Knittin' and Lovin' It

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boring and uneventful, well to me it hasn't been boring but to the everyday Joe my life would be rather dull so maybe unpublished memoirs would be the way to go for me.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!

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.

Headline News: Table Causes Problems

The other day Shawn and I wandered around one of the local furniture stores debating on which dinning room table. After much hem hawing we finally decided on a table made of mango wood. It's a solid durable wood that is sustainable which is important to us. With proper care this table will last a long time. It's it gets messed up with to many nicks and such as most tables and chairs will with use we can always sand everything down and refinish it. As you can see in the pics below the design is simple with clean lines which means it'll be simple enough to sand down. We went with the bar height since Bree can sit in the chairs without a booster seat. I find this odd that Bree has to sit in a booster with normal height table and chairs but the bar height table and chairs are perfect for her.

Anyway I digress, we brought home our beautiful table and chairs with the help of a friend and after the kids went to bed Shawn and I spent a little less then two hours assembling them. We're still waiting on the bench which is what the girls will use but they didn't have any in stock. So we stand back and behold our lovely table. The table has a hidden leaf to extend out the size and with the bench and 4 chairs we can now comfortably have 6 adults sitting at our table. We try out the chairs and decide that we love our new table. Fastforward to two days later, I decide that I want to wind some yarn and look at the table only to realize that there isn't much of a lip on the table top and I now have nowhere to clamp my ball winder and swift. How in the world did I not notice that when we were picking out the table? Isn't that suppose to be a requirement for a table when a knitter is looking for a new one? (thumps head on desk a few times) So now I need to figure out where I'm going to wind my yarn but I still love my new table. Maybe it's time for an upgrade to a table top swift?

I finished Bree's toe up socks.

They are knit with JoAnn's Sensations Soles and More sock yarn, colorway 1813. Not a bad sock yarn to knit with and it's pretty cheap specially if you use those coupons JoAnn's loves to send out in the mail and email. It's like all the other work horse sock yarns out there, ie Opal, Patons Kroy, etc. I only used about half of a 50g skein so there's enough to make another pair for Bree.

I have my yarn for the first project of Camp Loopy.

I picked up two skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine. The colorways are Berry Pie Mix and Salt & Pepper. I've waffled on the pattern several times now but have finally decided to make In the Land of Oz (ravelry). I think I'm going to wander down to the local hobby shop and check out their bead selection. I'm going to put beads in the lace section of the shawl. I'm going to knit the stockinette part in the salt & pepper colorway and then swap to the Berry Pie Mix for the lace. 

I'm almost ready to start knitting the toes on my Embossed Leaves socks. I won't bother with a picture now. I'll post one when I finish the socks. I'm also just about done with a pair of Sydney socks (ravelry) for Bree. I'm using Unique Sheep Foot Prints sock yarn which is sports weight so I had to knit the smallest size to make sure Bree could wear them. They're currently turned inside out so I can knit the ruffle so no picture until they're done. 

I think that's it for now. Be back later with some more FO posts.

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!

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!

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.

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.

Knitting Knitting Everywhere

I have lots of knitting stuff to post about and a few non-knitting goodies too. Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. My RA doc has given me a round of methylprednisolone and it seems to be working. It's just a 6 day dose pack but he wanted to give me something to help bring down the inflammation while he waits for the metric crap ton of tests he is running on my blood. The lab vampires pulled 6 tubes of blood. I think they should have given me juice and a cookie. The Red Cross does when you donate blood. ;~)

We got our first snow back in the middle of September. 

Look I have a picture to prove it! It wasn't much and it never stuck to the roads but with the nice weather we've been having since then it was hard to believe it had ever snowed. If I remember correctly the year we had 30+ inches of snow dumped on us in December we had very mild fall weather. The girls only wore a light weight sweater to go trick or treating that year.

I got enough money in my yarn destash to buy the electric kettle I really wanted.

I picked up the Cuisinart PerfecTemp Electric Kettle. It has 6 different temp settings and a keep warm function that keeps your water at the temp you set for 30 minutes. It also has a cordless base so no more plugging and unplugging it to fill it up. It's one of the best reviewed multi temperature electric kettles I came across and the price while a bit high isn't bad for a multi temp kettle. I'm definitely getting my moneys worth out of it. We have a wonderful little tea shop (In Cahoots for Tea) here in town that fuels my tea addiction. They have a wonderful selection of loose leaf teas and I don't have to pay shipping and handling to get new teas.

New sheepy pj pants.

Aren't these the cutest things you've ever seen? I found them on sale at JcPenney's the other day. Cute and on sale! That's a great combo in my book. 

I think we'll start with finishes projects first and then move on to goodies I've got in the mail.

I finished my Stripey Socks I was knitting for the TLE 3rd Quarter challenge.

I was going to knit a fancy pair of colorwork socks but this was about all my brain and hands could handle at the time. The yarn is TLE's new solid sock yarn line and the colorways used are Strawberry and Smoke. The pattern is my own basic toe up sock pattern with a short row heel and a picot cuff.

I finished my blue striped "on the go" socks.

These are my basic toe up sock recipe with a short row heel and picot cuff. The yarn is Fortissima Socka, color # 9094. This yarn has been marinating in my stash for years. It was a gift from a dear friend. I didn't bother to match up the stripes because I've learned that leads down the path to madness. I tried that once with some Patons Kroy sock....lets just say I said some very inventive cuss words and threw the skeins across the room. If I can't match it in less then 30 seconds they get knit as mismatched socks. I honestly don't care if they aren't perfect matches.

My Sun Ray Shawl (ravelry)(non ravelry it's a free pattern from elann but you have to log on to view them) is finished. 

I finished this one up the other day. The yarn was originally being used for a Mara shawl but I quickly got bored with it and went searching for another pattern. The yarn is Araucania Natures Wool Multy, colorway #415. I still have some left over and haven't decided what to do with it. It's a bit scratchy so I won't be making a cowl of it.

I started the Rosalind Shawl (Ravelry)(non Ravelry) for my mom. 

The yarn is Dream in Color Baby and the colorway is Blue Sage. I picked up some beads from Earthfaire. They're 4mm frosted Megatamas. Cables, lace and beads....what more could a gal ask for.

New pair of "on the go" socks.

My basic toe up pattern. The yarn is from KnitPurlGurls Etsy shop, the Rainbows and Clouds colorway. I'm using some coordinating red yarn for the heels and toes and I'll use an after thought heel to keep from breaking up the stripes.

Now on to yarn that I've gotten in the mail. First up is some Woolen Rabbit Harmony Sock.

The colorway is called Boysenberry....yum! Purchased it through a friends destash.

Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Sport.  

This was a custom dye job. The colorway is called Spruce Tree and it's absolutely perfect! Roxanne did an awesome job with this one. I'm planning on knitting Poplar and Elm (ravelry)(non ravelry).

I purchased a new case for my Knit Picks Options Interchangeable needles and cables.

This has got to be the best case I've come across. Here's the Etsy site. The only thing I might do is buy some elastic to run across the top of the needles to make sure they're definitely in there secure. I was browsing for cases on Etsy when I came across one that was pink and well I'm generally not much of a pink person so I contacted the shop owner to see if she could custom make one for me. In addition to the different fabric she also added more pockets for mine. It was absolutely wonderful working with her for this custom order. Now I need to find the perfect case for my sock needles. I Magic Loop so I need to find a good case to hold all my 32" and 40" needles.  

I've also received some kits but don't want to post photos so as not spoil it for some one. I'll link to my Flickr account. Here's the ones I've received: Wicked Witch Returns, Divinely Inspired Cupcake Kit, and Lollipop Guild. All of these are kits from Woolgirl.

Wow, that was a long picture filled post. I think that sums up everything quiet nicely. Hopefully I'll be back soon with an update on the socks I'll be starting for my mom using some ZYG Bling! sock yarn.