realistate agent. I've found several houses that I would absolutely love to have but buying isn't an option yet.

I've been working on a few things on the knitting front.

First up is my It's A Wrap shawl.

 

 

I'm using Miss Babs Yowza in the Tulipa colorway. Right now there is a knit along over in the Woolgirl group. You don't have to have the kit to participate in the KAL. The pattern is available for sale seperately. We're running the knit along through the month of March.

Second on the list is my Love Bug socks. 

These are knit using Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! and the colorway is Longhorn Beetle which is a drop dead gorgeous red!

 

Next is my knitting on the go socks.

Toe up socks knit with Opal 6 ply sock yarn. I think this one is called Lollipop. These are my basic toe up short row heel socks. Nothing fancy but they always fit great.

 

I'm working on a baby blanket for my cousin.

 

 This is actually a mish mash of patterns to get the look I want. The basic look and layout is a modified version of the Bedtime Story Afghan (ravelry)(non ravelry). The original pattern called for duplicate stitch to put the animal pictures on the blanket. Since I'd rather cut off my foot then work duplicate stitch I'm using a knit elephant dishcloth pattern (ravelry). I had to cut a couple of knit stitches on each end but all in all I think the elephant looks pretty damn good on this blanket. I'm alternating the elephants with the blanket blocks. I'm actually working on the 3rd row of elephants now. I think I need a total of 6 rows to hit the right size blanket.

I knit these lovely socks for my last TLE Swap partner.

The pattern is Twinkle Twinkle (ravelry)(non ravelry) and the yarn is Studio June Super Cash Sock. To add a little twinkle to the socks I used 6/0 Toho glass beads.

I finished my fingerless mitts and cowl for the TLE Q1 challenge.

The yarn is Malabrigo Silky Merino in the London Sky colorway. I asked the fine folks at Malabrigo if they were going to be doing this colorway in their sock yarn base but sadly they are not. I think it's rather gorgeous and would love to make a shawl or socks with it in the sock yarn. The fingerless mitts pattern is Princess Mitts from The Knitters Book of Yarn (ravelry)(non ravelry). The cowl is Diamond Leaf Cowl (ravelry)(non ravelry).

Kaity has a new pair of socks.

These were knit from some ONline Supersocke that adopted  from someone who hated the way it looked. Kaity liked it so I paid for shipping and gave it a new home.

Bree has a new pair too.

It's just my basic toe up sock with some ribbing on the foot and cuff for a better fit. It's funny how much she loves her handknit socks.

I'll leave you with a shot of the boys in their new birdy McMansion.

This thing is super roomy. We went with PetCo's parrot cage. Between the sale, discount coupons, and free shipping it was the best deal over all the other cages around the same size. They have tons of room for toys, perches, etc. I have to very happy birdies now.

Until next time.....Happy Crafting!

Meandering, Babbling and General Craziness

Sounds like the title of a good book. It would definitely work as a great title for my memoirs. Note to self, must add that to my bucket list. I think I could sell all of maybe 5 books if I published it. Naw, scratch that my life has been rather boring and uneventful, well to me it hasn't been boring but to the everyday Joe my life would be rather dull so maybe unpublished memoirs would be the way to go for me.

Shawn's retirement is now official and he should be seeing his official orders here soon. Hard to believe it's all done in 226 days. He's started the job hunt and we've had a few nibbles but nothing to write home about. There are a handful more that would be great but now it's a frickin waiting game. We've start checklists and have a million and one things that need to be done. We're doing a partial move so that we have our clothing, beds, etc. The stuff we can't live without while we're living with my sister since we don't know for sure how long it will be before we get out own place. Uncle Sam will pay to move the rest and for a year of storage for our household goods so that gives us time to either buy a place or find a house to rent. My sister and I spent 3 hours on the phone talking about the move and getting all excited about us coming home.

I had a mini freak out moment when we signed the lease. I might also want to add that I was already upset because I found out my great uncle had passed away. Our base housing is going through the privatization process so we had to sign a lease with the company that's taking over and I started reading their stupid little booklet on responsibilities and such because I'm smart like that and I want to know what is going on before names are signed willy nilly. I get to the carpet replacement price and see that it starts at $1400 and goes up in price and my little mind starts chanting "oh shit oh shit oh shit". I have dogs, birds and kids plus my carpet has seen two other families besides mine so it's looking shabby and crappy. It's cheap carpet and even cheaper padding, Uncle Sammy only pays for the best for his military troops (must insert a lot of sarcasm here). Then I hit the next part that starts talking about how you have to pay to have your carpets professionally cleaned when you have pets in the house when you move out. Now I'm chanting "oh shit, oh crap, wtf are they "F"-in crazy" because it would cost in upwards of $700 to professionally clean the carpets in my house from top to  bottom. My house is frick huge and I live in a two story house. I have 14 stairs and it would cost me an additional $3 per stair....the prices are damn crazy if you ask me!!! Note to self, no I repeat no carpet in my house when we buy one!!! My mind was so not G rated that day. So I'm ranting and pissed and complaining about how in the hell they expect military people (who don't make that great of a paycheck to begin with) to pay for this crap. So of course I pissed Shawn off because apparently I'm not suppose to be pissed about having to come up with $700 we weren't counting on for the move. It's not as if the uHaul (they want over $900 for one of their crappy frickin vehicles) and house cleaning fees weren't bad enough. So Shawn's nonchalant, don't worry be happy, can't change it so why get pissed attitude pissed me off even more. His comment was like oh well guess we're going to have to use the income tax refund to pay for it. Nevermind that our income tax refund was for paying off some damn bills we really need to pay off. If I would have had a frying pan I may very well have walloped him on the head with it. Apparently he's not been paying attention over the last 13+ years of marriage that I need to rant and bitch which needs no response from him at all. It's not as if I was doing it standing there in a public place (something I would never do) we were in the car/at home. Anyways back to my freak out, all is well that ends well, after a nice chat with the military housing office and the new civilian company taking over, we are not responsible for the carpet at all because it's already past its 7 year life cycle. It's the original carpet that was put in the houses when they were built like 10 years ago so all we have to do is vacuum because they're ripping it out. So I guess Shawn's don't worry attitude would have been better but I vented my stress and anger so at least I know I won't explode now. When I internalize stress it never ends well.

Anyways on to knitting and other fun stuff.

I received my TLE #9 swap in the mail today.

 

I love everything! I got stitch markers, hot cocoa, chocolate coffee, hot tamales, a lovely pair of socks made with Hazel Knits artisian sock yarn, Koigu Kersti, BFL/Seacell fiber, and an emergency fix key chain.

My It's a Wrap mini kit from Woolgirl.

 

I test knit this a while back and I've been patiently waiting to post about it. I'm co-hosting a KAL with the designer. I can't wait to get started on this. The yarn is Miss Babs Yowza worsted weight which I absolutely adore. The colorway is Tulipa which is a lovely deep purple.

I knit a Darkside Cowl (ravelry) for Bree.

Of course it's warmed back up and now she doesn't need it but it's ready for when the temps drop again. The yarn is the Premier yarns serenity sock yarn that I picked up on sale at JoAnn's. I held it double stranded and let me say that I think I'm going to knit more of these double stranded with sock yarn. I just need to add more stitches for myself and Kaity. This is a great pattern and double stranded with sock yarn makes it extra squishy and warm.

Yarn for a baby blanket for my cousin M.

She's due this summer with her second child. I need to check with my aunt to see when little dude is due to join this world. The yarn is Knit Picks Comfy Worsted and the colorway is called Macaw which this does remind me of the green on some of the Macaws. Cousin M already has a blue baby blanket so I figured I'd change it up a bit and use a non standard baby color.

Finally I finished the first part of my 2012 Quarter one challenge from TLE.

The pattern is Malabrigo Silky Merino and the pattern is Princess Mitts (Ravelry)(non Ravelry) from The Knitter's Book of Yarn. It's also a free pattern. I think it was one of those patterns that Potters Craft released as a teaser for the release of the book. The pattern had a error in the thumb chart but by the time I noticed it it was too late and I was too lazy to rip and reknit. The error wasn't that big of a deal for me. Note to self, check for errata before starting to knit, bone head!!

I'll leave you with a shot of George and Bill hanging out and getting to know each other over pop corn.

 Bill is on the left and George is on the right pigging out on the popcorn. Bill and George will be getting separate big cages not because they don't get along because they're not to bad together it's because George absolutely hates Shawn and Shawn's afraid George is going to hurt himself if Shawn puts his hand in the cage to get Bill. George freaked out when Shawn uncovered him this morning and ended up rubbing his wing so hard it bled. So each birdie will be getting their own big, sturdy cage and Shawn will ignore George from here on out. I'm aggravated with the both of them.

Till next time......Happy Crafting!

Retirement Time!!!

Shawn submitted for approval to retire. Shawn hit 19 years of active duty Air Force service on 7 Dec 2012 so he submitted his eligibility check for retirement earlier this week. We're done and ready to move on with our lives. It's time to take control of our life back from the military. I can't begin to explain how much stress was relieved with that decision. So barring any unforseen issues we will heading back to Boise, ID on or around 5 Sept 2012. I can't believe we're down to the last 8 months. We were originally going to drop retirement papers in Sep/Oct of this year so we could move during the summer of 2013 but the AF dropped High Year Tenure (HYT) for Technical Sergeant (TSgt) from 22 years to 20 years which meant it was up in the air on if they would extend Shawn's time out from April of 2012 to Sept 2012. If they refused to extend him out it would have meant a move in the middle of Dec or Jan for us, something neither of us want to be doing so we decided to take the money and run.

Uncle Sammy and his cronies are really screwing with the lives of military members right now. You use to be able to retire from the Air Force as a Staff Sergeant (SSgt) with 20 years of military service. Now you can only do 15 years as a SSgt meaning you have to make TSgt to retire from the military. Add injury to insult that they also want to keep retiring military members from drawing their retirement pay right away. They want to make it to where we have to wait till we're 65. Screw that! The average american citizen doesn't have to pick up a gun and fight in a foriegn country to earn their retirement. They don't have to worry about if they are going to make it home safe and sound to their family. Just because you come home from a deployment without any external injuries doesn't mean you came home unharmed. PTSD is a very common and very serious problem. I can't tell you how many people I've personally seen flinch or flat out drop to the floor when they hear a car backfire, fireworks and other loud noises that sound like gunfire after spending time deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. I wonder how many military members wake up in the middle of the night to some nightmare of what they saw over there? Until ALL of Congress puts on full battle rattle (military protective gear), picks up an assult rifle, kisses their family goodbye, gets on a plane and spends 12-16 months away from their loved ones to stand on the front lines worrying about getting their asses shot off, not knowing who is the enemy and who needs help, they don't have the right to the decision to take away our armed services ability to draw our retirement until we're 65. There are only a few current members of congress who know what it's like to go to war. I know Sentors John McCain and Jim Webb both served in Vietnam. There are also a few that were cops so they know what it's like to put their butts on the line every day but the bulk majority of them have never went to war and have never even served in the armed forces so how can they make such important decisions about the military when they haven't walked a mile or two in our shoes. 

My sister and I are so excited about the move. She's in Boise and I can't wait to get home. I desperately miss my best friend and shopping buddy not to meantion my most trusted babysitter for the girls. I miss my family and this move will put me closer to them again.

Yes I know I know I'm rambling and I need to get to the knitting content. Lets me think for a moment....ah now I remember where I need to start my post.

I finished my Marilinda socks (ravelry)(non ravelry).

This is a CookieA pattern and can be bought as a seperate pattern or it's in the book Knit.Sock.Love which comes in a print or pdf version. The yarn is Wollmeise I picked up from a destash. The colorway is we're different Ruby Thursday. I love the red color but bought it more for the name since it has sentimental value to me. I love these socks. I'm only so so on the Wollmeise base. The base yarn is OK but her colors are what draw me in. There are indie dyers out there with much nicer base yarns in my opinion. Will I buy more Wollmeise? Yes I will but it will never be one of my favs. I'd love to get my hands on a skein of Wollmeise lace in the Ruby Thursday colorway for the next shawl I'm planning for my mom. I've seen a few being destashed but can't spend the money right now. With the move coming up the only way I could do it is someone was willing to trade and most people want to trade lace for lace. Oh well, maybe after we get settled after the move.

One of many candy cane ponies (ravelry)(non ravelry).

This is a quick and easy pattern. I really love these and have plans to make more this year for my cousins, nephews, my girls, and some other family members. I have wiggle eyes and ribbon for the next handful of ponies I plan to make.

I picked up some new to me sock yarn on sale at JoAnn's the other day.

The yarn is Premier Yarn Serenity sock weight yarn. It's a merino/bamboo/nylon sock yarn. It's übercheap. I think it was like $3.99 per 50 gram skein. JoAnn's was having a buy one get one 50% off so I figured why not. It's the cheapest sock yarn I've found so far.

Finally I picked up some Malabrigo Silky Merino for the 1st Quarter TLE challenge.

The challenge is to knit something with yarn that has silk content. I'm planning on making fingerless mitts and a new cowl for myself. 

Until next time......Happy Crafting!

Can't Catch A Break

Once again I feel like the universe is having a great big laugh at my expense. I swear for every step forward I then have to take 3 steps back. Oh, I guess I should fill you in on what's going on, huh?At the beginning of the month I went to the rheumatologist for a check up. I go every 2-4 months. The doc isn't happy with my high inflammation levels and the fact that I'm having more pain and stiffness along with restlessness and waking up in the middle of the night hurting so he decided it was time to move on to the biologic RA meds. He wanted gave me Humira to try for three months but I had to have a TB test before I could start them. Humira and TB are a bad combo. So I got the test expecting like every other time that it would be negative. Boy wasn't I surprised when I had a splotchy red mark on my arm the next morning. Since I'm immunocompromised anything spot bigger then 5mm is a positive. It's 15mm so definitely more then 5mm. So after chest x-rays and more blood work to make sure it's not active TB I'm still going to have to go on the TB meds because of my compromised immune system. Of course I'm only on one med so that's always a good thing. The only good thing is the RA doc moved me to Enbrel which is what he really wanted me on to begin with but I guess the military throws a fit about it because it's more expensive.....gah! So I have to be on the TB meds for at least a month before he'll put me on the Enbrel but it's not as bad as I originally thought. I figured I was going to have to wait till I was done with the TB treatment.

Anyways now that the bitching and complaining is over with I can move on to the knitting portion of the post.

I picked up this lovely corriedale from TLE when I order the yarn for my swap partner.

The colorway is called Apple Pie and I couldn't pass it up. It'll probably be the next thing I spin when I finish what I have on the bobbin now.

Speaking of current spinning, this is what I have on my wheel now.

It's Yarn Love's Scarlett O'Hara which is a lovely merino/bamboo blend which is really nice to spin with. I wasn't sure with the bamboo in there but I'm really enjoying it. The colorway is called Blackberry Jam. I think I may very well have an obsession with stuff named after food.

My latest spinning FO's.

The first one is 8oz of Colonial/Corriedale from Copper Moose. It ended up being about 216 yards of worsted weight. This one is by far the best spinning I've done yet. It's pretty damn even. I could definitely see buying more of this fiber. I do have 1lb of it in a dark blue/purple colorway. Copper Moose has great customer service. I need to order some more of the Ashford sliding hook flyer bobbins. I had no problems plying 8 ounces of fiber onto that bobbin. The second is 4oz of BFL from Spinneretta's Studio. It's more of a thick and thin yarn. The third one is 4oz of BFL from Pigeonroof Studios. I'd definitely love to get my hands on more fiber from Pigeonroof Studios.

I'm making good progress on Shawn's sweater.

The yarn is Miss Babs Yowza. I love love love this yarn. It's a lighter worsted weight. I have some red in my stash that I'll be using for myself. I've just cracked into skein number 2. The hank is 560 yards so there's less weaving in ends.

Kaity's Tiny Tea Leaves cardi is done.

Both the girls sweaters are blocked and dry so tonight I'll be sewing on the buttons and wrapping them up. I love it when I finish stuff on time. I'll get final photos of them in them after Christmas.

I'm plugging right along on Bree's ripple blanket.

I still have lots more stripes to go though. Each colorway will have a total of 6 stripes except for the purple which will have 8 because it's my main color and what I'll use for the side border. I've been trying to work on it every day.

I finished my latest on the go socks.

These were made with Trekking sock yarn, colorway 100. All I can say is that I'm so glad I didn't try to match the stripes on these socks. I can't see an discernible frickin pattern on these socks. They are comfy so all is well.

New pair of socks on the needles for me.

These are CookieA's Marilinda pattern and the yarn is Wollmeise Twin. The colorway is a we're different Ruby Thursday.

I think that pretty much sums everything up for now. I'll leave you with a pic of our new baby.

Name to be determined. We're pretty sure it's another boy cockatiel but he/she is only about 6 months old so we'll know more in the next 6 months or so. We'll probably go with a name that will work for both guy and girl. I do believe this one is a cinnamon pied. It's a lot lighter grey then a normal colored cockatiel and it has a good bit of yellow on the wings and head. It doesn't show well in this photo though.

Until next time......Happy Crafting.

Knitting Away

Shawn and I have been toying with the decision for him to stay in the military if he makes rank this testing cycle. I'm trying really hard not to think about another 3 years of military hell. I'm so ready for retirement and my own home. If I think about it too hard I'll end up with a flippin ulcer so denial is the river I'll be floating down for now.

Shawn will be heading out the beginning of Nov for 6 weeks at the NCO Academy. I can't even begin to explain just how much I'm dreading those 6 weeks. He'll be heading home 3 frickin days before Christmas providing the weather doesn't keep him from getting home. Between here and Colorado anything is possible and it doesn't help that he'll have to drive down there because they expect him to bring his own printer. You so don't want to get me started on that rant. Who has two thumbs, hates the cold because of her arthritis and will be in charge of shoveling snow....that's right "This gal". OK so no I won't be shoveling it because we have a snow thrower but it's still not easy work and who in the hell wants to be outside clearing snow at the ass crack of dawn when it's -20F outside? Not this lady but that's exactly what I'll have to do so I can get the kids to school. I'm really hoping the snow won't be bad this year or at least wait till Shawn gets home but it flurried a little bit today so I have a feeling this is going to be the year for Snowmageddon. Snow flurries before Halloween is never a good sign. OK, Mother Nature prove me wrong!!

So on to knitting. Lets see what have I been up too. Well I finished some test knits but for obvious reason I can't show you those.

I did finish Bree's Christmas sweater.

Not the greatest picture. I'll get a better one after blocking and sewing on the buttons. I opted to put a third button hole in. The pattern is Tiny Tea Leaves (ravelry)(non ravelry) and the yarn is Miss Babs Yowza. I really love Miss Babs yarn and her Yowza worsted weight yarn is wonderful. Who could argue with a 560 yard skein of yarn?Awesome! The colorway is Blue Teal. 

Finished shot of my Choix Entrelac socks.

I test knit this pattern for Woolgirl and Miss Babs quite awhile back. I haven't seen this pattern for sale online but I'm pretty sure Miss Babs sells them in her booth during fiber fests. I got my pattern by contacting Miss Babs through email. I like that this one has some entrelac in it but not enough that the socks don't fit correctly. Most entrelac socks end up being to tight for me. The main color is Miss Babs Yummy 2ply sock in the Smooch colorway. The green yarn (Kiwi)  and the purple yarn (St. Clematis) are Miss Babs Yummy Toes sock yarn. They're mini skeins perfect for heels and toes. I worked two colors for the heel and a stripe of green before starting the toe decreases in purple.

My attempt at a crochet drink coaster.

I think there are like 20 stitches in the base chain then row after row of single crochet until it was long enough to double over. Then I worked a row of single crochet to bind the two halves together. After that I worked 5 double crochet stitches in one stitch then skipped a stitch and repeated that all the way around. I think the end product came out pretty good. The cotton is nice and thick and soaks up the liquid that sweats off of cups with ice in them. I think I'll make a few more.

The buttons I found for the girls cardigans. 

The dragonfly buttons are for Bree's sweater and the purple stripes are for Kaity. I found them at JoAnn's. 

I've started Kaity's cardigan but haven't taken any progress shots. I have about 6 inches to go before finishing the body. After that it's two sleeves and the button bands. It'll definitely be done before Christmas. I have it set aside right now because I'm working on test knits.

I'll leave you with some shots of Penny trying to be a little dog.

That's Zeus' bed she's trying to sleep in. I should have snapped pictures of Zeus sleeping in her bed. I need to find Penny a bed with sides on it so she can snuggle in it. I found some nice ones at PetCo but they want like $75 for a bed big enough for Penny. I'm hoping Sam's Club will get dog beds back in again. One year around Christmas they got in a bunch of dog beds like what I'm looking for.

Years Fly By Fast

Shawn's and my 13th wedding anniversary was Aug 7th. It's crazy to look back and see that we've made it through 13 years of marriage without killing each other. I have a few people in my family laughing as they read this because they know me so well. It's surprising that my parents didn't throttle me when I was a teenager. I was difficult to say the least. Shawn and I are both very stubborn. Now mind you stubborn has it's own good qualities but some times we're a bit too stubborn. I look back and see 13 years of ups and down but we've managed to make it through. The military has caused some of those ups and a lot more of those downs. We irrate each other frequently and have heated debates on anything and everything you can think of. We're on the opposite ends when it comes to politics which makes for some very fun and interesting arguments. I guess you could say when we vote we're so opposite we'd cancel out each others vote. I like to argue and I think I missed my calling as a lawyer. Can't say it's always been fun and easy but I wouldn't change anything.

I finished Bree's new socks. Sorry no photo. Bree took the socks as soon as they came of the needles. So I'll have to try to snap a shot after they're washed. They're toe up with a short row heel and a k1,p1 ribbing on the cuff. The yarn is Jo-Ann Sensations Bamboo and Ewe sock yarn. Feels like a typical workhorse yarn. It's cheap and easy to get so it's the perfect yarn for kids socks.

Kaity's skirt is done. 

Dang that bout killed my hands. Now I remember why it's been awhile since I knit cotton skirts. That stuff is rough on my hands. I swear on all that is holy I'm never knitting another cotton skirt/shirt/dress every again.

Started a pair of socks for Kaity. 

Toe up using Knit Picks Felici. The colorway is Hummingbird if I remember correctly. It's an older colorway that they no longer sell.

Started a new pair of socks for myself.

The yarn is Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs GothSock Laudnanum, the colorway is called multipass. Of course the first thing that popped into my mind is the movie The Fifth Element. Not sure if that's what the dyer was thinking about when she named the yarn but it sure works for me. The pattern is Bubbles Down the Drain (ravelry). I really like this pattern. It's simple enough to knit while watching tv but it's not plain stockinette which is something I'm going to be knitting a lot of when I start my cardi for Camp Loopy.

I got the yarn in for my 3rd Camp Loopy project.

Cascade 220 Heathers, colorway is Red Wine Heather and it's perfect. I'm knitting Bernhardt (ravelry)(non ravelry). 30 days to knit a full size cardi with sleeves. I could have picked something easier since the only requirement is that I use 800 or more yards of yarn for the project. I'm going for a bigger size too since this is going to be for me to wrap up in on cold winter days. 

Until next time.....Happy Crafting!

A Few FO's

Holy cow another post and it hasn't even been a month. Shoot it's only been a week since the last post. Shocking really.

No new yarn to post about. We're not buying anything that isn't absolutely necessary until the national budget has been fixed and I know for sure that Shawn and I will be getting our paychecks. It's t minus 3 days and counting before the possibility of a government shutdown. I'm planning on refraining from spending money on yarn and fiber even after everything is resolved because we have a move to save for. The less yarn I buy means the more we can put into savings. I've already got a nice chunk saved and I really hope we won't need to use it to survive. That doesn't mean I won't be getting yarn because I get paid in yarn for my Woolgirl test knits and I've already signed up and paid for the Twisted Fiber Art club. The only other frivolous yarn spending I've done is to sign up for the Margaritaville kit from Woolgirl.

The military will reemburse us for most of our travel expenses  for our final move however we won't have the lovely little government charge card to use which means we have to either a.) have the money in savings or 2.) have a credit card we can charge it all to. We'd rather pay for everything outright without having to incure interest on anything. Generally you're reembursed for everything fairly quickly but anyone that has ever had to deal with the military knows that things can go wrong and when they do they go waaaaaaay wrong. I'd rather not pay interest on that if I don't have to.

I finished my "on the go" socks so I need to start a new one.

The yarn is Opal (flamingo from the rainforest collection if I remember correctly) sock yarn and when all was said and done I had to weave in 5 different spots not including the normal yarn weaving at the cuff and toe. There was a lot of knots in this yarn. Way more then there should have been. This is my first bad experience with Opal yarn. I have some more in my stash so hopefully it's not full of knots too.

Bree's socks are finished.

They're just a basic toe up sock with some k2, p2 ribbing at the top. I've already cast on another pair for her in Apple Laine Apple Pie sock yarn.

I've picked some Gypsyknits BFL sock yarn for my April YOSS socks .

I'm going to knit Leyburn (ravelry)(non ravelry). I'll post a pic when I have a decent amount knit for a progress shot. 

I'll leave you with some pics I snapped of George the other day. Yes that's my desk and yes it's a mess!

 

These were snapped right after someone rang the doorbell. George's personality is really starting to show. We've discovered that he loves the theme song to Family Guy and will sing and dance when it's on and when George sings and dances it gets Petey to sing.

Happy Crafting!!

Still Rolling My Eyes but It's Time To Move On

Things have been interesting around here to say the least. Congress still hasn't come to an agreement so it looks like my lack of faith in Congress isn't misguided. Oh well, guess what will be, will be. Can't expect me to pay bills when you don't give me a paycheck. Add to it that the drama llama has decided to run a stampede through my family.....sheesh! To include some not so lovely Facebook messages from a complete stranger well lets just say it's been interesting. We're generally pretty good about keeping drama in check but when it does cut loose man does that poor herd of llamas make a mess. It's a headache inducing mess that I hope clears up quickly and without anyone being maimed.

I've spend a large amount of time trying to fix a mess up between flickr and iPhoto. Something glitched and I lost a lot of photos on Flickr. If you're my friend on Ravelry you probably got to see the parade of pictures from old FO's and stashed yarn that I lost the photos on. If you're on Ravelry and we aren't friends and you want to add me feel free. I'm luvs2knit on Ravelry.  I think I have it all fixed now but I'm sure I'll find a few pictures missing here and there. Needless to say I've gone back to using the Flickr uploader.

Stormy our cockatiel died a week ago. I think we all suspected that he was sick but the little tell tale signs didn't pop out until after he was gone. We took him to an avian vet but unfortunately there wasn't much she could do for him. It's the last time we will ever buy a pet from the major chain pet stores. The pet store and the breeder they use are suspects in my book. I think the breeder is doing something seriously wrong. If you ever want a small pet go through a reputable breeder or contact your local shelters. People don't just dump off dogs and cats at shelters. Lets just say that when we decided to get a bigger (more expensive) bird you can bet your butt we'll be looking at shelters and breeders. We're contemplating getting an amazon parrot, african grey or senegal parrot. We won't be able to do this until we have our own home after Shawn retires from the military. I have a friend who adopted her amazon parrot from a local bird rescue place so adoption would definitely be an option for us. 

I finished my Feb YOSS socks in March. 

They are knit using my basic toe up pattern with a short row heel and picot cuff. The yarn is Twisted Fiber Art Kabam! and the colorway is Saucy. I love love love Twisted Fiber Art yarn. I don't think I can say that enough. It's probably why I joined in on their spring self striping socks club. I've already gotten March's colorway in. If you want to see it GO HERE. 

I finished the dishrags for my Granny. 

I was slowly working on them because she was staying down at my moms house for the winter. She's home now so I need to get these dropped off in the mail to her. I was suppose to make some scrubbies but the nylon netting that I have sucks so I need to go find some slightly more abrasive nylon. The stuff I have would be excellent for shower poofs though.

I finally got my hands on some numma numma doppio.

All I can say is yuuuuuummmmmy! I love me some merino/cashmere sock yarn. Stuff wears a lot better then I thought it would too. I have a few pair made from yarn from various dyers and they all still look great.

I also got my Hot Cocoa Kisses kit from Woolgirl. CLICK HERE if you want to see it. I also signed up for the Margaritaville kit and picked both colors because I couldn't decide between the two different Margaritas. 

I picked this up from The Loopy Ewe last week.

I've been trying to get my hands on some Zombie BBQ from Lorna's Laces since it came out. TLE finally got some more in so I snagged it. I love Lorna's Laces colorways but this is one of my favorites.

My on the go socks are close to being finished.

I'm just about ready to start the ribbing cuff. The last few pair have had picot cuffs so it's time to switch it up and put ribbing on this time. Normally I love Opal sock yarn but this one has been one big disappointment. So far in these socks I've had to cut the yarn twice because of knots and once because the yarn was really thin.

I've put a few more stripes on Bree's socks.

I'm using some leftover self-striping yarn from my Rainbows and Clouds socks. A few more stripes to go before starting the heel.

I've made some good progress on Shawn's sweater.

I need to run waste yarn through it and have Shawn try it on to make sure it's big enough. It looks small but it's on a 32 inch circular needle so the stitches are a bit cramped. Plus I need to see if the neck is going to be fine or if I need to rip and tweak the neck myself. The neck is the same number of cast on stitches for all sizes. 

I'll leave you with some shots of the mutts and bird.

Zeus chillin in his favorite spot in the winter by the heater vent.

Doesn't he look comfy. It's nice and warm right in the spot plus it's close to me because this is where my computer desk is which is generally where I am. 

Penny the ferocious.

Penny in her "I wanna play" stance. This was right after I told her I was going to kiss her freckles on her nose. When I snapped this pic she had a deep growl going and when I set the camera down she hopped into my lap and tried to lick me to death. She's 30 pounds and takes up my whole lap. She is definitely not a lap dog regardless of what she thinks. This dog is a serious crack up and loads of entertainment. Amazingly enough Penny made it through the healing period after getting her fixed and having a dew claw removed off her back leg that was causing problems without a single ripped stitch. Man that was a pain in the butt I'm glad I won't have to repeat.

Meet George the cockatiel. 

 

He's the newest member of our family and most definitely a boy. George is a yearling and still getting use to us. He's already trying to say pretty bird and he whistles at you every now and then. George has real potential to be a talker. He appears to he a heavy pied cockatiel. He seems to like me more then Shawn which is funny since most of the animals flock to Shawn. Petey our parakeet loves Shawn but Petey wasn't handfed so Shawn was the one to hold him the most when we first brought him home since he was a bit bitey. I think Petey bonded with Shawn and they are now buddies. 

Well that's it for now. Until next time.

Happy Crafting!

Gaining A New Family Member

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted/emailed me about Shadow. We miss her so much. We donated some of her things to a local pet rescue place that runs off of volunteers and donations. I think Shadow would be happy with the fact that some abandoned/abused dog was using her stuff.

We have made the decision to get another dog. We went out to a ranch near Stockett, MT to look at Springer Spaniel puppies. We wanted to see if we would be sad at being near the puppies but we were all happy and decided to get one of the liver and white little girl puppies. Here's a pic that the lady took of the girls with the puppy we picked out.

Actually Zeus is the one that ultimately helped us decide which on. His tail was going a million miles an hour when when he sniffed her.

Shadow can never be replaced and we opted not to get another Cocker Spaniel right now which is probably a good decision since we saw a black Cocker Spaniel that I swear was the spitting image of Shadow when she was younger. We were all close to tears watching the dog walk by. The owners were kind enough to stop and talk to us for a few. We will get another Cocker again some day.

On the knitting front I've been pretty busy. After the round of steroids I started feeling a bit better. Not good enough to run a marathon but more normal then I had been feeling.

I finished my moms Catnip Socks (ravelry)(non ravelry).

 

The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Bling sock yarn. The colorway is Blue Spruce. Great yarn, great pattern. I really need to drop a box off in the mail to her soon.

Started and finished a new winter cowl for myself. 

The pattern is Turtle Tracks Cowl (ravelry)(non ravelry). The yarn is Knit Picks Gloss HW. Awesome little pattern and wonderful yarn. I really enjoyed knitting on this one. I used all but 12 inches of yarn. This was knit with only one skein. Unblocked it's around 11 inches tall and it's 20 inches round. I'm pretty sure it's going to grow a little with blocking. I'm trying out the yarn to see if it's good for a sweater. If it survives the abuse from being used all the time this winter then it will make a good sweater for me. I definitely abuse my cowls way more then I do my sweaters.

I finished my cousins baby blanket in record time....took me 10 days total.

The pattern I finally decided on was Pamela's Blanket (ravelry) which incidentally was none of the ones I originally picked from. The yarn is Knit Picks Comfy worsted. It's perfect for baby blankets. It's machine washable and it's extremely soft. I'm amazed I knit this so fast because baby blankets tend to bore me. Guess I realized that this one had a shorter deadline. I need to drop it in the mail on payday.

I'm cruising right along on my sock yarn blanket. 

 

I've started the second row. It'll be a nice blanket to snuggle under when I'm done with it. 

My Lord of the Rings sock club package came in.  

Love it! I'm a sucker for green. One more package to go and the Lord of the Rings club will be done.

I've also received my TLE sock club package....CLICK HERE FOR A SPOILER PIC! This was the last one for this year and it's gorgeous!!! I have the option to re-up for next year and I'll definitely go for a second year. All the packages have been great this year. Some of them are ones I probably wouldn't have picked for myself but I loved them anyway.

I picked up a skein of each color to make scarves for the Special Olympics this year. It's a project that is near and dear to my heart. One of my cousins has Down Syndrome. I've been to a good number of Special Olympics to cheer on my cousin. It's Red Heart Classic yarn that I have to use but using the acrylic is sooooo worth it for me. If you can please stop by the Red Heart Special Olympics Scarf site and pledge to knit/crochet a scarf or two.

On a medical related note, my RA doc has added Methotrexate to the list of pills I have to take. This one only has to be taken once a week so that's a relief. So far I haven't had any side effects so that's always good. I guess nausea is one of the most common along with dizziness and headaches. Apparently I have a cast iron stomach so all is well. Unfortunately it could take up to 12 weeks for this stuff to kick in and really do its job.

I leave you with this:

Bree in her "going to work" uniform. Cracked me up when she told me that she was dressed for work. She never did tell me what she did for work. 

I Think It May Be Fall!

Ah, cooler temps are finally showing up here. It seems so weird because wearing shorts in the middle of Sept is not the norm for here in this area and definitely not in October. Of course as soon as it starts dumping snow on us I'll be complaining about it being too cold. At least Shawn bought a snow thrower which will make my life much easier when he isn't home.

Shawn was told that he has to go to the NCO Academy now that he has passed his PT (physical training) test. Yup, he finally passed it. Failing his PT test is what got our orders to Germany cancelled. I still regret that we didn't go. While it would have been a major pain in the butt at first I think it would have been a wonderful experience. So anyway, Shawn's been selected to go to in January to Colorado for 6 weeks. They wanted him to go now but with my med issues still not figured out he doesn't want to leave. At least if I hurt too badly he can help me out around the house or help me get to the doctor. If my meds are still an issue in January we can get the class pushed back again. I'm really hoping that my pain is better by then though. I shudder to think that I will still be feeling like this several months from now. The steroids worked great but I finished up the last of the pack the other day and I can feel the stiffness and pain coming back.

The tree guys came back and gave us a new tree....woohoo!

Here's hoping the poor thing survives the winter. The tree provides a bit of shade on this window which unfortunately is huge....it's about 6 feet tall by about 6-7 feet wide. I wanted to put some curtains up to make the girls playroom look a little more homey and friendly but the damn things are going to be expensive. I need to check into the cost for a valance for the window which should be a bit cheaper plus it can most likely be used when we move. The whole house is painted white, the ceiling fans are white and the carpet is a boring gray....looks like the carpet is dirty kind of gray. I seriously need a little color in this house that isn't going to require days worth of repainting walls when we move. I swear they would have put put white door knobs on but I think they got a better deal on the cheapo tacky gold ones that are on every door in this house. 

I'm making great progress on my moms Rosalind Shawl (ravelry)(non ravelry). 

This is a great knit and it's going quickly. I just started the 5th repeat of Chart B. There are six repeats of Chart B before moving on to Chart C. It does seem a little small but I know it will grow a lot when I block it. It's amazing how much lace grows after a good soak in wool wash. My Bee Fields and Whispering Pines shawls looked small until I blocked them and they are huge. Ah, the powers of blocking!

My Rainbow and Cloud socks are working up quiet nicely.

I've placed my waste yarn where I want to knit the heel and I'm just going to keep going till I get close to running out of yarn. I want to make these as long as I can.

I started a pair of socks for my mom.

The pattern is Catnip Socks (ravelry)(non ravelry) and the yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Bling! in the Blue Spruce colorway. I don't really need to rush on these since it's still in the 90s at home and it doesn't appear that there will be a drop in temp anytime soon. So needless to say moms not really wearing handknit socks much right now. 

I've been working on making some new dishrags for my Granny. 

The pattern is Grandmother's Favorite (ravelry)(non ravelry) which is my favorite basic dishrag pattern. Granny is staying with my mom for the winter so I have the whole winter to get a stack of them made for her. I'm off to a pretty good start though. Six done so far and number 7 is on the needles. I think I'll stop when I hit 10 dishrags. She's also requested some nylon scrubbies so I'll start those after I finish the dishrags.

Yarn order from Knit Picks came in today.

The purple yarn is Comfy Worsted and is going to be used to make a blanket for my cousin who is due in November. My cousin is having a little girl! Yippy I get to knit for a little girl again. It's been boy after boy in my family so it'll be a nice change to knit something girly. I haven't settled on a pattern yet. I have three picked out. These are all Ravelry Links: blanket 1, blanket 2, blanket 3 and blanket 4. I want something simple since I don't have a whole lot of time to knit this. I'm leaning towards blanket 1 or blanket 4.

The rest of the yarn is mine to try out and make a few new cowls for myself because I didn't want the purple yarn to be lonely and I needed to hit the free shipping mark. The dark green is Capra DK (merino/cashmere blend), the red one on the right is Gloss HW (merino/silk blend) and the red on the left is City Tweed HW (merino/donegal tweed blend). I want to see who I'd like any of these for a sweater. I wear cowls a lot in the winter so if after being abused and washed all winter they still look good then they'll work for a sweater. My cowls tend to get a lot of wear because they rub against my jacket and then there is the constant wear on them from getting pulled over my head and stuffed in a pocket. I think they get more abuse then a sweater ever would.

I'm expecting my Lord of the Rings shipment in any day now and I ordered a new row counter bracelet that has a clasp instead of the toggle so I'll post about them in my next post. I'll probably start the baby blanket by this weekend, provided I can settle on a pattern. I'm trying really hard to get back into a regular blog posting habit.