Why do crazy people find me?

Quick post here but I have to share this. I had to run to BJ's (one of those warehouse stores) and I stopped at Borders (book store) to pick up some puzzle books fro the kiddies (my kiddies like puzzles and I do not like giving them candy on V-day and they were on sale) well anyway as I was walking up front to check out, I saw Crazy Aunt Purls book, I grabbed it and made my way up front.

As I was waiting, standing on line minding my own business the wacko (trust me he was) behind me keeps getting closer (you know when someone steps into your personal space) so I take a step, he takes another step. Repeat for about 5 times. Finally I am next then wacko boy starts reading the cover of the book. All of it. Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair - The true life misadventures of a 30-something who learned how to knit after he split. Laurie Perry aka Crazy Aunt Purl. He said all that out loud right behind me. The he asks am I divorced. Can you believe this guy. As I was telling him I am happily married I was called next. I sprinted to the cashier. As he was ringing me up the wacko kept getting closer. I mentioned this guy to the cashier and told him what happened. He announced loudly that to stop bothering the people on line and to get behind the sign. Everyone heard the cashier and wacko boy was embarrassed. I thank the cashier and got my butt out of there.

The wackos always seem to find me

Now I am off to clean up after my girl (and play with)

=)

It's a girl!!!!!

Now that I gave my mom a heart attack, please keep reading = )

Ok Jill guess a spinning wheel , not yet =( , and a new baby. Well she was close. It is a new baby, just not human.

Meet Snickers





8 week old girl. She is a mutt, though I do she some German Shepherd in her face (especially when I pick up her ears) We picked her up tonight. We adopted her from a local animal shelter. It was so hard to pick one. Most of her litter was up for adoption and if we had the space and money we would have taken all 6 of them.

The Kiddies have been asking for one for a long while and we told the older 2 when the baby was older. We figured now was a good time since well I can not have anymore babies.

The drug I just started is a chemo drug. It does bad thing to my eggs. I can not get pregnant when I am on it because a) the chances keeping the pregnancy to full term is low and b) if a baby is born the chances of having many abnormalities is very high (I won't even go into what abnormalities - my dr went over them just so I would realize the seriousness of it). The drug company says to wait 3 months after stopping the drug before trying to have a baby. My dr says at least a year and then she doesn't even recommend it.

I know I know I have 3 wonderful kiddies but I still do not like the idea of being told that is it. we have decided that I should take the drug, I need to get my RA under control and knock on wood it seems to be working!!

Look what I got in the mail

Well over the weekend the rest of my etsy shopping spree arrived.

This is the only yarn I bought (shocking I know) It is from NH Knitting Mama. 100% alpaca lace weight in Color of Midnight.



Ok picture does not do it any justice what so ever. Trust me it is much prettier in person!

Now onto roving. Yes I know I was not suppose to buy more until I spun half of what I have but, a) it was my christmas gift and b)when I get my wheel I will need something to spin right?

Anyway this one is from Enchanted Knoll Farm. Hand dyed Merino in Mermaid. I spent a good amount of time petting this one!



included was a little sample that I fell in love with, I know I am easy when it comes to fiber, very pretty, very soft and very much want more of it.



can not really see it in the picture but there is sparklie stuff in it too!

Last but not least I got this one. 100% bamboo. Ooooooo. Outside of my limited spinning comfort zone, but hey I need to move beyond it anyway, how else do you learn?

It is from loop. She has very beautiful stuff and again I want it all. Funny little side story: The owner went to school with my Hubby. What are the chances that I move here to Long Island, she moves away and I wind up buying something from her. Small world!!




Tomorrow I have some big news to tell......but you can't guess.

=)

Green Bay Capitan

As I was reading Turtlegirls blog the other day she was blogging about this hat. It was really really cute. So of course I saved the pattern to my HD (I use to print all the patterns out and well that added up to a lot of paper and I thought it would be greener to just save the pattern and print it when I made it) Well anyway yesterday while I was getting ready to watch the NFC Championship I needed something to knit. Capitan sprung into mind. I grabbed the Wool of the Andes Bulky and settled in to watch Green Bay kick butt. Yes I know live in NY but well I really do not like the Giants and I am a big Brett Farve fan so yes I was routing for Green Bay. The yarn was also Green Bay green

Well Green Bay didn't win, but I have a really cute hat and I love it!!!!!

Pattern: Capitan by Rosi Garmendia
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes bulky



Hubby modeling for me. Now I now where my son gets it
from = )





self picture in mirror

=)

Back to knitting

I know the last post upset a few people. I didn't mean to , I just wanted to get as many people as possible to be aware. I know that the kids were I work are told to speak out about anything that happens, which is a good thing, but it also know by everyone that works with them that they do not report everything. I just think it is sad that in this day and age, we as human, can not treat everyone equally. I have read other parts of that blog and a little while ago the author had an incident were some one came up to them and became very angry (almost to the point of fighting) because he was in a wheelchair and his friend had pulled up to the curb so he could get into the car (there was slush and ice). What bullship is that. I know people in wheelchairs, I even have a friend who is in a wheelchair. I also know that there is a pretty good chance that one day I will be in a wheelchair.

Ok I have to stop. Lets go back to nice things, wooly things.

I made a pair of socks for Son.
Yarn: Swish Red Pepper
Needle: size 5 dpns
Pattern: 4x2 ribbing with short row heel





He wore them for a long while and then he finally took them off (after 2 days). He is so sweet. Of the 3 he is the one who really loves what I make. He was very upset when I took the socks I made him last year away, they were way too small but he didn't care.

Here is something out of left field...

Here is a picture of Whinny or guinea pig. We got her almost 3 years ago when the Wonder Pets just arrived on tv. My kids thought the guinea pig's name was Whinny not Linny.

Brent Martin

I know this is really a fiber blog but something happened this morning that I need to blog about. It has nothing to do with knitting or yarn.



This morning I was reading my email. I was reading one of my emails, a digest of post from a Yahoo group, Stash Support, and there is blog links on the bottom of each message. I clicked on it, I like to play with yarn and I read knitting blogs, and I could never have guessed where I would have wound up.

After several clicks it was the blog Chewing the Fat. I sat here reading about something very horrible. Something I had not heard about. Something that made me sick. I read about Brent Martin. A young man that was punched in the head because he was different. Punched so many times that he died. Why? Because the 3 boys (16,17 and 21 I believe) had been taking boxing lessons and thought Brent would be perfect to try it out on, Why? Because Brent had and intellectual disability. Brent did not fight back he kept trying to shake their hands, kept asking for friendship, and the boy just kept punching him. After they were done they left him to die, alone. All for a 5 pound bet -thats around 10 dollars.

I work in a high school that is known for their special education program. Parents move from around the country so that their children can get the best education. There are also main stream kids in the school too. I know several of the children and they are very sweet and nice. I also see them get picked on. I see kids talking to this one child so their friends can take his wallet out of his bag. (Yes the kids were brought to the principles office)

I can tell you that there are many F-up people in this world.

I was raised to see people for who they are, not for the color of their skin, what they look like, who they want to be with or for any disability that they may have. I am trying my damnest to make sure that my children are raised like this too.

More Goodies!!!

Christmas is coming a little late for me this year, which is totally fine because we had a major car repair.

This came in the mail today. More battlets from Keri!!

Fields Of Lavender, 90% superwash 10 % icicle



Oceana, 90% superwash 10% nylon



So now I have a problem, I did not get to start spinning last night so which one should I do first!?!?!?!?!

There will be more goodies coming in the mail. I went shopping on Etsy! (Thank you Hubby)

Pretty Yarn (part 2) Plus....

Okay here is the rest of the yarn I bought.

This is Cherry Tree Hill's Sockittome in Jewels. I love this yarn, well actually I have yet to meet a CTH yarn that I do not love. This is also the yarn that started the whole sniffing thing. There is just something about the smell. Yes I do sniff all my yarn and yes I know it is a strange thing to do. Next time you go to a yarn store ( a real yarn store not a chain craft store - watch people. I can almost guarantee someone will sneak a sniff)



450 yards of yummy.

This is Brown Sheep's Wildfoote. The color is Rock n Roll. I bought this yarn to try a new sock yarn and because of the name.
Very scientific.




Here is the plus part. Keri has been making these real adorable battlets, that she sells in her Etsy shop I have wanted these light dark ones that she has had a few times. She also had a lovely candy cane battlett. I checked everyday to see if it was there. Of course when I went to buy it, someone else had bought it (darn christmas shopping - making me wait). When I saw a valentine's day version I bought it right away. This was a friday night. Monday I came home from work and there it was. Why yes I did rip into it before I even had my jacket off.

Here is Hearts Afire. 95% BFL (Bluefaced Leicester) and 5% icicle (spark-a-ly) a little over 3 oz



I tried to get a good shot of the sparkle but my camera didn't want to cooperate. It is very soft and I really want to spin it now. I am a little torn between spinning it now on my hand spinner or stashing it until I get my wheel. Well it is sitting next to me right now and well I think I will hand spin it.

I have already ordered different ones from her. I am also awaiting something else in the mail too and the waiting is becoming really annoying.

=)

Yes I am still alive

Yes I know I was going to post wednesday and I had every intention too. Alas, I had problems. Wednesday afternoon I had my Dr appointment. Now part of the "normal" routine is for her to flex my affected joints (which at this point is almost every one) to check stiffness, range of motion and pain. She is lucky I like her. By the time I got home I could not move and couldn't get to sleep until early am from the pain. Thursday was also bad, but in no way as bad as wednesday.

Which brings me to friday. Hubby took off and we ran out food shopping. Friday was also the day I started my new medication. I get to take this lovely drug once a week, in one dose (right now I am at half dose to see if my body can handle it - isn't this great?!) I was informed that I had a few hours before the side effects kicked in. Well my luck is - I got about 30 minutes. We where about 2 isles into food shopping before I felt....disconnected (like cold meds but stronger) . Yeah it was fun. When we got home and everything was put away I went to bed. I was out like a light. Next morning I didn't feel tired or much disconnection but boy was I dizzy. Hubby had to help me walk or I would have fallen. Sunday was much better just queasy.

As you can probably can figure out I can not take this stuff during the week, so basically my weekends are shot. Most likely these side effect will not lessen much since I only take it once a week and the dosage will increase.

What makes all of this great fun worth it - I can already feel a difference. I knitted on my monkey socks for about an hour and feel great. Granted it is still there, I feel it, it still hurts but it is not front and center screaming it's head off. Now everyone please cross their fingers that this one works. Thank You.

Ok knitting time. Here are my monkey socks.

Yarn :Rhinebeck (if anyone recognizes it let me know - it is from a booth that also had crated sheep dogs)
mods: toe-up and no purl. I also forgot to turn the chart around so they are also upside down.

I know you really can not see the pattern. Love the yarn. Love the colors. Who would have thought I would pick this!?



I also have this. It is a sock for Son. He asked for a pair of red socks.

yarn: swish - red pepper
pattern: 3x2 ribbing , toe up, short row heel

It fits great. I have already started the other one but I am only a few rows into the toe



Here are my re-invented fingerless mitts. Since I only had a set amount of yarn I knitted these fingers down. I had to restart the right mitt 3 times, since I kept putting the thumb gusset on the wrong side. First time I was almost done with the mitt. Second I was only half way. Third time is the charm. = ) I can not believe I sat there knitting away before realizing I did not have 2 left hands, twice.




Ok that's it for now. Next time the rest of the yarn and something really nice!!

=)

Pretty Yarn (part 1)

Ok I only have time for a quick post here so I will only show some of the yarn. Next time I will show the rest and some Works In Progress (WIPs).

By the time I got a chance to go Wild and Wooly Wools it was the 2nd to last day. Needless to say everything had been shopped over. I did find a few good buys though. I also got a chance to talk to the owner and her daughter. Both are very nice and will be missed. She is thinking of opening a mini yarn store in her house. I hope so, I would go just for the talking "shop"


First up is my all time FAVORITE yarn. No it is not Knit Picks (I know shocking, isn't it!) Actually is is Artyarn. Last year I knitted a pair of fingerless mitts for my Mommy (for christmas) and my Aunt R (birthday) and the owner recommended this yarn. The yarn felt like cream. Seriously. I went back a few days later and bought some for myself. I used it for a pair of fingerless mitts (they are the ones I showed before being frogged (ripped out.. get it? rip it rip it - sounds like a frog. I love that ^_^ ) and a pair of socks. (short story: this yarn is superwashed and Hubby does laundry and found a way to wash and dry them (he dries clothes to the temp of the sun) and they shrunk - big time)

Ok back on topic here. I asked her if she remembered back to a year ago and if she remembered what yarn it was. (this was before I had my knitting notebook) and she did!!! (yet another reason why I loved this store) She only had a couple of skeins left and well i bought 2.

Artyarns Handpainted Stripes
colors 134 (yellow and greys - bottom) + 103 (yellow,pink,green and brown - top)



Now that I know what the yarn is I have already bookmarked about 10 sites that carry it = )

Next up is Shepherds Wool in plum. Very nice stuff. Very soft and squishy. This is for me. (Sorry Aunt I and Buddah)



Last for today is a new yarn to me. I fell in love with the color.( I am a sucker for blue). I was going to make a hat and scarf or a hat and mitts (can you believe I now have only 2 hats and at the moment no gloves or mitts. Crazy I know) but then I un hanked it and used my ball winder and when I stood up I was covered with blue wool. Boy, did this stuff shed. I am rethinking the whole hat and ______. I am thinking maybe felted bag?

Magallanes in Blues




Next time Sock Yarn.

=)

100 in 1001 Days

Okay here is my list. It is not finished. I still need 19 more items but at least I already have the majority.


100 in 1001 Days

Crafty:

1. reduce yarn stash by half (4 bins to 2)
2. either frog or finish all WIPs
3. no hibernating WIPS
4. paint 5 pictures
5. finish The Quilt
6. finish the 2 mini quilts
7. get caught up with yarn scraps blanket
8. reduce roving stash by 1/3 before buying any more
9. teach Daughter to sew
10. teach Son how to knit
11. teach Buddah to knit
12. go through knitting binders and reduce DONE
13. make myself at least 5 things per year (1/13)
14. finish cross stitch
15. start cross stitch sampler
16. update our scrapbook
17. start family scrapbook
18. write out my design notes into proper patterns
19. design 5 new things
20. submit at least 3 for publication
21. organize yarn stash

Decluttering (sell, donate, or trash)

22. kids books
23. desk at least once every 6 months (0/6)
24. the 2 bookcases
25. filing cabinet
26. living room closet
27. my clothes
28. my bookself
29. cookbooks and cooking magazines
30. update my cookbook
31. kitchen cabinets
32. bathroom
33. makeup
34. kids clothes once every 6 months (0/6)
35. clothes in storage
36. reduce shoes by 1/3
37. bags by 1/3
38. computer- photos
39. computer -emails
40. computer - documents DONE
41. kitchen cart
42. books in storage
43. everything else in storage
44. DVDs

Self

45. try yoga
46. try belly dancing
47. try tai chi
48. pedicure every othe month (0/17)
49. manicure every month (0/33)
50. reduce sugar in coffee by half (now at 1/3 cup)
51. increase water to 4-16 oz a day
52. count to 10 before yelling
53. no eating after 9
54. facial once a month (0/33)
55. put flowers on father’s grave
56. put flowers on grandparent’s grave
57. put flowers on uncle’s grave
58. wear a ponytail no more then 3x’s a week (1/132)
59. no more then 1.5 hours on the internet per day
60. read 3 books a year (0/8)
61. be on time every day for a month (0/30)
62. go to bed early 5 times a week for a month
63. learn spanish (Dora does not count)

Misc.

64. update all 3 baby books
65. update photo albums
66. update living room photos
67. have family portrait done
68. have Buddah’s picture taken
69. go thru all portraits and mail
70. try 1 new recipe per month (1/33)
71. handwrite 15 letters
72. call Mom once a week (1/132)
73. update photo cd’s and organize
74. family tree
75. bake at least once a month (1/33)
76. have prints made for photos on computer
77. pay bills on time for 6 months
78. grow savings to $3000
79. Holiday club - $25 a month (0/33)
80. start and keep updated school books
81. create a master DVD list
82. family night at least once a month (0/33)

I made a hat in 1 hour!!!!

1 hour!!! That is what you call fast!! Especially with my RA flaring. Ok granted that the yarn is extra bulky and I used size 15 needles but hey it only took an hour!! It is also for ME!!!!!

The yarn came from Rhinebeck.
Vendor: High View Farms
100% wool (maybe merino it is soft and I have been wearing for a while and only took it off cause I was getting hot)
153 yards



(Hubby is modeling for me while putting a lego set together. He is such a good sport!)

I still have a lot left


OK so there is nothing in the pic for size reference but the ball went from a basketball to a volley ball. I sense a matching scarf coming. = )


I also made a Panta (think headband/ear warmer) for the One Skein KAL on Raverly. This was also quick. I used Knitpicks Swish in black, size 7 needles and the pattern is from DROPS. My gauge was a little smaller, which turned out fine since I didn't want it so wide.



I didn't have anyone around when I took this picture so I had to do the mirror thing. Boy, is it a pain to take ones picture using a mirror.

Last year I made myself a pair of fingerless mitts. I was still in the transition of learning how to knit more then rectangles so needless to say they did not come out right. They were big. I could fit both of my hands into one. For a long while I have wanted to frog them and re-knit them. Well I finally got around to it.



Here is a pic of 1 frogged and 1 right before frogging. The yarn is Artyarns hand painted stripes in color 123. I love this yarn it is like cream. I am going to reknit fingerless mitts since now I have none.

I know I also need to blog my 101 in 1001 list. I only have 81 things but I think it will be a work in progress since it has been a few days with not much added. Hopefully tomorrow. I also have other WIPs and FOs to blog about and pretty yarn to show.

=)

You have to watch this!! (especially if you are a mom)

Ok my Auntie sent me this a while (ok long while) ago. I finally got around to watching it and OMG!!!! I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants. Seriously.

Mom Video


I had to share

= )


(ETA:Blogger did not want to embed the video, so I linked it. If you are a mom it is totally worth checking out. OK I am done)

Another Secret Project

Here is another one. I made my MIL a lace scarf. I found the pattern in Knitscene (fall 07). It is called Teardrop Scarf. I thought it was cute. It is lace and it has beads!!! Yummy. I used Knitpicks Shadow in Redwood Heather (I think the color is discontinued) on size 4 needles. Beads are from Walmart i do believe. They are glass and I think they go pretty well.

Of course I modified it. I only did 2 repeats and well after blocking it is plenty big.

Ok here is the pics:




I still have yarn to show you - yes I did make it to the LYS before closing. Ahh.. great times!!

I also signed up for 101 in 1001. Basically you make a list of 101 things (nothing vague, it has to have an end) and do them in 1001 days (that's 2.75 years). I am still making a list but should be done tomorrow.

I also started, scratch that I finished it already, a panta for One Skein KAL. Raverly is dangerous, but oh so fun!!!
Yes I am in Raverly. Yes I know I haven't mentioned it. It slipped thru. My name is Qutecowgirl over there. (I know big surprise)

=)

Mommy's Socks

Another secret knitted item was my Mommy's Socks.

Secret Photo:


and here is the non secret picture:


(thanks Mommy for the picture - yeap I forgot to take a picture)

I used Swish in Red Pepper. I am not really a red fan but this is a really pretty red (it is a blue red not an orange red)
I used size 5 needles which made these sock go really fast - like a weekend fast. Pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks - Lacey Rib

Happy New Year eveyone.

My wish for this year is for it to be less eventful then last (and less painful would be nice too)

=)