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!

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.

New FO's Finally!

I'm still hunting for a solution for my ball winder and swift dilema but for now I'm using the chairs from the old table. I'll figure something out eventually. I have time since we're holding on to the old table and chairs for an airman that works for Shawn. He's being told he needs to move off base so we're giving him the table and chairs to help him out. 

I've finished a few projects since my last post.

First up is Bree's Sydney sock (ravelry).

The yarn is The Unique Sheep Footprints sock yarn and the colorway is Echinacea. The yarn is sports weight so I had to use the smallest size in the pattern to fit Bree. She loves them and I see more of these in the future. 

I also finished my Embossed Leaves socks (ravelry).

The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 and the colorway is Wine Storm. I love ZYG's yarn and the Serenity 20 is a 70/20/10, Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend.....very soft and squishy. 

I also started a new skirt for Bree. 

I'm making the Hip in Hemp (ravelry) pattern again. It's been reworked for smaller toddler sizes. I really loved working this pattern before. I only wished I could have found a deal on the Hempathy yarn I used for Kaity's skirt. That yarn wears really well and I always washed it in the washing machine. The yarn I'm using this time Elann Camila which is a 50/50 linen/cotton blend. It's a little rough on my hands but seems to be a fairly nice yarn.

My Camp Loopy project is done.  

In the Land of Oz (ravelry) with Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine. I added 6/0 TOHO glass beads where ever there was a central double decrease. I'm really glad that I opted to add the beads.

I've recieved some goodies in the mail too since my last post.

This was ordered from The Loopy Ewe. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy and I'll use it to make Dawn Gnot (ravelry) socks for my second Camp Loopy project. The fiber was added in to keep the yarn company and to hit free shipping. I'm participating in Tour de Fleece this year so I'm in a fiber buying mood. 

Lovely BFL.

It's from Spinneretta's Studio. The colorway is called Peony II.

My tomato plants are doing great

While I haven't seen a single tomato on my big plants my cherry tomatoes are starting to multiply. 

I really can't wait to have some yummy home grown tomatoes. We had such a wet, cool spring. It took forever to warm up so the tomatoes are probably going to have a shorter growing season this year.

George had a bout of illness a few weeks ago. The vet thinks he was coming down with a upper respritory issue so he ended up on on anitbiotics and antifungal meds. Birds deteriorate very quickly when they get sick so an emergency trip to the vet was necessary. Lets just say that giving meds to a cranky cockatiel is not very fun and it's a slow process. Be prepared to have meds flung in your face. George is feeling better as you can tell from the video.

== There is a video embedded but doesn't show up in RSS feed readers. If you want to see it you'll have to go to the blog. 

 

I'll leave you with a pic of Penny and Shawn. 

Penny thinks she's a lap dog and loves to lay in Shawn's lap. It's not uncommon to see the two of them snoring together like this.

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!

Where Oh Where Has the Sunshine Gone?

The sun keeps disappearing and we haven't seen it much here lately. I think it ran off to some place else like the Bahama's and I'm still contemplating going out in search of it. It's most likely where my motivation and lost cable needles are. It would be a lovely reunion for all of us. If only the plane tickets weren't so high. 

Sadly the knitting I'm working on is secret like type knitting which can make for boring blog posts. Between test knits and the knitting going on for my swap pal there isn't much to report on. 

Shall I distract you with a shot of the shawl pin I got  for my mom.

 

I haven't gotten a chance to work on the shawl lately but I couldn't resist picking this pin up when I came across it at The Loopy Ewe. I was buying some things for my swap pals box and need some small things to bump my order up to get free shipping not to mention the fact that I was really close to getting a $25 credit.

Penny is growing in leaps and bounds and Zeus has warmed up to her. He does growl and snap at her when she plays too rough which I expect because Penny is a lot bigger then Zeus now. Her 20 pounds of muscle can stomp poor 8 pound Zeus into the ground. Penny is starting to catch up on chasing after Zeus too. She's shedding that awkward puppy run and honing that quick Springer Spaniel sprint. Zeus still has the edge because he can corner fast and run without problems on the tile floor but if they had to run longer distances Penny would leave his little butt in the dust.

On a the military side we're getting closer and closer to retirement time. Shawn drops his retirement paperwork in Dec of this year and we'll be in the market for a house next spring/summer. I can't even begin to express how happy I am about this. When your active duty military you drop your retirement paperwork (you intention to retire) when you are one year out.

We've got a few job possibilities in Boise so we're looking at homes in the Boise area. We had originally tossed around the thoughts of moving to Coeur d'Alene but after much pondering we opted to go back to the Boise area. The summers are generally hotter in Boise but the winters are much more milder with less cold and subzero temps that cause severe joint pain for me. We've found some great houses in our price range, to bad we couldn't buy now and move. The girls and I will be moving next summer so we can get the girls settled in school. Shawn will follow us a few months later. Damn, I can't believe we're almost done with the military crap! I can't tell you how happy I am that retirement is so close. The only thing that could derail that is a set of orders out of here. Fingers crossed that orders are not on the horizon unless of course they are to Hawaii! I would sooooo not argue with a set of 3 year orders to Hawaii. I'd gladly go and not miss this damn snow and cold at all. 

Hopefully the next post will bring more more knitting. 

Happy Crafting!

Oh Baby It's Cold Outside

The subzero temps are back again. It's a balmy -2F outside. It's suppose to warm up to around 20F by Wednesday but with that warm up comes snow. I think I'd rather have the snow then the bone chilling cold though so no complaining from me. At least we have a snow thrower to make clearing the driveway and sidewalks easier.

The only knitting I can show you right now are my YOSS socks.

 

I'm knitting St Brigid's Stockings (Ravelry). The yarn is Dream in Color Classy leftover from a sweater I made Bree. I was a little worried that one skein wasn't going to be enough but it appears that I'm going to have enough. I'm not far from starting the toe. Worsted weight socks work up quickly.

I just read the blog post on The Looy Ewes blog and this years club isn't going to be all about socks which sounds really great. I'm up for new things and something other then sock yarn would be perfect for me. The only thing I wished is that I would have had a bit more notice so that I could gather enough money up to pay for it in advance. I can still pay for them kit by kit so it's not a huge deal but I would have loved to have gotten a discount for paying for them all at once. The only way I can do it right now would be to put it on a credit card and well that just negates the whole discount by putting it on a credit card that will tack on interest.

I really need to kick it in gear and finish up my test knits and get started on my TLE swap partners knitted item. It's not going to take long but I really need to get started. Plus I need to finish up the scarves for the Special Olympics. Those I can drop off here in town so I won't have to worry about making sure they are shipped out in time.

I did pick up some yarn for the current TLE challenge.

It's going to be all about cables and I'm planning on knitting the Cabled Keyhole Scarf (ravelry) (non ravelry) by Knitspot. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Honor which is 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk. The colorway is Jeans.

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment. I really love my dentist but I absolutely hate having my teeth worked on. We're working on crowns now which means tomorrow I'll come home with a temporary crown and I hate those. My gums are always so sore from the temp crown. 

I'll end this post with a picture of Penelope.

Doesn't she look comfy. Penelope's decided that the girls leather chairs are the best place to sleep so I've had to cover then to keep her claws from damaging the chairs. She went in to the vet the other day for another round of puppy shots and she's now up over 17 pounds. She's growing so fast.

A Little Pre-Holiday Post

First off, before I start my post:

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all my blog friends. May you have a wonderful New Year. This will most likely be the last post of 2010 for me. I might try to do a recap of the year on New Years Eve but I make no promises. 

It's thawing outside....woohoo! The temps are a warmer and the snow is melting. It looks like we'll still have snow on the ground for Christmas so technically it'll be a white Christmas but no new snow is expected. I can't say that I'm disappointed. Ice jams made a mess of a portion of road here in town that is down near the river. The water overflowed onto the road and froze. It feels weird to say that we are under a flood warning and flash flood watch in the middle of winter.

I've actually been doing a little knitting since my last post. Well the post before the last post since my last one was a distraction with puppy cuteness post. 

I finished Bree's Christmas socks. 

These are the Lacy Rib Socks (ravelry)(non Ravelry). The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock, colorway Iris Garden. It's an easy pattern, perfect for tv knitting but is a bit more interesting then plain stockinette socks. I may make a pair for myself in the future.

A doll blanket (ravelry)(non ravelry) for Kaity's American Girl doll.

Kaity has one of the daybed doll beds from Target  and it only comes with the blanket for the bed and nothing for the trundle bed. I used some sugar and cream cotton yarn from my stash. It used less then 200 yards. Yes I know I could have just made my own pattern up but that would have require a bit more effort then I wanted to put into it at the moment. I'm planning on browsing my stitch pattern books and make something a little lacy with some Dream in Color Classy. I have a full skein of purple leftover from Bree's sweater. One can never have to many blankets for your doll bed.

Scrunchable Scarf (ravelry)(non ravelry).

I really love this scarf pattern. It's so simple you don't need a pattern. This is one of the scarves I'm making for the 2011 Special Olympics. The drop off for Montana is here in Great Falls so I can take them in instead of having to mail them this year. The yarn is Red Heart Super Saver color numbers 886 and 512. If you're interested here's the website with all the info. I know some of the states have already hit their deadlines but you can knit for any state.

I've also started a new pair of "on the go" socks for myself.

These always take a little longer since I normally only work on them when I'm not at home. The yarn is Opal Rainforest, Flamingo colorway. I'm using my basic toe up pattern with a short row heel. I haven't decided if I'll do a ribbed cuff or a picot edge.

I'll be soon be starting my knitting project for my TLE swap partner. I really need to finish the last test knit I'm working on. I'm about halfway through so it won't be long. I'm not sure if she reads my blog (have a good number of subscribers but a lot of people don't comment) but I have it linked to my Ravelry account so she can easily visit so I won't post anything to give it away. I can say that I'm pretty sure I've found yarn and a pattern to knit that I think she will love.

Now on to some puppy pictures. I know there are a few of you out there that want some new pictures of Penelope. 

I snapped this one the other day.

Zeus crawled into Penelope's crate and fell asleep. Penelope decided she was tired too and crawled in to take a nap with him. He woke up when she crawled in, gave to low, short growls then laid his head down and went back to sleep.

This one was taken a couple of days ago.

Bree decided to crawl into Penelope's crate and play with her. They stayed in there for a good 20 minutes. Penelope actually likes her crate and will crawl in there to sleep when I'm not sitting somewhere where she can lay across my feet.

I'll leave you with this video of Zeus and Penelope playing with one of the stuffed toys.

 

It warms my heart to see those to finally playing together. Not to say Zeus doesn't still growl at Penelope because she's being a pain in the butt. In the background you'll probably hear a bunch of girly screams. Shawn kept scaring the girls and at one point Bree ran into the room where I was at. 

Shall I Distract You with the Cute Puppy?

I have absolutely no knitting to show you so I'm going to tempt you to forget about it with the puppy cuteness of Lady Penelope. (there's a video posted below so if you're using a feed reader it may not show up in your reader)

 

She has such a deep bark for a little puppy. She actually doesn't bark much which from what I gather is a Springer Spaniel trait. Mostly the barking comes about when she wants to play. The more you talk to her the more she barks back. I can't believe how big she's getting. I'm not sure what her weight is but she needs to go in to the vet next week for her next round of shots.

Zeus is still fairly indifferent to Penelope. After she ran off to get a drink Zeus looked up at me as if to say "do we really have to keep her mom?" He still runs around and plays with her upstairs and outside so he's definitely adjusting. 

How this could possibly be comfy I don't know but she stayed like that for over 30 minutes before she woke up to play.

Penelope is still my little toe warmer. I've actually had her lay across my feet while trying to do the dishes. After talking with the breeder she said that Penelope's daddy does the same thing. He loves to know where his humans are. Speaking of toe warmers she's laying across my feet right now. I'm sure that's going to be fun when she hits 40 pounds and curls up on my feet. 

Oh I do have one knitting related thing to share. I did get in my final shipment from the Unique Sheep's Lord of the Rings sock club. If you want to check it out, CLICK HERE. 

I did join up for YOSS (Year of Stash Socks). It's a pressure free KAL and it's a great way to knit down some of that sock yarn stash. There will be patterns to knit each month so I'm looking forward to seeing the pattern list when it's posted.

Hopefully I'll be back soon to post about some knitting I can actually show you. After these test knits are done I need to finish up Bree's socks for Christmas and get started on my Special Olympic scarves. I have until Feb but I'd rather get them done and in the mail before the deadline. I also have to knit something for my TLE Swap partner so I won't be able to post about that.