crochet (she wanted to learn to knit, but didn't have the patience really) and crochet is a little simpler to teach. She was so excited, and she told me "Tomorrow I'm going to tell all of my friends I learned how to crochet!". It was really cute. However, she's still not too adept at it yet. When she's crocheting I have to stay right next to her to help her. It's kind of tiresome after awhile. 
I floundered for a few days, played games on my mom's iTouch and didn't really knit much. Then, after mention aloud to my mother that I had 12 UFOs (only 4 of which were current WIPs)...I decided it was about time I quit stalling and finished up some of those projects. So I looked into my UFO bag and pulled out my Somewhat Cowl. Do you guys remember this? It's been TWO YEARS since I've done anything with it. Though there are a few UFOs that have been lingering longer than that, I figured finishing this one would boost my spirits. Many times, I get discouraged when something has to be started over from (practically) scratch. So, if I could turn this one around, maybe all of my projects have hope! All that was left was the sleeves and collar anyways. It's all done now, except the blocking. Still haven't made up my mind whether I love it or hate it though. What do you guys think?
pull out The Lady. The kids had broken the drive band, which my dad fixed and it was time to test it out. I pulled out some BFL that I had purchased forever ago, prepped it and it looked good enough to eat! The join worked beautifully and I spun up one of the strips. Then...nature called. When I came back to the wheel That Baby was spinning it and had wrapped the drive band all around bearings. That ended that endeavor. The drive band is broken in two places. *sigh* We just can't have nice things! :) Tomorrow I am going to hang out with Mouse, and hopefully she has a fix for me. Otherwise it's just six dollars to get a new one. This gives me time to figure out how I want to ply it. Should I do two-ply or Navajo ply? HmmmmLabels: accidents, decisions, fiber, fingerless gloves, finished object, hat, knitting, mittens/gloves, mouse, Nolan, Somewhat Cowl, spinning, Struan, sweater
So...I haven't been very active in the blogging world lately. I love to post, but haven't really felt like it. Instead of actually reading posts, I skim them. It's not that I don't love you all. Just hitting a plateau I think. Mr. Shad has been gone for about 5 weeks (I am rounding here, and guessing, I actually haven't been keeping track), we still haven't seen any of that "extra income", and there was an error in budgeting that has left us...well more than a little tight. Again. *sigh* Next month will be better. Man am I tired of saying that.
Labels: accidents, batt, busy, fiber, kids, painting, socks, sweater, Tree Jacket, updating
and her daughter came to visit with us! If you don't already, go read her blog. She's totally awesome and I am impressed by her strength of character. Seriously. Anyways, she got here early Friday morning (like 6am!), the both of us got a total of four hours of sleep between Thursday morning and Friday night. lol Still, we didn't let that stop us from having a blast! (Sorry about the exclamation points, but it rocked) Friday I let Heather stay home from school to hang out with Sym, and we went out to get some food and pick up some cleaning supplies that I needed. When we got to Wal-mart Heather decided to prove me right, see, I had been telling Lesley how clumsy and accident prone my daughter is. First thing Heather does is run to the stand of flowers in the front. She just 
wanted to smell them!! Instead she tripped over a carpet that was probably only a half an inch off the floor, and faceplanted on the stand holding the flowers! The employees were quick to come to our aid (can't risk being sued, right?), Heather's nose was bloody and swelling. Poor girl! She will be alright, it got the tip where all that cartilage is, but right now she looks like someone beat her about the face. It even extended to her eye, she doesn't even notice it much anymore.
little ice cream/coffee shop. The kids played a bit and Lesley and I ate some delicious brownies! Nolan found a chair that was just his size, and climbed right in! It was too cute. Then he decided he would have more fun pushing it around, he's really close to walking now. I'll have to buy him one of those little walking toys. Of course, as I was talking about how Ty and I never actually call each other, we just text, he texts me! What did he want? For me to bring him food. Peanut butter sandwiches. Just peanut butter, no jelly. I knew there was a reason I liked this kid! I don't like jelly either. lol So I make a few sandwiches, we throw the kids in the car and drive out there. Now, just so you know, he works on LeJeune, which is further away than the Air Station (Mr. Shad's duty station). It's only about 10-20 minutes extra, still that makes a 30-40 min trip each way. But we had nothing else planned really, we were just gonna hang out. I've NEVER seen anyone have so much fun in an empty barracks room! Too much! The kids played catch with Ty, while Nolan flirted with his own reflection, and Lesley and I tried to keep Heather from falling and hurting herself even more. lol
decent time and mostly just relaxed for awhile, knitting. At around noon we decided that we were hungry and it was time to venture out. I was in a Sonic mood, so it was off to Sonic! Lunch was great, the kids managed to play without being hurt or getting sand in their eyes. Since we didn't have any real plan, we went to the mall to walk off some of that food/energy. Mostly we just walked around aimlessly, looking at everything, buying nothing. lol On the way back I realized that we had an hour left before The Tail Spinner closed, and we just had to pop in, even if just for a bit. Plus, I knew that most people would be gone for the day and the kids wouldn't be in the way as much. I bought a lot of yarn. Well, for me it was. Even though most of it will become gifts for others. We hung, knit, watched tv, and had a good time. That night we decided to celebrate/say goodbye with a couple of drinks. Maybe a couple too many. lol Still, it was great!! Being able to talk to anyone over the age of five, especially another female was just fantastic! I really had the best time ever.
car had broken and down, could I break into their house and get something for them? lol Well, I didn't always have such good taste in men, and one of my previous boyfriends had been of questionable caliber. At leat he taught me how to break into a house! :) It came in pretty handy, after probably 5-6 minutes of fiddling with the door, I popped the lock. And with minimal damage. I thought my filing system was a mess! Just a box of papers, which also contained broken glass, Sully, you're weird. What an interesting thing to do on your last day on vacation, right Lesley? After a few more hours of procrastinating, Lesley and Sym packed their things into the car. Kyran cried, he wanted to go too, poor guy. Sym cried, she wanted to stay, just one more day? Heather kept asking if 
Sym could come back tomorrow. I think Lesley and I wanted to cry too, we are both on our own for the time being and it was just too much fun havinig a friend around. Lesley gave me a gift, a little can for needles, notions, or whatever I want, that she decorated just for me!! We added a little memento from our time together, it's kind of like an inside joke. hehe What a great way to spend the weekend. The rest of the day I just kind of moped around the house. But at least Dexter was on, so I had something to look forward to. 
see something cute that is crocheted I curse. Then Mouse made this. If you remember correctly, my learning to knit was spurred by just one handknit hat that I fell in love with. That's all it takes to motivate me. There are a few crochet hooks I've picked up for making chains and picking up stitches (though I hardly use them for the latter), so I figured sure why not. I'll start out slow. The night Lesley was driving, I was practicing single crochet. After that I figured, well, I should make something. But...what? A granny square, sure. That's like a scarf, only a heck of a lot smaller. It's totally wonky, but that's okay. I tried.
is. I think, well, there has to be a crochet mouse pattern somewhere, she won't know the difference and I need to practice. Yay Ravelry! I found a simple pattern (I verified that with Mouse) and grabbed my hook and some black yarn. Heather then makes it clear that her mouse should be pink. Pink? Yes, pink. Do I have any pink yarn, I wonder? It's not exactly my favorite color, so I buy it very rarely. But yes, I do have some, it was purchased to make baby booties that I never made. It's acrylic too, so not a big waste of my money. Perfect. Of course, I have to put the project in Ravelry. Can't neglect that, I mean, I did find the pattern there. Project name...well gee, she'll probably name her mouse. 
Labels: accidents, blogging, crochet, friends, funny, granny square, hanging out, kids, Lesley, mouse, rambling, updating, weekend
been uploaded yet, but I will get around to that. Right now I just want to start the process of blogging. I have a new camera! So...that means much better quality for my photos. Whew. Also, I wanted to thank everyone for being here for me and all of the touching comments you have left, it all means a lot to me. I can't believe I forgot to say that before.
We took the kids to the Baltimore Aquarium, they had never been to one before. I was so amazed by the way the kids reacted. Kyran was just fascinated by all of the fish. He would stand by one tank after another, content to sit and watch them all day. My MIL would have to drag him away, and he would be upset until he saw there were more fish. Heather liked the dolphin show, but Kyran wasn't really impressed.
We are everywhere, and we are always happy to see another one of our kind. So when I found out that we were making a trip to Maryland again, I emailed Elizabeth and started arranging a meetup. Finally we settled on a date (teehee! a date!) and I steeled myself for the 2 and a half hour drive up there. Actually, I did pretty well, and only got lost for a little bit and wound up in VA. Let's not talk about that. lol When I got there we each had a glass of water (soooo hot) and discussed our plan for the day. See the sights, go shopping, hang out and knit. Good times. I was thinking...man that's not a whole lot, we're going to have SO much extra time, since I also planned on sleeping over that night. The idea of driving home in the dark didn't really excite me.
Elizabeth is a self-proclaimed terrible tour guide. Which is fine, because apparently I am the worst tourist ever. The Liberty Bell has a whole building full of displays and things that you can read...we breezed past all of this, going straight for the bell itself. Snapped a few photos, and were gone. On to Independence Hall, where we encounter difficulties finding an entrance. Too hot to be bothered with asking, we just snap pictures from outside the gates. Hey, it's the thought that counts, right? We decided to end the tour there, since neither of us were really too hyped to see any of the other touristy stuff. lol
I collected my senses! All of that yarn definitely reminded me of why I knit. What is it about yarn that we all love so much? Who cares, it's gorgeous! I fell in love with two skeins of yarn, one came home with me, sadly the other had to stay behind. Love does have a price, at least my husband thinks so. I ended up spending a (not so) grand total of $43.50. A dollar and fifty cents more than the cost of the Claudia Handpaints Silk Lace (in Turquoise Jeans) I was drooling over. After visiting it several times, I realized the price tag would not magically change, and resigned myself to the idea that it was not meant to be. This time. Instead I picked up a single skein of Koigu KPPPM (shush! I know I hate it, but it was all sad and lonely...so prettttyyyyy), and three of Allhemp6 in aubergine.
The Koigu turned out to be problematic. It was unsure of what it wanted to be. Since it was a single skein and I couldn't find any that I wanted to pair it with...well, there wasn't much it could be. So, I tried out several things. A panta, a Dreamswatch Head Wrap...and so on. Finally, after returning home the next day and searching Ravelry. I discovered a pattern for a head wrap that I liked. The Happy Butterfly Head Wrap, I think. Wow...I just went to hunt down a link to the pattern and got totally side-tracked. Gotta love Ravelry. Right? As if there wasn't enough for a knit-blogger to do online? Now that I am home I think I will block 
>this on the needles and see how I'm liking it. It will probably end up more as a thin scarf than a head wrap. Not to mention I'll probably gift it. But to who?
Labels: accidents, aquarium, babies, Coachella, knitters, knitting, life, Maryland, Philadelphia, pictures, progress, purchases, rambling, Ravelry, stalking, Truly International Sock KAL, vacation, yarn
First, something beautiful. There really are not a lot of pictures of Nolan. Any of you have more than one kid? Then you know how it is. The first baby you spend roll after roll of film on, the second child, you get a video camera. So you have tape after tape of the kids together, and a few scattered pictures of Baby #2. By the time you get to Baby #3, you don't even remember where the camera is. Or you are too busy taking pictures of yarn. *guilty grin* He is quite stunning, and always smiling. It boggles my brain how happy he is, I can't wrap my head around the idea. I've never seen anyone so happy in my whole life. He fell asleep in a little corner between a pile of clothes and the fireplace the other day. After just looking for a bit (it was kinda cute) I berated Mr. Shad (Hey, everyone else gets a cute name for hubby! Why not me?) about leaving him there. Nolan smiled at me even after I woke him up to move him to the crib.
Next, a disaster. Which would be my house. To make it worse, my knitting paraphenalia is all over the place. Even after hubby made me my lovely workshop in the garage, it seems my kniting still makes it's way into my bedroom. Oh well. I was inspired by Lana's post to share with you the disaster that is my knitting. Yes, I'm disorganized. Except for in my own head. lol I've labeled each of the pictures in Flickr if you can't figure out where the knitting content is (or what it is). Just so you know, I did not move anything for your benefit. Everything was right where I left it before 
tell you why. See, I received the replacement needles quite some time ago. But I wanted to finish the Monkey socks first. So, after finishing the socks, I worked on the sweater for my LYS owner a bit then switched back to the mitts. At the time I had ripped it back to only 5 rows of the first 10 row repeat. I spent most of the day knitting on them, and remembering why I had loved them so much in the first place. Sometime that evening (about 2/3 of the way into the palm) we had a bit of an accident. I'm beginning to think that the "knitting gods" don't want me to finish this project. You see, I bought a set of Brittany needles size 2.5mm because Kyran had broken one of my Addi 2.5s, leaving only 4. Which is still enough for a sock. Well, the Endpaper Mitts needed 5 needles, and Addis are expensive. Then I broke two of the Brittany needles, no big, just use the Addis. Nope, throws off the gauge! Fine 
then, order replacements from Brittany. They send 3 needles when they replace them. Which gives me an extra needle (5-2+3=6), so I didn't throw a hissy fit when Heather snapped one Saturday evening. However, when Kyran stepped on the entire project and consequently broke one needle, I could have screamed! So I put him in his room to avoid actually yelling at him for something that, really, isn't his fault at all.Labels: accidents, babies, blogging, endpaper mitts, happiness, knitting, messes, pictures
I finished my socks for the month of February! Oh, I joined the Sock-a-month thing too, just to encourage me further. There is a lot of yarn leftover from knitting these. It'll probably end up as socks for Kyran, and maybe even a pair for Nolan. Depends on exactly how much is left. I also just figured out that taking pictures like this one upside down and then flipping them in the viewer makes for cuter pics. lol
it's exciting. I was almost burnt out on the ProjSpec colors for these two months (wow, that was quick!) until I started this hat. Not that it matters though. I've still got the sweater for my LYS. Which is all sorts of colors. So, I ended up having to knit a few rounds in the dark Friday night. Somebody decided to drive into a power pole. Hopefully nobody was hurt. Otherwise my biting sarcasm is just plain cruel. One of my knitting buddies drove by the scene and said that it didn't look bad enough to have caused severe injuries. Then again, she also said it didn't look bad enough to for them to be 
putting up a new pole.Labels: accidents, happiness, KAL, progress, project spectrum, socks, spinning
Labels: accidents, contest, procrastinating, socks
Kitty's Story
On My
PRGE Questionnaire (the third?)
8 in 2007/0 in 2008
