Knittin' and Lovin' It

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!

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!

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!

Not Much Accomplished....

Well not much that I can post about anyway. I've been working on test knits mostly. I did finish Bree's toe up socks but that's about it. Between test knits and spring cleaning I've been pretty busy. I've been going through the house room by room eliminating clutter, cleaning windows and vacuuming the screens on the windows. The window screens get crazy dusty considering they are located on the the side of the window in the house. I'd expect the dust outside but not inside. It's slow going because I have to make sure I don't over do it. It can be rather aggravating  because I'd much rather get it all done and over but can't. Well I could but I'd be in so much pain I couldn't move and frankly that's just not an option nor is getting all the work done worth the pain. It's not as if it's going anywhere.

I finished Bree's socks. The sock blockers are mini sock blockers that I received from The Loopy Ewe as part of a promotion they were doing to get pictures in their photo gallery shortly after they opened their virtual doors for business. They don't sell these. 

The pattern is my basic toe up pattern with a short row heel and a k2,p2 ribbing on the cuff. Nothing fancy but I have the pattern memorized and perfected for the girls and I. The yarn is Apple Laine Apple Pie sock yarn. It's yarn I bought from The Loopy Ewe a long time ago. I was going to knit a ruffle at the top but I don't think it would have worked very well since this yarn is a little on the thick side. I'm going to knit the next pair with a thinner yarn and I'll knit the lace pattern on the foot too. I'm not sure what yarn I'll use yet but even with the ruffle I'll need way less then 50 grams of sock yarn. These socks only took about 25 grams.

I placed a small order with Knit Picks.

I wanted to try out their new dish cloth cotton called Dishie. Since I was ordering I tossed in a skein of Chroma fingering weight for a shawlette. I'm planning on using this to make Bakersfield (ravelry). I'm from a small town near Bakersfield, CA and this pattern has been calling me ever since I saw it which is funny because I really don't wear shawlettes or shawls. The dishie is soft and it feels like it's a little bit thinner then Peaches & Creme or Sugar'n Cream. I'm going to cast on a dish cloth for my take a long project. I'm curious to see how well it wears. 

I'm test knitting all the patterns this year for the 2011 Woolgirl Sock Club.

Here's the socks that I knit for Aprils shipment. Since I knit both socks Woolgirl gave them back to me as payment along with the kit because I also knit the shawlette too. Normally I only knit one sock but these left and right socks are different. I absolutely loved knitting these socks. The pattern is awesome and the Stricken Smitten sock yarn was a dream to knit with. Never mind that the color is my all time favorite color!! If you want to see the whole kit Click Here to head over to my Flickr page. I'll definitely be knitting these again!!

I also got the Little Women Kit from Woolgirl. 

Seriously what's not to love about this kit. A pattern from Sivia Harding and 770 yards of MCN from Plucky Knitter not to mention the teas and other little goodies. Yum yum yum! If you want a great beaded shawl pattern go check out Sivia's (ravelry)(non ravelry) patterns. I didn't test knit this one.

April's shipment from Twisted Fiber Art.

This ones named Foxy. I have one more shipment coming this month and sadly the club will be done. I really loved their yarn.

I'll leave you guys with a shot of my demon dog. 

I snapped this shot just as Penny was jumping off the couch. She was playing of game of "Find Daddy". Shawn was hiding under a blanket and Penny was looking for him. When he didn't pop out from under the blanket Penny would jump down and run around the house in a big circle then hop back on the couch at the other end. Zeus was in his supervisory position to make sure that Penny didn't do anything she's not suppose to. For a 7 pound dog he's very bossy. It's a little dog thing.

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!

Sometimes an Eye Roll Says It All

I made a post on Ravelry a few days ago about having games and cartoons on my iPad to keep my kiddo busy when we're stuck waiting at various appointments and the like. She responded back saying something like to think she gave use to give her kids animal crackers to play with and I jokingly responded that animal crackers are a think of the past. I noticed I actually got disagrees for that comment. Seeing the disagrees I rolled my eyes and started laughing. Disagrees on Ravlery don't bother me one bit and generally I ignore them. Why would I give a crap over the opinion of someone I don't know there are times when I don't give a crap about opinions from the people I love and cherish. Everyone has an opinion but for goodness sake if you're going to disagree at least post why in the world you disagree. Don't stand behind your anyonmous little click like a chicken butt. Stand  up and state why you disagree. (insert the eye roll)

I for one have never been big on giving my kids food to play with. Frankly it's just not interesting enough to hold their attention for more then a few seconds, not to say that my kids haven't danced their animal crackers around in the air before eating them but they never really played with them. I've found that crayons, Nintendo DS's, and iPads to be much more effective. I've taught my kids that playing with your food is rude and shouldn't be done. I mean seriously I'm not a germaphob. I don't run around with antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers wiping hands left and right but we do take a few normal precausions like wiping down shopping carts. That's not being over cautious that's just using common sense. Do you all know how germ ridden a clinic/hospital waiting room is? Very germy when you think about all the sick people that walk through those areas. Doctors and nurses can't run around disinfecting things after sick people have left. That would just be absolutely crazy. Now picture a small child playing with their animal crackers on the chairs that sick patients have sat in and then picture that same child putting said cracker into their mouth to eat it. I have seen this on multiple occasions and to say the least it's nasty and those parents are the ones sitting back wondering why little johnny and janey are sick all the time. Don't get me wrong my kids get sick. It can't be helped it's going to happen but my kids aren't constantly sick.

Ok, rant overwith. Time to move on to the knitting related portion of the post. I finished Shawn's sweater and it doesn't fit him. So it's now my sweater and I'm knitting him a top down raglan sweater out of Miss Babs Yowza. 

I think he's getting the better end of the deal since he's getting a sweater made out of soft handdyed yarn. The colorway is Denim. I love Miss Babs yarn and the Yowza skeins are awesome. It's her worsted weight yarn and it's sold in huge 8oz skeins. There's approximate 560 yards on each skein. I have 4 skeins but I'm not sure if I'll need to crack into the 4th skein.

My Feb YOSS socks are coming along nicely. 

I'm just going to keep knitting until I have a nice long sock. I'll most likely have enough yarn to make a pair of socks for Bree and add a new square to the sock yarn blanket. These are definitely not getting finished for Feb so I'll probably knit on them through March too.

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

These will be the last of the yarn for now.  Well not completely since I get paid in yarn from Woolgirl for my test knits and I did sign up for the Twisted Fiber Art sock club. So for March, April and May I'll get a skein of self striping sock yarn from them. I really really need to work on using up some of my stash. The two mini skeins in the upper left hand corner are Miss Babs yummy toes yarn. They're going to be paired with some dark pink Miss Babs sock yarn to make a pair of Choix Entrelac socks for myself. I test knit these socks awhile back for Miss Babs and Woolgirl and now I'm going to make a pair for myself. The two solid/semi solid skeins are Wollmeise from the last TLE update. The purple is Der letzte Versuch and the pink one is roter Himbeermund. The two colorful skeins are Twisted Fiber Art sock yarn. The top one is Crush on the Tasty base which is a merino/cashmere blend and Haunting is on the Playful base which is 100% superwash merino. 

 Last night I had Shawn help me with this. 

I took one of the little keys that is used to tighten your Knit Picks Options needles and altered it a bit. I had this stitch marker or whatever it is that had a little stretchy band on the end instead of the normal metal loops that I never used. Well I had Shawn tighten down the looped end of the key around the band part of the marker so that I have something that is easier to pick up. I don't know about you but I have a hard time picking up those tiny little things. This makes it easier to pick up.

I also got some lovely additions to my fiber stash. The top one is from TLE and it's dyed by Enchanted Knoll Farms. The bottom was a trade with a lady on Ravelry for a bunch of my worsted weight wool leftovers. It's 1 pound of Copper Moose Colonial top. 

I leave you with an introduction to our newest family member.

Meet Stormy our white faced cockatiel. We're not sure if Stormy is a male or female but we'll know tomorrow because PetCo has the paperwork to give us that has all that information. Apparently they haven't been doing their job very well when they sell birds because we were suppose to get paperwork with all the info on the bird like hatch date, DNA test that shows if it's a male or female, the breeder the bird came from, etc. Stormy is a loveable little bird. 

Happy Crafting!

Crazy Weather

The 10-12 inches of snow we had the other day is just about gone and the weather has warmed up. Of course with that warm weather we've been having high winds but at least it's not freezing right now. The constant up and down of the temps/weather is killing my joints. Any time there is a major fluctuation in the weather my joints start hurting and it takes several days to start feeling normal again. I think the cold is suppose to be back toward the end of this week. 

Silly me, I looked up the weather for Boise, ID and wished I was there instead. Our cold and snow are coming back while they're stay it bit warmer. I'm so ready to go home it's not even funny. I do find it odd at times that this So. Cal girl (born and raised) now calls Idaho home. I have the chorus from the Beach Boys song Sloop John B stuck in my head....let me go home, Let me go home, I wanna go home, let me go home, why don't you let me go home. Anyone who has every gazed upon my iPod will say without a doubt that I have a very eclectic taste in music. My iPod is a very crazy mix of music that includes music from the Beach Boys, Kenny Chesney, Creedance Clearwater Revival, The Temptations, Patsy Cline, Metallica, George Jones, Lenny Kravitz, Alannis Morissette  and on and on and on. Although Rascal Flatts and Kenny Chesney have the biggest play time on my iPod and country is the largest selection of music on there. Kenny Chesney's No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem is my happy song. There's just something about that song that makes me smile every time.

I'm working like crazy on Shawn's sweater. 

It now has both sleeves.....woot! I'm working on the hood right now although it's on hold for the next few days while I finish up a test knit. I'm so close I can almost taste it, which is a silly thing to say since it's a wool sweater and wouldn't taste good at all. I swear on all that is holy Shawn will wear this damn thing even if he has to lose 50 pounds to do it. Actually the only thing I'm worried about is the sleeves. I think I'm going to have to rip back about half the sleeve and work less increases because the sleeves seem a bit skinny. I've already cut out at least 8 decreases but I think the sleeves are still going to be snug. I know it's going to block out a little bit wider after it's washed if the measurements are correct from my gauge swatches. This sweater has taken me almost 2 years to finish. It's mostly because it's nothing but cables so it's a labor intensive pattern, very well written but very labor intensive. I kept throwing it to the side for more desirable projects that don't require as much concentration. Not to self when knitting sweaters for Shawn, pick something with less cables. Lots of cables for kids sweaters, good....lots of cables for dude that needs a 50" chest size sweater, bad!

I recieved my TLE swap package.

It was full of yummy goodies (the girls and I killed the homemade peanut butter cookies in nothing flat), a lovely neckwarmer (l love neckwarmers/cowls), and Dream in Color Smooshy. I have an obsession with DIC Smooshy, well actually I love their worsted weight too. I think the only other two yarn brands I might have more of are Zen Yarn Garden and Miss Babs.

I ordered a few things from Knit Picks. 

The books were on sale so I went ahead and picked them up. To round out the order I picked up a skein of Chroma sock yarn to try, a smaller niddy noddy, and some extension connectors to make longer cables....I probably won't use them often but it'll be nice to have them on hand when I need them instead of waiting for them to get here in the mail. I went ahead and paid for the extra shipping. It was a slurge since I normally go for the snails pace shipping. It's the last time I'll do that. I forgot how absolutely stupid my Fedex delivery guy is. I normally don't deal with him because he only handles the express mail package and most stuff I buy goes FedEx ground. They lady who delivers the ground packages is awesome. The idiot delivered the package to my neighbor across the street whos house number looks nothing like mine. We thought the package was stolen off our door step (something that has never happened to us since we've been here) and we were afraid that the new water delivery guy might have been the one to do it. Thankfully my neighbor came home a few hours later and brought the package to us. The quicker shipping was sooooo not worth the extra headache.

I also got my TLE order in the other day. 

I had like $55 in store credits which if I spent it all it would be close to free shipping so I decided to throw in enough stuff to make sure I got free shipping. The roving is Perchance to Spin Polworth wool (haven't tried that one yet), a skein of bright Trekking XXL (you know how I love me some self striping), the newly dyed Loopy Legends in the MomSue's Yellowstone Sunset (Lorna's Laces is now dying the Loopy Legends colorways), and a skein of Bugga in the Miss Spider colorway.

Here's a shot of the old Loopy Legends next to the new one (new one is on top and old below it).  

They're both lovely but I think I like the skein died by Lorna's Laces. Sue has been a good friend of mine for a few years now and I hope that this summer I will be able to visit with her. Shawn and I are planning on a weekend trip to Yellowstone with the girls this summer. Lets hope that the military doesn't screw it up with another stupid inspection.....I have a feeling that they will though. I couldn't resist getting the new skein of her colorway. It's so gorgeous. I've seen sunsets here similar to the ones she sees in Wyoming and they're so beautiful you can't help but stop to look at the sky. They're so full of pinks, purples and yellows. Montana's not called Big Sky Country for nothing. The wide open sky make for some very gorgeous sunsets and on a clear day the blue goes on for miles and miles. 

I can finally post a picture of the socks I knit for my swap pal. 

The pattern is WonderWings (Ravelry) and the yarn is Fiber Optic Foot Notes sock yarn in the Smoky Teal Batik colorway. She loved her socks and the whole package I put together for her. I was so happy to hear that the package was an absolute sucess.

I'll leave you with a shot of Penny crashed on the couch. 

I'ts so hard being a puppy. I can't believe how big she's getting. She's 4 months old and weighing in close to 30 lbs. 

 

Happy Crafting!

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.

Brrrrr....It's Cold Outside

Winter is definitely kicking it into gear now. Looking at this weeks forecast I'm wondering if maybe Mother Nature isn't trying to make up for lost time since we had all that warmer then normal weather.

Remember the pic I posted last month where the sun was shining and it was gorgeous outside. Well here's a refresher:

Now you remember? Alrighty then....here's what it looks like this afternoon. Shawn is now very happy that he got the snow thrower. Instead of spending an hour shoveling snow it took him about 15 minutes to clear our stuff and another 15 minutes to clear the sidewalks in front of our neighbors on each side of our house.

Here's a shot of the back yard....its sad but I just typed yarn instead of yard.

Needless to say I've opted to stay home and drink tea instead of going out in this stuff. We were going to go out to PetCo last night but the roads were so slick that we decided to stay home. It rained for part of the day yesterday and then the temps started dropping in the early evening and by the the time it was bedtime for the girls we were seeing snow. Rain + Drop in temps + snow = nasty roads and lots of accidents. In a four hour period yesterday there were over 50 accidents here in town.

I've been working on Kaity's Christmas socks.

The pattern is Child's Lovely Lace socks (ravelry)(non ravelry)...the non rav link is to Patons website so you will have to be logged on your account to view it. The pattern is one of their freebie patterns. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock in the Tickled Pink colorway. These have been set aside so I can work on some test knits but they aren't going to take long to finish. It'll take even less time to finish up Bree's Christmas socks.

I also received my order from Knit Picks.

This is one of the sock yarn kits that was on sale. It came with four different colors of Stroll Tonal sock yarn and a pattern booklet that contains 12 different patterns. This kit with the purple yarn isn't for sale anymore but they do have the other two for sale. $25.99 for 4 skeins of sock yarn and 12 patterns is a pretty good deal.

That sums it up for now. 

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.