Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thankful

I had hoped to be on my way to Joann's by now but I guess the boss has a different agenda! lol. Anyway, I wanted to take this opportunity to metion the things I am thankful for. God, my family, old friends, yarn & fabric (and the opportunity to use them), time to spend with all of the above. I wish I could add "the winning lotto ticket" to that list, but alas it has eluded me!

It seems like this year has flown by, my boys are getting so big, I am coming up on 10 years of being married (!) and I feel like I have so many creative outlets and I am just so grateful for it all.

I am not thankful or grateful for my Mom's sweater which it seems is just sucking the life right out of me. I really want it to start knitting itself when I'm sleeping. Can we get Mrs. Weasley to help me out with this? Yeah, I thought not. Oh well.

I am off work until Monday and I dont know if I will post from home. If not, have a wonderful Turkey day and fabulous shopping day!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

videos

Here are the videos from the other day with the boys. This is Sean trying to ride, getting a bit frustrated, then Jake showing him how it's done. Too cute.













In crocheting, knitting and quilting news... well there is none. Except that I had some pics taken of the little girl top (still with no name) and they are SOOOO cute! I will spend some time today or tomorrow putting together the proposal. That's it from me for now. Have a great day!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Cutie Patootie

I have pictures. Cute ones. Even some videos that I have not yet put on youtube, maybe later on. Saddle up, lets ride. These are, in order: the cutie patootie little girl top FINALLY done that is needing a name (suggestions welcomed) so I can send it in for submission; Jake spray painting his bike ramp; and Sean's bathtime routine - teeth are brushed after "bathtime, bathtime...yay!"










































That's it from me for now. Videos later on. Have a good one!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Smells like Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving potluck day at my office and boy does it smell good! Instead of our tradition of getting a turkey and ham from Honey Baked, we decided to get BBQ from a truck at a gas station down the road. No, really. I pass him every day and every day he has a line. It smells SOOOO good and the truck claims "Finger Lickin' Good", I'll let you know. I brought in corn & rice casserole (our temp Linda made it last year and I swiped her recipe), there is a Caesar salad, baked apples, hash brown casserole (from Damarys, instead of a flan. I'm disappointed.), rum cake, rolls, broccoli, beans, a veritable cornucopia of goodies. AND my boss broke out the World's Finest chocolate covered almonds I ordered for Christmas. Mmmmm. Have I made you jealous yet? Sorry. Moving on.

I have made some progress on the little girls top that I'm working on, I need to get out one of Sean's shirts to use as a sizing guide. No, I'm pretty sure I wont put it on him when I'm done. I wont be able to crochet or knit during lunch today due to the whole office being in there, but hopefully this weekend I will be able to make some progress.

I still have not gotten my Crochet! in the mail yet, and boy am I impatient! Maybe this weekend. I still planning to buy a few for prosperity's sake, and to send one to Nanny in NY (the one that taught me to Crochet).

Well, sounds like the lunch bell is ringing. Have a great weekend.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Sweater udpate, with a picture.

Of course, Mom you cant look but everyone else can. Here's an update on Mom's sweater. I think that a back, a front, the collar and part of a sleeve is not nearly enough done for Christmas to be in 35 days, so what say we move it to a little later in the year... like March? Anywho, here's a pic of it currently. I probably have 16 more inches of sleeve to go, plus the other one and the other front. Have you started taking bets yet?

I have not touched the Dear Jane besides moving the 2 cut pieces of the Bachelor Buttons off the chair so Travis could rock Sean. I am not going to work on it until the Christmas knitting is done, even if it does take til March. Wait, better not say that lest I flub it up and show you a pic of a block. Hrm.

I have put together my Christmas list. As you may remember I am not supposed to get Christmas gifts from my MIL since she gave the fabulous mattress (:)) but she asked for a list anyway. I am looking forward to getting Stephanie's two books, plus Drew's book and Quilting for Dummies. Throw in a coupla cd's and boom, Christmas done.

I am really hoping to spend some time with my family and friends this Christmas. It will be hard to schedule with Travis working Christmas day and me working Christmas eve but we'll try to figure it out. I may just have to open his presents for him at my folks house! lol.

And finally, I wanted to say thank you to everyone that has sent me a note congratulating me on my publication. Strangers too! I am thrilled to bits and Can. Not. Wait. to see it for myself. Have a great day all.

PS... I still feel like a mac truck is sitting on my face. sigh.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Time to stalk the mailman...

I got an email this morning from a gal that said she has the new Crochet!, likes my design and put the Letter-baby Jacket into Ravelry. Wait, rewind. The new Crochet! is out? In the public? I haven't gotten mine from the publisher yet so perhaps, maybe, I might need to make a call to Joann's to see if they have it yet (I've been saving room on a gift card). Nope, they don't have it yet. Anywho, I am so excited! I hope this will give me a swift kick to finish up the other design I have in the works.

I worked on Mom's sweater a bit last night but for such a little sleeve (only 50 stitches across in 3x3 rib) it sure is taking a long time. And as much as the glucosamine was helping the last few days, today the fingers are pretty stiff.

I did not work on the Dear Jane or the flag afghan. Such a slacker.

It's pretty cold out and I really need to trek out to the shed and get some nice, warm, handknits to stave off the cold. Wonder how long the 37-60 weather will last? Probably not long enough.

That's it from me, more later on. Have a great day.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Another block












I finished another block, this one is B3 - Mirror Image. Hopefully soon I will get the hang of actually getting these things square! Next is B1 - bachelors buttons. I've got the template drawn but not cut out and the fabric ready to be cut. I am thinking of doing this regular applique instead of reverse applique. I'll think on it some more and see how I feel like doing it. I also wanted to get an idea of what fabric I have and what colors I still need some of, so I sorted what I had and took a little snippet of each and put them in baggies. Here's a pic:










I did manage to knit a few rows on Mom's sweater and brought it with me today to work on at lunch. I also finished about 13 stars total on the flag afghan and although it is with me, I really need to get moving on mom's sweater. How many more days until Christmas? 38! Ugh. I've been more diligent with the glucosamine and my fingers are grateful for it so I've been able to get some more done. I also need to get a move on with the top I'm trying to finish. The deadline is less than a month away, but with all the Christmas work that needs to be done, it's slow going.

And did I mention that I'm getting sick? This is SO not a good time for that! Well, thats it for me, have a great day.

Friday, November 14, 2008

A new beginning

I have been having a hard time with my fingers the last few weeks and apparently Travis is tired of hearing about it while still watching me knit and crochet. "The doctor said it's not arthritis, just overuse so just stop with the yarn already." Sigh. He just doesnt get it apparently. So in my efforts I have been doing less knitting and crocheting and more sewing (as evidenced by the 7 squares I have finished and 1 I started, plus 3 finished market bags). I have too much Christmas work to do to stop completly. I seriously doubt Mom would enjoy a sweater with the back, A front, A collar and PART of a sleeve.

To accomplish the less is more I started working on the American Flag afghan. I've made 4 stars. That's not REALLY crocheting, its only like 30 stitches... hardly counts at all. Course it's not helping mom's sweater or Cliff's ghan... but at least its work on something that needs to be done because it's already been paid for!

Speaking of Cliff, I have an update. He had his scan and he is cancer-free. Yay God! We are just so releived!

Ok, off to make some stars at lunch. Have a great weekend.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

An update










I finished the Jason's Jax block for the dear jane. I like how it turned out, even if I did realize partway in that the fabric is backwards. Oops! Oh well, it's not ugly so it stays. I have the pieces cut and instructions printed for the next one but it looks pretty scary hard but we'll see how it goes. This is supposed to be a challenge and that's exactly what it is!

I will be heading out in a bit to get ready for the memorial tonight. It is getting a little better in the office today but it has been hard at the strangest times, like making dinner or getting the kids ready for school. I can't even imagine what Lesa's going through and I pray that I never know. Please continue to keep the family in your prayers.

Monday, November 10, 2008

a little one for now

It is still very quiet here, all of us are very contemplative. I did want to let you know that I finished the left front of Mom's sweater and cast on for a sleeve. I also wanted to show you a pic of my latest block and send you to the new site to take a look at the big picture.

6 and some of another done so far and I am still enjoying it. It is a lot of ironing though! Here's my latest square - A7 "Dad's Plaids":













That's it from me for now. I may try to take a pic of my sweater progress tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.

in mourning




Saturday night we had a tragedy in my work family. Our show Director's son Doug was in a terrible car accident. He has never regained concioussness and will pass today once they have taken his good organs. Doug has been such a big part of our office because he plays our mascot "Roadie". He's only 21 and 1 day away from finishing school to become an x-ray tech. I tried to find a pic of him not in Roadie but couldnt. Please keep Lesa and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

I will try to post later and show the square I finished and my paper piecing first try but I dont know if I will be able. It's pretty somber around here.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Bigger & better

I have gotten the pics off my camera and I have even updated my Dear Jane website - here.
















These are the 3 that I have finished and here is the one that I am almost done with:









I am really having a good time with these and have been very neglectful of my market bags because of it. I keep thinking just one more block... but it's just like One More candy corn... it just doesn't work!

I did make some good progress on the left front of Mom's sweater but I really need to get on it and do the other sleeve of her bolero so I can get it off my coffee table. I was just telling Damarys that I am really not doing very well with my Christmas knitting. I wonder if I had crocheted the Cliffyghan if it would be going faster? I dont know if I crochet or knit faster, especially when it would be all sc. Wonder how bad it would look to combine crochet and knitting? I bet a log cabin afghan that has a different stitch pattern for each of the "logs" would look pretty cool. Just thinking out loud here.

I have not made any more progress on my newest design, but it's due 12/15 so I need to get a move on, huh? Well, that's it from me for now. Have a great weekend!

Just a quickie.

I will be back later once I've done some work and gotten the pics off my camera (though the priorities are not necessarily in that order) but I had to post this before I forget.

You may or may not know, I am a big fan of Wil Wheaton - his acting and writing. I read his blog pretty religiously. He posted this one last night and I had to share. I especially love the part where he talks about his fundamental rules for life and driving. If only everyone could live by these mantras!

Anyway, more later. Back to work!

Thursday, November 06, 2008

The accomplishments of yesterday

Yesterday I was at home with a sick Jake. Coughing, hacking, boogies, etc. Since I was not home with a sick Sean, I was able to let a movie run and not be interupted for 2 hours. During those 2 hours, I finished 2 blocks. Of course I did not have the mind to take their photos since I had every good intention to bring them with me to work but nope... I forgot. Tomorrow I'll remember. Later on in the day I did the reverse appliquing of the Jane's tears that I had already started and stopped and it is now done and I am in the process of appliquing and reverse appliquing another one. That is 5 done and 1 half done. Yay... progress!!

Today at lunch I will work more on Mom's sweater, I haven't done the armholes but that should get well on its way here in a bit.

Jake is better today, and so far Sean is not sick (knock on wood) even though almost everyone around him is. Hopefully we can keep it that way!

My car is getting fixed today - replacing the intake manafold gasket. Apparently this is a long process and not cheap either! I pray that this helps it hold on for another 30 or 40 thousand miles! Lotto... any day now would be great!

That's it for now. Have a great day.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

I voted, did you?

I went this morning, 2 kids in tow, to the polls. We got there at 6:35, and did pretty good while outside since Sean was contained in the stroller. I wasnt able to get the stroller up the stairs so I took him out and carried him. That was a mistake! Do you know hard it is to hold a squirming child and color in ovals at the same time? Very. I miss the touch screens. Anywho, I did good time-wise on that, got out at about 7:20, went to take Jake to school and the road is closed for construction. Backtrack about 3 miles, turn the other way and go another 3 miles the long way to get him to school. In a SLOW schoolzone both ways. Got him to school around 7:50, go to drop Sean off at daycare, left there at 8:12. Got to work about 8:35. Not terrible, but had I known about the construction (which will torment me until 11/22) I could have saved at least 6 miles and avoided the crappy school zone (school zone's are not crappy as a whole, but this one is at a 3-way light and 9 million people try to turn left there and there is no left lane, which means it takes forFREAKINever to get past). This morning Sean was up at 5:45 again. Silly silly boy, doesnt he know that the time changed?

Anywho, I sorta figured out the DJ website and I added a link over here on the link list. I haven't figured out how to do the clickable design wall, but I have the completed blocks in the photo albums and once I have too many to put in one big blob I will seperate them by rows.

Well, that's it from me. Hopefully tonight I'll get some more done on my squares. As for yarny news, I have finished the body of the left front side and am about to decrease for the arm holes. That should go quick since it'll be REAL skinny to knit on.

Monday, November 03, 2008

I had a great weekend, how was yours?

My birthday weekend was pretty darn good. Dinner at Tia's was a blast and it was really nice to see some old friends. Here's my favorite pics from the night.

Me realizing I missed 3 calls from Jen:













Me, my Mom and Jen (just like the old days!):











And me, Charles and Jen. This is HUGE for me - the 2 people I spent the most amount of time with in Jr High. In fact, we were talking about how I was gonna miss the New Kids concert on 11/2 cause I didn't get tickets. These are the 2 I went to the first time around!









I drank a midori sour, ate queso and forgot to get salsa to go. I got nice gifts, finally met Charles' wife and enjoyed the many trips down memory lane. And FINALLY my mom got to see Jennifer - see... not a figment of my imagination!! It was a very nice time. I think everyone else enjoyed it too... cept Jen that got there late because I didn't hear my phone. Whoopsy!

Thanks to everyone that came, and I really did miss the ones that couldn't come.

And in crafty news, I created a Dear Jane page since I couldn't figure out how to do what I wanted here. You can visit it Here. I finished 2 blocks, did most of #3 and cut the pieces for #4. That's real progress! I also did a few inches on the left front of Mom's sweater and fixed 1 sleeve of her bolero. See, I got a lot accomplished!!

That's it from me for now. Have a great day and don't forget to vote tomorrow!

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Good Morning... Happy Birthday to me!

It's another early morning, I guess Sean was just very impatient to give me greetings. Yesterday was cute and I will post pics on Monday. My little scarecrow and scary monster had such a great time trick or treating and my kitchen table is FILLED with goodies!

After we got out early yesterday I went to Joann's and bought quite a bit of remnant fabric and spent about $8. I was looking for pinking shears but they were pretty expensive (about $22) and I didnt have a coupon, so I left to get them at Walmart. Then I tried to go to the big walmart and couldnt find a parking spot (at 2 on a Friday afternoon!) so I went to the crappy walmart. I found 1 remnant and pinking shears and spent $16. I also went to Once upon a child to spend some credit I had (1 flannel fitted sheet for Sean's bed and 2 pair of long pjs) and to the sewing shop next door and got 3 fat quarters. They were higher than at Joann's but I liked the patterns in the fabric and its so much better to support a local place. I went to Sean's Halloween party and we went to the in-laws. Carved Jake's pumpkin (AC/DC) and got both kids dressed and out the door. So much fun. And I got a giftcard to Joann's so I'm excited to spend that!

Today, one friend is coming this morning to get something so I need to pickup the house in a minute. After Travis leaves for work the kids and I will go return the Walmart pinking shears and go to Joann's with my coupon and get them there. I may even get a Sewing bag, but I will probably wait until tomorrow and another coupon. My folks are coming over this afternoon to hang out before supper at Tias. I am excited because tonight I have 2 (maybe 3) old friends coming, 2 that I havent seen in well over 15 years. It'll be just like my 13th birthday all over again! LOL. It will be hysterical to me to have a pic of us 4 and each of our kids.

Well, lots of pics will come on Monday, but for now it's clean up time. Have a great day!!!