I Am Just A KAL Girl!!!

Well I have learned that it does not take much to get me to KAL. Though to argue it is more fun to knit as a group, even a virtual group, then by oneself. Plus I need to knit some fun things as I knit this crazy christmas list of mine!!.

So far I am on the Sock A Month 4 KAL, which should help with the christmas sock list. Septembers socks will be christmas socks (and probably October, November and December too). I am also a member of The Hanami KAL. It is a great pattern and well since it is a knit at your own pace KAL, I think I will do fine. (Yes I still have to work on MS3/Swan Lake - I have a feeling it will be pushed back until after the holidays =( ). Third I am doing a KAL for Tiffany Mittens with fellow S’n’Bers.. I have loved these mittens ever since Ves (Hi!!) posted about them. Jill did a good deed by bring them back up for discussion and well a KAL formed. I just got my yarn (more on that in a sec) for them and now I have to decide what color to use where - ahhh the problems I have =). Lastly I just joined The Fingerless Mitts for Fall KAL. I love fingerless mitts. They keep your hands warm and you can still knit, type, write etc. I wore out last years so this will help fill the need for another pair. So that is 5 KALs, so do-able.

Ok now for the yarn fun. This is my last yarn purchase. (I have to save money for Rhinebeck). I bought yarn for Tiffany. Of course it was from KnitPicks. I got Swish in DK weight and here is a pic. The colors are Mist (gray), Dusk (blue), Cinnamon (brown), Eggplant (purple) and Holly berry (red).



Since I was no where near the $45 dollar for free shipping mark, I also bought some Memories (alas it is discontinued = ( , I like this yarn so when I saw that they were down to 2 colors I bought 2 of each.) Here is Red Hat and Redwood Forest.



Then I saw the new Essentials Multi yarns. So I also got Peacock, Blue Violet, Meadow and Tuscany. I am a sucker for sock yarn. What is it about sock yarn anyway?




Well I have to go and redo Tiffany charts, pick a pattern for the fingerless mitts, work on the 2nd Monkey sock (almost done) - I need the needles for Tiffany, and get everything ready and maybe cast on Hanami. The Kids are with the Grandparents tonight so maybe I will get some of this done =).

More Important Info On IBC

Here is a link to more information about IBC. Click here. It was given to me and I am happy to spread the word.

IT IS DONE!!!!!!!

Yeah!!! Yippee!! I finished It!!! Of course I can not tell you exactly what It is - you know christmas/stealth knitting. I do have a close up picture. It is in black an white to throw off any color clues (if there is even a color clue). For anyone who knows what this is - shhhh =). I will post more details after christmas. (I am going to have plenty to post about in January). I still have to block it.





I have 5 “major/big” knitting projects for christmas and well this is the one that I though would be the hardest and take the longest. I forced myself to finish last night - yes my hands are killing me but It is done. WooHoo!!!!!!!

Ok, I am a little calmer now =). (well not really) I have been working on my scarf that I am designing. I had to change the yarn and restart several (lots) times. So far so good. Yep it is also in black and white - christmas knitting stricks again!!



I want to say a BIG Thank You to Lene. She was really sweet and gave a hello to my stepson. I can not wait until he sees his name on her blog and everyone saying Hi!!. A while ago she asked if knitters can knit cast socks for her mom. I volunteered and used some yarn that I had dyed (the green/blue/yellow one). Well she posted a picture on her blog and well my stepson saw it and was amazed. This should really blow him away!!!




I have more of those thingies to show.

Am-I-Dumb.com - Are you dumb?



I totally took this one from a fellow S’n’Ber. Hi Jill. I have a countdown christmas clock on my computer and well I saw this one and well I took it =).






Wow this is a short post. I am off to knit.

This blog is NC-17

I do not have much knitting to show (darn christmas knitting) but I had fun with these internet thingies. It is amazing what is out there.




I laughed my butt off on this. NC-17 for a knitting blog!!! Explanation is that breast was mentioned 21 times, pain 5 times and hell once. Good thing real movies are not rated this way!!


I had a painting thing but I messed up the code copying it. I also Simpsonized myself. I copied the wrong code and I just have the link. (Heck I am still learning how to do all of this stuff)

Well that Is my post for today. I know not very exciting. I will hopefully have something to show next time.

Important Info

The following was copied from the blog Toddler Planet. I found this blog thru several links from the Sock A Month KAL. Please read it and pass the information along. This woman is fighting for her life right now and maybe this info will help some one. It was the least I could do to pass it along. Thank You, Qutecowgirl.




"BECAUSE I’M NOT READY TO MOVE ON
Friday July 27th 2007, 9:10 pm
Filed under: breast cancer
Because I’m not ready to move on, I’m reposting this tonight to put it front and center. The word is getting out. The post is catching on. It’s been on 40 60 blogs so far this week, and counting. I’ll tell you where it’s been and post a roundup with links later this weekend so you can visit these lovely women (all women so far, except for Looky, Daddy!) if you like. They are all beautiful.

If you haven’t posted this yet, please feel free to copy and paste it at will. Your blog reaches places and women that mine doesn’t. Your blog can be part of this effort to save someone else’s life.

Thank you.

—

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.



P.S. Feel free to steal this post too. I’d be happy for anyone in the blogosphere to take it and put it on their site, no questions asked. Dress it up, dress it down, let it run around the place barefoot. I don’t care. But I want the word to get out. I don’t want another young mom — or old man — or anyone in between — to have to stare at this thing on their chest and wonder, is it mastitis? Is it a rash? Am I overreacting? This cancer moves FAST, and early detection and treatment is critical for survival.

Thank you."

Yeah Blogger is letting me Blog!!

(Blogger had not liked me for the past 2 days. I guess I am allowed to post today)

Well yesterday it was 57 degrees (and rainy) and today it is 60 and rainy. Is it August? Oh well I am loving it. I love the fall and winter.

So I made my christmas list and oh boy I did it this year!! Here is the shortened version: 3 sweaters, 8 pairs of socks, 2 bags, 1 blanket (maybe 2 more), 2 pairs of felted slippers, 9 hats, 2 scarves (one I am designing), 1 shawl and 1 pillow. Of this list I have 8 started. Will I make it? Time will tell . (and yes I think I can do it - I will think this until the end regardless if I make it or not. No negative thinking allowed with this list) I also have to come up with an ornament for this year. That is my tradition. I make different ornaments every year (ok I only did it 2 years in a row). One year it was hand sewn and embroidered felt ornaments (I do not have any pictures but this year I will be taking pictures of them) and last year I knitted balls (hehehe) I mean ornaments. Sorry about that Hubby made fun of them the whole time I was knitting them (I think I made around 15) and I still laugh about it when I think about it.

In other knitting news I finally finished my Saturday Market Bag. It did not finish easy. I took it out of my bag (I thought it’s time out was over) and started knitting the straps. Then I ran out of yarn almost at the end of the second strap. So I ripped the straps and started again. I knitted the straps, grafted the straps on and weaved in all of the ends. As I was admiring (and thanking the yarn goddess I was finally done) I noticed something. I picked up the handles on the wrong side (meaning when the handles are right side out the bottom is wrong side out) It is a little different and well I am chalking it up to creative license.



I do have this to say about the bag. It can hold a lot. (I raided the girls stuffed animals) I could have squeezed in more too!!





I finished one Monkey.



(no I haven’t casted on the second one yet - I will) This pair is not for me (part of the christmas knitting) but I do have some KnitPicks Memories in S’mores color way that I want to use to make a pair for me.



This is the beginnings of a scarf that I designed. My fingers are crossed that it will work. So far so good.

This is my 4 year olds knitting. I am amazed how well she is doing. today she sat for about an hour and knitted about 5 inches. (yep I am a proud Momma)



I am feeling under the weather today (I am guessing from the damp ickyness) so knitting is slow, but I am knitting.

125 days until Christmas. Are you knitting yet?

Randomness. (meaning - no knitting to show)

One of my children asked me where I got the name Qutecowgirl and just in case anyone else was wondering here is the why. Way back in the day ( sometime in 1997 - holy cow that was 10 years ago) I bought my first computer and of course hooked it up to the internet ( and just think back then dial up was amazing). I was using AOL at the time and I had to come up with a user name. Now I have collected cows and cow related stuff for years prior and still do. (I do not know why cows have this hold on me) I have Mary Moo Moos (tons), stuffed cows, a cow cutting board, a cow tea kettle, cow mugs, a cow print apron and heck I now have a cow button. I have tons of cow related stuff (although most is in storage - my kids and breakable stuff do not mix well). When I was making my name I tried many versions of cowgirl and found Qutecowgirl. So I guess you can add my name to my cow collection.= )

People I would Like to Meet: (in random order)

1. My cousin Richard TenEyck. I have never met him. My uncle (his father) died in a car accident at 19 leaving his fiancé pregnant alone. She gave birth to a boy and named him after his father. This all happen years before I was born. My Aunt R and I tried to find him but nothing. He did call once and said he would call again because he wanted to know his father’s family but didn’t. So if anyone knows a Richard TenEyck whose father died before he was born can you let him know he has a cousin who would like to say hi.

2. Maya Angelou. Amazing woman and writer. I discovered her books in college and I have all of them. Her poetry is inspiring.
3.The Yarn Harlot. I want to say thank you. You see months ago when my RA was being a real pain in the ____ I was in Barnes and Noble and found her book The Yarn Harlot and I bought it. I read it in one sitting laughing most of the time. Hubby thought I lost my mind, I was going between crying from pain to laughing my butt off. Thinking back I am sure I freaked him out but that book (which I read many many times since) got me through a lot of pain and frustration.

4.Oprah Winfrey. Another amazing woman. She stands up for what she believes in and does not let any tell her different (like the cattle industry). She is generous and helps those less fortunate.

Yep it is a short list.

Well today I seem to be doing better. I will be attempting to knit today (crosses fingers). Wish me luck!! =)

130 days until Christmas. Time to buckle down and get a knitting (and to make a list of what I have to knit)

And So It Begins.......

And so it begins. We (my doctor, Hubby and I) were hoping that what progress the Plaquenil did would hold over until I could start a new medication, well it looks like that will not happen. I have noticed in the past couple of mornings that I am waking up stiff and sore. This morning my hands were back to what I like to call The Claw form (picture your fingers curled in - not quite a fist and a little painful to stretch out at this point). It is now almost 1 in the afternoon and there is still some stiffness going on. Yesterday my knees were really hurting to the point were I had to ice the crap out of them so I could fall asleep.

Well this sucks. I have to wait until September 13 to see my doctor. Hopefully by then the Plaquenil will be out of my system and I can start a new medication. I just hope I can function until then. Of course I still have to make the “Do I ever want to have more children? decision.(Yep I have not even thought about it. Don’t want to. And yes I know I have to and I will, I still have a month.) I am just not in the mood right now to think about it. It is amazing how much pain tires one out. That part is really annoying. Okay I am done complaining. It is not like it makes me any better and I do not want to sink to far into depressed crankiness. ; )

In knitting news (no pictures today, I can not find any working batteries) I worked on the Monkeys. In one sitting I did the leg, turned the heel, did the decreases and I am now on the foot. It was easy and fun and I did it in about 2 interrupted hours. That amazed me.

My Mets Vog On’s are about to be frogged. I think the yarn is to thick for the pattern (or it could be too sticky for my bamboo dpns). I worked on them for about 10 minutes last night and they were killing my hands so I need to fix that. I was going through More Sensational Socks and well I see lots of ideas.

I finished the toe on Hubby's 2nd sock (aka the socks from H-E-double hockey sticks) and I almost finished the first color band after the toe. I would probably be able to go faster but I have to separate the double strands and then rewind the yarn. This is not fun at all. I really am starting to hate these socks. It will be a really happy day when the darn socks are done.

I do have happy news, Hubby said he would drive me to Rhinebeck. How cool is that!! I am so excited. I started saving money for a big time shopping spree. I figure if I yarn diet and save that money and a few bucks here and there I should a have a nice sum for the trip. I also have to knit a good chunk of my stash so I have some room to put all my new stuff. I am also counting the days.(67 days).

I am off to try and knit some of that stash now (hopefully) =)

133 knitting days left until Christmas

Go Mets!!

Ok I wanted to post earlier but life interrupted (the nerve of it) anyway it is mostly straightened out so now I can blog.

Stitch’n’Pitch was fun.
(socks in the wild pictures)



We arrived at Shea early (as usual) to watch batting practice. We had great seats. We were 30 feet down from 1st base and the second row after the reserve section (that would make it row 4). Okay so we get there and Hubby asks were is Stitch’n’Pitch set up? NO ONE HAD A CLUE!! (sorry about the shouting there) One security guard knew because he was told that they were suppose to let the needles in without a problem. Okay no one knew, so we went in to see batting practice (missed the Mets, oh well). The game started and it was really cool to watch the game that close.



(I was using my plain old digital camera - no telephoto lens here)

After the 4th inning I couldn’t take the heat (it was 90 and with humidity -95. This is at 8pm) so we went to see if we could find the SnP set up. We did find it- in the upper level corridor. Wanna guess who was there signing ticket stubs for the goodie bags? Lily Chin. Wow. She is a great designer and I was in awe. That means I totally did not remember to take a picture. The only thing I could say was nice shirt. I felt like a complete moron. She had knitted a baseball uniform - pants and jersey. It was amazing and I said nice shirt. We were given the goodie bags even though we didn’t buy the special SnP tickets. Thank You.



The goodie bags had nice goodies. Yarn, needles, magazines, tons of patterns and the bag doubles as a project bag. Nice.
How much knitting did I get done at the game? 4 rows on Hubby’s socks. That is it. It was too freakin hot. I tried I really did but there was no way to keep my hands from getting sweaty and sweat and wool do not mix well. Oh well, it was still fun. Since we were in the upper level we stayed there. This is the new view.




The Mets did win. Yeah!!! My curse is broken. See the last 8 games I attended the Mets lost. If they lost I was seriously considering not attending another game.

I can now post about the bags. I took the yarn that my kids kool aided and made 3 bags with this pattern (mostly of course I change it a little bit on each bag). One for Hubby’s mom, one for my mom and one for me. The Mom’s bags were for their birthdays (hence why I couldn’t say anything). Here they are:

Hubby’s Mom:



My Mom:



Me:


I used mine on Thursday and I loved it. Mine is smaller then the other two.

In other knitting news, I am still working on that darn market bag. I ran out of yarn and I knew I had another ball. I looked everywhere for it. I ripped through my stash. I could not find it. Wanna know where it was? In my knitting bag!!!. I know I looked in there. Well the bag is in a time out. All that is left to knit is 1 and a half straps.

I have 3 socks on the needles. Hubby’s (Yes I am making the socks opposite each other):



My Met Socks (Vog On again - love the pattern):



and Monkey. Yep I joined the bandwagon and just started.



I also restarted The Stepson Blanket. It was going to be a log cabin but I didn’t like the way it was coming out so I scrapped it and started this one. I have one square down - 11 more to go. (it will be a square when it is blocked)



I am off to knit.


Only 137 days until Christmas.

Ta Da!!

I finished my Vog On's. Yeah!! These were my August socks for the Sock A Month KAL. I only used one hank of Rocky Mountain Dusk (from KnitPicks) The second sock only took 3 and a half days (this was including kids,hubby, cooking, and other knitting). WOW!! I hope all second socks go this fast.





I also made this handy dandy counter bracelet (how-to here). I just used beads I had around. Although, next time I am Michael's I will be picking up more beads. Very simple to make and use.



Here is an update on The Hubby's Socks. What there was - was frogged (again). He like the nice thin one better. Well my hands are O.K. at this point so I said yes. I just started the short row toe (so no pics- yet). Of course it would have been nice for him to state this before I had all the problems with the thicker socks (I love my husband).

I have been also working on MS3. I am almost done with clue 1. As soon as I get my butt to Staples and get another ink thingie for the printer, I will print out clue 2. I also have to decide what socks to do for September. I want to start now since I want to keep the speed thing going (hopefully). I am really leaning towards Monkey. I have seen many pairs and love how they all came out.

In other news, our tv went. It is just over 3 months old and the motherboard went (darn HDTVs). Yes it is covered. It will take about 2 weeks to fix. Yes Hubby is freaking. Me, I am loving it. I get to play my music and knit. The kids right now are ok with it. I am sure this will change. Oh well, they can not sit in front of the stupid thing all day or argue with me to go do something else. Yes siree I am loving it.=)

Well with some arm twisting (not really) from a fellow S’n’Ber, I started this Saturday Market Bag from MagKnits.
A bunch of us started a KAL for this bag and with help from them (and no help from Benadryl) I finally got it going. Yes I changed the pattern a little. I am knitting in the round, which means - no seaming. = ) Here is my progress:



This is just 6 repeats. I think I added 6 rows of plain knit in size 11 to make a solid bottom (I also used 3-needle BO - no sewing=) ). I just have to pick up stitches and do the top. The bag really stretches in all directions, which is what I want. I am using Sugar n Cream cotton in Country Side Ombre . It is leftover form this bag:



I wanted a messenger bag and so I made one up. The strap stretched more then I thought but, it works over the shoulder.

MS3 update: Yeah! I finished chart A. I am about a third through chart B. My reaction cleared up enough where I no longer want to rip my skin off so the first thing I worked on was the stole. I also switched to dpns and it is going much faster. It is not a great picture. Since I am using dpns, I can not stretch it out very well.



I also worked a little on Hubby’s sock, though I am still on the cuff. I think I may have entered a knitting black hole with this sock. I swear I have knitted and knitted on it but it is not changing size. Well right now it is in a time out.

I still have not casted on Vog On number 2. I will, I know I will. These socks will not fall victim to Second Sock Syndrome.
UPDATE: I was a good girl and I have started (just) the second sock. These will be the socks for August for the Sock A Month KAL



I am going to Stitch N Pitch on August 8th at Shea (Go Mets!!). I am really excited. Hubby bought tickets that are unbelievable. They even came with passes to the Diamond club - maybe we will get to see Ron Darling or other great Mets. I will be sitting up close and personal (I am talking like second or third row) knitting. Well I will try to anyway and hopefully avoid any foul balls hit our way. (Hubby has already been told he is on foul ball duty) Now what should I bring to knit?

Other then that it has been kinda boring around here. Did I really just write that? Oh boy I am in for it now.=).


Only 146 days until Christmas.