I'm back

it's been forever and the main reason I kept up the blog was so that my mom could keep in touch with pictures of our life, but when she passed it seemed kind of pointless.

I've been Christmas crafting. Knitting and other things. The DD is a freshman at college (home for the holidays). I expect some growing pains on both sides over this break.

This next week will be crazy busy at school and home. Especially with all the things that need to be done in preparation for the holiday. It's like I'm cramming all of Advent into one week. We lost power today, so I started a craft that I could start in candlelight. I went into my messy craft room to find a star and stumbled on some jewelry wire which worked better than the hanger I was going to use to put the parts together. I decided to form a star out of the end at the top. It's for my secret Santa person at work (my boss). I think it turned out OK.  I'll leave a picture of the final product here:

spring?

The daffies are up and about spent, but the tulips haven't yet bloomed.
On Saturday, both sons had baseball scheduled. The youngest one's game started at 9. The real feel was 38°F. But early afternoon it was raining so hard and windy that the 5:45 game was called. It was a day for knitting and sleeping and reading.... all of which were done by the entire family (not all by everyone, but all by the 5 of us)

I finished MIL's bday gift.

Pattern: Echo Reversible Drop-Stitch Mobius by Kristin Omdahl in Interweave Knits Spring 2011
Yarn: recycled Abercrombie & Fitch 80 wool/20 nylon
Color: brown
Needle: US13
Buttons: Coconut shell purchased at A.C.Moore
Recipient: MIL

The only thing I needed to do was to ply the yarn double to make it bulky enough. I'm afraid it could be a little too long but I'll let her figure out how to deal with that. She loves brown and loves cables... hope she likes this.

Have to put this cute picture of the little man on opening day of baseball. Don't tell the older one that I forgot to take the camera to his game. I'll get some good shots of him soon. I had other stuff in the front of my mind. We had a concert that night that DH was conducting and I was soloing at. Left the baseball game early to go to the concert. This spring is going to be running around for sure.
DD found this nature anomaly today and insisted I take a picture of it. I call it the siamese twin dandelion.... kind of interesting.

fastnacht socks?

here they are... a long overdue Christmas gift for the love of my life.

Pattern: Manly Socks by Hannah Six
Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock
Colorway: 149
Needle: US2 (my new sox stix by lantern moon :-) )
Recipient: the hubby!


He requested them to be longer than the last 2 pairs. I had very little yarn left. I think it's going to be kept in a safe place for the inevitable darning. I was calling them fasnacht socks because all day they only had the end of the toe left to do... I teased him that I was going to leave them that way like a donut!

I'm not really crazy about this yarn. I didn't rewind the skein and maybe that would have helped but it was really sticky in pulling it out and I spend LOTS of time undoing little knots.

Now I need to cast on something for next week at school when I'll be proctoring exams and watching my homeroom for hours.... Something mindless because Lord knows I'll be interrupted enough!

the parade of doll clothes

DD's AG Elizabeth will be busy modelling over the next few days. Now that I've found the card reader for the camera, I can take some shots other than with my phone.
This one is from the phone though.


Summer Fun Ensemble by Caroline Dlugy-Hegwer
Yarn: Top and pants Paton's Grace shoes-some remnant
Color: Sky teal
Needle: US3 US8
Recipient: Daughter
I didn't do the ribbon on the pants and I put my own belt from yarn in until I could go out and find ribbon to fit through the loops. I'll replace it though I'm sure.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the slippers... handfulled them in the kitchen sink... but they are so darn cute!

There are more clothes to come!

We went to Mama Nina's for her birthday dinner yesterday... I was stuffed and brought enough home for 2 more meals...

I can't believe she's 11. I really like the young woman she is becoming. So proud of her!! I love you sweetie

shower time

and I'm not referring to the weather... although that would be true as well.
I have 2 cloths finished for a bridal shower I'm attending in April



Ball Band warshcloths from the Mason Dixon Knitting book
Yarn: Lily's sugar and Cream
Colors: Red and White
Recipient: Heather H
Needle: US7 They're old metal one I bought at a flea mkt.. I love them, they're perfect for making cloths!
More to come


sorry about the lousy pictures.. when I finish all that I'm planning on making for her I'll take some pretty pics. No energy for that right now.

This week at school was one of the worst I can remember and NOT from the students. DH brought me lovely orange tulips on Friday to cheer me up a bit. And we watched a flick together Friday night and took the kids to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D.. I'm not sure the 3D was worth the extra $4/ticket. In fact, I know it wasn't. The best part was the blue morph butterfly att eh end... that was the kin of 3D you can get used to... and the rest... well I won't be buying a 3D version of it when it comes out.. but I will get the blu-ray cuz the movie itelf was really wonderful.

It's late, I'm tired... happy new time!

which north pole character am I?

I took Martha Stewarts quiz tonight and it claims:

You are undoubtedly
An Elf
Hardworking and skillful, you put 100 percent into everything you do. As a result, people tend to trust you with daunting tasks, like making presents out of scratch. You're also a good listener with a flair for fashion
hmmmmm

the 11th cowl is complete:

Pattern: cha cha cowl by Judy Scofield
Yarn: Tahki Dazzle
Color: 002 varigated tans and purples
Needle: US8
Recipient: Karen Boksan

Karen saw my chickadee and wanted one like it.. this pattern is close.. since i didn't want to make 2 of the same. I continued moving the slipped stitch over one completely ignoring the directions

tmrw looks like it may be a Hershey day...... if the rain stops

yet another cowl

When I picked up the kids from afterschool care on Wednesday, DS1 informed me that his Spanish teacher was moving. Her last day would be Friday. This is the boy who does NOT deal well with change. So he wanted to give her something and could I make something for her. Hmmm gives me how much time???? and I have to work Thursday... OK...

Not only did she teach Spanish but she was also the ski club advisor. In light of all the cowls on and off my needles, I found it only appropros to make yet another..... gotta love thos quick stash busters:


pattern: Candle Flame Cowl by Julia Allen
yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease
color: fisherman
needle: US7
recipient: señorita R


OK.... back to his classroom teacher's gift.. oh I have a baby to knit for by the weekend. And Thanksgiving dinner to host.. yikes!

"fall"-ing behind

With the beginning of school for me, DH and the kids, I've fallen far behind on blogging and setting up the etsy store.... There doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!

My weight has plateaued since June.... but my clothing is fitting differently... and I've needed to buy some smaller sizes :-) and have revisited pre-kid clothing, so I guess it's all good.... I'd still like to drop another 10 though.

The Way wedding afghan is complete! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Pattern: a compilation from Barbara Walker's Learn to Knit Afghan squares 4, 5(2 so leaning 2 ways), 6, 7, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 46, 48
Knitting Simple's Carla's Blanket squares 4 & 26
Square of the month
Hugs and Kisses
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease approx. 30 skeins
Color: 99 FIsherman
Needle Size: US8
Recipient: Jesse and Christina Way

I decided on an attached i-cord border to make things look a bit more finished. Happy to report it only used half a skein... was expecting to need more.

DS, the younger, had a birthday on Friday. He took cupcakes to daycare... and after we were all home from our running Friday night we had cake. All of us were so tired that we were asleep by 9 PM.....



Sat we went pumpkin picking...... unfortunately we got there not too soon before they closed....I'll post pictures of the decorated pumpkins later.

If anyone has a secret to an energy boost.... please give it in the comments... I need one badly.

fetching for.....

Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niameth
Yarn: Some acrylic bought on Scalabrini Ortiz in BA
Color: Black (obviously)
Needle: US8 dpns
Recipient: BFF Gail

so i started these on the plane home from BA... I knew she wanted acrylic so she could wash them. This stuff was really soft and felt silky smooth. I didn't have a clue on the yardage since they sell it by hank and without ball bands when they make it there themselves. I only knew how much it weighed .... if I had a McMorran balance I could have figured it out... or if I had had a scale could have divided it into 2 equal parts, but had neither with me in BA so I just started knitting on the plane, not paying very close attention to the directions... finishe one mitt and read the directions.. lo and behold I had put 5 cable repeats in the mitt... and then wasn't sure if I had enough yarn to finish the second. I liked the extra repeats, but...I started the second and knit up to the end of the 3rd cable repeat.

so after I got home I weighed the finished mitt and the remaining yarn with the half finished 2nd mitt and found that i was just shy of enough for the second mitt. So I ripped out the first to the 3rd cable repeat, finished the second mitt as per the pattern, and then finished the first in the same way. I skipped the picot bind off... for me it did nothing to the mitts... phew.. there was about 6 yards left.

I got a bit too much sun today while waiting for DD at her swim lesson. It should be fine tmrw though and really makes me look as if I've been spending time in summer weather, which it hasn't actually been. I'm not complaining at all. We've had really lovely weather since we got back from BA.... sun and not too humid or hot.. I'm lovin' it!

'way' more to go

in order to finish the way afghan. But here's what's complete and unblocked.

From the Barbara Walker Learn-to-Knit Afghan Book

square 3: Basketweave


square 4: Lattice with Seed Stitch


square 5: Diagonal Ribbing... there are 2 of these so they can face opposite directions



square 6: Twisted and Crossed Ribbing


square 7: Garter and Rib Pattern


square 25: Wave


square 27: Wickerwork


square 28: Twining Rib pattern



square 30: Twisted Lattice



square 31: Twisted Panels


square 32: Assorted Mock Cables


square 33: Simple Cables with Moss Stitch


square 34: Double Cables


square 35: Lacing Cable


square 38: Open Cable and Four-Rib Braid


square 39: Cabled Lattice


square 40: Variation Cables

I have 3.5 of 25 plain stockinette done as well... and need to complete 5 more cables.... oh and the wedding.. yeah, um it's this Saturday >.<


here is DD at her piano recital last Friday... she did SO well :-)

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

it's here.... started at about 9 this morning. The call to cancel school came at about 5:50 AM... DS2 woke me up at 4:30 so I've been up since then.

I should be sewing, but I'm procrastinating. It's what I do best! SIL arrives in a short while. She'll be here for 5 weeks so we'll have lots to do. Our date tonight was cancelled. (DH's one employer has a dinner dance every year for all the employees.. last year was the first that we went and had a blast. This year's got cancelled because of the weather.) It's all good though, gives us more time together and to get stuff done.

I present to you:

Pattern: A Hat fit for a Boyfriend by Stephanie Nicole
Yarn: Bernat Camoflauge
Colorway: outback
Needle: US8
Recipient: someone on the Christmas list


I love the way the decreases look, but it was hard for me to get a good picture. This is the best I could come up with.

My SIL just arrived so I'll add to this later, perhaps.... enjoy the weather wherever you are!

chocolate, peppermint and nuts

So DD and I took some time out tonight to make the special area teacher gifts that they'll need to deliver on Wednesday. My school chorus concert is tonight and there's no way I'll feel like making them after the concert.

So this is what it is a mug (I know lame teacher gift, but it's just the container) with a package of hot chocolate mix and a half dozen homemade chocolate covered pretzel rods.

We dipped the rods halfway up the stick in chocolate and then added on top a complimentary flavor. The white chocolate has crushed peppermints and the milk chocolate has crushed peanuts. I haven't tried them so I hope it's good. It works in theory and they look good enough to eat as well!

We'll wrap them in clear cello and tie them with red and green raffia to be a bit fesitve. I need to make cards yet as well. I know that stamp is around this house someplace... hope I can find it tmrw night after the concert (if I don't collapse)

Although, NOAA isn't predicting great stuff for Tuesday into Wednesday, so maybe no one will be going to school on Wednesday. I could use a day off to catch up on baking and sewing. I'm wondering what the deal with be for the evening. If I will indeed get the winter concert in before winter actually begins (calendar speaking) or will it truly be a winter concert and have to wait until January.

The rehearsal today went pretty well. They are really a great group of kids. Some goofballs, but I love them. DH played for me he plays a little over half of the songs. 2 have accompanimental CDs that came with the music series, 1 is an accompanimental tape (I know can you believe it) and I'm playing for my 6th grade snow angels.... 7 girls that are singing solo/small group for 2 numbers There are 12 selections in all and about 2 dozen or more poems that will be read between numbers. I've made a power point presentation of pictures to go along with the poem and songs. And there's so much that I can't do until the very last minute it will be a miracle if it all gets accomplished. I hate that I have to do it in the gym and not be able to set up ahead of time.... the tribulations of a small school... mine is the only one in the district without a proper stage or facility... makes everything a challenge but I've been doing it for so long that way I know no differently.







Well, I have knitting to show but will save it for another day. On a sad note DH and I decided that the fabric that US5 was producing for his vest was so thick and stiff, so I ripped out down to the ribbing and I'll start over with 6's . (That was my choice to begin with but he preferred the swatch of the 5s)


My package from my Love@Knit Dishcloths exchange partner arrived today... now to not open it until the 25th. Thanks Amanda... can't wait to get at it and I absolutely adore the box... way too cute!!!!!!!!


Ummm. my ten on tuesday list will have to wait... I don't have time this morning.

let it snow

but let us get in for part of the day tomorrow.... I can't afford to have a day off, I need to see kids to still prepare for the concert. DH told me tonight that I should have started earlier... guess he was right. But I'm in deep doo doo if there's no school. I'll still need to go in to do some things and I hate to think of driving 35 minutes in crummy weather.


Here is one of my wreaths with just a bow, hanging on the door. I gifted this to a dear, dear friend that we were visiting over the weekend.



Last night I finally made the bobbles for the little pointsettia that I stuck on another felted wreath. It looks pretty good. This will be part of the gift for DS1s teacher. I plumped up the bow as well and much prefer the looks of this one. Must. make. bows. plumpy!

The pointsettia is made using a free pattern from Knitting Daily. I actually first saw it advertised in Interweave Knits 2008 Holiday issue. It's from the A-little-something-special.pdf that includes this flower, a bag, a snowflake, a in-progress bitty sock & hat ornaments and a cabled globe ornament. I made mine in red kitchen cotton and the bobbles in yellow cotton scraps on US3 dpns. Easy knit... the hardest part is putting it together!

DH had to buy something on ebay today. I was at school when a guitar closed for Santa to bring to DS1. I called him with 10 minutes to spare and talked him through it. YAY we won the auction so I think there will be one very happy little boy come the morning of the 25th.

DH's gift came yesterday. I found out AFTER it had been ordered. I'm saying no more.

Off to deal with kiddos then prep for school. have a great evening

green gift

yes, you too can have a carbon free day. Do something nice for the environment and the future. it's the best investment you can make. One to be sure to give great returns (beats the stock market)
Click for your gift from me. I have 25 to give away so don't miss your chance!