Yarney Goodness

I dyed yarn this weekend :-) Here are the two color ways:
This one is really girlie, but I'm not sure if it will self stripe the way I intended it to, since I don't think I made the hank long enough:

And this one will definitely self stripe. It's destined to become a pair of leg warmers for Devin, since she can't stand the feel of the SWS leg warmers I made her over the winter. These colors remind me of Strawberry Shortcake!

Baby t-shirts I dyed and stamped for Daniella's shower this weekend. I know the stamps are crooked, it gives the shirts character, ok?

And the shirts opened up so you can see the colors better:

And that's all from me for now. Time to get the sewing machine out of the basement so I can get the quilt finished in time for the shower!!

More crafty stuff

I dyed some cotton yarn in yellow & brown. This is what it looked like after it dried:
And in a cute little skein:

Which I then re-skeined to see what the colors would look like mixed together:

George wearing one of the shirts I made him Father's Day (Doesn't he look like he LOVES it??? LOL!)

And Georgie's black eye, obtained in a struggle over a water gun with his cousin yesterday:

More to follow eventually. I've got tons of pix of the kids, but they'll most likely come through Snapfish!

Crafties

A few pix :-) Cause really, that's all you're here for anyway :-P



Here's the Baby Belaro jacket from the One Skein book. This thing took me TWO DAYS to knit!!!! WooHoo!!!! I CAN make sweaters, I really CAN!!!

And the back. Not quite sure what's up with those two little holes at the edging. They're from the neckline shaping, which quite honestly I don't think was all that necessary on the back.

I tried this on one of Devin's Cabage Patch Kids & it was a little big, so if this is an average sized baby it should fit nice :-) Mom thinks it's silly to make a sweater for a baby due in August, but August & September evenings can get chilly, and it's made of cotton, not wool!!

And what will eventually be a quilt top:







I had such a hard time picking out fabrics for this. There were so many cool fabrics I liked & so many ideas I had, but I finally went with this b/c I would like all the stuff I give Daniella at the shower to coordinate & kinda look like they belong together. I hope she likes her basket of home made goodies that she'll be getting!

And I was shown a positive pregnancy test today that another friend took, so I'll have more baby knitting in my future :-) I'll probably make her pick out exactly what she wants so I know that she'll love it!!

Random Bitches....

Last night G starts sniffing around the house going *what's that smell? It smells nasty*. I tell him I burnt some rice in veggie broth, which smelled pretty bad, so that was probably what he was smelling. We didn't think much more of it.... all the windows were open, then he went out & got some pretty strong smelling Chinese food, then it started to smell REALLY bad. Turns out a pipe in the basement rusted through & water from the cesspool was running into the basement. Now, we JUST had the freakin thing pumped a few weeks ago & the only way that it could be backing up into the house from this pipe is if that pool is FULL again. Obviosly when when we had it pumped they didn't really pump it all the way. We've gone nearly ten years w/o having it pumped, you can't tell me it filled back up in a matter of weeks! George patched up the leak with some duct tape (that stuff really IS good for everything! LOL!) and someone is coming to pump the tank for real today. Then G will have to figure out how to fix the pipe. Yuck. Everything in the basement has to be trashed too :-( All sorts of kids toys & stuff that I've been holding onto that he's been wanting to throw out for the past few years....

Onto the knitting.... School is over in two weeks, so that means teacher knitting is upon us! I was planning on making Georgie's teacher a shawl since she's retireing this year, but after contributing to the class gift & making her a scrapbook page & everything, I decided to go with something smaller. She used Butterflies as a theme that she carried through the year, so I decided to give her several butterfly knit washcloths along with some bath stuff. Usually I order soap from Apple Pie Baby, but this year I waited too long & I don't think I would get them in time, so I'll probably go to Bath & Body Works. I'm making washcloths for all the teachers, but Georgie's is getting more than the others. I have the two teachers, two speech therapist & the day care teachers to give gifts for. I just discovered the Ball Band cloth & I LOVE it!!! They go super quick & I really like to look of the textures and colors :-) I'm thinking about just getting a basket for Day Care full of goodies for them to share since there are so many people involved....

I spun a little skein of yarn out of the roving I got a few weeks ago. The colors look great in the yarn & I can't wait to knit it into something :-) I want to get the rest of it spun up though before I decide what to make so I know exactly what my yardage is. I think I'm keeping it as a single instead of plying it, so hopefully I'll have enough for a lacey scarf. Juli's shawl is kinda at a stand still til I get the teacher stuff finished, and so is Gloria's sweater. I'll have pictures of everything to post later.

A friend of mine is pregnant, so I would like to make her a blanket. I'm thinking Shine from Knit Picks & a simple lace pattern with a ruffle edgeing, then I want to back it with fabric. She's due in August, so hopefully I can get the yarn ordered soon. I did already get some yarn to make baby washcloths and a sweater from the one-skein book. I would love to dye and stamp some onesies for her too... there are so many projects I want to make & so little time!! I really have to prioritize everything, then focus on one or two things at a time. I know I wont get to everything, but there are so many things I WANT to do!!!!

Two days in a row?? Gasp!!

Look what came in the mail while I was away!!!!

First, some hand painted merino from Insubordiknit
I like it a lot!!!! The yarn is so smooth & squishy. I can't wait to test knit it!!!! Some Lambs Pride Brown Sheep Bulky in Oatmeal. It's being doubled & knit into a cropped cardi from the Fitted Knits book that also came while I was gone.
My Mother's Day gifts: Knit Picks Memories in Fly Fishing, Yukon & Cape Cod. LOVE the colors!! Knit Picks Shimmer in Maple Leaf and Deep Woods:
Knit Picks Suri Dream in Lilac:

Also from Knit Picks was the Chart Keeper, Options needle set, Fitted Knits and Knitted Toys. I think I have to get through some projects, then I'm gunna order some Bare yarn & dyes & try my hand at dying. I think I made out like a bandit for Mother's Day :-D

Long Weekend

I took a long weekend to go see Juli graduate. Yeah! The best part was when I was in the bathroom at the graduation with the kids & I told them to hurry up b/c I didn't want to miss Aunt Juli get called up to get her fake diploma, and some woman said all snotty *They don't do that at this school* and I got to say *For the PhD graduates they do* Hahahaha!!! This is the best picture I have of the actual ceremony, taken by Devin:

Apparently this was taken when Juli was up on the stage, but I can neither confirm nor deny that.

The kids got pretty restless, so we went outside to play while we were waiting for the cermony to end. Georgie found the PERFECT climbing tree. Can you find him in it?

My parents were less than thrilled that I let him climg so high up. There were tons of branches to slow him down if he fell, so he would have survived a fall!! Anyway, trees like that were made for climbing!

This is a picture of me, Juli & Gloria with Devin & Georgie:

And Juli with her hubby Josh, who got home from Iraq about a week before the graduation. Yeah! He sent me home with some yummy mead that G & I had last night. I must get more. It was good.

This is what I was planning on giving Juli for a graduation gift (yes, Juli, it's a mustard yellow, not green!!) but it didn't get finished on time. So I gave it to her then took it back to finish. It will be a shawl when it grows up & she can wear it to geeky Dr. Scientist things. I made two pretty bis mistakes, but I'm not sure how to go back & fix them. Oops. There's a missing Yarn Over in one spot in the lace pattern & one of the bars in the double helix is knit when it should have ben purled, so the bar part is only one row thick in that spot instead of two. I did get a mini skein of yarn spun that I forgot to take a picture of that I gave her for her B-day, which was the day before graduation, so I felt like I got something accomplished.

The yarn is a Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk & it's SUPER soft.

Now I'm on a kick that I MUST get a spinning wheel b/c the drop spindle just isn't fast enough. And it doesn't hold very much yarn before it starts spinning all lopsided. I think I'll get a bottom whirl spindle & see if it's any better- one of those navajo spindles I think it's called, when you wrap it into a center pull ball as you spin- to hold me over til I can afford a wheel. George will be SO pissed if I get a wheel, so I need one I can fit in the closet when I'm not using it. I had to miss the NH fiber festival b/c I was taking an exam that weekend, so I think I'll have to wait til Reinbeck to check out wheels. At least I can research on the internet in the mean time.

Onto kid news. Georgie got the *official* ADHD diagnosis yesterday from the Neurologist. He started Adderall today, which was a REALLY difficult decision for me to make. I really don't want to medicate him, but I encourage my clients to take their meds b/c they have chemical imbalances in their brains that they need their meds to counter act. Of course with my clients they hear voices and talk to themselves when they don't take meds, Georgie only acts like a maniac. Bottom line is that I don't want to send him into first grade next year getting frustrated b/c he can't pay attention to the teacher when he sees a leaf blowing on a tree outside, or hears someone walking down the hall or whatever, so we're trying the meds for a bit & seeing how it works. He came home & said he did better in school today & was able to pay attention better. then he asked to take some more. Uhoh.... It IS a controlled substance....

Good kid news: I spoke with both of the speech teachers today & both kids are screened out of speech therapy for next year! Yeah!! Lil G still has a lot of articulation errors, but they're age appropriate, so he'll be re-screened mid way through 1st grade, when the sounds should be emerging, to make sure he's still on track. Devin's therapist said she has made great progress & has all the appropriate sounds emerging, even with a gaping hole in the front of her mouth. She'll get re-screened after her teeth grow back in.

And I think that's all the news I have for now :-)

Knitting update

I'm such a bad Blogger!!! I'll update with a few pictures.

Not knitting related, but cute none the less... The kids with my Dad on Easter:

The beginings of the Branching Out scarf I made for my Mom for her Birthday. I KNOW I have a pic of it finished somewhere..... Anyway, it's made in Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Iris on size 6 Clover bamboo needles. It was a great first lace project:

Some Chickies for Devin & Georgie. I love making little stuffed animals!!

And finally Cola guarding a scarf from the OddBall Knitting book. I had some extra yarn & thought it woulod look cool with this pattern, so I HAD to make it! LOL! Not sure who it will be going to yet.... it's been living in my dining room.... all folded up on the table....

Ice Cream anyone?

What's under the blanket??

This is what happens when you tell Georgie he can not get ice cream from the Ice Cream Man until after he eats his lunch.



Does it make me a mean Mommy to document this?

Knitting 101

Welcome to Knitting 101 with your host, Devin Link. In this epiode Devin explains the knit stich while Georgie complains about what's on TV.




Please excuse our hostesses posture in this video, she was running a 102 fever & just wasn't up to sitting upright.

Prison Hat

I was working on a hat for my 5-month old nephew... Well, actually, I was working on a hat for George, and I didn't do a gauge swatch or anything. When I realized that I cast on WAY too few stiches (I knew this after maybe 5 rows of knitting) I figured I would jut make a tiny hat for my nephew. It was gunna get a pom pom on top & some kind of pattern all around. I finished the basic part of the hat yesterday & Georgie IMMEDIATELY decided it was HIS hat. There was no telling him otherwise. It looks like a prion hat. I keep expecting him to pull out a prison shank like the kid in Taledega Nights (If you haven't seen it yet- go rent it!!) Here's the boy in the hat:

He has Grammy's spaghetti sauce all over his face.

And Dr. Buli..... UPDATE YOUR BLOG!!!!!! What's your excuse now? You defended, shouldn't you have free time to knit now??? Have you tried lace weight yarn again yet? I cast on for a lace weight scarf this morning. Georgie has a tummy bug so I'm home til 2:00, when George takes over. I would MUCH rather stay home & knit than go in to work this afternoon :-(

Fun with Bubbles...

So yesterday, St. Patty's Day, the dishwasher was all loaded up, the kids & I made Irish Soda Bread, and there were dishes all over the counter. So I decide to run the dishwasher so I can then re-load it with the stuff in the sink. I pour the soap in, turn it on & walk away. A little while later I walk back in & see SUDS all over the place. I thought it was something that only happens in the movies, but apparently if you put SINK dishsoap into the dishwasher it really will overflow with suds.

I started cleaning it up, but then I decided I should document it. Although George didn't see the humor at the time I knew he would EVENTUALLY laugh at it. The sad thing is that I hadn't even been drinking when I messed up with the soap, I jut wasn't paying attention.

So I stop the cycle, let the bubbles pop, then turn it back on with towels on the floor. This went on for some time.... There was quite a pile of wet towels in the bathroom in no time at all...

This is what the inside looked like:

The kids thought it was great from the beginning:

And even better was that Uncle Chris encouraged them to play in the suds!!!

Then George came up with the brilliant idea of putting a bowl there to catch the water & suds. I knew I married that man for a reason :-)

And just as I had hoped, George did find it pretty funny this morning :-D

Testing out videos

I've decided it's finally time for me to learn how to do things on line, so let's see if see if I can post a video:



That SHOULD be a video of Georgie taking about the puppy stuffed animal he got from Devin when he was born.

And below SHOULD be a video of Devin talking about her Winnie the Pooh:



Hopefully this works :-)

Meez

Now go make you own ;-) If you have to type in who referred you I'm valink0925

Pictures

I'm finally able to download my camera again :-) Yeah! Of course, I don't yet have any programs on my computer to EDIT the pictures I took, but here ya go anyway:




The completed blanket that I made for my nephew, Charlie, along with a sailboat & lighthouse washcloth:












A scarf sized Clapotis that I made for a woman at work. I was her Secret Santa. It's made with Soy Wool Stripes in the Natural Earth colorway. It's modled here by the fabulous Diva Devin. I was very happy with how it came out... and the woman I gave it to wears it ALL the time, so I was happy with that too :-)

This is the Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Suprise Jacket. This is for my nephew, Charlie. It was the coolest pattern- knit all in one piece then folded & sewn on two seams- then SUPRISE it's a nifty little sweater! I'm sure I'll be making more of these.

And finally, a pair of Buggy Mitts for my nephew, Alex. I'll make a hat to go with these before shipping them out to the boys.

I made a few other things for Christmas gifts, but I didn't take pictures of everything, so that's it for now :-)

I'm Back :-)

I'm Back!!! Got a new computer & now I can get onto Blogger again :-) WooHoo!!!

So here's what's going on in my life at this moment:

I got woken up this morning to Devin & Georgie runnng through my bedroom to get to the bathroom (WHY couldn't they use the door in the hallway??? I'm sure it was b/c that would not have woken me up! LMFAO!!) then I heard Georgie puking and Devin going *Don't flush, we need to see if you're REALLY throwing up so Mom knows if you have to stay home from school!!* Where does she get this stuff from?? LOL! So I'm home with Mr. Pukey for a bit til George gets home from whatever he had to do this morning, then I'm going into work when he gets back. Devin CAN'T get this bug right now- she's supposed to have surgery on her eye on Friday- which she got medical clearance for after having to get a chest x-ray & put on Rx caugh meds- but the Doc said any sign of a fever or getting any sicker than she is now & he doesn't want her going through with it.

In other news: MY doc pissed me off on Monday & I basically told them to F off & that I would find another Doc, so here I am, sick for what seems like an eternity with no meds :-( Devin is seeing the ENT tonight (STILL has stuff coming out of her ears) who is also MY ENT, so maybe he'll give me some antibiotics so I can kick this sinus infection.

Hmm..... what else??? I'm making the cutest little baby sweater for my nephew, Charlie. I'm SO close to being finished! I think I have 10 more rows to knit :-) Then I'll make his big brother, Alex, a pair of mitten & a hat & hopefully have it all shipped out to Martha's Vineyard while it's still cold enough to get some use :-) George's birthday is Feb 11th. I'm not sure what to get him yet. I would LIKE to knit him a pair of fingerless gloves that he's been asking for since I first leared to knit, but there's no way they'll be finished in time. Also, Devin's B-day is Feb 16th, so I have to figure out what to get her & book her party. The kids take turns having parties, this is her year. She wants it either at Build a Bear or Wood Kingdom.

And that's that. I think I'll get in the shower now so I can just leave & go to work when G gets home.

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.