Happy New Year and I Have a Lot of Yarn

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

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...

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

 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!

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!!!!!!!