Finish Your Row

Lost Bets are Sometimes Good

2012-01-03T17:14:00.000-06:00

Ah the Rose Bowl. My Alma Mater, University of Wisconsin. I bet my friend Anne the Badgers would win, and they didn't. So now I am making her a pair of socks. I am eternally grateful she is a size 6.5!! It's a good excuse to make socks for someone else. :)

I'm making Brian some mittens, (2 strands of Patons Classic Wool, then felted). They are moving along quickly. I am still a little scared about hand-felting them. My new washing machine has a lid lock on it, and that's no good. I mean it's a great machine, just not for felting.

Got a wonderful package in the mail for my Sock Yarnista Club from Three Irish Girls today. Beautiful yarn and a yummy GIANT caramel! I love this club--if you are looking for a fun, reliable club full of beautiful yarn, this is the one!

Also got an absolutely beautiful birthday card from my dear friend Thora and a gift certificate to Loopy Ewe! She knows just what to get me! :):):)

Between my great mail day, and the kids going back to school after winter break, it has been a GREAT day.

Happy New Year and I Have a Lot of Yarn

2011-12-31T19:05:00.000-06:00

It's been so long that I have to go through my photos to figure out what I want to blog about. Our computer got a nasty NASTY virus, so we had to reboot everything. In the meantime, my husband took the cord that hooks up my phone to the computer to work (never get the same brand phone as your spouse. You would think it's convenient, but when they steal your cord, you will think otherwise...)

Anyway, Happy New Years Eve! We had a nice day today going to the indoor Farmers Market (where a bird pooped on my head), took a walk at Heckrodt, had a nice steak dinner, and now I am relaxing with a Bloody Mary and my blog while I wait to get out snackies for the kiddos. Good times.

Now, about that absence in blogging...

So, since October 30th:
The kids had Halloween. Anna and Nick got TWO (!!) bags of candy.

I got some pretty sock yarn (thanks Yarnista Club, Three Irish Girls):

I made a hat for my friend Jeannette:

I made some mittens for Emily:

Emily lost a tooth:

Nicholas had a birthday at the Green Bay Gamblers game:

I made a pretty dishcloth for a swap:

We had Christmas:

I made mittens for Anna:

I found my wedding ring (toy bag, my closet):

And I have a lot of yarn. A LOT of yarn. We are most definitely moving this year, as we have outgrown our house. So I have to assess what we are taking. My yarn is going--I just didn't realize that I had so much.

So, onto the dreaded NEW YEARS RESOLUTION! (Hey, I did my resolution from last year. I made a sweater for myself. Finally. So back off.)

I am going to make a pair of socks a month. Now, this really isn't "using up" my yarn, as I am in the mega-awesome-terrifical Three Irish Girls Sock Yarnista club. And I get a skein of sock yarn a month. But I really gotta use some up, and I really slacked off on socks last year.

So, no exceptions. One a month. Starting tomorrow. Well, after I finish mittens for my husband who (GASP) asked me to make him some. Can you believe it??

So, my friends, Happy New Year. I will be more regular about my blogging. I promise. (hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha)

Spooky Stuff

2011-10-30T17:51:00.000-05:00

Well, tomorrow is Halloween. The only thing spookier than the snowstorm out East before Halloween--I had a dandelion in my yard on Friday!!

The kids have had numerous places to wear their costumes. They went Trick or Treating in Menasha, to Halloween at the Zoo in Oshkosh, Zoo Boo at the New Zoo in Green Bay and of course Trick or Treating tomorrow night! We did just find out that Emily's dress (I bought at Goodwill) lights up underneath, so I'll take more pictures of that tomorrow.

Anna is doing her next project for school on Wisconsin Ghosts. So today we went looking for Kate Blood's grave. The legend of Kate Blood can be found here. The stories are wild--she was a witch, she killed her children, she killed her husband and the grave seeps blood. She actually died of consumption in Kansas. Her husband outlived her (and remarried) and she only had one child, age 2 when she died.

The grave is hard to find (and no one has a good "map" to it online, so I'm going to try). When you go into Riverside Cemetary, stay on the roads to the right. You will loop around once and near the markers E and F, you will see an orange triangle that blocks the road and leads down (the grave markers of Pierce and Smith are near here, and you will actually see one that says Blood to your right, but that's not the Blood you are looking for).

Park in front of the orange triangle, and take the path down. To your left a short walk down you will see a separate plot of graves, and the big marker will say "Miller". If you read closely, the top part will say Kate M. Blood. The fact that these graves are set apart adds to the mystique, I'm sure.

The "blood dripping"? There are many berry trees in the area, and it's probably the berries staining the markers.

So there is a fun little pre-Halloween narrative. In other news--I finished my socks (SQUEE!!!)

Love this yarn, and they really are beautiful if I do say so myself.

In other knitting related news--I need to go back through my blog and see if I documented what yarn I used to make these socks:

All I know is I never want to buy this yarn again--I no sooner fixed the heels, and more holes showed up. They are done for :(

In more knitting news, I am making a slouchy beanie for my friend Jeannette in South Carolina. She is trading me some of her homemade soap for it. I love swaps, especially with people I know (where I won't get screwed).

In a New York Minute...

2011-10-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

I had the wonderful luck to go to Rhinebeck this year, and visit my dear friend Thora and her husband Tom. I had such a nice time, AND I FINALLY finished a sweater for myself. Only took 12 years, but better late than never, right?

Poor Pretty Cymantha with this fat girl next to her!

We went into NYC on Friday and I got to hang with my cousin Cymantha. I haven't seen her in over 20 years, and the last time we went to the city together, we went to the WTC (I am still not--after 10 years--ready to go to the WTC site now). We did go to Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the Lego Store and Greenwich Village (where my cousin Roy owns the Little Lebowski, which is one kick ass little store--The Dude Abides!) And the place where I was happiest to go--I finally got to see the inside of the New York Public Library. I just kept touching the walls, I was so in awe!

Saturday was Rhinebeck. I absolutely loved being surrounded by knitters, and absolutely hated it. Many were the kindest people you were ever going to meet, marveled over each others sweaters and purchases. Others were part of a pushy mob that had crazed looks in their eyes over wool. One of the lines, for the Sanguine Gryphon booth, was 2 hours long. They had their own porta potty. I am swearing now--I will NEVER EVER EVER need yarn that bad. EVER.

It was really nice. I got to meet Thora's knitting group friends at an impromptu knit night at her friend Candace's house. Good food, good fun--it was nice to just relax and knit and laugh.

Thora is sending my yarn home--I didn't purchase that much, but she went stash diving and sent me home with a bunch of beautiful stuff from her stash. So now that the sweater is done, what next? Well--I'm working on a BEAUTIFUL sock. It's the Angel's Rest pattern from Fiber Trends Peak Experience leaflette. In a gorgeous Opal green and white crocodile that Thora gave me. Love!!!

Sunday...Afternoon

2011-10-02T13:45:00.000-05:00

So to start with, I have to give a plug to PAK (Personal Accessory Kit). I got one using a Groupon to get it half price. It was a cute idea and a cute bag. I was annoyed that the shipping was high. BUT that was the only thing I was annoyed with. It is SO cute--and loaded with stuff you need.

So after using the clippers that I needed, it broke. And not just "I think I can fix it" broke, the metal snapped. So I wrote to PAK, and let them know they might have a problem if other ones break. Their co-owner, Nicol, answered me right away and we had a very fun email conversation. She not only sent me one clippers, she sent me two and a bag full of other goodies to restock my PAK when I needed too. How cool is that? That is AMAZING Customer Service, and I encourage anyone looking for a fun gift for someone (or for yourself) to check out the PAK store!


My bag of Goodies from Nicol at PAK

I also fixed my sock with the big whole in the bottom. I couldn't find the leftover sock yarn for this pattern, so I used some blue Patons Kroy. You can't tell too much, and no one should look at my heel. Unfortunately, no sooner had I fixed it, that evening the OTHER heel went out. I need to figure out what yarn this is (If anyone has a clue, please let me know) so I never use it again. I've never had heel/toe problems with any other yarn.

My Evergreen Sleeves Tunic is coming along. This is through the ribbing:

And this is after 1 skein (I'm through the 2nd skein now):

I have nearly 12" done in the front (I think I need 20", but it's a quick knit.) I just need to find the time to do it now. I also need to start a pair of socks and get that going so I have something to do on the plane (11 days til I leave for NY, BABY!)

Oh yeah, and Emily had a birthday party/Halloween party yesterday. It was pretty amusing to walk in and see children crying hysterically. They had a haunted house at the party, and let's just say, maybe it wasn't the most "child friendly" one. My daughter was the smart one--she didn't go down there!


My Little Witch

Busy Fall times--and Knitting!

2011-09-25T15:18:00.001-05:00

We've had a week at our house. Last weekend we went apple picking at Spranger's Orchard. The apples were not quite ripe, although some of the Gala's were really sweet. The kids had a good time ~~eating~~ picking the apples.

Last Sunday we also went to the Botanical Gardens in Green Bay. It was a Packer game day, so the gardens were dead...and there was still plenty of pretty to see!

Nicholas and Anna went to Uno's and made their own pizza, (and had lots of fun doing it!)

This weekend we went to Octoberfest--we went early before the crowds got huge, had a hot beef sandwich and tiger paws, bought some honey and had a nice walk home. As we were coming back up Newberry Trail, we saw this fun site...everyone going through the locks. It was a canoeing/kayak club working to get the locks back open again...it was neat to see everyone paddling through!

I made 2 dishcloths for a swap on Swap-bot.com. An apple and an oak leaf (although the leaf is hard to see). I hope my partner liked them!

And my yarn came from Evergreen Sleeves, and I did my swatch. Once blocked, it will be 4x4" on size 15's. I have 29" circular needles, so I am hoping that will be long enough (I really don't want to buy 32" ones I may never use again). This yarn is SO soft--I am really looking forward to (hopefully) finishing this sweater for ME!!!!!!!

Been Knitting

2011-09-16T14:27:00.001-05:00

I figured you might want to know I HAVE been doing something, especially now that the cooler weather has settled in! :)

I am nearly done with mittens for Emily. They are done in some pastel wool from Joslyn's Fiber Farm that Thora sent to me. My only problem? I can't find the first one! Hoping it is in my car. Or my couch. Or somewhere.

I went to IRIS Fine Yarns today and got some gorgeous Cascade 220. I'm thinking mittens for Nicholas, although I would love some for myself (or a sweater out of this!)

I am waiting for yarn to come from WEBS to make the Evergreen Sleeves sweater. Hoping to get it done before I go to Rhinebeck (SQUEE!!!!!!!!) next month!

I also am doing 2 dishcloth swaps on Swap-bot.com One is the color yellow, and I am making the Oak Leaf cloth. The other is a fruit dishcloth swap, so I'm doing apples. Nice and Fall like.

And now I am going to try to get some knitting done before picking up the kids while the chili warms in the crock pot. Love.

Been Quiet...

2011-09-11T17:43:00.000-05:00

It's been a short but somewhat difficult summer. I haven't knit much, (although I've picked up now that Fall and Winter are just around the corner).

Today is September 11, 2011. I still can't watch the shows, or go to the memorial services. I just can't. 9/11/01 was probably one of the most horrific days of my life, and I wasn't even in NYC or DC. But my friends were. I remember the terror of not knowing where several of them were until that night. I remember Anna wondering why I was crying, the internet hardly loading as I kept Dora on for her. The number of times I watched the planes crash into the towers that day was enough for me.

I'll never forget. But reliving...that's another thing.

A Busy June

2011-06-28T15:24:00.000-05:00

It has been a busy June...wow! Time sure flies when you're kids are home for the summer, and you are trying to find stuff to do!

First of all--I finished the blue blob. I can't show it to you, because it hasn't reached its intended recipient yet. I've now started a lavender blob of the scarf variety.

So what did we do this month? We went strawberry picking at Prellwitz Produce in Ripon. I think the kids ate more strawberries than they picked.

Anna lost her sandal coming back from the fields. She got a quick ride in a golf cart to get it--and the congratulations from the guy who took her, saying she was the first one this year.

While we waited for Anna, we decided to pick sugar snap peas. It's a lot harder than it looks, but it's worth it when you find what Nicholas calls "The Jackpot". It was worth the time. They are so yummy!

We have gone to two Timber Rattlers games. The first was Star Wars night. We sat in our usual great seats, and had a great time. Emily went to this one, and she was so good! Pics are on my camera, so I'll post those soon.

This past Saturday we took Emily to Princess Night. She wore her Snow White dress from Halloween, and got her picture taken with the princesses.

When she got her picture taken, she got a raffle ticket--and won a "Princess for a Day" gift certificate to Snips and Giggles (Now Club Sassafras) in Appleton.

So we used our gift certificate today--what a fun place! Emily has decided she wants a mini-pedi every day.

She looked so beautiful.

And her stylist Angie was so kind and fun! We definitely recommend it to anyone. Their prices are reasonable too--a kids haircut with braids and glitter is $14. I pay $10 to get their hair cut at Super Cuts, and that's without braids or glitter.

A bigger blob!

2011-06-08T13:01:00.000-05:00

So I've been knitting and knitting and knitting! I've been knitting so much, I've neglected my reading, and I'm currently 17 books behind on my Good Reads goal of 100 books this year. But I now have a bigger blue blob:

I'm to the last lace pattern, so that's pretty exciting. Then I can move on to socks!

We've had a busy few days here at Casa Kopetsky. Anna graduated from 6th grade--yay! Considering the past few years, it's pretty exciting.

We went to the Milwaukee Zoo on Sunday. The weather was absolutely perfect, so everyone else went to the Milwaukee Zoo on Sunday too. And now...it's HOT! I'm wondering where Spring went...it seems we went from Winter to Summer. I hosted Gnomeo and Juliet (which I HIGHLY recommend BTW) last night at Neenah Public Library, and I told them it seems like just a few weeks ago I was telling everyone thank you for coming out during the snow storm...last night I thanked everyone for coming out in the 100 degree heat!

And...(drum roll please) Brian and I went to see Carlos Mencia. I laughed so much my stomach hurt. Our seats were PRIMO! I highly recommend Comedy Quarter as a venue...we've sat in the front and sat in the back, and there is not a bad seat in the place. The staff is excellent!

A Busy Few Days

2011-06-01T15:31:00.001-05:00

Still knitting my shawl. It's a bigger blob. I'm not sure how anyone can knit this shawl in a weekend, unless they don't sleep, or eat, or go to the bathroom.

I thought I'd share the pictures of the last few days that are on my phone with you. We saw a very rare "rainbow sky". I posted the pics and tagged Doug Higgins from Fox 11, and he posted back that it was a Circumhorizon arc, which is cool on both accounts---that I know what it is, and that Doug Higgins commented on my Facebook picture. My friends were impressed too!

We went to the People's Bratfest in Madison. Johnsonville was sponsoring the regular bratfest, and after all the money they gave to Scott Walker--and after the way he's screwed us--we weren't going to give any money to them.

But we had fun! Finally went to Ian's Pizza. Had some yucky beer (when you see "coriander" as an ingredient, I recommend skipping it).

And how cool is this bike rental program? I miss Madison! My kids were excited "Look! We can ride PeeWee's bike!!!"

We also got to show the kids the UW-Madison campus where I went to school, point out my beloved humanities building, and let them walk up Bascom Hill. I told all 3 of them that the hill is much worse when it's snowing and -20 degrees, but they can experience it themselves when they go to school there. :D

My columbines are coming in nicely, which is good. They even come in around the weeds! I also have some giant irises about to open, so I can't wait to see what they look like (I transplanted them from my mom's garden last year, so I don't know which ones they are). A little upset our sage, oregano and thyme seem to have mostly run their course this year. We are looking at maybe buying a house, but I will plant some more either for us or the next people here. I really love my herb garden (well, besides the lemon balm that just won't quit!)

Emily had her very first T-Ball practice, and did a really great job. She had problems hitting off the tee, and her coach told her they'd work on it. Nicholas, always the overprotective brother, said, "I don't like the way he said that to her. It sounded kind of mean." Now it wasn't mean at all, but it's still sweet he wanted to make sure his little sister didn't feel bad.

By the way--my kid loves me:

The kids are out of school as of 9:50 on Friday. We are heading over to my friend's house for a picnic after school, and to toast the ending of a somewhat trying school year! It should be fun!! :)

Dave's Falls

2011-05-23T10:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, before the storms came and ripped apart my 2 tulips (I am tulip deficient. The bunnies usually eat them, so I boycotted tulips for a long time. I just bought some on clearance at Lowe's for .99 a piece...and now they are both done for this year) we took a drive up to Crivitz and Amberg, and stopped at Dave's Falls County Park. It really is a beautiful place, and the kids had a great time climbing around. We would have walked more, but Emily was in flipflops (as was my Mother-in-Law...) and the mosquitoes up there are quite large and quite bitey.

Looks like the woodpeckers are bigger in the North Woods too.

On the way there and the way back (and at home. And every free moment) I worked on the Weekend Shawl. One of the lines on the pattern is: "Isn't it nice to know you can finish a shawl in 2 days if you have to?". Let's just say, it would be good information--if it was possible for me to finish it in 2 days.

Emily asked me to knit her a pair of socks today. Obviously she doesn't have a clue how long it takes me to knit anything. How about I START a pair of socks for you today.

In other news: We went to look at a rental house near Pierce Park. Small yard, small garage, small bedrooms, small bathrooms, lots of money, so it's a no go. It is also very hard for me to think about going from our landlord, who says, "Sure! Go ahead paint/change the floor/plant flowers/etc" to "Well, if you want to put in a garden, I will need to see sketches of what you plan to do and approve it." Huh?

I miss being a homeowner. :(

So A Little Bit Different Look...

2011-05-20T20:15:00.000-05:00

Let me know what you think! The new Blogger settings pretty much make it easy for any idiot to set up a nice blog, but it was nice to have basic html skills to do things like color and paragraph breaks, etc.

Please excuse the risky photo *cough* of me in the corner. I really thought I'd be further along on that sweater! And I don't usually wear my heels when knitting.

I like it, but you know how I love green! It was time for a change a while ago, and I just kept putting it off, mostly fearing the tedium of finding a template, then adding the html to get it how I want it. I also had doubts about "new" Blogger. But as you can see--any idiot can do it.

So for now--working on a present for my PB&J Bestie! (which, of course, is late!) Hope she forgives me when she sees it.

Time for a catch up post

2011-05-09T10:06:00.006-05:00

I've thought about blogging a lot, really. But that requires getting the pictures off of my phone and 2 cameras, and that was just too much work. Fortunately, I took them off, so I can catch up!

Lots has happened since my last post. We went to visit my friend Jessica and her family in Iowa. Her kids LOVED my knitted gifts (way more than my kids ever do) so they will have more knitting in their future.

In addition to going to Iowa, we went to De Smet, SD to go to the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites there.

On our way home, we were lucky enough to stop at the Spam museum. Jess is still jealous about this one.

Who knew Brett Favre liked Spam?

We also saw the Jolly Green Giant. I was so excited in the car: "I see him! I see him!!" Brian thought I was crazy.

I knit a pair of socks. Actually did them on dpn's one at a time. I hadn't made socks in so long I figured I'd better go "old school" and not have to whip out the 2-at-a-time sock book to figure out how to make those again. Having joined the Sock Yarnista club at Three Irish Girls, I am currently sock yarn rich, so I'd better get going.

Emily had Little Fairyfest this past Saturday. I made her outfit, and was pleasantly surprised that it turned out (after not being able to finish her dress for Easter.

Speaking of Easter, the kids looked nice. Just getting this picture took about 80 tries:
I think that's all the news for now. I'll be starting a new knitting project soon, and I am making a little dolly for Lane, so I want to finish that up too. Oh yeah and cleaning and laundry and trying to find a new place to live--the fun never ends here.

Playing Catch Up

2011-03-13T12:16:00.004-05:00

So, we got more snow this past week. Why wouldn't we? But it was packy snow, so Emily made a snowman:

I finally finished the Mario hat for Gabe. I've decided when I make Nicholas' that I will just use intarsia instead of duplicate stitching. I can say I did it, but it's a time consuming pain.
I also got a bunch of really pretty yarn. I am in the Sock Yarnista club for Three Irish Girls, and here is the goodness I got from there:

I am going to use it for the Sock Knitters Anonymous March sock--the mystery sock with lace.

I got some plain white yarn from Elann for Emily's Easter sweater (I didn't post it. It is plain white yarn), and then I picked up some Cascade 220 from IRIS Fine Yarns to knit mittens for my friend's son. I am hoping to get those done tomorrow and in the mail so he can wear them this year (hopefully for not too much longer!)
And I must say I love my LYS--Phyllis is amazing, knowledgeable and kind, and fixed me coffee with chocolates the last time I was there. Love!

So while I was doing those, I thought I would try to whip up some slippers for Emily to wear in between her dance numbers. I whipped them up--and the pattern is not accurate on size. Even with the crocheted top, they won't fit. :( And I was right on gauge. Just a disappointing pattern.
And one more...I really am putting myself on a yarn diet, but I couldn't pass up this gorgeous gorgeous yarn from Loopy Ewe:

Today on the agenda: Emily's LAST dance recital--thank goodness--and I am in the back as a "Classy Mom". They don't know me very well....

I Love My Husband...(and other stuff I keep telling myself)

2011-02-10T08:35:00.002-06:00

I really do love my husband. He's a great guy. Today--my frustration level is high.

I woke up this morning to, "What's on your agenda for today?" I told him--work. Pick up the kids from school. Take Emily to dance class. Come home. Make dinner.

To this I got: "Well, the pack meeting for Cub Scouts is tonight".

Now, it's not just any pack meeting. It's the Blue and Gold dinner. A pot luck. Which requires--a dish.

That's not bad enough--worse yet is that last Saturday Brian finally bought his leader shirt. With all the unsewn patches that need to be sewn on by tonight.

So I am frustrated, and I tell him he shouldn't spring this on me the ONE DAY OF THE WEEK that I work. Thursday is my "busy" day. And I think to myself, "You can iron them on! Just like Emily's daisy uniform."

So I get up. Make sure the kids are getting ready for school. Locate the shirt. Look everywhere for the bag of patches and finally find them in another bag in our bedroom. Look at the back of the patches, that all appear to be iron-on-able except one. Alright, things are looking up.

I haul out the iron. Our ironing board broke, so I am using a towel on the kitchen table. And I follow all the directions to iron on the patches. The same way I did with the girl scout patches. Only these--don't stick.

Nope. Nada. Not sticking. And I can't have them fall off. The damn numbers cost $1.25 EACH and there are 4 of them, and I'm not rebuying them. So I go haul out...my sewing machine. "Alright", I tell myself, "This will take a little longer, but still not bad." Brian, in the meantime, has graciously agreed to run the kids to school (seeing as it is -12 outside).

I get the sewing machine in position, plugged in, turned on. I locate my thread caboodle and see that there is indeed red and blue, and already bobbins to match, so I am in good shape. I go to thread my machine....
*sigh*

The arm that holds the thread on the machine is broken and missing. It broke off about...8 years ago maybe? I super glued it. It wasn't great, but it worked. Now it is missing. So I look in the closet where the sewing machine was, and can't locate it. Great.

I go through my sewing box trying to locate a hand sewing needle, and can't. I just don't have any. Then I remember the sewing kit in my purse...where down the bottom of one of the pockets where the kit is, there is ONE needle.

So I have just taken 10 minutes to write this blog. Now I need to wash my hair, get dressed for work, locate a recipe for this pot luck and then work. On the way home hopefully stop at the grocery store to do the fastest run through yet to grab whatever it is I might need to make this recipe I haven't found yet. Come home (where I am sure my mother will be waiting), go pick the kids up (as it should have warmed up to -1 by then, but they will dawdle on the way home and Emily will be late for ballet). Go to ballet--where I will bring the shirt and hopefully have some time to hand sew on a patch or two. Then come home, make the dish to pass, make dinner for everyone else, finish sewing on the patches and go cry in the corner until bedtime.

Oh and I almost forgot! To make this scenario complete, my dad is fixing Brian's car. So at some point I will have to pick Brian up from work. And pick up his car tonight after the pack meeting.

It's going to be one of those days....

Red Heart Red

2011-01-29T09:57:00.001-06:00

There is NO WAY I can not have a skein of Red Heart Red around here. I am making the coolest hat for my friend's son (and then one for Nicholas the way it looks), and I've found nearly all the colors I need but no red in my entire house? That can't be right!

So I'm ready to start my first duplicate stitching attempt. After this I can officially say I tried something new. I just hope it doesn't look like complete crap, because then I have to remake the hat using intarsia (which I might try for Nicholas' hat). I've seen lots of people's projects that are duplicate stitched, and they look great, so there is hope.

Next up is Miss Dashwood from Knitty for Miss Lanie, then some super warm mittens for Mister Alex. It feels good to be knitting and reading so much!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

...And Felted

2011-01-24T20:35:00.004-06:00

I felted the girls' mittens this afternoon, and they turned out beautifully, and perfectly sized. Which is good, because I got distracted while they were in the washing machine and forgot about them. Fortunately they felted down to the perfect size in one cycle!

I have to say, the Cascade 220 felted much better than the Lamb's Pride. The Lamb's Pride took 3 times to felt down--the Cascade did it in one, and you can hardly see that there was ever any stitching.

I'm also happy to report the girls love them ;)

Now I am a Good Mom

2011-01-24T08:38:00.003-06:00

I have finally done something I wanted to do for a long, long time--all 3 of my children now have felty mittens. OK, so the girls' mittens need to be felted yet. But now they will have warm toasty hands until they lose them:
The pinks are Anna's and the purples are Emily's.

I used Cascade 220, and they are very thick and soft. I do have to say I used Lamb's Pride Worsted for Nicholas', and I so so love the way the twist looks on that yarn, and I think it's my favorite. Not that you can see how the stitches look once you felt it, but when it's done, I think it's beautiful. But Cascade 220 is much softer than the Lamb's Pride.

I just signed up for the Sock Yarnista Club at Three Irish Girls . I decided I work hard (Hey, I made about $7500 last year--it took 3 jobs, but I still made that much money. hahaha) so I can spend $32 a month for some enjoyment. Now I just have to keep on it--my goal is to make a pair of socks every 2 months. I think that is doable, and I haven't made socks in ages. I plan on doing a lot of traveling, so socks are a good travel project.

The very cool thing about this sock club is that you actually get a choice of colorways before they send it. I've never heard of that before ("You get what you get, and you won't throw a fit." I mean, we're sure you'll love it, but if you don't, you are stuck with it) so I am really excited to get that email!

My next knitting conquests? I want to make my friend Jess' kids mittens or hats. They are little, so I am hoping (fingers crossed!) they go quick. I love making kid stuff, and my kids don't always appreciate it. At least I know Jess will appreciate it, even if her kids are going, "Oh great. Mittens." HAHAHAHA

I also am going to see if I can get back to my February Lady Sweater. I have to see how much of my yarn survived the Great Moth Invasion of 2010. Or I could be restarting...which would be fine, but then I have to go through the pain of choosing yarn again. It's bad enough the first time.

Oh well, I'd better get ready for work.

Felty Goodness

2011-01-15T20:19:00.004-06:00

Yay! Another FO for this year, and this one I feel pretty good about. I finally finished some felted mittens for Nicholas--and they turned out great, if I do say so myself.
Before:

After:
Of course, black Lamb's Pride is pretty easy to felt, so we'll see if I do so well with the girls' mittens in Cascade 220.
Nicholas loves them, which makes me pretty happy. Now if I could only put gps trackers in them for when they get lost--although Nicholas IS my most responsible kid, so hopefully these will last. Anna I am anticipating mitten loss in about a week. But if I worried about her losing stuff, I'd never knit her anything.

Emily is having her first sleepover at a friend's house tonight. She couldn't be more excited...I am hoping that there are no 2am calls in the near future. She's slept at Grandmas' houses, but never a friend's house...but she's a brave kid, so I'm not too worried.

Brian and I are planning a trip to Vegas next month for our 15th wedding anniversary. It will be the first time in over 11 years we've gone anywhere extended by ourselves.

First FO of 2011

2011-01-09T17:42:00.001-06:00

Yay! The only good thing about a funeral an hour away is the knitting I got done on the drive. I've officially finished the first of (hopefully) many objects this year. Picture to come as soon as the recipient gets it...I don't want to ruin the surprise!

Now to work on the mate to Nicholas' first mitten. :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

At my Funeral

2011-01-08T17:07:00.002-06:00

There is very little in this world that makes me more upset than making someone do things for "appearance sake". I could give a crap about "what people think", honestly. Guilt trips suck, especially when no one can give you a good reason why.

Anyway, Brian's step grandma died. They were not close. So we were off to the funeral. I had no desire to go, I wasn't asked to go, I was "required" to go...mind you, this is Brian's dad's stepmom...Brian's dad died 5 years ago, and he had a family before he met Brian's mom, so they have all always been "second best". So what did we get today? Snubbed by Brian's halfsister during the "passing of peace" at church. Now, if anyone could use some peace, it is probably her. Or a sharp smack to the head, which she almost got from me today.

So it got me thinking about my own funeral watching this elaborate charade for someone they never called "mom" or "grandma", but can now pretend they are all upset about her death.

1. Do NOT buy me a casket and put me on prime real estate. Cremate me the cheapest way possible, and scatter my ashes. If you have to, buy a marker at a mausoleum. But here is a hint: I'm not there. If it makes you feel better, I am claustrophobic and I hate cold and dark places. Don't bury me.
2. Speaking of me "not being there", these are guidelines I think make good common sense, but I'M not there, so don't worry about what I would think. Wherever I am going, I'm gone. Do what you gotta do.
3. Take whatever money you were going to spend on a funeral bemoaning the fact that I am gone and have a good old fashioned Irish wake/party. I want everyone to have a shot of whiskey on the house, and tell happy stories about me. There should be a couple (I hope).
4. Do NOT under any circumstances guilt trip someone into going to my party, or make them feel shitty if they don't go. There are people that simply cannot deal with people dying/funerals/etc (like me), and no one should feel bad if they don't show up. Once again: I AM NOT THERE AND DON'T CARE IF THEY ARE THERE OR NOT. However, you can let them know I said they are missing a hell of a party.
5. Please, for the love of everything holy or not-so, do not have some clergy member get up there and pretend that he knew me and talk nice about me from what a few people told him and what he read in the obit. What a waste of time and pretty much a joke. Get up and tell whatever stories you want about me, the funnier the better. That's who I am, and that's how I want to be remembered. Not that, "She loved knitting" because he read it in the paper.
6. Speaking of obits, mine had better be fun. I know that people think it's so wrong to have anything but the regular run of the mill obit. Please don't let the funeral home guy/newspaper guy/etc talk you into anything but what you think I'd want said about me (unless it needs to be edited for a "family paper"...I get this). I know that if it's really wordy it costs more...this is why I have life insurance--for the party, booze and the write up in the paper.
7. Most importantly, I'm not really gone. Not that I am anticipating haunting anyone or anything, but as long as you remember who I am, and remember the good times, a part of me keeps going, whether it does on another plane or not.

So that's it. And if anyone gets out of line or is being a bitch at my funeral, please feel free to smack them in the head. You can use the life insurance money to throw your bail in the event of an assault charge. ;)

Squee!!

2011-01-07T15:16:00.004-06:00

In case you haven't found your way over, you really should pop in on DBNY.com. Every year they have a Cherry Tree Hill yarn sale. I love Cherry Tree Hill yarns...I think they are my favorite sock yarn. So I picked up 2 very cool skeins that cost me $12 each. The first 200 orders got Goodie bags--I ordered at 12:45am EST January 1st, so I figured I'd be on one of the 200 ;) Fortunately for me I was and got a whole lot of happy in the mail today!

First, the skeins that I ordered. Won't the Red and black make GREAT Badger socks??

Then I got some BEAUTIFUL Ivy Brambles Romantic Merino lace...1000 yds. The stuff retails for $26--more than my total order for sock yarn--and it's so soft. I love the buttery-ness of the color. I also got some Spangle--it's rayon-y and has little sequins in it. It's kinda cool and soft, but I have no idea what to do with it yet. I bet I could dye it!

Then I got ball of Jam from Knit One Crochet 2 and 2 balls of Fizz by Crystal Palace. The prices marked on them are over $25. I am not a big novelty yarn person, but I am thinking my cats will like some cat toys.

I also got this cute little 50g skein of CTH Louet gems Merino in Winterberry. It's pretty, and I think I can use some add-ons from my stash to make some cute sockies for Emily.

I got 2 patterns too...one for some Possum Swag Socks from CTH and another one for a tank top.

So it's a good day--and I've been knitting...but this is the only view you get so far! :)

Have a great day! Hope your 2011 is going great :)

New Year

2011-01-04T16:18:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year 2011. I'm kind of sad to see 2010 go...all and all, over the past few years, 2010 was not all that bad. But maybe 2011 will be good too :)

I'm very excited that I will be going on a couple of trips this year (after going on none last year!) In October I am going to visit Thora, and we are going to Rhinebeck! I haven't seen Thora in years, so I can't wait! Rhinebeck is just an added bonus. My friend Lisa also wants to get together, so we figure we'll both drive halfway and meet in the middle.

Resolutions--ah, this again. I DID start a sweater for myself...I just didn't finish it. Just in general knitting-wise to knit more. That's it. I have hardly knitted the last half of this year, and that's just no acceptable...I need to get my butt off the computer (as I say this from the computer!) and knit more. I did do some knitting today, so I'm happy. But it's a surprise, so no pictures ;)

And that's it from this front. Still loving my job, might go out for my birthday tonight, still pretty happy, so that's something!

I'd better get Knitting

2010-12-17T08:25:00.006-06:00

You know, it's always about this time of year, when the snow flies, and it's frickin' cold, that I realize I should have started knitting mittens in June. Maybe they would be done (for once) when the snow flies, and it's frickin' cold. I have one of Nicholas' felted mittens done. And half a cuff on the other one. Oh and I bought the yarn for the girls' mittens.
So here is our blizzard (as taken by Brian):

And the good news on the Christmas PJ front? I found the patterns! They were in a drawer in the kitchen (and why wouldn't they be??). Oh yeah, and since JoannDOTcom (I am writing it like this, because I don't want anyone to make a mistake and click on a link that will take you to an evil, unorganized hole-"That's all I got to say about that.") screwed up my order, I have flannel for exactly ONE pair of pajamas. Which means I see a flannel run in my future.

Our Christmas cards should be coming today. Those of you who do not have multiple children might not realize how hard it is to get a decent picture (and those of you who do will understand why I bought a fast camera!) Unless of course you are one of those mom's who have complete angels as children. Bah. Anyway, I thought I would share some of the rejects with you (the last is my favorite of Emily):

Happy Friday everyone!

My Knit Picks Wishlist

2010-11-12T11:03:00.002-06:00

Well, if I post this on my blog, then maybe I'll win it right? That would rock! So here I am posting this on my blog ;)

My Knit Picks Wishlist

Lawn Mowers in November...

2010-11-10T14:53:00.005-06:00

...should have already been winterized. But alas, I am hearing my jackass neighbors mow their lawn. Look, I know you are excited it is 60 degrees in November in Wisconsin. But COME ON! Enjoy not shoveling--and not mowing--and just get outside! Of course it is possible they are happy to mow the dog poop rather than pick it up...

I have to change the progress bar on the scarf for Emily back down to 50%. I finished the ball of yarn, but it is definitely NOT a one ball scarf, as the label lied and told me. Even for my little girl, this scarf would barely tie once around her neck...so I'm going to have to buy another ball and knit that one too.

In other news--my family went to Wisconsin Dells and I didn't even get a lousy T-Shirt. That's ok though--I DID get to work 20 hours on the Reference desk. (which, despite some long 8 hour days, was pretty fun!).

My big BIG news?? The Friends of the Appleton Library (FOAL) sponsored their first annual Book n Bowl and held a raffle. The prizes were pretty great--vacations, Packers/Bears tickets, and iPad. Of course the only one I REALLY wanted was the iPad...and guess who won!? Wanna see it?

Brian and I are currently addicted to Angry Birds, although his boss says Angry Birds Halloween rocks too.

Snow White turned out great--and so did Anna's peacock costume she made herself!!! Luigi looked great too, but he was $19 at Walmart!

Look at those feather eyelashes! And look at the BEAUTIFUL sweater that Thora made her in the perfect color!!

October Knitting

2010-10-30T13:44:00.004-05:00

About time to update my damn blog, eh?

Alright, I have been busy. I lost my jobs at APL, and I am now working at NPL, which is just really, well, nice. The people are nice, the patrons are nice, and I enjoy going to work.

DD #1's behavior has become a huge problem. I know in the coming years, it will only get worse. I am at my wit's end wondering what on earth I did to make her decide that stealing, lying and sneaking is acceptable. *sigh*

Anyway, enough family complaining. I could go on all day with that, and that's boring. Let me move on to knitting--I took a little hiatus, and have decided I'd better start moving PDQ if I'm going to get my kids some warm garments before it gets REALLY cold.

So what did I do. I bought some Red Heart Pomp-a-doodle. Seriously, what the hell was I thinking??

I HATE novelty yarn, and here I am working with pompoms on a string. But it's surprisingly, um, not difficult to knit with. And the finished product makes a thick, terry cloth feeling scarf. I'm embarrassed to say I'm pretty happy with it.

Oh and I found some Homespun that matches it to make mittens and a hat with for Ms. Emily.
Otherwise, I just finished sewing a Snow White costume (that was much more labor intensive than I'd like), and I started as an Independent Consultant with Scentsy. If I can make a little extra money selling a product I believe in (I'm all about the scents!) I'm there! So I'm excited about that new venture, pretty sure I will be horrible at it, but I'm willing to try. :)

I also tried to get a job at the local Joann's teaching knitting. It was looking pretty promising, until I rearranged my schedule to meet with the person and bring in some FO's, got pictures developed of other FO's I'd given away, etc. I called that morning to hear, "Well, the bad news is you have to meet with a manager, and I forgot to tell you that. But she's here today! But she kind of doesn't know about you or that you are coming." Now I see the sign looking for someone is down--so maybe my timing was bad. Or maybe their organization (or scary lack-there-of) tells me I didn't want to work there, even just for the discount. Ah well...it wasn't meant to be.

A Joke for my Anna

2010-09-06T11:27:00.002-05:00

A kindergarten teacher handed out a coloring page to her class. On it was a picture of a duck holding an umbrella. The teacher told her class to color the duck in yellow and the umbrella green, however, Bobby, the class rebel, coloured the duck in a bright fire truck red. After seeing this, the teacher asked him: "Bobby, how many times have you seen a red duck?" Young Bobby replied with "The same number of times I've seen a duck holding an umbrella."

(When she was in Kindergarten, Anna's first conference involved her teacher and the school psychologist. Apparently, Anna colored her apple purple instead of red--as the teacher told her to--and this was cause for alarm. After Brian and I stopped laughing--causing the vein in her teacher's head to throb--we let her know that we pick and choose our battles with Anna, and purple apples would not be one we'd be picking. This joke reminded me of the whole incident!)

Finally...an update

2010-08-09T12:45:00.006-05:00

I know I have been woefully lacking in posts, but, truthfully, I haven't been knitting much this summer! I seem to be working on the same project, just doing a row here or there. It's a sweater for Emily (the kids asked for sweaters for school. Oy!)

Anyway, for Emily I am trying a Cottage Creations pattern, Kyler's Kardigan in Paton's Canadiana light pink.
I SWORE I would never try another Cottage Creations pattern, but I was at Herrschners store, and I was tempted. So far I can understand most of it, but it's not moving along very fast.

I had a busy day so far. I made beef soup for tomorrow
seared beef for fajitas tonight, made zucchini cake

and creamy cucumbers....mmmmm.
So I'm still alive. I'm taking the kids this afternoon to go see Shrek 4 at Fox Cinema. We haven't been there yet, so I'm hoping it's a good time! :)

One little moth...

2010-06-08T10:55:00.002-05:00

...can ruin your whole day.

Brian mentioned to me he'd seen little moths coming out of our room. I finally got up the courage to inspect my wool...and it's chewed to hell. I gathered up everything and put it in the big freezer downstairs, but I'm pretty upset. :(

From now on--quarantined yarn before it comes in (although it is possible my little "bug" girl brought them in the house) and rubbermaid containers. And "nuke the sight from orbit...it's the only way to be sure."

In other news, I have more time to knit, since I've lost 2 of my 3 jobs. :(

Boy, this post is a bummer...sorry about the depressing update. I'll finish some knitting and be more upbeat next time!

Spring has Sprung

2010-05-17T10:35:00.008-05:00

After a LONG winter, a taste of summer, and then back to SNOW, it finally seems like Spring may stick around for a while. I planted some flowers, and the columbine is flourishing:
(Emily's Violas)

And the strawberries are blooming very nicely!

I got some beautiful Mother's Day gifts:
And Anna had her Civil War Re-enactment. She got to recite the first verse of "Oh Captain! My Captain!" in front of 5th graders from five schools. I'm very proud of her!!

I have been doing some knitting, and even tried my hand at crochet. Here is a little preemie outfit I knit for friends in the UK. Of course I'm scared that by the time it gets to her, she'll have outgrown it!

I think it's time to knit some socks!! I did join the Loopy Ewe Sock Club Lite, and my first shipment is on it's way!

Saturday

2010-04-10T18:47:00.004-05:00

That's pretty much all I have to say. Trying to avoid drama...possibility of drama today is high.

We went to Lake Michigan today--we didn't stay long, because it rained. BUT we did stop to see the Lester Public Library in Two Rivers. What a BEAUTIFUL library!! It's outstanding--and I was amazed by how quiet everyone was (and how well behaved!!) And they had a fish tank! You have to love a library that has a fish tank!

Anyway, on the way there I cast on the Arrowhead Lace headband. I really liked my haircut when I first got it, but it has this tapered look that is meant to hug my face. Unfortunately now, since it is longer, if I sleep wrong or brush it wrong, I tend to have the "Shawn Cassidy/Farrah Fawcett" 70's look, with the feathering. It's driving me crazy.

Anyway, I finished a headband today--I really like it, and I think I'll find some patterns to make some more. I also found 14" not stretched is the perfect length (at least with Cascade 220)

April Snow Showers

2010-04-08T10:53:00.004-05:00

Ah, nothing like looking out the window on a fine Spring morning in Wisconsin:

Last week at this time I was sitting at a picnic table with my friend Greta, getting a sunburn. Today....meh.

I have been doing some knitting. Working on this little project for a friend (Shhh...it's a surprise!)...

while my February Lady sweater has been in a holding pattern--but I did want to show you all it is a lot further along than the last picture I posted:

Toying with the idea of buying a Knit Kit. Problem is I already have something like that in a mini knitting bag, so I don't know that I can really justify the price. Ah well....

I went to yoga this morning. I had a different teacher than I usually do, who was very good--but lots of Downward Dog pose. It is my least favorite pose, so this morning was hard for me. I don't usually sweat so much at yoga, but I kinda smelled today.

Yarn Battles

2010-03-24T18:09:00.003-05:00

Oh Lisa Souza, I love you. I love your yarn. It is women like you who enable women like me to make beautiful things. And you are genuinely a nice person.

So when my order came today it was everything I thought it would be and more. The color was gorgeous. The yarn was unbelievably soft. I ran right downstairs to wind it into pretty balls so I can knit a beautiful shawlette.

But dear Lisa, I fear your yarn hates me. The other end, that wasn't being made into the pretty little ball right away, would not take no for an answer. It continued to wrap itself around my swift. So much so, I threatened. I yelled. And...my Stork scissors did some things. I cannot be held responsible for what my Stork scissors does.

Anyway, part way through, my ball looked like this:

Unfortunately, I am not the most patient knitter. You would think this would be in a knitter's nature. Knitting takes time. But alas, I am more apt to see a mistake, and more likely than not, just fudge it. Unless it is lace, and very noticeable. Then I usually scream and chuck. Into the corner. Occasionally, I will pick up the object and frog and start over. Sometimes I throw it into a bag.

I am not a patient knitter.

So the remaining yarn on the swift and I had a discussion with my ball winder. The stork scissors stayed close by. I begged and whispered. I may have even yelled a word that started with an F. Fortunately for me (and for it) the remaining bit of yarn whispered back, and told me about that pesky end that continued to wrap itself around the swift? Well IT wanted to go into the ball first. So I did that...

And it worked. I had a cute little ball of yarn, not a lumpy monstrosity. A beautiful, soft, Lisa Souza monstrosity, but a monstrosity nonetheless.

So I took the wonky ball and began winding it into another ball. I had to splice it in ~~one~~ ~~two~~ several places. Stork scissors had been easily annoyed. But I was rewarded.

So my 3 beautiful balls of yarn and my ball winder, the Rubik's Cube (it was lonely) and even the Stork scissors found a way to get along.
So I am off to start a Shawlette. I am hoping Stork scissors does not need to get involved.

I might even go to Google Avenue to knit...

Saffy Jane

2010-03-17T13:53:00.001-05:00

Ribbed Keyhole Scarf
Originally uploaded by lkopetsky

My sweet kitty Saffy Jane, passed away on Monday, March 15. She was 17 years old, and my "kid before I had kids". She was always such a good kitty, and never said boo about moving (a million times), new animals, new kids, etc. I couldn't have asked for a better pet--and I miss her like crazy. My heart is broken :(

Wisconsin Dells

2010-02-21T19:57:00.003-06:00

We are spending the weekend at Wisconsin Dells. I've lived in Wisconsin my entire life, and I've never been here. My first impression driving to the hotel was that it looked a hell of a lot like Cocoa Beach with snow. Or like Stephen King says in his novel "Thinner": ..."That's the honkiest honky tonk of them all."

We're staying at Hotel Rome at Mt. Olympus. It looks great on paper. But I'd recommend staying anywhere else. There are no perks for people staying at the hotel (as in opening an hour earlier or staying open an hour later type things). We actually had to sign something that said we'd do the dishes or pay a fine. There is no maid service. Each bed comes with exactly one sheet and one thin blanket--not even a bed spread to divvy out. The wireless access is sub par at best (usually just one bar). There's no book/booklet in our room saying what time the pool/park opens or closes, what number to call for room service, etc. There isn't even a map of the exits on the door to tell us what to do in case of a fire (or tout their outrageous rack rates).

The water park isn't very exciting. We haven't been to the theme park--it closed at 6pm.

We had a very exotic breakfast this morning--Cracker Barrel! But I can't really say anything bad...Anna decided she loves grits, and the bacon was the absolute best I have had in a long while (and they sell it in the gift shop--honest they do!). This afternoon we went to Moosejaw pizza, which actually has giant moose on their cars to deliver (and it pretty much looks like the moose is humping the top of the car). It was really good--we would have gone last night, but the wait was an hour).

In between, we went to the House on the Rock in Spring Green. I've never been there, and it really is like nothing you've ever seen before. Watching Brian walk to the end of the Infinity room was quite a site, and the Carousel was amazing (and a little creepy!). I'll post pictures when I get them DEVELOPED. Yes my friends, Lynnette forgot her camera going to The House on the Rock. (actually, I didn't know we were going right after breakfast, so I didn't bring it). So I'm hoping the pics I took with the disposable (gulp!) turn out.

Other than that, I've done no knitting whatsoever. My chances of finishing Ravelympics are looking pretty bleak. The good news is after I take the little Cub Scouts to the library tomorrow, I don't work again until Thursday night when I work the Reference desk.

After Day 1

2010-02-13T22:41:00.003-06:00

Here is my progress so far (I cast on at 8:15pm CST last night):
I DID learn how to do a one row button hole, which I am pretty proud of!!

Oh and I also had my first pedicure ever! See my pretty toes?
OK, I do apologize for my ugly feet, but there really is so much that woman could do for $25. She isn't a miracle worker, although she DID mostly make my feet smooth (and very red LOL)

I must be insane.

2010-02-12T15:21:00.004-06:00

Most of you who know me probably already believe this. A lot of you are too nice to say it. But it's true.

My knitting friends know the saga of me never making a sweater for myself in the 10+ years I have been knitting. So what do I do you ask...??

I am ~~stupid~~ woman enough to join the Sweaterboard Cross in the 2010 Ravelympics. I was going to do Mr. Greenjeans from Knitty, and I still think it's a beautiful sweater, but I have decided on the February Lady Sweater. A)I am a little intimidated by the cabling in Greenjeans and B) Thora told me I should make myself one and C) I have time constraints.

C)=Big Time.

I'm using some beautiful green Highland Peruvian Wool I bought from Elann.com.
(A lot of wool. I am not insubstantially sized)
I am set to cast on tonight at 8pm my time. I WILL finish this one, or you can all beat me with a wet noodle!!

OK, and to add to my ~~insanity~~ productivity I am also finishing squares for Victory Junction--I have until the checkered flag flies for Daytona, which gives me a couple days to finish up a few and send them out to be joined with fellow Fast Girls who are also working on them. And I am trying to find time to knit a pair of mittens for Afghans for Afghans latest project.

Well, at least it keeps me out of trouble!! And I do have incentive, besides helping other people and finally knitting myself a sweater--this little piece of yummy goodness from The Loopy Ewe is waiting for me at the finish line!

I know, I know...about Time

2010-01-31T17:12:00.005-06:00

Hey, I'm pretty happy to get in a blog post before the end of January. I've thought about it a lot, but never quite got here to do one.

Lots of health problems going on. I don't know quite what to say or do about that, but maybe there will be some answers soon.

I have managed to knit, and even finished something in 2010 already! I made some cool Fun Fur mittens for Emily's friend Gracie. Her mom says I should sell them, as they are the envy of the preschool set at school, but I just don't think I could manage all that Fun Fur knitting!

I also have a picture of the scarf I made for Barb. It took me forever, but I think it turned out really nice, and she finally got it for Christmas:

And this one is just because I managed to get all my pictures into the computer, and I like to share:

PS--Dominoes new pizza: Better than it was before. Still not worth buying without a good coupon.

Shout out to Knit Picks

2009-12-15T09:17:00.003-06:00

Just have to tell everyone how pleased I am with Knit Picks. Someone on Ravelry had bought a kit from them, and had lost the instructions, and they sent her new instructions by email. I thought that was pretty cool. Someone else said they'd broken a needle and was mailed a replacement. Very cool.

My problem was of my own doing (and my kids). I bought a swift from Knit Picks a long time ago. Any of you that know my financial situation know that, even though it was a Knit Picks swift, it's still a lot of money for me. Anyway, the kids love to play with it, and lost the screw that holds the "rack" part in place--the big wooden screw. For a couple of years I've been using a rubber band that sometimes holds it in place, usually doesn't hold it at all, and I end up winding with one hand and holding it up with the other. And wishing the whole time I had a solution.

So I thought, "Hmmm...why not ask? I'd be willing to pay for it. Maybe Knit Picks can send me one". So I wrote to customer service and tried to explain it the best I can which screw I need. Amber wrote me back the next morning and said that they were sending me both screws and I should have them in a week.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How wonderful is that??? I know some people have had bad experiences with Knit Picks. Some people dog them because their shipping takes too long, or they will put LYS's out of business. I just want to say thanks to Knit Picks for their great service--you've made a customer for life!

Lynnette's Throw-Together-in-a-Blizzard Hamburger Concoction

2009-12-09T17:23:00.003-06:00

We just got 14" of snow, and I'm not going to the store. So I went through my pantry and fridge and threw together what I had--and it turned out! So here goes:

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small can mushrooms (you can probably use fresh, but I had canned)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can beef broth (or cup and a half of water)
1 1/2 cups Minute Rice
salt and black pepper to taste

In large, oven safe skillet, brown ground beef. Drain. Stir in onions, garlic and mushrooms and cook until onions soften a bit. Add both soups, beef broth and Minute Rice and stir.

Put entire skillet in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until rice is cooked. Should be creamy, but not soupy. You could probably add some cheese on top if you had it (I don't). Enjoy your daughter telling you that you should "throw together" dinner more often!

Wordless Wednesday--Peace

2009-12-02T20:25:00.002-06:00

Is it a Packer Pickle? Corn? Nope...

2009-11-30T17:44:00.004-06:00

So, for the kids' teachers this year, I'm busting out my stash and making them Christmas ornaments. I bought some cute boxes at Big Lots for a buh-fitty, and I'm ready to go. Here's my first try:
Now it's supposed to be a christmas light. Honest. I used this pattern. I finished in record time.

So Anna says, "Wow! You made the pickle to hide in the tree in Packer colors? Cool!" Emily said, "You made a corn?" Brian couldn't figure out what it was. He figured Emily was right when she said corn. When I told him it what it was, he said, "Oh well, maybe if you made a whole string of them." Tomorrow is (brace yourself) DECEMBER 1st! I don't have time to make a whole string of lights AND other ornaments and all the other crap I have to make for Christmas. Figuring it out, Nicholas has 2 teachers, Emily has 2 teachers, Anna has one teacher, and that isn't including Nicholas and Anna's parapros or student teachers!

So anyway, I'm working on that, a lace scarf (which is almost done), Anna's sweater, a canine related gift, plus sweating it because cold weather is here and no mitties or hats are done for my children! I am a bad knitting mom!

The night before Nicholas' birthday we were in the Appleton Christmas parade on the Library float. Our theme was "The Polar Express". Here's a few shots:

The Saturday before Nicholas had a birthday party at Soccer Heaven. It's a neat place to have a birthday, although I wish it were slightly better organized and a host was included (for $125, it ought to be). PLUS the website says that the premium party includes pizza and a free refill on your soda--it doesn't tell you that for your $125, you don't GET your first soda...you have to pay for it (a little deceiving in that omission, hmmm?) If you like a party where you don't have to do anything--don't go to Soccer Heaven. But if you want a party your 7 year old and his friends will remember...they're a great place to go.
Well, I'm off to knit some more Christmas ornaments--just probably not lights! They DO have a pattern for a knitted pickle...

2009-11-28T20:05:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Why Can't this Weather Last Forever?

2009-11-08T10:52:00.004-06:00

I love sitting out on the patio with the laptop and the camera, enjoying our very warm Indian Summer day in November. I know it's a tease, and that winter is just around the corner. I can feel the chill in the wind, just giving a hint of what is to be. And I know there is NO possible way I won the lottery last night, so I can winter in Florida. But I'm not ready, and I'm sorry I took all those summer days on the patio for granted. Summer wasn't very warm this year, but it was summer, and I feel like I disrespected it. So I'll pay a price this winter.

And with that, I had a really good mail day on Friday.
Two are Christmas presents, so I can't show you what it is, but the other is some yummy Zen Squooshy Sock in Raspberry Rush from Sonny and Shear.
Have I told you that Sonny and Shear is my favorite place to buy yarn? Seriously, they're AWESOME! Kris always makes me feel like my order is special, even though it always seems when I am able to order, I can only afford one thing, and I feel like a cheap-o. If you haven't gotten yarn there, I highly recommend giving them a try. You won't be disappointed!!!

Yesterday we went to Horicon Marsh, thinking, "Geez, it's 65 degrees, we'll see TONS of migrating birds!" Well, it WAS 65 degrees, but we only saw Canadian Geese (granted, there were a ton) and Coots and Mallards. Granted, Coots are lots of fun to watch swim, but it appears everything else had migrated already. Too smart for us!

I also finished one of my sockies, but I forgot to take a picture, so that will be for tomorrow.

Today the plan is going to pick up Emily from Grandma's house, and just hanging out outside. I don't even need to take a walk. I think I'll make some lemonade and just enjoy the patio right here for one more day of grace.

This is frickin funny

2009-11-06T16:04:00.000-06:00

Jon Stewart has Glenn Beck to a T:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

The 11/3 Project

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

Namaste

2009-11-05T12:42:00.005-06:00

I've been feeling really blah lately, and some things have been bothering me much more than they should. Not like big things, stupid things. I got up my courage and went to Globally Sound in Appleton for yoga this morning. My friend Greta's sister, Genelle, taught the class, and their other sister, Renee, came too. It was the most wonderful decision I've made--seriously! I had such a great time, and it was so amazing and relaxing. I feel so good, I'm going to make it a weekly routine. Mostly, I'm ok with everything, and I'm definitely not as angry. And if yoga can help me feel like that, I'm on it!

I've also been knitting a sock. The pattern is ankle slipper sox in worsted weight Vanna's Choice in a Seaspray green. I thought it was a pretty color and would make a nice sock, and I'm not disappointed.
And I needed to take a picture of my Totoro bag I got on Ebay that I just love.
Nicholas has decided to do his birthday party at Soccer Heaven, so will run the deposit over there today after I pick up the house and go to work. I think it was a great choice--he had mentioned the bowling alley again (I wasn't very impressed when we went here last year). I actually went to the Wikispot page I made on kids birthday parties in the Fox Valley and read him the list, and this is how he picked it. So sometimes stuff I do actually works out!!

Think I'll grab a sandwich and move along through a house pick up.

It's Halloween

2009-10-31T20:00:00.003-05:00

We didn't have such a great Halloween this year. Not only did Nicholas still have a fever (and now complains his ear hurts) but Emily got home from my mom's house and has a fever too. She just wept her little heart out when we said she couldn't go trick or treating, and it nearly broke mine.

So I went all out (probably too much, but oh well) and got Nick and Emily treats. I also got them some cake from Manderfields.
Anna decided to be a ghost (since with sick kids, I didn't get her costume done) and she looked cute.
So Brian and she went out, and lasted MAYBE 15 minutes in the cold. So we had no trick or treaters either with the flu in the house. It makes me feel bad, and I hope next year is better.

Some Halloween Creativity

2009-10-31T12:05:00.003-05:00

Trick or Treat/Smell my Feet/Give me something good to eat!
If you don't/I don't care/I'll pull down my underwear!

First here are our little pumpkins--they're already rotting, poor things!!
And Emily asked that I take a picture of her artwork. She put them all next to each other on the windowsill, and then says, "Look Mom! They're loving each other!"
I'll post pics of the kids in costumes later. Nicholas still has a fever, and will not be partaking in Trick or Treating this evening. He's ok with it, since I told him I'd get him whatever candy he wanted. And sorry neighbors, we won't be handing out Flu-full candy this year either :(

The Bridge

2009-10-30T17:10:00.003-05:00

Oh Dick! Oh Jane!
Oh, oh!
Look, Look!
Come and Look.
Look Mother and Father.
Look and see.
Come and see the bridge.
See the cars. See the cars go.
The bridge makes us happy.
They go two by two.
Go Cars, go!
See the cars. See the cars go around.
Go cars, go!

My Caring Son

2009-10-28T14:16:00.006-05:00

My kids' school is great. They have awards every quarter called "Character Counts", where kids are nominated for awards by their teachers based on 6 character traits: Respect, Trustworthiness, Caring, Responsibility, Citizenship and Fairness. Nicholas got an award yesterday for Caring, which is no surprise--he is a very caring, kind little guy.
Unfortunately, he's also a sick little guy. I could tell as he walked back from the award ceremony that he just didn't look right (notice how white his face is?), and, sure enough, he had a fever of 102 when he got home.

Of course with my children, the Motrin kicks in, and you'd never know they were sick. Nicholas and Anna spent 2 hours screwing around...now they are more quiet, since Nicholas' fever is back.

In other news, I started Anna's sweater.
And now I won't be working on it tonight, thanks to my good friend Susan Bates and her crappy interchangeable needles. It kept unscrewing, so I went to tighten it. And it broke!
Oh and the tree that was still green? Yeah, well, not so much now. Now I need to rake:
Think I'll start some socks tonight.

Mulberry Lane Farm

2009-10-27T13:00:00.005-05:00

Last Wednesday I took a field trip with Nicholas' class to Mulberry Lane Farm in Sherwood. Fortunately the rain stopped (mostly) but boy was the Pumpkin patch muddy!! We even wiped our feet before we got back on the bus, and the entire floor was mud!

It's a really neat place--in addition to the pumpkin patch, Nicholas' class got to do some pretty neat things, including riding a pony, milking a cow, feeding goats and sheep and holding a chicken. I highly recommend it just for a visit with your family...very impressive, friendly staff.

I also did Brian a favor and gutted pumpkins with the kids (without him). He really hates that job. But we had some fun:

We went to Door County for a drive this weekend. I would have had some great pictures--but for the fact that my memory card was in Brian's laptop. And the laptop was at home.

Then we went to Tundra Lodge to stay overnight. Anna and I ended up going home, because she had a fever. I saw the worst in my 10 year old, let me tell you...nothing like a screaming, stamping your feet, crying fit in the hallways of the hotel. Brian stayed and wasn't impressed--we are used to Lodge at Cedar Creek, and this was a miniature, less nice version of that.

Today Nicholas is getting a Character Counts award at his school, so I could be doing another post with pictures later.

I also started Anna's sweater, so I'll post pictures of that later too.

Otherwise, just trying to stay healthy and keep everyone else healthy.

Football Sunday

2009-10-18T19:26:00.005-05:00

It's Sunday, and fortunately for me, this morning I Kitchener stitched the toe of my second Brett Favre sock!
I'm very proud of myself--the yarn is Opal Mississippi (I couldn't make this up...) color #2087. The problem is getting the socks to look alike. I'm not completely anal about it, like some people, but I do like my patterns to look somewhat similar. I got really close on these, so they are nearly identical. Yay Me!
We went over to Dan's house to watch the Packers kill the Lions. I enjoyed quite a few Mike's Hard Pink Lemonades (OK, is 5 quite a few??) and I can honestly say I've never been hung over the same day. I am getting old.

Did you see the Vikings pull out the game in the last minute to stay 6-0? Couldn't be happier about that!! To reiterate: I am not a Vikings fan. I am not even really a total Brett Favre fan (I think he's acted like a complete asshole drama queen)--but I absolutely, positively HATE Ted Thompson's guts. He needs to lose his job and crawl back into whatever obscure hole he came out of. The Packers need someone who makes educated decisions, listens to his staff, picks up Free Agents, actually does what is best for the team (and not just says he does) and admits when he is wrong (JUSTIN HARRELL) so the team can move on. And if wearing a purple and gold number 4 the rest of the season gets us to that end, I can force myself to do it. Besides, I look damn good in purple--almost as good as green.

'nough said about football.

It's time for me to start Anna's sweater. I'm not a yarn snob, but I was surprised when Anna wanted me to make her a sweater from Red Heart. She wanted a brown sweater, and I just didn't know if I could bring myself to knit an entire sweater for her in brown...but I did find a nice aran color with flecks of brown and blue in it, and she loves it (lucky me!)

So the moral of the story is this: No one is more thrilled that I've finished my Brett Favre socks than Anna, because now I can knit her sweater!!

Upcoming this week--Sack it to Goodwill for Cub Scouts, Mulberry Farm for Nicholas' class, WLA this week so the library should be interesting.

Nicholas has his last soccer game on Saturday morning--against his current school. We weren't sure what school he would be at when we signed him up for soccer, so we signed him up for his old school, thinking he'll at least know some of the kids. I fear his coach is trying to get rid of him, as he told him he can play with the Richmond team on Saturday if he wants and they'll have someone fill in for him. I told Nicholas no--he's been with his team all year, he's finishing out the season with them.
Maybe it's just my over-sensitivity on these issues--Let's face it, I am scarred by my own childhood. There's nothing quite like having an art teacher who draws your self-portrait for you or has another kid do your paperweight because you suck so bad at art. Or a music teacher who singles you out in 5th grade to give "special lessons" to at recess time, and let's it slip it's because you sing too loudly and suck at it, and the other girls complained--but come on. I'm sorry my son is not a star soccer player. But wanna know a secret? He is the kid out there having the most fun! The smile on his face, because he's just happy to be out there playing with his friends, is priceless. He's improved tons this season, and I'm very proud of him--and I hope his coach is proud of him too.

Flickr

2009-10-13T07:59:00.001-05:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

A Busy Sunday!

2009-10-11T21:16:00.007-05:00

Today was the day that Emily has waited all year for (even more than her birthday!): It was her day to go to Every Girl's A Princess!! We were a little bummed we got pushed back 20 minutes (especially when I called within a minute of receiving the email that reservations were opened up!) but she was met by her Royal Dresser Ashley, and made a crown, wand, bracelet, picked a pretty purple dress, was announced as Princess Emily, made a pretty picture frame, and then we were off to the Royal Tea!

It is a great time! This is the last year for Emily to be in the Petite Parlor for 2-4 year olds...next year, she's in with the big girls (and big prom dresses!!) We have a great time every year, and it's so worth the money (that goes to some great causes).

Then we went to my parents house to watch the Vikings win (Brett Favre's 1st time on a 5-0 team--yay Brett!!) and have some yummy beef stew. Then off to the orchard for some apple picking before the snow (!?!) for Columbus Day!!
Tomorrow--my first Cub Scout meeting as Den leader of Den 5, Pack 3018. I'm a little afraid, and am grateful for the help from the Cubmaster Jill! Wish me luck!

Baby it's COLD outside

2009-10-09T15:43:00.005-05:00

I know global warming is about climate change, but maybe sometime we can get some of the "warming" part up here. The summer was not warm, and now we are talking accumulating snow in early October. This is just NOT right!

To top it off, I am woefully behind on my winter knitting (as in "haven't started"). I am still working on my Brett Favre socks, but I suppose I should put them down to make some mitties and hats quick. Nicholas has a soccer game tomorrow at 8:30 am, and if I thought last week was cold, this week will be 20 degrees colder!!!

Last weekend we went to Brian's Aunt Jackie's land in Waupaca. It was beautiful up there, and I see why she commutes every day to Appleton. Here are some pics of the kids on the tractor:
(Emily is wearing Anna's "octopus" sweater I made her when she was 4!)

We're going to cook out tonight (for what could be the last time in a while) so I am off to the store for brats and buns! Then I'd better get going on that knitting!

Tooooosday.....Aaaafternoon...(OK, really evening)

2009-09-29T20:16:00.004-05:00

We took the kids to see Ponyo at Field of Scenes on Saturday night.

There was only a handful of cars there, and it was really nice (great movie by the way. Terry has made me into a Miyazaki fan!). October 3rd is their last movie for the year. They are showing the Haunted Mansion, and it's $10 a carload or free with a pillowcase full of cleaning supplies. The supplies and the profits all go to Harbor House, so if you are free, check it out. It's a really fun place, and an asset to the Fox Valley.

Today Emily had a playdate with her best buddy Max. They decorated cupcakes.

I couldn't find my Halloween decorating stuff, but Christmas sugar and jimmies were JUST fine with them. The cupcakes are sugar-riffic and the mess was overall not horrible,

but they had such a good time. And Max brought home cupcakes to fatten up his family, since his mother has decided to attempt making brownies with black beans in them. That's no way to make dessert!

Speaking of which, had a nice walk with Jeanette and Amy tonight. Wondering who will give in first when the weather gets cold.

Still knitting on my Brett Favre sock. I'm looking forward to pay day on Thursday to buy yarn for Anna's sweater. (I'm also looking forward to eating again LOL!) I also want to get started on my Cardi...the weather is getting chilly and my work shirts are soon to be short sleeved (and safety green)! And Sunshine Yarns had an update...mmmmm.....

And a follow up...

2009-09-26T17:24:00.002-05:00

So go figure: Deadbeat crazy ex-neighbor doesn't bring her kids for a play date. And rips my son's heart apart--again. It's 5:30, they were supposed to be here at 3pm, and he's still saying, "Well, maybe they'll still come".

She shows up again and she's being told to go away. It's one thing to screw with her own kids; it's another to screw with mine. We just keep telling him some people make bad choices--but the bad choices of this crazy broad don't have to be visited on my kids.

Anyway, we're doing dinner than off to the last drive-in movie of the year. We're going to see Ponyo, so I'm excited.

Oh, and moving the MIL? I'm amazed one person who seems to move every other year can collect so much crap!

This Morning is Already LONG

2009-09-26T08:07:00.003-05:00

I woke up exactly 17 minutes ago. In that time, I've had to chase the cat who got out (when Emily opened the door for her), twice. I had the dog look right at me and bolt across the street. I chased her. I came in the house to screaming, fighting kids. I have 3 bites on my stomach, either from a spider or a mosquito. The bites are right where the waistband of my pants comes up, so it itches constantly. We have to move Brian's mom today. Again. And yes, it is practically next door to where she lives now. Again. My crazy ex-neighborlady (and I am quite happy about the "EX" part) is supposed to bring her kids over between 3 and 4 pm. I'm sure she will have some "errands" to run to leave her kids here.

BUT...after all this whining.....

I have some very pretty mums.
I also have one completed Brett Favre sock. And the second one is started.
And Saffy likes it too. (Actually, she's probably just hungry, and I'm interrupting her feeding time by taking pictures).
The pattern I used for the sock is a compilation of many patterns I've used over the years, with some twists. But it is my basic pattern that I can remember in my head, it fits my size 9 feet, and it works. I'm going to post it in a few days. I may also have another pattern to post--my friend Moe has made a baby hat and booties, and decorated it with a flower and bow that is her own design. Pretty cool!!

So that's life this morning. I'm going to catch up on my DVR'd People's Courts and Judge Judy's, or some Food Network and maybe knit some more on my sock. Before my day gets any longer.

Facebook gets in the way of my Blog!

2009-09-24T10:46:00.002-05:00

So, it's that time again. Fall rolls around and I think, "You know, I should really blog". And I was going to do this MORE this year!

The kids are all at new schools. Nicholas and Anna are at our neighborhood school, in traditional school, and so far, so good. Nicholas had some separation problems, and Anna is still organizationally challenged, but overall it's a great school and we are very fortunate.

Emily is attending a Catholic preschool. She's doing great--I had no worries about it--and everyday is a new adventure with tales to tell. She has finally stopped call the Father "That Boy", so that's good. My main worry was that we aren't Catholic, so how am I going to teach the kid to do the sign of the cross...watch it on YouTube to figure it out?? Both Nicholas and Emily have been asking about God and Jesus, so I'd like to take them to church. Of course, I have to FIND a church...something not inbred with 10 members, but definitely not Stadium Seating.

Otherwise I'm back to both jobs (3 if you include ChaCha, but I have been slacking there lately). I'm hoping the money situation improves. Things just seem to be plodding along.

My MIL had surgery so I quick ran to Yarns by Design and picked out some sock yarn. I will post a pic tonight, but the yarn is Opal Mississippi, and the colors are green/gold and Purple/white/gold. No lie--Brett Favre yarn! I picked up some dpn's while I was there. I haven't done a sock on dpn's in a while, so although I am excited to have one sock nearly done, I am disappointed it is just one sock, and not 2!! I love 2-at-a-time socks.

So I'm off to pick up Nicholas for lunch in a bit (the other advantage of being within walking distance of your school) and then I'll pick up the house and maybe take a nap??? My mom has Emily--but that can't be right. I can take a nap???

Happy Day After Easter

2009-04-13T19:32:00.003-05:00

Thought I'd upload a few pictures of Easter Sunday. The kids looked great, so I had to share.

I also had to share this absolutely beautiful sweater that Thora sent for Emily. She used the pattern Helena from Knitty, which was actually designed by our friend Alison Green Will. The blue is perfect to match her eyes!!

My next post--I'll show you all the other stuff that Thora sent--it was my birthday, Christmas and Easter all rolled into one!!

Finally Finished a Sockdown

2009-03-31T19:37:00.002-05:00

I'm very excited that I finally finished a Sockdown challenge on Ravelry's Sock Knitters Anonymous forum! I started January's beaded mystery socks, but never got them done. So here is my contribution:

The pattern is Move Your Fanny by Gigi Silva and the yarn is Paton's Stretch. The pattern has been modified somewhat--I needed the cuff to be a minimum of 3", so I had to make it longer than the "recipe". I think they will make nice summer socks, or Wii Fit socks with the ribbed bottom.

The most interesting thing is the heel and toe. They are done in one piece, so you don't do gusset decreases on the heel, or traditional toe decreases on the toes.

The yarn I am not thrilled with--it is very hard to Kitchener stitch with stretch yarn, and I don't think I'll use it again.

Otherwise not much is going on here. I am casting on another pair of socks (March Sockdown). I am trying to come up with yarn to make Emily a sweater in time for Easter. This is not surprising. I am a last minute Easter sweater maker. Many an Easter morning has found me sewing the last sleeve or button on.

Kids are good. Jobs are good. Husband is good. Cars are not so good. Pets are good. Life is pretty good.

Happy Groundhog Day!

2009-02-02T08:26:00.002-06:00

I had a little fun today and called Jimmy the Groundhog's "Groundhog Hotline" in Sun Prairie, WI. I remember in high school I had a French teacher that was from Sun Prairie, and proclaimed Jimmy was the only "real" groundhog.

It turns out today it didn't matter, because both Jimmy and Phil in Punxsutawney saw their shadows, so it's 6 more weeks of winter.

Big surprise.

We had my parents over for the Super Bowl last night. It was nice. I would have liked my brother over, but he was busy. There was (and still is) a ton of food. It probably wasn't the smartest thing for Brian and I to do the day before our physicals, but the Super Bowl comes but once a year.

And was I the only one who thought the car commercials were a perfectly good waste of 3 million dollars? I think my favorites were the "Mean" Troy Polamalu Coke commercial, the Monster.com ad with the guy sitting under the other end of the moose, and the Pepsi ads. (MacGruber and the "I'm good" Pepsi Max commercial). And we sat with our 3-D glasses on to watch the Monsters vs Aliens movie trailer (which didn't look like a bad movie) but we were more impressed by the 3-D in the Sobe commercial after it! You can watch them all at Hulu.com.

Oh and the game was surprisingly good too.

I didn't knit at all during the game. I am working on something lace and didn't trust myself to knit during the game. I am going to start a scarf for Brian today that is a little more basic, and that I can take with me to the doctor's office today. I gained 2 lbs from yesterday morning, which is entirely not fair. I didn't even eat that much! (I really didn't. I just didn't eat anything good for me...).

I did finish my hat I was working on. It's the Palindrome pattern and it's made from Paton's SWS, which is amazingly soft.
I'm not a big hat person, and I'm even wearing this one.

And Emily wanted me to take a picture of her this morning. I don't think Saffy appreciated it, but here's the picture:

Interesting Inauguration Day

2009-01-21T13:56:00.002-06:00

I spent the Inauguration at my parent's house. My mother had Fox News on (of course. There is no other news network to watch.) She kept trying to bait me into an argument, and I refused and just kept knitting my hat. The whole thing made her agitated, but she just kept watching because "It's her president too" and she's "not going to talk about him the way people talked about Bush" while she made disparaging comments and observations about him, the crowd, etc.

Anyway, Fox News had some interesting things to say. Like how Obama's speech was full of "fear-mongering that got him elected". They gushed about how wonderful and graceful and amazing the Bush's are. They also said because John Roberts screwed up the swearing-in, and it's documented in the Constitution what he is supposed to say, maybe Obama isn't officially president.

Seriously.

Anyway, did you catch The Daily Show last night? Did you catch the "Moment of Zen"? I couldn't find a clip of it, but this pretty well sums it up:

The Year is One.

A Cold Few Days

2009-01-18T16:18:00.004-06:00

Brrr...it's been cold here in Wisconsin-land. The kids were off of school for 2 days because of cold (unheard of in my lifetime...when I was a kid...ahh, never mind!). I think they enjoyed themselves. I enjoyed the fact that the Appleton School District canceled school Thursday night for Friday when they knew it would be too cold. It was nice to have a little notice. I am not one to complain about canceling because of cold. I think when it's -40 below with the windchill, keeping little ones inside is a great idea.

I've been busy knitting a lace project, but I can't show it to you here. A) It's a gift and B) I screwed it up royally yesterday and I don't want to look at it right now.

I ordered myself a birthday presents from Sonny and Shear. Some more yummy sock yarn!
I bought it for 40% off, which makes it even more yummy. Not that I need more sock yarn, but it's nice to splurge. I wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't on sale.

I also finished Nicholas' camouflage fleece tie blanket.
It's so warm, now Brian wants one. I told him I'd need at least 5 yards of fabric to cover how tall he is, so when he's set to "pony up the dough", I'll make him one.

We also had Nicholas' belated birthday party at The 10th Frame. The staff was excellent and the kids had a great time. My only complaint is that it would have been nice to have been told they were having another party that day. I would have changed what day we had it--the kids had to eat on the lanes, and stand around a tiny table. "They just have to be careful". They are 5 and 6 year olds. It was quite a mess.

Here's Emily getting ready to bowl:
We're going to make dinner and have a Lego party with the family tonight while we watch football. Then I might decide if I can salvage my knitting or if I will be frogging it or setting it aside for a bit.

Yarn Rich

2009-01-05T19:37:00.005-06:00

Ooo...my Knit Picks order came today. I got a gift certificate to Knit Picks for Christmas and of course I couldn't wait to spend it!! So I ordered this yarn (Knit Picks Gloss, laceweight, in Port) for a gift I am making:
and this yarn (Knit Picks Wool of the Andes worsted in Coal) for a scarf I am making Brian:
I also finally wound this yarn to start the January SKA Mystery beaded sock:
I was already to the second row of beads when I had either a child or a cat rip out my knitting (Neither the children nor the cats are 'fessing up), and when I put it back on the needle of course the beads were off kilter. So I ripped the whole thing out! The bad part about knitting socks 2-at-a time? When one is wacko, the other suffers. So I am casting on for that one again tonight.

I decided the one thing I desperately need is straight knitting needles. I have bazillion--that don't match. My smaller sizes are all over the house, as they are used to poke in the doorknob and unlock doors. I have 5 size 8 needles...none of which match. I am making a scarf that calls for size 8's, and I am hoping I can make gauge with 9's, because I have both of those the same.

The kids went back to school today. Nicholas found out his teacher is gone for at least a week because she had to have knee surgery. Brian picked the kids up and said they were just falling down like dominoes on the sidewalk. It was glare ice and the sidewalks near school (not school property--the homes around school) were not salted. Nicholas fell and hit his head. The sidewalks and parking lots are so dangerous right now.

I did get the girls room cleaned and organized and their Christmas presents put away. The upstairs is officially cleaned--yay! It's back to (paid) work for me tomorrow, so at least I accomplished something.

For MW, TD and BK

2009-01-03T20:36:00.003-06:00

From Urbandictionary.com:

Asshat: One who has their head up their ass, thus wearing their ass as a hat. Asshat

or

Asshat: A person, of either gender, whose behavior displays such ignorance/obnoxiousness that you would like to make them wear their own ass as a hat.

Just had to share...

2009-01-01T17:44:00.001-06:00

Emily got a snow globe for Christmas that plays "Fur Elise". She asked me what that song was and I immediately began singing the McDonald's Commercial, "I will have a big chocolate shake, and cheeseburger, and also whoops! and also fries. And I will eat...my fries myself...and not give any...to my dumb brother..."

I found it on You Tube and all Emily wants to do is listen to it. She's at the piano now pretending to play it:

Happy New Year 2009!

2009-01-01T14:28:00.003-06:00

We had one kid make it up until midnight to toast, and it wasn't the oldest one. Little Emily stayed up until 1am, and would have stayed up later if we'd let her. (And don't worry--her toast was with Sierra Mist!)

*rant on*
Brian and I were supposed to go out for New Years. We were going to a friend of his house to celebrate. We planned with Brian's mom nearly a month ago to watch the kids. She calls on the 31st to tell us she's "just too tired from working so hard" and can't watch them. I told Brian he needed to call her and get the snacks and soda and stuff from her, because we had nothing for the kids.

Surprise, surprise, she didn't have anything for them. Because she never planned to watch them. My annoyance level is through the roof. It's one thing for her to give Brian's sister all her money, it's another when we ask her a favor (that we so rarely ask...she'll go weeks without seeing our kids because she doesn't want to), she agrees to it, and then cancels on us at the last minute. Granted, we just should have known. It's not the first time--and I'm sure it won't be the last. She's always "too sick" or "too tired". With Brian's sister visiting she probably has been watching her kids non-stop and just didn't want to watch mine.

*rant off*

I went back into last year's posts to see if I made any resolutions. I hadn't. I did lose weight (Yay!) I have more to lose this year. I didn't make a sweater for myself like I wanted to. Anyway, here's new resolutions (in no particular order):

1. Get healthy! Try to walk or get on the exercise bike 20 minutes a day. Even if I don't lose weight, I just need to be healthier.

2. Knit a sweater for myself.

3. Try to knit a pair of socks every 2 months.

4. Keep up with my blog.

5. Do a better job of staying in touch with my friends. These are the people I care about. MAKE TIME.

6. Try to get to the Building for Kids more with Emily. She loves it there, and since the weather got nasty, we haven't been there as much. I need to make more "mommy time" for her.

7. Alternate taking one of my kids out to lunch or dinner with me alone once a month. The one thing I find they talk about is just a simple meal out with Mom. We get to chat and it doesn't cost much to take out one kid.

8. Try not to yell at Anna so much. I get tired of hearing myself yell.

9. Get organized. It is one thing I can control.

10. Appreciate what I have more than I do. Brian and I have great jobs, healthy kids and a nice place to live (that we may be buying, which makes me very excited.)

And the biggest one: READ MORE!
"It's not fair! There was time now!"

So that's it. Pretty simple, or should be. Except that sweater part--every year I tell myself I'll make myself a sweater and every year I don't. Maureen and I were going to knit one together this year we never got around to.

And to all my friends, my wish to you: May you always have the money for the butter and milk in your Kraft Mac and Cheese!

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T16:38:00.007-06:00

With the new year comes another resolution to post more in my blog. I have people finding me on Facebook that may (or may not) want to see what I am doing with my life, so I need to be better at updating.

So, the run down of the last part of 2008:

Anna learned to knit: (Thanks Kassie at Iris!)
We had some birthdays (Nicholas' party is late, in a few weeks):

We started school:
We were a princess at Every Girl's a Princess:
We went to Florida:

We thought the snow was "cute" and "fun" and "quaint" when it first arrived in November:
(We learned snow is not cute or much fun when it comes down every day.)

I knit some mittens and a keyhole scarf for Emily (Saffy just thinks the scarf is hers):

We had Christmas:
During which time, I knit some snowflakes. A LOT of snowflakes. But they really turned out nicely:

Here's the pattern.

Today I get a yummy order from Sonny and Shear. Happy New Year to me!

And I'm currently knitting a warm tie bonnet in Caron One Pound.

So there's my life. You didn't miss much.

Happy New Year!

Pitter Patter--and are all City Engineers dicks?

2008-07-24T09:34:00.003-05:00

I finished Emily's 2 pairs of socks:

This method is so easy, I can't wait to start another pair! It's so nice to have them both done at once.

Alright, I got fed up yesterday on my traffic issues. They closed the main street in Appleton which runs parallel to my street. And didn't put up signs that kept people off my street--people got mad and were speeding. I counted 33 cars in 15 minutes last night going down my street and having to turn around. Most were speeding when they drove away.

So I went to city hall. Who sent me to the Police department. I sent an email to the Mayor, my Alderman and Cc'd the police department about the problem. So this morning I get back an email from the City Engineer stating they reviewed the problem last week (10 times no less. I'm here most days, but they were here 9 times I didn't see them. And the one time I DID see them, they were here for 3 minutes.) That I am pretty much a complainer. That the signs were appropriate and they already went "above and beyond". But he put up new signs anyway, just for me.

So I sent back an email telling him I am glad the new signs are up, they cut down the traffic dramatically. And that I am not a complainer. And that I felt the tone of the email was that I should just sit and shut up, and I thought government was about participation, but I guess I was wrong. But thanks for the new sign.

Asshat.

I guess I shouldn't be too upset, considering I got what I asked for and it worked. But very nice attitude they have over there when you want to make them actually DO their job, isn't it? Of course I am sure they don't teach manners in City Engineer school.

I let the police department know that they didn't have to do extra patrols because the city engineer did his job. I found out why he was so pissed--because they called over and said that Public Works wasn't cooperating. So of course he had to list all the ways he went "above and beyond" If this was their above and beyond, I'm a little concerned. And I greatly appreciate the Police Department listening to me and taking me seriously.

Packer Fans: Read this

2008-07-17T18:23:00.002-05:00

Here is the best article on the Packers-Favre saga. Pretty much tells it as I see it:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8351984?MSNHPHMA

It Works!

2008-07-17T14:15:00.003-05:00

You know that feeling you get when something totally works out? Even when you thought maybe it wouldn't work out? Like the first time your cable works out and you think, "Dang! That looks good, and it wasn't that hard!" That's the feeling I got from knitting 2 socks at one time!

I bought the book 2-at-a-Time-Socks a while ago, and was waiting for the right moment to start. I pretty much had that moment stare me in the face when I f-d up my stole and just didn't feel like tinking 100+ stitches that I may or may not get them all. So I thought "Ok! Time for a break"

I read and re-read the directions. And re-read the directions again. I whipped out some pink and purple Red Heart and started on the toddler socks step by step pattern. And Ta Da!:
So far so good!

I wish the same could be about my street situation. We live near the pool, and they are doing construction on the street the pool entrance is on. So rather than put up signs directing people how to get to the pool, they let them wing it. Which means, when they can't turn down John street (that the pool is on) they make the next right--down my street. Which only has a walking entrance to the pool, not an auto entrance.

So my street--normally very VERY quiet--is loaded with cars. Cars who are pissed they are not at the pool, so they whip around at 40 mph. Throw their cars into reverse and slam it backwards, without looking. We live on a street with a lot of kids...kids who have been spoiled by being able to play in the street. So it's pretty worrisome.

(my very busy street)

I'm hoping even if the unsafe/bazillion car issue doesn't get the city's attention that the fact that they are illegally parking in front of the fire hydrant or that they are cruising up the walking paths and driving over the grass to get to the parking lot maybe will get their attention. My guess is by the time they actually do something about it, the pool season will be over. But ah well.

Back to knitting.

Clue 2

2008-07-10T21:35:00.003-05:00

I finished Clue 2 of the Casablanca stole.
Just in time for Clue 4 to come out tomorrow.

It took longer than expected, but mainly it was finding quiet time to be able to read the chart properly. I had 3 "little distractions" to work around.

I think it's coming out nicely.

Look what I got!

2008-07-08T15:08:00.002-05:00

Under my knitting links, you will see a new link to Sonny and Shear. Check out what I got in the mail:

I not only got some beautiful Squooshy yarn in a super fun color, I got a handwritten note thanking me for my purchase, and 2 packets of tea. How is THAT for customer service???? It's just so nice in this age of "Hurry up. No soup for you!" that I not only receive my yarn fast, with very reasonable shipping, but I get notes? Tea? Wrapped in a bag with hand-tied ribbon???

Seriously, you can't compete with that. Sonny and Shear now has a lifelong customer

Next post: Anna and her amazing knitting. My girl is a knitter! But I want her to show you, and she's off getting gypsy moth caterpillars off our trees right now.

And I'm off to work on my Casablanca stole. I'm up to the repeat of clue 2, and I'm hoping to get Clue 2 finished before Clue 4 comes out this Friday. Wish me luck!

Yes, I have been knitting

2008-07-06T22:27:00.003-05:00

Although it might not be very exciting to show you, I have been knitting:
At least Anna's doll looks very nice--although Anna could care less. Emily is happy. Now she wants outfits for all her babies.

The pattern is from Frugal Haus Knitting--they are awesome by the way! I ordered a Paton's slipper book, the pattern for this doll dress, and patterns for Mickey and Minnie Mouse sweaters (Disneyworld, here we come!) I was absolutely thrilled to learn that I earned 2 free patterns for my purchase! So I got this beautiful Fan Stitch pattern and a cute little apple hat (think Brian will wear one for Apple Picking this year??) Frugal Haus tries so hard to please their customers, and they have great patterns, from basic to advanced. I highly recommend them.

Speaking of highly recommended, I bought something from Sonny and Shear. Everyone raves about them, and I've talked to Kris once or twice on Ravelry, and she's such a nice person. I don't have a lot of money, but this yarn was calling me. I am such a sucker for hand dyed yarn lately. When it comes I'll take pictures.

Also in the "waiting with baited breath" category--Anna starts her knitting class tomorrow with Kassie at Iris Fine Yarns. We stopped in Saturday and Phyllis told us that Anna will be the only one in the class--which is great for Anna. I am just pounding into her little stubborn brain that she needs to L-I-S-T-E-N. I don't want to be vindicated on this one--that Anna can't learn knitting from me...or anyone else. I want her knitting with me in 2 weeks! She already picked out some light pink Cascade 220, that Phyllis let her take home to meditate over. I'll let you know what happens.

Other than that, I am still working on the Casablanca Stole. It's going well, although I wanted to work on it this weekend and accidently left the beads at my parents house--and of course, I was on a beaded row. I also cast on for the Goddess Shawl. I cheated. I used a provisional cast on and, I knit back and forth for the first 14 rows, then grafted it all together with the tail using a mattress stitch. You can't even tell. Of course then I f-d up a few rows later and I probably have to start over. But at least I started, and I can't believe that at least for 1 day I had 2 shawls on the needles.

I still have my garden sock waiting to turn the heel. And I started a market bag today while we were at the beach (I figure it didn't matter if I got sand all over my sugar and cream yarn...). I didn't get very far, since the pattern calls for 80 sts in the round, and I only had a 29" circular needle with me. I ended up casting on 120. Then it was about to rain, so I didn't get anything done!! But it will be a nice take-along project.

Fourth of July was nice. Worked on my stole a bit, enjoyed the fireworks at my parents house. They finally took our Weber grill and brought it to their house so I didn't have to cook over here. Only they continually needed directions on how to do this or that, and my father burned everything to a crisp. So I'm still trying to figure out if it was better or worse not having them here.

I Wish To Thank The Academy

2008-06-26T22:22:00.003-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen...thank you for your kind praise. I am humbled and awed at myself for finishing the first clue in the Casablanca stole--BEFORE the 2nd clue comes out. It was a challenge, but with the help of many people in my life (most of whom don't have a frickin clue who I am), I have succeeded.

First of all, I have to thank Wendy at Knit and Tonic. Without her help with the Long Tail Provisional Cast On, this project would have never been started. Provisional cast ons always terrified and confused me, but Wendy's tutorial made it easy.

Next I have to thank Debi at FluffyKnitterDeb, who's excellent tutorial taught me how to add beads without stringing them all up at once.

I was not only excited when I read her very easy to understand tutorial, I was shocked and amazed when I did it and IT ACTUALLY WORKED! I felt like when I did my first cable: "Holy crap that was easy! And it looks like it was hard!"

(BTW as an aside note--both these blogs have INCREDIBLE patterns, for free and for sale, so you should check them out!)

Of course I have to thank the amazing CatLady2 who, with her sister thought up and created this KAL. It's a real treat!!!

Last but not least, I have to thank my friend Thora, who taught me that circular needles don't have to suck, in spite of Karola ripping out my entire sweater for Anna I worked on for HOURS on a train to New York. I swore I'd never use circular needles again. The second time I went out there Thora was making socks--on circular needles--and I figured they deserved a second try. So thanks my Knitting Friend.

BTW Karola, if you stumble across this: I forgive you and love you for what you tried to teach me. I just wasn't ready to jump that far ahead in the lesson yet ;)

I now await the second clue. AND if anyone has a good way to do a circular cast on that does not involve 9 tiny stitches slipping off dpn's and lots of swearing, I am ready to be a good student. I am 2 clues behind on my Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl and every time I try to figure it out I am ready to scream

Happy Summer Solstice

2008-06-20T20:15:00.004-05:00

Yay, it's summer! We started it out by going to a drive in movie of all things. Seriously, I haven't been to a drive-in movie since I was Anna's age and saw Clash of the Titans. That one and Star Wars were the ones I saw at the old 41 Outdoor in Appleton. I remember the playground, and going in your jammies in case you fell asleep in the backseat. I remember driving by going somewhere, and the screen faced the highway--and turning around and straining just to keep watching the movie going by for a few seconds, even if you couldn't hear it. Life was so much easier than. Joys were a lot more simple to find and covet (even if the rest of it sometimes scarred you for life....)

Anyway....

So we went to Field of Scenes. It was a nice atmosphere, and we saw Kung Fu Panda and Iron Man for $16. The food of course was expensive, but ah well. Nicholas and Anna (we left Emily with Grandma) stayed up through both movies (!!!) and we didn't get home until 2am. But it was really neat. Next time I hope we get the mini-van fixed and we can just open up the back flap, put the seats down, throw some blankets in and hang out and watch the movie.

I have been working on my sock--the green garden one. Emily says that my one sock is lonely and needs a buddy. So I am working on the buddy:

I am also a little disappointed in my Knit Picks order. I ordered Shadow Lace yarn in the color Snorkel and some Gloss Lace in the color Aegean. If you look on the website, the colors are different. Still blues of course, but the Aegean definitely looks darker to me. Here is the Aegean as taken with my camera:

And here is the snorkel:

And here they are side by side:

Not much of a difference huh? They FEEL different. And there is a little difference, but not as much as it looked like when I ordered. Glad I like the color--but still. I expected something a little different anyway. Even for monitor variations they look different on the monitor--so shouldn't they be different in real life?

Anyway, there is my complaining. So I have some shawls to make. I have some "sock buddies" to make. I still haven't finished my Obama charity knitting for the month. And of course we are trying to get ready for a rummage sale next month (because my friend Leslie, who is a kind soul, put it off a month for me since I still have so many boxes to go through) and clean the garage and the basement--that leaked more than we thought. Brian cleaned a lot of mold. And yarn that had to get thrown away because of mold. And my nice (expensive) knit knack sack that had to be thrown out because of mold. It was my first "real" knitting bag. It cost a fortune for me, but I was so proud of having an ACTUAL knitting bag (instead of plastic bags. And later tote bags which work fine. But this was a KNITTING BAG!) Don't get me started--I am glad that I don't have all my yarn cataloged, because I don't know what is missing now. Ignorance is bliss.

So that's what is on the agenda for the next few days. Glad I had a day off today. Work on Wednesday was less than stellar. I'm only there 2 hours a day, 2 days a week. You'd think I could avoid Drama. It just finds me.

MIA

2008-06-17T17:23:00.003-05:00

I know I've been missing, and I have no good excuse really. Just life catching up with me. I've been trying to knit a sweater, but I am not enamored with the yarn (it is some acrylic/wool mix I had in my stash...that I was in love with years ago when I bought it in NYC...now I am not so in love). It's going slowly.

I did manage to finish the baby sweater for Anna's teacher.

We also rode on Thomas the Tank Engine! It was expensive, but worth the money. There are so many activities at the railroad museum, and they have so many "Day Out with Thomas" activities, it was worth it (even in the pouring rain). I made Anna and Nicholas' shirts. Are they cool or what? (If I do say so myself!)

We are fortunate to be up a hill from the Fox River, so we are not in danger of flooding, although our basement is getting a wee bit damper than I like it, and the dehumidifier is running overtime. But the river is moving VERY fast:

Other than that, I have just been knitting charity washcloths and hats for our Knitters for Obama charity project. I need to sit down and work out my 2-at a Time Socks one of these days. And the yarn for both my Mystery shawl KAL and my Casablanca Shawl KAL is on the way, so that should keep me slightly busy I think!

And I'll leave you with this completely awesome picture of a hawk. I think he thought Emily looked tasty. He was SO close, and directly above us:

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-24T12:43:00.004-05:00

I've been trying to keep myself busy--honest! I rediscovered my sewing machine after seeing that all the little girl's shorts this year were on the "I'm going to show my underwear I'm so short" side. So I made Anna a pair of shorts...white with pink polka dots.
They turned out great. They come above her knee, but not up to her crotch. And I fit the waist so they don't slide down and show her butt crack all the time (which is an exciting moment around here!)

I am also making a Baby Surprise Jacket for Anna's teacher, who had her baby the 12th.
I am thinking that as long as I get it done by the end of the year I'm good to go, since I won't see her and it might be sitting in her classroom. Darn early babies!

I also have to share this picture of my little boy riding away--without training wheels!
He had his buddy down the street take them off, and they broke in the process. I was thinking about how many times Anna wanted hers back on (Trying to teach Anna to ride a bike...oh the drama!) and I told Nicholas that he'll have to ride a two-wheeler or go without a bike for the summer, because we're not buying him new training wheels. So he got on his bike. And rode. Within an hour, you would never have guessed he just learned. Today he is riding all over. I am amazed.
Oh and to end with, last night I finally got a picture of the Oriole down on the trail.
So far I haven't coaxed him up the hill...but I do have beautiful Gold Finches now. I also have blue jays AND bluebirds. And a robin took a bath in my birdbath yesterday. So that's kinda fun too.

No big plans for this weekend. All the campsites in the area are booked, because nobody wants to spend $4 a gallon to go anywhere (us included). So we'll have a cookout this weekend and probably go to the parade on Monday (and enjoy not going to work anyway)

A Little Down...and some knitting

2008-05-13T20:00:00.006-05:00

I had a nice Mother's Day. Brian actually shopped ahead of time, which means a lot (he never does. For anything.) I got a Sudoku cube (like a Rubik's Cube, only Sudoku. It's really hard), some massage lotions and the best--an entire set of bamboo circular needles!

Of course Mother's Day turned into cleaning and catering to our mothers. I told Brian next year we should go out of town for Mothers Day...then I can actually do something with my kids besides entertaining.

I also finished one half of a pair of socks. Again. But it looks nice.

Of course I made the mistake of buying a book about knitting 2 socks at the same time (I recognize my problem. And it is becoming a problem. Then I read how to fix it. And try to work up my Fearless Knitting skills to try it out.)

I also whipped up some baby booties for Anna's teacher.

I emailed her 2 days ago (Anna stayed home today, since she was up all night coughing) and she didn't email me back, so I'm pretty sure that she probably had the baby, and I'd better get working on that baby surprise sweater (and hope I have enough yarn left! It's from my stash.)

I've also been so blah about Ravelry lately. It seems there is something in the air there. I know it isn't everyone, but yikes. Nearly every group I go in (except maybe MCY--what does THAT tell you??) is crabbing and sniping and just down right mean. When the Knitters for Obama aren't getting along, there's a problem. Some people in the NASCAR group don't want to go in there because people are bashing their favorite driver (although they openly say they hate another driver.) It just makes me down--I've already been here, done this, you know? So I need to step back for a bit, use Ravelry for documentation and pattern finding, and stay out of the groups and forums for a while. I just kinda don't need it. I have enough going on "IRL".

I'm Not The Master of My Domain

2008-05-01T10:01:00.005-05:00

Just like on Seinfeld, I'm out of The Contest, "I'm Out!". Of the SKP contest anyway. I had to have my Jacobean socks done and posted by today and was too damn intimidated and didn't get them done.

But I have been working on socks. The first sock for "Down the Garden Path" (last month's SOTM at theknitter.com) is working up nicely.
I really love the yarn--Trekking XXL in pretty spring greens and pinks. I'm nearly to the toe decrease.

I always get so crabby that my SOTM comes late. I pay with Paypal, and everyone who doesn't gets their sock sometimes 2 weeks before I do, and I have to sit and read about it on Ravelry. So every month I say, "That's it! I'm going to get my yarn and pattern and cancel." and then every month it comes and I change my mind.
This month's sock comes with Regia Mosaik yarn...VERY nice. So...maybe next month I'll cancel.

Nicholas had his last day of preschool yesterday. I can't believe he is going to be in Kindergarten next year. He's so expressive and fun when he sings

--but he is a lot like the kid from the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life", when there's "No talkin' while the music's playin'". Nicholas can't stand when anyone else sings. We were watching his end of the year slide show and they were playing "You've got a Friend in Me" and he was getting twitchy. I asked him why and he says, "I HATE SINGING." But if he's singing...you'd better enjoy it!

We're sure going to miss his teachers.
Emily noticed all the girls wearing pretty dresses. I told her she needs to get on the "potty train" and lose her Nuk and she can have a pretty dress next Fall too!

Emily is but 2 years old and is a "Barbie Girl".
It's fun to have a girl that likes Barbies, because that was my staple plaything as a kid. And Anna doesn't like toys, and Nicholas likes boy toys, so at least I have one girl to play Barbies with.

I checked out some old (recent) episodes of Knit N Style from the library, and found a few sweaters/summer sweaters I would like to make. Now I have to decide which one to do. It's such a major time investment, and I have become such a sock-maker (whether I really wanted to or not) that I have made nothing else for a while. And after over 8 years of knitting, it is about time that I made myself a sweater, don't you think? So any suggestions work for me...I'd like something semi-fitted, but not tight. And it has to hide my gut while not drawing attention to my boobs. So if you have anything in mind, drop me an email at annasmommy AT gmail DOT com. I was thinking the Cable-Down Raglan.

We're off to Chuck E. Cheese in about an hour for a play date with Emily and Nicholas' friends, Gretchen and Andrew. Always an adventure! And tomorrow is the Girl Scout office to pick up the badges and pins for the girls--the bridging ceremony is Wednesday! So my little Brownie will be a Junior!

I'm getting old....

Lacy socks

2008-04-19T12:58:00.003-05:00

I finally got one of the Ariel Socks done. It seems like it took forever, and it's very "pattern-rific" 30 different rows (not a nice 4 row repeat or anything...)

I just have no enthusiasm to do the second sock. And the yarn, Soxx Appeal, is odd. It's got a nice twist when you knit it up, but it untwists easily, so I'm not thrilled with it. Not that I'm not saying the sock isn't pretty or anything, it's just a pain in the yang.

I think I will put off doing the second one and do a different sock first. I know this is going to be a bad idea that will bite me in the arse, but I really don't think I can bring myself to work on the second one right now. And I need SOMETHING on my needles. I mean, as you can see, I could clean my house, but it just gets messy again, so what really is the point of that? hehehe

I am absolutely THRILLED that Knitting Daily had the Cable Down Raglan as one of their Reader's Choice Winners. I've wanted to knit this sweater for a while. So maybe I'll get started on that. I also promised Anna a sweater, and I think I am going to get familiar with my Ultimate Sweater Machine and see if I can whip it up on that.

Whatcha Knittin'?

2008-04-08T20:49:00.003-05:00

So, what are you working on?

I'm back to my Mermaid sock. Yes, I put down the Debbie Bliss bag after 4 rows. Maybe I will finish it. There is a better chance that I won't. But I am enjoying my sock!

Here's a picture of Emily in her sweater.

The edges are still curled...ah well, it's still a cute sweater. And nice and thick!

And out my window today--snow. But of course, I mean, it's April right?
Everyone is sick here. Fevers, coughs. It's just not fun. And it was just this sudden thing, and now it doesn't seem to be going away. At least we have lots of family bonding time, right? Oy!

My 2 Cents on Magknits...

2008-04-08T20:39:00.002-05:00

OK, I was going to stay out of it. It's not really my business, right?

Well, I figure, it's my blog, and if I want to say something, I will.

Magknits is now gone. Kerrie, the editor, has decided that it doesn't make money and she isn't going to be involved with it anymore. "Oh you wanted those patterns? Sorry (but not really) about your luck."

The back story? Some things were said about Kerrie's business, Hipknits, on Ravelry, regarding lost orders. Quite a few lost orders. IMHO, maybe more than can be construed as a "coincidence". There was some more piping in about "Hey! I never got paid for my Magknits submission." and the whole thing spiraled out of control.

Now, I have not lost an order from Hipknits. In this area, I am completely neutral. I have never ordered from them. Every once in a while I'd go to visit her blog and look at her cute kids and oogle her yummy yarn.

I was, however, a fan of Magknits. I loved when the new issues came out. Hell, I was even a member of their forum on Ravelry.

But somehow, I knew. When they disappeared last month for "overhauling" something in the back of my head said, "Save the patterns you want, Lynnette." Only I didn't. And I was pleasantly surprised to see them up last week. And now, they are gone.

I don't begrudge Kerrie ending an unprofitable venture. That is, of course, her choice. But I do want to say in doing so, she just alienated hundreds of knitters. Her pulling the site the way she did smacks of "I'm going to take my ball and go home." It was done out of spite, a knee jerk reaction to what she saw as people saying bad things about her.

I feel bad saying this, but now I will not order from Hipknits. Why do I want to do business with someone who acts so unprofessionally?

That's just my 2 cents.

I've got a sweater that was for Easter...it was done on a Monday night...

2008-04-01T11:20:00.003-05:00

With all apologies to Sheryl Crow, that IS the scenario. Finally, the damn Easter sweater is done.

I ended up doing the rest of the body on size 5 straights (making my wrists scream...) and the bottom green edging and the green around the outside on my size 6 circulars. It took 2 boxes of T-pins to block it, and it probably won't work since it's acrylic.

I guess I will do the best I can and when it's dry, it's dry. At least it seems to be Allegra approved.

Now I am onto the "Birds" bag from Debbie Bliss' "Kids Knits for Heads, Hands and Feet". It's written in Debbie Bliss' completely clear style (oy) so it should be a real treat. I bought the yarn, Patons Grace, ages ago, so I am hoping I have enough.

Tragedy in my Knitting World

2008-03-24T08:09:00.004-05:00

You know those times when you are in the zone when you are knitting? You're feelin' the flow, gettin' it done. I was in that zone Saturday night. I was going to get Emily's sweater done. I only had 5 or so inches to go. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, then this happened:

This horrible unspeakable thing. This tragedy. My Denise needle snapped in the middle of my knitting. I know I can send for a replacement. But that's little comfort when you have a sweater to get done the next day. And of course I have no other size 5 circs. Why would I? I have a set of Denise Knitting Needles. "Relax, we're all here". Only, you aren't all here. Not anymore.

I realize that my yarn is not the best yarn. It's pretty crappy yarn actually. Some of the worst stuff I've ever used. Full of knots and shlubs. But it isn't steel wool or anything. It shouldn't have the power to break needles. And there I was, pushing it down the needle and I heard the sickening snap.

So the sweater was not done by Easter. The first time I have ever missed an Easter deadline. I am now trying to finish it on straight needles, which is an uncomfortable pain, and it is going slowly.

I will send my needle back to Denise to be replaced. I was so proud and happy to finally have a set of Denise needles. So I will get it replaced. And I will have the peace of mind that goes with having all my needles there for me, ready to knit whenever I need a certain size.

And I will slowly, quietly, one by one, begin buying Addi turbos on the side.

Spring-gulp-Cleaning?

2008-03-13T10:13:00.004-05:00

Well, we got a little bit of snow yesterday. Not much. It would have been fine anyway, considering the temp today is supposed to be 42. Has Spring, sprung? Is it springing? I don't know. But I DID clean my kitchen today. Maybe it's a sign...I do not clean easily.

We did have visitors at our feeders. Here is the chickadee:
And the Nuthatch:
A bad picture of a bird I am pretty sure is a Junco:
And a squirrel actually using the squirrel feeder:

And I have been working on Emily's sweater. I have divided each area and I am about to do the first sleeve.
I am hoping by Saturday it will be done. I really dislike this yarn...it is Bernat Caress...definitely acrylic-y (and I am NOT a yarn snob. I love a nice acrylic.) but the "mohair look" they gave it does nothing but pick up all the cat and dog hair. I see why it sat in my stash for so long--and why it was 99 cents on clearance when I did.

But speaking of my stash, I have to make this pledge, and I know my 2 friends that read this will take me to task if I break it--my next 5 projects will be from what I have around the house--I will buy no new yarn. This reasoning is 3 fold:

A--I have too much yarn. (Yes, it is possible).
B--I have too many projects I need to get going on that I have purchased yarn for recently, and I have not started.
and
C--I have spent WAY WAY WAYYYYY too much money on yarn this month. I know it is because the tax return came back and I thought I'd go whole hog--but mostly it is because I am depressed, and when I am depressed, I spend. I can't justify it; that's a fact. So I need to stop the madness.

We want to take the kids to Disneyworld in October, and I also want to go visiting this year. I won't have any money saved, and can't show my kids the beauty of saving for something, if I don't do it myself.

Nicholas' friend's mom (got that? LOL) sells stuff on Ebay, so I'm going to have her show me how (mostly I am trying to figure out how to calculate shipping costs...) and I am going to get rid of not only yarn, but baby and maternity clothes. I don't think I will be in need of them anytime soon, and I figure if we are well off enough to have another kid, we will just need to have money to buy new clothes.

That last statement is pretty much resigning myself to the fact that I won't be having any more children. But I have 3 beautiful little angels/handfuls now, and I don't NEED another kid. Not to mention the fact that I don't really miss the "not sleeping through night/bottles/poop every diaper" days.

So I will be very happy when Spring comes. I can hopefully get my house organized to get us all on a routine, start putting aside some money (and paying some back bills. I did manage to get a few paid already) and we can get outside, get planting, get walking and get riding our bikes...because if the cabin fever doesn't kill us, the gas prices might!

Maybe it will be Spring soon?

2008-03-10T08:21:00.006-05:00

Alright, I am following the rules. I set the stupid clocks ahead (and lost an hour of sleep...which I feel this morning thank-you-very-much!) I am making(stressing) about Emily's Easter sweater. I know Easter is in *gulp* 2 weeks. So shouldn't I get a little Spring? Instead of 10 degrees this morning?

Fortunately it is supposed to warm up the end of the week...to like 40 degrees! Which is good, because Anna spotted these little guys next door (tulips maybe? Or Daffodils?) who are popping up their heads!

She also spotted new grass, but I can't figure out where she saw that. Probably like 3 little sprouts behind a bush somewhere, but that counts! So I will have to ask her when she gets home to show me, so I can take a picture and share some Spring.

And we have a beautiful Cardinal that I think is making a home in the big pine tree behind us. This is as close as he'd get for me to take a picture today.

He was singing so beautifully this morning--Nicholas would sing back, and the bird would sing (Nicholas just learned to whistle) and he turns to me and says, "That red bird is singing to me!"

We put up new feeders yesterday, for the birds and the squirrels. We have chickadees, sparrows and a nuthatch around, and yesterday I swear I saw a Junco! I'll take some pictures if they get close. I love birds, as long as they aren't in my house I think!

Otherwise, I was working on my SOTM.
It's pretty, but it's fiddly. I don't know if it's worth all that...it's too hard to tell from the looks of the pattern so far.

And I just started Emily's Easter sweater (as my mother let her pick out her dress...you know, sleeveless for March 22 in Wisconsin....).
I used some Bernat Caress I had laying around my stash forever. The only problem I'm seeing so far is the cat/dog hair. But that's a given anytime I use white.

Goodbye #4

2008-03-04T09:47:00.002-06:00

Do you remember where you were when you heard Brett Favre was retiring?

Thanks Brett. We'll miss you!

Nothing nicer than a Sweater and matching socks!

2008-03-03T10:54:00.003-06:00

I finished up Emily's top down sweater in Encore Colorspun worsted.
I really like the top down method and can't wait to do a sweater for me that way. But first, I told Anna I'd make one for her, and I still owe Nicholas the camo sweater that I frogged (the Wallaby--ugh)

I had a ball of Encore left over and rather than stash it or get a refund (perish the thought--taking BACK yarn???) I made Emily a pair of socks with a free pattern from the Plymouth site.

I made the 2 year old size, and it was too small--and they don't do much in the way of heel turning, so it really didn't want to stay on. So I made the 4 year old size and they fit great!

I have one little lonely size 2, so I might whip up another one and bring it to Iris for the Dulaan project. (I think they are collecting for that one next).

I finally got my pattern from theknitter.com SOTM. It's a really pretty pattern and really soft yarn, so I am excited to start that. I need to make a drawstring for the Daria bag. And I need to start my sock for SKP 2008. I have to tell you--oy! The pattern is written toe up, magic loop.
A--I have never done a toe up sock
B--I have NO CLUE how to do Magic Loop.

Fortunately, I can do the sock anyway I want to this time, but I have to adjust the pattern, and we all know how comfortable I am with that. So I might try it toe up, but on dpn's. I have 2 months to do it, but I'd like to get it done and not have it looming so I am ready for the next one. I know I have to learn toe up socks eventually (and I might even like them...). It's just--oy!

So that's the story here. Oh and bizarre weather. Thunderstorms last night--not Thunder Snow, Thunderstorms. With rain. Then freezing rain. Then snow this morning. Not a whole lot of snow (It looks like it stayed at about 34 degrees all night). The trees are pretty this morning.

And I leave you with a picture of Emily.
I need to take a picture of her in her sweater ensemble, but I thought I'd post this one because I love when my kids are in overalls.

Some funky stuff to knit with

2008-02-24T12:32:00.001-06:00

I went to Iris Fine Yarns on Friday to see if they had any size 9 dpn's in yet (they didn't, but they offered to let me borrow their personal needles--how utterly cool is that? THE best service at Iris, hands down). So while I was there getting yarn for my Obama hat (Cascade 220) I spotted this cool yarn in the Noro section (Come on, let's face it: There are LOTS of cool yarns in the Noro section)

OK, so this yarn is called Daria. And it's probably been around for a while, but I am not a big "weird" novelty yarn type person. So I looked at the beautiful colors in this yarn--that is more like cord and feels like thin elastic. I thought "Wow, that must be neat looking when it's knit! But what the hell would you make with it???"

So while I'm waiting for Kassie to wind my yarns into balls (I can't find my ball winder. Did I tell you they have awesome service at Iris???) a woman walks over to get some circular needles to make a little purse--out of that Daria yarn. It was just the cutest little purse. So of course I picked some up. And I made a little purse (the I-cord is not done yet):

And the other side:
Are those colors awesome or what?? And Phyllis was right--it takes about 3 or 4 rows to get used to it, and then you get used to it. It isn't hard on the hands at all.

So anyway, the pattern said to make it to 11", but I was quickly running out of yarn. And I like it a lot, but not enough to buy another hank (It also has Noro prices.) So I only made it 9", but it seems plenty big for a little purse.

Besides, Emily has decided that it will be a bag to put her Dora the Explorer people in.

I learned something new!

2008-02-18T11:21:00.001-06:00

I'm still working on Emily's sweater, and I think I have one more "4 rnds then a decrease" left, plus the 6 rnds in the smaller needle size and I will have one sleeve done.

See the striping though?

I'm bummed about that, and I should have realized it and didn't. I could live with the entire raglan sleeves being different width stripes if I had to, but the pattern is from the top down, the top part of the raglan is already knitted into the body of the sweater. So the stripes at the top of the "sleeve"are smaller than the part down near the bottom where the sleeves are joined and done in a round.

It also isn't noticeable on the picture that accompanies that pattern, that is also done in striped yarn. I don't know how they got the stripes on the sleeves the same size as the body of the sweater--or why they didn't say how to do that.

Anyway, Emily isn't going to care, and I learned not to use striping yarn when making a top down Knitting Pure and Simple pattern! I also learned how to knit in a round with 2 circulars. Thora always uses 2 circs instead of dpn's (she sent me a bunch of her dpn's last year even!) I always wanted to learn how to do it, and had my chance because I didn't have a set of size 9 dpn's. Not even a mismatched set! No size 9's whatsoever!

So I talked to Thora and she said I had the right general idea. I don't know if it is my preferred method. It seems kind of putzy and I know it's just me, because Thora is wicked fast! But I am glad I learned to do it and glad I COULD do it.

I also learned to do the top down thing, which I kind of like! It is very efficient (and let's face it...a relief!) to not have to keep track of pieces to seam together. When I am done knitting, I will be done.

We got 10" of snow yesterday. Here is the table now:

And check out the sign across the street (you can scroll down and see it before our big snow) The snow is nearly up to the sign part:

And yes. It's snowing again.

And Emily wanted to knit today. She grabbed some ribbon yarn...I told he to go for it...I'll never use it LOL:

Emily's Sweater, snow and a taxing story

2008-02-16T12:45:00.001-06:00

I have been working very hard on Emily's sweater, and I'm nearly finished:

I really like doing the top-down thing. My only problem is that I don't have any size 9 dpn's for the sleeves--and I got to Hobby Lobby yesterday and they didn't have any (seems to be a basic theme lately). So I'm going to see if I can improvise with 2 circs.

Otherwise the story is--snow. Again. We are supposed to go see Barack Obama on Sunday--I am SO excited (and so is Anna.) Unfortunately, we are supposed to get another 6-10+ (Yes, that's a plus sign) inches of snow. Remember my table I've been chronicling all winter? Here it is right now:
Here is the view down the street...you can see how high the snow is piled up the sides:
Other than snowing and knitting, I have been trying to locate the kids' baby books and/or our tax returns from last year or the year before. See, we were very smart and used Turbo Tax the past 6 years. Most of our returns are on our second to last computer (that we just commissioned into service for a short while between our last computer dying and our new computer). We have 2001-2005 on that hard drive. 2006 is on our last computer's hard drive, and we are using the new computer for 2007.

Short story long: We can't get into the hard drive with the 2006 tax return on it. We tried a hard drive enclosure with no success, so we think the drive is screwed. We can't open the 2001-2005 tax returns because the latest software will only open the previous year (2006). And we can't claim the kids as deductions unless we have their social security numbers. That are on the cards in their baby books. That went into boxes SOMEWHERE when we moved.

I managed to find Nicholas'--which is good because that was the one I had NO CLUE where to find. So we went from owing to getting back money. Because, let me tell you, after having the worst possible financial year of our life, I really, truly was ready to move to another country if we ended up OWING money on top of it all. As it is, we don't qualify for the Earned Income Credit because we had "Too much in the sale of stock or pension". Because we had to cash out Brian's stock option and 401K (about $5000 altogether) so we could do fun things like eat and keep the electricity on. Evidently that makes us too independently wealthy to qualify for the poor people credit.

Anyway, enough whining! I am going to go scour a few more places and see if I can't come up with the box with our documents in it....and enjoy the sunshine before it's covered by a bleak snowstorm. Again.

Weapon Ready

2008-02-10T11:58:00.001-06:00

I finished my hat for Hat Attack.
It is a very interesting pattern and I'm sure it took a lot of work to come up with! I don't think I am so enamored with it I would make another one, but I am hoping that the one I get from my assassin fits. Or at least fits Anna.

Overall I am glad it is done. It was fun, and I think I will do it again.

Now to move on to other things. Emily has been asking every single time I make something, "Is that for me? Is that my sweater?" Doesn't matter if I am making a scarf or a sock. "Is that my sweater?" So I am making her a sweater next--the knitted pullover (#9730) from Knitting Pure and Simple and some very pretty Encore yarn I got from Iris. It should be fun...I haven't knit a sweater in a while. I also want to work on my SOTM socks (before February is over...) and I am making something for someone special that is going to take a lot of time, so I have to get it done by Christmas I figure (Happy Birthday! Sorry your birthday was in July...) LOL

Master of Illusion

2008-02-07T23:04:00.001-06:00

It looks like an ordinary striped scarf...

And abracadabra! POOF!

I feel like a magician. Maybe a magician with Carpal Tunnel soon. I finished the Heart Shadow of Illusion scarf. Now I get to give it away. It's for a good cause: I made it for the I Love My Library silent auction on Sunday. The dinner I don't get to go to, because my husband doesn't want to spend the money. He thought it was a GREAT idea when he thought it would further his career. Then he found out most people don't go--because it's so much money--so now he doesn't want to go.

Of course the only reason I don't want to go is I don't want to see that no one will bid on my scarf! I think it's extremely cool. But probably the people that pay $100 for dinner won't. I guess when I turn it in tomorrow, it isn't my problem anymore. At least I have some cool pictures, and the confidence to know I can do it. And special thanks to Laura the pattern maker for writing out the pattern and once again enabling me to not have to work from a chart! LOL

Of course theknitter.com Sock of the Month is a gorgeous cabled thing, that DOESN'T come with written instructions. So I'd better learn quick.

But up next: resting my tingling hands for a day. THEN Hat Attack is upon us! I know I will die right away, but the whole idea of it was too much fun NOT to join in with. I know I would royally suck if it wasn't a hat (and I still might suck, seeing as the pattern will have cables) but it'll be fun anyway. And who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and the person who has my name will get killed right away by someone who sends Express Mail, and I'll stand at least a fighting chance! (Perchance to dream...)

Oh and Emily might have carpal tunnel later in life from plugging too many tokens into the Spongebob machine at Chuck E. Cheese.
She'd go through a cup of coins like nobody's business (I see slot machines in her future!) Of course she won a whole mess of tickets, so it's all good.

A finished pair of Monkey!

2008-01-29T16:55:00.000-06:00

Yay! I just finished the Kitchener stitch on my second Monkey sock:

(Please do not be desperately jealous of my matching lounge pants. I got them at Shopko, if you are in the market for some. LOL)
And we're back from Lodge at Cedar Creek, where the kids had a great time at the Waterpark.

Just ask Jacques "Anna" Cousteau!

And now, we have gone from 40 degree temperatures to...well...a snowstorm again. We left Wausau early, because we didn't want to run into the nasty weather--they were already letting the kids out early. They didn't let them out early here, although (surprisingly) on schedule at 2pm the ice arrived. It looked like "Day After Tomorrow" when the cold comes all of the sudden and the flag freezes...it was that sudden! All the water from the melting snow (and rain last night) is now ice, underneath snow. And 50mph winds. Keep your fingers crossed the library is closed tomorrow, the schools are closed tomorrow, and I can have a "just stay inside and knit" day.

On deck: I just joined the Sock of the Month Club over at The Knitter.com, so I am hoping that comes in the mail soon. Yes, I know, I need more sock yarn like I need another hole in my butt. I just thought it would be fun until I become overwhelmed again. LOL

Pay It Forward 2008

2008-01-21T19:07:00.001-06:00

I have decided to join the "Pay it Forward" exchange for 2008 that I found on Ruby's blog:

Pay It Forward - here's my promise to you:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

So if you'd like to be the recipient of a handmade gift from me this year, please make the pledge on your blog to participate! :) And email me (Annasmommy AT gmail DOT com) with your snail mail address so I have it when I'm ready to send! This is going to be fun...what a great idea!

Depression in Titletown

2008-01-21T17:50:00.001-06:00

As you can imagine, we're all a little disappointed here in the Frozen Tundra. I took this picture before the game, because I figured we wouldn't want to take pictures if we lost. I shouldn't have said anything...maybe I jinxed us. Maybe Anna should have worn her NFC North champions shirt. Maybe it was the new cheeseheads Grandma got them. Or maybe it was just too friggin' cold, and the Giants were just a little less crappy than the Packers.

I'll be sending Thora's husband Tom some Wisconsin Cheese--Extra Sharp!--I had maple syrup from New York on the line there...darn it!

I DID finish my first Monkey sock. It fits perfectly. I wish I could snap my fingers and have the other one finished. I am SO SO SOOOOO tempted to start something else, but I know I will never go back and finish the second one. So I will cast on for the second one right now:
It's a lovely pattern, and I am thrilled that it fits so well. And considering it is all lace work, it really didn't take that long. I am just ready to do something else. I think I need to learn that Magic Loop thing, so I can make 2 socks at the same time. The age old single sock problem.