Not much of an update

Good morning. I put on makeup this morning solely for your benefit... Here's my pic:


Speaking of pics, here's one from this of the first snowfall up home:


Boy does that look cold!! Anywho, we got the trampoline last night but it was too late to take pics once it was up. I need to get some padding for it but it is pretty big - 13 feet round I think. Jake and Sean had such a blast, Sean cried when I dragged him off it - but it was getting cold pretty quickly. My toes were FROZEN - dumbass me was jumping barefoot instead of getting socks.

I made a little progress on Mom's sweater, and as it stands now:
Done - back, collar, 9" of front left.
Not done - 11" of left front, right front, 2 sleeves, assembly.

I gave my DJ book to my MIL to take to work and it is now spine-free and in gbc binding. I hope this works out for me, since it's free and all. I really didn't want the expense of all those page protectors. Now I just need to figure out a good way to store completed blocks. I am all ready to start my first block - it'll be B13, it's a yellow one and a simple 9 patch. I have 2 yellow fabrics to choose from, scraps on one and a yard of another that has not yet been cut for a market bag. I'll try the scraps first to see how it goes - I do need to wash them yet though. I also need to get my background fabric ready (I'm using a set of white sheets that my sister gave us as a wedding gift. I dont like sleeping on them because they have lace edges but it will be a nice memory to add into the quilt). I am so excited to start this!!! Wish me luck!

Quiz, scarf

Good morning. As you may know I have THE worlds WORST memory, horrible! A friend of mine sent me a Facial Recognition quiz through BBC and I really enjoyed doing it and did pretty ok! There are 2 parts and I scored 95% and 78%. Basically, you are shown 2 sets of 12 people 5 minutes apart. Then 5 minutes later you are shown 48 people and have to decide if they were in group A, group B or not at all. You are scored on 1 - if you recognized if they were/were not in the groups and 2 - which group they were in. Go try it if you have a bit of time, very interesting.

Click here for the test.

I frogged out the homespun hat that I was working on for my brother and it is now about 3 inches long of stockinette scarf. This is working much better for some reason, we'll see how far a skein will get me and go from there. The only reason I got so far is that I forgot mom's sweater front at home and had to knit SOMETHING during lunch yesterday! I remembered the sweater front today.

I did some cleaning out of the stash the other night and listed 4 boxes of yarn (small boxes, I'm not crazy) on ebay. I will also put together a box of RedHeart in cakes this weekend. My stash was completely out of control and I am trying to rein it in, mostly because of the guilt over getting sewing stuff. I am holding true to the "it can't come in unless something else goes out". I'll probably take a look at purging some books soon too, but I'm not sure.

Well, that's it from me, have a great day.

My new toy, and some progress

My new toy.... is broken. I opened it up and got ready to sew up a bag and wait, what is this? Why is it sewing BACKWARDS??? Stuck in reverse. And no using reverse to make it go forward. UGH!!! So, it will be sent in for warrenty work locally I hope (I'm on hold with Singer now to figure it out).

With the profound lack of sewing going on, I did work on Cliffy's blanket and started a hat for one of my brothers. Here's pics of both as of right now:












I know there isn't much to the hat yet, but I've only just started. AND knitting with homespun is not fun. It's so splitty that it is much better suited to crochet, but I am better at knit hats than crocheted ones so there you go. I had toyed with the idea of a scarf but a hat uses less yarn and I didnt have that much homespun in the stash. Only 2 almost whole skeins of different colors and a few coordinating shades of grey/black if I need it (either stripey hat or stripey scarf). I have 2 brothers and I'm not sure who will get this or the other one (yep, I said other one) but I have a little time before Christmas.

I didn't cast on any Mom sweater fronts or sleeves, I'll do that at lunch today.

I am still on hold with Singer, and lunch is in 15 so I'll stop writing and try to get some work done before lunch. Have a great weekend.

Some real progress!

I have officially finished the back of Mom's sweater. It made me 10 minutes late coming back from lunch, but that's the price we pay for seeing things through! Everyone but my Mom can see a closeup of the fabric here and the whole back minus about an inch here.

I still love the color, but it amuses me that it stretches out so much from that tiny, ribbed thing. Hey, it's the right size so that's all that matters, right? Next... a front, followed by another front and 2 sleeves. Sigh. This is taking WAY longer than I expected.

My sewing machine has not yet shipped, but should in the next day or so. YAY!! I am pretty excited about that.

Other exciting news - I submitted a thing to another mag today. I also have that one idea that I've sketched out but haven't tried yet - color work and knitting. We'll see how that works out.

Today I started writing down my Christmas list and I found a few areas lacking. My yarny gifts include Mom's sweater, Cliffy's socks(in theory if it EVER gets done), Joann's socks, These socks that do have an probable intended recipient and these which is admittedly only A sock not sockS but may also have an intended - not sure yet... which is part of the reason it is still only A sock and has been since FEBRUARY. And while that is quite a bit of yarny goodness, I was thinking of making my brothers hats or scarves. It's cold up yonder, and I think they would like it but I am not sure if my Dad ever wears his Alpaca hat - hopefully he hasn't shrunk it yet.

Along with finishing the sweater, Cliffyghan and other blue sock, I also have that American Flag Afghan that is a commission that I haven't even started yet, but it doesn't really have a deadline becides my self-imposed "before Christmas". Good thing, eh?

Lots of clicky today I know but hey, it's OK. Have a great day.

an update, with a pic

I finished mom's bolero and put it in the mail to her today since I dont know when I'll see her next. Wanna see? Course you do. It's not the best pic in the world but the flash washed it out so you get the no-flash version.










I also did an inch or 2 on mom's Christmas sweater and am almost close to done with the back. 2 sides and 2 arms to go. Sigh.

But, I bought a new (used) sewing machine! I have been coveting them on Joann's website - a Singer meant for quilters, it has the extension arm, 8 different feet plus a bunch of different stitches (my current one only has straight and zig zag). But, I really didn't have the $100 to spend on it. Then, I got some back checks from Aflac (love you Aflac) AND it was on sale for $80 and free shipping. Hopefully I'll get it in about a week. So, if anyone needs a beginner (REALLY beginner) sewing machine, you let me know.

Yesterday was a half day for me - I caught some of what Sean was handing out - and I went home early. Went to the docs and got a script for antibiotics (in case it gets worse) and something to help me with sleep (an old timey anti-depressant that is used in low doses for sleep without so much of the chemicals). I am able to take it with the melatonin that I had already started taking but wasnt really working, so we'll see if this helps. And if it improves the depression than that's a bonus, yes?

Well, I need to get back to work now, have a great day and Mom... dont forget to send a pic of you wearing your new bolero!!

TGIF

I had a crown decide to jump ship last night. Well, I was eating a milk dud at the time so I guess I sort of helped it along, but that crown has been there a good year at least and had many duddy friends in the past... so why now? To end my week on a high note? Yeah, that's it.

How about some progress. I "finished" the pink bag:













As you can see, it has rough edges. Apparently it is supposed to have rough edges, "it's utilitarian not beautiful". Whoopsy! I am going to try to put a faux-serger edging on it and see if that looks ok. I didn't put a pocket on the front of this one only because I don't think it really needs it, it can just fold nicely and not have to fold into a pocket if that makes sense?

I also got to the armhole portion of Mom's sweater. It's just back and forth on fewer stitches for 6 inches. We'll see how long until I start a sleeve or a front just to keep myself sane. I like it because it's pretty and I am completely in love with the yarn color (I'd say that even if I didn't do the dying) and it's an easy peasy 3x3 rib but sometimes easy = boring. I briefly thought about starting the other blue sock or even some stars for the flag afghan, but the thoughts were fleeting. Perhaps Monday when I need something small to take to the dentist, we'll see.

My MIL is giving us our Birthday/Christmas gift early - a new mattress! I am so excited, mainly because I cannot ever remember having a new mattress, and also this mattress came with the husband 9 years ago, so I guess it's time to upgrade (the mattress, not the husband!) I just hope that my current Queen sheets will fit the new pillow top Queen because it would be just terrible to have to go out and buy all new bedding (It's really hard to convey sarcasm via the keyboard, but really it's there).

In very exciting news, today is bonus day. Yippee!! AND... I don't have to buy a new fridge with it because ours is currently doing ok. Ice cream doesn't freeze solid but its not soft serve any more either, so I'm happy with that. Besides I have moved the meat and bourbon into that freezer and all the other stuff to the big freezer. This has served the dual purpose of no soft ice cream + ease of getting meat out for supper. Wait, I forgot to get something out this morning. Whoops. Oh, it's leftover night. Crisis averted. So what am I going to do with my bonus? Pay off credit cards, and possibly Haaaavvvee to buy new bedding. I can live with that.

That's really it for now. BTW I got some Cal-Mag for Jake and melatonin for me, wish us luck. Have a great weekend. Wow, that was wordy. Are you impressed? I am.

Suprising lack of progress

I have, in the past 2 days, managed to knit 1.5 inches of a sweater that is only 104 stitches in width. I have about a half inch to go before the armhole decreases, which is a good thing.

I did nary a stitch last night during Bones and House, just sat there watching tv. Shocking, that. I stared at my bag, glanced in the corner where Cliffys afghan lives and avoided eye contact with the market bag that is waiting for its time with the sewing machine.

I did think about Mom's next sweater, I even looked to see what yarn Walmart had while I was there - nothing. I need to go to Joann's and do some fondling there - hopefully something will inspire me. I haven't even started my Commission flag, but I did tell him it would be after my Christmas knitting was done - although I dont know if I can wait that long. It'll be nice to have some crocheting interspersed with the knitting.

Yesterday was a long draining day, with more questions than answers after Jake's trip to the doc. Jake has been having a persistant twitch in his neck for about a month. Previous symptoms (lasting a month or 2) were whistling, spitting, licking (everything - his shirt, walls, tables, Sean) and throat clearing. Doc is hesitant to label him with a tic disorder without more testing, so he sent us along with a scrip for bloodwork and is having us journal his symptoms. Not one twitch the whole time we were at the doc's office! It's like taking the car to the mechanic and it not making the clicking noise for him that it makes for you ALL THE TIME! In a couple weeks if symptoms persist with us trying to make him aware of what he is doing, it's a trip to the neurologist. He says he's doing it on purpose because it's fun and that he can stop, but he's really unable to control it for longer than he is thinking about it. Mom suggested Cal-Mag and Omega 3, so I'll see what I can find with that to see if it helps.

This is the first whole week for Travis on the new schedule, he had Tues and Wed off and went back today. Weekends will suck but hey, what can you do.

That's it for me for now. have a good one.

The weekend.

I don't have much to report on sewing, crocheting or knitting except that Mom has put in her order for a sweater that is not the sweater she's getting for Christmas. More of a shrug or bolero really. It will be crocheted and it will be black. Beyond that I'm not terribly sure yet.

On the Christmas sweater, I have about 2 inches of k3p3 before I work on the armhole decreases. It's moving along nicely but my fingers aren't functioning well this morning so I'm not sure how much I can get done today. Last night I managed about 4 or 5 rows before I gave up.

Actually I did finish the green and white bag and noticed a mistake that is hidden inside a pocket (until you turn the pocket out when you fold it together. Sigh.). So, that will be my practice one! I took it shopping Saturday morning and it did its job well. I also cut the fabric to size for bag #2 and bought some new needles for my machine. But that's it, I swear!

I went to my Grandparents yesterday, Grandpa was doing yard work when I got there so he's doing MUCH better. Thank goodness! Grandma is doing well too, Cliffy is starting to get his taste back so all around good news.

I'm adding some video of Sean counting. Have a great day.

Progress, unseen.

You know, when you actually work on something it gets further along? According to Ravelry, Mom's sweater has languished since April without much going on with it. I had a good start (Started 3/13) and went along well then... nothing. But, in the last few days since the quilt square and convention socks got finished I've added about 6 inches to the back. 5 and some change to go, plus 2 fronts and 2 sleeves. I wont bore you with another picture of a green ribbed square piece of knitting that has grown only a little since it's last pic.

I dont think I mentioned it here but my Grandfather is in the hospital, has been since Monday. He went in with high blood pressure but nothing has come of that. He had some work on his heart (a long c word that I wont try to spell) revealed that he didnt need stents which is a good thing and he should be heading home today. Raina (the granny nanny) has been staying with Grandma and they have been doing well. I will be going over on Sunday to see them and I am really looking forward to that.

I guess that's it for now, back to work. Have a great day.

Show and tell

I have taken some pics to show off some projects. I have worked a little bit on Mom's sweater,here's what I have so far (imagine that this also shows the collar done). Of course, Mom... no peeking.

Here is the first market bag so far and the front and back of my quilted square!!! I know, my quilt corners are wonky and I dont know why that is. I guess before I take on a real quilted anything that I need to take that class. Add it to the list.




















Isn't it very exciting!! I will try to only work on Mom's sweater until it's done. I also need to figure out how to work in time to make a million market bags with no time to sew? Sigh.

Finished Objects, and Disney

Lookee, a pair of socks! Sorry they are out of focus, they looked fine last night when I took it. These have will have a home come Christmas. Yay, 2 down...:










Sean and Jake watching the parade. Sean was THRILLED to see Mickey!! We did a meet & greet but I dont have those pics, I'll have to get them from Travis and post them later on.


















Sean and I waiting for Travis and Jake to finish riding Rock-n-Rollercoaster.











In other news, I have made a few inches of progress on Mom's sweater and my quilt square will have its binding worked on today at lunch.

And finally, Sean's potty training has taken a drastic turn. I am trying to convince him that it's not a hat but I don't think he believes me (yes, it's clean).