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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!!!

Blue-o' lantern, quilt square

Happy Halloween!!! I hope that you are having a great day, I am. Lunch will be early today then I get to go home! Yippie. Anywho. I did Sean's funkin last night (We'll do Jakes as soon as he gets home) and I think it came out cute... and even looks like Blue!:









I also cut the pieces out for my first block. I plan to sew it together this afternoon.:












I am trying to work out my virtual design wall, but I am having trouble. I had travis make it work on my computer, now I need to figure out how to make it work for you to see. Sharon Mastbrook, the gal that designed it did such a great job explaining how to make it work but didn't mention publishing it to the web but gave a link to an example on Geocities. So, I am creating a geocities page. Once I figure out how to show you what I've done I will post a link. That's it for now, I have work to do in the short time I have left here. Have a safe and happy fright night and Happy Birthday to me tomorrow!!!

Dear Jane, trampoline & I'm sick... not in that order.

My birthday is 2 days away and I am hopped up on citrus & c to get rid of what I really hope is allergies. Kids aren't sick, co-workers aren't sick, just me. I felt it coming yesterday, just a little bitty tickle in my nose so I ran to CVS and got some zycam which is mostly mega c and zinc and stuff. This morning I added a claritin (claratin? whatever) after a 9-sneeze run and I'm back on the zycam. This had BETTER go away Real quicklike!

Speaking of birthday, tomorrow is our Marketing Director's birthday and the office is taking us to lunch. Smokey Bones BBQ (his choice this year, last year my pick was a steakhouse). AND the boss said that after lunch we all get to go home. Guess he's feeling a bit guilty for "work-related" golf outings. Well, it'll give me a chance to vote early anyway.

We played on the trampoline last night and I took some pics and video. They had such a blast, so did I! Boy that thing will get your heartrate up real quick.









Last night I got my book back and started planning my first Dear Jane block. I washed and ironed all of my fabric scraps and discovered that I really need to get a pair of pinking shears because what should have taken me half an hour took almost 2. Cutting apart fabric that was sometimes hopelessly stuck together with other fabric by frayed ends sucks. Anyway, here's my first block prequel:












I also got a journal to start documenting my DJ stuff. Maybe it will be helpful if I do another one, who knows. I have been searching online to see if there is a Ravelry-type site for quilting? Something to keep track of projects and designs and such. If anyone knows, please share! I am also trying to figure out how to add the vitural design wall to my blog so everyone can see my blocks as I do them. I may have to get Travis to figure it out for me, I'm pretty lost on it. Well, that's it from me, have a great day!!

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!

Dear Jane progress, sort of

SO I do understand that I have swallowed a whole gigantic wad of crack in taking on this project but I am getting pretty excited about it and I look forward to the challenge. I am fully aware that it will probably take me a year or two to finish (assuming I CAN finish) but it will be a labor of love. A HUGE labor of love - a 80 1/4" square labor of love. I sat down last night and instead of Watching Chuck I Listened to Chuck and dug out Jake's colored pencils. I used the little template thing on the DJ blog and came up with my color scheme. Here it is:









I have collected quite a bit of scraps and a few quarters that will go into this. I am not using 225 different fabrics as some do, but I will use as much of what I have as I can, getting a lot out of each fabric piece. I am getting quite a bit of leftovers from my market bags, so thats a cool thing.

Here is my stack of partially sewn market bags, and in the center is my favorite find - I scored a remnant just big enough for this plus my center and corner DJ squares for about $1.20. Thrilled, let me tell ya!











I need to take a look at the DJ Blog and see where to start, and gather my backing fabric and get to cutting. First up though, I am taking the book to the printshop my MIL works at and get the book unbound. I am trying to decide if I should have it gbc bound (spiral bound) or just put each page in a protector in a notebook. I need easy access to the pages for tracing the patterns and the advantage to the protectors is that I can put finished blocks in them until its time to piece the thing together. Hrm.

And finally, in not DJ news, I have about a foot done on my Brothers Scarf and havent touched Mom's sweater or Cliffy's afghan. Once I get a block done and realize just how far I've gotten myself, I'll get back on track for Christmas. I did work on the little girls top a bit, but I am not sure if I'm in love with it yet. I still have some ideas with it so we'll see how it goes.

Oh, really finally this time - today is trampoline day!!! We are getting a trampoline delivered today at our house. A friend of my MIL sold it to her for $50 including delivery and setup and it's only a year or so old. I. Am. So. Excited!! Also, I got a haircut last night and maybe tomorrow if it behaves better I will show you a pic. Thats it. Have a great day.

Jake's post

Good afternoon! I wanted to share a few things from Jake today. First up, his report card. We are thrilled with his grades this 1st 9 weeks.
Bible & Spelling A+ (spelling was 101.5 w/extra credit!)
Math, Phonics, and PE A
Reading A-
Spanish & Computer Outstanding
Music Very Good (deduction for not good behavior).

Second, he started his Christmas list. I HAD to take a pic of it, it cracked me up! I kept it big so you could see it better.












And in case you cant understand what he wrote...
1. Spygear watch
2. Wii
3. Baseball cards
4. Guitar Hero for Wii
5. Wii music
6. Wii Lego Star Wars
7. volley ball
8. math book
9. science book
10. history book
11. technology book, er sorry teknoligy book.
12. oragami book (which is handy since I got this for him already!)
13. amplifier

And finally, Jake was helping me with my sewing project this weekend. I was trying to get the market bags that I had cut sewn. I did realize after the sewing that I had only cut some of the pieces one way and they were way too wide because I'm a dork. Oh well, those of you that will be getting them... um it was a design element? LOL. Have a great day.

Shopping, Selling and Singer

I went to the last day of the Moonlight Maddness sale at Joann yesterday and I had only a few things on the list of stuff that I really wanted to get. I needed to get some yarn for that submission top I want to make (this is the only thing not on sale that I was able to apply the 50% coupons to), I wanted to see how much their Cut & Press cutting mat/ironsafe boards were (it was on my Christmas list, but they were cheaper on sale here than at Walmart where they are never on sale), some fat quarters for $.99 and a carrying case for my Singer. I did not get the carrying case because I am not fond of the plastic ones and their fabric ones were REALLY expensive, I got 2 yards of clearance fabric - one orangy and one yellowy, 2 blueish fat quarters, the yarn (pink, red and green... there's your hint) and a little craft iron that I am returning today since I wasn't able to use the coupon on and it wasn't on sale and do I really need to spend $10 on a little pink iron anyway? Moving on.

I sold 3 out of the 4 lots on ebay and I will ship those out tomorrow. I will be getting together some funky novelty yarns and some WW acrylic lots and I will probably go through my books and start getting rid of those which will never be used. I sold more than I spent at Joann's and that's really where I wanted to be with this.

On the way to Joann's yesterday I got a call from the Sewing Machine Fixer Place that it was ready. The problem? I had the controls set incorrectly and that is why it was sewing backwards. I figured this might be the case when I got a response to the note I had sent to Singer about the return and they suggested making sure the bobbin winder thing was the right way for not winding bobbins because having it the other way will make it do many things, including sew backwards. Course it took a week for SMFP to get back to me on this, but oh well. During naptime yesterday I made a market bag with it and I like it. I only have 1 strap to sew up then it's done. I really enjoyed playing with some of the fancy stitches! I made a few changes to the pattern I had been using and it went quickly and easily and now has a flat bottom (Mom's suggestion). It took about an hour to make (I had cut the main fabric but not the lining, and thats included in the time) and came out cute.

That's it from me for now. Have a great rest of the weekend. Go Bucs! Go Rays!

Menu Planning and Dear Jane

In an effort to save money by not going out to eat and not over-purchasing at the grocery store, I am going to make a pointed effort to do a monthly menu. I have done this before and it usually works for that month and then I forget about it for 6 or 7 months, even though it lives on the fridge door.
I am doing some research to see if there is an online planning guide for this - and wouldnt it be nice if there was a menu planner that was connected to a recipe database, WW Points and a shopping list? I did find this website in my searches that has what I want but is not helpfun in the "effort to save money" part: http://www.menus4moms.com/store/index.php This is sort of like an idea that was thrown around a while ago with Anut Sue (Hi Aunt Sue!) since she is good at this sort of thing. I am going to keep looking around for a free-er version! I dont know how possibile it is to do instead of a meal plan, an option plan - like I look through the recipes and insert them into the days of the week and it prints directions for the meals and a weekly shopping list. Asking a lot, I know but it is something that I want to play around with. I know that mine is not the only family on the planet that is a little pickier than the weekly menus usually allow for.

I still have not received my Dear Jane book, hopefully I'll get it on Monday. Also, I am still waiting to hear from the Sewing Machine store to hear that I can pick it up and have it sew, you know, foreward! I should hear from them today so thats a good thing. I am planning to go to Joann's for the last day of the Moonlight Maddness sale, I have 4 50% coupons that need to be used! I wish I knew how much yardage I need for each of the "rounds" of the quilt so I could get some.

The Dear Jane quilt is made in Color rounds starting from the center with green, then yellow, grey, orange, pink, etc. I have been saving the scraps from my market bags to use later, turns out later will be this project. Those are mostly pastels, so I think that will be my quilt - white background and pastels. I am so exceedingly excited about this I cant stand it!

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 weekend

Hey all. We went to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival on Sunday with no children (they got to hang out with Mamaw) and we had a blast. No strollers or I Wants, and it was a beautiful day. We did the Behind the Seeds tour at the Land Pavilion which shows many different ways to grow food - hydroponics, sand, hanging, etc plus fish, gators and eel. One of the plants that we saw is called a Sensitive Plant because when you touch it the leaves close up to protect itself. It was very cool. I took video (which Travis laughed at!):





Here is a pic of the "Earthquake effect" - the guide shook the plant a bit and this happened:










I (and 2 others) were given a vial of lady bugs that we got to release for pest control, here are my bugs:









I released them on a white eggplant tree. Here's the gator area... I swear this one was staring right at me!










And for the final pic, this was outside the Australia area - there were 3 huge balls of "yarn" and I just HAD to take a pic. Travis is just lucky that I didn't drag the knitting out of my bag to pose with it!









It was a great weekend. I peeked at Jake's grades online - all As with 2 A+ and 1 A-. I was really wanting to brag on him but we just got a call from the principals office - Ugh. Maybe next time. I did make some progress - I'm about 1/3 done with 1 front of Mom's sweater and I ripped out the hat. Somehow I had gotten turned around on the had so it got screwy. I really didn't need to take on another project, now did I. Speaking of not taking on other projects, I just got this book. I know, crack in my water, but how hard can making 225 5" squares be? LOL. Sigh, but it is REALLY pretty and a goal that I will work on between cleaning up puke sheets and grounding a 7 yr old.

That's it from me for now. 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.

O Happy Day!

I am just a little excited by my new present!! I look forward to playing with all the feet and quilting do-dads!! I have been cutting bag fabric and now have more than a dozen just waiting to be sewn up. Yippee!!! That is all.

No updates or pictures.

I didn't work on anything yarny last night while watching NCIS and Knight Rider (LOVE me some Justin Bruening!), I flipped through the tv guide, did the crossword, ate a fudgecicle (my solution to the ice cream addiction), held a whiney baby. I did at one point bring the knitting bag to the couch, but didnt open it.

I don't know how much I'll get done today either since it sounds like Sean's daycare will be calling shortly because of coughing and boogey nose (we'll see if the mucinex works).

I did have some thoughts on another new project though - a little girly top. I love how it looks in my head and I have high hopes for it.

That's really it for now. Have a great day and keep my little tow head in your prayers - he's done with his antibiotics so it obviously wasn't bacterial, just viral, but his breathing is still loudish so the treatments aren't doing too much to help.

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!!

Sean update

I have not been vomited on in nearly 11 hours! I took Sean to the doc's at 10, we were there for 2.5 hours. About an hour of that was waiting (Saturday is sick only and be seen as you get there.) and the rest in treatment. No ear infection, no strep. His problem? Asthma. We went down this road before with Jake but its different with this one. So, when we got there his pulse Ox (oxygen level) was at 92 (it should be at 99-100) and he ordered a treatment of albeuterol and discussion of a script for orapred (oral steroid). Sean did NOT like it one bit! After he stopped freaking out, pulse Ox again - 91. Shot of steroids, another treatment of something stronger (which he loved even MORE because he hurt from the shot). Pulse Ox - 94. He said that the shot takes about 45 minutes to start workiing, so a few minutes rest then another treatment. If we dont get it to the 95-97 range we go to the hospital. Next treatment, pulse Ox - 95. Whew. Home we go with these directions: albeuterol every 4 hours, antibiotic 1x a day, orapred 2x a day, Pulmacort (another breathing treatment) 2x a day.

He's sleeping now, a 2.5 hour nap, which is good. I slept for a bit, but hunger got the best of me (missed lunch). Jake's been good, playing games and generally being quiet which is a Godsend.

Hopefully tonight and tomorrow will be better. Have a good one.

Not better

Sean is up this morning after throwing up pedalyte not once but twice in the last 12 hours. Poor baby has not eaten hardly anything in a whole day plus some and kept down even less. Yesterday I kept putting off the idea of taking him to Dr. K because he was doing ok, just blah and pukey. Last night he started with a fever and rapid breathing and by the time I got to where I wanted to take him in it was too late, even for After Hours Pediatrics. But there is hope... Dr. K's office is open today. So, at 9, I will call and make an appt. He's been tugging at his year so it's probably that but I cant imagine that causing so much yak. Sean fell asleep at 7 and slept through until about 11, then he was up most the night, only sleeping inermittently. Boy am I sleepy!!

Last night I managed to cut fabric for 5 bags and 2 linings and crochet about half of an arm on the bolero. I actually figure to be done with it with about 2 hours of work, so I'm excited about that.

Well, back to watching Bunnytown I suppose. Have a good day.

projectile vomit is not pretty

I am at home with a sick baby. And by sick I mean throw up in bed last night then when Mommy & Daddy are trying to strip the bedsheets throwing up again from the changing table. Did you know that your projectileness is much more far-reaching from up there! Sniffly, sneezy and general not happy. Fast forward to this morning (after 9 wake-ups at night, sans vomit) when Sean was just blah and Mommy was exhausted. Call into work, and realize that I dont have very much milk so a stop at the store is in order. No problem. The store is 2 miles away. 9am I get shoes and socks on Sean, strap him into the car and take off. halfway there I hear it. You know, the IT that I was dreading. So, I turn around and drive back home. I go inside to get a towel, get him out of the car then straight to the bathroom. pedalyte and juice and a nap.
Wake up from nap and eat a few bites of chili-mac and some peaches. Feeling better! Horray! Off to the grocery store. Again. SO I put shoes and socks on, strap him into the car and off we go. Through the store and all is good. Back home, put stuff away and watch AMC.
Still doing good. There's a new linen store RIGHT NEXT to Joann's. Handy that. So, back with shoes and socks, out the door and all is well. Pull into the parking space between the linen store (did I mention it is a discount linen store?) and I hear the IT again. Sigh. I get out and do my best to wipe him up with my little washcloth I keep in the car for dewey windows. Back home. He fell asleep on the way here and is currently in bed.

SO... how was your day?

Oh, I found another Mom analog (stand-in) and had her try on the bolero. She's Sean's daycare lady's daughter. Her 11 yr old daughter. Fits great! So, thats good. I told her not to grow and it'd do me great! I will work on the sleeves more in a few minutes.

Not much going on this weekend, Sunday I was going to have an alone day - Travis at work and both boys with their grandparents and Shamu but Jake was not good last night and lost the trip. Maybe in a couple weeks. No trips to see my mom and grandma, you know with the vomiting and all, but soon.

That's it from me, have a great weekend.

online spending at its best

Hi!! At lunch today I finished the body of Mom's bolero and started the arm, got half way and tried it on Damarys. She claims to have fat arms but it was too tight so I ripped out the arm and made it bigger. I am about 4 rows in and it is supposed to have 20. I like it and it looks pretty bolero-like. Sorry that I didnt take a pic but I was too busy frogging and wanted to get some sembelence of an arm before lunch ended.

Today, in the Readers Digest, I read about a website called www.fatwallet.com that gives you rebates on stuff you get online. Stuff like fabric at www.fabric.com that is on sale AND gives a rebate of 5%. It's black and will be perfect to line my manly market bags. I have 4 yards on the way as we speak! I spent $15 including shipping so I make that 75 cents! They put all your rebates in an account that you can transfer to paypal or what have you. Pretty groovy I say. Joann's is on there too, but I go through mypoints for the few times I purchase online from them.

After the above 2 paragraphs, you can see that I am doing a pretty good job of ignoring all the stuff that I should be doing (including working apparently). But, that's ok... it all gets done in the end.

That's it from me for now. Have a nice Thursday and enjoy the season premier of CSI. Love you CSI. Welcome back!

Progress, with a picture!

I was working more on the bolero last night and ignoring the sweater. Deadline smedline. Here's a pic so far. Please notice that it looks nothing like anything that would possibly fit a human, but it's right so far. I am on the armholes now, so it's going pretty quick. This one's not a surprise so I don't have to hide it.










I also got an encouraging note from the Crochet! mag looking forward to seeing more submissions from me. I am starting to get excited about my Letter Baby Jacket being published, and I hope that other folks love making it as much as I did. Of course they won't have to deal with math, so there's always that plus! I have a few ideas bouncing around that I will start playing with shortly. It would be so much more better if I could figure out how to make fair-isle look right in crochet.

Jake went today to get his blood work and Travis said he was a trooper. That surprises me a lot since he's usually such a wuss about EVERYTHING! He was very brave and didn't cry or anything. Now we wait. I have noticed that he mainly tics when we are eating or when he's reading, and sometimes walking if he's not happy to be where we are at. I am hopeful that the Calmag will start working soon.

We got our mattress yesterday and it was nice to sleep on. Travis got his new pillow but I will get mine tonight (highway robbery at BB&B, I'll go to walmart). Travis got one of those contoured pillows that claims to help with snoring. It lies. But he said it was comfortable so that's a good thing.

That's it from me for now. Have a good one.

a glimmer of hope

How pathetic is it that this is a glimmer of hope, but there you go. That is the "expensive corner" for gas, which does give me hope that the rest of the city will come to it's senses.

In other news, my new mattress got delivered today. Yippee horay!! Travis took a pic of it and sent it to my phone before he promptly laid down to take a nap. Rude. Anyway, I am thrilled to have a brand new mattress - my first I think.

In more other news, I started mom's bolero that I wasnt supposed to start yet. I'm kooky like that I guess. I had some tv to watch last night and didnt want to pull out the Christmas sweater, even though that has more of a deadline. The bolero is currently more of a test to see if we like the yarn enough to sufice or if I need to go and by some. This is stash Red Heart so not the softest thing in the world until it's old and washed many times but we were looking for "somewhat stiff" so my go-to simply soft is a no-go. So, I got a few inches into that but failed to take a picture. I'll try to remember that tonight.

Tonight we have errands - Bed bath and beyond for some new pillows (love you 20% off coupon), then goodwill for a bedside table and a donation. I am trying to convince myself that I want a new sewing machine that does more than sew in a straight and zigzag line. I like my machine well enough but I am looking. My mattress gives me a firm NO from the in-laws where such an extravagant gift would normally come from so now I will stalk goodwill and the like for something. I did also find out that a very nearby vacuum shop also sells refurbed Singers so that is also a possibility. I want the step up from the bare bones Kenmore that I have now, then find a nice home for it when it's replaced. Nothing wrong with it but it just is really bare bones. That reminds me, I need to borrow the canned air so that I can give it a nice blowing - it needs it!

And finally, Sean found a skull cap that I made for Jake some time ago. It has always looked like a Jewish kid at temple on Jake because he has such thick hair and a biggish head, but it looks pretty normal on Sean! (That is a wipe that Sean is playing with. He loves 'em, but in a healthy way.) That's it from me, have a great day.

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).

Neglectful

Sorry about that! I dont really have the time or energy now to blog either, but I wanted to post a quick hi and update. I have gotten to the round and round bit of the 2nd Convention sock. I have half way added the border of the quilt square and now only have to stitch the back down. I did a few rows on the back of Mom's Christmas sweater but made no discernable progress.

My Big Christmas Project has started taking progress. I have taken Laurie's idea of buying cloth shopping bags for her friends/family and turned it into a sewing project. I have been buying fabric for the outside and lining from the remnant areas and have quite a bit amassed so far. I started working on one - green with white dots - and have gotten it 50% done. I need to figure out what the HECK they are talking about with the handles - then stitch up the sides and bottom. Add the pocket it folds up into and viola! Multiply by like 30 and we're set! I have not done the recipient list yet but I'd like to give each 3 or 4 of them. I have a few different patterns that I am trying at first, looking for the easiest and most usable one then repeating it. No pics as of now but I will try to remember to take some.

Back to work now, have a good one.

A Note...

From Jake's teacher - today was math test day:

I just wanted to let you know how awesome Jake is doing in class. He is so smart. It is really exciting for a teacher to have a student so excited about math. He is a joy to have in class.


:)

Just pics for now

The brown/black/white socks - done (notice the close up of the star toe):













One and some Convention Socks done:










Sean sleeping...












That's it for now. Convention pics next time.

I'm back

I am still alive but very VERY tired. Sean was sick and stayed home with me yesterday when I was supposed to be sleeping, whoops. Oh well!

Updates - I finished my first convention sock Sunday and started the second (pics tomorrow). I sold my American Flag afghan for $105 with an order for another that came with $100. The guy that is getting one made lost this year and the year before and I told him to just order one, it's cheaper - only $80. But he let me keep the whole $100. The downside - making another American flag afghan! SOOOO many stars. I did give him the option for something else - just in case. We'll see what he wants and I'll work it in before Christmas.

On the project list currently:
Convention sock (maybe going to my step-mom for Christmas) 1.25 done
Cliff's afghan 50% done I think, maybe less
Mom's sweater - I have some done but it's hiding just now and I dont remember how far I had gotten.
Brown socks - done done done. Yay!!!
Blue socks - 1 done, 1 to go. I forgot who they are for, but they will find a home

Is that it? I think so. After I finish this convention sock (pretty quickly) I'll start working on Mom's sweater during lunch again and Cliffy's afghan at night. Depending on my moods I'll work in Russ's commission. That's not so bad, eh? Sigh.

My dress looked great but a little, um, showy. I thought that the lace would fix the issue but no, not so much. Note to self - if I make another one it will have a higher neck!!! Pics when I get them.

That's it for now,lotsa work to do. Have a great day!

1 pair finished

I finished the brown/black socks (pretend there are 2 there... actual pic of 2 to come after Convention). 1 Christmas gift down, eleventy seven to go.

I have pressed the hem of my dress and it is all set and ready to go. Sean is stinky, brb. OK. I only hope that I can wear it since it looks like Hanna may be aimed at Jacksonville... not a good thing!










I leave tomorrow morning for Jax, today I visit my Mom and pack. Wish me luck and dry weather! I have no idea if I will be able to post while I am there, but if now, see ya in a week.