Happy New Year!

“Now, let us all take a deep breath and forge on into the future; knitting at the ready.”

Elizabeth Zimmerman

Happy Birthday!

Warm wishes and hugs go out to Nittany Knits and Java Jem.

I'll raise a martini tonight for each of you!

Merry Christmas to all!

The crazies are here!

Can I just express the joy that comes from trying to shop for Frick’s b-day present in the middle of Christmas shopping season?

How about trying to plan a birthday party on the last day of school before Christmas vacation?

Or, my favorite so far, a trip to NYC as a present to do the whole tourist thing?

It’s a good thing I love her, huh? :o)

Fun few days off –

We celebrated Thanksgiving at the in-laws as usual.
Luckily the girls reminded me about the things I had to be grateful for this year.
Hopefully everyone else came up with reasons more readily than I.

We went to DC to play tourists on Friday. It was perfect weather, not too cold, not too warm. We didn’t go into any of the museums since CFO didn’t want to wait on lines, but the girls enjoyed sightseeing. I was suprised at the amount of people. I went to DC on Veteran's Day with Niece, and there were loads less people there! Sad comment on our society?

We topped off the day with an early dinner in Chinatown and some shopping. I still am hardpressed to call that place Chinatown. NYC and SFO spoiled me... I was able to get some stuff that I usually go to the asian market for, and the girls each got fans.

I’d show pictures, but I’m still dealing with technical difficulties.

Chemo caps and knit toys

This is what my world is all about right now.

Nittany started a group on ravelry called Helping Kids at Hopkins. We hold a contest every 2 months for a different item to be donated to the John’s Hopkins Children’s Hospital.

Since she met so many wonderful people there during Gabrielle’s stay, she wanted to do something special for them.

The first contest was for the best Halloween hat, and we received some incredible ones!
This next contest is for toys for the kids in PICU. I’m hoping to have something made by the deadline.

I’m happy to help these kids. I may not know them personally, but I met enough kids while there to want to help them out in any way possible.

I wish I could say the same for the chemo caps.

In September, my sister Jan was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She started her chemo treatments this week, and we are praying for a cure. She was fortunate enough to be diagnosed at stage 1B. I’m taking it as a good sign.

Since she lives in FL, and wigs and turbans are completely out of the question, I’ve been trying to come up with hats that would be comfortable enough for the climate. StormMoon was generous enough to knit this (warning! pdf file) for her, so she bought me some time.

I’m just knitting anything right now, planning on her keeping what she likes and giving the rest to the other patients. She did mention that she would like to be able to share, so I’ll be knitting LOTS!!!

Wish me luck, but most importantly, please pray for Jan.

Technology sucks

I’ve done a few ravelry swaps and would love to show you pics of my goodies.
But I can’t.
Stitches was awesome, and I’d love to show you pictures.
But I can’t.
For some reason, both Flicker and Photobucket have decided to forbid me to upload anything.
I find this amusing, since Flicker and Photobucket have NEVER agreed on anything!

Get out and Vote!!!

I was in and out of the polls in under 10 minutes!

I’m also getting ready for STITCHES EAST!!!

I’m helping out Storm Moon again this year.
I’ll be there tomorrow building walls and putting up stands for all of her yarney goodness!

She’ll be at booth 343. Come by and say hello!

Since I’ve not been out in public in a long time, this should prove to be interesting…

It happened again

I’m out with Jan and Niece and little man, and some guy asks me if Jan and Niece are mine.

I need to do SOMETHING about this, don’t I?

Other hobbies

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see.

Every time I see lists like these, I don’t focus on how much I’ve read; I focus on all the great books out there that I haven’t yet.
I guess I need to change my way of thinking.
After I get back from the library. :O)

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Reprint this list and leave a comment


1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible – planning on reading all of it someday.
7 Wuthering Heights
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott named one of my kids after her!
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare there are only I few I haven’t read yet
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh - even watched the miniseries with Jeremy Irons religiously!
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37.The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez twice in Spanish and about 3 or 4 times in English
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez – in Spanish only
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding as usual, the books are better than the movie
69 Midnight's Children - Salman
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker – had to write a paper on this for a lit class in college. Something about how Victorians had loads of sexual undercurrents in most of their literature.
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Will they never learn?!?!?

So , my sister Jan is in town right now. We’re out together, and she leaves the room.
Here is the conversation that follows:

Lady:
“Wow, she has beautiful hair. Is that your daughter?”
Me:
“No, she’s my sister. Yeah, she’s always had great hair.”
Lady:
“Oh, sisters. You must be a lot of years apart.”
Me:
“Not really, she’s older by 2 years.”
Lady:
“Oh. It must be the hair. Short hair makes you look more mature. Long hair makes you look younger. It should grow out quickly”
Me:
Silence.

Figured out that by that point, if she hasn’t shut up yet, nothing good would come out of her mouth at all.

No, I’m really not bitter about HER…

Quiet time?

Right.

Hasn’t happened yet. These past 2 weeks have been non-stop.

Houseguests, sick kids, lost dog, new system at shop, and the usual laundry, housekeeping...

In fact, if it wasn’t for the 22 hour power outage, I would not even had any knitting time!
Thanks Hannah!

Good news - I got a new laptop, and FINALLY a new printer. It’s one of those printer/copier/scanner thingies.
I can copy and enlarge my pattern charts and stop making myself blind. Who knows, I might even get the Icraus shawl finished…

All by myself

Not counting the 85lb German Shepard.

Yet again, they leave me without even a wave...

On my way to get Ice Cream, then sit and knit until the bus comes.

Yay Me!

Lookie what I got in the mail today:

I joined a wascloth/soap swap on ravelry.

Thanks blondknitter! I love them :O)

Back to school Sit n Knit

Monday is the first day of school for my baby. At least last year when Frick went, I had Frack to distract me and get ice cream with. This year I’ll be all alone.
So in an attempt to stay sober until the bus arrives, I’ve decided to host a sit n knit for those of you in my boat.
Be it the first time you let your babies go, or the joy that comes with doing this for many years, you are welcome to come by the shop, Monday 25 August anytime from 9:30 to 2.
I’ll be the one there crying into my sock…

Cabin Fever

I finished a washcloth this morning for a Ravelry swap.
It’s due out today.

If I can actually get out of the house, it’ll be a big accomplishment!

I haven’t left the house since Monday.

I’m getting closer

Here’s the end of the first skein.

I’m 6 rows away from the end of the first chart!

Things here have been the usual chaotic mess that is my world. You would think that it would taper off a bit. But it is not to be so.

In my avoidance of reality, I’ve gotten much knitting done!
I’m at the halfway point.

Yay me!

After this, I can cast on the Adamas shawl for my BSG KAL.

At this rate

I could have knit 2 of them.



I've been knitting and tinking the stinking shawl for 3 full weeks.

You would think I would have had more done by now...

Any idiot can handle a crisis, it’s the day to day living that gets you down.

Thanks to Pumpkin Spice who has the best quote on her blog, this has been my motto these last few months.

Thanks to everyone for helping us through it.

I’ve been slowly getting my head back in order.
It has been really hard, we’re learning how to cope.
Baby steps.
Some are wobbly, you might fall a time or two, but eventually you get the hang of it and learn to walk.



I delivered my best friend H’s b-day gift.



FINALLY got June’s sock out for the sock club.


Finished a pair of socks that I had started way back.


Started a shawl.


And, while taking a trip back home to watch H’s boys while she and her husband went on vacation, I got to go to the Central Park Zoo for the first time in my life.

We're getting there.

We will be celebrating Gabrielle's life on

Wed. June 11th at

Grace Community Church in Fulton, MD

at 2:30 pm.

Please wear party attire.

All are welcome!

Gabrielle lost her fight with Severe Aplastic Anemia on Thursday June 5th at 11:30 am.

She will be forever loved and missed.

I never imagined I'd have to post this. We always believed we would win.


Thank you all for your support and prayers during this entire time.

In case you're in the area, and are interested in attending, Holly's Church is doing something that I firmly believe is the most wonderful thing ever.

My family, a few friends, and I are planning on attending the 9:15 service.
If you are interested in attending, and want to meet up with us, contact me at lrgmargeatgmaildotcom.

Here is the information that was sent from one of the group leaders:

On June 8th we are going to do something that I believe is unprecedented at Grace. As a body we are going to lift Gabrielle and your whole family in prayer during both services.

You may know that Light Company has been praying for Gabrielle every Sunday morning at the beginning of their service. On June 8th the big church will join in. Mark Norman will introduce the concept of praying as a body for one of our own and then he will bring up Shaun who will talk about Gabrielle and her health situation.

As a follow up, members of the Light Company Prayer Ministry will be available at both information desks after both services to provide more information (prayer cards) for those who are interested.

Oh Happy Day!

Nephew just got off a transport plane.

He's stateside, and Marsha should be able to hug him within an hour or so!!!

Thanks for everyone's well wishes and prayers while he was over there.



Lets just hope everyone else gets to come home soon!

I’m taking her life back…

It’s been a whirlwind here, between outings, trips, commencement, family visits and hospital stays, life has been a wee bit busy…
On that end, where Nittany tried to live her life, I’m taking it back.

Call me, e-mail me, come by and say hi. I promise to update as often as I can and pass on all messages to them.

For those of you that have asked and offered help, Boy is doing well and being taken care of. We have a few wonderful friends – you know who you are – that have stepped in and lent a helping hand. And we thank God for grandparents and uncles that are ready to hang with 12yo boys this summer even though it’s been many years since any of them have been 12!

And in the middle of it all, please, if you are so inclined, please say a little prayer that Girl gets through the next week.

It’s kinda day to day right now, so we’re doing a lot of praying.

FINALLY!

My insomnia came in handy last night. I finished the special project at around 2:30.

Now I just have to fix the dropped stitch and block the sucker. I have no idea how I’m going to pull it off. It’s big and oddly shaped.

Where’s Glowing K when you need her?!?

And while we’re waiting for finished picks – here are a few gratuitous shots of cute stuff from S&W.

I'm ready for my close-up!

Too Close!

Love the hair! Kinda looks like me in the morning.

For the love of Pete. Just go away and let me sleep you crazy people!

and every time I see these enteries...

...I just want to run out and felt something!

Honestly, if I had not been on overload, I would have loved a weekend of it. The sad truth is, it kinda snuck up on me.
There’s been so much going on lately that I don’t think I could have handled last year’s marathon of S&W greatness. Nittany and I hung out for 3 hours Sunday morning. No crazy mobs, still lots o stuff to be had.
Although all I purchased were 2 skeins of lace weight – I was running low – and sugared pecans.

Hopefully next year will be a great year and we’ll have lots to celebrate at S&W with lamburger, lamburger, lamburger, cheese.

Best laid plans and all that…

So I have this project that I started back in December knowing full well it would take me that long to finish it in time for Sunday. I was doing great until I:

A) Found a dropped stitch well back at the beginning of the 2nd skein,
And

B) Was afraid I would run out of yarn before I finished so I must frog an entire repeat.

Which means that it has been sitting on a corner of my dining table in the hopes that with the constant visual reminder I would pick it up and finish the darn thing!!!

I should be doing SOMETHING right now:
Cleaning for the in-law visit tomorrow
Cleaning for the parental visit in 2 weeks
Working on mystery gift
Making soup for Girl
Buying b-day gifts for party tonight

Instead I’m surfing blogs.

Denial ‘aint just a river in Egypt y’all!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!


Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival!

Tomorrow is Scurvy Awareness Day

Check out the official website,

and this Public Service Announcement.

Look!

Something I can fix:

out with the old stuffing,

in with some new, and,

Viola! A happier Frack.

If only Girl could be made well so easily.


In a few days I will be sending out a plea to help up the odds for people needing bone marrow.

I’m organizing a Donor Registry Drive. Carole has graciously offered her shop for a locale, and we have had several different groups offer to help get the word out. All I’m waiting on is a firm date.

In the meantime, I need to ask another favor.

If you can, please consider donating blood to your local Red Cross.

While in Ireland, there was a young gal at the hospital in Limerick that had plasma there for her treatments. The Limerick hospital is so small, they don’t keep it handy, and so she graciously offered hers up for Brie.
That plasma is what made Brie stable enough to get to the hospital in Dublin where she received the blood transfusions needed to keep her alive until they could come home and get treated at Hopkins.

Brie still needs regular blood transfusions. We've honestly lost count how much whole blood and platelets she has been given. She is getting plasma as well.
We just found out that there is a shortage of platelets at Hopkins and The Red Cross always could use more blood.

Thanks in advance!

Look! Yarn!

Not that I have any time to knit anything right now...

Here's my stash from the Yarn Party:

Storm Moon's Killer Queen Twilight sock yarn (that sold out at Stitches)



and Purple Rain



Dragonfly Fiber Merino Lace in Spanish Moss



Here's my winnings from Yarns Etc.:
Three Waters Farm

the absloutly BEST picture I have EVER taken of yarn! And I do believe this might be the first yarn I fondled at the shop!

And this here is what I'm gonna crochet. Yes, I'm planning on hookin China Doll with this:



Naturally, I can plan all I want, since this is what I have to take care of first:

Sorry for the blur. Duckie's BooBoo is too graphic for a regular shot.

Thank you Tink Knitz

for sharing the funniest you tube ever!

This is a Harlot must see!

We miss her already

We had a fab visit with niece this week (as usual).

Poor girl had to wait out tornadoes and thunderstorms in ATL before she could leave, so she got in a few hours later than expected. The only way I got the girls to sleep was to vow that she’d be there when they woke up in the morning!

The timing couldn’t have been better for me. She offered to step in as a substitute so I could spend more time at the hospital.

Most of the week was either raining, foggy, or I was just too tired, so I still haven’t had time to photograph my yarn!

I must do it soon so I can show off my winnings from Yarns, etc.!

We rounded out the visit with a quick side trip to Philly before she flew home.

This one’s for you Nittany:

Lookie! Pictures!

It took a while, but here they are.

As the dealers vendors were setting up:

Lindsay and Karoline

Woolarina and Mamma E

Spirit Trail Fiberworks

Javajem taking shots of Mamma E

Yummy munchies!

This was the scene about 10 minutes after the doors opened.

It stayed that way for a few hours.

And my personal favorite:

This is a cute shot of Javajem taking the close-up shot of her and Lolly's matching socks.

Next up…
The yarn!

I’m better now

I got to hug Girl today.

We played a few rounds of Candy Land (I still say Nittany stacked the deck. There’s no way you can get the ice cream cone twice in a row!)

A few pages of Mad Libs Ultimate survival Guide (we now know what to do if we get locked in the trunk of a ’68 Pinto).

But most importantly, I got to see and hold her.

She took me on a tour of a wonderful hospital, we drank really good smoothies, and got a laugh or two out of her after we ditched her mother.

I can’t wait for God to make her well soon so we can have her back home.

We plan and plan, but life gets in the way

I still haven’t had time to upload pictures at all! Sorry Lindsay!
But I do have some great ones.
Really, I do!

The non-stop madness that is my life will continue for the next few weeks months or so.
The good news is that Niece is due in on Friday night for a visit.
She was able to con her dad into sending her here for a visit for her spring break.
I must be doing something right if the 18yo wanted to come here for her senior year spring break instead of going to Panama City with her friends. Go figure! Since the chances of this ever happening to me again are slim to none, please excuse me for basking in the glory! :O)

The other good news is that my goddaughter can come home for a visit for a few days before the third part of the ordeal begins. For those of you that are now confused, the short version can be found here.
The bad part of the good news is that Frack has been on drugs because of a virus. Both of the girls are not allowed anywhere near her anytime soon, but , good if you've been keeping track, I’ve been cleared for visitation! I see lots of Guitar Hero in out future!

Speaking of guitar hero, has anyone heard about this?

Yarn Party

Was awesome!

I'll hopefully have pictures to download tomorrow, and a few stories to share.

Here's hoping they do it again next year.

Look what I got!

because I seem to have all this free time and nothing better to do.

Amigurumi

I want to make the monkey, but I guess i should start with the food...

Happy Easter

I survived 40 days with no yarn purchasing, coke or chocolate.
Honestly, the last few days have sorely tested me, but I survived.

Happy Easter to all believers.


My blogging might get even more sporadic in the days to come since I’m focusing on some other issues, but I promise to keep knitting and actually producing/posting SOMETHING soon!

The new Knitty is here!

And yet again, it didn’t disappoint me!

I finally have a new sock pattern to knit with my JoJoLand!

Yay me!

I suck.

I just looked at my FO list and realized that I haven’t been able to finish ANYTHING lately.
Granted, there’s a reason I call this place Casa Chaos, but really!
I can’t even say that I finished sample knitting ‘cause the feb shop sock was knit by Dip Cindy.

THANK YOU Dip Cindy!

I did knit up a bunch of WIP’s for the Feb workshop at the Guild that was cancelled because of weather.
And I did start another pair of socks, as well as working on a stole or two, but I haven’t even gotten very far on that.

I vow to re-group and dedicate more knitting time.

CCD ends tomorrow for the year. I’m free till September, so I’m thinking of setting up a knitting night somewhere all by myself. I haven’t been able to make any other knitting nights anywhere for ages, so I think I need to do this for me.

Who knows, maybe I’ll actually get something finished.

Check it out!

I'm so very excited it's the weekend after Easter!!!

What:
Yarn Party! Check out local yarn vendors, sit and knit, meet new people!

Who:
All your favorite local yarn dyers and spinners, plus some extra crafty goodness!
And all our knitting/crocheting/spinning friends (you!) of course!!

Where:
7500 Maple Avenue Takoma Park, MD 20912 -- Metro accessible, plenty of parking!

When:
March 30, 2008 - 2 PM to 6 PM

Why:
Who needs an excuse to get together and craft?! We wanted to get together and spread some fiber love!


Vendors
C*EYE*BER Fiber Yarns
Crafty Snargle
Dragonfly Fiber Designs
Insubordiknit
Loop
Sanguine Gryphon
Storm Moon Knits
Woolarina

For more information go to their blog
http://homespunyarnparty.blogspot.com/

How do you say goodbye?

We lost a great person a week ago today.


It feels really stupid to say that I wasn’t expecting our 86 yo neighbor to pass away last Sunday, but I really wasn’t.
Everyone was surprised at his passing, I mean honestly, dude landed on the beach at Normandy and lived to tell. His youngest son and I were talking about the bizarre feeling of it all. He had a great sense of humor, and was never a real grown-up. We kept expecting him to sit up and say “HA!” at some point at the viewing today.


This was a great man who loved his country, baseball and life in general. He lied about his age to be able to enlist in WWII. When you read his obit, it marks the day he made his first and only hole in one.



August 3rd, 1969.


He was in the hospital because of an asthma attack. I was expecting him to come home and be sitting at his usual post this 4th of July keeping the cops away.

But instead, I’m on my way to his funeral tomorrow. Everyone is simply devastated at his passing.


Good bye Mr. Russ. Independence Day won’t be the same without you.

I’m hanging in there…

I’ve been done in these past few weeks. I think I’ve frogged more than I’ve knit, but I got a lot done on a few different projects I’ve been working on.

The good news is that with the exception of one accidental chocolate chip cookie, I’ve kept my Lenten resolves. Still no Coke, chocolate, or knitting purchases.

It’s been the knitting purchases that have been the hardest. I was at a bookstore yesterday and it wasn’t until I got to the register that I remembered that I couldn’t buy the knitting book I had in my hand.

ARUGHHHH!!!!!!

ROAK's

Normally, when we do a Random Act of Kindness, we can only hope eventually it'll be paid forward.

Here's a fab lady who decided to pay us back!

Thank you!

Yarney goodness everywhere!!!

Since there was a no school day last week, CFO suggested a road trip to his Alma Mater.
I was pretty psyched since it was the first time I’d been back since we got married.
We used to have many a quality Friday date night at the computer lab when he had gone back to school.
The ladies loved the chapel, and got to watch the girl’s lacrosse team practice for a bit.

Naturally, at the bookstore, I spot the perfect knitting bag.
It’ll fit my laptop, books, project or two, water, and comes in basic black.
Crap.
No bag for me.

Then, since we’re in the area, CFO offers to take me to Lovely Yarns. No sweat for him because he knows I can’t buy anything.
I had a lovely (no pun intended) visit with Sue. So much so that I went back last Saturday with Miss C and Nittany!
CFO and Frick even got me a t-shirt that her daughter designed for her as a VD gift.
Crap.
No yarn for me.

If you happen to be in the area, stop by, say Hi!, and tell them Large Marge sent ya!

Then, I’m out shopping for VD presents, and happen upon a knitter’s starter kit. All the notions you could possibly want or need in one bag. I got it for Frick for her Easter basket.
It doesn’t count since it isn’t for me.
Crap.

So today is the Daytona 500.

Prepping for today has kept me out of the yarn shop for the past few days - Thank goodness!!!

Go Jr. go!!!

Lent

We celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a pancake dinner at church. STT and the kids joined us and we had our usual fun.

Frick is excited since this means that Fish Fridays at church have started again.
I’m excited because it means that I still don’t have to cook fish!!!!

At any rate, pancakes on Fat Tuesday means that Lent is here again.

This year I have given up Coke. I need to be drinking more water, so Coke gets the boot.
JavaJem is giving up the Diet Coke so I know I’m not alone in this.

I'm also giving up chocolate. That one is usually the hardest since popping chocolate is one of those habits.

The hardest thing I’m giving up this season is all knitterly purchases.

I will be knitting, mainly getting stuff off the needles, but I will not buy any yarn, knitting books, patterns or knitting accessories for the next 40 days.

Yes, 40 days.

40 LOOOOOOONG days.

Carole did give me an out reminding me that since I work for yarn, I won't really be buying it, but I think it'll just sit in my hold bag at the shop until Easter Sunday so I don't get too tempted.

What.

Like you don't think I’ll be there right after Mass?!?

I DO have my own key!

100 Days!

Today is the 100th day of school for Frick.
To celebrate, the kids had to bring in 100 of something, and be creative about it.
So Frick’s original plan was to make a necklace out of the pull-tabs from cans that we save to donate.
She changed her mind at around 4:30 yesterday afternoon and wanted to make 100 friendship bracelets instead.

I said no.

So we came up with the idea to make a beaded bracelet that says :
100 Days!!!! 08

It took exactly 100 black beads on a white background!
I made her work on the chart and set up the beads for me.

I naturally forgot to take pictures.

Dang it!

I fell off the wagon

I was on a roll with those easy knits I started the first 2 weeks of the year. Gotta love instant gratification projects. Everything was from last year’s yarn (and the year before that) except for Frack’s neck warmer, but I exchanged an extra skein in another color for that.

Then I started the other stuff.

So I now have a washcloth, and two lace scarves on the needles. I ditched the beaded scarf for the shop onto another minion. Just too complicated for my un-medicated mind to deal with.
I also have Mom’s lace stole cast on, just haven’t knit one row yet. Sure, it’ll get done for Mother’s day…

I did just finish a hat to be felted, and 2 eggs (for Frick).

The one lace scarf is for my Monday For Me project, and naturally I’ve started 3 different ones, with 2 different yarns.
The other is a gift that I have to finish by May. That would be why I started it back in December. When I get a chance to work on it, it actually goes by quickly, the trick is finding time when I can pay attention and not be falling asleep in bed.
The washcloth is for Christmas knitting, so it can wait, but the felted hat is for MIL.
She kinda asked for it sometime last summer. I think. I’m hoping to get the thing felted soon. I don’t have a top loader anymore, so I’m not sure how this thing is going to felt. How much do I miss making felted bags since it doesn’t really matter how much it shrinks.
The hat has me buggin.
I’ll let you know how it turned out. The good news is that I still have loads of the yarn left over that I can do a new one if I need to. It only took me 3 days (and 1 year) to knit.

Should not/Will not

Told you there was a big difference between saying "I should not" and "I will not" be making any new yarn purchases. I didn't even last the first month.

This followed me home last night. Color 257.

Although technically I didn't buy it since it was my pay for working the other day, so I'm still in the clear.

I think it needs a friend...

Great buttons

make all the difference in the world!

Here's Frack's

Since I couldn't find any for mine, I used a shawl pin I got at the shop.

Next up - a hat for MIL.

Hello, my name is Large

...and I have a knitting problem.

I can't seem to stop knitting Fourteen!
I finished Frick's out of the Malabrigo I got at Stitches, and now I'm knitting Frack's out of Frog Tree Merino.
I swear, after this one, I'm taking a break!

Maybe just one more

pictures

Here is Frick's StormMoon Hat - Killer Queen is the colorway

My Frog Tree Merino Twisted Rib Hat

My Seventeen Neck Warmer - hoping to find the perfect buttons to go with the Lobster Pot cashmere.

And the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino baby set

(It's a nice powder blue color. Really)

See! I actually knit the stuff!

I'm still frightened

Tonight at guild, had I not been working the member table, I would have started and finished the Fourteen neck warmer.

Off to bed so I can knit the last 5 or so rows.

Promise pics tomorrow to show off!

I amaze myself sometimes

So, in the first few weeks of 2008, I’ve been rather productive. Started and finished 3 projects, with 2 more on the needles that are almost there.
No, the ones started last year don’t count as on the needles :O).

I’ve decided to have a Stash Appreciation year and have earmarked patterns for quite a bit of my stash. I’m also hoping to get some of my one skeins knit up.
Not the pet yarn.

Other than S&W and Stitches, I should be limiting my purchases to just books and patterns for the most part.
Note the use of the word should, not will.

I’ve actually been so productive, it’s frightening those who know me well. Kinda freaks me out too, but I’m going with it for as long as it lasts!

I do have picture to show, but I’ll wait to post them at the same time since one of the finished projects is for a baby shower today.

Home again, home again, jiggidy jog.

We decided to break up the road trip this year and over-nighted in Savannah on the way down. I was planning on taking a trolley tour with the family of Historic Savannah and visit River Street.
When we arrived, they had reached their yearly average rainfall in just two days, so most of Savannah was flooded.

Yarn shopping was out.

Since I only had a few days to play and I knew the LYS was seriously lacking in sock yarn, I didn’t get go in FL either.

Besides, I used up all my knitting time spoiling #2.

I had a bit of competition with his grandparents visiting from Hungry, but since they are visiting for 2 mos, and I was only there for 5 days, I won.

Lots of toe kissing...
Even Duckie couldn't resist him!
Christmas Eve was spent in the pool.

Christmas Eve dinner was well attended as usual (and this was not even everyone there!).


On our way home, we made our obligatory stop at South of the Border.


We visited CFO’s aunt & uncle in Carrboro, NC. Cute town, great shopping, and they have 2 LYS in the area!

The first one we went to was closed, with a note on the door saying call first to see if they are there since they will be having limited holiday hours.
Maybe they should have put that on their phone message so I would have found out when I called to check their hours so I would know that they wouldn’t be open when they said they would before I made the trip there.

I’m not bitter, just saying…

Lucky for me, the second shop we went to, Yarns Etc., was not only open, but had a few fab ladies working that were so nice, even CFO was impressed!

I picked up some local hand dyed sock yarn from Three Waters Farm – mouse at midnight is the color.

If I hadn’t already picked up 2 cakes of soap at the co-operative market, I’d gotten some of that as well. They were at S&W last year. Now I know to look for them next year before I run out of money…

One of the ladies there showed CFO what a man with tools can make his beloved knitting wife.
He had made her a fab shelving unit where she could display her stash and keep it under control. Although I’m guessing it wasn’t her complete stash!
And she even placed the bug in his ear about making me a spinning wheel.

Since it means buying more power tools, he was intrigued…

Naturally, since we were in NC, we had to visit the Duke campus. Aunt and Uncle were nice enough to go with us considering they both worked at UNC.

CFO has always been a HUGE fan, and since we were there…
I fell in love with the chapel. Frick said she would go to Duke so she can get married there, but Frack wants to go to Loyola like Daddy so she can get married where we did.


Just planting the seed.

Thank you Cousin M for taking great pictures since I left the camera back at the house!