French Press Slippers

I started a pair of French Press Slippers last night and they are going swimmingly. Not in the 90 minutes that Some People can pull them off in but still pretty good. I have about 3 hours into them and all the pieces are done and waiting on seaming. Hopefully tonight I'll get to do that and give them a bath to do the felting. Here's what they look like right now:










That's it for me. I'm ignoring the last 3 inches of the ladybug socks and the last 4 of a pair of boring guy socks for right now and am focusing on these little darlings. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to show you the finished project! Fingers crossed.

What I've been doing while not blogging...

I have been working diligently on a wedding quilt. I finished it 45 minutes before we had to leave for said wedding and I still had to go out and buy a card, gift bag and panty hose - then get ready!

What's all the fuss about? Here is the quilt with the corner turned up so you can see my little tag:









And a closeup of my little tag:









And the happy couple Bridget and Amer:









Let me just say that I am so happy to not be quilting today, I didn't even bring any socks to knit at lunchtime. Poor little fingers! It was a beautiful wedding and we are thrilled to see them tie the knot!

In other news...well actually that's been about it for me. No Christmas sweater for my mom, no socks for Damarys. I actually had to buy them stuff! I know!! As of today at lunchtime when I went to walmart, I am offically done with shopping. Yay. I hope you are too.

Oh my poor blog,

How sad you must be that you have been so ignored! Ok, here's a flood of pics to show what I've been doing...

We went to Disney for Mickey's Christmas Party and had a great time.










The boys and I visited Grandma in the nursing home and they had a great time.









Jake, Sean and I went on an airplane to NY for Thanksgiving week and had a great time.









While in NY we visited with my siblings and we had a great time together (that's my sister Jennifer, brothers Jeff & Kerry, and me.) Jeff got the scarf for his birthday but I, of course, forgot to take a pic. I LOVE how it turned out by the way. I threated to scalp him if he put it in the dryer. Yay angora blend.









Also while in NY, my othermother Joanne, the boys and I went to the Hudson River Walking Bridge. It's the tallest pedestrian bridge in the world. They ain't kidding. Also, it was cold. It was a great time.(me freezing, the 4 of us, view to the left)





















Sean found some fall leaves at the base of the bridge:










And the boys hamming it up at my grandmothers house. They had a great time.









And finally, I wished for it our whole trip... snow! The boys had never seen it before, and even though it didn't stick to the ground, it did stick to my jacket! Also, they boys enjoyed it, and even though this isnt a great pic of them, do you see the HUGE snowflakes?













That's been pretty much it. I started a basic guy sock and am on the foot bit, haven't finished the 2nd ladybug sock... and am on the foot bit, and I haven't done anything with the wedding quilt that is due in 18 days. Gonna boogie on that this weekend (along with post-vacay cleaning and introducing our house to Christmas).

I hope that you all had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.

Birthday Week

I had such a great birthday week. I had saw some old friends, here's pics. This is my friends Angela, Jen and myself in 1989. Angela gave this to me framed, it is so cute... I cried. The next pic is of us on Saturday:













I also got a Small Upside Down Banana Split from my friends Tony & Nette - it's from my favorite ice cream shop - Bo's, but it's far. It was so sweet of them!

Anyway, enough about that. I went to Joann's and got the Boye interchangable needle set. I like them - I started using them on my scarf. The only problem I have is that the needles are kind of long so when it's on the shorter cables it is too hard to knit with. I worry about how a hat would do, and that's the main reason I got it. I do like the pointiness of the needles though!

Speaking of the scarf, I'm into my 2nd skein of the Aslan Trends. It measures about 3.5' right now. I've gone 17 out of 20 repeats of the pattern. Not too shabby but I really need to get a move on if I am gonna get it done in the next 2 weeks. Wait, less than 2 weeks! I have not finished, nor have I worked on, my ladybug secondsock. If I finish this early I'll work on them. This HAS to be done, those would be nice if they were done.

I am going up to see my family for Thanksgiving week and I am thinking about travel knitting. I will have both boys and I'm not sure how much actual knitting time I'll have, but I'd like to be prepared. I don't want anything with a pattern that I have to memorize, so I think I'll just dig into the stash and find a nice stripey yarn that is ok with plain rib or stockinette stitch. I have a lot of awesome yarn that is semi-solid that I can't wait to work with but those I want a pretty pattern for.

I will show pics of the scarf next time, really. For now, have a great week.

The Last Day...

I was testing a hat pattern, and I really love it. I leave for NY in 3 weeks, and this will be for there... Not here in 90 degree Florida.

Today is the last day of 33, tomorrow is my birthday. Today will be busy, I have a kid party to go to at a park in Tampa, then superfast dinner before trick-or-treating in my in-laws neighborhood. I also need to work on my scarf, which is half done but got sidelined because of the hat. I really like how it's coming out, defintly not girly which was my goal.

Tomorrow, I'm making homemade spaghetti sauce and cleaning the house. Throw in some yarn-paly and it'll be a pretty good day.

Sean has been working on potty-training, and this is a joyous thing. He'll be 3 in January so it is WAY PAST TIME. I wish he'd finish up before our NY trip but I kinda dont think that will happen. Oh well, guess diapers are gonna go with us.

I hope that you have a wonderful Halloween filled with adorable ghosts and goulies. I'll post pics of my own in a few days. See you on the other side!

Great day!

Today I walked for Making Strides with the American Cancer Society. I was able to raise $360, walk over 5k and got a cute t-shirt to boot! It was a beautiful day, finally cool in Tampa so perfect to walk in. There were over 5000 people that turned out and it took just about an hour to do the whole 5k so that wasn't too bad.

I haven't really been working on anything except the scarf. I have decided it is not to girly for a boy, although the angora content does tend to shed a bit. Oh well. It is wonderful to work with, SOOOO very soft! I love the pattern too - His (Birthday) Scarf by Monika Steinbauer. I've got about 2.5 feet worth so far and still have a little left in the first cake. Soon I'll have to cake up the other hank and keep on truckin. I've been spending too much time on Facebook - I've gotten a chapter and a half into my newest book and already have a second book from the library. Also... not much knitting. I do work on it at lunch every day and I am usually able to get 1 repeat a day done, that's 18 rows. I love the woven effect. Not plain but not frilly either. Perfect.

I have managed to cut all of the pieces of the wedding quilt, even sewed up a couple of them until my machine decided to start eating fabric. I am giving it a little bit of a time out to think about it's actions!

Well, I can smell dinner so it's time to work on something to go with the chicken. Have a good night, and on Monday I'll try to remember to post pics from today. It really was an awesome event that made me feel fantastic to be a part of.

Pictures!!!!!

The ladybug socks (including a closeup, not including the spots or faces).










My completed Brainless socks. I Love Them.










A scarf I started with Aslan Inguena. This is angora/merino/nylon and is SOOOO soft. What's your opinion - too girly for a boy? The color is really a dark chocolate brown.











My Boys seeing a firetruck up close and personal. Maybe next time Sean will be bigger than the tire!

That's all for me right now.

Such a bad blogger!

I still have no idea where my camera thing is but so far I want to show you pics from Convention, pic of the Brainless socks, pics of my ladybug sock (1.5 done), pic of my Wubbzy and Walden dishcloths (1.5 done) and pics from Feed the Bay which was awesome.

I have also started cutting out the pieces for the Wedding Quilt, and hopefully tonight during House I will finish it. The cutting that is.

This weekend Jake is getting Baptized and he's pretty excited about that. I will take pics, but I'm not sure I'll be able to share! I really need to tear the house up to look for the stupid thing. Maybe this weekend.

I am also still collecting pledges for my Breast Cancer walk in a few weeks.

That is really it for now, until I have something better to talk about. Have a great day.

A picture...

I got my picture from convention and it looks great. Love you touchups! I still cannot find my camera thing and have my photos trapped in the camera so this is the best I can do.

On a project front... lets see. I finished Brainless - yay!!
They don't fit me as perfect as I would like so they may become a gift. Still thinking about that one.
I have not finished the Lady Bug secondsock but I am at the heel flap. I am having a hard time trying to make it the same as the first one, since I had obvious deviations from the pattern. Why do I do this to myself?
I also just got done testing a Wow Wow Wubbzy dishcloth for a gal on Ravelry. It was easy enough but since pretty much the only cotton I had on hand was variegated blue... you really can't see Wubbzy all too well. I think I have enough undyed cotton to do another cloth, and she's got Waldon to be tested so I'll give that a go. Maybe he will look better.

On my to do list: I have to finish the Lady Bug second sock, start a friends wedding quilt and finish the quilty baby blanket that I was designing and then dropped for some reason.

Also coming up... This weekend is Feed The Bay that I'm volunteering at. It's always a very humbling thing to be a part of. Jake's getting Baptized next Sunday - we are so proud of him for his decision! I go to a bridal shower on the 10th and have the Making Strides walk coming up the Weekend after that. Can you say crazy busy??

Hopefully I'll find my camera thingy soon - I'd love to show you convention pics and sock pics and washcloth pics (although, admittedly those aren't great and just look like a square... but still). If we all pray together maybe I'll be led in the right direction. Ok? Ready... go.

Making Strides Againsst Breast Cancer

I am participating in the Making Strides walk on October 17. I am excited about it for a number of reasons, most of all because it looks like I will actually be able to walk! After trying for the Breast Cancer 3 day and not being able to do it because a) I'm too out of shape to walk 60 miles, b) I was not able to raise $2200 and c) I got pregnant.

This time... I only have to walk 3 miles (SOO doable), raise $250 (but it doesn't look like that is necessary) and I cannot get pregnant!

Anyway, if you are able to, please consider sponsoring me. Go to my page here.

Thank you!

Sorry, sorry, sorry.

I know it's been, uh, 15 days since my last post but I am just now getting settled sorta since Convention. It went well and I will show pictures once I have some. I keep leaving my connector thing for the camera at home and that is doing me no good at all!

Lets see. I've sold a total of 9 pirate hat patterns. Yay! I have almost gotten to the heel flap of the Lady Bug second sock. I have about 2 inches left on Braniness. I cried over the ruins of my Convention Quilt and gave thanks that I had a baby blanket in the Sale Box in the shed that would work in a jiffy for something to sell. It sold for $35. Not Great, Not Terrible.

About the quilt... sigh. I finished quilting it, binding it and decided that I needed to wash it to really set in the seams and hide some of my lovely sewing "uniqueness". Apparently I forgot to quilt about 12 inches of one corner section. In not quilting this area, a seam of the top came open just a little and without the quilting to hold it together the batting it really disintegrated. It is lumpy in some places and bald in others. I will try to scoop out the yucky fluff, and try my best to salvage it. It really is a pretty quilt and I was quite proud of it. Lesson learned. I did wash the fabric for my friend Bridget's wedding quilt, that will be the next project. She's getting married 12/20 so I have a little bit of time... wish me luck!

I am going to be walking in a breast cancer walk next month and will be posting a link here begging for donations! It's not the 3-day, it's only 3 miles which is definitely doable. I only need to raise $250, also doable. (Unlike the 3-day which is 60 miles and $2200). And I solemnly promise not to get pregnant and drop out!

Also, for those of you in the Tampa Bay area, my church is participating in Feed The Bay, an event that we started a few years ago where on a certain Sunday they give us a shopping list and after announcements send us on our way to the local grocery stores to buy items for the food banks and shelters in the area. They park big moving trucks in the parking lot of the store and the stores know ahead of time to stock up on these items. The first year, with only our church participating, we raised enough food for our main local charity ECHO (Emergency Care Health Organization) to be stocked for more than 6 months. That is HUGE! This year the goal is 300,000 lbs of food, and they have more than 30 churches in on it. Anyway, if you would like to donate money or find a store near you that will have a truck or even find a place to volunteer, go to www.feedthebay.org for more information.

That's it from me. Back to the pile on my desk. Have a great day!

I got nothin.

I have exactly 1 week before I leave for my convention and my office looks like a war zone. But, everything is almost ready and that is a good thing.

I am still on a reading binge punctuated with the ladybug sock. I'm about halfway done with the foot and that'll be it until secondsock. I really love the pattern and the look of the sock. I am grateful that this will be almost the end of the hand-dyed sock yarn because it's a little splitty to work with. It makes me miss my sockotta. And actually looking back at my projects, one of my favorites has been Lion Brand Magic Stripes. It was not splitty at all! Those socks went to live with my Step-Mom and she loves them as much as I hated to part with them.

I am not finished with the convention quilt (see first sentence. Yikes.) but I have finished the quilting portion I think. Now I need to even up the borders and sew on the binding. Wonder if my in-laws will keep the kids on labor day any so I can get it done?

Um...um... nope, that's it. Back to work. Have a good one.

Bugs.

I'm knitting right along on some test socks. They have lady bugs on them. Squee!

I think I need to wait to show them off, but when I do I'll point you in the right direction to get the pattern so you can make me some too, er make your own! I'm making them in some more of my hand dyed Mom's Sweater Yarn (green) because that's what I have. I'm sick of the yarn, but it's what I have. Anywho, I am SO going to make another pair once I get my mits on some red or pink or some combo thereof. I love lady bugs and these are just Too. Cool.

Speaking of Too. Cool... for school - Jake started 3rd grade. Here he is with his cheesy brother. Sean is literally saying "cheeeeeeeeeeeese" and holding it until the flash goes off. Too funny.



So far so good with school. "It's easy" he says.

Busy weekend - tomorrow headed to my Mom's for a doggie birthday party (who knew?), Sunday shopping and cooking with my MIL. I gotta make bread sometime in there, probably tonight. That's it for me, have a great weekend. Stay safe.

Squee!!

I am testing a pair of Ladybug socks. How perfect is that! I cannot wait to share them!

I finished testing the thing I was not wanting to test and I am thrilled with that.

I finished hemming Jake's school pants for Monday.

I sewed together the backing for the convention quilt and got about halfway through the pinning.

I have not finished, nor have I worked on the Brainless socks, but I do still love them.

I have not started working on fixing the chewed up afghan for a co-worker of my Mom's. (I'm dreading that, twont be fun atall.)

In the past 24 hours I have finished Crossed Bones by Carolyn Haines, started and finished Finger Lickin Fifteen by Janet Evanovich and started Fangs But No Fangs by Kathy Love.

You're impressed now, aren't you?

My big flaw? Today was day 5 of Crazy Diet and I quit. 2 lbs down, not enough but I have SO had enough of this diet. I'll try again. Maybe. But man was that shephards pie good. MMM, and the coke. I've missed that the most. Sad, but true.

Rainy Days and Mondays...

Actually, although it is rainy I am very excited. Tonight I am going to Grease with my friend Jen. I am thrilled. Travis refused to even be asked if he would go, but with free tickets (Love You Stacy) I couldn't say no. Little bit of gas and $4 for parking... golden. I just hope it's not still pouring outside when we go.

Anywho, I'm still working on the testing crochet project although I am not enjoying it. It is seeming to take forever. To ease the pain, I am volunteering to test a pair of ladybug socks that are ADORABLE!!! I wish I had some nice red semi-solid but I don't. They will be done in my hand-dyed Mom's Sweater yarn that seems to never end. I think this will be the last whole ball that is left, but I swear I got 2 pair out of the last one. Best investment in yarn ever, I tell ya.

I have not done one stitch on Brainless in probably a week or so. I love those socks and am sad that they are not yet on my feet. Soon though. Maybe. Also, I found a home for the socks I made for me that didn't fit - Jen's feet are perfect for them. Sigh. Sorry Mom.

Yesterday I did start crazy diet 3.0 - so far so good with zero cheating. The suck part is that I made a big batch of Amish Friendship bread the night before and I've only had a tiny bit that night. I made some with apples and haven't gotten to taste it. And I am certain there won't be any left by the time the 11 days is up. Oh well, I'll just have to repeat the experiment (I hear it's good).

I haven't gotten time to work more on the quilt since my last post, but hopefully in the next few days I'll get some time. That's really it for now, I need to get some work done. Have a great day! ... Summer Lovin had me a blast... lalalalala.

Busy busy weekend

I got free tickets to a concert Friday night to see Def Leppard/Poison/Cheap Trick. It. Was. Awesome.
Really, one of the best shows I've been to ever. Then I took Sean to see the Dora show at the Preforming Arts Center this morning at 10:30. At 7 this evening my brother in law had an art show at the Tampa Skate Park where instead of paintings on canvas they painted on skateboard decks. It was pretty cool but hot with eleventy million sweaty kids. Boy did it make me feel old. But, I really liked Jason's deck - he did a great job.
Tomorrow we have Church then to my Mom's. Tomorrow is also bread day - the day to make my Amish Friendship Bread. Yummo.

Next week we have no summercamp for Jake so he'll be with his grandparents and daddy doing cool stuff on different days. I'm going to Grease at the PAC on Tuesday, School open house on Thursday night which is also the first night of choir for this year. Wonder if I can make both?

Yarn-wise, I'm still testing this one thing and it's taking ForFreakinEver even though it shouldn't be. Oh well, I'll keep plugging on I suppose.

I did do the work to fix the Convention quilt today. I think it came out well. I would have started getting the backing but I apparently used some of what I had planned for something and I need to figure out plan b. I have some thoughts - more involving the stripey material I used for the twins' blankets.

Add to that the 3 books from the library (not including the Tourette one) and I'm a busy girl. Poor Brainless is going to languish some more I suppose.

That's it for me. Have a good night.

Not much. How about you?

I've not even gotten close to being where I was when I had to rip out a bunch of sock and re-do it. I expect to finish the gusset/heel flap today at lunch, so that will be good. I've actually been reading a lot more than knitting, crocheting or quilting and that is not a good thing since the quilt top for Convention that I messed up a while ago is not fixing itself and I leave in 3 weeks. I did buy the clear thread though, now I just need some alone time to work on it, therein lies the problem.

I have really noticed lately how spurty of a person I am. Of course I've been a crocheter "full time" or "for real" for about 11 or 12 years (although I learned about 29 years ago)and crochet has not really gone away for any length of time during that period. I learned to knit what, 5 years ago maybe? 4? And now that is just as natural for me as crocheting, so I don't really count that as a spurt. However, I have tried decorating cakes, scrap booking, beading, One Stroke Painting, sewing (as in clothes and stuff), quilting most recently and they haven't really stuck like that crochet/knit has. Travis gets so frustrated with me when I start a new hobby since he is pretty certain (rightly so) that it will only last a little while then I'll have all this stuff and money spent and do nothing with it. Now add to it reading. Now, in my defense I've always been a reader - such a great defense mechanism - but I'll go years without cracking a book and in the last 4 months I've probably devoured 2 dozen (including the Twilight ones and most of those are HUGE). All I have to say is that Thank Goodness for the library and their wonderful Online Catalog and phone calls when your held books are in. It's like shopping online for books but not having to spend any money!

Anywho... How about a project list. A project list with ALL crafts? Hang on, here we go:
Crochet:
Testing some goodies for websites unmentioned
Cliffy's afghan that has wallowed in the corner of my living room for 2 years now.
Fitted sweater for me that I played with for about half hour then put aside with really good intentions.

Knit:
Brainless socks are currently in my project bag and are about half done with the 2nd sock.
Blue/White socks - I apparently started these on the cruise 2 years ago and have completed 1 sock. I am not sure were the yarn is to finish the 2nd one. Whoopsy.
Sheldon - I LOVE the idea of Sheldon. I've finished his body but every time I try to work on his shell I get frustrated and quit because it's not an easy thing. So currently Sheldon is homeless/nekkid.

Quilting:
Convention quilt - I've finished the top and when I washed it (which I should have done BEFORE quilting) I had seams come out. I need to fix the seams (I am thinking of "under-patches" with clear thread... no clue if it'll work - I'm winging it) then do the quilting. I have the backing done and I think the edging cut but don't quote me on that.
Bridget & Amer's Wedding Quilt - I have gotten exactly 0% done on this but I have bought the pattern/templates AND the fabric. I cannot wait to work on this since it is real actual quilting (it's a kaleidescope design that is awesome!) I just need to get my arse in gear and do it. It's due in time for their wedding 12/20. 4 months, 9 days. I will not even look at it until after Convention is done. Sneak in there some Christmas knitting and I'll be in trouble.

Sewing:
I really owe my Aunts Sue & Lorraine some market bags. I had intended to make some for them at Christmas time but didn't. See how terrible a niece I am? They're gonna come, I swear. Just maybe for this Christmas? sigh.

And that is it. I think. I have to make these lists, just to keep me honest. It's rather depressing, really.

Aggrivation says "Rippit"

I've been working on the Brainless socks pretty steadily since finishing my June socks and I really do like them. However. I was noticing that the 2nd sock seemed to be a wee bit bigger than the 1st sock. And by a wee bit I mean like an inch in length and probably that much in width. Uh oh. I look at Travis and look down at my 3/4 done sock and tell him that I have a problem.

"Did you try it on?" he asks. Well no, I didn't but really that is a clever thing to do before I think any more about frogging half a sock and crying about it. I tried it on.

It's too big.

Lengthwise it would really be ok but it's the around part that is the problem. I see my error too. I added an extra cable set (6 rows of knitting) before starting the gusset (the part where it gets big enough to accommodate your heel) and my gusset was EXTRA big because I apparently can't count to 22.

Just. So. Aggravating.

So. Last night while watching the Closer, I ripped out half a sock while I should have been knitting. No tears were shed and that is a miracle in itself. I had lunch at my desk today and it took me forever to eat my Cuban so no knitting was done. Tonight I've got Deadliest Catch I think so there will be some good knitting time.

Anyway... moving on. My arm is feeling a little bit better since I messed it up again on Sunday. I spent yesterday at home nursing it and doing some long-neglected house cleaning.

That's it for me. I hope your night was better.

Happy Birthday Rere!!

Today is my Aunt Rere's birthday (I wont say which year because I'm nice like that).

Happy Birthday Aunt Rere, we love you and miss you so much!I hope you have a wonderful day!

I had such good intentions - I bought her a card and everything but with so much of a pain-fog with the broken arm I still have it sitting on my banister waiting to go to work with me. I bought it early too! Just so aggrivating.

Speaking of, I did something today to torque it and boy am I in some pain! I'm looking forward to after dinner when I can take a vocidin and let the pain go away. For the most part anyway. Tonight is the finale of Next Food Network Star and I'm really looking forward to that. This is the first year where either finalist could win and I'd be happy, however I am rooting a little more for Melissa since she's a "home cook" like me.

This is a yarn blog so I thought I'd add something yarn-related. I bought the yarn to finish the quilty babyghan, so that will be nice. I want to finish the Brainless socks first.

I didn't hear back from the editors on my Sweet Summertime baby top so now I am free to sell it elsewhere. I'm disappointed of course but I guess it is ok to not be monogomous in publishers sometimes. Wish me luck.

That's it for me. I hope you've had a great weekend.

Pics

Here are the pics I promised.

Finished socks:



Jake at his EEG:



And Sean and I at Thomas:


More another day. Cheers.