KAL day #5

Progress on my KAL. I know... I've said it before.... I'm a dork!! And progress on Charlie's blanket (who is still cooking in his Mama's belly. He's due 9-26). I now keep it in my handy dandy project box :-)



I'll have to see how wide it actually is when all the panels are together, but I still think I'll do two more cable panels just to break up the blue from the boats and the blue border....

Progress

Two kinds of progress- mine & Devin's. My progress on Day #4 of the Dishcloth KAL... Glaring mistakes & all. I refuse to frog to correct them- it's a dishcloth & it's not like it's a gift or anything, so I'll live with the mistakes!

I'm not sure why Blogger is insisting on rotating this picture, but here ya go:


Devin's progress is on a plant she grew from a seed in her Kindy class last year. They wrapped beans in wet napkins & taped them to the classroom window in ziplock bags. At the end of the year she brought home sprouting beans, which we transplanted into cups, then a pot when they got too big. She's been enjoying the beans from the plant over the summer- even more so b/c *she* gre them :-) She's so cute!! We just e-mailed the pix to her teacher from last year.

Then the knitting

Just two *active* projects on the sticks:

I joined a Monthly Dishcloth Knitalong This is the September Mid-Month *Suprise*. It's my first KAL. I'm a dork- I'm excited! LOL! This is my progress so far after doing the lines for *Day 2*. Hopefully this is looking the way it's supposed to! It's pretty cool so far- I like it :-)


Not sure what I'll do with the finished cloth, as I can't immagine actually using it for DISHES!! Maybe as a washcloth though. Hmmm..... Gifts???

And this is my progress on Charlie's blanket:


Following the pattern I should be finishing the boat panel I'm working on, then sewing them together & adding the boarder, but being that I'm using a smaller gauge then the pattern called for I'm contemplating adding another cable & boat panel. We'll see.... When I'm finished with this panel (one more boat to go!!) I'll sew them together & see how wide it is when it's laying flat instead of all curled up. I LOVE this pattern!!!

OK, time to get in the shower & get this dump cleaned up.

First the kids...

Devin cheered for a game last night. Her team won. Yeah :-)
She got this dog mask at Michael's yesterday & wore it to the game- It was so cute!
Georgie wore his rain boots & stomped in a puddle for a while. Hey, it kept him busy, so whatever. Then he ran around the baseball field like a maniac til he was exhausted. He was FILTHY by the time we got home!! (oh, and his shirt say *I'm definitely up to something*- SOOOOO fitting for my little man!!)
Devin & her team are so cute cheering!! I love it! See my Vera Bradley Knitting bag on the blanket??? LOL! That thing goes with me EVERYWHERE. I was apparently delusional in thinking I would get some knitting done at the game. I did get to flip through the new Interweave Knits mag, so that was nice :-) I like a few sweaters in there, but garments are just not my friend! I hate making things where gauge is important. This morning the kids decided to talk about fire safely & had some practice fire drills. They decided that in the event of a fire they would take their most prized posessions- Devin took Cola & Georgie took his nasty old raggedy pillow. George & I are in charge of the bird.

Back to knitting....

I've found my next project:
Pedicure Socks

That is... my next project after I finish the *next* projects that I already have planned! I think the Pedicure Socks will make great gifts, and I just watched an episode of Knitty Gritty on making socks & said *Hey, I think I can do that!* I've been rather intimidated by socks, but after knitting the cuffs (which I adore- MUST make a pair for myself!) on DPNs I don't think I need to fear the socks any longer. And, of course, Juli is knitting socks so I have to learn how to also!!

In progress: Blanket for my Nephew-Due-Any-Day, Charlie :-) Yeah for new nephews!!! I'm working on the last panel, then it needs to be sewn together & the boarder needs to be knit. Hopefully it will be finished somewhere around the time he's born.

On the needles, but on hold: Feather & Fan lace scarf for my Gma. The aweful lace yarn incident still needs to be posted about. Lets just say though that from now on I will be storing my lace yarn in a SEALED bag every evening b/c the cat can really do some damage to it if she gets in the knitting bag :-S On the bright side though, the scarf didn't come off the needle & I got to experiment with spit-splicing.

Projects on my To Do List: Button hole bag for Devin's teacher, Lacey scarf for Georgie's teacher, Pillow cases for Juli that were supposed to be LAST year's Xmas gift (oops, sorry!!), Bib for my nephew-to-be for Xmas- Oh, or I saw the CUTEST Xmas hats somewhere.... Have to find the pattern & maybe I'll make that instead, Something for my 2-year-old nephew for Xmas, Cammo hat & mittens for Georgie, Pink Cammo (does anyone MAKE Pink Cammo???) Hat & Mittens for Devin, Fingerless gloves for George, Clapotis for me, and various other Xmas knitting, including washcloths and other little things that I want to get a jump on. I tend to set my goals a little higher than are actually attainable, then I get all stressed out. There are a ton of other things that I have planned too, but I'm going to work on the holiday stuff first then get to the other things. I also want to see how much I can knit out of my stash to make room for all the yummy yarns I plan on getting in October at the Festivals :-D

In non-knitting news- School is going good for the kids. Devin says 1st grade is much harder than Kindy & she thinks every day is a *bad day* since she has to work so hard :-( Poor Kid. She's doing great though & her teacher loves her. She said Devin is her right hand man (woman?) b/c she gets her work done so fast then is super helpful with the other kids & running things to the officec & whatnot. Georgie, who I was a bit concerned about, is doing great. He can write his name now!!!!!! Yeah!!!!! Only took til Kindy, but at least he's doing it! We praise everything he brings home, so he's all excited now to show us his school work at the end of the day :-) He's having some issues though with his behavior at home. His buddy, Joseph, who's at the bus stop with the kids, seems to have a bit of a crush on Devin & gets angry at Georgie when he's arguing with her. Georgie is upset b/c he thinks Joseph hates him & doesn't want to be his friend anymore, so he's acting out tword Devin at home. He actually BIT her today & left teeth marks! Yikes!!! We're trying to get him to understand that Joseph likes BOTH of them & doesn't want either of them to be mean to the other. I guess I see one conflict that will come into play when they get older: dating each other's friends! LOL!

OK, I think that' s it for tonight.

First day of school

The kids did great for the first day of school. Of course there were no issues with Devin :-D Georgie is a piece of work though! I think he's really going to be a handfull for his teacher this year! He told her *Excuse me, but this is boring. When do we get to do something fun? Like cut paper?* And when she asked the kids if they liked butterflies everyone said *yes* then Georgie yells out *No!! I don't like butterflies* He's a nut.

The bus came normal time to pick up Devin.

Two hours later it came back to get the Kindy kids & a parent. They do a special short Orientation day for the K kids. By the time Devin got off the bus at 3:00 they were pooped & just chilled on the couch for a while. Georgie was thrilled that his *Girlfriend* Laurette was on his bus!! Devin said they've been sitting together every day. He doesn't know anyone in his class- well, there is one little girl from pre-school, but he doesn't remember her- but I'm sure he'll make friends soon enough. OK, Blogger is being a PITA & wont let me format my posts, so that's it for tonight.

Devin decided she wanted to host a Princess Party. All the girls had to make party hats.
Aunt Glory made a crown for Georgie to wear b/c he was freaking out about some random thing.

Devin got flowers, so she had to pose with them.

I got a new Vera Bradley bag from my parents as a congrats on my new job :-)

And George kept making silly faces every time I tried to take a picture of him. I still think he's pretty cute though :-D

One down

I finished one of the cuffs. The other is thisclose to being finished.... as long as I don't run out of yarn! I thought one ball of each would be enough. I may have been mistaken. You can't see the base yarn as well in my cuffs as in the pictures for the pattern, but I think it's b/c the solid yarn I used was bulkier than what the pattern called for.

More to follow at a future date.

A few more pix

I figured I would share a few more pix while I'm downloading my camera:
Some Angora yarn my parents got me. This stuff is SOOOOOOOO soft! I'm not quite sure what I'll be using it for, but it will be something that's arounbd my neck or by my face.

My drunk husband riding my son's bike at our block party a few weeks ago, and my latest work in progress- Mrs. Beeton from Knitty. This is SOOOO freakin cute! I have one finished now- pictures will soon follow, along with pictures of the horrible lace yarn incident, when I'm finished downloading my camera.

Long overdue update

Well, after two months I'm back for an update! The next time we went up to NH I found this little treasure waiting for me on the kitchen table:
It's a wool/ silk blend that transformed into this scarf:
OK, so that's a close-up, but you can get the idea. And here's a picture of the kids & I: Taken by me since we were up there all week before George joined us for the weekend.

I finished this blanket while I was up there too. It was for Miss Elora Jade, who has since joined her sister in Heaven. I have some things for Elora that were made by my sister & the women in her knitting group that I'll be donating to charity in Elora's name.
Some of Jayme's friends have put together things to raise $$ for the family- you can read about it on her blog.

Ok, that's it for now.....

New Hampshire

I just wanted to share a few pictures from New Hampshire:

Georgie on the boat. The house in the background is the one next to my parents. You can't even see theirs from the lake b/c it's set back.

The four of us on top of Pitcher Mountain. Some nice lady offered to take our picture :-)

Devin & Georgie on Pitcher Mountain:

And Devin, my little nature girl, posing with a frog on a tree stump:


And I finished the buttonhole bag for my Aunt:

I must admit that I love it & will be making one for myself, but I think with more stripes.

Stash Enhancement

So, this weekend I went up to Martha's Vineyard to pick Devin up from my sister-in-law's. She had a good time, but I think she was happy to see her Mama after 5 days :-D I was happy to see her too!! I think she got taller & definitely got tanner & blonder while she was away! Then we went straight up to New Hampshire & met my parents up there, then George joined us & my parents went home. Before George got there, Mom & I went SHOPPING!! These are the most recent additions to my yarn stash:


That's from the Fiber Studio. I got the purple cotton to make Devin the Rose of Sharon hat & purse (decided to other cotton I had is too thick), a kit to make a scarf & some new circular needles.




That's from a shop in Keene called the Knitting Nook (At least I think that's what it's called!!). Even Georgie can't resist the allure of the yarn!!! I got Lambs Pride Worsted & Cascade 220, which I've already started knitting into a bag for my Aunt's B-day :-)




And finally, from The Wool Room (it's literally a room in this old couples house!!!) I got the Magic Loop booklet, two balls of wool from a local-ish farm- I think it's in Vermont- and a itsy bitsy skein of wool that was made by local High School students. No clue what I'll make with it, but I couldn't resist!

I took a whole bunch of pictures of the kids over the weekend- we climbed to the watch tower on Pitcher Mountain & went on boat rides- so as soon as I'm done re-sizing them they will be up too.

Bath sets

I got my delivery from Apple Pie Baby & of course had to make up a set right away to see what they look like! I'll take pictures that actually look like something as soon as I get a chance. Devin has her end of the year show at school today, so she's lounging in the tub right now with some of the Bath Sand that Jayme sent. That stuff smells SOOOO good! Thank You!!!

OK, that's it for tonight. The knitting has been slow lately., so I'm really hoping to get some done tonight after Devin's show. Her last day of school is Friday, so I have to get my butt in gear!!

Projects

Just an overview of what I'm working on...

The bracelets were given out at today's Daisy Meeting. So cute!! I got a LITTLE knitting done on the grenn bunny yesterday. I was too sleepy. It really shouldn't be a problem getting it done tomorrow. Unfortunately there will be no knitting tonight as I'm working until 9:30. Boo!! So what else is on the needles.... A blanket for my nephew-to-be. The pattern is from this book. It's the sailboat blanket. SOOO cute & super simple. A really fast knit & I can't wait to get back to it!! I must admit that I've never really been into knit baby blankets- I like quilts better- but the Shop on Blossom Street Knit Along booklet has a few that I would make. Definitely a good buy :-) Also is progress is the Irish Hiking Scarf. I started it b/c it looked simple & like a good way to learn cables. I was right- it was simple & a good way to learn cables, and really, it's a nice pattern & all... But I made it with some Red Heart Supersaver yarn that was *rescued* from my mother's basement. BLECH!!!! I hate that stuff!! I don't even like looking at it!! It's making it really hard to finish the scarf when I can't tolerate the yarn. It's such a pretty patern in a NICE yarn, but with this crap... not so much! Anyway. I can't bear to ditch it, so the scarf will get finished & put in a clothing drop box or something. Who know WHEN, but eventually. I never actually planned on finishing it. I was just gunna make a swatch to give the cable thing a try, but now I'm stuck with it. I think I'll have to make up for it by making another Irish Hiking Scarf in a nice yarn. I have a whole bunch of acrylic yarn that I don't like, but I figure if nothing else I can use it up making cat toys, or toys for my kids or something that I don't want to spend a lot of $$ on, right????? RIGHT???? Oh, and I'm working on a Fisherman Shrug for my sister, Gloria. Once again, I'm not a fan of the yarn, but she picked it out. And of course there are still washcloths in progress.

Things I want to make:
I got some hand dyed wool from The Fiber Studio in New Hampshire. I'll be making a felted bag with it. Not sure yet what pattern I'll be using. I got some beautiful hand dyed silk yarn there too... I whish I took a picture of it before making a ball b/c it was just so yummy in the hank!! The color is *Artichoke* & it's mostly purple & green with a bit of brown. That will be transformed into a scarf for Mom. I think it should be a shawl, but she wants a scarf. I may just have to do what *I* want to do with it regardless of what she wants!! And the final purchase there was purple & teal hand dyed cotton that I initially wanted to make washcloths with, but then I ran across the Rose of Sharon pattern & decided that my daughter MUST have that hat!! So those are the immediate projects that I want to make. I have binders of patterns & stacks of books of other things I want to make too... WAY too many to list.

Georgie has a B-day party for a little girl in his Day Care class coming up. I think we'll get her some dress up stuff & make her some *fancy* beaded jewlery to go with it. I just got a GC to Michael's from two of my Daisy's, so that will purchase me some beads & maybe some yarn if I can find anything I want. Why do they not have anything basic there??? I did get the cotton yarn for my nephew's blanket there & the yarn for the bunnies, but I can't seem to find anything else there that's basic & NOT acrylic!!! (Blech!!!)

And a little self reflection here:
I think I need to work on more challenging patterns. I feel like everything I make is so simple. I need to just give it a try & work on something more challenging. It just kills me so much to rip things out... I don't want to start something unless it's a project that I know I can make! Or that I can at least make look somewhat decent.

Bracelets & other randomness....

I finished the bracelets last night. Nothing fancy- they're for five & six-year-olds:I must say- it's much easier stringing little glass beads onto floppy stretchy cord when you're not drinking Baccardi Razz & Diet Coke!! LOL! They were super simple... it was just my love for Rum & Coke that made it take this long!! All that's left is to package them & write note cards to each girlie.

Another washcloth that I made:

My charting skills aren't so great. I didn't take into account that the squares on the graph paper wouldn't be the same shape as my stiches. It's a squat little star, but it's a happy star.... Oh well. Devin's class has named themselves the *Stars* so she's insisting that her teachers get star washcloths with their gifts. Her main teacher is Ms. Blanco, & Devin wanted her to get a white star washcloth. I found a nice lacey star pattern & totally messed it up, so I have to get more cotton & make a new one. The messed up one has gone to my mom (it really wasn't worth taking a picture of!!) and despite it's uglyness it still manages to get her clean. Who can ask for more? The reverse bloom washcloths that I've made so far were in Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille, but once I finish the one I'm making now I'm trying them with cotton. Unfortunately not the nice organic cotton that I made the star ones out of, but beggers can't be choosers! It will be nice enough.
And this is the bunny that I'm making a few more of:

It's the easiest bunny pattern in the world. That was my first attempt & I was apparetly distracted when I made him b/c I have no clue what I did to his ears!!! I've figured it out since & I promise it's much nicer! I think I've made 4 so far in all different yarns. They're a big hit with my kids!!